Families
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What is a Family?:
The primary use of the Family structure is to create non-splat structures for individual players to interact with one another in two ways: a) allowing them to broaden their perspectives and RP with people outside of whatever splat they're part of; b) creating ways for people to interact directly with the setting of the game due to being linked to some historical precedent involved in our setting.What Families are not:
A way for people to acquire 'super friends' or a way to create a cabal/coven/pack/etc. that exists beyond the structure of the splat. If there is a vampire and a werewolf in a given family, their relationship will be assumed to be strained. The family relationship will generally not supersede the basic relationships that different splats have with one another (see our discussions about kinfolk mages). Additionally, a family with a bunch of Entropy mages will not be able to sway elections, as the oWoD is a little more cut-throat and antagonistic than nWoD. Technocrats would notice this, for instance.
What traits should a Family have?:
Families should have some tie to the setting in some way, probably historical. They may be very old, like old Spanish colonial families that settled in SD prior to the Mexican-American War. Or they may be new families that have come to get rich off of the variety of industries in San Diego (pharma, oil, etc.). Families could be linked to crime, they could be linked to specific companies or organizations. Ultimately a Family (capital F) should be influential in the city's political structure in some fashion. Their members hold sway in some way, even if it's just in good reputation ("Everyone from the Al-Musayibi family is brilliant," "every Lyon I've met has been trustworthy, I'd trust this guy too.")
What should a Family not have?:
Families don't provide free merits, free ability points, or anything of the sort. Coming in as a member of the family is similar to joining a sphere. Using the examples from above, if your family is well-known for being academic, characters will probably have decent Academics or Science.
What might a Family provide in addition to RP benefits?:
We coffer a discount on XP costs to raise certain things, or maybe a difficulty reduction, but I would say that each family has a base of operations that includes a great deal of different equipment. Additionally, we might allow for people take an equivalent of 'Requisition' and acquire some of the family's resources. Additionally, we could offer the option of pooling certain backgrounds to be used by any member of the family.
Blackwood Family
Blipity Blip.
De La Cruz Family
Blipity Blip.
Scaletti Family
Blippity Blip.
Restrictions: No Supernaturals.