Name and Dots: The name of a Merit is, obviously, what's written on a character sheet upon purchasing it. Additionally, after the name, there is a number or range of dots. These dots indicate how much the Merit costs and if it covers multiple versions/tiers.
For example, a Merit with a name followed by (••) simply costs two dots to purchase.
If instead a Merit was followed by (•• or ••••), then the Merit has two versions: a lesser two-dot version and a greater four-dot version. If a character buys the first tier of this Merit, they might be able to "upgrade" it by spending the remaining number of points all at once.
Many Merits have ranges of dots, such as (• to ••••). Such a Merit can be upgraded from one dot to a maximum of four, with each intermediate tier having a different effect.
Finally, Merits with dots written as (•+) can be acquired an effectively infinite number of times, although they may have specific restrictions or definitions.
Prerequisites: The Attributes, Skills, other Merits, background events, or other conditions necessary to purchase this Merit. Unless otherwise noted, exceeding these requirements is fine.
Description: The effects of the Merit and its versions in play.
Reference: The page number(s) in one of the World of Darkness rulebooks that details this Merit.
[Chronicles of Darkness Variant]: Some Merits included in the rules revision from Chronicles of Darkness (2015) are altered or updated versions of Merits found in the core World of Darkness rulebook. In cases where the two Merits of the same name have dissimilar effects, both of them are included with the implication that a character may take either version depending on the desired effect. A Storyteller may deem that a player can only take the Chronicles of Darkness version of a Merit that has one.
If a row in a table is red, it is a custom or homebrew Merit. Storytellers should only add them into their games with careful consideration.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Little Knowledge (•) | Mortal (non-supernatural) | Don't suffer negative penalties for trying to identify conditions or events with no easy non-supernatural antecedent, as well as +1 to rolls made to identify strange or otherworldly situation. | Asylum 50 |
| Area of Expertise (•) | Resolve •• and one Skill Specialty. | Chose one Skill Specialty and replace the +1 bonus with a +2 bonus. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Atavism (•) | Dexterity ••• or Wits •••; Intelligence •• or below. | Use higher of Wits or Dexterity for Defense, but receive -2 on non-confrontational Social rolls. | Slasher 127 |
| Combat Awareness (••) | Military training or combat background. | +2 to any situational awareness roll. | Dogs of War 109 |
| Common Sense (•••) | — | Once per chapter, you can ask the Storyteller some question about a task at hand or course of action. Upon succeeding a Wits + Composure roll, the Storyteller must answer to the best of her ability. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Danger Sense (••) | — | +2 to Wits + Composure rolls to detect ambushes. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Direction Sense (•) | — | Always know direction; never suffer penalties for navigation. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Eidetic Memory (••) | — | Never roll to remember experiences; when rolling to remember small facts from lots of data, +2. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Emotional Detachment (••) | Resolve •• | Ignore penalties from stress equal to Resolve. | Asylum 50 |
| Encyclopedic Knowledge (••••) | Character creation only. | When confronted with a situation outside normal knowledge, make an Intelligence + Wits roll to recall a pertinent fact. However, you must explain in terms of your character's background how she knows that information. | World of Darkness 109 |
| Encyclopedic Knowledge [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (••) | — | Chose a skill; at any time, make an Intelligence + Wits roll to recall a pertinent fact about something related to that Skill. However, you must explain in terms of your character's background how she knows that information. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| EOD (••) | Wits ••• or Dexterity •••; Crafts •••; Demolitions Specialty in Crafts. | Your character is familiar with bomb-making techniques and does not suffer the -2 penalty for disarming an explosive she did not build. | Armory 209 and Armory Errata 3 |
| Eye for the Strange (••) | Resolve ••; Occult • | Roll Intelligence + Composure when viewing evidence to determine if an event has a supernatural cause; upon success, the Storyteller must confirm or deny it and provide one piece of found information to lead to this conclusion. With an exceptional success, the Storyteller must provide some supernatural folklore about the cause or (if the event was mundane) provide an ongoing +2 to rolls to investigate it. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Fast Reflexes (• to •••) | Wits ••• or Dexterity ••• | Each dot provides +1 to Initiative. | Chronicles of Darkness 4 |
| Good Time Management (•) | Academics, Medicine, or Science •• | Half the time for each roll when performing a mundane extended task that doesn't involve teamwork. | Chronicles of Darkness 44 |
| Holistic Awareness (•••) | — | When treating a patient for an hour, roll Intelligence + Medicine + equipment. Success halves the healing time for each wound (see World of Darkness p. 175 for healing times). | World of Darkness 109 |
| Holistic Awareness (•) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | — | With access to woodlands, a greenhouse, or other source of diverse flora, roll Wits + Survival to treat or stabilize a character who is not suffering penalties from Lethal or Aggravated damage. | Chronicles of Darkness 44-45 |
| Indomitable (••) | Resolve ••• | +2 to rolls to contest supernatural mind control, or -2 to the controlling creature's pool. | Chronicles of Darkness 45 |
| Interdisciplinary Specialty (•) | Skill at ••• or higher with a Specialty | Apply the +1 from a specified Specialty on any Skill with at least one dot, as long as it can be justified. | Chronicles of Darkness 45 |
| Investigative Aide (•) | Chosen Skill •••+ | When making rolls to Uncover Clues (Chronicles of Darkness 79) with the chosen Skill, exceptional success occurs on 3 successes instead of 5. Also, Clues that come from this Skill use start with an additional element. | Chronicles of Darkness 45 |
| Investigative Prodigy (• to •••••) | Wits •••, Investigation ••• | When making rolls to Uncover Clues (Chronicles of Darkness 79), uncover a number of Clues equal to the lower of successes rolled or dots in this Merit as an instant action. Only the first Clue benefits from additional elements. | Chronicles of Darkness 45 |
| Language (•) | — | Speak, read, and write one additional language. | Chronicles of Darkness 45 |
| Library (• to •••) | — | Choose a Mental Skill and add dots in Library to applicable extended rolls involving that Skill. This Merit can be shared by characters with permission. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Lucid Dreaming (••) | Resolve •••, non-Changeling. | Allows a mortal to shape or engage in dream-combat in his own dreams; the changes he makes have no chance of disrupting the dream. | Changeling 196 |
| Meditative Mind (•, ••, or ••••) | — | •: Suffer no penalties from meditating in poor environments (including wound penalties). ••: Gain +3 to Resolve + Composure rolls during a day in which you've mediated. ••••: Require one success to gain the benefits of meditation, not four. |
Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Multilingual (•) | — | Choose two languages in which you can speak conversationally; with an Intelligence + Academics roll, you can read enough of that language to understand it in context. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Murder Expert (•••) | Intelligence ••; Stealth ••• | Strike a Killing Blow (see World of Darkness p. 168) upon a successful undetected surprise attack. | Slasher 127 |
| Patient (•) | — | When taking an extended action, you can make two additional rolls above what your Attribute + Skill would allow. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Professional Training (• to •••••) | — | Choose a background of professional training for your character and mark two Asset Skills that benefit from the following. •: Take two dots of Contacts relating to the chosen field. ••: Gain 9-again on Asset Skills. •••: Choose a third Asset Skill and gain two Specialities for your Asset Skills. ••••: Take a dot in an Asset Skill, and whenever you purchase a new Asset Skill dot, take a Beat. •••••: Spend a point of Willpower before rolling to turn an Asset Skill roll into a rote action. |
God-Machine Chronicle 163-164 |
| Technophile (• or ••) | — | For a chosen focus of study, apply the effect of the Encyclopedic Knowledge Merit. •: Relatively narrow focus, such as Handguns, Consumer Vehicles, or Edged Weapons. ••: Broad focus, such as Melee Weapons, Firearms, or Vehicles. |
Armory 208 |
| Telltale Murder (•• or •••) | Intelligence ••••; Medicine •• | ••: By rolling Intelligence + Medicine before a kill, you can arrange a murder in a way that it makes one brief statement such as "this victim is not innocent" per success. An investigator picks up on the hints with one success on a Wits + Investigation roll. •••: You can also stage a killing so that it sends a false message, such as "this death was a suicide." An investigator studying the body or crime scene must exceed your initial successes on Intelligence + Medicine to realize the lie. Drawback: If you don't use this Merit when striking a killing blow, the Storyteller may decide a single statement for you. |
Slasher 128 |
| Tolerance for Biology (•) | Resolve, Stamina, or Composure •• | Never feel nauseated due to unpleasant sights; +2 to keep composed when seeing scenes of violence or carnage. | Asylum 51 |
| Tolerance for Biology (•) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | Resolve ••• | Never make Composure, Stamina, or Resolve rolls to withstand the biologically strange or the sight of blood. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Trained Observer (• or •••) | Wits ••• or Composure ••• | •: Ignore penalties of up to -3 on Perception rolls. •••: Perception rolls gain the Rote Action quality (see World of Darkness p. 134). |
Dogs of War 38 |
| Trained Observer (• or •••) [God-Machine Chronicle Variant] | Wits ••• or Composure ••• | •: Perception rolls gain 9-again. •••:Perception rolls gain 8-again. |
Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Vice-Ridden (••) | — | Posses two Vices. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Virtuous (••) | — | Posses two Virtues. | Chronicles of Darkness 46 |
| Unseen Sense (•••) | Mortal (non-supernatural); Wits •• | Characters with this Merit are alerted when a certain type of supernatural stimulus presents itself. | World of Darkness 109-110 |
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambidextrous (•••) | Character creation only. | No -2 penalty for using off-hand in combat or performing other actions. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Armored Fighting (•• or ••••) | Strength •••, Stamina ••• | Reduce the Brawl, Melee Defense, and Speed penalties for heavy armor by 1 (••) or 2 (••••). | Armory Reloaded 84 |
| Automotive Genius (•) | Crafts •••, Drive •, Science • | When determining how many modifications to add to a vehicle, triple effective Crafts dots. Also, relevant Crafts Specialties add another potential modification. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Brawling Dodge (•) | Strength ••; Brawl • | Whenever your character performs a dodge, she adds her Brawl Skill's dots to her Defense rather than doubling it. God-Machine Chronicle Update: when calculating your character's Defense pool, use Brawl instead of Athletics. |
World of Darkness 110 |
| Cheap Shot (••) | Street Fighting •••, Subterfuge •• | Roll Dexterity + Subterfuge vs. Wits + Composure as a reflexive action in a fight; success causes to the opponent to lose Defense for the next turn. Each time this is used in a scene, further uses take a cumulative -2. | Chronicles of Darkness 61 |
| Choke Hold (••) | Brawl •• | After succeeding on a Hold move in a grapple, if you roll more successes than twice the victim's Stamina, they are knocked unconscious for (6 - Stamina) minutes. The successes rolled are cumulative over multiple turns. | Chronicles of Darkness 61 |
| Crack Driver (•• or •••) | Drive ••• | ••: When not taking any actions besides driving, add Composure to Drive rolls; rolls to disable the character's vehicle suffer a penalty equal to Composure. •••: As above, but once per turn, the character may make a Drive action as a reflexive action. |
Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Defensive Combat (•) | Brawl • or Weaponry • | Use Brawl or Weaponry to calculate Defense instead of Athletics (pick one when the Merit is selected). If Weaponry is selected, it only applies when the character has a weapon in her hand. | Chronicles of Darkness 61 |
| Demolisher (• to •••) | Strength ••• or Intelligence ••• | Ignore 1 point of Durability per dot when destroying objects. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Disarm (••) | Dexterity ••• and Weaponry •• | If the successes rolled in melee combat equal or exceed the target's Dexterity, you may disarm him rather than dealing damage. | World of Darkness 110 |
| Double-Jointed (••) | Dexterity ••• | Dislodge joints when necessary. Automatically escape from mundane bonds (no roll required). Grapplers take the character's Dexterity as a penalty in any overpowering maneuvers as long as the double-jointed character takes no aggressive actions. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Entering Strike (••) | Dexterity ••; Brawl ••• | If you inflict damage with a Brawl-based strike, you gain a dice bonus equal to inflicted damage to a grappling hold attempt on your next action, but you lose your Defense in the round in which you make the strike. | Armory Reloaded 72 |
