Breaking down Thresholds.

[KassidyMoss]

We were having a discussion last night during game about thresholds. My personal theory on the one in question was this... It USED to be a family home. The kids have grown and left, the parents are barely ever home. They are violently murdered in their home. BY a demon that was summoned from inside. I believe that because the threshold had been becoming weaker already, that the violence and loss of the last connecting member - the threshold would be complete ruined. Maybe the resonance of it remains, but it wouldn't have any power.

One of my players thinks that because it was a family home, that threshold would still be up and strong, keeping all OTHER powers from entering.

Comments? Suggestions?

[Taran]

My personal opinion is any time there is some kind of corruption that takes place within a threshold it down-grades it slightly until it goes away.  Maybe you can say it's there for the purposes of wards, but just at a value of 0 or lower...I'd just say it's gone.

In Storm Front, Victor Sells' house no longer has a threshold.  It's even mentionned in YS.

[Radijs]

This entire post is gonna be my opinion. I don't know of any rules regarding thresholds.

I'd say that the situation as you describe would weaken the threshold significantly. Its easily something that devastates a family and if the kids would afterwards abandone the home (IE sell it) the threshold would be severely weakened to the point where most supernatural nasties would easily be able to destroy it.

I'd also think that a threshold could easily return though. New owners, new family would quickly replenish a large portion of the strength of the threshold.

Finally I'd say that I'd determine how strong the threshold is depending on the amount of drama. Would it be more interesting for the game if the threshold was gone or would it be more interesting if it was still present perhaps in a weakened state?

[Haru]

The big question for me would be: was the demon summoned from someone who lived there or not? If the summoner lived there, the threshold is gone, no discussion. A resident corrupted the purpose of the home, there is not going to be much left to call a threshold.

On the other hand, if the summoner was a guest or even forced his way in, the impact is not going to be that big. There still is going to be an impact though, but it should heal over time, if the home still is a home after it, of course, other wise the decay would continue.

[SunlessNick]

A corollary to Haru's first question is whether the demon was summoned with the intent of killing the people in the house?

Regardless, I'd say if no one's living there, a threshold would degrade and vanish quickly.  My take on thresholds are that they come from places we instinctively think ought to be safe - our homes, and certain buildings that become "memetic havens" to a community or subculture (like churches, but I suspect inns might have had thresholds back when travel was more arduous).  With no one in the house, only the neighbours would be contributing, and "that abandoned places where the owners got butchered" is not a good basis for a contribution.

[TheMouse]

I just figure that you determine the strength of the threshold based on the current circumstances.

It's a home, so it starts at +2. That it used to be a family home doesn't matter, because it's not anymore. People are barely home, -2. Demon summoning, -2. People violently murdered, -2. It's already at -4, so it might as well not even exist.

It is possible that something might mitigate this somewhat. Like if it was the ancestral home of the family that had been blessed by a saint and had been built on hallowed ground, that +6 would balance off the -6 from the other conditions. This would bring it up to +2.

The -2 from the demon summoning and the -2 from the murder would probably fade over time. The -2 from people barely being there only needs people to spend significant time there. You can net a +2 from having a family live there full time. So you can probably -- over time -- get the threshold up stupidly high. It's just not high right now.

[Masurao]

The history of the house is important too, if it is linked to the current family. If I recall correctly, Murphy's house has a strong Threshold, even though she lives alone, thanks to the fact it has been a warm home for a big part of her familiy.