Rules of the House
The
following is a list of the Rules of the House that I will be instituting (or
have already been instituted, but not really discussed). These are designed to either keep the game in
the spirit that I want it in, or to remove some long-term rules disputations
that have been occurring. Note,
however, that the Storyteller (me) can overrule anything in any of the
rulebooks or on this page, if I so choose.
The Storyteller can also fudge any roll, both rolls by Players and by
the Storyteller.
The
index for this page is immediately below.
Character Creation Guidelines | Hunger and
Self-Control Rolls | Feeding | Last Ditch Efforts | Experience
Out of Character Knowledge | Ammunition Types | Concealing Your
Aura | Non-Canon Games | Rules of Conduct
Game Related Rules of Conduct | Derangements
Most of
the house rules are regarding Character Creation Guidelines. I want to make sure that starting characters
are balanced, fair, and diverse, and have developed a few rules in order to
facilitate such characters.
Trait
Limitations
Starting
characters have several limitations.
First, they cannot have any Abilities higher than a four, unless they
are Secondary Abilities. Second, they
cannot have the Clan Prestige, Generation, or Herd Backgrounds higher than
three or the Influence, Military Forces, and Status Backgrounds higher then
two.
Disciplines
Character
cannot have any Disciplines that are specific to a Bloodline. They also cannot have any of the following
Disciplines unless they are Clan Disciplines: Chimerstry, Dementation,
Necromancy, Obtenebration, Protean, Quietus, Serpentis, Thaumaturgy, and
Vicissitude. You absolutely cannot have
Dark Thaumaturgy. What is that, you
ask? It doesn't matter. You can't have it.
In
addition, the following Disciplines are to be considered fourth Clan
Disciplines for Player Characters (with their respective clans listed after the
Discipline name). However, they cannot
be purchased with one of your three (or four) initial Discipline points; they
can only be bought with Experience.
Too. Damn. Bad.
Discipline Clan
Assamite Sorcery Assamites and Assamite Antitribu
Setite Thaumaturgy Setites and Setite Antitribu
Koldunic Sorcery Tzimisce and Old Clan Tzimisce
Banned
Clans
Characters
can be from any of the thirteen major clans (or Caitiffs), but cannot be from a
Bloodline. In addition, the following
clans are allowed but discouraged: Assamite, Lasombra, Ravnos, Tzimisce. Although you can play one, you had better
have a damn good reason for it. None of
those clans are currently represented in Baltimore. Tremere, and Ventrue are currently restricted due to the
inundation or Tremere and Ventrue in the city.
I also want to discourage you from playing a Gangrel, because there is
already a Gangrel Player Character.
Finally, Setites are pretty much off limits - again, you can play
one, buy you probably won't be allowed to.
Banned
Backgrounds
You
cannot, under any circumstances, take the Backgrounds Age or Black Hand
Membership. Too damn bad.
Available
Merits / Flaws
The
following is a list of the Merits and
Flaws that I will allow as standard, and their costs in my game. Note that if the costs below differ from the
costs noted in books, then the costs below apply. If you don't see a Merit or Flaw on this list that you want to
take, there is probably a very good reason for it. However, if you must, you can approach me about anything not
listed below for approval. But you had
better have a damn good reason.
