Systems used

## Game Cycles

The game runs at twice the real speed and is separated into game "Cycles". Each Cycle lasts for two weeks Out of Character and denotes a month of In Character time.

## Experience Gain

When gained the Experience “belongs” to the player, not the character and can be spent on their character, their retainers or stockpiled for use on future characters. Any and all EXP earned during a game Cycle will be awarded at the end of it. There are multiple ways of gaining experience in Philadelphia.

1. Social Exp: Every two weeks, as the game cycle changes and a new month starts in character, every person who took part in at least a single scene during the past cycle will gain 5 Exp. After the person has accumulated 500 exp, this source grants only 2 Exp.
2. Action Exp: There are many plots and rumors that run in Philadelphia. If a character participates in them, they receive 2 Exp per secret solved or a quest scene in which they took active part. After the person has accumulated 500 exp, this source grants only 1 Exp.
3. Social Action Exp: Sometimes big IC events will be organised, by players or by storytellers. Taking part in one will earn the player 2 Exp. If the player is the organiser they will earn additional 2 exp for the work they put in. After the person has accumulated 500 exp, this source grants only 1 Exp.
4. Personal goals: At any time during the play the player may choose a long term goal for their character that needs to be recorded with a Storyteller. Such goal need to be something that will take a lot of work and be something lofty like “Become a Baron” or “Have the best club in the city”. The player will need to define 1-3 steps they take towards that goal. Upon completion, each step earns then 10 ex and once the goal is achieved, an additional 10 exp will be awarded. Please keep in mind that you may not take a new goal before 6 months have passed since choosing the first one, no matter if it's only half or fully completed. After the person has accumulated 500 exp, this source grants only 5 Exp.
5. Creative Exp: Each real life month, a player may earn 15 Exp for making additional creative content. It may be videos, drawings, writing or any other medium you can think of, related to the game and the characters in it. If the player opts for writing a short story about their character, their past or inner thoughts, they will gain 3 exp per 200 words written. Other mediums will be worked out on case by case basis. After the person has accumulated 500 exp, this source grants only 6 Exp.

## Learning Times and Teachers

All attributes, talents, Willpower, Virtues, Humanity and In Clan Disciplines develop instantly when the player spends the experience. Skills, knowledges, disciplines, other traits and anything else that has a learning element and/or requires a teacher takes 1 in game day of practice per experience point spent to learn. I.E. a new knowledge takes 3 days to learn a level 5 "out of clan" discipline takes 28 days to learn.

Skills, talents, Celerity, Potence, Fortitude, In Clan disciplines and the three disciplines Caitiff chose in creation can be developed through practice on your own. All "out of clan" disciplines and other purchases with a "learning time" must be passed on by an instructor, though this "instructor" can take many forms from an Occult Library merit for learning some kind of knowledge or power related to the occult to another player willing to teach you for payment of some kind.

Celerity, Potence, Fortitude taken Out of Clan DO have a learning time.

Rituals take 2 In Character days per Level to learn and always require teachers, in one form or the other.

Combination disciplines are learned instantly if all components are In Clan for the character. Otherwise they are learned at normal learning time with a teacher or 3 times slower without a teacher. Meaning a power that costs 12 EXP will take 12 In Character days to learn with a teacher and 36 In Character days to learn without a teacher.

In order to be able to teach a Discipline the teacher must possess at least 1 Dot in that Discipline higher than the ability the student is learning. So to teach the 4th Level of Auspex the teacher must possess Auspex 5.

## Willpower

One point of Temporary Willpower will be regenerated by any character who rests during the daytime. Natures and Demeanors do not affect Willpower regeneration. Willpower is tracked automatically via a discord bot.

A point of Temporary Willpower may be expended on any roll besides Conscience, Conviction and rolls specifically chosen by the Storytellers. Doing so adds one automatic success to the roll. There is no limit to how many points a character may spend per turn and spending them does not count as action.

## Healing

At any time, the character may spend any amount of blood to heal the same amount of Lethal or Bashing damage. This counts a reflexive action and may be done even outside of the characters turn or initiative order. Blood spent in this way DOES count towards blood per turn limit and no character may spend more blood per turn than is allowed by their generation.

## Social Rolls

The crux of social rolls is that we would like people to be able to make rolls to influence those around them without imposing rules upon the boundless possibilities and mindsets of different characters in different situations.

