Merits

Whether you dance, paint, sing, or practice any type of art, your work invokes true emotion. When you create art or undertake a performance, you can choose one appropriate emotion or state of thought to be reflected in that endeavour. Anyone viewing the art or observing the performance feels that emotion. If an individual wishes to take an action that runs contrary to the chosen emotion, such as attacking someone in the presence of a painting that invokes calm, she may spend 1 Willpower. If she does so, she ignores all Absent Sway effects for the next hour. The effects of Absent Sway are passive, not aggressive, and encourage observers to feel emotion or enter a certain state of mind. The emotion encouraged by the art is felt by the victim, but Absent Sway does not force the victim to act in any specific manner. You might paint a picture that provokes viewers to feel the emotion "anger." The manner in which the individual responds to feeling anger is up to the player of that character. However, if the character wishes to act in some manner that is diametrically opposed or contradictory to the emotion encouraged by the Absent Sway, she must spend 1 Willpower. Absent Sway cannot affect individuals in combat and has no effect once combat starts, but the power can make it difficult for characters to start combat in the first place. Absent Sway only functions when placed on art that is of significant size or easy to observe. Only characters who can plainly see the art or performance are affected by Absent Sway. A character does not have to spend a point of Willpower to overcome Absent Sway if acting upon the emotion caused by the art would cause the character harm or prevent the character from acting in self-preservation.

Many Ravnos profess to uniquely understand the nature of maya, the web of deception that envelops reality. You have the ability to peek through strands of maya, catching a glimpse of other planes of existence. Whenever you activate the Auspex power Heightened Senses, you may choose to project your senses into a different plane, instead of using Heightened Senses' standard abilities. You may choose to look into the Shadowlands, the Umbra, or the Dreaming. If you look into the Shadowlands, you can see any wraiths in the area. If you look into the Umbra, you can see any spirits nearby, including the presence of any werewolves currently within the Umbra in the area. If you look into the Dreaming, you perceive any chimerical entities, including the seemings of any nearby changelings. When looking across planes, you may freely converse with any entities you can perceive, and you may target those characters with any Auspex powers you possess. Unless you possess an appropriate Lore skill specialization, these creatures seem bizarre and alien to you.

Whether by extensive journeying through forgotten fathoms of the seas, or from having made contact with the denizens of the Abyss, you have gained the power to assume the form of an ancient and forgotten entity. Whenever you activate the power Black Metamorphosis, you may instead assume a different form — the Abyssal Horror. The Abyssal Horror is a hybridized form which resembles the mythical Kraken. The number of tentacles which protrude from your body increase several-fold and are much longer. In this form, you retain all the benefits of Black Metamorphosis, and your unarmed attacks gain the Reach quality. In addition, your form is adept at swimming, allowing you to move through water at your normal movement speed. Should you somehow enter the Abyss while in this form, you may fly, hover, or float as if you were in water. In addition, once per turn you may spend both your standard and simple actions in a single round to make an unarmed attack with the Grapple combat maneuver against up to 3 targets within your range which includes any applicable bonus from the Reach quality. Should you spend a point of Willpower to retest any of these challenges, you may retest all challenges made without spending additional Willpower. These attacks do count against a target's maximum number of attacks per round. You may maintain a grapple on up to 3 individuals at a given time and attack either them or others; this is an exception to the rule preventing you from targeting other characters while maintaining a Grapple. Characters grappled in this manner may attempt to escape the Grapple normally.

One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, and you gain an advantage from its use. You can choose to augment your sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. When using this enhanced sense, you gain the effects of the Auspex power Heightened Senses. If you already have that power, you do not have to spend a point of Blood to enact the Heightened Senses effects that would otherwise require spending Blood.

One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, and you gain an advantage from its use. You can choose to augment your sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. When using this enhanced sense, you gain the effects of the Auspex power Heightened Senses. If you already have that power, you do not have to spend a point of Blood to enact the Heightened Senses effects that would otherwise require spending Blood.

One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, and you gain an advantage from its use. You can choose to augment your sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. When using this enhanced sense, you gain the effects of the Auspex power Heightened Senses. If you already have that power, you do not have to spend a point of Blood to enact the Heightened Senses effects that would otherwise require spending Blood.

One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, and you gain an advantage from its use. You can choose to augment your sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. When using this enhanced sense, you gain the effects of the Auspex power Heightened Senses. If you already have that power, you do not have to spend a point of Blood to enact the Heightened Senses effects that would otherwise require spending Blood.

One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, and you gain an advantage from its use. You can choose to augment your sight, hearing, smell, touch, or taste. When using this enhanced sense, you gain the effects of the Auspex power Heightened Senses. If you already have that power, you do not have to spend a point of Blood to enact the Heightened Senses effects that would otherwise require spending Blood.

The other clans call you "trash," and even within the ranks of your fellow Caitiff, there's little to no loyalty to be found. Since your Embrace, you've made peace with the fact that you needed to be your own problem-solver, and you have made sure you're reliant only on your own skill set. When you purchase this merit, select a single in-clan discipline you possess. You always benefit from the attribute focus for that discipline, even if you don't possess the correct attribute focuses. For example, if you select Fortitude, you gain its focus benefit of extra health levels, even if you do not possess the Stamina focus; or if you select Presence, you may use the focus benefits for each level even if you do not possess the applicable attribute focus.

Anyone foolish enough to taste a point of your Blood becomes addicted to it. The next time this creature has the chance to drink from you, she must spend 1 Willpower to turn down the opportunity. This expenditure allows the victim to resist her addiction for the next 10 minutes without further expenditure. After resisting your Blood in this manner five times consecutively, the addiction is broken. If you have the Presence power Entrancement, anyone who drinks a point of your Blood also becomes Entranced by you for the rest of the night.

It is said that the blood of the first vampire could support all disciplines and had no intrinsic disposition. Your blood holds a faint trace of that quality and manifests four in-clan disciplines rather than three. Choose one common discipline as a fourth in-clan discipline. You do not start with a free dot (or dots) in this fourth in-clan discipline, you can teach this discipline, powers that affect in-clan disciplines (such as Possession) affect it, and you pay all costs to learn this discipline as if it were native to your clan. You may select from the following common disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Potence, and Presence. This merit cannot be combined with other merits that give your character additional in-clan disciplines.

Choose one uncommon discipline as a fourth in-clan discipline. You do not start with a free dot (or dots) in this fourth in-clan discipline, you can teach this discipline, powers that affect in-clan disciplines (such as Possession) affect it, and you pay all costs to learn this discipline as if it were native to your clan. You may select from the following uncommon disciplines: Protean, Dementation, Serpentis, and Quietus. This merit cannot be combined with other merits that give your character additional in-clan disciplines.

In centuries past, the Anda were masters of mounted combat, overpowering their foes with superior horsemanship and advanced logistics. You continue that tradition through your own mastery of modern vehicles. You gain 5 dots of the Drive skill. If you have any dots in the Drive skill when you purchase this merit, those dots are removed and you receive an XP refund equal to what you paid for them. If you gained those levels as free dots during character creation, you may reassign them. You also have a knack for vehicle procurement. You may spend a downtime action to acquire a single vehicle valued at $30,000 or less. This includes aircraft and boats in addition to land vehicles. You may combine multiple downtime actions as well as any additional funds you have from the Resources background to acquire a more expensive vehicle. In addition, you may overtax your Resources to buy vehicles without incurring a penalty. Any vehicles acquired cannot be unique; you cannot acquire the Prince's car or a specific targeted vehicle through this merit. These vehicles are acquired through a variety of questionable sources and will also lack any supporting paperwork or documentation unless you paid 50% of its cost using cash or the Resources background. These vehicles must be commercially available; you cannot acquire tanks or military vehicles which could not normally be purchased by civilians.

Most people have a single dominant hand, either the right or left. Once per turn, when attacking with weapons (melee or firearms), you can use the qualities of your main weapon and one of the qualities from a second weapon in your off hand, allowing both to augment your attack. You cannot use the same bonus twice in a single challenge. For example, you cannot choose Accurate twice in order to receive a +4 bonus. Both weapons must logically be able to hit your opponent in order to apply this advantage; thus, you cannot use this merit to apply an offhand sword's quality when using a pistol's ranged attack. Ambidextrous can be used during Celerity rounds, but can only be used once per turn.

Your innate connection to the Abyss shows in every movement of your body and every shadow of your face, lending you an unnatural grace and sexual attraction. You gain the Social attribute Charisma focus in addition to the normal Social attribute focus selected during character creation. Additionally, you always appear attractive and dignified, even when you are injured, dirty, or have low Humanity. Even if you are on a path or at low Humanity, your moral degradation lends you a porcelain, alien beauty rather than a monstrous, feral visage. Adherence to a path is still unmistakably visible, despite this exceptional beauty, but rather than evoking fear or disgust, your dark radiance is intense and sexually compelling.

Either you've been undead long enough to have collected a veritable storehouse of antique odds and ends, or you had a windfall when some other vampire met his Final Death. You can expend a downtime action to apply the Antique item quality to a piece of non-combat equipment. This quality does not count against the item's two-quality limit. At your Storyteller's discretion, some of the items in your antiquities vault may be of historical value; these may draw attention from various mortal agencies, if discovered.

Your predatory drive has adapted to marine life. Should your character purchase the Protean discipline power Shape of the Beast, you gain another animal form, your swim form, in addition to your flight and fight forms. Your swim form is an aquatic animal of your choosing, and it gains the Aquatic template for free. If you have the Wits focus, you may apply an additional template to your swim form, per the standard rules of the Shape of the Beast power. When you activate Shape of the Beast, you may change into your choice of form, including your flight, fight, or swim forms.

You are mystically shrouded from notice. People you interact with briefly will not remember your presence unless you have been specifically pointed out. Paper trails related to you disappear, and computer records randomly become corrupted, misplaced, or accidently erased. This effect gives no benefit to Stealth and doesn't handicap people who know you personally, such as other characters, but individuals who you meet in passing have difficulty recalling details about who you are. This is both a benefit, and potentially a mild annoyance.

During the Omen War against the Tzimisce, many Tremere experimented with ways of manipulating the Gargoyle ritual. One of the most horrific experiments involved branding the newly formed creature with mystic runes. These binding runes made these creations powerfully resistant to magic not imbued with the potency of Tremere blood. You possess these runes, and as a result, you gain the benefits of the Magic Resistance merit; however, these benefits do not apply when attempting to defend against blood magic cast by a member of Clan Tremere or its bloodlines. This merit still protects you against Thaumaturgy learned from Tremere sources but cast by characters who are not of the Tremere clan. You cannot possess both this merit and the Magic Resistance merit.

You fought for the Camarilla during the Anarch Revolt and were present at the signing of the Treaty of Thorns. You are considered one of the founding members of the Camarilla, and as such, are granted the innate status trait Architect.

It's lonely living life as an outcast. Friends are few and far between, and you can seldom trust them. You, however, have found someone you can truly count on. Whether a pet from your mortal life you refused to abandon, an animal that befriended you, or even a reptile buddy you found wandering through the sewers, you have a loyal companion who always has your back. Build your Ardent Companion as a ghouled Animal Retainer with a Stock NPC rating of 7.

While a Gargoyle's stoicism and quiet mannerisms could be referred to as statuesque, you are imbued with an especially chiseled set of features. Whether horrific grotesquerie or awe-inducing beauty, something about the Embrace has granted you a striking supernatural appearance. When you purchase this merit, you gain the Appearance attribute focus, and you must choose one of the following two features. Once chosen, this decision cannot be changed. - Grotesque: Your visage is horrifying to all who see you. You receive a +1 wild card bonus to any attack test pool using the Intimidation skill. In addition, you may purchase this skill at a cost of the new level x1 XP, if you cannot already do so. - Angelic: Your countenance is beauteous to behold. You receive a +1 wild card bonus to any attack test pool using the Leadership skill. In addition, you may purchase this skill at a cost of the new level x1 XP, if you cannot already do so.

The potential maximum level of all of your Craft and Performance skills is increased by 2 (normally this raises your potential maximum to 7). Additionally, you gain the first 3 dots of any one Craft or Performance skill for free. If you already purchased this skill, your XP for that purchase is refunded. If you assigned creation points to the chosen skill, you may reassign those points to a skill in which you have no points assigned.

Throughout the centuries, innumerous souls have fallen prey to the temptations of the Baali, selling off portions of their souls in exchange for power. As souls are in essence collections of memories and life experiences, a claimant with access to an individual's soul has a claim to these memories as well. As a member of the Baali clan, you have access to these troves of information, and can assign two Academic specializations for each dot of the Academics skill you purchase, rather than one. In addition, whenever you initiate an opposed discipline challenge that calls for you to use your Mental attribute as part of your test pool, you can utilize the power's focus benefit even if you do not possess the appropriate attribute focus. For example, you may use Athenaeum of the Hive to gain the focus benefit for the Auspex power Telepathy, but do not gain the focus benefit for Psychic Projection since it does not require a challenge.

As the royalty of vampire society, the clan of Kings brooks no disobedience from mere peons. Mortals and ghouls cannot resist your Presence and Dominate powers. When targeting a mortal with Presence or Dominate, you automatically succeed; the mortal cannot form a defense test pool. This effect also applies to techniques with prerequisites that include Dominate or Presence.

You may have been born under a lucky star, or perhaps your genetics simply adapted to the Embrace more naturally than others. Whatever the case, the Embrace had an auspicious effect on your state of being. This merit replicates any other general merit with a cost of 3 points or less. For example, you can purchase Auspicious and choose that it will duplicate the Rugged merit, which ordinarily costs 3 XP. Auspicious then provides you the benefits of the Rugged merit for only 1 XP. Remember that a character cannot purchase the same merit twice. This not only means you cannot buy Auspicious twice, but also means that you cannot purchase Auspicious to duplicate Rugged and then also purchase the Rugged merit at its original cost in order to double that merit's effects. Auspicious only replicates general merits and cannot be used to purchase clan merits or rarity merits.

You possess a melee weapon that has been given a magical name, as part of an enchantment by a member of the Sorcerer caste. If you spend 1 Blood and use a simple action to call the weapon's name, it appears in your hand. This occurs regardless of the weapon's original location. You must have room to hold the weapon when it appears in your hand; the weapon cannot appear inside of a solid object. If your weapon is broken or destroyed, it will reform (as good as new) when you activate this power. If this power is used to reform your weapon, it appears exactly as it was first forged. If the weapon was modified or coated with blood, those modifications are removed when the weapon is reformed.

You have known fear and pain, craving and despair, and you passed through the Gate of Eternal Night. You regain 1 point of Willpower any time you force another character to spend a point of Willpower resisting your own efforts at tempting them, coercing them, or binding them to your will.

In pursuit of your mastery of Quietus, you've spent time exposing yourself to all kinds of poisons. This harsh conditioning has granted you immunity to the effects of all mundane poisons; they have no effect on you whether they're ingested, injected, or applied topically. In addition, you are immune to any effects or damage dealt through use of the Quietus discipline. This immunity includes any damage converted to aggravated damage, such as through the power Baal's Caress; such damage is instead inflicted as normal damage. In addition, you take no bonus damage from effects such as those conveyed by the power Baal's Bloody Talons, and the traits granted by that power do not apply when used against you. With difficulty, you may also expel other supernatural poisons from yourself. If you are affected by a supernatural poison such as that conveyed by the powers The Slow Knife or Blur of the Weeping Eye, you can spend one simple action and 1 point of Blood per supernatural poison to expel them, vomiting them in an inert pool of blood.

Since the dark times when the high priestess herself captured the eye of the Cappadocian Antediluvian, Lamia have been blessed with an uncanny beauty that captivates onlookers and befuddles their minds, weakening them in the presence of members of this legendary sisterhood. Blessed by the strong blood of your Mediterranean ancestors, you epitomize these qualities and gain the Appearance attribute focus. Further, you can use a simple action to automatically gain the Gaze and Focus of a target within six steps of you. You can purchase this merit along with the Giovanni merit: Necromantic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

Due to an insulated upbringing, years of trauma, or an inhumane worldview, there is a particular activity that you perceive as a sin that you cannot tolerate and seek to punish. Upon purchasing this merit, you may select an appropriate activity that cannot be changed. The sin chosen must be an activity such as theft or public displays of affection, and should not be one of the more classical sins; choosing "wrath" is too vague, but "animal abuse" is specific enough. Players and Storytellers must exercise proper respect when determining the sinful activity. Selecting an activity with the intent of targeting or discriminating against a specific real-life protected class is never acceptable and should never be permitted. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of what is an acceptable activity for the purposes of this merit. When you witness someone commit the selected sin, you have two minutes to identify them as a sinner by making an audible declaration toward them. This does not require an action; however, you must personally witness the sinful act as it occurs, and recordings or staged situations by your allies are not sufficient to activate this merit. In addition, whenever you enter a state of frenzy you may label any target a sinner regardless of whether you have witnessed them commit a sin, by audibly declaring them as such. Once you declare the person a sinner, whenever you spend an action to move toward them you may take one additional step. Further, any physical attacks you make against the sinner gain the Accurate and Brutal Qualities. These benefits last for the remainder of the night.

Seemingly everywhere and nowhere at a whim, Nosferatu embrace their fate to be regarded as freaks among monsters, finding comfort in the anonymity that's granted to society's outcasts. The obscurity in which you revel affords you the ability to travel without interruption, as you're able to use a combination of sewer tunnels and secret routes to move about. This secret network gives you the ability to travel to the exterior of any location with which you are familiar in half the standard travel time, provided the target location is within the same urban center. You cannot be intercepted or caught unless one of your pursuers has this merit as well. You may bring a number of individuals with you up to the number of dots you possess of the Streetwise skill. In addition, your Obfuscate powers Mask of a Thousand Faces and Conceal are empowered by your natural obscurity, allowing them to function fully against machines.

A character with this merit is a member of the Black Hand. Typically, a character begins as an Agent of the Hand. Players do not have to purchase any further merits to advance within this order, but it is recommended that Storytellers limit such advancement as per the bounds of their chronicles' stories. Each member of the Black Hand is branded with the mark of a black crescent moon on the palm of the right hand. The link is a sympathetic link to the Seraphim, and can be used to call an operative to duty, to warn agents in the field, or to destroy a member of the Black Hand who has been compromised. You have a +3 bonus to resist Telepathy and other powers that directly pull information from your mind. This bonus does not apply to challenges stemming from powers that indirectly pull information from your mind, such as the various powers of Dominate or Presence. You gain the innate status Branded at the start of each game.

You've seen everything, done everything, and been everywhere. You are notoriously difficult to impress, and you have a knack for looking at facts without emotional coloration. You gain a free retest when resisting the effects of Dementation, Melpominee, and Presence. This retest can be used before or after the normal Willpower retest, and is an exception to the rule limiting retests to one per challenge.

Lamia were often referred to as "Gorgons," compared to creatures believed to have snake-like lower bodies and serpent-like tendrils within their hair. Greek legend tells tales of Gorgons gathering in temples very similar to those maintained by the Followers of Set, engaging in barbaric rituals, occult studies, and keeping the sisterhood's secrets deep within their temples. When you acquire this merit, you gain Serpentis as a fourth in-clan discipline, as though you had obtained it via the Additional Uncommon Discipline merit.

The Nagaraja were hunted for centuries, accused of being monstrous serial killers and ravenous flesh eaters. Whether due to seeing so many of your line fall to cowardly mobs, or due to a flawed Embrace from the karma of your sire, you have come to embody a monster of fear. When you purchase this merit, your in-clan disciplines are Auspex, Potence, and Necromancy: Path of the Graveborne. In addition, you gain an oversized maw of serrated teeth with the Brutal and Deadly qualities and the ability to bite without first establishing a grapple. You may only purchase this merit at character creation. If you lose this merit, you lose all dots of Potence and Necromancy: Path of the Graveborne you have purchased without an XP refund.

When the traitorous Giovanni turned on Cappadocius, you and your fellow surviving Cappadocians were forced to improvise and devise new methods of hiding from the necromancers. Some even sought refuge among the very Kindred seeking to destroy them. Since the medieval era, a select number of remaining Cappadocians have excelled at forging family records. You possess one such record, indicating that you are an upstanding member of the Giovanni clan and family. You gain Alternate Identity background at 4 dots, allowing you to successfully integrate into Clan Giovanni. In addition, you gain a +2 wild card bonus to resist any attempts to determine your true nature, whether those attempts are mundane or supernatural.

You share a kinship with the ocean's most dominant predators, sharks, and you respond to the scent of blood with a fervor similar to those aquatic beasts. You may use a standard action to sniff the air. If you do so, you can detect any open wounds within your line of sight. If you are underwater, you may use this ability at a range of up to 1 mile. If you use this ability in conjunction with the Auspex discipline power Heightened Senses, you can extend Blood in the Water's range to 1 mile on land and to 10 miles underwater. If you have identified a source of blood, you may attempt a tracking challenge to find its source. Should you identify multiple sources with open wounds, you gain a vague sense of distance and direction for each, and you may choose which one to pursue. Blood in the Water does not convey an ability to know the identity of a target; you are only aware of the presence of open wounds. Mechanically, a character is considered to have open wounds if she has 1 or more points of damage in her wound track that was gained within the past hour. Should you attempt a damage-dealing attack against a target with an open wound, you gain the Brutal and Deadly melee weapon equipment qualities. These qualities apply to any attack that deals damage, including Physical attacks or damaging powers, such as Psychic Assault. Note that Blood in the Water does not grant an exception to the rule preventing you from benefiting from the same equipment quality twice.

The Aztecs believed that all blood belongs to the gods as part of a debt incurred by the initial sacrifice that allowed for the world's creation. The ritualistic shedding of blood, therefore, was a sacred act, returning blood to the divine. You have learned the sacred rites that grant you power to complete this sacrament, attuning yourself to a target through her blood. Spend a simple action to spread at least 1 point of your target's Blood over your face and hands while reciting ancient invocations. This action expends the point of Blood, rendering it inert for all other subsequent uses. Afterward, you receive a +2 wild card bonus to all Physical, Social, and Mental attack test pools against that target for the remainder of the game session. The blood must be visible on your person to use this advantage; if you conceal the blood in any way, such as with Obfuscate, a mask, or gloves, or if the blood is deliberately washed off, the effects of Blood Knows the Way immediately end. As part of this merit's power, your target will immediately recognize that her blood is upon your body when seeing you.

