Paying a blood price - the economics of Vitae in the Dark Metropolis

Blood (or “Vitae”, as most vampires call it) is the single most important thing in the unlife of a Kindred.  It lets you wake up from the death-like slumber that overtakes you every day, it knits your wounds closed when you are injured, and fuels many disciplines and devotions.  A lack of Vitae is a terrible thing, leaving a vampire on edge and more easily influenced by their Beast.  Go too long without blood, and you’ll sucumb to frenzy or fall into the nightmare sleep of torpor.

So, unsurprisingly, every vampire wants to make sure they can get Vitae when they need it.  Some rent feeding grounds from the city’s Barons, carefully cultivating these good spots to hunt so they can take what they need at their leisure.  Of course, this comes at a price in either Sang (see our post on the Blood Bank) or favours, and means that your enemies know where to find you.  Others build herds around themselves, select groups of humans they can easily feed from who crave the sensations of the Kiss.  But these come with their own problems, and can stress the boundaries of the Masquerade if taken too far.  And as a last resort you can take to the city’s streets to hunt yourself a vessel, but either you need to seek permission or make sure you don’t get caught in someone else’s territory...

Whatever the case, Vitae drives Kindred society, particularly in the Low Court.  The High Court have had time to build their resources, chose the best feeding grounds for themselves, and carefully indoctrinate their herds, so can maintain the illusion of being above such petty concerns as where their next meal is coming from.  It’s rare that any Low Court Kindred has that luxury.

Vitae in the game

Times are tough in the Low Court of the Dark Metropolis, and the starting Vitae rules reflect that.  At the start of each game, every PC gets just 1 Vitae automatically.  However, there are a number of ways of improving on this:

• Renting a Feeding Ground (as represented by the Merit of the same name) gets you its dot rating + 1 in extra Vitae at the start of every game.
• Each dot in the Herd Merit gets you an extra Vitae at the start of every game.
• Using a downtime action to hunt gets you between 2 and 4 Vitae, depending on which District of the city you’re hunting in.  Some areas of the city are better for hunting than others.  Hunting in a District without permission may cause issues of its own, and too many Kindred hunting in the same place in a given downtime may start to threaten the Masquerade…

There are a few things that can negatively affect your starting Vitae.

• If you were starving (2 or fewer Vitae) at the end of the previous game, you take -1 to your starting Vitae.
• Each NPC ghoul you maintain gives you -1 to your starting Vitae each game.  (PC ghouls are a little more complicated - contact the STs for more details if this is relevant to you.)
• Healing damage in downtime will impact your starting Vitae.  You take -1 to your starting Vitae for every level of Lethal damage or every two levels of Bashing damage you heal in downtime.  You take -5 to your starting Vitae for every level of Aggravated damage you heal in downtime.  It’s good to know a Night Doctor at times like those…
• Using Vitae for Disciplines or other purposes during downtime may have an impact on your starting Vitae.

In general, these modifiers won’t take you below 1 Vitae at the start of a game, but you can’t heal damage or maintain ghouls you don’t have the Vitae to pay for.

If a player hasn't submitted a downtime before a given game, we will assume they spend a downtime action hunting and give them 2 extra Vitae at the start of the game.

Feeding Grounds

Feeding grounds are choice bits of territory in the city.  The Prince has divided the city into seven Regencies.  The Regents then appoint Barons to oversee the districts of their Regency.  The Barons in turn lease small parcels of territory (the feeding grounds) to individual Kindred for a reasonable rent.  Or not-so-reasonable, depending on the Baron’s mood and how well they like you...

So, how does this work mechanically?  To buy dots in the Feeding Ground Merit, you need at least 1 dot of City Status.  A Feeding Ground gives you its dot rating + 1 in points of Vitae at the start of each game.  Approximately every six months, your rent is due (timed to coincide with one of the two major festivals celebrated by the Kindred of Norwich), which will usually be 1 Sang per dot of the Feeding Ground Merit.  Of course, that may vary from territory to territory and depend on how much the Baron likes or dislikes your character...

Every District of the city has a limit to the number of dots of Feeding Ground available, so you’ll be competing with other Kindred for territory rights.  The more prestigious the area, or the easier to feed within, the more Kindred who’ll want to live there.

We’ll be keeping track of where in the city each PC has their Feeding Grounds (if any).  Keep an eye on this blog for more about the city, its Regencies and districts in the near future!

One major advantage of renting a Feeding Ground is you can let other Kindred draw on its resources.  While this gets you less Vitae, giving another Kindred access to your Feeding Grounds can be a powerful bargaining chip or payment for services rendered.  Maybe you even do it just out of the kindness of your heart, although Kindred are rarely known for their selfless natures.

Whatever your reasons for doing so, the rules work the same.  The slightly confusing table below shows the amount of Vitae each character gets from using a Feeding Ground, based on the number of characters accessing the Feeding Ground in a given downtime.

Feeding Ground dots	Number of Kindred using the Feeding Ground
	1	2	3	4	5
1 dot	2 Vitae	1 Vitae	-	-	-
2 dots	3 Vitae	2 Vitae	1 Vitae	-	-
3 dots	4 Vitae	3 Vitae	2 Vitae	1 Vitae	-
4 dots	5 Vitae	4 Vitae	3 Vitae	2 Vitae	1 Vitae
5 dots	6 Vitae	5 Vitae	4 Vitae	3 Vitae	2 Vitae

Needless to say, 4 and 5 dot Feeding Grounds are highly sought after and jealously guarded by those who rent them.  And there’s always the risk of uninvited guests poaching on your territory...

Herds

Herds represent a more personal resource than a Feeding Ground.  Rather than renting an area of territory, a herd is a group of people (usually) that the vampire can feed from with ease.  Herds represent a more personal relationship with your vessels than the anonymous prey of a Feeding Ground, which has both benefits and disadvantages.  It’s much easier to keep track of a herd than a chunk of the city, and easier to spot when things are going wrong.  But equally herds have this unfortunate tendency to get attached, and are by their nature a borderline infringement on the Masquerade.  After all, there’s a limit to the number of times that someone can be fed from before they start asking some awkward questions.

