Merits

Your character has either had a brush with the supernatural or been in a field that has regular casual contact with the supernatural (such as medicine or law enforcement) to know that something else is out there. While he doesn’t know anything specific (i.e., this Merit doesn’t give any bonus to Occult rolls or offer any frame of reference), your character doesn’t suffer negative penalties when trying to identify or diagnosis conditions for which there is no easy medical antecedent.

For instance, a doctor with this Merit sees a patient in the ER with long, vicious bite marks. The doctor knows that no animal short of a bear could have made those wounds, and he knows that there are no bears native to the area. Normally, this would negatively affect his treatment — he might waste valuable time trying to shoehorn the evidence into his own experience. With this Merit, though, he takes it as read that something made these bites and treats them.

This Merit also offers a +1 bonus to any roll made to recognize a strange or otherworldly situation. If the character ever becomes a supernatural being, including a ghoul or a Sleepwalker, he loses this Merit.

This Striking sub-style concentrates on offense and raw toughness. Practitioners develop the conditioning to absorb blows and the specific strength needed to dish out serious damage. The core rulebook’s Boxing style is a specialized version of this Merit.

It uses the following maneuver progression:

Body Blow (•): Your character can deliver powerful blows that leave opponents reeling and gasping for air. If successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed a target’s Size, the victim loses his next action.

Iron Skin (••): Your character has hardened his body to physical blows, allowing him to withstand repeated hits with minimal effect. He has an effective armor trait of 1 against bashing attacks only.

Combination Blows (•••): Your character’s training and experience allow him to devastate opponents with a flurry of rapid blows. He can make two Brawl attacks against the same target in a single action. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Haymaker (••••): Your character can deliver powerful, accurate blows capable of knocking an opponent unconscious with a single punch. A single Brawl attack that equals or exceeds the target’s Size in damage might knock him unconscious. A Stamina roll is made for the victim. If it succeeds, he is conscious but he still loses his next action due to the Body Blow (see above). If it fails, he is unconscious for a number of turns equal to the damage done.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Lethal Strike (•••••): By focusing his might and concentration, your character can kill or maim an opponent with a well-placed strike. A strike inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Schools: Common Aggressive Striking Arts include “hard” karate styles such as Shotokan and Uechi-ryu, Hung Gar kung fu and old school bareknuckle boxing. Remember that specific styles may have specialized maneuvers (see p. 106 ).

Your character is a skilled practitioner of aikido, or another martial art that emphasizes throwing the opponent. She knows how to blend with the force of an attack and amplify it to send her enemy sprawling.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Aikido maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill and work in conjunction with unarmed combat. (Some aspects of traditional aikido involve a weapon, but they are beyond the specific purview of this Merit).

Ukemi (“Receiving;” •): Your character knows how to fall properly and get up quickly. He may stand up from a prone position (but not both) once per turn as a reflexive action, and is considered to have one point of armor against bashing damage caused by falls – but not other sources.

Aiki (“Harmonious Energy;” ••): Your character is skilled enough to defend with a throw by avoiding the attack and seizing his opponent’s balance. If he forgoes his standard Defense, roll Dexterity + Brawl; if the result exceeds the opponent’s damage roll the character suffers no damage and immediately applies a grappling hold or (once he attains the third maneuver) shihonage. He may employ this maneuver against Brawl, Weaponry or close-range Firearms attacks.
Drawback: This maneuver constitutes your character’s action for the turn.

Shihonage (“Four Directions Throw;” •••): The character can throw an opponent quickly and forcefully, without getting tangled up in a clinch. Treat a shihonage throw like a standard Brawl strike attack, except that it also knocks the opponent prone up to as many feet away as your Size + Brawl successes in any direction the character prefers.

Renzoku-waza (“Combination Techniques;” ••••): The character can attempt multiple grappling or shihonage attacks per turn, or he can defend with multiple throws using the Aiki maneuver. He may make one additional grapple or shihonage for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2. Each extra action is rolled at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, he can attempt two grapples or shihonage at Dexterity 3 (with the second at a –1 modifier), three at Dexterity 4 (at a 0, –1 then –2 modifier to dice rolls) and four at Dexterity 5 (at 0, –1, –2 and –3 to each dice roll, in turn).
Drawback: If the character’s first action is anything but a grapple or shihonage attempt he cannot use this benefit.

Kokyu-ho (“Breath Power;” •••••): Your character’s throws are so strong that he can either throw someone double the usual distance with his shihonage, or inflict lethal damage with it.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

If given access to an alchemical (or chemical) laboratory, the character may transmute a simple, common, non-precious substance into another simple, common, nonprecious substance. This ritual requires 1 hour of work.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: An accident occurs, possibly causing mild burns or a minor explosion. The material is lost.
Failure: The material remains the same.
Success: The material is transmuted.
Exceptional Success: The final product is imbued with a mystic energy. It can be used to inflict Bashing wounds against dematerialized ghosts.
Suggested Modifiers
–1 Per point of Size of the original material over 1
–1 Per point of Durability of the original material
–1 Per dot of Resources cost of the new material
–1 Poor laboratory equipment
–1 No sample of the desired substance

Allies are people who are willing to help your character from time to time. They may be associates, friends of convenience or people who owe your character a favor. Each acquisition of this Merit is dedicated to one type of ally, whether in an organization, society or circle. Examples include the police, City Hall, criminals, unions, banks, university faculty and hospital staff. In order to have alliances in more than one venue, you need to purchase this Merit multiple times, each trait with its own dots.

Thus, your character might have Allies (Police) ••, Allies (Criminals) ••• and Allies (City Hall) •, each acquired separately at character creation or during play. Each dot that your character has indicates how deep his influence runs in that group. One dot might mean he can ask for minor favors, such as being spared a parking ticket if alliance is among police, or being allowed to see an article before it goes to press if alliance is among reporters. Three dots garner considerable favors, such as a building permit “going missing” at City Hall, or a strike resolution being wrapped up early among union leaders. Five dots allow for dangerous and even overtly criminal favors, such as a stock being sabotaged on Wall Street or the answers to an exam being shared by a university professor.

The kinds of requests made of people in an organization typically have to relate to their sphere of influence. Asking a criminal to slow down the bureaucratic process at City Hall makes no sense, but asking him to pass along word of a drug buy does. Favors might be minor and within the bounds of a person’s job or role, such as processing some paperwork more quickly than usual, or could be significant or dangerous and outside what’s allowed or even legal, such as allowing a civilian access to the police evidence locker.

The Storyteller has final say over what is an acceptable request and what is not. If there’s any doubt, the Storyteller could call for a Manipulation + Persuasion roll, with a bonus equal to your character’s Allies dots. Penalties might also apply based on the importance or danger of the request. Asking someone to do something already in the bounds of their role imposes no modifier, while asking them to do something that could get them suspended imposes a -3 penalty, and asking for something that could get them jailed or killed is -5. Frequent favors asked of the same group also imposes a penalty as group members grow tired of being called upon.

Similarly, a roll of Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies dots could determine how many police answer your character’s call for help, or how many longshoremen turn up when your character needs a show of force (one per success rolled).

Allies doesn’t have to be defined in terms of specific individuals over whom your character has sway. He could simply know a variety of people among city reporters and he can call upon them in general from time to time. You should, however, explain why your character has influ- ence in a particular body. Maybe he worked there himself at one time and still has friends in the organization. Or he has done a group a favor and its members still owe him.

Drawback: Allies are not automatons, waiting for your character to ask for help. They have their own lives and needs. An alliance is a two-way relationship. Calling for favors makes your character indebted to his friends, and they are sure to call such favors in when they need help. The Storyteller can use such debts as inspiration for future stories.

As beings that live for centuries and can die and later return to life, purified regularly require new legal identities. All purified are assumed to have a single legal identity and need pay no Merit dots for this privilege. However, if the purified has lived in a single legal identity for more than two decades, your character has almost certainly begun to have to use various minor forms of disguise to change his appearance so that it better matches his legal age.

Having a second identity allows purified to have an identity that matches his apparent age and it also allows him to easily vanish if any legal questions arise surrounding his activities. In addition, if your character’s body dies in such a way that others notice his death, he can use this alternate identity if there is no way for him to explain his perceived death. However, modern background checks, paper trails and bureaucratic scrutiny make acquiring a new identity far more difficult than it was in the past. Few characters have the skills to create a new identity for themselves. The vast majority must look for help, either from older and more experienced purified or from some mortal or supernatural source who is skilled in the various complex and highly illegal methods of acquiring such documents.

The number of dots spent on this Merit determines how convincing and in-depth the documentation surrounding this new life actually is. Alternate Identity (●) represents an identity that passes casual inspection, but not much else — a character can go shopping and get around in most daily situations, but any kind of trained scrutiny such as from a police officer or bureaucrat immediately identifies this identity as a fake. Alternate Identity (●●) creates an identity that will pass most forms of relatively cursory professional inspection, but cannot stand up to a sustained investigation. A police officer that pulls your character over will not automatically pick up anything unusual if she runs the character’s license plates or calls up his name in a database. However, if your character is arrested and the police begin a formal investigation his identity will quickly unravel. Alternate Identity (●●●●) represents an identity that is essentially as real as any identity can be — it takes a truly dedicated, competent and time-consuming search by trained professionals to uncover any hint that the purified isn’t exactly who he claims to be, at least as far as his documentation is concerned. This Merit may be purchased multiple times at multiple ratings, each time representing a different identity. Also, an identity may also be upgraded later with the appropriate in-game explanation and experience expenditure. In the case of certain Merits such as Resources or Status, it might also be worth noting to which identity these Merits are tied, since a character may not easily be able to access or maintain them if that identity is compromised.

Drawback: Although one-dot Alternate Identities require no maintenance, both of the more thorough versions do. If someone checks on a legal identity, they will immediately become suspicious if the person has no legal address or magazine subscriptions, pays no taxes and has no phone number. Similarly, if all of this data exactly matches your character’s primary legal identity, many people soon realize both of these identities belong to the same individual. Therefore, your character must take time and spend money to maintain any two or four-dot Alternate Identities. Having the identity make frequent trips to remote locations and similar inventive dodges can reduce the frequency of this maintenance. The amount of maintenance needed to keep a two-dot identity looking legitimate is fairly minimal, requiring only a few hours of work every month. However, keeping a four-dot identity believable requires at least several hours of work every week. Failure to perform this upkeep on an identity causes it to be reduced to the next lowest level. However, alternate identities never fall lower than one dot. Paying Experience Points to upgrade an identity represents the effort needed to build it back up. Characters can also pay criminal organizations to maintain alternate identities, but doing so causes its own problems, including both the cost and the possibility of blackmail.

Your character does not suffer the -2 penalty for using his off-hand in combat or to perform other actions.

Each purchase of this Merit allows for the maintenance of one amulet at a time. Any number can be created, but only one can be active for every version of this Merit that the character possesses. The Merit comes in two levels, corresponding to the bonus it gives to the wearer. At two dots, it provides a +1 bonus to any single Attribute chosen by the caster at the time of creation. At four dots, this bonus increases to +2. This bonus cannot raise the character’s Attribute above 5.

The character can sacrifice one point of the amulet’s bonus during the amulet’s creation to instill the amulet with one Body Thief Merit like Morality Sap or Emotional Urging. The character may only instill in an amulet Merits that she knows. If used in this fashion, the amulet is typically given to an unknowing target, who is the victim of this Merit for as long as he wears or touches the amulet. If the Merit has a variable effect, like Emotional Urging, the amulet can only enhance a single emotion, which must be determined when the amulet is created. The instilled Merit works normally, except that it affects the target for as long as he wears the amulet. If an amulet contains both a Body Thief Merit and an Attribute bonus, both of these affect the wearer.

The character can also sacrifice one point of the bonus to craft an amulet that allows a body thief using mystic exchange to remain in her current body even after the end of that ritual’s duration. Characters who use this amulet instantly switch back to their original body one turn after the amulet is removed. A character can only benefit from a single amulet for each Merit or Attribute.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult, extended. Each roll represents one hour of work. The total number of successes required depends on the level of the amulet. Two-dot amulets require only 10 successes and four-dot amulets require 20. Creating an amulet also requires an Intelligence + Crafts roll to create or modify a suitable object.

Duration: Permanent until destroyed. Note that this potentially increases the duration of any Body Thief Merit indefinitely. However, the effect ends immediately upon the wearer’s removal of the item. The creator can also perform a short ritual where he makes an Intelligence + Occult roll and spends one point of Willpower. If successful, he can instantly cancel the effect of the amulet, regardless of how far away it is.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The object being used as the amulet is rendered useless and the caster loses one point of temporary Willpower.

Failure: The creator fails to instill any power into the amulet.

Success: The caster gains progress towards the amulet’s creation.

Exceptional Success: Additional successes are their own benefit, making for a faster creation.

One particular animal species never seems to mind your character’s presence and reacts with remarkable favor when he tries to interact with them. Cats are always friendly, or wolves accept him as one of the pack.

Each dot in this Merit adds a +1 modifier to all Social rolls made to influence or understand the chosen species of animal. Characters may purchase this Merit multiple times to affect multiple species.

Special: Skinchangers who take this Merit for their totem animal treat the one-dot version as the two-dot version and the two-dot version as three dots. They cannot purchase the three-dot version of this Merit.

A feral’s affinity for Nature runs deep. Sometimes, that affinity returns his affection. Similar to the Retainer Merit, Animal Companion reflects a single beast who loyally follows your character. This creature could be your breed-kin, but she doesn’t have to be. It’s possible she’s an old pet or new partner who’s not spooked by the beast-blood’s changing skin.

To purchase the Merit, you must decide the backstory between your feral and his friend. Does their bond predate the First Change? If so, how old is the animal now, and how did their affinity survive her “master’s” new life? Is this a new companion, and if so, how did the normal animal bond with the shapechanging beast? Whatever their tale might be, this companion is smart, useful and independent. A rat in a cage or a dog in the yard isn’t a Merit — she’s a pet.

The dots in this Merit reflect the animal’s power, intellect and often size. The higher the trait, the more capable the companion. A one-dot beast could be a smart rat or clever bird, a two-dot Merit might reflect a loyal (if finicky) cat, three points could buy a common-looking but brilliant companion such as Lassie or Trigger; at the top of the scale, the companion stands out in any setting — a tiger, bear, dolphin or chimpanzee whose physical and mental capacity would be impressive even if she weren’t devoted to her apparent “master.”

Unless the Animal Companion is driven off by poor treatment or otherwise killed, she remains a loyal element in the character’s life. She will do whatever she can to assist him, and regard him with the ultimate affection. The details, naturally, depend on her species — a devoted cat or loyal snake won’t show devotion the way a dog might. Still, unless that bond is severed by death or abuse, the Animal Companion is yours for life. (If this “Merit” is killed off, all points regarding her are lost.)

Drawback: Unlike the Retainer Merit, an Animal Companion is just that: an animal. She won’t have free access to Man’s world, and remains limited by manual dexterity, mental perspective and social rules. Lassie may be a great dog, but she still can’t drive to the bank and cash a check.

Powerful animals are often exotic, too, and they stand out on a city street. Most places have laws against horses in public, and almost all human societies regulate private “ownership” of tigers, bears and so forth. The beast may spook other animals, and will probably follow her instincts if prey happens to be nearby. Loyal as she might be, this friend retains her bestial habits and needs; she might trash an office, eat a garden or throw feces at the cops if that’s what seems natural. Your feral might adore his companion, but a smart, powerful animal remains a high-maintenance friend.

The Possessed is tended to by an animal guardian; it’s quite often a black animal, though it may also be an animal that is oddly-colored (an albino, for instance, or a creature whose feathers or fur shows patterns that are not common or ever found in nature). The animal is profoundly loyal, and will protect the Possessed at the cost of its own life (though if that happens, this Merit will need to be re-purchased). The character may still at times need to succeed on a Manipulation + Animal Ken roll to communicate her wishes (which are not purely empathic), but she gains +3 dice on this roll.

The number of dots purchased in this Merit indicate the general strength of the attendant hell-familiar. One dot is usually equivalent to something small (such as a raven). Two dots represent an animal with similar traits to a cat. Three dots provide the character with a beast similar to a dog. (Traits for these three animals can be found on p. 203, World of Darkness Rulebook.)

Anti-Psi is a rare ability, the existence of which has only recently been theorized by parapsychologists. A person gifted with Anti-Psi (who can never be an active psychic) has the power to greatly inhibit psychic powers by her mere presence. Any individual who strongly disbelieves in psychic phenomena can impose a –1 or –2 penalty on a psychic’s abilities (see Doubting Thomas, below), but an Anti-Psi goes even further, literally jamming a psychic’s ability to function at all. Any psychic in the presence of an Anti-Psi is automatically reduced to a chance die on any attempts to use psychic powers. A person with this Merit likely has no idea that she has any special abilities, and simply ascribes any failure of psychics to perform in her presence as proof of the fraudulent nature of such phenomena. This Merit has no effect on the paranormal abilities of supernatural creatures.

Drawback: Any character with this Merit also suffers from a severe derangement triggered by the presence of overt psychic phenomena. Whenever the character is confronted by another person claiming to have psychic powers, or by clear evidence of psychic phenomena, the Anti-Psi manifests an intense hostility toward the object of the offense. Exactly how this derangement plays out is for you to decide, but the character is likely obsessed with debunking the psychic’s claims and exposing him publicly as a fraud. Possible derangements include Hysteria, Megalomania, Paranoia and Anxiety (see Derangements)

Your character has devoted years of practice to the bow. She may be a competitive archer, a low-tech hunter or a medieval history enthusiast.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Rapid Nock” until she has “Draw and Loose.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below. All of the following maneuvers work only with bows.

Draw and Loose (•): Your character’s arm muscles are well-toned for the demanding task of repeatedly drawing a heavy bow. She gains +1 Strength for the purposes of a bow’s minimum Strength, Damage and Range.

Rapid Nock (••): Your character can maintain a withering rate of fire. Once per turn, she may “reload” a bow as a reflexive action.

Arcing Fire (•••): Arrows, like all other projectiles, travel in ballistic arcs. Your character is a master of estimating range, wind and other factors to arc shots much farther than they would travel if fired directly. Double the Ranges of any bow your character uses.

Plunging Fire (••••): Your character can eschew direct attacks in favor of launching arrows high into the air to plummet straight down on hapless victims. Your character’s bow attacks suffer no penalties for target concealment behind solid objects, so long as the target lacks overhead protection and your character can see any part of the target by which to gauge her location. For example, a target hiding behind a log with her foot sticking out applies no penalty, but a character in a fetal curl on a van’s floorboards receives normal protection.
Drawback: Your character may use this maneuver only outdoors or in enclosed spaces large enough to provide for several hundred feet of vertical flight (e.g., football stadiums).

Langschwert groups that emphasize historical techniques learn to fight in full armor. They know how to move and conserve energy in heavy chain mail or even full plate. These skills aren’t exclusive to European martial artists. They’re also found in Japanese koryu and modern military combatives.

Your character knows how to fight in heavy armor. Every two dots in this Merit (at •• or ••••) reduce her Brawl, Melee Defense and Speed penalties for heavy armor by 1.

Whenever your character performs a dodge you can add his Athletics Skill dots to his Defense instead of doubling his Defense. He essentially draws on his knowledge of how his body moves to parry and evade attacks rather than rely on his raw ability alone.

Athletics Dodge applies against incoming Brawl- and Weaponry-based attacks, against thrown-weapon attacks, and against firearms attacks made within close-combat range. Your character can move up to his Speed and perform an Athletics Dodge maneuver in a turn.

A character can possess this Merit and also the Brawling Dodge and Weaponry Dodge Merits, but only one can be used per turn.

By staring at and focusing on an individual for one minute, you can read the eddies and currents of a target’s soul.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy vs. target’s Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Instant and Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: You receives misleading information.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success: The character can observe a target’s aura as per the Auspex power Aura Sight (p. 120, Vampire: The Requiem), save she cannot use it to differentiate between supernatural creatures and need not take penalties for how carefully she’s examining the aura. She gleans only a single emotion (the strongest), and gains a +1 bonus to all Social rolls with the target.
Exceptional Success: As success, save the bonus to Social rolls is +2.
Suggested Modifiers
+1 Character possesses a bit of hair, blood or clothing from the target.
+1 Character observes the target in the reflection of a mirror over a century old.
–1 The subject is a habitual or pathological liar.

No matter what town or city your character is in, he can find his way into the best nightspots with a few quick words and a timely bribe. There isn’t a velvet rope made that can keep him out of a restaurant or club.

Not everyone affiliated with the changing breeds actually transforms. This Merit reflects a character whose First Change has not yet arrived, and might never arrive. Kin to the feral folk, this person lives in the shadow of their world. He hears odd stirrings in the back bedroom, sees fur or feathers too thick for normal explanations. Perhaps he serves one of the Regencies, surrounded by hopeful relatives. Or languishes in a backwater swamp, tending the gator that just happens to be his sister, too.

The upside? This character is immune to the Delusion and the primal terror associated with werewolves. He understands how far back the curtain of “reality” can be drawn, and sees at least a glimpse of the parties behind it. Chances are, he’s very good with animals; although the breed of his associated beast might terrify him, he shares a deep affinity with it. He can understand animals through body language and vocal cues, and while he’s no Dr. Doolittle, they often understand him, too. For now, this character exists on the cusp of a world that may or may not take him in completely. Even so, he knows more about that world than most.

Drawback: That world is no gentle playground. Despite the New Age fascination with “spirit totems” and such, the animal realm is harsh by human standards and the feral one even more so. Enemies of the shapeshifter or her clan often target the kin when they want to make their presence known. Meanwhile, that shapeshifter in her clan might abuse, neglect or despise the “weakling” among them. Feral clans, even the wealthy ones, are notoriously hard on their members, and all it takes is one bad day to turn Mommy or Big Brother into the lion at the door.

(Note: If the First Change finally overtakes this character, the Merit gets “traded” for the feral supernatural template.)

Believers are typically Storyteller characters who serve as assistants to a psychic character and who unconditionally believe in the psychic’s powers. Believers are essentially the same as Retainers, except that the Believers’ strong belief in psychic phenomena allows them to aid the character in using his powers.

When a psychic is assisted by Believers, he gains a +1 bonus to a power’s roll for each dot in this Merit, assuming that at least the same number of such people are present. Normally, this bonus is limited to a +3. Some Merit options can allow the bonus gained from Believers to go as high as +5.

So, if Believers ••• is possessed and only two such people are actually present, a +2 bonus is gained. If seven Believers are present and only three dots are possessed when using another Merit, only +3 is gained. If a psychic suffers a dramatic failure while using a power, the results never cause a Believer to withdraw or develop an aversion to the psychic.

The character supplements his chosen style or Skill with his own maddened fury. Berserk characters work themselves into a violent rage, sometimes aided through the use of drugs, which have the usual effect on their physiology (see p. 176, World of Darkness Rulebook). Working oneself into this fury requires an intense exercise of will, costing the character one Willpower point and an instant action. Once the character has entered the berserkergang, she may use any of the maneuvers listed below. These benefits can be combined with one another or with an associated Fighting Style Merit during the same turn, so long as the drawbacks or necessary expenditures do not contradict (for example, a character cannot benefit from Strength in the Fury when using a Fighting Style maneuver that otherwise costs the character her Defense).

A character in a berserker haze occasionally has difficulty telling friend from foe, and must make a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll to avoid assaulting allies during any turn in which those allies present a more tempting target than an enemy. Characters who are already prone to a form of supernatural rage (such as vampires and werewolves) must roll Resolve + Composure during every turn in which they take advantage of this style. If they fail, they fall into their maddened state (frenzy, Kuruth, etc.) and lose the benefits of being berserk.

The character remains in a berserk state until she either spends a second Willpower to calm herself, she is rendered unconscious, or the combat comes to an end.

Characters who fight in a berserk haze often purchase Iron Stamina to represent their ability to ignore pain.

The Brawl and Weaponry Skills are equally appropriate for use with this style, as are the Two-Weapon (usually axes), Shield, Knife, Stick and Staff Fighting Styles. Styles that require careful precision such as Evasive Striking or Light Sword are not appropriate. Defensive styles are explicitly incompatible with the aggressiveness required of berserkers.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next.

Strength in the Fury (•): A berserker goes all-out, all the time, and her body rewards her heedless actions with increased power and speed. The berserker gains an additional die (for a total of three) when taking all-out attacks (page 157, World of Darkness Rulebook).

Adrenaline Rush (••): The berserker ignores pain and her foes’ attacks only drive her madness, pushing her to brutally defeat them. The character gains a point of armor against bashing and lethal attacks as she casually shrugs off weak attacks.

Inhuman Alacrity (•••): A berserker’s opponents are shocked and frightened by the speed and ferocity that manifests in her actions, making her far more difficult to hit. The character gains an additional 2 points (for a total of four) when using Willpower to avoid suffering an attack.

