DOD GAME & SYSTEM RULES

GAME RULES AND MECHANICS

Dominions of Darkness™ takes place in the modern world (same month/day/year as present day) and is based on the 100-sided dice system (aka percentage dice), which is a primary function of your Character's HUD. If you are familiar with the tabletop version of World of Darkness, paper and pencil are no longer required to calculate your stats, buffs and other modifiers. The HUD has been professionally scripted to keep track of all your purchased skills and abilities, and their associated modifiers for you. This helps facilitate combat and keep everything above board and honest, as well as frees players from scribbling math problems and allows them to simply enjoy the game. For more information on the Players' HUD, CLICK HERE.

As powerful as the Dominions of Darkness HUD is, it does have some limitations. Health points are managed automatically in your HUD, but may need adjusting manually under certain circumstances using the "Temp" button within the HUD. External Buffs are targeted on your Character by other Player Characters, and calculated automatically. Non-combat damage must be adjusted manually. Any damage from Botched rolls (1-10) is calculated automatically.

When a Character's Health Meter reaches zero, they are unconscious and require medical attention. While death of a character is definitely possible, please read those rules beforehand. CLICK HERE.

The HUD is also not capable of keeping track of Garou Rage Points. These must be kept manually by Players using the appropriate meters. While we wish the HUD could do everything automatically, it does do the majority of the hard work in allowing Players to purchase skills and abilities on their character sheets, keeping track of stats, and calculating the many buffs that affect them.

18+ Adult Game - NO CHILD AVATARS

Dominions of Darkness is an adult-only roleplaying game. Players and Avatars must be 18 years or older - No Exceptions. Storylines never involve children, this includes NPC children. While children do obviously exist in the world and can be mentioned, they are never seen or played. While we encourage creativity in storylines, this is a hardline rule. No prim babies, children, tummy talkers or anything of that nature.

Not Your Ordinary Second Life RPG

Unlike most Role Playing Games in Second Life, Dominions of Darkness is all about inclusiveness. The game is designed to expand beyond the typical single-sim playing environment and allow Players to experience a world of different cities. While at launch the game begins with the City of Miami, we encourage other Sim owners to enjoy playing Dominions of Darkness and create their own cities. Using the same game HUD, we envision a metaverse where players can roam the world. From Miami to Los Angeles, Paris to Moscow and Egypt to Peru, Players can explore a true world of darkness. We invite you to join us on this journey of dark roleplay, exploration and enticing adventures.

Ongoing Upgrades, Improvements and Nerfs

As an ever-evolving game, Dominions of Darkness is intended to expand as the player base grows. Future expansions will include more character types and abilities. However, from time-to-time and when the needs arise, some character classes and their associated skill sets may be enhanced or nerfed to keep the power sets balanced. While we have launched the game and balanced the skills to the best of our abilities, we recognize that this is an ongoing process.

Good vs. Evil - and Everything In between

They type of character you play is up to you, however you should keep in mind that there are inworld consequences for inworld actions. You can play a good guy or a bad guy. But the goal is to play a sustainable character that can grow, learn and evolve as the stories progress. Do keep in mind that you are not the only human behind the keyboard and every other Avatar also has a real person looking to have fun as well.

EXPERIENCE POINTS: HOW TO EARN AND SPEND XP

Experience Points (XP) are the currency of Dominions of Darkness and have two purposes in game play. The first is that when you earn XP you can use those points to purchase new skills and increase the power of those you previously purchased. This is done through the DOD HUD in Second Life.  In this use, XP is earned and spent/depleted when you trade them in for new skills. 

The second aspect of earning XP is that it allows your character to progress in level. Earned XP in this scenario is never depleted and is used to determine your Character's level. When a Character increases in level their Hit Points are increased, making them hard to render unconscious or killed in combat. It also serves as a running number of all the Experience Points a Character has earned in Roleplay, regardless of how they were spent to purchase skills and abilities.

