Category:Influences

Influences may only be used during downtime by providing a rough outline of how a player wishes for their character to get what effects enabled where, and the effects that they have on the game world will be described in broad terms, but unless another character uses their Influence to oppose the attempted actions, they are almost guaranteed to be successful. Attempting to perform an action that can be mimicked by having the appropriate Influence is wholly acceptable during normal play, and will play out in specifics, and with the risks appropriate to the scale of the attempt. Certain levels of Influence gift you with items, money or aides. Influence may be improved through roleplay like other Backgrounds, especially to obtain the first level of an Influence, but may also be gained or lost through Maneuvers. Unlike other Backgrounds, Influence must be actively used to obtain its benefits - it is not a steady stream of money, information, goods, and services, it is a careful balance of favors within the web of the Masquerade.

When you exercise Influence, you expend temporary Influence Traits in the same way that Blood or Willpower are spent. The tables for various Influences are given on that Influence's page, and give examples of what you can do with a specific number of Traits. Therefore, with high levels of Influence, you can perform many small actions or a few significant ones. An activity listed off one of those tables will hereafter be referred to as an Action. Performing one of the Maneuvers listed below on this page depletes dots from the same Influence pools that performing an Action does. Any generalized use of an Influence is referred to as Endeavor. Influence pools regenerate in full at the end of every downtime.

A single character may possess multiple kinds of Influences, just as they may possess multiple kinds of Disciplines. A character may not have more dots of Influences in total than they have dots of Attributes (this is meant to represent the effort of maintaining the web of contacts and favors needed to be influential). Performing an Endeavor counts as a single downtime activity, regardless of the magnitude of the Endeavor - a powerful character may use a level 5 Action with the same amount of effort a weak character uses for a level 1 Action. A character can spend no more than 20 Traits toward a single Endeavor in any given downtime, including all Maneuvers spent for modifications such as Boost or Combine.

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In addition to the Actions listed on the Influence charts copied onto respective Influence pages from Minds Eye Theater books, characters may perform the additional Maneuvers listed here from the Dark Epics MET book. It is important to note that Influence can generally only affect other Influences of the same type. A character can use his Street Influence to aggress another player’s Street Influence, but he would have a hard time getting it to interact with a player’s High Society Influence successfully.

Trace

You can use this endeavor to establish the identity of a character whose Influence you have come into contact with. You cannot simply guess that a character has an Influence in a particular category and then attempt to Trace it. You must first have come into contact with it in one of several ways. This can be accomplished by suffering an Attack from the target’s Influence, by noticing one of the target’s Endeavors with the use of Watch, by stopping one of the target’s Endeavors with a Block, or by having one your own Endeavors stopped by the target’s use of Block. Additionally, if someone ever loans you Influence Traits with Combine, you can Trace them. Finally, if the target ever tells you in great detail about his Influence (i.e., agrees to let you Trace it), you can perform the Trace. The total actions spent on the Trace define its level. If the level of this Trace exceeds the highest level of Conceal or Stealth put up to guard the Influence that downtime, the Trace is successful. Success tells you the Influence owner’s identity, and whether their Influence level is higher than your own or not. It also gives you a general description of the Influence and the ability to spend Traits to Attack it. If you have succeeded in a Trace on an Influence, you may not simply relay that information to someone else for his or her Influence to make an Attack on (the information is too complex for them to relay to their own Influence contacts third-hand), but you can relay enough information for someone else to perform a Trace with his or her own Influence.

''Descriptive Example: When Pauline made her character, she decided that her bribery and blackmail of the members of the local precinct would represent her Police Influence. To make a Trace, Pauline writes up her Influences activities for the Storyteller as simply having every one of her contacts poke around until they discover who tightened the security on the confiscated weapons lock-up.''

Conceal

Conceal can be used to hide your Influence from uses of Trace. The number of Traits spent toward Conceal generates that downtime’s Conceal level, which you pit against attempts to Trace it.

''Descriptive Example: When Jess created his character, he decided that his University Influence would be represented by the sway he has gained by providing major contributions to the local universities in the past few years. Now that he fears that Tim will be able to follow the paper trail of his donations (Tim’s Trace), Jess quickly uses his clout to convince the universities that the records of his donations and other dealings should be suppressed for the time being.''

Watch

You use Watch when you want to notice a certain Influence Action being performed during a downtime. Your Influence must be of sufficient level to perform that action before you can Watch it. A Watch will let you know if and how often the action is attempted in the city for that downtime. The total number of Traits spent on the Watch define its level. You can also use Watch to look for the following Maneuvers: Attack, Block, Follow (only those targeted at you), Growth and Watch.

