The history of auctions is a long one, having been recorded as early as 500 BC by Herodotus of Greece, although it can be presumed the unrecorded situation goes back far further. Elders are no stranger to auctions.
Bidding is a long and troublesome affair however, when one is bidding vampiric resources, such as boons. When one person calls out a bid they would need to enter the arduous process of naming themselves; their pedigree - and often this would require them to list their status or standing in the world - what boon they are offering in payment, what denomination of the boon...
It is difficult to then "up" that - unless the next individual is certain their pedigree outstrips the last and even then, it is a complex system requiring the next to list all the same details.
(Don’t know what we’re talking about? Check out the Boons section of the Renaissance page. The following link takes you straight to that section and opens in a new window.)
To make bidding easier Claudius Giovanni, your auction host, has invented a controversial system to facilitate quick and even "exciting" bidding. Any vampire might join in, even younger ones, so long as they are able to acquire - by their own means or through the unlikely charity of their betters - the currency that the auction runs off.
To the horror of Claudius' immediate family, he has named this currency Claudius Credits.
Claudius Credits
Everyone is able to acquire Claudius Credits - all it takes is owing "some boons" to Claudius. If you win nothing and get no human, you get those boons back at the end of the auction, and owe Claudius nothing.
There are many Harpies present, from various countries and domains; it appears this aspect of the auction has ruffled feathers. A "murder" of Harpies will be present, those who are fiercely concerned by this loophole which has permit a vampire act as an intermediary or "bank" for boons, even only for a few nights, to be paid out upon the reception of other goods.
Disclaimer
We’ve created the CC currency to have a system of barter that is simple and easy to use during the game’s runtime. The following page is the behind the scenes working for how it functions in Vampire: the Masquerade, and is not mandatory reading.
You can skip to an example of the auction (it’s further down the page) by clicking here, but we’ll practice it in the brief.
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How does this work?
You are a neonate, you have little status or standing of your own. You decide to offer Claudius three Blood Boons, in the hope that this will gain you a number of Claudius Credits, to trade with other vampires - or use to actually bid on a human yourself. There will be elders present willing to trade Boons of their own to you, for your Claudius Credits. In trading them away you owe Claudius those three Blood Boons, but you could have netted yourself something far more valuable in a trade from a different elder, who so happens to be very invested in winning a certain human. You can ask for any number of things from such an elder, from right to haven and hunt in their territory, to a Major Boon or maybe from them....
The moment you trade any of your Claudius Credits to another, all your Boon(s) to Claudius become real, cemented and legally defined as existing and you can no longer return them to him. The Harpies have grudgingly coined this event "turning the Boons black" - and they will document the change. This prevents abuse by Claudius of the “immutability” law of Boons. (Players you don’t need to worry about this, even Harpy players.)
Before the blackening of the Boons, they were in reserve in a place called "The Red" and freely able to be annulled should your Claudius Credits be returned. You didn't really owe any Boons to Claudius yet, not until they moved from being red to being black. Red boons are in holding; black boons are not.
There is no physical representative of the credits, to prevent misuse. All events of exchange are documented. The Harpies cross-reference and replicate their boons registers constantly through the weekend, and it is a public register. There is to be no manner of foul play in this; no vampire would consider boon-breaking with so many Harpies and elders present, let alone try to falsify a boon.
We have a number of Acting Harpies present at the game, so you’ll always be able to cry out “Harpy?” and one will be near. Certain respected elders have agreed to stand as Harpies - with all their status - and carry a copy of the boons register, to witness and record any exchange. These Acting Harpies can be anyone capable on an off-game basis of spending a fair amount of their game recording boons (and Claudius Credits) as they exchange hands, following a set format we will give them. It might be fun roleplay for those who enjoy the political - or the Harpy - game. You will act as a social arbiter and uphold the boons system. In doing so you will ensure order is kept. You will be briefed as to how to advise vampires what denomination their boon is really worth.
