Draft expanded renown

Any Race

Human

Aptitude Merit Cost Type Source Details Ability Aptitude 1 Aptitude WW4600 Synopsis: For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. System: Within your character's specific Aptitude, reduce all difficulties by two. A natural linguist picks up languages easily, speaking without any trace of accent, and a crack driver can perform phenomenal car tricks with ease. This Aptitude functions for one Ability, but it can be taken multiple times for a character who's a natural with, say, computers and technoloty. Notes: See +rules Ability Aptitude: Limited to 2 Ability Aptitude Merits Does not apply to combat An AA in Rituals applies to performing level 1 and 2 rites, but no higher. Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page# 291 Ambidextrous 1 or 2 Aptitude WW3108 WW3806 WW4805 WW4600 Synopsis: You have a high degree of secondary-hand dexterity and can perform tasks with the "wrong" hand at no penalty. System: The normal penalty for using both hands at once to perform different tasks (such as fighting with a weapon in each hand) is +1 difficulty for the "right" hand and +3 difficulty for the other hand; with this Merit, the penalty is at +1 for each hand. Notes: House rules, due to heavy inconsistency across different books: Without the merit, using a weapon in each hand within a single turn requires two actions (extra or split), and the one in your off hand is +1 difficulty. With the 1-dot merit: The +1 difficulty is negated. With the 2-dot merit: The +1 difficulty is negated. You can split actions to use both weapons without the split-action penalty, provided you take no other actions during the same turn. If you do take other actions during the same turn, then this part of the merit does not benefit you during that turn. Some weapons require both hands, though the +1 difficulty does not apply. All relevant +equip templates include 'Two-Handed: Y'. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #288 Computer Aptitude 1 Aptitude WW3108 WW8202 Synopsis: You have a natural affinity for computers. System: The difficulties of all rolls to repair, construct, or operate computers are reduced by 2. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #13 Demon Player's Guide, page #81 Catlike Balance 1 Aptitude WW4600 Synopsis: You possess an innately perfect sense of balance. System: You reduce the difficulties of all balance-related rolls (e.g., Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by two. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page# 288 Daredevil 3 Aptitude WW3108 WW3806 Ww8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: You are good at taking risks and even better at surviving them. System: All difficulties are at -2 whenever you try something exceptionally dangerous, and you can ignore a single "one" on such rolls (as if you had an extra success). Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #288 Early Adopter 1 Aptitude WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: "Wow! Look at that new palmtop computer. I just got to have one." Your character's mortal host was the kind of person who wanted to have the latest gadgets and technology. It's a drain on your character's cash, and her apartment is cluttered with some neat seeming technology that turned out to be crap, but you have a solid sense of how to use the latest gadgets. System: You quickly understand and use most new consumer level technology. Add two dice to any Technology roll when trying to figure out how to use a new gadget. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Expert Driver 1 Aptitude WW3108 Synopsis: You have a knack for driving wheeled motor vehicles, such as cars, 18-wheelers and even tractors. System: The difficulties of all rolls requiring risky or especially difficult driving maneuvers are reduced by 2. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #13 Eye for a Bargain 1 Aptitude WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host had a knack for getting things cheaply. Sometimes she gets the good she needs in sales. Sometimes she gets them through wholesalers. Other times, she just hunts around until she finds a bargain. System: However she does it, the difficulty of any Resources roll you make decreases by two. Notes: Called "Bargain Hound" in Hunter. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Lucky 4 Aptitude WW8202 WW4600 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host was normally a very lucky sort of person. Since she was a kid, things always worked out her way. Maybe she took a job with a small firm just before the business went through the roof, leading to her rapid promotion. System: Once per chapter (game session), the Storyteller may decrease the difficulty of a critical roll you make by two. If you succeed, it's because some random factor makes things easier for your character. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #81 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #296 Mechanical Aptitude 1 Aptitude WW3108 Synopsis: You are naturally adept with all kinds of mechanical devices. System: The difficulties of all dice rolls to understand, repair, or operate any kind of mechanical device are reduced by 2. However, this Merit doesn't help you drive any sort of vehicle. Notes: This aptitude does not extend to electronic devices, such as computers; see Computer Aptitude above. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #13 Natural Aptitude 3 Aptitude WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has a particular Ability at which she excels. She's just a natural or has studied it so extensively that the ability comes easily to her. System: You pay fewer than normal experience points to gain dots in the Ability, and each level is achieved as if it were one lower. The first point of the Ability costs only one experience point to gain if your character learns it after play begins. You also gain one extra die on any roll involving that Ability. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Natural Linguist 2 Aptitude WW3108 WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: You have a flair for languages. System: This Merit does not allow you to learn more languages than are permitted by your Linguistics score, but you may add 3 dice to any roll involving languages (both written and spoken). Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Traveler's Intuition 1 Aptitude WW4508 Synopsis: No matter where you might be headed, a certain "navigator reckoning" keeps you going in more or less the right direction. This sense is in no way exact, but it can keep you from getting hopelessly lost, even in a maze. It might take time - lots of time - but you will find your way to your destination. System: Ruleswise, this Merit functions as a plot device. In any nonmagical maze, wilderness or city, you can find your way to your goal without becoming hopelessly lost. Navication-based rolls (usually Perception + Science: Navigation) have their difficulties reduced by two. Note that this is not an "internal map"; under most circumstances, you simply have a feeling about which direction to take. Unless someone uses magic to puzzle you, you'll never get really lost. If someone does try to foul your senses with a spell, this Merit gives you an extra die of countermagic to resist the enchantment's effects. When combined with magical navigation (like the Wayferer's Reckoning spell), this Merit reduces the casting difficulty by 2, but does not confer any other benefit for Connection-based spells (and the usual maximum reduction of -3 still applies). Notes: Book Ref: The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 Economic Merit Cost Type Source Details Alimony Recipient 1 to 3 Economic WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's host's marriage has failed, but at least that cheating bastard has to pay for it. The level of Merit you buy indicates the number of Resources points your character can have (that must be purchased separately) for which she doesn't have to work. Her rating also suggests how wealthy her ex was or how badly he was beaten in court. Chances are she has the Children Flaw, too. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Flexible Job 3 Economic WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's job allows her to work flexible hours or allows her to travel a lot. Or perhaps she's effectively her own boss, with no one monitoring her activities. System: However she does it, she can earn her Resources rating through a job that doesn't significantly restrict her activities. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Good Credit Rating 2 Economic WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host always paid off her debts on time and built up enough financial security to keep the most cynical banker happy. System: She can access a decent amount of credit as a result. Your character must have a Resources rating of 3 or more to purchase this Merit. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Independent Income 1 to 5 Economic WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Through hard work, heredity or phenomenal good fortune, your character's Resources rating is an independent income for which she doesn't have to work. The level of Merit you buy indicates how many dots of Resources (which must be purchased separately) your character has that do not require her to work. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Paid Mortgage 3 Economic WW8202<be> WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's house is her own. She's paid off the bank, so mortgage repayments are no longer an issue, nor is repossession a threat. No matter what happens, she at least has a roof over her head. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Wealthy Partner 2 Economic WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's "other half" is pulling in a fortune, at least by her earning standards, and he's happy to be the breadwinner. With him covering the bills and living expenses, she can get away with a part-time job that allows her time to fulfill her obligations to allies, superiors, and so on. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Legal Merit Cost Type Source Details Dual Nationality 2 Legal WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Thanks to being born from parents of different countries, your character's mortal host has dual nationality. She might even have two passports. This makes it easy for her to operate in two different places and even hide out in another country if things get too hot for her in her normal place of residence. System: Notes: They mean Dual Citizenship. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Firearms License 2 Legal WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: The effect of this Merit depends on the country in which your game is set. In some countries (such as the UK) it indicates that your character is allowed to carry weapons. Without this Merit, possession of a firearm is illegal. In countries where individuals have a right to bear arms, it indicates that your character has a license to carry unusual or powerful firearms such as automatic weapons. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Specialist Drivers License 1 Legal WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's driving repertoire extends far beyond the SUV or sports car. System: She is qualified to drive trucks, farm vehicles or some other specialized form of vehicular transportation. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Location Merit Cost Type Source Details Hideaway 2 Location WW4010 Synopsis: You have a special hiding place that no one knows about - a house, a cottage, a nicely furbished cave, etc. You never registered this place in your name, so anyone trying to trace you there is going to have a very hard time. This hideaway is modestly furnished and stocked with enough goods for a two week stay. Such places are good for practicing secret magics - or for hiding from enemies. System: If someone goes on an active search to find your hideaway, your Storyteller may roll two dice against difficulty 6. At least one success means that no one has found the place. Failure indicates that you didn't cover your tracks very well; now they know where you live (more or less). Four cumulative failures leads them right to you; a botch immediately renders your secret worthless. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Vibrant Neighborhood 2 Location WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character lives in a part of the city where everything goes, and does so most of the time. The streets are fairly busy late at night, and the inhabitants are up to all sorts of strange things. If anything odd happens, people tend to dismiss it as just another part of the local routine. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Code of Honor 2 Mental WW8202 WW8120 WW4805 WW4600 Synopsis: Your character has a personal code of ethics to which she adheres strictly. This code might be related to her experiences in the war or something of a legacy from her mortal host. You should work out the details of your code with the Storyteller before play begins. System: You gain two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when accomplishing a major feat in accordance with that code. Notes: Versions of this Merit that cost 1 point are not used on City of Hope. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page#291 Common Sense 1 Mental WW3108 WW3806 WW8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: You have a significant amount of practical, every day wisdom. System: If you're about to do something counter to common sense, the Storyteller may alert you to what you are trying to do and how it might violate practicality. This Merit is an ideal one for a novice player, for it allows you to receive advice from the Storyteller concerning what you can and cant do, and (even more importantly) what you should and shouldn't do. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Demon Player's Guide, page #81 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #291 Concentration 1 Mental WW3108 WW3806 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: You have learned to focus your mind, shutting out any distractions and annoyances. System: You are immune to circumstantial penalties that might otherwise affect your dice pools or difficulties; if trying to pick a lock in a rainstorm, for instance, the quality of the lock would still affect the difficulty of the task, but the distraction of the rainstorm would not. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #291 Determined 2 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is one tenacious bitch, determined to go her own way. It can be really difficult for people to persuade her otherwise. System: Gain two dice in any resisted roll in which someone tries to persuade her to do something. You might also have the Stubborn Flaw. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Direction Sense 4 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has an innate sense of where she is and the distance she's traveled. System: She can make a good guess at which way is north, even without clues like the position of the sun. She rarely gets lost and can estimate the distance between two points pretty well. She might even be able to navigate her way through London's one-way systems. Maybe. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Eidetic Memory 2 Mental WW3108 WW8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: You have a "photographic" memory and can remember in perfect detail things seen and heard. System: By gaining at least one success on an Perception + Alertness roll, you can recall any sight or sound accurately, even if you heard it or glanced at it only once (although the difficulty of such a feat would be high). Five successes enable you to recall an event perfectly: The Storyteller relates to you exactly what was seen or heard. Notes: Mokole must buy the 4 point version listed in the Mokole section. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #192 Fast learner 3 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character learns the basics of a subject very quickly indeed. She can cram simple information about virtually any subject into her head quickly and easily. It takes the normal time to develop a deeper knowledge of course, but your character starts getting the hang of things very quickly. System: The cost to gain a new Ability is one experience point instead of three. The costs for higher levels are normal, however. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Fast Reader 1 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character can read and understand a piece of writing far faster than most people can. While this Merit can make long train or plain journeys expensive propositions due to the number of books and magazines she goes through, it allows her to quickly extract useful information from anything written in her mortal host's native language. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Good Map Reader 1 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is the Holy Grail of drivers everywhere: someone who can read a map well. Whether it's using an old map and a road atlas to locate an Earthbound's lair, or the New York subway plan and a street atlas, she can find her way to where she needs to be. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #81 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Good Recognition 1 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is great at remembering people's names and places she's been. System: She can call to mind the name of somebody she met briefly at a party three months ago, while a bit drunk, as clearly as if she met them only yesterday. She can also remember the streets she staggered down on the way home. She's even good at remembering the names of people mentioned in newspaper stories and TV reports, as well as locations glimpsed in photographs or on TV. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Internet Savvy 2 Mental WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: The internet is becoming increasingly common, but it is far from universal. Many users never progress beyond the basic email/simple surfing to "sites whose address you know" stage. System: Characters with this Merit are adept at using the Internet in all its vast, rambling confusion - no small feat for the technologically challenged fallen. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Jack of All Trades 3 Mental WW3806 Synopsis: You have a little knowledge about a lot of things. System: If making a roll on a skill you do not possess, you do not suffer the usual +1 penalty to the roll's difficulty. You may attempt to roll on a Knowledge that you do not possess, although the difficulty for the roll is still raised by 2. Notes: Shifter characters: Only Homid or Metis characters may take this Merit. Book Ref: Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Lightning Calculator 1 Mental WW3108 WW4600 Synopsis: Your natural affinity for numbers and your talent for mental arithmetic make you a natural for working with computers or betting at the race tracks. System: All relevant rolls are made at -2 difficulty. Another possible use for this Merit, 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 for the difficulty of some action you are about to perform. Notes: You as the player are welcome to use a calculator during play, even when your character is fleeing for her life. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #291 Time Sense 1 Mental WW8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: Your character has an almost uncanny sense of time. She can estimate the amount of time that has passed, as well as the approximate time of day, without using a clock or any other means of measuring time. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #291 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Acute Sense 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: One of your character's senses, be it sight, smell, taste, touch or hearing is exceptionally keen. System: The difficulty of any roll involving this sense decreases by two. Notes: Maximum limit for Acute Senses on City of Hope is 3. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Cat Napper 2 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: While your character needs six to eight hours of sleep per night, she doesn't need it all at once. She can catch her Zs as and when she can. System: As long as her naps total six to eight hours in a 24 hour period - and they usually do unless she's forcibly denied naps - she can function as normal. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #109 Double Jointed 1 Physical WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You possess uncanny flexibility. System: The difficulty of any roll involving body flexibility (such as wriggling free from an opponent's grasp) is reduced by 2. You can contort yourself into odd positions or squeeze into small spaces with this Merit. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #20 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #158 Forgettable 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: It's not that your character is ugly. It's just that, well, people's eyes tend to slide over her. She's of average height and build, unremarkable looks and run of the mill dress. People have problems remembering her appearance after they meet her, unless she has talked with them for a long time. Certainly, people wont be able to give a useful description of her if they only see her briefly. System: Your character must have an Appearance of 2 or 3 and a Charisma no higher than 3 to take this Merit. If either of those Attributes moves outside that range through play, you lose this Merit. This Merit applies solely to your character's physical appearance. She might have a dreadful credit rating, a police file as thick as the phone book, and a sexual history that would make a porn star blush, but people just don't remember her on the street. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #109 Good Night Vision 2 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Maybe your character's mortal host spent a lot of time camping. maybe she's just a fisherman who's used to getting up before dawn. For whatever reason, your character's night vision is excellent. System: The difficulty of Perception rolls decreases by two at night. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Good Right Hook 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: The power of your character's punch belies her actual strength. Maybe she took up boxing at the gym, or perhaps she's just been in a lot of fights. Regardless, people tend to fall over when your character hits them. System: Add two dice to your damage roll for any Brawl based attack. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Hollow Leg 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character can drink like a fish. The amount of alcohol she can put away during a binge is truly phenomenal. What's more aggravating to her buddies is how little she suffers for it. Anyone who gets in a drinking competition with your character quickly regrets it. System: Halve the penalties your character suffers for consuming alcohol. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Huge Size 4 Physical WW3108 WW3806 WW8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: You are abnormally large in size, possibly over seven feet tall and 400 pounds in weight in Homid form. System: You therefore have one additional Health Level, and you can suffer more harm before you are incapacitated. Treat this Merit as an extra Bruised Health Level, with no penalties to rolls. Of course, with your immense size comes other problems, (blending into a crowd, finding clothes that fit, being seated on a plane)... Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), pg.#21 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #288 Light Sleeper 1 to 3 Physical WW4010 WW2224 WW8202 WW8120 WW4600 Synopsis: For one point, you function quite well on four hours of sleep a night. If the Storyteller imposes penalties on other players for sleep deprivation (one- or two-die penalties are suggested), then you are exempt. Needless to say, this Merit allows your character to accomplish a lot more with his daily activities. xxxxxFor two points, you sleep only about two hours per night. This resilience is quite unusual, and it lets your character get a ot more done. It also means that he has the luxury of sleeping while on the run. xxxxxFor three points, you're truly sleepless. You may suffer penalties from exhaustion, but he does not need shut-eye. Perhaps your mage's brain's sleep center was destroyed in an accident, or he may be something like a golem that's designed to stand forever vigilant. Regardless, the only time your character sleeps is if he's drugged or beaten unconcious. System: Notes: Use this Merit instead of "Bundle of Energy". The 2 and 3 point versions of this Merit are obviously less natural. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #66 Mummy: The Resurrection (2nd Edition), page #68 Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #291 Natural Runner 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host enjoyed running ever since she was a kid. While most people wheeze and complain about exercising, running has always been an absolute pleasure for her. As a result, your character can run like the wind when the occasion demands it. System: Your character's Dexterity counts as one point higher than it actually is for the purposes of determining movement rates. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Perfect Balance 1 Physical WW3108 WW3806 WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your sense of balance is acute thanks to constant training or inherited traits. It's very unlikely that you'll ever fall during your life. You may trip, but you always catch yourself before you fully lose your footing or handhold. System: This Merit aids such actions as tightrope walking, crossing ice and climbing mountains; all such feats are at -2 difficulty. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Players Guide to Garou, page #159 Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #109 Robust Health 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has the constitution of an ox. She rarely gets ill, if at all, and food poisoning is a stranger to her. System: Reduce the difficulty of any roll to resist illness or poisoning - including alcohol poisoning - by two. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #109 Sea Legs 1 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is no landlubber, but a salty sea dog at heart. She's at home on a boat even when traveling rough seas. System: She suffers no penalty incurred due to rough seas or unpredictable ship motion on any actions performed while aboard. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Hunter Player's Guide, page #109 Sexy 2 Physical WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's one sexy mutha. She might not necessarily be that classically good looking, but there's something about the way she moves and acts that exudes sexuality. As a result, she drawls in members of the opposite sex, or homosexual members of her own sex, with raw animal magnetism. System: You may reduce the difficulty of any Social roll by two when dealing with a character who is attracted to your character. If you actively attempt to use your character's charms against someone, you may reduce the difficulty by three. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Psychological Merit Cost Type Source Details Berserker 2 Psychological WW4600 Synopsis: The ancient Celts called this state the "Battle Fury", and when it takes over your mage, everything is tinted with a red haze as he kills. And kills. And kills some more. System: Your character feels no pain, and he ignores all wound penalties when berserk. Whenever your character is injured in combat, make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6 + the number of Wound Levels suffered so far that scene). Add two to that difficulty if you have the Short Fuse Flaw (up to a maximum difficulty of 10). If you fail, your character enters the battle fury, and he may ignore all wound penalties. Unfortunately, he wont know friend from foe, and he will kill until there's nothing left standing. xxxxxTo end the battle fury, you must make a Willpower roll at the same difficulty. Subtract one from the difficulty if the person on the receiving end is your True Love or someone similarly important. Otherwise, everyone just has to run and hide until you come down. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page# 288 Healthy Cynicism 1 Psychological WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is good at separating truth from fiction, and someone has to be up pretty damn early to catch her off guard. She rarely takes what people say at face value until she's able to check the details herself. System: This Merit allows you to reduce the difficulty by two on any roll to perceive a lie. It should also be roleplayed as much as possible. Notes: Called "Healthy Skepticism" in Hunter. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #82 Hunter Player's Guide, page #110 Loyalty 1 Psychological WW4010 Synopsis: You're sworn, loyal and devoted to some person, group or cause. System: This bond allows you to resist any form of temptation or coercion that could lead you to betray your trust or oath. Especially nasty forms of "persuasion" (torture, mind magic, vampiric Dominance, etc.) are harder to shake, but you do get a bonus to your Willpower (either two additional dice to roll, or two added to the inquisitor's difficulty, whichever is appropriate) if the offending party tries to make you break your promise. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #66 Optimistic 4 Psychological WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Despite everything that has happened to your character, she refuses to accept the fact that life cannot and will not ultimately change for the better. System: Regain two Willpower when you wake up each morning, rather than the usual one. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Self-Confident 1 Psychological WW3108 Synopsis: When you spend a point of Willpower to gain an automatic success, your self-confidence may allow you to gain the benefit of that expenditure without actually losing the Willpower point. System: When you declare that you are using a point of Willpower for an extra success, you do not lose the Willpower unless you fail the roll. You may use this Merit only when you need confidence in your abilities in order to succeed; thus only when the difficulty of a roll is 6 or higher can it come into play. You may spend Willpower at other times; however, if the difficulty is 5 or less, this Merit wont help you. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Unflappable 3 Psychological WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host was a naturally placid person who took most things in stride. She was almost hit by a car? That was close. Her husband ran off with the kids? Ah, well. While she feels emotions like everyone else, she just doesn't let them affect her the way others do. System: You gain two extra dice on any Willpower roll that involves staying calm or not overreacting to mundane experiences. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #83 Hunter Player's Guide, page #111 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Approachable 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: There's something very approachable and non-threatening about your character's mortal persona. People find it very easy to start a conversation with her. System: Reduce the difficulty of any Empathy rolls involving other people or demons by one. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Best Friend 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has the good fortune to have a best mate. He stands with your character through thick and thin. They've shared jokes, tragedies and all the highs and lows of life over the years, all of which has forged a bond between them that some married couples never achieve. Perhaps they were at school or worked together. System: While your character might not be able to share the truth of her real nature with her friend, she can rely on him to back her up to the best of his abilities without asking too many difficult questions. A best friend is closer to you and more committed to helping you than an ally, but he demands far more in return. He goes that extra mile to get her out of trouble than an ally wouldn't, but he counts on her to do the same for him. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #106 Corporate Savvy 3 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal host has been a warrior of the cube battlefields for a long time and now your character knows how the corporate mind works. She understands the dynamics of money, business, information and power that make up companies, and she can manipulate them for her own ends to a limited degree. System: Add two dice to any roll involving manipulating a corporate structure of a corporate employee. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Cupid's Gift 1 Social WW4508 Synopsis: You're unusually seductive. it isn't so much that you're fair of face or quick of wit (though you may be) - you simply possess a certain animal charm that few can resist. System: In any roll based on Seduction or Subterfuge, subtract two from the difficulty... and get ready to suffer the displeasure of your rivals! Folk who are not swayed by your charms often hate you for possessing them. Notes: Book Ref: The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 Enchanting Voice 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has the most incredible voice. It has a quality that makes people unable to ignore it. If she whispers seductive words in someone's ear, his heart melts. If she demands that someone do something, he springs into action at her behest. System: The difficulty of all rolls involving the use of your character's voice to persuade, seduce, charm or give orders decreases by two. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Fashion Sense 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character doesn't just dress well, she has an innate sense of what sort of clothes suit a particular occasion. This sense isn't a case of slavishly following the latest trends from the hottest designers either, it's a matter of knowing when to dress smart and when to be casual and having the know how to carry it off on a limited budget. System: Subtract one from the difficulty of Social rolls in situations where dressing appropriately is important, such as in a business meeting, chatting at a club or attending an upper crust function. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Flirt 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character's mortal friends claim that she's a terrible flirt, but that quite manifestly isn't true. She's great at it. She's an absolute master at all the subtle signals that give off that particular combination of promise and denial that makes teasing so much fun. At her best, she can make members of the opposite sex, or members of the same sex, putty in her hands. System: Add two dice to all Social rolls in such circumstances. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Funny 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character can make people laugh. Her timing and sense of the absurd is second to none. She's always being invited to parties because she's so much fun. Most importantly, your character is also very good at judging the appropriateness of her humor. Sometimes the right joke can lift the spirits of people when everything seems to be going against them. Therefore, she does what she can to make life more bearable for her friends and compatriots, even when situations seems darkest. System: Reduce by two the difficulty of any Social roll that is intended to boost morale. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Good Judge of Character 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has an innate instinct for reading a person. She can make an appraisal of the kind of person someone is after meeting him for a few seconds, based on little more than gut instinct. She is rarely wrong. System: Decrease the difficulty by two on any Perception roll based on assessing a person. Notes: Called "Good Sense of Character" in Demon. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Good Listener 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has a keen interest in people. She enjoys hearing what they have to say and is prepared to take the time to hear them out without interrupting with her own opinion. Others can sense this, and they open up to your character without really meaning to. System: The difficulty of all apparently friendly Social rolls that involve people talking to your character decreases by two. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Good Taste 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has a knack for choosing the right food from the menu, telling the right anecdotes and giving the right presents. She's seen the films for discussion in cultured company, and she wouldn't know who starred in Dumb and Dumber, let alone have the first clue about the plot. Her taste makes forging social contacts among the upper classes much easier, whatever her origins. System: Reduce the difficulty by two for any Social roll intended to gain acceptance or to impress in a high society or business situation. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Gossip 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is an incurable gossip, and other gossips recognize a kindred spirit in her. She's more than happy to spend hours shooting the breeze with complete strangers, all the while discussing the minutiae of other people's lives. System: Reduce the difficulty by two for any Interrogation rolls made in a social situation, without bullying or intimidation. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Great Liar 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Lying comes naturally to your character. Even the most involved deception sounds like God's own truth when it comes tripping off her honeyed tongue. System: Gain two dice on any Social roll that involves lying to or deceiving another person. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 In Love 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has fallen for someone (or her mortal host had), and the feeling is reciprocated. The world seems like a better place. Colors are brighter, music is more enchanting, and life just seems less desperate. Even the slightest success boosts your confidence. System: Regain two Willpower instead of one when your character wakes up each morning. Notes: Called "Lovestrick" in Hunter. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #78 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Laid Back Friends 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Everyone needs good buddies, and your character has a particularly good bunch. They're pretty cool about when they see her; they don't get all up tight if she's not in contact for a while. They're also great at not interfering with her life. Sure, she's gone through some changes of late, but that's her choice. They'll be there if she wants to talk or needs help, but they'll otherwise keep the hell out of her hair. System: If these guys are also your character's Allies (as per the Background), they'll help without asking too many difficult questions. Hey, that's her business, right? Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Media Junkie 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, film - your character cant get enough. She's a voracious consumer of pop culture and is always up onthe latest movies, music, and current affairs. System: Reduce the difficulty by two on any Social or Research roll that involves pop culture. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Media Savvy 3 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: There's a knack to dealing with the media, and your character has it. She's learned what journalists what, and she does her best to provide it in a way that best suits her. She can create, suppress and redirect stories with a fair amount of effectiveness, just by the spin she puts on them. Most of the time, she tries to set up situations so the media reads them the way she wants. System: Add two dice to any Social roll in which your character deals with journalists or reporters. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Natural Leader 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has been gifted with a certain bearing and personality that naturally makes people defer to her opinion or orders. System: You receive an extra two dice on Leadership rolls. Your character must have a Charisma of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #105 Natural Politician 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is right at home among the devious minds of the political world. Whether it's the cut and thrust of office jockeying or the showboating of regional politics, she knows how to get what she wants. System: You receive two extra dice on Manipulation rolls in social situations that can involve an element of politics, such as an office or gun club meeting. Your character must have a Manipulation of 3 or more to have this Merit. The Politics Ability has to bearing because this Merit represents raw talent, not knowledge gained through long experience. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #106 Noble Bearing 1 Social WW4508 Synopsis: Some people were born to lead. You are one of them. Were you born of noble blood? Perhaps not, but you still act as if you were, and often you impress others as a result. Your true heritage doesn't matter; people respect you on sight. System: In game terms, this Merit lowers Social roll difficulties in conciliatory situations by two. In story terms, it gives you an air of respectability no matter where you are or what you do. It also makes you a target for jealousy, gossip, and assassination attempts, but that's the cost of charisma... Notes: Book Ref: The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 Noble Blood 1 Social WW4508 Synopsis: Whether a bastard or a favored child, you possess an obvious link to a noble family. It's well known that "the blood will tell"; prominent features and other, less physical traits - good and bad ones alike - have been passed on to you. Perhaps you share the duke's fine features, the baron's temper, or the princess' deep green eyes. People recognize your heritage, no matter how you dress or behave. System: In game terms, this Merit is two sided: It declares your parentage and wins you respect, but that's not always a good thing. You might acquire your family's enemies through no fault of your own, or cause scandals if you were born on the wrong side of the sheets. If your family has some noted personality trait - extraordinary courage, deviousness, generosity, wrath - you'll probably display some sign of it as a matter of course. Note that this Merit doesn't apply to every noble child; it reflects an undeniable tie to a specific aristocracy, not a simple heritage. Notes: Book Ref: The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #121 People Person 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is a social animal. She just likes being around others. Hell, they like being around her. Her open and gregarious nature makes people warm to her quickly. System: The difficulty decreases by two on any social roll to create a good impression on another. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Pillar of the Community 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is a fine, upstanding person, respected by those around her. Through participation in local events, helping out with community groups or helping others, she's become well liked and trusted by those who live around her. System: When she brings them a warning of potential danger or offers an explanation of strange, miraculous events, they are likely to believe her. She might even be able to call upon their aid in a pinch, but she shouldn't count on help every time things go sour. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Punctual 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is a master of the virtually lost art of turning up on time. If she has a meeting at 10:00 AM, she's sitting in the reception room at 9:59. If she has an 8:00 PM dinner date with her inamorato, she'll be in the restaurant at 8:00 on the dot, so he doesn't end up waiting. Barring deliberate interference in her plans, your character almost always manages things so that she turns up on time. It makes her a great organizer, assuming her allies come through for her. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #106 Seasoned Traveler 2 or 4 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character is adept at finding accommodation, supplies and local help wherever she goes in her home country. With the 4 point version, the same applies to foreign countries. She might not speak the language well, or at all, but she knows how to go about obtaining things and learning about the local culture without offending the natives, through a combination of prior research and general street smarts. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Smooth 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Your character might come from the wrong side of the tracks. She might not have known the proper etiquette in every situation. She probably don't have a clue which fork to use when eating out. Yet none of that matters. She presents herself with such an easy grace and carefree attitude that people can forgive her most errors. They might not like her much, but they enjoy her company so much that her rougher edges are quickly forgiven and forgotten. System: Reduce the difficulty of any Manipulation rolls by two. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #106 Socially Aware 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Social interplay is an open book to your character. She's the first to spot the hidden relationships between people after only a few minutes of observation. Such subtle clues as body language and position, voice tone and choice of words speak volumes about the underlying connections between people. System: Gain two dice on any Perception roll involving interaction between other people. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Soothing Voice 1 Social WW4010 WW2224 Synopsis: Your voice is calm and soothing, almost entrancing. System: Add two dice to any roll that directly involves using your voice - to sing, to preach, to hypnotize, etc. - or reduce Social roll difficulties by two. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #66 Mummy: The Resurrection, page #68 Trivia Champ 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Where does your character come up with this stuff? Whether it's through plenty of reading, too much TV or just an eclectic bunch of friends, she has the oddest collection of facts stored away in her skull. System: Once in a while, at the Storyteller's discretion, one of them turns out to be just the piece of information she needs. Your character might not actually be very bright, but the sheer amount of anecdotal knowledge she's picked up makes her appear to be. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #107 Upright Citizen 2 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Up until the moment of possession, your character's mortal host was a model citizen. Not even a whiff of scandal has ever tainted her. Her working life has been good without being extraordinary. her friends would be hard pressed to come up with any embarrassing secrets about her, and even her ex-lovers are complimentary about her most of the time. Your character just doesn't have any dirty secrets to come back to haunt her, and people who know her have a hard time believing anything bad about her. System: Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #80 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Way With Words 1 Social WW8202 WW8120 Synopsis: Language is a finely honed tool, not a blunt instrument. Your character is able to create exactly the effect she wants by choosing her words carefully. In both written and verbal communication. System: Gain two dice on any Expression roll that involves words. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #79 Hunter Player's Guide, page #106

