House Rules

Base Rules Set
We are using the (new) World of Darkness rules set, NOT the Mind’s Eye Theatre rules set, however MET damage limits (MET p 211) apply. The optional rule ‘Weapons are deadly’ is not in use.

Draw System
We are using the 40 Card Draw System, with no reshuffle before drawing explosions.

Setting Specific Changes
The ‘Predator’s Taint’ system does not apply as it is setting inappropriate. Vampires appear on recording media and cannot burn a willpower to avoid this. Blood Potency does not increase by any means other than diablerie and cannot be purchased. For starting Blood Potency see ‘Merits’.

Fighting Styles
No matter how many fighting styles a character possesses, you may only use one per round. Note that the Sniping Fighting Style cannot be used in close combat.

Grapple
The Weaponry skill (rather than Brawl) may be used when making an attack on your opponent while engaged in a grapple (note that you are still restricted to those weapons that are usable in a grapple), but not for other manoeuvres.
Upon successfully attempting an Escape manoeuvre, you may immediate move your speed in steps away from your opponent, provided that you are not still engaged in a grapple with another opponent.
Shape-shifting (for instance, the use of Protean 4) automatically breaks a grapple.
The Immobilize Opponent Manoeuvre has been removed.

Firearms and Close Combat
If you BEGIN your turn in close combat with the target you are firing at, you subtract the target’s defence from your attack pool. This represents the fact that as the shooter moves back, she is doing so while near enough to the flurry of combat to make it harder to take the shot.

Weapons for High Strength/Vigor characters
When attacking with a melee weapon, draw Strength – (Durability of Weapon + 2) where successes are damage to the weapon’s structure. Do not draw if this would be reduced to a chance draw.

Making Items
If you wish to personally manufacture specific items, this requires a downtime action and a Crafts draw to succeed in the task. In the specific case of Melee Weapons a rating of Crafts 3 and the appropriate specialty allows additional durability to be added to the item at 1 per Crafts dot over 2; the successes required are equal to the durability of the item. Further modifications to durability or items bonuses require devotions such as Blood Tempering and Rituals such as Ward vs Kindred.

How to Hunt down your Enemies
If you are attempting to discover the haven or whereabouts of another character, this requires a contested draw of your Intelligence + Investigation + Auspex vs their Wits + Stealth + Obfuscate + Haven. The defender may substitute Haven of X (Protean 2) for Haven if they wish. Draws go to the defender. Note that both hunting and hiding draws are penalised by actions taken in a month. If the hunting attempt is successful, the defender may attempt a standard clash of wills to notice the intruder.

How to do stuff between games and spend XP
If you wish to do things during downtime or to spend XP, please post in your personal forum within one week after the date of the game. Requests will usually processed during the week following this, so please check the forums in case you need to participate in a scene as a result of your actions (or for any other reason). Late requests may or may not be processed depending on whether any of them affect other actions and very late requests (within a week of the next game) will not be processed at all due to time constraints.

If you wish to do something with other PCs, please make sure that everyone involved posts their participation in their forum or you may find that they aren’t there when you need them. This especially true for learning disciplines; if the person who is teaching you doesn’t bother telling the STs that they’re doing so, then you don’t get to learn the discipline that month.

Taking Actions
Actions are things you do between games that involve interaction with other PCs or NPCs. You may take as many actions as you like per month; learning disciplines from others, investigating mysterious happenings, gaining/using influence or going to beat up on someone. Unfortunately there are only so many hours of darkness in a month, so if you spread yourself thin by trying to do too much, you will find yourself at penalties to any draws associated with these actions. Any action after the first incurs a 1 draw penalty per additional action attempted during the month to all actions. If you take only one action, you are at no penalty, but if you attempt six actions you will be at a five draw penalty on all of them. Taking multiple actions in a month also incurs a penalty to staying hidden from anyone attempting to track you down; if you are fighting an influence war on two fronts while investigating a missing ghoul and learning an out of clan discipline, you are fairly easy to find.

