Complete List of Merits

 

• Ability Aptitude (1 Trait Merit) You've got natural talent at some activity. Choose a particular non-combat-related Ability. You have a two-Trait bonus for all Challenges involving that skill.

 

• Acute Sense (1 Trait Merit) You're unusually sharp with one of your senses. Choose one: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch, or Taste. You have a two-Trait bonus to all perception Challenges that involve that sense.

 

• Ambidexterity (1 Trait Merit) You're not just equally left- and right-handed -- you're naturally adept. You get a +1 Trait bonus to challenges in which you employ an ambidextrous fighting style (two guns, two blades, two claws, etc.)

 

• Ancestral Mentor (1 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. A dead Garou friend or relative from your past visits you as an Ancestor-spirit, offering guidance. It can materialize if it really tries, but it usually remains in the Umbra to provide you with advice and company. Your Ancestral Mentor has no special expertise to teach you anything in particular unless you also purchase the Mentor Background to reflect its capabilities.

 

• Animal Magnetism (1 Trait Merit) You've got a certain je nais sais quoi... or is that voulez-vous coucher avec moi? In any case, you get a 2-Trait bonus to attract and seduce others.

 

• Bad Taste (2 Trait Merit) The natural oils of your skin and hide are noxious to the tongue. Wolves won't lick you and lovers find you unpleasant to kiss. Anyone who bites you must immediately spend a Willpower Trait or spend the rest of the scene retching.

 

• Berserker (2 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. You can trigger your own Rage, hurling yourself into a Berserk Frenzy at will. This doesn't protect you from needing to make Frenzy tests when provoked as usual.

 

• Calm Heart (3 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. You have a relatively even-keeled temperament, for a werewolf. You are one Trait up on tests to resist Frenzy.

 

• Catlike Balance (1 Trait Merit) Your sense of balance is uncanny. You walk ledges and high-wires with confidence, and you keep your feet on a ship in a storm. You get a two-Trait bonus on all challenges where your balance is a major factor.

 

• Code of Honor (1 Trait Merit) In addition to the Litany and a typical understanding of Honor, you are beholden to your own specific code, shaped by your background. Create a code of behavior with hindrances and restrictions as well as beliefs and passions, and have it approved by a Storyteller. You gain a free retest against any supernatural force (such as a Gift or vampire Discipline) that uses a Mental or Social Challenge to try to make you violate your code.

 

• Common Sense (1 Trait Merit) You have a strong intuition for caution and practicality. If you're about to do something risky, you can ask the Storyteller to tell you outright if they think your action goes against common sense. New players who are unfamiliar with the World of Darkness setting may find this a particularly helpful Merit to take. 

 

• Concentration (1 Trait Merit) Noises and interruptions never faze you. You cannot be penalized for distractions -- you always maintain focus.

 

• Corporate CEO (5 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. You have a major corporate entity under your sway, whether or not you're literally the CEO or you just have pull by some other means. You know what's happening in the corporate community and you have the means to wage economic warfare. The contacts, resources, and influence-like capabilities of your corporation are entirely up to Storyteller discretion. You must discuss this Merit with the Storytellers and get their approval before putting it on your character sheet.

 

• Danger Sense (2 Trait Merit) You react to danger as if with a sixth sense. You may act on your normal initiative even if you're surprised.

 

• Diverse Fighting Style (4 Trait Merit) -- Ahrouns Only. The breadth of your training with different fighting styles makes you a knowledgeable foe. You cannot be penalized for using unfamiliar or exotic weapons, and you can identify any weapon or fighting style you see.

 

• Double-Jointed (1 Trait Merit) You're something of a contortionist, twisting your body into unexpected shapes and squeezing into small spaces. Take a two-Trait bonus on tests of your flexibility, like twisting free of an enemy's grapple.

 

• Early Maturation (3 Trait Merit) Rules forthcoming. This Merit is not yet available for new characters.

 

• Eidetic Memory (2 Trait Merit) You benefit from a nearly perfect memory. You can keep an out-of-character notebook or cheat sheet to "memorize" anything your character can give a single turn of attention to. In stressful situations like combat, memorizing information in this way requires a static Mental Challenge versus six Traits.

 

• Enchanting Voice (2 Trait Merit) You have a resonant voice, good for commanding the attention and emotions of your listeners. You seduce, intimidate and cajole others through your tone and inflection. Take a two-Trait bonuses on challenges that involve your spoken words. 

 

• Eyes of Eshtarra (4 Trait Merit) Rules forthcoming. This Merit is not yet available for new characters. 

