< Mass Combat | House Rules | Detailed Intimacies >
Links- Revised Systems, Charms Errata.
Spending Willpower to resist Mental Influences:
As a general guideline, any Willpower expenditure required by a charm or other effect can be considered through the following lens. Assume that the average human has a Willpower between 4 and 6, with somewhere around "5" being the average for a mortal who isn't an extra. The effect a given expenditure would have on this average humans willpower pool is one measure to use. Another useful yardstick is the fact that a single willpower is the cost a truly virtuous person to ignore his own instincts and act contrary to his nature. We can thus derive the following rough guidelines.
1 willpower is equivalent to overcoming the greatest normal temptations, or forcing yourself to perform the most grueling of mundane tasks. 2 willpower, thus, is a truly inhuman amount of will found most commonly in the heroic mortal and represents facing things no ordinary mortal could face. The Exalted tend to be more willful than the average mortal, and can spend 3 willpower; the Divine Charm "Paper Tiger Arrangement" shows us this is the will needed to ignore everything you see, hear, taste, feel and experience and instead act on what you suspect to be true. 4 willpower is something that even an Exalt would find trying, a feat of will that would strain even the Gods; the Solar Charm "Transcendent Hero's Meditation" suggests this as the amount of willpower necessary to tear through illusions though you suspect nothing, rip away veils that are fastened to you with barbs, and truly see the world as it is -- even if you wish you didn't have to. 5 willpower is immensely draining to anyone, a legendary feat of will that most are simply not capable of; the Sidereal Charms "Neighborhood Relocation Scheme" and "Ceasing to Exist Approach" suggest this as the level of will necessary to accept the impossible - even in defiance of Heaven.
While players are encouraged to use these guidelines when deciding rather or not to make a given willpower expenditure, they are not required to do such. They are the sole and only authority on how much will their characters are willing to exert in a given situation. The storyteller, however, will generally use these guidelines with NPC's in terms of how much Willpower they're willing to spend to resist something.
Attributes, Skills and Such
Dodge: In addition to its use in calculating Dodge DV, the Dodge skill is an appropriate measure of your character's "twitch reflexes", and is the proper skill to roll for appropriate actions. Specialties along those lines are also possible. This can involve avoiding tracks, suddenly aborting an action as someone yells out a warning or even things like trying to catch a small fast moving projectile.
Linguistics: You can use Linguistics rolls to understand some of the meaning of a language you don't speak, to attempt to get across meaning to someone you don't share a language with, to mimic the accent of a language that you're not fully fluent in, and for numerous tasks related to writing. A character with a high Linguistics rating is also generally well-traveled and familiar with cultures other than his own.
Defense Values (DV's) and External Penalties:
Though handled identically, rules-wise, the two concepts are not the same. A Defensive Value is a short-hand method of handling a defensive roll, and is calculated based on the defenders statistics, quite possibly modified by charms, stunts, and other effects. An External Penalty is just a penalty. Only charms and effects that specifically target DV's are able to modify these values.
Mobility Penalty for Armor and Dodge DV:
As a clarification, the Mobility Penalty (an internal penalty) for armor is subtracted from the (Dexterity + Dodge + Essence) pool that determines you're Dodge DV as opposed to being taken directly away from the DV itself. Thus, in general, a -2 Mobility penalty is a -1 to your Dodge DV and so on.
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