Talk:Genius The Transgression/Chapter Two: Character Creation

Draft: new Obligation:

The Obligation Scale

Obligation exists as a continuum from zero to ten dots. Genius the Transgression characters begin play with seven dots, somewhat higher than the average. Humanity level reflects in a character’s behavior. As she grows more and more alien, . These descriptions are only guidelines; it’s up to you to determine how your character exhibits the path she walks. Also, there are minor Social modifiers listed. These modifiers apply to rolls relating to humans; any being without an Integrity track may be interacted with normally, at the Storyteller's discretion.

Retired (Obligation 10): A Genius at this level of Obligation has largely rejected the results of Inspiration as dangerous and foolhardy, adopting a position of humility and low status. She may have been traumatized by the results of their wonder-working or have longed for the simplicity of mundane life. Her wonders are mothballed and she no longer attempts to interfere with the course of history in even the most mundane ways; most Merits go dormant and are no longer used, although they are retained and can reactivate if the character lowers their Obligation. Characters at this level of Obligation are not appropriate for normal play, and are usually handled by the Storyteller. They are seemingly immune to Jabir, but this may simply be because they keep their crazy ideas to themself.

Teacher/Elder (Obligation 9): This degree of Obligation is achieved by those who seek to improve the world without setting parts of it on fire, focusing on research, politics and instructing students. It is rare among the Inspired, and difficult to maintain. Gain +2 to any social rolls where you are in a position of authority.

Paragon (Obligation 7-8): Most Geniuses in this range of Obligation are either spending time and resources maintaining it, or they’re very new to Inspired life. They resemble particularly skilled and impressive mortals, and almost certainly view themself this way. They are idealistic, and unwilling to commit acts they view as unjust or wrong. They gain +1 to social rolls when they adopt the "moral high ground", but this is cancelled out if they attempt to communicate technical or abstruse ideas.

Jaded (Obligation 4-6): At this point, she’s been around the block, and accepts that distasteful acts are sometimes necessary in the World of Darkness. Most Peers fall into this range. While they are far from psychopathic, most Inspired at this level have killed or severely injured Illuminated and criminals in order to protect others. Their casual attitude to things may shock some mortals, but they have no problem relating to them. Their motivation is comprehensible to mortals, but they think and act in ways they may find unintuitive or mildly disturbing. Jabir penalty increases by one when communicating their worldview.

Callous (Obligation 1-3): At this level, a Genius has committed acts that would horrify most mortals, and knows that they will likely need to do so again. Most Unmada fall into this range. They view most mortals as pawns in the service of a higher goal, and consider what most mortals would view as fundamental rights as at best guidelines, ones that sometimes impede their effectiveness. Take -2 in any social roll that is not being enhanced by Inspiration (for example, with a Director's Grant.)

Illuminated (Obligation 0): A character that reaches zero Obligation dots views their fellow beings as obstacles or, at best, irritatingly unresponsive tools. They see no issue with even the most disturbing or monstrous acts, although most Illuminated who survive for long are intelligent and manipulative enough to pretend otherwise. They likely see some things such as scientific torture or the extinction of humanity as actively desirable, and there are only the faintest rumors to suggest these individuals are capable of regaining Obligation. Most Inspired view killing them as a public service at worst, and arguably an act of heroism.

Breaking Points

Breaking points are moments and experiences in a Genius' life that encourage her to ignore societal taboos. Any time she experiences a breaking point, roll to resist Transgression. For an event to constitute a breaking point, it must be applicable to her Obligation level, or lower. For example, a Obligation 5 character risks a breaking point if she commits manslaughter (Obligation 4 breaking point), but not if she lies (Obligation 8 breaking point).

The listed breaking points are examples. Add breaking points at Storyteller discretion, or shift these up or down to fit the situation. Typically, the more personal the event is, the lower level a breaking point it should be. If something is significantly distanced from the character, or she had no way to prevent it, it should be a Humanity level higher. If, however, it resonates deeply with the Genius - the child resembles their dead daughter, for example, or they had sworn an oath to defend the temple - it might be treated as a Humanity level higher; generally, this need only be employed at the player's request. Some Storytellers may wish to shift the Obligation level of some transgressions up or down to suit the themes of their Chronicle, or even remove them altogether; however, it is generally advisable to avoid rendering Obligation identical to mundane morality.

Many breaking points reference human contact. This refers to interaction, usually verbal. While it does not have to be positive interaction, it should be human in nature, and meaningful. Beating up a bank robber and flying away before the cops arrive is not interaction. Nor is tying up a mortal and experimenting on them in a basement. However, the act of feeding the captive or arguing with the robber that he doesn't need the money could be. The subject of this interaction need not be strictly human; however, they must be humanlike psychologically, and cannot be Inspired.

Certain breaking points can occur without the Genius' knowledge. At the Storyteller's discretion, these may be applied when the Genius discovers what they have inadvertently done.

samples should be a breakout or sidebar

Obligation 10 (Five Dice)

Benefiting from Inspiration in any way.

Using a Merit above one dot.

Acknowledging Inspired status.

Saving someone from harm.

Learning you are Inspired (if you didn't know.)

Obligation 9 (Five Dice)

Personally engaging in combat.

Minor selfish acts.

Experimenting on animals.

Temporarily transforming yourself or others (not healing.)

Being physically attacked.

Obligation 8 (Four Dice)

Lying.

Failing to save someone from death of serious injury.

Desecrating corpses (grave-robbing.)

Risking injury for knowledge (self-experimentation.)

Allowing an Illuminated or other psychopath to die.

Being lied to by a close friend or confidant.

Obligation 7 (Four Dice)

Mind control.

Petty crime (shoplifting.)

Risking injury to willing volunteers for knowledge.

Unintentional mass property damage (doom cannon misfire.)

