Example Traits

Example Traits
These are only examples of various traits, flaws, merits, etc found in the Core Rulebook. There are more to be found in other books. If deciding to use those, please list book and page number for reference.

Mental Flaws

 * Addiction: Your character is addicted to a particular drug or behavior. Satisfying it does not fulfill the Gluttony Vice.
 * Amnesia: A significant chunk of your character's memories of his past is missing.
 * Coward: Your character is a pussy.
 * Forgetful: While your character doesn't tend to forget truly important details, he or she fails to remember a significant amount of mundane information.

Physical Flaws

 * Crippled: Your character cannot walk and must use wheelchair or vehicle. A manual wheelchair’s Speed=Strength, but he must spend an action to move or suffers a -2 penalty to both Speed and any action. An electric wheelchair has a Speed of 3 and no penalties.
 * Dwarf: Your character's Size is 4.
 * Hard of Hearing: Subtract two dice from any hearing-based perception rolls.
 * Lame: Speed factor is 2 (instead of 5).
 * Mute: Your character cannot speak.
 * One Arm: Tasks that normally require two hands take twice as long to perform or are impossible; -3 penalty to perform in normal time.
 * One Eye: All penalties for ranged at-tacks are doubled. If he attempts to drive in heavy traffic, 1’s cancel successes on a one-to-one basis, and no 10-again.
 * Poor Sight: Subtract two dice from any sight-based perception rolls.

Social Flaws

 * Aloof: Your character is shy and particularly uncomfortable in a social setting, hating to be the center of attention.
 * Behavior Blind: Your character cannot understand human social behavior, such as sarcasm or various queues that would indicate someone was bored. They can only glean how another person feels through the use of the Empathy skill.
 * Deformity: You suffer a -2 penalty on Social rolls when your character makes new acquaintances.
 * Embarrassing Secret: Your character has a secret that, if revealed, would cause terrible things for the character.
 * Notoriety: Your character is known for a particularly terrible deed or scandal, whether or not it is true.
 * Racist/Sexist: Your character is bigoted against a certain race, group, culture, or creed, or gender. This can be as specific as red haired homosexuals or as general as people who are different from the player character.
 * Speech Impediment: Your character has a lisp, stutter, or possibly even a condition like Tourette's.

Mental Merits
Effect: You gain a +2 modifier on reflexive Wits + Composure rolls for your character to detect an impending ambush.
 * DANGER SENSE(2 points)

Effect: Under stress, there is a +2 modifier on any Intelligence + Composure or other Skill-based roll (say, Academics, to remember a fact) for memory recall. While not under stress, no roll is required. Available at character creation only.
 * EDICTIC MEMORY(2 points)

Effect: You can make an Intelligence + Wits roll any time your character is confronted with a situation or phenomenon outside his normal realm of experience. If the roll is successful, he may recall a "factoid" that he's heard at some point that may shed light on matters. Available at character creation only.
 * ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE(4 points)

Effect: Make an Intelligence + Medicine roll once per day when your character spends an hour treating a patient. If the roll is successful, the patient's healing times that day are halved. The worst of a patient's injuries must be treated first. So, if he has suffered a lethal wound and a successful roll is made, the wound heals that day rather than in two days. If the patient has suffered nothing but bashing damage, all wounds are healed in mere minutes (about eight each). Dramatic Failure: Your character misdiagnoses or mistreats the problem, making it worse. The patient does not heal more quickly (he maintains normal healing times). He does, however, suffer an additional point of bashing damage. Your character cannot try to heal the patient again for his current injuries.
 * HOLISTIC AWARENESS(3 points)

Effect: Your character knows and is fluent in an additional language besides his own. You must specify which language your character is familiar with when purchasing this Merit.
 * LANGUAGE(1 point)

Effect: Your character ignores all penalties to meditate, and can do so whenever he wants.
 * MEDITATIVE MIND(1 point)

Physical Merits
Effect: Your character does not suffer the -2 penalty for using his off-hand in combat or to perform other actions. Available at character creation only.
 * AMBIDEXTROUS(3 points)

Prerequisite: Strength 2 and Brawl 1 Effect: Whenever your character performs a dodge you can choose to add his Brawl Skill dots to his Defense instead of doubling his Defense.
 * BRAWLING DODGE(1 point)

Effect: Your character has an innate sense of direction that instinctively allows him to remain oriented.
 * DIRECTION SENSE(1 point)

Prerequisite: Dexterity 3 and Weaponry 2 Effect: When making a normal attack, compare your successes to the opponent's Dexterity. If you get a number of successes equal to or greater than the opponent's Dexterity, you can choose to have your character disarm him instead of doing damage.
 * DISARM(2 points)

Prerequisites: Dexterity 3 Effect: +1 Initiative per dot
 * FAST REFLEXES(1-2 points)

Prerequisite: Dexterity 3 and Weaponry 2 Effect: With a single chosen weapon you may substitute your character's Dexterity for Strength when making attack rolls.
 * FIGHTING FINESSE(2 points)

Prerequisites: Strength 3, Stamina 2 and Brawl 2
 * FIGHTING STYLE: BOXING(1-5 points)


 * 1) Body Blow: If successes inflicted in a single Brawl attack equal or exceed a target's Size, the victim loses his next action.
 * 2) Duck and Weave: Use the higher of your character's Dexterity or Wits to determine his Defense when dealing with Brawl-based attacks only.
 * 3) Combination Blows: Your character can make two Brawl attacks against the same target in a single action. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver.
 * 4) Haymaker: A single Brawl attack that equals or exceeds the target's Size in damage might knock him unconscious. A Stamina roll is made for the victim. If it succeeds, he is conscious but if it fails, he is unconscious for a number of turns equal to the damage done. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver.
 * 5) Brutal Blow: A brutal blow inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage. Drawback: Costs one Willpower point.

