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Getting Lore - From "Dark Epics", page 52

How long should a level of the Lore ability take to learn? Who should have access to the higher levels? How should it be taught?

- A character can attain a single level of Lore in just a few months of diligent study.

- Learning the second level is a far more substantial task that requires at least a year of study and training. It is effectively the highest level that one can learn in the course of a live-action chronicle unless the storyteller not follow a real-time timeline, and he allows years to pass in the game world between sessions.

- One attains the third level in a lore through in-depth study for a decade or more.

- The fourth level is available only to those who have made it a lifelong study, as at least a lifetime is required to attain such a level of scholarly understanding. It is effectively the highest level that non-immortal characters can achieve without some means of greatly extending their life span.

- Attaining the fifth level in a lore is extremely difficult. Those who have achieved this level of expertise have spent several lifetimes or more in pursuit of knowledge pertaining to the subject. Therefore, the fifth level is only truly available to immortal or undead creatures.

After character creation, characters must be taught lore in order to gain more levels in it. Simple observation of the subject can hardly justify learning levels of the Ability. Since it is difficult for one person to teach someone the entirety of her knowledge on a subject (especially in an unbiased manner), a character must learn Lore levels beyond the first from multiple teachers.

The number of teachers required is equal to the level of Lore being learned, and each teacher must have that level of Lore to be able to teach it. For example, in a game where the Storyteller advances the story line by 50 years or so between games, a character could learn "Brujah Lore" to level four in "Downtime" if he had four teachers that each had four levels of that Lore. At your Storytellers discretion, Lore can be learned from tomes and texts, but such a source should never count as being more than a single level, regardless of how many ancient libraries the character sifts through.

Lore Mastery Made Easy

Gangrel are aware of some of the philosophical reasoning behind Garou hatred towards the Kindred. The Tremere attempt to avoid the problems of the Ascension War. The Giovanni scoffs at the problems inherent within the political scenes of Stygian, right?

Wrong! These are misconceptions commonly encountered in LARP games. The truth of the matter is, the Tremere left the world of the Hermetic Houses long before the Ascension War became an official issue, most Giovanni have only the vaguest idea of what goes on in the Shadow lands and there never was, nor is there ever likely to be, a pact between the Gangrel and the Garou (Gangrel don't even generally know the word "Garou"). Knowledge of the World of Darkness' supernatural elements doesn't come easily, and even mastery of Lores doesn't necessarily grant inside information.

Below is a description of the types of information that different forms of the Lore ability grants, based upon the works written by Jess Heinig (developer of Laws of the Hunt and Mage: the Ascension, Revised) for the MET Journal, as well as some additional material.

Vampire Lore

Vampire Lore does not assume inside information on vampires. It is a combination of (generally human-based) folklore, study and observation. For deeper secrets, Cainite/Kindred Lore is required. Note: five levels of Vampire Lore would be the equivalent of one level of Cainite/Kindred (in short, vampires are assumed to possess the equivalent of 5 levels of Vampire Lore).

Level One: You may know that vampires are real. Sunlight, silver, fire, wooden stakes through the heart and holy symbols are said to injure them, and the unloving may not approach a bearer of the cross. Garlic wards against vampires, vampires may cross running water (which disintegrates them if they are immersed in it), and they may not enter a domicile uninvited. Vampires cannot cross holy ground. They may not cast reflections. Vampires must sleep during the day in a coffin lined with fresh grave earth. You know that all vampires are unusually pale and thin, and they often have claws or glowing eyes in addition to fangs.

You believe that most vampires are stronger and faster than humans, and they can control minds, change into bestial forms and see or hear things that humans cannot sense. People who are bitten by vampires become vampires themselves, as a vampire must have its head cut off and its mouth filled with holy wafers or garlic if it is to be killed permanently, or else it must die from exposure to sunlight or running water.

Level Two: Sunlight can kill vampires, and crosses, silver and wooden stakes can injure them, though these last may not kill them. Vampires dislike garlic but it does not hurt them. Running water has no adverse effect upon them, but they cannot cross it. A strongly presented cross can force a vampire to stay back, but only for a short time. Vampires cannot tread on holy ground or enter churches uninvited. A vampire must sleep during the day, usually in a coffin or crypt. You know that vampires are pale and often thin, and they have fangs, while a few may have glowing eyes or claws (although these are usually only evident if the vampire is enraged).

You know that vampires are stronger and hardier than humans, and are sometimes faster, though not always. All vampires can heal wounds rapidly, so most mortal injuries do not slow them overmuch. Most vampires have some ability to influence minds or emotions in some form. People bitten by vampires may not become vampires themselves, but such victims do die. A vampire, once beaten, can be slain only if its decapitated.

Level Three: Fire and Sunlight can injure vampires, and prolonged exposure can kill them. Silver has no special effect on most vampires, nor do crucifixes, although priests can harm vampires with crosses and blessed crosses or holy water are effective. A vampire’s body decomposes rapidly upon death. Priests can keep vampires at bay by holding out a cross, but the tactic does not necessarily work for others. Vampires can enter places uninvited, but they can only enter a church if invited by the priest. Running water neither harms nor blocks vampires, and garlic may repulse them briefly but does not injure or stop them. Mirrors have no effect upon vampires, and most vampires cast reflections. All vampires must sleep during the day, though they need not do so in a coffin or crypt, and they don’t always need fresh soil. Many vampires have particular quirks, such as feeding only on a few select victims, collecting ancient art of all sorts or evidencing horrific or animalistic features. Vampires are often pallid and sometimes unnaturally lean, and they do not naturally breathe; they also do not eat or drink. A vampire’s fangs are only visible when the vampire feeds.

Vampires drink people's blood, but doing so does always kill the victims, and even those so killed do not always come back as vampires. A vampire is usually stronger than a human, and it can always absorb more injury, but it may or may not be faster. Vampires are not always smarter than humans, but old ones are usually quite crafty. All vampires have at least some special powers, though these vary; mind control, speed, sensitivity, concealment and emotional control are common, while more arcane abilities like shape shifting are more rare. Vampires that are related often have similar powers and weaknesses. Vampires sometimes claim certain allegiances and groups of vampires from different environments may be hostile to one another.

Level Four: Fire and sunlight injure or kill vampires, and the uliving flee from these forces. You know that a wooden stake throughout he heart immobilizes a vampire but does not kill it. Decapitation will kill a vampire, though. A vampire’s body decomposes rapidly upon death, unless the individual became a vampire recently. Crosses and holy objects sometimes hurt or ward against vampires, though not always; most often, they work for priests, but not priests can use them, and some people who cross aren't priests can. A vampire can enter a place uninvited, even a church, and it can cross holy ground unless barred by someone using a holy symbol. Running water, mirrors and garlic do not injure or hinder vampires. Most vampires cast reflections. Vampires often sleep during the day, but they can do so in any location away from sunlight. You know that vampires are usually pale and sometimes rather thin, and that they don't generally breathe; they are also cold to the touch, and sometimes they have monstrous features ( especially when angry).

You've learned that vampires often gather in groups or families, and these families usually share similar powers. You’ve also heard that many vampires claim descent from Cain, the first murderer from the Bible, though there are some (especially outside of Europe and the Americas) who have different legends of ancestry. Furthermore, most vampires claim allegiance to some sort of political group (though you've probably only heard the name of one of the Sects, and you know only that other Sects exits, if that much). Young vampires have a few powers, while older ones have multiple powers and stronger, stranger abilities. Vampires usually have some sort of weakness, and families often share the same weakness, such as a preference for feeding on a certain type of person or a fondness for art. Vampires are not always more physically powerful than humans, but they can often temporarily boost their strength or speed, and some are always stronger. Old vampires tend to be far, far more powerful than humans or even younger vampires. Vampiric powers include the ability to control animals or people, to sway emotions, to resist injury, to become highly sensitive, to conceal oneself, to shape shift, (a rare power), to cast spells (also rare) or to exhibit incredible strength and speed. A vampire can heal most wounds very rapidly, though only to some degree. You know that vampires sometimes go berserk when very hungry or badly wounded. People bitten by vampires do not always become vampires; the vampire must feed the person some blood first, and the victim must die. People who drink vampire blood without dying may gain great strength or vampiric powers, and such people often serve the vampire in question. Vampires can retract their fangs to hide them, and they can close the wounds from their bites.

Level Five: Vampires are injured or even killed by fire and sunlight, holy symbols and objects only have an effect if the bearer has faith, and decapitation kills them. A wooden stake through the heart paralyzes a vampire, but does kill it. You know that running water and garlic bar only a very few vampires at all, and that only some lack reflections. Vampires must sleep during the day, though they can rise (with great difficulty) in times of danger.

You know that vampires organize themselves according to lines of lineage (sometimes called "bloodlines", "families" or "clans"), and that vampires of common lineages often share similar powers and interests. Each of these lineages apparently traces back to a powerful progenitor, and then (perhaps) to Cain, the Biblical murderer cursed with vampirism by God for his deeds. Vampires also divide themselves among certain political allegiances; the" Camarilla", consists of vampires who try to hide their nature from humanity, while the "Sabbat" is populated with vampires who revel in their nature (it is also probable that the names of these two groups are not known to you). Vampires may enter domains freely and without invitation. Many vampires manifest a few different powers, and you know of many of the common abilities (incredible strength, resilience, sensitivity; the ability to control minds [sometimes animals, sometimes people], sway emotions, conceal or change shape), but only very old vampires have a great variety of powers. Also some rare vampires can cast spells, control shadows, shape change into animals or control the dead. A vampire passes on the curse by draining the blood of an individual and then feeding them some of their own. Individuals who drink the blood of a vampire may feel a mystical bond of servitude towards that vampire; if human, such individuals may gain some vampiric powers. Vampires have a mortal terror of fire and sunlight, both of which may cause them to flee. Vampires can also be goaded into rage through insult, injury or hunger. A vampire can heal injuries inflicted by normal sources--swords, falls and the like--rapidly. Vampires are usually (but not always) somewhat pallid, and they lose a bit of weight in the process of "dying". The fangs of a vampire only extend when the vampire wishes to feed or is enraged. Furthermore, a vampire can lick a wound, causing it to close. Vampires do not breathe naturally, and they cold, although some vampires can overcome this shortcoming with effort.

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