(revised August 1, 2005 for MET
system)
The city of Nashville is divided into 5 territories. Prior to the venue's start, players will be chosen to play Primogen who control each of the 5 territories.
Each territory has several characteristics attributed to it. First, each territory produces a number of free blood points at the beginning of each game. These free blood points represent the amount of blood that can be quickly and easily acquired without any threat to the Masquerade. These free blood points are used to determine how much blood an individual vampire or a group of vampires have to use during the game. You will note that some areas produce more blood than others do. This is done to represent areas where feeding is especially easy.
Second, territories also produce modifiers to certain types of Allies or Contacts actions. These modifiers are called perks. For example, South East Nashville contains Nashville International Airport and thus provides a +5 bonus on actions related to transportation. However, in order to make use of the perk provided, your character must have at least one dot in Allies or Contacts that relates to the area the perk covers. So, your character can only apply the perk from South East Nashville if you undertake an Allies (Transportation) action or use your Contacts to gain information related to the area of transportation.
Your character must meet all of
the following requirements in order to have access to the territory perks:
· Must have at least one dot in the appropriate Allies (or
Contacts) category
· Must be using his allies to help control the mortals of the
territory * (see Territory Upkeep below)
· Must physically reside in the territory * (see Territory
Upkeep below)
· Must be patrolling the territory * (see Territory Upkeep
below)
· Must not be explicitly denied access to these perks by the
territory Primogen (or Controller)
* - Official Residents of a territory are doing all of these things
by default.
A character may never benefit
from the territory perks of more than one territory during a single month. If a character does not possess any allies
that could be used to help control the mortals of the territory in which he
resides, then he must not be using any of his allies to help control any other
territory.
Note: only Primary Player Characters attached to the local VSS count
for the purposes of Territory Upkeep and Contesting. In addition, if a character is not played at a game, and does not
submit a downtime for a consecutive 6 months, he no longer counts for the
purposes of Territory Upkeep and Contesting.
In order to successfully retain
control of a territory, a Primogen and her loyal subjects must have control
over its primary resources. The
Primogen and her residents must jointly possess a number of Allies dots equal
to the bonus produced by the territory.
If they do not have the required number of Allies dots at the end of any
given month, the territory bonus for the next month cannot be used.
For example: Our sample territory provides a +5 bonus to Crime allies, a +3 bonus to Police and a +1 bonus to Media. In order to control and use these bonuses, the Primogen and her residents must have a total of 5 dots in Crime allies, 3 dots in Police allies and 1 dot in Media allies. If they have only 4 dots in Crime at the end of March, none of the residents can use the Crime territory bonus in the month of April. Note that the Allies dots used to control a territory can still be used normally; their Downtime Actions are NOT spent for this purpose.
In order to retain control of the
blood supply of a territory, the Primogen must have a certain number of people
patrolling the streets. This represents their ability to keep track of the
blood supply and to detect intruders into their territory. Each territory is assigned a maximum number
of free blood, but the Primogen may not be able to patrol (and thus use) the
entire amount. He has access to 10 free
blood per PC Kindred resident of his territory. Every PC resident is able to patrol his Primogen's territory as a
free Downtime Action. For the purposes
of this calculation, a Primogen's residents (or other resources devoted to
patrolling) are counted at the end of the month. If they lack sufficient
resources to adequately patrol the territory, they receive a decreased amount
of free blood for the next month.
For example: our example territory can generate a maximum of 50 blood per month. However, there are only three PC Kindred (Beth is Primogen, plus Shela and William) who reside in that territory (including the Primogen). They automatically grant Primogen Beth access to 30 (10 * 3 residents) of the 50 blood available. Primogen Beth can then allocate those 30 blood as she sees fit. If the Beth can find a way to patrol the rest of her territory, she can gain access to the additional free blood in subsequent months.
A resident may choose NOT to patrol
their Primogen's territory, and not count their Allies toward the total
required to control the mortals of the territory. In
these cases, the Storyteller must be notified in writing that the character is
not contributing to the upkeep of the territory. Unless notified, all Residents are assumed to be
contributing. If a player elects not to
spend his free Patrol Downtime Action to patrol his Primogen's territory, he
forfeits use of that free action (it cannot be used to patrol another
territory). In addition, a Resident who elects not to support his
Primogen’s territory does not have access to the territory perks (allies
bonuses).
