-----------------Elder Requirements -----------------Playing an Elder in a Vampire: the Requiem LARP is a big responsibility and one that should not

be considered lightly by players. Anyone considering playing an Elder should be aware that there is a great deal of game material and in-charact er knowledge you will be expected to learn and remember in order to effectively portray an Elder. All Elders are not courtly aristocrats obsessed with status an d position, but the majority of them are. Any player who plays an Elder will ine vitably find themselves dealing with this aspect of the game on some level, and should be prepared to field dialogue associated with the stereotypical Vampire w orld of intrigue, politics, and power - The Requiem. Elders are also very old, a t the very least 150 years or so. They usually don't possess the same range of e motions that humans and younger vampires possess. Often, an Elder will have latc hed on to some particular philosophy or code of behaviour and will seek to perpe tuate that throughout their existence in order to maintain their dwindling human ity and their sanity. We as real-life mortals cannot truly comprehend the notion of immortality, when we get impatient sitting at a traffic light, or find it di fficult to be alone for very long. The trick in playing an Elder is to seem like you possess the patience and wisdo m of a centuries old vampire (who, barring foul play, will live for centuries mo re), while playing in a game that meets once a month. It's hard to do , and the storytellers expectations of performance make it even harder. By choosing to pla y an Elder, you are telling the other players and the storytellers that you are a good role-player (which includes acting and immersing one's self in a characte r), that you have OOC patience and temperance, and that you are willing to occas ionally sacrifice your own OOC goals for the greater story of the game. Playing an Elder means both privilege and pressure. All that said, the storyteller staff has created an approval process by which on e my play an Elder vampire in our LARP: 1. Elder characters must be approved by a head storyteller. Like all characters, an Elder may not enter play, either at games or on the message boards, until it has been sanctioned for play. 2. Players seeking to play and Elder must meet in person with at least one head storyteller for an interview. This is to gauge a person's knowledge of not just the VTR game world, but of role-playing in general. The player will be asked why he or she wishes to play an Elder and why the character concept cannot be serve d just as easily by playing a Neonate or Ancilla. 3. Elders require a written background of at least 1000 words typed or hand-writ ten and submitted to the storytellers for approval. A numbered timeline will be helpful, but will not count towards the background requirement. Mortal upbringin g, Kindred lineage, Requiem, and especially historical context will all be impor tant factors. 4. Current number of Elders in play will always be a factor in approval new Elde r characters. A city can only support a limited number of Elders before the Masq uerade is threatened; this must be reflected in our game as well. At some points in the game, new Elders will be denied outright. 5. Elder players are strongly encouraged, but not required, to distinguish thems elves in some way that causes them to stand apart from the younger characters an d reflect their advanced age. Examples include costuming, make-up, experimenting with accents and voices, or props. Some of these aspects may be limited by game sites. Again, this is not a requirement, nor will it affect experience points e arned, but it is heavily encouraged.

Playing an Elder can be extremely challenging and rewarding, but can also be ver y frustrating if not approached carefully and passionately. -----------------Slash proof Armor and Armor Piercing House Rule -----------------New Armor Condition Slash proof: Much like Bulletproof refers to a downgrade of Damage from Lethal t o Bashing from Ballistic weapons, Slash proof downgrades Lethal to Bashing from Slashing and Piercing attacks from non-Ballistic (Modern Firearms) sources. Chai n mail and Plate are the only Armor types that this extends too

Armor Piercing: Altered House Rule

Ignore Armor Piercing from the Blue WOD Book on pg. 167 and use the rule below

If a general/ missile weapon is labeled Armor Piercing, it automatically ignores the Slash proof condition on the Armor it is piercing. If the Bullet for Modern Firearms is rated Armor Piercing, it too automatically ignores the bulletproof condition for ballistic armor. It s rating as an Armor Piercing weapon or missile also reduces the Armor rating of the target before being used to penalize the at tacker s dice pool for an attack. -----------------Running and Speed -----------------For use in our game the trait Speed is considered the steps taken by the Charact er at a full run with out taking an action. To determine the steps a Character c an make with an action is the Speed trait divided by half round down. Example: Ryan has a Strength of 2, a Dexiterity of 2 plus his species factor of 5 for an Adult and recieves a Speed rating of 9. This rating is the number of st eps he can make in a full-out run without an action. If Ryan wishes to attack an opponent, he can take only 4 steps in his turn if he wishes to punch his target . For simplicity Celerity is altered to meld with LARP play. If the Character wis hes to make a full out run without action double the Character's Celerity and ad d their Speed rating together. If the Character wishes to use Celerity and take an action, they divide their Speed rating in half round down and add their Celer ity to determine how many steps they can make. Example: Ryan has Celerity 3 and a Speed of 9. He can make 15 steps in a full ru nning turn. If he wishes to take an action while moving, it would be Speed 9 div ided by 2 round down (4) + celerity 3 to get 7 steps total instead. -----------------New Merit: Haven Cache & Haven Traps

-----------------HAVEN CACHE (new additional Haven merit) ( to )

Haven Cache: Each dot allocated to Haven Cache translates to one cache. A cache can hold five Size points worth of equipment, so while one might be a weapons lo cker with two shotguns and a pistol (and a few boxes of ammo for each, which is negligible as far as Size goes), another might hold surveillance equipment (a se t of wire taps, binoculars, night-sight goggles and maybe a pistol for good meas ure). Chapter Six of the World of Darkness Rulebook has some examples of equipme nt and weapons that might be useful, and players should work with the Storytelle r to figure out what might fit in a cache. It is possible, too, to combine two o r more dots of Cache into one space, for a total Size of 10 or more. Equipment doesn t have to be stored in a cache, of course a large Haven can have e ntire rooms devoted to storage. Equipment that is stored in a cache, however, is effectively hidden from anything but a devoted (or supernatural) search. Mundan e interlopers receive a -5 modifier to any attempt to find a cache (on a dramati c failure, the searcher finds and triggers a trap, instead, if the Haven has any ). If the players wish, this modifier can instead apply to attempts to access th e Cache. The gun safe might be in plain view, but it s not at all easy to crack op en without the proper combination.

HAVEN TRAPS (new additional Haven merit) ( to

Haven Traps: Sooner or later, a Haven is going to be compromised. Vampires know it, even if they don t want to admit it. That s why many of them build traps into th eir Haven, in hopes they can kill a Hunter or supernatural intruder or at least deter him long enough to get away. A trap can take a myriad of forms. Opening a door to a promising-looking room reveals a shotgun aimed at chest level, which p romptly fires. Walking up the stairs on the left side is safe, but on the right side, they re rigged to collapse. Looking behind a painting causes an axe to swing down from the ceiling, just about at head level. A trap can also be designed to destroy part (or all) of the Haven at the flick of a switch; the place goes up in flames, collapses or explodes. A trap can either inflict damage equal to the dots allocated to it to a single target, or can inflict less damage to a larger area. Once a trap is tripped, provided it doesn t destroy the place, any Vampire w ho contributed dots to the Haven can reset it with minimal work. This is what di fferentiates traps represented by this Merit from others that the characters mig ht build themselves during the course of the chronicle; no rolls or special effo rt are required to reset a Haven Trap again, though, if the trap is designed to destroy large sections of the Haven, that damage can t be repaired without signifi cant effort and expense, if at all. Any trap that deals damage to the Haven Size can be rigged to go off after a short delay, giving the Vampire time to flee. O nly one Trap can be made for every level of Haven Size that the Haven possesses, and each trap must have an approve ST explanation with a logical functionality. Oversized Industrial Trap concepts that don t add flavor and that are seen as unb alanced will be denied.

x The Vampires haven t bothered setting traps. Perhaps they re afraid of setting the m off themselves.

