By Lee Garvin (LeeGarv@aol.com)
Gargoyles use the same rules systems as most of the other Storyteller games. The differences will be noted here. If a rule is not present, assume it is standard.
When choosing Abilities, you have priorities of fifteen and ten (15/10) to distribute among Talents and Skills, with none allowed for Knowledges.
A Beast Gargoyle cannot take the Endowment of Gargomancy nor any Numina. A Beast Gargoyle also cannot take the Backgrounds of Rites, Status or Contacts. Finally, a Beast Gargoyle may not choose Special Maneuvers.
Beast Gargoyles can be humanoid if you wish, however they will appear closer to monkeys than men. Communication must be limited to extremely simple pantomime, grunts, growls, whistles, howls, shrieks or any other appropriate animal-like noise, but never anything coherent.
This can be a royal pain, or a unique and challenging role-playing experience.
Unless an attribute is listed here, assume that the rules comply with the standard.
Important note: All damage that a Gargoyle takes during the night (provided it doesn't kill them) will be healed during the day while in stone form. Damage they take while stone, however, is permanent and may never be healed.
The exception to this rule is damage that completely destroys an organ or severs a limb does not heal. If an arm is gone, it is gone forever.
Except for the following, all Gargoyle abilities can be found in the other rulebooks.
* | Novice: You sometimes have to catch a ledge to avoid falling |
** | Practiced: You know how to spot a thermal. |
*** | Competent: You can go for hours without touching down. |
**** | Expert: You can land on a dime. |
***** | Master: Some would confuse your gliding with actual flight. |
Sculpting: This art form involves the manipulation of shapes and space with a malleable medium. Of course, with a hammer and chisel, nearly anything is malleable. This can be used to create purely representative works, or even highly abstract modern sculpture.
* | Novice: You can make a very nice ashtray |
** | Practiced: You know how to get the horse out of the block of marble. |
*** | Competent: You could probably have your own showing. |
**** | Expert: It is difficult to tell your statues from the real people they represent. |
***** | Master: You're Michelangelo. Only with wings. |
* | Novice: You can swoop. |
** | Practiced: You can fire a weapon in flight. |
*** | Competent: They'll never know what hit them. |
**** | Expert: You're better than most people are on the ground. |
***** | Master: You could dogfight a jet fighter. |
* | Student: You understand the whole name thing. |
** | College: You know how to tell the difference between a T.V. show and a commercial. |
*** | Masters: You can pretend to be human enough to have groceries delivered and cable installed. |
**** | Doctorate: With a heavy coat, a hat and really bad lighting, you could pass for human. |
***** | Scholar: You understand them better than they do themselves. If it weren't for the wings, you could run for office. |
Night Lore: Of course the Gargoyles know that there are supernatural creatures in the world, but how much do they know? They hold a tradition called Night Lore which is the knowledge of all those things that dread the day.
* | Student: You have vague hints, but nothing solid. |
** | College: You can see the evidence of other hands in the world. |
*** | Masters: You can tell a Garou from a Gangrel. |
**** | Doctorate: If you were human, you'd be a threat to the Masquerade. |
***** | Scholar: Mages come to you for advice. |
Rituals: The Clan life is full of ritual and ceremony. Although these are nowhere near as complex as human rituals, they do seem to be more powerful than some.
* | Student: You are an unskilled hatchling. |
** | College: You can lead a small rite. |
*** | Masters: You can take part in another Clan's rites without screwing up. |
**** | Doctorate: You could probably blend in at a Garou moot. |
***** | Scholar: You know just about all there is to know. |
Technology: Gargoyles normally have no need for the contrivances of man, but occasionally one of them is intrigued enough to learn about it. And when they learn, they learn big! A Gargoyle with this Knowledge is able to make astounding leaps of intuition regarding mechanical and electronic devices.
All Gargoyles begin the game with these abilities.
This power cannot be used on Gargoyles.
Gargoyles are immune to this power.
Any damage done while a Gargoyle is in stone form is permanent, and may never be healed.
Gargoyles never go faster than two actions a turn without the aid of Magic.
These are traits all Gargoyles may have, but must train in order to use properly.
At each level of Gargomancy, the character gains access to different effects.
* Scenting: The character can track by scent anyone he knows very well, and can smell the differences in types of stone and can detect other Gargoyles.
* Blending: By standing still, the Gargoyle takes on the appearance of stone and will be mistaken for a statue. Four successes on a Perception + Alertness roll with a difficulty of 6 are necessary to realize that the Gargoyle is not a statue.