That being said whenever a social roll is being done, we would like the defending character to consider their position on a likert scale of how open to changing their mind they are. This ranges from Very Open to the idea, Slightly Open to the idea, On the Fence, Slightly Against the idea and Very Against the idea. The two extremes of the scale are Already agreed and idea is total anathema. These are fair positions to take, so long as you have justification and you may be asked for said justification, especially in cases where many successes are achieved.

The types of social rolls are myriad and complex. It will be common sense. If you're intimidating someone use Manipulation intimidation, if you're suggesting a plan or leading people use Charisma Leadership. The target will be able to resist by a logically relevant stat. The roll and its difficulty will be determined by the scenes runner.

The scene runner will determine by how much each success affects the shift on the characters personal likert scale. Each does have some value though. The difficulties for the rolls, just as the effectiveness of the successes scored will be determined from both the "attacking" characters words and their likelihood to affect their target. Saying "I persuade her to rob the bank with me" will result in much less effect than a thought out, argumentative speech.

As per our guidelines, no discipline or roll can be used to force a sexual encounter on players. This is not a game for that.

## Combat Steps

### Initiative

Initiative determines the order in which characters act! The character with the highest active Celerity level goes first. If two or more characters have the same level of celerity active then compare the dice pool of the character’s Wits + Alertness skill. These players should PM each other with a dice pool total and declare. The character with the highest dice pool acts first. If both characters have the same number of dice the scene adjudicator will “flip a coin.” After those with super human speed have resolved their action order characters without Celerity active determine their order using the dice pool method above. NOTE: There is no way for a character without celerity active to act before a character with Celerity active unless the Celerity user defers their action.

### Attack

On your turn the scene adjudicator will ask for you action. Each player will describe their character’s action as quickly and efficiently as possible determine the dice poll roll and report the result to the scene adjudicator. NOTE: all rolls by PC’s should be performed in the appropriate channel on discord. This keeps everything “above board.”

### Multiple Actions

In order to streamline combat no cast member will be allowed multiple actions by splitting their dice pool. The use of the Celerity discipline is the only way to get more than 1 action per turn and its grants an additional action for each level. IE Celerity 5 grants Benny Brujah six actions in the turn he spent 1 blood to activate the discipline. The blood spent must be declared when the scene officiator tells you its your turn!

### Defense

Passive Dodge: Cast members will roll dexterity and dodge once per combat round to determine their defensive successes against any attacks made on the them during that round.

Passive Block: A Dexterity + Brawl maneuver using your character’s own body to deflect a hand-to-hand bashing attack. Lethal and aggravated attacks cannot be blocked unless the defender has 2 Fortitude or is wearing armor for lethal damage and at least 4 Fortitude for aggravated or must being wearing high class armor. Once per combat round to determine their defensive successes against any attacks made on the them during that round.

### Damage

In order to reduce some of the rolling involved in combat damage will be calculated as follows: Attack net successes plus damage dice divided in half rounded down equals the damaged scored; IE an attack netting 4 successes with an 8 damage dice shotgun deals 6 bashing damage to Vampires or 6 lethal damage to mortals. This is because with a difficulty of 6 on a damage roll we can safely assume for time that you will score success on at least 50% of the dice rolled round any decimals up to the next whole number. Any applicable Potence is added to damage after the formula is applied.

### Soaking

Soaking damage is as per the Core Rules revised book. Roll Stamina + Fortitude (if the character has learned any) against a difficulty set by the staff member running the scene. Each success negates 1 level of damage taken. \*After\* this roll halve bashing damage, round down then apply.

### Wounds

Once your character starts taking damage your character will be less effective represented by a penalty to their dice pool. This chart can be found on your sheet in R20! These dice pool penalties can be ignored by spending 1 TWP as your character shrugs off the pain through sheer force of will for one turn. In addition you may ignore the incapacitated condition attached to the health level of the same name though this expenditure of temporary willpower similarly for 1 turn. Fortitude is also helpful for resisting pain, see the Discipline House Rules handout for more information.

## Downtime

Downtime is a general term, covering the wide variety of activities your toon can partake in when you’re not actively playing them - their downtime. It covers the various things that happen off-screen - crafting, influence actions, investigations and the gaining of new or increasing existing backgrounds. Players have 160 hours of Downtime each cycle to divide however they wish among the various activities.

