Post by Triple 7 on Feb 24, 2019 13:42:23 GMT -8
GENERAL HOUSE RULES
The vast majority of the rules we intend to use can be read in the Vampire: 20th Anniversary Edition core rulebook. There are a couple of other books we use as well for V20, as seen in Books & Boundaries. Most notably, the V20 Companion & Lore of the Clans are used.
WHY HOUSE RULES EXIST
They're common sense additions that aren't covered elsewhere related to general play style (don't play your dead character's Sire, fade to black if people get uncomfortable with darker content, etc.). They clarify 'storyteller discretion' for a specific case where storyteller discretion is called for in the core rules. We'd rather share a standard, agreed-upon call with you for consistency and transparency. This includes adaptations to some rules for an online Chronicle. They are a specific attempt to limit (or completely exclude) a mechanic for a Camarilla Modern Nights Chronicle as opposed to a Sabbat-oriented story or a tabletop game, etc. We don't want to run an online Chronicle with 50 Assamite Toreador Clan infiltrators who all have the Enchanting Voice Merit, all with Infernal Sorcery, for example.
Nobody wants a ton of custom rules. The core-book for V20 alone is 500+ pages long, and that's plenty. Adding rules must address a specific gap in the rules or maybe a call that comes up a lot. If at all possible, we'll stick with the V20 rules by-the-book, and we humbly beg you to agree, but there are a few we need to go over.
WHEN WE WON'T MAKE A HOUSE RULE
When the Storytellers are alerted to an individual player is using a or group of powers over and over and over to 'troll' another character. We'll just kindly ask the player trolling the other PC to stop 'button mashing'. If they refuse, we'll enact disciplinary action as related to the interests of our Chronicle. We don't anticipate this one much at all, if ever.
CHRONICLE HOUSE RULES
Sheet Accuracy: Responsibility is on the Players to roll what is correct and accurate on their sheets. Thing can get muddy when you're boosting Dexterity, have a Rare Item that lowers the difficulty of an action, or you just plain forget you have Celerity for your Dexterity rolls. Regardless, it is not the Storyteller's responsibility to remind you what is on your sheet. The only time we will step in is if we see you rolling more dice than you actually have, blatantly ignoring dice pools, or not living up to a Flaws potential. We will not reroll things past tense because you suddenly remembered something on your sheet.
In addition to that, items become important to you. The bottom line is this; if it is important that you have something in a scene, it had better be on your sheet. Things like lock-picking tools, or a fluff business that isn't a Business rating, or something similar needs to be annotated on your sheet before we allow it in a critical scene. If it is important enough for you to argue its existence, it is important enough to list it on your sheet. Without it, you won't have it available in a scene..
Character Information Sharing: When relaying information in character, we as Storytellers will not accept generic narratives similar to "shares the information from the previous scene", "describes the people", or "tells them what happened." You will need to actually do these actions with you character. Copying and pasting of conversations or descriptions are not allowed either. Just being generic with your descriptions force Players and Storytellers alike to search through other scenes to find what you're talking about. It also doesn't allow for your character's perspective. Misinformation is a very real thing and highly encouraged in this Chronicle.
Character Retirement, Death, and Hiatus: JBN only allows one character per player, per Chronicle at a time. If a player wishes to play a new character they must retire their old character. When a Character retires or is killed, and the player is graceful about it, the player receives ⅓ the XP spent on that character. With that being said, a Player is able to spend 183XP on a new character (1/3 of 400 is 133XP rollover + 50XP = 183XP maximum for new characters). We do occasionally offer diversity bonuses (age, Clan, political alignment, ambition) when we need a specific type of Character to enter the city. These will follow the guidelines found on Pg. 79, V20 and will push your new Character beyond the 183XP maximum. You may choose to bank your rollover, but must use it (or the next retired sheet) on the third Character submission. If you do not use it then, the rollover experience points expire.
To prevent Players from building up a surplus of XP (creating a new character and then quickly dropping that surplus on their new character to beef them up); Players will lose their earned XP whenever creating a new character. This includes placing character on Hiatus. If you want to take advantage of the XP you have earned and saved, spend it before creating a new character.
Players may not bring in another character with relations to their previous character. We call this the Inigo Montoya Effect. "..You killed my Sire, prepare to die!"
Torpor has the potential to equate to character retirement or death depending on how long the character will be in Torpor. If the character will be in torpor for greater than 1 year then the character is considered to be on Hiatus (see below). For torpor of 1 year or less, a player may choose to shelf the character until their torpored character awakens. This means that their torpored character is not able to be played until the real world time of their awakening happens. They may make a new character to play until that time happens. Note: Just because your character is in Torpor, does not mean they are considered to be "removed from the story." Other characters may effect their Torpor, for better or worse.
When it comes to retirement, it is on the Player to make arrangements for their Character to leave the city if they choose. Regardless of the actions taken prior to retirement, their Character will become an NPC which may or may not be used by the Storyteller to continue the Chronicle. When a Player retires their Character, they forfeit their say in what happens to the Character. As we say, "the show must go on" and that show may involve your previous Character becoming an NPC in whatever storyline the Storyteller chooses to run.
In some circumstances, a player may need to set aside a character for story reasons. In such a case, the player should coordinate with the Storytellers to facilitate a “break” for that character. The player may then create a temporary character to play in lieu of the primary character. Their previous character may be shelved and the new Character will not gain the XP rollover bonus.
