Vampire: the Requiem, Rule Alterations

CHARACTER CREATION Dot Disciplines Players have 30 XP to distribute among their characters Disciplines. Blood Potency 1 2 3 4 5 Discipline (x5) 5 15 30 50 75 Discipline (x7) 7 21 42 70 105

Players may remove any amount of XP from their characters starting Attributes, Abilities, Merits, and Disciplines XP and pool it on a one-for-one basis. This may only be used to increase Blood Potency. Otherwise, it is halved (rounded down) and added to the general pool of XP. The Haven Merit Characters no longer buy the Haven Merit with merit points. Instead, they describe their haven and are assigned dots (or have their proposed dots accepted) by the ST. Obviously, Resources are the easiest way to justify Haven dots, but Resources also come with the most responsibility. Havens are not a free lunch, however. LocationThe better the havens location, the easier it is to find by other people as they tend to be wandering around in the same neighborhood. Even havens with high Security are not immune to this since others will still spot the vampire most often in the area. All Stealth rolls attempted in the vicinity of the haven (1-2 blocks) have a penalty equal to its Location. This penalty applies to Cloak of the Night. Its also more likely that people will expect to see the vampire the closer she gets to her haven (rendering the Familiar Stranger useless). SizeThe larger the haven, the harder it is to patrol. It becomes easier for creatures (vampire or otherwise) to remain hidden inside. Searching the haven or noticing something unusual going on inside it receives a penalty equal to Haven (Size). Characters can mitigate part of this penalty with internal surveillance cameras, but maintaining a system that records your every movement has its own drawbacks. SecurityKindred are xenophobic by nature and their haven is their most treasured possession because of it. When the security of a haven, especially a well-defended one, is compromised, the character is left unsettled and nervous. When a character discovers their home has been compromised, they take a penalty on all actions equal to Haven (Security). They can mitigate this penalty for a scene with a Resolve + Composure roll, with a -1 for each previous such rolls made that night (max -5). This penalty does not apply to actions which contribute to directly mitigating the paranoia (such as securing a new haven or building traps). This penalty persists until the vampire neutralizes the threat (real or otherwise) or relocates to a new haven.

Coils and Experience Points 1

Coils cost (New Rating) x 5, though the total number of tiers still counts as the current level. Ghouls and Retainer Merit Characters who decide to make the Retainer a ghoul automatically gets 1+1 Discipline dot to distribute (these free dots are balanced by the monthly blood requirements). Each increase in the Retainer rating yields an additional Discipline dot to distribute. Those who wish to have an animal ghoul should use the following chart to estimate what sort of animal would require what level of retainer. Statistics will be made on a case-by-case basis. cat, small dog, spiders (swarm), squirrel, small snake (non-poisonous) raven, bat, small snake (poisonous), monkey, badger, owl, bats (swarm) large dog, horse, ape, eagle, hawk, wolverine black bear, large snake (non-poisonous), crocodile (freshwater) grizzly bear, lion, crocodile (saltwater), elephant All animal ghouls have one point in Celerity, Resilience, or Vigor, depending on the regents clan. They do not have Morality (and thus cannot reduce it for more XP). Animal ghouls can only learn the physical Disciplines, save Auspex and Animalism which take much longer (two Discipline dots yields one level in these Disciplines). Not they can only learn in-clan Disciplines for their Regent, unless justified. The Old and the New To capture the limits and human (and vampire) understanding, the experience point cost of purchasing certain Skills, Specialties, and Merits increase based on how old the character is. For every fifty years beyond the first fifty of activity (including mortal years), the XP cost of certain Traits increase by one (New Rating x3, x4, x5, etc). For other Traits, the cost increases as dots increase. Some Traits are unaffected (such as Brawl). A consistent increase applies to Traits that did not exist (or Traits that have fundamentally changed) during the first fifty years of a vampires activity, starting at birth. For example, a vampire born in the 1940s increases his Computers by New Rating x4 instead of x3. An incremental increase applies to Traits which have undergone immense change over the decades, but still remain essentially the same from the vampires youth. It begins normally and then increases by one for each dot purchased, up to its max. This represents an initially familiar subject diverging into increasingly strange places. For example, a vampire born in 1870 and active ever since starts with Science at x3 (3 XP), then Science at x4 (8 XP), then Science at x5 (15XP), Science at x5 (20XP), etc. o In times when the Trait exists but progress is essentially static, such as Medicine during certain eras of history, those intervening years do not count against the vampire for XP increases.

Characters cannot use starting dots to purchase Skills or Merits that cost abnormal XP.

COVENANTS & CLANS Status Characters cannot start with more than two dots in Status. Carthian Movement Status in the Carthian Movement does not grant a discount to purchasing other Merits. Instead, it allows the character to purchase Devotions listed in the Carthian Covenant book. Invictus Status in the Invictus does not grant a discount to purchasing other Merits. Instead, it allows the character to purchase Blood Oaths as well as Devotions in the Invictus Covenant book. In addition, Blood Oaths are no longer Devotions in the normal sense: they only have Blood Potency requirements. If an Oath requires a roll modified by a Discipline, modify it by Blood Potency instead. Blood Potency requirements below supersede requirements listed in the Invictus book. Blood Oath Blood-Tell Oath The Oath of Running Blood Oath of Blood Alliance Oath of Blood Knives Oath of the Bloody Hand The Oath of Burning Blood Oath of Blood Focus Oath of Blood Service The Oath Unsworn Oath of Blood Loyalty Political Specialties Vampire characters cannot purchase a Politics Specialty in Kindred; that is much too broad, like purchasing a Politics Specialty in Mortal. Players can purchase a Politics Specialty for a Covenant (Invictus, Carthian, etc), or in a particular facet of Kindred politics (Clan Relations, Covenant Relations, Jurisdiction, Taking/Losing Office, Title Rights and Responsibilities, etc). Note that non-Kindred can take a Specialty in Kindred Politics but that means they know theres this thing call a Prince and he rules over a domain. New Clan Weaknesses As creatures of darkness, Mekhets take a -2 penalty to all rolls for actions attempted in bright light. Bright light is any area with greater luminance than an average living room (about 50 lux), such as hallways (80 lux), offices (300 lux), and television studios (1000 lux). 3 Type Avoidance Performance Mutual Avoidance Performance Avoidance Performance Mutual Avoidance Mutual Page 178 182 184 179 182 180 183 184 180 185 Min BP 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4

