After Sundown tweaks/house rules

[Omegonthesane]

It is certainly the intent that you get exactly 1 (one) special creature template, and not more. Magical transformation is something that is applied to a luminary human, not to a supernatural creature. If that is in any way unclear, I'll try to make it clearer and more explicit.

You can of course die and be brought back as a different kind of supernatural being. Most likely a ghost. But you'd still never be two kinds of supernatural creature at the same time. We don't want to go all Samuel Haight.

Apparently you can be a golem made out of wood...who takes aggravated damage from being attacked with wood.

It doesn't seem to bother anyone that Werewolves in Werewolf: the Apocalypse take aggravated damage from Werewolves. It doesn't bother anyone that a dragon's scales are pierced by a sword made from dragon scales. I don't see how it's even weird for a creature's defenses to be weak against the material it's made of. That's super standard in all mythology. Season 4 of Angel was really bad, but the big indestructible demon was defeated by being stabbed with his own horn. That part was fine.

Why is Veil the only discipline that doesn't grant a tier-based bonus to anything?

It doesn't grant anything because the obvious thing for it to do was make you stealthier, and that turned out to be super broken. If you have a thematic idea, I could possibly work it in.

-Username17

Off the top of my head and not having (re)read the system - Persuasion or Deception or the like, for having had to learn how to fit in various places and play various roles to Veil; or more thematically the stat for preventing your quarry from Not Being Seen, because as a practicioner of Veil you know all the tricks.

[Lokathor]

You could also have it give +1/+2/+3 bonus hits when doing an actual "hiding" encounter, to stage up the time it takes for you to be discovered, but not other sorts of stealth rolls.

[echoVanguard]

[Veil] doesn't grant anything because the obvious thing for it to do was make you stealthier, and that turned out to be super broken. If you have a thematic idea, I could possibly work it in.

Off the top of my head, you could move the existing Stealth bonus from Play of Shadows, but I'll have a better suggestion when I finish my catalogue of interactions. I'm going through the rules and building a few tables to find out which abilities and skills get used the most in each action type and power. Once that's done, I'll have a good picture of what skills could use the most love.

Also, is there a big table of backgrounds I'm missing somewhere? They seem to suffer from the Aspect:Batman, Rating:6 problem pretty hard if not.

echo

[Lokathor]

Backgrounds are totally the "Is Batman" problem.

A character’s background skills can be literally anything.

<several paragraphs>

It is up to the MC to determine what constitutes an acceptable Background for the campaign. In general however, it is better to err on the side of Backgrounds that are too useful than ones that are too narrow. While it is overpowered for a character to have a Background that applies in virtually (or actually) all circumstances like "Stu&#64256;" or "Trivia", the worst thing that’s going to happen under such a circumstance is that the player is going to roleplay a lot and move the plot forward. That’s not fair to the other characters (unless they are doing the same), but that’s still better than the players feeling powerless and having the story stagnate.

[echoVanguard]

Song of Swarms' discipline bonus is front-loaded to Basic and never improves. Additionally, the discipline power gives you the ability to "treat crustaceans as if they were smart animals like parrots or dogs for the purposes of Animal Ken", but the only animals that belong to the subphylum Crustacea are lobsters, shrimp, barnacles, and other forms of primarily maritime life, a dizzying percentage of which are microscopic. The only terrestrial crustacean is the woodlouse. While I will admit that that command of an army of mantis shrimp would be quite terrifying, I assume that this is meant to say "arthropods" or "vermin" instead of crustaceans.

echo

[echoVanguard]

Okay, here is the breakdown I was working on. For background, I was rolling up an Origin Story character, and realized that if I didn't know what Supernatural Type and Powersets I would want, I had no idea what attributes and skills to pick. So I decided to see which ones were used most in the various situations and powers to give me the best chance of having a good dicepool for any given powerset.

Quick caveats: Obviously since skill
stat pairings are loosely coupled at best, there's no guarantee of these settings always applying. Furthermore, the listings don't take into account which sets supersede each other in "or" parings - it's merely a listing of where each attribute or skill appears as a beneficial input to a situation or power.