Ignorant in the Face of Death (••••): The berserker’s rage overrides her physical limitations, pushing her to greater feats even when others would fall in pain. In a mad, violently fit, the character can ignore some or all wound penalties for a turn.
Drawback: The character sacrifices part of her Defense in any turn during which she ignores wound penalties on a one-for-one basis (for example, by ignoring two dice of wound penalties, she suffers a –2 to her Defense trait). If she has already applied her full Defense against an incoming attack during the turn, she may not use this maneuver. The character may still use Willpower to enhance her attack or Defense, if she so chooses, but may not utilize any other maneuver or supernatural ability that necessitates the loss of Defense (such as an all-out attack).

Bloody-Handed Bastard (•••••): The berserker gouges at eyes, bites at ears, and tears at genitals. Her behavior is so violent that she inflicts lasting damage on her foes, regardless of weapon. The character’s attacks inflict lethal damage.
Drawback: The character sacrifices her Defense during a turn in which she uses this maneuver. If she has already applied her Defense against an incoming attack during the turn, she may not use this maneuver.

Your character is trained in the art of boxing, able to deliver swift, powerful punches, and to duck and weave away from opponents’ attacks. He might have participated in the sport in high school or college, or made a go of it professionally. Or he might have taken some classes at the local health club as a form of exercise. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Duck and Weave” until he has “Body Blow.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

Body Blow (•): Your character can deliver powerful blows that leave opponents reeling and gasping for air. If successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed a target’s Size, the victim loses his next action.

Duck and Weave (••): Your character is trained to instinctively duck and evade an opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense when dealing with Brawl-based attacks only (not against Weaponry attacks). If a combination of Brawl- and Weaponry-based attacks is focused on your character in the same turn, use his normal Defense against both.

Combination Blows (•••): Your character’s training and experience allow him to devastate opponents with a flurry of rapid blows. He can make two Brawl attacks against the same target in a single action. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Haymaker (••••): Your character can deliver powerful, accurate blows capable of knocking an opponent unconscious with a single punch. A single Brawl attack that equals or exceeds the target’s Size in damage might knock him unconscious. A Stamina roll is made for the victim. If it succeeds, he is conscious but he still loses his next action due to the Body Blow (see above). If it fails, he is unconscious for a number of turns equal to the damage done.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Brutal Blow (•••••): Your character’s accuracy and power are such that his fists are lethal weapons, able to injure or kill opponents. A brutal blow inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Whenever your character performs a dodge (see “Dodge,” p. 156), you can choose to add his Brawl Skill dots to his Defense instead of doubling his Defense. He essentially draws on his training in blocking and evading attacks rather than relying on his raw ability alone. While this might provide little benefit to a brawling novice, it can give the advanced fighter an edge.

Brawling Dodge applies against incoming Brawl—and Weaponry—based attacks, against thrown-weapon attacks, and against Firearms attacks made within close-combat range. Your character can move up to his Speed and perform a Brawling Dodge maneuver in a turn.

A character can possess both the Brawling Dodge and Weaponry Dodge Merits, but only one can be used per turn.

Bureaucracy has a pattern, and your character has learned to recognize it. Within any given bureaucratic system, be it a hospital, a government agency or a corporation, he has learned whom to talk to get results, which rules he absolutely must follow and which ones he can ignore because no one pays attention. You receive a +2 bonus to all Social and Mental rolls made to navigate, manipulate or work within a bureaucratic system. Note that this Merit doesn’t accomplish the impossible. Your character isn’t going to get a permit for a heavy assault rifle if such weapons are illegal in his city, no matter how much he flirts with the ladies at the country courthouse.

Your character is trained in the difficult art of fighting with chain weapons. Chain weapons are notoriously unpredictable unless mastered — a poorly skilled fighter is as likely to tangle or cut himself as he is to harm an opponent. Your character’s training is likely to have been formalized, having learned the skill at a martial arts dojo or perhaps in stage combat for the theater. (Note that a character using chained weapons who possesses no Dots in this Merit suffers an automatic –2 to all attack rolls.)

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with chain weapons. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. So, your character cannot have “Hand Bind” until he has “Impenetrable Defense.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based upon the Weaponry Skill.

Impenetrable Defense (•): Your character may choose not to attack in a given turn, and instead whirl the chain in the direction of her opponent (or opponents). During the entire turn, regardless of Initiative, you may add +2 to your character’s Defense to deflect incoming blows. Your character also takes no penalty for defending against multiple opponents until she faces three attacks. The first and second attacks made against her cause no negative modifiers to her Defense.

Hand Bind (••): This defensive maneuver is made against an incoming attack (Brawl or Weaponry-based). When a foe attacks with a weapon or with his body, your character wraps the attacking limb with the chain, grappling it with a Strength + Weaponry attack. The foe’s Defense is not subtracted from this roll, but his successes on the attack roll are. If your character is successful, the limb is bound with the chain, and the opponent can attempt to escape this next turn with a Strength + Brawl roll. If the foe achieved more successes on his attack, his attack is still diminished by whatever successes you rolled on the Hand Bind roll. This maneuver must be done on the attacker’s Initiative turn, and performing this action means your character cannot make an attack this turn.

Outside Choke (•••): Your character attempts to wrap the chain around her opponent’s neck. Roll Strength + Weaponry. The victim may attempt to free himself on his next action with a Strength + Brawl roll, which is reduced by your character’s Strength +1. This maneuver is not to cause damage or kill the opponent — this maneuver is to render him unconscious by pressing the chain against the arteries of his neck, thus halting blood flow to his brain. If your character is successful on the grapple, she can begin to choke the victim on the following turn. For every turn that the choke hold is not broken, the victim suffers an additional –1 on all rolls to resist. When your character has accumulated a number of uninterrupted turns equal to the victim’s Stamina, he falls unconscious. This maneuver, when complete, causes a single point of bashing damage to the victim. This combat maneuver is ineffective against characters who need not breathe.

Whirl and Thrust (••••): Your character at this level is highly adept at using chains, and can make focused attacks with any part of the weapon. By whirling the chain a few times, she can build momentum on a single attack, which can be made with startling accuracy. On a targeted attack, you can ignore up to –2 of penalties associated with directed attacks. In other words, attacks to an opponent’s torso or limbs are done at no penalty, attacks the head would be at –1, to the hand –2 and to the eye –3.
Drawback: Your character negates her Defense for the rest of the turn. If your character has applied her Defense against any incoming attack before her turn, she may not perform this maneuver.

This Fighting Style applies to an array of flexible weapons, including the nunchaku, chain whip, rope dark, three section staff – even a length of rope. Your character’s choice of weapon does restrict the use of certain maneuvers, however:

• If your character’s weapon uses rope instead of chain, an opponent with a sharp, sturdy blade (a combat knife or better) nullifies the benefits of Impenetrable Defense – she can cut right through it. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this doesn’t apply to flexible weapons with very short rope lengths, like the nunchaku.
• To use the Outside Choke maneuver your character needs a weapon with at least six inches of loose chain or rope between its segments.
• To use Whirl and Thrust, your character’s weapon needs to have a weighted striking surface like a wooden segment or iron ball.

Schools: Okinawan kobudo has made the nunchaku a famous weapon, but it is also used in Filipino martial arts.
The surujin is another Okinawan weapon that consists of a rope with weights at both ends: a relative of the Chinese meteor hammer. Chinese martial arts include fighting chains, ropes and difficult weapons such as the rope dart. Older Japanese martial arts teach the use of chain weapons as well. These kusarijutsu methods are usually taught as part of a larger, all-encompassing martial art.
Of course, Asian cultures don’t have a monopoly on flexible weapons. European foot soldiers have used flails for centuries and you might find a tradi- tional sailor who still knows how to make and use a monkey fist.

Your character gains an additional dot of Chi. All purified begin play with one dot of Chi. However, more experienced and powerful purified have more dots in Chi. During character generation, each additional dot of Chi costs the character three Merit dots. See Effects of Chi (p. 99) for more information about how this Merit affects your character. Purified characters can purchase this Merit no more than twice, for a total Chi of three.

Your character can only purchase additional dots of Chi as a Merit during character creation. During play, Chi can only be increased using experience points.

The character supplements her chosen style or Skill with a carefully-trained showmanship. Her movements are graceful yet expedient, her blades or fists flashing through the air as she steps lightly upon the balls of her feet. Combat artists often learn their skills in professions that are not traditionally associated with violence, namely the theatre and film, but many also train to showcase their own skills during martial arts demos or non-combative martial arts competitions. These maneuvers represent those who value style over substance.

As such, this supplemental style may be purchased for the Expression Skill, representing those whose combat training is wholly theatrical. If used to supplement Expression, the style cannot be used effectively in combat, and the fourth tier of the Merit cannot be purchased.

Disarm, Fast Reflexes, Fighting Finesse, Quick Draw and Student of the Blade are all popular Merits for those whose primary combat training is primarily for show. Those combat artists who reside in Hollywood often possess the Stunt Driver Merit, as well. Trick shooters and show marksmen often possess Gunslinger. The Expression and Weaponry Skills are equally appropriate for use with this style, though Athletics, Brawl and Firearms versions are widely learned, as well. Fighting Styles typically supplemented by Combat Art include Aggressive and Evasive Striking, Control, Knives, Light Sword, Throwing and Two-Weapon, while Combat Marksmanship, Sniping and even Archery find occasional crossover with this style. The combination of Combat Art with the Flexible Weapons Fighting Style can be stunning in martial arts competitions.

Combat Art is rarely combined with the teaching of those schools that teachings are overwhelmingly pragmatic, such as Krav Maga. Exceptions do exist, however; Krav Maga’s popularity in entertainment demands stunt persons capable of convincingly performing the vicious style, for example. Particularly traditional schools may frown upon Combat Art, as well, though many perform careful rituals and katas that can be considered powerful performance in its own right.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next.

Flourish (•): The character performs an example of her style in order to threaten rather than entertain (though audiences often experience a thrill when witnessing such a feat) as an instant action. She gains a bonus to Intimidation rolls equal to her rating in the supplemented Skill or Fighting Style. This bonus lasts until the end of the scene or the character suffers a successful attack from an opponent (whichever comes first). Characters who enter the scene after the flourish is performed are not affected by it. Drawback: The flourishing character’s bonus is penalized by others who know her supplemented Skill or Fighting Style, as they might see through the emptiness of her action. For each dot the target of the character’s intimidation possesses in the same Skill or Fighting Style as that being supplemented, subtract one die from the flourishing character’s roll. Against sufficiently skilled opponents, this can completely cancel the bonus granted by the maneuver and even remove dice from the base Intimidation pool. A master sees through such petty posturing and thinks less of the student as a result.

Staged Combat (••): The character has trained to make perfectly safe and choreographed combat seem exceedingly real. The character gains a bonus to Expression or Subterfuge rolls to falsify combat equal to her rating in the supplemented Skill or Fighting Style.
Drawback: This maneuver can only be used with another individual who is working to fake the fight (and typically functions as a teamwork action).

Dancing for Mars (•••): The character gains a bonus equal to her rating in her supplemented Skill or Fighting Style to Expression rolls when utilizing her combat prowess as a performance piece (those using Combat Art to supplement Expression may double their Expression rating). This may be used to win competitions, secure a job teaching martial arts, or even intimidate one’s enemies. The bonus does not, however, ever apply to attacks made with the Skill, and use of this maneuver usually constitutes an extended action.

Function Follows Form (••••): The character has learned how to marry life and art, and her extensive training allows her to utilize the grace she exemplifies on the stage or gym mat to out-maneuver her enemies on the mean streets of the World of Darkness. The character gains one half of her rating in the supplemented Skill or Fighting Style, rounded up, as bonus dice to her attack roll and as a bonus to her Defense (which is not doubled in the case of a Dodge maneuver).
Drawback: The character must spend one Willpower point during any turn in which she benefits from this maneuver.

Your character understands how to survive on a battlefield as a result of either intense military training or personal experience. This includes knowledge of how to use terrain to your advantage and a general state of mental alertness sustainable even under heavy enemy fi re. As a result of this aptitude, your character gains a +2 dice bonus to any situational awareness roll.

Your character is not only proficient with firearms, but has trained extensively to maintain her accuracy in the stress of combat (see “Marksmanship in Combat,” p. 51, for a discussion of these challenges). She most likely has experience in law enforcement or the military, though she may simply be a self-defense advocate or a dedicated hobbyist with uncommon self-possession.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Tactical Reload” until she has “Shoot First.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Firearms Skill.

Shoot First (•): Your character’s trained reflexes give her a split-second edge in a gunfight. Whenever she begins a combat with a firearm already in her hand, she gains a bonus to her Initiative roll equal to her Firearms Skill. If she also has the Quick Draw Merit for firearms (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 113) and draws a firearm during the first turn of combat, this bonus is added retroactively, starting at the beginning of the second turn of combat.

Tactical Reload (••): Your character’s muscle memory enables her to reload without conscious thought. Once per turn, she may reload a firearm that feeds from a detachable magazine or use a speedloader to reload a revolver, as a reflexive action.

Double Tap (•••): When using a lever-action, pump-action or semi-automatic firearm, your character may make short burst attacks as if her gun were capable of autofire.

Bayonet Range (••••): Your character can maintain accuracy and control even when facing an opponent at arm’s length. The target’s Defense does not apply to firearm attacks your character makes within close-combat range (see p. 155 of the World of Darkness Rulebook).

Rapid Fire (•••••): Your character’s concentration is such that she can unleash a hail of bullets. In a single action, she may make one extra Firearms attack for each point by which her Composure exceeds 2. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, she can perform a total of two attacks at Composure 3 (the second of which is at –1), three attacks at Composure 4 (the third of which is at –2) and four at Composure 5 (the fourth of which is at –3). She must declare the targets of all attacks before rolling the first one. Each attack not directed against her initial target suffers an additional –1 penalty. All attacks made with this maneuver must be single shots. Drawback: Your character cannot use her Defense against any attack in the same turn in which she intends to use this maneuver. If she uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before she can perform this maneuver, she cannot use Rapid Fire this turn. In addition, your character may not use this maneuver with bolt-action or break-action firearms.

Your character either has training in how to handle himself in a fight, or has been in enough crisis situations that he doesn’t lose his head when people start getting hurt. A number of combat hacks involving the effects of pain and stress do not apply to this character. These hacks are: Freezing Under Fire, Lethal Stun and Unable to Attack.

Your character is exceptionally grounded and pragmatic, and can usually be depended upon to make sound, straightforward decisions after a few moments’ thought.

The Storyteller can make a reflexive Wits + Composure roll once per chapter for your character if he is about to embark on a disastrous course of action, or if you find yourself at a point in the story where you’re completely stumped for ideas.

If the roll succeeds, the Storyteller may point out the risks of a particular course, or suggest possible actions that your character can take that might get events back on track.

Note: While you’re free to ask the Storyteller for a Common Sense roll when you’re out of ideas, he is under no obligation to comply. It’s an aid, not a crutch.

Contacts provide your character information in a particular area of awareness. Each dot in this Merit represents one arena or circle in which your character has a web of connections and from which he may draw information. If he has Contacts •••, his dots might be assigned to computer hackers, couriers and big business, respectively. Contacts can include individuals whom you or the Storyteller defines, but more likely they comprise an array of people from whom your character can draw information with a phone call, email or face-to-face query. Contacts is strictly information-gathering. Contacts do not come perform services for your character or rush to his aid. Those actions are the purview of other Merits such as Allies and Retainer.

Gaining information from contacts requires a successful Manipulation + Persuasion or Socialize roll, depending on the relationship between your character and the people in question. Penalties might apply if the information sought is little known (-1 to -3), confidential (-3), or if sharing it could get people in trouble or harmed (-3 to -5). Success doesn’t guarantee exactly the information for which your character looks. Contacts aren’t all-knowing, and the Storyteller is perfectly justified in saying that a particular contact simply doesn’t know something.

Dramatic Failure: The contact doesn’t tell your character the full extent of what he knows, or provides misleading information. Perhaps he’s holding out for money or favors, or simply makes an honest mistake.

Failure: The contact doesn’t have the information your character needs.

Success: The contact is able to provide some information that’s helpful to your character.

Exceptional Success: The contact is able to provide a wealth of information to your character, providing answers to questions that aren’t even asked.

Suggested Equipment: Gift (+1), small bribe (+1), large bribe (+2), an outstanding favor (+1 to +3) Possible Penalties: Lack of bribe (-1), frequent and recent requests (-1 to -2), information confidential (-1 to -3), information scarce (-2), information obscure (-3)

Communication was not always as simple as signing into e-mail and clicking ‘send.’ In time before e-mail, even in times before standardized letter writing, body thieves sought ways to communicate with one another even over distance, since their practices could carry them almost anywhere. To reflect this, body thieves take this specialized Language Merit to reflect this form of communication that can only be understood by members of their society. This Merit muddles the thieves’ language with secrecy, and any person trying to discern the actual meaning of a conversation or written communication suffers a two dice penalty unless they know the same cultural language.

For the Archer family, it’s merely a derivative of their cultural Shelta language. For the Club, it’s a series of complicated metaphors often hidden in the text of school work or poetry. For those poor souls lost in the server of death.com, the Merit might reflect a deviant form of binary that once cracked, could allow her to communicate with the outside world and with it, a terrible warning.

By ritualizing for 10 minutes (including the consumption of raw flesh), the character can curse a target.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion vs. target’s Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Instant and Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The curse rebounds upon the character and he suffers its effects.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success: The target suffers a penalty equal to the character’s dots in Manipulation to a number of dice pools related to a specific activity (a job interview, driving, fighting, etc.) equal to the character’s Persuasion. This curse remains for 24 hours.
Exceptional Success: As success, save the penalty applies to all rolls of the designated type for 24 hours.
Suggested Modifiers
+1 Character possesses a photograph or video of the target performing the activity to be cursed.
+1 Character possesses a tool the target uses for the activity to be cursed.
–4 Target possesses the Luck Magic Merit.

Your character possesses an item of power but questionable providence. Though the character may use the item from time to time for an advantage, that advantage always comes at a price. See “Cursed Items,” p.112, for examples of what a character may possess with this Merit.

You gain a +2 modifier on reflexive Wits + Composure rolls for your character to detect an impending ambush. This kind of roll is typically made prior to the first turn of a surprise attack.

Your character has a well-developed survival instinct that warns him of impending danger. Perhaps he’s adept at reading subtle clues in his environment or he possesses an uncanny “sixth sense” when it comes to avoiding trouble.

Your character has received an award for meritorious conduct of some sort. Characters gain a bonus on all Social rolls relating to one’s Allies, Contacts or Status in the military, regardless of whether the character is currently serving or not.

The three-dot, four-dot and five-dot Merits indicate an exceptional award: the Silver Star for the three-dot Merit; the Distinguished Service Medal or Distinguished Service Cross for the four-dot Merit; and the Medal of Honor for the five-dot Merit.

Those who have earned the Medal of Honor are entitled to a salute regardless of rank or whether they are now civilians.

Servicemen and servicewomen who have received lethal injuries as a result of combat during a military action are automatically awarded the Purple Heart, a two-dot Merit.

Drawback: This Merit rides on the world’s perception of the character’s honor and Morality. The character must be seen to retain honor and dignity in his actions. Should the character commit sins rated 5 or lower on the Morality chart, and should those sins become public knowledge, the Merit may be revoked, earning him the Notoriety Flaw (see “Character Flaws”, the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 217).

The latest style in shoes, a newly released video game, a shiny, tricked-out bike — things all kids would love to have. Not all kids get them, but you do. Your parents or guardians may be so stinking rich that they don’t notice the money spent on your kid stuff, or they may have some other combination of monetary resources and parenting permissiveness. However the “financial managers” work it out, your character always has the stylish duds and required toys to keep up appearances in the neighborhood.

In addition, once per chapter, your character may make an outlandish request of the parent or guardian who holds the purse strings. To get them to accede, make a Manipulation + Subterfuge or Socialize roll (when purchasing this Merit, you must choose to use Subterfuge or Socialize, depending on your character’s relationship with her parents or guardians, and then stick with it). Success means your character gets the desired item. The expense of the item, or its nature, may impose a penalty on the roll. A video game, a metal detector, a set of two-way radios, even a $100 gift card to a nearby store are reasonable, or at least expected, requests and incur no penalty. An expensive bike, a new computer (for schoolwork, of course), or a pellet gun might raise eyebrows a bit (for a -1 to -3 penalty). Truly outlandish or dangerous requests — say, for an all-terrain vehicle, a swimming pool, or a real gun — might garner a penalty up to -5. Your character can gain a bonus on a roll by planting the seed of a desire with the parent (wistful mentions of the desired item, or pictures cut from magazines stuck to the fridge), but forgoing any Deep Pockets roll for a while. For each chapter in which the player sacrifices his use of the Deep Pockets Merit, he gains a +1 modifier, up to a maximum +5.

Drawback: What is given can be taken away. If your character does not take proper care of her toys (the ATV is wrecked, or the pellet gun is used to shoot the neighbor’s dog), she may find that she no longer gets what she wants — she loses access to this Merit temporarily, or permanently.

The Possessed character has an embodied familiar with a physical body—a small imp. The imp, like the Animal Familiar above, is profoundly devoted to its Possessed master (really, it’s more devoted to the demon than to the human host, though imps are allowed to favor the mortal soul, instead). It will throw itself into harm’s way only if the character demands it, however. The Animal Familiar does so without question or command, but imps can be a bit cowardly—an Imp Familiar needs to be urged into combat (or cajoled, or threatened).

If an Imp Familiar is slain, its Infernal spirit usually discorporates and returns to whatever Hell from whence it came. Sometimes, though, it latches onto its master and feeds off his memories, drinking deep of the hunter’s soul to sustain itself in ethereal form. In game terms, a Possessed character’s player may, upon the destruction of his embodied familiar, choose to immediately spend 10 experience points as a reflexive action to preserve the demon as a Twilight Familiar (see Inferno, p 127). Stats for the Imp Familiar can be found in the sidebar below.

Imp Familiar Traits
Attributes: 5/4/3 (divide among Mental, Physical and Social)
Skills: 9/6/3 (divide among Mental, Physical and Social); the familiar receives a free dot in Brawl, Larceny or Stealth
Willpower: Equal to Resolve + Composure
Essence: 10 (10 max)
Initiative: Equal to Dexterity + Composure
Defense: Equal to lowest of Dexterity and Wits
Speed: Strength + Dexterity + 5
Virtue: Choose Virtue
Vice: Any. Most familiars share their master’s Vice, but not all. A familiar regains all spent Willpower by fulfilling its Vice once per chapter, just as a mortal does for fulfilling her Virtue.
Morality: Familiars have no Morality score.
Size: 3 or less
Health: Equal to Stamina + Size

Vestments: Choose two Innate Vestments from the imp’s primary Vice category.

Innocuous: Embodied familiars are very good at not being noticed by others. Anyone but its bonded master suffers a –2 penalty on Perception rolls to notice the familiar, unless it does something to draw attention to itself.

Through the Eyes: By spending a point of Willpower, the master of an embodied familiar can shift his perceptions to the familiar. He sees what the familiar sees, hears what it hears, and so on. He is oblivious to his own surroundings while viewing through his familiar, but still possesses tactile sensation (and thus he is aware of any damage or physical sensation to his own body). Ending this viewing is a reflexive action and requires no roll.

A Twilight Familiar is a spiritual entity with no proper physical body of its own. A Twilight Familiar is also known as a “fetch.” Twilight Familiars can temporarily manifest like ghosts (see Manifestations, p. 210 in The World of Darkness Rulebook), but their ephemeral bodies are otherwise invisible and intangible to the physical world. A Twilight Familiar must manifest or use Numina to affect anything in the physical world—except for its master, whom it can touch at will. (Its master can also see and speak with the familiar freely, even if he cannot see or hear into Twilight.) A Twilight Familiar often leaves behind a subtle sign of its presence, even when it is not manifested. A whiff of sulfur might waft from its location, or the lights may flicker in the room when the entity is present. A Twilight Familiar, when manifested, often represents its Possessed master’s Vice: a Gluttonous character may have something that resembles a bloated, tumor-besieged bullfrog, while a Lustful character may instead be served by a lithe succubus or priapic incubus. Stats for the Twilight Familiar can be found in the sidebar below.