Gangrels take aggravated damage from silver weapons, as werewolves. Nosferatus continue to be repulsive or uncomfortable but now that manifests as an effective reduction in Humanity. When interacting with mortals, consider Humanity two lower when calculating maximum dice pools. While Kindred are largely immune to such mortal concerns, interacting with those new to their Requiem could impose a similar cap (as such individuals would be equally uncomfortable with eerie habits of low Humanity vampires). Some Nosferatu are able to mitigate this problem by hiding their distorted faces (though there is little they can do about an aura of menace). For purposes of derangement checks, the Resolve of a Ventrue is, at most, two. BLOODLINES & BLOODLINE DISCIPLINES Being a Bloodline Starting as a bloodline requires that the character begins the game with either 8 less XP or one less Willpower dot. Appollinarie Ghede no longer claims the eye of his followers and his followers do not have an inherent ability to converse with the dead. The weakness of this bloodline is, instead, that all followers are claustrophobic. Govi Trap also grants the ability to converse with ghosts and may find ghosts as per the Eye of Ghede. After altering a door with Shift Threshold, moving that door more than a few feet causes it to lose its connection. The key used to active the door must be perceivable by sound, sight, or smell. Thinking a password will not work. When activating this power, blood is always spilled on the door (which is potentially visible to anyone) and making the connection permanent requires a point of Willpower, not Vitae. DISCIPLINES Detecting Discipline Failure In general, characters are aware that a Discipline attempt failed but only because it is obvious. A dog's bark remains as nonsensical as every other one, aura do not appear, etc. When it is not obvious, things become more complicated. Remember that Discipline use for the powers below involve projecting out an invisible stimulus that people resist or not. Unless psyches are entangled (as in Dominate 3), resistance is not evident. In general, a victim of a Discipline can either feign its effects (either they are aware of supernatural 4

powers or the effects mimic a mundane strategy) or the victim happens to respond coincidentally. (A failed Command tells the victim to sit, but the victim sits anyway because shes decides sitting sounds like a good idea.) This latter possibility does not apply to exceptional successes: the victim responds with such vigor that it cannot be an honest coincidence. All detection rolls are reflective but must be declared; any third party attempting to detect receives a -2 modifier to their roll. Wits + Empathy Subjects Composureused for when the victim happens to act in the way the vampire wishes. Almost always a low level power. Wits + Empathy v. Manipulation + Empathyused for detecting sudden uses of a Discipline (Dominate , Majesty , Nightmare ). Wits + Subterfuge v. Manipulation + Subterfugeused for detecting prolonged uses of a Discipline (Dominate , Majesty , Majesty , Nightmare ). Some instances may require that the deceiver succeed at a Manipulation + Empathy roll or get a -4 modifier to their deception roll.

Obfuscate deserves special mention. One cannot tell if it is working or not until someone else attempts to see it. Otherwise, the rules above still apply to it (including all levels). Note that in cases where safe input is not available, a character must act consistently. She cannot be cautious when the dice roll fails and be brave when it succeeds. This can be adjusted for circumstance. A normally cautious character can run from a burning building after Obfuscating, success or no. Instruction, Expanded Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate, and Theban Sorcery are Mental Traits. Celerity, Protean, Resilience, and Vigor are Physical Traits. Animalism, Majesty, Nightmare, and Crac are Social Traits. The Trait type of Coils of the Dragon changes depending on the Tier being taught: I II III IV Banes Composure Resolve Stamina Stamina Beast Composure Composure Resolve Resolve Blood Resolve Stamina Stamina Composure Flesh Stamina Resolve Stamina Stamina Soul Composure Stamina Resolve Resolve

Characters add their Blood Potency to their Resistance Attribute for purposes of determining max XP per session. Instruction is sometimes required to understand Disciplines. In cases like these, a certain number of successes must be accumulated (again, limited by the subjects appropriate Resistance trait per session) and only after that point does actual discounts accumulate. For clan Disciplines instruction is not necessary. This rule overwrites the other rules, if applicable. For Celerity, Resilience, and Vigor, at least one success per dot needs to be accumulated. For the common Disciplines (Animalism, Auspex, etc), at least one-third of the needed XP needs to be accumulated in successes. For Covenant Disciplines, you need to accumulate successes equal to at least one half of the needed XP. 5

To teach ghouls Disciplines, consider the instruction ratio to be two levels higher than it is for vampires (if it exceeds 1/2, it requires successes equal to all the XP required). The exception to this rule is if Celerity, Resilience, or Covenant Disciplines (T.S. or Cruac) Vigor is a clan Discipline in which case it Dot Physical Disciplines Min Succ Max Succ Min XP Purchased Dot Min Max Min XP 1st 4 6 5 Purchased Succ Succ 2nd 7 11 10 1st 1 3 5 3rd 11 18 14 2nd 2 6 10 4th 14 23 19 3rd 3 10 14 5th 18 29 24 4th 4 13 19 Covenant Disciplines (Coils) 5th 5 16 24 Dot Min Succ Max Succ Min XP Common Disciplines Purchased Dot Min Max 1st 3 4 4 Min XP Purchased Succ Succ 2nd 5 8 7 1st 3 5 5 3rd 8 13 10 2nd 5 9 10 4th 10 16 14 3rd 7 14 14 5th 13 21 17 4th 10 19 19 only needs one success from instruction. (With the 5th 12 23 24 exception of course of the first dot which is automatic.) All of these above rules are subject to expectations and unusual circumstances. For example, a Kindred may discover a secret text from the Lancea Sanctum which allows her to learn a dot in Theban Sorcery (though this is arguably just a form of indirect instruction). In situations where the vampire is teaching herself, the basic same rules should apply (minimum successes, many f the level of the power learned) but the power is never cheaper to learn. Training in low-level Disciplines is a popular boon to swap among the Damned, though higher levels (three or more) become more unlikely to be instructed (i.e. it requires a powerful boon to convince a would-be instructor). Part of this reason is the sheer amount of time it takes to teach someone higher levels of out-of-clan Disciplines. The other unspoken reason concerns the student overtaking the master, possibly replacing him in the eyes of Kindred society as the one you go to when you need someones memory erased. Monopolies dont like competition. Resisting Victims of all mind altering Disciplines which target a single individual (especially Dominate and Majesty) gain a bonus (up to +5) or penalty (down to -5) when resisting. This modifier is based on how much the victim genuinely wishes to obey the specific manipulation. Nightmare Monstrous Countenance This power can only affect one target at a time. 6

Obfuscate and Striking Looks Obfuscate , , and are penalized by a character's Striking Looks (2 or 4). In cases where sexual attraction is not an issue (such as a woman using Obfuscate 3 in a gay club), the penalty is halved. Obfuscate and Multiple Targets The number of people you can use Obfuscate on increases as you enhance your ability with Obfuscate. For every dot in Obfuscate you have beyond what's needed for a power, you can affect one additional (voluntary) target. For example, a vampire with Obfuscate 4 can hide objects on three other people, make it difficult for people to remember two other people, turn one other person invisible, and use Familiar Stranger only on himself. Note that since all affected vampires can see each other, targets cannot be used to verify the success or failure of Obfuscate if they are being affected by that power. Obfuscate Faceless Stalker Obfuscate is now called Faceless Stalker. Faceless Stalker blocks a viewer (or multiple viewers) from being able to remember the identity of the user while still giving the user the freedom of say, opening doors. Viewers are still able to recall the nature of what transpired such as conversations, actions, and emotions but find it impossible to remember just who did them or even what they looked like. This does not convey any sort of implicit trust or ability to blend into crowds people are still very much aware of what you are dressed like and your mannerisms but could not pick you out of a lineup if asked. Cost: None Dice Pool: Intelligence + Socialize + Obfuscate versus highest Resolve + Blood Potency Action: Instant Modifiers: +1 dressed very average; +1-3 face concealed; +2 currently wearing a disguise; -1 for each additional observer, -1 to -3 target has a good look at your face Obfuscate Blend with Night Obfuscate is now called Blend with Night. Vampires at this level of Obfuscate have learned to keep a Cloak of Night active even when drawing attention to themselves (lifting up an object, shutting a door). Bystanders see the objects float or move by themselves (unless the vampire uses Touch of Shadow) and this power it should go without saying that this power has a lot of potential to breach the Masquerade. The roll to activate is the same as Cloak of the Night. Only in when the vampire damages objects or people is the cloak difficult to maintain. Whenever the vampire successfully strikes another (including with bullets and thrown weapons), the vampire must spend a Willpower point or the vampire becomes visible again. The vampire can then reactive the cloak but, in addition to his opponent(s) seeing his location, the roll to active is penalized by the damage dealt to that character. This includes any damage dealt to the character's armor. (Damaging armor can also trigger this drop in the cloak even if the attack actually did no damage to the person the armor was protecting.) 7

An exceptional success on this roll means the first instance that you would spend Willpower to keep up the cloak, you do not. Every instance beyond that is treated normally. This power lasts for number of turns equal to the successes rolled. Protean Body Armory Protean is now called Body Armory. At this basic level of Protean, characters learn how to meld with objects up to a Size equal to the users level in Protean (max of three) to be removed for later use. Characters cannot store objects whose total Size greater than their Size (subject to Storyteller discretionone cannot store an infinite number of Size 0 objects). It costs one Vitae and no roll to activate this power. When removed, the object emerges unharmed though complicated devices (anything with electronic or moving parts, such as a gun or cell phone) require a successful Intelligence + Crafts roll. Very complex items levy a -1 (pistol) to -5 (laptop) modifier to this roll. Required Specialties for these rolls apply, and there is no penalty (or bonus) regarding tools. This roll may also be applied to unique items (such as a work of art). Removing any object requires one action and the object must be removed from the area of the body it melded with and from the same area of the skin. The number of items stored in the same area is subject to Storyteller discretion. Objects can only remain in the characters body for a number of hours equal to twice their Stamina. Once that time passes the objects move out of the body on their own, rendering them useless. Characters can spend a point of Willpower to keep the item merged for one hour. Objects leave scarring on the skin while they are melded. Characters who know what such scarring could mean make a Wits + Composure roll penalized by the subjects Protean when attempting to find such evidence. Its worth noting that metallic objects fused with the body can still set off metal detectors but their metallic signature is less intense. Objects are inert while inside the vampire. A live hand grenade does not explode and food does not rot. It is possible to disarm a bomb with this power, but removing it still requires Intelligence + Crafts (with a penalty reduced by 1 than if trying to keep it intact). Failure indicates the bomb explodes. A dramatic failure means it explodes while still partly integrated with the character. Note that unlike mundanely disarming a bomb (Armory 114), only one success is required. Protean Haven of Soil Haven of Soil is no longer useable with water. Instead, a character can spend three XP to meld with metal (including steel, aluminum, and titanium). Resilience

