World of Darkness Conversion Notes forUnisystem

These were not done by me, but the author has allowed me to share them here. The rules are not complete (especially the Gifts part of the Werewolf section). However, I think it is more than enough material to start a campaign.

Enjoy it!

Cainites
Werewolf

 

Cainites

Cainite
5-point Supernatural Quality

Cainites are a special variety of Undead, one which depends exclusively on blood to survive. The special powers and vulnerabilities of Cainites are described below. In addition to the base cost, the vampire must also purchase its generation, Humanity, and any other powers and abilities.

Cainites can be created under the Supernatural or Lesser Supernatural character types. Attributes are assigned normally. Cainites also have a fourth secondary attribute, Blood Pool. the amount of a Cainite’s Blood Pool depends on the character’s Generation, as per the table below:

Generation

Blood Pool *

Blood Points/Turn

Essence

Cost

13th+

(2 Attributes) + 5

1

Normal

5

12th

(2 Attributes) + 8

1

Normal

7

11th

(2 Attributes) + 10

2

+5

10

10th

(2 Attributes) + 12

2

+5

15

9th

(2 Attributes) + 15

3

+10

20

8th

(2 Attributes) + 20

4

+10

25

7th

(2 Attributes) + 25

5

+15

30

6th

(2 Attributes) + 30

6

+15

40

5th

(2 Attributes) + 50

8

+20

50

* Use the highest and lowest Attributes of the character to determine Blood Pool.

Attributes
Primary Attributes are determined normally. Secondary Attributes are also determined normally. Kindred have an Essence Pool (and it is larger for those of older generations), but it can only be recharged with Blood Points (see below).

Qualities like Hard to Kill can be purchased, but Hard to Kill does not give the vampire a bonus to survive destruction. Extra Essence cannot be acquired except through Age and Generation.

Using the Blood Pool
Cainite blood can be used in a number of ways. First, it can heal damage or replenish Essence, at the rate of 5 Life or Essence Points per Blood Point spent; this can only replenish the character’s pools, not raise them above their maximum. It can also boost any attribute, at the rate of +1 per Blood Point Spent (this does not affect secondary attributes, however). This bonus lasts for 2 turns (about 10 seconds). Healing, regaining Essence or boosting attributes counts as an action.

 Cainites lose 1 Blood Point every night. This blood must be replenished by feeding. They cannot regain Life or Essence points naturally, but must use Blood to recover them.

Getting Blood: Normal humans have 2 Blood Points, plus 2 BPs for every level of Strength and Constitution (Formula: (Strenght + Constitution) x 2 + 2. If they are drained to 0 BPs, they die. Victims regain (Constitution/2, rounded up) Blood Points each day, assuming rest and food are available. A bag of plasma has the equivalent of 1 Blood Point. Vampyres and Relentless Dead have no usable blood -- feeding on them is impossible. Werewolves have double the normal amount. Immortals can be fed upon; they regain lost blood much faster, at the rate of Constitution x 2 Blood points per day; if reduced to 0 BPs, Immortals fall into a coma.

Humanity
Humanity is a special Pool with 1 to 10 points. The base humanity is equal to the character’s Willpower, modified by any mental Drawback and Quality, that may reduce the character’s compassion or conscience (the Cruelty Drawback, for example, reduces the base Humanity by 1 to 3 levels, depending on its severity, while Honorable increases it by 1 per point of value). Additional levels of Humanity cost 2 points per level.

Willpower Tests to resist vampiric tendencies have a maximum value equal to the character’s Humanity score. So, for example, a Vampire with Willpower 4 and Humanity 6 would, when using a Simple Willpower Test (normally using Willpower Doubled), roll a 6, instead of 8. In the course of the game, Humanity can be gained or lost normally.

Frenzy and Rotschrech
Vampires must roll to avoid frenzy during stressful, enraging or frightening experiences. Modifiers on Frenzy rolls use Vampire Difficulty tables, converted as below. The roll is a Simple Willpower roll, which again cannot exceed Humanity.

Vampire Difficulty

Modifier to Willpower Roll

3

0

4

-1

5

-2

6

-3

7

-4

8

-5

9

-6

 

Cainite Disciplines
Disciplines have a Power Level and a Skill Level. The Skill is used for all attempts to perform each particular Discipline. Power Levels cost 2 points per level until level 5, and 5 points per level thereafter; also Power Levels beyond 5 require a low Generation level. All Clans have their own starting Disciplines. Acquiring a different Clan’s Disciplines costs 3 points per power level, instead of 2, up to level 5, and 6 points per level thereafter. After character creation, power levels of any kind are improved by paying the cost of the next level, +1. So, to go from Level 1 to 2 costs 3 points, from 4 to 5 costs 6 points. At each power level, the Cainite gains one special ability; generally speaking, they function as they do in the WW rules, replacing any rolls with the Discipline Skill and appropriate Attribute roll. Successes are replaced by Success Levels. Resisted rolls subtract the target’s Success Level from the attacker’s Success Level.

