Physical Merits and Flaws
Acute Senses (1 or 3-pt. Merit)
Your mage has an exceptionally sharp natural sense, be it vision, taste, hearing or whatever. She can manage about twice the natural sensitivity of a human, which allows you to get a two-point reduction on difficulty for all rolls with the appropriate sense. For three points, all of your mage's senses are incredibly acute.
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Ambidexterous (1-pt. Merit)
Your mage has equal facility with either hand. You never suffer a penalty for your character's use of either hand in performing a task, since the character has no "off-hand." The character can use both hands at once to perform two physical tasks without splitting dice pools, but he may suffer a concentration penalty (at the Storyteller's discretion), especially if the tasks are wildly different or in different arcs of vision. Very few people are truly ambidextrous. In stressful situations, a penalty should always be assessed for the difficulty of performing actions with both hands at once.
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Catlike Balance (1-pt. Merit)
Your mage possesses an innately perfect sense of balance. You reduce the difficulties of all balance-related rolls (e.g., Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by two.
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Daredevil (3-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Fortune favors the bold — and your mage is certainly bold. In dangerous and risky situations, he performs like a true action hero. Any time your mage takes a significantly risky action, like leaping across rooftops in a hail of gunfire or diving between two burning, colliding cars, you get to roll three extra dice and ignore one 1 on the roll. Generally, a task must have a difficulty of at least 8 and the potential to inflict three or more levels of lethal or aggravated damage in order to be considered risky in this fashion. Note that extended risky tasks, like vulgar rituals, get this bonus only at the end of the task, rather than on each roll.
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Huge Size (1-pt. Merit)
Your character is abnormally large in size, possibly over seven feet tall and 400 pounds in weight. He therefore has one additional health level, and he is able to suffer more harm before he's incapacitated. Treat this health level as an extra Bruised level, with no penalties to rolls. Note that such characters definitely stand out in a crowd, they may suffer health problems later in life, and they make for easy targets. Storytellers, beware of players who take this Merit solely for the ability to soak up extra damage in combat. Remember as well that the bonus mass and health level go away if the mage uses Life magic to shift into a smaller form.
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Insensible to Pain (5-pt. Merit)
Your character might be made of steel, or just hopped up on drugs (although you should also take the Addiction Flaw if such is the case), but whatever the cause, he doesn't hurt no matter how wounded he is. You ignore all wound penalties until your character is finally killed.
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Addiction (1 or 3-pt. Flaw)
Your mage suffers an addiction to some substance, such as nicotine, alcohol or some hard drug. If the substance is relatively trivial and easily obtained, this Flaw is worth one point, and it probably won't cause any game-related difficulties. If the substance is illegal, dangerous or liable to cause health or psychological problems, the Flaw is worth three points. Some mages or constructs may be addicted to extremely unusual or magical substances. Although such substances generally don't assess any penalty, they may count as a severe addiction due to their unusual nature. A mage who can't get his fix will go through withdrawal, with penalties assessed by the Storyteller.
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Defective Sense (1-pt. Flaw)
One of your character's senses is dulled or abnormally damaged in some fashion. Perhaps the character is hard of hearing, has limited taste receptors, is color-blind or is correctably nearsighted. In each case, you suffer a two-point penalty to the difficulty of all rolls involving the flawed sense. Obviously, you cannot take this Flaw in conjunction with an Acute Sense of the same type!
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Short (1-pt. Flaw)
A character with this Flaw is four and a half feet tall or less. The character may have trouble reaching objects on shelves, and he is certainly noticeable. Such a charact er runs at half the normal speed.
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Disfigured (2-pt. Flaw)
A hideous disfigurement makes your character's appearance disturbing. The difficulties of all die rolls relating to social interactions increase by two. The character may not have an Appearance rat ing greater than 2.
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One Ear/Eye (2-pt. Flaw)
Your character is missing an ear or eye, or else he has suffered damage or a birth defect that makes such an organ useless. The difficulties of all Perception rolls with the appropriate sense increase by two (just like the Defective Sense Flaw). Furthermore, a character with one eye increases the difficulty of all rolls involves depth-perception by one (including ranged attacks), while a character with one functional ear suffers a one-point difficulty on all rolls to determine the location of a given sound (due to the loss of binaural hearing).
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Primal Marks (2-pt. Flaw)
Your mage may have an Avatar of the Primordial Essence, some totem or god of legend, or perhaps she's just gained some powerful spirit's patronage and it's set its mark on her. If the totem is an animal, she resembles what such an animal would look like in human form so strongly that people who don't even know her call her "Bear" or "Moose" or "Raven." If the Avatar is some well known god or hero, your character looks just like people would expect her to, including any particular deformities (although you do get extra points for such handicaps). Your mage looks the part so much that anyone can guess her nature at a glance, and there is some danger in that, especially if your Avatar has a legendary enemy (as most do). Your character's totem or Avatar will also require her to protect its species or finish up its unfinished agenda. Your mage might alternately be the descendant of some famous or infamous house: Pendragon, Murasaki, Bacon, Bathory, Borgia or Le Vey. Besides the family name, you've also inherited the family "look." Students of history can easily picture you banishing the Devil and slaying dragons, or poisoning entire families and bathing in the blood of virgins — especially since they have the illustrations that might give them this idea. Alternately, your mage may just look the part other profession too well. Perhaps she has the red hair and green eyes of an Irish witch, the pale eyes and dark skin of an Arabic sorcerer, the grown-together brows and elongated ring-fingers of a born shapeshifter or the intense yellow, violet or emerald green eyes of one the fae. Students of ancient lore recognize these signs, and your mage may easily become the victim of witch-hunters. However, some witches, changelings, shapeshifters and others may accord you more status in their societies if you "look the part."
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Bad Sight (3-pt. Flaw)
The character has some sort of noncorrectable vision problem — a severe astigmatism, myopia or the like. This problem can't be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, and fixing it with Life magic requires extensive permanent work to bypass the problems of Pattern bleeding (and thus requires the expenditure of experience to remove the Flaw). You always suffer a two-point penalty to all rolls in which vision is a factor. Since sight is such an important sense, this Flaw is worth more than a simple Defective Sense.
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Deformity (3-pt. Flaw)
Your mage has some kind of deformity — a misshapen limb, hunchback, clubfoot, etc. — that affects his physical abilities and interactions with others. Having a hunchback, for instance, would lower a character's Dexterity by two dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one, when appropriate. After all, a hunchback can type as well as the next guy, and social interactions aren't based on appearance over the Digital Web. It is the responsibility of the Storyteller to determine the specific effects of the chosen deformity.
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Degeneration (3, 6 or 9-pt. Flaw)
Your character will die without the aid of magic or science to sustain her. She might be the victim of a disease or curse, or maybe she's something that wasn't meant to be alive in the first place. At the lowest version of this Flaw, your character simply does not have the natural healing factor with which most mortals are born. All wounds he suffers remain until treated with magic or Technocratic science. He will not heal any damage otherwise. At the six -point version of this Flaw, your character is actually falling apart. A hideous disease might be eating him up from inside, or maybe he's a victim of beetles and/or natural decay if he's the result of someone's half-assed necromancy. Maybe Iteration X didn't tell him that his "perfect android body" was a prototype made by the lowest bidder and that all the warranties are expiring. Whichever version you take, your character takes one health level of damage at three months, one a month later, another a week after that , one more three days beyond that, one the next day and a final one an hour after that. In short, your character's health deteriorates at an accelerated rate, following the progression for natural healing backward until he is dead. Obviously, the character doesn't heal normally, either. With the nine-point version of this Flaw, your character falls apart at the same rate as before, but the damage is aggravated. Obviously, this Flaw is meaningless (and should not be allowed) in short -term chronicles and one-shot games.
