"Are we or they lords of the world? And how are all things
made for man?"
Johannes Kepler.
FROM THE PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF THE BRUJAH ANCILLA, SAUL MACDONALD, DICTATED SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DISAPPEARANCE IN 1992.
"As yet, childe, you have no real comprehension of immortality, or
the Jyhad. Few of your age do. It is natural for the neonates to revel in their
new-found powers of speed or strength, and to enjoy the freedom that undeath
has granted them. However, should you survive your experimentation, you will
come to find that one day the powers you have are no more wonderful than breathing
or eating once were to you and, like breathing or eating, you will use your
Celerity or Potence only because you must in order to survive.
"Remember this; from the moment of your embrace, everything around you
began to die. In five years time, if you maintain contact with them, your friends
and family will begin to comment upon how well preserved you are. In ten years,
you will have to leave them behind or risk a breach of the Masquerade, as you
do not age.
"In a hundred years, everyone you have ever loved or cared for will be
dead. The beliefs that in your youth you would have fought and died for will
have been forgotten by the world. In five hundred years, the only thing that
you will understand about the world will be the Jyhad. Society, technology,
science will all be utterly alien to you and everything you have ever known.
You will use these new ideas and control them through mortal agents, but the
only things that you will be able to relate to meaningfully will be your dire
enemies, the other kindred.
"In a thousand years, you will no longer bother to remember the names of
the mortals you use, as their lives to you will be as brief and meaningless
as the mayflies of spring. By then, the only people who you will understand
will be other kindred - those embraced when you were, who remember the world
as you do. Your dire enemies will have become your only tie to reality, the
only constants. Without them, you would go irretrievably mad, howling your loneliness
to the beast within you. You will know then that the Jyhad can never be won;
you can never kill these enemies. Because in ten thousand years, these others
whom you will hate with a passion that consumes you will be all you have in
the world. And in ten thousand years, your immortality will have only just begun.
"Do you understand now what I mean, when I tell you that you are damned?"
What is Influence?
"No one would have believed…that this world was being watched
keenly and closely by intelligences greater than mans; that as men busied themselves
about their various concerns they were being scrutinised and studied, perhaps
as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures
that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went
to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in the assurance
of their empire over matter.
"Yet…minds that are to our minds as ours are to the beasts that perish,
intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious
eyes.
"And slowly, and surely, they drew their plans against us."
H.G. Wells; "The War of the Worlds."
For untold centuries, awakened and magical creatures openly ruled the world.
From bleak fastnesses Vampires dined from the mortal herd. Legend has it that
the Garou once herded men like animals, mages conducted their experiments openly,
fearlessly, and even the fae moved freely amongst men.
Time changes. As men have grown wiser, and more advanced, so they have become
more powerful, and slowly they have driven the awakened into hiding. Wisely
do the awakened fear the aroused terror of mortality, which would destroy them
if they were discovered; humanity has never shown restraint when dealing with
that which it fears.
But being driven into hiding does not remove the desire to rule, to control. One means of ruling is through Influence, and foremost of the influence wielders are the Kindred. Some rare Fae may hold influence, some Garou who have grown close to the ways of man (such as the Glasswalkers) are involved in mortal institutions. But it is the Kindred who use influence in its' purest form, for little but the exercise of power, to battle one another, for the Jyhad.
No Kindred worth the blood of the embrace would ever put their name to proof
that they owned a business, or ran a coven, or sat in the House of Lords. Instead,
they own photographs of the chairman of the board in compromising positions
with children… they visit the coven with visions of power and convince
them that they have made contact with the devil himself and do his bidding…
they control the only source of the drug which keeps the 13th Duke of Malmseys
heart beating…
Through a hundred or more tricks, secrets, and deceits, vampires and their awakened
brethren rule the world, never leaving a trail that would lead back to them
if investigated, and all concerned with the ultimate goal - absolute dominion
over all, power undreamed of, victory in the eternal struggle for power, the
Jyhad.
