The final significant House Rule I'll be implementing for Ravenous is how Out of Clan Disciplines are handled.
In Vampire, each Clan of vampires has three "Clan Disciplines"--for example, Brujah have Potence, Celerity, and Presence. There's naturally a desire for players (and, often, characters) to learn more than just their inherent abilities. Over time, I've become less forgiving of easy access to Out of Clan Disciplines. This is for three interrelated reasons. First, characters rapidly become very similar, taking away from the distinctiveness of each Clan. If everyone has Potence AND Celerity AND Fortitude, then what really makes any of them different? Secondly, most systems/guidelines place a different cost in terms of effort and risk in learning different Disciplines. "Physical" ones are pretty easy, "Common" ones (Dominate, Obfuscate, Presence, etc.) are about average, with only the "Unique" ones requiring special access or significant training. Which of course means it's easier for a Tzimisce to learn a Brujah's Disciplines then the opposite. Which encourages players to play Tzimisce and Gangrel over Brujah and Toreadors. And since everyone can easily learn Potence and Celerity, it reduces the Brujah from the masters of battle whom all should fear, to weaklings who don't have anything to offer anyone else. Thirdly, all this spending of XP on Out of Clan Disciplines means that it's rare to see players really attain the higher levels of any Discipline, and those are just neat.
But, I still want to let the characters in Ravenous have a chance to develop and learn Out of Clan Disciplines. Much like Experience, it all comes down to Diablerie.
For every vampire diablerized by the character, there is a chance that character will learn one of their Disciplines. There's only a chance (base is 1 in 10, with bonuses for age of the target or greater difference in Generation between diablerist and their target), but if successful, the character gains that Discipline at level 1, and may henceforth spend Experience to increase it at the standard cost (Current X 7).
Which Discipline do they learn? Depends on the target. For those who have only the three Clan ones, the odds are even. So, for a Brujah it would be Celerity (1-3), Potence (4-6), Presence (7-9), and Players Choice (10). If the target has any Out of Clan Disciplines, the odds would shift, though always weighted in favor of the Clan ones.
What if they already have the Discipline they rolled for--say, a Brujah diablerizes a Lasombra, hoping for Dominate or Obtenbration, but instead rolls Potence. Well, they're a mass murdering bastard--the world isn't bound to be fair to them. They gain nothing, besides the Experience and Generation (if any).
In Vampire, each Clan of vampires has three "Clan Disciplines"--for example, Brujah have Potence, Celerity, and Presence. There's naturally a desire for players (and, often, characters) to learn more than just their inherent abilities. Over time, I've become less forgiving of easy access to Out of Clan Disciplines. This is for three interrelated reasons. First, characters rapidly become very similar, taking away from the distinctiveness of each Clan. If everyone has Potence AND Celerity AND Fortitude, then what really makes any of them different? Secondly, most systems/guidelines place a different cost in terms of effort and risk in learning different Disciplines. "Physical" ones are pretty easy, "Common" ones (Dominate, Obfuscate, Presence, etc.) are about average, with only the "Unique" ones requiring special access or significant training. Which of course means it's easier for a Tzimisce to learn a Brujah's Disciplines then the opposite. Which encourages players to play Tzimisce and Gangrel over Brujah and Toreadors. And since everyone can easily learn Potence and Celerity, it reduces the Brujah from the masters of battle whom all should fear, to weaklings who don't have anything to offer anyone else. Thirdly, all this spending of XP on Out of Clan Disciplines means that it's rare to see players really attain the higher levels of any Discipline, and those are just neat.
But, I still want to let the characters in Ravenous have a chance to develop and learn Out of Clan Disciplines. Much like Experience, it all comes down to Diablerie.
For every vampire diablerized by the character, there is a chance that character will learn one of their Disciplines. There's only a chance (base is 1 in 10, with bonuses for age of the target or greater difference in Generation between diablerist and their target), but if successful, the character gains that Discipline at level 1, and may henceforth spend Experience to increase it at the standard cost (Current X 7).
Which Discipline do they learn? Depends on the target. For those who have only the three Clan ones, the odds are even. So, for a Brujah it would be Celerity (1-3), Potence (4-6), Presence (7-9), and Players Choice (10). If the target has any Out of Clan Disciplines, the odds would shift, though always weighted in favor of the Clan ones.
What if they already have the Discipline they rolled for--say, a Brujah diablerizes a Lasombra, hoping for Dominate or Obtenbration, but instead rolls Potence. Well, they're a mass murdering bastard--the world isn't bound to be fair to them. They gain nothing, besides the Experience and Generation (if any).
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