Geovonni Rules

Rules Interpretations

These are additional rules people have put together to allow some aspects of the Vampire system to align with their own interpretations.

Alternative rule on the weakness of Clan Gangrel

Our first games back in the mid-90's were very physical, meaning that at least every 2nd game session each vampire had had a frenzy. As I played a Gangrel back then, my vampire gathered a lot of animal features in a short time. After some sessions I ran out of animal features that I could think of for my character, and he had evolved into an unhuman looking thing - and had just recently lost his first point in one social attribute. After some time I came up with the following house rule that might suit other frenzy-heavy groups:

1. Gangrel still gain animal features, but they develop them over a longer period of time - it takes five frenzies to fully develop the feature
2. After the feature fully developed/the fifth frenzy, the character loses the point of a social attribute just llike stated in the rules

This is purely a cosmetical change, but one I (as a friend of Clan Gangrel) am very fond of.

Gangrel Mutations Expanded

In addition to the above option, Gangrel characters can also lose Mental Attributes, not just Social. It never made much sense to me that a Clan famed for becoming beast-like and subhuman can somehow keep all their mental faculties when devolving into monsters. So, when a Gangrel is subject to losing an Attribute from frenzying, roll a d6: 1 = Charisma, 2 = Manipulation, 3 = Appearance, 4 = Perception, 5 = Intelligence, 6 = Wits. Or the player and Storyteller can choose which point to drop together. Based on the roll, then choose which kind of frenzy-spawned mutation to apply. Social Attributes would be dropped by grotesque appearance or damage to the vampire's self-esteem, Mental Attributes would be dropped by becoming more instinctual and less intelligent, or perhaps from gaining a disturbing animal habit (i.e., a fixation on stalking prey might reduce a character's Wits, since they focus on the subject to the exclusion of their environment).

Another way to do this would be to apply character Merits and Flaws (such as "Territorial" or "Prey Exclusion") instead/in addition to the Attribute drops. - Lord Mad Balrog -

When determining whether or not (or to what degree) a Gangrel character develops a mutation frenzy, roll their Humanity or Path dots against their Protean dots, diffculty 6 for both. If the Protean dice score more total successes than the Path dice, they gain a mutation that scales with the successes. In other words, subtract the Humanity successes from the Protean successes. If this number is positive, consult the list below. If both sets of rolls fail to have any succesess, re-roll both pools.

• 0 Protean Succeses - No changes, obviously. The character's moral compass has led them true, preserving their human soul (and body!) in the face of the ravages of the Beast.

• 1 Protean Success - Minor cosmetic change, such as changing eye color/shape, hair color/length/amount, skin tone or texture in small patches, etc. These sorts of changes take a Perception roll to notice.

• 2 Protean Successes - Major cosmetic change, such as changing the structure of the face or body, but not altering its function; a more severe form of the changes above, such as developing hair across the entire torso, or scaley patches on the character's hands. These changes are fairly obvious, and at the Storyteller's discretion, may drop points in Appearance.

• 3 Protean Successes - Minor Abilities change, which alters the shape or function of the character's already-existing body parts, such as the "Frog Eyes", "Hide/Carapace", "Maw", "Sonar", or "Talons" mutations mentioned in pages 56-58 of Clanbook: Gangrel. A character's Social or Mental Attributes may drop by a point or two in addition to the bonuses granted by these abilities. Specific Merits or Flaws may also accompany these changes, at the Storyteller's discretion.

• 4 Protean Successes - Major Abilities change, such as the "Exoskeleton", "Spinnerets", "Tail", or "Wings" mutations listed in pages 56-58 of Clanbook: Gangrel. These give new attacks to the character, or add more dice to their Ability pools. They should also suffer a major penalty for these additions, such as reducing Social or Mental Attributes. Some specific Merits or Flaws should accompany these changes.

