Coteries, Loresheets, and Equipment
These three types complete the character customization system. Coteries group characters. Loresheets provide tiered background advantages. Equipment fills the inventory. Each connects back to characters through reference fields, and each has its own conventions.
Coteries
A coterie is a group of up to five characters bound by shared purpose, territory, or necessity. A chronicle might feature a handful — a Camarilla-loyal cell of neonates doing the Prince's legwork, a radical independent crew running an underground club, a Thin-Blood collective hiding in the transient districts.
Coterie Structure
members — an array of character slugs (max 5). These are the coterie's roster. The AI uses this to know who runs together, who shares a haven, and who is expected to back each other up at court.
sect — Camarilla, Anarch, Independent, Autarkis, or None. This should align with the members' sects. A mixed-sect coterie is a story engine — the AI will generate tension from it.
territory — a reference to a location. This is the coterie's domain, their feeding ground, their seat of power. The AI checks this when determining who controls a given hunting ground.
description — prose describing the coterie's origin, purpose, dynamic, and major tensions. The best coterie descriptions name each member and explain their role. A gold-standard description reads like: the Nosferatu handles logistics, the Toreador commands the social soul, the Ventrue runs the mortal front, the Gangrel enforces the rules. The AI can run a scene knowing exactly how these four relate to each other.
Adding a Coterie
If your players form a new coterie during play: create the file, add the members, set the territory to their shared haven or domain, write a description that captures the group's identity, and update each member's coterie field to point at the new file. Then add or update relationships between members to reflect the new dynamic.
Loresheets
Loresheets are tiered advantages that tie a character to specific elements of the World of Darkness — historical events, legendary figures, secret societies, or mystical pursuits. Each loresheet has:
tiers — an ordered array of dot-level advantages (● to ●●●●●). Each tier has a dots number, a name, and an effect describing the mechanical benefit. Tiers must be purchased in order. The AI reads tier effects when determining what special abilities a character has.
clans — an array of clan slugs with particular affinity for this loresheet. Not restrictive — any character can theoretically take any loresheet — but the AI uses this for thematic guidance.
source — the book or supplement the loresheet originates from. Useful for copyright attribution and for players who want to read the original.
description — the lore behind the loresheet. What is Golconda? Who was Hardestadt? What happened during the Week of Nightmares? This is the in-world justification for the mechanical benefits.
How Characters Use Loresheets
A character's loresheets field is a key-value map: { "golconda": 3, "descendant-of-helena": 2 }. The keys are loresheet slugs, the values are dots purchased. The computed field hasActiveLoresheets is true when at least one loresheet has dots above zero. The AI reads the loresheet files to understand what those dots grant.
Adding a Loresheet
Create the file with at least one tier. The name should match V5 convention — either a person (Theo Bell, Rudi), an event (The Week of Nightmares), a concept (Golconda), or a society (The Bahari). Each tier's effect should be a concrete mechanical benefit the AI can adjudicate: bonus dice, once-per-story abilities, reduced difficulties, or narrative permissions.
Equipment
Equipment files cover weapons, armor, tools, crafting materials, and special items. The 47 files range from Pistol to Ritual Sanctum to Sunbag.
Equipment Structure
category — broad classification. The existing categories include weapons, armor, tools, crafting materials, occult items, and survival gear. This groups items in the inventory picker.
subcategory — finer classification within a category. Pistols, rifles, shotguns under weapons. Light armor, heavy armor under protection.
damageModifier and attackPoolModifier — combat stats. A shotgun adds damage; a stake launcher modifies the attack pool. The AI uses these when building combat dice pools.
damageType — Superficial or Aggravated for Kindred. Most weapons deal Superficial to vampires. Fire, dragon's breath rounds, and supernatural claws deal Aggravated.
specialRules — any unique mechanics. A flamethrower sets things on fire. A faraday bag blocks electronic surveillance. A sunbag is an emergency haven.
How Characters Use Equipment
A character's inventory is an array of objects, each with:
item(reference to equipment slug)equipped(boolean — is the character currently carrying/using this?)quantity(number — how many do they have?)notes(free text for customization)
The AI checks equipped items during scenes to determine what tools the character has available. A character with an equipped Encrypted Laptop can communicate securely. One with an equipped Stake Launcher has a ranged option for torporing Kindred.
Adding Equipment
Create the file with a clear category and subcategory. If it is a weapon, fill in damageModifier, attackPoolModifier, and damageType. If it is a tool, write detailed specialRules so the AI knows what it does. Then add it to a character's inventory or make it available as loot during play.
The Interconnection
Coteries, loresheets, and equipment all feed back into the character system. A character belongs to a coterie, has dots in loresheets, and carries equipment. When the AI builds a scene, it reads the character → follows coterie to the group → follows territory to the location → checks faction for political context → reads members cross-referenced with relationships for social dynamics. Every piece connects.