Although infernalists wield strange and often horrific powers, they remain fundamentally hu- man and rely on experience points to improve their traits. Demons also rely on experience, but their immortality allows them to grow with matu- ration as vampires do.
Experience
Demons and infernalists gain experience points as other characters do, with which their players may purchase or improve traits. The costs for such im- provement remain the same as those listed on p. 166 of Dark Ages: Vampire, save that demons do not possess Virtues and no infernal character has Road or Disciplines. Players may also spend experience points in the following ways:
• Resolve: An increase of Resolve reflects a
character’s deepening confidence and force of spirit. It is not enough to have a strong personality and soul, as such qualities remain the province of Willpower. Instead, the character must come to understand that his will shall be done because he wishes it to be so. This leap from desire to power and from potential into certainty defines Resolve, embodying equal parts self-control, courage and atavistic conviction. No training time is required to purchase dots of Resolve, but each such increase should reflect the character’s growing implacability or a pivotal mo- ment in which his will transformed the world around him. The experience cost to raise Resolve is (current rating x 5 for demons; current rating x 7 for thralls). Characters may increase Resolve between stories as normal or during the course of a story, but only after demonstrating tremendous spiritual conviction in the face of adversity.
• Torment: As described previously, characters
may repent of their sin and perform acts of virtue as atonement. If the Storyteller believes the action demonstrates sufficient effort and contrition, the player may spend one experience point to remove a point of temporary Torment. For characters lacking any temporary Torment, the expenditure permits the character to convert one dot of permanent Torment into nine points of temporary Torment. Demons cannot reduce Torment below a rating where they no longer meet the limits demanded for their total Arcana; thralls may permanently give up Arcana to meet the new limit. Owing to the require- ment of penitent action, Torment decrease must usually take place during the course of play. As an optional rule, Storytellers may allow players to lower Torment with experience during periods of down- time, but only if the player narrates or writes a journal entry detailing an approved act of atone- ment the character performed during that time.
In addition to atonement, demons have two other means of reducing their Torment. The Ritual of the Sundered Soul can drop a fallen character’s
rating substantially, but this rite carries a stiff price in forfeited power. Finally, a demon can decrease Tor- ment by manifesting new Taints as explained on p. 121. This does not represent a decrease so much as a shifting of Torment from raw taint to a specific debility. Manifesting Taints functions as an effec- tive stopgap measure for demons who cross the edge of their Resolve limit and begin suffering damage, but ultimately does not diminish a character’s sin or offer the hope of redemption. Thralls cannot shift Torment into Taints on their own, but may have this reprieve imposed on them by their masters.
• Arcana: Demons and thralls gain new powers
in different ways. The fallen manifest Arcana by tapping into their memories. The player must spend a number of Resolve points equal to the cost of the Arcana the demon seeks to remember. If a demon tries to increase the power of an Arcana that has a variable cost, the Resolve cost is the point difference between the desired cost and the character’s existing rating. Players do not have to spend Resolve all at once, but the demon does not gain the new Arcana (or Arcana power increase) until the player pays the cost in full. Alternately, a demon can increase or develop an Arcana at any time for a cost of one experience point. This consumes the demon’s action for the turn as memories return in a surge of pain and glory, after which the power becomes available. Infernal characters can never have more points of Arcana in total than their (permanent Torment x 10 + temporary Torment + the combined value of all Taints and Pacts).
With effort, demons can also trade a known Arcana for one they do not know, but this “power swapping” is generally performed by demons already at the limits of their capacity. Swapping an Arcana costs a number of experience points equal to the new Arcana gained in addition to the usual cost in Resolve.
Thralls cannot improve or purchase Arcana on their own, but must receive investments from their masters. Investing a thrall with new Arcana requires that a demon touch its servant and spend one point of Resolve for every new or increased Arcana granted. The thrall must agree to the investments and under- stand what will be done, if only generally. In most cases, thralls trade faithful service for new powers, much as they did to become thralls in the first place. Demons need not possess Arcana in order to invest them in their servants. Removing an Arcana from a thrall requires the same process and expenditure of
Resolve from the demon as investing the power in the first place, but costs neither party experience.
• Taints and Pacts: Demons gain new Taints by
deliberately channeling raw Torment to ravage their bodies, minds or souls. Each agonizing transforma- tion consumes the character’s action for one turn and costs one point of Resolve, whether the charac- ter wishes to manifest a new Taint or increase the value of an existing Taint. At the end of the turn, the character loses a number of points of temporary Torment equal to the value of the Taint or Taint increase. If this reduces a character’s temporary Torment below zero, the demon converts one dot of permanent Torment into 10 temporary points minus the difference. Demons can also reabsorb Taints back into Torment, paying a number of experience and Resolve points equal to the trait. The character adds the Taint’s value to its temporary Torment.
Thralls can receive Taints to lower their Tor- ment like demons, but require their masters to impose the change. Adding or removing a Taint from a thrall costs only one Resolve point, adjusting tempo- rary and possibly permanent Torment accordingly. Thralls can also make Pacts by trading oaths of fealty and devotion in exchange for power. This functions exactly like bestowing a Taint. Thralls cannot re- move Taints or Pacts on their own.
The total value of an infernal character’s Taints and Pacts cannot exceed her (Willpower x 5).
Maturation
As immortal beings, demons may alternately receive maturation points during long periods of downtime. A demon does not receive maturation points while trapped in the Abyss, since it must exert its entire will and being simply to hold onto its existence and shreds of sanity. Players may spend maturation points as described on page 167 of Dark
Ages: Vampire, save that they may not purchase
dots of Disciplines, Virtues or Road. Players may also use these points to purchase or maintain infernal traits:
• Resolve: 10 points per dot. If this seems
expensive, remember that Resolve must be tested in order to grow. Resolve cannot exceed Willpower.
• Torment: If a Storyteller even permits atone-
ment during downtime, this costs two points for every point of temporary Torment lost. Characters must still retain sufficient Torment to cover the cost of all Arcana. Additionally, the Storyteller should
require a standard degeneration check for every century of downtime. Failure gives the demon a dot of permanent Torment.
• Arcana and Taints: Demons can manifest as
many Arcana and Taints as desired during any stretch of downtime, subject to the usual maximum limits for each type of trait.