### **How Do I Track My Downtime?**

If you go onto the forum’s homepage and look in the Crossroads Document Drive, you’ll find a handy spreadsheet for tracking your downtime.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s go into a little bit more detail about each available activity.

### Backgrounds

Want to gain a new retainer or haven? How about gain a new contact or ally? Perhaps you want to gain or increase your fame. This last downtime activity will let you do it.

**System:** If you would like to gain or increase a background, get in touch with a Storyteller of your choice. They will give you a roll with a number of successes necessary to successfully complete the action you’re attempting, as well as let you know how many hours out of your downtime it will take.

Record the action taken, the number of successes, the Coordinator overseeing, and the amount of time taken in your Downtime Log.

### Crafting

This covers all the various things your character can make with their crafts skill and applicable secondaries, including but not limited to: blades, guns, explosives and armor.

**System:** Get in touch with one of our lovely Crafts Coordinators and tell them what you want to do. They will give you a roll with a number of successes necessary to make the item you’re attempting to make, as well as let you know how many hours out of your downtime it will take.

Record the item, the number of successes, the Coordinator overseeing, and the amount of time spent in your Downtime Log.

### Influence

Want your toon to have sway over the local media, police or political sphere? Influence is how you do it.

**System:** If you would like to gain/increase your influence or use it to take another action outside of a scene, get in touch with an Influence Coordinator. They will give you a roll with a number of successes necessary to successfully complete the action you’re attempting, as well as let you know how many hours out of your downtime it will take.

Record the action taken, the number of successes, the Coordinator overseeing, and the amount of time taken in your Downtime Log.

### Investigations

Sometimes, a clue for a rumor or secret can be found via rolls rather than a full played out scene.

**System: I**f you see a rumor you’d like to investigate, message a Storyteller. If they determine the investigation doesn’t warrant a full scene, then they will give you a dice pool and a difficulty, as well as let you know how many hours out of your downtime it will take.

Record the rumor investigated, the number of successes, the Storyteller overseeing, and the amount of time spent in your Downtime Log.

## Crafting

Crafting in crossroads through the use of the crafts skill can be very rewarding in character but out of character it doesn’t make much sense. Having 5 dots in the craft skill shouldn’t allow a cast member to craft anything know to the human race to a superb level. To represent to myriad of vast technical skills Crossroads uses secondary abilities in the fashion described.

When buying the craft skill a player must designate a common skill the ability most represents such as carpentry, brewing, cooking, or repair as a few examples. Skills requiring vast amount of education or training will be represented by a secondary ability such as explosive engineering, firearms engineering, circuit designer, nuclear engineering etc…

The base craft skill will still allow a wide range of repairs and construction of common items. However, in order to perform complex crafts and repairs outside the base flavor for the skill requires a secondary ability.

The base difficulty for crafting an item which is mass produced and for which the schematics are readily available is 6. In order to modify the design the difficulty is raised by 1 for each such modification. The base difficulty for crafting a unique item, as well as the price and time required for it is set by a ST. Each PC as well as their retainers are allowed to spend 80 hours per one OOC week on crafting.

1 success is all that is needed in order to successfully craft any item and failure indicates a loss of materials. Any botched crafting roll must be reported to an ST or narrator and can have a myriad of consequences ranging from a defect in the product to global catastrophe if you’re building a nuclear device.

5 Successes (Practiced skill level) will add 1 die of damage to weapons or add 1 die to the granted soak pool for armor. In the case of other items an ST or narrator may grant the item some perk above its base counterparts.

7 success (Advanced skill level) weapons will have a + 2 modifier to their damage dice and armor will have a 1 die reduction in dexterity penalty and + 2 die to the granted soak pool.

10 successes (Expert skill level) you have reached the maximum potential for any given item. Weapons with at this level have a +3 to their damage dice pool and offer a + 1 to dexterity for the purpose of attacking with said weapon only. Armor crafted with this level of expertise removes 2 dice from the dexterity penalty and grants a +3 modifier to the soak dice pool.

Assistance: If two characters both have an appropriate secondary skill, one of them can aid another in creating an item. An assistant may lower the difficulty to create an item by a number equal to half of their level in said secondary skill, rounded up.

Art: All crafted art will have a base value of 10 dollar per real hour spent out of play while your character creates the item; this value is then multiplied by the number of success you score on an extended crafts roll. A player rolls the applicable attribute + crafts as a dice pool for each 10 hours spent working on the project. Creating valuable art is difficult and the extended crafts roll is a base difficulty of 8. Note: secondary abilities which are applicable will lower this difficulty allowing players who have invested a more significant amount of points behind their character’s talent to greatly increase the value of art they create.