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Diminished Attribute (Variable)
Life isn't fair. When they were passing out brains, brawn or beauty, someone else got your character's portion — maybe several of them. What this means is that your character is remarkably lacking in the social, physical or mental department. He might be a victim of disease or brain damage, or he may just have been born on the shallow end of the gene pool. It happens. However, you (the player) have points to spend on other stuff. Real life may not be fair, but at least game reality is. However, Storytellers should be careful with this Flaw, and make certain that the player roleplays the actual realities of being shortchanged. For each dot that you lose from your character's Attributes, you get three points back from this Flaw. This kickback isn't subject to the normal limits of seven points of Flaws, but you cannot take more than one additional Flaw without special Storyteller approval and a damn good story. Note that this arrangement is not fair in terms of freebie points, but it lets you make a character who's totally crippled in one area and still get some payback.
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Lame (3-pt. Flaw)
Due to an unhealed injury or a missing limb, your mage has trouble walking. The character has a pronounced limp and a slow stride, and he must use some means of support to walk like a cane, leg braces or Forces magic. The character's movement speed is quartered, and running is impossible. This Flaw may also add to the difficulty of maneuvers that rely on the legs — jumps, swimming, martial-arts kicks — at the Storyteller's discretion.
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Monstrous (3-pt. Flaw)
Your mage has an Appearance rating of zero. He may be the stereotypical pock-marked leper, or he may have the face and body of a demon or bug-eyed monster. Otherwise, someone just beat him with the ugly stick.
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Permanent Wound (3-pt. Flaw)
Due to Pattern damage, a permanent Paradox injury or some other nastiness, you have a wound that never heals. Even if you repair the injury with magic, it reoccurs at sunset or sunrise of each day (your choice as to which). This wound causes your character to suffer the Wounded health level with lethal damage that cannot be soaked. Such damage is cumulative with other injuries (and it could kill a badly wounded mage if it reoccurs while he's already injured), but it is not self-cumulative. That is, your character's bleeding head wound doesn't cause any more damage the next morning or evening if he hasn't bothered to heal it magically for a day.
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Slow Healing (3-pt. Flaw)
The mage's body's natural healing processes are slow, whether due to a bad immune system, old age, bad diet or just genetics. You heal all of your character's wounds twice as slowly as everyone else. All Life magic Effects heal half the damage they should, rounded down.
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Deaf (4-pt. Flaw)
Your mage's natural Pattern is deaf, and the mage cannot hear at all! You fail all rolls involving hearing automatically. This Flaw increases the difficulty of many Alertness rolls by three as well, since your mage must rely on other senses for warnings and clues. Overcoming this defect with magic, as with all such Flaws, requires the use of difficult permanent rituals and the expenditure of experience points.
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Mute (4-pt. Flaw)
Your mage can't speak. This shortcoming may derive from physical damage, a magical curse or a natural deformity. You may communicate with your game group to describe your character's actions, but you are not allowed to actually talk in character (and if you do so "out of character" to get your point across, your Storyteller may penalize you by awarding you fewer experience points). You can use Linguistics to learn sign language, or write (assuming your character isn't illiterate as well). Mind magic can also overcome this problem to a limited degree.
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Aging (5-pt. Flaw)
Your mage is either not as spry as he used to be, or he is not yet mature. Either way, one Physical Attribute score (your choice) must be lowered by one point. This Flaw must be taken once per decade over the 40-year mark, or once for each age bracket under 15. Your character loses one dot between the ages of 11 and 14, two for being between seven and 10, and he loses three for being between four and six. If you take this Flaw to represent youth, you must also take the Child Flaw.
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Mayfly Curse (5 or 10-pt. Flaw)
Common among Progenitor Victors and those with shifter or demonic blood, your character matures at an accelerated rate and declines at the same. At the lower level, your character ages one year every two months, which means that when you're physically 18 years old, you're chronologically three. At the higher rate, you age a year every week, making you 16 in less than four months and 52 by the end of the year. It's not much of a lifespan, certainly, but it's more than sufficient for shock troops. This Flaw can be combined with any degree of Aging. Storytellers should certainly forbid this Flaw as meaningless twinkery for any short -term or one-shot games!
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Blind (6-pt. Flaw)
The character has no natural sight — the world of color and vision is lost to him. You cannot even make Perception rolls that require vision, and you suffer a three-point difficulty penalty on any Alertness roll where you do have a shot, unless the matter relies exclusively on another sense. The difficulty of all Dexterity-related rolls increases by two. Your mage must target his magic by hearing, Correspondence or some other magical or mundane sense.
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Paraplegic (6-pt. Flaw)
Your magician is confined to a wheelchair, completely unable to stand and move about without the aid of crutches, the chair itself or some other difficult and painful system. Your mage generally moves a single yard per turn, and doing even that much is torturous. Perhaps the wizard's body is broken by accident, or he may not have been born with any functioning limbs. This Flaw makes life very difficult, and you should consider carefully before taking it!
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Social Merits and Flaws
True Love (4-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Despite the bleakness of the world and the alienation that most mages suffer, your character has discovered a true love. Such love gives hope and inspiration in the face of even the greatest difficulty, for it is a sign that the world is not totally devoid of higher, purer powers. You gain one automatic success on all Willpower rolls, which can only be negated by a botch. On the other hand, you probably have to spend time rescuing your true love from danger or questing to find him or her again.
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Child (1-3 pt. Flaw) - RESTRICTED!
Your mage was a young child at the time of her Awakening, and he has all the problems that come with his age. People don't take him seriously, he can't get into clubs, and in particularly severe cases, people tend to ask him where his mommy is. The value of this Flaw depends upon exactly how young your mage is. This Flaw particularly bites if your character hangs out with older mages and does all sorts of weird stuff that a child shouldn't or can't do (such as sex, drugs, self-mutilation...). A young child character should also take the Short Flaw.
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Dark Secret (1 pt. Flaw)
Some terrible past haunts your character. P erhaps he turned on his mentor, or maybe he is secretly in love with a Widderslainte. Either way, your character's secret — which should come up from time to time as the Storyteller feels it appropriate — can cause some embarrassment or trouble for your mage (although it's unlikely to get the character killed).
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Mistaken Identity (1 pt. Flaw)
Your mage is not the reincarnation of some ancient hero or nefarious character from history, the favored child that some great animal totem set its mark upon, a powerful immortal wizard who has not been seen for a hundred years or some god come down in human form. Unfortunately, he looks the part, and people who value iconography more than actions will believe he fits the role. This confusion can naturally get your mage into all sorts of trouble. People may expect him to have capabilities that he doesn't, or they may blame him for problems that aren't his own.
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Shy (1 pt. Flaw)
Large groups of people make your mage uncomfortable, and although he doesn't necessarily panic and flee from crowds, he has trouble dealing with such gatherings. Your mage has trouble speaking and presenting himself when the world's watching. Any time your mage interacts with strangers or becomes the center of attention for a group of three or more other people, you suffer a difficulty penalty of three on all Social rolls.
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Witch-Hunted (4-pt. Flaw)
A dangerous and skilled mortal hunter stalks your character, fully aware of what your mage is and what he can do. Worse still, the subject is intelligent and crafty, he works to negate the advantages of your character's magic, and he may extend his hunt to your companions and associates. While just about every mage can claim some enemy, this Flaw makes your mage a pariah. (Nobody wants to hang out with someone who's going to bring a psycho-killer along!) The hunter may even have friends or allies who continue to trouble your mage if your mage eludes, dissuades or kills the individual. Whatever the case, this guy wants your mage dead, he's not going to stop, and he has access to special resources (or, at the very least, specialized knowledge) in his quest.