| Equipped Grappling (••) | Dexterity •••, Brawl ••, Weaponry •• | If carrying a blunt weapon, add its Size (up to 3) to Strength + Brawl pools when attempting overpowering maneuvers. | Armory Reloaded 89 |
| Fighting Finesse (••) | Dexterity •••; Weaponry •• | Choose one weapon and use Dexterity instead of Strength when making attack rolls with it. | World of Darkness 110 |
| Fighting Finesse [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (•) | Dexterity •••; Specialty in Weaponry or Brawl | When using the weapon or style defined by one Specialty, use Dexterity instead of Strength when making attack rolls with it. | — |
| Fighting Finesse [Homebrew Variant] (•) | Dexterity •••; Weaponry •• | Choose one weapon and use Dexterity instead of Strength when making attack rolls with it. *The two-dot price of the core Fighting Finesse Merit makes it prohibitively expensive, especially since it only applies to one weapon. | — |
| Firearms Retention (•) | Dexterity ••, Wits ••, Brawl ••, Firearms •• | Subtract Brawl dots from the dice pool of an opponent attempting to disarm you of a firearm in any way except stealth. | Armory Reloaded 89 |
| Fleet of Foot (• to •••) | Athletics •• | +1 to Speed per dot, and pursuers suffer -1 per dot to foot chase rolls. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Fresh Start (•) | Fast Reflexes •• | Dedicate one turn (in which you can do nothing but move your Speed) to re-rolling Initiative; you must use the second result. | World of Darkness 112 |
| Giant (•••) | Character creation only. | Your character becomes Size 6, granting +1 to Health, but have fun buying clothes. | Chronicles of Darkness 47 |
| Greyhound (•) | Athletics •••, Wits •••, Stamina ••• | When in a chase, exceptional success occurs on 3 successes instead of 5. | Chronicles of Darkness 48 |
| Ground and Pound (••) | Combination Blows Fighting Style Maneuver (such as Boxing •••), Takedown/Throw Fighting Style Maneuver (such as Grappling ••) | Use Combination Blows to perform a Takedown/Throw followed by an unarmed strike, negating the usual -1 penalty and gaining a +2 instead if she succeeds with the first maneuver. | Armory Reloaded 98 |
| Gunslinger (•••) | Dexterity ••• and Firearms ••• | If wielding two pistols, take only a -1 to the off-hand attack for two-weapon fighting and a -2 for using the off-hand (unless Ambidextrous). Shooting at two different targets negates Defense. | World of Darkness 112 |
| Heavy Hands (•••) | Strength •••, Brawl •• | Unarmed strikes (or strikes with blunt fist loads like knuckledusters) inflict +1 damage; grappling attacks, bites, and sharp fist loads don't apply. | Armory Reloaded 98 |
| Hardy (• to •••) | Stamina ••• | Add dots in Hardy as a dice bonus to resist disease, poison, deprivation, unconsciousness, or suffocation. | God-Machine Chronicle 165 |
| Iron Skin (•• or ••••) | Martial Arts •• or Street Fighting ••, Stamina ••• | Gain 1 armor (••) or 2 armor (••••) against bashing attacks. Spend 1 Willpower when hit with lethal damage to downgrade 1 point (••) or 2 points (••••) to bashing. | Chronicles of Darkness 63 |
| Iron Stamina (• to •••) | Stamina ••• or Resolve ••• | Cancel negative modifiers for wound penalties and fatigue on a one-for-one basis. | Chronicles of Darkness 48 |
| Iron Stomach (••) | Stamina •• | Eat extremely unpalatable food with no adverse effects; +2 to appropriate Survival rolls and +3 to Stamina to resist deprivation. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Natural Immunity (•) | Stamina •• | +2 to resist infection, disease, and sickness. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Outdoorsman (••) | Survival ••• | Ignore up to 3 points of Survival penalties from environmental sources, and receive a +1 to a non-penalized roll. | Midnight Roads 59 |
| Quick Draw (•) | Dexterity ••• | Draw a weapon and attack in a single action, even if it's hidden. Must be taken twice to use with a melee weapon or a firearm. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Quick Draw (•) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | Wits •••, Specialty in chosen weapon or fighting style | Choose a Weaponry or Firearms Specialty; when using a weapon to which that Specialty applies, draw or holster the weapon as a reflexive action. | Chronicles of Darkness 49 |
| Quick Healer (••••) | Stamina •••• | Injury recovery rates are halved. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Relentless (•) | Athletics ••, Stamina ••• | Opponents in a chase must achieve two extra successes to catch or elude the character. | Chronicles of Darkness 49 |
| Seizing the Edge (••) | Wits •••, Composure ••• | Always have the Edge in the first turn of a chase scene. Opponents in a chase must make a successful Wits + Composure roll on the first turn; upon failure, do not account for your character's Speed or Initiative when calculating successes needed on the first turn. | Chronicles of Darkness 49 |
| Shiv (• or ••) | Street Fighting ••, Weaponry • | You can carry a concealed weapon with Damage 0(L) (•) or 1(L) (••) that can be used with the Brawl Skill. Attempts to locate the weapon suffer a penalty equal to your Weaponry score. | Chronicles of Darkness 64 |
| Steady Driver (•) | Drive •• | Use Resolve + Drive instead of Dexterity + Drive whenever driving. | Midnight Roads 59 |
| Strong Back (•) | Strength •• | +1 to lifting and carrying. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Sleight of Hand (••) | Larceny ••• | Take one Larceny-based instant action reflexively per turn, and Larceny actions go unnoticed unless someone is actively looking. | Chronicles of Darkness 49 |
| Small-Framed (••) | Character creation only. | Your character is Size 4 and loses a Health box, but gains +2 to rolls to hide or go unnoticed. | God-Machine Chronicle 165 |
| Strong Lungs (•••) | Athletics ••• | Add two to Stamina when determining how long you can hold your breath (see World of Darkness p. 49). | World of Darkness 113 |
| Student of the Blade (•) | Fencing • or Iaido • | Never suffer a penalty for being unfamiliar with a weapon outside original fighting style. | Armory Reloaded 66 |
| Stunt Driver (•••) | Dexterity ••• | Drive and perform an unrelated action in the same turn. | World of Darkness 113 |
| The Weapon at Hand (••) | Krav Maga •• | Roll Wits + Weaponry as a reflexive action to assess nearby improvised weapons; the Storyteller must say which is the nearest and most efficacious. | Armory Reloaded 79-80 |
| Toxin Resistance (•••) | Stamina ••• | +2 to resisting Toxins, but it's very difficult to get intoxicated, and painkillers/anaesthetics are half as effective. | World of Darkness 113 |
| Weaponry Dodge (•) | Strength ••, Weaponry • | When Dodging, add Weaponry to Defense rather than doubling it. God-Machine Chronicle Update: when calculating your character's Defense pool, use Weaponry instead of Athletics. |
World of Darkness 114 |
| Wheelman (••) | Dexterity ••, Drive •• | Receive 9-again on Drive checks. | Midnight Roads 59 |
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allies (• to •••••) | — | Your character has influence and knows people (though not necessarily specific people) who are willing to help them in a certain organization or circle such as Police, City Hall, Banks, or University Staff. The Storyteller determines what kinds of requests are feasible for the group and the character's dots in Allies, and/or roll Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies to see if the character is able to receive a certain favor. A character's allies may be able to request favors from them at the Storyteller's discretion. | World of Darkness 114 |
| Alternate Identity (•, ••, or •••) | — | •: A superficial alternate identity with an alias, simple costume, and accent; +1 to Subterfuge to defend this identity. ••: Paperwork and identification that can turn away private investigators and hobbyists, but not thorough investigation; +1 to Subterfuge to defend this identity. •••: Deeply entrenched identity that can withstand close scrutiny; +2 to Subterfuge to defend this identity. |
Chronicles of Darkness 50 |
| Animal Affinity (• to •••) | — | Gain +1 per dot to all Social rolls made to influence or understand a chosen species of animal. Skinchangers with this Merit for their totem animal treat the • version as •• and the •• version as •••. They cannot purchase the ••• version. | Skinchangers 20 |
| Anonymity (• to •••••) | Cannot have Fame. | Attempts to find the character suffer -1 per dot in Anonymity; cannot purchase the Fame Merit, and this may limit purchases in the Status Merit. | Chronicles of Darkness 50 |
| Barfly (•) | — | It's easy to find the way into the best nightspots, restaurant, or club, no matter what the location. | World of Darkness 114 |
| Barfly (••) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | Socialize •• | Don't roll to blend into social functions; rolls to identify the character as an outsider suffer a penalty equal to his Socialize. | Chronicles of Darkness 166 |
| Bureaucratic Navigator (••) | — | +2 to all Social and Mental rolls made to manipulate, navigate, or work a bureaucratic system. | |
| Closed Book (• to •••••) | Manipulation •••, Resolve ••• | When someone uses Social Maneuvering against this character, add 1 Door per Merit. Also, rolls made to resist attempts to uncover true feelings gain +1 per dot. | Chronicles of Darkness 50 |
| Contacts (• to •••••) | — | Each dot represents one area of influence (for example, Contacts •• might include computer hackers and big businesses) in which your character has connections. You can gain information from Contacts as appropriate with a Manipulation + Persuasion or Socialize roll. | World of Darkness 114-115 |
| Decorated (• to •••••) | — | Military award of some sort, granting a bonus on rolls to Allies, Contacts, and Status in the military. A Purple Heart is ••, a Silver Star is •••, a Distinguished Service Medal/Cross is ••••, and the Medal of Honor is •••••. However, if the character commits a public morally reprehensible act, she may lose this Merit and gain the Notoriety Flaw. | Dogs of War 39 |
| Deep Rapport (• to •••••) | — | Profound relationship with a single other character, whether positive or negative. If positive, gain a +1 per dot on Social rolls, but a -1 per dot on Intimidation rolls. If negative, vice versa. | Block by Bloody Block 9 |
| Den (•••) | — | A place removed from society that can be accessed secretly. All attempts to track a character to their den suffer a -2 penalty. Skinchangers or ferals can transform into an animal in a den without undue attention. | Skinchangers 21 and Changing Breeds 96 |
| Fame (• to •••) | — | Local, regional, or global recognition, granting a +1 per dot on Social rolls with people touched by the character's fame, but rolls to find or identify the character also take +1 per dot. | Chronicles of Darkness 50 |
| Fence (• or •••) | Streetwise ••• | Find a way to sell stolen goods without a roll. The • version allows the sale of goods up to Cost ••; the ••• version allows characters to sell all stolen goods. | Banishers 51 |
| Fixer (••) | Contacts ••, Wits ••• | When hiring a service (see Chronicles of Darkness 100), reduce Availability score by one dot. | Chronicles of Darkness 51 |
| Hobbyist Clique (••) | Membership in a clique of people with this Merit and a chosen skill at •• or higher. | When support from the character's group of hobbyists and specialists is available, gain 9-again on all rolls and +2 to any extended actions involving the Skill, but you must attend at least monthly meetings to benefit. | Chronicles of Darkness 51 |
| Ingratiating Wanderer (••) | Manipulation ••• | +2 to locate a local authority of the character's supernatural type (Kindred, Forsaken, Lost, etc.) if they exist; +2 to rolls made to establish a positive first impression with them. | Midnight Roads 58 |
| Inspiring (••••) | Presence •••• | Once per session, roll Presence + Persuasion; upon success, everybody around this character regains a Willpower point. | World of Darkness 115 |
| Inspiring (•••) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | Presence ••• | Roll Presence + Expression with a -1 for a small group, -2 for a small crowd, and -3 for a large crowd. Upon success, listeners are Inspired—exceptional success the type of roll pertaining to the source of inspiration only needs 3 successes instead of 5, and exceptional success regenerates a point of Willpower | Chronicles of Darkness 51 |
| Iron Will (••) | Resolve •••• | When spending Willpower to contest or resist Social interaction, gain 1 die per Resolve dot instead of the usual Willpower bonus. If the roll is contested, gain 8-again. | Chronicles of Darkness 51 |
| Mentor (• to •••••) | — | Your character gains a trusted Storyteller-controlled mentor to guide and assist them. • indicates a mentor with a few specialized Skills and some expertise, while ••••• indicates a mentor with enormous influence and knowledge who watches over your character in ways both obvious and subtle. | World of Darkness 116 |
| Mystery Cult Initiation (• to •••••) | — | Membership in a cult, designed by a player or Storyteller with a Purpose, Relic, and Doctrine. At each rank, members gain a specific benefit using the following guidelines: •: A Skill Specialty or one-dot Merit. ••: A one-doit Merit. •••: A Skill dot or two-dot (often supernatural) Merit. ••••: An often-supernatural three-dot Merit. •••••: A three-dot Merit or major, non-statistical advantage. |
Chronicles of Darkness 51-53 |