Physical
Acute
Sense (1), Ambidextrous (1), Bruiser (1), Catlike Balance (1), Early Riser (1),
Eat Food (1), Friendly Face (1), Blush of Health (2), Enchanting Voice (2),
Daredevil (3), Efficient Digestion (3), Huge Size (4), Dulled Bite (-1), Hard
of Hearing (-1), Short (-1), Smell of the Grave (-1), Twitch (-1), 14th
Generation (-2), Bad Sight (-1 or –3), Child (-3), Disfigured (-2), Infectious
Bite (-2), One Eye (-2), Vulnerability to Silver (-2), Addiction (-3),
Deformity (-3), Glowing Eyes (-3), Lame (-3), Lazy (-3), Monstrous (-3), Open
Wound (-2-4), Permanent Fangs (-3), Permanent Wound (-3), Slow Healing (-3),
Mute (-4), Thin Blood (-4), Disease Carrier (-4), Deaf (-4), Flesh of the
Corpse (-5), Infertile Vitae (-5), Blind (-6)
Mental
Coldly
Logical (1), Common Sense (1), Concentration (1), Time Sense (1), Useful
Knowledge (1), Code of Honor (2), Computer Aptitude (2), Eidetic Memory (2),
Light Sleeper (2), Natural Linguist (2), Calm Heart (3), Iron Will (3),
Precocious (5), Deep Sleeper (-1), Impatient (-1), Introspection (-1),
Nightmares (-1), Prey Exclusion (-1), Shy (-1), Soft-Hearted (-1), Speech
Impediment (-1), Unconvinced (-1), Amnesia (-2), Lunacy (-2), Phobias (-2),
Short Fuse (-2), Stereotype (-2), Territorial (-2), Thirst for Innocence (-2),
Vengeful (-2), Victim of the Masquerade (-2), Weak-Willed (-3), Conspicuous
Consumption (-4), Guilt-Wracked (-4), Flashbacks (-6)
Social
Elysium
Regular (1), Former Ghoul (1), Harmless (1), Natural Leader (1), Prestigious
Sire (1), Protégé (1), Rep (1), Sabbat Survivor (1), Boon (1-6), Debt of
Gratitude (1-3), Bullyboy (2), Old Pal (2), Open Road (2), Sanctity (2),
Scholar of Enemies (2), Scholar of Others (2), Sheriff’s Friend (2), Domain
(2-4), Alternate Identity (3), Friend of the Underground (3), Mole (3), Rising
Star (3), Clan Friendship (4), Broken Bond (4), Primogen Friendship (4), Harpy
(5), Botched Presentation (-1), Dark Secret (-1), Expendable (-1), Incomplete
Understanding (-1), Infamous Sire (-1), Mistaken Identity (-1), New Arrival
(-1), New Kid (-1), Recruitment Target (-1), Sire’s Resentment (-1), Special
Responsibility (-1), Sympathizer (-1), Bound (-2), Catspaw (-2), Enemy (-1-5),
Escaped Target (-2), Masquerade Breaker (-2), Old Flame (-2), Rival Sires (-2),
Uppity (-2), Disgrace to the Blood (-3), Hunted Like a Dog (-3), Narc (-3),
Sleeping With the Enemy (-3), Clan Enmity (-4), Hunted (-4), Loathsome Regnant (-4), Overextended (-4),
Probationary Sect Member (-4), Blood Hunted (-4-6), Laughingstock (-5), Red
list (-7)
Supernatural
Deceptive
Aura (1), Inoffensive to Animals (1), Lucky (3), Unbondable (3), True Love (4),
True Faith (7), Cold Breeze (-1), Repulsed by Garlic (-1), Touch of Frost (-1),
Cursed (-1-5), Beacon of the Unholy (-2), Deathsight (-2), Eerie Presence (-2),
Lord of the Flies (-2), Haunted (-3), Repelled by Crosses (-3), Grip of the
Damned (-4), Dark Fate (-5), Light Sensitive (-5)
Custom
Hierarchies of Sins
If you
feel that the standard Hierarchy of Sins for Humanity does not quite fit with
your character's perception of Humanity, then feel free to alter the Hierarchy
and show it to me for approval. Note
that this doesn't give you license to create some sort of monster with a Humanity of 10 who doesn't have a problem
with sodomizing dead babies, so you had better have a good reason for altering
the Hierarchy.
Restricted
Abilities
The
following is a list of Abilities that are Restricted - meaning that you can
take them, but I would really prefer that you didn't. If you really want to and you have a really good reason, then run
it by me for approval.
Black
Hand Lore, Camarilla Lore, City Secrets, Clan Knowledge, Faerie Lore, Kindred
Lore, Lupine Lore, Mage Lore, Sabbat
Lore, Sewer Lore, Spirit Lore, Wyrm Lore
Incentives
Since I
want some diversity in my game, I am willing to hand out extra freebie points
to players who create new and different characters. Therefore, if you play a female character, then you get 10 extra
freebie points upon creation. If you
play a Brujah or Nosferatu, then you get 5 extra freebie points upon creation. If you choose to play a Toreador (and this
only applies until the first person to pick a Toreador as a clan creates his
character), you get 10 extra freebie points.
Finally, if you come up with a really incredible character concept with
a genuinely detailed background that I feel will bring something wonderful to
the Chronicle, you could get a whole lot of extra freebies. Ooooo….
The
rules state that a feeding character must make a Self-Control roll when if they
are Hungry in order to resist Frenzy.
What exactly does Hungry mean, in game terms? I have decided that if the character has four or less Blood
Points in their Blood Pool, then they are Hungry. This also will effect all Self-Control rolls made by the
character, increasing the difficulty of any non-feeding related Self-Control
roll by one for each Blood Point less than five that the character has, and
increasing the difficulty of feeding related Self-Control rolls by one for each
Blood Point less than four currently in the character's Blood Pool.
