Merits

Ambidextrous (•••)

 * Prerequisite: -
 * Effect: Your character does not suffer the -2 penalty for using his off hand in combat or to perform other actions.
 * Limitation: Available only at character creation.

Archive
Archive.

Area of Expertise (•)
Your character is uncommonly specialised in one area.


 * Prerequisite: Resolve ●● and one Skill Speciality.
 * Effect: Choose a Speciality to assign to this Merit. Forgo the +1 bonus afforded by a Speciality, in exchange for a +2.

Brownie’s Boon (•)
Similar to the legendary brownies or shoemaker’s elves, you possess the ability to complete mundane tasks in record time.


 * Prerequisite: -
 * Effect: Halves time to complete a task.
 * Spend a point of Glamour to halve the time again, to a maximum of three points of Glamour and 1/16th of the normal time for any particular task.
 * Limitation: Cannot be watched. Task cannot be of supernatural nature. Long-term.

Contacts (• to •••••)
Contacts provide your character with information.


 * Prerequisite: -
 * Roll: Manipulation + Social Skill (Garnering information via Contacts)
 * Effect 1: Each dot in this Merit represents a sphere or organisation with which the character can garner information. For example, a character with Contacts ••• might have Bloggers, Drug Dealers, and Financial Speculators for connections. This may be face-to-face, via email, by telephone, or even by séance in some strange instances.
 * Effect 2: Garnering information via Contacts requires a Manipulation + Social Skill roll, depending on the method the character uses, and the relationship between the characters. The Storyteller should give a bonus or penalty, dependent on how relevant the information is to that particular Contact, whether accessing the information is dangerous, and if the character has maintained good relations or done favours for the Contact. These modifiers should range from -3 to +3 in most cases. If successful, the Contact provides the information.
 * Effect 3: One use of a Contact is to dig dirt on another character.
 * Effect 4: A Contact can find another character’s Social Merits, and any relevant Conditions (Embarrassing Secret is a prime example.) A character can have more than five Contacts, but the Merit’s rating is limited to five, for the purposes of Allies blocking.
 * Limitation: Contacts do not provide services, only information.

Court Goodwill
Court Goodwill.

Danger Sense (••)
Your character’s reflexes are honed to the point where nothing’s shocking.
 * Prerequisite: -
 * Effect: You gain a +2 modifier on reflexive Wits + Composure rolls for your character to detect an impending ambush.

Double Jointed (••)

 * Prerequisite: Dexterity ●●●
 * Effect 1: You can dislodge joints when need be, automatically escaping from mundane bonds without a roll.
 * Effect 2: When grappled, subtract your Dexterity from any rolls to overpower you, as long as you are not taking any aggressive actions.

Eidetic Memory (••)
Your character recalls events and details with pinpoint accuracy.


 * Prerequisite: -
 * Roll: Intelligence + Composure
 * Effect 1: You do not have to make rolls for your character to remember past experiences.
 * Effect 2: When making Intelligence + Composure (or relevant Skill) rolls to recall minute facts from swaths of information, take a +2 bonus.

Encyclopedic Knowledge (••)
Due to an immersion in academia, pop culture, or a hobby obsession, your character has collected limitless factoids about the topic, even if she has no dots in the Skill.


 * Prerequisite: -
 * Roll: Intelligence + Wits
 * Effect: Choose a Skill. You can make an Intelligence + Wits roll at any time your character is dealing with her area of interest.
 * On a successful roll, the Storyteller must give a relevant fact or detail about the issue at hand.
 * Limitation: You must explain within the scope of your character’s background why she knows it. For example, for Encyclopedic Knowledge: Medicine: “Do you remember that time on that show, when the doctor said it doesn’t manifest before puberty?”

Eye for the Strange (••)
While your character does not necessarily possess a breadth of knowledge about the supernatural, she knows the otherworldly when she sees it. By perusing evidence, she can determine whether something comes from natural or supernatural origins.
 * Prerequisite: Resolve ●●, Occult ●
 * Roll: Intelligence + Composure.
 * Effects:
 * Success: The Storyteller must tell you if the scene has a supernatural cause, and provide one piece of found information that confirms the answer.
 * Exceptional success: The Storyteller must give you a bit of supernatural folklore that suggests what type of creature caused the problem. If the problem was mundane, an exceptional success gives an ongoing +2 to all rolls to investigate the event, due to her redoubled certainty in its natural causation.

Fae Mount (•, ••, ••• or •••••)
Fae Mount.

Fast Reflexes (• to •••)
Your character’s reflexes impress and astound; she’s always fast to react.
 * Prerequisite: Wits ••• or Dexterity •••
 * Effect: +1 Initiative per dot.

Fighting Styles
Fighting Styles.

Fleet of Foot (• to •••)
Your character is remarkably quick, and runs far faster than his frame suggests.
 * Prerequisite: Athletics ●●
 * Effect: You gain +1 Speed per dot, and anyone pursuing him suffers a -1 per dot to any foot chase rolls.

