1 - Rules Introduction
Introduction
House Rules
Lost Souls is based on the V20 Storyteller system, but I've made some changes to the rules. These are house rules that have accumulated over the years into this compendium.
Most of these rules are meant to speed up and simplify many aspects of the game.
The changes can be seen as extensive, but one thing leads to another — you might be forced to read through all of it for it to make sense. Sorry.
Summary of some changes:
- Difficulty levels are removed, All difficulty ratings are 7+.
- You can gain advantage, which gives you 6+.
- You can gain disadvantage, which gives you 8+.
- Weapons damage is no longer dice, but added directy to damage result
- Every clan now has a unique clan discipline, a physical discipline, and a common discipline. This means there are now some new disciplines, and most other disciplines have gone through some changes.
- Thaumaturgy is completely rebuilt.
Advantage & Disadvantage
Advantage & Disadvantage
Under certain circumstances, or when using certain
abilities, you may gain advantage or disadvantage when attempting an action.
Having advantage means that your dice
gains successes on a roll of 6+ instead of 7+.
Having disadvantage means that your dice
gain successes on a roll of 8+ not 7+
●
If you have both advantage and
disadvantage, they cancel each other out.
●
If you have 2 advantages and 1
disadvantage, you still have advantage, and vice versa.
●
You may also gain overwhelming
advantage or overwhelming disadvantage. These always take precedence over the
normal versions.
●
If you have multiple
disadvantages, each disadvantage after the first instead reduces your dice pool
by [-1d].
●
If you have multiple advantages,
each advantage after the first adds [+1d] to your dice pool.
Examples of advantage/disadvantage:
Advantage: Parrying with a shield, using good tools,
taking extra time, or receiving assistance from a skilled companion.
Disadvantage: Fighting several opponents
at once, using poor or unsuitable equipment for the task, climbing in the rain,
spotting in poor visibility.
Actions
Actions
Normally you have 1 [Action] per round.
Some actions are [Reflexive] these are
things you can do that do not cost you an action the first time, but if you
want to do them repeatedly in a turn more beyond the first will cost you an
action.
Sometimes you have access to [Instinctive]
actions. These don’t cost you actions and can be done unlimited times during a
turn.
Damage
Damage
To calculate the damage of an attack, combine the
successes from the attack roll with your Strength, then add the weapon’s
damage.
Number of successes on the attack +
Strength = damage dice pool
Result of the damage dice pool +
weapon damage = total damage
Stamina & Armor
The target of the attack then rolls Stamina + Armor to
reduce the damage.
Damage Types
Bashing [B] [\]
Bashing is generally received from attacks that have
no cutting edge, such a fist a club, falling or brawling
●
Bashing damage is non-lethal.
If you fill the N/A level with Bashing damage, you fall unconscious but not
die.
●
Bashing damage is always marked
below Lethal damage on the damage track.
●
Bashing damage is marked with a
diagonal slash: [＼]
●
If all your health is filled with
bashing/lethal damage and you receive more bashing convert existing bashing to
lethal
Lethal [L] [X]
Damage that is done with cutting weapons or other
devastating attacks that will kill you.
●
Lethal damage is marked with a
cross: [✕]
Since all Lethal damage must be placed
above Bashing damage on the damage track, you may need to convert existing
Bashing damage into Lethal damage, then move the remaining Bashing damage below
it.
Aggravated [A]
Aggravated damage represents injuries that are very
difficult to heal, and sometimes are permanent.
●
Examples include burns, acid
damage, severed body parts, broken bones, and similar severe injuries.
●
Aggravated damage may often come
with other special modifiers.
●
Aggravated damage is normally
always placed at the top of the damage track and is marked with an [A].
Dice Modifiers & Keys
Keys
9-Again rule, 9 also count as a crit
Result =The final number of successes in a
roll after modifiers.
[A] Advantage - Difficulty 6,
canceled by getting disadvantage
[A+] Overwhelming Advantage -
Difficulty 6, Cannot be removed by disadvantage
[D] Disadvantage - Difficulty 8,
canceled by getting Advantage
[D+] Overwhelming Disadvantage -
Difficulty 8, Cannot be removed by advantage
Having advantage and disadvantage at same time cancels out each other.
Having 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage gives
you advantage.
Having 2 advantages and 1 Overwhelming
Disadvantage gives you Disadvantage.