| Predator's Bearing (••) | Gain +1 to any Social roll that would benefit from seeming like a predator. However, any Social interaction that this interaction would hinder suffers a -1 penalty. Creatures that are already top predators in their region, including supernatural predators like vampires and werewolves, are not affected. | Skinchangers 22 | |
| Pusher (•) | Persuasion •• | Any time a mark in a social interaction accepts soft leverage, open a Door and move the impression up on the chart. | Chronicles of Darkness 53 |
| Resources (• to •••••) | — | Disposable income, with • representing $500/month, •• representing $1,000/month, ••• representing $2,000/month, •••• representing $10,000/month, and ••••• representing $50,000/month (or its equivalent in a given region). Used to acquire items; it's up to the Storyteller how much one can buy with a certain amount of income. Buying an item 1 dot above a character's Resources rating reduces her effective Resources dots by 1 for a month. |
World of Darkness 115-116 and Chronicles of Darkness 54 |
| Retainer (• to •••••) | — | A trusted aide, assistant, indentured servant, or follower that a character can call upon for many duties. Dots represent the relative power and ability of the retainer. | World of Darkness 116 |
| Safe Place (• to •••••) | — | Your character has somewhere to go where she has the upper hand against attack, with the security reflected by the dots invested in Safe Place. Anyone with dots invested in Safe Place gains a +1 to Initiative per dot there, and breaching the Safe Place suffers a a -1 per dot (or have traps that deal 1 point of lethal damage per dot). Multiple characters can invest dots into one safe place. |
Chronicles of Darkness 54 |
| Small Unit Tactics (•••) | Manipulation ••• and Persuasion ••• with a Leadership Specialty. | When issuing commands to a squad, the leader may spend one Willpower and roll Manipulation + Persuasion to issue an order. Each of the characters in the squad receive a +3 to their next action or +2 to their defensive dice pool that turn, including the leader. However, if the team is not trained, the leadership bonus can only be applied to defense. | Dogs of War 39 |
| Small Unit Tactics [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (••) | Presence •• | When making a coordinated, premeditated action, spend 1 Willpower as an instant action to give one character per dot of Presence a +3 bonus on their action. | Chronicles of Darkness 54 |
| Socially Small (••) | — | Gain +1 to Subterfuge and Stealth rolls (or other rolls, at the Storyteller's discretion), and rolls made to notice the character as a detail take -1. However, take a -1 to Expression, Intimidation, and Socialize rolls (along with any other rolls the Storyteller deems appropriate). | Skinchangers 23 |
| Spin Doctor (•) | Manipulation •••, Subterfuge •• | When suffering from Tainted Clues, apply -1 for each Tainted Clue instead of ignoring successes. Using a Tainted Clue levies a total -2 penalty with this Merit. | Chronicles of Darkness 54 |
| Staff (• to •••••) | — | Your character controls a group of professionally-trained workers; chose a Skill and type of assistant per dot. At any reasonable time, the staff can take actions with that Skill that garner one success. | Chronicles of Darkness 54 |
| Status (• to •••••) | — or based on group | Status within a group such as City Hall, Police, or Medical; the dots in this Merit represent the actions your character is authorized to take within the confines of that group and official channels. | World of Darkness 116-117 |
| Striking Looks (•• or ••••) | — | Gain +1 (••) or +2 (••••) to all Presence or Manipulation rolls when attempting to use looks to entertain, persuade, distract or deceive others. However, people might be more inclined to notice and remember such a character. This Merit is made obsolete by the Chronicles of Darkness version (below), which offers a greater effect at a lower cost. This version has been included for completeness and ease of reference when a power refers to "Striking Looks (••)" or "Striking Looks (••••)." Most such powers can have this effectively replaced with "Striking Looks [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (•)" or "Striking Looks [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (••)," respectively. |
World of Darkness 117 |
| Striking Looks (• or ••) [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] | — | Determine how the character looks (attractive, imposing, otherwise worthy of attention, etc) and add +1 (•) or +2 (••) to Social rolls that would be influenced by looks, but people might be more inclined to notice and remember such a character. | Chronicles of Darkness 54-55 |
| Sympathetic (••) | — | At the beginning of a social maneuvering attempt, accept a negative Condition to eliminate two Doors. | Chronicles of Darkness 55 |
| Table Turner (•) | Composure •••, Manipulation •••, Wits ••• | Any time a character initiates a social maneuvering action, spend 1 Willpower to counter it with any social action. | Chronicles of Darkness 55 |
| Takes One to Know One (•) | — | When uncovering a Clue, gain +2 and 9-again if the crime aligns with your Vice, and succeeding an investigation is considered fulfilling a vice. | Chronicles of Darkness 55 |
| Taste (•) | Crafts •• and a Specialty in Crafts or Expression. | Able to assess an artistic item within an area of expertise (such as architecture or poetry) with a Wits + Skill roll. Each success grants +1 to any social rolls with groups also interested in the art, or allows you to uncover obscure details (such as hidden meaning, emotion involved in creation, weak points, how to appreciate a piece, or who is most moved by the piece). | Chronicles of Darkness 55-56 |
| True Friend (•••) | — | A trusted, deep friendship. A True Friend will not betray the character, cannot be killed by the Storyteller as part of a plot, and imposes a -5 to rolls to convince them against the player. Once per story, regain a point of Willpower by having meaningful interaction with a True Friend. | Chronicles of Darkness 56 |
| Untouchable (•) | Manipulation •••, Subterfuge •• | Any roll to investigate your character suffers the Incomplete Clue tag unless it achieves exceptional success. | Chronicles of Darkness 56 |
| Well-Traveled (•) | — | Gain 9-again for any Social roll dealing with a foreign culture or Mental roll for remembering the practices of said culture. | Reliquary 85 |
Fighting Style Merits are • to ••••• unless otherwise noted.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive Striking | Strength •••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Body Blow: As Boxing •. •• Iron Skin: As Kung Fu ••. ••• Combination Blows: As Boxing •••. •••• Haymaker: As Boxing ••••. ••••• Brutal Blow or Lethal Strike: As either Boxing or Kung Fu •••••. |
Armory Reloaded 65 |
| Aikido (Throwing) | Dexterity ••, Wits ••, Brawl •• |
• Ukemi ("Receiving"): Stand up from prone as a reflexive action once per turn, and have one point of armor against bashing damage caused by falls. •• Aiki ("Harmonious Energy"): Lose Defense to roll Dexterity + Brawl. If that roll exceeds the opponent's Brawl, Weaponry, or close-range Firearms roll, you suffer no damage and instantly apply a grappling hold or shihonage (see below), which counts as your action that turn. ••• Shihonage ("Four Directions Throw"): A standard Brawl attack that knocks the opponent prone up to as many feet away as (Size + Brawl) successes in any direction. •••• Renzoku-waza ("Combination Techniques"): For each point of Dexterity above 2, make one more grapple or shihonage at cumulative -1 modifiers, but the first action must be a grapple or shihonage. ••••• Kokyu-ho ("Breath Power"): Spend one Willpower to throw someone double the usual distance with shihonage or inflict lethal damage with it. |
Armory Reloaded 71-72 |
| Archery (• to ••••) | Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Athletics •• |
• Draw and Loose: +1 Strength for determining a bow's minimum Strength, Damage, and Range. •• Rapid Nock: 1/turn "reload" a bow as a reflexive action ••• Arcing Fire: Double the Range of any bow. •••• Plunging Fire: Outdoors or in large enclosed spaces, negate penalties from cover as long as you can see one part of the target. |
Armory 208-209 |
| Armed Defense | Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••, Defensive Combat: Weaponry |
• Cover the Angles: Reduce Defense penalties for multiple attackers when dodging by 1 (full Defense applies to 1st and 2nd attacker). •• Weak Spot: If your Defense reduces an opponent's dice pool to 0 or if your Dodge roll reduces the attack successes to zero, the opponent is disarmed. ••• Aggressive Defense: Spend a point of Willpower when Dodging to deal Lethal damage equal to successes rolled in excess of the opponent's attack successes. •••• Iron Guard: Reduce weapon bonus to a minimum of 0 to increase Defense by an equal amount. ••••• Press the Advantage: Spend 1 Willpower to make an unarmed attack at -2 whenever Dodging reduces the attacker's successes to 0. |
Chronicles of Darkness 60-61 |
| Berserker | Resolve •••, Stamina •••, and Supplemented Skill or Style • | Characters with Berserker can spend a point of Willpower to enter berserker rage, at which point they can supplement their usual non-defensive fighting style with the Berserker style (or combine the Berserker Merits with each other) as long as they do not contradict. However, Berserkers must roll Resolve + Composure each turn to avoid assaulting allies, and can only end berserker rage by spending another point of Willpower, being rendered unconscious, or ending combat. • Strength in the Fury: Gain one additional die when taking all-out attacks. •• Adrenaline Rush: Gain a point of armor against Bashing and Lethal attacks. ••• Inhuman Alacrity: Gain an additional 2 dice when using Willpower to avoid suffering an attack. •••• Ignorant in the Face of Death: Ignore wound penalties by sacrificing Defense on a 1:1 basis. ••••• Bloody-Handed Bastard: Sacrifice Defense to make all attacks deal Lethal damage. |
Armory Reloaded 113 |
| Boxing | Strength •••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Body Blow: If successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed the target's Size, they lose their next action. •• Duck and Weave: Use higher of Wits or Dexterity to determine Defense against Brawl-based attacks. ••• Combination Blows: Sacrifice Defense to make two Brawl attacks in one turn, with the second at a -1. •••• Haymaker: Sacrifice Defense; if successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed the target's Size, they must succeed a Stamina roll or fall unconscious for a number of turns equal to damage dealt. ••••• Brutal Blow: Spend a point of Willpower to deal Lethal damage with Brawl attacks. |
World of Darkness 110-111 |
| Chain Weapons (• to ••••) | Strength ••, Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••• | A character without any dots in this Merit suffers a -2 to all attack rolls with chain weapons. • Impenetrable Defense: Instead of attacking, defend with your weapon, taking a +2 to Defense and negating penalties for defending against multiple opponents until the third attack. •• Hand Bind: Instead of making an attack, roll Strength + Weaponry - (attacker's successes). If you achieve more successes, the attacker is grappled and can escape with Strength + Brawl next turn. Otherwise, your successes still subtract from the attack's damage. ••• Outside Choke: Roll Strength + Weaponry to grapple an opponent and choke them; after a number of successive turns equal to the target's Stamina, they are rendered unconscious and take a single point of Bashing damage. They can attempt to escape with a Strength + Brawl - (your Strength + 1) - (consecutive turns). •••• Whirl and Thrust: Forego Defense to ignore up to -2 on called shots. |
Armory 209-210 |
| Close Quarters Combat | Wits •••, Athletics ••, Brawl ••• |
• Firing Lines: Get behind cover within (twice Speed) yards as a reaction to a ranged attack equivalent to dropping prone. •• Hard Surfaces: When grappling, choose to deal Lethal damage on a Damage move by immediately ending the grapple. ••• Armored Coffin: Add an opponent's armor rating to grappling dice pools. When using a Damage move, ignore armor. Does not work with Hard Surfaces. •••• Prep Work: When ambushing with Brawl or Weaponry, the Dexterity + Stealth roll to successfully launch a surprise attack becomes a rote action. ••••• Turnabout: When attempting to Disarm an opponent, the results step up by one. Failure causes the opponent to drop the weapon, success allows you to take their weapon, and exceptional success also deals 2 points of Bashing damage. |
Chronicles of Darkness 61 |
| Combat Marksmanship | Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Composure •••, Firearms •• |
• Shoot First: Add Firearms to Initiative when starting a fight with a gun already in hand. •• Tactical Reload: 1/turn, reload a firearm with a detachable magazine or speedloader as a reflexive action. ••• Double Tap: Make short burst attacks with a lever-action, pump-action, or semi-automatic firearm. •••• Bayonet Range: Target's Defense does not apply to close-range Firearms attacks. ••••• Rapid Fire: For each point of Composure above 2, make an additional attack at a cumulative -1 modifier, but sacrifice Defense. |
Armory 210 |
| Dream Combat | Wyrd 3, Empathy ••• | The following techniques are only usable in dreams during oneiromachy. • Stunning Blow: If successes in a single attack equal or exceed a target's Wyrd, the victim loses their next action. •• Double Team: Lose Defense to attack twice at a -1. ••• Blind Spot: Opponent uses the lowest of Finesse and Resistance traits as Defense and Armor, respectively. •••• Wyrd Armor: Add Wyrd to Defense and Armor in dreams. ••••• Coup de Grace: Any time an opponent in dream-combat is beginning to wake (dropped to or below 0 Willpower), deliver one final dream-attack that is not penalized by Defense or armor. |
Rites of Spring 90 |