Harvest (• to •••••)
Harvest.

Hollow
Hollow.

Interdisciplinary Specialty (•)

 * Prerequisite: Skill at ●●● or higher with a Speciality.
 * Effect: Pick a speciality that you possess. You can then apply the +1 from that speciality on any skill with at least one dot.
 * Limitation: It needs to be justifiable within the scope of the fiction.
 * Example: A doctor with a Medicine Speciality in Anatomy may be able to use it when targeting a specific body part with Weaponry, but could not with a general strike.

Lethal Mien (••)
Even while protected by the Mask, some aspect of the Fae’s mien has evolved to become offensively oriented and can be used as a weapon.


 * Prerequisite: Wyrd 3
 * Effect: The changeling inflicts lethal damage when brawling instead of bashing.
 * Example: This might be long nails, claws, teeth, hooves, spines or some other “natural weapon” or something wholly supernatural, such as icy or fiery skin, an “iron hand” or a secretion that acts as a low-level contact poison.

Meditative Mind (•, ••, or ••••)
Your character’s meditation is far more fulfilling than for other characters.
 * Prerequisite: -
 * 1 dot effect: The character does not suffer environmental penalties to meditation, even from wound penalties.
 * 2 dot effect: When the character has successfully meditated, she gains a +3 bonus on any Resolve + Composure rolls during the same day, as she’s steeled herself against the things in the world that would shake her foundation.
 * 4 dot effect: You only needs a single success to gain the benefits of meditation for the day, instead of the normal four.

Multilingual (•)
Effect: Your character has a strong affinity for language acquisition.
 * Prerequisite: -
 * Roll: Intelligence + Academics (to understand context)
 * Effect: Choose two languages. Your character can speak conversationally in those languages.

Natural Immunity (•)
Your immune system is exceptionally effective at resisting infections, viruses and bacteria.
 * Prerequisites: Stamina ●●
 * Effect: Your character gains a +2 modifier on Stamina rolls to resist infection, sickness and disease.

Omen Sensitivity (•••)
Effect: Your character sees signs and patterns in everything. From the way the leaves fall, to the spray of antifreeze when his radiator pops.
 * Prerequisite: Wits + Occult
 * Roll: Intelligence + Academics (to understand context)
 * Effect: With some consideration, he can interpret patterns. This would be far better if he could turn it off. Everything is important. Everything could mean the end of the world, the deaths of his friends, or other tragedies. If he misses an omen, it might be the wrong one. Once per game session, you can make a Wits + Occult roll for your character to interpret an omen in his surroundings. For every success, ask the Storyteller a yes or no question about your character’s life, his surroundings, a task at hand, or the world at large. The Storyteller must answer these questions truthfully.
 * Drawback: His ability becomes an obsession. Each time he reads a portent, he gains the Obsession or Spooked Condition.

Parkour(• to •••••, Style)
Parkour.

Perfect Stillness (•)
Your character has learned how to avoid the notice of her Keeper by remaining utterly motionless for hours at a time.


 * Prerequisite: Stealth ●
 * Effect 1: Whenever you wish, you can remain perfectly still for an entire scene, except for breathing softly and silently.
 * Effect 2: If your character remains stationary while hiding, all rolls to notice or locate her are made at a –2 penalty.

Professional Training (• to •••••)
Your character has extensive training in a particular profession, which offers distinct advantages in a handful of fields.
 * Prerequisite: -
 * • Networking: At the first level of Professional Training, your character builds connections within her chosen field. Take two dots of Contacts relating to that field.
 * •• Continuing Education: With the repeated efforts in her field of choice, your character tends toward greater successes. When making a roll with her Asset Skills, she benefits from the 9-again quality.
 * ••• Breadth of Knowledge: Due to her advancement in her field, she’s picked up a number of particular bits of information and skill unique to her work. Choose a third Asset Skill, and take two Specialties in your character’s Asset Skills.
 * •••• On the Job Training: With the resources at her disposal, your character has access to extensive educational tools and mentorship. Take a Skill dot in an Asset Skill. Whenever you purchase a new Asset Skill dot, take a Beat.
 * ••••• The Routine: With such extensive experience in her field, her Asset Skills have been honed to a fine edge, and she’s almost guaranteed at least a marginal success. Before rolling, spend a Willpower point to apply the rote action quality to an Asset Skill. This allows you to reroll all the failed dice on the first roll.
 * Limitation: When choosing this Merit, choose or create a Profession for your character. Mark the two Asset Skills on your character sheet. The advantages of Professional Training relate directly to those Asset Skills.

Resources (• to •••••)
This Merit reflects your character’s disposable income. Characters are assumed to have basic necessities without Resources.


