Fianyarr Rules: Relics, Pledges & New Merits

So now you have an idea about the basic rules of character generation, have had a chance to look at the origin stories of the races, how to create custom beasties, and been able to check over summaries of the various classes, we now turn to the last part of general rules involving character creations.  If you want to take a look at the source list of articles for this World of Darkness fantasy mod, you can find it here.

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Pledges

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Pledges follow the same rules as that found within the Changeling rule books although, of course, there is no ensorcelment pledge as all of the races are touched by magic.  For those who don't know about Changeling pledges, they are basically pacts made binding through the ties of fate which provides a benefit to those who enter the pledge at the cost of a penalty if they happen to break it.  Pledges are more than simple promises, however, and must be empowered with a point of glamour and sometimes a point of willpower (or even a dot).  Characters must knowingly enter a pledge in most situations and must choose to pay the price to make it come to pass though they might be tricked into agreeing to something which, by the letter of the law, turns out to be something quite different.

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Stronghold Merits

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The characters may also choose Stronghold merits to build their home.  This could include Fortification (* to *****) to provide +1 Durability per dot, Defensible (* to *****) to inflict a -1 penalty per dot to enemy Stealth rolls, Theft Precautions (* to *****) to inflict -1 per dt to enemy Larceny rolls, Reputation (* to *****) to provide a form of fame to the property that can sometimes provide a bonus to some of your social rolls, Luxuriant (* to *****) to provide a +1 bonus per dot to Socialize rolls on the property, Staff (* to *****) to ensure that you have enough servants for the location where your property becomes more dingy and derelict for every point less that you have in Staff than you have in Size, Trap - Specify (cost varies per trap), Guard (* to *****) to provide a retainer that won't leave the stronghold or NPC it has been set to guard, Amenities (* to *****) to provide something elaborate and without a mechanical benefit for every dot such as a bathhouse or hotsprings or Location (* to *****) which affects the ease of obtaining merchants at your door.  These merits can be shared across player characters or could be awarded during play without requiring any experient point expenditure

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Psychic Powers & Rituals

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All non-blessing magical powers come from the Second Sight book and are labelled under the class section as such.  However, all psychic powers are referred to in-game as magic spells.  These spells don't require any rituals to cast and are innate sorcerous powers.  Rituals are separate from this and just as the name suggests require ritual preparations.  Separate to these are rites which can be performed by everyone and are pretty much Storyteller conveniences that allow a player character to, say, open a portal at a particular location into the dreamscape to further the plot.  Not only this but a character spends glamour rather than willpower points to cast rituals or spells.  The only exception to this is if a willpower dot needs to be sacrificed for it to work.

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Followers

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There are three types of follower merits that you can purchase in this game.  There are Animal Companions where a character can gain a loyal and well-trained animal and the number of dots spent on this merit indicate the type of animal that you can take as a companion from a pet dog or a hawk at one dot, an attack dog or regular horse at two dots, a wolf or a cheetah at three dots, a bear at four dots, or a tiger at five dots.  A retainer is a mortal with racial blessings but no path that gains a dot in two skills and two dots worth of merits for every dot in this merit after the first.  Or a Fae Mount which is a supernatural mount that moves at twice the speed of a normal mount for one dot and gains an ability for every dot after that.  There will be an example page of Fae Mounts and Animal Companions in future articles.  If any of these merits are lose due to the follower dying the player will get an experience point reimbursement ten sessions later.

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Relics

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What would any fantasy world be without loot?  Relics are magical items created by enchanters from the various classes (only NPCs may be enchanters due to the dedication required) or are spontaneously created by certain events.  Relics are normally quite straightforward with only one power though some have a multitude of powers or even curses attached. 

Most relics have a tell, something that marks them out as mystically significant, and a character can touch an object and roll Wyrd to determine if it is a relic or not.  An exceptional success will allow them to automatically know what it does as well.  Otherwise the character must seek a relic analyst, do some research on the object, or try and activate it with the expenditure of a point of Glamour to see what it does.

The Storyteller is encouraged not to charge experience points for a relic.  It's far better that relics are the rewards of stories, granted as gifts, found as treasure, quested for, or purchased from among a small collection of choices from an interesting NPC.  In order to keep things even, it is recommended that the Storyteller look at the dot ratings of each relic and ensure that each character has a roughly equivalent set of relics though it's fine if one or more characters are lopsided for a few sessions. If a player really has their heart set on a relic, they can either purchase it from a vendor (often requiring experience point expenditures) or can approach the Storyteller about their character setting out on a quest to find such a relic.