"1's" rolled on dice subtract from total successes. If the number of 1's equals or exceeds the number of successes, the action is considered a failure. If a character rolls no successes and any number of 1's, the action is considered a botch, and bad things happen.
VtM - How the Game Works
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Kakita_Gokumoro
- Level 12
- Posts: 1016
VtM - How the Game Works
The Storyteller series of games uses pretty much the same system universally. This is a d10 system similar to Shadowrun from what I've been told. In general, things get done by rolling a number of d10s equal to the sum of an Attribute plus an Ability versus a Difficulty from 1 to 10, with 6 being the difficulty of an average action. The number of d10s that exceed this difficulty are considered successes. The more successes a character rolls, the higher the degree of success he achieves.
"1's" rolled on dice subtract from total successes. If the number of 1's equals or exceeds the number of successes, the action is considered a failure. If a character rolls no successes and any number of 1's, the action is considered a botch, and bad things happen.
"1's" rolled on dice subtract from total successes. If the number of 1's equals or exceeds the number of successes, the action is considered a failure. If a character rolls no successes and any number of 1's, the action is considered a botch, and bad things happen.
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Kakita_Gokumoro
- Level 12
- Posts: 1016
How to Make Things Hurt
Combat in the World of Darkness works on the same principles as other rolls do. The base Difficulty to do anything in combat is 6, modified for terrain, vision obstruction, and weapon accuracy. A character designates a target, rolls whatever appropriate set of dice he needs, and that determines success.
However, there is a possibility for an opponent to dodge an attack. If a character is attacked, he can roll Dexterity + Dodge at a difficulty of 6. Whatever successes he rolls subtract from the successes his attacker rolled. If the defender's successes equal or exceed the attacker's, the attack is considered to have been successfully dodged.
Initiative
Initiative is rolled differently than any other roll in the game. Characters roll 1d10 and add the sum of his Dexterity and Wits Attributes to it. The character(s) who get the highest results go first. Initiative is rolled on a round-for-round basis.
Multiple Actions
Characters can declare more than one action in a turn. there is, however, a penalty for doing so. A character subtracts a number of dice equal to the number of actions he wishes to take from his first die pool. After that, he subtracts the number of actions declared +1 from subsequent die pools.
Dodges never need to be declared. They take the place of any other declared action without penalty (other than the penalty for taking multiple actions).
Actions in combat resolve on a turn based system. Everyone gets one action, then characters who declared multiple actions take their secondary actions, then characters that took more than two action take their actions, and so on.
Characters with Celerity can spend a Blood Point (more on the later) to take as many actions as they have points in Celerity. Each of these Die Pools are used at their full value. A character cannot use Celerity and declare multiple actions in the same round.
Getting Hurt
There are three different types of damage in the World of Darkness. The first type is Bashing damage. This sort of damage is generally not life threatening, like getting punched.
Vampires half all Bashing damage successes (which I'll get to in a moment) before soaking (which I'll also get to in a moment). Furthermore, since vampires are dead, their internal organs aren't all that susceptible to gunfire. Firearm damage is considered Bashing for vampires.
The second type of damage is Lethal damage. This is the sort of thing that can kill you, like being shot or stabbed with a sword. Vampires soak lethal damage normally (except in the case of firearms, as detailed above).
The last sort of damage is Aggravated damage. This is the sort of damage that easily destroys vampires, like fire or sunlight. As a rule, vampires cannot soak Aggravated damage without the aid of the Fortitude Discipline.
Dealing damage depends on the type of weapon used. Firearms have a set damage code (say, 4 dice) while melee weapons have a variable code based on the Strength Attribute (a knife, for example, has a damage code of Strength + 1). To determine the number of damage dice a character rolls, take the sum of the damage code + (the number of attack successes - 1).
Next, the character rolls his damage dice versus a difficulty of 6. Success inflicts 1 level of damage on the defender. If a character rolls no successes, the defender takes no damage. Damage rolls cannot be botched.
Characters with Potence add their Potence rank to all damage rolls inflicted in melee (this does not give a bonus to Firearm damage rolls). This score is not rolled, but is considered to be a number of automatic successes equal to the character's Potence score.
