This Merit acts as a version of Animal Empathy. The character has an innate mental bond with a single animal. The character can communicate with the creature, understanding its barks or hisses as speech and allowing the animal to comprehend the character’s normal language. The character must speak to the animal to communicate with it, but the expenditure of one Willpower point allows the character to communicate non-verbally with his pet. The cost of this Merit is determined by the Size of the animal, based on the chart below.

No roll is ever required for verbal communication, but the character does not have the capacity to control the creature outright. If he wishes it to do something that the animal might consider dangerous, you must win a contested roll against the animal, which, while generally loyal, does not normally commit suicide on its master’s behalf. Resolve or Composure is rolled reflexively for the animal, while Manipulation or Presence + an appropriate Skill is rolled for the character.

The animal with which the character has a bond is a normal example of its species, but a side effect of the rapport permanently increases the animal’s Intelligence by one. If the character seriously mistreats his pet, it is capable of turning, at the Storyteller’s discretion. The character must be within line of sight to communicate freely with the animal, but if the animal can hear the character even at great distance (such as Timmy yelling from down a well a half-mile away), the animal likely travels as quickly as it can to its master’s location.

If the animal is ever lost or killed, experience spent or dots assigned to this Merit may be lost or reassigned at the Storyteller’s discretion. The character may even forge a bond with another such amazing animal, assuming one can be found.