A Sleeper who witnesses a vulgar spell might very well unravel that spell with the force of his Disbelief. The result is an extended action, accumulating successes over time. In the first turn in which the spell’s effect is witnessed, roll the Sleeper’s Resolve + Composure and compare the successes to the spell’s Potency. If successes exceed Potency, the spell is dispelled. If they are equal to or less than the spell’s Potency, the spell is unaffected.
Every 10 minutes thereafter for the rest of the scene, roll again and add successes to the running total. Once successes exceed the spell’s Potency, it is dispelled. A mage might try to hide the effect from a Sleeper, but if the Sleeper sees it again any time during the scene, his new Disbelief successes are added to his previous successes. (Note: If the action has moved on to another location, but the spell remains, Storytellers can assume one success on this roll per Sleeper per 10 minutes that pass, until the spell is unraveled. For example, a Potency 3 spell in a room with two Sleepers is unraveled in 20 minutes.) If a Sleeper leaves the scene of the spell, rolls are no longer made for him.
- Example: Animus transforms a rat into an imp (a tiny human-like demon creature) with his Life 5 Fantasia spell. The spell has a Potency of 5. He then uses a covert Mind spell to command the imp to enter an office building at night to fetch some files.
- The night janitor (a Sleeper) sees the bizarre thing scuttle through a window and into the office. He literally cannot believe his eyes. On the first turn the janitor witnesses the imp, the Storyteller rolls his Resolve + Composure (an average dice pool of four dice). He gets one success. This is not enough to affect the spell that transformed the rat into the imp.
- The janitor continues to watch with incredulity as the imp rifles through file cabinets. Ten minutes later, another roll is made: three successes, for a running total of four successes. This is not yet enough to exceed the spell’s Potency.
- The imp continues its search. Another 10 minutes later, another roll is made: two successes, for a total of six successes. This total exceeds the Fantasia spell’s Potency, so the spell is dispelled. The imp transforms back into a rat. The janitor, already beginning to forget what he saw (his Willpower is 4), goes looking for a rat trap.
