People have the inherent capacity to act, behave and think. We can perform actions and have intuitive talents such as running, theorizing and persuading others. So does your character. His basic, fundamental capabilities are represented with Attributes, which are the foundation of all the acts that he performs. These traits are classified into three categories — Mental, Physical and Social — and are rolled to determine how well your character accomplishes efforts in the game.
Mental Attributes suggest how insightful, clever and determined your character is. They are Intelligence, Wits and Resolve. Physical Attributes indicate how strong, graceful and enduring your character is. They are Strength, Dexterity and Stamina. Social Attributes determine how imposing, magnetic and dignified your character is. They are Presence, Manipulation and Composure. The Attributes of ordinary people are rated from 1 to 5. It’s possible for someone to have more dots, but these individuals are typically beyond the human ken, partially or fully a part of the mysterious supernatural world. Perhaps they’re touched by spirits or born to a legacy of service to unseen beings.
Your character, even as a mortal human, automatically starts with one dot in each Attribute. These dots are already filled in on your character sheet. When your character performs an action, the Attribute most appropriate to the effort is referenced. If he tries to remember what he read during library research last week, you look to his Intelligence dots. If he tries to jump a chasm, you check his Strength. If he tries to make a good first impression on a group of people, you apply his Presence score.
Your character’s dots are usually rolled as part of a dice pool. Attributes are sometimes combined and rolled to see if an action can be accomplished, but they are more often combined with Skills. The Storyteller will tell you what Attributes are applicable to your character’s actions, and what rolls you can make. In general, the three classes of Attributes are used based on the circumstances. One of each of the Mental, Physical and Social traits has bearing on a different kind of action, as outlined in the boxed text.
Power is the degree of effect that your character has on others and his surroundings. The higher his score, the smarter, more potent or more imposing he is. Intelligence, Strength and Presence therefore apply when your character seeks to force himself on his environment.
Finesse is a measure of your character’s capacity to interact with the world and influence others. The higher his score, the craftier, more delicate and more influential he is. Wits, Dexterity and Manipulation have bearing when your character tries to anticipate and react to his environment, and to coordinate others.
Resistance indicates how well your character copes with influences from both without and within that might affect him adversely. The higher his score the more staunch, sturdy or dignified he is. Resolve, Stamina and Composure apply when your character responds to coercion, injury and influence. Resolve tests his ability to resist efforts to direct his mind, Stamina helps him shrug off physical trauma, and Composure helps him recover from horrifying experiences or social tension and still maintain control.
Thus, you don’t usually check Strength when your character is challenged in a social situation, because brute force doesn’t apply where Composure (social recovery) is concerned. Similarly, Dexterity doesn’t typically have bearing when interpreting a foreign language. That act calls upon the power of the mind and is the purview of Intelligence.
Attribute Dots
Attributes are rated 1 to 5 for ordinary people, and each score suggests the degree of your character’s raw capability in that area.
Dots Talent
• Poor. Unexercised, unpracticed or inept.
•• Average. The result of occasional effort or application.
••• Good. Regular practice or effort, or naturally talented.
•••• Exceptional. Frequently applied, tested and honed, or naturally gifted.
••••• Outstanding. The peak of normal human capability. Continuously exercised or naturally blessed.
Normally, it’s not possible for a character to have zero dots in an Attribute. That suggests the absolute vacancy of any capability in the trait in question. Now, a person could be physically, mentally or socially disabled or crippled. Those conditions are reflected with Flaws (see p. 217), however, not through zero-rated Attributes.
Just about the only instance in which an Attribute can be reduced to zero (and usually temporarily) is by supernatural means. A spell, curse or affliction is imposed on your character that eliminates all of the dots in his trait. In these cases, no roll can be made at all whenever the Attribute in question would normally be called for. So, if your character is afflicted with total loss of bodily control (zero Dexterity), you make no rolls for any situation that calls for Dexterity in a dice pool, even if he has dots in a pertinent Skill or has access to tools that would be helpful. Your character can’t even hope to aim a gun or direct his movements. In essence, the action fails outright.
When creating your character, you must prioritize his capability with the Attribute categories. His Mental, Physical and Social traits must be given primary, secondary and tertiary emphasis. If you want your character to be active and hardy, Physical traits might be primary. If his ability to react to and deal with people is nearly but not quite as important, Social Attributes could be secondary. That leaves Mental traits as tertiary. He’s not the sharpest tack in the box, or life just hasn’t demanded that he exercise his cognitive potential.
You get to allocate five dots among your character’s primary Attributes. You assign four dots among his secondary Attributes. And you get three dots to divvy up among his tertiary traits. The dots available to each category can be distributed among its three Attributes as evenly or unevenly as you like. So, you might decide to apply three dots to your character’s Strength, one to his Dexterity and one to his Stamina. That’s all five of his primary class allocated. Two of your four Social dots might go to each of Manipulation and Composure. And, you might assign one of each of your three Mental dots to Intelligence, Wits and Resolve.