The Skill to use each Discipline costs 1 point per level until level 5, and 3 points per level thereafter.

Example: Ruiz the Malkavian has Auspex Power Level 4, at the cost of 8 points. He has four Auxpex powers now: Heightened Senses, Aura Perception, The Spirit’s Touch, and Unveil the Shrouded Mind. He also has a Skill of 5, at the cost of 5 points. Total cost is 13 points.

Auspex Power 4, Skill 5

Using Disciplines: Discipline uses are Tasks using the Skill level of the power and the appropriate attribute. Using them costs Essence -- 1 point per power level of the Discipline. Example: Ruiz uses Unveil the Shrouded Mind on a target. His roll uses Perception and his Skill level of 5. Each use costs 4 Essence points.

Augmenting Disciplines: Some Disciplines (Celerity, Fortitude and Potence) do not require a skill. The character simply purchases the power level at 1 point per level. Activating these disciplines costs 1 Blood Point to activate it, and last for one hour once activated.

Other Conversion Info
Health Levels: In general, treat a Health level as 5 Life Points or D10(5) points of damage. So, a power that inflicts 1 Health level of Damage per Success in Storyteller inflicts D10 x Success Level in Unisystem.

Turns and Scenes: Turns convert to Turns in Unisystem most of the time. A Scene could be as little as a minute, or as much as several hours; 10 minutes is a good rule of thumb.

Cainites and Other Powers
Magic: Cainites can us magic, but with certain restrictions. First of all, they do not have normal Essence Channeling, nor an Essence Pool. Instead, they must acquire Thaumaturgy, a special Discipline that allows Cainites to work magic. The Cainite’s channeling level is equal to their Blood Usage level, times 5 (so, a 13th Gen vampire that can use 1 Blood Point per turn can channel 5 Essence per turn). Instead of Essence, however, the Cainite will convert Blood into Essence, at the rate of 5 Essence per Blood Point spent. Vampires cannot acquire Extra Essence, other than that gained through the Age Quality, however. They must rely on their Blood Pool to regain Essence.

The Sight: Cainites cannot learn psychic abilities; they can acquire them for short periods of time by drinking the blood of psychics, however.

Necromancy: Cainites can learn Necromancy. One clan, the Giovanni, actually practices Necromancy and calls it a Discipline, although it really isn’t. They replace any Essence usage with Blood.

Other Crafts: Most other crafts (including the Disciplines of the Flesh, Tao-Chi, and High Magick) are beyond the grasp of Cainites.

Killing Cainites
Wounding a Cainite works much like wounding a mortal; vampires can be stunned or knocked down, or even out. Even if unconscious, however, the character will automatically use Blood Points to heal himself. If a Cainite is reduced to -10 Life Points, any extra damage reduces his Blood Pool; every 10 points of damage (rounded down) reduce his Blood Pool by 1. If the Blood Pool is reduced to 0, the vampire falls into Torpor. Sunlight inflicts damage every turn of exposure. If a Cainite is staked, he is paralyzed and cannot move.

Aggravated Damage: There are two "types" of Aggravated Damage -- regular and lethal. Regular Aggravated damage can kill a Vampire; if he is reduced to -10 Life Points and 0 Blood Points, he has been destroyed. Lethal Aggravated damage is even worse -- it cannot be regenerated normally; they require a night of rest and the expenditure of 1 Blood Point per Life Point healed, for a maximum healing rate of 5 points per day (an additional 5 points can be healed, at the same cost, if the character passes a Difficult Willpower Test at -2). Regular Aggravated damage is inflicted by fire, supernatural attacks and Essence attacks like Soulfire. Lethal Aggravated damage is most often inflicted by sunlight (D6(3) points per turn exposed to sunlight), and rare supernatural attacks.

Chroniclers wishing to follow the Storyteller pattern more closely can ignore this distinction and consider all Aggravated Damage to be lethal. Vampires will die fairly quickly, however.


Werewolf

Delirium
Normal Mundanes are subject to the Delirium. The Gifted are immune to the effect.

Willpower
Use the Willpower pool from Werewolf to determine the Willpower attribute in the Unisystem. Instead of using Willpower points for certain things, use Rage or Gnosis points instead.