Mechanically, each dot in the Herd Merit gives 1 extra Vitae at the start of every game.  That’s a little less than a Feeding Ground, but you don’t need to have City Status or pay rent to have a Herd.  The ST team are keen to know who your Herd are, so we can help to work them into your character’s story.

Hunting in downtime

Sometimes the Vitae you get from your feeding grounds and herd might not be enough.  Or maybe you don’t have either of those resources for whatever reason.  With some time, effort and a little luck, a Kindred can get a little extra Vitae by hunting.  It’s hard work and riskier than having a feeding ground to herd to rely on, but sometimes you need just a little more Vitae…

By spending a downtime action on hunting, you can get some extra Vitae at the start of the game.  There’s a few steps to this process:

• Choose which District of the city you’re hunting in.  If you've got permission to hunt there from a resident or Baron, make a note of that in your downtime action, as poaching is a notably riskier proposition...
• You get an amount of Vitae based on the quality of that District. This ranges from 2 for barren districts, to 3 for “average” districts, to 4 for districts where hunting opportunities are abundant.  You get 5 Vitae for hunting in a Rack, but Racks come with their own issues.
• Each Kindred beyond the first taking a Hunting Downtime Action in that District lowers the Vitae received by 1 for all Kindred hunting in the area that downtime, to a minimum of 1 Vitae each.
  (Example: Two Kindred both hunting in an average district receive 2 Vitae each (3-1), three Kindred hunting in an average district get 1 Vitae each (3-2), four or more Kindred hunting in an average district get 1 Vitae each (3-3, to a minimum of 1) and inflict the Stressed Condition on the District (see below).)
• If the Vitae value of a District is reduced to 0 by too many Kindred feeding, a Masquerade issue has occurred - the District has become Stressed.  This isn't good…

A District that has become Stressed becomes harder to feed in as the people get more wary and subconsciously aware that there’s something out there in the night.  A Stressed District drops in quality by one (abundant districts become average, average districts become barren, and barren districts offer very little Vitae) until a downtime has passed with no Kindred taking a Hunting Downtime Action there or PCs take suitable action to correct the problem.

If a currently Stressed District is Stressed again, it falls into Crisis and more significant Masquerade issues occur.  This is very bad news, and is likely to draw the attention of the Regent and other High Court authorities along with potentially other groups like the police or mortal hunters.  Getting a district out of Crisis is likely to be a significant plot in its own right.

Racks

A number of areas of the city are designated as Racks.  These are particularly plentiful areas for hunting, and so are generally quite tightly controlled by the Regents.  They’re a resource for the city, and permission to feed in them is usually reserved for visiting Kindred, newly arrived or Embraced Kindred who are still finding their feet, or as a reward for services to the city’s elders.    We’ll have more information about Racks in the near future as part of our setting information about Dark Metropolis Norwich.

The Blood Bank and Sang

We’ve talked about the Kindred institution of the Sanguinarium (more commonly known as the Blood Bank) earlier on this blog.  However, there are a few more details that we’d like to discuss here.

Any Kindred in good standing (City Status 1+) can make use of the Blood Bank, although under certain rare circumstances the Bank’s Governor has barred a particular Kindred from using its services in the past - usually for attempted thefts or fraud.

Once you’re at the bank and speaking to one of the clerks, turning Vitae into Sang takes a few minutes to do, as the mystical process requires the Kindred “depositing” their Vitae to fill out a short contract detailing their transaction.  The Blood Bank has a surcharge of 1 Vitae per transaction, meaning that larger deposits are more efficient - many neonates grumble that this costs them disproportionately, while the High Court stays conspicuously quiet on the topic.  Under no circumstances will the Blood Bank allow a Kindred to drain themselves of the last of their Vitae as part of this process, and attempts to do so may result in a temporary or permanent suspension of the Bank’s services to that Kindred.

Once the contract is completed, the Vitae is mystically transferred from the Kindred making the deposit to the Bank’s vaults - something that only the most trusted employees of the Sanguinarium will ever see.  In return, they’ll be issued with Sang to the value of their deposit.

It’s worth noting that the Blood Bank has limited business hours, usually closing its doors before most Kindred gatherings end for the night.  As such, those wanting to do business with the Sanguinarium should do so earlier rather than later.

By focusing on Sang in their possession, a Kindred can tap into the contract it represents and “withdraw” Vitae of equivalent value into their body.  This takes an Instant action per point of Vitae transferred in this way, making Sang not the best option to rely on when time is a pressing concern…

The Vitae gained from Sang is neutral, carrying no risk of the vinculum or blood addition with it.  It counts as Kindred Vitae for sustenance purposes, making it very useful to Kindred who have particularly potent blood themselves.

Development Notes

We wanted to make Vitae a valuable resource in the Dark Metropolis chronicle, and build something of an economy around it.  To do this, we needed to make it a scarce resource, hence our rules for starting Vitae.

With Vitae being scarce and valuable, it also means that certain actions have immediately meaningful consequences into the game.  Having to make extensive use of your Disciplines to fix a potential Masquerade breach carries a cost, and getting into a fight will leave wounds that won’t heal without the use of blood.

We hope that Sang will prove a useful currency to PCs, allowing for more of a back and forth of small transactions between characters than Boons allow.  Of course, Boons still have a significant value of their own, particularly when it comes to dealing with the High Court.

This is an experimental system, and the ST team may well adjust the numbers presented in this blog post to suit the needs of the game as things develop in play.  We’ll be sure to keep everyone informed of any changes we make however.

It's a character building experience - Experiences, Beats and Aspirations in Dark Metropolis

In the World of Darkness, your character learns and adapts to the world - after all, if they don’t, things will likely get worse before they get better. This is represented by Experiences, which are earned by playing (and surviving) and can be spent to make your character better at things or increase their influence.

The Blood and Smoke rules make some sizeable changes to the character advancement rules for Vampire: the Requiem.  We've provided a summary of those changes below, along with how we’re planning on implementing those rules in Dark Metropolis.

Beats are the individual moments of character development, when a character learns from their failure, suffers the consequences of someone else’s actions or achieves a goal that they have been working towards. These add up into Experiences that change your character’s ability to interact with the world.

