Canberra Requiem CofD VSS

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THIS IS NOT THE VSS. THIS IS HERE FOR THE INFORMATION OF POTENTIAL PLAYERS WHILE THE VSS IS IN THE PROCESS OF CREATION. THIS SUB DSS HAS BEEN APPROVED BY GLOBAL

DSS 2.1 Requiem

2.1.1.0 Purpose

This Sub DSS has been created to make a frame work for the 2.0 game once it comes into play, while having a background for Canberra players to play on forums and such with approved character concepts. Downtimes and other character modifications will not be made till a VSS is created, although beats can be earnt.

2.1.1 Blood Currency (Feeding)

Please see the subsidiary document ‘2.1.1A Requiem Blood Currency’ for the blood currency rules. All kindred merits relating to herd, allies, retainers and similar merits owners are required to pay blood coins to maintain (or in IC terms, to feed) those merits. These costs are expected to be paid each month by the character whom has the relevant merit on their sheet. A List of modified merits, and merits affected by this section can be found at 2.1.11 Addendum to Rules at the end of this DSS

2.1.1.1 Visitors to the City

Vampire visitors from other cities are assumed to arrive with blood, and can use the standard feeding system used in their home VSS.

2.1.2 Unwashed Masses

There two types of unwashed masses in Canberra, the Tenants and the Scum. These NPCs cannot be used to attack other kindred or covenants directly or in directly. They exist to justify requiem based merits, and add flavour to the city. If purchased as a retainer it’s expected that the character will provide blood for them through their own actions. They cannot be purchased as Allies, as they are too disorganised and have too much infighting to be of use this way. Their opinion does not affect PC’s gaining or losing status. They cannot be convinced by PC’s to handle plots as they are too ineffective and scared of being killed. Unwashed Masses exist only to set the backdrop. NPCs of more importance do exist (at the ST’s discretion) and while they may or may not fill similar social roles to the Unwashed Masses they do not necessarily follow these rules. An exemption to this rule is that retainers must be feed by the respective PC with the retainer merit dots on their sheet, and no merit based NPCs can have more than 0.5 City Status.

Note: The Vassal and the Tenant merits from Damnation city are not sanctioned in Canberra.

2.1.2.1 Tenants

These NPCs are unwashed masses who work for 1 blood coin a month. They huddle inside the territory because they are too frightened of the world outside, and they were too weak to join the true court but not brave enough to steal like the scum. They are able to keep enough humans in line to provide sufficient blood to avoid a Masquerade breach, but they work night after night just to survive. As per the ‘2.1.1 Requiem Blood Currency’ document, Tenants are fundamentally the farmers of the city, they ensure blood and feeding is possible without masquerade breaches when blood coins are provided to a regent. They are considered 0.5 City Status 0.5 Clan and 0.5 Covenant Status. They exist to justify requiem based merits, and to add flavour to the city.

2.1.2.2 Scum

Kindred that live on the edges and in the cracks of the city, they exist by feeding upon animals and stealing blood from regencies as per ‘2.1.1A Requiem Blood Currency’. NPC kindred that form part of the scum are those whom cannot earn blood coins. They exist to justify requiem based merits, and to add flavour to the city.

2.1.3 Starting Positions

Starting as a Regent: Players must get support of 4 – 5 players (whom can only back one regent) in order to contend for a Regent position. Regents must commit to playing the politics game PvP not PvE game (e.g. they cannot be looking to be running around hunting bad guys with the sheriff), but they can direct players to plot.

Starting as a Mystery Cult Member: Only 5 players can start off with Status 3 in the mystery cult (1 for each of the regencies). Nobody can start with 4 or 5.

Starting Canberra Prince: Recommends that this position should not be selected until an official VSS is completed, and it cannot be someone who is seeking to be a Regent.

2.1.4 Mystery Cult: Red Ledger

The origin of the Red Ledger are only known to the Heir, (NPC whom has Status 5), but there are numerous rumours and stories about its creation:

  • An ancient tome of the Ordo Dracul, it is bound with the flesh of living kindred whom sacrificed themselves for its creation.
  • It is an artefact made from a combination of both Lancea Sanctum Miracles and Crone Magic.
  • Angels saw the damage of the Blood Wars and gave it as a gift to the city in order to create peace.
  • A combination of 5 different ledgers the Regents of Canberra.

No matter which creation myth members believe in, they all understand that the cult maintains the red ledger, which is responsible for passing out the blood coins to the 5 regents of the city for distribution. Only through this system has the City of Canberra ever had a lasting peace.

