User:Deacon

Influence System 1.0 (Beta)

Influence System Basics

This system is designed to allow players to utilize certain stats to influence the world around them and to gather information. The background stats impacted by this system are:

• Resources
• Contacts
• Allies
• Spies
• Backup
• Retainers
• Domain/Territory

The system below will explain how to utilize each background in the system, but the basic idea of this influence system is that you act through your agents – retainers, contacts, allies, and spies to influence the world. Your actual influence rating allows you to exercise your personal power to aid in your own or your assets efforts. Your Influence score represents your personal influence and ability to manipulate situations in the world and your assets are tools to exercise control over ares of society.

Purchasing Influence

The Influence Background can be purchased at x3 cost (the same as every other background) and goes from 1-5.

Areas of Influence

A player can have a maximum Areas of Influence (see Areas of Influence below) equal to their Influence score. Areas of Influence determine where the player can allocate their Influence background stat. Players cannot allocate Influence to assets or actions outside their Areas of Influence.

For example, Kilroy has Influence 2, Contacts 2, and Allies 3. He can select two Areas of Influence. He chooses Media and Medical. He can assign Influence to any of his Contacts and Allies assets in Media and Medical or any actions he takes that relate to that. He could purchase an Ally in the Underworld but cannot allocate Influence dice to them. If he had Influence 3, he could add Underworld and then allocate Influence dice there.

Using Influence With Backgrounds

Influence can be useful for aiding in the efforts of your Retainers, Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup.

There are a couple of stipulations on how Influence dice are used:

1. You gain as many Influence dice as you have Influence background each Influence Cycle.
2. These Influence dice can be assigned to actions taken by Retainers, Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup.
3. Dice can only be assigned to Contacts and Allies within their Areas of Influence. For example, if a PC has Community and Religion Areas of Influence, they could not assign any Influence dice to a Transportation Contact (but they could purchase that type of contact).
4. Players can divide up their Influence dice however they wish between Influence actions.
5. Spies, Retainers, and Backup do not have Areas of Influence and can be freely assigned Influence dice. The ST may decide that those dice do not apply depending on the situation.

For example, if a PC has Underworld Area of Influence and they send an Underworld ally out to gather some intel on the streets, they could assign up to 3 additional Influence dice to that action. If the PC has two Underworld allies, they could choose to split the 3 dice between two actions how you like. If they also had an Academic ally but did not have Academics as one of their Areas of Influence, they could not assign any dice to that ally (but they can still have it).

This system is designed to encourage players to select Contacts and Allies assets that generally align with their chosen Areas of Influence. In this way, players can get the maximum benefit out of them. It is possible for a player to have Media and Medical influence, as Kilroy, and still buy a Legal Contact. However, that player would not be able to use their Influence dice to help in its actions.

Using Influence With Player Rolls

The Influence background is useful beyond giving dice to your Retainers, Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup. It’s possible to have Influence dice and not have a single asset background.

Instead of allocating dice to their assets, the player can use the extra dice to aid their personal efforts some way. These extra dice can be applied to any dice roll that the Storyteller determines is valid for that Influence to apply. The player can only tap into Areas of Influence they already have and must explain to the Storyteller exactly how they are using their Influence.

There are a couple of stipulations on how these dice are used:

1. The dice from Influence can only be assigned to rolls that ‘make sense’ in the context of the player or retainer’s action or the scene. High Society influence is unlikely to be useful on a break-in.
2. Players can divide up their Influence dice however they wish between actions but only be able to use up to their total Influence rating in the scene.
3. There is no limit to how many times a Influence dice can be used in a specific Area of Influence. For example, a player with Influence 4 in Underworld and High Society could use all their dice on one roll related to Underworld or High Society, or, two dice split between two rolls, or even 1 dice spread across 4 rolls.

For example, Moe wants to break into a building and decides to tap his Influence to aid him. He has Influence 3 and one of his Areas of Influence is Government. He decides that he will pull strings with Public Works get the power cut to the location he wants to break into. The Storyteller calls for a Wits + Security roll for Moe to successfully break in but because Moe pulled some strings to get the power cut, he can add up to 3 additional dice to that roll. If he used 2 dice on that roll, he would still have an additional die to use in a future roll in that scene. Once we used all 3 Influence dice through, he could no longer use Influence to aid his dice rolls.

This part of the system is roughly designed to give characters a potential edge in areas that they have Influence, especially if their personal skills and dice pools line up with places they can help. A person skilled in Streetwise and Larceny will get more help from the Underworld than one who is not.

Influence System Advanced

Power Brokering

The Power Brokering ability allows characters to break the rules and convert Influence in existing Areas of Influence to another Area of Influence that they don’t own. To accomplish this the player may roll Charisma/Manipulation/Intelligence + Power Brokering at a difficulty of 3 + the number of Influence the player wishes to convert. Success means they can convert that much influence from their existing Areas of Influence to an Area of Influence of their choice.

The following stipulations cover the use of this ability:

1. The Power Brokering roll can happen once per Influence Cycle.
2. Once Influence is converted using Power Brokering it cannot be used again with other Areas of Influence.
3. As much or as little Influence can be converted up to your Influence background score.

For example, if a PC has Influence 2 in the Areas of Influence of Occult and Transportation, but they need to have access to Underworld Influence to pull off a heist. They want to convert all 2 Influence to Underworld so they roll Charisma + Power Brokering versus difficulty 5. If they succeed, they now have 2 Influence dice to that can be used in Underworld during that Influence Cycle that can be used for personal dice rolls or given to an Underworld agent they have. The PC cannot go and use those 2 Influence for their Occult or Transportation for that Influence Cycle.

Influence and Resources

The wealthy and powerful can often just purchase what they need at any given time. This background allows player to purchase the use of Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup during an Influence Cycle. This resource can change each Influence Submission Cycle depending on the PC’s needs. The following chart indicates what level of background stats that someone with money can buy:

Resources 1: None

Resources 2: None

Resources 3: 1 Level 1

Resources 4: 1 Level 2

Resources 5: 1 Level 3 or 2 Level 1s

Resources 6: 1 Level 4 or 2 Level 2s

Players can use Resources to purchase Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup of the levels listed above. In cases where an Area of Influence applies, such as Contacts or Allies, the PC can only purchase agents that are within the Areas of Influence that they have assigned from their Influence background. All of these assets disappear at the end of the Influence Cycle, but it is also possible for a PC to hold a resource from cycle to cycle if they still have need of that type of asset.

For example, if a PC has Level 4 Resources, during an Influence Cycle, they can purchase 1 Level 2 asset. If they purchase an Ally, they can assign it to any one of the Areas of Influence they currently have. In this case, the PC chooses Religion. This Ally would not qualify for an Area of Expertise because it is Level 2, but if the PC had Level 5 Resources, they could purchase a Level 3 Ally, which would allow that Ally to have 1 Area of Expertise.

Areas of Expertise

Area of expertise is used on certain levels of contacts and allies. When a player purchases level 3, 4 or 5 of one of these backgrounds, they gain access to an especially powerful agent. When this ally or contact is +noted, the Areas of Expertise they have should be written on that note. In general, Level 3 background stats gets 1 Area of Expertise, Level 4 gets 2, and Level 5 gets 3.