Because a character has been hit in combat doesn't necessarily mean that he's out. Once a character takes damage, he gets a soak roll to determine whether or not he can roll with the punch, absorb some of the hurt, or whatever. Soak rolls generally have a difficulty of 6. A character whose soak roll equals or exceeds the attackers damage successes takes no damage. Like damage rolls, soak rolls cannot be botched.
Characters with Fortitude roll as many dice as they have ranks in Fortitude in addition to their Stamina when soaking. Characters with Fortitude may roll their Fortitude score (and only their Fortitude score) to soak sources of Aggravated damage.
However, there is a possibility for an opponent to dodge an attack. If a character is attacked, he can roll Dexterity + Dodge at a difficulty of 6. Whatever successes he rolls subtract from the successes his attacker rolled. If the defender's successes equal or exceed the attacker's, the attack is considered to have been successfully dodged.
Initiative
Initiative is rolled differently than any other roll in the game. Characters roll 1d10 and add the sum of his Dexterity and Wits Attributes to it. The character(s) who get the highest results go first. Initiative is rolled on a round-for-round basis.
Multiple Actions
Characters can declare more than one action in a turn. there is, however, a penalty for doing so. A character subtracts a number of dice equal to the number of actions he wishes to take from his first die pool. After that, he subtracts the number of actions declared +1 from subsequent die pools.
Actions in combat resolve on a turn based system. Everyone gets one action, then characters who declared multiple actions take their secondary actions, then characters that took more than two action take their actions, and so on.
Characters with Celerity can spend a Blood Point (more on the later) to take as many actions as they have points in Celerity. Each of these Die Pools are used at their full value. A character cannot use Celerity and declare multiple actions in the same round.
Getting Hurt
There are three different types of damage in the World of Darkness. The first type is Bashing damage. This sort of damage is generally not life threatening, like getting punched.
Vampires half all Bashing damage successes (which I'll get to in a moment) before soaking (which I'll also get to in a moment). Furthermore, since vampires are dead, their internal organs aren't all that susceptible to gunfire. Firearm damage is considered Bashing for vampires.
The second type of damage is Lethal damage. This is the sort of thing that can kill you, like being shot or stabbed with a sword. Vampires soak lethal damage normally (except in the case of firearms, as detailed above).
The last sort of damage is Aggravated damage. This is the sort of damage that easily destroys vampires, like fire or sunlight. As a rule, vampires cannot soak Aggravated damage without the aid of the Fortitude Discipline.
Dealing damage depends on the type of weapon used. Firearms have a set damage code (say, 4 dice) while melee weapons have a variable code based on the Strength Attribute (a knife, for example, has a damage code of Strength + 1). To determine the number of damage dice a character rolls, take the sum of the damage code + (the number of attack successes - 1).
Because a character has been hit in combat doesn't necessarily mean that he's out. Once a character takes damage, he gets a soak roll to determine whether or not he can roll with the punch, absorb some of the hurt, or whatever. Soak rolls generally have a difficulty of 6. A character whose soak roll equals or exceeds the attackers damage successes takes no damage. Like damage rolls, soak rolls cannot be botched.
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Kakita_Gokumoro
- Level 12
- Posts: 1016
Blood Points and Willpower
Blood Points
It's what keeps vampires from being mere corpses: blood.
A character has the capacity to hold a number of blood points in proportion to their Generation. 13th Generation characters (the default generation for the setting) can hold 10 Blood Points and expend one of them per turn. Higher Generation vampires (those with a closer relation to Caine) can hold more blood and expend more of it at once.
Blood Points can be regained by feeding. A mortal can hold 10 Blood Points, but every one taken inflicts a level of lethal damage to the mortal. Take too much, and the mortal could very well die.
Here are the things that a character can do with Blood Points:
A character must expend 1 Blood Point each evening as he raises from his sleep. This si the cost to animate what essentially is a corpse for the evening. Characters with no blood to spend do not wake up.
A character can expend Blood Points to heal damage. Bashing and Lethal damage can be healed on a 1-for-1 basis, that is, 1 Blood Point heals 1 level of damage.
