A look at Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines part 3

The last time we left Mark Flavian and his various personalities, he was about to investigate the tattoo parlor to find the missing Carson. Previously, he had also picked up a quest from Vandal to replace his blood supply with a brand new blood doll and has yet to pick up the Astrolite from Dennis. Also, he has not checked up on E and Lily to resolve that quest yet. 

This was not the first loading screen that appeared when I reloaded this save. This was the second loading screen after I accidentally reloaded my save with the quick load key.

The tattoo parlor is empty and looks rundown though the available tattoo designs are still on display so I guess this place is only open during the day? To proceed with the quest, Mark has to walk through that doorway.

Walking through this triggers this payphone to start ringing. This payphone can be interacted with as seen by the lack of a phone cord and the icon below.

Looks like someone else is on the other line. Mark mimes holding a phone to his ear as the phone mysteriously returns back onto receiver so either the caller is in his head or the animation bugged out. Then again, this game has some minor issues but nothing too deal-breaking.

So it would seem that we need to find this Gimble to figure out what happened to McGee and Carson since it would seem that the last person to see McGee was this Gimble guy.

Did I mention how much I like the way Malkavians speak in this game?

Since McGee jumped bail recently, he would have found that advertisement for quick cash appealing. Hence, this bit further tells McGee's story visually rather than using simple text or excessively expository dialogue.

This place lies at the opposite end of Main Street which I did not show previously.

This one may seem rather odd but from playing several playthroughs, I know that the fourth option is the one that unlocks Gimble's doors.

This is Gimble. The reader may notice his strange interest in Mark's limbs rather quickly. I recommend asking him for his backstory, it is an interesting tale.

Only in the latest versions of the Unofficial Patch with the Plus Patch(or at least after version 9.2) will this Persuasion option appear to trick Gimble into visiting Vandal. This eliminates Gimble by having Vandal convert him into a blood doll but will cost the player humanity for sending a seemingly innocent man to a grisly fate.

Or is he innocent? So far, he just seems creepy. Nothing wrong with having creepy mannequins...

Or having some creepy diagrams and images pasted to the walls of his lot's backroom.

Don't forget to pick up the blood pack that this seemingly innocent man has lying around in his fridge.

Are those tools supposed to be in an unsanitary environment and have blood on them?

Okay! Gimble is not a seemingly innocent man. The reader can already tell that there is something seriously wrong with Gimble. But to be fair, it's not like he locks people up to cut them up -

Yep, Gimble does lock unwary victims up so that he can cut them up for their limbs. In fact, Gimble is a serial killer and this is one of his victims here. So sending him to Vandal to be trapped there as a blood doll is not evil, it is justified and incidentally, it also removes Gimble as a boss fight since he is currently preoccupied with having his blood drained out of him. 

This is Carson. He got captured by Gimble and would have lost more bodily extremities if not for Mark's intervention. Incidentally, the Malkavian speech is at it again. 

Carson unfortunately had his trigger finger cut off by Gimble so he is forced into an early retirement from a life of bounty hunting. Understandable. 

Incidentally, here lies what's left of McGee. Gimble went to town on this bail-jumper.

Before reporting back to the key master, Mark checks with Vandal to confirm his receipt of a deranged serial killer as a replacement blood doll. In games with older versions of the Unofficial Patch with the Plus Patch, the player can only replace Lily with a random person in a club or another NPC as part of a side-quest though both options cost Humanity. This is one change of the Plus Patch that I appreciate since I get to resolve this quest without causing someone to experience undeserved suffering as a blood doll.

Time to report to the key master about his retired bounty hunter.

Looks like there is another bounty to hunt. So Mark takes the job to find Mike Durbin (or Muddy Mike) who Arthur reveals is hiding out in the apartment across Mark's own room. Do not forget to ask for the reward money since Arthur always forgets about that bit.

Prior to this side-quest, this key does not spawn here at all. As a Malkavian, I searched this pot whenever I could before this quest and this key is never here.

With the key, Mark finally sees what lies in the room across the hall.

There is barely anything of value and no furniture. The only thing worth taking is this skill-book.

There is also this phone with a recorded message that reveals that Muddy went to the Downtown area. I wonder if Mark will ever go there someday...

Now to report back to the key master. One thing to note is that completing this quest opens up a new one where the player character decides to pursue Muddy on their own volition. 

Now to return to the beach and check up on the thin-bloods.