STRENGTH: Resist/Soak Physical, Lift Objects, Hit Dudes, Intimidate, Abduct, Sprint, Untangle, 12 powers

Repel
Beckoning
Transformation
SoulInvestment
AbyssOfTheBody
AuraOfDecay
GlimpseAbyss
Withering
DeathKnell
ShadowGate
BloodOfAcid
Burrowing

AGILITY: Shooting, Dodging, Burglary, Initiative, Feinting, Sprinting/Chasing, Untangle, Slow Fall, Dispelling, 20 powers

Earthquake
HideFromNotice
MaskOfThousandFaces
LostAndFound
HowlingWinds
RisingMists
LightningStrike
TumultuousRain
VictoryOfTyphon
PainDrops
WaterPrison
RainOfGlass
FireStarter
FlamesOfPanic
HellStorm
Withering
DeathKnell
TheftOfVitae
DeathNote
Flight

INTUITION: Resist/Soak Mental, Interrogation, Investigation, Perception, Sense Motive, Gather Info, Contentions, Initiative, Resist Feint, Driving, Hiding/Seeking, Dowsing, Dispelling, 34 powers

AuraPerception
Psychometry
Telepathy
HideFromNotice
LostAndFound
FictionalSelf
BitterFruit
GrassRope
MindRoot
Puppetry
Abomination
SeedsOfDestruction
ObjectOfEnvy
LearnHeartsPain
PoisonHeart
BindName
Banishment
TruestName
GreatUnbinding
DistantReflection
DenyGauntlet
MirrorPocket
Doppelganger
SmokingMirror
SmallWitness
EyesOfNight
CloakOfShadow
SolidDarkness
DeathNote
BlindSenses
ChainOfEyes
DesireReflection
FacadeOfNonchalance
Phantasmagoria

LOGIC: Know Stuff, Do Science, Suppress Info, Use Bureaucracy, Research, Interrogate, Contentions, Explosives, Healing, First Aid, Dowsing, 57 powers

Command
Mesmerism
Suggestion
CloudMemory
Conditioning
Possession
Earthquake
AuraPerception
Psychometry
Divination
HowlingWinds
RisingMists
LightningStrike
TumultuousRain
VictoryOfTyphon
BitterFruit
GrassRope
MindRoot
Puppetry
Abomination
SeedsOfDestruction
ObjectOfEnvy
EnchantedSlumber
DenialOfPrivacy
DreamVision
Dreamscape
DistantReflection
DenyGauntlet
MirrorPocket
RainOfGlass
Doppelganger
SmokingMirror
GoldAndHoney
HandOfFlame
FireStarter
flamesOfPanic
HellStorm
ScorchGateway
CompelSpirits
SummonSpirit
NightCry
Reanimate
Resurrection
ZombieMastery
ThaumaturgicalForensics
TheftOfVitae
CrimsonDeath
BloodPuppets
FrozenNote
MissingVoice
PrisonOfIce
DeathNote
FrozenDay
PlanarDiscord
BetrayalOfTongue
BlindSenses
PurifyMind

WILLPOWER: Resist/Soak Social, Pick up Chicks, Spread Rumor, Suppress Info, Impersonate, Appeals, Ignore Wounds, Resist Death, Resist Frenzy, 34 powers

Command
Mesmerism
Suggestion
CloudMemory
Conditioning
Possession
Telepathy
Attract
Repel
Dismissal
SirenSong
Transformation
SongsInTheDark
SoulInvestment
CurseOfFailure
PainDrops
DarkNightOfSoul
WaterPrison
AstralProjection
ObjectOfEnvy
MangifySwarm
Riot
ScorchGatway
GlimpseAbyss
ShadowGate
CompelSpirits
Nightcry
Reanimate
Resurrection
ZombieMastery
BloodPuppets
PurifyMind
ShortenFuse
Telekinesis

CHARISMA: Talk, Convince, Gather Info, Bluff, Impersonate, Contentions, Appeals, Feint, Dowsing, 40 powers

