The Influence rules from the Mind's Eye Theatre source books are expanded upon here. The Military and Espionage Influences presented in Laws of the Hunt and Laws of the Hunt Players Guide are not used in our game.
Maximums listed here refer to any given Influence category, not a total of all categories, though no character may have more total levels of Influence than his or her Physical, Social and Mental Traits combined*. Characters cannot purchase beyond the fourth level of an influence at character creation or with player points at creation, although they may rise as high as level ten through the course of play.
(*this can be increased through Retainers <see below and Laws of the Night pg 105>)
Additionally, a retainer can help manage your assets. Retainers who are tied up in this fashion allow you to manage more Influence than normal. They add to the number of Attribute Traits that you possess for purposes of counting your total Influences. Each retainer directed in this fashion adds one to your maximum Influence Traits. If retainers are later lost, killed or reassigned, the excess Influence Traits disappear, starting with the highest levels of Influence held you hold.
Contacts may also interact with influence levels in the following way. You can get information of a level equal to however many contacts you use. If you use Contacts x3 on Industry Influence, for instance, you get information as if digging up dirt with Industry Influence x3. The advantage of the Contacts Background is that contacts can be switched from place to place. Contacts levels can also be spent as Influence to perform the Follow, Trace and Watch endeavors. When used for Follow, Trace, and Watch actions, the Contacts trait may be used even on Influences which you do not have levels in.
In our fictional city there will be no more than one character with a level ten influence, two with level nine influences and three level eight influences in any single category. Level seven and below are unrestricted.
Players may use a number of actions each month (not session) equal to twice their Influence level.
EXAMPLE: if you have a Church of two you may not take more than four actions in a given month. No more than thirty actions can be spent towards a single endeavor in any given month, including all actions spent for modifications.
Additionally (10-09-09): To encourage the use of the influence system, you can not purchase influence levels after character creation without a VERY good justification. Players should, when asking to buy influences, list justification for the purchase and they should be aware that storytellers will not be allowing this without serious rp to justify it.
For possible uses of Influences, refer to the influence charts in Laws of the Night Revised and Laws of the Night: Camarilla Guide. The cost noted on the chart is both the number of actions it takes to partake in that endeavor and the minimum level of influence required to be able to utilize that endeavor.
In addition to the
endeavors listed on the Influence charts, characters may perform these additional endeavors and modifiers.
ATTACK
A character can attempt to reduce another's Influence with her own Influence of that category, provided he has completed Trace Action on it or that influence performed an Attack on him first. To Attack, the character assigns a number of actions, with a minimum of four actions required, which becomes the level of the Attack endeavor. If the level exceeds the victim's Influence level (plus of the highest level Block put up to defend it), the victim drops a level at the beginning of the following month. Banked Growth actions aren't affected.
BLOCK
Block is used to prevent endeavors from taking place in the same category as the blocking Influence. Any endeavor from thesourcebooks may be blocked, provided the blocker's Influence level is at least equal to the endeavor's level on the chart. The Block's effective "level" is the total actions spent towards it and it affects all attempts at that endeavor in the city in that month. For example, two actions will produce a level two Block, which is assigned to a single type of endeavor. A Block can also be set up on a single character's Influence to protect it from the Attack endeavor. It will protect against all endeavors in that month.
GROW
To Grow Influence in a category to the next level, a number of actions must be spent equal to the current level of the influence squared or six actions, whichever is greater. For example, to Grow from a level three to a level four requires nine actions. [3 x 3 = 9]. Grow actions are accumulated from month to month, with the influence increasing at the beginning of the next month. There is no interaction between Grow and Attack.
TRACE
Trace is used to establish the identity of a character whose Influence the tracer's own has come into contact with. This "contact" is established by noticing one of the target's endeavors with the Watch endeavor, by Blocking one of the target's endeavors, or by having one of their own endeavors Blocked by the target. The total actions spent on the Trace defines its level. If the level of this Trace exceeds the highest level of Conceal put up to guard the influence, it is successful.
WATCH
Watch is used to notice a certain endeavor in a city from the chart listed in the sourcebooks, provided that character's Influence is sufficient to perform that endeavor itself. For example, a Watch on "Acquire a body" would need at least level four in Health. The character would then know when and how many times the "Acquire a body" endeavor is attempted in the city for that month. The total actions spent on the Watch define its level.
BOOST
Boost is simply a term used to describe adding additional unneeded actions to an endeavor, which is used to overcome Block. If the actions spent to Boost equal the level of the Block, the endeavor is successful.
COMBINE
Combine occurs when one character wishes to aid the Influence endeavor of another. No endeavor on the charts can be attempted by a character that doesn't have the appropriate Influence level according to that chart, regardless of use of Combine. For every two actions spent on Combine, the character being aided gains one action to use towards their endeavor. Influence borrowed through the Allies and Mentor Backgrounds are also subject to this rule. No more than thirty actions can be spent towards a single endeavor in any given month, including all actions spent for modifications.
CONCEAL
Conceal is added to endeavors to counter the use of Watch. If the number of actions spent for Conceal with an endeavor equals the level of the Watch, the character using the Watch does not detect the endeavor or come into contact with the character's Influence. Conceal can be used in the same way to protect an Influence from a Trace. The number of actions spent towards Conceal in this manner generates a Conceal level, which is pitted against any attempts to trace it for that month.
Influence System
Linear Mode
