So if you aren’t on our Social Media (or if you are), you probably have heard or seen a few requests to find out what is in the book - beyond the incredible artwork by our talented artists ( Looking at you James Johnson, Kamila Maslak, and James Sheppard), or the exclusive sneak peeks of disciplines and Hunger mechanics by our amazing developers (mad props to Jason Herman, Corrigan E. Cassidy, Jimmy Reckitt, Erin MIracle DVM, and Colleen Kaster), you still wanted to really get the VEIN of what Laws of the Night is about. So…we went to our developers and said “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if…”
And they said YES!
So, without further ado, By Night Studios is excited to provide not just one sneak preview of the upcoming Laws of the Night release, but TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS! (Did we mention that the manuscript is approved as well, and this preview is around 64 pages of material?)
Please support our campaign by sharing this post with your friends and family. Don’t forget, there are tons of neat add-ons you can get in addition to your book to help immerse yourself into the world of Vampire: the Masquerade!
Great news! We have completed our editing rounds and have received the much anticipated approval from Paradox that allows us to move forward with the final stage - Layout!
In addition, nearly all of our art is also completed with ongoing review/clean-up as needed.
While we are waiting on a few pieces of content as part of our Backer program (hint - this is your opportunity to get in on this by backing those tiers!), we can proudly announce we are on schedule to deliver our PDF in a few short months and the printed versions not far behind.
We are excited to show off the incredible content and artwork of Laws of the Night as we continue through our crowdfunding campaign via Backerkit!" Stay tuned for some additional exciting news as well!
Thank you all for your support! Please tell your friends to back us too! We have started some polls as well in the Polls section of this website to find out about what you like and want to play, so check those out!
Earlier this weekend, our writer Corrigan E Cassidy spoke to the DNA (Dads with Nerdy Ambitions) podcast, and revealed a little about how Humanity works in Laws of the Night as well as chatting about many other things. You can listen to it on Spotify here and it's available on Apple too.
Developer Notes: One of the most requested items is how Rousing and Hunger work. It was the subject of a number of conversations both on Facebook and Discord posts. Here’s a short preview which will hopefully appease your curiosity!
Rousing the Blood
Whenever a vampire Awakens each night, utilizes her vampiric Disciplines, or stirs her Blood in any way, she risks Rousing her Hunger. Surging Blood into her Attributes, mending her wounds, or taking on a more humane visage using Blush of Life all come at a risk.
When a vampire is not involved in a combat scenario, a Rouse Check is a specialized rock, scissors, paper challenge performed immediately with your Storyteller. On a win or a tie, you have successfully kept your Hunger controlled. On a loss your Hunger increases by one. A Rouse Check is neither a contested nor static challenge.
If you are Rousing during a combat scenario, you do not immediately make a Rouse Check. Instead, each time you would normally make a Rouse Check during the combat turn, make a tick mark in the Rouse box on your character sheet. At the end of the turn, the Storyteller will perform a Rouse Check by way of a mass test with all participating characters in the scene. On a win, you have successfully kept your Hunger at bay. On a loss, your Hunger increases by one. On a tie, your Hunger increases by one if the number of Rouse Checks you made during that turn is greater than your current Hunger. Once the Hunger challenge has been resolved, all players erase their tick marks and start fresh on the subsequent turn.
If a Rouse Check results in an increase in Hunger, always resolve any outstanding effects prior to marking your increase in Hunger. At Hunger 5, a vampire can no longer intentionally Rouse the Blood. At Hunger 5, if an outside factor causes a Rouse Check, the vampire must instead immediately make a Hunger Frenzy check. Failing a Rouse Check that causes a Hunger Frenzy still activates the effect that required the Rouse Check, if any. If an outside factor would directly cause your Hunger to increase past 5, you immediately fall to Hunger Frenzy without a test.
Bestial Failures
While a vampire is at Hunger 3 or higher, her Beast does not deal well with failure. When she loses a contested or static challenge, and her test pool is lower than her opponent’s test pool or the difficulty of the static challenge, she must suffer one of the following consequences:
The character must act out a Compulsion.
She gains one Hunger. If this result would take her Hunger above five, the character immediately enters Hunger Frenzy.
As her actions were unintentionally reckless, she has committed a Masquerade breach (if justified by the scene).
She gains one Stain (if justified by the action causing the bestial failure).
Consequences are chosen by the Storyteller or, with their permission, by the player.
For those of you not active on our By Night Studios Discord or on socials, we will post the major book reveals here. Today, we have our chapter titles:
Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - Clans Chapter Chapter 3 - Character Generation and Progression Chapter 4 - Core Systems Chapter Chapter 5 - Dramatic Systems Chapter Chapter 6 - Backgrounds Chapter Chapter 7 - Merits and Flaws Chapter Chapter 8 - Powers of the Blood Chapter Chapter 9 - Vampire Society Chapter Chapter 10 - Storyteller and Player Tools
And a sneak peak of Predator Types from the book. Predator Types are our lead developer’s favorite part of V5. Were you V5 fans wondering where the free discipline is that’s usually associated with Predator Types? In place of that, we give a free extra discipline dot during character creation. Our intent was for players to choose a Predator Type that suited their character, not to optimize the discipline it came with. Here’s two from the upcoming book:
