Composure (Hunter: The Reckoning 5th Edition)
Definition
Composure is poise: staying accurate while being shot at, noticing detail in a room that is coming apart, and keeping your face still while somebody lies to you. Together with Resolve it sets your Willpower, which makes it one of only two attributes that feed a derived trait. This game is built around people who are outmatched, and Composure decides whether that produces careful action or panic. It sits close to the Desperation mechanic: Desperation dice arrive when a hunter is cornered, and a 1 on one of them on a failed roll triggers Despair, cutting you off from Desperation dice until you redeem yourself through your Drive. A composed hunter reaches that edge less often.
How it works
Tips
Frequently asked questions
How does Composure affect Willpower?
Willpower equals Composure plus Resolve, so those two attributes alone set the pool you spend to push through fear, resist influence, and keep acting. A hunter with 2 in each has 4 Willpower, and one with 4 and 3 has 7.
Composure or Wits for noticing things?
Wits plus Awareness is the standard perception and ambush roll. Composure plus Awareness is what a Storyteller asks for when the question is whether you can keep noticing things under sustained stress, so the two cover different halves of the same job.
What is Despair, and does Composure prevent it?
Despair triggers when a Desperation die comes up 1 on a failed roll, and it removes access to Desperation dice until you redeem it through your Drive. Composure does not change the die, but a composed hunter is cornered less often and therefore rolls Desperation dice less often.