House Rules/Merits/Content

This section documents merits used in addition to the core Vampire 20th Anniversary book. New merits are also listed here. Mental Merits

Danger Sense <1M>

You have a sixth sense that warns you of danger to yourself and loved ones. Whenever you are unaware of being in danger, the Storyteller makes a secret roll of your Perception + Alertness; the difficulty depends entirely on the remoteness of the danger. If the roll succeeds, you will experience a sense of foreboding, though multiple successes may refine the feeling and give an indication of the direction, distance or nature of the threat.

Lion Hearted <1M>

''From DA: Vampire. ''In a moment of great crisis, you may call upon your inner reserves of honor and nobility to fortify your resolve and bolster your moral strength. Once per story, you may reflexively spend a point of Willpower to subsitute your Permanent Willpower rating for both your Self-Control/Conviction and Courage for the duration of the scene. Characters who ascribe to roads that do not venerate heroism and valor may not purchase or retain this Merit.

Well-Educated <3M>

From DA: Vampire. Either through a Greek tutor or determined noble teachers, you are one of the lucky few to have received superlative tutelage in classic academics, natural sciences, and philosophy. Whenever you attempt a task involving a Knowledge you do not possess, your character may still try and make the roll. Instead of automatic failure, the roll is made at a +1 difficulty, identical to the manner in which Skills work if you try to roll it without the trait. Characters must have at least an Academics rating of 3 to be able to purchase this Merit.

Physical Merits Expert Rider <2M>

You ride like you were born astride a horse. All difficulties on riding rolls are reduced by two.

Strong Back <2M>

From DA: Vampire. You are exceptionally well-muscled and conditioned. As such, you can lift a full 100 lbs more than your Strength rating permits, and all feats of strength you undertake (save for lifting weight maximum) are rated as though your Strength rating was 2 dots higher than it actually is, allowing you to perform actions that would otherwise be impossible (or at the very least difficult) with greater ease and finesse.

Stunt Rider <3M>

You can ride a horse and perform an unrelated action (e.g., seize a running target, fire a crossbow) in the same turn. Social Merits Notable Heritage <3M>

Prerequisite: Must be from a patrician gens.

Your family is particularly renowned in the Roman Empire. You must choose which gens your heritage relates to. You are at -1 difficulty to all Social rolls when dealing with mortals who are aware of your heritage. You are expected to live up to your lineage's reputation. If you fail to do so, you may find the Merit dwindling over time as stories of your own failings begin to outweigh the high regard your family receives.

Religious Heritage <1M>

''From DA: Vampire. ''This Merit indicates that your family has a history of dedicated service in one of Rome's religious colleges or a cult. Perhaps your gens has a hereditary tie to the priests of Mars, your sister was a Vestal Virgin or your Sire was initiated into a Mystery Cult. This connection works to your benefit as well, even if you yourself are not tied directly to the clergy. You receive a -2 difficulty modifier to social rolls when interacting with members of the Church or anyone else who would be appropriately impressed with your family’s exploits. Supernatural Merits Blazing Demise <1M>

From DA: Vampire. If you suffer Final Death, your body will instantly erupt into consuming fire. This spontaneous combustion sets flammable objects alight and inflicts 3 dice of aggravated damage on anything within a foot of your demise. As a result, you leave no corpse.

Bloodhound <2M>

The scent of blood is nearly as revealing to your keen senses as its taste. You may smell a blood source to detect blood, track blood or decipher details of the blood.

Controlled Thirst <1M>

From DA: Vampire. Regular time spent among mortals has dulled the dark hungers of your palate. You reduce the difficulties of any frenzy roll involving the sight, scent or taste of blood by -1. You cannot frenzy from sensing blood if your blood pool is full; conversely, you lose your normal difficulty reduction if your blood pool is less than a quarter full (rounded down).

Past Lives <1-5M>

You can remember one or more previous incarnations. Your recollections often happen spontaneously due to triggers like trauma and extreme emotions. Once per session, you may harness your insights after 1+ turns of meditation. Roll your Past Life Merit dots against difficulty 8. Each success allows you to increase Any Ability by one for purposes of a single roll. These dice stack if you already have the Ability (to a maximum of 5 in that Trait). Botching a Past Life roll results in bombardment of memories, which may leave her stunned or subsumed by a past life for the remainder of the scene.
 * 1 dot (Faint Past Life): Deja vu memories of one life.
 * 2 dots (Weak Past Life): Dreamy, vague memories of one life with deja vu from several.
 * 3 dots (Moderate Past Life): You definitely recall other times and places, and vague flashes of former habits and beliefs.
 * 4 dots (Strong Past Life): You possess clear memories of other existences, which you can summon almost at will.
 * 5 dots (Overwhelming Past Life): Sometimes you forget what life you're living.

Potent Vitae <3M>

The effects of your vitae on Kindred and kine is unusually strong. You create ghouls with two drinks of your Vitae spent rather than three. However, your blood creates an addictive rush in any victim who drinks 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.

Thieving Night <1M>

Prerequisites: Lasombra

If you suffer Final Death, shadows devour your body. You leave no corpse or chance of being Diablerized. The Abyssal darkness extends extinguishes any light source it engulfs except fire. Any target caught within a 1-yard radius must make Courage roll (DC 8) or panic and flee. Vampires on a failed roll are driven into Rotschreck.