vampire prince of the city rulebook

8/13/2019 Vampire Prince of the City Rulebook

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cosmopolitan coterie

by Mike Nudd Vampire created by Mark ReinHagen

1. IntroductionWelcome to the World of Darkness. It seems a modern world

just like our own, but if you peel back the veneer, you find asecond, hidden world of crime, dark passion and unfathom-able monsters. The World of Darkness is like a warped reflec-tion in a broken mirror, where everything is stained and dirty,crumbling on the outside and rotting on the inside. Missing-persons cases are more numerous, and violent crime is morewidespread. Corruption of mortal institutions is rife, and su-pernatural beings pull strings from behind the scenes.

At the top of the ecological, social and political food chainare the Kindred, a race of undead, a society of blood-suckingvampires that have existed alongside us for centuries, perhapsmillennia. Some of them claim theyre descended from a darkprogenitor such as Mithras, Baba Yaga, Longinus or even thelegendary Dracula. All vampires certainly share many traits,strengths and weaknesses held in common. Hence the assump-tion that they have a collective origin, and hence the appel-lation Kindred for those who bear the gift (or curse) of vam-pirism.

The Kindred divide themselves into familial groups calledclans, each of which claims a different cultural heritage and adistinct blood magic of its own. Some vampires are supernatu-rally strong and fast, while others wield powers over emotionand the mind. Yet others master the arcane arts of telepathy,invisibility or shadow manipulation. Each Kindred is in many

ways unique, but all use their powers to prey on the unspecting, and all do their best to hide from mortal society.

Centuries ago, the Kindred participated in a society anshadow-empire called the Camarilla. Tonight, that unity h

been lost. The vampiric world has fragmented into a numbof covenants that vary greatly in practices, beliefs and goOne social tradition remains commonplace throughout, however that the Kindred of a city should be ruled by the mopowerful and most cunning among them, the Prince. Withia city, the Princes authority is absolute and his word is invlate.

Few dare to challenge the Prince directly or openly, bmany covet his power for themselves. Beneath the Princstation are the Primogen, elder vampires assembled to cousel the Prince when he requests it, and who help carry out horders. The Primogen spend much of their time plotting ascheming against one another in a constant game of on

upmanship, back-biting and power-mongering that some cthe Danse Macabre. Now your citys Prince has been destroyed by mysteri

means and a new leader is needed. Each of your citys Primois the foremost of his or her clan, its elder and representativThe single Primogen who can prove him or herself superto the others will win the mantle of leadership and be crownthe new Prince of the city.

Copyright White Wolf Publishing, Inc. http://www.white-wolf.com


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vampire: prince of the city2

Table of Contents1. Introduction 22. Object of the Game 23. Game Contents and Components 23.1 City Board 33.2 Playing Cards 33.3 Character Cards 33.4 Character Miniatures 33.5 Influence Tokens 33.6 Dice 33.7 Counters 33.8 Masquerade Token 34. Setting up the Game 45. Game Turn Sequence 45.1 Resource Phase 45.2 Movement Phase 65.3 Challenge Phase 65.4 Influence Phase 8

5.5 Resolution Phase 116. Torpor and Leaving the Game 117. Timing and Order of Game Effects 118. Advanced and Optional Rules 128.1 10-Again Rule 128.2 Exact Player Order 128.3 Two-player Game Option 129. Glossary 12

2. Object of the Game Prince of the City is set in the aftermath of a great tragedy(or opportunity, depending on your perspective). The formerPrince of the city has met with Final Death by unknown,mysterious means. Its assumed that one of the elder vampiresof the city, the Primogen, will take his place.

Each player assumes the role of one of the five Primogen of the city, and his or her goal is to outmaneuver opponents tobecome the new Prince.

The Primogen who accumulates and holds the most pres-tigeat the end of the game wins the struggle and is awardedthe title of Prince. The game ends after a predetermined num-ber of turns is played (which allows you to set the length of

each game).Prestige comes in two equally important forms: personal pres-tige and city prestige. Personal prestige is gained primarily bydealing with troublesome events that arise in the city andthat affect vampire society. City prestige is gained primarilyby taking control of mortal institutions within the city as rep-resented by zones on the board. At the end of the game, play-ers add their personal prestige and city prestige to determinetheir total prestige and who has become the new Prince.

3. Game Contents and The following components are included in the game box: one rulebook one folding city board one deck of 100 playing cards five character cards five unique character miniatures representing each of the

five Primogen vampires five 10-sided dice 3 sheets of punched counters and tokens (which should

be separated before play)

3.1 City BoaThe game board represents the city over which players vie

for control. It is not so much a specific geographic map as anabstract representation of the areas of mortal influence thatcollectively run every aspect of the city. Each zone is clearlydemarcated on the board, and theyre all grouped into col-ored zone categories.

ZONE C ATEGORY COLOR Religious OrangeGovernment Light BlueBusiness PurpleArts and Entertainment PinkResearch GreenIndustry RedTransportation YellowCommunity Dark Blue

The zone in the middle of the board stands alone and rep-resents Elysium, the one place in the city where vampires canmeet in relative safety.

Each zone (except Elysium) is marked with a number value,

which represents the prestige points won for controlling thatzone with influence(as explained later). Elysium cannot becontrolled.

A numbered track runs around the perimeter of the boardand is used to track both the number of turns remaining inthe game and each players most recently tallied prestige to-tal.

3.2 Playing CaThe deck contains 100 playing cards that come in five dif-

ferent types. Activation cards represent special game effects that play-

ers may call upon if they control the zone described on a card.

Event cards represent a number of different events thatwould not only occur within a city full of vampires, but forwhich the local Kindred would turn to the Primogen for aresponse and resolution. Any Primogen who expects to com-mand the respect due to a Prince had best be able to solve anycrisis that arises.Event cards have a unique card back, but areshuffled into the same draw deck as all other types of cards.



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Retainer and Equipment cards represent people and itemsthat convey die bonuses or other game effects to a controllingplayer.

Strategy cards represent the different methods that aPrimogen may employ to garner more prestige or resources.

Drawing and playing cards is explained later in section 5.