Killing an Illuminated or other psychopath.

Being stolen from.

Obligation 6 (Three Dice)

Serious crime (Theft or kidnapping.)

Going without human interaction for a week.

Attempting to create a sentient being.

Body-swapping.

Risking one's life or permanent injury for knowledge (self-experimentation.)

Discovering you are not human.

Obligation 5 (Three Dice)

Death of a loved one.

Risking the lives of willing allies for knowledge.

Mass property damage (most doom cannons.)

Permanently altering someone's personality.

Discovering you are someone else.

Obligation 4 (Two Dice)

Sadistic mind control (of the "forcing two friends to fight for your amusement" variety or similar acts of cruelty.)

Impassioned killing (manslaughter.)

Becoming permanently and visibly nonhuman (grafting wonders to oneself.)

Treating a sentient but inhuman mane as subhuman.

Going a month without human interaction.

Being inadvertently tortured or permanently injured.

Obligation 3 (Two Dice)

Treating a human or humanlike mane as subhuman (slavery.)

Killing someone with Obligation 4+

Going a year or longer without human interaction.

Becoming permanently unrecognizable as human (being uploaded into a computer.)

Discovering you were murdered.

Obligation 2 (One Die)

Killing an innocent.

Attempting to raise the dead or become immortal.

Casual murder.

Attempting to destroy a city, town or other population center.

Attempting to kill someone with Obligation 7+

Having your hometown or neighborhood utterly destroyed.

Obligation 1 (Zero Dice)

Scientific torture.

Attempting to destroy a human or humanlike civilization.

Unnecessarily painful slow death.

Being extensively tortured.

Having your home or adopted civilization destroyed.

end samples

Gaining and Losing Obligation

When reaching a breaking point, the character faces Transgression as the justification for following rules wears thin. To resist Transgression, roll the number of dice associated with the breaking point’s level. Five Willpower, or one dot of Willpower, may be spent to receive an automatic Exceptional Success, but WP cannot be used normally to improve this dice pool. Any time your character faces a breaking point, regardless of the result, take a Beat.

Breaking points are not instantaneous. Characters who anticipate the breaking point may roll Presence or Manipulation plus an appropriate social Skill, minus the Genius' Composure, to undermine or reinforce their confidence in their actions - adding or subtracting their successes from the breaking point dice pool. For the rest of the scene, and possibly afterwards at the Storyteller's discretion, friends or confidants may appeal to the character, rolling Presence or Manipulation (depending on their manner of persuasion) versus the character's Resolve. A success allows the character to reroll the Breaking Point, and this reroll can be affected by other characters just as the original.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: Not only does the character lose sight of their Obligation, she sees the breaking point as nothing of consequence whatsoever. They lose a dot of Obligation, and cannot be persuaded to reroll.

Failure: Your character justifies their actions, but feels shaken to her core. Lose a dot of Obligation and gain Shaken, Notoriety, Guilty, Embarrassing Secret, or some other appropriate Condition.

Success: Your character recoils in shock at what they have done. Gain Shaken, Notoriety, Guilty, Embarrassing Secret, or some other appropriate Condition.

Exceptional Success: Your character recoils in horror at what they have done. Regain a dot of Obligation and gain Shaken, Notoriety, Guilty, Embarrassing Secret, or some other appropriate Condition.

Derangements

When a Genius has just rolled for a Breaking Point, they may gain certain Persistent Conditions as they seek to avoid responsibility for their actions or reassure themself it will not be repeated, possibly on a subconscious level. For example, they might ritualistically check and recheck safety procedures, or simply claim the breaking point never occurred They are no longer affected by that breaking point, but they gain a cumulative -1 penalty to breaking point rolls due to mental instability. A character cannot have more than three Derangements. A Severe Derangement is treated as two Derangements, and "upgrades" an existing similar Mild Derangement. You may choose from the sample derangements below, or create your own. As a rule, most derangements resemble mental disorders of some kind, and their effect is resisted with Obligation. They are usually related to the breaking point they were gained by and/or the Genius' Catalyst in some way.

Example Derangements (sidebar?)

Fugue (Persistent) Something terrible happened. Rather than deal with it or let it break you, your mind shuts it out. You are prone to blackouts and lost time. Whenever circumstances become too similar to the situation that led to your gaining this Condition, the player rolls Obligation. If you fail the roll, the Storyteller controls your character for the next scene; your character, left to his own devices, will seek to avoid the conflict and get away from the area.

Incoherent (Persistent) Your character saw or did something that jarred her loose from reality. The Storyteller has a pool of dice equal to 10 – (Obligation). Once per chapter, the Storyteller can apply those dice as a negative modifier to any Mental or Social roll made for the character.

Obsessive (Persistent) When something’s on your character’s mind, she just can’t shake it. When pursuing a long-term metal task or research project, including wonder creation, roll Obligation. On a failure, the character gains the Obsessed Condition until the task is complete. On rolls that are unrelated to her obsession, she loses the 10-again quality. However, she gains the 9-again quality on all rolls directly related to pursuing her obsession.

Offensive (Persistent) When your character is offended, they launch into a tirade of vitriol and condemnation, deliberately inflaming tense situations even if they are in a position of weakness. If any character is deliberately offensive, attempts to threaten the character or does not accord them (in their view) sufficient respect, the Storyteller may call for an Obligation roll. If they fail, the Genius does their very best to insult and provoke the offending character, who may reciprocate, attack or simply refuse to help the characters any further. The player may voluntarily fail this roll, fulfilling their Vice (or even Virtue) if applicable; resisting and failing never grants willpower.