Leaving the server, for any reason (hacked, rage quit, change of heart), will automatically forfeit your Character and retire them permanently. It is a conscious effort to leave a server, most of the time. I am unable to disprove or prove that a person was hacked and lost the server. If you ant to keep playing, create a new role for you to play in. Just as submitting Character is consent to the terms and expectations of the Chronicle, leaving it is consent for Character retirement.
Hiatus: If a player will not be able to play in the story for an extended period of time for game reasons, they may put their character on Hiatus. This allows the player to shelve that character until they return. The Hiatus can be indefinite. If the character is using any slot limited attributes (i.e. Clan, Merits, etc.) they will be held as occupied for up to 3 months. After the 3 month period those slots become available to the public if the Player does not acknowledge that they need more time. If those slots the Hiatus character was using get filled before the Hiatus character returns then the character may need to be force retired and the player should consult the Storytellers. The 3 month period may be extended for extenuating circumstances (such as Military service, medical reasons, long Torpor).
Note: Please decide carefully before leaving the Chronicle (Server). If you leave the Chronicle, your character will be moved to the Final Death/Retirement section of the forums and they will not be brought back because you had a change of heart. You will need to make a new character.
Unique Design: While more of a philosophy than a hard rule; we strive to honor your concept's unique design. We enforce this standard by limiting out of Clan Disciplines to level three so that we don't have a Brujah with Protean 5 running around acting like a living chainsaw. Additionally, we limit certain Merits found in Lore of the Clans. You'll find these limitations broken down in the Merits & Flaws section of our Forums. When it comes to Combination Disciplines; these are limited to the Clan unless you find a creative solution to learning them. You can certainly learn a Combination Discipline that isn't listed in your Clan, but you must find a teacher for it in Character; Mentors are wonderful for this exchange.
Other ways that we preserve our unique concept will be by limiting concepts similar to Samuel Haight. What we mean by this is its fine to start as a mortal, then become a Ghoul only to then be embraced as a Vampire. What isn't fine is starting as a Hunter with an Artifact that you intend on carrying over through the Pokémon evolutions until you're a Vampire with a sword intended to be wielded by Mortal Hunters. This is a case-by-case basis as it could be anything from Mortals having True Faith and transitioning into a Vampire or a Hunter with Numina transitioning into a Ghoul. There's no solid rule for this but the Storytellers will attempt to translate or restrict things as they see fit. Please don't assume you will ever have the same features, power, equipment, or stats if your Character gets Embraced or becomes a Thrall. If we can translate it reasonably without a lot of deviations we will; but in the case of equipment meant for a specific concept, your Character will simply lose access to what makes that equipment special to them. We might alter the equipment into a Rare Item that will represent this piece of equipment on a level more acceptable for the Chronicle we're running. We're not here to bend the rules as much as we can without breaking them to get uber advantages. Please honor the themes and mood of this Chronicle and thank you or your understanding.
Institutions: There are plenty of institutions in the game, canonically speaking. Clan Tremere, Clan Giovanni, The Inner Circle; countless others have institutions that theoretically could be called upon to "solve a problem". Unless you own a boon over someone, or initiate some other mechanical device on your sheet; no one is coming to your rescue. Methods like this are the easy way out of a bad situation where the Storyteller gets to roleplay by themselves. If I wanted to do that I would write a book instead of run a Chronicle. With that in mind, what you have on your sheet is what you get to use at your disposal. No one is coming to save you or avenge your pile of ashes.
By this same explanation, there won't be legions of Retainers defending the Elysium, a handful of Gargoyles watching over the Chantry, or anything similar to nameless NPC's in the setting handling things. This falls under "what you have on your sheet is what you get". I am not interested in running a multitude of NPC's for the purposes of "they would be there because". We will utilize what is on your sheet for these purposes.
Initiatives: If a Player chooses to not involve themselves in Initiatives, that Player forfeits the right to defend themselves or act against another. You can still participate in Initiatives and abstain from action or choose to only defend yourself from aggressive actions.
Fade-to-Black: We use this system to not only remove ourselves from uncomfortable scenes, but to also neglect scenes that are sexual in nature. We're here to make your Character's uncomfortable, not your the Player. As always; all drama in Character is good drama; but drama that makes the Player uncomfortable for a number of personal reasons isn't our interest here at JBN. For that reason; it doesn't matter the topic, but we will fade-to-black on scenes that make the Player uncomfortable. Fade-to-black doesn't mean you get to ignore in Character consequences. The subject matter will still happen, but we don't expect you to experience it first hand. We'll just gloss over the details. The same could be said for any scene that is sexual in nature. Nudity and romance is fine, but establish the subject of the scene and fade to black before getting graphic. No one wants to read about your Characters being intimate with each other. Cybering, or "erotic roleplaying" as it is called in recent times will not be appreciate here. We understand that younger Vampires are still interested in pleasure of that nature, so it might happen with your Character. That doesn't mean we care to read about it. Fade-to-black. (Be sure to tag "Storyteller" if there is consensual blood exchanged in the black portion of the scene. so I can annotate potential Blood Bond situations.)
ERATTA
In the subsequent threads you will find information regarding character creation, character advancement, merits and flaws, equipment, blood magic, abilities, disciplines, clans, and backgrounds. These are clarifications for the Chronicle here on JbN and are specifically meant to clear any confusion regarding "storyteller discretion" situations that the core rule book leaves vague or in the hands of the Storyteller to decide. Obviously we might not have touched on everything in the book that is vague. If there is any confusion, please don't hesitate to ask the question..