Experience

During the course of a chronicle, characters — much like players over the course of their lives — learn from their mistakes and grow. Change is inevitable, even for the eternal undead or the volatile mage. Over years and centuries.

A great deal of what characters learn is beyond the scope of any game system to reflect. In many cases the more mundane aspects of growing older — and, one would hope, wiser — are reflected in the players’ increased confidence and perspicacity. Learning to lock your car when you leave it in a public parking place is simply common sense, not really a skill that can be purchased. Emotional transformations are roleplayed, not bought.

Sometimes, though, characters improve themselves in skills magical or mundane. A system of rewards, called experience points, is used to reflect these more quantitative changes. Experience points reflect the Traits that a character hones as time passes.

At the end of each story, the Storyteller awards experience points to each character. The players then write down how many experience points the character has earned. Between stories, players may spend their characters’ experience points to purchase or increase Traits.

Experience points can be used to improve Attributes, to acquire new Abilities or enhance ones the character already has, to raise existing powers or purchase new ones, or to increase Virtues. Backgrounds may not be purchased through experience points, though they may be acquired through roleplaying if, for example, the character makes a new friend or acquires a windfall. The costs for all of these different changes vary greatly, as shown on the chart below.

The Storyteller is the final arbiter of how many experience points each character receives, as well as which Traits may be raised. Accordingly, the Storyteller should oversee where experience points are spent. Players may wish to put points into areas that don’t honestly reflect what the character has learned during the story or chronicle, in which case the Storyteller can veto their actions. For example, if a character did not use his Dominate Discipline at all during a story, he could not have improved it, and thus the Storyteller should not allow him to increase the number of dots in that Discipline. The same stands for improving Virtues:

A character who just killed three children and diablerized her sire has no logical grounds for increasing her Humanity rating. A mage that has done nothing magick related will not be able to increase Spheres or Arete ratings. Note that a character does not have to use his Traits successfully to be eligible for an increase. We often learn more from failure than from success, and the undead are no different.

As Storyteller, try to be fair about experience-point expenditure, and never take things to the point at which the player feels he has no control over the character any longer. Ask the players what they feel their characters learned before awarding any points, and use that as part of the basis for giving them experience points. These limitations are put forth to add a level of reality to the game. If the changes in the character are completely random, the impact is lost. Weave the changes into the course of events, and make the changes reflect what has occurred.

Virtues increased by experience have no impact on the character’s Humanity, Path, or Willpower. Once the character-creation process is finished, that’s the end of the matter. For example, a character who, during a story, manages to act in spite of his fear of fire is eligible for a Courage increase, but increasing Courage does not automatically increase Willpower.

No Trait may be increased by more than one point during the course of a story. Vast changes in Traits take time, and the game should reflect that limitation.

### **New Traits**

Increasing existing Traits can be done fairly readily, so long as the character uses or practices the Trait in question. Learning new Traits, however, is a little more difficult. Even a vampire can’t simply pick up a functioning legal knowledge or learn to fight if he doesn’t know even the basics (to say nothing of learning a new Discipline). Thus, learning an entirely new Ability or Discipline requires some tutoring and study, in addition to the required experience-point expenditure.

This study can be simple (a night-school course to learn the basics of Computer) or brutally difficult (months or even years of mind-bending rituals, formulas, and blood manipulation to learn the first dot in Thaumaturgy), but it must always be accomplished.

Having the Mentor Background helps, but even a mentor can teach only what she herself knows.

Storytellers: Do not allow players to neglect this requirement! Particularly for more esoteric arts such as Disciplines, pursuit of new knowledge — and payment for same — can lead to all manner of incredible stories.

### **Awarding Experience Points**

Awarding experience points is a double-edged sword. As a Storyteller, you can hurt your chronicle by giving away too many as well as too few. If you give more to some players than you do to others, you might seem as if you’re playing favorites, and you also risk unbalancing the game. However, the characters who do the most, who take the risks and learn from their mistakes instead of simply sitting on the sidelines, deserve the experience points to reflect the changes they’re going through. The rules below should help you avoid most problems, but you should feel free to experiment and fine-tune them to fit your needs.

