CofD Elder Ruleset Previous Revisions

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Playing an Elder PC

Introduction:

• Elders are not in the game solely for their own enjoyment. Elders are expected to facilitate enjoyment of other player’s characters, and should not be looking to take positions of power. Elders exist to involve other players in games.
• Expect to play a passive, static game. For you, it is a game of sitting in mostly one spot, rarely moving and watching events unfurl. Orders and desires will be filtered through a whole chain of minions and lineage descendants. It is a game of chess, and you are the player.
• The player does not occupy a spot on the board.
• If you want to solve things with your fists, turn up to fights, be the Prince or get personally involved in every plot that comes along, then play a Neonate character.

Playing the Elder Game:

• The play style of an Elder is different from all other characters in the game. Survival is the most important thing to you. Avoiding risk becomes your way of life. There are others out there, as old, as powerful, as risk averse as you. Self-interest and self-preservation drives you all to work towards similar ends.
• “Public” Elders are likely to be more personally active in their social / political interactions with the court than their Sires and Grandsires, however, even they prefer to move through cats-paws and pawns.
• You will be expected to rarely use disciplines, and even then in a reactive, defensive fashion. Such actions should be consulted with your VST and with the GST.
• Any use of merits, devotions, disciplines, or other abilities against or on another player should be done only in consultation with your VST (or DST where there is none), and the GST. Where you are uncertain whether an action is 'against or on' another player, advice can be sought from the GST, or in immediate game situations from the VST. Use your common sense.

In game, Elders will largely abide by several commitments:

• DO involve other players in the game – this is what minions are for;
• DO share everything you learn – but obviously skew it to your own advantage;
• DO cultivate a following of childer and agents to do your bidding – use them and their networks;
• DO encourage use of the Protocols - through examples of reward and punishment.
• DON'T take a position in a Court – unless for a finite and definite purpose;
• DON'T take a position at Conclave. It is unacceptable for you to do this;
• DON'T solve problems with Disciplines – unless for a very good reason (including GST pre-approval. Don't ask for forgiveness, that's how you get removed from the game). Use your minions and networks;
• DON'T get involved in fights – risk averse is a way of life, and fair escape is your friend;
• DON'T teach Disciplines, devotions, rituals, or merits – why teach a Discipline yourself? Have a minion do it;
• DON'T live in absolutes – rules can be bent. If you bend one of these rules, it is for a limited, specific and finite purpose. Such actions are scalpels, not sledgehammers.

Elder Themes:

• Elders have much to fear. They’ve seen it all, and it scared them.
• They survived, and sometimes they wish they hadn’t.
• They’re old, they’ve forgotten more than most can even remember and dreamed things that never was.
• Elder play focuses on the themes of paranoia, survival, the long-con, disappointment, and often pain.

Responsibilities:

• Let’s be clear: The ability to play an Elder character, regardless of your MC, is a privilege, not a right. You DO have the right to request the opportunity to play this concept from your Low, Mid, or High Approval ST and, should that ST deny you, you have a right that the reasons be explained to you.
  • By portraying an Elder concept, you are taking on a massive In-Character responsibility not only to use the powers that are inherent in the concept responsibly, but to ensure that the chronicle as a whole runs smoothly and according to the local, regional, national, and global settings.
  • You are responsible for helping the chronicle show the inherent danger and darkness that permeates the World of Darkness at an Elders' level.
  • When that danger and darkness impacts your Elder character, you are responsible for responding with aplomb, grace, and maturity, regardless of the outcome.
  • Your character has the capability of drastically affecting the course of a single local game and the path of the games around you.
  • Get used to discussing your IC plans with your VST. Become accustomed to following your VST's guidance, advice, and directions in your larger plans.
• If you have reached the point to where you have been entrusted with the privilege of creating an Elder character concept, then you have reached a point in the organization where you are more than just a member.
  • Even if you choose not to take on a role as a volunteer officer, you are still a leader and newer members will look to you for guidance and model themselves on what is permissible within the organization.
  • The newer members will learn from your playing style; you will be responsible for setting a good example.
  • More than ever, Elder players will be expected to take this responsibility seriously and remain conscious of their effect on the chronicle.

Character Creation:

Skill specialties:

• Elder characters have lived longer and experienced more than almost all other characters. This is commonly represented within the skill specialties the player chooses for their character. Consider antiquated specialties to represent a life that is out-of-sync with the modern world. Some potential options to consider are:
  • Firearms (a specialization in modern composites would be inappropriate)
  • Crafts (In some sort of archaic form, weaving or iron smithing)
  • Intimidation (Medieval insults)
  • Medicine (Herbalism such as plants, fungi, minerals)
  • Language (In old or disused languages: e.g. Latin, Old Norse)
  • Survival (tracking, camping, dowsing)

Banes:

• The human mind is not designed to witness centuries of time.
• Because of the hundreds of years spent awake and the horrible things they must interact with, it is likely that an elder will possess at least their clan bane, and their Elder bane. A third bane is expected for characters starting at BP4 or BP5
• These do not have to be debilitating necessarily - however Elders have become much less human than their younger kindred counterparts.
• There are extra banes in the Thousand Years of Night book that are designed specifically for Elders.

