True Faith (Merit)

Strong belief is essential for a mage. You, however, hold stronger beliefs than usual. Possessing convictions in a greater outside power, you can channel that power for miraculous feats that go beyond mere magick.

Game-wise, your character has one dot of True Faith – a potent force, in the World of Darkness, that reflects devotion to a god or pantheon. Despite the usual association between Faith and Christianity, your character can belong to any sincere creed with an established moral code and historical legacy. (Sorry, but True Faith in postmodern satires like the Flying Spaghetti Monster does not count.) A Technocrat can hold True Faith too, although such Faith is pretty unusual. Even Marauders and Nephandi can possess True Faith, although the Fallen version of this Merit inverts the usual purity associated with True Faith. Such Faith adds one die per point to Willpower rolls, offers countermagick rolls (even for characters who cannot normally use countermagick), and might allow the character to employ other miraculous powers at the Storyteller’s option.

Faith is no simple thing. It must be lived as well as recognized. A person with True Faith strives to be an exemplar of her creed, suffers crises of conviction, and might find herself losing the Faith entirely. Conversely, she can also grow into a paragon of her creed’s virtues, embodying everything good (or evil) about her Path. Deeds in accord with that Faith strengthen or restore it, whereas acts opposed to the creed weaken this Merit. For a mage, such Faith is an innate part of her magickal focus – the two must be in alignment, because they both depend upon the same beliefs. Some people believe that mystics of the Celestial Chorus depend entirely upon True Faith and do not use True Magick at all. People who can see auras view True Faith as a shining corona of light… or a crackling storm of colors for malignant creeds.

True Faith costs 7 points per dot and may be purchased only during the character creation stage. Events within the chronicle can raise or lower it, at the Storyteller’s discretion. People with True Faith are rare, and folks with Faith greater than 2 might as well be living saints. Again, a character must live, and perhaps die, by her convictions… a difficult thing, at times, for a mage, thanks to the compromises that a Path so often demands.

### Levels of True Faith

Levels of True Faith
 2
 3
 4
 5

### Powers of True Faith

Folks who possess True Faith often perform other miracles. As an optional rule, the Storyteller may allow a character with that Merit to channel her convictions into a range of holy (or unholy) powers:

* **Conviction:** By invoking the strength of her character’s convictions, the player can spend a point of Faith like a point of Willpower
* **Healing:** By laying on hands, the character can try to heal another character even if she lacks the Life Sphere. A successful Faith roll, difficulty 6, heals one bashing or lethal health level, and two successes can heal one aggravated health level. A character with malignant True Faith can cause damage at the same rate.
* **Intercession:** By praying for another person, the character can stabilize a sick or dying person, forgive sins, act as a “phone call to God,” or perform some other intercession between a character and the Powers that Be.
* **Penance:** A firm or compassionate lecture might get another character to repent his sins and offer remorse and penance to the appropriate Powers That Be. Game-wise, this might demand a contested roll of True Faith versus the offender’s Willpower. The difficulty is the offender’s Willpower, although additional social-feat rolls during the lecture can lower that difficulty for the character with Faith. If the evangelist succeeds, the sinner hesitates, breaks down, or otherwise expresses remorse and potential conversion.
* **Shielding:** When assaulted by fire, torture, or other attacks, a Faith-full individual can try to soak the attack with a True Faith roll. Each success adds to the character’s soak roll, even against aggravated attacks, for one turn. At the Storyteller’s discretion, a successful roll might protect the character entirely; flames, beasts, temptations, and other torments might be diverted by a strong display of Faith.
* **Transmutation:** With a successful Faith roll, the character can transmute water to wine, turn fire to air, negate the effects of poison, or perform other miracles even if she lacks the Matter or Forces Spheres. Essentially, that character’s gods direct their powers through their chosen one, displaying their powers over Earthly phenomena.

The Storyteller can, of course, create other miracles that suit the nature of the character and her chosen powers. As mentioned elsewhere, such miracles come from that higher power – that is, the Storyteller – not from the player. She can declare what she’d like to have happen, but the final manifestation of Faith… or lack of that miracle… is the Storyteller’s call. Such acts – being miraculous, not magickal – do not invoke Paradox, even though they transcend Consensus Reality.