General V5 House Rules

Assume these rules are in effect for any game run by Drac.

Skills and Specialties

Replace Firearms with Aim. This is the general skill for attacking at range, whether with a gun, a
longbow, or a thrown rock. (Rationale: this prevents Athletics from being the best skill both
offensively and defensively, which happens in some editions.)

Specialties do not attach to specific skills. Instead, they add one die to any relevant roll, no matter
which skill is involved. There is no limit on how many specialties a character can have. The first dot
in certain skills still grants a free specialty, as in the book. (Rationale: this adds an extra feels-good
when a character is playing to their particular strength, without affecting balance very much.)

Only one specialty can be applied to any given roll. (This hasn’t changed, but is explained here for
clarity.)

Predator Types
Rather than a discipline dot, a Predator Type provides 15xp to be spent on the Type’s signature
disciplines and backgrounds. All other aspects of Predator Types (advantages, flaws, specialty) are
unaffected. (Rationale: this removes the need to min-max discipline selection.) [Thanks to Lumi for
suggesting this rule.]

All vampires have Predator Types, including thinbloods. A newly-Embraced vampire does not start
out with one, but will gain the mechanical benefits during play as they figure out their preferred
method of feeding. (Rationale: this means all characters start on an even footing, experience-wise.)

Disciplines
Homebrew powers created by Draconis are allowed. Other homebrew powers are on a case-by-case
basis.

Any vampire purchasing the first dot of Oblivion or Blood Sorcery gains a free level-one ceremony
or ritual, as long as they have a teacher and meet the prerequisites. This applies during play, not just
at character creation. (Rationale: this means the ST doesn’t need to know the order in which dots
were purchased when calculating the xp for a sheet.)

Prerequisites for Oblivion Ceremonies are flexible. If it makes thematic sense for a different
discipline power to unlock a particular Ceremony, it’ll be allowed at ST discretion. (This hasn’t
changed, but is explained here for clarity.)
Amalgams that require two disciplines at the same level can be purchased in either discipline, as
long as all prerequisites are met. Example: Eyes of the Serpent is an amalgam combining Presence 1 and
Protean 1. A starting Minister could have Presence 1 (Awe) and Protean 1 (Eyes of the Serpent), or Presence 1
(Eyes of the Serpent) and Protean 1 (Weight of the Feather), but could not have Obfuscate 1 (Silence of
Death) and Protean 1 (Eyes of the Serpent)—they still need at least one dot of Presence and one dot of
Protean. (Rationale: this gives more flexibility, and was how I thought the rule worked at first.)

When calculating benefits for the “Draught” powers, round up instead of down. (Rationale: if you
round down, the result will always be two, so what’s the point of doing that calculation at all?)

Advantages
Allies do not have Reliability. The dot rating only determines their Effectiveness. (Rationale:
needing to pay additional experience for your Advantage to actually do anything in play feels bad,
and discourages players from investing in Allies.)

Starting characters can have dots from only a single Loresheet, or from one Loresheet and one
Bloodline. Dots from other Loresheets can be acquired in play if the opportunity arises; talk to the
Storyteller if you’re interested in a particular one. (This hasn’t changed, but is explained here for
clarity.)

Humanity
Humanity is not purchased with experience points. It comes down to in-character actions, such as
gaining a new touchstone and working to uphold your convictions in the face of adversity.
(Rationale: the suggested experience costs are too high to ever be relevant in play.)

No rolls are necessary for sexual intimacy. (Rationale: I’m more interested in how it affects the
characters’ relationships than in the mechanics of faking an orgasm, and requiring dice rolls
changes the tone of the scene significantly.)

Sanctity and Respecs

All traits and mechanics, without exception, are subject to “Sanctity”: if experience was spent on
them, and the trait or mechanic is lost or made unusable during play, the experience will be
refunded. (This hasn’t changed, but is explained here for clarity.) Example: Rico Sangiovanni has
animated a zombie to perform menial tasks for him, buying it as a one-dot Retainer. During a fight, a
werewolf claws the zombie to shreds. The zombie is no longer able to function as a Retainer, so the 3xp Rico
spent on it is refunded. (Rationale: losing experience points off your sheet feels bad on an OOC level,
and discourages dramatic risks and sacrifices that can lead to interesting stories.)
Conversely, traits gained without spending experience are not protected by Sanctity, and may be
removed at any time. (This also hasn’t changed, but is explained here for clarity.) Example: Isaiah has
no dots of Resources, but gets money every night by Dominating people to hand over their wallets. Within a
few sessions, fast-spreading rumors and a police investigation begin to make this strategy more difficult.

