House Ruled Merits and Flaws

**Merits and Flaws**

So. Sometimes things get fucky when there are different versions of the same merits and flaws in separate splats. So the following merits and flaws have been house ruled to versions that follow.

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

**Huge Size (4 Point, Physical Merit):** You are abnormally large in size, at least 6’10” and 300 pounds in weight (well over two meters tall and over 130 kgs). Aside from making you extremely noticeable in public, this extra mass bestows an additional Bruised health level. Characters with this Merit may also gain bonuses to push objects, open barred doors, avoid being knocked down, etc.

**Short (1 Point, Physical Flaw):** You are well below average height — four and a half feet (1.5 meters) tall or less. You have difficulty reaching or manipulating objects designed for normal adult size, and your running speed is one-half that of an average human.

**Natural Linguist (2 Point, Mental Merit):** The well-travelled changeling knows the use of being able to comprehend many languages. You may reduce the difficulty of any task involving the study of written or spoken languages by three, and each purchase of the Language Merit gives you two languages instead of just one.

**Curiosity (2 Point, Mental Flaw):** You’re a naturally curious person, your curiosity easily overriding your common sense. To resist temptation, make a Willpower roll. The difficult varies based on the temptation; difficulty 5 for simple things like, “I wonder what’s in the armoire,” but difficulty 9 for things like, “I wonder why young men keep going missing around the baron’s freehold. I’ll just slip in and check it out.”

**Lifesaver (3 Point, Mental Flaw):** You believe life is a sacred gift, and will not take a person’s life except in the most extreme of circumstances. You have no problems with killing animals (for the right reasons), and will kill inhuman creatures to protect others if necessary. Senseless death in all forms repulses you, and you feel that those who commit murder should be punished. You must resist the inclination to tend the wounds of any injured parties in your presence with a Willpower roll (difficulty 7).

In short, it makes you a big-hearted, generous person who deeply believes in the sanctity (whether you would use that religious term or not) of life. And that, in the World of Darkness, is a magnificent burden to bear.

**Intertribal Fosterage (1 Point, Social Merit):** You are of one tribe, but you were fostered by another. You might, for example, be an Uktena fostered by the Wendigo or a Silver Fang fostered by the Shadow Lords.

You may choose tribal Gifts from among those available to either Tribe (although you get no cost break on purchasing Gifts outside of your true tribes with experience). **---**

**Elemental Affinity (7 Point, Supernatural Merit):** Please note, this merit may only be taken by Uktena or Wendigo PCs.

You are tied to one of the four elements -- Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. You feel especially attuned to that element and can derive certain powers from that bond. Storytellers who wish to emphasize this connection may add other benefits, but should also require greater maintenance of the tie, such as services to be rendered.

•If you are linked to air, you have no difficulty finding bird or air spirits spirits willing to teach you gifts, possibly even those outside those normally available to you. Your arrows fly straighter (archery aka firearms with the archery spec, difficulty lowered by one) and you are able to withstand strong or chill winds up to hurricane force. You must always wear or carry something white, be it a feather, paint, jewelry, or clothing and thank your patron daily for these gifts.

•A bond with fire allows you to kindle a fire even in the worst downpour with no dry wood available. You take one less health level per turn of damage from fire. As with air, you must thank your patron daily and wear or carry something red.

•An affinity with water allows you to swim in any turbulence up to hurricane and tidal wave force. Additionally, you can always tell in which direction pure water lies, though you may not realize whether it lies underground or on the surface. As with other affinities, you must thank your patron daily and wear of carry something blue.

•Being linked with earth gives you great strength. So long as you touch upon the Earth, your strength is effectively one higher in whatever form you're in, even if this takes you beyond natural maximum Strength for that form. Further, you always know the direction in which food may be found, though you will not know whether it is a field of maize, a herd of deer, or in the storehouse of a rival nation. Thanks to your patron must be maintained daily, and you must always wear or carry something brown.

**Animal Magnetism (2 or 4 Point, Social Merit):**

(Two Point Version) Others of your breed (humans if you’re homid, wolves if you’re lupus; metis should pick either humans or wolves, not Garou) find you especially attractive. Your rolls to attract, persuade, charm, or seduce those individuals is at –2 difficulty. This effect does not apply to threatening or intimidating actions.

(Four Point Version) Whether it’s grace, charm, or pheromones, the character’s got it. Those attracted to the character’s gender like being around him and are eager to please him. This grants a –2 difficulty reduction to all social rolls against such individuals.

**Flashbacks (1, 3, or 5 Point, Mental Flaw):**

((This version will be used for **all** Splats.)) You may have left the battlefield, but it never left you. Alternately, you survived a traumatic catastrophe in your childhood or some other time in your past. Whatever the source of your “episodes,” you re-live the horror of those hideous moments as if they were happening all around you.

As a one-point Flaw, you have momentary flashes of the event, enough to rattle you for a single action or a few minutes.

As a three-point Flaw, the flashback can last as long as an entire scene and requires action on the part of someone you trust to bring you back to the present. No roll is required.

As a five-point Flaw, you feel the terror anew and you struggle to get away from it as you did way back when. Everyone around you becomes part of your horror scenario. A family member or close friend may try up to three times to bring you back using a contested Willpower roll. After that, you need professional help. Medications may reduce the difficulty of bringing you back to speed by lowering your Willpower, but only for purposes of calming you down.

**Calm Heart (3 pt. Merit) :**

You remain calm and collected even in the most trying of circumstances. You receive a +2 difficulty on all Frenzy Checks.

**Blood of the Wolf/Shapechanger Kin/Supernatural Kinfolk (4 Points - Free at CC):**

Blood of the Wolf - Changelings: Your connection to the wolfchanger Prodigals is stronger than that of your peers. You have the blood of the werewolves in your veins, and some shapeshifters call you kin. The werewolf tribe whose blood you share may call on you to perform certain tasks for them, and in turn aid you when necessary. You may be expected to take a werewolf spouse, the better to strengthen your bloodline.

Shapeshanger Kin - Mages: Through a distant but noticeable quirk of lineage, you share a touch of the Changing Blood. In plain English, you’re related to one of the were-breeds: werewolves, werecats, werecrows, and so forth. This gift does not grant you their powers or Gnosis, but you probably know a few secrets (in game terms, Lore Knowledge) about your kin. You remain immune to the primal-fear Delirium that affects most people in a werecreature’s presence (not that mages suffer from it anyway); can travel in the Otherworlds longer than most mortals manage, without suffering the Disconnection and Acclimation side-effects of such travel; and possibly enjoy some goodwill from your feral family, so long as you haven’t done anything to piss them off. Their enemies, however, are your enemies, which makes this an extremely double-edged Merit.

Supernatural Kinfolk - Kinain and Ghouls: This Merit is not intended for mortal Kinfolk. If, however, you intend to play a ghoul or kinain character who is also Kinfolk, you must purchase this Merit. Despite your supernatural status, your Garou tribe (or other Changing Breed) accepts you as Kin. They may not rejoice in it, but they don’t automatically deny or reject you. Individuals outside your family, including other Garou, may not like you. Other tribes may not acknowledge you as Kin. Most Garou view mages as Gnosis-raiders. They see vampires as Wyrm-spawn, wraiths as un-natural, and changelings as untrustworthy. In fact, you may experience a conflict of interest in walking a fine line between your two supernatural worlds. You find, nevertheless, that there is merit in knowing about both your supernatural and your Kinfolk backgrounds. Supernatural Kinfolk costs four points kinain and ghouls.