VOD: Pantheon

Attributes
In Vision of Darkness: Pantheon, we will be utilizing a tabletop format for Attribute traits. So instead of traits like Brawny, Wiry, Alluring, etc., we will be using the White Wolf tabletop traits instead. These are based on the attributes from Vampire 5th Edition.

Mental Attributes: Intelligence, Wits, Resolve
Physical Attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina
Social Attributes: Charisma, Manipulation, Composure

Attributes will combine with abilities on related tests pools based on their relation to the ability in use.
Example: to hit someone with your fists, you would add your Strength plus your Brawl Ability points as your testing pool.

Heroic Attributes

In VoD Pantheon, it is a time of myth and legend. Gods walk among the people and the impossible happens quite often. Your characters are no exception to this fact, and it is quite possible for you to show abilities far beyond others.

In order to break the 5 dot barrier and achieve 6+ in an Attribute, you either must achieve sufficient Rank or develop the Heroic Attribute Merit. (Please check the Backgrounds or Merit section for rules on either of those mechanics.) Anything else that takes you over this cap (Totem, etc.) is merely considered to give you a phantom dot you may use to bid when using that Attribute, not the actual Heroic Attribute tiself.

Below are example rules for when any given attribute achieves a level of 6+. Upon achieving 6+ in an attribute, you are welcome to take any of the below examples, or if you have an idea reach out to Staff and we will work together with you to try and get a system set up. Of note, all such custom Heroic Attribute effects will be posted here for reference and also to help give players more ideas for Heroic Attributes.



Mental Heroic Attributes

Heroic Intelligence
The Mind of Athena
Knowledge of almost every subject fills you. Whenever you are confronted by a situation where a "Scholar of..." Merit would be necessary to know a piece of information, you may try a Intelligence + Academics test against a difficulty assigned by the Storyteller. If successful, though you wont get as much information as an individual with the the relevant "Scholar of..." Merit would, you do know something.

The Reflection of Mnemosyne
You have an encyclopedic pool of knowledge, and your retention is beyond understanding. You may make an Intelligence + Investigation test to have a staff member repeat in painstaking detail a memory of a scene you were in, which you may freshly investigate as if you were there all over again.

Heroic Wits
The Cleverness of Odysseus
Nothing can truly catch you off guard. If you are the target of a surprise attack, you are able to take a single simple action prior to the attack that does not count as your action for the turn (as such you would have another simple action once it got to your turn in the initiative). This action may be any action that you can do with a simple action except to take a move action. If you possess a power that moves you as a simple action that is still viable.

The Sense of the Muses
When working on art, it is as though the nine muses speak directly to you. You know what will and will not make a masterpiece. When attempting to analyze or create art - be that sculpture, poetry, drama, etc. you double your relevant Crafts or Performance Skill for tests, or for describing the art and the apparent level of skill. Further, unless you are seeking to create a magnum opus, you do not have to test when making art, all artistic efforts automatically receive the masterwork tag without requiring an exceptional success. Lastly, when you do have to test, you are guided by the muses less than any plan; you may freely choose if your base attribute for crafting is Intelligence or Wits.

Heroic Resolve
The Determination of Prometheus
Nothing can dissuade you from your path - even your own destruction. If you are successfully affected by a power that seeks to control your actions (such as Dominate), you can spend 1 WP to maintain control of your actions for a single turn; however, if you do so take one point of lethal damage that cannot be reduced or negated as you force your body to work against itself. After that turn, you then must spend another WP and take another point of lethal damage if you wish to maintain control, or else let the effect take hold.

The Determination of Hera
Your unfathomable patience defies explanation. You've endured far greater than anyone could anticipate, and yet nothing can shake you from your goal. Your unfailing dedication to your goals allows you to press on when all others finally need to collapse from exhaustion. You gain a bonus downtime action each downtime period. This downtime may not be spied on by any mundane means.


Physical Heroic Attributes

Heroic Strength
The Strength of Heracles
When performing a feat of strength, you automatically succeed so long as the difficulty is less than your Strength + Athletics. Should the difficulty be greater then you still must test; however, you double your Strength for the test. Further, you are able to use items normally too heavy to be thrown as thrown weapons; so long as you were able to successfully lift an item you are able to treat it as though it possesses the balanced tag and may use it in a thrown attack, this attack uses your Strength Attribute rather than the normal Dexterity Attribute for such attacks.

The Brutality of Kratos
Your sheer strength is utterly staggering. The first time in any combat you successfully damage your opponent, they must succeed in a static Willpower challenge (difficulty your Strength Score) or remain stunned for the rest of their turn causing them to lose both their next standard and simple actions, they may still use their full defense against incoming attacks.

The Strength of Ajax
Your weapons smash your opponent's hitting desisive blow. Any Weapon (Melee or ranged) and your brawl attacks will have the Brutal tag. This effect cannot be granted to an item with the Nimble tag

Heroic Dexterity
The Fleetness of Talaria
You are able to flit to and fro as you see fit. While in combat, you are able to, every round, move your place in the initiative up or down one without an action. In addition, by spending a point of rage you grant yourself an additional simple action for all your rounds for the rest of the turn. This simple action can only be used on movement.

The Grace of Artemis
Your finesse is unparalleled. At this level of Dexterity, nothing can knock you off your feet except for an actual physical blow. Shifting terrain, uneven footing, precarious balance, rolling seas, you name it: you always manage to stay upright.

The Athleticism of Milo of Croton
Your body is a finely honed instrument that puts the efforts of others to shame. When in non-combat dexterity challenges such as balancing, running, or other such athletics challenges, so long as you succeed you achieve an exceptional success; allowing you to pull off superhuman levels of athleticism and precision. In addition, once a round when targeted by an attack that you can defend with your physical defense you are able to add +5 to your physical defense; you may choose when to use this benefit, though you must decide before the bids are declared.

Legerity of Atalanta
Like the legendary huntress and racer, you move with lightning speed and grace. When calculating initiative add your Dexterity twice, further your base movement speed becomes 4 steps rather than the standard 3.

The deft hand of Atalanta You are a master of maneuverability. Your weapons dance around your opponent's to seek its mark. Any Weapon (Melee or ranged) and your brawl attacks will have the Accurate tag. This will not stack with other accurate tags already on the weapon.

Heroic Stamina
The Resilience of Achilles
You are incredibly hardy, and seriously hurting you is next to impossible for those not determined enough. Rather than the normal 1HP for every Stamina dot, each Stamina dot now gives you 2HP. For example at Stamina 6 with this resistance you'd have 19HP (not counting any other powers or merits that might affect HP).

The Constitution of Hygeia
A favorite of Bone Gnawers, your innards are sturdier than your out-ards. You cannot get sick from any manner of illness or poisons like most Garou, but even magical ones enhanced by the rite of awakening have no effect on you (which sucks for drinking, let's be clear), the only exception is if they are a byproduct of Taint, as the Wyrm can still cause even the most resilient problems eventually; however, against those you are able to double your stamina for all tests to resist, and further should their normally not be one, you are able to always have one with a static test of your Stamina (doubled) + survival versus a difficulty determined by the storyteller depending on the power of the effect.

Social Heroic Attributes

Heroic Charisma
The Presence of Zeus
You are able to command others to listen and obey. When others follow your orders, they find themselves stronger for it, as your very words infuse them. You can issue an order for a single character as a simple action, should they follow it, they gain a bonus on any relevant tests for that order equal to half your Charisma (round up). This bonus lasts until they have completed the order, or a number of rounds equal to your Charisma (whichever comes first). A given character may only be affected by this power once a day. Afterwards they may still choose to follow orders given by you, but they will not benefit from this power until the next day.

