# [[70 Systems of the Blood|Systems of the Blood]] The systems above, along with the base Storyteller System rules ([[21 Rules|p. 115-130]]), provide ample rules structure for any Vampire [[79 Chronicles|chronicle]]. [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storytellers]] can riff on them and improvise in the moment without regret. However, some Storytellers in some chronicles may wish to pursue the hunt, launch projects, recall their past centuries, or exchange loathsome favors in more lurid detail while feeling the comfort of system’s bone beneath their drama’s flesh. $\quad$Hence the following more detailed discretionary systems are provided to model these and other characteristic activities of [[39 Vampires|vampires]] within the [[01 A World of Darkness|World of Darkness]]. ## Hunting [[39 Vampires|Vampires]] hunt by nature and by desire. Hunting and [[45 Slaking Hunger|feeding]] form the bloody core of their legends, fiction, and film. However, like any other activity in the [[79 Chronicles|chronicle]], [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Players|players]] and [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storytellers]] may wish to focus on the hunt or flash past it – and perhaps decide to do the opposite the next night. $\quad$As far as time allows, Storytellers and players should both propose and describe a hunt creatively. Keep descriptions short and bloody, unless the hunt is the main activity for the story, but always make it dramatic and exciting. $\quad$There are generally two modes of portraying hunting [[22 Time|scenes]]: blow-by-blow, when you want detailed, visceral hunting scenes at the forefront of the drama, and zoomed out when you want faster scenes with a minimal disruption to the flow of the game. $\quad$The simplest and fastest way to handle a hunt in-game resolves it with a single roll of the pool given for the [[29 Characters|character’s]] [[34 Predator Types|Predator type]], or for another plausible approach. A [[13 Gangrel|Gangrel]] might suggest a harrowing chase across the park ([[32 Core Traits#Stamina|Stamina]] + [[32 Core Traits#Athletics|Athletics]]), while a [[15 Nosferatu|Nosferatu]] prefers to wait like a trap-door spider in the refuse of a dark alley to feed on the inevitable passing druggie or drunk ([[32 Core Traits#Resolve|Resolve]] + [[32 Core Traits#Stealth|Stealth]]). However the roll is determined, the player makes a simple test against the [[23 Simple Tests#Difficulties|Difficulty]] of their chosen hunting ground. $\quad$A win means the vampire has found prey and fed: killed, injured, or just sipped from a human. Their [[41 Hunger|Hunger]] reduces by the relevant amount (see Feeding Table, [[45 Slaking Hunger|p. 212]]) and the cleanup probably happens without too much immediate blowback. Killing a human, and even attacking one in some places, can always come back at a vampire, especially if the local [[06 The Camarilla#The First Tradition The Masquerade|Masquerade]] thins or the [[01 A World of Darkness#The Second Inquisition|Second Inquisition]] comes to town. $\quad$Unless time is a critical element in that night’s story, don’t bother keeping track of how long feeding takes. In the rare case that it actually matters, the Storyteller can assume a hunt takes an hour, set the time to match the vampire’s approach narrative, or choose the elapsed time to heighten the drama. $\quad$If the character chooses to succeed at a cost, the vampire’s Hunger goes down but something went wrong; the vessel died unexpectedly or messily, a credible witness got away, or the hunter poached on another coterie’s turf. (This last error proves very common in cities where both [[06 The Camarilla#The Anarch Movement|Anarch]] councils and [[06 The Camarilla|Camarilla]] [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Prince|Princes]] hand out hunting grounds.) Make the complication something the whole coterie can choose to address (or hope to ignore) after the hunter rejoins the party, not something the vampire tries to fix during the debacle. $\quad$In some chronicles, or at some points within some chronicles, the Storyteller may simply allow vampires with a stable [[35 Advantages#Herd|Herd]] or ongoing control of a rich hunting ground to top up without a test when the course of the story plausibly allows it. After all, finding prey isn’t necessarily the hard part – it’s holding on to one’s [[49 Humanity|Humanity]] or preserving the Masquerade when the [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^TheBeast|Beast]] hungers. ### Predator