Systems: Information

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Gameplay Expectations

We've added a generalized gameplay expectation into each Character Type chapter in this book. These expectations are not intended to tell you how to play your character, but to set expectations for the types of plot and gameplay that often get aimed at your character. The general categories of gameplay are: Social, Political, Action, Support, and Mystery. Social gameplay will usually revolve around interactions in social settings, like visiting the church, having a tea party, or keeping your eye on the town's gossip mill. Political gameplay will focus more on managing hierarchies. Action gameplay tends toward combat - whether with enemies or among allies. Support gameplay involves healing, buffing, or otherwise changing the flow of a scene. Mystery gameplay may involve solving puzzles, or finding non-straight-forward answers to problems. As you go into each Character Type's chapter, you'll see a generalization for that type's gameplay. Some subtypes (clans, tribes, etc...) may expect different kinds of gameplay. We'll indicate these characters with the delta symbol (Δ). Please see the wiki article for these character types for more information on how these characters differ.

Ranged Weapon Specifications

Any weapons used to do damage at range.

Thrown Coreless foam-latex <= 12" or an oversize packet wrapped in silver cloth, packets must be >= 8" end to tail. Base 1 damage.
Bows Bows can be any height over 24”. Base 3 damage.
Crossbows Crossbows can be any length. They may fire arrow packets or foam darts, but may not fire heavy foam arrows. Base 3 damage.
Derringers Dart blasters that fire no more than twice before reloading and are designed to be held in one hand. Base 2 damage.
Rifles and shotguns Dart blasters that fire no more than once before reloading and are designed for use with two hands. Base 3 damage.
Revolvers Dart blasters that fire no more than 6 rounds and are designed to be held in one hand. Base 2 damage.
Repeating Rifles Dart blasters that may have cylinders, magazines, or other mechanisms for firing more than once and are designed for use with two hands. No magazine should hold more than 6 rounds and you may not change magazines during gameplay (must use the same magazine). Base 3 damage.
Bullets Bullets can be any foam dart that would fit in a foam dart blaster.
Arrows Arrow packets must be >= 8" end to tail, with a brown cloth tail. You may not use heavy foam arrows. Carrying arrows or arrow packets requires that the carrier prominently display the packets or, preferably, carry a prop quiver on their person. The packet itself need not be brown, but may have a brown streamer as the tail.

Foam dart blasters may only be modified cosmetically. You may not install or upgrade any mechanical parts on your blasters. Blasters may not use batteries to power their loading or firing action and must use either a lever, hammer, or slide/bolt action to chamber a round. Derringers may use pulls, and rifles may use a barrel break chambering action. The weapon must require chambering between each trigger pull.

Thrown Weapons - Do not need to be tagged, but should be shown at check-in if they are not packets. Any character may use a thrown weapon - no skill purchase required. Thrown weapons do 1 base damage and are not affected by Augment.

Dynamite - Dynamite - A special item crafted through Gunsmithing/Ammosmithing 5. Dynamite has multiple uses. The lighting mechanism consists of using a flame prop, Flint and Steel, or a power which lets you call fire damage and calling: "Lighting Dynamite", you may switch to only one hand after the call. Make an audible count of "Burning". Once the effect of your Dynamite fires off, destroy the Dynamite tag.

  • The combat use for Dynamite starts with holding the Dynamite prop in both hands and using the lighting mechanism with a 3 count, then remove the sheath (if there is one) and throw the dynamite at the ground with a bit of force. The discs should shatter apart. Call "Boom Fire 4". If it fails to explode, you may reset the prop and use it again.
  • A single stick of Dynamite can be used to destroy any tagged item. Place a Dynamite prop on top of the item or temporarily attach it to the item, then use the lighting mechanism with a 3 count while moving away from the item. After the count yell "Boom Shatter [name of item]".
  • 10 sticks of Dynamite can be used to disable any Node for 24 hours. Place the bundle of Dynamite at the node and use the lighting mechanism with a 30 count and move at least 30 feet away. Any targets within 30 feet of the dynamite when the Burning count completes will take 4 Fire damage. Use the sig call of "Massive Explosion. Within 30 feet of Dynamite take 4 damage." - it's long, but it matters.

