Merits and Flaws allow you to add yet another layer of depth to your character by providing mechanical benefits and drawbacks to certain narrative circumstances. These are optional materials, so your Storyteller has the final say on whether or not to allow them. Storytellers and players are encouraged to discuss the use of Merits and Flaws prior to beginning a campaign. It is also recommended that the Storyteller choose a limit on the number of Merits and Flaws that can be taken. Some suggestions include: no more than 5, 7, or 10 total points of Merits and Flaws, all Merits must be balanced out with equal points of Flaws, or a particular set of assigned freebie points to be spent solely on Merits and Flaws.
For the purpose of this chronicle / game - points in Merits used during Character Creation and not earned in play must be equal to Flaws. Therefore you will get as many points in Merits as you do Flaws. speak to your Storyteller for more information.
Gaining Merits & Flaws
Through training or narrative circumstance, Merits and Flaws can be earned and lost. A character may develop a relationship that he thinks is worthy of True Love, while another character's Dark Fate may come to pass. Before allowing this, the Storyteller should consider whether or not it makes narrative sense for the Merit or Flaw to be earned, lost, or changed. If she wishes to charge for the loss/gain of a Merit or Flaw, treat the experience cost as if the character were purchasing a Background. Outside of rare circumstances, Flaws should not afford additional points after play begins.
Ambidextrous (1 point):Whether by training or a gift of birth, you are equally adept with both hands. You must still split actions as normal, but you do not incur any additional penalties for taking actions with your non-dominant hand.
Universal Merit
Deceptive Eating (1 point):By some fortune, you are able to consume and enjoy mortal cuisine, there by adding another layer to your guise of mortality. When applicable, the Storyteller may rule a lower difficulty or reduced penalties to rolls to convince others that you are human. You cannot digest or derive nourishment from normal food, however, and eventually must find a time and a place to heave it back up.
Vampire Only Merit
Blush of Health (2 points):The Embrace that claimed you did not entirely leach away the tells of your former life. Your skin is cool to the touch rather than cold, retaining a healthy fullness as if blood skill coursed through your veins. You easily pass as a mortal against all but the most thorough examination and the Storyteller may choose to lower the difficulty or reduce penalties to rolls to convince others of your mortality. Cappadocians and Nosferatu may not take this Merit.
Vampire Only Merit
Without a Trace (2 points):When you stray from the paths of civilization and wander into the wilderness, leaves, grass, and moss grow back where you pass and the earth itself moves to fill your footprints. You leave no noticeable traces of your passing, not even a scent. Normal attempts to track you (such as with Survival or ordinary dogs) automatically fail. The difficulty of attempts to track you by supernatural means, such as with Auspex, increases by two.
Universal Merit
Efficient Digestion (3 points):Your internal vampiric systems work faster and more effectively than most, granting you more a greater yield from feeding. Gain an additional blood point for every two you consume.
Vampire Only Merit
Vicissitude Modifications(1-7 points): You are a ghoul or revenant whose body has been hideously modified through the use of the Vicissitude Discipline. You, yourself, might not be gifted in this area, but your flesh and bones have been reshaped into a nightmare designed to be useful in war. Thus, while your Modifications may provide you with a mechanical benefit, you are considered a monster even though, technically, you are still mortal. The alterations made to your body are permanent unless shaped by further uses of Vicissitude. Although your Vicissitude Modifications can be dangerous, your body still sustains damage normally. Despite your horrid appearance, you are still flesh and bone. Vicissitude Modifications requires you to take the Monstrous Flaw, which is found on page 482 of V20. Regardless of how many alterations you choose, you have an Appearance of 0.At your Storyteller's discretion, you may also be required to take a Mental Flaw, penalty to Social rolls, or a Derangement due to the horrors you're experiencing. Generally speaking, this Merit may only be used by characters that are either Bound to, or are sponsored by, a vampire or Clan that has the use of Vicissitude. Revenants that are modified in this way are often subjected to the Blood Bond to ensure their loyalty.
Circular Vision (1pt.): One of your eyes has been moved to the back of your head, granting you the ability to see at a wider angle. You may gain a bonus to Perception, especially in cases when a character is attempting to sneak up on you. Additionally, your depth perception is poor at any angle, and you suffer a two die penalty to any rolls that involve gauging distance, including the use of projectile weapons.
Fangs (1pt.): Your teeth have been lengthened and sharpened; your smile may resemble a tiger's or a shark's, or it may be unlike anything found in nature. You may attack using Bite, which is found on page 276 of V20. Due to your monstrous appearance, you will lose two dice in pools involving your Manipulation Attribute, unless you are trying to intimidate or scare your target.
Iron Stomach (2pts.): You are able to digest any organic material that you can break up, chew, and swallow. On Stamina rolls, you gain a +2 when you need to resist ingested poisons or other types of stomach-based illnesses. This digestive modification is often paired with Fangs.
Spurs (2pts.): Sharp, pointed bone spurs protrude from your forearms, spine, or calves. You may slash with your Spurs for Str + 2 damage. However, Spurs are hard to conceal and may limit your mobility in some instances.
Carapace (3pts.): You are covered with bony or spiky plates that protect you from being attacked. You may add two soak dice to your pool when you are defending yourself from harm.
Patagia (4pts.):Your bones have been hollowed and flaps of foreign skin have been grafted on to your arms and wrists to form membranes. While you cannot fly, you may use these bat-like wings to glide from one higher position to another, or to the ground. Subtract one die from all soak pools to resist strikes from fists and blunt weapons, or any other forms of concussive damage that might damage your bones.
Please Note: Ghouls and revenants may never heal a damaged Vicissitude Modification, not even with the Blood. In this respect, both are as helpless as their unmodified counterparts. However, should a ghoul or revenant possess enough levels in Vicissitude, that character may heal themselves or remove the Vicissitude Modification altogether. To do so, the character must have a level of Vicissitude superior to that of the vampire who inflicted the mutilation in the first place. Due to the complexity of this Merit, check with your Storyteller before spending points on Vicissitude Modifications.
Ghoul Only Merit
Sturdy (4 points):Training, hardships, or natural ability have inured your body to pain and damage. While you are not necessarily a hulking brute, anyone who has seen you in action knows that you can take more damage than the average individual. You gain an additional Bruised health level and the Storyteller may award you with any appropriate bonuses when your innate toughness comes into play.
Universal Merit
Physical Flaws
Odd Gait (1 point): Moving swiftly does not come easily for you; perhaps walking is painful or perhaps you are simply never in a hurry. Whatever the reason, you move at half your normal movement speed. Storyteller characters may also come to recognize you by your uncommon walk.
Universal Flaw
Ragged Bite (2 points): Unlike your Cainite peers, you lack the ability to neatly seal up the wound caused by feeding. Instead, you leave torn, bleeding marks which have a chance of becoming infected. Your target must make a Stamina roll (difficulty the number of damage caused + 5) to resist infection. The impact of such a notable wound in conjunction with a diseased target is left to the discretion of the Storyteller. At the very least, this poses complications in hiding your identity as anything other than a monster.
Vampire Only Flaw
Unclean (2 or 3 points): Whether a lingering trait from your mortal life or an unfortunate side effect of your Embrace, your skin is marred in such a way that most casual observers assume you are a leper (or at least carrying some kind of plague). You may be barred entry to major cities, thrown out of most establishments, or subject to misguided attempts at healing or mercy. At 3points, you carry leprosy (or some other contagious and visible disease). Nosferatu who take this Flaw receive only 1 point for it and must take its full effects (3 points).
Vampire Only Flaw
Addiction (3 points): One of your vices from life has carried over into your unlife. Now, whenever you feed, you must also satiate your addiction. This could be anything from preying on drunkards, those who have become dependent on pain-killing opiates, or even the deeply spiritual who use hallucinogens to commune with the divine. The addiction not need be limited to substance abuse, extending to thrill-seeking or sexual encounters. Blood not tainted with your vice only offers half the normal sustenance.
Vampire Only Flaw
Monstrous (3 points): When you were Embraced, the Beast within tore its way out, permanently manifesting itself in your physical features. You are a terrible, twisted creature, the stuff of nightmares in unliving flesh. Ordinary mortals flee in terror at your approach and even Cainites recoil in disgust. Your Appearance is permanently 0 and cannot be raised. If your character is of Clan Nosferatu, you may not take this Flaw.
Vampire Only Flaw
Permanent Wound (3 points): By some misfortune, a wound sustained in your mortal life refuses to heal, forever open and weeping. When you wake at night, you always begin at the Wounded health level. No source of healing can cure this damage permanently, but you may spend blood points each night to heal it.
Vampire Only Flaw
Slow Healing (3 points): While other Cainites recover swiftly from their injuries, you are not so fortunate. Your unliving flesh is slow to mend and reluctant to heal, costing two blood points to heal a normal level of damage and five days (in addition to the normal expenditures) to heal a level of aggravated damage.
Vampire Only Flaw
Impaired Sense (4 points): Whether by birth or an unfortunate circumstance later in life, one of your senses has been diminished. Perhaps you are hard of hearing or blind, or perhaps one of your other senses has lost its functionality. Rolls involving your impaired sense are made at a difficulty increased by 3. This may also increase the difficulty of other rolls or impose other appropriate penalties. At Storyteller discretion, this Flaw may be taken more than once, but additional senses are each 1-point Flaws.
Universal
Mute (4 points): You cannot (or choose not to)speak. Typically, you communicate through body language and gestures, which imposes a +3 difficulty for any rolls that require you to communicate with unfamiliar people. Taking the Literacy Merit or dedicating a Multi-Lingual language to sign language can lessen this issue.
Universal
Flesh of the Corpse (5 points): Although you recover from your wounds (mechanically healing any health levels lost), your flesh and bone retain the memory of the injury. Skin stays torn, bruises remain dark, and broken bones still bend at odd angles. You are incapable of passing as anything but inhuman, and the Storyteller may assign increased difficulty to Social rolls as appropriate. Some Cainites with this Flaw continue to age and decay, eventually becoming nothing more than skeletons with rough, organ-like chunks hanging off their bones.
