Is there anything I should bring with me to game for my first session?

Yes. The Constitution of our independent chapter is available on this website, please read it and print it out for future reference. Also, pencil/pen and paper. It would be a good idea to procure a LON (Laws of the Night) if possible, but the book is currently out of print so happy hunting.

Do I have to provide a copy of my character sheet to the Storyteller before I can play?

Yes. The copy is kept on file as long as your character is alive or active. The HST keeps these copies for auditing purposes and in case you the player lose your copy.

Who do I have to see to get my character approved for play?

The VST (Venue Story Teller) of your venue (vampire, etc...) can approve most characters, however if the character's clan falls into the rare and unique category then the VST and HST (Head Story Teller) must BOTH approve it before you can play.

How does order of challenges work?

If it ever becomes necessary to determine who does what first (common when multiple challenges occur in a turn), the person with the highest number of relevant Traits (Physical, Mental, Social) goes first, q.v. Laws of the Night Revised, page 196.

How do Influences work?

At the beginning of a game session (after consulting your VST), you can opt to exert your pull in mortal society by spending temporary points of Influence in one of your areas (up to your total amount). The level of effect that you want is generally rated 1 to 5, and will cost that many points of Influence; rough guidelines are given for each category. When you are unsure whether or not you can do something with your given level of Influence, the Influence ST’s word is final.

How fast do they take effect?

This is a case-by-case decision, again up to the Influence ST. Generally, bigger stuff requires more time and more thorough explanation and planning.

Example: You want to exert influence in a power company to cut off power to the Mountain Lair for whatever reason.

Right: Finding the schedule for power outages from the power company, and bribing someone to change them around so a planned outage “just happens” to occur at the right moment.

Right: Finding the main power lines to the building itself on a schematic map, and sending goons to shut them off or sever them entirely at a predetermined time.

Wrong: ::grabs cell phone, punches in numbers, shouts into speaker:: “SHUT IT OFF NOW!”

(NOTE: Spending Influence does not guarantee that something automatically happens. It also does not guarantee accurate information. You have been warned.)

How do Contacts work?

Contacts are similar to Influences, but are at once more limited and more modular. Every month, you may treat your Contacts as levels of Influence in given areas for information-gathering purposes only. For instance, someone with Contacts x3 could, one month, put two levels into Industry and one into Media, then switch them about the next month.

Caveat: Like Influences, Contacts are not infallible. ::ominous smile::

How does a Static Test work?

A Static Test is essentially identical to any other “normal” Challenge. You bid a Trait (yes, you must risk a Trait for Static Tests), and do paper-rock-scissors as usual. Every Static Challenge has a difficulty number that is compared against your number of relevant traits (usually Physical, Mental or Social) just like resolving a normal Challenge against someone else.

I attempt to retest a challenge for which my opponent has an Ability (say, Brawl versus Dodge). His current level of Ability is higher than mine. Can he say “No, you can’t use that for a retest?”

No.

However, if you attempted that retest, he could expend a level of his Ability to match the conditions, cancelling it out, q.v. Laws of the Night Revised, p. 195. So even if you have Brawl 5 and your opponent has only Dodge 1, if you lose your initial Test and spend a level of Brawl for a retest, your opponent may block it by spending a level of Dodge. (However, this means that he’s fresh out of Dodge while you’ve still got plenty of love left to share.)

What clans can I play?

TOD allows darn near everything. However many clans are qualified as rare or unique. A safe bet for the current Sabbat game would be the following: Assamite, Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Serpents of the Light, Toreador, Tzimisce, and Ventrue. Please bear in mind that sometimes clans are capped due to overpopulation, if this is the case, then the storyteller might ask you to create a different character, so bring at least two different characters to game.

What are the limits on generation?

Techically none, however, there is a system to remove favoritism and twinking. The Storytellers have become aware of everyone's desire to play a 8th gen Brujah, Lasombra, or Samedi so we devised a system. Upon choosing to play a new character you must test with the Storyteller for your generation. IMPORTANT NOTE: Just because you win enough test to start with a 9th gen Ventrue, does not mean those Generation points are free, you must still expend freebies to lower your generation.

How much damage can I heal with a blood point?

The Unlimited (greenish paperback) Laws of the Night Revised has conflicting amounts, but the Limited (shiny black) version is correct. A point of blood will heal one level of Lethal or two levels of Bashing damage.

How does Status work?

The ins and outs of Status are detailed starting on page 216 of Laws of the Night Revised, but their most immediate (but not only) effect is that they can be bid as Social Traits in a Social Challenge, and your Status can be added to your total Social Traits for ties.