Status 1: Signatory

Signatories believe in the principles of the Red Ledger and the Red Peace of the Red Ledger. They demonstrate their commitment to both by signing their name upon a copy of the Red Peace (kept by the Cult). Signatories are taught the history of Canberra, in particular the atrocities that were committed during the blood wars. Each one of these lessons is used to highlight the need for all kindred to be a part of the system, and how those whom aren’t are merely part of the unwashed masses. As a signatory you are expected to understand the system. Characters at this level are considered to know how to get the most out of the system and start the game with one extra blood.

Status 2: Invested

The invested are those kindred whom have committed themselves to assisting with the management of the red ledger each month. Characters at this level are considered to be a part of the system, and gain access to the 1 point merit Ledger Access. Ledger Access allows the player to perform a static politics test (requiring 2 successes) to know if someone is utilising the blood currency system or not.

Status 3: Broker

Its general not known if each Regent nominates an invested member to be their Broker, or if a Broker is assigned to a Regent, but it these kindred that are given the responsibility of delivering new blood coins to the Regent and to return old/used blood coins to the cult, in addition to tracking ongoing feeding transactions. Brokers are given the 2 dot merit Coin Sight. This merit allows the user to identify real blood coins. Brokers are the only people whom regularly see the Trustee/trustees.

Status 4: Trustee (No PC can start with this level)

The eyes and ears of the Heir, Trustee are the only members of the Cult with access to the Heir. These individuals monitor the city through suspected magical means and ensure Regents only receive coins for domains they hold control over. Similar to the merit Cacophony Savvy those whom have attained the 4th rank are able to make an intelligence + occult roll to discover information regarding the health of territories across Canberra, discovering if blood has been poached from them, by whom, have they been properly patrolled and how much blood is available in the territories.

Status 5: Heir (NPC Only)

The current Heir to the Red Ledger is the last survivor of the original Canberra Blood cult, his name forgotten or erased from history. Secured in the bowels of a hidden temple the Heir watches over the Red Ledger, and the creation of the blood coins. Only the Heir knows the full truth behind the Red Ledger and the blood coins.

2.1.5 Red Peace Laws

The following laws are consider imbedded into the city’s system.

  1. Each Regent must accept a valid blood coin if he has blood remaining in his domain.
  2. Each Kindred’s blood is his own, if you steal it you will be destroyed.
  3. The Masquerade must be upheld
  4. An unprotected territory earns no blood coins
  5. The Prince cannot be a Regent.
  6. To steal from or harm the Red Ledger is to steal or harm the Regents
  7. The Unseen Pact must be upheld (None shall touch federal politics or places that house it)
  8. Feeding on beasts is abhorrent, those who do so do not deserve a name or acknowledgement

2.1.6 The In-between Places

Satellite towns around Canberra (including Queanbeyan) are considered NPC places where kindred have been known to vanish or die upon entering. These places are reserved for the office of the DST for designation.

2.1.7 Dual Covenant Status

Being a secret member of the Ordo Dracul requires VST approval, with a modified version of dual status requiring DST approval, where the player does not get access to the covenant powers, e.g. public member of the Crone secret Ordo Dracul members would not get access to Cruac. The fact they don’t get access to this power is not a way to discover they are an infiltrator as many members of covenants never utilise the powers their covenant offers them.

2.1.8 Oaths

Only an Invictus can be the liege (or equivalent) in an oath. E.g. non Invictus can swear serfdom to an Invictus, but an Invictus can’t swear serfdom to a Crone. Only the Oath merits that require invictus status are considered invictus only, all other oaths provide a benefit as long as they have an Invictus liege.

2.1.9 Three Classes

The city of Canberra has 3 innate classes of kindred; • The Unacknowledged 0 City Status (often Scum or other unwashed masses). • The Unnamed 0.5 City Status. • The Court 1 City Status an above. The red laws apply to all three classes (e.g. your blood is your own) but city laws often do not apply to the unacknowledged. The unacknowledged and unnamed ranks are primarily filled up with the unwashed masses, but also those whom don’t participate in the red ledger system are often delegated to the unnamed. The members of the court are generally feared by the other two classes and avoided when possible, which can be demonstrated by the fact a court member only needs to patrol a territory in order to protect it from the Scum. Vampires publicly exposed as feeding on an animal (ST discretion) lose a point of city status to ridicule and gossip as they have breached the 8th tenant. 

2.1.10 Canberra 2.0 Requiem Timeline

While not everything in this history is factual to out of game Canberra, it is considered to be true for the World of Darkness setting. The only exception to this is the rumours section, which outlines those which are suspected, or believed by some but not all.