 

• Fair Glabro (2 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. Your Glabro form can pass for human at a cursory glance, albeit a large and bulky human. You don't have the usual Negative Social Traits for being in Glabro. Any actual directed scrutiny can still reveal that you're not human, so this form can still threaten the Veil.

 

• Favor (1 or 3 Trait Merit) You once did something invaluable for a powerful ally, most likely an elder Garou, and now they owe you a debt -- it is a matter of honor that they repay you. One Trait indicates that you are owed a minor favor, where three Traits indicate a major one. Work with the Storyteller to come up with the specific details of the repayment.

 

• Feared Mentor (3 Trait Merit) -- Shadow Lords Only. As the Mentor Merit (below), except your Mentor also has a fearsome reputation within the tribe -- and as their student, you enjoy a bit of that notoriety. You enjoy a one-Trait bonus to all Social Challenges with Shadow Lords. On the downside, you also inherit any enemies your Feared Mentor may have made while earning their reputation.

 

• Friendly Face (1 Trait Merit) Your demeanor puts puts humans at ease somewhat. For the purpose of the Curse, you are considered to have one fewer Rage than you actually do.

 

• Gall (2 Trait Merit) -- Kinfolk Only. Garou society can be condescending toward kinfolk, and so you've developed a personality to compensate. You have the pluck to stand up for yourself no matter who's staring you down. Take a one-Trait bonus on any Social Challenge involving a display of backbone. 

 

• Good Ol' Girl/Boy (2 Trait Merit) -- Kinfolk Only. You take naturally to the role of emotional support to Garou society. You have a demeanor that invites other Garou and kinfolk -- even Lupus -- to like you and confide in you. Take a one-Trait bonus on all Social Challenges with kinfolk and Garou. 

 

• Huge Size (4 Trait Merit) You're a giant. In Homid shape you're probably seven feet tall, and as a wolf you're just as formidable. You gain an extra Bruised health level.

 

• Human Tribal Status (2 or 4 Trait Merit) -- Homid Only. You maintain ties and authority within the human ethnic minority group of your upbringing. At two Traits, you might act as a shaman or advisor; at four Traits, you have a seat on a tribal council, or perhaps you act as a political spokesman for the tribe at large.

 

• Iron Will (5 Trait Merit) Your astonishing strength of will resists supernatural influence with ease. You may resist any mind-altering or controlling effect (such as vampiric Dominate, or certain Gifts) by spending a Willpower Trait. Your heart is still vulnerable: powers that affect the emotions (such as Presence) cannot be canceled by this Merit.

 

• Jack of All Trades (5 Trait Merit) You've done a little bit of everything in your time, and picked up just enough knowledge about most topics to make yourself dangerous. Even when you do not possess an Ability you'd need to attempt an action -- like Medicine to perform first aid, Computerto hack a database, or Spirit Lore to understand a strange spirit -- you can always make the attempt. You don't get any Ability retest for the Challenge, but if you lose, you can spend a Willpower to avoid losing the Trait you bid.

 

• Lack of Scent (2 Trait Merit) For whatever reason, you leave behind very muted scents. Anyone attempting to track you by smell takes a two-Trait penalty in the attempt.

 

• Luck (3 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. Once in a while it looks like you've got the devil's own luck. Once per session, you may bid Lucky to retest any failed Challenge. The results of this attempt must stand.

 

• Mechanical Aptitude (2 Trait Merit) You've got a natural knack with machines. Gain a two-Trait bonus to understand, fix or operate any mechanical device. (This bonus doesn't include driving, or interacting with electronics.)

 

• Medium (2 Trait Merit)  -- Restricted. You feel a chill in the presence of ghosts, and you can hear them speak to you. They may trade favors or information with you if you agree to fulfill the passions they felt in life.

 

• Mentor (2 Trait Merit) -- Shadow Lords Only. While Shadow Lords can't take the Mentor Background, this Merit provides some fraction of those benefits. You have a disinterested and neglectful Mentor who only instructs you occasionally, never comes to your aid, and expects significant service from you. If you prove yourself faithful over time, this Mentor may see fit to grant you some sparing benefits -- or perhaps more than you ever dreamed. See also the Feared Mentor merit, above. 

 

• Mentor (2 Trait Merit) -- Glasswalker Only. While Glasswalkers can't take the Mentor Background, this Merit provides a small benefit.  You have attracted the attention of a Corporate Dog bigwig who wants to instruct you in the finer points of a hostile takeover, perhaps a Wise Guys mob boss thinks that you might have a place as his consigliere, a Random Interrupt thinks he has found the next great hacker if he can just teach you the more complicated methods, or maybe an old Cyber Dog doctor thinks he can help you with that little deformity that you have.  Whatever the case may be, someone has taken an interest in your life, whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing, you won't know.  Your Mentor will show up at times that are convenient for them, and expect you to make yourself available for lessons; after all, they've got their own corporation to run, their own mob to control, a big project on the horizon, or an experiment that is time sensitive.  Don't expect them to be available when you really need them, but what tid bits you can pick up from these lessons will inevitably prove invaluable when you start making your own path.