Aspirations are the goals your character has, consciously or unconsciously, and they learn things by achieving these goals. You as the player set these goals with the intention of making the game fun for you and others. Your character gains Beats for fulfilling their aspirations.

We’ll go into more detail about these below.

Experiences:

Experience Points (XP) are replaced with Experiences.  Rather than having a multiplying cost to buy higher dots in a given trait, you pay a single flat cost for increasing a given trait.

Experience costs are listed below:

• Attribute: 4 Experiences per dot
• Merit: 1 Experience per dot
• Skill Specialty: 1 Experience
• Skill: 2 Experiences per dot
• Clan Discipline: 3 Experiences per dot
• Out-of-Clan Discipline: 4 Experiences per dot
• Coil of the Dragon (within chosen Mystery): 3 Experiences per dot
• Coil of the Dragon (outside chosen Mystery): 4 Experiences per dot
•  Crúac: 4 Experiences per dot
• Theban Sorcery: 4 Experiences per dot
• Blood Sorcery Ritual: 2 Experiences
• Scale of the Dragon: 2 Experiences
• Humanity: 2 Experiences per dot
• Blood Potency: 5 Experiences per dot
• Lost Willpower dot: 1 Experience

Example: Buying your first dot of a Skill would cost 2 Experiences.  Buying your second dot of that Skill would cost 2 more Experiences.  Buying all five dots in a Skill would cost a total of 10 Experiences (and a few downtimes!).

Beats:

Beats represents moments of character growth, or challenging situations your character learns from.  You can earn Beats in a variety of ways, and you can trade in five Beats for an Experience.

Ways of gaining Beats:

• Fulfilling an Aspiration.
• Resolving a Condition.
• Meeting the Beat criteria for a persistent Condition.
• Turning a failure into a Dramatic Failure.
• Taking damage in one of your last three Health boxes.  (Vampires and ghouls do not gain Beats from Bashing damage.)
• Risking Humanity detachment.
• Entering frenzy (not Riding the Wave).

All Beats can only come from dramatic situations with consequences, so you can’t “farm” Beats from no-risk situations. Each player can gain up to a maximum of five Beats from each cycle (a game and downtime period) - see below.

During the game, if you feel that you have earned a Beat by any of the above means then note it down on your character sheet including how you feel you earned it. At the end of the game, during sign-out, inform your ST how many Beats you earned and how. They may ask you further questions about how this came about. Only STs can dispense and approve Beats, though many of the above situations should already warrant getting an ST to oversee them!

Character Advancement:

Every character gains 1 Experience for each game that takes place.  This Experience award is automatic, and a character doesn't need to have attended that game to gain this automatic Experience.  In addition, this automatic Experience will be added to the Experiences that all new characters start with.  (So after three games, new characters will start with 3 extra Experiences.)

Characters can earn Beats in addition to this automatic Experience however, through the means listed above.  A character can gain a maximum of 5 Beats in any given game and downtime cycle, and only once for each of the ways of gaining Beats listed above, with a couple of exceptions:

• If you resolve several different Conditions, you gain a Beat for each individual Condition you resolve.  (Or meet the Beat criteria for in the case of persistent Conditions.)
• You can potentially earn up to three Beats by fulfilling all three of your Aspirations.

Aspirations:

Aspirations are a new game mechanic in Blood and Smoke that serves two purposes.  Firstly, they’re one of the major ways of gaining Beats (and so Experiences) in the game, so play an important role in character advancement.  Secondly, although no less importantly, they work as a reminder to both you and the STs about what your character is trying to achieve, and where their priorities currently lie.

Aspirations are simple statements of intent – things that you can accomplish in the game (in uptime or downtime).  However, we've got some recommendations on what makes a good Aspiration, and some guidelines on how to create them.

Aspirations should be active accomplishments, not avoiding specific behaviours.  So, “Do not betray my friends” isn't a suitable Aspiration.  “Prove my loyalty to my friends” is – although it’s still quite vague.

Try to be specific about what you’re trying to accomplish.  Using the example above “Prove my loyalty to my friends” gives a general idea of your goals, but lacks specifics.  You might turn that into “Help my coterie find a new Haven”, “Steal an artefact from my friend’s rival”, “Be injured protecting my friends”, or any number of other goals.

All characters have three Aspirations, but we’re providing a bit of extra structure in Dark Metropolis.  Of your three Aspirations:

• At least one of your Aspirations should involve another PC.  Speak to the player in question to figure out what would be a fun goal for you both.
• At least one Aspiration should deal with your relationship with the mortal world.
• At least one Aspiration should reflect your Kindred existence.
• One of your Aspirations should be something you plan on achieving in uptime at your next game.  It doesn't have to be wildly ambitious, but it’s a clear flag to both you and the STs of what you’re hoping to do!
• One of your Aspirations should be a step towards a longer-term goal.

Some sample Aspirations are included below:

• Learn a secret about one of the Harpies
• Develop a new Cruac ritual.
• Buy out my competitor’s business

Uptime Aspirations should be limited in scope, and focused on goals that you can realistically accomplish.  Examples might include:

• Perform a Cruac ritual in front of the Court
• Talk to another Kindred about my “scientific” experiments
• Pass a new piece of information on to a Harpy

Long-term goals generally benefit from being split into small, shorter-term Aspirations.  As an example, your character might want to become a Harpy – an achievable but significant undertaking.  You could break that down into the following Aspirations:

• Tell a Harpy a secret you know
• Get a Boon from a Harpy
• Find out an embarrassing secret about a Harpy

And so on.  If you’re not sure how to break down a goal into Aspiration-sized chunks, the STs will be happy to offer advice.

Finally, it’s worth noting that not all Aspirations have to be positive.  Aspirations like “Succumb to frenzy in front of my rivals”, “Fail at an exorcism”, or “Lose a fight” are all valid Aspirations if that’s the story you want to tell!

Choosing new Aspirations:

When you've completed an Aspiration, you gain a Beat and it’s removed from your character sheet.  During your next downtime period you can choose a new Aspiration to replace it.  Aspirations should be emailed through to the Storyteller team before the downtime deadline, so you can potentially start working towards them in your downtime.