Programming: Is handled with an extended roll, similar to Art projects. The difficulty and the amount of successes needed is determined by the STs. Each roll represents 10 crafting hours spent working on the project.

## Fleshcrafting

To do any fleshcrafting the character shall use the standard Crafting skill, with a mandatory Flesh Crafts specialty.

Secondaries and how they are used:

1) Bio-mechanical engineering - Used for integrating premade mechanical parts into flesh. Roll of Dexterity+Crafts, difficulties and time needed situational. Bonuses will come from the premade parts.

2) Bio-weapon engineering - Used to add natural weapons to the target, such as poisons, venoms, spores and otherwise. Roll of Intelligence+Crafts difficulties and time either recorded or situational. Damage bonus on poisons is limited to +3. Any +3 poison shall affect its target for one additional turn.

3) Melee weapons engineering - Used to create bone/chitin weaponry on the target. Roll of Strength+Craft, the difficulty and time needed should be taken from the equivalent normal melee weapons. Bonuses limited to +3.

4) Bio-armor engineering - Used to create bone/chitin armor on the target. Roll of Strength+Craft, the difficulty and time needed should be taken from the equivalent normal armor. Bonuses limited to +3.

5) Sensory enhancement engineering - Roll of Intelligence+Crafts at difficulty 10. The amount of successes scored (up to 5) will determine the max possible current rating of Perception. Each successes scored (up to 5) costs 10 hours of craft time. If 10 or more successes were scored the target gets an Acute sense merit, at crafters choice. Other merits or flaws (if used as punishment) can be possible if appropriate. ANY augmentations made this way make the target monstrous.

6) Physical enhancement engineering - Roll of Dexterity+Crafts at difficulty 10. The amount of successes scored (up to 5) will determine the max possible current rating of Strength, Dexterity or Stamina, depending on the crafters chosen area. Each successes scored (up to 5) costs 10 hours of craft time. If 10 or more successes were scored the target gets: Ambidextrous or Doublejointed merits for Dexterity, Huge size for Stamina or Bruiser for Strength. Other merits or flaws (if used as punishment) can be possible if appropriate. ANY augmentations made this way make the target monstrous.

7) Aerial engineering - Used for creation of flight organs and the bone structure to make said flight possible. Roll of Strength+Craft, base difficulty 10, Craft time required 40 hours. 1ss = only visual effect, 5ss = glider, 7ss = clumsy flight, 10 = graceful/ skilled flight

8 ) Aquatic engineering - Used for creation of aquatic creatures and similar. Roll of Dexterity+Crafts base difficulty 10, Craft time required 40 hours. 1ss = only visual effect, 5 = gills to breath under water, 7 = fins or webbed hands and feet to increase speed and agility in water, 10+ = amphibious

9) Mimicry – Used to enhance appearance or mimic that of others, both on self and on a target. Roll of Intelligence+Crafts at difficulty 10. The amount of successes scored will determine the max possible current rating of Appearance. Each successes scored (used) costs 10 hours of craft time. If 10 or more successes were scored the target gets a Friendly Face merit. Other merits or flaws (if used as punishment) can be possible if appropriate.

For duplicating someone elses appearance 5ss are necessary for a perfect copy. If the current appearance score is higher or equal than the target face, the base difficulty is lowered to 8.

## Torpor

To reduce inactive time spent by players OOC and to prevent forced retirement of low Humanity characters, these rulings on Torpor are implemented:

* A vampire 3 generations or lower than your character can revive the character with a measure of their blood
* A vampire using Potency of Blood may lower their generation to 3 generations lower than your character to revive with a measure of their blood

## Addiction

If the Player regularly takes part in addictive behavior they make a self-control roll, no WP, at the end of each cycle, difficulty determined by the substance abused. Failure raises the next DC by 1, once botched or DC going past 10, addiction is gained. Curing addiction requires time and roleplay. General DCs: cigaretts 4, alcohol/weed 5, hallucinogens 6, opiates 7, amphetamines 8, kiss 8, vitae 9.