3.3 Character CardsFive character cards represent each of the five vampiric clansand the Attributes of each Primogen. Daeva: Sensuous, artistic and hedonistic. Daeva are the

socialites and party-throwers of Kindred society. They possesssupernatural physical power and grace, but it is their majesticsocial presence that other Kindred fear most even whilethey cannot help but adore the Daeva for it.

Gangrel: Animalistic, instinctive and shamanic. Gangrelare the hunters and mystics of the Kindred world. Few Kin-dred care to bring these vampires to violence. The clans physi-cal power and toughness is legendary, as are its abilities totransform undead flesh into the forms of beasts and to sum-mon creatures of the wild.

Mekhet: Ideological, intellectual and philosophical. TheMekhet are the spies and prophets of the Kindred. These of-ten aloof vampires are supreme strategists. They always seemto be one step ahead in the Danse Macabre, and when othervampires seek to oppose clan members, the Mekhet disap-pear.

Nosferatu: Monsters, outcasts and freaks. Nosferatu arethe brutes and terrors of the Kindred world, and also the hoard-ers of its darkest secrets. Anyone opposing the Nosferatu whois not wary of their physical power and mental cunning comesto know terror from the clans nightmarish control of fear it-self.

Ventrue: Royalty, generals and autocrats. The Ventrueare leaders and champions. These undead take command of any man or beast as suits their whims.

The numbered Attributes on each character card representa vampires ability to performmental, physical and social chal-lenges. A high score represents good ability, while low scorerepresents poor ability.

Each character card also describes the supernatural bloodpowers calledDisciplinesthat a Primogen commands. Unlessnoted otherwise in their descriptions, Disciplines cost oneVitaeto use andeach Discipline may be used only once each game turn.Vitae is the term the Kindred apply to blood, the cherishedfluid that animates their undead bodies.

3.4 Character MiniaturesThere are five unique character miniatures included in thegame, each of which is associated with a particular charactercard. These tokens are used to represent the physical locationof each players Primogen on the city board.

3.5 Influence TokensThese pieces are used throughout the game to represent

the influence a Primogen wields. When a player has more

influence tokens on a zone than any other player, he or shcontrols that zone and the portion of mortal society it reprsents. A Primogens city prestige is determined by the toprestige values of the zones he or she controls.

3.6 DiA number of 10-sided dice are used to resolve challeng

influence contestsand other game effects.

A player must abide by the most recent score rolled on adie, and cannot opt to use a previous score if a game effect caused a die to be re-rolled. A die may, however, be re-rolany number of times should game effects call for it. Gaeffects that call for a die to be re-rolled may be used on a rolled by any player in any challenge or influence contenot just on a die rolled by the player using the re-roll effec

Players often assist one another (temporarily at least). Eaplayer rolls the dice he or she contributes to a challenge influence contest.

3.7 CouThe bulk of counters used represents the amount of Vit

(vampiric blood) and personal prestige a Primogen has at agiven time. These counters are paid out to players from tbank as Vitae and personal prestige are gained, and paback to the bank as Vitae and personal prestige are spentlost.

D AEVA G ANGREL MEKHET

NOSFERATU V ENTRUE

3.8 MasqueradAs the Primogen engage in their struggle for the Princdom, their activities inevitably threaten the Masquerade, thformal name vampire society gives to its efforts to remain hden from mortal knowledge. Lest the Masquerade and thereall vampires be threatened, Kindred society will not allow tstruggle to go on too long before a Prince must be chosen.

The Masquerade token serves as a turn marker, countindown the number of turns remaining in the game on the num

V ITAE PRESTIGE



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bered track on the outside edge of the board (the same trackused to mark prestige).

M ASQUERADE(TURN MARKER )

4. Setting up the Game Unfold the game board and distribute a random character

card to each player (or players may choose cards if they pre-fer). Any spare character cards should be placed back in thebox, as they are not used during the course of the game.

Each player selects the miniature associated with his char-acter and places it in the Elysium zone in the center of theboard. Each player should then take his set of influence to-kens (the clan insignia on your tokens matches that on yourcharacter card), as well as six Vitae counters.

Players then decide how many turns they would like to play.A short game lasts six turns (approximately two hours), amedium-length game lasts nine turns (approximately threehours), and a long game lasts twelve turns (approximately fourhours). Its not recommended to play for less than six turns ormore than twelve. Fewer players can play through turns morequickly than a larger group, of course.

Place the Masquerade token on the numbered slot of thescoring track on the perimeter of the board that correspondsto the number of turns to be played. At the beginning of eachnew turn (including the first turn of the game), players movethe Masquerade token down one space on the track. TheMasquerade token always indicates how many full turns re-main to be played after the current turn ends. The game endswhen the Masquerade token rests on zero at the end of a turn.

Shuffle the deck of playing cards. Have a player cut thedeck blindly, and then place the deck facedown on the cardsilhouette on the board. If an Event card is the top card onthe deck after the cut (recognizable by its unique card back),put the Event card into play as normal per the rules on draw-ing and playing cards, detailed below. Remaining Vitaecounters and the personal prestige counters should be placedin two separate bank piles to one side of the board withineasy reach of all players.

5. Game Turn Sequence Prince of the City is a turn-based game, with each turnconsisting of a number of separate phases that are played insequence. The order of each turn is as follows:

1. Resource Phase2. Movement Phase3. Challenge Phase4. Influence Phase5. Resolution Phase

During each phase of each turn, play begins with theRe- gent (see below), and then moves clockwise around the boarduntil each player has had the opportunity to act in that phase.Play then moves on to the next phase.

The vampire with the highest total Prestige from the previ-ous turn is the Regent for the new turn and play begins withher. If this is the first turn, roll a die to see who goes first.

5.1 Resource PThe first phase of each turn is the Resource Phase. Thisphase is when players marshal the tools at their disposal toput themselves at an advantage. Before the Regent begins herResource Phase, players should move the Masquerade tokendown one spot on the track. If the Masquerade token is movedto the zero spot, then this will be the last turn of the game.

During the Resource Phase, each player may take twore-source actionsfrom the following list.