** Sealing: The character can seal any two pieces of stone together, so that they effectively become one piece. This is a very effective second layer of defense for a Rookery.
This ability cannot be used to repair broken Gargoyles.
** Revealing the Flow: The character can see and follow the flow of Quintessence, Gnosis, or even Quickening (if Immortals rules are used). On a Perception + Gargomancy roll with a difficulty of 6, three or more successes will also tell the character what kind of energy it is (including Sphere).
*** Borrowing Might: With this effect, the Gargomancer leeches dots of one Physical Attribute from one character, and bestows it upon himself temporarily. The character must spend a Willpower and roll Gargomancy with a difficulty of 6. Each success transfers one dot. The Gargomancer must take all of the dots accounted for. If this would drop the donor to zero or less, then the Gargomancer only gets as many points as the donor had, and the donor passes out. If the donor is willing, no extra roll is needed. However, if the donor is unwilling, she may make a Willpower roll. Each success eliminates one success from the Gargomancer. These effects last for one scene.
*** Lending Might: This effect is the opposite of Borrowing Might. The Gargomancer spends a Willpower point and rolls Gargomancy. The Result is the number of points in one Attribute that are temporarily lent to another character. Again, if the total brings the Gargomancer to zero, he passes out. This also lasts the entire scene.
**** Revisionism: This is a very unusual effect. The Gargomancer may carve a feature for a Gargoyle (including himself) out of stone and attach it to the Gargoyle's body. The Gargoyle then holds the feature on himself and waits for sunrise. At the next sunset, the feature becomes a part of the Gargoyle until sunrise, when it returns to its natural stone and falls off. The feature may be a weapon, a limb, an extra tail, armor, or anything that would appear to be a part of the monster's body. In order to achieve this, the Gargomancer must first have available a carving of the desired feature that was created with at least 5 successes. Then he spends one point of Legendary Potential, and rolls Intelligence + Gargomancy with a difficulty of the target's Stamina. As with Sealing, this cannot be used to repair broken Gargoyles.
**** Sculpting Life: The Gargomancer may imbue statues with temporary life by spending one Legendary Potential and one Willpower, and rolling Intelligence + Gargomancy with a target of 7. These statues, which may be prepared ahead of time, can be of small animals, people, creatures, or even titanic monsters. These creatures will only retain life for one night and one day, until the following sunset. The attributes for the creatures are assigned by the Gargomancer, with the numbers determined by the number of successes. The statue will have one Talent, one Skill, and one Knowledge, that the Gargomancer has, all at the same levels as the Gargomancer. Otherwise, they have no Abilities except for those bought with Freebie Points. These creations have a Willpower equal to the number of successes rolled to create them, and will only do their creator's bidding if they lose a contested Willpower roll. Keep in mind, that while the creation will still be alive during the day, it's master will most likely be stone.
Successes | Priorities |
1 | (3/1/0) 2 Freebie pts. |
2 | (4/2/1) 3 Freebie pts. |
3 | (5/3/1) 5 Freebie pts. |
4 | (6/4/2) 7 Freebie pts. |
5 | (7/5/3) 10 Freebie pts. |
6 | (9/6/4) 15 Freebie pts. |
7 | (10/7/5) 17 Freebie pts. |
8 | (12/8/6) 20 Freebie pts. |
***** Transfer of Respite: This allows the Gargomancer to spend a Legendary Potential and roll Manipulation + Gargomancy with a difficulty of his target's Willpower to transfer his stone nature onto another, non-Gargoyle being. The target will be stone during the day, while the Gargomancer will be able to move about in daylight. This effect lasts for one night. While stone, the target stores up energy just as a Gargoyle does, and gains a temporary + 1 to both his Strength and his Dexterity for the next night. The effect can be resisted if the character wishes, by rolling a Willpower test at 6 and getting more successes than the Gargomancer. If the target is willing, the effect need not be resisted. This effect cannot be used two days in a row.
***** Gift of Stone: This is, indeed, an awesome and fearsome ability for a Gargomancer. By spending a Willpower and a permanent point of Legendary Potential, then rolling Intelligence + Gargomancy against the target's Willpower, the Gargoyle wizard can turn one being into stone forever, provided he touches the target. This fate can only be reversed by a Mage with Life 4 and Matter 4, or some similar level of power.
System: To activate, the character must roll a test of her Might of Stone trait, with a difficulty of 6. For each success, add one to the Gargoyle's effective Strength for the remainder of the Scene. A Gargoyle can only store enough energy for 1 hour's exertion in this manner. After that, he must spend a day as stone before he can do it again.
