Complete List of Flaws

 

• Absent-Minded (2 Trait Flaw) While you retain your Abilities thanks to long practice, lesser details (names, dates, what you discovered while out scouting, where you put down that Fetish) easily slip your mind. If you're under stress, remembering anything more than your own name requires a static Mental Challenge (against a Storyteller-determined difficulty) or the expenditure of a Willpower Trait. 

 

• Addiction (1 or 2 Trait Flaw) You need a certain substance in your body to perform at your peak. Without it, you're a a two-Trait penalty on all challenges. This Flaw is worth one Trait for a legal addiction like booze and smokes; it's worth two Traits for an illegal addiction like meth or coke.

 

• Amnesia (2 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. You recall nothing of your past. You may create your character normally, but try not to come up with why you have the skills you have, or why you lost your memory -- the Storyteller will come up with these for you. You can also take an unspecified number of Flaws (up to the usual total of seven, which includes this one) that the Storyteller will assign for you. This Flaw is Restricted because it requires so much extra Storyteller work.

 

• Animal Musk (1 Trait Flaw) You give of the strong odor of a wild wolf, no matter how often you bathe. This doesn't hamper your interaction with wolves or Lupus Garou, of course, but in all other situations where your smell is noticeable (i.e., anytime you're not downwind), you're two Traits down on Social Challenges.

 

• Bad Sight (1 or 3 Trait Flaw) Gaia didn't see fit to fix your vision when she gave you the power to shapeshift. You are two Traits down in all challenges that require careful eyesight, like aiming or searching for clues. If you can correct your vision with contacts or glasses, this Flaw is worth one Trait; if your vision simply can't be fixed, it's worth three.

 

• Banned Transformation (1 to 5 Trait Flaw) A certain substance or circumstance prevents you from Changing to any form except your breed form. You can still hold the shape you're in, but trying to shift to some other shape except your breed form will require you to spend a Willpower Trait and win a Willpower Challenge versus the difficulty of the Flaw. For one or two Trait, you have difficulty shifting under a rare-to-occasional circumstance, such as when soothing music is played, or while you're wet. For three or four Traits, it's a common or dangerous circumstance -- such as in the presence of fire or silver. For five Traits, you usually can't shift at all, such as if your Auspice moon must be in the sky. Discuss your exact idea with the Storyteller.

 

• Bard's Tongue (2 Trait Flaw) You cannot lie. You feel compelled to speak the truth plainly as you see it, especially when the truth is a really bad idea.

 

• Blind (6 Trait Flaw) Whether you were born this way or you were scarred in battle, the result is the same: you can't see. You lose all ties in challenges where sight would help. You lose all challenges outright in which sight is required.

 

• Celebrity (1 to 3 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. You're famous for some reason, and to your dismay, this hinders you more than it helps. Whenever you interact with human society (including in your Downtimes), inform the Storyteller that you have this Flaw. For one point, people watch you closely; they recognize you but may not remember from where. For two points, they know who you are, and stop you for photographs or autographs (but they are not actually favorably inclined toward you). For three points, you attract so much attention that people Twitter your location and alert the media. You may attempt to fool people with a thorough disguise and a Mental Challenge (retest Subterfuge) vs. 11 + the rating of your Flaw. (This Flaw is Restricted because Garou, as a rule, are rarely famous -- extra attention can easily threaten the Veil.)  

 

• Color Blindness (1 Trait Flaw) You see in shades of bright and dark. Colors are meaningless to you.

 

• Compulsion (1 or 2 Trait Flaw) Some say it's a bad habit, but in fact a quirk of your psychology forces you to engage in this behavior. A one-Trait Compulsion is an annoying but harmless practice, like cleanliness, perfectionism, bragging, exaggeration or talking too much. A two-Trait Compulsion is illegal, immoral or dangerous, like stealing, thrill-seeking or bloodletting. Only by spending a Willpower Trait can you avoid acting on a compulsion during a scene, or when the temptation presents itself.

 

• Curiosity (2 Trait Flaw) You just have to know. Mysteries and puzzles pull you in and don't let go. In order to avoid a temptation to investigate a new mystery, you must either spend a Willpower, or win a static Mental Challenge against a number of Traits determined by the Storyteller.

 

• Cursed (1 to 5 Trait Flaw) An agent of the supernatural has cursed you in some fashion. The strength of the curse determines how much of a Flaw it is. One- and two-Trait curses are minor-to-middling inconveniences, such as being cursed to accidentally break something in every room you enter, or cursed to never be attractive to a blonde. Three- and four-trait curses are common and dangerous: your guns might always jam when you need them most, or perhaps you're as vulnerable to steel as you are to silver. A five-Trait curse is deadly enough that it'll probably kill you, or worse, such as being magically compelled to follow any order given to you by a creature of the Wyrm. Work with a Storyteller to determine the exact effects of your curse, and how (and if) it can be overcome.

 

• Dark Fate (5 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. You know how your story will end: badly. Premonitions and omens of your impending doom have haunted you for years. You're certain they'll soon come true. The Storyteller may give you such visions during any game session, at which point you must either spend one Willpower or take a one-Trait penalty to all challenges for the rest of the night. Furthermore, the Storyteller may choose a terrible end for your character and explicitly bring it to pass. This Flaw is Restricted because of the extra Storyteller involvement it requires.

 

• Dark Secret (1 Trait Flaw) There's a terrible crime in your past that you must cover up, or some unspeakable fact about yourself that you hide. Perhaps you mated with a fellow Garou, willingly did the bidding of a vampire, or ate the flesh of men. If this is discovered, you'll be punished at least -- made pariah or killed at worst.

 

• Deaf (4 Trait Flaw) You cannot hear, either as a result of birth or injury. You fail any challenge that involves hearing. You suffer the effects of Surprise by anyone approaching you from outside your line of sight. You probably have some speech impediments, as your ability to hear yourself and others affects your own speech.

 

• Disfigured (2 Trait Flaw) Your appearance is visibly scarred or deformed, be it from birth or through injury. People have an easy time spotting and remembering you. You are down two Traits in all Social Challenges other than those related to Intimidation, and you may not take any ImpressiveSocial Traits (or synonyms). 

 

• Driving Goal (3 Trait Flaw) You're obsessed with doing the impossible. Some limitless goal directs your every effort, even though you can never fully achieve it. Redeeming the Black Spiral Dancer tribe, resurrecting the Croatan, destroying all vampires -- whatever it is, it takes first priority in your life, above and beyond all other goals and loyalties. You can suppress this drive for a scene by spending a Mental Trait, and for a session by spending a Willpower Trait, but this leaves you feeling restless and unhappy afterward.

 

• Enemy (1 to 5 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. Someone out there wants to ruin you. If you're lucky, they just want you dead, rather than wantnig to make you watch while they destroy everything you love. The Flaw is worth more Traits for a more powerful Enemy. One Trait is an Enemy equal to you in capability, like a fellow Gaian Garou with a grudge; five Traits might be a group of powerful enemies, like a secretive pack of high-ranking Black Spiral Dancers destroying you from the shadows. Work with the Storytellers to determine who this enemy is and how they operate. This Flaw is Restricted because of all the extra work this will require.

 

 

• Forced Transformation (1 to 5 Trait Flaw) Some substance or situation forces you to change forms -- only by spending a Willpower Trait can you avoid shifting. Choose a trigger, and the shape you take. One Trait is an uncommon trigger that forces you into a not-too-inconvenient shape, such as being forced into Glabro when you're drunk. Three Traits involves common triggers and inconvenient shapes, such as being forced into Crinos whenever you detect a Wyrm presence. Five-Trait Forced Transformations are common and dangerously inconvenient, such as being forced into Homid form whenever silver is in the room.

 

• Hatred (3 Trait Flaw) You have an irrationally powerful hatred for something, which drives you to make poor decisions. Even a casual mention of it in conversation sets you on edge. If you ever encounter it, you must spend a Willpower or immediately enter a Berserk Frenzy that won't end until you destroy the object of your hatred, or it escapes you. The object of your Hatred must not be trivial; there must be a good chance of encountering it in play.