Although
this has not previously been the case, all feeding from this point on will be
completely roleplayed. This means that
you must tell me exactly where you are going to feed, what kind of prey
you are looking for, how long you want to search, and the like, and when you do
find a viable option to feed on, you must tell me exactly what you are
doing. The entire process will be
roleplayed, including dialogue. This
will force you to pay attention to such things as witnesses and law
enforcement, body disposal and the like.
Remember that if you take more then four Blood Points, a normal human
being will require hospitalization or they will die. And don't forget to lick the wound. I have also decided, just to be difficult,
that any undue violence or cruelty on the part of the character while feeding
will result in a Humanity roll. So be
nice, kiddies (or as nice as can be expected when you are draining blood out of
someone).
Several
times during the course of our little chronicle, I have forced a person to
reroll when they have failed a roll and I felt it was dramatically
incongruous. I have also, on numerous
occasions, saved the life of a Player Character that I really didn't want dying. I have decided that it is a little unfair
for the NPCs, so I have made a rather difficult decision regarding the whole
situation. Therefore, once a game
session you may spend a point of permanent Willpower and forfeit one
Experience Point in order to negate the results of a single roll or to reroll
once. If this negation or reroll drags
your character from death back into life, you forfeit all of the
Experience Points you would have gained in that game session and must spend two
permanent Willpower points. Hopefully,
this will make you think twice about attacking the gigantic, heavily armed
Tzimisce who just killed a werewolf and is snacking on any entire SWAT squad.
Gaining
Experience
I don't
want to give away an insane amount of Experience, so I am going to reward it as
shown in the chart below. You can never
gain more than one experience point for any one thing listed.
Reason
- Showing up for the game (whether it occurs or not)
- Engaging in some out-of-game character development. This can range from a family tree to a
history of your character, to
some Blue Booking or even some one-on-one Roleplaying
(which gets you a maximum of one point).
- Learning. If you
feel you have learned something, declare it at the end of the game. If I think it is something valid (meaning
that you actually pursued the knowledge without me handing
it to you, and it is at least a little important [and not obvious], then
you get one point.
- Roleplaying. At
the end of any game, I will ask everyone to nominate anyone who they think did
a good job Roleplaying. If I
agree with their reasons, the nominee gets one point.
- Heroism. At the
end of any game, I will ask everyone to nominate anyone who they think did
something genuinely heroic. If I
agree with their reasons, the nominee gets one point.
- Wisdom. At the
end of any game (Are you detecting a trend?), I will ask everyone to nominate
anyone who they think acted
with wisdom at some point.
If I agree with their reasons, the nominee gets one point.
- Addditional Experience may be given out at
my whim. So kiss my ass, and you might
go far.
Experience
Expenditure
Although
it is cruel and heartless, I admit, I am going to set up some fairly stringent
guidelines on Experience Expenditure - the first one being that you can never, ever
tell me about spending your experience except during
one of my game sessions. No
exceptions possible. Other than that,
here is a list of Experience Expenditure Do's and Don’ts. Kinda.
- You cannot spend Experience on
Backgrounds. They can only be earned in
game, and will be granted when you get them.
- You can't spend Experience in the
middle of a game. Do it at the
beginning, or wait until the end.
- You must successfully use a trait that you already have
in game before you can raise it. This
means that you will have had to make at least one success on a roll involving
that trait at some point in the prior game session.
- You can buy new Talents without training, but you need to
have successfully used the new Talent before (remember, you can roll for
Talents even if you don't have any dots in them). This can be achieved through practice.
- You can only buy new Skills if you are taught them in
game.
- You can only buy points in Knowledge (whether it is a new
Knowledge or one you already have) if you are trained in game.
- You can only purchase Disciplines without training if
they are Clan Disciplines (except for Thaumaturgy - see below) or if the Discipline
in question is Celerity, Fortitude, or Potence. All other Disciplines require in-game training in order to get
more dots in them, whether you already know them or not. To clarify 'training', one must have another
character make a successful Instruction roll (difficulty equal to 10-the
learning characters Intelligence, plus one if the Discipline in question is a
clan-specific Discipline) in order to begin to spend experience on that
Discipline.
- The addition of any kind of magic (Thaumaturgy, Assamite
Sorcery, Setite Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, Koldunic Sorcery and Dark
Thaumaturgy), whether Paths or Rituals, can only be done through in game
training. This applies even if it is a
Clan Discipline.
