INSTRUCCIONES PARA LOS AUTORES

You can spend Willpower points to do the following things:

• Add one automatic success to a single roll. You can only spend one Willpower point per roll this way, and you must spend it before you make the roll.

• Increase a single static value (such as Defense or Resolve) by 1. You can only spend one Willpower point per opposing roll, and you must do so before your opponent’s player rolls. • Reject certain kinds of social influence (see Chapter Five).

• Use a Charm that costs Willpower.

Gaining Willpower

Your character gains Willpower when the following conditions are met:

• A good night’s sleep restores one Willpower point, but cannot raise a character’s Willpower points above his permanent Willpower rating. Certain characters might not require sleep—in their case, six to eight hours of rest or meditation will suffice, although this bonus can only be gained once per day.

• Your character gains one Willpower point if he undergoes significant hardship or sacrifice to uphold a Major or Defining Intimacy. He may only gain one Willpower point per scene this way. Willpower gained in this fashion may exceed his permanent Willpower rating.

• Achieving a major character or story goal is grounds for gaining Willpower. The Storyteller may award one to three points of Willpower, depending on the scale and significance of the goal, and these may exceed the character’s permanent Willpower rating.

• Performing a two-point stunt grants one point of Willpower, while performing a three-point stunt grants two. These awards may exceed the character’s permanent Willpower rating.

Additionally, there are several conditions which will refresh a character’s Willpower points. At the beginning of a new story, if your character’s Willpower points are lower than his permanent

rating, they’re refilled to equal it. The catharsis of Limit Break also resets the character’s Willpower to its permanent rating—even if this means losing excess Willpower.

Willpower Across Creation

Like all Traits, Willpower varies considerably across the populace of Creation. Most individuals have a Willpower rating of 2-3, with ratings of both 1 and of 4-6 being uncommon. Willpower ratings of 7-8 are rare, while less than one person in a hundred will have a rating of 9 or 10.

Intimacies

Intimacies represent loves, hatreds, ideals, and goals—the things in this world people feel strongly about. Intimacies are important to social influence actions (p. XX), as they help determine what kinds of influence will affect your character. They come in two basic types: • Ties describe your character’s attachments to people, objects, organizations, and other concrete entities. They have an emotional context which describes your character’s feelings towards that entity. Ties are generally written as the subject of the Tie, followed by a parenthetical clarifier to establish context. Examples include Great Forks (Hometown affection), My mysterious

benefactor (Wary respect), My wife (Love), Peleps Deled (Hatred), and The Immaculate Order (Admiration).

• Principles describe your character’s beliefs and ideals. Principles are generally written as a statement of the Principle. Examples include ideals such as “Honesty is my watchword” and “Pragmatism rules my actions,” and beliefs such as “The Immaculate Philosophy is the true guide to righteous living” or “I believe everyone looks out for number one.”

The basic mechanical function of Ties and Principles is identical, but some Charms and other special rules may differentiate between them.

Intimacies come in three levels of intensity: Minor, Major, and Defining. Minor Intimacies are notable parts of your character’s worldview, but only come into play when the subject of the Intimacy is directly relevant to her current situation. Major Intimacies hold more influence over your character, coming into play even if the subject is only indirectly or tangentially related to the situation at hand. Finally, Defining Intimacies hold sway over every aspect of your

character’s life—they’re the pillars of her worldview, and often things she would lay down her life to protect.

Intimacies help characters to regain Willpower, and govern what actions they can be persuaded to take via social influence. For more information on Intimacies and their role in social influence, see pages XX-XX.

Charms will sometimes become empowered by Intimacies, such as by granting a character extra strength to fight to protect his loved ones. In these circumstances, Minor, Major, and Defining Intimacies are “valued” at two, three, and four points, respectively—thus, a Charm granting dice equal to an Intimacy’s rating would grant three dice if keying off of a Major Intimacy.

Gaining Intimacies

Characters start with whatever Intimacies their players feel are appropriate, with a minimum of four Intimacies, of which at least one must be Defining, one must be Major, one must be in some

way negative (a thing the character opposes or dislikes), and one must be positive (a thing the character supports or likes). Characters may gain new Intimacies in several ways, all subject to Storyteller approval. The key to changing Intimacies is that the change must make sense given the roleplaying going on during the scene and in the broader context of the story. Characters can’t gain beneficial new Intimacies if it doesn’t match how they’ve been played.

• Intimacies can be created at Minor intensity or strengthened by one level by the social influence of other characters (p. XX).

• Whenever the player feels it is appropriate and the Storyteller agrees, the character may add a new Minor Intimacy or intensify an existing Intimacy at the end of a scene by one degree. • In extraordinary situations, the character may gain a new Intimacy at Major or Defining Intensity based on the events of the story—when an Abyssal murders your brother, it’s probably acceptable to go straight to a Major or Defining Tie of hatred toward him.