If a territory does not possess enough residents to patrol, there are other ways the territory can be patrolled.
Retainers: Residents can also
use their retainers to help a Primogen patrol his territory. However in order to be used in this fashion,
that retainer cannot do anything else for the month except patrol. This includes menial tasks such as driving
and delivery, as well as their Downtime Action. For each dot of retainer above the first, the Primogen can
control two additional blood. Some
would argue that this is a poor use of a retainer. For example: Shela is
an Invictus and has more retainers than she uses. Shela assigns a level 4 retainer to patrol the territory. Primogen Beth can now access an additional 6
(3 * 2 blood) blood per month (beginning next month), for a total of 36.
PC Ghouls: Count as level 5 retainers for the purposes of patrolling.
They may patrol as a free Downtime Action, and give their Primogen access to 8
blood per month.
Allies: Allies may also be used to patrol a territory. Patrolling counts as the Downtime Action for
that month, so the Ally cannot be used for any other purpose during the month
it is assigned to Patrol. Allies allow access to 1 blood per dot. Each category of Allies is considered a
separate entity and can only be assigned a single Downtime task. For example, William is a Carthian with
extensive Allies and Contacts. He has 3
dots in Allies (High Society), and 1 dot in Church (among others). William decides to assign his 3 dot High Society Allies to
patrolling the territory. This gives
Primogen Beth access to an additional 3 points of blood, for a total of
39. William cannot use his High Society allies for
that month, although he can still use his Church Allies normally. William could not have assigned only two of
his High Society Allies points to patrolling, because the level 3 Ally must
be used as a whole.
Handing off Downtime Actions: PCs can use their Downtime Actions to patrol another
Primogen's territory. While they can
patrol their own territory as a free action, patrolling another territory
counts as a Downtime Action. The free
patrol can only be used for the territory in which they reside. For Example: Mike lives in a different territory, but has made a bargain with
Primogen Beth. Mike helps her patrol
her territory, and she gives him 5 blood in return. Mike uses a Downtime Action for the month to patrol Beth's
territory. Now Primogen Beth has an
additional 10 blood she can control next month, for a total of 49. Beth dedicates one additional Ally to
patrol, and can now use all 50 of her territories free blood supply.
On occasion, vampires will want to vie for control of a given territory. A number of steps must be taken in order for a territory to be Officially Contested. Once these steps have been taken and the territory is Officially Contested, the amount of free blood it generates is reduced by half (round down). This lesser amount is then split equally among all of the contesting vampires, and their loyal subjects. While a territory is Contested it produces no perks (allies) whatsoever. The details for Contesting and Conquering territories are detailed in the Contesting and Conquering Territories document.
All vampires begin play with 5 blood plus one blood for every dot in Herd. This is to prevent a
situation where a room full of nearly frenzying predators occurs at every game.
Even the most unconnected vampire can manage to scrounge up just enough blood
to continue existing from night to
night. Herd is
represented in game by having a group of mortals whom the character can use as
a reliable source of blood. Using Herd
to obtain starting blood does not reduce the number of free blood available in
the territory. However, Herd cannot be
used to represent feeding in the Barrens.
Your Herd must be situated inside the Nashville city limits (in one of
the territories). Characters who are not Residents cannot have more than 2 dots
in Herd to represent the fact that they are effectively stealing blood. In the case of non-resident Herds, a
Ravaging Detection test may be performed at ST discretion. If the character does not have permission to
keep his Herd in that territory, there may be IC repercussions. A character may not have multiple small
herds in multiple territories.
Each territory generates free blood that is ultimately
controlled by the Primogen of the territory. Each Primogen is then capable of
awarding portions of this free blood to other kindred in the city. Primogen
commonly get favors and loyalty in return for the blood they can provide other
kindred, but to whom and how they doll out
their blood is up to each Primogen to decide. Once an amount of blood is given
to another kindred, that kindred is in control of the blood and may use it as
they see fit (which includes giving it away). Whenever a Primogen gives blood
both the Primogen's player, and the receiving player must record the
arrangement with the storyteller staff. This is the same for when a Primogen
takes back the blood they have given. The ST staff will not honor unrecorded transactions.