For centuries, you have watched your fellow Giovanni gather power through their necromantic abilities: aptitude that you also possess. Few understand this power as well as you, and your special knowledge grants you some resistance to those who would direct their necromantic abilities against you. You gain a +2 wild card bonus when defending against all forms of Necromancy. In addition, provided you are able to spend Willpower to retest when you defend against a Necromancy power or ritual, you do not have to spend a point of Willpower to do so. This merit applies to all forms of Necromancy, but does not provide protection from Thaumaturgy. This ability does not provide an exception to the rule that only one Willpower retest may be made per challenge.

You share your clan's connection to the land and, through the spirits of the land, you hear tales and whispers of lore dating as far back as the days of legendary Enoch. These spirits serve and protect you, guarding the place where you sleep. You receive a +3 bonus to all attack test pools (Physical, Social, and Mental) when you are in your haven. This bonus applies to all pools except defense pools. Additionally, the spirits teach you ancient knowledge and share long-lost tales. You gain 2 free dots of the Lore skill (including specializations as per purchasing dots of that skill), and your maximum level of the Lore skill is increased by 2. If you've previously spent XP on the first 2 dots of the Lore skill, that XP is refunded. If you used creation points to purchase the first 2 levels of Lore, you may reassign those points to a skill in which you have no points assigned.

The discovery of DNA was a scientific breakthrough, a realization that information can be stored biologically at a sub-cellular level. The Viziers, however, have been aware of this possibility for centuries, and they are capable of using it to great effect. You've experimented and studied for years, and you've mastered the art of distilling blood to extract its donor's essence. By binding a portion of her knowledge, you can brew a potion capable of imparting her skills to others. First, you must collect 1 point of your target's Blood. If you spend a standard action to examine it, you determine if your target possesses any skills at 4 dots or greater, and if so, which skills those are. This ability does not give you the exact score for each skill; it only tells you which skills are 4 dots or greater. To brew the potion, spend 1 downtime action and choose a skill identified in the previous step to distill from the blood and create into a potion. This process wholly consumes the point of Blood. Create an item record to represent the potion, noting the skill chosen. Drinking the potion takes a simple action. After consuming it, for the next 10 minutes, or for the next two turns if combat takes place, you receive a +2 wild card bonus to the skill chosen when the potion was created. You may only benefit from the use of one of these potions at a time, and you cannot benefit from a potion made of your own Blood. Drinking a potion counts as drinking the blood of the original donor for the purpose of establishing blood bonds, etc. You may only have as many potions in existence as you have dots of the Occult skill. Potions remain virile for three months before they become inert.

One of Clan Tremere's darkest secrets is the ritual that created Gargoyles. The Tremere blended vitae from Gangrel, Tzimisce, and Nosferatu, willing and unwilling alike, to form perfect guardians. This abhorrent act has managed to remain largely unknown through the modern nights. Your blood carries within it a fraction of the power from the clans from which you were created in the Middle Ages. Select one of the following disciplines: Auspex, Animalism, Obfuscate, or Protean. You gain the chosen discipline as an additional in-clan discipline, as though you had obtained it via the Additional Common Discipline merit. Once chosen, this discipline cannot be changed. You cannot purchase this merit after character creation.

Your spirit is particularly attuned to the dark depths of the Abyss. Once per turn, you can activate one of the first 2 dots of Obtenebration without spending Blood, though you must meet all other requirements. Alternately, once per turn you may use this merit to increase the radius of your Shroud of Night without spending Blood.

Of all resources, time is perhaps the only one that's doled out in equal measure. Though this tends to be the case, you've found a way to cut in line. Once per hour, when someone else has declared their action during a combat scenario, but before the related challenge has been performed, you may expend this merit's power. If you do, you may interrupt and take your next action immediately, setting aside the current action. After you have acted, the individual you interrupted is still obliged to take her action exactly as she declared. If you have interrupted her movement, she is obliged to take identical steps. If she attempted an attack that tested against your Dodge skill defense test pool and you stepped out of the way, her attack strikes at empty air. However, she is still able to target you normally with Social or Mental powers. If you have already acted during the round in which you opt to use Borrowed Time, you may still use this merit; however you lose your action in the next applicable round, e.g. the next initiative in which you have an action.

Every Brujah has her limit: a point where the mask of a gentile predator drops, and the fury that boils within comes to the fore. Your rage may be a liability, but it gives you tremendous power. Whenever you are in a frenzied state — rage frenzy, hunger frenzy, or fear frenzy — and you succeed in an opposed challenge using your Melee or Brawl skills, you automatically achieve an exceptional success on that challenge. If a power or effect automatically grants you a normal success, this merit still turns the result into an exceptional success. If another power prevents you from achieving an exceptional success, determine the results of an exceptional success normally.

Brujah are known for two things: their fiery tempers and their intense clan loyalty. As a member of Clan Brujah, you gain a +2 bonus to Brawl, Melee, and Ranged attacks when attacking an individual who was targeted by another Brujah's Physical attack (Brawl, Melee, or Ranged) earlier in the same combat round, or when another Brujah is using the Assist Attacker tactic to aid your attack. Members of the True Brujah bloodline cannot purchase this merit.

A Brujah's heart is ablaze with emotion, spurred by anger, and filled with righteous fury. By channelling this anger, you can expend a simple action to unleash your Burning Wrath, thus turning your fists into supernatural weapons. When this power is invoked, the character's fists glow red with a dull, contained heat (you cannot actually start fires with this power). For the next hour, when you attack a foe with a bare-knuckled punch, you gain a +2 wild card bonus on this attack, and if successful, you inflict aggravated damage. You may end Burning Wrath at any time by expending a simple action.

You have a great deal of control over your emotions and can maintain your calm even in outrageous situations. You are considered to have 2 fewer Beast traits when resisting frenzy, Additionally, increase your test pool to resist frenzy by +3. Brujah characters cannot take this merit. This restriction does not apply to members of the True Brujah bloodline.

As a member of the Ravnos clan's priestly caste, warriors of the clan are beholden to protect you. The illusions you conjure obey this natural order, and they fight on your behalf with increased ferocity. Whenever you use the Chimerstry discipline to create illusory defenders to aid you, they gain 2 additional Healthy health levels. In addition, should you choose to have your creations appear with weapons, you may assign two weapon equipment qualities to each. Whenever you command these illusions to attack via the Chimerstry power Horrid Reality, you may choose to use the bonuses from those weapon equipment qualities as part of your attack. For example, if you create an illusionary guard bearing a rifle with the Accurate and Ranged equipment qualities, you may add the +2 wild card bonus from the Accurate quality to your Horrid Reality test pool, and you may also target defenders at an extended range, as per the Ranged equipment quality rules.

In the city of Kaymakli, you stood before your Antediluvian with your brothers and sisters. While many others were denied sanctuary from the coming pogrom, you were spared, thanks to your natural intelligence and academic acumen. You have never forgotten that night beneath the mountain, and since that time, you have dedicated yourself to study and research. The knowledge of the ages grants you the following: two Lore skill specializations, two Linguistics skill specializations, and two Academics skill specializations. These free specializations are bonuses; they do not raise your total dots of these skills. In addition, you can purchase rituals at an XP cost of the ritual's rating x 1, subject to your maximum number of rituals. You can purchase this merit along with the Giovanni Merit: Necromantic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

While the true magic of Ogham has been lost to the modern world, your affinity to Blood Magic remains potent and strong. With this merit you gain the ability to purchase all of the following paths of Thaumaturgy: Neptune's Might, Weather Control, and Elemental Mastery. These additional paths of Thaumaturgy can be learned without a teacher and are purchased at in-clan costs but are not considered in-clan disciplines. In addition, you may purchase the Path of Feral Heart or the Path of Lilith or the Path of Harmony merits at zero cost.

You have the unusual ability to see with great clarity, overcoming distractions, illusions, and hypnotic effects. You gain a free retest when you are targeted by the disciplines Chimeristry, Obfuscate, or Mytherceria. This is a defensive retest; you cannot use Clear Sighted when using Auspex (or similar powers) to see through another individual's already established Obfuscate or to actively pierce Chimerical illusions. This merit does give you a free retest when resisting powers like Horrid Reality, or when trying to keep track of someone attempting to disappear using Vanish From the Mind's Eye. This retest can be used before or after the normal Willpower retest, and it is an exception to the rule limiting retests to one per challenge.

You adhere to a personal code of ethics. The specifics of this code must have restrictions as well as ideals. Restrictions might include "I cannot allow a woman to be injured," "I cannot set foot on holy ground," or "I can never own, carry, or use a weapon." Ideals might include "I must always show generosity and charity," "I must kneel and show respect to every Prince, no matter how I feel about her personally," or "I must accept any quest offered to me." This code must be genuinely restrictive and must be approved by the Storyteller prior to play. A Code of Honor cannot replicate any moral or ethical restrictions your character must already maintain, such as the basic precepts of Humanity or those of your Path of Enlightenment. Your character must follow her code strictly; your Storyteller can remove this merit without refund if you repeatedly violate this code. One per hour, when someone attempts to use a Social or Mental power to make you violate this personal Code of Honor, you gain a +2 wild card bonus to your defensive test pool to resist that power. However, if you willingly violate your personal Code of Ethics, even under great duress, you lose access to this merit for two game sessions or one month, whichever is greater.

While all Lhiannan are bound to nature and make their homes in the untouched wilds that still exist in the world, your bond with your territory is even more powerful than that of your sisters. You gain 5 free dots of the Haven background representing your Consecrated Grove. The location must be remote and outside or isolated from any city. You may choose the specializations for this background normally. Your Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether your selected location is proper. While in your Consecrated Grove you may spend a simple action to call on the nature spirits inhabiting the plants and wildlife to aid you against interlopers. This grants you a +5 wild card bonus to your Physical defense test pool as the plants animate to defend you and animal spirits come to your aid. This bonus lasts for as long as you remain in your Consecrated Grove. Finally, once a month you can spend 10 minutes in uninterrupted spiritual communion with nature to refill your Willpower pool and remove all damage you have suffered. If your Consecrated Grove is destroyed, you may find and consecrate another by succeeding in a difficulty 2 Complex Quest.

You are extraordinarily adept with magic and can pull apart the threads of a spell as well as you can weave them. You gain a +3 bonus to defensive test pools when resisting Thaumaturgy. Additionally, you can use a standard action and spend 1 Blood to target an individual or area and attempt to dispel active thaumaturgical effects. If you target an individual, you must make a challenge (Mental attribute + Occult versus the target's Mental attribute + Willpower). If successful, all active thaumaturgical powers affecting your target end, and all magical items on the target become defunct for one hour. If you target an area, you can make a test (using your Mental attribute + Occult, difficulty 12) to dispel all rituals within five steps of you. Targeting an area has no effect on magic directly affecting another individual, but it does dispel rituals, wards, and items that are not in an individual's direct possession.

You have an athletic body and were Embraced at the height of your physical prowess. Once per turn, you gain a free retest when defending against an attack that allows you to resist with your Physical attribute + Dodge test pool. This retest can be used before or after the normal Willpower retest, and is an exception to the rule limiting retests to one per challenge. This effect can be used during Celerity rounds, but can only be used once in a given turn.

You are good at taking risks and even better at surviving them. When attempting exceptionally dangerous Physical actions, such as leaping from one moving car to another, your test pool increases by 3. If you engage multiple opponents on your own, you receive a +2 bonus to your Physical defense test pools.

You have made a Faustian pact with a demon to learn the secrets of blood magic. With this merit, you may learn a single path of Thaumaturgy and you can purchase its powers at out-of-clan costs. Whenever you use any of the powers of your chosen thaumaturgical path, an infernal taint washes over your aura and then disappears in the same way the use of Daimoinon alters your aura.

Your Embrace did not merely give you the appearance of stone, it also granted you some of that stone's resilience and passivity. You can use your standard action to transform into a statue of yourself, made from solid stone. While in this form, you can perceive the area around you and spend Blood to heal, but you cannot use disciplines, and you are completely immobile. You are also immune to damage from sunlight and fire, and you automatically resist fear frenzy triggered by sunlight. While this effect is active, you gain three additional health levels. Dark Statue lasts as long as you'd like, and may persevere through sleep or torpor. You can end the Dark Statue effect with a simple action.

Your dedication to the Anarch ideal of libertas goes beyond idealism; freedom is the core of your being, and you cannot stand to be controlled. If you win a test against a user's mind-controlling power (such as Dominate), you are immune to further mind-control powers (of that discipline or any others) from that individual for the rest of the night.

You can trace your lineage to the dread Ankou, known to Kindred scholars as the first serial killer, a Malkavian embraced by Malkav himself. You gain strength from the presence of death. If you are present during the moment of someone's death, you immediately regain all of your spent Willpower, even if you are in the middle of a combat scenario.

You have a powerful connection to your necromantic abilities, courtesy of Cappadocius' blood flowing through your veins. Age and extensive experience with the dead allows you to cut the casting time for all Necromantic rituals to 5 minutes total. In addition, you gain a +3 wild card bonus to all Necromantic ritual challenges. You can purchase this merit along with the Giovanni merit: Necromantic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

You've devoted yourself to serving as a hand of vengeance, swearing oaths to stand as a bulwark against the corrupting influence of infernalism. When fighting demons, Baali, or creatures that possess the Infernal Power merit, the Profane Contract gift, or the Daimoinon discipline, you gain a +2 wild card bonus when you attempt a challenge using your Valeren test pool. In addition, when your Armor of Caine's Fury is active, it provides you with the Rugged protective gear quality in addition to its standard bonuses. Should you lose any of the health levels provided by Demon Slayer, they return at the rate of 1 per hour, even if you repeatedly activate Armor of Caine's Fury. This merit cannot be purchased by characters that possess any Salubri bloodline merits.

A character can only take this merit if she has no dots in Generation. A dhampir is the offspring of a mortal and a vampire, causing her to exist in a half-state between life and undeath. It shouldn't be possible, but it is — very, very rarely. By their very nature, dhampir are young, the oldest are no more than 25 years old. Although they are treated like ghouls, Dhampirs are not automatically blood bound and do not have a domitor. Build your character using the rules for a standard ghoul, except where this merit specifically differs. Dhampirs are supernatural creatures, not mortals. They have no in-clan disciplines and place 7 (rather than the 5 dots normally assigned to ghouls) starting dots in any disciplines they choose. However, a dhampir can never purchase any discipline above the 3rd dot. Dhampir characters have no Beast and can never purchase a path merit. Unlike a ghoul, a dhampir cannot be Embraced; attempts to do so will simply kill the dhampir character.

More than a few vampires have sought some measure of fame for themselves, reveling in the glamour and privilege that comes with celebrity status. You, however, are a true diva: one who wields her status and talent to her best advantage. You gain the first two dots of the Fame background for free. If you've previously purchased dots of that background, all of the XP you spent on it is refunded. If you assigned free dots to that background during character creation, you may move those dots to another background in which you currently have no dots. In addition, you have cultivated an especially rabid following that obsesses over your every move, eager to be of service. Once per game session, you may use your dots of the Fame background as a substitute for the Allies, Contacts, Herd, Haven, or Resources backgrounds. If you already possess these backgrounds, add your dots of the Fame Background to your existing rating in these backgrounds, to a maximum of 5 dots.

The Anda were known for their ability to control vast swaths of open territory, striking with incredible force before moving on. As heir to this legacy, you gain the Strength attribute focus for free. In addition, whenever you discorporate via Earth Meld, Mist Form, Earth Control, or Ghost Body, you can cause either a single ghouled animal or a vehicle to discorporate and accompany you. Any animal must be the size of a horse or smaller and if you have a vehicle, it can be no larger than a motorcycle. If you are able to move in these forms, the animal will move with you unless you command it to do otherwise. Should the ghouled animal or vehicle separate more than 3 steps from you, it will immediately become corporeal and remain solid until you activate this effect with it again through the use of a proper power. If you are immersed in the earth when the separation happens, your animal or vehicle will immediately be expelled to the surface.

During the Nights of Turmoil, the Anarchs tapped into vampire hunter communications, utilizing that information both to avoid hunters and to manipulate them into attacking the Sabbat and the Camarilla. Although some hunter organizations have increased their security measures (and some were not tappable in the first place), you still get advance warning about mortal incursions from your contacts in the Movement. You can spend a downtime action to gain knowledge about mortal hunters in your area, and if you choose, you can feed those hunters information or false leads.

Your blood is thinner than most, even among vampires of your generation. Because of this, you never fully adapted to your undead state. You have no trouble staying awake during the day and regain 1 point of Willpower per day, even if you do not spend any time resting. Additionally, you take normal damage from sunlight, as opposed to aggravated damage. Damage from sunlight cannot be reduced or negated, but can be healed as per the normal rules for healing damage.

Your physical systems are extremely efficient, and you gain more than the usual nourishment from blood. When feeding from animals, the amount of Blood points you gain is not reduced by half. When feeding from mortals, you gain an additional point of Blood for every point you consume. This merit doubles the effectiveness of the Herd background when used during a game session. For example, if a character with this merit and 3 dots of Herd spends five minutes out of play, she gains 6 Blood rather than the standard 3. This merit does not allow you to exceed your Blood pool maximum. Efficient Digestion only works on mortal or animal blood; it does not work on vampire blood, including vampire blood ingested by ghouls.

Your mind is well-adapted to mastering difficult knowledge, and you have always been quick to learn new skills. When learning a power from another character, your instructor is not required to spend Willpower to teach you. Additionally, you are not required to spend a downtime action to learn a discipline.

This merit must be purchased at character creation. The Anarch Movement primarily consists of young, relatively newly Embraced Neonates and Ancilla. A player who wishes to purchase the 4th or 5th dots of Generation (Master Elder or Luminary Elder) must first purchase the merit Elder of the Revolution. If you leave the Anarchs for the Camarilla (or Sabbat), you receive the XP spent on this merit back as a refund, while keeping your current dots of Generation. If a character becomes 7th or 6th generation as a result of ingame diablerie, she does not need to purchase this merit. Note that buying this merit does not indicate the Anarch was also Embraced before 1800; for that, a character must purchase the merit Old Dog.

Not everyone at a Camarilla gathering is a member of the sect. You're not Acknowledged, but you understand the rules of the Ivory Tower's political game, and you use them to best advantage. Perhaps you are a Giovanni liaison, or a local Setite priest, eager to assist the Camarilla… and capitalize on its internal struggles. So long as you are not Accepted by any sect, you can hold one fleeting status from the Camarilla. This is an exception to the rule that prevents non-Accepted individuals from holding sect status.

Those with True Faith are a danger to any vampire; their holy righteousness burns through ancient blood and bone. You, however, do not fear these vessels of god's wrath. Whether due to a devotion to your clan's pagan traditions or a resolute denial of all spirituality, you are immune to the effects of True Faith, rating 1 and True Faith rating 5. You still may be affected by True Faith ratings 2-4.

All true beauty is like a flower — blooming and fragrant on the vine, only to wither into dust with time. Its transitory nature makes its existence all the sweeter. You are able to instill your art with your very essence, doubling the dots you possess of your Crafts skill, when you are specialized in the area of expertise relevant to the art you create. Such pieces must be wholly created by you, such as a painting, a piece of fine jewelry, a statue, or other item. Only three of these items may exist at a time, and that maximum cannot be exceeded. You may gift these items to another creature, but your creative limit remains, even if you no longer possess the artworks. You cannot create another item unless less than three of your art pieces exist. Pieces created via Ephemeral Rhapsody are so imbued with the essence of life that vampires may feed from them. Treat the artworks as though they contain 5 points of mortal Blood. This Blood may be drained in part or in whole, consumed at the normal rate at which you typically drink Blood. In most cases, such as with a statue or painting, this act involves physically biting into and "drinking" its essence, however, in cases where this action doesn't make sense, you may instead destroy the item, ravaging it for its creative essence. In either case, you may bite into and consume the Blood in these items by expending a simple action. The act of doing so effectively destroys the item, robbing it of its beauty, craft rating, and soul. Any who view such a piece see it as a violated work, one that was once truly spectacular.

Notorious tricksters, Ravnos often find themselves trapped in sticky situations. Over the centuries, the clan has developed methods of escaping the consequences of their actions. Ravnos with this merit have the ability to slip away when no one is looking, escaping even the most stalwart prison or restraint. Physical attacks do not prevent the character from fair escaping, unless the attack successfully does damage or unless the Ravnos is grappled. Characters who are physically restrained or imprisoned (not grappled) may study their surroundings for three turns, after which they find a way to escape their bonds. This merit only affects the Ravnos and does not allow the Ravnos to escape from a situation with no logical exit, to escape mental restraints like Dominate, or to move through solid objects.

Most members of the Sabbat are vicious monsters, but your actions are reputed to be among the most depraved, the most violent, or the most reprehensible. This reputation is well-deserved. You receive a +1 bonus to test pools involving the Intimidation or Streetwise skills. If you frenzied when someone takes more than one step directly away from you, you can make an immediate Physical attack on that character without expending an action. You can only use this effect during an everyman round, but it may be provoked more than once during an everyman.

You have special insight into the universe, and your consciousness has expanded beyond the understanding of more limited minds. You gain a second Mental attribute focus in addition to the normal Mental focus selected during character creation.

For most of their existence, the Creeps existed in complete darkness, forced to rely on hearing and smell to navigate the Depths. This merit grants the benefits of both the merits Acute Sense: Hearing and Acute Sense: Smell without the need to purchase those merits separately. You also gain the Perception Focus.

You have the ability to see past Fae Meins and glimpse the Dreaming as if you were one of the fae. However, this is not your world, so it can be discomfiting and chaotic to view. In addition, you are considered two steps lower on the Banality scale when interacting with changelings, and anyone who drinks your blood immediately becomes Enchanted, allowing her to glimpse the Dreaming. This effect persists for the remainder of the evening.