Remember that the fifth dot in any Attribute costs two of the dots you have to spend at character creation. Each Attribute also gets one free dot automatically before you start assigning anything.
“I’m sick of this,” Becky announced in frustration. She immediately regretted her outburst as her words echoed throughout the musty old library. Fortunately, this late at night, even during exams, no one else was there to hear. She had been working on her thesis for weeks without getting anywhere. Once again, she wondered if a degree in Linguistics was a good choice.
Her research was simply not panning out as she hoped, but after another pep talk, she forced herself back into the stacks. What other choice did she have? It was when reaching for a book on Sanskrit that she made her real discovery. A dusty old volume that seemed to have fallen between bookcases. It was bound in leather — or something like it — and had no publication date. Indeed, the book was nothing like she had ever seen before. No end papers. No table of contents. It just launched into some strange text.
The next thing she knew, Becky had passed hours studying the book. It had characters reminiscent of Latin and Greek, yet different, with odd pictographs throughout. As near as she could tell, it was dedicated to a religion or to ceremonies of some kind, but from what culture she had no idea. She did know that if she was ever going to find out, she would need more time with it.
The raw power of the mind. Cognitive capacity. The inherent capability to digest, comprehend and remember information — and to learn more. Intelligence is a direct measure of how smart your character is. She may be dull-minded or have narrow-vision. She may be book-smart, or she may simply be able to grasp concepts, interpret situations and solve problems quickly. Intelligence is valued by planners, theorists, scholars, white-collar employees and leaders.
Martin had accepted some weird jobs, but this one took the cake. He’d installed or repaired plumbing across the city. He liked the work; jobs could be challenging and fun. Busting open drywall and messing with pipes was like tinkering with the skeleton of a building. You got to see straight into people’s private worlds. Sometimes you even got to peek at the skeletons in their closets.
But why be hired to do a full re-pipe at this place and be told not to go on the top floor? Martin had to know. So, when the greasy guy who hired him caught him at the top of the stairs, Martin had to think fast.
“Yeah, I tried to find you. It’s uh... it’s what I was afraid of. An old building like this, the fittings have given way from wood rot or something. We’re, uh... we’re gonna need to re-route all the pipes upstairs instead of running the same lines.”
Damn, that was good, he thought. Might be able to squeeze some extra bucks out of this job. The other man didn’t seem convinced.
The ability to think on one’s feet, under pressure or duress, without letting them see you sweat. W its also encompasses an eye for detail, the ability to absorb what’s going on in the environment, and to react to events. It might mean recognizing that the temperature in a room slowly drops, that a landscape painting incorporates a disguised human face, or that a trap is about to be sprung. Wits involves the powers of perception and response. Your character may be oblivious, dumbfounded, quick-eyed or wary. The trait is useful for entrepreneurs, charlatans, athletes, tacticians, lawyers and criminals.
Josh only really came to his senses when he threw up in the toilet. He had been conscious the whole time, he knew, but it was like he’d been in a daze, walking around like a zombie. He thought back to how it all happened. He’d left his apartment a few hours ago to run errands. It was a nice enough day for winter. He’d gotten some groceries, and then...
All he could remember was a blur. Something was there. Big. Strange. He remembered eyes, like an animal’s. They stared straight into his soul in a weird, almost primitive way. It was like his lizard brain kicked in and told him to run and hide, like a rabbit under the shadow of a hawk.
Josh had a fleeting glimpse of the oranges he’d just bought rolling across the sidewalk, and then all he knew was being back in his apartment, getting sick. How did he get there? Why did he come back? How come he couldn’t remember? And what was that thing? Josh wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t content to let it go, either.
The focus and determination to see your character’s will done. The capacity to stay on target, ignore distractions and to resist coercion or browbeating. Resolve is your character’s mental fortitude. His personal conviction. His clarity of vision or spirit. Your character may be easily distracted, unable to concentrate, resolute or single-minded. The trait is pivotal to resisting supernatural forms of mental control; it acts as a veritable defense of the mind. Resolve is valuable to leaders, motivators, soldiers, athletes, police and organizers.
(Note: Resolve is not to be confused with Willpower. Resolve is your character’s ongoing focus. Think of it as his long-term purpose, like a career plan. Willpower reflects your character’s short-term highs and lows, his ability to dedicate himself in brief efforts to overcome challenges. Resolve does contribute to your character’s Willpower dots, though)
“God damn,” Martin grunted as he pulled on the drain cover in the basement. Somehow, water was still backing up in the system. Everything else checked out, so it had to be a clog in the outtake to the sewer.