In addition to the blood which the Primogen provide other kindred, any perks produced by a territory are available to all characters loyal to the controlling Primogen, as the Primogen allows.
Note: The free blood points awarded by the Primogen are not actual bags of blood that the Primogen doles out every month. A territory with surplus blood does not have stacks of blood lying around, nor can it be stockpiled from month to month. In game, free blood is represented by the Primogen granting the Kindred exclusive feeding rights to a small area of their territory. The size of the area is relative to the number of free blood points the Primogen is awarding. Since no one else is feeding there, the blood is plentiful and masquerade safe.
Free Blood and Daeva Eminence
Additional rules apply
when the Daeva are Eminent in the city (page 292 of MET Requiem). Any resident Daeva always begin a game
session with full blood. This affects
the Primogen blood pool in the following manner: · Daeva must be fed first. If a Primogen is forced to spend all of his free blood
allocation in feeding the Daeva, no additional free blood can be allocated to
the other territory residents. · For
each two free blood points a Daeva receives, the Primogen is considered to
have allocated only 1 (round down). · If a territory runs out of blood before all the Daeva are full, all remaining Daeva in that territory are still at full blood. This represents their ability to safely find their own supply when they are Eminent. |
Each territory is assigned a set of bonuses to Allies that can be used by residents of that
territory. Each bonus applies only to a
specific type of Allies (for example: Criminals), and we call these the primary
categories of allies for the territory.
To increase the amount of blood produced by a territory, the residents
must file Downtime Actions using their Allies to grow the Territory blood pool.
Only the Primary categories of Allies can be used, and each category is tracked
separately. The categories are not
combined. Each Downtime Action adds a
number of points equal to the dots in Allies plus the territory bonus. When enough points are accumulated to equal
or exceed the current maximum blood pool of a territory, the territory Blood Pool can be increased by
1. All Accumulated points in that one
category are lost when the Blood Pool is increased.
For example: William’s territory produces a max of 50 blood, and gives a +5 to Crime, a +3 to Police and a +1 to Media. William has Crime Allies of 3 and Police of 1. He submits a territory growth Downtime action, using his Crime Allies and Police Allies to grow his territory’s blood supply. In that Downtime, the ST notes that William has contributed 8 points in Crime (3 + 5 territory bonus) and 4 points in Police (1 + 3 bonus) toward the growth of his territory's blood supply. That same month, Cindy contributes 6 (1 + 5 bonus). Their joint total is 14 points in Crime and 4 in Police. When the points in any of the three primary categories reach 50, the Territory blood supply is increased to 51. Any further growth must now meet the target of 51. Each category is tracked separately, they are not combined.
Note: For the purposes of growing
the blood supply, the Central territory is considered to have a third Primary
category (Media) that provides no bonus to allies (+0).
Not all vampires will be content with the blood that they receive from their Primogen. Some characters will also prefer to remain politically unaligned, and therefore will have less blood. If you desire for your character to have more blood than whatever he gains for free from his Primogen's territory, then your character must go feeding. Your character can gain blood in one of two styles: 1) hunting or 2) ravaging.
Feeding challenges are run as on page 230-231 of MET Requiem. Each feeding attempt is represented by
a single challenge. Add an
attribute + a skill as relevant for the described method of feeding. A single success
indicates that the character is able to find a suitable vessel. The character can then take as many points
of blood from that vessel as he chooses.
Storytellers are encouraged to enforce repercussions for taking too much
blood from any given vessel. Additional
rules and modifiers are applied based on whether the character is Hunting or
Ravaging. The standard maximum of +5/-5
for modifiers applies to all feeding challenges.
The free blood a territory generates represents the amount of blood that can be safely taken without any threat to a character's safety or the Masquerade. However, if a character still desires more blood and does not want to hunt outside of his Primogen's territory or raid another Primogen's territory, then he must hunt in the territory his Primogen controls. Hunting represents a character taking risky actions to draw more blood from the local population that could result in a breach of the Masquerade.