Pools Many vampires try to change up their feeding methods as opportunity presents itself, but their instincts drive them to certain default patterns. The Attribute and Skill combination a vampire uses for a hunt depends on their approach, which generally follows their Predator type ([[34 Predator Types|p. 175]]). $\quad$Players in an improvisational moment may suggest variations on any of these; the Storyteller can roll with it or respond with complications caused by a predator trying to think instead of hunt. [[52 Disciplines|Disciplines]] and [[35 Advantages#Merits|Merits]] can also affect the pool, even beyond the options given below. **Alleycat**: [[32 Core Traits#Strength|Strength]] + [[32 Core Traits#Brawl|Brawl]]: You take blood by force or threat, stalking, overpowering, and bleedings your victims. If you feed on criminals as a sort of dark knight of the streets, use [[32 Core Traits#Wits|Wits]] + [[32 Core Traits#Streetwise|Streetwise]] to find a victim. **Bagger**: [[32 Core Traits#Intelligence|Intelligence]] + Streetwise: You acquire preserved blood rather than hunt, or you feed from the dead or dying. Find your prize, gain access, and purchase or otherwise convince someone with the goods to give you access. **Blood Leech**: You feed from other vampires; if you make a mistake, you die – either tonight, or in a [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^BloodHunt|blood hunt]]. The Storyteller should not abstract something like this to a set of die rolls. **Cleaver**: [[32 Core Traits#Manipulation|Manipulation]] + [[32 Core Traits#Subterfuge|Subterfuge]]: You take blood covertly from your mortal family or friends. Socialize with your victims, feed from them, and cover it up to groom them for next time. **Consensualist**: Manipulation + [[32 Core Traits#Persuasion|Persuasion]]: You take blood by consent, under cover of medical work or a shared kink. Cultivate your victims, feed from them, and validate their choice to feed you. **Farmer**: [[32 Core Traits#Composure|Composure]] + [[32 Core Traits#Animal Ken|Animal Ken]]: You [[45 Slaking Hunger#Feeding from Animals|feed from animals]]. Find your quarry, catch your chosen animal, and feed from it. **Osiris**: Manipulation + Subterfuge or [[32 Core Traits#Intimidation|Intimidation]] + [[35 Advantages#Merits|Fame]]: You feed from your fans, church, or other adoring crowd. The Skill for which you’re famous may be [[32 Core Traits#Performance|Performance]], [[32 Core Traits#Science|Science]], [[32 Core Traits#Craft|Craft]], [[32 Core Traits#Academics|Academics]], [[32 Core Traits#Politics|Politics]], or something else. Display yourself, choose a victim, and flatter or bully them into feeding you. **Sandman**: [[32 Core Traits#Dexterity|Dexterity]] + [[32 Core Traits#Stealth|Stealth]]: You feed from sleeping victims. Case a hotel or house, break in, feed silently and get out. **Scene-Queen**: Manipulation + Persuasion: You feed from a high- or low-class subculture in which you enjoy high status. Make the scene, groom and isolate a victim from whom to feed, and gaslight or silence them to keep the scene cool. “I’ll let the others see us together if you keep it together." **Siren**: [[32 Core Traits#Charisma|Charisma]] + Subterfuge: You feed under the guise of sex. Pick up your victim, charm them, and take them somewhere alone to feed. ### Hunting Grounds The Difficulty of any hunting roll depends on the number of possible victims in the area and on the area’s level of surveillance and social cohesion. A crowded tenement where everyone looks out for each other and a dispersed housing development where folks mind their own business are roughly equal hunting grounds by these metrics. An airport is full of travelers nobody will miss for hours or days, but is also full of security and security cameras. $\quad$A given hunting ground may have specific modifiers based on the particular establishment the vampire chooses (see Cities, [[72 Cities|p. 335]]) or on some quality (good or bad) of their domain’s Chasse ([[36 Coterie Creation#Chasse|p. 195]]). $\quad$A heavier than normal police presence increases Difficulty by +1; a heavy security presence (e.g. to guard a dignitary or deal with a terror alert) increases Difficulty by +2 for some types of hunting. A festival, parade, rally, riot, or other large temporary gathering decreases Difficulty by -2. The minimum Difficulty of a hunt is always 1. $\quad$In some neighborhoods, vampires may need to hunt as a pack or at least in pairs: a wingman to assist with seduction, a backup to tackle