Carthian Law

Despite being a secular covenant, the Carthian Movement has power as a covenant that is, in some ways, more dangerous than Theban sorcery and more insidious than the Coils of the Dragon. The practice of Carthian Law allows these Kindred to place restrictions on what their fellow vampires may do within their domains. These laws aren’t simply tenets, held in place only by say-so and perceived threat of consequence. When Carthians gather, Kindred Disciplines, the hallmark of vampiric existence, falter. And, most of the time, neither the victim nor the Carthians have any idea what is happening.

Precepts

• The herd is outside the Law: Carthian Law cannot stop a vampire from using Disciplines on mortals. Ghouls are a gray area; in some domains, they might fall under the Law (see p. 174 Carthians).
• The people must support the Law: A Carthian in a domain in which the covenant holds no power cannot enforce the Laws, unless that Carthian is a power unto himself.
• The Law must be defined: A domain in which the majority of the Kindred (or just the influential Kindred) are Carthian does not a Carthian domain make, especially with respect to the Law. If the Carthians do not have codified laws, there can be no enforcement. An unspoken or “common knowledge” law doesn’t count — the Kindred in the domain might avoid feeding in a particular district for whatever reason, but unless an authority has actually forbidden feeding there, the Laws won’t come into play.
• Ignorance is no excuse: The Laws affect Kindred in the domain in question whether they know about them or not. However . . . .
• A Law broken in secret is not broken: A member of the Carthian Movement must actually observe a breach of the Law in order to enforce it
• Law must be broken in deed, not thought: A domain might have Laws against the murder of another Kindred, but using Disciplines to plan the murder does not violate the Law. Only actions that break the Law merit enforcement.
• The Law applies only to Disciplines: Skills, Attributes, Merits and Coils of the Dragon are not affected by the Law (the last because Coils are not actively used, they are permanent changes to a vampire’s physiology).

Most, if not all, of these precepts have exceptions.

In Practice

Carthian Law isn’t a Discipline, or a form of blood sorcery like Crúac or the Theban rituals of the Lancea Sanctum. The Laws are exactly that — a series of restrictions placed upon the use of Kindred abilities. Individual Carthians can enforce these Laws (often without meaning to), but the Laws grow more potent if more members of the covenant are present.

In many ways, the Laws represent the notion of citizenship so prized in many Carthian domains. A citizen can use her Disciplines freely, or at least, more freely than a non-citizen. A citizen is accountable to the Laws, but is given the benefit of the doubt. A non-citizen is an outsider, and thus cannot act with impunity.

However, all are accountable. A Bishop of the Lancea et Sanctum may think they are divinely appointed by God but when they cut their palm to perform Theban sorcery to resist arrest - nothing happens. Why did the ritual fail? Because it was done in a domain where Carthian Law is dominant. It was against the rules, and so it failed. The Sanctified Kindred doesn’t feel anything working against him. The ritual felt as though it should have succeeded — he cut his palm in the same way as always, but the blood lash just didn’t come. Likewise, the Myrmidon is unaware that she did anything mystical. All she knows is that the intruder drew a knife and slashed open his palm as though expecting something to happen.

A vampire in violation of a Law doesn’t set off any mystical sense to the Carthians. If a vampire creeps up behind a Carthian and attempts to stake him with a Vigor-enhanced attack, the Law does not protect the Carthian because the Carthian has not perceived the breach of the Law. That said, a Carthian does not have to know the Law to enforce it, just as a vampire is still beholden to the Law even if she is ignorant of it.

The Law applies only to Disciplines. The Law stating “Kindred may not creep invisibly through the Elysium, but must announce themselves and obtain permission before entering” would prohibit a vampire from using Obfuscate to sneak in or even using Dominate to force a guard to grant her entry, but would not stop her from simply picking a lock and sneaking past said guard. Likewise, Coils of the Dragon are exempt from the Law because they are permanent changes to vampire, not abilities that the vampire turns on and off. This is why the Laws function on Disciplines such as Resilience and Vigor. Even though they simply enhance the vampire’s natural physical prowess, they must be activated by the power of the Blood, and this makes them susceptible to the Law.

Loopholes

Obviously, the letter of the Law is of supreme importance. A Kindred entering a new city would do well to learn the political lay of the land no matter which covenant is most influential, and a newly arrived vampire might avoid punishment for an infringement if he honestly didn’t know the rules (and if he was making a good attempt to find other Kindred and learn those rules). As far as the mystical effects of Carthian Law, however, ignorance cannot protect the character. As long as the other conditions are met, the Law’s effects take hold.