An Area of Expertise does two things:

1. It gives the contact, ally, or spy +2 dice on any rolls to which their Area of Expertise applies.
2. Any 10s on rolls are counted as 2 successes.

Areas of Expertise are applied logically and adjudicated by the ST. For example, if a street thug ally had an Area of Expertise in Kidnapping, if I assigned them to abduct someone, they would get the +2 dice and the extra successes on 10s. If they were assigned to sell stolen goods, it wouldn’t apply to that.

A couple of notes:

• Areas of Expertise do not apply to players. Players use specialties in their abilities for their rolls.
• Areas of Expertise do not apply to Retainers background. Retainers use specialties in their abilities for their rolls.

Areas of Influence

The following are the Areas of Influence that exist on the game along with their associated Areas of Expertise:

Academic – This is influence among the schools, universities, and educational bureaucracy. This type of influence can be used to gain access to information and facilities to acquire knowledge. This can also be used to manipulate the educational bureaucracy to do what a player wishes and even gain access to records that are not publicly available.

Areas of Expertise: Sciences, Academic Bureaucracy, Research, Records, Field Work, Engineering, Cultural Studies, Economics, Mathematics, Teaching, Field Work

Underworld – Underworld influence is power in crime and illegal activities. This area deals with everything from petty crime, such as pickpocketing, to drug smuggling operations and assassination. A person with this type of influence can lend their influence to help their people perform any manner of illegal deeds, from purchasing illegal goods to acquiring forged documents.

Areas of Expertise: Sex Work, Information Gathering, Illegal Weapons, Fencing, Theft, Gangs, Illegal Drugs, Street Politics, Hits, Scrounging, Forgery, Assault, Kidnapping

Business & Industry – Business and Industry influence is how much pull you have in the corporate world and how much control you have over local business and industry. This area deals with the business world at more than the small business level. A person with this influence can manipulate markets, gain access to prototypes or research, manage corporate buyouts and raids, execute corporate and financial research, or make use of assets that a typical big business has access to.

Areas of Expertise: Investments, Buyouts, Insider Trading, R&D, Records, Stock Markets, Takeovers, Laundering, Accounting & Analysis, Corporate Assets, Money Laundering

Law Enforcement – This is law enforcement influence that can range from local police to federal agencies. Local law enforcement is far easier to manipulate and manage than big agencies like the FBI and CIA. Those with law enforcement influence can launch investigations, execute warrants, steal and manipulate evidence, call for surveillance on a target, and even go so far as to have someone arrested. This is a powerful influence and while many may want it, it can be a double-edge sword; law enforcement tends to be also good at rooting out any type of influence in its ranks.

Areas of Expertise: Investigations, Surveillance, Raids, Evidence, Records, Forensics, Arrests, Assassinations, SWAT, Rumors, Internal Affairs, Law Enforcement Bureaucracy

Legal – Legal influence represents the ability for someone to manipulate the wheels of law and justice. This influence is directly connected to law enforcement and the court. With this influence, someone can arrange to get a lawyer, fight a court case, gain insight into and potentially even influence ongoing court cases, research legal records, and arrange for contracts and agreements. This influence can also be used to tie up others’ efforts in all manner of legal proceedings and red tape.

Areas of Expertise: Corporate Law, Prosecution, Defense, Courts, Litigation, Contract Law, Copyright Law, Real Estate Law, Criminal Law, Tax Law, International Law, Federal Law, Records

Media – Media influence is control over local papers, journalism, news, and other publications. This does not really apply to the internet in the mid-90s, as it was still in its infancy, but there are many more print publications in circulation. With this influence someone can arrange to have a story run or quashed, it can gain access to investigative journalism, interviews, photographs, and videos. This influence is useful for gaining access to certain places and tracking down historical events.

Areas of Expertise: Blackmail, Local News, Advertising, TV, Movies, Newspapers, Conspiracy, Spin Control, Scandals, Investigative Journalism, Interviews, Press Access

Medical – Medical influence represents a connection to the healthcare and medicine community. This can represent connections to local doctors, hospitals, and clinics and even industries that are peripheral to those such as pharmaceutical companies, medical supply, blood banks, and research. With this influence someone can gain easy access to medical care, records, drugs, forensics, and even get research or testing performed. Medicine is often one of the front lines of the battle to suppress information getting to the public and this influence can be used to suppress that.

Areas of Expertise: Forensic Pathology, First Aid, Pharmaceutical, Blood Banks, Clinics, Hospitals, Medical Records, Diseases, Surgery, Paramedics, Medical Testing, Psychiatry

Transportation – Transportation influence is the ability to move goods and people from place to place. This can be via road, rail, plane, or boat. This subtly powerful influence allows for all manner of shipping of products to be done, both legal and illegal. It can ensure that existing shipments have no red tape or excessive red tape. It can also find records on past and current shipments, arrange travel, know when others are travelling, intercept shipments, and ensure that shipments disappear.

Areas of Expertise: Shipping, Rail, Trucking, Aviation, Documentation and Certification, Travel Arrangements, Shipping Records, Smuggling, Shortcuts, Area Knowledge, Getaways

High Society – This area of influence involves the ‘good and the great’ of any given community. The wealthy, famous, and well-positioned of society. This type of influence is deeply tied to the ability to hob nob among those of influence, making friends among their ranks and then ensuring that doors are opened you that may not be to others. This influence can often clear up blockages in other areas, gain admittance to exclusive opportunities, meeting people who are difficult to meet, and gaining favors from the rich and powerful. This influence is also often deeply tied to philanthropy.

Areas of Expertise: Parties, Negotiation, Making Friends, Exclusive Access, Philanthropy, Power Brokering, Hot Gossip, Favors, Social Chameleon, Local Culture, Foreign Culture

Arts & Community – This area of influence deals mostly with the local arts community as well as the local populace of small businesses, people, and neighborhoods of the city. This influence is power at the neighborhood level, allowing the person who wields it to influence the communities in a city, gain information from them, tap local businesses for aid and influence who goes to them. This also applies to the local art community from painting to poetry and includes areas like music, theater, and even movie productions. This kind of influence can arrange for shows or gain access, make or break a local performance, and arrange access to local and even international celebrities.

Areas of Expertise: Performances, Charity Events, Neighborhoods, Area Knowledge, Local Gossip, Theater, Music, Visual Arts, Neighborhood Watch, Celebrities, Small Businesses

Government – Government influence represents a connection and influence over the local city government. This influence does not apply to state or federal government. This includes many of the city offices, including the mayor, city council, and other city offices such as public works, including sewage and city lights, parks, emergency management, budget office, auditor, and the city inspector. Police and Attorneys are covered under Law Enforcement and Legal influence. This kind of influence can allow the person who wields it to do anything from moving forward policies that are favorable to them, to disabling power and services, and having businesses shut down.

Areas of Expertise: City Council, Mayor’s Office, Public Works, City Records, Inspections, City Finance, Parks and Rec, Red Tape, Emergency Management, Fire Department, Auditors

Religion – This type of influence focuses on keeping one’s fingers on the pulse of the local spiritual communities. This can include influence in any faith from Catholic, to Protestant, to Hindu, to Satanic Temples. Those with this influence can influence the communities that are associated with those faiths. This can gather followers and then have those followers act on suggestions. There is often a great deal of knowledge to be gained from many of these faiths on spiritual and esoteric topics. Also, faiths often wield a great deal of temporal power and influence in communities and in governments. The head of a church leaning on officials or local community members can effective.