Derangements

Derangements are behaviors that occur when the mind is forced to confront intolerable or conflicting feelings, such as overwhelming terror or profound guilt. When your character is faced with impressions or emotions that he cannot reconcile, his mind attempts to ease the inner turmoil by stimulating behavior such as megalomania, schizophrenia or hysteria as an outlet. People in the World of Darkness, unwittingly tormented, persecuted and preyed upon by incomprehensible beings, often develop these ailments by the mere fact of existing. Alternatively, regret, guilt or remorselessness for inflicting abuses eats away at mind and soul. The night's creatures are not immune to such pressures, either. Existence as an unnatural thing overwhelms what little humanity these beings might have left, driving them mad.

The primary means by which your character may develop derangements is by performing heinous acts and suffering the mental or emotional repercussions.

Otherwise, the Storyteller may decide that a scene or circumstance to which your character is exposed is too much for him to bear and he breaks under the pressure. A bad drug trip might reveal too much of the monstrous reality of the world for a person's mind to bear. A drug overdose could imbalance a character mentally. Or witnessing a creature in all its horrific glory might make an onlooker snap.

Ailments caused by fallen Morality can be healed through your character's own efforts toward treatment or contrition (by spending Experience Points). The Storyteller decides if a more spontaneously inspired condition is temporary or permanent. A spontaneous ailment might be temporary, lasting until the character resolves the situation that triggered the condition. It might become permanent if reconciliation is refused, the condition goes untreated, or the trigger that caused it is insurmountable. With Storyteller approval, a starting character might have a spontaneously inspired derangement as a Flaw, gaining experience in stories in which the condition or problem is prominent. Spontaneous ailments developed during play might be represented in-game as evolutionary Flaws, not ones established at character creation.

It must be noted that people who are "crazy" are neither funny nor arbitrary in their actions. Insanity is frightening to onlookers who witness someone rage against an unseen presence or hoard rotten meat "to feed to monsters." Even something as harmless-sounding as constantly talking to one's self can be disturbing to observers.

The insane respond to a pattern only they grasp, to stimuli that they perceive in their own minds. To their skewed perceptions, what happens to them is perfectly normal. A character's derangement is there for a reason, whether she committed a crime or saw her own children devoured. What stimuli does her insanity inflict upon her, and how does she react to what happens? Work with the Storyteller to create a pattern of provocations for your character's derangement, and then decide how she reacts.

Each of the following ailments is defined in terms of mild and severe. The first might apply to your character if an action or experience imbalances him, but he remains functional. The second can apply if a previously mild condition intensifies with more irreconcilable behavior or spectacles, or if a single act or scene is so mind numbing that only full-blown insanity and dysfunction can result. If treatment or reconciliation occurs and ailments are alleviated, a severe case of a condition must be addressed and overcome before a mild case of the same derangement.

Mild	Severe
-	Abyssal Compulsion
Avoidance	Fugue *
Blood Addiction	Homicidal Addiction
Decadence	Depravity
Depersonalization	Dissociation
Depression	Melancholia
Fetishism	Masochism
Fixation	Obsessive Compulsion
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder OR Vocalization	Schizophrenia *
Inferiority Complex	Anxiety
Insomnia	Cataplexy
Irrationality	Multiple Personalities *
Narcissism	Megalomania
Occult Fugue	-
Phobia	Hysteria
Pyromania	Pyrophilia
Repression	Denial
Sanguinary Animism	Personality Shift
Supernatural Fascination	Zealotry
Suspicion	Paranoia
Unbridled Confidence	-
-	Delusional Witness *
-	Goetic Fracture *
-	Mystic Personality *

* Your character must experience a life-altering trauma or supernatural tragedy to acquire one of these extreme derangements. They cannot normally be acquired by failing a Morality roll unless the sin performed is truly gut wrenching or horrific, such as murdering one's own children.

Avoidance (Mild)

When confronted with a situation or person associated with a previous, significant failure or trauma (a long-term rival, an ex-wife, the house in which one suffered a painful childhood), your character prefers not to face the situation and might do everything he can to avoid it. Roll Resolve + Composure for him to master his nervousness.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character does everything in his power to avoid the situation, short of harming himself or others. He might escape the scene or disguise himself as a bystander to sidle away. If he must confront (or can't escape) the situation, any rolls made suffer a -1 penalty.

Blood Addiction (Mild)

The character feels uncomfortable if she doesn't at least see blood on a regular basis. If she goes more than day without seeing or touching flesh blood, she must make arrangements to do so. This is as simple as cutting her own flesh, but consider the plight of a blood bather with the Regeneration trait and this derangement. Minor wounds heal too quickly to bleed satisfactorily, so she either needs to inflict a point of lethal damage or get the blood from someone else.

When the character is placed under intense stress or scrutiny, or when she has gone more than 24 hours without seeing fresh blood, the player rolls Resolve + Composure. If the roll fails, the character must devote all her attention to satisfying her addiction.

Decadence (Mild)

Your character's past sense of decorum and social grace, no matter how limited or primitive it might have been, is now perceived to be laughably naIve, the province of fools. He has few scruples about how to behave in public and what it is acceptable to say or do. Whenever he has won a great social victory (as defined by the Storyteller, or if an exceptional success is rolled on any Social-related roll) or suffered a humiliating social defeat (as with a victory, except when a dramatic failure is rolled), make a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll.

Effect: Failure means your character loses all sense of proportion and will say the most nasty things to others and engage in ridiculous activities in public, such as walking around naked or buying expensive champagne for every one in the room even if it's beyond his means. He becomes, in effect, the worst sort of drunk, although he might not have had a single drop to drink. Celebrities have ruined their careers through lesser deeds than what the character will now attempt.

For now, however, his excesses are mainly verbal -- he is under no compunction to act against others. He might humiliate himself, but he won't force his decadent behavior onto others. If he progresses in this derangement, however, reaching the severe stage of Depravity, all bets are off.

