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 [[house_rules|Back to the House Rules Index]] \\
-^  **Subpages**  ||||
+^  **Subpages**  |||||
-|  **General**  |  [[Pacts]]  |  [[Reaping Faith]]  |  [[Lores]]  |
+|  **General**  |  [[Pacts]]  |  [[Reaping Faith]]  |  [[Lores]]  |  [[demon_rituals|Rituals]]  |
-Below is a list of House Rules and mechanics for //Demon: the Fallen// at **Shadows over the South.** It is not exhaustive and until further notice should be considered a **work in progress.**
+====== Foreword: Annotations for New Players =====
-====== Foreword: Recommendations for New Players =====
+Experience has shown that there are a number of pitfalls that regularly plague new players of Demon: The Fallen, especially in the context of **Shadows over the South**. Following are a number of explanations and recommendations that are intended to help with these issues:
-**Shadow over the South** is a multisplat game and also has a few peculiarities that might not be obvious to new players. For this purpose the following list of recommendations has been compiled. Note that while these are not //**required**// per se, not following these recommendations, from experience, //will// hamper your gameplay eventually.
+  - //Ranks of Virtues bought with freebie points do not affect your Willpower.// If you wish to increase your Willpower beyond the four or five points you get from your regular allotment of Virtues, you have to do so directly. However, please note the general server rules regarding permanent Willpower scores over five.
+  - Since **SotS** uses (modified) Twentieth Anniversary Edition rules for combat, dodging is resolved as a Dexterity + Athletics roll. //The Dodge talent is therefore superfluous and can be ignored.//
-  - **Take at least one dot of the __Legacy__ background.** Otherwise your character will not know (and cannot know) much about their condition as a Demon, and will thus come across as an uninformed idiot to his or her fellow Demons, as well as any other character who knows anything about them.
+  - The Religion knowledge ability has been replaced by the more general Belief Systems knowledge ability from M20. Please ask the Demon ST for the full text of the ability if you don't have access to the M20 core book.
-  - **Take at least one dot of the __Pacts__ background.** While Reaping is an available option for Demons to gain Faith (see below), it is //**not recommended at all**// due to the simple fact that this is a multisplat game, and as Reaping requires you to break the Veil/Masquerade/whatever you want to call it, you //will// eventually piss someone off, most likely your own superiors as a Demon if you draw the wrong kind of attention, and they //will not// think twice about throwing you under the bus if they think you’re a liability. While Pacts also requires you to break the Veil, usually by the time you’re ready to drop the ‘I’m a Demon, want to sell me your soul?’ bomb on them, you’ve either earned their trust or have made them so desperate by that point that they’re unlikely to say no. The **only** reason you shouldn’t take this Background is if you’re gunning for Reconciliation], which is //not// easy and is an entire character arc all on its own, much like Golconda for Vampire. In short, **REAP FAITH AT YOUR OWN RISK.**
+  - **SotS** does not utilise the Linguistics knowledge ability. Instead additional languages are gained by purchasing the **Language** merit. The full text of the merit can be found on the [[setting:universal_merit|Universal Merits]] page.
-  - **__Do not__ count on being able to form Pacts in-character, //especially// not with other PCs.** While this is possible, you have to work for it, and it will mostly likely be a scene reward of some kind. **All Pacts with NPCs being possible or not are the sole discretion of the ST of the scene/splat in question (Demon STs if it’s a normal mortal).** Do not expect the STs to make an entire plotline just for you to make a Pact. It’s on you to find an opportunity and seize it, and then we can work from there. Moreover, other PCs aren’t stupid, and infernalism is a crime in most other splats, punishable by death or worse. The Infernal Court pays lip service to the Council agreements banning it, but in practice, the unwritten rule is ‘we don’t want to know, and you better not get caught.’ Basically, if you form a Pact with another PC and get caught, the Court’s hierarchy will deny all knowledge of it, and you will pay the price. Again, **you have been warned.**
+  - In general, please note the modified ability lists used in this game. They can be found in full [[setting:general_system_house_rules#abilities|here.]]
+  - It is recommended that characters with medium to high incomes (Resources 3 or above) purchase at least one dot of the **Finance** ability. Without knowledge of financial matters the character can easily fall prey to scams or simply bad investments.
+  - Please make sure to familiarise yourself with our [[setting:lore_system|splat lore system]]. Since every character automatically receives a dot of their respective splat lore, demon characters receive one dot of **Occult** for free. Halaku characters can elect to receive a dot of Lore: Spirits instead. This dot is applied after step three of character creation, and //can// increase the rank of Occult beyond three dots.
+  - While it is not a requirement, it is strongly recommended that you take at least one dot of the **Pacts** background. While Reaping is an available option for Demons to gain Faith (see the Reaping Faith subpage for details), it is not recommended due to the fact that it involves intentionally revealing the existence of the supernatural to a regular human.
+  - In the same vein it is highly recommended that you take at least one dot of the **Legacy** background. Without Legacy your character will not know (and cannot know) much about their condition as a Demon, and will thus come across as highly ignorant.
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   * You may use Fugue to gain a discount on House Lores other than your Primary Lore, but only after you have gained your fifth dot in your Primary Lore. You cannot use Fugue to gain a discount on out-of-House Lores. Common Lores count as House Lores for this purpose. Earthbound characters cannot use Fugue to gain a discount on the Earthbound Lores. Those Lores did not exist until after the War, therefore you cannot possibly have memories of using that Lore during the War.
   * The downside of entering a Fugue: If you botch the Legacy roll at the end of the Fugue, your character remains in Fugue. Your character may start having memories of the end of the War, being cast into the Abyss, or even remember the Torment of the Abyss itself. They will remain in Fugue until they they eventually pass a Willpower roll, difficulty 7, which you may only make once per day. Woe to the character who remains in Fugue for a particularly long time...
-----
-====== Teaching Lores ======
-The process of learning a non-house Lore from a teacher outlined in the Players Guide is generally too slow and complicated for the purposes of a living game like this. As such, a simplified method has been established:
-  - The Teacher demonstrates the evocation to be taught to the student. This is a regular evocation of the Lore in all regards, i.e. all perquisites for using the evocation have to be met and there needs to be a valid target (if required).
-  - The student observes the evocation carefully. Mechanically, the student makes a Perception + Alertness roll against Difficulty 7.
-  - Step one and two are repeated until the student has accumulated a number of successes equal or greater than the number of XP necessary to buy the evocation in question (e.g. ten successes for a level one evocation, five for two, etc.)
-  - In a final step the student has to perform the evocation for themselves. This requires the standard evocation roll (spending Faith on additional successes is permissible). If they succeed, they gain justification to buy the evocation at standard cost. If they fail, they can try again. If they botch all progress is lost and they need to restart the learning process from scratch.
-Please remember to ping the Demon ST to validate your success and to link to the scene in your purchase request. \\
-**Additional Notes:**
-  * The process outlined in this section cannot be used to learn evocations out of order. E.g. to learn Lore of Flame 2 the character needs to already know Lore of Flame 1.
-  * Your character cannot perform the evocation until after the purchase request has been completed. Their successful use of the evocation in step four is considered a fluke, the character will need to practice the Lore off-screen for a while before they can securely evoke it on command.
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   * As we don't use the Linguistics skill, learning the First Tongue requires buying the merit Language: First Tongue. Demons do not require justification for this purchase, as they are merely remembering something they used to know.
+  * While the description claims that the First Tongue has "no surviving written form," this is contradicted within the book itself, as still existing texts written in the First Tongue are described on page 105. Therefore for the purpose of this game, the merit Language: First Tongue also confers the ability to read and write it in its original writing system.
   * The ability of the First Tongue to 'contaminate' mortals and replace all other languages does not work on supernatural beings in general and player characters in particular. The potential for abuse is too great otherwise.
-  * Regular (NPC) humans who hear the One Language make a Perception + Intuition roll against Difficulty 8 to learn it, instead of the Perception + Linguistics roll prescribed in the book.
+  * Regular (NPC) humans who hear the One Language make a Perception + Intuition roll against Difficulty 8 to learn it, instead of the Perception + Linguistics roll prescribed in the book. Seeing written examples of the language, either in its original writing system or written phonetically, is **not** cause for such a roll, the subject needs to hear it spoken.
-----
-====== Pacts And You ======
-First and foremost, let's start with the one everyone is going to ask about first: Pacts. //Yes, Pacts can be made with player characters.// But first...
-===== IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER =====
-Once you agree to a Pact as a PC, you are effectively playing on Hard Mode from that point on. Your splat will almost certainly kill you if they find out what you've done, and few Fallen will think twice about throwing you under the bus to save their own skin. The Demon //owns you// from that point on. They have you on speed dial 24 hours a day, and they //will// make you do things you, as a player, will not want to do, and often at the worst possible time, and just trying saying no to them and see what happens. They also have enemies of their own, and now they're going to come to for you, too. Once you take this plunge, there's no going back; only the Fallen can end the Pact at any time. But it's all about risk vs. reward; if you take this risk and play your cards right, you could very well be on the fast track for power. In short, **AGREE TO THE PACT AT YOUR OWN RISK. __YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED__!**
-With that out of the way, Pacts with regular mortals work as described in the books. I won't waste your time or mine by re-writing those, and I'm willing to hazard a bet that that's not what you clicked on this page to read if you're not here to play a Demon. So without further ado...
-===== Pacts with Supernaturals =====
-After reading the above, you're probably all thinking, "Gee, can't wait until I can enthrall me a Nephandi and Baali and a Shusakhsen and a Black Spiral Dancer and and and and--..." Well, not so fast.
-Let's face it. Supernatural Thralls are the Holy Grail for a Demon, and just about everyone knows it, just like how having another supernatural as a ghoul is for a vampire. You're giving them extra power, and now you own them; you have the leverage of taking that gift away with a snap of your fingers, and they will do //anything// to keep it. Except... that's not really how it works.
-**A Pact is __not__ a blood bond**. The threat of losing what you have given them is leverage, but leverage earns compliance, not loyalty. So to be clear, I am not talking about the Pacts background; once the Pact is forged, you're getting your Faith whether your thrall likes it or not, and they can't back out of that agreement. I am, in fact, talking about the **Followers/Thralls** background.
-Pacts are often made in desperation or out of greed. They might be made in the heat of the moment, a moment of weakness, or because the potential thrall has crossed the despair event horizon and no longer sees any other way out of their current predicament than selling their soul. But eventually, unless that thrall is simply an infernalist by nature (in which case, you should really think twice before agreeing to that Pact), it is going to sink in for them that they've just committed the cardinal sin in the World of Darkness, and pretty much every major faction from every other splat in the universe considers it a crime punishable by death, or worse. They've traded their future for the present. Depending on their own beliefs, they probably also believe they're now all but guaranteed a one-way ticket to hell, and no amount of "No you didn't" from a //demon// of all things will convince them otherwise.
-So, how do you turn someone having an existential crisis into a loyal follower? I'll tell you. And no, it's not as simple as spending points.
-  * You must earn the Supernatural Thrall/Follower as a **__SCENE REWARD__**. You cannot earn one via journaling, and you may not have one from character creation. This is non-negotiable and no exceptions will be made, period.
-  * **You must first purchase the Pacts background**. Your Supernatural Thrall/Follower cannot be considered a thrall without having a Pact with you, by definition. XP reductions will be offered at ST discretion, and only by the ST who was running the scene from which you earned the reward. //The ST running that scene has final discretion on whether or not the prospective thrall accepts the Pact.// Remember, Pacts, by definition, are voluntary.
-  * **Once you have the Pacts background, you must purchase the Followers/Thralls background**. Note that you can make both purchases at the same time; so long as the completion date of Followers/Thralls background dot comes either after or on the completion date of the Pacts background, it's fair game.
-  * **On or around the completion date of the Followers/Thralls Background dot, you will have to participate in a one-on-one scene with an ST, most likely either me or the ST of the scene from which you earned your scene reward.** Think Seeking scenes from Mage, or Balance scenes from Mummy. The goal of the scene will be to earn the loyalty of that thrall once and for all. You will be interacting with that thrall, and you will have to find a way to convince them that they either made the right choice, it's not as bad as they think it is, they're on the fast track for power, whatever it takes. Each thrall is different, and they all made the Pact for their own reasons, and some scenes will be much harder to complete than others. A Baali on the Path of Evil Revelations will be a lot easier to convince to serve a demon than a Technocrat or an Imbued, for example. Once you complete that scene, congratulations! You've just earned a very powerful ally. The ST who ran this scene for you will make the character sheet, if one doesn't exist already. If you didn't succeed, you will, unfortunately, need to try again. The good news is that you still keep the Pact; only the demon can cancel it. The bad news is you'll need to buy the dot all over again, just like a failed Seeking or Balance scene.
-===== Pacts with Vampires =====
-**IMPORTANT**:
-As has been pointed out multiple times, information on Pacts with vampires is extremely contradictory within //Demon: the Fallen//, despite the fact that Infernalism is well-established among Cainites and has been dating back all the way to Enoch. //Demon: the Fallen: Storyteller's Guide// states that vampires have a Faith Potential of 0 by default, while //Dark Ages: Devil's Due// lays out actual mechanics for Pacts with vampires, and //Vampire 20: The Black Hand: Guide to the Tal'Mahe'Ra// and //Vampire 20: Rites of the Blood// both all but state outright that vampires can and have made Pacts with the Earthbound, if not Fallen in general. So how do we address this for this game?
-After much deliberation and working with the Vampire ST, we've come up with the following mechanics for forming Pacts with vampires. Note that these mechanics do //not// apply to any other splat in the game; All other splats, with the exception of Wraith, are 'alive' in some sense, and thus do have a Faith Potential. Pacts with Wraiths are not possible, no exceptions.
-**__House Mechanics for Forming the Pact__**:
-  * **To form the Pact**, the Fallen must spend at least 1, but no more than 5 points of Faith, and then roll that many dice (standard difficulty). For each success, the Vampire spends one Blood Point. The Faith 'bonds' itself to the vitae spent, resonating with the divine properties within the Curse of Caine, and infusing Torment into it. Each 'success' on the Faith roll becomes a point of Faith Potential for that Vampire. If this roll fails, the Faith and Blood points are lost and the Fallen and Vampire must try again another day. Botching this roll means that not only does the Pact fail, but it causes the Vampire to have a bad reaction to the Torment; they have visions of going to hell, and must make a Rötschreck check. Note that you only have one chance at this; if you roll three successes, that's it, that's that vampire's Faith Potential, and they're stuck with it.
-  * **Once the Pact is made**, the Vampire automatically loses one point of Humanity or Path (unless, for some reason, they're already on the Path of Evil Revelations), and must make a Conscience/Conviction roll to determine if they lose an additional point. Note that Vampires cannot provide Offered Faith to Fallen, meaning the Fallen must invest __all__ of the Vampire's artificial Faith Potential back into the Vampire. If a Vampire wishes to try to boost their Faith Potential in the future, it requires an additional Pact... and with it, an additional loss of Humanity/Path, and an additional gain of Permanent Torment. Note that Faith Potential can never exceed 5.
-**__House Rules__**:
-  * **Upon forming a Pact**, Vampires gain one point of Permanent Torment. This Torment, as stated in in //Devil's Due//, acts as a 'hard cap' to their Humanity/Path rating, and each subsequent failed Degeneration Roll made after this accumulates one additional point of Permanent Torment (yes, I said Permanent Torment, //not// Temporary Torment) in addition to a loss of Humanity/Path. Should their Torment rating ever exceed their Humanity/Path Rating (e.g. Humanity 4, Permanent Torment 5), they will gain the **Dark Aura** flaw (p.16, //V20: Lore of the Bloodlines//). This Flaw may not be removed by spending XP so long as the vampire’s Permanent Torment remains greater than their Humanity/Path rating. There is only one exception to this: A Vampire on the Path of Evil Revelations ignores their Torment rating when it comes to their Path/Humanity rating, but //not// when it comes to the Flaw. Permanent Torment may be reduced by spending XP, but this will not remove the Flaw if it is acquired.
-  * **Vampires do not have a Faith Potential, or at least not a 'natural' Faith Potential**. This means that Fallen do not gain Offered Faith from a Pact with a Vampire, and Vampires do //not// regenerate Faith when they use a Lore or manifest an Apocalyptic trait. However, that does not mean that forming a pact with a Vampire is pointless; all Vampires have a Permanent Faith rating equal to their Faith Potential as formed using the method stated above. Fallen may 'donate' their Temporary Faith to a Vampire to use as they see fit, and Vampires will store this just like Blood Points, to use in any way a Fallen may use it (for Lores, manifesting an Apocalyptic Trait, buffing their own stats, healing Bashing or Lethal Damage, etc.). Note that Temporary Faith does not 'disappear' like Blood Points, and can be safely stored indefinitely until used. Temporary Faith may not be used as a substitute for Blood Points when using Disciplines, with the exception of Dark Thaumaturgy (see below).
-**__Possible Benefits to Vampires__:**
-  * **Any 'standard' Gift from Faith investment**. Want total immunity from Dominate, Presence, and Dementation? Take Mind Control Immunity. Want wings? Take the Apocalyptic Trait. Want better stats with no extra work? Take 10 Freebie Points. Note that you can't spend Freebie Points on Generation. That's another Gift; see below. Note that these Freebies cannot be spent on Disciplines, with the exception of Dark Thaumaturgy (see below).
-  * **Dark Thaumaturgy**. This one comes with a major caveat:// Either the Fallen or the Vampire must have some form of justification to learn a Dark Thaumaturgy path.// Examples can include infernalist tomes, or similar scene rewards. Dark Thaumaturgy originated with demons that existed before the Sixth Great Maelstrom, such as Earthbound, Banes, etc., and most modern Fallen (and indeed, most Vampires) haven't even heard of Dark Thaumaturgy. All dots cost XP as normal, and count as a Clan Discipline for XP cost. All Dark Thaumaturgy paths work as written in the books, including the price that must be paid for using them (i.e. Nightmares for Path of Phobos, etc.). Temporary Faith donated by a Vampire may be used as a substitute for Blood Points when using Dark Thaumaturgy, but //not// for any other Discipline. **This is considered an Investment; see below.**
-  * **Chain the Beast.** Adopted from //Dark Ages: Devil's Due//. If you take this Gift, you gain immunity to all Rötschreck and Frenzy checks. However, this comes with a terrible price... your Fallen patron can make you go into Frenzy or Rötschreck whenever he or she wants, without even needing to roll for it, and you cannot roll to resist, as you have surrendered all control over the Beast by forming the Pact. It lasts for as long as the Fallen wants, and it can end as suddenly as it can begin. **This is considered an Investment; see below**. Note that if the Fallen triggers a Frenzy in a Vampire, and the Vampire kills an innocent while Frenzied, the Fallen is responsible, and must roll Degeneration as per the Hierarchy of Sins.
-  * **Lowered Generation**. This is one of the only ways you can lower your Generation without diablerie. Each point of Faith reinvested back into a Vampire is another generation lowered. As tempting as this sounds, be careful not to lower your Generation too much at once, or the suddenly empty blood pool will immediately trigger Frenzy, or worse, Torpor. Note that this is not permanent; the Fallen can revoke this gift just like any other, or if the Pact were to be broken for whatever reason, you will instantly revert back to your previous Generation. Also note that while it is, in theory, possible to instantly become an Elder in terms of generation, it does //not// make you an Elder in terms of age or experience. You gain the Generation dots; not the other dots an actual Elder would have that go with it.
-===== Pacts with Mages =====
-__**House Rules**__
-  * Mages gain 1 point of Permanent Torment. Mages also gain one point each of Conviction, Courage, and Conscience, as well as up to seven additional dots to be spread out amongst these three Virtues, in accordance with that Mage's personality. This is for making Degeneration rolls whenever a Mage does anything that could result in them gaining Temporary Torment. Note that going against your Paradigm //or// acting in defiance of you Avatar will result in a degeneration roll (in addition to increased difficulty on Arete rolls if failed, in the case of the latter), using Conviction. Mages may purchase additional Virtue dots with XP, just like Demons. See [[http://www.shadowsoverthesouth.net/characterwiki/doku.php?id=setting:detailed_experience_costs|here]] for costs.
-  * A Mage's Faith Potential is equivalent to their Avatar rating, at a maximum of **five**. Fallen gain/invest Faith accordingly.
-  * **A Mage's Permanent Faith is equivalent to their Arete rating**. Unlike other types of Thralls, Mages regain Temporary Faith every morning, equal to the number of successes made on an Arete roll (difficulty 7). WARNING: This roll __can__ botch, with disastrous results!
-  * Temporary Faith cannot be used as a substitute for Quintessence, but it //can// be used to buff your Attributes, similar to Demons with Faith or Vampires with Blood Points. It can also be used to heal //your own// health levels, for Bashing or Lethal damage (//not// Aggravated).
-  * **If a Mage's Permanent Torment rating ever exceeds their Avatar rating, that Avatar becomes Inverted.** While some might argue that this is better than outright losing their Avatar, as can happen if they become a ghoul, don't let the local Chantry find out...
-  * **Forming a Pact will have you take the Bound flaw**. The only one who can 'cancel' a Pact is the Fallen him or herself. The Mage is stuck with it indefinitely.
-__**Possible Benefits for Mages:**__
-  * **One dot of Arete**. However, just as any Mage would tell you, there is no such thing as an easy route to power, and this Gift comes with a terrible price: Should you ever botch an Arete roll fueled by this Infernal power, you will gain one additional point of Temporary Torment for every point of Paradox you would have gained. Note that Temporary Torment does //not// disappear with Paradox. See above for how to get rid of Temporary Torment.
-  * **Any Gift that could be given to normal thralls**. Want to thwart any attempt at using the Mind Sphere on you? Take Mind Control immunity. Want to be more beautiful, stronger, etc.? Take 10 freebie points. NOTE: These freebie points cannot be spent on Arete or Avatar.
-  * **Spheres**. Spheres may be purchased with freebie points received via a Pact. Note, however, that the same rule as with Arete increases apply, but only for Arete rolls made while using that Sphere: Botching a roll while using that sphere (**regardless of level**) will cause an increase in Torment along with Paradox, at a rate of one point of Temporary Torment per point of Paradox. If you took both Arete //and// Spheres, these penalties stack.
-  * **Backgrounds**. While normally backgrounds //cannot// be purchased with Freebie points granted by Pacts, //certain// backgrounds for Mages can be. Note, however, that because they are being granted via infernalism, they will not function exactly the same way as normal. For example, if you take the Arcane background, it will never work on the demon with whom you hold the Pact, and the demon herself will be able to choose whom it does or does not work on (assume that, by default, it is always 'on;' the demon can retroactively restore memories removed by Arcane, however). If you take the Sanctum background, it will grant you a time and resource discount, but you still have to construct it yourself; the demon cannot do this for you, and the demon will be able to access the Sanctum whenever they wish (all Wards you construct in and around the sanctum cannot stop the demon from entering, and they do not need to roll to pierce it). Demesne purchased with these freebies are corrupted with Torment; while they will still help with Quiet, depending on your Permanent Torment, you might actually prefer the Quiet. Because the demon is the one granting you the power, they are the ones who ultimately control it. Backgrounds taken with the Pact must first be discussed with both myself and the Mage ST to discuss how they will work. You may not purchase any background that depends upon external sources, such as Contacts, Allies, Mentor, Resources, Nodes, etc. You may only purchase Backgrounds that relate to your characters' own abilities.
-===== Pacts with Garou and Fera =====
-__**House Rules**__
-  * All Garou or Fera who enter into a Pact with Fallen gain one point of Permanent Torment //per point of their Gnosis rating.// **Torment is indistinguishable from Wyrm Taint to other Garou or Fera**. If you enter into a Pact, be prepared to abandon your Pack, or suffer the consequences.
-  * A Garou or Fera's Faith Potential matches their permanent Gnosis rating, capped at 5.
-  * Gnosis is treated as Faith for all Shapechangers. They may spend Gnosis for any Gift or Investment that requires spending Faith, and they regain Gnosis as normal. Fallen may also likewise 'donate' a point of Temporary Faith to their thrall, which instantly becomes Gnosis for the sake of the Shapechangers. Only the Shapechanger's demonic patron may do this; no other Fallen can, nor can it be done without a Pact.
-  * Garou or Fera inevitably go insane from Torment, much like Wyrm Taint. Garou and Fera gain one Derangement for every point of Permanent Torment they gain //after// the Pact is formed. These Derangements persist until the point of Permanent Torment is bought off with XP. Furthermore, every //two// points of Permanent Torment decrease the Garou's difficulty of every Frenzy roll; for example, a garou with Permanent Torment 4 would have -2 difficulty for every Frenzy roll. Each time the Shapechanger Frenzies, they gain one point of Temporary Torment.
-  * Every two points of Permanent Torment adds +1 difficulty to every roll to use Gifts. The reason for this is for the same reason why Wyrm-tainted Fera or Garou eventually lose their Gifts; the Spirits simply refuse to help them, and the Garou or Fera will eventually have to embrace the Wyrm to compensate for the lost power. So too is the case with the Fallen. Botching a roll to use a Gift while under a Pact results in evoking the anger of that Spirit instead, with results left to the discretion of the Werewolf ST.
-__**Possible Benefits for Garou and Fera:**__
-  * Any Investment that can be given to any normal Thrall. Note that Apocalyptic Traits or any other Investment can be manifested while in Crinos form, and that the bonuses stack...
-  * Shapechangers have their own unique investment, similar to 'Chain the Beast' for vampires. This investment works mostly the same way (in that the Shapechanger gains immunity to Frenzy checks), but one with one key difference; your demonic patron can also likewise cause the Shapechanger to Frenzy whenever he or she wishes. Note that if the Fallen triggers a Frenzy in a Shapechanger and that Shapechangers kills an innocent, the Fallen is responsible, and must immediately roll for Degeneration as per the Hierarchy of Sins.
-===== Pacts with Changelings =====
-//Work in progress; details to be worked out with the Changeling ST. Not a priority unless and until such mechanics become necessary.//
-===== Pacts with Imbued =====
-//Work in progress; details to be worked out with the Hunter ST. Not a priority unless and until such mechanics become necessary.//
-===== Pacts with Mummies and Amkhat =====
-//**NOTE**:// It is //not possible// to form Pacts with any Mummy that uses Balance or the Way (in other words, Amenti and Wu'Tian). This is for Teomalki, Cabiri, Ishmaelites, Amkhat, as well as Shusaskhsen, or any other type of Mummy that uses Corruption instead of Balance, all of which are valid candidates for Pacts. Amenti or Wu'Tian who attempt to form a Pact will find that the Pact simply refuses to take hold, and the Judges will likely have a few choice words for the Amenti the next time they're in Du'at. Wu'Tian should likewise not expect their own masters to approve.
-**__House Rules__:**
-  * All Mummies immediately gain one dot of Permanent Torment. This Torment acts as a second Corruption rating, meaning that the Corruption and Permanent Torment ratings stack for all Corruption-related mechanics (except for Corrupt Faith; see below). This more or less means that, just like with Garou and Fera, any Mummy or Amkhat that forms a Pact with a Fallen will inevitably become an inhuman, psychotic monster. Form this Pact at your own risk!
-  * Any lingering connection the Mummy or Amkhat had to Apophis or Set is immediately severed. You cannot serve two masters! Amkhat will not notice that the connection is severed, but if they ever //do// find out, watch out. This also means that they do not regain Sekhem from dusk falling, but they //can// still regain Sekhem from Nodes.
-  * Cabiri regain their Sekhem as normal. Teomalki can only regain their Sekhem if the Demon they made a Pact with can somehow gain the favor of their Ancestors. This, naturally, is much easier said than done and will require an entire plot arc on the Demon's part, one that //will// be incredibly difficult and could very well result in the Demon's death.
-  * A Mummy or Amkhat's Faith Potential is equal to half of their Corruption or Direction rating (rounded up). A Mummy with Balance cannot form a Pact for reasons listed above.
-  * All Mummies and Amkhat have a Permanent Faith rating equal to half of their Corruption or Direction rating (rounded up). Mummies, much like Shapechangers, Changelings, and Vampires, cannot regenerate Temporary Faith on their own. It instead must be donated by their Fallen patron. Mummies may use Temporary Faith as a substitute for Sekhem to fuel their Hekau. Temporary Faith may not be stored inside vessels.
-  * A Mummy's Ka becomes increasingly hostile with each point of Permanent Torment gained. The Ka of a Mummy in a death cycle takes on the Torment from the rest of the Mummy's soul, and will flail in Tormented rage for the duration of the cycle, lashing out at everyone and everything around it.
-  * Each point of Permanent Torment rating is treated as an extra point of Khaibit for Mummies, meaning that everyone they come into contact with will feel something very, very wrong with them.
-__**Possible Benefits for Mummies and Amkhat:**__
-  * Any Gift that can be given to a 'normal' Thrall. Yes, this includes any defensive Apocalyptic Trait. Your soak dice shall block out the sun. (Let them Thunder Kick in the shade.)
-  * Corrupt Faith: This Gift is automatically granted to all Corruption Mummies and Amkhat, and is 'invested' for free without spending a point of Faith Potential. Roll Corruption, difficulty 7. Each success allows the Mummy or Amkhat to convert one point of Temporary Faith into one point of Sekhem, by 'corrupting' the Faith stored within them. If this roll botches, the Faith is lost without being converted. You may only attempt to corrupt Faith once per day. Permanent Torment does not count as Corruption for the sake of this roll.
-----
-====== Reaping Faith ======
-While it is strongly recommended that player characters take at least one dot in the Pacts background, it is not strictly required, and in fact there are reasons why you might want to avoid it (e.g. if your character is seeking reconciliation, see below). As such reaping Faith (as described in the core book, page 249 and following) is still a possibility. Unlike Pacts, which provide a steady stream of Faith every single day, Reaping is a one-time hit, and requires a lot less work. \\
-The problem is that it's also riskier; after all, Reaping means deliberately revealing your true nature to a mortal, and using the resulting shock (or Revelation) to snatch some Faith as their belief in the divine - or the demonic - is rekindled. If the Revelation didn't force them to forget, they might become a born-again religious devotee, or be scarred for life. Or, if you're particularly unlucky, they go home and blog about it and you attract unwanted attention. \\
-Just like for hunting for vampires, this will be done via dice-rolling. There will be methods for both Low-Torment and High-Torment. Whenever you perform one of these rolls, ping the Demon ST for validation purposes. If the roll is successful, you gain back one point of Temporary Faith. You may make this roll once per day. \\
-===== Low-Torment Reaping =====
-==== Vigilantism ====
-Somebody is being mugged, or beaten up, or worse. Time to be a guardian angel!\\
-Roll any ability you might have to break it up, whether it be Dexterity + Brawl to punch his lights out, or some evocation. Be very careful not to use anything lethal; if the assailant dies, you might have just created more problems than you solved. Including, possibly, gaining Torment.\\
-If you roll at least three successes, you've saved the victim. Now comes the fun part: If you did NOT use an Evocation to subdue the assailant, you reveal your true nature to the victim, the assailant (if they're still conscious or alive), or both. This may involve activating your Apocalyptic Form, if you're sure you'll get away with using it in public.\\
-Now, roll Charisma + Empathy. The affected mortals roll for Revelation. If you succeed on your roll, you reap Faith. If the affected mortal(s) succumb to Revelation, you face no consequences if you failed or botched the Empathy roll.
-==== Healing the Sick ====
-Note: In order to do this, you MUST have Lore of Awakening, Lore of the Flesh 4, or a similar power.