bigger prey, a lookout to warn a distracted feeder. If the plan sounds plausible, the Storyteller may allow teamwork ([[23 Simple Tests#Dice Pool Results|p. 122]]). $\quad$Storytellers may increase hunting Difficulties for particularly inhuman vampires ([[15 Nosferatu|Nosferatu]], some [[13 Gangrel|Gangrel]], those with Humanity ratings of 4 or below), as such monsters find it difficult to blend in with a crowd. | Hunting Ground | Difficulty | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | Slum neighborhood, Skid Row, public housing projects or banlieues, the Rack | 2 | | Bohemian or hipster neighborhood, gentrifying or blighted working-class neighborhood | 3 | | Healthy working-class neighborhood, downtown business district, tourist district, airport or casino | 4 | | Manufacturing, warehouse, or port district; urban parkland; middle class suburban sprawl | 5 | | Wealthy neighborhood | 6 | ### Hunting as Heist The players may decide that what they really want to do is feed on the French Minister of Defense, on Rihanna, or on the Prince’s pet [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^BloodDoll|blood doll]] (whose blood grants visions of the future). This scenario is hunting as heist, and it should be as thoroughly planned and played out as any heist movie ever. A heist hunt necessarily involves the whole coterie - even if it’s theoretically possible for a single vampire to get access to such a valuable neck, it takes more than one to case the setup, keep a lookout, launch a diversion, and handle the getaway. $\quad$The Storyteller should feel free to introduce all manner of security, scrutiny, and other complications and obstacles between the vampires and their goal. Nothing is off the table, from the Prince ordering them to stand down to preserve the Masquerade to the Second Inquisition getting wind of their plans and setting an ambush complete with body doubles in place. Of course, the player characters might win. That’s when they learn all about the problems of success: the French government redoubles its support for the Second Inquisition, Rihanna threatens the Masquerade by dropping an album called *Camarilla Amor*, the Prince becomes even more paranoid and tyrannical. Or worse yet, their accomplishment remains a secret – except one ambitious ancilla has figured it out and has a price for keeping it sub rosa. ## Kindred Intimacy > [!div|grid-m] > > [!blank|span-17] > > Sooner or later, all [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Kindred|Kindred]] are denied certain parts of the pleasures of the flesh. To some that is the end of that, while others realize that the play of [[46 The Blood|Blood]] offers experiences that are so much more interesting than mere copulation. Intimacy does, however, carry its own set of dangers, as [[39 Vampires|vampires]] lost in the throes of passion are prone to sip straight from the source, thereby exposing themselves to the dreaded [[48 States of Damnation#The Blood Bond|Blood Bond]]. Unscrupulous vampires callously use this fact to their own advantage, using their powers of seduction to inflame their lovers to the point where they cannot resist this urge. Conscientious vampires use all sorts of methods and protections to edge closer to the front without actually going there, denying themselves the true pleasure of the [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^TheKiss|Kiss]]. This could be cutting and dripping, letting the blood flow for a while along the body (hopefully long enough to “cool off” its Bonding properties). Others imbibe only small drops, cutting and only licking (no swallowing!), and so on. > > $\quad$Provided that both parties are doing their best to play safe, avoiding stepping closer to the Blood Bond requires a simple [[32 Core Traits#Composure|Composure]] + [[32 Core Traits#Insight|Insight]] [[23 Simple Tests|test]] vs. a [[23 Simple Tests#Difficulties|Difficulty]] based on the level of precautions taken (2 for “raincoat level,” 5 for unprotected). Needless to say, for many vampires, pleasure is inversely proportional to protection. > > $\quad$Manipulating someone into crossing the line is a contest of [[32 Core Traits#Charisma|Charisma]] or [[32 Core Traits#Manipulation|Manipulation]] + [[32 Core Traits#Performance|Performance]] vs. Composure + Insight. Trying to do it without the other party realizing the intention reduces the [[23 Simple Tests#Pools|dice pool]] by 2. > > $\quad$Faking a direct sip tests Composure + [[32 Core Traits#Subterfuge|Subterfuge]] vs. Composure + Insight. > > $\quad$Many