Difference between revisions of "House Rules/Merits"

Revision as of 19:24, 22 March 2016

This is a list of house rules specifically for merits.

Changeling Merits

• Bastion Amenities/Battlements/Size See 'news bastions'
• Enchanted Mortal: Mortal and Mortal+ characters may both take this merit.
• Goodwill: Goodwill requires a vote of the Court in question, and the members of that court decide whether or not the merit will be given.
• Hollow Amenities/Doors/Size/Wards/Workshop: See 'news hollows'
• Mantle: This requires at least a sentence of justification to raise.
• Seeming: Must be Fae-touched to take this merit.
• Token: Each individual Token will be listed separately on your +sheet and you must have a staff-approved +note on your character with its details.
• Token Maker: See the Token-Making wiki page for how this merit now functions.
• Tokenmaster: The books are a hodge podge (of course, thank you White Wolf) of timings for the creation of tokens. One says a week, one says more likely a month, one says very probably multiple months.

For sanity's sake, the tokens created with this merit are going to be limited to 1-dot strength.

The +tokenmaster command will automatically enforce waits based on 10 - Wyrd for your character, and will not allow you to use the command at all unless you are both Wyrd 7 and have the Tokenmaster merit. It will roll 1 die for you, and it will only create a +request for you if that die is 8 or higher.

These tokens are created by staff. You have no say in what they are. This stance is predicated on making it fair for those with Token Maker, as realistically speaking, TokenMASTERS have a three-in-ten chance of rolling a success every 3 days or less, and Token Makers need, bare minimum, 25 successes to create a deliberately designed token, which can take RL weeks if they are unlucky and don't have certain merits.

Hollow Garden

This merit is designed to represent how much of your Hollow has been readied to support growing Hedgefruit. You cannot have more dots in Hollow Garden than you have in Hollow Size. Each dot of Hollow Garden is equivalent to the same amount of space as that number of dots in Hollow Size.
Example: You have a Size 5 Hollow and purchase Garden 1, to represent that an area the size of a small room has been cleared and tilled and fed tasty corpses for growing plants in.

Each dot in Hollow Garden increases the number of plants you may grow in your Hollow. Plants are rated with "plot" values, corresponding to how much space/energy/care they will take. You may not grow more plants than you have plots to support them. See Hollow Gardens for more details.

Psychic Merits

These merits are a blend of Second Sight (SS) and GMC (GMC). Many psychic abilities formerly available were removed in GMC. Fate's Harvest staff thinks they are still shiny, so there will be a few House Rules to make things mesh. If a merit was created for Fate's Harvest by staff, it is marked with (HR) for House Rule.

All "Options" are available in SS merits. All "Drawbacks" are required in GMC merits.

If you have any of these merits, you are considered a Psychic.

If you have any of these merits, but also follow a Tradition (Hedge Witch, Shaman, Apostle, etc.) you are considered a Thaumaturge.

• Animal Rapport: Dot value depends on Size of animal. See book.
• Clairvoyant •: This merit allows a psychic to add an alternate method of scrying to her repertoire. It may be purchased multiple times. Specify a new scrying method (crystal ball gazing, etc.) with each purchase.
• Death Sight: Brought down to 3 dots instead of 4, to mesh with scaling of GMC Medium ability. Medium is not used in FH due to staff's preference for certain SS psychic merits which it would preclude.
• Psychic Empathy: Prerequisites are Aura Reading & Telepathy
• Psychic Illusions: Prerequisites are Mind Control & Telepathy
• Psychic Invisibility: Prerequisites are Mind Control & Telepathy
• Telepathic Communication: Thought Projection is now unnecessary, as it is covered by Telepathy. Prerequisite is Telepathy •••••. In addition, activating the power does not require the expenditure of Willpower if the Telepathy merit has already been successfully activated for the scene. Roll Presence + Empathy, succeed, and you can trade thoughts for the scene at will, as long as the target is within sight.
• Telepathic Rapport: As Thought Projection no longer exists and Mind Reading IS Telepathy, a rapport may now be made after successfully communicating a message to the target with Telepathy ••••• and spending the requisite Willpower dot. Note: dot, not point. New dots may be purchased for 8xp, as usual.
• Telepathy: Staff is retaining some SS functionality. With ••• you cannot read Supernaturals' thoughts. With ••••• you may, subtracting their Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (if it's a player on FH, that'll be Wyrd!) from your regular Wits + Empathy roll.

Biokinesis

The GMC functionality has been retained (1 Willpower + 1 minute of concentration = shift Physical attribute dots around; only shift as many dots as you have dots in Biokinesis, and no attribute can go above 5 dots).

Of what was possible in SS, the following has been retained: Passive Bonus: +1 dice bonus per Biokinesis merit dot to rolls for entering a trance/beginning meditation

Roll extended Intelligence + Composure to acquire one temporary merit-equivalent, spending successes to 'buy' them.

