General House Rules

Welcome to the World of Darkness Roleplay House Rules forum thread! This is a space for players to familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations of our game. Our House Rules have been established to provide a clear and consistent framework for gameplay and to promote fairness and fun for all players.

In our large crossover chronicle, we take the best of each book and apply it to all races if we deem it to be appropriate. This allows for a more cohesive and immersive gameplay experience. We hope that you will find our House Rules clear and easy to follow, and that they will help to enhance your gameplay experience.

It is important to mention that house rules specified here apply for all races, for race-specific house rules please refer to the designated thread.



Clarifications
Before we begin, we would like to emphasize that our World of Darkness Roleplay game follows the books closely to ensure a balanced and fair gameplay experience. Unfortunately, past communities, such as VWH-RP did not originally optimize for World of Darkness lore, which led to certain elements being presented in ways that differed from the books.

To help ensure that all players are aware of these differences, we have compiled a list of not-so-obvious changes between our game and VWH-RP. We understand that some of these changes may appear to "nerf" certain races, especially those that were already weak to begin with. However, we would like to clarify that we are not "nerfing" them; rather, we are playing them the way they were meant to be played, according to the book.

We believe that following the book provides a more balanced and healthy ecosystem when all races also adhere to the rules. In fact, our game is very balanced when all players stick to their respective corebook rules. Our race moderators strictly enforce the rules to ensure that everyone has a level playing field. This, in turn, creates a perfect and healthy ecosystem where all players can fully enjoy the World of Darkness experience.

- Human (Hunters are also Humans) may not soak Lethal at all unless they grab the Robust Constitution (5pt) merit.
- Humans start with [Attributes: 6/4/3] [Abilities: 11/7/4] [Virtues: 7] [Freebies: 21] [Backgrounds: 5]
- Hunters start with: [Attributes: 6/4/3] [Abilities: 11/7/4] [Virtues: 3] [Freebies: 21] [Backgrounds: 5]



Balance System
We believe that simplicity is important to engage most players in WoD, but balance is a top priority in our World of Darkness Roleplay server.
As a scripted system, we have implemented custom systems to address the balance issues that may arise from simplicity.
One such issue is the huge variation in Raw-XP value for beginner character sheets, which can reach up to 69 (or 111) Raw-XP difference for Vampires alone (see reference).

To address this, we have implemented an Anti Min-Maxing system that triggers as soon as you finish allocating your Starting Points.
It calculates and notifies you how far you are from the maximum Raw-XP possible for your race, and the margin value will be given to you as XP at a rate of 1 per 4 hours of active gameplay.

While it may appear to some inexperienced players that obtaining the Raw-XP value later on may not be worth the effort when compared to min-maxing their character from the start, it's important to note that Starting Points have limitations on how they can be distributed.
As a result, a character that has been min-maxed may only have a few expensive traits, while the rest of their character sheet is imbalanced and nearly unplayable.
We have conducted multiple testing sessions and put in hours of work to guarantee that min-maxing characters on our server will simply result in a self-nerfing experience.


General
Although we strictly adhere to the corebooks, we cannot overlook the fact that our chronicle is based on SA-MP, which modifies certain aspects of the game and has its advantages and disadvantages. Although players have the freedom to explore the game world with visuals, which is not possible in tabletops, they do not always have Storytellers to oversee and guide them. Additionally, since we are running a crossover, there is a higher likelihood of being killed by another player than there is when sitting with a group and a Storyteller, where everyone is on the same side against NPCs. Therefore, we have made slight adjustments to balance and improve gameplay for all players.

• Death does not result in the loss of your character (usually), instead you lose a certain amount of experience that depends on your character's race and its power level.
• Humans (Including Numinas, Ghouls, and Kinfolk) gain +1 experience for every 2 experience they get from the same scene/story.
• Humans/Hunters can also take Aggravated damage, and unlike Lethal, losing the last Health Level to Aggravated damage results in an instant death.



Abilities
We are running a crossover chronicle and the 20th Anniversary Edition books series are infamous for being more individual than the previous editions.
Therefore when running such a chronicle some guidelines must be made to balance things out and iron overlapses.

For certain Abilities (Expression, Academics, Law, Science, and Technology), it is best to pick a specialty, even if the character’s rating in the Ability is not yet 4 or higher.
Crafts and Performance specifically, follow a different set of rules. Please proceed reading the details down below.

Dodge
Dodge is now merged with Athletics for all races.

Martial Arts
• Martial Arts cost is Current Rating x 3.
• Martial Arts has to be purchased as "Martial Arts (Soft)" or "Martial Arts (Hard)", players can purchase both.
• Approved maneuvers can be found on your race's official corebooks & Mage: The Ascension (despite we don't have mages as Player Characters).