A trap that inflicts one point of lethal damage to a target (concealed knife, ca ltrops) or three points of bashing damage to a small area (electrified floor, mi ld poison gas).

A trap that inflicts two points of lethal damage to a target (spring-loaded knife , concealed pistol trap) or inflicts six bashing damage to a small area (falling sandbags, fire-hose trap), or a trap that incorporates fire and thus has a chan ce of igniting targets and the house (see p. 180 of the World of Darkness Rulebo ok).

**Fair Warning- Fire is a very dangerous component to any trap and may cause mor e damage to surrounding areas of the Haven then the target itself **

A trap that inflicts three points of lethal damage to a target (falling axe, poiso ned needle on a doorknob) or eight bashing damage to an area (collapsing stairca se), or a trap that damages a portion of the Haven, reducing its Size by one (ex plosives; anyone caught in the blast takes two lethal damage).

A trap that inflicts four lethal damage to a target (shotgun trap, pit with spikes) or 10 bashing damage/two lethal damage to an area (concussion grenade trap, dea dfall trap), or a trap that reduces the Haven Size by one to three dots (anyone caught in the area suffers three points of lethal damage).

A trap that inflicts five points of lethal damage to a target (spring-loaded sharpen ed stake, blowtorch trap) or 12 bashing damage/three lethal damage to an area (b ouncing Betty, acid spray), or a trap that completely destroys the Haven, no mat ter how large (anyone caught inside suffers four points of lethal damage).

A note on vulnerabilities: some creatures, such as vampires, suffer aggrava ted damage from fire. (Warning: even small flames can cause a blazing inferno) O thers have more specialized weaknesses, and Vampires might well guess at them or learn them over the course of the chronicle. The Haven Traps system doesn t make capitalizing on these weaknesses a special case working silver bullets into a gu n trap doesn t put the dot rating up. This is because the creatures get a chance t o notice the traps anyway (see below), and because a Vampire can t be sure that a) werewolves really are vulnerable to silver, or if that s just a story and b) were wolves are going to attack the Haven, rather than some other Monstrosity, that d oesn t care a bit about silver. Any intruder receives a Wits + Composure roll to n otice a trap moments before it activates: Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The intruder activates the trap and suffers all relevant damag e. In addition, roll (the rating of the trap in question + 2) and apply any succ esses as additional damage (type as appropriate to the trap). Failure: The intruder activates the trap and suffers all relevant damage.

Success: The character notices the trap and can try to disarm it (Wits + Crafts minus the dots allocated to that trap, failure sets off the trap, dramatic failu re doubles the damage) or just leave it be. Exceptional Success: The intruder notices the trap and can attempt to disarm it (Wits + Crafts, no penalty for the trap rating).

Suggested Modifiers: Modifier Situation +1 Intruder is actively looking for traps +1 Intruder has successfully surveyed the location recently -1 Dim light -1 Loud ambient noise -2 Intruder is hurried -2 Trap does not require visible apparatus (collapsing staircase, for instance) -3 Total darkness -----------------House Altered Merits -----------------ALLIES You have powerful or useful friends who help you out in your endeavors. You can make a few calls and cut a few deals to get assistance in a wide range of activi ties. Each Allies Trait possessed represents several people whom you can call up on for aid. Unlike Influence, your Allies have special talents that make them be tter than the average person on the street. Although your Allies may not be awar e of your supernatural nature (if you have any), they can be quite useful if you direct them properly. In general, your Allies do not appear during game-play. I nstead, you can use them for certain services between play sessions, by notifyin g your Storyteller on your Downtime. Each level of Allies offers a single Trait that replenishes at the Start of ever y game. By expending these Traits in Allies the player can borrow items, resourc es, or services. A use of Allies can be directed to follow up on research or act ivities that you have started. If this is the case the task or activity (non-com bative of course) can be continued by them (such as tailing someone, researching a project or building a device), your Allies can continue the work doing so wit h one Ability worth of expertise per trait spent. Doing this does not count as o ne of your Downtime actions as you ve handed off the project to another to complet e for you. You may also use them in this fashion to assist you in extended chall enges and adding their Traits as additional dice to your pool. As long as they w ork on the project your Allies Traits spent towards this endeavor is tied up. Th ey also may temporarily loan you items of value equal to the level of Traits spe nt for the month. The list below shows the level of trust and capability these A llies afford you. Unlike influences the Traits spent do not need to equal the le vel to attain that desired effect.

Level 1: Access to Resources Skills or a place to stay (Closet) Level 2: Loaning of simple Archaic Weapons & equipment or tools Level 3: Loaning of Vehicles, guest room or small arms and armor Level 4: Use of Expensive vehicles and exotic weapons or guest house Level 5: Access to Complex and expensive equipment

Note: From time to time these Allies may call on you for favors in return. Failu re to complete these tasks may cost you a permanent level of Allies as you are s een as untrustworthy or incompetent.

CONTACTS With the right contacts in all walks of life, you can get a line on all sorts of useful information. Although having an ear to the wall doesn t necessarily provide you with good help or loyal servants, it does mean that you know whom to ask whe n looking for the movers and shakers behind the scenes. In game terms, your rati ng in Contacts allows you to gather rumors and information. When you call on you r contacts, you make a few phone calls, check with likely snitches and grease a few palms. In return, you get rumors and information. Doing so lets you find out exactly what s going on in the city within a particular area. You can get informa tion of a level equal to however many contacts you use. If you use Contacts x3 o n Industry Influence, for instance, you get information as if digging up dirt wi th Industry Influence x3. The advantage of the Contacts Background is that conta cts can be switched from place to place. Contacts levels can also be spent as In fluence to perform the Follow, Trace and Watch endeavors. Using Contacts for esp ecially dangerous or secret information may require you to spend Resources to bo ost or a few favors, at the discretion of a Storyteller. On occasion, accidents can cause contacts in one area to dry up, such as a strike that affects your Ind ustry contacts, or a particularly unlucky astronomical conjunction sends your Oc cult contacts running for the hills. Your contacts will not generally function a s aides or lackeys. That sort of service is the purview of the Allies and Retain ers Backgrounds.

MENTOR An older or more experienced individual looks after you and comes to your aid oc casionally. Whatever the case is, you can get assistance from your mentor, altho ugh his favor may be fickle. When you call on your mentor, you risk a certain nu mber of Traits to achieve a given effect. A lowly one-Trait mentor probably know s only little more than you, while a five-Trait mentor may well have luminous st anding within your sect and a wide range of potent powers. Regardless, taking up your mentor s valuable time is costly. Your mentor may demand a favor first befor e helping. In any case, you can call on your mentor only once in any given game session, and only if you have an appropriate way to contact him or her. The Play er is required to give some basics details about the Mentor such as to what Clan and Covenant to which they belong and whether or not their Mentor is in fact th eir sire. The level of aid that your mentor can give depends on the number of Tr aits you have in this Background (and Storyteller approval, of course):

For one Trait, your mentor is privy to experience and specialized information at a level above your own. They would be able to grant advice to relevant situatio ns or perform a Downtime (non-combative) action with skills that you yourself do not possess. For two rces from s trivial r or five Traits, you can borrow up to two levels of Contacts, Influence, or Resou your Mentor for the duration of the game. These cannot be spent toward matters such as Influence growth. If your Mentor is very powerful (fou Traits), you can borrow three levels.

