Mental Merits

Artistically Gifted
1 pt. Merit

The Muses work their will through you, or so it appears. Whenever you employ your artistic talent, reduce the difficulty of those rolls by -2. As with other Merits of this kind, this Merit does not reduce the difficulty of magick-casting rolls, but may reduce the difficulty of Attribute + Ability rolls that are involved with magickal acts.

Berserker
Werebeast:

2 pt. Merit

You have uncanny control over your inner anger, and can use your Rage as most Garou cannot. You can enter a berserk frenzy at will, ignoring your wound penalties.

You still suffer the consequences of any actions committed in the throes of frenzy. When circumstances might cause you to frenzy, you must make a standard roll to see if you do so or not.

Vampire:

'''3pt. Merit'''

You possess the ability to willingly enter a berserker state for a scene. While berserking, you ignore wound penalties and reduce the difficulty of all combat rolls except for dodges by -3.

You also can take no complex actions other than combat, dodging, or running.

Call of the Sea
2pt. Merit

There is something about the sea that makes you feel at home. You are in tune with the tides and rhythm of the ocean. When on a boat in the ocean or on a river, you may add a die to all your dice pools except for Disciplines.

Calm Heart
3pt. Merit

You are naturally calm and do not easily fly off the handle. You receive two extra dice when attempting to resist a frenzy.

Vampire: Brujah may not take this Merit.

Code of Honor
2pt. Merit

You have a personal code of ethics to which you adhere. The specifics of this code must be worked out with the Storyteller prior to play, and the character must follow it strictly.

Vampire: Characters with this Merit gain two additional dice to all Willpower or Virtue rolls when acting in accordance with their code (e.g., defending the helpless) or when attempting to avoid situations that might force them to violate their code.

Werewolf: Characters with this Merit gain two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when acting in accordance with their code (e.g., defending the helpless) or when attempting to avoid violating their code. You may choose something already established (the Litany is a common Code of Honor amongst Garou) or create your own list of moral and ethical

Coldly Logical
1pt. Merit

While some might refer to you as a “cold fish,” you have a knack for separating factual reporting from emotional or hysterical coloration. You may or may not be emotional yourself, but you can see clearly when others are clouding the facts with their feelings (-1 difficulty on all related rolls).

Common Sense
1pt. Merit

You have a significant amount of practical, everyday wisdom. Whenever you are about to act in a way contrary to common sense, the Storyteller can make suggestions or warnings about the implications of said action.

This is a very useful Merit for beginning players unfamiliar with the game.

Computer Aptitude
Mage:

1pt. Merit

A true child of the twenty-first century, you’re especially adept with computerized infotech.

Reduce all difficulties involving computer-based rolls by -2, up to the usual modifier limit. This last caveat is especially important when dealing with computer-based magickal Effects, whose difficulties cannot be reduced by this Merit beyond the usual magick-roll modifier of -3, or below the minimum difficulty for magick-casting rolls. Even so, this Merit provides an edge for mages whose Arts include the guiding technology of our age.

Vampire:

2pt. Merit

You are familiar with and talented in the uses of computer equipment. Other Kindred may not understand computers, but to you they are intuitive. All rolls involving computers are at -2 difficulty for you.

Concentration
1pt. Merit

You have the ability to focus your mind and shut out any distractions or annoyances. Characters with this Merit are unaffected by any penalties stemming from distracting circumstances (e.g., loud noises, strobe lights, or hanging upside down).

Eidetic Memory
2pt. Merit

You remember, with perfect detail, things you see and hear. Documents, photographs, conversations, etc., can be committed to memory with only minor concentration. Under stressful conditions involving numerous distractions, you must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to summon enough concentration to absorb what your senses detect.

Expert Driver
1 pt. Merit

You drive like you were born behind the wheel. All difficulties on driving rolls are reduced by two.

Hyperfocus
3 pt. Merit

Given time and a lack of distractions, you can focus your mind to an uncanny extent. For every hour spent focusing without distractions on a mundane task (not on a magick-casting roll), you may add one die to your dice pool for each roll made during an extended action.

