Vampires don’t play by the rules, but we do. As a standalone book, Blood and Smoke is going to feature the core Storytelling system rules, with the God-Machine Chronicle updates baked right in.
The chapter’s designed to be lean and mean, providing the basics you need to play Vampire, with pointers to the other books for more detailed subsystems. (And, remember, The God-Machine Chronicle‘s rules section is free.)
After a long day and night of tying the drafts of the book’s two rules chapters together, I could use some outside eyes. Specifically, yours. I’m going to present a rough cut of Rules of the Night, the core systems chapter.
I’d like you to look at two things:
- Did any errors slip into the rules? For example, places where copying from The God-Machine Chronicle might have been a little awkward?
- Are any of the rules unclear? This is the core rules chapter, so while it references other books for expanded rules, it should be clear on its own.
I can’t significantly expand the amount of text in this chapter, so I’m unlikely to be able to add additional subsystems. If there’s something you feel you can’t play without, though, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. (The experience rules aren’t in this chapter, as they go in Chapter Three, Laws of the Dead, which discusses creating and developing Kindred characters.)
<Click here for the rough cut of Chapter Four – Rules of the Night>
As usual, link to this blog post rather than copying and pasting the doc, as I sometimes make revisions.
Thanks to the team for putting this chapter together. I look forward to your feedback!
Now, how about Laws of the Dead, which I’ve been working on in tandem with this chapter? Well, here are a few numbers as of the current draft:
- 14 Devotions (not including ones like Summoning, that replace powers removed from Disciplines)
- 2 Kindred Fighting Style Merits
- 5 Invictus Oath Merits
- 5 Carthian Law Merits
- 25 general Kindred Merits
- 9 Crúac Rites
- 9 Theban Sorcery Miracles
- 3 Mysteries of the Dragon (with 1 multi-tier Coil and 3 Scales for each)
Those numbers may grow or shrink a bit as I continue revisions.
Comments
43 responses to “Rules of the Night”
Under Ranged Combat
The range of thrown weapons subtracts the object’s size but this is not the case if it is aerodynamic.
To save some space and a few words on the count, couldn’t you list just the suggested attribute and action with the skill’s actions? This would require adjusting the text a little at the description of how skills work. Seems almost silly to say that you use the skill when you take a sample action of said skill. xD
to clarify in WoD Core p.67 all thrown objects subtract size from their range
Well these are three issues I have found.
Next to composure it says Meditation (Wits + Composure) is that a change from resolve + composure?
Rolling Dice Section has modifiers listed as +-2, usually, while a little later at Circumstance and Equipment section states it as +-3. So which one is the “usual modifier size” ?
What about archery? It looks like it rolls Dexterity + Athletics, but in the Atack section there’s no such option (there are unarmed, Melee, Ranged and thrown weapons). So how does archery work?
Bows were treated as Firearms in WoD core and no changes to that as far as I could find in GMC, but are not listed under the Firearms skill here. However, archery is under Athletics. Is that an intentional switch? That means defense counters bows when they did not before.
As a standalone I’m not sure that the damage for thrown weapons is clear. In WoD Core it was damage according to the weapon charts or +1 bashing for mundane items. It could be argued that GMC changed anything that doesn’t match up with the charts is just considered an improvised weapon.
While we’re at it, GMC/Core has crossbows but no real stats for regular bows so what would the range and damage be?
Virtue: Under Virtue/Vice your entry says willpower recovers once, but GMC Core says twice per scene/story. they can’t both be right.
Also this version of the rules uses Masks/Dirges where earlier versions had consistently used Requiem/Masquerade. Not sure if it’s a rules problem so much as an update though.
We updated from Masquerade/Requiem to Mask/Dirge for clarity. It was sometimes unclear whether someone was referring to a Requiem, as in a vampire’s role in unlife, which has a rule, or a Requiem, a vampire’s entire unlife, which doesn’t have a rule.
Pag 16 of the document, you may want to change the reference then: “Acting against a victim’s Virtue (or Masquerade, in the case of Kindred) also adds a Door”.
