Virtue Tests

When you suffer from an ethical dilemma, overpowering rage or incredible fear, you may use a Virtue Test to resist succumbing to the Beast. Such a test is a Static Challenge. The difficulty varies with the stimulus, as described for each sort of Virtue. Note that you are

never required to make a Virtue Test; you may relent and automatically lose, if desired. If you win a Virtue Test, your morals overcome the Beast and you hold fast against the predator. When you lose a Virtue Test, you suffer a lapse of virtue. You suffer from a debilitating Negative Trait or problem, as described under the appropriate Virtue. 

You may make one retest on a failed Virtue Test by risking an appropriate Virtue Trait; if you succeed in the retest, you only lose a Virtue Trait temporarily (for the rest of the session, making you more likely to succumb to further failings if you are not careful). If you lose the retest, you gain a temporary derangement related to your failure in addition to suffering the normal results of a Virtue Test loss. Note specifically that you may not overbid on a Virtue Test.

Regaining Virtue Traits requires the expenditure of Experience, as well asconsistent roleplaying for the particular strength that you wish to cultivate. 

 

See the specific Virtue descriptions for examples of Virtue Tests.

 

Conscience/Conviction

Conscience represents your tie to feelings of remorse and guilt. If you have a high Conscience, you suffer whenever you do something that you find morally wrong. As a result, your tie to your feelings keeps you from losing Morality Traits. Conviction, on the other hand, is the strength to resolve yourself against future failings. If you suffer a lapse of Morality but have a high Conviction, you chastise yourself and steel yourself against ever making the same mistake. This strength of character also keeps you from losing Morality Traits.

A Virtue Test of Conscience/ Conviction is appropriate whenever you violate your Morality Path, as described on the Hierarchies of Sin. Whenever you commit a violation that is at or below your current Morality Trait total on the Hierarchy of Sin, you must make a Conscience/ Conviction Virtue Test. If you have only two Morality Traits, breaches of higher Morality are too trivial to cost you any further ground, but if you have four or five Morality Traits, you must be careful to uphold your ethics with every action. The difficulty of the challenge is the level of the sin on the Hierarchy table; if you commit a sin at level four on the Hierarchy of Sins table, you have a four-Trait difficulty to your Conscience/ Conviction challenge.

Losing a Conscience/ Conviction Virtue Test causes you to immediately lose a Morality Trait.

 

Example: Adian Gray, a rather cold Ventrue with a Humanity of three Traits, winds up killing a mortal in the course of his investigations. Outright murder is a two-Trait sin, so Adian’s player makes a Conscience test with a difficulty of two Traits. If he wins or ties, Adian feels remorse for his actions and does not lose Humanity; if he loses, he suffers the loss of a Humanity Trait, dropping to two. Adian’s player makes the test and wins — Adian realizes that he could have avoided killing the mortal and feels shame and remorse for the deed. 

Later, Adian steals some documents while sneaking about the local police building. Since that is a four-Trait sin and he only has three Humanity Traits, it is too minor a crime to cause him further risk of Humanity. The player need not make a test of Conscience for that action.

 

 

Self Control / Instinct

When you are overcome with murderous rage or hunger, you can use your Self-Control to stand against the Beast, to fortify your will and to keep control over yourself. When you would normally enter frenzy, you can make a Virtue Test of Self-Control (though you are not required to do so); the difficulty varies as shown on the accompanying table. I f you succeed, you manage to push aside your feral urges for the time being. You then need not make any further Self-Control challenges against the same stimulus for the rest of that conflict.

Similarly, Instinct allows you to guide your frenzy, keeping some modicum of direction over your actions. If you have Instinct, you always enter frenzy, unless you have more Instinct than double the rating of the frenzy shown on the table, in which case, you may choose whether or not to enter frenzy. Once in frenzy, you can make an Instinct Virtue Test, if desired, to control your actions for one turn. If

you win the test, you manage to direct your frenzy for the turn, though of course you still suffer all the usual conditions of frenzy — resistance to injury, inability to use your Mental or Social powers and so on. If you lose, your frenzy proceeds as normal; in the event of a tie, compare your current Instinct Traits to the provocation rating to determine whether you manage to direct your frenzy.