If you find yourself regretting an experience expenditure, whether it’s “this Haven isn’t as relevant
as I’d thought it would be” or “my Auspex feels superfluous given everyone else’s discipline spreads,
I wish I’d bought Dominate instead”, talk to the Storyteller. Circumstances might allow for it to
change within the story (the Haven is destroyed and the experience refunded), or it might be
handwaved or retconned (you’ve retroactively had Dominate all along).

Experience
Ambitions and Desires no longer heal willpower damage—instead, a character who fulfills their
Desire or makes significant progress toward their Ambition gains an experience point. Completed
Ambitions and Desires can be replaced at the end of a session. (Rationale: this increases xp gain and
encourages players to work toward their character’s ambitions.)

If a character works toward their Ambition or Desire in a way that involves actively harming or
tearing down another vampire, they heal a point of willpower damage as well as gaining experience.
When given the choice between gaining Status by impressing the court and gaining Status by
humiliating a rival, the Beast makes the latter more satisfying. (Rationale: this encourages the petty
backstabbing that vampire society thrives on.)

Once per session, when a Flaw causes significant hardship for a character, that character gains an
experience point. If a Coterie Flaw causes significant hardship for the group, each character gains an
experience point. (Rationale: this encourages flaws that are relevant in play, rather than ones that
will never impede the character.)

Once per session, when a player fails a roll, they can ask the Storyteller to introduce an additional
complication into the scene (similar to the complications from “winning at a cost”). If this happens,
and adds to the drama in a meaningful way, that character gains an experience point. (Rationale:
drama.)

Once per session, when a character is meaningfully defeated in physical or social combat, they gain
an experience point. (Rationale: this encourages taking risks and provides a bit of consolation for
losing a fight.)

At the end of a session, if a character makes a Remorse roll, they gain an experience point.
(Rationale: as above.)
Finally, characters gain one experience point per session they participated in, regardless of any
other factors. (This is unchanged from the book.)

Experience costs are unchanged from the book, but the increased rate of experience gain should
make the costs significantly more affordable.

[Thanks to Delacroix for suggesting this entire section.]

Convictions and Touchstones

Non-human touchstones and Path-based convictions use Chris’s Long Hard Road Out of Hell rules.

When a character goes out of their way to uphold a tenet or conviction, or protect a touchstone,
they heal one point of superficial willpower damage. If this causes significant hardship or drama,
they heal all superficial willpower damage, or one point of aggravated willpower damage. (This
replaces the willpower healing that would normally happen through Ambitions and Desires.)

(Rationale: new players generally see touchstones as only a stick; this adds more of a carrot.)

Messy Criticals
A messy critical can impose a relevant Compulsion on a character. This replaces “the critical
becomes a total failure” as the default consequence when no other option applies. (This has now
become RAW as of December 2020, with the Companion.) [Thanks to Karim for this rule.]

Frenzy
While the character may not have conscious control over their actions in frenzy, the player always
remains in control of their character, even if they choose not to Ride the Wave. The benefit of
Riding the Wave is instead that the character has some amount of control over where they direct
their anger. (Rationale: this ensures players can meaningfully participate in the game, rather than
having to sit in the corner for an hour because they failed a roll.)

Characters in frenzy add their Hunger to all bite attack rolls. (Rationale: this means that a
character in hunger frenzy has some ability to acquire blood, even if their Strength and Brawl dots
are lacking. “You drained someone dry” is a more dramatic outcome than “you were utterly
ineffectual for an hour”.)

Clan Banes
The Banu Haqim, Lasombra, and Hecata banes all involve a roll made at difficulty 2 + Bane Severity.
Change that to 1 + Bane Severity. (Rationale: these banes were printed before the rules for Bane
Severity changed, and are now overly punishing.)
The Ministry bane involves taking additional damage equal to Bane Severity every turn when
exposed to sunlight. Change that to one additional damage. (Rationale: as above.)