• 5+ Protean Successes - Whole-body change, such as obtaining the head of a wolf or big cat, the legs merging into a snake tail, assuming the form of an animal permanently, etc. These sorts of changes come with major adjustments to a character's Abilities and Attributes. For example, the head of a wolf grants the character additional dice on scent-based Perception rolls, as well as granting them Eyes of the Beast and the "Maw" mutation permanently. However, they also become colorblind and obviously can't hide a giant wolf-head from the rest of humanity. These sorts of mutations should drastically reduce or totally eliminate the character's Social or Mental Attributes. A character will almost certainly develop new Merits, Flaws, or Derangements along with these mutations.

This way of determining mutations rewards players for having a high Path rating, which will make the repurcussions of frenzying less, as well as reducing the chance of frenzy in the first place, which of course is the goal of maintaining a high Path rating. Needless to say, the most advanced forms of mutation can only come with more advanced levels in Protean; as the character's blood becomes more attuned to animal forms, they develop an increased chance of severe animal mutations.

Clan Gangrel and Werewolves

A possible take on the relationship between Gangrel Vampires and werewolves (New or Old WoD).

Gangrel and werewolves do not like each other. They compete for resources in the form of prey, space, and, according to some traditions, divine attention. The major antagonism between werewolves and Gangrel is the status of the Beast - the animalistic spirit inherent in all humans. For werewolves, the Beast is something to be proud of, encouraged, and marked as a symbol of divine favor. For Gangrel, the Beast is a terrible, uncontrollable urge to self-destruct or otherwise become less than human. Only by overcoming these differences can a werewolf and Gangrel cooperate.

Werewolves believe Gangrel are corrupt wolf- or another animal-spirits ("fomori") that seek to deprive werewolves of their just place in the universe. The Gangrel believe werewolves are big, scary sons-a-bitches that represent a threat to vampires everywhere.

Malkavians and Dominate

Pre-1997, Malkavians in the Camarilla had the option of substituting Dominate for their Clan Discipline of Dementation. However, they still possessed all the other traits of the Clan, including a native insanity. To tie this insanity back in to Discipline use, Malkavians face a lower difficulty (or even automatic successes) when using Dominate to convince the target of something unrealistic, surreal, or outright insane.

For example, a Malkavian has just broken into a bank vault, and has been confronted by security. He may try to convince the officers - by using Dominate - that a giant money-eating moth has made off with all the cash. Regular use of Dominate would probably forbid this, since it is too far beyond normal experience (a Ventrue would have to re-write the officers' memories by making it seem as if a normal criminal of a different physical description robbed the bank, etc). When they relate this story to their superiors, they will sound downright crazy, thus furthering the cause of the Madness Network.

Malkavians using "normal" applications of Dominate obey the rules as set down on pages 156-160 of the Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Serpentis Level 5 (Heart of Darkness)

The ability granted by Serpentis Level 5, "Heart of Darkness" (see page 178 of the Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook) always sounded more like a ritual than a Discipline ability to me, especially since as it takes hours to perform, and can only be used once per vampire. Therefore, the process of removing a Setite's heart as described in "Heart of Darkness" is instead treated as a Ritual of Setite sorcery, and is instead repleaced with an ability similar to the Necromancy Ash Path Discipline of "Ex Nihilo" (see page 164), which allows the Setite or someone they subject to the Discipline to travel the realms of the dead in a way similar to a wraith or like Psychic Projection (see page 152). This ability is called "Invasion of Osiris' Realm", or perhaps "Judgement of Ma'at". -Lord Mad Balrog-

• This Discipline requires that the target be removed of all but one Blood Point (this can be achieved any way, by using other Disciplines, or draining the target's blood in ceremony). Each Blood Point lost when using this Discipline increases the difficulty of the following roll by 1 (max 10) - hence, many Setites fast and meditate before using this Discipline. Characters must roll their Humanity or Path dots against the difficulty set above. If they succeed, their spirit is transported to the realm of the dead, and may collect information as any other necromancer can. Their mortal body exists as if in a coma or in torpor.
  • At the Storyteller's discretion, each use of this Discipline may also require a Virtue (Conscience or Self-Control) roll in order to pass a guardian spirit or beast ("Ammut"). If they fail the roll, their spirit is consumed, and they lose all Social Attributes while in the land of the dead, and cannot make Social rolls.

