Post date: Nov 21, 2011 5:41:10 PM
The Blood Bond (or Blood Oath for the anachronistic Kindred) is one of the most potent means of control that our characters have at our disposal. Unfortunately, it is frequently abused by players and neglected in the RP at games or in downtime scenes. This is unfortunate, and will stop immediately. If you have any concerns about the new rules for Blood
A couple of quick terms: the regnant is the Kindred who has another being Bound to them; the thrall is the creature Bound to a Kindred.
There are three steps to the Blood Bond, divided by the number of separate nights that you have drunk from your regnant. A creature may have multiple 1- and 2-step Blood Bonds, but only one regnant may possess a full Blood Bond. In the case of "mixing the Blood," (e.g., placing multiple Kindred's blood into a container and having the thrall drink from it at once) then the creation of a full Blood Bound will be determined randomly amongst the regnant who already held the thrall to a 2-point Bond.
The roleplaying and mechanical effects of each stage of the Blood Bond are as follows: (LotN revised, pp. 211-212)
First Drink: The thrall has strong flashes of emotion regarding the regnant - you may daydream about them or place yourself in a position to be useful to them or try to be around them as much as possible.
Second Drink: The regnant is a central figure in your life, and while you are not their total slave, you will consider their wishes in deciding your nightly routine or course of action. The thrall must win a Simple Test (that means win or tie on a static challenge with no Trait risked) to take actions directly against the regnant. Additionally, the thrall suffers a 1-Trait penalty to any Social Challenges against the regnant.
Third Drink: The regnant are the most important thing in your life - a spouse, a parent, your children...nothing is as important as making your regnant happy. You will do as they say, or as you think they wish you to act, at all times. The mechanical aspect of a full Blood Bond is a regnant does not need to establish eye contact to Dominate their full thrall, and the thrall suffers a 2-Trait penalty in resisting Dominates from their domitor. Note that this stacks with the affects of previous stages of the Blood Bond.
The only way to avoid the consequences of a Blood Bond is to spend a Willpower Trait. The Willpower expenditure allows you some freedom of thought and action for a scene if it is not in direct contradiction to your domitor's wishes. Going forward, the "scene" shall be considered 10 IC minutes. Note that you have to spend a Willpower a turn if you are acting directly against your domitor, such as in combat. If the CID staff (HST, AST, or Narrators) believe that you are roleplaying your Blood Bond inappropriately, you will be charged Willpower to compensate. Continuing to ignore the roleplay aspect of the Blood Bond can be considered a form of metagaming, and will not be tolerated.
The removal of a Blood Bond is a complicated and messy affair, and do not expect the ST staff to make it easy on you. Your PC is going cold turkey from the most severe addiction they will ever face. You must avoid all forms of contact with your regnant for a period of time equal to 12 months - your permanent Willpower, with a minimum of 1 month - even then, your Bond is only reduced by 1 step.. You must constantly expend Willpower to avoid your regnant, as even a thrall suffering from one drink wishes to spend time with their regnant. You will not be allowed to purchase additional levels of Willpower while you are trying to break the Blood Bond, although successfully breaking a Blood Bond could be a justification for purchasing more Willpower after it is complete. There are other, more arcane methods of breaking a Blood Bond but you will need appropriate levels of Kindred Lore to justify knowing that information ICly. Failure to roleplay out the breaking of a Bond will cause the STs to deny the breaking of the Bond.
All Kindred have drunk from their Sires at least once; if you are coming into the game and do not feel it is appropriate to be suffering from the first step of a Blood Bond, please discuss this with your STs. In CID, the Embrace does not destroy any existing Blood Bonds.
From this point forward, the Merit: Unbondable will not be approved in CID on PCs except in the most appropriate of circumstances.
The house rules have been updated to reflect this.