The Embraced: Roleplaying Network

Experience

Gaining Experience
THE EMBRACED considers a week of play to be from Monday at 12:00 AM until Sunday at 11:59 PM. Before the following Friday each player is responsible for submitting a "claim" for experience for each character that they have. For example if the week of play is October 8th, 2012 through October 14th 2012 you have until the following Friday, October 20th 2012 to submit your claim.

Characters will be awarded experience based on several factors, below is a general rule of thumb on how much experience you can expect...

1 - 2 hours of play awards 1 experience.
3 - 4 hours of play awards 2 experience.
5 - 6 hours of play awards 3 experience.
7 or more hours of play awards 4 experience.
Additional experience will be awarded for being around AND contributing to the channel and Storylines.

Below is a copy of the form that is located on each character sheet. To properly fill out this form do the following...

Subject: leave the Subject alone. Changing the Subject will increase the amount of time it takes for your experience to show up on your character sheet.
Character: please type the first and last name of the Character for which you are submitting experience. Even though the form is located on the specific character sheet it speeds up the submission process if you type out the Character's name.
Verify Email: you must enter a valid email for the form to properly send the message.
Week: please select the appropriate week you are submitting for. If it is not past 11:59 PM on the Saturday of the week you cannot claim experience for that week.
Hours Played: please select the appropriate amount of hours you have played. Please remember, unless the bot Akua was in the scene with you as you played, the scene does not count toward your total hours played.
Additional Notes: if there is something particular that you feel holds merit enough to award additional experience points please put it in this section.

Once your experience claim has been submitted the awarded experience will appear in the Experience Gains text area located directly below the Experience Gains form on your character sheet.

Spending Experience
Experience Spends may be submitted any time during the month but please refer to the guidelines...

You may spend as much of your Experience as you would like on anything that can be increased via Experience.
No single character stat can be increased more than once per month, regardless if the character has the appropriate Experience to purchase the increase.
Experience purchases should be justified through IC role-play.
Storyteller Staff reserves the right to deny any Experience Spend or require that the player continue to justify their purchase In Character.
If your Experience Spend needs further justification a member of the Storyteller Staff will call you into Gamehelp for discussion.

Below is a copy of the form that is located on each character sheet. To properly fill out this form do the following...

Subject: leave the Subject alone. Changing the Subject will increase the amount of time it takes for your purchase to show up on your character sheet.
Character: please type the first and last name of the Character you are spending experience on. Even though the form is located on the specific character sheet is speeds up the submission process if you type out the Character's name.
Verify Email: you must enter a valid email for the form to properly send the message.
Item Purchased: please list the character stat that you are specifically purchasing. Ex. Strength 2
Item Cost: please list the experience cost of the Item Purchased above.
Additional Notes: purchase justification and Downtime Action dates will help Storyteller Staff review and approve your request with a faster turnaround.

Once your experience spend has been submitted the purchased items will appear on the sheet and in the Experience Spends text area located directly below the Experience Spends form on your character sheet.

New Ability
New Secondary Ability
New Background
New Path (Thaumaturgy)
New Discipline
Attribute
Ability
Secondary Ability
Background
Clan Discipline
Other Discipline
Thaumaturgy (Ritual)
Secondary Path (Thaumaturgy)
Virtue
Humanity
Willpower

3 points
3 points
3 points or DTs
7 points
10 points
level x4
level x2
level x2
level x4 or DTs
level x5
level x7
level x1
level x4
level x2
level x2
Current Level

Downtime Actions

What are Downtime Actions
Can you imagine role-playing that scene in which your character reads a book?

Or what about that scene where your character spends most of the night writing a letter?

The two hours your character spent hiding behind a garbage can outside a bar so that they could see which 'hooker' another character picked up that night?

We wouldn't want to play out those scenes either, and in most cases we can't. Because of Real Life time restrictions, simple boredom, or lack of desire, there are things and instances in every Vampire's Requiem that their human player simply cannot do for them. That doesn't mean that your Vampire doesn't do these things, it simply means we need a system that allows for these hours without requiring you to play them out.

THE EMBRACED implements a Downtime Actions system to provide an outlet in which you can task your character with particular things that are undesirable to role-play. With this your character will be able to accomplish various things during the time that you are not actively role-playing. A "Downtime Action" is essentially a ROLL that is available for your character to perform each week. These rolls are often times apart of an extended action that your character is attempting.

Downtime Actions are available to characters in four different ways...

Each character is awarded 4 Downtime Actions every week that can be used to roll on anything where Downtime Actions apply.
The Background: Allies awards additional Downtime Actions that can be used to roll on anything where Downtime Actions apply.

Allies, Level 1: One additional Downtime Action roll every week.
Allies, Level 2: Two additional Downtime Action roll every week.
Allies, Level 3: Three additional Downtime Action roll every week.
Allies, Level 4: Four additional Downtime Action roll every week.
Allies, Level 5: Five additional Downtime Action roll every week.

The Background: Influences awards additional Downtime Actions that can be used within the specific area of Influence they apply to. The Influence Background has been heavily House Ruled. Please refer to the Influence page for a list of actionable items for each Influence.
The SL Downtimes: SL downtimes are reactive and as such a character gets one (1) per night IF needed to react to a scene. All DTs for SLs must be turned in before 11:59 EST the day of the scene. If the scene rolls over into another day mid scene - you can submit for the secondary day (i.e. you're playing Saturday Night, it rolls into Sunday. You have until 11:59 EST to submit that Sunday). You need to follow the rules below for submitting a DT to submit SL DTs as well.

Downtime Action Hours may be used for a variable of actions. Below are examples of actions but does not represent an all inclusive list...

Growing Backgrounds (instead of using Experience):

Growing Backgrounds is consider an extended roll that requires a level of success be reached and then the level of the Background will be awarded without the use of Experience. A difficulty of 7 will be applied to each roll and the roll will be determined by Storytellers.
Background Level One: 15 Successes
Background Level Two: 30 Successes
Background Level Three: 65 Successes
Background Level Four: 100 Successes
Background Level Five: 135 Successes

General Actions/Storyline Actions

General and Storyline Actions run the gambit of what your character will accomplish and the successes needed are calculated by a Storyteller. Typical successes range from 5 to 35 and are calculated based on the number of hours it will take your character to do what they are attempting and the difficulty of the action they are performing. These types of Downtime Actions require a visit to #gamehelp to establish the roll and difficulty before you begin.
Example Actions Include:

Track and spy on other characters
Investigate leads on something in the news that requires Storyteller input
Research a variety of topics/events

Influence Actions:

Influence Actions are specific to the "Area(s) of Influence" that your character has. Please refer to the Influence page for a list of actionable items for each Influence.

When do I Submit Downtime Actions?
In order to make the Down Time action system more streamlined we require everyone to submit all their DTs for the week on Sunday before 11:59pm Central Standard Time - all other submissions will be rejected because this causes everything to bog down with what the STs do during the week. These actions are for the week coming up. Not for the week that just passed.

But what about SL DTs? Well, those are totally different. Those are reactive, not proactive. If you have a SL DT you want to submit, please do so but mark it as such on the subject line. "Downtime Actions SL" would be the new subject line.

Submitting Downtime Actions
In order to submit your Downtime Actions you must use the form provided on your character sheet. We encourage players to go into detail and be as creative as possible. This gives a more realistic feel to the action and also gives the Storyteller Staff more information to give a better response in reply. Keep in mind that there are only so many hours in a night, which turns into so many hours in a week. This system is in place with the allotted amount of actions to reflect this minimal amount of time between sunset and sunrise. Also remember that Storyteller Staff may reject a particular Downtime Action if it is not within the realm of the character to perform the action. Storyteller Staff is also unable to provide hints or tips unless your character has the Common Sense merit.

Below is a copy of the form that is located on each character sheet. To properly fill out this form do the following...

Subject: leave the Subject alone. Changing the Subject will increase the amount of time it takes for your Downtime Action to be addressed by Storyteller Staff and appear on your character sheet.
Player Name: Please list your name.
Verify Email: you must enter a valid email for the form to properly send the message.
In the Downtime Actions Box:
- Character(s) Name(s): One paragraph per Character, please. This is where you put your character name. Please list this as how it is seen on the sheet, this speeds up the process if we can find your character quickly.
- What type of Action: Background Growth, Influence Growth, Influence Usage, Story Line, Other
- Attribute/Ability/Influence possibly used: Please put what you think your character would use to complete the action.
- Downtime Actions: provide as much information as possible for the Action you are performing.
- Name: Character 1
- Type: Underworld Influence Growth 1 to 2
- Abilities Used: Underworld Influence 1; Streetwise 2; Wits 3
- Character 1 has been playing the system and getting to know who is who in the underworld scene. He's ready to let himself be known as more than just a runner and mule. He is going to try and get seen by the hire ups as someone that is able to get things done.
- Name: Character 2
- Type: SL DT
- Abilities Used: Perception 4 (attentive); Alertness 3
- Character 2 has been patrolling the boarder between East St. Louis and the Cam controlled side. He and his coterie have been looking for anything out of the ordinary.

All of your DTs for the week should be listed on one submission form per player. If you have a lot of DTs for the week, please keep them grouped by character. So, if you have 7 actions for Character 1 and only 3 for Character 2. Please put Character 1's DTs first, then Character 2's. This makes it easier for the ST who is doing the DTs.

The majority of all Downtime Actions will require that you come into #Gamehelp to address your item with a member of the Storyteller Staff. After you have requested your Downtime Action and have begun rolling please readdress the action once it has been completed.

Submitting Downtime Actions Rolls
When you have finished the rolls for your DTs please submit them on Sunday before 11:59 Central Standard Time. You submit them using a "fresh" DT submission form by following the guidelines below.

Subject: Please Add "rolls" to the end of the subject line. So it would look like "Downtime Actions Rolls"
Player Name: Your Name.
Verify Email: Your Email.
Downtime Actions: Please post your character's rolls. Again, this area should be used for EACH of your characters. Your rolls SHOULD be labeled so we know what roll the DT is going to! All Rolls submitted without labeled rolls will be rejected. It is up to you to keep track of your rolls during the week. You need to submit the cut/paste rolls from the #Dice channel to get credit.