Matters of the Soul

Q: The description of the Death 4 spell Soul Binding (page 144) says a mage can use it to
attach a stolen soul to himself, provided he has no soul at the time. However, elsewhere the
book says a mage without a soul can't cast spells. What's up with that?
A: Ah, yes, a discrepancy in design from when Tremere were not just a legacy. I've been
thinking that I need to add a grace period to the soul loss rules, giving mages a slower
degradation of powers rather than just instant Sleep. This discrepancy convinces me that I need
to make that official. I'd say offhand that a mage who loses his soul loses 1 dot of Gnosis per 24
hours until he has zero, in which case he is a Sleeper until he gets his soul back. He can
continue to cast magic as long as he has at least one dot of Gnosis. Of course, the Soul Binding
spell could be imbued into an item, allowing a soulless mage or Sleeper to cast it and attach a
new soul to himself.

Q: Under the new rule, does a mage start to lose Wisdom right away, or not until his Gnosis
reaches zero?
A: He'd lose both Wisdom and Gnosis concurrently.
C: Death is used to sever a soul from its incarnation, but Spirit is used to restore it. Prime can
shield it, and Fate can free it from a false binding.

Q: A spirit who eats a stolen soul gains Essence equal to twice the soul's owner's willpower
dots. A Tremere Lich who renders a soul into Tass, on the other hand, gets mana points equal
to either a soul's willpower dots or Mana score. Should one of these values be changed to the
other, or is it a fact (for whatever reason) that spirits are capable of getting more supernatural
bang for their buck out of a stolen human soul?
A: Essence is more common than Mana, and a soul yields more of it than it does Mana.

Demesnes
Q: Is there some way to make a permanent Demesne before your character is an arch master?
A: Yes. This was an artifact of changes made during the design process, and this spell didn't get
updated. It's supposed to say that it used the advanced prolongation factors, even though it's 5
dots and there is no 4 dot version of the spell.

Chapter 4: Storyline
Antagonists
Q: In cases where a permanently materialized familiar, without Power, Finesse, and Resistance
traits, uses a Numen with a dice pool based on those traits, what does the familiar roll?
A: Use the highest of its equivalent traits. Power traits are Strength, Intelligence and Presence;
Finesse are Dexterity, Wits and Manipulation; Resistance are Stamina, Resolve and
Composure. It's your call whether or not to allow a Skill to be added.

Q: What rote is "Eagle Talon"? (Page 383, under "Life")

A: Groan. That spell got cut, but I guess its mention in that chapter didn't. It was a lower-level
version of Life Force Assault (the AA Organic Knife rote).

Appendix 1: Legacies
Q: Under the legacy section, it says that the legacy's primary arcanum can now be purchased
as a ruling arcanum then it says newx5...is this supposed to be new x6? just like a ruling
arcanum, or is this correct as written?
A: It's supposed to be new dots x6, like the Ruling Arcana cost.

Miscellaneous
Q: Why is it harder for werewolves to breach the Gauntlet in towns and small villages, while it's
easier for mages?
A: In the chart on p. 282, the +1 for small towns and villages is a mistake -- it's supposed to be -
1.

Q: Are we going to get a more in-depth idea of what Sizes certain things are, perhaps as a WoD
Rulebook supplement? Currently the highest Size listed anywhere is 25 (Bus,) but it's fairly easy
for mages to affect or Shapechange into things larger than that. What would an object that's
Size 50 be? Size 100? Is there any formula you use to determine what Size something should
be?
A: World of Darkness: Armory might have some more clues, but I haven't read it yet so I can't
say for sure. We'll publish the Size of things as they occur in sourcebooks.

Ephemera
Q: Speaking of the "ephemeral presence" of an object, can it be touched or attacked by Twilight
beings? For example, could a ghost struggle the ephemeral presence of your roused baseball
bat away and if so, what happens in both states of being?
A: Something that has an ephemeral presence in Twilight can be affected by beings in the state
of Twilight. Something with a presence in the Shadow Realm can be affected by beings in the
Shadow Realm.

NEW RULES COMPILATION

● A mage who loses his soul loses 1 dot of Gnosis per 24 hours until he has zero, in which
case he is a Sleeper until he gets his soul back. He can continue to cast magic as long
as he has at least one dot of Gnosis.
● A person or creature who was not intentionally flung at the Portal (as in the case of
someone who has grappled you and thrown you through) can make a contested roll to
resist passing through a Portal if he doesn't want to go through. In other words, if you're
falling and someone creates a Portal beneath you, you can contest going through it. Roll
Gnosis + Dexterity; only one success is needed. If you succeed, you pass the Portal as if
it's not there (you don't impact it or bounce off it).
● When Relinquishing spells, you can spend a Willpower Point instead, but the spell can
still be Dispelled. By extension, spells Relinquished by spending a Willpower Dot can not
be Dispelled. However, it is possible that Bill was only talking about spells tied to Imbued
Spell and not all spells in general.
● All Prepared spells must become aimed. The caster must make an activation roll to aim
and unfurl the spell at a target. As with most spell alterations, this would feasibly require
+1 dot rank for the spell (not for the Time 2 needed to prepare it, but for the spell's other
Arcana requirements). The activation roll is modified by the sorts of things that modify
aimed spells, but if it succeeds the spell takes effect with all the factors that were coded
into its casting, regardless of the amount of successes rolled on the activation roll. If it
doesn't succeed, the magic doesn't connect or unfurl properly. One outcome of this rule
is that Paradox can modify the activation roll, rather than a casting roll.
● As for Paradox and extended castings: The successes on the Paradox roll should add to
the target number needed to successfully cast the spell. However, once Paradox is
rolled (that is, upon what seems to be the successful completion of the spell when the
normal target number is reached), no further casting rolls are allowed. If Paradox does
indeed add successes to the target number, then excess successes on the casting roll
can "absorb" them and allow for a successful casting. If there are no excess successes,
or there aren't enough to cover those now needed due to the Paradox, the spell fails but
the Paradox takes place. This not only makes it harder to succeed, it makes it harder to
gain exceptional successes on extended castings. The caster should probably save up
some Mana for mitigation.
● Familiars may be improved with Experience points (subject to the normal limitations and
trait caps of rank 1 spirits, unless otherwise noted). Trait Experience Point Cost: Attribute
New dots x8 (fetch) or x5 (embodied familiar; capped at 5), Skill New dots x3(embodied
familiars only; capped at 5), Skill specialty 3 (embodied familiars only), Numen 25 (up to
4 Numina for fetches or 5 for embodied familiars). (Note that changes to a spirit's
Attributes may alter other characteristics, such as Health or Speed, and adjust those
traits accordingly.