Will
| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Parent Stat | Spirit |
| Values | |
| Stat Min | -10 |
| Base Value | 0 |
Will is an intangible attribute of the Spirit, though in certain circumstances it becomes self-evident in individuals with a heightened Will. A surgeon performing dangerous surgery on two otherwise identical patients may give better odds to the patient with the greater “will to live.” The difference may be impossible to measure with ordinary instruments, yet it can manifest in the patient's ability to endure pain, resist sickness, remain conscious, or continue fighting when the body would otherwise surrender. Will can therefore help an individual overcome sickness or injury, or provide one last chance when physical ability alone has already failed.
A strong Will can carry a character beyond the point where ordinary physical or mental effort should have ended. It might allow a doomed character one final attempt at swimming ashore, climbing out of a trap, reaching a companion, or completing some other desperate physical act after their Endurance has been exhausted. Will does not replace Strength, Agility, or Endurance; rather, it can sometimes compel the body to continue when those attributes have reached their limits.
With heightened Will and sufficient psychic training, however, the boundary between determination and physical force begins to disappear. A person may be able to will objects to move, turning the old expression “mind over matter” into a literal description of an act of Will. Hurling stones with the mind, levitating one's entire body, spontaneously igniting fires, or conjuring weapons fashioned from sheer Will are among the more spectacular abilities of Will-oriented Psychics. Such feats represent the Spirit imposing its intent upon the physical world.
Training is not always required for Will to have supernatural consequences. A sufficiently strong Will can resist domination of the mind or Spirit, whether the assault comes from magic, psychic power, a creature's supernatural ability, or something not yet understood. In this respect, Will represents the character's ability to say no to forces that would otherwise determine what they think, feel, or do. The stronger the Will, the more difficult it becomes for another power to make that decision on the character's behalf.
Will Checks
When performing a feat that relies upon determination, self-control, or the ability to overcome an otherwise overwhelming obstacle, the GM may ask for a Will Check. A basic Will modifier is zero, but characters with exceptional Will such as Wizards, Ontustikers, or an Ontustiker Wizard may have high Will modifiers even at low levels of Power.
A Will Check is performed by rolling a 20-sided die, to which the Will bonus is added, or the Will penalty subtracted. A total roll of 11 or higher indicates success. Extremely difficult tasks may require a higher roll, as determined by the GM. Critical successes occur when the required total is reached or exceeded on a natural 20. This may inspire the GM to sweeten the outcome of the check. Conversely, a natural 1 is an automatic failure, even if the addition of a bonus would otherwise exceed the required roll. This Critical Failure may inspire the GM to impose additional consequences upon the failed feat of Will.
Feats of Will are varied and usually involve a character overcoming some hardship and accomplishing a task through determination when other means have failed. A character might force themselves to keep moving after their body has given out, maintain consciousness while suffering a severe injury, resist surrender when defeat appears inevitable, or make one final physical effort to escape a seemingly hopeless situation. Various powers requiring Will may also require a Will Check to determine whether the character can successfully impose their intent upon the world.
At higher levels of Power, a Will Check may determine whether an extraordinary act succeeds as intended. Moving an object without touching it, maintaining levitation, manifesting a weapon of Will, projecting a destructive force, or producing another supernatural effect may require the character to concentrate their Will sufficiently to make the effect real. In these cases, Will is not merely determining whether the character has enough courage. It determines whether the character can make the universe cooperate with their intention.
Will Saving Throws
When something happens to a character that Will alone can mitigate, the GM may call for a Will Saving Throw. The player rolls a 20-sided die and adds their Will modifier to the roll. The resulting total indicates to the GM whether the character resists the effect or is subjected to the calamity requiring Will.
These circumstances are often malevolent and may involve magical spells, psychic manipulation, curses, or creature powers that attempt to override the character's ability to make their own decisions. A successful Will Saving Throw allows the character to shake off the effect and often become aware of the source or nature of the malevolent influence. The character may recognize that the desire to act was not their own, that the sudden urge to sleep was imposed upon them, or that something else was attempting to take control.
Examples of situations that might call for a Will Saving Throw include:
- Resisting a magical command.
- Resisting an attempt to force the character to sleep.
- Refusing a supernatural compulsion to remain passive or helpless.
- Resisting an effect that attempts to force the character to attack an ally.
- Rejecting an instruction imposed through psychic manipulation.
- Resisting a creature attempting to dominate the character's mind or Spirit.
- Maintaining control of one's body when another force attempts to take possession of it.
- Resisting a curse that attempts to alter the character's behavior.
- Rejecting an unnatural urge to perform an action against the character's own interests.
- Maintaining one's own intentions when confronted by an overwhelming supernatural presence.
Will Saving Throws therefore defend something fundamental: the character's right to determine their own actions. A character may be frightened, confused, injured, or uncertain and still possess enough Will to reject an outside command. Where Empathy allows the character to understand the emotional influence of another, Will allows the character to refuse it.
Loss of Will
A character's Will may be diminished by disease, curses, special creature attacks, magical effects, psychic assaults, or other forces capable of weakening the Spirit. A reduction in Will results in a corresponding reduction of the character's Will modifier and may also cause the loss or suppression of powers that require a minimum Will modifier. Such effects can be particularly dangerous because they may weaken both the character's resistance to supernatural control and their ability to perform feats that depend upon sheer determination.
The effects may be temporary or permanent. A temporary weakening may disappear once the underlying condition has been overcome, while a permanent loss can leave a character unusually vulnerable to coercion and unable to call upon abilities that require exceptional Will. Permanent losses of Will can be recovered over time by Powering Up and converting Power to Will in the Player's Workshop. The irony of converting Power to Will in a game called Will to Power is not lost on the author.
Related Stats
Will is one of the three Spirit stats, along with Prescience and Empathy. Together, these stats describe abilities that extend beyond the ordinary functions of the body and mind. Will represents the ability to maintain and impose one's own intent, Empathy represents the ability to perceive and connect with the emotions of other beings, and Prescience represents awareness of possible events and outcomes beyond ordinary perception.
The three Spirit stats are also used to calculate increases in a character's Spirit Point totals, making them particularly important to spiritually oriented characters such as Psychics and Divines. Will gives the Spirit its ability to act upon the world rather than merely perceive it. Empathy allows the Spirit to connect, Prescience allows it to see what may come, and Will allows it to say, quite literally, "This is what I intend to happen."
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