General House Rules

H

Retainer

We will be using the version of the Retainer Merit found in Geist. For those without access, the wording is as follows:

If a retainer must roll for an action, double the Retainer Merit dots and use them as a dice pool for any action core to his primary focus or concept. For example, an auto mechanic would get that on Crafts or perhaps Drive rolls. For other rolls, use the Merit rating by itself as a dice pool. Additionally, a Retainer can have access to twice the Merit dots in her own Merits. These are limited to Merits that don’t create additional Storyteller Characters — your Retainer can’t have a Retainer, who then has another Retainer, for example. But he could have Resources, Status, or a fighting Style Merit.

Weapon Ranges and Distance

We will be using the range bands system from Hurt Locker

Ambidextrous

Only costs 1 XP instead of 3 as stated in the book and can be bought after character creation

Quick Draw

This applies to any weapons, even those that fall under Athletics like bows, not just Weaponry and Firearms

September 17th, 2025 September 17th, 2025

Mage House Rules

H M

Ephemeral Magic

Rules as written, you need Spirit to affect Ghosts and Goetia for some effects but not others. We believe that a Moros shouldn’t have to master their Inferior Arcanum, nor should a Mastigos have to Master a Common Arcanum to fully affect entities that are tied to their realms and Ruling Arcana.

Any spell that could affect a Spirit, but has ‘add Death or Mind’ as part of its description can instead be considered to have a mirrored spell in those respective Arcana instead. For example, the Spirit 1 spell: Exorcist's Eye is worded:

The first spell most Spirit mages learn, this spell allows the mage to perceive and speak with spirits in the physical world, whether they are roaming freely in Twilight, slumbering within an object (including discorporated spirits in hibernation), or possessing a living being. She can also sense any spirit-related Manifestation Conditions in the area. Finally, she can see the conduit of any spirit with the Reaching Manifestation, but cannot communicate across the Gauntlet.

+1 Reach: The mage may shift her perceptions to see across the Gauntlet and into the Shadow (or into the physical world if she’s in the Shadow). The spell is Withstood by the Gauntlet Strength.

Add Death • or Mind •: These benefits extend to ghosts or Goetia, respectively.

Instead, assume there is a Death 1 and Mind 1 version of this spell that works for ghosts or Goetia, respectively. All three of these spells can be combined with the other two Arcana, however, so as to not necessitate a combined spell.

Familiars

When creating a familiar, assume your familiar has maximum dots for a spirit of their rank. Ex. Per the rules for creating ephemeral entities, a Rank 1 entity has 5-8 Attributes and 1-3 Numina. A PC’s Rank 1 familiar would have 8 attributes and 3 Numina.

Rote Skills

Players may choose one of the suggested rote skills for any listed spell or one of their Order’s rote. Please exercise your judgement, this is meant to allow flexibility not to have all your Rotes use only your Order Rote Skills.

September 17th, 2025 September 17th, 2025

Vampire Rules

V H

Feeding Rules

Nightly Base Equation (round down)

Vitae = (Max Vitae ÷ 2) + Bonuses – Penalties

Apply Merit Bonuses: Feeding Grounds adds to nightly blood pool on a 1 for 1 basis (ex: BP 2 Vampire with an 11 Vitae Max with a Feeding Grounds of 3 begins each night with 8 Blood Points)
Apply Conditional Modifiers

Condition	Effect
Fed in a recent logged scene	+1–3 Vitae
Heat 3+	–1 Vitae per Level of Heat
Haven under siege/suspicion	–1 Vitae per Level of Heat

Vitae Cap

You may not begin the night with more than your Max Vitae, but you may begin with less than half under poor circumstances. Bonuses and Penalties may not exceed 5 for nightly Vitae calculations.

Top-Off Feeding

1x per night, before major scenes or downtime segments, PCs may make a quick Feeding Roll per Vampire the Requiem p96 with the following additions:

Result		Heat Risk
Dramatic Failure		+2-3 Heat
Failure		+1-2 Heat
Success		+0-1 Heat
Exceptional Success		No Heat

Heat is generated by individual Feeding method, that being subtle or unsubtle. Topping Off feeding is outside of standard routines and therefore risky.

