To raise one of your Influences to the next level, you must spend a number of Traits equal to three times your current level. In general, you can gain a new level in an Influence once every three months, provided you are using your Influence for nothing else. Unlike other endeavors, Traits spent for Growth can be banked from month to month. When you bank Traits thus, they accumulate until you reach the number required for an increase. If you meet the number of Traits required to increase to the next level, the Influence level improves by one at the end of the month.
Mechanics Example
Cheyana has three levels of Influence (Street), meaning she would need nine Traits spent to get to level four. In one month, she spends two of her three Traits on Growth (two banked). In the next month, she spends two more Traits on Growth (four banked). In the month following that, she spends all three Traits on Growth (seven banked). In the fourth month, Cheyana spends two more Traits on Growth, meeting the requirement to achieve level four. At the end of the month, her Influence (Street) improves by one. Cheyana could have grown her Influence (Street) a little faster if she had spent all of her actions on Growth each month.
Descriptive Example
Cheyana decided when she made her character that a network of informants consisting of gang members, homeless people and prostitutes would represent her Influence (Street). When writing a description of her Growth activities for the Storyteller, Cheyana describes encouraging her contacts in several gangs to push for mergers with other gangs across the city. The next month, she describes organizing the homeless people into small “communities” for safer living, which draws more homeless people into the area to spy for her. The month following, Cheyana describes convincing the prostitutes that sometimes report to her to recruit more prostitutes to her cause. In the fourth month, she describes working with the gangs again to direct their spare time toward more high-profit activities such as the buying and selling of guns and other contraband. Now that Cheyana has strengthened her contacts enough to warrant an increase in her Influence, the Storyteller agrees to raise her Influence (Street) to level four at the end of the month.