Blind Fighting
The unique talent to confront adversaries despite being blinded is truly extraordinary. Mastering this ability is no easy feat and is exclusive to individuals like Blind Superheroes, Ninja, Martial Artists, Assassins, and Akashic Masters. Those who wield this skill aren't casual learners—they live and breathe its practice daily.
(Meaning, most characters will never be able to develop this skill, unless it's directly tied to the very concept of the character.)

• Blind Fighting cost is Current Rating x 3.
• Dice used on Blind Fighting can never exceed your original trait rating;
e.g. You have Blind Fighting 3 and Melee 2 and you are trying to attack (Stab), you may only use 2 dice of Blind Fighting.
e.g. You have Blind Fighting 3 and Athletics 1 and you are trying to dodge, you may only use 1 die of Blind Fighting.

Crafts
• Being skilled in one area of crafting does not automatically mean you are skilled in all areas. You must purchase the Crafts skill separately for each specialty. For instance, being a great sculptor does not mean you can also handle vehicles and engineering.
Examples of Crafts skills include Crafts (Vehicles), Crafts (Metallurgy), Crafts (Wood), and Crafts (Sculpting).
• Crafts automatically comes with the chosen specialty from the very first dot

Performance
• Just like in Crafts, being a great actor does not turn you into a great guitar player and vice versa. Performance must be purchased separately for each specialty.
Examples of Performance skills include but not limit to: Performance (Guitars), Performance (Acting), Performance (Singing), and Performance (Dancing).
• Performance automatically comes with that Specialty from the very first dot

Technology
• This knowledge is essentially Crafts, it is utilized when dealing with technological crafting. Unlike Crafts this trait does not have to be purchased multiple times, however you are obligated to pick a Specialty from the very first dot.

Roleplay Features
• To further enhance our Anti Min-Maxing system and promote balance in the game, we have introduced a new rule regarding the purchase of Merits. Players can now use Experience points to purchase Merits during the game, at a cost of 6 Experience points per dot. This rule is intended to prevent players from prioritizing Merits during character creation and neglecting other important aspects of their character sheet. It also ensures that players do not completely forego the use of Merits by making them available for purchase later on in the game. Our Race Moderators will be closely monitoring this rule and enforcing it strictly, ensuring that players do not overspend on Roleplay Features at the expense of their Character Sheet. It is important to note that no player can ever exceed 22 Merit points, regardless of this rule.

• You may pick any of the Roleplay Features presented in your race's corebook and its supplements (with a Race Moderator's approval).
Additionally, you may pick features from the Common tab in this sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UofIY4D9DRN7l4F8-KsgnIaGVOi0lzEhqzA7TjPen6g/edit?usp=sharing

Huge Size (4pt. Merit)
Provides an additional Bruised Health Level and 2 dice to avoid being knocked down, opening barred doors, or pushing things.

Hyper Body (3pt. Merit)
Provides an additional Bruised Health Level without change of physical appearance or other bonuses (Can't be taken in addition to Huge Size).

Robust Constitution (5pt. Merit)
Allows Mortals and those who can not soak Lethal to soak it at difficulty 8.
- This Merit cannot be obtained during Character Creation; it must be acquired through gameplay. It is exclusively available to characters for whom possessing such resilience makes sense (warriors, frontline soldiers, etc..). Additionally, acquiring this Merit necessitates a Stamina rating of 5.

Resources (Background)
For the sake of preventing abuses and keeping the economy balanced, this Background requires an elaborate application.
Additionally, characters with Resources will not receive raw money for their Resources background, but instead they will benefit from the following perks:

● 10% Discount on all Roleplay-Items/Vehicles/Properties, +10% Bank Interests.
●● 20% Discount on all Roleplay-Items/Vehicles/Properties, +20% Bank Interests.
●●● 30% Discount on all Roleplay-Items/Vehicles/Properties, +30% Bank Interests.
●●●● 40% Discount on all Roleplay-Items/Vehicles/Properties, +40% Bank Interests.
●●●●● 50% Discount on all Roleplay-Items/Vehicles/Properties, +50% Bank Interests.
(This does not include items or properties purchased with Gold)


Combat
- In case of a tie on an initiative roll the character with the highest sum of Dexterity + Wits acts first.

- Weapon Length optional rule is applied to melee weapons (reference: WTA page 296): When facing an opponent with a longer melee weapon subtract one die from the attack dice pool of the character with the shorter weapon.


General Modifiers
Makeup: Provides +1 Appearance when applied successfully with a Dexterity + Expression roll, lasts for a day.
Impractical clothes: Stiletto heels, extremely tight jeans, floor-length dresses, etc.. +2 difficulty for Dexterity rolls, +1 Appearance.
Inappropriate clothes: Training shorts and tank top in a lawyers firm etc.. +1 difficulty for Social rolls.
Sewers Perception: +2 difficulty for all visual Perception rolls.
Wilderness at Night: +1 difficulty for all visual Perception rolls.