Melee and Natural Weapon Specifications

Natural weapon boffers:

Natural Weapons are always 1-handed with 6" maximum grip. Pommels may extend up to 2 inches past end of grip.
Fist: 8-12" striking surface
Claw: 8-24" striking surface
Tentacle: 24-36" striking surface

Regular weapon boffers:

1-Handed Weapon: 8-24" striking surface, 6" maximum grip
Versatile Weapons: 25-36" striking surface, 10" maximum grip. May be used with 1 or 2 hands.
2-Handed Weapon: Total length >48". You may only strike with striking surfaces. 2h weapons should be declared as having no grip (all padded) or 2 small handhold grips spaced along the length which must both be used at all times so there's a reduced risk of hard strike.

Foam-latex weapons are categorized by their total length:

<36" - 1H
36" - 48" - Versatile
>48" - 2H

Weapon requirements:

All homemade boffers with cores must use a flexible core between 0.5" and 0.75". Epoxy Tubing and PVC are examples of valid materials.
All homemade boffers must use foam with a minimum thickness of 5/8". 3/4" or thicker is preferred.
All homemade boffers that are used with 1 hand may not have a grip length greater than 6", but can have foam pommels that extend beyond this. Pommels may not be used as striking surfaces. Any length up to the maximum weapon length is acceptable; when striking, your foremost hand must be within 2 inches of the padded part of the weapon and the weapon must be controlled.
All foam melee weapons with cores, homemade or not, must include thrust-safe tips. This is a safety feature. A thrusting tip consists of a foam area at the top of the weapon that extends 2-4" past the end of the core and covers the end of the core to prevent coring out, the core of the weapon breaking through the tip of the foam.
All throwing weapons, homemade or not, may not have a core.
Claw boffers must have a white claw painted near the striking tip, or a solid white tip.
Tentacle boffers must have a white stripe running their length.
Staves and other 2 handed weapons must be used with 2 hands. You must keep your foremost hand within 2 inches of the striking surface.

Defensive Equipment

Armor and Shields - Armor and shields in this game provide an "armor pool" that sits on top of your Health pool. Both take damage before the character’s body and cannot be healed; they must be repaired or replaced. They also do not benefit from powers such as Stone Body or Hardened Flesh. To repair them, visit ST camp with the armor prop. Repairing a piece of armor or a shield costs 1/2 the amount required to replace the item. If you can craft the item you are repairing, use the crafting cost to determine this amount. If not, use the purchase cost. This repair process can be used to repair shattered equipment, but only replaces the mundane tag, not any magical tags that were on the item. When health or blood are drained, they do not affect the armor pool. Armor takes damage before character health.

Shields lose pool after armor, but before character health. When you are reduced to or below your maximum health, the shield has also been reduced to 0 pool. A shield reduced to 0 pool is broken, cannot be used in combat and must be dropped (you can pick it up when not in combat, but must drop it again if you go back into combat). Striking the shield directly with melee damage has no effect, but hitting it with bullets or spell damage will reduce the pool of that item. Status effects go directly through shields. Characters cannot resist Shatter powers used against shields.

Each piece of armor (chest, arm, leg) provides 1 armor pool. A shield provides 5 armor pool.

Glossary

Special Actions are things your character can do that may be beyond the player's capabilities, or allow the player to do certain things. We generally refer to Special Actions by the action type:
Abilities are things you know how to do - they are binary: either you know how, or you don't. For example, if you don’t have the Brawl ability you may not fight with unarmed boffers, but if you do have the Brawl ability then you may.
Skills are things that have degrees of usefulness - they do not require energy but may require props.
Techniques are special abilities beyond the basics that require training and energy to achieve.
Powers are supernatural abilities that are above and beyond normal human capacity. Non-innate powers require a teacher (another character) as described in each section.
Effect Types define the general behavior as well as resist methods of an effect.
Buffs grant a benefit that a character doesn't have access to normally; they are freely resistible.
Mental Effects are an effect class that targets a character’s mind. These effects usually last 10 minutes unless explicitly labeled otherwise, and can be Resisted or Shaken Off by Willpower.
Physical Effects directly effect the body. These usually have short durations and are delivered by touch or boffer.
Status Effects are an effect class that targets a character’s body. Status effects usually last 60 seconds unless explicitly labeled otherwise.
Sensory Powers always target "Other". They allow you to actively detect. Because they are used on others, you need a breach power or similar to use them cross-gauntlet. They can be resisted with Willpower, and are subject to Magic Awareness.
Sight Powers always target "Self". They allow you to passively view. You may have multiple Sight powers active at the same time, and they function in any realms your character can see.
Restorative Powers restore something a character has lost, such as health. They are resisted as physical or damage.