Your faith in Caine is unshakable, no matter how bad things seem. When you are on the Injured wound track, you receive a +3 bonus to your initiative. When you are on the Incapacitated wound track, you gain an additional +3 bonus to initiative (+6 total).

Through a dark bargain struck long ago, the creation of the Nagaraja bloodline was aided by a powerful enemy of the Followers of Set. That bargain manifests as a supernatural protection from the powers innate to the benefactor's enemies. If you are targeted by Path of Corruption or any non-elder or non-luminary Serpentis powers or techniques that require Serpentis, these powers automatically fail with no effect unless you consciously allow them to affect you. You also receive a +3 wild card bonus when defending against elder or luminary Serpentis powers.

Your demonic patron is one of the Decani Council, the powerful ruling body of the infernal. Once per game session, before you attempt a challenge using your Daimoinon test pool you can call upon your patron to manifest in your soul, aiding your efforts. By doing so, you automatically succeed at the challenge, achieving a normal success. Alternatively, after winning a challenge using the Daimoinon test pool, you can use this merit to convert your normal success to an exceptional success. However, because your demonic patron has aided your efforts, for the next hour your aura remains stained with their infernal influence.

The horrific upbringing that the Creeps have endured has altered their powers of Animalism. Due to an existence of knowing only fear and clinging to the small hope of survival, Creeps have developed an intimate relationship with frenzy and can exercise greater influence over it. When you use Quell the Beast on a target, your victim's Beast shares in the nightmare that you have experienced for most of your existence. Your target's Beast is frightened and terrified instead of calmed and docile. If the target was in frenzy when Quell the Beast was successfully used, you may elect to force her into a fear frenzy instead of removing her from frenzy as your presence grips her with terror. Effects on Willpower remain the same. If the target was not in frenzy when Quell the Beast was successfully used, you instead make her unable to enter a rage or hunger frenzy. Instead, she remains susceptible to only fear frenzy for the duration of the power. If you choose to do so, any power, effect, or circumstance that would cause the target to rage or hunger frenzy results in a fear frenzy for the duration of the Quell the Beast power. Effects on Willpower remain the same. Finally, because Creeps often fight in a frenzied state in order to gain the upper hand in aggressive altercations, you gain a +2 bonus to dodge pools whenever you are in a state of frenzy, and you do not suffer a -2 penalty to dodge pools when in a rage frenzy.

Brujah Iconoclasts devote themselves to exposing false ideologies, tearing down failed leadership, and smashing broken systems. Their ideology, they maintain, is more than simple rebellion; they believe that anything that can burn should, and that which is worthwhile will survive. Your rage can burn through the structures of power others hide behind, shaking your opponent to her core. Whenever you achieve an exceptional success in a Physical attack, you can tear down one of your target's active powers. Select a power. All instances of that power immediately cease, as if your target had ended it herself. The target can reactivate that power again on her next action, if she chooses. You cannot select any of the following powers when activating Fervent Iconoclast: any power that is considered a transformative power (either major or minor transformations) or any of the powers within Celerity, Potence, Fortitude, or Fleshcraft. When choosing a power, you select a single power within a discipline (or blood magic path, etc.) but not all powers within a discipline. You don't need to know the power's name, but you must be somewhat aware of its effects in order to target that power with Fervent Iconoclast. You can only cease the effects of disciplines in this way; rituals, merits, and other sources of power are not affected.

When you live in a world of shadow, morality becomes just a shade of gray. You are no stranger to sin, and your study into the nature of darkness has allowed you to reach an accord with your Beast. When you purchase this merit, if your Morality rating is above 3, it drops to 3. However, instead of decreasing your Morality rating when you accumulate 5 Beast traits, it takes 7 Beast traits before you decrease your Morality. You are still affected by frenzy stimuli at the regular stages as per normal. In addition, any circumstance or behavior that would cause you to lose an entire rating of Morality, such as diablerie, still affects you normally.

Vampiric Gargoyles are as unique and different-looking as their architectural namesake. Among their number you may see a variety of horns, spikes, twisted features, dog-like faces, or a varying number of fingers. A few among this bloodline even sprout wings. Some Gargoyles' wings are small and purely ornamental. Your wings, however, are fully functional. With this merit, you can fly at the same speed you can move (three steps per action). This is true flight, such as a bird or other aerial creature, and is not limited to mere gliding. If your wings are broken or removed, you must heal them before you can again use the power of flight.

The Blood is more than sustenance for some vampires — via the blood bond, it is a method by which one may feel again or exert a level of control otherwise impossible. Clan Tzimisce learned how to break blood bonds with the help of a demon, and though the Carpathians dissented from using this power at the time, they have since learned to apply this knowledge — a useful tool for maintaining their valued independence. You are able to lower the blood bond or viniculum rating of either yourself or another character by expending a downtime action to do so. Your target must either be willing, torpid, or restrained to receive this benefit. You cannot selectively choose which blood bonds or vinculum ratings to lower; a single application of this ability lowers all blood bonds and vinculum ratings by 1.

Telyavel, the Lithuanian god from whom all Telyav derive their name, is a god of smiths who can commune with the dead. You seek to emulate him in your devotion to the old ways, which has earned you his favor. You gain the benefits of the Medium merit and the Thaumaturgic Expertise merit at no additional XP cost. The Thaumaturgic Expertise provided by Forge of the Soul grants access to Path of Conjuring only, and cannot be used to select any other thaumaturgical path. In addition, any equipment you conjure via the Path of Conjuring gains the additional equipment quality Strange Composition (Spirits), as your tie to Telyav imbues these items with spiritual power. This quality allows ghosts, wraiths, and spirits to interact with the item, including being harmed when attacked with it.

A loyal Retainer serves you from beyond the grave. This ghostly spirit is typically a departed family member who, for whatever reason, was never Embraced. Build this NPC as a level 5 Retainer, using the wraith rules in the Allies and Antagonists section. If you possess Necromancy: Sepulchre Path, you may spend 1 Blood to sorcerously summon your ghostly retainer, allowing her to teleport to your current location.

You are on the path to Suspire, researching and working toward the mythical state of enlightenment known as Golconda. Purchasing the Golconda Seeker merit indicates that you have discovered actual, useful information helping you along the path to Suspire. Your intense efforts to control the Beast have altered your physiology slightly, and as such you gain a slight advantage over your vampiric condition. You emanate a feeling of serenity, a tangible reflection of the weakening of the Beast. Your Storyteller will work with you to determine which specific myths your character has heard and how much knowledge your character possesses about Golconda. To make an attempt to reach Golconda, you need to have at least 4 points of the Lore skill, including Golconda lore. Additionally your Morality must be Humanity, at rating 5 or higher. Although purchasing the merit Golconda Seeker provides your character with clues about achieving Suspire, keep in mind that successfully achieving Golconda is exceptionally rare. The majority of seekers will fail and eventually succumb to their Beasts. Those who fail often turn bitter, watching a new generation foolish enough to try where they have failed. Choose one of the following benefits when you purchase this merit: - You can spend 2 additional Blood points per turn. - You do not need to spend a point of Blood to wake each evening. You also naturally regenerate 1 point of Blood per day, without feeding. - You no longer suffer the penalties of your clan weakness. If your Humanity dips below rating 5, you lose access to the benefits of this merit until you repurchase your Humanity. If your Humanity drops below 4, you must remove this merit entirely, with no refund of XP. Please note that having this merit does not in any way guarantee that you will reach Golconda, as this state is incredibly rare and difficult to achieve. It only denotes that your character is a seeker along the path, with more knowledge than most.

For some individuals, the entire world is a place of wonder and new sensations. It is a place to be reveled in, a display of pleasure to be discovered with all five senses. You are one of these people. When you succeed in an opposed challenge using an Auspex power (excluding techniques, elder powers and luminary powers), you are considered to always achieve an exceptional success.

The righteousness of your cause and your faith in it lends you resilience beyond others of your clan and generation. You may buy a single Fortitude technique or elder power that you would normally be restricted from purchasing due to your generation. A Neonate with this merit is now able to purchase a single Fortitude elder power, but not the Fortitude luminary power. Pretender elders with Hard as Steel can purchase a second Fortitude elder power which must be a Fortitude elder power. Elders and Luminary elders may purchase a technique that requires Fortitude. Elder powers purchased with this merit cost 20 XP, and techniques cost 12 XP. You must still meet any additional discipline requirement in order to purchase a technique, and you must also possess the necessary precursors in order to purchase Fortitude elder powers. This merit cannot be used to purchase a Fortitude luminary power.

Your Nosferatu heritage grants exceptional talent with the powers of Obfuscate. Individuals using Auspex (or similar powers) do not automatically realize there is an Obfuscated person nearby when they are near you. Additionally, your Unseen Presence remains active even if you are asleep or in torpor. For this aspect of Hidden Advantage to function, you must activate Unseen Presence before going to sleep (or before falling into torpor). Your Unseen Presence can be penetrated with Auspex (or similar powers) without awakening you.

There's no place like home, and you have made your haven into the perfect sanctuary for research and rest. Thanks to your organizational talents and a bit of fae magic, you gain 2 free bonus advantages for your Haven background, which do not affect the total number of dots you possess of the Haven background. You can only apply these bonus advantages to a single haven, regardless of how many havens you may possess. When making a Research or Lore skill test within your haven as part of the Library advantage, you gain the standard +3 wild card bonus after spending only 10 minutes in study, rather than the usual 1 hour. You may share your extensive Library with any visitors to your haven, also granting them the reduced-time benefit. In addition, thanks to the fae magic you possess, you may change the advantages of a Haven background you control as you see fit, and if your chronicle uses the Stock Locations rules, you may also change the location qualities of any building you control. To do so, expend one downtime action to focus your magic on a haven or location in which you have invested, and then denote which qualities and advantages you wish to change. This merit may be used on shared locations and havens.

Beautiful people are often given more: more gifts, more permission, and more attention. Good looks can open many doors that would otherwise remain closed. You know how to use your appearance to your advantage, and you have few qualms using your pretty face to influence others. Whenever you are involved in an opposed challenge for a discipline that calls for you to use your Social attribute to build your test pool, you can benefit from that power's focus benefit, even if you do not possess the appropriate attribute focus. For example, you may use Immortal Beauty to gain the focus benefit for the Animalism power Quell the Beast, which involves an opposed challenge, but you do not gain the focus benefit for Drawing Out the Beast, since it does not require an opposed challenge.

Hated equally by elders of the Camarilla and Noddists of the Sabbat, Caitiff often find themselves hunted or used by Gehenna cults. Paradoxically, you are called "craven" and "thin-blooded," while you are capable of spontaneously developing powers of the blood that send fear through their hearts. When you select this merit, you may also select either the Kineticism discipline, or your choice of one Necromancy or Thaumaturgy path as one of your three in-clan disciplines (you can choose Mortis Path). If you select a Necromancy or Thaumaturgy path, this choice does not reflect aptitude for actual blood magic, and you cannot purchase rituals. Rather, this path represents a spontaneously generated pseudo-discipline that shares the mechanical effects of the path chosen. It has no mechanical interaction with Thaumaturgy or Necromancy powers or effects; however, your power is not considered a Physical power and cannot be used during celerity rounds. You can only select this merit during character creation.

Regardless of the clan into which you were Embraced, you have chosen the path of the Infernal. Choose a clan that is common in your game's setting. You were a member of that clan before you converted to Baali, wholly reborn through dark magics. Replace one of your prior clan's disciplines with Daimoinon. The three disciplines that remain after you make this substitution become your in-clan disciplines, as opposed to the default Baali disciplines. For mechanical purposes, you are considered fully a Baali. You are not subject to your former clan's weakness, and you cannot purchase your former clan's merits. You must purchase all appropriate rarity merits for your game's setting. Infernal Acolyte may only be purchased during character creation.

The Baali prefer to Embrace individuals who already possess demonic blood; those whose ancestors, somewhere among their family line, had intercourse and begat a child upon a demon. Such souls, already tainted by their heritage, easily fall into infernalism and usually become particularly powerful. This merit duplicates the mechanics of both the Infernal Power merit and the Path of Evil Revelations merit. Baali can purchase both the Infernal Power merit and the Infernal Heritage merit, if they so choose. A character cannot purchase the Infernal Heritage merit and the Path of Evil Revelations merit; a character with this merit has already converted her Morality to that path.

You swore your soul to a demon, devil, or other dark entity (as you identify such things according to your character's personal beliefs), and that diabolic creature imbued you with supernatural power. Nearly all supernatural creatures fear and hate infernalists and will kill characters with Infernal Power without question or remorse. Additionally, if you fail to obey your demonic master's orders or displease the demon, you immediately lose access to this merit. Further, you take 5 points of aggravated damage, which cannot be reduced or negated by any means, for your failure to obey. This does not free you from the infernal compact; it is only an expression of your master's wrath. To regain the use of this merit, you must fulfill a task assigned by your infernal master: one that is always cruel, inhumane, and vile. If you fail to complete that task within 30 days, you meet Final Death. There is no escaping this fate. Gift: Demonic Fire Minor Effect: Your Infernal Power grants you resistance to fire. Flaming weapons or incendiary weapons inflict normal damage instead of aggravated damage. Additionally, by expending a simple action (and no need for kindling or other fuel), you can create a small ball of greenish-black flame in the palm of your hand. This flame is approximately the size of a baseball. While holding demonic fire, your hand-to-hand attacks cause aggravated damage. Major Effect: By expending a simple action, you can sheath your body in an aura of greenish-black flame for the next five minutes. You can end this effect at any time prior to the end of its duration by expending another simple action. While you are within this aura, your clothing and equipment are not damaged by fire and your Brawl and Melee attacks inflict aggravated damage. Anyone foolish enough to Grapple you, or who is grappling you when you activate this effect, takes 3 points of aggravated damage. Gift: Profane Contract Minor Effect: You are authorized by your demonic master to forge lesser contracts, offering another character infernal power in exchange for a portion of her immortal soul. The target of this effect cannot be forced into the bargain through supernatural powers or threats of violence, although she may be coerced through politics, general persuasion, treachery, or other social maneuvers. When she signs the contract, you become her infernal master, and she becomes your infernal servitor. The target gains access to her choice of one minor infernal effect, without needing to purchase the Infernal Power merit. The demon that bestows the infernal pact upon you gains power over any soul who willingly accepts an infernal contract from you. Your demonic master can rescind power from either of you, if it desires. If your servitor disobeys or displeases you, you have the option to punish her by inflicting 5 points of aggravated damage, which cannot be reduced or negated by any means. You may also choose to strip the target's infernal power and to require that she perform a dark task in order to regain the power. You must assign a task that is possible to achieve, but it can be as difficult or easy as you desire. If the target doesn't complete your task within 30 days, she meets Final Death. As with any infernal bargain, a lesser contract can only be negated if the target dies, or if you die. If you temporarily lose access to your Infernal Power merit, you cannot use any of these effects against your servitor, nor can you create new contracts. However, your underlings do not lose their powers simply because yours are in abeyance. Major Effect: As long as you maintain at least one Profane Contract with another player-character, you may call upon your Infernal Power, step through the fires of hell, and appear at a place on the physical realm that is sacred to your demonic master, such as a diabolic temple or your infernal altar. To do so, you must concentrate for three full turns while chanting in an infernal language. When you appear at your chosen site, you may choose to spend one minute there and then return to the location you just left. Or, you may choose to remain at the place where you have traveled. You can use this effect once per game for each lesser contract you currently hold. Gift: Unholy Regeneration Minor Effect: If you have any damage in your Incapacitated wound track, you automatically regenerate 1 point of normal damage per turn without spending Blood. If you have no remaining normal damage, but still have aggravated damage in your Incapacitated wound track, you heal 1 point of aggravated damage every three turns. This merit heals a character on her initiative during the everyman round; this power has no effect during Celerity rounds. This merit ceases to function if the character has no wounds in the Incapacitated wound track. Healing provided by this merit doesn't require an action or an expenditure of Blood. Major Effect: If you are damaged to the point of torpor or Final Death, you immediately resurrect in a blast of greenish-black flame. You resurrect at full health. For the next five turns, you receive a +5 wild card bonus to all defensive test pools. Before the end of that time, you must kill another character and verbally condemn your victim's soul into your master's power. If you fail to achieve this goal in the allotted time, you meet your Final Death permanently and irrevocably, regardless of health or any other supernatural power. You cannot use this effect if your infernal master is the one who damaged you to the point of torpor or Final Death, or if your initial death resulted from something other than taking damage. This effect can be used once per game. Simply being an infernalist does not create a visible stigma on a character's aura. A diabolist does not show taint or corruption until she utilizes an infernal power. When she does (and while that power is in effect), the character's aura shows the clear corruption of infernal taint. Further, anyone who witnesses you use a major infernal effect will automatically notice your infernal taint whether or not they are using Auspex. A character can never permanently lose this merit. Demonic compacts are inviolable, and there is no way to escape a bargain once you have become part of the infernal chain of command. The only way out of such an agreement is death — and even then, the character's soul is forever damned into the service of her diabolic master.

A character with this merit is a member of the prestigious Inquisition: either a Judge or a Knight Inquisitor. Players do not have to purchase any further merits to advance within this order, but it is recommended that Storytellers limit such advancement as per the bounds of their chronicles' stories. Every member of the Inquisition possesses an iron reliquary, gained with this merit. An Inquisitor's iron reliquary is her badge of office, each one given directly by the Regent. Physically, a reliquary is a stylized version of the Sabbat symbol, forged of iron. It can be held and wielded like a dagger or sword, and it often incorporates sharp spikes or cutting surfaces. Each reliquary is unique, and reliquaries of slain Inquisitors are destroyed. So long as you possess your iron reliquary, you have a +3 bonus to resist all infernal powers (such as Daimoinon), powers granted by demonic abilities or compacts, or effects granted by infernal-related merits. You also gain a +3 bonus to Dodge-based defensive test pools against demons and characters who possess any of the above powers, merits, or effects. You gain the innate status Purified at the start of each game.

The curse of Caine runs strongly in your veins. You can spend 1 more Blood point per turn than your Generation permits. Neonates and Ancilla can purchase this as a 2 point merit, while Elders of any generation must pay the full 3 point cost. Characters who diablerize above 9th generation must spend an additional XP to offset the increased cost. If your character is unable to pay this increased cost, or if this increased cost would bring the character over the 7 point merit cap, you lose this merit, and the XP spent to purchase it is refunded.

The inscription "Know Thyself" was famously chiseled above the entrance to the Oracle of Delphi: a reminder to those who would seek counsel on their road to greatness. Through many trials, both physical and spiritual, you have come to understand your higher self with a certainty not easily challenged. Your sense of self grants you a special resistance to the Dominate and Presence disciplines, as well as any power or magic that seeks to compel your behavior (such as Thaumaturgy: Path of Corruption). Provided you are able to use Willpower to retest an opposed Mental or Social challenge when resisting one of these effects, you can do so without paying the required Willpower cost. This ability does not provide an exception to the rule that only one Willpower retest may be made per challenge. In addition, whenever you use the Assist Attacker or Assist Defender mass combat tactic to support another individual, she gains the benefit of Iron Heart as well for the remainder of the turn, but she cannot share the benefits of Iron Heart with others. You can use the Assist Defender tactic solely to give someone this benefit in response to another character's use of a Social or Mental power against them, though you cannot use the Assist Defender tactic to intercept the power or become its target.

The scales of a serpent are strong yet supple, much more so than the skin of amphibians or mammals. Certain species like the calabaris enjoy especially dense scales, providing greater protection without compromising flexibility. Likewise, you are unusually tough among Followers of Set, and you have the ability to shrug off blows and bullets in relentless fervor. You gain Fortitude as an additional in-clan discipline, as though you had obtained it via the Additional Common Discipline merit.

By achieving a level of mental control worthy of martial arts masters or intensely dedicated scholars, you have mastered a rigid thought structure. You can use this internal resolution to focus your mind, resisting torture, intimidation, and powers that directly attempt to control you. You gain a free retest when resisting the effects of Auspex, Animalism, and Dominate. Iron Will cannot be used to retest attempts to pierce Obfuscate or Chimerstry, but it does grant a retest when you attempt to resist powers such as Telepathy or Psychic Assault. This retest can be used before or after the normal Willpower retest and is an exception to the rule limiting retests to one per challenge.

Flexible and limber, Ishtarri are capable of moving in ways even the Tzimisce envy. You are able to contort your form, going so far as being able to dislocate limbs without damaging yourself to aid in your flexibility. This ability provides you with the Reach weapon equipment quality when you make a melee weapon attack. In addition, you may expend a simple action to automatically escape a grapple, and you can fit yourself into spaces that are no smaller than 18 inches in length per side. You do not take any damage from contorting yourself in this way.

Being able to resolve a conflict is about more than brute strength. Weaving in and out of a fight is often more important than hitting the hardest. For deft Ishtarri, this skill is vital. You can perform the combat maneuvers Burst of Speed, Quick Draw, and Pierce the Heart without spending Willpower to do so. Furthermore, when you spend Willpower to use Blinding Attack, Disarm, or Knockdown, these combat maneuvers do not count against the total number of Physical attacks a target has received. You must spend Willpower to receive this bonus; if you have a benefit that allows you to circumvent the Willpower cost, this bonus does not apply. An individual can only be subjected to a single extra attack beyond their normal limit each round via Jack Be Nimble, regardless of how many characters attempt to use this merit in a given round.

The Week of Nightmares, a time when so many of your clanmates were destroyed as they fought against the urge to tear one another apart, marred your blood. Clan Ravnos saw many of its ideals die that day, losing its illusions of family and support. This event has left a permanent mark on you. Whether you survived it or someone in your lineage did, you have been traumatized by the horrific visions and actions that took place during that time. If you are targeted by Chimerstry powers ranging from 1 to 5 dots, including techniques that require Chimerstry, these powers automatically fail with no effect. You also receive a +3 wild card bonus when defending against elder or luminary Chimerstry powers. You still see the illusions presented by Chimerstry, but you can immediately tell what is real and what is not.

