House Rules
General
Rule 1
So we're going to talk house rules. Not HRs in the sense of game mechanics, but actual rules of conduct that I expect all players to abide by. It's very simple, as it can be boiled down to the following:
1) Treat others as THEY would like to be treated. If you don't mind if people are acting a certain way to you, dont assume that it's okay for them. Respect each other.
2) The MUSH is like my house; my fellow staff are my roommates. We volunteer our time in order to provide entertainment for people who enter our house. Please act like you would act at going to someone's house in an table top. Treat others with respect. No tantrums, things like that.
I ask for simple common courtesy. If you cannot abide by these rules, then you might need to find another house to play at,
Thank you
-Pikapika
Abilities
In 20th edition there are no mechanical differences between primary and secondary abilities. The main reason there are so many specialties listed in the game is that the game is coded based on a previous edition of WoD. In 20th, secondary abilities are more specialized, but there is no mechanical or point difference - in chargen or after - between any of the abilities. They are all handled, purchased, and rolled equally.
Skills: Whereas Talents reflect innate affinities, Skills represent things you’ve learned to do. If your character lacks the appropriate Skill (having a score of 0), you add +1 to the difficulty of an associated die roll.
Knowledges: Certain Abilities demand learning. Taught through a combination of schooling and experience, these Traits reflect things that your character understands on an intellectual level. Although some of them, like Computer or Medicine, involve physical practice too, they exist mostly in the realm of consciousness only. Without the proper Knowledge (having a score of 0), your character may not even attempt to roll for certain Knowledge-based feats. (The all knowledge rolls default to this rule, but in certain cases the ST may make an exception.)
Remember that a character does not always have to roll to be able to function normally. Just because you have a Computers score of 0 does not mean you can't use a computer in a casual, unpressured situation.
Alts
1) Make as many alts as you can reasonably handle.
2) No alts in the same scene. Minimize alt interaction as much as humanly possible.
3) Only one alt per affiliation. One changeling per barony, one mage per chantry, one woof per sept, etc. That means we can spread the stories to different aspects and POV.
4) Since WYRM is it's own sphere that includes mages, mortals, shifters, and other creepy crawlies, we are instituting this rule.
Please have only ONE alt on either side. Either you're making a BSD or a Gaian shifter. Considering some plots require secret info on each side, it's more realistic that we can prevent accidental CoI.
Crossover Play
We are not like other games that want to keep diff splats isolated. We want the splats to meet/interact/work together on occasion like how normal people would do things if they ran into each other. Isolation isn't conducive to RP, so we like to facilitate that.
There is a place on grid meant for neutral supernatural interaction, and that's Cane Creek Country Club (+hangout/jump cane) (https://numetalmux.com/Cane_Creek_Country_Club). As long as you aren't stupid ICly and just reveal everything (you're expected to keep others from learning your lores unless absolutely needed), then you're welcome to go there.
Also, Wyrmy types and Technos. We don't snipe each other. Houston has millions of people, so I don't expect anyone to be randomly checking what splats people are ICly with their powers unless something is obvious to make you suspicious already.
Equipment
Because there are a lot of books and a lot of confusion on equipment stats, we’ve consolidated many different books into one list that is listed here:
https://numetalmux.com/Equipment
These are the official stats in use on NuMetal for the various weapons that exist.
Pregnancy
We do not need to be involved in any IC/OOC are you pregnant or not. If you want to be preggers, then by all means, you decide OOCly. We do not need to be part of it.
Resources
https://numetalmux.com/Resources
Scening
Scenes you partake in matter. We are NOT a sandbox. We would hope that if a major event occurs, that you post about it on IC news or your channel or even under IC rumours. You dont need to say exactly what happened (you can give the media coverstory, etc), but let the rest of us know that something did occur. Houston's big, but not that big, y'all.
Secondly, you CAN talk about scenes you partake in with other people. This isn't like other MUs where you can't do such a thing or else staff gets mad. We're quite the opposite (though more chill). We encourage players to talk about IC events, cause they're IC events.
We strongly believe in ICA = ICC, so if you'd like to investigate ANYTHING, please free and go ahead and meddle.
Specialties
If you have a score of 4 or above in an Attribute or Ability, you have access to Specialties. Specialties in 20th allow you to count a roll of 10 as 2 successes. (You will have to add that to your total separately, the system will not account for it.) Please note your specialties on yourself (+help +note) and submit a request (+help +request) to have your note locked and approved for use.
For ease and equity, please make sure the specialty you have chosen is listed in one of the 20th core books under the corresponding Attributes or Abilities (http://numetalmux.com/index.php/Specialties). If you want something outside of that, please make sure it is niche and/or specific.
Certain Abilities – Artistic Expression, Crafts, and Performance – actually require you to choose a particular specialty, but that specialty won’t grant the additional-success bonus until you reach a rating of 4.
