Lots of Questions -- Status, EXP, Rules, Oh My!

[The Aquarian]

Hi all!

I've had quite a few questions building up over time so I've decided to unleash them all in one post to see what people know about them. If the answers are clearly listed on the web site... uhmmm oops. Sorry a bout that.

#1 -- This one probabally is listed somewhere, but I'd rather just ask about it... Although I've been playing here over a year, this is the first character I've had that is Camarilla, so I'm curious how status works here. I understand how gaining and recieving status traits work, and I understand with 3 status we can sit in the chairs, but aside from that, how does it effect tests and challenges with people who acknowledge your status? I'm mostly familiar with MET where they just add to your social traits.


#2 -- Purchasing merits with EXP. I've yet to apply the remainder of my EXP from Domani on Amara, and will be doing it once the laptop gets up and running again, and i have been considering buying a merit or two to add to her character sheet. I know I asked about this once upon a time a long time ago, and was told that it is possible, but needs justification. What I didn't get was what the cost in EXP was for it.

I've seen it done three ways in other games: Double cost of merit = EXP cost. Merit level as if it were an ability rating = EXP cost (so a 3 point merit would cost the same as three levels of an ability). Merit level = EXP cost (seems really cheap, but I've seen it done).

Do we use anything like this or is it completely different?

#4 -- EXP costs for non influence backgrounds. How much does it cost to raise say... herd from 1 to 2, mentor from 3-4, or fame, from 2 to 3? The web site seemed kinda ambigious on this, as it seemed that different BGs had different costs. At this point I'm mostly interested in Mentor.

#5 -- Melpominee 3. This power enables a singer to kindle emotions choice in the people who hear their songs. The system however is rather faulty because it's based on fifths of the audiance. It states that for each success, 1/5 of the audiance is effected.

Why is this a problem? What happens if you are using it on an audiance of 2 people? Generally speaking, if I were ST, I would rule that each success effected 1 person for groupings fewer than 5.

#6 -- MElpominee 4. The renowned power of the daughters to inflict madness upon other people. Basically the Daughter of Cacophony sings her song, and then a derangement is chosen by the ST that the PC (or PCs) is effected by. The question that rises however is whether the Daughter has any idea of what they are doing in the situation.

Are they able to choose a song with certain emotions with the hope of directing specific derangements such as obcession, crimson rage, disassociative identity disorder (actually WW calls it multiple personalities), etc? If not, then... is this to say that it's completely random? That's a little scary for the user of the discipline if she dosn't know if she's turning her victims into emotionless sociopaths, or cognitively 6 year old children. Personally, I'd like to think that they'd be able to direct it to some degree thus giving the STs some suggestions in the derangement selection.

#6 Uhmmm... Something.... forgot what I was gonna ask.

Thanks in advance!

[Kenneth Ashland]

In regards to #1, I could go on for hours, but it's easier to review the guide already available on the ECC site:

www.emeraldcitychronicles.com/68201/52033.html

[Kaine Chandler]

yeah, so it might not be a bad idea to talk to ross ooc sometime, but there really aren't sut and dry rules for interaction as far as status goes, if a low status mouths off to a high status they can get in trouble, and high status's can request more for less cost of lower, but it really all comes down to what you can get away with and who's gonna call you on it...
re 2: i need to check on that
re 3: watch more sesame street and remember your numbers
re 4: all backgrounds are current x2, but require a story, mentor determines not only the number but the strength of your mentor, so at 4pts you can have one 4pt mentor or 2 2pters etc, and to buy from 3 to 4 thus costs 6xp, but you have to detail your mentors to the bookeeper st, or you'll have a really hard time calling on them... and suddenly changing your mentor's strength, or adding a mentor requires some serious story, unless you simply undervalued him/her at creation and need to catch up
re 5: that seems reasonable, but again i need to check
re 6: this depends on her experience not only with her own power (ie how long has she had it and how often has she used it) but also on her knowledge of derangements, ie a psychiatry rating, i suspect if she has a high understanding of psychology and music, she could attempt to affect the outcome, but ultimately, it is still in the hands of the ST to consider how much influence she may have, since the book rules it random st decision, and there are other factors than the song itself which might contribute to the derangement caused (as many psycotropics are affected by the mental state of the user, so would the listeners own mental state affect the derangement)