Areas of Expertise: Religious Scriptures, Community Outreach, Theology, Religious Activism, Religious History, Rites, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Paganism

Occult – Occult influence covers the ability to tap into the world of esoteric and alternative studies. The occult community is mostly researched based though it can wander into the world of cults and societies as well. Most of this influence deals with more mundane topics and not with the actual world of the supernatural. This influence can be used to uncover knowledge, do research on topics, sway local societies and groups, such as paranormal investigators, and even seek out and acquire rare texts or other objects of occult relevance. Unlike some other influences, this can be dangerous for supernatural beings to wield as the people they are influencing are vaguely aware of their nature.

Areas of Expertise: Metaphysics, Mythology, Folklore, Cults, Rare Objects, Occult History, Conspiracy Theories, Secret Societies, Mystic Lore, Parapsychology, Alternative Sciences

Technology – Though this is only the mid-90s, the field of technology has been around for decades and is only now beginning to experience a true growth spurt. Computers and the internet are still in their infancy but someone with this influence is on the cutting edge of these fields. This influence can be used to gain access to technology as well as computer hardware and software, access to research and development as well as people who can utilize this technology. This includes people like engineers, coders, hackers, and technicians. This influence can also be used to curtail others’ efforts in this area through sabotage and efforts aimed and controlling access to certain technology.

Areas of Expertise: Programming, Hardware, R&D, Networking, Security Systems, Hacking, Robots, Electronics, Communications, Jury-Rigging, Industrial Espionage, Data Encryption

Influence Submissions & Cycles

Influence Submissions are taken approximately every 3 weeks. Staff will post the Influence Submission windows. All Influence Submissions must be submitted via +request in the format listed below before Midnight on the last day of the window. Any Influence submitted past the window will not be honored by staff. Players must also submit their own influence requests, and they cannot submit influence requests for other players stats or using other players’ statistics.

Influence Submission Format

Title of +Request: <Character Name> Influence Submission

Player Name: Joe Schmo

Influence Submission Window: mm/dd/yyyy – mm/dd/yyyy

Power Brokering Used: Y/N?

Explanation: Explain here how you are using your Power Brokering, if at all.

Resources Used: Y/N?

Explanation: Explain here if you are using your Resources, and how. Explain in detail which contact/ally/spy you are hiring with your Resources, their Areas of Influence and Expertise.

Action 1:

Resource Name: Name of the resource taking the action

Type of Resource: Ally/Contact/Retainer/Spy

Area of Influence: Their Area of Influence

Area of Expertise: Their Areas of Expertise

Action: Explain in detail the action that you would like this resource to be taking.

Expected Dice: How many dice you expect to roll. Include Area of Expertise and Influence dice.

Action 2:

Resource Name: Name of the resource taking the action

Type of Resource: Ally/Contact/Retainer/Spy

Area of Influence: Their Area of Influence

Area of Expertise: Their Areas of Expertise

Action: Explain in detail the action that you would like this resource to be taking.

Expected Dice: How many dice you expect to roll. Include Area of Expertise and Influence dice.

Contacts

Contacts are sources of information that can provide you with accurate information in their area of expertise. Contacts are generally not your PC’s friend or even necessarily an acquaintance. They are people your character knows or that work through someone else you know. They are people who can be tapped for information and rumors, often in exchange for some contributions. They also are the least likely background to go out of their way to take risks on your behalf. It would not be at all surprising for a Contact to refuse to do a certain type of job based on the risk level of the work that’s asked. They also have fairly little loyalty to you in the case that they get caught and are questioned.

It is worth noting that we are using the following chart, and you cannot invest more than one dot in a single Contact.

• 1 Minor contact
•• 2 Minor contacts
••• 2 Minor and 1 Resourceful+ contacts
•••• 2 Minor, 1 Resourceful, 1 Very Resourceful++ contacts
••••• 2 minor, 1 Resourceful, 1 Very Resourceful, 1 Extremely Resourceful+++ contacts

+ Resourceful contacts have 1 Area of Expertise
++ Very Resourceful contacts have 2 Areas of Expertise
+++ Extremely Resourceful contacts have 3 Areas of Expertise

Contact Notes

Contacts should be captured within a +note on your character. The note should explain the following:

- Contact Name
- What is contact’s role in society or job?
- What is the contact's connected Area of Influence?
- If applicable what is the contact’s Area of Expertise?
- How does the PC know this contact?
- What is the PC's leverage or relationship with the contact?

Contact Actions

1. Gather Information – This allows a PC to get actual information. This can be about a location, a person, or something going on in their Area of Influence. Examples of this would be things like finding out more detail about a situation that happened, finding a person, learning more details about someone or something. This can also be used to gain insight into another PC’s influence actions (if they have taken any) this cycle. This information will be as truthful as the contract knows but will not always be entirely accurate based on how hard the intel is to acquire and is highly influenced by the dice roll that the contact makes.
2. Listen for Rumors – Contacts are used exclusively to gather information and rumors. This allows the players to pick up rumors in an Area of Influence or on a specific organization or faction. These rumors might be a lead on something, or they might be just relatively useless bits of information that have little meaning. In the case of Supernatural factions, the rumors will often not be supernatural in nature but might lead players to ideas on what they might be doing.

Contact Dice Rolls

The actions listed above must be taken inside of the Contact’s Area of Influence. All contacts roll 6 dice base for their actions. This can be modified by their Areas of Expertise and Influence dice allocations. As listed above under areas of expertise, if they are rolling in their Area of Expertise, they roll 8 dice and 10s count as 2 successes. The ST determines the difficulty of all the rolls made.

Counterintelligence & Secure Locations

Be aware that if a character has assigned a Spy asset to work on Counterintelligence for them or their organization, any effort to act against them directly will be resisted by their Spy asset’s dice. See the Spies section for more details on how Counterintelligence works to block other actions. Similarly, if an area has been secured by Backup, any efforts by a Contact to perform actions in that location will be resisted by that Backup’s dice. This could result in the attacking of that asset if found. See the Backup background below for a description on how attacking targets works in the game.

Contact Examples

Example 1

Mack wishes to get some information about a local drug deal that went down not too long ago. He taps his Street Informant Contact, Jace, to help. Jace is in the Underworld Area of Influence and has Information Gathering Expertise. So, Jace would roll 8 dice against the ST’s declared difficulty of 6.

Mack rolls 8 (Total: 8) vs 6 for 4 successes. => 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 9

Jace scores 4 successes. Had Mack rolled any 10s, they would have counted as 2 successes for him. The storyteller would then give Mack the information on the drug deal based on the die result.

Example 2

Ned the Nosferatu wants to assign his Minor Contact to find out what Influence actions Gina has taken lately. Gina has assigned her Very Skilled Spy to watch over her, anticipating that someone might move against her. Ned is rolling at difficulty 7 due to the Very Skilled spy, and Gina at difficulty 6:

Ned rolls 6 (Total: 6) vs 7 for 1 successes. => 1 2 2 5 8 8

Gina rolls 9 (Total: 9) vs 6 for 3 successes. => 1 3 4 5 5 8 9 10 10

Gina uncovers that someone was spying on her but not who. Ned got lucky because if she had scored one more success, she would have gained the identity of the Contact that was digging on her!