Modifiers have been moved to the Powers section of the Rulebook.

Rule Language These are terms we use to wrap an idea up in a single word to make it easier to describe a Special Action in the book.
Signature calls, also called sig calls are phrases used to designate effects. These are usually designed to take at least a full second, however certain calls (like damage numbers) may take less time. For these calls we recommend counting a second between attacks. Make your sig call in an audible, clear voice. Signature calls are required for most abilities and will be called out. We’ve tried to make most of our signature calls generally obvious, but if you have a question you may always hold up an Out of Game signal and ask.
Cooldown refers to a period of time you must wait before using a power again. Cooldowns begin when the power ends.
Tick refers to an event that occurs in a timed interval. Each time the event occurs it “ticks”. For example, Medicine 1 “ticks” every 30 seconds while using it.
Tree is a named grouping of powers, skills, or techniques that each have levels.
Treeset is a named grouping of powers that each have levels. They differ from trees in that there may be more than one power at each level. Wherever you see multiple Trees described under a single name, those are considered a Treeset.
Out of Game Signals are used to specify that you the player are doing something, rather than your character - in this type of immersive game we expect people to use these as rarely as possible. The following things designate a player as out of game: A closed fist, thumb facing down, placed atop your head. A weapon held horizontally across the head. A hand held up with the index and middle fingers crossed and the thumb extended. A solid orange headband.