vampires find that this type of intimacy with people who are already Bound to someone else lacks a certain something, and avoid it if they can. If one party is Bound to the other, it is usually significantly more entertaining for the Bound party, and many avoid intimacy with those Bonded to them for this very reason, unless offering it as a treat. If both parties are Blood Bound to each other, the practice is usually frowned upon, and sometimes creates a source of great jealousy. With multiple parties involved, the complications quickly escalate. > > > [!recite|span-19] Tainted Blood > > As undead, vampires have little fear of conventional poisons. However, they may be affected by poisons or drugs contained within their victims’ bloodstreams. Some vampire “juicers” or “heads” actively seek out prey under the influence of intoxicants to receive a vicarious buzz. Drugs can also alter the Resonance of the prey’s blood, see [[47 You Are What You Eat#Resonance|p. 226]]. > > $\quad$By and large, most drugs have reduced effect on vampires than they do on humans. Use these values as the baseline for mortal incapacitations and the ceiling for vampire binges. In most cases, these effects last for a scene or two, depending on the nature of the drug and amount imbibed. > > - Alcohol: Lower [[32 Core Traits#Dexterity|Dexterity]] and [[32 Core Traits#Intelligence|Intelligence]] dice pools by one die. > > - Cocaine/Meth/Speed: [[32 Core Traits#Spending Willpower|Spend two Willpower points]] to re-roll a [[42 Hunger Dice#Messy Critical|messy critical]] or [[42 Hunger Dice#Bestial Failure|bestial failure]]. Difficulties to resist or control frenzy increase by 1. > > - Hallucinogens: Unable to concentrate, the vampire’s [[32 Core Traits#Wits|Wits]], [[32 Core Traits#Resolve|Resolve]], and Manipulation pools are lowered by two dice. > > - Heroin/Morphine/Oxy/Opiates: Subtract two dice from all Physical dice pools. Difficulties to resist or control frenzy decrease by 1. > > - Marijuana: The vampire experiences a slightly altered perception of time, suffering a one-die reduction to Wits dice pools. Difficulties to resist frenzy decrease by 1. > > - Poison: Subtract one from all dice pools and take 1-3 points of Superficial [[25 Conflicts#Damage|damage]] per scene (or per turn, in the case of extremely fast-acting and lethal poisons). Few poisons have any real effect on the undead; the Superficial damage reflects short circuits as the tainted Blood activates and then paralyzes the vampire’s dead nerves. Poison leaves the vampire’s system as they use up the tainted blood or dilute it; either by reaching [[41 Hunger|Hunger]] 5, or during their next feeding. > ## Compulsion Variants [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storytellers]] and [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Players|players]] can vary the existing [[43 Compulsions|Compulsion]] rules to increase the role and effect of Compulsions on the game, or to better tailor them to the player [[29 Characters|characters]]. Some possible variant rules for Compulsions follow. By and large, groups who use these rules should be comfortable with losing character agency and with pursuing the less-attractive aspects of [[39 Vampires|vampire]] existence. They can feed great (or at least wildly operatic and highly colored) drama, but beginners may wish to avoid them until they’ve used regular Compulsions enough to become comfortable (or jaded) with them. ### Compulsion Severity For experienced groups, it is possible to increase the severity of your Compulsions when you roll more than one 1 on your [[42 Hunger Dice|Hunger dice]]. For two 1s, the compulsion should lead to a scene of its own, and with three or more 1s, it can cause permanent changes to the vampire. ### Long-Term Compulsions Long-term Compulsions are best used when a test covers a longer timescale, and must by necessity look a little different than “in-the-moment” Compulsions. Either simply narrate the Compulsion’s effect (or ask the player leading questions like “doesn’t that fill you with Rage?”) during the course of the effort, turn the Compulsion into a spotlight scene within the given time frame and play it out in detail, or work out how this Compulsion could mechanically or dramatically affect the effort as a whole. > [!recite] Example: > *Marco suffers a Compulsion when rolling for a sustained effort to outmaneuver a political rival’s assets over a few weeks. Marco’s incessant outbursts during the taut political campaign anger even his allies, lowering his [[35 Advantages#Influence|Influence]] by one for that period.