R ESOURCE A CTIONS Draw a card from the deck Hunt to gain one Vitae Consume a retainer to gain two Vitae

Recover from or rescue another Primogenfrom torpor Perform an alternative resource action (as

defined by a card in play)During the Resource Phase, in addition to taking resource

actions, players may also trade with or give away cards, Vitaecounters or influence tokens to each other (see below).

5.1.1 Drawing and Playing CardsA player who opts to draw a card takes the top card from

the deck and places it in her hand. The card is hidden fromother players view, and the effects described do not take ef-fect until the card is put into play face-up.

A player can hold no more than three hidden cards in her

hand at any one time (unless game effects dictate otherwise).If a player draws more cards than her hand size allows, shemust immediately play, discard or give away cards until sheholds a legal number of hidden cards.

With the exception of the secondary effects of Strategy andActivation cards (discussed below), cards held in a playershand may be put into play only during the Resource Phase,while the player is the acting Primogen (before she passes playclockwise to the next player in the Resource Phase). If a playershould for any reason draw cards outside the Resource Phase,she must hold them in her hand until a subsequent turnsResource Phase, or she must discard them immediately.

To put a card in play, a player simply places it face-up infront of herself in view of all others. Once a card is in play, theeffects described are considered active. A card in play cannotbe returned to a players hand, although it may be discardedby the controlling player at any time.

A player may have no more than five cards face-up in playat any one time (unless game effects dictate otherwise). If aplayer plays or takes control of cards that would exceed thislimit, she must discard or give away cards immediately untilshe is within the five-card limit.



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Again, the limits are three cards in hand and five cards in play.Most cards are not of any play value while held in hand.

Their effect is realized only once theyre put into play face-up(timing when to put certain cards into play is an importantelement of strategy). An exception to this rule is the second-ary effects of Activation cards and Strategy cards. These cardshave a secondary effect printed in italics that reads:

Discard from your hand at any time to add or subtract one from the score of any die.

This secondary effect may be used during any roll in thegame, even during a roll by another player or during a chal-lenge or influence contest in which the card player is not in-volved. A player reveals and discards the Strategy or Activa-tion card and announces on whom the card effect shall beused. The card must be played from the hand to get the sec-ondary effect. Once the card is put into play face-up, its sec-ondary effect can no longer be invoked.

Event cards are handled differently than any other card type.Event cards are easy recognizable as the reverse of each has adifferent design from other types of cards.If an Event card everlies on top of the deck, it is drawn immediately and put into play

face-up near the game board.Thus, events unfold in the cityduring the game as players use their resource actions to drawcards from the deck and thereby reveal Event cards, whichare put into play immediately. Event cards are not controlledby any player, and do not count toward the number of cards aplayer may draw, hold or have in play. Resolving Event cardsis explained in the Challenge Phase rules. Finally, each Eventcard lists a game effect that remains active for as long as theEvent card is in play. Follow the instructions for the eventshown.

If a card leaves play for any reason, it should be placed faup in the discard pile. If the deck of playing cards ever ruout, shuffle the discard pile, have a player cut the deck blindand place the cards face-down in the deck silhouette so ththe cards may be re-used.

Any rule on a card that seems to contradict a standard gamrule written here takes precedence over these rules.

5.1.2 Hunting

All vampires need blood to sustain them and power thesupernatural Disciplines. As Primogen expend Vitae, they mreplenish their supply by preying on the citys mortal herd

Any player who opts to hunt as an action gains one Vita(he takes a Vitae counter from the bank).

A player may not possess more than six Vitae. Any exVitae gained beyond six are discarded.

5.1.3 Consuming a RetainerOnce addicted to the power of vampiric blood, mortals li

and die to serve their undead masters. As an alternative hunting, a player may choose to use a resource action to dcard a Retainer card he controls to gain two Vitae (he taktwo Vitae counters from the bank).

5.1.4 Recovering or Rescuing from TorporTorpor is a comatose condition to which vampires succum

when they are grievously injured or out of Vitae to nouritheir undead bodies. As explained more fully later, the chaacter miniature of a Primogen in torpor is temporarily removfrom the board.

A Primogen in torpor recovers during the Resource PhaThe player must use his first resource action of the phasereturn his Primogen to the board, placing his miniature in thElysium zone and gaining one Vitae from the bank. The playwill usually want to then use his second resource action hunt or to consume a retainer to gain more Vitae.

Any player may take a resource action to rescue anothPrimogen in torpor, placing the roused Primogens miniatuin the same zone that the rescuing player occupies. The recued vampire still receives one Vitae from the bank, and threscuing player may also grant or trade additional Vitae to trescued player (see below).

5.1.5 Performing Alternative Resource ActionsWhile in play and face-up, some cards provide addition

resource action possibilities as explained on the cards.5.1.6 Gifting and Trading

Players who are withinrange(see definition below) of eacother during the Resource Phase may voluntary give away

exchange Vitae counters or cards in any amount or combintion.Two players are considered to be in range of one another if

they occupy the same zone or two connected, adjacent zonon the city board.

In addition, once each Resource Phase a player may chooone (and only one) of his influence tokens in play on a zoand give it to another player in range (so long as the otherplayer agrees to receive the gift). The granting player remov

SecondaryEffect

Event Card Draw Card



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his token and the receiving player replaces it with one of herown.

If two players are in range and both agree, they may alsoswap one influence token. For example, Rob agrees to ex-change his influence token on City Hall for Lucys token onthe Airport.

A player may give away or trade only one influence tokeneach Resource Phase, although he mayreceive any number of tokens as gifts.

If the movement of influence tokens results in a new playerhaving more influence tokens on a zone than any other player,that player immediately gains control of the zone (see theInfluence Phase for more details).

5.2 Movement Phase In the Movement Phase, each player (starting with the

Regent and moving clockwise around the board) may placehis or her character miniature on any zone of the board.

Once placed, the character miniature cannot be movedagain until the Movement Phase of the next turn (unless gameeffects dictate otherwise).

A player must place his or her miniature somewhere on theboard (unless game effects dictate otherwise, such as when intorpor).

A player may place his or her miniature in a zone alreadyoccupied by another players miniature, or in a zone thatsoccupied by any type of token (unless game effects dictateotherwise).

A player is not forced to move. If she chooses not to, herminiature is left in the same zone that it occupied in the lastturn.