In game terms, this control is represented by points of influence. This control can range from slight (1 point) to great (10 points), and whether this influence is local or nationally based. What a character can achieve in the mortal world is defined by how much influence they have. As time passes, characters can develop great power in the mortal world, and rise to influence nations, even continents with their games. However, they should never be too complacent that they are independent agents, and that they do not really act in accordance with some unfathomable scheme of an ancient whose existence they do not even suspect…
Influence points can represent a great many things; if a character has only a few points of underworld, it may be that all they have is a face known to the local gangs and they know which pubs to go in and ask the right questions…if they have national underworld 10, it may be that they have almost complete control of the drugs industry in the UK through a string of dominated and ghouled middlemen. The possibilities are endless, and players are encouraged to think through precisely how their personal influence works.
Basic Influences Rules
"It is necessary for a Prince wishing to hold his own to know how to
do wrong, and to make use of it or not, according to necessity."
Niccolo Machiavelli; "The Education of a Prince."
What is the purpose of these rules?
At the moment, every domain in the UK is free to apply the influence rules differently
as it sees fit. Obviously, this is leading to difficulties and differences as
players from one domain say 'But over in <blank> they can do that…'
about the domain down the road.
What I'm trying to do here is create a level playing field whilst at the same
time leave the individual games sufficient leeway to inject their own style
into the influence systems that they run. If everyone plays by these rules,
then everyone will have the same basic structure, but hopefully enough differences
will exist to provide the variety that players enjoy.
Section 1.
Acquiring Influence.
Influence is divided into two sorts: local and national. Local influences are control over and strictly within a single domain. National Influences can be wielded within any domain within the UK Camarilla.
Buying Influence.
a) Except where specifically noted in the text, all influence costs XP on a
point-for-point basis.
b) Local influence may be bought for 1xp per point through downtime action.
c) No more than 1 point of local influence may be bought through downtime action
per field per domain per game month.
d) National Influence may not be bought with XP, but must be converted from
local influence through the procedure outlined below.
e) No character may begin play with more than level 5 in local influence in
any one field. They may however increase to greater than level 5 during play,
to a maximum of 10 on any given field.
f) The Military and Espionage influence fields given in Laws of the Hunt and
Laws of the Hunt Players Guide are not used in Camarilla UK.
Local Influence
a) A character may not hold more than a total of 10 points of local influence
in any one field in any one domain, but may hold influence in as many fields
and as many domains as they like.
If a character has a total of more than 10 points of local influence in a domain
when these rules are introduced, then they should be allowed to re-allocate
all those additional points (that were bought with Xp; those additional points
that were not bought with Xp are lost) into other fields of local influence,
also to a maximum of 10.
No more than 1 character per domain should have 10 points of local influence
in any given field in that domain, and no more than 2 should have 9.
b) No more than 1 character per domain should have 10 points of local influence
per field, and no more than 2 should have 9.
National Influence
a) Applications to convert to national influence must be put in writing to
the National Influences Referee. National Influence is gained by converting
3 points of local influence in any one field to 1 point of national, and applications
can be sent to:
David@wade.org.uk
Or in writing to:
David Wade
153 Battersea Park Road
Battersea
London
SW8 4BX.
I can also be contacted on: 07967 973 821.
The following information will be needed: Player name, Character name, Camarilla
Membership Number (only paid up members of the Camarilla UK may hold UK national
influence), Home domain, influence being converted, specialisation, and the
name and contact details of your home ST.
b) No more than 1 point of national influence per field may be converted per
calendar month. Each point must receive individual approval; there is no mechanism
for backdating applications or 'stacking'; each point must be individually converted
in writing. Failure to do so will mean that the influences you want won't be
converted, and 'stacked' national influences will be removed from character
sheets until such time as proper application is made for each point.
c) As with local influence, national influence is capped at 10 per field. Only
1 person in the UK at any time may have 10 points of national influence in any
one field, and only two may have 9. When a player tries to grow their national
influence over 7, they will be expected to RP for it, as well as convert local
influence.
d) When acquiring national influence, the player must state a field of specialisation
within that field. This is not a restriction, but an RP aid; it is designed
to make the player think about he organisation their character runs, and what
they are about. With a little thought, the player should be able to achieve
what they set out to do, even working within their specialised area.
Example: Billy Brujah has 5 points of national underworld, specialised into
Vice and Prostitution. Billy wants to get his hands on some guns, sharpish.
If Billy is not capable of thinking of a way to use his contacts to get introduced
to arms dealers, then he doesn't deserve to succeed.
e) Although national influence may be used nationally, it must be based somewhere.
