General Rules

• Lethal Called Shots: A called shot to the head, using any kind of weapon or firearm, inflicts lehtal damage. An unarmed strike to the head still inflicts bashing damage, unless the character has some way to inflict lethal hand damage. Targeting the head imposes a –5 modifier. This applies to vampires as well as the brain is still a necessary organ.

Rationale: Damage to the head with anything hard or fast enough to crack the skull often causes brain damage, and that’s a pretty sure way to kill a person.


• Bleeding Out: Any wound that causes at least two points of lethal or aggravated damage, and is inflicted by a firearm, blade, claw or any other source that causes deep tissue damage, begins to bleed profusely. The victim suffers one point of bashing damage each turn the wound is left untended. Bleeding victims can be stabilized with a successful Intelligence + Medicine roll, with a –1 dice penalty for each point of lethal damage caused by the initial wound.

Rationale: A gunshot might not kill a person, but the resultant blood loss very easily can.


• Freezing Under Fire: Whenever a character is fired upon, the player must roll Resolve + Composure. If the roll succeeds, the character can act normally. If the roll fails, the player must spend a Willpower point for the character to act (this Willpower point bestows no other bonus on any rolls the player might make that turn). If the character has no Willpower to spend, for whatever reason, he freezes up. A character who has frozen up does not receive Defense during that turn. A “frozen” character regains control on his next action, or sooner if a comrade devotes an action to snapping him out of it. This does not apply to characters with the Combatant Merit.

Rationale: Being shot at is terrifying, even if the shots won’t stand any real chance of hitting. Loud noises trigger our panic responses, and the sound of bullets careening off nearby surfaces is enough to try anyone’s courage.

• Injuries Last: Any single attack that inflicts more damage than a victim’s Stamina, Composure or Resolve has the potential to do lasting damage to the character. If the character does not receive medical attention or supernatural healing within one hour of the wound being inflicted, the player rolls the relevant trait(s), applying any wound penalties. If the roll fails, the character either loses a dot from that Attribute or gains a Flaw relevant to the injury (player’s choice). If the damage was bashing, the trait returns (or the Flaw fades) in one month, or in two weeks if the character receives appropriate medical care. If the damage was lethal, the effect is permanent, but a lost Attribute can be repurchased for half the normal experience cost. A Flaw fades after the character has devoted appropriate energy and time into getting rid of it (Storyteller’s discretion; at least one story). If the damage that caused the injury was aggravated, the effect is permanent and the player must pay the usual amount of experience to get the Attribute back. The Flaw can be phased out as described for lethal damage, though the Storyteller should feel no compulsion to make it easy.

Rationale: Injuries don’t fade just because the checked boxes on the character sheet got erased. Recovery from serious injury can take months or years, or permanently alter a character’s life.

• Kung Fu Fury: Characters fighting unarmed gain a damage bonus equal to half the dots they possess in any Brawl-based Fighting Style Merit (Boxing, Kung Fu, etc.), effectively turning their hands into weapons. If a character possesses multiple Brawl-based fighting styles, the player chooses which style to use to determine his damage bonus. This bonus does not stack with a damage bonus to unarmed attacks from other sources (such as a werewolf’s claws or a wizard’s magically-enhanced fists), and the character must be able to employ the Fighting Style to gain the benefit (a changeling shape shifted into the form of a cat or a werewolf in the throes of Rage are both unable to employ Fighting Style Merits and so do not gain this benefit, for example).

Rationale: Skilled martial artists are usually depicted as being able to inflict almost-supernatural amounts of damage with their bare fists and feet. This gives martial artists a leg-up in damage when compared to Weaponry or Firearms specialists.