You are particularly gifted with one Ability. Perhaps you are a poet of great renown or a master fleshcrafter. Within your specific Aptitude, reduce all difficulties by 2. Characters may purchase this Merit more than once, but Storytellers should feel free to veto any Ability selections that see fit.

Only non-combat abilities can be selected with this merit. If there is any question as to whether or not a particular ability is considered a combat ability, consult your storyteller.

merit | all | permalink

You have been an Inquisitor for some time, and are unable (or unwilling) to keep up with the changing times. An Intelligence roll is required when dealing with modern conveniences (computers, cell phones, etc.). If the roll is failed, total the net failures and use this total as a negative modifier to your attempts.

flaw | mortal | permalink

The world is really a collection of shades of gray, but your character doesn't see it that way. To her, everything is clear as black and white. She thinks in terms of people being either for or against her, hot or cold, good or evil, easy or impossible, stupid or genius. This closed mindset can cost your character dearly in missed opportunities, misunderstandings, and under- or overestimation of others. In social situations where your character's judgmental perspective comes to bear, the difficulties of associated rolls increase by one.

flaw | all | permalink

While some might refer to you as a cold fish, you have a knack for separating factual reporting from emotional or hysterical coloration. You may or may not be emotional yourself, but you can see clearly when others are clouding the facts with their feelings (-one difficulty on all related rolls).

merit | all | permalink

You have a significant amount of practical, everyday wisdom. Whenever you are about to act in a way contrary to common sense, the Storyteller can make suggestions or warnings about the implications of said action. This is a very useful Merit for beginning players unfamiliar with the game.

merit | all | permalink

You have a psychological compulsion of some sort which can cause you a number of different problems. You compulsion may be for cleanliness, perfection, bragging, stealing, gaming, exaggeration or just talking. A compulsion can be temporarily avoided at the cost of a Willpower point, but is in effect at all other times.

flaw | all | permalink

You have the ability to focus your mind and shut out any distractions or annoyances. Characters with this Merit are unaffected by any penalties stemming from distracting circumstances (e.g., loud noises, strobe lights, or hanging upside down).

merit | all | permalink

You have a natural affinity with driving motorized wheeled vehicles, such as cars, 18-wheelers and even tractors. The difficulties of all rolls requiring risky or especially difficult driving maneuvers are 2 less.

You must have at least 2 dots in Drive to take this merit.

merit | all | permalink

When you sleep, it is very difficult for you to awaken. The difficulty of any roll to awaken during the day is increased by 2.

flaw | kindred | permalink

You have seen too many friends and family, Kindred and kine alike, swept away on the river of time and cast into oblivion. The pain of seeing so many die while you continued to exist was horrible to bear, so horrible that you have now isolated yourself emotionally from all others. You often come across as cold and utterly without feeling, but what is that to you? You are now safe from pain. Do to your total emotional isolation, you receive a +one difficulty modifier to any Social skill rolls involving emotions and cannot spend experience points on the Empathy Talent.

flaw | kindred | permalink

The Kindred is a natural critic. Reduce difficulties for Art Appreciation by 4.

merit | kindred | permalink

You feel compelled to bite only a specific part of the body to feed. Attempting to bite a victim anywhere else forces a Willpower check (difficulty 6). The neck, of course, is most traditional, but the legendary Armenian vampire Dakhanavar bit only the soles of his victim's feet.

flaw | kindred | permalink

Prerequisites: Brujah

You have partially transcended the blood fury of your clan by focusing your Beast’s anger. Select one of the normal frenzy conditions (physical provocation, loved one in danger, etc.) When faced with that provocation, you automatically frenzy. You do not suffer the usual difficulty increase to other frenzy conditions, however. The Storyteller must approve the selected condition.

merit | kindred | permalink

You have a goal that drives and directs you in every thing. You do not concern yourself with petty matters and casual concerns, because your higher purpose is everything. Though you may sometimes be driven by this purpose and find yourself forced to behave in ways contrary to the need of personal survival, it can also grant you great persona strength. You gain 2 extra dice on all rolls that have anything to do with this higher purpose. You need to decide what your higher purpose is. Make sure you talk it over with the Storyteller first.

merit | | permalink

Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write. This must be accompanied with a decent explanation in modern nights.

flaw | | permalink

You have no patience for standing around and waiting. You want to do things now -- fuck those slowpokes trying to hold you back. Every time you are forced to wait around instead of acting, a Self-Control roll is required to see if you go tearing off on your own instead.

flaw | | permalink

Your mage just sucks at one particular Ability. Maybe he can't handle driving worth a damn, or he makes computers burst into flames and emit pink smoke. Pick one Ability in which your character has at least one dot — preferably one that will be important to your character in some fashion. (Your Storyteller will know if you do otherwise, and he has nasty ways to make you pay.) You suffer a difficulty penalty of 2 on all rolls with that Ability.

flaw | | permalink

You have keen insight into the ulterior motives of all your actions. Through this nightly exercise, you also have incredible insight into the underlying motives of others' actions. Add 2 dice to your Perception dice pool when you must take an action against someone with the same Nature or Demeanor as you.

merit | | permalink

You were raised by the Arcanum, either born to an Inquisitor or adopted by the Arcanum at an early age. The Arcanum is all you know. The sanctity of your work is honed by a purity of skill, unclouded by distraction. Unfortunately, you have a limited understanding of the outside world. When in a non-Arcanum setting, subtract one die from all Social dice pools. When field work takes you beyond the Arcanum's walls, how will you react to all the new people, stimuli, and fellow hunters who are not so cloistered?

flaw | | permalink

You were raised by the Society of Leopold, either born to an Inquisitor or adopted by the Society at an early age. The Inquisition is all you know. The sanctity of your holy work is honed by a purity of skill, unclouded by distraction. Unfortunately, you have a limited understanding of the outside world. When in a non-Society setting, subtract one die from all Social dice pools. When field work takes you beyond the Inquisition's walls, how will you react to all the new people, stimuli, and fellow hunters who are not so cloistered?

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Inconnu

The term kashaph is of ambiguous meaning, based on a Hebrew root word for mutter, and implying spoken sorcery and incantations. The term is used in the Old Testament to condemn the practitioners of witchcraft. True kashaph has long been extinct -- save among the Inconnu. Kashaph is an enchanted language, and cannot be decoded by modern linguistics or cryptography. The Inconnu use kashaph to communicate secretly, and also as a method of identifying one another.

New members of the Inconnu are not taught kashaph by normal means. It cannot be studied, nor learned like a conventional language. Instead, members are indoctrinated into the society through an elaborate ritual during which the language of kashaph is inscribed upon their soul. Once learned in this way, the language may be spoken, not written (there is no written form, and the sounds cannot be accurately captured by phonetic scribblings), and only another individual with this merit has the capacity to understand the words said in the language of kashaph.

merit | | permalink

You know a language in addition to your native one. You can take this Merit multiple times, each reflecting a different language.

merit | | permalink

You have a natural affinity with numbers and a talent for mental arithmetic, making you a natural when working with computers or betting at the racetracks. The difficulties of all relevant rolls are decreased by 2. Another possible use for this ability, assuming you have numbers on which to base your conclusions, is the ability to calculate the difficulty of certain tasks. In appropriate situations, you may ask the Storyteller the difficulty rating of a task you are about to perform.

merit | | permalink

In a moment of great crisis, you may call upon your honor and nobility to fortify your resolve. Once per story, you may spend a point of Willpower to substitute your Road rating for both your Self-Control/Conviction and Courage for the scene. Characters who ascribe to roads that do not venerate heroism and valor may not purchase or retain this Merit, particularly those on the Road of Sin (although followers of the Via Adversarius may possess this Merit; see Road of Sin for more information).

merit | | permalink

You are naturally adept with all kinds of mechanical devices (note that this aptitude does not extend to electronic devices such as computers). The difficulties of all dice rolls to understand, repair or operate any kind of mechanical device are 2 less. However, this Merit doesn't help you drive any sort of vehicle.

You must have at least 2 dots in Craft or Technology to take this merit.

merit | | permalink

You experience horrendous nightmares every time you sleep, and memories of them haunt you during your waking hours. Upon awakening, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) or lose a die on all actions for that night. A botched Willpower roll indicates that, even when awake, you still believe that you are locked in a nightmare.

flaw | | permalink

You have never known an existence other than privilege and wealth, either in life or undeath. You fervently believe in your innate superiority over mere mortals and the riffraff of the Low Clans, perhaps too much. You cannot believe that your inferiors could ever pose a real threat. As such, you are prone to underestimating adversaries of lesser station and your haughty bearing adds 2 to the difficulty of all Social rolls to interact with those you perceive as beneath you. Characters must have at least 2 dots of Status to purchase this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

You have an exaggerated and unshakable opinion of your own worth and capabilities-you never hesitate to trust your abilities, even in situations where you risk defeat. Because your abilities may not be enough, such overconfidence can be very dangerous. When you do fail, you quickly find someone or something else to blame. If you are convincing enough, you can infect others with your overconfidence.

This may not be taken with the flaw Low Self-lmage.

flaw | | permalink

Your aesthetic runs counter to that of society, or perhaps you really are simply a tasteless cretin with pretensions of class. In either case, you add one to the difficulty of Social rolls involving mainstream artists or critics. Intimidation rolls suffer also with this penalty — you are graceless even at the art of fear.

flaw | | permalink

Your self-control varies with the weather. Make rolls to resist frenzy at -one difficulty in completely calm weather, but +one difficulty on rough seas, +2 in thunderstorms and +3 in hurricanes.

flaw | | permalink

You refuse to hunt a certain class of prey. You might refuse to feed on drug dealers, policemen, accountants, or rich people -- if you accidentally feed upon such an individual, you automatically frenzy and must make a roll to prevent Humanity or Path loss (difficulty 7). Witnessing other Kindred feeding on the object of your exclusion might also provoke a frenzy, at the Storyteller's discretion. Ventrue, owing to the limitations already imposed on their feeding by their Clan weakness, may not take this flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You are distinctly ill at ease when dealing with people and try to avoid social situations whenever possible. Difficulties for all rolls involving social interaction with strangers are increased by 2. If the character becomes the center of attention in a large group, difficulties are increased by 3.

flaw | | permalink

You cannot stand to watch others suffer. You avoid any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). You must have a Humanity rating of 7 or above to take this Flaw.

Salubri Healers may not take this flaw.

flaw | | permalink

You have a stammer or other speech impediment that hampers verbal communication. The difficulties of all die rolls involving verbal communication are increased by 2. This flaws must be roleplayed whenever possible.

flaw | | permalink

You have an innate sense of time and are able to estimate the passage of time accurately without using a watch or other mechanical device.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

Nothing is ever good enough for your work. No matter how much praise is lavished upon you, you can only see the flawss and mistakes. This leads to long periods of ennui, which makes your artistic work irregular at best. Further, you throw yourself into business arrangements and social situations with intensity, which often leads to heartbreak, which leads to the pain and passion that fuels your next work. You are at +one difficulty on Social rolls in which you are being praised, complimented, or treated with respect.

flaw | | permalink

You fail to see the need for the core ideologies of your Sect or Clan, and have gone on record as saying so. Taking your stand has made you suspect in the eyes of your superiors, and may have attracted the attention of your enemies as well.

flaw | | permalink

You have expertise in a specific field that makes your conversation intriguing to an older Kindred. So long as your knowledge holds the other vampire's attention, he has a vested interest in keeping you around. Then again, once he's pumped you for every iota of information you possess, that patronage may suddenly vanish. (Note: This Merit should be played like a one-dot Mentor with a specific interest. However, unlike a Mentor, Useful Knowledge does not imply a permanent relationship.)

merit | | permalink

You subconsciously sense impending bad weather. The Storyteller makes a Perception + Survival roll (difficulty 7) on your behalf to give up to several hours' notice of storms and other weather problems before they manifest.

merit | | permalink

One of your senses is exceptional; shall be it sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. The difficulties for all tasks involving the use of this particular sense are reduced by 2. This Merit can be combined with the Discipline of Auspex to produce superhuman sensory acuity.

merit | | permalink

You have a high degree of off-hand dexterity and can perform tasks with the wrong hand at no penalty. The rules for taking multiple actions still apply, but you do not suffer a difficulty penalty if you use 2 weapons or are forced to use your off hand.

merit | | permalink

Your teeth are huge and square, not sharp like those of most other vampires. You must score one extra success to do damage with a bite, and once you have locked your teeth into your prey, you automatically cause the victim one additional Health Level of damage for every 2 Blood Points taken (you have to chew and chew and chew...).

flaw | | permalink

Your appearance is sufficiently thug-like to inspire fear (or at least disquiet) in those who see you. While you're not necessarily ugly, you do radiate a quiet menace, to the point where people cross the street to avoid passing near you. All Intimidation rolls against those who have not demonstrated their physical superiority to you are at -one difficulty.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Giovanni

Most vampires can't eat food, and even those who can force it down, don't gain sustenance from it. Like them, you still can't stomach the crap most mortals eat. Human meat, on the other hand, brings you great joy. It can be baked, fried, or even raw, and you can tuck right in, and even gain sustenance. Even other vampires look askance at Kindred who devour their prey, though the Dunsirn applaud your respect for tradition. In addition to the blood points every human can provide, you can cannibalize a mortal and gain even more. An average human can provide up to 4 helpings of meat (one per health level). Each helping provides you with one blood point.

merit | | permalink

You possess an innately perfect sense of balance. Characters with this Merit reduce difficulties of all balance-related rolls (e.g., Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by 2.

merit | | permalink

One of your feet is gnarled and deformed. You move at only half normal speed.

flaw | | permalink

You can only see in black and white. Color means nothing to you, though you are sensitive to color density, which you perceive as shades of gray. This makes it impossible to use the Level Two Auspex power of Aura Perception.

Note: color blindness actually indicates an inability to distinguish between 2 colors, but we fudged a bit for the sake of brevity.

flaw | | permalink

Regular time spent among mortals has dulled the hungers of your palette. You reduce the difficulty of any frenzy roll involving the sight, scent or taste of blood by one. You cannot frenzy from sensing blood if your blood pool is full; conversely, you lose your normal difficulty reduction if your blood pool is less than a quarter full (rounded down).

merit | | permalink

You are unusually supple. Reduce the difficulty of any Dexterity roll involving body flexibility by 2. Squeezing through a tiny space is one example of a use for this Merit.

merit | | permalink

No one can explain it, but you seem to have the ability to work on less rest than your fellow vampires. You always seem to be the first to rise and the last to go to bed even if you're been out until dawn. Your Humanity or Path score is considered to be 10 for puses of deciding when you rise each evening. Vampires with this Merit cannot take the Deep Sleeper flaws.

merit | | permalink

You have the capacity to eat food and even savor its taste. While you cannot derive any nourishment from eating regular foods, this ability will serve you well in pretending to be human. Of course, you can't digest what you eat, and there will be some point during the evening when you have to heave it back up.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your blood is vile; in fact, it tastes so disgusting it requires a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) just to avoid gagging and retching after tasting it. If someone is foolish enough to attempt diablerie on you, they need to succeed in 3 (difficulty 9) Willpower rolls to go through with it. The blood is so disgusting that no one can keep it down long enough to use it to become a ghoul, either.

merit | | permalink

You have a face that reminds everyone of someone, to the point where strangers are inclined to be well-inclined toward you because of it. The effect doesn't fade even if you explain the mistake, leaving you at -one difficulty on all appropriate Social-based rolls (yes for Seduction, no for Intimidation, for example) when a stranger is involved. This Merit only functions on a first meeting.

merit | | permalink

Your hearing is defective. The difficulties of any rolls involving the use of hearing are increased by 2.

flaw | | permalink

You're extremely good at sleight of hand and other physical tricks. Difficulties when using Subterfuge for physical trickery, shell games, card tricks, and so forth, are decreased by 2.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Like a lizard, you are able to actually shed parts of your body. By spending a blood point and a little effort, you can detach a hand or foot, or even an arm or leg. This might be to escape bonds or a grapple. Unfortunately, the appendage will not reattach, and you will have to regrow that over time (usually a couple of days for a hand or foot, and a week for a limb). You also suffer a -3 dice pool penalty to actions that would require the use of more limbs.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You have been blessed with unusually long and graceful fingers. This means you have an easier time with fine manipulation as well as grappling, gaining an extra die when attempting such actions.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You have either oversized tusks for fangs, or a huge mouth full of shateeth. Whatever form it takes, your mouth is that of a monster. When attacking with a bite you do an additional point of damage. You may also add a die to your Intimidation dice pool when you smile.

merit | | permalink

You were embraced by a Nosferatu, but failed to meet the standards of even that clan and were subsequently rejected by your sire. As you did not complete the Becoming process, you were not fully transformed, but you still look rather odd. You begin the game with an Appearance rating of one, and raising your Appearance costs double the usual number of experience points.

In addition, you present a tempting target for just about any bully - other Caitiff may not have much to kick around, but a Nosferatu reject certainly offers possibilities for abuse.

Not all Caitiff sired by Nosferatu have this flaw; nobody knows why some do and some don't.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your mouth is huge and you are able to open it to prodigious width. You may drink an additional 2 Blood Points from your victim each turn.

merit | | permalink

Water is a far more comfortable environment for you, be it the sea or sewer effluent. Rolls involving swimming or underwater movement have their difficulty reduced by one.

merit | | permalink

You have, for some reason or another, become resistant to poisons. It could be that you are somehow naturally resistant or that you have spent years building up your resistance against all known types of poisons. Any time you need to make a soak roll against the effects of a poison or toxin, reduce your difficulty by 3.

merit | | permalink

You are well below average height -- 4 and a half feet (one.5 meters) tall or less. You have difficulty reaching or manipulating objects designed for normal adult size, and your running speed is one-half that of an average human.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You secrete an ooze, which is as disgusting as it sounds. The ooze covers your entire body and soaks into your clothes. It makes you slippery and difficult to hold, requiring opponents to gain 2 more successes to grapple you. The dampness also makes you a little fire resistant, reducing your difficulty to soak fire damage by one.

merit | | permalink

You exude an odor of dampness and newly turned earth, which no amount of scents or perfumes will cover. Mortals in your immediate presence become uncomfortable, so the difficulties of all Social rolls to affect mortals increase by one.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Most Nosferatu pick up a certain odor, but you stink so bad even your Clan-mates find you hard to be close to. Your presence is preceded by your stench, removing 2 die from all Stealth rolls.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

You have proven yourself worthy to join the Assamites' Thousand Meter Club through your remarkable skill with the sniper rifle. The difficulty of all rolls associated with sniping is reduced by -one. You also double the normal range when using a sniper rifle as a weapon.

merit | | permalink

You have some sort of repetitive motion that you make in times of stress, and it's a dead giveaway as to your identity. Examples include a nervous cough, constantly wringing your hands, cracking your knuckles, and so on. It costs one Willpower to refrain from engaging in your tic.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

Your eyes do not close. Ever. Perhaps you have left your humanity too far behind to upkeep such habits, or perhaps you fleshcrafted some form of transparent eye-scale or nictitating membrane. Your quirk probably makes astute observers uncomfortable, adding +one to the difficulty of friendly social interactions with humans, Kindred on Humanity, and others with mortal sensibilities.

flaw | | permalink

Shortly after your Embrace, you volunteered for some task in order to gain respect and approval from the vampires around you. Now, you wish you had never opened your damn mouth! While you are not given any special credit for performing this duty, you would lose a lot of respect if you were to stop. The nature and the details of your duty should be worked out with the Storyteller in advance. Ideas can range from lending money to other Kindred to acting as a messenger or possibly gathering victims for ritae (such as Blood Feasts).

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Sabbat

You have a useful connection in the mortal world, a connection of value even to Sabbat leaders. You are allowed to keep this contact as long as there are no complications. If the need should arise, you are expected to kill your contact to protect the Sabbat or prove your loyalty.

merit | | permalink

You began your training in magick either very early in your life or very late. Maybe you were not discovered by anyone until you had already passed the usual age of students, but the Master, for whatever reason, chose to teach you anyway. Or perhaps something about you intrigued your masters so much that they began your studies very early (see the Prodigy Merit). This age difference will cause people to react to you differently. If you are older than the norm, they may think that you are more skilled than you actually are (which could get you in over your head quickly) or think that you're a joke. If your young, the older students may resent you or not take you seriously. (You've got to be kidding. He's just a kid!) Increase the difficulty of your Social rolls by one to 3 depending on the circumstances of your situation or the individual you are confronting.

flaw | | permalink

You are especially attractive to others. You receive a -2 to your difficulty on Seduction or Subterfuge rolls. However, this will aggravate others of your gender.

merit | | permalink

You are being blackmailed by a Kindred powerful enough or smart enough to keep you from destroying her. Your blackmailer uses you to her personal advantage, forcing you to do all sorts of awful things you hate doing. She may take money from you, she may take blood, or she may force you to aid her in her own schemes.

flaw | | permalink

When your sire presented you to the Prince of the city, you flubbed it. Now you're convinced His Majesty hates you (whether he does or not). You need to succeed on a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) just to stand in front of the Prince or one of his duly authorized representatives without running, blubbering, or otherwise making a fool of yourself. This flaws can only be taken by Camarilla vampires.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos; member of the Brahmin jati

As a member of the Brahmin jati, you are a priest, artist, teacher, or other pillar of society. Perhaps you keep the lore of the Clan, or perhaps you act as an advisor to other Ravnos in need of wisdom. Once per session, if you fail an Academics or Expression roll, you may immediately reroll it.

You do not have to purchase this Merit to be a member of the Brahmin jati, but only members of the Brahmin jati may have this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos; member of the Chandala jati

As a member of the Brahmin jati, you are a priest, artist, teacher, or other pillar of society. Perhaps you keep the lore of the Clan, or perhaps you act as an advisor to other Ravnos in need of wisdom. Once per session, if you fail an Academics or Expression roll, you may immediately reroll it.

You do not have to purchase this Merit to be a member of the Brahmin jati, but only members of the Brahmin jati may have this Merit.

flaw | | permalink

You have some sort of secret that, if uncovered, would be of immense embarrassment to you and would make you a pariah in the local Kindred community. This could be anything from having murdered an elder to being a member of the Anarchs.

flaw | | permalink

You spend an unusual amount of time in Elysium. You see and are seen to such an extent that all of the movers and shakers of Elysium at least know who you are. Extended time spent in Elysium also gives you extended opportunities to interact with the Haes and other Kindred of that stature -- and they'll know your name when you approach them. This Merit is generally taken by vampires that respect and attend Elysium on a regular basis.

merit | | permalink

Making money comes easy to you, and you know what it takes to succeed in business. All rolls that involve acquiring money through business reduce their difficulty by 2.

merit | | permalink

Someone in power doesn't want you around. Maybe she wants territory you possess, or is jealous of the attention you're getting from a prize mortal retainer -- the details are irrelevant. What does matter is that she has the power to maneuver you into dangerous situations for the good of the Sect, and has no compunctions about doing so.

flaw | | permalink

You were introduced to the Blood long before you were made Kindred. Your long experience as a ghoul gives you insight into and comfort with vampiric society. You are at -one difficulty on all Social rolls when in the presence of other neonates (particularly those who haven't been educated by their sires), and have a -one difficulty on all rolls relating to vampiric knowledge.

merit | | permalink

Everyone in the city knows you, and knows that you're no threat to their plans. While that sort of estimation may seem insulting, it's also what's kept you from being killed. No one considers you worth their time to deal with, and that low opinion keeps you safe. If you start acting in a way that demonstrates that you are no longer harmless, others' reactions to you will likely change as a result.

merit | | permalink

The whole matter has been explained to you, but you're still not quite sure how things in your Sect work. Your imperfect understanding of the rules and regulations of your new existence means that sooner or later, you're going to make a mistake. It's only a matter of time...

flaw | | permalink

The Camarilla won't accept you as one of its own under any circumstances. The Sabbat wouldn't think of submitting you to Creation Rites – it's just not worth it. Something in your past, your reputation or your sire's background is so abhorrent that both sects reject you utterly. You aren't just autarkis; your infamy spreads throughout both sects of vampiric society. Although you might find a coterie that's willing to work with you, they would not dare take you to any gathering of Camarilla or Sabbat vampires for fear of damaging their own reputations. The Storyteller may allow you to buy off this Flaw, but only after you've completed a story in which you've resolved and overcome this social stigma.

This marks you as automatic prey for the Scourge in a Camarilla city, and for any likely hunters in a Sabbat city.

flaw | | permalink

Your Mentor was, and perhaps still is, distrusted and disliked by many of your fellow mages. As a result, you are distrusted and disliked as well. This is a heavy load, and one not easily shed.

flaw | | permalink

Your sire was, and perhaps still is, distrusted and disliked by many of the city's Kindred. As a result, you are distrusted and disliked as well.

flaw | | permalink

Your Mentor has completely lost his grip on consensual reality, and has become lost in Quiet or dangerously insane. Any wrong committed by your Mentor may affect your reputation, and some of your Mentor's dangerous schemes may somehow involve you. This Flaw does not apply to Marauders.

flaw | | permalink

Your sire has completely lost his grip on reality, and has become dangerously insane. Any wrong committed by your sire may affect your standing, and some of your sire's dangerous schemes may somehow involve you. Because their sires are already assumed to be insane, Malkavians cannot take this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain thing. This may be an animal, a class of person, a color, a situation, or just about anything at all. The difficulties of all dice roll involving the subject are increased by two. Note that some dislikes may be too trivial to be reflected here-a dislike of White Wolf Magazine or tissue paper, for instance, will have little effect on play in most chronicles. The Storyteller is the final arbiter on what you can pick to dislike.

This cannot be taken with the flaw Hatred. You cannot get points for any phobia related to your intolerance.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos; member of the Kshatriya jati

As a member of the Kshatriya jati, you are a priest, artist, teacher, or other pillar of society. Perhaps you keep the lore of the Clan, or perhaps you act as an advisor to other Ravnos in need of wisdom. Once per session, if you fail an Academics or Expression roll, you may immediately reroll it.

You do not have to purchase this Merit to be a member of the Kshatriya jati, but only members of the Kshatriya jati may have this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Your sire or another mentor has laboriously tutored you in most forms of etiquette, even customs outside your own culture and time. You likely know the proper greeting for a Roman senator or the appropriate bow for a caliph as easily as the titles of address within your own kingdom. As such, you may learn as many Etiquette specialties as your Intelligence + Etiquette, and you receive a –one difficulty to any Etiquette roll involving those specialties.

merit | | permalink

You look similar to descriptions of another Kindred, which cause cases of mistaken identity. This can prompt numerous awkward or even dangerous situations, especially if your twin has a terrible reputation or is wanted for some crime.

flaw | | permalink

You are gifted with a certain magnetism to which others naturally defer. You receive two extra dice when making Leadership rolls. You must have a Charisma rating of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit

merit | | permalink

You've just arrived in your new city of residence, and don't know anyone in the place. Existing factions may try to recruit or eliminate you, while vampires in positions of authority size you up and take your measure. Meanwhile, your ignorance of the city's current events, history, and politics (not to mention the personality quirks of the vampires already in place) may cause you to make a serious blunder.

flaw | | permalink

You're the latest in the city to be Embraced or have yet to prove yourself to your Sect, and everyone knows it. That automatically puts you at the bottom of the social totem pole. Other neonates take every opportunity to demonstrate your inferiority, or rival packs constantly test your worthiness to the Sabbat. Even if someone else is added to the ranks of the unliving, you're still regarded as something as a bit of a geek by your peers -- a distinction that can have dangerous consequences if bullets start flying. All Social-related rolls are at +one difficulty when you are dealing with other neonates. (Ancillae and elders lump you in with all the other neonates under their general disdain.)

flaw | | permalink

You are bound by some special punishment imposed on you by your pack for doing something in opposition to pack rules. You are limited from doing something you normally could do, such as making solo trips, going with the pack out of town, hanging around the Rack, associating with certain individuals, and so on. The exact nature of the punishment is left to you and the Storyteller.

flaw | | permalink

You have an intense rivalry with a member of your pack. You are always competing with this individual, either for fun or out of spite. You have been known to go to extremes to best this individual, and he has been known to do the same to you. Your rival occasionally gets the best of you, but you do the same to him.

flaw | | permalink

There is something about you that others pity. This causes them to care for you as if you were a Child (see the Archetypes section). Some Natures will not be affected by this Merit (Autocrat, Deviant, Fanatic, Sycophant), and some Demeanors may pretend they are not. You need to decide what it is about you that attracts such pity, and how much (or how little) you like it.

merit | | permalink

You are very poor for an elder vampire. Either you never bothered to save anything over the years, or you throw away any accumulated wealth for your own, obscure reasons. You may not take any Resources.

flaw | | permalink

Your Mentor had or has great Status among your Tradition, and this has accorded you a peculiar honor. Most treat you respectfully as a result, while some have only contempt for you, believing you to be nothing compared to them. This prestige could greatly aid you when dealing with elders acquainted with your Mentor. Indeed, your Mentor's contacts may actually approach you at some point offering aid. Although your Mentor might no longer have contact with you, the simple fact of your apprenticeship has marked you forever.

merit | | permalink

Your sire has or had great status in her Sect or Clan, and this has accorded you a certain amount of prestige. Though your sire may no longer have any dealings with you, the simple fact of your ancestry has marked you forever. This prestige might aid you greatly in dealings with other vampires, or it might engender jealousy or contempt.

merit | | permalink

Your sire watched you for some time before Embracing you, and spoke glowingly of you to acquaintances. These vampires may be inclined to look favorably on you by dint of your sire's recommendation; you are at -one difficulty on Social rolls with all those who've heard good things about you.

merit | | permalink

Someone in one of your Sect's enemy organizations wants you, and they want you bad. Every effort is being made to recruit you, willing or no, and the press gangs usually show up at the worst possible time.

flaw | | permalink

Your fame has exceeded the bounds of your Sect. Everyone knows who you are, what you've done and what you're supposed to have done (which might not be the same thing). The publicity can be good or bad; what matters is that everybody knows your name. Whether individuals outside of your immediate social circle know enough to match your face to your name is a different matter.

merit | | permalink

You've lived through at least one Sabbat attack or attempted recruitment. Your experience helps you anticipate situations where you might potentially be endangered by the Sabbat once again. You are at -one difficulty on all Perception rolls when it comes to Sabbat-based matters. This Merit is generally taken by groups in conflict with the Sabbat, and comes into play most frequently as a means of avoiding ambushes. An unsettling number of Arcanists have this merit, including Chancellor D'Souza.

merit | | permalink

You have the right to pass through the territory of some other vampire or sect that does not normally allow others (or at least members of your particular sect) passage through their territory. Toreador often have this Merit for various hostile cities, allowing them to enjoy Elysiums of those cities without fear.

merit | | permalink

You maintain a friendship with a mortal or a vampire outside the Sabbat, despite knowing that if you are discovered there is a good chance that both of you would be destroyed. You are always having to cover up this relationship. You must never reveal this secret or you will be in deep trouble.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You have found and joined one of the many secret societies in Clan Tremere. Your character must be suitable to join, such as having Necromancy to join the Covenant. In most cases, your society membership should be kept secret, but your allegiance to it is not considered a crime. While your society expects you to uphold its tenets and agenda, they can also be counted upon to back you up and help you increase your power within the pyramid.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

You have a close friend in one of the Kindred sects. Perhaps you are a warrior who is in touch with one of the antitribu, a vizier who shares common business interests with some Camarilla Ventrue, or a sorcerer who corresponds with one of the rare blood magicians of the Anarch Movement. Your ally can help you navigate the currents of their sect, but they might want something in exchange from time to time.

merit | | permalink

Your sire dislikes you and wishes you ill. Given the smallest opportunity, she will actively seek to do you harm. Your sire's allies also work against you, and many elders may resent you.

flaw | | permalink

You serve as a mentor to a younger, more inexperienced vampire. The student is most likely a neonate or an ancilla. This student will assist you as you command, but you also consider this Kindred your ward. You take responsibility for training this vampire and for protecting her from harm.

merit | | permalink

You have publicly expressed sympathy for some of the goals and policies of the enemies of your Sect. Your outspoken views on the subject have made you suspect in the eyes of the city's hierarchy, and you may be suspected of (or arrested for) treason.

flaw | | permalink

A minor but annoying personality quirk makes you incapable of carrying on a conversation without employing verbose and obtrusive discourse. No matter how simple the subject might be, you must fill it with compulsory metaphraseology, obfuscationatory terminology and counterintuitive newspeak. Jeez, learn to talk normal, for cryin' out loud! In game terms, you might suffer a penalty to Social Trait rolls (+one or 2 difficulty), especially if you're trying to discuss normal subjects (love, entertainment and other personal issues).

