Playing a Ventrue is hard.
Lineage wise, I don't regret not having a PC sire, but I do wish I had picked a lineage at least partially shared with other players. Hopefully the Coord team and the wiki can be helpful in that. Incidentally, if they'd be interested in being related to my PC, I'd love that, and I'm sure there are plenty of other PCs who would be happy to share a lineage or even be a PC sire.
Lineage is incredibly important for Ventrue RP. It colors many things. Having a screw up childe, or a famous sire or grand sire creates new facets for characters. There is also a PC I know of who's sire was killed by another Ventrue, and the hatred that's there makes for awesome roleplay.
For playing a Ventrue, you could do worse then recommending they pick up a copy of Tai-Pan and/or Noble House by James Clavell. Possibly Shogun, though I haven't read that. Strategy books like the Prince, art of war, how to make friends and influence people or vampire: the Masquerade books like Guilded Cage etc. might help them being good at being a Ventrue IC, but the Clavell books books will show them how to play a Ventrue, whether a strong leader, a cunning manipulator, a brutal monster, a career politician, or a weak willed patsy. It also teaches you about rivals, and how Ventrue won't kill their rivals off the cuff... they want everything their rivals have built torn down, destroyed or taken over, and they want their rival to see it, and their children take up the cause. In Noble house especially, you realize a rivalry from the 18th century has continued for at least a hundred years between two families.
TV/Movie wise Tai Pain was also a movie, which I haven't seen. I'd also highly recommend HBO's The Wire.... The police dept functions a lot like the Directorate, and many of the characters are excellent examples of Ventrue, The worst of them often are promoted. Loyalty is established by protecting one's subordinates, or taking the fall for one's superiors. The best of them are good police because of their flaws.
Flaws. Flaws make Ventrue Ventrue.
Lots of people will tell you to that Ventrue are supposed to be great leaders, astute businessmen, honorable knights, and masters of influence. This is all at least somewhat true IC, and every Ventrue will likely be expected to to try to live up to that. But OOC playing a Ventrue who isn't perfect is best. A Ventrue who is flawed, who has weaknesses. First, because it's impossible to play perfectly. Second because Ventrue, like all of the best PCs, are made interesting by their failures.
Having said the above about failure, few Ventrue PCs should be complete failures and total disappointments to their elders. On the other hand, that doesn't mean that one's elder's shouldn't be disappointed in you... living in the shadow of other Ventrue and under the weight of their expectations is a large part of Ventrue genre. Breaking under that weight can be good RP.
The most important way a Ventrue can fail is by arrogance and pride. Hubris and entitlement are in many ways really the Ventrue Clan flaw. Seriously, if your Ventrue is screwed over because of their unwillingness to lose face or to admit defeat, your probably RPing just fine. That's why neg traits like callous, violent, impatient and condescending are great for Ventrue.
That pride colors competition in clan. Ventrue compete not by doing things well (that's to be expected) but by trying to get each other to lose face. In fact each Dignitas claimed is like a target telling your Clan to test you there. There is also noblesse oblige, and the paternalistic part of Ventrue arrogance. If you replace White Man's Burden with Ventrue's Burden, and have the other people be other Kindred, you start to get an idea.
The second is tradition and the clan's institutions. Ventrue genre is holding to tradition even when it's the wrong choice, and it's breaking from it when it's the right choice (or even the only choice) and being punished for bucking the system or failing the tradition. The best stories I've seen in the Clan have often come from this. The best way to get a Ventrue to lose face is to point out a way they failed the clan traditions, or failed to live up to their Dignitas. The best place to do so is in a Directorate meeting.
Speaking of the Directorate meeting, I've also had Tremere players tell me that the clan has better genre, and much better clan meetings. Some people hate Directorate meetings... personally some of the best RP I've ever seen has been in them, especially when you have a rival or an agenda. Tribunals as well can be awesome, as can Death Nights. New players should seek directorate meetings, should push for them.
So again, playing a Ventrue is hard. It's also amazingly fun.
Later on in the thread I said.
I'd add to that thatneonates, nobility, honor and obedience are part of the same package. They are encouraged to be ambitious, but being honorable and noble means ambition must be tempered with respect for the good of the Clan.
A noble neonate understands how little of the Elders they understand, and is thus willing to trust their elders, to sacrifice their personal ambitions, and possibly themselves if required for the good of the clan. That's honor. That's rewarded.
An ignoble neonate pursues his owe interests, doesn't trust or respect his elders and superiors, and sells out his clan for short term gains. He dishonors himself. He will find himself on the outs. A CEO can thus be noble and well rewarded by Elders, and a Ventrue descended from royalty with an aristocratic bearing can be ignoble and dismissed.
That's how the majority of neonates should likely see it. Ancilla and Elders, those with twisted upbringing, those who are left to their own devices... well they may notice some hypocrisy in the above.
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