Merits & Flaws

[Lena]

Merits and Flaws. Flavor for characters, these further define your character and makes them more rounded with added detail. Below you will find clan specific merits and flaws as well as general merits and flaws and vampire merits and flaws. Keep in mind that while they are listed, it is no guarantee that your character will be approved with it.

[Lena]

General Merits

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Acute Hearing (1-PT Merit)
You have exceptionally sharp hearing, even for a vampire. The difficulties of all dice roll that relate to hearing (e.g. Perception + Alertness to hear a faint noise, or Perception + Linguistics to overhear a conversation in a foreign language) are decreased by two. Combined with Heightened Senses (Level One Auspex), this Merit can provide superhuman hearing acuity.

Acute Sense of Smell (1-PT Merit)
You have an exceptionally keen sense of smell. The difficulties of all dice rolls that relate to smell (e.g., Intelligence + Occult to identify a ritual incense) are reduced by two. Combined with Heightened Senses (Level One Auspex), this Merit can provide superhuman olfactory acuity.

Acute Sense of Taste (1-PT Merit)
You have an exceptionally keen sense of taste. The difficulties of all dice rolls that relate to taste (e.g., Perception + Medicine to spot the taint of poison in blood or another substance) are reduced by two. You are able to make precise distinctions in taste. Combined with Heightened Senses (Level One Auspex), this Merit can provide superhuman taste acuity.

Acute Vision (1-PT Merit)
You have exceptionally keen eyesight. The difficulties of all dice rolls that relate to vision (e.g., a Perception roll to spot a clue, or Perception + Alertness to see the shadow of an approaching attacker) are reduced by one. Combined with Heightened Senses (Level One Auspex), this Merit can provide superhuman visual acuity.

Ambidextrous (1-PT Merit)
You have a high degree of off-hand dexterity and can perform tasks with the "wrong" hand at no penalty. You must still use the rules for taking multiple actions, but will not suffer a difficulty penalty if, say, you use two weapons or are forced to use your off hand.

Approachable (1-PT Merit)
There’s something very inviting and non-threatening about you. People find you very easy to start a conversation with. Even distrustful creatures tend to put aside their instinctive wariness of mortals in regard to you. Reduce the difficulty of any Empathy rolls involving other people by two, and by one where human-seeming monsters (such as vampires) are concerned.

Baby Face (2-PT Merit)
You look more human than other vampires, enabling you to fit in the human world much more easily. Your skin is pink, you never really stopped breathing (even though you don't need to), and even sneezing comes naturally. You can make your heart beat as long as you have at least one Blood Point. This Merit cannot be taken by Nosferatu.

Blush of Health (2-PT Merit)
You look more pale and healthy in appearance than other vampires, allowing you to blend with human society much more easily. You still retain the color of a living mortal, and your skin feels only slightly cool to the touch.

Bruiser (1-PT Merit)
Your appearance is sufficiently thug like to inspire fear or at least disquiet in those who see you. While you're not necessarily ugly per se, you do radiate a sort of quiet menace, to the point where people cross the street to avoid passing near you. You are at -1 difficulty on all Intimidation rolls against those who have not demonstrated their physical superiority to you.

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

Coldly Logical (1-PT Merit)
While some might refer to you as a 'cold fish', you have a knack for separating factual reporting from emotional or hysterical coloration. You may or may not be emotional yourself, but you can see clearly when others are clouding the facts with their feelings (-1 difficulty on all Sense Deception and related rolls).

Common Sense (1-PT Merit)
You have a significant amount of practical, everyday wisdom. Whenever the character is about to act in a way contrary to common sense, the Storyteller can make suggestion or warnings about the implications of said action. This is a very useful Merit to give to beginning players unfamiliar with the game. Player is responsible for reminding the ST Staff that they have this Merit.

Computer Aptitude (1-PT Merit)
You have a natural affinity with computers, so the difficulties of all rolls to repair, construct or operate them are two less.

Concentration (1-PT Merit)
You have the ability to focus your mind and shut out any distractions or annoyances. Characters with this Merit are unaffected by any penalties stemming from distracting circumstances (e.g., loud noises, strobe lights, hanging upside down).

Crack Driver (1-PT Merit)
You have a natural affinity with driving motorized wheeled vehicles, such as cars, 18-wheelers and even tractors. The difficulties of all rolls requiring risky or especially difficult driving maneuvers are two less.

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

Double-Jointed (1-PT Merit)
You are unusually supple. Reduce the difficulty of any Dexterity roll involving body flexibility by two. Squeezing through a tiny space is one example of a use for this Merit.

Eidetic Memory (2-PT Merit)
You remember, with perfect detail, things seen and heard. Documents, photographs, conversations, etc., can be committed to memory with only minor concentration. Under stressful conditions involving numerous distractions, you must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to summon enough concentration to absorb what your senses detect.

Enchanting Voice (2-PT Merit)
There is something about your voice that others cannot ignore. When you command, they are cowed. When you seduce, they swoon. Whether thunderous, gentle, persuading or simply talking, your voice commands attention. The difficulties of all die rolls involving the use of the voice to persuade, charm or command are reduced by two.

Fashion Sense (2-PT Merit)
Your character doesn’t just dress well, he has an innate sense of what sort of clothes suit a particular occasion. This isn’t a case of slavishly following the latest trends from the hottest designers. It’s a matter of knowing when to dress smart and when to be casual, having the know-how to carry it off on a limited budget. Deduct one from the difficulty of Social rolls in situations in which dressing appropriately is important, such as in a business meeting, chatting at a club, or attending an invitation-only function.

Fast Reader (1-PT Merit)
You can read and understand a piece of writing far faster than most people. Although it can make long journeys by train or carriage expensive propositions due to the number of books you go through, it allows you to quickly extract useful information from anything written in your native language.

Flirt (2-PT Merit)
You claim that you’re a terrible flirt, but that quite manifestly isn’t true. You’re great at it. You’re an absolute master of all the subtle signals that give off the particular combination of promise and denial that makes teasing so much fun. At your best, you can make members of the opposite sex, or members of the same sex, putty in your hands. Add two dice to all Social rolls in such circumstances.

Forgettable (2-PT Merit)
It’s not that you’re ugly. It’s just that, well, people’s eyes tend to slide over you. You’re of average height and build, unremarkable looks and run-of-the-mill dress. People have problems remembering your appearance after they meet you, unless you have talked with them for a long time. Certainly people won’t be able to give a useful description of you if they only see you briefly. You 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 its assigned range through play, you lose this Merit. This merit applies solely to your physical appearance. You might have a dreadful credit rating, a police file as thick as a phone book and a sexual history that would make a porn star blush, but people on the street just don’t remember you.

Friendly Face (1-PT Merit)
You have a face that reminds everyone of someone, to the point where strangers are inclined to be well inclined toward you because of it. The effect doesn’t fade if you explain the 'mistake', leaving you at -1 difficulty on all appropriate Social-based rolls (yes for Seduction, no for Intimidation, for example) when a stranger is involved. This Merit only functions on a first meeting.

Funny (1-PT Merit)
You can make people laugh. Your timing and sense of the absurd are second to none. You’re always being invited to parties because you’re so much fun. However, you’re also very good at judging the appropriateness of your humor. Sometimes the right joke can lift the spirits of people when everything seems to be going against them. So, you do what you can to make life more bearable for your fellows, even when the situation seems darkest. Lower the difficulty of any Social roll intended to boost morale by two.

Good Judge of Character (2-PT Merit)
You have an instinct for reading people. You can make an appraisal of the kind of person someone is after meeting her for a few seconds, based on little more than gut instinct. You’re rarely wrong. Decrease the difficulty of any Perception roll based on assessing someone by two.

Good Listener (1-PT Merit)
You’re interested in people, you enjoy hearing what they have to say and you’re prepared to hear them out without interrupting their opinion with your own. Others can sense this and open up to you without really meaning to do so. The difficulty of all apparently friendly social rolls that involve people talking to your character is reduced by two.

Good Map Reader (1-PT Merit)
You’re the Holy Grail of travelers everywhere: someone who can read a map well. Whether you’re using an old map carved into animal leather or a few brushes on a vellium scroll, you can find your way to where you need to be.

Good Night Vision (2-PT Merit)
Maybe you spent a lot of time camping. Maybe you’re just a fisherman who’s used to getting up before dawn. For whatever reason, your night vision is excellent. The difficulty of Perception rolls at night is decreased by two.

Good Recognition (1-PT Merit)
You are great at remembering the names of people you’ve encountered, and places you’ve been. You can call to mind the name of somebody you met briefly at a party three years ago, while you were a bit drunk, as clearly as if you’d met them only yesterday. You can also remember the streets you staggered along on your way home. You’re even good at remembering the names of people mentioned in newspaper stories and broadcast reports, and locations glimpsed in still photographs.

Good Taste (1-PT Merit)
You have a knack for choosing the right food from the menu, reading the right anecdotes and giving the right presents. You’ve seen the right films for discussion in cultured company, and you wouldn’t know who starred in Dumb and Dumber, let alone have the first clue about the plot. Your taste makes forging social contacts among the similar folk much easier, whatever your origins. Lower the difficulty of any social roll intended to gain acceptance or to impress a like-minded gathering by two.

Gossip (1-PT Merit)
You’re an incurable gossip, and other gossips recognize a kindred spirit in you. You’re more than happy to spend hours shooting the breeze with others, all the while discussing the minutiae of other people’s lives. Surprising how much information you can pick up that way, isn’t it? Lower the difficulty of any Interrogation rolls made in a social situation, without bullying or intimidation, by two.

Great Liar (2-PT Merit)
Lying comes naturally to you. Even the most involved deception sounds like God’s own truth when it comes tripping off your honeyed tongue. Gain two dice on any Social roll that involves lying to or deceiving another person.

Harmless (1-PT Merit)
Everyone in the city knows you, and knows that you're no threat to their plans. While that sort of estimation may seen insulting, it's also what's kept you from being killed. No one considers you worth the time to deal with, and that low opinion keeps you safe. If you start acting in a way that demonstrates that you are no longer harmless, others' reactions to you will likely change as a result.

Healthy Skepticism (1-PT Merit)
You’re good at separating truth from fiction, and someone has to be up pretty damn early to catch you off guard. You rarely take what people say at face value until you’re able to check the details yourself. This merit allows you to reduce the difficulty of any roll to perceive a lie by two. It should be role played as much as possible.

