RP Standards

Introduction

World of Darkness XIII is a Space Station 13 roleplaying server based on the titular TTRPG setting.

The game takes place in the year 2004, in the city of San Francisco – focusing on the nightly activities of its mortal population and the dark forces that steer it from the shadows.

It is heavily suggested to have a solid grasp on the lore of the Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition TTRPG as this is the setting the game is primarily based on. This page will link to multiple articles on the Unofficial White Wolf Wiki which provides good entry-level knowledge on the topics discussed below.

Roleplay Expectation

As a roleplaying server, we attempt to strike a balance between roleplay and gameplay in a way that best fits the storytelling nature of World of Darkness. Detailed below are the baselines that are expected of a player to contribute to an immersive atmosphere:

You should play a believable character that fits within the lore of the setting.
Your character should act in accordance to their personality, background and chosen faction or job.
You should stay in-character at all times during the course of a round.
Avoid the use of terms and references as well as character gimmicks that would not fit San Francisco in 2004.
Prioritize creating an interesting narrative for all players.

To expand on the last point, World of Darkness 13 is a roleplay-first server that aims to bring an interesting narrative experience to players. We aim for a higher level of roleplay to create stories that unfold due to the choices players make during a round. For this reason, we expect and encourage players to go out of their way to generate engaging conflict and intrigue. You should always strive to act in good faith and with the intent to make sure all parties involved have fun and get a good story out of the experience. This is not a team deathmatch server, but a collaborative storytelling experience.

Remember, we have multiple characters slots and a 10 minute respawn timer. Death is not the end, but a storytelling tool. Don't be afraid to lose if it makes for a good story!

Character Guidelines

In order to create a character that adheres to the lore of World of Darkness, you should ask a few questions in order to ground them within the world.

General

Your character’s name.

-This may be a real name, a fake name or a nickname within reason.

Your character’s age.

-This should be a realistic age for their job.

Your character’s background.

-Where does your character hail from? What made them into what the person they are now? What led them to San Francisco?

Your character’s job or faction.

-Why does your character work for who they do?

Ghoul

Your character’s domitor.

-Who is your ghoul’s domitor? It may be a background character, or it may be arranged with a player. Alternatively, you may also play an independent ghoul.

Vampire

Your character’s Clan.

-Each of the thirteen Clans and their bloodlines favor Embracing certain kinds of people. Why was your vampire Embraced into that Clan?

Your character’s Path.

-The majority of vampires in the Modern Nights favor the Path of Humanity, which staves off the Beast by trying to remain as human as possible. The multiple Paths of Enlightenment represent alternative worldviews which stave off the Beast through beliefs far detached from humanity. Which Path did your vampire choose and why?

Your character’s real age.

-Centuries of unlife change a person fundamentally. How old is your vampire truly, and how has this affected them?

Garou

Your character’s Breed.

-Being born human or wolf (or Gaia forbid, Metis) shape your perspective of the world quite differently. What led to your character being born the way they were? How do they cope with this fact?

Your character’s Auspice.

-The phase of the Moon during your birth shapes your Rage and your role in Garou society quite drastically. How does your character carry out their purpose?

Your character’s Tribe.

-The tribes of the Garou Nation hold very different opinions and approaches, cultures and customs. Which Tribe was your character born into and how did it affect them?

Roleplay Guidelines

This section is dedicated to explaining how roleplay and mechanics mesh together in order to provide a cohesive experience, and is a must-know for players in order to ensure smoothness of gameplay and roleplay.

Cross-round Persistence:

Due to the more freeform nature of the server as opposed to other station-based SS13 servers, more things can be kept canon with some exceptions.