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Probationary Member (4-pt. Flaw)
Your character joined the Traditions (or Conventions, or appropriate Craft) recently, and he is on bad terms. He may be a former rogue who recanted, or perhaps he defected from the other side. The mage is treated with hostility and suspicion. Even a mage with a high Destiny rating is looked at askance. There's no telling if such a luminous individual will turn again to become a powerful enemy.
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Mental Merits and Flaws
Ability Aptitude (1-pt. Merit)
For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. Within your character's specific Aptitude, reduce all difficulties by two. A natural linguist picks up languages easily, speaking without any trace of accent, and a crack driver can perform phenomenal car tricks with ease. This Aptitude functions for one Ability, but it can be taken multiple times for a character who's a natural with, say, computers and technology. Note this merit falls under the MENTAL category, and so special or combat Abilities, such as Do, should never have an Ability Aptitude associated with them.
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Common Sense (1-pt. Merit)
Your mage has an exceptional body of everyday wisdom and a tendency to deduce clear courses of action in puzzling situat ions. Although this Merit does not give you a benefit to any die rolls, it means that the Storyteller will warn you when your character's actions violate common sense. He may even give you suggestions. This Merit is good for new players, as it gives the St oryteller an excuse to treat them lightly.
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Concentration (1-pt. Merit)
By shutting out all distractions, your mage can focus intently on the task at hand. Your character is never affected by adverse situational and environmental circumstances that don't actually cause damage. Thus, you take no penalty if your mage is distracted, disturbed, pushed, jostled, hanging upside down, working in the rain or otherwise inconvenienced.
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Light Sleeper (1 to 3-pt. Merit)
For one point, your mage needs less sleep than other mortals: He can function quite well on four hours a night. If the Storyteller imposes penalties on other players for sleep deprivation (one- or two-die penalties are suggested), then you are exempt. Needless to say, this Merit allows your character to accomplish a lot more with his daily activities. For two points, your mage sleeps only about two hours per night. This resilience is quite unusual, and it lets your mage get a lot more done. It also means that he has the luxury of sleeping while on the run. For three points, your mage is truly sleepless. You may suffer penalties from exhaustion, but he does not need shut -eye. Perhaps your mage's brain's sleep center was destroyed in an accident, or he may be something like a golem that's designed to stand forever vigilant. Regardless, the only time your mage sleeps is if he's drugged or beaten unconscious.
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Lightning Calculator (1-pt. Merit)
Your character can perform complex mathematical equations in her head instantly with little error at the speed of a computer. You as a player can use a calculator during play at any time, even when your character is fleeing for her life.
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Time Sense (1-pt. Merit)
Your mage has an uncanny sense of time, down to within a few seconds of accuracy. This Merit duplicates the P erfect Time Effect of Time 1, but it's natural and ever-present.
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Berserker (2-pt. Merit)
The ancient Celts called this state the "Battle Fury," and when it takes over your mage, everything is tinted with a red haze as he kills. And kills. And kills some more. Your character feels no pain, and he ignores all wound penalties when berserk. Whenever your character is injured in combat, make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6 + the number of wound levels suffered so far that scene). Add two to that difficulty if you have the Short Fuse Flaw (up to a maximum difficulty 10). If you fail, your character enters the battle fury, and he may ignore all wound penalties. Unfortunately, he won't know friend from foe, and he will kill until there's nothing left standing. To end the battle fury, you must make a Willpower roll at the same difficulty. Subtract one from the difficulty if the person on the receiving end is your True Love or someone similarly important. Otherwise, everyone just has to run and hide until you come down.
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Code of Honor (2-pt. Merit)
Your mage has some personal ethic or code of honor, above and beyond the teachings of Tradition, by which she lives. This code guides her actions, promotes higher standards and gives a clear ethical path. Your mage's belief in and struggle to uphold this code grants you two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when he acts in accordance with this code or when resisting some compulsion that might force him to violate the code. You should work with the Storyteller to describe and flesh out the code. Note that if your mage does not uphold the code and ponder its impact on his lifestyle regularly, this Merit may be revoked.
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Eidetic Memory (2-pt. Merit)
A character with an eidetic memory remembers the general sense of everything that she experiences, and she has greater ease in total recall. Under normal conditions, your character easily remembers everything that happens to her. In stressful situations (like memorizing a book during a firefight), you may need to make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to memorize or recall the pertinent information.
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Iron Will (3-pt. Merit)
When your mage makes up his mind, he's unshakable, and he can't be swayed from his goals. You receive three extra dice against all attempts to influence your mage's thoughts (though not against emotional manipulation). If your character ever run afoul of a vampire, he can shake off its his mind control powers with the expenditure of a single point of Willpower.
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Compulsion (1 to 4-pt. Flaw)
There is something your mage is compelled to do or not do, and whether or not he likes this fact is immaterial. This Flaw may be psychological, physiological, or supernatural in nature. If it's purely psychological, you may roll Willpower to resist the Compulsion (difficulty 6 + the point value of the Flaw). However, if it's physiological or supernatural, it doesn't matter how willing the mind is, since the spirit is bound or the body is crippled, and he is unable to do this thing no matter how hard he tries. The Flaw is worth two extra points if such is the case. Compulsions can also vary. Not being able to touch something and not being able to harm it are two completely different things. An evil sorceress might not be able to physically touch an innocent, but she could still stand back and blast away with a shotgun or a spell of flaming death. This Flaw is worth varied points, depending on the frequency and severity of the Compulsion. Flaw Compulsion 1 point Do not cross a threshold without permission, never show fear to the enemy, never contradict a superior officer 2 points Never refuse a reasonable bet, never betray any emotion, do not touch anything holy or consecrated to a particular faith, never harm a child 3 points Never refuse a duel, never strike a woman, never refuse an offer of sex, never tell a lie, never take a life 4 points Never tell the truth, dance whenever you hear music, become entranced by mirrors or beauty or books, never refuse a dare, do no harm.
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Deep Sleeper (1-pt. Flaw)
Snore, toss and ignore the alarm — your mage sleeps like a force of nature. Whenever your mage is trying to wake up, you suffer a difficulty penalty of two on the roll, and the mage continues to stagger along bleary-eyed and uncomprehending for the rest of the scene (with a further onepoint penalty on all rolls).
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Ineptitude (1-pt. Flaw)
Your mage just sucks at one particular Ability. Maybe he can't handle driving worth a damn, or he makes computers burst into flames and emit pink smoke. Pick one Ability in which your charact er has at least one dot — preferably one that will be important to your character in some fashion. (Your Storyteller will know if you do otherwise, and he has nasty ways to make you pay.) You suffer a difficulty penalty of two on all rolls with that Ability.
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Nightmares (1-pt. Flaw)
Horrid nightmares afflict your mage, whether due to a natural condition like night terrors, a curse or perhaps a vivid replaying of a terrifying event. Your mage has trouble getting enough sleep, and he often wakes up horrified, soaked with sweat and exhausted. You must make a Willpower roll when your mage wakes up. Failure indicates that you lose a die from all dice pools for the rest of the day. A botched roll might indicate that the mage still believes himself to be locked in the nightmare (and Storytellers will be quick to take advantage of this impression). Naturally, you cannot take this Flaw in conjunction with the three-point version of the Light Sleeper Merit!
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Sleepwalker (1 to 4-pt. Flaw) - BANNED!