5.3 Challenge Phase During the Challenge Phase, each player (starting with the

Regent and moving clockwise around the table) declares onechallenge. A player may choose from two types of challenges:a player challenge, which targets an opponent, or anevent chal-lenge,which targets an Event card in play.

A player may declare only one challenge each turn (unlessgame effects dictate otherwise). If a player chooses not to (oris not able to) declare a challenge, play passes to the nextplayer until each has had an opportunity to declare a chal-lenge.

5.3.1 Player ChallengesA player challenge may be declared only if a designated

opponent lies within range (in the same zone or an adjacent

zone on the board) of your miniature. The acting playerchooses the type of challenge mental, physical or social.Both the acting player and the target roll one die each, add-ing the appropriate matching Attribute from their charactercards. The player who scores the highest is declared the win-ner, and may apply one of the following effects to the loser.

Mental Challenge Effects: Steal one Strategy card of yourchoice that the loser has face-up in play, or steal one influ-ence token from the loser in the next Influence Phase (thewinner gets one additional influence token for bidding in the

next Influence Phase, while the loser gets one less see theInfluence Phase rules).

Physical Challenge Effects: Steal one Equipment cardof your choice controlled by the loser, or steal up to threeVitae counters from the loser.

Social Challenge Effects: Steal one Retainer card of yourchoice controlled by the loser, or steal up to two personal pres-tige counters from the loser.

A winning player may decline to apply the winning effectupon the loser (or reduce the effect) if he or she so chooses.In the case of tied scores in a player challenge, there is no

effect on either party. Note that if the winner of a physical challenge elects to

steal all of the Vitae the loser has left, the loser must go intotorpor (see rules for torpor in section 6). The winner neverreceives more Vitae than the loser has counters remaining,and if the losers Vitae loss is prevented (such as with theResilience Discipline), the winner receives no Vitae.

Anyone who declares a player challenge against a target inElysium (or if the challenger is in Elysium himself) loses per-sonal prestige for breaking Kindred etiquette. If the challengeis social or mental, the challenger loses one personal prestige.If the challenge is physical, the challenger loses three per-sonal prestige. This loss is applied on each challenge declared,whether its successful or not.

Example: Lucy plays the Ventrue Primogen and during theChallenge Phase opts to declare a player challenge against Rob (who

plays the Nosferatu Primogen). Their character miniatures are inrange of each other. Lucy chooses a social challenge. She knows it

puts Rob at a disadvantage since the Nosferatu have a low social Attribute. Each player rolls a single die. After adding their social Attributes and any other appropriate modifiers to the results of their die rolls, Lucy gets a total of 18 and Rob gets a total of 11.Lucy wins the challenge, and from her options elects to steal Robs

Professional Fixer Retainer card. The Ventrue Primogen easilymanipulates the fixers loyalties to her cause.

USING DISCIPLINES AND C ARD EFFECTSDURING CHALLENGES AND INFLUENCE

CONTESTSPrimogen have many tools at their disposal to

assist them in overcoming obstacles to theirambitions, be it use of special equipment, the skillsof trained retainers, or the terrifying power oftheir Disciplines. Unless the rules of a Disciplineor card state otherwise, their use and effect mustbe declared and any costs paid before dice arerolled for a challenge (whether its a player

challenge or an event challenge), or before diceare rolled for an influence contest (see InfluencePhase rules, below). Players may keep declaringgame effects in any order until all players declineto take further measures, at which point thechallenge or influence contest is rolled.

Some card effects may be used after dice arerolled. These include re-roll effects and thesecondary effects of Strategy or Activation cardsplayed from the hand at any time. Any re-rolleffects obviously apply after the initial roll of a



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die, and multiple re-roll effects can be usedsequentially such that the same die may be re-rolled several times. All players have theopportunity to keep playing game effects andmodifying the outcome of a challenge or contestafter the dice are rolled. Once all players declineto play further effects, the challenge or contest isresolved.

Example: Sarah is the Daeva Primogen, and during theChallenge Phase chooses to declare a player challenge against Jim the Mekhet (their character miniatures are in range of each other this turn and Jim has not activated his ObfuscateDiscipline in the turn). Sarah chooses a physical challenge.To help insure her victory, she lets her Kindred blood flowand spends a Vitae to power her Vigor Discipline, giving herone extra die to roll on physical challenges. Sarah rolls twodice and Jim rolls one, and each adds his or her physical At-tribute. Sarah rolls poorly and scores a total of 11, while Jimscores 10.

Jim would normally lose. He decides to use his Lucky Talis-man card, though, which allows him to force the re-roll of any onedie. Jim re-rolls his own die, and with his new die result his score is12.

In response, Sarah discards two Activation cards from herhand to use their secondary effects to boost her score from 11to 13, so shes beating Jim again. After exhorting promises of future assistance from Jim, Lucy plays a Strategy card and anActivation card from her hand for their secondary effects andboosts Jims score up to 14.

No other Primogen has an effect to play, so Jim wins the chal-lenge and elects to steal three Vitae counters from Sarah. Sarahonly has two Vitae remaining, so Jim takes both of those and SarahsDaeva Primogen is in torpor.

5.3.2 Event ChallengesAn event challenge is handled in a similar manner as a

player challenge. For event challenges, however, the type of challenge (mental, physical, social or territorial) is dictatedby the card, and rather than rolling against an opponent, theacting player must score equal to or higher than the givendifficulty number printed on the Event card.

If the acting player scoresequal to or higherthan the eventsdifficulty number, the player resolves the event challenge suc-cessfully. The Event card is discarded, and the player may claimthe amount of personal prestige on the Acting Player lineof the card, taking that many personal prestige counters fromthe bank.

If the acting player scores lower than the given difficultynumber, the player fails to resolve the event challenge suc-

cessfully. The Event card remains in play and any player withchallenges left to declare this phase may declare challengeson it. The failing player suffers a personal prestige loss equalto the amount listed on the Acting Player line of the Eventcard. That many personal prestige counters are paid back intothe bank. If the penalty is greater than the players personalprestige, his score drops to zero. Players never owe the bankpersonal prestige beyond what they have to lose, and personalprestige losses never affect a players city prestige.