Experience Points can be earned in any official DOD City Sim. When you select a Character Type and begin to create a new Character using the HUD, you receive a designated number of XP to spend on the skills or abilities your new character will start with. These Experience Points may be different between different Character Types.

As you play your Character, qualified roleplay and/or participating in special events will earn you XP. This will show up in your HUD once a week and can immediately be used to purchase points in your desired skills and abilities for that Character. 

A max of 20XP may be earned per week through qualified roleplay in any Dominions of Darkness City Sim. An additional 20XP may be earned by participating in special events hosted by a City Sim or by a Group Lead (Primogen, Garou Leader/Elder, etc.), for a total of 40xp per week.

XP REQUIRED TO INCREASE SKILLS & ABILITIES

There are up to eight points available for purchase in any skill set. Each point costs progressively more XP. For example, if you have earned 30 XP, you may purchase the first two points of any skill (10XP for the first point, and 20XP for the second point = 30XP.)

Experience Points and Level Progression Increases Your Base Hit Points (HP)

Another benefit of earning Experience Points for qualified roleplay is that the more XP you earn, the higher your Character's level will get, with a max of 28 levels to achieve. Every time you go up in level, your Hit Points also increase (see chart below). How many HP you start with and can earn is dependent on your Character Class. The Chart below will tell you exactly how much earned XP you need to rise to the next level. And how many Hit Points you will permanently receive.

To view a larger image, CLICK the Progression Chart.

Physical and Mental Skills: Evening the Playing Field

Because World of Darkness never intended the different playing systems of Vampire the Masquerade, Garou the Apocalypse, Hunters, Gifted, Changelings, etc. to be played together in a single campaign, Dominions of Darkness needed to "balance" the field in a way that everyone could play together without overpowering one race or nerfing another. 

The point systems in these games were so diverse as to be nearly unplayable together. Imagine someone who only speaks Japanese, another who only speaks Russian, and a third who only speaks ancient Greek are trying to read an instruction manual written in Olde English. Not only would they not be able to understand each other, they wouldn't comprehend the book they were trying to decipher either.

Physical and Mental Skills is the Universal Translator that allows these awesome yet varied character types to play together in the same dark Universe. This also includes balanced metrics for Race Leveling, purchasing Skills, earning Experience Points in roleplay, and a cohesive formula that merges Blood/Mana/Gnosis into a Universal Energy System.

How Physical & Mental Skills Work, and How to Use Them.

Every point you purchase in various abilities (such as Willpower, Initiative, Occult, Medical, etc.) gains you points in those particular abilities, AND also adds additional points that improves one or more of your character's innate Physical and/or Mental scores. Specifically, these are: 

• Physical Skill 
• Physical Attack 
• Physical Defense 
• Mental Skill
• Mental Attack
• Mental Defense

Players cannot directly purchase points using XP into Physical and Mental skills, but they can purchase points in various other skills that also enhance their Physical and Mental modifiers. This is done automatically in your HUD every time you use your XP to purchase new skills and abilities.  

For example, in addition to directly improving your Character's Willpower modifiers when purchasing points into this ability, the chart below demonstrates what you also receive in associated Physical and Mental modifiers:

(NOTE: THESE MODIFERS ARE CURRENTLY BEING BALANCED AND WILL CHANGE BEFORE GAME LAUNCH. HOWEVER, THIS IS A GOOD EXPLANATION OF HOW BALANCING IS DONE USING MENTAL AND PHYSICAL SKILLS)

These Physical and Mental modifiers enhance your ability to fend off another player's attacks, allow you to improve your own modifiers over and above your normal Ability modifiers when rolling to attack or defend yourself, or improve your chances to use your special abilities in roleplay. 

For example, below is the level 4 ability of Obfuscate. To use this power, the Player needs to roll a minimum of 70 on the 100-sided percentage dice used by the Dominions of Darkness Players' HUD.