-This one is straightforward. Go to a hospital, find someone wounded, or find someone otherwise sick. Use your Evocation to heal them. Alternatively, roll Intelligence + Medicine if, say, your character is a doctor. If the condition is terminal or chronic, this will not be enough; you MUST use a supernatural means to cure them. If you fail the Intelligence + Medicine roll, you do not save the patient. If you botch it, you misdiagnose them and possibly even kill them. \\
-If the roll is successful, the patient awakens. Now is the time to reveal your true nature. Roll Charisma + Empathy. The patient rolls for Revelation. If successful, you gain one point of Faith. If the patient fails the Revelation roll, you will gain no negative consequences from this.\\
-==== Lifesaver ====
-A mortal is about to suffer a terrible accident, or maybe they're about to jump in front of a moving bus or off of a bridge in a suicide attempt. Time to save a life. \\
-Roll Dexterity + Athletics. If you succeed, you either tackle them to the ground before they jump in front of that bus, you push them out of the way of the drunk driver that was about to hit them, or you save them from falling off of a ledge. If you fail this roll, you do not save them. If you botch, you get hurt, too. (Note: Failing to save someone does NOT require a Degeneration roll. According to the Hierarchy of Sins, what matters is that you tried.) \\
-Once that mortal's life is saved, you know what to do. Roll Charisma + Empathy. The near-victim rolls for Revelation.
-===== High-Torment Reaping =====
-Of course, you don’t have to be a good Samaritan. The rulebook is very clear that it is also possible to reap Faith by committing heinous acts. It is not recommended that you engage in such behavior (not in the game, and //certainly// not in real life), but if for some reason you are determined to accumulate Torment, it is possible. **However, keep in mind that this touches sensitive subjects, so please behave with discretion and tact.** \\
-High-Torment Reaping is both easier, and grants two points of Temporary Faith instead of one. It's also of course, riskier; not only will you automatically gain a point of Temporary Torment if you go this route, but the consequences of failing and botching are much higher... \\
-==== Torture ====
-You must have a captive, prisoner, or otherwise easily-accessible victim for this to be a viable option. Alternatively, you can go out and kidnap someone, but that would require a separate scene. You may also do this during a scene; if your character is interrogating somebody - say, perhaps an enemy - you may declare that you are attempting to reap Faith from them at the same time, in which case you may make these rolls. This is the ONLY instance in which you may theoretically make two Reaping rolls in one day. \\
-Roll your preferred method of torture. Note that you do NOT want to kill the victim; if you do, you cannot reap Faith. If you have a particularly brutal Evocation (likely High-Torment version of one you already have, in which case intentionally using it results in an additional point of Temporary Torment in addition to the point gained from High-Torment Reaping), use that. You could also go the Jack Bauer route by rolling Strength + Brawl, or use psychological torture via Manipulation + Intimidation. If you have the Torture skill, you may also use that. \\
-You must make an extended, contested roll of your preferred method against the victim's Willpower. Each success of yours in excess of the victim's successes saps one point of Willpower from your victim. When their Willpower reaches 0, you have broken them. \\
-When the victim is broken, reveal your true Nature. The victim rolls for Revelation; because they're at Willpower 0, they make this roll at a difficulty of 10 (note that supernaturals do not suffer from Revelation; this only applies to mundane mortals). If this roll botches, however, the victim suffers a permanent derangement.
-===== Risks =====
-If you ever botch the roll needed to actually Reap the Faith (such as the Charisma + Empathy roll needed for Healing the Sick), or if the mortal scores three or more successes on their Revelation roll, you could face consequences. As mentioned above, maybe they go home and blog about it, and a Hunter reads it and recognizes it as legitimate. Maybe the person you healed IS a Hunter, or worse, the member of an Earthbound cult, a Sabbat ghoul, or a Technocrat or Kinsfolk. \\
-**For the sake of mortal willpower for Revelation rolls, assume they have a Willpower of 4 unless stated otherwise.**
-----
-====== Lores And You ======
-===== Extended Rolls =====
-If an evocation requires more successes to produce the desired effect than the player is confident they can achieve in a single roll, they can try for an extended roll.
-The first roll takes as long as it would take to perform the base evocation (typically one round), and every further roll adds time equal to twice the length of the previous roll. So if the first roll takes one round the second one will take two rounds, the third one four, and so on.
-A failure simply means that no successes are gathered in this period, but on a botch the evocation fails, all accumulated successes are lost and the demon looses one point of temporary Faith.
-This rule does not apply to evocations that already ask for extended rolls (e.g. Lore of Paths 2), in those cases the time requirements stated in the lore descriptions take precedence. It also does not apply to resisted evocation rolls (e.g. Lore of Radiance 1)
-===== Lore of Flame =====
-__**Lore of Flame 4: Holocaust**__ \\
-For the purpose of this game, the name of this evocation shall be **"Incinerate."** The original name is in extremely bad taste and meshes poorly with our 'No Politics' rule.
-===== Lore of the Flesh =====
-**Also known as 'Vicissitude for Demons,'** the fact that the book explicitly allows messing with attributes - permanently - could render spending XP on Physical and Mental attributes utterly pointless. Obviously, this needs to be addressed, otherwise a Rabisu in this game will break it.
-**__Lore of the Flesh 3: Manipulate Flesh__**:
-You can:
-  * Increase (or decrease...) any attribute allowed by the evocation of any character temporarily, and without a Pact. These attribute changes are reverted at the end of the scene. In-game, the changes last for roughly two hours.
-You //cannot//:
-  *  Increase social attributes. No, not even Appearance; that's Lore of Transfiguration.
-  *  Use this evocation on a Wraith. Their bodies are not corporeal. No, Lore of the Realms won't help you. Orpheus operatives are fair game, though. Risen... I'll need to talk with the Wraith ST. Watch this space.
-  *  Increase any attribute above 5. That's Flesh 5.
-**__Lore of the Flesh 5: Shape Flesh__**:
-Balance:
-  * Increase Attributes permanently at a cost of spending 1 Willpower Point //point dot added or removed//.
