Dark Ages: Vampire takes you to the nights before the Camarilla, when kine truly had reason to be afraid of the dark.
The vampires of this bygone age ride the dark as lords, play their games with the crowned heads of Europe. and travel to the mysterious land of the East as they wage their ages-old war.
Come share in the rich terror and heady thrill of the 13th century.
Learn what it means to be one of the Lords of the Long Night.
These are some of the Merits in Flaws presented in later books and not in the core book. I am presenting them here because not everyone is like me and buying everything.
The character reigns over a well-developed settlement. The player may choose to either purchase this Merit (indicating a pre existing settlement) or earn it through developing territory. Each level possesses the minimum Populace/Herd Merit dot required to support it, as well as the time needed to develop it. If the Herd/Populace rating drops below the necessary level, the settlement shrinks. This Merit must be purchased once for each significant settlement.
The primary benefit of a settlement is that it provides its rating in Resources and Influence dots. These are counted separately from the character’s other Backgrounds, and don’t stack with them except under the rules for feudal relationships and Anchor Backgrounds. The Merit can be measured on a 1 to 5-point scale, as follows:
1 Hamlet (Populace/Herd • to ••; six months). This settlement includes a church, well-maintained roads, and simple facilities for industry, such as a smithy or mill.
2 Village (Populace/Herd ••• to ••••; one year). A village contains room for several local-scale industries and storage.
3 Town (Populace/Herd ••••• to ••••••; five years). A town is a larger version of a village, and usually supports simple fortifications and a market.
4 City (Populace/Herd ••••••• to ••••••••; 10 years). Cities possess walls, multiple industries, sophisticated markets, and migrants. Half or more of a city’s population exceeds the numbers indicated by Herd/Populace dots. These don’t provide free dots however, as they possess weak fealty to their lords, and might be transient or criminal.
5 Great City (Populace/Herd ••••••••• to ••••••••••; 20+ years). After a generation or more, a city might evolve into a rare population center with 100,000 inhabitants or more. The Populace/Herd rating only covers a fraction of the inhabitants, who defy easy counting or rule.
Vassal (1-5; Special)
One or more vassals serve your character in exchange for patronage and favor. For each point of this Merit, your character receives 2 dots of Backgrounds to use as a liege, but she must offer half as many Background dots. Some of these form an Anchor Background combined with some of the vassal’s offered Background dots, settling a limit on the combined Backgrounds the vassal enjoys. This takes place under the terms of an oath of fealty devised by the player and Storyteller