Merits are special capabilities or knacks that add individuality to your character. They’re purchased during character creation or with experience points over the course of your chronicle.
The Merits in this chapter are organized alphabetically into three broad categories: Physical, Mental and Social. Some apply to your character’s basic traits to enhance them in particular situations. Some have prerequisites that must be met before they can be purchased. For example, a character with the Gunslinger Merit must have a Dexterity of 3 and Firearms of 3 or higher to be able to accurately fire two weapons at the same time. By the same token, some Merits apply drawbacks that balance out their inherent advantages. A character with the Fame Merit, for example, is treated like a star wherever he goes — but has a hard time blending into the crowd when he wants to.
Each Merit has a number of dots (•) associated with it. These dots represent the number of points that must be spent to purchase the Merit. Some Merits allow for a range of dots (say, • to •••). These allow you to purchase a low rating if it’s appropriate to your character concept, or you can start with a low level and increase it over time with experience points.
A character is born with some Merits or develops them early in life, while others can be acquired through trail and error, training and effort later in life.
The first kind can be acquired at character creation only and are labeled as such. The second kind can be acquired during play with experience points.
Merit dots must be purchased sequentially with experience points. You have to buy • and then •• before your character can have ••• or more.
Anti-Psi is a rare ability, the existence of which has only recently been theorized by parapsychologists. A person gifted with Anti-Psi (who can never be an active psychic) has the power to greatly inhibit psychic powers by her mere presence. Any individual who strongly disbelieves in psychic phenomena can impose a –1 or –2 penalty on a psychic’s abilities (see Doubting Thomas, below), but an Anti-Psi goes even further, literally jamming a psychic’s ability to function at all. Any psychic in the presence of an Anti-Psi is automatically reduced to a chance die on any attempts to use psychic powers. A person with this Merit likely has no idea that she has any special abilities, and simply ascribes any failure of psychics to perform in her presence as proof of the fraudulent nature of such phenomena. This Merit has no effect on the paranormal abilities of supernatural creatures.
Drawback: Any character with this Merit also suffers from a severe derangement triggered by the presence of overt psychic phenomena. Whenever the character is confronted by another person claiming to have psychic powers, or by clear evidence of psychic phenomena, the Anti-Psi manifests an intense hostility toward the object of the offense. Exactly how this derangement plays out is for you to decide, but the character is likely obsessed with debunking the psychic’s claims and exposing him publicly as a fraud. Possible derangements include Hysteria, Megalomania, Paranoia and Anxiety (see Derangements)
Believers are typically Storyteller characters who serve as assistants to a psychic character and who unconditionally believe in the psychic’s powers. Believers are essentially the same as Retainers, except that the Believers’ strong belief in psychic phenomena allows them to aid the character in using his powers.
When a psychic is assisted by Believers, he gains a +1 bonus to a power’s roll for each dot in this Merit, assuming that at least the same number of such people are present. Normally, this bonus is limited to a +3. Some Merit options can allow the bonus gained from Believers to go as high as +5.
So, if Believers ••• is possessed and only two such people are actually present, a +2 bonus is gained. If seven Believers are present and only three dots are possessed when using another Merit, only +3 is gained. If a psychic suffers a dramatic failure while using a power, the results never cause a Believer to withdraw or develop an aversion to the psychic.
The psychic may perceive and communicate with any ghost she encounters. The power allows only perception of and communication with ghosts in Twilight — ghosts tied to the material world and not to any otherworldly spirit world. The power affords no ability to contact spirits from the Shadow Realm that have entered the material world and that exist in Twilight. This Merit does not permit the psychic to aid ghosts in manifesting in the physical world (which requires the Ghost-Calling Merit). Most ghosts instinctively realize when a mortal can perceive them, and psychics who possess this power are often inundated by requests from desperate beings seeking help to resolve their earthly affairs.
A character who possesses the Ghost Ally Merit can acquire a limited version of Death Sight capable of letting her see and communicate with his ally by increasing the normal cost of the Ghost Ally Merit. (See “Ghost Ally,” p. 65.).
Cost: None to sense the presence of ghosts. One Willpower to initiate communication with them.
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Reflexive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The medium is unable to use this Merit for the rest of the scene. Alternately, she may suffer horrific visions of some hellish underworld, inflicting a –2 penalty on all actions for the remainder of the scene.
Failure: The attempt to activate Death Sight is unsuccessful.
