Mechanics

Challenges Vs. The Environment.

1.Player Declares an action.

2.The ST determines what trait category and skill the test will use.

3.Player and St play rock paper scissors. If the player succeeds then the challenge is resolved and the player is victorious.

4.If the player ties then the player declares his trait total ( or a lower number) vs the difficulty of the challenge ( usually 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25) If the player's number is equal to or higher then he/she is victorious. If the player's number is lower, then the player fails.

5.If the player fails then he may spend a skill retest to try again. The player skill retests can be canceled by the challenge if the challenge has difficulty retests (Challenges can have up to 6 retests but most only have zero or one.)

6.If the player uses all his skill retests and still fails he can use a discipline level retest if he possesses one for the trait category. (The player can skip to the discipline retest first, but if she does she cannot go back to skill retests.)

Challenges Vs. Another Player (against Physicals)

1.Player Declares an action. ( Brawl, Melee, Athletics or Firearms probably)

2.The players play rock-paper-scissors. If the aggressor succeeds then the defender can spend Defense skill retests to make the aggressor retest. If the defender succeeds then the aggressor can spend brawl, melee, firearms, or athletics (depending) to retest. (Brawl, Melee, Firearms, and Athletics are all countered/ canceled by Defense)

3.If the players tie then the players compare traits. The person with the higher number wins the test. If there is a tie, they test again.

4.At any time the losing player ( the one who lost the previous challenge) can declare Might, a discipline level retest ( if she has it.) Once Might is declared no skill retests can be declared.

Challenges Vs. Another Player (against Socials or Mentals)

1.Player Declares an action. (probably the use of a Discipline)

2.The players play rock-paper-scissors. If the defender succeeds then the aggressor can spend the declared skill to retest.

3.If the players tie then the players compare traits. The person with the higher number wins the test. Different disciplines test against different traits.

4.At any time the losing player (the one who lost the previous challenge) can declare a discipline level retest (if she has it for the type of challenge.)

5.At any time in the process, the defender may spend a (temporary) willpower for a final retest. After this retest is called for no other retests can happen. ‘

Hierarchy of Retests

1.Overbid
2.Willpower
3.Discipline
4.Skill
5.Initial test

The hierarchy of retests is Initial<Skill<Discipline<Willpower<Overbid.

Reminder *willpower retests are only available on defensive challenges that explicitly say they offer them and cannot be canceled by the aggressor*

Retests such as the Surprise Retest are being reclassified as an Overbid retest.

Traits

A character's Generation Trait Limit is how high a character's Traits can go naturally, without the use of disciplines, Equipment, or other augments. This is based on their Generation. The generation chart printed below for your convenience. A character's Trait Maximum (the number they can call when adding together their Base traits (Equipment + Disciplines + other) This number is equal to 2x their Generational Trait Limit. Characters can also spend blood to increase their physical traits to their Generation Trait Limit for a scene at a cost of 1 blood per trait. The character can spend an additional blood to increase their traits for one action by 1 over their Generation Trait Limit.

Generation	Max Traits	Blood Pool	Blood per Round	Starting Willpower	Maximum Permanent Willpower
13	10	10	1	2	6
12	10	11	1	2	8
11	11	12	1	4	8
10	12	13	1	4	10
9	13	14	2	6	10
8	14	15	3	6	12
7	16	20	5	7	14
6	18	30	6	8	16
5	20	40	8	9	18
4	25	50	10	10	20
3	30	?	?	?	?

Overbid

If a character has twice the number of traits needed to perform a task they may call for an overbid challenge. Characters can call for an overbid at any time but if it fails the challenge is over.

If a character has three times the traits required for a challenge then they instantly succeed at the task they are performing.

Equipment

Equipment provides bonus traits to challenges. (not retests) A character can wield a piece of equipment in their main hand and their offhand ( note these don't actually have to be held in both hands, and could instead be worn in some circumstances) Without the use of merits a character can only gain 1 trait from offhand equipment. There is no difference between offense and defense, all items provide all traits all the time. Weapons are unique in that they provide physicals both to melee, firearms, or athletics and also uses of the defense skill. ( Technically Firearms can be used with mental in which case the equipment would be providing mental traits.

Damage Cap

No single attack can deal more than 6 damage in a single turn.

Frenzy

When Kindred undergo the Embrace, the Beast within them is loosed forever, causing them to occasionally succumb to a vicious form of madness where they are little more than a wild animal. While in Frenzy, a character feels no pain and acts on instinct, using his bare hands and fangs to rip apart anything in his path or take flight; friends are targets of the vampire's rage just as often as enemies are.

While in frenzy one cannot gain trait benefit from equipment of any type and is immediately in one of three kinds of frenzy, Hunger, Rage, or Fear. Changing breeds follow different rules for frenzy

While frenzying the Frenzying creature cannot be the target of mental or social challenges unless the power specifically says it works on a frenzying creature i.e. Animalism. A frenzying creature also may not activate or initiate metal or social challenges. Obfuscate is useless on a frenzying kindred, however, kindred do not break the obfuscate of a hidden target unless that target is the focus of their frenzy.