The psychic must meet all prerequisites for the merit she attempts to give herself.

The psychic must have Biokinesis dots equal to success-cost + 1. (e.g. a 1-success merit requires Biokinesis ••)

Effects last 1 scene unless specified otherwise.

If one of the extended rolls is an Exceptional Success, the psychic may choose a second effect to spend successes on.

Each roll's duration represents minutes equal to the desired trait's success cost. Only one (or two with Exceptional) effect may be active at a time.

Biokinesis Merit List:

• Eidetic Memory (WoD p.108) - 2 successes
• Fast Reflexes (WoD p.110) - 1 or 2 successes
• Fleet of Foot (WoD p.112) - 1-3 successes
• Fresh Start (WoD p.112) - 1 success
• Improved Awareness (SS p.46) - 1-3 successes
• Improved Immune System (SS pp.46-7) - 4 successes - Duration varies depending on illness/drug severity. See book.
• Iron Stamina (WoD p.113) - 1-3 successes
• Iron Stomach (WoD p.113) - 2 successes
• Natural Immunity (WoD p.113) - 1 success - Lasts 1 day per Biokinesis dot or until Biokinesis is used again, whichever comes first.
• Pain Resistance (SS p.47) - 3 successes
• Quick Healer (WoD p.113) - 4 successes - Lasts 1 day per Biokinesis dot or until Biokinesis is used again, whichever comes first.
• Strong Back (WoD p.113) - 1 success
• Strong Lungs (WoD p.113) - 3 successes
• Toxin Resistance (WoD p.113) - 2 successes - Lasts 1 day per Biokinesis dot or until Biokinesis is used again, whichever comes first.

Psychokinesis

To keep psychokinesis in line with other psychic powers and compensate for higher GMC Defense ratings, rather than subtracting Resolve from attacks, use: half Defense (round down) for direct physical attacks (lashing out with fire), Stamina for attacks on the body (dropping someone's body temp).

Psychokinetic Immunity

Prerequisite: Psychokinesis ••• - Your character is either highly resistant to or completely immune to manifestations of his psychokinetic element. This merit is based loosely on Second Sight's Pyrokinetic Immunity merit.

•• - Roll Stamina + Resolve. If successful, you have the equivalent of armor against your element equal to your successes. Yes, if you want to elemental Russian roulette, you can roll again after each time you burn/zap/freeze yourself. Liquid nitrogen, not suggested. If a Doubting Thomas is present, this merit does not work at all.

•••• - You have complete immunity to your chosen element. You could stand on a volcano's edge or meditate on the South Pole stark naked if you really wanted to. However... If a Doubting Thomas is present, a successful Stamina + Resolve roll is required to maintain complete protection. If the roll fails, the merit instead provides 1 point of armor that protects only against that element's damage.

• NOTE: You may have this twice. Once for each of your psychokinetic manifestations.

Psychokinetic Shaping

Prerequisite: Psychokinesis ••• - Your character is more skilled than most at manipulating how an existing manifestation of his element behaves. The electricity in a fallen power line might arc out to strike a foe, a line of fire might streak across the earth to form a flaming wall, or a cup of water might be drawn up into a sculpted, tiny horse to 'spill' its way along a table's edge.

This merit acts in concert with standard Psychokinesis rolls.

Whenever your psychic chooses to spend successes on shaping his chosen element, gain a +3 bonus to your Intelligence + Crafts roll.

Aura Reading

Since the GMC writeup doesn't specifically say so, staff clarifies that the following SS functionality is retained: dematerialized ghosts/spirits/astral projectors show up as faint wispy blobs with this power, enough to show that something is there without showing what, necessarily, it is.

Staff is not going to insist upon a chart of aura colors, but if you prefer to have one, the following chart is based on http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Aura. Additions have been made.

As a general rule, the more strongly someone feels something, the more brightly that color appears.

Thaumaturgical Merits

• Dream Travel: The merit itself is the same, but when purchasing via +xps, to avoid conflicts with the Psychic Dream Travel merit, this merit is called 'shamanic dream travel' instead.
• Familiar: When purchasing via +xps, use 'familiar (twilight)' and 'familiar (embodied)' to differentiate between the two variations on the merit.
• See Auras: Use tables listed under Psychic 'Aura Reading' above.

The Last Spell

This is found in errata at http://www.conradhubbard.com/games/secondsightcut.html

Mild edits have been made to suit the text for this game's use. The HRed text is as follows:

The Last Spell (•) - Prerequisite: Psychic/Thaumaturge template or supernatural merits. Sorry Changelings. You don't have the luxury of forgetting what you are forever. If you're Wyrd 1 and desperately want this merit, we can talk.

