Page 136 - World of Darkness

instructions to achieve a result. The plans make success Inanimate objects have three traits: Durability, Size
easier than if your character tried the effort under his own and Structure. These qualities typically encompass whole
power or inspiration. When you make a roll for your char- objects, such as statues, couches or cars.
acter, the blueprints available allow you to re-roll any dice Durability: A factor of the object’s material hard-
that result in failures. You get one re-roll as a whole, and ness. Successes achieved in an attack roll against an ob-
add up all successes achieved to see how well your charac- ject must exceed the item’s Durability before any damage
ter does. is actually inflicted. Thus, if a door has 1 Durability, any
Say your character wants to build a bomb and he successes achieved in excess of one are counted as dam-
downloads intricate, authentic plans from the Internet. age to the target.
The Storyteller decides that it’s a rote action. You make The Durability rating of supernaturally enhanced
an Intelligence + Crafts roll (with modifiers imposed by items can reduce any aggravated damage done to them
the plans, tools and other factors). If three dice turn up (see Chapter 7: Combat). If an object is mundane or ordi-
successes but the rest fail, you get to re-roll all those that nary, its Durability is considered zero against attacks that
failed and add any more successes to the previous three. inflict aggravated damage.
Only one such collective re-roll is allowed.
If for some reason you’re reduced to a chance roll on Durability Rating Material
a rote action, a dramatic failure (a “1”) on your first roll
indicates that something has gone horribly wrong from 1 Wood, hard plastic, thick glass
the outset. No re-roll is allowed. If your first roll results in 2 Stone, aluminum
a success (a “10”), keep re-rolling for more successes based
on the “10-again” rule. When you stop getting successes, 3 Steel, iron
you get to make another chance roll for the rote effect, +1 per reinforced layer
and may keep re-rolling that die if 10’s turn up.
• Advanced Actions: Your character has amazing Size: Objects smaller
speed at his disposal such that others seem to move in than Size 1 can fit entirely Size Object
slow motion. He exists outside the normal flow of time in one’s palm; they have
and can perform feats while others are essentially “fro- negligible Size. 1 Pistol
zen.” Or maybe he has the luxury of trying an action over Structure: An 2 Sword
without repercussions for failed results. Whatever the case, object’s Structure is the
you get to make the roll for an effect twice and choose the equivalent of its Health 4 Spear
most beneficial one. and equals its Durability + 5 Door
• Extra Talent: Your character can bring extra facul- Size. An object suffers 10 2-seat sports car
ties to bear in an effort. An additional Attribute is added “wounds” due to damage. 15 SUV
to your character’s dice pool for an action. Perhaps a su- Once its Durability is ex- 20 Dump truck
pernatural power allows his Intelligence to be added to ceeded in total Structure
his Strength + Skill roll; the force of his mind literally damage suffered, it mal-
bolsters his muscles. Or a blessed weapon has its own pre- functions and incurs a -1 penalty when it operates or is
ternatural speed that’s added to your character’s own mar- used by a wielder. So, if a chainsaw has 2 Durability and 3
tial prowess. The weapon has a Dexterity rating that’s Size, it has 5 Structure. If the item suffers one or two Struc-
added to your Strength + Weaponry rolls.
ture damage, it’s still functional. When it suffers three or
four Structure damage — anything in excess of its Dura-
Objects bility — using it imposes a -1 penalty on a wielder. At five
damage it cannot function at all.
It’s inevitable that people in traumatic, tense situa- When all of an object’s Structure is lost to damage
tions turn their attention to objects. They wield weap- the item is destroyed. Bashing and lethal damage are con-
ons, grab tools or they need items such as cars to make sidered the same for objects. It doesn’t matter what kind
getaways. Objects are often the tools with which we get of wound is inflicted. If Structure drops to zero, the object
things done, and characters in your game use tools to ful- is destroyed. The exception applies to a more severe kind
fill their goals. It’s therefore important to know how diffi- of harm called aggravated damage that inhuman entities
cult it is to break loose a chair leg, shatter a lock or forc- can inflict. The Durability of mundane objects is reduced
ibly bring another car to a stop. to zero against aggravated attacks, as discussed above. And
If your character ever seeks to do damage to an ob- while ordinary damage inflicted on an object can be re-
ject by striking it unarmed (he smashes his shoulder into paired by conventional means, harm done through aggra-
a door, punches through a wall or kicks a steel gate), he vated damage cannot be repaired without some sort of
suffers a bashing wound in the attack. This injury can be supernatural agency.
negated with appropriate armor worn (see p. 166). An object’s lost Structure points cannot be healed;
they must be repaired. Doing so usually requires the Crafts
Skill. The Attribute combined with the Skill depends on

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