Divination
Attract
Dismissal
Summons
Depolarize
SirenSong
MaskOfThousandFaces
FictionalSelf
Beckoning
SongsInDark
ObjectOfEnvy
EnchantedSlumber
DreamVision
DenialOfPrivacy
Dreamscape
AbyssOfBody
LightOfEnnui
AuraOfDecay
Contradiction
HowlOfAbyss
WindOfPestilence
LearnHeartsPain
PoisonHeart
BindName
Banishment
TruestName
GreatUnbinding
MagnifySwarm
GoldAndHoney
Riot
FrozenNote
MissingVoice
PrisonOfIce
DeathNote
FrozenDay
PlanarDiscord
BetrayalOfTongue
DesireReflection
FacadeOfNonchalance
Phantasmagoria

EDGE: Resist All, Recover Memories, End Frenzy, Extra Dice, Raise Skill Caps, Used in 4 powers (Driving Passion to Refresh, unless you have Aimless disad)

Conditioning
Divination
EndlessPersistence
DreamScape

POTENCY: Extra PP, Raise Attribute Cap

Skills:
Physical
Athletics (Dodge, Chase, Fall, Dispelling, Resist Rage Frenzy, 6 powers)

Earthquake
GlimpseAbyss
Withering
DeathKnell
ShadowGate
Flight

Combat (Hit/Shoot, Dodge, Aim, Abduct, Resist Fear Frenzy, 10 powers)

PainDrops
WaterPrison
RainOfGlass
FireStarter
HellStorm
Withering
DeathKnell
SolidDarkness
BloodofAcid
DeathNote

Drive (Drive Cars, that's it)
Larceny (Burglary, Untangle, Resist Loneliness Frenzy,10 powers)

MaskThousandFaces
LostAndFound
LearnHeartsPain
PoisonHeart
Banishment
TheftOfVitae
BlindSenses
Burrowing
DesireReflection
FacadeOfNonchalance

Perception (Hide/Seek, Dowsing, Defeat Veil, 6 powers)

DistantReflection
Doppelganger
SmokingMirror
SmallWitness
EyesOfNight
Phantasmagoria

Stealth (Take Cover, Chase, Hide/Seek, Resist Greed/Hunger Frenzy, 10 powers)

HideFromNotice
MaskThousandFaces
LostFound
FictionalSelf
TruestName
DenyGauntlet
MirrorPocket
SmokingMirror
CloakOfShadow
BlindSenses

Survival (Healing, Dowsing, Resist Despair Frenzy, 19 powers)

Dismissal
HideFromNotice
Beckoning
Transformation
SongsInDark
SoulInvestment
BitterFruit
GrassRope
MindRoot
Abomination
SeedsOfDestruction
AbyssOfBody
MagnifySwarm
FlamesOfPanic
BloodOfAcid
CrimsonDeath
Burrowing
FacadeOfNonchalance
ShortenFuse

Social
Animal Ken (Dowsing, Resist Hunger Frenzy, 2 powers)

MagnifySwarm
GoldAndHoney

Bureaucracy (Suppressing Info, Formal Request Montage, Resist Rage Frenzy, 11 powers)

Divination
Summons
Depolarize
Contradiction
HowlOfAbyss
BindName
Banishment
TruestName
GreatUnbinding
CompelSpirits
NightCry

Empathy (Subterfuge/Testing Waters, Impersonation, Appeals, Resist Feint, Resist Greed Frenzy, 22 powers)

Possession
AuraPerception
Psychometry
Telepathy
Summons
Beckoning
Transformation
SoulInvestment
DenialOfPrivacy
LightOfEnnui
LearnHeartsPain
PoisonHeart
BindName
GreatUnbinding
CompelSpirits
NightCry
Resurrection
EyesOfNight
CloakOfShadow
DesireReflection
Phantasmagoria
PurifyMind

Expression (Suppress Info, Appeals, Feint, 17 powers)