-  * Increase Attributes above 5, but at a cost: **Raising __any__ attribute above 5 marks this person as obviously supernatural.** Raising Strength above 5 turns this person into the Hulk, with more muscle mass than should be biologically possible. Raising Dexterity above 5 turns this person into a circus freak with double-jointed limbs, able to contort themselves in ways Harry Houdini only wishes he could have. Raising Stamina above 5 turns this person's skin into ultra-dense flesh that is as hard as a rock; they can't even be injected with anything anymore, and it feels like polished marble rather than skin. Raising mental attributes above 5 will require reshaping the skull into an unnatural shape to accomodate the extra gray matter. The balance here is that this person becomes a walking Veil/Masquerade violation, not unlike the Nosferatu or certain Tzimisce. Note that this ability CAN change Appearance... by lowering it. For each attribute raised above 5, subtract one point from Appearance, because this person is now a freak of nature. Note that this Appearance loss CAN be fixed with other abilities, but there's always going to be something 'off' about them that nevertheless marks them as obviously supernatural. Particularly drastic changes may result in Flaws. You have been warned!
-You can:
-  * Permanently increase the Attributes of other characters //only with a Pact.// Doing so automatically gives the other character the Devil's Mark flaw (1 point, //Mage 20: Book of Secrets//, page 83). This is to discourage characters who have Lore of the Flesh 5 from being an 'Attribute dot dispenser,' something that has happened in the past.
-You //cannot//:
-  * Make any change to a Mummy that persists after a Death Cycle. This applies mainly to Corruption or Direction Mummies, as Amenti and Wu'Tian cannot form Pacts.
-  * Increase any Social Attributes. Again, no, not even Appearance. That's Lore of Transfiguration.
-===== Lore of Radiance =====
-**Also known as 'Presence on Steroids,'** Lore of Radiance has extremely powerful mind-manipulating abilities, but often balanced by the fact that the book explicitly says 'mortals.' Obviously, in a game like this, 'mortals' is a fairly ambiguous term. After discussing with several STs, we have decided that the following supernatural types qualify as 'mortals': **Imbued (Hunters), Mages, and Shapechangers (Garou and Fera).** Vampires (because they're undead), Mummies (because they're literally immortal), Changelings (because they're immortal souls in human bodies), other demons, and Wraiths (because they're not even alive) do not count as mortals in this game.
-**__Lore of Radiance 2: Exalt__**
-You can:
-  * Use this ability to buff (or //de//buff, with the High Torment form) Mages, Imbued, and Shapechangers.
-  * Buff a Mage's Arete with this. //However//: Because of the possibility of this Lore turning an entry-level mage into an Archmage-tier monster with enough successes, after discussing with the Mage ST, we've added House Rules for using this with Arete. The Mage may take the extra dice and add it to her Arete roll, but the actual effects of the roll cannot exceed what their Arete score would allow. For example, if a Mage has Arete 3, and uses the Exalt dice to score 6 successes, her roll still functions as if she had had 3 successes (Willpower added to this roll is unaffected and still counts). Note that this carries a risk; you are using an Infernal power to increase your magick, which means botching an Arete roll powered by Exalt generates two Paradox instead of one per botched die.
-You //cannot//:
-  * Use this Lore on Mummies, Vampires, Changelings, or Wraiths. For other Demons, that's what Lore of the Celestials 3: Pillar of Faith is for. The exception is if one of the former three supernatural types are the Demon's Thrall, in which case, they gain a maximum number of Exalt dice equal to their demonic master's Permanent Torment score.
-  * Stack Exalt dice with risked Conviction for Imbued. Conviction comes from angels. Exalt comes from demons (usually; technically, Namaru Angels can use it too). They... don't really get along these days. Using Conviction and Exalt are mutually exclusive for a roll. There is only one exception to this: If and only if that Imbued is the Devil's thrall, she can risk a number of Conviction with infernal powers (including Exalt) equal to her demonic master's Permenant Torment score.
-  * Buff an Imbued's Edges or other abilities with that Imbued's Conviction up. Because Conviction makes them completely immune to any 'monster's' mental effects (including beneficial effects), they must voluntarily lower it for one turn before Exalt or any other effect can be applied. Note that this also leaves them vulnerable to negative mind effects.
-===== Lore of the Forge =====
-__**Lore of the Forge 1: Enhance Object**__
-The general rule that no roll can have its base difficulty lowered by more than three (see General Systems House Rules for details) stays in effect. So when using this evocation you cannot invest more than three successes into lowering the difficulty of using an ability with this item, and no roll can ever have a difficulty lower than three.
-===== Lore of the Realms =====
-**Also known as 'How Demons go to the Umbra/Shadowlands,'** Lore of the Realms can make you intangible, tear holes in the Gauntlet, or enable instant travel that is basically teleportation by any other name or means.
-__**Lore of the Realms 2:  Step Beyond the Veil**__
-You can:
-  *  Travel the Soul Storm/Avatar Storm/Maelstrom/whatever else you want to call it safely, but you MUST possess and use this ability first. Otherwise, the mechanics from Mummy: the Resurrection apply for the Soul Storm. Also, note that 'safety' in the Soul Storm is relative. No, you won't be constantly taking damage, but that doesn't mean Spectres and the like will be happy to see you, either.
-===== Regarding Performance and Art =====
-Due to the overlap between the abilities, players are permitted to substitute the Performance skill with the Art talent (M20 core, page 275) when making evocation rolls for **Lore of Light 3: Phantasm** and **Lore of Transfiguration 1: Mimic**, provided they posses an Art speciality in a performing art.
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