The building was so old that it still had a dirt-floor basement, yet the drain cover was stuck like a son of a bitch.
“I could dig around it,” Martin thought, “but that would take time.” This was the last place he wanted to be pulling late hours. The whole building and the guy who hired him really gave him the creeps. It was like the guy resented Martin being there, as if the plumber was intruding on something the guy wanted for himself.
“Fuck it,” Martin thought, and went to his truck to get a crowbar. Jamming it between grilles, he pried with everything he had. He pushed so hard he thought he was going to piss himself, when the cover cracked loose with a clang.
Aiming his flashlight down the hole, Martin saw something he couldn’t explain. Like a man who’d done this work for years, he reached down the pipe to his shoulder. When he pulled his arm free, his hand was coated red.
Physical might. Sheer bodily power. The capacity to lift objects, move items, hit things and people, and do damage. Strength is a measure of muscle. Your character could be 98-pound weakling, he could carry a spare tire, or he could be lean and cut or bulky and brawny. Your character’s Strength score is used in hand-to-hand combat. This trait is instrumental to laborers, thugs, athletes, brawlers and law-enforcement agents.
Strength, along with Dexterity, is a factor in determining your character’s Speed.
Strength is also added to Brawl or Weaponry attacks to determine the amount of harm your character inflicts in combat.
Josh had retraced his steps back to where he fell, to where he saw that thing. He turned on the sidewalk, surveying his neighborhood. It wasn’t the best place to live, but he couldn’t afford any better. The worst of it was the bums and homeless, but they left him alone if he gave them some change.
Josh snapped out of his daydream and realized that he’d been staring glassy-eyed at the alley across the street. There was something about it. He shook his head to clear it and waited for a couple cars to pass.
The alley lay between rundown tenements and ran past an old parking lot. No one parked there anymore. Cardboard boxes and scattered blankets used by bums blocked the way. Josh almost turned back, not wanting to piss off the street people, but then he remembered how angry he got back home.
He steeled himself and headed down the alley. Almost immediately, open hands reached out from what looked like heaps of trash or discarded clothing as the homeless muttered for money. After a moment, their pleas turned to angry shouts as Josh ventured further into their territory. Panicking, Josh jumped up the chain-link fence next to him. It was the closest escape route. He wished he hadn’t when he got to the barbwire at the top, but forced himself upward and over. He didn’t quite make it, and the rusted steel tore through his pants and into his leg.
Quickness. Response time. A delicate touch. Dexterity indicates how quickly and with how much finesse your character responds to his physical world. While high Wits dots helps your character spot trouble, high Dexterity dots help him react to it, whether with a counteraction or to simply get the hell out of the way. Dexterity also helps with hand-eye coordination, be it to fire an accurate shot, to juggle objects or to perform delicate jobs such as handle explosives. Your character might be sluggish, clumsy, slight, quick or nimble. Dexterity is invaluable to criminals, sports stars, surgeons and dancers.
Dexterity, along with Strength, is a factor in determining your character’s Speed.
Dexterity is also combined with Composure to determine your character’s Initiative in a fight.
Becky thanked the pizza guy absently as she closed her apartment door. His nose wrinkled in distaste, not because she failed to tip him but because of the smell of her room, because of her greasy hair and because of her clearly unwashed appearance.
Becky never noticed the silent insult. She hadn’t really noticed anything for weeks. In fact, eating had become something that she had to remind herself to do. Now it was the book that consumed her. Even as she pushed aside scattered and wadded up papers to sit down, she kept her nose in the book. It demanded every ounce of her attention. Translating and understanding it had become her obsession. It superceded sleep, food, even her thesis. At first, she hoped the book would be invaluable to her research. Now she pored over it for its own sake. If she kept studying, kept interpreting. She knew comprehension would come. As the night wore on, Becky continued to work. The pizza box went unopened.
Sturdiness. Steadfastness. Sheer physical resilience. Stamina is a measure of how tough your character is. It indicates how far she can push her body, and how much physical abuse she can endure. Your character might be sickly and frail, or hardy and unstoppable. Bouncers, brawlers, triathletes, survivalists, heavy lifters and workaholics thrive on Stamina.
Stamina, along with Size, is a factor in determining your character’s Health dots.
Martin was stunned. He wasn’t sure how long he stared at the blood on his hand, bewildered by what it might mean. Was the guy who owned the place some kind of psycho, killing people and pouring their blood down the drain? He wasn’t sure, but he finally decided that he didn’t want to find out. It was weird, though. It was like he couldn’t think straight. This should have scared the shit out of him, and here he was kind of out of it, like he’d had a few.