Seems that Lily and E had a happy reunion. If the player is using the Unofficial Patch with the Plus version installed, pick the second option to return Lily's belongings to her. I am not sure if this option is available in the Basic version or in any other patches.

E is glad to have Lily back. It seems that their story at least ends happily. Not pictured here is E telling Mark about the group's plans to flee Los Angeles due to Rosa's predictions about the events of the next nights.

This is the response that Rosa gives should the player ask her about the serial killings. There is some decent foreshadowing here.

This is a bug in my playthrough. Normally, Lily stands at the beach instead of being up on the catwalks here. It is amusing to hear her say something to E softly when she is up here and E is below on the beach.

Now to get the Astrolite from those thugs that attacked Mercurio. This part introduces the various ways to handle a situation in the early parts of the game.

If the player approaches the beach house from the main entrance, this goon will always strike up conversation. The player can use any appropriate social interaction to bypass him.

Unless the player is a Nosferatu which means that they must sneak in by using this interactive fence post and pull it aside.

This is a power generator. The reason for its interactivity is rather self-explanatory.

This dog serves as an obstacle for players attempting to enter via this entrance.

Take note of the image in the television. It is actually in-game footage. Of what, I will not say.

Take note of this vent. It has some importance.

This is Dennis, leader of the beach house thugs. He is the one who is holding onto Mercurio's Astrolite.

There are many ways to deal with Dennis, either through violence or non-violence. Here, I am attempting to get the Astrolite away from Dennis diplomatically.

It works but my task is not finished. That vent remains unexplored but the thugs do not appreciate intrusions. So I decide to eliminate them, permanently.

I add a point into Obfuscate so that my invisibility will be of some use.

Like for sneaking up to unsuspecting victims unseen.

Mark eliminates Dennis personally with one final drink. Aside from guns, melee weapons and fists, vampires can also eliminate humans by draining them dry.

Unfortunately, draining humans like that are not considered as stealth kills so it immediately draws the attention of the goons in the next room. Luckily, Mark has Obfuscate and the thugs are facing the wrong way.

After a successful stealth kill, Mark accidentally alerts the shirtless goon outside and the two other goons inside. The first of the two is killed off with a couple of hits with a baseball bat and the other is having their blood drained as pictured above.

This fails however due to the shirtless goon hitting Mark which breaks him out of the feeding animation. In retribution, Mark finishes off the previous goon and proceeds to drain this goon dry.

Inside the vent from before is this box containing this money envelope with $250 inside. I wonder who does this belong to. 

With the beach house cleared, the money obtained and the Astrolite secured, Mark can now return to Mercurio.

Here is a picture to showcase the bug in action. Lily is supposed to be on the beach below rather than up here with Mark.

Now to report to the man on the couch. Hmm... where have I heard that before?

Here is the reason for grabbing that money envelope. The money belonged to Mercurio and had been taken from him when those thugs beat him senselessly. Being a kindhearted madman, Mark returns the money to him.

Turns out the Astrolite was part of LaCroix's plans for Mark. Mark has to use the explosives on a Sabbat warehouse in town. The location of said warehouse is not known to Mercurio.

Mercurio does know of someone who knows the exact location of the warehouse, one Bertram Tung. The problem is that Bertram is in hiding due to a feud with one Therese Voerman, the co-owner of the local nightclub, The Asylum.

Here is Mercurio's description of Therese.

Here is his additional description of the other co-owner, Jeanette Voerman, Therese's twin sister.

Here is a brief description of Mercurio by himself. Take note of how he mentions his ability to get anything anyone wants at any time. This will be important for later.

Before visiting the Asylum, Mark has to check his e-mail. Seems that there is an update. 

Looks like someone sent actual werewolf blood to the local Santa Monica clinic as a joke. It is a Masquerade risk though and since Mark is the only active errand-boy in Santa Monica, he has to handle it. 

Up the stairs from the clinic is this locked door. This is where the werewolf blood is located and this is the place where the player can find an item to finish Trip's side-quest.

This security officer always patrols the top floor. The best thing to do, if the player has the right skills and feats, is to convince him to give up his keys. The keys will make exploration a lot easier.

This should be the first room to enter when on this floor.

Hacking the computer reveals options to unlock the Controlled Substances(CS) door and cabinet. Since the werewolf blood has been locked up in there, the player has to unlock both.

Uh oh. If the camera is active, it will catch the player's actions on tape while alerting the officer to the player.

If the player is having a hard time hacking Malcolm St. Martin's password, this note revealing the passworld is lying around the break room on this floor.