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Criminal

When you purchase the Allies Background, you are acquiring hard-core members of the underworld rather than ordinary members of lawful society. Your Allies may be gang members, mafiosos, or members of your organized crime syndicate. Unlike normal Allies, these individuals are willing to pick fights with other mortals, murder innocents, intimidate locals, temporarily lock down an area of the city, or even commit crimes on your behalf.

merit | | permalink

Your Mentor was quite malevolent and taught you all the wrong things about mage society. Your concepts of Chantry politics are all wrong, and your faulty beliefs are likely to get you into a great deal of trouble. Over time, after many hard lessons, you can overcome this bad start (the Storyteller will tell you when). But until then, you will continue to believe what you were first told, no matter how others try to trick you into thinking otherwise.

flaw | | permalink

You don't stand out in a crowd. In fact, you don't stand out at all. People just don't notice you unless you make some kind of fuss. Naturally, such unobtrusiveness comes in handy; while bystanders are paying attention to more-memorable folk, you're checking facts, investigating details or slipping objects into your trenchcoat. Being bland has its advantages.

Although its' not as powerful as the Background: Cloaking, this Merit helps you keep a low profile. In story terms, people just don't remember your features or name unless you make a point of impressing folks with them. You're... um... that guy.... If anyone else is making an impression in the vicinity, you don't. In game terms, anyone who tries to remember meeting or seeing you needs to make a Perception roll (difficult 6) to recall your features or name. The downside is that you add two to the difficulty of any Social rolls you attempt. (Damn, you don't even get noticed when you need to be!) Unlike Cloaking, this Merit does not in any way render you invisible or cover evidence of your existence, and you can't turn it off. It simply lets you drift through life making very little impression on people. They see you, but they don't really pay attention.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos; member oft he Vaishya jati

The Vaishya jati are tasked with utilizing influence, maintaining the human herds, and keeping finances. They are often seen as traders and merchants, but to the Ravnos, they are also a critical part of maintaining the Masquerade that hides vampires from mortal hunters. Once per session, you may call on one of your Backgrounds as if you had an extra dot in that Background (up to the normal maximum of 5).

You do not have to purchase this Merit to be a member of the Vaishya jati, but only members of the Vaishya jati may have this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

You will never fit into high society. You are crude, rude and socially unacceptable, forever a Philistine. You are treated as having one less level of Status when invitations to Toreador socials are prepared. You will never be fully accepted as a Toreador. Many will question your Sire and possibly ridicule him for choosing you.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

For some reason you did not drink the blood of the elders when you were inducted into Clan Tremere. More dangerously, it may have had no effect on you. As a result, you are not bound to the Clan the way most Tremere are. Should it be discovered, it will usually be corrected, but one might almost believe there was some puse to this lapse, as the Tremere don't make mistakes. Perhaps the Clan has a special task in mind for you, one where you might be forced to act against the Clan to maintain a cover.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Animalism

You have an innate understanding of and rapport with a certain type of animal, such as dogs, bats, rats, cats or wolves. Animalism and Animal Ken rolls with these animals have their difficulty reduced by 2.

merit | | permalink

Although vampires are typically immune to mortal drugs and poisons, there are supernatural venoms that can affect Kindred physiology. A Kindred with this Merit is immune to all forms of drugs and poisons, including the venoms and toxins of supernatural creatures or those created by supernatural powers.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Your blood still carries the Curse of Malkav, but its effects have been lessened just a little bit. Any ghouls you create suffer none of the usual deranging side effects of drinking Malkavian blood — they can be loaded to the gills with your blood and not come one step nearer to gaining a derangement (They might still be driven insane by life with you, though, depending on how demanding your reality is.) Of course, any childer you Embrace will still gain a derangement after the Embrace as usual — although your vitae is easily diluted by mortal blood, the pure stuff carries the Curse as one would expect.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

Perhaps through biological expertise, or perhaps by unlocking something primordial within, you have accessed the secrets of bioluminescence. Using Vicissitude, you may grant yourself (through Malleable Visage) or others (via Fleshcraft) the ability to emit a soft glow. With muscle control and practice, you can control the color and pattern of the illumination. This can light a soft glow in the dark, create beautiful displays, or even act as a primal form of communication. Some Fiends grant their ghouls or childer bioluminescence, developing an eerily nuanced and wordless language with their thralls and broods. Only characters with at least one dot of Vicissitude may purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You actually cast no reflection, just like the vampires legend. This can have a detrimental effect when trying to pass as a human. Vampires of Clan Lasombra automatically have this Flaw (and you may be mistaken for one of them if you possess this).

flaw | | permalink

A chill wind follows you everywhere you go. While it may make for dramatic entrances, this effect also discomfits mortals (+one difficulty on all appropriate Social rolls) and marks you as obviously supernatural. Cold winds sweeping through executive offices or crowded nightclubs can raise all sorts of questions.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Giovanni

Your character cannot be blood bound by anyone who shares his mortal bloodline. That is, if you were born into the Giovanni family, you cannot be bound by anyone else who was born a Giovanni, though you can still be bound by, say, a Pisanob of the Giovanni Clan, or by Kindred of any other Clan. Similarly, a Dunsirn with Consanguineous Resistance could not be bound by others who were born into the mortal Dunsirn family, but could be bound by a Milliner of the Giovanni Clan.

The Giovanni are extremely suspicious of anyone known to manifest this quirk. Although this blood-borne aberration hasn't been documented, a few savvy Giovanni have a rough idea of what it is and does. It's generally associated with being a rebellious young smartass who needs to be put down. This is not as unfair as it sounds; by the time a bond resistance is really obvious, it's likely because a punishment isn't working. A character who is discovered to have this trait probably earns her sire's hostility at the very least.

merit | | permalink

Your aura is unnaturally bright and colorful for a vampire. You register as a mortal on all attempts to read your aura.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

This merit allows the Gangrel to fine-tune the shapes achieved by the Protean Discipline. The number of points spent determines the scope of the variation, which must be specific, approved by the Storyteller, and defined when the merit is chosen. Examples: The character can vary the special effects. The character may modify the incidental effects of a form, so your Eyes of the Beast might glow an eerie green instead of red.

merit | | permalink

Normally vampires can only seal the wounds they inflict from feeding by licking them. With but a touch, you can achieve the same effect, closing the puncture wounds left by drinking blood.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Whether because of your iron control or some fluke of chance, your aura does not give away your insanity. The aura doesn’t shift or swirl at all, even when you’re confused, frenzied or in a psychotic fit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Arcanum Member

You are always thought of in the most positive light, unless evidence exists to prove otherwise. If you do something wrong and the act is not easily attributed to you, it will most likely be blamed on someone else. This does not mean that you are an innocent -- it just means everyone thinks you are.

merit | | permalink

With rare exceptions, animals usually despise the Kindred. Some flee, others attack, but all dislike being in the presence of a vampire. You have no such problem. Animals may not enjoy being in your company, but they don't actively flee from you.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Animalism

Your Animalism carries an unusual side effect: It lingers in the minds of the beasts you speak with or control, lending them a certain resistance to others. When someone else attempts to command a creature you have previously controlled with Animalism, their difficulty levels are at +2.

merit | | permalink

For some reason, animals cringe from your touch and are uneasy in your presence. Perhaps it is because you have been tainted by your dealings with the Infernal, or perhaps they just dislike your smell. For whatever reason, animals are jittery around you, including any hounds used to guard your Cenaculum. You have a two dice penalty in any actions involving animals.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ghoul

Due to some quirk of fate or your reaction to the Blood, your aura is naturally pale. Vampires reading your aura via Auspex assume you to be Kindred unless they have strong reason to suspect otherwise. This Merit can be of great use if you wish to impersonate a vampire, but can also cause some very dangerous misunderstandings.

merit | | permalink

You cannot abide garlic, and the smallest whiff of its scent will drive you from a room unless you make a successful Willpower roll (difficulty based on the strength of the odor).

flaw | | permalink

A Repulsed by Garlic, but using flowering sprigs of wild rose instead. Hawthorn, rowan and celandine also have legendary status as repellers of vampires.

flaw | | permalink

Your vitae tastes like the finest wine, sweet and heady without the slightest trace of salt or metallic tang. As such, you may hide your blood in a chalice or feed ghouls without betraying the true nature of their draught.

merit | | permalink

Plants wither when you approach, and will die if you touch them. It is rumored that Caine himself possesses this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Plants wither as you approach and die at your touch. Your touch leeches heat from living beings, as though you were made of ice.

flaw | | permalink

While the Cainite Heresy itself rests somewhat outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy, your particular flavors of theological imagining are bizarre even by Heretical standards. You no longer stand within the Heresy itself but have been expelled; you have both the Heresy and the faithful as your enemies. If your blasphemy is minor and you still have friendly dealings with other heretics, this flaw is worth 1 point; otherwise, it is worth 2.

Good explanation (above the normal) is needed with this flaw.

flaw | | permalink

You can perfectly recite your lineage back to your Antediluvian progenitor. If this Merit is worth only 1 point, noble Cainites accept your recitation and treat you more favorably as a true keeper of the Traditions. If this Merit is worth two points, your bloodline has sufficient prestige to warrant an extra dot of Status that remains as long as none of your direct ancestors rejects you. Even if you err and lose face, you always have at least one dot of Status from your birthright.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

Your Animalism works on insects and other creepy-crawlies in addition to animals. With the two-point version of this merit, your Protean forms may take the form of an insectoid swarm rather than a single creature (though the swarm must be of a size and mechanical equivalent to a wolf or a bat, as appropriate).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

Whereas other vampires' bodies return to the state they were in at the Embrace each evening, any body modifications you get after the Embrace remain as they are until you actively spend a Willpower point to return your body to its tabula rasa state. This Merit applies to changes as simple as dyeing or cutting your hair to modifications as complicated as tattoos, piercings, or even small implants.

If the Merit only allows for cosmetic alterations, it is worth 1 point. If it allows for more utilitarian alterations, such as RFID implants that activate certain electronic devices, then it is worth 2 points.

merit | | permalink

Your mage was raised in another time, and she hasn't quite caught up to the present. Maybe she traveled forward (or backward) in time, or sideways from a parallel universe. Maybe the Awakening made her recall one of her past lives so vividly that she thinks she's supposed to be in 10th century Egypt. Or maybe she's from one of the few quaint backwaters of the present day, and everything in the modern western world might as well be Mars for all the sense it makes to her.

For 1 point, the character is just a little out of sync. Pick any decade from the 20th or 21st century, excepting those on both sides of the current one, and set your attitudes and beliefs accordingly. For 2 points, pick any decade in the 18th or 19th century (or 22nd or 23rd). For 3 points, pick any decade from the 17th century or before, or any particularly well-insulated backwater of the present day (if any still exist), or just some totally weird social behavioral construct. The character has a two-point difficulty penalty when dealing with anything outside this cultural identity. Thus, a character used to the 1800s has trouble with computers, but he understands light bulbs; a character from a hypothetical 23rd-century parallel universe might have trouble with telephones, which never existed in her world experience!

This Flaw can be bought off over time and with roleplaying. However, in the mean time, culture shock can be fun. For Inquisitors, this flaw is only worth 1 point.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You are remarkably adept at moving through the underground tunnels that you call your home. When attempting to navigate, escape, or track through sewers and underground places you know, you gain an additional die for every point you have in this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You are allergic to some substance, in a manner not unlike mortal allergies. However, you do not get hives or sneeze, but are actually incapacitated by your reaction. If the substance was in the blood you drank the reaction will be very strong, though touch alone is enough to disturb you.Use the following as a guide:

1 pt. - Plastic 2 pt. - Alcohol 2 pt. - Illegal Drugs 3 pt. - Metal

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

Set blessed you upon your Embrace, and you bear his mark. A portion of your skin is covered in scales. As a one-point flaws, a small, easily hidden area of skin is covered. As a 2-point flaws, a whole limb is covered, while having a scaled, lipless face is a 3-point flaws. Kine are frightened and disturbed by the obviously unnatural scales, and Kindred have their own prejudices against the Setites. All social rolls receive a +2 difficulty when the scales are visible. This penalty does not apply to social interactions with other Setites.

flaw | | permalink

You're a walking mess of scars. Although you heal damage with Cainite efficiency, the manner in which you do so is all too human. For some reason, the regenerating flesh returns as scar tissue. Vicissitude doesn't help; in fact, it aggravates your condition with stretch marks and cicatrices anywhere your skin breaks. While this doesn't hamper you physically, it does affect your interactions with other people. For 2 points, all Social roll difficulties increase by one.

If you purchase Scarface as a 3-point Flaw, your face and body are so horribly blemished that your Appearance rating can never exceed 2. This is in addition to the limitations mentioned previously. As a 4-point Flaw, the swath of scars is thick enough to hinder your actions through skin-resistance. All Dexterity roll difficulties also increase by one, in addition to the other penalties this Flaw imposes at lesser levels. You can ignore this penalty for one specific action by taking one level of (unsoakable) bashing damage; essentially, you're tearing the scar tissue for greater range of motion. Once you heal that damage, however, the penalty returns.

flaw | | permalink

You were part of the Church in life, and somehow maintain the illusion that you still live, thereby still possessing some of the advantages of church rank. You can influence local politics to some extent, an locals respect you as a representative of God. 1 point of this Merit might mean you are a summoner or deacon; 2 a monk, nun or pardoner. Three points represent a local friar or ranking monk. Higher ranks (abbess, bishop, and so on) should only be allowed with the Storyteller's permission (and an even higher cost) - these ranks carry a great amount of influence and a grave level of responsibility.

merit | | permalink

An elder owes you gratitude because of something either you or your sire did for her. The depth of gratitude the elder owes depends on how many points the player wishes to spend. 1 point might mean the elder owes the character a favor; three points might mean that she owes the character her unlife.

merit | | permalink

A member of your mortal family is also a vampire. You have a good relationship with the family member and he will come to your aid if you call. However, he may also call upon you for aid some day. If the family member is close by, this is a two-point Merit. If the family member is in your pack, it is a three-point Merit.

merit | | permalink

You possessed a mortal title before your Embrace and have somehow managed to pass yourself off as alive. Consequently, the advantages of nobility are open to you. You are presumed to be landless unless you purchase the Resources Background. 1 point of this Merit translates roughly as minor title with little prestige (a knight, say). With 2 points, you could be a baronet, and with 3 you might be a minor baron. Higher titles should be given to players only at the Storyteller's discretion. In the Dark Medieval world, they represent great power, but require an equally great amount of work to maintain.

merit | | permalink

You had a long-term relationship (minimum 50 years) with a fellow Kindred. Although the relationship proved useful and pleasant while it lasted, you grew weary of your former paramour and ended the long-term tryst. Unfortunately, your former paramour did not take the ending of the affair well, and has apparently developed a strong antipathy for you. You both know many of each other's secrets and this has caused a stalemate thus far, but you are concerned that your ex-paramour may interfere in your affairs at some time in the future. The cost of this Flaw depends on the relative power and position of your ex-paramour in Kindred society (one for an ancilla, 2 for another elder, 3 for a more powerful elder).

flaw | | permalink

You are boastful and know that you deserve any praise you receive. You are particularly fond of Kindred who realize their lesser standing in the face of your obvious superiority, although you tend to view any who speak well of you as more intelligent and deserving than most. Due to your arrogance and love of sycophants, you receive an increase of one to three points on the difficulty level of resisting any attempts at Manipulation using flattery (the modifier is doubled if the flatterer has a flattery specialty). The modifier is determined by the rating of this flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Others would kill or die to know this secret you guard. The Valuable Secret should be created and given by the Storyteller. Perhaps the character knows that the prince is an Infernal Diabolist or that the primogen are actually Sabbat. Whatever the case, only those involved in the secret and the character know about the Valuable Secret.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

Though your status as an Inquisitor is a secret outside of the Society of Leopold, you are also an official member of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. This Merit determines your standing, each point widening the scope of your service and influence. The one-point version grants you the rank of priest, presiding over one parish (and its deacons and laity). The two-point version grants you the rank of Bishop, presiding over one diocese, consisting of many parishes (and their priests). The three-point version grants you the rank of Archbishop, presiding over several dioceses (and their bishops).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

You have acquired some infamy in the Society of Leopold. At the one-point version of this flaws, you might simply be scorned by your betters, who wait for you to slip up. At the two-point version, you are actively loathed and can expect little help. At the three-point version, there are Inquisitors who hate you as much as the supernaturals. You should work with the Storyteller to come up with the specific reason for this ill repute. Bear in mind, your reputation is relative among the divisions within the 7 Inquisition. Some sects may embrace you just to spite their rivals. For example, while you might earn the ire of the Society at large by studying the sorcerous arts too closely, you might find acceptance, and even encouragement, from the Brethren of Albertus.

flaw | | permalink

Your sire gave you a valuable gift after the Embrace. The Storyteller should create something suitable or choose one item from the Mystical Items list to give to you (though you can 'suggest' something). The Storyteller will decide how much a particular item is worth.

merit | | permalink

You have already begun your descent into the jaws of the Beast. Reduce your starting Road rating by one dot per point awarded by this Flaw. Characters may not begin play with a lower Road rating than their Conscience/Conviction.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ghoul

Although you may not be talented at the Tzimisce forms of fleshcrafting and boneshaping, at some point you have been... modified into a more warlike form. Generally speaking, you're a szlachta, and most modifications necessitate the purchase of the Flaw: Monstrous. As a rule, the Tzimisce make sufficient cosmetic alterations to ruin the looks of all their battle-ghouls, even those whose modifications are not in and of themselves hideous.

These modifications are permanent unless shaped away by further Vicissitude. Although dangerous, any weaponry causes normal damage only; despite its horrid appearance, your arsenal is still only mortal flesh and bone. You may purchase as many modifications as you can afford, but your social abilities are probably doomed.

Circular Vision (1 pt.): One of your eyes has been moved to the back of your head, granting you the ability to see at a wider angle. This is a difficult operation and can be performed only by masters of medicine and Vicissitude. In addition, your depth perception is poor at any angle, and you suffer a 2-die penalty to any rolls that involve gauging distance, including use of missile weapons. You must take the Monstrous Flaw.

Fangs (1 pt.): Your teeth have been lengthened and sharpened; your smile may resemble a shark's or cat's, or may be unlike anything found in nature. You may use the Bite maneuver, but lose two dice from any Manipulation Dice Pools that do not involve intimidation or causing fear.

Digestive Modifications (2 pts.): You are able to digest any organic material that you can break up and swallow. Your Stamina is treated as two points higher for purposes of resisting ingested poisons.

Spurs (2 pts.): Long bone spurs protrude from your forearms, back and/or legs. You may slash with these for Str + 2 damage; however, they are hard to conceal, and you must subtract 3 dice from any Social Dice Pools save those involving intimidation.

Carapace (3 pts.): You are covered with bony or horny plates that protect you from attack. You may add two soak dice to your pool, but you must take the Monstrous Flaw.

Patagia (4 pts.): Your bones have been hollowed, and flaps of skin (from yourself or another hapless soul) have been grafted onto your arms, giving you the appearance of a human pterodactyl. You may use these flaps to glide, though you may not actually fly. While gliding, you may not use your arms. Furthermore, you subtract one from all soak pools to resist strikes from fists and blunt weapons, or any other forms of concussive damage (your bones are hollow). You must take the Monstrous Flaw.

Note: Ghouls may never heal Vicissitude modifications, not even with vampire blood. In this respect they are as helpless as mortals. The exceptions are ghouls who themselves possess Vicissitude, though a lowly Zantosa may well find herself helpless to repair the mutilation inflicted by a 4th-generation Tzimisce (to repair Vicissitude alterations, a ghoul must have a level of Vicissitude superior to that of the vampire who inflicted the mutilation).

merit | mortal | permalink

There is something about your eyes that makes you look dark and dangerous. Making eye contact with you is like staring into the Abyss. It may not be obvious why, but anyone you talk to gets a chill when they meet your gaze. The difficulty for any Intimidation roll is reduced by the number of points in this Merit (to a minimum of 2).

merit | | permalink

A demon has taken a special interest in your soul. She appears to you occasionally, using threats, bribes and honeyed words to win you to her cause. Sometimes she just asks you to perform innocuous favors for her. Sometimes she just asks you to sell your soul. Sometimes she offers you favors or information without any apparent catch. In any case, it is not your interests she serves, but those of her diabolical masters. All of her plots are ultimately designed to ensnare you and win your soul. A minor demon (onept Flaw) may be an annoying imp, incapable of no more than distracting you, thieving small items and pleading for your soul; its plans are unimpressive, but can be frustrating. A greater creature (4pt Flaw) is your physical equal and can concoct horrible devious plans to win your soul. In either case the Storyteller creates the character for the demon, and keeps track of its plots.

flaw | | permalink

Magic? What a load of bullshit. No one in his right mind believes in magic. This is the 21st Century. You'd have to be nuts to believe in that stuff.

Unfortunately, your character is nuts. However, his madness is that he doesn't believe in magic no matter how much evidence he sees to the contrary. He rationalizes everything, and even if he can be awakened for a short time by incredibly vulgar magic, the next day he'll remember everything as a weird dream or too much acid, not an earth-shattering revelation of the true nature of reality. He may believe in laser guns and personal jet-packs – after all, that's science – but he refuses to believe in all the nonscientific bell, book and candle stuff. Anything outside the Consensus of modern technological society is just bunk as far as your character's concerned.

Or, alternately, your mage believes in magic, faeries, ghosts and werewolves just fine, but he refuses to believe in this strange thing called science. This worldview doesn't make much sense for a resident of the 21st Century, but it's a perfectly reasonable perspective for a visitor from the 16th.

Of course, even if your mage's conscious mind is in denial, his Avatar is quite Awake and willing to help with magic and/or technology. After all, just because you don't actually believe that God is going to send angels and flaming chariots to your rescue doesn't mean you shouldn't pray for Him to send them....

As a one-point Flaw, you may only engage in coincidental magic or super-science. Your mage doesn't believe in the vulgar stuff, and he disbelieves it when he sees it. (That is, your character counts as a Sleeper with regards to vulgar magic or super-science.) For a two-point Flaw, your mage doesn't believe in either magic or super-science, and he counts as a Sleeper against both kinds of vulgar Effects. At double the appropriate value, your mage is able to perform vulgar magic and/or super-science, but he counts as a Sleeper with regard to his own Effects. Moreover, he hallucinates a more rational turn of events. (What do you mean demons dragged him down to Hell? I just said 'Damn you!' and then he dropped one of his ninja smoke grenades and ran off!) Therefore, the mage gets Paradox from his own vulgar Effects even in a sanctum!

Storytellers should be cautious with this Flaw, not allowing players to create min-maxing Technocrats who bring extra Paradox down on their enemies and none on themselves without allowing it to cause them significant problems.

flaw | mage | permalink

You have an unconscious wish to die the True Death. The search for blood, the politics and pain, the constant knowledge of all eternity looming ahead of you, and perhaps your own cowardice, all have their effect on you. Although you never deliberately do anything to harm yourself, you do tend to hinder yourself at awkward times. At any time during a story, the Storyteller may ask you to reroll a successful Skill check. The least successful of the 2 rolls is the actual result of your actions. The Storyteller may do this a number of times per story equal to the number of points taken in this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

As Lasombra cannot see their apperance, those with this Flaw find themselfs hypnotized by the vagaries of their own apperance. The compulsive behavior may be small at first (1 point), manifesting itself as a repeated questioning of others as to their looks. (Does my hair look alright? Really?), to obsessive behaviors such as brushing hair, adjusting clothes and the like. The symptoms occasionally run the gamut to full-fledged mania (5 points), wherein the afflicted Lasombra are constantly attended by ghouls intent on grooming them and can speak of little save their appearance.

flaw | | permalink

Inbreeding, a common occurrence among the incestuous Giovanni Clan, can take many forms. The Inbred flaws covers all manner of physical, mental, and emotional defects. A one-point Inbreeding is something simple and unobtrusive, such as eyes too close together or an underbite (+one difficulty on Appearance rolls). A 3-point Inbreeding is more severe: a congenital health condition (for mortals) or a crippling physical deformity (+2 difficulty on appropriate Strength, Dexterity, or Stamina rolls). Five-point Inbreedings are grossly disabling or emotionally crippling -- everything from uselessly atrophied legs to a permanent Derangement -- decided on mutually by the player and Storyteller. Inbred conditions may or may not be immediately discernible, though their point cost should be relative to their magnitude, as decided by the Storyteller.

flaw | | permalink

You own a number of properties that have been in your possession for years. These have all been modified to provide you with protection, numerous places to rest and emergency escape routes. Although such holdings are often ancient castles, museums and the like, they can also be specially prepared apartment complexes, mountain lodges, old churches, etc. For every point taken in this Merit you have two such holdings, which can be almost anywhere in the world.

merit | | permalink

With the right permits, you can do anything... well, not anything, but a lot more than the average Joe. Through some devious or official means, you have obtained a permit that allows you special privledges. Depending on the cost of the Merit, you may be authorized to:

Own and operate odd vehicles (like limos or trucks): 1 point. Practice medicine or law (as a doctor or lawyer): two points. Uphold the law (as a cop, detective or government agent): three points. Own military hardware (heavy weapons, explosives, vehicles): four points. Break the law in the course of duty (as a diplomat or secret agent): five points. Naturally, these rights involve certain responsibilities. As part of your license, you may be required to fulfill certain duties and observe certain limitations. Even a cop can't go around busting heads on anyone he sees, at least not without some serious repercussions. Licenses of all kinds involve review boards, tests, periodic checks and an overseeing authority. Like anything else in life, you have to be careful how you apply your privileges. Abuse 'em, and you'll probably lose 'em.

(Note: Storyteller characters shouldn't worry about buying this Merit. It's provided to keep player characters from running rampant without authorization... and to provide them with the ability to run rampant within certain parameters.)

merit | | permalink

You have a childe in a position of power within vampiric society. This childe is loyal, and often serves as both an information font and protection. Although she sometimes asks favors of you, you are most definitely in control of the relationship, as it is right for a sire to be. The cost of this Merit depends upon the power and position of the child (one for leading anarch, 2 for an Archon, 3 for a primogen, etc., determined in conjunction with the Storyteller). This Merit must be taken separately for each such child. Having this childe Blood Bound to you costs and extra two points.

merit | | permalink

You currently owe a boon to one or more other Kindred. This debt could have been incurred far in the past, or only last week, but the Kindred to whom you owe the debt is still extant. As such, she has gained some Status over you, and you are at a slight disadvantage in any dealings you have with her. It is also conceivable that your debt could be called in, and that you could be asked to perform some service or favor for any such vampire to whom you are indebted.