Celestial Attunement (1 point):You innately know what time of day it is and are able to accurately guess the hour of sunrise and sunset within a few minutes. With a moment's concentration, you may also estimate the position of the stars, even without the aid of a star chart.
Universal Merit
Common Sense (1 point):You've got a good head on your shoulders and a natural aversion to foolish risk. Intense situations, you may ask the Storyteller for hints about the most reasonable course of action. The Storyteller may also grant you a warning against poorly considered actions.
Universal Merit
Literacy (1 point):You are a learned scholar, able to both read and write. The Merit assumes that you can read and write with fluency in your native tongue, as well as Latin and any languages you may have gained through the Multi-Lingual Merit. In some chronicles, literacy can be assumed. In these cases, Illiteracy becomes a 1-point Flaw.
Universal Merit
Eidetic Memory (2 points):With but a moment's reflection, you can recall anything you've observed or experienced in clear detail. In a stressful or dangerous situation, this recollection may require a Perception +Alertness roll.
Universal Merit
Light Sleeper (2 points):When you rest, you retain a level of alertness above and beyond the norm. You wake at any unwanted disturbance in your environment, there by making it very hard to surprise you while you sleep. You automatically succeed at any rolls to detect mundane attempts at surprise attacks while you sleep.
Universal Merit
Multi-Lingual (2 points):Through patience, study, and/or immersion, you are able to speak another language or languages with native fluency. This represents a full command over the language. For each dot of Intelligence your character possesses, you may know one other language. You may also use this Merit to reflect secret codes, cants, jargon, or sign language as well. Additional languages increase the cost of this Merit by one point per language.
Universal Merit
Mental Flaws
Deep Sleeper (1 point):Slumber takes you wholly, plunging you completely into the depthless realm of dreams. Increase the difficulty of rolls to wake during the day by two.
Vampire Only Flaw
Nightmares (1 point):When you sleep, nightmares invade your dreams. Terrible images assault your mind, leaving you anxious and breathless upon waking. When you wake, make a Willpower roll. If you fail, the horror of your dreams haunts you, decreasing your dice pools for all actions by one until you next sleep.
Universal Flaw
Prey Exclusion (1 point):For whatever reason you choose, you refuse to feed upon a certain type of person. If, by some unfortunate circumstance, you prey upon such a person, you frenzy immediately and must make a Degeneration check. Ventrue may only take this Flaw fora subset of their particular feeding stock. For example, a Ventrue might feed from "virgin men," but will not feed from Jewish virgin men.
Vampire Only Flaw
Amnesia (2 points):Something has erased a portion of your memory. You remember little to nothing about your part. How far back this memory loss goes should be agreed upon between you and the Storyteller. You should also work together to determine what your character may have forgotten (unless you prefer to be surprised, of course). Storytellers should feel free to use this empty space in the character's memory to provide interesting complications for the campaign.
Universal Flaw
Vengeful (2 points):Revenge drives you. Its hot, constant presence motivates your every move. Work out with the Storyteller what wrongdoing has pushed you into such a state. Whenever you encounter the source of your ire, you are compelled to pursue it, but you may spend a Willpower point to ignore this urge.
Universal Flaw
Flesh Eater (2 points): You cling to the misguided belief that you must also consume the blood-rich flesh of your victim (such as the heart or liver). This has obvious impact on the size of your herd as well as the mortal population eventually linking mysterious, gruesome deaths to you. To keep down blood consumed without a murderous amount of flesh, you must succeed in a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) or vomit up the blood.
Vampire Only Flaw
Ethical Prohibition (2 or 4 points):The necessity of feeding is at odds with your moral compass. You cannot reconcile what you have become with what you believe in. At 2 points, you refuse to feed on humans, instead preying upon the blood of animals. At 4 points, you cannot come to terms with yourself at all and refuse to feed except when utterly necessary.
The Company of Saints and Heroes (1 point): Life (and possibly unlife) experiences have brought you close to august religious figures, political entities, and legendary heroes. They do truly know you and think well of you, but you are not necessarily close. Use the Allies background to represent a tighter relationship. This Merit allows you to name-drop your famous connection and reduce the difficulty to applicable Social rolls by one.
Universal Merit
Prestigious Sire (1 point): The vampire who Embraced you is no ordinary Cainite. Your sire holds incredible clout among your clan (and possibly others), and this social fortune has been bestowed upon you as well. Others generally treat you with more respect when they learn who sired you. When acting in your sire's name or on your sire's behalf, decrease the difficulty of Social rolls with other Cainites by one. Note, however, that others may also expect more from you, simply for being the childe of greatness.
Vampire Only Merit
Debt of Gratitude (1 or 3 points): Though he may grudgingly admit it, an elder is in your debt. At 1 point, the elder owes you a favor. Work together with the Storyteller to determine what type of favor is owed and what you did to earn such a thing. At 3 points, the indebted elder owes you his unlife. Such an incident is extraordinarily unusual, so the elder likely despises being beholden to you. Work with the Storyteller to detail how (and why) this happened.