Killing someone (normally by removing them from a round, such as ashing) is considered to be non-canon event unless the victim decides to keep the death canon. If they are brought back to life within the round, they may be treated as being resuscitated by medical personnel.
Being ghouled or Embraced is considered to be non-canon unless the victim decides to keep the event canon.
The Prince, Baron and other leadership roles in a round should be treated as have held the position for a significant length of time. For example, if John Toreador is the Prince in one round, they have "always been the Prince of San Francisco". The next round, if Edward Brujah is now the Prince, then they have "always been the Prince of San Francisco" for that round. The length of in-character time that the leader has held the position should be determined by the player, whether they assumed yesterday to fill the power vacuum left by a Princeless San Francisco or assumed a day after the previous Prince was murdered.
Grudges are persistent, within reason. If someone has wronged you in a round and the conflict was never resolved, you are allowed to continue it in the next or future rounds until the conflict is resolved. If one of the parties involved perishes due to this grudge, the grudge is treated as over. You are not allowed to ambush someone over a grudge, and should try to make it into a roleplay experience for both parties.

Escalation:

Escalation in WOD13 is simple and straightforward. Attacking another party is justified so long as you have a valid in-character reason to attack them and you have declared hostile intention before attacking. Avoid attacking on the same frame that you declare your intent to attack.

Ambushing someone without declaring hostile intent is a valid option, so long as you have a valid reason to. Ideally, you should engage with roleplay as we are a roleplay server first, but if previous hostile intent has already been declared, ambushing remains a valid option.

Fights may break out for any reason so long as they are escalated to properly. You are encouraged to generate conflict even if you are not an antagonist, within reason.

Antagonists are not exempt from escalation rules, but have more leeway as to the level of destruction they can cause.

Blood-hunted individuals are considered to already be previously escalated; this means that they may be attacked or attack their hunters on sight.

The Masquerade and the Veil:

The Masquerade and the Veil refer to the laws amongst both Kindred and Garou that knowledge of their true selves is not to be revealed to humanity, in fear of repercussion and hunting.

The Masquerade and Veil are both player-enforced laws, with the Camarilla being the enforcing body for Kindred and Garou being judged by their eldest or those of Philodox auspice. You are allowed and encouraged to deal with breaches of these laws personally, taking action within reason. Masquerade breaches should be reported to the Camarilla in an ideal situation, but some situations may require force in order to contain a possibly worsening scenario. Garou, likewise, should seek the counsel of their eldest or those of Philodox auspice to deal with an offender where possible.

At the moment, mechanical consequences for breaches of these laws are yet to be developed further. Open combat in the streets with the use of Masquerade/Veil-breaching powers should be avoided and may be punished OOC if there was no discernible reason as to why the respective law was broken.

A Masquerade breach consists of a display that would lead a human to believe you are something that is not human.

For example:

Feeding on someone in clear view, utilizing a clearly supernatural power or displays of inhuman strength are considered Masquerade breaches, as a witness would be able to point you out as non-human.
Using vampiric terminology in public (best avoided), lesser displays of more subtle Disciplines or murdering someone in public can be odd or illegal behaviors, but do not betray your true nature to someone who is not in the know.

The Camarilla and the Anarch Free State:

The Camarilla is officially in charge of San Francisco, which means that members of the Anarch Free State ‘legally’ fall under their purview. While these two factions are not in open war, they are ideologically at odds.

The Camarilla is a centuries-old faction which vies for an organized society where Kindred adhere to the Traditions and pay due respect to their elders. They see all vampires, willing or not, to be subjects of their society. The Anarch Free State, in turn, is a relatively recent movement which wishes to break free of the hold of the Camarilla and let vampires rule themselves, rather than subject themselves to the rule of their elders. This goes both ways, allowing both freedom seekers and monsters to thrive in the loosely organized collective.

Solely being a member of the other faction is not a valid reason to attack someone of the opposing faction. Conflict between both factions is allowed and encouraged, but it should not escalate into all-out war. Wherever one faction crosses a boundary, the other is allowed to punish the transgression.

For example:

If a member of the Camarilla walks into the Anarch bar and proclaims that they are owned by the Camarilla, the Anarchs are allowed to beat up the offender, as they were instigating the situation.
If a member of the Anarchs enters the Tower to damage property or goad the Camarilla, they are allowed to apprehend the offending vampire and put them on trial for their crimes.

