Echoes of Silent Valleys
Clarksburg, WV
a One World by Night chapter 
Vampire House Rules Clarifications 
for the MET System Laws of the Night
HST – Jason Brandon atmou@hotmail.com
AST – Sean Smith infertilevitae@gmail.com
AST – Derek Howard thelandbeyondtheforest@gmail.com 
((Last updated 7/25/19))

ADULTING
•	The Sabbat is a dark and adult genre.  No players under the age of 18, no exceptions.  
•	We represent the organization One World by Night and the gaming genre in general.  If you cannot portray a positive image to the world, please do not play.  Don’t play a stupid concept that is meant to offend.  We will ask you to stop.  If in doubt, please check with the STs.
•	Politics and Religion are divisive subjects.  Rather than push the line, please just leave the subjects alone.  When the subject comes up, please be respectful in all that you say, not just about other players, but about the things that matter to them.  Don’t bash religious ideas or candidates in the party you voted against.  Don’t even do it out of game in such a way that it is in any way affiliated with our game (ie. on our Discord, facebook, etc.) 
•	Conflict Resolution – If you need to walk away to cool off, please do so; it is better to bite your tongue as you walk away than to say something that you will regret and we will be forced to act on.  If possible, the STs will allow the scene to go on or put the scene on a brief time freeze. If this is not possible, we will adjudicate the scene as we see fit.  This is NOT an excuse to walk away from a fight-scene in which your PC faces final death.  This is the chance to handle it in a mature and adult manner.  Likewise, please learn how to apologize.  Anyone can get upset; a sign of maturity is to admit that you could have handled things better and to apologize for the things that you did wrong.
•	Mature Themes – The World of Darkness is not a happy place.  Sometimes game scenes may come up that deeply bother or offend you.  That kind of thing is not our express goal, but the nature of a Sabbat Vampire game is that some dark themes may come up.  You have the right to walk away from such a scene without exception.  Please communicate with the storytellers, however, so that the game may continue to flow for the other players.  If the Sabbat genre as run by our game is consistently too dark for you, please talk with the ST staff so that we may decide what course of action must be pursued.
•	Discipline – If the actions of a player are deemed to be too egregious too ignore, or too widespread and frequent, the STs will talk with the player about the problem and the STs are within their right to handle the problem as they deem most appropriate to the situation.  Consequences can include, but are not limited to, the following penalties:
•	Time-Out – A forced cooling off for a set amount of time, up to the rest of the evening’s play
•	Temporary Ban – A longer term Time-Out.  This may be for a set or an unspecified amount of time; the attitude of the player may affect the determinate or indeterminate time.
•	Chronicle Strike – Like baseball, this becomes a sort of warning.  Three strikes amounts to a Temporary or Permanent Ban at the ST’s discretion.  Strikes last for a minimum of a year; players may petition the ST staff for the removal of a strike after a year has passed, but the STs are not obligated to remove the strike that quickly, or at all.
•	Chronicle Ban – The player is removed from the chronicle permanently.  After a year, the player may petition to be readmitted, but the ST staff are not obligated to take the character back.
•	If a character is deemed as inherently and unchangeably problematic, the STs reserve the right to GNC (“generate new character”) this PC.  
When a player loses the right to play, they lose the right to play all of their PCs based in Echoes of Silent Valleys, even in other games.  The ST staff are allowed to make exceptions for this, but are not obligated to.  All decisions beyond a Time-Out will be emailed to the Membership Coordinator for total transparency.
•	The decision of the STs on conflict resolution and discipline can be discussed after the game is over, possibly even on a later day, but will not be discussed in the moment.  The game will go on, the STs are always correct in the moment, and if a decision needs to be reevaluated, it will be done so calmly after the game.  Players will be polite to the STs or disciplinary actions may be enforced.
•	Real Life – This is just a game.  People have lives, and sometimes real life throws us for a loop. Players and STs both may have events happen that occupies their time for a few weeks, even the occasional month.  You may get frustrated that downtime scenes do not happen as quick as you want.  Some people may have demanding jobs, busy families, and various personal crises, while others can check emails at work and don’t have much going on at home of an evening.  Please be considerate that not everyone agreed to play this game as often as you might.  This was designed to be a once-a-month game, and even that only as free time allows some players.  
•	The Goal of the Game – This part should be obvious.  The goal of the game is to have fun, and that includes everyone, even the STs.  If you’re not having fun, and your presence is ruining the fun for others, it’s not a game anymore, and you should sit down with the ST staff and talk about what comes next.  Players should care that others are having a fun time.  The ST staff may ask “Is this going to be fun for anyone but you?”  If answered in the negative, the STs reserve the right to curtail certain character concepts and actions.

CHECKING IN
•	The story is all important.  Please do not argue with the storytelling staff.  We like polite discussions, and if there is a disagreement with the ST’s or Narrators, we will table the discussion until game is over and then discuss it.  If the situation involves the death of your PC, we realize that this is a particularly important subject.  We want you to have fun, but we balance that by providing a credible threat for your character to attempt to overcome.  If there is no threat of death, there is not much reason to play, so please understand this when entering game. 
•	Sometimes we will make rulings that seem arbitrary or against the rules.  The plot is bigger than what you see, and has been checked and discussed with multiple coordinators, and is tied in to events in OWBN that date back twenty years and more.  You may not see the big picture; please trust us on this one.  
•	Where our House Rules are silent, we will default first to the printed books, and then to the CIET House rules.  These are “living rules”, meaning that we will continue to evaluate and expand as needed our House Rules as we go along.