While active, Resilience can downgrade a number of aggravated damage per turn equal to your dots in Resilience. This count never ends until the power does: it acts like armor except instead of removing successes, it downgrades aggravated to lethal. When active, Resilience adds to the Kindred's dice pool to avoid fear frenzy. ghouls gain an advantage Kindred gain little from: Resilience helps resist toxins and poisons. When active, Resilience reduces damage dealt when an attempt to resist toxicity fails. Resilience still costs a turn and a blood to activate, but it lasts until sunrise instead of just an hour. (Unless you activate it during the day, in which it will last a scene.) Coil of Banes Conquer the Red Fear now means that fire at a safe distance no longer provokes frenzy for the vampire. If the fire is moved to close range, however, frenzy may still occur. Suns Forgotten Kiss now defines sunrise and sunset for the vampire as nautical dawn and dusk instead of astronomical dawn and dusk, effectively adding an hour a night to the vampires unlife. Damage taken between nautical dawn and nautical dusk does not change. Coil of Beast Chastise the Beast now requires the vampire to decide if they will spend the Willpower before rolling to resist frenzy, not after. Exhaust the Beast now requires an hour in frenzy for every other point in Blood Potency the vampire has. One and two requires one hour, three and four require two hours, etc. Coil of Blood In addition to its normal effects, Orphaned Blood allows the Kindred to spend a Willpower dot and remove any trace of a Vinculum she is under the influence of, as long as shes aware of the Vinculum. Coil of Flesh The Man Wakes is now called Feed the Man. The Kindred may receive nourishment from red meat prepared very raw (virtually bloody). A single restaurant-sized steak will provide one Vitae and the vampire may consume one such steak a night per point in Stamina (though a full feeding will need to be spaced out over the night). These steaks will need to be vomited out like any other food, but the vampire can wait until dawn to do so (no blood needs to be spent to keep them down). A Taste of Life is now The Face of Man, allowing hair and nails to be grown (for a Vitae) and prevent blurring in photographs, videos and other media without Willpower expenditure. (Clear images still only persist for a number of months equal to 12 minus the Kindreds Blood Potency 9

and a Willpower dot expenditure is still required to make the image permanent.) Also, this power may be used to make a Kindreds reflection clear. The vampire does not need to be aware that shes being filmed or a mirror is present to be using this power. She may suppress this power as a reflexive action. The third tier, The Face of Man (which is now the second tier, see above) is now called Heal the Man. Like the Bruise of Life (the formal fourth tier, see below), Kindred may heal bashing as a mortal does without spending blood (one for every fifteen minutes that pass). This power persists even if the character is suffering from an aggravated damage. In addition, one Vitae heals three bashing instead of two (this does not allow the vampire to heal one lethal and one bashing with one Vitae, even though a lethal damage is arguably two bashing damage rolled into one). The Bruise of Life is now called The Unliving Man. The Kindred has trained her body and the blood it contains to act mortal. As long as she is not hungry or starving, the Kindred constantly counterfeits life without spending blood. This allows her to eat food and keep it down, maintain a warm body temperature, breathe, blink, maintain a healthy hue, and have sex. This increases the characters effective Humanity cap on certain Social dice pools by one. In addition, the character can simulate life where other vampires cannot. With a single expenditure of Vitae the Kindred may develop a heartbeat (at virtually any rate), blood pressure (at virtually any level), sweat human sweat, and cry actual tears (not blood). There has been a few documented cases that occasions this allows the Kindred to conceive a child with a mortal (it naturally works best with women as the mortal since an undead mother would have issues keeping the fetus alive), though such pregnancies always end in miscarriage. The Ordo Dracul actively seeks out such fetal remains for experimentation and dissection. Coil of the Soul Enliven the Face no longer removes the Humanity cap. Instead, the characters Humanity is considered to be at least seven (five for Nosferatu) for purposes of dice limits. It is also the second tier instead of the first (the first tier is now what was the second tier). DEVOTIONS Awesome Countenance Prerequisite: Majesty , Nightmare Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive XP: 6 When activating Monstrous Countenance, the character may reflexively activate this Devotion to affect multiple targets. These targets must already be under the sway of the vampires Awe and the invocation roll suffers a penalty scaled similar to multiple targets with Awe (see page 129). The targets must be able to see at least 2/3 of the vampires faceprofiles do not cut itthough the vampire may turn his head while activating this power (covering at most a 180-degree arc). Victims roll to resist separately, though for large groups the Storyteller can roll the highest 10

Composure + Blood Potency, with extra successes beyond whats needed to resist reflecting lesser and lesser willed individuals resisting the power. Enduring Shadow Prerequisite: Auspex , Obfuscate Cost: None Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive XP: 6 The character may allow Touch of Shadow to continue even though he is no longer near the hidden object. As long as the vampire can see the people who would perceive the object, the object remains hidden. The vampire must view the witnesses directly (no monitors or cameras) but can extend the range with Heighten Senses. If the vampire cannot see some of the witnesses, those witnesses can see the object, but others cannot (until its pointed out to them). Impressive Countenance Prerequisite: Majesty , Nightmare Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + lower of Majesty and Nightmare versus targets Composure + Blood Potency Action: Instant, contested XP: 6 The vampire appears menacing to her target, with him suffering a penalty to all actions equal to the vampires successes on her invocation roll (maximum of her Presence). These penalties last for as long the vampire remains in his range of vision, plus a number of turns thereafter equal the vampires Blood Potency. A dramatic failure indicates that the target is immune to this power for the rest of the scene. Loot the Armory Prerequisite: Protean , Vigor Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Strength + Weaponry + Protean targets Stamina Action: Instant XP: 9 Kindred who know this power insist on sharing. They can reach into an area scarred by Body Armory and rip out an item from their opponents body. The attacker must touch the scar directly with a targeting penalty of 5 minus the retrieved items Size (see Touching an Opponent, World of Darkness Core Book, 157). The number of successes on the Devotion roll equals the amount of lethal damage done to the opponent as the item rips from his body. The minimum amount of damage done in this way is the items Size + 1 and the maximum is twice that number. A dramatic failure indicates the attackers hand is stuck in the defenders body. The attacker must make a successful roll to withdraw her hand and try againno damage is dealt. If retrieving a weapon, an