Anarchs do not lay open claim to San Francisco as that would incite considerable retribution by the Camarilla. This means that the Anarchs should normally engage in a defensive manner and hold their ground, as opposed to actively going out of their way to antagonize the Ivory Tower.

All-out war should be normally avoided. If the opposing faction commits a crime that should warrant brutal repercussion, adminhelp in order to get an admin’s blessing for it.

The Kindred and the Garou:

Kindred and Garou have been historically at odds with each other. To the Garou, Kindred are agents of both Weaver and Wyrm which corrupt human society at large. To the Kindred, Garou are savage, bloodlusting beasts which seek nothing but their destruction and should be kept at a distance, if not outright killed where possible (though this feat is easier said than done). In practice, both races tend to normally avoid one another and establish non-aggression pacts where possible.

Simply encountering one another is not a valid enough reason to attack, but Garou crossing into Kindred territory and vice versa is a valid reason to instigate conflict and a possible fight. Both races tend to avoid one another in order to not spark a conflict that could end in a massive Masquerade/Veil breach. Garou are allowed to instigate conflict with heavily Wyrm-tainted vampires. Escalation rules apply as normal.

Black Spiral Dancers (and even more rarely, non-Wyrmish Garou) may form alliances with Kindred, but this is a rare occurrence as Kindred are hard-pressed to deal with any form of Garou.

Diablerie:

Diablerie refers to the heinous act of consuming the vitae of another Kindred to the point of Final Death. In this act, the Diablerist devours the soul of the victim which is contained in the blood. Naturally, this practice is regarded as one of the highest taboos amongst the Kindred and is normally only practiced amongst the ranks of the Sabbat and the Banu Haqim.

Punishing Diablerie is a player-enforced endeavor. Being a diablerist alone is a valid reason for escalation, meaning that you may find yourself on the receiving end of mob justice if your status as a reviled soulsucker is exposed. Much like exhibiting the use of taught signature Disciplines, the diablerist may come under harm in any situation where they bring attention to their crime. Metatargeting a diablerist every round is not valid escalation nor proper adherence to grudges.

The Camarilla is permitted to seek out diablerists to put on trial should the diablerist in question make no attempts to hide their crime.

Discipline Teaching:

Kindred may learn Disciplines from others of their kind by imbibing in their Vitae and being taught the ways of the shared power. Lore-wise, this is a long and arduous process as mastering the secrets of another’s blood is no easy task.

Sharing the secrets of your blood with another is no small thing. By sharing your power with another, you are giving a possible future enemy the tools with which to bring about your Final Death. Kindred are selfish beings, and teaching your powers to another is something to be considered with utmost care.

This applies mostly to signature Clan disciplines. Disciplines like Thaumaturgy, Vicissitude, Temporis and others are closely guarded secrets by their respective Clans that are rarely, if ever, shared. To teach another or learn of these secrets will bring about extreme scrutiny from others of the Clan.

For this purpose, Kindred exhibiting the use of signature disciplines that do not belong to their Clan or those who have taught these disciplines may be considered targets for destruction by Kindred of the Clan whose signature discipline was usurped. This may carry across rounds, even if the perpetrator has already been killed before for this reason.

As mechanics for limiting discipline sharing are still under consideration, admins reserve the right to remove taught disciplines that are not deemed to have been roleplayed up to appropriately.

Sect Hopping:

When making a character that declares allegiance to a Sect, the character's allegiances should stay within that faction.

When playing a vampire that is part of the Camarilla, for example, the character should stay within the jobs that their allegiance would logically allow within the setting. This means that you may play anything from a Scourge to a Prince, and any non-aligned jobs such as Citizen, Taxi Driver, Doctor, etc. In this example, you would be excluded from playing Anarch jobs as the Camarilla would consider swearing open allegiance to an opposing faction to be treasonous.

You may defect from one Sect to another with the appropriate roleplay that it would entail, but you should abstain from doing this often.

Supernatural Knowledge:

Humanity seldom knows of what really lurks in the dark. Human characters do not have any knowledge of the supernatural when first starting off, and may elect to keep Masquerade breaches non-canon through rounds in order to maintain their innocence.