Having two Traits allows your mentor to instruct you in the Basics of an out of Clan Discipline that you do not know. For three Traits, your mentor can instruct you in moderate levels of an out of C lan Discipline or simple Devotion that you do not know. For three Traits, your mentor can loan you equipment or capable personnel for pr ivate tasks. For four Traits, your mentor can assist you in the growth of Influences of your particular interest. See level 2 mentor for more details. Also at a cost of four Traits, your mentor can train you in an Advanced out of C lan Discipline or moderate Devotion beyond your grasp. For five Traits, your mentor can train you in the phenomenal powers of the elder s, if you are puissant enough to learn such secrets. This may include learning t he basics of Clan Specific Disciplines or rare devotions. They may also lend you use of their level five influence, personal staff or significant pieces of equi pment.

Since mentors can prove unbalancing by providing too many different powers over the course of a long game, the Storyteller will lower your total Mentor Traits a s you call on his knowledge. For every level of Mentor possessed times three equ als a total bank in which the player may call upon. Each level of request subtra cts that many traits from this bank until it is depleted. This decrease represen ts the fact that as your character learns the mentor s secrets; the mentor has les s left to teach or has become tired of your petty begging and whining.

RESOURCES Mechanically this Merit is represented as Traits that equal your character s curre nt rating in this merit doubled. (Example: Tommy has 3 Resources that gives him 6 traits to spend.) By expending temporary Resources Traits (which return at th e start of the next game session) you can use these traits to purchase items or other goods during the game or downtime. The cost of an item you can purchase ca n be no higher than your Resource Merit. (Example: Tommy can only buy an item at cost 3 or lower) Your number of Resources Traits determines the amount of money and capital that you can secure. This capital is created by ether investments & holdings such as companies or by your Mortal Status merit that represents a profession. You must notify the ST in your background how you obtain this merit, otherwise it will be

assumed to be gained from investments, stocks, and bonds. If you expend perman ent Resources, you can divest yourself of holdings, allowing access to the level lost times 5 in traits. Generally the cost of items and equipment is marked in the books but if not, it is usually the bonus level of the item. This is not alw ays a constant and may alter depending on the item or methods of procurement. Ho wever, the limits of what you can buy are always adjudicated by the Storyteller. Truly powerful uses of Resources are best left to downtimes and moderation betwe en game sessions. Your levels in Resources can be destroyed by appropriate attac ks from other influences if it is Traced. To use Finance to Trace another Player s Resources the Character must have been affected by or Watched an endeavor from the other Player. Finance is the only Influence that can affect Resources based on stocks and investments. If the Players Resources merit is based on a profess ion using Mortal Status only the appropriate Influence can Trace and then affect that Players Status and thus affect their Resources. Resources can also be used to build Haven Size, Location, or Security. For every trait of Resources spent on Haven merits (With exception to Cache & Traps) it w ill reduce the cost by one experience point. Resource traits can also be banked (only in this instance) for exceptionally high levels of Haven until it s complete ly purchased. The new additions to Haven will not be completed until this cost i s paid for. Expenditure of Resource Traits can be used to Boost Influence endeav ors to a maximum of your Resource level on a one for one basis. The Resource merit also determines a Character s starting equipment. Each PC recei ves 5 + their Resources in cost point s worth of equipment. With these pieces of e quipment, the Resources merit also grants a certain level of lifestyle and a hom e. This granted Home does not a Haven make and therefore will never receive the bonus the Haven merit gives. It is merely shelter, maybe a nice coat of paint, b ut nothing more. Unless you ve used equipment points to purchase certain items the n all you have is listed below.

Example of Standard Holdings per Resources: Level 0: Impoverished - You are lucky to have shelter the size of a closet or bo x. You have few if no personal belongings except that which you carry. Staying a live is your biggest concern throughout the day. Public transportation is your o nly option. Level 1: Poor - You have some small apartment on the bad side of town most likel y with a pest and subway noise problem. You have few personal belongings, use pu blic transportation to get around and consider yourself lucky to have a black & white TV. Level 2: Lower Class - You can afford a decent apartment in an ok area and the c ops come when called, eventually. You can afford some things and have a cheap ce ll phone for texting and night calls. You can afford a cab sometimes instead of the subways. Level 3: Middle Class - You rent a townhouse and the nicer things such as a cell phone and personal computer. You rarely take the bus or subway since you have y our own vehicle. You sometimes find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck th ough. Level 4: Upper Class - You own a home or penthouse and a lifestyle that can affo rd nice clothes, big screen TVs, laptop, camera cell phones and a nice car. You

rarely check your bank statements and have plenty to spend on excess wants at th e end of the week. Level 5: Rich - You own a luxury penthouse with a maid that cleans several times a week. You own several high end vehicles and wear only top of the line fashion s. HD flat screen 1080p, personal PC cell phones and gold jewelry are standard i n your world. RETAINER Every mortal Retainer receives one dot in all attributes as normal. Additional d ots for primary, secondary, and tertiary selections for attributes and skills ar e listed below for each level of Retainer. The number of merit dots that each Re tainer receives is also listed below. Remember: Purchasing the 5th-dot of any at tribute, skill, or merit costs 2-dots; this applies to Retainers just as player characters.

Please note that restrictions have been placed on how many dots may be assigned to a Retainer s attributes, skills or merits. The more dots you have in the Retain er merit, the greater quantity of dots you may assign to any one attribute, skil l or merit on the Retainer. Each PC may possess up to five separate Retainers. Merit restrictions on ALL Retainers: No Retainer may possess more than 2-dots of the Resources merit. No Retainer may possess the Allies, Contacts, Fame, Influe nce, Mentor, or Retainer merits. No Retainer may possess vampire (or other super natural) merits.

Retainers use Morality and start at 7, unless ghouled (see below). You can choos e to have your Retainer start at a lower Morality.