However, if the Laws says something like "Violence against Kindred is forbidden except in sanctioned duels" then a nonviolent use of Dominate is completely legal. Vampires are able to find loopholes in the Law, allowing them to dodge its effects. The Carthian Lawyer Merit represents a character who, understands the true mystical nature of Carthian Law, has learned to manipulate it and enforce it.

Carthian Law only applies to Domains where the Movement has authority to make and enforce edicts. However, if a singularly special Carthian gains enough influence they can begin Enforcing the Law by themselves without the need for the covenant to be in power. Examples of this would be obtaining Domain Status •••, Clan Status •••• (though his clan must be well-represented within the city), or have a Blood Potency that is more than three dots higher than any of the resident vampires’.

Ghouls

Normally, the Law affects only vampires. Ghouls are a strange case, though. The act of imbibing Kindred blood brings a mortal into the World of Darkness, whether she wants to see the deeper mysteries of that world or not. She is no longer part of the mortal herd, and thus can have a different relationship with Carthian Law than normal mortals. To what extent the Law affects ghouls depends, as with many things, on the wording of the Law in the given area. If the Law states that “those brought under the blood are still mortal, and should be treated as such” then, as far as the effects of the Law go, ghouls are simply mortal. If the Law states “our blood-servants are property of their Kindred masters,” then using Disciplines on a ghoul can trigger the Law. Some domains even extend a limited form of citizenship to ghouls, and in such places ghouls can actually suffer the same restrictions on their Disciplines that the local Kindred do.

The Laws fall under four general categories:

• Proscriptions: These Laws prohibit or limit certain types of behavior and encompass the vast majority of Carthian Law. Examples: Prohibition against killing other Kindred, rules limiting where and when Kindred can hunt.
• Admonitions: These Laws provide standards of behavior that Kindred are meant to uphold, either at specific times or constantly. Examples: Maintaining the Masquerade, non-violence or abstaining from Discipline use at certain time or in certain places.
• Privileges: Kindred who meet certain qualifications can break other Laws or might enjoy boosts to their Disciplines (see below) under certain circumstances. Examples: The Hound can subdue or kill Kindred at will; Kindred citizens can kill one vessel per year with no retribution.
• Obligations: Kindred in the domain can be called upon to serve the covenant’s (or the city’s) interest under certain circumstances. Examples: The Prefect can order a vampire to instruct him or his lieutenants in a Discipline for one month; Kindred with combat experience can be called upon to fend off incursions from other vampires.

Naturally, these categories can overlap a bit, and not every domain has examples of all four types.

Enforcing of the Law

In order for Carthian Law to apply, the major Kindred power in the domain needs to belong to the covenant (or an individual must be sufficiently influence on their own) and the rules need to be codified.

Using the Laws to stifle other vampires’ Disciplines is called enforcing the Laws. Doing so does not require any special effort on the part of the Carthian character (i.e., all enforcement is reflexive). Indeed, most of the time the Carthians aren’t even aware that Carthian Law exists. In game terms, a Discipline ceasing to function because of Carthian Law is treated no differently than a simple failed roll. In the case of Vigor, Resilience and Celerity, which modify other Traits rather than granting specific powers, the character feels stronger, tougher or faster but simply doesn’t gain the benefits.

In order to enforce Carthian Law, the character must possess at least one dot of Covenant Status (Carthians). He must also bear witness to a violation of the tenets of the domain as codified by the Carthians in power, in which another vampire uses a Discipline and the Kindred of the city are directly affected by the violation. If all of these criteria are met, the player rolls Intelligence + Resolve + Status (Carthians).

Dramatic Failure: The Law weakens. For the next month, every enforcement attempt suffers a –1 penalty.

Failure: The Law goes unenforced. No other enforcement can be attempted against that particular violation of the Law. The lawbreaker “gets away with it.”

Success: The lawbreaker’s successes on whatever Disciplines she used or is using to commit her crime are reduced by the number of successes the player rolled. If the Discipline in question does not require a roll (Protean 1) or enhances other Traits (Vigor, Resilience and Celerity), the Discipline is canceled if the successes are greater than the rating of the Discipline. For instance, canceling Protean 1 only requires a single success, but if the criminal has Vigor 3, a single success still leaves her with access to Vigor 2. In the case of Devotions, the Carthian needs only to match the rating of the lowest Discipline involved.

Exceptional Success: All Disciplines the lawbreaker has used or is using in violation of the Law instantly cease.

The player makes this roll no matter whether he knows that the Law is being violated or not. The lawbreaker has no way to perceive that the witness is the cause of her sudden Discipline failure (because he isn’t). Likewise, the witness doesn’t know that his presence at the scene had anything to do with the lawbreaker’s problems. The effect happens whether the Carthian wants the lawbreaker to succeed or not.

Letter of the Law

There are currently no Laws codified by the Carthian Movement in the Domain of Sacramento.