Vampire Only Merit
Lingua Franca (1 point): You are able to speak a mixed language made of common tongues that most people you encounter will understand. You may not be able to hold philosophical discussions, but you can navigate your way through conversations in most places and will be able to communicate sufficiently in dire situations.
Universal Merit
Drakkar (2 points): You own a Drakkar, a dragon-headed longship, suitable for carrying men a-viking. It isn't much, and can't carry much cargo 10 - 15 tons at most, but it's fast, durable, and seaworthy. Capable of traversing any river navigable by flatboats or the open sea, longships are propelled by sail and at times oar-men, specifically during river travel. The crew varies between 24 - 48 crewmen and can be tented for open ocean travel.
Universal Merit (Norse / Rus / Varangian Characters Only)
Patron (1 to 5 points): You are fortunate enough to have a personage of some wealth and power who is willing to sponsor your endeavors. Presumably, your Patron is fond of you and is willing to offer you material goods to further whatever agreed upon goal you may have, so longas you do not abuse their favor. The scale of this Merit pertains both to the power of your Patron and how close they are to you. A 1-point Patron could be a distant but powerful vampire, mage, or an enthusiastic wealthy mortal who has infrequent funds. A 3-point Patron might be a mortal prince or queen, or a supernatural being of some standing more willing to regularly fund or champion you, while a 5-point Patron is almost certainly supernatural and has vast resources at their disposal. This is not something for nothing, however, and every so often (with increasing frequency directly proportional to the points invested in this Merit) your Patron will ask something of you. It is generally unwise to say no.
Universal Merit
Social Flaws
Dark Secret (1 point): Something from your past haunts you. If found out, it could destroy your reputation with your clan and coterie. When the truth rears its ugly head, you must quash it or suffer the consequences of your secret getting out. You live every day knowing that at some point, word will get out and you will be unable to stop it.
Universal Flaw
Infamous Sire (1 point): Some Cainites are fortunate enough to be Embraced by great members of their clan, sharing in their prestige and fortune. You are not one of those vampires. Your sire is a person of ill repute: disrespectful, irresponsible, rebellious, and/or callow. You are, therefore, guilty by association. He or she may also try to foist his or her failings onto you when convenient.
Vampire Only Flaw
Mistaken Identity (1 point): Someone among your clan, tribe, or mortal community looks just like you. This same person is also a criminal, oath breaker, known cheat, or other ne'er-do-well. He or she is just elusive enough to often leave you with the blame for his or her wrong doings. Your doppelganger is normally little more than a minor inconvenience, frequently leaving you to explain to authorities where you have been and who you really are.
Universal Flaw
Outsider (1 point): This is not your native land; this is not your mother tongue. You are not from around here. Everything is strange and different, from the customs to the food. You struggle with the area's native language (though you can get by with a purchase of the Lingua Franca Merit) and the difficulty to applicable Social rolls increases by one.
Universal Flaw
Sire's Resentment (1 point): Whether by your own failings or your sire's fickle cruelty, he or she despises you. You can expect no favors from your sire, and he or she may be maneuvering to have you eliminated, politically or literally. The extent to which your sire hates you is between you and the Storyteller, but bear in mind that this is a 1-point Flaw, which does not have much relative weight. The Enemy Flaw represents more actively vitriolic relationships.
Vampire Only Flaw
Smell of the Grave (1 point): The cloying scent of fresh, wet earth and decay clings to you. Your skin smells of chrism (or any other oil used in a burial rite)and your breath of funerary incense. While this bothers your Cainite peers little, it unsettles mortals, thereby increasing the difficulty to Social rolls with mortals by one. This stacks with the Cappadocian weakness, making members of that clan even less adept at Social rolls. The upside is that, at Storyteller discretion, this Flaw may decrease the difficulty of Social rolls where being unsettling might work in one's favor (such as Intimidation attempts) by one.
Vampire Only Flaw
Vulgar (1 point): You are famously uncouth, abrasive, and unpleasant. Tact is a foreign concept to you, and no matter of gentle prodding or harsher discussions can seem to teach you how to navigate a social situation. Mechanically, increase the difficulty to rolls involving social grace, manners, or delicate social proceedings by one. You may also roleplay yourself into a bind by accidentally offending the wrong people.
Universal Flaw
Enemy (1 to 5 points): In your travels, you have earned the enmity of a person or organization. The severity and scope of this hatred is reflected by the rating of the Flaw. At1 point, your enemy is an aggrieved peer or the irritation of an organization. You may be undercut, inconvenienced, or framed for petty crimes, but nothing so severe as attempts on your unlife. At 3 points, your enemy is your superior, or the anger of an important group. They make regular efforts to thwart your plans, threaten your allies, and undermine your standing with your clan and Road. At this level, your enemy may consider granting you the Final Death. Work this out with your Storyteller. At 5 points, your enemy is an elder or an entire organization, such as the ruling family of your nation or the Catholic Church. Your death is not out of the question. None of your associates are safe. Everywhere you go, you can expect your enemy to be waiting. What have you done to make someone so powerful so angry?