And, in the same page: “If your character knows his victim’s Vice or Requiem, he can use that to his advantage”.
Oops, thanks for catching that, Alek.
Glad to help. 🙂
Actually, GMC says you can use your Virtue twice per game session/Chapter, not story.
It’s ambiguous over whether you can use your Vice more than once per scene. Doesn’t mention a limit at all.
Any chance all other Cruac, Coils and Theban Sorcery Rites get converted eventually?
Possible, but I’m not sure what upcoming book they’d fit into. If you see more Rites, Miracles, etc, they may be all-new.
Under Willpower it notes that you can only spend willpower once per action. Should that be changed to once per turn for clarity? (Spending it on an attack would negate using it for defense later in the same turn, and such)
Top of page 17 uses the term “breaking point.” Is that being carried over to B&S or should it be “risks detachment” or something like that?
Nevermind, reviewed the Humanity doc and found my answer. Disregard.
Regarding armor do Kindred suffer the point of bashing damage if a lethal attack is blocked by armor, even the attack would normally be treated as bashing damage anyway?
In the damage section is says a mortal with a health track full of bashing falls unconscious, should that be must make Stamina rolls every turn or fall unconscious?
When you use one of the Fighting Merits to deal aggravated damage with a mundane weapon, what does that do to a vampire? Does it upgrade the normally bashing damage to lethal?
No idea if this is the type of thing you’re looking for since it may be mentioned in another chapter more closely related to Vampire mechanics, but I may as well mention it:
For the grappling rules you’ve mentioned that biting is covered under the damage move, should there be any mention of feeding from a grappled target as a move?
Archery in core WOD was totally under Firearms, but in Armory it was given the option to use Athletics instead. Bows should probably go with Athletics, but crossbows should definitely be under Firearms.
Yes and I agree with the change. I don’t think it is very clear how to stat “shooting an arrow.” My guess would be it works like throwing an aerodynamic knife. Perhaps it could be addressed under the Melee Weapons Chart after the Type explanation.
I disagree. Having them under firearms is much more logical than puting them under throwing objects… It wouldn’t be the only skill with several uses(like expression makes a good dancer into an awesome singer aswell).
However I am for makign them be under athletics. Would even like to have them firearm mechanics (defense doesn’t apply), but that might turn into a godstat then.. meh 😕
” Many Kindred boast impressive Weaponry Skills,
on account of coming from less civilized times. For this reason, numerous covenant
traditions call for Weaponry-based duels that favor archaic knowledge over modern
firearms.”
Great! But, then please provide the stats for those archaic arms, i.e. various swords, maces, morning stars etc. in Blood and Smoke. Not a single sword is mentioned in the God Machine weapons table !
There are plenty of archaic weapons. If you check “Type” under the chart: “A weapon’s type is a general classification that can apply to anything your character picks up. A metal club might be an antique mace, a metal baseball bat, or a hammer, while a hatchet might be a meat cleaver or an antique hand-ax.”
Most weapon descriptions actually note alternate interpretations. The crowbar says “This category can also include archaic clubs and maces.” The tire iron is also a tonfa. The machete is any manner of sword, saber, katana you want it to be.
Though I have to say I’m not convinced about the spear stats also being used for a staff. Shouldn’t it have one less damage?
Actually, a rapier is a sword, but I don’t think that was your point. My understanding is that with GMC it was decided to reduce the number of weapons listed and go with “if it isn’t on the chart, pick the closest one.” Under the melee weapons chart there is “type” which addresses this. Most swords would likely fall into the machete type. Smaller maces could be a baton, while larger maces or morning stars might be similar to a crowbar. Large two-handed swords would be the same as the fire axe.
It’s probably worth renaming them then, use the same rules etc. but if B&S encourages the use of more archaic weapons then perhaps use archaic weapon names rather than ‘club’? It’s a minor thematic thing, but theme and atmosphere are big for games like this.
Page 16: […]Wits + Socialize to create the perfect guest list, or Manipulation + Etiquette to get the best table in a restaurant.
