Flaws

Accused of Heresy

2 pt

Though accused of heresy in your past, you were allowed to survive. You might have been in possession of forbidden tomes, such as the Book of Nod, the Cainite Heresy's Euagetaematikon, or the Gospel of Laodice (and your copy was seized and burned by Josian Archons); you might have shown kindness to a Caitiff; shared information about Golconda; or done something similarly prohibited. Because of this error in judgment, your name is on the Camarilla's list of dangerous individuals, and you are closely watched by agents of the Justicars. You are treated as though you are one social class lower than your actual generation, and lose the abiding status possessed by your actual generation in favor of the one below. In this manner, an elder is treated as an ancilla, and an ancilla is treated like a neonate. If this flaw is possessed by a neonate, she is treated as though she were a Caitiff and gains the Greater Status Ban applied to Caitiff.

Addiction: Amphetamine

2 pt

You suffer from an addiction to a substance, which must be present in the blood you drink. This can be alcohol, nicotine, hard drugs, or simply adrenaline. Mechanically, a character's addiction is broken down into one of three categories: amphetamines, hallucinogens, or sedatives. When you take this flaw, you must choose one of these three categories to represent your character's addiction. You may take this flaw up to three times, each time choosing a different kind of drug, and suffering all of the penalties. At the start of the game, or anytime the character feeds, you receive your addiction's penalty, as follows, for one hour: - Amphetamine: You receive a -1 penalty to all Mental challenges and all challenges requiring coordination or mental dexterity. - Hallucinogen: You are agitated and cannot regain Willpower for the next hour. - Sedatives: You suffer a -5 penalty to challenges based on the Investigation or Awareness skills.

Addiction: Hallucinogen

2 pt

Addiction: Sedatives

2 pt

All My Friends Are Dead

1 pt

You are not comfortable among the living and avoid interacting with them. You prefer the company of the undead, especially zombies and ghosts. Vampires are at best tolerable. You may not purchase more than 2 dots in any background category relating to the mortal world. This includes the Influence, Contacts, Allies, and Herd backgrounds.

Amnesia

1 pt

You are unable to remember anything about your past, yourself, or your family, whether mortal or vampiric. You have no knowledge of your past paramours, enemies, or allies. Your origins and the circumstances behind your Amnesia are for the Storyteller to determine, and she is encouraged to make your backstory as interesting as possible, so that it might haunt your present and affect your character's story.

Anosmia

1 pt

You have no sense of smell or taste. The vilest odors and flavors imaginable cannot affect you; in fact, you do not even recognize their presence. You automatically lose any challenges based on these senses and any powers that rely on your ability to taste or smell something always fails (such as A Taste for Blood). You cannot purchase the Acute Sense merit for smell or taste.

Archaic

2 pt

The constant influx of modern technology confuses and enrages you. Modern things signal an increase in mortal power and a palpable shift away from the world you understand. You cannot purchase the following skills: Computer, Drive, Science (any modern science), or Security. Further, you cannot operate machinery or technology invented in the last 100 years. Note: Players with this flaw should roleplay ancient or archaic perspectives on other skills where appropriate, such as the use of herbs and poultices when performing the Medicine skill, rather than modern drugs and equipment.

Artless

1 pt

You never developed an artistic skill. You have tried and failed at everything. You are forever a Poseur, and you have no ability to judge a masterpiece from trash. In fact, if you had the choice, you would choose the trash. You cannot purchase the Performance or Crafts skills. Your lack of artistic talent translates into your other skills as well. For example, even if you were to master the higher levels of Brawl or Dodge, observants would find your movements lacking in grace, albeit effective. Similarly, if you produced a paper using Academics, your arguments would be inelegant, but accurate.

Awkward Mobility

2 pt

You have difficulty moving quickly or keeping up with those around you. You might be short, possess a club foot, have a hunchback, or walk with a limp. You take two steps per movement action instead of the standard three.

Bad Luck

2 pt

Some vampires have all the luck; you are not one of them. Once a night your Storyteller may turn a successful non-combat related challenge into a failure as long as it would not result in you suffering serious harm.

Bad Sight

2 pt

Your sight is defective, and even with corrective glasses or contacts, you cannot see with complete acuity. You suffer a -2 penalty to all of your Physical ranged attacks, including attacks with guns and thrown weapons.

Bastard Childe

2 pt

This flaw must be purchased at character creation. You were sired without the permission of local authorities. While this isn't technically illegal among Anarchs, the Camarilla frowns on it — and on you. If you'd been created by a member of the Camarilla, you (and your sire) would have certainly been killed. Only the fact that you are an Anarch keeps you from the retribution of Princes and Justicars. If you ever suffer negative status from the Anarch Movement, you also lose access to your backgrounds, as your friends and allies realize you're no longer protected and hide from the potential wrath of your Camarilla enemies. When the negative status is lifted, these backgrounds return.

Beacon of the Unholy

3 pt

You radiate a conspicuous evil, one that catches mortal attention and leaves a lingering feeling of unease. Devout mortals, and mortal hunters with True Faith, automatically realize you are a vampire. You may be descended from a mortal lineage that historically interacted (interbred) with demons, you may be suffering under a demonic curse, or you may actually be an infernalist. Any time you use a discipline's 4th-dot power or above, your aura shows the signs of infernal corruption. You cannot enter sacred sites, such as churches, mosques, synagogues, or other places of worship. Powers of faith, including the True Faith of mortal hunters and the powers of the Salubri, always deal an additional point of damage on a successful attack.

Beast in the Mirror

2 pt

Mirrors betray your monstrous nature. Anyone, mortal or vampire, who sees your reflection in a mirror discovers your Beast leering back at them. Your Beast appears on cameras that rely on mirrors, but not on modern digital equipment. Any time you see your reflection, you gain an automatic Beast trait. Beast traits gained from this flaw do not count towards Morality loss, but do count towards a character's likelihood to frenzy. Like all Beast traits, these traits remain until you rest for a full day.

Bestial Instinct

2 pt

Your Beast loves to fight and won't back down from a challenge. When it sees an opportunity to break free, it lunges to the fore with dangerous abandon, tearing at your spirit with ardent claws. Every time you gain one or more Beast traits, you take a point of aggravated damage. This damage cannot be reduced or negated.

Black Sheep

2 pt

This flaw must be purchased at character creation. The genealogy of your vampiric blood is distinguished, and includes some of the Camarilla's most well-known names. Your lineage considers you an embarrassment, and you're constantly under pressure to "grow up" and join the Camarilla. Worse, the other Anarchs find such a privileged heritage worthy of ridicule, and you must work twice as hard to prove yourself to them. You lose 1 downtime action a month, due to your constant need to avoid the Camarilla and prove to the Anarchs that you are truly Committed to their cause.

Blackened Aura

3 pt

In addition to bearing the stigma of your Caitiff blood, your aura has been permanently stained with black veins. Anyone looking at your aura will see this as a sign that you have committed diablerie. Good luck explaining your way out of this. This aura may not be modified or hidden through powers such as Soul Mask or Innocence of the Child's Heart.

Blood Rot

5 pt

You are afflicted with an insidious vampiric disease that rots your blood, turning your veins and flesh a mildewed black. As your putrid vitae moves through your veins, this disease spreads, corrupting your flesh in patchy rivulets of sodden mold. Every time you spend a point of Blood, you take a point of normal damage. This damage cannot be reduced or negated. Blood spent to heal does not trigger this effect. This disease is not contagious, but appearing in public while you are suffering the visible effects of Blood Rot is considered a breach of the Masquerade.

Blunted Fangs

2 pt

Your fangs are blunted, rather than being sharp like those of other vampires. As a result, your bite does not do aggravated damage. Your bite also does not invoke the Kiss, and you must feed through more vicious means.