Ghoul Retainers: Each NPC ghoul Retainer receives a single dot of a physical dis cipline (appropriate to his sire s clan or bloodline Celerity, Resilience or Vigor only). A ghouled Retainer at 2-dot rating or better receives one additional Dis cipline dot from the original regnant s clan or bloodline. This second Discipline dot does not have to be from a physical Discipline. A ghoul cannot learn a uniqu e bloodline discipline. Although their regnants use Humanity, ghouls still use M orality. Ghoul Morality starts at 6. Your character begins each game session dow n one vitae (and one willpower unless spent by the ghoul) for each ghoul Retaine r he possesses. Retainer 1-dot Attributes: 4/3/2 (Two attributes may exceed 2-dots; none may exceed 3-dots) Skills: 9/5/3 (Two skills may exceed 2-dots; none may exceed 3-dots) Skill Specializations: 1 Merits: 4 (None may exceed 2-dots) Equipment: 4 + small home (No equipment may exceed 2-dot Resources requirement)

Retainer 2-dots Attributes: 4/4/3 (One attribute may exceed 3-dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Skills: 10/7/4 (One skill may exceed 3-dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Skill Specializations: 2 Merits: 6 (None may exceed 3-dots) Equipment: 5 + small home (No equipment may exceed 3-dot Resources requirement) Retainer 3-dots Attributes: 5/5/3 (Two attributes may exceed 3-dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Skills: 11/8/6 (Two skills may exceed 3-dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Skill Specializations: 3 Merits: 8 (One merit may exceed 3-dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Equipment: 6 + small home (No equipment may exceed 3-dot Resources requirement) Retainer 4-dots Attributes: 6/5/4 (No attribute may exceed 4-dots) Skills: 12/10/7 (One skill may exceed 4-dots) Skill Specializations: 4 Merits: 10 (Two merits may exceed 3 dots; none may exceed 4-dots) Equipment: 7 + small home (No equipment may exceed 4-dot Resources requirement) Retainer 5-dots Attributes: 7/6/5 (One attribute may exceed 4-dots) Skills: 13/11/8 (Two skills may exceed 4-dots) Skill Specializations: 5 Merits: 12 (One merit may exceed 4-dots) Equipment: 8 + small home (No equipment may exceed 4-dot Resources requirement) Disciplines: A 5-dot Retainer who is a ghoul may exchange one attribute dot for a third Discipline dot. This third Discipline dot may be in the physical Discipl ine already known to the ghoul or a dot of any clan or bloodline Discipline of h is regnant (except a unique Discipline). Upgrading Your Retainer: Additional dots of the Retainer merit may be purchased subsequent to the original purchase of the Retainer merit. (Note: The Retainer m erit may not exceed 5-dots total.) These additional dots allow you to upgrade th e Retainer to which they are applied. Simply add the difference between the two retainer levels to the Retainer s attributes, skills, merits, etc. For example, if you previously purchased a 1-dot Retainer five months ago and now wish to upgra de him to 3-dot Retainer, you may spend 10 experience points to do so. This will allow you to add 1 dot to his primary attributes, 2 dots to his secondary attri butes, 1 dot to his tertiary attributes, 2 dots to his primary skills, 3 dots to his secondary skills, 3 dots to his tertiary skills, 2 skill specializations, 4 dots of merits, and 2 dots of equipment (and an additional Discipline dot if a ghoul). All these dots must be applied at the time the Retainer is upgraded and must follow the restrictions for the new level of the Retainer merit. You may no t save attribute/skill/merit dots or equipment level points to apply later with further purchases of the Retainer merit.

General Retainer Rules: Each Retainer may perform a single downtime action at th e direction of/on behalf of his master. Retainers are limited by their abilities on what they may accomplish for their master using their downtime action.

If you do not have a character sheet at the game for your Retainer, then the Ret ainer automatically relents to all challenges and cannot make use of equipment f rom their character sheet. A Retainer character sheet does not have to be a full character sheet like a player-character would have; an abbreviated character sh eet is fine, as long as it has all the pertinent details.

Retainer Character Sheet Example: Retainer 2-dot Paul Jacobson (Bodyguard/Driver) VIRTUE: Fortitude, VICE: Wrath ATTRIBUTES: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 3 SKILLS: Crafts 2 (Automobiles), Investigation 2, Drive 3 (Performance Cars), Fir earms 4, Weaponry 3, Empathy 1, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 3 MERITS: Danger Sense, Fast Reflexes 2, Quick Draw (Firearms), Quick Draw (Melee) MORALITY 7, HEALTH 7, WILLPOWER 5, DEFENSE 2, SPEED 10 EQUIPMENT: Performance Mid-Size Vehicle (Durability 3, Size 12, Structure 15, Ac celeration 28, Safe Speed 117, Max Speed 227, Handling 4, Occupants 1+3, Cost 3) , Shotgun (Damage 4 [9-again], Range 20/40/80, Clip 5+1, Strength 3, Size 2, Cos t 2) -----------------New Merit: Influences -----------------Influences represent a group of individuals that may be associates, friends of c onvenience, or people who owe your character a favor. Each acquisition of this M erit is dedicated to one category of influence in an organization, society or ci rcle. The various influence areas are listed in the tables below. In order to ha ve influences in more than one area, you need to purchase this Merit multiple ti mes, each written on your character with its own Title name explaining its area with its own dots appropriated to the chosen Influence. POSSESSING AND USING INFLUENCE You cannot manage more Influences than sum of your permanent Physical, Social an d Mental Attributes combined. This limit counts against all of your total Influe nces - your combined levels of Influence cannot exceed this total. After all, th ere are only so many things and people you can manage in a day. Players may use a number of Influence actions each month (Game day into the following month prio r to next game) equal to twice their Influence level. When you exercise Influenc es during the game or downtime, you expend temporary Influence actions in the fo rm of endeavors. When you exercise Influences during the game for an immediate o utcome, you may be required to enter a challenge as well as expend temporary Inf luence actions. The use of your Influences during a game session may take time d uring the game determined by the Storyteller. Using Influences in a neutral or d efensive manner, such as Blocking, Concealing, Growing, Defending and Watching, during the month does not take any Downtime actions; although using offensive or productive endeavors such as Attack, Trace, Follow, Loan will use up a single D owntime action per Influence area. The cost noted on the chart is both the number of actions it takes to partake in that endeavor and the minimum level of influence required to be able to utilize that endeavor. With high levels of Influence, you can perform many small endeav ors or a few significant ones. Certain levels of Influence gift you with items, money or aides. Unlike the Resources Merit, money and equipment garnered with In fluence does not come automatically each month. If you want a steady income from Influence, you must direct your Influence in that direction continually, and th

is income does not come with any associated trappings of wealth. (You'd have to buy a house and car separately, for instance.) Aides garnered with Influence gen erally help for only one specific task, and they usually have the equivalent of only a few levels of Ability in their area of skill as determined by your Storyt eller. Bureaucracy You can manage various government agencies and bureaus. By dealing with Public S ervants and through social programs, you can spin red tape, bypass rules and reg ulations or twist bureaucratic regimentation to your advantage. Bureaucracy is u seful in operating or shutting down businesses, faking or acquiring permits and identification papers or manipulating public utilities and facilities. Governmen t clerks at the city and county level, utility workers, road crews, surveyors an d other civil servants are potential contacts and allies. Cost Effect Level 1: Alter/trace utility bills, expedite minor processes that take time, tak e advantage of minor bureaucratic loopholes, make files on peoples' traceable ac tivities or bills. Level 2: Alter birth certificates/driver's license; temporarily close a small ro ad or park, get inspectors sent to locations, cause delays in applications, acqu ire public aid (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots). Level 3: Create false ID's (not licensed officials), death certificates, marriag e licenses, passports; close a public school for a day; shut down a small busine ss on a violation; connect/disconnect utilities on a block. Level 4: Create false land deeds and titles; initiate phone taps; initiate an NE A/BIA/IRS/DOI investigation, get untraceable utility service, bog down a lawsuit or investigation in red tape. Initiate a department-wide investigation. Level 5: Start, stop, or alter a city-wide program or policy; shut down a big bu siness on a violation; rezone areas; destroy records of a person at the city lev el, stop a federal investigation. Church (Religion Specific) Although the modern church has arguably less control over temporal society than it did in the Middle Ages, church policies still exert considerable influence ov er the direction of politics and communities. Knowing the appropriate people giv es a character insight into many mainstream religions, such as Christianity, Jud aism, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto or Buddhism. When you exercise Church Influence, y ou can change religious policy, affect the assignment of clergy and access a var iety of lore and resources. Contacts and allies affected by Church Influence wou ld include ministers, priests, bishops, Church-sponsored witch-hunters, holy ord ers and various attendees and assistants. Cost Effect Level 1: Identify secular members of a given faith in local area, use a church a s a meeting place, find an AA meeting, get a priest's phone number. Pass as a me mber of the clergy. Peruse general church records (baptism, marriage, burial, et c.) Level 2: Identify higher church members, track congregation members; suspend lay members, get coffee/bibles/Mass for 100 people on short notice, meet with a rab bi/imam/priest wherever you want. Level 3: Open or close a single church/temple/mosque, access private archives of the church, meet with the Bishop, get a house ritually sanctified, manipulate a church-owned charity. Dip into the collection plate (Traits spent divided in half convert into resourc e dots) Access private information and archives of a church.

