MORTAL/GHOUL MERITS & FLAWS
Merits and Flaws allow you to describe your character in more detail than provided in the basic character creation. If you don't take Merits and Flaws for your character, you won't suffer any disadvantages in game-play.
Flaws give you extra negative traits to spend on Merits or anything else. You can purchase as many Merits as you want, up to the full amount of your Negative Traits. (If you choose to have more points in Merits than in Flaws, freebies will be deducted from your starting 15. Merits and Flaws given by an ST generally will not cost you anything as they are ST appointed.) Each Merit has a different cost, which is described in terms of Traits, if you want to take it, you must have already taken that number of Negative Traits (This includes Derangement’s.) Each Flaw you purchase gives you additional Negative Traits that allows you to buy Merits (or have extra freebies to spend.)
Taking advantage of the Negative Traits to gain extra freebies could result in a disapproval of your character.
Keep in mind that taking Merits and Flaws means that you WILL play them out fully. These are not here to gain you extra points. ST's will enforce the play of any merits and flaws. Failure to play them out fully could result in XP deduction for the cost of the flaw or merit to be taken off your sheet.
All Merits and Flaws should be described in the character Bio. The development of these, even if it's something that came naturally, should be included. ST's may not allow a Merit or Flaw if there isn't ample reason in the bio for the character to have chosen Merit/Flaw.
Merits
Berserker (2-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
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.
Blood Flaw Immunity (3-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
For some reason, you are resistant to the bloodline flaws of any vampire from whom you drink. You can guzzle Nosferatu vitae until your stomach bursts, and your complexion won't suffer a bit.
Bundle of Energy (2-PT Merit)
You are full of energy. You subsist on five or six hours’ sleep at night, you find yourself unable to stay in bed any longer. Your days are full of physical activity, and you can work long into the night without penalty.
Calm Heart (3-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
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.
Cat Napper (2-PT Merit)
Although you need six to eight hours’ sleep per night, you don’t need it all at once. You catch your Z’s as and when you can. As long as your naps total six to eight hours in a 24 hour period – and they usually do unless you’re forcibly denied naps – you can function as normal.
Hollow Leg (1-PT Merit)
You can drink like a fish. The amount of alcohol you can put away during a binge is truly phenomenal. What’s more aggravating to your buddies is how little you suffer for this. And one who gets into a drinking competition with you quickly regrets it. Halve any penalties you suffer for consuming alcohol.
Pale Aura (1-PT Merit)
Due to some quirk of fate or your reaction to the Blood, your aura is naturally pale. Vampires reading your aura via Auspex assume you to be Kindred unless they have strong reason to suspect otherwise. This Merit can be of great use if you wish to impersonate a vampire, but can also cause some very dangerous misunderstandings.
Resemble Kindred (2-PT Merit)
You look like a Vampire -- unusually pale and thin like them. You can move among them as one of them, but they may force the new stranger before the Prince for recognition, and he may ask for a Blood Bond.
Unbondable (6-PT Merit) - This is at the discretion of the ST
You cannot be Blood Bound to a vampire, no matter how often you drink from his veins. This Merit is obviously very useful for one whose powers depend on vitae, and its cost is accordingly high for ghoul characters.
Flaws
Chronic Illness (4-PT Flaw)
You suffer from a debilitating illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome or even cancer. You frequently feel weak and you are easily injured. Add two to the difficulty of any Athletics or soak rolls. This must be decided before play and needs to be included in the character’s background.
Domitor Pariah (2-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
You are Bound to a vampire who, for whatever reason, is unwelcome among or even hated by the other Kindred of the chronicle area. Without Cainite allies, she finds herself relying on her human and ghoul associates to get by. You will likely find yourself given additional responsibilities, which may present opportunities for you to further ingratiate yourself with the master. However, if other Kindred discover whom you serve, your life might well be in danger. The Storyteller will determine why your domitor is so despised; you are welcome to offer suggestions, but the Storyteller is under no obligation to tell you the cause of such antipathy. You might not even know that your beloved liege is hated at all; after all, who could dislike such a wonderful creature as she?
Hemophiliac (3-PT Flaw)
If you get cut, you will not stop bleeding without medical help. Any Kindred who bites you will find that they cannot seal the wound with a lick.
Insomniac (2-PT Flaw)
For whatever reason, you have tremendous trouble getting more than a few hours of sleep. You are often groggy and slow as a result. Increase the difficulty of any Alertness, Awareness, or Intuition rolls by two.
Medicated (1-PT or 5-PT Flaw)
You require daily medication to stay in good health. As a one point flaw, your medication is important to your long term health but has little effect on your day-to-day well-being, as with prescription drugs that keep your cholesterol down. The five point version represents insulin shots or something else that is necessary to keep you alive. If you should miss a day’s worth of medicine, you automatically suffer a bashing or lethal level of damage for every 12 hours that pass without your medicine, as determined by your Storyteller. This damage is healed at a rage of one level per 12 hours that pass once you resume your regular medication schedule. Medication and why it is taken must be decided before play and needs to be included in character’s background.
Motion Sickness (1-PT Flaw)
You become queasy and nauseous on board boats, when travelling long distances by car or on amusement park rides. Increase the difficulty of all actions you take by two when dealing with these conditions.
Potent Blood (3-PT Flaw)
Your blood, for some reason, is very potent and Kindred will desire to drink it. They will not easily give up the chance to continue using you as a source vitae. They gain two blood points for every one drunk.
Short Fuse (2-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
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.
Sickly (1-PT Flaw)
You are constantly coughing and wheezing, and you have trouble shaking colds. You suffered almost every childhood disease imaginable, and you’ve only become worse as an adult. When making checks to avoid catching a disease or developing an infection, increase the difficulty of the roll by two.
The Beast Within (5-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
The Beast is awake within you. You are prone to frenzies, just like Vampires. These are caused by situations of intense emotions: fear, anger, hate. You are a figure of great rage and fear to the rest of humanity, much like Charles Manson. Mortals with a high Humanity who buy this Flaw are doomed, like the Kindred, to a horrible degeneration into bestiality.
Vitae Sink (3-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
For whatever reason, you metabolize vitae more quickly than other ghouls do. You must be fed every two weeks, rather than every month, or lose all supernatural traits and revert to a human once more. Few ghouls with this Flaw last beyond their natural life spans; at this rate, missed feedings do happen.
Weak Willed (3-PT Flaw)
The Mortal is susceptible to Kindred Domination. -2 difficulty to all attempts to dominate any mortal with this flaw.
Flaws give you extra negative traits to spend on Merits or anything else. You can purchase as many Merits as you want, up to the full amount of your Negative Traits. (If you choose to have more points in Merits than in Flaws, freebies will be deducted from your starting 15. Merits and Flaws given by an ST generally will not cost you anything as they are ST appointed.) Each Merit has a different cost, which is described in terms of Traits, if you want to take it, you must have already taken that number of Negative Traits (This includes Derangement’s.) Each Flaw you purchase gives you additional Negative Traits that allows you to buy Merits (or have extra freebies to spend.)
Taking advantage of the Negative Traits to gain extra freebies could result in a disapproval of your character.
Keep in mind that taking Merits and Flaws means that you WILL play them out fully. These are not here to gain you extra points. ST's will enforce the play of any merits and flaws. Failure to play them out fully could result in XP deduction for the cost of the flaw or merit to be taken off your sheet.
All Merits and Flaws should be described in the character Bio. The development of these, even if it's something that came naturally, should be included. ST's may not allow a Merit or Flaw if there isn't ample reason in the bio for the character to have chosen Merit/Flaw.
Merits
Berserker (2-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
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.
Blood Flaw Immunity (3-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
For some reason, you are resistant to the bloodline flaws of any vampire from whom you drink. You can guzzle Nosferatu vitae until your stomach bursts, and your complexion won't suffer a bit.
Bundle of Energy (2-PT Merit)
You are full of energy. You subsist on five or six hours’ sleep at night, you find yourself unable to stay in bed any longer. Your days are full of physical activity, and you can work long into the night without penalty.
Calm Heart (3-PT Merit) - Ghoul Only
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.
Cat Napper (2-PT Merit)
Although you need six to eight hours’ sleep per night, you don’t need it all at once. You catch your Z’s as and when you can. As long as your naps total six to eight hours in a 24 hour period – and they usually do unless you’re forcibly denied naps – you can function as normal.
Hollow Leg (1-PT Merit)
You can drink like a fish. The amount of alcohol you can put away during a binge is truly phenomenal. What’s more aggravating to your buddies is how little you suffer for this. And one who gets into a drinking competition with you quickly regrets it. Halve any penalties you suffer for consuming alcohol.