Bound to the Earth

2 pt

Some vampires are inextricably tied to their domains of origin, and they must rest in the proximity of at least two handfuls of native soil: earth from a place important in their mortal days. This earth may be the soil from your birthplace or earth from the graveyard where you underwent your Embrace. Each night spent without this physical connection to that land inflicts a cumulative -1 penalty to all of your attack test pools (to a maximum of -5). These penalties remain until you rest for a full day amid your earth once more.

Cannot Cross Running Water

2 pt

You cannot cross running water unless you are at least 50 feet above it. For the purpose of this flaw, "running water" must be at least the size of a stream three feet across or some larger body of water. When you cross running water, you lose 1 Willpower. That Willpower cannot be regained until you rest for a full day.

Careless

1 pt

It's hard for you to pay attention to detail, and when you get into combat, you tend to act first and think afterwards, even when it means you end up going in circles or forgetting simple things. You make plenty of mistakes in your everyday existence, such as leaving things behind or letting simple tasks slip your mind. Your attacks do not count against another player's ability to declare a fair escape, unless you are currently grappling your target. A character you attack prior to her initiative in a round may still declare a fair escape in that round. Also, if someone declares her intention to fair escape, you cannot prevent her from fair escaping by declaring that you intend to use a Physical action against her later in that round.

Carrion Comfort

2 pt

Certain Baali associate too closely with spirits of corruption and plague to take pleasure from normal feeding. You are one such Baali and must consume either the cold blood of the dead or the carrion that feeds on rotting corpses. This hardship prevents you from purchasing the Herd background. In addition, you cannot feed on the living and must spend an additional downtime action feeding or you enter the game at half your normal Blood pool (round up).

Childlike

4 pt

You are very childlike in appearance. This may be because you are small of stature, or it may be because you were Embraced during a period of history when an early teenager was considered of marriageable age. It is against vampiric custom to Embrace children, and many consider such vampires to be both a significant breach of the Masquerade and a disgusting practice. Further, it is difficult for you to disguise the fact that you aren't maturing, and it is difficult for a child to spend time in public during the late hours vampires must keep. Characters with this flaw have a starting Physical attribute maximum of 5, rather than 10. This number can be increased with bonus attribute traits.

Clay Pigeon

3 pt

Unlike other Gargoyles that look and feel like stone, your creation or Embrace left your body soft like clay. As such, you cannot possess the Stamina focus nor can you benefit from the focus effects of Bond with the Mountain or Armor of Terra. You still retain the negative effects of your clan flaw.

Coldly Logical

1 pt

Unlike most modern Brujah, you are particularly devoid of emotional capacity in a manner similar to the True Brujah bloodline. You have no emotional understanding of others and lack the ability to feel the passions that the rest of the clan typically exhibits. Although you are still quick to anger like other Brujah, until your Beast rises to the surface you remain cold and emotionless. In addition to the normal Brujah weakness you also suffer the True Brujah bloodline weakness. Members of the True Brujah bloodline cannot take flaw.

Confusing Realities

3 pt

What is real? What is illusion? You have trouble telling the two apart and, in most cases, you would rather live in a world of illusions than the real world. You must spend a point of Willpower to disbelieve any uses of Chimerstry or similar illusory powers. In addition, you suffer a -2 penalty on all Awareness and Investigation skill test pools involving breaking a power that tricks the mind such as Obfuscate or the Garou Gift Coyotes Mantle.

Conspicuous Consumption

3 pt

You cannot simply draw nourishment from the blood of mortals; you must also consume your victim's heart, liver, and other blood-rich tissue. This requirement necessitates the deaths of all of your victims. A character with this flaw starts each evening with a Beast trait and gains an additional Beast trait each time she feeds. You do not get a degeneration challenge to reduce Beast traits gained through this merit. Characters with this flaw may eat flesh as though they had the merit Personal Masquerade. Characters with Conspicuous Consumption do not receive the other benefits of Personal Masquerade and cannot use it to eat normal food (only the flesh consumed while feeding).

Cowardly Beast

2 pt

In modern nights, the Brujah are a fiery group of warriors, individualists, and rebels, driven to both success and failure by their tempestuous nature. While you share their blood, you lack the fire of their convictions. Your Beast is a coward, and while other Brujah often frenzy in rage, your Beast always frenzies out of fear. Whenever you would suffer a rage frenzy you suffer a fear frenzy instead.

Cowardly Blood

3 pt

You have never been good at asserting yourself and commanding others. While this can manifest in any number of ways in your personality and in how you interact with others, it is so deeply ingrained into your being that you must spend Blood to successfully use Dominate on others. Any Dominate power that normally costs no Blood requires you to spend 1 Blood to activate.

Crisis of Faith

2 pt

You are not generally one of the unfaithful. You may be well educated in the ritae, and even ordained and capable of performing them for gatherings of Sabbat. But when bad things happen (the loss of a packmate, a critical defeat, or some personal setback), you must make a static challenge with your Storyteller (there is no retest, and no difficulty). If you lose or tie this test, your character becomes unfaithful for the purpose of performing or participating in any Auctoritas Ritae. This effect lasts for two games or one month (whichever is longer), as your character struggles with this crisis of faith.

Curiosity

2 pt

Your incredible Curiosity often overrides your common sense. You can't help it! There are so many wonderful things in the world, so many secrets to uncover, and so many mysteries to understand. If you fail to explore something new or unknown, your maximum Willpower is reduced by 1 for the remainder of the evening. This penalty is cumulative; if you refuse more than one intriguing opportunity, your Willpower maximum continues to decline.

Cursed

1 pt

You suffer from a minor supernatural curse due to your karmic debt to the universe or an enemy with a twisted sense of humor. This curse is specific and detailed; it should relate to some archetypal flaw in your character, such as hubris. Like all flaws, remember that a Storyteller should not allow a curse that does not meaningfully impact your character. A curse must be attached to a skill in which you possess at least 1 dot. When the curse is triggered, you receive a -1 penalty to test pools with that skill. You may purchase this flaw up to three times. Some examples: - A Nosferatu who was a governess in life carries a dying boy's curse, stating that children younger than 10 can always see through her Obfuscate. While the player will portray this specific effect in her story, she has also associated this curse with her Stealth skill. Further, when in the presence of children younger than 10, her Stealth-based pools are reduced by one. - A Kiasyd has been cursed by tricksy faeries. Milk curdles in his presence, and insects die when they come within three paces of his location. Whenever the Storyteller indicates that that the faeries are actively plaguing him, the Kiasyd's player must roleplay those effects. He has associated this curse with his Awareness skill, and therefore his Awareness-based pools are reduced by 1 when this occurs. - An archaeologist Lasombra believes that she was cursed for opening an ancient Egyptian tomb. The curse states that the Lasombra will "suffer a twisted tongue when she most needs clarity." The Lasombra's player has associated this curse with her Linguistics skill. Whenever she is attempting to translate one language into another, she roleplays her uncertainty and grammatical mistakes. Further, all pools based on her Linguistics skill are reduced by 1 when she is under pressure.

Dark Fate

5 pt

Something has altered the course of your unlife, consigning you either psychologically or supernaturally to a tragic end. Perhaps you have grown bored with eternity and subconsciously seek ways to end your existence, or perhaps something you've done in the past has caused fate to become your enemy. However it came to pass, your end is near, and you will not escape it easily. If you ever fall into torpor or are staked, you instead meet your Final Death.

Dark Secret

1 pt

You have a secret from your past, which would cause great embarrassment if uncovered by your enemies. If your secret is publicly revealed, you must buy off this flaw. Like all flaws, remember that a Storyteller should not allow a Dark Secret that does not impact the character's possible survival if it is revealed or that copies a difficulty inherent to the character type. A character cannot have more than one Dark Secret. Some examples of Dark Secrets include: - You have a lover in another sect or who is an infernalist - You have committed a crime that is punishable by sect's laws - You have betrayed your clan or lineage

Dead Giveaway

1 pt

Your illusions always contain a notable flaw and, as such, are easier to disbelieve. Characters trying to pierce your illusions gain a +1 wild card bonus. The manifestation of this flaw within your illusions is often the same, allowing anyone who is aware of the flaw to tie you to your handiwork.

Death Sight

2 pt

Your sight never truly recovered from your death, and since your Embrace, it has refused to accurately portray the world around you. Everyone you see (mortal, vampire, or other) appear withered and dead. Buildings seem decrepit, and your surroundings hold no beauty and no vibrancy. All of your Investigation pools are at a -2 penalty, and you cannot use the Auspex power of Aura Perception to determine a creature's type. Lastly, you cannot visually tell the difference between a living person and a vampire, even one on a path.

Death's Reflection

1 pt

You cast a reflection normally, which would cancel out your clan weakness, except that your reflection always shows the state you would be in if you were dead. Any Lasombra older than a few decades appear to be skeletal, and younger vampires appear as rotting corpses.

Deep Sleeper

2 pt

You have trouble waking during the day, even in dangerous situations. Your Morality is considered two lower for the purposes of staying awake during the day and in determining the penalties you suffer during daylight hours.

Deer in Headlights

3 pt

While modern Lhiannan can manage to make brief forays into the urbanized world, you are extremely uncomfortable being outside of natural areas. While in an urban environment, you are distracted, edgy, and easily startled. You suffer a -1 penalty to Investigation and Awareness skill challenges and a -3 penalty to resist any powers that cause you to flee or become frightened, such as Presence: Dread Gaze.

Devil's Mark

1 pt

You possess an anatomical aberration commonly associated with those that traffic with the infernal and demonic. Possible deformities include malformed teeth, a horrid stench, horrific excretions, tough and warty hide, and vestigial wings. While you can hide these through Obfuscate you cannot erase them with Vicissitude. Those with Lore specializations in the infernal will recognize them as indicators of infernal taint.

Diluted Blood

2 pt

Somehow your vitae is not suited for the toxic effects of the Quietus discipline requiring you to make more effort to transform your Blood into poisons and other caustic substances. All of your Blood point costs for Quietus powers are increased by one. In addition, you may not purchase the technique Retain the Quick Blood.

Discipline Illiterate

1 pt

It's hard for your blood to adapt to powers not native to it. It takes you an additional downtime action to learn an out-of-clan discipline. In addition, you may not benefit from the Efficient Learner merit.

Disease Carrier

4 pt

Your blood carries a lethal and highly contagious disease. This disease can be anything from the Black Death, to rabies, to smallpox. Mortals whom you feed upon always contract this disease, and it is usually deadly. When you feed from a Stamina-focused mortal, she recovers within five days. Other mortals always die. When you spend a downtime action to feed, you must spend an additional downtime action to feed safely, or else you are knowingly murdering mortals by spreading your disease. If you do not feed safely, you gain Beast traits at the beginning of the next game, as though you committed murder. If you must feed during game, you must spend twice as long to feed, or you have not fed safely, and you immediately suffer this same penalty.

Dual Caste

1 pt

You have manifested the blood-borne weakness of another caste in addition to that of your own, effectively giving you two clan weaknesses. By purchasing this flaw, a Warrior receives the Sorcerer's limited concealment; a Sorcerer is cursed with the Vizier's obsessive dementia; or a Vizier gains the vitae addiction of a Warrior.

Dubious Loyalties

2 pt

Because of something that happened in your past, other Anarchs have a good reason to be suspicious. Perhaps you abandoned your brothers and sisters in combat, perhaps you were once a Camarilla Prince before you joined the Movement, or perhaps you've been duped once too often. Other Anarchs are generally skeptical of your dedication and treat you with less respect. Your maximum fleeting status is 1 less than usual while you have this flaw. This penalty adds to that imposed by any status ban.

Dull

2 pt

Life has become far more exciting since your Embrace… but sadly, you haven't. You're prone to talk about bland things, and you don't handle furor or emotional stimulation very well. When others get passionate, you boggle, harrumph, and withdraw. This makes it difficult for you to express your deepest feelings and inner motivations. You don't receive the retest usually given by a character's archetype.

Eerie Presence

1 pt

You radiate an otherworldly air that causes nervousness and unease in the people around you. The exact nature of this Eerie Presence is specific to each vampire and can take many different forms. You should speak with your Storyteller to determine the exact strangeness conferred upon your character by this flaw, but all types of Eerie Presence are disconcerting and potentially a breach of the Masquerade. You may take this flaw up to three times for different aspects of your strange nature, but each must be distinctive and unconnected from the rest. You cannot take Eerie Presence twice and claim your eyes are purple and glowing. You can take Eerie Presence twice and say your eyes glow and you constantly emit a stench of decay. Some possible examples include: - Glowing or unusually colored eyes - Cold breeze following the character - Unearthly scent of roses or of grave earth - Permanent fangs that cannot retract - Forked tongue or scaled skin - Cast no reflection (as per the Lasombra clan weakness) - Plants wither as you approach and die at your touch

Escaped Shovelhead

2 pt

Your sire was a member of the Sabbat. The mental trauma of being a shovelhead lingers, and those horrible memories affect you most when you come into conflict with the monsters you were nearly forced to join. You have a -2 to your mental test pools (including defense pools) when you engage in a challenge against a known member of the Sabbat.

Essence of Connaught

1 pt

You hold faithful to the ancient embrace rituals of the eldest Lhiannan. For you, the embrace should be a long and painful process of bloodletting and ritualized ceremony. This ceremony is meant to pay homage to the Crones gift of spiritual essence to the Witch of Connaught. Myths of old say that the Embrace weakens the sire herself as she shares this limited essence with her new childe. For the six months after you Embrace another, your blood pool, maximum attribute traits, and the amount of blood you may spend per turn are determined as if you had one less generation than your dots in the generation Background. In addition, you may not embrace again during these six months. For example, a 7th generation Lhiannan embraces a new childer. For six months she has only 3 bonus attribute dots, her blood pool is reduced to 15, and she may only spend 3 blood per turn just as an 8th generation vampire would be limited to.

Falling Apart

3 pt

Your physical form is barely holding together. You leave small bits of you behind when moving too fast or exerting yourself. These pieces quickly fall apart to tiny piles of ash, and while they provide no mechanical benefit such as familiarity and cannot be used for any Blood magic rituals, a discerning tracker might be able to follow you. In addition, when contacted with extreme force you lose much larger chunks of yourself. Any time you take 3 or more damage from a physical attack (before Fortitude) you automatically lose 1 point of Blood as you reflexively spend it to keep yourself in one piece. This expenditure of Blood does not count towards your maximum Blood spend for a turn. If you have no Blood to expend, you fall into torpor.

Feeding Fetish

1 pt

You have a particular ritual when it comes to feeding. Perhaps you only bite your prey in a certain spot, or perhaps you only feed in a certain location or at a certain time. This obsession inconveniences you on a nightly basis as hunting becomes a tedious task. You must spend an additional downtime action to avoid entering the next game at half your normal Blood pool (round up). If you use the Herd background to feed, you must spend an additional 5 minutes outside of game to satisfy your fetish.

Flesh of the Corpse

5 pt

Your flesh does not fully regenerate once it is damaged. While you are able to heal yourself to the point of full functionality, your skin still retains cuts, tears, bullet holes, etc. Every time you are hit by a Physical attack that does 2 or more points of damage, you also suffer an immediate -1 penalty to your Physical attribute (to a maximum penalty of -5). This penalty is not removed if you heal the damage; it remains until the character rests for a full day.