The number of points in Prestataion Debt must be determined by both the player and Storyteller. The number and magnitude of such debts and to whom they are owed determine the rating of this flaw. You also receive a +one to the difficulty level of any checks made when attempting to influence such Kindred. The exact nature of this Flaw should be worked into the elder character's memoirs.

flaw | | permalink

You know something important — probably something you shouldn’t know. You may use this secret for blackmail or simply file it away for use in some future night. The rating of this Merit determines the importance and detail of this secret. A one-point Secret may be the confirmed existence of a spy from a rival vampire court (without knowing the spy’s identity). Five points means you know the spy is none other than the prince himself, or rather, a fleshcrafted doppelganger created by the Tzimisce to destabilize the court in preparation for their invasion. The player should work with the Storyteller to determine the secret, or simply trust the Storyteller to select a secret appropriate to the story. As always, the Storyteller should feel free to disallow secrets that are not appropriate to his games. Note that this Merit can also reflect clan Secrets, such as the resting place of a torpid elder or a particular koldunic ritual known to a select bloodline.

merit | | permalink

Due to an incident in your past, you have an enemy who is a vampire, werewolf or other such creature of the Devil. He will not be a constant threat, but he will appear to bedevil you and your companions. The more powerful the enemy, or the more frequent his appearance, the more powerful the Flaw. You must determine who your foe is (although the Storyteller will create him), and how you became enemies; this can easily be worked into your character's prelude. Remember that Inquisitors will regularly earn enemies; taking this Flaw means that someone is particularly interested in ruining your life.

flaw | | permalink

Word of your exploits and lineage has spread through the society of the Damned. As a result, your Status applies in a number of additional cities equal to the points invested in this Merit. Should you fail in some task or lose favor with your Prince, however, word of that disgrace will spread just as quickly. Fame is ever fickle. Characters must have at least one dot of Status to purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

While the Courts of Blood are usually difficult to sway, you have become very good at shifting the balance. A mixture of experience and political empathy allow you to know just the right way to nudge the decision in your direction, or perhaps for that of your client. Any roll made that will affect the decision in a Court of Blood is granted a bonus or penalty (whichever is in your favor) in dice equal to the level you have of this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You have come to know something you really wish you hadn't discovered. Worse yet, the people you have the on know that you know. It might be that you have discovered the Prince's haven, or that there are infernalists hiding in the diocese. Whatever it is, you are not sure whom you can tell, and if you do, you will only make the subjects of the secret more enthusiastic about getting rid of you. You may even be implicated in the secret and risk going down with them. The more potent the flaws, the more powerful the people in question are, and the more they want it silenced.

flaw | | permalink

You have an enemy, or perhaps a group of enemies, who seek to harm you. The power of the enemy depends upon how many points the player wishes to spend (five points indicate the wrath of a Methuselah or other potent supernatural foe).

flaw | | permalink

You are mystically unknowable, shrouded from notice and record by the vagaries of circumstance and disinterest. Those who see you seldom care enough to remember you later. For every point invested in this Merit, subtract one die from any dice pool used to search for you actively (typically Perception and/or Investigation). Being anonymous isn’t the same as being invisible, however, and Arcane does not aid in Stealth rolls or other active attempts to hide. Characters with Influence or Status may not purchase Arcane or vice versa, and Arcane can also prove a detriment to other Backgrounds. Mentors may well lose interest in an Arcane pupil, for example. This Merit is less common among the status-conscience members of the High Clans than among the Low, though a disproportionate number of True Brujah possess it (which leads some to wonder how many Sages truly exist). It is thought that meddling with time can make time itself forget the meddler.

merit | | permalink

A powerful magical being — a mage, a fae noble or perhaps an ancient blood sorcerer — has placed you under a pact as binding as the blood oath. Rather than commanding your adoration, your geasa compels you to fulfill or avoid certain actions lest some calamity befall you. The severity of the consequence and the ease of keeping the terms of the pact determine the rating of the Flaw. At 1 point, you must not feed on the members of a particular noble family or else wear the marks of your treachery as boils on your immortal face. For five points, you must remain within a remote forest or the sun will find you wherever you sleep no matter how deep or darkened your lair. As always, the Storyteller has the final say on any Geasa, including the unlikely possibility of its removal. Players should work closely with the Storyteller to develop Geasa that create story hooks rather than being obscure quirks chosen for a couple extra bonus points.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

Because of either your studies or someone else's, you suffer from a magical curse. It might be an aversion or allergy, or even a strange magical effect. The level of the flaw depends on how debilitating the curse is. Curing the affliction may be impossible, or require some sort of quest or advanced research.

Flaw Value - Example Curse
1 point - A minor oddity, such as an animal feature or strange eye color
2 points - A noticeable problem, such as your magic having a strange taint or pattern that makes it instantly recognizable, or that plants wither in your presence.
3 points - Something problematic, such as people sickening in your presence or animals attacking you.
4 points - Concerning handicap, such as developing another Clan's weakness.
5 points - Potentially deadly, such as moonlight being as dangerous to you as sunlight.

flaw | | permalink

You are the recipient of a supernatural curse. The strength and pervasiveness of the curse depend upon how many points you wish to incur. For example: If you pass on a secret you were entrusted with, your betrayal will come back to harm you in some way (1 pt.); You stutter uncontrollably when you try to describe what you have seen or heard (2 pts.); Tools break or malfunction when you try to use them (3 pts.); You are doomed to make enemies of those whom you most love or admire (4 pts.); Every one of your accomplishments or triumphs will eventually become soiled or fail in some way (5 pts.).

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You have one of the most sought after positions in the chantry: A librarian. It is one of your duties to catalogue and maintain the magical lore kept in your chantry. This means you have complete access to it, and get to decide who can see it and who can't. A vast array of rituals and Thaumaturgical knowledge resides here, making it simple to learn many of the secrets of magic. No matter how restrictive your chantry, you have complete access to the library for research. The cost of this merit is the same as the chantry's Library rating

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

The power of Obfuscate usually requires you to concentrate at least a little. However, you are able to lock the power on, allowing you to sleep while remaining hidden. To do so requires the expenditure of blood point, but it will last throughout the day's rest. Those with Auspex can still attempt to detect you, but mortals will be unaware of your sanctuary. This can be a useful trick for Kindred who like to travel.​

merit | | permalink

Someone owes you a favor. The vampire in your debt might be the lowliest neonate in the city or might be the Prince herself; it all depends on how many points the Merit costs. You only have that single favor owed you (unless you take the Merit multiple times), so using it properly is of paramount importance. Depending on status and other factors, the vampire who owes you a favor may well resent his debt, and might go out of his way to settle it early -- even going so far as to create situations from which he must rescue you and thus clear the slate.​

merit | | permalink

Your Beast has a terrible awareness and power all its own that emerges when its wrath or fear overtakes you. You may select additional Traits that manifest only during frenzy or Rötschreck, as approved by the Storyteller. Such Beast Traits cost two fewer bonus points than normal, to a minimum cost of one, and must be instinctive or physical in nature. In the case of Disciplines, only physical Disciplines are permitted (Celerity, Fortitude or Potence), even if they are not normally associated with your clan. Beast Traits are cumulative with normal traits, although they cannot exceed generational limits. Additional Beast Traits may not be gained or increased with experience.

For example, the Toreador Justinius is normally quiet and reserved. When his slumbering Beast awakens, however, its speed and killing prowess possess him. He gains an additional dot of Celerity and Dexterity and three dots of Brawl. The total cost of the Merit is 10 bonus points (7 – 2 for the Celerity, 5 – 2 for the Dexterity, and 2 – 2, minimum one for each dot of Brawl).

merit | | permalink

You have taken at least the first few steps on the steep and complex road to Golconda. Although you have by no means achieved this exalted state of being, you are more aware of the proper approach than the vast majority of your kind will ever be. Much of your time is spent in the quest for further information on Golconda and on attempting to progress towards this distant goal.

You are already capable of controlling yourself far better than most Kindred and have a number of dice equal to your rating in this Merit that you may add to your rolls to resist Frenzy. These dice may only be used on yourself. You must have a Humanity of 8 or higher to have this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character is gifted with potent Psychic Numina, but the use of these powers tires her. Your character sometimes even experiences minor cerebral hemorrhages from the strain of using her power. With the one-point Flaw, your hunter experiences headaches or dizziness from each use of power. During stressful or taxing situations, the Storyteller may require a Stamina + Awareness roll (difficulty 7). If this rolls fails, the character experiences a brief state of pain or disorientation. All actions performed during her next turn have their difficulties increased by 2. With the two-point Flaw, your character experiences minor pain from the use of her power. After she activates a power, you must roll Intelligence + Awareness (difficulty 6) against the number of successes obtained while rolling to activate the power. If you gain fewer successes on the Intelligence + Awareness roll than on the power's activation roll, the difference is treated as levels of bashing damage. With the six-point Flaw, your character suffers the same effect as per the two-point flaw, but the damage is lethal, though the Intelligence + Awareness roll is still allowed.

flaw | | permalink

Your sight is defective. The difficulties of any die rolls involving the use of your eyesight are increased by 2. As a one-point flaws, this condition can be corrected with glasses or contacts; as a 3-point flaws, the condition is too severe to be corrected.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Numina powers are often unnoticeable. However, something about your character's Numina causes others to recognize that there's something weird going on. With the one-point flaw, she has a single intangible power (such as Telepathy or Psychometry) that generates a noticeable, perceptible effect. Perhaps subjects can feel the character paging through their minds, or maybe everyone around the psychic feels a swell of eerie emotions when she touches a resonant object. With the three-point flaw, all of your character's intangible powers (including ones that she learns later) have some sort of unsettling effect, likely united by a shared signature or style of effect.

flaw | | permalink

Somewhere on your body, you have a mark of the Devil upon you. For 1 point, it appears as a patch of scaly skin, a witch's claw, a mark resembling the Number of the Beast or something similar. For 4 points, you have been obviously disfigured in a diabolical-looking way — vestigial wings, backwardbending knees, cloven hooves — that reduces your Appearance by one and no doubt raises all manner of questions. As if this weren't bad enough already, you're going to attract a lot of attention that may threaten the Masquerade. You may take this Flaw at either point value only if you have not made any pact with the infernal. If you have dealt with demons, you're going to earn these all by yourself. If you take this Flaw and later earn another disfigurement through truck with demons, you must pay off the point value with experience points as soon as possible.

flaw | | permalink

You are unable to remember anything about your past, yourself, or your family (whether mortal or vampiric), though your past might well come back to haunt you. Your origins and the circumstances behind your amnesia are for the Storyteller to determine, and she is encouraged to make it as interesting as possible.

flaw | | permalink

You have been a vampire for some time, and are unable (or unwilling) to keep up with the changing times. An Intelligence roll is needed whenever you have to deal with something from a later period than your own breathing days. If the roll is failed, total the net failures and use this total as a negative modifier to your attempts. Example: Osric, a fifth-century Goth by birth, has this Flaw and is attempting to deal with a computer. His Intelligence roll results in 2 net failures. Osric now has a two-dice penalty when determining the outcome of his attempt to make the infernal machine cooperate. Note that characters with this Flaw will generally have been vampires for longer than the 50 years suggested in Vampire, so Storytellers should decide whether or not to allow this Flaw in their chronicles.

flaw | | permalink

You are a consummate artist at heart. You reduce the difficulty of any roll to create something new by one. This can be actual Expression or Crafts rolls, or even the development of a new tactic or torture method. Conversely, you add +one to the difficulty of any repetitive or menial task. You are ill suited to such labor — surely everyone should see that you are more important than mere drudgery!

merit | | permalink

You must work harder than most artists to accomplish great work. You are still capable of creating a masterpiece, but it is tougher for you than for someone else of equal training. All difficulties on Creativity rolls and Artistic Expression rolls are increased by 2 to a maximum of nine.

flaw | | permalink

The Beast is in you, but you know how to direct and make use of it. You have the capacity to frenzy at will, and this able to ignore your wound penalties. However, you must pay the consequences of your actions while in frenzy, just as you normally would. Your chance of entering an unwilling frenzy is also unaffected. ​

Those with high self control (4+) must have good reason to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

You just can't understand those people, whoever they might be. Maybe you're an Adamite who disdains the constructs, LERMUs, cyborks and HIT Marks that you're forced to deal with. Or perhaps you're one of those superior life forms, sick and tired of taking up slack for your obsolete human colleagues. Or you just can't deal with the Technocracy's idea of equality, and want to see those damn (blacks, gays, women, fill in the blank) put in their proper place. Either way, you've got problems with your associates. You don't like them, and they probably don't like you.

Whoever you hate, you have to learn to deal with them. Open prejudice is liable to get you in trouble – bigotry is counterproductive, and the Union has no room for it. Still, it just bugs you. Whenever you can, you stay among Your Own Kind, and show those other assholes who's boss... without getting caught.

flaw | | permalink

Forced to play the part of the civilized monster, you find solace and strength in periodic outbursts of rage. At the conclusion of any frenzy, roll Courage (difficulty 5). Each success restores 1 point of Willpower, up to your usual maximum. Vampires with this Merit still suffer degeneration for their frenzy if such anger violates the tenets of their road.

merit | | permalink

You have a personal code of ethics to which you adhere. The specifics of this code must be worked out with the Storyteller prior to play, and the character must follow it strictly. Characters with this Merit gain 2 additional dice to all Willpower or Virtue rolls when acting in accordance with their code (e.g., defending the helpless) or when attempting to avoid situations that might force them to violate their code.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character might talk a good game, but he's never been around real violence, and when it happens, he's not likely to respond well. When confronted with gunfire; obvious, brutal combat (blood drawn, stab wounds, bones breaking); or any kind of supernatural violence, roll Willpower (difficulty 7). If this roll fails, the character either freezes in place (if his Courage is higher than his Self-Control) or flees the area (if his Self-Control is higher than his Courage). You must make this roll for every scene in which he witnesses a violent occurrence, but if you accumulate 5 successes, no further rolls need be made for that night of game time. An especially gory show of violence can reset the character's total, however, at the Storyteller's discretion.

flaw | | permalink

If you see collections of small, identical objects (such as a scattered handful of rice or marbles), you feel compelled to pick them up and count them. You can resist the obsession if you make a successful Willpower roll. The difficulty depends on how much you must count: A scattered handful of rice (hundred of grains) gives a difficulty of only 6, but a handful of marble (only a dozen or so) would force a difficulty of 9.

flaw | | permalink

You are familiar with and talented in the uses of computer equipment. Other Kindred may not understand computers, but to you they are intuitive. All rolls involving computers are at -2 difficulty for you.

merit | | permalink

You are often confused, and the world seems to be a very distorted and twisted place. Sometimes you are simply unable to make sense of things. You need to roleplay this behavior all the time to a small degree, but your confusion becomes especially strong whenever stimuli surround you (such as when a number of different people talk all at once, or you enter a nightclub with loud pounding music). You may spend Willpower to override the effects of your confusion, but only temporarily.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Arcanum Member

You're able to quickly pick up on social cues, local customs, phrases, modes of dress, and other little things particular about a place. If you're able to address those (can change your clothes, able to speak the language, etc.), anyone attempting to discern if you don't belong there suffer a 2 die penalty. Either way, you receive two extra dice for any action to find others who don't belong somewhere.

merit | | permalink

Due to circumstances beyond her control, your character is permanently insane. This state may result from a congenital brain disorder, or maybe she saw things she wasn't meant to see that drove her mad. Although you can overcome this insanity temporarily with Willpower, your character might never overcome its grip. However, while your mage is crazy, she is not necessarily a Marauder. Her magic or science may, in fact, be one of the few sane things about her. Choose or create a Derangement.

flaw | | permalink

You have 2 distinct Natures, both of which have an influence on your personality and behavior. When you pick these Natures, be careful to choose Archetypes that are somewhat compatible. Dual Nature does not mean schizophrenia (that is a Derangement). This Merit allows you to regain Willpower using both Natures. You may still choose a Demeanor, and it can be as different from the character' Natures as the player desires.

merit | | permalink

You remember, with perfect detail, things you see and hear. Documents, photographs, conversations, etc., can be committed to memory with only minor concentration. Under stressful conditions involving numerous distractions, you must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to summon enough concentration to absorb what your senses detect.

The Arcanum views those with eidetic memory as a double-edged sword. On one hand, they're very useful not only for recounting off-site research but also with reconstructing any destroyed research that they've previously read. On the other hand, the problem with someone who is effectively a walking library is that anyone can grab that person off the street and forcefully check out the information he has in his mind.

merit | | permalink

You are world-weary. You have seen enough to know that nothing is ever truly new: the same events and so-called passions are merely replayed again and again, with only the faces and names shifting as the many, many years go by. You rarely pay attention to those around you, assuming you know all there is to know of them once you have determined what part they play on the world stage (+one difficulty to Perception rolls involving people you know). Due to your belief in the predictability of others, you also receive +one to the difficulty level of the first action taken following a surprise (such as an ambush).

flaw | | permalink

You hold particular hatred or disdain for a specific class or community of mortals, most likely the common rabble of serfs and servants. You make all frenzy checks at +2 difficulty around such individuals and always attack them first if you do succumb to frenzy.

flaw | | permalink

This is a special situation or object that causes you to automatically enter Frenzy.

flaw | | permalink

Judging by the soulless Technocrat stereotype, one might think this Flaw is actually a Merit. Hardly. Much as the Union prizes efficiency and reliability, most Technocrats still treasure a bit of humanity. If you've got any, it doesn't show; you could order the slow torture of a baby as casually as you could order a soda, then listen to the screams without flinching. Even your fellow Technocrats find you creepy. Consequently, most comrades avoid you, and Control keeps a very close watch over your activities. People this cold tend to wind up among the Fallen, and your superiors already consider you a flight risk.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Caitiff

Many sires abandon their Caitiff progeny without a word of instruction or warning about their new nature. For most Princes, ignorance is no excuse for a breach of the Masquerade, and Sabbat packs are quick to notice weakness. The character starts with no knowledge of the abilities, customs, or politics of the undead, and must learn from their mistakes or find a mentor. Of course, any vampire willing to take on a Caitiff will most likely blood bond the poor wretch, leading to a completely new set of problems. Ignorance is deadly for a vampire, and doubly so for the Clanless.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador; cannot have Virtue of Instinct

When you haven't fed, it can be torturous to be near mortals. The pounding thrum of blood through their veins does not leave you nearly as tempted as it might other Kindred. When opportunity presents itself, the difficulty of all Self-Control rolls to resist hunger are made against a -2 difficulty. Characters on Paths of Enlightenment that require Instinct cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You can awaken instantly at any sign of trouble or danger, and do so without any sleepiness or hesitation. You may ignore rules regarding how Humanity or your morality Path restricts the number of dice available during the day.

merit | | permalink

You lack self-confidence and don't believe in yourself You have 2 fewer dice in situations where you don't expect to succeed (at the Storyteller's discretion, though the penalty might be limited to one die if you help the Storyteller by pointing out times when this Flaw might affect you ). At the Storyteller's option, you may be required to make Willpower rolls to do things that require self confidence, or even to use a Willpower point when others would not be obliged to do so.

This may not be taken with the flaw Overconfident.

flaw | | permalink

You are affected by the phases of the moon, increasing your chances to frenzy. Under the crescent moon, difficulties to avoid frenzy increase by one. Under the half or gibbous moon, difficulties rise by 2. When the moon is full, difficulties increase by 3.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

There are many small tics, nervous habits, and autonomous bodily functions (like breathing) that Kindred simply forget to do. They can be unnervingly still or forget to breathe, particularly when they think they're alone. You never let down your guard. The act of breathing remains an unconscious habit to you, and you never lapse into that eerie statue-like stillness, even when transfixed or concentrating. Consequently, the difficulties of all Social rolls are lowered by one when interacting with mortals. This Merit does not allow you to eat food or benefit from the blush of health -- those Merits are still required to be a true master of the Masquerade.

merit | | permalink

You are inhumanly thorough in your preparations, weighing contingencies and every course of action with cold, calculating precision. You may substitute Intelligence for Wits in any situation where your dedication may prevent you from being caught flat-footed or unprepared, and the Storyteller should occasionally give you advice as per the Common Sense Merit.

merit | | permalink

You have a flair for languages. You may add 3 dice to any dice pool involving written or spoken languages, and each purchase of the Language Merit gives you 2 languages instead of just one.

merit | | permalink

You have a particular fixation that drives your existence, be it as esoteric as death or vampirism or as mundane as the tactics of chess. You must have one Specialty for an Ability (usually a Knowledge, although sometimes a Skill) that forms the core of your obsession. For rolls involving this specialty, you reduce the difficulty by 3 in addition to receiving the usual bonus die (minimum difficulty of 3). Your intensity discomfits those who do not share your obsession, adding +one to the difficulty of most Social rolls with people who observe you indulging your hobby. Storytellers should feel free to veto any Obsessions that seem too powerful or unbalanced for their games.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

Maybe you are a badass or shut off your nerves through Vicissitude. Maybe your sire put you through so many intricate hells that it would be tough for anyone else to compete. Maybe it just turns you on. Regardless, at Hurt or Injured, you suffer no wound penalties, though you still suffer full penalties at Wounded and below. You must have a Conviction or Courage rating of 3 or more to take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You know that there are many vampires, hunters, Garou and the like who would love to destroy you. You go out of your way to prepare contingency plans, vary your movement patterns and habits, and otherwise make yourself a difficult target. As a result, you are less likely to be attacked unawares (-one difficulty to spotting ambushes and the like).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

Too many years in the intelligence business means that you know that it's only paranoia if they're not out to get you. You're suspicious of everything and everyone -- you'd call for backup, but how can you be sure that they're not in on it too? You pick up on innocuous details, each one providing more evidence for the conspiracy against you. Add one to the difficulty of all social interaction rolls.

flaw | | permalink

You become increasingly agitated when on land. Raise the difficulty of all Willpower rolls made when you've been away from the sea for more than 24 hours by one.

flaw | | permalink

You have an ovewering fear of something. Spiders, snakes, crowds, and heights are examples of common phobias. You must make a Courage roll every time you encounter the object of your fear. The difficulty of the roll is determined by the Storyteller. If you fail the roll, you must retreat from the object.

flaw | | permalink

While the average Marauder doesn't remember anything before going nuts or – at the very most – puts old memories into the new perceptual framework, this Marauder still retains normal, unchanged memories of time from before going awry. This doesn't mean that the Marauder knows what he's doing, but he does realize that there was a time when his world was different. Depending upon the Marauder, he might also be Lucid (see above) and realize that the world went wrong on him. Alternatively, he may simply think that those old memories are fakes, hallucinations or just a time when the world wasn't like it's supposed to be

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

Anytime you are penned in or physically restrained (such as by a cage, or with handcuffs), you suffer acute anxiety. The difficulties of any rolls made under such circumstances are increased by 2.

flaw | | permalink

You believe your entire existence as a ghoul to be head and shoulders above your previous life. You feel that your domitor needs you, and that every feeding is nothing short of an act of purest love. Revenants with this Flaw want nothing more than to serve the glorious ideals of the Sabbat, and leap to indulge any Sabbat vampire's whim.

Your Willpower is considered to be 2 points lower when the object of your romanticism attempts to Dominate or Presence on you. For a vassal, the domitor triggers this penalty; for revenants, any vampire known to be Sabbat may easily influence a ghoul with this Flaw. Independents may not take this Flaw unless the Storyteller approves a common sort of vampire whom the ghoul idolizes, and with whom the idolizes, and with whom the ghoul puts herself at a disadvantage in dealings, due to her romanticized ideas.

flaw | | permalink

To you, technology is the greatest thing since sliced bread; without it, you wouldn't have bread or slices! Every problem has a technological solution, and anyone who can't see that is worse than stupid – they're traitors to humanity. Thus, your blind to the downside of technology: pollution, overpopulation, environmental damage and mechanical disasters. Such dilemmas are either inventions of Luddite Leftists, or temporary difficulties, overcome by more and better science.

In a more-specific sense, you cannot and will not see the Technocracy as anything that the savior of humanity. To your view, anything done by the Union is done for the greater good, no matter how heinous it might seem at the moment. (Omelets, eggs and all that stuff, y'know.) Questioning the Technocracy is tantamount to questioning God; if anyone – especially another Technocrat – should deny the Union's greatness, you'll become like the zealot at the heretic's door. If something actually breaks your rose-colored mirrorshades, forcing you to see the ugly side of your idea, the shock would devastate you for you to come.

flaw | | permalink

Through the ages you have settled into somewhat of a routine. You tend to go to the same places at the same time of year, and to proceed from haven to haven in a regular order. If others studied your behavior closely, they might be able to take advantage of it to do you harm. The Storyteller may lower the difficulty level for resisting any attempting to surprise the character from one-3 points depending on the specific nature of the situation.

flaw | | permalink

You are easily angered. Difficulties to avoid frenzy are 2 greater. Brujah vampires cannot take this flaws, as they already suffer from a similar weakness.

flaw | | permalink

You buy heavily into all of the vampire stories you've read and heard. You wear a cape or body glitter, speak with an accent, and otherwise act in a cartoonish fashion. Such behavior is embarrassing in the extreme to other Kindred, who are likely to ostracize or mock you (+2 difficulty to Social rolls with other vampires who don't share your habits). You also stand out to hunters.

flaw | | permalink

Your character has trained her mind to tap into the deep reserves of mystical energy she possesses. Flooded with increased power of thought or perception, her mental faculties are temporarily increased greatly, and she finds whatever task she undertakes much easier to accomplish. Your sorcerer may channel her mystical energy into mental activities other than magic. You may spend Mana points to reduce the difficulty target number of any dice pool for a mental action. The difficulty may not be reduced below 2, nor be reduced by more than 3 pointes. Depending upon the use in question, her psyche empowers her perceptive nature, grants her insight into the strange tongue or plunges toward a solution to her puzzle.

merit | | permalink

The character has misconceptions about what he is. In the absence of a sire, he becomes what he believes himself to be. Holywood-itis, the belief that one has the powers and limitations of one of the several movie vampires, is the most common form. A more severe manifestation (possibly worth more points to the Storyteller) is a Gangrel who believes himself a Lupine.

flaw | | permalink

You are extremely territorial, staking out a particular area as your hunting ground and reacting aggressively to trespassers. If another vampire enters your territory uninvited, you must make a frenzy roll. If you fail, you immediately attack the interloper and continue attacking until the intruder is dead or has left your hunting grounds. You are reluctant to leave your territory except in desperate circumstances.

flaw | | permalink

The sight of innocence -- of any sort -- arouses in you a terrible bloodlust. Roll Self-Control or Instincts, or else frenzy and attack the source of your hunger.

flaw | | permalink

You have a score to settle, incurred either during your mortal days or after the Embrace. You are obsessed with taking your revenge on an individual or group, and it is your overriding priority in any situation where you encounter the object of your revenge. You may temporarily resist your need for vengeance by spending a Willpower point.

flaw | | permalink

The Camarilla's propaganda machine did too good a job on you. Even after your Embrace you refused to believe you were a vampire. You remain convinced that there is some logical explanation for your condition, and spend as much time as you can searching for it. You also have problems feeding, and may insist on trying to eat regular food. None of these habits makes you particularly pleasant company for other Kindred. This flaws must be roleplayed at all times, and is generally taken by Camarilla vampires.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your life in the sewer has removed your sense of smell and taste. This means you are unperturbed by even the wost stench or most disgusting flavor. However, it also means you cannot ever succeed at any Perception rolls that rely of taste or smell. It also does not make you immune in any way to gas attacks or poisons; you just won't be able to tell they are there

flaw | | permalink

You look more hale and healthy in appearance than other vampires, allowing you to blend with human society much more easily. You still retain the color of a living mortal, and your skin feels only slightly cool to the touch.

merit | | permalink

Some people were born of natural parents. You were born in a crèche. Sexless fertilization, genetic alteration and carefully monitored Procedures brought you into this world, and no one will let you forget that. Despite this Unity everyone talks about, people treat you differently. Some outright despise you, while others treat you 'sooo' nicely that it makes you want to puke. Chances are, you consider yourself different, too. Maybe you're arrogant about your Homo superior status... or perhaps you'd consider Homo freakus more appropriate. In social situations, you're at a constant disadvantage (and might suffer penalties to your Social rolls), either through others' aversion or your own insecurity.

(Note: This Flaw is not required of all construct characters. It represents a construct who's painfully obvious about what he is, not one who blends in well. The Technocracy has many of both.)

flaw | mage | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

Your night vision is extraordinarily good, even for a vampire. The deepest shadows are like looking into a well-lit room for you. However, in normal light or bright conditions, you have to switch back to less-sensitive vision, or the weakest light quickly blinds you. While your night sight is active, you suffer no penalties for the dark and can see perfectly well. Should you use it in well-lit conditions; you suffer a penalty inversely proportional to the usual penalties for darkness.

merit | | permalink

A hideous disfigurement makes your appearance disturbing and memorable. The difficulties of all die rolls relating to social interaction are increased by 2. You may not have an Appearance rating greater than 2.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You have the ability to contort your body and face in all sorts of shocking and grotesque ways. You can drool blood, pop your eyes out to double their width, spontaneously grow and burst boils on your flesh, extend your tongue 3 feet out of your mouth, etc. In addition, you are an accomplished practitioner of the fine art of disgusting others, and take considerable pride in your ability to gross out anyone or anything. By concentrating for a turn and spending a Blood Point, you may will your body to do something vile, making a Wits + Intimidation roll (difficulty of the opponent's Wits + Self-Control). Both success on this roll subtracts one from the opponent's Dice Pool action for any action next turn (the opponent is so repulsed and horrified by your antics that concentration is broken).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

The Setite religion is one fraught with vices, both to compromise enemies and to enlighten initiates. Cultists tend to build up a tolerance to the substances they take directly (if human or ghoul) or through the blood of prey (if Kindred). You are unusually resistant to alcohol, narcotics, and similar addictive substances. You can pretend to be far more under the influence than you are in order to take advantage of an opponent. All rolls to resist the effects of such substances are at -2 difficulty.

merit | | permalink

For some reason your fangs never developed fully, or they may not have manifested at all. When feeding, you need to find some other method of making the blood flow. Failing that, you must achieve double the normal number of successes in order to make your bite penetrate properly. A number of Caitiff and high-Generation vampires often manifest this flaws.

flaw | | permalink

There is something about your voice that others cannot ignore. When you command, they are cowed. When you seduce, they swoon. Whether thundering, soothing, persuading, or simply talking, your voice commands attention. The difficulties of all rolls involving the use of the voice to persuade, charm, or command are reduced by 2.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Caitiff

Some people were born of natural parents. You were born in a crèche. Sexless fertilization, genetic alteration and carefully monitored Procedures brought you into this world, and no one will let you forget that. Despite this Unity everyone talks about, people treat you differently. Some outright despise you, while others treat you 'sooo' nicely that it makes you want to puke. Chances are, you consider yourself different, too. Maybe you're arrogant about your Homo superior status... or perhaps you'd consider Homo freakus more appropriate. In social situations, you're at a constant disadvantage (and might suffer penalties to your Social rolls), either through others' aversion or your own insecurity.

(Note: This Flaw is not required of all construct characters. It represents a construct who's painfully obvious about what he is, not one who blends in well. The Technocracy has many of both.)

flaw | | permalink

This merit gives the Nosferatu a cartilaginous tongue through which he feeds. It is believed to stem from the Larvae Nosferatu and any of their progeny. The tongue cannot extend more than 7 inches past the mouth, but it does cause aggravated wounds (treat the attack as a bite). Unlike the Kiss, this feeding is very painful for the victim. It’s much like a giant mosquito plunging a spike-sized needle into the flesh and siphoning blood fast enough to collapse blood vessels.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

Your tongue is forked, flickering, and inhumanly reptilian. Upholding the Masquerade becomes difficult for you. Note that this tongue does not inflict aggravated damage, nor draw blood.

flaw | | permalink

You were created 5 or fewer years ago by a member of the Thirteenth Generation. Though you have 10 blood points in your body, only eight of them may be used to heal wounds, power Disciplines, raise Attributes, etc. You can still use the final 2 blood points for other puses, though. The blood point costs of nightly rising, creating and sustaining ghouls, and creating blood bonds remains the same as for other vampires. You cannot raise any Discipline above 4 dots. Taking this flaws precludes you from taking the Generation Background, and you may not start with Status, either. You are likely a Clanless Caitiff, for your blood is probably too thin to pass down the distinguishing characteristics of a Clan. Most Fourteenth-Generation vampires should also take the Thin Blood flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You've got a nasty gash where your mouth should be. It can smile, it can frown, and most importantly, it can grin 2 or 3 inches wider than any human mouth can. An ordinary vampire can suck up to three blood points in a turn. You can drain up to 4 points a turn, provided you can latch your tooth-filled orifice around enough skin.

merit | | permalink

You may not automatically lick the wounds of your feeding closed. In fact, your bites have a one in 5 chance of becoming infected and causing mortal victims to become seriously ill. The precise nature of the infection is determined by the Storyteller.

flaw | | permalink

You have a physical mark that emerged during your Embrace, akin to a birthmark. This mark is part of your lineage and helps establish credibility as an heir to power and reputation of your sire’s line. Players should work with the Storyteller to define the mark, whether it is a particular tint of the eyes, an actual discoloration of skin or something more exotic. All such marks are within the bounds of natural possibility and/or easily concealed, ensuring that mortals do not automatically suspect your undead nature. While this Merit has no system per se, you are more difficult to impersonate and your mark may carry status with vampires who know its significance.

merit | | permalink

Your heart has actually moved within your body, though no more than 2 feet from its original position near the middle of your chest. Those who attempt to stake you find it very difficult to find the right location (which should be your most tightly guarded secret).

merit | | permalink

You have only one eye -- which eye is missing is up to you. The difficulties of all Perception rolls involving eyesight are increased by 2, and the difficulties of all die rolls requiring depth perception are increased by one (this includes ranged combat).