Vampire Only Flaw
Rivalry (1 to 5 points): Someone hates you so much that they cannot bear to leave you alone. The scale of this Flaw is similar to that of the Enemy Flaw (see above), but your Rival is not interested in seeing you dead. Rather, a Rival desires only to make your unlife as trouble someand hellish as possible. At lower point value, the Rival may also be a friend who arrives at precisely the worst moment to steal your thunder or make you embarrassed .At higher levels, your Rival loses sleep planning how to make your life miserable.
Vampire Only Flaw
Hunted (4 points):A witch hunter has targeted you. She may be overestimating you, but she is prepared to eliminate you completely. You find your safe havens uncovered, your social networks compromised, and your allies endangered. Whether or not you affronted this witch hunter personally is between you and the Storyteller. The Storyteller should bear in mind that this is a 4-point Flaw and not hold back.
Universal Flaw
Marked for Death (4 points):The Court of Blood has found fault with you and placed a price upon your head. You are earmarked for death, and one by one your peers will come to bring it to you. While you may be more than capable of taking your equals in a fight, you know not when or where they will strike. The festering paranoia claws at the edges of your thoughts; in addition to attackers of varying capabilities appearing at random, at Storyteller's discretion you may also lose one die to Mental rolls due to distraction.
Ancestor Ally (1 point): You are strongly linked to one particular ancestor, the difficulty to channel her is two lower than normal. Create the ancestor, give them a name and abilities for which he or she was known (that you can easily channel) and decide how renowned among the Garou they were. You may channel a number of abilities at a lower difficulty equal to your Ancestor's rating. You must have Ancestors Background to purchase this Merit.
Werewolf Only Merit
Inoffensive to Animals (1 point): Not all of the curses of unlife have fallen upon you. Your presence does not disturb natural animals; instead, they treat you as they would any ordinary mortal. This will not stop a mother bear from defending her den, but will negate the inconvenience of having to explain why the farmer's dog is so afraid of you. Creatures with a connection to the occult (such as crows, owls, or black cats) may still react to your presence, but not in a bad way.
Vampire Only Merit
Clear-Sighted (4pt. Merit): Your ghoul is not easily fooled by illusions and tricks of the light. Whether you were born lucky, have supernatural assistance, or proper training to brush aside such influences, your character has a knack for overcoming the phantasms, shadows, and mirages others create through the use of thaumaturgical rituals and Disciplines. This Merit is only applicable for visible tricks of deceit caused by the use of Disciplines. When faced with a supernatural illusion caused by the use of Disciplines such as Obfuscate and Chimestry, your ghoul may make a Perception+ Alertness roll (difficulty equal to your opponent's power's level +3). If successful, your character sees right through the effect. If you fail, you might suspect the illusion is a trick, but you cannot prove your suspicious are correct.
Ghoul Only Merit
Natural Channel (3 points): You find the Gauntlet between worlds thinner than most Garou do. Your difficulty to step sideways is one less, and spirits react a bit more favorably toward you. Even if you aren't a Theurge, you won't find it difficult to obtain training from the Garou shamans.
Werewolf Only Merit
Lucky (1 to 5 points): Fortune smiles upon you. The variable point costs reflect just how much you have been blessed by luck. At 1 point, the trifles of everyday life rarely seem to affect you. At 3 points, you are a gambling den's nightmare. At 5 points, you live a truly charmed life, misfortune seemingly passing you by at every turn. Foreach point invested in this Merit, you gain one reroll per day. You may reroll any roll except a roll to resist falling from your Road, but you must take the second result.
Universal Merit
Groomed For the Embrace (5 points): Your character has been deemed worthy of the Embrace, and is being prepared for the eventuality through careful, directed training by your future sire. While this Merit does not guarantee when you will be Embraced, your character is aware that you will become a vampire, and you know the identity of your future sire. The benefits of being Groomed for Embrace are related to your current role as a ghoul, and your future position as a vampire within a specific Clan or bloodline. As such, your role among the ghouls of your domitor's house will be elevated to that of a valued apprentice as opposed to a disposable servant. Some Clans, like the Tremere or the Tzimisce, might track your progress through your academic study of lore, Disciplines, or thaumaturgical rituals. You might not be able to use Vicissitude, for example, but you may be permitted to assist your domitor at her laboratory table. Other vampires might be more careful, and may prepare you to be evaluated by the local prince before proceeding further. There may be a few drawbacks that your character might encounter over the course of your chronicle. Because you have achieved the dream of many ghouls, you may be subjected to fits of jealous rage or harm by other ghouls. Your domitor might even be aware of this fact, and may have encouraged these feelings to test you to see if you're worthy of becoming a vampire. Additionally, should this fact become known, you may garner unwanted attention from your future sire's enemies. Since it is most likely your future sire will also be your domitor, you may be kidnapped, spied upon, or pumped for information about your domitor's haven, holdings, and schemes. However, many vampires do not reveal that their ghouls and revenants are being Groomed for Embrace, and keep their intentions secret. Should you decide to purchase the Groomed for Embrace Merit, you may purchase Benevolent Domitor at a cost of one point, provided you have taken the prerequisite Domitor Background. In this circumstance, you are signaling your Storyteller that your domitor has pledged to become your future sire. You may also, at your Storyteller's discretion, learn one dot in a third Discipline known to your future sire or follow a Path after abandoning your Humanity.
