Overview:

Influence will be handled differently in this game. The book rules do not seem realistic enough to reflect how pivotal a part it plays among most Kindreds unlives in the Camarilla. In most games the influence of a city is siezed rather rapidly without too much trouble and then plays little part (beyond covering up the occasional masquerade breach) there after. In this game influence will be VERY important. Not only will it be difficult to gain control of large amounts, but it will be hard to remain in control of what you DO have. Remember that influence over mortal society is power and those with lots of it wield vast amounts of power not only among mortals, but among Kindred as well (especially when it comes to dealing with superiors both within the city and outside it).

Influence in Windsor is divided into "Districts". When purchasing influence you must designate which district it is located in. Also keep in mind that typically, influence will only directly affect the district that it is held in (even though it could indirectly affect surrounding districts, depending on how you use it). Each district has a varying amount of influence available depending on the focus of the mortal population there. This information will be accessible to all players in the form of City Influence Chart since it will be relatively easy to figure out without to much trouble. Each individual type of influence will have two numbers listed after it. The first number (which will always be the largest) will be the total levels available for that influence in the district. The second number (which will be half of the first number) will be the "highest level of usage" that can be performed using the influence tables in the rule books (Laws of the Night, 3rd Ed.: PP 96-104 / Camarilla Guide: PP 26-35).

Example - Lets say that your interested in Legal influence in the Business District. You look under the Business District section of the City Influence Chart and the following is writen; Legal 8 / 4. This means that their is a total of 8 levels of Legal influence in that district and you can use up to level 4 on the table in the rule book (Page 100).

Even though a character may already have the "highest level of usage" for a specific influence in a particular district, he can still purchase additional levels. The advantages in doing so range from being able to perform multiple actions to the complete control of it within that district. If an individual controls all the levels available for a specific influence in a district, then the "highest level of usage" increases by one for as long as they maintain total control. This is to reflect your singular control over a specific influence in a district (since you don't have to compete against someone else for control and can focus/restructure it to be more effective).

Example - Suppose you have 6 levels of the Legal influence mentioned in the previous example. You can still only use up to level 4 on the table in the rule book but you could expend all 6 points and perform two level 3 actions or one level 4 and one level 2 action (get the idea).

Example - Now lets say you end up controlling all 8 levels of Legal influence. As long as you retain control of all 8 points you can now perform up to level 5 actions on the table (instead of level 4).

If an individual can gain complete control of all the points of one type of influence in the city he or she will gain the following benefits. The "highest level of usage" increases in each district by one point (this is in addition to the increase for complete of an individual district, so you effectively get to raise the "highest level of usage" that is writen on the City Influence Chart by 2 points) and the individual can pool the total number of points they have in all districts for use anywhere throughout the city.

Example - Carl Burger completely controls the underworld in all 8 districts of the city. Here are the numbers for each district as they would appear on the City Influence Chart:

His "highest levels of usage" for each district increases by two points (1 for completely controlling each on the district level and 1 for completely controlling all points of Underworld influence on the city level). So the numbers will now look like this:

He then adds the total levels available for each district together. The resulting number (which in this case is 48), now becomes his pool of Underworld influence that he can expend in any district, anywhere in the city (up to the "highest level of usage" for whatever particular district he wants to use it in). So he could conceivably expend all 48 points in District #1 to perform twelve level 4 actions or three level 8 actions in District #6 and six level 4 actions in District #2 (pretty frightening if you think about it).

Each of the seven clans will start the game with access to influence in specific districts (representing the territory given to them by the Prince as their clan feeding grounds in the city). It is recommended that players hold off on what specific types of influence they will control until they can meet with their fellow clanmates to formulate a strategy for how they want to divide things up. Keep in mind that each clan is also responsible for covering up masquerade breaches within their respective territories. The inability to do so will not only make the clan in question look bad, but it will bring serious repercussions down on them as a whole from their superiors (i.e. the Prince or if really serious... Archons).

Finding Out Who Controls What Influence:

Besides finding out "in character" (either by overhearing it or by someone telling you), their are two other ways to dig this information up.

One way is by temporarily expending influence to find out. If you temporarily expend one point you can determine who else controls the same type of influence within the same or adjacent district and if any is unclaimed (but not any exact numbers). If you temporarily expend an additional point you can figure out exactly how much each controls (and how much remains unclaimed). If you do this you should specify what influence you are expending (and where it is located) and the location of the influence you want to find out about.

The other way is to temporarily expend contacts in place of influence. Just follow the guidelines in the previous paragraph and replace any expenditures of influence with contacts instead.

It will be up to the individual player to keep track of this information (considering this will be a book-keeping nightmare for the storytellers). It is recommended that you note the date that you find out this information, considering that it can become dated rather quickly if alot of influence is changing hands between sessions.