Go-En

For the purposes of this system, the Fera background Go-En functions as Contacts of equivalent rating. The Fera can either choose to have the Go-End background or they can have Contacts, not both.

Allies

Allies are more connected to you than contacts. They are NPCs who help and support you - family, friends, or even a mortal organization who owe you some loyalty. Unlike contacts, allies can do things on your behalf. These allies are generally loyal to you, but like contacts, they may ask something in return for doing a favor for you and they have their own interests. Most of them will not want to place themselves in serious harm's way without serious coercion or genuine payment. Still, they have some level of loyalty to you and won’t turn against your interests unless they feel in real danger.

It is worth noting that we are using the following chart and you cannot invest more than one do' in a single Ally.

• 1 ally of Moderate power
•• 2 allies, both of Moderate power
••• 2 Moderate and 1 Influential+ ally
•••• 2 Moderate, 1 Influential, and 1 Very Influential++ ally
••••• 2 Moderate, 1 Influential, 1 Very Influential, and 1 Extremely Influential+++ ally

+ Influential contacts have 1 Area of Expertise
++ Very Influential contacts have 2 Areas of Expertise
+++Extremely Influential contacts have 3 Areas of Expertise

Allies should be captured within a +note on your character. The note should explain the following:

- Ally Name
- What is the ally's role in society or job?
- What is the ally's connected Area of Influence?
- If applicable what is the ally’s Area of Expertise?
- How does the PC know this ally?
- What is the PC's leverage or relationship with the ally?

Ally Actions

Allies can take the following actions as part of the Influence system:

1. Take An Action – Allies can do things for PCs. While Contacts can only gather or listen for information, an ally can functionally act on your behalf. They can hack into a computer network, get intel on someone's business, do legal actions, serve a warrant against someone, or procure records for you. While they can only function within their Areas of Influence they can perform a wide variety of functions within that space. They still need to be directed what to do by the PC, however and do not tend to act independently without that. An Ally can’t perform an action of another background type, such as Spies or Contacts.

2. Uncover Assets – This is an action which can almost exclusively be performed on another PC. It allows an Ally to determine what types of Influence or assets another PC or NPC has. This can also be used to determine other key information about the PC, such as their holdings, assets (Resources), and other items. The number of successes will indicate how much information the Ally gets. It may take multiple successful rolls to determine all assets. Allies can apply their Area of Expertise if the ST determines it applies – there are definitely certain Influences that are more likely to determine someone’s assets, like Government or Business.

3. Cripple Asset – This represents a non-physical attack on a PC or an asset (ally, contact, etc). This can be done against backgrounds and can be used to reduce a PC’s resources, but no other stats. The asset or resources must have first be uncovered by an Uncover Assets.

   1. If Cripple Asset is used against an NPC, the ally rolls their dice and as listed in this section and applies any relevant Areas of Expertise. The target will resist with its dice and any relevant Areas of Expertise. If the attacker wins by 1-3 successes the asset is unable to be used for a RL month. If the attacker wins by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the PC must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate.

   2. If a PC’s resources are attacked, the Ally rolls its dice with any applicable Areas of Expertise. It is resisted by the PC’s Intelligence + Finance roll at difficulty 6 from the PC. Any success by the attacker means the defender’s resources by 1 point for 1 RL month. The Ally can continue to attack the PC cycle over cycle and potentially reduce a character to 0 resources. Each successful attack on resources drops it by another dot and extends the time the PC’s resources are crippled by an additional month. Every month the attacker is not successful the defender recovers a resource dot.

               As with all resisted rolls if the attacker gets 0 net successes, there is no effect. If the defender scores more successes than the attacker they know they came                under attack but not who. If they score 3 or more successes than the attacker, they know who was attacking. A botch by any party on the rolls above counts as               -1 successes toward the total results.

               Note that it is entirely possible for a high influence character or multiple characters to swarm a PC’s stats and backgrounds and essentially cripple or disable                them for a period of time. This will not remove the actual XP spends the PC made but make them unable to use them.

Ally Dice Rolls

The actions listed above must be taken inside of the Ally’s Area of Influence. All Allies roll 6 dice base for their actions. This can be modified by their Areas of Expertise and Influence dice allocations. As listed above under areas of expertise, if they are rolling in their Area of Expertise, they roll 8 dice and 10s count as 2 successes. The ST determines the difficulty of all the rolls made.

Counterintelligence & Secure Locations

Be aware that if a character has assigned a Spy asset to work on Counterintelligence for them or their organization, any effort to act against them directly will be resisted by their Spy asset’s dice. See the Spies section for more details on how Counterintelligence works to block other actions. Similarly, if an area has been secured by Backup, any efforts by an Ally to perform actions in that location will be resisted by that Backup’s dice. This could result in the attacking of that asset if found. See the Backup background below for a description on how attacking targets works in the game.

Ally Examples

Example 1

Mack wishes to have a warrant issued to have a rival’s place searched. He has a police captain ally that is willing to, for a price, execute a warrant against the location. The captain’s expertise does not cover this situation, so they are rolling 6 dice and the ST says that the difficulty of the action is 7.

Mack rolls 6 (Total: 6) vs 7 for 1 successes. => 3 4 4 5 6 8

Mack scores only 1 success. The ST might make a call in this case to say it’s not enough to get the warrant. The player can wait until the next Influence Submission period and potentially try again.

Example 2

John the Tremere is trying o Uncover Assets on Jacob the Ventrue Primogen. He uses a Very Influential Ally with an Expertise in Government Records to Uncover Assets on Jacob the Ventrue Primogen. Jacob has left himself wide open and does not have a Spy assigned to protect himself from someone snooping around what he has. John rolls at difficulty 6 to see what he is able to dig up:

John rolls 8 (Total: 8) vs 6 for 3 successes. => 1 5 5 5 6 6 6 8

John gains 3 successes and he’s able to find out a little bit about Jacob’s network. He finds out that he is approximately Resources 5, and has two contacts, as well as the name of those contacts. If he had rolled more successes, he would have found out more intel about Jacob’s 2 Retainers and 3 Allies.

Batsu

For the purposes of this system, the Fera background Batsu functions as Allies of equivalent rating. The Fera can either choose to have the Batsu background or they can have Allies, not both of them.

Spies

Spies are mortals who are designed solely to gather information for you. The difference between a contact and a spy is that a spy is an 'active resource', meaning it can go out and gather intel on a specific topic, person, or place for you. A contact deals only in what they know or what they hear via the rumor mill. A spy is a PI who can go and stake out a location you want to keep track of. A contact is a local street pimp who you ask about that location. The pimp would be able to tell you what they know about it but wouldn't be able to get active intel. Otherwise, spies function much like contacts and require payment or something in return for their services. They also are less loyal than retainers or allies.

• 1 Average spy
•• 2 Average spies
••• 2 Average and 1 Skilled+ spy
•••• 2 Average, 1 Skilled, and 1 Very Skilled++ spy
••••• 2 Average, 1 Skilled, 1 Very Skilled, 1 Extremely Skilled+++ spy

+ Skilled spies roll +2 dice
++ Very Skilled spies roll +3 dice and are +1 difficulty to detect
+++ Extremely Skilled spies roll +4 dice and all 10s count as 2 successes are +2 difficulty to detect

Spies should be captured within a +note on your character. The note should explain the following:

- Spy Name
- What is the spy's role in society or job?
- How does the PC know this spy?
- What is the PC's leverage or relationship with the spy?

