Status Primer

Status Primer Secrets about Status They don't want you to know!

This page is in initial draft stage and subject to change. How to survive and thrive in the Status wars. Status is your reputation among the kindred of the Camarilla. With the right of destruction reserved for the prince, reputation is the resource kindred fight viciously over. This primer is intended to provide a central location for the various systems used on City of Hope to manage Status. Understanding the various systems, how they're expected to be used, and the many details scattered all about, can be quite daunting. But understanding is necessary to make use of these valuable tools to better immerse ourselves in roleplaying as kindred. Status Basics Status on City of Hope is based on a point system, with a variety of ways to affect the total score. There is no hard cap on the total, but there are consequences if one dips into the negative. Once acknowledged ICly by the Prince, each Kindred is given five (5) points of Status as a base (and also given IC and OOC access to the Camarilla-only Elysium). Each dot of the Status Background is worth five (5) points of Status. Each point of +boon one is owed adds to your Status rating, and each point of +boon owed subtracts a point. Each point of scandal from +harpy, from each category, subtracts a point of Status rating while each point of negative scandal adds to your Status rating. Titles one holds each have a Status value associated which are added to your total as long as you hold the title. +roster vamcam and/or camack is your friend for keeping track of Status and who is who. Status Values The main place you will see your total Status is on +roster vamcam or camack (and perhaps others). It consists of two numbers, the maximum and current values. Those current values are your current standing within the Prospect praxis, with all that entails for relative Status. The maximum value is your five (5) points for being acknowledged plus your Status Background dots times five plus the value of your title(s) plus boons owed to you plus the total negative scandal points on +harpy. The current value subtracts from the above total your total boon points owed and total scandal points. Example: You've been acknowledged, have Status of 2, have been named a Whip, owe 5 points of boons, are owed 2 points of boons, have 0 praxis scandal, 4 behavior scandal, and -3 court scandal. Formula: 5 + 10 + 5 + 2 +3 = 25 - 5 - 4 = 16 for a 25/16 Status on +roster. There are various Merits and Flaws that may also factor into the calculation to a small degree. Status Background The Status Background is worth five (5) points of Status Rating per dot, so adding 0-25 points to your total Status Rating. City of Hope's Status system is much more granular than the V:tM version relying on only this Background, using it as one factor of several, though a large factor. The Status Background can be purchased freely via +xpspend/buy for the standard Background cost. There are no requirements; it's up to player judgement as with any freely available stats and titles are handled separately. It is strongly recommended (by this harpy) that most every kindred should purchase Status 1 soon after being acknowledged if they started with none just for being known in the praxis of Prospect. A couple of debts or chastisements by the harpies can drain Status Rating quickly. Below are the canon descriptions of the values, minus the typical holders because age is less of an issue on a MUSH and titles are handled separately. Known Respected Influential Powerful Luminary Boons Boons are the real currency of Kindred society. Keeping track of one's boons and working to increase one's wealth and power with them consumes many a Kindred's nights. City of Hope has a coded +boon system to help keep track of them. As important as these are to Kindred, the following is to help make the system easier to understand and less daunting to use, to encourage the actual use. Use +boon/offer when you do a favor for someone. You will gain points of Status, and the Kindred who accepts the favor will lose those points, equal to the value of the boon until the boon is repaid (with +boon/forgive). So the person receiving the initial favor uses +boon/accept to aknowledge their debt by lending their Status points until they repay the debt. The Harpy Primer pages 14-15 has some additional information about boons that can be useful. Currently only you and staff can see your +boons information directly. Typically ICly harpies keep careful track of boons, which being the main means of oversight typically in everyone's best interests and it's rare that boons are not registered with the harpies. Effectively that is what +boon is doing. Harpy PCs do not have direct access to see your +boons, but can make inquiries to staff as assumed IC knowledge. If one wishes to handle their debts entirely privately, and assuming the attendant risks, you will wish to avoid +boon. Because +boon is a behind-the-scenes record-keeping tool is that its use is the end result of IC efforts. So one would negotiate terms with the other party and then register the result with +boon. Oversight of boons is an important harpy function. However a result of the code being OOCly invisible there are several implications. First, as mentioned above, harpy PCs must +request information about boons to see it, so they won't have immediate access in a conversation; they will have to go consult with the other harpies and get back to you. Additionally harpies will not be making comments on what you have negotiated or behavior toward one's creditors or debtors. If you need harpy help with negotiating a boon or its repayment enter a +request to ask that staff assign the harpies to discuss their opinions on the proper value. Less formally you can speak to your local harpy(ies), IC or OOC, for at least one perspective and advice. If you have issues with how one's creditor or debtor is handling their part of the deal then +harpyreq is strongly recommended as the best tool. This is a close approximation of how harpies oversee boons, and improper behavior regarding those should definitely affect Status. Boon Levels Trivial - A one-time favor, relatively simple and straight-forward. It may mean conflict with others, including one's Clan or Prince, but not betray them or breach other oaths of loyalty. Loaning some thing or cash for a short time, an action of Influence, supporting a political maneuver one night, use of a Discipline, a night's protection. Minor - A favor that causes inconvenience, or takes some effort. Revealing secrets of one's Clan or Domain, securing passage into a hostile city, providing protection for an extended period, major efforts of Influence, investing significant resources into a business or other project, fighting another's enemies. Major - A great debt, possibly compromising many things you believe in. Teaching Disciplines (this one may only apply to particularly secret disciplines on City of Hope, or reducing the xp for them to normal), aiding in a political goal even if it's openly opposing your Clan or Prince, providing significant property you own or you first have to take from another. Blood - Life - You owe your life to your debtor. They can command you in all things, even if it means your death, because you only exist because of them. Saving your creditor's life is possibly the only way to repay such a debt. Examples: (Names have been inserted to implicate the innocent-of-this.) Lillian really wants to get involved with a crime family operating in the Brujah territory. So she goes to Sharpe, Vegard's ghoul, to arrange an introduction to a "family" member, using his Underworld influence, offering a boon for that one-time favor for which Vegard would like a particular vote on an agenda item on the next primogen council meeting. The purchase of more Underworld Influence and setting the details is handled through a +request, to which staff gets added to take care of his Influence action. Then Lillian would +boon/offer Vegard=1/For having introduced me to mob figure x I will vote y way on z agenda item. Next month after the primogen meeting Vegard would then +boon/forgive <#> after Lillian voted the requested. A local news station gets hold of video of some vampy activities at a nightclub and teases it on air for tomorrow night's show. Agate immediately starts looking into it like a good Masquerade-protecting Sheriff and soon decides the best thing to do is ask Madeline to apply her Media Influence to kill the story. Madeline isn't keen on a Masq breach so generously agrees to do so for a trivial boon. After the actions have been taken care of Madeline then does +boon/offer agate=1/I killed the news story about vampires on film in exchange for a favor to be named later. And then it remains an outstanding debt until Madeline has something to ask Agate for. Scandal