Storyteller's Option: Freeform Status
The simplest way for Storytellers to handle Status is to just award new dots in the Merit to reflect recognition of a character’s acts by the vampires of the domain. (In practice, this can be the same as the pooled experience point method, except the Storyteller keeps track of it all behind the scenes.) This freeform system makes Status a much more delicate and precarious dance for those who want it and those who have it. Using this option, Status no longer has to be purchased incrementally, but can instead be boosted in a single night by a cavalier, clever or lucky vampire who succeeds when it counts, perhaps joining the ranks of the Harpies after some quick-witted victory in Elysium or being singled out by a clan elder at some fraternal gathering.
Under this system, Status is much more malleable and easy to lose. When a player is putting valuable experience points into a Merit, the threshold for losing it should be higher and wholly dependent on the consequences of choices made by the player and her character. When the reward comes not just from a character’s gradual insinuation into the city’s culture, but from sudden bursts of popularity, Status also “wears off.” An Acolyte who becomes popular with the Harpies might enjoy increased Status for a while but find it dropping when the Harpies tire of her.
Freeform Status works best with City Status. It lets the Storyteller use an abstract method to chart popular sentiment — most useful when the chronicle is set in a city with a large and wellinformed vampire population. Covenant Status and Clan Status measure recognition and responsibility within a more closed structure, and Freeform Status in those categories can become incongruous with formal titles and duties. As it is, Status as a Merit is designed to work As One part in the internecine ballet of the Damned, where mental, physical and social struggles are each equally vital. Freeform Status awards are intended for chronicles focusing on physical action or chronicles in which social action falls somewhat into the background. This option plays up the fickleness of vampire culture and downplays the eternal staying power that’s truly necessary in the Danse Macabre.
Under this system, Status is much more malleable and easy to lose. When a player is putting valuable experience points into a Merit, the threshold for losing it should be higher and wholly dependent on the consequences of choices made by the player and her character. When the reward comes not just from a character’s gradual insinuation into the city’s culture, but from sudden bursts of popularity, Status also “wears off.” An Acolyte who becomes popular with the Harpies might enjoy increased Status for a while but find it dropping when the Harpies tire of her.
Freeform Status works best with City Status. It lets the Storyteller use an abstract method to chart popular sentiment — most useful when the chronicle is set in a city with a large and wellinformed vampire population. Covenant Status and Clan Status measure recognition and responsibility within a more closed structure, and Freeform Status in those categories can become incongruous with formal titles and duties. As it is, Status as a Merit is designed to work As One part in the internecine ballet of the Damned, where mental, physical and social struggles are each equally vital. Freeform Status awards are intended for chronicles focusing on physical action or chronicles in which social action falls somewhat into the background. This option plays up the fickleness of vampire culture and downplays the eternal staying power that’s truly necessary in the Danse Macabre.