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exceptional success means the attacker is now armed with that weapon. If the attacker withdraws a complex item, she must make the Intelligence + Crafts roll. Partial Integration Prerequisite: Protean , Resilience Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Instant XP: 6 This power allows the user to meld an object only partly with her body, controlling it as if it was a part of her own body. Weapons integrated in this way cannot be disarmed. Items fully integrated this way (such as a gun melded with a hand) generate a -1 to their equipment bonus and face the same Size restraints as Body Armory. (A character wishing to integrate extra armor needs Protean .) For armor, Defense and Speed penalties are also reduced by one. Attempting to integrate a mechanical item, as with removing one, calls for an Intelligence + Crafts roll penalized by the items Size (normal complexity penalties also apply). Users of this power can also integrate with part of an item, such as the handle of a sword. While this mitigates the Size requirement, it levies a -1 penalty because the handle no longer turns in the characters hand. The exact use of this power is subject to Storyteller discretionintegrating a brick with a fist will reduce the bricks damage bonus to basically zero, but it would also remove the improvised weapon penalty and allow the user to attack with Brawl as opposed to Weaponry. He would also be considered armed. Persistent Resilience Prerequisite: Celerity , Resilience Cost: None Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive XP: 6 Not really persistent, it only appears that way since its practitioners never seem to have to activate it. Activating Resilience is reflexive though still requires one Vitae, but nothing extra. Persistent Vigor Prerequisite: Celerity , Vigor Cost: None Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive XP: 6 Not really persistent, it only appears that way since its practitioners never seem to have to activate it. Activating Vigor is reflexive though still requires one Vitae, but nothing extra. Secret Domination 12

Prerequisite: Dominate , Obfuscate Cost: None Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive, contested XP: 12 Dominated individuals do not show up as Controlled in their Aura. Vampires with Auspex can pierce this deception as with any Obfuscate power (see Clash of Will sidebar, page 119). Sudden Reclaim Prerequisite: Celerity , Protean Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: This power requires no roll to invoke. Action: Reflexive XP: 6 Characters with this devotion have learned to retrieve an item stored with Protean instantly, effectively granting them the Quick Draw Merit for the purposes of retrieving the item. If the item requires an Intelligence + Crafts roll when being removed, that dice pool gets a -2 modifier. Surgeons Instincts Prerequisite: Auspex , Protean Cost: None Dice Pool: Wits + Medicine + Auspex (versus Intelligence + Stealth + Protean) Action: Instant, contested (if applicable) XP: 9 Secrets are critical to Requiems, especially concerning whos carrying what. Users of this power can see what and where another Kindred holds in their body via Body Armory. If the targets attempting to hide an object from this power, he contests this roll, as above. Most neonates dont know about this Devotion, however, and assume under the skin is good enough. In addition, a successful use of Aura Perception once this powers employed determines the targets emotional state with regards to the item. A Dominated/Controlled aura with regards to a knife might indicate the targets an assassin but that same knife registering as Conservative might suggest the object is a priceless artifact. SYSTEMS City Status and Titles Imagine Status (City) as like a plant: it decays over time and must be continuously nourished to maintain or grow it. The "nourishment" you provide are major accomplishments and can be of virtually any sort, from finishing your research about what species of plants can be turned into mandrake (plant ghouls) to eliminating a dangerous Brood cult. When a character accumulates accomplishments equal to their new Status rating, they can be awarded a point of Status and the

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accomplishment count resets, assuming the harpies agree (technically, they award Status though cannot award it to themselves). To count towards Status, the event must: Be important. This generally means it must either be a big/important project for your character or the successful endgame of a story. Be well-known. Kindred cannot respect you if they don't know why they should. Have wide-spread appeal. Just because Kindred know about it, doesn't mean they care. The accomplishment has to be favorable to most of the vampires in the city. Accomplishes decay and Status moves around a bit for creatures of an undead state. The higher the Status, the more you are expected to do to maintain your peer's respect. (One-hit-wonders happen a great deal everywhere.) Accumulated accomplishments decay at a rate based on your current Status (these rates trend to zero, see below). Thus, a character with Status (City) 3 must do something major once every three months or lose an accomplishment. If they have no accomplishments to lose, they fall to Status (City) 2 with two standing accomplishments. If a character fails at an accomplishment (or a previous accomplishment is discovered to be a failure), they automatically lose 1-5 accomplishments in addition to the normal decay. Reputations take decades to build and an instant to ruin. Status Persistence Statu Decay Rate s 0 1/five years 1 1/year 2 1/6 months 3 1/season 4 1/month 5 1/week

It is possible to have a negative accomplishment (such as a character with Status 1 who failed to find the major hunter cell and lost three accomplishments, putting them at -2. Since the decay rates trend to zero (as people forget the character's mistakes), he'll be at a neutral level in 10 years. Or he could do two major things and be put at a neutral level, but if he fails at that he could be pulled farther. Characters with negative accomplishments have the Notoriety Flaw. Characters with titles (such as harpy or seneschal) find it easier to maintain their Status because they can use their position to accomplish important things. Gaining a title is strictly a role-playing thing and requires the character to achieve a certain level of Status (see page 102 of the core for a Guideline), using her downtime to attempt to seize it (though they may lay the foundation for title before they've achieved the needed Status). Exactly what's required differs on city, circumstances, and position. It's also possible that there are no vacancies and the character must first dislodge the incumbent before she can attempt to grab it. Successfully getting a title doesn't count as an accomplishment total in it of itself (though there was probably an accomplishment along the way), but failing to get it counts as a failed goal. Character Projects During the summer, decrease the characters effective Resolve by 1.