* ### Storyteller Offers In addition to the normal Compulsion prompts, the Storyteller can also urge a Compulsion on a character when the moment seems right. If the player rejects this urge, they must [[32 Core Traits#Spending Willpower|spend a point of Willpower]]. If they choose to act on this offer, their character regains a point of [[32 Core Traits#Willpower|Willpower]]. > [!recite] Example: > *Keisha gets shot down by her chosen meal at a local dive bar. The Storyteller urges her, “Surely such insolence must not go unpunished?” and she must choose to either spend a point of Willpower to resist acting on this Compulsion or she must go with the urge and gain a point of Willpower.* ### Hidden Compulsions Hidden Compulsions offer particularly mature and experienced groups a path to explore the darker themes of Vampire. Each player comes up with their own signature weaknesses and dark impulses, including their version of the [[43 Compulsions#Clan Compulsions|clan Compulsion]], calibrating them with the existing Compulsions with the Storyteller’s help. They then play as normal, with the Storyteller passing notes urging relevant Compulsions (chosen or rolled secretly) at thematically proper times and after failed rolls while at characters are at high [[41 Hunger|Hunger]]. $\quad$Ideally, players never disclose or discuss which of their actions were compelled and which were not, presenting the others with a seamless portrait of vampiric temper, appetite, and cruelty. While this might seem a trivial thing to do, it can darken your game markedly. ## Memoriam [[39 Vampires|Vampires]] are immortals, and some are very old indeed. Even [[20 The Thin-Blooded|thin-blood]] player [[29 Characters|characters]] might have decades of unlife to look back on. In those past decades, a vampire doubtless starred in stories as dangerous and dramatic as the ones on the table tonight. Memoriam is how the [[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Players|player]] returns to those stories, flashing back to solve mysteries, learn motives, and demonstrate their uncanny prescience in, for example, leaving those gold bars here so long ago. ### Goals The player whose character undergoes Memoriam has a reason for their action, besides simple temporal tourism. Not that there’s anything wrong with an adventure where the whole coterie is comprised of 1980s punks or 1880s cowboys, of course – but it’s best to combine Memoriam with something relevant to the contemporary chronicle. That player explains what they did, learned, or started in the past that might tie into the modern nights’ events; in other words, they set a goal for their past selves to have already accomplished. The rules demarcate those goals, as they do most things, in terms of dots: ⬤ The answer to one minor question, one expendable dot in a [[35 Advantages#Backgrounds|Background]], two additional dice to one Skill [[23 Simple Tests|test]] in the present ⬤⬤ The answer to a major question, two expendable dots in a Background, four additional dice to one Skill test in the present ⬤⬤⬤ The answer to an epic question, three expendable dots in a Background, a major boon **Answers**: Answers might range from “Where was the access tunnel when this bank was built?” to “Who killed the former [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Prince|Prince]] of Miami during the Great Hurricane of 1926?” A minor answer helps the player character in one scene, a major answer helps them in one chapter or story, and an epic answer casts the whole chronicle in a new light and likely gives the player character considerable leverage. It also likely puts them in considerable danger, but that’s vampire unlife in a nutshell. **Test Bonuses**: These represent a specific advantage gained by recalling something from the past. The player can cash them in whenever they wish in the present during the current chapter or the next, as long as the roll connects in some way to their experience during Memoriam: “We were friends in 1978, what happened?” or “Now I remember, Billy the Kid taught me to throw a lariat.” **Expendable Dots**: Expendable dots in a Background add to rolls or otherwise benefit the player character for the duration of one story. This benefit can affect the currently ongoing story, or the player character can save the benefit for another story in the future. Once spent, the dots go away: the player has used the advantage, spent the capital, or otherwise returned themselves to normal. $\quad$[[02 Roleplaying and Storytelling#The