from the forthcoming Houses of the Blooded, I give you…
Loyalty & Treachery
For the ven, few virtues are as sacred as loyalty. Because they are creatures driven by desire and temptation, loyalty is valued highest in the courts… even treasured in some circles.
Like traits and Desires, your character has a number of Loyalties on his sheet, and like traits and Desires, each Loyalty has a name and a rank. Again, you have ten points to spend on Loyalties, but this time, the names you can give a Loyalty are a bit more strict.
You may only be loyal to people, not ideals or Houses or any other abstract thing. You cannot be loyal to your sword or your own word or “justice.” Just people. You may be loyal to people outside or inside your House, to nobles or commoners, but you must have ten points of Loyalties on your sheet before your character can come into play. And, like Desires, no Loyalty can begin higher than rank 3.
Using Loyalty
Whenever your character takes an action that supports another character you are Loyal to, you may choose to gain a number of dice equal to that Loyalty. This is called invoking Loyalty.
Whenever you invoke a Loyalty, put a check next to it in the box provided on the character sheet. At the end of each Season, any Loyalties with checks next to them go up by one rank. Any Loyalties without checks next to them do not advance, but if a Loyalty does increase by one rank, you must decrease another Loyalty by one rank. Here’s how it works.
Start with your highest Loyalty. If it has a check, it goes up by one rank. You must then decrease your lowest Loyalty by one rank. Go to your next highest Loyalty and go through the same process. If a Loyalty ever goes to rank 0, you lose that Loyalty.
Treachery
As Lessons teaches us, “A stranger cannot betray you; only a friend can do that.” There may come a time when your character has to betray a beloved friend. If you ever take an action against a character who has Loyalty toward you, you gain a number of dice equal to the Loyalty. For example, if another character has a rank 3 Loyalty towards your character, if you actively betray that character, you gain three dice for that risk.
Whenever you take such an action, record it on your sheet under “Treachery.” Each Treachery you have subtracts one die from any risk involving trust, but adds a die for each risk involving further treachery. For example, if you have two Treacheries on your sheet and you betray a friend who has a rank 2 Loyalty to you, you gain two dice for the Loyalty plus two more dice from your Treacheries for a total of 4 dice added to the risk.