•	If you are a visiting ‘giant’ (significantly larger in point value than based in our game), please do not ‘own’ our plot or our players.  Use this as a chance to instruct the little new Sabbat guys and portray your character in a more mentoring role than as the ultimate savior.  By all means, defend yourself and maybe even save the local PCs, but please do not solve all of their problems for them. Be a part of the solution, not the entirety of it.
•	If you are visiting, please be patient with us as we look into to all the big weird stuff that’s out there and not in the main books.  Custom content and anything R&U must be checked with us ahead of time if possible.  We recognize that nothing is worse than travelling four hours to visit a game, only to find out that your character won’t work in that game.  When possible, we might limit your PC rather than forbid it outright.  The good news is that there is actually an in-game reason why certain things on your sheet don’t work the way that you intend
•	Players may come into game with a number of rituals cast equal to their Occult ability.  More than that requires ST involvement.
•	Many players come in with a stack of custom items that would take hours to vet.  Items that are directly out of the book are allowed and we will stamp those.  Please limit yourself to five (5) other essential items, and we will look at those for sure, and as time allows we can look at other items too, but your stack of 65 item cards does not supersede our plot. At this point in our game, items are limited to +4 traits (+6 for two-handed) and 3 damage maximum.  Anything beyond that will be scaled back to reflect this limit. Please check in all basic out-of-the-book items with our combat narrator.
•	Much of our setting takes place in the National Radio Quiet Zone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Quiet_Zone
In this region there are few radio stations and spotty phone signals.  In addition, there are weird goings on.  Your disciplines might not work the way you think it should.  This is for a reason, and can seem quite whimsical on occasion.  Welcome to the plot.
	Clarksburg, Fairmont, and Weston are not in the Zone, although I-79 between Clarksburg and Weston is.  It’s a weird part of the state.
•	You may check in with only one primary PC; this is the only PC that we will give experience points to.  If events conspire to prevent you from playing your primary PC (such as involuntary torpor or PC death), please talk with the STs, and arrangements will be made to either allow you to portray a secondary PC if the STs feel it is appropriate, or an NPC will be offered for you to portray for the rest of the evening.
•	A simple challenge is made with our check-in narrator for starting blood.  On a win, you begin 1 trait down from max.  On a tie, you begin at half blood.  On a loss, you begin at 4 blood traits. These are default results, but may be modified by elements of a given plot.  You may add herd to this number, but you must subtract the number of ghouls that you are maintaining from this number.  Feeding scenes and using influences like Health and such will be handled by the check-in narrator.
•	We normally do not have a printer for printing out your sheet. Please print your sheet out before game and bring it.  Use your sheet to mark off spent traits. If you have no sheet, you must relent to all challenges.

CHALLENGES
•	We do not use generally ‘contested actions’.  You cannot defend offensively.  This inevitably robs players who possess less traits.  Every character gets an action in a round. 
•	You may bid named traits.  You may not bid bonus traits.
•	The maximum traits that may be bid is twice your generational cap.
•	If required, the order of actions is traits bid.  So 15 physical traits act before 9 mental traits.  In case of ties, mental comes before social comes before physical.  Tied traits from the same category act simultaneously.
•	Traits bid are spent or lost when the final challenge is resolved.  Ability retests do not undo the loss of the attribute trait bid on the challenge.
•	Simple or Static challenges that are called by STs and have little effect on play may, at the discretion of the ST, not risk a trait.
•	Ability retests may cancel other ability retests, but these are the only cancellations.  Willpower, Luck, Awe, Might, and Nine Lives (amongst others) do not cancel each other out.
•	Might is the user's last challenge of the conflict barring Nine Lives.
•	If you have the Bomb and/or win on ties, this must be announced at the beginning of the scene.  Per book, the Bomb must be announced.  Announcing ties allows the game to progress faster and smoother.
•	Characters may only receive Bonus traits from one source from each of the following categories:
•	Combination Power
•	Magic (of any type)
•	Merit/Flaw
•	Form Power (some Form Powers stack with one another; see the Stacking Form Power section)
•	Genre Power (Art, Discipline, Gift, etc.)
•	Permanent Magical Object (Wonder, Fetish, etc.)
•	Ritual
•	Specialization
•	Temporary Magical Object (Charm, Talen, etc.)
•	Weapon
•	During the course of a single challenge, characters may only invoke a one retest from each of the following categories (Nine Lives is the exception to this rule):
•	Ability (can be countered)
•	Genre Power (Discipline, Arcanoi, etc.) (note: Might must be called last)
•	Ritual
•	Ritae
•	Item/Object/Fetish
•	Merit/Flaw (note that Nine Lives may be used last, even after Might)
•	Willpower
•	Overbid [may only be attempted once (e.g., you can’t Overbid an Overbid), also a successful Overbid is a new challenge]
•	Surprise [like Overbid, this is a new challenge]

COMBAT
•	Our order of combat is Alacrity, Normal Action, Off-Hand, Swiftness, Legerity, and End of Round actions.  Within an action, highest traits act first.
•	 When fighting with two weapons at the same time, the wielder must bid a second trait for the weapon in his main hand, and must bid a second and third trait for the weapon in the off-hand.
•	Ambidextrous offsets one of the off-hand penalties, so that the PC must bid two traits with both weapons.
