Boons

Boons and You

(For more information and examples, see also Prestation in Kindred Society)

Boons are the currency of Kindred society, they’re also a way to mediate conflict without us monsters murdering each other at every turn. There’s several kinds of boons that are common and available but below is a basic primer as to how the Harpies (IE. The Boon Mint) see and regulate boons (your char is free to disagree).

A few things to note on the ‘value/impact’ of boons:

• The status differential of the vampires involved IS a factor (Ie. A minor boon owed to a catiff by a primogen is going to be significantly different than a minor boon owed between two deputies or other equally ranked kindred)
• The resources available to the person owing the boon is a significant factor as well (resources being money, herd, domain, social clout, access)
• Not all boons need to be blank cheques. In fact very rarely should they be. You can (and in most cases should) at least be negotiating the general value of the boon when you ask for it (more on that below)
• Boons are protection: If anyone kills you, the boons you owe are now their responsibility. Which means that owing boons to powerful and feared old vampires is one of the best forms of protections you can get. In short, don’t be afraid of debt, it’s an advancement of your story and a tool, not a punishment.

Trivial Boons

Trivial boons should be things EASILY within one’s realm of providing that won’t cause a great deal of discomfort for the one paying the boon. In kindred society these should very rarely need to be registered to the Harpies (except in cases involving perhaps the Prince or other ‘High Value’ members of society) and most often are traded without even any formal recognition of the fact that they’re boons even between the vampires using them.

These most commonly fall into the ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ sort of category.

For example:

• If Jane Dover has Resources 5, giving someone front row tickets at a Taylor Swift concert would be a Trivial Boon repayment.
• BUT if Jane Dover has Resources 1, buying drinks at the bar might be a Trivial Boon repayment.

• If Jane Dover has a huge herd and some nice domain, giving hunting right or providing a blood doll for 1 night would be a Trivial Boon repayment.
• BUT if Jane Dover has no domain, herd, access, providing dinner to another Vampire’s probably a minor boon instead.

Most often these things are just the innate things that humans would consider being polite but monsters need to keep each other ‘polite’. You did a nice thing for me, I do a nice thing for you. Overlooking them or not repaying these favors is considered rude and can get one a reputation for being a miser or leech if someone chronically ignores their social debts but wouldn’t ever be cause for formal recourse.

Trivial Boons and Harpies

The only times Trivial Boons should be registered with the Harpies are:

• If they're owed to the court in general
• If they involve the Prince or someone of even higher standing
• If they're the result of very public actions/insults/etc involving high status individuals

Minor Boons

These are the sort of boons that have meat on their bones so to speak and start to take into account status to a greater effect. These boons are things that are still within the reach of the ‘ower’ but may have some cost to them (social, resource wise, otherwise)

This also starts to be where Kindred and also starts to be where status can play a significant impact on what one can get for them.

• For example if a Catiff is owed a boon by a Primogen for some reason, they may ask to be invited to said Primogen’s party and have them exchange a few words to them in public. This gives the Catiff a significant bit of social clout and access by being acknowledged by a higher ranking vampire and allowed to rub shoulders with ‘high society’ so to speak, and also costs the Primogen a bit of social clout when his/her peers are wondering why they’ve allowed someone into their social circle that doesn’t belong there typically.

• Meanwhile for two Kindred on a similar par (say a harpy and a scourge) it may be something like said harpy asking said scourge to repay their boon by wearing civilized attire in the Elysium because it makes said harpy crazy to see pretty girls running around looking like tarts. Something that can be repaid with some discomfort to the Scourge but ultimately no one’s hurt by it.

• Another example could be asking for a unique service the ower is qualified to provide - asking an artist for a piece, a model to accompany one to a social event, a toreador to put together a nice look for you, a venture to loan you their accountant or lawyer, a Tremere to do a minor spell, asking a Harpy to say something nice about you publicly if they’re already generally well disposed towards you, etc. A ‘service’ wherein the cost to the one paying it is time and effort.

• Amongst government officials these minor boons could also delve into the ‘you vote my way on X’ but this should be relegated to more trivial issues. Influencing a fundamental vote (naming of high ranking individuals, game changing domain laws, important territories etc) falls into Major Boons (Below).

Minor Boons and Harpies

Minor boons do not need to be registered with harpies unless:

• Repayment is expected to be delayed
• The form of repayment of the boon has not been specified
• The members involved are both high ranking individuals
• Territory or some other stake is involved that may impact more than just the involved party
• There is a concern that the ower may reneg on the boon
• The one owed the boon wishes to be able to transfer it in the future

That said there is value in registering these boons with the Harpies even if they don’t meet the above criteria as a means of ‘performitive participation in the social structures of Kindred society’ and demonstrating how much people owe you or how quick you are to repay your debts.

Major Boons

Aka. preventing violence with favors)

These boons should be both rare and significant. These are either favors given to those who have done great things, or repayment for very serious slights and/or favors previously asked.

These boons are typically going to be very specific in their scope (though the ‘You Owe Me’ does exist, see more below) and going to be on par with what they are owed for. This is where you’re going to see the favors that hurt and also the ones with the umph to make Kindred do things that wouldn’t normally do. They’re going to cost resources, access or significant social/political clout.