Spending XP
You may spend XP to buy no more than one dot in each of Attributes, Skills, Merits and Disciplines per month. Disciplines are limited in that only ‘In Clan’ Disciplines can be developed through practise as the Blood naturally inclines itself to those powers and ‘Out of Clan’ Disciplines require a teacher. Disciplines can be readily taught by those who have them In Clan, but to teach an Out of Clan Discipline requires a level higher than the level taught as greater experience and understanding are needed to convey the use of the Blood when it is not instinctive. Some skill specialties and merits may also require a teacher, though not necessarily a Vampiric teacher.

Merits
The following are modifications to what appear for merits in the World of Darkness and Vampire the Requiem books. Note that merits from other books may become available but will be considered on a case by case basis.

Blood Potency – As we are using static Blood Potency, to retain the flavour of ‘Generation’ in the setting, Blood Potency cannot be purchased, either at Character Creation or with XP. Instead, at character creation there will be a 7 card draw, where successes will equal the Blood Potency of your character. Blood Potency can, of course, be increased through diablerie.

Contacts – We will not be using contacts as they overlap with Influences (see ‘Influences’)

Haven – We will be using ‘Haven’ as a single merit, rather than splitting into Haven location, size and security. In the modern day, Haven size is closely related to Resources, while locations that offer plentiful potential prey also tend to have plentiful security cameras, making feeding no less difficult in these locations.

Holdings – (New Merit) This merit represents a specific piece of property owned or controlled by the PC. It differs from Haven, in that the kindred does not necessarily dwell there, from Domain in that Domain is assigned by the Prince and bears no reflection on whether you have any control over the area or not and from Resources in that it has utility rather than monetary value. This is a flat-cost merit; the relative size/importance of the holding is indicated as following. 1: Corner Dairy, 2: Large Cafe or a pub, 3: Large store or small hotel, 4: Large hotel, 5: Large and/or significant Auckland landmark, such as Sky City Casino, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland Art Gallery etc. To gain a holding, the PC may need to take some appropriate actions using resources, skills or influences. Starting PCs with non-local backgrounds may not take the Holdings merit at character creation.

Retainer – It is of note that this merit has changed substantially between systems, as Retainers are no longer required to be Ghouls. The following changes apply to the Retainer merit as stated in WOD; the draw pool of a retainers specialty area is now (Points in retainer+1)*2. Thus a 1 point retainer has a 4 specialty draw pool and a 4 point retainer has a 10 specialty draw pool. 5 point retainers are those with an additional specialty area or an unusual merit. Ghoul retainers follow these guidelines and have an additional 1 dot in disciplines per point in the merit, however for each Ghoul retainer that a PC has, they start each game session 1 point of Temporary Willpower down.

Status – While mortal status can be purchased normally, Clan and Camarilla status is limited to 1 at character creation (note that 0 is perfectly reasonable) and will be assigned thereafter. City status is always assigned and represents the consensus view of all factions of Kindred in the city, not just Camarilla.

Influences
Influences are the way in which Kindred influence mortal society (and replace the Contacts background in the nWoD system).  Since you can lose them and there is only a limited amount available, we do not charge XP for them, but they require a number of actions to acquire equal to the level of influence you are attempting to gain.  You may make no more than one action to gain a specific Influence in a month.  There is no draw unless the Influence is ‘full’, in which case there is a contested draw (see below).  You cannot specify who you will not take influence from in the event that there is a contest.

The most you may gain in a single Influence is equal to your maximum Attribute limit (usually five).  Your total amount of controlled Influence dots cannot exceed the sum of your Social and Mental attribute dots, as this is the most you can keep track of.  This is increased by dots in human retainers (but your ghouled Pukeko can’t help with your Influences).

Defending your influences does NOT require an action; Kindred are assumed to hang on to their gains with the grim determination of undeath as a default, assuming that their character is active in the city.  (This is defined as the Player attending the previous game or submitting actions and is contingent on the Character not being absent for any reason i.e. learning from a non-local Mentor).  Putting in an action that says ‘I defend my influence’ will result only in ST irritation and XP penalties if you continue to offend.

Where an Influence is contested due to being overfull, all in the influence draw Influence + associated Attribute + associated Skill - Action penalties.  Note that active use of an Influence counts as an action towards total actions taken in a month; both active and passive (defensive) influence draws are at the appropriate penalty for actions taken.  All contested influence draws will be made by the STs.