Spy Areas of Expertise & Influence

Spies have a useful ability in that they are not assigned Areas of Influence. They can operate across any Area of Influence. They also don’t have Areas of Expertise. The game of Spycraft is often just determined by whom is the most skilled and a more Skilled a spy is, the higher their chances of a success. Despite this, Influence dice can still be assigned to Spy actions to help enhance their chance of success. The ST is the ultimate arbiter if the PC's Area of Influence applies to the Spy's dice rolls.

Spy Actions

Spies can take the following actions:

1. Surveillance – Spies can be assigned to perform surveillance actions, to tail or track someone. The Spy rolls the appropriate number of dice and the target they are spying upon rolls their Perception + Alertness, if a PC or Retainer, or uses their base non-expertise dice, if a Contact, Spy, or Ally (6 in most cases). The difficulty of this roll on both sides is most often 6 but can be higher as Level 4 and 5 spies apply difficulty modifiers to be detected. If the tracker gets more successes than the quarry, then the action proceeds. If the tracker gets less successes than the quarry, the quarry is aware of the attempt but not who it is. If the quarry gets 3 or more successes than the tracker, they know exactly who it is and the quarry can immediately act against the tracker. A botch by either party counts as -1 successes.
2. Monitor – These rolls apply to someone wishing defend a specific location (grid space) to watch for intruders. If the spy is watching a friendly space, the Intruder rolls their base dice (if NPC) or Wits + Stealth if a PC against the Spy's base dice. Both roll at difficulty 6. If the intruder gets more successes than the defender, then the action proceeds. If the defending Spy is successful the attempt is defeated and the defender is aware of the attempt. If the defender gets 3 or more successes than the defender, they know exactly who it is and the defender can act against the attacker. A botch by either party counts as -1 successes. Domain/Territory (see below) modifiers can impact this detection rolls difficulties.
3. Scout – This action is performed if a Spy wishes to keep tabs on a non-friendly grid space (not owned by the PC). If Backup is present on that location, see the Backup section for how that is resolved. Otherwise, the spy simply rolls their dice, and the number of successes determines how much information is gained on it. A failure means no intel is gained and a botch means the spying attempt is revealed. If a Spy has been assigned to a Surveillance action on the space, there will be an opposed roll for each resource. Both of these rolls will be difficulty 6 though a higher-level spy can make this roll higher for the defender. If the intruder gets more successes than the defender, then the action proceeds. If the intruder gets less successes than the defender, the defender is aware of the attempt. If the defender gets 3 or more successes than the defender, they know exactly who it is and the defender can act against the attacker. A botch by either party counts as -1 successes. Domain/Territory (see below) modifiers can impact this detection rolls difficulties.
4. Counterintelligence – Sometimes you don’t want people to find out things about you or your organization. Spies can be assigned to a person or an organization to actively defend others from trying to find out information. The techniques employed here are ‘listening’ to see if anyone is searching or moving against the target(s) and then employing methods to counter those moves. If the Counterintelligence is successful, it means that the action was successfully obscured or that the effort to uncover relevant information about the person or organization did not succeed. If the defenders score more successes than the attacker, they know someone moved against them. If the defender scores 3 or more successes than the attacker, they can also tell who it was. A botch by either party counts as -1 successes.

It is also worth noting that multiple spies can be assigned to any of the above tasks and if they are triggered, they all roll as part of the opposed roll (see below). In this way it can be possible to mitigate a single bad roll by putting more than one of your spy assets on a resource you really want to protect.

Spy Dice Rolls

Spies do not have Areas of Expertise or Areas of Influence so they just roll a base of 6 dice, modified by their skill levels (see above). An Average Spy rolls 6 dice but a Very Skilled Spy rolls 9 dice. See the specific actions above to determine how the dice should be rolled as almost all of the actions taken by Spies are opposed.

Spy Examples

Example 1

Ned the Nosferatu wants to assign his Average Spy to spy do a Tracking action on Gina to find out where she has been going. Gina has assigned her Very Skilled Spy to defend her and ensure people don’t see what she is doing, anticipating that someone might move against her due to some nefarious actions she plans on pulling in the near future. Ned rolls his dice versus difficulty 7 since Gina is defended by a Very Skilled Spy, Gina rolls hers versus a 6.

Ned rolls 6 (Total: 6) vs 7 for 4 successes. => 5 5 8 9 9 10

Gina rolls 9 (Total: 9) vs 6 for 3 successes. => 1 2 3 5 5 6 7 7 9

Ned got lucky! He is able to sneak his asset past Gina’s spy and he will find out what she has planned. This will typically take the form of the ST revealing some to much of where Gina has gone.

Example 2

Ned is trying to find out more information with another one of his spies. He wants some intel on what is going on down in the Port Houston docks. He assigns one of his Skilled spies to take a look around. The factions or those in Port Houston have not assigned any Backup to defend that space so the roll for Ned’s spy to find out more details is unopposed by anyone. There also is no Domain or Territory at play so the roll is performed at difficulty 6.

Ned rolls 8 (Total: 8) vs 6 for 3 successes. => 1 5 5 5 6 6 6 8

Ned gains 3 successes and finds out a bit about the docks. He might get details on who has businesses there, any factions present, as well as a bit about what has been going on there of late.

Non-Human Spies

Note that all spies are, by default, regular humans. This background does not apply to spirits, wraiths, or other supernatural entities, including ghouls. See the Supernatural Asset merit below to make your spies supernatural. There are two exceptions to this: 1) animals spies and 2) the Spirit Slaves background.

Animal Spies

A can be an animal, but the person owning these spies must have at least Animalism 2 (for Vampires) and Animal Ken 3 or the appropriate power within their sphere that would allow them to utilize animals in their service. Animals can be of any size category but obviously smaller animals (rats) and mobile animals (birds), tend to make better spies.

Spirit Slaves

Spirit slaves are ghosts (wraiths) who you have in your permanent thrall. They function in this system like spies do, but they gain more dice on their actions but can’t do others, simply because they have the limitations of being the Restless Dead. Spirit Slaves can perform the Tracking and the Surveillance actions, but they cannot perform Counterintelligence. They also do not have to participate in a resisted roll for either of these actions unless the person being spied upon could reliably see the wraith. If the person can see spirits or wraiths, such as Mediums or those with Spirit powers and/or Necromancy, higher level wraiths still get a benefit to not being spotted in an opposed roll.