If you decide that an Aspiration is no longer suitable for your character, or impossible to complete, email the Storyteller team and we’ll help you pick a new one.

Development Notes

We want to remove the pressure of participating-to-earn-XP. We feel that players should be attending games or submitting downtimes to play the game, not solely to earn Experiences!

We also feel that the Beats system encourages thoughtful, reflective and considerate play. Inflicting Conditions on each other stops being antagonistic and instead can be fun and cooperative, giving each other opportunities to earn Beats. In our experience, live games are at their best when players think about how to further their character’s story in a risk-embracing way, so encouraging players to take risks and allow ‘bad’ things to happen to their character to earn Beats will keep things fun and exciting! Earning Beats by fulfilling Aspirations will hopefully encourage players to make sure their Aspirations are both relevant and achievable.

It’s not about rewarding the people who roleplay loudest - many of the methods of earning Beats do not require you to be loud or super confident or take all the ST’s attention. There’s an unlimited supply of Beats, so it’s not a competition!

Remember, not all methods of earning Beats need STs to be present at the time - for some you will be able to explain to us after the game what happened and we will very likely confirm it for you.

In short, we want to take off the pressure to turn up, but once you are in the room, playing Dark Metropolis, we want to give you as much incentive as possible to play hard, to be enthusiastic and engaged, and to help others gain Beats and be helped in return.

Backstories

It’s normally around this stage of the character creation process (you have your concept! Your character sheet is imminent!) that you start thinking about your character’s backstory.

For Dark Metropolis, we would like you to take the word ‘Backstory’, put it in a small box, and store that box safely away in a shadowed, forgotten corner, because we don’t want your character’s ‘Backstory’, at least, not as it is conventionally understood. We’re doing things a little differently!

Why are we making this change?

Backstories can be fun, exciting and interesting things that give the STs further insight into a character and their motivations.

But:

What do they actually add to the game?

Many times we have seen absolutely fascinating backstories never, ever come into play in the course of a game. We have seen bids for plot hooks in the form of mysteries within backstory that don’t inform us, the STs, of what the player wants, so we focus on other stories we know how to tell. We have seen hugely complex arcs completed within backstory: emotional journeys, betrayals, character growth and development that is only on paper and never ‘on-screen’. We’ve seen great seeds for plots that do develop in game, but are so personal to the character that it becomes a show for one, the character either only pursuing it in downtime, or by themselves during games.

In all of these cases, we see interesting stories that, because of the way they are presented, never get told. And we want Dark Metropolis to be all about working together to tell these stories.

The traditional Backstory tends to focus on:

-What has happened to the character in the past
-Relationships or people no longer relevant to the character
-Events that could have been interesting to explore in play
-Lots of detail on things that do not inform or add to present play
-Creating lots of specifics that may preclude being flexible with the character to involve others
-Mysteries that involve it being a mystery to the player as well, leaving the STs with nowhere to start seeding plot
-Mysteries with a very short-term or narrow arc
-Mysteries with a single access point for play that do may not fit to the game the STs want to run

So how are we changing things for Dark Metropolis?

So what we want from you is a little different. We want to focus on:

-Current relationships with PCs and NPCs
-How your character lives and survives
-How their past informs their present in a very concrete way, and how that impacts their choices and priorities
-What is happening to them now
-What journeys they are taking, and how you can see them developing in the future.
-Leaving openings and flexibility to be collaborative with others, especially newer characters
It’s also important noting that in Dark Metropolis, all of the characters are a lot younger. There’s not as much history to each character as there can be in another game, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all!

And of course, past events hugely inform present circumstances and motivations, so we’re not going to be avoiding talking about your character’s history. Far from it! But as you’ll see, we’re going to be relating past experiences much more closely to the game, and the stories of others.

How are we going to do this?

At the 2nd development session we will have a pro forma we would like you to fill out about your character, which will include feeding habits, where they live, and what sort of things they do with their nights. In addition to this, all players will answer some questions about their character’s past!
We’ve broadly categorized different points of a character’s past life into the following stages:

-Human life
-The Embrace
-Recent Unlife

For each of these stages we have a number of different leading questions that we hope will inspire you to develop various aspects of your character, in a way that also creates links with other characters. Fans of the Apocalypse engine game Monsterhearts may recognise this approach!

We would like you to pick 2 questions from each category and start thinking about answers to them. You don’t have to pick them out now; you can decide on Satuday. We would recommend leaving definite answers until the character development session on Saturday 29th November: as you will see, answering most questions will end up involving you in other characters’ lives!

Human Life
How did another PC save your life when you were mortal?
What happened when another PC fed from you when you were human?
How does another PC remind you of someone from your mortal life?
What connection does another PC have with one of your Touchstones?
What action do you still feel guilty about committing as a mortal?
What terrible thing happened the last time you saw your mortal family?
How did another PC try to ruin your mortal life while you were still alive?
How did a relative of yours find out that you are a vampire, and what did you do?
What PC is jealous of (or helped you attain) your greatest mortal achievement?
Which PC do you need to keep your mortal family away from, and why?

The Embrace
How did another PC interfere with your Embrace?
Who witnessed your Embrace without you or your sire’s knowledge?
What secret is your sire keeping from you?
What are you keeping secret about the circumstances of your Embrace?
Why didn’t your sire embrace their first choice of childe?
Why is the identity of your sire a secret?
What went wrong during your Embrace?
Why did you almost refuse to be Embraced, and why were you ultimately Embraced?
How did you convince your sire to Embrace you despite their misgivings?
Why are you embarrassed about the circumstances of your Embrace?

Recent Unlife
How did the person who recruited you into your Covenant convince you to join?
Why is another PC your rival?
Why is another PC your closest ally?
Which Clanmate, PC or NPC, do you look up to as a perfect example of the Clan and why?
To what depths have you sunk to keep your Kindred and mortal life separate?
What shames you about how you feed?
Who stole territory from you?
Which PC knows about the thing or person you value most?
Who did you kill when feeding?
What enemy did you make when claiming territory for yourself?