Fool´s World of Darkness

After playing Vampire: the masquerate with several Roleplaying groups, I found some alterations to the Rules and the Backgrounds that proven useful to me. Maybe you like it or parts of it. I want to share it with you.

Humanity

The Humanity rule is poetic, but in my opinion, it has a problem. You want to play a Vampire, a Monster, but this rule reduces the Vampires to merciful creatures who fears to kill. I ever wanted as a Gamemaster to picture the cruelty and evil, that is a part of being Vampire, mixed with their Human emotions, this creature is far more interesting. On the other Hand, without the Humanity rule the game would lose much atmosphere. I detest the Paths, it´s only a plea to make Sabbat Vampires possible. Here is my suggestion: You loose Humanity as the rulebook discripe, you roll on Conscience to avoid it. But when you loose Humanity, you do not transform into a wild animal. Your bounderies break, that means you have to roll on Self- Control once in a while, to avoid sins you do not wish to do, and this increases with your lower Humanity. If you visit your mortal best friend and have a Humanity rating below 4, it can be that you have to roll Self- Control to avoid feeding on him. You can simply orientate yourself on the table of sins in the core rulebook, to see which sins are no problem for you any more. That means: It is still possible (and interesting) to play a character with Humanity 0, he is still a feeling and complex being, he still knows friendship and love, but he knows no bounderies and takes what he wants. Many Elders have Humanity 0 in the Fool´s World of Darkness.

Toreador Weakness

I never liked the Toreador weakness, it remembers me on a weakness in a computer game. The character can´t move. My alternative: The Toreador fall easily in love with beauty. Beauty persons, fascinating art or architecture. When a Toreador sees beauty, he rolls Self- Control. If he fails, he is in love, he must have it, or dominate it. If they see a picture in a museum and they fall in love, it can be that they visit it every night to stare on it, or maybe they steal it or destroy it because they can´t bear the beauty. When they´re "fed" on the beauty, when they posses the thing or person, this love fades and they throw it or him away.

Tzimisce Weakness

I changed the weakness for the Tzimisce as well. In my opinion, it is not really part of the roleplay, not such a curse like the other weaknesses, which followed the other clans. You can´t play with it, narrate about it, it is simply earth you need to sleep in, and you have it or not. My alteration, which is in my opinion suited for the Tzimisce: Tzimisce cannot enter a private home from a mortal without invitation from him. Once he got the invitation, he can enter freely, the mortal cannot take it back. The Tzimisce can enter public places such as libraries, schools and shops without permission of it´s owners. He can enter homes from supernatural creatures as well, the restriction is only for private mortal territory. Abandon places can be entered freely, for example when the owner have moved or died. The Tzimisce does not need to know that, he feels if the place is forbidden to him.

Disciplines

I like the different clans and structures, but you see many stereotypes, many Toreadors or Brujahs alike. In my oppinion, it is not the clan´s disadvantages which caused it, the disciplines did. With Obfuscate, you create the typical Nosferatu spy, with Potence, Celerity and Presence many Players are seduced to create the Brujah Warmachine. Additionally, I ever liked the idea that every Vampire has different Powers, that the dark gift is individual. You can use with that the Disciplines of Bloodlines and secret or lost Clans (such as the Samedi or the Salubri) when you want to, even if you don´t include them in your game. That means: You keep the Clan structure and the weaknesses for every Clan, but you change the disciplines. Here are two ways to do it.

The free system

This system requires mature players, who could manage this freedom without abusing it for power gaming. Instead of disciplines, every player has folders. Every Vampire can have as much folders as he likes, as long as he has enough points to give a folder at least one point. For every point he has in this folder, he can take a power from a discipline of his choice. For example: If a folder has three points, he can choose Power one from Presence, Power two from Animalism and power three from Auspex. For Disciplines, which build directly from level 1 to 5 (such as celerity or potence), he has to have the lower power in one of the folders. For example: If he wants to have celerity 3, he has to have power one and two in his folders. I can understand that many groups may dislike this system, but with it you can create limitless combinations.

