A Chronicle has a beginning and an ending. It has obstacles for the characters to overcome and it has a constant motif. The Chronicle more than likely has some of the same villains appearing again and again to antagonize the characters. It is not simply a string of stories slapped together - not unless you are willing to settle for something mediocre. A Chronicle must be created with as much patience, creativity and grace as a model plane or an oil painting.

...You need to begin designing the Chronicle long before the players create their characters. Hopefully, you will have already spent several hours of work, at the minimum, in deter­mining the substance and texture of the Chronicle you want to run. Everything else depends on what you come up with initially. The sharper your ideas, the better everything else will be later on. It can be time-consuming to create a Vampire Chronicle, but later on it will save you time when you create the stories.

You have a number of decisions to make as you create the Chronicle. First, you need to decide the Setting of the Chronicle - what city is it set in and what is that city like? (We recommend Chicago, or another city nearby, since this will be the location of much of our supplemental material.) Secondly, you need to determine what connects the characters and what their motivations will be. Third, the primary antagonists of the players need to be delineated. What are their motivations? Fourth, a plan of the progression of the Chronicle should be constructed, to detail where you want to take it. Lastly, you need to determine the motif of the Chronicle, which describes the reoccurring images, subjects, moods and special rules you will include in it. Making these decisions wisely will insure that your Chronicle runs smoothly.

You need to create a plan for how you want the Chronicle to progress. Where should the stories take the characters and how will the Chronicle eventually end (if ever)? It is a blueprint for creating not only the beginning of a good Chronicle, but the entire thing.

The plan details where you want the Chronicle to go and what you eventually want the characters to be doing. More than likely, the Chronicle will end up differently than you intended. Indeed, if it does end up exactly where you thought it would, it might mean you aren't providing the players enough opportunity to exercise their free-will.

The plan is intended to be a guide to help you under­stand what you want the Chronicle to be - it's a means of forcing yourself to make it dynamic, with changes in tempo, mood and content. Always try to stage a great ending to the Chronicle. Never let it slowly decline into an obscure death. Will the Chronicle end with the death of the characters as part of a heroic sacrifice, or will they somehow manage to become mortal once again?

The character is the basis of the Chronicle, as it is for the sake of the character that it is told in the first place. The character is always the focus of events, and the decisions of the characters decide the course of the plot. Therefore, before a Chronicle begins, you must prepare the characters. A great Chronicle requires equally great characters.

One thing you must decide before the Chronicle begins is why the characters are together - why they form a Brood. Of course, the players will have a lotto say about this, perhaps even the primary say, but because you have created the Chronicle, it is up to you to make the characters fit into it well. Ask yourself what kind of relationship the characters have with one another? Why are they friends? Why do they work together? The most important thing to do is make sure that each character in the group has adequate and sensible enough moti­vations to do what you would like them to do. Do they have some reason for being a part of the group? In short, will the characters make sense in terms of the Chronicle?

The Prelude is a great way to get characters prepared for the Chronicle. It can explain to them the nature of the setting, contacts for them to go to in times of need, and an understanding of what will be required of them. Motivations can often be created and expanded during the Prelude as well, making a complete Character out of one that was paper thin. Use the Prelude to prep your players, so that when the action begins, they will be ready with the right sort of character.

Sometimes you may want the characters to be from the same Clan. You should generally avoid this, because players like to have a choice, but for some Chronicle concepts it can work very well to focus the characters and forge a team spirit among the players.

If nothing else works, you may want all the players to choose a personal history in common and presume that their characters were friends before they were transformed into Vampires. If your players are forever fighting among themselves and have little trust for one another, then this can be an excellent way to bring them together. At the very least, they can have been friends during their Neonate period before they were released by their Sire.

Do what you need to do to make the characters work in the context of the Chronicle. If the players are not cooperative, find ways to make them so. A system of rewards and punish­ments (experience points, Humanity) can perform wonders on the attitudes of the players.