Each character begins with 2-4 identities that capture their persona and role in the world. Unlike the generic abilities derived from shock meters, these are uniquely defined by players to reflect the broad skills and exceptional talents that an individual character has.
For example:
The mechanics supporting identities are broadly consistent, but there are slightly different treatments for each of the following four types of identity that follow slightly different patterns.
- Mundane: most identities fall into this category. They usually represent functional roles the character has (such as an occupation, vocation or hobby), defining personality traits or physical characteristics.
- Supernatural: these identities capture paranormal or psychic talents. They can take on a variety of forms, but are defined by a consistent mechanical structure for the effects of Unnatural powers they provide.
- Adept: unique obsession identities based on schools of powerful magick.
- Avatar: the character uniquely identifies with a universal archetype. They can channel unnatural powers because of their alignment with its symbols and behaviours.
The key mechanical differences are summarised in this table and expanded on below.
| Identity Characteristic | Mundane | Supernatural | Adept | Avatar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Of course I can ... | Yes | No | No | No |
| Substitutes for Ability | Yes | No | No | No |
| Casts Rituals | Optional | If Appropriate | Automatic | Automatic |
| Use Gutter Magick | Optional | If Appropriate | Automatic | Automatic |
| Other Features | Yes | No | No | No |
| Obsession | Optional | Optional | Mandatory | Optional |
| Goes Up | Failure +d5 | Failure +d5 | Failure +d5 | Successful Check: +d5 Achieve relevant Objective: +d10 |
| Goes Down | No | No | No | Break Taboo: Lose 1-5 (GM choice) |
| Channels | No | No | No | Yes |
| Charges | NA | NA | 8 if starting as Adept | NA |
Scope and Detail
The Of course I can statement only applies to mundane identities. It is used to suggest typical activities and skills that a character can expect to be competent at because of their identity.
The examples that are described when defining an identity illustrate the broad scope of that identity. They aren’t expected to be either complete or exhaustive, because a character will often be able to call upon their identities to deal with different situations in unforeseeable ways.
This catalogue of expertise is not applicable to non-mundane identities, because each of those have a very specific and defined scope, which may be the much more tightly prescribed conditions and effects of a supernatural ability, the discrete channels of an avatar, or the spells of an adept.
Similarly, most features are only applicable to mundane identities, as they provide the mechanical parameters that allow the identity to be used in different game situations. Supernatural, adept and avatar identities operate with a different suite of mechanics that makes most features redundant in their context.
Cast Rituals and Use Gutter Magick
These are the only features that can apply to unnatural identities. They come as standard with adept and avatar identities, and – where it makes sense – they can also be tagged onto supernatural identities.
Some mundane identities (such as priest or cultist varieties) may be defined to include one or both of these features. This will give the character a route into being able to use the unnatural to break the world.
Obsession
A character’s persona may be described by their identities, but their drivers are determined by their passions and obsession. To connect these two aspects, one of their identities is always linked to their obsession.
This confers a mechanical benefit in play: characters can always flip-flop rolls made against their related identity, either to turn a failed roll into a success or to improve an already successful roll.
Any identity can be the characters obsession identity, as long as it is relevant to their obsession. There is no clear mechanic to change an obsession, but it will likely involve pursuing the endeavour as a cabal objective.
The exception to this is that adepts must always take their school of magick as their obsession identity. Even if they stop practising, they cannot change their obsession identity,
Measuring and Improving
Identities are rated on a percentile scale. They are the principal means through which characters can show positive growth and development. This is in stark contrast to shock meters which generally harden or fail as a character becomes more broken and distressed.
To improve an identity rating, a character has to test it during a session. If the identity check is failed, they player marks an experience check beside it. At the end of the session, they can increase the identity rating by 1-5 points (Play, p45).
The exception is for identities that represent avatars of universal archetypes. These confer unnatural powers to a character based on their alignment to the symbols and behaviours of the archetype. An experience check is therefore marked when an avatar identity is successfully tested, rather than failed. Any improvement is again determined at the end of the session. If the character breaks their taboos, however, their identity rating can also decrease.