VAMPIRE: The Masquerade: Secrets

Updated: 13 May 1998
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SECRETS

The Kindred, with their powerful powers, and the high number of versatile Disciplines, are the masters of the City. The Lupines contacts with the mortals is tentative at best, because of their rage, that puts them appart from Humanity, and because of their lack of social powers that can influence greatly the masses. Mages, in the other side, have more versatile powers, but using them leads soon to Paradox accumulation: Mortal find, most of the time, strange alien the charisma and influence a supernatural creature can have over them. The difference is that a Vampire doesn't care, and a Mage does, because of the Paradox born from this unbelieving behaviour... Wraiths can have some amount of power over a mortal, but the shroud and the increasing numbers of Specters around Paris make their presence inconfortable at best. The same can be said for Changelings.

Kindred, with their hundred years of control over it, are the true masters of its politics. In the same time, internal intrigues have the unwelcome effects (for mortals at least) to affect both the Kindred and Kine population and politics. This is the reason the Secrets Background is both knowledge of parisian Kindred affairs, as well as more general (and somewhat inaccurate) occult, political, or underworld knowledge within the City of Lights.

Secrets? What Secrets?

Unless you can see both the Kine and Kindred society, you sometimes won't be able to understand some reasons behind some events, or even make the accurate link between this or this event.

Someone having secrets can have different kind of information, like:

Who is who among the parisian Kindred
Who have the right influence on the subject interesting you
Who is the Kindred behind some event caused, apparently, only by mortal actions.
Who are the True Elders of Paris (i.e.: Those intriguing and using their lesser berthren to further their aims).

What you won't get with Secrets?

The name of the Lupine Beta.
The difference of viewpoints between the Mage's Traditions
The geography or history of Paris (unless limited history in the Kindred's biased viewpoint).
The name of the Brujah Primogen of Chicago.

Remember that Secrets should, in truth, be named Paris'Kindred'Secrets. It is not impossible to have Paris'Lupine'Secrets or Paris'Mage'Secrets, but in truth, this isn't revelant enough to be created as a Knowledge, as it would only give information about those supernatural and their limited influence over mortals. Note that it is really difficult for Supernatural creatures to accumulate Secrets about a society not of their own.

Kindred Knowledge:

The first use of Secrets is to recognize Kindred (or even some well-known supernatural within the Kindred society). As a rule of thumb, make a roll of Perception+Secret, Difficulty: (8-Status of the Kindred). It is used to recognize someone who was seen a few seconds before, or from description. Note that this difficulty can vary greatly, depending on the secrecy of the Kindred, or inaccurate source... Additionnal successes can give additional information... For example, that Lazlo used to have a Kindred lover who happened to be a Bâtard, and who commited suicide because of some action from Ivan...

The second use is to discover what are the area of control the Kindred have over mortal institutions (i.e.:Influence). Most Kindred's connection on mortals are known enought to justify an Wits+Secrets Roll, Difficulty 10-Influence. Note that this Difficulty can vary even more, as some Kindred like to keep their true influence a secret. By succeeding in this roll, you could understand that Elle's influence over mortal is, surprisingly, as great as Ivan's or Alexis'one.

There is an infinity of possible roll for an infinity of actions using secrets. Use your own judgement with the guidelines given before.

Secrets Commonly known (!):

Here is a table of the common information one can have with secrets. Remember that Secrets is a Knowledge. You can raise it with experience with only the experience points your Storyteller allows you to use for it. That means that a character can learn some well hidden secrets learnt in the course of the chronicle (thus, being allowed to raise his Secrets Knowledge) but still ignore most general secrets (because he never put experience on it).

Secrets
0	You know nothing about the Secrets of Paris.
*	You know about the Prince of Paris and France, François Villon, and know, perhaps, the Primogen's names. You know you can find the Prince, or at least one of his lieutenants at the Louvre, the Elysium museum. You know about the Masques'existence. You know Villon created some Edicts but you don't necesseraly remember them all.
**	The Primogens are called Ducs because they rule their Bloodline in France. You know their name, and the power of their Bloodline. You know the Anarchs are tolerated in Paris, and that they have an hang-out in a subburbs'nightclub called the Psaume 69. You know the Daughters of Cacophony have their "chantry" in an Elysium nightclub called Les Ruines. You know some Kindred of Paris. You know the Edicts of Villon. You know about the Veilleurs'existence and their exclusive right to deal with Mages.
***	You know most known Kindred of Paris. You know the principal area of influence of the most important Kindred of Paris. You know some places in Paris are real sources of Magickal energy, and that the Tremere, Veilleurs and mortal Mages are highly interested in them. You know some of the intrigues running in secret under the apparent calm of the Cour. You know the Veilleurs are working on something really important.
****	You know Laureen's position in the Tremere pyramid of power is strange indeed. You know Villon's apparent unconcerned behaviour hides something. You know the Veilleur's true aim is to study the effects of the so-called Aura of Corruption.
*****	You know about the existence of Francesca, and her alliance with Villon. You know of the true contacts of Villon with the Faeries. You know about some of the True Masters of Paris, like Villon, Laureen, Francesca, etc. but not necessarily their true aims.
***** *	You know a lot more than thought possible. Your knowledge about others, including other Lords would put them at unease if they knew its true extents. While you do not necessarily know about their true aims, you know them from what they are (at least now...). You know about the Corruption's principal caracteristics, perhaps even its ancient name, or origin.

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