Page 37 - World of Darkness

Glossary
Glossary

This is a glossary of general Storytelling System terms damage: The points inflicted against a character’s
used throughout this book. These explanations will help Health or an object’s Structure, rated as bashing, lethal or
you understand the rules that follow. It does not include aggravated. One point of damage inflicts one wound.
entries for all traits (the qualifiers used to help define Defense: An advantage trait determined by taking the
your character) used in the game. For any of those, refer lowest of Dexterity or Wits. Characters can penalize a close-
to the index, p. 220. combat opponent’s accuracy by subtracting their Defense
Italics denote a word with a separate glossary entry. from his dice pool.
Refer to the index for page references for complete de- degeneration: Characters who violate their ethics lose
scriptions in the text. dots of Morality. Degeneration can cause a character to
10 Again: A result of 10 on any die is re-rolled in an acquire a derangement.
attempt to achieve more successes. A further result of 10 derangement: Characters whose Morality dots are lost
on a re-rolled die is rolled yet again, over and over, until through degeneration or who suffer horrible psychological
no more 10’s are rolled. trauma can acquire a derangement. Some derangements
action: A task that takes all of a character’s time are classified as “mild,” meaning they hinder the charac-
Glossary
and attention. Storytelling measures instant actions (one ter mainly by plaguing his conscience. Others are “severe,”
to three seconds, taking place within a single turn) and often cases of clinical insanity. Derangements caused by
extended actions, taking longer (duration determined by degeneration can be healed by restoring lost Morality dots.
the Storyteller). Also, there are reflexive actions, which dice: The Storytelling System uses 10-sided dice to
take no time and do not prevent a character from per- represent the element of chance. Dice are collected to
forming another action within a turn, and contested ac- form a character’s dice pool for an action.
tions, in which two or more characters compete in a task dice pool: The number of dice rolled to determine
or for a single goal. failure or success (and the degree of success) for a
advantage: A character trait such as Health or Will- character’s action. Dice pools are usually determined by
power that usually represents abilities derived from other adding an Attribute to a Skill, plus any relevant equipment
traits. Advantages are measured in dots and sometimes in and/or modifiers.
points. dot: The incremental measurement of a permanent
aggravated (damage): A damage point that inflicts a trait. Most traits range from 1 to 5 dots, but some (such as
grievous or supernatural wound. Vampires suffer aggra- Willpower) range from 1 to 10, and others (Health) can
vated damage from fire; werewolves suffer it from silver. go higher.
Mortals might suffer aggravated damage from a dire su- dramatic failure: A result of 1 on a chance roll causes
pernatural power such as a lightning bolt summoned from a dramatic failure, a catastrophe worse than a normal fail-
the sky by a witch. Aggravated wounds normally heal at ure. The character’s gun might jam or he might wind up
a rate of one point per week. shooting a friend by accident. The Storyteller determines
Attribute: A character trait representing innate ca- and describes the result.
pabilities, Mental, Physical and Social. An Attribute is Durability: A trait representing an object’s hardness,
added to a Skill (or another Attribute in certain cases) to based on the material from which it is made (wood has
determine your basic dice pool for a task. less Durability than metal). Durability is measured in dots.
bashing (damage): A damage point that inflicts a An attack’s damage must exceed Durability before the
blunt or bruising wound, such as from a fist or a baseball object is harmed.
bat. Bashing wounds normally heal at a rate of one point equipment: Characters can improve their chances of
per 15 minutes. succeeding in a task by using the right equipment. This
chance roll: Whenever modifiers reduce your dice pool benefit is represented by modifiers to the dice pool, depend-
to zero or fewer dice, you may make a chance roll on a ing on the equipment used and its quality.
single die. Unlike a normal dice roll, a chance roll suc- exceptional success: Whenever five or more successes
ceeds only on a result of 10. Worse, a result of 1 causes a are rolled, the character achieves an exceptional success.
dramatic failure. This achievement sometimes provides an extra perk over
close combat: Attacks that involve hand-to-hand and above the effect of having multiple successes. For ex-
or weapon fighting. Such attacks use the Strength At- ample, a character who gains five successes on a fast-talk
tribute for their dice pools. Characters gain their Defense roll might allay the target’s suspicions enough that he be-
against close-combat attacks. lieves anything the character says for the remaining scene.
contested action: Two or more characters compete experience points: Points awarded by the Storyteller
in a task or for a single goal. The one who gets the most at the end of a game session and story, used to purchase
successes wins. Contested actions can be instant or ex- new traits or to boost the dots of existing traits. See p. 35
tended actions. for costs.

36
GLOSSARY