Stunting
What is STUNTING?
If you do a really cool pose (that entertains the ST - bonus if it entertains the rest of the peeps), you can get a +1-+3 die bonus on your action. This is particularly useful in those pesky supernatural power activation rolls (arete, gnosis, etc).
What isn't stunting - Just doing a regular pose.
What -is- stunt-worthy? Something that stimulates the imagination into imagining something worthy of an action/fantasy/horror movie. Go at it!
Theme
Transfer Characters
We do NOT take transfer characters. You can remake your character with whatever XP we give, but taking things wholesale including their accomplishments to justify increased gifts/renown/arete is lame. Please dont do that. Besides, the vast majority of WoD MU*s take place in modern day 2024. Your character probably wasn't even born yet as we're 30 years ago.
Please keep that in mind. Thanks!
Wikis
If you have a char wiki, you get an XP! Hooray! So do it!
Changeling
Banned Kiths
The banned Kiths list thus far are these: Mer, Morganed or Selkies as PC's. The reasoning behind this is logically speaking we are too far inland for any of these to be comfortable. Two of them need to be near the ocean consistently to be able to swim in it, one needs to spend at least an hour a day in the salt water or start to lose glamour. The last rarely comes to the surface and essentially despised their land dwelling cousins. So they really wouldnt have any reason or desire to be in Houston.
Mage
Arete
This is how you must have your Spheres spread, depending on your Arete. It also dictates how long a ritual roll takes (usually). If you have questions, please feel free to ask.
| Arete | Ritual Time | Sphere spread |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 hours | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
| 2 | 3 hours | 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
| 3 | 1 hour | 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 |
| 4 | 1 hour | 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1 |
| 5 | 30 minutes | 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 |
| 6 | 30 minutes | 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 |
| 7 | 10 minutes | 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1 |
Justifications
We do not ask for a lot of justification, but on raising these things, we do ask the following:
Spheres: One paragraph on a quick story of how you did it. What happened? Who you learned it from and how you learned it is important to see if it affects your paradigm.
Arete: Give us dates on when you can play out a seeking, and describe your last successful and unsuccessful seeking. What did they look like? What is the overall goal(s) of your avatar for your character? What would your avatar like to achieve in this incarnation?
Paradigms
When casting a spell, telling the ST HOW YOU DO IT and WHAT YOU BELIEVE ENABLES YOU TO DO IT will determine the required sphere levels for a given spell. If you can justify with your paradigm that you can work weather patterns at forces 3 instead of 4, then go for it! If you can justify weaponizing garlic with Entropy 1 instead of Prime 2, do it! Mage is open to interpretation and the paradigm aspect is what makes it beautiful (to us at least).
Resonance
We now use the Book of Secrets 20th Anniversary's Resonance/Flavor/Synergy rules. Every mage should have a resonance trait (see pools) of 1. You can raise it ONLY via RP justification and potentially seekings/achieving mastery.
What does this trait do? It allows for bonuses on appropriate backgrounds and arete (YES ARETE) on things RELATED TO YOUR resonance description. In the end, the ST is the final arbiter if your resonance trait adds dice to your roll.
There are many bonuses to this, but also realize the following: The higher the resonance, the more detectable your magick is as your magickal signature becomes more discernable and concrete instead of just impressions and general things.
Also: Once you reach ADEPT level, you start manifesting your highest sphere in everyday life.
Forces - You might have extra static cling and start to zap people with light electrical charges; you might always run hot Life - You always seem in perfect health Prime - You seem more... REAL. Like you're more there. You shine bright and have an aura of authority. Correspondence/Spirit/Mind - You're kinda spaced out seeing/feeling something else. You might talk to the air (spirit). You might finish another person's sentence (mind). You might be one of those people who can just walk around, not paying attention and never stub their toe/fall/trip (correspondence). Entropy - You're either a center of calmness and order in the middle of chaos or shit breaks around you all the time. Time - You're always punctual/late/early. Time seems to just go by faster when you're around (having fun?)
Those are some examples, and poses should sort of reflect that. Vampires have their hunger. Shifters have rage. Mages have weirdness in the form of resonance.
Rotes
Rotes! They're spells that give you a little difficulty modifier. Mages can start with up to arete number of rotes, and then each rote will be purchased with XP (2 x level of highest sphere used).
What do you need in the rote?
Name: Spheres Involved: How it's cast: Be as precise as you can be with this. Once you've formalized a rote being done in ONE WAY, then that is the way you do it if you want the rote bonus. Effect: What the spell does.
Please setup each rote as its own note, and then submit a request when you want your rotes reviewed.
Taking inspiration from Mage the Awakening (I know), you cannot create a rote for a given sphere unless you are AT ADEPT LEVEL. You can put in lower level CONJUNCTIONAL SPHERES into an effect, but a CORR 3 ROTE will need CORR 4 to be created.