However, the Player has the benefit of lowering the actual number he needs to roll by adding in his Character's modifiers. In this example, the Player gets to add his Mental Skill points and his Willpower Points.

◉◉◉◉◎◎◎◎: Obfuscate 4 - Vanish (Buff)

Base Roll: 70
Mod: Mental Skill & Willpower
Energy/Blood Cost: 4 pts.

In this example, a Player that has purchased Level 5 Willpower will have earned +25 Modifier Points in Willpower, AND an additional +10 points in associated Mental Skill. This gives the Player a +35 overall modifier, meaning that he will only need to roll a natural 35 to succeed in using Obfuscate 4.

What Other Abilities Add to Physical and Mental Modifiers?
Many of the skills and abilities will add points to your overall Physical and Mental modifiers. These are easily found on this website under a skill's abilities. For example, purchasing Celerity 6 - Split Second gives "Permanent Affects" of +5 Athletics/Reflexes and +2 Physical Defense. 

◉◉◉◉◉◉◎◎: Celerity 6 - Split Second (Buff)
Base Roll: 85
Mod: Physical Defense & Athletics/Reflexes
Energy/Blood Cost: 5 pts.
Damage: 0
Permanent Affects:

•  Adds +5 Athletics/Reflexes
• +2 Physical Defense

NOTE: Any additional questions regarding how points in Physical and Mental skills work when using skills and abilities in roleplay, just contact the DOD Admins by sending us an email through this website, or finding an Admin or Mod at a Dominions of Darkness City Sim within Second Life.

BONUS LIMIT - +75 MAX

A Player's Character can only ever have a max of +75 bonus in any attribute or skill. This includes any added Temporary Bonuses that are applied. 

If a Temporary Bonus is applied to the Player's Character that puts one or more of a Character's bonuses over 75, any enemy effects that diminish these stats will come off the top of the actual total.

For Example:

A Character about to engage in a battle is already at +75 Physical Attack, but gains another +15 Physical Attack bonus applied by the abilities of another Character. This would put the Character at +90, which is over the +75 limit. During play, the Character will only be allowed to use the +75 bonus limit.

However: During the battle, if the Character comes under any effect that halves his Physical Attacks, the Character will only be lowered to +45 (half of 90 instead of 75). Any negative effects of -5 to -15 will not be felt at all.

COMBAT RULES

It only takes one Player in Character to declare and start a combat sequence. Combat can happen at any time and any place. However, keep in mind that in large, populated cities there are always NPCs (Non-Player Characters) walking around and conducting business. If you start a fight you're going to draw a crowd. Pick your time and place to avoid this type of observer problem. If you are not careful, NPC's can record you on their cell phones, call the police, upload images and video to YouTube, etc. If you decide to have a combat fight in public, it's certainly not advised to use supernatural powers. This will not work out well for your character. Remember, use discretion. In world consequences for in world actions.

• Combat Sequence Overview:
  Combat is performed on a turn-based system, which consists of:
  
  
  1. An Initiative roll to establish an "Attack/Action" order.
     
     
  2. The Player with the highest roll declares their action and against whom: typically Attack another Player's Character or perform some other kind of action. This is considered "their turn." While some characters may get more than one "Action" per turn, most characters are limited to one action per turn.
     
     
  3. The Attacking Player must then roll using their character's HUD to determine if their "Action" was successful.
     NOTE: Any natural roll of 1-10 is always a Botch and the action being rolled for is an automatic failure, no matter how high your modifiers raise the number.
     
     
  4. If the Attacking Player's roll is high enough, (and the Defender fails their defense roll) their attack is executed against their declared target. Enter in Chat how many points of damage you have done so that the Defender may manually adjust their health bar.
     