Suggestion
CloudMemory
Attract
SirenSong
ObjectOfEnvy
EnchantedSlumber
DreamVision
Dreamscape
Doppelganger
GlimpseOfAbyss
ShadowGate
FrozenNote
MissingVoice
PrisonOfIce
FrozenDay
PlanarDiscord
Phantasmagoria

Intimidation (Threats, 8 powers)

Command
Mesmerism
Conditioning
Telepathy
Repel
Dismissal
FlamesOfPanic
ShortenFuse

Persuasion (Subterfuge, Impersonation, Appeals, Resist Despair Frenzy, 5 powers)

Command
Mesmerism
Possession
Depolarize
SirenSong

Tactics (Appeals, Feint, Resist Fear Frenzy, 8 powers)

Suggestion
Conditioning
Attract
Repel
Dismissal
ZombieMastery
ChainOfEyes
PurifyMind

Technical
Artisan (Painting/Crafting, Resist Loneliness Frenzy, 15 powers)

CloudMemory
ObjectOfEnvy
LightOfEnnui
AuraOfDecay
Contradiction
HowlOfAbyss
WindOfPestilence
GoldAndHoney
FrozenNote
MissingVoice
PrisonOfIce
DeathNote
FrozenDay
PlanarDiscord
Phantasmagoria

Electronics (Fix/Hack stuff, 3 powers)

LightningStrike
ObjectOfEnvy
GoldAndHoney)

Medicine (Healing, First Aid, Resist Hunger Frenzy, 18 powers)

FictionalSelf
SongsInDark
BitterFruit
MindRoot
Puppetry
Abomination
EnchantedSlumber
DenialOfPrivacy
AbyssOfBody
AuraOfDecay
WindsOfPestilence
SummonSpirit
Reanimate
Resurrection
ThaumaturgialForensics
TheftOfVitae
CrimsonDeath
BloodPuppets

Operations (Piloting, Dowsing, Resist Despair Frenzy, 16 powers)

HowlingWinds
RisingMists
TumultuousRain
VictoryOfTyphon
Dreamscape
DistantReflection
DenyGauntlet
MirrorPocket
RainOfGlass
SmokingMirror
SummonSpirit
Reanimate
ZombieMastery
BloodPuppets
BetrayalOfTongue
ChainOfEyes

Research (Looking things up, Research Montage, Arguments, Contentions, Resist Rage Frenzy, 9 powers)

AuraPerception
Psychometry
Divination
DreamVision
FireStarter
HellStorm
ScorchGateway
ThaumaturgicalForensics
BetrayalOfTongue

Rigging (Jury-rig, Aiming, Dispelling, Resist Greed Frenzy, 12 powers)

Earthquake
HowlingWinds
RisingMists
LightningStrike
TumultuousRain
VictoryOfTyphon
GrassRope
Puppetry
SeedsOfDestruction
CurseOfFailure
PainDrops
WaterPrison

Sabotage (Explode
Disable, Explosives, Resist Fear Frenzy, 5 powers)

CurseOfFailure
DarkNightOfSoul
ObjectOfEnvy
GoldAndHoney
Riot

There are almost certainly a tremendous number of typos and shorthand in the powers lists, but it should be pretty straightforward to figure them out. Analysis to follow.

echo

[echoVanguard]

The first thing that jumps out at me is Drive. Drive is never used for anything except piloting muscle-driven vehicles, is usually unopposed when it is rolled, and anyone with Progress of Glass gets a tremendously huge bonus to it (making it a pretty wasted bonus compared to, say, Fortitude's soak bonus). Animal Ken has almost identical problems, although it is used in Magnify Swarm and Gold And Honey (plus Song of Swarms' Lobstermancy issue I mentioned previously). I'm going to build a quick list of Discipline Bonuses so that we can examine how much each boost is worth when measured against the previous listing.

echo

[echoVanguard]

Universals:

Authority: Basic (Requires Dispelling to Disrupt), Advanced (must kill user to disrupt), Elder (persists when dead)
Celerity: +2/+4/+6 Init
Clout: +1/+2/+3 Strength
Discernment: +2/+4/+6 Perception
Fortitude: +2/+4/+6 Soak
Magnetism: +1/+2/+3 Social (Willpower or Charisma)
Veil (nothing)