Prerequisites: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2 and Brawl 2
 * FIGHTING STYLE: KUNG FU(1-5 points)


 * 1) Focused Attack: Penalties to hit specific targets are reduced by one. Even when a specific part of an opponent is not targeted, armor penalties to your character's Brawl attacks are reduced by one.
 * 2) Iron Skin: Your character has an effective armor trait of 1 against bashing attacks only.
 * 3) Defensive Attack: When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty but can move no more than his Speed.
 * 4) Whirlwind Strike: Your character can make a number of extra Brawl attacks for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2 in a single action. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative -1 modifier. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver.
 * 5) Lethal Strike: A strike inflicts lethal instead of bashing damage. Drawback: Costs one Willpower point.

Prerequisites: Dexterity 3 and Weaponry 3
 * FIGHTING STYLE: 2 WEAPONS(1-4 points)


 * 1) Whirling Blades: Your character's Dodge trait is not penalized by multiple attacks staged against him in a turn until the number of attacks exceeds his Weaponry dots, at which point each attack thereafter reduces his Dodge by -1.
 * 2) Deflect and Thrust: When using this maneuver, your character gains +2 to his Defense for the turn, but any attack he makes suffers a -2 penalty and can move no more than his Speed.
 * 3) Focused Attack: Your character can attack a single target twice in one turn. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver.
 * 4) Fluid Attack: Your character can make a single attack on two different targets in one turn. The targets cannot be a distance apart in excess of your character's Speed trait. The second attack suffers a -1 penalty. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this maneuver.

Prerequisites: Strength 2 Effect: +1 Speed per dot
 * FLEET OF FOOT(1-3 points)

Prerequisites: Fast Reflexes 2 Effect: Your character dedicates an action to altering his standing in the Initiative order in the following turn and for all subsequent turns, choosing to insert himself at a new point in the roster, even if it means going first when he went last before. Drawback: A character must take an action to change his Initiative ranking in subsequent turns. He can do nothing else in that action except move up to his Speed.
 * FRESH START(1 point)

Effect: +1 Size. Available at character creation only.
 * GIANT(4 points)

Prerequisites: Dexterity 3 and Firearms 3 Effect: Your character can shoot both pistols as a single action during a turn(-2 penalty on second attack w/o Ambidextrous). The second attack is also at a -1 penalty. The Merit can be used with pistols only. Drawback: Your character cannot use his Defense against any attack in the same turn in which he intends to use this Merit on two separate targets in the same turn.
 * GUNSLINGER(3 points)

IRON STAMINA(1 to 3 dots) Prerequisites: Stamina 3 or Resolve 3 Effect: Each dot eliminates a negative modifier (on a one-for-one basis) when resisting the effects of fatigue or injury. Drawback: After staying awake for an extended period, your character is extremely difficult to wake until he's slept for a minimum of 12 hours, regardless of the situation.

IRON STOMACH(2 points) Prerequisites: Stamina 2 Effect: Your character can eat almost anything, under almost any conditions. Add two dice to appropriate Survival rolls. Add three to Stamina to resist deprivation.

NATURAL IMMUNITY(1 point) Prerequisites: Stamina 2 Effect: Your character gains a +2 modifier on Stamina rolls to resist infection, sickness and disease.

QUICK DRAW(1 point) Prerequisites: Dexterity 3 Effect: Your character can draw a pistol and fire or pull a melee weapon and attack without penalty as a single action in a turn. If a weapon is hidden on your character's person it can be drawn and used in the same turn without the normal loss of Defense. A separate Quick Draw Merit must be acquired for use with firearms and melee weapons.

QUICK HEALER(4 points) Prerequisite: Stamina 4 Effect: Your character recovers from injuries in half the time that others do. One point of bashing damage is healed in eight minutes, one point of lethal damage is healed in one day, and one point of aggravated damage is healed in four days. This merit is useless to Kindred who can only heal by vitae expenditure.

STRONG BACK(1 point) Prerequisites: Strength 2 Effect: Your character gains a +1 modifier to actions involving lifting or carrying heavy weights.

STRONG LUNGS(3 points) Prerequisite: Athletics 3 Effect: When determining how long your character can hold his breath, add two to Stamina when referencing the Holding Breath chart.

STUNT DRIVER(3 points) Prerequisites: Dexterity 3 Effects: Your character can drive a vehicle and perform an unrelated action (e.g., fire a gun, punch another passenger) in the same turn.

TOXIN RESISTANCE Prerequisite: Stamina 3 Effect: Your character gains a +2 modifier to Stamina rolls to resist the effects of drugs, poisons and toxins. Drawbacks: Your character's body can't tell the difference between recreational toxins and intentional ones. It's very difficult for him to become intoxicated and painkillers and also anesthetics are only half as effective as normal.

WEAPONRY DODGE(1 point) Prerequisite: Strength 2 and Weaponry 1 Effect: Whenever your character performs a dodge, you can choose to add his Weaponry Skill dots to his Defense instead of doubling his Defense.