The choice system

This is the more simple system, suited for players who have not the complete overview over the disciplines and it has not the problems the free system may bring with it. The vampire chooses three disciplines freely, this are his natural disciplines and follow all the rules for clan Disciplines (such as the Experience costs). That means the new Brujah can have Presence, Fortitude and Quietus if he wants. Naturally, this system requires also maturity and a desteste for Power Gaming.

Background Changes

The Sabbat

I must confess, I dislike the Sabbat. But I never wanted to give him up. I showed the Sabbat as an underground cult, a few Vampires here and there which found the secret of the Blood Ritual. They are part of the Camarilla, breaking their Blood Bounds, act in the shadows and planning to destroy the Elders. In my Chronicles, this was the Sabbat, a secret society, not a rampaging Vampire Sect.

The Camarilla

I ever liked the idea of a Worldwide Vampiric Organisation, and with the erasing of the Sabbat, I put all clans in it. So Camarilla Players are free to play Lasombra, Assamites, Giovannis and Tzimisce as well. In the Fool´s World of Darkness, the Masquerade is a need for all Vampires.

The Giovanni & the Tremere

With the free Discipline System, it is imppssible to define a clan through his major Discipline, such as Necromancy or Thaumaturgie. This changes alter the Giovanni, they are really a Mafia Family, not Necromancers. I ever saw him more as in a World similiar to a Vampiric Version of the Godfather. It suites me, I never needed to portray the Giovanni as Necromancers. The same for the Tremere, but without the Magic, the Tremere are Nothing. So they are free to take a Discipline called "Rituals". For every dot in Ritual, they get a Ritual with the suited Level. I had never have a problem with them taking Necromancy Rituals, why not Death Magic for the Tremere. If you like the Discipline idea, but dislike the changes for the Giovanni and the Tremere, you can simply restrict these disciplines for the two clans.

The Assamite

I pictured the Assamite as a fallen clan, enslaved by the Camarilla after the war. Only a few Assamites remain who make their job in the Camarilla, defeated by their curse. They wait for their chance to return, when someday the curse is broken and they can diaberize freely.

I hope, I could give one or two gamemasters suitable ideas. Feel free to contact me and give me feedback, I´m interested in your opinion: dennis.koppetsch@t-online.de

Humanity, or "How Human You Are"

This is a tweak to how a character's humanity is gained/lost, and is probably better for experienced players to use as an optional rule. As presented in the books, Humanity is a generic sort of Christian-based morality: "thou shall not kill", "thou shall not covet", etc, etc. However, the use of the term lends itself more to simply how human a vampire is, and humans can be good, bad, and downright ugly.

So, when determining whether a character gains or loses humanity, do not base it off a code of morality, but rather how well or how poorly a character behaves (and believes) as a human does. A character who was an impassioned murderer may not be a saint, but they are (unfortunately) still human, and their passion for depraved acts is a mark of their humanity. While a vampire may also committ depraved acts, they typically lack the passion of the mortal. In short, this version of Humanity measures characters on "how alive they feel". The more they act (think, believe, feel) like a living mortal, the higher their Humanity. This rule change may be a good compromise between the Path of Humanity and one of the Paths of Enlightenment for new Sabbat players, as it allows them to be horrible without worrying about another Path's philosophy. It also lets Malkavians have a higher Path of Humanity rating in spite of their insanity and frenzy.

A character will still have to deal with conflicts between their Nature and Demeanor (a character with an aggressive Nature but a passive Demeanor may actually lose Humanity if they overplay the passivness, as they are not acting true to their Nature), and also still gains Willpower for playing up to their Natures. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Paths of Enlightenment Unplugged

As moral systems, the Paths of Enlightenment (Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook, pgs. 286-295, Guide to the Sabbat, pgs. 127-146) are expressions of a code of behavior that, when violated, results in the practitioner losing control of themselves and becoming both mindless and morally void. However, the hierarchial system in the core rulebook is a little too restricting for the themes of my game. One slips and stumbles on the Path to Enlightenment; one generally does not leap head-first over a cliff. Thusly, the way I calculate the moral rating of a character on a Path of Enlightenment is to measure up their total virtues of the Path versus their total sins, regardless of their place in the Hierarchy of Sins.