Astrals:

Call of the Wild: +2/+4/+6 Animal Ken
Chasing the Storm: +1/+2/+3 Survival, weather knowledge
Coil of Thorns: +2/+4/+6 Artisan/Expression with plant media
Trail of Tears: +2/+4/+6 Argument
Veil of Morpheus: Basic (Perceive Maya Shallows), Advanced (Sense Environment While Asleep), Elder (Sense All Sleepers Within 1km)

Infernals:

Descent of Entropy: +2/+4/+6 diagnosis/forensics/repair
Names of the Blasphemies: Basic (Perceive Limbo Shallows), Advanced (Know Name of Anyone In Picture), Elder (Know Name of Anyone You See)
Progress of Glass: +2/+4/+6 Driving
Song of Swarms: Lobstermancy, swarms, poison bugs (all at Basic)
Walk of Flame: +2/+4/+6 Sabotage

Orphics:

Lure of Destruction: +2/+4/+6 Death Threshold/Healing
Necromancy: Basic (Perceive Gloom Shallows), Advanced (Understand Wraiths), Elder (Sense/Understand Poltergeists/Shadow Gates within 100km)
Play of Shadows: +1/+2/+3 Stealth and Intimidation
Path of Blood: +1/+2/+3 Medicine and Survival
Symphony of Silence: Basic (Perfect Pitch), Advanced (Active Sonar), Elder (Passive Sonar)

Most of the bonuses are highly situational, and some can't even be quantified at all. But there are a few that jump out - Play of Shadows and Path of Blood enhance 2 skills each, and they're good skills - an Advanced Path of Blood user gets a potential +2 dice to 37 powers, and an Advanced Play of Shadows user gets a potential +2 to 18 of them (and you can have both at Advanced as a starting character). Also, a character with advanced Chasing The Storm and advanced Path of Blood gets a net +4 to all Survival tests, straight up - and considering Survival has 19 powers on its own, that's not too shabby. Granted, Chasing the Storm has no Survival powers, and Path of Blood only has two (Blood of Acid and Crimson Death), but being able to toss down 16 dice on a damage 3 attack as a starting character is pretty metal.

Lastly, Dryads, Reborn, and all Leviathanites (Fish Dudes/Trogs/Bug Dudes) start with a global +4 to Perception, which directly counters Veil. Baali, Khaibit, Frankenstein, and Icarids start with a +2. In other words, half of all playable monsters have at least a +2 advantage versus anyone using Veil, and nearly a third have an additional +2 on top of that. So a +1/+2/+3 to Stealth for the Veil discipline doesn't seem like it would be terribly OP, unless you're concerned about a discipline's bonus directly adding to tests involved in invoking its powers (in which case Magnetism should probably be looked at).

echo

[Username17]

The first thing that jumps out at me is Drive. Drive is never used for anything except piloting muscle-driven vehicles, is usually unopposed when it is rolled, and anyone with Progress of Glass gets a tremendously huge bonus to it (making it a pretty wasted bonus compared to, say, Fortitude's soak bonus). Animal Ken has almost identical problems, although it is used in Magnify Swarm and Gold And Honey (plus Song of Swarms' Lobstermancy issue I mentioned previously). I'm going to build a quick list of Discipline Bonuses so that we can examine how much each boost is worth when measured against the previous listing.

echo

you're totally right about crustaceans. It should say "arthropods".

I'm not really with you on "Drive" though. Seems to me that mostly when you're making rolls it is to perform stunts in order to win chases with the cops. That implies to me that it's going to be effectively an opposed roll most of the time. Now, it's a task that is eminently handlable by a single driver character in most circumstances, but it still seems like being a magically good driver is something that actually contributes to the team.

-Username17

[echoVanguard]

I'm not really with you on "Drive" though. Seems to me that mostly when you're making rolls it is to perform stunts in order to win chases with the cops. That implies to me that it's going to be effectively an opposed roll most of the time. Now, it's a task that is eminently handlable by a single driver character in most circumstances, but it still seems like being a magically good driver is something that actually contributes to the team.