Level 4: Discredit or suspend higher-level members, find an average church-assoc iated hunter or exorcist, start a heresy/witchcraft investigation. Manipulate regional branches of the church Level 5: Organize major protests/boycotts, manipulate regional branches, access ancient church lore, or identify someone with True Faith or a church-associated hunter group without meeting them. Finance Manipulating markets, stock reports and investments is a hobby of many, especial ly those who use their knowledge to keep their wealth hidden. Although your actu al available money is a function of your Resources, you can use Finance Influenc e to start or smother businesses, crush or support banking institutions and alte r credit records. Clearly, such power over money is not to be trifled with. Fort unes are made and destroyed with this sort of power. Examples of Allies in this field include Bank Manager, Structured Finance Analyst, VP Accounting Manager, T rust funds Officer, Bank Teller/Clerk, Investment Analyst, Market Risk Manager, or Loan and Mortgage Officer. Cost Effect Level 1: Learn about major transactions and financial events. Raise capital (Tra its spent divided in half rounded up convert into resource dots). Learn about ge neral economic trends. Learn real motivations for many financial actions of othe rs. Level 2: Trace an unsecured small account Raise capital to purchase a small business (single, small store) Open a dozen ac counts all over town, run a credit check on someone. Level 3: Purchase controlling share in a small business (a few small branches or a single large store or service, once per 4 months). Identify a person's collat eral properties, get an insider stock tip. Create a High security bank account. Level 4: Manipulate local banking (delay deposits, alter credit ratings). Interf ere with specific stock transactions, cause an IRS/SEC audit or investigation. Ruin a small business (once every 3 months). Purchase controlling shares in a me dium-sized business (once every 4 months) Level 5: Manipulate an aspect of city-wide banking (shut off ATMs, arrange a ban k holiday ), Stop an IRS/SEC audit or investigation. Ruin a medium-sized business ( once every 4 months). Purchase controlling shares in a major company (once every 4 months) Health Some creatures rely on connections in the medical community to acquire blood or other biological tissues. Necromancers and practitioners of arcane arts may also require body parts or medical data to further their studies. These sorts of res earch and development fall under the purview of Health Influence. Coroners, doct ors, lab workers, therapists, pharmacists and specialists are just a few of the folks found in this field. Cost Effect Level 1: Access a person s health records. Fake vaccination records and the like. Use public functions of health centers at your leisure. Get a single Blood Trait of mortal blood per action spent. Get medical supplies (latex gloves, biohazard stickers, syringes), be first in line at the ER, get a wheelchair van delivered . Level 2: Access some medical research records, Have minor lab work done, Get a c opy of a coroner s report, Instigate minor quarantines, Get an ambulance to make a run with no record, get a doctor to make a house call. Level 3: corrupt results of tests or inspections, alter medical records, get a g unshot wound treated quietly, schedule patients for surgeries without their perm ission.

Level 4: Instigate a minor quarantine, acquire a cadaver, destroy medical record s, have people institutionalized or released, start a CDC/AMA investigation, Com pletely rewrite medical records Abuse grants for personal use (Traits spent divided in half convert into resourc e dots) Have minor medical research performed on a subject Shut down a small businesses temporarily for health code violations Level 5: Institute large-scale quarantines, Have a special research project perf ormed, Shut down a medium business temporarily for health code violations , stop a CDC/AMA investigation, close a doctor's office or two. High Society The glitterati at the top of society move in circles of wealth and elegance. Man y people find such positions alluring, and they indulge in the passions of the f amous and wealthy. Access to famous actors, celebrities and the idle rich grants a certain sway over fashion trends. Combined with Fame, a modicum of High Socie ty Influence turns a character into a debonair darling of the most exclusive soc ial circles. Among these circles, one finds dilettantes, artists of any stripe, old money families, models, rock stars, sports figures and jet-setters. Cost Effect Level 1: Obtain hard-to-get tickets for shows, get the lowdown on obscure sub-cu ltural trends, be the first to get that CD/DVD, hear about parties, learn about who's who. Learn about concerts, shows or plays well before they are made public Level 2: Track celebrities and luminaries, be a local voice in the entertainment field, get invited to the right parties, sit in the front row, get the sneak pr eview. Borrow idle cash from rich friends (Traits spent divided in half round down convert into resource dots) Level 3: Crush promising careers, get backstage passes to anything, have rich pe ople ask you for trend advice, be well-known in a subculture or social scene. Ho bnob well above your station Level 4: Achieve temporary minor celebrity status (Fame x1), skip lines, get VIP treatment everywhere, get hit on by beautiful people, know who is doing what wi th who, set minor trends. Level 5: Appear on a talk show, ruin a new club/gallery/festival/other high soci ety gathering, have an annual must-attend party with everybody there, meet visit ing celebrities in their hotel rooms. Industry The grinding wheels of labor fuel the economies and markets of the world. Machin es, factories and blue-collar workers line up in endless drudgery, churning out the staples of everyday living. Industry Influence sways the formation of unions , the movements of work projects, locations for factories and the product of man ufacturing concerns. Union workers, foremen, engineers, construction workers, ma nual laborers and all manner of blue-collar workers exist among these ranks. Cost Effect Level 1: Learn about industrial projects and movements, union membership, borrow portable tools, learn a trade, get a night job, get your car fixed cheap. Level 2: Have minor projects performed by small crews, arrange small 'accidents' on the job site, get an expert welder to do a job for you, be known as a good m ember to a single union, dip into union funds or embezzle petty cash (Traits spe nt divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 3: Get a union thug to break something, organize minor strikes, appropriat e a blast furnace for a short time, get some weapons/vehicle/armor/torture devic es made. Appropriate machinery for a short time Level 4: Get a pair of union thugs to burn something down, close or revitalize a small plant, take over a small plant for two weeks, get anyone booted out of an y union, initiate an OSHA/EPA inspection. Level 5: Get half a dozen masked union thugs to kidnap/terrorize someone, manipu