The list of Influences and their associated Attributes and Skills are as follows;
Bureaucracy – This encompasses influence over local government and utilities companies.  The associated Attribute is Manipulation and Skill is Politics.
Church – This encompasses influence over local religious organisations.  The associated Attribute is Presence and Skill is Academics.
Finance – This encompasses influence over banking, the finance industry and local IRD.  The associated Attribute is Wits and Skill is Academics.
Health – This encompasses influence over local hospitals, blood banks, rest homes, pharmacies and funeral parlours.  The associated Attribute is Intelligence and Skill is Medicine.
High Society – This encompasses influence over Clubs and the Entertainment industry.  The associated Attribute is Presence and Skill is Socialize.
Industry – This encompasses influence over manufacturing and commercial enterprises.  The associated Attribute is Wits and Skill is Crafts.
Legal – This encompasses influence over the courts and legal personnel and proceedings.  The associated Attribute is Manipulation and Skill is Subterfuge.
Media – This encompasses influence over print, broadcast and web-based news media.  The associated Attribute is Manipulation and Skill is Expression.
Occult – This encompasses influence over any arcane elements that have leaked out into the mundane world and any cults around it.  The associated Attribute is Intelligence and Skill is Occult.
Police – This encompasses influence over law enforcement personnel and organisations.  The associated Attribute is Wits and Skill is Investigation.
Street – This encompasses influence over homeless people, minor gangs and petty criminals.  The associated Attribute is Wits and Skill is Streetwise.
Transportation – This encompasses influence over public transport, taxi and freight companies, ports and airports.  The associated Attribute is Presence and Skill is Crafts.
Underworld – This encompasses influence over serious criminal activity including drug deals, smuggling and organised crime.  The associated Attribute is Manipulation and Skill is Intimidation.
University – This encompasses influence over the education system from schools to universities including campuses and staff.  The associate Attribute is Intelligence and Skill is Academics.

(Note that we are no longer using the Politics influence as it applies largely to central government functions which do not exist in Auckland.  Local government functions are part of the Bureaucracy influence).

What you can do with Influences
Influences, as a default, allow you to gain Rumours about what’s going on in that area of society.  This is automatic and does not count as a use of the Influence.  Influences can be used in the following ways:

Use the Influence to manipulate events in that area of society or obtain something that the influence can provide, e.g. Blood from the Health influence or researching a Ritual with the Occult influence.  Descriptions for what might be achieved are listed in the oWoD Mind’s Eye Theatre – Laws of the Night book, but this is by no means exhaustive; the STs are the final arbiter of what you can or cannot do with your influence. This is not an action.

Search the Influence to see who else has their fingers in that particular pie.  This will require a contested draw.  If the person searching gains more successes, they notice the other person’s influence and if they have met them, will recognise who it is.  If the defender gains more successes, they will know that someone is searching and if they have met them, will recognise who it is.

Attack an Influence to drive out another influence holder from the field.  This requires a contested draw.  If the attacker gains more successes, the defender loses a dot in the Influence, must take actions to regain it and does not know who attacked them.  If the defender gains more successes, they realise that they have been attacked and if they have met the attacker, will recognise who it is.  Note that to attack a specific person’s influence, the influence must already have been discovered by a Search the Influence action, by a successful defence during such an action or by other means (see below).

Block an Influence to prevent another Influence holder gaining further in the Influence.  This results in a contested draw when another Influence holder attempts to gain in the Influence, even if the Influence is not ‘full’.  If the Blocker gets more successes the attempted gain fails and it appears to the gainer that the Influence is ‘full’.  If the Gainer gets more successes, the gain succeeds normally and the Gainer realises that someone was attempting to Block and if they have met them, recognises who it is.  To attempt to Block a specific influence holder, their existing holdings must have been discovered by a Search the Influence action or other means as above/below.

Lend an Influence to another influence holder in the field.  This is usually done where a cooperative attack is being attempted by a group upon a powerful influence holder.  The recipient gains successes from the draws of those who are lending influence to any Influence action (see Teamwork WOD p 134) and also counts as having the extra draw for the purposes of defence, however they must have the capacity to control ALL of the loaned Influence dots in addition to their own.  This can also be used in an attempt by a group to defend against an Attack or Search action.  Note that a large measure of trust is required for those lending their influence as the recipient is now counted as having discovered the influence holding without need for a Search action.  In addition, the recipient will be automatically successful in an attack action against any currently loaned influence.  As in the case of a failed defence loaned influence is lost first. Such duplicity is not necessarily easy to discover, so Kindred very rarely lend Influence.