They still benefit from the difficulty increase benefit as listed on the chart below:

• 1 Lesser Wraith
•• 2 Lesser Wraiths
••• 2 Lesser and 1 Talented+ Wraiths
•••• 2 Lesser, 1 Talented, and 1 Experienced++ Wraiths
••••• 2 Lesser, 1 Talented, 1 Experienced, 1 Veteran+++ Wraiths

+ Talented wraiths roll +3 dice
++ Experienced wraiths roll +4 dice and are +1 difficulty to detect
+++ Veteran wraiths roll +5 dice and all 10s count as 2 successes are +2 difficulty to detect<br<

Backup

This background represents a pool of skilled, but mundane, personnel you can call in an emergency. Typically the total number of this pool will be in the 10-15 individuals range but can also represent a smaller team of highly trained operators. Unlike Allies, these people are largely faceless, have limited skills, and are effectively expendable “mooks” – Generic, faceless nobodies. These can be defined by the PC in question to suits their personal flavor and influence – a band of bikers, a group of former cops, or a squad of cultists. Note that these individuals are not your servants – they belong to a particular organization, of which you must also be a member. Further, once their job or task is done, these individuals return from whence they came. The PC should also define what kind of hold they have over them.

• Green Backup (5 dice)
•• Trained Backup (6 dice)
••• Experienced Backup (7 dice)
•••• Veteran Backup Units (8 dice), +1 difficulty on contested rolls
••••• Elite Backup (9 dice, 10s count as 2 successes), +1 difficulty on contested rolls

Backup should be captured within a +note on your character. The note should explain the following:

- Backup Type
- What is the backup’s job or role in society?
- What is the ally's connected Area of Influence?
- How does the PC know this backup resource?
- What is the PC's leverage or relationship with the backup resource?

Backup Actions

Backup can take the following actions:

1. Secure Location – Backup can be assigned to guard a territory. This has two effects that can impact characters who wish to move against that turf.

   1. Spot Intruders – When any PC intrudes on an area that is being Secured by Backup, the Backup forces the intruder to roll a resisted roll against their dice. This Intruder can be a Surveillance action by a Spy, Gather Information by a Contact, or an Action taken by an Ally. It can also be a PC who is seeking to sneak around as well. Assets such as contacts, allies, or spies roll their dice as normal for an action and the Backup rolls its dice. Both are at difficulty 6. If the attacker gets more successes than the defender, then their action proceeds. PCs roll their highest Wits + Stealth between them versus 6. Each PC must roll for themselves. If any intruder gets less successes than the defender, the defender is aware of the attempt and can Attack Intruder. If the defender gets 3 or more successes than the defender, they know exactly who it is, and the defender can immediately act against the attack. Domain/Territory (see below) modifiers can impact this detection rolls difficulties.

   2. Attack Intruder – This is triggered by a successful Spot Intruder above. If this happens the Backup rolls its dice against difficulty 6. If the Intruder is an NPC, they will roll their base dice against difficulty 6. If the Intruder is a PC, they can roll the appropriate highest physical die pool for firearms, brawl, or melee (PC's choice) among the intruding PCs against difficulty 6. The two success totals are compared. If the defending Backup gets more successes the intrusion attempt is foiled. Then, damage is dealt. For a PC, any successes the Backup scores beyond the PC's are applied as lethal or bashing wounds to the PC(s). If more than one PC is involved, they all take that damage amount. The damage type is the choice of the Backup’s owner. If only NPC assets are involved, number of successes that the victor wins the contest roll by determines the outcome. If the victory wins by 1-3 successes the losing asset is unable to be used for a RL month. If the attacker wins by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the Backup's owner must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate.

   It is also worth noting that multiple backups from different characters can be assigned to a single location and if they are triggered, they all will deal if an invader is discovered. In this way it can be possible to really deal a great deal of damage to invaders in a territory.

2. Defend Target – Backup can be assigned to guard an NPC asset or a PC. This is useful for NPCs who are valuable and have low dice pools and PCs who have poor combat stats.

   1. Defend Against Backup – Backup can defend a PC or an NPC asset against at Attack Target by Backup. Both Backups will roll their dice against difficulty 6. If the defending Backup wins, the attack on the asset is foiled. Then damage is resolved. If the victor wins by 1-3 successes the losing asset is unable to be used for a RL month. If the victor wins by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the PC must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate. If the defending Backup is defeated, the PC or NPC can be attacked normally, and that attack is resolved as per Attack Target below.

   2. Defend Against PCs – Backup can also be used to defend a PC against attack by other PCs. The Backup will roll their dice against the highest dice physical dice pool for firearms, brawl, or melee (PC's choice) among the attacking PCs, both difficulty 6. The results will be compared. If the Backup scores more successes, the attack on the PC fails and damage can be applied. Any successes the Backup exceeds the PC's roll by is applied as lethal or bashing damage to each PC attacker. If the attacking PCs win by 1-3 successes the defending Backup is unable to be used for a RL month. If the PCs win by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the PC must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate. If the defending Backup is defeated, the PC or NPC can be attacked normally, and that attack is resolved as per Attack Target below.

3. Attack Target – This represents a physical attack by your forces on a PC or an asset (ally, contact, etc). This can be done against backgrounds and can be used to actually harm a PC with wounds. The NPC asset or resources must have first be uncovered by an Uncover Assets (see Allies section above).

   1. If Attack Target is used against an NPC, the Backup rolls their dice and as listed in this section at difficulty 7. The NPC target will resist with its dice and any relevant Areas of Expertise at difficulty 6. Most times this will be 6 dice. If the victor wins by 1-3 successes the losing asset is unable to be used for a RL month. If the victor wins by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the PC must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate.

   2. If a PC’s is attacked, the Backup rolls its dice at difficulty 6. It is resisted by the PC's Wits + Elusion or a physical attack roll for brawl, melee, or firearms (PC's choice) at difficulty 6 from the PC. If the Backup wins, it deals as many successes as it wins by as lethal or bruising wounds to the target, the attacker’s choice. If the PC uses Wits + Elusion and wins, there is no effect – this means that the Backup was unable to find the character. If the defending PC opts to roll a physical pool and scores more successes than the Backup and wins by 1-3 successes the attacking Backup is unable to be used for a RL month. If the defending PC wins by 4+ successes the asset is gone for good, and the PC must replace the asset. The PC does not lose the background but replacing the asset will take approximately 2 RL months to facilitate.

   Note that it is entirely possible for a high influence character or multiple characters to attack a PC’s backgrounds and even the PC themselves with the intention crippling or disabling them for a period of time. This will not eliminate the XP that was spent but will make it unusable for a time. Multiple backups can also attack a character at the same time to increase the lethality of the attack. A PC can be wounded by Backup, even critically so, but PCs cannot be killed by Backup.

Armory

Armory background from a character can enhance the lethality of Backup. Every dot of Armory the PC has gives their Backup stat +1 dice on their actions to a maximum of +3 dice. Thus, a PC with Armory 2 would give their Backup +2 dice to Defend Holdings or Attack Target. This bonus does not apply to a Spot intruders roll for Backup but would apply to all other actions.

Backup Examples

Example 1

Oldman and his coteriemate Simon are trying to break their way into Harold the Elder’s domain and steal some goods. Oldman and Simon are forced to make a dice roll against the Veteran Backup squad that Harold has been watching over his Domain. Oldman and Simon roll the highest Wits + Stealth between them versus 7. Normally they would roll against difficulty 6 but Harold's Backup is Veteran and raises the difficulty by +1.

Harold rolls his 9 Backup versus the base difficulty of 6. Note that Harold does not add his Armory rating for the detection rating:

Harold rolls 9 (Total: 9) vs 6 for 3 successes. => 1 2 2 3 3 6 8 8 10

Oldman and Simon roll their Wits + Stealth versus Difficulty 7 (since the Backup is Veteran):

Oldman rolls 7 (Total: 7) vs 6 for 1 successes. => 2 3 4 4 5 5 8

Oldman and Simon were spotted and can become the target of an Attack Intruder. Harold can now rolls his 9 dice for the Backup but he also has Armory 3, so he adds +3 dice to the damage roll.