It is usually assumed that national influence is based in the characters home
domain, unless the player specifically states otherwise. The base for national
influence must be within a registered domain of the UK Camarilla. This will
have important implications later, as will be seen below.
f) National influence may be traded or destroyed in the same way as local. However,
players with registered national influence are required to tell the NIR if they
transfer their influence to another, or if their national is in any way lost.
Transferring Influences.
Points of influence are often used as trading currency between characters, in
payment of boons, or exchange for other services. To transfer influence from
character to character, both players must put in a downtime to keep their ST
up to date on what they are doing. Players who transfer national influence must
tell the NIR, or else I'll get cross.
Obviously, it is easier for a character whose influence holdings are small to
grow their pool in this way than a character who has a lot of influence. Therefore,
if someone who has more influence in that field than do you gives you influence,
the transfer is free and does not cost XP. If someone who has the same amount
or less influence than you in that field gives you influence, then you must
pay the equivalent XP cost of that influence (i.e. 1xp per point for local influence,
3xp per point for national influence). This is because whne you are small, the
addition of more contacts grows your organisation much more quickly and easily
than it does when you already have a large organisation and know everybody.
It is possible to gain more than 1 point of influence pre month by transferring
influence, whether paid for or not.
Free Influence!
According to the UK prestige rules, players may be awarded bonus xp for exceptional
roleplaying. STs may wish to consider giving this bonus in the form of influence
where applicable.
Example: Billy Brujah has put in an exceptional piece of roleplaying in which
he has talked the local gangs out of going to war. The St rewards him with a
point of street influence, as he has gained the gangs respect.
No more than 1 point of influence should be given out in this way per month
in any domain.
On rare occasions, the national influence ref, on a similar basis, may give
out points of national influence.
Section 2.
How can I use my influences?
"To fight and conquer is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence
consists in breaking the resistance of your enemy without fighting."
Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War.'
Influence actions.
The influence actions as described in Laws of the night (levels 1-5) are open
to any character with the appropriate level of local or national influence.
The levels (6-10) as described in Laws of the Night: Camarilla Guide are open
only to those players with the appropriate levels of National Influence. In
addition, their use is subject to approval by the Venue ANST or the National
Influences ref.
Other than for reading influence rumours/briefs, points of influence may only
be used once per game month.
Example: Billy Brujah has used his underworld influence 3 to get his hands on
some guns He may not use his influence again that month for any purpose other
than reading rumours.
How can I use my local influences outside my own domain?
The reason we have national influences is so people can act outside the domain
in which the influence is held. Local Influences may not be used outside their
home domain under any circumstances. If a player wishes to become a national
power, then they have to spend the XP.
National influences can be used in any domain with the permission of the DST,
or nationally through the National Influences ref, or the venue ANST.
Is there any limit on the amount of influence I can hold?
Laws of the Night indicates a prohibition on the amount of influence a character
may hold, limiting that amount to the sum total of my physical, mental, and
social traits. This rule is not necessary, and will be ignored. Firstly, it
is nonsense. There is no particular reason why my character developing two more
'Lithe' physical traits means I can control two more points of political influence
(unless the politicians are impressed by my sexy young body), and secondly because
it fails to do what it sets out to do, which is give an in-game justification
for elders having more influence than neonates. (I doubt Bill Clinton has many
traits all in, but how much influence has he got?)
The expenditure of XP and time constraints will provide a suitable limit upon
development of influence within game.
Can my Ghouls and Retainers hold separate influence for me?
No. The lifting of the above prohibition removes the necessity of 'influence
retainers'. Your influences reflect what you control. Whether your character
controls their influences directly, or through ghoul intermediaries, is irrelevant
to the system.
Vampires are aggressive and territorial creatures, and the likelihood of a powerful
kindred entrusting their control of a major politician to one of their ghouls
is slim to none.
Number of Actions
For the Camarilla's sanctioned games, players may use a number of actions each
month (not session) equal to twice their Influence level. No more than thirty
actions can be spent towards a single endeavour in any given month, including
all actions spent for modifications. Players should register actions with their
local storyteller who will moderate their interaction with other Influences
(or the national influences ref.) if necessary.
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 endeavour and
the minimum level of influence required to be able to utilize that endeavour.
Other Actions and Modifiers
In addition to the endeavours listed on the Influence charts, characters may perform these additional endeavours and modifiers. The rules for additional endeavours and endeavour modifications are optional for use in each game. The local storyteller may use their own systems to govern these activities, so check before attempting them.