This bonus has a limit of three dice, total. So if, for example, Nix has Hyperfocus and spends two hours on a task, Zir’s player adds two extra dice to Nix’s dice pool; three hours’ focus provide three dice, but four hours of focus keeps those three dice. All two or three dice, however, get used every time Nix’s player makes a roll to complete that extended action.

As noted above, this Merit does not assist magickal cast­ing rolls. Due to the time required to focus – and the lack of distractions involved – Hyperfocus doesn’t help in combat situations either, although a strategy-minded character could hyperfocus on planning for a battle, but not on fighting it once the combat began. On a similar note, a mage could use Hyperfocus to aid in the mundane elements of a ritual.

Extreme hyperfocus is often (though not exclusively) as­sociated with people on the autistic spectrum, although some authorities claim that perseveration (see the Flaw: Mental Lock) is more a more accurate way of looking at that intense form of focus. With or without autism, this Merit comes in handy for Hermetics, technomancers, shamans, and other mages whose practices depend upon extreme dedication to certain tasks.

Impressive Restraint
2pt. Merit

When you haven’t eaten, it can be torturous to be near mortals. The pounding thrum of blood through their veins does not leave you nearly as tempted as it might other Kindred. When opportunity presents itself, the difficulty of all Self-Control rolls to resist hunger are made against a -2 difficulty.

Characters on Paths of Enlightenment that require Instinct cannot take this Merit.

Inner Strength
2 pt. Merit

You have the grit of a true survivor. In a crisis, your deep reserve of determination gets you through. Reduce the difficulty of Willpower rolls by two if struggling against overwhelming odds.

Introspection
'''1pt. Merit'''

You have keen insight into the ulterior motives of all your actions. Through this nightly exercise, you also have incredible insight into the underlying motives of others’ actions. Add two dice to your Perception dice pool when you must take an action against someone with the same Nature or Demeanor as you.

Iron Will
3pt. Merit

When you are determined and your mind is set, nothing can thwart you from your goals.

Vampire: Characters using Dementation, Dominate, or any other mind-altering magic, spell, or Thaumaturgy path against your character are at +3 difficulty.

Elder levels of powers like Dementation and Dominate may overwhelm even this resistance. Against Level Six powers, the expenditure of a Willpower point through Iron Will only raises the difficulty of the Discipline roll by two. Against Level Seven powers, the difficulty is increased by only one. Level Eight and higher powers cannot be resisted with Iron Will.

This Merit does not affect Presence or other powers dealing with the emotions.

Characters will Willpower scores below 8 cannot take this Merit.

Werewolf: You receive three extra dice to resist attempts to manipulate your mind, and may spend a Willpower point to shake off the direct mental control of a vampire. This Merit works only against direct mental control, not emotional manipulation; Gifts that induce frenzy still have the usual chance to succeed, for instance.

Jack-Of-All-Trades
3 pt. Merit

You have a little knowledge about a lot of things. If making a roll on a Skill you do not possess, you do not suffer the usual penalty to the roll’s difficulty. You may attempt a roll on a Knowledge that you do not possess, although the difficulty for the roll is raised by 2.

Only homid or metis characters may take this Merit.

Judge’s Wisdom
4 pt. Merit

Through firm self-discipline, you have mastered your emotions to Vulcan perfection. No passion-based assault can rattle your judgment, and the base attacks of heart-twisting fiends have little hold on you.

Rules-wise, you remain immune to Mind- or Life-based Effects that influence emotions, and can shrug off the vampiric Discipline of Presence unless that bloodsucker has at least six dots in that Discipline.

Emotion-based powers from werecreatures, faeries, and other such creatures cannot affect you, although you can still be possessed, mind-controlled, enchanted, and otherwise bent or broken so long as the assault is not based on wrangling an emotional response from your perfect serene command.

King or Queen of Shadow
'''4pt. Merit'''

It is hard to hold onto your Humanity within the Sabbat, or even simply as a vampire. Your ability to empathize with the kine makes it more difficult. However, you have found a way to draw strength from that empathy. Any degeneration checks you make while on Path of Humanity reduce their difficulty by two.

