Rules/Election System

Election System

This system is based on the Extended Action System outlined in Chronicles of Darkness, though it turns the entity you're attempting to influence into an election issue which you must develop a solution for and address. The quality and speed with which a candidate's campaign addresses each issue will then factor into their opinion within the electorate. Politicians in the USA typically cluster in the upper right quadrant of political compass thought. (Authoritarian Right.) Philadelphia is slightly different in this regard, skewing more centrist to center left Authoritarian. Certainly the electorate tends to vote in this manner, as no conservative candidate has truly won an election in Philadelphia's City Council since the city and county merged back in the 1950s.

The City Council is comprised of 10 seats assigned by city district. These operate in the typical first past the post manner of most US elections. The two parties announce their candidates, a campaign is held, citizens of those districts vote, and the one with the most votes wins. There are also seven "At Large" council seats, two of which are reserved for the minority party or an independent candidate. Voters are allowed to vote for five at large candidates from a field that can often reach 15-30 candidates. The seven at large candidates with the most votes win as long as two of them are in the minority or are otherwise independent. If that is not the case, two of those seats are apportioned to the minority candidates with the most votes among them.

If you're confused, don't worry. So is most of Philadelphia.

The entrenched nature of city politics and the corruption and graft inherent in the system essentially mean that the district seats and their candidates are locked in before a player character would ever hope to break into the election. Player Characters are limited to running for at large seats. They're free to be members of the two major parties, those being the Democrats and the Republicans. Or they may be independents, or minority party candidates. Such minority parties would be the Green Party, the Working Families Party, the Socialist Equality Party, and the Libertarian Party. (This list is by no means comprehensive.)

Once you have it in your head to run and have picked your party or declared your lack thereof, it's time to build your campaign and map your platform.

The Campaign

Your campaign is the people, facilities, and resources you will depend upon to reach office. They are volunteers or paid staffers, they are groups or individuals who have granted you their endorsement, they are big money contributors who will expect reciprocity for their support, and most importantly they are a mechanically treated as a -5 to +5 modifier to your weekly campaigning rolls. Your campaign is the sole modifier you can bring to bear in your actual weekly campaigning roll. You can improve your campaign's modifier by accumulating endorsements from Civil Society organizations, dominating a particular issue within the campaign, winning a debate, or otherwise performing well as a candidate. Penalties can be imposed by denouncements from civil society organizations, failing to address a hot button issue in a timely manner, losing a debate, or otherwise performing poorly as a candidate. Money always helps. And five weeks of Resources 5 spends (or five individual spends in one week, even) can help lift a negative penalty by 1. It cannot bring your modifier into the positive, however. Too much money in politics in Philadelphia is a coffin nail into campaigns, usually.

Put more simply:

• Civil Society Org Endorsement: +1
• Winning a Debate: +1
• One of the first candidates to Address an issue: +1
• Documented Media Victory: +1
• Documented Media Defeat: -1
• One of the last candidates to Address an issue: -1
• Losing a Debate: -1
• Civil Society Org Denouncement: -1
• 5 Resources 5 Spends: +1 to a max of 0.

Endorsements

Getting a Civil Society organization to endorse an at large candidate is a difficult thing. They will typically endorse a party, or endorse a district candidate, but it's rare for them to endorse an at large candidate for council. Doing so is a monumental 60AP feat. Once the organization has issued its endorsement, the only way to reverse it is for a scandal that rises to a Documented Media Defeat to occur and another 60AP action to be performed to rescind the endorsement. Once the endorsement is rescinded, the organization is considered neutral for that candidate and can be worked back into an endorsement through similar means, assuming someone hasn't already won that organization's endorsement.

Each organization will only ever endorse a single candidate.

Denouncements

If a Civil Society organization has not endorsed a candidate, it can be made to denounce it. This is likewise a 60AP action. Once a denouncement has been made, it would take a Documented Media Victory and a 60AP action to get them to retract their denouncement. Once the denouncement has been rescinded, the organization is considered neutral with respect to that candidate.

Organizations can denounce multiple candidates.

Debates

Debates are sometimes held on issues, typically at the behest of various civil society groups. They typically don't take the form of the presidential debates you see televised. They are often much more engaged in the actual issues, and seek to actually address problems rather than voters. Periodically debates may be announced by different Civil Society groups. Candidates may sign up to debate the issue or they may decide they can only hurt their chances by doing so and decline. The winners of the debate gain the +1 bonus, the losers take a -1. Typically it's the underdogs that are hungry to debate issues in such ways. These debates are resolved using either Presence+Persuasion or Manipulation+Persuasion in a contested roll.