There is the CS room with the active camera.

The key allows access to one of the rooms here in order to allow players to access to the vents here.

Now to disable the camera or rather cameras. Take note of the second camera.

Incidentally, it would be wise to incapacitate the security guard with a brief drain so that he would be stuck in a trance. The guard will become hostile if the player is caught attempting to pick door locks on this floor.

Now for the werewolf blood.

Here is the method to solving Trip's quest. First, disable the camera in the Prescription Storage room.

Next, pick the lock to the room.

If your lockpicking skills are too low, remember Bloodbuff.

Now pick this Medical Safe open. The lock difficulty for this safe is 5 so Bloodbuff may be required.

Since Mark's skill was too low, I decide to put a point into Dexterity.

This is the item to take for Trip. The rest can be sold for cash.

Remember what Jack said about drinking high class people. Malcolm counts as one of those so Mark takes a drink. Incidentally, there is an amusing glitch here where the man Malcolm is working on always stands up whenever the player character drinks his doctor's blood.

Now to put the werewolf blood in the mailbox for LaCroix's people to pick up.

After that, it is time to give Trip his fix for his daily trip.

The reward includes a boost to the Finance feat which can be handy for purchasing or selling items like now. Note that the player cannot sell their fists, I know since I tried.

Looks like someone already picked up the blood. The Prince even sent an e-mail congratulating Mark on a job well done.

Here is the reward for removing werewolf blood from a clinic.

Now to visit the Asylum and no, it's not that kind of asylum! Besides, it's not like Mark needs to check himself into one...

This is Jeanette Voerman, twin sister of Therese, co-owner of The Asylum and the vampire on the cover of the game (if the reader has a physical copy of the game). Her voice actor is the legendary Grey DeLisle known for her many voice roles in animation (Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender is a definite highlight) For this run, I'll be picking specific dialogue options for a specific (but unspoken reason). Here I pick 1.

It is nice when the game recognizes my chosen clan. This adds replay-ability simply because the player will be curious to know how every NPC responds to the player. The Nosferatu have an especially unique experience.

Well, I do not think I will have to specify what option I pick since there is only one here.

Here I pick 2, labelled pink to indicate Seduction.

Here I pick 1.

Now I pick 2.

Pick 2 and stay focused on the conversation.

Stay... focused... Her eyes... are on... her head...

Now to pick 2 and move on.

In certain places throughout the game, the player can run into these women that can be spoken to. These are blood-dolls. Using your Seduction feat, the player of either genders can charm them into lowering their guard so that they can feed on them peacefully. This does not break the Masquerade as the player outwardly appear to be giving the women a long kiss to their necks.

Knox also moves here after resolving the Astrolite reclamation effort.

What an interesting coincidence!

It is such an interesting coincidence that Mark has noticed something off with Knox's story. Fun tidbit: Knox used to be Arthur Kilpatrick's old bounty hunter.

With an Inspection score of 3 or as a Malkavian, the player will be able to notice the hole in Knox's story.

Looks like Bertram had Knox act like an idiot to trick the player into doing his dirty work. The player gets some experience points for figuring out this ruse.

Here is another blood doll and the other replacement for Lily that the player can send to Vandal.

This is how the blood-drinking looks like.

In each club in the game, there is a spot where the player can dance. This is primarily for regaining a point of Humanity which only works once. It also makes for a decent screenshot.

Talk to this bartender to get access to the elevator Jeanette went on.

Going up.

The door to Therese's office is locked. From here, the player can hear Therese and Jeanette's argument. It does not sound good for the sisters.

So while I am waiting, I decide to put a point into Melee. I recall that this comes into play later.

This is Therese Voerman, co-owner of The Asylum, twin sister of Jeanette Voerman and top contender for the title, Baron of Santa Monica. Like with Jeanette, I will be picking certain dialogue options. Here I pick 2.

Now I pick 1.

Here I pick 2. Note her distaste for all things filthy. This has some significance.

Now I pick 1.

Picking 1.

Now to pick 2.

Here I pick 1. This brings up a new quest.

Now to use 2.

The answer here is fairly obvious.

Since Therese wants things done quickly, it would be best to pick 2 to avoid further delays.

Now to check Jeanette's computer.

The e-mails do not serve the story significantly but provides some insight into Jeanette and her activities.

Now I will close with this picture of Therese, Jeanette and what appears to be their father. Further online journal posts will be put on hold since I will be far too busy for the foreseeable future.