late a large local industry, organize a major area strike, manufacture a dozen i tems, or stop OSHA/EPA inquiries. Legal Since many of the operations that supernatural characters tend to undertake are at least marginally illegal, a good amount of sway over judges and lawyers is in dispensable. Those who dabble in Legal Influence often pull strings in the court s to make sure their questionable practices go unpunished. Of course, a little L egal Influence is also excellent for harassing an enemy s assets. Such Influence r anges from law schools and firms, to lawyers, judges, district attorneys, clerks and public defenders. Cost Effect Level 1: Get free representation for small cases, have a lawyer who answers his phone, sue people for messing with you, learn about someone's holdings/legal sta tus. Level 2: Avoid bail for some charges, have minor charges dropped, get a quiet se ttlement when being sued, get a lawyer to build a complete file on someone, crea te a screen to slow investigations, access public or court funds (Traits spent d ivided in half convert into resource dots) Level 3: Get good representation, manipulate legal procedures (wills, contracts, etc), start a state investigation, have a lawyer with assistants drown someone in legal briefs. Level 4: Issue subpoenas, tie up court cases, have most charges dropped, cancel or arrange parole, start a federal investigation of some sort, stop a state inve stigation. Level 5: Close down a federal investigation, have deportation proceedings held a gainst someone, get warrants revoked, hide ownership of anything, find a legal w eakness to exploit. Media Directing media attention away from one s activities is a key component of surviva l for some supernatural creatures. Putting specific emphasis on certain events c an put an enemy in an uncomfortable spotlight or discredit a rival. With Media, you can crush or alter news stories, control the operations of news stations and reporters and sway public opinion, with DJs, editors of all varieties, reporter s, cameramen, photographers, news managers and broadcasters at your disposal. At the Storyteller s discretion, Media Influence may also allow access to the more t echnical areas of television, radio or possible major News resources. Cost Effect Level 1: Learn about breaking stories early; submit small articles, know a few r eporters to tip, be on college radio, get a letter to the editor published in an underground free press. Level 2: Suppress small articles or reports, get investigative reporting informa tion, get a photographer to show up, have a reporter in your pocket, get researc h done on a subject, trace personal ads. Level 3: Initiate news investigations and reports, access media production resou rces, get an editor to alter facts or cause typos, get a TV news crew to show up with satellite feed, make an independent film. Obtain project funding and squan der it (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 4: Initiate a fake city wide front page article, influence story selection , get a TV series to do a local episode, get radio personalities fired, kill an underground 'zine , edit local news Broadcasts with misleading information. Level 5: Broadcast fake stories (local only), Initiate a statewide news investig ations and reports, get newspaper people fired, affect the storyline of a TV sho w, change a radio station's format, gain control of an unaffiliated local TV sta tion, stop any one story. Kill any local articles or reports completely

Occult The hidden world of the supernatural teems with secrets, conspiracies and unusua l factions. Obviously, most supernatural creatures are aware that strange things exist out there by dint of their very existence, but acquiring hard knowledge o f such things is a function of Abilities. By using Occult Influence, you can dig up information to improve your knowledge, get inside the occult community and f ind rare components for magical rituals. Cult leaders, alternative religious gro ups, charlatans, occultists and New Agers can be found here. Cost Effect Level 1: Contact common occult groups and practices, join a fringe religion, lea rn about new trends or dangers to the occult subculture, acquire candles, bones, crystals, etc. of decent quality, acquire common ritual components (galangal oi l, tamarisk, feathers, shiny stones, etc...), research possibly inaccurate Occul t Lore, Know some of the more visible occult figures Level 2: Know and contact some of the more obscure occult figures, Acquire uncom mon ritual components (alchemically pure metals, specifically prepared woods, ce ntury old finger bones etc...), Start a small coven for minor Rituals Level 3: Know the general vicinity of certain supernatural entities and (possibl y) contact them, Access vital or rare material components, (objects gotten under very specific as trological/magical conditions, a "true" mandrake, etc...), gain limited access t o occult tomes and writings, research a Common Ritual relating to your particula r brand of Magic, Milk impressionable wannabes for bucks (Traits spent divided in half convert int o resource dots), Organize moderate size groups for Occult demonstrations or gat herings. Level 4: Research a common Intermediate ritual or rite, Know where to find certa in supernatural entities, research any rare lore Occult topic for possible insig ht, research an Uncommon Ritual or Devotion relating to your particular brand Ma gic. Send Occult lackeys to hassle or intimidate problematic targets of your cho osing. Level 5: Unearth a common Advanced ritual or rite, Access to minor magical items , acquire hard to find tomes for personal Occult library ( may require mini/mega -quests and a lot of work), research a Rare Ritual relating to your particular b rand of Magic or gain info on hard to find Devotions, use a rare method to meet with a demon/mage/specters. Gain insight on where and how to obtain Relics. Police To protect and serve is the motto of the police, but these days, many people have cause to wonder who is being protected and served. That said, Police Influence c an be very handy in protecting one s holdings or raiding the assets of another. Po lice of all ranks, detectives, clerical staff, dispatchers, prison guards, speci al divisions (such as SWAT or homicide) and local highway patrol officers make u p these ranks. Cost Effect Level 1: Learn police procedures, Gather police information and rumors, avoid tr affic tickets, understand a scanner, find incarcerated people, ask a patrolman w hat he's noticed on his beat. Hear police information and rumors Level 2: Have license plates checked, avoid minor violations, get a cop to keep an eye on your haven, know a desk sergeant at a precinct house, get rap sheets, learn about current investigations. Get inside information Level 3: Find bureau secrets, get copies of an investigation report, have police hassle, harass, book, or detain someone, initiate a local criminal investigatio n, call in a major helicopter search. Level 4: Access confiscated weapons or contraband; start an FBI/ATF/DEA investig ation; have serious charges dropped, frame someone for a felony, call in a SWAT

team, make a police station your temporary haven, obtain money, either from the evidence room or as an appropriation (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 5: Institute major multi-branch investigations, arrange setups/stings, hav e officers fired, stop a local FBI/ATF/DEA investigation, frame someone for a se ries of felonies. Political Altering party platforms, controlling local elections, changing appointed office s and calling in favors all fall under the purview of Political Influence. Welltimed blackmail, bribery, spin-doctoring and sundry other tricks are the stock i n trade on both sides of this fence. Some of the likely contacts and allies incl ude pollsters, lobbyists, activists, party members, spin-doctors and politicians from rural zoning committees to the Assistant under mayors of major cities. Cost Effect Level 1: Minor lobbying, identify real platforms of politicians, find out about major donors to campaigns, get campaign signage, buttons, stickers, etc. Level 2: Meet small time politicians, have forewarning of laws forthcoming, get appointments with your representatives, get demographic information, use a slush fund or fund-raiser to get funds (Traits spent divided in half convert into res ource dots) Level 3: Sway or alter political projects, manipulate local committees, run a lo cal party PAC, get a quick passport or permit, identify agendas of any elected o r appointed official. Level 4: Enact minor legislation, dash careers of minor politicians, be a major player in a suburb, lunch with a City councilmember or judge, start a federal ba r inquiry. Level 5: Get your candidate in minor office, enact more encompassing legislation countywide, control a block of votes on City Council, be a major obstacle to an y candidate in the city, meet with the City Mayor. Street Ignored and often spat upon by their betters, those in the dark alleys and slums h ave created their own culture to deal with life and any outsiders who might intr ude. When calling on Street Influence, you use your connections on the underside of the city to find the homeless, gang members of all sorts, street bookies, pe tty criminals, prostitutes, residents of the slums or barrios, and fringe elemen ts of so-called deviant cultures. Cost Effect Level 1: Have an ear open for the word on the street, identify most gangs and th eir turfs and habits, know your way around homeless shelters, read graffiti and understand it. Level 2: Live mostly without fear on the underside of society, access small time contraband/drugs, identify any illicit substance, know the Survival obstacles o f any given neighborhood. Level 3: Arrange some services from street people or gangs, learn where to buy p istols or melee weapons, get a building staked out by homeless watchers, put a r umor out on the street. Obtain fast cash from small crimes (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 4: Mobilize groups of homeless, have a word in some gang operations, know who sells shotguns or rifles, get a gang to protect someone, plant drugs on some one with a pickpocket. Level 5: Initiate drive-by shootings, identify regular police informants, start a small two-gang shootout, use the homeless as couriers/information networks/inf iltrators. Find out who sells SMG s Transportation