## Stepping on a Path

There may come a time when your character in game will find themselves ready to step on a Path of Enlightenment. How to do that? Well first of all they would need a teacher. No amount of books can break the characters psyche enough to accept an alternative morality, another person has to do it. This teacher may be a PC or an NPC but remember, traditionally, teachers choose disciples, not the other way around. While its possible to find a teacher for a specific Path you want and convince them, it is a far harder process than accepting an offer of someone interested in teaching. Acquiring an NPC teacher that way will be very specific to each Character but expect a fair amount of roleplay needed and likely Occult influence to even locate them. Remember: the teacher would only choose to teach if the student already exemplifies the ethics of the path.

### System

Assuming both the teacher and student are ready and present, how would they go about it? First of all, remember that this process is inevitably cruel. There is no nice way of abandoning ones Humanity and accepting a wholly alien way of thinking. A good deal of roleplay between the teacher and the student is expected. Besides that, first of all the teacher would need to strip the Students Humanity down to at least 3. Besides that, they need to strip away the virtues that will be no longer used by the student down to 1. This can be done only at the rate of one dot per In Game month. Once this is done, the final step must be taken.

The student, guided by the teacher, must undergo a test. It should be roleplayed as much as possible and understood as the pivotal point in students life that it is. The test may be anything from answering a simple riddle to horrid acts of violence, depending on the Path in question, as well as the student and the teacher. Usually it means committing something that reaffirms the Paths ethics and would be viewed as an atrocity through the lens of Humanity. Once the test is completed, the student rolls a Willpower check. The difficulty starts at 10 for humanity 3, 8 for Humanity 2 and 6 for Humanity 1. Willpower may not be spent for automatic success on this roll but a marginal may be claimed, as those with strong wills find it easier to switch their paths.

If the student fails their roll, they have committed an atrocity and learned nothing of it. They loose a point of Humanity and may attempt the test again in an In Character month. If the student botches their roll, they will need to wait a year. It is very much possible for the students Humanity to be taken down to 0 in this fashion at which point they become permanently overtaken by their Beast. Shedding ones Humanity is neither easy nor safe.

If the student passes their roll, they gain the enlightenment needed to see the world through a different lens. They gain 1 dot in all appropriate Path Virtues and rating of 1 on their new Path. If the student scores 3 or more successes on the roll, thir twisted moment of enlightenment is more profound and they start with the Path rating of 2.

### Further teaching of the Path

A teacher may continue to teach their student in the ways of the Path. They can help their student obtain their own Path rating -1 by instructing them and controlling their behavior. Raising a path in such way still requires expending EXP and roleplaying appropriately for the path, as well as demands for the teacher to have an unrestricted access to the student at all times. A path rating and virtues can not be raised by more than one dot per cycle.

## Dominate and Eye Contact

Many myths and stories exist about a vampire’s mystical ability to put people under her spell by looking deeply into her victim’s eyes. The persistence of such stories through the ages isn’t surprising, since a number of Kindred Disciplines powers, most notably Dominate, require eye contact in order to work. Other vampires, learning of this requirement, have attempted everything from wearing mirrored sunglasses to gouging out their own eyes in order to prevent an elder from exerting his will upon them. But Kindred are not so easily thwarted. The need for eye contact stems from the aggressor Kindred’s need to see his victim’s soul, and the eyes are the traditionally known as the windows to the soul. While the vampire needs to capture his target’s attention, the target’s eyes need not be present for such a power to work — although the arts of the Tzimisce make this somewhat challenging at times — they only need to find the soul of his victim laid bare.

**Gaining Eye Contact / A Link to the Target's Soul**

A target trying to avoid eye contact can make a Willpower roll against a difficulty equal to Dominate user’s Manipulation + Intimidation (or other appropriate combination for other Disciplines or specific situations, at the Storyteller’s discretion). The difficulty may be reduced for mitigating factors:

* -1 in the case of the target obscuring his eyes slightly (such as closing her eyes or wearing dark sunglasses
* -3 for the eyes being completely unseen (such as with a thick blindfold, being hearing impaired)
* -4 for absence for absence of eyes, blindness, or deafness

Ultimately, however, it is up to the Storyteller to decide whether eye contact is established in a particular case.

This ability is in part due to how domineering a personality a person with Dominate exhibits. Through demeanor and body language, tone of voice, and social cues the character with Dominate is hard not to pay attention to. It a psychological fight to keep from looking someone in the eye under these circumstances and that is what these rolls serve to emulate. However, gaining someone's attention against their will is noticeable. When a character with Dominate tries to gain the attention of another in this manner the target and other persons nearby with knowledge of the power know that the target is being manipulated as it is very unsubtle.