•	The specialties Florentine, Two-Gun-Mojo, or One-Two-Punch (or any such 2 weapon combo) offsets the penalties by one each, so that someone with Florentine fighting bids one trait with their main hand and two traits with their off-hand.  NOTE that these specialties do NOT give bonus traits to the challenge.  Their strength is allowing the PC to not have to bid a second trait.  Using two disparate weapons requires the appropriate two-weapon combo specialties for both weapons or appropriate penalties apply to the hands that are not appropriately skilled.  This may apply to either or both hands.
•	A PC with both Ambidextrous and a Two-Weapon Combo specialty suffers no penalties with both hands.
•	Per book, attacks made with two weapons must alternate weapons.  Thus Alacrity/Main Action and Swiftness attacks are made with the main-hand weapon, and Off-Hand and Legerity actions are made with the off-hand weapon when using two weapons.  
•	Failure to bid the appropriate traits for your attacks may negate the ability to make subsequent attacks with two weapons.
•	Surprise – If you are surprised, you may resist with Stamina related traits only, Per book, if the surprise attack fails, the attacker may call for a second challenge. Players must announce “Surprise One, Surprise Two, Surprise Three” and not rush through it at lightning speed, but be fair about it.  
•	You may parry as an action; this allows you to bid a trait you might not otherwise be allowed to bid defensively, but this uses up your next available action.  If you do not have a next available action, you cannot parry.
•	Ranged staking weapons, such as bows, must win (not tie) two simple challenges to stake an individual. 

ABILITIES
•	Purchasing new abilities at level 4 or higher requires ST approval
•	Purchasing any Lore requires ST approval, even for Tzimisce.
•	You must purchase appropriate Lore abiloties if you have learned the relevant information concerning the Lore.   If you do not have the Lore, you do not have the knowledge. Access to libraries and tomes of information is not the same thing.  Failure to purchase the Lore is failure to retain the knowledge.  You are normally allowed to go into ExP debt to purchase this knowledge when it is gained, but you must also inform the STs of this acquisition of knowledge. 
•	Purchasing any Specialty requires ST approval.  Specializations may be taken in specific powers, like Entrancement or Bone Craft, but in not in general disciplines like Presence.
•	Rituals is a retest ability for the Sabbat Ritae; it does not affect the number of Ritae that you know.  This is the purview of the Rituals Background.
•	Linguistics – 
•	Each player starts with one native language (or two with the Natural Linguist merit).  Each dot of the Linguistics ability cumulatively adds its value in additional languages (doubled for Natural Linguist). Languages may be purchased at a 1:1 ratio beyond the character’s 5th dot in Linguistics.
•	Animalism is not a language.  It is telepathic communication of ideas.  Koldunism and other disciplines (even Necromancy) operate on the same principal.

BACKGROUNDS
•	Allies – Each ally should be described by a skill that they are particularly good at.  This does not mean that you can’t send the doctor with medicine to tail someone, but he might not be as good at it as the one with stealth.
•	Generation – Players roll d100 and consult the following bell-curve chart:
1-15	13th generation
16-33	12th generation
34-55	11th generation
56-73	10th generation
74-88	9th generation
89-00	8th generation
•	Players must spend background points to purchase the desired Generation background.  Generation is not free, regardless of what is rolled. Generation gained from Diablerie must also be purchased with the next available experience points. 
•	Player do not have to purchase any or all of the Generation traits they rolled.
•	Players may purchase the 14th or 15th generation flaws with permission.
•	Panders add one generation to the result of the dice roll.  If they roll 13th generation, then they are playing 14th generation. 
•	Salubri players make a challenge: on a win, they begin at 10th generation.  On a tie, they begin at 11th generation.  On a loss, they begin at 12th generation.
•	When in doubt, 13th generation vampires must win or tie a simple challenge to successfully embrace, and 14th generation vampires must win a simple challenge to successfully embrace, but this is at the discretion of the STs.
•	Fame and Influence – Players normally may begin with up to 5 Influence traits, plus any assigned by clan, and up to five more by rolling on the same chart as for Generation, with additional levels of influence allowed based upon how well the player rolls.  We are not allowing Influences outside of the main MET book.
•	Influence is bought per county in the Quiet Zone, or per county (Marion, Harrison, and Lewis) outside of the Quiet Zone on I-79.  Thus a character may have Health 3 in Randolph County, which is not the same thing as Health 3 in Barbour county.
•	Characters on Paths of Enlightenment are particularly inhuman and have trouble interacting with mortals.  To exercise Influence, they need Allies or Retainers.  Without these, players can expect the STs to have some malicious fun at their expense.
•	Fame, as per book, extends the range of Influence as follow:
Fame 1 allows you to use your Influence throughout the Quiet Zone or down I-79.
Fame 2 allows you to use you Influence in both the Quiet Zone and I-79.
Fame 3 allows those from other games in West Virginia (e.g. Mountain’s Dark Heart) to use their influence in both the Quiet Zone and on I-79.  We will also allow players from Pittsburgh and Frederick VA games with Fame 3 to affect the I-79 corridor Influence.
Fame 4 applies to all neighboring states: OH, PN, KY, VA, MD, and DC.
Fame 5 is, of course, national.
(We understand that what we call “Fame” is in reality the ability to leverage the reach of one’s Influence.  It does not necessarily mean that one’s face is instantly recognizable.)
•	Retainers and Mortals – As befits a heavy Bratovitch Tzimisce game, our Retainers rules are more detailed.  Despite this, please remember that at the end of the day, Retainers are glorified gophers.  Unless you buy the Companion merits, they will do little things like drive you around and maintain your estate, but they will not fight your battles.  They will, however, fight in self-defense, which is why the following stats are given for them.