Huge Size (4-PT Merit)
You are abnormally large in size, at least 6'10" and 300 pounds in weight. Aside from making you extremely noticeable in public, this extra mass bestows an additional Bruised health level. Characters with this Merit may also gain bonuses to push objects, open barred doors, avoid being knocked down, etc.

Jack-Of-All-Trades (5-PT Merit)
You have a large pool of miscellaneous skills and knowledge obtained through your extensive travels, the jobs you've held, or just all-around know-how. You automatically have one dot in all Skill and Knowledge Dice Pools. This is an illusory level, used only to simulate a wide range of abilities. If the character trains or spends experience in the Skill or Knowledge, he must first buy one dot, then two, etc. as if he had no dot in it. When the character buys the first dot in any Skill or Knowledge, this merit does not stack (meaning – that it does not add an additional dot to the level of skill)

Mechanical Aptitude (1-PT Merit)
You are naturally adept with all kinds of mechanical devices (note that this aptitude does not extend to electronic devices such as computers). The difficulties of all dice rolls to understand, repair or operate any kind of mechanical device are two less. However, this Merit doesn't help you drive any sort of vehicle.

Media Junkie (1-PT Merit)
TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, films – you love them all and can’t get enough. You’re a voracious consumer of pop culture and are always up on the latest movies, music, and current affairs. Lower the difficulty of any Social or Research roll that involves pop culture by two.

Natural Leader (1-PT Merit)
You are gifted with a certain magnetism to which others naturally defer. You receive two extra dice when making Leadership rolls. You must have a Charisma rating of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit.

Natural Linguist (2-PT Merit)
You have a flair for languages. You may add three dice to any dice pool involving written or spoken languages.

Natural Politician (1-PT Merit)
You’re 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, you know how to get what you want. You receive two extra dice on Manipulation rolls in social situations that involve an element of politics, such as an office meeting or gun-club gathering. You must have a Manipulation of 3 or more to have this Merit. Politics and Bureaucracy Abilities have no bearing on the application of this Merit because it represents raw talent, not the knowledge gained through long experience.

Natural Runner (1-PT Merit)
You’ve enjoyed running ever since you were a kid. Whereas most people wheeze and complain about exercising, running has always been an absolute pleasure for you. As a result, you can run like the wind when the situation demands this. Your Dexterity counts as one point higher than it actually is for purposes of determining Movement rates.

Open Road (2-PT Merit)
Unlike many Kindred, you like to travel. You have a solid knowledge of safe travel routes and methodologies, not to mention haven space available in any number of destinations. Unless someone out there knows your exact route and is specifically looking for you, you can move between cities unimpeded by random encounters with Lupines, overzealous state troopers and the like.

People Person (2-PT Merit)
You’re a social animal. You just like being around others. Hell, they like being around you. Your open and gregarious nature makes people warm to you quickly. The difficulty of any Social roll to create a good impression on another is decreased by two.

Perfect Balance (1-PT Merit)
Your sense of balance is superb. The narrowest of ledges holds little fear for you, because you have such a good command of your physical equilibrium. You’re probably a good dancer, as well. This Merit allows you to reduce the difficulty of all balance-related rolls (e.g., Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by two.
*Note: This includes knock-downs

Pillar of the Community (2-PT Merit)
You’re a fine, upstanding person, respected by people around you. Through participation in local events, helping out with community groups or helping others, you’ve become well-liked and trusted by those who live around you. When you bring them a warning of potential danger or offer an explanation of strange events, they’re likely to believe you. You may even be able to call upon their aid in a pinch. You may not get it, however.

Pitiable (1-PT Merit)
There is something about you that others pity. This causes them to care for you as if you were a Child (see the Archetypes section). Some Natures will not be affected by this Merit (Autocrat, Deviant, Fanatic, Sycophant), and some Demeanors may pretend they are not. You need to decide what it is about you that attracts such pity, and how much (or how little) you like it.

Punctual (1-PT Merit)
You’re a master of the virtually lost art of arriving on time. If you have a meeting at 10 AM, you’re sitting in the reception area at 9:59. If you have an 8 PM dinner date with your beloved, you’ll be in the restaurant at 8 on the dot. Barring deliberate interference in your plans, you almost always manage things so you turn up on time. It makes you a great organizer, assuming your allies come through.

Rep (1-5-PT Merit)
Your fame has exceeded the bounds of your sect. Everyone knows who you are, what you've done and what you're supposed to have done (which may not be the same thing). The publicity can be good or bad; what matters is that everyone knows your name. Whether individuals outside of your immediate social circle know enough to match your face to your name is a different matter.

Robust Health (1-PT Merit)
You have the constitution of an ox. You rarely get ill, if ever, and food poisoning is a stranger to you. You don’t even get hangovers, you bastard. Reduce the difficulty of any roll to resist illness or poisoning – including alcohol poisoning – by two.

Sea Legs (1-PT Merit)
No landlubber, you’re a salty sea dog at heart. You’re at home on a boat, even when traveling rough seas. You suffer no penalty incurred due to rough seas or unpredictable ship motion on any actions performed while on board.

Seasoned Traveler (2-PT or 4-PT Merit)
You’ve visited distant and different places on your own, and you know how to fit in. You don’t hit town expecting everyone to think and behave the way you do. With the 2-point version, you’re adept at finding accommodation, supplies, and local help wherever you go in your home country. With the 4-point version, the same applies to foreign countries. You might not speak the language of a place well, or at all, but you know 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.

Self-Confident (5-PT Merit)
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. You do not lose the point when you spend it, unless you end the roll with only one success, i.e. you do not gain any additional successes from the dice you roll. This Merit may only be used when you need confidence in your abilities in order to succeed. This means you can use it only when the difficulty of your roll is six or higher. You may spend Willpower at other times; however, if the difficulty is five or less, the Willpower will be spent no matter what you roll.

Sexy (2-PT Merit)
You might not necessarily be that good looking, but there’s something about the way you move and act that exudes sexuality. As a result, you draw attention from members of the opposite sex, or your own sex, with raw animal magnetism. You may lower the difficulty of any Social roll by two when dealing with someone who is attracted to you. If you actively attempt to direct your charms at a person, you may lower the difficulty by three.

Smooth (1-PT Merit)
You might come from the wrong side of the tracks. You probably don’t have a clue which fork to use when eating out. But none of that matters. You present yourself with such an easy grace and carefree attitude that people forgive you most errors. They might not like you much, but they enjoy your company so thoroughly that your rougher edges are quickly forgiven and forgotten. Lower the difficulty of Manipulation rolls by two.

Socially Aware (2-PT Merit)
Social interplay is an open book to you. You’re the first to spot the hidden relationships between people, after only a few minutes of observation. Subtle cues like body language and position, voice tones and choice of words speak volumes to you about the underlying connection between people. Gain two dice on any Perception roll involving interaction between others.

Time Sense (1-PT Merit)
You have an innate sense of time and are able to estimate the passage of time accurately without using a watch or other mechanical device.

Trivia Champ (2-PT Merit)
Where do you get this stuff? Whether it’s through plenty of reading, too much TV or just an eclectic bunch of friends, you have the oddest collection of facts stored away in your skull. Once in a while, at the Storyteller’s discretion, one of them turns out to be just the piece of information your fellows need. You might not actually be very bright, but the sheer amount of knowledge you’ve picked up makes you appear that way. This Merit doesn’t confer knowledge of the enemy or the occult, beyond what is likely to be known in common culture (and may well be dangerously wrong.)

Unflappable (3-PT Merits)
You are a naturally placid person and take most things in stride. You were almost hit by a car? That was close. Your wife has left you? Ah, well. Although you have emotions as others do, you don’t let them affect you to the same degree. You gain two extra dice on any Willpower roll that involves staying calm and not overreacting to mundane experiences. It simply helps you to cope with the plausible and unfortunate aspects of everyday life. You might have witnessed dead bodies before, and can deal with seeing them now, but seeing a dead body that’s partially devoured is probably beyond your previous experience.

Upright Citizen (2-PT Merit)
Up until the moment of whatever change you may have had, you were a model citizen. There’s never been even a whiff of scandal about you. Your working life has been good without being extraordinary. Your friends would be hard-pressed to come up with any embarrassing secrets about you, and even your ex-lovers are complimentary about you most of the time. You just don’t have any dirty secrets to come back to haunt you, and people who know you have a hard time believing anything bad about you.

Way With Words (1-PT Merit)
Language is a finely honed tool for you, not a blunt instrument. You are able to create exactly the effect you want in both written and verbal communication. Gain two dice on any Expression roll that involves words.

[Lena]

General Flaws

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Absent-Minded (3-PT Flaw)
This Flaw may not be taken with the Merit Concentration. Though you do not forget such things as Knowledges or Skills, you do forget names, addresses, and when you last ate. In order to remember anything more than your own name and the location of your haven, you need to make a Wits roll or, as a last resort, spend a Willpower point.

Amnesia (2-PT Flaw)
You are unable to remember anything about your past, yourself or your family, though your past might well come back to haunt you. Your origins and the circumstances behind your amnesia are for the Storyteller to determine, and she is encouraged to make it as interesting as possible.

Bad Liar (1-PT Flaw)
You have tremendous trouble lying. The spontaneous excuses that you come up with are usually unbelievably elaborate or easily refuted with the bare modicum of research. While telling a prefabricated lie, you stutter, stammer, blush and generally look guilty. Increase the difficulty of any roll that involves verbal deception by two. Cannot be taken with the Flaw Honest to a Fault.

Bad Sight (1- or 3-PT Flaw)
Your sight is defective. The difficulties of any die rolls involving the use of your eyesight are increased by two. As a one-point Flaw, this condition can be corrected with glasses or contacts; as a three-point Flaw, the condition is too severe to be corrected.

Balding (1-PT Flaw)
You barely have any hair left on your head, whether it’s due to old age or cruel genes. You are relatively easy to pick out of crowds, and you have problems making a good impression on others, especially in romantic situations. Increase the difficulty of any Ability rolls involved in a seduction attempt by one.