## Experience Points to Vampires

**End of Each Chapter**

At the end of each game session, or chapter, you should award the characters between one and five experience points. One point is awarded automatically, simply because the character experienced the chapter’s events. Despite ourselves, we tend to learn from the follies of others as we do from our own.

One Point — Automatic: Each player gets one point at the end of each chapter.

One Point — Learning Curve: Ask the player what his character learned in the course of the night’s events. If you agree with the answer, give the player one experience point.

One Point — Roleplaying: The player carried out the role of her character well, not only entertainingly but appropriately. The player performed as the character should in the circumstances. Truly inspired roleplaying might merit two experience points.

One Point — Heroism: On rare occasions even vampires can truly behave as heroes, risking all to let friends or even strangers escape from disaster or death.

If a character acts heroically and manages to survive, he should be rewarded. Some players might try to take advantage of this idea. Don’t let them. Stupidity and suicidal behavior should not be mistaken for heroism.

**The End of the Story**

You might decide to give extra experience points at the end of a story, if the players have done their part and the characters have faced down substantial trials. Only a few points should be given this way, as they are effectively “bonus points” for a job well done.

One Point — Success: The characters achieved all or part of the goals they set out to accomplish. Even minor victories can be rewarded if they pushed the game forward.

One Point — Danger: The characters survived against harsh odds and grave dangers.

One Point — Wisdom: The player, and thus the character, came up with a brilliant plan or even a spontaneous strategy that enabled the coterie to survive when it would likely have failed otherwise.

More points can be awarded if you decide they should be, or if you want the characters to advance more quickly than they currently are.

### **Experience Costs for Vampires**

\* Caitiff have no Clan-based Disciplines, just as they have no Clan. For them, the cost of raising all Disciplines is the current rating x 6. This is both the curse and the blessing of being Clanless.

\*\* Increasing a Virtue through experience does not increase Traits based on that Virtue (Humanity, Path, Willpower).

## Experience Points to Werewolves

**End of each Chapter**

Give characters points at the end of each chapter (game session), and give between one and five experience per character. Whether the pack succeeds or fails, everybody who shows up gets a point.

One point — Automatic: Each character gets one point after every session.

One point — Learning Curve: Ask each player to describe what his character learned during the session. If he learned anything, award the point.

One point — Acting: This award goes to the player who demonstrated exceptional roleplaying. If the player acted appropriately and his character entertained, award a point. Usually this award only goes to the troupe member who roleplayed the best during that session, but feel free to reward multiple sterling performances at once.

One point — Concept: Award this point if the player did a very good job acting out her character's concept. Doing so could have been good or bad for the pack, but you are the final arbiter as to whether the player earns the point.

One Point — Heroism: When a character risks life and limb for others, such as using her body to shield fallen packmates from a hail of silver bullets or taking aggravated wounds for fighting a Bane so that her packmates can escape, award the character a point (assuming she survived). Taking part in a fistfight or rending a pistol-packing thug asunder won't cut it, though. Werewolf focuses on heroism, so only actions "above and beyond the call" merit this award. Likewise, diving into a Hive or standing in front of an oncoming locomotive isn't heroic — it's stupid. Stupidity's rewards are many and unpleasant.

**End of Each Story**

At the end of a story, you can assign each character one to three points in addition to those given for completing the chapter.

One point — Success: If the pack succeeded in its mission or goal, everyone gets a point. You can award this point if the mission wasn't completely successful, as well, at long as the pack achieved a marginal victory.

One point — Danger: If the character experienced great danger during the story — threats to life, limb or soul — and survived, he earns one point.

One point — Wisdom: If the player exhibited great resourcefulness or wits, or came up the cunning plan that enabled the pack to succeed, award him a point.

Sometimes you'll want to give out even more points. Perhaps you want the characters to develop more quickly, for example. If such is the case, simply create new categories for experience awards.

### **Experience point cost for Werewolves**

 Attribute
 Ability
 New Ability
 Gift
 Gift from other breed/auspice/tribe
 Rage
 Gnosis
 Willpower

Bear in mind that in order to improve any trait, it has to make sense, a lupine would never be able to learn a Gift if they have no access to the spirit that teaches it, and would not be able to increase their Gnosis if they haven't been attuned to the world of the spirits or practiced their magic.