A final note:
If you’ve already started making a traditional backstory, think about the following questions:
-If it’s in your character’s backstory, can it be in their present story instead?
-If you’re making up characters (especially Kindred characters), how can they link to the wider setting and to other people’s stories? Would it be more interesting to talk to the STs and incorporate NPCs as a core part of the setting?
-Do you need to pin down every detail of their life right now, especially their mortal life?
-Have you remembered to think about the realities of their present? Things like:
                -Who do you know?
                -What are you doing?
                -Why are you doing it?
                -How do you feed?
                -Where do you live?

FAQ: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the Frequently Asked Questions!

Part 1 can be found here.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask on Facebook or to email us at shadesofnorwichdarkmetropolis@gmail.com.

Bloodlines

What bloodlines are/are not allowed?

For a detailed list of which bloodlines are available for play, the Bloodlines blogpost can be found here http://shadesofnorwich.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/its-all-in-family-bloodlines-in-dark.html . These are the factors that we discussed when making our decisions:

- It's very unlikely that we'll be including bloodlines that are heavily tied to specific locations/countries/continents outside of the UK and Europe.

- Bloodlines that are inherently linked to the upper echelons of Kindred Society will probably be restricted to the High Court - so at the very least, tricky for a Low Court PC to find an Avus for…

- Some bloodlines will be NPC only or will only be accessed after startup with an NPC mentor.

- Bloodlines that involve topics we don't want to include in the game (sexual violence, child abuse, and so on) will be removed from the setting entirely.

Any bloodline with its own discipline will require some mechanical conversion to work in Blood and Smoke.

Can I start in a bloodline or do I need to find someone in it?

It will depend on the bloodline in question. We don't want to rule out the option of PCs starting as members of a bloodline, but we generally feel that the process of joining a bloodline would be best done in play.

As we have said before, it’s worth coming up with concepts sans bloodline and then talking to us about the possibility of adding one, either before or after starting play. There will be more bloodlines available to enter in play than at start up.

Can I play a covenant specific bloodline outside of that covenant?

Pitch us the concept, and we'll discuss it.  Generally, we'd prefer to keep bloodlines specifically tied to a given covenant to that covenant, but ultimately it's a question of what we think will bring the most to the game and whether or not the Dark Metropolis-specific aspects of Covenants make a difference to the bloodline’s guidelines.

Custom Content

Can I start my own bloodline?

We'd be happy to have this as a chronicle-length character goal, although as with any goal that includes developing custom mechanics or adding a significant element to the setting, we'd want to discuss it with you in detail.  It's worth keeping in mind that this will require you to buy Blood Potency 6, which is no small investment of Experiences!

Can I make a custom discipline? Hey I have cool idea for a new ritual/coil/devotion?

Custom disciplines can potentially be developed as part of a new bloodline (and only as part of a new bloodline).  We fully expect players to develop new Cruac and Theban Sorcery rituals, Scales (and potentially Coils) of the Dragon, and Devotions during play, although as with all custom mechanics this will require in depth collaboration with the ST team.

This merit (cool mortal only/Changeling/other supernatural merit) would really work for me but I'm not allowed it. Are you open for negotiation on this matter?

We are planning on limiting our mechanics to those found in Blood and Smoke, with the possible addition of the Merits from the God Machine Chronicles Rules Update.  We want to avoid too many additional rules beyond that, so while we are open to discussion on characterful mechanics, don’t base your character concept on being allowed an obscure merit or power.

Generally speaking, we will only convert Requiem 1st Edition rules into Blood and Smoke if we feel they notably add to the game. If there’s something in particular you think would add to the game then please email us with plenty of time, but it will be up to the ST team.

Can I reskin merits?

Bloodlines excepting, we will only be using the God Machine Chronicle and Blood and Smoke books as source material, so merits from New World of Darkness 1st Edition will not be in play unless specifically brought in by the ST team.

Any merits from the God Machine Chronicle book that state explicit prerequisites that preclude use by vampires (such as the supernatural merits, which require the character to be mortal) will not be available.

If you are hoping to alter the flavour of a GMC or Blood and Smoke merit for which you meet the prerequisites, as long at the mechanical aspects of the rules remain the same, we don’t mind you describing your merit as best fits your character.  However, we’d recommend running any such changes past the ST team first, to make sure they fit with the tone of the game.

Rules

Can I use the magic rules from Blood Sorcery instead?

No. We will be using the Cruac and Theban Sorcery rules presented in Blood and Smoke, although we may use Blood Sorcery as a guideline for developing new rituals.

How are the covenant special privileges going to change? Cruac, xp costs, etc.

We are planning on using the covenant benefits (and XP costs) presented in the Blood and Smoke rulebook.  So the Carthians can benefit from Carthian Law, the Circle of the Crone get Cruac, the Invictus have a range of Oaths, the Lancea Sanctum study Theban Sorcery, and the Ordo Dracul experiment with Coils and Scales of the Dragon.  There are also covenant-specific Merits available to every Covenant.

It's worth noting that the game mechanics for all of the above have changed substantially (as have the Disciplines), so we'd strongly recommend getting hold of a copy of Blood and Smoke to familiarise yourself with the new rules..

How much Resources/Luxury/Retainer is feasible for a player character?

Resources can be potentially up to 5 dots - after all, they are more applicable to the Kine world than the Kindred one. Having lots of money or a yacht isn't going to have a huge effect on your position in the Kindred court, because the currencies of the Kindred Court are very different from those of the Kine world. Besides, you’ll be among plenty of other Kindred who have built up vast fortunes over their Requiems. Although, getting filthy rich will come with its own issues!  Blood and Smoke streamlines the systems for Resources and Retainers, so we're not currently planning on including the Luxury merit in Dark Metropolis.

The rules for Retainers have been modified significantly in Blood and Smoke, so it’s worth reading through them.

Remember that no trait may be at 5 at character creation.

Will stuff from the Secrets of the Covenants book be available, providing it is out on time?

We will want to fully review the new rules presented in Secrets of the Covenants before making any decision.  By default, we will be using the rules in Blood and Smoke, with any additional rules brought in on a case by case basis.

Any usage of Damnation City style merits for territory?

Blood and Smoke includes the Feeding Ground merit as part of its core rules, which will be the main mechanic we will be using for holding territory.  On the ST side of things, we are heavily inspired by the Districts system in Damnation City, and will using rules from it to mechanically describe areas of the city.  PCs may well be able to affect the qualities of an area via their actions, for good or ill!

