House Rules
I Chih
Partial Attribute Effects
"Partial Attribute effects" are a cheap but wholly acceptable way to get around the fairly high cost of directly affecting Attribute scores through I Chih. This sort of I Chih utilizes the same "I Chih type", but instead of decreasing an Attribute directly, it simply affects part of what that Attribute is capable of. For example, one can directly increase Stamina. But if all one wanted is a higher damage soaking dicepool, he can cast the spell as a "partial Attribute effect" instead.
The nice thing about this sort of I Chih is that it encourages the player to think a little more creatively. It provides more versatility to the I Chih and cuts down on constant "superhuman" hsien Attributes. The downside to the spell, of course, is that it only covers one aspect of a given Attribute. A greater soak pool will help a character stay up in a slugfest, but it won't help a character hold his breath longer underwater or resist the effects of a neurotoxin.
The system for "partial Attribute effects" are similar to the normal Attribute-affecting I Chih. However, as a general rule, the only difference is that every bonus or penalized point to the target's dicepool costs only 1 modifier level.
Using the example above, a character might normally need 6 Magnitude of Change modifiers to raise his Stamina from 2 to 5. Finding himself only in a fist-fight he needs to win, he decides to cast a "partial Attribute effect" to gain a total of 5 Stamina-based soak dice. He only needs 3 Magnitude of Change modifiers now! Hopefully the brawl won't end up in the swimming pool.
There are some I Chih that employ this concept for a particular effect instead of bonus/negative dicepools. For example, using an Intelligence-based increase I Chih to gain a "photographic memory" instead of simply raising Intelligence to 4 or more. In these cases, the player (with the Storyteller's help) should decide exactly what he wants to do and where in general the ability granted by the effect would lie in the range of Attributes' natural talents. Assume in the above example that for such a clear memory of an event, only those with Intelligence 4+ would manage it. Assign a Magnitude of Change modifier as per Intelligence 5, then cut it in half for the "partial Attribute effect". If the character had a score of Intelligence 3, then this sort of I Chih would have a Magnitude of Change level of 2.
For the most part, however, "partial Attribute effects" will only add or subtract dice for specific purposes. If it's possible to keep it simple with dicepool changes, do it. This makes it easier to regulate and insures that the player is not abusing the magic rules.