Forgiven Diablerie

1 pt

You either committed diablerie during a blood hunt as a result of a Trophy or committed diablerie before the formation of the Camarilla. You have a writ of approval signed by a Prince or a Justicar. Although you cannot be openly punished for this past indiscretion, you have undoubtedly made enemies, and there are many elders who would delight in your ultimate downfall.

Foul Blood

2 pt

The vitae flowing through your veins tastes truly awful. Due to the wrenching, retching, and discomfort your blood causes and the difficulty it has staying down, you must spend twice the amount of Blood points as normal to create a ghoul, embrace a childe, or to teach someone a discipline. Anyone who you seek to blood bond must drink an additional trait of your Blood within the same night as well for the next stage to take hold. Those who ingest points of your Blood for sustenance receive full nourishment; however, they will note it tastes particularly bad.

Fragile Bones

4 pt

Your body is less hardy than most and cannot endure as much injury. Your bones may be more brittle, and your physical stature may be slight or delicate. If you take more than 2 points of damage from a single blow, one of your limbs (chosen by your attacker) is broken. This limb is useless until that damage is healed. If one or both of your character's legs becomes broken, you can only move one step per action, by limping or crawling. If either of your character's arms becomes broken, you suffer a -5 penalty to Brawl and Melee attack test pools, unless the character has the Ambidextrous merit, in which case, you only suffer a -3 penalty. A character with a broken arm cannot use two-handed weapons. A character with two broken arms cannot make Physical attacks unless she is capable of biting without grappling or she has more than two other useable limbs (such as tentacles summoned by Black Metamorphosis or limbs created with Vicissitude).

Fusion

2 pt

Whenever your third eye is closed, it heals shut, perhaps due to your Beast's desperation to blend in. This causes difficulty when you use the powers of your Blood. Any power that causes your eye to open causes you 1 point of normal damage as the flesh tears itself apart to reveal the eye. You suffer this penalty even with successive uses of your power, as your third eye closes and heals after each use. This damage cannot be reduced or negated by armor or supernatural resistances, such as Fortitude.

Gehenna Prophet

2 pt

You suffer from visions of apocalyptic disaster and premonitions of wide-scale destruction. The universe is wrong somehow, and karmic balance will return to make everyone suffer. You have waking nightmares and visions of a hellish future that never occurred. Some say this is a byproduct of a difficult Embrace; others say it is a premonition of Gehenna or a vision of a Gehenna that never occurred. You must use all of your will to tell the difference between the real world and the one that haunts you. Every time your Willpower decreases, you lose a little more of your grasp on reality and sink into these nightmarish visions. If you run out of Willpower, you fall into torpor. This flaw is often found in Cappadocians, Malkavians, Nosferatu, and Ravnos.

Grip of the Damned

2 pt

There is no ecstasy or pleasure in the Kiss when you feed; mortals suffer horrific agony from your bite. You must Grapple your prey to ensure that they cannot escape. You cannot close the wounds you cause after drinking others' blood. Feeding from mortals counts as a level one Morality sin.

Hard of Hearing

2 pt

Your hearing is defective, and even with corrective equipment, you cannot hear with complete acuity. This can be dangerous under some circumstances, as you cannot rely on your hearing to warn you of danger. You suffer a -2 penalty to Awareness and Investigation test pools based on hearing.

Haunted

1 pt

A vengeful ghost torments you from beyond the grave. Though it usually limits itself to phantasmal moaning, eerie manifestations, and the occasional detrimental effect, this ghost is committed to causing you harm. It does its best to make your eternity miserable and to hasten the day when you will join it in death. You can see and hear this ghost whether or not you have the Medium merit or possess any of the paths of Necromancy.

Humble Gardener

1 pt

Your unbreakable need to be close to your homeland goes beyond the need to rest in the proximity of your ancestral soil. Instead, you must also cultivate and tend to flora from the region. You must spend 1 downtime between game sessions to keep these plants healthy. If you fail to spend the downtime action as required, the plants will wither and die causing you to begin the next game with 1 Beast trait.

Hunted

4 pt

Your name, face, and history are known to hunter organizations, werewolves, or an opposing sect. If you attract attention, the hunters will come for you. You must spend 2 downtime actions each month to avoid the individuals who are actively seeking your Final Death. If you fail to do this, you enter the game with your Healthy wound track filled with aggravated damage.

Illiterate

1 pt

Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write. This flaw makes it impossible to access any dots in the following skills: Academics, Computer, or Science. Your Storyteller may likewise choose to limit the number of dots you may access in Lore or Occult.

Impatient

2 pt

You have no patience for standing around and waiting. You want to do things now — forget the slowpokes trying to hold you back. You vastly prefer acting on impulse without caring about the consequences. Every time you are forced to wait or be patient instead of acting immediately, you must spend 1 Willpower to wait without acting for five minutes. If you do not spend this Willpower, you react with extreme anger, lashing out at the source of your delay.

Inept

3 pt

Your Embrace was a difficult one, and perhaps fate did not intend you to be a member of the clan that chose you. You have no skill with one of the native disciplines of your clan. You do not start with a free dot of this discipline, and you must pay out-of-clan XP costs to purchase this discipline, although you do not require a teacher. You must purchase this flaw at character creation. This flaw cannot be removed.

Infamous Brood

3 pt

You come from an infamous brood. Any officer of your sect can expend any status trait (abiding, innate, or fleeting) in order to give you the Warned status trait.

Infernal Thrall

3 pt

You knew it was a bad idea at the time, but you have gotten yourself indebted to infernal forces. Even worse – you have gained nothing of lasting value for it. You are indebted to a demon master as if you had taken the Infernal Power merit, however, you do not receive an Infernal Power or any benefits. You may not receive or use an Infernal Power through any means, such as the Infernal Heritage merit, until this flaw is removed. Additionally, if you fail to obey any of your demonic master's orders, you immediately take 5 points of aggravated damage that cannot be reduced or negated by any means.

Insubordinate

2 pt

Your need to be in charge is so strong, you have a hard time following anyone else's orders. When given a task or told to actively do something, you tend to do the opposite on principle or find some other way to undermine the results. Orders that compel passivity, such as "don't move", or "don't Dread Gaze the Archbishop", do not incite a contradictory reaction. If you willingly choose to follow the orders given or if you are forced to follow those orders, your Beast rebels and you gain a Beast trait. Any Beast traits gained from this flaw are cumulative with any that you might incur from violating your path.

Intolerance

1 pt

You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain thing. This may be a clan, a bloodline, a type of creature, or a specific type of person. You will persecute these individuals to the extent of your ability, even jeopardizing alliances and your own reputation to see them besmirched. If forced to work with such a person, you suffer a -2 penalty to all of your nondefensive test pools.

Known to be Dead

1 pt

As a mortal, you lived in the area where the chronicle is set (or you possess a high Fame background), and those who love you believe that you are dead. If you use your real name, if your photograph gets out, or if you are spotted by people who knew you, uncomfortable questions will be asked. If it happens too often, mortal hunters will quickly realize your undead nature.

Lead Foot

2 pt

Like a geologic process, your movement is deliberate and determined. Your stone nature inhibits your movement, slowing your steps and reaction. Your initiative is reduced by -2 and you may not use the Burst of Speed combat maneuver.

Lesser Generation: 10th

1 pt

A character with this flaw must have either 1 or 2 dots in the Generation background; elders of any Generation cannot possess this flaw. The 1st and 2nd dots of the Generation background (Neonate or Ancilla) cover a wider variety of generations than the three elder dots. A Neonate, with 1 dot of Generation, could be from 15 to 11 steps removed from the mythical first vampire. An Ancilla, with 2 dots of the Generation background, could be either 10 or 9 steps removed. If an Ancilla takes this flaw, she is 10th generation. If a Neonate takes this flaw, you may choose to be 12th or 13th generation. If you choose 13th generation for your character, then this is a 2 point flaw, rather than 1. If you wish your character to be a truly thin-blooded vampire of 14th or 15th generation, you must purchase the Thin Blooded flaw rather than the Lesser Generation flaw. You cannot purchase both Lesser Generation and Thin Blooded. If a character with Lesser Generation diablerizes and gains a generation that places her at the default point of your Generation background, you must remove this flaw and repay its XP cost. This change occurs when a Neonate character diablerizes and brings her generation from 12th to 11th or when an Ancilla character diablerizes from 10th to 9th generation.