Harold rolls 12 (Total: 12) vs 6 for 5 successes. => 1 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 7 9 9 10

Oldman and Simon can resist with their highest physical dice pool, which is Simon's Dexterity + Brawl, a total of 8 dice. Simon also adds his Celerity of 2 to the roll for a total of 10 dice. They will be rolling at difficulty 7 instead of 6 since Harold's Backup is Veteran.

Simon rolls 10 (Total: 10) vs 7 for 2 successes. => 1 1 1 6 6 8 9 10 10 10

Harold can now deal a total of 3 bashing or lethal to both Simon and Oldman. Harlod elects to deal 3 lethal to both of them. There is no soak roll for this. Their intrusion attempt is also foiled. This might be enough damage that they reconsider pressing on and trying to invade the Elder’s domain a second time! If there is one silver lining, Harold knows there was an intrusion but because he did not beat either roll by 3 or more successes, the Elder does not know exactly who was in his domain!

Example 2

Suzie the Brujah has made Kilroy mad and Kilroy decides to use her Experienced backup to take out one of Kilroy’s Allies, a local street gang leader named Kenny. Kenny is a Very Influential Ally with Areas of Expertise in Gangs and Assault. The ST determines that Kenny’s Areas of Expertise would apply to an Attack on him. So the two sides roll their dice and determine how this breaks down. Suzie’s Backup rolls 7 dice because they are Experienced and adds +1 since she has Armory 1 and Kenny (the Ally) rolls 6 base dice + 2 for their Area of Expertise and any 10s that they roll count as 2 successes. They are both rolling at diff 6.

Suzie rolls 9 (Total: 9) vs 6 for 6 successes. => 2 3 4 6 6 7 7 8 8

Kilroy rolls 8 (Total: 8) vs 6 (SPECIALTY) for 2 successes. => 1 1 1 4 7 8 8 10

Suzie’s attack is successful! She also scored 4+ successes in the attack. Wow, they killed Kenny! Kenny gets taken out in the hit and that dot is now unusable for 2 RL months while Kilroy works to replace it. Suzie certainly has sent a message to Kilroy and his allies.

Domain/Territory

Domain is already a fixed stat in Camarilla Vampire is well established. We are adding a stat for non-Vampires (including Shifters, Mages, etc) that functions the same way called Territory. This is available for non-Camarilla vampires and any other sphere. There are a couple of points about how the background works:

• Theren are three measures of this stat that can be invested in. Each area costs 1 dot of background to increase.

• • Size determines how large the Domain or Territory is.
  • Countermeasures determines how tough it is for others to infiltrate into the area. This manifests as a penalty to the rolls of anyone who attempts to infiltrate the area.
  • Vigilance determines how easy it is for the owner of the area to spot those who are attempting to infiltrate the area. This manifests as a bonus to the rolls to spot them.
• The Domain/Territory Background can exceed 5 points. Each point over 5 is 10 XP.
• This background can be pooled among packs, coteries, cabals, to share the cost.

Domain/Territory Size:

These dots represent how large a particular Domain/Territory is:

• A single small building, such as a single-family home or a social establishment.
•• A church, factory, warehouse, mid-rise, or other large structure.
••• A high-rise, city block, or an important intersection.
•••• A sewer subsection, a network of tunnels, the enclave of homes on a hill overlooking the city.
••••• A significant number of blocks in a city neighborhood. About 4-6 blocks.
•••••• An city entire neighborhood or an ethnic subdivision. About 10-15 blocks.

Each dot beyond 6 dots, adds about 10 blocks to the Domain/Territory size. To give an idea how large downtown areas are, Houston’s downtown is roughly 300 blocks, which would take a score of approximately 36 Domain points for someone to possibly control all of that area with a character or group.

Domain/Territory Countermeasures:

Each dot assigned to Security adds +1 to the difficulty of anyone who seeks to move into that Territory/Domain without the owner’s consent. The maximum amount of Security that can be assigned to this background is 3 dots for a total of +3 difficulty for invading players is capped at 9.

Domain/Territory Vigilance:

Each dot assigned to Monitoring adds -1 to the difficulty of anyone who seeks to detect someone who is attempting to intrude on the Territory/Domain. The maximum amount of Monitoring that can be assigned to this background is 3 dots for a total of -3 difficulty for detecting intruders; it’s capped at 3.

Domain/Territory Dice Rolls

Once it is secured, any PC or NPC attempting to penetrate that turf, or hunt there, must roll wits + stealth at difficulty 6, modified by the security stat of the domain. Failure means that your network in the area tips you off to some tomfoolery going on there and you can react in advance of any actions taken by the invading parties. Domain can be actively defended by several means – Unallocated Retainers can be dispatched to deal with threats and the Backup stat can be used to rally additional people to help roust people out of your turf. Of course you can defend the territory yourself.

Retainers

Retainers are different than Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup in that they are essentially stat extensions of a PC’s skills. Retainers are fully statted and can operate as your minions (see Retainer stats below). They use their own stats to rolls for tasks. This allows PCs to customize Retainers in a very specialized way to their needs. Retainers can take 1 action per Influence Cycle, and they are committed to that action for that time. For example, you can’t assign your bodyguard ghoul to do an Influence action and then later call them into a scene to help defend you.. Retainers are the most flexible but also must have stats that fit their general concept. A street gun for hire isn't going to possess a ton of academic disciplines or likely be a Master of Diplomacy and social graces.

Retainers are being treated a bit differently than standard backgrounds. Each dot of retainer has its own scale from 1-5. Players will be charged for each level under normal background costs per retainer (Current Level x3). This will allow the Retainer background stat on a character’s sheet to exceed 5 (but each Retainer will only be costed on a scale from 1-5). Retainers can be 'leveled up' by spending the XP cost to move them to the next background dot.

For example, if a player purchases a Level 1 Retainer, Manny, the cost will be 3 XP. They can purchase a second Level 1 Retainer, Suzy, for 3 XP. If the player wishes, they can spend 3 XP to level Manny to Level 2 and 3 more XP to level Suzy to Level 2. If Manny reaches Level 5 and Suzy reaches Level 5, through XP spends, the player will have a Retainers dot total of 10, split into two different retainers. However, if Suzy is a Level 5 Retainer, and the player wishes to buy Manny up to Level 4, the cost would be 12 XP -- the cost of moving a background from Level 4 -> 5, not 27 XP, the cost of going from Retainers 9 -> 10.

Retainers Notes

Retainers should be captured within a +note on your character. The note should explain the following:

- Retainer Name

- The retainer's current level

- What is Retainer’s role in society or job?

- What is the PC's leverage or relationship with the Retainer?

- The Retainer's stats (see below).

Non-Human Retainers

All Retainers are considered normal mortals with the sole exception of Ghouls (See rules below).

Retainer Stats'

- Retainer stats are based on their level.

- Retainers cannot have any backgrounds but can use PC backgrounds.

For example, Armory and Equipment backgrounds are useful.

