User:Gray
Combat Summary Chart
This chart supersedes the one on p.154 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.
Defense: Lower of Dexterity or Wits + Athletics + Armor
Stage One: Intent
• The players and the Storyteller describe what their characters want out of the fight.
• Decide whether characters can surrender and can become Beaten Down.
Stage Two: Initiative
• If the attacker springs an ambush or otherwise strikes when the defender isn’t able to counter, the defender rolls Wits + Composure contested by the attacker’s Dexterity + Stealth. If the defender fails, she doesn’t act on the first turn of combat and cannot apply Defense against attacks.
• Everyone rolls Initiative: the result of a die roll + Dexterity + Composure. If the character has a weapon readied, apply its Initiative Modifier.
Stage Three: Attack
• Unarmed Combat: Strength + Brawl vs. Defense
• Melee Combat: Strength + Weaponry vs. Defense
• Ranged Combat: Dexterity + Firearms
• Thrown Weapons: Dexterity + Athletics vs. Defense
A character’s Defense is normally subtracted from any attack dice pools where it applies. If she chooses to Dodge, the defender rolls her Defense as a dice pool against each attack. Each success reduces the attacker’s successes by one. If the at¬tacker is reduced to zero successes, the attack does nothing. If the attacker has successes remaining, add any weapon modi¬fier to the number of successes to determine how many points of Health the target loses. All weapons deal lethal damage.
Stage Four: The Storyteller describes the attack and wound in narrative terms.
Possible Modifiers
• Aiming: +1 per turn to a +3 maximum
• All-Out Attack: +2 with Brawl or Weaponry attack; lose Defense
• Armor Piercing: Ignores amount of target’s armor equal to item’s rating
• Autofire Long Burst: 20 or so bullets, no target limit pending Storyteller approval. A +3 bonus is applied to each attack roll; –1 per roll for each target after the first
• Autofire Medium Burst: 10 or so bullets at one to three targets, with a +2 bonus to each attack roll; –1 per roll for each target after the first
• Autofire Short Burst: Three bullets at a single target with a +1 bonus to the roll
• Concealment: Barely –1; partially –2; substantially –3; fully, see “Cover”
• Cover: Subtract Durability from damage; if Durability is greater than weapon modifier, attack has no effect
• Dodge: Double Defense, roll as a dice pool with each success subtracting one from the attacker’s successes
• Drawing a Weapon: Requires instant action without a Merit and could negate Defense
• Firing from Concealment: Shooter’s own concealment quality (–1, –2 or –3) reduced by one as a penalty to fire back (so, no modifier, –1 or –2)
• Offhand Attack: –2 penalty
• Prone Target: –2 penalty to hit in ranged combat; +2 bonus to hit when attacker is within close-combat distance
• Range: –2 at medium range, –4 at long range
• Shooting into Close Combat: –2 per combatant avoided in a single shot (not applicable to autofire); –4 if grappling
• Specified Target: Torso –1, leg or arm –2, head –3, hand –4, eye –5
• Surprised or Immobilized Target: Defense doesn’t apply
• Touching a Target: Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Weaponry; armor may or may not apply, but Defense does apply
• Willpower: Add three dice or +2 to a Resistance trait (Stamina, Resolve, or Composure) in one roll or instance
Gray's Merits
Ambidextrous (•••) Effect: Your character does not suffer the –2 penalty for using his off-hand in combat or to perform other actions. Available only at character creation.
Bowmanship (• to ••••)
Prerequisite: Dexterity •••, Firearms ••, Trained Observer
Bowmanship attacks use bows and roll Dexterity + Firearms.
Arcing Fire (•) Double range.
Bullseye (••) You may reduce your weapon's damage rating for +1 on attack roll and 8-Again on a called shot.
Out of Nowhere (•••) When you make an unnoticed ambush shot, roll Dexterity + Stealth to force a Wits + Composure roll, penalized by successes, to avoid being Shaken.
Death from Above (••••) Fire over unroofed cover to ignore a point of concealment for every 10 yards of added arc distance.
Channeling (•••)
Prerequisites: Ghost-Calling for Spirit Channeling. None for Cayce Channeling or Past-Life Channeling.
Effect: Channeling represents a psychic’s capacity to paranormally gain abilities that he does not normally possess. There are three distinct forms of channeling: Cayce Channeling, whereby the psychic accesses the Universal Unconscious to gain the knowledge he seeks; Past-Life Channeling, with which he accesses the talents he possessed in a former life; and Spirit Channeling, with which a psychic allows a ghost to possess his body and give him access to its wisdom. The three versions are grouped together because the mechanical effects are the same. The psychic must successfully enter a trance before he can channel effectively to gain new Traits (see “Entering a Trance,” p. 35). Skills gained last until the psychic next sleeps or until he attempts to channel again.
