On the Worth of Boons
From CamMelbourne
An IC document about the value of boons within the venue/genre. The page might need a little more editing to make it easier to read.
On the Worth of Boons
My childe,
Of the many things that my sire taught me, one of the most important was that value and meaning of Boons. He taught me this; that Boons are the currency of Vampires. If no one owes you a Boon, then you are broke. Remember that. Boons are how Society works. If we look at the Society around us, we notice a situation where younger and weaker Vampires outnumber older more powerful ones three to one if not more. So how do the older Vampires keep everyone under control? Boons.
Boons are all. They are the single most important way Society is run. They are the only way younger Vampire can rise in power. There is no such thing as a favour among the Damned, there are only Boons.
Boons allow you do things. You can ask a Prince or Primogen to do something; but they can refuse; if they owe you a Boon, you can force them to do it. There are other options... you could always do it yourself. No doubt this means you have centuries of experience and have mastered every skill and discipline. Unlikely. Society is such that everyone needs to do deals. Boons are the currency of the Damned.
Unless you tell someone about your Boon it doesn’t exist. Boons have to be registered, and the natural people to keep track of Boons are the Harpies. Harpies need to keep records of everyone’s Boons. Several Harpies do so formally -- it is said the Chief Harpy of Dublin carries a large book into which is added each Boon between every resident of that city. Sometimes there is no suitable Harpy to do such a thing- at times like these the Invictus are usually more than happy to offer their services (for a trivial Boon, of course!).
In certain cases, clever Vampires do not register their Boons with their own Harpy, but rather with Harpies or Vampires outside their Domain. This way, no one knows who has a record of who owes whom. Another way to register Boons is to have it publicly announced; if it is publicly announced to and by the Harpy, the Boon is registered. Only in the case of secret deals does writing it down become important. A few enterprising Vampires merely write down the Boon and get the Boon giver to sign it along with a witness. The importance of making sure a record of the Boon exists cannot be underestimated. If there is no record of the Boon there is nothing to make other Kindred uphold it.
This leads into the nastiest part of all this... not keeping a promise. Failing to respond to a Boon is a really bad thing. If someone is discovered to have defaulted then they get it in the neck. They are undermining the currency of Vampiric Society- all it takes is for many to do this and Boons become worthless.
Those who do face a harsh penalty- they become Boon Broken. They should be ostracised. Exile from their home Domain should be considered a mercy. Their assets and goods are free to be seized by any Kindred: their Ghouls, their Influences, their money - all of it is open to be taken. No one is expected to repay debts to a Boon Broken Vampire. Some old-fashioned Princes may even use this as an excuse to have them Blood hunted. It’s that’s nasty and that simple. If you owe, you had better pay... or else you lose everything.
Priscus who refuse their debts are automatically assumed to be representing their entire Clans locally. Should they remain as Priscus, the whole Clan is assumed to support the Boon Broken Vampire, and the Clan suffers the same fate as their Priscus; they are Boon Broken and nothing they have is considered to be protected by Society, no one is expected to honour their debts to the Boon Broken Clan.
There is a weakness here: Someone could say someone else has defaulted when they haven’t. That is called False Witness. Bring False Witness against someone and you will probably be killed… simple as that... no appeal, no bloodhunt. Everyone knows you brought False Witness, and they know you have to die. In order to prevent False Witness from ever happening, it has led to both parties making damn sure that either the Boons are announced or that both are there when it is recorded. Invictus Oaths ore also commonly used to cement a Boon; although most Oaths are unavailable to anyone outside the Invictus, some are able to ensure the honouring of a Boon quite sufficiently no matter who swears.
Let’s get things into some kind of scale. 98% of Boons should be between levels one to three (trivial, minor and major Boons). Rank Four (Life) Boons should be rare! Life Boons should be like diamonds. When you have a Life Boon, you own someone. It’s not nice! With a life Boon you can have a Vampire do anything you want; they must do it unless they somehow save your life... which won’t happen, as you are now making them take all the risks.
If the Priscus of the Ventrue ends up owing a Life Boon to someone, it puts the Ventrue into a very difficult position. That person can make the Priscus do anything he wants -- even betray his Clan -- and the Ventrue have to live with it. If the Priscus ignores the Boon, that would be worse. The prudent response would be to get a new Priscus. The old one has fallen out of favour.
The best thing about holding a Court position is that it automatically allows you collect Boons. If a Priscus has a Clan member who wishes to petition a Prince, he may charge them a Boon. All this talk about Clan Loyalty can only go so far -- consider the argument that members of a Clan should not charge each other Boons a bit like saying no Australian should pay another Australian any wages because they are working in the same country. Boons are currency, and a Vampire must make a living!
Princes have the best position of all. Everything comes with a price. Someone wants to Sire? That’s a Boon. Someone wants to establish a new haven in another part of town? Boon. Someone wants to be Sheriff but not be thralled? Boon. A new Vampire wants to live in your Domain? Yes, you guessed it, a Boon. This way Princes collect many Boons -- they either use them to prevent Praxis seizures or they allow someone else take over and quietly run things from the shadows. If the Prince doesn’t charge Boons -- guess what? He’s weak. A Prince without Boons, is a rich man without money. They look the part but have no power to back it up.
An important clarification: When a Prince asks you to do something, he can get out of it being a Boon by saying it is to do with the security of the Domain. A Domain is a Prince’s concern, so it can be said that asking for a Boon can be seen as undermining the Princes right to rule... which is not a good thing. One can only charge a Boon to the Prince if you are doing a personal favor.
