Storyteller's Option: Status Through Protracted Activity
Storytellers running chronicles with complex casts of interrelated characters, carefully designed corridors of intrigue and an attention to the ongoing details of the Requiem might go so far as to define in advance the specific actions necessary to earn certain kinds of Status in the city. The job of the players, then, is to identify and complete those tasks to climb the steps of the social pyramid. By defining those tasks as extended actions, the Storyteller amplifies the coterie’s sense of ongoing progress and a constantly developing social scene.
In this method, the cost of dots in Status is paid for with awards from every chapter in which progress is made toward the completion of a Statusboosting protracted endeavor. The Storyteller grants a bonus experience point at the end of the session, usable only for purchasing another dot in Status, in other words. Alternatively, the Storyteller simply awards increased Status when the right political challenge has been overcome.
The undertakings required for Status awards should be unique to the city, clan and covenant involved. For example, the Storyteller requires a representative of the coterie to make numerous, memorable appearances at court to gain the attention of the Prince’s entourage of Harpies and be welcomed into the city’s innermost social circle. To represent this, the Storyteller chooses Presence + Socialize as the relevant dice pool, decides one check can be made per night at court (which convenes monthly), and sets the number of successes at 20 for the extended action. To add a challenge, the Storyteller decides that an up-andcoming Ventrue is also competing for the open position. Whoever totals 20 successes first gets the position and the compensatory dot in City Status.
Meanwhile, the coterie members are also attempting to get through their probationary period in The Circle of the Crone. To graduate from The Chorus and become Acolytes, they must prove their dedication through recitations from The Crone’s Liturgy at three Circle ceremonies. To avoid disappointing the Hierophant, the Storyteller decides that each character must earn 10 successes over three or fewer Manipulation + Occult rolls, each made one week apart and requiring one hour to perform. Characters who succeed earn the first dot in Covenant Status (Circle of the Crone). Of course, with the patience and attitude of vampires, the Storyteller could design extended actions that take place over years or decades to earn the most advantageous positions in the city.
Note that this system largely abstracts the nightly power plays of the Kindred. If the chronicle is intrigue-heavy, social interaction-heavy or otherwise relies on the quick wits of the players as well as the characters, those players will probably be disappointed with this system. Players who aren’t so graceful as their characters, however, might enjoy the opportunity for the characters to excel where their own personalities might not be in accord.
In this method, the cost of dots in Status is paid for with awards from every chapter in which progress is made toward the completion of a Statusboosting protracted endeavor. The Storyteller grants a bonus experience point at the end of the session, usable only for purchasing another dot in Status, in other words. Alternatively, the Storyteller simply awards increased Status when the right political challenge has been overcome.
The undertakings required for Status awards should be unique to the city, clan and covenant involved. For example, the Storyteller requires a representative of the coterie to make numerous, memorable appearances at court to gain the attention of the Prince’s entourage of Harpies and be welcomed into the city’s innermost social circle. To represent this, the Storyteller chooses Presence + Socialize as the relevant dice pool, decides one check can be made per night at court (which convenes monthly), and sets the number of successes at 20 for the extended action. To add a challenge, the Storyteller decides that an up-andcoming Ventrue is also competing for the open position. Whoever totals 20 successes first gets the position and the compensatory dot in City Status.
Meanwhile, the coterie members are also attempting to get through their probationary period in The Circle of the Crone. To graduate from The Chorus and become Acolytes, they must prove their dedication through recitations from The Crone’s Liturgy at three Circle ceremonies. To avoid disappointing the Hierophant, the Storyteller decides that each character must earn 10 successes over three or fewer Manipulation + Occult rolls, each made one week apart and requiring one hour to perform. Characters who succeed earn the first dot in Covenant Status (Circle of the Crone). Of course, with the patience and attitude of vampires, the Storyteller could design extended actions that take place over years or decades to earn the most advantageous positions in the city.
Note that this system largely abstracts the nightly power plays of the Kindred. If the chronicle is intrigue-heavy, social interaction-heavy or otherwise relies on the quick wits of the players as well as the characters, those players will probably be disappointed with this system. Players who aren’t so graceful as their characters, however, might enjoy the opportunity for the characters to excel where their own personalities might not be in accord.