Post by Barnaby Cuthbert on Aug 31, 2014 22:05:45 GMT -8
Hi folks!
Today we are going to discuss Bearing, that special something that a vampire has that allows both Kindred and Kine to react socially to a given character who has come close to mastering, or has fallen from their given morality. Bearing is discussed on pg. 310 of the V20 Corebook.
The basic idea is that characters with particularly high or low humanity have bonuses or detriments to social rolls because they are saintly looking (or feeling), or appear to be (or feel like) slavering undead monsters.
This mechanic has appeared in various iterations of Vampire over the years, particularly Dark Ages and has made it's return in V20.
Here is the text from pg. 310:
And throughout the book there are callbacks to bearing for each Path - the bonuses and detriments generally stay the same, but the flavor of them is different and sometimes they effect different pools. Here's an example from pg. 316
So Assamites on Path of Blood have their Willpower checks directly effected depending on their Path rating.
Here's another example from the Giovanni Necromancer Path of choice:
Interesting that in V20 the Giovanni are associated with stealth and stillness. In Dark Ages Revised their bearing was something else entirely. And looking at those Setites on Pg 338:
This greatly evokes the feeling of the religious aspects of the Setite faith, literally treating it like an anti-religion or cult, as it should be based on their flavor.
So each Path has an attendant flavor and mechanic that is unique to them... For more on those, they're each detailed in the Core book. We won't list them all here. Sufficed to say, if you have an Uncommon or Rare concept that would potentially be on a Path and you make the dangerous leap from Humanity to Path in-character the staff will expect you as a player to role-play out the effects and flavor of the Path rating as described in the book, and the Bearing is a good guideline for that. Additionally we will apply the good or bad system effects of low Humanity/Path ratings to every applicable situation.
So what Bearing is - it's a way in which the world reacts to your character if you're playing one of the relative extremes of vampiric existence. Most Kindred will probably not experience any effects of Bearing from Paths because in our Camarilla Modern Nights game, Path followers are Uncommon or Rare concepts.
The slow spiral down the path of Humanity isn't necessarily something that rare however, and every Vampire has a Beast that hangs like a weight on the spirit of each Kindred, dragging it down with it's supernatural strength, turning what would normally be a simple crisis of conscious or a disturbing moral quandary to a human into a potentially un-life threatening fall into an uncontrollable bestial state for a vampire - edging that vampire toward that horror of horrors, a thing of pure hunger and violence, the Wight.
At low Humanity levels, Bearing can act as a warning sign to Kindred and Kine alike, like the bright stripes on a deadly snake or the lambent green of a poisonous tree frog, saying almost instinctually (particularly to those with Awareness) that something is Very Wrong with this Kindred, or at high Path or Humanity levels, that these creatures are somehow paragons of a particular philosophy or faith and imparting upon them various social and system effects associated with the flavor of their Paths.
We hope that this explanation assists you in considering the ramifications of your character's slide up or down the Humanity scale.
Today we are going to discuss Bearing, that special something that a vampire has that allows both Kindred and Kine to react socially to a given character who has come close to mastering, or has fallen from their given morality. Bearing is discussed on pg. 310 of the V20 Corebook.
The basic idea is that characters with particularly high or low humanity have bonuses or detriments to social rolls because they are saintly looking (or feeling), or appear to be (or feel like) slavering undead monsters.
This mechanic has appeared in various iterations of Vampire over the years, particularly Dark Ages and has made it's return in V20.
Here is the text from pg. 310:
Bearing
A vampire’s morality has a direct impact on her bearing — a feeling the Kindred unconsciously projects. The greater the vampire’s Humanity or Path rating, the stronger this tendency is. For example, vampires on Humanity have a bearing of normalcy; the humane connection that such vampires hold keeps them from seeming strange and terrifying to mortals.
Generally, a vampire’s bearing has little or no direct effect on her nightly activities — it’s only a vague impression. Very high or low morality ratings impose a bonus or penalty to specific rolls associated with the character’s bearing — for Humanity, the bearing modifier affects Social rolls for appearing normal and winning sympathy. These modifiers can affect rolls used for Disciplines, where relevant. Paths of Enlightenment have their own bearings, which are listed with each Path description.
Humanity/Path Rating : Bearing Modifier
10 : -2 difficulty
9-8 : -1 difficulty
7-4 : no modifier
3-2 : +1 difficulty
1 : +2 difficulty
And throughout the book there are callbacks to bearing for each Path - the bonuses and detriments generally stay the same, but the flavor of them is different and sometimes they effect different pools. Here's an example from pg. 316
The Path of Blood
Nickname: Dervishes
Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control
Bearing: Resolve. Followers of the Path of Blood know the seriousness of their task and are incredibly dedicated to it. Their aura modifier affects Willpower rolls.
So Assamites on Path of Blood have their Willpower checks directly effected depending on their Path rating.
Here's another example from the Giovanni Necromancer Path of choice:
The Path of the Bones
Nickname: Gravediggers
Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control
Bearing: Silence. The Gravediggers, accustomed as they are to long hours of quiet study and contemplation of the grave, radiate the stillness of death. The bearing modifier applies to rolls involving Stealth and attempts to go unnoticed.
Interesting that in V20 the Giovanni are associated with stealth and stillness. In Dark Ages Revised their bearing was something else entirely. And looking at those Setites on Pg 338:
The Path of Typhon
Nickname: Theophidians (only among themselves; the outside world knows them as Corrupters or by the Followers of Set nickname, Serpents)
Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control
Bearing: Devotion. The Theophidians do every- thing with an eye to how they might best serve Set. The bearing modifier aids in attempts to win converts and in rolls to resist powers based on other faiths (such as True Faith – see p. 372).
This greatly evokes the feeling of the religious aspects of the Setite faith, literally treating it like an anti-religion or cult, as it should be based on their flavor.
So each Path has an attendant flavor and mechanic that is unique to them... For more on those, they're each detailed in the Core book. We won't list them all here. Sufficed to say, if you have an Uncommon or Rare concept that would potentially be on a Path and you make the dangerous leap from Humanity to Path in-character the staff will expect you as a player to role-play out the effects and flavor of the Path rating as described in the book, and the Bearing is a good guideline for that. Additionally we will apply the good or bad system effects of low Humanity/Path ratings to every applicable situation.
So what Bearing is - it's a way in which the world reacts to your character if you're playing one of the relative extremes of vampiric existence. Most Kindred will probably not experience any effects of Bearing from Paths because in our Camarilla Modern Nights game, Path followers are Uncommon or Rare concepts.
The slow spiral down the path of Humanity isn't necessarily something that rare however, and every Vampire has a Beast that hangs like a weight on the spirit of each Kindred, dragging it down with it's supernatural strength, turning what would normally be a simple crisis of conscious or a disturbing moral quandary to a human into a potentially un-life threatening fall into an uncontrollable bestial state for a vampire - edging that vampire toward that horror of horrors, a thing of pure hunger and violence, the Wight.
At low Humanity levels, Bearing can act as a warning sign to Kindred and Kine alike, like the bright stripes on a deadly snake or the lambent green of a poisonous tree frog, saying almost instinctually (particularly to those with Awareness) that something is Very Wrong with this Kindred, or at high Path or Humanity levels, that these creatures are somehow paragons of a particular philosophy or faith and imparting upon them various social and system effects associated with the flavor of their Paths.
We hope that this explanation assists you in considering the ramifications of your character's slide up or down the Humanity scale.