· If a character decides to go hunting in his Primogen's territory, conduct a normal Feeding challenge as described above and apply the following modifiers:
· Haven Location and Herd may be added in for this challenge as the proximity of trustworthy vessels and secure places to hunt mortals help protect the Masquerade.
· The Feeding modifiers listed in table 3.1 of MET Requiem are used for the feeding challenge. In addition, a character suffers a –1 penalty for each time he attempts to hunt in his Primogen territory after his first attempt.
Ravaging is the term for sneaking into another Primogen's territory and stealing blood from it. Ravaging uses similar systems to hunting. You can choose to have your character ravage another Primogen's territory to steal their blood at a risk to the Masquerade:
· Conduct a normal hunting challenge as described above, with the following modifiers:
· The test suffers a –2 penalty.
· Haven Location and Herd do not apply in this challenge as you are working in an area in which you do not normally hunt.
· Otherwise, the remaining
modifiers listed above still apply (including the –1 per feeding attempt after
the first).
Immediately after taking blood, conduct another challenge with the Storyteller. This second challenge is to help the Storyteller determine how well your character sneaks into a territory and feeds without being detected. The challenge should be conducted as follows:
Wits + Stealth
+1 for Obfuscate 3 or higher
+1 for Majesty 3 or higher
+1 for Dominate 3 or higher.
-1 for each blood point taken during the ravage.
-1 for each time he attempts to ravage a Primogen's territory after his first attempt.
If you draw a 1 during this challenge, the vampires who control the territory automatically become aware that you have raided their territory and taken some of their precious blood.
Otherwise, the Storyteller will record the number of successes you generate and will later conduct challenges with each of the territories occupants present at game that night to see if anyone detects your raid. The challenge to detect a ravage should be conducted as follows:
Intelligence + Investigation
+1 for Animalism 3 or higher
+1 for Auspex 3 or higher
+1 for every three points of Retainers dedicated to Patrolling the territory (see Patrolling,
above)
+1 for every three points of Allies
dedicated to Patrolling the territory (see Patrolling, above)
+1 for every point of Contacts
devoted to Watching for Ravaging (and Recon) during that month (note that
Watching for Ravaging counts as the Downtime Action for that Contact).
If any of the territory's occupants generate more successes than the ravaging vampire, then they discover that their area has been ravaged and will be given some clues to help them figure out who ravaged their Primogen's territory.
The value and clarity of the clues will depend on how many more successes they generated compared to the ravaging vampire.
If the ravaging vampire generates more successes then all of the territory's occupants attempting to detect him, he sneaks in and out of the sector without leaving any traces of his presence.
When comparing the successes generated by all players involved, ties are resolved in favor of the territory's occupants.
It is expected that characters from surrounding games will come to play in our game. We want to encourage people to visit as we feel it adds to our games, but we also want their characters to experience some of the same struggles Nashville vampires have to endure each night. Consequently, all visiting characters will draw a single card as a Feeding challenge. The visitor begins the game with a number of vitae equal to the card drawn plus Haven (Location) and Herd. Note that if the number drawn is less than 5, the visitor is assumed to have drawn a 5. A visiting character is permitted to Ravage for any blood he wishes to have during game in excess of the free blood he was granted. Any attempts to ravage are to resolve as described above.
Attempting to feed outside of Nashville may seem attractive, since no one claims these territories, and one could not be accused of stealing. However, they are unclaimed for a good reason. They are very poor feeding grounds, and finding human prey is very difficult. Finding animals is slightly easier, but animal blood does not nourish the vampire in the same manner. For the sake of simplicity, the area surrounding Nashville is considered to be a single "territory" (although there is no free blood and no other bonuses).
All areas outside of Nashville are considered to be the Barrens, and receive a negative 2 to feeding because vessels are scarce or particularly suspicious of others.
· Conduct a normal hunting challenge as described above (again, you suffer a –2 penalty, per the book. (Haven (location) and Herd cannot exist in the Barrens, and thus cannot be added to the challenge).
· The vampire receives a cumulative –2 penalty per feeding attempt after the first.
· In addition, the standard out-of-game time for feeding outside of Nashville is increased from a half-hour to one full hour per attempt.
If you desire to feed on animals, then the standard book
mechanics apply as outlined on pages 230-231 of MET
Requiem