This system governs gaining Freebies for use during downtime. The basic unit of time used during Maturation is the Half-Century. For ease of use, all periods of downtime will be rounded down to the nearest Half-Century.
The rate at which Freebies are earned is determined by how Active your character is. There are five levels of Activity.
Mortals die, wars happen, plagues pass through, stuff gets lost. Backgrounds decay over time if not actively maintained. Every Century, a vampire has to either spend 1 Freebie on each of his Backgrounds or lose 1 dot in it. He can also attempt to raise a Background instead of just maintaining it. It does not cost 1 Freebie to maintain and then a second to raise, it's either-or. This step can be taken either in the first or second Half-Century. If downtime only lasts one Half-Century, Backround Decay does not apply.
It's possible to gain extra Freebies during Downtime. Every Half-Century, a Willpower roll can be made. The difficulty is normally 7, but increases to 9 for Inactive (Secluded or Practicing) characters and lowers to 6 for characters in Danger. This roll represents the character taking extra efforts to improve themselves and their traits. It's harder to do that if you're hiding in a monastery or buried in books.
Each every two successes on the roll generate 1 extra Freebie for that Half-Century. Extra successes are lost.
Buying a new Background is just like buying any other trait: it functions the same way during Downtime that it does during Character Creation, with one exception. During downtime only 1 point can be spent on a new Background. After it is purchased, it can be raised, but doing so follows the rules below. New Backgrounds can be purchased at any point during downtime, unless the character is in Torpor or Seclusion.
Every Half-Century a character is given the option to spend some of his Freebies on a Willpower increase. If he does so, and the improvement is approved by the Storyteller, his Willpower score increases normally and future Downtime rolls are made with the new pool.
Every Half-Century a character can attempt to raise one of his Backgrounds. Making the attempt costs 1 Freebie and staves off Background Decay. After spending the Freebie, roll the current rating of the Background at the difficulty listed for that Background below. It takes 1 success to raise the rating by 1. For two additional successes, the rating can be increased by another dot at no additional cost. Should the player wish, he can ask to use any additional successes to improve a Background related to the one being raised instead. This also applies if the Background is currently capped (Mentor 5, for example).
Backgrounds are the only traits of a character that depend on interaction with the outside world. All other traits, including Disciplines, function exactly as they do during Character Creation. Once all the Downtime has been worked through and the total number of Freebies left over is determined, Freebies can be spent however the player wants on any other traits.
Note: In-Clan Disciplines only cost 5 Freebies per dot.
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