Magic? What a load of bullshit. No one in his right mind believes in magic. This is the 21st Century. You'd have to be nuts to believe in that stuff. Unfortunately, your character is nuts. However, his madness is that he doesn't believe in magic no matter how much evidence he sees to the contrary. He rationalizes everything, and even if he can be awakened for a short time by incredibly vulgar magic, the next day he'll remember everything as a weird dream or too much acid, not an earth-shattering revelation of the true nature of reality. He may believe in laser guns and personal jet -packs — after all, that's science — but he refuses to believe in all the nonscientific bell, book and candle stuff. Anything outside the Consensus of modern technological society is just bunk as far as your character's concerned. Or, alternately, your mage believes in magic, faeries, ghosts and werewolves just fine, but he refuses to believe in this strange thing called science. This worldview doesn't make much sense for a resident of the 21st Century, but it's a perfectly reasonable perspective for a visitor from the 16th. Of course, even if your mage's conscious mind is in denial, his Avatar is quite Awake and willing to help with magic and/ or technology. After all, just because you don't actually believe that God is going to send angels and flaming chariots to your rescue doesn't mean you shouldn't pray for Him to send them.... As a one-point Flaw, you may only engage in coincidental magic or super-science. Your mage doesn't believe in the vulgar stuff, and he disbelieves it when he sees it. (That is, your character counts as a Sleeper with regards to vulgar magic or super-science.) For a two-point Flaw, your mage doesn't believe in either magic or super-science, and he counts as a Sleeper against both kinds of vulgar Effects. At double the appropriate value, your mage is able to perform vulgar magic and/ or super-science, but he counts as a Sleeper with regard to his own Effects. Moreover, he hallucinates a more rational turn of events. ("What do you mean demons dragged him down to Hell? I just said 'Damn you!' and then he dropped one of his ninja smoke grenades and ran off!") Therefore, the mage gets Paradox from his own vulgar Effects even in a sanctum! Storytellers should be cautious with this Flaw, not allowing players to create min-maxing Technocrats who bring extra Paradox down on their enemies and none on themselves without allowing it to cause them significant problems.
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Soft-Hearted (1-pt. Flaw)
Your character cannot stand to watch others suffer. Your mage avoids any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8).
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Speech Impediment (1-pt. Flaw)
A severe lisp, stutter, cleft palate, outburst of Tourette's Syndrome or similar problem makes it difficult for your mage to speak clearly. Try to roleplay this Flaw; you suffer a two-point penalty to all verbal communication rolls.
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Amnesia (2-pt. Flaw)
Your character can't remember anything about his past, his history or the events of his life. The character can still use his various Abilities, but he may not remember how he learned them. Your Storyteller has final say on your character's history, and some things may come back to surprise you. You can set aside two to five additional points of Flaws for use by the Storyteller; the Storyteller gets to pick Flaws worth one fewer point (thus, if you take four extra amnesiac Flaws, your Storyteller chooses three points of Flaws but you get the four freebie points). Of course, you don't know what these Flaws are, so you may be in for a surprise!
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Deranged (2-pt. Flaw)
Due to circumstances beyond her control, your character is permanently insane. This state may result from a congenital brain disorder, or maybe she saw things she wasn't meant to see that drove her mad. Although you can overcome this insanity temporarily with Willpower, your character might never overcome its grip. However, while your mage is crazy, she is not necessarily a Marauder. Her magic or science may, in fact, be one of the few sane things about her. Choose or create a Derangement.
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Phobia (2-pt. Flaw)
Some simple stimulus, engenders an overwhelming fear in your mage. Your character might be afraid of snakes, heights or large crowds of people. You must make a Willpower roll whenever your mage is confronted by the object of terror. If you fail, your mage retreats from the situation, while a botch means that the mage flees completely out of control or curls up into a helpless ball and quivers. If forced to stand ground against such a fear (fighting a giant magical snake, for instance), you suffer a difficulty penalty of two on all rolls.
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Short Fuse (2-pt. Flaw)
Your mage is quick to anger. Whenever anybody ticks off your character, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to not go on the offensive. This Flaw is especially dangerous with the Berserker Merit, as it increases the difficulty of the roll to resist going berserk by two.
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Vengeful (2-pt. Flaw)
Someone pissed your mage off, and he plans to get even. Your mage wants to even the score with one individual or group. This victim may or may not be an enemy — the subject may not even be aware of the perceived slight — but your mage takes it seriously and counts it as a major part of his life. You must spend a Willpower point to turn your mage away from the object of his vengeance when a situation crops up to potentially wreak havoc on the opponent in question.
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Ability Deficit (5-pt. Flaw)
Your character is not attuned to his natural aptitudes, so you have five fewer points to spend on his Talents, Skills or Knowledges. Therefore, the most you could take on that category would be eight dots, and the least would be zero. Of course, you can still spend freebie points to take Abilities in the appropriate category. However, you cannot have any Ability in that category at three dots or higher at the start of the game.
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Supernatural Merits and Flaws
Conditional Magic (1 to 6-pt. Merit or Flaw)
There is one thing in the world that is a great boon, or bane, to your character's magic. Perhaps her spells work particularly well against men, or on Tuesdays, or just after a storm, or on people dressed all in black. Maybe she's powerless to affect those who are or who bear that certain thing, such as her magic being unable to affect Christians or those who carry a piece of rowan and red thread. It may be that a certain individual gave her power over them, or perhaps it is utterly proof against her magic due to an oath she swore or spells that were placed on her. The conditions that affect your magic may be common, uncommon or rare, and the value of this Merit or Flaw depends on the rarity of the condition. The base costs listed here assume that you have a difficulty modifier of three on all Arete rolls under the given conditions. You may adjust the difficulty by one for every point more or less you devote to the Trait.
Points Condition 1 point Unique: The Sword of Roland, the Matriarch of the MECHA construct, Leap Year 2 points Scarce as hen's teeth: Current or former members of the Council of Nine, your former Mentors, once in a blue moon 3 points Rare, but not unheard of: loadstones, Swedish royalty, werewolves, rowan and red thread, the holy days of the archangels 4 points Special order: virgins, middle eastern eye-bead charms, any member of Iteration X, during a thunderstorm 5 points Available without much trouble: cold iron, silver, Christians, any member of the Traditions, a windy day, holy ground 6 points Common as dirt: men, anyone who's ever been baptized, the color purple, under cloud cover, Tuesdays.
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Green Thumb (1-pt. Merit)
Flowers spring up in your footsteps and trees burst into bloom at your touch. Your hands are as warm as sunlight or stones from a cheery hearth. A common Merit among Verbena.
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Parlor Trick (1-pt. Merit)
Your character has a natural ability to perform some small, pretty or useful bit of magic at will. This trick is nothing that can cause much damage, or even serious annoyance; it's just enough to perform some small basic task or give your mage a little flair. Your mage might be adept at the old wizard's trick of conjuring an orb of witchlight to hand or a flame to her finger. She might be a cyborg who had the bright idea of installing a light bulb or pilot light in her head for the same purpose. If your mage uses a magical sense like night-vision often, you might have the added perk that he can make his eyes glow like a vampire's, allowing him to see even in total darkness. If your character is of the scientific bent, he may be able to emit enough x-rays to use with his x-ray vision, or he could have a laser pointer installed in his index finger just for fun. You don't have to roll or spend anything to make this parlor trick work. Storytellers should note that this Merit is provided to add color and reason to the game, not to give min -maxers a loophole to create engines of death. With this Merit, mages can light pipes without a lighter, conjure roses or martinis, have mood music play in the background or pop a penknife or a single claw out of a fingertip. Yes, you could put an eye out with one of those things, but the combat difference between a penknife, a single tiger claw, and a press-on fingernail is inconsequential.
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Circumspect Avatar (2-pt. Merit)
What Avatar? Your mage has never seen her Avatar. In fact, no one's ever seen her Avatar, unless it was her reflection in the mirror, or her shadow, or something that everyone and their dog has. Your mage does have an Avatar, but it isn't inclined to put on a show. At most, her Avatar is simply her subconscious, and it's just nudged and pushed her into finding her own Awakening. Having a circumspect Avatar doesn't mean that your mage doesn't have Seekings and Epiphanies. Such events just tend to be rooted in reality. The mage may well find that a series of unusual events in the physical world leads her to greater enlightenment, without ever entering a dreamscape. Who needs to go rooting around in dreams and bizarre mindscapes to find out who they are?