     
  5. The Defending Player (unless he/she/they are unconscious or incapacitated) is always allowed the choice to defend - no matter how many times their foes attempt to attack them. To defend, the Player declares their choice of defense move. Typically, this is simply using the HUD to make a modified roll (depending on the Character's skills) to avoid the attack. In the case of Street Fighter Martial Arts, the defender can use a special move to defend if they have purchased points in that ability. If the Defending Player's roll is higher than that of their Attacker's roll, they avoid the hit and take no damage.
     
     NOTE: Defending Players do not emote their defending moves UNTIL it is their turn for an action. At that time, they may emote their defense, as well as their action after rolling for success.
     
     
  6. Defending IS NOT the Player's turn. A Player may defend multiple times against multiple attackers. And when it is their turn in the Initiative Order, they may declare their action (attack, run away, or another action) as normal.
     
     
  7. Taking Damage:
     Damage is of course variable, depending on your special abilities to absorb damage and the force of the attack/weapon. Because of this, the HUD cannot automatically register your health bar. You will need to adjust this manually. The attacker will state during their turn if they were attacking with Minor or Aggravated damage. If no statement is made during an attackers roll the damage is treated as normal.
     
     
  8. Fleeing:
     During your turn, you can sacrifice your attack in attempt to break combat and flee. To do so, the Player will need to Roll to escape.
     Difficulty 60+, Modified by their Athletics ability. 
     
     All those in combat with you must immediately roll a higher athletics score. If even one of your attackers rolls higher than your roll, you are unable to escape the combat on this turn. Please note that attempting to flee combat IS your action for that turn. While you are always able to defend, you cannot attempt to escape again or attack until your next turn.
     
     Those who are successful in fleeing will run a minimum of 40 meters away from the fight and will not be able to reengage for at least 5 turns. At this time, the Character may leave the fight all together, find reinforcements, or acquire other resources. However, there's no guarantee the fight will be going on once you return since all these actions must also be done in roleplay and emoted.
     
     If you successfully flee, both your opponents AND allies have these choices upon their next turn after you have run from battle:
     1. Pursue you by making a successful Athletics roll against the roll the fleeing Character originally made to escape. If the pursuer wins the roll, he/she/they catch the fleeing Character and force them back into combat.
     2. Shoot the fleeing character in the back. If the attacker or allie has any kind of projectile or ranged weapon, they may choose to shoot the coward as they attempt to run away.
     3. Notice you left. Only combatants who make a successful roll will even notice you left. Those who failed their roll will not notice you left and will not know what happened to you. While they may not wish to pursue or shoot you, they will have seen you run from battle and the direction you went.
        
        
  9. Emoting During Combat:
     Players may only emote when it is their turn. Emoting is not permitted during combat when it is not your turn. You are permitted to IM other players to discuss the battle or make OOC comments. Oftentimes the Storyteller will invite all participants to a Group Chat just for that purpose.
     
     

HEALTH POINTS, HEALING AND TAKING DAMAGE

Health Levels and Combat Damage
All characters have a health bar on their HUD. When a character fails to defend against an attack, they will lose an amount of Health Points (HP) equal to the amount of damage an enemy inflicts in combat. How many Hit Points you begin with on your HUD's Health Bar depends on your Character's species and class. As you earn Experience Points and go up in Level, your Hit Points will also increase. A First Level Human begins the game with 40 HP, while a First Level Garou or Vampire start at 100 HP. Gifted Humans, Hunters and Apex Kinfolk begin with 50 HP. Hit Points max out at Level 28, at which point the Character cannot gain additional levels of health.

When a Character's Health Bar reaches 0, they are rendered unconscious. They are not dead, just severely wounded and unconscious. The exception to this is the Vampire Class. Vampires who sustain enough damage that their Health Bar reaches 0 are Torpored. This is a dormant state that is indistinguishable from death. There is no pulse, heartbeat or signs of life. A Torpored Vampire is helpless and can only be revived after being fed blood. It must be human or Vampire blood. Animal blood will not restore a Torpored Vampire. However, if enough of it is fed to a Vampire over the years, the Vampire "may" regain a zombie-like existence until it has fed on Human or Vampire blood. For more information on this, See Vampires.