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A Davea's weakness hampers him. His Resolve is one less for these purposes unless at least one of his projects directly fulfills his Vice. Staking and Unstaking There is a -4 modifier to stake and it requires 3 successes (plus armor, if applicable). Characters can "hammer" a partially driven stake into an opponent. The penalty to target increases to -5, unless the character is actually using a warhammer or similar implement (a regular hammer is too small, though a sledge hammer will work) in which it is -4. Characters can also shove the stake farther in, but this is more difficult. It requires grabbing the stake (see touching an opponent) and rolling Strength + Stamina, penalized by twice the number of existing successes on the stake. In either case, each success adds to the total until 3 + Armor is reached. Characters can also remove a partially imbedded stake, rolling Strength + Resolve (removing your own stake) or Strength + Stamina (removing anothers stake) after successfully touching it. Each success removes an accumulated success; when there are zero successes, the stake is removed. If attempting to remove a stake in you, you do not need to roll to grab it, but accumulated successes penalize your roll. A botch on this roll would break the stake off so you can't pull it out, but enough is left that someone could still hammer it in. Piercing Damage Vampires downgrade piercing damage by one level. Bullets, arrows, rapiers, etc do bashing, not lethal. Falling Damage Because of their undead nature, vampires halve the dice pool for lethal damage (rounded up) but take the normal amount of bashing damage. Charging Up If a character activating Theban Sorcery or Cruac successfully activates a power but desires more successes, he may continue rolling. Note that whenever someone activates a ritual it is painfully obvious they are doing something and only the foolish ignore the man in the back of a fight holding a severed head and chanting incoherently. When possible, hints of the activating ritual appear as the character accumulates successes. Establishing Eye Contact In normal human interaction, establishing eye contact is usually not an issue; people establish it naturally save instances of fear or intimidation. Combat is a different story. Successfully establishing eye contact requires Dexterity + Athletics subjects Defense. If the subject is actively attempting to avoid eye contact (perhaps they know of Dominate), Defense is doubled for this roll. The player must declare her character is actively avoiding eye contact. Neither establishing nor actively avoiding eye contact consumes an action, though any actions performed 15

in that round levy a -1 penalty. The ST may also establish penalties for the attacker if she moved significantly this turn (-2 to -3), poor visibility (-1 to -3), etc. Grappling and Feeding Characters must grapple an opponent to feed from them (unless they are seducing them, catching them by surprise, etc). Some characters may wish to feed from a vessel after immobilizing them. But establishing a position where the mouth can meet bear skin requires another overpowering check, modified based on what the targets wearing (from -3 for heavy winter gear to +3 for naked/swim suit). Characters attempting to immobilize may preempt their desire to feed by immobilizing in a way that they can be sure to bite form with ease (thus making no need for a subsequent immobilization roll). Doing so, however, limits options and modifies the overpowering roll by -0 (naked/swimwear) to -5 (heavy winter gear). Frenzy After draining a blood source (such as a human, animal, or blood packet), if the vampire is no longer hungry or starving, he may attempt a Resolve + Composure roll penalized by the difference between the maximum blood points and the current blood points. A single success ends the frenzy. A dramatic failure means the vampire may not attempt a similar roll for the rest of the nightthe beast must tire before the frenzy ends. A Kindred who is still in hunger frenzy with full blood might spend blood to immediately replenish it or, more likely, attack people to disable them and feast on them later. Humanity Cap If the roll is not for a Discipline and involves Empathy, Persuasion, or Socialize, the dice derived from the Attribute + Skill (including any Willpower spent) is capped at Humanity. Thus a character with Presence 5, Persuasion 5, and Humanity 7 will only have a base of seven dice to his pool from Attributes and Skills even if equipment (and Discipline-derived) bonuses push the actual dice pool well beyond seven. Blood Potency and Experience Characters have a new XP trait: Vitae Experience Points (VXP). VXP can only be used in increasing Blood Potency, though normal XP can be combined with it to purchase Blood Potency. There are three ways to gain VXP. For every point of blood consumed from a supernatural template (excluding vampires, ghouls, and vampire-like creatures), gain one point of VXP. Such creatures must be free of any vampire blood and any Discipline influence to gain this VXP. The effects of Dominate, Majesty, or other mind-affect Disciplines taint the blood as much as giving the creature Vitae and drinking blood from this source yields no VXP (though it still provides the standard amount of blood).

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For every ten points of blood drank from mystical individuals, gain one VXP. A mystical individual has no supernatural template, is not under the sway of any Discipline, has never had any Vitae in her system, and has at least one supernatural Merit (e.g. Unseen Sense or Clairvoyance). Killing such a person by drinking all of their blood grants three VXP. This is in addition to any VXP gained just from drinking blood. Mystical individuals cannot be created by a player as a Retainer. o There are cases of vampires feeding too regularly off of these individuals, causing them to lose their supernatural Merit. Some scholars believe that the mystical energy which allows the blood to thicken so quickly is a like a well which must be continually filled lest it be permanently drained. Others believe this occurs because the vessel becomes addicted to the Kiss and thats enough to snuff out their mystical energy. Since such mortals are so rare, most vampires choose to go the safe route and drink from them only a few times a month, at most. For every mystically inclined person killed by drinking all their blood, gain one VXP. Gypsies, fortune tellers, ghost hunters, neo-pagans, Buddhist monks, contemplative Christians, practitioners of a D, Egyptologists, and witch doctors are all potential examples of mystically inclined people. (Note in all these groups there are those who are the genuine article and those who have a purely secular interest in the group. Telling them apart is not always easy until after you kill them.)

Characters that fall into torpor and lose Blood Potency gain half the VXP needed to purchase the difference. Alternate Blood Potency Progression BP 1 2 3 4 5 Max/Vitae a Turn 10/1 12/1 14/2 16/2 18/3 BP 6 7 8 9 10 Max/Vitae a Turn 20/3 25/5 30/7 50/10 100/15

Diablerie and Blood Potency Instead of gaining one Blood Potency if the vampire has a higher one than you, but no matter how high, you BP can increase by more than one. For every two BP difference, BP increases by one. (See below). Victim's BP Diablerist's BP 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 Increase in BP 1 2 3 4

For every increase in BP beyond the first, the character gets a cumulative -2 to his derangement check (recall you automatically fail the degeneration check). Such potent blood is quite the shock to the vampire's psyche.