Spirit Channeling: A medium uses his powers to commune with the dead to summon a ghost capable of providing the capabilities that he needs. After entering the necessary trance state, the medium invites a ghost with useful traits into his body. Spirit Channeling is also used by professional mediums to allow ghosts to commune directly with bereaved loved ones. The weakness of Spirit Channeling is that ghosts generally lack the capacity to interact normally with the living. Spirit Channeling can never be used to gain dots in Social Skills.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Action: Instant; although the psychic must first enter a trance
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The ghost summoned is instinctively hostile toward the psychic or the effect summons a different and more malevolent entity than intended. The hostile spirit can automatically succeed on a roll to possess the psychic (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 212).
Failure: The medium was unsuccessful.
Success: Each success is converted into one dot of a single Physical or Mental Skill selected by the player. The number of successes must exceed the character’s current Skill dots, if any, in order for him to gain any benefit from the power. The new rating lasts until the psychic next sleeps or until he next uses this power.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the normal benefit of extra successes, the psychic can access the personal memories of the ghost who shares the psychic’s body. If the successes exceed five, any more can be assigned to another single Physical or Mental Skill of the character’s choosing.
Defender (•••)
Prerequisites: Resolve •••
Effect: Your character is filled with a burning fury when her friends or family are threatened. For each dot of this Merit, the character gains a Willpower point to spend on actions related to defending or protecting these loved ones. This also applies to actions taken preemptively to prevent clear threats to her charges, and to acts of retribution against an offender if her loved ones are hurt. These bonus Willpower points do not count towards the character’s normal Willpower dots.
Drawback: The danger of loving so deeply is the pain of loss that comes from failing. If someone the character loves is killed or otherwise permanently taken from her, she cannot regain Willpower unless she strives towards inflicting retribution on the guilty party. If she is prevented in doing so, she grieves and loses a point of Willpower per day until she reaches zero. At this point, she may begin the healing process and recover Willpower as normal again. This merit is useless for characters who care about none save themselves.
Defensive Combat (•)
Prerequisite: Brawl • or Weaponry •; choose one when this Merit is selected
Effect: You are training in avoiding damage in combat. Use your Brawl or Weaponry to calculate Defense rather than Athletics. You can learn both versions of this Merit, allowing you to use any of the three Skills to calculate Defense. How-ever, you cannot use Weaponry to calculate Defense unless you actually have a weapon in hand.
Fast Reflexes (• to •••)
Prerequisite: Wits ••• or Dexterity •••
Effect: Your character’s reflexes impress and astound; she’s always fast to react. +1 Initiative per dot.
Fighting Finesse (••)
Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, a Specialty in Weaponry or Brawl
Effect: Choose a Specialty in Weaponry or Brawl when you purchase this Merit. Your character’s extensive training in that particular weapon or style has allowed them to benefit more from their alacrity and agility than their strength. You may substitute your character’s Dexterity for her Strength when making rolls with that Specialty. This Merit may be purchased multiple times to gain its benefit with multiple Specialties.
Ghost-Calling (•••)
Effect: Your medium is capable of more than merely perceiving the dead; he can summon them to his presence and even assist them in crossing over to the physical world. A sufficiently talented medium can call out to an existing ghost and draw it to his location. By doing so, he can also help the entity to “cross over,” aiding it in manifesting in the physical world or in using other ghostly powers that affect the material realm. Mediums who possess this Merit and Astral Projection (p. 36) have the option of physically interacting with ghosts and other beings in Twilight with the expenditure of a Willpower point. Ghost-Calling can only summon ghosts; other supernatural beings existing in Twilight are not affected.
Roll Wits + Occult for your character to make spiritual contact with an existing ghost. Not all deceased persons continue to exist as ghosts, and few ghosts persist more than a few decades after their demise. If a ghost is still in existence, the medium can potentially contact the ghost wherever it roams. Once the connection is formed, the medium is considered to be a temporary anchor for the ghost, and it can instantly come to his vicinity from wherever it may be. If the ghost is unwilling to come to the medium, he can attempt to compel its attendance with a successful Presence + Occult roll versus the ghost’s Resistance in a contested action. Whether the ghost comes willingly or not, a Willpower point need not be spent for the ghost to travel to its new anchor.