Blood Bonds:

• It is not uncommon that Elders may have had relationships, interactions, and punishments that resulted in partial bonds to and from other characters.
• This is NOT a requirement of Elders.
• Players are recommended to consider having one or two blood bonds to or from another character.
  • Bonds with other player characters should ONLY be accepted if both players are comfortable with having such a close tie to each other.
• This will not impact whether or not you are approved, and is only spoken of as a suggestion for play.

Enemies and Allies:

• It is impossible to move through your Requiem without creating a rival or two, nor is it possible to survive without aligning yourself with allies of either convenience or circumstance.
• Elders, by their nature, create vendetta simply by their very existence.
• Elder characters should detail allies AND rivals, as the World of Darkness does not always lend itself to long standing “friends”.
• Characters should have no less than 2 long-standing rivalries and also have at least 2 allies.
• Rivals are not always enemies they wish dead. Elders are slow-moving creatures, who have millenia to act out their plans and exact revenge. They will remain long after all others are dead.

Elder Approval Requirements

So you want an Elder:

When thinking of creating an elder, ask yourself the following questions.

• Can your concept be younger?
  • Think hard on this one, because the answer is almost always yes.
• Do you want to directly get involved in combat, plot or politics?
• Do you want to have any position in a city or within the covenant?
  • This includes Prince, Harpy, Regent (Canberra), Priscus, Bishop, Primus, Primogen etc).
    • This does not mean your PC cannot be unofficial clan or covenant head, but Elders act through minions. They do not paint a target on their own backs.
• Do you ever want to be head of your clan or covenant?
• Do you want to be a combat-based character?
• Do you want to have your own story and plot?
• Are you at or below MC4?

If any of the answers are yes, perhaps you shouldn’t be playing an elder. This isn’t to say you are a bad player, it just means that your idea is better as a younger character, or you may not be ready to be an Elder.
Speak with your VST, DST, and GST to determine if another option is right for you.

I answered No! Oh boy! I really want to be an Elder and I think I am suitable:

Good! Because it’s a very long and involved process. You really need to want it and have a character that fits.
This means that you need to put in a lot of work with both your application and throughout the duration of your characters chronicle. You will need to put a lot of thought into your character.

Requirements:

For your Elder application to be processed at the GST level you need to provide the GST with the following documents (at a minimum):

• A decade by decade history of the characters travels, life, embrace, and actions, before during and after this time.
• A document outlining how your character will contribute to the national game and why you are better suited to the role than anyone else, including how your playstyle will benefit the club.
• At least 1 player character tie per 100 years of life.
  • This does not mean that each 1 year block must have a tie, only that a 500 year old kindred needs at least 5 ties.
  • However the more spread out, the better. Elders often know each other.
  • More ties are looked more favourably upon. Frivolous, “met once and never again” ties, while cool and you should have some of those, will not be enough to satisfy these requirements.
• A well written CDD
• The completed approval form
• A paragraph on why your character deserves to be an Elder above ALL others. This is not a ‘I know X wants an Elder but I am better’, this is a ‘My character would be an excellent Elder because they...’. Remembering all the important Elder play-notes in this document and advice listed above.
• ANY and ALL other relevant documentation to answer any remaining questions the GST has regarding the application.

Other Notes of approval:

• All Elder approvals are conditional on the player character conforming to the ‘Playing an Elder’ play rules provided above.
• THE GST OFFICE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DESANCTION A CHARACTER THAT DOES NOT CONFORM TO THESE REQUIREMENTS AT ANY TIME.
• If the GST feels you are not following the above playstyle in minor ways, you will likely be contacted and given a warning.
  • Avoiding the GST’s correspondence or failure to adhere to this warning will result in the character being desanctioned.
• Major breaches of the playstyle, without organising it for a plot reason with the GST previously, will result in immediate desanctioning of the character.
• All Elder applications must be aware that because of the sheer volumes of Elder applications seeking to be approved, your approval may take longer than two weeks.
  • This is because it will need to be looked over by the GST, potentially aGST, maybe even NST, and there is likely to be discussions between the GST, DST, and VST, as well and direct discourse with you, the player. The GST will endeavour to keep you in the loop as much as practicable.
• You need patience, and understanding.
• Above all, if you are unsuccessful, and you handle it with grace, you may just get to see your Elder become an NPC with the chance to pick it up as a PC later in the chronicle.
  • However, if the player throws a tantrum, they will not get this opportunity as it shows they are not adult enough to be playing one.

Created by:
Sara Hastings with input from Corey Markham (many thanks for your Masquerade guide) and the assistant GST Team. You guys are legends.