Storyteller System
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The Storyteller System (now called The Storytelling System), is the basic set of game mechanics in the role-playing games published by White Wolf Game Studio. Games using this set of rules include the World of Darkness product line, Exalted, the Trinity line, and Street Fighter: The Role-Playing Game.
The rules detailed below are for the new Storytelling System which is the revised and more streamlined set of rules used in White Wolf's release of the revised Vampire: The Requiem (released in August 2004 alongside the corebook), Werewolf: The Forsaken (released March 14, 2005), Mage: The Awakening (to be released Summer 2005).
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Making Characters
Storyteller System characters are built with points that represent a Dot on their character sheets. Each Dot represents a ten-sided (d10) die. The more Dots in an Attribute or Skill the better they are at those abilities. An amount of dice forms a Die Pool that the character uses to see if the succeed or fail at specific tests and tasks.
Attributes
Storyteller characters have nine Attributes (or Traits) in three Groups; Mental, Physical, and Social. Each Attribute has a certain Use Category, either under Power (the ability for exerting force upon the environment), Finesse (the ability to interact with the environment), or Resistance (the ability to cope with how the environment influences them). Attributes are as follows :
- Power Category:
- Intelligence (Mental Group) – how mentally insightful they are.
- Strength (Physical Group) – how physically powerful they are.
- Presence (Social Group) – how socially imposing they are.
- Finesse Category:
- Wits (Mental Group) – how mentally clever they are.
- Dexterity (Physical Group) – how physically graceful they are.
- Manipulation (Social Group) – how socially dominating they are.
- Resistance Category:
- Resolve (Mental Group) – how mentally determined they are.
- Stamina (Physical Group) – how physically enduring they are.
- Composure (Social Group) – how socially dignified they are.
Each Attribute is measured with Dots (sometimes called Pips). Each Dot represents one ten-sided die the Attribute gets to its Dice Pool (see below). All Attributes begin with one Dot. Attributes can have up to 5 Dots, and the more Dots in an Attribute, the better the character's Attribute is. With one Dot, a character is "poor" in that Attribute and gets one die. With two Dots, they are "average" and get two dice. Three Dots, they are "good", and get three dice. Four Dots, they are "exceptional" and have four dice. Five Dots, they are "outstanding" and have five dice.
Starting characters get 12 Dots to add to their Attributes. The player must prioritize them in amongst the three Use Categories as 5/4/3; meaning, they assign 5 Dots to one Use Category, 4 Dots to another, and 3 Dots to the last one, as they choose. To fill in the 5th Dot in any Attribute costs two dots. The characters get the first Dot free, the 2nd to 4th Dots cost one Dot each, and the 5th Dot costs 2 Dots to fill in.
Skills
Storyteller characters have a wide array of Skills to choose from that represent specialized areas of knowledge. There are three Types of Skills; Mental, Physical, and Social, and they tie directly too the three Groups of Attributes. Like Attributes, each Skill has 5 Dots that represent how many dice a Skill gets. With one Dot, a character is a "novice" at the Skill. With two Dots, they are "practitioners". Three Dots, they are "professionals". Four Dots, they are "experts". Five Dots, they are "masters".
Characters get 22 Dots to "fill in" the Skill Dots, and like the Attributes, they must prioritize them in 11/7/4 between the three Attribute Groups. Like Attributes, the 5th Dot costs two Dots to fill in.
Some examples of Skills are as follows:
- Mental Skills: Academics, Computers, Crafts, Politics, Science
- Physical Skills: Athletics, Brawling, Driving, Firearms, Stealth
- Social Skills: Empathy, Intimidation, Persuasion, Streetwise, Subterfuge
Advantages
Advantages in the game are such things as the character's Defense score, Health, Initiative, Morality, Size, Speed, and Willpower. Some derived Attributes are as follows:
- Defense: is the negative Modifier an opponent gets when he tries to attack a character, which is equal to the number of Dots in whichever Attribute is lower, Dexterity or Wits.
- Health: is how well the character copes with injury. It is equal to Stamina + Size.
- Initiative: is a measure of the character's reaction time. It is equal to Dexterity + Composure.
- Morality: is a measure of the character's sense of compassion toward their fellow man, and respect for the law. Morality has a base numerical value of 7, and can change higher or lower throughout the game depending on what the character does. It could rise for doing good things and lower for doing evil.
- Size: is how big or small a character is. It is a numerical value, and for base humans, Size is equal to 5, and is reduced for smaller, and increased for larger sized creatures.
- Willpower: a measure of a character's self-confidence and determination. It is equal to Resolve + Composure. With one Dot, a character is "spineless". With ten Dots, they are "implacable".
Virtues and Vices
Storyteller characters also select one Virtue and one Vice. A Virtue is some defining quality of a character's personality and is one that clearly defines their basic beliefs. Some Virtues are Charity, Faith, and Justice. A Vice is a basic weakness in the character's personality. They are the Seven Deadly Sins such as Envy, Lust, and Greed.
Merits
Merits are special beneficial abilities and strengths a character may possess. They are similar in a way to Feats in d20 System games. They are organized in the Mental, Physical, and Social categories like Attributes and Skills. Starting characters get 7 Dots to purchase Merits. Some Merits apply to certain Attributes and provide a bonus when using them. Some also require a prerequisite in some other Attribute in order to purchase them. Each Trait has a certain number of Dots associated which indicate it's Dot cost. A Trait with 4 Dots, for example, "Common Sense", costs 4 Dots to purchase. Others have a range of Dots; "Language" for instance, has one to three Dots, and a character can buy a certain level of it they choose.
