Crys Odenkirk

Webmistress note: Written for larp houserules, but then made the rounds of the web. The original rules are on pg 207 of Laws of the Night, Revised.

Two-Gun Mojo. The section of the book dealing with using both hands at once is unclear and the example doesn’t match the stated rules. This is not a change. It is a clarification. So here it is, as simple as we can make it:

• a) Every character is considered to be either left or right handed. For ease of play, the character is usually considered to be the same handedness as the player. An ambidextrous player should choose an on hand and an off hand for their character.
• b) To do anything with the off hand (ie. the left hand for a right-handed character) is a two trait penalty. That means it costs THREE traits to perform an action with your off hand.
• c) The Merit Ambidextrous negates the two trait penalty for using your off hand, and ONLY that penalty.
• d) Each hand is considered an action. If you try to do two things at the same time, one with each hand, it is an extra trait FOR EACH HAND, which is a coordination penalty.
• e) If you have an ability of Two-Weapon Combat or Florentine, that negates the one trait penalty for each hand. It does NOT negate the penalty for using your off hand.
• f) You only get ONE extra action for using both hands, at the end of the round. Thus, if you’re using enough Celerity to get an extra action, you get your basic action with your on hand, your Celerity action, and your action for your off hand. You do NOT get an extra Celerity action for each hand.

So, if you are going to use two guns at once, or two knives at once, or a knife in one hand and a gun in the other or…(you get the idea), you effectively have two actions. For your on hand, it is the regular one trait to initiate a challenge plus the coordination penalty trait in (d), for a total of two traits. For your off hand, it is one trait to initiate a challenge, the two trait penalty for using your off-hand (b) and the coordination penalty one trait (d) for a total of four traits. That totals six traits for the round.

If you have Ambidextrous, your on hand costs the same, the trait to initiate the challenge and coordination penalty (d), total two. Your off hand loses the two trait penalty (b), but retains the coordination penalty (d), plus the regular trait to initiate a challenge for a total of two. Total for the round: four traits

Florentine and Two-Weapon but not Ambidextrous: The on hand costs one trait to initiate a challenge but no coordination penalty (d) for a total of one. The off hand costs one trait to initiate plus the off hand penalty two traits (b), but no coordination penalty (d) for a total of three. Total for the round: four traits.

Florentine and Ambidextrous: The on hand costs one trait to initiate a challenge. There is no coordination penalty (d). Total for that hand: one. The off hand costs one trait to initiate a challenge; there is no off hand penalty (b) or coordination penalty (d). Total for the off hand: one. Total for the round: Two traits.

• The life of your character is in your hands, for you to decide what your character does and says. For the purposes of the game, you are your character. You decide what risks to accept or decline. Everything you say or do has an effect on the world. (actually this is a quote from one of the original Masquerade books but well worth repeating)
• Life is just one big roleplaying game, and you’re a pc
• You never have to fear the Machiavelli at your back. You expect them to be there. It’s the one in front of you that you have to worry about. This is also true of every shadowy, manipulative type of person you can think of… including GMs!
• If you eat enough pizza and drink enough Mt. Dew and Guinness, you can successfully stave off sleep for more than 96 hrs before collapsing… The addition of whiskey, however, brings that number down to 9.6 hrs… and the addition of rules’ lawyers brings that number down to 9.6 MINUTES.
• Anything that glitters is probably a trap.
• Hope and despair are the same emotion, with opposite amounts of energy and action.
• Interesting rarely coincides with “safe”.
• Beauty doesn’t mean crap. Stats mean even less. Interesting quirks of personality and setting yourself apart from your fellow characters/players with the chutzpah to carry off those quirks, now THAT’s sexy.
• If it looks too cool to be true, run.
• Never underestimate people who don’t look like fighters. They can often kick the crap out of you without breaking a sweat.
• Never assume that the muscle-bound badass can’t read Latin or Greek.
• Death is swift. Revenge is slow torture.
• The best revenge really is outliving your enemies.
• Truth really is stranger than fiction.
• All madness has method. All methods have madness.
• Never bring a sword to a gunfight.
• All rules and laws are made to be broken. Even the rules of Elysium and the laws of Physics… the only exception? The Game Master is ALWAYS right.
• Falling in love with someone is the surest way to kill them. Falling in love is the surest way to bring the disappointment and hatred out in your fellow characters. It’s also the surest way to stop giving a damn about what they think of you.