  • 1800 – 1900 (White Discovery, Settling)
    • Molonglo River was recorded as the "Yeal-am-bid-gie" in 1820 by the explorer Charles Throsby.
    • Joshua John Moore, was given a "ticket of occupation" for 2,000 acres (810 ha) north of the Limestone River covering the area now called Civic extending north to Dickson
    • In 1827 John McPherson was given a ticket of occupation for the land to the west of Canberry extending to include the now named Black Mountain. He called the station Springbank, with the homestead just to the east of the junction of the Limestone River with Canberry Creek.
    • A conflict between two of these families – the Johnstons (descended from Major George Johnston who was involved in the Rum Rebellion) and the Martins – for the ownership and financial control of land that is now known as Weston Creek and Tuggeranong
    • Construction of the church of St John the Baptist started in 1841 on land purchased from Robert Campbell adjacent to the Canberry station.
    • Queanbeyan was officially proclaimed a township in 1838 when the population was about 50.
    • Rumoured History
      • The thing or things that claims Queanbeyan lived there before the town was settled.
  • 1900 – 1950 (Birth of Canberra)
    • After an extensive search, the present site, about 300 kilometres south-west of Sydney, in the foothills of the Australian Alps, was chosen in 1908 as a result of survey work done by the government surveyor Charles Scrivener in that year.
    • Two people who campaigned strongly for the Federal capital to be in the Canberra area were John Gale, the publisher of The Queanbeyan Age and Federal politician King O'Malley. The choice of site was a disputed one, and narrowly beat Dalgety, a small town near the NSW/Victoria border.
    • The Unseen Pact was made.
      • This pact details that none shall touch federal politics or the places that house it.
      • Full details and wording are lost to the aether, but the primary message remains.
    • In 1918, an internment camp for German World War I prisoners-of-war was established in Canberra's eastern outskirts, in what is nowadays the suburb of Fyshwick. This camp housed mainly civilian internees transferred there from facilities in other locations such as the NSW town of Bourke. After 1919, the old internment became a workers' camp. In later years, the camp was closed and the roads that had serviced it were turned into urban streets.
    • On 1 April 1940, a military air base, RAAF Station Canberra, was established on a flat plain between Canberra and Queanbeyan. Later, this was renamed RAAF Fairbairn in memory of the Minister for Air, James V. Fairbairn, who was killed with a number of other ministers and officials when an aircraft crashed into a nearby hill in dense fog on 13 August 1940.
    • The Australian War Memorial was built in 1941.
    • Rumoured History
      • The Unseen Pact was made around the time of the foundation of Canberra in which a conclave of different creatures came together. Some believe that Canberra was created as a part of this pact.
      • The Alchemist arrived in the city with the first public servants, rather than in the 1950’s as most believe.
      • The city was built specifically to geomantically summon a god, and the Dracul made the pact because they don’t want anyone interfering with their mad plans.
      • Werewolves are the reason the Dracul had to make the pact – so that the Dracul wouldn’t get slaughtered for taking Werewolf lands.
  • 1950s – (The Alchemist’s Arrival)
    • The Alchemist arrives with Ordo Dracul Apprentices, claims Canberra for the Ordo Dracul.
    • The National Capital Development Commission created.
    • The ANU opened as a researched centre.
    • Rumoured History
      • The Alchemist had already been in the city for 50 years.
      • The Alchemist was chased from his home city for committing terrible sins.
      • The Alchemist learned to store his heart in a Canopic jar, allowing him to return after death.
      • The Alchemist had Canberra built to fuel some dark Ordo Dracul experiment.
      • ANU was created by the Ordo Dracul.
  • 1960s – (Ordo Dracul, Perfect Laboratory)
    • The Alchemist openly claims Praxis of Canberra, expanding his influence and declaring Canberra a safe haven for all Ordo Dracul.
    • Walter Burley Griffin Lake was created in 1963 by damming the Molonglo Rover.
    • Canberra Airport Opens. The military base and commercial airport share the same runway.
    • Royal Australian Mint opened.
    • The National Library of Australia opened.
    • Rumoured History
      • Forbidden Experiments become common place in the city.
      • The Ordo Dracul start summoning demons.
      • The Alchemist experimented on members of the Ordo Dracul.
      • National Library was created to secretly house the Alchemist secret occult library.
  • 1970s– (Death to the Ordo Dracul, First Blood War)
    • Call for migrants into the city brings a large population growth.
    • With the growth of the City came the arrival of a large amount of young kindred (unwashed masses).
    • Captain Cook Memorial Jet was added in 1970. It sprays water 147 meters into the air.
    • The kindred population on the city became too much of a drain, there were blood shortages, tensions rose, skirmishes over territories, Ordo the only unified force, their rule remains.
    • Many of the new Kindred started going missing, the Alchemist was blamed, and the unwashed masses managed to rise up under the guidance of a strong kindred group to destroy the Prince and the Ordo Dracul in the city.
    • Canberra passes the 200K population limit, though in fact nearly a quarter as many people were here illegally.
    • Canberra flood disaster happens in the Woden Valley.
    • Rumoured History
      • The Alchemist wanted the kindred population to increase as wanted to use them for experiments in addition to feeding.
      • The unwashed masses ate the Alchemist.
      • The Alchemist merely slipped into torpor.
      • Bruce stadium opened as a venue for secret kindred blood sports.
      • The Alchemist has Jekyll/Hyded himself, so that he could escape the destruction of the Dracul while still secretly hiding in the city. Not all draugr are what they appear.
      • Canberra flood was a planned attack.
  • 1980s – (Greed is Good, Second Blood War)
    • City is divided into Regencies, ruled by the Blood Barons.
    • Constant shadow war between the Regents.
    • Many attempts to claim praxis over the entire city. All attempts are crushed each time as three or more Regents ally only to prevent another situation such as the one with the Alchemist.
    • Rumoured History
      • There started with 20 Regents before ending with 12 at the end of the decade.
      • Telstra tower was built to hold down something enclosed in the Black Mountain.
      • The core of Telstra Tower is a wooden shaft two feet thick, formed from a single tree that pierces the heart of an Ordo Dracul monster that cannot die.
  • 1990s – (Black Market become the Market)
    • The rise of the Blood Cult, a black market for blood becomes the new accepted feeding method for the masses. Blood Coins begin to be recognised as the city’s new currency.
    • Regencies stabilise, with only the occasional skirmish over expanding boarders.
    • Lancea Sanctum power grows with the 7th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, and with it the arrival of the kindred whom would become known as the Blood Traitor.
    • Rumoured History
      • There started with 12 regents before ending with 6 at the end of the decade.
  • 2000s – (Princes are Bad, Third Blood War)
    • The Blood Traitor gains dominion of the city, becoming the first Lancea Sanctum Prince of the city.
    • Unwashed masses rise up again, as the Blood traitor begins to feed upon them, Regents struggle to hold down the masses and many kindred lose their lives.
    • Market Crashes, the Regents step aside as the unwashed masses destroy the Prince.
    • Third Blood War culminates with the Prince’s death.
    • Blood Cult wiped out, single (NPC) member survives to become the Heir, and is smuggled out along with the Red Ledger.
    • Rumoured History
      • There started with 6 regents before ending with 5 at the end of the decade.
      • Unwashed masses ate the Blood Traitor.
      • God smote the Blood Traitor down as he was a heretic.
  • 2010 onwards – (Return of the Ledger, Red Peace)
    • An agreement, known as the Red Peace is reached with the return of the Red Ledger, the Blood Cult rebuilds, Laws of the Red Peace are codified.
    • A new Court is formed, a Prince Elect is hired by the Regents, a wage of (X Number) blood coins is provided by the Regents to the Prince for hiring a Sheriff, and other staff as required.
    • Rumoured History
      • The Current Prince’s term ends shortly after starting.