You own a copy of one of the following sacred texts of the Sabbat: The Book of Nod, The Erciyes Fragments, The Ubar Chronicles, The Gospels of Irad & Adah, or The Codex of the Damned. While you possess this merit, you gain a free Lore specialization, which may go above the Lore specializations you are allowed. This free specialization must be in something relevant to the text you own, such as Sabbat Doctrine, Quotes of Caine, or The Cainite Heresy. Further, you receive a +5 bonus anytime you're called upon to make a challenge using that Lore specialization. Lastly, you receive Anointed as an innate status at the beginning of each game.

Carpathians are ancient, and their knowledge is vast, giving them an insight into things other vampires have forgotten. You can use your knowledge to adapt to any situation, calling on your age-old education to ensure you are always prepared. If you can spend three standard actions to prepare, you may immediately use your total dots of your choice of either the Lore or Academics skill in place of any other skill in a static challenge test pool. For example, you could substitute either your Lore or Academics skill for Security in order to pick a lock, relying on your broader understanding of clockwork or engineering for this task. This substitution applies only to a single opposed challenge; once you have attempted the challenge, you must once again prepare in order to use this merit's benefit again. Once you begin preparing, you must use the benefit immediately or lose it; you cannot store or maintain this benefit over time.

All Kolduns draw their magics from an ancient pact their clan made with Kupala: an ancient and powerful being tied to the Tzimisce homelands, rumored to be anything from a spirit to a bound angel to a demon. You deepened your ancient connection to Kupala in order to expand on your knowledge of old magic. This connection allows you to buy two additional paths of Thaumaturgy. This merit may only be purchased once.

Your mind is a twisted nest of madness and disconnected ideas, and any character who attempts to non-consensually pull information out of your mind risks driving herself insane. Firstly, you receive a +3 bonus to your defense test pool when resisting Dominate, Dementation, and Thaumaturgy: Path of Corruption. Secondly, characters who attempt to pull information from your mind gain one of your Derangement flaws (of your choice). The invader receives this flaw as though she had purchased it; if you believe you are Julius Caesar, the invader now believes she is Julius Caesar (not that you are). Derangements inflicted by Labyrinthine Mind last for one hour.

The taint of the spell used to create the Nagaraja is particularly strong within you. Not only does it stain your aura, but it has also warped your beast. For the purposes of Aura Perception and similar powers, you display an empty aura similar to a dead body. Your vampiric state, emotions, and even the stains of diablerie, do not color your aura. In addition, you may choose to purchase the Path of Death and the Soul merit at zero cost. Finally, the consumption of any flesh, including that of a living human, does not cause you to gain Beast traits. However, the death of your meal source would still be considered a sin. You may purchase this merit along with Necromantic Prowess. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

The remnants of life still run strong within your blood. You may target a willing character with your Obeah discipline powers if the target is within a number of steps up to the number of dots you possess of the Medicine skill. In addition, whenever you spend a point of Blood to heal using the Obeah power Corpore Sano, you heal one additional point of damage beyond the listed amount: 2 points of normal damage instead of 1, or 2 points of aggravated instead of 1, if you possess the correct attribute focus.

While the dawn renders most vampires sleepy and sluggish, you have the unusual capacity to force yourself fully awake. A character with this merit can remain vigilant for up to one hour after sunrise and wakes up one hour before sunset. Additionally, you can awaken instantly at any sign of trouble or danger and do so without sluggishness or hesitation. You ignore any penalties for acting during the daylight hours, regardless of your level of Humanity or number of Beast traits.

Wherever the Call to Arms is sounded, you are there. Throughout your history, you have always stood by your fellow Anarchs, holding your ground against any threat and protecting others with your very unlife. You are known and honored by the Anarch Movement for your loyalty; you are considered a Lion among the sect. When you are involved in a Call to Arms against the enemy specifically targeted by that Call to Arms, all Anarchs within a 10-step radius of you receive a +2 wild card bonus to either their Brawl or Melee skill, up to a maximum of your total number of dots in whichever skill they choose.

You have a special connection to the Loa and Baron Samedi. At some point in time, you have done the Baron a favor, and he owes you one in return. If you are wounded to the point of death, your body crumbles to ash before your opponents, and you are immediately resurrected at full health, surrounded by a cold fire with vibrant blue flames. You awake in your choice of either your haven or the last Elysium you visited, with all memories of your demise fully intact. During your brief period of death, however, you must make a deal with the Baron. After your resurrection, you have one full lunar cycle to find whoever dealt the killing blow to you and kill them in your stead. Should you fail to kill your opponent and give the Baron the soul he is due, he returns to collect the soul from you, instead. You meet your Final Death, consumed by eldritch flames, regardless of your current health levels or use of supernatural powers. This merit can only be used once. Afterward, remove this merit from your character's sheet without receiving an XP refund. Once lost, you can only repurchase this merit after succeeding at a Heroic Quest to find Baron Samedi and perform some task for him, gaining his aid for the future once more.

Whether due to a skeptical local sheriff's department, deep community ties, or general acceptance as part of the mythos of a region, local law enforcement is either extremely inept or very skeptical when it comes to you and your transgressions. Your murder victims are likely to be assigned alternate manners of death, and sheriff's deputies are distrustful when it comes to witness accounts of your actions making it next to impossible to use mortal resources against you. This benefit applies in urban as well as rural settings. You cannot be targeted by Indirect Influence Attacks, and nothing short of a flagrant Masquerade breach in front of numerous witnesses will generate consequence from mortals or hunters. This benefit applies only to your home area; you lose this benefit if you travel outside your region.

You are a veritable font of knowledge and have spent a great many years studying history, discovering secrets, and hoarding valuable information. You can assign two Lore specializations for each dot of the Lore skill you purchase, rather than one. Additionally, you receive a +3 bonus anytime you make a challenge using your Lore skill.

They say the devil looks after his own, or at least, that's probably what people say right when you slip through their fingers. You've got a sixth sense for danger, and you always keep an eye on the exit. Once per game session, you can spend a standard action to declare a fair escape that cannot be contested, defying all odds in order to avoid conflict. This escape may involve a particularly daring stunt, an unexpected burst of speed, or a lucky break. If you are successfully grappled, staked, or contained in a sealed area, you cannot use this merit's benefit.

Like most tricksters, fools, and madmen, your life has been a series of fortuitous coincidences and second chances. Whether you rely on this luck or just fall into it, you lead a charmed existence. If an opponent achieves an exceptional success against you, you downgrade it to a normal success. You can use this benefit once every five minutes or once per combat.

You are exceptional at presenting yourself, manipulating others, and rising to the top of your social environment. This talent has served you well since your Embrace. Socially, you are treated as though you are one social class higher than your true generation. If you are a neonate, you are socially considered to be an ancilla (and gain the abiding status allocated to an ancilla); if you are an ancilla, you are considered an elder of the sect (and gain the status allotted to an elder). Elders receive no benefit from the purchase of this merit.

Centuries ago, it was the Knights of the Moon who first proposed the Greatest Prank, the widespread suppression of Dementation, allowing the Masquerade to take seed. Though the prank itself has ended, Knights have learned the secret of containing the spread of insanity, and they have dedicated themselves to safeguarding its threat to the Masquerade. If you are targeted by Dementation powers ranging from 1 to 5 dots, including techniques that require Dementation, these powers automatically fail with no effect. You also receive a +3 wild card bonus when defending against elder or luminary Dementation powers.

Legends say that the first vampire did not have a natural aptitude for magic. Your blood may be a throwback to that state, or it may simply be naturally resistant to enchantment. You gain a free retest when resisting the effects of Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, Sabbat ritae, enchanted rituals, and the powers of mages. This retest can be used before or after the normal Willpower retest and is an exception to the rule limiting retests to one per challenge. However, you can never learn any path or rituals of Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, or any other form of blood magic. If you possess blood magic when you purchase this merit, you must remove those powers, and do not receive a refund of any XP spent on those powers.

Some believe that all Malkavians are connected on a psychic level in a vast web. Whereas most of your clanmates merely perceive this link as nonsensical cacophonic babble, you've learned to locate specific information — a mental needle in the chaotic haystack — but finding it comes at a price. If you pause to concentrate, doing nothing else for five turns, you can project your consciousness through this network to seek specific information or lore that another Malkavian knows. You can ask questions like: - Is the vampire in front of me a Malkavian? - How many Malkavians are there in the city? (The total you receive includes both Malkavians and Malkavian bloodlines.) - You can ask a question that is typically covered by an Academics, Science, or Lore skill specialization, and receive a short answer. You can't learn personal information like the location of someone's haven, or who murdered the Prince. However, you can glean information about a specific blood magic ritual, learn the general history of the Camarilla, or uncover anything that is answerable by a Lore skill specialization. Once you do so, for the remainder of the game session, you gain a new derangement selected by the Storyteller to represent touching the heart of madness. Alternatively, you can spend one standard action to broadcast a single five-sentence message to the Malkavian Madness Network or create a special beacon flagging a location as a special place of interest. Any Malkavian, including associated bloodlines, can perceive such messages or beacons, even if they lack this merit. This merit can only be used up to three times during a single game session.

You have gained control of an influence network that has proven to be particularly adroit and capable. Each week you regain one spent influence action in an influence of your choice.

You are a prominent hellhound keeper. If you purchase the Retainer background you may designate that retainer as a hellhound animal retainer. Additionally, you gain two hellhound retainers instead of one. This is an exception to the rule which requires each Retainer to have its own background. If you spend XP to raise the level of that Retainer, the increase applies to both hellhounds. In addition, thanks to your family's widespread breeding, if you lose a hellhound Retainer, you regain it one week later.

The Ishtarri are more than graceful dancers and sword masters. Long before they honed their more delicate arts, they were masterful degenerates and purveyors of vice, watching the corruption of their mortal herds with more than a little glee. You may purchase the Herd background for 1 XP per dot, regardless of your generation. You can also spend your Herd background as if it were the Contacts, Retainers, or Allies backgrounds.

In your mortal life, you may have been a spiritualist or a shaman, or perhaps your brush with death left a portion of your spirit trapped within the Shadowlands. Whatever the reason, you are a channel to the Shadowlands, and you possess the natural affinity to see and hear ghosts, and occasionally glimpse your surroundings in the Shadowlands. This merit does not grant any ability to control or command ghosts, nor does it give you any mystic ability to understand wraiths who cannot speak a language you know.

You have a supreme collection of trophies, macabre occult items, and bizarre gruesome things that make even other Ananke blush. This collection grants you insight into Necromancy rituals. You may purchase a single Necromancy ritual for every dot of Dementation you possess, including techniques, elder powers, and luminary powers. For the purpose of purchasing rituals, Dementation serves as your primary path, instead of a Necromancy path.

Malkavians are feared for their ability to see signs and portents, drawing meaning from seemingly meaningless occurrences and then reacting before anyone is the wiser. The form this power takes is indeterminate; it might be that tarot cards speak to you, or you may see patterns in the extended digits of pi. You must reserve a number of unspent downtime actions between game sessions to use this merit. At the beginning of each game session, inform the Storyteller how many downtime actions you reserved. Anytime you encounter a scenario where you would have benefited from previously spending a downtime action, you can do so at that moment, retroactively recalling that you previously already took care of what you needed because of a hunch. This merit allows you to do anything that would normally take place in a downtime action. For example, you might have suddenly decided to patrol Elysium grounds, investigate the activity at a church, or sculpted a masterpiece. Once a downtime action is spent via Method to the Madness, treat it like a normal downtime action; it may be traced, tracked, or otherwise observed as per normal.

You are adept at creating especially twisted chimerical effects that prey upon the minds of your targets. When you use the Chimerstry power Horrid Reality, your illusions no longer affect your target's physical body; they instead directly attack the target's psyche. If your illusions attack your target's psyche, your target must use a defense test pool consisting of her Social attribute + Willpower to defend against any attack made by Apparitions augmented by your Horrid Reality. Your attack test pool consists of your Social attribute + Subterfuge skill, as normal. You may choose not to use the benefits of this merit; if so, your target uses the standard Horrid Reality defense test pool consisting of her Physical attribute + Dodge skill.

The Baali Methuselah Moloch was said to have revolted against his fellow Baali, preferring to use his arcane methods to steal power, rather than serve the infernal to obtain it. Whether inspired by his example, or simply due to a refusal to yield, no demon is your master. Your soul remains firmly your own, and you have instead bound a demon to siphon its power. You gain the Infernal Power merit without having to pay its XP cost, but you owe no allegiance to a demon. You need not follow orders or worry about being killed by a demonic master displeased with your actions. In addition, you are exempted from the rule that states you become further corrupted by the infernal when you learn additional dots of Daimoinon, and you do not need to enter into a pact with a demonic entity in order to learn the 5th dot of Daimoinon. You are still stained by the infernal power you possess, however, and few people will quibble about the details when hunting you.

You are a member of a famous Anarch gang. Moreover, you are commonly attributed to be one of the most important members of that gang, responsible for its fame (or infamy). Other members of the gang may be proud of the group's renown, but your name is synonymous with its moniker. When you purchase this merit, you gain the innate status of your gang name (Dead Eyes, Aces & Eights, and so forth). This innate status has the same function as the status Moniker. If you leave the gang, you must either join another (and change the name of this status) or remove this merit without XP refund.

You have your fingers in almost everything that happens within your city, and your clout extends much further than most. You receive a second specialization for every dot of influence you purchase.

You were Embraced for your physical prowess, and the Giovanni clan elders have called in favors to make sure you have ample instruction in combat without hindering your loyalty to the clan with the annoyance of a minimal blood bond. You can learn the disciplines Celerity and Fortitude without a teacher, although you must still pay out-of-clan costs to purchase these powers. This merit may be used to learn elder powers (assuming you meet the Generation requirements).

While you suffer the same banes that all vampires do, your spiritual nature manifests a connection to Luna strikingly similar to that of a werewolf. Prior to each game session consult the Storyteller to determine the current phase of the moon. You gain the following benefits dependent on its phase: - New Moon: Your spirit is infused with deception and trickery. You gain the Dexterity focus and a +2 wild card bonus to all pools involving your Stealth skill. - Crescent Moon: You become a powerful font of spiritual energy. You gain the Wits focus and a +2 wild card bonus to all pools involving your Occult skill. - Half Moon: Your eyes are open to things hidden from notice. You gain the Perception focus and +2 wild card bonus to all pools involving your Awareness skill. - Gibbous Moon: You exude a powerful aura of guidance and social acumen. You gain an additional Social focus of your choosing and a +2 wild card bonus to all pools involving your Leadership skill. - Full Moon: You are at your most dangerous. You gain the Strength focus and two additional Healthy wound levels. If you lose these health levels as the moon changes, any wounds assigned to them disappear.

You've spent a great deal of time protecting and retaining your Humanity. With that effort, you have become capable of controlling the vampiric Beast better than most. It's likely that you are still deeply connected to the kine; you may have a night-to-night job or continually engage in mortal society and culture in some other fashion. If you spend 10 minutes counseling a vampire who has gained Beast traits, that vampire can reattempt one degeneration challenge she failed during that night. If she is successful in this second attempt, she removes any penalty she gained from the initial failure of that degeneration challenge. An individual may gain one Moral Compass retest per game session.

Some individuals have excellent minds for retention and association, capable of learning multiple languages with ease. You can assign two language specializations for each dot of the Linguistics skill you purchase. Additionally, you receive a +3 bonus anytime you're called upon to make a challenge using Linguistics.

Lhiannan are bound to nature and the shrinking wilderness areas of the world. By spending a Blood and a simple action, a Lhiannan can meld with any natural substance at least as large as their person as if they possessed the Protean power Earth Meld. This includes unprocessed wood such as trees and large plants, natural stone such as caves or boulders, and natural soil which has not been worked by modern practices such as farmland. While melded with a natural substance, if you do not possess the Perception focus you are considered to have it for the benefits of the Earth Meld power. In addition, by spending 1 point of Blood and your standard action to make contact with a natural substance, you may exit from another natural substance up to 15 steps in any direction. To Nature Walk you must physically touch a natural substance roughly the size of your body. You immediately exit from the other natural substance within your line of sight, as though it were your next step. Nature Walk cannot be used if you are grappled and you cannot bring other individuals or large objects with you. Nature Walk cannot be used during Celerity rounds.

You can purchase an additional path of Necromancy in addition to the Sepulchre Path (any path except the Mortis Path, which is excluded from this merit). This additional path is learned without a teacher and is purchased at in-clan costs, but is not considered an in-clan discipline. For example, when using the Dominate power Possession, these Necromantic paths cannot be brought along. You can purchase this merit multiple times, allowing you to learn multiple paths of Necromancy.

You can purchase an additional path of Necromancy in addition to the Mortis Path. This additional path is learned without a teacher and is purchased at in-clan costs, but is not considered an in-clan discipline. For example, when using the Dominate power Possession, these Necromantic paths cannot be brought along. You can purchase this merit multiple times, allowing you to learn multiple paths of Necromancy.

In addition to the Ash Path, you can purchase another path of Necromancy. This additional path is learned without a teacher and is purchased at in-clan costs but is not considered an in-clan discipline. You can purchase this merit multiple times, allowing you to learn multiple paths of Necromancy.

Necromancers closely guard their knowledge, and those who know Necromancy's secrets – like the Giovanni – rarely share mastery of their art. Somehow, in your past, you were trained by a necromancer or studied ghastly texts, and you have gathered enough skill to become proficient in one path of Necromantic magic. With this merit, you can learn a single path of Necromancy, and you can purchase its powers at out-of-clan costs. If your character learned this discipline in her history, you must justify such education in the character's background. If you wish to purchase Necromancy after your character enters play, you must purchase the merit first.

The creation of the Nagaraja involved perverted magics that forever link the Nagaraja to the realm of the dead. Although many clans claim to be powerful necromancers, avid scholars of all things deathly, and wielders of dark magics, your essence is especially imbued by the entropic magics used to create the Nagaraja bloodline. Whenever you employ a Necromancy power that does not require an opposed challenge, you can apply that power's focus benefit even if you do not possess the appropriate attribute focus. For example, you may benefit from the focus effect of the Path of Soul Bonding's Dark Vessel power, but you may not gain the focus benefit for the Path of Soul Bonding's Assimilate power if the target wraith is unwilling.

A Koldun's haven is their respite — a library, a research laboratory, and a safe place to experiment. Your haven, in particular, empowers you and your magic, improving your skills as long as your feats occur within its walls. You are able to add a Supernatural quality to your haven, using the Stock Location rules. In addition, you can also use a quantity of your home soil as a replacement for any component in a ritual as long as the ritual does not call for a component that is specific to your target, such as blood or hair. You can also purchase one additional ritual for each dot you possess of Thaumaturgy.

At the moment of your Embrace, you experienced a vision of the future wherein you witnessed the circumstances of your Final Death. Though this vision was vague and dream-like, with little indication as to where and when it will occur, you are confident that you will recognize the moment when you finally face it. This awareness of the future provides you a sense of serenity, knowing that it is not yet your time to perish. You may choose to relent to any challenge. If this challenge does not kill you or put you into torpor, you may choose to regain 1 point of spent Willpower. However, this merit fails to activate if the challenge is not hostile in nature, or if it is being attempted solely to recover Willpower.

Lamia have a staunch tradition of serving as bodyguards and fierce protectors for their Cappadocian counterparts. You carry an especially strong sense of purpose, and you are capable of delivering swift punishment to any who would harm those under your protection. Whenever you defend another character via the Assist Defender mass combat tactic and the attack fails, you may opt to make an immediate Physical attack against the attacker, provided they are within range. This counterattack does not cost you an action to attempt. If you use Not On My Watch to make a counterattack, that attack does not trigger another instance of Not on My Watch, or a similar power, if your target also possesses it.

All Viziers feel within themselves a burning drive to pursue learning and education: the relic, they say, of their founder's first commandment to them. Your obsession consumes you and crawls through your skin like an old, welcome friend, pressing you to always further your studies. While you may not have access to the vast library of Alamut, the reformed Council of Scrolls was able to retain much of its accumulated knowledge. Due to your obsession and your inclination for perfection, the potential maximum number of dots you may purchase of all your skills increases by 1.

Though not as durable as metal, obsidian can be remarkably sharp. It saw a variety of uses, both practical and religious, throughout Mesoamerica before the European invaders arrived. You have the power to turn your claws into black, razor-sharp obsidian arrowheads that you can use from range by swiping at the air. When using Feral Claws, you may make Brawl skill attacks from a distance up to three steps for each dot of the Athletics skill you possess. You may use this effect to enable other powers and standard combat maneuvers, except for Grapple, Trip, Pierce the Heart, and Disarm. Using this ability disengages the claws from your hand. If you use them in this manner, you must spend a simple action to regrow them before using them again.

This merit must be purchased at character creation. You were Embraced prior to 1800. Perhaps you were a part of the original Anarch Revolt, or you may even have been present at the signing of the Convention of Thorns. Note that buying this merit does not indicate the Anarch was also Embraced as an elder; if the player wishes to purchase the 4th or 5th dots of Generation (Master Elder or Luminary Elder), she must purchase the merit Elder of the Revolution.

When the Volgirre became part of the Camarilla, not all of them completely wiped their hands clean of the Sabbat. There are those that still enjoy certain benefits of their previous identities. When you purchase this merit, you may choose up 3 points of merits typically limited to the Sabbat sect. You gain the benefits of these Sabbat merits without spending additional XP to purchase them. Your Storyteller can limit these merits to those that are compatible with her setting style document or forbid ones that require you to actively hold a Sabbat sect position.

You see omens of the future. You might use techniques such as casting the bones, reading predictive cards, utilizing mystic boards, studying astrology, or undergoing drugged hallucinations. Conversely, you might have visions thrust upon you even if you try to prevent such divinations. You can draw advice from these omens, as they provide hints of the future and warnings of the present. You can, once per game, ask your Storyteller for a clue about relevant plots. In addition, small flashes of insight come when most needed; once an hour you can sacrifice a standard action in order to immediately use a simple action. This ability allows you to use the simple action at any time, even before your initiative.

