K. Bottom up. So, as far as PCs are concerned I'd say strictly Vampires. I'm not a huge fan of Shifter lore in WoD, and because of that I'm not familiar with many of their rules. It doesn't fit well in the cogs of all the other systems lore, it is nearly impossible to reconcile it. So, if there are shifters in the game they will be NPCs/Enemies. The story will be player driven, their decisions will effect the type of gameplay. For instance, If a Ventrue is making power plays, there will be lots of intrigue, if these adventurers want to hunt down Methusalah for whatever reason, it will likely go horror/action. I will introduce a setting depending upon how the story is progressing, and I will introduce plot points which can be entirely ignored, if the players wish. I'm fine with people of any experience level, I will help them every step of the way, and I'm sure most of the group would share this. VtM is a great game, and not enough people have played it. It encourages bad storytellers who railroad things...which I'm not a fan of, so I intend not to do these things. Chat, I'm undecided on. I like Voiced based games because of the speed of things, however, I'm far more capable of being articulate and poetic in text. It'll go to a majority vote, probably. Long Term, assuming all goes well. My ideal number would be five, as most things in the game can be covered with this number.