Depersonalization (Mild)

When this derangement is activated by stress or emotional trauma, the mage feels as though she is an automaton in her own body. She can think, speak, and act freely, but has no real sense of connection to herself; effectively, she is an observer to a life not quite her own. Almost invariably, the willworker gives no sense to others that anything is amiss, as she is perfectly capable of even elaborate interpersonal interaction. Her withdrawal is not from society, but instead from her own consciousness.

While suffering from a bout of Depersonalization, the mage may not spend Willpower and suffers a two dice penalty to all Resolve + Composure rolls, as she cannot summon up the strength of spirit necessary to fight for a person with whom she no longer truly identifies. When acting as a Bedlam derangement, Depersonalization also makes a willworker especially susceptible to Life Arcanum spells that target her body, causing her to suffer a -1 to any contested rolls against such, as her sense of disconnection weakens the bond between spirit and flesh.

Depression (Mild)

If your character fails to achieve a goal (not just fails a roll, but fails to accomplish some personal, desired end such as getting a job or saving a friendÕs life), he might go into a bout of depression for the remainder of the scene. A dramatic failure that occurs in any activity might also bring on a bout of depression. Regardless of the circumstances, make a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll.

Effect: If the roll fails, your character loses one Willpower point and cannot spend any Willpower points for the remainder of the scene.

Fetishism (Mild)

Your character formulates an irrational, pleasurable association with an object or situation. To fully enjoy himself, so to speak, he needs to duplicate the situation or be in the presence of the object. This can lead to some truly bizarre behavior, often triggering a cycle of gratification and guilt that's extremely difficult to break.

Effect: If your character experiences something that reminds him of the event or object he's fetishized, roll Resolve + Composure. If the roll fails, your character focuses on re-creating the situation or coming in contact with the object in question. For example, an orderly who fetishizes licking female patients' feet when they are restrained might see an attractive woman sunning herself by a pool and feel compelled to indulge himself.

Fixation (Mild)

If your character fails or succeeds at an important action such as leaping between buildings or making a getaway in a sports car, he might fixate on his loss or victory. Roll Resolve + Composure after such an event for him to avoid this unhealthy obsession.

Effect: If your Resolve + Composure roll fails, roll a single die. The result is the number of scenes in which your character is focused on the offending or inspiring event or task, to the possible exclusion of more important goals. He fixates on what he believes caused him to lose or win his goal, whether it's an opponent, a broken shoelace, or the model of car driven. In the case of a defeat, he cannot help but simmer in anger, cursing a circumstance or trying to devise a method of circumventing it in the future. In the case of a victory, he becomes a fanatic, spending much of his time researching, observing or acclaiming an activity or factor that allowed him to succeed. The Storyteller rules on how this derangement affects your character's dice pools or behavior. It might cause him a -1 on any task not related to his fixation, or he might refuse to engage in an activity if it doesn't somehow tie into his obsession. Since this derangement is potentially active for many scenes, rather than one, its effects should be mild but persistent.

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (Mild)

This derangement causes the character to suffer lingering visual effects - trails, halos, floating spots in the eye, mixed-up colors.

Effect: If a character's roll fails, she is overwhelmed by subtle but persistent visual hallucinations. For the remainder of the scene, she suffers -1 to all Mental rolls except Perception, which suffer a -3 dice penalty.

Inferiority Complex (Mild)

Whenever your character is subjected to a stressful situation in which the result of a single choice or dice roll can determine success or failure, she might be overcome with such self-doubt that she threatens the outcome. She might need to tell a convincing lie to get out of a dangerous situation or cut a wire to disable a bomb. Roll your characterÕs Resolve + Composure for her to remain composed.

Effect: If your roll fails, the weight of the momentous choice is too much for your character and she is flustered, doubting her ability to choose correctly or to perform adequately. Once in this state, any rolls made for the remainder of the scene -- including the momentous act itself -- suffer a -1 penalty. In addition, a Willpower point cannot be spent on the singular roll that inspires her bout of inferiority.

Irrationality (Mild)

Whenever your character is threatened with violence or suffers extreme tension by being persecuted, challenged, or accused, she might react without logic or reason. Roll her Resolve + Composure to keep her cool. The persecution, challenge, or accusation needs to bear some realistic threat to your character's well-being, whether related to finances, emotional security, or social standing. A hobo threatening to sue is no real threat, but a rich executive who says heÕs going to ruin your character qualifies as a threat. Likewise, a society-page gossip-monger who threatens to expose your character's faults is a threat if your character relies on that crowd for social acceptance, but not if he is a bicycle messenger who's never been inside a penthouse.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character's only way to comfortably deal with confrontation is to act crazy or over the top, in wild hopes that she will scare away her oppressor or at least mitigate her own fears. This behavior persists for the remainder of the scene. Ironically, she takes dangerous risks that might harm her worse than the actual threat posed. If a bouncer demands to know what your character is doing in an off-limits part of a club, she might overreact and get in his face. Make a Wits + Composure roll for her to be able to take any action that removes her from the scene or that directly diffuses the situation (such as accepting a hand offered in a conciliatory handshake). The truly ironic part about this behavior is that during such a bout, your character cannot initiate violence, only respond to it if it occurs. She can threaten or cajole challengers, but can't take the first swing. (That, in fact, is what her crazed behavior tries to avoid.)

Insomnia (Mild)

Your character has trouble getting the required amount of sleep, and not just occasionally. It happens more often than not, and leaves her feeling tired, irritable and unable to concentrate.

Effect: Any time the character is engaged in a stressful situation (Storyteller discretion), roll Resolve + Composure. Failure means that your character is unable to sleep properly and suffers a -2 penalty on all rolls the following day. Each day thereafter is considered "stressful" and requires a similar roll until the character succeeds and gets a full night's or day's rest.