Ghoul Only Merit
Clan Apostate (2 points): Having undergone the Baali Rite of Apostasy, you now belong to a brood. Replace any one in-clan Discipline with Daimoinon but also gain the Baali clan weakness in addition to your default clan weakness. You still pass for a member of your former clan with relative ease, and anyone you Embrace will also belong to your original clan. You do not lose levels in the Discipline you chose in exchange for Daimoinon, but further levels in that Discipline are purchased at out-of-clan cost.
Vampire Only Merit
Spirit Rapport (4 points): The spirits like you. For some reason you are able to communicate with them a bit easier than many Garou are. When dealing with spirits, you are at a -1 difficulty. If you are trying to bargain with them you are at a -2 difficulty.
Werewolf Only Merit
Medium (2 points): Ghosts, spirits, and shades speak to you. You may have this talent with a mortal life, or it may be a new ability granted by your Embrace if you became a vampire. By spending a moment in meditation, you may ask the spirits who visit you for their aid. They are ready and willing to help you in whatever way they can (most often by providing information), but they always ask a favor in return. The severity of this favor should be in line with the task given to the spirits.
Mortal, Mage,& Vampire Only Merit
Oracular Ability (3 points): Signs, omens, and portents reveal themselves to you, attuned to the occult as you are. You might be trained in a specific school of divination, or the workings of fate may reveal themselves to you unbidden. When an omen manifests itself, whether through applied practice or a casual encounter, you immediately recognize it for what it is. The Storyteller will give the vague impressions the sign leaves upon you, which you may interpret on the fly as you wish. Studying the omen further to gain more relevant information requires time to think and a Perception or Intelligence+ Enigmas roll.
Universal Merit
Chicanery (3 points): Although mages can create small, cosmetic effects by spending Quintessence, you are skilled enough that you do not need to make such an expenditure. As long as you have a point of Quintessence in your body you may imitate the effects of such prowess at will. Sustaining will require only a point in Quintessence where others would require more.
Mage Only Merit
Spirit Mentor (3 points): A ghost has chosen to guide and protect you. This ghost could be the soul of a departed loved one, a former teacher, or close friend or something more sinister, such as a spirit you have bound through dark rituals. The mentor offers you tutelage and support in the same way a mortal or Cainite mentor might, though perhaps less restricted by the conventions of society and the inconveniences of flesh. Your spirit mentor may also need to be called upon by a specific rite or an incantation. With a suitable explanation and Storyteller permission, this Merit may also be used to represent the mentorship or another kind of supernatural creature.
Universal Merit
True Love (4 points): Transcendent love binds you to another and vice versa. You have the kind of relationship found only in legends and bard song. There is nothing you would not do for each other. This depthless, unconditional love grants you tremendous might, making you able to overcome impossible obstacles. Once per story, you may automatically succeed on any one roll, no matter how many successes it would require, so long as it is done on your beloved's behalf. If your lover is a Storyteller character, he or she may do the same as if he or she possessed this Merit. If your lover is another player character, he or she must also take this Merit. True Love is not one-sided.
Universal Merit
Occult Library (2 or 4 points): Your character owns a valuable collection of books and ancient tomes about the arcane. Whenever your character accesses the library, you may lower the difficulty of Intelligence, Occult, or research-related rolls by 1 in relevant circumstances. You might be attempting to find out more information about a thaumaturgical ritual, or you might be trying to identify a strange symbol. Having this library doesn't automatically mean your character is an occult expert, nor does it reflect your ability to decipher, understand, or read the texts you've collected. Your library is stocked with recorded knowledge you can conveniently refer to. If you have purchased the 4-point version of this Merit, your character also has access to an Occult Laboratory stocked with rare, mysterious ingredients needed to perform the rituals described in your books.
Mortal, Ghoul, Vampire, & Mage Merit
Nine Lives (6 points): By some wicked fortune, you are extremely difficult to permanently kill. When a roll would result in your death, immediately reroll it. If the roll succeeds, you walk away from the lethal incident alive, but down one life. You may reroll such near-fatal rolls up to nine times. When your second chances are expended, you will face Final Death like anyone else.
Universal Merit
Supernatural Flaws
Cast No Reflection (1 point): Like a monster out of a ghost story, your visage does not appear in a mirror, standing water, a sword's blade, or any other reflective surface. Casual observers need only make a Perception+ Alertness roll at default difficulty to notice this oddity, which can lead to any number of interesting complications when dealing with mortals.
Vampire Only Flaw
Initiate of the Road (1 point): Your life on the road to enlightenment has just begun. Though you fully grasp the tenets and precepts of your chosen Road, you have not yet put them to the test. This may be because you were recently Embraced or because you previously abandoned a former Road (in which case you may also consider taking the Apostate Flaw on page 425). With this comes a +1difficulty in resisting frenzy and Rötschreck, and you lack an aura tied to your Road. However, you have an easier time changing Roads, if you wish to do so.