Wait Times
Mages are limited to raising 1 sphere per month. Even if you have the XP, you've gotta wait for the next month to learn another sphere.
Wards
The way wards/bans are described in M20 SUCK ASS. These are the proposed rules on them. Keep in mind as we're in beta, this can change, but if people want to play test it and see how it works, do let me know.
Trigger Conditions - Wards and Trigger spells are confusing because the depend on something that is never given rules: sometimes spells need to be able to sense or determine or in some other way restrict themselves to their intended targets. Trigger spells need to be able to determine when the trigger conditions happen. Your ward needs to be set for Vampires.
This always takes the relevant spheres at rank 2. Setting triggers does not involve transmuting, altering, or in any way affecting a pattern so the rank doesn't vary with the target. Instead it functions like sensory magic. Rank 1 is sufficient to detect anything appropriate to the sphere. Rank 2 is sufficient to add that to a spell. Setting triggers against iron is Matter 2, against cats is Life 2, and against Vampires is Life 2/Matter 2 with Entropy 2.
Wards - By default Correspondence 2 can set wards that inhibit or enhance the actions of targets within the ward (difficulty modifiers) and Ward 4 can actually bar entry or exit. Anything else requires adding that capacity. Because this does affect the relevant patterns it requires the Spheres at the appropriate level to cast the effect being added to the ward. SEP fields (Somebody Else's Problem) require Mind 2, for instance, and fire attacks require Forces 2 and an appropriate source of fire.
Unlike teleports this does not require higher levels of Correspondence for higher associated spheres.
So your vampire ward is Corr 2 (for the ward), Life 2/Entropy 2 or Matter2/Entropy 2 (to set it for Vampires), and Forces 2 or Forces 3/Prime 2.
Shifter
Justifications
We do not ask for a lot of justification, but on raising these things we do ask the following:
Gifts: One paragraph on a quick story of how you did it. What happened? What spirit gave you the gift? How did you convince the spirit? Those two are especially important.
Kinfolk
Applying
Kinfolk applications (of any sort) MUST have a purpose. Kinfolk play an important part in any shifter/garou sphere, as they are the one who can interact with regular mortals and society in meaningful ways. If you aren't going cross-splat kinfolk to have some powers, please think of how your kinfolk would contribute to shifter society.
Think of how you can contribute as a mortal. Are you really rich? Do you have massive connections? How else would the garou thrive and survive having you as one of their kin.
We want all characters to have a place in the plot, so please take this into consideration when apping a kinfolk or any other support character.
Cross Splat
If you are intent on making a cross splat kinfolk, you must have the approval of both the shifter ST and whoever you fall under.
If you have approval, then when you go through chargen, you +qstart as the main race. If you're mage/kin, then it's mage. If you're changeling/kin, then it's changeling. If you're mortal+/kin, then you're mortal+. This has to do with code knowing what sheet you begin with.
You then purchase Kinfolk (merit) at 4 dots and set your tribe and subrace.
Packs
Can kinfolk be considered part of a pack, and do they increase the number of a pack? No and No. Kinfolk are SECONDARY. Spirits don't give a shit about them (very few exceptions if ever).
Pure Breed
If you have PB (Pure Breed) 3+, and you leave a place after using blood, feathers, hair etc, it can be identified with Scent of True Form as belonging to a kin.
Renown
Can kin earn renown? Yes, but why? It does nothing for you. Again, spirits don't give a crap about kin. You didn't experience a first change. Spirits consider you a failure.
Rites
Rites are 3x per level XP cost.
A long list of possible Rites are here: https://numetalmux.com/Rites
Wait Times
Shifters are limited to buying 1 gift every three weeks. This is to represent the time it takes to find the proper teacher and/or spirit and convince them to teach you the gift in question.
Vampire
Character Ages
New character applications will be Ancilla (200 years old) or younger!
Disciplines
- After CharGen - Aside from physical disciplines (Celerity, Fortitude, Potence) your character will need to find a PC to teach them which usually requires taking a drink of their blood in order to learn them. With the physical disciplines, an IC reason and explanation of how they training themselves to learn the discipline and wait the proper amount of time (learning time) before it is approved on your sheet. Combination Disciplines will require an descript IC explanation of how your character learned the Combination Discipline or explain if it is taught to them.
- During Chargen - You will need to purchase the additional discipline and use the amount of points it costs for out of clan discipline on the wiki.
Wait Times
In Clan Disciplines:
Level 1 = 1 Week
Level 2 = 2 Weeks
Level 3 = 3 Weeks
Level 4 = 4 Weeks
Level 5 = 5 Weeks
Out of Clan Disciplines:
Level 1 = 2 Weeks
Level 2 = 3 Weeks
Level 3 = 4 weeks
Level 4 = 5 weeks