Healing Aggravated Damage
Due to the time and blood cost for healing aggravated damage, you will need to take one action during the month to attempt to heal one level of aggravated damage.  The relevant draw pool will be whatever you prefer to use for hunting; this will be an extended draw requiring five successes.  You may attempt to heal more than one aggravated damage per month, subject to the usual penalties.


Blood
Note that under the nWoD rules, stored blood traits and blood from animals give less sustenance to Vampires (V:tR pp 164-166).
Also note that Blood Potency limits what creatures you can feed from (V:tR p 99).

Approved Merits

Shield Bearer o (War Against the Pure p 89)

Armoured Fighting oo or oooo (Armory Reloaded p 84)

Fighting Style: Sword and Shield o-ooooo (Armoury Reloaded p 92)

Fighting Style: Fencing o-oooo (Armoury p 210-211)

Night Doctor: Performing an operation with this Merit requires access to a modern operating room and cutting-edge tools. Due to the extreme difficulty of the techniques, tools give no bonus. They simply make resetting broken bones, stitching together tissue, reconnecting blood vessels and realigning nerves possible, all of which is necessary to ease the effort of the Vitae. In extreme cases, such as severe burns, skin grafts from other parts of the body are employed.

As an action during downtime, the character performing the surgery draws Intelligence + Medicine. Two successes on that draw can be spent to heal one point of aggravated damage. Note that full successes must be gained, so 1 success has no result, 2-3 heals 1Agg, 4-5 heals 2Agg and so on.

The humanity limits on specific skills interacting with mortals do not apply to influence draws. However, a modifier of (Humanity-7) applies to all influence draws.

Greatsword and Bastard Sword

The statistics given in TWoD pg:170 for Greatsword are to be regarded as the statistics for a Bastard Sword used 2-Handed. Used 1 Handed, it requires Str4 and does 3L as indicated in Armory Pg: 24.

An actual Greatsword will have the following statistics:
Damage 5(L), Size 4, Cost 3.

The Strength requirement for using a weapon designed to be used 2-Handed as a 1-Handed weapon is increased by 2 instead of by 1. In addition, using a 2-Handed weapon this way will incur a -1 penalty due to loss of leverage.

Any willpower spent on extended actions during a month will be counted as having been spent at the beginning of the next game night, thus you will start the night that spent willpower down.

This represents the expenditure of willpower over the month, as an excess over what is regained during the month.

Hunting
When hunting, we will no longer be allowing discipline draw pools. All hunting draws will be Attribute + Skill. Note that there are limits to some social draw pools based on Humanity.

Paragon (5 Point Flat Cost)
This merit, available only at character creation and with ST approval allows purchase of a single variable cost merit to one level above what would normally be allowed by blood potency.

We have in some scenes played sovereignty as a reflexive action. This is incorrect, it should in fact be an instant action to activate as per the book.

FYI, just so no-one gets any surprises next scene.

Only those ammunition types mentioned in Armory P82-89 are available. If it's not mentioned there specifically, it's not available to or able to be manufactured by PC's. Medleys of those ammunition types are not available.

As has been pointed out, Riot gear is purchasable with armour piercing resistance at extra cost.

By default we will regard this as APR1. Extra plates can be added, but for each level of APR above the first the armour will require an extra Str and give an additional -1 penalty to speed and defence. The maximum APR that riot gear can have is 4.

Sins have a base threshold, modified by +/- 5 depending on motivation and severity.

8 Theft or property damage
7 Physical Injury to another
7 Psychological Damage including denial of agency
5 Combined Physical/Psychological damage
4 Taking a life

Suggested modifiers (Cumulative)
Accidental: +2
To avert a greater sin: +2
With good cause: +1
For selfish reasons: -1
Malicious or gratuitous: -2
Massive scope: -2

From now on, when using Celerity (Or other methods of supernatural speed) you get your defence against ranged weaponry due to the difficulty in tracking a relatively small, rapidly moving object. This may be negated by some powers.