Storyteller|Storytellers]] should feel free to allow any number of possible goals in Memoriam, from [[32 Core Traits#Recovering Willpower|recovering Willpower]] to learning the formula for an alchemical elixir or gaining readers’ privileges at a key [[15 Nosferatu|Nosferatu]] archive. Just set the dot value by interpolating on the table, or base the value on other dot-demarcated advantages. ### Entering Memoriam A vampire who remembered every detail of their past would soon go mad as incident piled on incident, crowding out the present in a lightning-riven fog of reminiscence. Aside from a few special enmities or delicious sense-memories, the details of decades and centuries ago fade. Vampires must force blood into long-dead brain vessels and taste dormant nervous signals again to recall such memories; entering Memoriam requires a [[44 Rousing the Blood|Rouse Check]]. $\quad$A player character can enter Memoriam no more than once per story, and the Storyteller can also limit the number of Memoriams played in each session, usually to no more than one. Obviously, the character cannot enter Memoriam to recall a date before their birth. Multiple characters can enter Memoriam at the same time if they were all present at the chosen place and time. $\quad$The player likely already has some notion of where and when their character was Embraced, and perhaps of what their character has been doing since. They select the place and time their character seeks to remember and if it’s a blank spot the player hasn’t decided anything about, so much the better! Make a note of it for future reference (“August 1918: drinking from flu victims and dodging the draft in Boston.”), and go. $\quad$If the character enters Memoriam under the right circumstances, they receive extra dice to use during the conflicts they remember – and reenact in their minds. They can use these dice one by one or all at once if they prefer. If they enter Memoriam: - On the spot where the past events occurred: gain two dice - Just after drinking mortal blood that was present on the scene (such as a survivor or a descendant): gain one die per point of [[45 Slaking Hunger|Hunger slaked]] by that drink - After drinking [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Vitae|vitae]] from an immortal SPC present on the scene: gain one die for a tiny sip; earn dice equal to the donor’s [[46 The Blood#Blood Potency|Blood Potency]] +1 after a deeper drink - While holding a particularly evocative artifact to be used in the Memoriam scene (e.g., the gun with which they killed Sheriff Pat Garrett): gain three dice, usable only in tests involving that item **Memoriam and Statistics**: While the character in the Memoriam would realistically have lower Traits, representing their reduced experience, calculating this difference would be too time-consuming for most troupes. Instead, assume that all Attributes and Skills remain the same, while subtracting a dot in one [[52 Disciplines|Discipline]] for roughly every 50 years that the Memoriam goes back, unless special circumstances apply. (A character who has spent 500 years in [[46 The Blood#Torpor|torpor]] and only recently resurfaced should not be penalized for the time spent in undead slumber, for example.) $\quad$Advantages and Flaws apply at the Storyteller’s discretion. The Storyteller should work to fit the character’s past self into the fiction. If they should have access to a [[35 Advantages#Haven|Haven]] that their backstory establishes they were expelled from in 1945, give it to them; if they should have fewer [[35 Advantages#Resources|Resources]] because they made their fortune by diamond-trafficking after the fall of the Soviet Union, lower it. The goal should be both entertaining drama and consistent backstory, if possible. $\quad$Vampires start play in Memoriam at the same level of [[41 Hunger|Hunger]] as when they entered it, unless the Storyteller deems otherwise. ### Running Memoriam The Storyteller should present the players with at least one challenge per dot of their goal unless the fiction would suffer from doing so. $\quad$Players whose characters are not in Memoriam play SPCs, roleplaying in response to player character action. This casting can offer some fun contrasts from their normal selves: the staunch puritan of the main chronicle becomes a lusty habitué of the demimonde in 1880s Paris. Think of it as the equivalent of casting the regular actors as different characters in a flashback episode of some TV show. $\quad$The Storyteller should strive to clearly present the goal and