Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

CHANGING CITY STATUS
City Status is the most fl uid of the three Kindred Status traits. Starting characters can have
up to only two dots in City Status. Once play begins, all changes result from the following
systems. Losses and gains in City Status occur through the intermediary of a small number of
Kindred offi cials in a domain: the Prince, his Harpy, the Harpy named by the Prisci, and the
Master of Elysium. Other positions — such as the Hounds and the Seneschal — do not have
the power to award or strip City Status. City Status can also gain a boost (or be protected)
by the overall position of a clan or covenant in a city. Kindred who remain active in their
domains also accumulate City Status over time.
POWER AT THE TOP
Only so many undead can be infl uential in a single city, so there is a limit to the number
of active characters who can hold high levels of City Status. At any one time, only a single
Kindred in a domain may hold City Status 5. This is usually (but not always) the Prince.
Likewise, a maximum of fi ve Kindred may hold City Status 4 at any one time. These are usually
the Prisci, covenant heads or Primogen. If the maximum allowable characters already
have a certain level of Status, the City Status of one of the incumbents must fi rst be reduced
somehow before another can take his place.
These limits do not apply to Kindred whose City Status temporarily rise thanks to bonuses
resultant from a clan or covenant’s eminence (see p. 291). Thus, a Kindred with City Status
2, whose clan is eminent and who receives two bonus dots, is not counted among the fi ve
Kindred holding City Status 4, nor does he displace someone at that level. Instead, for the
duration of the clan’s eminence, the character simply has as much social standing as those
who have earned City Status 4 without their clan being so prominent — this doesn’t grant
them any offi cial title, but can make it diffi cult for others to move against them.
Note that holding an offi cial position in a domain does not grant dots of City Status or
any guarantee of esteem. However, the rough equivalencies between City Status and the
positions provided on p. 133 can serve as guidelines. Characters in offi cial positions and
with signifi cantly lower City Status than suggested are unlikely to rest easy in their roles. A
Primogen with only two dots of City Status has to tread carefully, lest he anger the Prince and
fi nd himself stripped of all rank. The actual naming of positions other than those described
here occurs purely through roleplaying.
The Prince and Harpies (and to a more limited degree, the Prisci and Master of Elysium)
are the most immediate adjudicators of City Status. Actual City Status dots and in-character
favors and rights create a vicious circle of sorts. City Status can translate into access to the
Prince and to favors, but to gain City Status, a Kindred must do favors for the Prince or
Harpies. Such is the give and take of the Danse Macabre.
STATUS POINTS
The Prince and the two main Harpies of a domain are unique in that they have points as
well as dots of City Status. Like those of Willpower, these points can be spent for a variety
of effects. They replenish on the fi rst night of every calendar month. If for some reason an
individual stops holding a position that grants Status points, the character immediately loses
access to their effects. If another character ascends to the vacant position, the new offi cer may
use only the points that remain unspent for the month. An election or appointment doesn’t
refresh the pool until the beginning of the next month.
To see how many Status points a Prince or Harpy has, see the sections on the individual
positions, below. Note that in cities that use different names for equivalent Kindred offi cials,
those offi cials follow the same basic rules.
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mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems