Page 54 - Chronicles of Darkness

•• A one-dot Merit. Valley compared to one set in the Detroit slums. One dot is
a little spending money here and there. Two is a comfortable,
••• A Skill dot, or a two-dot Merit (often a supernatu- middle class wage. Three is a nicer, upper middle class life.
ral Merit). Four is moderately wealthy. Five is filthy rich.
Every item has an Availability rating. Once per chapter, your
•••• A three-dot Merit, often supernatural in origin.
character can procure an item at her Resources level or lower,
••••• A three-dot Merit, or a major advantage not re- without issue. An item one Availability above her Resources
flected in game traits. reduces her effective Resources by one dot for a full month, since
she has to rapidly liquidate funds. She can procure items two
Pusher (•) Availability below her Resources without limit (within reason).
For example, a character with Resources •••• can procure as
Prerequisite: Persuasion •• many Availability •• disposable cellphones as she needs.
Effect: Your character tempts and bribes as second nature.
Any time a mark in a Social interaction accepts his soft lever- Retainer (• to •••••)
age (see p. 82), improve your Impression as if you’d satisfied Effect: Your character has an assistant, sycophant, ser-
his Vice as well as moving the impression up on the chart.
vant, or follower on whom she can rely. Establish who this
Resources (• to •••••) companion is, and how he was acquired. It may be as simple
as a paycheck. He might owe your character his life. However
Effect: This Merit reflects your character’s disposable in- it happened, your character has a hold on him.
come. She might live in an upscale condo, but if her income A Retainer is more reliable than a Mentor, and more
is tied up in the mortgage and child support payments, she loyal than an Ally. On the other hand, a Retainer is a lone
might have little money to throw around. Characters are as- person, less capable and influential than the broader Merits.
sumed to have basic necessities without Resources. The Merit’s dot rating determines the relative competency
The dot rating determines the relative amount of dispos- of the Retainer. A one-dot Retainer is barely able to do
able funding the character has available, depending on your anything of use, such as a pet that knows one useful trick,
particular chronicle’s setting. The same amount of money or a homeless old man that does minor errands for food. A
means completely different things in a game set in Silicon three-dot Retainer is a professional in their field, someone

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Social Merits