## Recognizing Kindred

Don't have Auspex? Still want to know if that lovely person you've just met is a member of the undead? Have no fear, you can accomplish this with a simple roll!

You may make a roll of Perception + Alertness to determine whether or not someone may be kindred. If you have reason to suspect the creature is a Kindred then you may make a roll of Perception +‌ Occult [or continue with Alertness if it is higher]. The difficulty of this roll will vary on a number of factors, such as humanity rating and whether or not the person in question is on a non-Humanity path.

## Diablerie

After successfully completing the standard rules for diablerie (see “Committing Diablerie” on pp. 293-294 of V20), the roll to avoid losing control to euphoria (found

under “The Rewards of Diablerie” on p. 294 of V20) instead determines whether or not the diablerist becomes permanently addicted to diablerie. If the roll is a failure, make the notation “Addicted to Diablerie” under Flaws on the character sheet. A character addicted to diablerie will indulge in drinking vampiric blood whenever possible. When she is given the opportunity to consume vampiric blood, the player must roll Self-Control or Instinct (difficulty 6). If this roll fails, the character frenzies, attacks the target, and drinks as much blood as she can.

Regardless of success or failure on the addiction roll, the diablerist is lost in euphoria and numb to the external world for the remainder of the scene, ignoring wounds (though still sustaining damage), and any attempt to engage their attention fails until all of the following challenges have been met. Each challenge takes one turn to complete.

Generation

If the victim is of a lower Generation than the diablerist, the diablerist automatically lowers her Generation by one. Additionally, if the victim was two or more Generations lower than the diablerist, the diablerist rolls Stamina once per turn for each additional Generation after the first, until they fail a challenge or run out of rolls (difficulty 9). Each success lowers the diablerist’s Generation by one and permanently grants them all benefits attributed to the Generation achieved.

Disciplines

Next, compare the Disciplines of both vampires, ignoring blood sorcery powers (such as Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, Koldunism, and the line), the Disciplines they have in diablerist’s newly-acquired Generational maximums. The diablerist gains half the total amount (rounded down) of Discipline dots, after the above deductions.

For example, if an eighth generation vampire with Celerity •••, Fortitude •••••, Potence ••••, and Thaumaturgy ••• commits diablerie against a sixth generation vampire with Celerity •••••, Fortitude •••, Potence •••••, and Thaumaturgy ••••• ••, the difference is three dot. Two come from Celerity, and one comes from Potence. The diablerist’s Fortitude is higher, and Thaumaturgy does not count, as it’s a sorcery power. Half that, rounding down, is one. The diablerist gains one Discipline dot.

The diablerist may purchase levels in any Disciplines possessed by the victim (though not blood sorcery powers) up to the maximum level the victim achieved in a

Discipline, within the newly acquired Generational limits of the diablerist. If the diablerist acquires levels in an out-of-Clan Discipline, any future levels after diablerie are still purchased as out-of-Clan.

Possession

The victim and diablerist now perform contested Willpower rolls against each other. The difficulty for each roll is equal to the permanent Willpower rating of

the opponent. Each Generation the diablerist achieves adds +1 to the difficulty level of her rolls (maximum of 9), and lowers the difficulty level of rolls for the victim

by 1 (minimum of 4). The first to achieve a total amount of successes equaling their opponent’s unadulterated, permanent Willpower rating wins. Botched rolls count

as successes for the opponent.

Regardless of success or failure, diablerists gain a tainted aura marking them of their crime (see “The Perils of Diablerie,” V20, pp. 294- 295). Furthermore, the diablerist deducts an amount of temporary Willpower from their sheet equal to the permanent Willpower rating of the victim. This deduction cannot put them below 1 point of temporary Willpower.

Should the diablerist win, no further rolls are necessary, and they exit the blinding euphoria imposed upon them. Diablerists on Paths of Enlightenment that do not normally condone diablerie must make a test for moral degradation (difficulty at Storyteller’s discretion) if the act cannot be justified by the circumstances and motivation behind it.

