Page 55 - Chronicles of Darkness

capable in his line of work. A five-dot is one of the best in For every dot in this Merit, choose one type of assistant, and
her class. If a Retainer needs to make a roll, and it’s within one Skill. At any reasonable time, his staff can take actions
her field, double the dot rating and use it as a dice pool. For using that Skill. These actions automatically garner a single
anything else, use the dot rating as a dice pool. success. While not useful in contested actions, this guarantees
This Merit can be purchased multiple times to represent success on minor, mundane activities. Note that your character
multiple Retainers. may have employees without requiring the Staff Merit; Staff
simply adds a mechanical advantage for those groups.
Safe Place (• to •••••)

Effect: Your character has somewhere she can go where Status (• to •••••)
she can feel secure. While she may have enemies that could Effect: Your character has standing, membership, author-
attack her there, she’s prepared and has the upper hand. ity, control over, or respect from a group or organization. This
The dot rating reflects the security of the place. The actual can reflect official standing, or merely informal respect. No
location, the luxury, and the size are represented by equip- matter the source, your character enjoys certain privileges
ment. A one-dot Safe Place might be equipped with basic within that structure.
security systems or a booby trap at the windows and door. A Each instance of this Merit reflects standing in a differ-
five-dot could have a security crew, infrared scanners at every ent group or organization. Your character may have Status
entrance, or trained dogs. Each place can be an apartment, (The Luck Gang) •••, Status (Drag Racing Circuit) ••, and
a mansion, or a hidey-hole. Status (Police) •. Each affords its own unique benefits. As
Unlike most Merits, multiple characters can contribute you increase dot ratings, your character rises in prominence
dots to a single Safe Place, combining their dots into some- in the relevant group.
thing greater. A Safe Place gives an Initiative bonus equal Status only allows advantages within the confines of
to the Merit dots. This only applies to a character with dots the group reflected in the Merit. Status (Organized Crime)
invested in the Safe Place. won’t help if your character wants an official concealed carry
Any efforts to breach the Safe Place suffer a penalty equal to firearms permit, for example.
the Merit dots invested. If the character desires, the Safe Place Status provides a number of advantages:
can include traps that cause intruders lethal damage equal to a First, your character can apply her Status to any Social roll
maximum of the Merit rating (player’s choice as to how much with those over which she has authority or sway.
damage a given trap inflicts). This requires that the character Second, she has access to group facilities, resources, and
has at least one dot in Crafts. The traps may be avoided with funding. Depending on the group, this could be limited by
a Dexterity + Larceny roll, penalized by the Safe Place dots. red tape and requisitioning processes. It’s also dependent on
the resources the particular group has available.
Small Unit Tactics (••) Third, she has pull. If she knows a character’s Mentor,

Prerequisites: Presence ••• Resources, Retainer, Contacts, or Allies, she can block their
Effect: Your character is a proficient leader in the field. usage. Once per chapter, she can stop a single Merit from
She can organize efforts and bark orders to remarkable ef- being used, if it’s of a lower dot rating than her Status, and
if it makes sense for her organization to obstruct that type
fect. Once per scene, when making a coordinated action of person’s behavior. In our Organized Crime example, if
that was planned in advance, spend a point of Willpower your character knows that the chief of police has Contacts
and an instant action. A number of characters equal to your (Criminal Informant), you may opt to block usage by threat-
character’s Presence can benefit from the +3 bonus gained ening the informant into silence.
from the Willpower expenditure.
Drawback: Status requires upkeep, and often regular du-
Spin Doctor (•) ties. If these duties are not upheld, the Status may be lost. The
dots will not be accessible until the character re-establishes her
Prerequisites: Manipulation •••, Subterfuge •• standing. In our Organized Crime example, your character
Effect: Your character can fast-talk and sell bullshit stories may be expected to pay protection money, offer tribute to a
as if they were completely flawless. When suffering from higher authority, or undertake felonious activities.
Tainted Clues (see p. 80), your character does not ignore
successes. Instead, apply a -1 penalty for each relevant Tainted Striking Looks (• or ••)
Clue. Using a Tainted Clue only levies a total -2 penalty with
this Merit, which includes the -1 taken in lieu of ignoring Effect: Your character is stunning, alarming, command-
successes. ing, repulsive, threatening, charming, or otherwise worthy
of attention. Determine how your character looks and how
Staff (• to •••••) people react to that. For one dot, your character gets a +1 bo-
nus on any Social rolls that would be influenced by his looks.
Effect: Your character has a crew of workers or assistants at For two dots, the benefit increases to +2. Depending on the
his disposal. They may be housekeepers, designers, research as- particulars, this might influence Expression, Intimidation,
sistants, animators, cheap thugs, or whatever else makes sense. Persuasion, Subterfuge, or other rolls.
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the face in the mirror-Characters