Narcissism (Mild)

Whenever your character succeeds at a goal (not simply succeeds in a roll, but achieves a desired end such as knocking a challenging opponent unconscious or hacking into a well-protected computer), it might go to his head and pump up his overweening ego. Roll Resolve + Composure to avoid a bout of vanity.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character does not work and play well with others -- even if the victory that brings on a bout of narcissism was partly won with their aid. For the remainder of the scene, when called upon to aid in a task your character does so only half-heartedly, unless it's a task focused on him or his own needs or wants. He suffers a -3 penalty when participating in teamwork efforts. And he's such a self-obsessed bore that Social rolls all suffer a -1 penalty.

Occult Fugue (Mild)

The mage begins a lengthy magical working. She creates a magical Artifact, learns a rote, casts an extended spell, or goes on a lengthy Astral quest. The working is usually benign, even beneficial, but once the mage is finished, she promptly forgets that she did it at all.

Effect: The mage carried out the necessary preparations in a Fugue, as if sleepwalking, and may become irrationally hostile if anyone tries to get in her way. Banishers with a subconscious urge for more power often perform the bulk of their studies in a Fugue state. They even create magical objects. Consciously, they find the idea of giving magic a solid shape abhorrent, but while deranged, their secret desires have a free rein. If the Banisher is a player-controlled character, the player can specify what his mage might want to accomplish if she was freed of her ordinary inhibitions. The Storyteller can handle the details for the player, or if everyone feels comfortable with it, the player might make all the dice rolls and preparations himself with the understanding that his character won't remember a thing.

Phobia (Mild)

Your character is scared of a particular type of person, place or thing such as lawyers, heights or spiders. When that trigger is encountered, a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll must be made successfully or your character suffers a bout of fear.

Effect: Your character moves away from the object of her phobia. If she must be near it, she can tolerate being no closer than her Speed in yards. If it approaches her, she must move away at least her Speed in distance in her next action. She cannot easily target the trigger with close combat or ranged attacks. Such attacks suffer a -5 penalty as your character shakes just looking at it. If space or circumstances don't allow her to maintain her distance, she freezes like a deer in headlights until she finds an opening by which to escape. (Her Defense still applies if attacked and she can choose to dodge and can take cover from Firearms attacks, but she can take no other actions while "frozen.")

Pyromania (Mild)

The character has a compulsion to light fires in order to relieve tension or as part of a compulsion.

Effect: If the character is bored, frustrated or stressed, the player must roll Resolve + Composure. If this roll fails, the character must light something on fire. This can be as small as a piece of paper, and the character does not need to let the fire run wild -- he can take reasonable precautions against the fire spreading. Sooner or later, though, a fire will probably burn out of control. In addition, if the character sees a fire already burning, the player must roll Resolve + Composure. If this roll fails, the character stands, transfixed, staring at the fire. This roll must be made every turn until the player succeeds, at which point the character can tear himself away.

Repression (Mild)

Your character has blocked out the memory of the event that caused this derangement. She might not remember pulling the trigger and killing that man. She might remember walking into the old house, but have no recollection of the horrors she saw there.

Effect: In any event, only through intense therapy or memory-altering supernatural powers will she regain those memories. The character is aware that something happened, and is potentially open to discovering what, but cannot call up the memories herself. In addition, if she finds herself in a similar situation, the player must roll Resolve + Composure or else the character blocks out the memory of that scene as well.

Sanguinary Animism (Mild)

This delusion grows out of a blood bather's fundamental awareness of guilt about murdering mortals for their blood. Characters with this delusion believe they take part of a victim's mind or soul along with her blood. For hours after the Ritual, the character hears his victim's voice in his head, berating him, begging for mercy or making demands. The blood bather even experiences ersatz memories from his victim's life, all concocted by the character's unconscious mind, but seeming very real. Weak-willed or especially guilt-stricken blood bathers might even carry out actions on behalf of their victims.

Effect: Whenever a sanguinary animist kills a mortal, the player rolls Intelligence + Composure. If the roll succeeds, the imaginary voice and memories of the victim torment the character for the rest of the night, but the character can function adequately. If the roll fails, the images in the character's mind are so strong that the other personality can influence the character's actions. The angry victim-personality usually means to harm the character, but the blood bather might "buy off" the victim's voice by doing something he imagines the victim would like.

Supernatural Fascination (Mild)

Your character, usually following a supernatural event, has become convinced that the supernatural influences every facet of life. "The supernatural" here is defined by the character in question. He might become devoted to a particular religion, and see the hand of whatever God he chooses in every aspect of life. He might believe that aliens or secret government masters control everything. In any event, he believes that the world has a secret set of rules and codes that, if he abides by them, he will go to Heaven / have good luck / be safe from harm / etc.

Effect: At least once a scene, and more often if significant events occur during a scene, the player must roll Resolve + Composure. If that roll fails, the character must perform some action appropriate to his beliefs. He might utter a brief prayer, mumble into his wallet (which he's sure contains a communication device), line his hat with tinfoil to prevent the aliens from reading his mind and so on. Because this derangement is so pervasive, it shouldn't cause major disruptions to the character's life, but its effects are almost constant.

Suspicion (Mild)

Anytime your character suffers intentional misfortune at the hands of another, he might become extremely suspicious of everyone's motives toward him. He might crash as a result of being cut off in traffic or receive little help from assistants in a teamwork effort. Roll Resolve + Composure for your character to resist the suspicion compulsion. "Misfortune" is characterized as failing an important task due to the intentional intervention of another person -- even if it's a friend or ally. Those people whom your character already mistrusts for good reason can still trigger his suspicious nature if they successfully foil his task -- everyone then becomes a suspect, plotting to do him wrong. Combat does not necessarily trigger this derangement. A Resolve Composure roll is made only if combat is the means by which someone intentionally prevents your character from achieving a goal. (Note: A roll for a task might fail and your character chooses to blame someone else, but that doesnÕt necessarily trigger this derangement's effect. Only if someone directly causes him to fail is a roll made to avoid triggering his suspicious nature.)