Kshatriya
1pt. Merit

You are a member of the Kshatriya jati; perhaps you are a warrior, a descendant of rulers, or a member of the military. Your role is to protect the Ravnos in war, and govern in peace. Once per session, you regain a Willpower when you successfully use a combat maneuver.

You do not have to purchase this Merit to be a member of the Kshatriya jati, but only members of the Kshatriya jati may have this Merit.

Language
'''1pt. Merit'''

You know a language in addition to your native one. You can take this Merit multiple times, each reflecting a different language.

Werewolf: Spirit Speech is a Gift and cannot be learned using this Merit. Garou are not required to use this Merit to purchase Garou Tongue or lupine communication; those are considered to come as naturally to them along with their native homid language.

Mage: If you possess five Language Merits or more, then you’ve begun to understand the principles of language itself and can try to unravel languages you don’t already know (Intelligence + Enigmas, difficulty 7 or higher).

Light Sleeper
2pt. Merit

You can awaken instantly at any sign of trouble or danger, and do so without any sleepiness or hesitation. You may ignore rules regarding how Humanity or your morality Path restricts the number of dice available during the day.

Lightning Calculator
1 pt. Merit

You have a natural affinity with numbers and mental calculations, making you a natural when working with finance, estimating at a glance, computing odds, figuring complex variable equations, and the like. All rolls where mental math comes into play are made with a –2 difficulty.

Another possible use for this Merit is figuring the odds of success or failure of a particular endeavor, assuming you have sufficient data upon which to base your calculations.

In appropriate situations, you may ask the Storyteller for the difficulty of a task you are about to undertake before committing to the effort.

Long-Term Planning
4pt. Merit

You never leave anything to chance; every action is a carefully considered stratagem. Once per session you may declare an action you are about to take is actually “all part of your plan” and reduce its difficulty by two points.

The Storyteller may veto the use of this ability on particular rolls. The player and Storyteller should keep a note of each of these occasions and decide how they are linking together into a grand scheme.

Mechanical Aptitude
1 pt. Merit

You are naturally adept with all kinds of mechanical devices (note that this aptitude does not extend to electronic devices, such as computers, or anything that does not work predominantly through moving parts). The difficulties of all dice rolls to understand, repair, or operate any kind of mechanical device are reduced by 2.

However, this Merit does not help you drive any sort of vehicle; once you’re behind the wheel, you’re on your own.

Natural Linguist
2pt. Merit

You have a flair for languages. You may add three dice to any dice pool involving written or spoken languages, and each purchase of the Language Merit gives you two languages instead of just one.

Precocious
3pt. Merit

You learn quickly. The time for you to pick up a particular Ability (or Abilities, at Storyteller discretion) is cut in half, as is the experience cost.

Scientific Mystic /Techgnosi
3 pt. Merit

Certain unorthodox technomancers understand that “mysticism” is just another form of science whose principles may be understood by a properly Enlightened mind. Although you pursue a technological practice and employ tech-based instruments, you can employ instruments that are traditionally considered to be “magic” once you’ve had an opportunity to study them and fit those tools into your scientific paradigm.

The Scientific Mystic Merit lets a dedicated technomancer – that is, a member of the Society of Ether, the Virtual Adepts, a tech-based “orphan,” or perhaps even a rogue Technocrat like the Disparates of Navalon – study metaphysical princi­ples from mystic-paradigm mages for no extra point-cost if that technomancer has the focus practice Weird Science. That technomancer can also choose tradi­tionally “mystic” tools as up to half of her required instruments, and can discard those instruments as a mystic instead of as a technomancer. Essentially, this means that your approach to Enlightened science is flexible enough to embrace bizarre approaches to your metaphysical pursuits. Other scientists might consider such things impos­sible, but you realize that “possibility” is what you make of it.

On the other side of that metaphysical coin, the Techgnosi Merit allows a dedicated mystic to do the exact same things, but with technological instruments and no extra cost involved in studying magick from technomancer peers, regardless of your practices.

Yes, your soul belongs to the Mysteries, but you’ve recognized that technology has a place in those Mysteries as well.

Seldom Sleeps
2 pt. Merit

Whether due to a strong constitution, a frenetic nature, or even a hint of ancestral magic in your blood, you require significantly less sleep than the average Garou. While rest is still required after exertion, sleep is seldom necessary.

