Background use in Downtimes

Allies: No AP Cost

Example
Goal: Have Ally: Mechanic fix my car
Description: (optional

Allies can be called upon in Downtimes, or at game, to do you favors. Allies are friends of yours, they do things because they want to and they have an interest in keeping you safe. That being said, ‘friends’ is a two way street. They will expect favors in return.

  • Allies 1 Ex: Janitors, pot dealer, door guards
  • Allies 2 Ex: Beat cop, local Reporter, Tiny startup law firm
  • Allies 3 Ex: VP at a local company, city council members, editor of a small paper, gang leader
  • Allies 4 Ex: Police captain, Mafia Don, Publishers, CEO’s
  • Allies 5 Ex: Mayor, President of a large Corp, Police Chief, federal judge

You can only invest up to 5 dots in any particular ally, and you can only have 5 dots total.

Example
You can have 5 dots described as 5 Janitors spread out over town. OR you can have the Mayor as your sole ally for 5 dots.

Contacts: No AP Cost

Example
Goal: Use Contacts 3 to Investigate Underworld
Description: (recomended) I am looking to find out what a good gift to give the Consigliere of the Decosta family would be. I want to butter him up so he speaks favorably of me to the Don.

Contacts are informants. These are people you know, who know things, and due to some arrangement you have with them (money, blackmail, etc) they tell you that information. Unlike Allies these contacts don’t give a damn if you live or die. In fact, depending on how you coerced them into your employ they may even encourage it. What that means is contacts do not do you any favors. They simply give you information, if they know it.

Contacts cannot perform Patrol actions, only Investigate Actions. Information returned is less detailed than an Influence Investigate Action, but does not take up your AP.
You can have a total of 5 levels in Contacts. When doing Investigate actions the amount of Contacts you send at any 1 investigation will return more detailed intell.
So you could do 5 investigations, or you could do 1 investigation with all 5 Contacts.

Information Network: No AP Cost

Example
Goal: Use Info Network 3 to find information on the new Primogen
Description: list of questions.

  1. What if any scandals was he involved in in his previous domain
  2. Why did he –really- leave his previous domain
  3. Does he have any mortal connections that we could use against him

This Nosferatu only background is for gathering information on Kindred. Every dot gives you 1 question that you can ask your Nosferatu contacts. The ST will determine IF your connections know the answers to your questions, and if they answer the tell you the truth as far as they know it. Again these are not allies, the more ‘juicy’ the information the more these contacts will want in return.

Also it’s important to note that the Nosferatu blur sect lines, so some of your network could be Sabbat. This is extremely useful because you could use it to gather intel on the enemy. Just keep in mind a Nosferatu is not likely to give you information on HIS pack, but may be persuaded into giving up information on a rival pack. Also, these contacts are still going to want something in return. Use this aspect of the background with caution.

Spirit Slave

Example
Goal: Send my Spirit Slave to spy on the Mayor
Description: (recommended)

Spirit Slaves are achieved by use of the Necromancy Compel power which requires a Test and the burning of a willpower to keep the spirit under your control for a year. This means that every dot of Spirit Slave cost you 3xp per year that you keep the slave.

For game balance concerns these spirits do not have sheets, they are strictly spies. Unlike Contacts they cannot get you broad information, they must be sent after a particular target.
It is recommended that you include a description to let the ST know what information you are instructing the Spirit Slave to gather. Without it, the spirit slave will determine what is important on its own and you may not get the kind of intel you were hoping for.

It is also worth pointing out that Ghosts have a rough life on the other side, care should be taken in how you treat them and what you send them to spy on. A spirit slave sent into areas of high angst, or places known to have slavers on the other side, may not return… or worse… they could return as specters.

Retainer

Retainers do not perform Actions. Retainers grant you a bonus AP. This is due to the Retainer taking care of mundane tasks that would otherwise gobble up your time.

House Rule: You cannot invest extra points into a single Retainer; every dot represents a single person. You must let the ST know if a Retainer if a mortal or a Ghoul. Every ghoul costs you one blood at game start.

Retainers come in two flavors:

  • Protector:
    • This type of Retainer watches over you, and tends to your direct needs.
    • Every dot in Protector Retainer grants you a +5 AP that can be spent on Investigate, Patrol, Obscure, and Stealth actions.
  • Influence:
    • This type of Retainer assists you in managing your daily affairs.
    • Every dot in Influence Retainer grants you a +5 AP that can be spent on Influence Actions, and also raises your Influence Cap by 1.

If a Retainer dies, you do not get your XP back.

Mentor

Example
Goal: Spend time with Mentor
AP: (as much as you want)
Description: (recommended)

Mentors are achieved and lost entirely via RP. Performing a Mentor Action simply alerts the ST that in your downtime you are ‘hanging’ with your Mentor. You can include a description of what you are doing with your mentor, and it is recommended that you do to enhance the RP of the relationship. However, you do not need too, or may not always have anything in particular in mind. If you need to spend time with your Mentor is up to you, and the dynamic between your PC and it’s Mentor.

Mentors can be lost. A Mentor is someone you go too to learn, this does not mean you only call on your mentor when you need a new ability or discipline. A mentor will likely expect to pupil you in more than just powers. A Mentor will likely expect you to conform to it’s views. Resisting or flat out failing to live up to the teachings and expectations of a Mentor, could result in a decrease in Mentor levels or straight out loss of that Mentor.