The personal prestige amount listed on the Acting Playeline of an Event card is both the reward if the player succeeand the penalty if the player fails. Kindred respect those wtake control of their worlds, but rumor-mongering Harpimock those who fail.

Example: Its Robs turn to act and he chooses to challenge Event cardDrunken Vandal. The card poses a physical challengwith a difficulty of 18. Robs Nosferatu Primogen has a physi

Attribute of 7, and the Discipline of Vigor, so Rob spends oVitae to gain an additional die. In addition, Rob has theBrassKnuckles card in play, which adds one point to his final score. Rrolls two dice (one base die and one for Vigor) and adds eight (7his Physical Attribute and one forBrass Knuckles). He scores atotal of 21. Since his total is greater than the difficulty of 18, resolvesDrunken Vandal successfully and claims the ActinPlayer reward listed on the card (three personal prestige).

TERRITORIAL-TYPE EVENT CHALLENGESIn addition to the mental, physical and social

challenges that are applied in event challenges,theres a fourth type based on territorial controlof the city. If such an event challenge is attempted,the acting player adds the number of zones hecontrols to the roll , rather than adding anAttribute. Similarly, assisting players (see below)add the number of zones they control in lieu ofan Attribute.

Example: Its Lucys turn to act and she chooses to challenthe Event cardStrained Vitae Supply. The card poses a territo-rial challenge with a difficulty of 15. Lucy currently controls othree zones, so the result of her base die gets a +3 modifier. Sspends one Vitae to use her Ventrue Primogens Dominate Dis

pline to get an extra die for the territorial challenge. She also agto let Robs Nosferatu Primogen assist her. Rob controls four zonso he lends an extra +4 to the total score on the challenge. Lurolls two dice and adds 7, but scores a total of only 13, less ththe challenges difficulty of 15. Having lost the challenge, Land Rob consult the card to find that Lucy loses two personal prtige as the Acting Player and Rob loses one personal prestigan Assisting Player.

5.3.3 Assisting a ChallengeOther players may assist during both player challenges a

event challenges.When a player challenge is declared, and before any d

are rolled or Discipline or card effects are used, any playerinrange of the targetmay assist either the acting player or thtarget player. Assisting players add their own Attributes (aany other modifiers from cards or Disciplines, butnot an extrabase die) to the relevant players score.

Any number and combination of players may seek to asseither side of the same challenge. Players may announce, widraw or change their assistance. The player who issued tchallenge may even rescind the challenge in the face of icreased opposition (but the player cannot then make a nechallenge this phase in place of the rescinded challenge).

Once all players pass on committing, withdrawingswitching sides, then play continues to the use of Disciplinand card effects. Players are then committed to their chos



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stance through the end of challenge. To be clear, it is possiblefor a treacherous Primogen to announce his assistance andpromise his allies that he will use his Disciplines or other re-sources in the coming challenge, but then once the challengeproceeds, withhold the use of those powers and resources. Thetreacherous players Attribute is still added to his sides chal-lenge score.

When players assist a player challenge and lose, the winnermay chose one of the challenge effects for each and everylosing player. For example, if a player wins a social challengeagainst a target and one assisting player, the winner mightsteal a Retainer card from the target playerand steal personalprestige counters from the assisting player.

The winner may also award any portion of cards, personalprestige counters, Vitae or influence tokens won to playerswho assisted her, but is under no obligation to do so (despitewhat any conniving Kindred might have said when the alli-ance was forged).

Any player, regardless of range, may also assist an actingplayer who declares an event challenge. The assisting playeradds his appropriate Attribute (and any other modifiers) tothe score of the challenge, but does not contribute an extrabase die. Players assisting in territorial event challenges addthe number of zones they control to the score. Again, playersmay withdraw their support and the acting player may evenwithdraw the challenge at any point before Disciplines or cardeffects are played or the dice are rolled. When players assistan event challenge, they receive the personal prestige listedon the Event card for Assisting Players as an award or apenalty, depending on the outcome of the challenge.

A challenging player may always decline other players as-sistance. Though that seldom happens in player challenges,the acting player may not want to let certain opponents joinin the potential prestige awards of assisting in an event chal-lenge.

Example: Sarahs Daeva chooses to try and resolve theInflu-ence Endangered Event card in play, which is described as a mentalchallenge with a difficulty of 18. Her mental Attribute is only 3,which alone is certainly not enough to resolve the challenge suc-cessfully.

She asks Jims Mekhet for assistance since he can contribute hismental Attribute of 7, a possible extra die with his Auspex Disci-

pline, and also an additional three points to the score due to theLaptop Computer card that he controls. Jim agrees to assist, andSarah declines to allow any other player to assist her, so play con-tinues.

Jim agrees to spend a Vitae to use his Auspex Discipline. Sarah

rolls the base die for her challenge and scores only 3. Jim rolls thedie gained from Auspex and scores a 6. The total score of bothdice, both of their Attributes and JimsLaptop Computer cardcomes to 22. This is enough to resolve the challenge successfully.Per theInfluence Endangered Event card, Sarah gains three per-sonal prestige counters as the acting player, and Jim gains two asthe assisting player. If they had failed the event, Sarah would havelost three personal prestige and Jim would have lost two.

5.4 Influence Phase

Kindred society is inexorably linked to the mortal world onwhich vampires prey. Throughout the ages, Kindred havefound it beneficial to garner influence in mortal institutionsto both insure their safety and to gain standing in the DanseMacabre, the undead power game. Indeed, a vampire whocontrols the most influential elements of mortal society is tobe respected and feared. He or she is a Kindred worthy of becoming the new Prince of the city.

The undead use any means at their disposal to gain power,from making ghouls of mortals and loyal servants, to corpo-rate-ownership shell games, to acting as anonymous benefac-tors, to bribery, murder and coercion. The results of all of thesemethods are represented inPrince of the City by influencetokens.

Control of a city zone and thus control of the mortal orga-nizations it represents is determined by the placement of in-fluence tokens. When the game begins, no players have in-fluence tokens on the board. During each Influence Phase,each player may attempt to place influence tokens to lay claimto zones and thereby gain city prestige. A player controls acity zone when he has more influence tokens on it than anyother player.

