Willpower

The Willpower trait measures both determination and emotional stability. Confident, driven and self-motivated characters have high Willpower scores. Willpower has a permanent rating that reflects a character's total strength in the trait (noted by the circles on the character sheet). Whenever a roll is called for, the dice pool is always based on the character's permanent Willpower. Willpower also has a current rating, measured in points, which indicates the character’s present reserves. "Spending Willpower"” refers to using points from the current rating (noted by the squares on the character sheet).

Trait Effects:

•	The character is broken and mentally damaged.
••	The character is skittish and timid.
•••	The character is somewhat introverted and overly cautious.
••••	The character is slightly hesitant and uncertain.
•••••	The character is diffident and a little shy.
••••• •	The character is sure and self-confident.
••••• ••	The character is extremely strong-willed and determined.
••••• •••	The character is unwavering and resolute.
••••• ••••	The character has a will of iron.
••••• •••••	The character is a paragon of determination and stability.

Using Willpower

When a character spends Willpower, he pushes his mind and body beyond their normal limits and attempts to do something extraordinary. A character can spend only one Willpower point in an action to activate one of the effects listed here. Many powerful Charms require the expenditure of Willpower points to activate, but that expenditure does not count against this limit.

Free Success: You can spend one of your character's Willpower points to earn an automatic success. This free success is separate from any that you roll, but it counts toward your total for the action. You must declare you're spending Willpower prior to rolling for the action. When Willpower is spent in this fashion, the roll cannot botch.

Activate a Virtue: Instead of gaining an automatic success, a character can activate her Virtues to add extra dice to her pool instead. See "Virtues" for details.

Resist Mental Powers: A character may spend Willpower to resist Charms and spells that attempt to control her mind or emotions.

Compulsion

Once all of your Willpower points are gone, your character is subject to a compulsion. His Virtues come to the forefront of his personality, and until he recovers at least one point of Willpower, your character cannot willingly go against any of her Virtues rated 3 or higher. For example, a character with a Valor of 3 could not attempt to flee combat or take any other action that requires failing a Valor roll.

Recovering Willpower

Willpower points are regained whenever your character gets a chance to rest or restore his self-confidence. The Storyteller is always the final arbiter of when and how Willpower is regained. The following methods are entirely optional, and they should encourage roleplaying.

• Each morning when the character awakens, the player may roll his character's Conviction trait. For each success the player rolls, the character regains a point of temporary Willpower.
• If your character performs a stunt that furthers her Motivation (see stunts for details).
• Your character may receive one or more points if she achieves some special success or affirms her capabilities, such as rescuing a friend, discovering a significant plot point, or defeating a hated enemy.
• Rather than receiving motes of Essence for an ordinary two- or three-die stunt, you may, instead, regain a point of Willpower.
• Your character gets points equal to her Willpower score at the end of a story (not a single game session). The Storyteller may modify this return somewhat if significant story elements remain unresolved.
• When your character suffers a Limit Break, she gains points of temporary Willpower equal to the rating of the Virtue whence her flaw springs. The character gains the full rating of the Virtue, even if this means her temporary Willpower rises over her permanent Willpower or even over 10. This gain is the only way that a character can ever have a temporary Willpower higher than her permanent Willpower. The character does not recover this Willpower if she partially controls the Limit Break.

Latest Errata: A character who botches a Willpower recovery roll (such as their daily Conviction roll) regains no Willpower. Nothing else happens. This is typically bad enough.

Zero Willpower

Characters with Intelligence or Wits scores of 0 are reduced to mindless vegetables. Characters with no dots of Perception are deprived of all senses and cut off from the outside world. Characters reduced to Stamina or Essence 0 have their lives snuffed out. Characters without any Willpower become will-less automatons, similar to what remains after the Fair Folk consume a being's hopes and dreams. In all of these cases, the character can no longer spend experience and has no hope of recovery.