If the victim wins, she possesses the diablerist’s body. The severity of possession depends upon the number of dots in Generation the diablerist gains. With three or more Generations, the character has the option to acquire the Dark Secret Flaw (V20, p. 489) in order to retain the Social Merits and Flaws, as well as Backgrounds of the diablerist, while abandoning his own (even if exceeding maximum amounts for Merits and Flaws). Should the ruse be revealed, depending on who becomes aware and whether or not they care, the character regains the Social Merits and Flaws, as well as Backgrounds (save for Generation) of the victim, and loses those of the diablerist (save for Generation). If Scholar of Enemies or Scholar of Others (V20, p. 489) are possessed by the victim, they are held regardless of the choice.

If the diablerist drops one Generation, the diablerist’s Nature and Supernatural Merits and Flaws are exchanged for those of the victim (and may exceed maximum point costs for Merits and Flaws). The diablerist acquires one new permanent derangement.

If the diablerist lowers his Generation by two, he suffers the same effects as gaining one dot in Generation, and additionally, half the character’s memories are replaced with the victim’s. The diablerist’s newly acquired permanent derangement is Multiple Personalities (V20, p. 292), and his secondary personality is that of the victim. On the character sheet, record the victim’s Demeanor, Mental Merits and Flaws, permanent Willpower rating, Morality Path, Virtues (and ratings), blood sorcery powers and Rituals, and mark a slash beside all Abilities, Charisma, Manipulation, and all Mental Attributes possessed by the diablerist. To the right of the slash mark, record the amount possessed by the victim in that Attribute or Ability (including Abilities not possessed by the diablerist), deducting amounts to levels proportionate to the newly acquired Generational maximums of the diablerist. When the secondary personality is triggered, all newly recorded notations change to those of the victim and become accessible to the character. The Storyteller then takes control of the character, while the primary personality blacks out and remembers nothing for the time that the secondary personality is in charge of the body.

If the diablerist lowers his Generation by three, he suffers all of the effects listed above. Additionally, the diablerist gains total and complete amnesia up until just

exiting the euphoric state that accompanies diablerie. Add the Amnesia Flaw to the character’s sheet (V20, p. 486). The diablerist retains all information and experience, though he cannot recall how he knows what he knows. Their Demeanor switches to one assigned by the Storyteller. The character’s Path of Enlightenment reverts to Humanity (if on an alternate Path), and his Virtue scores and permanent Willpower reset. He receives one free dot in each Virtue and may spend 7 points amongst his Virtues as he sees fit. His Humanity rating equals his newly acquired Conscience + Self-Control Virtues, and his permanent Willpower is equal to his Courage Virtue

If the diablerist lowers her Generation by four, the victim wholly consumes the diablerist’s soul. The victim retains none of the diablerist’s memories and continues play as the hybrid character. On the diablerist’s sheet, all Abilities, and the point totals for Charisma, Manipulation, and all Mental Attributes change to those of the victim, up to the newly acquired Generational maximum of the diablerist. Permanent Willpower rating, Nature, Demeanor, and derangements change to those of the victim. The entire victim’s previously acquired blood sorcery powers and rituals are transferred to the diablerist. Path of Enlightenment and Virtues changes to that of the victim at the victim’s full rating. Mental and Supernatural Merits and Flaws possessed by the diablerist are changed to those of the victim (and may exceed maximum amounts for Merits and Flaws).

If the diablerist lowers her Generation by five or more, the victim wholly consumes the diablerist’s soul. The victim retains all of the diablerist’s memories and continues play as the hybrid character. On the diablerist’s sheet, Nature and Demeanor change to those of the victim. The point value totals for Charisma, Manipulation, all Abilities, permanent Willpower rating, and all Mental Attributes take on the higher point value between the diablerist or the victim, up to the newly acquired Generational maximum of the diablerist. The entire victim’s previously acquired blood sorcery powers and rituals are transferred to the diablerist. Path of Enlightenment and Virtues changes to that of the victim at the victim’s full rating. For overlapping Virtues, take the higher score of the victim or diablerist. Derangements, as well as Mental and Supernatural Merits and Flaws possessed by the victim, are added to the diablerist’s sheet (and may exceed maximum amounts for Merits and Flaws).

## Frenzy and Hunger

During a frenzy, a character literally — and usually unwillingly — gives into the darkest instincts of the vampiric nature. The character is consumed with rage or hunger, unable — or unwilling — to consider the effects of any action. Friends, foes, lovers, ethics: None of these things matter to a vampire in frenzy. If a vampire in frenzy is hungry, he will feed from whoever is closest without regard for the vessel's well-being. If the vampire is angry, he will do everything in his power to destroy the cause o his anger. A vampire struck by fear will commit any atrocity to remove himself from the source of his terror, regardless of the consequences. The character completely surrenders to the basest aspects of his Nature, shunting aside the Demeanor most commonly presented to those around him. He is, in short, the Beast.