Having [A+] and [D+] cancels out each other.
More unusual modifiers are:
[+1d] Additional Dice - Adds dice
to Dicepool
[-1d] Reduced Dice - Removes dice from the Dicepool
[+1as] Automatic successes - Adds successes regardless of result
[+1ss] Additional successes - Adds
successes only to successful roll
[-1ss] Reduced Successes - Reduces
the successes in any roll
Rerolls and Unrolls [RR] & [UR]
● [+1Rr] Reroll dice - May reroll any dice
●
[-1Ur] Unroll dice - Reroll a
success
● each dice in a dicepool may only be rerolled/unrolled once
● Unrolling and rerolling eliminate each other 1 to 1.
*Examples use +1 or -1 but the number can
vary. [+2d] means 2 dice added to dicepool, [Rr3] means 3 dice can be rerolled
(but each dice only once).
Healing Damage
Healing Damage
At the first opportunity to rest after a combat scene, roll Stamina to reduce
any Bashing damage you have taken by your successes.
Medical care may also be administered at
this point if someone has the appropriate skill.
Medical Care
A person with Medicine or Survival as a
skill may provide medical care to an injured character.
●
If Survival is used you roll with
[UR] on the entire dicepool.
●
A successful roll removes a single
(1) level of Lethal damage, regardless of how many successes are rolled.
●
A botch causes the injured
character to suffer one additional level of Bashing damage.
Long-Term Recovery
To heal further, you need to spend a full day
recovering.
For each day you rest, you may roll
Stamina to heal either one level of Lethal damage or a number of Bashing damage
levels equal to your successes.
●
This requires a warm and dry place
to rest, and good access to food and water.
●
If someone is taking care of you,
you gain advantage on the roll.
●
If you are travelling, for example
by wagon or ship, you suffer disadvantage on the roll.
A knowledgeable person may also attempt
to provide medical care once per day while the injured character is resting,
you can not do medical care on yourself.
2 - Combat
Iniative
Iniative
Combat: Attack & Defense
Combat: Attack, Defense & Damage
- Roll Initiative
- Act in initiative order, a character with higher initiative may choose to act later.
- Roll dice for the attack and the opponent may roll for defense if able.
- Roll for damage and the opponent rolls to soak.
- Note potential damage on your forms
Initiative is 1d10 + initiative value.
Soak reduces damage by your Stamina and armor value.
Attack
To attack someone:
● With a weapon roll Dexterity + Melee
● Unarmed Roll Dexterity + Brawl
● For ranged attacks, roll Dexterity + Archery.
Disruption
If you have taken damage earlier in the same round before making an attack, your attack is disrupted and your dice pool is reduced.
● -1 dice if you took lethal damage
● -2 dice if you took bashing damage
Defense
A character who is attacked and has at least one action available may choose to defend.
They roll their defense dice pool, and each success reduces the attacker’s successes by 1.
● If the defense roll reduces the attacker’s successes to 0 or less, the attack misses.
● You can parry, block or dodge up to 2 attacks per action spent on defence
● However, you always suffer disadvantage when fighting multiple opponents
● If a defence action is done with a split action you can only defend once
● Against a third attacker, or any additional attackers beyond that, you normally will have no defense
3 - Health and Damage
Damage
Damage
To calculate the damage of an attack, combine the successes from the attack roll with your Strength, then add the weapon’s damage.
Number of successes on the attack + Strength = damage dice pool
Result of the damage dice pool + weapon damage = total damage
Stamina & Armor
The target of the attack then rolls Stamina + Armor to reduce the damage.
Damage Types
Bashing [B] [\]
Bashing is generally received from attacks that have no cutting edge, such a fist a club, falling or brawling
● Bashing damage is non-lethal.
If you fill the N/A level with Bashing damage, you fall unconscious but not die.
● Bashing damage is always marked below Lethal damage on the damage track.
● Bashing damage is marked with a diagonal slash: [＼]
● If all your health is filled with bashing/lethal damage and you receive more bashing convert existing bashing to lethal
Lethal [L] [X]
Damage that is done with cutting weapons or other devastating attacks that will kill you.
● Lethal damage is marked with a cross: [✕]
Since all Lethal damage must be placed above Bashing damage on the damage track, you may need to convert existing Bashing damage into Lethal damage, then move the remaining Bashing damage below it.