At the beginning of the Influence Phase, each player takesa number of influence tokens from her bank of spare to-kens. A player normally takes three tokens, plus an additionalone for each of the playersdomains. A player has a domainwhen she controls all of the zones of a certain colored. Forexample, Sarah controls the Cathedral, the Synagogue andthe Mosque (she has the most influence tokens in each), soshe has a domain over the orange, religious zones of the city.Domains can also be established with certain Strategy cards if a player controls the selection of zones specified on the Strat-egy card.

If an influence token was stolen as a result of a mental chal-lenge between players in the turns Challenge Phase, the win-ner draws one extra influence token in the Influence Phase,and the loser draws one less.

A players bank of spare influence tokens is limitless, soin the unlikely event that a player runs out of her clan-insig-nia tokens, players can improvise others (coins, glass beads orthe tokens of a clan not being played in the current game).

Example: At the beginning of the Influence Phase, Lucy doesntcontrol any domains, so she draws the normal three influencetokens.

Example: At the beginning of the Influence Phase, Sarah hastwo domains. She controls all of the Industrial category (red) andall three zones required by herCity Services Domain Strategycard. She therefore draws a total of five influence tokens (3+2)this turn.

Example: At the beginning of the Influence Phase, Rob notesthat he lost a mental player challenge to Jim in the previous phase,and as Jim stole an influence token, Rob draws only two influencetokens (31), and Jim draws four (3+1). Neither Rob nor Jimcontrols any domains.

5.4.1 Bidding Influence



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Once all players draw their influence tokens, influence at-tempts are made to get the new influence tokens onto zonesof the board. Beginning with the Regent and going clock-wise, each player targets a zone for an influence attempt, bidsone or more of his available influence tokens and resolvesthat bid attempt. Thus, unlike other game phases, play maypass around the players several times during each InfluencePhase as players vie for the different zones to which they as-sign available influence tokens.

When a players order in sequence comes around, she mayrefrain from making an influence attempt, passing play on tothe next player. If a player ever opts to pass, she may only bidinfluence tokens to contest other players for the remainder of the Influence Phase (see below). She may no longer targetzones for bid attempts of her own that turn.

A player without any influence tokens remaining to bidthis turn cannot make an influence attempt and must pass.

Once all players have passed, the phase ends, and any un-used influence tokens are discarded (they are not accumu-lated from turn to turn).

During each Influence Phase, all players must keep the num-

ber of remaining influence tokens they have available for bid-ding in view of all other players, and they may be counted atany time.

For each influence attempt, the acting player targets a zone.The targeted zone must either:

Be in range (the zone the players miniature occupies oran adjacent one)

Or, be any zone of the same color as a zone the playeralready controls

Once a target zone has been selected, the acting player bidsone or more of her available influence tokens that she wishesto see placed permanently on that zone.

If the influence attempt is not contested by any other playeror game effect, then the tokens are placed on the target zoneimmediately. If the bid is contested by any other player orgame effect, then aninfluence contest(see below) must be re-solved.

5.4.2 Contesting InfluenceDuring an influence attempt, any other player in range of

the target zone or who controls a zone of the same color as thetarget may also bid one or more available influence tokens tocontest the acting players influence attempt. Players may alsocontest an influence attempt using any existing tokens thathave already been made permanent in a designated zone orzones of that same color, and/or with their character minia-

tures if they are on the target zone (see the rules below).Once an influence attempt has been contested, all eligibleplayers (including the acting player) may bid additional in-fluence tokens on the target zone. This additional biddingmay take place in any order and continues until all playershave declined to bid more tokens, or they use other specialabilities such as card effects or Disciplines. Once this biddingends, each of the opposing players must resolve an influencecontest. In influence contests, players receive the followingdice and bonuses for their rolls.

INFLUENCE CONTESTS +1 die per influence token being bid +1 die for each of the Primogens existing

influence tokens already in play on the target zone +1 point bonus per existing influence token

already in play on a zone of the same color as thetarget zone

+4 point bonus if a participating playerscharacter miniature is in the target zone

In addition, players may receive other bonuses or penaltfrom other game affects (e.g., from the Dominate DisciplinThe highest scoring player in the influence contest ma

add the influence tokens she bid (if any) to the target zone othe city board. Any other influence tokens bid by other plaers are discarded. In the case of a tie for the highest score,player wins and all bid tokens are discarded.

Additional players may bid influence tokens or apply thmodifiers to assist the acting player, or to assist any opposplayers. When players combine their influence in this fasion, all tokens bid by the successful players are added to target zone. A player may combine his influence token bidmodifiers to another players only with that players perm

sion. A player is never forced to accept assistance from other during an influence contest. Once permission is grantethough, the assisting player is not restricted on how mainfluence tokens he may bid in the influence contest. Thflexibility becomes important as the assisting player could eup controlling the zone (see Influence and Zone Controbelow).

5.4.3 Influence ExamplesThe following is an example of a possible Influence Ph

early in a four-player game. Example: Lucy, Rob, Sarah and Jim have just begun th

Influence Phase. Since no one has a domain yet and no men player challenges resulted in the transfer of influence tokens in previous Challenge Phase, each player draws three influence tokwith which to make bids this turn.

Lucy is Regent, so she makes the first influence attempt. Stargets the Fashion Circuit zone. She chooses to bid one of three influence tokens. Since no player is in range of that zoand no players yet control any other Arts and Entertainment zoneno player may oppose Lucys influence attempt. Lucys attempautomatically successful. She places her token on the zone.

Rob then chooses to target the University zone for his influeattempt. He bids one of his three influence tokens. Sarah is witrange of the University and chooses to contest Robs attembidding two influence tokens. Rob decides to bid an additiotoken of his own in response, and the remaining players dec(or are unable) to participate. Both Sarah and Rob roll two dicRob scores 12 and Sarah scores 7. As Rob achieved the higscore, he places the two influence tokens he bid on the zone, wthe influence tokens that Sarah bid are discarded. If Sarah hbeat Rob, she would have placed her two influence tokens onzone instead (and Robs bid tokens would have been discarde

Its then Sarahs turn. She only has one influence token left bid this phase and chooses to place it on the Morgue. Althou



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other players have influence tokens available to bid and are withinrange, they decline to oppose, allowing her to add this tokenautomatically.