Supernatural

Aptitude Merit Cost Type Source Details Lucky 4 Supernatural Aptitude WW3806 WW3108 WW4010 WW8120 Synopsis: You enjoy some special favor from Gaia or some other powerful spirit. System: Three times per story (not per session), you may re-attempt a failed roll. You may only make one repeat attempt per failed roll; the second roll always counts. Notes: Book Ref: Player's Guide to the Garou, page #165 Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Awareness Merit Cost Type Source Details Clear Sighted 3 Supernatural Awareness WW4010 WW2224 Synopsis: Illusions do not fool you. This vision may be a supernatural gift, an inborn insight or a practiced skill. System: In any case, vampiric Obfuscation, Chimeristry and other Disciplines or Gifts that deceive most observers don't work as well as they should against you. Confronted with such deception, you get a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty = opposing power's level +3) to see right through it. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Mummy: The Resurrection (2nd Edition), page #68 Danger Sense 3 Supernatural Awareness WW3108 Synopsis: You have a sixth sense that warns you of danger. System: When you are in danger, the Storyteller should make a secret roll against your Perception + Alertness; the difficulty corresponds to 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. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 Nightsight 3 Supernatural Awareness WW4010 Synopsis: You can see in near total darkness. This odd gift may come from an arcane power, an affinity to darkness or some faint relation to the catfolk. So long as some light source exists, your vision remains acute. System: Really bad conditions (smoke, fog, total darkness) might demand Perception + Alertness roll, but under most circumstances, you can see as well by night as you can by cloudy daylight. Bright lights, especially sudden ones, dazzle you for a turn or so, perhaps longer if the light is really blinding, otherwise your sight is fairly normal, not enhanced. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Iron Will 4 Supernatural Mental WW4010 WW4600 Synopsis: Once your mind's made up, nothing short of a sledgehammer can change it. System: This Merit allows you to resist the effects of vampiric Domination, Mind magic or other coercive mental attacks. The Trait does nothing to deflect mental trauma or deception, but makes it damned hard for someone to mind-control you. Potent attempts from really powerful foes might demand a sacrifice of a Willpower point per turn; if a vampire or mage of your approximate "level" tries to turn your head around, however, you can consider yourself immune. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #68 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #192 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Cast-Iron Stomach 1 Supernatural Physical WW4802 Synopsis: Beasts must often forage for sustenance; as a consequence, some have learned to be less picky than others. System: Like a goat or a shrew, you can eat anything remotely similar to food and gain nourishment from it. Carrion, straw, bones; it's all dinner. As for the smell, well, you get used to it... Notes: Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #108 Insensible to Pain 5 Supernatural Physical WW4600 Synopsis: Your character might be made of steel, or just hopped up on drugs (although you should also take the Addiction Flaw if such is the case), but whatever the cause, he doesn't hurt no matter how wounded he is. System: You ignore all wound penalties until your character is finally killed. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page# 288 Psychological Merit Cost Type Source Details Fearlessness 1 or 3 Supernatural Psychological WW4802 Synopsis: Like the eagle, which stares into the blinding sun rather than back down, you fear nothing and nobody. Yours is the heart of the lion who fights the dragon to a standstill despite his hatred of fire. System: In game terms, you may easily resist all attempts to frighten and intimidate you and yours. Facing supernatural threats or fear-based magic, your effective Willpower is increased by two. For one point, you have one fear that negates this Merit (an elephant's fear of the mouse, for example); for three points, you fear nothing. Notes: Understand that Fearlessness does not equal stupidity or robotic absence of reaction. You may still be thrilled or startled and have adrenaline spikes, you still have a sense of self preservation, and you are still capable of acting scared. This Merit simply means that it's very difficult to intimidate or legitimately frighten your character. Do not use this Merit to justify idiot behavior in social situations, Masq/Veil breaking, or other such nonsense. Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #108 True Love 4 Supernatural Psychological WW3108 WW3806 WW4508 WW4600 Synopsis: The memory of a lasting love remains with you to inspire you in your darkest moments. Even if your true love is lost to you temporarily, you derive comfort and strength from bringing it to mind. System: You receive one automatic success on all Willpower rolls, which can be negated only by a botch die. At other times, your true love may become a hindrance, since you must act against anything that threatens your love. This Merit requires constant attention and intensive roleplaying. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #165 The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion, page #122 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #290 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Faerie Companion 3 Supernatural Social WW4010 Synopsis: You have a faerie companion, a friend and associate who's one of the Kindly Ones - the Changelings. Perhaps your creativity feeds his craving for dreams, or perhaps he's taught you of things beyond mortal view. Maybe you're just in love. In any case, this fae companion tends to stay out of human sight, but commands various magical talents of his own (see Changeling: The Dreaming). Naturally, he'll probably want something in return for his generous, if quixotic aid. System: A Changeling makes a boon companion; moreover, his teachings allow you to learn Abilities like Kenning and Mythlore, knowledge outside the mortal spectrum. In a real emergency, your friend might even hide you away in his Freehold for a time! Beware of this offer, however. One never knows the truth behind such refuge, and the price for the trip could be steep indeed! Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Fascinating Gaze 2 Supernatural Social WW2380 Synopsis: The eyes are the windows to the soul, and your character's are particularly engaging. Something about the eyes draws and holds the attention of others. They might be an unusual color, have a particular shine to them, or simply seem to reflect the wisdom of the ages. Your character's come-hither look can melt the coldest heart, while his intimidating glare is like the paralyzing stare of a viper. System: Reduce by two the difficulty of any Social roll in which eye contact is involved throughout. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #64 Special Friend 3 Supernatural Social WW4010 Synopsis: You've got a friend - a supernatural friend. Perhaps she's a werecat, an enigmatic keeper of secrets and sensations; maybe she's a True Mage with powers you can only dream of having. It could be that she's a vampire, watching over you in the night. She might even be a ghost, a Restless soul you've done a favor. Whatever she may be, she isn't "normal" company and her tastes run to dark pursuits. System: Chances are, your friend isn't telling you much about her kind; you might acquire a dot or two in the appropriate Lore Knowledge from listening to her tales, but that's about it. Still, you're there for each other; she'll watch your back if you watch hers. Naturally, your Storyteller will want to fill in the details regarding your friend and the relationship you share. In the midnight world, these kinds of friends are good to have - even if they do tend to bring their problems with them... Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Supernatural Companion 3 Supernatural Social WW3108 Synopsis: You have a friend and ally who happens to be a vampire, shifter, mage, wraith or changeling. Although you may call upon her in times of need, she also has the right to call upon you (after all, you're friends). However, neither of your fellows nor hers are likely to appreciate such a relationship, and they'll punish both of you if you are found out. Meeting places and methods of communication are always risky. The Storyteller creates your companion, but doesn't reveal to you her full powers and potencies. System: Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Burning Aura 2 Supernatural WW4010 Synopsis: Your aura, no matter what it's color, is unusually brilliant. Those who can see this "inner light", you stand out like a beacon burning with a mystical fire. Even people who cant see auras feel drawn to your side. System: Some supernatural entities find people like you intriguing; others consider you a threat. Likewise, sensitive mortals might consider you appealing or repulsive, depending on your personality and their inclinations. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Ghoul 5 Supernatural WW4010 WW4600 Synopsis: At some point in time, a vampire fed you some of her potent vitae, possibly Bonding you into service. Somehow, you broke free, but the Blood's force has granted you some of your mistress' power. System: In addition to a vague knowledge of vampiric society (one dot of Vampire Lore), you age slowly, have an extra automatic success on any Strength roll you make, and inflict an additional die of damage with all hand to hand attacks. (If your game integrates the Vampire: The Masquerade rules, you have a Blood Pool, a dot in Potence and the potential to buy and use some Disciplines.) xxxxxThis does not come without cost, however. You must continue to feed on vampire blood occasionally. Otherwise, you regain your mortality and crave forever the sweet rush of your former mistress' essence. Should you revert (after going a month or more without sacred vitae), you lose your supernatural might (and Disciplines) forever. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #69 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #296 Kinain 4 Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Although your character is not a changeling, she's got their heritage running through her veins - literally. Faerie blood allows her to walk in the Dreaming as if she were fae herself. While doing so exposes her to chimerical attack, it also opens her to a new and wonderous world. System: Their Banality is also quite low (typically two to five) and their presence is often welcome in the courts of the Fae. Naturally, this sort of gift carries an obligation to play Faerie politics. Nevertheless, it can be a wondrous game. This merit also allows the character immunity to the effects of the mists. Note that a full mate cannot have a Glamour pool. Notes: See +rules Kinain PCs with this merit may buy arts/realms, in which case they start with Glamour based on their age (4 for Wilder, 3 for Grump). This must fit within the limits from '+rules multiclass'. Kinain may have faedescs, but they should be subtle compared to kithain. xxxxxExamples: Troll kinain may be slightly blue, or slightly bulkier, but not a giant blue behemoth. Nocker kinain may have pale pink cheek swirls or knobby fingers. Satyr kinain may have little head bumps, but not large horns. xxxxxException: If you have specific relevant stats (e.g. Glamour, Honored Birthright, Oneiromancy, Demesne), then your faedesc may be overt, but should also OOCly identify those stats. Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #296 Kinfolk 4 Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: By some quirk of fate, your character is related to a werewolf, -cat, -raven, -bear, -or even one of the more mysterious breeds. The changing blood has not stirred in him - at least not in the traditional way - but it has left its mark. System: He's immune to the Delirium (the madness that claims those who see a werebeast's half human form), and he has friends among whichever Breed he's related to. Having this Merit doesn't mean that he knows their secrets or that he can wander around their sacred sites without retribution, but he has a certain edge that no normal mortal can match. if your character is a sorcerer, you might be able to learn a few spirit Gifts, and an Awakened mage can use these inherent magical powers as well without threat of Paradox. However, he can never have Gnosis, the innate connection to the spirit that all shifters share. Notes: See +rules Kinfolk. Be aware that many shifters, mainly Gaian, may automatically dislike a vampire or ghoul kinfolk, possibly seeking to kill the former and detox the latter. Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #296 True Faith 7 Supernatural WW3108 WW3806 WW4600 Synopsis: You have a deep-seated faith in (and love for) Gaia, God, or whatever it is you consider the Almighty. You begin the game with one point of Faith (A Trait that ranges from 1-10). This Faith provides you with an inner strength and comfort that continues to support you when all else betrays you. System: You begin play with one dot in True Faith, although you may eventually increase your score to a maximum of 10. When appropriate, you may add your True Faith score to your Willpower rolls. The Storyteller decides what effects True Faith has, but it may include repelling vampires, banishing hostile spirits, holding back Wyrm creatures temporarily or causing minor miracles of healing and cleansing. Such Faith is rare and no one may start play with more than one point of True Faith. Notes: For more rules, see Vampire Player's Guide, page #30, or The Hunters Hunted, pages 64-66. Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), pg.#16 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #166 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #298 Unbondable 3 Supernatural WW4010 WW4600 Synopsis: Vampire blood cannot control your will. No matter how much of it you consume, the dreaded Blood Bond wont take you down. System: This Merit can be powerful - a little too powerful for some chronicles - if combined with the Ghoul Merit; hence a character who wants to be a free-willed Ghoul must pay double the usual amount. Notes: Ghoul characters must take the 6 point version in the Vampire/Ghoul section below. Characters with this Merit who become Ghouls after character generation must buy this Merit up from 3 to 6. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295

Bygone

Bygone

Awareness Merit Cost Type Source Details Homing Instinct 2 or 4 Bygone Awareness WW4802 Synopsis: Like the fabled hound who follows his lost mistress across a kingdom, you have an innate sense of direction when the destination involves home or a loved one. Even when vast distances separate you from your home or friend you can, with time, find your way there. System: This Merit is not a supernatural power, nor is it a medium for transpiration - you must cover all distances and surmount all obstacles yourself. Assuming you can do that, the Homing Instinct will lead you to your destination, despite hundreds of miles, bitter weather, even imprisonment. In game terms, you might have to make a Perception + Awareness roll when some major setback or obstacle (a mountain range, a blizzard, a long delay, etc.) blocks your path. The roll's difficulty depends on the obstacle's severity: Difficulty Circumstances 6 Normal Circumstances 7 Harsh weather or terrain Major obstacles/Erased trail 9 Vast distances (500+ miles) Supernatural obstacles +1 Per month of separation When you choose the Instinct, select one "target", either a location or a character that you've forged a bond with. Such bonds take time and affection to make - they cannot be "set" and "reset" with a simple decision. For two points, this Merit allows you to track your subject anywhere in the mortal world; for four points, you can follow it anywhere, even into the Otherworlds, as long as you have some way to travel there. Notes: Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #108 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Acute Senses 1 or 3 Bygone Physical WW4802 Synopsis: The eyes of the eagle, the nose of the hound, the hearing of the rabbit... common speech and poetry alike celebrate these gifts. Either your kind possesses such gifts, or you are exemplary within your species. System: For 1 point, reduce the difficulty of any feat involving one sense by three (-3 difficulty). For three points, do the same for rolls involving all physical senses. The downside of this Merit is sensitivity: Sudden, violent stimuli can run your senses amok. Depending on what happens, you might be temporarily deprived of the affected sense, or driven away in pain or disgust. Notes: Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #108 Perfect Balance 3 Bygone Physical WW4802 Synopsis: No matter how narrow the precipice or how thin the tree limb, you move upon it like it was hard packed earth. Moving wagons, the blows of enemies, disorientating fogs - nothing can topple you from your perch. If you somehow fall, you land on your feet like a cat. System: In game terms, you add two dice to all Dexterity rolls involving keeping your balance. and add two dice to any soak roll involving a fall. Notes: This merit is not the same as the Perfect Balance Merit listed in the Any Race section; that merit does not provide the +2 soak bonus. Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #109 Psychological Merit Cost Type Source Details Loyalty 1 Bygone Psychological WW4802 Synopsis: Pliny the Elder tells of a dolphin in Puteoli who befriended a boy and came to his aid in storms, brought him fish when he hungered and died broken-hearted when the boy fell sick and passed on. The hound of King Lysimachus of Thrace threw himself onto his master's funeral pyre rather than desert him. System: Like that dolphin or Lysimachus' hound, you are loyal to some other person, group, or cause. Temptations to disloyalty mean nothing. If you face some supernatural persuasion (charms, Mind magic, etc.) to betray your object, your effective Willpower is increased by 2. Notes: Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #108 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Soothing Voice 3 Bygone Social WW4802 Synopsis: Did the serpent in the Garden possess such a voice? Your voice is calm and soothing, almost entrancing. Hot heads and rash tempers are cooled by your liquid oratory. People (and beasts) in earshot will be inclined to trust you. System: In game terms, add two dice to all rolls that directly include use of your voice to soothe or lull the hearer (Leadership, Manipulation, Singing, etc.). This Merit differs from the Musical Influence Special Advantage (Bygone Bestiary, page #117) in that Musical Influence requires musical expression, not speech, and can enrage as well as calm. Notes: A mute beast may not possess this Merit, although he might have Musical Influence. Book Ref: Bygone Bestiary, page #109

Changeling

Changeling
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Demon

Demon

Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Dreams of the Past 2 Demon Mental WW8202 Synopsis: When dreaming, your character is able to recall especially vivid memories of the Age of Wrath, dredging the recollections from deep in her host bodies subconscious. Your character has no conscious control over what memories she revisits while she is asleep, but may pertain specifically to the situations and challenges that your character is dealing with at the moment. System: The Storyteller can use this Merit to impart useful information to your character that she might not otherwise know. Additionally, if your character has the Legacy Background, this Merit reduces the difficulties of all Legacy rolls by one. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Angelic Aura 1 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: Your character exudes the nobility and grace of a Celestial even in her unaltered mortal state. Despite her physical appearance, she radiates an aura of wisdom, confidence and transcendent authority that belies her mortal condition, even as her Torment begins to weigh heavily on her soul. System: The difficulty of all Charisma and Appearance rolls decreases by one when your character interacts with mortals. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Angelic Gaze 1 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: The eyes are the windows to the soul, and the act of possession has altered the eyes of your character's mortal host to reflect his celestial nature. A Devil's eyes might be the color of the golden sun or the sullen red of banked embers; a Devourer's eyes might be the lantern yellow of a wolf or lion. System: The difficulty of all Leadership, Intimidation or Empathy rolls decreases by one. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Atavistic Form 2 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: Upon their return to the mortal world, the fallen have discovered that many of their past exploits have lived on in human legend. Although time and the interpretations of the human minds distort these legends, demons are nevertheless able to tap into these atavistic memories through the appearance of their apocalyptic form. System: Your character's revelatory form is an iconic image within human myth, be it as a visage of a dragon, a fire giant, or a winsome siren. The difficulty of all Social rolls decreases by one when interacting with mortals when the demon is in apocalyptic form. Additionally, the difficulty to resist the effects of Revelation increases by one. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Debt of Gratitude 1 to 3 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: Another demon owes your character a debt of gratitude because of something either he or his liege did for her during the war. System: The depth of gratitude the demon owes depends on how many points you wish to spend. One point might mean that the demon owes your character a favor; three points might mean that she owes your character her life. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Famous Liege 2 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: Your character is the vassal of a legendary lord of the infernal host, which grants your character an aura of authority and influence beyond her own accomplishments. Most low ranking demons will be eager to curry your character's favor, hoping to be remembered later when her dark lord has returned in triumph. System: Upon learning of your character's identity, most low ranking demons will treat you with a certain degree of deference and respect, giving you the benefit of the doubt in most questionable situations. Note that this Merit is separate and in addition to the Eminence Background, which reflects your character's personal rank and influence. The character who possesses both is able to open doors and gain respect in any growing demonic court by virtue of their identity. The Storyteller is the final arbiter as to how much influence and respect your character can command based on the needs of her chronicle. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #76 Supportive Family 3 Demon Social WW8202 Synopsis: Sure, your character's acting strange these days. There's something going on that she cant, or wont, tell them about, but it's important to her. That much is clear. They're her family, they love her, and they'll be there for her. They're sure she'll get around to telling them the whole truth sooner or later. Until then, they have no choice but to trust her. System: Unless you have also taken the Allies Background for your character, her family wont go out of the way to help her. They just don't ask questions that she cant answer. Notes: Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #81