• Healing From Combat Damage
  The Health Bar automatically regenerates a set amount of Health every hour, depending on your Character's total amount of HP for their level. This amount is also different for each Character Class, but typically it takes 24 real-time hours to fully regenerate the Health Bar if no other measures are taken. The formula for this is: Character's Total HP ÷ 24 hours = Number of HP regained every hour. For example: (300 HP ÷ 24 hours = 12.5 HP per hour) This may be accelerated with potions, spells, or medical treatment in Roleplay. In any case, don't just rely on your Health Bar. Make sure to roleplay your injuries and recovery.
  
  

  • Vampiric Healing Rate
    Feeding on Living Humans: When a Vampire feeds on a living victim, they also steal that victim's Health Points. The Human loses 1/10th of their HP when a Vampire drinks from them. Blood volumes are regenerated rather quickly in the average Human after 24 hours, as long as the Vampire doesn't drain their victim too far. For a Human with 50 HP, they would lose 5 HP from their Health Bar. While this may make them feel tired or drained, it doesn't do them any real harm. The Vampire, however, gains much more in return since they are also feeding on the victim's lifeforce as well as their blood.
    
    When drinking from a living victim, the Vampire takes two turns to replenish his/her/their health to an amount equal to half of their Health Points. For example, if a Vampire with a total of 300 HP is down to almost 0 HP and they drink from a living donor, they will regain half of their HP (or 150 HP). If they are already at Half of their total HP (150), they will be restored to full 300 HP. A Vampire may feed on as many victims as they can to regain their full level of HP.
    
    Feeding on Human Blood Bags: Vampires that feed on blood bags filled with Human Blood can only gain 25% of their Total HP. While tasty, donated blood is never as potent as fresh blood from a human's throat. For example, a Vampire with a total of 300 HP that is brought down to 1 HP can drink a blood bag and regain 75 HP (for a total of 76 HP). Drinking a second blood bag will raise their HP to 151 HP, and a third bag will add another 75 HP for a total of 226 HP. A fourth blood bag will bring the Vampire back to full health at 300 HP.  NOTE: blood bags take two turns to consume.
    
    Feeding on Living Animals: If a Vampire feeds on live animals, they can only gain up to half of their total HP, no matter how much HP they currently have. While it will keep them alive and somewhat satiate their bloodlust, it is not as potent. Drinking from a non-living or animal donor source,
    The "Victim" or "Donor" loses one point of health when a vampire is feeding on them and the vampire gains it. It takes two turns to take a health level in this manner.
    
    Feeding on Animal Blood Bags: Some Vampires consider themselves "Vegetarians" by surviving on the blood of animals. Pig's blood is the preferred source since it is readily available in most specialty butcher shops (Humans use it to make Blood Sausage, or Black Pudding). While it can sustain a Vampire and keep them alive, it only allows them to heal at a normal Human rate over a 24-hour period. For example, a Vampire that has 300 total HP will only heal 12.5 HP per hour while drinking Animal Blood bags. (300 HP ÷ 24 hours = 12.5 HP per hour)
    
    

  • Ghoul/Human Healing Rate
    GHOULS (or Humans) may also heal by drinking blood, but only by drinking the blood of a Vampire. The Vampire can choose to heal any Ghoul, not just one they created. If they are of a higher generation than the Ghoul's Domitor, they have a chance of stealing the loyalties of the other vampire's Ghoul. The Ghoul must roll unmodified dice to determine if their allegiance has been switched from their Domitor, to the Vampire that just fed them their blood to heal them:

    • 1-5 Levels above the Domitor's current level = roll of 95+

    • 6-10 Levels above the Domitor's current level = roll of 75+

    • 11-15 Levels above the Domitor's current level = roll of 70+

    • 20-24 Levels above the Domitor's current level = roll of 60+
      

    • 25-28 Levels above the Domitor's current level = roll of 50+

  • Another benefit of Ghouls feeding on the blood of Vampires is that it will also regrow lost limbs, remove burns and heal them of other Grievous Wounds. The process is nearly instantaneous, taking just one full scene to regrow the limbs, heal burns or other Grievous wounds.
    