One hour a night is fine, and even an hour every three days won’t make you more than a little blearyeyed. You are not immune to sleep-causing supernatural effects, and you must still rest (no combat and no efforts requiring rolls) after using taxing rituals or Gifts.

You are not always perky, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed, but you suffer no penalties or ill effects from remaining awake for extended periods.

Self-Confident
5 pt. Merit

You are so sure of your own abilities that when you expend Willpower to gain an automatic success on an endeavor, you have a chance to gain the benefit of that expenditure without actually losing the Willpower. When you spend Willpower for an automatic success, you do not actually lose it unless the auto-success is the only one garnered in the roll.

This Merit may only be used in challenging situations, that is, when the difficulty of your roll is six or higher. You may spend Willpower for an automatic success at other times, but if your difficulty is five or less, the Willpower will be spent regardless of what you roll.

Skald
2pt. Merit

Anytime you make an Occult roll to know a fact about vampiric history, you may add a die to your dice pool. Further, you have exceptional memory for oral histories, and you are a quick study when it comes to memorizing large amounts of rote information. This is not true eidetic memory, but constitutes the ability to memorize poetic eddas, codes, or complex messages with only a few hours of study.

Stress Atavism
4 pt. merit or Flaw

Folks don’t like you when you’re angry. In combat, you become a veritable monster, destroying everything and everyone in sight. In certain ways, this is a blessing, in others, a curse – for although your dedication to slaughter has undeniable benefits, it’s also a distinct liability… especially if you belong to a group that prizes discipline rather than brutality.

As both a Merit and a Flaw, this Trait has the same effects: under intense stress (combat, injury, disgrace, the death or crippling of a comrade, and so forth), the red haze kicks in.

A failed Willpower roll (difficulty 8) leads to a berserk rampage. Your character gains three temporary Bruised health levels, ignores wound penalties, and adds two dice to her Strength and one die to her Stamina until every enemy within easy reach or sight is dead or incapacitated.

That’s the good part; the bad part is that everyone becomes your enemy. Allies, enemies, and bystanders alike all look like targets until the blood-trance fades. Magick and strategic thinking become impossible, and your character uses every weapon in her hands for maximum carnage. Unless someone knocks her unconscious, incapacitates or kills her, or simply leaves her alone for several minutes (during which time she destroys everything within reach), she remains stuck in kill mode.

Is this a Merit or a Flaw? That depends. If your character belongs to a group that prizes bloodlust and has the luxury of mass murder in the modern world (that is, she’s a shock-troop “cleaner” or an elite warrior for a wetwork organization), then it’s a Merit; if she belongs to a group that demands subtlety, control, and restraint, then it’s a definite Flaw. Either way, your character is the loosest of cannons – aimed in a convenient direction and then left alone to burn out or explode.

Time Sense
1pt. Merit

You have an innate sense of time and are able to estimate the passage of time accurately without using a watch or other mechanical device.

Werewolf: This allows you to know (among other things) what phase the moon is in.

Mage: This Merit does not grant bonuses or decrease difficulties for Time Sphere-based magick-casting rolls. It does, however, give one of the benefits of basic Time Sphere perceptions to characters who do not employ the Time Sphere.

Tunnel Rat
'''1-5pt. Merit'''

You are remarkably adept at moving through the underground tunnels that you call your home. When attempting to navigate, escape, or track through sewers and underground places you know, you gain an additional die for every point you have in this Merit.

Untamable
5 pt. Merit

You are a wild soul who has never bent to the leash. You are immune to vampiric Domination (but not emotional manipulations via Presence) and these Gifts will not work on you: Roll Over, Obedience, and Mastery.

Useful Knowledge
1pt. Merit

You have expertise in a specific field that makes your conversation intriguing to an older Kindred. So long as your knowledge holds the other vampire’s attention, he has a vested interest in keeping you around. Then again, once he’s pumped you for every iota of information you possess, that patronage may suddenly vanish.

Note: This Merit should be played like a 1-dot Mentor with a specific interest. However, unlike a Mentor, Useful Knowledge does not imply a permanent relationship.