Hunger Frenzy: ( Conscience)

In a hunger frenzy the kindred immediately attempts to feed on the nearest source of blood regardless of who it may be. Their priority is simple. Open spilled blood goes first, then blood in kindred then living sentients then animal blood, then blood in dead creatures. All things being equal the frenzying kindred will go for the nearest blood first.

Rage Frenzy: ( Self-Control )

The kindred immediately activates celerity if possible, bloods up their physical traits or activates other combat disciplines if possible (ag claws, obten tentacles etc) and destroys the cause of their frenzy to the best of their ability with every action.

Fear Frenzy: ( Courage )

The kindred immediately activates celerity and heals with any remaining blood if necessary, They then flee the stimulus of the fear frenzy through any means necessary. if trapped they will activate any physical disciplines they can to flee.

Disciplines In Frenzy

The frenzied kindred can and indeed must if there is available blood use their Potence, Celerity, and Fortitude although they need not spend permanent traits for these disciplines.

Frenzied Kindred may not use mental or social disciplines. Most disciplines say whether they can be used in frenzy if there is any doubt.

They must if it would improve their situation use any transformative power (horrid form, black metamorphosis, mist form) except those who call upon blood sorcery (kuldonics, abyss mysticism, thaumaturgy, settite sorcery, necromancy etc can never be activated in a frenzy).

This is not intended as a detriment to things which take multiple rounds to activate i.e. mist form. if one is fear frenzying and the threat is closer than 3 rounds they will not mist out, however if being a cloud would be helpful, off it goes.

Resisting a Frenzy:

To Resist a Frenzy is a Virtue test. Hunger is resisted with Conscience, Rage frenzy is resisted with Self-Control. Fear Frenzy is resisted with Courage. The Difficulty of the change is dependent on the current situation. If your virtue is rated greater than or equal to the test's difficulty you successfully resist frenzy if you win or tie the test. You may spend a willpower for a willpower level retest on virtue tests. You may spend a permanent virtue of the frenzy's type to automatically resist frenzy. Here is the list of hunger frenzy difficulties guidelines

Hunger Frenzy Difficulty

1.When not Full on Blood, You see Blood 
2.When not Full on Blood, You see large amounts of Blood (5 or more traits)
3.When Below half, You see/smell Blood
4.When Empty of Blood, You see/smell Blood
5. Empty of blood and you see a Human

Keywords

Some Powers throughout the game have keywords associated with them that add additional rules they can be found below.

Transformation Power Rules - Powers that cause the user to change shape

Escape - Powers that cause the user to run from the scene

Overpowered/Extreme - Deals massive damage or is otherwise incredibly powerful ability.

Stealth - Powers that prohibit sight of the character.

Helper - Powers that create a minion with a specific extra action.

Initiative

Initiative begins when a storyteller calls for traits. This determines the order of actions in descending order with the highest traits going first. You call traits based on the action you are attempting, for example if you would like to use majesty you call your socials, if you’d like to attack you call your physicals. On your turn you may take 1 action and move up to the number of steps you have.

Initiative tick order

 - Powers that make the user go first.

 - Celerity X ticks (Players activating celerity 1 or with other such abilities such as the fast tag take their normal action here depending on their celerity rating).

 - Normal actions (Based on highest traits).

 - Celerity extra actions and equivalents.

 - Path of focused mind tick.

 - Helper tick.

 - Explosives tick.

Ability Refreshing

Abilities once spent are gone for the night, The only way to restore a spent ability is through the use of a willpower. 1 Willpower restores all dots of an ability. Spending 1 Willpower also allows you to "fake" a retest in a skill you do not have allowing you to call it in a challenge.

Health and Damage

Damage and death: There are three types of damage in the game, bashing, lethal, and aggravated, with varying degrees of severity. Characters have 7 health levels. There are no wound penalties associated with health levels. A Character who fills all 7 health levels with bashing damage is rendered unconscious. If it is filled with Lethal damage they begin bleeding out and will die in 5 minutes without medical attention. Aggravated kills them instantly. Creatures may gain more health levels as they increase in power.

Vampires: Vampires do not take bashing damage. When they take bashing damage it is divided by 2 and turned into lethal ( minimum 1.) Vampires also do not bleed out. Vampires with all their lethal filled enter Torpor and remain there for an amount of time dictated by their humanity, (or until they are forced to spend blood to heal.)

Torpor: A Vampire in Torpor is conscious but can not move their body. If a vampire ever has all their health levels filled with aggravated damage then they are destroyed.

Healing: Vampires can heal damage by spending blood. You can spend 1 blood point to heal a bashing or a lethal, limited by your generational maximum blood per turn. Healing aggravated damage is more difficult, and requires 5 blood points and a temporary willpower. You may only heal one aggravated damage per night naturally without specialized magic that says otherwise.

Grapple

Initiating a grapple requires a Physical Challenge from the would-be grappler. The person initiating the grapple uses Athletics as a retest, and the defender may use Defense or Athletics as a retest, but not both. If a grapple is initiated, each person involved in the grapple has a -2 Trait penalty for each other person engaged in grapple with them. For example if you and your five buddies grapple a guy, you and your buddies each have a -2 trait penalty while your hapless opponent has a -12.