Visual Cues

Headbands
  • Orange - Out of Game - this person is not currently playing a character.
  • White - Umbra - this character is in a non-physical realm. If you do not have an ability that specifically allows you to see into the Umbra then your character may not see things in the Umbra.
  • Orange/White Twisted - Cross-Realm - this character exists in both the physical and Umbral realms - as such they can affect and be affected by things in either realm.
Masks
when a character is wearing a mask, unless you have seen them shape shift or seen them in a form and had them admit to who they are, you should not recognize the character.
  • Animal Masks - Beast Form / War Form - Characters in this form usually come with claws or tentacles. They also cause the Delirium Effect. These characters appear to be half that animal form and half man.
  • Black Mask - War Form - This version of War Form does not cause Delirium, but does appear to be an inhuman shadow creature
  • Other Masks - We ask that players use distinct masquerade masks to represent in-game masks, rather than forms or shapes, as often half face or full face masks will be used to represent inhuman characters in-game.
Mantles
  • White - Vaporous Body - this character appears as a cloud of vapor, vaguely human in shape - you cannot make out their features. Weapons pass through without causing damage and most powers seem to deflect except for damaging spells and Mental effects.
  • Black - Incorporeal Body - this character appears as a translucent human form - you cannot make out their features. They cannot be harmed in this form, but may be affected by most non-damaging powers.
  • Red - Stone Body - this character’s flesh appears to be made of stone - they are reducing all damage taken to 1.
  • Silver - Steel Fur Body. The character’s fur appears to be made of metal - they are reducing ranged damage taken to 1.
  • Orange - used by ST Camp to designate a handler - these individuals are not valid targets and cannot be seen by any powers.
Hand Signals
  • Crossed index and middle fingers, thumb pointed outward - Out of Game.
  • Closed fist, thumb down atop head - Out of Game
  • Weapon horizontal atop head - Out of Game
  • Arms crossed ~90 degrees against chest - Hasty EscapeHasty Escape: Cross your arms over your chest in an “X”. As long as you take no action other than moving away from enemy targets as quickly as you safely can you will take no damage. This power has a 1 minute cooldown., immune to damage as long as they continue to move away from you
  • Arm straight out, hand toward you. Avert - Mental, you may not approach this character
  • Closed fist with thumb upward, front of fist aimed directly at you - CommandCommand: Mental, Signaled, Disable. Use the sig call "Command: [single word]" in conjunction with the command hand signal. The target must attempt to complete the command as given to the best of their understanding. The target must continue to attempt to enact this command for as long as the hand signal is maintained, or until they are out of line of sight from the user. Example commands are: “Dance”, “Duck”, “Come”, “Follow”, “Stop”, "Leave". If the command is nonsensical or impossible to achieve, the target may choose to either attempt to do so anyways, or may stand still and think about how they could do so for the duration., do as this character says.
  • Hand in front of face palm toward face, fingers spread - Cloak, this target is invisible to you unless you have the Cloak SightCloak Sight: Buff, Sight. You may see any individual with the cloak hand sign up who is in a realm you can see; you are are aware they are cloaked, and can target them normally. power and can see the realm they are in.
  • Hand in L shape with thumb to forehead and finger pointing outward - One-way telepathy.
  • Hand with first 3 fingers closed, thumb and pinky spread (Shaka) - Regular telepathy.
Other Signals
  • 3x5 Cards in-game represent lasting effects or messages sent via non-physical means. If you receive a card from another player, read the text to determine how and if this card affects you. If you see a card attached to an object that card should describe its visibility. Item SightItem Sight: If you are able to physically read the tag or 3x5 card on an item then you may read and understand its contents. This means that you must be within range to study the item. If you see that an item is tagged and you are standing near the person, you may ask to see the tag. The in-game effect is that the individual sees you staring at their item. A person using this ability is obviously and in-game studying the object in question. allows you to read any 3x5 card attached to an object, please see Item Sight for further details. If a card is attached to an immobile object, the card cannot be moved by a player unless a power specifically states that it can move that card.
  • White mesh encompassing an object says that the object is Umbra-Bound, meaning falls into the Umbra instead of into the Realm when not held.
  • A white square containing an orange circle inside with an “R” in the center is a "soft spot" that will send you into the Realm. These soft spots are visible if you have both Umbrasight and Cloaksight.
  • An orange square containing a white circle with a “U” in the center is a "soft spot" that will send you into the Umbra. These soft spots are visible if you have both Umbrasight and Cloaksight.
  • White rope bordering a doorframe with a "U", "R", or both in the center of the door or directly above the frame is a "soft spot" that will send you into the Umbra, Realm, or switch the side of the Gauntlet you are on when passing through it. These soft spots are visible if you have both Umbrasight and Cloaksight.
  • Brown packets with >= 8” overall length represent arrows.
  • Blue glow sticks or dim blue lights worn around the neck or head are NOT REQUIRED, but may be used to augment white headbands while in the Umbra after dark. They are not a replacement for headbands.
  • Green glow sticks or dim green lights worn around the neck or head are NOT REQUIRED, but may be used to augment white and orange striped headbands while under the effects of the Convergence power. They are not a replacement for headbands.
  • Other glow-stick colors may be used by ST camp, these characters will also be in the Umbra, but hold unique characteristics. Those colors are not designated here and may be learned about in-game.
  • A high-vis green/yellow sash, This character is a non-combatant, please see the appropriate rules.
  • Red ribbon wrapped around an object. This object is on fire.

Equipment Costs

When taking the Equipment Background, use the Equipment Buy Value (EBV) for each individual point taken. You may only receive equipment tags for Craft cost at check-in, but you may purchase equipment tags for their Buy value at any time by visiting ST camp.