    The vampire feeding them sacrifices 1/3rd of their total HP (divided by their level) to do so. A Vampire's blood becomes much more potent as they age and grow in experience. This makes it much more costly for lower level Vampires to heal their Ghouls. And much more beneficial to the Ghoul if their Domitor is a powerful Vampire.
    
    For example: A First Level Vampire has 100 HP. One third of their HP is 33HP, divided by their level of 1 equal 33 HP to heal the Ghoul. A 28th Level Vampire has 600 HP. 1/3rd of their HP is 200, divided by their level of 28 equals 7 HP to heal their Ghoul.
    
    The equation is: (Total HP ÷ 3) ÷ Character's Level = HP sacrificed by the Vampire to heal a Ghoul OR Human.

    NOTE: This takes three full turns to complete. Humans healed this way WILL become a Ghoul. If the Human is dying from loss of blood, feeding them this amount of blood WILL constitute an Embrace, turning the Human into a Vampire.
    
    

    Healing from Grievous Wounds
    While Combat wounds can be severe, they can be healed over time. If medical attention or magical healing is applied, they heal much quicker. Grievous damage is a different injury altogether. While not immediately lethal, they cannot be naturally healed when a Character's Health Bar is full.  In-Character roleplay for surgery or magical means is required to heal this type of damage. Grievous wounds heal extremely slow, and in some cases not at all without supernatural assistance. Supernatural creatures are usually able to heal themselves of Grievous wounds, but it is a slow and draining process even for them. Grievous damage examples include:

    • Missing limbs or other body parts

    • Third degree burns

    • Intestines or other internal parts hanging outside a body

    • Some magic spells

    • Damage from a Werewolf's teeth and claws when attacks are rolled above 100

    • Enchanted or blessed weapons

    • Radiation exposure or nuclear fallout
      
      
      

  • Environmental Damage
    Environmental damage is damage from things that affect living beings that depend on breathing, circulation and acceptable temperature/climate parameters in order to remain alive. The environmental conditions will most commonly be defined within the roleplay.
    
    Environmental damage takes a while to begin to get dangerous. Humans can spend approximately two turns in hazardous environments before health damage starts to occur. On the THIRD TURN, Living Beings begin to lose Health Points. This is determined by the Storyteller and the specific conditions experienced in Roleplay. Typically its 2-5 HP per turn, but it could be more depending on the situation. While not considered Grievous Damage, it will eventually render the victim unconscious if they are subjected to environmental damage long enough.
    
    Gas masks can be purchased with XP but are not commonly available to citizens. This isn't the blitz and there isn't a call for every civilian to carry a gas mask. This is why it is XP purchase and not a freebie. Gas masks do not prevent damage from drowning. These include (but are not limited to):

    • GAS (such as Tear Gas or other toxic gasses), 20 meter radius

    • Held or trapped under water or other liquid (bathtub, swimming pool, lake, etc.)
      NOTE: Holding someone under water is a grapple action and must be rolled for as an attack.

    • Fires that created heavily smoke-filled rooms/areas, defined by the size of the room or area.

    • Excessive heat from a fire (trapped in a burning building)

    • Excessive heat from cold (locked in a freezer, being trapped outside in a blizzard, etc.)
      
      

• What is A Turn 
  Roleplay and combat is segmented into "Turns." A Turn is defined by a single action or emote a Player makes during game play. Once it is posted or executed, the Player's turn is over and the next Player may take their turn. The exception to this is if a Character's abilities or skills allow them to make more than one action per turn. For example, the Garou can use Rage Points to allow them to use two attacks or actions in a single turn.
  