While engaged in a grapple, there are only seven actions you can take:

Bite: Make a Physical Challenge with all penalties in place. You can bite to cause damage or bite to feed, but not both. Licking a wound to close it does not cost an action. Bite can only be performed effectively by creatures with fangs, the base damage of a vampire's fangs is 1 aggravated damage.

Make Prone: You make a physical challenge against the target to throw them to the ground, with you still atop them. A Prone target may still resist normally but may only take the person who made them prone. A target who has been made prone can be pinned on the following action with another athletics challenge.
         
     Pin: A target who is pinned may no longer call defense retests. 

Move Opponent: Make a Physical Challenge with all penalties in place. You move your opponent up to the number of steps you can take.

Throw Opponent: Engage in a Physical Challenge with all penalties in place. You may throw your opponent up to two + potence steps. If your opponent strikes an object or person, both the person and your opponent take your unarmed damage.

Carry: If your opponent relents to a Physical Challenge, you can apply all of the Athletics penalties you are taking to your opponent instead and can take as many steps as is possible for you. 

Break Grapple: Engage in a Physical Challenge. Only Athletics is a valid retest for breaking a grapple. If you succeed in your challenge, you are liberated from the grapple. If you successfully break one grapple, you may remove yourself from all grapples. 

Shiv: You may engage in a normal attack by making a Physical Challenge with anyone involved with the grapple, but the attack must be barehanded or made with a weapon of pocket concealability or smaller, and your attack is still affected by the grappling Trait penalty. You may use dodge retests to defend against a Shiv.

Called Shots

These all require you to spend additional retests prior to making the check.

Called shot Disarm Spend 1 retest before making the check. Success disarms the target.

Called shot Legs Spend 1 retest before making check. Success lowers the targets step count by one. (cant be reduced by more than two)

Diablerie

Diablerie is the process of draining a kindred of all of its blood and then continuing further and draining them of their Heartsblood.

After diablerizing, you gain 1 XP, 4 if you drop a generation. You also suffer an automatic path degeneration. This can be altered with any variant of Amaranth/Bitter Rose to gain no experience but gain the ability to make a simple chop, losing ties to avoid the degeneration. Kindred on Paths of Caine do not suffer the automatic degeneration, but do still make a simple chop and win ties if they are in the room with someone they have Vaulderied with.

If there is a kindred in torpor that you know has a lower generation than you, you must make a Conscience check Difficulty 2 or begin descending upon their heartsblood.

Acting During the Day

You may call traits equal to your total virtues. You may use disciplines equal to (Self-Control + Conscience)/2 (Round down)

Surprise

By counting down behind a target, surprise 1, surprise 2 surprise 3. you can gain a surprise attack. If you are in obfuscate and they cannot perceive you then that will usually work. A surprise attack is a singular attack which is made from surprise. The attacker has an overbid retest called *surprise* that they may be called on this attack. It can be canceled if the target has double the attacker's traits.

Only one surprise attack can be used before combat rounds begin, there is no Co-ordinating surprise attacks.

Retainers

You can't bring ghouls to scenes unless they are player characters.

Wound Penalties

There are none.

Drugs and Alcohol

All Durations listed below may be overridden by burning the drugged blood out of your system through any blood expenditure.

Alcohol: Lower your Self-Control by 1, to a minimum of 1. If it would have reduced your Self-Control to 0, you black out and wake up with no recollection of what you did or how you got there. Duration: 2 hours

Cocaine/Speed: Frenzy Difficulties are increased for you by one stage (Max 5). In addition you act on one Celerity tick higher in Initiative on all actions (this effect is the same as the Fast tag on weapons and is not combinable with it), even if you do not have the discipline. Duration: 1 Hour

Hallucinogens: You suffer a 3/2/1 Trait penalty (assigned by staff). If you do not have any levels of Auspex, you temporarily gain the capacity to use Aura Percept. You also now can see and interact with nearby spirits of the umbras. They can choose to ignore you and if the spirits are hostile, they may be able to effect you with certain powers without manifesting. If you do possess Auspex, you instead suffer from a Haunting effect, as well as being able to now see nearby spirits. Duration: Until End of Session

Marijuana: You recieve a 3 trait penalty your Mental traits. Frenzy Test difficulties are lowered by one stage. Duration: 1 Hour

Crack: Frenzy Difficulties are up by one step, you suffer from the Paranoia derangment, and the Haunting derangement. Duration: 2 Hours

Quaaludes: Frenzy Test difficulties are reduced by 1. You gain Acute Sense: Touch, and a 3 trait penalty to Physicals. Duration: 2 Hours

Staking

Upon a successful attack with a wooden weapon (a weapon capable of Staking) the character may make A Medicine test to Stake the target.

Staking requires two successful checks in a row. The attacker can retest with Medicine. These are simple tests, the aggressor loses ties. Success results in the target entering torpor. An attack must do damage to be valid for a staking attempt. Aegis blocks any staking attempt.