Unbridled Confidence (Mild)

Your character doesn't bother to worry about the right or wrong of it, or the negative consequences of an action beyond those that occur to him right off the bat. Introspection and careful thought are for losers. Roll Resolve + Composure to resist acting on the first impulse and ignoring the morality of it.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character does what he feels and damns the consequences. This is enough to get most anyone in trouble (and often causes Morality or Wisdom degeneration rolls), but the derangement also inflicts a -3 dice penalty on any Skill roll used to plan anything out.

Vocalization (Mild)

Whenever your character is stymied by a quandary and must make an important decision about a course of action, or is under extreme stress, she might talk to herself without realizing it. Roll Resolve + Composure to avoid this discomforting habit. Examples of important decisions include: Trying to figure out which fork in the road to take so that the guerillas don't get to the village first. The wrong choice means arriving precious minutes late and finding innocents killed or kidnapped. When your character has one bullet but two foes, both of whom prepare to strike lethal blows against two separate friends. Which should be shot? When the attorney slides a piece of paper with his final offer across the table. Your character has minutes to say "yes" or "no."

Effect: On a failed roll, your character vocalizes her internal monologue but only realizes it if it's pointed out by others, at which point she can stop for one turn per dot of Wits that she has. After that period, she forgets herself and starts doing it all over again. This behavior persists for the remainder of the scene. Your character vocalizes even if opponents or rivals can hear. It's hard to keep her thoughts and feelings secret when she speaks them aloud. For example, a rival might demand that she reveal the location of a hidden heirloom. She smirks and think to herself (and unwittingly speaks aloud), "You'll never find it in my hidden wall safe."

Abyssal Compulsion (Severe)

Contact with the Void tends to fracture even the strongest mind. Those who suffer from the Abyssal Compulsion derangement, however, have sustained especially deep psychic wounds from their unfortunate experiences. The Abyss creates a terrible wound in the soul -- unique to the Awakened state -- that causes a mage to obsess upon the Void and its creatures, and to seek out the lore of such. Alternately, the willworker desires to do so to protect himself, to lock the knowledge away, or to pursue it further, with no rhyme or reason from one moment to the next.

When Abyssal Compulsion is active, a mage must succeed in a Resolve + Composure roll at a -3 penalty not to look into any Abyssal phenomenon of which he becomes aware. Willpower may not be spent to augment this roll, though the willworker may use indirect means of researching such knowledge (like scrying or sending ghosts or spirits, for instance), should he have such at his disposal. When acting as a Bedlam derangement, Abyssal Compulsion also adds one die to all Paradox rolls that the mage is required to make, as his attraction to the Void calls out to it and its creatures.

Abyssal Compulsion can follow any mild derangement, provided that a mage has had traumatic contact with the creatures of the Void.

Anxiety (Severe)

As Inferiority Complex, but your character's general anxiety plagues things so badly that she suffers a -2 penalty on all rolls for the remainder of the scene, and Willpower points cannot be spent to bolster any rolls in that period.

Cataplexy (Severe)

Your character has so much trouble resting that her body is beginning to fail her.

Effect: Any time the character is engaged in a stressful situation (Storyteller discretion), roll Resolve + Composure. Whenever the sleep roll fails, the character suffers from bouts of overwhelming feebleness throughout the following day. Any circumstance resulting in an intense emotional reaction such as laughter, anger or fear requires a Stamina + Composure roll. Failure means that the character slumps to the ground, paralyzed with weakness for a full turn even though she remains fully conscious.

Delusional Witness (Severe)

Whenever the mage witnesses some obvious supernatural phenomenon, she overlays hallucinations that bring the manifestation in line with a particular belief system. A skeptic sees stage magic trickery whenever someone levitates an object. A religious sorcerer sees angels and demons whenever spirits appear because her beliefs don't accept other kinds of subtle beings. Similar to Goetic Fracture, a Banisher may never learn that she's seeing anything false.

Denial (Severe)

Your character not only represses the memories that trouble her but has constructed a potentially elaborate scenario to replace them and grows hostile if someone tries to persuade her otherwise.

Effect: Whenever someone tries to educate the character as to the truth of what happens, the character's player rolls Resolve + Composure. If the roll succeeds, the character's delusion remains intact, and the character becomes irate and refuses to discuss the matter. If the roll fails, her internal commitment to the safety of the delusion weakens a bit, and she is at least willing to listen.

Depravity (Severe)

Your character no longer respects any guidelines for social conduct, no matter how common or accepted they might be. In fact, he feels the need to do the opposite of what those rules say: If he is expected to be polite, he will be rude. If he must be peaceful, he'll evoke violence. The very existence of any kind of social rule is an insult to his sense of liberty gained at the Temple. Worse, it's a cosmic joke played on those who don't know the truth, that the universe is just a sweaty gyration of lust. Whenever someone asks him to behave (even if it's a nightclub's bouncer who's not asking with words but fists), make a Resolve + Composure roll with a -2 dice penalty for your character to resist doing the opposite of what he's been told or expected to do.

Just how far the player and Storyteller want to take this derangement during play is up to them, but beware letting it become a license for players to abuse other players -- it's the character, not the player, who has visited the Temple and caught its disease.

Denial (Severe)

A more pronounced form of the Depersonalization derangement, Dissociation actually puts the mage's body on a sort of "conscious autopilot"; the most important parts of his mind are locked away, while the rest of him carries on. The world feels unreal and utterly devoid of emotional depth to a mage in the throes of Dissociation.

