Giovanni i had already decided would be unable to join covenants, with that said though they would likely still be involved in city politics since they are not necessarily strictly required to be in a covenant. With a few minor exceptions of some who might have managed to escape the grasp of the family which would be rare in deed. I was not sure what i wanted to do with Tremere, i will probably do the same as with the Giovanni. On the other hand their organization used their status in politics to help them. So maybe allowing Tremere to join Invictus is not that far fetched.
I am going to look into the covenant stuff today. I think allowing rituals might be the best bet, but i would need to assign an xp value to them since owod lacks that mechanic.
Moderator: Mods
if you use rituals, i would probably take away the automatic ritual that you gain per level in your primary path with thaum. and it isn't like that really hurts, as most thaum paths are as good as a discipline anyway.
many of the old clans are much more unified than the new clans. that said, that is what make owod alluring, especially with the covenant system. you actually have the somewhat divided loyalties that they seemed to be going for with nwod, but missed a bit (bloodline matters, clan is more like genetics). tremere or giovanni in a covenant end up being valuable, but at the same time the covenant isn't sure who to trust. and on the part of the vampires in those clans, they have to balance loyalty to their chosen covenant with the threat of reprimand from their clan superiors for not being "part of the team".
many of the old clans are much more unified than the new clans. that said, that is what make owod alluring, especially with the covenant system. you actually have the somewhat divided loyalties that they seemed to be going for with nwod, but missed a bit (bloodline matters, clan is more like genetics). tremere or giovanni in a covenant end up being valuable, but at the same time the covenant isn't sure who to trust. and on the part of the vampires in those clans, they have to balance loyalty to their chosen covenant with the threat of reprimand from their clan superiors for not being "part of the team".
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
Cruac and Theban Sorcery
These will be purchased as out of clan disciplines. You must have a rank in the discipline equal to the level of ritual you wish to purchase. They can be purchased at a cost of level*3. Each dot od Cruac or Thaban Sorcery gives one ritual that you know automatically.
To enact Cruac it is a roll of Manipulation + Occult and costs a blood point.
To enact Theban Sorcery it is a roll of Intelligence + Academics and costs a willpower.
When possible i will allow some of the rituals from the nWoD vampire book if a satisfactory conversion can be made.
coils of the dragon
These are purchased as per an out of clan discipline. Each coil is counted as a seperate discipline. They are used pretty much as per the nwod book.
If this seems fair then i think this is how i will work he Covenant specific disciplines. The only problem i have is that Cruac and Theban sorcery costs are different, but that is mostly because cruac is supposed to be blood magic and Thaban is based more closely off of thaum rituals which cost a will to activate. As per Chayne's suggestion i will be taking the automatic ritual away from Thaum, since it is in general powerful enough by itself.
These will be purchased as out of clan disciplines. You must have a rank in the discipline equal to the level of ritual you wish to purchase. They can be purchased at a cost of level*3. Each dot od Cruac or Thaban Sorcery gives one ritual that you know automatically.
To enact Cruac it is a roll of Manipulation + Occult and costs a blood point.
To enact Theban Sorcery it is a roll of Intelligence + Academics and costs a willpower.
When possible i will allow some of the rituals from the nWoD vampire book if a satisfactory conversion can be made.
coils of the dragon
These are purchased as per an out of clan discipline. Each coil is counted as a seperate discipline. They are used pretty much as per the nwod book.
If this seems fair then i think this is how i will work he Covenant specific disciplines. The only problem i have is that Cruac and Theban sorcery costs are different, but that is mostly because cruac is supposed to be blood magic and Thaban is based more closely off of thaum rituals which cost a will to activate. As per Chayne's suggestion i will be taking the automatic ritual away from Thaum, since it is in general powerful enough by itself.
something i have been considering for a bit is replacing Tremere with Salubri since they have been fleshed out. My reasoning is mostly that i do not care much for the Tremere or for Thaum. How ever i would like to see what you as players think. Also this could allow me to use thaum to flesh out Cruac and Thean Sorcery a little more to make them a little more valuable and their corresponding Covenants.
that would be highly intriguing.
thaum would turn into cruac, rituals would turn into theban.
Salubri make being a vampire suck a little less, and would likely be heavily aspected toward the ordo (or at least those cells that don't value knowledge over humanity) and the carthians.
The tremere are a bit too cliqueish to really fit into a covenant, and the salubri still have auspex, so you don't imbalance that aspect of things.
Works exceptionally well for me.
I think i will still be brujah though.
thaum would turn into cruac, rituals would turn into theban.
Salubri make being a vampire suck a little less, and would likely be heavily aspected toward the ordo (or at least those cells that don't value knowledge over humanity) and the carthians.
The tremere are a bit too cliqueish to really fit into a covenant, and the salubri still have auspex, so you don't imbalance that aspect of things.
Works exceptionally well for me.
I think i will still be brujah though.
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
Well since i have already pretty much figured out how i will do pretty much all the clans, with one exception, i will go ahead and discuss it.
Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Salubri, Toreador, Tzimisce and Ventrue are all viable for play with covenants.
Giovanni are viable to play without a covenant since they would still play city politics to some extent. Assamites would likely stay out of all the faction stuff and do their own little hired killers thing and/or kill everyone. Followers of Set would probably stay out of factions openly, but quietly attempt to corrupt many of them. Ravnos are gypsies and as such will wander around and ply their trades.
Generally speaking i would prefer people stick to those clans that would play city politics, but since i am not going to make character sheets open if you wish to play something weird you can always pm with ideas.
Since i am now done figuring out the rule set and world i am going to use i would like a forum so i can make a post about character creation and submission.
Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Salubri, Toreador, Tzimisce and Ventrue are all viable for play with covenants.
Giovanni are viable to play without a covenant since they would still play city politics to some extent. Assamites would likely stay out of all the faction stuff and do their own little hired killers thing and/or kill everyone. Followers of Set would probably stay out of factions openly, but quietly attempt to corrupt many of them. Ravnos are gypsies and as such will wander around and ply their trades.
Generally speaking i would prefer people stick to those clans that would play city politics, but since i am not going to make character sheets open if you wish to play something weird you can always pm with ideas.
Since i am now done figuring out the rule set and world i am going to use i would like a forum so i can make a post about character creation and submission.