(It is presumed that any actual counterfeit efforts here would be halted; please do not write in a Harpy's ledger even if you find it unattended, that's just an off-game slip and the false entry would not match any of the other records which themselves are carefully guarded. We are not actually making the Harpies cross-write in every ledger, lol. Each Harpy will have a number of boons recorded from different vampire pairs. They will also have record of what Claudius Credits have been changing hands, at least when they've been used as a witness. Players only record their exchange with one Harpy. This avoids off-game duplications. The organiser team are accepting all the ledgers back each night to combine them into one single ledger before bed, and over breakfast. Rinse lather and repeat the next night. The final ledger will serve the auctioneer as they will have an alphabetical list of vampires and how many Claudius Credits they actually have.)
You must have a Harpy present, therefore, to record who your Claudius Credit(s) go to when you trade them away. You do not need to explain why or what the recipient bought them off you for, though gossiping Harpies might try to tempt it out of you, for their own information games. Neonates tend to fall heavily for these, and give up a great deal of gossip for a happy flock of Harpies.
Anyone is welcome to have their character stand as a Harpy for this game, though it is a role advised for those familiar with Vampire: The Masquerade, especially the later Camarilla side of the game.
If you hold onto your Claudius Credits, only that way can you "cancel" the debt you owe Claudius at any time over the weekend: either by trading your credits back to him with a Harpy witnessing the trade, or by losing the auction and thus the credits automatically transfer back to him. Your red boons will vanish, and you won't owe him. Again, a Harpy will witness this "automatic" transfer as Claudius strikes the boon from red to inexistent.
It is presumed that all the vampires in fact arrived at the location up to a week before the auction formally begins.
This is to organise the exchange of boons and resources into Claudius Credits, in the presence of Harpies who will hold the Giovanni to their word, and ensure the there is no mockery made of the boons system - beyond this terribly unusual method of exchange. They will ensure the integrity of the boons system is maintained.
You cannot exchange your Credits with each other until the game starts.
Another Example
You are an elder, a Prince even, of a powerful domain. You could trade a Major Boon to Claudius and likely gain a lot more Claudius Credits than the neonate from before, because you are offering a higher denomination of boon to him, and your own status makes your boons more valuable. The conversion rate, as Claudius has provided publicly, is as follows (with some qualitative wiggle room):
One Minor Boon as paid from:
A neonate of no standing - 1 Claudius Credit (CC)
A neonate of moderate standing* - 2 CC
A neonate of exceptional standing** - 3 CC
*Such as possessing a famous or significant Sire; perhaps the neonate's skills or capabilities are renown even in their unlife's infancy, they are prized by others and have extant patronage from an elder
**They have a powerful sire and they themselves are talented or respected, even independent of their Sire's shadow. This is a neonate who will one day become a leader among their kind, or will shape the future in unexpected (but profitable) ways.
The Harpies have publicly announced that buyers must be aware that their creditor (Claudius) is capable of calling in the Boons that have been "made black" at any point over the weekend. The moment a vampire trades their Claudius Credits away, it is presumed they have gained something from the buyer of those credits, and so their own boons to Claudius now take effect.
One Major Boon as paid from:
A neonate of no standing - 3 Claudius Credit (CC)
A neonate of moderate standing - 6 CC
A neonate of exceptional standing - 9 CC
One Blood Boon as paid from:
A neonate of no standing - 6 Claudius Credit (CC)
A neonate of moderate standing - 12 CC
A neonate of exceptional standing - 18 CC
It is expected that clans who share a common interest in gaining or taking one human out of the auction (such as the Tremere wanting to protect a magic-associated human) might well just pool their Claudius Credits between them for bidding, trading their Claudius Credits up to their greatest elder or present clan power.
Harpies warn that in this event, unless that same elder is willing to offer recompense to their inferiors who have given them their Claudius Credits, they are probably being short changed, and will have nothing. (This is GREAT for roleplay! <3) If they trade their Credits away for nothing they are still bound by the same laws and their boons to Claudius will turn black and become validly owed. They will have to seek payment in kind from their elder. Or not. (As the reality often is for such clans with strict power hierarchies, they may indeed get nothing in exchange for their everything. This is the reality of Vampire. There is not many a neonate who would risk the deeper ire of their clan's superior.)
As such, you can give away your Claudius Credits for free to anyone, but your own debt(s) to Claudius then take effect and become proper owed boons.
When the auction is live, a vampire wishing to bid stands forward and states their name, followed by the number of Claudius Credits they are bidding. They stay where they are, as the bidding continues and competitors come forward to outbid them. They only need to say their name once.