Hunter

Hunter

Merit Cost Type Source Details Supportive Family 3 Hunter Social WW8120 Synopsis: Sure, your character's acting strange these days. There's something going on that she cant, or wont, tell them about, but it's important to her. That much is clear. They're her family, they love her, and they'll be there for her. They're sure she'll get around to telling them the whole truth sooner or later. Until then, they have no choice but to trust her. System: Unless you have also taken the Allies Background for your character, her family wont go out of the way to help her. They just don't ask questions that she cant answer. Notes: Book Ref: Hunter Player's Guide, page #108 Religious Devotion 1to 3 Hunter Mental WW8120 Synopsis: Your character has strong belief in a particular religious doctrine. The intensity of which is reflected in the Merit rating you choose. This believe gives your hunter strength, comfort and calm in trying times. His devotion grants 1 to 3 additional Willpower points when he's tested, when he must perform a challenging task, or when he needs confidence to succeed at an action. Your character probably prays or asks for guidance or depends upon his own trust in a Supreme Being during these moments. You then have a separate pool of Willpower points that you may draw upon for the remainder of the scene. System: These points must be spent in efforts that support or affirm your character's devotion, such as saving another person's life, lifting an obstructing object or controlling his own fear. They cannot be squandered on selfish acts or petty efforts. In essence, if a point is used to perform an act that runs counter to the teachings or values of your character's faith, perhaps to save himself or to lash out in unjustified anger, he has probably misapplied his devotion. You and the Storyteller must agree what are appropriate circumstances in which you may spend your bonus Willpower points. xxxxxWhen points are squandered or used inappropriately, your character may have strayed from his faith. For major transgressions, he might lose his sense of self and connection to his Creator, temporarily or even permanently. Your character loses this Merit and possibly even additional points of his Willpower rating. Subtle transgressions, such as cursing your Creator for the injustices of the world and doubting your faith as a result, deny your character access to a point or more of his Religious Devotion until he pays emotional penance or reconciles his beliefs. xxxxxIn general, Religious Devotion can be called upon once per chapter (game session). It may be summoned more frequently under particularly demanding or appropriate circumstances - say to save someone's life or to put your character directly in harm's way - but the Storyteller must consent. Notes: Book Ref: Hunter Player's Guide, page #110

Mage

Any Magick User

Awareness Merit Cost Type Source Details Dual Perception 2 Magic Awareness WW4043 Synopsis: using your status as an intermediary between the spirit world and the mortal world, you can easily switch your awareness back and forth between these two realms. System: When using any spirit magic that involves perceiving the spirit world, you can cease using the ability and observe the mortal world at any time. Then, if the duration of the magic is not yet up, you can continue using it without additional rolls. Also, when you are in the Umbra, you can choose to observe the mortal world instead of the spirit world without needing to make additional rolls. Since this ability is innate, you suffer no disorientation or other penalty associated with switching your perceptions. xxxxxTransvestites and contraries often possess Dual Perception due to their own dual natures. If you take this Merit in addition to the Medium or Spirit Sight Merit, you can effectively turn the appropriate merit on or off at will. Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #103 Medium 2 Magic Awareness WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage is a natural conduit to the Underworld. Although this Merit does not reduce the difficulty of working Spirit magic, it does mean that your mage can hear ghosts naturally. The mage might not see wraiths without the right magic, but they do tend to hang out, talk, bug the character and ask him to do things. This talent can be helpful in some cases; wraiths are eager to talk to those who can hear them. However, they often make demands, and they can be difficult to banish if the mage doesn't have enough power with Spirit. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Oracular Ability 3 Magic Awareness WW4600 Synopsis: No, your mage is not one of the mystic Master mages living in an ivory tower in the Deep Umbra. Neither is she a software company. What she is, is an ordinary mage with a flair for divination and glimpses into the past, present and future. System: Whenever the Storyteller feels you are in the position to see a sign or portent, you may 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 interpret what you have seen, the difficulty is relative to the complexity of what you have seen. Your difficulty for all divination with magic (generally with Time) reduces by two. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Precognition 4 Supernatural Awareness WW4010 WW2224 Synopsis: You occasionally have glimpses of the future. Although such visions are beyond your control, you may try to "summon" one by entering a trance and attuning yourself to fate. System: When employed with the Divination Path, this Merit lets you add two dice to your pool; otherwise, the Storyteller will determine what (if anything) you see and how accurately it reflects coming events. This Merit should, of course, offer some insight, but as any seer knows, prophecy is an odd and chancy business. Visions often strike without warning and are not always pleasant to receive. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #68 Mummy: The Resurrection (2nd Edition), page #68 Prophetic Ability 4 Magic Awareness WW4010 Synopsis: The Higher Powers speak to you in signs and portents, visions and images. Some may speak of the future, while others offer clues to existing mysteries, or reveal hidden facts. Prophecies come when they will - you cannot control them, and may not even want them when they do occur (the classic prophets were not exactly thrilled with their "gifts"). System: Some messages will be crystal clear while others seem just flat out obscure. Symbolism, foreshadowing, flashbacks - all the tools mentioned in the rulebooks' Storytelling chapters come into play when your Storyteller decides to let prophecy strike. The truth, content and effect of the prophecies remain the Storyteller's prerogative, but should have some significant role in coming events. This Merit is not a quick-fix or an "oracle machine"; it exists to provide dramatic moments and enigmatic clues, not to dole out obvious answers. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #68 Spirit Sight 4 Magic Awareness WW4043 Synopsis: 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 things 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! xxxxxMany 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. System: Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #105 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Claws/Fangs/Horns/Hooves/Barbed Tail 3+ Magic Physical WW4603 Synopsis: 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. System: For three points, you may buy one type of attack; for five points two. Seven points allows you to buy three, and nine points allows you to buy four. For even 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 +1 Claw 6 Strength +2 Kick 7 Strength +3 Gore 7 Strength +2 (Strength +4 after a charge of 10 yards or more) Tail Strike 6 Strength +1 xxxxxClaws, 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 off 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 pair of goat horns can be hidden under a top hat, but a set of oryx 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. xxxxxAt Storyteller option, claws and so forth can be made retractable for an additional +1 per unit of size, like vampire fangs can be pulled back in for one point; for two points jumbo fangs (the type that stick down over your lip) can be pulled back into like 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. Notes: Book Ref: Guide to the Traditions, page #228 Immortal 5 or 7 Magic Physical WW4010 Synopsis: You have witnessed the passing of ages and survived to tell of it. Through some form of magic, you've got the potential to live hundreds of years. Perhaps, if your Storyteller is kind (and a little crazy herself), you may have already lived for centuries, and boast a truckload of freebie points - not a part of this Merit - to reflect your age. System: As an immortal sorcerer, you get the following benefits: an increased life span, a slight immunity to most fatal diseases (but not necessarily to the pain associated with those diseases), and the potential to live indefinitely. xxxxxThis Merit's stronger version protects you from almost any form of death - save one - that does not destroy your body entirely. If your corpse can rise again, it will; the fatal damage or disease will slowly repair itself at the normal rate of healing. If some disaster annihilates your body, the magic is dissolved (along with your flesh). Otherwise, you can continue on for centuries. xxxxx One given thing can end this immortal dance. The final doom must be selected ahead of time, must be fairly common, and should play some role in the chronicle. Typical dooms include: getting your head chopped off, being stung to death by insects, being frozen to death, being killed by a woman, etc. Naturally you'll probably do anything you can to avoid this fate; just as naturally, your Storyteller will go out of her way to make sure you cant. This potential immortality should not unbalance the game; if your Storyteller considers the idea inappropriate, she may feel free to disallow it. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #68 Immunity Variable Magic Physical WW4603 Synopsis: There is one peril to which your character is completely immune, even to the magical versions. Perhaps like Mithridates, your mage slowly built up an immunity to all poisons, even those concocted by the Euthanatos. Perhaps she had an accident in the lab and now all metal phases harmlessly through his body, even magic swords and comic-book alloys - or it bounces off his chest. Perhaps it still cuts, but the wounds don't bleed and they seal up immediately. System: However, this invulnerability is only to the particular thing, not to any secondary or tertiary effects - Fenris may have blessed your character so that he is unscathed by teeth and claws of wolves, even werewolves, but that does nothing to stop the werewolf's silver sword or even the damage when the werewolf pounds your mage's head into a wall. (Fenris, after all, said you'd be unharmed by wolves, not by architecture.) Likewise, even if metal doesn't exist for your mage, it does for his lab coat, and a bullet's going to pack quite a whollop before it shreds the cloth. And even if the faeries at your christening said that no mortal man could ever harm you, that proviso doesn't apply to vampires, or the magics that mortal man might command, or even - for that matter - to his 1957 Chevy Bel Aire. xxxxxYour mage might be immune to all physical harm, save one thing, like beheading, incineration or being stabbed through the heart with a dagger thrice blessed by three separate Popes; or he might be immune to all things save in one spot, like Achilles' heel or Siegfried's shoulder. However, this will not prevent him from being turned into a rutabaga, having his soul stolen, being sealed in Lucite or sent into orbit, though his body (if not his sanity) will withstand all these things. He'll merely be an invulnerable soulless rutabaga orbiting the earth in a Lucite block while his enemies look for a third Pope to bless a dagger. xxxxxImmunities vary in price, depending on their lethality and their frequency, much as Vulnerabilities do. You must buy each Immunity separately, although the Storyteller may allow a number of similar Immunities (basilisks, snakes, toadstools, iocaine powder) to be packaged as one more common Immunity. Total immunity continues to go up in price price depending on the size of the chink in your armor. xxxxxAlternately, for half the price of any given Immunity, your character may be Resistant to a particular bane - taking only half damage, rounded down, or reducing your soak roll difficulties by 3... your choice. Anything doing only one die of damage, you ignore. 2 points: A minor nuisance (poison oak, common cold) or a very rare threat (basilisks, the Ebola virus) 4 points: A major threat (disease, hunger, supernatural evil gook), or a moderately rare threat (poisons, extreme heat or cold, raw magic Levin bolts, death spells) 6 points: A terminal threat (asphyxiation, drowning) or a common threat (fire, metals) 8points: Invulnerable to all physical threats but with one large weak spot (the head, the neck, the chest) or one common bane (fire, edged weapons, drowning) 10 points: Invulnerable to all physical threats, but with one tiny weak spot (Seigfried's shoulder, Achilles' heel, the spot where the third eye would go) or one rare bane (silver bullets, mistletoe, deadly nightshade); one common bane in one large spot (edged weapons vs the neck, i.e. beheading), or one common bane in a specific circumstance (a gun fired by a woman). Or immune to all physical threats save those which inflict aggravated damage, or immune to all physical threats save oneself - can be strangled with a robe made of own hair, mentally commanded to gnaw own arm off or destroyed with own Phylactery. Alternately, mage is invulnerable until mage is destroyed. 12 points: Invulnerable to all physical threats, but with one very rare bane (the bite of an Egyptian asp, nuclear radiation, a specific ritual cast by a master mage), one rare bane in a tiny spot (a stake of twisted rose briars through the heart), or one rare bane in a very specific set of circumstances (poisoned with belladonna by a beautiful woman) 14 points: Invulnerable to all physical threats, but with the bane being an extreme rarity (a dagger thrice blessed by three Popes, the elixir of eighty evil essences), or one very rare bane in a highly specific set of circumstances (dragged through the streets of Baghdad by wild horses during the month of Ramadan) 16 points: Invulnerable to all physical threats except one unique bane (the Holy Lance of Longinus, the Sword of Roland), or invulnerable until Phylactery destroyed, requiring an equally unique bane. xxxxxThis Merit may also be taken in conjunction with the Vulnerability Flaw, especially if the Vulnerability is something common and not usually deadly, such as water. Thus, it costs only three points total to be the Wicked Witch of the West, Immune to every variety of harm except being doused with a cleaning bucket. ("I'm melting! I'm melting! Oh who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy all my beautiful wickedness!") xxxxxObjects, especially Phylacteries may also have Immunity to physical perils, but Storytellers should impose some limit on size so min-maxers will not use this Merit to create invulnerable dreadnoughts and impenetrable fortresses. The larger the object, the less of it can be invulnerable. You can have an indestructible moped, but your '57 Chevy wont have puncture-proof tires, and your Winnebago of Doom can have the tires blow out and the windows smashed even while the rest of it remains unscathed. Likewise, your cozy witch's cottage will just need to be rethatched after the dragon attack, but your mansion will be gutted with nothing left but smoke blackened walls. However, you can have the last laugh by making your Phylactery your castle and making the only way to defeat your castle's Immunity being your own death. That way, if your enemies ever sneak into your inner sanctum and kill you, they get to deal with the castle collapsing on their heads - a common staple of sorcerous fiction. Need we even mention that this Merit can be phenomenally abusive? Notes: Book Ref: Guide to the Traditions, page #229 Resistant Pattern 7 Magic Physical WW4603 Synopsis: Aggravated damage means nothing to you, at least personally. Enchanted weapons, vampire fangs, deadly spells and toxic waste can still harm you, of course, but this damage is no worse than that dealt out by ordinary weapons, cat claws, car crashes and sports injuries, any of which can still kill you. System: You take only lethal damage from attacks that would normally score aggravated wounds, including the Avatar Storm. Notes: Book Ref: Guide to the Traditions, page #228 Unaging 2 Magic Physical WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage does not age, ever. Perhaps she drank an elixir in the Mythic Ages, or she tasted the Peach of Immortality, or she ate the Apples of Hesperides, or she dined on the forbidden savor of mermaid's flesh. Perhaps she was injected with the perfect Iterator nanotech or Progenitor symbiote. Perhaps her body is composed of timeless stone or metal. Perhaps the cause is a complete mystery. Regardless, she remains unchanged as the years pass by, save for scars and accumulated knowledge. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Psychological Merit Cost Type Source Details Driven 2 Magic Psychological WW4046 Synopsis: The world is falling to Hell, and the Order is crumbling. Few mages have the spiritual resilience to endure the punishment being heaped on the Traditions in these End Times and keep on going. Your mage is one of them. System: Once per game session, when the survival of your character's Tradition is at stake, you gain an additional free point of temporary Willpower to spend on any one roll in defense of your mage's Tradition. Notes: Book Ref: Blood Treachery, page #85 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Communicate With Animals 2 Magic Social WW4043 Synopsis: Through your deep and profound understanding of the spirits within all life, you can communicate with any normal animal. This communication is not as 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 can understand it on an equally primal level. System: 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 or 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. xxxxxSince 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. Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #103 Celestial Affinity 3 Magic Social WW4046 Synopsis: Your mage has an exceptional instinct when it comes to dealing with High Umbrood. While certain shamans excel at interactions with their totemic spirits and necromancers find truck with the dead a simple matter, your mage's talents make conversing with the noblest and most refined of ephemeral entities easier. System: You receive a difficulty bonus of two to all rolls to summon, compel, coax, bargain with and otherwise influence such beings. This bonus applies as much to Social rolls as it does to Spheres, since trafficking with High Umbrood is often as much a matter of finesse and force of personality as it is one of sorcerous might. Notes: Book Ref: Blood Treachery, page #85 Gift of Tongues 3 Magic Social WW4043 Synopsis: 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. System: 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 to you at once, you can only understand one of them. Using a coincidental Mind 1 Effect can allow you to understand multiple languages at once. Magically augmenting this gift to allow speech in multiple different tongues is, of course, vular. xxxxxThe 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. Notes: Note that not being able to use this Merit to read another language means it also does not work with ASL. Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #104 Spirit Guide 5 Magic Social WW4010 Synopsis: You are aided in your magical journey by a spirit guide, a friendly entity that offers you advice, messages and sometimes aid. The guide's nature depends on your magical society: A Uzoma sorcerer would recognize one of the orishas, while a Hermetic wizard would claim assistance from an angelic entity. System: Spirit guides can help in a variety of ways: Problem solving: Dialogue with your guide could lead you to insight on various problems. This gives the Storyteller a voice within the chronicle. Help: A friendly spirit may grant it's patron a point of Willpower, take some sudden action or restore a Health Level or two to a sorcerer in need. This aid is rare (once per story, if at all), and may require some thanksgiving offering when the crisis ends. Messages: Your guide can deliver a brief message to someone far away. This message must be short and simple, as it comes much more in a hunch than in a definite thought: "I think Timmy is in trouble. Let's go find him," not "Timmy's canine spirit-guide just arrived and told me that Timmy's trapped in a well three miles from here." xxxxxA sorcerer with a spirit guide may use it as part of her magical Rituals - as the "delivery boy" of a curse or blessing, for example - but does not receive any particular bonus for employing the entity in her workings. Some traditions (especially the shamanic ones) stress initiation by spirits, not people. By adding this Merit to the Mentor Background, you may consider the spirit guide your mentor as well. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #69 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Astral Vigor 3 Magic Supernatural WW4632 Synopsis: Your mage's astral body is especially well connected to her physical form. System: She does not suffer any of the psychological side effects normally associated with protracted astral traval (such as the loss of REM sleep), though her body continues to atrophy and starve at the normal rate. Her astral body, fortified by a powerful psychic presence, has two dice of inherent armor. Also, the character's strong tie between body and spirit allows her to ascertain her body's state of being (dehydrated, damaged, etc.) at any time, with a moment of quiet concentration. Notes: Book Ref: The Infinite Tapestry, page #187 Conditional Magic 1 to 6 Magic Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: There is one thing in the world that is a great boon, or bane, to your character's magic. Perhaps her spells work particularly well against men, or on Tuesdays, or just after a storm, or on people dressed all in black. Maybe she's powerless to affect those who are or who bear that certain thing, such as her magic being unable to affect Christians or those who carry a piece of rowan and red thread. It may be that a certain individual gave her power over them, or perhaps it is utterly proof against her magic due to an oath she swore or spells that were placed on her. xxxxxThe conditions that affect your magic may be common, uncommon or rare, and the value of this Merit or Flaw depends on the rarity of the condition. The base costs listed here assume that you have a difficulty modifier of three on all Arete rolls under the given conditions. You may adjust the difficulty by one for every point more or less you devote to the Trait. Points Condition 1 point Unique: The Sword of Roland, the Matriarch of the MECHA construct, Leap Year 2 points Scarce as hen's teeth: Current or former members of the Council of Nine, your former Mentors, once in a blue moon 3 points Rare, but not unheard of: Toadstones, Swedish royalty, werewolves, rowan and red thread, the holy days of the archangels 4 points Special order: Virgins, middle eastern eye-bead charms, any member of Iteration X, during a thunderstorm 5 points Available without much trouble: Cold iron, silver, Christians, any member of the Traditions, a windy day, holy ground 6 points Common as dirt: Men, anyone who's ever been baptized, the color purple, under cloud cover, Tuesdays System: Notes: This may be used as a Merit or a Flaw. Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #194 Green Thumb 1 Magic Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Flowers spring up in your footsteps and trees burst into bloom at your touch. Your hands are as warm as sunlight or stones from a cheery hearth. A common Merit among Verbena. System: Notes: Remember that being obviously magical in front of Sleepers is generally considered a bad thing. Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #294 Legendary Attribute 5 Magic Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage has a superhuman Attribute, something in which he has the potential to be greater than human. Although this Attribute is not necessarily automatically better, the mage could potentially exceed the bounds of human ability. Such a gift is rare and precious, and many people with this capacity never even manage to fulfill their true potential. System: In your character's legendary Attribute, your character has the potential for a rating of six dots. Thus, your mage might have the Strength of Hercules or the Intelligence of Occam. This Merit does not confer such a rating automatically; it must still be purchased with Attribute points, freebie points, or experience. xxxxxIn addition to the potential for human power, your character has some miraculous capability tied to that Attribute. A mage with legendary Stamina might have the ability to roll a soak against any form of damage, for instance, while a mage with legendary Wits might be able to shift his initiative category by one place in any given turn automatically. This power is generally automatic, and it is subject to the Storyteller's approval. it's potency varies with the character's actual Attribute rating, so a character with a legendary Stamina of 1 has a weak legendary power that might grow with time and experience. xxxxxThis Merit obviously has the potential for abuse, and it is not appropriate for all chronicles or characters. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #294 Mastery of Fire 2 Magic Supernatural WW4043 Synopsis: 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. System: Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #103 Natural Channel 3 Magic Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage is a natural weak point in the Gauntlet between worlds. System: The difficulty to use magic to pierce it is one less, and spirits react a bit more favorably to the mage. If your mage finds an especially weak spot in the Gauntlet (with Awareness or Spirit 1), he can step between worlds without magic. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Natural Shallowing 5 Magic Supernatural WW4632 Synopsis: A rare few souls draw the spirit worlds to them like moths to flame, calling out silently through the Gauntlet. Your mage is one such. System: The Gauntlet is always one less in the immediate vicinity of the mage (which, in some of the last remaining places of power, can reduce the Gauntlet rating to zero). Further, by expending a point of Willpower, the mage may cause the Gauntlet to reduce by an additional one, though this is as far as she can go. Note that multiple mages with this power cannot "stack" its effects. Dreamspeakers often see those who possess this Merit as being especially blessed by the spirits and are inclined to be friendly to them (-1 to social difficulties). Notes: Book Ref: The Infinite Tapestry, page #187 Nephilim 7 Magic Supernatural WW4046 Synopsis: This Merit is exactly what it sounds like. Your mage is the direct progeny of a native of the High Umbra and a human being. Perhaps your character's conception secured a pact, or possibly the reasons were somewhat less pragmatic. In any case, the mage is the intersection of Heaven (or Hell, or the Vulgate, etc.) and Earth. System: Like the Biblical Nephilim, your character's body cannot fully contain the massive spiritual energies coursing through it, so she has one or a small handful of deformities (at least 3 points worth of Physical Flaws, for which you receive no additional points). Also, she tends to embody certain characteristics of her High Umbral parent (almost certainly her father). An angelic parent whose domain is Fury will result in a short temper and a desire to solve problems with one's fists, whereas an incubus' child will have... darker appetites. Reflect this tendency by starting with three dots of Resonance instead of just one. This heritage does, however, bestow certain advantages upon your character. Mind a Spirit Sphere difficulties pertaining directly to the High Umbra decrease by one, and she is capable of entering the High Umbra physically with a conjunctional Spirit 3, Mind 4 Effect. Also, the entities of the High Umbra fear their bastard half-breeds, and so you receive two bonus dice in all rolls to intimidate, command, or make demands of such creatures. (Unless you are very powerful, however, or the creature you are dealing with is very weak, doing so is nigh suicidal.) xxxxxThis Merit cannot be taken with the Celestial Affinity Merit; the Nephilim are neither well loved nor well received by the Angelic Hierarchies and their like. Notes: Book Ref: Blood Treachery, page #85 Nine Lives 6 Magic Supernatural WW4603 Synopsis: Dame Fortune has favored your mage with the ability to come as close as possible to mortal peril and still survive. System: When a roll occurs that would result in your character's death, the roll is made again. If the next roll succeeds, then your mage lives - and one of your nine lives is used up. if that subsequent roll fails, then another re-roll 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. Notes: Book Ref: Guide to the Traditions, page #229 Parlor Trick 1 Magic Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Your character has a natural ability to perform some small, pretty or useful bit of magic at will. This trick is nothing that can cause much damage, or even serious annoyance; it's just enough to perform some small basic task or give your mage a little flair. Your mage might be adept at the old wizard's trick of conjuring an orb of witchlight to hand or a flame to her finger. She might be a cyborg who had the bright idea of installing a light bulb or pilot light in her head for the same purpose. If your mage uses a magical sense like night-vision often, you might have the added perk that he can make his eyes glow like a vampire's, allowing him to see even in total darkness. If your character is of the scientific bent, he may be able to emit enough x-rays to use with his x-ray vision, or he could have a laser pointer installed in his index finger just for fun. You don't have to roll or spend anything to make this parlor trick work. xxxxxStorytellers should note that this Merit is provided to add color and reason to the game, not to give min-maxers a loophole to create engines of death. With this Merit, mages can light pipes without a lighter, conjure roses or martinis, have mood music play in the background or pop a penknife or a single claw out of a fingertip. Yes, you could put an eye out with one of those things, but the combat difference between a penknife, a single tiger claw, and a press-on fingernail is inconsequential. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #294 Umbral Affinity 4 Magic Supernatural WW4632 Synopsis: Despite the coming of the Reckoning and the looking threat of Disembodiment plaguing most mages in the days since, your character is blessed with an exceptional tolerance for the unique circumstances of the Otherworlds. Whether this stems from spirit heritage, the long exposure to the pre-Reckoning Umbra or from no cause the mage can determine, she is fortunate enough to be able to sustain longer-term exposure to the Umbra than most. System: The character suffers no effects for first- and second-stage Acclimation (see the Acclimation chart on . 33 of The Infinite Tapestry), and all other stages affect him one step less. Hence, third-stage acclimation only inflicts second-stage symptoms, and sixth-stage only inflicts fifth-stage symptoms. What's more, this character does not suffer from Disembodiment until four full moon-cycles have passed while within the Umbra. (Those Realms that modify the time required for Disembodiment have those timeframes doubled by this Merit.) Notes: Book Ref: The Infinite Tapestry, page #187