 

• Metamorph (6 Trait Merit) You control the shape of your body with a skill that is uncanny even to other werewolves. You may change forms instantly without any expenditures. If you're knocked unconscious, you may win or tie a Simple Test to revert to whatever form you like (instead of automatically taking your breed form).

 

• Moon-Bound (2 Trait Merit) Your close ties to Luna give you a one-Trait bonus to all Challenges while she is waxing in the phase of your Auspice. On the other hand, if she's waning, you have a one-Trait penalty to all Challenges. (Talk to a Storyteller at the beginning of each session to determine the phase of the moon.)

 

• Natural Channel (3 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. Your spirit nature is strong; you feel at home in the Umbra. Once per session, you may use a free retest on a Challenge to cross the Gauntlet. Spirits also recognize your affinity and become more willing to listen to you (at Storyteller discretion).

 

• Natural Leader (1 Trait Merit) Natural magnetism and leadership capabilities spring from your actions and words. Others want to follow you, and you easily take charge. You gain a two-trait bonus on tests of leadership (including tests for Gifts of leadership). You must have at least six Social Traits to take this Merit.

 

• Natural Linguist (2 Trait Merit) Languages come easily to you; you know twice the number of languages your Linguistics Ability would otherwise indicate.

 

• Notable Heritage (2 Trait Merit) -- Restricted. Your ancestry is well-known and well-respected (or feared). If your heritage comes from the Garou, you enjoy a one-Trait bonus on all Social Challenges with Garou and Kinfolk. If your heritage is a famous human family, you enjoy a one-Trait bonus with all regular humans, and with Garou such as Glass Walkers who operate regularly in human society.

 

• Resistant to Wyrm Emanations (6 Trait Merit) Gaia has chosen you to stand as a bulwark against the the Wyrm's corruption. In all Challenges involving Wyrm-Taint, you get a free retest to remain pure and unaffected. The protection granted by this Merit also guards against balefire, radiation and possession by Banes.

 

• Silver Tolerance (7 Trait Merit) Something about the circumstances of your birth has blessed you with a greater tolerance toward the metal of the moon. You may win or tie a Simple Test to ignore the additional damage added by a silver weapon. You also suffer half the usual Gnosis penalties for carrying silver on your person.

 

• Spirit Magnet (2 Trait Merit) Whenever you visit the Umbra, you attract an unusual amount of attention from the area spirits, which converge on your location. Usually they're simply curious about you, though if something like a Bane becomes curious, that can become its own problem.

 

• Supernatural Companion (3 Trait Merit)-- Restricted. A friend of yours belongs to one of the other occult communities that populate the World of Darkness: a vampire, a ghost, a fera, a faerie, or something stranger still. Your friendship means you occasionally get to ask your friend for help -- just as your friend will sometimes ask the same of you. Garou elders will see this relationship as a conflict of loyalties, so you can expect repercussions if it's discovered. The Storyteller creates your friend as an NPC.

 

• Thunder's Child (5 Trait Merit) -- Shadow Lords Only. You are especially close to Grandfather Thunder, to the point where even Theurges of your Sept look on you with envy. If you are exposed to a thunderstorm, you gain a bonus Gnosis Trait, which can be spent normally. If you leave the storm or it finishes before the Gnosis is used, the Gnosis simply goes away. Storm- or electrical-based damage inflicts one less level of damage on you than normal. You also gain a bonus Trait in Social Challenges with Grandfather Thunder's brood or storm-spirits. 

 

• True Love (1 Trait Merit) You have found the love of your life. In the darkest times, thinking of this person gives you the strength to carry on. Once per session, when the need arises, you may gain an additional Willpower Trait from the strength of your love. Be warned that the World of Darkness cannot abide such things as true love, and so you can expect its existence to be threatened. 

 

• Weaver's Child (5 Trait Merit) You have an affinity for the patterns of civilization. As per the Glass Walker Tribal Advantage, you start with 1 extra Influence and may purchase Influence for 1 XP each. 

 

• Wolf Sight (1 Trait Merit) You see colors and intensities of light as a wolf does, no matter your form. You have a flat perception of colors, but your night vision is superb. In low light or when picking out movement, take a one-Trait bonus to your perception Challenges.