Advantages&Flaws

<yambe:breadcrumb>Main_Page|Main Page</yambe:breadcrumb>

Backgrounds

Backgrounds describe advantages of relationship, circumstance, and opportunity: material possessions, social networks, and the like. Backgrounds are external, not internal, Traits, and the player should always rationalize how the character came to possess them, as well as what they represent. Who are your Contacts? Why do your Allies support you? Where did you meet your Retainers? What investments do you possess that yield your four dots in Resources? You don’t have to do all of that at first – but be ready with an answer when the Storyteller asks during play, or be ready to suggest an answer that ties into the ongoing storyline.

Backgrounds are discrete, not progressive, Traits. The same Background can be acquired multiple times.

Allies

Allies
Allies are mortals who support and help you: family, friends, or even a mortal organization that owes you some loyalty. Although Allies usually aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they have their own concerns and can do only so much for the sake of your relationship. Usually, Allies appear about once per story. Allies can be almost anyone in your home city, depending on what your Storyteller will allow. You may have friends in the precinct morgue, at a tabloid newspaper or gossip blog, among high society, or at the railroad yard. Allies are generally trustworthy (though they probably don’t know that you’re a vampire, or even that vampires exist). However, nothing comes for free. If you wind up drawing favors from your friend in the Russian Mafia, he’ll probably ask you to do him a favor in kind in the future. Enemies are the opposite of Allies and are taken as Flaws. You can use the Mortal Template rules to create Allies or Enemies when you buy them or first call on them, and you can write them down on the Relationship Map, though many groups leave this process up to the Storyteller. Build Allies or Enemies from a budget of points based on their Effectiveness and on their Reliability. The maximum points in one Ally is six. Ally or Enemy groups appear in numbers equal to the number of player characters. All Enemies are rated two fewer dots than their Effectiveness; a Gifted mortal Ally costs three dots as an Ally, but only provides one dot as a Flaw. Enemies all have the same Reliability: whenever the Storyteller thinks they should show up, but probably at least once per story. Effectiveness {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Weak mortal, likely useless in a violent or potentially violent situation. {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Average mortal or a tightknit group of Weak mortals (neighborhood kids who solve mysteries, church group, NGO chapter) {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Gifted mortal or a dangerous group of Average mortals (a street gang, a celebrity entourage, a blue-collar union local) {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Deadly mortal, a Gifted mortal with magic or other supernatural powers, or a well-armed group of Gifted mortals (a private security squad , a lawyer contingent, a Russian Mafia bratva) Reliability {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} When you call on them, they appear half the time. {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} When you call on them, they appear within 1-10 hours (roll a die). {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} When you call on them, they appear as soon as possible.

|}

Contacts

Contacts
Allies are mortals who support and help you: family, friends, or even a mortal organization that owes you some loyalty. Although Allies usually aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they have their own concerns and can do only so much for the sake of your relationship. Usually, Allies appear about once per story. Allies can be almost anyone in your home city, depending on what your Storyteller will allow. You may have friends in the precinct morgue, at a tabloid newspaper or gossip blog, among high society, or at the railroad yard. Allies are generally trustworthy (though they probably don’t know that you’re a vampire, or even that vampires exist). However, nothing comes for free. If you wind up drawing favors from your friend in the Russian Mafia, he’ll probably ask you to do him a favor in kind in the future. Enemies are the opposite of Allies and are taken as Flaws. You can use the Mortal Template rules to create Allies or Enemies when you buy them or first call on them, and you can write them down on the Relationship Map, though many groups leave this process up to the Storyteller. Build Allies or Enemies from a budget of points based on their Effectiveness and on their Reliability. The maximum points in one Ally is six. Ally or Enemy groups appear in numbers equal to the number of player characters. All Enemies are rated two fewer dots than their Effectiveness; a Gifted mortal Ally costs three dots as an Ally, but only provides one dot as a Flaw. Enemies all have the same Reliability: whenever the Storyteller thinks they should show up, but probably at least once per story. Effectiveness {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Weak mortal, likely useless in a violent or potentially violent situation. {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Average mortal or a tightknit group of Weak mortals (neighborhood kids who solve mysteries, church group, NGO chapter) {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Gifted mortal or a dangerous group of Average mortals (a street gang, a celebrity entourage, a blue-collar union local) {{#fornumargs: number	value	{{#loop: varname	1	{{#var: value }}	• }} }} Deadly mortal, a Gifted mortal with magic or other supernatural powers, or a well-armed group of Gifted mortals (a private security squad , a lawyer contingent, a Russian Mafia bratva)