This supernatural effect likely powers a hand-held weapon or tool of some ilk, be it the Sword of Saint Agnes or the Sledgehammer of Iron John Jackson. This particular weapon ignores Durability when making an attack on a mundane object, doing damage immediately to that item’s Structure. If attacking supernaturally-enhanced objects, this Power allows the weapon to ignore two points of that object’s Durability.
This ability can empower an item not usually consid- ered a weapon – a ring on the hand may allow Brawl attacks to do damage directly to the item’s Structure, for instance. Some items might be weapons only in an improvised sense: an umbrella, perhaps, or the skull of a serial killer. Using these items as weapons demands the improvised (-1) penalty during any attack.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: No roll necessary. This Power is always active.
Potent Success, Attribute
(••• or •••••)
Some objects allow their users to take their successes and potentially refi ne them into something more potent. At the time of the object’s purchase or creation, the character determines one Skill that this object supports. The object is usually tied to the Skill in some way – a pair of fuzzy dice might modify Drive rolls, a bile-stained lab-coat might aid in Medicine rolls, or a golden tongue ring might help with Persuasion.
The three-dot Power grants that Skill the 9-Again roll. The fi ve-dot Power grants that Skill the 8-Again roll. Each has a duration of one scene, and can only be used once per 24-hour period.
Cost: 2 Willpower, except for items which support
Brawl, Weaponry or Firearms rolls – these require 3 Will- power to activate.
Dice Pool: No roll necessary
Protection Charm
(• to •••••; special)
A man clutches prayer beads made from the knuckles of his enemies and he is protected from sickness. A woman fi nds a two-skulled infant skeleton in the fl oorboards be- neath her home and she fi nds that it grants her shelter against the venomous snakes handled at her Pentecostal church. A young boy knows that the long shadows come for him when he sleeps, and so he clutches a frayed blanket to his chest; with it, he never again needs to slumber.
Some objects protect their keepers against harm caused by certain effects. Such objects or “charms” must be kept on the body, touching the skin. Below are a number of these effects, which are determined by the cost of dots in this Power. An object might possess only one of these charms, though it could also possess several (if a single amulet pro- tects against bashing damage, fatigue and grapple, it would cost a total of seven dots).
Bashing Damage (•••): The character is capable of shrugging off points of bashing damage: whether by fi sts or by sledgehammer, the points don’t even make it to the character sheet. The charm is active for a number of turns equal to successes gained.
Deprivation (•): The character can ignore the deleteri- ous effects caused by hunger and thirst. He suffers no penalties to rolls, nor does he assume any of the damage normally as- sociated with deprivation. The charm is active for a number of days equal to successes gained. These days are added onto the character’s normal limits (pp.175-176, World of Dark-
ness Rulebook) for determining deprivation.
Disease (••): This charm can be used in two ways. One, it can be used to protect the user from catching any kind of bacterial or viral sickness. The charm is active for a number of weeks equal to successes gained. Alternately, if the character is already under the effects of a particular disease, the charm can be activated to give the character days of solace where he is free from the depredations of the illness. He takes no damage from the disease during the period of time the charm is active. In this case, the charm is active for a number of days equal to successes gained. The character cannot use the fi rst ability (resisting disease) if he is already possessed by some sickness; in that case, he must choose the second option until that sickness is healed. (This does not work on supernatural sickness, whose persistence within the human body is too strong to be trumped by the relic.)
Electrocution (••): Electricity fails to cause damage to the character. His body still conducts it, but he takes none of the damage as noted on pp. 177-178 of the World
of Darkness Rulebook. Note, however, that the rule to
escape a source of electrocution (Strength to pull away as a refl exive action) is still in play.
Fatigue (•): The charm’s keeper can remain awake for abnormal lengths of time with no harmful effects (at least initially). The charm is active for a number of days equal to successes rolled; these days are added to the normal 24- hour limit (so three successes means an additional 72-hours, or three days, on top of the usual 24-hour limit, thus the character can go for a total of four days without penalties from fatigue). As noted, during the extra days awake the character assumes no penalties from lack of sleep. This also allows the user to surpass the Stamina/Resolve limit imposed on “days awake” (p. 180, World of Darkness
Rulebook). The catch to this charm is that, once the days
are up, the character does immediately pass out for a full eight hours, acting as if comatose during this time.
Grapple (•••): The character becomes in some way impossible to hold. His skin may feel slippery, or his bones may appear to collapse and shift so that he can easily squirm free from an enemy’s grip. The character is immune to any grappling attempts (they fail automatically) for a number of turns equal to successes rolled.