  
• Initiating Combat: 
  When combat is about to engage, all players in the scene must use their character's HUD to roll for Initiative and establish the "Attack/Action" order. The Player with the highest Initiative (including any modifiers) has the benefit of "Acting" first. The Player with the second highest Initiative goes second, and so on. Any Players who join the fight after the Initiative Roll, are always added to the end of the "Attack/Action" order.
  
  
• Who Roles for Initiative: All Players within the scene, (even those who are not intending to fight or who just wandered in on it accidentally) must roll for Initiative. They must still wait until their turn in the "Attack/Action" order to take any action. However, if they are attacked before they can leave the scene or perform their action, they are still able to defend.
  
  
• Posting During Combat
  To keep things moving when there are more than five combatants in a scene, keep your emotes and verbal responses to a maximum of between 3-5 lines. While we all enjoy colorful and vivid roleplay, combat can be turn into an overly long session when people make everyone wait to craft those long-winded retorts. It's also recommended that combatants write their responses in the interm while they are waiting for their turns to come back around. It definitely happens that roleplay partners can surprise us with an unforeseen action that requires last minute changes to our posts, try to be prepared with responses in advance to keep the combat moving smoothly.
  
  
• Going AFK During Combat
  We understand that these things happen. Real life has a way of pulling us back into reality. If you must go away from the keyboard for 5-10 minutes during combat, let the Storyteller or the others you are roleplaying with know so they can skip your turn. If you must be away for longer, bow out of the fight. However, if you are using this tactic to get out of your inworld consequences, this is a violation of the rules and could result in reprimands, temporary bans, or even expulsion from the game.
  
  
• Ties:
  If a Defender rolls the exact same number to defend as the Attacker rolled to attack (for example, they both rolled 70 with their modifiers) then the Defending Player always wins.
  
  
• Aid:
  It should be noted that a Player Character does not need to be involved in the combat to aid a combatant. A late-comer or non involved player can stand by and use non-damage-causing abilities. There are numerous spells and disciplines that can aid others during a combat, such as healing from a distance, enhancing a combatant's defenses, etc. However, there is a risk that you will be drawn into the fight. If this happens, you will be added at the bottom of the Initiative list and must defend yourself from attacks. This will also occur if you attempt to attack or harm a combatant.
  
  
• Zero Health:
  When a Player-Character's health meter reaches Zero, they fall unconscious and are incapacitated. Incapacitated characters cannot be kidnapped or killed in a public place. NPC civilians and police would not allow that to happen. In remote and isolated places kidnapping is possible as is killing, though you must follow the Death in Dominions of Darkness Rules.
  
  Once a character is reduced to zero health they take no further part in any combat that is still ongoing. All attackers will leave the scene when all their opponents are brought to Zero health. Once all combat participants have left the scene (or been kidnapped), paramedics and police will arrive and take the injured and dead to the hospital.

Combat and Stealth

When in stealth mode, as long as you have not been detected by others, you may sneak up on someone and attack them out of stealth. In this case you skip the initiative roll and automatically first one to attack. The target that you are attacking also gets -15 penalty to their defensive roll against your first attack.

Using Grapple as a Combat Action

There are times when a Character finds themselves in a combat situation where they do not wish to harm their opponent, but also do not wish to be harmed in return. A simple grapple action (not to be confused with a Street Fighter Marital Arts move) is made in lieu of causing damage and is considered an attack and must be rolled for success. 

Difficulty 70+, Mod Athletics/Reflexes OR Potency

The Player declares they are attempting to grapple their opponent and rolls for success. Their opponent must make a saving roll, modified by Athletics OR Celerity. simply decides to grab an opponent and if successful has taken hold of them. That is the full extent of the move. To grab AND perform an additional action the same turn (such as grapple and throw) requires either the ability to execute a second attack, or the use of a Street Fighter Marital Arts move that allows a grab AND throw action to be performed.