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Living in the dark has made you a home to all manner of creepy crawlies and bloodsuckers. Your skin is crawling with ticks, lice, and leeches of all descriptions. They constantly bite and burrow, and having fed on your vitae, they have become very hard to kill. Not only can you not command them, you have tried everything to get rid of them and still they persist. Whatever the reason, they find you so succulent they reduce your blood pool by the result of one die divided by 3 (round down) each time you rise. The constant itch also keeps you on edge, increasing the difficulty of any Self-Control or Instinct rolls by one.

flaw | | permalink

You have developed poison glands in the roof of your mouth. The poison is virulent, although Kindred and other supernatural creatures are unaffected by it. You, of course, are immune. When you bite, you always inject this poison, usually killing your human victims. You must learn to feed in other ways, perhaps drawing the blood you need with a syringe or razor, if you do not wish to kill every time you feed.

merit | | permalink

Your blood is poisonous to kindred, though they will not know this until they drink it. Every point drunk causes one health level of damage (not aggravated) to them.

merit | | permalink

A specialty of Men in Black; no matter what happens, you maintain a façade of perfect calm. Nothing short of an extradimensional deific manifestation can make you blink, and even that might not do it. The appearance may be deceptive – you could be screaming inside for all anyone knows – but quite complete... and very disconcerting.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

This talent is like the Eat Food Merit, but twice as versatile. Food comes in; food goes out very, very fast. A vampire with this ability can ingest, and possibly even taste, food and drink. He cannot gain any nutritional benefit from this ordinarily digestible matter, but he can store it for later use. When this need arises, the Nosferatu can not only disgorge his stored supply of food, but also aim it with a degree of precision.

For the record, projectile vomiting in the Storyteller system usually requires a Dex + Athletics roll, and the victim can attempt to dodge this bolus of ejected victuals. Although this attack does not cause damage (save one's pride), the type of food ejected may temporarily obscure a victim's vision, cause him to slip or merely force him to weep with shame at a Camarilla Toreador's grand ball. Pity the poor vomit-drenched Toreador.

merit | | permalink

You look like a Vampire – unusually pale and thin like them. You can move among them, but they may force the new stranger before the Prince for recognition, and he may ask for a Blood Bond.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Prerequisite: Hunter
Your character has access to a fully stocked laboratory with functional scientific apparatuses and research equipment. When she has access to her laboratory, your character can perform experiments, run tests, and collect data, and you may lower your difficulty by 2 for relevant Investigation or Science rolls, or lower the difficulty by one for other appropriate rolls (as determined by the Storyteller) while she uses the equipment.

merit | mortal | permalink

You can digest only certain types of blood. You can choose whether you can drink only cold blood (the blood of a dead person), blood with the taste of fear (found in blood only in moments of terror), or blood with the taste of job, or perhaps only certain types (A,O, etc.) This Flaw may not be taken by Ventrue characters, since they already have something like it though their clan weakness.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu, Animalism +1

Prerequisite: Nosferatu, Animalism +one
You must have at least one dot in Animalism to take this Merit. Your skin exudes a grease that attracts flies, gnats, bees and other flying insects. While these insects normally buzz passively about you in a thick cloud, you may command them in a limited fashion. The bugs may travel up to 20 feet from you to sting and distract foes. The swarm does no actual damage, but any being caught in the swarm must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). If the roll fails, the victim loses 2 dice from her Dice Pool that turn; if it botches, she may take no action whatsoever.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Kindred must make their Strength plus Potence roll versus your Stamina to penetrate your skin with their bite. This only works if you struggle. If unconscious or unmoving, a Kindred can slowly pierce your skin and drink.

merit | mortal | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your skin is much tougher than usual, possibly like that of a rhino or a lizard. This hide protects you against most damage, granting you an extra die when making a soak roll. However, this bonus does not apply against fire and sunlight.

merit | | permalink

You have an uncanny ability to smell blood that appeals to you or repulses you, even while it flows in the veins of your unsuspecting prey. This Merit only benefits Ventrue and other vampires with discerning hunger, such as through the flawss Prey Exclusion or Selective Thirst. Sensing blood you feel strongly about requires a reflexive Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6), and you must actually be close enough to breathe the target’s scent — usually within 3 yards. Picking a single target out of a crowd may require a second Wits + Alertness roll at a difficulty determined by the Storyteller.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

Your night vision is good, but you can't turn it off. While you can see easily into the deepest shadows, any light is almost blinding to you. You suffer penalties the brighter the area you are in is lit, inversely proportional to the standard penalties for darkness. Even just standing in a well-lit room is uncomfortable to you.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

You have developed venom glands in the roof of your mouth. The venom is a virulent neurotoxin, fatal to mortals, although Kindred and other supernatural creatures are unaffected by it. You, of course, are immune. The problem is you have no control over your poison glands. When you bite, you always inject this venom, usually killing your human victims. You must learn to feed in other ways, perhaps drawing the blood you need with a syringe or razor, if you do not wish to kill every time you feed.

flaw | | permalink

You bear the stamp of death on your face and pallor, revealing the truth of your undead state for all to see. You cannot mimic the “flush of life” that other Cainites may evince, and your corpselike mien adds one to the difficulty of all Social rolls not based on Intimidation.

Cappadocians may not purchase this Flaw. This flaw may not be taken with the merit Blush of Health.

flaw | | permalink

To you, silver is as painful and as deadly as the rays of the sun. You suffer aggravated wounds from any silver weapons (bullets, knives, etc.), and the mere touch of silver objects discomfits you.

flaw | | permalink

You have sired one or more childer without the permission of the local prince or Justicar. Under Kindred law, both you and your childer may be subject to a Blood Hunt should other vampires discover your secret. This flaw is cumulative and must be taken once per bastard sired. Taking this flaw at character creation needs to be accompanied with a good explanation as to how you haven't been found out yet. Also, this flaw may not be taken with any merit/flaw that makes you tell the truth constantly. People with high humanity (7 or higher) or conscience (5) need to have flawless explanations.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

When someone uses their contacts to their advantage, you can try to use yours to overrule them. You might get an editor to quash a reporter's story, or get a gang boss to stop his thugs taking down a rival. To do this you must make a roll using Manipulation + Contacts (difficulty 8). If you can get more successes than the Contacts rating of your opponent, their contacts fail to come through for them.

merit | | permalink

You are blood bound to another vampire. Your regnant may not necessarily treat you badly, but the fact remains that your will is not entirely your own. The knowledge gnaws at you, even as you find yourself lost in devotion to your vampiric master. Sabbat vampires cannot take this flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You're part of the brute squad the local Sheriff or Bishop calls on when he needs some muscle. As a result, you get in on action that others miss entirely, score points with those in power, and occasionally get a chance to act outside of the law. How far outside the law you can go depends on circumstance and how much the vampire you report to likes you.

merit | | permalink

You've done dirty work for someone high up in the city's hierarchy in the past -- the Sheriff, the Bishop, or even someone higher. However, instead of granting you favor, your deeds have made you an embarrassment or a liability. For the moment, your former employer's concern is to keep you quiet. In the long term, it's to get rid of you.

flaw | | permalink

You have sired a childe who has grown to loathe you. Not only does your childe not aid you in your dealings with other Kindred, he actively works toward your detriment. At times you feel you child would commit diablerie upon you if given half a chance, and you could be right.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You have spent almost all of your undead existence in the halls of the chantry, making Kindred society rather new and confusing for you. You suffer a -2 dice penalty to any social interactions with those outside the Tremere.

flaw | | permalink

You've got the style, savvy and self-confidence that all say, I'm the Man. Even without the benefit of a dazzling appearance or superb charisma, you possess an untouchable air of superiority. Others quickly defer to your decisions, and you automatically assume authority through sheer force of will. Moreover, you're immune to the barbs of your rivals; wicked wit and subterfuge cannot shake your cool self-confidence.

With this Merit, you can assume a mantle of authority. The Masses quickly bow to someone with confidence; if you look like you know what you're doing, people will let you do it. It's tough to bullshit you, too – your natural confidence often rattles your rivals before he can make his play. In game terms, the Merit lowers your Social difficulties by two and raises another character's difficulty by two if he tries to mislead or intimidate you. As many Syndicate ops know, self-confidence is like armor. If it fits, you can stand up to almost anything.

merit | | permalink

You have a knack for the seamy underside of things. For every two street, underworld or police influences you acquire (ie for every 2 dots in Streetwise, Contacts, or the like) you gain one additional dot of that type.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

You're excellent with animals -- so much so that they constantly seek to befriend you. Wherever you go, the animals are happy to see you, and more often than not, happy to help you when you ask for their aid. You receive a bonus die on Social rolls to affect small animals. Further, animal companions who have had continual interaction with you see you as something of a pet, and occasionally bring you small useful things. Once per game session, animals will bring you a useful piece of information or a small item relevant to events. This item might occasionally play into the individual Ravnos' particular vice, as the animals quickly pick up on what pleases their friend.

merit | | permalink

Your bloodline has been tainted in the eyes of the Inquisition. You might have had a distant ancestor who was burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft, or another relative is believed to have become one of the children of Caine, or lycanthropy is said to run in your blood. Whatever the case may be, the Inquisition believes that your bloodline is tainted, and you may one day pose a danger as well (the sins of the father, after all). Even if your heritage has no other effect on you (in terms of Merits and Flaws, Attributes, or otherwise), you have what you and others believe to be a blotch on your soul.

flaw | | permalink

Your sire is engaged in acts that could cause a tremendous uproar in the Camarilla. She could be wantonly breaking the Masquerade, or hunting down the elders of the city and feasting on their blood. Archons are likely to come to you in order to discover your sire's whereabouts, and they may not believe you if you tell them you do not know.

flaw | | permalink

Your Mentor is engaged in acts that could cause a tremendous uproar. She could be wantonly ignoring Protocols, causing havoc with vulgar magick and Paradox, dealing with Nephandi or torturing captured Technomancers. Plenty of folks are after your Mentor's hide, and your skin may be tarred with the same brush.

flaw | | permalink

You have committed diablerie at least once to achieve your current position of power, but no one yet knows your secret. Should the information ever be revealed, other elders may well refuse you aid, shun you or, even worse, turn against you, perhaps even calling a Blood Hunt. It is imperative you keep this information hidden. Should your secret ever be revealed, you will receive a +3 difficulty modifier to any social roll involving elder Kindred.

flaw | | permalink

Your cenacle has been shamed by an event in the past. It is considered less prestigious, less trustworthy or ineffective.

flaw | | permalink

You had targeted a mortal for the Embrace, but someone else got there first. You cannot stand the humiliation of being cheated of your prize, and fly into a rage (+2 difficulty to avoid frenzy) whenever you see the one who got away. This hatred may lead you into other irrational behaviors, like Embracing enemies of the neonate, creating unauthorized childer, or even trying to kill your rival. Furthermore, your petty and irrational behavior is well-known and quite noticeable, and as a result you are at + one difficulty on all Charisma rolls until the situation is resolved.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch

Your personal motto is simple: I do what I want. This has, as might be expected, caused you trouble more than once. You are wanted in several domains for various minor crimes, such as exsanguinating the Seneschal's favorite ghoul. You haven't been blood-hunted just yet, but the writing is on the wall. You've just about run out of time and no one wants you to take them with you when everything turns sideways. One more mistake and you sign your Final Death warrant. All social-based rolls to acquire help are at +2 difficulty, except those involving Intimidation.

flaw | | permalink

You once held a title in the city, but failed catastrophically in your duties. Now you are branded incompetent, excluded from circles of power and responsibility, and generally ostracized by those on their way up. Your exclusion may make you a target for recruitment by the Sect's enemies (or so the whispers run, making you even more distrusted). Conversely, the consequences of your error might come back to haunt you.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

Through your travels, you have gained the favor of a mortal Gypsy family. The family aids you in your exploits whenever possible, providing shelter from enemies or acting as a method of transportation to or from a city. All difficulty numbers involving social interaction with the family in question are reduced by two. So long as you do not abuse your trust (such as using family members as steady Sources of blood ), the family will not turn away trom you. Note: You may not take a Family Allegiance with the Tsurara or Ravnos families.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

You work for two agencies at the same time. Either you're a liaison officer between the two agencies -- Homeland Security provides a handy cover for the CIA or NSA to poke their noses into the FBI and vice versa -- or your current employers don't know who you really work for. Either way, you can draw on the intelligence and resources of both agencies when you need to. You must purchase the Rank Background for each agency separately, and your Rank at your home agency must be equal to or greater than your Rank at your new agency.

merit | | permalink

For whatever reason (maybe your winning smile or perhaps just your superb groveling technique), the local Sheriff or Bishop in charge of discipline likes you. He's inclined to overlook your minor trespasses and let you in on things you're not supposed to know about. He even gives you warnings about occasional crackdowns and times when the higher-ups aren't feeling generous. Of course, abusing this connection might well turn a friendly vampire into an enemy -- and the change might not be apparent until it's too late.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Criminal

Your character comes from a lineage of hunters; either a family responsibility has been passed down, or your character is considered a successor to a particularly famous or successful hunter of the past. When you purchase the Contacts Background, you may double the number of specific contacts you receive for each dot. Alternatively, you can purchase the Artifact or Reliquary Background to reflect a powerful heirloom.

merit | | permalink

You own a large manor - a home with 25 or more rooms - as well as the surrounding estate. The servants, if you have any, are provided for if you choose this Merit, although they cannot be used as Herd or Retainers unless you purchase the appropriate Background. The mansion is assumed to be fences or walled in, and makes an excellent haven. While the mansion can be in as poor or good repair as you wish, the more inhabited it appears to be, the more attention (from taxmen and the like) will it garner. Similarly, superstitious mortals will go out of their way to avoid a haunted manor...

merit | | permalink

In your first nights as a vampire, you accidentally broke the Masquerade -- and were spotted doing so. Someone else covered for your mistake, but holds the favor over you. Now you exist in fear that your error will be revealed. In the meantime, your savior takes pitiless advantage of you. This flaws can only be taken by vampires in Sects or Clans that respect the Masquerade.

flaw | | permalink

You have both influence over and contacts in the local media. You can suppress and create news stories (though not always with 100 percent efficiency; journalists are an unruly bunch) and you have access to the files and gossip of the staffs of newspapers and TV stations.

merit | | permalink

You have the services of someone alive who looks just like you. This person might be your actual twin. (Other explanations are possible: a long-lost brother, a master of disguise, a Progenitor clone, a victim of Vicissitude, etc.) However, unless he is made into a ghoul, he will continue to age normally. Eventually, he will no longer be your exact double. The double may move about freely during the day, aiding you in hiding your vampiric nature. The double must be fully aware of your personal life, including all your relationships and activities. He must also be a good actor.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: 2 Resources

You own a moderate-sized nightclub, perhaps one of the hottest nightspots in the city. This club brings in enough money to support you in moderate luxury ($1000 a month, but it can grow), but more important than the money is the prestige. You may use the nightclub as your haven, or you may simply hang out there. The name of the nightclub, its style, design, and its regular patrons are all up to you. Variations on this theme could include: a restaurant, theater, com edy club, sports arena or retail store.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Brujah

Your innate Brujah rage always percolates below the surface no matter how hard you try to project an image of calm. Mortals find you intrinsically menacing, and instinctively fear you for the violence you promise to unleash.

System: The difficulty of all Social rolls made against mortals other than Intimidation rolls increases by 2.

flaw | | permalink

Your old life ended tragically... or so they believe. These days, you're essentially a new person. As far as family, friends, the government and other folks are concerned, you're long gone. Unless you break your cover, no one knows who you are... who you were.

Being dead isn't all fun, though. Chances are, you miss at least one person from your old life, but visiting him would be A Very Bad Idea. At the very least, it'll be painful – at worst, you could get him killed. Unless you change your face or fingerprints, you might leave the authorities with all kinds of awkward questions. (According to records, this woman died three years ago. So why was she in a bank this morning?) There's probably someone looking for you, or making sure you keep a low profile. Attract attention from these parties, and you might not be walking dead much longer.

merit | | permalink

Someone you once cared deeply for is now with the enemy. He still attempts to play on your sympathies for old times' sake while working against you. Unless you succeed on a contested Manipulation + Expression roll against your former friend, you cannot act against him unless the situation becomes life-threatening.

flaw | | permalink

An acquaintance from your breathing days was Embraced at the same time you were. Fortunately, your friendship has endured even death and unlife, and you find a constant source of support and aid in your old friend. She expects the same of you, which isn't always convenient, but at least you each have someone to hang onto who remembers the good old nights -- and days. The Storyteller should play the Old Pal as a very loyal Ally.

merit | | permalink

Unlike many Kindred, you like to travel. You have a solid knowledge of safe travel routes and methodologies, not to mention haven space available in any number of destinations. Unless someone out there knows your exact route and is specifically looking for you, you can move between cities unimpeded by random encounters with Lupines, overzealous state troopers, and the like.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

Your have rejected the ethos of the caste into which you were Embraced. Perhaps you are one of the few viziers or sorcerers to support the Web of Knives or pursue the Path of Blood. Perhaps you are a warrior who has little stomach for combat, preferring instead to be a diplomat or a student of the occult. Perhaps you made some kind of public spectacle that revealed your disdain for your fellow caste members. Your sire now rejects you, as do the other members of your caste. The difficulty of all Social rolls against members of your caste is at +2.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You maintain your own private haven outside the chantry and Tremere control. Most Tremere are expected to rest in the chantry, where the Clan can keep an eye on them. However, you have been trusted with a little more privacy. This might be because you have already proved your loyalty, or perhaps because they are testing it.

merit | | permalink

You have done something that has brought shame to your pack and you personally. You lose two dice on all related dice rolls, and your Pack Recognition may be considered two points lower than it should be.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Sabbat

You have a certain degree of fame within your pack. The reason relates to some great heroic action that possibly saved many of their unlives. You may consider this two points that can be added to Pack Recognition. You may not be pack leader, but you may be more respected than the leader.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

You've spent some time in state institutions like prisons or asylums, likely before your Embrace. Most people have some sort of information that relays date of birth and other bits of fact. This information is hard to eliminate, and may endanger the Masquerade. Enemies with the right influence may be able to track down the information and use it against you. It may lead to vulnerable targets or clue hunters to where your haven is located.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch

You have a reputation for having a good head on your shoulders and the honor to keep your word no matter what. As a result, your allies and sectmates ask you to mediate their disputes, even with other sects. This Merit allows your character to use her reputation as leverage to keep the peace during tense situations. Reduce the difficulty of all social rolls to keep the peace or to mediate h1stly between factions (even other sects) by 2.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch

You belong to an Anarch gang with a violent, effective, or otherwise impressive reputation. The history of the gang might extend a hundred years before you were born, but so long as you hold membership and wear the colors of your crew, other Anarchs naturally tend to respect you. Some may even occasionally perform minor tasks for you to try to curry favor with the others. When your membership is known, reduce the difficulty of all Manipulation rolls with other Anarchs by 2 unless a given Anarch has a historical animosity with your gang.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

You a member of the elite. You are at home in high society and you never feel out of place around the beautiful people. The difficulty on all Etiquette rolls involving high society is reduced by three. In addition, you are often invited to Toreador socials reserved for those of higher Toreador Prestige (or Camarilla Status) than yourself.

merit | | permalink

You have a good reputation among the Kindred of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your sire. Add three dice to all Dice Pools for social dealings with the city's Kindred.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Arcanum Member

You have a prestigious research grant from some university or research center. This frees you from the burden of needing a regular job. The grant provides a minimal stipend (from $1500 to $2000 a month in most cases), as well as credentials which grant access to exclusive libraries and research centers around the world.

merit | | permalink

The flip side of Escaped Target, two vampires wanted to gift you with the Embrace. One succeeded, one failed -- and she's not happy about that failure. You, your actual sire, or both of you have become the target of the failed suitor's ire. Regardless, your persecutor is at +2 difficulty to refrain from frenzy in your presence. In addition, she may well be working actively to discredit or destroy you.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

Your agency has given you a limited sanction to deploy lethal force against specific named targets. They will hold you responsible for any additional deaths, and won't hesitate to revoke your sanction if you're too sloppy. This authority is extremely rare -- the CIA authorizes some killings in foreign territories, and a shadowy group high up in the FBI uses it to eliminate potential domestic terrorists. As long as you do as they tell you, your agency provides weapons and equipment (within reason) and will cover your tracks once the job is done. Despite popular perception, this isn't a license to kill -- murdering people is still illegal even with the backing of an intelligence agency, and you could be prosecuted for murder if caught.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

You are known as a Judas Witch, having received the Sanctuary of the Disciplina Arcani from the Inquisitor-General herself. You cannot be punished or detained for occult study or the use of Numina (though the sanction can be revoked for misconduct). A tattoo of the Seal of Solomon, on the palm of your left hand, marks your credentials. This does not mean everyone in the Society trusts your expertise, as many despise the magic arts.

merit | | permalink

This Merit is sometimes called the halo effect; everyone considers you pure and innocent, though not necessarily naive. You have a saint-like quality that is hard to pinpoint but cannot be denied. You are trusted, even if you are not trustworthy. At the Storyteller's discretion, you tend to receive lesser punishments for wrongdoing, and you are liked by most.

merit | | permalink

Another vampire has promised you protection from all harm should you come to her for sanctuary. This may be a mentor, a sire, or someone who owes you a boon. The vampire has the power to protect you from most threats.

merit | | permalink

You have taken the time to learn about and specialize in one particular enemy of your Sect. You are aware of at least some of the group's customs, strategies, abilities, and long-term goals, and can put that knowledge to good use. This Merit is worth a -2 difficulty for all non-combat rolls pertaining specifically to the subject of your specialization. On the other hand, you are at a +one difficulty when it comes to dealing with other enemies, simply because you're so thoroughly focused on your field.

merit | | permalink

This Merit functions identically to Scholar of Enemies, except that it applies to a group that is not necessarily inimical to your Sect.

merit | | permalink

You have a secret friendship with a denizen of the World of Darkness: a vampire, mage, werewolf or other supernatural entity. Knowledge of this would not only destroy your reputation among hunters—it would place you on their hit list. You must always cover up any activities that deal with this friendship, and you are paranoid that your secret is always on the verge of discovery (which it is).

flaw | | permalink

You begin play with access to a group of mortals who frequently bring you information on the daylight world or on faraway places. Their information is both up-to-date and fairly reliable, and they are not likely to lie to you. However, these cannot be used as Allies or Retainers(unless you have that Background too); they have their own aims. Why do they keep you informed? Do you pay them? Perform occasional favors for them? Dominate their leader? Or are they mortal friends and family? Also, how much do they know about you? (The more they know, the better they can search out relevant information and pursue useful rumors - but the more damage they could do if they betray you.) A spy network might be anything from a peasant family to a coven of witches, a merchant family's underlings to a network of wandering lepers. What they can discover will depend upon who they are; different people move in different circles, after all.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

You have a friend and ally among the Unconquered. The Storyteller creates this character, but should not reveal any information to you beyond that warranted by the two characters' acquaintance. Your Unconquered ally may be called upon for assistance and may also enlist your support from time to time. Naturally, neither of you may do anything which endangers your side of the clan without incurring the considerable wrath of your superiors.

merit | | permalink

You are proud of your new status in the Sect -- so proud that you've shot your mouth off to other Kindred and made some enemies. Wiser vampires laugh at you and chalk your rudeness up to youth, but others find you arrogant and insulting. These enemies will take action to embarrass or harm you. Furthermore, you are at +2 difficulty on all Social rolls against any vampires you have alienated through your yammering -- and you may not know who they are. At Storyteller discretion, you may also be required to make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to keep your mouth shut any time the opportunity presents itself for you to brag about your pack, your Clan, or your status.

flaw | | permalink

You have traveled all over the globe, seen many different cities and met a great number of Kindred. There is a chance you will know of a vampire from another city when you hear his name. This is an Intelligence roll (difficulty of 10 minus the Kindred's Status).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce; cannot be/have been Embraced in Eastern Europe

Your flesh yearns for a homeland you have never seen. The voice of Kupala punishes your day sleep if this yearning is not met. The soil from a place important to you as a mortal will not suffice; in addition, you require two handfuls of the tainted Eastern European soil of the ancestral Tzimisce homeland. This Trait mostly commonly manifests in the childer of koldun and the branch of the Clan thought to be descended from Yorak. It can even manifest in childer sired generations after their ancestors relocated. Characters Embraced in Eastern Europe can't take this Flaw (they're already dependent on the local soil).

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

For whatever reason, your character finds blood magic instinctive – more so than for most Tremere. When your Tremere tastes blood, she naturally tastes the subtle currents and occult correspondences in the vitae. To her, it’s not even magic; it’s just a heightened state of taste stemming from the Embrace and the Tremere clan’s long experiences with blood.

When your character tastes blood, she may automatically glean one fact about the source, as per the Level One Path of Blood power, A Taste of Blood. No blood cost or roll is required; the vampire simply garners information as if with one success. You may still choose to use the Discipline itself in order to gain more specific information, in which the normal systems apply and the results of the Discipline use supersede this affinity.

This affinity is not always beneficial – your character may accidently taste the undercurrents of fear, extraordinary power or poison in vitae, and such tastes can cause nausea or incapacitation at the Storyteller’s discretion. This sensitivity cannot be turned off.

merit | | permalink

You radiate palpable evil. Clergy and devout mortals know instinctively that there is something horribly wrong with you, and react accordingly.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Caitiff

Despite your failure to adopt your original Clan's other abilities, you did inherit their weakness. While this can be deadly to the unprepared vampire, a canny Caitiff might turn this to their advantage to better blend among the parent Clan. Some Nosferatu, for example, would likely never notice, and might even stand up for the Caitiff even amidst accusations from outsiders.

flaw | | permalink

Through your deep and profound understanding of the spirits within all life, you can communicate with any normal animal. This communication is not detailed or exact as ordinary speech, nor does it necessarily involve you actually speaking. Instead, the animal you are communicating with understands you through a combination of posture, facial expressions, smell and speech, while you understand it on an equally primal level.

Even if the animal noticed such things, you cannot use this ability to ask an animal the license plate number of a car, or the cut of someone's suit. However, most mammals and birds can tell you basic information like how many people passed by, as well as possibly odd details like what these people had eaten recently or if they smelled afraid. To determine the actual degree of communication, roll Charisma + Intuition. Finding out extremely simple information has a difficulty of 4 or 5. However anything more complex than vague information about recent events, or questions about the animal's own activities, will have a higher difficulty.

Since so few people bother to really attempt to communicate with animals, even wild animals that are not normally interested in humans will usually wish to respond to a mage with this ability. This Merit is largely limited to Dreamspeakers and Verbena although a few Akashics also know it. (See also the Animal Speech Ability. By the modern age, of course, speaking with animals is so unusual as to require this Merit or some sort of magic.)

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ventrue; Auspex 2+

Your study of the Auspex Discipline, combined with your rarified tastes, allows you an uncanny empathy and connection to a victim, giving you powerful insights into the character of any whose blood you taste.

System: The character tastes another's blood (potentially risking a blood bond), and player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6 for mortals or 8 for Kindred). If the blood came from a mortal, each success allows him to learn one of the following: the mortal's Nature, her Demeanor, any Derangements she may possess, whether she is blood bonded, and whether she carries any blood-borne diseases. If the vitae came from a vampire, he can learn all of the previous information, plus anything discoverable with the first level of the Path of Blood. The Ventrue may taste the blood of a mortal who does not fit within his feeding restriction long enough to use this ability, but he must immediately spit it out afterward. Vampires that do not have Auspex 2 cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You have a sixth sense that warns you of danger. When you are in danger, the Storyteller should make a secret roll against your Perception + Alertness; the difficulty depends on the remoteness of the danger. If the roll succeeds, the Storyteller tells you that you have a sense of foreboding. Multiple successes may refine the feeling and give an indication of direction, distance or nature. This Merit is more reliable and specific than the Level One Auspex power; the two can be combined to create an even more potent warning system.

merit | | permalink

At will, you may invert the meaning of light and dark to your eyes. This requires a turn of concentration and a successful Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 7). With Darksight active, you may view pitch-black darkness as though it were brightly and uniformly lit, while torches cast a radiance that obscures perception in the manner that darkness interferes with normal senses. The significance of colors likewise inverts, lending a surreal hue to the world without interfering with your ability to separate hues. All penalties for partial darkness instead apply to weak illumination, and the absolute emptiness of sunlight and similarly bright radiance blinds you (and burns you, in the case of sunlight). The Merit does not allow you to see through mystical shadows, such as those produced by Obtenebration.