That's fair, but the actual chase rules mentioned in the book only ever make reference to Athletics and Stealth (edit - whoops, just noticed that it is referenced, but as 'driving' which dodged my text search the first time through). I can even sort of get the idea of a Progress of Glass adept being able to pull cinematic driving shenanigans through their various types of Mirrormancy, but the text connection is pretty lackluster and it seems like it should be usable in Enter The Dragon-type mirror shenanigans on foot as well.

Drive just jumped out at me because the difference between it and other skills in terms of power synergy and specific circumstance examples is extremely stark - Drive is the only skill that's never used in a power roll. Electronics, the next rarest, is used in 3 powers (and it's situational in two of these).

echo

[Lokathor]

Potency affects the operational ranges of a select few powers, that's not on your list.

Drive is Really Good levels of good. You only need one top driver on the team, but when you have that you can get the entire team through a chase sequence by having high Drive rolls. Having more drivers also helps if the first one gets hurt.

Question: Rather than worry too much about precise skill distribution compared to discipline bonuses, should discipline bonuses just not grant their bonus to magic use? Only raw stat + raw skill?

[Username17]

Question: Rather than worry too much about precise skill distribution compared to discipline bonuses, should discipline bonuses just not grant their bonus to magic use? Only raw stat + raw skill?

That's a good idea. I don't want to end up in a situation where players don't want to use their powers because getting buffs to mundane tasks gives them better dicepools though. Systems where you roll considerably different numbers of dice on different kinds of tests certainly exist (nWoD, I'm looking at you), and the answer is almost always to finagle your way into rolling the bigger version of your dicepool instead of the smaller one.

An example of that in action was Shadowrun hacking, where having the program you "needed" gave you a dicepool equal to its rating (a number between 1 and 6), while not having the program made you default... to your Logic (a number between 5 and 9).

-Username17

[Lokathor]

As it stands, most magic powers do things that you just can't do without magic. That alone is enough to use them.

It could become a problem if non-magic dice pools got to go way up and magic never had a chance to go up. This might be a good place that Potency could get a bigger impact on the game, if Potency was added to all magic dice pools like Edge was added to all Soak pools.

[echoVanguard]

This might be a good place that Potency could get a bigger impact on the game, if Potency was added to all magic dice pools like Edge was added to all Soak pools.

That could be pretty cool, and it would make high-Potency characters a lot more threatening.

echo

[echoVanguard]

Exactly how is Potency gain supposed to be handled? The rules make a reference to "Titanizing" powerful supers or artifacts, but there's nary so much as a guideline as to how much you should gain, how often you can gain it, and when in the play lifecycle it should happen. I propose that potency gains can only occur once per Chronicle, and that Titanizing requires destroying/consuming a creature or artifact with more Potency than you. So a band could kill a Potency 3 Akuma and eat it with some fava beans and a nice chianti (and gain +1 Potency at the end of the Chronicle) but no other creatures or artifacts consumed between that point and the end of the Chronicle would grant increased Potency.

echo

[Grek]

It really really depends on what sort of game you're playing. A power fantasy campaign would not want to follow the same rules for Titanizing as one about street level supernatural politics in 1900s Berlin.

[echoVanguard]

Well, sure. But anyone can modify the base rules to enforce their desired tone (or even just manipulate how many/often high Potency creatures/things show up/expose themselves to potential consumption). The current description pretty much just says "sometimes, somehow, you can gain Potency" which would not matter quite so much if Potency wasn't kind of a big deal.

echo

[Chamomile]

So being that I'm throwing together an AS campaign right now I'd have to say by far the biggest hole that leaps out at me is the lack of NPC stats. For serious, fill out your bestiary. Seriously, there are 13 NPCs in the forum version of After Sundown, and if there are more in the .pdf I didn't see them (I seem to have lost track of my .pdf since then, so I can't check). And nearly half of them are stuff like rats and ravens which are so fragile that typically I'd be willing to just assume that any effort to kill them succeeded, and which are animals and therefore cannot be interacted with much by the majority of characters in the first place. A nice place to start would be a sample spawn of each supernatural type, and a sample of every non-playable monster type.