• For example, the Path of Antitribu says that its followers should betray each other at every oppurtunity, they should not Embrace, never swear true allegiance to anyone, etc, etc. So, a character on the Path of Antitribu's Path Rating would be the total of all the points they practice, regardless of what order they are in. Though the Path says Embracing is worse than betrayal, if the person upholds betrayal but also Embraces a mortal, they are still credited with 1 Path point. For each and any of the Moral Guidelines the character upholds, they gain 1 point. For each and any Moral Guidelines the character fails to uphold, they do notget a point.

This house rule has allowed me to be a little more lenient in judging characters on Paths of Enlightenment, and allows Sabbat characters in particular to start with generally higher Path ratings. It also plays around with themes of good and evil, since a hunter can commit mass murder of Kindred, but still have a Path of Humanity rating of 9, if he upholds every single other virtue of that Path. He would still be counted a "good" man, but let's face it, those vampires just need to die. (I'm lookin' at you, Society of Leopold!) -Lord Mad Balrog

Feed

Inspired by the computer game Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, some Storytellers might wish to include the following Trait into their characters. This doubles as both a Trait and optional rule, since it modifies the standard feeding practice as set down on page 139 of the Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook. The "Feed" Trait determines just how efficient a Vampire character is at drawing out blood from mortals. In its basic form, a character may draw out 1 Blood Point's worth of blood per turn from their victim for each dot in Feed (maximum 5). Note that certain Merits, Flaws, and mutations (such as "Efficient Digestion" (pg. 297 of the Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook) or "Maw" (pg. 57 of Clanbook: Gangrel) may automatically increase the Feed Trait, even beyond its normal maximum of 5.

• Welcome, young vampire

•• You missed a spot, right there

••• You're a regular mosquito

•••• Some accuse you of Thaumaturgy, you can drain blood so quickly

••••• It's an all-night bloodbath with you around. The Sabbat will be interested

• Naturally, if this Trait is included in a Chronicle, all Vampire characters start with at least 1 point in this Trait. It is improved as per an in-Clan Discipline (see page 143 of the Vampire: The Masquerade for rules about spending Experience in this way).
• This Trait does not affect the character's maximum Blood Pool, or maximum number of Blood Points spent per turn, only how quickly they gain Blood Points per turn by Feeding.
• The optional rule within the optional rule: Some Storytellers may wish to declare that a vampire always takes the maximum number of Blood Points per turn, as determined by their Feed Trait. This means that if a character has a Feed Trait of 5, they always take 5 points of blood per turn. They cannot choose to remove less. For characters with a high level of Feed, this means they may take more blood than is healthy for the target, killing most animals and leaving humans dangerously weakened.
  • Optional Rule #3: Upon gaining Feed 4 or Feed 5, characters with Humanity greater than 4 need to make a Humanity roll to see if they lose a point in that Path. They are giving in to their predatory nature in the most fundamental way possible, eschewing human habits and means. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Assamites Don't Exist!

This is something I use in all of my games. Assamites are not a Clan; they never have been and never will be. The reason is simple: a Clan of assassin's was created to entertain players obsessed with that cliche. That being the case, it should never have existed. Every Clan deals with its own dirty deeds, has their own 'assassins', and can take care of themselves. Ergo, 12 Clans. This is for those who dislike Quietus, dislike the notion of a Clan composed of near-clones, or simply because the concept of Assamites is corny.

Crossover Guidelines

Seen the great variety of the WoD setting, a great deal of effort must be taken for those who wish to involve more than one or two types of creatures in any story, not to mention troupes playing out an alliance of some sort. Knowledge seems to be the most difficult to handle, especially when considering that these creatures tend to hide their true nature from prying eyes. It is correct to assume that each of these societies are for 'members only' and that they are mainly concerned with their own agendas. However, such is not always the case...--AXVI 00:58, 29 March 2009 (EDT)

Lores

Kindred Lore, Garou Lore, Mage Lore ... The list is endless, and serves one main purpose - to limit a character's knowledge. This rather dated approach, however, is an all-or-nothing approach. A Cainite with Sabbat Lore knows nothing of the Camarilla? Not likely. My suggestion is to use a sort of expertise system with the basic knoledges, bringing a more personalized aspect to the "Lores". Troupes using the Dark Ages system will have the most ease with this approach as I have not found it in previous literature (see p142 of Dark Ages: Vampire).