Docking
Experience
Arguing
overlong with the Storyteller or just pissing him off will result in some
Experience being docked. So there. If this happens too much, you might not be
right for my games.
Feel
free to talk amongst yourself about the game.
Reveal horrible secrets. Buy the
Storyteller's Companion and the Storyteller's Handbook. I am not Big Brother. However, if I find that anyone is acting -
in game - on OoC information, I will remove one Experience Point for each such
action, with no warnings. Just don't do
it. It ruins the game for everyone,
especially you.
Since
we have debated numerously over the effectiveness of various types of
ammunition, I am presenting the one and only definitive list of ammunition
types and their effects. If you have a
problem with it, too bad.
Characters
experiencing normal ranges of emotions can conceal their Aura for one scene by
making a Self-Control roll, difficulty of the observers' Perception + Empathy
(whether they are using Auspex on you or not).
However, if they are suddenly thrown into extremes of emotion (great
sorrow, shock, frenzy, etc.), then they must spend a Willpower point not to
have their Aura visible, and must make the Self-Control roll again at +1
Difficulty.
I don't
like certain aspects of several White Wolf games. Therefore, the following games will have been altered from their
Canon versions, so don't expect to know about them. If your character has the requisite Lore, then I will tell you in
private what your character knows.
Changeling
the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning (doesn't exist), Mage the Ascension, Mummy
the Resurrection (doesn't exist as a core game), and Wraith the Oblivion.
Since we
are playing at my house, I want to set up a few guidelines for everyone,
primarily to keep me (and to a lesser extent, the other inhabitants of the
house and the various players) happy and comfortable.
- Don't
eat or drink anything unless it is specifically provided for the game. Feel free to bring your own food for
everyone - I do have a somewhat limited budget.
- Don't
lie on my bed. Sit on it, sure. But no lying on it unless you are a) very
clean, b) an attractive female or c) me.
- Don't
touch any of my stuff. Many of the
action figures on my shelves are pieces that are no longer being produced or
where somewhat expensive; they are not toys, they are collectibles. Just don't touch them. If they break (and several have), it really
pisses me off, and I feel that I should be reimbursed for that. The same goes for by DVDs, CDs, computer,
television, PS2, Dreamcast, VCR, videos, comics, swords, and Legos. And anything else not game related that I
haven't listed here. Capiche?
- Try
to keep the volume down if possible; I have neighbors and there are other
people living in this house who may be just a little bit annoyed if people are
screaming about vampires at one in the morning.
-
Everybody out when the game is over. I
usually have things that I want to do, and usually have to work the next day.
- Don't
argue with the god damn Storyteller.
Ever.
Again,
these rules are merely to make everyone a little more comfortable and happy.
- Don't
kill another Player Character without the approval of the Storyteller. The death of a PC can really ruin that game,
especially if it is arbitrary. If you
go ahead and do it anyway, I may simply discount it. I need to know ahead of time so that I can work it into the
plot. I will only give it the go ahead
if I think it is truly an appropriate move.
I would much prefer if people would go to the Camarilla authorities or
attempt to the undermine another PC's influence then just kill them, since this
would not only keep everyone happy, but it would also help create new story
threads.
- Don't
invite anyone into the game unless I tell everyone I am looking for a new
player. I have found that the game runs
the most smoothly if there are three players and a Storyteller. However, it doesn't hurt to have a fourth
player, since someone usually cancels for one reason or other. I don't want someone told how great the game
is and how they should come and play only to find that I didn't want any more
players; its not fair to them, and its not fair to me.
- If at
all possible, bring your own dice. I
have plenty to give out, but I would prefer that everyone had there own. I also wouldn't mind if people all had their
own copy of the core rulebook.
I have never
seen anyone play a Malkavian correctly.
This is not an attack on any individuals, nor is it merely some
arbitrary judgment. My reasoning? Every Malkavian must have a derangement as a
weakness. This shouldn't be some minor
inconvenience or mere humor device; this a crippling insanity that permeates
every waking hour (and some hours of slumber) for the Malkavian in
question. Therefore, I suggest that
people really play their derangements.
Although there are some (hallucinations, for instance) that I can force
on the Player, I want to see anyone playing a Malkavian really making their
derangements a part of the character.
Therefore, I have decided two things: first off, I will dock an
experience point every game that the player does not play their derangement,
and secondly, I will never allow any experience for Roleplaying if the player
did not play the derangement. This
could result in no experience in a game where you would've gotten two… so play
your derangement!