A medium cannot control a ghost in any meaningful way. A character with this Merit cannot automatically detect ghosts unless he also has the Death Sight Merit. If he does have that Merit, he receives a +2 bonus on all Ghost-Calling rolls. When a medium forms a psychic connection with a ghost, the medium continues to serve as the ghost’s anchor for the duration of the scene. If the medium attempts to sever the connection early, a successful Wits + Occult roll must be made versus the ghost’s Power in a contested action, unless the ghost consents to the severing. When a medium no longer serves as an anchor, a ghost returns instantly to wherever it was prior to the summoning. Severing the psychic connection does not harm the ghost in any way. While a connection is in force, a medium is considered an anchor for all purposes. Thus, the ghost can manifest in the psychic’s vicinity without need for a roll. A medium may place himself in grave danger if he does not know with what sort of ghost he deals.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to become a temporary anchor to a ghost (resistance is reflexive). Presence + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to forcefully summon one to the medium’s vicinity.
Action: Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: A psychic connection is forged with some entity other than the one the medium sought. The medium may be unable to sever the connection or may even become a permanent anchor to a hostile ghost.
Failure: You fail to get more successes than the ghost. The attempt to contact or summon is unsuccessful.
Success: On a contact roll, more successes are rolled for the medium than for the ghost. The medium is considered an anchor for the remainder of the scene unless the effect is ended early. On a summoning roll, the ghost is compelled to come to the medium’s vicinity.
Exceptional Success: On a contact roll, the player gets five or more successes, more than rolled for the ghost. The medium gains a +2 bonus on all rolls made in dealing with the ghost during the scene.
Dice Modifiers Situation
+1 per extra The medium attempts to summon a person (max +3) ghost during a séance in which he is assisted by believers (see “Believers,” on p. 64). During a séance, a ghost’s loved ones are considered to be believers unless they categorically reject the possibility of life after death.
+1 The medium has summoned this particular ghost before.
+1 The medium has some object or person (other than an anchor) important to the ghost during its life.
+3 The medium possesses another anchor of the ghost to be summoned.
–1 Per 50 years that the ghost has been dead.
Ghost Ally (••• to •••••)
Effect: Unlike the Allies Merit available in the World of Darkness Rulebook, which represents influence in a particular field or area, a Ghost Ally represents a specific being — a ghost who is able and willing to aid the character in her endeavors. A Ghost Ally is built as follows. First, he has seven dots in Attributes, divided among Power, Finesse and Resistance. These Attributes are used to determine the rest of the ghost’s Advantages according to the rules outlined on p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ghost Ally has both a Virtue and a Vice, but no Skills. The Ghost Ally has a maximum Essence pool of 10 that is used to fuel Numina. The Ghost Ally has one Numen, chosen from those listed in the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ally also has a single anchor that must be the character with whom the being is connected. Finally, a Ghost Ally has a set number of bonus points used to flesh out the restless-dead character.
With this Merit at three dots, a Ghost Ally has six bonus points, while the four-dot Merit offers 12 bonus points, and the five-dot version offers 18. These bonus points can be spent as follows: six points per additional Attribute dot, three points per additional anchor and six points per additional Numen. Also, for six points, the bond between ghost and character is made so strong that the character can see and hear the ghost when it is present, even without any psychic abilities. Without such a bond, the character cannot perceive the ghost unless it manifests or otherwise makes its presence known.
Language (•)
Variant: speak, read and write one language, and speak a second conversationally.
Resources (• to •••••)
Effect: This Merit reflects your character’s disposable income. She might live in an upscale condo, but if her income is tied up in the mortgage and child support payments, she might have little money to throw around. Characters are as¬sumed to have basic necessities without Resources.
The dot rating determines the relative amount of dispos¬able funding the character has available, depending on your particular chronicle’s setting. The same amount of money means completely different things in a game set in Silicon Val¬ley compared to one set in the Detroit slums. One dot is a little spending money here and there. Two is a comfortable, middle class wage. Three is a nicer, upper middle class life. Four is moderately wealthy. Five is filthy rich.
Every item has an Availability rating. Once per chapter, your character can procure an item at her Resources level or lower without issue. An item one Availability level above her Resources reduces her effective Resources by one dot for a full month, since she has to rapidly liquidate funds. She can procure items two Avail¬ability level below her Resources without limit (within reason). For example, a character with Resources •••• can procure as many Availability •• disposable cellphones as she needs.
Trained Observer (• or •••)
Prerequisite: Wits ••• or Composure •••
Effect: Your character has spent years in the field, catching tiny details and digging for secrets. She might not have a better chance of finding things, but she has a better chance of finding important things. Any time you make a Perception roll (usually Wits + Composure), you benefit from the 9-again quality. With the three-dot version, you get 8-again.
Two Weapons (• to ••••)
Prerequisite: Dexterity •••, Weaponry •••
Whirling Blades(•) When dodging may negate penalties for multiple attacks.
Deflect and Thrust(••) +2 Defence but -2 to Attack.
Focused Attack(•••) May attack one target twice. -1 on second attack, lose defense.
Fluid Attack(••••) May attack two targets. -1 on second attack, lose defense.