Mage

Avatar Merit Cost Type Source Details Avatar Companion 7 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage is in a cycle of reincarnation. However, the strange thing about your mage's passages through the life-death-rebirth cycle comes from the fact that his Avatar has another lesser Avatar connected to it. This fragment also enters the reincarnation cycle, follows your mage's Avatar through each incarnation and often retains memories of its previous incarnation. System: In game terms, you have a living companion who has an Avatar linked to your own. You may have little memory of your past lives and your companion may not be Awakened, but she retains much of the knowledge and experience from your previous incarnations. Thus, your mage's companion can remind him of things or teach him about lessons that he's already learned previously. Think Corum and Jhary-a-Conel. xxxxxThe Storyteller creates your companion. Unless you also take the Allies Background, your companion has no special capabilities besides being tied to your character's cycle and remembering the past. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #297 Circumspect Avatar 2 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: What Avatar? Your mage has never seen her Avatar. In fact, no one's ever seen her Avatar, unless it was her reflection in the mirror, or her shadow, or something that everyone and their dog has. xxxxxYour mage does have an Avatar, but it isn't inclined to put on a show. At most, her Avatar is simply her subconscious, and it's just nudged and pushed her into finding her own Awakening. xxxxxHaving a circumspect Avatar doesn't mean that your mage doesn't have Seekings and Epiphanies. Such events tend to be rooted in reality. The mage may well find that a series of unusual events in the physical world leads her to greater enlightenment, without ever entering a dreamscape. Who needs to go rooting around in dreams and bizarre mindscapes to find out who they are? System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #294 Manifest Avatar 3 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: Most people see their Avatars only during Seekings, if at all. Your mage's drops by every day for tea, if it doesn't hang out 'round the clock. This avatar is completely invisible to everyone but your character (and those who can read her mind), unless you take this Merit in combination with the Allies Background, creating the body of a person or familiar for your Avatar. In this case, your Avatar becomes your bamf!ing buddy, popping in and out of existence when it feels like it. If it's killed, only the mortal shell dies, not your Avatar - unless you also have the Phylactery Flaw, in which case your Avatar's form is immune to all physical harm, but is is manifested permanently. If such is the case, it is able to be kidnapped, transformed and so on. System: Storytellers should note that an Avatar doesn't have to say it's an Avatar, and just because an Avatar is invested into a phylactery doesn't mean that everything that phylactery tells you is a pronouncement from your Avatar. A VA may have his laptop as a phylatery, but unless he's also taken Manifest Avatar as a Merit, his laptop's warnings to update his virus software are nothing more significant than that. Likewise, you may have invested your Avatar into your best friend, but that doesn't mean that everything (or anything) he says are pronouncements from your personal spirit guide. Such only happens to be the case if you take Manifest Avatar. Even then, why should your Avatar tell you he's anyone except your best friend? xxxxxA manifest Avatar can chat with you and other people like the intelligences that show up on the Web to guide Virtual Adepts and converse with their contemporaries. With the right tricks, it can even materialize to harangue you, to fight, to push you around, or just make for a hot date. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Shattered Avatar 5 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: Although not necessarily weak, your character's Avatar has been broken to pieces. Your mage has one splinter - your Avatar rating, if you have one, purchased at the normal cost for that Background - and the other pieces are scattered elsewhere. However, what has been broken can be put back together, at least in this case. If you can find the other pieces of your mage's Avatar through questing and roleplaying, you may increase your Avatar rating after Character Generation. xxxxxThe other pieces of your character's Avatar may be scattered about the cosmos, secreted in extra-dimensional hidey-holes with sphinxes and other creatures guarding them, or they may be part of a phylactery, of which you have one or more pieces. For instance, perhaps your mage's Avatar is invested in 10 mighty rings, 3 of which she has (and a corresponding Avatar rating of 3), but she must go and retrieve the others from those who have them. Or perhaps there are other mages who share your character's Avatar, and whenever your mage kills one, her Avatar rating grows by their Avatar rating. Unfortunately, the other mages who have this Avatar are out to kill her as well... xxxxxDesign the nature of your shattering with your storyteller and decide beforehand what your character must do to regain a piece of his broken spirit. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #297 Stormwarden 3 or 5 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: For some reason, the Avatar Storm that rages across the Gauntlet has no effect upon your mage. System: When your mage reaches across the Gauntlet, he never suffers from any injury from the Storm. For five points, your mage also protects everyone that he touches (including through Correspondence touching) and deliberately desires to shield. xxxxxEither version of this Merit is quite rare, and a whole cabal might be built around the power of one individual to travel across the Gauntlet unhindered. There's no apparent pattern to who manifests this boon - some mages who've never studied Spirit magic before suddenly discover this talent when dragged across the Umbra, while other Masters of Spirit still cant simulate it. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Twin Souls 4 Mage Avatar WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage's Avatar has been fragmented, and he has a "soul mate" - equal in power to his own Avatar, and similar in Essence, Nature and Demeanor. A physical twin, a look-alike, another mage or a complete stranger (possibly a Sleeper) might possess this fragment. System: When in physical contact with this soulmate (or spiritual mate, for actions in the Umbra), the two may share Quintessence and cast spells as one. Taking the highest ratings in Arete and Spheres, also gaining an additional measure of Quintessence equal to the strength of the other individual. The parts are greater than the whole. However, this joint pool must be replenished through meditation in a Node, the same as a regular pool of Quintessence. Paradox points gained from joint spells are not split, however, and each twin gains the same amount of Paradox. xxxxxWith only one dot in Correspondence, your character will always know where her soulmate is. With one dot in Life, she'll know his state of health, and with one in Mind, she may share his thoughts. If one soulmate dies, the player of the other must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to avoid psychic shock. She must wait also until her soulmate's reincarnation before the power may again be shared. Soulmates are not just walking Merits, they must be presented and run as characters, preferably by a different player in a group. Also note that a mage does not have to get along with her soulmate... Twin souls are distinct and separate individuals, not just tag-team powerhouses. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #296 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Protean Psyche 7 Mage Mental WW4044 Synopsis: 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 those 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 thingie, like something from Japanese anime as reinterpreted by St John the Baptist? Sure, sounds good. System: if your mage is a shapechanger or 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 (see Mage: The Asension p. 171). 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. Notes: Book Ref: Disciple's Handbook: The Bitter Road, page #117 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Tradition Herald 2 Mage Social WW4044 Synopsis: Your character has been recognized by the Traditions as a formal herald. He is granted safe passage in all Tradition territory, such as Chantries and Nodes, and he can expect hospitality from Tradition mages. In the modern age, this hospitality may just include crash space on a couch and a meal from McDonald's, but it's enough to survive. System: Your mage may be asked to carry messages physically, since magical methods can be detected and intercepted while he can (theoretically) defend himself. Although you cannot expect to enter the inner Sanctums of most Traditions, he can ask for audience with their heads and expect to be heard (at some point). You can also expect passage into and through territory that's special to a tradition, such as admittance to a historic Akashic monastery where other mages are normally not permitted, for instance. xxxxxFurthermore, any Traditionalist who attacks your character except in self-defense is subject to censure and branding. If your character aggravates the attack (taunting someone until he attacks), he may also be stripped of his position and branded. In general, however, he's safe from direct fighting among the Traditions. A herald can still be challenged to certamen, though. He can speak the truth freely or even insult people in a diplomatic capacity, but he'd better make sure that he's right. Notes: Book Ref: Disciple's Handbook: The Bitter Road, page #117 Faction Founder 4 Mage Social WW4044 Synopsis: Your character has broken with Tradition and founded her own faction. Several acolytes pay heed to her beliefs, she can get recognition as a political force in her Tradition, and she can train Apprentices with her special area of concern. System: In game terms, you get a one-point bonus on Social rolls within your mage's own Tradition. You get respect (and sometimes fear) for paving new ground. When you teach a newly Awakened Initiate, he learns your chosen faction special Sphere in addition to your normal Tradition specialty. xxxxxIn story terms, your character probably has several followers and maybe some Apprentices (take Backgrounds as appropriate). She can start a Chantry and be recognized, and her faction will live on in the annals of Tradition history! Obviously, this Merit is a great hook for political chronicles. Notes: Book Ref: Disciple's Handbook: The Bitter Road, page #117 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Cyclic Magic 3 Mage Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Your character's magic is tied to some regular and repeating cycle - night and day, the moon, the sun, the tides, the wheel of the year, or even such things as the stock market price of tea in China (very important for a Syndicate commodities broker). As such, your difficulties with magic fluctuate from the standard by a maximum of three, depending on what part of the cycle you set as your personal high point. You may be tied to the dark of the moon, the full moon, the Bull cycle or the Bear cycle. Regardless, while the cyclic nature of your magic is problematic, it is quite useful in some circumstances, allowing your character to schedule rituals for their times of greatest power. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295 Dual Traditions 7 Mage Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: Your mage has been educated by two traditions. Most likely, he was a Hollow One who studied a bit of this and that, and found a couple things that made sense to him. Or, perhaps, he was Awakened by a teacher of one tradition, but then studied under a different Master and experienced a second Epiphany through this new knowledge. System: For purposes of spending experience, the specialty Spheres of both Traditions come with the bonus (cheap) multiplier. Your character is more open minded about foci as well, and he may use those of either Tradition. (The penalties for unique foci still apply). If your mage loses his Hermetic showstone, for example, he has to go either about getting another one or rely solely on the props of his other Tradition. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #298 Sphere Natural 5 Mage Supernatural WW4600 Synopsis: 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. System: During character creation, select one Sphere. From this point on, you 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. Notes: Book Ref: Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #297 Traditions Akashic Brotherhood Merit Cost Type Source Details Folk Hero 3 Social WW4657 Synopsis: Your people love you. You stood up to a corrupt official, ended a drought, got a new hospital built, or did any number of things that endeared you to the people in your community. When you're there, they'll do almost anything to help you, as long as you maintain your previous upstanding behavior. System: A signiture merit for Li-Hai, Folk Hero gives you a blanket -2 difficulty on Social rolls with people from the community you helped. Furthermore, your character can always get basic food and shelter there, and if he's in trouble with the law or just needs a place to hide, they'll find him a garage or back room to lay his head. Just keep two things in mind: First, these are ordinary working class or agrarian people; your character isn't going to be borrowing a jet or a laptop from them (though he might get a bicycle). Second, while they don't expect him to rescue every cat and till every rocky field for his sick neighbor, they do expect him to stand up for his community when times are tough. If he turns his back on them, they'll turn their backs on him. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood (Revised), page #59 Drahma's Voice 4 to 6 Social WW4657 Synopsis: Whether you're a child, a drunk, or a monk, you speak with more wisdom than you possess. Perhaps you are a reincarnated sage, or you simply have an intuitive connection with the Absolute that expresses itself in your voice and actions. System: In game terms, your character is a Mentor for Akashic mages (and, at the Storyteller's discretion, others who might understand her words), despite the fact that she isn't particularly wise herself. The four point version of this Merit turns your character into a one-dot Mentor - you may add more dots at the cost of one point per dot. For six points, your character serves as a three-dot Mentor to other people, even if she lacks the usual knowledge to teach in such fashion. She cant benefit from this herself. She doesn't know why the other Sidai light up with sudden understanding when she tells them a joke or a bar story! Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood (Revised), page #59 Judge's Wisdom 4 Mental WW4657 Synopsis: You aren't swayed by emotion. Ever. perhaps you're a strict Legalist who follows Han Fei 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. System: 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 Disciplines and the like, and extremely potent powers (with six or more dots) may overwhelm his defenses. Your character can be calm but weak willed, after all. Note that you cannot take this Merit and the Merit Iron Will'. That would result in a quick ticket to Clarity! Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood (Revised), page #59 Celestial Chorus Merit Cost Type Source Details Ecumenist 5 Social WW4665 Synopsis: Though possibly never having worked with mages outside the Tradition, your mage has developed some unique insights into the distinct factions and sects that make up the Chorus. Perhaps his mentor encouraged him to pursue studies with another teacher as well, or he simply developed a new interest or sense of calling and went off on his own. The character with this Merit may purchase both faction's specialty Spheres at the bonus multiplier, effectively having two primary Spheres. The benefit has its downside, as both factions may require certain obligations of him. System: Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus (Revised), page #62 Techgnosi 2 or 6 Social WW4665 Synopsis: The One is not limited by the changes of history or the challenges of humanity's ever expanding knowledge. Your character has learned to find the One in the contemporary world of technology, even gaining new and sometimes profound insights about the mystical side of scientific knowledge and the rational dimensions of religious faith. After all, the one is no respecter of human boundaries. The most organized group of Techgnostics is the Alexandrian Society, (noted on p. 46 of Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus Revised). System: The two point version of this Merit allows your character to use technological foci that are more commonly associated with the Virtual Adepts or the Sons of Ether as long as there is some mystical or religiously orientated content associated with them. (Your character might use a religious website for a Mind Effect, for example.) xxxxxThe six point version also allows the user to have both Prime (or her faction's primary Sphere) and either Matter or Correspondence as her primary spheres. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus (Revised), page #62 Cupid's Gift 1 Social WW4665 Synopsis: System: Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus (Revised), page #62 Cult of Ecstasy Merit Cost Type Source Details Hypersensitivity 3 Physical WW4661 Synopsis: Your mage has very keen senses of touch and taste. Indeed, the Cultist can often sense minute motions, and she absolutely adores the touch of silk or the taste of wine. This Merit is different from just an Acute Sense; it's a qualitative difference. The Cultist derives a greater quality of satisfaction and pleasure from all manner of indulgences and carnal activities. System: The Cultist tastes subtle hints in drinks and can tell the most minute, soft touches. With a Perception + Alertness roll, your Cultist can often perform feats such as telling the exact vintage of a wine by a tiny taste or use a simple swatch of silk or a subtle caress as a suitable focus, instead of indulging in more extreme measures. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy (Revised), page #69 Resonant Passion 3 Supernatural WW4661 Synopsis: One of your mage's areas of Resonance also reflects a strong internal tie to one of the Nine Sacred Passions (p. 39 of Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy Revised). System: Choose one of your character's Resonance Traits. Whenever your mage performs magic that gains a bonus from that Resonance, you gain a two point difficulty break instead of one. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy (Revised), page #69 Euthanatos Merit Cost Type Source Details Mourner's Chant 3 Social WW4663 Synopsis: Your mage has a gift for relieving people of their despair when they are confronted with death. He might be a professional mourner in a traditional society, a grief counselor or even just a compassionate soul willing to listen and reassure anyone affected by death. His skill is such that the presence of ghosts and the walking dead bring no fear to his charges, so long as he can speak to them in a clear, unwavering voice. System: The character gains a -2 difficulty modifier on all Social rolls when trying to comfort someone struck by grief, rage or any other emotion brought on by death. When ghosts and the walking dead approach, he may make a Manipulation + Expression roll (difficulty 7) to steel his charge against terror. Each success adds one point to the subject's effective Willpower when resisting the horror. This does not cover vampires or the use of fear-causing supernatural powers, only the shroud of fear that surrounds these beings. You may split your dice pool to comfort multiple people. The subject flees or is paralyzed with fear unless he makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 9). Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Euthanatos (Revised), page #69 Deathwalker 4 Supernatural WW4663 Synopsis: Your character has a special tie to the Underworld. System: While most mages must die or undergo the Agama rite to cross into the Shadowlands, you can use the third rank of Spirit to Step Sideways, just as if you were entering the Middle Umbra. Your aura turns pale and you take on the spiritual imprint of one of the dead. You aren't affected by the Avatar Storms when you cross over; they ignore your "dead" soul as it passes by. You are affected by the Avatar Storm when you venture into the Middle and Astral Umbrae, only the lands of the dead are excepted. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Euthanatos (Revised), page #69 Sons of Ether Merit Cost Type Source Details Scientific Mystic 3 Mental WW4658 Synopsis: Some Etherites have a special aptitude for interpreting other magical styles through the lens of their own theories. As a result, they can use mystical methods, even if their own paradigms are devoted to scientific truth. Polymath Adventurers are known for their "secret studies in the East" or esoteric technologies pulled from ancient legends. System: This Merit allows a character to use one other Tradition or Craft's foci for one Sphere that the character knows as long as the player can justify how this knowledge fits into the character's paradigm. For example, a rune-carving Son of Ether isn't using "Norse magic", but the geometric, psychological and psionic insights of a culture whose discoveries were, no doubt, downplayed by the enemies of Science! The character may select a specialty focus, but this choice replaces the normal specialty focus for the Sphere. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Sons of Ether (Revised), page #58 Mad Science 2 Mental Supernatural WW4658 Synopsis: By experimenting with other dimensions, mind-wracking mathematics and Paradoxical technologies, the Sons of Ether risk their mental stability at the price of unique insights. Having touched the infinite, inhuman reaches of Truth, madness takes its toll, but it also brings inspiration. System: Characters with this Merit receive a one-point break on magical difficulties as well as uses of the Awareness, Cosmology, Enigmas, Occult, Science, and Technology Abilities while in the throws of Quiet or an active derangement. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Sons of Ether (Revised), page #58 Verbena Merit Cost Type Source Details Long-Lived 1 Physical WW4659 Synopsis: Whether through heredity, the blessings of the gods or just good, clean living, you are especially long lived. You age, but gracefully, retaining both your vitality and your faculties. You can expect to live to see your first century, and possibly another beyond that. System: Note that adepts of the Life Sphere can achieve this Effect through magic. This Merit grants it naturally (and does not incur the possibility of Paradox). Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Verbena (Revised), page #70 Honored Lineage 2 Social WW4659 Synopsis: System: Your bloodline is descended from one of the oldest and most respected families among the Verbena, and you can trace your ancestry back to the Burning Times, if not further. You are a true scion of the legendary Wyck, the First Ones. Among mages (particularly Verbena) who care about matters of lineage, reduce the difficulty of your Social rolls by two (but not to less than 2). You're also likely to receive a measure of deference and respect from those people, though others will also expect great things from you and could be disappointed if you don't live up to your heritage. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Verbena (Revised), page #70 Cloak of the Seasons 3 Physical WW4659 Synopsis: You are magically protected from the effects of the weather and the natural environment. You are perfectly comfortable in winter's chill or summer's blazing heat, regardless of your clothing (or lack thereof). You do not suffer from sunstroke or exposure. You're not even bitten by insects or other vermin. Your senses are still limited by the elements (including fog, rain and snow), and you're not protected from either hunger or thirst. System: Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Verbena (Revised), page #70 Natural Shapeshifter 3 Aptitude WW4659 Synopsis: You are a natural and talented shapeshifter when using Life magic (not necessarily related to the Fera, though you may also have the Kinfolk Merit). System: You are never in danger of losing yourself to the identity of your beast-form, and any new shape you adopt is as comfortable to you as your own. Moreover, the difficulty of Arete rolls to change your own shape is two less than normal. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Verbena (Revised), page #70 Touch of Life 1 Supernatural WW4659 Synopsis: Your Avatar and your Pattern are filled to overflowing with the energies of life. You are especially vital and vivacious, and others find your presence uplifting and energizing (and possibly annoying, for those who don't care for such things). System: You recover from injury as if your condition was one health level less serious. )A Wounded character recovers as if he is only Injured, taking a week rather than a month.) Reduce the difficulty of your Stamina rolls to fight off diseases and poisons by one. More importantly, your liveliness tends to rub off on others. Plants thrive under your care (much like the Green Thumb Merit). Injured people under your direct care recover as quickly as you do (treating their condition as one health level less serious for purposes of recovery). xxxxxThe downside of this Merit is that your blood is particularly rich in life force, meaning vampires gain twice the normal amount of blood points when drinking from you. This might make you a target of bloodsuckers and similar life draining creatures. Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Verbena (Revised), page #70 Virtual Adepts Merit Cost Type Source Details Well Connected 3 Social WW4660 Synopsis: Your name is well known throughout virtual space, and you can expect some assistance from other people online. This can range from other Awakened mages to simple Sleepers who like the "cool guy" they've been talking to. Help can vary as well, but usually comes in the form of information. System: Notes: Book Ref: Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts (Revised), page #72