Pale Aura (1-PT Merit)
Due to some quirk of fate or your reaction to the Blood, your aura is naturally pale. Vampires reading your aura via Auspex assume you to be Kindred unless they have strong reason to suspect otherwise. This Merit can be of great use if you wish to impersonate a vampire, but can also cause some very dangerous misunderstandings.
Resemble Kindred (2-PT Merit)
You look like a Vampire -- unusually pale and thin like them. You can move among them as one of them, but they may force the new stranger before the Prince for recognition, and he may ask for a Blood Bond.
Unbondable (6-PT Merit) - This is at the discretion of the ST
You cannot be Blood Bound to a vampire, no matter how often you drink from his veins. This Merit is obviously very useful for one whose powers depend on vitae, and its cost is accordingly high for ghoul characters.
Flaws
Chronic Illness (4-PT Flaw)
You suffer from a debilitating illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome or even cancer. You frequently feel weak and you are easily injured. Add two to the difficulty of any Athletics or soak rolls. This must be decided before play and needs to be included in the character’s background.
Domitor Pariah (2-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
You are Bound to a vampire who, for whatever reason, is unwelcome among or even hated by the other Kindred of the chronicle area. Without Cainite allies, she finds herself relying on her human and ghoul associates to get by. You will likely find yourself given additional responsibilities, which may present opportunities for you to further ingratiate yourself with the master. However, if other Kindred discover whom you serve, your life might well be in danger. The Storyteller will determine why your domitor is so despised; you are welcome to offer suggestions, but the Storyteller is under no obligation to tell you the cause of such antipathy. You might not even know that your beloved liege is hated at all; after all, who could dislike such a wonderful creature as she?
Hemophiliac (3-PT Flaw)
If you get cut, you will not stop bleeding without medical help. Any Kindred who bites you will find that they cannot seal the wound with a lick.
Insomniac (2-PT Flaw)
For whatever reason, you have tremendous trouble getting more than a few hours of sleep. You are often groggy and slow as a result. Increase the difficulty of any Alertness, Awareness, or Intuition rolls by two.
Medicated (1-PT or 5-PT Flaw)
You require daily medication to stay in good health. As a one point flaw, your medication is important to your long term health but has little effect on your day-to-day well-being, as with prescription drugs that keep your cholesterol down. The five point version represents insulin shots or something else that is necessary to keep you alive. If you should miss a day’s worth of medicine, you automatically suffer a bashing or lethal level of damage for every 12 hours that pass without your medicine, as determined by your Storyteller. This damage is healed at a rage of one level per 12 hours that pass once you resume your regular medication schedule. Medication and why it is taken must be decided before play and needs to be included in character’s background.
Motion Sickness (1-PT Flaw)
You become queasy and nauseous on board boats, when travelling long distances by car or on amusement park rides. Increase the difficulty of all actions you take by two when dealing with these conditions.
Potent Blood (3-PT Flaw)
Your blood, for some reason, is very potent and Kindred will desire to drink it. They will not easily give up the chance to continue using you as a source vitae. They gain two blood points for every one drunk.
Short Fuse (2-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
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.
Sickly (1-PT Flaw)
You are constantly coughing and wheezing, and you have trouble shaking colds. You suffered almost every childhood disease imaginable, and you’ve only become worse as an adult. When making checks to avoid catching a disease or developing an infection, increase the difficulty of the roll by two.
The Beast Within (5-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
The Beast is awake within you. You are prone to frenzies, just like Vampires. These are caused by situations of intense emotions: fear, anger, hate. You are a figure of great rage and fear to the rest of humanity, much like Charles Manson. Mortals with a high Humanity who buy this Flaw are doomed, like the Kindred, to a horrible degeneration into bestiality.
Vitae Sink (3-PT Flaw) - Ghoul Only
For whatever reason, you metabolize vitae more quickly than other ghouls do. You must be fed every two weeks, rather than every month, or lose all supernatural traits and revert to a human once more. Few ghouls with this Flaw last beyond their natural life spans; at this rate, missed feedings do happen.
Weak Willed (3-PT Flaw)
The Mortal is susceptible to Kindred Domination. -2 difficulty to all attempts to dominate any mortal with this flaw.