Each retainer may be taken on a scale of 1-5, but if not specified, it is assumed that each retainer is a 1 pt. retainer.  Unless the merit Supernatural Ally or Supernatural Companion is bought, the stats of the Retainers are fixed.  If this merit is bought, you receive one experience point to spend on the retainer per game session attended.  
There is no real need to create sheets for such retainers, but should the need exist to develop them, the following stats will be used:
Level	 Stats (ghoul)		(Human)	Abil.	Disc. if any
1		6/5/4		5/4/3		5		1
2		7/6/5		6/5/4		6		2
3		8/7/6		7/6/5		7		3
4		9/8/7		8/7/6		8		4
5		9/9/9		8/8/8		9		5
All retainers are assumed to have virtues of 3.  Ghouls have humanity of 3 (4 humanity for mortals; 2 humanity for revenants, who may begin on a path instead with ST approval).  They get no backgrounds but are considered to have resources of 1.  Mortals also have allies or contacts of 1.  In our game, Bratovitch revenants begin with resources 1, allies 1, and contacts 1 to represent their deep-seated legacy in the area.
Unless bought as companions, ghouls may only have first basic disciplines, and must choose between physical disciplines and your in-clan disciplines (it is assumed that higher level ghouls have the merit “purchase other disciplines”).  The first discipline chosen must be an in-clan physical discipline of your clan or Potence.  Revenants must purchase their in-clan disciplines first, but at level 4 they may begin to purchase 2nd Basic disciplines (it is assumed that level 4+ revenants have appropriate “age” to purchase second Basic discipline).
Tzimisce may begin with Bratovitch, Obertus, and Zantosa revenants.  All other Revenant families must be cleared with the Tzimisce coordinator.
•	Insight is a background for 14th and 15th generation vampires to offset their flaws, and is a function of the Final Nights.  Vampires with Insight who diablerize their way to 13th generation lose their Insight, and we will not allow visiting players of 13th or better generation to use Insight in our game.  
•	Rituals (the background, not the ability) determines how many of the Ritae one knows, as per the Sabbat book.  The Ability: Rituals is used for retests.

MERITS AND FLAWS
•	Purchasing New Merits With Experience
•	Social and Mental merits can be purchased with a simple explanation for their acquiring.  (“I took a public speaking class and now I am a Natural Leader).
•	Physical merits take a little more explanation, and approval by the STs.  Usually these are via the Vicissitude discipline, and should follow the Tzimisce packet.  Sometimes players will gain the negative trait Repugnant for some merits purchased this way, but this is at the discretion of the STs (claws, for example, might be deemed Feral or Bestial).  Per packet, Vicissitude modifications are usually limited by the number of levels of Vicissitude that the Shaper has.  Note that players are encouraged to purchase all of their Physical Merits upfront with their starting experience points if at all possible to keep from being penalized with negative Vicissitude traits later.
•	Supernatural merits will require a more complex explanation, and can only be purchased with ST approval, often with an accompanying story as to how the PC suddenly came by their extraordinary streak of luck or their beautiful glowing blue Protean eyes.
•	Flaws are supposed to suck.  The STs reserve the right to make the flaw live up to its value and will not take kindly to attempts to outsmart your flaws so that they never apply.
•	The Tzimisce clan weakness requires the Tzimisce to be “surrounded” by two handfuls of home soil.  A couple of bags of soil in your two pockets does not count.  Please see the ST staff if this becomes an issue, and what is defined as “surrounded”.

DISCIPLINES
•	Learning Disciplines
•	Vampires may teach their Common in-clan disciplines equal to the level that they know.  Common disciplines are considered to be Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Potence, and Presence.  Thus a Lasombra with level 4 Dominate could teach up to level 4 Dominate.
•	Vampires can teach in-clan Signature disciplines (such as Protean and Chimerstry) equal to one less than their own level.
•	Vampires may not teach out-of-clan disciplines.
•	Vampires may teach blood magic (including Abyssal mysticism) when they have fulfilled any requirements per OWbN rules.  In addition, they must also have achieved some level of mastery to teach blood magic.  Vampires who have one Advanced level Path or Ritual may only teach basic Paths or Rituals.  Vampires who have two Advanced Paths or Rituals may teach intermediate Paths and Rituals.  Vampires who have Three Advanced Paths or Rituals may teach Advanced paths and rituals.
•	Panders may choose 3 of the Cardinal 8 disciplines to be their in-clan disciplines.  Anything beyond this requires Coordinator approval per bylaws.  They may not choose the all three of the ‘physical’ disciplines, nor may they choose a combination that exists in one of the clans without that Clan coordinator’s approval.  Combinations that also exist in bloodlines or revenant families must be approved.  In game embraces must keep two of the three disciplines of the sire.
•	We do not allow Inceptor disciplines.
•	ESV players are bound by these rules, both in the learning and in the teaching.
