General Server Information

1. The only homebrew we use is what we have made and approved for the server, as we primarily follow VtM v5 rules-as-written. Any suggestions can be made via the feedback channel.
2. You are limited to 4 characters; only one of them is allowed to be Ancilla. If you have the full four, at least one of them must be from a book other than the corebook. NPCs used in stories do not count toward this limit.
3. You are NEVER permitted to severely alter or damage settings without ST permission first. You may not eradicate entire areas of the map either.
4. Always include your rolls within the corresponding posts in RP in a format such as [Dice pool, Successes, Difficulty]. The more information the better; this helps us track what is going on. An example is [Wits + Awareness, Succ 4, Diff 3]. If it’s a case where there is no difficulty, such as contested rolls, you do not need to include a difficulty.
5. Headers belong at the top of every post, it’s what helps us all organize the roleplay in channels. It also gives STs crucial information when guiding a scene.
   **[Name, Location, BoL, Specific Information, NA or A]**
   –Name: Character name as on the sheet. If the character is going by a nickname currently, please still use their sheet name. If the character will be going by this nickname for the unforeseeable future, you can have it changed via update or just let us know and we will rename the file. It otherwise becomes a game of Sherlock Holmes to find your sheet when rulings are needed.
   –Location: Please give the general location and then a specific place if needed. Especially during events or when in large locations with multiple other players, specifications such as [Elysium, Bar Area] help immensely.
   –BoL: Abbreviation for Blush of Life It can either be “BoL” or “no BoL”, this is to indicate if they activated the Blush or not. Thin-bloods can place Lifelike here instead if they have the merit. Thin-bloods never need to roll BoL.
   –Specific Information: This is things such as status when in the locations that match it. So Camarilla Status in Elysium. Active Disciplines should be listed as well if they are extended through multiple posts, such as Eyes of the Beast. Please also, if you’re in a campaign, include the title of the campaign in your master posts.
   –NA or A: Non Approachable or Approachable.
   –Things that shouldn’t be in the headers: Physical changes, such as damage, or hair changes. Beauty Merits, Nicknames, Fame, Loresheets and other unnecessary information. You can however just ping your partners and let them know in Rp-Coord that there’s this and that to be considered about your character.
   –During Events, Status and Loresheets are allowed, if they are relevant. But otherwise they shouldn’t be included. This is only due to the sheer amount of players interacting and moving about who might recognize another character from their background Status.
6. Please always use #rp-coordination or the clan channels to organize your RP with other players.
7. Keep yourself up to date with recent news by checking the announcements whenever something is posted, or if you’re away for a period of time.

General RP Information

1. Every reset begins a new evening, so you will roll a Rouse Check when your character wakes.
2. Singular use of Blush of Life (Rouse check required) lasts for 1 IRL week, if you decide to deactivate it or until your character goes into day sleep.
3. Characters don’t need Blush of Life to use phones/touchscreens. Blush of Life is still needed if the character wants to have sexual intercourse (even for humanity 8 and above) or to eat/drink anything other than blood, unless it’s wine and the character’s humanity is 8 or above, or unless the character has a specific merit allowing them to do that regardless of the Blush.
4. Neither torpor nor ghouling as character backgrounds can be used to circumvent the Sea of Time rules/ the age range that correlates to Ancillae. Your characters must be embraced and torpored/ghouled after 1940 unless you have permission to play an Ancilla character.
5. Appearance Merits and Flaws can be purchased after character creation only in conjunction with the use of Profane Hieros Gamos on a critical, raising or lowering Humanity, raising Blood Potency, or with the aid of a Tzimisce. When using Humanity as a stepping stone for the purchase, the Merit/Flaw might be lost if the character’s Humanity moves in the opposite direction again.
6. Characters can have a Ghoul Touchstone at character creation at the price of a Stain + a Remorse roll in their first week of play, but the ghoul cannot be Blood Bonded then or ever, as that would mean damaging/destroying the Touchstone. Allowed for older Neonates and Ancillae; younger vampires can only have mortal Touchstones.
7. The Beast flavor clarification; This isn’t Venom from the Spider-man verse nor Dissociative Identity Disorder. However, hearing the “voice” and “communicating” with it is fine, but it should be within very specific circumstances rather than a relationship created. The beast is a representation of a darker power or curse that has taken over the host and not a separate entity. How you decide to represent that is up to you, giving it a personality akin to your own characters or counter, naming it or a specific “voice” is all flavor. But remember it’s still part of the character and not a separate creature unless they have specific loresheets that allow for that.