Lesser Generation: 12th

1 pt

Lesser Generation: 13th

2 pt

Living Art

3 pt

Some Toreador believe the human form is unrivaled in its beauty, diversity, and allure. You must spend an additional point of Willpower to resist the effects of the Presence power of Awe, cumulative with any other increased costs such as that from the Appearance focus. In addition, when interacting with characters with the Appearance focus you suffer a -2 penalty to your defensive pools to resist their Social powers.

Lost Svadharma

2 pt

You once knew your role in the social and cosmic order, but when the time came to fulfill it you failed. Now that duty and responsibility have passed you by, leaving you with an unknown purpose to your existence. The Week of Nightmares did you no favors either. You are one of the few surviving members of your clan and you have no understanding why you survived. You find it hard to focus on difficult tasks, unable to assure yourself that the feat ahead is within your capabilities. You cannot use your Archetype to retest.

Low Down and Dirty

1 pt

You are the epitome of scum and villainy, carrying a vile air that inspires parents to clutch their children as you walk past and creates suspicion in upstanding people. As a result, you cannot purchase the Elite influence background. In addition, any contacts and allies you possess are always of an unsavory nature, and you cannot choose a contact or ally specialization who is an upstanding member of society.

Low Pain Threshold

3 pt

You are a gentle, soft creature, not known for your tenacity. You may have come from a decadent society, or from noble stock who never had to perform any significant physical labor. Because of this, you have 1 less health level in both your Injured and Incapacitated wound tracks. Your Healthy levels are not affected by this flaw.

Magic Susceptibility

2 pt

You are susceptible to blood magic, as well as to spells of mages or the hedge-magic of mortals. You cannot spend Willpower to retest Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, or other forms of magic.

Methuselah's Thirst

4 pt

You have difficulty drawing nourishment from human or animal blood. Vampire blood still affords full nourishment, which causes you to be in danger of the blood bond, and may lead you to the forbidden hunger of Amaranth. You always come into play with half your Blood pool; no amount of downtime actions can cause you to come into play at full Blood. Characters with this flaw cannot benefit from the Herd background. You may feed to full if you feed from other vampires. This flaw primarily occurs in Master or Luminary Elders.

Mistrusted

1 pt

Because of something in your character's history, either the Hand or the Inquisition (or both) has a good reason to be suspicious of you. As part of their duty to the Sabbat, they harass you, keep track of you, and generally spread their suspicions about you to the rest of the sect, causing you no end of trouble. Your maximum fleeting status is 1 less than usual while you have this flaw. This penalty adds to that imposed by any status ban.

Mångha's Disdain

3 pt

While your clan's shadowy powers are dispelled by sunlight, your Obtenebration is also dispelled by moonlight, severely limiting your ability to use these powers. Unless the moon is in its New Moon or Crescent phases, your powers of Obtenebration are dispelled when used outdoors (even if it is cloudy). Consult your Storyteller on the phase of the moon prior to starting each game session.

Necrophile

1 pt

You are obsessed with the dead. Your haven is distastefully decorated with severed and mutilated body parts. You talk to the dead, whether you can hear them talk back or not, dance with them, make art out of them, and enjoy their company. This might make it difficult to have guests over for a chat. Should mortals discover your haven, it will certainly cause a Masquerade breach and receive all manner of attention from the media. You must spend at least 10 minutes in the company of true corpses each night. If you do not, you suffer a -1 penalty to all test pools until you have fulfilled this requirement. This penalty is not cumulative.

Nightmares

1 pt

You experience horrendous nightmares when you rest during the day, and those images haunt you during the waking hours. You rarely get a full day's sleep, and it is difficult for you to overcome your agitated Beast. When you sin against your Morality, your mind fixates on those events, playing them (and other emotionally painful incidents of your past) over and over while you sleep during the day. You lose Beast traits at a rate of 1 per day of rest, rather than losing all Beast traits with a single day's sleep.

No Encore

2 pt

Who can expect you to perform under these conditions? The Sheriff is coming in much too slowly and – WHERE ARE THE BRUJAH??? Not only will there be no encore after your performances, but you may only use Melpominee in a single combat per night. Any Melpominee use in a subsequent combat requires you to spend a point of Willpower to overcome your frustrations.

Non-Serviam

2 pt

Whether due to an isolated upbringing or a deep resentment for the working class, you cannot perform servile or menial tasks. You cannot work a job as part of your background and, unless you are compelled to do so through Dominate, you are unable to perform any task a servant should, such as driving a car, taking notes at a meeting, or running your own errands. You very likely make it a point to keep servants or retainers on hand but will be nearly helpless should they abandon you. In addition, you suffer a –2 penalty to all test pools for tasks that a servant should perform.

Notoriety

2 pt

You have a bad reputation among other vampires. This may be from something you have done in the past or it may be derived from your sire, lineage, or other connections. You do not receive passive bonuses from fleeting status traits.

Number One Fan

2 pt

Every so often, the effects of the Kiss do not work quite right, and you become the subject of someone's adoration or even obsession. This person may seek to inject themselves into your life until you finally find a way to deal with or dispose of them. Your Storyteller will portray your fan and is the final arbiter on how this flaw troubles you. Fortunately, you cannot have more than one fan at any given time, but if you kill or somehow cut ties with your fan you will attract another for as long as you have this flaw.

Obsession

2 pt

While all Toreador are entranced by the beauty of art and performances, your obsession is ingrained in your Beast. You must spend 2 Willpower to resist the urge of giving a new or particularly interesting piece of art or performance your undivided attention. If you are interrupted during an enraptured state, you gain a Beast trait.

Obvious Predator

2 pt

Mortals instinctively sense that there's something wrong with you. Your Beast is strong, and something about you makes other people realize that you're dangerous. Mortals react poorly to you, as you exude a blatant air of menace. Further, the Beast overcomes your better nature and makes it difficult for you to remember your true priorities. You suffer a -2 penalty on all interactions with mortals who are unaware of the supernatural world. Further, you cannot purchase the Contacts, Allies, or Influence backgrounds.

Offal Appetite

2 pt

Your appetites are very peculiar; any random human flesh will not sustain your hunger. Instead, you crave a specific organ of the human body and you can only gain sustenance from this organ. This most likely means you feed from recently dead corpses or you kill your food source to survive. Choose one major human organ such as the brain, stomach, liver, kidney, or small intestine. You must consume the entire organ to feed successfully. Your Storyteller will adjudicate the additional difficulty for your feeding attempts.

Once Enslaved

2 pt

At some point in your past, you suffered the awful love forced by the blood bond (or the Vaulderie). It terrifies you to think you might endure that feeling again. When faced with a situation where you might become even partially blood-bound (or gain a vinculum rating), you suffer the effects of an immediate psychotic break as though you had a Phobia Derangement relative to that specific individual.

One Eye

3 pt

You may have lost an eye before the Embrace, or it may have been removed by some permanent effect, such as Vicissitude. For whatever reason, you cannot regenerate it under any circumstances. You suffer a -5 penalty to all of your Physical ranged attacks, including attacks with guns and thrown weapons.