Rage and Gnosis
These are specialized forms of Essence. Rage is the Garou’s connection to his inner Beast (see more below).

Garou Birth
If a Garou mates with a normal human or wolf, there is only a one in sixteen chance that the child will be Garou. If he/she mates with a Kinfolk human or wolf, the chance is one in eight, and if Garou mates with Garou, the chance is one in four the child will be a normal Garou, and one in four he will be a deformed Metis wolf. Because of this, the Garou frown on unions between werewolves.

The Forms
Garou have four shapes: the Homid, or normal human form, the Glabro (Half-Man), the Crinos (Man-Wolf), and the Lupus (Pure Wolf).

Shifting from one form to another is a Task using Constitution and Primal-Urge. The Garou Shapes have the following bonuses:

Other Species
Bonuses to LPs are added to the formulas for Garou given below.

Bastet
Each Cat species has its own table.

Balam

Khan

Simba

Gurahl (Werebears)

Secondary Attributes: For the Garou race, they are determined as follows:

Homid:

Glabro:

Crinos:

Lupus:

Qualities and Drawbacks

Metaphysics
Gifts and Rites:
The Garou can acquire Gifts and Rites. Gifts are special mystical powers, taught to them by spirits. Rites are a special form of Invocation or Ceremony, and they are handed down from Garou to Garou.

Other Metaphysics: Most Garou only learn Gifts and Rites, but there are a few exceptions. Some Silent Striders learn Necromancy and Invocation Magic; occassionally they teach these arts to other Garou. A few Stargazers and Uktena also practice Invocations or even Initiation Rituals. The Fianna are also known to acquire Sidhe Weavings. To learn Invocations, the Garou must purchase Essence Channeling and spend points on magic. To learn Weavings, they must acquire the Fey Quality and then purchase Weavings normally.

A few Garou can also be Inheritors or Avatars; they are extremely rare, but highly respected. To become one, the cost of both the Garou and the Inheritor/Avatar Quality (17 and 25 points, respectively). That means that a Garou-Inheritor character would cost 32 points, and a Garou Avatar 40 points. Thus, they are viable characters only in Legendary campaigns.

The Garou cannot acquire Second Sight powers, Tao-Chi, Disciplines of the Flesh, Nightspawn Talents, High Magick, or Divine Inspiration.

Common Garou Powers and Vulnerabilities
The Three Forms: During both Lupus and Crinos form, the Garou has 2 points of natural armor, cumulative with other armor.

Rage and Gnosis: All Garou automatically have 1 point of Rage and 1 level of Gnosis. See below for more information.

See Essence and Spirits: Garou can see spirits and astral travelers naturally. They can also "smell" auras on a successful Perception and Gnosis Roll.

Mystic Rank: This measures the Garou’s connection with the spirit world. All Garou automatically have one level of Mystic Rank. Additional levels can be purchased or acquired with experience (see below).

Step Sideways: This is the ability to enter the Penumbra, and from it the Astral Plane (the Inner Plane). To do so, the Garou must win a Resisted Task: his Willpower and Gnosis versus the Gauntlet of the area.

Area

Typical Gauntlet

Sterile, artificial setting

9

Most Cities

7-8

Towns

6-7

Parks

5

Real Wilderness

4

Typical Caern

3

Powerful Caern

2

Regeneration: Garou in Lupus and Crinos forms regenerate from non-aggravated damage at the rate of 6 points per turn. While in homid form, damage is regained at the rate of 6 points per minute.

Essence Regeneration: The Garou regain Essence faster than normal humans, at a rate of 1 Essence point per (Rage) minutes -- the higher the Garou’s Rage is, the longer it takes to regain Essence. Garou with Essence Channeling subtract (Rage/2) from their level to determine their Essence regain rate.

Vulnerability to Silver: When struck by silver weapons, the Garou suffer tremendous pain (must make a Will + Con roll, at -1 per 3 points of damage inflicted, or be stunned). Also, silver damage heals at a much slower rate (Con points per day).

Vulnerability to Fire and Electricity: Fire and shock damage are regenerated at a slower rate of 6 points per minute in Lupus or Crinos forms, and 6 points per hour in Homid form.

Rage and Gnosis
Acquiring Rage: Rage is a special pool. All Garou automatically have 1 point of Rage. Additional Rage points costs 1 point each during character creation. After character creation, additional points cost 2 points each.

Acquiring Gnosis: Gnosis is a special skill, used for a number of supernatural feats. It costs 2 points per level until level 5 (the maximum allowed during character creation).