Vampire Only Flaw
Arcane Madness (3 points): You have great power at your fingertips, but at what cost? Your mind, for whatever reason, is ill equipped to handle the rigors of magic and is steadily going mad. You may cast a number of spells equal to your permanent willpower score per story. Thereafter each cast of magic requires a willpower roll (difficulty 7), success indicates nothing special happens, failure indicates the madness takes you (suffering a +1 or +2 difficulty on all rolls).
Mage Only Flaw
Foe from the Past (1 to 3 points): An enemy of one of your ancestors still seeks revenge through the only way left -- you. If the enemy is supernatural, such as a vampire, mage, or spirit, this flaw becomes worth three points. If stalked by a fanatical inquisitor or human, it becomes one or two points, depending on how powerful your foe is. He or she doesn't necessarily pursue you at all times, she is out for revenge against your ancestor, and you are the best way to achieve that. You must have the Ancestor Background to purchase this flaw.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Repulsed by Garlic (1 point): True to folktales, the scent of garlic is a ward against you. You cannot abide by the odor, requiring a Willpower test when it is present. Failure results in you fleeing the scene, which can make dinner parties quite awkward. The difficulty of this Willpower roll may be increased, depending on the intensity of the scent.
Vampire Only Flaw
Forced Transformation (1 to 4 points): Some event or conditions force you to change uncontrollably. You must spend a willpower point each time to resist the change. Once you have changed, you cannot shift back until the condition which spurred this has expired. Work with your Storyteller to determine.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Touch of Frost (1 point): A nimbus of cold surrounds you. At the slightest touch, plants wither and die. If you stand near still water for too long, it begins to freeze. This makes you very easy to find, increasing the difficulty of rolls to stay hidden or concealed by one.
Vampire Only Flaw
Insane Ancestor (1 point): One of your ancestors was mad. This spirit takes over during certain circumstances and is quite a hinderance. Choose the appropriate situation, create your ancestor, give them a name and backstory. To resist your ancestor you must expend a willpower point. You must have Ancestors Background to purchase this flaw.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Cursed (1 to 5 points): Someone has placed a curse upon you. Work with the Storyteller to determine the nature of your curse, why you are cursed, and how it manifests. The following examples demonstrate the scale of your misfortune: 1 point - if you betray the trust of another, they will always find out; 2 points - words fail you when you try to urgently describe something you've seen or heard; 3 points - in your hands, tools warp and break; 4 points - everyone you love will eventually mistrust and despise you; 5 points - all your successes and grand schemes are doomed to fold and crumble. Curses can be lifted by reconciling with whoever (or whatever) levied the curse in the first place.
Universal Flaw
Slip Sideways (1 point): You can't always control your entry into the Umbra. If you should come into contact with a reflective surface during stressful situations, roll Wits + Occult (difficulty 7) to avoid making the shift. You must still make a Gnosis roll to pass the Gauntlet, although your difficulty is one less, but only on accidental circumstances.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Mark of the Predator (2 points): Herbivores fear you, carnivores see you as a threat. You cannot possess Animal Ken.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Demon-Hounded (1 to 5 points): A demon has taken a shine to you. It comes at odd and inconvenient hours and offers you bribes of wealth and power. Somedays, it asks for favors; on others, it offers them. What black schemes does hell have in mind for you that one of its servants would bother you so? What fell powers have you toyed with that you should not? At 1 point, the demon is little more than an imp, asking for minor favors or stealing small objects. At 3 points, the demon is your physical or magical equal, or is a smaller threat that is willing to also drag your close friends into this affair. At 5 points, the demon is significantly powerful, able to threaten your coterie, or a lesser demon willing to torment your friends, family, and acquaintances.
Universal Flaw
Unlucky (1 to 5 points): You are spectacularly unfortunate. Disaster follows in your wake. You are magnetically attracted to misfortune. At 1 point, it rains whenever you forget your coat. At 3 points, it's rare for you to recover from any failure gracefully. At 5 points, nearly everything you attempt ends catastrophically. A number of times per day equal to the point you have in this Flaw, the Storyteller may force you to reroll a successful roll and take the second result. Lucky and Unlucky are not mutually exclusive, but for simplicity's sake, the same roll cannot be modified by both at once. That is, if a Lucky reroll is used, the Storyteller cannot force you to reroll the reroll.
Universal Flaw
Cannot Embrace (2 points):Through some curse, weakness, or defect in your vampirism, you are unable to create progeny. You may not be aware of this until it is too late and a victim lays bleeding out in your arms.
Vampire Only Flaw
Eerie Presence (2 points):A pervasive miasma of unease surrounds you. You exude a sense of wrongness that is palpable to mortals. This aura of fear increases the difficulty of Social rolls involving interaction with mortals by two, with the exception of Intimidation rolls.
Universal
Repulsive to Animals (2 points): When you are near, natural animals startle and panic. Unlike the normal disturbance caused by the presence of Cainites, animals near you either bolt in terror or become aggressive and violent, depending on their temperament. This makes riding a horse (or any other riding beast) nearly impossible, as you are unable to calm any creature down with a normal Animal Ken roll. You must use the abilities of the Animalism Discipline or feed the animal some of your blood, which transforms it into a ghoul.