Traditions: All

Effects: For supernaturally endowed beings the second sight is a mixed blessing, as the horrors of the World of Darkness are laid bare to them in a manner normal people manage to ignore. For some, insight into the dark secrets of the world is simply too much to bear. Terrified by the truth, or tired of facing it every day, they turn their backs on the revelation that there is more to reality than the unenlightened can explain, and seek to return their previous state of ignorance.

There are no traditions of magicians who actively teach this rite – it is for this reason that the Merit has intentionally not been listed as available to the various Thaumaturge paths. Nonetheless, there are always individuals whose eyes are opened to the supernatural and whose reaction is terror, or at least enormous discomfort. For some, merely abandoning the lifestyle is sufficient. Taoist alchemists might bury themselves in the gross materialism of mercantile drudgery, shamans may crush their sacred visions beneath drunken stupors and practitioners of Vodoun could forsake their spiritual lifestyle in favor of a prosaic cult of modern fundamentalism. For others, willful pretense is not enough – magic got them into this and it must remove them as well. They seek formal renouncement of magic like Shakespeare’s Prospero breaking his staff. Such unfortunates may record their rituals of escape in discarded journals or those following in their footsteps may be forced to collate this wisdom from scattered records.

To enact this ritual the caster must roll his Resolve + Composure and overcome his own Intelligence + Wits in a contested action. Each dot of Occult he possesses subtracts one die from his roll.

Thaumaturges: If he succeeds in his action, the caster loses all access to magical powers, the Thaumaturge template and supernatural merits. The loss is indefinite – unless the caster somehow regains his power it is gone forever.

Psychics: If your abilities are controlled, while you do not lose access to the Psychic template, you may no longer use them. Any use of a psychic power will constitute reversal of this merit. If your abilities are uncontrolled, you must continue to roll as usual under stressful situations. Enough accidental fire-setting will force you to admit the truth, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise.

Changelings: Same as the above, but unfortunately, the template is forever. You can never really go back to being mortal. If, at any time, you consciously harvest Glamour, use a Contract, or start to believe that the strange things you see are more than the effects of an addled mind in desperate need of therapy, this merit's effects WILL be reversed.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure vs. Intelligence + Wits (contested) Ritual Length: Long Duration: Indefinite Cost: 1 Willpower

Dramatic Failure: The thaumaturge loses control of his magical powers for at least one day’s time, but does not manage to excise them. The Storyteller should probably have the character exhibit various magical abilities the caster normally possesses in a manner that demonstrates such powers still exist but have passed temporarily out of the control of their user. While the thaumaturge can try again, he cannot do so until his control of magic returns.

Failure: The ritual fails to produce any effect.

Success: The character loses access to all magical traits indefinitely.

Exceptional Success: The thaumaturge removes her access to all magical traits and makes great strides towards truly returning to mundane life. The Storyteller should consider allowing the character to exchange some of her magical traits for Experience to be immediately spent upon suitable mundane traits.

Ritual Details: The caster symbolically destroys his connection to magic in a highly personal demonstration. Some thaumaturges may perform such simple gestures as breaking a sign of power, while others may elaborately bind their magic to a physical emblem and consign it to fire, thereby returning the magical energy to the rest of the world.

Drawback: Forgetting your magical lore doesn’t protect you from the supernatural or from past brushes with the extraordinary. Life as a mundane mortal may turn out peacefully or it may be disrupted by magical beings which still recognize the magician even if she does not recognize them.

Universal Merits

• Good Time Management: We are using the GMC version of this merit (rather than the version in Reliquary or Asylum), which does NOT specify that it must be used on mundane rolls only, and is half time, rather than quarter time. As such, this merit halves the time between rolls for all extended actions.
• Hobbyist Clique: Send in a group +request to staff with all prospective members to briefly explain the clique. Staff will set the merit on all members.
• Influence: This custom merit is used to represent a character's influence and responsibilities within a family, court or freehold. Influence has its own page with a full write-up.
• Kin: Mind you, this is useless to anybody who doesn't intend to pursue interactions with werewolf NPCs. There are no player werewolves.
• Psychic Resistance: Since the book was written before Changelings became A Thing, assume that they are on the list with other supernatural beasties this won't work for.
• Striking Looks: If you purchase this merit, please include 'SL1' or 'SL2' in your &short-desc. Mechanically you are more noticeable and memorable.

Professional Training

The following professions and asset skills are suggested as examples of what players may acquire via this merit.

Mystery Cult Initiation

If you are joining an existing cult, please send in a +request and CC the cult leader. Staff will not add you to a cult without a comment on your +job from the cult leader consenting that you qualify as an Initiate.

If you are beginning a new cult, your +request must include the following information:

• Purpose - Why does your cult exist?
• Relic - An item which grounds members' faith.
• Doctrine - The rules and traditions which define your cult.

See the book for details and examples of the benefits each level of the cult's merit will provide.

Please include suggestions for your cult along those lines. Staff will help you refine them once they are written, but staff will not write them for you.