''Descriptive Example: Mark decided when he created his character to have his Church Influence be represented by an extensive network of blackmail against highly placed members of the local churches. When writing up his activities for the Storyteller, Mark describes how his blackmailed network of priests, deacons and elders are going on “crusades” within their various churches to discover any corrupting Influences that might be at work. They are using their authority to persuade other impressionable church members to report any suspicious activities or requests to them immediately.''

Follow

If you want to keep an eye on what someone is doing with his Influence, you can attempt to Follow them with your own. Follow is similar to Watch, except that it only keeps a lookout for actions performed by one particular Influence of one particular player. To Follow someone’s Influence, you must have a successful Trace on it already. To use Follow, assign a number of Traits to establish the level of the Maneuver. The Follow Maneuver will reveal all activities performed by the targeted Influence, except any activities hidden with an equal or higher level of Stealth.

''Descriptive Example: When creating her character, Jean decided that her level-three Occult Influence would be represented by her hold over a couple of millennium cults dedicated to the research of mystical writings and prophecies. With a previously successful Trace, Jean discovered that Toby’s Occult Influence is represented by his sway over an organized group of “psychics” whose clientele are powerful and wealthy VIPs in the city. When Jean writes down her Influence activities for the Storyteller, she describes how she will have the leaders of her cults direct their followers to research groups of “psychics” in the city, specifically the group that Toby controls.''

Stealth

Stealth is added to Endeavors to counter the use of Follow and Watch. If the number of Traits spent on adding Stealth to an Endeavor equals or exceeds the level of the Follow or Watch, the endeavor remains undetected. Stealth can be applied to any of the Actions on the charts, as well as to the Attack, Block, Follow, Growth or Watch Maneuvers. Applying Stealth to a Maneuver does not count against a character's total allowed Activities in a downtime.

''Descriptive Example: When Donny made his character, he decided to have his Finance Influence be represented by his controlling interest in a large acquisitions company. When writing out his Influence activities for the Storyteller, Donny describes the added Stealth as using a large network of dummy corporations through which to move the money so that it could not be tracked back to him through his acquisitions company.''

Attack

You can Attack another’s Influence with your own, provided you have previously Traced the target Influence. To Attack, you assign a number of Influence Traits, and that number becomes the level of the Attack Maneuver. If the level exceeds the victim’s Influence level, the victim drops a level of her Influence at the end of the downtime. Traits banked for Growth are lost as well, even if they would have given the victim a new, higher level Influence at the beginning of the next downtime.

''Descriptive Example: When Scott made his character, he decided that his Media Influence would be represented by his control over various media moguls through Blood Bonding and the use of Dominate. To Attack Wade’s Influence, Scott performed the necessary prerequisite of succeeding in a Trace on it. Having done so, Scott discovered that Wade’s Media Influence was represented by his control over one of the city’s major newspapers. When writing an explanation of the Attack endeavor for the Storyteller, Scott describes influencing his media mogul thralls to have their networks broadcast a television news story about Wade’s newspaper. The television news story highlights the paper’s “long history of poorly researched news articles” and describes a number of incidents in which the paper was forced to print retractions. The television news story goes on to rate the various other papers in the city, giving them a far more favorable rating than Wade’s paper. When the Storyteller looks at the Influence numbers and decides that Scott’s Attack is successful, he informs both Scott and Wade of the resulting decline in the paper’s circulation, which represents Wade’s Media Influence dropping to level one at the end of the downtime.''

Defend

You use the Defend Maneuver when you fear that someone is going to Attack your Influence by assigning a number of Traits as the level of the defense. The level of any Attacks directed at that Influence must exceed the Defend level plus the level of your Influence in order to be successful.

''Descriptive Example: When Eric made his character, he decided that his Underworld Influence would be represented by his control of the Lasciano Family, a major organized crime syndicate. Fearing an Attack, Eric details how he is having all of the family members lay low for a while, out of the sight of other crime families and the authorities.''

Block

You can use your Influence to prevent Influence Actions from taking place for that downtime. Any Action may be blocked, provided that your Influence level is at least equal to the cost of the Action. The Block’s effective level is the total number of dots spent toward it. A Block will affect all attempts at the selected Action in that Influence during that downtime; anyone attempting the Blocked Action in the city will not succeed unless they have added enough levels of Boost to the endeavor. Multiple Blocks against the same Action type are not cumulative in effect; if more than one Block is put in place on the same Action, use only the highest level when calculating the success of those attempting the Action.

