How much does willpower have to do with being a mover and shaker?

[Prince of the Night]

is worth asking. as willpower influences the Delerium

In a room for NSA if they find Crinos Garou on a Camera recording is the guy in charge most likely to be the one able to consider seriously it might not be a hoax.

[Moirdryd]

Your more likely to find there's going to be one maybe two agents there who are good at their jobs and just a bit driven that will believe it. The department directors, maybe not so much depending literally on how they got there.

[Prince of the Night]

fair enough you see point of what Im asking?

[Uniform Two Six]

I would agree that for people (specifically straight-up normal vanilla-flavored humans), Willpower would be part of how they wind up in a position of some influence in a government bureaucracy like the NSA. But that would be only part of the picture, as one generally does not thrive (professionally) in that sort of environment without having a broad range of talents. Most bureaucracies tend to also be meritocracies, so having technical skills directly related to the purpose of the agency is one way to excel professionally (or alternately, have uncommon -- and usually marketable -- skills is another). As such, dots in Intelligence, Wits, Computer, Science, Linguistics, Enigmas, Academics, or Investigation would also play a role. Then again, bureaucracies (especially Federal ones) are also highly political at the higher echelons. Having technical expertise or intelligence will get you up the chain to near the top, but the higher you go, the more the politics begin to become part of the job description. Also at the highest levels, direct political appointees begin to appear. As such, dots in Charisma, Manipulation, Politics, Leadership, and even Etiquette, Empathy, and Expression are also going to play a role. For the political appointees, Backgrounds like Allies or Favor would be a big thing. And finally, there are always a few people who are difficult to terminate (for a variety of reasons) and wind up getting "promoted out of the way" to someplace in the bureaucracy that has little influence or significance where their ignorance, incompetence, or laziness can do little harm (Michael Brown of FEMA fame comes to mind for both the political appointee and promoted idiot). It's mentioned in a few places in Project Twilight that a fair number of people assigned to Twilight stuff got there because the rest of the bureaucracy don't take the Twilight stuff seriously and view it as a convenient dumping ground for their unwanted (and inept) trash.

But yeah, Willpower could be one path to power I suppose. I'd still think you'd need to pair it with a bunch of other stuff, and by no means would it be the primary attribute for all high ranking bureaucrats.

[Prince of the Night]

was wanting to know how likely is the one or two people whod have a willpower of 8 or higher, and thus don't instinctively Rationalize away a video of a Werewolf to be in a position of authority?

but your saying its plausible that a high willpower person could have failed to develop other traits?

[Uniform Two Six]

Well first off, it's actually 9 or higher to not rationalize (7-8 will sort of remember an encounter with a werewolf, but will still rationalize it away -- so probably the same for video or photos). How likely is it that any particular bureaucrat will be able to not blow the whole thing off as a hoax (or something photoshop-ed for the internet or something)… a flat 2%, since that's the incidence in the general population. Now what's the likelihood that someone in a position of power in a government agency like the NSA will have a higher-than-average willpower (under the assumption that one would need higher willpower to attain such a position)? That may be a different matter... or it might not be.

My point was not that someone with a high willpower would not have all the other traits mentioned, but rather that a high willpower would likely be only one of an array of traits that someone in such a position of power would need. My take would be that such a high willpower might be a tad more likely among movers-and-shakers (compared to the general population), but only a tad. It wouldn't likely make much difference since anyone in that sort of position even if they believed what they saw, would still know the value of keeping quiet about their suspicions -- partly out of concern about being the nail that sticks up around the supernaturals, but more likely out of the concern that anybody who starts making noises that supernaturals are real would quickly find their security clearances pulled and their standing in the organization greatly diminished. The only reason that David Duchovny's character in the X-Files made any sense whatsoever was that he was the kook that got shoved in the basement whom everyone laughed at.

[Prince of the Night]

would they be able to roll to increase effective occult which new ager's and "Weirdo's" do sometimes on the delerium, for being able to look at a photo rationally?

Oh Curious how do you think Glasswalkers or such could handle a member of some government agency who stood out to them as able to see things rationally?

Quietly dispose of?

or turn him even more into a pariah, with gifts like "Mark of the wolf" to make sure no one takes him seriously.

Should having someone on hand trying to convince you of the reality of what your seeing make it a little easier

[Uniform Two Six]

1. I would say that they would only get a willpower roll if they were already inclined to believe (eg the aforementioned Fox Mulder type FBI agent). Otherwise, they're as likely to blow it off as any run-of-the-mill human would. Even government agents (one might even posit especially government agents) are generally caught up in the daily grind and don't have time for "all that tin-foil-hat shit".

2. If a Glass Walker found out about a human who was in-the-know, the best response would be to do nothing. That goes double for someone with any standing in the government. The worst that they're plausibly going to do to you is blab about what they've seen (or suspect) -- and make themselves into "Spooky Mulder" (ie: ignored and irrelevant). If you do anything (particularly bump them off), their threat level only increases as you begin building up evidence that at the very least someone dangerous believes in all that crazy stuff too. That's a good way to launch an official investigation rather than avert one.

3. Sort of unrelated, but I believe that Mark of the Wolf is a Flaw, not a Gift -- and only works against werewolves. And, seriously, there's nothing that a character can do to make an FBI agent more of a pariah or look like a loon than simply let him run off at the mouth. The more he talks about werewolves, the crazier he seems. Also a good way to lose one's security clearance -- and guarantee that he has no real future with the department he works for if he doesn't just get sacked right then and there.

[Prince of the Night]

Their is a gift named MArk of the wolf in W20 Page 154

On another note.


What happens when a Pentex or DNA Employee see's photographs or videos of Werewolves?


are they able to rationalize it as a non hoax probably?