Page 102 - Chronicles of Darkness

To Roll or Not to Roll

Building equipment should never take more
than the time between one scene and the next. If it
can’t reasonably be built in a few hours or less, the
character needs to acquire it another way. This sys-
tem isn’t meant to cover building a car from scratch
or getting an entire business off the ground — it’s for
creating solutions to immediate problems. Building
truly supernatural relics is beyond the capabilities
of characters presented in this book.
If the character has plenty of time, isn’t under
any duress, and has dots in the relevant Skill equal
to the equipment bonus a standard example of the
equipment would provide, no roll is necessary. The
Storyteller simply determines how long it should
take and it’s done, either with some roleplay within
a scene, or it’s stated to have happened between
scenes.
However, if the character is under pressure to get
the job done before that werewolf picks up her scent,
or while she’s under attack by enormous slavering
spiders, the player needs to roll. Likewise, if she’s
trying to build something that’s beyond her casual
expertise (i.e., something with an equipment bonus
greater than her dots in the relevant Skill, or some-
thing the Storyteller determines is too complex to be
made without a roll) then the dice come out. The
Storyteller may also call for a roll if the player wants
to build a more impressive version of the equipment
that has higher traits than the standard example.
The Build
Equipment Action

The type of equipment the character builds
determines which dice pool to use. Most physical
objects use Wits + Crafts, or Wits + Expression for
creative works; organizations may use Presence or
Manipulation + Socialize or Streetwise; repositories
usually use Intelligence + Academics; and mystical
equipment usually uses Wits + Occult. Plans are
a slightly different animal, and require a Wits +
Composure roll. The Storyteller or player can sug-
gest alternatives if appropriate.
The Build Equipment roll always takes a penalty
equal to the intended equipment bonus. When
the equipment is meant to grant other benefits,
like a new function, an increased trait, or access to
a resource, each benefit counts as a one-die bonus
for this purpose, as well as to determine whether
a player needs to roll in the first place. Weapons
impose a penalty equal to their weapon modifier,
and armor imposes a penalty equal to its highest
armor rating (general or ballistic). As usual, this
penalty can’t exceed -5.

101
Building Equipment