Your pack is the most important thing in your existence, so much so that you will do anything for its members. When you attack a character who has inflicted damage on a packmate (within the last three turns) with whom you have a vinculum rating of at least 3, you receive a +3 bonus to your Physical attack test pool. Additionally, once per turn when you are fighting alongside a member of your pack, you can use a simple action to move five steps, so long as you are moving to the side of someone in your pack with whom you have a vinculum of at least 3.

All Kindred hide behind masks, but for many Nosferatu, theirs hide more than a wretched appearance. The act of being seen against your will so fills you with revulsion that your Beast lashes out against anyone who infringes on your privacy. Should anyone succeed in breaching your powers of Obfuscate, you can choose to cause them to immediately take a single point of aggravated damage which cannot be reduced or negated. In addition, should you immediately enter combat against an opponent who triggered the activation of this merit, you receive a +3 bonus to your initiative for the duration of that combat scenario. Attempts by your allies to pierce your Obfuscate powers cannot trigger this initiative bonus.

You are either an established leader within the Ventrue or an up-and-coming star in the clan. The line of Kings looks to you to be an example, and many younger members of the clan seek your approbation and approval. This provides the following benefits: - The amount of money available to you from the Resources background is doubled. - You receive one additional action per Influence you control (Elite or Underworld). - Additionally, you have attracted the attention of a lesser Ventrue who wishes to ride your coattails towards greatness. This lieutenant is a low-ranking Ventrue neonate NPC, perhaps your childe or some distant lineage relation, and is built as a level 6 Retainer. Unlike normal Retainers, this lieutenant has access to three of the following backgrounds: Resources, Haven, Herd, or Influence (Elite or Underworld). Your lieutenant has 3 dots in one of these backgrounds, 2 in a second, and 1 in a third. This lieutenant cannot learn techniques or elder powers. If the lieutenant dies, you lose access to this merit for four game sessions or two months (whichever is greater), reflecting your search for a suitable replacement.

Honor among thieves is often secondary to profit, but you know how to use the former in service to the latter. You have access to a variety of loose acquaintances and ne'er-do-wells across various sects and factions, including Autarkis and independent vampires, who might do you a favor or two. Your associates may even include non-vampires. Once per month you may utilize this network to obtain one of the following services: - You Didn't Hear It From Me: You may receive one rumor or piece of information from a different sect of your choice, possibly a non-vampire sect or faction. The Storyteller may choose a piece of information relative to a current plot to provide to you, or she may simply say nothing interesting is happening. If the latter is the case, and if this is the first time you have used this ability this month, you may use it a second time. - Shady Dealings: You may request and receive a service equal to a minor boon from a member of a different sect or faction, subject to Storyteller approval. However, this favor is "off the record." Your contact will require a favor of similar value in exchange or may be content with payment in some other form at the Storyteller's discretion. - Sit Down: You can request an informal "off the record" meeting with another powerful (and likely unscrupulous) figure. Provided you and anyone you bring to the meeting conduct themselves properly, you can reasonably expect to leave the meeting intact. If you attack or are caught using powers against the other party during the meeting, you lose access to this merit for 2 months while you repair your reputation. When you utilize this merit, your Storyteller will work with you to determine who, if anyone, you might know in a sect or area, and what she might be willing to do for you; this determination is all subject to your position and status.

You have begun the process of a major transformation, taking your first steps on a Path of Enlightenment. By purchasing the Path Adherent merit you receive the benefits of a Path of Enlightenment Morality merit, as well as the appearance of someone who is on a Path, but you do not receive the benefits from the Expanded Path Mechanics section below. However, because you have just begun on the Path of Enlightenment, your Beast is not as subdued as that of a master. If you commit an action that is considered a level 1 sin by your Morality path, it counts as a level 2 sin instead. If you commit an action considered a level 4 sin by your Morality path, it counts as a level 5 sin instead. In addition, when you purchase the Path Adherent merit you apply any path discount to that purchase that you would have received due to your clan, bloodline, or setting adjustment for your sect, as if you had purchased the actual Path of Enlightenment Mortality merit that you benefit from. For example, in the Sabbat setting you may purchase the Path of Caine as a 1 point merit. Applying that discount to the purchase of Path Adherent, you may purchase Path Adherent for the Path of Caine at no cost. After purchasing this merit, you may change it to the full Path of Enlightenment merit for your chosen path by paying the difference in XP costs, provided the purchase would not surpass the maximum of seven merit points. You must also spend 6 downtime actions, or 3 downtime actions if you are learning from a teacher.

The Path of Blood is practiced almost exclusively by Assamites, particularly those who reside in the mountain of Alamut. The founding principle of this path states that the childer of the Assamite Antediluvian, Haqim, must render bloody judgment upon all other vampires. Adherents to the Path of Blood attempt to convert others to their code, believing that vampires can only be redeemed through Haqim's wisdom. This path is rare, even among Assamites; one can follow the beliefs of Haqim and be redeemed without actually adopting the path. Followers of the Path of Blood are dangerous, often addicted to diablerie and willing to kill vampires and harshly judge mortals with the slightest provocation, so long as it benefits the Children of Haqim. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin in an effort to follow the teachings of the Assamite Antediluvian, Haqim, or in a direct attempt to convert others to the Path of Blood. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to better your generation, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily act against another Assamite – or allow another Assamite to be injured, harmed, or defeated – you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Dervishes." Members of the Assamite clan can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

The adherents to the Path of Caine are fanatical occultists, loremasters, and historians, obsessed with the study of Caine and the mythical first city of Enoch. They search for signs of Gehenna and revelations predicting Caine's return. In all ways, they embrace their vampiric nature, reviling anything that forces them to deal with humanity or to act in any way humane. Founding precepts of the path include meditation and introspection, along with a complete focus on purging all vestiges of Humanity. It is imperative that individuals on the Path of Caine be well educated in the myths and history of Caine and Enoch; characters wishing to pursue this path should have a dot of Lore with a focus in the Book of Nod. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while following the dictates of Caine as expressed in the Book of Nod or while obtaining lost occult knowledge. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to study occult knowledge, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily act humane, interact with mortals other than as cattle, or deny your vampiric needs, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Noddists."

The Path of Cathari derives from the Albigensian heresy of the Middle Ages, which taught that God is dualistic in nature. Followers believe that God created both light (good) and dark (evil); they defined good as spiritual and tied to the soul, and evil as as the material world wherein souls are tempted and tested. As believers in reincarnation, Albigensians believe that humans must be tested during their time on Earth, and vampires must perform this duty. Followers of Cathari believe that Caine gave his childer the means to rule the wicked world and test its mortal inhabitants in order to see if they deserve grace. Those on the Path of Cathari tempt humans and non-Sabbat, engaging in sexual vice, creature comforts, and decadence as well as more spiritual outlets, attempting to become a dark and inhuman creature wholly devoted to her vampiric role. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, so long as you commit that sin while causing others to indulge their baser natures or while indulging in a new, as-yet-untried vice. If you voluntarily allow another person to remain innocent, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily kill instead of causing someone to question their own morality or virtue, encourage another to exercise restraint, or deny your own vices, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Albigensians."

Vampires created the Path of Chivalry during the Dark Ages, when honor and nobility were more tangible concepts than in modern nights. Since then, its variations have also been called the Path of Lordship or Path of Kings. Those who follow this path believe that they are superior beings, a cut above all other vampires and significantly more noble than mere humans. They attest that vampires were born to rule humanity as man rules over animals. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while defending the innocent or upholding the cardinal virtues: charity, justice, temperance, and courage. If you strike an unarmed opponent, disrespect a superior, or fail to provide hospitality to someone in need, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you fail in your duty, tell a lie, or show fear or cowardice, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. This is an old path, predating most others. Followers of this path are called "Scions."

The Path of Death & the Soul (also called the "Path of Bones") is devoted to understanding the nature of the immortal soul and unraveling the mysteries of death. Its followers seek to learn as much about the spirit world as possible, in order to comprehend the purpose of life, death, and undeath. They believe that the soul is constant and eternal, forever experiencing a cycle of death and rebirth — a cycle which vampires have somehow, inexplicably, escaped. To understand death, they must divest themselves of the trappings of life. Emotion is the enemy of logic. Death is not to be feared. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively seeking to understand the mysteries of death or the nature of the soul. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to study death, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily act on emotion or show regret, remorse, or empathy, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. This path is also called the Path of Bones, and followers of this path are called "Gravediggers." Members of the Giovanni clan can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

Practitioners of this path revel in luxury instead of degradation. They sate the Beast by glutting its appetite. They glorify pleasure, reveling in the most decadent extremes of vampiric sensation. The Followers of Set initially created the Path of Ecstasy; they see pleasure as a means of worshipping their Antediluvian, and this path is inextricably linked to the worship of Set. Adherents to the Path of Ecstasy believe that pursuit of pleasure is a spiritual obligation. Those who spurn luxury and hedonism are misguided and must be educated or coerced. Resisting temptation is defying the very essence of one's vampiric nature. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively pursuing hedonistic pleasure or coercing another to do the same. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to experience a new sensation, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily show regret or remorse for your depravity, or allow an innocent to go undefiled, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Astartites." Members of the Setite clan can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

The Path of Entelechy embraces the ancient ideal of the Brujah clan, namely the need to protect what is left of the humanity of every vampire. The path acknowledges three truths: Enkratia the Inner Strength; Reie the Courage; and Saphrosyne the Self-Control. By mastering each of these truths, a Philosopher seeks to achieve Entelechy; a state of self-perfection. Lust, hunger, and passion all feed the Beast and draw forth a frenzied state of uncontrol. The Beast is not part of one's true nature and must not be allowed to influence a vampire's actions. Adherents to this path constantly seek to test themselves and others to resist the urges that would rile their Beast to action. Helping others control their impulses allows adherents to learn more about controlling their own. Those who cause harm or succumb to the desires of the Beast should be disciplined. To allow such behaviors to go unpunished is to allow the Beast to flourish, and to do nothing is the same as if the adherent herself had committed the crime. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin so long as you commit that sin in order to learn about yourself or to drive yourself or others to seek higher accomplishment. If you act on impulse, commit theft, robbery, or vandalism, or cause deliberate harm to a mortal, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you allow others to fall to the Beast, murder an innocent, or allow a crime to go unpunished, you gain Beast traits as if you had committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called Philosophers. Members of the Brujah clan and its bloodlines can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

Followers of the Path of Evil Revelations fully revel in the darkness of the vampiric state and believe that a vampire's role is to promote ultimate evil in the physical world. They seek out and serve entities of the infernal: demons, devils, or dark spirits. By serving these monstrosities, the vampire establishes a place in the infernal hierarchy in exchange for servitude and the sacrifice of souls. Ultimately, this path embraces evil as a tool, practicing debased rituals and unleashing horror on the world. These individuals serve their masters' desires, and if they perform their tasks well, they are rewarded with dark magic and other investments of demonic power. Other vampires hate and fear followers of this path. Both the Camarilla and the Sabbat seek out and destroy such practitioners, forcing those on Evil Revelations to be subtle and stay hidden, even as they seek converts – and sacrifices – within vampiric society. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while acting in service to the infernal. If you voluntarily show true compassion or fail to advance your master's goals, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily defy or disobey your infernal master, or if you share infernal secrets with those who are not dedicated to your master's will, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Corruptors."

Vampires are the ultimate predators, and those who follow the Path of Feral Heart embrace their savage, predatory nature. Barbarians and savages, they hone their instincts and accept the bestial drives that accompany the vampiric state. A follower of this path feels that the Beast is a natural part of her existence, and that a vampire should learn to accept and even encourage its cunning and vicious instincts. These vampires have little interest in civilization, education, or technology. They do not care for politics and spend their existence actively abstaining from anything that could come between them and their animalistic nature. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively following your primitive urges or hunting your prey. If you use technology or engage in politics, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you show fear or mercy, abandon a hunt, or kill outside of a hunt, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Beasts."

The Path of Harmony is a gentler path than most, espousing the animalistic nature of vampirism — but its followers pursue a balance with nature, rather than utter domination. They attempt to balance the intellect and emotions of Humanity against the instinct and savagery of the Beast: the balance of predator and prey. Such a balance is extremely difficult to reach, and upsetting the natural balance – of a vampire or of her environment – is against this moral code. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively attempting to balance your nature. If you act on any kind of emotional or instinctual extreme, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily resist frenzy, kill for any reason other than survival, or ignore your vampiric needs for blood and safety, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Harmonists."

According to myth, vampires are cursed, created when Caine killed his brother and defied God's laws. Some accept this burden and choose to embrace darkness and evil. Others see it as a challenge, striving toward salvation and seeking God's forgiveness not only for their own sins, but also for Caine's. Those on the Path of Heaven see the Beast as a tempter, an incarnation of evil that seeks to draw them into hell. They turn to religion – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, or another institution – to guide them toward eternal peace. Many adherents are priests, striving to inspire others to hope that God has not truly forsaken the vampiric race. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively following the precepts and commandments of your faith. If you commit an act of vice, fail to proselytize your faith, or fail to speak out against corruption and sinfulness as defined by your faith, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you allow anyone to transgress those precepts without being punished, murder innocents, or aid the infernal (knowingly or not) you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Faithful."

Followers of the Path of Honorable Accord are extremely lawful, following a specific three-fold code of commandments: the Tower of Duty, the Tower of Honor, and the Tower of Courage. They twist these rules for their own benefit, using them to entangle (and destroy) others whenever possible. Despite the name, these vampires are not honorable. While they are often virtuous, they are by no means good. Such a vampire epitomizes cruelty, intolerance, tyranny, and absolute authoritarianism. By holding to these laws, an adherent to Honorable Accord seeks to better herself — and rule others. A follower of the Path of Honorable Accord adheres rigidly to her society's laws, such as the Camarilla's Traditions, the Sabbat's Code of Milan, and so forth, and also to any commands or restrictions placed on her by a ruler in that society, such as a Prince's dictate or the Regent's edicts. This path is not a Code of Honor. It is absolute, unquestioning, inflexible obedience to the Rule of Law, even when those laws are inherently unjust. Knights have no sense of mercy, emotion, or even interest in anything other than adherence to the absolute letter of the rules. They keep their word because it is a contract, not because they have an emotional commitment; they tie their sanity to the fact that a covenant, once made, must be obeyed. Emotions, compassion, ethics, and morals are meaningless. Where another individual might spare someone who broke the law out of absolute necessity, a follower of this path has no mercy, no virtue, and absolutely no sense of fairness. She has the law, and the law is everything. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while following the absolute letter of the law. If you voluntarily pass up an opportunity to benefit from exploiting a loophole in the rules, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily transgress against the law, disobey a command from a superior, break your word, place personal concerns over duty, or fail to severely punish a transgressor against the law, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Knights."

The Path of Lilith states that the first woman created by God was not the submissive and gentle Eve; she was the tempestuous, wise, and demanding Lilith. For insisting on equality with Adam, she was cast out of the Garden of Eden. The followers of this path worship Lilith, attempting to follow in her footsteps and learn from her example. They seek wisdom through pain and adversity, and they preach Lilith's superiority over Caine. Obviously, because the Path of Lilith reveres Lilith over Caine, it walks the line of heresy within the Sabbat. Because its followers vocally espouse the worship of an ancient and the tales of the Book of Nod, the Camarilla considers them heretics as well. Followers of the Path of Lilith are well advised to hide themselves, lest they be destroyed. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while seeking enlightenment or knowledge through pain. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to make another individual suffer in order to gain wisdom or learn a lesson painfully, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily deny Lilith's superiority, rely on another, or feel remorse for an individual who is suffering (or has suffered), you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Bahari."

Adherents to the Path of Metamorphosis are strange, alien creatures who attempt to carve away everything recognizably human-like about themselves and transform into something more profound. Of all paths, this may be the most inhumane, as its followers actively disdain and revile all things having to do with humans, humanity, or the human condition. These vampires are cold, utterly inhuman, and exactingly scientific. Some say they are loners, but it is more accurate to say they are more interested in research and experimentation than in participation and exploration. They are scientists, but they are also spiritualists, focusing on attaining a more perfect state of being. A Seeker eliminates gender and physical boundaries first, and then works to revise personal mental and social constraints until it is no longer recognizably human by any comparison. This path was developed and is practiced primarily by Clan Tzimisce, but other vampires, notably the Gangrel, are also found following this path. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while performing a scientific experiment or actively attempting to further chrysalis into something new. If you voluntarily share knowledge for no benefit, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you ignore an opportunity to alter yourself, seek apotheosis, or perform a new experiment, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Seekers." Members of Clan Tzimisce can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

Vampires who follow the Path of Night embrace a dark, deterministic viewpoint on their damned state. They believe that vampires must torment all agents of good, promoting evil and defiling innocence wherever possible. Their intent is to remind humanity that it should be afraid of vice and of the creatures who walk the night. Some adherents to the Path of Night are motivated by religious fervor, while others are truly nihilistic in their views of good and evil. A few even go so far as to abhor the touch of light entirely, shrouding themselves in fabric or shadows, and even tearing out their eyes so to more fully unify with darkness. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while attempting to shock others with your evil, undermine another's authority, or pointedly violate the orders of someone who thinks she's in charge of you. If you voluntarily fail to act on an opportunity to spread evil, tempt others to damnation, or terrify the faithless, you lose Morality as though you've committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily follow another character's orders or repent of your evil, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. This merit encompasses all roleplay variants of the Path of Night, including Righteous, Allied, etc. Followers of this path are called "Nihilists." Members of Clan Lasombra can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

Primarily a Sabbat path, followers of the Path of Nocturnal Redemption believe that there must be a higher power and that humanity has failed it. They find evidence to support this belief in the sin and degradation flourishing throughout the world. Vampires are the divine answer to this failure; the dark angels who exist in a state of purgatory on earth as a scourge upon sin. As children of Caine, vampires must seek redemption; not only for the sins of their creator, but also for their own failings. While adherents to this path no longer concern themselves with human morality, they do believe the vampiric condition is represented by the seven cardinal sins. As part of their quest to experience both sin and virtue, adherents follow a cycle of bestial indulgence and redemption that they refer to as the Divine Tide. By embracing the ebb and flow of sin followed by introspection and meditation on the act of sin, a follower of the Divine Tide can gain a deeper, more spiritual understanding of the vampiric condition. Through this understanding she can redeem herself, and in turn her creator, by guiding and taking confession from those who have lost their faith and succumbed to sin. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin so long as you submit to the Divine Tide by embracing it and seeking forgiveness in order to understand the Beast and find redemption. If you resist the Divine Tide by refusing to indulge, or if you fail to seek knowledge of the Curse when there is little or no risk to yourself, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you refuse to learn from those with greater understanding, kill a mortal touched by the divine without first offering her the Embrace, or refuse to seek confession and redemption, you gain Beast traits as if committing a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called Martyrs.

For vampires on the Path of Orion, both one's human nature and one's Beast are impediments to progression. The species as a whole will progress, they say, only when vampires accept their purpose as hunters, destroying man and Beast alike. To these individuals, undead existence is a quest to find and overcome the greatest challenges, the most dangerous enemies, and ultimately, themselves. By facing and destroying the strongest combatants, a follower of the Path of Orion finds purification. They know that they must not only overcome their own Beasts, but also the Beasts of all vampires. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin while actively pursuing enemies or designated prey to be killed. If you show mercy or sympathy, or if you hunt a foe a weaker than yourself, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you voluntarily ignore a threat, refuse a challenge, turn away from a worthy hunt, or show cowardice or weakness, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Stalkers."

A path created and primarily followed by members of the Ravnos clan, the Path of Paradox teaches that existence is fluid and malleable. Nothing is real, nothing is static, and all things can be changed through an act of will. The Ravnos call this path "Mayaparisatya," and the path owes much to Hindu teachings. According to this arduous and demanding path, mortals follow a cycle of life and death — a cycle that has somehow eluded vampires. Due to this, the undead have lost their dharma and have no true destiny. Those vampires who ignore their dharma must be educated and enlightened — or destroyed. A vampire must penetrate the illusions of reality and see the truth beneath or she will never find salvation. This is much like accepting two conflicting truths and finding ultimate meaning in the paradox between. System: You do not gain Beast traits when revealing a truth to someone unaware of that information, or when erasing a karmic debt. If you voluntarily ignore an opportunity to pursue a hidden truth, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you hinder change or fail to promote chaos, or allow others to ignore their dharma and stagnate, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Rakshasa." Members of Clan Ravnos can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

When one has immortality, supernatural prowess, and an eternity to squander, the only true acquisition is that of authority and dominion over others. Followers of this path believe that power and control are the only goals worth pursuing, and that by bending the world to her will, a vampire creates order, stability, and meaningful victories. In some circles, this path is called the "Path of Domination," for those who follow it are tyrannical and authoritative — but also strangely protective of those who serve them. Unifiers demand to be feared and respected, and do not tolerate weakness or meaningless failure; being bested is one thing, simply being unable to achieve is another. They are consummate politicians and strategists, willing to do anything and everything to achieve authority. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin in order to directly increase your personal power, whether physical or political, or to prevent yourself from losing such power. If you voluntarily give up authority, allow your followers to be abused by anyone other than you, defy a superior you are not willing to directly challenge, or pass up an easy opportunity to gain power, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Unifiers."