• If Primogen X asks Primogen Y to vote his way for the next Prince, Y can definitely say ‘Yes but I get your vote on an upcoming issue regardless of what you think’

• If Brujah Mary takes some fire damage saving Archon Bob’s childer from a Sabbat attack she may ask for said Archon to give her something significant - one of Bob’s ghouls, a permanent hunting rights in their territory, their endorsement to become Sheriff, etc. (She may also be owed a life debt from the childe in this case).

• If Malkavian Gary if owed a Major boon from Toreador Simon he may ask Simon to live in garbage for a week and smile about it knowing how much that will bother them and be almost impossible for them to do.

• If Ventrue Smith leads a major offensive against the Sabbat and gets some territory back for the Cammies, the Prince may give him that territory or another as a domain as repayment for the effort.

This is also where we see repayment of boons in things like demands for some of the ower's blood or even requests that the ower consume some of the owed’s blood.

There are times where in the ‘You Owe Me’ blank cheque may be played typically this will be from higher ranking members demanding of lower ranking ones after interceding greatly on their behalf.

These boons cannot risk Final Death or the equivalent (complete social suicide, force treasonous acts, etc).

Major Boons and Harpies

Most Major Boons should be registered through the Harpies. This should include any specifics regarding:

• What the boon is for
• Any details agreed on how it is to be repaid
• And they should be notified when the ower is released from the boon when it has been repaid.

It should be noted that if it is not registered through the Harpies then it does not ‘exist’ as far as ‘Society’ is concerned, and therefore cannot be mediated, transferred or enforced.

Life Boons

These are the rarest and most valuable of all boons typically owed for either horrific crimes or the most valiant heroics. Someone has either spared or saved the other’s life and is now owed for it.

These are usually repaid over huge swaths of time, can include preset agreements on service (I spared you from final death for your crimes you’re my bitch for the next 25 years), could include blood bonds, loss of significant resources, access or social/political clout.

Some of these are freely given (OMG you just saved me that Tzimice was going to roast me alive!) or indentured as punishment for serious crimes.

Life Boons and Harpies

Officially ALL Life Boons must be registered with the Harpies including all the required information requested for Major Boons. ( Of course not all Vampires are above board, but as with Major Boons if it’s not registered it isn’t acknowledged and will not be enforced or mediated by the Harpies. Life Boons are VERY rarely transferred.)

Blank Checks Vs Specific Boons

MOST boons should be specified at least to the general realm of what they cover and be fairly equal in value to what they’re earned for.

Frank The Malk is insulted by Bob the Torie and demands a boon “You’re going to owe me for that, I want to drive your Lambo for a month”

Then he wrecks Bob’s sweet ride and Bob demands “You’re going to pay me back for that by giving me that pretty ballerina blood doll of yours who was my high school crush, and I’m going to make her my favorite ghoul”

OR Bob demands “You owe me for that and sometime in the next year I’m going to ask you to speak up on my behalf and you’re going to do it”

We can totally do that in fact, very rarely (outside of registering and mediation) would one be talking about boons as ‘Major, Minor, Life, Trivial’ like they’re denominations of currency. While that’s true, the system of favors is a lot more fluid than that.

Anarchs and Boons

Anarchs can get in on Cammie favor banking too!

Just a note, there is no reason for the Anarchs to get in on the system of favors BUT it should be noted the following:

• Participating in the Boon system publicly may impact an Anarch’s social standings especially if they are the one owing the boons (they probably can spin it wonderfully as ‘oh look I got a Cammie on a leash’ if they’re owed the boons)
• Cammies will likely be reluctant to accept any deferred boon repayment from Anarchs unless they demonstrate a record of paying their debts reliably
• If a publicly registered boon is demonstrated to have members from across each party line tinkering in each other’s governments or ‘big ticket issues’ there WILL definitely be social consequences for everyone involved

Transfering Boons

Like a slatternly Blood Doll, prestation debts circulate through the ranks of the undead. As banks trade assets, boons move constantly among Kindred, being retrieved, dangled, held in promissory escrow, and otherwise shunted around so that it becomes dizzying to keep track of who owes what to whom. Few domains have any formal system for trading favors though the kindred whose debt moves from one debtor to another must learn about the transfer, otherwise she runs the risk of denying a perfectly valid settlement for what she thinks is a perfectly valid reason. When in doubt, it is always good to notify the local Chancellor or Harpeys whenever a boon is traded.

As an added benefit, letting an inferior know that the Kindred passing the boon didn’t even feel his debt was worth maintaining is a pillar of the Kindred social order. Moving promises from one Cainite to another is as much a function of prestation as swearing them in the first place.

Boons to and from the Court

• coming soon

When do you need a Harpy

You should notify a Harpy or the Chancellor whenever you have a Boon that you would like to be officially registered and tracked. The main benefit this provides is a third party who can fairly judge the fairness of the Boon as well as act as the final arbiter for the Boon's repayment, should there be any disagreement among the parties involved. A secondary benefit is the visibility is helps gain among the court. Do you have a service you are willing to provide or are you interested in trading future favors in exchange for the services of others? Let the court know by registering your Boons!

Current Boon Ledger

The current boons being tracked by the Chancellor and Harpies can be found here.