This Endowment has different aspects, and may be taken multiple times. In order to have the effect of more than one Monstrosity, this is necessary. One of the aspects may be improved, but in order gain a new one, it bust be purchased from the first level.
For example, a character may wish to have the Monstrosities; Fleshless Horror, Two Heads, Flaming Head, and Faceless (one of the heads is Faceless, the other is flaming). He would need:
Monstrosity-Flesh *****
Monstrosity-Head *****
Monstrosity-Head ****
Monstrosity-Head **
As you can see, This would take 16 dots. This Gargoyle has his work cut out for him.
No Gargoyle with any dots in Monstrosity may have an Appearance over zero.
Extra Pair of Limbs:
* | You have an extra pair of limbs. These limbs have an effective Strength equal to your Strength - 4. You have one additional attack at a +3 difficulty. |
** | Same as above, but the Strength is - 3. |
*** | Strength is - 2, and sextapedal Movement rate bases are now: Walk: 10, Jog: 15 + Dex, Run: 23 + Dex x 3 |
**** | Strength is - 1, and sextapedal Movement rate bases are now: Walk: 10, Jog: 15 + Dex, Run: 23 + Dex x 3 |
***** | Strength is equal to normal Strength, and sextapedal Movement rate bases are now: Walk: 11, Jog: 16 + Dex, Run: 24 + Dex x 3 |
Flesh
* Acid Pores: | You have specialized glads in your skin that produce a powerful acid. By spending a Legendary Potential point, you can cause this acid to burn an object you touch. The damage caused is 3 dice for each turn the object is touched, and it will continue to take this damage for an equal number of turns afterwards, unless cleaned off with water. By concentrating, the Gargoyle can keep his secretions shut off for a number of turns equal to his Willpower. Once the concentration is off, however, the acid starts brewing again, albeit very slowly. Any clothes or weapons the character wishes to use on a regular basis should be dedicated to him to protect them. Without this protection, all but the thickest clothing will be eaten away over the course of one night. |
** Stone Skin: | This Endowment allows the Gargoyle to grow a layer of stone skin just like the one he is covered with at night. The difference is that this rock is broken at the joints, allowing nearly full range of movement, while providing extra armor for a short time. To activate, the Gargoyle must spend a Legendary Potential and roll his Willpower against a difficulty of 6. The number of successes is the number of Armor Points the skin will provide. This effect lasts a number of turns equal to the character's Willpower. In addition, this skin can be used as camouflage, just as the Gargomancy ability, Blending. However, this is subject to the Willpower Time limit as well. |
*** Stench of Death: | Your flesh appears rotted and putrid, and periodically falls off in chunks, revealing the bones below. Gain + 3 to all Intimidation attempts. Also, you can touch someone (attack roll may be required) and give her a form of fungal infection that takes effect within minutes. For the next several days (equal to the net successes of the attack) she will be at - 1 to all Physical and Social Attributes. |
**** Horrible Stain: | Your body takes on a horrible, oozing -- yet painless -- wound for each wound you inflict. That wound is linked to the opponent whose real wound it matches. While in view of the opponent, you can dig in the wound, poke it, prod it -- or anything you feel like doing. On a failed Willpower test, your opponent feels each movement. While this causes no actual damage, they will think it is, and gain a psychological wound level for each success when the Gargoyle rolls Manipulation + Monstrosity-Flesh for a difficulty of 6. |
***** Fleshless Horror: | You have no apparent flesh; your body appears to be the skeleton of a beast that never lived. In actuality, your organs are extremely compact and are located inside your bones. These bones are hollow and contain your body rather than supporting it. Your wings appear to be empty bones, but there is a very thin, transparent layer of skin on them that shrivels up into the joints when not in use. Your exo-skeleton provides you with a permanent armor value of 4. |
Head:
* Headless: | You have no actual head, and your eyes, nose, ears, and mouth are all located on your torso. The character is immune to any attacks that target the head. |
** Flaming Head: | While stone, you appear much like a demon with a blazing head. When flesh, it is much the same. Your head is constantly burning without being consumed. Fire based attacks do no damage to your head, and you can set objects on fire by touching them with your head. Gain 2 dice to Intimidation attempts. |
*** Two Faces: | You have two faces, one on either side of your head. You have two attempts to see anything, and all other advantages of having two pairs of eyes. Your noses are too close to each other to be effective separately. |
**** Faceless | You have absolutely no features: eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are all gone. Your voice seems to emanate from nowhere, and you eat by forcing food into your head where your face would be. Gain 2 dice to Intimidation rolls. A faceless Gargoyle is immune to Dominate, and other mind-control attacks that require eye contact; as well as gas attacks and sonic attacks targeting the ears. |
***** Two Heads: | You have a second head, and can operate it independently of the other. This allows you to look in two directions at once, and gives you two attempts at seeing, hearing, or smelling anything when the Storyteller calls for it. You also gain an extra bite attack. Note that the Fangs and Beak Merits will only apply to one mouth, so it must be taken again if you wish both mouths to have it. Also, Horns will only apply to one head unless taken twice. |
System: To Activate, the character must roll their Rock Hide trait with a difficulty of 6. Each Success acts an extra dot of Stamina for the purposes of soaking physical damage only (ie: it would do nothing against drugs). This lasts for the duration of the scene. A Gargoyle can only store enough energy for 1 hour's exertion in this manner. After that, she must spend a day as stone before she can do it again.