Success: Your character can perceive and communicate with any ghost in her vicinity for the remainder of the scene. Such ghosts remain intangible to her, however.
Exceptional Success: The medium may gain a +2 bonus on all rolls made in dealing with ghosts during the scene.
Option [Permanent Death Sight]: The medium’s ability to see the dead is always active. The stress of constantly being surrounded by spectral beings inflicts a mild derangement, such as Depression, Phobia, Irrationality or Avoidance. The player must still roll Wits + Composure in order to communicate with ghosts, but with this option, such rolls gain a +3 bonus.
A Doubting Thomas is a mortal who strongly and emphatically rejects the existence of psychic phenomena. Almost anyone can simply doubt the existence of such possibilities, but a Doubting Thomas is almost pathological on the subject, as the character himself has a latent potential for psychic powers that he cannot use due to a persistent mental block. The character’s latent abilities are channeled into negating any actual psychic powers in his vicinity in order to help preserve his belief that the possibility is not real. Any attempt to use obvious psychic powers in the Doubting Thomas’ presence automatically suffers a –2 penalty, as he constantly watches the psychic for the slightest hint of fraud. If multiple Thomases are in a psychic’s presence, the penalties they impose are cumulative.
Drawback: A Doubting Thomas also suffers from a mild derangement triggered by assertions of psychic phenomena. Precisely how this ailment manifests is determined by you, but a Doubting Thomas confronted by phenomena purported to be psychic is likely compelled to confront the performer and try to debunk her claims. Common derangements for Doubting Thomases include Fixation, Suspicion and Irrationality (see Derangements).
Unlike the Allies Merit available in the World of Darkness Rulebook, which represents influence in a particular field or area, a Ghost Ally represents a specific being — a ghost who is able and willing to aid the character in her endeavors.
A Ghost Ally is built as follows. First, he has seven dots in Attributes, divided among Power, Finesse and Resistance.
These Attributes are used to determine the rest of the ghost’s Advantages according to the rules outlined on p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ghost Ally has both a Virtue and a Vice, but no Skills. The Ghost Ally has a maximum Essence pool of 10 that is used to fuel Numina. The Ghost Ally has one Numen, chosen from those listed in the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ally also has a single anchor that must be the character with whom the being is connected.
Finally, a Ghost Ally has a set number of bonus points used to flesh out the restless-dead character. With this Merit at three dots, a Ghost Ally has six bonus points, while the four-dot Merit offers 12 bonus points, and the five-dot version offers 18. These bonus points can be spent as follows: six points per additional Attribute dot, three points per additional anchor and six points per additional Numen. Also, for six points, the bond between ghost and character is made so strong that the character can see and hear the ghost when it is present, even without any psychic abilities. Without such a bond, the character cannot perceive the ghost unless it manifests or otherwise makes its presence known.
Although not truly a psychic power, Hypnotic Voice is certainly capable of eerie effects. Whether through training in psychology or simply through having a deep, soothing voice, a character with this Merit is capable of hypnotizing others into trance states. The character can hypnotize anyone given the opportunity, but it is much easier if the subject is willing. While in a hypnotic trance, a subject can be given suggestions or forced to confront repressed memories, possibly memories stolen by vampiric Disciplines or repressed due to Lunacy triggered by werewolves, or Disbelief invoked by vulgar magic.
Inducing a Light Trance
In order to begin the process of hypnotizing a subject, Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (depending on which Skill is used as the prerequisite for the Merit) is rolled. If the subject is willing, the roll is extended but not contested, and the hypnotist must accumulate [subject’s Resolve x5] successes, with each roll representing 10 seconds of induction. If the subject is unwilling, he can resist with Composure + Supernatural Advantage in contested rolls; resistance is reflexive. If the subject ever gets more successes in a single roll, he realizes what the hypnotist is attempting and any further attempts to hypnotize the subject fail automatically. If the subject and hypnotist ever get the same number of successes in a roll, the subject does not begin to enter a trance, but doesn’t realize what the hypnotist attempts either, so the performer can proceed. If the hypnotist’s successes on a roll are ever five or more and exceed the subject’s in that period, the victim begins to enter a trance despite himself and suffers a –1 penalty on all subsequent contested rolls. The hypnotist must have a target’s undivided attention. She cannot hypnotize someone carrying on a conversation with someone else, or who intently watches television while paying the hypnotist no mind.