Most supernatural creatures make their homes in defensible parts of cities. Trav eling across the wilderness is difficult without this Influence, with the proble ms of marauding werewolves and other supernatural threats. Getting access to spe cial supplies and services can also take a measure of Transportation. All these things can be controlled with a bit of sway over truckers, harbors, railroads, a irports, taxis, border guards, pilots and untold hundreds, as well as more munda ne aspects like shipping and travel arrangements. Cost Effect Level 1: Level 1: Know what goes where and why, know a cabbie/subway conductor/a irport employee or chauffeur so you can Travel locally quickly and freely, recog nize shipments that are unusual or unscheduled, get tickets for sold-out rides. Level 2: Track a target who's using public transportation, arrange passage withi n the City safe from mundane threats, get specific information from transportati on companies, have a limo or Cab available on for the night. Level 3: Seriously hamper a single individual's ability to travel for a few days , travel inconspicuously, smuggle one package every two weeks, have an armored l ightproof limousine or Suburban available. Level 4: Shut down one form of mass transit for a few hours, have a driver with a high speed vehicle available, arrange trucker/pilot/shipping strikes, smuggle one shipping crate every two weeks. Route money your way (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 5: Smuggle with impunity, keep a helicopter on station, make someone fitti ng a description unable to catch a cab for one day Underworld The world of crime offers lucrative possibilities to strong-willed or subtle lea ders. Anyone talented or simply vicious enough to do so can traffic in guns, mon ey, drugs and vice. Underworld Influence lets you reap the benefits of all manne r of illegal dealings, and its ranks are filled with drug-dealers, bookies, hitmen, fences and organized criminal gangs. Cost Effect Level 1: Locate minor contraband, find an illegal card game, know a hooker that' s not a cop, get someone's car stolen and chopped, know what to do with a stolen credit card, fence loot and skim from illegal dealings to get cash Level 2: Obtain pistols on short notice, go and get serious drugs, go and get st olen cars, know a wiseguy, send someone a free prostitute, go and get a few stol en credit cards. (Traits spent divided in half convert into resource dots) Level 3: Get 2 amateur local thugs to rough someone up for you, know how to obta in a rifle, shotgun, or submachine gun, know where a fence/chop shop/whorehouse/ illegal casino is. Arrange a minor hit , Meet someone in the Family Level 4: Make white-collar crime connections, Get 4 amateur local thugs to shoot a place up for you, have white-collar crime connections, control a single crime ring for 2 weeks, get a place immunized from organized crime. Level 5: Get 8 amateur local thugs to make someone disappear, arrange gangland a ssassinations of non-made guys, get a professional firebug to burn something dow n, get someone's car wired to blow up, Supply local drug needs University Institutions of learning and research are the purview of the University Influenc e. Access to the halls of learning can grant any number of resources, from ancie nt languages to research assistance to many impressionable young minds. School b oards, students from kindergarten through college, graduate students, professors , teachers, deans, Greek orders and a variety of staff fill the ivy-covered buil dings. Cost Effect Level 1: Access to low level university resources; obtain copies of school recor ds, get students' social security numbers, identify experts in various fields.

Level 2: Know a contact or two with useful knowledge or Abilities, Have minor ac cess to facilities, Fake high school records, Obtain college records Know a cont act or two with useful knowledge or skills, get keys to some University building s, fake a registered class schedule, identify the dorm rooms of any type of stud ent. Level 3: Call in faculty favors, Cancel a class, Fix grades, discredit a student , get a term paper written, get an expert to spend time researching for you, 24 hour library access. Level 4: Organize student protests and rallies, discredit faculty members, get t enure, have a team of grad students attempt your strange project, send in the ca mpus cops. Level 5: Falsify an undergraduate degree, run of facilities, get a fraternity ba nned from a campus, change campus policy, access rare books, call it a snow day. INFLUENCE ENDEAVORS AND MODIFIERS In addition to the actions listed on the Influence charts, characters may perfor m the additional endeavors listed here. It is important to note that Influence c an generally only affect other Influences of the same type. A character can use his Street Influence to aggress another player s Street Influence, but he would ha ve a hard time getting it to interact with a player s High Society Influence succe ssfully. See Boost for crossing Influences. Attack You can Attack another s Influence with your own, provided you have previously Tra ced the target Influence. To Attack, you assign a number of Influence Traits, an d that number becomes the level of the Attack endeavor. If the level exceeds the victim s Influence level and any Defend traits spent to protect it, the victim dr ops a level of her Influence at the end of the month. Traits banked for Growth a re lost as well, even if they would have given the victim a new, higher level In fluence at the beginning of the next month. Block You can use your Influence to prevent Influence endeavors from taking place for that month. Any action may be blocked, provided that Blocker s Influence level is at least equal to the endeavor s level on the chart. The Block s effective level is the total number actions spent toward it. A Block will affect all attempts at th e selected endeavor during that month; anyone attempting the Blocked action in t he city will not succeed unless they have added enough levels of Boost to meet t he level of the endeavor plus Block. Multiple Blocks against the same endeavor t ype are not cumulative in effect. If more than one Block is put in place on the same endeavor, use only the highest level when calculating the success of those attempting the endeavor. Boost Boost is simply a term used to describe spending additional unneeded Influence T raits to perform an endeavor, just in case someone has put up a Block that needs to be overcome. If the Traits spent into Boost equal the level of the Block, th e action is successful. The Block does not go away if one action beats it, thoug h. It can still be effective against any additional attempts at that endeavor in that month. Resources can also be spent as Boost action traits but only one for one per leve l of Resources. Like they say money makes the world go round and so to does it hel p grease the wheels of influence to get things moving. Crossing Influences is al so rare but not unheard of; with a proper well written description of how anothe r influence could aid and boost a separate Influence category s endeavor, it may b e allowed by the Storyteller. This has a very costly assistance conversion of tw o actions spent from one influence into one level of Boost action into another. Boost cannot be spent towards Growth of Influence...