When a Gargoyle Spouts, he must spend a point of Legendary Potential, and roll Dexterity to attack. The difficulty for the attack is 7.
The Gargoyle must ingest the proper substance (water, oil, lead, or rock) a full hour before using it. If he does not use it before the sun rises, then it is metabolized while he is stone, and he awakes the next night with a bad case of gas.
* | Boiling Water - Damage 3 |
** | Boiling Oil - Damage 5 |
*** | Blazing Oil - Damage 7 plus fire |
**** | Molten Lead - Damage 10 |
***** | Magma - Damage 10 plus fire |
Note that if a Gargoyle does not begin the game with Numina, he may not buy it later.
Except as noted, the Backgrounds listed are the same as those in the other Storyteller games.
A Clan may include non-Gargoyles if the person in question has proven themselves to be a true and loyal friend. Non-Gargoyle characters can take this background and therefore be an "honorary" Gargoyle, with all the duties and privileges this entails.
* | Your Clan consists of one other Gargoyle. |
** | There are up to three other Gargoyles in your clan. |
*** | There are up to seven Gargoyles in your Clan. |
**** | Your Clan consists of up to fifteen Gargoyles. |
***** | You're not sure you've even spoken to everyone in your Clan, there are so many. |
* | An abandoned building. No one ever comes here, so you're hidden, but there is no electricity, no water, no gas, no larder, not even a stockpile of supplies. |
** | A cavern system some distance from civilization. There is plenty of room, geothermal heat for eggs, and a fresh water supply. |
*** | A small place, hidden, but in the midst of much activity, so that you have access to many varied resources. May be hooked up to electricity, but no deliveries will be made to you, since no one is supposed to live there. |
**** | A castle, mansion, church or skyscraper with a splendid view of the city. A very modern home, you are hooked up to cable, the internet, and anything a human could expect. |
***** | You literally live like a king. Every luxury is available, the defenses are solid and near impenetrable, and there is room for several full-sized clans. |
For each dot in this background, the character may take one Rite. They may only take rites that are of an equal or lower level than their Rituals Knowledge.
To use a Rite, the character must roll his Charisma + Performance. The difficulty number will vary dependent on the Rite, but is most often 6.
Level 1 Rites
Rite of Dedication: This is similar to the Werewolf rite of the same name, except that items dedicated in this manner change to stone with the Gargoyle during the day, as long as they are holding them when the sun comes up.
Calling the Clan: This rite is a silent call that alerts all members of the Clan to report to the Castle or another location for a meeting.
Welcoming the Egg: This rite is performed when a new egg has been laid and the clan acknowledges the unborn as one of their own. After this ritual, all clan members will instinctively know if the egg is in distress simply by being near it.
Level 2 Rites
Rite of Recognition: This rite is the official initiation of a full grown Gargoyle or someone else who has been accepted into the Clan. From this point on, all rites and effects that mention clan members in their description will include the newcomer in their effects.
Concealing the Roost: This is usually performed by a Gargoyle who finds himself too far away from home with sunrise approaching. Once finished, the place the character is perched will be pointedly ignored by all casual glances, and anyone specifically searching for the Gargoyle must roll Perception + Investigation with a difficulty of 8 in order to spot him.
Marking the Vandal: This rite is performed when the Clan suspects they may be in danger during the day. Performed on the entire Clan just before daybreak, it watches over them in the daylight. If anyone or anything damages or otherwise harms any of the Clan, the rest will know them on sight. This rite will only function on the day after it is performed.