Documented Media Events

Candidates need press. They love press. They say there is no bad press, but that's not entirely true. Every candidate loves to be in the press on their terms. And every candidate hates it when their rivals turn the cameras on them when it wasn't their idea. Framing is everything, and being in control of that framing is crucial. This particular modifier is fairly fungeable. Bringing the media to bear on yourself or on others is a simple Allies (Media) request. It doesn't even require a roll if your Allies is rated at a 3 or more. For the bonus to come into play some things need to be true: The coverage must be unexpected and either flattering or defamatory. A pro union candidate seen shaking the hands of construction workers isn't really going to push the needle one way or another. A pro union candidate seen at a fire company chatting with the fire fighters and helping with their fundraiser? Now that's a story. Similarly, doing a hit piece on a pro union candidate's visit to a union plant isn't going to hurt them, but a piece exposing that they have never personally been in a union and worked for a union busting firm in their past? That's bad. In both instances, the subject must be true. The media will check their sources and due their due diligence. Fake hit pieces are not the stuff of legitimate journalism. Accordingly, you have to watch your flip-flops and campaign behavior, pick your theme and develop actions and reputation that supports that campaign behavior. Living one life in front of the cameras and one away from them is going to be weaponized by a savvy opponent.

The final decision on a piece's impact rests with staff alone.

Issues

The campaign season will start with a set number of issues which candidates will have to address. Additional issues will enter the election as play continues, and will largely be drawn from either real life events within Philadelphia, or emerging events caused by the game's plots and player actions. So it's entirely possible that a string of player character burglaries could give rise to an issue relating to addressing property crime, or that a plot about vandalizing gentrifying properties could give rise to an issue regarding equal and affordable housing. Not every issue is going to appeal to your campaign or its sensibilities. That's politics for you. If you're running an anti-establishment campaign and the issue is funding for the police department, you might have a tough week.

Each issue will have a success target you need to aim for. You will get one roll per week, accumulating successes towards that target. The first player to reach the target denotes that is the week in which other players who hit the target will also gain a +1. If the field fails to hit the target in that week, the best they can hope for is to finish the topic with a neutral rating. Once the issue is down to three or fewer candidates who have not addressed the issue, they receive a -1 for their poor handling of the issue. If three weeks pass with no progress towards completing a given issue by any remaining candidates, all remaining candidates receive the -1. Accordingly, it's best to at least address issues even if you disagree with them to prevent them becoming an anchor to your campaign's progress.

Each campaign may address three issues in a given week, rolling once for each issue. This may sometimes mean choosing not to address an issue in favor of addressing another. That's politics. If you're running a pro labor campaign, getting endorsements from unions and addressing equal employment concerns and union protections is probably of more concern to you than addressing municipal water repairs or police budgets. The character of the campaign will therefore become emergent, and the media may style your campaign one way or another accordingly. Opportunists may be labelled as such. Pro business candidates, likewise. Pro labor ones, similarly.

As well, the pool you can choose may be either Presence, Manipulation, or Composure + Politics. Those who lean heavily on Presence will develop a populist reputation. Think Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Those who lean heavily on Manipulation will develop a more 'politics as usual' reputation. Think Chuck Shumer, Nancy Pelosi, or Mitch McConnell. Those who lean on composure will be viewed as the proverbial 'elder statesperson', a voice of the institutions rather than a personality to be reckoned with. Think Colin Powell, James Mattis, or James Comey.

These flavor considerations may seem shallow, but your political rivals can bring your reputation to bear in the media and potentially create a negative Media Event based on your actions, inactions, endorsements, denouncements, and campaign behavior. Erratic opportunism may keep your campaign bonus high in the short term, but may open you up to attack by your rivals for being just that. Erratic and opportunistic. Give some thought to the sort of campaign you'd like to run in advance, and if you change gears have a plan on how to address that switch.

The roll to address an issue is ALWAYS the selected attribute + politics + the campaign bonus or penalty. It is never impacted by other modifiers, 9-again, 8-again, or Rote. No exceptions. Please don't ask.

Summary

Each week your campaign may address three issues currently animating the electorate, getting bonuses for addressing them well and in a timely manner and acquiring penalties for addressing them poorly and slowly. Endorsements and denouncements can come into play week to week. So do campaign donations. So do debates. The effects of a week's worth of campaigning occur on the Sunday following. So if you start on Sunday with a -1 Campaign, get 5 big donations on Monday, an endorsement on Wednesday, and win a Debate on Friday, your campaign is still -1 on Saturday. But on Sunday it jumps to +2.

Magic, Meddling, and Malfeasance

All of the supernatural groups in the City have an agreement not to meddle in politics with their powers. Oh, the Vampires may have a ghoul run for office now and then, and pretty much all sides show up to protests and lobby candidates and support their causes. But mages don't use Mind to influence voters, Vampires don't use Dominate or Majesty likewise, nor do Changelings toy with the fates of candidates. Once one side starts, all sides will, and it will become very ugly, very quickly. Which is not to say that people haven't tried over the years. They have. And so can you. Just don't get caught at it.

And believe me. You will probably be caught at it.