When he got upstairs, he realized the lights were on. It was already dusk outside, given the last light coming in through the windows. “When did that happen,” he wondered. “I meant to—”
His thought went unfinished. Standing before him at the foot of the stairs was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Normally, he didn’t go for brunettes. They reminded him of his ex-, but somehow this one made it work. Did she ever.
“What was I doing?” Martin muttered, but no answer came.
The woman’s dark eyes contrasted her pale skin, and focused intently on the blood on Martin’s hand, on the blood that he’d absently smeared across his shirt.
“Did you hurt yourself?” the woman asked. “Here, let me make it better.”
Bearing. Stature. Assertiveness. Presence suggests the power of your character’s very identity. Attractiveness is only part of the trait. Your character may be jaw-dropping gorgeous, plain-Jane or downright ugly, but her Presence means much more. It reflects her sheer command over the attention of others. It’s her capacity to impose her will on others by being socially aggressive or powerful — a veritable bull in a china shop or someone who simply doesn’t accept no for an answer. This trait is essential to leaders, enforcers, interrogators, models, politicians and salespeople.
Note that attractiveness alone is represented by the Striking Looks Merit, which grants bonus dice to Presence rolls.
“What the fuck am I doing?” Josh wondered as he picked his way down the trash-strewn hallway. “This is exactly where I didn’t want to go.”
He had evaded the homeless people in the alley, but then had nowhere to go except into one of the old tenements. His leg burned from the long scratches the fence left him. He hoped his tetanus shot was up to date; he couldn’t remember. The place smelled like piss. He could hear music blaring somewhere, and a baby crying. “Who could raise a kid here?” he wondered.
He didn’t have time to think about the answer, though. His eyes were suddenly drawn from the stained carpet to the light at the end of the hall. Three shapes filled it. Two more turned the corner behind him. They were the people from outside. Maybe they weren’t so homeless, after all.
On the verge of panic once again, Josh recognized one of the men. “Hey, Eddy, it’s me, Josh. What’s going on?”
The five dirty, disheveled men stopped a few feet away, with menacing looks on their faces. “What are you doing here, Josh?” Eddy asked. “I was looking for somethi— a guy. I thought I saw him go in here. Maybe you could help me find him? I think I got a couple bucks....”
“We don’t want your fucking money.” For a second, Josh wondered if he saw that same bestial look that he’d seen earlier that day — but this time in Eddy’s eyes.
Charm. Persuasiveness. Charisma. The capacity to play upon the desires, hopes and needs of others to influence them. Manipulation reflects your character’s finesse in social situations. How well he can appeal to, gain the favor of and generally coerce others. Manipulation is applied to win smiles, to put people at ease or to gain favors. Where Presence deals in social force, Manipulation focuses on social subtlety. It’s the tool and trade of businesspeople, politicians, salesfolk and publicists. Your character may be a wallflower, he could frequently make off-color statements, he might have a winning smile and a hardy handshake, or he may be able to sell sand in the desert.
“Do you understand now?” the priest asked.
Becky was in shock. Moments before, she’d stormed to her door, ready to unleash her frustration on whomever had dared to interrupt her. Her research had not gone well. The meaning or purpose of the book still eluded her, and she was at the end of her rope.
Once she recovered sufficiently from the shock of finding a priest at her door, she answered. “What?”
“Do you understand now? About the book? About what it says?” Becky continued her look of disbelief. How could this perfect stranger — and a man of the cloth — know anything about her, or more importantly the book?
“I see,” he continued as he let himself in and shut the door.
Becky didn’t object. She could scarcely complete a thought.
“You might be confused. I understand. Rest assured, though, you’re the one. The book chose you. It knows you’re ready. Well, almost. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to help open your eyes.” And with that, everything Becky had stared at and studied moved about in her mind like the pieces of a puzzle. They spun, crisscrossed and overlapped — and finally formed a complete picture. Looking at it was like looking at the sun. It was like staring into the void and knowing that the void stared back. In that moment, Becky’s mind snapped.
Poise. Dignity. The capacity to remain calm and appear — and actually be — unfazed in social and threatening situations, usually harrowing ones. Your character might lose his temper at the slightest perceived insult, collapse emotionally under a mere pretense, weather a storm of verbal (or literal) slings and arrows, or have the nerve to look unspeakable horror in the eye. This trait is a measure of emotional fortitude, restraint and calm. It’s ideal among leaders, soldiers, moderators and anyone whose movements are public consumption. Composure is vital to resisting social influence and pressure — overt, covert or otherworldly.
Composure is pivotal to resisting supernatural forms of emotional control; it acts as a veritable emotional defense. The trait is also vital to efforts among supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves to restrain themselves when their blood is raised and frenzy threatens.
Composure, along with Resolve, is a factor in determining your character’ s Willpower.
Composure is also added to Dexterity to determine your character’s Initiative at the beginning of a fight.