Sorcerer
Infernal Merit Cost Type Source Details Demonic Heritage: Laham 7 Sorcerer Infernal WW4806 Synopsis: Some folk are said to be the offspring of demons. Considering the carnal traffic at Sabbats, orgies and midnight visitations, this isn't surprising. Uncannily long-lived, impervious to pain, and often possessed of inhuman powers, a demon-spawn (or laham) is said to be a special servant of Hell. Although warped by strange deformities, she is granted a special place at the tables of Nephandi and other primal diabolists, who can sense her demonic heritage. xxxxxDespite the tables of "demon's blood" and "devil seed", demons are spirit entities and cannot reproduce with mortals. When evil spirits possess a human being (or an animal), however, the host can be tainted by Infernal essence; if a child results, she'll probably have a little bit of Hell inside her. Many sorcerers, both of good and evil intent, are reputed to be demon-spawn: Merlin, Morganna la Fay, Circe and Kullervo (among others) supposedly sprang from such unholy unions. Such people are not known for their generous temperaments, but they are not doomed to be evil - a heroic effort can overcome the worst ancestry. Few lahama aspire to virtue though. Most consider their Infernal heritage a blessing, and pursue the Dark Arts with unnerving enthusiasm. System: In game terms, a laham is a normal person "gifted" by Infernal essence. Like a vampire's ghoul, she has a few extraordinary abilities but does not belong to a new "race" of occult creatures. This Merit grants a few special talents and drawbacks that reflect the character's demonic lineage: Benefits: A laham can have seven points of demonic Investments without making any form of pact. These talents are hers from birth and cannot be rescinded. She ages very slowly and can live roughly 200 years if nothing kills her in the meantime. Infernalists, hell-spawn, and evil spirits can sense a laham for what she is, and will probably offer her some form of respect; in game terms, subtract 3 from the difficult of any Social roll she makes regarding demons and devil-worshipers. Many lahama have a natural affinity for magic too; they Awaken around puberty and often become full-fledged Infernalist magi after they've had some time to learn the Dark Arts. (No, there are no bonuses for this. It's simply a point of origin.) Weaknesses: All lahama are cursed by deformities of body, mind and soul. A laham character must select three points of Flaws, plus four points in the Echoes Flaw (see The Sorcerer's Crusade, page #106, and the sidebar in this book, page #77. These Flaws do not count against the 7 point limit.) Every laham is temperamental, too; although this doesn't come out in game systems, it should make life difficult for the character in question. Finally, people with True Faith or some strong affinity for goodness can sense the demonic inheritance, too; any Social roll aside from Intimidation based ones adds 3 to its difficulty. Even under the best of circumstances, sacred symbols and holy places are hard for a laham to endure. xxxxxNot all lahama are human; disturbing folktales speak of women who gave birth to giant flies or were torn inside out by feral creatures for which no names exist. Some women have been impregnated while possessed, or raped by marauding demon-hosts; thus, a handful of lahama have been raised by the Church (or other religious authorities) to be potential weapons against the Darkness. Such weapons have two edges, however, and no laham can ever be sure where her true loyalties lie... Notes: Book Ref: Infernalism: The Path of Screams, page #79 Demonic Tutor 4 Sorcerer Infernal WW4806 Synopsis: Occasionally, demons will instruct a promising pupil without requiring her servitude in return. An especially ambitious individual might be clever enough to wrangle a deal from an Infernal tutor, while a truly malevolent soul may seem so devoted to corruption that the tutor considers it a privilege (or at least an investment in the future) to teach her "free of charge". (For now...) System: Now this enterprising diabolist has a mentor straight from Hell. He could be a minor devil, a djinn, a malignant ancestor ghost, or even an elemental, but he clearly isn't human. Although the demon wont go to any great trouble or risk on her behalf, he might impart certain secrets that few mortals ever learn. In some cases, he might even seem fond of his "little satan" and make occasional efforts on her behalf. Like a faithful hound, he leads her to hidden, esoteric lore; and like a hound, he expects to be fed once the favor is performed... Notes: Book Ref: Infernalism: The Path of Screams, page #78 Lord of Flies 2 Sorcerer Infernal WW4806 Synopsis: Blessed by Beelzebub, this Infernalist wears an eternal halo of flies. Insects, drawn to his ineffable corruption, flock around him like pilgrims of damnation. Everywhere he goes, carrion bugs of all descriptions surround this foul creature. Naturally, most humans (even Infernalists) find the Lord repulsive, but some appreciate his dark favor and welcome him at sickening feasts. System: Notes: Book Ref: Infernalism: The Path of Screams, page #78 Unholy Aura 7 Sorcerer Infernal WW4806 Synopsis: Like a living cloud of Darkness, an Infernalist with this deadly gift drives all holiness from his presence. Relics and goodly trappings crumble in his grasp, living things whither where he stands, and men and women of Faith hide their faces and flee when he approaches. System: In game terms, this Merit weaves a frightening aura around the corrupt character's soul. To anyone who can see auras, the Infernalist looks like a walking storm cloud (hence the old name for the Nephandi); to anyone with the Awareness Talent, he seems incredibly ancient and malignant. Characters with True Faith (in holy things, not Infernal ones) must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) or run away in abject horror. A botch on that roll indicates the Infernal taint has overpowered the person's Faith; as she cowers in a pitiful heap, stigmata-like wounds erupt across her head, side and arms, or leap like whiplashes across her skin. Even when the Faithful one makes her roll, she finds it physically difficult to remain in the Infernalist's vicinity. He sears her nostrils with brimstone clouds and churns the air itself with his foul presence. Note that this merit is not a power per se, simply a reflection of the tremendous Resonance the Fallen One carries around with him. He has become one with the Void in a very real way. Notes: Book Ref: Infernalism: The Path of Screams, page #79 Unshockable 3 Sorcerer Infernal WW4806 Synopsis: The service of the Pit demands many unconscionable acts: cannibalism, torture, shit eating, demon fucking... Somewhere down the road, the Unshockable character has lost all sense of shame or revulsion. Without a flicker of emotion, he can perform atrocities that would make a Jacquerie blanch. He has a cast iron stomach, too - no substance is too revolting for him to consume. Fellow diabolists look upon such steadfastness with wonder and a touch of fear. After all, if this person can skin a baby so effortlessly, how hard would he find it to do the same to his friends? System: Notes: Book Ref: Infernalism: The Path of Screams, page #78 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Detached 4 Sorcerer Mental WW4254 Synopsis: Your psychic has the rare ability to view his psychic abilities as separate from his physical existence and can maintain this distance even under adverse conditions. System: Wound penalties don't affect your use of psychic powers until your character reaches Incapacitated. if he's Incapacitated, then you may spend a Willpower point to use a psychic 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. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #54 Strength of Psyche 2 Sorcerer Mental WW4254 Synopsis: 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. System: You may spend Mana points to reduce the difficulty target number of any die pool for a mental action. The difficulty may not be reduced below 2, nor be reduced by more than three points. Depending on 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. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #54 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Sterile 1 Sorcerer Physical WW4254 Synopsis: Put simply, your sorcerer cannot have children. For those who practice Tantric rituals or require sex as a focus, but do not desire pregnancy or unwanted children, this is a Merit. For those who belong to cultures, strong families or marriages that expect them to have children, this is a Flaw. System: Notes: This Merit may also be a Flaw. Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #53 The Flow of Ki 3 Sorcerer Physical WW4254 Synopsis: Most advanced practitioners of the martial arts spend a lot of time trying to explain that their prowess is not simply a result of skill. Desperately, they seek to explain that their might comes from an understanding of the energy we all possess, the breath of the inner spirit. You understand that lesson in a way that allows you apply it to physical feats. System: You may spend Mana (chi, ki, whatever your style calls it) points to reduce the difficulty target number of any die pool for a physical action. The difficulty number may not be reduced lower than two, nor may you reduce it by more than three. Obviously you must already have the Mana to spend or this Merit is useless. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #53 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Faction Favorite 2 Sorcerer Social WW4254 Synopsis: Awakened mages may be the visionaries who help the traditions and Conventions build the future, but it is the linear mages who provide the bedrock foundation upon which new recruits, cultural identity, stable Chantries and hopes for the future are actually built. Whether due to a special distinction for conserving the past glories of a Tradition or a solid reputation as one of the backbones of organizational power, you command respect in your Tradition or Convention. This is important because the worldwide influences of the mighty keystone associations of magicians transcend most of the smaller societies that manage to survive the ages. System: Modify all Social rolls connected to Tradition or Convention Status or decision-making by two points of difficulty in your favor. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #53 Force of Spirit 2 Sorcerer Social WW4254 Synopsis: The raw inner force of your soul grants you a certain character that others may find irresistible. Perhaps you glow with an inner light; maybe your beauty seems virtually divine. System: You may spend Mana points to reduce the difficulty target number of a Social roll. No difficulty may be lower than two, and none may be lowered by more than three. Obviously, you must possess Mana points to be able to spend them. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #54 Ritual Congregation 4 Sorcerer Social WW4254 Synopsis: Some magicians require large numbers of believers to aid them in creating the resonance and trappings necessary to invoke spells or rituals. Most individuals limited in such a way become adept at manipulating or swaying audiences into helping the, unwittingly or not. You have carefully cultivated a group of at least 100 members who are at least familiar enough with the concepts of your magical style to serve as useful aids in the process. Of course, most of them are expecting something in return, whether it be redemption, social interaction, or direct magical benefit. System: Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #53 Shamanic Authority 2 to 4 Sorcerer Social WW4043 Synopsis: You are recognized as a true shaman by a select group of people. This Merit carries both significant mundane influence and substantial responsibility. These people (who can be anything from a small, isolated band or tribe, to a local ethnic community in a large American city) aid you in any reasonable fashion that they can. Among other advantages, these people will support you with cash, goods, or services. The larger and less isolated the community, the greater the cost of the Merit. Being the shaman for an isolated tribe of 60 people would be worth only two points, whereas being recognized as a shaman for an ethnic community of several thousand people living in a major city is worth four points. Your people will aid and support you in a style appropriate to their own resources. If you are living in a small community, you may have a one room home and regular (if bland) food, plus a marginal income of trinkets and gifts. Your flock will also attempt to protect you and aid you. xxxxxHowever, in return for protection and sustenance, you are expected to act as the spiritual guide and intermediary of your community. You will be expected to heal the sick, contact spirits of the departed, bless the community's members and allies and possibly curse their enemies. Failure to meet these obligations will result in losing all benefits from this Merit (at best), and it may even cause the people to turn against you and attempt to find another shaman to cast a curse on you. xxxxxMost Dreamspeakers with this Merit live full-time in their community. those who do not usually have assistants or allies, such as lesser shamans, who help manage the spiritual affairs of the community while the Dreamspeaker is absent. In the vast majority of cases, shamans with this Merit were born and raised in the community to which they minister. System: Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #104 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Blood Magic 5 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: Perhaps you learned magic from a particularly dark cult. Maybe your spirit needs additional energy, beyond your strength of will, to enact magic. Perhaps you foolishly studied under a vampire or from tomes plundered from vampires. Whatever the reason, your sorcerer's use of magic always requires the sacrifice of his own blood. In some cases, it will simply burn away from inside. In others, the magician must cut himself and include it in the ritual. Each use of magic causes an unsoakable level of bashing damage. Furthermore, the Resonance of your magic is likely to be dark, or at the least, martyred in nature. System: Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #56 Bonus From Props 1 to 3 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4043 Synopsis: Many Shamans who possess this Merit also have the Dependence on Props Flaw. System: You receive a +1 bonus to all of your magic rolls when using props. Notes: Book Ref: The Spirit Ways, page #103 Path Natural 5 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4010 WW4254 Synopsis: You're a prodigy, a natural at some mystical Path. For whatever reason (inborn talent, powerful heritage, past life, supernatural bargain, etc), you've got an affinity to one certain kind of magic. You picked it up quickly (with little or no study) and now progress through it at an unusual rate. System: During Character creation, select one magical Path. From this point on, you only pay three-quarters of the normal cost (rounded down) when buying advanced levels or Rituals for that Path only. A natural shapeshifter, for example, would pay only 10 points to raise her Shapeshifting Path from two to three. The "favored" Path must be declared during character creation, and this Merit can be purchased only once. Notes: Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #69 Sorcerer (Revised), page #56 Psychic Ritual 2 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: Your psychic is a true rarity amongst the pure practitioners of the Arts of mental magic. Some realization of the importance of the universe has crept into his subconscious sufficiently that he has even managed to create a ritual that allows him to perform some extended psychic effect. System: You need to create a ritual, approved by your Storyteller, for one of the levels of one of your character's psychic Paths. When your character performs this ritual, you may use the normal rules for rituals and extended magic rules, with minor necessary changes. Obviously, as your psychic does not gain Paradox, the penalty for a botch falls to the Storyteller, greatly increasing the horrific effects of the catastrophic failure. Your roll is limited to no more dice than your psychic's Stamina + Parapsychology. (In this case, you may roll simply your Stamina dice, even if you don't have the Parapsychology Knowledge.) Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #54 Struggling Awake 5 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: For most mages, the act of Awakening is a sudden explosion of realization, regardless of how long the study has taken to get her there. For some, however, the trip to understanding affinitive magic is a bout of glimmering spitters, and this traipsing back and forth across the veil may even happen to sorcerers. A subtle understanding of the broad theories that bind together vast forces of the universe can briefly seem crystal clear and quickly dissolve into a vague sense of loss. In the face of the empty feeling of a deeper understanding, the linear mage once again takes up the reins of power that have been so thoroughly ingrained in her nature, until the glibber recurs. System: Whenever the player tries to call upon his Avatar's struggling magic instead of just practicing his normal Paths and rituals, he must first declare what he is trying to do. The Storyteller then rolls a single die. A result of a one is a botch - yes, the Awakening is dangerous - with the most likely result being some episode of Quiet as the sorcerer strives to come to terms with his consciousness. Otherwise, calculate the effects rating in Arete and Spheres. If the single die roll equals or exceeds this total, then the player rolls normally to cast the effect, using the minimum dice possible - that is, trying to affect minor forces (Forces 2) would require at least a four on the initial single die (two for the Forces, two for the Arete) and would allow the player to roll two dice for an effect. If the single die roll falls short, then the magician probably gets some minor effect in the desired direction, but fails to do anything spectacular. All other rules apply as normal to a mage, including suffering the forces of Paradox. Fortunately, specialization also applies: All rolls of 10 garner a free additional roll, and a roll of 10 on the initial single die grants one automatic success to the magical effect itself. xxxxxAs one example, Conrad wants to summon an angel to the aid of his Red Monk sorcerer, but does not have the necessary Paths or rituals. His pedagogue of an Avatar pushes him to try anyway. Jess rolls a die and gets a 10, lucky for Conrad. Merely calling a spirit is a Level Two Spirit effect and therefore Conrad's character gets to roll an Arete of two (the minimum required) for the effect. The ten on the Struggling Awake Merit roll does grant him one automatic success, however. Rolling with an Arete of two, Conrad proves exceptionally lucky scoring a success and a 10, allowing him to roll again, which grants him another success for a total of four. Jess rules that a lesser angel hears and decides to make an appearance. Unfortunately for Conrad, this is definitely vulgar, and there is a sleeper present (surprise), so his Red Monk garners three Paradox points. "The Lord is meant to move in secret," he laments to himself. If the die rolled a mere two, Conrad's sorcerer would have had but one Arete and one level of Spirit available, and he would be potentially granted a vision of the local spirit realms and any angels that might be there. In desperate trouble, he might soon find himself joining them. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #56 Style Sleeper 2 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: Magic only works one way, and your character knows it. When other people try to pull stupid tricks, your sorcerer sees them for what they are, or at least tries. System: Any time you witness magic that fits into your character's style, everything is fine; your sorcerer is treated as an Awakened being. Any time she witnesses any magic that falls outside of her style, she counts as a Sleeper. Because this specifically targets your character's enemies while allowing you to merrily continue with your magic as normal, this disbelief in other magic is considered a Merit. There may be times it harms your character, such as when another mage is trying to heal her and she just thinks he cannot do so. More often, however, her incredulity serves as a partial defense against the Arts of others. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #55 Twin Link 4 or 6 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: Akin to the Mage Merit: Twin Souls, the psychic shares a constant psychic bond with another person. System: This gives them the benefit of the Level Two Synergy effect. Additionally, the psychics joined by a Twin Link get +2 to their Empathy score, but only with regards to what their twin is feeling. As a 6 point Merit, the members of the Twin Link can purchase the power Synergy, in addition to other psychic powers they may have, at a cost of 7 freebie points per dot and 3 experience points per dot to raise. This Synergy power works only on the other member of the Twin Link. Notes: Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #55 Wild Talent 4 Sorcerer Supernatural WW4254 Synopsis: Though many psychics lack formal training of their gifts, some lack even the most basic control of their powers. These "wild" psychics tend to have powerful gifts, though the lack of control makes up for the extra power they might have. System: To determine the level of the Flaw, use the following table. The total Merit or Flaw cannot exceed 4 points. Points Effect +1 For every extra die the character has when using the power -1 The character must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to use the power. -2 The character can only consciously use the power defensively. (i.e., A precognitive character can activate her Danger Sense, or a telekinetic can use the power to deflect attacks.) -3 The character has no conscious control of the power, but it works more often to the character's benefit than not. (A clairvoyant who has useful clairvoyant dreams.) -4 The character's power activates randomly (at least once per game session) and often at inopportune or embarrassing moments. (The channeler contacts the spirit of an ancient warrior during a fancy dinner party.) Notes: This Merit may also be a Flaw. Book Ref: Sorcerer (Revised), page #54

Mummy

Mummy

Awareness Merit Cost Type Source Details Gift of Ma'at 3 Mummy Awareness WW2381 Synopsis: Attuned to the ways of Balance, your character can naturally sense the presence of those who serve or oppose the cosmic order. System: Whenever anyone with a Balance or Corruption rating enters the range of your character's natural senses, your Storyteller should secretly roll your Balance (difficulty 8). Success reveals the presence of a righteous or unrighteous being somewhere in the area. It is up to your character to determine who - or what - just triggered the sense. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Deja Vu 2 Mummy Mental WW2381 Synopsis: Whenever your character encounters someone or something connected with a memorable First Life experience, the Storyteller should secretly roll your character's Intelligence + Memory. The difficulty of his roll depends on how vivid or important the experience was, while the number of successes determines the clarity of the recall. One success is enough to get a vague sense of familiarity, while five successes triggers a complete five-sense flashback. Obviously, characters without the Memory Background cannot take this background. System: Notes: This Merit costs 1 point for Teomallki Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #116 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Andean Native 1 Mummy Physical WW2381 Synopsis: Your character's mortal form is a native of the Andes and is able to perform all activities in the cold, thin air without handicap. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #116 Higher Pain Tolerance 3 Mummy Physical WW2380 Synopsis: Your character can shrug off the effects of injury more easily. System: Reduce by one all of your character's wound penalties. The Amenti functions as if he is unhurt when Injured, Injured when he is Wounded, and so forth. Your character still suffers damage normally, and he still drops when he is Incapacitated. Notes: This Merit costs 1 point for Sefekhi. Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Immune to Disease 3 Mummy Physical WW2380 Synopsis: The powerful Sekhem in your character's body renders him immune to normal disease and infections. System: As long as the Amenti has at least one Sekhem point, he cannot become infected with any non-magical disease. If his Sekhem drops to zero, your character becomes just as vulnerable to disease as anyone else. If your character is infected but he restores his Sekhem later, the disease's toxin tating decreases by the Amenti's current Sekhem rating. If the toxin rating drops to zero, your character is cured. Notes: Fore more information on diseases, see Chapter Five of Mummy: The Resurrection. Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Immune to Poisons 3 Mummy Physical WW2380 Synopsis: Your character's strong Sekhem protects him entirely from normal poisons, although poisons and potions created using Alchemy still affect the Amenti normally. System: If his Sekhem drops to zero, your character becomes vulnerable to poisons. If your character is poisoned and he restores his Sekhem later, the poison's toxin rating decreases by the Amenti's current Sekhem rating. If the toxin rating drops to zero, your character purges the poison completely. Notes: For more information on poisons and their effects, see Chapter Five of Mummy: The Resurrection. Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Two Hearts 3 Mummy Physical WW2381 Synopsis: Your character is a witch who has two hearts. Therefore, she can survive a shot or strike that would kill another person. System: The Storyteller will have to determine when your character's extra heart would be able to save her (e.g., it would not help them against strangulation, decapitation, or burning to death). Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Mallki Prestige 3 Mummy Social WW2381 Synopsis: Maybe you were a great hero among the Capacocha in your First Life. maybe you befriended one of the ancients more recently. Whatever the reason, your name is known to the surviving mallki of your suyu - and perhaps beyond. System: You have powerful friends whom you can call upon for aid, but your reputation will likely attract equally powerful enemies and perhaps a jealous rival or two (assuming it hasn't already). Obviously, only Teomallki may take this Merit. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117 Noble Bearing 1 Mummy Social WW2380 Synopsis: Perhaps your character's tem-akh was of noble blood, or perhaps that blood flows in the veins of his khat. For whatever reason, your character has a noble bearing and manner befitting a king or pharaoh. Others take notice and heed the Amenti's words. System: Reduce by two the difficulty of any social rolls in situations when your character can bring his force of personality to bear.. The Storyteller has final say on situations in which this benefit might apply. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Seductive 1 Mummy Social WW2380 Synopsis: Filled with vibrant life, each Amenti is a naturally sensual being. Your character finds that others are particularly drawn to him. It may be something about his appearance, manner, or simple joie de vevre. Still, your character is likely to earn more than his share of bitter rivals (as well as, possibly, angry jilted paramours and spouses). System: Reduce by two the difficulty of any Seduction rolls, and likewise reduce the difficulty for Subterfuge attempts that exploit your character's sensuality. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Uncarved Block 1 Mummy Social WW2381 Synopsis: Your character is naturally "natural", and can enter the state called "pu" - being "like a block of wood not carved". Anyone seeing him, speaking with him or knowing anything about him will assume that he is simply an ordinary person who is doing ordinary things, such as a common peasant, worker, or student. System: This Merit adds one point to Arcane or to any dice pool intended to convince anyone that he is merely what he seems. Note that this will not work if the character is doing something grotesquely unnatural or inhuman, such as performing Hekau spells or rituals wherein the onlooker can observe him exhibiting skills that no one could possibly have. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #116 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Blessing of Ra 3 or 7 Mummy Supernatural WW2381 Synopsis: Imbued with holy wrath, your character can turn away the foul minions of Apophis far more easily than other mummies. System: Reduce by two the difficulty of any Forbiddance attempt. Additionally, creatures successfully banished by your character suffer one level of aggravated damage as your righteousness sears their tainted soul. For seven points, your character also makes reflexive Forbiddance attempts whenever she touches a malign entity. Since this reaction is automatic, ti does not require an action. Characters with either form of this Merit have a golden nimbus surrounding their aura. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117 Divine Emissary 7 Mummy Supernatural WW2381 Synopsis: Like Udja-sen, your character is not bound to the Web of Faith. If reduced to zero Lifeforce, he may continue to regain his spiritual power normally without succumbing to semeket. Mummies with this Merit are greatly prized as agents in foreign lands and ambassadors to other Reborn. System: Wu T'ian and Capacocha can also take this Merit, freeing them from the dragon nests of the Middle Kingdom and the boundaries of the Teomallki's Andean homelands, respectively. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117 Dragon Nest 1 to 5 Mummy Supernatural WW2381 Synopsis: Your character has been entrusted with a wellspring of Chi, one of the few places of spiritual power left in the Middle Kingdom. System: At a dragon nest, all attempts to recover Lifeforce with the Blessing of Heaven automatically receive a number of extra successes equal to the value of this Merit. Remember that this wellspring is a priceless treasure. Unscrupulous shen may try to steal its power, and demons will certainly want to defile it for their own twisted ends. The Amenti version of this blessing is called "Oasis", while the Capacocha have their own "Wellspring", which functions much the same. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #116 Gift of Thoth 5 Mummy Supernatural WW2380 Synopsis: Like the legendary magicians of ancient Egypt, your character is especially gifted in the use of a particular Hekau path. System: Choose one path (most likely your character's Amenti specialty). Sekhem costs for all rituals of that path are halved (rounded up). Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Osiris' Gift 1 Mummy Supernatural WW2380 Synopsis: Your character has a gift for cultivating flora, even in the desert. He can make grass grow, flowers bloom, plants sprout and so forth with a simple touch. System: Plants tended by your character always do well, although they must survive in the natural environment on their own once the Amenti has left them behind. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection, page #65 Unity of Being 5 Mummy Supernatural WW2381 Synopsis: Your character does not distinguish between flesh or soul, existing as a single psychic entity. Although he looks and feels completely human, the character is actually an embodied spirit. If killed, he evaporates and re-materializes at the Gates of Heaven (or in the Underworld) at the Incapacitated health level. System: Any other time the character's spirit must return, his entire being transports to his relevant celestial realm. The advantage of this state is that one only ever needs a single success on a resurrection roll to materialize in the Lands of the Living. The disadvantage is that resurrection rolls heal no lost health levels, and fate alone dictates where the character re-materializes. Fortunately, whatever agency controls his return ensures he will never appear in front of witnesses. Notes: Book Ref: Mummy the Resurrection: Player's Guide, page #117

Possessed

Fomori

Merit Cost Type Source Details Banespeak 3 Fomori Supernatural WW3066 Synopsis: With your transformation, you have discovered a way into your dark spiritual side and are able to speak with the Bane part of yourself. When you speak with your Bane, you appear to be talking animatedly to yourself. Your bane whispers dark secrets to the tattered remains of your soul, and your soul whithers a little more with each vile revelation. System: Your Storteller will create the Bane, but will not reveal to you the extent of its knowledge or its secret powers. While your bane will not guide you all the time, at moments of deep urgency it may be able to provide you with clues or information about the Wyrm or Garou worlds which you would not otherwise know. Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #22 Hidden Power 2 Fomori Physical WW3066 Synopsis: None of your Powers or Taints are physically obvious. You appear to be human (or whatever you were before becoming fomor). System: If you have extra limbs or body barbs, they are retractable and hidden under a sheath of skin. You seem to be one of the crowd. Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #22 Pathetic Aura 3 Fomori Supernatural WW3066 Synopsis: You are a truly needy person, or at least appear to be so; anyone with an ounce of compassion will feel so sorry for you that they will become your protectors, friends, and patrons, and often remain so regardless of your behavior. These guardians will not die for you, but some may kill if the circumstances are just right. System: This Merit does not equal an endless supply of Allies; your helpers will be purely mundane and will back off if the shit gets too thick. As long as you keep your obvious problems to tantrums, lies and debts, however, you will probably be forgiven. Although some normal seeming fomori have this Merit, badly deformed ones can muster enough sympathy to outweigh a multitude of sins. Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #22 Stigmata of the Wyrm 4 Fomori Supernatural WW3066 Synopsis: These are marks of the Urge Wyrms which sometimes commune with favored servants. To "win" one, a fomor must first understand the aspects of the Wyrm (which indicates some level of insanity to begin with), then contact her own inner corruption (to discover which aspect favors her), manifest that Urge in word, body and deed, and often undergo some hideous ordeal of consecration. System: Seeking the Wyrm within often requires a perverted vision-quest; this usually involves breaking away from all friends (including other fomori), and indulging in some excess related to the vision your character seeks until some truth appears. These excesses can include killing sprees, near fatal drug binges, wanton cruelty (brutalizing homeless folks, children, animals, etc), prolonged depressions, psychotic episodes, mad orgies, and other deadly activities. At some point, a vision of the Urge Wyrm's Maeljin Incarna appears to the fortunate one and sends her through some excruciating test of loyalty; such ordeals are related to the Urge Wyrm involved - tests of greed, cruelty, deceit, etc. A fomor who survives the tests (many do not) receives the mark of favor. xxxxxLike the tests, the stigmata marks relate to the Urge Wyrm the character serves: Pseulak, Lord of Lies, often gifts his chosen with forked tongues. Karnala, Desire's Urge, has more attractive marks, often hypnotically intriguing tattoos. Foebok gifts his followers with forever open eyes, while Angu's mark consists of massive brands which never heal. The exact nature of the mark is left to the troupe's imagination, but it should reflect some appropriately deviant behavior. xxxxxStigmata can be really useful in social situations with others who understand the mark; Black Spiral Dancers may revere the chosen (or may kill her anyway - they are demented, after all!), and Pentex superiors and Wyrm mystics will give her respect. Even mundanes who embrace the Urge Wyrm's principles will regard the chosen one with a measure of awe and reverence. Stigmata are usually good for one to three extra dice for Social skills when dealing with the Wyrm Tainted. Naturally the character will stand out like a beacon to Sense Wyrm and other such Gifts, and must continue to serve the Urge Wyrm whenever possible. Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #22 True Faith 7 Fomori Supernatural WW3066 Synopsis: The Bane within you has not been able to sever your faith. You can purchase the Numina: True Faith at normal cost. However, you are a being at war with itself. The Bane within you will try to thwart the miracles which your faith may bring forth. Indeed, your faith may even endanger you: if you attempt to exorcise an evil spirit, a botch may wrench the Bane from you instead. You will be cured of taint: but you will also be dead from the trauma to your corrupted soul. The Storyteller has full control of the use of True Faith by fomori. System: Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #23 Unpossessed 5 Fomori Supernatural WW3066 Synopsis: A part of your soul still remains. The Bane has not fully possessed you, giving you hope of one day shaking off its hold. However, if this was discovered by your masters, you would either be killed or sent back for full possession. Where can you get help? Who can you turn to? You must tread very carefully, one wrong move and you will be destroyed. System: Notes: Book Ref: Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori, page #23