New Actions
ATTACK
"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations beforehand. The
general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand"
Sun Tzu "The art of war"
A character can attempt to reduce another's Influence with her own Influence
of that category, provided he has completed Trace on it or that influence performed
an Attack on him. To Attack, the character assigns a number of actions, with
a minimum of four actions required, which becomes the level of the Attack action.
If the level is equal to or greater than twice 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.
A character may have no more than 1 point of influence per field destroyed in
this way in any given game month, irrespective of the number of attacks made
upon them.
BLOCK
"If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel your
enemy to seek a solution elsewhere."
General Von Clausewitz "On War"
Block is used to prevent endeavours from taking place in the same category
as the blocking Influence. Any endeavour from the sourcebooks may be blocked,
provided the blocker's Influence level is at least equal to the endeavour's
level on the chart. The Block's effective "level" is the total actions
spent towards it and it affects all attempts at that endeavour in the city in
that month. For example, two actions will produce a level two Block, which is
assigned to a single type of endeavour.
A Block can also be set up on a single character's Influence to protect it from
the Attack endeavour. It will protect against all endeavours in that month.
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 endeavours with the Watch endeavour, being Attacked
by the target, by Blocking one of the target's actions, or by having one of
their own actions 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 action in a city from the chart listed in the sourcebooks, provided that character's Influence is sufficient to perform that action 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" action is attempted in the city for that month. The total actions spent on the Watch define its level.
Action Modifiers
BOOST
Boost is simply a term used to describe adding additional unneeded actions to
an action, which is used to overcome Block. If the actions spent to Boost equal
the level of the Block, the action is successful.
COMBINE
"We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs
of our neighbours"
Sun Tzu, "The art of war"
Combine occurs when one character wishes to aid the Influence action of another. No action 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 action. 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 action in any given month, including all actions spent for modifications.
CONCEAL
"The good fighters of old put themselves beyond all possibility of defeat,
and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy"
Sun Tzu, "The art of war"
Conceal is added to actions to counter the use of Watch. If the number of actions
spent for Conceal with an action equals the level of the Watch, the character
using the Watch does not detect the action 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.
Using Influences in different fields against each other.
By and large, only influences of the same field will come into conflict with
each other. However, there is no reason why influences of some fields cannot
interact with those of another; for example, Police influence could easily be
used to attack Underworld influence (after all, that's exactly what the police
are supposed to be there for).
If a player wants to use one sort of influence against another, they will firstly be expected to carry out a successful trace action, to find out exactly what it is they are dealing with. Then, then must justify how they are doing it ('I'm using my transport influence to destabilise the local occult' just won't work, unless we have more Satanist bus drivers than I suspect). Once this is done to the STs satisfaction, then their influence total is assumed to be half what it is for the purposes of interacting outside their field.
Conflict between local and national influence.
Local influence may only be used to perform offensive actions against national
influence when the national influence in question in based in the same domain.
Local influence may not take any offensive action against national influence
based in another domain except with permission of the NIR. However, the use
of defensive and passive actions by local influence in such conflicts is unaffected
(conceal, block, watch etc.).
If local influence is used in a Trace action against an action performed by
out of domain national influence, then the player will simply learn that someone
from out of town performed the action. No further information is gained.
National influence may be used offensively against local influence with no such
restriction. For example, a player in Glasgow with national media may perform
an Attack action against local media influence in London with no penalty.
Section 3
Influences as a Roleplaying or Storytelling tool; or why influences should be more than the numbers might allow.
"Any adequate consistent mathematical logic is incomplete: if the logic
is adequate to express a full range of arithmetical statements and consistent
in that it does not allow the deductions of any contradictions, then it is incomplete
in that there are true statements of mathematics that can neither be proved
nor disproved using the axioms or proofs of that logic".
Kurt Gödel
1) Influences as an aid to roleplaying.
For some players, influences are little more than those three free points they
get on character creation (which co-incidentally is exactly the same amount
of points of underworld which are required to get firearms - tells you something
about the mentality of the WW game designers). Beyond this, influences are often
seen as an unwelcome drain on XP which might be more valuably spent on disciplines
and physical traits. However, in the hands of a good player, influences can
often be so much more, and can add to the game.