Using Rage
Rage is spent to activate certain Gifts, to make additional attacks (one action per Rage point), to increase the healing rate of a wound to 12 points per turn, at the cost of 1 Rage point per turn, and to stay conscious when reduced below 0 Life Points (1 Rage point per turn). The character gains rage by being angered or injured in combat, by howling to the moon, and through circumstances that will anger or annoy the Garou. The size of the Rage Pool is determined during character creation; any Rage gained beyond this limit is lost.

Rage interferes with mystical powers, however. Every point in the current Rage pool above (Willpower+4) gives a -1 penalty to all Gnosis rolls. Example: Moon-Killer has a Gnosis of 4, Willpower 3 and 9 points in his Rage pool (out of a maximum of 12). All his Gnosis rolls are at a -3 penalty; if he ever fills his Rage Pool to 12, he will be at -5 to all Gnosis rolls.

Using Gnosis
Stepping Sideways: This ability uses Gnosis and Willpower (see above).

Activating Gifts: This uses Gnosis and the appropriate attribute.

Sensing the Supernatural: This uses Gnosis and Perception.

Mystic Rank
This measures the Garou’s connection to the spirit world. In a way, this is the reputation and status the Garou have with spirits. A character’s Rank allows him to learn Gifts, and also to resist the attacks or abilities of all spirit entities (including astral beings, ghosts, and other incorporeal creatures). Each level of Mystic Rank gives the character +1 to all resistance rolls against such beings. Furthermore, each Rank level after the first gives the character an additional 6 Essence points.

Acquiring Rank: All Garou have one free level of Rank. Additional levels cost 3 points per level (to a maximum Rank of 3 for Heroric Character; no limit for Legendary Characters). After character creation, the Garou must pay 6 points per level, and perform some great deed that affects and impresses the world of spirit.

Gifts
The Garou’s mystical nature gives them access to a number of supernatural abilities. These Gifts are taught to them by friendly spirits. To learn them, one must travel to the Umbra and find a teacher, or to have access to a Caern and a Totem, or to have a connection with the right Old God, Sidhe Lord, or other transdimensional plane.

Acquiring Gifts
To aquire Gifts, the character must have the following pre-requisites:

Skills: Garou Lore or Spirit Lore (two specialized forms of Occultism) at level 2 or higher.

Mystic Rank: A Garou can only learn Gifts of the same level as his Rank, or below.

All Gifts Cost 3 points per Rank level (i.e., 3 points for level 1 Gifts, 6 for level 2 Gifts, and so on). At least one of the character’s gifts must come from each Rank. So, for example, a character with Rank 3 who buys 5 Gifts must have one level 1 Gift, one level 2 Gift, and one level 3 Gift; the other two Gifts can be from any Rank.

After character creation, the point cost is the same, but the character must find a spirit teacher. Caerns all have one or more Nature Spirits living within them; these spirits have access to a limited number of Gifts, however, so the character is either restricted to learning the available Gifts, or must find another teacher, most likely by travelling to the Umbra.

Using Gifts
Using a Gift often requires an expenditure of Essence, Rage, or both. These are listed under Energy Cost under each Gift entry. Activating most Gifts requires a Gnosis and Attribute roll; the specific attribute is also noted under each Gift description. Finally, some Gifts take time to activate or use; the time to activate is also listed below. "Instant" activations mean simply that using the Gift counts as one action in a turn and their use occurs during the "spell" segment of the turn.

List of Gifts

Level One Gifts
Point Cost: 3 points each.

Beast Speech

Blur of the Milky Eye

Call of the Wyld

Cooking

Control Lesser Machine

Create Element

The Falling Touch

Fatal Flaw

Heightened Senses

Inspiration

Leap of the Kangaroo

Mindspeak

Mother’s Touch (Healing)

Open Seal

Persuasion

Razor Claws

Resist Pain

Resist Poison

Scent of the Running Water

Scent of Sweet Honey

Scent of the True Form

Sense Wyrm

Smell of Man

Truth of Gaia

Level Two Gifts
Point Cost: 6 points each.

Blissful Ignorance

Burrow

Command Spirit

Curse of Hatred

Jam Technology

Name the Spirit

Scent of Sight

Sense of Prey

Sense the Unnatural

Sight from Beyond

Staredown

Taking the Forgotten

(No other Gifts were written up at the time)


 

Back to Unisystem

 

Well, enjoy it! And if you want, you can drop me a line at fred@planetfred.net or leave a comment at the PatchComm.

 

Last Update: 28-June-02