Lair

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Revision as of 14:18, 27 September 2014

A lair is a place a Promethean can retreat to where he can hide or defend himself from others. It can be anywhere, but the Created usually choose places far from the madding crowd of mortals. If they do choose to live close to mortals, their lairs are nondescript and contain multiple means of escape. Since most lairs are only temporary, meant to serve for only a few months before the Promethean resumes his Pilgrimage, they cost relatively few dots to acquire. When the Promethean abandons his lair, however, he loses the dots. If he later returns to the area, the Storyteller might decide that the lair is still operable, although it loses one of its dots due to lack of maintenance, until the Promethean can put some effort into restoring it.

All lairs are not created equal. A warehouse might have sufficient space, but it might not be secure against unwanted visitors. A hidden cave has adequate security, but it might be dark and cramped. A lair’s value is represented by two factors — size and security. Players who choose this Merit must also choose how to allocate these two factors when spending dots. For instance, two dots may be spent on Lair Size, with a third spent on Lair Security.

Lair Size is important to characters who need a place to safely store their possessions and valuables. A lair with no dots in Size is just large enough for its owner and perhaps a single companion, with minimal storage capacity — a cramped apartment, for instance. By spending points to increase a lair’s size, a player allows for accoutrements and personal effects. Larger lairs can be anything from mansions to mountain hideaways to vast subterranean catacombs. Lairs of considerable size are not necessarily easy to maintain, though. (NB: The dot ratings for Lair differ from similar Merits from other World of Darkness games.)
• A large apartment, small family home, or large underground chamber; 3–4 rooms
•• An abandoned warehouse, church, mansion or network of subway tunnels; equivalent of 9–15 rooms or chambers
••• A sprawling estate or vast network of tunnels; countless rooms or chambers

Of course, Lair Size does not prevent intrusion by mortals (such as police officers, criminals or social workers). Players who want to ensure privacy and safety may spend dots on Lair Security, thus making it difficult for others to gain entrance. Lairs with no dots in Lair Security can be found by anyone intent enough to look, and they offer little protection once they have been breached. Each dot of Lair Security subtracts two dice from efforts to intrude into the place by anyone a character doesn’t specifi cally allow in. This increased difficulty might arise because the entrance is so difficult to locate (behind a bookcase, under a carpet) or simply difficult to penetrate (behind a vault door). Also, each dot of Security offers a +1 bonus on Initiative for those inside against anyone attempting to gain entrance (good sight lines, video surveillance).

Characters for whom no points are spent on Lair at all might have some small, humble chamber or favorite spot under a bridge. In any event, they simply do not gain the mechanical benefits of those who have assigned Merit dots to improve the quality of their temporary homes. Each aspect of the Lair Merit has a limit of three dots. In other words, Lair Size and Lair Security may not rise above 3 (to a maximum of six dots on this Merit, total).

Special: It’s possible for the Lair Merit to be shared among characters in a close-knit group. They might be devoted to one another and willing to pool what they have, or perhaps their mutual reliance on an individual or trust could bring them together to share what they have in common. To share this Merit, two or more characters simply have to be willing to pool their dots for greater capability. A shared rating in the Lair Merit cannot rise higher than three dots in either of the two aspects of the trait. That is, characters cannot pool more than three dots to be devoted to, say, Lair Size. If they wish to devote extra dots to the Merit, they must allocate those dots to Security. Shared Lair dots can be lost. Throng members or associates might be abused or mistreated, ending relationships. Group members might perform actions that cast themselves (or the group) in a bad light. If any group member does something to diminish the lair, its dots decrease for all group members. That’s the weakness of sharing dots in this Merit. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Storyteller dictates when character actions or events in a story compromise shared Lair dots. Characters can also leave a shared lair. A rift might form between close friends. A character might be killed or decide to go to the wastes. Or one could be kicked out of the lair by the others. When a character leaves a shared-lair relationship, the dots he contributed are removed from the pool. If the individual still survives, he doesn’t get all his dots back for his own purposes. He gets one less than he originally contributed. If a character breaks a relationship with his throng, the group loses both of the Lair dots he contributed, but he gets only one dot back for his own purposes. The lost dot represents the cost or bad image that comes from the breakup. If all members agree to part ways, they all lose one dot from what they originally contributed.

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