4.3   THE MECHANICS OF FAITH Faith is an abstract concept best relegated to role-playing and the subjective decisions of the storyteller.  Still, there are times when a storyteller may deem a roll necessary to resolve an issue of faith.  The following guidelines are meant to help players and storytellers in these situations.   1.   Faith manifests itself most when in the presence of shrines.  Characters who have faith scores in excess of 12 and are in the presence of a holy place precious to their belief will receive a bonus to all roll equal to the level of the shrine.   Keep in mind that holy places may not only be those sites sanctified by and angel or desecrated by a demon, but can also appear as natural phenomena.   The bonus kicks in so long as the character remains within fifteen feet of the site.   A more detailed description of how shrines work is available in the source book under the Forces of Protection. 2.  A storyteller can demand a faith roll whenever he feels a player is not acting within the dictates of his belief system.  As with normal rolls, the target is twenty.  If successful, his faith will win out over his disobedience.   With that said, the storyteller should use such roles sparingly.  They should only be applied when the player is doing a particularly bad job of playing his character. 3.   Characters use their faith score to resist the possession attempts of demons.  If, however, they are a willing host of the infernal creature (as might be the case with a Satanist), they need not resist the attempt.   Instead, the demon is let in without a fight. 4.  Faith is not a stagnant thing and can ebb and flow according to what happens in a game.   With the storyteller's permission, a player can lower or raise her character's faith at the end of a session where something profound has happened to her.   Likewise, the storyteller can elect to adjust a character's faith according to her actions or behavior in the game.   This is most often done when a character behavior directly opposed to her beliefs.   In most cases, faith should not alter more than two points plus or minus in the course of one gaming session. 5.  Experiencing the supernatural, such as seeing a celestial force being used or catching a glimpse of one of the dreadful Nephilim, can be an unnerving experience for a child of clay.  Only faith can allow one to adequately cope with these events without being driven insane.   A storyteller may ask a player to make a faith roll when a character has witnessed something not of the material world.   Failure of this standard roll can result in temporary paralysis, feinting, or all manner of irrational behavior.   Success indicates the character is able function normally, though they may still be shocked by the occurrence.   The most common cause of such rolls is when an angel appears to a child of clay in divine form.