Blind (6-PT Flaw)
You cannot see. Characters can compensate for the loss of vision by becoming more sensitive to other sensory input, but visual cue and images are lost to them. Actions involving hand-eye coordination are very difficult to perform, especially under stressful conditions. Difficulties of all Dexterity-based rolls are increased by two. Oddly, vampires with Level Two Auspex (Aura Perception) are still able to use this ability, thought the information is interpreted via the other senses.

Bully (1-PT Flaw)
You tend to push people around when you can get away with it. This aggression doesn’t necessarily require a physical display; it is often purely social. You chafe under the leadership of more forceful personalities and can be a malcontent when you aren’t in charge.

Children (1-PT Flaw)
You have children for whom you are a primary emotional, social, and economic provider. You take a lot of joy in your kids and pride yourself on being a good parent. Unfortunately, your life gets in the way of parenting. If you go more than three days without seeing your kids because of work or activities related to your calling, you feel tremendous guilt.

Chronic Pessimist (1-PT Flaw)
You think the glass is half-empty, the water in the glass is contaminated, and that the glass will probably tip over at any second. Others practice pessimism out of habit. For you, it’s an art form. Nothing can ever go right, especially plans that others propose. You are the implacable voice of gloom and doom, always ready to point out a potential problem no matter how remote a chance it has of coming to pass. Add two to the difficulty of your leadership rolls.

Color Blindness (1-PT Flaw)
You can only see in black and white. Color means nothing to you, though you are sensitive to color density, which you perceive as shades of gray. This makes it impossible to use the Level Two Auspex power of Aura Perception. Note: color blindness actually indicates an inability to distinguish between two colors, but we fudged a bit for the sake of brevity.

Crude (1-PT Flaw)
You never learned any manners while growing up. You talk with your mouth full, burp loudly and slurp your soup. When interacting with others in any refined or formal environment, increase the difficulty of all Social rolls by two.

Compulsion (1-PT Flaw)
You have a psychological compulsion of some sort which can cause you a number of different problems. You compulsion may be for cleanliness, perfection, bragging stealing, gaming, exaggeration or just talking. A compulsion can be temporarily avoided at the cost of a Willpower point,. but is in effect at all other times.

Compulsive Liar (2-PT Flaw)
You feel the need to put your personal spin on the truth. You don’t necessarily do so out of spite or malice, and you may come to genuinely believe the tall tales that you tell (especially when you spin them often enough.) You might have to spend a Willpower point to force yourself to be honest, especially if it means publicly revealing a previous lie.

Confused (2-PT Flaw)
You are often confused, and the world seems to be a very distorted and twisted place. Sometimes you are simply unable to make sense of things. You need to role-play this behavior all the time to a small degree, but your confusion becomes especially strong whenever stimuli surround you (such as when a number of different people talk all at once, or you enter a nightclub with loud pounding music). You may spend Willpower to override the effects of your confusion, but only temporarily.

Cultural Snob (1-PT Flaw)
You have nothing but disdain for popular music, books, and the like. You couldn’t name any of the current top 10 songs, and you think knowledge of tv is a sign of poor taste and incorrigible stupidity. Unfortunately, this means you have a hard time relating to people who aren’t equally snobbish about such things. When dealing with strangers who don’t share your ‘enlightened’ views, increase the difficulty of social rolls by two.

Deaf (4-PT Flaw)
You cannot hear. While you may ignore some applications of Dominate, you may not listen to electronic or vocal media, and the difficulties of many Alertness rolls are increased by three.

Defensive (1-PT Flaw)
You have problems taking responsibility for your actions. Perhaps you view yourself as perfectionist, or maybe you’re simply too immature to accept the blame for failure. When things go wrong, you look for ways to blame others and rarely accept blame or criticism for your actions without contention.

Deformity (3-PT Flaw)
You have some kind of deformity - a misshapen limb, hunchback, clubfoot, etc, - which affects your physical abilities and interactions with others. A hunchback, for instance, would lower a character's Dexterity by two dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one. It is the responsibility of the Storyteller to determine the specific effects of the deformity chosen.

Deep Sleeper (1-PT Flaw)
When you sleep, it is very difficult for you to awaken. The difficulty of any die roll to awaken during the day is increased by two.

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

Distinguishing Characteristic (1 or 2-PT Flaw)
You have a physical feature that makes you very easy to pick out in crowds, such as elaborate tattoos, a scar, or an obvious birthmark. This Flaw is worth one point if the characteristic is easily hidden under clothes, two points if it is not. This must be decided before play and be included in the character’s background.

Driving Goal (3-PT Flaw)
You have a personal goal, which sometimes compel and directs you in startling ways. The goal is always limitless in depth, and you can never truly achieve it. It could be to eradicate the Sabbat or achieve Golconda. Because you must work toward your goal throughout the chronicle (though you can avoid it for short periods by spending Willpower), it will get you into trouble and may jeopardize other actions. Choose your driving goal carefully, as it will direct and focus everything your character does. This must be decided before play and needs to be in the character’s background.

Expendable (1-PT Flaw)
Someone in power doesn't want you around. Maybe she wants territory you possess, or is jealous of the attention you're getting from a prize mortal retainer - the details are irrelevant. What does matter is that she has the power to maneuver you into dangerous situations "for the good of the Camarilla," and has no compunctions about doing so. This person must be decided upon before play and needs to be in the character’s background.

Faint of Heart (3-PT Flaw)
The sight of gore and blood shocks you to the core. If you witness a gruesome scene, you must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 6, to avoid debilitating nausea for five to ten minutes. The difficulty of all actions increases by one when you’re in this state.

Gambling Addict (1-PT Flaw)
You are addicted to wagering money on games of chance. A sizeable chunk of your income goes to sustaining your habit, and even when you win you inevitably gamble your winnings away. You’re too much of an addict to walk away with a profit over any extended period of time. Increase the difficulty of any Resource rolls you attempt by two.

Ghoulish Sense of Humor (1-PT Flaw)
You find humor in situations that make most people uncomfortable or even nauseated. Your questionable taste doesn’t make you particularly resistant to the horror of gruesome sights. Your defense mechanism is simply to belittle the situation or those involved in an inappropriate way. When confronted with a horribly gory scene or otherwise uncomfortable situation such as people trying to console each other, you tend to crack jokes and sling insults. The difficulty of any Social you make under such circumstances is increased by two.

Gullible (1-PT Flaw)
You have a lot of trouble separating truth from fiction. You’re not stupid, you just tend to believe what people tell you rather than to take things with a grain of salt. Increase by two the difficulty of any roll to detect lies.

Hard of Hearing (1-PT Flaw)
Your hearing is defective. The difficulties of any die rolls involving the use of hearing are increased by two.

Hatred (3-PT Flaw)
You have an unreasoning hatred of a certain thing. This hate is total and largely uncontrollable. You may hate species of animal, a class of person, a color, a situation- anything. You must make a frenzy roll whenever faced with the object of your hatred. You constantly pursue opportunities to harm the hated object or to gain power over it. This must be decided before play and needs to be in the character’s background.

Honest to a Fault (2-PT Flaw)
You always try to tell the truth, no matter what the situation. You won’t stretch it, bend it, or manipulate it to take advantage of others unless human lives are in jeopardy. If you do attempt to lie to someone, the difficulty of any roll involved is increased by two. Cannot be taken with the Flaw Bad Liar.

Illiterate (1-PT Flaw)
Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write.

Impatient (1-PT Flaw)
You have no patience for standing around and waiting. You want to do things NOW and the Devil take the hindmost. Every time you are forced to wait around instead of acting, a Self-Control roll is required to see if you go haring off on your own instead.

Insensitive (1-PT Flaw)
You have problems understanding how to gauge the emotional reactions of others. You can be rather blunt in handling delicate matters, and you often find yourself apologizing without really understanding what you’ve done to offend someone. Add two to the difficulty of any Empathy rolls you attempt.

Intolerance (1-PT Flaw)
You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain thing. This may be an animal, a class of person, a color, a situation, or just about anything at all. The difficulties of all dice roll involving the subject are increased by two. Note that some dislikes may be too trivial to be reflected here-a dislike of White Wolf Magazine or tissue paper, for instance, will have little effect on play in most chronicles. This needs be decided prior to play and be included in the character’s background.

Lame (3-PT Flaw)
Your legs are damaged, which prevents you from running or walking easily. You are forced to walk with a cane or possibly leg braces, and have a pronounced limp to your stride. Your walking speed is one-quarter that of a normal human, and running is impossible.

Lazy (3-PT Flaw)
You are simply lazy, avoiding anything that requires effort on your part. Preferring to let others do the hard work, you lounge around. For any action that requires preparation, there's a good chance you didn’t prepare properly. Difficulty rolls for spontaneous Physical actions (including combat, unless it is part of a planned offensive) increase by 1.

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

Lustful (2-PT Flaw)
You can’t resist the erotic advances of the appropriate gender(s). You are easily seduced and often exhibit very poor judgment when dealing with sexually attractive people. The difficulty of any attempts to seduce you is reduced by two.

Low Alcohol Tolerance (1-PT Flaw)
Alcohol goes straight to your head. While this can be an advantage when you try to enjoy a night out on the cheap, it can be deadly in other situations. Double any penalties you suffer for consuming alcohol (whether straight or laced with blood).

Low Pain Tolerance (2-PT Flaw)
You have a very low capacity for pain. You turn into a whimpering, blubbering ball of misery at the first sight of it. Although you soak damage normally, you suffer an additional -1 die-pool penalty whenever you are injured.

Mistaken Identity (1-PT Flaw)
You look similar to descriptions of another Kindred, which cause cases of mistaken identity. This can prompt numerous awkward or even dangerous situations, especially if your "twin" has a terrible reputation or is wanted for some crime.

Mute (4-PT Flaw)
You cannot speak. You may communicate with the Storyteller and describe your actions, but cannot talk to player or Storyteller characters unless everyone concerned uses Linguistics dots to purchase a commonly understood sing language or you write down what you wish to say.

Non-Confrontational (1-PT Flaw)
You have a hard time bringing up difficult subjects with others. You’re willing to make a lot of sacrifices to avoid interpersonal confrontations. You let people have their way simply to avoid fights, and often you step into arguments and attempt to end them without any thought about the outcome of the discussion so long as it ends. You have a hard time coping with pushy people and find yourself making a lot of compromises that you later wish you hadn’t. Add two to the difficulty of any roll that involves debating or arguing with someone who is normally friendly with you.