| Evasive Striking | Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Focused Attack: As Kung Fu •. •• Duck and Weave: As Boxing ••. ••• Defensive Attack: As Kung Fu ••• •••• Whirlwind Strike: As Kung Fu •••• ••••• Destroy Defense: Reduce the Defense of the target of a successful Brawl attack by 1 (to a minimum of zero) against the next attack. The penalties are cumulative until the opponent's Defense hits zero or the attacker misses or does any other action, at which point the full Defense is recovered. |
Armory Reloaded 65 |
| Fencing (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••• | With a sword other than a curved sword, fencing sword, rapier, or sword cane, using the following maneuvers incurs a -1 penalty. • Thrust: Thrust attacks are done at +1. •• Feint: Make a normal attack roll; if even one succeess is scored, the target cannot apply Defense against the next attack. ••• Riposte: Spend 1 Willpower to sacrifice Defense for all attacks but one; after dodging an attack (double Defense), counter-attack at -1, but the opponent cannot apply Defense. •••• Moulinet: Spend a point of Willpower before an attack; if it hits, immediately deal lethal damage equal to your Dexterity. |
Armory 210 and Armory Errata 3 |
| Filipino Marital Arts (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••• |
• Lock and Block: Succeed on a Strength + Weaponry roll to automatically grapple an attacker. Forego Defense to add Defense to this roll. •• Disarm: Make a normal attack roll; if the successes equal or exceed the target's Stamina, they are disarmed and take Bashing damage equal to half the successes rolled (round up). ••• Off-Balancing Attack: Make an attack at a -2 penalty to force the opponent's next attack to be made at -3. •••• Many-Handed Defense: No penalties for multiple attackers. |
Armory 211-212 |
| Firefight (• to •••) | Composure •••, Dexterity •••, Athletics ••, Firearms •• |
• Shoot First: If you have a gun in your hand, add Firearms to Initiative. If you have Quick Draw, draw and fire with increased Initiative in the first turn of combat. •• Suppressive Fire: When using Covering Fire, opponents cannot apply aiming bonuses, and you can apply Defense to incoming Firearms attacks. Suppressive Fire can be used with semi-automatic weapons. ••• Secondary Target: Make a shot against an opponent in cover that ignores cover penalties, but downgrades damage to Bashing and does not benefit from the weapon's damage rating. |
Chronicles of Darkness 61-62 |
| Frenzied Assault | Strength •••, Stamina •••, Intimidation ••, Weaponry •• |
• Bestial Instinct: Substitute Weaponry for Composure when determining Initiative. •• Terrorize: Make a Strength + Intimidation roll resisted by the Resolve + Composure of everyone who has seen you inflict at least two points of Lethal damage. Everyone who fails the contested roll loses their Defense until after your next action. ••• Hard to Kill: When engaged in combat, gain two temporary Health boxes, and don't roll for unconsciousness until the rightmost box is filled with Lethal damage. •••• Savage Rending: Forego Defense to reduce called shot penalties by 2, sever any limbs to which you deal 5+ points of Lethal damage, and make any witnesses of this attack roll Resolve + Composure or take -2 to their next action. Upon a dramatic failure, your weapon becomes lodged in your foe. ••••• Trance of Death: Spend a point of Willpower and sacrifice Defense to turn an attack into a rote action. |
Slasher 128-129 |
| Grappling (• to ••••) | Strength ••, Dexterity •••, Stamina •••, Brawl •• |
• Sprawl: Subtract the higher of Strength or Dexterity + 1 from rolls made to overpower the character. •• Takedown/Throw: Force an opponent prone instead of securing a grappling hold, and choose whether or not to go down with them. ••• Chokehold: Overpowering a foe in a grapple can start a choke; it inflicts a cumulative -1 per turn to opponent's actions and renders them unconscious after being choked for a number of consecutive turns equal to their Stamina. Continuing to choke deals Lethal damage equal to Strength + Brawl successes each turn. •••• Submission Hold: If a character scores more successes in an immobilization attempt than an opponent's Size, the victim must suffer a point of Lethal damage to do any action. Also, inflict one point of Lethal damage whenever damaging an opponent with an overpowering roll. |
Armory Reloaded 67 |
| Heavy Weapons | Stamina •••; Strength •••; Athletics ••; Weaponry •• | These techniques are only usable with two-handed weapons. • Sure Strike: Take -3 to an attack roll to add +1 to your weapon's Damage. •• Threat Range: If you don't move or Dodge on your turn, anyone approaching you suffers 1 Lethal damage and a penalty to Defense equal to your weapon's Damage for one round. ••• Bring the Pain: Sacrifice Defense to inflict a one-turn penalty to all actions equal to damage dealt. •••• Warding Stance: Spend 1 Willpower to reflexively add your weapon's Damage as Armor for 1 turn. Does not apply versus firearms. ••••• Rending: Spend 1 Willpower before an attack to cause 1 point of extra Aggravated damage. |
Chronicles of Darkness 62 |
| Hedge Duelist | Wyrd 3 |
• Quick Count: +2 to Initiative during Hedge Duels. •• Cruel Blow: When targeting an opponent's mind, add the higher of your or your victim's Empathy to your roll. ••• Briar Bite: By spending a Glamour point, treat your opponent's Wyrd as two less than it actually is when using the Hedge to strike them. •••• No Mercy: When an opponent has been reduced to 0 Willpower with mental attacks, each successive attack increases the dice penalty by 1, but this is a Breaking Point for Clarity 7 or higher. Also, a Changeling who ends a duel with more than a -2 suffers a derangement for the next 24 hours (or the next week if the penalty reached -5). If the penalty reaches -10, the opponent is no longer able to function and falls helpless. ••••• Hedge Wrath: Spend a Willpower to gain 3 dice to a hedge-shaping attack, and if that attack is an exceptional success, deal Aggravated damage. |
Rites of Spring 91-92 |
| Iaido (Armed Defensive Striking) | Strength ••, Dexterity •••, Composure •••, Weaponry ••, Quick Draw. |
• Tsuki Kage ("Draw and Cut"): Add Weaponry to Initiative when beginning combat with a weapon sheathed. •• Zanshin ("Awareness"): +2 to detecting and avoiding ambushes. ••• Tachi-Sabaki ("Movement of the Sword"): When taking a full Dodge action, add your weapon's Damage rating to Defense. •••• Kan Ken No Mtetsuke ("Seeing with Eyes and Mind"): If Initiative is rolled and there is a tie, the character with this Merit always acts first. ••••• Uke Nagashi ("Catch and Slide Off"): Spend a point of Willpower; if your weapon is still sheathed, declare a Dodge action at any point, but chose one opponent making an attack against you to counter. Weaponry Dodge and Tachi-Sabaki apply to this opponent, and make a reflexive attack at a -1 penalty against this opponent. |
Armory Reloaded 76 |
| Judo (Throwing) | Dexterity ••, Wits ••, Brawl ••, Athletics •• |
• Ukemi ("Receiving"): As Aikido •. •• Nage-waza ("Throwing Techniques"): Use a grappling overpower to render opponent prone; if you choose to go with them, deal damage as well. +1 to grappling opponents with heavier clothing than a t-shirt. ••• Sutemi-waza ("Sacrifice Techniques"): When using an all-out attack, add Athletics instead of +2 while using nage-waza. •••• Renzoku-waza ("Combination Techniques"): as Aikido ••••. ••••• Tokui-waza ("Favorite Technique"): If an opponent scores zero successes to escape or establish a hold or use an overpowering maneuver and you score at least one success on a nage-waza-based action, add Athletics as extra successes. |
Armory Reloaded 107-108 |
| Improvised Weaponry (• to •••) | Wits •••, Weaponry • |
• Always Armed: Roll Wits + Weaponry to pick up a Damage 1 (L), Size 1, Durability 2 improvised weapon. •• In Harm's Way: Opt to treat a weapon found with Always Armed as armor with a rating equal to its Structure, but any damage it absorbs inflicts damage on the weapon that bypasses its Durability. ••• Breaking Point: With a weapon found with Always Armed, exchange points of Structure (to a minimum of 0) with extra equipment bonus on the next attack; if the weapon is reduced to 0 structure, it breaks automatically after the attack. |
Midnight Roads 57-58 |
| Improvised Weaponry [Chronicles of Darkness Variant] (• to •••) | Wits •••, Weaponry • | The Chronicles of Darkness variant of Improvised Weaponry is the same as the Midnight Roads variant, but with some changes to accompany differences in how damage is handled in the system: • Always Armed: The improvised weapon's damage becomes +0 and it inflicts a -1 penalty to initiative. Its Structure is 4. On exceptional success, increase Size and Damage by 1, but initiate penalty becomes -2. This does not stack with the usual -1 initiative penalty for improvised weapons. •••• In Harm's Way: No changes. ••• Breaking Point: When making an all-out attack with a weapon found with Always Armed, reduce Structure by any amount (to a minimum of 0). Every 2 points of Structure reduction adds +1 to the weapon modifier for that attack. If the Structure is reduced to 0, the weapon breaks after the attack. This can be used in conjunction with In Harm's Way. *It's possible that the intent was to allow players with Breaking Point to preemptively reduce a weapon's Structure for extra Armor. |
Chronicles of Darkness 62-63 |
| Kendo (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••• | Kendo is functionally identical to Fencing (see above), but only effective when wielding a curved sword, katana, or wakizashi. | Armory 211 |
| Krav Maga (Unarmed Defensive Striking) | Strength ••, Dexterity •••, Wits •••, Brawl •••, Brawling Dodge. |
• Immediate Defense: When fighting armed opponents, add Brawl to Initiative. •• Disarming Defense: Able to use the Disarm Merit with the Brawl skill, and instead of knocking the weapon away, take it from an opponent. ••• Impenetrable Defense: Use a point of Willpower to add Brawl to Defense or Dodge against a single attack. This stacks with Brawling Dodge. •••• The First Moment: If there's a tie in Initiative, whoever has this Merit automatically succeeds. ••••• Finishing the Fight: After declaring a Dodge action, spend a point of Willpower to make an immediate counter-attack against an opponent who misses. |
Armory Reloaded 79 |
| Kung Fu | Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Focused Attack: Penalties for called shots and armor penalties are reduced by one for Brawl attacks. •• Iron Skin: Gain an armor or 1 against bashing attacks. ••• Defensive Attack: Fight defensively to gain +2 to Defense but make attacks at -2 during a turn. •••• Whirlwind Strike: For each point of Dexterity above 2, forego Defense to make one extra Brawl attack on the same target at cumulative -1 modifiers. ••••• Lethal Strike: Spend a point of Willpower to deal Lethal damage with Brawl attacks. |
World of Darkness 111-112 |
| Langschwert (Heavy Sword) | Strength •••, Weaponry ••• | Langschwert maneuvers work with the Weaponry skill and in conjunction with a Size 3 or 4 blade or staff. • Wards: +1 to Defense when wielding a heavy sword. •• Fool's Guard: Forego Defense to instead roll Strength + Weaponry + 1 as an instant action to defend against an attack. Each success reduces the attack's damage by 1, and if the successes exceed the attacker's, the difference is dealt as damage. ••• Half Sword: Add 2 points of damage to successful strikes by negating the effect from Wards and reducing Weaponry-based pools by 1. •••• Doubling Cut: Make two Weaponry attacks against 1 opponent in the same turn, but cannot employ Defense or Fool's Guard. ••••• Wrathful Cut: When making an all-out attack, add Weaponry dots instead of +2, but lose Defense and Fool's Guard. |
Armory Reloaded 83-84 |
| Light Weapons | Wits ••• or Fighting Finesse, Dexterity •••, Athletics ••, Weaponry •• | Light Weapons maneuvers work with one-handed weapons with a Damage rating of 2 or less. • Rapidity: For one turn, sacrifice weapon's Damage to add Weaponry to Initiative. •• Thrust: Sacrifice Defense to add to dice to attack pools on a one-to-one basis if you haven't used Defense already in the turn. You cannot sacrifice your Defense for any other reason if you've already used Thrust. ••• Feint: When making an attack, cause no damage and instead reduce your opponent's effective Defense against your next attack by the damage you would have dealt. Additionally, add successes on the roll made to Feint as damage on your follow-up attack. *The CofD listing for this Merit is written ambiguously, so this entry may be a little off. •••• Flurry: As long as you can still apply Defense and are not Dodging, enemies who enter melee range immediately take 1 lethal damage. They take 1 lethal damage on their turn for as long as they remain in melee range. ••••• Vital Shot: Sacrifice Defense to cause an additional point of aggravated damage on an attack. |
Chronicles of Darkness 63 |
| MAC (Modern Army Combatives) | Strength ••, Dexterity ••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Tactician's Sense: Make a reflexive Wits + Composure (perception) roll to gauge the Initiative modifiers of all combatants before a fight starts. •• Atemi Attack: When striking with a Brawl or Weaponry attack, ignore 1 point of Armor per dot in MAC. ••• Forearm Choke: When grappling, apply a choke hold that will knock the opponent unconscious and deal 1 point of Bashing damage after a number of turns equal to their Stamina. The opponent may break out by rolling Strength + Brawl - (character's Strength + 1) - 1 for each successive turn. •••• Bullring: Do not reduce Defense for multiple hand-to-hand attackers. ••••• Lethal Strike: Spend a point of Willpower to deal Lethal damage with Brawl attacks. |
Dogs of War 38-39 |
