Boons

In Vampire, favors are currency. These are called Boons. They can be traded for goods and services to the right people for money. A boon is paid with a service or good of equal value whenever it is asked. Except in the case of the most significant Boons, they are earned and discharged by a single act. If you are owed a boon, think carefully on what you ask and when you ask it. Those who hold position in the Court may also be able to grant Boons on behalf of the Domain. Boons should be used with care, as a Boon unfulfilled could destroy your reputation and brand you an Oath breaker. With lives that span centuries, there is little as precious as reputation. Vampires have long memories and lots of ways to make your unlife hell. Also asking too much in repayment for your boon is considered at best a faux pas and at worst a mortal insult. The most common boons traded are Major and Minor. Minor Boons: These are given when someone inconveniences himself on your behalf but expenses to purse and/or person are negligible. For example, asking someone to arrange a meeting with the Earl, to cook the Elysium feast, or teaching a common discipline (like Celerity or Potence) may be traded for a minor boon. Major Boons: These are given when significant resources or risk are expended. An equal expense is expected to pay off the Boon. Examples of this level of boon are an evening of Wards on a door, paying off (or avoiding altogether) a hefty jail fine, or purchasing and cooking a Winter Feast. Teaching Clan-specific disciplines can both earn and clear a Major Boon, though in some cases a Clan hunts those who teach their art and it becomes a risk to life and more like a Blood Boon. You may hear of a Trivial Boon, which is what it sounds like. Most of the time these boons are not officially tracked, but asking many tiny favors without giving in return will earn a Cainite few allies. A Life or Blood Boon is very rare because it is only earned in the most perilous of circumstances. In the case of these boons, only risking your existence to save the owner of the boon will cancel the debt. In some cases, the indebted one will ask whatever she likes (short of death) over the course of hundreds of years.