•	General Rules
•	Only one power-based carrier attack (such as Quell the Beast) and one item-based carrier attack (such as Stone of the True Form) may be inflicted per challenge
•	Blood Magic, unless specified otherwise, always requires that the user be able to chant and gesture
•	Traits generated by a Form Power are refreshed like any other traits lost (expending a Willpower)
•	Stacking Form Powers - Form Powers are broken down into three distinct types:
•	Total (will not stack with any other Form Powers) – Ashes to Ashes, Bloodform, Body of Zephyr, Elemental Form, Gift of Life, Mist Form, Pater Szlachta, Taking the Skin, Tenebrous Form
•	Major (will stack with any number of Minor Form Powers) – Beast Channel, Black Metamorphosis, Form of the Cobra, Gift of the Corpse, Horrid Form, Shape of the Beast, Typhonic Beast
•	Minor (will stack with one Major Form Power & any other Minor Form Powers) – Eyes of the Beast, Eyes of the Serpent, Feral Claws, Skin of the Chameleon, Skin of the Adder, Tongue of the Asp
•	Animalism – Please consult the following Wikipedia pages for the rarity of wildlife in West Virginia:
Mammals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_West_Virginia
Birds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_West_Virginia
Reptiles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reptiles_of_West_Virginia
When summoning an animal in our game, you may summon an animal designated as Common normally.  If the animal is considered Uncommon, you must win or tie a simple challenge.  If the animal is considered rare, you must win a simple challenge.  This simple challenge may be retested with both Animal Ken and Survival (once each).  If the simple challenge fails, there is no animal within range of that type.  ST’s may choose to forego this rule for uncommon and rare animals at their discretion. 
For smaller animals such as rats, the STs may allow “horde swarm rules” and follow the table-top book rules.
Most animals are not that smart.  Ghouled animals, however, begin to learn about the ways of vampires over time.  Kinfolk animals are pretty smart, but if you are dealing with kinfolk animals, you are probably in trouble.
•	Auspex 
•	Heightened Senses will not work on a sense that is weakened by a flaw.  You cannot, for example, take “weak eyesight” and then use Heightened Senses to forego using glasses.  Until that flaw is removed, you cannot use Heightened Senses on that sense.
•	Aura Perception – If determining if the previous statement was truthful, we allow the following answers: truthful, mostly truthful, half-and half, mostly false, and false.  Aura Perception can, at ST discretion, see auras in the Astral and Umbral realms, but only the Aura; no details. 
•	Telepathy may be relented to, but the person doesn’t know who is is trying to contact them via telepathy.
•	Each level of Auspex is a bonus trait for piercing Obfuscate and Chimerstry (one for basic, one for intermediate, one for advanced)
•	Celerity – Bomb/ties applies to melee and thrown weapons but not to firearms, because the speed of bullets is unaffected by your increased speed.
•	Chimerstry 
•	All offensive uses of Chimerstry require the presence of a Storyteller. Chimerstry used in an obvious fashion & for role-play purposes does not require a challenge, simply an expenditure
•	There is no such thing as a “Disbelieve retest” & attempts to disbelieve Chimerical effects require justification (one cannot attempt to disbelieve something that may or may not be Chimerical “just because”)
•	Horrid Reality – Wounds caused by this power are soakable. Horrid Realities may last longer than a round. Horrid Reality can only create one reality at a time, this means the user can only create one thing or cause one thing to happen each turn it remains in effect (e.g., the user can have an illusionary werewolf attack a foe, but cannot make an illusionary pack of werewolves attack a foe). Horrid Reality may require lore to properly manifest an effect. Taking damage (or activating Aegis) allows a character to expend a Willpower trait once per turn to reinitiate the challenge in an attempt to break free from its effects. The user does not risk a trait in this challenge.  Torpor from Horrid reality lasts for the scene. 
•	Dominate
•	PCs may suspect that they have been Commanded or Mesmerized if their actions are suspicious and they make a static Mental challenge against the mental traits of the Dominating vampire.
•	All uses of Mesmerism and Forgetful Mind must be recorded by a storyteller.
•	Conditioning and Possession are often immoral and may require Humanity/Path checks.  STs must be aware of where your body is at all times when you are possessing a host.
•	Fortitude
•	Armor applies before Fortitude
•	If a staking attempt is reduced to zero damage, it does not penetrate the skin and thus no staking challenges are made.
•	Having advanced Fortitude allows the character to win on ties on Resilience and Resistance test-downs without the expenditure of a Stamina related trait.  Once feeding has begun, Aegis cannot be used to prevent subsequent rounds of feeding.  Aegis may be spent to resist Vicissitude, and may be used against Horrid Reality.
•	Koldunic Sorcery: Way of Spirit
•	When a koldun claims a territory with Way of Spirit, it is exclusive.  She alone can use Way of Spirit within that territory.
•	Use of Way of Spirit is a blood sorcery action.
•	Use of other koldunic ways through Way of Spirit (such as Heat Wave) require the koldun to bid an extra trait.
•	A koldun may attempt to break in on another koldun’s territory with a Social Challenge.  Koldun add their Way of Spirit to the Social challenge for purpose of ties.  Koldun are aware of the identity of those who have a lesser or equal level of Way of Spirit who attempt to steal their territory, but not of those with a higher level of Way of Spirit than they possess.
•	A koldun who has claimed a territory may allow (relent to) another koldun to use Way of Spirit in her territory without relinquishing her own claim.  Should she later decide to eject him from her territory, a Social challenge is engaged.  The koldun are aware of each other’s identities and location at all times if this permission is given.
•	Koldun may activate Way of Spirit at any level that they possess.
•	Elder level Way of Spirit allows a koldun to claim a territory without alerting or challenging a lesser koldun who has already claimed that territory if she desires.  The lesser koldun’s claim continues to function unimpeded if this option is employed.