I’m using Heightened Senses/Heightened Senses with the Merit: Acute Sense. Something happens to give me sensory overload (bright light, air horn). What happens to me?

Contrary to popular belief, the negative effects of Heightened Sensory overload are largely roleplaying-based. You don’t go “deaf for an hour.” If using Heightened Senses and you’re overloaded, you are completely stunned for one turn and lose the afflicted sense for a scene unless you spend a point of Willpower to rise above the agony.

Using an Acute Sense on top of Heightened Senses does not make the overload backlash any worse, in regards to game penalties.

I am cloaked with Obfuscate. I then use Dominate/what have you, a “Mental” action. I remain Obfuscated because it wasn’t a Physical action, correct?

No. Obfuscate lasts until you interact with your environment, be it a slashing sword, shouted words, or conjured magic.

I have Celerity. How many bonus actions do I get?

Unless the level of Celerity specifically states an extra action, then none. Extra actions aren’t gained until the 2nd and 4th levels. So, to break it down:

• No Celerity or Celerity 1: One action.
• Celerity 2-3: Two actions.
• Celerity 4-5: Three actions.

Also note that the powers are cumulative. If you have Celerity 3 and spend a blood to activate it, you gain all the benefits of Celerity one, two, and three.

Also, also note that if you can spend more than one blood point per turn, you cannot do this to gain additional actions with Celerity by activating the power multiple times.

I have Potence/Celerity. How strong/fast am I?

According to Laws of the Night Revised, Basic levels of either Discipline do not count as breaches of the Masquerade. While impressive, Basic Celerity and Potence is still within the realms of human achievement. No Matrix acrobatics, super-jumps or broken fire hydrants at this level, sorry.

At Intermediate, the vampire’s strength and speed are clearly inhuman. Concrete gives way with repeated blows, hundreds of pounds can be easily hefted. You can jump like a Mortal Kombat character. Your speed whips at clothing and sets candles to dancing.

At Advanced, the vampire’s attributes are ridiculously inhuman. Solid oak trees and brick walls can be kicked down with one strike. You jump like a Harlem Globetrotter on Flubber. Your speed is in the realm of farfetched anime and The Matrix.

Do the Sabbat Creation Ritual and diablerie give me permanent Derangements?

No.

The Creation Ritual, although very shaking to a newly created/subverted vampire’s Humanity, is not cause for permanent derangement. A temporary derangement does manifest for a few sessions, but is not a permanent Flaw unless your Creation was really nasty and traumatic.

Diablerie costs at least a point of Humanity, and the soul-eater may manifest “quirks” (particularly if the victim was a powerful vampire), but there is no inherent, permanent Derangement from the act.

How does Entrancement work?

Just like it says in the book. Unlike Dominate, you can’t protect yourself from Presence by looking away from the vampire’s eyes. So long as you can see the vampire or hear her voice, you can be ensorceled.

Generally, though, some expression of emotion or verbal exchange is used to carry the force of the vampire’s unnatural charisma. You wouldn’t say, “I use Entrancement on you to make you stop fighting me,” and immediately go to for a Challenge. However, a contemptuous snort and sadly shaking your head in obvious disappointment would be enough to bring your combatants to a halt (as would a simple “STOPPIT!”).

I have Magic Resistance. Exactly what does this protect me against?

On the one hand, the description says “any form of magic.” However, the vast majority of Disciplines are not magic for the purposes of the Merit. Vicissitude, Dominate, Valeren-you have no extraordinary protection from them. It also provides no protection against Psychic Phenomena or True Faith.

However, it does work against Garou Gifts that directly affect you, hedge magic, Sphere magic, and all forms of vampiric blood-magic (including Necromancy).

Note that Magic Resistance is not the same as Thaumaturgical Countermagic.

I have the Merit: Magic Resistance. Does that mean that I cannot perform Sabbat ritae?

Magic Resistance specifically states that the vampire is unable to learn Thaumaturgy (or other forms of magic). Sabbat Rituals are highly formal, with a subtle nudge of Tzimisce koldun-sorcery to make them more than just unnecessary pomp. However, the underlying magic is so faint and subtle that more than a few Sabbat themselves believe that the ritae are nothing more than mere ceremony-important, to be sure, but of more psychological than mystical value.

So. To answer the question, the magic in ritae is faint (coincidental?) enough that a character with Magic Resistance could learn and oversee them properly. Just don’t ask him to make you a Bone of Lies anytime soon, or you’ll be disappointed…

Does Vicissitude give me Derangements if I use it?

No.