Torment:

Torment is, perhaps, one of the most important stats on your character sheet. For those familiar with other WoD products, Torment is sort of an inverse scale of your morality, very similar to a Vampire and their Humanity. Fallen, however, are horrific demons from the pits of hell... and as such are largely resistant to sin in the same manner that a vampire or changeling might be.

Your permanent Torment score affects a number of things. It sets the bar for where your hierarchy of sin begin (if you are Torment 3 and commit a Torment 2 offense, there is no gain as you've not atoned to that level). It also determines when you can start manifesting your High Torment Apoc Traits for free (generally, these are more powerful). It also determines when you manifest a Lore if it becomes uncontrollable without your input (high Torment effects are generally more... impressive, but less controllable). Finally, your permanent Torment offers some defense against other Fallen attempting to eat you. Cold comfort, but every little bit can help, ya know?

Temporary Torment is, as the name implies, much more fluid. Here's how it works. There is a hierarchy of sins:

10 There is no sin. You're already damned. Why not do whatever you want?
9 Casual violation of others: murder for no reason, thoughtless cruelty and torture, near-mindless savagery.
8 Premeditated violation of others: plotted murder or assassination, systematic destruction of another, long-sought revenge.
7 Sins of passion: murder in a fit of rage, giving in to feelings of hate, anger, jealousy or irrational prejudice, encouraging the same in others.
6 Destroying particularly inspirational or meaningful objects. Doing personal hann through addiction or odier self-destructive patterns of behavior.
5 Destruction of the Works or Inflicting intentional emotional harm through cruelty or neglect.
4 Accidental violations: Doing harm to others through carelessness, negligence or thoughtlessness.
3 Neglecting duties or responsibilities. Betraying another's trust.
2 Doing harm (physical, emotional, or spiritual) to a mortal for any reason other than self-defense or the greater good.
1 Any act of cruelty, selfishness or thoughtlessness. Allowing any such act in your presence without trying to prevent it. An unwillingness to sacrifice for the greater good.

When you commit an act that shows up on this tree at a higher level than your current Torment (for example, say you have a Torment of 4 and you choose to burn down a museum- Torment 6- Destroying particularly inspirational objects), you would gain a temporary Torment point. When you commit a sin, you roll your appropriate Virtue rating in an attempt to offset this gain. If you have satisfied an immediate need at the expense of your ethics, you roll Conscience (like robbery out of necessity). If you act in a way that violates your personal beliefs, make a Conviction check (such as compromising a human you have promised to protect). If you have acted out of fear of your own safety at the expense of others, roll Courage. These difficulties are always 8 and you cannot botch or spend WP on them.
If your virtue roll succeeds, you feel bad and don't gain Torment. If the roll fails, you revel in the rush of Hell and gain Torment. When you gain 10 temporary Torment, your counter resets to 0, but your Permanent Torment goes up.

Conversely, you can attempt to perform acts of kindness to offset your Torment. Acts of kindness are difficult to gauge. If you're doing them to impress a mortal into a Pact or has roots in otherwise selfishness, this doesn't count. When the ST decides that you've done enough small things, or the big thing you did wasn't selfish in nature, you will get a contested Virtue roll against your Permanent Torment score. (That is to say, you roll your virtue, Diff 8 and your permanent torment diff 8 and successes neutralize each other). If your Torment acquires more successes, you don't care and torment remains unchanged. If your virtue wins, you feel that shadow lifting a bit, and reduce your temporary Torment by 1. If you tie, you are left wondering if anything at all matters.

If you invoke a High Torment power or call upon your high-torment forms, the temporary gains of Torment can't be resisted at the time (though can be battled down the road). And, you can always spend 10 XP to reduce your permanent Torment by 1 to a minimum of 1.