Aggravated damage is handled differently. It costs 5 Blood Points to heal 1 level of Aggravated damage. This can be done only once per evening, unless the character expends a Willpower Point in addition to the 5 Blood Points.
It should be noted that spending blood is the only way a character may heal damage. Corpses don't naturally heal on their own.
A character may expend a Blood Point to increase his Physical Attributes. The maximum an Attribute may increase is equal to the highest rank the Attribute could attain + 1. For example, characters cannot have Attributes higher than 5. Therefore, with the expendature of blood, a vampire could increase his physical attributes to a maximum of 6.
A character can expend blood to imitate life. Normally, a vampire looks somewhat pale, doesn't breath, feels cold to the tough, and so on. By spending a number of Blood Points equal to their Humanity score - 8, they can appear to have the trappings of life.
Finally, some Disciplines require the expenditure of Blood Points to be activated.
Willpower
Willpower Points, like Blood Points, can be spent in a number of different ways. A character has a number of Willpower Points to spend equal to his Willpower rating.
Willpower Points can be regained by acting in accordance with one's Nature. They are also regained in their entirety after the completion of a Story. Finally, they can be regained after the character completes something truly exceptional (my discretion).
The things you can do with Willpower Points:
A character can spend a Willpower Point to gain 1 automatic success for a particular die roll. If nothing else, this prevents the character from botching.
A character can spend a Willpower Point to avoid taking an involuntary action. For example, if I dictate that a character has fallen for the wiles of an NPC, the character could spend a Willpower Point to further resist temptation. This expenditure of Willpower is totally at my discretion. I may require a succession of Willpower Points to be spent to be successful. This will be dictated as the situation merits.
A character with a Derangement may ignore his mental faults for a scene by expending a Willpower Point. By spending enough Willpower points over time may cause the Derangement to be overcome entirely. Malkavian characters may never overcome their insanities in this fashion, only hold them at bay for a time.
A character can spend a Willpower Point to ignore the negative modifiers of Wound Penalties fro a turn.
It's what keeps vampires from being mere corpses: blood.
A character has the capacity to hold a number of blood points in proportion to their Generation. 13th Generation characters (the default generation for the setting) can hold 10 Blood Points and expend one of them per turn. Higher Generation vampires (those with a closer relation to Caine) can hold more blood and expend more of it at once.
Blood Points can be regained by feeding. A mortal can hold 10 Blood Points, but every one taken inflicts a level of lethal damage to the mortal. Take too much, and the mortal could very well die.
Here are the things that a character can do with Blood Points:
A character must expend 1 Blood Point each evening as he raises from his sleep. This si the cost to animate what essentially is a corpse for the evening. Characters with no blood to spend do not wake up.
A character can expend Blood Points to heal damage. Bashing and Lethal damage can be healed on a 1-for-1 basis, that is, 1 Blood Point heals 1 level of damage.
Aggravated damage is handled differently. It costs 5 Blood Points to heal 1 level of Aggravated damage. This can be done only once per evening, unless the character expends a Willpower Point in addition to the 5 Blood Points.
It should be noted that spending blood is the only way a character may heal damage. Corpses don't naturally heal on their own.
A character may expend a Blood Point to increase his Physical Attributes. The maximum an Attribute may increase is equal to the highest rank the Attribute could attain + 1. For example, characters cannot have Attributes higher than 5. Therefore, with the expendature of blood, a vampire could increase his physical attributes to a maximum of 6.
A character can expend blood to imitate life. Normally, a vampire looks somewhat pale, doesn't breath, feels cold to the tough, and so on. By spending a number of Blood Points equal to their Humanity score - 8, they can appear to have the trappings of life.
Finally, some Disciplines require the expenditure of Blood Points to be activated.
Willpower
Willpower Points, like Blood Points, can be spent in a number of different ways. A character has a number of Willpower Points to spend equal to his Willpower rating.
Willpower Points can be regained by acting in accordance with one's Nature. They are also regained in their entirety after the completion of a Story. Finally, they can be regained after the character completes something truly exceptional (my discretion).
The things you can do with Willpower Points:
A character can spend a Willpower Point to gain 1 automatic success for a particular die roll. If nothing else, this prevents the character from botching.