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Medium (2-pt. Merit)
Your mage is a natural conduit to the Underworld. Although this Merit does not reduce the difficulty of working Spirit magic, it does mean that your mage can hear ghosts naturally. The mage might not see wraiths without the right magic, but they do tend to hang out, talk, bug the character and ask him to do things. This talent can be helpful in some cases; wraiths are eager to talk to those who can hear them. However, they often make demands, and they can be difficult to banish if the mage doesn't have enough power with Spirit.
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Unaging (2-pt. Merit)
Your mage does not age, ever. Perhaps she drank an elixir in the Mythic Ages, or she tasted the Peach of Immortality, or she ate the Apples of the Hesperides, or she dined on the forbidden savor of mermaid's flesh. Perhaps she was injected with the perfect Iterator nanotech or Progenitor symbiote. Perhaps her body is composed of timeless stone or metal. Perhaps the cause is a complete mystery. Regardless, she remains unchanged as the years pass by, save for scars and accumulated knowledge.
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Oracular Ability (3-pt. Merit)
No, your mage is not one of the mystic Master mages living in an ivory tower in the Deep Umbra. Neither is she a software company. What she is, is an ordinary mage with a flair for divination and glimpses into the past, present and future. Whenever the Storyteller feels you are in the position to see a sign or portent, you may make a Perception + Awareness roll, with the difficulty relative to how well the omen is concealed. If successful, you may then roll Intelligence + Occult to interpret what you have seen, the difficulty is relative to the complexity of what you have seen. Your difficulty for all divination with magic (generally with Time) reduces by two.
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Cyclic Magic (3-pt. Merit)
Your character's magic is tied to some regular and repeating cycle — night and day, the moon, the sun, the tides, the wheel of the year, or even such things as the stock market or the price of tea in China (very important for a Syndicate commodities broker). As such, your difficulties with magic fluctuate from the standard by a maximum of three, depending on what part of the cycle you set as your personal high point. You may be tied to the dark of the moon, the full moon, the Bull cycle or the Bear cycle. Regardless, while the cyclic nature of your magic is problematic, it is quite useful in some circumstances, allowing your character to schedule rituals for their times of greatest power.
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Soul Linked (3-pt. Merit) - RESTRICTED! May not be taken at Creation.
Your soul is consciously linked to that of another, with whom you share a deep, empathetic connection. Indeed, the bond between you and your soul mate is so strong, that often you can feel what they feel, and glean surface thoughts without the use of magic. Close proximity to he or she with whom you share this ultimate bond, allows you communion of a highly spiritual nature. Dreams can be consciously shared during sleep and even the normally solitary and unique journey that is a mage’s seeking is influenced, and even shared by his soul-linked partner.
Mechanically, the benefits translate as follows:
- Difficulty is decreased by one for all perception-related rolls dealing with empathy, subterfuge, and awareness rolls in regards to the other partner.
- Difficulty is decreased by one for all charisma-related rolls dealing with empathy, leadership, etiquette, and performance in regards to the other partner.
- Difficulty is decreased by one for all Mind effects related to the companion.
While having this inexplicable bond may come as a comfort, especially along the road toward ascension, it is not without its drawbacks.
As a result of this bond, your mage's movement toward enlightenment and ultimate ascension becomes intrinsically entwined with that of his soul mate's. Losing your companion temporarily, or in some cases permanently stunts your character's growth toward ascension, as he loses sight of what once was.
If the companion is captured or has not been in contact with the character for over a month, the character suffers a -1 die penalty on all actions not related to directly rescuing the companion or bringing them together again. Furthermore, willpower is not regained automatically every day, until such time as they are reunited.
The death of a companion can also have drastic mental repercussions. Make a willpower roll (diff 8) immediately after news of it reaches the character, to determine the ‘initial severity’ of having a part of themselves torn away. (much the same as a vampire frenzy)
Losing your soulmate can be such a shock that the Mage that is left behind ends up in Quiet, depending on the circumstances, and the storyteller.
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Manifest Avatar (3-pt. Merit) - RESTRICTED!
Most people see their Avatars only during Seekings, if at all. Your mage's drops by every day for tea, if it doesn't hang out 'round the clock. This Avatar is completely invisible to everyone but your character (and those who can read her mind), unless you take this Merit in combination with the Allies Background, creating the body of a person or familiar for your Avatar. In this case, your Avatar becomes your bamfling buddy, popping in and out of existence when it feels like it. If it's killed, only the mortal shell dies, not your Avatar — unless you also have the Phylactery Flaw, in which case your Avatar's form is immune to all physical harm, but it is manifested permanently. If such is the case, it is able to be kidnapped, transformed and so on. Storytellers should note that an Avatar doesn't have to say it's an Avatar, and just because an Avatar is invested into a phylactery doesn't mean that everything that phylactery tells you is a pronouncement from your Avatar. A V-A may have his laptop as a phylactery, but unless he's also taken Manifest Avatar as a Merit, his laptop's warnings to update his virus software are nothing more significant than that. Likewise you may have invested your Avatar into your best friend, but that doesn't mean that everything (or anything) he says are pronouncements from your personal spirit guide. Such only happens to be the case if you take Manifest Avatar. Even then, why should your Avatar tell you he's anyone except your best friend? A manifest Avatar can chat with you and other people like the intelligences that show up on the Web to guide Virtual Adepts and converse with their contemporaries. With the right tricks, it can even materialize to harangue you, to fight, to push you around or just make for a hot date.
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Natural Channel (3-pt. Merit)
Your mage is a natural weak point in the Gauntlet between worlds. The difficulty to use magic to pierce it is one less, and spirits react a bit more favorably to the mage. If your mage finds an especially weak spot in the Gauntlet (with Awareness or Spirit 1), he can step between worlds without magic.
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Stormwarden (3 or 5-pt. Merit) - NOTE: RESTRICTED; those that wish to take this Merit, please consult the ST.
For some reason, the Avatar Storm that rages across the Gauntlet has no effect upon your mage. When your mage reaches across the Gauntlet, he never suffers any injury from the storm. For five points, your mage also protects everyone that he touches (including through Correspondence touching) and deliberately desires to shield. Either version of this Merit is quite rare, and a whole cabal might be built around the power of one individual to travel across the Gauntlet unhindered. There's no apparent pattern to who manifests this boon — some mages who've never studied Spirit magic before suddenly discover this talent when dragged across the Umbra, while other Masters of Spirit still can't simulate it.
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Unbondable (3-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Vampire blood cannot enslave your mage's will. No matter how much of it she consumes, the dreaded blood bond won't take hold. For that matter, she is immune to the eternal infatuation of the incubus's kisses and enslavement to ancient Artifacts created with soul-binding powers. This Merit can be powerful — a little too powerful for some chronicles — if combined with the Ghoul Merit. Therefore, if a character wants to be a freewilled ghoul, bear a soul-binding ring safely or be in any other situation where he gets the favors of the king without having to swear fealty, the player has to pay double the usual amount. On the flip side, your mage should not go around drinking vampire blood at random. The stolen power of undead creatures cursed by God certainly has nasty Resonance.