Non-Swimmer (1-PT Flaw)
You never learned to swim, and you have no natural talent for it. If you ever find yourself in a position where you must try to swim, you can manage a pitiable dog paddle. Increase the difficulty of any Athletics rolls involving swimming by two.


Obese (2-PT Flaw)
You are seriously overweight and large enough that you have trouble using the seats in most theaters. Add two to the difficulty of any Dodge or Athletics rolls that you make. You move at half the normal rate.

Old Injury (2-PT Flaw)
You hurt yourself pretty badly in your younger days and now pay the price with chronic pain and tenderness. Increase the difficulty of any Athletics roll by two. This must be decided before play and needs to be included in the character’s background.

One Arm (3-PT Flaw)
You have only one arm - choose which, or determine randomly at character creation. This happened before the Embrace. It is assumed that you are accustomed to using your remaining hand, so you suffer no off-hand penalty. However, you do suffer a two-dice penalty to any Dice Pool where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit Ambidextrous.

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

Over-Confident (1-PT Flaw)
You have an exaggerated and unshakable opinion of your own worth and capabilities-you never hesitate to trust your abilities, even in situations where you risk defeat. Because your abilities may not be enough, such overconfidence can be very dangerous. When you do fail, you quickly find someone or something else to blame. If you are convincing enough, you can infect others with your overconfidence.

Phobia (2-PT Flaw)
You have an overpowering fear of something. Spiders, snakes, crowds and heights are examples of common phobias. You must make a Courage roll every time you encounter the object of your fear. The difficulty of the roll is determined by the Storyteller, and if you fail the roll you must retreat from the object. This needs be decided prior to play and be included in the character’s background.

Phobia (Severe) (3-PT Flaw)
You have an overpowering fear of something. Common objects of fear include certain animals, insects, crowds, open spaces, confined spaces, heights, and so on. You must make a Courage roll not to enter Rotschreck when faced with the object of your fear. The difficulty depends on the circumstances. If you fail the roll, you must retreat in terror from the object of fear. If you score fewer than three successes, you will not approach it. The Storyteller has final say over which phobias are allowed in a chronicle. This needs be decided prior to play and be included in the character’s background.

Poor Dental Health (1-PT Flaw)
Your teeth are very obviously in need of serious work. They jut out at weird angles and some may have fallen out. When interacting with others in superficial social settings such as a nightclub or bar, increase the difficulty of any Social roll by two.

Poor Night Vision (2-PT Flaw)
Your eyesight is poor in low-light conditions. Increase the difficulty of any action attempted in dim light, such as what a flashlight might provide or under starlight alone, by two.

Poor Personal Hygiene (1-PT Flaw)
You often go days without showering, and only brush your teeth when they start to gain a greenish tinge. You often smell quite bad, and your breath is atrociously offensive. Add two to the difficulty of any die roll that involves interacting face to face.

Shaky Hands (3-PT Flaw)
You have a lot of trouble keeping yourself composed under pressure. In any extremely stressful situation such as combat, your hands shake so badly that you have trouble completing any tasks that require a delicate touch and intense concentration. Examples include picking a lock, loading bullets into a revolver or typing a t a computer. Increase the difficulty of any rolls for such demanding activities by two.

Short (1-PT Flaw)
You are well below average height - four and a half feet tall or less. You have difficulty in reaching or manipulating objects designed for normal adult size, and your running speed is one-half that of a normally proportioned human.

Short Temper (1-PT Flaw)
You are easily driven to distraction by what would otherwise be minor failures and other frustrations. If you fail to gain any successes on any single roll during an extended action, increase the difficulty of all subsequent rolls by one, cumulatively.

Shy (1-PT Flaw)
You are distinctly ill at ease when dealing with people and try to avoid social situations whenever possible. Difficulties for all rolls involving social interaction with strangers are increased by two. If the character becomes the center of attention in a large group, difficulties are increased by three.

Speech Impediment (1-PT Flaw)
You have a stammer or other speech impediment that hampers verbal communication. The difficulties of all die rolls involving verbal communication are increased by two. You must roleplay this Flaw whenever possible.

Trusting (1-PT Flaw)
You tend to follow your instincts when dealing with strangers. Sadly, your instincts often tell you that you can trust people. You want to believe the best about everyone you meet and tend to put yourself in situations that could become dangerous, such as accepting a ride home from a recent acquaintance, going home with a person you just met at a bar, or taking a stroll in a poorly patrolled city park after nightfall.

Twitch (1-PT Flaw)
You have a repetitive motion that you make in times of stress, and it’s a dead giveaway as to your identity. Examples include a nervous cough, constantly wringing your hands, cracking your knuckles and so on. It costs 1Willpower to refrain from engaging in your twitch.

Vengeful (2-PT Flaw)
You have a score to settle, incurred either during your mortal days or after the Embrace. You are obsessed with taking your revenge on an individual or group, and it is your overriding priority in any situation where you encounter the object of your revenge. You may temporarily resist your need for vengeance by spending a Willpower point.

Weak-Willed (3-PT Flaw)
You are highly susceptible to Dominate and intimidation by others; Dominate attempts automatically affect you unless the Discipline wielder is of higher generation, and your difficulties to resist Social abilities such as Intimidation or Leadership, as well as mind-altering spells or magic, are increased by two. Your Willpower Trait may never rise above 4.
Youthful Appearance (1-PT Flaw) You look like you're still in high school. You always get carded at bars and often have to produce identification even to buy cigarettes. In order to gain entry to clubs, concerts, bars or to purchase alcohol, you need to present a valid-looking ID.

[Lena]

Vampire Merits

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Berserker (2-PT Merit)
The Beast is in you, but you know how to direct and make use of it. You have the capacity to frenzy at will, and are thus able to ignore your wound penalties. However, you must pay the consequences of your actions while in frenzy just as you normally would. Your chance of entering an unwilling frenzy is also unaffected.

Calm Heart (3-PT Merit)
You are naturally calm and do not easily fly off the handle. You receive two extra dice when attempting to resist a frenzy. Brujah may not take this Trait.

Eat Food (1-PT Merit)
You have the capacity to eat food and even savor its taste. While you cannot derive any nourishment from eating regular foods, this ability will serve you well in maintaining the Masquerade. Of course, you can't digest what you eat, and there will be some point during the evening when you must force yourself to heave it back up.

Efficient Digestion (3-PT Merit)
You are able to draw more than the usual amount of nourishment from blood. When feeding, you gain an additional point to your blood pool for every two points of blood you consume. This does not allow you to exceed your blood pool maximum.

Light Sleeper (2-PT Merit)
You can awaken instantly at any sign of trouble or danger, and do so without any sleepiness or hesitation. You may ignore rules regarding how Humanity/Path restricts the number of dice available during the day.

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

Prestigious Sire (1-PT Merit)
Your sire has or had great status in her sect or clan, and this has accorded you with a certain amount of prestige. Though your sire may no longer have any dealings with you, the simple fact of your ancestry has marked you forever. This prestige might aid you greatly in dealings with your elders or other neonates, or it might engender jealousy or contempt.

Reputation (2-PT Merit)
You have a good reputation among the Kindred of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your sire. Add three dice to all Dice Pools for social dealings with the city's Kindred. A character with this Merit may not take the Flaw of Notoriety. The chosen city must be decided before play and needs to be included in the character’s background.

[Lena]

Vampire Flaws

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14th Generation (2-PT Flaw)
You were created five or fewer years ago by a member of the 13th generation. Though you have 10 blood points in your body, only eight of them may be used to heal wounds, power Disciplines, raise Attributes, etc. Obviously, taking this Flaw precludes you from taking the Generation Background, and you may not start with Status, either. You are likely a clanless Caitiff, for your blood is probably too thin to pass down the distinguishing characteristics of a clan. Most 14th-generation vampires should also take the Thin Blood Flaw.

15th Generation (4-PT Flaw)
Your vitae is so weak that only six of your ten blood points can be used for Disciplines, Healing, or raising Attributes. For these functions you must expend two blood points to obtain the effect a normal vampire would achieve with one. The cost for nightly rising remains a single blood point. What’s more you cannot create or sustain ghouls, create a blood bond or sire a vampiric childe. You can the remaining blood points to survive the day and awake every night, nothing more. You cannot raise any discipline above level 3, the weakening of the Curse of Caine has compensations though (which distinguishes it from the Thin Blood Flaw): Sunlight does lethal damage to you instead of aggravated damage, you can hold down mortal food and drink for an hour or so, strangest of all – once in a while you might actually have a child a normal human way, though they will not be normal humans.

Addiction (3-PT Flaw)
You suffer from an addiction to a substance, which must now be present in the blood you drink. This can be alcohol, nicotine, hard drugs or simply adrenaline. This substance always impairs you in some fashion (see "Poisons and Drugs," for particulars)

Allergic (1-3-PT Flaw)
You are allergic to some substance, in a manner not unlike mortal allergies. However, you do not get hives or sneeze, but are actually incapacitated by your reaction. If the substance was in the blood you drank, the reaction will be very strong, though touch alone is enough to disturb you. If it was in the blood, you will have five fewer dice on all your Dice Pools for 10 minutes - if you just touched it, the penalty is reduced to two dice. Choose from the list below or make up the substance to which you are allergic.

* Plastic: 1 PT
* Alcohol: 2 PT
* Illegal Drugs: 2 PT
*Medical Drugs: 3 PT
* Metal: 3 PT

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

Dark Secret (1-PT Flaw)
You have some sort of secret that, if uncovered, would be of immense embarrassment to you and would make you a pariah in the Kindred community. This can be anything from having murdered an elder to having once been a member of the Sabbat. While this secret weighs on you mind at all times, it will only surface in occasional stories Otherwise. It will begin to lose its impact. This needs to be decided prior to play and included in the character’s background.

Disease Carrier (4-PT Flaw)
Your blood carries a lethal and highly contagious disease. The disease can be anything from rabies to HIV, and Kindred who drink your blood have a 10 percent chance of becoming a carrier as well. You must spend an extra blood point each night on awakening, or you will begin manifesting symptoms of the disease (increased chance to frenzy for rabies, reduced soak rolls for HIV, etc).

Disgrace to the Blood (3-PT Flaw)
Your sire regards the fact that he Embraced you to be a titanic mistake, and has let everyone know it. You are mocked in Elysium, taunted by your peers and actively despised by the one who should be giving you guidance. Any request or petition you make is likely to be looked down upon by friends of your Sire, and your achievements are likely to be discounted.