Overconfident

2 pt

You have an exaggerated and unshakable opinion of your own worth and capabilities. You trust your own abilities over anything another person could offer, even in situations where you risk defeat. Because you aren't actually invulnerable and omnipotent, such overconfidence can be dangerous, and when you do fail, you quickly find someone or something else to blame. You cannot benefit from the assist attacker or assist defender mass combat tactics, unless the person assisting you is following an order that you have just issued.

Overstimulated

3 pt

Malkavians notice things that many others do not, sometimes neglecting their surroundings. That means keeping their eyes and ears open far longer than anyone else, and in this case more often than they want to. Your attentiveness to everything around you causes you to become overstimulated and makes you easily distracted when trying to focus. You suffer a -2 penalty to all test pools involving your Awareness and Investigation skills.

Parasitic Infestation

3 pt

Living in the dark has made your body a home to all manner of creepy crawlies and bloodsuckers. Your skin is infested with ticks, lice, and leeches of all descriptions. They constantly bite and burrow, and having fed on your vitae, they have become very hard to kill. Not only are you unable to command them, you have also tried everything to get rid of them and still they persist. Whatever the reason, they find you so succulent that upon waking you find your Blood pool has been reduced by their constant feeding. If you have 3 or fewer dots of the Generation background, reduce your maximum Blood pool by 3 points. If you have 4 or more dots of the Generation background, reduce your maximum Blood pool by 6 points. In addition, the constant itch keeps you on edge, increasing the difficulty of any frenzy tests by 2.

Pedantic

2 pt

You cannot help yourself – you simply know more about most topics than others, and you feel the need to share it. You are not trying to make others feel stupid; you are trying to educate them, and you cannot abide leaving any information out. This is particularly annoying to your peers and your loquaciousness can make you an unpaid source of facts and information. Unless you spend a Willpower, you find it impossible to hold back information on a subject you are being directly questioned about. If you spend a point of Willpower in this way, you can refrain from offering your expertise for 10 minutes. Luckily, you have learned not to insert your expertise into every conversation you overhear. This compulsion only extends to facts and information; you do not feel compelled to share sensitive material such as clan secrets and incriminating information when questioned. This flaw does not apply in combat or in situations where injury is imminent.

Permanent Wound

3 pt

You suffered injuries during or immediately before the Embrace, which your sire did not repair. This wound cannot be healed, but it does not bleed, and you may be able to hide it under bandages or clothing. You have two fewer Healthy wound levels.

Pied Piper

1 pt

Animals flock to your presence, whether you want them to or not. These animals are of a distinctive species, and those who know to watch for such creatures can easily tell when you are in the area. Their presence makes it fairly easy to track your movements, locate your whereabouts, and potentially discover where you make your haven. You have no capacity to control these creatures unless you use Animalism on them, and even if you do so, more will come to take the place of the ones you send away. When you choose this flaw, you must choose the species of animal. These animals will not harm you unless directed by someone else who has Animalism, and the animals can see through your supernatural powers of concealment, making it impossible for you to hide from them.

Poseidon's Call

3 pt

Your stability is directly tied to the weather. You calm as skies clear and grow progressively more bloodthirsty as a storm mounts. If you don't sleep on or under naturally occurring water (in a boat on a lake, river, or ocean; or beneath the waters of a stream), you cannot spend Willpower the next night.

Prey Exclusion

1 pt

Something in your psychology or religious beliefs prohibits you from hunting a certain type of mortal prey. You might refuse to feed on drug dealers, policemen, innocents, or Buddhists. You gain no nourishment from such individuals. If you witness other vampires feeding on your excluded prey, you must attempt to stop this defilement, violently if necessary. If you fail, you gain a Beast trait.

Rat in a Cage

3 pt

You abhor being restrained or caged. Any time your movement is restricted you gain a Beast trait and must test for a rage frenzy. Your movement is considered restricted if you are being prevented from leaving a room, if you become restrained with handcuffs, if you are subject to a Grapple, or if you are affected by a power that lowers your movement. You may not incur this penalty more than once per hour.

Repelled by Religion

3 pt

In legend, vampires can be driven away by holy symbols and cannot enter blessed or sacred ground. Your blood is tied to the origins of those myths. It might be that you suffer residual religious guilt or that your Beast hates and fears religious devotion. For whatever reason, when a mortal formally presents a symbol of her faith (whatever that may be), you cannot directly harm the mortal, nor affect her with powers, nor come within five steps of her. If you come into contact with a holy symbol, you take a point of normal damage each turn you are in contact with it. Also, you cannot enter a site which is designated by your Storyteller as holy ground. If you are forced to do so (or carried onto such territory), you suffer 3 points of aggravated damage each turn you remain there. This damage cannot be reduced or negated.

Revenant Family Weakness: Bratovitch

2 pt

You were once part of a revenant family. Following the Embrace, you suffered the double whammy of your clan's weakness and an additional weakness akin to your revenant family's limitation. Members of a Tzimisce bloodline that come from a Revenant family, such as Bratovich, cannot take this flaw. The Bratovitch are monsters at their very core, spurred on by hot tempers and lacking a concept of self-control. For the purposes of determining the need to test for frenzy or powers that interact with Beast traits (such as Quell the Beast), they are always considered to have 1 Beast trait higher than their current total. For example, a Bratovitch with 2 Beast traits must test for frenzy as if she had 3 Beast traits. As this is a penalty and not an actual Beast trait, it cannot be reduced or eliminated by powers or effects such as spending time with someone who has the Animal Ken skill. This penalty has no effect on Morality loss.

Revenant Family Weakness: Grimaldi

2 pt

You were once part of a revenant family. Following the Embrace, you suffered the double whammy of your clan's weakness and an additional weakness akin to your revenant family's limitation. Members of a Tzimisce bloodline that come from a Revenant family, such as Bratovich, cannot take this flaw. All Grimaldi intrinsically fixate on a particular member of their pack. You must choose a member of your pack to whom you shall treat as having a Vinculum rating of 5. Should this individual die or if you are separated from her at length, you will fixate on a different pack member. If you are not a member of the Sabbat sect and do not have a pack, you must select another vampire in your proximity. Once selected, you will treat that vampire as if you had a 3 point blood bond to her. Should this individual die or if you are separated from her for 2 months, you will fixate on a different vampire.

Revenant Family Weakness: Obertus

2 pt

You were once part of a revenant family. Following the Embrace, you suffered the double whammy of your clan's weakness and an additional weakness akin to your revenant family's limitation. Members of a Tzimisce bloodline that come from a Revenant family, such as Bratovich, cannot take this flaw. This family's weakness is an obsessive search for information. Once an Obertus has been exposed to a puzzle or trail of knowledge she does not possess, she will ignore all other responsibilities. You gain the Impatient flaw when prevented from continuing your search for information and the Intolerance flaw toward anyone trying to distract you from your goals.

Revenant Family Weakness: Zantosa

2 pt

Ritually Inept

1 pt

Your skills at Necromancy are tenuous at best. When it comes to rituals you get confused and have a hard time performing the intricacies of ritual magic. You cannot learn more necromantic rituals than half the number of dots of Necromancy you currently possess (rounded down).

Roadkill

1 pt

While most Gangrel can blend into the animal kingdom by involving their Shape of the Beast, your animal form appears to be very, very dead. Whenever you choose to invoke your Shape of the Beast you appear as a zombified version of your animal forms. Your skin is rotting away, your entrails drag behind you, your skull is cracked open, etc. It is readily apparent to all observers that an animal in your condition should not be able to function. You are a breach of the Masquerade when you are in your Shape of the Beast unless you utilize Obfuscate or a similar power to alter your appearance or hide outright. Fleshcraft cannot negate the effects of this flaw. You may not take this flaw if you are a Gangrel bloodline without Protean as an in-clan discipline.