challenges of the Memoriam to keep the scene focused and moving at a brisk pace. It is also up to the Storyteller to decide when and how the Memoriam ends, either through success or irrevocable failure. **Opposition**: Depending on the goal level of the Memoriam, the Storyteller should set the opposition so that it challenges the players with roughly one challenge per goal level. These can be simple tests or be played out as [[69 Advanced Conflict#One-Roll Conflicts|one-roll conflicts]]. If looking to play out a whole conflict turn-by-turn, that conflict should be the entirety of the Memoriam. ### After Memoriam If successful, the characters gain the benefit sought when entering the Memoriam. A failure on any of the challenges fails the entire Memoriam, which instead becomes a dire reminder of how ill the characters fared the last time they encountered whatever problem to which they now seek a solution. $\quad$Any [[32 Core Traits#Willpower|Willpower]] [[25 Conflicts#Damage|damage]] sustained is kept in the present. Health damage sustained is also translated to Willpower damage, as traumas remembered now weigh heavy on the psyche. Crippling injuries gained in Memoriam are assumed to have healed in the intervening time. $\quad$If a character enters torpor in Memoriam, they are assumed to have awoken somehow before the present day. (Use the torpor length for their [[49 Humanity|Humanity]] at the time of the Memoriam, and block that period off from future Memoriam exploration.) If a character dies in Memoriam, well – how they came back, and just whom they owe for that dark and horrible favor, will make an excellent question to resolve in further play. Perhaps by another dive into Memoriam…. $\quad$Storytellers and players should cooperate even more in Memoriam than in the regular chronicle – too many inconsistencies and weird divergences from the plot work against dramatic unity, unless the chronicle intentionally takes on the aura of madness and nightmare. ## Prestation While power over one’s fellow undead may be the truest currency of the [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^TheDamned|Damned]], boons and favors also enjoy a healthy trade. The process of trading, repaying, and incurring favors, known as prestation, is the cornerstone of the [[39 Vampires|vampiric]] social structure. Put simply, a clever [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Kindred|Kindred]] grants favors, while a foolish one incurs them – and becomes a servant to their promises and their debts. A vampire who calls in as-yet unearned favors from other Kindred too often finds their entire existence dictated by the obligations they have incurred. In exchange for whatever tokens of help they requested, they become a puppet of those who came to their aid. $\quad$Kindred society is a byzantine knot of favors owed, loyalties sworn, debts repaid, and promises broken. From the highest [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Prince|Prince]] to the lowliest [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Fledgling|fledgling]], the coin of the Kindred realm – after blood, of course – is the boon. ### Boons One Kindred’s promise to another is known as a boon. In some domains, boons operate like credit, in that a vampire must owe a boon for another vampire to extend them one boon – they must be seen as trustworthy. In other [[73 The Feudal System#Domains|domains]], the opposite is true; the more debts a Kindred owes, the less capable of repaying those boons they are assumed to be. The one universal truth among all domains, however, is that a boon is a boon, and there’s no way to get out of it other than to satisfy it or to have it excused by its holder. $\quad$If a Kindred kills the holder of their boon (directly or provably indirectly) the debt is transferred to the holder’s [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Sire|sire]] or eldest [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Childe|childe]] in most domains; to the Prince or the Harpies in others. Kindred touchy about their honor often insist on formally transferring such debts themselves, even if the holder died at the hands of the [[01 A World of Darkness#The Second Inquisition|Second Inquisition]]. Defalcating on a boon, or claiming to still hold a boon after its repayment, destroys a Kindred’s reputation. Harpies remain alert for any sign of chicanery; some even go so far as to keep lengthy and exact records of all boons owed and held in their domains. The cheater may even find themselves exiled from court – if a