The Calm of Pasithea
You are able to bring down tempers even when rage is about to boil over. Spend a Standard action to enact your soothing presence, affecting yourself and all individuals within 10 steps of you; this power lasts for as long as you keep it active. All affected creatures find a pleasant calm come over them and find anger or violence much more difficult. All creatures that have rage drop their current rage by half (round up) while within the effect. They return to their previous rage (less any spent rage while under this effect) upon no longer being affected by the Calm of Pasithea. Further, no one may engage in violence like attacking or similar effects easily, to engage in any sort of violence the character must spent 1 willpower point for each such action; the affected individual is also released from the effect if they should wander more than 10 steps away from you. Once a character has been affected by this power they may not be affected again until the next day. This effect immediately ends if you engage in violent action towards anyone else. Affected characters still can apply their full defense against any incoming attacks.

Songs of Orpheus
Meshing the limits of song and fate, allows for 'crafting' of songs that when sung act similar to equipment. Crafting a song takes one DT action, as such it is not something that can be done quickly in the middle of battle. To craft a song you make a performance + charisma versus a static difficulty depending on the below table.

Weapon Song - 1 trait; 10
Weapon Song - 2 traits; 15
Weapon Song - +1 trait; 20
Armor Song - 1 trait; 8
Armor Song - 2 traits; 13
Armor Song - +1 trait; 18

You may hold onto up to your Charisma in active songs you know. If you wish to create more songs you must choose which of your current songs you’ll forget. On the upside though, if you wish to relearn a song you’ve forgotten you only need to spend a DT action, no test is required as you have already made the song.

Once you know a song you may begin singing as a standard action and grant the bonuses of the song to a number of targets equal to your performance; alternatively you may grant the benefit to everyone in your pack. You then maintain this song by spending a simple action on each round that you have an action after the initial round. If you do not spend this simple action your song immediately ceases.

While affected by this bonus, the individuals gain the effects of either the weapon or armor song; if the song is a 1 or 2 trait bonus song the targets may only either benefit from the song, or from whatever equipment they have, but not both. That is if a target as an Accurate and Deadly sword, and a Song granting Brutal was sung, they would need to choose which they wished to have. However, if the song is the +1 trait variety it adds to the current traits of whatever weapon they have, in the above example they would benefit from all three traits.

Heroic Manipulation
The Subtlety of Hermes
You are subtle and clever beyond the kenning of most anyone; you may conceal the use of powers that would normally be obvious. When using a power, you may choose to spend 1 willpower point in addition to the normal power's cost. If you do so, you become impossible to detect as the source of the power. If people witness you striking someone, or audibly giving an order they may still suspect you (or in the case of a strike react to the strike) but you will not appear to be the source of any powers. Other, normally obvious powers, such as using the affinity effect of Master of Fire manifest away from you and strike out at the enemy, the enemy must still be in line of sight of you and a normally valid target to be attacked in this manner, as such this does not allow you to negate cover or other situational defenses.

The Balm of Pasithea
You know exactly what to say, and exactly want to hear. You can say anything, even total nonsense, but your listener will agree heartily. By expending a standard action and targeting a subject that you have the Gaze and Focus of, you may make a Manipulation + Subterfuge test vs their Composure + Willpower. If successful, your target agrees completely with your next sentence, after which sanity may reassert itself and the mental gymnastics may begin. Importantly, immunity to mystical mind control provides no protection against this effect as it is simply your words convincing them.

Heroic Composure
The Calm of Metis
Your incredible collection allows you to find calm and plan even when all else is chaotic. You do not suffer any penalties from distraction or rushing unless those penalties are supernatural in nature - in which case you reduce them by your Composure (to a minimum of 0). Further, once per session you may declare an action you are about to undertake is "all part of your plan," upon doing so you gain a Plan Retest on that challenge. This declaration must be made before the test, and is used even if the Plan Retest is not.

The Dignity of Sisyphus
Like the ancient king you can never be kept down, until perhaps death. When affected by a social power that would compel you to act in a certain manner for more than one round, you gain an additional challenge to try and resist the effect on the second turn of being affected, resolve this as though it were the initial challenge for the power to activate. If you fail to resist on this second challenge the power remains in effect, if you succeed in resisting then the power immediately ceases affecting you and is treated as having failed to affect you.