Gunsmithing/Ammosmithing
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Dynamite Gunsmithing L5 1/2 1 $0.40 $1.60
Heavy Shot ǂ Recipe 1/30 1/10 $0.01 $0.04
Large Firearm Gunsmithing L1 1 1 $0.35 $1.40
Large Repeating Firearm Gunsmithing L3 1 1 $0.45 $1.80
Phosphor Shot ǂ Recipe 1/30 1/10 $0.01 $0.04
Small Firearm Gunsmithing L2 1 1 $0.30 $1.20
Small Repeating Firearm Gunsmithing L3 1 1 $0.40 $1.60
Specialty Ammunition Gunsmithing L4 1/30 1/10 $0.01 $0.04

Weaponsmithing/Armorsmithing
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Armor (1), chest, arm, leg Weaponsmithing L4 1 1 $0.30 $1.20
Long Melee Weapon Weaponsmithing L3 1 1 $0.40 $1.60
Medium Melee Weapon Weaponsmithing L2 1 1 $0.35 $1.40
Small Melee Weapon Weaponsmithing L1 1 1 $0.30 $1.20
Specialty Material (+ wpn) Weaponsmithing L5 1 1 $0.35 $1.40

Carpentry/Fletching
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Bow Carpentry L2 1 1 $0.35 $1.40
Crossbow Carpentry L3 1 1 $0.45 $1.80
Shield Carpentry L4 1 1 $0.50 $2
Specialty Arrows Carpentry L5 & Recipe 1/30 1/10 $0.01 $0.04
Specialty Thrown ǂ Recipe 1/5 1/2 $0.15 $0.60
Stake Carpentry L1 1/2 1 $0.07 $0.28
Other
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Flint and Steel ǂ Recipe 1 1 $0.15 $0.60

Herbalism
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Adhesive Goo Herbalism L4 1/5 1/3 $0.10 $0.40
Alcohol ǂ Recipe 1/20 1/10 $0.005 $0.02
Coca ǂ Recipe 1/3 1/3 $0.07 $0.28
Flame Oil ǂ Recipe 1/3 1/2 $0.09 $0.36
Flame/Poison Arrows ǂ Recipe 1/30 1/10 $0.02 $0.08
Moonshine ǂ Recipe 1/40 1/15 $0.0033 $0.02
Opiate ǂ Recipe 1/3 1/3 $0.07 $0.28
Peyote ǂ Recipe 1/3 1/3 $0.07 $0.28
Philter of Life ǂ Recipe 1/5 1/2 $0.10 $0.40
Potion of Lethargy Herbalism L2 1/5 1/3 $0.07 $0.28
Potion of Strength Herbalism L5 1/5 1/3 $0.11 $0.44
Potion of Weakness Herbalism L5 1/5 1/3 $0.11 $0.44
Sleeping Potion Herbalism L3 1/5 1/3 $0.09 $0.36
Smelling Salts Herbalism L3 1/5 1/3 $0.09 $0.36
The Antidote ǂ Recipe 1/5 1/3 $0.10 $0.40
Tonic of Health Herbalism L1 1/5 1/3 $0.05 $0.20
Tonic of Vitality Herbalism L2 1/5 1/3 $0.09 $0.36
Toxic Mixture Herbalism L1 1/5 1/3 $0.05 $0.20

Locksmithing
Item Skill EBV Craft # Craft $ Buy $
Individual Keys Locksmithing, appropriate level 1/5 1/3 $0.05 $0.20
Lock 1 + 2 keys Locksmithing L1 1 1 $0.30 $1.20
Lock 2 + 2 keys Locksmithing L3 1 1 $0.50 $2
Lock 3 + 2 keys Locksmithing L5 2 1 $0.70 $2.80
Lockpick 1 Locksmithing L2 1/2 1/3 $0.15 $0.60
Lockpick 2 Locksmithing L4 1 1/3 $0.30 $1.20
Lockpick 3 ǂ Recipe 1 1/2 $0.50 $2

Recipes

Certain craftable items require recipes to make. These are designated above by the symbol ǂ. Recipes should get added to the Rituals section of your character sheet when you purchase them. These recipes can be purchased from the following table:

Item Skills EBV Buy $
Alcohol Herbalism 2 + (Gunsmithing 1 or Weaponsmithing 1) 1 $.75
The Antidote Herbalism 2 + Medicine 1 1 $.50
Coca Herbalism 3 + Medicine 3 2 $1.50
Flame Arrowheads Fletching 4 + Herbalism 2 1 $.75
Flame Oil Weaponsmithing 4 + Herbalism 2 1 $1
Flint and Steel Weaponsmithing 2 + Detection 2 1 $.50
Heavy Shot Gunsmithing 4 + Locksmithing 2 1 $.75
L3 Lockpicks Locksmithing 4 + Weaponsmithing 2 2 $1.50
Moonshine Herbalism 2 + (Gunsmithing 1 or Weaponsmithing 1) 1 $.50
Opium Herbalism 3 + Medicine 3 2 $1.50
Peyote Herbalism 4 + Detection 2 1 $1
Philter of Life Herbalism 4 + Medicine 2 1 $1
Phosphor Ammunition Gunsmithing 3 + Herbalism 2 1 $.75
Poison Arrowheads Fletching 4 + Medicine 2 1 $.75
Specialty Thrown Fletching 3 + Weaponsmithing 3 1 $.75

A description of all tags and recipes can be found here: https://darkprospects.endogaming.net/rulesweb/index.php/Equipment .

Restricted Character Costs

Learn what a Restricted Character is in the Systems: General chapter under Restricted Character Concepts.

You can always find the *current* restricted cost for characters by visiting the restricted page, located at: https://darkprospects.endogaming.net/Characters/builder/?act=restricted. These costs can be paid with either freebies or earned exp.

Vampires: 0
Assamite (any): 5
Daughters of Cacophony: 8
Giovanni: 3
Ravnos: 3
Salubri: 8
Samedi: 4
Setite: 3
Gargoyle: 9
Revenant Merit (Ghouls): 10
Werewolves: 0
Silent Strider: 1
Stargazer: 3
Fera: 1 per Fera +
Bagheera: 3
Balam: 3
Bubasti: 4
Khan: 3
Pumonca: 1
Qualmi: 1
Simba: 3
Swara: 5
Corax: 2
Gurahl: 4
Nuwisha: 6
Engineer: 3
Plague Lord: 3
Munchmausen: 3
Twitcher: 3

Power Format and Descriptor Line Tags

Throughout this book you’ll find powers and skills. In the type-specific sections you’ll see a specific format. We refer to this as the “power descriptor line”. It reads as follows:

Level) Name, Cost, Target, Duration (if applicable), Additional Tags

The Level is the purchase level for that power. The Name listed here is the name of the power in the Powers section of the book. If a power is written as Power: Power that means that the first power works on or against the second power. The Cost is what resource this costs your character. If there is no cost, it should read “No Cost”. The Target should be either Self, Other, or a combination of the two. This means you use this power on yourself, on another target, or on either target. Unless otherwise specified, the target must be in the same realm you are in (Realm: No Headband. Umbra: White Headband.) The Duration is the amount of time the ability lasts or the words “Always On” - Always On abilities remain on at all times. If you possess an Always On effect, you may choose not to use it.

An important note on No Cost powers

Any power that can be resisted and has No Cost cannot be used twice on the same target in a 1 minute period.

A partial list of Additional Tags follows. We believe most of them are self-explanatory, but in case they aren’t...

  • Cross-gauntlet: This power can be used against Realm targets if you are in the Umbra, and Umbral targets if you are in the Realm (unless otherwise specified).
  • Realm-only: This power can only be used against targets in the Realm.
  • Umbra-only: This power can only be used against targets in the Umbra.
  • “Quoted Text”: Text that should be added to your sig call.
  • Touch: This ability requires you to touch the target. Please see the “Touch Abilities” section above.
  • Unconscious/Dead/Dying target: The target must be in one of these states. You may have put them there yourself.
  • Enforced: This ability must be used.
  • Irresistible: Cannot be resisted.
  • vs. [target description]: Only against the described target.
  • Mass: Affects multiple targets - targets should be described on this line.
  • Levels: This ability gains power as you buy further up the character sheet column it is in.
  • 1x/[time]: this indicates a cooldown.

Addition of powers: You may see two powers on the same line as follows.

Power 1 + Power 2, Cost, Target, Duration, Additional Tags - this means that both powers must be used together at the same time. Please note, that if the first power is resisted then you cannot continue with the second sig call. The entire power combination is resisted. If only the second part is resisted then only the second part is resisted.
Power 1, Cost, Target, Duration, Additional Tags & Power 2, Cost, Target, Duration, Additional Tags - this means that each power is used independently.

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