Among the Camarilla, succumbing to frenzy is seen as weakness, a humiliating loss of control. Vampires who frenzy often, and especially in public, run the risk of social rejection or worse. Though many among the Camarilla Kindred are monsters through and through, the laws of the Masquerade and simple civility require that the Beast be kept in check; those who cannot do so are not vampires, but animals, and should be put down for the good of all. Among the Sabbat, frenzy is seen as a natural urge, like mortals' need for food and sex. Sabbat vampires deride the Camarilla's attitude toward frenzy as that of weak-willed fools who cannot accept their true predatory nature. Accordingly, Sabbat typically seek not to prevent frenzy, but to control it and use it to their advantage.

A frenzy can be induced by many things, but great rage or hunger are the most common provocations. It is dangerous to deny or humiliate the undead. For this reason, vampires of the Camarilla commonly veil slights and threats in webs of double-talk and subtlety, that they no suddenly trigger an outburst in Elysium or conclave. Ultimately, the Storyteller can call for a vampire to make a frenzy roll at any time, whether he feels the character might have cause to lose control.

A vampire in frenzy gains several temporary benefits from the state. Vampires in frenzy completely ignore all dice pool penalties inflicted by injury until the frenzy ends. Once the frenzy is finished, the pain comes back and the crippling effects of the wounds take hold again. All difficulties to Dominate a frenzied character are increased by two, and all difficulties to resist the effects of Dominate are reduced by two. The character never needs Willpower rolls to accomplish a feat, because the rage fueling the vampire's actions is both a catalyst to heightened state of mind and a barrier against unwanted intrusions. Lastly, characters in frenzy are immune to the detrimental effects of Rötschreck.

### Systems

The rules for handling a frenzy are deliberately vague, and the Storyteller is encouraged to make whatever changes she deems necessary to accommodate her chronicle.

In some cases, Kindred can manage to overcome the urge to frenzy. A vampire on the verge of frenzy must make a Self-Control roll against a variable difficulty. **The character must score five successes to completely overcome the desires for violence, but even one success halts the frenzy temporarily.** For each success below five, the character can resist the urge to frenzy for one turn. After this duration expires, the character may try again to gain extra successes and thus continue to resist the frenzy. Once five successes are acquired, over a greater or lesser period, the vampire resists the Beast's urges.

Failure means the character goes into an emotional rampage, doing exactly what she wants to do with no worries of later repercussions. Players may spend a Willpower Point to regain control of their character for one turn. Doing so will trigger another Self-Control roll at same difficulty and give another chance to repress the frenzy.

Botching the Self-Control roll means the character remains in a frenzy until the Storyteller decides otherwise, and (at the Storyteller's discretion) she may gain a derangement related to the frenzy.

The following list shows common stimuli that can incite a frenzy, and the typical difficulty for a character to resist. Remember, if the frenzy has the potential to cause the vampire to commit an atrocity (killing a child or other innocent, for example), the Storyteller can rule that the difficulty is (9 minus Conscience) instead. Keep in mind that brujah have a different table of difficulty due to the clan flaw.

> Character on Paths using Instinct instead of Self-Control can NOT resist a frenzy, only "ride the wave" and direct it.
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 Smell of blood (when hungry)
 Sight of blood (when hungry)
 Being harassed
 Life-threatening situation
 Malicious taunts
 Physical provocation
 Taste of blood (when hungry)
 Loved one in danger
 Outright humiliation

Remember, you may always spend WP for frenzy rolls. This is a place where it can really count!

*Note:* The Storyteller has final say in what can or cannot provoke a frenzy. In some cases the Storyteller might completely ignore what the players feel should send their characters into a rage, and instead have some minor event cause a frenzy. This is commonly done in situations where the Storyteller feels a frenzy can make a point about a character's personality, or enhance the events of a story.

Frenzy checks are made and some difficulties determined by whether or not a vampire is "hungry" or not. The thresholdt which the character is considered "hungry" equals 7 minus Kindred's Self-Control or Instinct scores.
**Remember that your Character can only use as much Virtue dice as they have blood.** A character that runs out of blood enters an immediate frenzy and remeins so until the Storyteller decides otherwise