[NoxMortem]

Thank you. I just wanted to know what the official ruling is. I really wonder why they did not stick with the SR4A rules.

[Dal Thrax]

Ok, I'm confused.  Let's work this out.  Jen the Nosferatu wants to bring that bastard Abrams from the CDC across  To do so she will need to drain 6 points of essence (meaning that she's draining enough essence to last two years without using any essence fueled powers).

Essence Drain has an addiction rating of Targets Essence + 2.  This means we are looking at ratings of 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3.  The book is not clear if essence drain requires an addiction test every time it's used or only when the essence  drainers essence is higher than (6-essence loss from factors not related to HMHVV).  Jen will resist addiction with her Logic ( + her Willpower (6) or 14 dice.

Ok, so she needs to make a test against a threshold of 2 every time she essence drains.  That  means six tests.  Time to go look at the edge rules, the only way this character is failing this test is a very unlucky roll.

Jen now has an addiction threshold of 2 to essence drain.  It will go down to zero if she doesn't drain anyone for the next two weeks.  On the other hand if she drains someone on each of the next three consecutive weeks (11-8) she will have to make a bonus addiction test.

These rules seem like they were designed to make for slow addictions.

[jim1701]

No, not a test every time she essence drains.  At the end of every interval in which the threshold is above zero.  I would also rule that draining one victim of 6 points of essence is a single act.  So in this case you have a addiction rating of 8 and a threshold of 2.  If the vampire restrains herself for three weeks (11 - 9 = 3 weeks) then she would not have to make a test because threshold would have reduced to zero by that time.  This is kind of a stupid rule, however, as the addiction rating keeps changing depending on the essence of the victim at the time of the act and if this is happening in a short time frame this is indeed confusing.  Until clarification is made the GM basically has three choices in this scenario:

• The essence of the infected's first victim sets the rating for the following interval.  It does not change regardless of essence of victims within that same interval.
• The victim with the highest essence sets the addiction rating for the current interval.  This can result in the interval suddenly contracting and the infected having to make a addiction check immediately.
• The essence of the latest victim sets the addiction rating for the current interval.  This can result in either the interval suddenly expanding or contracting multiple times.
  

Personally I think option one is the least problematic, easiest to track and least likely to be abused option. 

[Dal Thrax]

Well, that would certainly provide some additional encouragement to completely drain the victim.  Three different essence drains in three weeks seems a bit unlikely unless the character is in a warzone or something.

[jim1701]

I think a PC infected would have an increased need to drain victims on a regular basis if they were using their abilities than your typical NPC infected so their risk of addiction would be a little higher but still manageable if they were careful.