The expertise system is basically one where a single ability, usually a skill, results in different proficiencies (Craft:Leatherworking, Carpentry, Sewing... Performane: Instruments, Dancing, Playing...). In the case of skills, an expertise is given for each dot. My suggestion, for Knowledges, is to apply it to Academics, Hearth Wisdom, Law, Occlut, and Politics. To respect the rarity of such Lores, I also suggest only giving one's own creature type/affiliation as an available expertise with the option of buying the others PER INDIVIDUAL KNOWLEDGE (Dark Ages: Vampire, p. 166)

Academics: In regards to the history (documented facts)of one's affiliation; Lineage, the Ages of the Cathayans, the book of Nod...

Hearth Wisdom: For an area's tradditions and legends (oral tradditions); the Carpathians' vampires, Ireland fae, Asia's hengeyokai...

Law: A specific sect's regulations; Kindred rights and obligations, Garou and the challenge of their leader, Beast Court regulations...

Occult: A creature type's powers and weaknesses; kindred's disciplines, garou's weakness to silver, the nature of the wyrm...

Politics: Intestine relations; kindred clans, garou tribes, mage tradditions...

Vampire: the Masquerade to Vampire: the Requiem Crossover

If you want to role-play out the transition from VtM rules to VtR rules, you could use the following justification: In 2004, the world came to an end. The Final Night arrived. The Antediluvians rose up and consumed their generations of childer in the epic bloodbath of Gehenna. However, due to the heroic struggle of a few individuals (perhaps your Storytelling group), the Antediluvians were put down, sent back into torpor, etc. However, most bloodlines died out, diablerized by their grandparents. Among the lost are the Ravnos (who disappeared earlier), the Setites (who willingly sacrificed themselves to their god), the Assamites (destroyed by civil war, and were no collective match for their Antediluvian), the Tzimisce (who, as it turns out, were right all along), and the Giovanni (it is unknown exactly what happened to them).

In order to survive, a few Clan Bloodlines merged via powerful Thaumaturgic rituals, or simple Vaulderie-like ceremonies. The Lasombra and Toreador merged into the Daeva Bloodline, and the Tremere, Malkavian, and scions of the Nosferatu merged into the Mekhet Clan. The Clans that survived more-or-less intact (the Gangrel, Nosferatu, and Ventrue) did so by various means. The Gangrel did what they do best: survive (rumors strongly suggest this was by adopting or diablerizing their Brujah comrades en masse). There are varying accounts of whether they destroyed or simply pacified their Antediluvian. The Ventrue are suspected of cutting a deal with their grandparent. The Nosferatu hid and scavenged while their progenitor was dealt with by the other rampaging Ancients.

There is no record of any vampire calling themselves Caine during this period. But then, there wouldn't be.

In the aftermath of all this chaos and destruction, recovered copies of the Book of Nod and similar texts were all but obliterated, and the surviving vampires had to re-create vampiric lore and political groups, resulting in the Circle of the Crone, the Invictus, and the Lancea Sanctum. Vampiric society has effectively started over "from scratch", though all the difficulties of the modern world still afflict the Kindred.

Additional Rules

Sometimes there's a nifty idea for a new aspect of the vampiric existence.

Dangers of the Blood

This rule addition is based heavily on the Animalism ability "Crimson Fury" (Clanbook: Gangrel, pg. 63), only it is always active, and applies to all vampires.

