“Apology without prestation is a fresh insult.”
– Harpy Prima Dezz in service to the court of Elaine deMor
To ageless creatures with endless time to accumulate wealth and mortal connections, mundane currency is of little consequence. Among vampires, the trade of boons and favors is central to the vampiric social structure. Kindred who need something now incur debts to be repaid later; in due time, their chit will be called in and their choices dictated by the vampire they owe. Wealth in Kindred society is counted not in dollars, but in boons.
Simply put, a boon is a promise of a future favor made by one Kindred to another in exchange for something. The more powerful the granter of a boon, the more valuable the boon is considered. Once given, the only way to get out of a boon is to satisfy it or have it excused by its holder. A debtor cannot even escape the boon they owe by murdering their creditor. Killing the holder of their boon (directly or indirectly through provable means) transfers this debt to the holder’s sire or eldest childe. If no such kindred exists, the debt is transferred to the Authority of the city.
Refusing to repay a boon when it is called, or claiming that a boon is still owed when it has been repaid, is a grave sin among vampires. Heralds may name them a ‘boon-breaker’ and destroy their reputation; Princes may exile them from their Domain as an untrustworthy knave; sometimes, vampires who have broken their word in this way find themselves in danger. Even Anarchs honor boons. Their honor matters to them, and they don’t require a Herald to know that their word means everything to their future survival and success. Some cities, however, appoint or elect what they call a Bookie that keeps track of prestation for the Movement.
Vampires recognize four kinds of boons:
Trivial Boons: Easily gained and repaid, a trivial boon involves no risk or significant cost for the granter. A Kindred might earn a trivial boon for helping someone find blood, making an introduction to a powerful figure, getting their creditor an invitation to an exclusive event, or making space in a haven for the night.
Minor Boons: Minor boons require a vampire to go out of their way to pay them off. They may involve some physical, social, or other risk or have a small but meaningful cost. A Kindred might charge a minor boon to teach someone a Discipline, kill an unimportant mortal, grant access to lore, leverage a mortal connection to accomplish a task, or provide sanctuary at a desperate time.
Major Boons: A major boon can cause major changes in a Domain. This boon type always involves significant risk or expense, and they may lead to danger or cost to the Kindred who repays them. Examples of major boons include revealing a major secret, leveraging significant assets towards another’s agenda, killing an important mortal, reversing an expected major vote on the Primogen Council, providing significant or violent support for someone’s Praxis claim, or granting someone excellent hunting grounds in the city.
Life Boons: The most valuable of vampiric boons, life boons are paid by Kindred staring down their Final Death. Examples of how a life boon might be earned include saving a vampire from final death, killing another powerful vampire on someone’s behalf, agreeing to hide diablerie, or concealing a breach of the Traditions that would be worthy of death in a domain. These are handed out only rarely and in extreme and very dangerous cases, since repaying them often risks the debtor’s unlife.
Getting and Spending Boons
Any given domain may decide what conventions they wish to observe for recording who owes what boons to whom; generally speaking, in Camarilla Domains, they are recorded by a Herald. As with most things, Anarchs select a Bookie who holds logs for their Domains by popular vote.
To spend a boon, the holder of the boon must tell the person who owes them that their boon is being called in and what they want done within the scope of what the level of the boon can do. A boon is completed when the character who holds it says the boon is satisfied. A boon may be transferred from character to character by notifying the person who owes the boon and the Herald or Bookie who holds it in their logs of the transfer. Smaller boons may not be ‘added up’ or ‘combined’ into bigger boons unless the characters involved in the boons decide to resolve a number of smaller debts at one time with a larger service by agreement between the parties.
It is neither scandalous or inappropriate to owe boons, even to your rivals. In fact, it is perfectly normal. The web of boons that economically connects vampires throughout the world is part of how vampires maintain peace and resolve disputes between themselves. Almost everyone owes boons, so it is bad form to wave boons owed in the faces of other vampires. Similarly, if a party is actively looking to resolve a boon, it can be considered petty (albeit allowable) to hold onto it in perpetuity.
In the event of a dispute, characters in the Camarilla can ask for the ruling of a Herald. Characters in the Anarch Movement may ask their elected Bookie to rule on the matter.
A character who does not adequately repay a boon when called in may suffer severe penalties from the relevant officers of their sect (see page XX).
As a guideline, the exchange of trivial boons and minor boons are relatively commonplace. Promising a major boon or life boon is a significant game development that should be used for domain- or chronicle-changing efforts.
Thin-blooded characters have difficulties receiving prestation:
● Camarilla characters may freely refuse to give prestation to thin-blooded characters in their city without repercussions unless they possess the Camarilla Contact Thin-Blooded Merit.
● Anarch characters may freely refuse to give prestation above a minor boon to thin-blooded characters in their city without repercussions unless they possess the Anarch Comrades Thin-Blooded Merit.