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Fae Blood (4-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Although your character is not a changeling, she's got their heritage running through her veins — literally. Faerie blood allows her to walk in the Dreaming as if she were fae herself. While doing so exposes her to chimerical attack, it also opens her to a new and wondrous world. In fae terms, your mage is kinain, a human with some innate Glamour who can learn limited cantrips fueled by her own power. (See Changeling: The Dreaming and The Enchanted for details. Note that a full mage cannot have a Glamour pool.) If your character is a hedge magician, these cantrips are a wondrous adjunct to your Paths; if she's an Awakened mage, they are inherent tricks that are Paradox-free! Her Banality is also quite low (typically two to five) and her presence is oft en welcome in the courts of the fae. Naturally, this sort of gift carries an obligation to play faerie politics. Nevertheless, it can be a wondrous game.
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Shapechanger (4-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
By some quirk of fate, your mage is related to a werewolf, -cat, -raven, -bear or perhaps even one of the more mysterious breeds. The changing blood has not stirred in him — at least not in the traditional way — but it has left its mark. He's immune to the Delirium (the madness that claims those who see a werebeast's half-human form), and he has friends among whichever Breed he's related to. Having this Merit doesn't meant that he knows their secrets or that he can wander around their sacred sites without retribution, but he has a certain edge that no normal mortal can match. If your character is a sorcerer, you might be able to learn a few spirit Gifts, and an Awakened mage can use these inherent magical powers as well without threat of Paradox. However, he can never have Gnosis, the innate connection to the spirit world that all shifters share. You've got a good chance to know some shapechanger lore, and you may share some common contacts and allies. You will probably claim some degree of affection from your relatives' tribe and some animosity from their enemies.
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Twin Souls (4-pt. Merit) - NOTE: RESTRICTED; those that wish to take this Merit, please consult the ST.
Your mage's Avatar has been fragmented, and he has a "soulmate" — equal in power to his own Avatar, and similar in Essence, Nature and Demeanor. A physical twin, a look-alike, another mage or a complete stranger (possibly a Sleeper) might posses this fragment. When in physical contact with this soulmate (or spiritual mate, for actions in the Umbra), the two may share Quintessence and cast spells as one, taking the highest ratings in Arete and Spheres, also gaining an additional measure of Quintessence equal to the strength of either individual. The parts are greater than the whole. However, this joint pool must be replenished through meditation in a Node, the same as a regular pool of Quintessence. Paradox points gained from joint spells are not split, however, and each twin gains the same amount of Paradox. With only one dot in Correspondence, your character will always know where her soulmate is. With one dot in Life, she'll know his state of health, and with one in Mind, she may share his thoughts. If one soulmate dies, the player of the other must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to avoid psychic shock. She must wait also until her soulmate's reincarnation before the power may again be shared. Soulmates are not just walking Merits; they must be presented and run as characters, preferably by different players in a group. Also note that a mage does not have to get along with her soulmate.... Twin souls are distinct and separate individuals, not just tag-team powerhouses.
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Ghoul (5-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
At some point in time, a vampire fed your character some of her potent blood, possibly bonding her into service. Somehow, she broke free, but the blood's force has granted her some of her mistress's power. In addition to a vague knowledge of vampiric society, your character ages slowly, has an extra automatic success on any Strength roll you make, and she inflicts an extra die of damage with all hand-to-hand attacks as a corollary to that additional strength. If your game integrates Vampire: The Masquerade rules, your character has a blood pool, a dot in Potence and the potential to buy and use some Disciplines, specifically Potence, Fortitude and his Domitor's choice powers. This power does not come without cost, however. Your mage must continue to feed on vampire blood occasionally. Otherwise, she regains her mortality and craves forever the sweet rush of her former mistress's essence. Should she revert (after going a month or more without the sacred vitae), she loses her supernatural might (and Disciplines) forever. (Unless she is Embraced as a vampire, in which case she gets them back at the cost of her life and Avatar.) Note also that imbibing the cursed blood of the brood of Caine has all sorts of detrimental effects! A mage gains a dot each in Static and Entropic Resonance immediately the first time she becomes a ghoul. The unaging curse causes the mage to have difficulty with Seekings. This penalty comes on at the Storyteller's discretion, but in general, the mage has a tendency to fail in Seekings due to her own static nature and the foibles of the Curse.
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Legendary Attribute (5-pt. Merit) - RESTRICTED; those that wish to take this Merit, please consult the ST.
Your mage has a superhuman Attribute, something in which he has the potential to be greater than human. Although this Attribute is not necessarily automatically better, t he mage could potentially exceed the bounds of human ability. Such a gift is rare and precious, and many people with this capacity never even manage to fulfill their true potential. In your character's legendary Attribute, your character has the potential for a rating of six dots. Thus, your mage might have the Strength of Hercules or the Intelligence of Occam. This Merit does not confer such a rating automatically; it must still be purchased with Attribute points, freebie points or experience. In addition to the potential for inhuman power, your character has some miraculous capability tied to that Attribute. A mage with legendary Stamina might have the ability to roll a soak against any form of damage, for instance, while a mage with legendary Wits might be able to shift his initiative category by one place in any given turn automatically. This power is generally automatic, and it is subject to the Storyteller's approval. Its potency varies with the character's actual Attribute rating, so a character with a legendary Stamina of 1 has a weak legendary power that might grow with time and experience. This Merit obviously has the potential for abuse, and it is not appropriate for all chronicles or characters.
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Shattered Avatar (5-pt. Merit) - RESTRICTED; those that wish to take this Merit, please consult the ST.
Although not necessarily weak, your character's Avatar has been broken to pieces. Your mage has one splinter — your Avatar rating, if you have one, purchased at the normal cost for that Background — and the other pieces are scattered elsewhere. However, what has been broken can be put back together, at least in this case. If you can find the other pieces of your mage's Avatar through questing and roleplaying, you may increase your Avatar rating after character creation. The other pieces of your character's Avatar may be scattered about the cosmos, secreted in extradimensional hidey-holes with sphinxes and other creatures guarding them, or they may be part of a phylactery, of which you have one or more pieces. For instance, perhaps your mage's Avatar is invested in 10 mighty rings, three of which she has (and a corresponding Avatar rating of 3), but she must go and retrieve the others from those who have them. Or perhaps there are other mages who share your character's Avatar, and whenever your mage kills one, her Avatar rating grows by their Avatar rating. Unfortunately, the other mages who have this Avatar are out to kill her as well.... Design the nature of your shattering with your Storyteller and decide beforehand what your character must do to regain a piece of his broken spirit.
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Sphere Natural (5-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Your character is able to use one of the Spheres of magic with a greater degree of ease than other mages. For whatever reason (inborn talent, powerful heritage, past life, supernatural bargain, etc.), she's got an affinit y for a certain kind of magic. She picked it up quickly, and she now progresses through it at an unusual rate. During character creation, select one Sphere. From this point on, you only pay three-quarters of the normal cost (rounded down) when buying levels, rituals and similar improvements for magic of that Sphere alone. The favored Sphere must be declared at character creation, and it may be purchased only once.
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Avatar Companion (7-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Your mage is in a cycle of reincarnation. However, the strange thing about your mage's passages through the life-death-rebirth cycle comes from the fact that his Avatar has another lesser Avatar connected to it. This fragment also enters the reincarnation cycle, follows your mage's Avatar through each incarnation, and often retains memories of its previous incarnation. In game terms, you have a living companion who has an Avatar linked to your own. You may have little memory of your past lives and your companion may not be Awakened, but she retains much of the knowledge and experience from your previous incarnations. Thus, your mage's companion can remind him of things or teach him about lessons that he's already learned previously. Think Corum and Jhary-a-Conel. The Storyteller creates this companion. Unless you also take the Allies Background, your companion has no special capabilities besides being tied to your character's cycle and remembering the past.