•	Koldunism represents a pact that was made between the Tzimisce and the entity Kupala.  Non-Tzimisce using Koldunic Sorcery may face worse repercussions for failed challenges than Tzimisce do.  
•	Necromancy – Some static difficulties will be changed to reflect the rating of the Shroud.  This is because this is a joint Vampire/Wraith game.  In the Quiet Zone some difficulties may be changed even further, as weird stuff is going on there.
Per the Wraith Storyteller’s Kit, Necromancy usually summons Drones and Spectres before Wraiths. Player character Wraiths cannot be summoned or compelled without the presence of one of their Fetters.  PCs without Fetters are not protected by this exception.  Fetters may not be used for retests against PCs.  
•	Bone Path: Soul Steal – Stolen souls who take enough damage to fall into a harrowing instead return to their bodies in torpor.  If for some reason they cannot return to their bodies, they are destroyed.
•	Sepulchre Path: Summon Soul – This power allows communication with the dead for the duration of the art.  If a Wraith relents to the summoning, she must answer one question truthfully.  She knows that she is being summoned, and she can recognize who is summoning her if she is familiar with them.
•	Sepulchre Path: Compel Soul – Summon Soul is not needed if the Wraith is already present and able to be perceived by the necromancer.  This power allows communication with the dead for the duration of the art.  Wraiths may spend 1 Pathos to resist, but this is countered per social trait the necromancer spends. Permanent Willpower may not be spent to bind a PC wraith for a year and a day.  
•	Sepulchre Path: Haunting – This power prevents a Wraith from willingly leaving the presence of an area or an object, but forcibly removing the object from the presence of the Wraith or commanding the Wraith to leave does not cause the Wraith to take damage and severs the Haunting. Permanent Willpower may not be spent to bind a PC Wraith for a year and a day.  The Arcanos Lifeweb can be used to sever a Haunting.
•	Sepulchre Path: Torment – This power can cause a Wraith to enter into a Harrowing, which is then resolved normally.  
•	Obfuscate
•	Obfuscated characters may relent to other characters if that character has the ability to pierce Obfuscate.
•	Unseen Presence or Vanish from the Mind’s Eye reduces the required Surprise Count by one.
•	Mask of 1000 Faces – Players may have one “default” face that does not cost mental traits to activate.  Normally this will be what the character looked like in life unless arrangements are made with the STs.
•	Obtenebration 
•	Sufficient light (usually fire) can dispel Shroud of Night at ST discretion.  
•	Arms of the Abyss attack at the End of the Round phase.  You may not normally manifest more Arms at a time than you have levels of Obtenebration.
•	Potence
•	Characters cannot punch/jump for distance
•	Potence may be used to defensively block or parry, but doing so uses up an action available later in the combat round.  Players may defend with Potence only if they have an available action that they can use this for.
•	Potence can be applied to thrown weapons damage.  
•	Might does not cancel Might.  Might is your last retest.
•	When using a melee weapon with Puissance, a weapon might break based upon the Crafts/Metallurgy used to make it:
•	Crafts 4 or 5 will not break
•	Crafts 3 win or tie a simple test when used
•	Crafts 2 win a simple test when used
•	Crafts 1 always breaks.  Assume that the default for items bought from Walmart is crafts 1, and specialty stores are Crafts 2.  Crafts 3 items are special consignment.
•	Presence – Summons
•	Awe cannot cancel Awe.  It can only be used in the presence of the target of the challenge, and does not affect the use of blood magic.
•	Summons – A mental challenge against the summoner’s Social traits (retest Awareness, countered by Leadership) can be made to determine if one is being summoned, but the identity of the Summoner cannot be determined.  This does not free one from the effects of the Summons.
Since a target must present himself to a summoner, any use of Obfuscate to hide from the one summoned cancels the summoning. Mask of a Thousand Faces can be utilized, but not Unseen Presence.
Although you are summoned, common sense prevails.  The summoned might not think to strap a weapon on if he thinks he is just going for a walk, but as he approaches a dangerous neighborhood he will not be oblivious to any perceived threat, nor will he act out of character; he might even put his hand on his holstered gun as he walks through such an area.  Likewise, if he is summoned to his enemy’s house, he will not just walk blithely into the jaws of death. Common sense prevails. The Summons is important (head straight there), not urgent (sprint there).  The summoned will take the most direct route.  We will not tolerate stalling.
Only players checked into the game may Summon.  Characters who have left play for the night are beyond Summons.  In Downtimes, players always know that someone is attempting to Summon them, and can relent if they choose to or not.
•	Majesty affects anyone within range who is aware of the user’s presence. Range is defined as “sensory range.” If you can socially interact with the character, or are attempting to interact with the character & you have either Line of Sight or are within 30 feet of the character, you are under its effects. Deliberate attempts to avoid Majesty (such as closing your eyes & running to 31 feet away from the character) are considered offensive actions against the character employing Majesty. Majesty does not automatically draw the attention of those in its range. The user of Majesty is considered the defender on a tied challenge, however aggressors and defenders may expend Willpower traits for a retest in a Majesty challenge. Majesty may not be maintained under Obfuscation. A person projecting Majesty may use powers defensively without breaking their Majesty (such as Dread Gaze, Entrancement, etc.)
•	Protean – As per OWBN rules, Gangrel (and only Gangrel) may choose unique fight and flight forms. See Clanbook: Gangrel for details.  Only weapons with some level of concealment may transform with you.  