Rule of Thumb for Time
One turn = One post

One Scene = Till location changes

One Session/ Chapter = One week

One Story = 3 months

Banned mechanics / Advantages

• High Functioning Addict – Banned, no exceptions.
• Stake Bait flaw is banned
• Resources 5 is banned
• Fame 5 is banned
• Status – Cannot be bought at Character Creation when specific to the city of Seattle and its factions but must be earned in-game, most likely through a campaign. Clan status above 3 is banned; Faction status above 2 is banned.
• Organovore – Banned on a first character. The flaw itself is not banned overall; however, when submitting a character with the flaw we will expect proper justifications on the sheet at CC for how the character survives and feeds with this flaw or it will not be approved.

Approval Message

Congrats, your character has been approved!
Here are a few things that you should do next or know before jumping straight into the roleplay.
1. Add your character name next to your username for the server! We dont associate ourselves as our characters to help prevent bleeding, this is one way we do that. We also do not refer to our characters actions or thoughts as our own, just to note.
2. Set up a character profile within character-profiles. There’s a template already pinned in there for use.
3. During your first week of play you do not need to roll the wake up Rouse, only the Rouse for Blush of Life should you wish to use it.
4. Another first step is for the character to write a letter to their faction and to Prince Cross to declare their entrance within the city. Due to the nature of the server size we do not do in-person introductions. camarilla-contact is for contacting Cross and the Primogens/Harpy. non-camarilla-contact is for the rest of the factions.
5. Good places to meet other kindred without needing to determine if they are kindred or not are places like Elysium, Razors Edge, Withering Rose, Seven Gables, Hole in the Wall (they must be declared anarchs first), Cutters Number. These are all faction locations and kindred only, if the character is brand new to the city in their background then Elysium is the only known location to them. Those who have been in the city for over a year as kindred can know the rest if you’d like. Please refer to the v5 primer when meeting others in non kindred only location as spotting another vampire is harder than it might seem. The Primer itself is a suggested read as even if it’s not a replacement for the book, it does contain a lot of useful and regularly used information about v5. https://seattlebynightvtm.com/homebrew-category/v5-primer/
6. When joining others scenes always ask first in rp-coordination to make sure it’s alright. The headers contain A or NA, A is approachable and NA is nonapproachable which should help determine who is willing for others to join in. The wanted-board is also a great place to spot people looking for a scene or to ask for one yourself, don’t be afraid to ask to join in!
7. Reset is what we call the progression to the next night on server. Time is wobbly here as there are only 4 nights in a month in order to allow us to play through the seasons and holidays. Reset occurs on Sunday at 12:00AM PST every week, if you are attempting to join a scene on Friday or Saturday it’s best to wait till after reset as most players will be closing up their scenes.
8. Most importantly, remember that hunting and interacting with the world around the characters does leave an impact. Actions have consequences for the good or bad. Breaches, murders, assault and other such actions can lead to flaws, negative status, imprisonment or even character death, just to name a few examples. Remember to be careful and to protect the masquerade!
9. Here is a link to a tracker that is optional to use for your own record keeping. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S0hFeEIhrbwypOuztcg9IXF7jbmq473ynlYE2aZWjUs/edit?usp=sharing be mindful that we don’t accept this for leveling and you’ll need to copy and paste the rolls from here into a ticket when you’d like to purchase something with exp. You can find more information about this on the homebrew.
10. The channel ask-the-st is intended for rulings on an ongoing scene (for example a messy crit or bestial fail) or a ruling for purchasing merits. If you have general questions refer to #v5-questions or roleplay-advice. We know this is quite a bit to take in, but if you have any questions were here to help. If you’re all set to get started may we close this ticket? If you have questions in the future don’t be afraid to ask on server.

High and Low Clans

Your character’s individual Clan status depends on the region they are from or where they were Embraced. So if your character’s Clan would have been considered High in the geographical region in which they were embraced, but Seattle would consider it Low, they are still mechanically considered to be High Clan.

For when it matters (for example with respective Loresheets), the divide into High and Low Clans in Seattle is as follows:

High Clans

• Ventrue
• Toreador
• Lasombra
• Hecata 
• Brujah (Domain Dependent)
• Ministry/Setites (From Egypt and nearby areas)
• Banu Haqim (From Ashirra regions)
• Tremere (Rare Domains; those embraced in Seattle are High)
• Tzimisce

Low Clans

• Gangrel
• Nosferatu
• Malkavians
• Ministry/Setites (Outside Egypt and surrounding places)
• Banu Haqim (Outside Ashirra)
• Brujah (Domain dependent) 
• Tremere (Domain dependent; those embraced in Seattle are High)
• Salubri
• Ravnos

Bad Words for Tech

This is a list of “naughty” or dangerous words when used via technology. This guide is intended more for players to help prevent mishaps and each use of terminology is looked at by the Storytellers on a case-by-case basis in order to determine how dangerous the communication truly is.