Dulled Bite (2-PT Flaw)
For some reason your fangs never fully developed - they may not have manifested at all. When feeding, you need to find some other method of making the blood flow. Failing that, you must achieve double the normal number of successes in order to make your bite penetrate properly. A number of Caitiff and high generation vampires often manifest this Flaw.

Escaped Target (2-PT Flaw)
The flip side of Rival Sires, Escaped Target means that you had targeted a mortal for the Embrace, but someone else got there first. You cannot stand the humiliation of being cheated of your prize, and fly into a rage (+2 difficulty to avoid frenzy) whenever you see the one who got away. This hatred may lead you into other irrational behaviors, like Embracing enemies of the neonate, creating unauthorized childe or even trying to kill your rival. Furthermore, your petty and irrational behavior is well-known and quite noticeable, and as a result you are at +1 difficulty on all Charisma rolls until the situation is resolved.

Failure (2-PT Flaw)
You once held a title in the city, but failed catastrophically in your duties. Now you are branded incompetent, excluded from circles of power and responsibility and generally ostracized by those on their way up. Your exclusion may make you a target for recruitment by the Sabbat (or so the whispers run, making you even more distrusted). Conversely, the consequences of your error - a breach of the Masquerade, an unauthorized Embrace, a lawbreaker allowed to escape might come back to haunt you.

Flesh of the Corpse (5-PT Flaw)
Your flesh does not fully regenerate itself once it is damaged. While you are able to heal yourself to the point of regaining fully functionality, your skin still retains the cuts, tears, bullet holes, etc., which you have incurred. Depending on the nature of the damage, this Flaw will make social dealings exceedingly difficult.

Glowing Eyes (3-PT Flaw)
You have the stereotypical glowing eyes of vampire legend, which gives you a -1 difficulty on Intimidation rolls when you're dealing with mortals. However, the tradeoffs are many; you're a walking tear in the Masquerade and must constantly disguise your condition (no, contacts don’t cut it); the glow impairs your vision and puts you at a +1 difficulty on all sight-based rolls (including the use of ranged weapons); and the radiance emanating from your eye sockets makes it difficult to hide (+2 difficulty to Stealth rolls) in the dark.

Incomplete Understanding (1-PT Flaw)
The whole matter has been explained to you, but you're still not quite sure how this whole Camarilla/Masquerade thing works. Your imperfect understanding of the rules and regulations of your new existence means that sooner or later, you're going to make a mistake. It's only a matter of time.

Infectious Bite (2-PT Flaw)
You lack the enzymes that allow most Kindred to seal the wounds caused by their feeding. You may not automatically lick the wounds of your feeding closed. In fact, your bites have a one in five chance of becoming infected and causing mortal victims to become seriously ill. The precise nature of the infection is determined by the Storyteller or in the Character Background.

Infertile Vitae (5-PT Flaw)
During your Embrace, something went terribly wrong causing your blood to mutate under the stress of dying and rising again. All those you try to Embrace die. No matter what you do, you may not create any Childer. However, your blood can still be used for other vampiric needs, including making ghouls.

Masquerade Breaker (2-PT Flaw)
In your first nights as a member of the Kindred, you accidentally broke the Masquerade and were spotted doing so. Someone else covered for your mistake, but holds the favor over you. Now you exist in fear that your error will be revealed. In the meantime, your "savior" takes pitiless advantage of you.

Monstrous (3-PT Flaw)
Your physical form was twisted during the Embrace, and now reflects the Beast that rages inside you. Characters with this Flaw appear to be savage monsters and have Appearance ratings of zero. Even Nosferatu have difficulty interacting with such individuals.

Notoriety (3-PT Flaw)
You have a bad reputation among the Kindred of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your sire. There is a two-dice penalty to all dice rolls for social dealings with the city's Kindred. A character with this Flaw may not take the Merit of Reputation, come from a variety of other sources, such as blackmail, bribes or threats you make it up. The pawn does not necessarily know that it is being controlled. This must be decided upon before play and needs to be included in the character’s background.

Open Wound (2-PT or 4-PT Flaw)
You have one or more wounds that refuse to heal, and which constantly drip blood. This slow leakage costs you an extra blood point per evening (marked off just before dawn), in addition to drawing attention to you. If the wound is visible, you are at +1 difficulty for all Social-based rolls. For 2 points, the Flaw is simply unsightly and has the basic effect mentioned above; for 4 points the seeping wound is serious or disfiguring and includes the effects of the Flaw Permanent Wound (Vampire, page 297).

Permanent Fangs (3-PT Flaw)
Your fangs do not retract, making it impossible for you to hide your true nature. While some mortals may think you've had your teeth filed or are wearing prosthetics, sooner or later you're going to run into someone who knows what you truly are. You are a constant threat to the Masquerade, and other Kindred may take steps to prevent a breach from ever occurring. You are also limited to an Appearance rating of 3 at most.

Permanent Wound (3-PT Flaw)
You suffered injuries during your Embrace which your transformation somehow failed to repair. At the beginning of each night, you rise from sleep at the Wounded health level. though this may be healed by spending blood points.

Prey Exclusion (1-PT Flaw)
You refuse to hunt a certain class of prey. You might refuse to feed upon drug dealers, or policemen, or accountants, or rich people - if you accidentally feed upon such an individual, you automatically frenzy and must make a roll to prevent Humanity loss (difficulty 7). Witnessing other Kindred feeding on the object of your exclusion might also provoke a frenzy, at the Storyteller's discretion. Ventrue, owing to the limitations imposed on their feeding by their clan weakness, may not take this Flaw. This needs be decided prior to play and be included in the character’s background.

Selective Digestion (2-PT Flaw)
You can digest only certain types of blood. You can choose whether you can drink only cold blood (the blood of a dead person), blood with the taste of fear (found in blood only in moments of terror), or blood with the taste of joy, or perhaps only certain types (A, O, etc.) of blood. This Flaw may not be taken by Ventrue characters, since they already have something like it through their clan weakness.

Short Fuse (2-PT Flaw)
You are easily angered. Difficulties to avoid frenzy are two greater. Brujah vampires cannot take this Flaw, as they already suffer from a similar malady.

Slow Healing (3-PT Flaw)
You have difficulty healing wounds. It requires two blood points to heal one health level of normal damage, and you heal one health level of aggravated damage every five days (plus the usual five blood points and Willpower expenditure).

Soft-Hearted (1-PT Flaw)
You cannot stand to watch others suffer. You avoid any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8.) You must have a Humanity rating of 7 or above to take this Flaw.

Territorial (2-PT Flaw)
You are extremely territorial, staking out a particular area as your hunting ground and reacting aggressively to trespassers. If another vampire enters your territory uninvited, you must make a frenzy roll. If you fail, you immediately attack the interloper and continue attacking until the intruder is dead or has left your hunting grounds. You are reluctant to leave your territory except in desperate circumstances.

Thin Blood (4-PT Flaw)
The Curse of Caine runs weakly in your blood, while you suffer all the ill effects of vampirism, from the need for blood to taking aggravated damage from sunlight, you do not receive all the compensating supernatural powers. While you can expend blood points to heal your wounds, raise attributes, or fuel those disciplines that need them – all blood point costs are doubled. What’s more your vitae cannot create or sustain ghouls, create a blood bond. When you try to sire childer, the Embrace only has a 20% chance to succeed.

Thirst for Innocence (2-PT Flaw)
The sight of innocence - of any sort - arouses in you a terrible bloodlust. Roll Self-Control, or else frenzy and attack the source of your hunger.

Twisted Upbringing (1-PT Flaw)
Your sire was quite malevolent and taught you all the wrong things about Kindred society. All your beliefs about how vampires interact are wrong, and your faulty beliefs are likely to get you into a great deal of trouble. Over time, after any hard lessons, you can overcome this bad start (the Storyteller will tell you when). But until then, you will continue to believe what you were first told, no matter how others try to "trick" you into thinking otherwise.

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

[Lena]

Brujah Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Compassionate (4-PT Merit)
You have the moral character of the Brujah of old, the proud warrior-poets who did what they did because their hearts called to them. If you ever fail a Conscience (but not Conviction) roll, you may spend a point of Willpower and attempt the roll again, at a difficulty of 1 higher than the last. If you succeed on this roll, it counts as if you succeeded on the first. You may do this only once per Conscience roll; you must accept the results of the re-roll. If you botch this second roll, you lose one permanent point of Will power in addition to any consequences of the failed Conscience roll.

Fury's Focus (4-PT Merit)
Though you are no less susceptible to frenzy than your clan mates, you are able to - with effort and great will - control the direction in which your actions during frenzy go. This could come in handy, for example, if your lover is nearby when you go into frenzy. You'd be able to lash out on someone else and avoid harming them.

FLAWS

Obvious Predator (2-PT Flaw)
Either your face or your immediate disposition lets people know that you have nothing good in store for them. Mortals react poorly to people who exude such a blatant air of menace, and all your difficulties for Social rolls increase by two (with the exception of Intimidation-related rolls).

Uncontrollable (5-PT Flaw)
Rage and passion constantly war in the soul of a volatile Brujah. Perhaps you were ill-tempered before the Embrace, or perhaps your Brujah lineage awakened some latent fury. In any case, even more so than your clan mates, you are prone to frenzy. Difficulties to resist frenzy are always 10 for this character. Prepare for a short, hellish ride.

Pariah (4-PT Flaw)
The Brujah may be too focused on togetherness or brotherhood, but even this clan has its limits. You must have done something horribly treacherous toward the clan (or something unspeakable to a single, well-known clan mate); because you've encountered the wrath of most - if not all - Brujah within the domain. They hate you, despise you, and either ignore your presence or have set out to kill you.

[Lena]

Gangrel Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Gift of Proteus (1, 2 or 4-PT Merit)
This merit allows the Gangrel to "fine-tune" the shapes achieved by the Protean Discipline. The number of points spent determines the scope of the variation, which must be specific, approved by the Storyteller, and defined when the merit is chosen.