Herd’s use is for Top-Off feeding rolls and operates as described in the Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition with the following addition: Herd usage does not incur Heat Gain.

Heat

What is Heat?

Heat represents how much attention a character has drawn from Division 18. It tracks visible activity, risks to the Masquerade, and paper trails… digital or otherwise. Heat is a Kindred specific mechanic, as Division 18 are not Witch Hunters and will offer free drug screenings for any reports of Faeries.

Every PC starts with 0 Heat. It can rise through actions, rumors, or associations, and can only be reduced by:

Lay low actions (Kindred naturally lose 1 level per 2 weeks)
Boons to the right Kindred
Burning bridges, relocating, or calling in favors with appropriate Contacts or Allies

Heat Levels

Heat Level	Label	Division 18 Response
0	Cold	Off the radar. You’re a ghost.
1	Warm	Passive surveillance: flagged face, no action (yet).
2	Watched	Division 18 starts following digital and feeding activity.
3	Suspect	Light harassment: civilian interviews, “random” patrols.
4	Hot	Tracked. Surveillance van nearby. Contact risk escalating.
5	Burned	Identified as a hostile entity. Detain/neutralize orders issued.

Gaining Heat

Heat is assigned at ST discretion based on player actions. Use it to reflect visible footprint, not morality.

Each offense below adds 1 Offense Point unless otherwise noted.
Every 5 Offense Points = 1 Heat Level.
Modifiers are cumulative (e.g., a messy kill with witnesses is 3 offenses).

The Examples below are not exhaustive and are merely meant to show the various reasons heat can be gained.

- Messy Kiss (corpse left behind) → 1 offense
- Feeding with obvious violence in public → 1 offense
- Witness sees fangs/feeding → 1 offense per witness
- Failing to dispose of the body properly → +1 offense
- Showing supernatural powers in front of witnesses → 1 offense per use
- Leaving evidence of supernatural activity (blood sigils, claw marks, burned floors, etc.) → 1 offense
- Breaking into police records/authority systems clumsily → 1 offense
- Frenzy in public → 2 offenses
- Torpor in public place → 2 offenses
- Killing a mortal in cold blood (unfed) → 1 offense
- Kindred-on-Kindred violence in public (fight seen/heard by mortals) → 2 offenses
- Explosion, fire, or armed gunfight with mortals present → 2 offenses
- Leaving mortal law enforcement casualties → +1 offense per officer
- Drawing media attention (news story, social media trending) → 1 offense
- Involving corrupt officials in sloppy ways (bribes traced back, intimidation recorded) → 1 offense
- High-profile disappearance (politician, celebrity, cop) → 3 offenses
- Using ghouls recklessly (ghoul caught on camera doing something inhuman) → 1 offense

Custom Merits

Heat Magnet (••• or ••••)

Prerequisite: No Anonymity

Effect: You draw attention—intentionally or not. Whether it's arrogance, style, or old vendettas, Division 18’s eye keeps sliding toward you instead of others nearby.

••• : Once per week, you may absorb up to 3 Heat offense boxes from another Kindred. You take them at a 1:2 ratio—for every 2 offenses you absorb, you tick 1 box toward your own Heat. (e.g., absorb 3 ticks → gain 1 tick yourself; the rest dissipates)

•••• : Once per day, you may redirect any number of Heat offense boxes from one Kindred to yourself at the same 1:2 rate. In addition, you automatically lose 1 offense box per week from your personal tracker as long as you're below Heat 4. At Heat 3+, gain +2 to Intimidation or Presence vs mortals due to your unshakable notoriety.

For obvious reasons, Heat Magnets cannot be Off The Grid

Off the Grid (•••)

Prerequisite: No Fame

Effect: You are adept at hiding your tracks. Your Haven isn’t registered, your feeding isn’t patterned, and your face never sticks in memory.

Once per night, when you would gain a Heat offense box, you may roll Wits + Subterfuge:

Success: The box does not accumulate.

Exceptional Success: Not only does the Kindred not accumulate Heat, they also shake some of the Heat they already had. Remove a tick of Heat.

Additionally, your Heat offenses decay faster: you lose 1 level every week without an incident instead of two weeks.

September 17th, 2025

House Rules

The following house rules are being implemented