Some kindred-specific terminology may be missing but still counts as a breach. Remember to use code names for anything related to vampire existence. It’s just smarter that way, and it keeps your character’s profile low from the SI. When using words consider what’s used in the modern age and what’s not, Elysium is a real word however it’s sparingly used and when combined with an address or the hint of your character going there, it can cause serious issues. But the word Childe, when spoken, sounds exactly like child. 

So what should you do when you need to communicate with others? Use mundane words in place of dangerous ones.

Don’t Say: I am going to Elysium in Smith Tower
Do Say: I am going to the club downtown.

Don’t Say: I am Camarilla Toreador

Do Say: I am a Diva of the organization. 

Don’t say: The Anarchs and the Camarilla are at war with each other. 

Do Say: The Rebels and the Club are duking it out. 

Below are some examples, but this isn’t an exhaustive list, just be clever with words online/on phones and your character should be safe.

No-no words that will attract SI like flies:

Kine

Autarkis

Camarilla

Clans by their formal names

Diablerie

Golconda

Vitae

And other VTM specific words, specifically within Kindred terminology. The SI are known to work with kindred who will gladly share secrets to stay alive one more night.

Dangerous words, in certain context can get attention:

Elysium*

Kindred*

Anarchs*

Sabbat*

Childe*

*These words can be seen as archaic words or typoes (Sabbath vs Sabbat, Child vs childe), but be careful 

Words that pose danger in obvious vampiric contexts:

Blood

Vampire

Breach

Tower

Ghoul

Masquerade

Factional Locations Specific Names (ie Razor’s Edge, Withering Rose, etc etc.) especially with an address attached.

Who are the Second Inquisition (SI)

There seems to be a misconception that the SI is controlled by the government or is a government agency. This is not correct. They are a collection of loosely connected and only semi-organized agents in different departments acting on their own accord and manipulating their agency’s assets without official authorization or legal backing. The SI keep everything close to the chest; the information reported within the news or police is fabricated to appear as drug busts, trafficking or other acts, even up the point of terrorism. If the SI were revealed to be vampire hunters; the sudden knowledge of vampires would cause severe fallout within the global media. Political factions would get involved, there would be mass hysteria sweeping the population. For as much as Kindred keep the Masquerade, the SI (which is only name given to them by Kindred) keep it just the same.

SI Alert Level	Duration (Before Dropping 1 Level)	Mechanical Effects	Possible Flavor Effects
Vampires? What vampires?	Base level	-n/a	Ordinary night in Seattle
Suspicious	1 Week	Hunting difficulty in the affected area has increased by 1.	Residents of the area are concerned about their safety.
Alert	2 Weeks	Hunting difficulty in the affected area has increased by 2. Optional: SI interaction becomes a possible outcome on a messy/bestial	Residents of the area are concerned greatly about their safety and mostly stay inside.
High Alert	2 Weeks	All hunting difficulties go up by 1. Optional: SI interaction becomes a possible outcome on a messy/bestial	Increased police presence/alertness in the city. SI tuned in on the radio. People are suspicious of strangers and travel in groups.
London Calling!	1 Week	All factional locations shut down and kindred are asked to remain inside. All hunting difficulties will go up by 2. Optional: SI interaction becomes a possible outcome on a messy/bestial	Rioting has been orchestrated by either side in order to draw out or draw attention away.

Examples of how to reduce this as a PC.

Keep in mind that outright murdering the SI, especially as vampires, isn’t going to help. Some of these are the optionals from a messy/bestial fail. Making the attempt to lower the SI tracker will net players a +1 to exp after regular week calculations. If you intend to interact with the SI, you must ping Galador before taking that path. Keep in mind context will depend if/how much all the actions that week reduce it by.

1. Do not breach the masquerade. (This doesn’t net anyone anything, it’s just what characters should be doing)

2. Tampering with news outlets to change the narrative and report suspects caught with proof of their mortality over vampirism.

3. Help other PCs clean up breaches before they are found.

4. Bait the SI into trouble with the authorities. E.g. have them raid a drug bust or damage private property and get caught.

5. Attacking a surveillance group, leaving the remains but leaving it to appear as if mortals had committed the acts for some mortal reason.

6. Sabotage city infrastructure like traffic/surveillance cameras so that there are bigger concerns and the SI tech people can’t work so well. Straight up taking down a power grid. (this may also have consequences for other players)