vampire’s word means nothing, their oath of allegiance cannot be trusted either. Even [[06 The Camarilla#The Anarch Movement|Anarchs]] honor boons, in large part to prove that they don’t need courts and princes to keep themselves honorable. $\quad$Kindred use a number of different ways to keep track of boons in different domains. In some, a specially appointed Harpy keeps careful books of who owes who, in others, each major figure has their own currency representing boons (such as rare coins, signed slips, lengths of thread and so on) that they hand out, in a third there is only the honor system. $\quad$The more powerful the granter of a boon, the more powerful the boon. In general, the society of the Damned recognizes four classifications of boons: **Trivial Boon**: The easiest boons both to acquire and to satisfy. A trivial boon generally involves no risk or significant cost for the granter. A Kindred might earn or promise a trivial boon for aid in finding blood, for getting an invitation to an exclusive soiree or entrée to a hot nightclub, or for making space in a [[35 Advantages#Haven|haven]]. In most domains, [[36 Coterie Creation|coterie]] members perform trivial boons for each other without recording them, although a vampire who doesn’t carry their share of the favor load might get “accidentally” locked out some morning. **Minor Boon**: Minor boons require one of the Kindred going out of their way to perform or pay off. They have a small but lasting cost, or involve some risk – physical, social, or other. A Kindred might promise or demand a minor boon for casting a vote in favor of another during a convocation of elders, killing an inconvenient but not very important human, granting access to a book of lore or an ancient diary, or providing a [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^Vessel|vessel]] or sanctuary in a desperate hour. **Major Boon**: A major boon can alter the flow of Kindred affairs in a domain, directly or indirectly. They always involve real risk or real expense, and both parties usually intend to recoup. Examples of major boons include investiture as the Filius Major of the [[88 Lore Sheets#Cainite Heresy|Cainite Heresy]] in a city, grants of rich hunting grounds, revealing a major secret, leveraging significant resources toward someone else’s agenda, or reversing one’s expected vote in council. **Life Boon**: This is the rarest and most valuable of the boons observed by the Damned, and perhaps ironically, the one most often promised at a moment’s notice – when the next moment might bring [[10 Lexicon of the Damned#^FinalDeath|Final Death]]. One might earn a life boon by killing another powerful vampire, but most life boons come under duress. Kindred have sworn life boons in exchange not just for their own unlives, but for protection for [[33 Beliefs#Touchstones|Touchstones]], offering an alibi in a case of princely justice, or just for keeping some hideous secret. ### Getting and Spending Boons While a given domain may have rigorous conventions in place for recording and observing who has sworn boons to whom, the completion of a boon is comparatively simple. Once the Kindred who holds the boon declares it satisfied, that’s it. It’s done. $\quad$In terms of game mechanics, calling in a boon mostly affects Social tests. A trivial boon is worth one or two dice on the roll; a character might offer a boon to the target, payable on a win on the roll. Alternately, the target may already owe the character the boon; the character reminding the target of the debt causes the die modifier. In this case, a win for the character fulfills the boon debt. $\quad$A minor boon held by a character should ideally equal an automatic win on a Social test against the debtor. Going the other direction, a Social test may instead resolve the question “Does the target require a minor boon in exchange for this favor?” If the character wins the roll, the target doesn’t demand a boon; if they lose, they still get what they want, but at the cost of a minor boon. $\quad$Major boons and life boons are game developments larger than single tests encompass. Major boons can risk the equivalent of two- or three-dot [[35 Advantages#Backgrounds|Backgrounds]], or more. Player [[29 Characters|characters]] should promise them only in extremis and use them for domain- and [[79 Chronicles|chronicle]]-changing efforts. [[69 Advanced Conflict|⬅️ Previous Section]] | [[Vampire - The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Book#Structure|Table of Contents]] | [[71 The Hunger Game|Next Section ➡️]]