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NecroticAgenda
2014-06-03, 01:42 AM
Feel free to discuss my set of house rules if you like. This is largely for my own record keeping because I always lose Word documents. Maybe one day I'll add a dramatic introduction, I don't know. This includes the rules I choose to use from the God-Machine Chronicles update. I like a lot of that, but I don't like all of it.

Character Creation

Humans
- You have two new stats, as detailed on pages 29-33 of WoD: Mirrors. Reason and Conviction.
Why? Because human characters should have the potential to gain just a touch of the supernatural and Reason is a great temptation mechanic. There are so many potential downsides to learning just a bit of blood magic, or being able to speak to ghosts, and who knows what it might do to your soul? But the power... And conviction, because it lets mortals compete with supernaturals at high levels of play. I think this is important to have as at least a possibility. Maybe you want to play a game where mortals are always prey or desperate, underpowered predator, and that can be fun sometimes - but it can also be fun to have a legendary hunter duel an elder vampire for the fate of a whole city.


Vampires






- Willpower use has been expanded. Willpower can be spend for the following effects in addition to all normal options.

All or Nothing: Sometimes a single succes just doesn't get it done. Sure, you've still succeeded at the roll, but the result is probably nothing spectacular. This option allows you to dump all your remaining willpower to gamble with probability. when you choose to go All or Nothing, if your next roll is a success it counts as an exceptional one. If, however, the roll fails, it's considered a dramatic failure. This may not be used in combat.
Distractions: Combat in the Storyrelling System is a "yo-go, I-go" kind of affair, based on the initiative of characters involved in the scene. Normally, unless it's your turn to act, you can't really interfere with the actions of other characters. In terms of story, though, characters don't stand around picking their noses, waiting for their turn at bat. they talk, they move around, they duck and weave and they get involved. This option allows you to spend a point of willpower to harass and/or annoy an opponent just enough so he might make a mistake. The harassment could be verbal, or included minor non-action physical attempts to intimidate, hinder and irritate. In play, each point of Willpower spent acts as a -2 modifier to a single roll of any opponent. Players should describe the manner in which they are distracting the bad guy, without describing actions that would require an actual dice roll.
Get a Clue: By spending a point of willpower, the character automatically uncovers a clue or other vital bit of information that is hidden in the scene. The downside is that sometimes you might try to Get a Clue when there isn't anything hidden to find, in which case the Willpower is wasted.
Hurry: The character can spend a Willpower point during one roll of an extended action, and in doing so, cuts the time that "per roll" period in half.
Narrative Elements: Generally, the composition of the environment around your characters is completely up to the Storyteller. No matter how badly you need a handy pond or swimming pool to hide from the baying hell-hounds chasing you, if the Storyteller doesn't allow such occurrences, then it's lights-out. This use of Willpower grants you a measure of control over the environment, in a purely narrative fashion. the system works as follows: you describe to the Storyteller what sort of narrative element you would like to find. Maybe you need a gas station around the next corner to replace a buster tire or it would be nice if the small town you're trapped in happened to have a silversmith. As long as the proposed narrative element does not give a direct bonus to dice rolls, almost anything is fair game. Once you describe the element, the Storyteller decides if it possible and how much Willpower it will cost (this circumvents the normal per-turn limits on spending Willpower. All uses of this count as spending 1 Willpower during the turn). For rough guidelines, common or easy-to-find elements such as a gas station or fast-food restaurant, a specific type of topography in keeping with the area or makeshift weaponry will cost 1 WP. Specific services like a church or a wedding planner, an unusual topographic feature (oasis in the desert), or some manner of escape from unpleasant situations (a secret door, loose bar in the jailhouse window) will cost 2 WP. Something absurd like finding a gun under a random sofa, a doctor that picks up bloody hitchhikers or any other veritable deus ex machina will cost 3 WP.
Supreme Effort: Every story has a turning point at which you simply can't afford to fail. Maybe you have one shot to take the vampire that's been feeding off your kids or failing a Drive roll along a cliff would result in very bad things. At times like these, the usual +3 bonus gained from spending a point of Willpower just doesn't cut the mustard. Once per story you can spend a point of willpower to give a single roll the Advanced Action quality (see the WoD rulebook, p. 135). This represents the protagonist putting all he has into a life-or-death situation.
Survival: Any time your character takes enough damage to kill her, you may spend a dot of willpower to reduce damage taken to the minimum to ensure survival. Death can only be thwarted in this manner once per story.


Combat

Routines
Combat routines have absorbed many special actions from the standard combat rules. Your turn now consists of three actions: two move actions and one instant action. The bog standard use of these is to move up to your Speed in yards with one move action, attack with your instant action, and raise your Defense with your other move action. Your Defense counts as 0 in any turn which your have not "raised your Defense," which is a move action. Once your Defense has been raised it lowers by 1 after every attack you defend against and after every instant action you make, to a minimum of 0, until you raise it again. You can convert an instant action into a move action to gain 3 move actions in a turn.

Note: This technically means a character can walk around town with a raised defense by never using an instant action, but they would look very silly and very suspicious doing so.