Many domains use a system of influence briefs (either handwritten or created
on Grapevine) in order to inform players about events in ongoing plot. The more
influence a character has, the more plot they will have access to and will be
informed about, and so the next time the player who spends all their XP on disciplines
sits looking bored and complaining that there is no plot, there is an obvious
answer…
The influences a character holds can be used as a hook to Roleplaying that
character. When the player receives their free points in creation, encourage
them to think about why their character has influence in those areas, why they
developed them, and what those points actually represent. Some players may even
include specific references to their influences in their character backgrounds,
which is to be encouraged. In fact, if an ST wants to use a particularly 'carrot
and stick' approach, they may wish to refuse to allow a character to start with
influence unless a written background is supplied.
As time passes and the player begins to develop influence through XP expenditure,
they should be encouraged to do more than write 'I spend 1xp to get another
point of street'. Players who put in well thought out and intelligent plans
to get that point should find they rise in influence and achieve their plans
with greater ease and speed than those who do not. In addition, to offer a carrot,
influence downtimes of great intelligence and wit should occasionally be rewarded
with additional free points of influence, in the same way that a standard character
action downtime may be rewarded with extra experience points.
In addition, plots may spin off from simply someones action of gaining influence;
how do the local powers that be like this upstart newcomer intruding on their
turf? Are they hostile, or do they want to make an alliance?
The players will eventually want to progress to higher levels of influence holdings, where they will truly become national and possibly even international players. The National Influence ref will certainly require national influence levels of 8, 9, and 10 to be roleplayed for, rather than just bought, and a character who achieves the height of level 10 in an national influence field will certainly have something to boast about - an achievement of this magnitude will be exceptional, and will grant that character effective domination of that field, with astonishing amounts of power and control. Only a concerted effort will unseat such a character. After all, those people who have sufficient power to be players on the world stage usually have had to work for it, but they receive benefits commensurate with their power.
2) Influence as a storytelling tool.
"Fortune blinds Men's Minds when she does not wish them to obstruct
her Designs"
Niccolo Machiavelli; "The Discourses."
Influences are all about controlling people, and as any Mathematician, Economist,
or Social Scientist will tell you; people are not an exact science. In fact,
current Economic research by David Colander of Middlebury College ("Economics
in 2050", Journal of Economic Perspectives; Spring 2000) unequivocally
states that it is an error to even think that people can ever be an exact science.
Influences should therefore be more than the sum of the numbers involved.
People don't always act the way they should, and there are plenty of stories
to be told in which influence does not work exactly as intended by the owner.
Perhaps their actions achieve much more than they ever intended, or then again,
perhaps their contact in the police forgot to set his alarm clock and so the
raid on an enemy's haven never took place…
By and large, the good and bad should even out. STs should think of influence
use as a bell shaped curve, with the desired effect being the peak in the middle,
and better or worse results being the slopes on each side. All players should
receive an equal amount of good or bad, just to add a bit of spice an unexpected
happenstance to the game.
Sometimes players will put in downtimes that will make your jaw drop open in astonishment at their imagination and creativity; sometimes they will make your jaw drop at their stupidity. Just because the numbers say something definite, you should always consider the storytelling potential of an exceptional idea from a player. Think about it like this; the more influence a person has, the more they reduce the probability of what they do not want to happen happening. However, nothing should be considered impossible when a good story presents itself…
3) The 'little fish' rule
"Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting"
Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
The little fish rule is to protect those smaller players, who may just be starting
out on the influence road, and also to prevent bigger fish simply snapping up
smaller holdings. This is a bad thing, as I'm trying to encourage the big fish
to fight amongst themselves, and to give everyone the opportunity to join in.
What the little fish rule means is that it is almost impossible to steal or
destroy any persons last point of influence in any one area. Thus if I have
only 1 point of Occult, and you try and take it off me, then chances are you
will fail. In game, this is justified by stating that these are my personal
friends and I am in contact with them constantly… it is nigh impossible
to get them to betray me. Attack actions will also be harder to carry out on
someone who has 1 point of influence. Once again- these are my friends- they
aren't just going to walk away.
Out of game, this is justified by saying: "Stop being such a big bully
and go and pick on somebody your own size. It's a game, so stop spoiling it
for other people, you sad git."