Aggravated [A]
Aggravated damage represents injuries that are very difficult to heal, and sometimes are permanent.
● Examples include burns, acid damage, severed body parts, broken bones, and similar severe injuries.
● Aggravated damage may often come with other special modifiers.
● Aggravated damage is normally always placed at the top of the damage track and is marked with an [A].
Healing Damage
Healing Damage
At the first opportunity to rest after a combat scene, roll Stamina to reduce any Bashing damage you have taken by your successes.
Medical care may also be administered at this point if someone has the appropriate skill.
Medical Care
A person with Medicine or Survival as a skill may provide medical care to an injured character.
● If Survival is used you roll with [UR] on the entire dicepool.
● A successful roll removes a single (1) level of Lethal damage, regardless of how many successes are rolled.
● A botch causes the injured character to suffer one additional level of Bashing damage.
Long-Term Recovery
To heal further, you need to spend a full day recovering.
For each day you rest, you may roll Stamina to heal either one level of Lethal damage or a number of Bashing damage levels equal to your successes.
● This requires a warm and dry place to rest, and good access to food and water.
● If someone is taking care of you, you gain advantage on the roll.
● If you are travelling, for example by wagon or ship, you suffer disadvantage on the roll.
A knowledgeable person may also attempt to provide medical care once per day while the injured character is resting, you can not do medical care on yourself.
12 - Gaining and spending xp
Introduction
Freebie & XP cost Table
Character Creation
Attributes 14
(7/5/3) Minimum in each category
=2
Appearance 3
Ability 27
(13/9/5) Minimum in each category =5
Backgrounds 5
Virtues 7
Core Virtue 1
Free points 16
(15)
Willpower Courage
Kindred:
Disciplines 4
Humanity Conscience
+ Self-Control
Awakened:
Quintessence Avatar
value
Spheres 6
Arete 1
Spellcasting 7
Willpower Courage
+ 3
Garou:
Gnosis Breed
Rage Auspice
Gifts 3
starting gifts (Breed/Auspice/Tribe)
Willpower Tribe
Point Cost
Trait Freebies XP XP
New
Attributes 5 x4 -
Ability 2 x2 3
Background 1 - -
Clan Disciplines 7 x5 10
Common Discipline 8 x7 10
Other Clan’s Discipline* 9* x8 20*
Blood Sorcery 3 x4 7
Rituals Level - Level x 2
Virtue* 2 x2 -
Core Virtue* - x4 -
Humanity* 2 x2 -
Willpower 1 x1 -
Common Disciplines: Celerity, Might,
Fortitude, Auspex, Animalism, Obfuscate, Dominate
*Other Clan’s Discipline: Normally not
available at creation, only if you have a suitable backstory to why and this is
approved by your ST.
*Virtues and humanity can only be raised with
xp during a chronicle if the ST agrees that you have acted in a way that
justifies/aligns with it.
Gaining Experience
Base:
●
Showing up + 1xp
○
Participation in a game session.
Player Extra:
●
Characters Development + 1xp
○
Did your character learn something
new?
○
Did your character succeed
brilliantly at a task?
○
Did your character screw up badly
and hopefully learned from it?
●
Progressing the Story + 1xp
○
Do you think you figured something
out?
○
Did you make a new ally or enemy?
●
Smart problem solving + 1xp
○
Did you solve a problem by being
clever
○
Did you handle a dangerous event,
using non-violent means?
●
Risktaking + 1xp
○
Did you risk your neck for some
actual gain for the group
○
Did you defeat a dangerous foe?
○
Did you challenge or stand up to a
hostile rival faction, coterie, or kin?
○
Did you risk yourself to save a
group member or ally?
●
Role-playing + 1xp
○
Making non-optimal choice for the
sake of roleplaying
○
Playing into a character flaw in a
way that affects gameplay
Generally each point you gain increases the
"requirement" for the next. You can gain 1-2 extra points doing
fairly mundane acts, but if you want points 4, 5 then the ST should require you
to do more extraordinary things.
Normally you will get only 1xp for each
category, ie, you cannot get xp twice for risktaking.
Group bonus 1-3xp:
●
Did you make a significant
discovery or revelation?
●
Did you resolve a mystery or a
plot?
●
Did you complete a story?
Rewarded to every one in the troupe equally
when they achieve some milestone in the chronicle.