Shifter

Any Breed

Aptitude Merit Cost Type Source Details Battle Prowess 3 Planetary Aptitude WW3110 Synopsis: (Nerigal) Combat with weapons comes naturally to you. Swords, knives, klaives, quarterstaves and various other implements of hand-to-hand warfare seem almost second nature. System: You enjoy an extra die on all Melee dice pools. Your expertise in hitting, however, does not extend to causing more damage; you roll the standard amount of dice for damage. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Combat Expertise 2 Shifter Aptitude WW3812 Synopsis: You've spent a great many hours in real, lethal combat and you're practiced enough that you rarely screw up truly badly. System: You may ignore one botch on an attack or dodge roll each session. Notes: Book Ref: Book of Auspices, page #124 Diverse Fighting Style 4 Shifter Aptitude WW3812 Synopsis: You have trained in a truly vast range of different methods of combat, and can apply the full extent of your knowledge to the situation at hand. System: You never face penalties in combat for using unfamiliar or exotic weapons, and you can easily identify any weapon or fighting style you are exposed to. Notes: Book Ref: Book of Auspices, page #124 Awareness Merit Cost Type Source Details Compensatory Senses 3 Metis Awareness WW3212 Synopsis: If your Metis deformity involves weakened senses, such as being hard of hearing or lacking a sense of smell, another sense group has gotten a bit stronger in order to compensate. System: Choose another sense group and lower the difficulty by 2 for any rolls that involve those senses. Notes: Be sure to set a note clarifying what sense you've chosen. Book Ref: Guardians of the Caerns, page #104 Good Instincts 3 Planetary Awareness WW3110 Synopsis: (Rorg) You have an uncanny ability to intuit the best course of action in situations involving instinctive responses rather than logic or rational thought. This Merit makes you an ideal companion in the wilderness, where action takes precedence over thought. System: You make all rolls involving Primal Urge or Survival at -2 to your difficulty. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #129 Mother's Insight 4 Planetary Awareness WW3110 Synopsis: (Tambiyah) You have the uncanny ability to see into the heart of a situation. System: You make all Wits related rolls (with the exception of initiative rolls) at -1 to your difficulty. Additionally, in situations where three or more successes are required, you need one less success to accomplish your task. You cannot botch Wits related rolls (again, excluding initiative rolls), although you can fail them. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #128 Mental Merit Cost Type Source Details Infectious Courage 5 Shifter Mental WW3812 Synopsis: While it's the duty of all Ahroun to inspire valor on the field of battle, it comes to you far more naturally than to most; even among the stout Garou, your courage and resolve is legendary. System: Whenever a fear-causing Gift or power is used on you, adjust the difficulty of the roll by 2 in your favor. If a similar ability is used on one or more of your packmates and you are in their line of sight, adjust the difficulty by 1 in their favor. Notes: Book Ref: Book of Auspices, page #124 Inner Sight 2 Planetary Mental WW3110 Synopsis: (Sokhta) The solution to puzzles and mysteries come to you with relative ease. You enjoy a good mystery and look forward to the opportunity to test your intuition against some of life's confusing situations. System: You gain two extra dice on all rolls involving Enigmas. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Iron Will 3 Shifter Mental WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You have a tremendous ability to resist outside attempts to take over your mind. You receive three extra dice to resist attempts to manipulate your mind, and may spend a Willpower point to shake off the direct mental control of a vampire. This Merit works only against direct mental control, not emotional manipulation; Gifts that induce frenzy still have the usual chance to succeed, for instance. System: Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Physical Merit Cost Type Source Details Bad Taste 2 Shifter Physical WW3108 Synopsis: You're just plain nasty. Your flesh exudes oils tasting so bad that anyone whose mouth parts touch you (Garou, Fomori, Wyrm monsters) becomes nauseated. System: The would be biter must make a successful Willpower roll each turn for the remainder of the scene or be unable to act while he is retching. Lupus and wolves may react poorly to you; they obviously wont lick you. These oils aren't odorous in any way, but you must constantly wipe oily sweat from yourself. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), page #20 Fair Glabro 2 Shifter Physical WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: Your Glabro form can pass for Homid, albeit a large and bulky one. System: You lose no Social Attributes when in Glabro. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #20 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 Lack Of Scent 2 Shifter Physical WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You produce no scent, or your scent is extremely faint. System: You are hard to track by other Garou or hunters who use scent.Any attempts to track you are at +2 difficulty. You may find it difficult to deal with Lupus Garou or wolves, as they will mistrust your lack of a "natural" scent. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #20 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 Longevity 2 Shifter Physical WW3108 Synopsis: Gaia has blessed you with long life. System: You do not suffer aging effects until you are 90 years old or more (rather than 70 and up). You can expect to reach 120 to 130 years of age, barring death in combat. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), page #21 Metamorph 7 Shifter Physical WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You find it extremely easy to change forms and can do it even in your sleep. System: You do not need to roll to shift forms (you are considered to have an automatic five successes); nor do you need to spend a Rage point to instantly assume a desired form. In addition, if you are ever knocked unconscious (due to wounds, etc.), you can make a roll of Wits + Primal Urge, difficulty 8, to assume whatever form you wish instead of reverting to your breed form. Notes: Metis characters interested in this Merit, see the 6 point version listed below. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #21 Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 Metamorph 6 Metis Physical WW3212 Synopsis: Yes, this is the same Merit from the Player's Guide to the Garou. However, there's one aspect of this Merit that makes it particularly useful to Metis. Metis with this Merit are born able to shift their forms from one to the other. Metis such as this are the ones you hear about who turn from human infants to cubs while still in the crib. System: Even when a Metis with this Merit is knocked unconscious, the difficulty to assume whatever form she chooses is reduced to 7. Nobody knows their body and its limitations better than a Metamorph-blessed Metis. Notes: This version of Metamorph is available only to Metis characters. Book Ref: Guardians of the Caerns, page #105 Mixed-morph 1 or 5 Shifter Physical WW3806 Synopsis: You find the art of partial transformation relatively easy. System: Make the required Dexterity + Primal Urge roll at difficulty 6 rather than difficulty 9. The give point version of this Merit eliminates the need for spending a Willpower point; you can achieve partial transformation almost at will. Notes: Book Ref: Player's Guide the the Garou, page #159 The Fire Within 2 Planetary Physical WW3110 Synopsis: (Katanka-Sonnak) The fires of Katanka-Sonnak warm you from within, making you extra resilient against cold weather or damage caused by the cold. System: You gain two dice to Survival or other rolls involving cold weather hazards, such as swimming to shore in an icy river or digging your way out of an avalanche. You also take one less die of damage from frostbite or other cold related hazards. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Planetary Aspect Merit Cost Type Source Details Hidden Talent 3 Planetary Aptitude WW3110 Synopsis: (Ruatma) You have a knack for keeping secrets and for concealing objects so that others have a difficult time locating them. This makes you a natural recipient for sensitive information. System: Others have a +2 to their difficulty for attempting to overhear your private conversations. If you hide an object, others suffer a +2 to their difficulty to locate it. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #129 Jupiter Midsky 4 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: You absorb knowledge easily and enjoy a reputation as a scholar (though not as a teacher). You tend to possess a breadth of knowledge that makes others seek you out for counsel. System: You may add one die to your dice pool for any Knowledge Ability roll. Notes: You must already possess the Knowledge Ability required to make any Knowledge roll, this Merit does not grant a 'first dot'. Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #131 Jupiter Rising 7 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: Luck favors you with extraordinary good fortune. When you seem to need it the most, good luck falls in your path. This happens most often when you attempt to aid someone other than yourself, but you also enjoy the benefits of this aspect. System: If you wish to invoke the luck of your aspect, you must spend two Gnosis points and make a Gnosis roll, difficulty 9. The number of successes equals your total "luck points" for the scene. You may spend these points in several ways" xxxxx* You can use one point to heal one health level (even one lost to aggravated damage). xxxxx* You can use them as Willpower or Rage points. xxxxx* You can use them to re-roll any 1's on a one-for-one basis. You may only invoke this Merit once per scene. If you run out of Gnosis, you have temporarily run out of luck. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #131 Luck of the Road 2 Planetary Aptitude WW3110 Synopsis: (Meros) You enjoy traveling for its own sake and may take any opportunity to do so. The road also seems to have an affinity for you and you find most journeys pleasurable experiences. System: You make any rolls involving travel related actions at a -2 difficulty - including finding places to stay along your route, locating convenient shortcuts and avoiding obstacles such as traffic tie ups (in urban areas) or rock slides and flooded rivers (in the wilderness). Your affinity extends to your companions as well, giving them a -1 to similar rolls when traveling with you. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #128 Mars Midsky 5 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: You have a reputation for your volatile temper and inspire awe in others for the destruction caused by your memorable frenzies. Most Garou consider this tendency a Merit rather than a Flaw, since a healthy Berserk Frenzy can act as a powerful aid in battles against overwhelming odds. Furthermore, Garou tend to respect and fear warriors famous for their spectacular frenzies. Fianna Ahrouns particularly value this planetary aspect, since it calls to mind the deeds of many legendary Celtic and Fianna heroes. System: You never enter a Fox frenzy; instead, you follow the path of the Berserk. When in a state of frenzy, you receive +2 dice to any soak rolls and add +1 to your dice pool for any Strength related rolls. Ahroun receive three additional points of temporary Glory Renown due to a reputation as an all-out, no-holds-barred fighter. However, there is a downside; you frenzy with only two successes on a Rage roll, meaning that the Thrall of the Wyrm looms much closer to you than to others. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #131 Mars Rising 6 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: The fire of battle runs through your veins and communicates itself through every aspect of your being. Your eyes gleam with the eagle's ferocity, while your posture demonstrates your constant readiness for combat. The Get of Fenris celebrate the birth of any tribe member born with Mars Rising - Particularly Ahroun, Galliard, or Philodox. System: You gain an extra die to your dice pool for any offensive combat action; you may add this bonus to either your attack or damage roll each turn. Thus bonus does not apply to defensive actions or to soak rolls. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #130 Mercury Midsky 2 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: Teaching comes naturally to you; you draw on the vast experience and insights which evolve from Mercury's skill in communicating information. Occasionally, however, you find that your position as teacher interferes with other duties - such as fighting the Wyrm. You constantly juggle the two impulses. Philodox Garou consider this a favorable aspect, while Stargazers admire individuals with this aspect in their natal chart. System: This Merit affects other Garou in addition to the individual who possesses it. Any Garou who studies with you gains two extra experience points per story in which they spend at least one scene under your tutelage. Each time you agree to teach a student, you gain one point of temporary Honor Renown. In order to qualify, however, you must possess the Instruction Skill or possess at least four dots in the Ability or Attribute you wish to teach. Beginning Stargazer characters gain two extra points of temporary Wisdom renown if they possess this aspect. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #130 Mercury Rising 3 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: You will travel far, both in the physical realm and in your far-ranging thoughts. Physical barriers, societal limitations and constraints of all kinds cannot restrain you when you desire to escape their bounds. Ragabash Garou find their natural tendencies blossom with this aspect, while Silent Striders view it as a particularly good portent. System: Garou who have Mercury Rising have a -1 to any difficulties that involves the Gauntlet, from stepping sideways to using Gifts that require overcoming the Gauntlet. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #130 Venus Midsky 3 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: This aspect increases your ability to act as an intermediary or mediator between opposing factions. You possess a soothing voice and calming nature and can often stop hostilities from erupting. People enjoy listening to you and, therefore, tend to listen harder to what you say. System: When acting as a mediator, you gain 3 extra Willpower points for the duration of that scene. However, this aspect also places a limit on your Rage. You cannot spend Rage points while in the process of mediation; furthermore, it requires five successes on a Rage roll for you to frenzy when acting as a intermediary. Each time you successfully mediate a situation that could otherwise have become violent or hostile, you receive 3 temporary points of Wisdom renown. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #130 Venus Rising 4 Planetary Aspect WW3110 Synopsis: You possess an unmistakable charisma that makes you a natural leader, inspiring others to follow you out of love and admiration rather than from fear and intimidation. Lovers come into your life with regularity and friends seek you out. The Children of Gaia treasure this Aspect, seeing it as a means for bringing about their goal of universal harmony and peaceful coexistence. System: Social rolls that involve charisma gain an extra die. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #130 Psychological Merit Cost Type Source Details Adaptable Nature 2 Planetary Psychological WW3110 Synopsis: (Shantar) You accept change easily and adapt quickly to unfamiliar situations or alien circumstances. The most bizarre Umbral landscapes do not phase you, nor does it bother you to make sudden changes in plans or battle tactics. System: You can avoid any penalties associated with exposure to alien environments or drastic changes. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Berserker 2 Shifter Psychological WW3108 WW3086 Synopsis: You feel the rage burning inside you, and you know how to use and direct it against your enemies. System: You have the ability to berserk frenzy at will and, thus, are able to ignore your wound penalties. However, any acts you commit during frenzy have consequences, just as they would otherwise. Also, you have the same chance of going into frenzy even when you don't wish to do so. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #10 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Calm Heart 3 Shifter Psychological WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You are naturally calm and well composed, and you rarely fly off the handle. System: Raise the difficulty on all your Rage rolls by 2, regardless of the situation provoking you to frenzy. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #12 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Code of Honor 1 Shifter Psychological WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You have a strict personal code of ethics that you cannot ignore. You can automatically resist most temptations that would bring you in conflict with your code. System: When battling supernatural persuasion (mind magic, vampiric Domination, etc.) that would make you violate your code, either you gain 2 extra dice for your Willpower roll to resist. You must construct your own personal code of honor in as much detail as you can, outlining the general rules of conduct by which you abode. An obvious choice might be adherence to the Litany, but personal codes and commitment can vary widely. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #10 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #163 Cool in Battle 2 Shifter Psychological WW3812 Synopsis: You don't lose your head when the fur starts flying. You remain cool in combat, regardless of how chaotic things get. System: Add one to the character's initiative rating. If the character enters frenzy, the benefit is lost. Notes: Book Ref: Book of Auspices, page #103 Resigned Spirit 2 Planetary Psychological WW3110 Synopsis: (Lu-Bat) You accept defeat and setbacks with a calmness uncommon in most Garou. Others find it difficult to provoke you to anger by taunts or insults and you do not get overly disappointed when you fail. System: You gain a +2 to your difficulty to frenzy from trivial matters such as personal frustration or the goading of others. When a true occasion for frenzy presents itself - such as the sight of a place ravaged by Wyrm taint - your chance for frenzy is normal Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #129 Social Merit Cost Type Source Details Animal Magnetism 1 Shifter Social WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You are especially attractive to others of your breed (humans if you're Homid, wolves/cats/etc if you're Lupus/Feline/etc. Does not apply to Garou/Bastet/etc). System: You receive a -2 difficulty on seduction or animal attraction rolls (which may inspire some jealousy in others who view you as competition. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #13 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #159 Born Leader 1 Planetary Social WW3110 Synopsis: (Zarok) Others respond to your inherent authority and tend to follow your orders or suggestions. Even if you do not hold a position of leadership, those around you tend to treat you as if you did. System: You make all rolls involving the Leadership Talent at -1 to your difficulty. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #128 Elder's Favor 1-3 Shifter Social WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: An elder owes you a favor because of something either you or your pack once did for them. System: The extent of the favor depends on this Merit's value: 1 point would indicate a relatively minor favor, 2 points means you have done something significant for the elder, while 3 points would indicate the elder owes you his life. This favor can only be called in once. Notes: Once the favor has been used, submit a request to staff so that the Merit and it's note can be removed. This Merit may be bought again as the result of a PrP, or RP Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #18 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #162 Family Support 1 Shifter Social WW3806 Synopsis: Your family knows what you are and accepts your new life wholeheartedly. Perhaps your parents are Kinfolk and have prepared themselves for the potential that you might be a full Garou. However, they are not necessarily Kin (of the sort purchased through the Kinfolk Background); they may not understand what you've become, but still believe you are "special" or "gifted". While you cant assume they will risk themselves for you or your pack, you can rely on their moral support and understanding - and maybe a place to crash on occasion. System: Notes: Book Ref: Players Guide to Garou, page #162 Garou Companion 3 Fera Social WW3807 Synopsis: Despite the centuries of stigma and the hatred between the werewolves and various Fera, you and your unlikely friend have overcome them, on whatever common grounds. Obviously, such a relationship is best kept secret from both camps, to avoid provoking the wrath of either, but you nurture it, because it gives you unique insight from the perspective of the wolfskins. System: Notes: Book Ref: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds, page # 164 Mitanu's Tongue 2 Planetary Social WW3110 Synopsis: (Mitanu) You have the ability to talk your way out of most things when dealing with reasoning creatures, including most spirits. System: You gain two extra dice on rolls involving Subterfuge (or related Secondary Abilities) when attempting to evade the issue, avoid blame or otherwise escape an awkward situation. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Phantom Mask 2 Metis Social WW3212 Synopsis: Your Metis deformity is concealable with some work. For example, you may be able to hide your third eye under a scarf, or perhaps you have a charm from a fae or wizard that hides your deformity. This serves you just fine, unless the other werewolves find out. They'll hate you for being a coward in addition to whatever other prejudices they have against Metis, and you'll be the object of particular scorn by other Metis. System: Notes: Book Ref: Guardians of the Caerns, page #104 Prosthesis 3 Metis Social WW3212 Synopsis: If your character has a physical deformity or missing limbs, you've somehow obtained prosthetics to compensate. This does not mean your deformity is cured; when you cant wear the prosthetics, (and many Homid and Lupus dislike them), you've still got the deformity and its limitation. However, these prosthetics may help offset some of your penalties when worn (Storyteller discretion). This is a common Merit among Glass Walker Metis. System: Notes: Book Ref: Guardians of the Caerns, page #105 Unnoticed 3 Metis Social WW3212 Synopsis: Maybe they're just being polite, or else your deformity doesn't really matter to them. Whatever the reason, humans, including Kinfolk, tend to ignore your Metis deformity. Some may even find it enticing or exotic. Werewolves, on the other hand, tend to look at you askance - this seems rather suspicious to them. Wolves are even less forgiving. System: Notes: Book Ref: Guardians of the Caerns, page #105 Supernatural Merit Cost Type Source Details Ancestor Ally 1 Shifter Supernatural WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: One of your Ancestor spirits is particularly close to you. System: You have -2 to your difficulty to contact this ancestor via your Ancestors Background. Flesh out your special ancestor with a name, personality characteristics, significant abilities or powers, details about her life and her reputation among Garou. To purchase this Merit, you must have the Ancestors Background. Notes: WWPG used the Past Life Background, this was changed in Revised to the Ancestors Background. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #165 Auspicious Birth 2 Shifter Supernatural WW3063 Synopsis: Fate smiled upon your parents, and you were born under the proverbial lucky star. You are considered lucky to have around, and are a natural choice to lead a sentai. System: Once per session, you may nominate one roll as "lucky" - on that roll, you may then keep any 10's that come up on the dice as successes and then reroll those particular dice to get more successes, just like a specialization. If you are already specialized in the action in question, you may reroll both 9's and 10's, keeping the successes for both. Notes: Book Ref: Hengeyokai Shapeshifters of the East, page #107 Immune To Wyrm Emanations 6 Shifter Supernatural WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You have a special boon from Gaia: You are immune to the toxins of the Wyrm. System: You receive no penalty from supernatural radiation, balefire, Wyrm elementals and the like (although you still suffer damage from such attacks). Likewise, you are immune to Bane possession. Your Sept recognizes this invulnerability and thrusts you into many dangerous perils with the expectation that you will use your immunity for the good of others. Notes: This Merit does NOT grant immunity to Wyrm Taint, it only grants the ability to withstand the worst dangers of the Wyrm's poisons. (e.g. you may still suffer damage from radiation/radioactive spirits, but your pools (such as Stamina) will not be penalized by the effects of radiation exposure.) Thus, Wyrm-Shifter PCs are allowed to purchase this Merit. This Merit may not be purchased by Possessed of any Faction due to the immunity to possession. Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), page #16 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #166 Natural Channel 3 Shifter Supernatural WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You find the Gauntlet between worlds thinner than most Garou do. System: Your difficulty to step sideways is one less, and spirits react a bit more favorably to you. Even if you aren't a Theurge, you wont find it difficult to obtain training from the Garou shamans. Notes: Available to any breed that can cross the Gauntlet. This Merit does not supersede any Racial drawbacks regarding crossing the gauntlet, e.g. Bastet needing a Rank 4 Gift to cross (or Rank 2 for Swara). Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #166 Silver Tolerance 7 Shifter Supernatural WW3108 Synopsis: You have an immunity of sorts to silver. System: You are able to soak silver, although it still causes you aggravated damage. Also, any Gnosis loss from carrying silver items is halved for Garou with this Merit. Instead of losing one Gnosis for every silver item you possess, you lose one Gnosis for every pair of silver items you carry (always round up to the nearest number). Notes: This Merit may NOT be taken alongside Gold Tolerance. This Merit is not available to Shifters who do not naturally fear silver (e.g. Corax). Book Ref: Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition), page #16 Spirit Magnet 2 Shifter Supernatural WW3806 Synopsis: You naturally attract the attention of the spirits whenever you cross the Gauntlet into the Umbra. Most of the time, the Umbral inhabitants are simply curious, gathering around you to see who you are and what you're doing in their "neck of the woods". Occasionally, you attract more than you bargained for - Banes are as likely to come calling as are friendlier spirits. System: None of the spirits who collect in your vicinity are under your command unless you use a Gift that allows you to command them or influence them in some way. This Merit can be both a boon and a nuisance. Notes: Book Ref: Players Guide to Garou, page #165

Hengeyokai

Merit Cost Type Source Details Perfect Protocol 1 Hengeyokai Social WW3063 Synopsis: You have a natural talent for dealing with other shen; you were born to take tea with the lords of the hsien, and you can politely address even the most hideous Kuei-jin in a highly pleasing fashion. System: The difficulty of your Empathy, Expression, and Etiquette rolls when dealing with another shen in a courtly fashion is reduced by 2. Notes: Book Ref: Hengeyokai Shapeshifters of the East, page #107