Lethal Damage (•••••): Deadly damage doesn’t affect the character. Bullets hit him and drop to the ground below,
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chapter three-powers and prices
pass right through him, or fail to hit him even at point-blank range. A blade fails to cut his skin. A car crushed in an ac- cident shudders and shakes as the character extracts himself from the tangled mess – with nary a scratch on him. The character is immune to normal bashing, and in the process all lethal damage is downgraded to bashing damage (which the character takes, for he is not immune to this lessened damage, though it heals as normal). This charm is active for a number of turns equal to successes gained.
Poisons/Toxins/Drugs (•••): The character could drink a martini laced with a thimble full of cyanide, and not even feel the effects. Hell, he could guzzle a beer stein full of Windex and antifreeze, and his body would process it like water. Drugs, too, fail to have any effect on him, whether it’s a cigarette, ten shots of tequila, or a suppository of trailer-park methamphetamines. The charm is active for a number of hours equal to successes rolled.
Stun/Knockout (•): The character cannot be stunned or knocked out (pp. 167-168, World of Darkness Rule-
book) through damage. This charm is active for a number
of turns equal to successes gained.
Temperature Extremes (•): Weather and temperature have zero effect on a character while this charm is active. Walking across the Sahara desert or the icy tundra doesn’t bother him, nor do the winds from a hurricane or the sting- ing dust of a sandstorm. No damage or penalties occur as a result of extreme weather or temperatures. Successes gained on this roll add one hour per success to the character’s normal period of resistance (Stamina + Resolve). During this time, the extreme temperature is only moderately uncomfortable. While unpleasant, the character is largely numb to the pain and misery normally caused by extreme heat or cold.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Survival Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The charm backfires. The char-
acter suffers a sudden migraine headache, and for the remainder of the scene suffers a -2 penalty to all Physical and Mental rolls.
Failure: The charm fails to provide its protection. Success: As described above. Note that each charm
can provide its benefi t only once per chapter (game ses- sion).
Exceptional Success: As above, but the charm also
transfers an extra hardiness to the character, granting him +1 Health for the remainder of the scene.
Pulse (• to •••••)
Upon activation, an object with the Pulse Power emits an electromagnetic pulse that disrupts all elec- tronic equipment within a given range. Many objects require an action, albeit a minor one, to achieve this effect: perhaps the character must thrust a knife blade into the earth, flick an old haunted Zippo lighter, or pitch
the Queen of Spades from a cursed deck of playing cards to the ground. Some, however, simply demand their user hold them and concentrate. Higher dots in this ability increase its range (see below).
Cost: 2 Willpower
Dice Pool: Resolve + Crafts Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The object pulses, but the only
thing disrupted is the character’s own biorhythm. For the remainder of the scene, the character feels dizzy and fatigued, suffering a -2 penalty to all dice pools.
Failure: No electromagnetic pulse occurs.
Success: All equipment relying on electronics (computers,
cars, watches), rather than pure mechanics, either power down or malfunction for a number of turns equal to the character’s Resolve + Composure score. Lights go out or fl icker wildly. Any captured images or media on erasable or magnetic media (hard drives, for instance) jumbled and unreadable for the same number of turns.
The Power has a radius equal to fi ve yards per dot pur- chased in this Power (one dot is equal to fi ve yards, whereas fi ve dots would be equal to 25 yards).
Exceptional Success: As with a success, but the
objects stay dead until fi xed (each object will require an extended Wits + Crafts roll, with each roll equal to fi ve minutes’ worth of tinkering, and a number of successes equal to the successes gained on the activation’s roll must be achieved)
Resist Fire (• or •••)
Some objects grant their user immunity to particular condi- tions that would otherwise cause great pain or detriment. In this case, a relic with this Power protects its user from fi re, preventing burns and blisters for a time. The one-dot version doesn’t actu- ally prevent the damage entirely, but instead downgrades the normally-lethal damage to bashing (or, for vampires, it down- grades aggravated to lethal). The three-dot version prevents the damage entirely while active. Many objects possessing this Power are items of clothing: a hooded sweatshirt that miraculously survived an arson attempt (though perhaps its owner was not so lucky), a wedding ring that melted down into a seared lump of gold, or a singed garter worn by one of the country’s most prolifi c female arsonists. A relic with this ability also has the side-effect that the relic itself cannot be harmed by fi re.
Cost: 2 Willpower
Dice Pool: Stamina + Survival Action: Refl exive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The object’s protection fails
utterly. Damage from fire is now aggravated for the remainder of the scene. (If possessed by a vampire, the damage is already aggravated, but now suffers a +1 to the fire’s damage modifier.)
Failure: The relic fails to confer its protection
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Success: The user is protected from fi re (it’s either
downgraded to bashing or prevented utterly) for a number of turns equal to the successes gained. Note that it only protects the user’s fl esh and body, as well as itself. All other objects are subject to damage – clothes catch fi re and burn away, shoelaces melt, and if the heat is intense enough, weapons begin to melt.
Exceptional Success: As above, except the user is now
protected for the whole scene.