As a Flaw, your Darksight is permanent; you will never again view the universe through any semblance of human vision.

merit flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Criminal

Your exposure to death on a regular basis makes it difficult for ghosts to notice that you exist. You are considered to have one dot of Obfuscate (which works in the lands of the dead as well) against wraiths, spectres, and other such beings.

merit | | permalink

Everything appears rotted and decayed to you. The world appears to you as a coe; mortals look diseased or skeletal, buildings seem decrepit, and your fellow Kindred seem to be walking, moldering cadavers. You are at -2 difficulty to resist all rolls based on Appearance, but by the same token you are at +2 difficulty on all Perception-based rolls. In addition, you find social interaction difficult and are at +one difficulty on all Social-based rolls.

flaw | | permalink

Either you once practiced Infernal Diablerie and then tried to break it off, or you have angered Infernal Diabolists, be they Baali, Sabbat or mortal cultists. Whatever the case, you are plagued by the evil efforts of a demon. The demon constantly tries to cause all sorts of problems for you, but it is seldom powerful enough to face you directly.

flaw | | permalink

You broke the laws of the khabar at some point during your training, and though you have since partially made amends (enough to prevent yourself from being destroyed on the spot, and to be grudgingly accepted as a rafiq), your name still bears the stain of your misdeed. All dealings with other Assamites are at +one difficulty, though the Storyteller has the discretion to vary this penalty fore individuals who know you well or whom you have served well or badly in the past. Clearing your name will be a strong motivation for performing well in all respects while on an assignment.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Reading an aura using Auspex requires the viewer to focus on recurring patterns and colors to detect a target's emotional state. Because of the unique state of your psyche, your aura is even harder to read than most. All uses of Aura Perception are at a +2 difficulty against you.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

You are prone to fits of religious ecstasy -- stigmata, glossalia (speaking in tongues), visions, and trances. This is a Merit of dubious benefit. While some may distrust you as a religious hysteric, you find high regard among others of the faith as one touched by God. Add one die to any Social dice pools when interacting with the Society (and possibly others with similar spiritual beliefs).

merit | | permalink

Mortals have an unconscious awareness of your undead nature, which makes then anxious and ill at ease in your presence. Because of this, difficulties of all rolls relating to social interaction with mortals are increased by two.

flaw | | permalink

Your presence does not frighten faeries; indeed, it attracts them, and you a re naturally attuned to their ways. You are able, unlike most Kindred, to enter Arcadia, the mystical kingdom of the faeries, provided you find an entrance.

merit | | permalink

You are hated by the fey. They find you totally repulsive because of some past action — or for no reason whatsoever. You cannot interact with them and, should they get the opportunity, they will thwart your every effort.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

Your illusions always contain a notable flaw, and as such, are easier to disbelieve. The difficulties of all rolls to disbelieve your illusions are reduced by two.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

No matter the color, your aura burns as a brilliant beacon of religious devotion. Even mortals who cannot see auras are drawn to your presence. Subtract one from the difficulty of all social interaction rolls. Some supernaturals will find this a positive aspect; others, particularly the Kindred, may likely be hostile toward you. Many will believe you possess great power (regardless of the truth).

merit | | permalink

Buzzing harbingers of decay swirl around you everywhere. Their constant presence makes it difficult for you to interact socially (+one difficulty when appropriate) and nearly impossible to sneak up on someone or hide effectively. The buzzing of the flies inevitably gives you away -- all Stealth rolls are at +2 difficulty.

flaw | | permalink

You have an inherent resistance to the rituals of the Tremere and the spells of the mages of other Clans. The difficulty of all such magic, both malicious and beneficent, is two higher when directed at you. You may never learn magical Disciplines such as Thaumaturgy and Necromancy.

merit | | permalink

You are susceptible to the magical rituals of the Tremere, as well as to spells of mages of other creeds and orders. The difficulty to cast a spell upon you is two less, and all spells cast have twice normal effect on you.

flaw | | permalink

Having control over fire and flame is one of the powers traditionally associated with shamans. Many cultures consider fire to be a natural force with a strong connection to the spirit world. As a shaman, you have a closer connection to the powers of fire than most. You are considerably more resistant to damage from fire than most people, and you receive three extra dice to all Stamina rolls to resist damage caused by fire. You can soak fire damage normally. In addition, you also receive a one-point bonus on all magic rolls to create, destroy or manipulate fire.

merit | | permalink

You possess the natural affinity to sense and hear spirits, ghosts, and shades. Though you cannot see them, you can sense them, speak to them and, through pleading or cajoling, draw them to your presence. You may call upon them for aid or advice, but there will always be a price. Also, your difficulty is reduced by two for all Awareness rolls involving the spirits of the dead.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

You can only summon, speak to, and command a specific type of animal -- ravens, rats, and so forth -- with Animalism. Your Storyteller is the best adjudicator of what types of animal are appropriate for this Flaw, but the choice should be fairly limiting. Other animals do not respond to your uses of Animalism at all.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Giovanni; cannot have the Sanguine Incongruity Merit

You died. Perhaps you were murdered, or simply had a car accident. Whatever the cause, you were gone. But your sire found you too useful, or couldn't let you go. You were Embraced using the Ferryman's Recall ritual.The Embrace left you with the scars of your death, eternal tracework reminders of your trip to the other side. It also left you with the taut, pallid complexion of the dead. In addition to the traditional weakness of your Clan, you also suffer disfigurement from your time as a true coe. While you are able to heal yourself just like any other vampire, the wounds do not heal cleanly. You retain the scars of every experience. Depending on the nature of the damage, this can make social dealings exceedingly difficult, and may decrease your Appearance dots over time (even to 0). However, your time across the Shroud also gave you a natural feel for necromantic blood magic. The difficulties of all Necromancy rolls are reduced by one. This trait costs 4 points for characters who already have an appearance of 0 (such as Samedi and the Harbingers of Skulls), or 2 points for any other Kindred. It is an incredibly rare condition even among the Giovanni, and essentially unknown outside the Clan.

Giovanni with this Merit generally arouse the superstition of their Clan, and are treated with a definite wariness, particularly by anziani. Characters with the Mortuario Merit may not also possess the Sanguine Incongruity Merit or similar flawss such as Monstrous.

merit | | permalink

For some reason you have visions. These are not necessarily precognitive, but like precognition the visions occur outside your control. You may make yourself more sensitive to them through ascetic practices, but you can never consciously induce a vision. Then again, you may have a vision as you are walking down the street minding your own business. Unlike Precognition, the visions are always steeped in symbolism and they apply only to your own unlife. The particulars of how and when this merit works are left to the Storyteller.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

Making an oath ties one person's svadharma to another, linking the two spirits until the oath can be fulfilled. With this in mind, a Ravnos never breaks her word once given in good faith, and so long as it was done with proper ceremony. If the Ravnos spits into her palm and shakes on her word, then the oath cannot be broken without negatively impacting the vampire's svadharma (or so Ravnos superstition dictates).

The oathbreaker will lose her way, falling into vice and worthlessness, until the broken oath can be redeemed. Anyone who looks at your aura can see a sickly red slash indicating the broken oath. You may not spend Willpower to ignore your Ravnos vice, and you do not gain Willpower from fulfilling your Nature.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Any color your character's aura takes has a pale cast to it, as though he was a vampire. Unless her player gains five or more successes on an Aura Perception roll, any vampire discerns your hunter's aura as one belonging to the Kindred.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

You once had the True Faith that could light the night. It is now extinguished. This is not the simple loss of an advantage, but a gaping wound of the soul. You know what it was like to be seen in the light of the divine, but now stumble outside the sight of God and drown in the coe-cold murk of doubts, an ever-flowing river with no end in sight. Whenever you are confronted with this loss (holding a holy symbol, asked to perform a miracle, entering a church, etc.), make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) or lose one die on all actions for the scene, as sorrow seizes you. A botched Willpower roll consumes a Willpower point and opens you to despair. Indulging a vice (alcohol, drugs, pornography, etc.) can replenish Willpower points lost in this way. This Flaw can be earned mid-chronicle with a loss of True Faith, or it can be taken at character creation as part of a tragic backstory, possibly initiating a redemption tale of faith regained.

flaw | | permalink

You do not project the aura associated with your road. Instead, your aura reflects some deeper aspect of your Nature or personality. You may choose the aura associated with any road or design your own (subject to Storyteller approval), calculating your aura modifier according to your permanent Willpower.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

You have dreams during your daylight sleep. Dreams you remember. Sometimes, they even come true. By spending a Willpower point upon rising for the evening, you may have the Storyteller give your character a lucid dream featuring foreshadowing about upcoming events, characters, and situations.

merit | | permalink

The curse of Caine did not grant you immortality. You still age, just very slowly – perhaps one mortal year for every 20 calendar years. Most of the time, neither you nor anyone else would notice, but eventually you will grow old and die. Sometimes your aging speeds up: Like a ghoul, your deferred aging can return in a rush. Whenever you heal aggravated wounds, you age a year in the course of a single day’s sleep. That may not sound like much, but over the course of a century it can really add up. It gives a great incentive to avoid sunlight, fire and the fangs of one’s fellow vampires.

flaw | | permalink

With this Flaw, every natural animal you encounter is automatically and severely upset by your presence. This is much more severe than the unease that almost all Cainites cause animals: Creatures panic and flee, and some rare few attack. You cannot calm the creatures down with Animal Ken. It requires either the use of Animalism or a taste of vampire blood (which makes the creature a ghoul) to settle the beast down.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

In animal form only, the Gangrel still smells alive, even to the super-sensitive nostrils of the Lupines. This is essentially a 'Baby Face' merit for altered forms and may be used against the Lupine Gift Sense Wyrm.

merit | | permalink

Your lips have a particular crimson luster like roses or fine wine. Whenever you kiss someone, you leave traces of sweet vitae behind. This secretion is not sufficient to create a ghoul or sire progeny, although you may surreptitiously administer the blood oath if you kiss on the mouth or touch your lips to an open cut. It requires a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 8) to notice the slight taste of your blood.

merit | | permalink

Anytime you make an Occult roll to know a fact about vampiric history, you may add a die to your dice pool. Further, you have exceptional memory for oral histories, and you are a quick study when it comes to memorizing large amounts of rote information. This is not true eidetic memory, but constitutes the ability to memorize poetic eddas, codes, or complex messages with only a few hours of study.

merit | | permalink

You have a special bond with another vampire that extends beyond any other type of bond you know of. You may or may not love the other vampire, but you have a special link to her. This link allows you to always know when she is in trouble, when she is in pain, when she is lying, and when she needs you. In return, she knows the same about you. Both characters have to buy this Merit. This Merit should not be abused by allowing a relatively weak character to choose a powerful one, unless this is approved by the Storyteller.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ventrue

Your preferred source for vitae is rarified even by the standards of your Clan, such as only Korean War vets, only Federal Court Judges, or only virgins over the age of 40. The difficulty of all hunting rolls for your character is increased by +2, to a maximum of 9.

flaw | | permalink

The wilderness is your friend, working to hide your passage. You leave no trail to follow as the earth swallows your footprints, and the trees and grasses cover your scent. Even magical means of tracking you are inhibited. You pass through places like the wind, leaving nothing behind but a whisper. Even Lupines have trouble following you. Normal means of tracking you (with Survival, the use of dogs etc) fail automatically. Supernatural methods of tracking you, such as with Auspex, have a chance, but with greater difficulty (+2 diff).

merit | | permalink

You have made an enemy within your pack. This individual would like to see you out of the pack and possibly destroyed: perhaps just because he doesn't like you or perhaps for a good reason. In any case, this pack member tries to get others to side against you, and he tries to ruin every positive thing you accomplish for yourself or for the pack. This is a three-point Flaw if the Pack Enemy is also the pack leader. The Vinculum scores between you and your enemy are automatically zero, and will never increase no matter how many times you partake of the Vaulderie together.

flaw | | permalink

The prince has given you exclusive rights to a piece of territory. The size and importance of that territory are in direct proportions to the cost of the Merit. A few blocks’ worth of rowhouses might be worth two points, while four square blocks in the city’s financial district could be worth four.

While the rights to this territory are yours, there are responsibilities that come along with it. If those responsibilities are not met, the prince may well strop you of your holding.

merit | | permalink

You begin play with absolute control over one mortal institution of your choice. Either you are the head of this institution, or you have mastered its leader. In the first case, think about how you will retain control without being able to appear to your followers during the day (it may be impossible to remain in command for long). If you control the mortal leader, then think about how you keep him loyal. (Blackmail? The Blood Oath? Dominate? Presence?) The cost of the Merit depends upon the size and power of the institution. Control of a small hermitage with six monks is a 2 point Merit. To control and opulent monastery with 200 brothers is a 5 point Merit. Plausible institutions include: monasteries, friaries (3-5 points) cathedral chapters (monks attached to a cathedral; 5 points), hermitages (2 points), hospitals (hostels for the poor and sick; 3 points), city guilds (2 to 5 points, depending on size and power), city law courts (3 points), etc.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

You have several resources, sleeper agents, or followers hidden away for a rainy day. For each level of this Merit you have one unassigned Background point sitting in storage (2 gives you 1 point, 3 gives you two points, and so on). At any time, you may spend as many of them as you like to increase your level in Allies, Contacts, Herd, Influence, Mentor, Resources, or Retainers. Once spent, the points remain assigned permanently, but until then they cannot be affected by anything. This allows the vampire to create a new resource in an instant, without requiring the expenditure of experience points or awaiting a downtime. The vampire is not really gaining new levels, but revealing levels he has had all along.

merit | | permalink

One or more Kindred currently owe a boon to you. You may have gifted them with favors or material items sometime in the distant past, or just last week, but they now owe you a debt. This grants you an advantage in your dealings with these Kindred (-one to the difficulty level of any checks to influence them). Although you would not give you your current position lightly, you may also call in this debt (or debts) should you require aid. Such aid must be commensurate with the initial value of your gifts of Prestation. The number of points in Prestation Gift must be determined by both the player and Storyteller, based on the number and magnitude of the debts owned you, and the importance of the Kindred who owe them. The exact nature of this Merit should be worked into the elder character's journal or memoirs.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Prerequisite: Hunter
Your character owns an estimable collection of works on arcane lore. If he has access to his library, you can lower the difficulty of Intelligence-, Occult-, or research-related rolls by one when he's attempting to solve an occult mystery or generally learn more about the occult. Having this library doesn't automatically mean the hunter's an occult expert, it just means he has convenient access to some knowledge. If you have purchased the 4-point version of this Merit, your character also has an Occult Laboratory stocked with strange and rare ingredients he might need for his Numina rituals.​

merit | mortal | permalink

You have one or more wounds that refuse to heal, and which constantly drip blood. This slow leakage costs you an extra blood point per evening (marked off just before dawn), in addition to drawing attention to you. If the wound is visible, you are +one difficulty for all Social-based rolls. For 2 points, the Flaw is simply unsightly and has the basic effect mentioned above; for 4 points the seeping wound is serious or disfiguring and includes the effects of the Flaw Permanent Wound.

This may not be taken with the Flaw Permanent Wound.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Oracles are often marked as messengers of the gods. Your markings come in the forms of phantom wounds that seep blood. The bleeding is slight but incessant, costing you an extra blood point every day just before you wake at dusk.

The 2-point version of this Flaw means wounds that can be easily hidden from prying eyes, such as on the hands or the side. You gain a +one difficulty to all Social rolls when dealing with someone aware of your condition.

The 4-point version can't be easily hidden, like bleeding eyes. The Social penalty increases to +2, and one of your Attributes also gains a +one difficulty to all rolls because of the constant seeping blood.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

While you are part of the Sabbat and a traitor to House and Clan Tremere, somehow you remain unmarked by the antitribu curse. You are not easily recognized as a renegade Tremere, and the magic that burned so many of your brethren cannot target you. Further, other Sabbat members cannot judge you at a glance. Those of the Telyavelic bloodline can purchase this Merit at 2 points, while other Tremere pay 5 points.

merit | | permalink

The difficulty on all Creativity rolls and Artistic Expression rolls are reduced by 3.

merit | | permalink

Though you do not forget such things as Knowledges or Skills, you do forget names, addresses, and when you last ate. In order to remember anything more than your own name and the location of your haven, you need to make a Wits roll or, as a last resort, spend a Willpower point.

This Flaw may not be taken with the Merit Concentration or Eidetic Memory.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character constantly needs the rush that only vampire blood can provide her. She feels empty and listless otherwise. This habit is a very dangerous one and can only be overcome via complete abstention (and likely no small amount of therapy). Anytime your character has access to Kindred vitae and wishes to resist the urge to drink, the Storyteller may require a Self-Control roll. If your character has not tasted vampire blood in over a week, you suffer a progressive +one difficulty to these rolls until she quenches her thirst.

flaw | | permalink

You are naturally calm and do not easily fly off the handle. You receive 2 extra dice when attempting to resist a frenzy. Brujah may not take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

With a point each of blood and Willpower and a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 6), you may force your third eye closed for a full scene. It will not betray you no matter what Valeren/Obeah powers you use. Other Salubri may regard your with distrust or envy if they know of your unusual gift. Only vampires with 2 or more dots of Valeren/Obeah may purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

You emulate the ideal of Azi Dahaka within and without, to levels visceral and abstract. Your psyche flows with the permutable nature of change. Like the protean Dracon, you are a whirlwind of temperaments. This is not multiple personalities. You are one identity shown through the prism of ever-shifting Natures. No anchor fetters your sense of self. You can be any you.

At the start of each story, you may choose one Personality Archetype to function as your Nature, spending the rest of the story perceiving the world through that perspective. You also regain Willpower according to your new Nature and may be affected by other effects or Discipline powers as per your new Nature as well.

merit | | permalink

You have a personal goal, which sometimes compel and directs you in startling ways. The goal is always limitless in depth, and you can never truly achieve it. It could be to eradicate the Sabbat or achieve Golconda. Because you must work toward your goal throughout the chronicle (though you can avoid it for short periods by spending Willpower), it will get you into trouble and may jeopardize other actions. Choose your driving goal carefully, as it will direct and focus everything your character does.

flaw | | permalink

Your preternatural senses and aesthetics find beauty supernaturally enthralling. Whenever you encounter music, art or even a pretty face that appeals to your tastes, you fall into trancelike reverie until the object leaves your senses or the scene ends. You may not even break away to defend yourself, though an attack permits a new roll to resist. Characters with this Flaw may avoid or break free of rapture with a Self-Control or Instinct roll (difficulty 6).

Toreador may not purchase this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

The weakness of your Beast renders you less susceptible to blind panic when faced with fire. You receive 2 extra dice on Rötschreck rolls.

merit | | permalink

You learn very quickly, and pick up on new things faster than most do. You gain one extra experience point at the conclusion of each story (not each game session).

merit | | permalink

You have an unreasoning hatred of a certain thing. This hate is total and largely uncontrollable. You may hate species of animal, a class of person, a color, a situation, anything. You must make a frenzy roll whenever faced with the object of your hatred. You constantly pursue opportunities to harm the hated object or to gain power over it.

This may not be taken with the flaws Intolerance or phobia of the same thing.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

Your natural abilities with illusions have rendered you particularly jaded and unimpressible. How can anything be as perfect as your own imagination? Because of this, your heart is harder than most, and you have a significant resistance to emotion control. All powers and Social challenges that attempt to manipulate you emotionally are made at a +2 difficulty.

merit | | permalink

When you are determined and your mind is set, nothing can thwart you from your goals. Characters using Dementation, Dominate, or any other mind-altering magic, spell, or Thaumaturgy path against your character are at +3 difficulty. Elder levels of powers like Dementation and Dominate may overwhelm even this resistance. Against Level Six powers, the expenditure of a Willpower point through Iron Will only raises the difficulty of the Discipline roll by 2. Against Level Seven powers, the difficulty is increased by only one. Level Eight and higher powers cannot be resisted with Iron Will. This Merit does not affect Presence or other powers dealing with the emotions. Characters will Willpower scores below 8 cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Although this Marauder has skewed perceptual framework, the Marauder's completely aware that something isn't quite right. He realizes that somehow the world's translated from what it should be. He doesn't necessarily know what it is supposed to be, or why it's skewed, but he at least recognizes that wherever he goes, things are somehow off-kilter. This means he may be more willing to listen when other mages try to reason with him or explain the nature of his problems.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Malkavians notice things that many others do not. That means keeping their eyes and ears open far longer than anyone else does. That makes you easily distracted when trying to focus. Take a +2 penalty to all rolls involving Perception.

flaw | | permalink

You are certain that the world is full of creatures and people who wish to see you destroyed. However, you do not worry overmuch about those individuals who loathe you from a distance. It is the ones you let get near you, the ones who profess some caring towards you, who are the real danger. Of course, not all your associates and so-called friends are enemies (at least they probably all aren't). However, you know that no one ever does anything they don't believe to be for their own benefit. You are constantly alert for signs that one or more of your acquaintances are actually seeking to commit diablerie upon you, stake you or worse. Whenever someone you know performs an act that appears selfless, you must make a Self-Control roll to resist branding them a traitorous, implacable enemy bent on your destruction (and taking appropriate actions against such a monster!). The Storyteller may also decide that your companions' actions are suspiciously altruistic and necessitate such a roll.

flaw | | permalink

You have learned the wisdom of patience in all things. Passions may burn brightly; but as they say, revenge is served best cold. Often, with enough patience, new avenues of endeavor open, enemies grow careless and favors shift. Those who wait and watch are in a position to take full advantage of the vagaries of time. Due to your mastery of patience all Frenzy rolls are made with a -one difficulty modifier.

merit | | permalink

Being close to the sea calms you and reinforces your self-control. All Willpower rolls made while you're on or within sight of the sea have their difficulties lowered by one.

merit | | permalink

You learn quickly. The time for you to pick up a particular Ability (or Abilities, at Storyteller discretion) is cut in half, as is the experience cost.

merit | | permalink

You carry the Tzimisce respect for privacy to extremes. You must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to enter another being's dwelling without being invited (though you will go to fiendishly clever lengths to garner an unwitting invitation). When disturbed in your manse by an uninvited guest, you must make a Self-Control or Instincts roll (difficulty 7) to avoid frenzy.

flaw | | permalink

You have been lying in a state of torpor until very recently. The years have left you in their wake and the world has been remade in your absence. The culture shock is very jarring, and you still find it difficult to make your way in this strange new environment. Only the general flow of Kindred politics and society remains reasonably familiar; the rest of the world is gibberish. You receive a +2 difficulty level of rolls involving technology and to social interactions with everyone save other elder Kindred.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

Angels and demons are everywhere! You see them. You note the signs of the Divine plan in every nuance of life. The entire world's an omen! The Holy Ghost whispers in your ear constantly. Why do others not understand? Even your brothers and sisters in the faith shake their heads as you breathlessly elucidate your latest holy vision. The difference between this flaws and the Ecstatic Merit is that people do not take you seriously. Your visions occur a bit too often, are a bit too untenable. Subtract one die from all Social dice pools.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Criminal

Through training and working with other experienced hunters, you have the ability to buy the Awareness Skill. Further, you can get a sense that someone is controlled by some supernatural influence or ghostly presence with a Perception + Awareness roll, difficulty 8.

merit | | permalink

What the Beast has had before, it wants again, and it wants it now. Any time the player must make a Willpower roll in order for her character to resist desire, she does so with only as many dice as she has in her Willpower pool, as opposed to her rating. That is, she rolls her current Willpower as opposed to her permanent Willpower. This Flaw can be particularly debilitating when it comes to staving off hunger for example.

flaw | | permalink

You are highly susceptible to Dominate and intimidation by others; Dominate attempts automatically affect you unless the Discipline wielder is of higher Generation, and your difficulties to resist Social abilities such as Intimidation or Leadership, as well as mind-altering spells or magic, are increased by 2. Your Willpower Trait may never rise above 4.

flaw | | permalink

Either through monastic training or determined royal tutors, you are one of the lucky few to receive superlative tutelage in classics, natural sciences and theology... Whenever you attempt a task involving a Knowledge you do not possess, your player may still roll at +one difficulty as if the required Ability was a Skill. Characters must have at least 3 dots of Academics to purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

The opposite of the Perfect Liar Merit; no matter how good your story is, no matter how well-prepared you may be, your deceptions are rather transparent. Add 2 to the difficulty of any roll in which you attempt a lie, disguise, misdirection or other form of deception. Maybe you should stick to wet work.

flaw | | permalink

Your fangs do not retract, making it impossible for you to hide your true nature. While some mortals may think you've had your teeth filed or are wearing prosthetics, sooner or later you're going to run into someone who knows what you truly are. You are also limited to a maximum Appearance rating of 3.

flaw | | permalink

You suffer from an addiction to a substance, which must now be present in the blood you drink (or you automatically frenzy, as per the Prey Exclusion flaws). This can be alcohol, nicotine, hard drugs, or simply adrenaline. This substance always impairs you in some fashion.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

You don't just peddle narcotics; through the blessings of the Dark God, you are the perfect drug. Your blood is especially delicious to others, Kindred or kine. Whoever tastes your blood must, during any subsequent scenes that they meet you, drink again or spend a Willpower point to avoid the pangs of craving. These cravings add +2 difficulty to any Mental or Social rolls. Setites with this Merit find it much easier to blood bond an opponent, as once they have tasted the tainted vitae, they will do almost anything to drink it again.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Arcanum Member

Prerequisite: Arcanum Member
You are not as spry as you used to be. Lower one Physical Attribute score (your choice) by 1 point. An Attribute cannot go below one with this flaws. You may take this flaws at 40 years old and once again per decade after.

flaw | | permalink

You are afflicted with an insidious form of decay that blackens your skin and veins with mold as it slowly devours your unliving flesh. You may not have an Appearance rating higher than one and you suffer 3 dice of unsoakable lethal damage upon arising each night at dusk. Although your disease is not contagious, your mildewed visage makes other Cainites uneasy and inflicts the same Social penalties as Leprosy in civilized company unless you take great pains to cover yourself.

This Flaw is worth only 1 point to Nosferatu, Gargoyle, Samedi, or any other kindred who have their appearance set to 0 (this includes taking other flaws that set your appearance to 0).

flaw | | permalink

You were a small child (between 5 and 10 years old) at the time of your Embrace, leaving your Physical Attributes underdeveloped and making it difficult to interact with some aspects of mortal society. You may not have more than 2 dots in Strength or Stamina at character creation, except when raising Physical Attributes with blood points, and the difficulties of all die rolls when attempting to direct or lead mortal adults are increased by two. Characters with this flaws should also take the Short flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You are good at taking risks, and even better at surviving them. When attempting exceptionally risky non-combat actions (such as leaping from one moving car to another), characters with this Merit add an additional 3 dice to their rolls, and negate a single botch die that may result from such a roll. Generally, such actions must be at least difficulty 8 and have the potential to inflict at least three health levels of damage if failed.

merit | | permalink

You have some kind of deformity -- a misshapen limb, hunchback, or clubfoot, for example -- which affects your physical abilities and interactions with others. A hunchback, for instance, would lower a character's Dexterity by 2 dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one. It is the responsibility of the Storyteller to determine the specific effects of the deformity chosen.

flaw | | permalink

You are able to draw more than the usual amount of nourishment from blood. When feeding, you gain an additional point to your blood pool for every 2 points of blood you consume. This does not allow you to exceed your blood pool maximum.

merit | | permalink

You have the stereotypical glowing eyes of vampire legend, which gives you a -one difficulty on Intimidation rolls when you're dealing with mortals. However, the tradeoffs are many; you must constantly disguise your condition (no, contacts don't cut it); the glow impairs your vision and puts you at +one difficulty on all sight-based rolls (including the use of ranged weapons); and the radiance emanating from your eye sockets makes it difficult to hide (+2 difficulty to Stealth rolls) in the dark.

flaw | | permalink

The vampire sees colors more distinctly and with greater definition. The world is far more colorful. Unfortunately, the vampire is more likely to become enraptured by colorful objects. Despite the drawback, when used in conjunction with Aura Perception, the vampire will discover far more information about her target. The difficulty for reading a target's aura is reduced to 5. The player may ask the Storyteller one question about the target for every success, and the Storyteller must provide accurate information. This may be used only once per story on a particular target. Finally, all Artistic Expression difficulties involving color are reduced by one.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character suffers from hemophilia. If she is cut, she will not stop bleeding without medical help. If your hunter suffers lethal or aggravated damage, she suffers an additional level of bashing damage every 5 minutes until her wound has been dressed to stop the bleeding. Any vampire who bites her may dress such wounds and end the ongoing bashing damage by licking the injury after he bites her.

flaw | mortal | permalink

Your legs are damaged, which prevents you from running or walking easily. You are forced to walk with a cane or possibly leg braces, and you have a pronounced limp to your stride. Your walking speed is one-quarter that of a normal human, and running is impossible.

flaw | | permalink

You are simply lazy, avoiding anything that requires effort on your part. Preferring to let others do the hard work, you lounge around. For any action that requires preparation, there's a good chance you didn't properly prepare. Difficulty rolls for spontaneous Physical actions (including combat, unless it's part of a planned offensive) increase by one.

flaw | | permalink

Your physical form was twisted during the Embrace, and now reflects the Beast that rages inside you. Characters with this flaws appear to be savage monsters and have Appearance ratings of zero. Nosferatu and other bloodlines whose weaknesses cause them to start off with Appearance zero cannot take this flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You have only one arm - choose which, or determine randomly at character creation. This happened before the Embrace. It is assumed that you are accustomed to using your remaining hand, so you suffer no off-hand penalty. However, you do suffer a 2-dice penalty to any Dice Pool where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task.

flaw | | permalink

Your sense of balance has achieved great heights by constant training or inherited traits. It is very unlikely that you will ever fall during your life. You may trip, but you will always catch yourself before you fully lose your footing or handhold.