Twilight Familiar Traits

Attributes: 3/3/2 (allocate dots in any order among Power, Finesse and Resistance)
Willpower: Equal to Power + Resistance
Essence: 10 (10 max); the demon regains 1 point of spent Essence per day spent in its master’s presence. A familiar can also regain spent Essence by witnessing (or causing) acts related to its Vice.
Initiative: Equal to Finesse + Resistance
Defense: Equal to highest of Power and Finesse
Speed: Equal to Power + Finesse + 5
Virtue: Choose Virtue
Vice: Any. Most familiars share their master’s Vice, but not all. A familiar regains all spent Willpower by fulfilling its Vice once per chapter, just as a mortal does for fulfilling her Virtue.
Morality: Familiars have no Morality score.
Size: 5 or less
Corpus: Equal to Resistance + Size

Born of Sin: The Twilight Familiar is a base creature, born of sin and capable of calling that sin out in others. The familiar can manipulate the presence of its Vice, enhancing or manipulating its manifestation in a creature, mortal or otherwise. The target need not have the same Vice as the demon; he must merely be experiencing the emotion. A character whose Vice is Pride can still feel Lust for a beautiful woman, or Envy of a neighbor’s new car, for example. The demon cannot create a Vice where none exists. Enhancing a Vice, making an individual feel the emotion more strongly, requires the expenditure of 1 point of Essence and a contested roll of Power + Finesse versus the target’s Resolve or Composure, whichever is higher. The familiar can produce a moderate shift with a success; mild attraction might become infatuation, or infatuation might become full-blown obsession in the case of Lust, but mild attraction cannot be turned into full-blown obsession directly. An exceptional success, however, allows the demon to fan even the tiniest spark of Vice into an inferno. The changes last for one minute per success. The demon cannot enhance the same Vice in the same target more than once per scene.

Manipulating a Vice, changing its target, requires the expenditure of 2 points of Essence and a contested roll of Power + Finesse versus the target’s Resolve or Composure, whichever is higher. Success allows the demon to slightly alter the target of a character’s emotion. For example, a character feeling Sloth toward his work might have that laziness redirected toward laziness regarding investigating those weird sounds in the basement, or a man proud of his status as a player might instead be made to focus that Pride upon his ass-kicking prowess— which might cause problems if he’s never been in a fight in his life.

Numina: Assign three Numina.

Anchor: The demon’s master is considered to be its anchor to the material world, although there is no limit to how far a familiar can travel from its master. See Anchors on p. 209 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.
When a familiar manifests, use the following modifiers:

Location - Modifier
Profane or blasphemous site (desecrated church, massacre location) - +3
Place associated with the demon’s Vice - +2
Occult location (ley line nexus, pagan temple, etc.) - +1
Within line of sight of a holy symbol (cross, Star of David, statue of Buddha) - –1
Within line of sight of a church synagogue, temple, etc. - –2
Holy ground - –3

Indulging one’s need to change form and spend time as an animal can be… difficult, especially for an urban skinchanger. Unless your character lives in the middle of nowhere and all by himself, there’s still the chance that someone will be in the wrong place at the wrong time and see him change, and in the city it’s near impossible to find real privacy.

This Merit represents a place that your character knows about where no one else ever goes. It might be the shack Old Man Grezny used for moonshine back during Prohibition, or the ancient and abandoned Allied Products factory down the street. Whatever this hidden place is, the character can access it in near-absolute secrecy and squirrel away her little trinkets without fear of detection. A skinchanger can also shapechange there and head out to experience her animal side, confident that no one’s watching.

When someone tries to track her back to her den, in animal or human form, that person suffers a –2 penalty to all relevant rolls.

Your character is remarkably resistant to being Urged, Ridden or Possessed by spirits or ghosts. The character adds two dice to all contested rolls against spirits’ attempts to affect her in that way (or with other forms of mental control), or adds two to her Resistance traits (if subtracted from a spirit’s roll). Whether this is because of a hardening experience in her past or some hereditary predisposition depends on the story.

Drawback: Many spirits are angered by strong resistance and eager to get revenge. Others just want to eliminate such people so they never spawn more. Either way, your character becomes a target once her resistance becomes clear.

Your character has an innate sense of direction that instinctively allows him to remain oriented. He can enter unfamiliar territory and always retrace his steps back to his starting point, and can orient himself to any of the compass points (i.e., face north, face south) without references.

Your character has refined his Weaponry Skill to the extent that he can use a weapon to disarm opponents in close combat. When making a normal attack, compare your successes to the opponent’s Dexterity. If you get a number of successes equal to or greater than the opponent’s Dexterity, you can choose to have your character disarm him instead of doing damage. A weapon lands a number of yards away from the opponent equal to your successes rolled.

Disarming is a different activity than specifically attacking or breaking weapons or items carried by opponents. See “Equipment” (p. 139) for rules on doing that.

A Doubting Thomas is a mortal who strongly and emphatically rejects the existence of psychic phenomena. Almost anyone can simply doubt the existence of such possibilities, but a Doubting Thomas is almost pathological on the subject, as the character himself has a latent potential for psychic powers that he cannot use due to a persistent mental block. The character’s latent abilities are channeled into negating any actual psychic powers in his vicinity in order to help preserve his belief that the possibility is not real. Any attempt to use obvious psychic powers in the Doubting Thomas’ presence automatically suffers a –2 penalty, as he constantly watches the psychic for the slightest hint of fraud. If multiple Thomases are in a psychic’s presence, the penalties they impose are cumulative.

Drawback: A Doubting Thomas also suffers from a mild derangement triggered by assertions of psychic phenomena. Precisely how this ailment manifests is determined by you, but a Doubting Thomas confronted by phenomena purported to be psychic is likely compelled to confront the performer and try to debunk her claims. Common derangements for Doubting Thomases include Fixation, Suspicion and Irrationality (see Derangements).

Your character has a connection to primordial forces in the world, ancient truths that can be seen and comprehended only in dreams. He gains insight into secrets through reverie and visions, finding answers to questions he couldn’t normally get by mundane means. This might be through the collective unconscious, universal mind, poetic reverie or even an imagined journey to a fictional dreamscape. Through effort of will, he can even channel this insight into action. Behind the lie of the so-called real world, dreams reveal the world as it really is… from a certain point of view.

Once per game session, your character can use his Dream ability to gain a supernatural insight concerning a question or topic. Activating this ability requires at least one hour spent in sleep, trance or an activity exclusively focused on accessing an altered state of consciousness. The Storyteller then rolls the character’s Wits + Composure in secret. The results are:

Dramatic failure:
A nightmare. The character can interpret it any way he wants, but it probably leads to more trouble than solutions.

Failure:
Meaningless images.

Success:
One or more clues (one per Dream dot), although they must be interpreted.

Exceptional success:
One or more clues (one per Dream dot), and a suggestion about their interpretation provided by the Storyteller.

The information conveyed is hidden behind allegory, symbols and archetypes. Dreams rarely answer questions directly, typically relying on symbolism and imagery to convey information. A mage seeking a specific person’s location wouldn’t see his address, but landmarks nearby could lead the way: a river, a tower or even the face of a man walking by at dusk. The answer has the potential to resolve the problem. It’s a tool for the Storyteller to help drive events of the story.

Your character knows how to relax and let a spirit or ghost possess her. She forgoes any contesting roll or Resistance trait, and the possession takes place as long as the spirit rolls a single success. Possessing spirits gain full, penalty-free control over the character’s faculties immediately, without any muss or fuss. She remains aware of what is going on during the possession and has a couple of extra options.

She may allow the spirit to continue controlling her body for longer than a scene, if she likes. Or, if displeased as the possession progresses, she may try to eject the spirit. She and the spirit make the normal contested roll they would normally have made during the original possession. Success on the spirit’s part allows it to remain for the rest of the scene, and ties must be rerolled the next turn. The character may only try this once per scene.

Drawback: As a well-trod soul, the character suffers a –2 dice penalty to any contesting rolls or Resistance traits applied to prevent (or end, as above) a possession. She also earns a reputation as “easy” among local spirits, who may seek her out when they need a quick body for something, even if she’s not likely to go willingly.

Kids thrive on well-deserved praise — not the forced kind that tells them that every child is a special snowflake, but praise that shows someone has really noticed what they do well. When your character receives an honest compliment on his talent in a Skill in which he has at least two dots, he receives a one-time +1 modifier on his next roll of that Skill in the same scene. This Merit can be used only once per Skill per scene.

Your character has a near-photographic memory, being able to recall vast amounts of observed detail with astonishing accuracy. You do not normally need to make a roll for your character to remember an obscure fact or past experience, unless he is under stress (such as in combat). Under stress, there is a +2 modifier on any Intelligence + Composure or other Skill-based roll (say, Academics, to remember a fact) for memory recall.

Your character can distance himself from the pain, grief and suffering of his fellow human beings long enough to help them. This might make him seem somewhat aloof, but it also means that he doesn’t second-guess himself when performing delicate surgery. The character ignores penalties stemming from stress equal to his Resolve rating. For instance, if an EMT is trying to perform an emergency tracheostomy while in a moving car with a werewolf on the roof, the EMT might normally suffer a –2 penalty from sheer emotional pressure. If he had this Merit and his Resolve were 2 or higher, he would take no penalty at all.

Every thief needs a con to keep their lifestyle going, and with it, their unending life. With practice and time, a good thief is able to manipulate the feelings of others around them. Time, conversation, or just sheer forces of personality are all tools to manipulate the feelings of others. In a blink of an eye or possibly a wink, the thief can push on the mild feelings of fear or passion and feed them, strengthen and empower them. Of course, this manipulation is not total. The thief cannot create emotions that are not already being felt by the target, but he can take those light feelings lurking and turn them to full blown wild fires. A body thief can’t simply focus his attention and force a strange woman to be instantly in love with him. However, over a romantic dinner with quiet music and dim lights, a thief could talk his target into the faintest flutter of a crush and then use this Merit to build that flutter into a rushing heartbeat. Similarly, a Club member hoping to push her quarry to give up on life entirely can’t just wish for it and have her quarry leap from a window. Rather, she’d have to wait until he was already feeling morose over a lousy test grade before using Emotional Urging to amplify the suffering to dangerous levels. The caster must be able to either speak to or touch the target or have a sympathetic connection in order to manipulate the target’s emotions.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus Composure
Duration: One day

Suggested Equipment: An item of emotional significance to the victim (+1 to +5, depending on relative importance)

Possible Modifiers: Target fulfilled Virtue within last week (–3), target fulfilled Vice within last week (+1 per, up to +3)

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The power backfires; the caster suffers the full effects of a normal success.

Failure: The power fails. The target is immune to this effect for one day.

Success: The caster achieves more successes than the target. For the remainder of the night, the target’s most powerful emotion at the time of casting amplifies dramatically, becoming a driving force in the subject’s mind. If an opportunity to indulge in the emotion pres- ents itself, the victim must reflexively spend one Will- power point and succeed in a Resolve + Composure roll to avoid indulgence. If this indulgence would result in lethal or aggravated damage, the subject need not spend the Willpower point and can avoid indulgence with the successful roll. Each time the victim resists temptation, she gains a cumulative +1 bonus to her next roll to resist indulgence, up to a maximum bonus of +5.

Exceptional Success: As above, however, the victim must spend Willpower to avoid harm in their indulgence.

Your character is a veritable font of useful (and sometimes useless) information on a wide variety of topics. Chances are he can come up with an anecdote pertaining to any situation based on something he’s read, witnessed or seen on TV.

You can make an Intelligence + Wits roll any time your character is confronted with a situation or phenomenon outside his normal realm of experience.

If the roll is successful, he may recall a “factoid” that he’s heard at some point that may shed light on matters.

Roll Results Success: Your character remembers a detail or fact that sheds some light on the situation. “You said there was an almond odor? Seems to me I read somewhere that’s a sign of cyanide poisoning.”

Exceptional Success: Your character recalls a number of useful details that provide extensive insight. “Hey,cool— a little candy skull. They make these in Mexico for the Day of the Dead. It’s an offering for a loved one who’s died. And they say you can’t learn anything on TV.”

Failure: Your character wracks his brain but comes up empty.

Dramatic Failure: Your character “remembers” something about the situation that is completely inaccurate. “Wait! Wait! I saw something like this in a movie once! ”The Storyteller might make Intelligence + Wits rolls on your behalf when a dramatic failure is possible.

Your mage has an object whose properties have been supernaturally altered, either for increased Durability, Structure, Size or an equipment bonus, or to give it some special property, such as to make steel transparent or flexible. Enhanced items are made with the Matter Arcanum (see pp. 194-204). Any special properties that would require the use of other Arcana (such as Forces to make a sword that glows) must be achieved by imbuing the item instead; see “Imbued Item,” below.

The cost depends on the enhanced item’s properties.

* If the enhanced equipment bonus is more than double the item’s normal equipment bonus, the enhanced item causes Disbelief when Sleepers witness its use.

Enhanced items have the following features:

Function: Persistent only. A persistent power is always active (i.e., of indefinite Duration). The user simply needs to hold the item or wear it.

No Paradox: Enhanced items’ properties do not invoke Paradoxes, although they might invoke Disbelief in Sleepers if their properties are clearly impossible.

Example: A katana normally has a +3 equipment bonus, but Zeno carries a special katana. It sports a +2 enchanted equipment bonus (for a total bonus of +5 dice) and a +2 Durability (for a total of Durability 6). It costs him 3 Merit dots.

An item can be both enhanced and imbued. See “Imbued Item,” below. Simply add the cost of all enhancements and imbuements together to determine the item’s total Merit cost.

Acquiring an enhanced item once play begins does not cost Merit dots; characters must gain such items through roleplaying actions. If the item is ever lost, stolen or destroyed, the player loses the Merit and the points he spent to gain it.

Your character is well versed in handling all types of explosives. She is familiar with all kinds of techniques used in bomb making, from creating her own explosives to identifying and arming manufactured ones. She has also been trained in explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and is comfortable disarming unfamiliar devices. Your character does not suffer the –2 penalty for disarming an explosive she did not build (see p. 114).

Your character knows how to use a blunt weapon to enhance her holds and locks. She presses the weapon against joints and muscle groups, or forces compliance with a few short blows. If she has a blunt weapon in hand, add the weapon’s Size to her Strength + Brawl pool whenever she attempts overpowering maneuvers.

Drawbacks: This benefit doesn’t apply to initial attempts to establish a grapple. It only works with weapons that have a maximum Size of 3.

This general striking style emphasizes speed, agility and defense. Practitioners block, bob, weave and pick their shots whenever they see their opponent’s defense falter. The core rulebook’s Kung Fu style is a specialized version of this Merit.

It uses the following maneuver progression:

Focused Attack (•): Physical conditioning and accuracy allow your character to deliver blows at vulnerable spots on targets. Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. See “Specified Targets,” p. 165. Even when a specific part of an opponent is not targeted, armor penalties to your character’s Brawl attacks are reduced by one.

Duck and Weave (••): Your character is trained to instinctively duck and evade an opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense when dealing with Brawl-based attacks only (not against Weaponry attacks). If a combination of Brawl- and Weaponry-based attacks is focused on your character in the same turn, use his normal Defense against both.

Defensive Attack (•••): Your character has mastered the ability to fight defensively. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty. He can move no more than his Speed while performing a Defense Attack maneuver in a turn.

Whirlwind Strike (••••): Your character can unleash a storm of blows against an opponent. He can make a number of extra Brawl attacks for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2 in a single action. Each extra at-tack is made at a cumulative -1 modifier. Thus, he can perform a total of two attacks at Dexterity 3 (the second of which is at -1), three attacks at Dexterity 4 (the third of which is at -2), and four at Dexterity 5 (the fourth of which is at -3). All attacks must be on the same target.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Destroy Defense (•••••): Your character uses clever combinations, feints, sidesteps and perhaps furtive grabbing (called “sticking” or “trapping” in some martial arts) to progressively destroy your opponent’s ability to defend himself. Whenever he successfully hits an unarmed target with a Brawl attack, he reduces her Defense by 1 against his next attack. This is cumulative across multiple, successive attacks, up to a maximum Defense penalty equal to the lower of the attacker’s Wits or Dexterity. After that, the target recovers her full Defense, and the character must try to impose this penalty once again.
Your character can use Destroy Defense across multiple rounds as long as he does nothing except deliver successful Brawl attacks. If he misses or performs any other action, the running penalty imposed by the Merit automatically “resets” to 0.
The target retains her full Defense against other attackers; she’s only extraordinarily vulnerable to the maneuver user’s Brawl attacks. This maneuver does combine with Combination Blows or Whirlwind Strike. Destroy Defense’s penalty is cumulative with the normal Defense penalty against multiple attacks, if it applies.

Schools: Common Evasive Striking arts include Bruce Lee’s Jun Fan Kung Fu (or “Original Jeet Kune Do”), American or Hawaiian Kenpo, rapid-fire kung fu styles like wing chun and Filipino panantukan boxing. Remember that specific styles may have specialized maneuvers (see p. 106 ).

Your character has a measure of recognition in today’s media-saturated society, possibly as a performer, athlete, politician or other sort of public personality. He’s frequently identified and can often get star treatment. On the other hand, it’s difficult for your character to go places without being recognized, and the media watches him carefully.

Each dot adds a +1 modifier to your character’s Socialize (or Persuasion, where applicable) rolls among those who are impressed by his celebrity status.

Drawback: The more famous your character is, the more easily he is recognized by the public. The Storyteller should apply the same +1 modifier per dot to a general Wits + Composure roll to see if he is recognized by anyone on the street. An exceptional success indicates that one or more people are loyal fans who approach him for autographs, pictures and long conversations.

+1 Initiative per dot

Your character’s mix of sharp reflexes and steady nerves helps him get the drop on adversaries.

Your character is trained in the art of fencing. He likely learned this skill at a fencing academy, and is familiar with the sport in more than a passing capacity.

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers using fencing weapons. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. So, your character cannot have “Feint” until he has “Thrust.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based upon the Weaponry Skill.

Fencing is meant to be performed with specific swords. The maneuvers below can be used without penalty provided your character is using one of the following swords: curved sword, fencing sword, rapier or sword cane. Any other type of sword incurs a –1 penalty against any of the maneuvers listed below. (For more information on swords as melee weapons, see Chapter One.)

Thrust (•): The thrust is a simple yet powerful attack. A fencer’s stance (one leg anchoring your character’s position and the other leg lunging him forward) gives this attack extra force. When your character makes a thrust attack, plunging the blade toward an opponent, he does so with a +1 bonus.

Feint (••): Your character knows how to make a fake attack intended to throw off an opponent. Make a “normal” attack roll (Strength + Weaponry), and this roll is penalized by the opponent’s Defense, par usual. This attack is fake; it does not strike the foe or do any damage. If your character achieves even a single success, however, the opponent is momentarily confused and off-balance, and may not apply her Defense against the next attack she suffers (which may be from your character the following turn or may be from some other source beforehand).

Riposte (•••): A Riposte requires an attack to be made against your character. He steps out of the way of the attack using his Dodge (i.e., her Defense, doubled). While his opponent is open, he can then make a sudden and quick attack, which is performed at a –1 penalty. However, the opponent’s Defense does not further penalize the attack roll. Drawback: To perform this maneuver, the character must spend a Willpower point, which must be spent as soon as she decides to apply twice her Defense to an incoming enemy attack.If the character suffers any further attacks on a turn where she has used Riposte, she cannot apply her Defense against them.

Moulinet (••••): If your character makes a successful hit on an adversary with his sword, he may then rotate his wrist and perform a quick spiral cut with the tip of the weapon. This additional cut requires no additional roll; the cut does lethal damage to the opponent equal to your character’s Dexterity.
Drawback: To perform this maneuver, the character must spend a Willpower point before she makes her initial attack roll. The Willpower does not grant her the additional +3 to attack. If the initial attack roll fails, the Willpower point is wasted and the Moulinet may not be added.

Fencing is one name for the general art of fighting with a lighter sword: one that can be held one-handed, even if it is possible (and preferred, in the case of a katana) to use two. The methods used for each sword may be widely dissimilar, but the important consideration is the mechanical effect – the rationale comes afterward. That’s why World of Darkness: Armory uses the same rules for kendo as Western fencing. The maneuvers may have different names, but behave in the same way across many styles.

Schools: Use the Aggressive Light Sword Fighting Style to represent special training in the Chinese jian (or “tai chi sword”), the saber, cutlass or scimitar, and the shorter medieval arming sword – any Size 2 blade. (Size 3 weapons are the province of the Langschwert/Heavy Sword Fighting Style).
This Fighting Style also applies to any stick that’s three to four feet long. It can be used in conjunction with a cane (for singlestick or French la canne fighting), Trinidadian stick fighting or Irish shillelagh.

Special Drawback: Even though this Fighting Style’s rules apply to many different weapons, the varied methods mean that you are at a disadvantage when applying it to a sword (or long stick) that isn’t used in your particular school of fighting. A fencing master won’t be able to easily use his version of the Fighting Style with a katana. If your character uses a maneuver in conjunction with an unfamiliar weapon, you suffer a –2 penalty to your character’s Weaponry dice pool. This does not apply when your character’s just trying to hit an enemy – just when he’s trying to use a specific maneuver. This makes the Thrust (•) maneuver useless with unfamiliar weapons

Assume that each school can apply this Fighting Style to up to three weapons. For example a kendo player could apply this to the katana, wooden bokken (club) and bamboo shinai, while a classical kenjutsu stylist might be able to use the katana, bokken and wakizashi. To broaden your character’s ability with this Fighting Style, select the Student of the Blade Merit.

Your character prefers to fight with a chosen weapon in a manner that favors agility over power. With that one weapon (a rapier or katana, for example), you may substitute your character’s Dexterity for Strength when making attack rolls.

This Merit may be purchased multiple times to gain agility with more weapons, one for each purchase.

Your character is trained in the art of Filipino fighting, which is often called escrima or kali. He may have learned this from an instructor or a family member. Most escrima techniques use weapons and are meant predominantly for self-defense.

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with blunt weapons. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. So, your character cannot have “Disarm” until he has “Lock and Block.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based upon the Weaponry Skill.

Note that to perform these maneuvers, a character must have at least one blunt weapon in hand. This weapon is potentially one escrima stick (or a pair), but it can be any blunt object shorter than two feet in length. If the character wields two weapons, he still assumes the –2 penalty for off-hand attacks. Once the character reaches the fourth and final level of this style, he can then choose to use any of the maneuvers without weapons. At this stage he learns the “empty hand” techniques of escrima.

Lock and Block (•): With this move, your character uses an adversary’s momentum against her. If you succeed on a Strength + Weaponry roll, your character captures an opponent’s attacking arm in his own and gains a grapple over her (for grappling rules, see p. 157, the World of Darkness Rulebook). You may add your character’s Defense to the Strength + Weaponry roll, as he is technically making a defensive maneuver. However, if you choose to add his Defense to this attack, you may not apply his Defense against any incoming attacks that turn. If he has already applied his Defense, he may still utilize this maneuver, but he does not get to add his Defense to the roll.

Disarm (••): This allows your character to capture an incoming attack and bring his own weapon down upon a foe’s forearm, potentially forcing the enemy to drop her weapon. (Note that this is different than the Disarm Merit.) To enact this maneuver, make a normal attack roll (Dexterity + Weaponry). Compare the successes on this roll against the opponent’s Stamina. If the successes are equal to or exceed her Stamina score, she drops the weapon. This attack does cause damage to the opponent, as well. Take the successes gained on the attack roll and halve them (round up). The opponent takes this damage, bashing.

Off-Balancing Attack (•••): With this attack, your character uses his weapon to set a foe off-balance. This attack can take any form: thrusting a baton into a solar plexus, hitting a foe’s temple or the bridge of her nose or using a stick’s momentum to push her into an awkward position. The attack is made at a –2 penalty. If successful, the attack does full damage and the opponent’s next attack is made at a –3 penalty.

Many-Handed Defense (••••): Escrima practitioners know how to move and flow with the combat in ways often unparalleled in other weapon-style systems. In this case, you may apply your character’s full Defense (or Dodge) to all attacks against him in a single turn. They are not diminished at all by attacks made after the first.

Filipino martial arts include more than stick fighting, but the methods listed under its Fighting Style in World of Darkness: Armory are a suitable core template for any sophisticated school of the club. Note that this core styles relies on using the properties of a stick to defend, disarm and bind opponents. To simply strike with it is a variant of the core Light Sword Fighting Styles. Experienced Filipino martial arts practitioners will often know that style as well, if not additional styles reflecting the diverse possibilities in their system, making a true escrima, kali or arnis school a compound Fighting Style (see p. 95).

The Filipino method integrates weapons and empty-handed training, but the core style does not. For this reason, it is strongly suggested that for consistency’s sake you remove this benefit from the Fighting Style and use the new Merit: Weapons to Empty Hands instead. If existing characters already use this benefit, give them the Merit for free.

Schools: Sticks and clubs are universal weapons, so there are many schools devoted to mastering them, but not all of them have this style’s particular orientation. Police learn the style’s maneuvers to employ the PR–24 side handle baton in the field. Various Chinese and Japanese schools teach cudgel-based disarms and grappling as well.

Your character knows how to keep a hold of his gun when someone tries to take it, even while it’s holstered. If an opponent attempts to disarm her with an overpower maneuver, an attempt to target her holster with a grab (see the World of Darkness rulebook, p. 138) or use a similar tactic learned from a Fighting Style, he must subtract your character’s Brawl dots from his dice pool. This benefit also applies to attempts to steal the weapon from your character’s holster.
Drawback: This benefit doesn’t apply against attempts to take a weapon by stealth.

+1 Speed per dot

Regardless of your character’s physical build, he can run quickly when he chooses to.

Your character dedicates an action to altering his standing in the Initiative order in the following turn and for all subsequent turns, choosing to insert himself at a new point in the roster, even if it means going first when he went last before. For example, if your Initiative roll (see p. 151) resulted in a 9, but a rival whom your character wanted to waylay got a 12, your character can forfeit an action in turn one to get a fresh start and then act before that rival at 13 in turn two and afterward. Drawback: A character must take an action to change his Initiative ranking in subsequent turns. He can do nothing else in that action except move up to his Speed.

Unlike the Allies Merit available in the World of Darkness Rulebook, which represents influence in a particular field or area, a Ghost Ally represents a specific being — a ghost who is able and willing to aid the character in her endeavors.

A Ghost Ally is built as follows. First, he has seven dots in Attributes, divided among Power, Finesse and Resistance.

These Attributes are used to determine the rest of the ghost’s Advantages according to the rules outlined on p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ghost Ally has both a Virtue and a Vice, but no Skills. The Ghost Ally has a maximum Essence pool of 10 that is used to fuel Numina. The Ghost Ally has one Numen, chosen from those listed in the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ally also has a single anchor that must be the character with whom the being is connected.

Finally, a Ghost Ally has a set number of bonus points used to flesh out the restless-dead character. With this Merit at three dots, a Ghost Ally has six bonus points, while the four-dot Merit offers 12 bonus points, and the five-dot version offers 18. These bonus points can be spent as follows: six points per additional Attribute dot, three points per additional anchor and six points per additional Numen. Also, for six points, the bond between ghost and character is made so strong that the character can see and hear the ghost when it is present, even without any psychic abilities. Without such a bond, the character cannot perceive the ghost unless it manifests or otherwise makes its presence known.

Your character is seven or more feet tall and over 250 pounds. He is +1 Size (and thus +1 Health).

Drawback: Your character needs to shop in big-and-tall clothing stores or gets clothes custom tailored. He might also be required to purchase two seats for air travel, depending on the airline.

Your character towers over other children. She is, for all intents and purposes, the same size as an adult. She wears adult clothing, can ride all the rides at amusement parks, and can survive a deploying airbag. She gains +1 Size (to the adult size of 5). This also grants her +1 Health. This also adds one die to any attempt to pass as an adult (see Disguise, p. 74).

Drawbacks: People have a tendency to treat your character like an adult, when she’s not. This can lead to awkward social situations. Also, she no longer fits on or in a whole lot of fun kid stuff. Finally, when Dodging, you don’t get as much of a bonus as most kids (see p. 142).

Years of working with demanding corporations have served your character well. She can make effective use of her time, provided that she’s not relying on anyone else who might slow her down. Each roll in an extended action has the time requirement reduced by one quarter.

For instance, if the character is translating a text and each roll would normally require one hour, a character with this Merit only requires 45 minutes for each roll.

Characters using Teamwork (see p. 134 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) cannot benefit from this Merit, or characters relying on machines (such as lab equipment).
Good Time Management applies only to mundane actions. It does not apply to magical rituals of any kind, though it does apply to researching such rituals.

Your character has trained to grapple using old school, no holds barred catch wrestling (Olympic style wrestlers learn the first two maneuvers), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Russian sombo. He uses leverage and positioning to out-grapple opponents.

Sprawl (•): Your character knows how to “sprawl” and sink his weight to avoid being overpowered in a grapple. Subtract the higher of Strength +1 or Dexterity +1 from dice pools to overpower him in a grapple. This doesn’t apply to the initial hold, but subsequent attacks from the grip.

Takedown/Throw (••): Your character knows how to rapidly close with your enemy and take him to the ground. In lieu of securing a grappling hold, he can immediately render the opponent prone (see The World of Darkness, p. 157 and 164). Furthermore, if he takes an opponent down this way, he can choose whether or not to go prone with the target. Mixed martial arts fighters take a crouching (but still standing) position from her and deliver vicious beatings with their hands – a technique called “ground and pound.”

Chokehold (•••): Your character can efficiently choke enemies by cutting off blood flow to their brains. If he overpowers an opponent in a grapple, he can start the choke. The choke inflicts a cumulative –1 die penalty to the opponent’s actions for each turn it’s maintained. The victim falls unconscious if he endures a choking attack for a number of consecutive turns equal to his Stamina. Your character can continue choking an unconscious victim. This inflicts lethal damage equal to the attacker’s Strength + Brawl successes every turn.
Chokeholds don’t work on opponents who don’t need to breathe.

Submission Hold (••••): Opponents caught in your joint locks can’t escape without injuring themselves. If your character scores more successes than his opponent’s Size in an immobilization attempt, the victim can’t attempt any physical action – including breaking free – without suffering a point of lethal damage. This penalty lasts from the moment of immobilization to end of the next turn.
Furthermore, your character can always choose to inflict one point of lethal damage whenever he damages an opponent with an overpowering roll. The character’s first Strength + Brawl success inflicts a point of lethal damage; subsequent successes inflict bashing damage.
Submission holds don’t work on creatures that don’t have bones.

Schools: As the core description mentions, the most common versions of this style are used by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylists and mixed martial artists. Olympic style wrestlers don’t learn the listed higher dots, but might have specialized maneuvers to replace them. Some pro-wrestling schools teach real catch as catch can wrestling along with ring showmanship. In the wrestling world, “legit” grapplers enjoy a certain amount of prestige – and bring the real pain to anyone to tries to mess with them.

Remember that specific styles may have specialized maneuvers (see p. 106).

Prerequisites:
Combination Blows Fighting Style Maneuver (Boxing or Aggressive Striking •••), Takedown/Throw Fighting Style Maneuver (Grappling ••)

Your character may use Combination Blows (World of Darkness core, pp. 110–111) to perform Takedown/Throw Maneuver followed by an unarmed strike. If she succeeds with the first maneuver, her dice pool doesn’t suffer the usual –1 penalty for the second attack in the Combination Blows series. Instead, the character gains a +2 bonus to strike her prone opponent.

Someone is personally responsible for your character’s physical safety on a day-to-day basis. This custodian accompanies your character everywhere — to and from school, on shopping trips and picnic outings, even to check out the mummies in the museum; everywhere but around the house. A one-dot Guardian may be a nanny, au pair or tutor. A three-dot Guardian is a bodyguard, someone trained in close personal protection, who may even carry a gun and wear body armor. Obviously, a typical nanny or tutor isn’t trained to physically protect a child, but without a doubt, an accompanied child is much safer than one wandering around alone. Note: parents and other relatives may qualify for this Merit. The difference between a stay-at-home mom who is a Guardian and one who isn’t is that the former expects her child to not be safe, and/or to cause trouble. Most parents, rightly or wrongly, expect that their children not be in danger every day.

Drawback: Your character’s actions are limited by what the Guardian will allow. It is possible to ditch the Guardian to have a little fun, but it won’t be easy, especially if the Guardian has tactical training (or your character has a reputation for escapes and escapades). But at least if your character disappears, somebody knows he’s missing.

A strange presence watches over your character, keeping her safe from harm — or so it seems. She gets into and out of serious scrapes without any real harm.
When a bad situation could go either way, it always tips just right. Your character may just be lucky.
You have two options for the Guardian Angel Merit.

You might decide to specify what exactly the presence is that protects your character, give it traits and fully defined capabilities, and have the Storyteller control it during the game. The creature might be ghost or spirit (see p. 199), or a supernatural creature of some kind — perhaps even a vampire, werewolf or mage. The Appendix to this book gives some basic information on such creatures. Making the Guardian Angel into a character this way means that what it can and can’t do is very well defined, but it also means that the Angel can die. The Angel should still be invisible much of the time, only appearing and helping the character indirectly.

The second option is that the character just seems to get all the breaks. The “Guardian Angel” here is metaphorical, rather than being an actual, sentient creature. Before every chapter, the player rolls Resolve + Composure. Multiply the successes by two. The result is the number of bonus dice that can be used on any roll during that chapter. The dice can, instead, be applied to characters acting in direct opposition to the protected character as penalties. Each die can be used only once.

Example: Alice has the Guardian Angel Merit. Before the session starts, her player rolls Resolve + Composure and gets three successes. She therefore has six bonus dice for this chapter. During the session, Alice winds up running away from one of her teachers, a man who turns out to be something other than he appears. She hides from the teacher, and her player applies three of the bonus dice. The Storyteller picks up some dice to roll Wits + Composure for the stalker, and Alice’s player, not liking the size of the dice pool she’s seeing, applies the other three dice from her Guardian Angel as a penalty to the Storyteller’s roll. The roll fails, so Alice is still hidden — but she’s used up her Angel’s influence for the chapter.

Your character’s capability and experience with firearms is such that he can accurately fire two pistols at the same time. Your character still suffers the -2 offhand penalty for shooting with his secondary hand (unless he also possesses the Ambidextrous Merit, above), but he can shoot both pistols as a single action during a turn. The second attack is also at a -1 penalty. Your character may shoot at two different targets if he wishes, but the amount of concentration required negates his Defense for the turn.

The Merit can be used with pistols only.

Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this Merit on two separate targets in the same turn. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Your character can take a big hit and still keep her focus. She receives a +2 modifier to all Resolve rolls to avoid being stunned. If she would normally not be allowed a roll (because the attack inflicted more points of damage than her Stamina), the player may still make a Resolve roll to avoid the stun. In this case, though, the +2 modifier does not apply. See p. 153 for more on stuns.

Your character has a strong upper body, tough knuckles and enough raw aggression to punch harder than most people. Her strikes inflict +1 damage. This even applies when she’s wearing knuckledusters or other blunt fist loads.
Drawback: The benefit does not apply to biting, grappling attacks or sharp weapons (including blades or spiked fist loads) – just standard unarmed strikes.

Your character is skilled in the arts of whole-body healing, promoting health and recovery by keeping a person’s entire physiology balanced and strong. The result is that he is able to treat sickness and some injuries (those not requiring surgery, and ones suffered to bashing or lethal damage but not aggravated) with a collection of natural remedies rather than resorting to a doctor or hospital.

Make an Intelligence + Medicine roll once per day when your character spends an hour treating a patient.

If the roll is successful, the patient’s healing times that day are halved. The worst of a patient’s injuries must be treated first. So, if he has suffered a lethal wound and a successful roll is made, the wound heals that day rather than in two days. If the patient has suffered nothing but bashing damage, all wounds are healed in mere minutes (about eight each). See [[healing times]].

Roll Results Success: Your character’s treatment is rewarding and the patient’s healing time that day is halved.

Exceptional Success: The patient responds remarkably well to treatment. You can skip tomorrow’s roll altogether. It’s automatically assumed to succeed. In that case, two lethal wounds can be healed in two days.

Failure: The treatment has no effect and normal healing times apply to any bashing wounds or to a single lethal wound. If the Storyteller allows, your character can make a successive attempt to try again that day [[(see p. 132)]]. If still no successes are gained to heal a single lethal wound or one or more bashing wounds, those must be allowed to heal naturally before another effort can be made. Thus, if no successes are rolled to heal one of a patient’s lethal wounds, that wound must heal naturally over two days before your character can try to heal another lethal wound.

Dramatic Failure: Your character misdiagnoses or mistreats the problem, making it worse. The patient does not heal more quickly (he maintains normal healing times). He does, however, suffer an additional point of bashing damage. Your character cannot try to heal the patient again for his current injuries.

Suggested Equipment: Holistic medicines (+1), healing-touch manuals (+1), body-purifying foods and liquids (+1)

Possible Penalties: Lack of remedies (-1 to -4), noisy environment (-1), imminent danger (-3), improvised facilities (-1)

Your character can be possessed even by spirits that cannot normally use the Possession Numen. All the spirit needs to do is fetter to the character, and then it can possess him for a scene with a contested Power + Finesse versus Resolve + Composure roll. The character can serve as a mouthpiece for spirits too weak to normally interact with the material world on a meaningful level, but also gets sought out by more powerful spirits who would prefer to abuse the character’s ability.

Many vampires have the ability to control minds through supernatural means; however, those who do not still have the urge to control. Some, especially members of the Shadow Cults, learn how to create trance states in people. If Nitokris’ cultists lie so still while she eviscerates them, it’s partly because of the brainwashing, but partly because of the hypnosis.

A character with this Merit can hypnotize others using the Occult or Medicine Skills. The character must choose which of the two Skills the Merit is tied to, and writes the Merit down on the character sheet as either Hypnosis (Medicine) or Hypnosis (Occult). The character can only use the chosen Skill to perform hypnosis. If the player wants the character to be able to use either Skills, he has to buy the Merit twice, once for each Skill.

Many hypnotists use equipment such as pendulums, pocket watches, simple machines which project revolving spiral patterns and the like. A subject placed in a trance becomes easily manipulated and likely to respond positively to questioning or suggestion.

This Merit is not limited to vampires; it can be bought by any character.

Hypnotizing a Subject
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult or Medicine + equipment (hypnotist) — subject’s Resolve + Blood Potency (if target resists)
Action: Extended

The hypnotist requires a number of successes equal to twice the target’s Willpower. Each roll represents one minute of work. If the hypnotist succeeds, the target falls into a trance and becomes malleable to suggestion.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hypnotist fails even to calm the subject down, or makes a basic error in the process. The subject cannot be hypnotized again for a number of days equal to his Resolve.
Failure: The hypnotist fails to induce trance in the time allowed, or gains no successes towards hypnotizing the subject.
Success: The hypnotist makes progress, or gathers enough successes to place the subject in a trance. As long as the trance persists, any rolls the hypnotist’s player makes to influence the subject (eg. to induce the subject to impart information or to implant a post-hypnotic suggestion which will make the subject behave in a certain way after the trance has ended) gain a bonus equal to the hypnotist’s dots in Manipulation.
Exceptional Success: The hypnotist makes speedy headway towards hypnotizing the subject.

Equipment: Pendulum or pocketwatch on chain (+1); audio visual stimulation (+1 to +3); white and featureless room (+1).

Possible Penalties: Unfamiliar with subject (-2); language barrier (-3); distractions nearby (-2).

Although not truly a psychic power, Hypnotic Voice is certainly capable of eerie effects. Whether through training in psychology or simply through having a deep, soothing voice, a character with this Merit is capable of hypnotizing others into trance states. The character can hypnotize anyone given the opportunity, but it is much easier if the subject is willing. While in a hypnotic trance, a subject can be given suggestions or forced to confront repressed memories, possibly memories stolen by vampiric Disciplines or repressed due to Lunacy triggered by werewolves, or Disbelief invoked by vulgar magic.

Inducing a Light Trance
In order to begin the process of hypnotizing a subject, Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (depending on which Skill is used as the prerequisite for the Merit) is rolled. If the subject is willing, the roll is extended but not contested, and the hypnotist must accumulate [subject’s Resolve x5] successes, with each roll representing 10 seconds of induction. If the subject is unwilling, he can resist with Composure + Supernatural Advantage in contested rolls; resistance is reflexive. If the subject ever gets more successes in a single roll, he realizes what the hypnotist is attempting and any further attempts to hypnotize the subject fail automatically. If the subject and hypnotist ever get the same number of successes in a roll, the subject does not begin to enter a trance, but doesn’t realize what the hypnotist attempts either, so the performer can proceed. If the hypnotist’s successes on a roll are ever five or more and exceed the subject’s in that period, the victim begins to enter a trance despite himself and suffers a –1 penalty on all subsequent contested rolls. The hypnotist must have a target’s undivided attention. She cannot hypnotize someone carrying on a conversation with someone else, or who intently watches television while paying the hypnotist no mind.

Once the player accumulates enough successes, the subject is successfully placed into a light trance. The subject is not able to initiate any hostile actions until he wakes up, and is highly suggestible. The hypnotist can induce an entranced subject to give up any non-intimate information or to perform almost any non-hazardous action with a successful Manipulation + Persuasion roll. A light trance lasts for a scene before the subject comes out of it. The trance ends automatically if someone makes a loud noise or even physically shakes the subject, and the hypnotist can wake the subject whenever she desires. If the hypnotist attempts to get the subject to do something that violates her Morality or her Virtue, or that is obviously dangerous or suicidal, the trance ends immediately.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (Hypnotherapy Specialty), possibly contested by Composure + Supernatural Advantage
Action: Extended (subject willing) or extended and contested (subject unwilling). The hypnotist must accumulate successes equal to the target’s Resolve x5, with each roll representing 10 seconds of speech.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance his subject and loses any accumulated successes. If the subject was unwilling, she automatically knows that the hypnotist was attempting to hypnotize her and may react accordingly. Any subsequent attempts to hypnotize the subject (or indeed, anyone else who saw what happened) fail automatically.

Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.

Success:
The character gets the required number of successes and the subject is placed in a light trance.

Exceptional Success:
The character gathers five or more successes than required. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the subject for the remainder of the trance.

Deepening the Trance
Once a subject is put into a light trance, the character can attempt to hypnotize him further. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion (– the subject’s Composure). While such a deep trance lasts, the hypnotist gains a +2 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject (+5 with an exceptional success), she can persuade him to perform almost any non-dangerous action, and she can give post-hypnotic suggestions that can affect the subject’s perceptions or even beliefs (such as the stereotypical depiction of the hypnotist making a subject bark like a dog). A deep trance lasts for a scene, after which the subject goes into a normal sleep and stays out for hours unless awoken by mundane means.

While the subject is in a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to get him to perform actions that violate his Morality or Virtue, or that are obviously dangerous or suicidal. The hypnotist must phrase such commands in a manner calculated to work around the subject’s beliefs, however. A conservative preacher might rebel at being ordered to strip down in front of strangers, but if persuaded that he was a male dancer, such inhibitions can be overcome. Commands calculated to overcome Morality or Virtue or that place a subject in grave danger suffer a penalty in a Social roll based on how well the hypnotist works around the subject’s inhibitions.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion – subject’s Composure
Action: Instant, although the roll can be made only after at least five minutes of induction

Roll Results Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance the subject, who instantly awakens.

Failure:
The character fails to induce the subject to enter a deep trance. Other attempts can be made if time permits.

Success:
The subject is placed in a deep trance. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the target for the remainder of the trance.

Exceptional Success:
The subject is placed into an exceptionally deep trance. The character gains a +5 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject for the rest of the trance.

Memory Recovery
Once a subject has been put into a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to help him to recover repressed or stolen memories, although doing so might be highly traumatic for the subject depending on the experiences’ nature. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion, resisted by the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage, and accumulate [the subject’s Resolve x5] in successes, all as part of an extended and contested action. The player’s dice pool also suffers a penalty according to the nature of the memories recovered. The hypnotist must achieve an exceptional success (gather five or more successes than needed in the time allowed or under the circumstances) for the subject to be able to recall the repressed memories after waking from the trance. If more successes are ever achieved for the subject in any contested roll, that memory cannot be restored by the hypnotist in this effort. Another attempt may be made after 24 hours.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Extended and contested, with each roll representing 30 minutes of hypnotherapy

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist’s attempts to dredge up the lost memories traumatizes the subject, inflicting a mild derangement on him.

Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.

Success:
The character gets the required number of successes. The subject is able to recall the lost memories while under a trance, but does not recall them while awake.

Exceptional Success:
Five or more successes than required are accumulated. The subject recalls the lost memories after awakening.

Your character has studied the art of iaido, focusing her awareness of her surroundings and her ability to respond to a threat to the razor’s edge. She has learned to draw a blade at a moment’s notice, and has internalized kata focused on swiping the blade across her opponent’s vitals.

Practitioners of iaido often cultivate the Wits Attribute, as speed of thought and awareness of one’s surroundings are valued by adherents of the style.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Iaido maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill and are used with a curved sword, most commonly the katana.

Tsuki Kage (“Draw and Cut;” •): The character sharpens his already capable ability to quickly enter combat. If the character begins combat with his weapon sheathed, he adds his rating in the Weaponry Skill to his Initiative modifier. If the Storyteller utilizes the optional initiative rule from page 151 of the World of Darkness Rulebook, this bonus applies on any turn in which the character’s weapon begins the turn sheathed.
Drawback: The character must commit to an attack against an opponent during the first turn of combat to gain the advantage of this maneuver.

Zanshin (“Awareness;” ••): While honing the speed of one’s reactions can save one’s life, better still to be constantly vigilant. The character strives to remain ever aware of his surroundings, that he may never be taken by surprise. The character gains a bonus of two dice to all rolls to avoid an impending ambush. This Merit duplicates the effect of the Danger Sense Merit, and a character with both Merits gains a total +4 on rolls to avoid being surprised. Such characters are paragons of self-awareness.

Tachi-Sabaki (“Movement of the Sword;” •••): The character has mastered defensive kata designed to intercept incoming attacks and deflect them with the blade of the weapon. The character relies as much on the quality of his sword as he does his own speed of thought and motion. The character adds his weapon bonus (the weapon’s damage rating) to his Dodge value when taking a fully defensive action. A character may benefit from this Merit while utilizing the Weaponry Dodge Merit (though not the Brawling Dodge Merit).
Drawback: The character only benefits from this Merit when taking a full Dodge action.

Kan Ken No Metsuke (“Seeing with Eyes and Mind;” ••••): The character’s speed gives him a small but potentially important edge over other combatants. If the character’s initiative roll results in a tie with another character involved in combat, the character automatically acts before his opponents and allies. Initiative Modifiers are not compared and initiative is never determined by a roll-off (though if multiple characters aside from the iaido practitioner rolled the same initiative, their initiative ratings are resolved as normal). If two characters possess this maneuver, they act at the same time, each resolving their action as if the other had not yet acted. This can result in two characters killing each other in the same heated moment.

Uke Nagashi (“Catch and Slide Off;” •••••): The character’s ability to move defensively and counter an attack with one of his own has been perfected. If the character’s weapon is sheathed, he can declare a Dodge action at any point during a turn, assuming she has not yet acted. His Defense is doubled as usual, though he may not utilize Weaponry Dodge or Tachi-Sabaki against attacks. However, the character can choose any opponent who is making an attack against him to perform a counter attack against. In a single swift motion, the character draws his blade, parries his enemy’s blow, and attacks his opponent. The character’s Weaponry Dodge (if he possesses it) and Tachi-Sabaki maneuver apply against the opponent’s attack (and only against this opponent). The character makes an immediate reflexive attack against the opponent at a one die penalty. After making his counter-attack, the character’s Defense applies as normal to further attacks made against him during the turn (i.e., his Defense is not doubled). Defense penalties for being attacked multiple times during a single turn are not affected by this maneuver in any way.
Drawback: The character spends one Willpower point per turn using this maneuver.

Honmon Enshin Ryu’s Iai Kenpo
A modern school of iaido, Enshin Ryu teaches jujutsu and suemonogiri (the practice of cutting), but possesses a strong focus on being attacked from behind. Students of this style may purchase the following specialized maneuver instead of Kan Ken No Metsuke, above.

Muso-Ken (“No-thought Sword;” ••••): The character draws, turns, and thrusts his blade at a potential enemy in a single motion. A character with this Merit may make a reflexive counter-attack when successfully attacked at point-blank range by an opponent by surprise.
Drawback: This maneuver requires the user to expend a Willpower point. It constitutes the character’s action for the turn, though if used before initiative is rolled, the character may act on his initiative as usual.

Your mage has a magical item with one or more powers. The Prime Arcanum was used to imbue a spell into the object so that its wielder has that power at his disposal (see pp. 225-226).

An imbued item’s base Merit dot cost is equal to one dot plus the dot rating of its Arcanum power, plus one dot per additional power. If it has more than one power or uses a conjunctional spell, use the highest Arcanum dot rating involved.

Base Cost: 1 dot + highest Arcanum dots + 1 dot per additional power.

Imbued items have the following properties.

Function: Persistent or contingent.

A persistent power is always active. The power does not have to be cast by the user to take effect; he simply needs to hold or wear the item. These include amulets of luck, magical body armor or goggles that let the wearer peer into the Shadow Realm. The user must use or wear the imbued item to benefit from the power, but the power cannot be turned on or off with a switch, command word or the like. If one or more of the imbued item’s powers is persistent (i.e., of indefinite Duration), add one dot to its total cost.

A contingent power needs to be activated for each use. The mage squeezes the gun’s trigger or utters the staff’s magic word and calls forth its magic. Duration depends on the default Duration of the spell mimicked by the effect, and is usually transitory (one turn) or prolonged (one hour/scene). Once this period expires, the mage may use the same trigger to use the power again. A trigger should be an appropriate instant action, anything performed within the proximity of the item: verbal commands, gestures and so on.

When the trigger is activated, the imbued item’s spellcasting dice pool is rolled. It is equal to its wielder’s Gnosis + the Arcanum dots used for the power.

Mana: If a contingent power requires Mana, the item must either have its own Mana pool or the mage must supply the points himself. Some imbued items have their own Mana pools. This costs an additional Merit dot and the item holds up to 10 Mana points + 1 per spell (i.e., an imbued item with two spells can hold up to 12 Mana). Its user can draw points from the imbued item to fuel its powers rather than spending his own. This pool is not self-replenishing. Once the points have been used up, the mage must spend his own Mana to restore the imbued item’s points, or use Prime magic to transfer them from a Hallow or some other source.

Unlike an Artifact, an imbued item’s points can be used only to activate its powers, unless the mage uses the “Channel Mana” spell (see p. 224) to place the item’s points somewhere else.

Sleepers: Even a Sleeper can use an imbued item. If its power is persistent, he need only hold or wear it. If it’s contingent, he need only perform the proper trigger. The spellcasting dice pool rolled is equal to the highest Arcanum dot rating used to determine the Imbued Item’s Merit dots, based on the highest rated power (as described above). Since Sleepers do not have Gnosis, it cannot be added to the dice pool. Needless to say, Sleepers must rely on an item’s own Mana pool to fuel its powers.

Paradox: Imbued items’ vulgar powers can invoke Paradoxes, even when wielded by Sleepers. The dice pool is equal to half the item’s Merit dots (round down). (If the item is created during play with the Prime 3 “Imbue Item” spell, pp. 225-226, the Paradox dice pool is based on the Gnosis of the imbued item’s creator.) Items that produce vulgar effects before the eyes of a Sleeper witnesses will also invoke Disbelief (see p. 274). His own inability to accept the magic undermines the magic.

Example: A ring that allows a mage to turn himself invisible on a contingent basis would cost four dots (1 + a 3-dot Forces spell), while a sword with a persistent power that allows it to cut through iron would be rated at five dots (1 + a 3-dot Matter spell + 1 dot for indefinite Duration).

An item can be both imbued and enhanced. See “Enhanced Item,” above. Simply add the cost of all imbuements and enhancements together to determine the item’s total cost.

Acquiring an imbued item once play begins does not cost Merit dots; characters must gain these items through roleplaying actions. If an item is ever lost, stolen or destroyed, the character loses the Merit and the points he spent to gain it.

Your character is able to rally others in times of great distress, renewing their courage and determination in the face of adversity.

Once per game session, your character can exhort those around him to redouble their efforts in the face of great stress or danger. Make a Presence + Persuasion roll. If the roll succeeds, any individuals who actively assist your character and who are within earshot regain one spent Willpower point (not to exceed their Willpower dots). The character may not use this Merit on himself, and may not use it on the same subjects more than once a day.

Your character can rally other children to action. Even if her speech is loaded with references to comic book characters and popular movies, it nonetheless raises the spirits of her intended audience and bolsters their courage, no matter what lies ahead.

Once per chapter, you may make a Presence + Socialize roll for your character. If the roll succeeds, all children listening — and who intend to help out or go along with a proposed course of action — regain one spent Willpower point (not to exceed their Willpower dots). Your character cannot use this Merit on herself.

Each dot eliminates a negative modifier (on a one-for-one basis) when resisting the effects of fatigue or injury. For example: A character with Iron Stamina •• is able to ignore up to a -2 modifier brought on by fatigue. See “Fatigue,” p. 179. The Merit also counteracts the effects of wound penalties. So, if all of your character’s Health boxes are filled (which normally imposes a -3 penalty to his actions) and he has Iron Stamina •, those penalties are reduced to -2. This Merit cannot be used to gain positive modifiers for actions, only to cancel out negative ones.

Your character can push his body well past the limits of physical endurance when he has to, pressing on in the face of mounting exhaustion or pain. Perhaps he trained himself to go without sleep for days at a time in order to get through college, or a lifetime of sports has taught your character how to play through the pain no matter how bad it gets.

Drawback: When your character does finally rest, he sleeps like the dead. After staying awake for an extended period, your character is extremely difficult to wake until he’s slept for a minimum of 12 hours, regardless of the situation.

Your character can eat almost anything, under almost any conditions. Greasy bacon and runny eggs on a raging hangover? No problem. The green meat in the fridge? No problem. Milk two weeks past its expiration date? No problem. He could be dropped in the middle of the forest and could live off bugs and roots as long as necessary in order to survive — and with no ill effects.

Add two dice to appropriate Survival rolls.

Add three to Stamina to resist deprivation (see p. 175).

Judo is an Olympic sport. People all over the world study this martial art. The quintessence of modern gendai budo, it retains a strong sense of tradition while adopting cutting edge training methods.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Judo maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill and work in conjunction with unarmed combat and athletics.

Ukemi (“Receiving;” •): Your character knows how to fall properly and get up quickly. He may stand up from a prone position (but not both) once per turn as a reflexive action, and is considered to have one point of armor against bashing damage caused by falls – but not other sources.

Nage-waza (“Throwing Techniques;” ••): Your character may use a grappling overpower to render an opponent prone without falling prone herself – but if she chooses to fall prone, she may simultaneously damage her opponent while rendering her prone. Furthermore, she excels at gripping clothing. If the opponent wears anything heavier than a t-shirt on his upper body she gains a +1 equipment bonus to perform each of the above maneuvers. If the opponent wears a gi (a karate or judo-style uniform), this increases to +2.

Sutemi-waza (“Sacrifice Techniques;” •••): Your character uses her own bodyweight to drive her opponent to the ground, falling prone along with him. If she uses an all-out attack (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p.157) you may add her Athletics skill to a roll instead of the usual +2 to render her opponent prone while using the nage-waza option that allows her to simultaneously damage an opponent and render her prone, while falling prone herself.

Renzoku-waza (“Combination Techniques;” ••••): The character can attempt multiple grappling or shihonage attacks per turn, or he can defend with multiple throws using the Aiki maneuver. He may make one additional grapple or shihonage for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2. Each extra action is rolled at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, he can attempt two grapples or shihonage at Dexterity 3 (with the second at a –1 modifier), three at Dexterity 4 (at a 0, –1 then –2 modifier to dice rolls) and four at Dexterity 5 (at 0, –1, –2 and –3 to each dice roll, in turn).
Drawback: If the character’s first action is anything but a grapple or shihonage attempt he cannot use this benefit.

Tokui-waza (“Favorite Technique;” •••••): Through constant practice and competition, your character had made one throw into a specialty. It’s not easy to apply it every time, but when the opportunity appears, few people can resist her technique. If her opponent scores zero successes to establish a hold, escape one or use an overpowering maneuver and the character secures a hold herself, she creates an opening for the technique.

If you score even one success on one of the nage-waza based overpowering actions (render an opponent prone while standing, or render both combatants prone while inflicting damage), add the character’s Athletics Skill as extra successes.

Many kids take karate classes at small dojos in strip malls and tiny urban studios. Parents enroll them hoping their children will learn discipline, maybe a little self-defense, and at least spend a little time off the sofa and away from the TV. A good karate teacher will, in addition, make sure her pupils learn to avoid confrontations when possible, and to run away when the opportunity arises. When all that fails, her students may have a punch or kick to throw into the mix.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Your character can’t have “Cautious Engagement” until he has “Evade.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below.

Evade (•): The first rule is to not get hit. When your character is facing a single opponent, he can dodge and weave pretty well. Add a +2 modifier to his Defense when he uses a Dodge action (after doubling his Defense for the Dodge). For example, a character with a Defense of 3 would have a total Defense of 8 against a single attacker when Dodging. See p. 142 for more on the Dodge system. If another opponent joins the attack, this bonus is lost.

Cautious Engagement (••): You attack, but keep a very healthy respect for your single opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense against Brawl-based attacks only (not against Weaponry attacks). If another opponent joins the attack, this bonus is lost.

Vulnerable Target Strike (•••): While there isn’t a whole lot of chance to practice this at full speed in class, your character knows sensitive spots to attack — eyes, nose, ears, throat, groin, knee. If your character’s attack succeeds, one of the points of damage he inflicts is lethal instead of bashing.

Your character practices Krav Maga, and has become competent in an unarmed variant of Defensive Striking. Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Krav Maga maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill unless otherwise noted and are used unarmed.

Immediate Defense (•): The character has learned to act quickly to neutralize a threat and make a fast escape. She gains a bonus to her Initiative equal to her Brawl Skill when fighting armed opponents.

Disarming Defense (••): The character twists her torso out of danger while grabbing her opponent’s wrist and pulling him forward, using her own torso for leverage as she tears his weapon from his hand. This acts as the Disarm Merit save that it utilizes the Brawl Skill. Rather than knocking the weapon away, the character takes the weapon from her opponent, and may use it the following turn.

Impenetrable Defense (•••): The character knows that offense and defense are one in the same. The character may add his rating in his Brawl Skill to his Defense or Dodge against a single incoming attack. The bonus from this maneuver combines with that from Brawling Dodge.
Drawback: The character must expend a Willpower point to perform this maneuver. This maneuver is reflexive, and a character may use it and perform an instant action (such as attacking) so long as she did not use the Dodge action.

The First Moment (••••): The character has trained her reaction time to a tenth of a second, acting more by instinct than thought. If the character’s initiative roll results in a tie with another character involved in combat, the character automatically acts before his opponents and allies. Initiative Modifiers are not compared and initiative is never determined by a roll-off (though if multiple characters aside from the Krav Maga practitioner rolled the same initiative, their initiative ratings are resolved as normal). If two characters possess this maneuver, they act at the same time, each resolving their action as if the other had not yet acted. This can result in two characters killing each other in the same heated moment.

Finishing the Fight (•••••): The character moves defensively, but knows when to lash out at an enemy to bring him crashing to the ground. The character declares and benefits from a Dodge action (including Brawling Dodge, if she possesses it). She may abort that action to make an immediate, reflexive counter-attack against an opponent whose attack fails to overcome her Dodge trait.
Drawback: This maneuver costs the character one Willpower point to enact. After making her counter-attack, the character loses her Defense for the remainder of the turn.

Your character is trained in one of the many forms of Kung Fu, conditioning his mind and body for the purposes of focus and self-defense. He may have begun his training at an early age, following in the footsteps of family or friends, or he may have joined a school as an adult for the purposes of exercise or protection.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Iron Skin” until he has “Focused Attack.” The maneuvers and their effects are listed below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

Focused Attack (•): Physical conditioning and accuracy allow your character to deliver blows at vulnerable spots on targets. Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. See “Specified Targets,” p. 165. Even when a specific part of an opponent is not targeted, armor penalties to your character’s Brawl attacks are reduced by one.

Iron Skin (••): Your character has hardened his body to physical blows, allowing him to withstand repeated hits with minimal effect. He has an effective armor trait of 1 against bashing attacks only.

Defensive Attack (•••): Your character has mastered the ability to fight defensively. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty. He can move no more than his Speed while performing a Defense Attack maneuver in a turn.

Whirlwind Strike (••••): Your character can unleash a storm of blows against an opponent. He can make a number of extra Brawl attacks for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2 in a single action. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative -1 modifier. Thus, he can perform a total of two attacks at Dexterity 3 (the second of which is at -1), three attacks at Dexterity 4 (the third of which is at -2), and four at Dexterity 5 (the fourth of which is at -3). All attacks must be on the same target.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver this turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Lethal Strike (•••••): By focusing his might and concentration, your character can kill or maim an opponent with a well-placed strike. A strike inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Your character is skilled in the German two-handed long sword style, or another martial art that specializes in using a long two-handed sword or stick. Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Langschwert maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill and work in conjunction with a Size 3 or 4 blade or staff.

Wards (•): Your character knows how to use his weapon to deflect and threaten away attacks. Add 1 to his Defense when he wields a weapon compatible with this Fighting Style.

Fool’s Guard (••): Your character knows how to hold his weapon low to seemingly invite attack, but when the opponent strikes, he can quickly raise it to counter. Instead of offering a normal Defense, roll Strength + Weaponry + 1 die against the opponent’s attack. This is an instant action. Each success reduces the attack’s damage by 1, and if the characters successes exceed the attacker’s, the difference is inflicted upon the attacker as damage from the character’s weapon
Drawback: The character cannot employ his Defense in any turn where he uses the Fool’s Guard.

Half Sword (•••): Your character grabs the midpoint of his weapon to rain more powerful thrusts and blows at a shorter range, almost as if he was using the blade as a small spear. If his attack succeeds, add 2 to the weapon’s damage (do not add this as the weapon’s equipment bonus, but after rolling).
Drawback: The weapon’s reduced range nullifies the Wards maneuver, so the character loses its Defense bonus. It also reduces the character’s Weaponry-based dice pool by one.

Doubling Cut (••••): Your character strikes the enemy with two quick cuts. He can make two Weaponry attacks against an opponent in the same turn.
Drawback: Your character cannot employ his Defense or the Fool’s Guard in the same turn as he uses this maneuver.

Wrathful Cut (•••••): Your character steps in with a powerful blow, capable of overwhelming his enemy’s defenses. When he makes an All-Out Attack (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157), add his Weaponry dots instead of the normal +2 bonus.
Drawback: Your character cannot employ his Defense or the Fool’s Guard in the same turn as he uses this maneuver.

Your character knows an additional language besides his own, one that he can read, write and speak with fluency. If he wishes to convince others that he is a native speaker, however, the Storyteller might call for an Intelligence + Expression roll, contested with a reflexive Intelligence + Academics roll by anyone who is suspicious.

You must specify which language your character is familiar with when purchasing this Merit. You may take this Merit multiple times, with a different language for each.

Your character possesses a strong metaphysical bond to another individual. This person is likely a mortal friend or relative, but may be a supernatural entity. She cannot, however, be another Jiang Shi; the bonds that tie the Jiang Shi to the living are bonds of jealousy and longing, emotions these beasts do not feel toward one another. The bond need not be one forged while the Jiang Shi remained alive (someone who prays each day at a temple haunted by a Jiang Shi, for example, may eventually come to serve as that creature’s anchor), though it often is.

The Living Anchor acts in all ways as an anchor for the character. The Jiang Shi can travel to her as an instant action, but can travel from her only a distance in miles equal to his Resolve. As a result, Jiang Shi often threaten and coerce their Living Anchors to travel to locations of the cursed creature’s choosing.

Drawback: The bond with the Living Anchor must be established, requiring at least an uninterrupted hour of contact each week for four weeks before the Jiang Shi may purchase this Merit. This time requirement is waived for living family and close acquaintances from life, but the character must somehow arrange to be in the individual’s presence for an hour to cement the bond.

Furthermore, the Living Anchor may not be particularly inclined to assist a self-damned creature of the night. The Jiang Shi must keep the Living Anchor convinced that helping him is in her best interest. He may do so through bribery or threats, though actually killing her severs his connection to her (which may leave a Jiang Shi stranded at his grave, depending upon how remote that location is). A Living Anchor who has been pushed too far can become a deadly and devoted enemy to the Jiang Shi. One legend persists in Japan regarding a Jiang Shi (kyonshi) that killed his Living Anchor’s cousin. The Living Anchor hunted down the Jiang Shi’s grave and, with the help of a priest, destroyed the foul abomination. With both its anchors in one place, it had nowhere to run.

Your character can draw Essence from a locus, an ability normally reserved for spirits, werewolves and some mages. This requires a Morality roll that the character can only attempt once per day. Each success allows the character to draw out one point of Essence, and each point requires one minute of meditative effort. The character still has no ability to store that Essence within himself or use it for any means, but he can channel it to objects or creatures that can (such as spirits or the Cup of Life fetish, see p. 120). If the character somehow has the ability to use Essence, he may bend this Essence to that use immediately (but still cannot store it).

Drawback: Possession of this Merit makes the character a threat to some (endangering their supplies of Essence) and a resource to others (potentially doubling their daily Essence acquisition). If the character isn’t careful with his ability, others may try to eliminate him or use him as a tool.

The Lucid Dreamer Merit is common among both ordinary people and psychics. It represents the capacity to realize that one is dreaming and that such dreams cannot truly cause harm. Your character is rarely troubled by any but the most terrifying of mundane nightmares, although he remains vulnerable to supernaturally or psychically induced ones. The Dreamer can defend himself against attacks by psychics who have the Dream Travel Merit.

When a Lucid Dreamer is psychically attacked within one of his own dreams, his Composure is considered to be +2 for purposes of determining whether a dream attack can harm him. Second, a Lucid Dreamer can initiate attacks against intruders of his dreams. One Willpower point must be spent per attack, and each attack is resolved according to the rules for Dream Travel described on p. 38. Unless a Lucid Dreamer has the power of Dream Travel, he can initiate these attacks only within his own dreams.

We make our own luck, which is of course an easy thing to say but not a rational thing to count on in the real world. Or is it? In the case of the body thief, relying on the good luck that flows naturally to any one person in any given frame of time isn’t always enough. To the body thief who has developed the ability to drain the luck of others, the roll of a dice isn’t up to chance like it is with the rest of the world. This is handy because the risk inherent in stealing the bodies and lives of others grows exponentially with every passing year. Luck Drain ultimately comes down to robbing a victim of success on an action and taking those successes for themselves. Unfortunately, this ability does not work in conjunction with other body thief Merits or with any rolls to steal or borrow someone else’s body. In addition, dealing with these kinds of forces can be dangerous; attempting to use this power more than three times a day results in a backlash that reduces the success category by one. A success becomes a failure while a failure becomes a dramatic failure. The caster must be able to either see the target or have a sympathetic connection to steal the target’s luck.

Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge versus Resolve
Duration: One day or until the effects are suffered and enjoyed

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The power fails and the caster can- not use this power for one full day. In addition, the caster’s next roll subtracts one success. This can turn success to failure. Also, if the roll fails, the caster instead makes a dramatic failure.

Failure: The power fails.

Success: The next roll the victim makes loses a num- ber of successes equal to the caster’s initial successes. The caster’s next roll gains one success.

Exceptional Success: As above, except the caster’s next roll gains three successes.

By spending 10 minutes ritualizing, the character can grant himself excellent luck at a specific activity. With a 30-minute ritual, he can grant that luck to another or grant himself superlative luck.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character loses the benefit of the 10-Again rule for the specified action.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Success: When using the 10-minute ritual, the character gains the 9-Again rule for a number of rolls of a specific type (driving rolls, firearms rolls, etc.) chosen at the moment of casting equal to his Manipulation. Alternatively, he can spend 30 minutes ritualizing and grant himself 8-Again or another character 9-Again for 3 rolls of a specific type. These “lucky” rolls must be used within 24 hours.
Exceptional Success: As success, save the affected dice pools also gain a bonus die.
Suggested Modifiers
+1 Character possesses a piece of hair or clothing or a sample of blood from someone who excels at the type of action designated.
+1 Character possesses a picture or video of the target performing the chosen activity particularly well.

The character is trained in Modern Army Combatives, the modern military style of hand-to-hand combat that blends a number of fighting styles such as Muay Thai to provide a soldier with an all-round means of unarmed self-defense and defense with short weapons (Brawl and Weaponry Skills).

Each dot of this Fighting Style is the prerequisite for the next higher dot; one cannot purchase “Atemi Attack” until one has purchased “Tactician’s Sense”, for example.

• Tactician’s Sense: The character gauges the body language of combatants in his proximity. In game terms, he can make a Reflexive Wits + Composure perception roll and gauge the Initiative modes of all combatants before a fight starts.

•• Atemi Attack: The human body has a variety of pressure points, any of which can cause an opponent great pain. The trained fighter knows where to strike for maximum effect. When striking with a Brawl or Weaponry attack, the character may ignore up to 1 point of the enemy’s Armor protection per dot in this Fighting Style.

••• Forearm Choke: The character applies pressure to an enemy’s carotid artery in an attempt to knock him out. The character must successfully achieve a Grapple attack. The character may apply the choke hold from the following turn. The hostile may attempt to free himself on his next action with Strength + Brawl, his dice pool penalized by the character’s Strength + 1.

This maneuver is designed to render the foe unconscious. The foe may resist each turn at a cumulative –1 dice pool penalty. When your character has sustained the choke hold for a number of turns equal to the hostile’s Stamina, the hostile is rendered unconscious, and sustains a single point of bashing damage. The Forearm Choke is useless against creatures that do not need to breathe.

•••• Bullring: The character is trained in fighting off multiple opponents simultaneously. His Defense is applied in full to each and every simultaneous hand-to-hand attack in a single turn.

••••• Lethal Strike: The soldier’s hands become deadly weapons when the character spends a Willpower point. A successful Brawl strike delivered in a turn in which he spends Willpower delivers lethal, rather than bashing, damage.
Drawback: Because the lethal attack takes place in that turn, the character cannot spend Willpower to boost his attack dice pool.

Your character can effortlessly enter a meditative state when she chooses, and can remain in it for as long as she wishes. All environmental penalties imposed to Wits + Composure rolls to meditate are ignored. Not even wound penalties apply to your character’s efforts to focus. (See the Meditation Attribute task).

Your character is a natural prodigy, an unlikely master of a Skill or an area of study at a remarkably young age. Select one Skill from the Mental category. Your character has access to the levels of that Skill beyond the cap imposed on child characters (see p. 47). You must still pay for all points in the Skill during character creation, or with experience points at a later date. The Skill should be related to the exceptional Mental Attribute.

For example, Study would most likely be linked to Intelligence (your character is naturally gifted), but it could also be attributable to Resolve (your character studies with remarkable focus). The Storyteller has the final word on the chosen Prodigy and its prerequisite.

This Merit gives your character a friend and teacher who provides her with advice and guidance. Your character’s mentor acts on her behalf, although the Storyteller determines exactly how. A mentor usually offers advice, allowing the Storyteller to use him to help guide your character through tough situations. A mentor may also use his influence or abilities to help your character out, although he probably wants to see his charge do things for herself. A mentor is likely to give up in disgust on a pupil who constantly asks for aid. Mentors may also ask for something in return for their assistance, which can lead your character into some interesting situations.

The number of dots purchased in this Merit determines the relative power, knowledge and experience of your character’s teacher. One dot indicates a mentor with one or more specialized Skills and a small amount of experience in your character’s field of interest. Two dots indicate a mentor with a wide range of capability and experience in your character’s field of interest. Three dots indicate a mentor possessing a broad range of Skills, years of experience and significant influence in your character’s field of interest. Four dots indicate a mentor who not only possesses a broad range of Skills and decades (or in some cases, centuries) of experience, he is also a preeminent figure with major influence in your character’s field of interest. Five dots indicate a mentor with towering influence and power in your character’s field of interest. A five-dot patron watches over your character and influences her life in ways both obvious and subtle, and likely has an agenda in which your character is pivotal.

Traditionally, this fell power is a curse inflicted on a victim through some sympathetic connection. Although it is most useful to Magically Talented body thieves, any thief can make use of this power as it assists in lowering the victim’s resistance to proposals of increasingly vile deeds. Someone who might scoff at petty theft could be talked into anything, even murder if this power is used sufficiently often. There needs to be some kind of physical connection between victim and thief to make this power work. In the case of the House of Avalon, they create an amulet that is given to their would-be victim through which they cast their spells. In other cases, like a wild Mentally Talented body thief, he may need to steal strands of his victim’s hair to sap away her morality.

Dice Pool: Wits + Manipulation versus Resolve + Composure (extended and contested)

Duration: Permanent. Each roll represents one week of effort.

Possible Modifiers: Victim is a relative (+2,) caster has high Humanity (–1 for each dot over five)

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The power fails. The subject is immune to the power for one year.

Failure: Add no successes to the total.

Success: Once the total number of successes exceeds twice the subject’s Willpower, the victim loses one dot of Humanity.

Exceptional Success: No additional effect, beyond the additional successes.

Note: Consider the use of this power a sin against Morality 2.

Your character is trained in the art of boxing, able to deliver swift, powerful kicks and punchs, and to duck and weave away from opponents’ attacks. He might have participated in the sport in high school or college, or made a go of it professionally. Or he might have taken some classes at the local school as a form of exercise. Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Duck and Weave” until he has “Body Blow.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Brawl Skill.

Cut Kick (•): Your character knows how to deliver powerful round kicks to her opponent’s legs. When you choose this option your character inflicts one less point of damage than usual, counted after rolling to see if the attack succeeds. (For example, an attack that scores one success would still be a successful cut kick, but inflicts no Health damage). However, each kick reduces the opponent’s Speed by one, down to a minimum of one. If you roll as many successes as the opponent’s Size, he falls prone because he’s been swept by a kick or can’t use his legs out of sheer pain. Opponents can get back up whenever they have the chance, but their Speed only recovers at the end of the combat scene.

Duck and Weave (••): Your character is trained to instinctively duck and evade an opponent’s blows. Use the higher of your character’s Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense when dealing with Brawl-based attacks only (not against Weaponry attacks). If a combination of Brawl- and Weaponry-based attacks is focused on your character in the same turn, use his normal Defense against both.

Combination Blows (•••): Your character’s training and experience allow him to devastate opponents with a flurry of rapid blows. He can make two Brawl attacks against the same target in a single action. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty.
Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver. If he uses Defense against attacks that occur earlier in the Initiative roster, before he can perform this maneuver, he cannot perform the maneuver in the turn. He is too busy bobbing and weaving out of the way of attacks.

Thai Clinch (••••): Your character grabs an enemy around the head and pulls him into a vicious elbow or knee strike. If you are establishing a grappling hold as the first part of using the Combination Blows maneuver to inflict damage as the second move, add your Dexterity to your dice pool to attack.
Drawback: The usual –1 penalty for Combination Blows applies to the first grappling attempt, not to the following attack. This benefit does not apply if your character has already established a hold, or during future attempts to damage an opponent from the same hold, but she can always abandon her current hold and try a new grapple to use the Thai Clinch.

Brutal Blow (•••••): Your character’s accuracy and power are such that his fists are lethal weapons, able to injure or kill opponents. A brutal blow inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage.
Drawback: Spend one Willpower point per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Your character grew up in a culture that teaches several different tongues, or maybe she has a prodigy-like gift for languages. In addition to the character’s native language, the player may choose two languages for every dot in this Merit. The character speaks these languages conversationally.

Note that the character cannot speak effortlessly in these languages. Communicating quickly or over the telephone requires an Intelligence + Wits roll, and talking about anything more complicated than simple pleasantries or asking straightforward questions imposes a penalty of -1 to -3 dice. Reading the language requires an Intelligence + Study or Wits roll (depending on how the character learned the language; study or immersion, respectively), and writing something coherent in the language requires a roll of Wits + Study or Intelligence (again, study or immersion). Even if these rolls succeed, the character’s utterances or writings obviously come from a non-native, unless the player rolls an exceptional success, in which case the character manages to sound like a native-born speaker of the language for a few moments.

The player can spend one experience point for the character to become fluent in one of the languages covered by this Merit, as described in the Language Merit, above.

Your character gains a +2 modifier on Stamina rolls to resist infection, sickness and disease. His immune system is exceptionally effective at resisting infections, viruses and bacteria. Your character can probably count on one hand the number of times he’s been seriously ill.

Mowing lawns, raking leaves, babysitting — these are time-honored jobs for kids looking for a little bit of pocket money. In some areas, other jobs exist, like shoveling snow or digging up bait worms. There are even jobs of dubious legality, like being a bookie’s runner or a gang’s lookout. Whatever your character’s choice of jobs, he reaps the benefits. He’s always got $10 to $20 in his pocket to spend. This money is his to spend however he likes, without asking anyone for permission. Of course, if your character doesn’t take the time to do his job, he won’t have any money.

Think back to your character’s childhood, her adolescence, her formative years. Did she grow up in a Syrian refugee camp on Cyprus, tiny hands clutching a long nail to ward off those who would steal her food? Was she born to privilege, raised in a glass tower like a fairytale princess, her only glimpse of the world outside the blur of headlights on the streets below? That’s her Origin. If she’s maintained ties to her past, she may be able to draw on people she knew then, or find allies among people like them.

• Survival Skills: The character learned more than a little growing up. How to find food, how to talk tough, maybe even how to shoot guns. She gains a free Specialty in one of her Origin’s Asset Skills.

•• Networking: The character understands people of a similar background, whether they’re from the same place she was or just live in similar conditions. Once per scene, when interacting with a person who shares her Origin, she can use any Social Skill as if she possesses a relevant Specialty.

••• Vouchsafe: With sufficient ties to a community, the character is treated as if she’s still one of them. If it so happens that corporate security or the secret police come nosing around, members of that community will try to protect her… as long as it doesn’t put them in too much danger. Characters who share the character’s Origin gain a +3 bonus on Subterfuge rolls to conceal information about her activities or whereabouts.

•••• Clean Record: As far as the datasphere’s concerned, the character still is who she used to be. She never joined that international terrorist group, or never diverted her father’s money into her own criminal enterprises. Clean Record penalizes any in-depth attempt to investigate the character’s history by the number of dots of Origin she possesses. Quick searches of public information or low-end intelligence databases automatically fail.

••••• Lifer: You can take the girl out of the glass tower, but you can’t take the tower out of the girl. The character gains the benefit of the 8-again rule on rolls involving her Asset Skills. If she does not already have Specialties in both of her Asset Skills, she gains a free Specialty in that Skill.

Origins follow this format:

Origin Name
Quote
Description: Examples of the Origin, suggesting where the character might be from, why she might have left, and how it might have influenced her.
Relationships: Types of characters she might still have ties to.
Asset Skills: Two Skills the character is likely to have learned from her upbringing. At one dot, she gains a free Specialty in one of these Skills.

Your character keeps a pet of some kind: a dog, a cat, a horse, a hamster, a snake, or practically any kind of animal that can be given a cute name. A pet can be a very important part of a child’s life. No matter what grades are on the report card, or how shabby the family’s clothes are, a pet given just the basics of food and care will always provide companionship and love. A kid can tell things to a pet that she would never dare tell a person, even a trusted parent or friend — hopes, fears and dreams and troubles all go safely into a pet’s ear.

This judgment-free friendship is the sole contribution of a one-dot Pet. Spending 15 minutes playing with or caring for a pet gives your character a +1 modifier on her next degeneration roll; she knows there is always someone who will love her and listen to her, no matter what has happened. This bonus lasts until a degeneration roll is made, or until the character sleeps, whichever comes first. When your character has made a degeneration roll, she may go back to her pet for solace (and refresh her +1 modifier) without having to sleep first.

A three-dot Pet provides the same love and affection as a one-dot Pet, and therefore the same bonus on degeneration rolls. There is, however, a different bond between a character and a pet at this level of investment. The pet is fiercely loyal, even in the face of terrible danger or a terrifying creature. Your character’s pet will remain with her through thick and thin. If rescue is possible, the pet will run for help. If there is nowhere left to run, the pet will gladly die protecting your character.

The type or size of pet does not matter when determining how many points this Merit will cost. A dog can be a one- or three-dot Pet — a one-dot dog will turn tail and run when danger appears, whereas a three-dot dog will interpose itself between danger and child. Admittedly, guinea pigs, fish and their ilk are lousy protectors and should be relegated to the lower rank.

Your character can teach her pet tricks with Animal Ken, using the normal method. All Animal Ken rolls for training the pet, understanding its body language or communicating a need to it are made with a +2 modifier. A three-dot Pet learns the “guard” and “heel” commands for free — your character must still train the pet, but these two commands do not count against the animal’s known tricks.

Drawbacks: Here begins the parental lecture: having a pet is a big responsibility. A pet must be fed, taken on walks (or have its litter box or cage or tank cleaned), groomed, and shown attention and love. An abused or mistreated pet provides no benefits — an animal pushed far enough may even attack its owner.

It is a sad fact of life that pets die. They grow old, they get lost, or they may die tragic deaths before their time.

The loss of a one-dot Pet may grieve a child, but such pets are, blessedly, somewhat interchangeable. A fish dies, is replaced, and a few weeks later its owner loves it as much as its predecessor. After a month of story time, the benefits of the lost one-dot Pet can be provided by its replacement. The loss of a three-dot Pet is another matter. This bond between child and pet is unique, and if such a pet dies, the player must make a trigger roll for the character (see p. 82). The child may, in time, replace her lost friend with another animal companion that will provide the benefits of a one-dot Pet. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this pet (if it is of an appropriate species), can eventually rise to the three-dot level.

Your character is a natural prodigy, an unlikely master of a Skill or technique at a remarkably young age. Select one Skill from the Physical category. Your character has access to the levels of that Skill beyond the cap imposed on child characters (p. 47). You must still pay for all points in the Skill during character creation, or with experience points at a later date. The Skill should be related to the exceptional Physical Attribute. For example, Larceny would most likely be linked to Dexterity (your character has fast, sticky fingers), but it could also be attributable to Strength (your character has mastered the “breaking” part of breaking and entering). The Storyteller has the final word on the chosen Prodigy and its prerequisite.

This isn’t really fighting. It’s just kids being kids. Kids being kids while they try to pound each other’s faces into the asphalt, pull hair, scratch and even bite in a rolling pile of aggression. Adults may wax nostalgic about their own playground dustups, but kids can and do hurt each other, especially when they gang up.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Your character can’t have “Take Down” until he has “Cheap Shot.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below.

Cheap Shot (•): Your character isn’t afraid to hit below the belt, or jab an eye, or pull an ear. Strength + Brawl rolls made to damage an opponent your character has immobilized have a +1 modifier.

Take Down (••): A successful grapple attack immediately renders both your character and his opponent prone. The fight continues as normal, from the ground. See Grappling, p. 144.

Pile On (•••): Your character throws his body into the middle of a fight already in progress, squashing the unfortunate combatant at the bottom of the pile. If an opponent is immobilized in a grapple, your character may join the grapple with a Strength + Brawl roll (the opponent’s Defense does not apply). Extra successes beyond the first to establish a hold are immediately applied as bashing damage.

Strange things happen around your character. This is because, for whatever reason, spirits like his presence. The character might have an emotional resonance that is universally enjoyable for denizens of the Shadow Realm, or maybe they just like your style. The bad news is that spirits tend to flock around the character, making him one of those people who is always in the “right place at the right time” with respect to otherworldly events. The good news is that, as a general rule, the spirits don’t mean the character ill. Unless they get territorial or jealous. The character gains a +1 bonus to Persuasion and Socialize rolls to affect spirits.

Your character has picked up some of the mixed bag of subdue and compliance tricks that cops learn in the academy and on the street. If he doesn’t have law enforcement experience himself, he’s most likely learned these maneuvers from someone who has.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have Weapon Retention until he has Compliance Hold. The maneuvers and their effects are listed below.

Compliance Hold (•): When trying to overpower an opponent you have grappled, you gain a +2 bonus to your Strength + Brawl roll if you attempt to immobilize or disarm him. You must choose your maneuver before making your roll, rather than after it, to gain this bonus.

Weapon Retention (••): An opponent who has grappled you must score successes equal to your Weaponry score on his Strength + Brawl roll to choose a “disarm” or “turn a drawn weapon” maneuver against you.

Speed Cuff (•••): If you have a pair of handcuffs or equivalent restraints drawn while grappling, you may choose “cuff” as an overpowering maneuver. With success, you get the cuffs on one of your opponent’s wrists. With exceptional success, you cuff both wrists.

Something about your character reminds people and animals of the predators that hunt them. A human feels a base fear in his reptilian brain that catches his breath or causes hairs to stand up on the back of his head. Animals stand stock still, watching the character out of the corner of an eye, ready to run should she step close.

This Merit adds +1 die to any Social roll that would benefit from such unease. Intimidation benefits most directly from this Merit, but some forms of Expression (reciting black, actually frightening poetry or appearing to be a “dangerous” rock star), Persuasion (fear can make for an exciting seduction) and Socialize (the cool kid who gathers the crowd can be disturbingly scary at times) are all viable Skills. The bonus from Predator’s Bearing can apply to animals, if appropriate.

Skinchangers who emulate carnivorous or impressive animals commonly take this Merit.

Drawback: This isn’t something that a character can just turn on or off. Many other Social rolls suffer a penalty because of the character’s nerve-wracking habits. Any Social action that such a demeanor would make more difficult suffers a –1 penalty. The character’s efforts to sing a sweet song or act the waif must first overcome her natural “hungry” tendencies. People are often reluctant to deal with someone who frightens them (not everybody’s turned on by the thrill of dangerous partners). And creepy people receive more scrutiny, which they can ill afford when trying to lie.

Special: Creatures that are already top predators in their regions (such as lions on the savannah) are unafraid of other predators. Character with this Merit cannot apply it against such creatures. This includes supernaturally-enhanced predators, such as vampires or werewolves.

Your character owns a useful item that he has practiced with for many a long hour. As such, the item provides an equipment bonus (see p. 132) beyond what such an item would usually provide, simply due to the familiarity. The item provides a +2 bonus to applicable rolls within its intended function (a harmonica provides the bonus to Expression rolls to play it, while a laptop computer provides the bonus to Computer rolls) and a +1 bonus to rolls a bit outside or related to the usual purview (using the harmonica to wedge open a door or using the laptop for a Study roll to get homework done on time).

Combat rolls can benefit from this Merit, but the Storyteller and the player should consider why the child has spent that much time fighting.

Drawback: If the item is broken or lost, this Merit is forfeited.

Your character, either through extensive training or natural ability, has an innate resistance to invasive telepathic powers such as Mind Breaker, Mind Control, Mind Reading and Psychic Empathy. This resistance might take the form of performing math problems mentally, quoting nursery rhymes or even praying fervently. With even one dot, the character can tell if a psychic attempts to use a telepathic or other mind-affecting psychic power on him with a successful Wits + Composure roll (made reflexively by the Storyteller). The character’s Psychic Resistance dots are also added to his Resolve or Composure when rolling to contest any psychic powers that affect his mind. Neither powers directed against his body (such as Psychic Vampirism or Telekinetic Grapples) nor psychic powers that affect the mind but that do not allow a contested roll (such as Mental Blast or Psychic Invisibility) are affected by this Merit. The benefits of this Merit do not apply to mind-controlling effects used by vampires, werewolves or mages.

Your character is skilled in a Chinese martial arts style that emphasizes qinna, or another martial art that specializes in standing joint locks, holds and chokes.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Qinna maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill and work in conjunction with unarmed combat.

Qinna maneuvers are designed to exploit weaknesses in the human anatomy. Targets who do not feel pain, possess the need to breathe or have skeletons will not be affected by certain maneuvers. Of the commonly played supernatural beings, this renders vampires immune to the effects of Sealing the Breath or Disrupting the Veins.

Standing Control (•): Your character gains an additional overpowering maneuver, called Standing Control. If she overpowers her opponent she may force him to accompany him wherever he goes.
Drawback: The character can only move himself and his opponent half as far as his Speed would normally allow. The character cannot have moved earlier in the turn, and cannot automatically dump his enemy over a cliff or into a fire or other dangerous environment without performing a separate attack. [Can you use the target as cover?]

Misplacing the Bones (••): The character’s holds can snap bones and tear connective tissue. If his player inflicts more damage in an overpowering maneuver than the victim’s Size, he breaks a limb unless the defender opts to immediately fall prone. The fracture (or tissue separation) inflicts a point of lethal damage instead of the standard bashing damage, and renders the limb useless. It does not recover until the victim heals that damage. If the limb is an arm, reduce the defender’s Defense by 1 and note that he’s dropped anything held in it. If it’s a leg, the defender cannot walk upright.
Drawback: Unless the character opts for a specified target (see World of Darkness, p. 165), the defender’s player (or Storyteller) chooses which limb’s been damaged.

Grabbing the Muscles (•••): Your character’s grappling holds twist muscles out of place or puts the defender in a position where she can’t use strength to force her way out of the attack. Treat the defender as if her Strength was two dots lower for the purpose of resisting overpower maneuvers.

Sealing the Breath (••••): Your character can use chokeholds and strikes to pressure points around the lungs to interfere with a target’s breathing. If he succeeds with a Brawl-based strike or damaging overpower rolled at a voluntary –1 die penalty, he inflicts a –1 die penalty to the opponent’s actions in addition to inflicting standard damage. This penalty is cumulative throughout the combat scene, but vanishes afterwards.

Disrupting the Veins (•••••): Your character’s grappling maneuvers expertly attack anatomical weaknesses. When he damages a victim with an overpower maneuver you can choose to inflict lethal damage, and when he uses any other maneuver he can choose to inflict a point of lethal damage in addition to other effects.
Drawback: Spend a point of Willpower per attack. This does not add three dice to your roll.

Your character can draw a pistol and fire or pull a melee weapon and attack without penalty as a single action in a turn. If a weapon is hidden on your character’s person (under a coat or in a purse), it can be drawn and used in the same turn without the normal loss of Defense.

A separate Quick Draw Merit must be acquired for use with firearms and melee weapons.

Your character’s healing abilities are remarkable, allowing him to bounce back quickly from injuries that would leave most people bedridden for months. Your character recovers from injuries in half the time that others do. One point of bashing damage is healed in eight minutes. One point of lethal damage is healed in one day. One point of aggravated damage is healed in four days.

The character has a reciprocal relationship with a Storyteller character, in which he has at least some emotional investment — the more dots, the more significant the relationship.

This relationship is a source of strength and aid. It could be a parent, a sibling, a child. It could be a lover or an ex-lover. The relationship doesn’t have to be a positive one: that ex-wife who you’ve got to see every week because she’s got custody of the kids is still important to you, even if love turned horribly sour long ago. Your feelings for your going-right-offthe-rails teenage son may be appallingly conflicted, but he’s still central in your world.

Each purchase of the Merit counts for a relationship with one specific Storyteller character. The character can be human or supernatural.

Once per scene, you may add your dots in the Relationship Merit to one, and only one dice pool, provided that you can give a plausible rationale as to why the relationship should aid you. If it is plausible, the Storyteller must accommodate the rationale.

It can reward any dice pool at all. You can even get the bonus relationship dice while using supernatural powers (if you have any), but only in a circumstance when the player can justify the bonus.

Be creative with your rationale for getting the dice.

Sometimes, this is simple: when you’re trying to convince your ex-wife that you need to see the kids a day early because you’re going to be out of town (and no, you can’t tell her you’re off risking your life), add your relationship dice to your Manipulation + Persuasion roll.

The relationship might be at stake in some way: you’d get the bonus while trying to convince the head teacher at your deadbeat teenage son’s school not to expel him for truancy and the stuff they found in his locker.

You might decide that the object of the relationship is doing something to help your character (or hinder your character): you’re trying to talk a vampire you know out of coming into your house, and you say “my five-year-old daughter calls down the stairs and says ‘Daddy, who’s that?’ and I decide that I mustn’t let her see him…” And you take the dice for your relationship with your daughter.

You might even take the bonus for a person with whom you have an adversarial relationship turning up. You’re desperately fighting a horde of zombies; you declare: “But each zombie carries an amulet around his neck, exactly like the one (my arch-enemy) wears! He sent them! He must have learned how to make them!” And you take the dice, and if the Storyteller hasn’t already decided that your character’s archenemy did send the zombies, he has to re-jig the story to cover that.

Drawback: Relationships are reciprocal and complicated. The Storyteller character with whom you have the relationship gets the same bonus on dice pools when it’s relevant to you. Also, relationships need to be kept alive. You actually need to have some contact with the character with whom you’ve got the relationship — phone, face-to-face contact, running arguments, office conflict, whatever — or risk losing dots in the Merit. The Storyteller can decide what constitutes a reasonable interval for lack of contact (perhaps if the character doesn’t engage in the relationship once per game session, a dot in the Merit is thrown into jeopardy for the next session). Finally, if the subject of a character’s Relationship Merit dies, the Merit is lost.

The character owns a mystical object or relic. How the character came to own the object is up to the player. The character might have inherited the object, stolen it, purchased it or just found it by sheer luck. Note that this Merit only represents an object that a character begins play with; if your character finds a relic during a story, you don’t need to pay the experience points for it.

Relics have a variable point cost, determined as follows:

Condition — Cost in Merit Dots
Powers — +1 per Power dot
Durability — +1 per dot
Equipment Bonus — +1 per dot (maximum of +5 above what such an item would normally confer)
Bonded (the item only works for this character) — +1
Cost — -1 per dot of Cost (see p. 116-117)
Curses/Drawbacks — -2 per Curse (see p. 113-116)

Example: Matt, in creating a new character for Chuck’s chronicle, decides to put some Merit points into a relic. He has visions of a ring that looks plain, but in fact contains a deep and abiding power.

Right off the bat, Matt decides he doesn’t want to deal with anyone stealing the ring and using it on him. The ring is Bonded to his character (1 dot). He decides against raising its Durability, and a ring doesn’t normally confer an equipment bonus anyway, so he doesn’t spend points in those areas. For Powers (see p. 87-113 for a full list of Relic Powers), Matt chooses Hypnotic Suggestion and Reward Temptation — the ring allows the wielder greater benefit from indulging his Vice and great opportunity to do so. These are both two-dot Powers, which raises the total to five; a little more than Matt was hoping to spend. Fortunately, there are ways to lower the cost.

Matt decides that the ring is Cursed (see p. 113). Yes, using it can grant the character untold amounts of pleasure and mental fortitude, but it saps his physical well-being. The ring has the Leech curse, sapping the character’s Health away every time he uses it. Matt decides that this Health loss manifests as a wracking cough, sometimes with a bit of blood. This drops the total cost to 3 Merit dots, which both Matt and Chuck feel is fair. All that remains is for Matt to figure out where he got the ring, what it looks like and how he discovered its powers, all details that he will work into his character’s prelude.

Note: The reduction in price for taking Costs is only applicable if these costs are taken in conjunction with the specified cost of the chosen Power(s), not as a replacement for the costs listed. If the relic only works at night, and its Power still costs the specified Willpower to activate, the builder can subtract the appropriate 1-dot Cost value for a Temporal Cost. If the relic only works at night, and the builder takes this limitation in place of its Willpower cost, it does not lower the relic’s overall cost.)

The character has an instinctive understanding of how relics work, what their capabilities are, and how to make use of them. This understanding is by no means
complete, nor does it grant prescience about curses or other pitfalls of the relic. This Merit grants a +1 to any attempts to figure out an item’s “trigger” condition or activation, detect curses and any other roll that involves fi guring out practical (not historical) uses for a mystical object (see p. 132 of Chapter 4 for a sample scenario).

The character can create limited-use mystical items, such as a Hand of Glory or the Writ of Safe Haven (see p. 79-81). Doing so is a time-consuming and sometimes expensive or dangerous process, and not even the most talented and prolific craftsman can churn out such objects quickly.

To create a relic, the character must first have suitable materials. This might require the character to procure components or ingredients. If any preparation is required (carving a statue or writing a poem, for instance), the player makes the appropriate rolls to make the vessel ready for magic (typically Dexterity + Crafts or Manipulation + Expression).

Once the object is ready, the character performs a ritual appropriate to her style of magic and the type of enchantment she is trying to lay upon the object. The player makes an extended Resolve + Occult roll. The target number of successes is equal to five times the relic’s rating, based on the formula presented under the Relic Merit, below. Every roll takes one hour of work, prayer, chanting, dancing or whatever activity is appropriate to the ritual. The player may only make a number of rolls equal to the character’s Resolve + Occult dice pool.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The object has taken on the appropriate magical properties, as far as the creator can tell, but in fact the object has become tainted by faulty enchantment. It takes on a curse (see p. 113-116), which becomes activated when the object’s magic would normally take effect.
Failure: The character accumulates no successes. If the number of rolls surpasses the character’s Resolve + Occult pool before the target is reached, the magic doesn’t “take.” The item must be ritually cleansed and re-enchanted.
Success: The character makes progress toward the goal. If she reaches the target number of successes, the relic is complete and functions as described in Chapter Two.
Exceptional Success: Significant progress is made toward the goal. No other effect.

Your character releases spirit energy — Essence — into the world when her blood spills. And spirits can sense it. No one has ever been able to explain why to the character’s satisfaction, but it’s true. Because Essence is such a valuable resource to spirits, the character has some measure of influence over them. She can bribe them for information or favors, and all it takes is a splash of blood. Each point of lethal damage the character suffers frees one point of Essence into the air, as long as the injury actually causes blood loss. For the next several turns before the Essence dissipates, any spirit nearby may take an action to consume the Essence.

Drawback: While most spirits would rather preserve a renewable source of Essence, not all are so careful. Some might try to slaughter her all at once when they really, really need the Essence. Others notice her as a resource of their enemies and might decide to make a surgical strike against them (but at her). In short, the character becomes a target or potential possession to those spirits who don’t want to barter with her.

This Merit measures your character’s material resources, both possessions and wealth. All characters are assumed to have a job or a source of income (trust fund, parents) that is sufficient to cover their basic needs: food, shelter and transportation. Dots in this Merit represent disposable income — wealth and assets that can be liquidated for more money in case of emergency. The number of dots indicates your character’s general level of wealth.

One dot suggests low disposable income: $500 a month and approximately $1,000 worth of assets.

Two dots suggest moderate disposable income: $1,000 a month and approximately $5000 worth of assets.

Three dots suggest significant disposable income: $2000 a month and maybe $10,000 worth of assets.

Four dots suggest substantial disposable income: $10,000 a month and $500,000 worth of assets.

Five dots suggest significant wealth: $50,000 a month and as much as $5,000,000 worth of assets.

Resources can be used to determine if your character can reasonably afford a purchase or expenditure. Equipment, weapons and items throughout these rules are assigned costs in dots. The Storyteller can assign cost dots to other items during play based on what’s here. If your character has the same or more dots in Resources, he can afford the item on his disposable income. That doesn’t mean he has a blank check with which to buy everything he sees. He might be able to afford one or two items with a cost equal to his Resources dots in a single month. Items with lower costs can be acquired more often. The Storyteller has final say on what’s too much or what’s too often.

Your character’s Resources dots aren’t spent and don’t go away. They represent available cash at any given moment. The only means by which your character’s Resource dots might decrease is if story events conspire against them. Perhaps your character’s fortune is wiped out, he loses his job or his company is subjected to a hostile takeover. The Storyteller therefore influences how your character’s dots might decrease, and whether they can be salvaged.

