长老背景 以下背景仅限长老角色或加到现有角色上。世代上限仍适用(7代6,6代7等)。
年龄 你已作为血族生存了很久很久。你已目睹了许多形成血族和凡人世界的政治与伤痛的不断而又永不变化的旋律。但此背景不一定反映你的真实年龄。相反,它反映你在漫长存在中尚有意识的年数。若你陷入休眠,时光流逝,你通过参与那段时期的事件所可能获得的经验与知识亦然。玩家自由决定角色休眠了几次,每次多久。这能让他们创造出出生于真正古老年代的人物。
每点此背景都能获得一些可在创建角色中使用的自由点,但也要损失人性。人性可再买,但长老要花5自由点/级。给出的数目反应累积总数。注意每点年龄所赋予的经验优势都比上级略少(自由点有表示),反映出随着长老越来越固化,她越来越难获得新技能。此外,血族越老越难学习新特性。这在下面的角色成长可选系统有反映。说书人最终决定编年史角色的年龄,并可自行将此背景限制在1-2点。
● 活动51-200年:+30自由点,-1人性
●● 活动201-350年:+55自由点,-2人性
●●● 活动351-500年:+75自由点,-3人性
●●●● 活动501-750年:+90自由点,-4人性
●●●●● 活动751-1000年:+100自由点,-5人性
长老地位 你在作为血族社会骨干的长老间很有名。即使在厌世的精英中你也为自己打出了名号——无论是净土大厅还是政治舞台上。此特性综合反映包括你尊长地位、你的血统、你自身行为及你如何设法保持其它长老注意的因素。
该背景越多,其他长老越愿平等对待你,甚至听从你的判断和品味。在与其它长老交涉时,长老地位有时会和社交特性结合使用,这反映了你在此类场合下的威望。无此特性的长老常被认为是血族社会这个永恒王廷的小贵族——觊觎者几乎没有此背景。
年轻血族几乎不知晓构成长老地位的隐形权力游戏和盟友的微妙差别,因此不受影响,而是认同你在血族中的整体地位(请看核心)。因此一个长老可能被绝大多数血族婴儿觉得无足轻重,但实际在长老间举足轻重。
● 知名:公认玩家
●● 受尊重:与许多强大长老有联系
●●● 高地位:其他长老常求助于你
●●●● 强大:你能获得即使是最著名的长老的尊重与敬畏
●●●●● 杰出:你的名字在全球各地的净土大厅回响
长老世代 长老角色初始世代10。他们只有购买此背景,才能从更强更低世代的血族开始。背景不能过5。
然而,古老血族之血更受愿意犯下吸榨罪行的血族追捧。低世代角色必将被此类(或其它一样有兴趣的)血族锁定,因为可给自己提供强大力量。因此有此背景的角色起码有1个敌人。当然,不排除还有因别的原因想摧毁角色的敌人!
● 9代:1个小敌人
●● 8代:2个小敌人
●●● 7代:1个大敌
●●●● 6代:2个大敌
●●●●● 5代:2个大敌,数个小敌
影响力 当血族的该背景有6+时,他的影响远超一个国家。世界政治舞台上一些最具权势之人都是他的耳目(或被他控制)。虽然其他血族可能觉得花这么多时间在俗世事务上很可笑,但他耗费大量精力,维持一或多个王座幕后势力的地位。因为他深知在历史关键时期控制凡人反复无常事务的重要性,且不打算在这种时候措手不及。
当角色想影响一个国家的政治决策,玩家投操控+影响力。难度取决于角色对国家领导者的控制力,和她希望施加的影响大小。大失败表明角色努力事与愿违,她的爪牙被囚禁、杀害或被其它方式摧毁,她自己甚至都有危险!此类大失败后,角色背景点数可能相应下降。
●●●●●● 影响1个国家的事务
●●●●●●● 影响2个国家的事务
●●●●●●●● 影响1个大陆的事务
●●●●●●●●● 影响除亚洲的任何地方
●●●●●●●●●● 影响全世界
资源 某些长老已超越对自身财富的关注,专注财富带来的力量。一个凡人能在一生中成为百万富翁,一个血族则可控制数千(甚至万!)亿美元,虽然它们不一定属于她。该背景有6+便代表那等财富。有如此控制力的角色能拥有任何她想要的财物或金钱。
当尝试改变角色有影响的地区的世界贸易方向时,投操控+资源。难度看说书人,取决于希望改变的规模、对手的顽固和技巧等。大失败表明角色将她于该地区的全球经济的影响置于危险中——无论是公司收购、行业崩溃或其它大灾难。她的世界资源等级可能相应降低。
●●●●●● 影响1个世界行业(钢铁、银行、航空等)
●●●●●●● 影响2个世界行业
●●●●●●●● 影响1个国家所有行业,及2个世界行业
●●●●●●●●● 影响亚洲外的全行业
●●●●●●●●●● 影响全行业
军力 当血族成为长老后,有机会控制凡人暴力机构。包括本地警察、军队、FBI、街头帮派、犯罪头目、机车帮和寻求刺激的年轻团体。直接控制凡人暴民总令长老血族恐惧,因为他们对审判庭记忆犹新。所以他们常联合遏制同族的这种希望。这令获得并维持庞大军力非常困难。一个长老通常只能维持一只小军队,然后他的对手就会聚拢,阻止其膨胀。
玩家须定义谁是角色军力,他们在哪儿训练。可以是美军分支,或上面列出的任何组织。军力6+常需一些政府资助。说书人应让玩家自由控制更多战斗训练比等级描述少的凡人。如2点可能控制40人的暴力团伙。
● 15人暴力团伙,基本无组织和训练:反叛学生,街头帮派
●● 25人组织,基本有些战斗训练:警察、犯罪团伙
●●● 40人的排,全有战斗训练:SWAT小组,预备军
●●●● 75人军队,全是老兵:雇佣兵、恐怖分子部队
●●●●● 100人连队,精英军队:特种部队连、情报单位
●●●●●● 几支连队,混合使用武器:机械化部队、空中突击队
●●●●●●● 军事组:数千受训士兵
●●●●●●●● 1个分支:1个国家的所有海陆空或类似军队
●●●●●●●●● 1个国家:其中的所有军力
●●●●●●●●●● 全球军力
原文:
剧透 - :
Elder Backgrounds
The following Backgrounds are available only to elder characters or add levels to existing ones. Generation limits to Traits (7th Generation for six dots, 6th Generation for seven, etc.) still apply.
Age