This Merit functions for such actions as tightrope walking, crossing ice and climbing mountain sides. All difficulties involving such feats are reduced by 3. It would take a lot to push or shove a character off his feet if he has this Merit. This is very appropriate for Akashic Brothers or Masters of Life magick.

merit | | permalink

You suffered injuries during your Embrace which your transformation somehow failed to repair. At the beginning of each night, you rise from sleep at the Wounded health level, though this may be healed by spending blood points.

flaw | | permalink

You were Embraced from within Rom, from one of the families of power. Because of your heritage, you may be able to regain Blood Affinities by feeding on Rom and may begin with Abilities or Backgrounds available only to Gypsy characters. In addition, phralmulo characters need not pick a specific crime as their weakness; the phralmulo show a general (but compulsive) contempt and disregard for all the laws of the gaje. Note: Without this Merit, a Ravnos player character is assumed to be georgio.

merit | | permalink

Your blood, for some reason, is very potent and Kindred will desire to drink it. They will not easily give up the chance to continue using you as a source of vitae. They gain 2 blood points for every one drunk.

flaw | | permalink

You have difficulty healing wounds. It requires 2 blood points to heal one health level of bashing or lethal damage, and you heal one health level of aggravated damage every 5 days (plus the usual five blood points and Willpower expenditure).

flaw | | permalink

Your art is considered truly inspired and inspiring. There is an essence of life and beauty about your work that moves others. Perhaps you were always gifted, or the Embrace might have opened you to the Almighty in ways you hadn't expected. Your singing voice causes stones to melt, your paintings look as if their subjects might step off the canvas at any moment, or your storytelling holds people utterly spellbound. The difficulty on all Expression rolls is reduced by 2. If the art being produced relates to God, the Church or similar high ideals, the difficulty is reduced by 3 instead. Such perfection, however, can engender jealousy in mortal or Cainite rivals. Some suspicious clergy may believe that you sold your soul to achieve your talent, or that you are guilty of hubris by reaching too high within your endeavors.

merit | | permalink

For whatever reason, one of your legs does not work as well as the other. You subtract 3 dice when attempting any action that involves movement, and you move at half normal speed.

flaw | | permalink

You can hardly move without assistance, such as a pair of crutches or a wheelchair. Even then it can be painful and cumbersome to do so. The Storyteller and you should take care to roleplay this Flaw correctly, no matter how difficult it makes things.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

Whether you are good at barking orders or simply have a commanding tone, people tend to do what you tell them to do. You are not so much a natural leader as a born commander. When using the Leadership skill to get others to obey you, the difficulty is reduced by two.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

Most agents build up one or two cover identities, replete with backgrounds and supporting documents. You've gone one further, and got a cover identity that your agency doesn't know about. Your backup identity has a full set of documents, including a social security card and a passport, a bank account, and even owns a small apartment. Unlike most cover identities, nothing links you and your backup identity, meaning it can come in very handy when you need to work off the record, and as a get-out card when things get hairy. This Merit just provides documentation and a guarantee that intelligence agencies don't know about your alter ego. You still need the Alternate Identity Background if you want to play the part effectively.

merit | | permalink

You must purchase the Domitor Background to buy this Merit. For whatever reason, your domitor is actually rather fond of you. Perhaps your service has been exemplary, or perhaps you simply remind him of someone in his past — given the alien nature of the vampire mind, you may never know for sure. Your domitor treats you with some measure of compassion and does not casually endanger your life. Of course, he still expects you to give your life for his if need be, but until that night, the two of you are something akin to friends.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

You are one of those most pitiful things -- an Assamite antitribu who still labors under the Tremere Curse. You have pledged yourself to the Sabbat, but you cannot perform diablerie and can only partake of Kindred vitae already transubstantiated through the Vaulderie. As a result, the difficulty of all Social rolls against other Sabbat members is at +2.

flaw | | permalink

Your childe's loyalty goes beyond any Blood Bond, being born of true affection and admiration. She would do almost anything to aid you, and you trust her as you do no other among the Kindred. You would be grief-stricken should anything happen to her.

merit | | permalink

You have influence and contacts in some local churches, and have the means to create protest rallies and raise money. The more you use your ties, of course, the greater your risk of being found out.

You must have at least one dot in the Contacts to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

You have both influence over and contacts in the local corporate community. You understand the dynamics of money in the city and have links with all the major players. In times of need, you can cause all sorts of financial mayhem, and can raise considerable amounts of money (in the form of loans) in a very short period of time.

You must have at least one dot in the Contacts to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

Your sire regards the fact that he Embraced you to be a titanic mistake, and has let everyone know it. You are mocked in Elysium, taunted by your peers and actively despised by the one who should be giving you guidance. Any request or petition you make is likely to be looked down upon by friends of your sire, and your achievements are likely to be discounted.

Obviously, you may not begin play with any Status.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

You're an accepted member of your intelligence agency, despite any weird side-project you work on. You might be an FBI agent with a sterling record who happens to moonlight for SAD, or an NSA intelligence analyst who just happens to spend a couple of weeks each quarter monitoring chaoscope reports. Because you spend more time around normal agents, they accept you as one of their own. Add a bonus die to any Empathy, Leadership, or Investigation rolls when dealing with other members of your agency. You're also the last person anyone would think to name as a monster hunter, which keeps you under the radar of otherwise well-informed supernatural creatures.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You have made an enemy of another group of Nosferatu. Unlike your usual enemies, they know the places you like to go and aren't too squeamish about following you there. They keep you on the move, hunting you from sanctuary to sanctuary. The sewers themselves might not even be safe for you anymore. If you move to a new city, they use their contacts to pass on the word to their allies to keep hounding you. Sooner or later, you are going to have to take them down to rid yourself of them.

flaw | | permalink

Once, you held near-absolute power in a city, but those nights are gone now. Perhaps you stepped down, perhaps you were deposed, or perhaps your city fell to the Sabbat; it matters little in your reduced state. What does matter is that the Prince in the city where you now dwell is aware of your prior employment, and has concerns that you might be trying to make a comeback. The machinery of the Camarilla in the city where you now make your home is subtly stacked against you, and if the Prince sees an opportunity to get rid of you he just might take it. This flaws can only be taken by Camarilla vampires.

flaw | | permalink

While you're not a Nosferatu, you know your way around the sewers, tunnels, ducts, subway tubes, and other subterranean passages of your hometown. The local Nosferatu (and any other creatures dwelling down in the muck) may not actually like you, but they're not inclined to kill you on sight when they see you in their territory. You are at -one difficulty on any rolls involving the subterranean world (sneaking from place to place underground, finding routes into sub-basements, and so on). Nosferatu cannot purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Another Sect or group of vampires has decided that you're a target for extermination, and pursues you relentlessly. On the bright side, the enemies of your enemy may well wish to help you out, potentially garnering you allies.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

You like to be in charge so much you have a hard time following anyone else's orders. When given a plan or told to do something, you tend to do the opposite on principle. Whenever you are ordered to do something, you must make a Willpower roll with a difficulty depending on the importance of the superior and the danger of the task (difficulty 7 is typical for someone directly above the vampire assigning them a moderately dangerous task). If you fail, you will do anything except what you've been told to do.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Ravnos

You once knew your svadharma, but when the time came to fulfill it, you failed. Now that destiny has passed you by, and there may never be another chance to make it right. Other Ravnos know the tale, and hold your failure against you. You are scorned, and your confidence has been thrown into doubt. Your total Willpower score is permanently reduced by one and you may not spend Willpower when performing actions where other Ravnos are directly involved.

flaw | | permalink

You have an informer buried in one of your Sect's enemy organizations who funnels you all sorts of information as to what her peers are up to. What you do with the information is up to you, but abusing the knowledge might be a good way to get your informer killed. The other side has spies too.

merit | | permalink

You are known to be a snitch, an informer firmly planted in the pocket of the vampires in charge. Those on whom you might yet inform loathe you as a result, feeding you misinformation when they can in an attempt to discredit you. Given the opportunity, they might do you mischief. Regardless, your reputation as a weasel precedes you, putting you at +one difficulty on all Social rolls against those who don't agree with your politics.

flaw | | permalink

No, you don't have sex with the dead, but you certainly enjoy their company. You are obsessed with dead bodies and invite them over to your domain. Your haven is distastefully decorated with severed and mutilated body parts of all kinds. You talk to your dead friends, dance with them, make art out of them and entertain frequently. Some vampires of particularly refined temperament may need to overcome a Courage roll (difficulty 4) to enter a room where you’ve left your guests and their accouterments. Toreador go apeshit; Toreador antitribu applaud. For some reason, this Flaw is very popular among Leatherfaces.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

Everyone working for one of the US Government's alphabet soup of agencies has access to information not available to the public, but you're privy to secrets that are way above your pay grade. Maybe someone in the Pentagon owes you his life, or you just find files in an old dead-drop. Once per story, the Storyteller will ensure that you receive classified information useful to your current operation. The information is always useful and accurate, but not necessarily complete. Though it's dangerous to explain how you came by your new knowledge, your informant is confidential and you haven't yet suffered a leak.

merit | | permalink

This may not take the merit of Reputation.

Vampire
You have a bad reputation among the Kindred of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your sire. There is a two-dice penalty to all dice rolls for social dealings with the city's Kindred.

Mage
You have a bad reputation among your peers; perhaps you violated the Protocols once too often, or belong to an unpopular Chantry. There is a two dice penalty to all dice rolls for social dealings with associated mages.

flaw | | permalink

You can manipulate and have some control over other vampire - one of higher generation than you. Your hold was likely formed through Blood Bond, but can also come from a variety of other sources, such as blackmail, bribes or threats - you make it up. The pawn does not necessarily know that it is being controlled.

merit | | permalink

When you speak, everything is the truth. Your words never quaver, your vital signs remain normal, your facts seem consistent and your eyes betray no deception whatsoever. No matter how outrageous your story might be, an objective observer will assume that at least you believe it's true.

In game terms, most casual deceptions succeed automatically. Subtract two from the difficulty of any roll that involves fooling someone about something important. This Merit will not foil Mind magic, aura reading or other forms of mystic truth-seeking, but it will deceive any mundane detection (like body language or lie-detectors).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Caitiff

Thorough charm, manipulation, or just plain luck, you have managed to convince other vampires that you are a member of one of the Clans. Any social interactions with vampires ignorant of your true nature ignore your usual penalty for being Caitiff. However, you must constantly be vigilant of your ruse. Should anyone come to realize you have been playing them for fools, their vengeance will be swift. The higher you climb in Kindred politics, the more likely this becomes. The Clan Weakness flaws can actually prove to be a boon in supporting your Masquerade. Others, however, must be that much more careful.

merit | | permalink

You have both influence over and contacts in the local police department. You can, with a single phone call, cause an APB to be issued. However, the more often you use your ties with the police department, the weaker they become, and the more attention you attract toward yourself. Your influence is not solid (that can be achieved only through game play), and can let you down at times.

You must have at least one dot in the Contacts to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

You have both influence over and contacts among the politicians and bureaucrats of the city. In times of need, you can shut off the power and water to a building or neighborhood, and can unleash many different means of harassment against your enemies. The more you use your political ties, the weaker they become. Total control can only be achieved through game play.

You must have at least one dot in the Contacts to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador

You have a completely separate life that no other Kindred know about. It may be your mortal family that you have turned into ghouls, or a YouTube channel that you use to talk in metaphor about your frustrations with Kindred society. If discovered, this could risk other vampires accusing you of breaching the Masquerade (if Camarilla), consorting with humanity instead of being a superior vampire (if Sabbat), or just overall paranoia and suspicion on why you're keeping such deep secrets.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You are one of the Kindred responsible for maintaining and organizing the chantry's mundane supplies. You may take anything from the chantry's stores as defined by the chantry's Stores rating. While you will have to return or replace anything you borrow, you have access the whole range of equipment appropriate to the size of the chantry. This might range from assault weapons and explosives to advanced medical and scientific equipment.

merit | | permalink

Yes, those legends about albino alligators in the sewers really are true. You've been nursing a few of them with your vitae in the local spawning pool for years. Your careful breeding and vigilant training has produced a reptilian slave of exceptional intelligence. It has a mind as sharp as that as a five-year-old child and teeth as keen as butcher knives. The beast understands your native language perfectly and can even follow complex directions. Faster and deadlier than any human ghoul, it is a highly efficient killing machine fully capable of patrolling your domain with ruthless efficiency. Reptile buddies also love to play fetch with human limbs (whether attached or severed).

Ghouled Reptile Buddy
Physical: Strength 6, Dexterity 2, Stamina 6
Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence one, Wits 3
Disciplines: Fortitude 2, Potence 2
Blood Pool: 5
Willpower: 5
Attacks: Bite (7 dice), Tail Slap (6 dice)

merit | | permalink

You're one of the up-and-comers in the city, a rising star in your Sect. Everyone wants to know you and be your friend, even as those in power groom you for positions of greater responsibility. You are at -one difficulty on all Social rolls against any vampires in your Sect who aren't actively opposing your ascent.

merit | | permalink

You have some sort of intimate connection with a member of an opposing Sect or inimical Clan. You may have a lover, a childe, a friend, or a contact working the other side of the fence, but regardless of politics you retain a friendly (or more than friendly) relationship with your putative foe. Your close ties to someone on the other side would be regarded as treason by your superiors within the Sect, and if you are discovered, the penalty will surely be death.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch

You have some sort of special forum (a zine, a secure blog, a well-known podcast, or a social media account with a lot of followers) that allows your Anarch to express an opinion and have said opinion spread widely. The Soapbox Merit represents a social delivery mechanism that can influence Kindred outside of your character's normal social circle or class. Reduce the difficulty of Expression and Subterfuge rolls by 2 difficulty when dealing with vampires who read the Soapbox.

merit | | permalink

You have severed your ties to the Artistes and Poseurs. You no longer play their silly games. You will never rise in Clan Prestige, and you are the equivalent of an anarch. However, the anarchs will not accept you due to some past transgressions you have committed against them. You have no place in the world of the Damned.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch

You have a personal relationship with a high-ranking member of a different sect. You may invoke your Sugar Daddy's name to lower the difficulty of Manipulation rolls by 2 against members of that sect when attempting to smooth out problems or acquire minor favors. Of course, the Sugar Daddy may expect similar treatment in kind, and is unlikely to look favorably on any behavior that impugns whatever status he may have.

merit | | permalink

You know a werewolf, mage, fae, Kuei-jin, hedge magician or some other supernatural being. This does not mean that you are boon companions, only that the two of you don't follow the usual kill-on-sight policy between supernaturals. If players want a more cordial relationship between characters of different races, they must develop it themselves in the course of play. Remember that while Contacts may perform favors, they expect favors in return. What's more, your Supernatural Contact is probably just as marginalized in his own community as the thin-blooded are among the Kindred. At the very least, you both risk disgrace in your respective communities.

merit | | permalink

You have friends in high places – maybe the FBI, the Mafia or the State Department. These friends can help you pull strings, meet people, funnel information or get a word in edgewise. Unlike the Backgrounds: Allies, Influence or Spies, these contacts are not permanent or reliable – you are known but not established, and your influence is limited. Even so, this Merit may improve your chances of using those Backgrounds successfully.

In story terms, Ties gets your foot in the door. In game terms, an appropriate Ties lowers the difficulty of Social rolls by one or two, depending on what you're doing:

Subtle request (pulling a license number): -2 difficulty
Demanding a favor (getting the local police chief to detain a few suspicious characters without charges): -one difficulty


Ties don't come from nowhere – something gives you privileged access to certain people. Before the chronicle begins, create a rationale or story explaining the Ties you have. Your Storyteller may disallow any Ties that seem inappropriate or overly powerful. It's not a good idea to abuse this Merit; the more you strain the Ties, the weaker they become. If you ask too much, or too frequently, you could blow the deal for good.

Unlike many other Merits, this Trait has variations; each one must be purchased separately for three points. These variations include (but are not limited to): Local Police, Local Underworld, National Police, International Crime Syndicate, Stock Market, Local Media, National Media, International Media, Black Market, Smuggling, Shipping, Local Government, National Government, Church, International Commerce and Military.

merit | | permalink

You have both influence over and contacts in the local Mafia and organized street gangs. This provides you with limited access to large numbers of soldiers, as well as extensive links to the underworld of crime. The more often you use your ties with the criminal element, the weaker they grow.

You must have at least one dot in the Contacts to have this merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

Somehow, you have failed to prove yourself worthy of the name Lasombra. Maybe your sire did not test you well enough, or an opportunity to prove yourself has not come up. Whatever the reason, you are not truly considered part of the Clan. All social dealings with other Lasombra suffer a -3 dice penalty. You may also not be chosen to sit in judgment in the Courts of Blood.

flaw | | permalink

A mortal whom you want to protect depends on you in some way. They need a lot of protection, too: Wards have a way of getting sucked into awkward situations, forcing you to change your own plans or even put yourself in danger. No matter how many people depend on you, however, you can take this Flaw only once.

A ward could be a relative, a lover, a friend or just about any mortal to whom one has a strong connection. Wards have no special influence or abilities they can offer in return (if they did, they would be Allies or Contacts).

Does the Ward know that you are a vampire? Keeping a Ward from knowing requires great effort. You spend a lot more time with a Ward than with a casual friend, under more demanding circumstances. Sooner or later, you have to explain away strange events and behavior: Why she never sees you during the day, or why a mugger's bullet knocked you down but didn't make you bleed. Letting a Ward in on your biggest secret endangers the Masquerade, though.

You may describe your ward, though the Storyteller will actually create her.

flaw | | permalink

Your shadow has a bizarre unlife of its own, reaching out with claws to grasp the shadows of those around you in a parody of feeding or billowing to a demonic mien when frenzy threatens to overtake you. Some Lasombra believe this curse afflicts only those who delve too deeply into the mysticism of the Abyss; others attribute it to infernal pacts, the wrath of God or a shameful lack of self-control. Regardless, you lose two dice from all Social rolls with other Lasombra who know of your problem. This Flaw occasionally manifests among vampires who do not belong to the Clan of Shadows, but such accursed individuals invariably disappear under mysterious circumstances, perhaps swallowed by their own alien darkness.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

You are closer to animals than humans, and it shows. In addition to the Nosferatu Clan weakness, you have an additional weakness: whenever you frenzy, you gain an animal feature, similar to the Gangrel Clan weakness.

With Storyteller permission, permanently acquired animal features may be justification to acquire certain Merits after character creation, such as Lizard Limbs or Monstrous Maw. If so, the Storyteller can simply award them, or require an experience point expenditure (such as two times the Merit point value). Similar Flaws can also be taken, but cannot grant additional freebie or experience points.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

Even though you are loyal to House and Clan Tremere, for some reason you are branded with the mark of the antitribu. It might be that you have returned to the Clan after leaving the Sabbat or that you unwittingly or as part of an undercover operation took part in the Vaulderie. Whatever the reason, the mark makes other Tremere wary of you. You will have to go that extra mile to prove yourself, and few among the Clan will trust you with positions of power and responsibility.

flaw | | permalink

For some reason, you are resistant to the bloodline flaws of any vampire from whom you drink. You can guzzle Nosferatu vitae until your stomach bursts, and your complexion won't suffer a whit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You have done more than just drink from the blood of the elders. Whether as punishment or by choice, you have become fully blood bound to Clan Tremere. You cannot act against the Clan, and find everything you do works in the service of the Tremere. You might not like it, but you can't help yourself doing it. Of course, now you are bound to the Clan, you cannot be bound to another individual. Many older Tremere have this Flaw, as it has been common in the past to completely blood bind new Tremere.

flaw | | permalink

You believe in the old folklore, and cannot cross running water unless you are at least 50 feet (15 meters) above it. Running water is considered to be any body of water at least two feet (half a meter) wide in any direction and not completely stagnant.

flaw | | permalink

Certain Baali associate too closely with spirits of corruption and plague to take pleasure from normal feeding. These vampires must instead take the cold blood of the dead, and if putrefaction has begun to set in, all the better. Of course, cold blood is less nutritious than warm, and vampires with this Flaw take one fewer Blood Point's benefit than they should from feeding.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character is not easily fooled by illusions. When faced with a supernatural illusion, such as those created by Obfuscate, Chimerstry, and the like, you may make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty equal to the opposing power's level +3) for your character to see through the effect.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Whenever you meet someone for the first time, you may spend a number of points of Willpower equal to your Perception. For each point spent, you may ask the Storyteller one question about the character. The Storyteller must either answer truthfully or let you take the Willpower point back to you to avoid answering the question.

merit | | permalink

You cast a reflection normally, which would cancel out the clan weakness — except that your reflection always shows the state you'd be in if you were dead. Any Lasombra more than a few decades old looks in reflection like an ambling skeleton. Younger vampires appear as rotting corpses.

flaw | | permalink

No thin-blooded vampire has felt the full force of this Flaw. None of them have existed long enough. In time, they will learn its full horror.

The Curse of Caine holds most vampires in ageless stasis, repairing any damage they might suffer. In your case, the Curse doesn't always succeed at fully repairing damage. When healing aggravated damage, the player must make a Stamina roll. The difficulty is 5 plus the number of levels of aggravated damage currently sustained (For instance, if you had taken 2 health levels of aggravated damage, the difficulty would be 7. After healing one level, the difficulty would drop to 6.) Failure means that, despite regaining the health level, your body still shows signs of damage. Perhaps burnt hair won't regrow or a healed wound leaves a scar. Botching the roll means losing one dot of some Physical Attribute or Appearance, chosen by the Storyteller.

You can repair this damage, if you know a skilled plastic surgeon -or mortician – who is privy to the Masquerade, but it's not easy. After all, the surgeon has to do a fair bit of cutting too. On the one hand, you receive a difficulty of only 6 to heal the wounds caused by the surgeon. On the other hand, you might receive another botch and be worse off than before.

As the decades pass and Attributes drop, decay sets in. Eventually you become a shambling, animate corpse. At such a point, Final Death may seem a mercy.

See the 5-point physical Flaw Flesh of the Corpse for an even more severe version of this debility.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce; Vicissitude 1+; cannot have the Mistaken Identity Flaw

You have escaped the tyranny of physical self-identity. You call no face your own. Every sunset, you awaken to a new visage, an amalgam pieced together from memory and dream. Your features, ethnicity, even gender become fluid things while you sleep. While this Flaw exemplifies the extreme ideals of Azi Dahaka (and should impress most Metamoosists), it can cause complications for vampire concerned with maintaining recognition, reputation, or a mortal alias. Every sundown, the player rolls one die and is subject to the results on the following table:

Roll - Result
one - No change.
2 - 3 - Minor changes, somewhat recognizable.
4 - 8 - Unrecognizable by even those closest to the character (such as her packmates or sire). Ethnicity and gender may change.
9 - 10 - Total metamoosis. Tentacles, bone spikes, or other inhuman features may appear.
This Flaw affects some Backgrounds.Without a stable face, Alternate Identity and Fame cannot be maintained. Backgrounds like Allies, Contacts, Influence, and Status might be complicated by the lack of a solid identity as well. The vampire can use Malleable Visage and a mirror to reconstruct her true face from memory, but this requires at least three successes at difficulty 8 to make her recognizable, and five successes for a flawless copy.

The Mistaken Identity Flaw cannot be taken. Other Merits/Flaws may be affected, at the Storyteller's discretion. Characters must have at least one dot of Vicissitude to take this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Even when using their Obfuscate abilities, Nosferatu still show up in their true form when noticed by machines, such as cameras or video surveillance. With this ability, the Nosferatu can extend their power to recorded images and media. However, as with Mask of the Thousand Faces, the original image isn't actually changed; it is just that people see it the way the Nosferatu wants it seen.

Unfortunately, computers are not so easily fooled: if the image is used for facial recognition software (for instance), the computer will see the Nosferatu's real face and fail to find a match. The Nosferatu has best take care how this power is used, as it may wear off in time. Some archived photos have given librarians a nasty suise, years after going into storage.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Brujah; Path of Entelechy followers

Brujah who have devoted themselves to mastering their frenzies through the Path of Entelechy sometimes find tangible benefits resulting from their efforts. A Brujah with this Merit may briefly delay the full onset of frenzy.

System: The player spends a Willpower point at the onset of frenzy and then rolls the Brujah's Entelechy rating. The difficulty is one higher than the original roll to resist frenzy. The Brujah still frenzies, but the player controls her character's actions for one turn per success. Furthermore, when the period of partial control ends and the Brujah loses control, the difficulty of any degeneration rolls triggered by sins committed during the frenzy are reduced by the number of successes rolled, to a minimum difficulty of 4.

merit | | permalink

All spirits that can communicate with mortals naturally possess the ability to communicate in any language. Like these spirits, you also have the natural ability to transcend language. When speaking with any sentient being (from Earth), you can understand its language as if it were your own.

Due to the limits of the human mind, you can only understand and speak one language at a time. If two people who speak different languages are talking with you at once you can only understand one of them. Using a coincidental Mind one Effect can allow you to understand multiple languages at once. Magically augmenting this gift to allow speech in multiple different tongues simultaneously is, of course, vulgar.

The Gift of Tongues Merit works only for conversation held in person, where you and the person you are speaking to can actually hear each other's unaltered voices. You cannot use this ability to read another language or to communicate by telephone, microphone or any other electronic or mechanical medium.

merit | | permalink

You are haunted by an angry and tormented spirit, most likely one of your first victims. This spirit actively attempts to hinder you, especially when feeding, and does its utmost to vent its anguish upon you and anyone in your presence. The Storyteller determines the exact nature of the spirit, its powers, and whether or not it can eventually be laid to rest.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

You are the land. The land is you. The home soil calls to you. You give to it, and it gives to you. Your connection to the earth of your prime haven grants you an extra die to all dice pools when operating there. It also acts as a mystic beacon, allowing you to home in on its location with a standard Perception + Survival roll (difficulty 6), +one difficulty when a state or country separates you; +2 if you're halfway across the globe. This applies only to your primary haven.

merit | | permalink

The tell-tale black streaks of diablerie do not manifest in your aura.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

Madness flows within your blood, but your bite carries a taint as well. Mortals take a temporary derangement for every three points of blood you take from them. The derangements stay until the mortal restores the lost blood.

flaw | | permalink

You were born lucky -- or else the Devil looks after his own. Either way, you may repeat any three failed rolls per story, including botches, but you may try only once per failed roll.

merit | | permalink

You have a friend and ally who just happens to be a mage. Though you have the right to call upon her in times of need, she can call on you as well. Most likely this mage is of the Euthanatos or Verbena, but she can be of any Tradition or Convention.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

In addition to the normal curse imposed upon you by your caste or sect, you suffer one additional one associated with the Assamite Clan. Most likely, you are a rare vizier or sorcerer within the Sabbat who suffers the Baali Curse in addition to your normal caste-imposed curse, but at the Storyteller's discretion, other combinations may be possible.

flaw | | permalink

You can see and interpret signs and omens. You are able to draw advice from these omens, for they provide hints of the future and warnings of the present. When the Storyteller feels that you are in position to see an omen, you will be required to make a Perception + Awareness roll, with the difficulty relative to how well the omen is concealed. If successful, you may then roll Intelligence + Occult to inteet what you have seen; the difficulty is again relative to the complexity of the omen.

merit | | permalink

You believe that much of your supernatural power depends on carrying a specific object (the Alp, a German vampire-spirit, needed its hat) Without that unique object, you must succeed at a Willpower check (difficulty 8) to activate any Discipline power.

flaw | | permalink

You are repelled by the sight of ordinary crosses, believing them to be symbols of holy might. When confronted by a cross, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) or flee from the symbol for the duration of the scene. If you botch the roll, not only must you attempt to flee, but the touch of the cross can cause aggravated damage (one health level of damage per turn that the cross touches your skin). This damage cannot be soaked, even if the vampire possesses Fortitude.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

The blood of your revenant family runs deep, deeper than the Embrace. The Disciplines that were innate to you as a ghoul have remained so as a Cainite. At character creation, select the ghoul family from which you hail. Instead of the Tzimisce's standard complement of Animalism, Auspex, and Vicissitude, you draw from your three family Disciplines for your starting allocation (though you may buy other Disciplines with freebies, as normal). You trade in the entire set of Tzimisce Clan Disciplines for the set of revenant family Disciplines, for the puses of in-Clan Experience cost.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

You were once part of a revenant family. Following the Embrace, you suffered both your Clan's weakness and your revenant family's limitation. The Storyteller might let you manifest a weakness from a lost or destroyed revenant line. This could add mystery to your background and allow for a bit of genealogical detective work, certainly making you a curiosity to the Romanian Legacy Foundation.

flaw | | permalink

Your voice is calm and soothing, almost entrancing. You may add two dice to all rolls that directly include use of your voice: singing, preaching, leadership, etc.

merit | | permalink

You have a ghostly companion and guide. The identity and exact powers of this spirit are up to the Storyteller, but it can be called upon in difficult situations for help and guidance.

Note: If your spirit mentor happens to be a wraith, take Wraith Companion instead.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

The use of True Faith against a supernatural creature typically requires use of a holy symbol. However, Inquisitors and other hunters with this Virtue are free from this restriction; they may use their Faith unfettered by any such psychological or religious crutch.

merit | mortal | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

For whatever reason, the Tremere curse was stronger in you than in most of your clanmates. This was no great liability while all of you were so afflicted. However, when ur-Shulgi cast the Breaking, the great ritual's power did not fully cleanse you. You now share you caste's thirst for Cainite blood – but for you, the very substance you crave is still poison.

The Tremere curse that once affected your clan has been weakened in you, but it is not completely gone. When you drink non-Assamite Cainite vitae, each blood point enters your blood pool normally. However, on the way down, it inflicts one automatic, unsoakable level of lethal damage in a combination of unnatural toxic shock and internal acid burns. On the plus side, all your difficulties to resist the warrior caste's addiction are at -one difficulty – think of it as aversion therapy. If you are a sorcerer or vizier, this Flaw is worth one additional point (for a total of 4), but you gain the warrior caste's addiction in addition to your own caste's weakness.

flaw | kindred | permalink

You have a friend and ally who just happens to be a werewolf. Though you may call upon this being in time of need, it also has the right to call upon you (after all, you are friends). However, neither your kind nor its appreciate such a relationship, and your respective societies will punish both of you if your friendship is discovered. Arranging for meeting places and methods of communication will be difficult. The Storyteller will create the werewolf character, but will not reveal to you its full powers and potencies.

merit | | permalink

This is the exact same Merit as Spirit Mentor. Just bear in mind that the spirit mentor is a wraith, and you can see and touch him in the Underworld. For those with Wraith: The Oblivion, consider the character one of the wraith's more powerful fetters.

merit | | permalink

You have an affinity with another Cainite (most likely a Toreador, but possibly one of another clan) not brought about Blood Oath other artificed means. You would lay down your unlives for each other, and you feel empty without the other nearby. Such bonds can be same sex or opposite sex, and there is no way to predict who your twin will be. A 3-point Merit indicates that you occasionally can sense the other's strong emotions (fear, joy, pain) if your twin is in the vicinity. A 5 point Merit means that you often sense your other's emotions, even at a distance, and can feel the other's physical pain or peril.

merit | | permalink

You currently hold one of the official Camarilla positions in your city. The degree of the power you possess depends on the cost of the Merit.

merit | | permalink

You have had a long-term (minimum of 75 years) relationship with a fellow Kindred. Although you may have had your disagreements over the many years, you are generally loyal to each other. You know most, if not all, of your paramour's secrets, and your paramour knows as much about you. You have both come to each other's aid several times over the ears, and you would be aggrieved were anything to happen to your love. The cost of this Merit depends on the relative power and position of your paramour in Kindred society (3 for an ancilla, 4 for another elder of equal power, 5 for a more powerful elder).

merit | | permalink

Witches have always been known for their beautiful fingernails and iron teeth, and your character lives up to this reputation, since coming from her, I'll scratch your eyes out! is not an idle threat. Or perhaps she has the horns of the devil or the hooves of a centaur, or something more mundane yet cooler - like a surgical steel plate in the skull with bolts to screw spikes on.

For 3 points, you may buy one type of attack; for 5 points, 2. Seven points allows you to buy three, and nine points allows you to buy 4. For eleven points, you can go for the full devil package and have claws, fangs horns, hooves and a barb at the end of your tail (though it costs an additional three points for your tail to be prehensile).