With the difference between 2nd and 1st edition rules, if you allow anything from the splatbooks, how heavily, if at all will you be modifying mechanics from them?

We will be sticking to the rules found in Blood and Smoke (and the God Machine Chronicle where appropriate) as closely as possible, and generally those will be the options available at character creation.  If we bring in any materials from 1st edition Vampire: the Requiem we will rewrite them to fit with the new system.

How will territories be represented in game terms?

On PCs' character sheets, they will be mainly represented via the Feeding Grounds merit.  Other qualities of the District will be managed by the STs, and PC and NPC actions may positively or negatively influence an area.

There will be three levels of ‘territory’: the Regency; the Districts, ruled by landlords (called Barons) who rent from the Regents; PC Feeding Grounds and Havens are within these Districts, rented from the Barons. There is the possibility for PCs to become Barons within the course of the game and rent to other PCs and NPCs, though we’re still working out the full system.

There are seven Regencies plus the Prince’s Lands (which PCs won’t be able to rent in); within each Regency there are 2-4 Districts; within each District, there will be a limited number of dots of Feeding Grounds that PCs can potentially rent. Sounds a bit like Monopoly? Partly this is a game like resource management.

We will be releasing more information about the Regencies and the Districts therein at a later date.

Considering the youth of the PCs, are you discouraging characters to start with Blood Potency higher than 1?

We're not discouraging higher Blood Potency, but it is a significant investment of Merit dots that will limit other possibilities at character creation. Putting all 10 starting Merit dots into buying Blood Potency 3 will heavily limit was other resources (including sources of Vitae) that character can access.

How are fighting styles working?

Fighting Styles Merits will work according to the rules in Blood and Smoke (or the God Machine Chronicle Rules Update, where appropriate).

Setting

Will there be a VSS?

In spirit, but not in name, as we feel it’s a tool better suited to the IoD. We will be producing a document clearly outlining our intended themes and tones for the game, as well as subject matter we specifically want to avoid.

What is uk gun law like? How hard is it to get a pistol/shotgun/smg/assault rifle?

UK gun law is the same as the modern day. Its about as easy to acquire an illegal firearm as it is in the real world - namely, you need a lot of money, need to know the right people, and be willing to accept that the gun has probably been used in several other crimes before it gets to you unless you're willing to pay an awful lot more for it.

Can I play an ex police guy? Can I play an ex military guy? Can I play an ex special forces guy? Can a play an ex spy?

We're happy to consider any of the above where it makes sense with the general concept.  While we expect PCs to have Allies and other contact with the police of the city, we are unlikely to let any PC have Allies or other influence in the military or an intelligence agency. National influence of any kind isn’t something a character can come in with. It’s strictly a local game.

Can I open carry a (gun)? Can I legally concealed carry a (gun)?

No, gun law is as per modern day UK. Being found carrying an illegal firearm will result in very major legal issues.

Are there any notable IC laws other than the traditions? inc. Perversion. Territory/havens. Ghouls. masquerade + non vampires. Murder of kindred. use of powers on kindred. feeding restrictions, etc?

The Traditions are the main laws of the City, along with the the law “Only the Prince may pass a sentence of Final Death”. Killing another Kindred without the Prince’s permission is seen as a direct challenge to the Prince’s authority, and will be dealt with harshly.  Allowances will be made for killing in self-defence or in an involuntary frenzy, but any Kindred who kills another will receive significant social stigma. Immortal creatures don’t like to be reminded that they can die, after all.

Kindred can and do bring non-territory-related cases against other Kindred to the Sheriff, hoping for a ruling from the Sheriff’s office and the Prince - but once the Prince has ruled, that’s it.  As a general rule of thumb, the Prince’s word is law, and the Prince’s word is final.

Regents and Barons may have their own laws that apply to their Regency or District. These are handled on a case-by-case basis, and generally handled locally.  Of course, a Regent or Baron can appeal to the Prince for the assistance of the Sheriff or Hounds to help enforce their law if needed. Local Regency and District laws will be included in the write-ups for that area.

Could we have a little more info about boons (what, why, worth, politics, views, ect) within the chronicle please?

The ST team is planning on releasing more information about Boons and the economy of Dark Metropolis. We have many thoughts on this subject, so look forward to a blog post soon!

During the Chronicle

If I kill another PC am I going to greet the sunrise?

Killing another Kindred is a very serious crime in Dark Metropolis Norwich, as only the Prince legally holds the power to put a Kindred to Final Death.  If you're caught, the murder of another Kindred will almost certainly be the end of your character's story, unless there are particularly persuasive extenuating circumstances.

On an OoC basis, both players involved need to be willing for a PC to meet Final Death.  Character vs character conflict can be an emotionally charged thing, and we don't want anyone to have their game ended earlier than they're happy with.  We also plan on clearly flagging OoC any scenes that include an significant risk of Final Death for PCs.

I want to kill another PC. Is there anything the st team would like me to do/not do?

Talk to the ST team and the player of the PC in question first.  We will always seek a non-Final Death solution to any CvC situation where the player of the PC at risk is unhappy with character death as an outcome. Remember that killing other PCs is rarely necessary or fun, and shuts down the game for that player. Killing a PC is something that can only be done with the consent of both parties.

Please note, however, that egregious breaches of the Traditions or the Prince's law may result in extreme danger, or even Final Death at NPC hands… (however, as stated elsewhere, Final Death or long-term torpor is a very rare punishment and would only be handed out when a character has committed a truly grievous crime).

What's the expected maximum acceptable level of non combat CVC - how much should you aim to screw another character over?

What both players are comfortable with.  There will be character vs character elements to the game, but we want this to be a collaborative conflict - it should be fun for both player involved OoC, even if their PCs are cursing and plotting against each other.

The ST team reserve the right to step in to work out a resolution to any situation.  Players are also expected to stick with OoC agreed resolutions to scenes where ST mediation is required.

At a fundamental level, we expect all of our players to work together to make the game fun and enjoyable for each other.  Drama and conflict should be part of that fun, but in a way that minimises any OoC stress.