Your character has an assistant, aide, indentured servant or fanatical follower on whom she can rely. You need to establish how this trusty companion was acquired. He may be paid exorbitant amounts of money that buy his unwavering loyalty. He might owe his life to your character (or to your character’s predecessors). Your character might blackmail this person or threaten his family with harm if services are not rendered. Or your character might have a supernatural hold over this poor person. Regardless of the circumstances, this person is constantly loyal and follows almost any order without question. A retainer can be called upon to perform many duties without fail. A bodyguard might be willing to hurt other people on a mere command. A dedicated street kid might hang on your character’s every word and get her information or contacts without being asked. Unless your character has direct control over a retainer’s mind, however, this person can’t be made to perform any task. He might not risk his own life unduly or perform a task that violates his own morals. You or the Storyteller should detail your retainer with an identity, background and character sheet of his own. The Storyteller usually plays your character’s retainer. Each acquisition of this Merit grants your character one follower. Dots spent in the trait indicate the training, capability or flexibility of the aide.

One dot suggests a child, an automaton or a madman with limited capabilities and freedom of thought.

Two dots indicate an ordinary person over whom your character has sway. The servant is completely mundane and has no particular training above the human norm (he has two dots in all of his Attributes and Skills).

Three dots represent a capable employee with a range of training at his disposal (three or four of his traits have three dots).

Four dots represent a valued and irreplaceable assistant (someone with a handful of traits with four dots each).

Five dots indicate an extraordinary follower. He is exceptional in many ways (five dots in a couple traits, and four in many others) or he may be capable of supernatural feats. Retainer is different from Allies in that no roll is ever made to get results from an aide. He performs the task requested, unless subjected to repeated abuse or an utterly intolerable assignment (as decided by the Storyteller based on the assistant’s personality).

Drawback: If your retainer is ever hurt he may be incapable of service while recovering. If he is killed, he’s lost forever unless supernatural in origin. A retainer who possesses his own will and who is forced to perform a duty that offends his sensibilities or defies his morals may abandon your character, temporarily or permanently. Points spent to acquire a retainer who is killed or driven off are lost.

What does your character bring to the group? Can she talk her way past security guards, or does she just turn off their cameras? Is she good at finding dirty secrets?

• I Know a Guy: The character’s made some useful acquaintances in the course of her work. A colleague, a lover, or just someone to trade favors with. The character receives one free dot of the Allies Merit (World of Darkness, p.115).
In addition, Plugins involving her Asset Skills cost only New Dots x 1. (If you’re not using Plugins, the character receives a free Skill Specialty, as with the first dot of Origin.)

•• Professional: The character is respected in her field. She’s killed or hacked a few high-profile targets, or perhaps turned up a secret that bloomed into a scandal. Once per scene, when interacting with someone in a related field, she may make a Social roll as if she possesses a relevant specialty. (Note that this is slightly broader than the Origin ability Networking or the Role ability Tough Rep, which require a shared Origin.)

••• Tough Rep: Not only is the character respected, she’s feared. Those in the same Role are reluctant to cross her. Once per session, she may choose to automatically succeed on an Intimidate roll against someone who shares her Role. This counts as one success.

•••• Virtuoso: The character’s paid her dues, and she’s almost at the top of her game. Literally or metaphorically, she knows how to make a shot count. When spending a point of Willpower on one of her Asset Skills, she also gains the benefit of the 8-again rule. This applies to all of the dice in the pool; if the Willpower point was spent in conjunction with a Plugin, 8-again applies to those dice, as well.

••••• Master: At the top of her game, the character knows how to leverage not only her Asset Skills, but other abilities that come in handy on the job. Once per session, she may choose to automatically succeed at a task related to her Role. This task does not have to involve one of her Asset Skills, but must be in the service of her Role. For example, a Hacker couldn’t choose to automatically succeed on a Strength + Athletics roll, unless this was somehow related to hacking. This counts as one success.

Roles follow this format:

Role Name
Quote
Description: Examples of how a character finds herself in this Role, and what she excels at.
Relationships: Types of characters she might have formed ties to.
Asset Skills: Two Skills the character uses in her work. Plugins involving these Skills cost only New Dots x 1.

Spirit’s do not like your character’s presence. She might make spirits uncomfortable because of her extraordinary faith (per the Merit’s name) or maybe she has a less earthly reason for disturbing them. A mighty spirit might have blessed or cursed her when she was young, or declared her off-limits to others for inscrutable reasons. Either way, she has a little influence on them, and they don’t like her. She gains a +1 to Intimidate rolls against spirits, and to attempts to abjure or exorcise them from places or human hosts (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 213–124). They may also be unwilling to harm her or disrupt her life.

Drawback: Some spirits are not unwilling to harm her, and may even see it as a challenge — after all, she has a level of notoriety. She suffers a –1 die penalty to all Expression, Persuasion and Socialize rolls against spirits. A given spirit may be unwilling to involve itself with her at all, which could cause complications.

Secret is a unique Merit in that its value is set by the Storyteller and it costs nothing. It can be taken in conjunction with the Flaw of the same name, and it is designed to represent secrets with somewhat higher stakes, like shadowy patronage or an illicit background. It’s appropriate to the sort of secret that includes benefits that last only as long as the secret stays hidden.

The benefit of this Merit is that it allows the character to take two free dots of Merits for each dot of secrets. These merits cannot be intrinsic things (like Quick Draw or Striking Looks), rather they must be Merits that could potentially be lost, like most Social Merits. So long as the character’s secret remains hidden, these Merits remain; if the secret ever goes public, they are immediately lost.

When taking this Merit, the player describes the secret, and the Storyteller assigns its value. Practically speaking, this allows the Storyteller to set the maximum value of Secrets in his game. Secrets above •• are very powerful, and are best suited to games with a heavy emphasis on intrigue and politics. In such games, allowing a high threshold of secrets is a quick and dirty way to allow characters to be movers and shakers without also making them combat monsters.

(You’ll also find information on secrets earlier in this book, on p. 132.)

Your character knows a place where she can ask questions and get information. She has reasonably free access to this place — which may be the urinal in a cathedral, a dank cave in a national park, the manhole that a murderer used to dispose of bodies or nearly anything else — and can occasionally go there to get answers. She does not know what entity she asks.

For each answer the Shadow Contact provides, it asks a price. This price often has some tangential relation to the nature of the question, but may well not. The more urgent or esoteric the question, the stranger and more disturbing the price. Frivolous questions are discouraged by incommensurately outrageous demands. If the character asks whether and why her creepy neighbor is stealing locks of her hair, the voice may request a Barbie doll hanged in a noose made from a young girl’s hair. Asking whether she should change her hairstyle, the entity may demand all the hair shaved from three young girls.

The character only pays the price if the Shadow Contact has the answer. The Storyteller (who likely knows just who or what the Shadow Contact is) may simply decide, or he may roll the character’s rating in the Merit to determine either way.

Drawback: If the character receives an answer from the Shadow Contact, she must pay the price or make the contact reluctant to speak with her. Each time the character fails to give the Shadow Contact its dues, her rating in the Merit drops by one dot. She may purchase greater trust with proper roleplaying and experience points. This will often involve meeting the reneged-upon deal, with interest. If the rating drops below three dots, the contact refuses to speak with her any longer. She must purchase the Merit anew from zero dots, which represents finding a new mysterious font of information — no easy task. Note that the Merit degrades only if the Shadow Contact decides that her payment is officially past due. Clever characters may be able to delay the entity for some time.

Limitations: Mortals can only take one dot in this Merit. Ghouls can take up to two dots. Only Kindred can take the Merit at three or more dots.

Your character has received initiation into one of the Shadow Cults. On the first occasion the character meets another member of the cult, he gains a bonus to Social rolls for the duration of the scene, equal to his dots in this Merit. Other benefits come from Initiation into a Shadow Cult, depending on the cult and the number of dots the character has gained in his Initiation.

Drawback: Initiation into a Shadow Cult carries with it duties, and failure to perform those duties can cause dots in this Merit to fall, although benefits gained from initiations (such as access to the cult’s proprietary Disciplines, once learned) don’t go away once granted. A character with more than one dot of Initiation into any Shadow Cult can become initiated into others, but can never gain more than one dot in Initiation in any other cult.

Your character owns or can take refuge in a location that spirits have trouble finding. Maybe the location has no reflection in the Shadow Realm or has a peculiar resonance that confounds spirits. The location may have a bad reputation in the spirit world, in a way similar to the worst streets in a mortal city. Whatever the cause, spirits rarely go there and rarely think to go there. The character may hide there with reasonable surety that denizens of the Shadow Realm will not find him. Each dot in this Merit applies a –1 die penalty on spirits’ attempts to track the character to that location or reason out where he might be hiding.

Drawback: This Merit is fragile. When a spirit does manage to find the character in the marked location, word begins to spread. The location’s reputation diminishes, or the presence of a spirit alters the resonance that once kept them away. Each such event reduces the Merit’s rating by one. On the other hand, when something bad does happen to the spirit there — the character manages to discorporate it, or the resonance infects the spirit — such events serve as excellent reason to increase this Merit with experience points.

Your character knows how to throw edged weapons with particular skill. Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next.

Your character may use Fighting Style: Shuriken-jutsu with any edged weapon that’s been designed for throwing. She may also use it with any other Size 1 object as if she had one dot less in this Merit, or any Size 2 weapon as if she had 2 dots less (Size 3 or greater weapons are not compatible with the Merit). The advantages of this Merit apply to the character’s attempts to throw a qualified weapon, not use it in close range combat.

Ma-ai (“Distance;” •): Your character learns to properly gauge a target’s distance and modify her technique to match it. Double her short, medium and long range throwing ranges.

Kakushi Buki (“Hidden Weapons;” ••): The character knows how to rapidly retrieve a throwing weapon from a sleeve, holster or other prepared spot on her body. She never needs to use an action to draw a throwing weapon from a prepared spot.

Choku Da-Ho (“Direct Hit Method;” •••): Your character can throw using the power of her entire body. Add her Strength dots to the dice pool for throwing the weapon.
Drawback: The character is considered a still target and may not employ her Defense during the turn in which she uses this maneuver. She may not use this maneuver in conjunction with Ikki Gokken.

Ikki Gokken (“Five Blades in One Breath;” ••••): Your character can throw multiple weapons in rapid succession during a single turn, provided she either holds them in one hand or can draw them instantly using Kakushi Buki. She may make a one additional throw for each point of Dexterity that she has above 2. Each extra action is rolled at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, she can throw twice at Dexterity 3 (with the second at a –1 modifier), three times at Dexterity 4 (at a 0, –1 then –2 modifier to dice rolls) and four time at Dexterity 5 (at 0, –1, –2 and –3 to each dice roll, in turn).
Drawback: The character is considered a still target and may not employ her Defense during the turn in which she uses this maneuver. She may not use this maneuver in conjunction with Choku-Do-Ho.

Your character has the ability to draw forth the sins of other individuals, restoring lost dots of Morality (or the equivalent trait for supernatural characters). The customary technique for doing this is to place a small piece of bread on the chest of the person whose sin you wish to eat, offering a momentary prayer, and then eating the bread, which has absorbed the subject’s guilt. Others rituals, subject to Storyteller approval, may work equally well.

To consume an individual’s sin, spend a Willpower point and make an instant contested roll pitting the Sin-Eater’s Resolve + Occult against the subject’s Resolve + Composure. The Willpower point only makes the roll possible, it doesn’t grant any bonuses to the dice pool. Each attempt requires a complete performance of the sin-eating ritual, which never takes less than thirty minutes.

Success allows the subject to attempt a new degeneration roll for a past sin. The subject makes this new degeneration roll as if his Morality was one higher; if this roll succeeds, the subject gains a point of Morality. Morality may never be raised higher than 6 through sin-eating and derangements are not automatically cured through sin-eating, but with the associated Morality dot returned, recovery becomes possible. At the Storyteller’s discretion, the subject may transcend his derangement if he goes a number of days equal to 10 – his Morality without sinning against his own Morality. Never erase a derangement overcome through sin-eating (see p. 93 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) — only real changes in behavior warrant that.

If the Sin-Eater achieves an exceptional success, both he and the subject enjoy a +2 bonus to their degeneration rolls for the ceremony.

If the Sin-Eater consumes a sin whose motive was driven by his own Vice, he regains a lost Willpower point exactly as if he had indulged the Vice himself. Likewise, if the sin was committed in the name of his Virtue (such as a vigilante killing for Justice or stealing from the wealthy to help the poor for Charity), he regains all of his spent Willpower as though he had acted on that Virtue.

Drawback: When you consume an individual’s sin, you are immediately subject to a degeneration check exactly as though you had committed the sin yourself. If you fail this degeneration check, you must check for a derangement as usual.

Example: Brother Roland, who is not actually a man of the cloth, is a practicing sin-eater at the local retirement home. He’s performing a ritual to consume the sin of a war vet with Morality 3. Roland spends a Willpower point and rolls Resolve + Occult versus the vet’s Resolve + Composure. Roland succeeds, and consumes the vet’s sin. The vet makes a new degeneration roll based on Morality 4 — the moral height from which he last fell — and so rolls three dice. He succeeds.
Roland, meanwhile, must deal with the sin he ate; because it falls beneath Roland’s own Morality of 5, he makes his own degeneration roll based on the same sin and fails. Therefore, Roland’s Morality drops and he must make a derangement check. Over time, Roland’s time with other people’s evils slowly erodes his own mind.

The world is rarely what it seems, and it doesn’t take several stolen lifetimes to see that. To body thieves who have manifested this talent the difference between what you see and what you don’t see is just a matter of practice. The thief in question need only put her hands on a pair of inanimate objects, and if the power activates successfully, one object appears to be the other and vice versa. For example, a clever thief puts his briefcase down on the ground between herself and another passenger on the train. With use of this power, her briefcase appears to belong to the man next to her, and his appears to be hers, then it’s just a matter of knocking them both over, grabbing the one that appears to be hers and make off with the stranger’s things. A young artist walks into a museum with a sketch pad under his arm, and with a little leaning on the wall, he switches his pad with a one-of-a-kind oil painting under his arm and he walks out without a single witness.

Beyond the specific needs of thieves like the Archer Family to have personal items of their targets, this ability has a myriad of uses. Stealing a wallet is small time, but being able to lift a laptop with a room full of people certain that the thief wasn’t you can go a long way to setting up a new life in a new body. If it isn’t nailed down and the thief has a good enough replacement, she can walk out the door with her prize with no one the wiser.

Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge, minus the highest Resolve of all witnesses

Duration: One scene

Possible Modifiers: Items are similar in appearance (+2), witnesses expect a trick (–2), each level of Size difference between the two (–2)

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The power fails, and all possible witnesses feel something weird, as if they all were possessed of the Unseen Sense Merit for the turn.

Failure: No effect. The items remain as they were.

Success: The caster simultaneously touches two objects. If successful, the two items switch appearances. For the remainder of the scene, appearances suggest the two items switched places. Any mundane scrutiny will suggest that an item is the other. Only mystical scrutiny can pierce the temporary illusion. The only limitation is that objects gain no additional functions and are no more durable than they were before. A yardstick disguised as a rifle can’t fire and is easy to break. At the end of the scene, the objects revert.

Exceptional Success: The items remain switched for one full day.

The character is familiar with the tactical application of force by a small unit: no unit larger than a platoon. The character must be in charge of the unit in question for it to benefit from his tactical leadership. When conducting a tactical maneuver such as a flanking attack, covering fire or when in a CQB (Close Quarters battle) or FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas, aka Urban Warfare) situation, in any turn, the leader may spend 1 Willpower and roll Manipulation + Persuasion reflexively to issue a command to his unit. The Willpower bonus of +3, or +2 to a defensive dice pool, applies to all the men in the unit in that turn, including the leader. Any individual member may also stack their own Willpower expenditure and bonus on top of the leadership bonus conferred by the leader.

Drawback: The Willpower bonus only applies in a situation in which the leader and his men are already well trained, using tactics familiar to all men in the unit. In game terms, all members of the team, including the leader, must have gained 1 experience point at some prior stage whilst under the guidance of the leader. If a situation arises for which there is no SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), the leadership bonus does not apply unless it is applied to a defensive dice pool.

A sniper is the antithesis of a gunfighter, patient and serene rather than swift and ruthless. Your character, through life-long experience or intensive military training, is patient and skilled enough to spend hours staring through a rifle scope before taking one perfect shot that decides the fate of a hostage or a nation.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. So, your character can’t have “Battlesight Zero” until she has “On Scope.” The maneuvers and their effects are described below, most of which are based on the Firearms Skill. All of the following maneuvers work only with rifles (including assault rifles).

On Scope (•): Your character has an intuitive understanding of long-range ballistics and has spent countless hours straining to pick out tiny details through a telescopic sight. The maximum bonus she may receive from aiming (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 162) is increased to her Composure +1 for semi-automatic and automatic rifles and her Composure +2 for break-action, bolt-action and lever-action rifles. In addition, when using a scope or other long-range optic device (e.g., binoculars), she receives a +2 bonus to all perception rolls (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 45).

Battlesight Zero (••): Once your character is familiar with the capabilities of a rifle, she can wring unparalleled performance from it. Whenever your character sights in a rifle (see “Sighting Tools,” p. 164), she doubles the number of attacks that receive the bonus from this process. In addition, whenever she makes an attack with a rifle that receives this bonus, the weapon’s short range is increased by five yards times her Wits, medium range by twice this amount and long range by three times this amount.

Focused Shot (•••): Your character can lurk motionless in ambush for days, ignoring sleep deprivation, temperature extremes and even life-threatening injuries in the name of putting lead on target. When making an aimed shot, she may ignore an amount of penalties for wounds, drugs, disease, pain, fatigue, environmental conditions and similar factors equal to her Resolve. For example, if your character has Resolve 4, has two points of Health remaining (–2), has gone without sleep for 36 hours (–2) and has ingested strong hallucinogens (–3), her aimed shots suffer only a –3 penalty instead of the –7 that affects all her other dice pools.

Tactical Intervention (••••): Split-second timing and nerves of steel enable your character to take advantage of the smallest opportunities for accurate shot placement. When making an aimed shot, all penalties for shooting into close combat and for concealment are halved, rounding down.

One Shot, One Kill (•••••): When your character picks up her rifle, people fall down. It’s just that simple. When making an aimed shot, do not add the rifle’s Damage rating to the attack dice pool (though “9 again” or “8 again” still applies if it would normally). Instead, if the attack succeeds, add the rifle’s Damage rating as extra successes. Drawback: Spend one Willpower per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Your character is a natural prodigy, an unlikely master of a social grace or an area of art at a remarkably young age. Select one Skill from the Social category. Your character has access to the levels of that Skill beyond the cap imposed on child characters (see p. 47). You must still pay for all points in the Skill during character creation, or with experience points at a later date. The Skill should be related to the exceptional Social Attribute.

For example, Animal Ken could be linked to Presence (animals like your character a lot), to Manipulation (your character can make animals do what he wants), or to Composure (your character’s unflappable calm reassures animals). The Storyteller has the final word on the chosen Prodigy and its prerequisite.

Whether natural or carefully cultivated, your character is easy to overlook. Socially, he’s ignorable or of negligible importance. He’s not necessarily forgettable. People are as apt to remember him as they are anyone else, if they even notice him in the first place. Even when they do look at him, he usually weighs in as “unthreatening.”

Mechanically, the character gains a +1 modifier to Subterfuge and Stealth rolls, since people are paying less attention to him, and thus his lies and his attempts to go unnoticed. Some other Skills may also benefit from this Merit, at the Storyteller’s discretion. There are times when being small could benefit a player in Politics or someone using Streetwise.

More generally, people with this Merit register as someone whom people don’t need to pay attention to. The character gets chosen last for kickball, but the police don’t pick him up while looking for the usual suspects. Shopkeepers who are strict about loiterers consider him a non-issue. People and creatures who get nervous around others feel a little less so when it’s just him. Even prey animals react a little less to his presence. This amounts to a –1 penalty to the Wits + Composure rolls to notice this character as a detail.

Skinchangers who emulate small or prey animals commonly take this Merit.

Drawback: Even when the character wants to be noticed, he’s still overlookable or unimportant. Waiting with others to get customer service’s attention, everyone else successfully shouts over him. No one really takes his threats seriously, even when he means them. This applies a –1 penalty to Expression, Intimidation and Socialize rolls, as well as any other actions the Storyteller deems appropriate.

Your character knows how to use a spear in close combat. Sojutsu (often incorrectly called yarijutsu) is the Japanese form of the style. These skills also apply to using a rifle with a fixed bayonet (called jukendo in Japan). Thus, characters might learn it in a modern military force or a martial arts school. Martial artists often learn this fighting style alongside Fighting Style: Staff Fighting (see World of Darkness: Armory, pp. 213–214).

A character using this fighting style must use his weapon with both hands to take advantage of its maneuvers.

Warding Stance (•): The basic advantage of a spear or fixed bayonet is its length. Trained fighters learn to keep the tip of the weapon pointed forward, constantly threatening incoming attackers. Thus, this maneuver lets a practitioner attack first whenever an opponent using a smaller-Size melee weapon attacks from the front.

Thrust (••): The character knows how to deliver precise, powerful thrusting blows. His spear or bayonet gains the 9 again quality. If the spear or fixed bayonet already has this quality, he gains no further benefit.

Block and Strike (•••): Your character can deflect incoming attacks with the haft or stock of his weapon and swiftly strike back. When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a –2 penalty. Unlike similar maneuvers (such as Two-Weapon Fighting’s Deflect and Thrust maneuver), the character can move freely while using the technique.

Great Thrust (••••): The character lunges forward, putting his entire body behind a powerful thrust. If he employs an All Out Attack (see The World of Darkness, p. 157), he adds a number of dice equal to his lower of his Strength or Weaponry skill instead of the standard 2 dice. Drawback: If the attack inflicts at least as much lethal damage as the opponent’s Size, the character lodges the weapon deep in his target’s body. Dislodging it requires an additional Strength + Weaponry roll, but automatically inflicts a point of lethal damage.

Schools: Numerous Chinese, African and European styles teach spear fighting, and fixed-bayonet training is taught to soldiers forces around the world. A skilled fighter can transfer expertise from one to the other. To make the best use of a spear’s length, a practitioner should also learn Fighting Style: Staff Fighting.
Aside from the spear, this Fighting Style applies to glaives, halberds and poleaxes. Specific styles may have specialized maneuvers (see p. 106) to represent everything from Chinese arts that bounce the spear off the ground to the formation fighting skills of ancient phalanxes or Swiss pikemen.

Your character is trained to fight effectively with a knife. This particular form of martial knife training is based upon original Spetsnaz Russian Forces training. This training is now standard among many of the world’s Special Forces. It involves holding a single-edged knife in a downward (or “reverse”) grip. Maneuvers involve a lot of quick, fluid movements complemented by a mixture of slashing and stabbing toward vital areas.

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with a knife. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. Your character cannot have “Advantageous Angle” until he has “Anticipate Attack.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill.

Anticipate Attack (•): Those trained in Special Forces knife fighting know to move fast before incoming attacks and in response to them. To do this requires a level of anticipation and strategy even before a combat begins. At this level, your character may substitute his Weaponry score for his Composure when determining his Initiative modifier. This is only during combat situations in which your character is using an edged or pointed weapon of Size 2 or under.

Advantageous Angle (••): Your knife-wielder knows how to make a feinted attack from the side or rear in a way that grants him advantage. While normally such attacks confer no bonuses, the character is aware how to deceive an opponent into mounting a Defense against an attack that isn’t coming — and then stage an attack from a different angle. The foe’s Defense is at –1 during such an attack. Drawback: This maneuver can only be made every other turn.

Vital Attack (•••): Your character knows how to target his attacks to vital organs and other vulnerabilities. Attacks made with a knife have Armor Piercing 1, and penalties to hit specific targets or body parts (see “Specified Targets,” p.165 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) are reduced by one.

Slash and Stab (••••): Your character’s deftness with a knife allows him to make two attacks against one target in a single action. The first attack is a slash, the second a thrusting stab. The first attack is made as normal, but the second suffers a –1 penalty. Drawback: This quick maneuver leaves the character somewhat more vulnerable against the next attack coming toward him. His Defense is counted as being one less against the next attack.

Your character has a knack for understanding spirits. Perhaps one whispered to his mother as she was pregnant or sang him to sleep (and nightmares) as an infant. Today, even though their alien minds speak human tongues only poorly, the character always understands exactly what the spirit meant to say. This is by no means a conscious process of translation, and the character has no means of more effectively communicating to spirits, just understanding their words. On a mechanical level, the character gains +1 die bonus to use the Empathy Skill on spirits and to use the Subterfuge Skill to detect their lies. The character also ignores penalties based on poor understanding of the spirit’s words.
This is the two-dot version of the Merit, and only available at character creation.