Maneuver - Difficulty - Damage
Bite - 5 - Strength +one
Claw - 6 - Strength +2
Kick - 7 - Strength +3
Gore - 7 - Strength +2 (Strength +4 after a charge, if you've just moved 10 yards or more)
Tail Strike - 6 - Strength +one

Claws, fangs, horns, hooves, and tail barbs come in varying sizes. The above list assumes you've got the smallest gauge. For an additional point, you can get a somewhat larger size, and another point beyond that gets you el grande, each size larger doing an additional +1 point of damage. However, this is not necessarily a great idea. Wolf claws can be painted and passed of as an expensive manicure, but vulture talons are a bit harder to hide, and a set of giant bear claws are not only incredibly conspicuous but will prevent you from doing things like typing or driving. Likewise, a nice pear of goat horns can be hidden under a top hat, but a set of onyx horns will need a sombrero, and there's no hiding a full rack of stag antlers, especially if you've got two points for every year of your age.

At Storyteller option, claws and so forth can be made retractable for an additional +one per unit of size, like vampire fangs can be pulled back in for on point; for two points, jumbo fangs (the type that stick down over your lip) can be pulled back into line with regular teeth, and for three points, even boar or walrus tusks can be made to disappear - though there will have to be a good explanation given for why this works.

merit | mage | permalink

You literally believe that peace is the way of the Drahma, Violence is an offence against the Dharmas themselves, and they would never manifest in someone who had stained himself with it.

For 3 points, your character immediately loses all benefits from use of foci if he ever commits an act of violence that isn’t direct self defense (i.e. striking preemptively or without cause). You probably have to use the Surpassing Foci rules to cast effects. The foci won’t work for your character until he makes some sort of restitution with the victim or purifies himself in a suitably arduous fashion (the restitution should generally be the easier option). For 5 points, you suffer this penalty if your character directly or indirectly commits a violent act against any sentient creature for any reason. In both cases, magical compulsion makes no difference. And yes, the problem becomes less severe as you discard foci.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite; 1+ dot in Assamite Sorcery

Whether through a weak will, a lingering anomaly from your mortal days or overuse of ritual components like kalif, you have become addicted to the alchemical psycoactive drugs that some sorcerers use to focus their blood magic. Going beyond a mere physical or psychological addiction, this dependence goes so far as to affect your very mastery of the powers at your command. Your competence with Assamite Sorcery is dependent on the frequency at which you cater to your addiction.

If you take this Flaw at 3 points, suffer a +2 difficulty to all rolls related to blood magic, including (but not limited to) use of path powers and rituals, whenever you are not under the drug of your choice. For 5 points, you are completely unable to focus yourself enough to perform even the simplest blood magic if the drug is not in your system.

Only characters with at least one dot in Assamite Sorcery may take this flaw. Non-Assamites may take this flaw if they somehow receive tutelage in the Discipline.

flaw | kindred | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

You believe in monsters and conspiracies, and your fellow agents know it. This credulous reputation makes you a liability -- no matter how much of the truth you actually know. With the three-point version of this flaws you're still a field agent, but your fellow agents either ignore you or openly mock you. Subtract one die from all Empathy, Investigation, or Leadership rolls when dealing with members of the intelligence community. If a supernatural creature is looking for a scapegoat, your name is top of the list. With the five-point version of this flaws, you're on your way out. You've got a make-work assignment -- maybe a feasibility study for building a wall along the Canadian border, or listening for intelligence coming out of the New Zealand field office. You won't get any backup, and if you continue to make trouble (by, say, investigating supernatural creatures), people high up in your agency's food chain will arrange an accident to shut you up permanently.

flaw | mortal | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character finds it impossible to use his Psychic Numina without the aid of a focus; he requires some aid or trigger to properly direct his powers. For three points, the character must gesture or speak a phrase or incantation for the power to work. For five points, the power requires a physical focus to function (such as crystals, a hypnotist's pocket watch, or a lucky coin).

flaw | mortal | permalink

You have grown cold and aloof, emotionally detached from the ever-changing world around you. You certainly understand good and evil as philosophical concepts, but morality is no longer something you feel with any passion. As a result, you add 2 to the difficulty of any degeneration check and pay double the usual experience to raise Compassion/Conviction or Road.

True Brujah may not purchase this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Caitiff

You hunger for blood, and like all vampires, you will eventually feed, but the thought of it still makes you sick. Maybe you're just not cut out for an eternity of bloodsucking, or you had an eating disorder in life that has followed you to the other side of mortality. Whatever the reason, you can't hold your blood. Whenever you feed, make a Stamina roll with a difficulty 8. If you fail, you vomit out the fresh blood before it can be absorbed into your body, spraying it everywhere (embarrassing at best, a breach of the Masquerade at worst). Note that blood taken in frenzy is absorbed normally, though this carries its own risks.

flaw | | permalink

You have the moral character of the Brujah of old, the proud warrior-poets who did what they did because their hearts called to them. If you ever fail a Conscience (but not Conviction) roll, you may spend a point of Willpower and attempt the roll again, at a difficulty of one higher than the last. If you succeed on this roll, it counts as if you succeeded on the first. You may do this only once per conscience roll; you must accept the results of the re-roll. If you botch this second roll, you lose one permanent point of Willpower in addition to any consequences of the failed Conscience roll.

merit | | permalink

It is not enough for you to draw nourishment from the blood of mortals -- you believe you must also consume your victim's heart, liver, and other blood-rich tissue. Of course, this will necessitate the deaths of all of your victims (unless you are extremely creative), which might lead to numerous problems with maintaining Humanity (and a low profile). Characters with this flaws should additionally purchase the Eat Food Merit.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Malkavian

You feel nothing but pain and numbness. While others find ways to make their lives worth living, you sometimes don't get that thrill. Once per session, the Storyteller may cancel any gain of Willpower points.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter; Possession of Psychic Numina

Your hunter has the rare ability to view his psychic abilities as separate from his physical existence and can maintain this distance even under adverse conditions. Wound penalties don't affect the use of Psychic Numina until your character reaches Incapacitated. If he's Incapacitated, then you may spend a Willpower point to use a Psychic Numina power at half the normal dice pool (rounded down). This action may be performed only once per scene, after which the character falls unconscious, so choose last-ditch efforts carefully. Note: This Merit may be used in conjunction only with Psychic Numina.

merit | | permalink

You simply cannot come to grips with the fact that you must drink blood to survive. You suffer horrible guilt over each time you feed (roll Conscience, difficulty 7, or else frenzy every time you feed -- characters with the Conviction Virtue cannot take this flaws) and try to avoid doing so as much as possible. This means that you rarely have much blood in your system, leaving you vulnerable to both attacks and hunger-based frenzies.

flaw | | permalink

You aren't swayed by emotion. Ever. Perhaps you're a strict Legalist who follows Han Fel Tzu's advice to keep emotion out of the business of living, or your heart has been calmed by years of meditation. In any event, even magical attempts to alter your emotional state almost always fail.

Your character is immune to all Mind effects that work on the emotions, the power of vampiric Presence and similar effects. He can still be swayed by attempts at direct mind control, such as possession, mental illusions, vampiric Dominate and the like, and extremely potent powers (with 7 or more dots) may overwhelm his defenses. Your character can be calm but weak willed, after all. Note that you cannot take moth this Merit and the Merit Iron Will. That would result in a quick ticket to Clarity!

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

It is hard to hold onto your Humanity within the Sabbat, or even simply as a vampire. However, you draw strength from your ability to empathize with the kine. Any degeneration checks you make while on Path of Humanity reduce their difficulty by 2.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

You never leave anything to chance; every action is a carefully considered stratagem. Once per session you may declare an action you are about to take is actually all part of your plan and reduce its difficulty by 2 points. The Storyteller may veto the use of this ability on particular rolls. The player and Storyteller should keep a note of each of these occasions and decide how they are linking together into a grand scheme.

merit | | permalink

Your aristocratic palette prefers the taste of a particular “vintage” of mortal blood, even to the point of spurning all other flavors. You may favor the delicate nectar of youthful virgins, the robust draught of the Norse or the touch of piety in a priest’s veins. Whatever your tastes, you may drink only from mortals who meet your criteria. All other blood tastes foul and rancid to you, and you will immediately vomit it like mortal food even in the throes of frenzy. Even your exacting sensibilities find Cainite blood sweet to the taste, no matter its source.

Ventrue may not purchase this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

The Beast leaves its mark on you long after it has run its course and had its way with you. If you ever botch a Self-Control (or Instinct) roll to resist (or ride the wave of) frenzy, you immediately acquire a compulsion derangement. The Storyteller should determine the nature of the particular compulsion, and you may indeed gain a wide and varied spectrum of compulsions.

flaw | | permalink

Like the stonecutter in the old Chinese folktale, your character has been a deer, a tiger, the rain, the wind, a rock and a stonecutter. Or at least, if she hasn't been all these things, she can easily imagine being all these things, and imagination is the most important thing.

If your mage is ever placed in a different body, the experience is perfectly natural. A man? Fine. A woman? Of course. A stoat? No problem. A 50-headed, 20-horned, million-tentacled thingy, like something from Japanese anime as reinterpreted by St. John the Baptist? Sure, sounds good.

If your mage is a shapechanger or a body-snatcher, or even a Virtual Adept who changes his icons on the Digital Web frequently, this Merit is almost a necessity. The alternative is to be faced with an unfamiliar body each time, or live existence with a limited catalog of familiar forms. As an added benefit, you do not need to make Willpower checks when sighting Progenitor monstrosities, horrors from the Deep Umbra, Crinos-form werewolves or Tzimisce Zulo forms because you've been there. Or at least your character's imagination has.

merit | | permalink

Whether it was a condition you held in life or an odd side effect of the Embrace, your nervous system is missing a few connections. You have very little tactile sense, whether pleasure or pain. The downside of this is obvious: One of your senses is greatly impaired, which can keep you from noticing important warnings (a blade at your back, for instance — or in it). You suffer a +3 difficulty to all tactile-related Perception rolls, and the Storyteller may call for a roll to notice even the blatantly obvious; you might not even notice that you’ve been shot if the bullet doesn’t knock you down outright.

However, your deadened nerves also protect you from pain, allowing you to ignore your wounds until your flesh is literally blasted from your bones. All penalties for wound levels are halved, rounding down; in other words, you suffer no penalties until you reach the Wounded level, where you deduct only one die from your dice pools, and even when Crippled you can still act at a mere 2-die penalty.

If the Storyteller is willing, it might be particularly rewarding for the Storyteller to keep track of the character’s health levels, and not let the player know exactly how badly his character has been wounded. Even if the Malkavian stops to give herself a quick look-over, the Storyteller puts things in the most general terms (i.e., There’s a number of holes in your chest, but you have no idea whether the bullets are lodged inside or not, Your left arm refuses to move, although you’re not sure why, and so on). This is a fair amount of extra work on the Storyteller’s behalf (particularly if in the interest of secrecy, the Storyteller makes all the Malkavian’s soak rolls in secret), but can add a lot of tension and verisimilitude to the game.

merit | | permalink

You cannot hear. While you may be more resistant to some applications of Dominate, you also may not listen to electronic or vocal media, and the difficulties of many Perception rolls are increased by 3.

flaw | | permalink

Your blood carries a lethal and highly contagious disease. The disease can be anything from rabies to HIV, and Kindred who drink your blood have a 10 percent chance of becoming a carrier as well. You must spend an extra blood point each night on awakening, or you will begin manifesting symptoms of the disease (increased chance to frenzy for rabies, reduced soak rolls for HIV, etc.).

As a Disease Carrier, if you take the flaw Infectious Bite it is only a one-point flaw unless your disease cannot be transmitted via bodily fluids.

flaw | | permalink

Your vitae is so weak that only 7 of your 10 blood points can be used for Disciplines, healing or raising Attributes. For these functions, you must expend 2 blood points to obtain the effect a normal vampire would achieve with one. (The cost for nightly rising remains a single blood point.) What's more, you cannot create or sustain ghouls, create a blood bond, or sire a vampiric childe. You can use the remaining 4 blood points to survive through the day and wake up each night, nothing more. You cannot raise any Discipline above 3 dots. The weakening of the Curse of Caine has compensations, though (which distinguish this flaws from the Thin Blood flaws itself). Sunlight does lethal damage to you, instead of aggravated damage as it does to other vampires. You can hold down mortal food and drink for an hour or so; other vampires vomit immediately if they try (unless they have the Eat Food Merit). Strangest of all, once in a while you might actually have a child the normal, human way... though it will hardly be a normal, human child.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

You have lost your heart. Either you removed it via The Heart of Darkness (see V20, p. 210), or an elder did it to you, but either way you no longer have easy access to it. The heart might be in the possession of a foe, or simply missing. If it turns out that a Cainite possesses the heart (say a Setite elder, or your sire) you must obey their every command. If it's merely missing, the anxiety and obsession to find it interferes with your nightly existence, and may increase the difficulty of Willpower rolls by +one at Storyteller discretion.

flaw | | permalink

You are abnormally large in size, at least 6'10 and 300 pounds in weight (well over 2 meters tall and over 130 kgs). Aside from making you extremely noticeable in public, this extra mass bestows an additional Bruised health level. Characters with this Merit may also gain bonuses to push objects, open barred doors, avoid being knocked down, etc.

merit | | permalink

You cannot speak. You may communicate with the Storyteller and describe your actions, but cannot talk to player or Storyteller characters unless everyone concerned purchases a commonly understood sign language (via the Language Merit) or you write down what you wish to say.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your arms and legs have leathery flaps of skin between them, similar to that of a flying squirrel. While they make finding clothes a nightmare, they also allow you to glide for short distances, given enough height and a decent wind. The Storyteller might require an Athletics roll when it comes to landing.

merit | | permalink

Your blood is thin, weak, and does not sustain you well. All blood point costs are doubled (e.g., using blood-related Disciplines or healing damage), although you only lose one blood upon rising in the evening. Furthermore, you are unable to create a blood bond, and efforts to sire other vampires succeed only one in 5 times.

flaw | | permalink

You control a major airport, and all Kindred who would use it must answer to you, for it is your domain.

merit | | permalink

You were once blood-bound but have secretly slipped the leash, and you are free to act as you will once more. Your regnant has no idea that you are not in fact bound, and continues to treat you as if you were. At Storyteller discretion, the experience of having been bound once may render you immune to ever being enthralled again. Sabbat vampires cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

One Clan in particular wants you dead. You have offended the entire Clan, from elders to neonates, and as a result every member of that bloodline wants your head on a plate. The effects of the flaws may manifest as anything from very public snubs and insults to actual attempts on your unlife. You are also at +2 difficulty on all Social rolls relating to members of the Clan in question.

flaw | | permalink

One particular Clan (not your own) has a special liking for you. You might have done the Clan as a whole a favor at some point, or perhaps you're just a loud voice in support of their aims. Whatever the case, you're at -2 difficulty on all friendly Social rolls involving members of the Clan in question. Of course, the reaction your cozy relationship with another Clan is likely to draw from your own Clan leaders is an entirely different can of worms.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

At some point in the past, your character undertook the Vaulderie. She may have legitimately tried to join the Sabbat, or perhaps she didn't know any better or was compelled. Regardless, she now bears the mark of the Betrayer. She has since been redeemed and welcomed back into the clan's ranks, but the mark will haunt her always.

As usual with the mark, all Tremere can tell that your character betrayed the clan once. Those who know of your character's past will treat her with contempt; add two dots to the social difficulties for interacting with other Tremere, so long as they're loyal to the clan. Tremere who don't know the circumstances will probably assume that your character is a Sabbat traitor, and might try to capture or destroy her, or at least attempt to inform the pyramid of her whereabouts. Should your character ever fail in her reports or relapse in bad behavior, you can expect that she will be hunted down just like the Tremere do with other threats.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Assamite

During your apprenticeship at Alamut, you somehow incurred the displeasure of one of the du'at, and your existence will be considerably more difficult as a result. Your enemy is unlikely to be your direct commander (the caliph in the case of warriors), and you may not even know his identity - though you may certainly try to find out and make your peace somehow.

flaw | | permalink

You have both Influence over and Contacts within an extremist group of some sort. This could be a group of near-insane survivalists with a cause, some hate group or a terrorist group. This group provides you with assistance, and possibly even agents to handle your dirty work. It might also provide you with ties to similar groups. The more often you use your ties, the weaker they grow.

merit | | permalink

You are pursued by a fanatical witch-hunter who believes (perhaps correctly) that you are a danger to humanity. All those with whom you associate, be they mortal or Kindred, may be hunted as well.

flaw | | permalink

You are friends with another Kindred who belongs to the Inconnu. Though you may call upon your friend in times of need, she may call on you as well. Neither of your sects appreciate such relationships, and your leaders would punish you if your friendship were discovered. Arranging methods of communication and meeting places will be difficult.

merit | | permalink

Not only are you blood bound, but you are also in thrall to a vampire who mistreats you hideously. Perhaps you are publicly abused or humiliated; perhaps your master forces you to commit unspeakable acts for him. In any case, existence under the bond is a never-ending nightmare, with your regnant serving to conduct the symphony of malice. Sabbat vampires cannot take this flaws.

flaw | | permalink

You're a god of getting things done. Whether you need some supplies, security clearance, favors or additional backup, you can get it with a phone call or two to the right people. Your suave personal and bureaucratic skills make the passage easier than it would be otherwise. After all, it's not what you ask for, but who you ask and how.

In game terms, this Merit subtracts two from the difficulty of all rolls that involve getting equipment, aid or favors through bureaucracy. Such rolls are usually based on the Backgrounds: Allies, Backup, Influence, Library, Mentor, Patron, Requisitions, or Resources, or the Merit: Ties. To use this Merit, you must plan out what you need, contact a friend or ally in the necessary department, then file a request. Naturally, you can blow this Merit if you're not respectful and grateful to the right people; the Storyteller may feel free to disallow or revoke this Trait if the character isn't doing his part to keep the red tape clear.

merit | | permalink

You have committed diablerie upon your own sire. If this information becomes known among other elder vampires you will be shunned, or perhaps even put to the sun. You are most certainly an easy target for blackmail, and you must always be alert to the signs of other Kindred searching for information about your sire and his untimely demise (or disappearance).

flaw | | permalink

You've got your fingers in too many pies, and people are starting to notice. You have too many ghouls, too many retainers, or too much influence, which means that a lot of people have a vested interest in trimming back your operations. These enemies take every opportunity to reduce your power and influence, and if that means lying, cheating, or killing, so be it. Furthermore, your enemies block every attempt you make to move into new areas of control. You're boxed in, and the box is getting smaller.

flaw | | permalink

The ruling vampires of the city value you and your opinions. You are called in to consult on decisions, and your recommendations carry great weight. Your position may not be an official one, but it's powerful nonetheless.

merit | | permalink

You are a defector. You turned traitor to the Camarilla, Sabbat, or other Sect, and you still have much to prove before you are accepted by the Kindred you have defected to. Other vampires treat you with distrust and even hostility, and your reputation might even sully those whom you regularly associate with.

flaw | | permalink

You are allied with a supernatural being, but not a vampire. This may be a werewolf comrade, the ghost of a relative, or even a friendly mage. You may ask for her help in times of need, but she may not always be able to help. She may also require your help at inconvenient times (such is the cost of friendship). It is highly improbable that your allegiance is looked on favorably by her kind, and any Kindred who discovered your relationship would almost certainly disapprove. The Storyteller will create your companion, be it werewolf, wraith, mage or something else entirely, and won't reveal her full capabilities.

(Note: This Merit supersedes those of Werewolf Companion and Spirit Mentor.)

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Oh, you're a bastard, all right, and if the other Nosferatu find out about this, they'll kill you on sight. You've been leaving information (through a designated drop point) about your alleged allies. This might involve regular e-mails, messages hidden at the same spot or a package you drop off for a courier. You must betray secrets about your allies, usually the members of your own coterie, every game session. At the end of the session, you must tell the Storyteller what you've done; if you haven't been enough of a bastard, one of your secrets winds up on the local information network.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Alastor; special

Similar to the Clan Friendship Merit, Trophy Allegiance opens doors and allows the character to be treated favorably by a specific Clan. The character has earned the Trophy from the Clan in question for taking down one of the Anathema. Word has spread throughout that Clan, that members should offer assistance and rewards to the character for their deed.
While the Trophy itself has likely already been covered with specific rewards, this Social Merit reflects more of a general goodwill and offers the character -2 difficulty on all friendly Social rolls involving members of the Trophy Clan who are familiar with the Alastor's deeds. Additionally, the character's reputation may earn her the occasional small favor such as the use of a haven, a loaner car, access to information from Trophy Clan members. Note: This Merit is only available to Alastor characters who have killed an Anathema and earned a Trophy.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Alastor; special

The character has begun to wear out his welcome when it comes to making demands on the Trophy Clan. While the Clan has promised him any number of rewards, both monetary and supernatural, the new Alastor has been abusing the Trophy's Clan hospitality and is taking advantage of them. Making demands of local Kindred resources, throwing the fallen Anathema back in the Clan's face, or being overly arrogant about the fact that the Clan owes the character are just some of the ways an Alastor can demonstrate this flaws. Note: This flaws is only available to Alastor characters who have killed an Anathema. It is not available to those named Alastors by Justicars and Inner Circle.

flaw | | permalink

You have control over a university. The trustees and important officials serve your interests. You have full access to the school, and you can hunt the campus freely. The professors and libraries are useful in providing you with research information. The campus also has lots of computer equipment, along with those who know how to use it.

merit | | permalink

You feel a deep mystical connection with the earth and must rest amid two or more handfuls of soil from a place of personal significance. The dirt may come from your homeland or your empty grave, as befits your attachment. Every day of rest that you forgo such contact cumulatively halves all dice pools until all actions use a single die. This Flaw occasionally manifests among blood sorcerers as a result of botched magic, tying a vampire to a grave he violated for a ritual component or the tainted soil of Kupala’s domain.

Tzimisce may not purchase this Flaw.

flaw | kindred | permalink

You have a great destiny, though you may well not realize it. Your destiny will become more and more apparent as the chronicle continues. Prophecies and dreams guide your way, and grant you clues to your ultimate goal. The sense of direction and security granted by this feeling of destiny helps you overcome fear, depression and discouragement caused by anything not relevant to your destiny. Until your destiny is fulfilled, you may suffer setbacks, but nothing will thwart you permanently. How this is played is up to the Storyteller.

merit | all | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

The Holy Spirit bloweth where it listeth. You understand this. You see the fractal reflections of your God in other religions, and you remain humble in knowing how little of the divine you can know. Where others must brandish the holy symbols of their tradition when using True Faith, you see the supernal spark at the core of beliefs beyond your own, and you are able to use their religious icons and holy ground when confronting the supernatural. Likewise, in your presence, a group of individuals from different religions may pool their True Faith for greater effect. Such a communal pool requires only one person with this Merit. You can be the bridge that connects all faiths as brothers and sisters in the long, dark night of the soul.

merit | | permalink

Very few unlucky Lasombra are afflicted with this Flaw, in which the shadows that they summon may well turn and attack him without provocation (a Lasombra with this Flaw must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) each time he uses an Obtenebration power of Level 3 or above. a success indicates that the power functions normlly; with a failure the s ummoned shadows attack their putative master.)

flaw | | permalink

There is no ecstasy in your Embrace -- only terror and pain. Mortals upon whom you feed struggle and shriek while you attempt to feed, requiring you to grapple with them for as long as you wish to take their blood. For vampires with high Humanity, this experience may require a Humanity roll, at the discretion of the Storyteller. Giovanni cannot take this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Your very nature makes it difficult for Kindred to even look at you. To them, you have a Level one Obfuscate.

merit | | permalink

Whether you know it or not, you are kin to a werewolf tribe. You carry the blood of the Garou in your veins, and your own children may be Garou.

For ghouls, being Kinfolk can be an advantage or a hindrance. If purchased as a Merit, then you are still on amicable terms with your relatives (Garou and Kinfolk alike). Although they will never allow you to bring any vampire friends into their territory (and may well use lethal means to enforce their privacy), they have an interest in your well-being and give you aid so long as this doesn't compromise their principles. Of course, your kin do not want you to be a ghoul forever, as they would like you to return to their society and raise a family of your own. Typically, only independent ghouls may purchase Kinfolk as a Merit.

However, it's more likely that the Garou consider a ghoul Kinfolk to be a serious threat. If bought as a Flaw, then your extended family believes you may compromise their security. They seek either to remove you entirely from your diet and/or domitor's influence, or to kill you as a favor to your corrupted soul. This Flaw earns you dangerous enemies, one from whom your domitor (if any) is very unlikely to intercede and rescue you. This Flaw is more appropriate for vassal ghouls, as no werewolf would agree to let one of their precious Kin be sworn to a vampire.

Revenants cannot be Kinfolk, either as a Merit or as a Flaw.

flaw merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

Common to the Gangrel known as the Knights of Avalon, you are able to control how your Beast manifests more than others do. Whenever you would gain an animalistic feature, roll your current Willpower (difficulty 12 - Humanity rating, maximum 9). If successful, you manage to channel your humanity to avoid gaining an animalistic feature. However, your Beast is further from you, making you at +2 difficulty to rolls involving Animalism or Protean (or combo Disciplines involving those powers) for the rest of the evening. Vampires on a Path of Enlightenment lose all access to this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Sabbat; must be on a Path of Enlightenment other than Humanity

Over the course of history, some of the Auctoritas Ritae have been lost, either due to the death of Sabbat members, or because the ritus simply was not as integral to the Sect's survival in the modern world. One of these lost ritae was the Mark of Caine, which offered protection against weapons of faith. As faith has declined in the modern world, the ritus was used less and less, until eventually, priests who know the ritae have become all but extinct.

Some vampires who participated in the lost Mark of Caine ritus were especially blessed, and still bear a faint sign of favor. Such vampires are always old, pre-dating the first Sabbat Civil War, and once had this ritual cast upon them by a powerful practitioner. These vampires have a small, faded mark upon their forehead that resembles the Hebraic letter tav.

Those who bear the Mark of Caine gain a twisted form of True Faith. They can use the effects of the first dot of True Faith -- they must use symbols of Caine as holy symbols. Further, they get +2 dice to resist mortal True Faith. Only vampires on spiritual Paths of Enlightenment can use this Merit -- if a Cainite reverts to Humanity or succumbs to wassail, all benefit from this Merit is lost forever.

merit | | permalink

God speaks to you in signs and portents, visions and images. Some visions may be precognitive, while others might be warnings or advice. You cannot request or induce a prophetic vision; they come on their own. These visions will range from the obvious to the symbolic; the exact nature and effect of the visions is up to the Storyteller. This Merit should provide dramatic moments, and players should not come to rely upon them for plot resolution.

merit | | permalink

Before the Embrace, you received the traditional Giovanni Proxy Kiss. This means you have one free dot of Potence, and the other members of your clan tend to be comfortable that you were Embraced in the proper Giovanni fashion. On the downside, you are partially blood bound to someone – probably someone other than your sire. Given the way the anziani like to balance things out, you may well have been Embraced by someone who dislikes or disagrees with your domitor.

You may take this Merit a second time (for a total of 8 points) to gain a free dot of Fortitude, indicating a very long service as a ghoul. If you do this, it means that you’re: (a) partially bound to three Kindred, (b) one-third bound to one and two-thirds bound to another, or (c) fully bound to the Kindred who Embraced you, who will probably be in deep shit with the elders – if she isn’t an elder herself.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

The supernatural process that usually keeps a vampire's form from rotting after death has failed to work on you. Your body has become putrescent and fragile as it gradually decays. All soak rolls you make have their dice pool reduced by one. You may even lose body parts if you suffer a solid enough blow. Should this happen, make a Stamina roll (difficulty 6) and lose a part of your body (Storyteller's choice) if you fail. Should you botch, you also receive a level of aggravated damage. These missing parts may regrow, but your body continues to rot.

flaw | | permalink

For some reason, you have been gifted with the ability to detect when any of the Devil's arts (i.e., magic) is in use or has been used recently within a 10-foot radius of yourself. This also includes all supernatural Disciplines and Gifts. How much you may know about this magic depends upon the number of successes you roll using Perception + Occult (difficulty 8).

merit | | permalink

You can see and hear all varieties of spirits, changelings, wraiths and similar entities. This Merit provides all of the advantages granted by the Merit Medium. Like the Medium Merit, Spirit Sight reduces the difficulties of all Spirit magic by two. Nevertheless, this ability is a mixed blessing. Seeing these beings is not a choice; it is a normal part of your vision. You cannot help but see them. Being yelled at by an irate wraith who is shaking her fist in your face can be extremely distracting if you are attempting to hold a conversation with a Sleeper, and it's even worse if you are driving a car in bad weather!

Many shamans have this Merit, and shamans often look for people with Spirit Sight as potential students. Unfortunately, most Sleepers with this Merit conceal it poorly and instead end up in asylums.

merit | | permalink

You have discovered, perhaps too late, a true love. He or she is mortal, but is the center of your existence, and inspires you to keep going in a world of darkness and despair. Whenever you suffer, the thought of your true love gives you the strength to persevere. This Merit grants you one automatic success on all Willpower rolls, which can be negated only by a botch die. This can be a great gift but also a hindrance, for your true love may require protection and occasionally rescue.

merit | | permalink

You have been made the target of a blood hunt, and for you to return to your home city is death. For four points, this flaws means that only your home city is off-limits to you. For six, it means that the entire Camarilla is howling for your vitae. This flaws can only be taken by Camarilla vampires.

flaw | | permalink

You've studied under multiple mentors, and you learned a little bit from each. Though you tend to follow one Tradition, Convention or Disparate way of magic, you picked up enough tricks to use one other group's tools to a certain degree.

In game terms, one of your Spheres can be cross-trained, allowing you to use foci and Effects that would normally be the province of a different group. For instance, if you are a Hermetic mage who cross-trained with the Virtual Adepts, you might be able to use computers for Correspondence Effects, so that you can have your spells reach out and touch someone. You must still have the proper skills to use the particular foci, though.

