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Ability Aptitude (1-pt.

Merit)
For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. Within your characters
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 whos a natural with, say,
computers and technology.
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
mages senses are incredibly acute.
Ambidextrous (1-pt. Merit)
Your mage has equal facility with either hand. You never suffer a penalty for your characters 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 Storytellers discretion), especially if the tasks are wildly different
or in different arcs of vision.
Bruiser (1pt. Merit)
Your appearance is sufficiently thug-like to inspire fear (or at least disquiet) in those who see
you. While youre not necessarily ugly, you do radiate a quiet menace, to the point where people
cross the street to avoid passing near you. All Intimidation rolls against those who have not
demonstrated their physical superiority to you are at -1 difficulty.
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.
Code of Honor (2-pt. Merit)
Your mage has some personal ethic or code of honor, above and beyond normal, by which she
lives. This code guides her actions, promotes higher standards and gives a clear ethical path.
Your mages 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.
Coldly Logical (1pt. Merit)
While some might refer to you as a cold fish, you have a knack for separating factual reporting
from emotional or hysterical coloration. You may or may not be emotional yourself, but you can
see clearly when others are clouding the facts with their feelings (-1 difficulty on all related
rolls).
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 situations. Although this Merit does not give you a benefit to any die rolls,
it means that the Storyteller will warn you when your characters actions violate common sense.
He may even give you suggestions. This Merit is good for new players, as it gives the Storyteller
an excuse to treat them lightly.

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 dont 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.
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 characters 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 shes 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 hens 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: toadstones, 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 whos ever been baptized, the color purple, under cloud
cover, Tuesdays
Daredevil (3 pt. Merit)
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/or 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.
Driven (2 pt. Merit)
Once per game session, when the survival of your character is at stake, you gain an additional
free point of temporary Willpower to spend on any one roll in defense of your mage's Tradition.
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.

Friendly Face (1pt. Merit)


You have a face that reminds everyone of someone, to the point where strangers are inclined to
be well-inclined toward you because of it. The effect doesnt fade even if you explain the
mistake, leaving you at -1 difficulty on all appropriate Social-based rolls (yes for Seduction, no
for Intimidation, for example) when a stranger is involved. This Merit only functions on a first
meeting.
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.
Huge Size (4-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
hes incapacitated. Treat this health level as an extra Bruised level, with no penalties to rolls.
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 doesnt hurt no matter how
wounded he is. You ignore all wound penalties until your character is finally killed.
Iron Will (3-pt. Merit)
When your mage makes up his mind, hes unshakable, and he cant be swayed from his goals.
You receive three extra dice against all attempts to influence your mages 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.
Light Sleeper (1 to 2-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.
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.
Lucky (4-pt. Merit)
Your mage is just plain lucky. Thrice per session you can repeat a failed roll, even a botch.
However, you can only do so once per roll, and you cant apply luck to rolls of magic (involving
Arete, Spheres, that sort of thing).

Legendary Attribute (5-pt. Merit)


Your mage has a superhuman Attribute, something in which has the potential to be greater than
human. Although this attribute is not necessarily automatically better, the 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 characters 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 Storytellers approval. Its potency varies with the characters
actual Attribute rating.
Natural Leader (1pt. Merit)
You are gifted with a certain magnetism to which others naturally defer. You receive two extra
dice when making Leadership rolls. You must have a Charisma rating of 3 or greater to purchase
this Merit.
Natural Linguist (2pt. Merit)
You have a flair for languages. You may add three dice to any dice pool involving written or
spoken languages and learn languages twice as fast.
Nine Lives (6pt. Merit)
Fate has granted you the opportunity to come as
close to Final Death as anyone can get and still survive.
When a roll occurs that would result in your death, the
roll is made again. If the next roll succeeds, then you
live and one of your nine lives is used up. If that
subsequent roll fails, then another reroll is made, until
either a successful roll occurs or your nine lives are used
up. The Storyteller should keep careful count of how
many lives the character has remaining.
Oracular Ability (3-pt. Merit)
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 Per + Aw 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 (usually Time) reduces by
two.

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; its just enough to
perform some small basic task or give your mage a little flair. Your mage might be adept at the
old wizards trick of conjuring an orb of witchlight to hand or a flame to her finger. 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
vampires, allowing him to see even in total darkness. This merit is provided to add color and
reason to the game.
Precocious (3pt. Merit)
You learn quickly. The time for you to pick up a particular
Ability (or Abilities, at Storyteller discretion) is
cut in half, as is the experience cost.
Sanctity (2pt. Merit)
This Merit is sometimes called the halo effect; everyone
considers you pure and innocent, though not
necessarily nave. You have a saint-like quality that is
hard to pinpoint but cannot be denied. You are trusted,
even if you are not trustworthy. At the Storytellers
discretion, you tend to receive lesser punishments for
wrongdoing, and you are liked by most.
Sphere Natural (5-pt. Merit)
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.), shes got an affinity 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.
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 Perfect Time Effect of Time 1, but its natural and ever-present.

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