Camarilla of Boulder

enter the world of darkness...

Using Willpower Dots

Ok, First from the FAQ

Q: What bonuses does a character get from expending Willpower?

A: Characters gain +3 for their own test pools on actions to perform a feat (see "Heroic Effort," MET p. 177) and +2 to Resistance category Attributes (or Defense) as outlined on MET, p. 178.

The book has a couple errors in it that were clarified by Alex T in the FAQ.  The book is contradictory, in one place it says 3 in another it says 2.

When you use a point of willpower for defense, it adds +2 to the resistance stat not a +3.

Second, from page 176, "That bonus can't be used for combat attacks or any other type of aggressive maneuver or power: it is assumed that you're already trying as hard as you can to strike someone in a fight, or to incapacitate them using a supernatural power."

I would say that probably the idea behind this rule is that anytime you are trying to negatively affect another character, you are already assumed to try as hard as you can.  So, you cannot spend willpower.

Or anytime a character would be rolling a defensive trait of some kind, you can not spend a willpower to affect them as that means its an aggressive action.

An explanation by RST Christopher Leeson