Cross-training does not prevent you from using your normal Tradition/Convention/Craft foci and Effects with your chosen Sphere. However, you can only choose to cross-train within the same group; if you follow a Tradition, you can only cross-train with another Tradition, and so on. (Orphans can cross-train with any one group.)

merit | | permalink

You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have 5 fewer points to spend on your Talents (so the greatest number of points you can spend on your Talents at the beginning of play would be eight, and the fewest would be zero). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to buy Talents. However, at the beginning of the game, you cannot have more than 3 dots in any Talent.

flaw | | permalink

You have a large pool of miscellaneous skills and knowledge obtained through your extensive travels, the jobs you've held, or just all-around know -how. You automatically have one dot in all Skill and Knowledge Dice Pools. This is an illusory level, used only to simulate a wide range of abilities. If the character trains or spends experience in the Skill or Knowledge, he must first buy one dot, then 2, etc. as if he had no dot in it.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Government Agent

You're the worst kind of double agent: One who doesn't know he's compromised. Some power unknown to you gave you a task, and you can't help but carry it out. Your controller has programmed you to react to a specific signal -- it could be a trigger word, a pattern of flashing lights, or a specific image. When you encounter your trigger, you'll do whatever your master asked of you. Afterwards, you'll remember up to the point where you encountered the signal -- the rest is a blank. Common duties include spying on your own organization, destroying sensitive documents, assassinating a target named at the same time as the trigger, or stealing valuable equipment. Work with the Storyteller to come up with a signal and a duty. Optionally, you can let the Storyteller work out the details of what you're up to. At some point she will describe your trigger, and you have no knowledge of what happens between that point and when you come around. The Storyteller may leave what happens when you're triggered a mystery -- or might have the other characters encounter you when you're programmed. Work with her to portray your character in his brainwashed state. The brainwashing is strong enough that even supernatural powers may not sway your character from his task.

flaw | | permalink

Truthfully speaking, this sort of behavior should probably not be considered a Flaw, but as many in society view peace as weakness, it can be a disadvantage. Due to strong religious or moral convictions, you will not harm another being. You may defend yourself with warding magic or deflective effects, and may even engage in peaceful demonstrations and resistance. However, you may not cause damage to anyone. It is important to note that this is a psychological restriction, not a supernatural one. Certainly, it is possible for you to hurt someone accidentally, but you should never do it on purpose. Players taking this Flaw should be prepared to play its difficult restrictions. In most Storytelling games there is likely to be some level of physical conflict that makes playing it seem impossible. Nevertheless, great men from Martin Luther King to Gandhi have practiced pacifism.

flaw | | permalink

You're not just absent-minded, your brain is downright deteriorated. You must make a Wits roll or spend a Willpower point to remember just about anything except your name or to attempt any Knowledge roll. You are also susceptible to daydreaming, and may spend days at a time reacting to the world as you remember it 50 years ago. Mages with this Flaw often prove to be a threat to themselves and others around them.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Toreador; follow of the Path of Humanity

Your Humanity is strong and can more easily withstand the Beast's assaults. You gain 2 additional dice on any Conscience roll. This degree of moral resilience allows a well-behaved vampire to lose Humanity at a much slower rate than would otherwise be possible. Only vampires following Humanity may take this Merit, and the Merit is lost forever in the event that the vampire takes up another Path of Enlightenment

merit | | permalink

Rage and passion constantly war in the soul of a volatile Brujah. Perhaps you were ill tempered before the Embrace, or perhaps your Brujah lineage awakened some latent fury. In any case, even more so than your clanmates, you are prone to frenzy. Difficulties to resist frenzy are always 10 for this character. Prepare for a short, hellish ride.

flaw | | permalink

You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have 5 fewer points to spend on your Knowledges (so the greatest number of points you can spend on your Knowledges at the beginning of play would be eight, and the fewest would be zero). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to buy Knowledges. However, at the beginning of the game, you cannot have more than 3 dots in any Knowledges.

flaw | | permalink

You have tight control over your emotions and a monstrous awareness of self. All rolls to affect you with Presence or otherwise magically tamper with your emotions add 2 to the difficulty. Only characters with Self-Control 4+ and Willpower 6+ may purchase or retain the benefits of this Merit.

merit | | permalink

You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have 5 fewer points to spend on your Skills (so the greatest number of points you can spend on your Skills at the beginning of play would be eight, and the fewest would be zero). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to buy Skills. However, at the beginning of the game, you cannot have more than 3 dots in any Skills.

flaw | | permalink

You've seen and done almost everything imaginable. Once per session, you may add one automatic success to any one non-magical action, whether it is an attack, dodge, research or persuasion. When undertaking the task, you remember doing something like it before (When I was at Shiloh...) and draw upon your experience to help you.

merit | | permalink

In life, you suffered from the genetic disorder CIPA. When you were Embraced, you somehow retained this disorder. You cannot feel pain at all, and never suffer any dice penalties for physical pain. This is not without its setbacks, however. Though you can feel pressure from being hit, you have no idea how hard you were hit. The storyteller keeps track of your health, and rolls your soak dice for you. While you may still spend blood to heal yourself, you often will be unaware of the extent of any damage you suffered, or whather it was soaked entirely. If you choose to spend blood to heal yourself, and have taken no damage, the blood point(s) are still spent, but wasted. During combat, you may take a full combat action to check yourself for any obvious injuries (the ST will tell you the current dice pool penalty which would be applied if you did not have CIPA, not the actual amount of damage taken). During combat, to differentiate between aggravated and lethal damage you must make a Perception roll at difficulty 5. When out of combat, checking yourself will always let you determine wheter or not any damage taken was aggrivated.

Note that if you have no outward signs of injury and are inspecting for wounds, you must make a Perception + Medicine roll at difficulty 8 to detect internal injuries. This cannot be done in combat.

Also, psychological/supernatural means of causing pain, (ie. Burning Touch) still cause pain as normal.

merit | | permalink

Your flesh does not fully regenerate itself once it is damaged. While you are able to heal yourself to the point of regaining full functionality, your skin still retains the cuts, tears, bullet holes, and other visible damage that you have incurred. Depending on the nature of the damage, this flaws will make social dealings exceedingly difficult, and may decrease your Appearance dots over time (even to 0).

flaw | | permalink

During your Embrace, something went horribly wrong, causing your blood to mutate under the stress of dying and rising again. All those you try to Embrace die. No matter what you do, you may not create any childer. However, your blood can still be used in blood rituals like Thaumaturgy and the Vaulderie, or for any other vampiric needs like making ghouls.

flaw | | permalink

Generations of royal inbreeding and minimal activity in life have left you infirm in undeath... Your frail constitution has greater difficulty drawing nourishment from human or animal blood, requiring you to drink 2 blood points for every one added to your blood pool. Cainite blood still affords full nourishment, which may well lead you to the forbidden hunger of the Amaranth.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

While you are still hideous, you are not quite as ugly as most Nosferatu. You still have an appearance of 0, but you might pass for human in the right light. It is a still a good idea to cover up and stay in the shadows, but the sight of you (or even the smell of you) is not cause for someone to immediately think of you as a freak or a trauma victim.. Having said that, you are still ugly enough to unnerve the crap out of most people.

merit | | permalink

Your blood is especially potent. Any Kindred who tastes your blood will find it extremely rich and potent and will recognize its great strength. Any diabolist who tastes it will lust after it. You can Blood Bond someone with but 2 drinks of your blood.

merit | | permalink

You cannot get your third eye to close. It remains open even when you sleep. While you can cover it, covering it tightly is too painful to be borne. You may spend Willpower to force it shut for 10 minutes, but it snaps back open immediately thereafter.

This may not be taken with the Merit Disciplined Eye.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Brujah

Your natural charisma draws mortals to you like groupies to a rock star. Consequently, it is easier for you to acquire certain Backgrounds related to mortals.

System: In addition to any Backgrounds acquired at character creation or through roleplay, you can purchase new Backgrounds with experience points at the end of each story. The available Backgrounds are Allies, Contacts, Herd, Retainers, and each new dot costs the current rating in experience points.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

You were Embraced into a Clan other than the Followers of Set. However, you have accepted the Setite religion, undergone the vetting process and rites, and have been formally inducted into the cult. You have access to Sentis and Setite Blood Sorcery (though you pay out-of-Clan costs to learn them). You may even study one of their Paths of Enlightenment.

It is important to note that Setites from other Clans or bloodlines are not treated as second-class citizens. You are no longer a dupe they can string along. Once you are in, you are a sibling of faith, which is a much more important distinction than blood. An outsider accepting the Dark God is a joyous event, even to the most conservative elder. There are even rumors of non-Kindred supernatural beings joining the cult.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Anarch; cannot have Hunted Like a Dog or Sire's Resentment

You belong to a prestigious lineage that is considered to be paragon of another sect, or at least it did before you joined the Anarch Movement. You have embarrassed your sire, grandsire, and perhaps even farther back up the line; now the time has come to pay. Your erstwhile broodmates want to bring you back into the fold, if only to clean the stain from your reputation, and are unwilling to recognize your independence. Your sire and grandsire spare no effort to make things uncomfortable for you and any Anarchs who shelter you. This flaws combines the effects of Sire's Resentment and Hunted Like a Dog, so those flawss may not be taken in conjunction with Black Sheep.

In addition, many members of the Anarch Movement actively distrust you solely based on your lineage, believing that you are a double-agent. All social rolls involving your fellow Anarchs incur a +2 difficulty.

flaw | | permalink

You own a castle with at least 50 rooms and maybe as many as 500. You also control a large estate around the castle. The servants, if you have any, are provided for if you choose this Merit. The castle can be in as poor or as good a condition as you wish. The more inhabited it appears to be, the more attention it will garner. Characters in the New World cannot have this Merit unless they can justify it – An insane relative had the castle moved from Scotland, stone by stone.

merit | | permalink

You have a particular influence and sway over a major corporation and associated companies, just as if you were its chief executive officer. Indeed, you may have owned this company before your Embrace, and retained your control. Through this corporation, you know much that takes place in the corporate community, and have the means to wage economic warfare. This Merit provides you with some informal Contacts and Resources, the exact extent of which are determined by the Storyteller.

merit | | permalink

You have committed diablerie at least once to achieve your current position of power. Although not all members of elder Kindred society know of your terrible flaw, at least some elders of import are aware of it. You are certain word of your proscribed behavior is slowly making its way though society. Adding to the danger, there is always the possibility of a Blood Hunt despite your elder status. If they haven't already, certain elders can be expected to use their information to force you to back their causes. You receive a +3 difficulty modifier on any Social roll involving elder Kindred who know your secret.

flaw | | permalink

You count yourself among the harpies, the vampires who rule the roost in Elysium. Yours is one of the voices that mock, exalt or humble the Kindred of the city.. Your opinion is very influential, which means that you’re going to face all sorts of attempts - from bribes to threats - to change it. You are at -one difficulty on all Social rolls when acting in your official capacity.

merit | | permalink

Somehow you've drawn the scorn of the local Haes, who make you their favorite target. You are at a +2 difficulty on all Social rolls in Elysium and a +one anywhere else in the city. In addition, you are at +2 difficulty to use Intimidation or any Dominate powers on anyone who has heard the stories mocking you. This flaws can only be taken by Camarilla vampires.

flaw | | permalink

You can take one additional Discipline (Storyteller discretion) as if it were a Clan Discipline. All costs to learn that Discipline are paid out as if it were native to your Clan. A character cannot take this Merit more than once, and Caitiff vampires cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Follower of Set

Something slithers beneath your skin, coiled in your very essence -- something that causes the Lupines to stalk you for some dread puse you do not understand. Their howls follow in your wake. You catch glimpses of blurred motion and the gleam of eyes and teeth in the dark. They get closer every night. What do they want from you?

You radiate corruption to such a degree that any Garou in the locale are drawn towards you. This is a serious Flaw, as your unlife is constantly threatened by frenzied attacks directed against you by enraged werewolves.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Arcanum Member

You can see through all levels of Kindred Obfuscate, Chimerstry, and other related Disciplines or supernatural power, with a Perception + Alertness roll against the opposing power's level + 3.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce

There is something hungry inside of you. But what is it? Portions of the Antediluvian? Your Vicissitude gone horribly wrong? Whatever it is, it is active, acting like a cancer, devouring you from the inside out. Your very blood is wrought with corrosive, flesh-eating bacteria. At the beginning of each evening, you suffer one health level of lethal damage that cannot be soaked nor healed with blood. The only way to counteract the effect is by ingesting one-tenth of your body-weight in flesh to supplement your depleted carcass. Whether you kill and devour the skin from humans or raid the biohazard containers of liposuction clinics for siphoned fat, you need your ration of human flesh in order to survive. If you try and ingest this macabre meal before damage is done, you'll simply vomit it out like any other food -- this does not impart the benefits of the Eat Food Merit.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Your body is still dying on the inside, your rotting entrails providing nutrition for noxious bacteria, spores, and even fungi. Mortals that touch you or on whom you feed must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 9) not to fall ill. The illness puts them in bed with fever and sickness, and each week they may attempt the Stamina roll again. The Storyteller might reduce the difficulty if the target is receiving proper medical attention. On a success they recover, but if they fail, they remain feverish. At the end of each month the victim remains ill, they lose a point of Stamina; if they are reduced to zero Stamina they die. If the Nosferatu knows of their contagion and infects someone maliciously, the Storyteller might call for a Humanity (or appropriate Path of Enlightenment) degeneration roll if they die. Supernatural creatures generally have the ability to heal or cure such sickness in themselves, and vampires are immune to these germs of the dead.

flaw | | permalink

You are doomed to experience Final Death or, worse, suffer eternal agony. No matter what you do, you cannot avoid this terrible fate. At some point during the chronicle, your Dark Fate will come upon you. Even more ghastly is the fact that you occasionally have visions of this fate, and the malaise these images inspire requires an expenditure of a temporary Willpower point to avoid, or else you lose a die from all of your actions for the remainder of the night. It is up to the Storyteller to determine the exact nature of this fate, and when it will occur. This is a difficult Flaw to roleplay; ironically, though it may seem as though it removes all free will, the knowledge of one's death can be quite liberating.

flaw | | permalink

The voices in your head may tell you things, but by God, they're useful things. You have a personal guide and advisor (bought as usual through the Background: Mentor) who exists largely in your own skull. He may have been a Malkavian who uploaded himself into the Network, or perhaps he's an imaginary construct with access to the shared memories of the clan. Either way, it's exceedingly hard for your enemies to cut you off from your mentor's counsel, and it's usually pretty easy to call on his advice when you need it. Unfortunately, this Merit also has its drawbacks; your mentor can find you whenever he chooses, and can be a real distraction when you're trying to do something he finds irrelevant You're not freed from the obligations of your relationship, either; you find yourself running errands for your mentor just as often as any other pupil would, if not more so.

merit | | permalink

The healing power of God runs through you. Non-aggravated damage (normally an irrelevant distinction for mortals, who have no supernatural means of healing damage) heals as though it is one wound level less. If you are Wounded, you will heal in one week. If you are Bruised, you will heal in a matter of hours. If you are not wounded, then those who are under your medical care will heal at your enhanced rate as well. Note that this might seem miraculous, but it will not be scientifically verifiable. You won't get canonized just for this.

Unfortunately, vampires find your blood particularly strong and tasty — twice as potent as that of other mortals, in fact. Even better, you heal more quickly. Vampires consider you in the same manner you look at an all-you-can eat buffet....

merit | | permalink

You were previously turned into a Ghoul by a Vampire (and obviously had a falling out with your prior master). This gives you all the Ghoulish benefits, including a Blood Pool, a Potence rating of one (and the potential for other Disciplines), and retarded aging. Unfortunately, to keep your immortal state, you need a regular supply of Kindred vitae (once a month minimum) or become mortal once more. If you revert to mortality, you can never again become a Ghoul and will age at the following rate:

Real Age - Aging
Less than 100 years - Normal
100-250 years - 10x normal (each day counts as 10)
250 or more years - Instantly crumble to dust


Ghouls who begin the game at 100 or more years get three free points to spend on Skills and Knowledges (they have the experience of a long life without the rigidity of the Vampire brain); ghouls who are 250 or more years old have six free points.

merit | | permalink

You exude the spiritual blight of death. Insects die if they fly too near you, while most small plants shrivel and die within a foot of your presence. Even large trees take on blight in the places you touch. Larger animals, including humans, suffer one level of lethal damage for every hour they spend in close proximity to you. Such damage has no outward sign, manifesting as inexplicable weakness. This nepenthe also sets mortals and even vampires ill at ease, adding one to the difficulty of all Social rolls not involving Intimidation. Unlike the Flaw Touch of Frost, you really do leave a swath of desiccated grass and leaves as you pass. Cappadocians may take this Flaw in place of their normal clan curse, in which case they receive only two points and suffer their usual social difficulties, but may vainly show a “flush of life” if they so desire. Cappadocians who take this Flaw in addition to their clan curse receive the usual number of bonus points and cumulatively sum their Social penalties, adding +2 to the difficulty of all Social rolls not involving Intimidation.

flaw | | permalink

You are a conduit to the ultimate darkness that lies Beyond. Lights dim in your presence and shadows rustle at the edge of vision in dire anticipation of your blasphemy. Small fires extinguish when you draw close and the chill of the Void is in your touch. Your player must roll your Obtenebration rating against the soak difficulty of any mundane flame within two yards of you. This roll is reflexive and mandatory, and success extinguishes the flame. This dimming is in addition to suffering the effects of Touch of Frost and Eerie Presence. The Flaw conveys one benefit: Your unnatural radiance reduces the difficulty of all Intimidation rolls by 3, to a minimum difficulty of 4. Characters must have at least one dot of Obtenebration to purchase this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Nosferatu

Human speech is impossible for you. It might be that your mouth is too misshapen after the Embrace, or that years of living in the sewers have made you forget how to communicate. While you can understand what is being said to you, you cannot respond. Telepathy works on you as normal, and you have no problem communicating with animals, but human speech is barred to you.

flaw | | permalink

Like an heir of Avalon, you possess a higher purpose. Other Technocrats may be working for the future, but you carry a vision of a glorious past. In your dreams, you are a Night of Reason, a valiant crusader for the common good. No matter what occurs, that vision cannot be silenced. When adversity knocks you on your ass, the paladin within you rallies, carrying you to victory. At night, you often visit bygone places in incredibly vivid dreams. Dreams that seem almost disturbing in their sensory detail... especially if you find things in the waking world that remind you of those dreams....

Essentially, this Merit reflects a past life – the reincarnated Avatar of an ancient Daedalean. Since no modern Technocrat would admit such a thing, your character considers this reborn soul a heroic dream. When he's facing some deadly crisis, the modern agent can call on his dream self and remember things he never learned (like historical details and personalities); display skills he was never taught (like the Background: Dream at 5, but without entering a trance); or rally an additional five points of Willpower. These temporary Traits and memories last only a few minutes (in game time, a scene or two), but they carry with them a sense of having lived before. Naturally, these visions – of being a knight, an artist, an alchemist or crusader – are just romantic fantasies. But are they really? After a while, you might start to wonder...

(For players of Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, this Merit provides an excellent link between a Renaissance character and his 20th-century counterpart – a link that allows limited crossover tales, guest appearances by old characters and story hooks involving ancient evils, lost inventions or historical events. No Technocrat would admit the possibility of reincarnation, but in your game, anything is possible.)

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Lasombra

Your self-confidence comes not from a belief in your own abilities, but due to a direct manifesto from the Lord. You have a divine puse and He works through you, even though your goals may seem anything but holy. Whether it is because of you powerful will or an actual connection to the divine, you gain three additional dice to resist the powers of True Faith when they are used against you, including soaking damage from True Faith abilities.

merit | | permalink

You are even more sensitive to sunlight than other vampires are. Sunlight causes double normal damage, and the light of the moon can cause lethal damage in a manner similar to the sun, though it must shine directly upon you. Even bright lights hurt your eyes, requiring the use of sunglasses. Followers of Set and related bloodlines cannot take this Flaw, as they already have a worse version of it.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

Your blood is so tied to magic that you find you are unable to use any Discipline apart from Thaumaturgy (and for Kindred who are not Tremere, it is still paid for at out-of-Clan rates). While no path or ritual is barred to you, you may not gain any dots in any other Discipline.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

You have inherited more of your clan's stolen Tzimisce blood than most of your clanmates and have thus become something of a throwback to your parent clan. You may, therefore choose Vicissitude, rather than Dominate, as a clan Discipline. Improving your rating of Vicissitude, however, may present difficulties. Unless you can locate another Tremere willing and able to teach you further mastery of Vicissitude's higher levels, you must seek further instruction from a Tzimisce (most likely though coercion).

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Due to mysterious circumstances, your character's blood is poisonous to vampires. Should a vampire drink from him, every blood point imbibed causes one health level of bashing damage to her. Vampires naturally resent mortals known to possess this blessing and may well seek their destruction. Storytellers are encouraged to have an explanation for this aberration in their chronicles, though the player (and likely character) may not be immediately privy to such knowledge. Some examples include holy protection from a higher power, a rare ritual of protection, or even a genetic abnormality.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tzimisce; Vicissitude 1+

Your flesh ripples and molds itself to your preternatural will, almost before you consciously invoke the change. The difficulty to use any Vicissitude power on yourself is two less than normal, and you may activate Vicissitude powers reflexively at your full dice pool while taking other actions. Powers that require multiple turns to activate still require the usual duration. The change simply occurs without conscious direction. As a final benefit, you need no physical sculpting to use the first three levels of Vicissitude on yourself, as your flesh undulates and extrudes to its desired shape. Only characters with at least one dot of Vicissitude may purchase this Merit.

merit | | permalink

The Curse of Caine runs strongly in your veins. You may spend one more blood point per turn than your generation should permit. You look especially pale and drawn under Aura Perception and yet oddly flushed with abundant health.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Hunter

Your character has a safe house that is a true sanctuary. Supernatural creatures require a successful Willpower check (difficulty 9) in order to enter her home without an invitation. It might be due some strange mystical occurrence, luck, a forgotten ritual, or perhaps your character's house stands on consecrated ground. This Merit must be assigned to a single building in which the character has a permanent residence. Good examples of a sanctuary might be a house, a small apartment building, or a church.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Giovanni; cannot have the Mortuario Merit

Giovanni with this atavism are few and far between. Kindred possessing it do not bear the traditional Giovanni Clan weakness, the so-called Curse of Lamia; their Kiss causes no more damage than the blood loss itself. These vampires acquire a peculiar pallor upon their Embrace, however -- they look like coes, and no amount of blood ingestion can flush their features (as other vampires are able to do). Indeed, the bearer of this Merit more closely resembles the Clan's Cappadocian ancestors, and they have a slightly unnerving air about them. As a result, all rolls involving a Social attribute (Charisma, Manipulation, or Appearance) are at +one difficulty.

Giovanni with this Merit are afforded wide berth, as the Giovanni tend to be quite superstitious about it. Characters with the Sanguine Incongruity Merit may not also possess the Mortuario Merit.

merit | | permalink

Your character is able to use one of the Spheres of magic with a greater degree of ease than other mages. For whatever reason (inborn talent, powerful heritage, past life, supernatural bargain, etc.), she's got an affinity for a certain kind of magic. She picked it up quickly, and she now progresses through it at an unusual rate.

During character creation, select one Sphere. From this point on, you only pay three-quarters of the normal cost (rounded down) when buying levels, rituals and similar improvements for magic of that Sphere alone. The favored Sphere must be declared at character creation, and it may be purchased only once.

merit | | permalink

For whatever reason, you unconsciously cause a peculiar supernatural form of feedback through the links of the blood bond. Although you're not immune to being blood bound (and cannot take the Merit: Unbondable), if you do become bound to someone, your regnant also becomes blood bound to you to an equal extent. Even if she was already blood bound to another, she now has the unenviable position of being regnant to two vampires at once. This can obviously lead to some unplanned and quite twisted codependent relationships.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Tremere

Something about you refuses to respond to Thaumaturgy. Magic just doesn't work for you. You cannot take any ability in the Thaumaturgy Discipline or any of its paths or rituals. For a Tremere this is doubly difficult, as skill in Thaumaturgy is often the key to position within the Clan. While some willingly choose to ignore their thaumaturgical studies and serve in other ways, ineptitude is never excused. Only Tremere can take this Flaw.

flaw | | permalink

The Beast is awake within you. You are prone to frenzies, just like Vampires. These are caused by situations of intense emotions: fear, anger, hate. You are a figure of great rage and fear to the rest of humanity, much like Charles Manson. Mortals with a high Humanity who buy this Flaw are doomed, like Kindred, to a horrible degeneration into bestiality.

flaw | | permalink

Prerequisites: Gangrel

Your Protean forms are flexible; you may choose a different animal form each time you change shape. The form you choose each time must follow all the conventions and rules of standard Protean animal shapes; you simply may choose to appear as a different animal each time you take Beast Form.

merit | | permalink

You are immune to being blood bound. Tremere cannot take this Merit.

merit | | permalink

The Embrace has awakened within you an aspect of personality that others find particularly compelling. You may select one Background from the following group: Allies, Black Hand Membership, Clan Prestige, Contacts, Fame, Herd, Influence, Mentor, Resources, Retainers, Sabbat Status or Status. Your maximum Trait score in that Background may exceed your normal generation limit by one. For example, a 10th-generation Kindred may take this Merit and enjoy the benefits of a Contacts Background of 6. You may take this Merit for only one Background, which may drop (and thereafter possibly rise again) at the Storyteller's discretion. Players should choose this Merit only for a Background that makes sense – a Camarilla archon is unlikely to have a Black Hand Membership Background of 7, for example.

merit | | permalink

Someone or something watches over you and protects you from harm. You have no idea who or what it is, but you have an idea that someone is looking out for you. In times of great need you may be supernaturally protected. However, one can never count upon a guardian angel. The Storyteller must decide why you are being watched over, and by what (not necessarily an angel, despite the name).

merit | | permalink

Fate has granted you the opportunity to come as close to Final Death as anyone can get and still survive. When a roll occurs that would result in your death, the roll is made again. If the next roll succeeds, then you live -- and one of your nine lives is used up. If that subsequent roll fails, then another reroll is made, until either a successful roll occurs or your nine lives are used up. The Storyteller should keep careful count of how many lives the character has remaining.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Giovanni

The Giovanni Clan is by its nature inexorably tied to the realm beyond the sudario. Giovanni suffering from this Flaw are so tied to the Shadowlands that even in the lands of the living they must interact with the world of the dead on a nightly basis. To shadow walkers, objects in the Underworld are as real as anything found in the physical world. Such vampires find that the ghosts of walls may impeded their flight, ghostly objects may strike them, and wraiths' powers work as if the Kindred were on the far side of the Shroud. This Flaw is similar to the Ash Path power Dead Hand, except that Shadow Walker is always on and it in no way allows the character possessing it to perceive beyond the Shroud.

The Storyteller may determine that certain Shadowlands topography interferes with you. Unless you have some ability to do so, you can't see into the Shadowlands, so you have to be careful in feeling your way about -- essentially, a blind man subject to the Underworld landscape. At the Storyteller's discretion, immaterial walls or environmental effects may restrict you.

flaw | | permalink

You managed to make it through the Creation Rites or other similarly traumatic experience, but not wholly intact. The most insignificant thing can throw you into a different mood or state of mind, and as such your behavior is extremely unpredictable. Because of your precarious emotional state, your Willpower fluctuates. At the beginning of each story, make a Willpower roll (you may not spend Willpower for an automatic success). If you succeed, you may participate in the story as normal. If you fail, however, your Willpower score is considered to be one for the duration of that session, and you only have one Willpower point to spend. You may roll again at the beginning of the next session to see if you regain your Willpower.

flaw | | permalink

You cannot see. Characters can compensate for the loss of vision by becoming more attuned to other sensory input, but visual cues and images are lost to them. Difficulties of all Dexterity-based rolls are increased by 2. Oddly, vampires with Aura Perception (Auspex 2) are still able to use this ability, thought the information is inteeted via the other senses. On the other hand, vampires who need make eye contact to enact powers like Dominate against you are only at a penalty to do so.

flaw | | permalink

You have another vampire who acts as your right hand in everything. She is loyal, capable, and powerful enough to stand against those in her way. She may be Blood Bound to you, but would serve your will anyway.

merit | | permalink

You are either being considered for or are already on the dreaded Red List, the registry of those vampires the Camarilla most wants extinguished. Any Camarilla vampire will either attack you on sight or, more likely, call in for a great deal of help.

flaw | | permalink

You are favored by some higher power to the extent that the corrosive touch of Hell does not harm you. You are unaffected by the paths and rituals of Dark Thaumaturgy. Characters with this Merit may never learn Dark Thaumaturgy themselves, and they are affected by normal Thaumaturgy as any other character is. Storytellers, if a player wants to take this Merit without it fitting the character concept or having any rational reason, kick the stinking gumby out of your game.

merit | | permalink

Prerequisites: Society of Leopold Member

Some call you Witch-Hammer, for your naked hands do grievous hurt to the children of the elder night. All your Brawling damage is considered aggravated against supernaturals. Work with the Storyteller to create a good reason for this rare effect, and how it developed. Only mortals with Humanity of seven or higher may purchase (or keep) this Merit.

merit | mortal | permalink

In the horrific event of your diablerie, the Kindred who commits the act gains none of the benefits of diablerie (generation, Disciplines, etc.), but he does suffer the drawbacks (aura veins, loss of Humanity, etc.). Obviously, this won't do you much good, but it is an excellent way to give one final Screw you! to your murderer. And the members of your former coterie can always avenge you.... A vampire with this Merit will never become a wraith. Instead, she goes into the unknowable beyond upon her diablerie.

merit | | permalink

Whether from advanced age, your addiction to Diablerie, or the degradation of your Humanity, you are no longer capable of drinking mortal blood to sustain yourself and must feed upon the vitae of other vampires to survive. You may attempt to drink the blood of mortals, but it tastes bland and it will not nourish you. The sole advantage to such hunger is that you find no allure in human blood and thus no longer perceive humans as food. As such, the sight, scent or taste of human blood will never drive you into frenzy. If you are not extremely careful, however, your thirst will inevitably lead you to blood oaths and the forbidden draught of the Amaranth. If you do not feed on other vampires -- you will go into torpor.

flaw | | permalink

The Scourge is a vampire-specific plague that infects the Blood. This disease is a mutated strain of leprosy crossed with the bubonic plague which directly attacks the vampire's vitae. Once infected, the victim must spend more blood each time they expend vitae. The cost for any vitae expenditure increases by one for each night the victim suffers from The Scourge. In some cases, the victim also suffers from a disfiguring malady that impacts their appearance but does not threaten their life.

While The Scourge is curable on a case-by-case basis, the disease itself cannot be exterminated. In extremely rare cases, an afflicted vampire becomes a carrier of the disease and immune to its effects. The carrier then spreads The Scourge to other vampires. Currently, there is only one known carrier of the disease.

flaw | | permalink

You have a deep-seated faith in and love for God, or whatever name you choose to call the Almighty. You begin the game with 1 point of True Faith; this Trait adds one die per point to all Willpower and Virtue rolls. You must have a Humanity of 9 or higher to choose this Merit, and if you lose even a single point, all your Faith points are lost and may be regained only when the lost Humanity is recovered. Individuals with True Faith are capable of performing magical acts akin to miracles, but the exact nature of those acts are up to the Storyteller.

merit | kindred | permalink