## Experience Points to Mages

As the chronicle progresses, the Storyteller will reward your characters with experience points. These points allow you to buy up your mage's Traits, and reflect the result of hard-won knowledge.

A mage can **also earn experience through study and apprenticeship** in addition to the normal methods. Characters may learn a certain degree from teachers or books. The better the resource, the more a mystick can get our of it. The benefits of research can help any character - learning has no upper limit. If your mage srudies with a formal Mentor (i.e., has bought that Background Trait) or has access to a Library (likewise), you
the player can roll his rating in that source of knowledge against difficulty 7; if he has Mentor 4, for instance, you'd roll four dice. For each success you roll, you save one experience point (see below) when buying the Ability or Sphere your mage studied. Such study takes at least a week; you can make only one roll per study attempt.

No matter what you roll, your mage must always spend at least one experience point and the source of knowledge must have something to do with the subject your mystick studies. A Mentor who knows nothing about Forces magick cannot teach you about that Sphere- you'll have to look elsewhere. Likewise, one who
knows less than you do can't help you much - a Mentor with Forces 3 cannot help you save points when studying Forces 4. This is a problem many Masters run into- advanced knowledge gets harder and harder to come by.

The same isn't true of Libraries- one can always gain new insights from books. Study time doubles, however, if the mage has used the same Library to learn about the same subject more than three times in a row. This explains sorcerers' fondness for hidden lore - the more they find, the more they can learn. In most cases, a character can only save experience points this way through the Background Trait. Another character with the Instruction Skill (see" Abilities," Chapter Six) can help your mage learn something that she knows by rolling her Instruction rating. Your character saves experience points the same way, but the other player, or the Storyteller, makes the roll, not you. A Mentor may have Instruction or a Library (most do), but a mage who wishes to study must make a choice. He may only roll one Trait, not a combination or total of the three.

Additionally, a Mage can also gain experience through these guidelines.

At the end of each story, the Storyteller will take each character's actions into account (be afraid!). For Storytellers, these "rewards" will set the tone and power level of the game you run. If you're stingy, the characters will advance slowly, perhaps too slowly for their players' tastes. If you're over-generous, you may be dealing with a super-cabal before you know it. We recommend giving between one to five points per character per game session.

The guidelines below offer a good spread of options.

* One point - Automatic: A character always gets one point after each game session.
* One point - Learning Curve: The character learned something from his experiences during the chapter. Ask the player to describe what his character learned before you award the point.
* One point - Acting: The player roleplayed well, not only entertainingly but appropriately. Award for exceptional roleplaying only; your standards should get increasingly higher. In most cases, only award this point to the person who did the best roleplaying in the troupe.
* One point - lnternal Consistency: The player acted out her character's Nature and Demeanor very well and had magickal goals that complemented her Essence. While some players may find it tough to fulfill all three goals convincingly, those who properly present both their fa~ade and true self deserve a reward, as do those who represent their Essence appropriately and consistently.
* One point - Heroism: When a character puts herself at risk for others, such as when she suffers multiple aggravated wounds fighting a Nephandus long enough for the rest of the mages to escape, give her an experience point. Don't let characters take advantage of this, however. There's a fine line between heroism and stupidity.

At the end of each story, you can assign each player from one to three additional experience points in addition to the points they earned for completing the final chapter.

* One point - Success: The group succeeded in its mission or goal. lt may nor have been a complete success, but at least a marginal victory was achieved.
* One point - Danger: The character experienced great danger during the story and survived.
* One point - Wisdom: The player (and thus the character) exhibited great wits or resourcefulness and came up with an idea that enabled the group to succeed.

If you want to award your players even more points and let their characters develop more quickly, simply invent new award categories. These can even vary from story to story and can be based on the specific circumstances of each.

### **Experience Cost**

 New Sphere
 Willpower
 Knowledges
 Talents or Skills
 Attributes
 Tradition Specialty Sphere\*
 Other Sphere
 Arete\*\*

\*Hollow Ones always pay for a sphere in full, they have no Tradition Specialty.

\*\*Note that despite being able to level up arete, the Storyteller could prevent a mage from doing so if they believe that they haven't earned it (the mage has not been studying magick, or is not in the best terms with their Avatar).