Scar Tissue

3 pt

You are a walking mess of scars. Although you heal damage with uncanny efficiency, your body does not respond well to the effects of Vicissitude alterations. You may still practice Vicissitude freely, including using transformation powers such as Horrid Form and Blood Form, but your body cannot utilize any beneficial alterations from Bonecraft, and any comparable Vicissitude techniques or elder powers. In addition, you cannot use Malleable Visage on yourself. Carpathians and Kolduns may not take this flaw.

Sectarian

2 pt

You earnestly believe Camarilla propaganda, and no evidence can convince you otherwise. There are no End Times, the Antediluvians are nothing to worry about, Golconda is infernalism, there was no city of Enoch, and the biblical Caine is a myth. You've heard some of the rumors, but you know that the Camarilla is eminently correct. Whatever happens, you do all you can to ensure that others toe the party line. You cannot possess the Lore skill above 2, nor may you purchase the Loremaster merit.

Selective Memory

1 pt

Despite your studious nature (or in lieu of it) you have trouble remembering the finer details of esoteric knowledge. You suffer a -3 penalty to all Lore checks. Should you fail to make a Lore check, you will recall incorrect facts believing them to be true.

Serpentine Physiology

3 pt

Your embrace did more than just turn you into an undead creature of the night; it left you twisted into a human serpent hybrfLAW. Your tongue is always forked, and your eyes resemble those of a real snake. Even your skeletal structure has changed, and you move in an awkward and strange manner as if you are uncomfortable on two legs. Abnormally alien in appearance, you are an obvious breach of the Masquerade. Even if you use the powers of Obfuscate to conceal your true appearance, your mannerisms are still seen as particularly alien, especially to humans. You may not purchase the merits Personal Masquerade or Whisper of Life and you cannot spend Blood to appear more lifelike.

Shadow Walker

3 pt

By its nature the Giovanni clan is inexorably tied to the realm beyond the physical. Giovanni suffering from this flaw are so tied to the Shadowlands that even in the lands of the living they are forced to interact with the world of the dead. To shadow walkers, objects in the Shadowlands are as real as anything to be found in the physical world. Such vampires find that the ghosts of walls may impede their flight. This flaw is similar to the Ash Path power Dead Hand except that Shadow Walker is always on and it in no way allows the character possessing the flaw to perceive beyond the Shroud. Giovanni suffering from this flaw take 1 fewer step per action (simple and standard) as they navigate around ghostly impediments.

Short Attention Span

4 pt

You've never been good at concentrating, and your will is somewhat shaky on your best days. If you must concentrate to continue using a power or ability, your use of that power ends after a single turn and must be reactivated if you wish to continue using it. In addition, your permanent Willpower is reduced by 1.

Short Fuse

2 pt

You rage at the world, not because of injustice or because you have a score to settle. The truth is that you're just always angry. You are considered to have 1 additional Beast trait when determining if you must test for frenzy and determining that test's difficulty.

Shroud Inept

2 pt

You have trouble affecting the land of the dead, making many uses of Necromancy particularly costly. Whenever you try to affect the Shroud or anything on the other side of it, including most uses of Path of Sepulchre and Ash Path, you must spend an additional simple action in addition to any action cost.

Slow Healing

3 pt

The vitae in your veins is sluggish, and your control over your blood is imperfect at best. Although you are capable of forcing this blood to coalesce into your flesh and heal your wounds, you do so with great difficulty. You must spend an additional point of Blood anytime you wish to heal a point of damage. This penalty applies when you use Blood points to heal yourself, but does not penalize your use of healing powers on other characters through the use of powers such as Blood Rage from the Path of Blood.

Slow Reactions

3 pt

You don't think fast, and your movements have never been especially sure. You have a slow reaction time. It isn't your fault that you're slow on your feet, but it does hold you back a bit — especially in combat. Your initiative is reduced by 5.

Snake Charmed

3 pt

The Setite blood used in the ritual to create the Nagaraja warped and twisted your soul, making you easier to manipulate. If you are targeted by Path of Corruption or any Serpentis powers ranging from 1 to 5 dots, including techniques that require Serpentis, you may not retest any failed challenges. In addition, you may never purchase the Serpentis Discipline. You may not purchase this flaw if you have purchased the Favored of Inauhaten merit.

Soul Shard

3 pt

You diablerized someone, and that spirit was strong enough to remain permanently active within your soul. It fights you constantly, and you can never be sure that its sentience isn't influencing your actions. When your body is wounded, this spirit leaps upon the weakness and fights your control. While it tears at you from the inside, you must marshal your inner resources, lest the spirit forever take control. If you ever take enough damage to reach the Incapacitated wound track or beyond, you cannot spend Willpower until you are once more healed to the Injured wound track (or better).

Species Speech

2 pt

You identify with a specific type of animal so strongly that your Animalism is limited to summoning, speaking to, and commanding animals only of that type. Other animals do not respond to your uses of Animalism at all. Consult your Storyteller for what types of animals are appropriate for this flaw; the choice should be fairly limiting. You may not take this flaw if you are a member of a Gangrel bloodline that does not have Animalism as an in-clan discipline.

Specters of the Past

2 pt

While some Cappadocians are gifted with prescience, you are cursed with apocalyptic visions, walking nightmares, and tormenting trances. When you suspect the presence of a Giovanni or are knowingly in the presence of one, your subconscious is filled with disturbing visions, sensations, and sounds reminiscent of the past crimes committed against your clan. You suffer a –2 penalty to all offensive test pools for 2 turns. After 2 turns you can overcome your fears and no longer suffer the penalty.

Spell Components

1 pt

You fancy yourself a wizard from fantastical literature. Your Haven (or dormitory in the Chantry) is a warehouse of occult items and ingredients, all of which you believe are necessary to successfully use your powers of Thaumaturgy. This causes some of your colleagues to raise their eyebrows at you. While your habit is not technically necessary, it is a deep-rooted compulsion causing you to collect and incorporate these components into your casting. You must spend 1 downtime action each month to gather spell components, but you may delegate this task to another character. The perishable nature of these spell components makes stockpiling useless. If at any time you do not have access to your spell components, you must spend 1 point of Willpower to use Thaumaturgy. If you do, you may use Thaumaturgy for the next hour. You are free to invent your own ingredients and mixology as appropriate. Using spell components during combat does not require additional actions.

Stage Fright

1 pt

You are terrified of being the focal point of attention, especially when it involves you performing. You must spend a point of Willpower to sing or perform in front of groups larger than 5 people. This number includes all visible witnesses and enemy combatants. While this does not affect most of your Melpominee powers, it likely requires you to spend a Willpower before using Madrigal.

Stolen Potential: Mental

3 pt

Something terrible happened to you in your past. Perhaps you were struck by a potent Baali curse, or perhaps you were injured, handicapped, denied social interaction, or suffered a psychologically damaging childhood. Choose one attribute at character creation. You do not receive a focus in this attribute. You must purchase this flaw at character creation.

Stolen Potential: Physical

3 pt

Stolen Potential: Social

3 pt

Stone Scarecrow

1 pt

Carvings of Gargoyles were commonly used in medieval times. Their two main purposes were to scare off evil and to divert rainwater. The frightening nature of gargoyles was partly due to the medieval artist's responsibility to mold public behavior through intimidating images. The purpose was to frighten and startle man amid his everyday life. These fantastic beasts were destined to be a clear and constant reminder that both the devil and original sin exist. Like the gargoyle statues of old, you exude a palpable aura of dread among humans and they will not willingly come within 5 steps of you, instead actively seeking to avoid your presence. In addition, you cannot purchase the Allies or Contacts Backgrounds. This flaw may not be overcome with Fleshcraft or Mask of 1000 Faces, but you may still hide using Unseen Presence.