Hunting the supernatural as a non-antagonist hunter is allowed but should be carried out in the interests of roleplay. It should provide an interesting experience for both the small-time hunter and the hunted party. Escalation rules apply as normal.

Kindred, especially those Embraced in more recent times, tend to be likewise quite ignorant to the truth of their race. They learn through experiencing the world and being fed the lies that their elders tell them, so it is quite common for the young vampire to work with inaccurate information, falsehoods or straight up propaganda. Only more experienced Kindred get to dispel the lies fed to them, and it’s even a rarer few that manage to acquire bits of knowledge of forgotten bloodlines or their ancestors.

The myth of Caine and the Antediluvians, while not forgotten lore, is rarely discussed amidst the ranks of the Camarilla as it is considered a social taboo to acknowledge their existence.

Kindred and Garou do not tend to know much about each other, as their interactions are frequently tense or outright hostile. It is not uncommon for a fledgling to not be warned of their existence, and swiftly meet Final Death due to their recklessness.

OOC Consent:

We are an 18+ server. While ERP is strictly forbidden under all circumstances, we allow the exploration of adult themes such as drug addiction, suicide and other such thematically relevant topics that fit into World of Darkness. This, however, does not mean that it is acceptable to force these themes onto someone who is not accepting of it.

At any time, you are allowed and encouraged to remove yourself from an unwelcome situation and LOOC to clarify that you are uncomfortable and do not wish to continue to the instigating party.

In the case of mind-controlling powers, such as the blood bond, you should generally listen to the orders provided by the user. The only way true way to escape their mental grasp in a round is to commit suicide, which remains a valid option should your character not wish to follow through with orders – make sure to roleplay this tastefully. As a domitor, you should not be issuing orders that break any rules, including forcing unwelcome themes onto someone else. If you feel uncomfortable with being blood bonded, you should try resolve this in LOOC with your domitor and come to a mutual understanding.

If you feel it necessary, don’t hesitate to adminhelp.

Whitelist Expectation

You may apply for a whitelist in order to get access to some of the restricted vampiric Clans or the Garou race. This is done on the Discord by filling out the required template which will be reviewed by an administrator.

The whitelist is not a simple test or check – by applying for a whitelist, you are agreeing to be held to a higher standard of roleplay. The reason why these options are locked are because they require a higher degree of responsibility when played. Be it due to the more demanding lore knowledge, how powerful they are in comparison to non-whitelisted options, or the rarity of such a Clan or race in the Modern Nights.

To be whitelisted, you must meet the following criteria:

You must have a very solid grasp of the lore surrounding the Clan or race.
Your character should adhere to the standards of the Clan or race.
You must have 50 hours of living playtime on the server.

-You may view this by going to OOC > View tracked playtime.

Once your whitelist has been approved, the staff will expect the following of you:

You will be held to a higher standard of roleplay, which means you are expected to utilize your character to generate engaging situations and conflict, and consider how you can go about a round in order to improve the experience for everyone.
The lore of your Clan or race does not justify anti-roleplay behavior. A Garou should not be solely seeking out vampires to kill because of their Wyrm-taint, and neither should a True Brujah solely seek out Brujah to destroy for the betrayal of Troile. There are many ways of creating roleplay situations without having to immediately resort to violence, even if it can be one of the options.
Escalation rules are slightly more demanding for whitelisted characters. You should have valid justification for intervening in a fight or starting one of your own, rather than any reason which may be suitable. Remember that your abilities tend to be more overwhelming than most. If in doubt, adminhelp.
For vampiric Clans, sharing Clan signature disciplines without an extremely valid reason and proper roleplay leading up to it is grounds to have the taught discipline removed and may lead to a review of your whitelist.

The staff reserve the right to review and revoke your whitelist if they deem that you have not been living up to the expectations outlined above. To be whitelisted means that staff are trusting you with the responsibility to improve the experience for everyone, and set an example as to how your race or Clan should behave and roleplay.

If you have any questions regarding your whitelist or how you could improve your roleplay, feel free to reach out to staff for guidance.