A successfully grappled opponent and the holder both suffer HALF combat modifiers while the grapple is in place. Each turn the Character in the Grapple hold may attempt to break the grapple by rolling higher than his/her/their opponent did to execute the hold.

NOTE: The grapple is also broken if the person who performed the grapple move is injured or attacked by another while holding their victim.

Free Actions

Not all actions require you to use the HUD or make dice rolls. You can walk, smoke, activate a passive power. Driving is also a free-action unless you are using it as a skill. For example: You purchased "Driving" as a skill to run a remote vehicle, drone, robot or other device that requires this type of eye-hand coordination. 

The only actions that are not free are those actions/ability/skills that effect other Players or NPCs, who will in turn potentially attempt to resist you. Those require resisted rolls or have a difficulty setting to achieve. Free actions can be performed in multiples. For example "Driving a car" is a free action and can be performed with a combat action. However a combat action and an another action "in the same turn" that requires a roll is not permitted. For Example:  You are using your Driving skill to control an airborn drone AND attempting to shoot a gun at an enemy drone chasing you. That constitutes two separate actions with two separate rolls for success. Such actions are only possible with powers that grant additional actions (i.e.: Celerity or a Garou using Rage points).

Touch Attacks

Some Character types have the ability to attack another simply by touch.  Unless otherwise noted, these special skills require skin to skin contact. However in the context of being grappled or making a grapple skin to skin contact is virtually guaranteed.

In non-combat game play, Player Characters with touch-based powers may deploy them on a roll of 11+ - basically any roll with the exception of a Botch (rolling a natural 1-10) During combat, normal attacks apply to attack by touch. In either case, the move is still considered one action, it is just more likely to succeed. This can be used as a two-step attack if the attacker decides to get their opponent in a Grapple hold first. In this case, the attacker may use their Touch Attack on the opponent with no roll for success to execute the touch, as long as the target does not break free first.

NOTE: You may not grapple an opponent AND deploy a touch move during the same turn unless you have the ability to execute two or more actions per turn. Grapple and Touch Attack are two separate actions. It should also be noted that a grappled opponent may deploy their own Touch Attack move during their attack phase instead of rolling to break free of a grapple.

Thrown to the Floor and in a Prone Position

This is when an opponent is knocked from their feet and is no longer standing, but rather on the ground. A grounded /downed/ floored/ prone target suffers half their combat modifiers and must spend their next turn getting to their feet. While they may defend, they cannot attack. The exception to this rule is if downed Character has special Street Fighter Martial Arts skills that allow them to attack from the prone position. But even then, standing up on their feed is still one action. If the Character has the ability to perform two actions per turn and knows SFMA, they could hypothetically choose to attack from the prone position AND stand up. However, most characters are limited to a single action per turn, requiring them to sacrifice an attack to get to their feet again. 

Forbidden/Banned Actions

There are some actions that are forbidden without the character they affect or a Storyteller being online to monitor the roleplay. For example, impersonating another Player Character, or breaking into another Player Character's home while they are offline or not on Sim. Mounting a rescue of a kidnapped player while the kidnapper is not present. Players need to be ONLINE in order for these types of actions to be taken against them. A notecard describing these actions is forbidden as there may be security systems in place the character attempting the action is not aware of them.

These actions are more than forbidden they are banned. Calling for back up via mobile or computer technology without emoting first to the other parties present that is what you are ATTEMPTING to do. People should have the opportunity to stop you from making a phone call. It is also forbidden to Instant Message others to help you out in a fight. For example: You walk down a dark alley and five gang members jump you. Getting into the IMs of other Players and asking them to come to your rescue is strictly against the rules. Your Character can try to phone 911 or scream for help in the hopes there are people close enough (and willing to) help you. But using OOC (Out of Character) methods such as Instant Messages or texts contact is not an option.