Jim is last and bids one influence token on the Nightclub Circuit.Lucy objects and is in range of the Nightclub Circuit, so she contests

Jims influence attempt by bidding her remaining two influencetokens against him. Jim then bids his two remaining influencetokens, giving him three dice to roll against her two. Lucy also

receives a +1 point bonus to her score on the influence contest,because she has one influence token already in play on the FashionCircuit zone (which is the same color as the Nightclub Circuit).

Nevertheless, Jim scores higher and gets to place all three of histokens on the zone, while Lucys are discarded.

Since Rob has one influence token still available, play passesaround the board once more. Lucy has no influence tokensavailable and must pass. Rob chooses to influence the Docks withhis remaining token. Going unopposed, he places the token on thezone automatically.

All players have spent their available influence tokens for theturn, so play moves on to the Resolution Phase.

The following examples illustrate other rules about influ-ence contests.

Example (using bonuses from tokens in the target zone):Sarah makes an influence attempt and targets the Morgue. Shealready has one token in that zone, and Rob has two in it. Robdeclares that he will contest Sarahs influence attempt with his twoexisting tokens. Sarah bids one of her available influence tokens

for the turn, plus she gains a die for her influence token already onthe zone, so both players roll two dice. Sarah scores higher thanRob; his opposition fails. Sarah adds the token she bid to the zoneso that she and Rob now both have two in it. If Rob had won, hewould not have added any tokens to the zone as he did not bid anynew ones, and Sarah would have lost the token she bid but kept

the one already in the zone prior to her influence attempt. Example (using bonuses from tokens in other like-colored

zones): Jim makes an influence attempt and targets Little Italy,much to Lucys displeasure. He bids one influence token, which

gives him one die to roll. Jim does not control any Communityzones, but Lucy controls the Latin Quarter, Nobility Hill andChinatown, with a total of four influence tokens in play on thosethree zones. Lucy announces that she will contest Jims influenceattempt. Although she does not want to bid any influence tokensin the influence contest, she can still contest Jim using the +4

point bonus she gains from her tokens already play. Jim musttherefore score a 5 or more on his roll to win the influence contestand add his bid token to Little Italy. Had Lucy decided to bid atoken, she would have rolled one die for the token and added her+4 bonus to her score versus Jims single die for his bid token.

Example (using bonuses from character miniatures): Robchooses to make an influence attempt on the Sewers, and bids onetoken in the attempt. Unfortunately, Lucys character miniatureis also on the Sewers, and she decides to contest Rob using onlythe +4 point bonus from her miniature to contest Robs attempt(rather than also bidding influence tokens in opposition). Rob must

therefore score 5 or more on his roll to succeed. If Rob gets 1 to 4(4 being a tie), he fails to influence the zone successfully and theinfluence token he bid is discarded. If his character miniature hadalso been on the Sewers, he could have added his own miniaturebonus of +4 to succeed in the attempt.

Example (multiple players): Rob announces an influenceattempt on the Corporate Sector. He bids one influence token,but Sarah bids two of her own to contest him. Lucy decides to help

Rob, bidding two tokens, and Rob agrees to the assistance. Jimthen decides to help Sarah. With Sarahs agreement, Jim bids anadditional token of his own. So, both teams of Rob and Lucy,Sarah and Jim, bid three tokens each.

They check other possible modifiers. Robs character miniatureis at the Corporate Sector (+4 points) and Lucy has a total of three influence tokens already placed on other purple city zones(+3 points). So, Rob and Lucy roll a total of three dice and add+7 to their score.

Sarah already has one influence token on the Corporate Sectorzone (+1 die) and Jim is playing the Ventrue and elects to spendone Vitae to use his Dominate Discipline (+1 die). So, Sarah and

Jim roll a total of five dice.

Fate smiles on Rob and Lucy as they get the highest total. Sarahand Jims bid tokens (but not Sarahs token already in the zone)are discarded. Rob places his one bid token and Lucy places hertwo bid tokens on the Corporate Sector.

5.4.4 Influence and Zone ControlTo claim control of a zone, a player must have more influ-

ence tokens in play on it than any other player. The playercontrolling the zone moves her stack of influence tokens ontothe zone controller circle to mark her control of the zone (thismakes tallying city prestige in the Resolution Phase a bitfaster). In the Resolution Phase, players count the prestige

listed on the zones they control to determine their total cityprestige.

Zone Controller City prestiegefor controlling

this zone



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A zone with no tokens on it is considered uncontrolled. If two or more players have an equal number of tokens on azone, theres no clear leader in the zone and its considereduncontrolled.

If a player has an Activation card in play that correspondsto a zone the player controls, he may utilize the activationeffect described on the card.

Whenever new tokens are added to or subtracted from azone, the zone should be checked for any change of control.Its possible for control of a zone to change hands several

times in one Influence Phase.When multiple players bid influence tokens on a zone dur-

ing an influence contest, its also possible that an assistingplayer rather than the acting one could gain control. In thelast example above, Lucy assisted Rob. She bid more influ-ence tokens than he did, and they won the contest. After sheplaced the tokens she bid, she gained control of the zone.

5.5 Resolution Phase During the Resolution Phase, all players count and declare

their total prestige scores, combining any personal prestigecounters with any city prestige gained from any zones con-trolled on the board. Each player records his new total pres-tige score for the turn by placing a clan insignia influencetoken on the prestige track running on the outside edge of the board. Prestige is not cumulative turn after turn, but ratheris recounted and reset each Resolution Phase.

If this is not the last turn of the game, play continues withthe highest prestige player becoming Regent for the next turn.If this is the last turn of the game, the highest prestige playeris the winner and new Prince of the city.

In the event of tied prestige scores, the player with controlof the most total zones on the board is declared winner (orRegent for the next turn). If the number of zones is also tied,count the number of influence tokens on the board. If thenumber of tokens is also the same, then play continues foranother turn.

If a players character miniature is not present on the board(hes in torpor) during the Resolution Phase, his total pres-tige should still be counted, but he cannot be declared Re-gent or winner. The title goes to the player with the nexthighest prestige total, and whose miniature is on the board.