Vampire Only Flaw
Permanent Third Eye (2 or 4 points; Salubri and Tremere only): While others descended from the blood of Saulot are able to conceal their third eye, yours remains permanently open on your forehead. For 2 points, it is mechanically treated as any normal third eye, though narratively may draw strange looks and unwanted attention. For 4 points, the eye is permanently open and may only be closed for a scene on a successful Willpower roll.
Vampire Only Flaw
Sign of the Wolf (2 points): You possess all the folkloric signs of werewolves. Your eyebrows are grown together, you have hair on your palms, and your second and third digits are all the same length. Inquisitors are trained to look for these signs and can use them to identify you as a werewolf.
Werewolf Only Flaw
Animate Shadow (3 points): Your shadow is not merely an absence of light in the shape of your person; it is a living, malicious entity with a will of its own. It lashes out at friends and enemies alike, tearing at the scenery and snarling at passers-by. In addition to being a frightening problem, you lose two dice from all Social rolls with Lasombra who know of your issue.
Vampire Only Flaw
Cloaked in Shadow (3 points): Shadows cling to you constantly. These are not the ordinary shadows cast simply by existing; the darkness around you is thick and heavy, making it impossible for you to pass as anything other than something supernatural. In addition to this complication, the difficulty for Social rolls with other vampires (especially the Lasombra) increases by one.
Vampire Only Flaw
Haunted (3 points): A vengeful ghost haunts you, for any variety of reasons: perhaps you took the ghost's life, perhaps it is the shade of a departed enemy with unfinished business, or perhaps it is a misfortune of your Embrace. When it is able to strike out at you, it is your physical and magical equal. However, most of the time it chooses to make your life miserable by frightening your friends, moving your furniture, and making loud noises while you are trying to rest. How often your haunt makes its displeasure known is up to the whims of the Storyteller. The Storyteller may wish to forbid characters with the Necromancy Discipline from taking this Flaw, as they have an easy means of dealing with the drawbacks.
Universal Flaw
Can't Cross Running Water (4 points): Some supernatural prohibition encoded within you prevents you from crossing any moving body of water more than two feet deep. To do so, you must pass a Courage test (which the Storyteller may increase the difficulty, if appropriate).If you fail, you stand transfixed, unable to cross, while a botch sends you into Rötschreck. Mustering the fortitude to cross still pains you, and you take one health level of unsoakable bashing damage. If you swim or wade into the water, the damage is aggravated instead.
Vampire Only Flaw
Grip of the Damned (4 points): When you drink from a mortal, they do not slip quietly into submission, instead retaining full, fearful consciousness. Many scream and thrash, doing everything to stop you from feasting on their blood. Mechanically, you must grapple with a target when you wish to feed on him. Additionally, it may prove difficult to conceal your actions from other mortals when you are wrestling with a howling victim. At the Storyteller's discretion, this may be taxing to particularly chaste members of certain Roads.
Vampire Only Flaw
Dark Fate (5 points): Your damnation extends far beyond your life or unlife. Fate has prepared a great doom for you, the likes of which will be whispered in tales long after it has come to pass. Work with your Storyteller to craft your doom (or let her unpleasantly surprise you, if you prefer), bearing in mind that it should be legendarily terrible. You cannot avoid your fate. The only way to be rid of this Flaw is to let your doom come to pass.
Universal Flaw
Harbinger of the Abyss (5 points): You have become the void: the endless black of night, an empty pool of darkness. Where you pass, shadows leap to join you and flames gutter and perish. When you are in the presence of mundane fire, you must make a reflexive Obtenebration roll against the soak difficulty of any nearby flame. A success extinguishes the fire instantly, casting the area into darkness. This Flaw also includes the effects of Touch of Frost and Eerie Presence and is therefore mutually exclusive with them. However, the clinging darkness around you provides one benefit (besides being an unusual way to extinguish unwanted fires): reduce the difficulty of all Intimidation rolls by two, to a minimum of 4. You must have at least one dot of Obtenebration to purchase this Flaw.
Vampire Only Flaw
Light-Sensitive (5 points):While all Cainites fear the daylight, you are especially vulnerable. Beneath the hateful gaze of the sun, your unliving flesh chars and crumbles at an alarming rate, and even the gentle light of the moon causes you pain. You take double the normal amount of damage when exposed to sunlight and lethal damage from moonlight. Characters who are Followers of Set and Lasombra may take this Flaw to further intensify their clan's particular weakness to sunlight, doubling the augmented damage instead.
Vampire Only Flaw
Weak Blood (5 points): Something has diminished your supernatural vigor and lessened your abilities as a vampire. Where others effortlessly command the gifts of Lilith, you struggle. No Discipline you have knowledge of may be higher than 4. It costs you twice the normal amount of blood points to control any vampiric abilities. You must feed a person six drinks of your feeble blood before they can become your thrall, and you do not possess he potency to create a ghoul or sire a childe. This effect also covers the drawbacks of the Cannot Embrace Flaw(page 427), therefore the two are mutually exclusive.