•	Quietus – All uses of Quietus that can be “hung” (such as Scorpion’s Touch, Baal’s Caress, etc.) require the player to inform a Storyteller upon the use of the power.
•	Silence of Death – This power does not affect the casting of Blood Magic. This power reduces the surprise count by 1
•	Scorpion’s Touch & Baal’s Caress – Weapons may have no more coatings than their base traits. These coatings last until the next sunrise or until used, whichever comes first
•	Dagon’s Call – This power is treated as a single source of damage for purposes of Fortitude, etc. Players must notify a Storyteller when the activation touch for this power has been used
•	Taste of Death – Characters may spend blood up to their generational limit on this power as a single attack.  The maximum range for spitting is equal to 3 steps, plus three steps per level of Athletics or Potence, whichever is greater (because some people practice, and some people are just strong.)
•	Thaumaturgy 
•	Path of Blood: Blood of Potency – As printed.  This affects Dominate and Vicisstude uses, blood per round, and potential blood pool.
•	Vicissitude
•	Aegis Teleport is not allowed.
•	Body Crafts is the retest for Vicissitude, but you must have a level of Medicine equal to the level of Vicissitude that you are using to employ the first three levels of Vicissitude.  If you do not, the target takes 1 lethal damage per level of difference.  If used on yourself, this damage is only bashing, but if used on a mortal, this damage is considered aggravated.  Note that Vicissitude takes time to perform, and cannot be used in this way to do combat damage.  
•	Horrid Form does not allow you to wield 2-handed weapons 1-handed.
•	Vicissitude modifications are run from the Tzimisce packet.
•	Blood form takes place at the end of the round in a way similar to Vanish.

EXPERIENCE POINTS
•	The Primary PC checked in is the only one that may receive points for being played that evening.
•	ESV PCs receive points for attending ESV games as follows:
3 points for attendance 
+1 point for contributions (such as serving as a narrator or setting up/cleaning the play area)
+1 point for good RP as assigned by the STs
•	ESV PCs receive a blanket 4 points for attending other games, but players are responsible for either having an ‘item card’ or character sheet signed, dated, and stamped by the ST staff of that chronicle or having it confirmed via email by the other STs.  (This is not necessary with games that we have a close relationship with, such as Rivers Run Red or Night Falls.)
•	ESV players receive the following downtime points per character
+1 point for updating the character sheet and submitting it to the ST staff by the last day of the month.
 			+2 points for downtime interaction that is more than meaningless chatter.
•	Starting characters may receive up to 60 points for a detailed backstory or for filling out the 60 question PC survey that the STs provide and approve.

TORPOR
•	Torpor rules as presented in Laws of the Night are rough if you want to keep your character.  Your Path rating determines the amount of time spent in Torpor per the following charts:
Path 5: 1 night
Path 4: 1 week
Path 3: 1 month
Path 2: 1 Season (3 months)
Path 1: 1 year
Players who are put into torpor in a different game are subject to the rules of that game unless and until they return to the ESV game.  Non ESV visiting players who are knocked into torpor in ESV follow ESV rules for torpor until their body is removed from ESV and returned to their own territory.

DIABLERIE
•	When in Frenzy, a vampire does not have the wherewithal to diablerize.  Vampires might feed until full, or even drain another vampire completely, but they will not continue to feed after the victim is out of blood, at which point the target vampire dies.  It cannot then be diablerized by someone else. 
•	Diablerie is a foul act for most vampires and is difficult to rationalize, as one’s eternal soul is prevented from reaching its final destination.  
•	Paths like Caine and Blood do not have a valediction against Diablerie, and normally will not risk losing morality.
•	Paths with Conviction can often rationalize it better.  In this case, the STs may require a static challenge with a variable difficulty. If the challenge is lost, the PC loses one level of morality.
•	Paths with Conscience struggle greatly with diablerie.  Normally the ST’s will require a static challenge, usually as a Level 1 sin.  Unless the challenge is won, the PC loses one morality.
•	PCs on Humanity or Heaven (or any of their paths) automatically lose a level of their morality.
•	“Sanctioned” diablerie from one’s superiors can grant a free retest on this simple challenge. 
•	Experience Points – When one diablerizes and gains a level of generation, the vampire gains 2 experience points (but cannot exceed 8 points per month), one of which is immediately spent on generation.  If this brings the player to 7th generation, the PC immediately becomes an NPC controlled by the STs.  The other point may be spent toward a benefit gained from diablerie.
•	PC’s who do not meet the minimum Willpower of their generation immediately gain the Willpower of that generation.
•	When a vampire is diablerized, there is the chance for reward and the chance for great peril as the soul of the consumed overwhelms the diablerist.  The diablerist makes a simple challenge, for which there is NO retest.  If the diablerist gained a bump in generation, two simple challenges are made, and the effects of both challenges are applied.
Challenge	Result
Win	Diablerist may purchase a single level of an in-clan discipline that the victim had.  Normally signature clan disciplines are unavailable, but some exceptions (like Vicissitude) could exist. If the diablerist has all the disciplines that the victim had, the STs can work out a solution (such as the purchase of a merit) or count this as a Tie.
 Tie	Diablerist may purchase an ability or specialty that the victim was particularly good at.  The ST’s will determine which ability will be purchased.
Loss	Diablerist receives a disadvantage for which he/she receives no compensation, although these may be bought off with experience points as per normal rules. A second simple test is made to see what disadvantage is received:
	Win – A negative trait that the target possessed is received. If no appropriate trait exists, the diablerist gets the trait Unstable.