A character can spend a Willpower Point to avoid taking an involuntary action. For example, if I dictate that a character has fallen for the wiles of an NPC, the character could spend a Willpower Point to further resist temptation. This expenditure of Willpower is totally at my discretion. I may require a succession of Willpower Points to be spent to be successful. This will be dictated as the situation merits.
A character with a Derangement may ignore his mental faults for a scene by expending a Willpower Point. By spending enough Willpower points over time may cause the Derangement to be overcome entirely. Malkavian characters may never overcome their insanities in this fashion, only hold them at bay for a time.
A character can spend a Willpower Point to ignore the negative modifiers of Wound Penalties fro a turn.
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Kakita_Gokumoro
- Level 12
- Posts: 1016
Taking Damage
Bruised: The character is only bruised a bit and suffers no dice pool penalties due to damage.
Hurt: The character is superficially hurt and suffers no movement penalties. Dice pool penalty: -1
Injured: The character suffers minor injuries and movement is mildly inhibited (halve maximum running speed). Dice pool penalty: -1
Wounded: The character suffers significant damage and may not run (though he may still walk). At this level, a character may not move, then attack; he always loses dice when moving and attacking in the same turn (as if he had taken multiple actions). Dice pool penalty: -2
Mauled: The character is badly injured and may only hobble about (3 yards/turn). Dice pool penalty: -2
Crippled: The character is catastrophically injured and may only crawl (1 yard/turn). Dice pool penalty: -5
Incapacitated: The character is incapable of movement and is likely unconscious. Incapacitated vampires with no blood in their bodies enter torpor.
A couple of notes are in order here. First of all, these dice pool penalties are not cumulative. If a character is Hurt, then Mauled, his die pool penalties are -2, not -3. Secondly, these penalties do not apply to purely reflexive dice pools, such as soaking.
Humans who reach Incapacitated are a hair's width from dying. Any additional damage suffered kills them.
Vampires who are reduced to Incapacitated and then suffer Aggravated damage die the Final Death.
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Kakita_Gokumoro
- Level 12
- Posts: 1016
Social Systems
When dealing with a society whose memory can last centuries, it is little wonder that the Kindred have so many social customs and rituals. When one imagines that a single evening's social blunder can color an entire city's perception of that individual for years or decades before being allowed to make recompense, one can see why the Kindred's social arena is sometimes even deadlier than the sun itself.
Social systems work a great deal like the aforementioned combat system does, with a few liberties taken. For example, depending on the pacing of the scene, a social round can last anywhere from ten seconds to an hour or more.
A round consists of the following phases:
Posturing: At the beginning of every round, each character participating in the social exchange rolls Charisma + Etiquette (Difficulty 6). If at least three successes are scored, the character receives a point of Favor (which will be explained later). If the character botches, he receives a point of Disfavor (also to be explained later). There is no penalty or reward associated with failing this roll.
Initiative: Each character rolls 1 die and adds that roll to the total of his Wits and Alertness scores. Higher results go first.
Action Declaration: Each character declares his social action for the turn. If the character wishes to perform more than one action, he may take penalties as described in the above combat section.
The types of social actions are:
Favor: An attempt to repair or boost the reputation of oneself or another.
Disfavor: An attempt to harm the reputation of another character.
Compel: An attempt to make another character respond in a particular fashion or take a particular action.
Observe: A choice to initiate no social action this turn.
Withdraw: An attempt to exit the social exchange entirely (usually by physically leaving the premises).
Action Resolution: The majority of social actions are resisted actions. The Attribute + Ability roll depends on the RP of the character. For example, attempting a Disfavor action by making a subtle quip about someone's sire is quite different from trying the same thing by openly pointing out the person's horrible fashion sense. In most cases, Difficulties for rolls such as these is 6.
If another character wishes to resist the action, he can roll the same Attribute + Ability as the acting character. The resisting character's successes are subtracted from the acting character's successes. If the acting character has any success remaining after subtracting the resisting character's successes, the action is a success. Furthermore, if the acting character has three successes (after subtracting the resisting character's successes) the action is considered a complete success and a point of Favor or Disfavor is awarded to the target accordingly.
