17. Clubs and Salons

Clubs

1. There are seven Clubs in Rome which a character may apply to join. These are listed in the Clubs Table.

2. A character may only belong to one Club at any time. He is automatically excluded if he ceases to meet the membership requirements or fails to pay his monthly dues.

3. SP are gained for membership, regardless of whether or not a character visits his Club.

Salons

4. Characters who lack Court Companionship may attend a Salon in order to keep abreast of the latest developments in Rome. Regardless of a character's SL, there will always be someone in Rome who is willing to gossip. Hence there will always be a Salon available.

5. There is a 1 in 36 chance that a character attending a Salon may be called upon to give a donation whilst there. If this happens, the character loses 2*SL Ducats in addition to his Carousing cost.

Carousing

7. When Carousing, a roll of 11+ on 2d6 for a character or 12 on 2d6 for a Court Companion indicates that the individual has become excessively drunk and must roll on the Drunkenness Table for the outcome of that behaviour. The effects of drunkenness do not apply at the Palatine, the Capitoline or on private property.

Gambling

8. Gambling may take place at a Club or Salon.

9. No character may place more than 9 bets in a single week.

10. 1d6 is rolled for each of the character and the house, with the higher number winning. In the event of a tie, the house wins. If the character wins, he doubles his stake.

11. The character can cut his losses depending on the house's roll, in which case only half the stake is lost. If a character wishes to do this, his orders must clearly state which numbers trigger the condition.

12. When gambling, the character not only gets his cash winnings but also +1 SP per win and -1 SP per loss or cut. In addition, if the gambling has taken place at a Club, the total amount bet in a week is divided by the gambling divisor listed in the Clubs Table, the rounded down result of which is gained in SP.

Toadying

13. Characters can benefit from being seen in the company of their betters. Doing this at a Club, party or Salon is called Toadying.

14. Toadying can only be done in conjunction with Carousing. Toadies must pay Carousing costs equal to the SL of the individual being Toadied to. At a party, the Carousing cost for each guest is equal to the SL of the host, or the guest's own SL if higher. The Carousing cost for a Court Companion at such an event is equal to the higher of the host's and the accompanying character's SLs. For the host it is equal to his own SL or that of the guest with the highest SL, whichever is the higher.

15. As shown on the Toady Table, a guest gains a certain amount of SP by Toadying and the host may gain or lose SP.

16. Any character may Toady another if he has permission to do so from the person being toadied to. More than one person may toady the same character in a week.

17. Toadying with Giulio de' Medici takes place at the Palatine.

18. Holding a party is a opportunity for benefiting from Toadying. The orders for the host must include the location and week of the party, the admission criteria and details of whether the guests' costs are to be met by the host, e.g. admit all SL 5+ except the Barberini, costs paid for SL8+, Court Companions admitted but not paid for. A corresponding Announcement should be made in the Announcements Database for the relevant month by the Announcements Deadline and in-character invitations should be sent to the VaticanEnGarde mailing list. Bonus SP may be awarded to the host if his orders include details of the food, wine and entertainments provided.

19. Members of rival Factions attending the same Club will not be considered have cause for a Debate unless they are attending the same event.

20. At a party, the host automatically allows guests to Toady and guests automatically Toady to the host or the guest of honour if the latter is a higher SL PC. A guest at a party who has a higher SL than the host acts as if he allows the host to Toady to him. Subject to this, an individual may not Toady and be Toadied to in the same week, and may only Toady one person in any one week.

Example: The host of a party is SL 9 and the party is at his Club, the Quirinal. The first guest is SL 4. The guest gains 8 SP (2 1/2 rounded up for the difference in SL between him and the host, 4 for the different in club rankings between the Celian and the Quirinal, plus 1 SP for carousing.) The host does not gain or lose SP, whereas a guest of SL 1 or 2 would have lost him 1 SP. The second guest is SL 13 so a "reverse toady" is in effect. The second guest gets just 1 SP for carousing, whilst the host gets 2 SP for 1/2 the difference between their respective SLs.

21. For all events other than parties, a character's orders should indicate to whom he will Toady and who he will allow to Toady to him. Should a character not be admitted to an event without having provided alternative orders, then he will do nothing that week, even if the event was due to be held at his Club.

Clubs Table

Drunkenness Table

Toady Table