Some examples of Merits are: Danger Sense, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Ambidextrous, Specific Fighting Styles (like Kung Fu for example), Fleet of Foot, Iron Stamina, Quick Healer, Allies and Contacts.
Overview of Game Mechanics
All mechanics of the Storyteller System utilize a number of 10-sided dice. Usually a WoD game requires a player to have at least ten d10s to roll for their character's task resolutions and Attribute tests. The system of determining success or failure is very similar to the system used in Shadowrun and is based on rolling a number of Successes that meet or exceed a set Difficulty Number. The more Successes rolled, the better the character performed the task.
The Game Master in a WoD game is called the Storyteller.
Dice Pools
Depending on what the situation calls for, a character has a number of Dots in Attributes and Skills. Each Dot represents a d10 die that are added to Dice Pools to roll for task resolutions. For example, if a character is making a Dexterity check, and has three Dots filled under their Dexterity Attribute, they roll 3d10 (or three ten-sided dice) when a check is called upon.
When a Skill check is called for, a character adds the Dots of the Skill being tested, and adds any extra Dots granted by a particular Attribute linked to that Skill as their Dice Pool. For example, if a character is scaling a wall, they add dice from their Strength Attribute, and dice from their Athletics Skill together. In this case, if the character has a Strength of 3 Dots, and a Athletics Skill of 4 Dots, they get 7 dice in their Dice Pool.
Target Numbers
The basic Target Number in WoD games is 8; meaning a d10 dice roll needs to roll 8s, 9s, and 10s to bring up a Success. A roll of 7 or less is a Failure. As longs as one Success is rolled, that character has achieved their task. Five or more Successes in a roll is a Exceptional Success and usually something very beneficial happens for the character, above what they had expected.
Anytime a die comes up as a 10, a player may reroll it to see if it gets another 8 or higher. This is called 10 Again. If the reroll succeeds, it counts as another Success to be added in.
Anytime a character has absolutely no dice remaining in their pool as a result of so many negative Modifiers, the task would seem impossible to perform. The character is still allowed a single d10 die roll, called a Chance Roll (or a Hail Mary), to see if sheer blind luck or divine intervention allows them to succeed. Result of 10 is a Success (can be rerolled for more Successes see "10 Again" rule above), 2-9 is a Failure and result of 1 is a Dramatic Failure when something really bad happens to character.
In the previous edition of WoD, the Storyteller dictated a Target Number which was a number a player needed to roll at or above on his dice. The Exalted system uses a flat target number of 7 for almost all rolls, and the Trinity system uses a fixed target number of 6.
Modifiers
Modifiers are either bonuses or penalties to a die roll that are determined and added in by the Storyteller. This will subtract or add to the amount of dice that can be rolled in a Dice Pool. A maximum of 5 dice can be added to a Dice Pool as a bonus for really easy tasks. Likewise, a maximum of 5 dice can be subtracted from the pool for really hard tasks.
Keeping Time
Time in Storyteller games is measured in small Turns. Each Turn is 3-seconds of real time and are usually important during Combat Scenes. Turns further make up a Scene, which further make up a Chapter. A Chapter is usually one gaming session and Chapters are linked together into an overall Story set in a Chronicle (or the Big Picture) the theme and setting of the entire game.
Actions and Combat
There are three basic kinds of Actions in a Storyteller game. Instant Actions take up very little time like taking a gun off safety, or shouting a small message to an ally. Extended Actions take longer time to accomplish and can extend over a number of Turns to complete, like getting a stuck window open, or changing a light bulb. Contested Actions are Actions that involve dealing with what the opposition does, like shooting at a running target during a Combat Scene.
Initiative is determined by making a single d10 roll and adding the number of Dots from their Dexterity and Composure scores to the result. Those who win Initiative, may act first during Combat or hold their action to see what the opposition does.
There are two kinds of Attacks in the game; Close Combat which is fighting with hand held weapons or bare fists against something right in front of the character, and Ranged Combat which involves projectile weapons against targets farther away from the character. Close Combat involves using the character's Strength + Brawling, or Strength + Melee Weaponry dice pools against the target's Defense and Armor Values. Ranged is handled similarly, but the character rolls their Dexterity + Firearms, or Dexterity + Athletics (Throwing) dice pools to hit the target, further Modified by distance and any cover.
Taking Damage
For every Success a character has on their Attack roll against an opponent, they inflict one Health Point of Damage upon the target. There are three kinds of Damage in WoD games: Bashing, Lethal and Aggravated. Bashing Damage is inflicted by blunt objects that bludgeons targets. Lethal Damage is caused by slashing and piercing weapons like knives and guns. Aggravated Damage is damaged caused by longterm effects, such as disease, poison, or even supernatural attacks. Healing Aggravated Damage takes the longest to recover from.
Health Point Dots are reduced by Damage. Whenever a character is down to their last 3 Health Point Dots, they begin to suffer a -1 Dot penalty to all Attributes, Talents and Skills, With two left, they suffer -2, and with one left, they suffer -3. When all Dots are gone, a character is unconscious and may be dying.
Rewards
After a game, a Storyteller can award Experience Points to players to improve their character's Attributes, Talents and Skills.