You can never use more Self-Control/ Instinct Traits on Virtue Test resolution than your current number of Blood Traits. If you are hungry, it is hard to resist the call of frenzy. Note that you do not frenzy automatically if you run out of blood; however, you are very likely to frenzy if you are exposed to a stimulus, since you won’t be able to use any Self-Control/ Instinct Traits in the event of a tie. If you attempt to make a test of Self-Control/ Instinct and fail, you automatically gain the permanent Negative Social Trait: Callous or Condescending (your choice), though it can be bought off normally.

 

Example: Starved, stumbling down a side alley, Arithon catches sight of a mortal meal. Although he is out of blood, he does not frenzy immediately, since he is not yet agitated and has not scented blood. As he closes in, the punk belligerently turns to face him, and gives him a rude gesture. Now that he’s been harassed, Arithon must make a Self-Control Virtue Test, with a difficulty of two Traits. Since he is out of blood, he effectively has no Self-Control; he tests against another player (since it’s just a Static Challenge) and ties. With his lack of blood leaving him with no Self-Control Traits,

Arithon enters a frenzy, attempting to drain the mortal. He also gains a new permanent Negative Trait. Realizing that he can’t win on ties and that the mortal is unlikely to pose a problem, Arithon’s player decides not to risk any further Traits on a retest. 

Later, full of blood, Arithon is at a local club when he is accosted by an Assamite. The Assamite attacks him from surprise — a three-Trait provocation. Arithon’s player makes a Static Challenge. If he wins, he manages to control himself, and does not frenzy as the Assamite attacks him. If he ties, his Self-Control of two Traits is insufficient to best the frenzy stimulus; if he loses, he frenzies automatically.

 

 

Courage

The eternal life promised by the curse of Caine can be ended by varied means, the most painful of which are probably fire and sunlight. The searing wounds inflicted by these banes galvanize Cainites to extremes of self-preservation. Few can remain calm in the face of this destruction. Courage Traits measure self-possession and the ability to resist the terror inflicted by fire, sunlight and True Faith. You must make a Courage challenge when confronted with such attacks. If you succeed, you manage to resist the urge to flee for the duration of the conflict (or for 10 minutes). If you fail, though, you enter Rötschreck, a form of terrified frenzy in which you attempt to escape by any means possible. Losing a Courage Test also causes you to suffer from the Negative Physical Trait: Cowardly or the Negative Mental Trait: Submissive, permanently, although such Traits can be removed later with Experience. Note that you generally do not need to make a Courage Virtue Test against fire under your control. If you are lighting your own cigarette, for instance, or using the Thaumaturgy path The Lure of Flames, you are in control of the fire and thus unaffected by fear of it. However, if someone uses fire against you as a weapon (a hunter threatening to touch a lighter to your hair, facing someone brandishing a torch), you may need to make a Courage Test.

 

Example: Due to some rather rash actions, the haven of Marcus the Brujah is engulfed in flames. Marcus, Cassandra and John Slime are all surprised by the fire that bursts up from the floor. The Storyteller calls for a Virtue Test of Courage with all the vampires present, to see who succumbs to Rötschreck. The Storyteller throws Scissors. Marcus’ player throws Rock, and thus Marcus remains unaffected. John Slime and Cassandra’s players both throw Paper, so they’re in trouble. Both of the players risk a Courage Trait for a retest, and test against the Storyteller again. 

This time, Kurt wins, so John Slime manages to control himself, but he loses a Courage Trait for the evening — he’s shaken by the experience and more likely to flee from later threats. Katherine, on the other hand, ties on her retest, but Cassandra only has two Courage Traits. She loses the test, gains a Negative Trait, gains a temporary derangement and goes into Rötschreck.