Change Etiquette to Persuasion or Socialise?
Under “Permutations”, which ones/how many can apply at a given time? (As written, I’d assume all of them can, except 9-Again and 8-Again…the latter will take precedence.)
Could I perform a teamwork action with my coterie that benefited from both 8-Again and the Rote action quality?
The Sap (melee weapons chart, p. 25) has the ‘Stun’ trait, which doubles the weapon bonus for purposes of inflicting the ‘Stunned’ Tilt. I realise this is copied straight from the GMC rules, but it is the only weapon listed with the ‘Stun’ trait, and it has a weapon bonus of 0, rendering the ‘Stun’ trait meaningless (so far).
Isn’t the Stun supposed to double the damage done for the purposes of Stun tilt?
You should have read page 26. They changed the Stun trait so that it halves Size for the purpose of the Stun tilt, thereby making it not useless.
I actually checked if I’d missed an update on DrivethruRPG for the GMC rules, but nope, it still has the useless Stun trait.
Would it be possible to show some examples of mundane vs. non mundane weaponry for the new vampire health rules? For example, would a vigor-powered punch be considered lethal because of the superhuman strength, or is it still just a lot of bashing, because ultimately you are still just pummeling away at non-essential organs and muscles and such? Or are you planning on leaving that up to Storyteller discretion?
The file isn’t showing up on my screen. Is there something I’m missing?
Is JavaScript enabled? The Google viewer relies pretty heavily on it.
There’s no mention of being able to spend a Willpower point to increase a resistance trait by 2. That should probably be there.
Are brass knuckles supposed to do lethal damage? Otherwise they don’t make sense, but all they do is weight one’s fist. Would a roll of quarters do the same?
Are brass knuckles supposed to do lethal damage? Otherwise they don’t make sense, but all they do is weight one’s fist. Would a roll of quarters do the same?
(Another case where humans have a higher risk of degeneration than vampires.) -3 is less than killing in self-defense. What if the human shield doesn’t die or takes no damage? Does the Kindred not have a breaking point at all? Does a mortal?
(I realize you can’t do anything about the rules in GMC, but looking at the Beat Down rules and the penalty for self-defense, I think Black Hat Matt should change his nickname to Gentle Matt.)
Why does everyone always ignore the whole “Optional Rule” part of the Beaten Down section? Its one of the few that specifically says that. Beaten Down isn’t the default, its an add-on.
Because it still doesn’t make sense, especially for a horror game. Aren’t all the rules supposed to be optional?
Brass Knuckles and all weapons do lethal. And there’s a difference between core rules and optional rules. You can usually tell the optional from the core by its location in a separate supplement or in a sidebar or in a section specifically labeled OPTIONAL. Such as:
Optional Rule: Beaten Down & Surrender
Now sure you can disregard any rule, but clinging to an optional rule as a complaint when its not the default assumption that you use it is ridiculous.
And actually, being beaten so badly that you can’t bring yourself to fight anymore, and can do little more than try to run or crawl away, snivel and cry for mercy… very well fits a horror game. On the flip side, if someone is basically saying you win, don’t hurt me anymore… and you keep going its generally a breaking point and probably against most people’s first instinct, though not everyone’s obviously.
Also there has come up a rather intense debate regarding the staking rule. Perhaps it could be clarified, due to humans being able to be targeted that way as well.
What happens to a human that has their heart targeted? With a vampire it only matters with a stake, but for a human a rifle would only need 1 success to do 5 damage.
Ignoring the rest of that thread about resilience, what happens when a called shot to the heart for a human succeeds? Instant death? What if its only Half their health? Things like this kinda need an answer to cut out on too much fighting at the table
Another set of novels you guys might want to reference are Fred Saberhagen’s Dracula cycle, where he created an organization of vampires very similar to that referenced in White Wolf’s fiction.
Also, the Holmes-Dracula File is just a great book.
Under the entry for Rote Action, you probably want to specify that you re-roll failures one time. As it is it reads as though you simply re-roll any die that’s 7 or less.