	Tie – A derangement that the target had is picked up.  If the target had no derangement, the diablerist gains Multiple Personality Disorder.
	Loss – The diablerist gains a flaw that the target had.  If no appropriate flaw exists, the diablerist gets a flaw that resembles a Clan Weakness or Nightmares or the like.

	VAULDERIE
Our standard rules for the Vaulderie are that everyone throws a blood trait into the cup and pulls out a blood trait.  
•	A PC gains +1 vinculum rating for each vampire he has no vinculum with.
•	A PC gains +1 vinculum for the vampire whose blood trait he pulled.
•	If a PC has 1 vinculum rating with another Vampire and does not pull that vampire’s blood trait, he makes a simple test per vampire he has a vinculum rating with, even if that vampire is not a part of the Vaulderie.
Win – He loses 1 level of vinculum rating with that vampire if he spends 1 Willpower trait to overcome the vinculum. If this would reduce the Vinculum rating to zero, the Willpower trait spent must be a permanent trait.
Tie – The Vinculum rating remains the same.
Loss – If the target of the vinculum rating is participating in the Vaulderie, the vinculum rating goes up by one.  Nothing happens if the target is not participating in the Vaulderie.
	Players may perform “non-standard” Vaulderies with ST permission.

CRAFTING RULES
•	Crafting times are subject to Storyteller discretion based upon the scope of the project. The Ability “Repair” may fix an item back to its original purpose, but may not be used to improve an existing item.
•	The first Crafts challenge is at difficulty 3, and each subsequent challenge raises the difficulty consecutively by another 3.
•	A character may invest no more qualities into an object than their Crafts ability (having an appropriate Specialization increases the crafter’s rating by 1 for purposes of determining this value), to a maximum of 10.
Melee weapon creation includes
•	Crafts: Bladecrafting (knives, swords, axes)
•	Crafts: Blunt Weapons (maces, mauls, staves).
Ranged weapon creation includes
•	Crafts: Gunsmithing (all firearms)
•	Crafts: Bows (includes bows and crossbows)
Armorsmithing stands alone
Shieldcrafting stands alone
•	Melee weapons may be adjusted to possess the following qualities:
•	+1 Bonus trait (2 Crafts) to a maximum of 4 traits (6 traits if two-handed)
•	-1 Negative trait (1 Crafts) to a minimum of 1 Negative trait
•	+1 damage (2 Crafts) to a maximum of 3 damage (4 damage if two-handed)
•	Armor Piercing, Destroy Shield, Special Material, Speed, or Staking (2 Crafts)
•	Ranged weapons may be adjusted to possess the following qualities:
•	 +1 Bonus trait (2 Crafts) to a maximum of 4 traits (6 traits if two-handed)
•	 -1 Negative trait (1 Crafts) to a minimum of 1 Negative trait
•	+1 damage (2 Crafts) to a maximum of 3 damage (4 damage if two-handed)
•	 High-Caliber, Full Auto, Mass Trauma, Silenced, or Spray (2 Crafts)
•	Ammunition may be adjusted to possess one (and only one) the following qualities:
•	Armor Piercing (Armor Piercing Quality, -1 damage)
•	Hollow Point (+1 damage, -1 Bonus trait)
•	Incendiary (the weapon’s first level of damage is Aggravated)
•	Non-Lethal (such as bean bags, salt, etc.)
•	Special Material (wooden bullets are not a thing)
•	Armor may be adjusted to possess the following qualities:
•	-1 Negative trait (1 Crafts) to a minimum of 1 Negative trait
•	+1 Health level (2 Crafts) to a maximum of 5 Health levels

CHANGING PATHS
•	Note that characters who have just been embraced should probably begin on Humanity unless there is a compelling reason (like a long-time ghoul) to be on a Path.
To change one’s morality path, the player must throw a static challenge.  Initiating the challenge causes a reduction in the player’s current path rating.  If the expenditure would bring the PC’s path rating to 0 the character only wassails if they fail the challenge.  The static challenge is Willpower plus Path Lore, with three different difficulties (based on the differences between a PC’s current Path and the one the PC is trying to change to).  The different difficulties are as follows:
•	Difficulty 6: Switching to a Path that has the same Virtue categories as your current Path (e.g., paths that both have Self-Control/Conscience/Courage, such as Humanity to Honorable Accord).
•	Difficulty 9: Switching to a Path that has only two Virtue categories in common with your current Path (e.g., paths that only have Courage and one other Virtue category in common, such as Humanity to Death & the Soul).
•	Difficulty 12: Switching to a Path that has only one Virtue category in common with your current Path (e.g., paths that only have Courage in common, such as Humanity to Power and the Inner Voice).
•	If you have a mentor who is on the Path that you are changing to, you can use the Mentor’s Path Lore ability instead of your own, and you gain one free retest on the challenge to change paths.
If a player’s first attempt to switch Paths is at a morality rating of 2 and the player wins the challenge he or she will start at a rating of 1 on the new Path.
If a player makes their first attempt to switch onto a new Path at a morality of 1 and wins outright, he or she may start at a rating of 2 on the new Path.  If the player requires a retest to succeed they start at a path rating of 1.  Any changed virtues immediately default to 1.  
When making the challenge to switch paths, a PC may expend as many PERMANENT Willpower traits as he or she wishes (up to current permanent Willpower) to continue retesting.  This is the only retest for this challenge; luck is not applicable. The merit 9 lives may only be invoked when the player is down to their last willpower.