If the game continues, each and every player must lose oneVitae counter at the end of each Resolution Phase, returningit to the bank. If a player has no Vitae left as a result, heimmediately goes into torpor (see below).

5.5.1 Counting PrestigeAll players gain city prestige from the control of zones on

the board. The prestige value of each individual zone is markedas a number on the zone. During each Resolution Phase, eachplayer should count this prestige to find his total current cityprestige for the turn. A bonus of three city prestige is gainedfor each domain that a player controls. Like counting all pres-

tige, this bonus is temporary and should not be recounted subsequent Resolution Phases if the domain subsequentlylost (i.e., the player loses control of one or more of the zonin that color category, or zones specified on aDomain Strat-egy card).

In addition to city prestige, players gain personal prestcounters from successfully challenging Event cards, steapersonal prestige in a social player challenge, by performactions specified on Strategy cards they have in play, or frany other prestige gain not linked to control of city zonPersonal prestige is tracked by taking prestige counters frthe bank when prestige is gained, or by paying it back to tbank when personal prestige counters are lost. If a player lomore personal prestige than he has counters to pay back the bank, the surplus loss is ignored.

During each Resolution Phase, each player should tally new prestige total, recording this total on the tracker prvided for all other players to see. The tracker should be usonly during the Resolution Phase, and players should not atempt to adjust their prestige totals or keep a running scoduring any other phase of the turn.

6. Torpor and LeavinIf a player is reduced to zero Vitae, his Primogen goes itorpor, a nightmarish sleep that vampires suffer to recuperaWhen a player is in torpor, her character miniature is removfrom the board. The piece may not be returned until the Rsource Phase of a subsequent turn.

Players in torpor may not draw cards, exchange or bestresources, participate in challenges or bid influence tokeA player in torpor cannot be named Regent or win the gam

A player in torpor may still assist or contest influence tempts made by other players if the torpid player has any revant influence tokens on the board, although she canno

bid new tokens to initiate any attempt or to contest anotheplayers influence attempt.A Primogen in torpor may not be the target of a play

challenge, and is not subject to any positive or negative fects caused by any Event cards in play.

If a player leaves the board for any other reason, she is treaas if in torpor until her piece is returned.

If a player must leave or withdraw from a game permanen(e.g., due to time constraints or other commitments), hecharacter miniature is removed from play as above, althouit is never returned to the board. Any cards the player had play or in her hand are discarded. Any influence tokens scontrolled in play are left on the board, and they automatcally contest the influence attempts of other players until thgame ends.

7. Timing andof Game E

All game effects are resolved in the same order in whithey are played or activated. There is no way to interrupt



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Final Death: A Kindreds real, true, ultimate death; whenher unlife ceases and she never again rises as a vampire.

ghoul: A mortal fed Kindred Vitae, possessed of varioussupernatural abilities, though far weaker than most vampires.

Harpy: A vampire in a position prominent or estimableenough to raise or put down others in Kindred society.

Kindred: The modern (and most frequent) term by whichvampires refer to themselves and their race.

kine: A term for mortals; the phrase Kindred and kinerefers to everyone.Masquerade: The efforts and system of laws required by a

Tradition of secrecy to hide Kindred existence from the mor-tal world.

neonate: A young vampire engaged in the Requiem for lethan 50 years.

Primogen: An elder who advises the Prince (also plural)Prince: The ruler of or most powerful Kindred in a domaRegent: The Primogen with the most prestige at the end o

each turn and therefore closest to becoming Prince. He is thfirst player to act each turn. The position of Regent is rollfor in the first turn of the game.

retainer: Any individual who serves a vampiric mast(whether under thrall or not). The term hails from a timwhen many vampires kept large estates with entire entouragof servants.

torpor: A death-like sleep into which Kindred fall if ijured severely or starved too long.

Traditions: The primary Kindred laws, passed down throuthe ages and observed inviolate due to the Kindred condtion.

Vitae: Blood.



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2004 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. White Wolf, World of Darkness and Vam-pire are registered trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Vampire the Re-quiem and Vampire Prince of the City are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing,Inc. All rights reserved.

For a free White Wolf catalog call 1-800-454-WOLF.

Check out White Wolf online athttp://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storytellerPRINTED IN GERMANY.

CreditsGame Design and Development: Mike NuddDevelopmental Assistance: Stephan WieckEditing: Ken CliffeArt Director: Pauline BenneyLayout & Typesetting: Becky JollenstenArt: Sam Araya, Pauline Benney, Avery Butterworth, andBecky JollenstenGraphic Design: Becky JollenstenPlaytesters: Justin Achilli, Tim Allan, Nick Ashton, BarnyBaker, Andrew Bates, Philippe Boulle, David Brain, BernardBresnahan, Andrew Brown, Derek Brown, Dean Burnham,

James Chamberlain, Eric Chiang, Anthony BunterColeman, Michael Correia, Simon Croome, Martin Sau-sage Fingers Cubberley, Stafford Dinage, Clive Dolphin,

Joshua Duffin, Karsten Essen, Jackie Eves, Barry Baz Gibson, James Goodman, Robert Goudie, David Hammond, StevenJos Joslyn, Seth King, Christopher Salem Kellahan,Matthew Kirk, Paul Mansfield, Jonathon Martin, ChrisMcDonough, Jenny Merrick, Benjamin Monk, Richard Orsler,Pierre Rebstock, Dan Roe, Paolo Sammut, Rob Savill, MikeTinney, Haukur Valgeirsson, Ian Vincent, Stephan Wieck,Stewart Wieck, Iain Wilson, Archibald Zimonyi, Darcy, all

the folks at Drexoll Games in Vancouver, and many othersthat space and time dont allow us to mention

A Big Thank YMany thanks to White Wolf (and Steve Wieck in particu-

lar) for giving this project the green light and seeing it throughto fruition. Thanks as well to all the playtesters and fellowgamers who have been an inspiration to me and my hobby.The biggest thanks goes to my mum, the one person in thisworld who has always supported me and encouraged me, re-gardless of the odds or circumstances.

Mike Nudd

vampire prince of the city rulebook

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