Seeing as we are playing street peons trying to survive, is there a chance of meeting other supernatural types with similar struggles? A young werewolf pack struggling for territory, apostate mages trying to carve out a safe little niche from consillium politics, etc.

Other supernaturals will be part of the Dark Metropolis setting, including those at a similar level to the PCs. Allies (Supernaturals) or other such Social Merits are something we would take on a case-by-case basis with a lot of caution. There's no treaty between the supernaturals like in Shades of Norwich, so there's going to be a lot more in the way of risks and unknowns in dealing with other supernaturals.  Precisely how they're treated with regards to the Masquerade is a big question, for example...

Are there rules or guidelines to changing your character's stats after the start of the chronicle?

We will allow players some flexibility with their character's stats after creation until they've got a good feel for the character, although we hope this won't be needed much by a well-rounded character creation process.  Generally speaking we will encourage people to stick with what they've picked at character creation after their first couple of sessions, particularly if the stats in question have played a major role in that character succeeding in a given scene.

We will be using the “Sanctity of Merits” rule from Blood and Smoke - so if you lose a Merit for any reason (your Retainer meets a grisly end, your Allies aren’t talking to you any more, or you lose a bunch of Resources in a bad investment) you’ll get the Experiences value of the Merit back to spend on other things (or use to rebuild your lost Merits).

Do the ST's have strong preferences with regards to retiring characters so the player can start a new one?

If players wish to play a new character, they will need to retire their existing character.  Dark Metropolis will not have "secondary" characters.

Specifically, we would like people to work with STs to figure out the best way to retire their characters. We want to make sure players have a fulfilling end to their character’s story (and some discussion about how they can become part of the bigger Dark Metropolis story as an ongoing NPC if appropriate).

It's all in the family - Bloodlines in the Dark Metropolis

After some extensive discussion among the ST team, we’ve decided that the following bloodlines exist in the Dark Metropolis setting, and may be available for PCs to join or be sired into.  If you’re considering one of the bloodlines below for your character, please get in touch with us to discuss how we can best work this into your character’s story.

Other bloodlines may exist in the setting, but are rare and will be mainly reserved for NPCs.  Discovering more about such mysterious bloodlines can be done in play.

In all cases, we will be redesigning (and quite probably streamlining) any bloodline-specific disciplines and devotions to work with the Blood and Smoke rules.  While the background and thematics of the bloodlines will be remaining largely the same, don’t assume the mechanics will!

If you’re new to Requiem or unfamiliar with bloodlines, don’t worry!  Most vampires aren’t part of a bloodline, and you don’t have to make a decision about bloodlines at character creation.  We’re happy to discuss bloodlines in more detail with anyone who wants to know more.

If you are interested in one of these bloodlines, try and read their full entry, as they often have mindsets and nuances that we can’t cover in a brief description. Bloodlines that existed in another form in Vampire: the Masquerade (such as Malkovians or Toreador) are likely to be very different to their previous incarnation, so please bear that in mind. If you are interested in a bloodline but have difficulty accessing the full write-up, let us know.  We’ve included book and page references in the list below.

Daeva Bloodlines:

• Anvari - Opium-addicted Kindred whose blood holds sway over narcotics. (Bloodlines: The Hidden, p20)
• Duchagne - Ennui drives these Kindred to constantly seek new sensations in everything they do. (Bloodlines: The Chosen, p36)
• Erzsebet - These Daeva age as the years go by and seek to someday walk in the sun once more. (Daeva, p114)
• Gulikan - Perfumers and bloodhounds, the Gulikan have a truly remarkable sense of smell. (Bloodlines: The Legendary, p64)
• Nelapsi * - Cursed with a gluttonous need for blood, the Nelapsi cultivate devoted herds through love and fear. (Bloodlines: The Hidden, p88)
• Toreador - Obsessed with art, the Toreador seek to be creators and patrons in both traditional and innovative art forms. (Vampire: the Requiem, 1st Edition, p246)

Gangrel Bloodlines:

• Bohagande * - Suffering under their founder’s curse, the Bohagande steal other’s luck to make their own. (Bloodlines: The Hidden, p38)
• Carnon - Radical neo-pagan Kindred with rock and roll sensibilities, the Carnon style themselves as Horned Gods. (Circle of the Crone, p168)
• Childer of Morrigan - Proud warriors of the Circle of the Crone, this line is slowly dying out as the world of their glorious past fades away. (Circle of the Crone, p172)
• Mara - Kindred who hunt from the water’s edge, waiting for the unwary. (Circle of the Crone, p180)
• Shepherds - Protectors of humans from Kindred, in an effort to preserve the Masquerade. (Ancient Bloodlines, p36)
• Taifa - A refined bloodline of artists, politicians and scholars, the Taifa view themselves as the protectors of civilisation. (Bloodlines: The Chosen, p75)

Mekhet Bloodlines:

• Agonistes - Kindred historians who work to preserve vampiric knowledge for the ages. (Bloodlines: The Chosen, p16)
• Alucinor - Disconnected from the waking world, the Alucinor walk in dreams even when awake. (Bloodlines: The Hidden, p12)
• Brothers of Ypres - A legacy of the trenches of the Great War, the Jones feed on poisoned blood. (Ancient Bloodlines, p22)
• Libitinarius - Scholarly occults, the Libitinarius study torpor through their devotion to the goddess Libitina. (Ordo Dracul, p155)
• Lynx - A modern bloodline, the Lynx are obsessed with networks and connections. (Invictus, p165)
• Morbus * - The plague-rats of Kindred society, the Morbus can only feed from the sick. (Vampire: the Requiem, 1st Edition, p244)
• Norvegi - Fangless Kindred mercenaries from Northern Europe, they are barely considered vampires. (Mekhet, p84)
• Players - Image is everything, and why settle for being a real vampire when you can go for the glamour of Hollywood’s undead? (Bloodlines: The Legendary, p116)

 
Nosferatu Bloodlines:

• Baddacelli - Kindred who have a mastery over sound to compensate for being struck blind by the curse of their blood. (Bloodlines: The Chosen, p26)
• Burakumin - A line of shunned kindred descended from those who cared for the dead. (Vampire: the Requiem, 1st Edition, p238)
• Cockscomb Society - Nosferatu who do everything they can to distance themselves from their clan’s curse by rising high in both Kindred and Kine society. (Nosferatu, p106)
• Morotrophians - Kindred who haunt prisons, rehab clinics and other self contained institutions while using their powers of the blood to enforce their will upon them. (Bloodlines: The Hidden, p68)
• Noctuku * - The Noctuku consider themselves apex predators while suffering from a dark hunger that drives them to devour the flesh of their prey. (Bloodlines: The Chosen, p46)
• Order of Sir Martin - Warriors descended from the crusades associated with disease who’ve allied themselves with the Invictus. (Ancient Bloodlines, p137)

Ventrue Bloodlines:

• Adrestoi - Cutthroat businesspeople aiming to be the top of the food chain in the urban jungle. (Ventrue, p104)
• Corajoso - Scholars who can read and manipulate another’s very soul through their blood. (Ancient Bloodlines, p99)
• Deucalion - Ventrue supremacists who use inferior clans’ weaknesses against them while refusing to believe in their own. (Carthians, p160)
• Dragolescu - A mysterious lineage who are able to see, alter, and some say even consume ghosts. (Ordo Dracul, p150)
• Malkovians - A lineage descended from an unstable Victorian doctor, these Ventrue have sunk into madness. (Vampire: the Requiem, 1st Edition, p241)
• Melissidae * - Despised and feared, this rare lineage claim power over insects and humans, gathering hives of both around themselves. (Bloodlines: The Legendary, p103)

Bloodlines marked with an asterisk (*) are regarded as pariahs by Kindred society, and playing a member of this bloodline will have serious or even fatal consequences when they are discovered in character.  Anyone considering playing a member of such a bloodline should keep this in mind, and have the discovery of their bloodline secret included as part of planning their character’s story.  We are only likely to approve one or at most two PC for such lines, and where multiple PC exist for one of these pariah bloodlines we will expect them to be linked concepts.

The Blood Bank

The Sanguinarium, known colloquially as the Blood Bank, is a Kindred institution in Norwich. It issues the promise of blood that can be claimed at any time from the bank. The blood bank is kept well stocked by means of a curious ritual known only to the Notary of the city - but rumour has it that select members of the Ordo Dracul are closely involved. This ritual allows a vampire to commit blood to paper, storing it away from decay and transforming the blood into a neutral currency accessible to Kindred of any blood potency. It is also backed up by an extensive feeding ground so even if the bank’s supply of stored blood is cut off for any reason, fresh blood is still available – the red standard, if you will.

These tokens, called blood money or ‘sang’, are a small-change currency, used only when a trivial boon is too much. It may be used to sweeten boon deals or handed out by Elders to tip a neonate for some small favour, but it is extremely rare that any substantial number of these tokens change hands. Rent and fines are the only other places where the tokens are used to any great degree. The other advantage of the currency is that it allows Kindred with extensive feeding grounds and herds, who have more blood than they can personally use, to store it for future use. However, this state is unusual: blood is a limited resource, and if someone is known to have more than they know what to do with, it means they’re keeping it out of the supply that other Kindred use. Also, to some Kindred, assets are more useful when they are...well, liquid.

There are some social associations with blood tokens: flashing blood tokens all over the place as a member of the Low Court can be a little gauche, but it also symbolises how 'in' you are with the High Court and their practices. However, blood tokens won’t impress the High Court and in fact are considered an indication of poverty by the higher ups - if you need to use blood tokens, you can’t feed yourself with fresh blood. It’s an acceptable necessity among younger or low status Kindred, but a Kindred on their way to the top knows that they’re going to have to stop relying on the blood bank and start putting together a portfolio of boons. Hoarding blood tokens is a sign of being insecure in your position or unable to manage your own resources. In addition, those who require blood filled with stimulants or blood from a specific demographic do not find the Blood Bank’s stocks satisfying.

Of course, trading in blood money beyond very small transactions looks suspicious. After all, why would anyone trade in blood when they could trade in boons? A boon is more flexible and is recorded in the books of the Harpies, so they can never be lost or stolen (assuming no fiddling from the Harpies of course, but more than one Harpy has lost their reputation or even life for such fraud in the past.)  The other person loses face if they back out on a boon or refuse to pay. And there is always the question: why don’t you want your name in the Harpies’ books? While having blood money isn’t inherently suspicious, relying on it too much is.

Development Notes:

The Blood Bank is an idea we came up with to deal with the problem that there is no 'tipping currency' in Vampire. A trivial boon is actually worth quite a lot, a simple job or a favour, and boons are rarely called in because they were so nebulous (and people forgot they held them). We’ve outlined our Murder of Harpies ideas in this blog, and we are planning on making it easy to register boons and get an update on how many you’re owed and how many you owe, but that still doesn’t solve the problem that boons aren’t ideal as a currency.

Since one of the core concepts of the game is vampiric resource management, we decided to tie the economy into the thing that vampires always need: blood. The problem is, trading blood is messy (and not just in a literal sense). It carries risks of disease, intoxication and addiction – which is intentional, it should be noted, but not conducive to creating an economy. Trading blood directly is still dangerous, but the Blood Bank allows players to ‘cash in’ their capital, i.e. their feeding grounds and herds. It allows Kindred to tot up the costs of a task fairly easily: give me the blood tokens equivalent to what I spent doing this task and one extra, and you’ve got a deal. It also allows rent to become a usable system (otherwise presumably the Regent is just wandering round people’s feeding grounds!) and fines are a much more useful punishment upon Kindred.

There are going to be restrictions: the Blood Bank is not always open for business (so players can’t ‘cash in’ their extra blood at the end of a Court) and it is a social faux pas to rely on the tokens over boons. However, it means that any Kindred who can obtain blood has something to trade with. After all, boons are only as good as the person who owes them, but hard currency is undeniable.

We’re still looking at the economics of the Blood Bank (taking into consideration supply and demand, and where the currency exits the economy, as well as how to keep boons as a still-useful system) but the core concept works with our other ideas of keeping resources limited and making it as easy to trade them as possible.

Thanks to Lucy from Project Praeterlimina for the name for our Blood Bank