Stuffed Shirt

1 pt

You have an antiquated worldview, one based upon regressive norms and outdated customs. While this might simply be awkward for some, you have a bluntness about it that rubs people the wrong way. Anyone who spends status to give you the Vulgar negative status trait immediately regains any spent status. While this flaw does not compel your character to act poorly, it does reflect a reputation for poor behavior.

Tainted Embrace

2 pt

You were Embraced by a prestigious member of the Sabbat, and the Camarilla is aware of your origin. Although your sire tried to force you into that sect, you rejected the Sabbat and escaped to swear allegiance to the Camarilla. Unfortunately, your reputation will forever be marred by your foul origin. Your maximum fleeting status is 1 less than usual while you have this flaw. This penalty adds to that imposed by any status ban.

Technophobe

2 pt

You are uncomfortable around human inventions, retaining an animalistic distrust of most tools. Machinery and technological devices make you nervous, fearful, or angry. This disdain generally encompasses anything built from moving parts or invented within the last 100 years, but it also includes any device or weapon that cannot be crafted with handheld tools. You cannot possess any dots in the Computer, Drive, Firearms, Science, or Security skills, and automatically fail any challenges using these skills.

Temperament of Storms

2 pt

Long before his incarnation as a liberator, Set was the god of darkness and storm. As a result of your Embrace, your Beast is constantly on edge during calm weather and normal indoor illumination. Unless there is a storm brewing in your area or the brightness of your surroundings is near dark, your difficulty to resist frenzy is increased by 2.

Tenuous Loyalty

3 pt

The monstrousness and inhumanity of the Sword of Caine horrifies you. The only reason you're loyal is because of the vinculum — and most people know it. Your behavior is extremely unpredictable, and your emotional state is precarious. If you do not have a 3-point vinculum with at least three other Sabbat members, you cannot utilize the standard free retest for your Archetype, and you must spend 2 Willpower the first time you spend a Willpower to retest during a game session.

Thin Blooded

3 pt

The derogatory slur "Thin Blooded" refers to those vampires whose Embrace is farthest removed from the original vampiric progenitor: vampires of the 14th or 15th generations. These individuals are always Caitiff, as their vitae is unable to support the traditional hallmarks of a clan. Prophecy states that Thin Blooded vampires will bring about the End Times. During the Nights of Turmoil, these vampires were hunted nearly to extinction by paranoid elders who feared this prophecy was coming true. The blood of such unfortunate vampires is exceptionally weak, and such a creature cannot learn vampiric disciplines as extensively as true Neonates. Some barely appear undead, and others are plagued by eerily realistic dreams of ancient nights. You cannot create blood bonds, nor Embrace childer, nor create or sustain ghouls. Beneficially, sunlight inflicts only normal damage to you, and all your tests to resist frenzy are made as though you have 1 Beast trait less than you currently possess. Only characters with 1 dot in the Generation background (Neonate) can purchase this flaw. Your character is a 15th or 14th generation vampire (your choice). If your character ever diablerizes and gains 13th generation, you must exchange this flaw for the Lesser Generation flaw, and repay the difference in XP. Thin-blooded vampires have three in-clan disciplines (as per Caitiff), but begin play with only 2 free dots of disciplines: 1 dot in two of those in-clan disciplines. Further, you can never raise any discipline (in- or out-of-clan) higher than the 4th dot.

Thirst for Innocence

1 pt

The sight of innocence arouses a terrible bloodlust in your Beast. It cannot stand the fact that such people exist, and seeks to tarnish, corrupt, or destroy anything pure.

Tone Deaf

3 pt

Your voice may convey supernatural effects when you empower it with Melpominee but there is no disguising that you cannot sing very well. In fact, you would not make it past the audition round of any singing competition. You cannot purchase the Performance: Singing skill higher than 2 dots.

Trouble Magnet

1 pt

Whenever weird stuff occurs, it happens to you. You have terrible luck, and misfortune follows at your heels, tearing you down whenever it has an opportunity. Whenever the Storyteller needs to randomly determine a negative result, such as determining which character is hit by a falling rock, or where the beat cop is patrolling at any given time, no test is made; you always suffer the consequence of bad luck.

Twice Bound to the Council

3 pt

In a bygone era, newly embraced Tremere were made to drink the blood of the Council of Seven in an arcane ritual. Although this has worn off in nearly all Tremere, you somehow still bear residual effects. You are considered to have drunk twice the blood of each of the Tremere Council of Seven (consider the Tremere clan weakness already applied), and you seek to carry out their will as best as possible. Consequently, you suffer the effects of having drunk the blood of your direct superior, and any higher ranking Tremere in your chain of command, even if you have not. Even if you disagree with your superior this effect persists and will continue until such a time that she is removed from your chain of command, whereupon, unless you buy off the flaw, she will likely be replaced with another for whom you have the same level of devotion.

Unblinking Eyes

1 pt

You have developed a peculiar and potentially incriminating behavior. While most vampires have learned to continue blinking to appear normal, you have lost all ability to blink. This inability keeps you from closing your third eye. Obviously, this causes you great risk in situations where your clan is not accepted. You cannot take this flaw and the Fusion flaw.

Unbroken

3 pt

For whatever reason, the Tremere curse is stronger in you than in most of your clanmates. This was no great liability while all Assamites were so afflicted; however, when ur-Shulgi cast the Breaking, the great ritual's power did not fully cleanse you. You now suffer from a thirst for Cainite blood – but for you, the very substance you crave is a poison. You take 1 point of aggravated damage when you ingest any non-Assamite vampire blood. This damage cannot be reduced or negated. In addition, you cannot commit or benefit from diablerie.

Uncontrollable

3 pt

Your Beast is never quiet; it is always at the surface, picking at your psyche, begging you to make rash and dangerous decisions. If you have fewer than 2 Beast traits, you always test to resist frenzy as if you had 2 Beast traits. Should this cause you to test for frenzy, the standard Brujah clan weakness applies to the difficulty of the challenge; the only exception is if you are of a bloodline that does not have the standard Brujah clan weakness.

Untrained Combatant

3 pt

You may be an exceptional social manipulator or a keen investigator, but you were never particularly good at weapons finesse. As the Camarilla has many other avenues through which to gain power, you've never even bothered to learn such trivial things. As a result, you cannot perform combat maneuvers. Further, you cannot gain the benefit of a combat maneuver from the assist attacker tactic while you have this flaw.

Vow of Peace

3 pt

You despise violence of all kinds, possibly as a seeker of Golconda, a follower of Saulot, or due to a mortal belief. In order to attempt any power or action that directly results in physical harm, you must spend a point of Willpower before attempting to do so. If you do, you have momentarily suppressed your beliefs and may take harmful action against your chosen target for the next 10 minutes. If a single action would cause you to harm multiple people, you do not have to spend more than 3 points of Willpower to take action. An action that unexpectedly or indirectly leads to damage does not require you to spend Willpower. In addition, if you are forced into violence by a compulsion caused by another's supernatural power such as Dominate, you are not forced to also spend a point of Willpower.

Vulnerable to Silver

2 pt

You may be descended from the mortal cousins of lupines (or other were-creatures), you may have some astrological connection to the moon, or you may suffer from some primitive superstition. Whatever the case, you have a notable vulnerability to silver. When you are successfully struck by a weapon with the Silver quality, you take aggravated damage rather than normal damage.

Weak Stomach

3 pt

Some people are soft-hearted, others have a general squeamishness about blood. It's possible that you may even be bulimic. You have trouble keeping blood down after you feed. Calculate your Blood pool as though your character has 1 less dot in Generation. Neonates with this flaw reduce their maximum Blood pool by 2.

Weak-Willed

3 pt

Your mind is weak, easily disturbed, or confused. You tend to be a follower and rarely speak up for yourself. Because of this weakness, you are highly susceptible to the disciplines of Dominate and Dementation. You cannot spend Willpower to retest when resisting these disciplines.

Flaws

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