| Marksmanship (• to ••••) | Composure •••, Resolve •••, Firearms •• | All Marksmanship maneuvers require aiming for at least one turn and then sacrificing Defense. • Through the Crosshairs: Increase the maximum aiming bonus from 3 to Composure + Firearms. •• Precision Shot: When making a called shot (see Chronicles of Darkness 92), reduce your weapon's Damage rating to negate called shot penalties on a one-to-one basis. ••• A Shot Rings Out: Never hit an unintended target, even when shooting into a crowd. •••• Ghost: Rolls to notice the character's vantage point or investigate it with Investigation or Perception suffer Firearms as a penalty. |
Chronicles of Darkness 63 |
| Martial Arts | Resolve •••, Dexterity •••, Athletics ••, Brawl •• | Martial Arts maneuvers can be used with unarmed attacks or any weapons capable of using the Brawl Skill (including weapons using Shiv. • Focused Attack: Reduce called-shot penalties by 1 and ignore 1 armor. •• Defensive Strike: On an attack, subtract dice to add to Defense on a one-to-one basis (maximum 2). ••• Whirlwind Strike: As long as you can still apply Defense and are not Dodging, enemies who enter melee range immediately take 1 bashing damage. They take 1 bashing damage on their turn for as long as they remain in melee range. Spend 1 Willpower to increase the damage to 2. •••• The Hand As Weapon: Unarmed attacks cause lethal damage. *It's unclear whether this applies to ••• Whirlwind Strike. I would say no. ••••• The Touch of Death: Unarmed attacks are treated as weapons with damage 2(L). |
Chronicles of Darkness 63-64 |
| Muay Thai | Strength •••, Stamina ••, Brawl •• |
• Cut Kick: Kick deals -1 damage but reduces the opponent's speed by one for a scene; if the successes rolled equal or succeed the opponent's Size, they fall prone. •• Duck and Weave: As Boxing ••. ••• Combination Blows: as Boxing •••. •••• Thai Clinch: By establishing a grappling hold with the first part of a Combination Blows maneuver and inflict damage with the second, add Dexterity to the dice pool to attack. ••••• Brutal Blow: As Boxing •••••. |
Armory Reloaded 110 |
| Police Tactics (• to •••) | Brawl ••, Weaponry • |
• Compliance Hold: +2 to overpowering rolls to disarm or immobilize. •• Weapon Retention: Opponents attempting to disarm you must scpre a number of successes greater than your Weaponry. ••• Speed Cuff: Apply restraints to an immobilized opponent as a reflexive action. |
Chronicles of Darkness 64 |
| Qinna (Controls) | Dexterity •••, Brawl •• |
• Standing Control: Overpowering maneuver that allows you to move a grappled opponent half your speed. •• Misplacing the Bones: If inflicting more damage in an overpowering maneuver than the victim's Size, you break a limb (dealing a point of Lethal damage and rendering the limb useless) unless the defender immediately falls prone. ••• Grabbing the Muscles: Treat defenders as if their Strength were 2 dots lower. •••• Stealing the Breath: Make a Brawl-based strike or overpowering maneuver at -1 and inflict a cumulative -1 penalty on the opponent's actions for the scene in addition to dealing normal damage. ••••• Disrupting the Veins: Spend a point of Willpower during a damaging overpowering maneuver to deal Lethal damage, or when using any other maneuver to deal a point of Lethal damage in addition to other effects. |
Armory Reloaded 88-89 |
| Shurikenjutsu (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Athletics •• |
• Ma-ai ("Distance"): Double short, medium, and long throwing ranges. •• Kakushi Buki ("Hidden Weapons"): Never require an action to draw a thrown weapon from a prepared slot. ••• Choku Da-Ho ("Direct Hit Method"): Forego Defense to add Strength to the dice pool of a thrown weapon. •••• Ikki Gokken ("Five Blades in One Breath"): Sacrifice Defense to take one additional thrown weapon attack for each point of Dexterity above 2 at a cumulative -1 penalty. |
Armory Reloaded 104 |
| Sniping | Dexterity •••, Resolve •••, Firearms •••, Stealth •• |
• On Scope: Maximum aiming bonus is increased to Composure + 1 for semi-automatic and automatic rifles or Composure + 2 for break-, bolt-, or lever-action rifles. Also +2 to all perception rolls if using long-range optics or scopes. •• Battlesight Zero: Double the amount of attacks that benefit from sighting in a rifle (see Armory p. 164); and double the short range of such attacks by 5 x Wits yards, the medium range by twice that amount, and the long range by three times that amount. ••• Focused Shot: Ignore aimed shot penalties from adverse conditions equal to Resolve. •••• Tactical Intervention: Close combat and concealment penalties are halved when aiming (round down). ••••• One Shot, One Kill: When making an aimed shot, spend a point of Willpower and add the rifle's Damage rating as extra successes instead of bonus dice. |
Armory 212-213 |
| Spetsnaz Knife Fighting (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Weaponry •• |
• Anticipate Attack: Substitute Weaponry for Composure when wielding a knife (edged or pointed weapon of Size 2 or less). •• Advantageous Angle: Every other turn, make an attack where the opponent takes -1 to Defense (does not stack). ••• Vital Attack: Knives have Armor Piercing 1 and reduce called shot penalties by 1. •••• Slash and Stab: Take a -1 to Defense to make two attacks at one target, the second at -1. |
Armory 213 |
| Staff Fighting (• to •••) | Strength •••, Dexterity ••, Weaponry •• |
• Trip: Succeed on an attack roll contested by the opponent's Dexterity + Athletics to knock an opponent down and deal a point of Bashing damage. •• Temple Strike: Take a -3 penalty to strike the head, but if the damage meets or exceeds the target's Size, they fall unconscious for (damage dealt) turns. ••• Dangerous Radius: Spend 1 Willpower to make a normal attack, but take a -1 penalty for every character within 3 yards (up to -5). Everyone in that radius takes the damage (friend or foe). |
Armory 213-214 and Armory Errata 3 |
| Street Fighting | Stamina •••, Composure •••, Brawl ••, Streetwise •• |
• Duck and Weave: Take a -1 penalty to all actions for a turn to calculate Defense by using the higher of Wits or Dexterity. •• Knocking the Wind Out: After making a successful unarmed attack, the opponent suffers -1 to their next roll. ••• Kick 'Em While They're Down: If successes on an attack roll exceeds an opponent's Stamina, you can inflict the Knocked Down Tilt. If you're in melee range of a character who tries to get up, reflexively inflict 2 Bashing damage. •••• One-Two Punch: Whenever you make a successful attack, spend a point of Willpower to cause 2 extra points of Bashing damage. ••••• Last-Ditch Effort: If you're about to take a hit or get overpowered while already suffering wound penalties, spend a point of Willpower and sacrifice Defense to make a reflexive attack against your attacker. |
Chronicles of Darkness 65 |
| Sword and Shield | Strength •••, Dexterity ••, Stamina ••, Weaponry •• |
• Cloak and Dagger: Improvised shields have double their effective Structure and impose only a -2 to attacks rather than -3, but cannot be used for Shield Bash, Shield Charge, or Stand Strong maneuvers. •• Shield Bash: A character can forego a shield's Defense rating to use it to bash, suffering a -1 penalty but gaining its Defense rating as a weapon bonus. ••• The Shielded Strike: Forego Defense against all characters but the one being attacked to gain +1 to the shield's Defense rating and remove the penalty for attacking with a shield. •••• Shield Charge: Make a shield bash at a -2 after a charge action; if one or more successes are scored, the target rolls Dexterity + Athletics. Upon failure, they suffer knockdown. ••••• Stand Strong: Spend one point of Willpower to benefit from the full Dodge trait and shield defenseive bonus against all attacks from a single direction. |
Armory Reloaded 92 |
| Two Weapons (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Weaponry ••• |
• Whirling Blades: Dodge is not penalized by multiple attacks until the number of attacks exceeds Weaponry dots, at which point each attack reduces effective Dodge by -1. •• Deflect and Thrust: +2 to Defense but -2 to any attacks this turn. ••• Focused Attack: Sacrifice Defense to attack the same target twice in one turn, with a -1 to the second attack. •••• Fluid Attack: Sacrifice Defense to make one attack on two different targets that are closer than your character's Speed from each other. |
World of Darkness 112 |
| Unarmed Defense | Dexterity •••, Brawl ••, Defensive Combat: Brawl |
• Like a Book: When not dodging, increase Defense by half Brawl (round down) versus an unarmed opponent. •• Studied Style: Pick one opponent; their attacks don't reduce your Defense. If your Defense reduces their attack pool to 0, further attacks lose 10-again. ••• Redirect: In a combat with multiple attackers, if successes scored on Dodging reduces an attack's successes to 0, they roll the same attack against a chosen opponent. Limit of 1 per turn. •••• Joint Strike: Spend 1 Willpower to roll Strength + Brawl reflexively in response to an attack. If you score more successes than the attacker, the difference is dealt as bashing damage, and the attacker suffers the Arm Wrack or Leg Wrack Tilt. ••••• Like the Breeze: If successes scored on Dodging reduces successes on an attack to 0, inflict the Knocked Down Tilt. This must be declared at the start of your turn before taking any other attacks. |
Chronicles of Darkness 65 |
Note: Movement Style Merits are • to ••••• unless otherwise noted.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkour | Dexterity •••, Athletics ••• |
• Flow: Subtract Parkour from successes needed to pursue or evade in a foot chase; ignore environmental penalties equal to Parkour rating on Athletics rolls. •• Cat Leap: When using Dexterity + Athletics to mitigate fall damage, gain one success and add Parkour to maximum damage absorbed through this roll (see World of Darkness p. 179). ••• Wall Run: Scale 10 + (5 per dot of Athletics) feet when climbing as an instant action. •••• Expert Traceur: Spend a Willpower point and sacrifice Defense to turn one Athletics roll into a rote action. ••••• Freeflow: After successfully meditating, take an Athletics action reflexively once per turn; spend a point of Willpower in a foot chase to gain 3 successes instead of 3 dice. |
Chronicles of Darkness 48-49 |
| Spelunker | Dexterity •••, Athletics ••• |
• Sure Footed: Ignore Speed penalties for hazardous conditions up to Spelunking when moving through tight spaces; rolls to balance in enclosed areas gain 9-again. •• Cave Sense: If using a light underground, negate all darkness penalties or (without a moment to focus, as in combat) halve them. ••• Squeeze Through: By moving half Speed (or taking a point of Lethal damage), squeeze through openings as though at -2 Size. •••• Free Climb: Wits + Athletics to gain those successes as bonus dice to the next Strength + Athletics roll to climb; usable only once per Spelunking dot. ••••• Born to the Cave: See perfectly in slightest light; climb easy (i.e. Athletics rolls not penalized) cavern walls and narrow spaces at Speed without rolling; double Defense when attacked while climbing underground. However, no benefits from any level of Spelunker above-ground, and -1 to Athletics rolls to climb above-ground. |
Book of the Dead 92 |
| Stunt Driver (• to ••••) | Dexterity •••, Drive •••, Wits ••• |
• Defenseive Driving: Subtract dots in Drive from attempts to hit the character's moving vehicle. •• Speed Demon: Each success on rolls to accelerate a vehicle raises its Speed by 10 instead of 5. ••• Drift: Never make maneuvering rolls to turn at high speed. •••• Clipping: When voluntarily hitting something with a vehicle, ignore damage on the vehicle equal to Wits (applies before Durability). |
Chronicles of Darkness 49 |
Note: Social Style Merits are • to ••••• unless otherwise noted.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast-Talking | Manipulation •••, Subterfuge •• |
• Always Be Closing: When a target resists Social interactions, apply -1 to their Resolve or Composure. •• Jargon: Apply one relevant Specialty to any Social roll, even if it isn't tied to the skill in use. ••• Devil's Advocacy: Once per scene, re-roll a failed Subterfuge roll. •••• Salting: When opening a Door, spend a point of Willpower to immediately open another Door (see God-Machine Chronicle 188). ••••• The Nigerian Scam: If a target regains Willpower from a vice in your presence, immediately roll Manipulation + Subterfuge to open a Door (see God-Machine Chronicle 188). |
Chronicles of Darkness 50-51 |
| Social Maneuvers (• to •••••) | Presence •••, Manipulation •••, one Social Skill at •••• |
• Sugar Lips, Honey Tongue: After keeping a close eye on the target for at least 20 minutes, deliver a compliment as the first thing said to the target. Roll Manipulation + Socialize + half Empathy (rounded up) vs. the target's Presence + Composure. Success imposes a -3 to further attempts by the target to resist social manipulation. •• Stick and Move: Spend a point of Willpower and roll Presence + Subterfuge vs. Wits + Empathy to gain a bonus to all Social rolls equal to half the victim's Presence (rounded up) for the rest of the scene. ••• New Approach: Spend 1 Willpower upon suspecting that a Social roll has failed to force a re-roll. •••• Chip Away: Once per turn, make any Social roll and spend a point of Willpower to force a -1 penalty on the target's Social rolls. This penalty is cumulative, up to -3, but disappears if any social roll fails after engaging this tactic. Thereafter, Chip Away does not work on the target until the next chapter. |
Night Horrors: Grim Fears 63 |
Note: Unless otherwise noted, secured location Merits work differently from other Merits. Dots purchased must be distributed around categories like Size or Amenities, which can usually have zero to five dots each. They represent the various attributes of the location, such as its size or relative comfort.