- Retainers cannot take merits and flaws.

- Retainers cannot spend willpower.

All retainers get base points for minimum build from page 497 of V20.

Attributes: 6/4/3, Abilities: 11/7/4, Virtues: 7, Backgrounds: 0, Blood Pool: 2, Potence 1

Follow the chart below to determine max values for Attributes/Abilities and how many Freebies you get to spend.

Level 1: No Attributes over 3, No Abilities over 2. 15 freebies

Level 2: No Attributes over 3, No Abilities over 3. 30 freebies

Level 3: No Attributes over 3, No Abilities over 3. 45 freebies

Level 4: No Attributes over 4, No Abilities over 4. 70 freebies

Level 5: Attributes up to 4 & 1 at 5, Abilities up to 4 & 1 at 5. 90 freebies

Level 6: Attributes up to 5, Abilities up to 5. 120 freebies

Freebies can be spent according to the following chart:

Attribute: 5 per dot

Ability: 2 per dot

Discipline: 10 per dot

Virtue 2 per dot

Humanity 1 per dot

Willpower 2 per dot

Levelling Retainers

If you have the retainers background, you will need to go in and reformat your retainer under the above parameters. Submit a +job and staff will review your notes and approve them. You can rewrite your retainers if you like as part of this change.

Maximum Retainers'

You can have a maximum number of retainers as your dots in Retainer. So if you have Retainers 3, you can have up to 3.

Retainer Actions

Retainers have incredible flexibility in that they can perform any action listed under Contacts, Allies, Backup and Spies. They do not use fixed dice however and use their own stats as is dictated on their sheet. The ST will determine what dice to roll at the time. For example, if you try to use your lawyer Retainer as a spy and start trying to counterintelligence someone, it is unlikely to be as successful.

It is also worth noting here that Retainers do not have Areas of Influence or Areas of Expertise. Retainers can operate freely on tasks and use the standard Specialties for stats that are 4s and 5s. All specialties for retainers should be noted on their +notes so that the ST can reference them for rolls.

Retainers (Vampire Only)

Retainer Disciplines

Retainer ghouls can only purchase disciplines that are possessed by their Domitor and follow the chart below for maximum values:

13th Generation - 9th Generation: Disciplines Max Level 1

7th & 8th Generation: Disciplines Max Level 2

Retainer Max Disciplines

<50 Years: 2

<100 Years: 4

100-250 Years: 6

250-400 Years: 8

Retainer Age

Retainers who are Level 4 and 5 can be 'older ghouls' and are considered to potentially be as strong as some neonate vampires. Level 4 Retainers can be a max of 100 years old and Level 5 Retainers can be up to 250 years old. In the case of a Level 5 retainer, this will increase their blood pool by +1 and impact their healing difficulties. Note that Level 4 and 5 retainers can also be younger ghouls who are just extremely talented mortals. The benefits of Age are primarily blood pool and maximum discipines.

Note: Generally staff is going to enforce that you must at least be as old as your ghoul. For example, if you are a 40 year old Neonate, you shouldn't be running around with 3 250 year old ghouls.

Ancient Ghouls

If you are a very old PC and want to have a many centuries old ghoul (over 300), speak with staff and we may extend the background above 5 to 6, for 15 XP and allow a truly impressive ghoul that could be up to 300+ years old. This will be done on a case-by-case basis and the character must be at least 300 years old.

Merits

Supernatural Asset (3 Point Merit)

This merit replaces the Supernatural Companion merit and allows you to name one of your Assets (of any level) as a supernatural creature. Your ST will work with you to determine the best type of supernatural asset that will fit for your character but generally this type will align with your PC's race: a Vampire will generally have Vampire allies, a Shifter will have Shifters, a Mage will have Mage allies. This merit can be applied to any asset but Retainers. This includes Contacts, Allies, Spies, and Backup.

    All Assets: Gain 2 base dice to all actions.

Specific asset types also gain:

    Contacts and Allies: Gain +1 Area of Expertise
    Spies: +1 difficulty to be detected
    Backup: +1 Action per Influence Cycle.

Note: An asset background cannot be a supernatural without this merit. The merit may be purchased multiple times. This merit also can be stacked with the Powerful Ally and the Pawns merit to create a resource that is both exceptionally Powerful and Supernatural.

Powerful Ally (3, 5, or 8 Point Merit)

Powerful Ally is meant to represent a particularly strong Ally that you have assisting you. This merit can only be applied to Level 4 and 5 allies and represents a singularly powerful individual who is working with you. This individual is not a supernatural unless you have purchased the Supernatural Asset merit. There are several main benefits of a Powerful Ally: 1) They can also be used as a Contact if the PC wishes 2) They can possess Areas of Influence that you do not and select those at the time or purchase. If this ally is supernatural and powerful it could be something akin to a Vampire Elder, a powerful Mage, or a Adren+ Werewolf. These are incredibly powerful creatures that can be a huge asset.

The benefits for the Powerful Ally increase depending on the points for purchase:

3 Merit Points: +1 Die to rolls, +1 Area of Influence, +1 Area of Expertise

5 Merit Points: +2 Die to rolls, +2 Areas of Influence, +2 Areas of Expertise

8 Merit Points: +3 Die to rolls, +3 Areas of Influence, +3 Areas of Expertise

For example, I want my Level 5 Supernatural Tremere Ally to become my Level 5 Powerful Ally. The Ally now has 6 base dice + 2 (Supernatural Asset) + 2 (Powerful Ally), or 10 base dice to roll. They have 2 Areas of Influence, and I select Occult and Academic influence, neither of which my PC has. I can then select 6 Areas of Expertise in those Influence areas that my ally would then roll 12 dice for their efforts and score 2 successes on any 10s. This would make them formidable, even against strong PCs. This Ally could act either as an Ally or could also gather information or rumors as a Contact for me.

Pawns (3 or 5 Point Merit)

Pawns represent that your Backup is particularly trained and deadly. This can represent an elite squad of ex-military a very experienced gang of bikers or street thugs or a crew of veteran Mafia enforcers. This can be stacked with Supernatural Asset (see above) to make your Backup into a pack of vampires or a small cabal of mages, or even a pack of Garou. Note that this cannot stack with Powerful Ally. Powerful Ally applies to Allies only and is meant to represent a single, powerful person.

The benefits of a Pawn are as outline below in the chart:

3 Merit Points: +2 Die to rolls, +1 Actions per Influence Cycle

5 Merit Points: +3 Die to rolls, +2 Actions per Influence Cycle

Backup with multiple actions can perform multiple attacks and secure multiple locations. Backup with 3 actions, for example, could attack two targets and secure one location in an Influence cycle.

Other Backgrounds

Any backgrounds not listed in these rules are not covered under this system. This includes but is not limited to:

• Cult/Mob
• Kinfolk/Clan
• Rank
• Fame
• Mentor/Patron/Sempai
• Certification
• Favors
• Familiar
• Dreamers
• Companion/Spirit Companion/Animal Companion
• Retinue
• Pawn

All the backgrounds listed above can be used as additional storytelling devices within the game but are not covered under the mechanics of this ruleset. Many of those backgrounds already have a specific benefit that is outlined in their rules text. An ST can rule that any of the above stats might add dice to an Influence system roll or even modify the difficulty of the rolls involved in the action.