 

2.1.11 Addendum to Rules

The following merits/abilities are not sanctioned in Canberra:

  • Tenants merit (damnation city).
  • Vassal merit (damnation city).
  • Feeding Ground
  • All merits that provides additional human or kindred blood except for the Red Ledger Mystery Cult and the adjusted Herd Merits below.

The following merits are modified as detailed below:

  • Merit based Kindred: Any NPC that represents a merit cannot have more than 0.5 city status unless it is a part of an ST plot.
  • Profession: In order to maintain this merit it is expected the player will spend one downtime action a month working on that profession.
  • Mystery Cult Status : All Mystery Cults are required to be included in the VSS or DSS, and the VST or DST (depending on the approval level) are the final arbiter of Cult Membership. Players are not entitled to be the final decision maker on membership of cults.
  • Retainers: Kindred Retainers blood must be provided via their owner (E.g. Pay blood coins). Kindred Retainers cannot have City, Clan, or Covenant status above 0.5.
  • Human Herd: Does not work in the traditional sense. Instead it increases the minimum amount of blood a character would receive for each additional Blood Coin used. (For example; if the player spends two additional coins and has three dots in herd, you would roll 1d6 two times with the minimum of each roll being three).
  • Kindred Herd: Must be provided blood via their owner (E.g. Pay blood coins). Kindred Herd cannot have city or Covenant status above 0.5.
  • Allies: Cannot be groups or segments of the unwashed masses.
  • Oaths: See 2.1.8
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