Once the player accumulates enough successes, the subject is successfully placed into a light trance. The subject is not able to initiate any hostile actions until he wakes up, and is highly suggestible. The hypnotist can induce an entranced subject to give up any non-intimate information or to perform almost any non-hazardous action with a successful Manipulation + Persuasion roll. A light trance lasts for a scene before the subject comes out of it. The trance ends automatically if someone makes a loud noise or even physically shakes the subject, and the hypnotist can wake the subject whenever she desires. If the hypnotist attempts to get the subject to do something that violates her Morality or her Virtue, or that is obviously dangerous or suicidal, the trance ends immediately.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (Hypnotherapy Specialty), possibly contested by Composure + Supernatural Advantage
Action: Extended (subject willing) or extended and contested (subject unwilling). The hypnotist must accumulate successes equal to the target’s Resolve x5, with each roll representing 10 seconds of speech.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance his subject and loses any accumulated successes. If the subject was unwilling, she automatically knows that the hypnotist was attempting to hypnotize her and may react accordingly. Any subsequent attempts to hypnotize the subject (or indeed, anyone else who saw what happened) fail automatically.
Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.
Success:
The character gets the required number of successes and the subject is placed in a light trance.
Exceptional Success:
The character gathers five or more successes than required. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the subject for the remainder of the trance.
| Dice Modifiers | Situation |
|---|---|
| +2 | The subject is intoxicated, drugged or otherwise mentally impaired. |
| +1 | The subject is under peer pressure to submit to hypnosis, most commonly during a stage-hypnotist show. |
Deepening the Trance
Once a subject is put into a light trance, the character can attempt to hypnotize him further. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion (– the subject’s Composure). While such a deep trance lasts, the hypnotist gains a +2 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject (+5 with an exceptional success), she can persuade him to perform almost any non-dangerous action, and she can give post-hypnotic suggestions that can affect the subject’s perceptions or even beliefs (such as the stereotypical depiction of the hypnotist making a subject bark like a dog). A deep trance lasts for a scene, after which the subject goes into a normal sleep and stays out for hours unless awoken by mundane means.
While the subject is in a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to get him to perform actions that violate his Morality or Virtue, or that are obviously dangerous or suicidal. The hypnotist must phrase such commands in a manner calculated to work around the subject’s beliefs, however. A conservative preacher might rebel at being ordered to strip down in front of strangers, but if persuaded that he was a male dancer, such inhibitions can be overcome. Commands calculated to overcome Morality or Virtue or that place a subject in grave danger suffer a penalty in a Social roll based on how well the hypnotist works around the subject’s inhibitions.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion – subject’s Composure
Action: Instant, although the roll can be made only after at least five minutes of induction
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance the subject, who instantly awakens.
Failure:
The character fails to induce the subject to enter a deep trance. Other attempts can be made if time permits.
Success:
The subject is placed in a deep trance. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the target for the remainder of the trance.
Exceptional Success:
The subject is placed into an exceptionally deep trance. The character gains a +5 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject for the rest of the trance.
| Dice Modifiers | Situation |
|---|---|
| +2 | The subject is intoxicated, drugged or otherwise mentally impaired. |
| +1 | The subject is under peer pressure to submit to hypnosis, most commonly during a stage-hypnotist show. |
Memory Recovery
Once a subject has been put into a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to help him to recover repressed or stolen memories, although doing so might be highly traumatic for the subject depending on the experiences’ nature. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion, resisted by the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage, and accumulate [the subject’s Resolve x5] in successes, all as part of an extended and contested action. The player’s dice pool also suffers a penalty according to the nature of the memories recovered. The hypnotist must achieve an exceptional success (gather five or more successes than needed in the time allowed or under the circumstances) for the subject to be able to recall the repressed memories after waking from the trance. If more successes are ever achieved for the subject in any contested roll, that memory cannot be restored by the hypnotist in this effort. Another attempt may be made after 24 hours.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Extended and contested, with each roll representing 30 minutes of hypnotherapy
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist’s attempts to dredge up the lost memories traumatizes the subject, inflicting a mild derangement on him.
Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.
Success:
The character gets the required number of successes. The subject is able to recall the lost memories while under a trance, but does not recall them while awake.