In addition to the effects of Depersonalization, a mage suffering from an active Dissociation derangement cannot recuperate Willpower by upholding his Virtue or indulging his Vice; such acts hold no genuine emotional or spiritual significance to him. As a Bedlam derangement, Dissociation causes the willworker to suffer a -2 penalty to any contested roll against Life Arcanum magic, as well as -2 to his appropriate Resistance Attribute when passively resisting such a spell.

Fugue (Severe; Extreme)

Victims suffering from fugue experience " blackouts" and loss of memory. When subjected to a particular variety of stress, your character performs a specific, rigid set of behaviors to remove the stressful symptoms. This syndrome differs from multiple personalities in that an individual in the grip of a fugue has no separate personality. Instead, he is on a form of "autopilot" similar to sleepwalking. Decide on the kind of circumstance or exposure that triggers this state, be it the death of a defenseless person by his hand, a confrontation with a specific sort of creature or confinement in a small, dark room.

Effect: Make a Resolve + Composure roll when your character is subjected to his trigger. If the roll fails, roleplay your character's trance-like state by performing a sequence of behaviors that he performs almost robotically. He might repetitively untie and tie his shoes, walk to the corner of the room and refuse to come out, or curl into the fetal position. If the Storyteller is not satisfied by your character's reaction, he might take control of your character for the duration of the bout. The spell lasts for the remainder of the scene. At the end of the fugue, your character "regains consciousness" with no memory of his actions. If outsiders (including friends and enemies) interfere with or try to prevent your character's mechanical activities, he may attack them in order to carry on.

Goetic Fracture (Severe; Extreme)

The mage surrenders his magic to a personified Vice. His madness spawns a fragmentary goetic demon -- less than a true spirit but more than a voice in his head. He can't cast spells unless he either accedes to the demon's wishes (typically, by satisfying his Vice through increasingly extreme acts) or psychically overpowers it.

Effect: To do the latter, make an extended Wisdom roll every turn. The target number is equal to the mage's own Resolve. This requires the afflicted character's full concentration, so he can't do anything other than move his base Speed while battling the Goetic Fragment. If the character accumulates more successes than his Resolve + Composure, he subdues the demon, regaining control of his magic until the next time he regains Willpower for satisfying his Vice. This derangement is especially prevalent among Banishers because so many believe that their abilities are fundamentally selfish. Some even believe that their magic really does emanate from a demon. When active, the Goetic Fragment frequently speaks to the afflicted sorcerer. It taints his dreams and takes a shape in the mage's mind's eye consistent with his Vice, personality and beliefs.

Homicidal Addiction (Severe)

The endless killing has driven the character mad. She not only relishes the feeling of taking human life, she craves it. The character doesn't feel the urge to kill every day, but when she gets stressed, injured or otherwise thrown out of her routine, she needs to cut someone up to feel like herself again.

As described for blood addiction, except that the roll only needs to be made when the character is subjected to a serious stressor. A massive injury, the death of a loved one, losing a job and being discovered as a blood bather all qualify.

Hysteria (Severe)

This condition operates as a phobia, but on a failed Resolve + Composure roll your character cannot be in the same room with the object of her fear. She must run away from it immediately, and cannot tolerate being within sensory range (sight, sound, smell) of it. If the trigger comes within sensory range, she must run away at full running Speed as soon as she can take an action. She cannot target it for an attack under any circumstance. If it touches her, make another Resolve + Composure roll for her to not freak out and run as far away as she can, thinking of nothing else until she has left the subject far behind. (Even if this roll succeeds, your character must still leave the room or area.) If any of your Resolve + Composure rolls suffer a dramatic failure or your character is unable to escape, she faints and loses consciousness for the remainder of the scene. If your character is unaware of the object's proximity until it touches her, your Resolve + Composure roll suffers a -3 penalty. If it touches her where she can't see it but she can feel it -- a spider dropping on her neck or in her hair -- the penalty is -5.

Masochism (Severe)

Your character is no longer satisfied with the presence of the object or duplication of the situation. He must now be hurt by it in order to enjoy himself.

Effect: The effects of fetishism apply, but the character must also suffer an amount of bashing damage at least equal to his Stamina during the compulsive activity in order to be satisfied. Without the interference of an outside agent, he won't stop until the damage is inflicted in full.

Megalomania (Severe)

The effects of Narcissism apply, except that the penalties intensify by one. Your character is also highly competitive. He cannot allow himself to fail a contest (even a contested roll). If he does, he obsesses about it and works to arrange a rematch when it's most beneficial for him. If, for example, he fails to pick a lock while an ally succeeds, he doesn't let it go. He constantly insists that he did the job and that his successor took the glory, and demands that similar efforts be tried again, even under inappropriate circumstances such as at an office or restaurant. If your character ever loses a contest to someone he feels is socially inferior, he loses one point of Willpower due to shame and self-loathing (which is at the heart of his megalomania; he secretly fears that he's a fraud).

Melancholia (Severe)

This is a form of severe depression.

Effect: If the roll fails, your character loses one Willpower point and cannot spend any Willpower points for the remainder of the scene. In addition, all dice pools suffer a -2 penalty for the remainder of the scene.

Multiple Personalities (Severe; Extreme)

The trauma that spawns this derangement fractures your character's personality into one or more additional personas, allowing her to deny her trauma or any actions the trauma causes by placing the blame on "someone else." Each personality is created to respond to certain emotional stimuli. An abused person might develop a tough-as-nails survivor personality, create a "protector" or even become a murderer to deny the abuse she suffers. In most cases, none of these personalities is aware of the others, and they come and go through your character's mind in response to specific situations or conditions.

Effect: A character with multiple personalities can manifest different Skills or perhaps increased or diminished Social Attributes for each identity (the number of dots allocated to your character's Social Attributes are rearranged by anywhere from one to three).

