House rules for Carthian Laws, Merits, and Devotions.
Merits[]
Alley Cat • to •••[]
Secrets of the Covenants p. 177 HR.
Apply Merit dots as bonus to rolls to navigate, hide, evade, or pursue in domains where your character has a Haven. Applies to hunting, investigate, and cover-up rolls in the off-screen system.
Army of One • to •••••[]
Secrets of the Covenant p. 177 HR.
Roll Presence + Politics + Status (Carthians) to summon a number of Carthian neonates as backup. The number of individuals summoned is equal to your dots in the merit. They arrive in (5 - Territory Access) Turns. The NPCs have stats as outlined in Secrets of the Covenant p. 177.
PCs who fit the bill (i.e. a Carthian bruiser of equal or lower Status) can also volunteer to be included in the scene.
Carthian Pull • to •••••[]
Once per month, a character may use Carthian Pull as Allies, Retainer, Contacts, or Haven. In one month, a character with five dots Carthian Status may use Carthian Pull for a five-dot Merit, or five one-dot Merits, or a two-dot and a three-dot Merit, or any other combination that adds up to five.
Night Doctor Surgery •••[]
Prerequisite: Covenant Status (Carthians) •, Medicine •••
Use surgical procedures to heal Kindred from lethal or aggravated wounds. The roll is an extended Intelligence + Medicine, where one successful roll downgrades one lethal to one bashing or one aggravated to two lethal. Each roll costs 1 downtime.
An Exceptional Success allows the Night Doctor to heal double the amount of damage in one roll.
Praxis Bureaucrat ••[]
Prerequisite: Politics •
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Politics + higher of Status(Praxis) or Status(Carthian)
Cost: 1 Downtime per roll
Your character wields red tape like a weapon, miring his opponents in forms and paperwork, committees, obfuscatory language, and obscure rules and regulations. This Merit allows you to perform certain manoeuvres within the Praxis bureaucracy system. They are:
- Increase or decrease the downtime required for bureaucratic processes, by number of successes achieved in roll.
- Cover up an issue or certain details regarding an issue, if said issue leaves a paper trail that can be investigated within the bureaucratic system.
- Investigate the doings of another bureaucrat, by rolling Wits + Investigation + Status vs. Manipulation + Politics + Status.
Devotions[]
It is assumed that Carthian Devotions are taught to Carthian characters only. Non-Carthian PCs cannot take these Devotions in CG. They may learn these Devotions if they can get a character to teach them ICly.
Husk[]
Celerity •, Vigor • 1XP
Cost: 1 Vitae per turn
Action: Reflexive
Consume (1 + lower of Celerity or Vigor) number of Vitae per turn.
A character may spend 1 Vitae to activate this and regain 1 out of every 2 downtime used in off-screen hunting. Using this is a Masquerade risk. For every regain used in this manner, please put in a +request to staff.
Message in a Bottle[]
Auspex •••, Dominate •• 2XP
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Dominate
By holding an item and using Message in a Bottle, a character can manipulate its psychic imprint. Anyone who later uses The Spirit’s Touch on the item receives a short vision of the character’s choice, about 15–30 seconds’ worth.
The message lasts for two years per success rolled.
Cleansing Impression[]
Auspex •••, Obfuscate •• 2XP
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Stealth + Auspex
Every unliving object within 10 feet is cleansed of psychic impressions. For each additional success, that radius increases by five feet.
Anyone who examines an affected item with The Spirit’s Touch or any other form of past sensing gets the impression that no one has ever touched it and nothing has ever happened to it. This is distinct from the sensation of simply being unable to access the impression, and many seers find this sensation disturbing the first time they experience it.
Immutable Mind[]
Dominate •, Resilience • 1XP
Cost: 1 Willpower per scene
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure + Resilience
While a character is protected by Immutable Mind, attempts to use Dominate on the character are hindered by the character’s own mastery of Dominate. If the roll is contested, the defender with Immutable Mind gets to add his rating in Dominate to his attempts to resist.
If the defending character's Resolve is subtracted from the attacker's dice pool, subtract Resolve and Dominate instead.
Stalwart Heart[]
Majesty •, Resilience • 1XP
Cost: 1 Willpower per scene
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure + Resilience
While a character is protected by Stalwart Heart, attempts to use Majesty on her are hindered by the character’s own mastery of Majesty. If the roll is contested, the defender with Stalwart Heart gets to add her rating in Majesty to his attempts to resist.
For Majesty • (Awe), the character can add her dots in Majesty to her roll of Lashing Out (B&S p.133) to remain unaffected by Majesty.
Dauntless Spirit[]
Nightmare •, Resilience • 1XP
Cost: 1 Willpower per scene
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure + Resilience
While a character is protected by Dauntless Spirit, attempts to use Nightmare against him are hindered by the character’s own mastery of Nightmare. If the roll is contested, the defender with Dauntless Spirit gets to add his rating in Nightmare to his attempts to resist.
If the defending character's Composure is subtracted from the attacker's dice pool, subtract Composure and Nightmare instead.
For Nightmare • (Dread Presence), the character can add her dots in Nightmare to her roll of Lashing Out (B&S p.135) to remain unaffected by Nightmare.
Vitae Bloat[]
Protean ••, Resilience • 1XP
Cost: 1 Willpower point
Can hold a number of extra Vitae equal to dots in Protean. The vampire suffers one point of bashing damage for each two Vitae held above his standard maximum. These Health points can’t be healed while the Kindred is exceeding his normal capacity for Vitae.
Occulted Spirit[]
Auspex •••••, Obfuscate •• 3XP
Cost: 1 Willpower dot
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Obfuscate
The vampire's Twilight Form is considered Obfuscated. Any character who wishes to detect the Twilight Form using Auspex forces a Clash of Wills, rolling their Auspex + BP vs. Obfuscate + BP.
Brute Cannot Betray[]
Animalism •, Obfuscate •• 1XP
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Obfuscate
An animal affected by the character's Animalism • (Feral Whispers) will not immediately reveal that it is vampire-controlled. Someone who wishes to discern that the animal is vampire-controlled forces a Clash of Wills, rolling their Auspex + BP vs. Obfuscate + BP.
Unseen Master[]
Dominate •••••, Obfuscate •• 3XP
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Obfuscate
A subject affected by the character's Dominate ••••• (Possession) will not immediately reveal that they are vampire-controlled. Someone who wishes to discern that the subject is vampire-controlled forces a Clash of Wills, rolling their Auspex + BP vs. Obfuscate + BP.
Behind the Throne[]
Majesty ••, Obfuscate •• 2XP
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Expression + Majesty
This Devotion allows a character to activate Awe, and to give its benefits to someone other than herself. However, the subject given the benefits of Awe cannot use it to activate the higher powers of Majesty, such as Confidant or Idol.
Regeneration[]
Protean ••••, Resilience •••• 4XP
Cost: 5 Vitae
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll to invoke.
Action: Instant
This power takes as long to activate as it takes the character to spend the requisite Vitae. Each activation of this power heals a point of aggravated damage.
Shout[]
Celerity •, Dominate •• 2XP
Cost: 1 Vitae to activate
Allows the character to use Dominate • Mesmerize as a reflexive action. Any instructions must be bellowed loudly, or the power fails. Eye contact is not necessary when using Shout, but the target’s name must be mentioned if eye contact is not established.