Exceptional Success:
Five or more successes than required are accumulated. The subject recalls the lost memories after awakening.
| Dice Modifier | Lost Memories |
|---|---|
| — | Non-traumatic events that have simply been forgotten. |
| -2 | Traumatic but mundane events such as childhood circumstances or a sexual assault. |
| -4 | “Unintentional” supernatural influences that have affected the subject’s memories, such as Disbelief triggered by the actions of a mage or Lunacy triggered by a werewolf. |
| -5 | “Deliberate” supernatural effects intended to alter the subject’s memories, such as vampiric Disciplines or effects created with the Mind Arcana. |
Your character maintains a personal collection of useful information, which can help with both natural and supernatural research. Whether in the form of musty occult tomes, encrypted computer files, sacred scrolls, visual art or stranger media, this library includes reference works that can help him understand both magic and the supernatural world. In both fi elds of knowledge — mundane research and occult lore — this collection relates to one or more fields of specialization.
Each dot in this Merit represents one field of study or area of knowledge in which your character has a wealth of tomes, computer fi les or scrolls, and from which he may draw information. If he has Library 3, his dots might be assigned to demons, cryptozoology and one tradition of thaumaturgy, respectively. Topics can include arcane lore that most people don’t know about, or that has been forgotten since antiquity.
Ordinary people have libraries as well, of course, dealing with less exotic specialties. The study of the supernatural is different from ordinary research. Many occult tomes refer to magical insights that only thaumaturges trained in a particular tradition understand. Aging magical tomes don’t typically use indices, keywords or cross-referenced page numbers — they’re as arcane as the mystics who access them.
Gaining information from a library is a research task, as described on pp. 55–56 of the World of Darkness Rulebook, except that a thaumaturge spends only 10 minutes per roll when researching from his library. Success doesn’t guarantee exactly the information for which he looks. Libraries aren’t all-knowing, and they don’t always provide one definitive answer to a question, since multiple authors may have different points of view on the same subject. The Storyteller is perfectly justified in saying that a particular library simply doesn’t reveal something.
An extended research task performed to gain a bonus on a ritual requires a total number of successes equal to the number of dots in the Merit used to perform the ritual.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character uncovers flawed or inaccurate information that subtracts one die from the roll to perform the ritual.
Failure:
The character can find no useful information to help him perform the ritual.
Success:
The character finds useful information sufficient to provide him with +1 to his dice pool to perform this ritual.
Exceptional Success: The character discovers large amounts of useful information about performing a ritual and gains a +2 bonus to his Merit dice pool.
This bonus cannot exceed the number of dots in the library he uses, however. Any thaumaturge may allow another practitioner the privilege of consulting his library. Unless this consultant has put points toward the Merit, 30 minutes are spent per roll researching a topic.
Special: Thaumaturges can share Library dots, with each contributing to the facility’s areas of knowledge. These characters each receive the full benefits of the library, and may invite others to use the resource so long as all parties agree. It may happen that thaumaturges suffer a falling out, in which case one or more might be asked to forfeit her library privileges. Those who are banned lose whatever dots they contributed, unless an agreement is worked out to split the library, allowing outcasts to take their areas of knowledge (and dots) with them.
The Lucid Dreamer Merit is common among both ordinary people and psychics. It represents the capacity to realize that one is dreaming and that such dreams cannot truly cause harm. Your character is rarely troubled by any but the most terrifying of mundane nightmares, although he remains vulnerable to supernaturally or psychically induced ones. The Dreamer can defend himself against attacks by psychics who have the Dream Travel Merit.
When a Lucid Dreamer is psychically attacked within one of his own dreams, his Composure is considered to be +2 for purposes of determining whether a dream attack can harm him. Second, a Lucid Dreamer can initiate attacks against intruders of his dreams. One Willpower point must be spent per attack, and each attack is resolved according to the rules for Dream Travel described on p. 38. Unless a Lucid Dreamer has the power of Dream Travel, he can initiate these attacks only within his own dreams.
Your character, either through extensive training or natural ability, has an innate resistance to invasive telepathic powers such as Mind Breaker, Mind Control, Mind Reading and Psychic Empathy. This resistance might take the form of performing math problems mentally, quoting nursery rhymes or even praying fervently. With even one dot, the character can tell if a psychic attempts to use a telepathic or other mind-affecting psychic power on him with a successful Wits + Composure roll (made reflexively by the Storyteller). The character’s Psychic Resistance dots are also added to his Resolve or Composure when rolling to contest any psychic powers that affect his mind. Neither powers directed against his body (such as Psychic Vampirism or Telekinetic Grapples) nor psychic powers that affect the mind but that do not allow a contested roll (such as Mental Blast or Psychic Invisibility) are affected by this Merit. The benefits of this Merit do not apply to mind-controlling effects used by vampires, werewolves or mages.