Mystic Personality (Severe; Extreme)

The mage develops an alternate personality with a diametrically opposed perspective on the supernatural. A Banisher becomes an enthusiastic sorcerer.

Effect: A Pentacle mage might develop Banisher sympathies, or explore magic that she normally abhors, stealing souls or summoning demons. The mage doesn't adopt a new name or personal history. She believes herself to be the same person, but each personality only vaguely recalls the other's beliefs and magical workings, filtering them through its preferred attitude. Banishers who suffer an episode around fellow witch hunters keep a low profile. They know that something's wrong. They might rationalize their position inside a Banisher cult by thinking they're infiltrating it. They could betray their own cult or hide away artifacts meant for destruction. The switch occurs whenever the mage is exposed to a particular trigger, usually related to the event that inspired the derangement in the first place. The episode lasts for a scene or longer, after which the mage's normal personality asserts itself.

Obsessive Compulsion (Severe)

The trauma, guilt or inner conflict that causes this derangement forces your character to focus nearly all of his attention and energy on a single repetitive behavior or action. Obsession relates to an individual's desire to control his environment -- keeping clean, keeping an area quiet and peaceful, or keeping undesirable individuals out. A compulsion is an action or set of actions that an individual is driven to perform to soothe his anxieties -- placing objects in an exact order, constantly checking to make sure a weapon is loaded, praying every few hours to give thanks for surviving that long.

Effect: Determine a set of specific actions or behaviors that your character follows to the exclusion of all else (even if doing so interferes with his current agenda or endangers his life or others'). The effects of obsessive compulsion can be negated for the course of one scene by making a successful Resolve + Composure roll at a -2 penalty. If your character is forcibly prevented from adhering to his derangement, he may lose control among enemies or allies and attack either (or both) indiscriminately.

Paranoia (Severe)

Your character believes that her misery and insecurity stem from external persecution and hostility. (That would be an accurate assumption in the World of Darkness, if people actually knew of monsters' existence.) Paranoids obsess over their persecution complexes, often creating vast and intricate conspiracy theories to explain who torments them and why. Anyone or anything perceived to be "one of them" might be subjected to violence.

Effect: A character who suffers from paranoia automatically suffers a -2 penalty on Social rolls. The character is distrustful and wary of everyone, even close friends and family. The slightest hint of suspicious behavior is enough to provoke a Resolve + Composure roll to retain control (made at a -2 penalty). A failed roll indicates that your character flees or attacks an offender.

Personality Shift (Severe)

A sanguinary animist who develops this derangement believes he actually becomes one of his victims for a short time after the murder. During this time, the character behaves in a manner consistent with how he perceives the victim, but has no special insight. For instance, a white man who murders a black man and then suffers from this derangement might attempt to speak in African-American vernacular English, but wind up sounding ridiculous. An American who murders a European gains no knowledge of the victim's native language, whatever it happens to be. This derangement's effect lasts for a scene, during which the character often tries to convey messages to the victim's next of kin or otherwise tie up any "loose ends" his death has caused. Again, these desires are filtered through the character's madness, and so they might not bear any resemblance to what the deceased would actually have wanted.

Effect: When the character commits murder, the player rolls Resolve + Composure. Failure indicates that the character takes on what he thinks of as the victim's identity, as described above.

Pyrophilia (Severe)

The character's derangement has progressed from a compulsion to a sexual fixation. The character finds fires and setting fires to be sexually gratifying, and standing in the middle of a burning room is perhaps the most erotic experience he can imagine.

Effect: If the character is bored, frustrated, stressed, or in any situation fraught with sexual tension, the player must roll Resolve + Composure with a -2 penalty. If this roll fails, the character must light something on fire. This can be as small as a piece of paper, and the character does not need to let the fire run wild -- he can take reasonable precautions against the fire spreading. Sooner or later, though, a fire will probably burn out of control. In addition, if the character sees a fire already burning, the player must roll Resolve + Composure, also with a -2 penalty. If this roll fails, the character stands, transfixed, staring at the fire. This roll must be made every turn until the player succeeds, at which point the character can tear himself away.

Schizophrenia (Severe; Extreme)

Conflicting sets of feelings and impulses that cannot be resolved can cause your character to develop schizophrenia, which manifests as a withdrawal from reality, violent changes in behavior and hallucinations. This derangement is the classic sort, causing victims to talk to walls, imagine themselves to be the King of Siam, or to receive murderous instructions from their pets. Roleplaying this derangement requires careful thought. The Storyteller must determine a general set of behaviors relevant to the trauma that causes the condition. Hallucinations, bizarre behavior and disembodied voices stem from a terrible inner conflict that the individual cannot resolve. Establish a firm idea of what that conflict is and then rationalize what kind of behavior it causes.

Effect: A character with this derangement is unpredictable and dangerous. He automatically suffers a -2 penalty on all Social rolls and may be aggressive or violent toward people who confront him with trauma such as accusations, disturbing truths or heated arguments. Make a Resolve + Composure roll for your character to avoid escaping or attacking the source of trauma.

Zealotry (Severe)

Your character has decided that his spiritual or supernatural beliefs are so important than everyone should share them. He proselytizes to everyone he meets, given only a few minutes of conversation. He might ask people if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, or he might simply warn people engaging in "sinful" behavior that they are bound for Hell. He might snap pictures of agents of the government conspiracy and warn other people to "stay away from them." He might occasionally curse while looking at sky, as though expecting the aliens to arrive any moment.

Effect: At least once a scene, and more often if significant events occur during a scene, the player must roll Resolve + Composure. If that roll fails, the character must perform some action appropriate to his beliefs. He might utter a brief prayer, mumble into his wallet (which he's sure contains a communication device), line his hat with tinfoil to prevent the aliens from reading his mind and so on. This derangement's effects are almost constant.