You have survived for many, many years as a vampire. You have seen much of the ever-changing, never-changing dance of politics and pain that forms the worlds of both Kindred and kine alike. This Background does not necessarily reflect your actual age, however. Instead, it reflects the number of years you have been conscious throughout your long existence. If you have fallen into torpor, time passes you by, as does the experience and knowledge you could have gained by participating in the events of that period. Players are free to determine how many times their characters have fallen into torpor, and for how long each time. This enables players to create characters born in truly ancient times.
Every dot in this Background gains a number of freebie points to use in character creation but also costs Humanity. This can be repurchased, but elders must spend five Freebies per extra point of Humanity. Amounts given reflect cumulative totals. Note that each dot in Age grants slightly less of an experience advantage then the one before (reflected in freebie points), reflecting the difficulty an elder has in gaining new abilities as she becomes more and more set in her ways. Additionally, the older a vampire, the harder it is for her to learn new Traits. This is reflected in the optional system on character development below. Storytellers have the final say in deciding how old characters in their chronicles may be, and should feel free to limit elders to one or two dots in this Background.
● 51-200 years active: +30 Freebie points, -1 Humanity.
●● 201-350 years active: +55 Freebie points, -2 Humanity.
●●● 351-500 years active: +75 Freebie points, -3 Humanity.
●●●● 501-750 years active: +90 Freebie points, -4 Humanity.
●●●●● 751-1,000 years active: +100 Freebie points, -5 Humanity.
Elder Status
You are well known among the elders who are the backbone of Kindred society. Even among the jaded elite you have carved out a name for yourself, whether in the halls of Elysium or the political arena. This Trait reflects a combination of factors including your sire's Status, your pedigree, your own actions and how well you have managed to keep the attention of other elder Kindred.
The more Elder Status you have, the more willing other elders are to treat you as an equal, or even to defer to your judgment and tastes. Elder Status is sometimes used with Social Traits when dealing with other elders, and it reflects your prestige in such instances. Elders without this Trait are often considered minor nobles in the eternal court that is Kindred society: Pretenders almost never have any dots in Elder Status.
Younger Kindred are almost always unaware of the subtle nuances of unseen power plays and alliances that makeup Elder Status and are thus unaffected by it, instead recognizing you’re your general Status among Kindred (see Vampire). Thus it is possible for an elder to be seen as of little importance by most Kindred infants, but to actually have tremendous influence among the elders of the vampiric community.
● Known: A recognized player
●● Respected: Connected to many powerful elders
●●● High Status: Other elders often come to you for aid and advice.