A diaberlist may also opt to learn a Devotion, Specialty, or Fighting Style level his victim knew, provided he has the prerequisites. 17

The Old Remembering the Past Characters that have lived through a period of history may make an Intelligence + Composure roll (the standard for memory) instead of an Academics roll to remember facts from the era. Such memory rolls can also reveal things that the Academics roll could not, such as things a dictator have purged from the record. Modifiers, of course, apply based on how long ago the event was, how much they paid attention, the significance of the event, etc. Characters who were active during the time in question but have since been in torpor may remember clear, but ultimately inaccurate information. Quite literally, the Fog of Eternity can turn an exceptional success into a dramatic failure. Starting Blood & Feeding Roll between stories and you have a minimum and maximum starting value. A characters starting minimum value is based on how they engage in feeding (below). A base value is determined through your general strategy for getting blood. This not only includes the method you get blood but your dice pools and time you spend hunting. Note Humanity scores can affect this. Use the reference table as an aid. Note it is not meant to be exhaustive. Seduction refers to cajoling someone to go to a private place on the pretense of fooling around. Sneaking is feeding off of the sleeping or fatigued, such as an employee you work to all hours so you can grab a little blood. Strategy Seduction Sneaking Grappling Animal Murder Base 4 3 4 1 7 Time Long Medium Short Short Medium Danger Low Moderate High Low Severe

Grappling is a somewhat random attack, usually made look like a mugging. Animal is feeding from animals, blood packets or anything else non-human. Murder refers to random acts of violence which is likely to leave a trail of corpses. The actual base value for purposes of calculation is modified based on how well a character can do the strategy, his location of choice, and other circumstances. Players who pick times with longer lengths have little chance to do other things downtime; shorter times allow more activity. Players who choose strategies with a high danger rating might find themselves doing Humanity checks and dealing police, hunters, previous victims, or other violence who visit them over the course of a story. Note that even low danger can result in type of problem, but it is less likely and severe (for example, seduction could result in an angry lover). Contracting a blood disease is always possible (if rare), though slightly more likely with seduction. Under certain circumstances, the time and danger modifiers can change based on a characters abilities. For example, a character with high levels of Obfuscate would likely see a reduction in Danger for most strategies. Characters with Majesty would probably see a reduction in Time for 18

the Seduction strategy. Use of Auspex and Medicine also reduce (possibly eliminate) the chance for contracting a blood disease. High Stamina or Resilience would help as well. A characters minimum value increases based on the following modifiers: +1 for each dot the vampire has in Herd +2 if the vampires Virtue is Prudence +1 if the vampires Vice is Greed +1 if the vampires Wits + Composure is 5-7 +2 if the vampires Wits + Composure is 8+ +1 if the vampire knows Heightened Senses (Auspex 1) +1 for each other point in Resolve (after the first) if the vampire has Coil of the Blood I +2 if the vampire has Coil of the Blood III +1 for each dot in Haven (Location) the vampire has, if applicable +1 if the vampire has an average quality feeding territory +2 if the vampire has an above average quality feeding territory A characters maximum value is her maximum Vitae and then modified: -1 for each other ghoul the character has which is a non-combantant -1 for each ghoul the character retains designed for violence (a combat ghoul) -1 for each aggravated damage healed divided by weeks of downtime (round up) -1 if the vampires Virtue is Justice -2 if the vampires Vice is Sloth -1 if the vampire tends to engage in risky or violent behavior -2 if the vampire often engages in risky or violent behavior -1 if the vampire regularly relies on Haven of Soil (Protean 2) -1 if theres been rain, rumors of a serial rapist, etc -2 if theres been persistent thunderstorms, intense Kindred competition, etc -3 if theres been a blizzard or the vampire lives in a police state If the maximum value is lower than the minimum value, the character starts with the average between the two and does not roll. Ethics of Disciplines Humanity measures the relative closeness the character has of the Man versus the Beast so some attention should be paid to how the character uses her power over mortals. As Mage augments the hierarchy of sin with acts of hubris, Kindred require their own standard to maintain their respect for the Man. HUMANITY 10The character avoids any sort of mystic manipulation (blood bonds, Dominate, Majesty, Nightmare, etc) even if its to protect the Masquerade or the mortals life depends on it. Humans are people in every respect of the word. Any sort of mind raping is unspeakable. HUMANITY 9The character recognizes the role for the occasional mortal toying, but even something as simple as a blood bond curls her skin. Mystic manipulation hampers free will, 19

treating the mortal like a slave. Even short bursts of control for anything other than rare circumstances are acts of cold hubris. HUMANITY 8Characters understand longer-term manipulation is sometimes necessary. Making sure a mortal will tract the day-time activities of a dangerous ghoul is how you survive. But such characters know the powers of the Blood should not be used lightly. Harassment is a catch-all term for Discipline use that causes direct problems a mortal, even if its for just ends. Using Animalism to keep the Humanity Sin Monstrous Act mortal up all night with Mystically manipulating a mortal 10 (2) Selfish thoughts crying cats so hes too to protect the Masquerade tired to pull off the big 9 (2) Minor selfish acts Deliberately creating a blood bond heist is not something 8 (2) Injury to another Mystically harassing someone this character would be 7 (3) Petty theft Forcing someone to do a minor act comfortable with. Casually using minor mystic 6 (3) Grand theft manipulation HUMANITY 7The Mass-property Forcing someone to do something 5 (3) character will do what is damage you could easily do yourself needed to get the job Impassioned Casually using major mystic 4 (4) done but has problems crime manipulation treating mortals as Unnecessarily forcing someone to 3 (4) Planned crime puppets. This character violate his moral code wont use even minor 2 (5) Casual crime Mystic manipulation as leisure mystical coercion to Utterly heinous 1 (5) Embracing for laughs sway a mortal into acts performing errands (not critical activities, but not something the character could do easily). Busy characters have little trouble justifying having a ghoul to help them function. Characters with lots of free time cant make the same claim. HUMANITY 6Such characters only feel the tinge of morality when they turn on the charm casually, as in not a last resort. Characters below this level treat their lower levels of power over mortal minds as a hammer. And most things look like nails. HUMANITY 5The character has no problem using the Blood as a first tool, but is human enough to know mortals arent to be treated as tools themselves. These characters wouldnt use Majesty to make a loud customer leave the restaurant or Dominate to get a mortal to grab the mail. HUMANITY 4The character recognizes most of the powers of the Blood are pretty minor. Even memory manipulation (unless its extreme) wont change who someone is. It only changes how someone acts. But the higher levels of Disciplines (generally four and five) truly treat mortals as puppets and these characters will only use them when absolutely necessary. HUMANITY 3These characters know bad things sometimes have to happen to good people but theres got to be some rhyme and reason behind it. Using Dominate so a good Christian will commit adultery when there are other ways to get his wife to leave him is not on the menu.

