CoD Urban District Traits

These mechanics are adapted from the excellent Damnation City sourcebook for Vampire: the Requiem.

Interactive Traits

Interactive traits are generally those that come into play when the player character takes actions with regards to the district. They are modifiers to specific types of actions, and are treated as equipment bonuses.

Access (Physical)

Access describes how easy it is to get into or out of the district, or to move around within it.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers describe a place with ample transportation in reasonable traffic, with well-labeled routes and logical paths of progression.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers suggest a place confounding to travel within it: tight, twisting streets, no signs, a dearth of cabs, busses, or trains.
• Actions: Chases and other actions used to quickly navigate the terrain.

Information (Mental)

Information describes the volume or quality of information that can be gotten about the district from within the district.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers suggest a neighborhood with a local newspaper, kiosks with fliers, talkative locals, and the like.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers are filled with people who don't talk to one another (or anyone for that matter), missing street signs, obscuring graffiti, and the like.
• Actions: x

Prestige (Social)

Prestige details how well thought-of the neighborhood is by those outside of the area.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers describe a neighborhood that is well-thought of; the higher the number, the better the regard.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers are for places reviled and feared; the higher the number, the greater the scorn.
• Actions: Social tests with people from outside the neighborhood.

Reactive Traits

In contrast, reactive traits are the traits with which the district resists or responds to characters.

Safety (Physical)

Safety describes how likely someone is to get hurt in this district, whether a stranger or a local. It details the security features of local establishments and residences, as well as describing both security and dangers in the area.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers suggest a place with some concern for security. Doors and windows have locks, and police or other security forces are present.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers describe a place with less focus on security. It could be ramshackle, or simply a trusting neighborhood where everyone knows each other. A negative modifier also suggests the presence of criminals, dogs, or other hazards of some kind.
• Actions: Burglary and other security-compromising actions

Awareness (Mental)

Awareness describes how attentive the locals are, and how much attention is paid to the doings of one another and (especially) strangers.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers describe an area that is well-lit, with clear lines of sight, and neighbors that keep an eye out on what is going on.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers are for places where everyone avoids eye-contact, and keep out of one anothers' business.
• Actions: Noticing someone attempting to remain unseen, or perceiving clues and details about the area.

Stability (Social)

Stability describes the feelings of community and togetherness in the locals.

• Ratings:
  • Positive: Positive modifiers are for places where neighbors look out for one another and stick together.
  • Negative: Negative modifiers are for places where everyone looks out for himself, and no one gives a damn about anyone else.
• Actions: Tests for locals to notice what is going on, or to see if attention is drawn.

Combinations of Traits

The interactions between Physical, Mental, and Social Traits can also paint decisive pictures of a district.

Physical Traits (Access + Safety)

Physical traits describe a district's physical character.

• Positive Access + Positive Safety: A nice, central area with many ways into and out of it, well-lit and well-patrolled.
• Positive Access + Negative Safety: This neighborhood is fine during the day, but trouble at night, or a collection of storefronts and apartments at the end of a subway ine you wouldn't want to ride alone.
• Negative Access + Positive Safety: A backwater neighborhood or cul-du-sac quarter, or a commercial or industrial zone with easy access from the highway but no other access to it.
• Negative Access + Negative Safety: Almost legendary areas that are difficult to find and get into, and very dangerous.

Mental Traits (Information + Awareness)

Mental traits describe the amount of communication going on in the neighborhood, as well as giving a general idea of how informed and self-aware the residents therein are.

• Positive Information + Positive Awareness: A neighborhood with both plentiful sources of information about it in the form of signage and information kiosks and news stands, as well as plenty of locals who keep an eye out for one another.
• Positive Information + Negative Awareness: A neighborhood with ample fliers, kiosks, signs, newspaper machines, ATMs and WiFi spots, but very few actual living bodies keeping an eye out on things (i.e. many downtown high-rise districts).
• Negative Information + Positive Awareness: An area with a dearth of street signs or local papers, but populated with people unwilling to talk about their neighbors, or one that is well-lit and teeming with residents willing to call the cops on behalf of their neighbors.
• Negative Information + Negative Awareness: A seemingly abandoned neighborhood, with old and faded or entirely absent signs, out-of-date information here and there, confusing and coded graffiti, and neighbors who keep to themselves and avoid meeting one anothers' eyes or notice.

Social Traits (Prestige + Stability)

Social traits describe a District's self-respect, integrity, and internal allegiance, as well as the way the neighborhood looks to the rest of the city.

• Positive Prestige + Positive Stability: An area highly regarded by the city at large, which exhibits community pride and awareness (often directed at maintaining that good reputation).
• Positive Prestige + Negative Stability: An area known for good nightclubs or other attractive venues despite the fights, vagrants, and harassment that comes with traveling here.
• Negative Prestige + Positive Stability: A stretch of peaceful houses and apartments where everyone knows the name of the local grocer, and everyone notices and knows their neighbors, generally considered a dull and uninspiring bedroom district.
• Negative Prestige + Negative Stability: A neighborhood rightly loathed and feared, where it is every man for himself.