It makes sense that in addition to gaining all the supernatural benefits of a vampire's vitae, one should also be at risk from suffering the same dangers and weaknesses. Therefore, when creating a Blood Bond with a human (to make them a Ghoul) or with another vampire, Embracing a childe, or suffering diablerie, the recipient of the blood makes a Frenzy check using the donating vampire's Frenzy roll. Vampires who have strong Beasts pass on this trait when giving another their blood, and if the subject fails the Frenzy check, they Frenzy and attack the one giving them blood, either overtaken by the desire to diablerize or out of a misplaced and overwhelming passion for the vampire. Vampires attempting to diablerize another may flee or otherwise be driven away.

This may seem slightly unfair to Clans such as the Brujah and Gangrel, but serves to drive home the point that the World of Darkness is not a charitable place. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Animalism v1.5

1) Animalism grants automatic successes in rolls involving Animal Ken equal to the number of dots in the Animalism Discipline, but 2) a character's Animal Ken Skill must be equal to or higher than their Animalism Discipline. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Animalism Aura-Sensing

My interpretation of the Animalism Discipline is that it allows the vampire to sense connections between themselves and other animals (and at advanced stages, vampires and humans, since they are all fundamentally "animal"). To make Animalism a little different than simply Dominate for use on animals, I replace level 3 of Animalism (Quell the Beast) with an ability I call "Predator or Prey?" This basically gives all the same bonuses as the Auspex ability Aura Sensing/Aura Perception, but uses Wits instead of Perception on rolls. -Lord Mad Balrog-

Alternative Daylight Rules

Botch Alleviation

When recently picking up some Old World of Darkness games to run again, I was confronted with the frustration of the botch. They come up too often, eroding successes and creating frustrating bouts of sheer randomness (as opposed to the intended more dice = more chance of success). To compensate, I use the following rule; Abilities are training and talent, and it is often this training that helps the novice avoid common errors. Therefore, at ratings of ••• and above, 1s rolled in a dice pool involving that Ability can be canceled. This rewards those who take Abilities over Attributes. In the case of Disciplines based on traits like Humanity and Willpower, this does not apply (though one could allow Thaumaturgy and Necromancy to apply as such, if they wanted).

• ••• Cancel a single 1 in the pool
• •••• Cancel two 1s in the pool
• ••••• Cancel three 1s in the pool

And so on and so forth.

Extra Stuff

These ideas expand the basic system and provide details that never made it to the original releases.

The Wasteland Chronicle

The Wasteland Chronicle, a nonofficial Maryland MET chronicle that uses a graduation system, has a wiki set up by one of the storytellers that can be foundhere, it has some good House Rules that have proven to work well. Worth a look-see.

Inner City Tremere Chantry

Inner-City Tremere Chantry - A small building that's great for a branch-chantry near the downtown area of the city. Philosophers Ghost

Legendary Vampires

Dracula: Tzimisce, Ravnos, or Mekhet that has diablerized many, many Gangrel due to the Clan rivalry/personal grudge, thus gaining Protean and Animalism powers (shapeshifting into a wolf or mist, summoning vermin, etc). The inability to be seen in a mirror comes from a proto-Vaulderie ritual done with the Lasombra; the inability to enter a home without permission is either a personal phobia or part of the Tzimisce flaw (see "Tzimisce Weakness" above).

Caine: The Father of All Vampires. Following the Biblical tradition, Caine was cursed by God and otherwise obeys common lore about vampiric origins. For those more inclined to play according to evolutionist theory, Caine evolved as a separate branch of humanity - the ultimate thinking and hunting predator. He has access to at least level 5 of all Disciplines, with specialty in Obtenebration, Potence, Fortitude, Presence, Dominate, Celerity, and Chimerstry.

Lilith: In the event that the group decides to make Lilith a vampire (instead of a Mage, Werewolf, Fae, etc), she has similar stats to Caine, but specializes in Potence, Fortitude, Protean, Quietus, Vicissitude, Presence, and Animalism. Another possibility is to make Lilith a Demon. In fact, as a creature so cunning, she would never be infected with Vicissitude and would probably consider the Souleater as anathema.

Crone: It could very well be the same creature as Eickos/Narcice. In my WoD, it is one of the form of Nyarlathotep. As such, he created the Lhiannan bloodlineand makes fun opposing the futility of God and Lilith.