[Grek]

Consider it done. To do list:
1 vampire spawn
3 cultists
1 mutant
1 medium
1 fallen spawn
1 jalus
1 shambler
1 soulless
1 robot
1 spriggan
1 wisp
1 troll
1 swarm
1 ordinary thug
4 cops: 1 mall cop, 1 SWAT officer, 1 "good cop", 1 "bad cop".


Also taking requests.

[echoVanguard]

An "ordinary thug" entry is probably also good to have on hand.

echo

[Chamomile]

An ordinary thug entry would also be nice, but I wouldn't make it a high priority. The bystander extra can be reskinned into a mall cop with less effort than creating mutant grunts from scratch.

[Grek]

A thug sounds like a good idea. Here's the sample Vampire Spawn:

Mina
Mina is a Vampire Spawn and thus likely lives in an old spooky castle. This specific vampire turned by Count Dracula and is nominally a Strigoi Spawn, but her statline can be used for a spawn vampire of any type. She was selected mostly for her looks because that's how Dracula rolls and only manages to cope with her Master Passion of Hunger at all when Dracula brings home a meal.
S: 2; A: 2; I: 1; L: 2; W: 3; C: 3; P: 0
Skills: Stealth 4, Perception 4, Empathy 3, Artisan (Painting) 4, Expression (Music) 3, Persuasion (Seduction) 4, Combat 3, Intimidation 2, Research (Library) 3
Backgrounds: Count Dracula 6, Vampirism 5, Classical Music 4, Castle Dracula 4, The Other Brides 3, Village Gossip 2,
Powers: Patience of the Mountains, Revive the Flesh.
Advantages and Disadvantages: Compulsive Behavior, Attractive, Naive.
Equipment:Sultry Evening Gown, Bottle of Wine

[Grek]

And the Cultists:

Dr. Pritchard
Dr. Pritchard is a college pych professor who came across a magic tome that taught him how to control people's minds. He read the tome and has become a Cultist. He mostly uses his new powers to mesmerize cheerleaders, sleep with the Dean and get a raise. (Un)Fortunately (for him), that sort of behavior has begun to draw outside attention.
S: 2; A: 1; I: 2; L: 4; W: 3; C: 1; P: 0
Skills: Persuasion 6, Medicine (Psychiatric) 5, Empathy 5, Expression (Lecturing) 3, Drive 3, Bureaucracy 4, Electronics (Keyboarding) 2, Perception 2, Intimidation 2
Backgrounds: College Life 6, Psychiatrics 5, Women 5, Bar Scene 3, Sports 3, His Patients 2
Powers: Mesmerism
Advantages and Disadvantages: Unattractive, Disloyal, Extremely Competitive.
Equipment: Button Up Shirt with Tie, Briefcase, Pocket Watch.

David "Lil' Ruffian" Smith
Lil' Ruffian (born David Smith) is the boss of the Street Wolves, a local gang. Normally, he would not be remarkable in any way, but Ruffian was taught how to turn himself into a wolf by an actual Werewolf. He is a Cultist and has a Master Passion of Greed which he responds to by trying to claim as much turf as possible as fast as possible. His gang members are rightfully worried that the Boss is losing it, but are too afraid of being eaten to say anything. Because Ruffian doesn't actually know how to regain power points, he's in for something of a shock when he finally burns through all 6 of the points he has left.
Human Attributes: S: 3; A: 2; I: 2; L: 1; W: 3; C: 2; P: 0
Wolf Attributes: S: 4; A: 3; I: 2; L: 1; W: 3; C: 2; P: 0
Skills: Combat 4, Larceny 4, Drive 3, Animal Ken 6[+1], Athletics 3, Perception (Scent) 4, Stealth 2, Survival 2, Empathy 3, Intimidation 3.
Backgrounds: Local Gangs 6, Recreational Drugs 4, Werewolves 3, Meth Production 3, Sports 2, Gold Teeth 2, Thug Lyfe 4.
Powers: Beast Form: Wolf
Advantages and Disadvantages: Aimless, Offensive to Animals, Loyalty
Equipment: Baseball Bat [2N], Heavy Pistol [3], 1 hit of Meth