Examples:
1-PT: The character can vary the special effects The character may modify the incidental effects of a form Red Eyes might glow an eerie green instead of red.
2-PT : The character may achieve a minor variation on a form. For instance, a player may determine the actual breed of wolf which her character may become.
4-PT: The character may make a significant variation in one of the Protean shapes, (as long as it is still a shape traditionally associated with Vampires), such as becoming black cat instead of a wolf. Among the forms traditional ascribed to Vampires were those of cats, crows, black dogs, wolves, toads and bats.

Juggernaut (5 pt. Merit)
This merit allows a Gangrel to roll Fortitude and Stamina together to repel aggravated damage. This requires expenditure of one willpower to activate.

Retractable Claws (2-PT Merit)
Allows a Gangrel to hide activated claws. Good for those meetings with the Prince.

Ruse of the Wolf’s Clothing (2-PT Merit)
In animal form only, the vampire still smells alive, even to the super sensitive nostrils of the lupines. This is essentially a “Baby Face” merit for altered forms, and may include other lifelike symptoms at the storytellers’ discretion as well as a defense against the werewolf gift Sense Wyrm. If this is the case, then the storyteller may well want to increase the cost of this merit.

Without a Trace (2-PT Merit)
You are virtually untraceable. Nature works to your advantage, masking your scent trail and eliminating your footprints. All normal methods of tracking fail every time someone attempts to track you, and even Lupines (garou) find it incredibly difficult to pick up your scent. While supernatural methods such as Auspex aren't complete failures, the difficulties of tracking are great and it isn't likely to pinpoint your exact location unless the practitioner of the discipline is extremely skilled and lucky (+2 Diff to tack the character) through any means.


FLAWS

Animal Enmity (5-PT Flaw)
A species of animal refuses to answer to you or fraternize with you in any way. They may even attack you without provocation. Animalism is useless toward these species (i.e., canine, feline, rodent). Even if used by an ally Animalism will not effect their view of you.

Eyes of the Shark (3-PT Flaw)
No matter how humane you are when others look you in the eye they see you as an eating machine, emotionless and cruel. Whatever your Humanity, it is treated as a three when others make eye contact with you.

Forgotten of Proteus (7-PT Flaw)
You have fallen out of harmony or are simply cursed. You cannot ever possess the discipline of Protean or sense it's use.

Superstitious (2-PT Flaw)
The character has misconceptions about what he is. In the absence of a sire, he becomes what he believes himself to be. "Hollywood-it is," the belief that one has the powers and limitations of one of the several movie vampires, is the most common form. A more severe manifestation (possibly worth more points to the Storyteller) is a Gangrel who believes himself a Lupine

[Lena]

Malkavian Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Benevolent Blood (1-PT Merit)
Your blood still carries the Curse of Malkav, but its effects have been lessened just a little bit. Any ghouls you create suffer none of the usual deranging side effects of drinking Malkavian blood – they can be loaded to the gills with your blood and not come one step nearer to gaining a derangement. (They might still be driven insane by life with you, though, depending on how demanding your reality is.) Of course, any childer you Embrace will still gain a derangement after the Embrace as usual – although your vitae is easily diluted by mortal blood, the pure stuff carries the Curse as one would expect.

Deadened Nerves (4-PT Merit)
Whether it was a condition you held in life or an odd side effect of the embrace, your nervous system is missing a few connections. You have very little tactile sense, whether pleasure or pain. The downside of this is obvious: One of your senses is greatly impaired, which can keep you from noticing important warnings (a blade at your back, for instance – or in it.). You suffer a +3 difficulty to all tactile-related Perception rolls, and the Storyteller may call for a roll to notice even the blatantly obvious; you might not even notice that you’ve been shot if the bullet doesn’t knock you down outright.

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

Disembodied Mentor (5-PT Merit)
The voices in your head may tell you things, but by God, they’re useful things. You have a personal guide and advisor (bought as usual through the Background: Mentor) who exists largely in your own skull. He may have been a Malkavian who uploaded himself into the Network, or perhaps he’s an imaginary construct with access to the shared memories of the clan. Either way, it’s exceedingly hard for your enemies to cut you off from your mentor’s counsel, and it’s usually pretty easy to call on his advice when you need it. Unfortunately, this merit also has its drawbacks; your mentor can find you whenever he chooses and can be a real distraction when you’re trying to do something he finds irrelevant. You’re not freed from the obligations of your relationship, either; you find yourself running errands for your mentor just as often as any other pupil would, if not more so.

Immaculate Aura (1-PT Merit)
Whether because of your iron control or some fluke of chance, your aura does not give away your insanity. The aura doesn’t shift or swirl at all, even when you’re confused, frenzied, or in a psychotic fit.

Seeming Lucidity (3-PT Merit)
Though you are mad as a hatter, you conceal your insanity well - or perhaps your particular brand of madness simply does not lend itself to external perceptions. To others you appear lucid almost constantly, capable of making reasonable leaps of logic and sound decisions. Other kindred are more forgiving of the small quirks you outwardly display, and they are less likely to dismiss you as uselessly insane.

Spellbinder (1-PT Merit)
The outward physical expression of your madness is intriguing and enticing, awakening an interest even in those who suffer Ennui. This lends you a certain amount of sway over both humans and kindred when engaging them directly. The difficulty of all appropriate social rolls is decreased by one.

FLAWS

Incomprehensible (5-PT Flaw)
The change affected you worse than most, permanently damaging your perception of your own communication skills. Though you perceive yourself as speaking normally, you speak only in indecipherable babble and nonsensical words. Likewise, any attempt at written communication fails also - what appears to be legible, logical writing to you is nothing more than doodles and ungraspable scribbles. This utter inability to communicate through conventional means is often frustrating to all parties involved. Your Expression score may never rise above zero, though you may spend a point of willpower to temporarily overcome this flaw. You may never utter more than two or three logical words in a scene, however.

Infectious (3-PT Flaw)
Your bite transmits the madness of your clan. Whenever you feed from a mortal, the power of the Kiss holds them in place as normal. However, your mortal prey gains a temporary derangement for every three blood points you take from them; the madness lasts for a week or so. Malkavians with this flaw are often the ones you hear about infesting asylums; it’s the most low-key place for them to feed.

Stigmata (2/4-PT Flaw)
You constantly seep blood from phantom wounds; even though your flesh remains unbroken, you bleed. The bleeding is fairly slight, but is incessant, costing you an extra blood point each evening (marked off just before dawn). If you bleed from visible locations (such as the palms, a common place for stigmata), you are at +1 difficulty to all Social rolls, although certain vampires will probably take your reputation as a seer more seriously.

The 4-point version of this Flaw indicates that you bleed from your eyesockets; this obviously makes it almost impossible to travel within human society unveiled, and very much disturbs other Cainites (the difficulty of all Social rolls is increased by +2 rather than +1). In addition, the constant bleeding interferes with your vision, adding one to the difficulty of all visual Perception rolls.

Tormented (4-PT Flaw)
You are perfectly aware that you are insane and suffer much anguish over this fact. You do not share your clan's so-called enlightened view of madness and loathe your own debilitating state. You are on a constant but futile search to cure yourself of your mental disease, an unreachable goal that nevertheless drives your existence. You exhibit every sign of self-loathing and likely harbor a great deal of enmity for your sire. This loathing may even extend to every child of Malkav.

Unpredictable (3-PT Flaw)
Sometimes your reactions surprise even you, and you can never be certain how you will respond to even the most familiar stimuli. You may suddenly find yourself too terrified to enter the haven you have slept in for years, or hopelessly enamored with a normally despised enemy. Once per game session, the storyteller should have you make a Wits + Empathy roll against a difficulty nine. Success indicates that your erratic nature remains dormant, while a failure indicates that your unpredictability will rear its head once more. A botch indicates that your reaction is so intense that you can do nothing but act on it immediately, regardless of all but the most immediate consequences (i.e., you will not attack someone that you believe can overcome you, but will not fail to attack someone simply because there might be other kinds of repercussions).

Wild-Eyed (1-PT Flaw)
One need only to look into your eyes to see that you are dangerously insane, and the effect is quite disturbing. All but the most stalwart mortals find themselves inclined to flee your presence immediately, and even kindred do not care to deal with you for long. The difficulty of all appropriate social rolls is increased by one (i.e. seduction rolls are more difficult, but intimidation rolls are not), and humans must spend a point of willpower to remain in your immediate vicinity.

Whispers on the Wind (2-PT Flaw)
You constantly hear hushed voices, as if a secretive choir hounded your every waking moment. These voices may whisper innocuous babble sometimes, unbearable horrors others. Whether these voices are real or simply your own overactive subconscious is a mystery, but the constant sound makes it difficult to focus on other things. You may never take the Concentration merit, and all difficulties to focus or pay attention are increased by two.

[Lena]

Nosferatu Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Disgusting (2-PT Merit)
You have the ability to contort your body and face in all sorts of shocking and grotesque ways. You can drool blood, pop your eyes out to double their width, spontaneously grow and burst boils on your flesh, extend your tongue three feet out of your mouth, etc. In addition, you are an accomplished practitioner of the fine art of disgusting others, and take considerable pride in your ability to gross out anyone or anything. By concentrating for a turn and spending a Blood Point, you may will your body to do something vile, making a Wits and Intimidation roll (Difficulty of the opponent's Wits + Self Control). Each success on this roll subtracts one from the opponent's Dice Pool for any action taken next turn. (The opponent is so repulsed and horrified by your antics that concentration is broken.)

False Reflection (3-PT Merit)
When using Mask of a Thousand Faces, a Nosferatu with this Merit can create a false impression of his disguise on recording media. He can have his picture taken, show up on videotape and even record an imitation of the subject's voice. Nosferatu without this Merit cannot disguise themselves to machines using the Obfuscate Discipline.

Foul Blood (3-PT Merit)
The vitae flowing through your veins tastes truly awful. Anyone who bites or feeds from you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) or spend the next turn choking, retching and gagging. Any idiot who actually tries to diablerize you must make three Willpower rolls (difficulty 9) to succeed. This makes blood bonds torturous, the Embrace becomes even more difficult, and ghouling is near impossible.

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

Lizard Limbs (1-PT Merit)
When your limbs are restrained or grappled, you may spend a Blood Point and make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8.) If you succeed, you may "shed" a limb, leaving it in your opponent's grasp while you escape. The limbs may be regrown normally. If you shed enough limbs, you can escape nearly any bonds, though it is difficult to flee the scene of captivity when one has no legs.... Nosferatu with this Merit often use it for practical jokes (Let's shake on it...).