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HUMANITY 2The character uses his Disciplines for virtually anything. Theyre easy, theyre reliable, and you dont risk making it worse with some sloppier strategy. But messing with lives for nothing more than pure amusement is just too horrific. (Though some convince themselves that using Nightmare to literally scare off someones fianc teaches the Kindred something) HUMANITY 1Such characters think mortals are cute. Great creatures to have if you can train them. Only a meaningless and heinous use of the Blood would stir these vampires cold hearts. Detecting Discipline Failure In general, characters are aware that a Discipline attempt failed but only because it is obvious. A dog's bark remains as nonsensical as any other time, aura do not appear, etc. When it is not obvious, things become more complicated. Remember that Discipline powers involve projecting an invisible stimulus that people resist or succumb to. Unless psyches are entangled (as in Dominate 3), resistance is not evident. In general, a victim of a Discipline can either feign its effects (either they are aware of supernatural powers or the effects mimic a mundane strategy) or the victim happens to respond coincidentally. (A failed Command tells the victim to sit, but the victim sits anyway because shes decides sitting sounds like a good idea.) This latter possibility does not apply to exceptional successes: the victim responds with such vigor that it cannot be an honest coincidence. All detection rolls are reflective but must be declared; any third party attempting to detect receives a -2 modifier to their roll. Wits + Empathy Subjects ComposureUsed for when the victim happens to act in the way the vampire wishes. Almost always a low level power. Wits + Empathy v. Manipulation + EmpathyUsed for detecting sudden uses of a Discipline (Dominate , Majesty , Nightmare ). Wits + Subterfuge v. Manipulation + SubterfugeUsed for detecting prolonged uses of a Discipline (Dominate , Majesty , Majesty , Nightmare ). Some instances may require that the deceiver succeed at a Manipulation + Empathy roll or get a -4 modifier to their deception roll.

Obfuscate deserves special mention. One cannot tell if it is working or not until someone else attempts to see it. Otherwise, the rules above still apply to it (including all levels). Note that in cases where safe input is not available, a character must act consistently. She cannot be cautious when the dice roll fails and be brave when it succeeds. This can be adjusted for circumstance. A normally cautious character can run from a burning building after Obfuscating, success or no. Waking & Resting Vampires take sunlight damage from even the slightest rays. The Beast knows this and to capture their aversion Kindred avoid daylight instinctively, waking and sleeping like clockwork. To better guide us, we will use the following information as a guide for determining the cycles of sleeping, waking, and intensity of sunlight (for damage purposes). Note daylight savings switches on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. For the record, early is the first of the month and mid is the 15th of the month. 21

Astronomical twilight is when the sun is 12 to 18 degrees below the horizon. Nautical twilight is when the suns 6 to 12 degrees below the horizon. Civil is when the suns less than 6 degrees below the horizon. Civil Dusk << 3 dmg 5:27 5:40 5:58 6:13 6:28 7:42 7:59 8:13 8:30 8:44 8:59 9:07 9:09 9:04 8:49 8:31 8:05 7:43 7:17 6:56 5:35 5:23 5:16 5:17 Nautical Dusk << 2 dmg 6:00 6:18 6:30 6:44 6:59 8:13 8:31 8:46 9:05 9:21 9:39 9:48 9:49 9:42 9:25 9:05 8:38 8:14 7:48 7:27 5:55 6:06 5:51 5:49 Astro. Dusk << 1 dmg 6:31 6:44 7:01 7:15 7:30 8:44 9:03 9:21 9:42 10:02 10:23 10:34 10:35 10:26 10:04 9:42 9:11 8:46 8:19 7:58 6:38 6:26 6:21 6:23 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME Astro. Dawn 1 dmg >> 5:51 5:51 5:43 5:30 5:12 5:50 5:21 4:57 4:29 4:08 3:50 3:44 3:49 4:02 4:24 4:42 5:04 5:19 5:36 5:49 5:05 5:19 5:33 5:44 Nautical Dawn 2 dmg >> 6:24 6:23 6:14 6:01 5:43 6:22 5:54 5:31 5:06 4:49 4:34 4:30 4:35 4:45 5:03 5:19 5:37 5:51 6:07 6:20 5:50 5:36 6:16 6:05 Civil Dawn 3 dmg >> 6:57 6:56 6:46 6:32 6:14 6:53 6:26 6:04 5:41 5:25 5:13 5:10 5:15 5:24 5:40 5:53 6:10 6:23 6:38 6:51 6:08 6:22 6:38 6:50

Time of Year Early Jan Mid Jan Early Feb Mid Feb Early Mar Mid Mar Early Apr Mid Apr Early May Mid May Early June Mid June Early July Mid July Early Aug Mid Aug Early Sept Mid Sept Early Oct Mid Oct Early Nov Mid Nov Early Dec Mid Dec

From http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php

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