Relic
(• to •••••)
Effect: The character owns a mystical object or relic. How the character came to own the object is up to the player. The character might have inherited the object, stolen it, purchased it or just found it by sheer luck. Note that this Merit only represents an object that a character begins play with; if your character finds a relic during a story, you don’t need to pay the experience points for it.
Relics have a variable point cost, determined as follows:
Condition | Cost in Merit Dots
Powers | +1 per Power dot
Durability| +1 per dot
Equipment Bonus | +1 per dot (maximum of +5 above what such an item would normally confer)
Bonded (the item only works for this character) | +1
Cost | -1 per dot of Cost (see p. 116-117)
Curses/Drawbacks | -2 per Curse (see p. 113-116)
Example: Matt, in creating a new character for Chuck’s chronicle, decides to put some Merit points into a relic. He has visions of a ring that looks plain, but in fact contains a deep and abiding power.
Right off the bat, Matt decides he doesn’t want to deal with anyone stealing the ring and using it on him. The ring is Bonded to his character (1 dot). He decides against raising its Durability, and a ring doesn’t normally confer an Equipment bonus anyway, so he doesn’t spend points in those areas. For Powers (see p. 87-113 for a full list of Relic Powers), Matt chooses Hypnotic Suggestion and Reward Temptation — the ring allows the wielder greater benefi t from indulging his Vice and great opportunity to do so. These are both two-dot Powers, which raises the total to fi ve; a little more than Matt was hoping to spend. Fortunately, there are ways to lower the cost.
Matt decides that the ring is Cursed (see p. 113). Yes, using it can grant the character untold amounts of pleasure and mental fortitude, but it saps his physical well-being. The ring has the Leech curse, sapping the character’s Health away every time he uses it. Matt decides that this Health loss manifests as a wracking cough, sometimes with a bit of blood. This drops the total cost to 3 Merit dots, which both Matt and Chuck feel is fair. All that remains is for Matt to fi gure out where he got the ring, what it looks like and how he discovered its powers, all details that he will work into his character’s prelude.
Note: The reduction in price for taking Costs is only applicable if these costs are taken in conjunction with the specified cost of the chosen Power(s), not as a replacement for the costs listed. If the relic only works at night, and its Power still costs the specifi ed Willpower to activate, the builder can subtract the appropriate 1-dot Cost value for a Temporal Cost. If the relic only works at night, and the builder takes this limitation in place of its Willpower cost, it does not lower the relic’s overall cost.)
Relics have a variable point cost, determined as follows:
Condition | Cost in Merit Dots
Powers | +1 per Power dot
Durability| +1 per dot
Equipment Bonus | +1 per dot (maximum of +5 above what such an item would normally confer)
Bonded (the item only works for this character) | +1
Cost | -1 per dot of Cost (see p. 116-117)
Curses/Drawbacks | -2 per Curse (see p. 113-116)
Example: Matt, in creating a new character for Chuck’s chronicle, decides to put some Merit points into a relic. He has visions of a ring that looks plain, but in fact contains a deep and abiding power.
Right off the bat, Matt decides he doesn’t want to deal with anyone stealing the ring and using it on him. The ring is Bonded to his character (1 dot). He decides against raising its Durability, and a ring doesn’t normally confer an Equipment bonus anyway, so he doesn’t spend points in those areas. For Powers (see p. 87-113 for a full list of Relic Powers), Matt chooses Hypnotic Suggestion and Reward Temptation — the ring allows the wielder greater benefi t from indulging his Vice and great opportunity to do so. These are both two-dot Powers, which raises the total to fi ve; a little more than Matt was hoping to spend. Fortunately, there are ways to lower the cost.
Matt decides that the ring is Cursed (see p. 113). Yes, using it can grant the character untold amounts of pleasure and mental fortitude, but it saps his physical well-being. The ring has the Leech curse, sapping the character’s Health away every time he uses it. Matt decides that this Health loss manifests as a wracking cough, sometimes with a bit of blood. This drops the total cost to 3 Merit dots, which both Matt and Chuck feel is fair. All that remains is for Matt to fi gure out where he got the ring, what it looks like and how he discovered its powers, all details that he will work into his character’s prelude.
Note: The reduction in price for taking Costs is only applicable if these costs are taken in conjunction with the specified cost of the chosen Power(s), not as a replacement for the costs listed. If the relic only works at night, and its Power still costs the specifi ed Willpower to activate, the builder can subtract the appropriate 1-dot Cost value for a Temporal Cost. If the relic only works at night, and the builder takes this limitation in place of its Willpower cost, it does not lower the relic’s overall cost.)