Most secured location Merits can be contributed to by multiple players. Dots can be purchased and added to a shared location by any member of the group. Whether a location can be shared by a group, however, is up to the Storyteller to decide.
| Location | Categories | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bastion | Size, Amenities, Battlements | A motley can create a Bastion with an extended cooperative dreamscaping roll (see Changeling 195) with a target number of 20 and each roll representing a night of work. Once completed, each member of the motley will have the Bastion in their dream somehow.
Size and Amenities: These characteristics of Bastions work in the same ways as those of Hollows (see below). Battlements: To gain entrance to a Bastion, a besieger must overcome 10 points of damage per dot of Battlements using environmental attacks (see Changeling 198), which can be repaired immediately with experience points or with the same type of dreamscaping roll that made the Bastion (target number of 10). Additionally, Battlements allow one (••), three (•••), five (••••), or an entire motley's worth (•••••) of changelings to attack with ranged attacks from defensive positions. |
Swords at Dawn 108-109 |
| Haunt | Utility, Fluidity, Residue | Haunts fill Sin-Eaters with ghostly visions and nightmares, preventing them from regaining Willpower from resting.
Utility: The ability of a Haunt to serve non-supernatural purposes. For example: a sub-basement accessible but not owned by the krewe (no dots), a solid yet decrepit haunted house (•••), or a museum including a library or plantation house (•••••). Fluidity: Each dot of Fluidity adds +1 to attempts to cross into or out of the Underworld and an additional +1 to rituals performed there. Residue: Dots in Residue equate to one point of plasm that a Haunt generates in a week, usually at or near midnight. |
Geist 87 |
| Haven | Location, Size, Security | Location: Gain +1 per dot on hunting checks for any characters in the Haven.
Size: The size of the Haven. For example: a small apartment or underground chamber (•), a 5-8 room home or abandoned church (•••), or a vast mansion or network of tunnels (•••••). Security: Those trying to find or intrude into the haven suffer -1 per dot of Security, and those inside the Haven gain +1 to Initiative per dot of Security. |
Vampire 100 |
| Hollow | Size, Amenities, Doors, Wards | Size: The size of the Hollow. For example: a small apartment or cave (•), a 5-8 room home or similarly-sized clearing (•••), or a fantastic treetop village (•••••).
Amenities: The touches and luxuries that make a Hollow feel more like home, including supplies, entertainment, or material comforts. These can be general or mundane touches, magical comforts, or specific magic items (see Rights of Spring 135-136). Hollows cannot (usually) be equipped with things like phone lines, Internet, or satellite broadcasts. Doors: Hollows have one "free" entrance/exit to/from the real world and one to/from the Hedge, though these can be waived if a motley wishes. Each dot adds another static access point in the real world or the Hedge. Wards: Each dot of Wards lends a -1 to attempts to find/access the Hollow and a +1 to Initiative to those inside versus intruders. |
Changeling 94-97 |
| Lair (• to •••) | Promethean 96 | ||
| Safehouse | Size, Cache, Secrecy, Traps | Size: The raw size of the Safehouse. For example: a studio apartment (•), a warehouse or church (•••), or a huge estate/interconnected network of tunnels with countless rooms (•••••).
Cache: Each dot in Cache represents space for 5 Size points of equipment, and non-supernatural attempts to find or access the cache (player's choice) suffer a -5. Secrecy: The relative effort put into disguising the paper trail that traces back to the Hunter; each dot imposes a penalty for any attempt to find the hunter through her property or vice versa. Traps: Traps can deal 1 point per dot of Lethal damage to one target; 3 Bashing, 6 Bashing, 8 Bashing, 10 Bashing/2 Lethal, or 12 Bashing/3 Lethal damage (•, ••, •••, ••••, or •••••, respectively) to an area; or they could incorporate fire (••), destroy part of the Safehouse and reduce its Size by 1 (•••) to 3 (••••) dots, or destroy the safehouse entirely (•••••). Intruders get a Wits + Composure roll to notice a trap. |
Hunter 71 |
| Sanctum | Size, Security | Size: The raw size of the Sanctum. For example: a small apartment (•), a warehouse or church (•••), or a huge estate/interconnected network of tunnels with countless rooms (•••••).
Security: Each dot of Security lends a -1 to attempts to find/access the Sanctum and a +1 to Initiative to those inside against intruders. |
Mage 86 |
| Spaceship | Size, Speed, Weapons, Armor | Size: The ship's size. For example, a four-person ship (•), a mid-size vessel with capacity for 12 crew members and a few hundred tons of cargo (•••), or an enormous capital ship capable of carrying thousands of tons of cargo or passengers and even other vehicles (•••••). A spaceship has a Structure equal to (5 x Size + 20). Speed: The relative speed of the vessel. Speed equals the ship's Handling in space combat. Weapons: The ship gains a bonus to attack rolls in space combat depending on its Weapons rating: +1 for •, +2 for ••, +4 for •••, +8 for ••••, and +16 for •••••. Armor: The armor and defensive countermeasures of the ship; each dot equals one point of Durability that must be overcome to deal damage. |
Mirrors: Infinite Macabre 7-8 |
Merits listed in this category are suitable for most characters and are not specific to a major World of Darkness game line, but do not fall under the usual categories above.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relic (• to •••••) | — | Own a mystical object or relic. The cost, in Merit dots, of a Relic is as follows: Powers: +1 per Power dot. Durability: +1 per dot. Equipment Bonus: +1 per dot (maximum +5 above what such an item would normally confer) Bonded: +1 Cost: -1 per dot of Cost (see Reliquary 116-117). Curses/Drawbacks: -2 per Curse (see Reliquary 113-116). |
Reliquary 85-86 |
| Relic Analyst (•) | — | Gain +1 to any attempts to figure out a relic's "trigger" condition or activation, detect curses, and other rolls made to figure out practical uses for a mystical object. | Reliquary 86 |
| Relic Creator (••••) | Occult ••, Crafts •• | Create limited-use mystical items. After assembling components or ingredients, make an extended Resolve + Occult roll (1 hour per roll, 5 successes per the relic's Rating; see the Relic Merit, above). | Reliquary 85 |
Changeling Merits are generally only suitable for changelings, though other characters may purchase some (such as Court Goodwill and New Identity) at the Storyteller's discretion.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age Reversal (•) | Wyrd 4 | Age in reverse. The character will still die eventually, and their life expectancy does not change upon purchasing this Merit. This has very little mechanical effect, if any. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 84 |
| Arcadian Body (••••) | Affected Attribute •••, character creation only. | The fifth dot in the affected attribute only costs 1 point at character creation, and it can rise to 6 dots through experience. | Rites of Spring 87 |
| Arcadian Metabolism (•••) | — | Eating goblin fruit heals 1 Aggravated, 2 Lethal, or 4 Bashing damage automatically. However, mundane Medicine rolls to treat this character receive -1. Without eating goblin fruit for a week, this character suffers a permanent Bashing wound that cannot be cured except by goblin fruit, and another after 3 more days with no goblin fruits. | Rites of Spring 87 |
| Archive (• to •••••) | Hollow | Each dot corresponds to an area of study or knowledge in which your character has special information about. Gaining information from an archive is a research roll, but the time per roll is 15 minutes. Characters who share a Hollow can also share Archive dots. | Rites of Spring 88 |
| Brownie's Boon (•) | — | For any long-term mundane project, halve the time it takes to complete the action as long as you're not being watched. Spend a point of Glamour to halve the time again, up to 3 points of Glamour and 1/16th the usual time. | Rites of Spring 88 |
| Charmed Life (••) | — | If an attack would kill the character (or inflict a point of Aggravated damage), spend a point of Willpower to make the attacker re-roll. | Rites of Spring 88 |
| Court Goodwill (• to •••••) | — | Gain +1 on social interactions with appropriate Court members per two dots of Court Goodwill. Someone can deny a character with Court Goodwill this bonus, but unless there's an extremely valid reason for doing so, the snubbing character's reputation in their Court (and the Court of the character they slighted) will suffer greatly. | Changeling 93-94 |
| Devotee (• to •••••) | Wyrd 7 | Each dot equals one zealous follower who functions like a Retainer, but they are damaged (usually with one severe derangement). | Equinox Road 14 |
| Disenchanting Kiss (••••) | Wyrd 5, Clarity 9, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | With a kiss, a point of Willpower, 4 points of Glamour, and a successful Wyrd roll, immediately end any lingering effects from emotion- or mind-affecting powers. However, this Merit is permanently lost if the changeling's Clarity falls below 9. | Swords at Dawn 92 |
| Dual Kith (•• or •••) | Character creation only. | Your character blends two kiths of the same seeming (••) or of different seemings (•••), gaining the kith blessing of both. | Rites of Spring 88 |
| Enchanting Performance (••••) | Expression ••• | Reduce situational penalties to Persuasion or Expression rolls by Wyrd. Also, spend a Glamour point to make the roll a rote action and stir a single specific emotion in the entire audience. | Rites of Spring 88-89 |
| Fae Mount (•, ••, •••, or •••••) | — | A supernatural steed from the Hedge. It comes when called in the Hedge and can travel up to twice the speed of a mundane horse. Use the statistics of a Horse (World of Darkness 203). Also, it gains one (••), two (•••), or three (•••••) of the following supernatural traits: water walking, flight (Speed 12 and can bear a rider or burden up to 300 pounds), fire-breathing (treat as a Torch attack; see World of Darkness 180), the ability to carry up to three additional passengers of Size 6, or a poisonous bite (Toxicity 4; see World of Darkness 181). You can also make your own with Storyteller approval. Finally, the five-dot version can leave the hedge for a scene at a time. | Rites of Spring 89 |
| Faerie Favor (•••) | — | A True Fey owes your character a favor, which they will complete out of obligation alone. | Rites of Spring 90 |
| Faerie Healing (••) | — | Heal others with goblin fruit. | Rites of Spring 90 |
| Fatebound: Bean Buyer (•••) | Wyrd 3, Streetwise •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Once per story, upon being tricked or swindled, spend 1 Glamour to tweak fate and make the item or swindle a blessing in disguise. However, the changeling runs afoul of an enemy, who is able to affect them through this advantage. | Swords at Dawn 89-90 |
| Fatebound: Cloistered Spinner (•••) | Wyrd 3, Crafts •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Spend a point of Glamour to roll Dexterity + Crafts and turn useless junk into something valuable. Successes on this roll equal the new item's equipment bonus or the dots in Resources that it could be traded for. However, the changeling who uses this also loses something of equal value (sentimental or material). | Swords at Dawn 90 |
| Fatebound: Cowherd and Weaver (•••) | Wyrd 3, Resolve •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | The character and her lover are kept together by fate; once per story, the character can spend a point of Glamour to gain some knowledge or insight into their lover's location. However, when together, both this changeling and her lover lose the 10-again rule on social dice pools. | Swords at Dawn 90 |
| Fatebound: Evil Stepsister (•••) | Wyrd 3, Manipulation •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Once per chapter, spend a point of Glamour while abusing someone the changeling has authority over to gain an ability or item that allows him to overcome an obstacle. However, once per story (usually near the climax) the changeling's wrongs come back to bite them at the worst possible time. | Swords at Dawn 90-91 |
| Fatebound: Fair Prince (•••) | Wyrd 3, Court Mantle •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Gain +2 to social rolls with members of this changeling's court, +1 with members of the other courts, and 9-again on social rolls with non-fae. However, the opposite court (Spring opposes Autumn, Summer opposes Winter, and Dawn opposes Dusk) loathe the Fair Prince and will do everything possible to hinder him. | Swords at Dawn 91 |