Franco
Franco is former Fire Fighter who is now a Cultist trained by a Daeva. He can walk through fires and gets to drink doses of vampire blood if he serves exceptionally well. Being an Extra, he isn't usually able to do anything exceptional, so that doesn't happen often. He's begun to plot how to betray his vampire master so that he drink all the delicious vampire blood inside, and will likely go through with that terrible plan the next time he succumbs to his Master Passion of Greed.
S: 4; A: 2; I: 3; L: 2; W: 1; C: 1; P: 0
Skills: Combat (Flamethrower) 4, Drive 3, Athletics 3, Stealth 2, Animal Ken 3, Tactics 2, Intimidation 3, Empathy 2, Sabotage (Arson) 3, Rigging (Fluids) 2, Operation (Repair) 3, Medicine (Veterinary) 2.
Backgrounds: Ghouls 6, Girls 6, Firefighting 4, Gambling 4, Gloomy Poetry 2, Dog Breeding 2
Powers: Fire Walking. Has 3 extra Power Points that could be spent on Vigor or Revive the Flesh.
Advantages and Disadvantages: Disloyal.
Equipment: Flame Thrower [3F&#735;], Crowbar [2], Old Black Van.

Bonus Thug:
Kristoff
Kristoff is a large Slavic gentleman who would like you to please come with him to meet The Boss. He is an Extra and exists primarily to demonstrate how easy it is to swap out skills on background characters.
S: 3; A: 2; I: 2; L: 2; W: 1; C: 3
Skills: Athletics 3, Combat 4, Drive 1, Larceny 1, Perception 2, Stealth 1, Bureaucracy 4, Empathy 2, Tactics 3, Intimidation (Direct Threats) 4, Persuasion 3, Rigging (Locks) 1, Sabotage (Arson) 3.
Backgrounds: Cars & Trucks 6, Weight-Lifting 4, Drinking 4, Sports 3, Business 3, Slavic Food 2, Recreational Drugs 2
Equipment: Black Suit, Tire Iron [2], Machine Pistol [2&#735;], Keys to Boss's Car

[Lokathor]

The current description pretty much just says "sometimes, somehow, you can gain Potency" which would not matter quite so much if Potency wasn't kind of a big deal.

Potency actually isn't a big deal under the current system though.

Seriously, "The GM can decide when you can all gain +1 potency from time to time" is a totally fine way to handle Potency.

I seem to have lost track of my .pdf since then, so I can't check

https://sites.google.com/site/lokathorg ... er-sundown here you go. The "tablet" version has got a little bit of reorganization in it and no pictures. Oh, and it took out the rule about losing all your PP as you die cause.

Also taking requests.

Requests: Mall Cop, Street Cop, SWAT Cop

[Chamomile]

The current description pretty much just says "sometimes, somehow, you can gain Potency" which would not matter quite so much if Potency wasn't kind of a big deal.

Potency actually isn't a big deal under the current system though.

Seriously, "The GM can decide when you can all gain +1 potency from time to time" is a totally fine way to handle Potency.

Is it, though? Potency gives you more Power Points, which means effects like Revive the Flesh which are more effective the more PP you have to dump into them are easier to pull off, it raises the caps on your attribute levels which means the gap between characters two or more Potency away from one another is potentially quite large, and Vigor gets noticeably more powerful with every point of Potency you drop into it. Bizarrely every other power that keys off of Potency does so in a way that is a minor benefit at best, but the fact that Vigor gives you one extra Strength for every Potency you have further widens the gap.

That gap isn't nearly so big that you need to strictly limit it to once per chronicle, though, particularly since taking advantage of the attribute limits requires drawing the right cards at the end of a chapter, which is going to take a lot of time all by itself.

I do think Potency should be a slightly more intimidating gap between characters, though. Add some effects to more of the Universal Disciplines.