Your character will start with three paths:
Origin Path: If you were Born, this is definies what kind of position in society you were born and raised in. If you were Created or are a Denizen, this defines what type of being you are.
Role Path: This path summarizes, in one line, your character’s role in society. This is often, but not always, their career or profession.
Pantheon Path: This defines your Supernatural Path and your role within your pantheon at large. This is usually, but not always defined by your Patron and your relationship with your patron.
Each path consists of these elements:
- A short description of the path including thinking about the ways in which your path may have prepared you for the challenges ahead.
- Skills: Each path grants you a number of specific skills that contribute to your character’s starting character stats.
- Skill Focus: Pick one Skill specialization that is connected to your path and add it to your sheet.
- Gear: You are assumed to have any normal belongings someone from that Path would have. This gear usually translates to a +1 Enhancement on a roll, but can be fleshed out with the storyguide.
- (Optional) Bond: You gain a bond with another player tied to your path.
Birthright Invocations
Some Birthrights (such as Cults and Guides) can be invoked like a path. These same benefits apply to you, representing Know-how, Equipment, and Contacts provided by your ties to to your Birthrights.
Paths +
Know-how
You can invoke your path to represent the knowledge and experience you’ve gained to add 2 dice to any roll that would benefit from your experience with this path.
Specialized Equipment
You can also invoke this path to get access to a valuable piece of equipment. For example, a Movie Star can borrow a movie studio, a cop can check out his Police Cruiser, or a Doctor can gain medical equipment. This may come in the form of 2 dice, +2 enhancement, or Scale on a roll, depending on the nature of the gear attained.
Contacts
You can invoke a path to represent your connections made in your life. When you invoke, state the name and nature of the person you know that would be useful in the current situation. You can then work with your Storyguide to create an NPC that fits that description. Their assistance grants you +2 Dice on a roll. This character may return in the future as a result of an Obligation, or as a Fatebinding.
Obligations
Each Path, including any Paths originating from Birthrights, comes with obligations you must fulfill. You and the GM can discuss the nature of your obligations here. These are usually mundane and easy to accomplish such as “Call Home”, “Wear baggy black clothes and spiked chains” or “Show up to work”. Usually, it is assumed that you are completing these obligations off screen. However, if you ask too much of any given Path (such as Invoking the same Path more than once a session) then time must be spent fulfilling an obligation. You gain the condition “Obligated” and receive none of the benefits of this path until you have completed some task necessary to restore your status.
Leaving a Path
Sometimes, you become disconnected from a path. This may come because you have not seen to the obligations a Path requires, or perhaps you have drifted too far from your initial path for it to accurately represent you as a person. You may replace your existing Path with a new path of your choice. You keep the Skill Specialization you had previously but do not gain a new one for your new path. You can, however, purchase a new specialization related to your new path for the standard XP cost. You do not gain a Bond from your new Path.
New paths do not need to fit in the same categories as your starting paths.