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Dual Traditions (7-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
Your mage has been educated by two traditions. Most likely, he was a Hollow One who studied a bit of this and that, and found a couple things that made sense to him. Or, perhaps, he was Awakened by a teacher of one Tradition, but then studied under a different Master and experienced a second Epiphany through this new knowledge. For purposes of spending experience, the specialty Spheres of both Traditions come with the bonus (cheap) multiplier. Your character is more open-minded about foci as well, and he may use those of either Tradition. (The penalties for unique foci still apply.) If your mage loses his Hermetic showstone, for example, he has to go either about getting another one or rely solely on the props of his other Tradition.
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True Faith (7-pt. Merit) - BANNED!
In a world of horror and uncertainty, your mage keeps a small core of shining faith alive. Your character has a strong belief in and love for the Almighty power that drives the universe — be it God, Allah, the Hindu pantheon, or even just faith that everything will turn out all right. Your character has one Faith Trait. This Trait acts as a die of countermagic, and it adds to all Willpower rolls. Gaining further Traits is nighunto impossible, and it requires extreme work and dedication. Even a single Faith Trait indicates a character of surpassing generosity of spirit. A character must maintain a code of the utmost standards in order to keep his faith. Those who interact with the character should quickly realize that he's special, touched and devoted in a way that's rarely seen in this world, and the character should uphold the highest spiritual tenets of his belief. It's possible for the faithful to be antagonistic — righteous soldiers of God, perhaps — but it's very, very rare. Most of the faithful are filled with compassion, honesty and an overwhelming love for the whole of Creation. From time to time your character might be able to perform miracles fueled with faith; the exact details of such inherent magic are up to the Storyteller. Performing such tasks may exhaust the individual's faith for a time until it can be reaffirmed, in effect lowering the Faith rating. Miracles of this sort do not garner Paradox, and they seem to stem from some unknown source. Perhaps there truly is a benevolent power that watches over the universe.
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The Bard’s Tongue (1-pt. Flaw)
Your character speaks the truth, uncannily so. Things he says tend to come true. This Flaw is not a facility for blessing or cursing, or an Effect ruled by any conscious control (use Time 2 instead). However, at least once per story, an uncomfortable truth regarding any current sit uation will appear in your character's head and come out his mouth. To avoid speaking prophecy, the owner of this "gift" must expend a Willpower point and take a wound of one bashing health level from the strain of resisting (especially if he bites a hole in his tongue).
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Devil’s Mark (1-pt. Flaw)
Somewhere along the line, your mage made a pact with a demon or devil and it tunneled its foul power into him, leaving a mark in the process. This blemish (known as a witch's nipple) is dark and unwholesome looking, but it is insensitive to pain. In ages past, the "witch prickers" of the Inquisition would test these marks with special pins before they burned infernalists at the stake. In the modern day, the puritanical pricks are few and far between, and most people who see this mark will just think it's a birthmark. Despite the name "nipple," it can grow anywhere on your mage's body. On the plus side, if you have some demonic familiar, your imp can suck Quintessence directly from your character's third nipple, with the added bonus of it being insensible to pain — a real perk when you have a cat chewing on your tit.
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Echoes (1 to 5-pt. Flaw)
Your mage manifests the traditional marks associated with the supernatural. Maybe it's a little quirk like not having a shadow, or something as severe as a baleful aura. Perhaps milk curdles around your mage and mirrors break. Look up some superstitions associated with the heritage of your mage's Tradition, and pick a few! The Storyteller determines the value of this Flaw, based on the severity of these supernatural problems.
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Geasa (1 to 5-pt. Flaw; must be attached to another Flaw or Merit)
There is something your character must or must not do, and his life, his luck, his magic (and perhaps his very soul) depends on it. It may be something that has always been upon him, a Geas prophesied by druids at bis birth, or a curse laid on him by faeries at his christening. It may also be a sacred oath or vow he swore, or a promise or bargain he made, and Someone (with a capital S) witnessed it and is going to hold him to it. If he disobeys, the consequences are dire, if not deadly. The value of a Geas depends on how easily it is broken and the penalty for violating it. If the penalty is the loss of some Merit or Background, deduct the Geas' rating from the value of the Merit or Background and make that number the value of the Flaw. For example, your character's sword may be a five-point Artifact, but you have been told, "If you ever raise this blade in anger, the angels who gave it to you will take it away." Never raising one's sword in anger is a small sacrifice, so it's worth four points, making a four point Flaw. When you take a Geas, choose the Flaw(s), Background (s), and/or Merit(s) to which the Geas is attached. Then either lessen the final value of the Flaw(s) or decrease the cost of the Merit(s) and/or Background (s). In the case of Merits that may be taken multiple times, you may take the Geas the same number of times to decrease the cost. However, your Geas should be at least one point less than the total value of the Merits, Backgrounds and/or Flaws to which it's linked. In other words, you cannot get a Merit or Background for free just by piling on strictures and limitations. Storytellers should examine each Geas to make sure it makes sense in terms of story, rather than just being a pile of bizarre restrictions and commandments that could only be explained by faeries dropping acid at a christening. Storytellers should also blackball any Geas that does not cause actual problems. Losing your soul if you die is a problem, and so is losing an legendary Attribute if you lose your virginity. However, it's to be expected that you'll lose all of your Attributes, enhanced or otherwise, when you die, so this is not a legitimate problem unless your character also has some way to come back from the dead. The point value of the Geasa suggested here is only approximate, and it will vary depending on character and circumstances.
Value Geas 1 point Inevitable circumstance or incredible sacrifice: When you die, if you ever let the sun touch your skin, if you ever allow your feet to touch the earth, if you ever speak another word 2 points Almost unavoidable circumstance or significant sacrifice: Remain a virgin, never harm a living creature, never tell a lie 3 points Everyday circumstance or common sacrifice: Never back down from a fight, never tell a secret, never refuse hospitality, never marry, never have children 4 points Unlikely circumstance or a small sacrifice: Stop and pet every cat you see, never eat any animal product, never harm a certain type of animal or a certain type of person, never raise your sword in anger 5 points Easily avoided circumstance or trivial sacrifice: Never break bread with a red-haired man, say your prayers every night, take your vitamins, never harm the king, don't eat ham, keep one small secret Classic penalties for violating a Geas include suffering a dark fate, losing one's Avatar, having luck turn from good to bad (losing the Luck Merit), being deserted by one's familiar (especially if the Geas was a pact you made with the beast), losing a totem, losing all one's friends and losing one's worldly possessions. Characters may have several Geasa that may come into conflict. Cuchulainn had the Geasa to "Never refuse hospitality" and to "Never harm a dog" (his namesake). Three hags then offered him roast dog for dinner and Cuchulainn died soon after. Consequently, most mages try to keep their Geasa secret, lest they be used against them by enemy mages. Unfortunately, Geasa can be divined by a simple Entropy 1 Effect mixed with a little skill in fortune-telling as can one's destiny. Elaborate traps have been devised to force mages to violate all their Geasa in succession, leading to their flamboyant destruction. Perversely, Geasa, curses, holy vows and binding oaths are also marks of great status among certain Traditions, particularly the Akashic Brotherhood, Verbena, and Celestial Chorus, who accord status to mages with such Flaws. Simply put, unimportant people don't have Geasa or family curses, and someone who takes a binding oath or makes a sacred vow (and keeps it) is worthy of respect. Most Technomancers, on the other hand, aren't impressed by people who take vows of chastity or silence, and they are similarly blase about those who break them. Traditionally, there is very little that may be done about Geasa, which are simply facets of one's destiny, and curses are devilishly hard to lift (and the Flaw must be bought off if they are). However, with binding oaths, sacred vows, and bans imposed by totem spirits, characters who violate them accidentally may attempt to atone for their crime. A witch who has vowed to never eat any red meat, then suddenly finds ham in her pea soup, might be able to atone for the trespass by fasting and sending checks to PETA. However, if a mage violates an oath willingly and with full knowledge — and survives — he becomes an oathbreaker, one of the most foul epithets among the Traditions. The destiny of an oathbreaker is scarred permanently, and the marks show clearly to the same Entropy magic that reveals a mage's destiny. As such, it is virtually impossible for an oathbreaker to find a tutor or any sort of aid among those Traditions that value one's sworn word. Some Traditions, notably the Order of Hermes and the Verbena, kill oathbreakers on sight, numbering them among the Nephandi, whose dark paths of power are the only ones left open to them. Ironically, many oathbreakers are young internalists who foreswore their allegiance to the Dark Masters — and the binding oath they had been given — after realizing the price of that power. Destiny, however, does not play favorites, and those who break their word to Hell are just as stigmatized as those who lie to Heaven. Characters who wish to begin as oathbreakers should take Dark Fate or some other curse. Occasionally there are good and noble characters who have sworn foolish oaths in the past, then have broken them rather than allow some greater evil to occur. It is impossible to erase the stain from the soul once one is foresworn, but some have friends who will still stand by them, even though most mages will spit when they say their names. Geasa may be taken at the same time as the Compulsion Flaw, assuming that the Compulsion does not make the Geas impossible. For example, a witch could be both under a Geas and supernaturally (or just psychologically) compelled to stop and pet every cat she saw, lest she suffer a dark fate.
