Page 92 - World of Darkness

Obviously, the larger and more robust a character is, the Morality
more damage he can withstand before dying.
Health is marked on your character sheet and has both Base Value: 7
a permanent and a temporary rating. Your character’s per- Morality reflects a character’s sense of compassion for his
manent rating is filled in on the dots of your character fellow human being and basic respect for the rule of law. This
sheet. His temporary points are recorded in the correspond- isn’t an absolute value. As people grow and change over time
ing boxes. Every time your character loses a Health point their perspectives on society and morality often shift. Some in-
to damage, mark off the kind of injury inflicted from left dividuals strive to become more compassionate and virtuous,
to right. When dots and filled boxes are equal, your char- while others, driven by desperation or embittered by dire cir-
acter is badly hurt or dying. cumstances, reject their old convictions and adopt a more cal-
Your character regains lost Health points at different lous and selfish approach to existence.
rates based on the type of damage inflicted. See Chapter Your character’s Morality is not fixed. Depending on
7, p. 175 for details on recovering Health and healing times his actions it can increase or decrease during play. A start-
for bashing, lethal and aggravated harm. When points are ing character has a Morality of 7 — a basic respect for the
recovered, the Health boxes on your character sheet are law and a realistic sense of compassion for other people.
emptied from right to left. He believes in the need to uphold the law, and treats oth-
As your character’s Stamina increases through the use of ers as he would expect to be treated himself. He has the
experience points (or through temporary supernatural enhance- potential to become more selfless and virtuous, or has a
ments), his Health increases as well. Don’t forget to adjust your long way to fall into the depths of human barbarity. The
character’s Health dots when his Stamina changes. course he follows depends entirely on the choices he makes
during the course of the chronicle.
Initiative Each Morality rating has a threshold of sinful behav-
ior from your character must refrain in order to avoid de-
Traits: Dexterity + Composure generation to a lower moral state.
Your character’s Initiative trait reflects her reaction
time and ability to think on her feet in a crisis, be it a Morality Sin
barroom brawl, a shootout or a desperate lunge to stop a
child from wandering into a busy street. When the Story- 10 Selfish thoughts. (Roll five dice.)
teller calls for an Initiative roll, you roll one die and add 9 Minor selfish act (withholding
the result to your character’s Initiative trait. The total charity). (Roll five dice.)
determines the order in which your character interacts 8 Injury to another (accidental or
with all other participants of the scene. Once you roll your otherwise). (Roll four dice.)
character’s Initiative the number does not usually change 7 Petty theft (shoplifting).
through the course of the scene. She always acts after char- (Roll four dice.)
acters with a higher total, and before those with a lower 6 Grand theft (burglary).
total. Possible exceptions are applied through use of the (Roll three dice.)
Fresh Start Merit (see Chapter 5, p. 112) or by delaying 5 Intentional, mass property damage
your character’s action (see p. 151). In the event of a tie (arson). (Roll three dice.)
between two characters, she with the highest Initiative 4 Impassioned crime (manslaughter).
trait goes first. If both Initiative traits are the same, roll a (Roll three dice.)
die for each with the highest roll going first. 3 Planned crime (murder).
Example: Diane’s character has a Dexterity of 3 and a (Roll two dice.)
Composure of 2. Adding the two produces an Initiative trait
of 5. During play, Diane’s character is approached by a 2 Casual/callous crime (serial murder).
mugger and a fight breaks out. Diane rolls a die and adds the (Roll two dice.)
result to her character’s Initiative trait. The roll is 7, so her 1 Utter perversion, heinous act (mass
character’s Initiative total is 12. The Storyteller rolls a die for murder). (Roll two dice.)
the mugger and gets a 4. The mugger’s Initiative trait is 4. Losing Morality Dots —
Adding the two together produces an Initiative total of 8.
Diane’s character gets the first action, and continues to do so Degeneration Rolls
in subsequent turns until the fight is over.
If a character commits a sin equal to or worse than
For more information on Initiative and how it ap- the threshold of his current Morality trait, roll the num-
plies to combat, see Chapter 7, p. 151. ber of dice associated with the sin performed to avoid de-
As your character’s Attributes change through the use generation. If the roll succeeds, the character’s overall
of experience points (or through temporary enhancement sense of compassion remains intact, and his Morality does
during the course of a story), her Initiative changes as well. not change. If the degeneration roll fails, your character’s
If your character’s Dexterity or Composure increases during sense of right and wrong is altered by his experience and
play, don’t forget to adjust her Initiative as well. he loses a point of Morality. His soul hardens to the needs

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