 * Prerequisite: -
 * Effect: Every item has an Availability rating. Once per chapter, your character can procure an item at her Resources level or lower, without issue. An item one Availability above her Resources reduces her effective Resources by one dot for a full month, since she has to rapidly liquidate funds. She can procure items two Availability below her Resources without limit (within reason).
 * 1 dot: 500; Low disposable income.
 * 2 dot: 1000; A comfortable, middle class wage.
 * 3 dot: 2000; A nicer, upper middle class life.
 * 4 dot: 10.000; Significant disposable income.
 * 5 dot: 50.000; Filthy rich.

Retainer (• to •••••)
Effect: Your character has an assistant, sycophant, servant, or follower on whom she can rely. Establish who this companion is, and how he was acquired. It may be as simple as a paycheck. He might owe your character his life. However it happened, your character has a hold on him. A Retainer is more reliable than a Mentor, and more loyal than an Ally. On the other hand, a Retainer is a lone person, less capable and influential than the broader Merits. The Merit’s dot rating determines the relative competency of the Retainer. A one-dot Retainer is barely able to do anything of use, such as a pet that knows one useful trick, or a homeless old man that does minor errands for food. A three-dot Retainer is a professional in their field, someone capable in his line of work. A five-dot is one of the best in her class. If a Retainer needs to make a roll, and it’s within her field, double the dot rating and use it as a dice pool. For anything else, use the dot rating as a dice pool. This Merit can be purchased multiple times to represent multiple Retainers.

Slave (• to •••••)
Slave.

Spelunker (• to •••••)
Spelunker.

Striking Looks (• or ••)
Your character is stunning, alarming, commanding, repulsive, threatening, charming, or otherwise worthy of attention. Determine how your character looks and how people react to that. Drawback: Attention is a double-edged sword. Any rolls to spot, notice, or remember your character gain the same dice bonus. Sometimes, your character will draw unwanted attention in social situations. This could cause further complications.
 * Prerequisite: -
 * Effect:
 * One dot: Your character gets a +1 bonus on any Social rolls that would be influenced by his looks.
 * Two dots: The benefit increases to +2. Depending on the particulars, this might influence Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Subterfuge, or other rolls.

Strong Lungs (•••)
Your character is practised at holding his breath for long periods of time. Prerequisite: Athletics ●●● Effect: When determining how long your character can hold his breath, add two to Stamina when referencing the Holding Breath chart. Limitation: If your character is in combat, she can hold her breath for one turn per Stamina dot.

Taste (•)
Your character has refined tastes, and can identify minor details in fashion, food, architecture, and other forms of artistry and craftsmanship.
 * Prerequisite: Crafts ●●, and a Speciality in Crafts or Expression.
 * Roll: Wits + Skill
 * Effect 1: You can appraise items within your area of expertise.
 * Effect 2: Depending on the creation in question (Expression for poetry, Crafts for architecture, etc), your character can pick out obscure details about the item that other, less discerning minds would not. Works only by rolling.
 * For each success, ask one of the following questions, or take a +1 bonus to any Social rolls pertaining to groups interested in the art assessed for the remainder of the scene.
 * What is the hidden meaning in this?
 * What was the creator feeling during its creation?
 * What’s its weakest point?
 * Which other witness is most moved by this piece?
 * How should one best appreciate this piece?

Workshop (• to ••••• special)
Your character maintains, within her Hollow, a variety of equipment and tools that can help with the creation of natural and supernatural items. Whether in the form of a forge with metallurgy tools, an artist’s loft, a laboratory filled with beakers and crucibles or an orchard outfitted with the best gardening tools, your character’s Hollow has been outfitted with precisely the right things she needs to have on hand to create.


 * Prerequisite: Hollow, Hollow Size equal to points in Workshop
 * Effect: Each dot in this Merit represents a level of equipment for one particular Craft Specialty. Thus, a Hollow with a three-dot Workshop Merit might include a single level of equipment for Blacksmithing, Weaving and Goblin Fruit Farming, or two levels of any one of those and one level of another or three levels in any one Specialty. For each level of Workshop focused on a particular Craft Specialty, changelings using the Workshop to produce items in that Specialty area gain +3 to their Crafts rolls. Possible Workshop Specialties include (but are not limited to) Calligraphy, Woodcrafting, Blacksmithing, Mechanics, Painting, Goblin Fruit Farming and the like. Token Making is not an acceptable Specialty. Because of the diverse nature of tokens, each falls under the Craft Specialty of the particular item, so a Biting Grotesque would be under Sculpting, while a Blood Pennon would be under Sewing.

Special: Characters who share a Hollow can also share Workshop dots, with each contributing to a particular equipment area. These characters each receive the full benefits of the Workshops. It may happen that the crafters suffer a falling-out, in which case one or more might be asked to forfeit their Workshop privileges by the others. Those who are banned lose whatever dots they contributed, unless an agreement is worked out to split the equipment, allowing outcasts to take their tools and materials with them. Shared Workshops should be marked with an asterisk (*) on your character sheet. See the description of the Hollow Merit for details on how to allocate dots.