In the same way, people with only 1 or 2 points of local influence should be
that much harder to attack- this is not the real world wherein a national organisation
can simply buy out the smaller local company- this is Vampire, and if I have
taken over the minds of the Local Chamber of Commerce, how are you going to
buy that?
This does not mean it is impossible, just difficult. A well thought out plan
is the most effective way to achieve things through influence use. Simply writing
"I use 3 points of media to take over Billy Brujahs 2" is dull, boring,
unimaginative, and should be doomed to failure (see above).
Instead, have a good plan, have a good, well thought out and solid IC reason for your actions, and fortune might, just might, smile upon you. The details of the difficulty are left up to the discretion of the DST. A character who never puts in downtimes and never bothers talking to their influences other than to order them around should have a harder time hanging on to them than a character who invites their friends to the occasional party.
4) Stealing the Influences of the dead.
When a character dies, for a short time their contacts will not be aware of the sudden demise of their old boss, and will still be amenable to contact and control. If a character (who has previously performed a successful trace action upon the influences, to identify the contacts) moves quickly, then they can grab some of the pot for themselves. Grabbing these influences should be RP'ed, and any influences stolen should cost XP, but a character may acquire more than the maximum of 1 point per month in this way.
Influences and Elders.
"It is a glorious thing to use fraud in the conduct of war"
Niccolo Machiavelli; "The Discourses."
As is constantly inferred in the WW source material, even the most powerful
of active kindred are the playthings of the Jyhad, controlled by the actions
of shadowy Antediluvians and Methuselahs. Although this is less of an option
for local STs, even the most powerful player character should never be certain
that they are immune to these games, and there is nothing wrong with using their
influences to create a little paranoia here and there…
Perhaps when a you use your influences, there is always a brief delay between
the order being given and the action being taken - the contact will claim they
were stuck in traffic, but then again, they might have had to get your orders
confirmed by Someone Else…
Perhaps your orders are carried out to the letter but subtly perverted in intent,
making something other than what you wanted happen. The effects are never bad
to you, and your contact claims he misunderstood you, but perhaps other forces
wanted a different effect to your desires…
Investigation of these (and other) events will lead to nothing - or perhaps
to vague hints of something; but will anything ever be proven? Will you ever
uncover if you are truly independent or if everything you do is dictated by
powers far more terrible than you can imagine…?
Only the quickest, the cleverest, the most imaginative will survive to know
the truth - and then there is the fear that the truth is only what they want
you to think…
Unusually for WW source material, Laws of the Night: The Guide to the Camarilla
contains some excellent ideas and advice as regards influence in the section
entitled 'The City'. An ST wishing to run influence based plots could do far
worse than to read and digest this section.
Addenda:
1) Raising money with finance and the resources background.
A common mistake is that high finance influence = high wealth on the part of
the character. This is not the case. The 'Resources' background represents wealth.
LOTN specifically states amounts of money which may be raised by a character
with finance influence, and these rules should be adhered to if a character
wishes to raise cash with finance influence. If a character is desperate for
cash, they should be allowed to liquidate their finance assets, with each point
of local finance up to 5 being worth £20,000 if permanently expended,
and each point over 5 being worth £60,000. Thus a desperate character
could raise a maximum of £400,000 in one month by permanently expending
10 points of local finance influence (A player wishing to permanently expend
national influence to raise cash should contact the NIR)).
Alternatively, a player should be allowed to convert 5 points of finance influence
permanently to 1 point of the resources background (to a maximum of 5).
2) Loaning influence to others and Group Influence Pools.
Occasionally clans or coteries get together to pool their influence, or people
loan out their influences to others for their use.
To loan another character your influence, you must give then a signed item card,
stating that they have access to your influence. This must be cleared with the
relevant DST. For the duration that the person has the card, then they have
your influence, and you cannot use it in any way. It is wise to ensure that
you really trust the person to whom you are loaning your valuable influence.
Influence loan cards may be dated with an expiry date, in order to prevent your
friends simply running off with your influences.
In some circumstances, players will wish to create an influence pool. How this
will work at the local level is entirely up to the relevant DST. If characters
wish to create a pool of national influence, then they should contact the NIR.
3) National influences NPCs and rumours.
There are several NPCs in the game who are major players with national influences,
and watch the events of the country with an eagle eye, looking for evidence
of… well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?
The national influences ref should be informed of major uses of national influence,
as there is a chance that the player using them will draw the attention of one
of these individuals.