The four-dot version of the Merit does not grant the above. Instead, that version of the Merit makes it possible for the character to piece together and infer meaning from the glossolalia that spirits speak naturally when not forced to communicate with humans. The character may attempt to assemble a rough idea of what a spirit is saying in that tongue with a Wits + Empathy roll at a –3 dice penalty. Other penalties may apply, especially if the speech is hard to hear or the spirit is deliberately being vague or opaque. For characters who possess the two-dot version of Spirit Ear, the four-dot version costs only three dots. Other characters must purchase it at four dots.

Your character has official command over a staff of employees. These people are mundane mortals, but they’re also professionally trained and capable of taking on a host of roles. An aristocratic household, for example, might employ a number of maids, valets and cooks, while a social predator might have publicists, investigators and lawyers on the payroll.

The number of dots in this Merit reflects the relative size and complexity of the force at your character’s disposal. You can assign a category to each dot, reflecting the separate tasks that can be delegated at any given time. For example, if your ghoul has Staff •••, you could assign the dots to chauffeurs, gardeners and security guards. Your character could then assign tasks involving driving guests, landscaping and guard detail to her own employees without requiring special effort beyond a simple dispensation of orders.

The number of dots your character can have in this Merit is limited by the number of people your household can afford to employ. You may not have more dots in Staff than you have in Resources.

It’s also possible to have the ghoul’s regnant be the one whose Resources dots support the service staff. In such a situation, the Kindred is the true master of the house, but the ghoul character is his butler or housekeeper in an Edwardian manor-house-style division of labor. And while the ghoul might be the one giving the orders and maintaining the staff’s affairs, the master’s wishes are the rule of the night.

Your character has learned to wield a quarterstaff, bo staff or jo staff effectively in combat. This is likely something she has learned from a martial practitioner. This style is sometimes called bojutsu.

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to unique combat maneuvers with polearms. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver. Your character cannot have “Temple Strike” until she has “Trip.” These maneuvers and their effects are described below. All maneuvers are based upon the Weaponry Skill.

Note that while a quarter-, bo or jo staff are the norm for this fighting style, the maneuvers are not limited to these weapons. A character can use any polearm for these maneuvers, but using other polearms with an item that isn’t one of the aforementioned three staff types requires an additional point of Weaponry (Weaponry •••). A character can also utilize improvised polearms (including post-hole diggers, scythes or other objects at least five feet in length) with this maneuvers. In such cases, the Weaponry ••• is still required, and all attack rolls are made with the appropriate improvised weapon penalties in place. Remember as well that utilizing a polearm in combat grants the wielder a +1 Defense.

Trip (•): Your character can use her polearm to trip a single opponent, hopefully sending him to the ground. It is a contested roll pitting the character’s normal attack roll against the opponent’s Dexterity + Athletics. The character’s attack is penalized by the foe’s Defense, as usual. If the opponent falls, assume Knockdown rules (per p. 168, the World of Darkness Rulebook). In this case, however, the fall to the ground incurs a single point of bashing damage to the opponent.

Temple Strike (••): Your character brings her staff against the side of her adversary’s head. The normal –3 penalty to hit the head still applies, but if the damage meets or exceeds the target’s Size, the target falls unconscious for a number of turns equal to the damage done. This damage is usually bashing, as it is meant to be performed with a blunt staff. The damage can be performed with a bladed weapon such as the naginata, however. The effect is the same, but the damage is now lethal instead of bashing.

Dangerous Radius (•••): With this technique, your character can swing her weapon in a wide arc, hitting anyone within three yards. Make a normal attack roll for the character (Strength + Weaponry + weapon bonuses). This roll receives a dice penalty equal to the number of opponents hit with this strike (to a maximum of –5 dice). Successes achieved on this roll are done as damage to all within the three-yard radius. If the weapon is a normal blunt polearm (i.e., a staff), it does bashing. If bladed, the weapon causes lethal damage. Drawback: To perform this maneuver, the character must spend a Willpower point before she makes her initial attack roll. This attack cannot distinguish between friend or foe. Any allies within the three-yard radius are hit along with enemies. The technique cannot be pulled to exclude friends from the damage.

Your character has standing, credentials, authority or respect within an organization, group, company or social body. He might have an official position or title, or might simply be revered and honored within the group and therefore accorded a degree of authority. Your character might be a company vice president, a police sergeant or lieutenant, an army corporal or a nurse at a hospital. Or he could be a lowly member of the group whom everyone likes or who has won some acclaim and is allowed more standing than he is officially entitled.

Each acquisition of this Merit is dedicated to one type of authority, whether in an organization, society or circle. Examples include police, City Hall, criminals, unions, banks, a university faculty and hospital staff. In order to have authority in more than one venue, you need to purchase this Merit multiple times, each trait with its own dots. Thus, your character might have Status (Police) ••, Status (Criminals) ••• and Status (City Hall) •, each acquired separately at character creation or during play. You would need to explain how he reconciles all this authority in the setting. The aforementioned character might be a dirty police sergeant who has paid his dues in civil elections and gained some recognition among city officials.

Status represents the privileges and liberties that your character is authorized to take within the confines and definitions of his group. Increasing dots reflect increasing clout. A cop with Status 1 can enter the suspect lockup and interrogation rooms, while a cop with Status 4 can enter the evidence locker without supervision or get involved in a crime scene investigation without specifically being called in.

The phrase “within the confines and definitions of his group” is emphasized above because Status operates exclusively through official channels. A surgeon might have one patient seen or operated on before another, because that’s within the official confines of his authority. Exceeding the confines of authority or proper channels transcends the limits of the Status Merit. Going above and beyond — to ask for favors rather than give orders or to requisition an official request — enters the realm of the Allies Merit. So, a police detective who gets a lower-ranking officer to investigate a case may do so with Status. That request is conducted through proper channels. Meanwhile, a police detective who asks another officer to overlook some evidence or to delay an investigation does so with Allies. The favor is asked outside official channels.

While Status might allow your character to give orders to underlings, the Merit doesn’t automatically get results. Subordinates or co-workers might resent their assignments, dislike your character or have personal agendas that interfere with your character’s needs. Efforts to get things done through official channels still call for Manipulation + Intimidation, Persuasion or Socialize rolls, whichever Skill is appropriate to the request, circumstances and your character’s standing within the organization. Bonus dice equal your character’s Status dots. Penalties might apply if your character browbeats someone (- 1), uses threats (-2), skirts the limits of his authority (-2) or exceeds his authority (-3 to -5).

Some sample organizations and the basic benefits, perks and privileges of standing in them are listed below.

City Police: A patrol officer has legal powers of search, seizure and arrest, is permitted to carry a firearm at all times and has access to a wide range of local databases. High-ranking officers (•••+) can initiate investigations, coordinate with neighboring county or state police, and call in urban-assault teams.

Clerical Standing: Your character is a licensed minister, gaining access to people and places such as accused criminals, hospital patients, crime and accident scenes, and restricted areas in religious institutions. Prerequisite: Academics Skill Specialty: Religion.

Corporate Executive: A low-level corporate executive has access to much of the company’s resources, including corporate credit cards, vehicles, cell phones and computer equipment. Depending on the company, he can also access sources of information and influence not available to the general public. Executives (•••+) have larger salaries, expense accounts, and hiring and firing powers, not to mention social perks and access to connected political figures and/or celebrities.

Diplomat: Your character is a registered diplomat for a sovereign country. If he works in a foreign country he has free lodging, access to his country’s embassy and immunity from foreign criminal prosecution. Prerequisites: Politics •• and Persuasion ••.

Licensed Professional: Your character is licensed in a recognized profession that affords him privileges unavailable to most civilians. He might be a private investigator and authorized to carry a concealed weapon and to have access to restricted databases and government files, or he could be a building contractor and be authorized to own and use explosives for professional applications. Prerequisite: Academics Skill Specialty: Law (private investigator), Science Skill Specialty: Demolitions (building contractor).

Medical: Your character is licensed to practice medicine. He can write prescriptions, access medical records and gain access to restricted areas such as crime and accident scenes. Prerequisite: Medicine ••.

Military: An enlisted soldier has a monthly stipend, is permitted to possess military-grade firearms and has access to restricted sources of information and equipment. If he is an active-duty soldier he receives free room andboard and medical care. High-ranking soldiers (•••+) are officers who can command units, requisition military equipment and perhaps even initiate foreign insurgencies.

Rotary Club: A basic member in good standing has access to the local meeting hall and a network of members who can provide club-related information or perform club-related duties. A basic member can also benefit from the organization’s emergency fund in times of need. High-ranking members (•••+) have access to other clubs around the country, and have sway over connected civic groups and political figures.

Drawback: Your character’s standing in a given organization is dependent on the fulfillment of his duties and on abiding by the regulations required of members.

With the right skill or ability, even the most intangible of things can be stolen. With this Merit, the body thief is able to reach out to a victim and rob them of sight, hearing, taste or any basic sense. In fact, in the case of knowledgeable thieves, even senses that are neither obvious nor mundane are fair game. Among all kinds of thieves, robbing a victim of their senses is a common practice since the benefits for the thief are as strong as the hindrances to the victim. Among the Magically Talented, rituals that involve using puppets or dolls are common, whereas the Mentally Talented are considerably less flamboyant. The caster must be able to either clearly see the target or have a sympathetic connection to him in order to steal a sense.

Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy versus Resolve

Duration: One scene

Possible Modifiers: The sense is not one possessed by the caster (–2), the sense is supernatural in nature (–3)

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The power fails. Sensory overload causes the caster a –2 penalty on all perception-related rolls for the remainder of the scene.

Failure: The power fails.

Success: The caster achieves more successes than the victim does. Before the roll, the caster must se- lect one targeted sense to steal from the victim. The victim loses the sense for the scene. The caster finds her perceptions heightened. When making any roll pertaining to that sense, the caster can substitute the victim’s traits for her own and may roll all rolls with that sense twice, taking the best of the two results. If the sense is supernatural in nature, the caster must use her traits to utilize the stolen sense. This power can steal a person’s Unseen Sense Merit for a scene. The caster must know that the victim has the Merit before the roll is attempted.

Exceptional Success: As above, except the stolen sense lasts a whole day.

Your character is exceptionally attractive by modern standards; heads turn and conversations stop when she enters a room.

For two dots, your character gets a +1 modifier to all Presence or Manipulation rolls when she attempts to use her looks to entertain, persuade, distract or deceive others.

For four dots, your character’s looks are angelic; she gets a +2 modifier.

Drawback: The more attractive your character is, the harder it is for her to avoid notice in public. Witnesses to any criminal acts are much more likely to remember your character’s appearance, and easily recognize her in a lineup. Your character is also likely to receive a great degree of unwanted attention in social situations.

Your character gains a +1 modifier to actions involving lifting or carrying heavy weights. She can lift and carry much more weight than her build and body type suggests.

Your character is practiced at holding his breath for long periods of time. He might be a pearl diver or escape artist, capable of staying underwater without aid for longer than most people believe is possible.

When determining how long your character can hold his breath, add two to Stamina when referencing the Holding Breath chart on p. 49. For example, if your character’s Stamina is 2, he can hold his breath for four minutes before you need to make a roll.

Your character trains with a wide variety of light swords and sticks, allowing her to flow from one method to the next. She never suffers a penalty for being unfamiliar with a weapon outside her original Fighting Style.

Your character can drive a vehicle and perform an unrelated action (e.g., fire a gun, punch another passenger) in the same turn. Drive rolls may still be necessary for dangerous maneuvers or situations. See “Vehicles,” p. 141.

While the Occult ability provides information about both the mundane occult world and very basic supernatural matters, there are some secrets so tightly held that those outside of the involved groups have very little chance of ever stumbling across the information. A human high priestess may know about the beliefs and practices of 13th century Celtic Druids, or even about what herbs are used for cleansing an area of a poltergeist, but no amount of Occult ability will tell her about the in-clan Discipline spread of the Daeva vampire, or the history of the Ordo Dracul. That sort of specialized information is simply not the purview of even the most skilled mundane researcher. The information exists, however, and despite the first Tradition, it will eventually fall into the hands of those who seek it.

The Supernatural Lore Merit represents the sorts of in-depth, obscure or protected information that goes above and beyond what can be obtained through the Occult Ability. Perhaps the character had the fortune (or misfortune) to interview a vampire directly. Perhaps they inherited a book of lore once possessed by their grandfather who hunted werewolves in the 1800s. Perhaps they are a member of another supernatural group and have developed a connection of exchanged information for mutual protection. Regardless of the exact form it takes, the Supernatural Lore Merit represents in-depth information about one particular Supernatural field. Higher dot levels represent more specific or off-limits information.

Players must choose a specific focus for their Supernatural Lore when purchasing it. No more than one type of Supernatural Lore may apply to any particular challenge. A player may purchase multiple instances of Supernatural Lore with different specific focuses. For example, she may have Supernatural Lore (Werewolves) •, Supernatural Lore (Bloodlines) ••, and Supernatural Lore (Fetches) ••. Ultimately the decision about what specific focuses are permissible for a given player to purchase is yours.

Supernaturals do not need Supernatural Lore to learn basic information about their own creature type. Certain truths just resonate, and it doesn’t take Occult or Supernatural Lore to fi gure out, as a vampire, that you have to drink blood or that you want to avoid sunlight and fl ames. Nor is it necessary for a player to have Supernatural Lore to justify knowing information he has encountered directly in game. However, if he’s trying to learn about a certain Bloodline’s weakness, Supernatural Lore: Vampires (general knowledge about all bloodsucking creatures), Kindred (specifi cally covering Kindred vampires), Clans (in general, or specializing in a certain Clan) or Bloodlines (in general or focusing on a certain Bloodline) may be necessary to uncover this well-hidden information.

You as a Storyteller, have final say over what information a certain Lore can cover, and which Lore specialties apply to a given situation.

This Merit can be used in two ways: Remembering or Researching.

The Remembering mechanic is used when a character wants to dredge his memory for a pertinent fact that relates to the situation at hand (essentially like Encyclopedic Knowledge, but for secret supernatural information.) The player rolls Intelligence + the appropriate Supernatural Lore Merit to determine if they are able to remember a pertinent fact based on their current situation. With a single success, the information remembered may be quite trivial. Additional successes indicate the information is more pertinent or useful. A failure indicates no pertinent supernatural information is garnered, and a dramatic failure results in false (and potentially dangerous) information being brought to mind.

Researching can be done aided by the Supernatural Lore Merit as well. In any situation where a character is doing an extended Research challenge about a supernatural topic in which he has Supernatural Lore, he may add the levels of his Merit to each dice roll he makes for the purposes of gathering information on the topic.

With this Merit, the character has access to a number of likeminded individuals who share in a particular depraved act. This support network offers sympathy that most could not. This Merit allows the character to spend a Willpower point to gain the usual three-dice bonus on the roll to resist gaining a derangement, if the action causing the roll is acceptable to the members of the group.

Drawback: The group expects the character to act as support for other members, and the group may call her in to perform other perverse acts in kind, such as body disposal. This can lead a character to an even quicker path to moral degradation.

Any vampire that fights the Larvae and survives can pass along this piece of wisdom to his fellows—“Do not let them surround you.” A pack of Larvae doesn’t have much in the way of intelligence, but more than makes up for it in animal cunning, ferocity and tenacity. This Fighting Style simulates the way in which a pack of Larvae takes down its prey.

Note that only a true pack of Larvae uses the Swarm. If, for some reason, several unaffiliated Larvae wound up in the same place at the same time, and a convenient victim was nearby, the minions would be just as likely to attack each other as the vessel. They certainly would not use any of the maneuvers listed here, even if they knew them.

Not all Larvae are equally talented in battle, and so not all of them have access to all levels of the Fighting Style.

The Storyteller needs to decide, when using Larvae in a battle, which minions have access to the Swarm and at what rating. It might be simpler to assume that all members of a pack have the same rating, rather than write out traits for a large group of them, of course.

Dots purchased (or granted) in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers. Each dot is a prerequisite for the next one, so a Larva can’t have Set-Up until he has Dogpile. All Larvae involved in a given maneuver have to have the requisite dots in this Merit to enact it, except for Sever Limbs (see below).

• Synchronicity: The Larvae anticipate one another’s moves, waiting for an unspoken signal before moving in. The Storyteller makes one initiative roll for the Larvae, using the character with the highest Initiative modifier. All members of the pack act on this initiative.

•• Dogpile: The Larvae attack a single target simultaneously, grappling him and holding him down. A maximum of three Larvae can enact this maneuver at once. Use the grappling system found on p. 157 of The World of Darkness Rulebook, except that the Larvae use the teamwork rules (found on p. 134 of that book). The primary actor subtracts the target’s full Defense rating from the roll, but if the roll succeeds, the character is grappled by all of the participating Larvae. This means that to break free, the grappled character’s player must roll Strength + Brawl – the highest Strength rating of the grappling Larvae + 1 for each additional Larva. The grappling Larva can bite the target on the next turn, but cannot enact other Swarm maneuvers.

••• Set-Up: One Larva moves in and absorbs a blow from a victim. As the blow lands, the next Larva attacks, taking advantage of his packmate’s sacrifice. The first Larva sacrifices his Defense, taking no action for the turn. If the target attacks the “sacrificial” Larva, another member of the pack can attack the target and gain a +2 to the attack roll. Only one Larva can take advantage of this maneuver in a turn.

•••• Eyes Everywhere: Since Larvae have an intuitive sense of each other’s positions and current situation, they are extremely difficult to overwhelm. All Larvae in a given combat scene with this level of Swarm do not suffer from the Defense penalty due to multiple attacks in the same turn (see p. 155 of The World of Darkness Rulebook).

••••• Sever Limbs: Once a pack of Larvae has grappled a target using Dogpile, it can hold the target immobile allowing devastating attacks from other members of the swarm. By chewing through the target’s flesh at joints, the Larvae can sever a target’s arm or leg in a matter of seconds. This is an extended action, during which the target must remain immobilized in the grapple. The attack roll comes from a Larva not involved in the Dogpile (and whose Strength doesn’t contribute to the penalty for breaking free, therefore). The Storyteller makes the Larva’s attack roll as usual. The target’s Defense does not apply. The Larva must accumulate a number of successes equal to the (target’s Stamina x 2) + Resilience (if any). If the Larva manages to accumulate these successes before the target breaks free, the creature chews through the target’s elbow, shoulder or knee and removes the attached limb. To a living target, this immediately fills the character’s Health track with Lethal damage (meaning that the character is bleeding out), even if the successes on the attack roll(s) were not sufficient to do this. To a vampire, the loss of the limb is obviously terrifying and inconvenient, but the vampire won’t bleed to death. He merely suffers the Lethal damage indicated by the Larva’s attacks.
Only the Larva making the chewing attack needs to have Fighting Style: Swarm •••••.

Example: A pack of four Larvae attack a hapless mortal walking home one night. Three of them (each with Swarm ••) grapple him, while the fourth (with Swarm •••••) chews through his arm. The man’s Stamina is 2, his Health rating is 7 and he has no wounds going into the fight. That means that Larva needs 4 successes to chew through his arm. The Storyteller rolls 3 successes on the first turn and 2 on the second. This indicates 5 levels of Lethal damage, but it’s also enough to separate the man from his arm. This fills his Health track with Lethal damage and he immediately begins to bleed out (as described on p. 173 of The World of Darkness Rulebook). Of course, the Larvae will surely drain his blood in the next few seconds, killing him.

If the hapless wanderer had been a vampire with Resilience 1, the Larvae would have a much harder time of it. For one thing, once the vampire activated Resilience, his effective Stamina increases to 3, meaning the Larva needs 7 successes to sever the limb (Stamina 3 x 2 = 6 + Resilience 1 = 7). At that point, it’s more likely that the Larva will put the vampire into torpor than take off his arm.

She has learned to utilize the shield’s strengths, redirecting it towards incoming threats while overcoming some of the clumsiness involved in making attacks from behind a shield’s protective cover.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Sword and Shield maneuvers are based on the Weaponry Skill and function only when a character possesses a shield.

Cloak and Dagger (•): Your character’s extensive training with shields allows her to utilize improvised shields more effectively. This maneuver is named for the practice of using one’s cloak to buffet incoming attacks away. A character with this maneuver doubles the effective Structure of an improvised shield (usually an improvised shield can only deflect a number of attacks equal to its structure before being destroyed) and suffers a –2 penalty to attack rather than the standard –3. This penalty can be further decreased by the maneuver The Shielded Strike below, but improvised shields cannot be used to perform the Shield Bash, Shield Charge, or Stand Strong maneuvers.

Shield Bash (••): Your character has learned how to use the shield defensively and offensively. Attempts to strike another combatant with the character’s shield still suffer a –1 penalty, but gain a Weapon bonus equal to the shield’s Defense rating. Damage remains bashing.
Drawback: A character using a shield to knock an enemy back is not using it for defense. A character does not benefit from a shield’s Defense rating on a turn in which she uses this maneuver. If she has already used the full Defense rating against an incoming attack during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

The Shielded Strike (•••): The character’s use of her shield integrates seamlessly with that of her weapon. She may rest the blade across the top or side of a rectangular shield, pushing the weapon forward as if playing billiards. Perhaps she has developed a careful rhythm in which she lowers the shield for the bare instant necessary to deliver a fatal attack. Either way, when the character uses this maneuver to make an attack, she no longer suffers a penalty for using a weapon while benefiting from her shield, and her shield adds +1 to its Defense rating against the target of the attack.
Drawback: The character’s concentration on coordinating her shield and weapon leaves her open to attacks from the flanks and rear. She loses her Defense against attacks made by any opponent save the one she is attacking. If she has already used her Defense against an incoming attack from another opponent during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

Shield Charge (••••): The character charges forward, shield lowered before her, and crashes into the enemy line. The character makes a shield bash attack (see above) at a –2. The attack inflicts bashing damage, but if even a single success is scored on the attack, the character may send her enemy flying. An opponent who suffers the effects of this attack makes a reflexive Dexterity + Athletics roll; if he rolls fewer successes than the shield-user, he suffers knockdown (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 168). At Storyteller’s discretion, this maneuver may be used against multiple opponents, provided that they are standing close enough together. Each additional opponent targeted levies an additional –1 to the attack roll, and the damage rolled is distributed evenly among those hit. Those who suffer no damage do not check for knockdown, even if their companions do.
Drawback: Use of this maneuver necessitates a charge action (World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 164), which means, among other things, she loses her Defense. If she has already used her Defense against an incoming attack from another opponent during the turn, she may not use the maneuver.

Stand Strong (•••••): The character digs in her feet, raises her shield, and stands as a human wall against an onslaught of attacks. She benefits from her full Dodge trait and shield defense bonus against attacks made from a single direction (Weaponry Dodge can be applied). Additionally, attacks from that direction do not decrease her Defense against later attacks in the round. For the purpose of this maneuver, a direction is approximately one third of the circumference of a circle drawn about the character (typically claiming defense against attacks from the left, front, or right is sufficient). Attacks made against the character from other directions suffer a penalty equal to Defense only, which suffers penalties from multiple attacks as usual. Note that while a single enemy might be able to move around the character’s defenses, no more than three characters can assault the character from a direction that she can’t fully defend against through this maneuver.
Drawback: Using this maneuver requires an incredible exercise of will. A character must spend one Willpower point to gain the benefits of this Merit for one turn.

Shields: The Short Version
A character utilizing a shield for protection gains a bonus to her Defense equal to the shield’s Defense rating but at the cost of 2 dice from attack rolls made while holding the shield (characters with the Ambidexterity Merit suffer only a –2 penalty). A character who concentrates on Defense (and hence doesn’t take an attack that turn) may gain an additional +1 to her Defense. Most shields have a Defense rating of 2, though improvised shields only grant a rating of 1.

More detailed rules for shield use can be found on page 178 of Armory.

You character is a sworn law enforcement officer, with all the rights and duties thereof. She is empowered within her jurisdiction to make arrests, use department equipment and resources, view confidential information, request assistance from other agencies and use force during the course of her duties. She may legally carry a concealed deadly weapon anywhere in the United States not prohibited by federal law, even when off duty. When in another agency’s jurisdiction, she also can expect professional courtesy (see 13th, p. 60), subject to local customs and policies.

This Merit differs from Status in that Status represents a character’s standing within an organization, while Sworn Officer indicates that the character actually is a duly empowered law enforcement officer. The civilian director of the Midway Forensic Science Center may be an MPD employee with Status (MPD) ••••, but he’s still a civilian, not a sworn officer.

The number of dots purchased in this Merit determines the extent of the jurisdiction of the agency for which your character works. One dot indicates a small to mid-sized town or a rural county. Two dots indicate a major city (such as Midway) or a densely populated county. Three dots indicate a statewide agency. Four dots indicate a federal agency with national jurisdiction.

Note: For a police-centered story in which most or all of the characters are officers, the Storyteller is strongly encouraged to provide this Merit free. In such a case, being a cop is an intrinsic part of the story and players should not be charged points for playing characters that fit the game’s concept. However, an individual player who wants to play a cop character in a non-police-focused chronicle must still purchase this Merit.