The Routines
Aim (1 move): You gain a +1 bonus to your next ranged attack roll, to a maximum of +3 if you aim multiple times.
All-Out Attack (1 move + 1 instant): You gain +2 to your dice pool for a Brawl, Weaponry or Firearms (non-bow) attack. Used with a gun, this expends 2 ammo.
Close (1 instant): You enter an enemy's threat zone without provoking a Quick Attack.
Dodge (2 move): You double your Defense for this round or reap the benefits of the Weaponry Dodge, Brawling Dodge or Stealth Dodge Merits. Doing this does not raise your Defense.
Draw a Weapon (2 move): You draw a weapon.
Drop (1 move): You can drop prone. This gives inflicts a -2 penalty on ranged attacks targeting you but provides a +2 bonus to melee attacks targeting you.
Jump (1 move): You jump as per normal rules using the Athletics skill.
Quick Attack (1 move): If an opponent enters or leaves your threat zone (see below) without using the close or withdraw routines, respectively, you can attempt one close combat attack.
Notice (1 move): You take a moment to look around the battlefield to notice something useful.
Rise (1 instant): You rise from prone.
Sprint (3 move): You move twice your speed, plus your size (or species factor, if you are something like a wolf or a rabbit for some reason), plus your roll of Dexterity + Athletics. A dramatic failure on this roll means you fall prone at a random point during your movement.
Stand Fast (1 move): Increase your Defense by 1.
Total Attack (2 move + 1 instant): You add half of your Attribute + Skill dice pool, rounded up, to your Brawl, Weaponry or Firearms (non-bow) attack. Using a gun, this expends 3 ammo.
Withdraw (1 move): You do not threaten Quick Attacks for moving away from a melee attacker this turn.

Quick Attacks
If a combatant enters a threat zone without using Close, he’s recklessly charging in. If he leaves without using Withdraw, he’s probably turning tail to run. The Quick Attack routine lets your character strike an opponent (or vice versa) as a movement action instead of an instant action. This has the potential to allow two attacks in a turn: one standard instant action attack and the Quick Attack. Each character can only perform one Quick Attack per turn, even if he possesses a Merit or supernatural
power that allows multiple actions. The only exception is if she possesses a Merit that explicitly states it allows multiple Quick Attacks. On the other hand, characters can perform Quick Attacks out of Initiative order as long as they are aware of the target. Quick Attacks are always triggered by the target’s movement. Your character can’t use one just because she moved to put someone in her threat zone, or shift someone out of it. Quick Attack opportunities also apply only to targets initially entering or leaving threat zones. If an enemy moves into your character’s threat zone but still can’t attack by the next turn (if for example your character has a long weapon and the opponent doesn’t) you don’t get another Quick Attack — just a standard close combat attack. Finally, you can’t stack multiple attack abilities inside a Quick Attack by, for example, employing the Kung Fu Fighting Style’s “Whirlwind Strike” for your Quick Attack.

Concealment
Slightly Obscured: In dark alleys or moderate fog, in country woods with the moon shining overhead as your only guide, it can be hard to see properly. This inflicts a -1 penalty to actions that require being able to see your target, including any attack action.
Substantially Obscured: Thick mist, moonless nights in the woods and other such conditions inflict a -2 penalty to sight-based actions, including any attack action.
Vampires reduce the penalties of visual concealment by 1.
Werewolves reduce the penalties of visual concealment by 2, only suffering a -1 penalty instead of fighting blind even in total darkness due to their other keen senses.

NecroticAgenda
2014-06-14, 03:24 PM
Bloodlines
The following section will detail all vampiric bloodlines, including their new Trigger and any other changes made.
The Trigger: Starting blood potency 1 you may join your sire's bloodline by performing a specific action. Every time you perform this action you must make a Humanity - Blood Potency check every time you perform the action or automatically join the bloodline. Some bloodlines may inflict bonuses or penalties to this check based on how common or extreme the Trigger is.


DAEVA
Amara Havana
Disciplines: Celerity, Majesty, Sakti Pata, Vigor
Weakness: If they have killed or fed within the hour, wearing gloves will not prevent the bloody handprints and their fingertips will slowly drip blood.
Trigger: Killing a human or bringing another Kindred to Final Death (-3).


GANGREL
Bohagande
Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Protean, Sunnikuse
Weakness: Unchanged.
Trigger: Commit diablerie (-5) or cheat at a game of chance (+1).

NecroticAgenda
2014-06-14, 03:40 PM
DEVOTIONS

Blood from the Boards
Original: Gangrel clan book, page 110.
Protean o, Resilience o
Experience cost: 1
Cost: 1 Willpower (spent when activating Unmarked Grave)
Dice Pool: No roll necessary.
Action: Reflexive.
Instead of burying himself in the soil to rest or hide, the vampire can dissolve into fine, immobile mist and sleep within almost any substance. Wood, cloth, gravel, pavement, metal, the options are limitless. Using Unmarked Grave this way takes a fill minute to dissolve into mist unless the vampire has Protean ooooo. The only limitation to this ability is that blood has to have been spilled onto the location the vampire wishes to rest in at some point in history. In the World of Darkness this is almost never a problem, but it could potentially require the spilling of fresh blood over the place desired as a resting spot. Additionally, if no fresh blood has been spilled there within the past week, the area of a full hundred foot radius cannot be used for this Devotion again until such a time that further blood is spilled.