Long Fingers (1-PT Merit)
Your fingers are unnaturally long and spidery. You gain one extra die to Dice Pools involving digital coordination or grappling.

Oversized Fangs (1-PT Merit)
When you grew your fangs, you really grew 'em. Your fangs are enormous, snaggly things resembling cobra fangs or possibly even tusks. Your bite does one additional die of damage, and you may add one to your Intimidation Dice Pool.

Over-sized Mouth (1-PT Merit)
Your mouth is huge and you are able to open it to prodigious width. You may drink an additional two Blood Points from your victim each turn.

FLAWS

Parasitic Infestation (2-PT Flaw)
In many ways this Flaw is the negative counterpart to Swarm Attractor (above). Several species of hemovores - ticks, lice, mosquitoes, gnats, chiggers, leeches and the like - find your blood particularly tasty. These creatures crawl and hide among the creases and folds of your skin despite your best efforts to remove them. Particularly persistent are those vermin that drink from you three times and thus become enormous, bloated, Blood Bound ghouls. You may not command the vermin in any fashion; they are too intoxicated on your vitae to be of any use (though they do love you, for what it's worth). The parasites also drink from one to four of your Blood Points each night (roll a die, and divide by three, rounding up.) This forces you to hunt more often. Finally, the constant itching and irritation increase by one the difficulties of all your rolls to avoid frenzy.

Patagia (4-PT Merit)
You have grown large flaps of skin under your arms, like those of a pterodactyl or flying squirrel. You may use these patagia to glide for short distances, provided there is an updraft or strong wind.

Piscine (1-PT Merit)
You are abnormally comfortable underwater and vastly prefer swimming to walking. You get a -1 difficulty on any Physical dice pool related to underwater movement.

Projectile Vomiting (2-PT Merit)
This talent is like the Eat Food Merit, but twice as versatile. Food comes in; food goes out very, very fast. A vampire with this ability can ingest, and possibly even taste, food and drink. He cannot pin any nutritional benefit from this ordinarily digestible matter, but he can store it for later use. When this need arises, the Nosferatu can not only disgorge his stored supply of food, but also aim it with a degree of precision. For the record, projectile vomiting in the Storyteller system usually requires a Stamina + Athletics roll; the difficulty is 8, and a victim can attempt to dodge this bolus of ejected victuals. Although this attack does not cause damage (save to one's pride), the type of food ejected may temporarily obscure a victim's vision, cause him to slip or merely force him to weep with shame at a Camarilla Toreador's grand ball. Pity the poor vomit drenched Toreador....

Reptile Buddy (3 pt Merit)
Yes, those legends about albino alligators in the sewers really are true. You've been nursing a few of them with your vitae in the local spawning pool for years. Your careful breeding and vigilant training has produced a reptilian slave of exceptional intelligence. It has a mind as sharp as that as a five-year-old child and teeth as keen as butcher knives. The beast understands your native language perfectly and can even follow complex directions. Faster and deadlier than any human ghoul, it is a highly efficient killing machine fully capable of patrolling your domain with ruthless efficiency. Reptile buddies also love to play "fetch" with human limbs (whether attached or severed).

Ghouled Reptile Buddy

Physical: Strength 6, Dexterity 2, Stamina 6
Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3
Disciplines: Fortitude 2, Potence 2
Blood Pool: 5
Willpower: 5
Attacks: Bite (7 dice), Tail Slap (6 dice)

Rugged Bad Looks (5-PT Merit)
Your face is hideous, but it could almost pass for that of a really ugly human. If you were to cover every other part of your body, you could shamble into mortal society looking only slightly suspicious. While you might have a hunchback, reptilian scales over parts of your flesh or a foul stench that never dissipate, you can actually walk among mortals - with extensive precautions - without automatically breaking the Masquerade. Other vampires give you no end of grief for not looking like a "real" Nosferatu. By the way, this is as "attractive" as a Nosferatu ever gets; no Merit will ever increase a Nosferatu's Appearance above zero.

Sleep Unseen (2 pt Merit)
You can use the Obfuscate Discipline to hide while you sleep during the day. Such prolonged use of this ability requires an extra blood point (or Blood Trait) to keep your body hidden for a full day. Of course, you must at least be hidden from sunlight, and vampires using the Auspex Discipline can still detect you, but mortals will ignore your very presence. This is a useful Merit for Nosferatu emissaries and travelers; many would perish without it.

Slimey (2-PT Merit)
Your skin secretes slime like that of a worm or mollusk. Opponents must score two more successes than normal to grapple you, and your difficulty to soak fire damage is reduced by one.

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

Tough Hide (2-PT Merit)
Your skin is thick and leathery, resembling that of a pachyderm. You gain one extra die on your soak Dice Pool (though not to soak fire and sunlight).

FLAWS

Anosmia (2-PT Flaw)
You have no sense of smell or taste. The vilest odors and flavors imaginable cannot affect you; in fact, you do not even recognize their presence. You cannot attempt a Perception roll that involves either of these senses. However, any supernatural attack involving horrific odors and tastes does not affect you. Granted, Nosferatu who have surrounded themselves with unseemly funk long enough become immune to just about any foul odor, but you simply do not recognize smells at all.

Blunt Teeth (1-PT Flaw)
Your teeth are huge and square, not sharp like those of most other Vampires. You must score one extra success to do damage with a bite, and once you have locked your teeth into your prey, you automatically cause the victim one additional Health Level of damage for every two Blood Points taken (you have to chew and chew and chew...).

Club Foot (1-PT Flaw)
One of your feet is gnarled and deformed. You move at only half normal speed.

Contagious (5 –PT Flaw)
Dead bodies contain all sorts of infectious bacteria, fungi and spores. There's a reason coroners wear gloves when handling corpses. Thanks to a rather virulent version of Nosferatu's curse, a few doomed varieties of Nosferatu retain these infections after their Embrace. Contagious Nosferatu can never interact with mortals without the possibility of spreading sickness and disease. A mortal who touches a Contagious Nosferatu must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 9) or fall prey to illness for the next week. At the end of each week, the victim must make another roll; once he succeeds, he recovers from the illness. While this may seem like a rather crippling Flaw, it does force players to think of new ways of interacting with the human world (many of which are detailed in this chapter) . To maintain a sense of game balance, most other supernatural creatures have ways of dealing with the Contagious Sewer Rat's disease: Werewolves regenerate very quickly, mages can mystically remove the infection from themselves or other mages, wraiths just don 't give a damn because they're incorporeal, and so on.

Incoherent (5-PT Flaw)
You are incapable of human speech. Maybe your jaw has collapsed or you've been abandoned in the sewers for too long. Pointing, grunting, wheezing and wildly gesturing are all within your repertoire, but actually forming words is not. While a player portraying this character can describe what he is doing, the character can never utter a Word. The only exception to this is communicating with animals; you can express yourself to beasts with nonverbal language.

Necrophile (3-PT Flaw)
No, you don't have sex with the dead, but you certainly enjoy their company. You are obsessed with dead bodies and "invite" them over to your domain. Your haven is distastefully decorated with severed and mutilated body parts of all kinds. You talk to your dead friends, dance with them, make art out of them and entertain frequently. Some vampires of particularly refined temperament may need to overcome a Courage roll (difficulty 4) to enter a room where you've left your guests and their accouterments. Toreador go apeshit; Toreador antitribu applaud. For some reason, this Raw is very popular among Leatherfaces.

Putrescent (4-PT Flaw)
After you received the Embrace, your body continued to decay. The mystic processes that inhibit a vampire's natural putrefaction has little effect on you. As a result, you constantly rot. Subtract one die when your character soaks damage. If you are jarred or hit violently, roll Stamina (difficulty 6). If you fail, one of your facial features or limbs falls off. If you botch, you also take a level of aggravated damage; once this wound is healed, the missing body parts will re-grow.

Stench (1-PT Flaw)
Few Nosferatu smell good, but you reach a new nadir of odiferousness. Even other Nosferatu are repulsed by your stink, and your Stealth Dice Pools are reduced by two against any creature that can smell, unless you are upwind.

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

[Lena]

Toreador Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Controllable Thirst (1-PT Merit)
Because Toreador spend so much time around mortals, resisting Frenzy caused by the smell, sight or taste of blood is easier for them. Whenever the Kindred makes a Frenzy roll over blood, reduce the difficulty by three.

Eye for Beauty (1-PT Merit)
The Kindred is a natural critic. Reduce difficulties for Art Appreciation by four.

"Gifted" (3-PT Merit)
The difficulty on all Creativity rolls and Artistic Expression rolls are reduced by three.

Greater Colors (3-PT Merit)
The vampire sees colors more distinctly and with greater definition. The world is far more colorful. Unfortunately, the vampire is more likely to become enraptured by colorful objects. Despite the drawback, when used in conjunction with Aura Perception, the vampire will discover far more information about her target. The difficulty for reading a target's aura is reduced to five. The player may ask the Storyteller one question about the target for every success, and the Storyteller must provide accurate information. This may be used only once per story on a particular target. Finally, all Artistic Expression difficulties involving color are reduced by one.

Mortal Double (2-PT Merit)
You have the services of someone alive who looks just like you. This person might be your actual twin. (Other explanations are possible: a long-lost brother, a master of disguise, a Progenitor clone, a victim of Vicissitude, etc.) However, unless he is made into a ghoul, he will continue to age normally. Eventually, he will no longer be your exact double. The double may move about freely during the day, aiding you in hiding your vampiric nature. The double must be fully aware of your personal life, including all your relationships and activities. He must also be a good actor.

Refined (2-PT Merit)
You a member of the elite. You are at home in high society and you never feel out of place around the "beautiful people." The difficulty on all Etiquette rolls involving high society is reduced by three. In addition, you are often invited to Toreador socials reserved for those of higher Toreador Prestige (or Camarilla Status) than yourself.

FLAWS

Artistically Inept (3-PT Flaw)
You must work harder than most artists to accomplish great work. You are still capable of creating a masterpiece, but it is tougher for you than for someone else of equal training. All difficulties on Creativity rolls and Artistic Expression rolls are increased by two to a maximum of nine.

Poor Taste (1-PT Flaw)
You can never have the Art Appreciation skill. You are forever a Poseur, and you have no ability to judge a masterpiece from trash. In fact, if you had the choice, you would choose the trash.