''Descriptive Example: When Jana made her character, she decided that an extensive network of judges, lawyers and corrections facility officials who are accepting bribes from her would represent her Legal Influence. Now that one of Jana’s character’s enemies has just been arrested, she doesn’t want anyone to arrange for his parole. When writing an explanation of the Block endeavor for the Storyteller, Jana describes bribing members of the parole board to stop proceedings, or at least delay them until the end of the downtime.''

Boost

Boost is simply a term used to describe spending additional Influence Traits to perform an Endeavor, just in case someone has put up a Block that needs to be overcome. If the Traits spent into Boost equal the level of the Block, the action is successful. The Block does not go away if one action beats it, though. It can still be effective against any additional attempts at that endeavor in that downtime. Using Boost with another Endeavor does not count against the character's total available downtime activities.

''Descriptive Example: When Sue made her character, she decided that ownership of a small, private clinic would represent her Health Influence. She uses her clout to have a small amount of blood delivered to her while she is off-site. She finds out that there is a major shortage of blood in the city and that her request for whole blood isn’t prioritized highly enough to acquire it (thanks to another character’s Block).''

Growth

To raise one of your Influences to the next level, you must spend a number of Traits equal to three times your current level. Unlike other endeavors, Traits spent for Growth can be banked from downtime to downtime. When you bank Traits thus, they accumulate until you reach the number required for an increase. If you meet the number of Traits required to increase to the next level, the Influence level improves by one at the end of the downtime. Any banked Growth Traits remaining from a previous level of Influence after it is advanced will not "roll over" to bank for the following level of that Influence.

''Descriptive Example: Cheyana decided when she made her character that a network of informants consisting of gang members, homeless people and prostitutes would represent her Street Influence. When writing a description of her Growth activities for the Storyteller, Cheyana describes encouraging her contacts in several gangs to push for mergers with other gangs across the city. The next downtime, she describes organizing the homeless people into small “communities” for safer living, which draws more homeless people into the area to spy for her. The downtime following, Cheyana describes convincing the prostitutes that sometimes report to her to recruit more prostitutes to her cause. In the fourth downtime, she describes working with the gangs again to direct their spare time toward more high-profit activities such as the buying and selling of guns and other contraband. Now that Cheyana has strengthened her contacts enough to warrant an increase in her Influence, the Storyteller agrees to raise her Street to level four at the end of the downtime.''

Combine

Combine allows you to aid the Influence Endeavor of another character. No Action on the example charts can be attempted by a character who doesn’t have the required Influence level according to that chart. For every two Traits that you spend on Combine, the character you are helping gains one Trait to use toward his Endeavor. Influence borrowed through the Allies and Mentor Backgrounds are also subject to this rule.

''Descriptive Example: When Corey made his character, he decided that blood bonding the city’s mayor would represent his Political Influence. Since he’d already had the mayor ask the city council for a small favor this downtime, he knows that getting him to push for the minor legislation would be straining the mayor’s authority. Corey asks his ally Cynthia to help him with the endeavor, using Combine. Cynthia manipulates a member of the city council through regular uses of Dominate, and she has this council member propose the minor legislation. With the issue on the table, the mayor can throw his full support into it without burdening his relationship with the council.''

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Foreseen Complications

Influences of different types may be used to affect each other at a penalty (typically of a cost doubling) provided that reason for the cross-over to be permitted is provided in the description of the attempted Endeavor. For example, a character may use their Church Influence to help Grow their Street Influence by putting an emphasis on funding to shelters and inner-city missions, but must also use a Combine Maneuver on themselves to do so, converting 4 Traits of Church and a downtime activity into a single Growth Trait for Street. The exception to this penalty is when an Action is used specifically to affect another realm of Influence, such as using Police to hassle or detain an individual as a level 3 Block against the level 2 Transportation Action to "arrange passage that is concealed from mundane threats." Even in the case of using "Actions as Maneuvers", you must possess a level of your Influence equal to or greater than the level of the target Influence that you are attempting to affect.

If a character is Following or Watching a character's Influence or an Endeavor that is performed with the aid of a Combine Maneuver, they receive information on whoever performed the Endeavor as well as who aided them unless the Combine Maneuver is used in conjunction with the Stealth Maneuver. This goes for Allies and Mentors as well as unbound NPCs and other PCs.

The results of a Trace can continue to be acted upon indefinitely, but do not update unless a subsequent Trace is ran. That is to say, if James runs a successful Trace on Marjorie at the start of the chronicle and learns that she has Influence in Street that is not greater than his own, he can perform the Attack or Follow Maneuvers against her at any time during the chronicle after that, but will not be informed if her Influence comes to surpass his. He will be informed, however, if he attempts such a Maneuver against her after she has somehow been ousted from Street Influence entirely.