Expanding/Attacking Influence:

Sooner or later you will want to expand your characters influence base (more than likely at the expense of others). Attacking other characters influence should not be taken lightly. Most Kindred will treat this much like a direct physical attack upon themselves. If you are sloppy it is a very quick way to make many enemies. Sometimes the risks are worth it though and as the game progresses it will be quite possible that some individuals will have a strangle hold on certain types of influence (of course they will more than likely have made a wide variety of enemies in the process).

Expanding and attacking influence will take place between sessions and characters will be limited to making a total of two expansions/attacks (although they can make an unlimited amount of counter attacks). The following steps outline what you need to do:

Step #1 - What influence you will be using for the expansion/attack (it must be unexpended point[s] of the same type... i.e. use police to expand/attack police).

Step #2 - Location of targeted Influence (i.e. what district). By default unclaimed influence will be targeted first, unless you know who controls what influence (see the section Finding Out Who Controls What Influence) in which case you can choose.

Step #3 - Initiate the expansion/attack by temporarily expend the influence you are using (1 point for within the same district, 2 points if into an adjacent district).

The following time restraints will also be imposed to help keep this running smoothly:

• All expansion/attack plans must be sent to the storytellers by the Friday following the last session, any received after this time WILL NOT occur.
• Following this the defenders will be notified, at the latest by Sunday night, of attacks on their influence and what their options are (repulse the attack by temporarily expending influence, if they are able to counter attack or if they know where the attack came form) or if they have lost the influence in question.
• Counter attack plans must be sent to the storytellers by the day before the next session (Thursday) and the outcomes will be determined before the session begins (those involved will be informed of the results at the beginning of the session). You should also include any information your character knows about who controls what influence in the district the attack came from (if we inform you that you are aware of where the attack came from) and the date which you found out this information so that we can possibly give you the identity of who is behind the attack on your influence.

(Errata/Clarification: 4/8/01 - In order to gain control of unclaimed/uncontrolled influence the player must still temporarily expend the appropriate amount of the same influence [1 if within the same district, 2 if in an adjacent district]. The Storytellers will perform a test between sessions, a result of a win or tie means that the influence has been successfully brought under their control and a loss means that it has not.)

(Errata/Clarification: 4/8/01 - Influence may also be traded or turned over to another character by peacefully and willing doing so. There are three rules for this; [1] You cannot initiate any expansion/attacks between the sessions that you intend to do this [although you can still counter attack]. [2] A total of 4 points of influence may be exchanged this way [so if you swap 2 points with someone that counts as a total of 4 points, you giving 2 points and receiving 2 points]. [3] No test is needed to make sure you gain control of points you are receiving [even though you could possibly lose points from someone else attacking the influence you just received].)

Influence Attack Rules:

(Errata/Clarification - These rules are given so that players will be aware of the steps the storytellers will be taking to resolve influence conflicts. Beyond this, players do not need to know these rules)

In the event of an attack the storytellers will determine the outcome by performing a series of challenges between sessions, the players (attacker and defender) will not be involved in this (although the defender will be notified of the attack and if they have the option to counter attack) but below are the guidelines that will be followed. It will be done this way to keep things running smoothly and who controls what influence a secret.

• Step #1 (determine outcome) - Perform a challenge.
  • Win = Attacker succeeds and siezes one point of influence, the defender does not know where the attack came from.
  • Tie = Defender may repulse the attack by temporarily expending the defending point or another point of the same influence in the same district if he has it (if unable to do either of these treat a tie as a win) and does not know where the attack came from.
  • Loss = Defender repulses attack, DOES NOT have to temporarily expend the defending point and is aware of where the attack came from (although not necessarily who controls it). The defender then has the option to counter attack the influence that just attacked him.
• Step #2 (counter attack) - Temporarily expend the influence point in question (must also expend one additional point of the same type if counter attacking into an adjacent district) and perform a challenge.
  • Win = Counter attack succeeds and the influence in question is seized.
  • Tie = Defender may repulse the attack by temporarily expending another point of the same influence in the same district if he has it (since the point being attacked has already been expended), if unable to do this treat a tie as a win.
  • Loss = Defender repulses counter attack, but no further counter attack is allowed (considering the influence he defended with is already been temporarily expended).

To consolidate any gains made, from both successful attacks and counter attacks takes time (and costs NO experience points). The Influence in question is considered expended until the beginning of the next session to reflect this.

Using Influence:

All uses of influence (during or between sessions) must be approve by the storytellers. If you are using influence between sessions you must inform the storytellers of what you are intending to use it for by the Friday following the last session, any plans involving influence received after this time WILL NOT occur (with the exceptions explained in the previous section involving influence defense and counter attacking).

All expansion/attack actions, counter attacks and normal between session uses of influence are considered to happen simultaneously (so it is possible for you to successfully seize a point, only to lose the point you attacked with to someone else... or... to expend a point for a normal usage, only to lose it immediately afterward from an attack).

Regaining Expended Influence:

Influence that is expended during or between sessions will be available again for use at the beginning of the next session (unless otherwise noted).