Rival (1-PT Flaw)
You have an intense rivalry with another Kindred. You are always competing with this individual, either for fun or out of spite. In besting this individual, you go to extremes, and he behaves similarly towards you. Your rival occasionally gets the best of you, but you do the same to him.

Social Outcast (3-PT Flaw)
You have severed your ties to the Artistes and Poseurs. You no longer play their silly games. You will never rise in Clan Prestige, and you are the equivalent of an Anarch. However, the Anarchs will not accept you due to some past transgressions you have committed against them. You have no place in the world of the Damned.

Tortured Artist (1-PT Flaw)
You must suffer for your work. Your work is never good enough to suit you. You often suffer ennui for extended periods of time, preventing you from working steadily. In addition, you constantly find yourself in heartbreaking positions; perhaps you subconsciously lead yourself into those situations to acquire the experience you need for your work.

Vulgar (1-PT Flaw)
You will never fit into high society. You are crude, rude and socially unacceptable, forever a Philistine. You are treated as having one less level of Status when invitations to Toreador socials are prepared. You will never be fully accepted as a Toreador. Many will question your Sire and possibly ridicule him for choosing you.

[Lena]

Tremere Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Attuned Taste (2-PT Merit)
For whatever reason, your character finds blood magic instinctive- more so than for most Tremere. When your Tremere tastes blood, she naturally tastes the subtle currents and occult correspondences in the vitae. To her, it's not even magic; it's just a heightened state of taste stemming from the Embrace and the Tremere clan's long experience with blood. When your character tastes blood, she may automatically glean one fact about the source, as per the Level One Path of Blood power, A Taste for Blood No blood cost or roll is required; the vampire simply garners information as if with one success. You may still choose to use the Discipline itself in order to gain more specific information, in which case the normal systems apply and the results of the Discipline use supersede this affinity. This affinity is not always beneficial- your character may accidentally taste undercurrents of fear, extraordinary power or poison in vitae, and such tastes can cause nausea or incapacitation at the Storyteller's discretion. This sensitivity cannot be turned off.

Embraced Without The Cup (3-PT Merit)
When your character was Embraced, her sire dispensed with Tremere tradition, or perhaps didn't have the means necessary to finish the job, or just died before it could be done right. Your Tremere was drained of blood and then brought across, but never went through the Transubstantiation of Seven. As a result, even if your character took the oath, she didn't undertake any steps toward a blood bond with the Council of Seven. Because your character has no imperative toward the Seven, her loyalty to the Tremere clan comes solely from her own conscience. Effectively, you can do as you damn well please without any unnatural feelings getting in the way. Of course, if any loyal Tremere find out about this oversight, your character will probably wind up hauled in for the Transubstantiation of Seven, as well as some detailed questioning about why she didn't come forward to fix this oversight of her own volition. This may result in a binding to the council, or a tribunal of some sort, and ignorance may not be a valid excuse.

FLAWS

Double Betrayer (4-pt. Flaw)
At some point in the past, your character undertook the Vaulderie. She may have legitimately tried to join the Sabbat, or perhaps she didn't know any better or was compelled. Regardless, she now bears the mark of the Betrayer. She has since been redeemed and welcomed back into the clan's ranks, but the mark will haunt her always.

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

Embraced Without the Cup (3-pt. Merit)
When your character was Embraced, her sire dispensed with Tremere tradition, or perhaps didn’t have the means necessary to finish the job, or just died before it could be done right. Your Tremere was drained of bleed and then brought across, but never went through the Transubstantiation of Seven. As a result, even if your character took the oath, she didn’t undertake any steps toward a blood bond with the Council of Seven. Because your character has no imperative toward the Seven, her loyalty to the Tremere clan comes solely from her own conscience. Effectively, you can do as you damn well please without any unnatural feelings getting in the way.

Of course if any loyal Tremere find out about this oversight, your character will probably wind up hauled in for the Transubstantiation of Seven, as well as some detailed questioning about why she didn’t come forward to fix this oversight of her own volition. This may result in a binding to the council, or a tribunal of some sort, and ignorance may not be a valid excuse....

Thaumaturgically Inept (5-pt. flaw)
Tremere and the council took decades to develop the principles of Thaumaturgy, so it's not a "natural" Discipline. Over centuries it's spread through the Tremere clan as a habitual practice, but a few unfortunate Tremere never seem to get the hang of it.
Your character is one such unfortunate: He effectively adds 4 instead of the normal 3 to his difficulties (to a maximum of 10) to use paths or rituals. He can still learn Thaumaturgy (higher-ranking Tremere will be happy to share their secrets so long as he earns the favor from them), but it takes real effort. Thaumaturgy still counts as a clan Discipline for him, though he can begin the story with no more than one dot.
Socially, this tends to mark the character as a poor student among other Tremere. He will likely be passed over for promotions or responsibilities simply because he "just doesn't get it."

[Lena]

Ventrue Merits & Flaws

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MERITS

Credible (1-PT Merit)
You are capable of presenting your ideas in such a way that even the most far-fetched notion could seem sensible and logical. Those of lesser mental merit are likely to believe you without pause, and your equals and superiors find cause to consider your ideas. You can't necessarily pull the wool over anyone's eyes, nor can you make them believe something they know isn't true - but you can manipulate the facts and figures to strongly support your own suggestions.

Humble (1-PT Merit)
Something about your speech and demeanor influences other kindred to believe that you truly wish to serve your fellow vampire. You play the role of civil servant well, and though others may not always understand your plans, they are inclined to believe that you aim to benefit all. You are at a -1 difficulty on all appropriate Manipulation rolls. (i.e., convincing your elder that you should be the one to control her nightly business affairs are rolled at a -1 difficulty, though trying to talk a Toreador neonate into your bedroom isn't.)

Iron Stomach (7-PT Merit)
The taste of Ventrue is so refined that they can normally feed from only one class of mortal. With this merit, the Ventrue-in-question may temporarily ingest the blood of any other class as well, and even hold it for a brief time. If the character decides to feed from someone other than his pre-set class of mortals, he must first expend two Willpower points. As long as he wishes to keep the blood in his system, he must expend an additional Willpower point everywhere. Should he run out of Willpower or no longer wish to stomach the stuff, he vomits the blood back up immediately, and takes one unsoakable level of bashing damage in the process. This is considered a Supernatural merit.

Majesty (2-PT Merit)
Everything about you seems to be particularly noble: the way you walk, speak, and feel. You are at a -2 difficulty on all social rolls.

Noble (2-PT Merit)
You come from noble, aristocratic, or even royal stock, and the concepts of public life and Machiavellian politics have been familiar to you since birth. You have less trouble adapting to and understanding the social conventions of the Ventrue and the Camarilla. You are at a -1 difficulty on all appropriate social and political rolls. (i.e., negotiating with an elder is at a -1 difficulty, though trying to intimidate one of the Brujah most likely is not.)

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

Piercing Gaze (3-PT Merit)
Your gaze seems to be paralyzing. Whether it instills people with fear, love, or self-loathing, all Disciplines that require sight contact have their difficulties reduced by 3.

Proud Lineage (4-PT Merit)
Every new Ventrue to Ventrue introduction begins with a recitation of lineage, and when you recite yours all heads turn. Your proud line is well known within the clan, as are their numerous successes and victories throughout the ages. Whether your own deeds do your line justice, those of your clan who learn of your lineage are suitably impressed. You are granted consideration beyond your own years and accomplishments, as surely there was a reason you were chosen to join this venerable line of Ventrue.

FLAWS

Anti-Ventrue (4-PT Flaw)
You're the exact opposite of a Ventrue - instead of being graceful, you are clumsy. Instead of being handsome and charming, you are bland, unappealing, and annoying. Other Ventrue will give you no end of grief for your lack of any Blue Blood qualities whatsoever, and you are at a +3 difficulty on all social rolls with other Ventrue who do not possess this flaw. You may never purchase Clan Prestige.

Crass (2-PT Flaw)
While you might be a savvy manipulator and accomplished powerbroker, you lack style and social grace. Your unrefined demeanor is something of a handicap, and often offends the delicate sensibilities of your more discerning associates. You are at a +1 difficulty on all appropriate social rolls.

Known Mercenary (1-PT Flaw)
The exploits of your past are well known in your city, and no one is ever going to believe that you follow the path of the civil servant. Whether you have an unselfish or altruistic bone in your body, none of those you must deal with believe you do - they're sure that if you're making a deal with them, they're probably getting the short end of the stick. They also believe that you only do anything about anything if it serves you, and nothing else matters in your plans. You are at a +1 difficulty on all appropriate Manipulation rolls, and rarely can convince anyone to trust you even a little.

Lost Lineage (2-PT Flaw)
Every new Ventrue to Ventrue introduction begins with a recitation of lineage - unfortunately, you don't know yours. Whether your sire never taught you, amnesia has taken the information from you, or another Ventrue has used Dominate to cause you to forget, you must always decline when asked to recite your lineage and admit you don't know. Your clan fellows have mixed reactions to this, though they are never good - some think you an impostor to the clan, others accuse you of being clanless or antitribu, some simply think you a cretin and refuse to have anything to do with you. You must work ten times as hard to gain even a modicum of respect from other Ventrue who know of your predicament, and sometimes are driven out of town before you get the chance to begin proving yourself.

Notorious Lineage (4-PT Flaw)
Every new Ventrue to Ventrue introduction begins with a recitation of lineage, and when you recite yours all heads turn - though it is only to get a good look at the scoundrel. The notoriety of your lineage is well known throughout your clan, and you must constantly suffer the social consequences of their failures and follies. Though you may be both competent and formidable, your peers and betters think you the latest addition to a line of misbegotten fools and would be unlikely to trust you with even their garbage. You must work twice as hard to gain even a small amount of consideration, and any ground you might gain will be lost at the first sign of even the smallest mistake.

Rarefied Taste (2-PT Flaw)
While all Ventrue suffer an extremely discerning palette, you suffer this hindrance more than most. Your chosen vessels are rarer than rare, and you must go to great lengths to ensure that you will be able to feed and maintain your strength. Perhaps you may only feed from victims of a very rare disease, or those with a particular genetic defect. Whatever the predilection, you must constantly work to maintain the presence and health of your source(s) of nourishment and hide the near-crippling flaw from your enemies.

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