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Crucial Component (2 to 5-pt. Flaw)
There is some raw ingredient your mage needs to work his magic, besides magic itself. This component may be something rare or esoteric, like diamonds or ghostly ectoplasm, or perhaps something common or easily obtainable, like anger, alcohol or electricity. Without this crucial component, he cannot work his magic, and if this crucial component cannot be worked into a casting, oh well — you need to find a different Effect. This Flaw does not merely represent a Technocrat's reliance on scientific devices and scientific principles. A Virtual Adept does not need a computer to work his computations; if he had to, he could use a slide-rule or a pencil and paper, or even do them in his head — it just takes longer. But Dr. Va-Voom requires diesel fuel to power all his Devices, and they won't work if he tries to attach solar cells or an etheric proton pack — or at least they won't work for him. This substance does not have to be direct from the source — moonlight can be charged into moonstones and holy water can be bottled — but it does have to be properly stored, with whatever methods or rituals are appropriate. (Charged moonstones must be kept in a black velvet pouch, away from the light of the sun, while holy water must be kept in a specially blessed flask.) Flaw Crucial Component 2 points sunlight, eggs, motor oil, tea, aspirin, electricity, emotion, ectoplasm 3 points beeswax candles, blood, fresh lavender, grave dirt, holy water, rage, spectral residue 4 points virgin's blood, hashish, dead humans, gold, platonic love, the fires of Hell 5 points diamonds, live humans, rare orchids, lightning strikes, transcendent joy, the tears of angels, any variety of Tass regardless of Resonance.
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Dark Fate (5-pt. Flaw)
Some terrible fate looms over your mage, and worse still, she knows it. She will die in a horrible way, or she may be doomed to suffer for eternity. Maybe she had a vision of her own Gilgul, or of entering the Cauls of the Nephandi. Your character cannot escape this fate, and it will come to haunt her sooner than she thinks. Occasionally, situat ions may remind your mage of the futility of her existence. You must spend a Willpower point to overcome such lassitude or else lose a die from all rolls for the rest of the day. Only the Storyteller knows the exact nature of this fate, and it's up to him to determine how it will come to pass.
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Sphere Inept (5-pt. Flaw)
For some reason, your mage sucks at a certain kind of magic. She could be paying off some karmic debt or struggling with some metaphysical concept. Maybe she invested her knowledge in some item in a past life and she hasn't run across it yet in this incarnation. This Flaw acts like Sphere Natural in reverse. Advancement in one particular Sphere (chosen at character creation) costs 1/4 more experience points than normal, rounded up. To take this Flaw, choose one Sphere that your character plans to study. This Flaw can be selected only once, and it must be chosen at character creation.
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Phylactery (7-pt. Flaw)
Historically, a phylactery referred to a special arm wrapping with a prayer box that contained sutras, divine power and a portion of the wearer's soul. Mages refer to a phylactery as a container for the power to perform magic. Your mage's Avatar exists in the physical plane, invested into an object or place, or possibly imbued into some creature or person (such as his familiar or ally) or even a part of his body. On rare occasions, it may be invested into some nebulous concept, like a bloodline, secret society or a religion. The good news is that this object or creature is now Correspondence Range 0 in regards to yourself, which means you can sense it wherever it is, unless it's shrouded by warding. Teleporting your phylactery ring off your finger or making you drop your phylactery sword is as difficult a feat as teleporting your finger off your hand or forcing you to chop off your own arm. The bad news is that you must be in actual physical contact with your phylactery in order to work magic — even if that physical contact is long distance, like a Virtual Adept linked via modem to the mainframe in his bedroom. Moreover, you need to be very obvious about what it is you're using to perform your arts. If your mage's phylactery is his staff, your mage must wave it grandly during all invocations; if his phylactery is a crown, he must hold his head high and wear the crown everywhere he intends to do magic. If your mage's phylactery speaks to him as his Avatar, you should also take the Manifest Avatar Merit. If the phylactery is an object, you should probably take the item as a unique focus. As with any unique focus, a phylactery can be repaired or retrieved if it is damaged, destroyed or stolen. If your mage is separated from his phylactery, you may roll Perception + Awareness to sense the surroundings of where it is, depending on how the phylactery might perceive such things. If your mage's phylactery is animate (as with a cat or horse or severed-but-still-living hand) it will also do its best to find its way back to you, having the same homing sense. Similarly, if your mage's Avatar is invested into a place, such as the Royal Forest of Dean or San Francisco, transporting him away from it, at least by magical means, is about as difficult as teleporting a city block to Istanbul. If he is removed from his phylactery by mundane means, his homing sense will lead him back. In cases where a phylactery is a place, the Avatar fuses with the City Father of that area. That is to say, your Avatar becomes one with the totem spirit of that particular region — Emperor Norton in San Francisco, Belle in Atlanta, a cert ain highly trademarked mouse in Disneyland. You should take an Avatar rating on par with the importance of your character's bailiwick. Wild places such as forests, deserts, rivers and even oceans can be linked with the same way, although your character must be in them or on them to work his magic. The Pacific Ocean is huge, but if that's your mage's phylactery, his connection to it ends once he sets foot on dry land. Generally speaking, it's not the size of an area that's important so much as the identity. The Queen of Angels may control most of Los Angeles, but there's a different identity to Hollywood and Malibu. If your character's phylactery is a place, your Storyteller may also allow your character's magic to work in other places somehow linked to it. A mage with Hashberry for her Avatar could probably work her magic in other parts of San Francisco with raised difficulties the further she got from the Haight, and more powerful Avatars could probably work their magic in foreign lands tied to their spirit. Finally, if your mage's phylactery is a concept with a physical or temporal manifestation, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Iteration X, the witch's Sabbath or the season of Christmas, you may work magic as long as your character is an accepted part of that institution. The symbols and tools representing it can be destroyed, of course, stripping your mage of his magic temporarily, but they can be replaced. In cases of identity phylacteries, your mage loses his connection to his Avatar if he is disowned, banished, defrocked, excommunicated or otherwise kicked out. As such, members with this Flaw are intensely loyal. If the organization or other concept is destroyed, the Avatar is destroyed, but an organization cannot be destroyed until all members either die or truly renounce their loyalties. When a concept is your mage's phylactery, his Avatar is the protector or mascot of that concept. If a mage with a phylactery ever dies, the Avatar may or may not go free, at the Storyteller's option. If it does not go free, the phylactery remains as it is, awaiting the mage to reclaim it in his next incarnation.