Kinfolk

Kinfolk may also draw from the Any Breed or their Shifter Breed's merit lists, if it makes sense. Subject to staff approval. Merit Cost Type Source Details Feral Appearance 1 Kinfolk Physical WW3074 Synopsis: Whether you're more hirsute than the average person or have a lean, hungry look to your features, the werewolves like what they see. It isn't a matter of physical beauty; there's just something about you that stirs their animal natures. System: You get an extra die on all rolls involving Appearance when dealing with homid Garou, and you're considered to have an extra dot of Charisma among Lupus Garou (although it cant exceed 5). Notes: None. Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #54 Fetish (merit) 5-7 Kinfolk Supernatural WW3074 Synopsis: You own a fetish, one you can actually use (or, at the very least, lend to Garou, ostensibly in return for other favors).You may have inherited this item, received it as a gift or found it on your own. In any case, the fetish is highly valuable. System: Fetishes aren't common among Garou, much less Kin. You and your Storyteller should work together on constructing the item and establishing how it came into your possession. Five points equals a Level One fetish, six points a Level Two fetish, and seven points a Level Three fetish. A few rare fetishes allow expenditure of Willpower rather than Gnosis for attunement and activation. Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #54 Gall 2 Kinfolk Social WW3074 Synopsis: Audacity, guts, pluck - Whatever it's called, you've got it. You aren't afraid to stand up to anyone, from naughty children to tribal leaders. This isn't brash, foolhardy behavior; you're still polite, after all. You simply don't get the shakes when the Silver Fang Ahroun comes over to speak to you. Many werewolves and Kin respect you for your honesty and forthrightness. System: Add an extra die to any Social roll involving a display of backbone. Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page 52 Gnosis (merit) 5-7 Kinfolk Supernatural WW3074 Synopsis: More than any other blessing, the possession of Gnosis among Kin is a special mark of Gaia's favor. It's extremely rare for mortals to be so gifted. Having Gnosis grants many privileges, such as the ability to learn Gifts, use fetishes and, in the case of a vampire's Embrace, the chance to die with dignity and honor, rather than suffer unlife. Even the stuffiest Garou gives a nod of respect to a Kin who possesses Gnosis. System: Kinfolk lucky enough to possess Gnosis recover it in the same manner as Garou. Kinfolk cannot have Rage; they do not have the fury of Gaia within them. Five points spent on this Merit grants one point of Gnosis; six points grants two points of Gnosis; and seven points, three points of Gnosis. Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #52 Good Old Boy (or Girl) 2 Kinfolk Social WW3074 Synopsis: For either gender, this Merit means the same thing: You are intrinsically nice person, and you genuinely care about your fellows. Depending on the setting, werewolves and other Kin (both human and wolf) tend to like you and confide in you. Even Lupus Garou may approach you in a friendly manner; something about you just seems trustworthy and inviting. System: Take an extra die on Social rolls involving interaction with other Garou or Kinfolk. Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #53 Recognize Garou 3 Kinfolk Awareness WW3074 Synopsis: Over the years, you've become adept at picking out the werewolves in a crowd. Rather than having any kind of mystical awareness, you've simply learned what physical and personality traits tend to mark Gaia's warriors. They just stand out to you, once they've undergone the Change. System: This Merit doesn't allow you to find werewolf cubs on the verge of Firsting, but you may notice their propensity for violence. All Perception attempts to notice which people in the room seem to have that special touch of Rage or wilderness that could indicate they're werewolves are at -2 difficulty. Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #52 Wolf Sense 1 Kinfolk Mental WW3074 Synopsis: This Merit is a blend of folk wisdom, practical sense, and animal instincts. If you have Wolf Sense and make a successful Intelligence roll, the Storyteller can opt to give you advice on whether you're about to do something stupid. It doesn't mean she'll tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but at least you'll have some warning. System: Notes: Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, page #52

Fera
Ananasi Merit Cost Type Source Details Crawlerling Alteration 4 Ananasi Physical WW3082 Synopsis: You can choose not only the size of the Crawlerlings you break into, but also the breed of spider you become. As long as you have consumed at least a few of the spiders in question, you can become any type of spider you so desire, or as many breeds as you so desire for that matter. System: Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Good Reputation 5 Ananasi Social WW3082 Synopsis: For whatever reason, the other Ovid in your area accept you as a kindred spirit; perhaps their spirit allies speak well of you. They may not like the Ananasi as a whole - and most of them don't - but they accept you as an equal. System: Your Rank among your own kind carries over to all other Ovid who follow the same aspect of the Triat as you. Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Hivemind 7 Ananasi Mental WW3082 Synopsis: You truly have a hive mind. Unlike most of the Ananasi, you do not need to choose leaders and drones when you break into the Crawlerling form. System: You retain your full consciousness while in this state, throughout all of your individual spiders. The only way to truly destroy you would be to obliterate every single spider that is a part of your form. If even one survives, you retain all of your memories. This isn't a perfect situation, however: Any spiders leaving your immediate area (a hundred foot radius) "revert" back into regular spiders, and no longer keep your memories. Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Human Form 3 Ananasi Physical WW3082 Synopsis: Unlike most Ananasi, you appear completely human when in Homid. System: There are no telltale signs that a part of your genetic makeup involves members of the arachnid species. You still have pedipalps, but they can hide away completely, not even showing up on dental x-rays. Your blood, if examined, appears complete human, with no trace of foreign antigens in it. Any medical test, no matter how rigorous, would still prove you "human". Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Lilian Alteration 6 Ananasi Physical WW3081 Synopsis: An Ananasi's Lilian form is determined unconsciously; after the Metamorphosis, it seldom changes. However, you have a special talent for altering your Lilian form. You're better suited to face new terrain, as you can adjust your body to suit the territory - not only in how you can camouflage yourself against the land, but also in how you can maneuver over the landscape. There are also serious psychological advantages, as you can alter yourself to look more or less menacing, as necessary. You can even fabricate a seemingly completely human form from the waist up, making others believe you are defenseless, even when you are ready to destroy them. System: Notes: Book Ref: Ananasi, page #83 Organized 1 Ananasi Mental WW3082 Synopsis: All Ananasi are ordered and structured, but you take it to a new level. If someone needs to have a big bag of rice sorted by size and shape, you're the one to do it. Many of the organizational tasks that others would consider mind-numbingly boring come as second nature to you, and you can achieve them in half the time that it would take anyone else. You would make a perfect accountant or comptroller for a company, and they would gladly pay extra to have you on their staff. System: Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Venomous 3 Ananasi Physical WW3082 Synopsis: Unlike most of your brethren, you retain your venom sacs even when in the Homid form. System: In this form, you can still use any Gifts involving venom that could normally only be used in Pithus or Lilian. This Merit cannot be taken with the Human Form Merit. Notes: Book Ref: Breedbook: Ananasi, page #83 Bastet Merit Cost Type Source Details Friend Of Sorcery 5 Planetary Swara WW3110 Synopsis: (Hakahe) Magic fascinates you in all its forms. System: You make all Gift related or Knowledge related Occult rolls at -1 to your difficulty. In addition, you grasp the principles of Theurge Gifts more easily. Even if your Auspice is something other than Theurge, you can learn the Gifts of the Crescent Moon at the same experience point cost as those of your own Auspice. If you are a Theurge, you spend one less experience point to acquire a new Theurge Gift (although you must still abide by the restrictions of your Rank). Notes: Restricted to the Swara Tribe, who count Garou Theurge Gifts as 'in-tribe'. Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #128 Gift Of Seline 5 Bastet Supernatural WW3037 Synopsis: The Moon Mother loves you, and has given you some special blessings when she's at full power. Therefore, you have special boosts or talents on nights when the Moon is full. These might include: xxxxx*You become exceptionally fierce (+2 Rage). xxxxx*The moon makes you stronger (+1 dot of Strength or Stamina). xxxxx*You shine with her beauty (an extra die to all Social dice pools). xxxxx*Her light reveals things to you (-1 to all Perception difficulties). xxxxx*She smiles upon your magics (+2 Gnosis). xxxxx*Her fullness lends you purpose (+2 Willpower). System: These effects occur only at night; when Seline is sleeping, her blessing slumber, too. From dusk till dawn, however, you bask in her favor. Each time the Moon is full, the Storyteller can either roll to see which talent you manifoest, or decide which favor Seline grants this time around. This Merit allows only one gift to come forth at a time, and the moon - a.k.a. the Storyteller - decides which one it is. This moon-favor lasts all night, and is gone by morning. Notes: Book Ref: Bastet, page #87 Graceful 2 Bastet Social WW3037 Synopsis: You've got a natural flair, even among werecats. Your movements hypnotize and your words charm, harsh though they may be. It's almost impossible for you to look awkward, even when you screw up royally. Most people respect this talent, and even jealous folks have to at least admit you've got style. System: Reduce the difficulty of all Social rolls by 2 whenever there's a chance to make a really good impression. This doesn't apply to threats of brute force, although grace may be intimidating in its own way, and may offer a small bonus to Cleverness or Honor Renown. Notes: Book Ref: Bastet, page #86 Corax Merit Cost Type Source Details Birdseye aka Bird's Eye 4 Corax Awareness WW3077 Synopsis: A Corax with this Merit has the knack for automatically picking the right target to follow out of a crowd. System: Even if there are 60 Garou at a moot, a Corax with this Merit has merely to make a successful Wits+Awareness roll (difficulty 7) to pick out the proper (read: most interesting; this can be translated as "most important to the ongoing plot") target to follow. A botch on this roll sends the Corax in the entirely wrong direction, which can also have interesting consequences. Book Ref: Corax, page #73 Double Draught 2 Corax Supernatural WW3077 Synopsis: Most Corax can only drink from one of any given dead man's eyes. You have the unique knack of drinking from both, allowing you to see details more mainstream Corax might miss. You get the best and the worst of the corpse's death, and can integrate the two to form a coherent picture, rather than being forced to rely on one viewpoint or the other. Book Ref: Corax, page #74 Strong Claws 4 Corax Physical WW3077 Synopsis: Birds' claws contract automatically when they sleep, allowing them to keep a grip all night long on whatever perch they've achieved. You can apply that sort of grip whenever you want, making it nigh-impossible to pull something from your grasp if you really want to hang on to it. System: If you decide that you absolutely need to keep something in your grasp, you get an extra 3 dice of Strength to use if anyone tries to take the item away from you. This Gift can also be used when hanging onto window ledges, cliffs, tree branches, and so on for dear life, or when trying to haul dangling victims back to safety from such perilous locales. Book Ref: Corax, page #74 Gurahl Merit Cost Type Source Details Early Maturation 3 Gurahl Supernatural WW3079 Synopsis: Circumstances occurring before your First Change have caused you to emerge as an Auspice other than Arcas. Perhaps your transformation came late in life, striking you after you had attained fill adulthood. Maybe your early years contained so much strife or upheavals that your change catapulted you directly into another Auspice, skipping the "playful" stage of your development as a Gurahl. System: Whatever the details, your character begins as either an Uzmati, a Kojubat, a Kieh, or a Rishi. This Merit differs from the Merit: Rip Van Winkle since the Gurahl character is not one of the newly awakened old ones but is, in fact, a recent addition to the ranks of werebears. In addition, the character must choose her beginning Auspice Gift from the auspice she begins play with. (For example, a beginning Kojubat Gurahl with the Merit: Early Maturation must start play with a Level 1 Kojubat Auspice gift rather than Level 1 Gifts available to Arcas or Uzmati.) Notes: Book Ref: Gurahl, page #88 Rip Van Winkle 3-6 Gurahl Supernatural WW3079 Synopsis: You woke up from a long slumber, and now the whole world is new to you. On the down side, you have lost many of your memories about who you were and what you knew. You know you are a Gurahl, and you remember some of the Gifts and rites you used to know, but the rest lies buried in the fog of time. On the up side, there's a strange and wonderful world outside just waiting for you to tackle it head on. It's like a second cubhood in many ways. Maybe this time, you can get it right (whatever "it" is). System: "Beginning the game with this Merit allows the player to create a beginning Gurahl with an auspice other than Arcas. It also gives the new character a wider choice of beginning Auspice Gifts (though she is still limited in the number of Gifts she can begin play with). This Merit requires particular permission from your Storyteller to purchase, for although the roleplaying possibilities of playing a werebear born in the 19th century - or even the Middle Ages! - are obviously fascinating, it can be extra trouble for your Storyteller. In any event, pay particular attention to choosing Abilities when creating a character of this type. Almost no late slumberers of this nature have any skill in Computer, for instance. The number of points spent in purchasing the Merit determines what auspice your beginning Gurahl has, and the Gift choices available to her. xxxxx3 pts Your Gurahl begins as an Uzmati, and she can choose her beginning Auspice Gift from either the Arcas or Uzmati categories. xxxxx4 pts Your Gurahl begins as a Kojubat, and she can choose her beginning Auspice Gift from among the Arcas, Uzmati, and Kojubat categories. xxxxx5 pts Your Gurahl begins as Kieh, and she can choose her beginning Auspice Gift from the Arcas, Uzmati, Kojubat, or Kieh categories. xxxxx6 pts Your Gurahl begins as a Rishi, and she can choose her beginning Auspice Gift from any category. Notes: Book Ref: Gurahl, page #89 Umbral Affinity 3 Gurahl Supernatural WW3079 Synopsis: Unlike most Gurahl, you do not have to physically rend the Gauntlet to enter the Umbra. Like the Garou, you are able to step sideways without having to rely on the use of a rite. System: You need only concentrate on a reflective surface in order to pass through the Gauntlet. Book Ref: Gurahl, page #89 Mokole Merit Cost Type Source Details Bird-spirit Companion 1 Mokole Social WW3081 Synopsis: A particular Bird-spirit has taken a liking to you, and will sometimes materialize after you have fed (in Suchid or Archid form) to pick your teeth. System: It may bring you news, rumors, hints or the like, but these tidbits of information aren't guaranteed to be reliable at all. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #70 Bite Of The Monitor 1-5 Mokole Physical WW3081 Synopsis: This merit is common among Mokole of the Ora varna. It makes the Mokole's bite more dangerous. System: Any bite inflicted by the Mokole can be healed as usual as the aggravated damage it usually is. However, after time the wound reopens. When this happens, the victim loses the same number of health levels they lost with the initial bite after soaking. The frequency in which the bite reopens depends on the strength of this merit: xxxxx*Once a year (1 point) xxxxx*Once a season (2 points) xxxxx*Once a month (3 points) xxxxx*Once a week (4 points) xxxxx*Once a day (5 points) The bite will open a number of times equal to the Mokole's Gnosis, and after that will not reopen. It is up to the Storyteller exactly when the bite reopens. A being can suffer from only one "infected" bite at a time. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #70 Eidetic Memory 5 Mokole Mental WW3081 Synopsis: You forget nothing and can "photograph" scenes and texts into your memory with the appropriate effort. This Merit costs a lot more for Mokole than for any other creature, for obvious reasons. Once any fact or scene has been recalled through Mnesis, the Mokole can call it to mind again, although every single detail of an ancestor's life isn't available to him unless the ancestor also had eidetic memory. System: The player may ask the Storyteller for any fact or event that his character witnessed. The merit makes learning anything memory-related cost half the usual experience points (although things that have to be practiced are costly as usual). The merit also brings respect, as other Mokole appeal to the character to settle disputes and the like. Notes: Mokole characters must choose this 4 point version, not the Any-Race 2 point version. Book Ref: Mokole, page #71 Manshape 1 Mokole Physical WW3081 Synopsis: Your Archid form resembles that of humanity. You are essentially a "lizard person" - a human shape with a reptile head, roughly the size of a Crinos Garou. System: You will need to buy Bipedal and Grasping Hands for your Archid form to take this merit, but this merit allows you to use a greater variety of tools and fit in places you might not otherwise fit. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #70 Mnesis Of The Lost Ones 1 Mokole Supernatural WW3081 Synopsis: You belong to a Mnesis lineage that, through crossbreeding, sharing of mates, or the Rite of Anamnesis being performed in the distant past, has some memories from an extinct Changing Breed, such as the Camazotz (werebats), the Khara (sabertoothed Bastet) or the Grondr (boar-skins). System: This Mnesis will be fragmented, imperfect and difficult for you to understand. The Storyteller will convey to you what this memory contains, although you will not be able to use it as easily as Mokole memories. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #70 Silver Tolerance 7 Mokole Physical WW3081 Synopsis: This is an extremely powerful Merit and is not to be taken lightly; there must be some explanation for your immunity, such as a pact or supernatural intervention. System: You can soak silver, although it still does aggravated damage to you, and you only lose half the usual amount of Gnosis for carrying silver items. This merit cannot under any circumstances be taken along with Gold Tolerance. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #71 Step Sideways (merit) 7 Mokole Supernatural WW3081 Synopsis: This merit is rare in the extreme and is dangerous to use, as it alerts Umbral beings who may be hostile to you. System: You can enter the Umbra without a Gift, just as the Garou do. You may step sideways as per the Werewolf rulebook. You should present the Storyteller with a convincing reason as to why you have this merit, and it remains wholly her discretion whether you are allowed to purchase it or not. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #72 Supernatural Companion 4 Mokole Social WW3081 Synopsis: You have a friend and ally who happens to be some kind of supernatural creature: another shapeshifter, a mage, or perhaps a changeling. Your clutch does not know about this person, and might be upset if they found out about your friendship. If the ally is Garou, they will be extremely angry. The Storyteller will create this ally, but will not reveal all the details to you. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #71 Temperature Control 2 Mokole Physical WW3081 Synopsis: You can control your body temperature. System: You will never suffer from fever, heat exhaustion, heatstroke or hypothermia, save in the most extreme conditions. In addition, if you concentrate intensely enough, you can avoid being spotted by heat sensors. Your body temperature cannot usually go over 110 degrees or under 65 degrees Fahrenheit, however. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #71 Terrible Footsteps 1 Mokole Social WW3081 Synopsis: When shapeshifting, the Mokole can invoke this merit by spending one Gnosis. The ground trembles, the trees sway and the birds and animals fee. This is not connected to Delirium and the Veil, but is a function of Mnesis. The Mokole is remembering the mighty tread of the Kings. System: Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #71 Veiled To Garou 7 Mokole Supernatural WW3081 Synopsis: ): This is an extremely powerful merit, available only to Mokole. The Mokole and the Kings hunted and slew the Garou and their mammalian ancestors for ages. There are a few Mokole who retain that ancient aura of mind-shattering terror. System: The Mokole with this advantage causes the Delirium in Garou, although not in other Awakened creatures. Garou react as per the Delirium chart according to their Willpower or Rage, whichever is higher. Garou, too, can make a Wits + Occult roll to move up the chart at the Storytellers option. Notes: Book Ref: Mokole, page #72 Nuwisha Merit Cost Type Source Details Large 1 Nuwisha Physical WW3076 Synopsis: A Nuwisha with this Merit is substantially larger than most of her breed, and is easily mistaken for a Garou when in Manabozho form. System: This size increase gives no physical bonuses, but adds 1 die to all Social dice pools when dealing with Garou. Notes: Book Ref: Nuwisha, page #48 Umbral Affinity 2 - 3 Nuwisha Supernatural WW3076 Synopsis: Nuwisha with this Merit have a strong connection to the Umbra. System: All difficulties for passing through the Gauntlet are reduced by 2, to a minimum of 3. With the 3 point Merit, the Nuwisha does not need to stare into a reflection of any sort in order to enter the Umbra. Book Ref: Nuwisha, page #48 Ratkin Merit Cost Type Source Details Cagebound 3 Ratkin Psychological WW3080 Synopsis: You were born in a cage and raised by humans. Months of handling and affection have made you well-tempered, patient and sweet. Then the Birthing plague changed everything. The call of the Rat God was irresistible, and you had to leave behind the human with whom you bonded. Fortunately, your tragic story has a happy ending. System: Your peaceful upbringing helps you enter Rapture, use Blood Memory, and gain Gnosis through meditation: You get a -1 difficulty on all of these rolls. You are also highly knowledgeable about human society, though this knowledge is limited to what you saw in the room where you lived. Notes: Book Ref: Ratkin, page #75 Caged Folk 2 Ratkin Social WW3080 Synopsis: If the Storyteller is willing to admit to the existence of the Caged Folk, you may purchase this Merit with her permission. You may select highly intelligent rats as your Kinfolk or Contacts. They generate their status just like any other Kinfolk character, and can solve problems as efficiently as any human. Not surprisingly, they see all of human society through rodent eyes, misinterpreting the reasons humans do things. They are also fanatic about concealing their true intelligence, forever wary that men in white lab coats will find them and take them away. System: Notes: For more details on Caged Folk, see the sidebar on page 62 of the Ratkin Breedbook. Book Ref: Ratkin, page #75 Rokea Merit Cost Type Source Details Fin Blades 3 Rokea Physical WW3083 Synopsis: In Standing Jaws form, the fins on your arms, legs, and back are just as sharp as your talons. System: You may attack with these blades for Strength +1 aggravated damage. Notes: Book Ref: Rokea, page #83 Good Looking 2 Rokea Social WW3083 Synopsis: Unlike most Rokea, who are (politely put) rough-looking in Homid form, you look completely human. This is a real plus if you hunt betweeners (or if you are one). System: The character's Appearance score may start out at whatever level the player chooses. Notes: Book Ref: Rokea, page #82 Swim Sideways 6 Rokea Supernatural WW3083 Synopsis: Unlike most Rokea, who cannot enter the Umbra without a Gift or aid from Sea, you can do so at will. System: The character can reach the Umbra, in the sea or on land, in the same way as a Garou. Notes: This does not protect the character from the harsh rigors of Sea's Soul, so swimming sideways is safer closer to the surface. Book Ref: Rokea, page #83 Venerable 2 Rokea Social WW3083 Synopsis: You've been swimming the seas for a long time. You haven't garnered any Renown because you haven't really done much, but for whatever reason, you've decided to take a more active role in Rokea society. System: You may begin play with dots in Linguistics, Occult, Seafaring, Etiquette, or Politics (no more than 2 dots in any of these Abilities, and probably not all five). While you begin with the same amount of Renown as other Rokea, your age gives you some respect (-1 Social difficulties with younger Rokea) Notes: Book Ref: Rokea, page #83