Adherents to the Path of Scorched Heart believe that the Beast can only be controlled by systematically eradicating every emotion. They espouse that the heart is a weakness to the vampiric condition; it should have died with the rest of one's mortal flesh. All falsehood and weakness are products of emotions, and one can only reach truth through cold logic and reserved scholarship. The heart must not be allowed to rule one's actions. The only way to overcome the Beast is to turn your heart to metaphorical ash. Although Phoenicians recognize a crude distinction between the concepts of good and evil, they only see benefit in practicality. Followers of this path consider most vampires to be weak, emotional simpletons, and Phoenicians strive to use those weaknesses against their enemies. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin completely without sentiment or emotional reasoning. If you place someone else's needs above your own, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you act on emotion, show trust in another, or fail to apply logic in a crisis, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Phoenicians." Members of the True Brujah bloodline (and only that bloodline, not the entire Brujah clan) can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

An ancient path originally followed by Clan Baali, the Abelenes act as shepherds guiding and protecting Creation from their true enemy: demons, devils, and fallen angels, all trapped in slumber by the One Above. The children of these slumbering horrors give them power and risk their awakening with every mention of their name. Followers believe that Abel was resurrected as an immortal angel of vengeance, charged to be his brother's shepherd and to cull from Caine's flock to reclaim the blood his brother had stolen from him. Abelenes believe that all vampires are children of the light and blessed by the One Above, guiding humanity and shielding them against the Children of the Sleepers. The swarm needs to endure, and to that end the Children must remain imprisoned. Disciples of Moloch study demonology as a means to an end, collecting vast amounts of forbidden knowledge to learn the obscured True Names of the Sleepers so they may better supplicate them into perpetual dreaming. Abelenes are renowned occultists and incredibly skilled blood sorcerers who congregate in Nests, with no central authority. The path itself was rebuilt to espouse the precepts of the Order of Moloch and all followers of the path are, without exception, members of the Order. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin so long as you commit that sin in an effort to thwart the machinations of the Sleepers and their children, including other Baali. If you swear fealty to the Fallen, the Sleepers, or other demonic forces, or if you fail to heed the counsel of the Swarm and are disloyal to other Abelenes, you gain Beast traits as if you had committed a level 1 sin. If you refuse to commit atrocities to keep the Sleepers dormant or if you selfishly use your knowledge and prowess to amass personal power you gain Beast traits as if you had committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called Abelenes or the Children of Moloch. Members of the Baali clan can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3. Baali who purchase the Moloch's Heir Merit may purchase this merit for free.

Also called the Path of Sutekh or the Path of Typhon, the Followers of Set created this path as a means of freeing oneself from moral taboos and the influence of the material world in order to best serve the Antediluvian, Set. This path is a religious one, preaching that Set will one day return to cleanse the Beast from his followers and shape the world in his image. When that day comes, Set's true followers will undergo an apotheosis and be blessed by their god. Adherents to this path believe that Set was truly one of the gods of Egypt, and that his immortality is passed on to them, carrying them through death and granting them vampiric unlife. They refuse the myths of Caine and worship Set wholeheartedly. They seek to find Set and return him to the world; to convert other vampires to his service; and to corrupt and defile hope, innocence, and purity wherever they discover it. System: You do not gain Beast traits when performing a sin, as long as you commit that sin in the active service of Set. You must make every attempt to corrupt vampires to the worship of Set, especially those seeking Golconda, or else gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 1 sin. If you fail to take advantage of another person's emotional weaknesses or fail to take every measure to acquire knowledge that may aid in Set's return, you gain Beast traits as though you committed a level 4 sin. Followers of this path are called "Theophidians" or "Temple Guards." Members of the Viper bloodline (and only that bloodline, not the entire Setite clan) can purchase this merit for 2 points, rather than 3.

Setites enjoy developing cults and herds of worshippers. Whether these devotees are fanatic slaves, adoring followers, or sex-crazed groupies, your cult serves without question. These mortals adore their vampiric master — whether or not they know your true nature. You may define this cult in any way you choose. Perhaps they worship Set, or Caine, or even you. They may have ecstatic parties and orgies, run drug laboratories, or participate in any rituals you choose. You gain 5 free dots in one of the following backgrounds: Haven, Herd, or Resources. If you've previously purchased dots of that background, all XP is refunded. If you assigned creation points to that background, you may move those points to another background in which you currently have no points. In addition to this background, you have a temple in which your personal cult worships; this temple is considered holy ground. If you have any merits or flaws that are affected by holy ground, this temple does not affect you negatively. If you spend 3 Blood and rest the day in this temple, you can heal 2 points of aggravated damage instead of 1. This temple may be further defined by the Haven merit.

Although your aura is pale, and you have most of the spiritual hallmarks of a vampire, your flesh retains a semblance of the human condition. You appear alive and healthy, your skin is warm to the touch, and you can pretend to be human more easily than other vampires. Additionally, you have the capacity to eat and drink as a mortal does and can even savor the taste of such refreshments. While you do not derive nourishment from this food, the ability to eat is a benefit to a vampire who is pretending to be human. A character on a Path of Enlightenment cannot possess this merit. If you purchase a Path of Enlightenment while you have this merit, you must remove Personal Masquerade, and your XP are not refunded.

Just as other Caitiff show vestiges of their lineage through their disciplines, an atavistic trait of your blood shines through. When you select this merit, you may also select a 1 or 2 point clan-specific merit from another clan, which you receive at no cost. You cannot select a merit that makes you a member of a bloodline, nor can you select merits that grant access to additional disciplines (including additional paths of Thaumaturgy or Necromancy), such as Seekers of the Hidden or Prodigy of the Flesh. However, you can select merits that are typically only able to be purchased by member of a bloodline, such as Rhythm of Battle or Jack-be-Nimble. This merit remains fixed for as long as you have Piece That Remains, and should you lose this merit, you also lose access to that clan-specific merit.

You have accomplished revelatory breakthroughs during your study of illusion and reality. You possess a deep understanding of the nature of maya, existence, and space. Freed of mundane limitations, you wield your powers more effectively, targeting your foes' consciousness, rather than simply their senses. You are always considered to have a character's Gaze and Focus, unless that character possesses a power that limits or prevents you from attaining it. If so, determine Gaze and Focus normally, as though neither character had a power affecting Gaze and Focus. In addition, whenever you use a Chimerstry or Auspex power (including techniques that use either of these disciplines) to target another character, that attack does not count against the maximum number of attacks that character can receive during that round of combat. A target can only be affected by one application of Pierce the Veil in a given round. You may also use Pierce the Veil to target a character who normally could not be targeted due to having reached the maximum number of attacks possible in that round.

You draw power from the energy of death. Anytime a sentient creature (mortal or supernatural) dies within your line of sight, you immediately gain 3 Blood. This Blood acts in all ways like normal Blood points. This effect does not allow you to hold more Blood than your normal maximum. The death of non-sentient beings, such as animals, and the death of constructs, such as golems, does not provide this benefit.

While other clans often reject members of their lineage whose blood mutates into strange or different native powers, the Nosferatu never cast away family. The bond between Nosferatu is so close-knit that there is no distinction between bloodline and parent clan. You may choose one common or uncommon discipline to possess as a fourth in-clan discipline. You cannot create your character with a free dot (or dots) of this fourth in-clan discipline, but you can teach this discipline, and it is considered in-clan for all other powers or effects. You pay in-clan XP costs to purchase this discipline. You may choose from these common and uncommon disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Dementation, Dominate, Fortitude, Presence, Protean, Quietus, and Serpentis. This merit cannot be combined with other merits that give your character additional in-clan disciplines.

Fiends are capable of twisting themselves inside out, all for the goal of transformation and surpassing their original limits. For you, fluidity and change are your natural state. At the beginning of each game session, you can change your archetype and one of your attribute focuses. At the end of each session, your archetype and focuses revert to their original ones.

You've got a nose for business and a knack for networking. Where others struggle to get things done, if you can't handle something yourself, you know a guy who knows a guy. Once every month, you can temporarily switch out any or all of your influence specializations. The next month, your normal specializations return.

You've discovered an object of unspeakable power. You guard it jealously, and though curiously few others take much interest in it, you keep it safe just the same. When you purchase this merit, choose an item to serve as your Power Object; the Storyteller must approve your choice. The item must be unique in nature and sufficiently interesting to catch your attention. Though it possesses no actual powers, you believe it does, and you manifest additional abilities when you have it at your side. The Power Object grants its wielder a +2 wild card bonus in challenges using a specific skill; you must select this skill at the time the merit is purchased. You must be holding or wearing the Power Object to benefit from this merit. Should you lose the item, you immediately lose access to its power. You must spend a minimum of four downtime actions to either secure a replacement, which must have all the same characteristics of the old one, or you may create a new one, tying it to a different skill. The process of obtaining a new Power Object involves severing your connection with the old one. If you reclaim your former Power Object afterward, it provides no benefit.

Your sire is an impressive elder or holds an important position in the Camarilla. You possess the innate status trait Loyal so long as both you and your sire avoid scandal. Should either of you gain the negative status Disgraced, you lose the benefit of this merit until the Disgraced status trait is removed.

You've developed your power of intuition to the point that it is as reliable as your other senses. Where others are limited to their mundane perceptions, your psychic abilities grant you extraordinary versatility. In any situation that calls for you to use the Investigation, Stealth, or Dodge skills, you may instead substitute your Awareness skill (using its value for forming test pools, and using modifiers that affect your Awareness skill instead of the substituted skill). This benefit applies to test pools as well as circumstances where specific knowledge is required. In those situations, your Awareness skill helps you to arrive at a correct solution through worldly wisdom. However, you cannot use the system effects that come from possessing these skills, unless you purchase them normally.

Some believe that the Ventrue clan was favored by Caine, born to enforce his laws. The blood of the Clan of Kings is mighty and stretches into the dim remembrance of antiquity. Vampires of weaker generation than yourself automatically fail if they attempt to use any Dominate discipline powers on you (including techniques, elder powers, and luminary powers).

Before they departed the Sabbat, many Tzimisce were willing to share their secrets with the Volgirre, as these Toreador held undeniable passion for the beauties of the corporeal form. Whether you benefited from a skilled mentor during your time in the Sabbat, or you possess a special talent for study, you are able to learn up to 5 dots of the Vicissitude discipline without a teacher.

Once per hour, you can activate a Protean power without paying the costs (Blood and action) normally required to activate that power. Protean Blood's effects happen on your initiative and cannot be combined with effects that allow you to take actions before or after your initiative in the round. This merit cannot be used with elder powers or Protean-based techniques, but may be used with the merit Shape of Beast's Wrath.

You have memorized and practiced the paths of Thaumaturgy, allowing you to quickly and efficiently cast spells. During a combat scenario, if you declare your intention to spend one of your actions using a Thaumaturgy power, you gain a bonus to your initiative equal to the number of dots you possess of the Occult skill.

In an era where all may seem hopeless, you maintain a world view to which you cling romantically. When all may seem lost and the whole world appears against you, you find a way to persevere, ready to level a mighty tilt against even the most daunting of windmills. In the event your total points of Willpower should drop to 0 points, you suffer no penalty. In addition, if your total points of Willpower drop below 3, you may use a value of 3 in place of your actual Willpower score for your defensive test pools.

As the dictates of the kings and queens of old were instantly obeyed, you can unleash the force of your personality in a magnificent flash. Once per game session, you can use any one Presence power instantly, without expending an action. You can activate this merit even before your initiative. You must pay the normal cost and make the normal tests involved in activating the Presence power. Regal Bearing can be used to augment standard powers, but cannot be used in conjunction with elder powers or techniques.

Many wonder why True Brujah spend so much time in study, but as a dedicated Sage, you understand that learning is a lifelong process without beginning or end. Knowledge is a living body, constantly growing and evolving, and you attach no sense of permanence or unnecessary affection to that which has been outgrown. When your knowledge has served its purpose, you can discard it, pursuing studies more relevant to your needs. Provided you have sufficient means to conduct research, you may spend one downtime action to switch one of your Academics, Linguistics, or Lore skill specializations for another one of your choice. In the case of Academics, simple internet access will suffice for the purposes of determining access to research. However, more obscure Languages or Lore requires access to a Haven with the Library specialization, at your Storyteller's discretion. If you have the Natural Linguist or Loremaster merit, you may switch the bonus specializations it provides.

You practice a secret fighting style developed by Gangrel during the Anarch Revolt to combat other vampires. Rending, as it is known, utilizes fangs and claws in ways ordinary fighters would never consider, making use of your supernatural gifts to deplete your prey's reserves of blood. Whenever you succeed at making a Physical attack that uses your claws or your fangs, you may choose to rend and tear, causing your target to lose 1 point of Blood in addition to any damage the attack causes. If you achieve an exceptional success, you may cause the target to lose an additional point of Blood as well, for a total of 2 points lost. This Blood loss occurs even if your target took no damage due to use of powers such as Fortitude. If your target is not a vampire, this merit has no effect.

Your accomplishments are well known beyond the boundaries of clan and sect. Even vampires of other sects and groups have heard of you and know your reputation. You can carry one more fleeting status trait than your normal status limit allows. Should your reputation significantly tarnish, your Storyteller can remove the additional fleeting status until you recover from any scandals.

One per hour, you can use your simple action to loudly and clearly proclaim your faith in Caine and advocate the beliefs of the Dark Church. For the remainder of that turn, your maximum Blood expenditure rate is increased by 5. Your expenditure rate returns to normal at the beginning of the next turn.

The music of the spheres manifests differently for every Daughter of Cacophony. For some, it is a woeful dirge, for others, a passionate aria. For you, it is especially rhythmic: a song that naturally falls in line with the rhythm of combat, regardless of the form it takes. You can use your Social attribute to determine your initiative, instead of using the greater of your Physical or Mental attributes. When comparing ties among these three categories, your initiative falls after characters with equal Physical and Mental attributes.

Your faith and the fury of your spirit, when unleashed, is a palpable thing. You receive a +3 bonus to Brawl and Melee attack test pools when you are targeting a character who possesses demonic powers, infernal merits or investments, or the Daimoinon discipline. Additionally, you receive a +1 to your Brawl and Melee attack test pools when you are targeting diablerists or members of Clan Tremere. These bonuses do not stack; if more than one bonus applies, you receive the greater bonus. Righteous Fury requires a conscious act of faith, you must declare that you are using Righteous Fury when you announce the target of your character's attack. If that target doesn't meet the qualifications, this merit provides no bonus. All characters are aware of a successful use of this merit; brilliant white light erupts from the Salubri's fist (or weapon), radiating through the blow with the terrifying radiance of faith. Vampires who see this effect may not recognize it, but they feel a perceptible fear wash over them at the sight.

Compared to Clan Tremere's traditional blood magic, the eclectic approach the Telyav take when practicing Sielanic Thaumaturgy gives you more flexibility in its use than its stricter, hermetic analog. You can learn any ritual from any blood magic paradigm, including Necromancy, Koldunic Sorcery, and Abyss Mysticism. These rituals count against the total number of rituals you may possess, regardless of their paradigm.

You have delved deeply into the theory, design, and art of hermetic rituals, and you have mastered them. You may purchase twice as many Thaumaturgical rituals as you possess dots in Thaumaturgy. You may purchase this merit only once, but you may purchase it along with the Tremere merit: Thaumaturgic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

You have delved deeply into the theory, design, and art of hermetic rituals, and you have mastered them. You can purchase twice as many Necromantic rituals as you possess dots in Necromancy. You may purchase this merit only once, but you may purchase it along with the Giovanni merit: Necromantic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

Of all blood magicians, Telyav are especially focused on rituals, drawing upon centuries of pagan tradition to augment their studies. You can purchase rituals at an XP cost of the ritual's rating x 1. You may purchase this merit in addition to Thaumaturgic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

You may be larger than other people, more resistant to hardships, or have tougher skin, but for whatever reason, you have a greater capacity to withstand injury. Characters with this merit gain 1 additional health level in each wound track, resulting in four Healthy levels, four Injured levels, and four Incapacitated levels. This merit works in conjunction with the Stamina focus bonus granted by Fortitude; a character with both of these advantages possesses five health levels in each wound track.

During the Dark Ages, the Lhiannan practiced a limited form of Blood Magic that they called Ogham. Ogham involved the use of runic magic to tap into the spirit realm known as the Umbra. By inscribing these runes in blood on your body, you awaken some of the forgotten magics of Ogham. You may only benefit from a single Runic Woad at a time which lasts indefinitely or until you change your Runic Woad. Changing your Runic Woad requires an extensive ceremony and the expenditure of a downtime in your personal territory as you prepare and inscribe the Woad. You may create the following Woads: - Crimson Woad: Inscribing yourself with this Woad invites the spirits of war and rage to fuse with you, mastering the curse of the Beast and turning it into a powerful ally. While benefiting from this Woad you may always choose your frenzy type regardless of the source of your frenzy, including supernatural powers that direct your rage such as the Technique: Control the Savage Beast. In addition, while in frenzy you gain a wild card bonus to your offensive and defensive Physical test pools equal to the number of Beast traits you currently possess. - Woad of Helios: Inscribing this Woad requires you to perform a ceremony an hour before dawn. As the Beast riles under the threat of the rising sun you inscribe the Woad of Helios into your chest with a burning ember. When completed, and for as long as you benefit from this Woad, you are immune to Rotschreck and take normal damage from fire and sunlight. - Judgement Woad: By inscribing the name of an enemy on your body and displaying it for all to see, baleful spirits become bound to your essence. When in the target's presence, those spirits aid you against your enemy. Choose a single target with which you have familiarity when inscribing this Woad. Once the Judgement Woad is enacted, you maintain familiarity with your chosen target until you enact a new Woad. In addition, twice per game session you may utilize a free retest against a power that your chosen enemy attempts to use on you. These retests can be used in addition to any other appropriate retests, such as Willpower, but only one retest can be used in a single challenge. You may only inscribe one name on yourself at a time; changing the name requires spending a downtime action as though you are creating a new Judgement Woad.

There's nothing quite as fulfilling as the thrill of danger; the excitement of taking destiny into your hands and making it your own. The first point of Blood you spend each turn on Celerity, including elder powers or techniques, does not count toward your maximum Blood expenditure per turn. In addition, whenever you activate a Celerity power or technique, you may immediately heal a single health level of normal damage. You receive this benefit whenever you activate a Celerity power, even if you are not spending a point of Blood to do so (due to powers such as Quickened Blood). Finally, once per hour you may use a combat maneuver without spending a point of Willpower.

Ahrimanes have a deeper connection to spiritual matters than most vampires, reflecting their long history as shamans. Through extraordinary action or happenstance, you have earned the service of a powerful spiritual ally who serves you from beyond the spiritual plane. This spirit will typically be an animal spirit or another manifestation of nature, and it can intervene on your behalf. Construct this Retainer as a rating 5 Jaggling NPC Spirit Retainer. Should your Retainer be destroyed, you may undergo a level 3 Heroic Quest to find another.

You have a certain quality of faith that inspires others. So long as she is faithful to the precepts of a ritus, this character receives a +2 to her ritae test pool as the primary initiator of that ritae. If that ritus is successful, the participants regain all spent Willpower. If she is an assistant to the primary initiator of a ritae, she lends a +2 bonus (instead of a +1) to any test required to cast the ritus.

You possess a fragment of the Code of Samiel that details a ritual of retribution. By spending 1 point of Blood and using a simple action to trace runes of divine empowerment on a weapon, you may add an additional equipment quality to your weapon according to its category: - Melee Weapons: Accurate, Armor Piercing, or Brutal (all targets must be within melee range to use this quality). - Ranged Weapons: Automatic, Fast, or Long Range. Once empowered, this effect lasts for an hour. Only you may benefit from the empowered weapon's third quality; should another character attempt to use your weapon, she is only able to access its standard qualities. You can only have a single weapon empowered with Sanguine Anointing at a time. This merit cannot be purchased by characters that possess any Salubri bloodline merits.

While the Beast's urges are perpetual, you have learned to satiate them, albeit temporarily. By spending a number of Blood points equal to the current number of Beast traits you possess and five standard actions, you may feed your Beast, lowering your Beast traits by 1. Note, should you accumulate 5 Beast traits in total, you cannot use this ability before your Humanity diminishes.

You have studied the various ritae of the Sabbat at great length, and you have the talent and aptitude to master them more thoroughly than most. You may choose one additional ritae (Auctoritas, Faction or Ignoblis) per dot of the Rituals background.

Bits and pieces of history speak of an academy of the devil: a place where dread scholars were educated in dark magics and sent into the world. Famously, Dracula himself was said to be a student there. You, too, were one of these scholars. While you cannot possess any dots of Thaumaturgy, you may purchase a number of Thaumaturgy rituals for every dot of Auspex you possess, including techniques, elder powers, and luminary powers. For the purpose of purchasing rituals, Auspex serves as your primary path, instead of a Thaumaturgy path.

Your avatar of death is extraordinarily powerful, granting you additional gifts when you summon it. When you activate your Fourth Horseman transformative power, you also call forth a demonic steed with a Stock NPC rating of 4, which you may immediately mount with no action cost. This Stock NPC is immune to the powers of Animalism and Necromancy. While astride this steed, the radius of your Fourth Horseman power extends to five steps, rather than the standard two steps, and when you expend an action on movement, you may take a number of steps up to double the normal amount of steps you usually take. Only you may ride this steed; it will not abide another rider. In addition, while in this form, your heightened connection to the avatar of death allows you to use any Mortis Path powers without expending Blood points to fuel them.

When another character spends 1 or more points of Willpower to ignore your Awe, or attempts to overcome your Majesty, your Beast responds with spiteful rage. The sheer force of its anger rips into your rival's spirit, tearing her apart. The target of Scourge of Alecto takes 1 point of aggravated damage; this damage cannot be reduced or negated. This effect does not require an action or a challenge to activate.

Gangrel are often explorers by nature, but you are among the select few whose journeys to watery depths revealed inexplicable wonders. You know of sunken shrines to dead gods, and you can read portents in the northern lights. When you call out, the sea listens, and it has shared its secrets with you. You may purchase Thaumaturgy: Path of Neptune's Might at out-of-clan costs.

You've got a knack for going places: an expertise cultivated from long nights on the road and spent shoe leather. You've seen it all, from fairies in Fresno to Sabbat in Saskatchewan, and you know how to avoid attracting undue attention. The potential maximum number of dots you may purchase of the Survival and Streetwise skills increases by 2 (normally this raises your potential maximum to 7). In addition, you gain the first 3 dots of either the Streetwise or Survival skill for free. If you already purchased the selected skill, your XP for that purchase is refunded. If you assigned creation points to the chosen skill, you may reassign those points to a skill in which you have no points assigned. When you are traveling, provided you are simply passing through, you can move unmolested through any area, automatically avoiding any patrols. Only parties who have been tipped off to your arrival, actively pursuing you, or have a supernatural way of tracking you may attempt to stop you. You can extend this benefit to a number of characters traveling with you, up to a maximum of the dots you possess of the Survival Skill if passing through the wilderness, or up to the dots you possess of the Streetwise Skill if passing through an urban area.

The shamanic rites of the Ahrimanes are shrouded in the secrecy, glimpsed only through whispers echoing in their enemies' blood and ash. As one of the Ahrimanes, you have learned to tune your mind to the elements, the spirits, and the natural world. This merit grants you Spiritus as a fourth in-clan discipline. You do not start with a free dot (or dots) of this fourth in-clan discipline; you can teach this discipline; powers that affect in-clan disciplines (such as Possession) affect it; and you pay all costs to learn this discipline as if it were native to your clan. This merit cannot be combined with other merits that give your character additional in-clan disciplines.

Large snakes are unique because they prefer strangulation as a means of killing their prey: a slow, yet gentle process that avoids unnecessary bloodshed and damage. When an opponent is in your grip, they are helpless against you, and you can crush them with ease. Whenever you use the Grapple combat maneuver, you do not reduce the damage. In addition, once per hour, you may use the Grapple combat maneuver without paying its Willpower cost.

Sorcery is a gift granted only to the most faithful, and Set's children revere this ability as a mark of faith among their kind. When you acquire this merit, you gain the discipline Thaumaturgy. You can purchase the Path of Corruption and one other Thaumaturgical path of your choice. These paths are learned without a teacher and are considered out-of-clan powers for all purposes (including purchase costs).

You are one of the original Black Angels or a direct descendant of those that Azaneal converted. As such, your Lasombra heritage remains intact and your in-clan disciplines are Daimoinon, Obtenebration, and Dominate. In addition, when you select this merit, you may select up to 3 points of Lasombra-specific merits which you receive at no cost. This is an exception to the rule prohibiting you from taking multiple clan merits at the same cost. You cannot select a merit that makes you a member of a bloodline nor can you select merits that are typically only able to be purchased by a member of a bloodline. Finally, you are considered a Lasombra for discounts that would apply to purchasing Paths of Enlightenment merits. Shadows of the Past may only be purchased during character creation.

Your connections are boundless, and when you wish to accomplish a task acting from behind the scenes, your abilities are unparalleled. Whenever you use a targeted influence action to attack another character's influence level, you need only spend 1 influence action for each point you wish to remove, instead of the normal 2 actions per point. In addition, you may leverage this merit when attempting to undermine Stock Locations. Reduce the difficulty by 2 when you participate in any quest to undermine a Stock Location, to a minimum of 1.

When assuming the fight form granted by Protean, you can choose instead to turn into an enormous half-wolf, half-man monster. When you utilize Shape of Beast's Wrath, your Brawl test pool increases by +5, and you do aggravated damage with your unarmed brawling attacks. While in this form, all of your defensive pools (Physical, Mental, and Social) suffer a -2 penalty. Shape of the Beast's Wrath is considered a transformative power and cannot be combined with other transformative powers. Attribute bonuses or focus benefits that would normally be gained from Shape of the Beast do not apply to a character who has assumed the form granted by Shape of the Beast's Wrath.

The Dark Father has taught you the secrets of shedding your skin, allowing you to be reborn anew and fool the soulless minions of the Aeons. Expend a standard action to rip the outer layer of skin from your face. Afterward, your body renews, and you automatically heal 3 points of damage, starting with aggravated damage first. The effects of any powers active on you when you use Shedding the Snake's Skin, such as Summon, Clairvoyance, or the Thaumaturgy ritual Blood Contract, immediately end, canceling them. The user of any powers broken in this manner know that her hold over you has been rebuked by Set's glory. This power resets any previous Familiarity others have established with you. Just as a snake infrequently sheds its skin, you are likewise limited to using this power only once per game session, and afterwards your maximum Willpower pool is reduced by 1 for 30 days or two game sessions, whichever is shorter.

The centuries of blood starvation and frequent periods of torpor your bloodline has endured has created anomalies in your blood potency. As a result, you may purchase a single Obfuscate technique or elder power that would otherwise be restricted by your generation. For example, a Neonate with this merit is able to purchase a single Obfuscate elder power; Pretender Elders may purchase a second Obfuscate elder power; and Master Elders and Luminary Elders may purchase a technique that requires Obfuscate. Elder powers purchased with this merit cost 20 XP, and techniques cost 12 XP. Any additional discipline requirements for techniques must still be met. Similarly, a character must possess the necessary precursors in order to purchase Obfuscate elder powers. This merit cannot be used to purchase an Obfuscate luminary power.

Your third eye cuts through clutter to expose reality around you, even if you may not like what you see. Once per game session, before you attempt a challenge using your Auspex test pool, you may spend a point of Blood to exude a flash of light from your third eye. You automatically succeed at the challenge, achieving a normal success. Alternately, after winning a challenge using your Auspex test pool, you may spend 1 point of Blood to automatically convert your normal success to an exceptional success. However, seeing the truth beyond the curtain is a taxing experience. For the next hour after using Sight Beyond Sight, you gain the Death Sight flaw, as your eyes are opened to the toxic reality of the world. Sight Beyond Sight can be used in conjunction with powers corresponding to dots 1-5 of the Auspex discipline; it cannot be used with Auspex elder powers, luminary powers, or techniques. This merit cannot be purchased by characters that possess any Salubri bloodline merits.

Due to some facet of your history, whether it is intense training or simply natural talent, you are prodigally gifted with a single skill. Choose one skill and raise your character's potential maximum number of dots in that skill by 1. You must still spend XP as normal to purchase that skill to its maximum level. You can purchase the Skill Aptitude merit multiple times, but each time you do, you must apply the merit to a different skill.

Coyotes are among the most opportunistic hunters; they'll gladly make a meal out of anything they can catch. You receive a +2 wild card bonus to your attack test pool when engaging in a challenge against a target that has a lower initiative score than you. In addition, you receive a bonus equal to the number of dots you possess of the Streetwise skill when determining if you achieved an exceptional success against the target. This merit does not grant you an innate knowledge of your opponent's initiative score; this must be discovered through the course of combat or with the use of other powers.

Either you are extremely lithe, incredibly dexterous, or amazingly sharp-witted; whatever the reason, you have the uncanny ability to avoid damage. You gain a +3 bonus to your Dodge-based defense test pools.

The sheer beauty of your song attracts attention and causes rapture in even the coldest heart. If you have the Presence power Entrancement, you can use it on any individual who is listening to you sing. You may do so even if the target is not within your line of sight and even if the target is not focused on you and does not consciously realize that you are singing. This effect cannot be used through remote means, such as the Melpominee power Phantom Speaker, an audio recording, or over a telephone; the target must hear your voice first-hand.

Regardless of which sect they belong to, Lasombra have a knack for rising to the upper crust of vampire society. True to form, you have carved out a niche for yourself among your sect's elite. You automatically gain the Reputation merit, as well as one of the following sect-specific merits of your choice, depending on your sect: - Anarch: Moniker or Wild One - Camarilla: Machiavellian Prodigy or Social Nobility - Sabbat: Black Hand Membership, Inquisition Membership, Keeper of a Sacred Text, Sanctified, or Scholar of the Sword

In your past, you held a prestigious social position: perhaps as a long-ruling prince, an Archon, or a famous Harpy. Although you don't necessarily hold the position at this time, your name has become synonymous with the upper echelons, and you are treated with an extraordinary amount of respect. When someone satisfactorily repays a boon owed to you, you may give them the fleeting status Gallant.

The demonic powers of the Baali are despised by all vampires. To humanity, they are proof that heaven and hell exist; a revelation that most humans are incapable of processing. Whenever you use a Daimoinon power in front of mortals, the observers assume you are a lesser figure associated with Hell or the equivalent afterlife from their chosen faith. As a result, mortal witnesses are scared out of their mind and enter into a catatonic state. Afterwards they refuse to talk about what happened and are unable to recall specifics of the event. In the case of secular or atheistic witnesses, they refuse to acknowledge what they saw as anything more than an elaborate hoax thereby preserving the Masquerade. In addition, while in the presence of anyone who has made an infernal pact, a deal with the devil, or even an unfulfilled promise to dark and hidden entities, you hear a soft and ominous harmony. While you do not know the specifics of this deal, you know that the person or persons have, or are likely willing, to be aided by the infernal. Consult your Storyteller prior to the game to be notified of any characters present who are infernal. In addition, your Storyteller will notify you if during play you encounter an NPC who is or may be willing to enter into an infernal arrangement. This merit, if used against the clan's interests, can expose infernalists; however, although some backstabbing or blackmail is expected among the Baali, those who defect or who flagrantly expose others in ways that do not advance the clan's interests are deemed traitors to the Baali. The Storyteller, playing the part of Hell, will adjudicate if a demonic response is warranted. In addition to any retribution imposed by the Storyteller, an offending character shall lose this merit and shall not receive an XP refund.

From banshees to sirens, mortal mythology is filled with stories of magic intertwined with song. Whether due to a kinship with a creature of legend or perhaps from singing lessons with one of the fae, your voice carries a trace of primordial magic capable of interfering with hostile effects. Whenever you use the Melpominee power Madrigal to bolster others, you can offer your targets a +2 wild card bonus when defending against hostile blood magic, including all Thaumaturgy and Necromancy powers. Your targets still gain the normal benefits of Madrigal as well.

You see the flaws and fallacies of the universe, the broken edges and shattered reflections that ripple out from every action. You occasionally remember things that didn't happen or have alternate-timeline impressions of people you know. This gives you a distorted perception of the world, but it can be useful when your life is in danger. You side-step blows before they are thrown; you move out of the radius of explosions, or away from falling objects, before they strike. Even Mental and Social powers have a difficult time invading your mind, as you are fortified within these strange ripples of insanity. Once per game session, when you are called upon to resist a Physical, Mental, or Social challenge, or when you are required to make a test that could result in injury, you may spend 1 Blood to automatically win the challenge or avoid the situation entirely. Sophistry can be invoked at any time, even before your turn in the initiative order. When Sophistry is used to avoid an attack, your opponent is considered to have failed to affect you. In the case of Mental and Social challenges, this result may prevent you from being immediately targeted again by the same power.

You may not be a dedicated magical practitioner, but you've picked up a few tricks. A character with this merit can perform a few magical rituals even if she has no dots of Thaumaturgy. You do not have to purchase the Thaumaturgic Training merit to buy Sorcerous Dabbler. When a player purchases this merit, she selects a number of Thaumaturgical rituals: either three level 1 rituals, or two level 2 rituals, or one level 3 ritual. The character must then purchase these rituals with XP at standard cost. Anarchs who possess Thaumaturgy are particularly valuable to the Movement (and particularly persecuted by Camarilla Tremere and Sabbat kolduns). Remaining among the Anarchs provides a level of political and personal safety the character would not otherwise possess. If this character loses her Committed acceptance, she is removed from the game, and it is assumed that she has been located and destroyed by her sorcerous enemies.

Your spiritual assets survived the last Great Maelstrom better than most. When you summon wraith Retainers using Necromancy: Sepulchre Path, create them at 1 rating higher than the power normally permits. For example, if you possess the Sepulchre Path power Summon Soul, and you also possess the Appearance focus, you summon a rating 4 Stock NPC wraith.

All Lhiannan believe that their embrace imparts a childe with a portion of the essence of the spirit infused with the Witch of Connaught. You received an especially potent shard, marking you as forever connected to the spirit world. Spirits recognize this attunement and treat you favorably. In addition, you may purchase gifts from the auspice of the moon phase of the moon you were embraced under. You are limited to purchasing only level 1 and level 2 gifts. When employing these gifts, you spend Blood instead of any other required costs. These gifts are taught to you by willing spirits of the Umbra and are purchased at out-of-clan costs. This merit must be purchased at character creation and, if removed, you lose all purchased werewolf Gifts. You may not purchase the Awaken Minor Spirit gift through this merit. While the spirits recognize you as an ally, they do not trust you enough to give you dominion of their kind.

You have trained in order to cast Thaumaturgy for the express purpose of battle. Select a single path of Thaumaturgy when you purchase this merit. You gain a +4 wild card bonus to all of your attack test pools when using powers from this path during a combat scenario. This bonus only applies to the challenges involving direct uses of the chosen path. It does not apply to indirect uses, such as attempting a challenge to establish a grapple in order to use Cauldron of Blood.

The spiritual nature of Ahrimanes leads them to bond closely with animals and spirits of land and sky. You enjoy an especially strong connection to a spirit that serves as a guide in the form of a personal totem. You gain 2 dots of the Totem background, a background normally only available to shapeshifters. You can purchase up to a maximum of 5 dots of this background with XP using your normal cost for backgrounds. You must obtain Storyteller permission to purchase each additional dot greater than 2. This permission typically requires some act of service for your totem or implementing its teachings in a meaningful way. This totem grants benefits nearly identical to a shapeshifter's totem benefits, with some exceptions. Any totem benefits that cost or provide Gnosis instead cost or provide the same quantity of Blood points. Should you purchase more than 2 dots of Totem background, you are exempted from the Pack Diversity requirement, allowing you to receive more than 2 totem bonuses. In addition, the Gift Affinity totem benefit instead grants you a single use of a 1-dot power from one of the following disciplines: Auspex, Animalism, Dominate, Obfuscate, Presence, Thaumaturgy, or Spiritus.

Cultures throughout the world have come to identify and venerate the spirits of the natural world. While some entreat the spirits with deep respect, their devotion is but a shallow understanding compared to your ability to command these apparitions. When using Thaumaturgy: Path of Elemental Mastery, you are not required to pay any Blood costs to activate those powers. In addition, you may choose to double the duration of any Path of Elemental Mastery power. Lastly, any spirits you summon or objects you animate receive a +2 bonus to their Stock NPC rating. Even if you do not yet have the ability to summon spirits with Path of Elemental Mastery, you can still summon a simple spirit by spending 1 point of Blood and using a standard action to do so. This spirit acts as Stock NPC with a rating of 2, but it does not have any special powers (or receive an additional +2 bonus to its rating).

Centuries of faith and dedication are carried within Salubri blood. As long as you have no Beast traits, you can spend 1 Blood when you are targeted by a demonic power, abilities granted by infernal merits or investments, or the Daimoinon discipline. If you do, you automatically resist the use of that power. This effect can be used at any time, even before your initiative in a combat round. A character with this merit cannot learn demonic powers, purchase infernal merits, utilize infernal investments, or learn the Daimoinon discipline.

Once, knights and members of the nobility ruled by the sword and the strength of the hand that wielded it. This faith in the divine strength and right of true kings grants you Potence as an additional in-clan discipline, as though you had obtained it via the Additional Common Discipline merit.

Madness is in your blood. Anyone foolish enough to taste even a drop of it becomes infected by all of your derangements for a full 24 hours. If someone dares to drink your blood for three consecutive nights, she gains your derangements permanently, though they may be removed with XP, using the normal rules for removing flaws. In addition, the presence of others' madness strengthens your power over them. You gain a +2 wild card bonus to your attack test pools when targeting a character that possesses at least one Derangement trait.

Your demonic master prefers subtlety and guile, allowing you to obscure the source of your powers. The flames of your Demonic Fire, Profane Contract, or Unholy Regeneration gifts burn the color of normal flames. In addition, when your Infernal Power gifts are in effect, your aura does not show signs of infernal taint. Anyone who examines your aura while these gifts are in effect does not detect any infernal abnormalities.

Your voice is unparalleled, and you have been trained well in order to use it to best advantage. With the purchase of this merit, your potential maximum level of the Performance: Singing skill is increased by 3 dots; if your original cap was 5, then your new potential maximum becomes 8. Further, the XP cost to purchase Performance: Singing is halved (round up).

You are skilled at attacking from surprise. You receive a +3 bonus to your Physical test pools when attacking an opponent who is unaware of your presence. You only receive this bonus once per combat, as your first attack reveals your presence and ruins any further surprise.

Each time you purchase a Retainer, you can choose for that Retainer to be either a hellhound (if crafted from an animal) or a szlachta (if crafted from a human). You must pay all XP costs to gain this Retainer, as per usual. A character must have at least 3 dots of Vicissitude in order to use this merit, and your loyal monstrosities may be further modified by your Vicissitude powers. When you purchase this Retainer, assign one of the following benefits to them, due to this merit: - Armored: This creature's skin has been toughened and hardened with spikes, chitinous plating, or other natural protection. The Retainer gains 2 additional Healthy wound levels. - Over-Muscled: You have given this creature additional musculature, raising its physical strength and capacity. The Retainer has a free Potence specialization. - Lithe: You have lengthened this creature's bones, given it additional joints, and narrowed its physique, making it far more dexterous. With a simple action, this creature can automatically break free from any Grapple. Additionally, Lithe creatures have a +2 bonus to Dodge-based defense test pools and a +2 bonus to initiative. - Acid Spit: You have done terrible things to this creature's organs, mutating and contorting its internal chemistry. Once per turn, your Retainer can use a Ranged attack to inflict 2 points of aggravated damage. - Built for Combat: Your creation is built to fight. It has claws, and its limbs are arranged for maximum efficiency. Your ghoul has a free Brawl specialization and inflicts aggravated damage with brawling attacks. - Flight: Your beast has leathery wings, capable of carrying it awkwardly aloft. Your creation can fly at normal speeds (three steps per simple action). Only hellhounds (animal creations) may receive this option.

You possess a magical talisman. Your talisman must be a straight, rigid item between five inches and six feet long. Ancient Tremere sometimes carry staves and wands, while a more modern or subtle Tremere may carry a cane, a drum stick, or a baton. As long as you are holding it in or touching it with your hand, you receive a +2 bonus to all Thaumaturgy test pools. If your talisman is broken, lost, or stolen, it is unavailable until you remake it, a process which takes four game sessions or two months, whichever is greater. Only you can use your talisman; other characters gain no benefit from your talisman. Many talismans may be wielded as melee weapons, but that is not their primary purpose. If a talisman is sturdy enough to be wielded in melee, it should be built using the improvised weapon rules (giving it one weapon quality). Telyavetic Tremere who buy this merit can choose their talisman to be an Athame (or other bladed implement appropriate to a pre-Christian religion). Some religions scorn the use of an Athame as a weapon, but if wielded in combat, an Athame has the weapon qualities Concealable and either Fast, Silver, or Cold Iron.

Cultures throughout the world understand the power of a token or keepsake that carries a portion of spiritual or divine energies. Even those who place no stock in the occult carry images of saints or good luck charms. You have the skill necessary to create a talisman, an object that contains a level 1 or level 2 Thaumaturgy ritual. Using this power, you can imbue a part of your magic into a small trinket, such as a crystal or stone, a small stone or wood carving, or a small pouch of herbs. To create one, spend one downtime action (in addition to any other cost and/or requirement for the target ritual) casting the ritual and 1 point of Blood to infuse the item with the ritual. The Storyteller then creates a record noting the item, the ritual, and its expiration, as well as your test pool to be used, if applicable to the ritual. To use the talisman, its bearer spends a simple action to activate its magic. The user does not need to know the ritual to activate the talisman, but the user must interact with the talisman in a meaningful way, such as by consuming the herbs or saying a special prayer. In all cases, using the talisman requires you to expend one simple action to activate it. You can only benefit from the effects of a single talisman at a given time, and you cannot benefit from the same ritual twice, if you use a talisman to activate that ritual. You can have as many of these talismans in existence as you possess in dots of your Occult skill, and they remain virile for three months before they become inert.

You are well-known in tech circles; perhaps you were a famous hacker in life, or perhaps your fascination with technology led you to discover the vampire world, forcing a vampire to Embrace you before you became a threat to the Masquerade. You possess newly-invented or still-in development technological items before they become available to the public. You receive a +2 bonus to test pools involving Computers or Science, and you may spend a downtime action to place either the Stylish or Nondescript equipment quality on a piece of equipment. This quality may exceed an item's two-quality maximum.

You can purchase a path of Thaumaturgy in addition to the Path of Blood. This additional path is learned without a teacher and is purchased at in-clan XP costs, but is not considered an in-clan discipline. For example, when using the Dominate power Possession, these Thaumaturgic paths cannot be brought along. You can purchase this merit multiple times, thus allowing you to learn multiple paths of Thaumaturgy.

Thaumaturgists closely guard their knowledge, and those who know Thaumaturgy's secrets – like the Tremere – rarely share mastery of their art. Somehow, in your past, you were trained by a thaumaturge or sorcerer, or you gained access to forbidden texts, and you have gathered enough skill to become proficient in one path of Thaumaturgy. With this merit, you have the capacity to learn a single path of Thaumaturgy, and you can purchase its powers at out-of-clan costs. If your character learned this discipline in her history, you must justify such education in the character's background. If you wish to purchase Thaumaturgy after your character enters play, you must purchase this merit first.

You've become especially attuned to the ebb and flow of the magic that has flowed through your veins since the time of your Embrace. This connection has given you special insight into the arcane ways, allowing you to buy two additional paths of Thaumaturgy. This merit may only be purchased once.

Since their early days, Anda have embraced new technology and innovation, incorporating these advances into their fighting styles. For most Gangrel, the advantages of weaponry rarely outweigh the benefits of Shapeshifting; however, you get the best of both worlds. Whenever you activate the fight form of Shape of the Beast or another Major Transformation power, you may choose to instead assume a bestial but near-human form. This gives you the benefits of the transformation power, but you retain the ability to use tools and weapons. Any benefit that you would receive toward your Brawl-based attack test pools may also be applied to your Melee and Athletics-based attack test pools. Your appearance when using this benefit bears the distinct characteristics of the form you use. For example, if your Shape of the Beast animal form is a bull, your Beast Within Form will have horns and a bovine snout. These forms are distinctly masquerade-breaking in nature. You cannot appear normal through uses of Mask of 1000 Faces or creative applications of Vicissitude or prosthetics, but you may still hide by using Unseen Presence. If you meet shapeshifters who assume a similar animal form, and you possess the proper lore, you may be able to pass this off as a Glabro form. Speaking in this form is difficult, but still possible. While you are capable of maintaining this form for long periods, many groups of vampires, including the Anda, view remaining this way a sign of insecurity or weakness.