Level 3 Rites
Sealing the Rookery: By performing this rite on the Clan's Rookery, which must have a closable door, the Gargoyles make it impassable to all but members of the Clan. The seal may be broken by Magic of Forces 3 or better. This lasts for one month.
Hunting the Vandal: This allows the entire clan to track the vandal marked in the earlier rite. Lasting for one night, it guides the Gargoyles in the direction of the foe by the most direct route. If the vandal is not found that night, or was too far away to reach, then the rite can be performed again, but the difficulty goes up by one each time it is performed. The beginning difficulty is 6.
Rite of Rending: This dreaded rite is reserved only for the most heinous of Gargoyle crimes, and is only done when killing the offender is out of the question for some reason. By performing this rite, the Clan expels and excommunicates a former member. All members of the clan will know on sight that this Gargoyle (or other) is an outcast, and unwelcome. Even future generations of the Clan and new inductees will recognize the exile, despite having joined the Clan years after the rite.
Level 4 Rites
The Hero's Rest: This is a preparation for great deeds or horrible battle. By performing this rite on another Gargoyle, and spending 1 Willpower, you send them into their stone sleep, not even to awaken at night. The Gargoyle sleeps this way for a number of nights equal to the number of successes rolled at a difficulty of 7. On the night he revives, the Gargoyle is completely refreshed and has an additional dot of Dexterity for each night at rest, and an additional dot of Strength for each two nights, rounded down. This bonus lasts for the entire night, and is gone the next night. The Gargoyle may not sleep longer than the time allowed by the roll, but he may awake earlier, provided he states this intention before turning to stone.
Shielding the Sun: By spending a Willpower and performing this rite, a Gargoyle may avoid or postpone turning into stone during the day. The only restriction is that he must remain completely out of the sunlight. If the slightest beam hits the smallest part of the Gargoyle, he is stone until nightfall.
Level 5 Rites
The Sleepless Day: By spending two Willpower and performing this rite, the character has the ability to function in the day as a human would. This rite cannot be used on consecutive days.
* | You have distinguished yourself on a few missions or in battle, and are being watched by some influential clanmembers. |
** | All the Clan respects you for one of your abilities. You are the best, or possibly the only one for the job when it involves your expertise. This sometimes gets you out of an unpleasant task elsewhere, but you are constantly asked to exercise your gift. |
*** | You are looked up to by most of your Clan, and the Clan Leader respects your opinions. You may have even been appointed to a station, possibly second in command. |
**** | Your Leader trusts you implicitly, and may grant you the station of chief advisor. |
***** | You are probably the Clan Leader, and have much respect in the eyes of your roost-mates. |
All Gargoyles begin the game with three dots of Willpower. This can be increased by spending Freebie Points. Willpower is used just like in all the other Storyteller games.
While tales and legend are a large part of many people's lives, Gargoyles' lives are a part of legend. Most of them have no care for this, while a few actually hold a secret pride over this status. Legendary Potential is that part of a Gargoyle which spawns epics. When something happens to a Gargoyle, this Potential makes it more dramatic than it would be for nearly any other beings. Other creatures and people may have legends and tales told of them, but this is the result of them setting out to do something momentous. For a Gargoyle, life is never prosaic; the simplest task will shortly take on epic proportions. This is very likely an effect of their status as "hold-outs" from the Mythic Age. Gargoyles have a tendency to be in the right place at the wrong time, so they become legends without intention. Given their strong morality, they very rarely just let something be, and they never heard the advice, "don't get involved."
The Legendary Potential of a Gargoyle is what allows him to perform feats beyond the ken of mortals. Being part of the collective psyche, legend can affect reality in the same way Mages can sometimes. When the imagination of hundreds of thousands of mortals are turned to the same thing, it can cause reality to change in some small way.
Gargoyles are the storehouse for much of this energy. They can use it to perform the deeds which become a part of legend.
Legendary Potential is spent in order to power the various Endowments, Rites, or Numina a Gargoyle may have. See the individual description for details. If the description is from another game and mentions Blood, Gnosis, or Quintessence, Legendary Potential can be substituted for it.
All Gargoyles begin the game with three dots in Legendary Potential. This can be increased by Freebie Points.
Legendary Potential can be regained through legendary deeds. If a Gargoyle does something that is beyond the abilities of mortals, or if he performs an action of considerable valor or heroism, he can attempt to regain Legendary Potential. There must be at least one witness to the deed, and the character can then roll her permanent Legendary Potential with a difficulty of her current Legendary Potential. If the character has at least one success, then she gains one point of Legendary Potential back. A Gargoyle can never gain back more Legendary Potential than her permanent score.