Originally posted by Eddy on the V20 Blog
Quick bit of set-up: I’ve moved into a new position at CCP/White Wolf, and the most immediate consequence of that is that I have more time to help out with V20. Justin asked me to help him with some of the heavy lifting on the main V20 book, which is why I’m talking about Dodge and not, say, the Samedi.
Back when Justin posted his draft on Attributes and Abilities, he dropped Dodge to consolidate it into Athletics. At our Monday V20 meeting we talked it over, and agreed that we should add Awareness in to replace it, breaking out “mundane senses” and “mystical senses” for vampires. Here’s the writeup draft I have for it at the moment:
<3>Awareness
<n>Awareness is an instinctual reaction to the presence of the supernatural. It differs from Alertness (which measures sensitivity to mundane events) and Occult (which covers actual knowledge about the supernatural). Usually, only supernatural creatures have access to this particular Talent, but some unique mortals have a sense that something is strange in the world. Characters with Awareness sometimes get hunches, chills, or sudden flashes of inspiration when they are near supernatural creatures, objects, or events. Of course, knowing that something’s wrong doesn’t mean that the character knows what it is; that’s the province of Occult.
A vampire can use Awareness deliberately if he suspects that something is supernatural, in order to determine a general impression of the item or creature. However, the Storyteller can ask for an Awareness roll to determine whether a vampire notices a strange event that’s not immediately visible.
• Novice: You sometimes get strange feelings or vibes from certain places or people.
•• Practiced: You feel the supernatural all around you.
••• Competent: When you concentrate, you can sometimes pinpoint the source of a particular supernatural occurrence.
•••• Expert: The very world around you hums with the power of the occult, and you can sense how it ebbs and flows.
••••• Master: You perceive the supernatural world nearly as well as the real one. They are one and the same to you.
Possessed by: Psychics, Mystics, New Agers, Paranormal Researchers
Specialties: Ghosts, Mystical Objects, Vampiric Disciplines, Sixth Sense
This changes some Discipline dice pools, and there are a couple of Discipline powers that we’ll have to buff up a bit because they played the role of “sensing supernatural shit,” but give us your thoughts and playtest feedback.