| Fatebound: Fisher King (•••) | Wyrd 3, Court Mantle •••••, Possession of Court Crown (Changeling 97), available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | If the Fisher King has no Lethal or Aggravated wounds, each of his social merits have double their potency (i.e. if he had Resources ••, he has twice the purchasing power rather than simply having Resources ••••). However, he suffers a Lethal wound every time a member of the court dies, and he suffers wound penalties based on discontent and unrest of the people under his rule. | Swords at Dawn 91 |
| Fatebound: Mobled Queen (•••) | Wyrd 3, Court Mantle •••••, Possession of Court Crown (Changeling 97), available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | +4 to rolls to activate court affinity contracts and +1 to rolls when harvesting that court's favored emotion. However, -1 to resist gaining a derangement after losing clarity, and a cumulative -1 (up to -5) to all actions every time the Mobled Queen benefits from a Merit in a scene. | Swords at Dawn 91 |
| Fatebound: Monkey Heart (•••) | Wyrd 3, Wits •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | +5 to notice traps or avoid surprise by an adversary who's attempted to surprise the changeling in the past. However, the first time, it becomes a -2. | Swords at Dawn 91 |
| Fatebound: Mortal Enemy (•••) | Wyrd 3, Resolve •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Gain three "phantom dice" each chapter that can be spent to find or confront your Mortal Enemy (though not to directly roll against the enemy himself). When actually facing the enemy in combat, gain +1 to Defense and +2 to attack rolls. However, the enemy gains the exact same advantage against you. Upon killing a Mortal Enemy, regain all Willpower and lose this Merit. | Swords at Dawn 92 |
| Fatebound: Star-Crossed Lover (•••) | Wyrd 3, Presence •••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Your character has a true love; when working to save or protect him, Willpower use grants a single automatic success instead of 3 dice, and this changeling regain Willpower when working directly to protect him from danger. However, this true love is often in danger, and the changeling receives a -2 to all actions not related to saving her when she is in danger. | Swords at Dawn 92 |
| Gentrified Bearing (••••) | Wyrd 3 | Sapient Hobgoblins must roll Wits + Composure - your Wyrd or believe that your character is a True Fey. Even the actual Gentry might be fooled if they see your character at a distance or only find evidence of their passing. | Rites of Spring 92 |
| Glamour Thief (••••) | Wyrd 3, Empathy ••, Occult ••, available only at the Storyteller's discretion. | Make an opposed Wyrd roll to steal Glamour; upon a success, the thief steals Glamour equal to successes rolled. However, if the victim has a derangement, the thief also suffers from it for a number of scenes equal to the Glamour stolen, and stealing Glamour is a breaking point for Clarity 6 or higher changelings (roll three dice). | Swords at Dawn 92 |
| Goblin Merchant (• or •••) | — | You can sell goods at Goblin Markets without being price-gouged or removed by the market toughs. the ••• version also gives the benefit of Market Law. However, being a marketeer carries a negative stigma, and Court Goodwill is limited to ••• for those with this Merit. | Goblin Markets 34 |
| Goblin Vow (• to •••••) | — | Craft a pledge with a very specific purview of the Wyrd, outlining a task, boon, and duration that must sum to zero (this does not include the sanction). The changeling can ask a favor of this entity that must be thematically appropriate (such as hiding oneself with Darkness purviews) and in return complete a task thematically appropriate for that entity. However, Goblin Pledges contain an innate sanction (determined by the Storyteller) that is equal to the total severity of the task + 1. | Rites of Spring 38-39 |
| Harvest (• to •••••) | — | Each dot in Harvest adds a +1 to a specific type of Glamour harvesting, such as Emotions, Pledges, Hedge Bounty, or Dreams. | Changeling 94 |
| Hedge Beast Companion (• to •••) | — | A Hedge Beast that seeks protection and companionship with a changeling, offering her reasonable aid. Hedge beasts have statistics based on dots as follows:
• - Attributes 15 points total, Skills 18 points total, Merits up to five points, two dots of Contracts, Wyrd 1. •• - Attributes 18 points total, Skills 21 points total, Merits up to seven points, four points of Contracts, Wyrd 2 ••• - Attributes 21 points total, Skills 24 points total, Merits up to nine points, six points of Contracts, Wyrd 3 |
Autumn Nightmares 132 |
| Hedge Gate Sense (•) | — | Halve the time required to find an active gateway out of the Hedge, and make a Wits + Wyrd roll to notice an active gateway into the Hedge. | Rites of Spring 92 |
| Hidden Life (• to •••) | No dots in Fame, Wyrd equal to Hidden Life | Characters trying to find information about this character must subtract dots in Hidden Life, and mortals take the same penalty to remembering information about the changeling. If the changeling becomes noticed by the media or gains significant fame, this Merit temporarily loses fame. | Rites of Spring 92 |
| Hob Kin (••) | Hollow • | Hobs will help your character out, and he only needs to provide payment or render a service of equal value to their favor rather than pay some exuberant fee. | Rites of Spring 92-93 |
| Hobgoblin Trainer (••) | — | Train hobgoblins with an extended and contested action: Presence + Persuasion or Intimidation (+1 for each two dots of Animal Ken) versus the hobgoblin's Resolve + Composure; the target number is the successes on the hobgoblin's Wits + Intelligence roll. Success indicates that the hobgoblin can be given simple instructions and will follow them to the best of its ability. The training only lasts for 1 day per dot of Wyrd the changeling possesses, but can be made permanent if the changeling invests in the Retainer Merit. | Rites of Spring 93 |
| Kiss of Life (••••) | Sap the Vital Spark kith blessing | When using Sap the Vital Spark, you can store the energy and use it to heal another character (or yourself) with a touch. Must be used within one scene. | Swords at Dawn 24 |
| Lethal Mien (••) | Wyrd 3 | Deal lethal damage while brawling or increase the damage rating of an innate lethal attack due to kith by 1. | Rites of Spring 94 |
| Long of Days (••) | — | Treat the longevity and infirmity bonuses of a Long of Days changeling as if their Wyrd was 4 points higher than usual, to a maximum of +130 years with +4 infirmity at Wyrd 6 or above. | Rites of Spring 94 |
| Mantle (• to •••••) | — | The mystical connection of the ideals of a Court. Mantle adds +1 per dot to rolls to interact with members of that court and provides access to Court-specific Contracts. Additionally, a local freehold's Court may choose a leader, who wears the crown of that Court and gains an additional bonus:
Blessing of the Green (Spring): By spending a point of Willpower, add dots in Mantle as bonus successes on a single Glamour-gathering roll to either oneself or another. Challenge of the Black Spear (Summer): Spend a point of Glamour to add Mantle to Initiative and not be considered surprised during a duel. Harvest of Whispers (Autumn): Once per session, count up the valuable secrets, important truths, or significant pieces of information learned during the session, up to the Mantle rating. Each piece of information equates to two special points of Glamour that can only be used to power Contracts, activate Tokens, facilitate dream travel, or cross into the Hedge. This Glamour fades at the end of the session. Feast of Ashes (Winter): Once per session, convert a number of Glamour points to Willpower points, up to the character's Mantle. This can allow a changeling to exceed his normal Willpower maximum (though excess points fade after the session's completion), and increases his Willpower rating by his dots in Mantle. |
Changeling 97-98 |
| Manymask (• to •••••) | Wyrd 7 | For each dot in Manymask, the character has a new Mask that must be of the same Size and gender. Spend a point of Glamour a maximum number of times equal to Wyrd per session to slip into a different Mask. | Equinox Road 16 |
| Market Sense (•) | — | +3 to see through swindling or resist powers that would obfuscate the definition of a "fair deal." | Rites of Spring 94 |
| Market Stall (••••) | Goblin Merchant ••• | You've purchased a stall at a Goblin Market (usually Price •••••). Stealing from the stall suffers a -4 penalty when the market is open and is impossible when it's closed. Also, stalls can be used to buy and sell abstractions. | Goblin Markets 34 |
| Mobile Hollow (• to •••••) | Hollow Size •, Wyrd 3 |
•: Hollow automatically moves a set distance (no more than 1 hour of Hedge travel per changeling's Wyrd) in a random direction when the merit is purchased, then again at an interval between 1/month and 1/season. ••: Hollow can move a set distance (no more than 1 hour of Hedge travel per changeling's Wyrd) in a random direction at will. Maximum 1/month, and the changeling must be inside the Hollow when it moves. •••: Hollow can move up to Speed 10 in a chosen direction for a chosen distance (maximum 2 hours of Hedge travel per changeling's Wyrd) 1/month. ••••: Hollow constantly moves at Speed 10. Doors to the Hedge lead to random locations (-3 to navigating back to the Hollow), but they lead back to the Hollow for 10 seconds after passage. Doors to the mortal world are fixed. •••••: Hollow moves at Speed 10 in any direction for any distance at will. |
Swords at Dawn 92 |
| Narrative Master (•••) | Wyrd 3 | Spend additional Glamour while Talecrafting (Swords at Dawn 60) to gain +1 to the roll per point. | Swords at Dawn 78 |
| New Identity (•, ••, or ••••) | — | A false identity. Its convincingness and depth depend on dots; • can allow a changeling to get around in daily life but falls apart under close scrutiny, •• can withstand a cursory inspection but not a full investigation, and •••• is effectively a flawless identity. | Changeling 98 |
| Perfect Stillness (•) | Stealth • | The character can stand without moving for an entire scene; attempts to locate her take a -2. | Rights of Spring 94 |
| Pledgesmith (• to •••) | — | +1 die per dot of Pledgesmith to all social rolls involving pledges. | Rites of Spring 94 |
| Prophet Circle (• to •••••) | — | Once per story per dot, dreamride an oathbound ensorcelled mortal psychic to gain insight about the past, present, or future (in the form of symbolic imagery in dreams) by spending a point of Glamour and succeeding on a Wits + Occult roll. | Rites of Spring 94 |
| Rigid Mask (••) | Subterfuge •• | Attempts to see through lies or determine true emotions suffer -2, or -4 if done through lie detectors and voice-stress analysis. | Rites of Spring 95 |
| Ritual Doorway (•••) | Hollow Doors ••••• | Allow a Hollow to be entered from anywhere in the mortal world by completing a complex ritual that lasts between 5 and 10 minutes and has at least one unusual ingredient. Any changeling or True Fae can enter a Hollow with a Ritual Doorway if they know how to perform it and spend an additional point of Glamour to enter. Changing a ritual requires a Wits + Occult roll, a day in the Hollow, and sufficient Experience to purchase this Merit again. | |
| Second-Hand Skills (• to •••) | Wyrd 3 | Choose three Skills possessed by someone else; once per chapter, spend a point of Glamour to gain a number of additional dots in one of those skills equal to the dot value of this Merit for a scene (to a maximum of five). However, when using this Merit, sometimes the changeling acquires some mannerisms of the Skill's original owner. | Goblin Markets 26 |
| Siren Song (•••) | — | While this changeling speaks, everyone who hears her suffers -2 on all actions. This effect always applies and doesn't differentiate between friend and foe. | Rites of Spring 96 |
| Slave (• to •••••) | — | A slave purchased at a goblin market. Slaves must make a Resolve + Composure check (-3 if refusing/disobeying a direct order and -5 if trying to physically harm their master). Slaves may be: no more than automatons (•), simple wisps or imps of limited intelligence (••), possessing the intellect of a child and maybe a dot in a Contract (•••), of average intellect and skill and with two dots in a Contract (••••), or above-average and able to possess three dots of a Contract (•••••). However, slaves carry social stigmas in Changeling society, since they were former slaves themselves. | Goblin Markets 23 |
| Soul Sense (••) | A living fetch. | Know direction of, distance to, and general emotional state of your fetch, and gain +2 to Social rolls involving it. However, you also suffer from half the fetch's wound penalties, suffer a -2 to all rolls if it is incapacitated, and take Bashing damage equal to Wyrd and roll Stamina + Composure or fall unconscious if the fetch is killed. | Rites of Spring 96 |