●●●● Powerful: You have the power to command respect and fear from even the most noted of other elders.
●●●●● Luminary: Your name echoes through the halls of Elysiums the world over.
Elder Generation
Elder characters begin as 10th Generation. Only by taking this Background can they start as more powerful, lower-Generation vampires. Characters cannot take more than five levels of this Background.
However, the blood of more ancient vampires is highly sought by those Kindred willing to commit the sin of diablerie. Characters of lower Generation are inevitably targeted by such types (or other beings equally interested) for the promise of greater power for themselves. Thus, characters with this Background have at least one enemy after their blood. This, of course, does not preclude other enemies interested in destroying the character for other reasons!
● 9th Generation: One minor enemy.
●● 8th Generation: Two minor enemies.
●●● 7th Generation: One major enemy.
●●●● 6th Generation: Two major enemies.
●●●●● 5th Generation: Two major enemies and several minor enemies.
lnfluence
When a vampire has more than five dots in Influence, he has a reach far beyond just one country. He has the ear, or perhaps control, of some of the most influential people in the global political circus. Although other Kindred may think it ridiculous that he spends so much time on mortal affairs, he devotes a great deal of his efforts to maintaining his position as the power behind one or more thrones. He knows the importance of controlling the flighty affairs of the kine at key moments in history and does not plan to be caught unawares at any such moment.
When a character wishes to influence a country's political decisions, the player must roll Manipulation + Influence. The difficulty depends on the extent of the character's control over the country's leaders and on the amount of effort the character wishes to exert. A botch indicates the character's efforts in that country have backfired, her minions are jailed, dead, or otherwise destroyed, and she may even be in danger himself! After such a botch the character's Influence rating may drop accordingly.
●●●●●● You can influence the affairs of one country.
●●●●●●● You can influence the affairs of two countries.
●●●●●●●● You can influence the affairs of one continent.
●●●●●●●●● You have influence over everything except Asia.
●●●●●●●●●● You have influence over the entire world.
Resources
Certain elders have gone beyond concern over their own wealth and now concentrate on the power their wealth brings. While one human may become a billionaire during her lifetime, a vampire may have control over hundreds of billions (or even trillions!) of dollars, though they do not necessarily belong to her. More than five dots in this Background represent that degree of wealth. A character with this sort of control can have any possessions or amounts of money she desires.
When attempting to change the direction of world commerce in an area in which a character has influence, make a Manipulation + Resources roll. The difficulty is determined by the Storyteller, depending upon the extent of the desired change, tenacity and skill of your opponents, etc. A botch indicates the character has put her influence over that section of the global economy at risk, either through corporate takeovers, the collapse of the industry, or any other major disaster. Her Global Resources level may drop accordingly.
●●●●●● You have influence in one global industry (steel, banking, airlines, etc.).
●●●●●●● You have influence in two global industries.
●●●●●●●● You have influence in every industry in one country as well as two global industries.
●●●●●●●●● You have influence in every industry outside of Asia.
●●●●●●●●●● You have influence in every industry.
Military Force
When a vampire reaches elder status, he has a chance to gain control of human institutions that prevail through force. This includes local police, troopers, FBl, street gangs, crime bosses, biker packs and bands of thrill-seeking young people. Direct control of human mobs is always frightening to elder vampires, who remember the Inquisition as if it were only yesterday. As a result, they often band together to curtail such aspirations in their fellows. This makes attaining and maintaining a large Military Force very difficult. Usually an elder can only keep a small force before his rivals close in to stop his power grab.
The player must define who a character's forces are and where they train. They could be a subset of the U.S. military, or any of the groups listed above. At Level Six and above, the Military Force will usually require some sort of government sponsorship. Storytellers should feel free to let the character control more mortals with less combat training than is specified for that level. For instance, with two dots a character might control a 40-person mob.
● 15-person mob, generally unorganized and untrained: student rebels, street gang
●● 25-person team, generally with some combat training: police, crime family
●●● 40-person platoon, all combat trained: SWAT team, army reserves
●●●● 75-person troop, all veterans: mercenary soldiers, terrorist unit
●●●●● 100-person company, elite troops: special forces company, intelligence unit
●●●●●● Several companies with a mix of weapons: mechanized infantry, air assault group
●●●●●●● Military division: thousands of trained soldiers
●●●●●●●● One branch: a country's entire army, navy, air force or similar body
●●●●●●●●● One country: all the Military Force in that country
●●●●●●●●●● Forces all over the world