Loan Loan allows you to aid the Influence endeavor of another character. No action on the charts can be attempted by a character who doesn t have the required Influenc e level according to that chart. For every two Traits that you spend on Loan, th e character you are helping gains one action to use toward his endeavor. A chara cter can spend no more than 20 Traits toward a single endeavor in any given mont h, including all actions spent for modifications such as Loan. Mechanics Example: Corey has four levels of Political Influence. He wants to ena ct some minor legislation in the city, which would cost him all four of his Poli tical Influence Traits for the month. Corey has already used a Political Influen ce Trait this month, so he doesn t have enough. He asks a friend to Loan her Polit ical Influence to his. Cynthia has only two levels, but she loans them both to C orey. Since the number of Traits loaned is effectively halved when using Loan, C orey nets only one extra Political Influence Trait for the month, but that s all h e needs to enact the minor legislation. Conceal (Defensive) Conceal can be used to hide your Influence from uses of Trace. The number of act ions spent toward Conceal generates that month s Conceal level, which you pit agai nst attempts to Trace it. Mechanics Example: Jess has heard a rumor that Tim is going to Trace his Univers ity Influence. He spends all four of his University Traits to generate a level f our Conceal over them. For three months in a row, he continues to spend his four Traits on Conceal. On the fourth month, Jess hopes that Tim has lost interest i n his University Influence, and goes back to using it for Growth. Defend (Defensive) You use the Defend endeavor when you fear that someone is going to Attack your I nfluence. To employ this special endeavor, assign a number of Traits as the leve l of the defense. The level of any Attacks directed at that Influence must excee d the Defend level plus the level of your Influence in order to be successful. Mechanics Example: Eric fears that someone is going to attack his Underworld Inf luence this month, so he puts up a defense to protect it. He assigns three of hi s four Underworld Traits to the defense. An incoming Attack must now be level ei ght or higher to affect his Influence. Descriptive Example: When Eric made his character, he decided that his Underworl d Influence would be represented by his control of the Lasciano Family, a major organized crime syndicate. Fearing an Attack, Eric writes a description of his D efend endeavor, detailing how he is having all of the family members lay low for a while, out of the sight of other crime families and the authorities. Follow (Offensive) If you want to keep an eye on what someone is doing with his Influence, you can attempt to Follow them with your own. Follow is similar to Watch, except that it only keeps a lookout for actions performed by a single Influence. To Follow som eone s Influence, you must have a successful Trace on it already. To use Follow, a ssign a number of Traits to establish the level of the endeavor. The Follow ende avor will reveal all activities performed by the targeted Influence, less any ac tivities hidden with an equal or higher level of Conceal. Grow (Neutral) To Grow Influence in a category to the next level, a number of actions must be s pent equal to the next level of the influence squared. For example, to Grow from

a level three to a level four requires Sixteen actions. [4 x 4 = 16]. Unlike ot her endeavors, Traits spent for Growth can be banked from month to month. When y ou bank Traits thus, they accumulate until you reach the number required for an increase. If you meet the number of Traits required to increase to the next leve l, the Influence level improves by one at the end of the month. To Grow a level 1 in an influence, the Player must have other Characters loan them traits and ba nk 2 traits before gaining level 1 for free. Mechanics Example: Cheyana has three levels of Street Influence, meaning she wou ld need sixteen actions banked to get to level four. In one month, she spends fo ur of her six actions on Growth (four banked). In the next month, she spends fou r more Traits on Growth (eight banked). In the month following that, she spends all six actions on Growth (fourteen banked). In the fourth month, Cheyana spends two more actions on Growth, meeting the requirement to achieve level four. At t he end of the month, her Street Influence improves by one. Cheyana could have gr own her Street Influence a little faster if she had spent all of her actions on Growth each month. Conceal Conceal is added to endeavors to counter the use of Follow and Watch. If the num ber of Traits spent to add Conceal to an endeavor equals or exceeds the level of the Follow or Watch, the endeavor is remains undetected. Conceal can be applied to any of the actions on the charts, as well as to Attack, Block, Follow, Growt h or Watch. Mechanics Example: Donny wishes to use his Finance Influence to raise the capita l to purchase a small business. Doing so would normally only require two of his five Finance Influence Traits, but because Donny doesn t want anyone else to know what he s up to, he throws in the other three Traits for Conceal. If someone had i nstituted a Watch of level three or less to notice that activity in the city, sh e would not detect Donny s sneaky acquisition of the capital. If the observer had put up a Watch of level four or higher, Donny s Conceal would not have hidden him from her prying eyes. Descriptive Example: When Donny made his character, he dec ided to have his Finance Influence be represented by his controlling interest in a large acquisitions company. When writing out his Influence activities for the Storyteller, Donny describes the added Conceal as using a large network of dumm y corporations through which to move the money so that it could not be tracked b ack to him through his acquisitions company. Trace You can use this endeavor to establish the identity of a character whose Influen ce you have come into contact with. You cannot simply guess that a character has an Influence in a particular category and then attempt to Trace it. You must fi rst have come into contact with it in one of the several ways. This can be accom plished by suffering an Attack from the target s Influence, by noticing one of the target s endeavors with the use of Watch, by stopping one of the target s endeavors with a Block, or by having one your own endeavors stopped by the target s use of Block. Additionally, if someone ever loans you Influence Traits with Loan, you c an Trace them. Finally, if the target ever tells you in great detail about his I nfluence (i.e., agrees to let you Trace it), you can perform the Trace. The tota l actions spent on the Trace define its level. If the level of this Trace exceed s the highest level of Conceal put up to guard the Influence that month, the Tra ce is successful. Success tells you the Influence owner s identity, and whether th eir Influence level is higher than your own or not. Using Trace is specific to o ne city. If you have succeeded in a Trace on an Influence, you may not simply re lay that information to someone else for his or her Influence to make an Attack on. The information is too complex for them to relay to their own Influence cont acts without them actually performing a Trace themselves. If you have performed a successful Trace, you can relay enough information for someone else to perform

a Trace with his or her own Influence. Watch You use Watch when you want to notice a certain Influence action in a city from the chart listed in the sourcebooks. Your Influence must be of sufficient level to perform that action before you can Watch it. A Watch will let you know when a nd how often the action is attempted in the city for that month, and you will ev en discover uses of the action that occurred earlier in the same month before th e Watch was instituted. The total number of Traits spent on the Watch define its level. You can also use Watch to look for the following endeavors: Attack, Bloc k, Follow (only those targeted at you), Growth and Watch. Mechanics Example: Mark decides to spend one of his five Church Influence Traits into a Watch this month. He decides to Watch for individuals attempting to cont act church-associated hunter groups. Because Mark is paranoid, he decides to put up a level-two Watch on the Watch activity to see if anyone else is doing the s ame thing. Mark s Watch for individuals attempting to contact church-associated hu nter groups doesn t get him anything. His second Watch (the one on the Watch endea vor) notices his own Watch of course, and discovers that someone has put up a Wa tch to notice anyone attempting to peruse general church records. WHEN TO RESOLVE ACTIONS For the purpose of these rules, Influence Traits spent on endeavors return at th e beginning of every Game after they are spent. The Storyteller may desire to ex tend this time for large games that run less often than once a month. Either way , this period of time should remain constant, giving all of the players the same opportunity to employ their Influences on a regular basis. Attack, Follow, Grow th, and Trace endeavors should only be resolved at the end of the month. This li mit gives everyone a chance to put up levels of Conceal, Defense and Watch, and it lets the Storyteller take everyone s Influence actions into account so that he can produce better descriptive results of each person s endeavors.