| Sublime (•••••) | Wyrd 9 | True otherworldly form. Mortals may not attack (unless in self-defense), lie to, or intimidate a Sublime changeling, and they halve their Initiative and Speed. Changelings must succeed on a Wits + Composure roll to complete any of those actions. However, the Gentry see a Sublime changeling as an almost kindred spirit, and they call her back to Faerie using any means possible. | Equinox Road 14 |
| Subtle Liqueur (•) | Inebriating Elixir kith blessing | When using this blessing to make a non-alcoholic beverage alcoholic, the drink's taste is not altered and drinkers cannot tell what they're drinking is alcoholic. | Swords at Dawn 29 |
| Token (•+) | — | Each dot of Token represents one dot's worth of magical artifact warped by Faerie, the Hedge, or changeling magic. For instance, Token ••• could represent three one-dot tokens, a one-dot and a two-dot token, or a three-dot token. Additionally, this Merit can be used to purchase trifles or goblin fruits at three per dot. See Changeling 201-210. | Changeling 98 |
| Tokenmaster (•••) | Wyrd 7 | After a number of days equal to (10 - Clarity) of being in somewhat constant contact with an item, the Storyteller rolls one die. If it is a success, the object becomes a token. What kind it is and its effects are up to the Storyteller, not the Tokenmaster changeling. | Equinox Road 14-15 |
| Unseen Sense, Talecrafting (•••) | Wits •••, Academics •• | Works like Unseen Sense (World of Darkness 109-110), but trips whenever there's an opportunity for Talecrafting (Swords at Dawn 60). | Swords at Dawn 78 |
| Visionary Dreams (••) | Wyrd 3 | At the Storyteller's discretion, the changeling can have a dream that imparts some knowledge about the past, present, or future (laden in symbols and the imagery of dreams, of course). Also, once per day, the character can spend a point of Willpower to roll Intelligence + Wits and attempt to force a visionary dream. | Rites of Spring 96-97 |
| Wisdom of Dreams (•••) | Wyrd •• | Once per day, meditate (Wits + Composure) before going to sleep to gain the knowledge of one Language or one Ability Specialty as long as some living human possesses that knowledge. | Rites of Spring 97 |
| Workshop (• to •••••) | Hollow, Hollow Size equal to points in Workshop | Each dot represents equipment for a particular Crafts Specialty. For each level of Workshop focused on a particular Crafts Specialty, changelings gain +3 to Crafts rolls when using the Workshop. Characters who share a Hollow can share dots in Workshop as well. | Rites of Spring 97-98 |
| Wholesale Wares (• to ••) | Market Stall •••• | Once per story, reduce the price of a purchased item by 1 per dot (minimum 0) as long as it's bought with the intention to sell later. However, using the item first reflects poorly on the marketeer and causes them to lose this Merit. | Goblin Markets 35 |
| Wyrdskill (•••••) | Wyrd 6 | Bind a skill to your mien and seeming, and at every purchase of Wyrd after 5, add a free Specialty to the skill. However, Specialities and skill dots in the area of the Wyrdskill cost slightly more to purchase. | Equinox Road 15 |
Changeling Milestone Merits cannot be bought and thus have no dots or prerequisites; they are acquired by completing a certain task under certain circumstances.
| Merit | Circumstance | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodied Ground | The changeling kills his or her fetch on the "human" side of an open gateway to the Hedge; both sides must be visible as the fetch dies. | The player receives a +3 to Hedge navigation rolls to find the place where the fetch died when trying to find the way out of the Hedge. | Autumn Nightmares 103 |
| Broken Mirror | The changeling simply kills his or her fetch. | Once per story, gain 3 dice on one roll as if it was affected with Willpower expenditure. This stacks with actual Willpower expenditure. | Changeling 260 |
| Cuckoo's Egg | The changeling kills their fetch with no witnesses (including animals) and carries a piece of it with them at all times. | Any rolls made to recall details about the fetch's life gain +3. However, someone else holding another changeling's Cuckoo's Egg benefits from this bonus too. | Autumn Nightmares 103 |
| False Heart | The changeling simply kills his or her fetch. | A fist-sized piece of debris can hold up to three points of Glamour from the changeling's own pool, which can be replenished by sleeping with it under his pillow. The changeling can then retrieve this Glamour normally. | Autumn Nightmares 103 |
| Fetch-Bane | The changeling kills her fetch with a single weapon that isn't cold iron. | The weapon used to kill the fetch becomes a token. When activated, its damage becomes lethal (if usually bashing) or increases by two (if normally lethal). Drawback: If used in self-defense, the weapon imposes a -3 to all attempts to use it. Catch: Within the next 24 hours, without warning, the changeling must start a physical, unprovoked fight with someone she knows personally; if she doesn't, the fetch-bane leaps into her hands and attacks the nearest person for her. | Autumn Nightmares 103 |
| Shared Guilt | Each member of the changeling's motley inflicts at least one point of damage on one changeling's fetch before it dies. | Each member of the motley rolls for degeneration as usual, but as long as one member succeeds, it's considered a success. Thereafter, once per story, the motley can invoke this Merit to treat another breaking point in the same way (if one member succeeds on their degeneration roll, they all do). | Autumn Nightmares 103-104 |
Supernatural Merits can only be taken by mortal characters with Storyteller approval. If a character gains any supernatural template, they lose their Supernatural Merits and may reallocate the lost dots. A notable exception is stigmatic characters (see Demon the Descent 224), who gain three Merit dots to spend on Supernatural Merits.
| Merit | Prerequisites | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura Reading (•••) | — | Spend a point of Willpower and roll Wits + Empathy - subject's Composure to read someone's aura. For each success, discern the most prominent emotion, truthfulness, the subject of the character's attention, hostile intent, hidden emotion, or whether or not the character is supernatural or inhuman. As a drawback, once per chapter upon meeting a supernatural creature, that creature may roll Wits + Occult - your Composure to realize that your character is aware of the creature's nature. |
Demon 298-299 |
| Automatic Writing (••) | — | Meditate for 1 minute and spend Willpower to roll Wits + Composure. Write one pertinent statement or clue per success; if the clues are nonsensical, roll Wits + Investigation to interpret them. If the roll fails, all failed rolls for the next week are upgraded to dramatic failures. |
Chronicles of Darkness 56-57 |
| Biokinesis (• to •••••) | — | Spend a point of Willpower and concentrate for a full minute to shift Physical Attributes (up to one dot per dot in Biokinesis) for one hour. This cannot raise an Attribute higher than five dots. Additionally, healing times are halved. | Demon 299 |
| Clairvoyance (•••) | — | Spend a point of Willpower, meditate, and roll Wits + Occult to project all senses to another location. However, choose a tool with which to scry (such as through a crystal ball), which must be present in order to activate this Merit. | Demon 299 |
| Cursed (••) | — | Become aware of a curse that involves your character's death (the details of which can be determined with your Storyteller). Gain +2 on Resolve + Composure rolls involving fear or self-doubt, and any time one of your last three health boxes is filled with Lethal damage, gain a Beat. | Demon 299 |
| Laying on Hands (•••) | — | Spend 1 Willpower to heal 2 points of Bashing or 1 point of Lethal damage with a touch per success on a Presence + Empathy roll. 3 successes heals a point of Aggravated damage. Alternatively, cure sickness with an extended action (1-10 successes required). For every two points of damage healed, suffer one point of the same type of damage. If healing sickness, suffer a minor version of the illness. |
Chronicles of Darkness 57 |
| Medium (•••) | Empathy •• | By conducting a ritual and succeeding on a Wits + Occult roll, make contact with ephemeral beings. The roll increases the relevant condition by one step (first to Anchor, Resonance, or Infrastructure; then to Open; and finally to Controlled; see Demon 346). The condition lasts until a Willpower point is spent to end it. As a drawback, once per session (usually in times of extreme stress), the Storyteller may deliver a disturbing message from the dead, forcing a Resolve + Composure roll to avoid gaining the Spooked or Shaken Condition. |
Demon 299 |
| Mind of a Madman (••) | Empathy ••• | When investigating a crime or phenomenon, choose to sink into the culprit's mindset. Thereafter, gain 8-again on all rolls to investigate, pursue, and stop the culprit. However, dream about their current and future crimes once per night, which triggers a degeneration roll as if the character had committed the crimes herself if the character doesn't make any effort to catch the culprit the next day. Until the culprit is captured, suffer a -1 penalty for all other degeneration rolls. | Demon 299 |
| Omen Sensitivity (•••) | — | Once per session, make a Wits + Occult roll. The Storyteller must answer one yes or no question per success about the character's life, surroundings, the task at hand, or the world large. However, each time this happens, gain the Obsession or Spooked Condition. | Demon 299-300 |
| Numbing Touch (• to •••••) | — | Spend 1 Willpower and touch a target to numb them (Intelligence + Empathy + Numbing Touch dots versus Stamina + Blood Potency), forcing a penalty equal to dots in Numbing Touch to all actions requiring dexterity or perception. These penalties fade by one per turn. Alternatively, spend a point of Willpower to activate the secondary function. Upon a successful melee attack, spend another point of Willpower to automatically inflict Numbing Touch and cause the victim to lose 1 point of Willpower per Numbing Touch dots (if they have none left to lose, this becomes Lethal damage). |
Chronicles of Darkness 58 |
| Psychokinesis (••• or •••••) | — | Gain control over some force of the universe (such as fire, cold, or electricity). The force must be present, though the ••••• version can manifest it. Spend a point of Willpower and roll Resolve + Occult to choose from one of the following options: Increase or decrease the Size of the manifestation; Move the manifestation up to a number of yards equal to twice your Willpower; Shape the force into a specific form; Use the force as a weapon with Damage 1 (L) (•••) or 2 (L) (•••••); Use the force creatively (such as using Electrokinesis to jump-start a car); Manifest a Size 1 patch of the force (••••• version only). Whenever the character uses their last Willpower point, this ability may spontaneously manifest if they fail a Resolve + Composure roll. |
Demon 300 |
| Psychometry (•••) | — | Emotionally analyze a scene by spending a point of Willpower and rolling Wits + Occult. For each success, ask a yes/no question or determine the strongest present emotion, the character with the best memory of a moment, whether or not you're missing something in the scene, the history of an object, or what breaking point caused an event. However, once per chapter, the Storyteller may force a Psychometry vision any time an important place is visited or an important object is touched. The Storyteller gives the information and may impose a relevant Condition. | Demon 301 |
| Telekinesis (• to •••••) | — | Spend a Willpower point to activate Telekinesis for a scene. It's treated as a force with a Strength score equal to dots in Telekinesis. Attacking or grappling with telekinesis alone requires additional Willpower expenditure and a Telekinesis + Occult roll. However, when your character suffers injury or intense stimuli, Telekinesis may activate automatically if your character fails a Resolve + Composure roll (which may be automatically failed for a Beat). | Demon 301 |
| Telepathy (••• or •••••) | — | Spend a point of Willpower and roll Wits + Empathy - subject's Resolve to learn the foremost thought on a subject's mind. Additional successes equate to additional questions from the list on Demon 301. With the ••••• version, each success can also equate to a phrase sent telepathically. As a drawback, your character may hear a troubling thought when there's something pressing going on, gaining a Condition such as Spooked or Shaken. |
Demon 301 |
| Thief of Fate (•••) | — | Upon touching a subject, all failures they make in the following day are increased to dramatic failures (upon which they hear the character's name in the back of their mind). In that same day, the character with Thief of Fate gains 4 dice whenever they spend Willpower to increase a dice pool. This quality can be suppressed by spending 1 Willpower. | Demon 301-302 |