For example
Vampire One: "Lucita de Aragon, 4 Claudius Credits."
Vampire Two: "The Duke of Amber, 6 Claudius Credits."
*shock from audience*
Lucita: "7 Claudius Credits."
Amber: "8 Claudius Credits."
Vampire Three: "I am Ambrosio Luis Monçada. May the Harpies witness, I give 10 Claudius Credits to Lucita de Aragon."
Auctioneer: "Do you accept?"
Lucita: "I do not want your credits - please - Harpies note, that has not been accepted."
Auctioneer: You don't want the donated Credits - for free?
Lucita: "I do not."
Auctioneer: "Very well."
Anatole: "Wait! I give 4 Claudius Credits to Lucita de Aragon, would someone witness?"
Vykos: "Sit down. Everyone is witnessing. Ce dracu…"
Harpy of Athens: "I witness."
Auctioneer: "What is the total please?
Lucita: "Eleven Claudius Credits, from Lucita."
Auctioneer: "Very good, do we have a raise?"
Amber: "One Hundred Claudius Credits."
Auctioneer: :O
Lucita: >8(
Amber: :)
Auctioneer: Do we have any more? No? Going once.... twice... and... SOLD: To Lord Amber.
As long as the value is higher, you can bid what you want.
Please note: Harpies!
Do not actually start recording things in the auction scene.
You'll duplicate our records. Only ONE of you can note the exchange down during this so we don't actually duplicate and make poor Anatole give up a 80 Credits instead of 4. We will have a dedicated single Harpy to handle the auction scenes. Only thematically will buyers be asking the collective hivemind of Harpies to witness.
Want to see the full exchange list? Click here:
What if someone misremembers (or forgets) what Credits they have, and trades away more than they have?
When I come to merging the records over breakfast, if it’s discovered that you’ve traded away more than you have, you automatically owe additional boons of the highest value that you traded away - to Claudius, to cover the mix up. Those vampires you traded Credits to still get to keep the ones you gave them, but you don’t get to keep the difference. It's a good idea to keep a personal note of your spends in a little off-game, palm-sized notepad.
Huh?
You, a foolish, young, and impotent neonate of no standing, have traded to Claudius: 2 blood boons (for 12 CC), in the attempt to get your own human. Remember…
One Blood Boon as paid from:
—> A neonate of no standing - 6 CC <—
A neonate of moderate standing - 12 CC
A neonate of exceptional standing - 18 CC
You wanted 12 Credits, so you paid Claudius two blood boons (6 x 2 = 12 CC)
Over the course of the 1st evening though, through much pressuring of your great grandsire, you give this grandsire 8 CC. Then on the 2nd evening an old Boon is called in - you owed it after that mix up you had a decade ago with the Sheriff of the domain you live in, gulp - and forgetting you had already given 8 CC away, you offer your Sheriff 7 CC in repayment of the Boon, instead of do whatever else they’ve asked for in repayment. They accept.
The next morning it is found that you’ve given away 15 CC when you only had 12 CC to begin with. Uh oh. You are down 3 Claudius Credits (15 CC - 12 CC).
Because you were trading with Blood Boons, Claudius requires the same from you again. Partly to make up for the loss - but mostly the hassle on his time. Normally a Blood Boon would buy you as much as 6 CC, but you’re about to lose half of that.
Now you owe Claudius 1 Blood Boon more, bringing what you owe him to 3 Blood Boons. The CC you traded away stay with those people, and you don’t get the extra 3 CC that would be left over. Instead, Claudius just smiles.
(A lot of this is handled by us, don’t worry about it much. We’ve been running large Camarilla games for so many years that, at this point, we are Harpies. It’ll be mostly background fluff for you, player enjoyment trumps anything. This just helps the system be meaningful throughout the game.)
A little of this is handwaved for the purpose of creating a better game for as many people as possible; if you’re worried, always instead go with negotiating your desired outcomes in any given situation for roleplay.
We have plenty of months ahead of the game to create a known history of Boons between vampire characters, and interlink you with other players for who could owe what for a deed (or dark cover-up) in their history. It will provide more roleplay, and give you people to talk to straight from time-in.
