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

Watch out for redundant powers within a Discipline, too. Unless you run an “elders”
chronicle, you have to defi ne the Discipline with just fi ve powers. That’s not many. If one
power is merely a stronger or more complete version of an earlier effect, players might feel
that the lesser power is a waste of experience points.
GAME MECHANICS
After you work out the general effect of each Discipline level, work out the details by assigning
game mechanics.
• Does the power require a test pool? Not all of them do. Some Discipline powers have
fi xed effects. Vigor, for instance, simply adds points to Strength-based test pools, Speed and
jumping distances.
• If the power does require a draw, what traits go into the pool? A Discipline’s powers
usually all stem from the same Attribute category, be it Mental, Physical or Social. Attribute +
Skill + Discipline dots is the basic combination. You should have a strong and cogent reason
for ever using Resolve, Composure or Stamina proactively as part of the user’s invocation
draw, though it can happen.
Note that most Disciplines use the same category of Attributes throughout. Mental Disciplines
use Mental Attributes, social Disciplines use Social Attributes. If you break with this
custom, address the fact and give a sensible reason other than, “My character has lots of dots
in that Attribute.”
• What modifi ers apply? As noted previously for many Discipline powers, you add or
subtract a modifi er from the test pool to refl ect how some Kindred (or other supernatural
creatures) might be harder to affect than others, situational distractions, how much information
is sought, or other concerns. The power might receive other modifi ers, increasing or
decreasing the test pool, to refl ect special circumstances. Is the power affected by the presence
of blood ties (see p. 228) between user and subject?
• Does the number of successes drawn have any infl uence on the power’s effect? Some
Disciplines have all-or-nothing effects or effects in which the difference between a single
success and many successes is merely a matter of degree. Others can unpredictably produce
greater or lesser effects on a target. One success, as always, indicates a weak, marginal effect
on the target. Three successes indicate a more pronounced effect. Five or more successes
represent an amazing success with greater than normal effect. Failures on a chance draw
always results in something bad happening to the character if any potential for it exists.
Resistance Attributes usually modify the activation draw based on the Discipline’s function
as a Mental, Physical or Social power, or they serve as the basis for a defensive test pool in
a contested draw. (Unless some overwhelming circumstance applies, any draw to resist a
power should be refl exive).
For example, a power that uses Intelligence as the invoker’s base Attribute is modifi ed by
Resolve. This means the subject’s Resolve is subtracted from the user’s test pool or is drawn
as a contested test pool. The rule of thumb is that if a power has gradations of effect, in which
each success individually accounts for increasing results, the subject’s Resistance trait is subtracted
from the user’s test pool. If the power has an all-or-nothing effect, the subject’s player
gets a draw of his own that is compared to the user’s activation draw. See p. 25 of Mind’s Eye
Theatre for more on this design principle. (Note that mortals typically have limited capacity to
resist the supernatural abilities of the undead, as the living are traditional victims of Kindred
power. It’s part of their job in the chronicle. At the very least, they have no Blood Potency
to bolster contested draws. Even if they are entitled to a contested draw, it’s probably a test
pool of a single trait because their Blood Potency is effectively zero.)
378 mind’s appendix: eye theatre: bloodlines requiem