You have trained for many years to strike with unerring accuracy, using your speed and grace to circumvent all obstacles. Whenever you initiate an opposed challenge against a target, she cannot benefit from the Assist Defender mass combat tactic. If another character attempts to use the Assist Defender tactic, that character loses any action spent to attempt that tactic.

Command is the natural right and duty of a king. Provided you are able to use Willpower to retest an opposed Social challenge, you can do so without paying the required Willpower cost. This ability does not provide an exception to the rule that only one Willpower retest may be made per challenge.

You have extensive experience with changelings, either through study or direct contact with one of the fae. This experience, combined with the power of your blood, has granted you the ability to expand your studies and learn changeling arts. Choose one of the following Arts: Dread, Metamorphosis, Skullduggery, or Soothsay. You may purchase up to the third-level cantrip of this art for that same XP cost as an out-of-clan discipline. You must choose the art at the time you purchase this merit, and you cannot change this choice at a later time. When using this art, you expend points of Blood in place of Glamour to pay all costs. This merit does not grant you the benefit of bunks, allow you to purchase realms, or any other changeling benefits, aside from what is granted by the cantrips themselves.

The religions of the area where the Tlacique call home relied heavily on blood sacrifice, an offering of the heart's essence to gain divine favor. Through centuries of preserving these old ways, finding a victim's heart is second nature to you. You can attempt to use the Pierce the Heart combat maneuver on a vampire who has at least 1 level of damage in her Injured wound track, instead of the normal requirement that the target have damage in her Incapacitated wound track. You must still pay any applicable costs in order to use the Pierce the Heart combat maneuver.

The breaking of the Tremere clan's curse was a godsend to the Assamites, ending centuries of subjugation and restoring the clan's honor. Since then, Assamites have conducted exhaustive research, searching for a means to further inoculate the clan against further assaults. You've managed to achieve some degree of success, honing your own mystic defenses to a remarkable degree. You gain a +2 wild card bonus when defending against all forms of Thaumaturgy. In addition, provided you are able to spend Willpower to retest when you are defending against a Thaumaturgy power or ritual, you do not have to spend a point of Willpower to do so. This merit applies to all forms of Thaumaturgy, but does not work against Necromancy. This ability does not provide an exception to the rule that only one Willpower retest may be made per challenge.

Whether due to a mortal life of crime or a mean streak a mile long, you know how to handle yourself on the other side of the law. You may amass a reputation as a troublemaker, but you wear your notoriety with style. Should you be afflicted with a status ban, reduce its effective severity by one degree. For example, if you are affected by a greater ban, you only suffer the mechanical effects of a lesser ban. If affected by a lesser ban, you suffer no penalty. You are also immune to the Censure effect of any negative status trait you possess. In addition, you have a keen insight for when the jig is up. Should anyone spend downtime actions investigating an Alternate Identity background you possess, the Storyteller will make you aware that someone is looking into your persona, though she should not tell you which character is investigating you.

You are in possession of some portion of Saulot's ancient teachings about reaching Golconda, and you have spent time diligently studying the way to Suspire. You receive the benefits of the Golconda Seeker merit, and you may pick two benefits from that merit's list, instead of the usual one. If you drop below the Humanity threshold required by Golconda Seeker, you do not lose this merit, but you do lose all benefits associated with it until you regain your lost Humanity. In addition, these teachings have given you an innate ability to resist your Beast to a degree. You receive a free retest on any test to resist frenzy, and you gain a +2 wild card bonus on any degeneration challenge. You gain no benefit from this merit when losing Humanity or gaining Beast traits if you commit diablerie. To purchase this merit, you must have a minimum of 4 dots of the Lore skill, and you must possess a Lore skill specialization in Golconda.

The power of Temporis courses through your body, giving you an innate knowledge of the flow of time and making your natural state one of calm readiness. Where others may flounder and hesitate, you are calculated and precise, having learned that true speed is more a function of decisiveness and efficiency than rapid movement. For every Temporis power you possess, add a +1 wild card bonus to your initiative.

The Nagaraja are experts at studying murder scenes and tracking down the perpetrators of the crimes they investigate. By spending three standard actions studying a murder scene, you may utilize a special Tracking ability to hunt and pursue the killer (or killers) without the requirement of Heightened Senses, the abilities of Shape of the Beast, or the need to sniff or track by scent. Your skill in tracking killers is innate and involves a complex and a supernatural affinity akin to forensic science. To track a target murderer, you may employ your Mental attribute + Occult skill instead of the normal Mental attribute + Survival skill for any tracking challenges. You may utilize this specialized tracking skill only against the murderer or murderers of your discovered crime scene. Unlike normal tracking challenges, you are not limited to tracking killers travelling by foot and do not lose the trail if your target crosses water or gets into a vehicle, nor can your target utilize the Streetwise skill to evade pursuit. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether or not a character can be tracked by your knowledge of forensics. In addition, your skills in the mundane sciences involving murder scenes and forensics are unparalleled in the vampire community. You can assign 9 total dots between the following skills and backgrounds: Allies, Contacts, Influence (Underworld or Elite), Medicine, Science (Forensics). This is done by assigning 4 dots to one choice, 3 dots to the next, and 2 dots to the final choice. If you choose Allies, Contacts, or Influence, you must choose specializations involving people or groups involved with murder investigations such as police officers, medical examiners, etc. The dots granted by this merit do not require you to spend XP to purchase. If you previously purchased dots in an applicable background, the XP is refunded. If you assigned dots during character creation to an applicable background, you may move those dots to another background in which you currently have no points.

Crusaders insist that the Ventrue were once the Clan of Kings — born rulers destined for greatness — who later sacrificed their nobility for filthy lucre. Their sires and grandsires declined to soil their hands with trade, refusing to bend the knee to these merchant princes. Ventrue historians claim that the Crusader bloodline is descended from petty nobles, knights errant, and robber barons who could not or would not adapt to the Masquerade's new standards, which preserved the clan's power. You gain the Code of Honor merit, set to a code of your choosing. You may also optionally receive the Morality merits Path of Honorable Accord or Path of Chivalry at no cost.

The healing powers of the Salubri are a boon to their Kindred allies, but these powers are miraculous to everyday mortals suffering from pain, injury, and disease. You've become especially adept at aiding them while still blending in and maintaining the Masquerade. Whenever you use an Obeah power for the benefit or defense of a non-supernatural mortal, the target automatically assumes you are a lesser figure associated with whatever religion the target practices, and she keeps your actions and existence secret. In the case of secular or atheistic witnesses, they acknowledge you (perhaps grudgingly) as a benign supernatural creature or perhaps as an extraordinary human with psychic powers, preserving the Masquerade as well. This benefit does not apply if targets witness you acting to harm another character, excepting circumstances when you are obviously acting in someone's defense. In addition, you have built up goodwill to the point that your community not only keeps your secrets, but also actively assists you above and beyond expectations. Each game session, the first time you use your Contacts and Allies backgrounds, you do not expend them, allowing you to use them again. You may also seek refuge in your community by spending a downtime action to gain the temporary use of the Haven background. Treat this background as though it had a 1-dot rating, with the Location advantage. This haven lasts until the next game session.

Through extensive meditation and mystical journeys fueled by Kalif-infused blood, you have transcended the Station of Ultimate Rapture and seen glimpses of the truths that lie beyond. You may purchase a single Auspex technique or elder power that would otherwise normally be restricted by your generation. For example, a Neonate with this merit is able to purchase a single Auspex elder power. Pretender elders may purchase a second Auspex elder power. Elders and Luminary elders may purchase a technique that requires Auspex. Elder powers purchased with this merit cost 20 XP, and techniques cost 12 XP. Any additional discipline requirements for techniques must still be met; similarly a character must possess the necessary precursors in order to purchase Auspex elder powers. This merit cannot be used to purchase an Auspex luminary power.

Since its inception, many Lasombra have held deep ties to the Catholic Church, occupying a number of its influential positions and directing its growth throughout their territories. As part of their duties, these vampires have become especially adept at hearing confession: the ritualized admission and absolution of the confessor's sin. Whether part of a spiritual tradition, a secular one such as psychotherapy, or simply by being a repository of good advice, you are able to help others unburden themselves of their spiritual weight. By spending at least 10 minutes in discussion, you can cause a character's Beast traits to reduce by 2, provided she gives you an honest account of what she did to incur them. If you possess the Animal Ken skill, you can use it to remove a third Beast trait, as per the standard ability of the Animal Ken skill. In addition, having heard her confession, you may offer centering and guidance to the target character. If you do, the next time the recipient would incur a Beast trait, she incurs 1 fewer trait. A character may only benefit from a single application of this ability once per game session. You cannot use this ability on yourself.

You are blessed by Set, allowing you to take on a form akin to his sacred animal, which resembles a canine with a forked tongue. When doing so, you remain in a humanoid shape, but with an animal head, much like the way Egyptians depicted their gods. Your body sprouts sleek, black fur, your nose extends to a curved, fanged snout, and your ears extend like those of a jackal. Your eyes and tongue remain decidedly serpentine. Whenever you utilize the Serpentis power Form of the Cobra, you may instead opt to take the form of the Typhonic Beast instead of a serpent. In this form, you receive the benefits of Form of the Cobra and Skin of the Adder simultaneously, and you may use Tongue of the Serpent freely in this form. None of these powers can be further activated for additional bonuses. In addition, whenever you use a Serpentis power in this form, you can benefit from that power's attribute focus, even if you do not normally possess it. Typhonic Beast is a major transformation and cannot be combined with other major transformations, except for Divine Image. Activating Divine Image while in the form of the Typhonic Beast is an exception to the rule that prevents you from combining transformative powers. You can end this transformation at any time by expending a simple action. Typhonic Beast's transformation is close to human, allowing you to use weapons while in this form.

There is something strange and powerful lurking in your blood, providing it with the ability to make foreign vitae lose its influence over your emotions. You are immune to the blood bond, including the lesser bonds of the Vinculum. Tremere characters, including those in Tremere bloodlines, cannot take this merit.

Your Embrace left you horribly mutated, more so than most of your clanmates. Because of this revolting mutation, you may choose two of the following special abilities: - Patagia: A thick membrane stretches between your arms and your torso. If you fall from a damaging height, you can spread your arms and use these proto-wings to glide safely to the ground. If you have 2 or more dots of Potence, you can fly three steps per turn by spending both your simple and standard actions. - Webbed Fingers: Your fingers and toes are overlong and have a thick membrane between them, allowing you to swim extremely fast. You may spend a simple action to swim at normal speeds (walking or running). You gain an additional step to this movement rate for each dot of the Athletics skill you possess. - Gaping Maw: Your mouth is overlarge and filled with large, pointy teeth (or tusks, or otherwise menacing features). You can bite to inflict damage without first grappling your opponent. When you drain Blood, you drain 2 points per standard action instead of the standard 1 point. - Slimy: Your body is coated with a thick layer of slime. You can use a simple action to automatically escape from a Grapple even when pinned by a supernatural power (such as Thaumaturgy: Movement of the Mind). - Grappling Appendages: Your arms are elongated, strangely jointed, or covered with horrific suckers. You do not need to spend Willpower to perform the Grapple combat maneuver, and you receive a +2 bonus when attempting to Grapple.

You cannot be targeted by supernatural powers that track or identify you at range, unless you are already within the user of the power's line of sight. This includes tracking powers, such as the ritual Illuminate the Trail of Prey, and observation powers such as Clairvoyance and Scry. Note that this merit doesn't block normal uses of Auspex, only those that allow a viewer to watch over you remotely. If a remote-viewing power (such as Clairvoyance or Scry) is used to spy on your location, rather than on you directly, the power functions normally for everything in that area except you. Although the user can see the location and anyone else within it, you are inaudible and invisible to the user of the remote-viewing power.

Whether you call it being stubborn, intractable, or just plain ornery, your character has a fire inside her that just won't quit — no matter the circumstances. Increase your maximum permanent Willpower to 7. You also begin each game session with 7 Willpower, rather than the standard 6.

Ventrue are the sovereigns of Kindred society. They often lead a charmed life with money and influence beyond that of a typical vampire. By merit, or perhaps via luck of your Embrace, you are one of the clan's chosen, given special access to your lineage's private coffers. You can assign 9 total dots between the following backgrounds: Allies, Contacts, Fame, Haven, Herd, Influence (Underworld or Elite), or Resources. You must assign 4 dots to one background, 3 dots to the next, and 2 dots to the final background. These dots do not require you to expend XP to purchase. If you previously purchased dots in an applicable background, the XP is refunded. If you assigned dots during character creation to an applicable background, you can move those dots to another background in which you currently have no points. In addition, the life of luxury you live allows you to surround yourself with the best material goods, from your clothes to your electronics. You can add either the Antique, Artisan, Flashy, or Stylish qualities to any miscellaneous gear you possess without additional difficulty or cost. Adding a quality to an item in this way does not count toward the maximum number of qualities that a piece of equipment can possess.

You've always been capable of multi-tasking, splitting your attention to accomplish two goals at once. Choose one attribute category (Physical, Social or Mental) and select an additional focus for that attribute. For example, a character with this merit can focus her Physical attribute in both Strength and Stamina.

By default, Caitiff choose three in-clan disciplines from the following list: Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Presence, or Potence. Characters who purchase this merit choose two in-clan disciplines from that list and one from the following list of disciplines: Dementation, Protean, Serpentis, Quietus, Obtenebration, Vicissitude, or Chimerstry. This merit can only be purchased at character creation.

Art is subjective, and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. While other Toreador focus on their paintings or their voices, your talents are a little more grotesque. When using your Crafts skill test pool, you may incorporate your Vicissitude powers to create objects that are shockingly and disturbingly alive. These objects are fully functional and are imbued with a horrifying biological capability. For example, a book may have a mouth and the ability to read itself to you, a harp may have arms to pluck itself, or a piece of furniture may have moving legs to arrange itself when commanded. To use this merit, declare your intent to use it to the Storyteller and select a single function to imbue into a crafted item. Using this merit causes you to enter the next game session with a number of Beast traits appropriate to killing an animal or human donor, subject to any modifiers, such as those granted by Morality merits. In most cases, a human donor is required to craft an item using Visceral Artisan, but some simple functions can be accomplished with animal components. Donor specimens cannot be supernatural creatures other than ghouls; the physiology of supernatural creatures simply does not work with your methods. Once you have gathered sufficient materials, make a static challenge using your Crafts skill test pool against the difficulty of the object you're creating. If you succeed, the object takes on the intended characteristic. If you fail, the Storyteller determines if you must either start again, or if the object is created, but with a darker functionality or consequence. Objects created using Visceral Artisan require some trivial degree of maintenance, such as feeding it an occasional bit of raw meat; these objects do not require any downtime actions to maintain. If fed your Blood, they survive indefinitely, and they can be subjected to the blood bond. However, if these objects are abandoned, not cared for, or lack the functionality to feed themselves, they will die. These objects are undeniable breaches of the Masquerade and are typically hidden away, even when lovingly cherished by their owners.

You are extremely savage and explosive, even for the Sabbat. While this instability may frighten others, it benefits you — and you relish the moments when you get to unleash your Beast. When you enter frenzy, you immediately regain a Willpower. You can only gain this bonus once per combat scenario.

Set's children revere the Loa. Many believe that practitioners of this art can secretly commune with their Dark Father. When you acquire this merit, you gain access to Necromancy. You may purchase Necromancy: Bone Path and one other Necromancy path of your choice (except for Mortis Path). These paths are learned without a teacher, but are considered out-of-clan powers for all other purposes (including XP costs).

One of the most terrifying Tzimisce creations is a Vozhd, a gruesome conglomeration of bits and pieces of other ghouls transformed into a siege engine of flesh and bone. For Tzimisce, wars have been won or lost due to the presence of these monstrosities. You are a rarity among Fiends: one of the few able to create these creatures. To do so, you must start with one of your Retainers. As it becomes a Vozhd, it gains 3 bonus levels of Stock NPC rating in addition to its current levels. These bonus ratings do not affect the XP cost to further increase the Retainer's level. You may then give it one Animal Retainer trait. It also gains 2 Physical attribute focuses: an exception to the rule preventing Stock NPCs from having Physical attribute focuses. Lastly, it grows one size category for every 3 levels of NPC rating it possesses, up to a maximum of Delta. This merit can be combined with other merits or disciplines for ghouls, but you can only make one Vozhd every six game sessions or three months, whichever is shorter, due to the difficulty of gathering components and growing specimens. Creating a Vozhd requires you to expend 1 downtime action per level of the Retainer at the time of its transformation.

You are deeply in touch with the realm of dreams from which Chimerstry springs. Once per session, you may utilize a simple chimerical illusion as though it were real. This temporary personal reality lasts for one full turn. During this turn, you could run up a chimerical staircase, cut a real rope with an illusionary knife, or use a chimerical bar to lever a heavy object aside. This effect only applies to the Ravnos or inanimate objects the Ravnos attempts to affect. Waking Dream cannot be used to directly harm or help any other character.

Occult scholars among the Lasombra claim that Obtenebration rises from a different realm, a dark and primordial void known as the Abyss. These mystics constantly search for terrible truths and philosophical answers as they attempt to unlock the secrets of its depths. Unlike Thaumaturgy, Abyss Mysticism is not blood magic. It is a form of communion, a spiritual portal between the practitioner and the Abyss. You are trained in one of the arts of Abyss Mysticism. By focusing on a familiar destination, chanting for five full turns, and then stepping through a pool of shadow, you can travel into and through the Abyss. You may bring up to three willing companions with you on this journey. Time and distance are subjective in the Abyss, and there's no predicting when you will arrive at your destination, no matter how nearby or far away. Anytime you utilize Walk the Abyss, you must make a test with your Storyteller (no test pool is used). If you win the test, you spend one hour in the Abyss before arriving at your destination. If you tie, you spend three hours in the Abyss, and if you lose, you spend six hours in the Abyss before you arrive. Traveling through the Abyss is dangerous and terrifying, even for those experienced in such things. Each hour spent in the Abyss inflicts 1 level of aggravated damage, which cannot be reduced or negated. Further, this damage cannot be healed until you are once more on the physical plane. This is an Abyss Mysticism merit. Characters possessing this merit are considered Abyss Mystics and can purchase items which require Abyssal Mysticism.

Your experience with death and innate connection to Loa has taught you one thing in particular: death is not the end, just the beginning of a new existence. With this knowledge, you have potent power over the dead, allowing you to raise an especially powerful zombie Retainer. This zombie is created using rules for the Shambling Hordes power. However, this servant becomes a 5-dot Retainer. This Retainer has your choice of either the Fortitude or Obfuscate specialization. Create it as a rating 5 Stock NPC. Unlike most zombies, your Retainer is an intelligent creature that can assist you with downtime actions, when appropriate. You may only have one of these Retainers at a single time. If your zombie Retainer is lost, destroyed, or no longer desired, you may spend 1 downtime action to create a new zombie Retainer, at which point, the previous Retainer reverts to a normal zombie. In addition, your understanding of death allows you to gather and maintain a healthy supply of bodies for your necromantic rituals, with one always at your disposal if needed.

You belong to an elite and secretive cell among the Assamite clan, known for its exhaustive training and devotion to Assamite orthodoxy. As part of your training, you spent seven years as a ghoul serving at Alamut, the Assamite fortress, and another seven as a newly Embraced vampire. Due to your rigorous training as a ghoul and study with the Web of Knives, you gain Potence as an additional in-clan discipline as if you purchased the Additional Common Discipline merit. Furthermore, due to your intense indoctrination in the principles of assassination, you gain the Morality merit Path of Blood for free. However, these benefits come with a cost. You have taken a blood oath of loyalty to the Web of Knives. If you choose to leave or betray the order, it will send your former brothers and sisters after you to reclaim your heart's blood, causing you to gain the Hunted flaw. You cannot purchase this merit after character creation.

Perhaps you did not entirely die when you were Embraced, or perhaps the vampiric blood in your system altered your physiology less than others. You register as a mortal on all attempts to determine your creature type. Further, your aura is unnaturally bright for a vampire, and animals cannot sense your Beast (they act as though you are a mortal). If your Morality drops to 3 (temporarily or permanently), this merit ceases to function until your Morality is once more raised above 3. A character on a Path of Enlightenment cannot possess this merit.

You enjoy a unique spiritual connection to Loa: powerful Vodoun spirits that can offer you aid. For each dot of the Occult skill you possess, you can ask for their assistance once per game session. As you call upon the Loa, they seize control of your body, and they guide your actions. For one turn, you may choose one skill and increase its value to 5 dots. This ability may be used at any time, even before your turn in the initiative order, but not once a challenge that you are participating in has begun. You cannot summon the Loa more than once per turn, and this ability cannot benefit any actions that take longer than one turn to complete. Skills increased by this ability do not gain specializations or areas of focus. You can purchase this merit along with the Giovanni merit: Necromantic Expertise. This is an exception to the rule preventing you from purchasing more than one clan-specific merit of the same cost.

You are well-known in scurrilous circles; perhaps you spend a lot of time among gang-bangers, prison lowlifes, or with some of the more dangerous motorcycle clubs. What's more, this reputation is well-deserved. You receive a +1 bonus to test pools involving Brawl or Drive, and you gain a +2 to defense test pools against powers used by individuals who currently hold a formal position in the Camarilla or the Sabbat.

You are consumed with dedication to Caine, the ritae, and to the sect. Yours may be a quiet fervency or a loud, constant declaration, but in either case, you have a greater belief than most, so much so that you feel you can almost sense the Dark Father's will. The failure of a ritual causes you a tangible, physical ache: an inner wound caused by someone's lack of faith. When you participate in a ritus that fails, you can make a static challenge (Mental + Occult test pool) with the Storyteller (difficulty rating 6) to determine exactly how many ritual participants suffered from a lack of faith (but not whom).