 

• Harano-Prone (4 Trait Flaw) You're especially susceptible to the crushing depression of Harano -- a conviction that the war for Gaia has already been lost. Any time you suffer a significant loss, such the death of a friend or the loss of an important challenge, attempt a Willpower Challenge against six Traits. If you lose, you fall into Harano (a state that is very difficult to escape). If you have ever been in Harano previously and recovered, it doesn't even take a major loss -- make this test every time your Auspice moon is in the sky. You'll be fighting this battle for the rest of your life.

 

• Hard of Hearing (1 Trait Flaw) Your hearing has been damaged. Take a two-Trait penalty on all related challenges.

 

• Haunted (3 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. A restless ghost has fixated on you. Your living torment has become the focus of its passions. At inopportune times, it manifests, screams, shoves you, gives you hallucinations, makes devices malfunction, or drips blood from the walls. The Storyteller will create the ghost, although you should describe how it's connected to you. This Flaw is restricted because manifesting a ghost is difficult for a Storyteller to pull off reliably while overseeing the rest of the game.

 

• Hubris (3 Trait Flaw) -- Silver Fangs Only. Most Silver Fangs have a high opinion of themselves, but your arrogance knows no bounds. You sneer down your nose at lesser tribes, and you explain their uncooperative behavior in terms of their jealousy of your breeding. You are certain that the Celestines themselves know your name and hold a great destiny for you. Even other Silver Fangs think your self-entitled behavior is a bit over-the-top. You suffer all the effects of the Overconfident Flaw (below), and you are at a two-Trait penalty in all Social Challenges when dealing with your "inferiors" (which is just about everyone) -- although of course, you rationalize away all such challenges you lose.

 

• Hunted (3 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted.  You're known to a powerful hunter or group of hunters who consider your continued freedom and/or existence a threat. They have the connections and the resources to make your life difficult, and they also have a means of dealing with the Delirium. You must constantly keep up your guard, lest they find an opportunity to deal with you once and for all -- but the longer you evade them, the more likely they will try to strike at your through your allies and kinfolk. This Flaw is restricted due to the extra work it requires from the Storytellers.

 

• Illiterate (2 Trait Flaw) You never learned to read any written language (which includes Garou glyphs). You must buy off this Flaw before you can even begin to pick up the basics.

 

• Inept (5 Trait Flaw) You're the product of a terrible past that left you barely able to get by. You scraped together a few basic skills, but you have difficulty improving them: you never properly learned how to learn. Until you overcome this handicap and buy off this Flaw, you may not buy any Ability or Influence above one Trait.

 

• Infertile (3 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. You cannot bear or sire children. Metis cannot take this Flaw, as it's innate to their breed. This Flaw is Restricted because it's under review for being poorly Trait-costed.

 

• Insomnia (2 Trait Flaw) You have difficulty sleeping. At the start of every game, make a simple test. If you lose, then you are tired from your lack of sleep, and you gain the negative traits Clumsy, Lethargic, Oblivious and Forgetful for the remainder of the session.

 

• Intolerance (1 Trait Flaw) A powerful dislike for a certain thing makes it difficult for you to deal with it rationally. This difficulty puts you one Trait down in all challenges where you deal with the object of your intolerance. The object of your dislike must not be trivial; there must be a good chance of encountering it in play.

 

• Jackal's Blood (5 Trait Flaw) --Bone Gnawers Only. Fate usually has it in for the Bone Gnawers, but you got an extra helping of bad luck. Once per session, a Storyteller or Narrator may invoke your Jackal's Blood to make you automatically lose one challenge. Every time you begin a scene with a Storyteller or Narrator, you must tell them that you have this Flaw, if it hasn't yet been triggered that game.

 

• Lame (3 Trait Flaw) Your legs have been damaged in a way your regenerative powers cannot heal. On all challenges of movement you suffer a two-Trait penalty.

 

• Lifesaver (3 Trait Flaw) Life is sacred; it should be healed and redeemed whenever possible, not destroyed, Killing goes against everything you believe yourself to be. You're at a two-Trait penalty in any challenge that may result in another's death, and if you ever are responsible for a death, you plunge into a long dark night of the soul. Perhaps you can kill truly monstrous beasts, like mutant fomori and ravening vampires, but the least hint of humanity -- such as the fomor who doesn't know what she is, or the genteel leech -- brings you up short.

 

• Limited Affinity to Gaia (3 Trait Flaw) Choose either Cities or Wilderness: you cannot feel Gaia in such places, and so you cannot regain Gnosis there. You can always regain Gnosis at Caern, no matter its location. Glass Walkers and Red Talons cannot take this Flaw if it mirrors their tribal disadvantage.

 

• Lost Homid (2 Trait Flaw) -- Homid Bone Gnawers Only. Your First Change was so intense that it tore away all memory of your prior life. Coming to your senses surrounded by the half-eaten bodies of those you killed is your first memory. You ran or wandered for a long time before the Bone Gnawers found you and took you in. You don't really understand how humans live, but at the same time, you're not a wolf -- you don't fit well anywhere but with the tribe. You cannot begin play with civilized human Abilities (Academics, Computer, Law, etc.) or any Backgrounds that tie you to humanity (Allies, Contacts, Influence, etc.).

 

• Low Self-Image (2 Trait Flaw) Someone broke your spirit. You have no confidence in your own skill or worth. You have a two-Trait penalty in any situation where you don't expect to succeed -- which is often -- and at Narrator discretion you may even have to spend Willpower before attempting something that takes a belief in oneself.

 

• Lunacy (2 Trait Flaw) You're especially susceptible to Luna's wild moods: during your Auspice moon, you are at a two-Trait penalty to all Frenzy tests.

 

• Magic Susceptibility (2 Trait Flaw) Somehow you are more a part of the occult world than most, and subject to its whims. In all challenges where you're being affected by magical or spell-like supernatural effect, you are at a two-Trait penalty. If you are affected, the effects take hold for twice as long.

 

• Mark of the Predator (2 Trait Flaw) Your monstrous nature is clear to the animal world. Most animals avoid and flee from you. Fellow predators (even wolves) view you as a threat to be driven away. You can never possess the Ability Animal Ken.

 

• Monstrous (3 Trait Flaw) Even in human shape you look hideous and terrifying. The only Social Challenges you may initiate are those related toIntimidation. You may not purchase any Appearance-related Social Traits, such as Impressive or its synonyms (Alluring, Gorgeous, Dignified, etc.).

 

• Mute (4 Trait Flaw) Whether through injury or inborn disability, you cannot speak or howl. You need pen and paper, a level of Linguistics in Sign Language, of a gift like Mindspeak in order to communicate.

 

• Nightmares (1 Trait Flaw) Some terrible trauma or dark fate subjects you to vivid nightmares every time you sleep. At the start of every session, make a challenge with a Narrator. If you lose, you're exhausted from lack of sleep and distracted by half-remembered dreams, which puts you down two Traits on every Challenge.

 

• One Arm (3 Trait Flaw) Something took an arm off you. You're used to it, so your remaining arm is considered primary -- but in addition to the obvious setbacks, you're at a two-Trait penalty any time two hands would be needed.

 

• One Eye (2 Trait Flaw) You lost an eye. On all challenges that require depth perception, such as ranged combat, you're at a two-Trait penalty.

 

• Overconfident (1 Trait Flaw) You have a foolhardy confidence in your own capabilities. You take risks that others would balk at, because you're just that awesome. You're unlikely to accept help from others when you can rely on your own abilities.

 

• Pack Mentality (2 Trait Flaw) The pack is everything to you. Apart from them, you do not know who you are. You're one Trait down on all challenges when you're acting without packmates by your side; in very stressful situations you may have to spent Willpower to act at all. On the other hand, in challenges where two or more of your packmates are involved, you're one Trait up on your challenges, as you act with assurance of your place in the world.

 

• Permanent Wound (3 Trait Flaw) Your body is permanently maimed, from either a deep battle scar or an injury that predates your first Change. You have one less Healthy and one less Bruised health level than is normal.

 

• Persistent Parents (2 Trait Flaw) -- Restricted. You vanished from your old life when you became a Garou, but your parents weren't willing to accept that. They are resourceful and determined, dead-set on tracking you down and bringing you home. They will not take no for an answer until you're under their control again, for your own good. This Flaw is restricted because of the extra work it requires from the Storytellers in order to have an effect.