A botch on any social roll represents a horrible faux pas in the eyes of his peers. The character is immediately awarded a point of Disfavor and may take no other action this turn unless it is to Withdraw.
Favor and Disfavor Points
Favor Points represent a favorable reputation in Kindred circles, while Disfavor Points represent an unfavorable one. Favor Points subtract 1 from the Difficulties of all social actions per point. No character may have more than 3 points of Favor. Similarly, points of Disfavor add 1 to all social difficulties. Again, no character may have more than 3 points of Disfavor.
Because Favor and Disfavor points are incompatible, no character may have both types of points. Favor Points cancel out Disfavor points, and vise versa.
Because the Kindred are such static, spiteful, bitter creatures, Favor and Disfavor Points do not change of their own accord. The only way to get rid of Disfavor points is to gain Favor points, and the only way to gain more Favor Points is to earn them.
No points of Favor or Disfavor are awarded outside meaningful society. If there is no appropriate audience, no one can regard how proficient you are with your wit.
Finally, on occasion I will award both types of points for no apparent reason. This represents other Kindred talking behind your backs "behind the scenes". Not everything will happen in your character's presence.
Social systems work a great deal like the aforementioned combat system does, with a few liberties taken. For example, depending on the pacing of the scene, a social round can last anywhere from ten seconds to an hour or more.
A round consists of the following phases:
Posturing: At the beginning of every round, each character participating in the social exchange rolls Charisma + Etiquette (Difficulty 6). If at least three successes are scored, the character receives a point of Favor (which will be explained later). If the character botches, he receives a point of Disfavor (also to be explained later). There is no penalty or reward associated with failing this roll.
Initiative: Each character rolls 1 die and adds that roll to the total of his Wits and Alertness scores. Higher results go first.
Action Declaration: Each character declares his social action for the turn. If the character wishes to perform more than one action, he may take penalties as described in the above combat section.
The types of social actions are:
Favor: An attempt to repair or boost the reputation of oneself or another.
Disfavor: An attempt to harm the reputation of another character.
Compel: An attempt to make another character respond in a particular fashion or take a particular action.
Observe: A choice to initiate no social action this turn.
Withdraw: An attempt to exit the social exchange entirely (usually by physically leaving the premises).
Action Resolution: The majority of social actions are resisted actions. The Attribute + Ability roll depends on the RP of the character. For example, attempting a Disfavor action by making a subtle quip about someone's sire is quite different from trying the same thing by openly pointing out the person's horrible fashion sense. In most cases, Difficulties for rolls such as these is 6.
If another character wishes to resist the action, he can roll the same Attribute + Ability as the acting character. The resisting character's successes are subtracted from the acting character's successes. If the acting character has any success remaining after subtracting the resisting character's successes, the action is a success. Furthermore, if the acting character has three successes (after subtracting the resisting character's successes) the action is considered a complete success and a point of Favor or Disfavor is awarded to the target accordingly.
A botch on any social roll represents a horrible faux pas in the eyes of his peers. The character is immediately awarded a point of Disfavor and may take no other action this turn unless it is to Withdraw.
Favor and Disfavor Points
Favor Points represent a favorable reputation in Kindred circles, while Disfavor Points represent an unfavorable one. Favor Points subtract 1 from the Difficulties of all social actions per point. No character may have more than 3 points of Favor. Similarly, points of Disfavor add 1 to all social difficulties. Again, no character may have more than 3 points of Disfavor.
Because Favor and Disfavor points are incompatible, no character may have both types of points. Favor Points cancel out Disfavor points, and vise versa.
Because the Kindred are such static, spiteful, bitter creatures, Favor and Disfavor Points do not change of their own accord. The only way to get rid of Disfavor points is to gain Favor points, and the only way to gain more Favor Points is to earn them.
No points of Favor or Disfavor are awarded outside meaningful society. If there is no appropriate audience, no one can regard how proficient you are with your wit.
Finally, on occasion I will award both types of points for no apparent reason. This represents other Kindred talking behind your backs "behind the scenes". Not everything will happen in your character's presence.