What Am I Letting Myself In For?
The hardest thing about Boons is getting a sense of perspective on them, what each Boon means to the person giving the Boon. Below are suggested guidelines to understand what it means when you give a Boon. By taking this Boon I understand that...
Trivial Boon
I shall do a one-time favour for the person to whom I owe this Boon. I shall aid him by protecting him when I have no reason to do that, even if it places me into conflict with people. I shall agree use a discipline for him if he requires it. I shall support his political manoeuvre this night even if it means I have to fly in the face of my Clan or Covenant or Prince. It is a single favour that I owe- once he has called it in, it is cancelled. I will not place myself in a position to break my word, however, nor will I betray my Clan, my Covenant or My Prince or any Oaths of loyalty I have taken.
Minor Boon
I shall endeavour to fulfil the dept I owe: I have inconvenienced the person who I owe this boon by asking him to do the favour for me in the first place. I understand that I may be inconvenienced by the favours he asks back in return. If need be, I will secure his safe passage into a hostile city. I shall reveal unto him secrets I know that could endanger members of my Clan, Covenant or Domain. I shall destroy his enemies, whomever they may be. I shall offer physical protection for many nights -- this I accept because I asked roughly the same of the one I owe.
Major Boon
I shall accept that I have earned a great dept to the one to whom I owe this Boon. He has given much time, effort and compromised perhaps many things he believes in to give me this favour; thus I do return it. I understand that if required I would even teach him the immortal powers that the Embrace conferred upon me. I shall aid him in whatever political goal he so desires, even if this means openly standing against my Prince, my Covenant or my Clan. I would, if he so wished, locate for him or give him property I own or which he would wish, even if gaining this property is taken at the expense of another.
Life Boon
I do accept that the person to whom I owe this Boon to is one to whom I owe many things, perhaps more than can ever be repaid. I am in the debt now- my current existence was dependant upon him. Thus, I owe him things that can never be repaid. I will place myself in danger for him; if my Blood is shed, then I care not. If this means I betray my Clan and Covenant and Prince and bring them low, I care not. The dept I owe can never be repaid, lest somehow I save his life.
As you can see, once you get above minor Boons you start being in a position where everything you hold dear can be destroyed.
Many would respond by reading the above and shaking their head and saying “I am not ever gonna owe anyone a Boon”. Many Princes and Primogen fear such characters, and not owing a Boon can be seen as a disadvantage: If you owe no one a Boon, you are a wildcard. A title such as Sheriff or Harpy or Primogen should never be given unto you, for you have nothing to moderate your bestial side.
Additional Boons
This is a silly situation but one that happens often. Vampire A wants a favour of Vampire B. B charges a minor Boon. Later, Vampire A wants another favour -- another minor one. B could charge another Boon, but what would be better is if they agree that Vampire A now owes Vampire B a Major Boon. Additional favours may build it up to a Lafe Boon. The final level is always a Life Boon. Once Vampire A has sworn to that level it is unimportant what is agreed to, as Vampire A belongs to Vampire B.
Compensation
Now there is something not being said in the above passage. Something is being missed that is without doubt one of the most important factors of Society and one of the reasons why violence becomes so rare in area where the protocols are strictly adhered to. That is compensation.
A Boon is an investment. You never know what you may need a Boon for- so you take a Boon out with as many people as possible. But Boons don’t really work if the person who owes you a Boon is killed; once they are gone the Boon you where owed is lost. Right? Not so. Think about it like this: That Boon was an investment that you had simply not cashed in yet. Now someone has destroyed your investment, and they have to compensate you -- usually to the same degree of the Boon they just cost you. If you kill someone who owed someone else a Boon, they have the right to ask you to now compensate them by owning them a Boon (usually the same amount but at times more). If you fail to compensate them, you will be treated as Boon Broken. Remember that the entire economy of the Damned depends upon everyone placing Boons high above all else. Failure to give them due reverence leads always to the hardest penalties.
So the upshot is- be careful whom you strike against, for you may find you have slain your worst foe, only now to owe someone else a major Boon because you did so.
The real secret to all this is that a clever, ingenious or sneaky Vampire may actually seek out powerful, hated or influential Vampires and offer to be in their debt in order to use their name as protection. That annoying Crone in the corner may be ripe for a good kicking -- but if he suddenly announces that he owes a Minor Boon to the Mekhet Priscus, a Major Boon to the Ragman, or a Life Boon to the Kovros, you must realise that if you destroy him you will owe that person a Boon. Indeed, powerful Vampires may well find many seeking to offer their service by way of a Boon to them, in order to access this very protection. Thus some give Boons but rarely, some accept all petitions, and thus collect power and influence around them like a vortex of some kind. Because they are Alders people perceive that they have power; so they give them Boons, so their power grows, so that more give them Boons etc.
This system has many names -- the most common and most realistic is patronage. Which is what it is… pure, mediaeval patronage and feudalism. Thus the stability of Society is maintained.
The only people who are immune to paying compensation are Princes. If someone breaks a Prince's laws, and the Prince kills them, then the investment is lost.
Also, don’t forget that if your Domain suffers from an Ascendancy of the Unaligned, your Boons are invalidated until it ends. All Society recognises the futility of trying to enforce Boons on a rabble city. Of course you could always swear loyalty to another Prince and leave your old Domain -- and the other Prince will accept you... for a Boon...
When you know all this, my childe, you will be prepared to truly master the Court.
Fenris Black
Childe of Valreaux, childe of Vitelion