Garou
Any Tribe Merit Cost Type Source Details Friend Of Sorcery 5 Garou Supernatural WW3110 Synopsis: (Hakahe) Magic fascinates you in all its forms. System: You make all Gift related or Knowledge related Occult rolls at -1 to your difficulty. In addition, you grasp the principles of Theurge Gifts more easily. Even if your Auspice is something other than Theurge, you can learn the Gifts of the Crescent Moon at the same experience point cost as those of your own Auspice. If you are a Theurge, you spend one less experience point to acquire a new Theurge Gift (although you must still abide by the restrictions of your Rank). Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #128 Moon-Bound 2 Garou Supernatural WW3108 WW3806 Synopsis: You are especially tied to your auspice. System: When Luna is in the waxing phase of your auspice, you receive an extra die on all rolls. However, when your moon phase is waning, you lose one die on all rolls. Notes: Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 Player's Guide to the Garou, page #165 Moon Paint 5 Garou Supernatural WW3811 Synopsis: The wolves of the city are used to electronic and mechanical senses augmenting their Gaia-given eyes and ears (in the case of the Cyber Dogs, fatally so). Sometimes this can be turned to a Garou's advantage. System: Once per story, a Moon-painted Garou can use any true representation of their moon phase (a television image, painting, tattoo, etc) as if they were seeing their own moon phase for regaining Rage. Notes: Book Ref: Book of the City, page #124 Reputation 2 Garou Social WW3108 Synopsis: You have a good reputation among the Garou of your sept. The reputation may be your own, or it may derive from your pack. System: Add a +3 to all dice pools for social dealings with your sept's Garou. This Merit is not the same thing as renown; a Garou can have little renown, yet be well known and liked. Notes: A character with this Merit may not take the Flaw: Notoriety. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #18 Wolf Sight 1 Garou Physical WW3806 Synopsis: In all your forms, you see colors and intensities of light as a wolf does. Your color vision is dimmer than that of humans, though you embrace the full spectrum of colors. Your night-vision, however, far surpasses human nocturnal vision. You also notice movement more readily. System: You gain an extra die to all Perception rolls that involve movement or take place at night. Notes: Book Ref: Players Guide to Garou, page #159 Black Furies Merit Cost Type Source Details Caern Child 5 Black Fury Supernatural WW3851 Synopsis: A Garou with the Merit: Caern Child was born during a Rite of Bearing the Caern. This birth alone is considered to be a very strong positive omen; the character receives +1 die on all Social rolls when dealing with Garou of her home sept. Additionally, the totem spirits of the caern to which the character was born pay special attention to her; she receives 1 point in the Totem background for free, so long as her pack's totem is one of the sept's totem spirits. xxxxxThis Background does bring negative attention to the character as well. Should she fail in any task the Theurges and Galliards of her home sept are likely to wail and gnash their teeth, as the character's fate is said to be linked to that of the caern. The character may receive a mentor or two that she didn't seek out or ask for, due to the sept's need to keep her safe and strong. She is certain to receive unwelcome attention from the local Wyrm population, who believe - probably quite rightly - that the first step to corrupting the new caern is to force the character down the Black Spiral, corrupting her rather than killing her outright. System: Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Black Furies (Revised Edition), page #87 Camp Affinity 2 Black Fury Social WW3851 Synopsis:Camp Affinity indicates that a particular camp of Black Furies has a particular fondness toward you. Perhaps you did them a great favor, or perhaps they are trying to sway you to join their group. System: Regardless, you have a -1 difficulty on Social rolls when interacting with that camp. You should not be a member of this camp when you first take this merit, although you can shift into that camp during play as the chronicle permits. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Black Furies (Revised Edition), page #87 Unusually Fertile 1 Black Fury Physical WW3851 Synopsis: The character with this merit is far more likely to become a parent than another Garou is. While Garou are not substantially less fertile than humans are, a Garou with Unusually Fertile is twice as likely as an average human to either become pregnant or cause a pregnancy after a single unprotected sexual encounter. The children of a character with this Merit are no more likely to be Garou than are the children of another character not so blessed. The specific effects of the Merit are best left to the Storyteller and player involved, especially if the character is female. For obvious reasons, Metis may not take this Merit System: Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Black Furies (Revised Edition), page #87 Bone Gnawers Merit Cost Type Source Details Ratkin Buddies 3 Bone Gnawers Supernatural WW3852 Synopsis: You poor bastard. Ratkin like you. For some reason, an entire pack of them has taken a personal interest in you. On a good day, they'll swarm into your life and solve one of your pesky little problems - sometimes by twisting it around into a completely different problem. On a really good day, they'll decide that one of your enemies is their enemy, too, making the poor fool's life a living hell (that is, worse than yours). And then there are the bad days, the ones where they show up unexpectedly asking for a place to crash, eat all your food, borrow some of your stuff, or generally raise hell where you live. You've learned to be really tolerant of them, because if you're not, they'll make your life a living hell, too. System: No more than one Garou in a pack can take this Merit. Ratkin have a chance of manifesting at a random time once every four sessions of game play. The Storyteller decides the precise moment the player must roll a die on this nifty little table: Rolled a... Effect 1 Bad Day: Ratkin make your life difficult. 2-5 Sad Day: No Ratkin. Go outside and leave a present for the local rats. 6-8 Good Day: Ratkin perform a minor favor. 9 Really Good Day: Ratkin allies save your ass. 10 One Ratkin joins the Rat-pack, one leaves. The new Ratkin leaves you a gift as an introduction. He thinks it's neat, even if you don't. xxxxxThe results affect the story as defined in the first paragraph of this Merit. The Ratkin pack has a number of wererats equal to the size of the character's pack minus one. Note that Ratkin are not inclined to appear to Garou other than Bone Gnawers; if you're part of a multitribal pack, your packmates may never learn the nature of your hidden "benefactors". As an optional rule, if Ratkin show up as part of the chronicle, the player who's chosen this Merit plays his Garou character, but every other player in the troupe can temporarily play a character in the rat pack. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Bone Gnawers (Revised Edition), page #80 Shame 2 Bone Gnawer Social WW3852 Synopsis: Your distant Garou ancestors weren't Bone Gnawers. Somewhere along the way, one of your ancestors shamed himself in some way. As a result, his descendants were so infamous or reviled that only the Bone Gnawer tribe would take them in. His reputation precedes you, as well. xxxxxThe good news is that you can still draw upon the strength of a few of your more esteemed ancestors. Treat this like one dot in the Ancestors Background. None of these ancestors were Bone Gnawers (of course) and none of them were more recent than at least three centuries ago. This is the closest a Bone Gnawer can ever get to the Ancestors Background (without using the optional Bootstrapping Rule). System: The bad news is that elders may learn of or even recognize your shameful lineage. Here's the catch: Each time you meet an elder for the first time, the Storyteller may roll your permanent Glory against a difficulty of (your Rank +5). If the roll scores even one success, your family's dark past is revealed. In addition to any story complications, you then gain an additional +2 difficulty on all Social based dice pools with all elders in that sept. (If you're using the optional Tribal Disadvantage, this disadvantage stacks with that +1 difficulty.) xxxxxThis game mechanic doesn't preclude some rival (or an inquisitive Shadow Lord) from finding this dark secret on his own as part of an entire subplot with a Bone Gnawer who tries to gain a deeper understanding of his ancestry while hiding it from his sept's elders. The ancestor may do more than simply bestow an occasional benefit to a dice pool - he may also grant forbidden lore or a temptation that may affect the Bone Gnawer's destiny forever. Notes: Staff note: Research Bootstrapping rule/tribe disadvantage/restrictions, define on the Bone Gnawer page with HR, update this Merit Note and System Book Ref: Tribebook: Bone Gnawers (Revised Edition), page #80 Struggling 1 Bone Gnawers Social WW3852 Synopsis: By hard work and diligence, you've gotten yourself off the streets. You can raise just enough money for legitimate home, regular (but cheap) food, even a few basic amenities. However, all of your resources are tied up in maintaining this home, and you have to struggle to keep it. As a Bone Gnawer, you cant have points in the Resources Background. Thus, mustering more than a few dollars of disposable income is difficult for you - in seems like you're always paying off debts and bills. You do, however, have a way to score some extra cash once in a while. Struggling may be tough, but it's a damn sight better than living on the streets. xxxxxDowntime is critical to a Struggling character. Even though he's part of the chronicle, your character cant spend every day wandering around looking for adventure. Drawing a paycheck requires at least twenty to thirty hours of part-time work a week, presumably this happens in the time between game sessions. Since this Merit limits the sort of tale your Storyteller can tell, it obviously requires her approval. Your character will, however, have a home, an address, and a phone number. System: At the start of each chapter of the chronicle, the Storyteller rolls your character's Wits; every two successes bestows the equivalent of one dot of Resources for the rest of the chapter. (If you've got Wits 4 or 5, you can reroll 10's.) The words "job security" mean nothing to you, however. On a botched roll, you lose everything and have to start over (as described below). You can temporarily lose this Merit if you leave town, or can no lover work to keep up your home. xxxxxWhether through a botched roll or negligence, you can fall through the cracks again at any moment. Your landlord is ready to evict you in a heartbeat, and your bills are almost always overdue. Setting yourself up as "struggling" again requires at least a month of downtime and a number of experience points equal to the cost of this Merit. The Struggling Merit is fairly common among followers of the Rat Fink camp, who often hold down jobs to hide their methods of gathering information, but as you can see, they have trouble holding onto them for long. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Bone Gnawers (Revised Edition), page #79 Children of Gaia Merit Cost Type Source Details Distant Sire 1 Children of Gaia Social WW3853 Synopsis: The Children of Gaia adopt so many pups that some Children maintain family ties with Garou parents in other tribes. System: This Merit simply means that you know of a parent who is Garou (not Kin) in another tribe. (Male Children may claim sire-right among the Black Furies). The tribe needs to be specified and the Storyteller needs to give permission for you to choose he tribe that you specify. In some cases, he may refuse. The Storyteller will create your parent, but will not reveal everything about them to you. In general, this Merit functions as a dot in Allies within another tribe, although it will also tend to spawn its own subplots. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Children of Gaia (Revised Edition), page #75 Supporter 2 Children of Gaia Social WW3853 Synopsis: You inspire all around you to greater efforts. (You must roleplay this, of course.) Whether by speaking, writing or leading by example, you give anyone who works with you a reason to go on and hope of success. System: You have a -2 difficulty to Social rolls and you give any group effort a +1 to its total dice pool. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Children of Gaia (Revised Edition), page #76 Fianna Merit Cost Type Source Details Second Sight 2-6 Fianna Supernatural WW3854 Synopsis: Even a trace of faerie blood produces strange effects in mortals, and many Fianna have more than a trace. Those with the Sight have limited, uncontrollable clairvoyance and precognition, ranging from an intuitive nudge to a view of a scene from the future. System: For 2 points, you may know who's calling before you pick up the phone, or feel a visitor is coming. Disorientating flashes of insight and sudden visions of the future and other places are hallmarks of the Sight at higher levels. For 6 points, visions are relatively detailed and lengthy. Visions may be of real events or metaphorical, but are usually maddeningly hard to unravel until the foretold event occurs. The Sight is unpredictable and comes unbidden, in dream or waking, as a "gut feeling" or a blinding flash of insight. The Storyteller should use this for more good than ill, but players should by no means rely on the Sight as a sure-fire early warning system. Revealed futures may be dark, and, actions taken to prevent the occurrence usually end up precipitating the unwelcome event. People with very active Sight can be a grim, unhappy lot. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Fianna (Revised Edition), page #83 Seldom Sleeps 2 Fianna Supernatural WW3854 Synopsis: Like the Second Sight, this Merit is the product of a dab of magic in the blood. While rest is still required after exertion, sleep is seldom necessary. One hour a night is fine, and even an hour every three days wont make the Fianna more than a little red-eyed. Such people find themselves pulling more than their share of guard duty. System: Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Fianna (Revised Edition), page #83 Get of Fenris Merit Cost Type Source Details Alcohol Tolerance 1 Get of Fenris Physical WW3855 Synopsis: The Fianna pride themselves on their brewing, but the Get are still able to show the Fianna a thing or two about drinking. System: With a successful Stamina roll (difficulty 7), a Garou with this Merit can shake off the effects of intoxication, suffering no coordination penalties that might normally affect a drunken fighter. This Merit works against all natural intoxicants, though not against poisons. Naturally, a werewolf with this level of tolerance has a much more difficult time getting drunk, which may spoil her fun a bit. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Get of Fenris (Revised Edition), page #85 Gregarious 2 Get of Fenris Social WW3855 Synopsis: Although most Get of Fenris cannot purchase the Contacts Background, you are somewhat more outgoing than your tribemates, and have managed to make a few connections and acquaintances here and there. System: You have a small number of minor contacts, as described in the Werewolf rulebook; whenever you need to get in touch with one, you may roll three dice, difficulty 7, to locate the person you need. This Merit does not, however, provide any major contacts. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Get of Fenris (Revised Edition), page #86 Glass Walkers Merit Cost Type Source Details Red Talons Merit Cost Type Source Details Homid Ancestor 2 Red Talon Mental WW3857 Synopsis: Somewhere in the far-flung mists of the past, you have a human-born relative. Maybe a homid relative of yours bred with a wolf that was Kin to the Red Talons, perhaps a more recent relative was actually born to another tribe. Either way, you have a slightly better grip on human thought than most lupus. System: The character must have at least one dot in the Ancestors Background to purchase this Merit. Reduce the difficulty of rolls involving logic and abstract thinking by 1, and the difficulties of using Ancestors to access Abilities such as Crafts, Melee, Etiquette, and Politics likewise drop by one (Firearms and Computers are probably still off-limits). On the minus side, if word of your lineage gets out, you might lose some temporary Honor depending on what kind of sept you live in. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Red Talons (Revised Edition), page #78 Winter Garou 4 Red Talon Social WW3857 Synopsis: You have been chosen as one of the Winter Garou. Unless you are a member of an all-Red Talon pack, you are probably a spy and instigator for your tribe, and are acting under orders from a superior. System: In game terms, you effectively have Mentor 3, and can expect favors from your tribe (including having the Rite of False Justice performed for you if necessary). You may also learn Winter Pack Gifts, and receive extra Renown from your tribe for your efforts. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Red Talons (Revised Edition), page #78 Shadow Lords Merit Cost Type Source Details Feared Mentor 3 Shadow Lord Social WW3858 Synopsis: While Shadow Lords cannot take the Mentor background, most nonetheless need to receive instruction of some sort before they can learn to be effective manipulators. System: For three points, your mentor is particularly well known and feared within your sept (and perhaps within the tribe at large). His influence is such that you gain one additional die to all social rolls with members of your tribe, but you also inherit at least one enemy from your mentor's past. In this case, as is the case with a normal Mentor (merit), your mentor doesn't do much to come to your aid and cant be called a friend or ally. He is simply terrifying enough that others fear you, regardless of how your mentor himself feels about the subject. Notes: See the Mentor merit below. Book Ref: Tribebook: Shadow Lords (Revised Edition), page #82 Mentor (merit) 2 Shadow Lord Social WW3858 Synopsis: While Shadow Lords cannot take the Mentor background, most nonetheless need to receive instruction of some sort before they can learn to be effective manipulators. System: For two points, you gain a mentor as described in the main Werewolf riles, but no matter his Rank you will never receive more than occasional instruction from him. He will never come to your aid, nor will he ever take responsibility for your actions. You will find yourself serving him more often than the reverse, but if you are canny and clever you may learn more than you ever dreamed possible. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Shadow Lords (Revised Edition), page #82 Thunder's Child 5 Shadow Lord Social WW3858 Synopsis: You are especially close to Grandfather Thunder, to the point where even the Theurges of your sept look on you with envy. System: You gain one temporary Gnosis point when you are exposed to a thunder storm, which lasts until used or until you leave the storm, and you take one less die of damage from any storm or electricity related effects (even if these effects cannot normally be soaked). You also gain one additional die to any Social rolls with storm spirits or members of Grandfather Thunder's brood (including Stormcrows, raven and Crow spirits, totem spirits and avatars of Grandfather Thunder himself. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Shadow Lords (Revised Edition), page #82 Silent Striders Merit Cost Type Source Details Gift of Wepauwet 5 Silent Striders Supernatural WW3859 Synopsis: Some way, some how, the character does not suffer the curse of Sutekh. The spirits of her ancestors come to her in times of need, as if she has some sort of mystic channel or spiritual beacon that calls to them from their lost wanderings or imprisonment. The character embodies the great hope of the Silent Strider tribe - and calls up many of their worst fears, as well. System: After choosing this Merit, the player may purchase the Ancestors Background as usual for any other tribes of Garou. The character also receives three points of temporary Renown, one each in Honor, Glory, and Wisdom. Expectations will be high for this character's future deeds, which may be a benefit or a drawback depending on the situation. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Silent Striders (Revised Edition), page #87 Ghost Sight 4 Silent Striders Supernatural WW3859 Synopsis: This merit allows (or perhaps inflicts) glimpses of sight into the Dark Umbra. It is not always in effect, which is a blessing; any living creature who could see all that goes on a heartbeat away in the land of the dead would undoubtedly go mad - especially since many who possess the sight develop it in childhood. System: The sight comes over the Strider (or Strider Kinfolk) when something of importance is happening in the Dark Umbra (a strong ghost is present, someone or something is watching the werewolf) or in places that are significant to the dead (the place, or an object within, is of great importance to a ghost). Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Silent Striders (Revised Edition), page #87 Silver Fangs Merit Cost Type Source Details Notable Heritage 2 Silver Fangs Social WW3860 Synopsis: This merit can represent one of two things. It may mean that the character is from a family that is particularly renowned amongst the Garou for it's deeds down through the centuries. Notable examples include the Morningkills, the Delacourts and the Tvarivich Dynasty. This is not the same thing as the Background: Pure Breed, which represents the relative perfection of the Garou line as expressed in the individual. This Merit represents the general fame accorded to the family for its deeds of Garou and Kinfolk both. Alternatively, this Merit may represent membership of a family famous in human circles: a royal family, like the Widsors of the United Kingdom or a political dynasty, like the Bushes and Kennedy's in the USA. While this Merit does not convey any property or financial gain, it may well carry a title in a monarchy. System: For notable Garou heritage: The character is at -1 difficulty to Social rolls with other Garou and Kinfolk who are aware of werewolf society. This merit does carry with it the expectation that the werewolf live up to the family name. If he fails to do so, he may find the benefits of the Merit fading with time. As the stories of his own failings start to outweight the high regard the family receives. For notable human ancestry: The character can expect to be invited to all the best parties and is at -1 difficulty to all Social rolls when dealing with humans aware of his heritage. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Silver Fangs (Revised Edition), page #85 Stargazers Merit Cost Type Source Details Eyes of Eshtara 4 Planetary Stargazer WW3110 Synopsis: (Eshtarra) You can use your Kalindo Skill to heighten your senses to their maximum, allowing you to feel, smell, and hear where things and people are. If blinded or placed in a situation where you cannot see, you can use this ability to substitute for your lack of sight. Information comes to you in a manner similar to a bat's sonar. System: In order to take this merit, you must have at least one level of Kalindo. This Merit negates penalties caused by blindness or darkness. You cannot take this Merit if you have the Blind flaw. Notes: Book Ref: Rage Across the Heavens, page #127 Mewa Birthmarks 1 Stargazer Supernatural WW3861 Synopsis: Your body is decorated with small brown or pink birthmarks, each one no larger than a penny. They typically show up on one's back. These birthmarks, known in Idia as mewas, are considered "holy" and those bearing such marks are afforded honor. The marks are also used in some forms of divination and they're often similar to star patterns or constellations. System: Those with these marks have an extra die on all Social rolls involving Stargazer Theurges. This Merit may not be taken by a Metis Stargazer with the "Birthmarks" deformity. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Stargazers (Revised Edition), page #80 Tranquil Soul 2 Stargazer Aptitude WW3861 Synopsis: Your ancestors were a particularly calm and spiritual lot. As such, it's extraordinarily simple for you to fall into a trance-like meditative state. More importantly, meditation allows an advantage that others may not necessarily receive. System: A successful meditation attempt (3 or more successes) combined with at least an hour's worth of meditation gives the user back a temporary Willpower point. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Stargazers (Revised Edition), page #80 Uktena Merit Cost Type Source Details Wendigo Merit Cost Type Source Details Camouflage 2 Wendigo Social WW3863 Synopsis: You're Garou, all right, but something about you makes it hard for anyone to tell what tribe you belong to, or even what auspice you were born under. You are still bound to the traditions and rules of your moon phase and your kin, but you're damned good at blending in with any gathering in Garou society. System: If you're presented with a situation where it would be in your best interest, or the best interest of someone close to you, to pretend to be of another tribe or auspice, you can add one die to your Charisma attribute or to your Etiquette skill. Notes: Book Ref: Tribebook: Wendigo (Revised Edition), page #82

Vampire

Kindred
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Sabbat
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Ghoul

Merit Cost Type Source Details Unbondable 6 Ghoul Supernatural WW4010 Synopsis: Vampire blood cannot control your will. No matter how much of it you consume, the dreaded Blood Bond wont take you down. System: This Merit can be powerful - a little too powerful for some chronicles - if combined with the Ghoul Merit; hence a character who wants to be a free-willed Ghoul must pay double the usual amount. Notes: Ghoul characters must take this version of the Merit. Characters with this Merit who become Ghouls after character generation must buy this Merit up from 3 to 6. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67

Dhampyr
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Kuei-Jin
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Wraith

Wraith
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Risen
Merit Cost Type Source Details

Restricted

Not Allowed

Merit Cost Type Source Details Bundle of Energy 2 Physical WW8202 Synopsis: Your character is full of energy. She can subsist on five or six hours of sleep a night, being unable to stay in bed any longer. Her days are full of physical activity, and she can work long into the night without penalty. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope, due to redundancy. Other splat's Merits combine the effects of this and the Demon Player Guide's 'Light Sleeper' Merits into a single 1 to 3 point Merit called 'Light Sleeper'. This can be found in the Any Race section. Book Ref: Demon Player's Guide, page #77 Charmed Existence 5 Supernatural WW3108 Synopsis: Your life is somehow protected and you do not face the perils that others must. It could be that you are simply lucky. System: Because of this Merit, you may ignore a single one on every roll you make, as though you had an extra success. This Merit makes it far more unlikely that you will ever botch and grants you more successes than others might obtain. Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 Corporate CEO 5 Human Society WW3108 Synopsis: Whether you literally are a corporation's chief executive officer or not, you have a particular influence and sway over a major corporation and its associated companies. System: This Merit lists the ability to head a Pentex owned company. Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. Your Resources and Influence Backgrounds as well as your related stats and Concept validates being a CEO or not. Pentex and certain other businesses require a Rank Background of its own. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #19 Faeblood 4 Supernatural WW4010 Synopsis: Though not a Changeling, you've got their heritage running through your veins - literally. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. We instead use the 4 point Fae Blood Merit, from Mage: The Ascension (Revised), page #295, and call it "Kinain" on your sheet. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Garou Kinfolk 4 Shifter Supernatural WW3064 Synopsis: You are both related to and accepted by a pack of werewolves. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. Although essentially the same, we instead use the Merit from Mage: The Ascension, called "Kinfolk" on your sheet, at a flat 4 point rating, and it can apply to any shifting breed aside from just Garou. Book Ref: Project Twilight, page #21 Guardian Angel 6 Supernatural WW3108 Synopsis: Some supernatural force watches over you and protects you from harm. You have no idea who or what it is, but you suspect that someone is there looking out for you. System: In times of great need, you may be supernaturally protected from harm by peculiar coincidences. However, you cant count on your protector's intervention. The Storyteller must decide why you are being watched over and by what (not necessarily an angel, despite the name). Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #15 Jack-Of-All-Trades 5 Aptitude WW3108 Synopsis: You can draw upon a large pool of skills and knowledge, obtained through your extensive travels, the jobs you've held or just all-around know-how. System: 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 you train or spend experience in the Skill or Knowledge, you must hay the point cost for the first level a "second time" before raising the Skill or Knowledge to 2 dots. (As in 3 for the first point, and then 3+2 for a second point in a Skill or Knowledge.) Lupus/Feline/Suchid/Etc-animal-breed characters cannot take this Merit. Notes: This version of this Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. See the 3 point version in the Any Race section of the Merits list. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #14 Local Ties 1-3 Human Society WW3108 Synopsis: You have both influence over and contacts in local circles of some sort, whether a government system or a lose collection of like businesses. Your influence is far from total, and it may be threatened by changes in personnel or regulations. The more you use your ties, the weaker they grow unless you do something to bolster them. This Merit cannot purchase ties on a national or even statewide scale. System: Listed Local Ties are: Park Department, Judicial, Media, Church, Corporate, Police, Political, and Underworld. Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. Revised edition and other splats best use the Influence Background instead. Book Ref: Werewolf Player's Guide (2nd Edition), page #18 Shapechanger Kin 4 Supernatural WW4010 Synopsis: By some quirk of fate, you're closely related to one of Gaia's Chosen; a werewolf, cat, raven, bear, or perhaps even one of the more mysterious breeds. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. We instead use the Merit from Mage: The Ascension, at a flat 4 point rating, and call it "Kinfolk" on your sheet. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Supernatural Kinfolk 4-5 Kinfolk Supernatural WW3074 Synopsis: Not actually intended for mortals, this Merit is necessary for vampire, wraith, mage and changeling characters who are Kin as well. Despite your undead, magical or faerie status, your tribe accepts you as Kin (although they don't necessarily think of you in glowing terms). Individuals outside your immediate family may not like you, and other tribes probably wont treat you well - they may not even recognize you as Kin. After all, most werewolves view mages as caern raiders and vampires as Wyrm Spawn. Likewise, your "other" life may sometimes impinge on Kinfolk business. Still there's value in knowing about both worlds. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. We instead use the Merits from Mage: The Ascension, at a flat 4 point rating and call it "Kinfolk" or "Kinain" on your sheet. Book Ref: Kinfolk Unsung Heroes, pg.#53 Title 2 to 5 Social WW4801 Synopsis: You've acquired rank, whether by birth or deed. That title confers privilege, of course, but carries obligations, too. System: Titles noted by this merit are: Knight, Lady, Priest, Countess, Prelate, Burgomaster, Bishop, Duke, Princess, Prince, Archbishop, or royal confidante. Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope, as the game doesn't take place in a Monarchy or religious center, or nearby any, and is set in modern day rather than the Dark Ages era when this would be more available or useful. Modern day descendants of royalty should look at the Noble Blood, Notable Heritage, or other Merits to reflect your mundane noble lineage. If a character is granted legitimate title by an authorized person (e.g. the Queen of England bestowing a Knighthood), you can speak with staff about an exception. This Merit does not pertain to Changeling titles, this is for the Human world only. Book Ref: Crusade Lore, page #37 Totem 5 Supernatural WW4010 WW4254 Synopsis: A great spirit smiles upon you. Perhaps you are familiar (or related) to the Changing Breeds; perhaps you remember what other mortals have forgotten, and the spirits respect you for it. System: Allows access to a Totem via the Totem Creation Kit Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. We instead use the Totem Background from Werewolf: The Apocalypse. The effect is the same, and allows creation of personal Totems. Book Ref: World of Darkness: Sorcerer, page #67 Sorcerer (Revised), page #56 Unknowing Garou Kinfolk 2 Shifter Supernatural WW3064 Synopsis: This is similar to the Garou Kinfolk Merit, except that you are unaware of your heritage. System: Notes: This Merit is not available for use on City of Hope. If your character is unaware of their heritage, then simply play as though they are unaware. Be sure to communicate clearly with other players regarding the possible discovery of your lineage and your expectations and plans concerning your Kinfolk character. Book Ref: Project Twilight, page #21