Merits and Flaws

Ability Aptitude
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. Within your character's specific Aptitude, reduce all difficulties by two. A natural linguist picks up languages easily, speaking without any trace of accent, and a crack driver can perform phenomenal car tricks with ease. This Aptitude functions for one Ability, but it can be taken multiple times for a character who's a natural with, say, computers and technology.

Special or combat Abilities, such as Do, should never have an Ability Aptitude associated with them.

Acute Senses
(1 or 3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit]

Your mage has an exceptionally sharp natural sense, be it vision, taste, hearing or whatever. She can manage about twice the natural sensitivity of a human, which allows you to get a two-point reduction on difficulty for all rolls with the appropriate sense. For three points, all of your mages senses are incredibly acute.

Ambidextrous
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit]

Your mage has equal facility with either hand. You never suffer a penalty for your character's use of either hand in performing a task, since the character has no "off-hand." The character can use both hands at once to perform two physical tasks without splitting dice pools, but he may suffer a concentration penalty (at the Storyteller's discretion,) especially if the tasks are wildly different or in different arcs of vision.

Very few people are truly ambidextrous. In stressful situations, a penalty should always be assessed for the difficulty of performing actions with both hands at once.

Astral Vigor
(3 points) [The Infinite Tapestry - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage's astral body is especially well connected to her physical form. She does not suffer any of the psychological side effects normally associated with the protracted astral travel (such as the loss of REM sleep,) though her body continues to atrophy and starve at the normal rate. Her astral body, fortified by a powerful psychic presence, has two dice of inherent armor. Also, the character's strong tie between body and spirit allows her to ascertain her body's state of being (dehydrated, damaged, etc.) at any time, with a moment of quiet concentration.

Avatar Companion
(7 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage is in a cycle of reincarnation. However, the strange thing about your mage's passages through the life-death-rebirth cycle comes from the fact that his Avatar has another lesser Avatar connected to it. This fragment also enters the reincarnation cycle, follows your mage's Avatar through each incarnation, and often retains memories of its previous incarnation.

In game terms, you have a living companion who has an Avatar linked to your own. You may have little memory of your past lives and your companion may not be Awakened, but she retains much of the knowledge and experience from your previous incarnations. Thus, your mage's companion can remind him of things or teach him about lessons that he's already learned previously. Think Corum and Jhary-a-Conel.

The Storyteller creates this companion. Unless you also take the Allies background, your companion has no special capabilities besides being tied to your character's cycle and remembering the past.

Berserker
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

The ancient Celts called this state the "Battle Fury," and when it takes over your mage, everything is tinted with a red haze as he kills. And kills. And kills some more. Your character feels no pain, and he ignores all wound penalties when berserk. Whenever your character is injured in combat, make a Willpower roll [difficulty 6 + the number of wound levels suffered so far that scene.] Add two to that difficulty if you have the Short Fuse flaw (up to a maximum difficulty 10.) If you fail, your character enters the battle fury, and he may ignore all wound penalties. Unfortunately, he won't know friend from foe, and he will kill until there's nothing left standing.

To end the battle fury, you must make a Willpower roll at the same difficulty. Subtract one from the difficulty if the person on the receiving end is your True Love or someone similarly important. Otherwise, everyone just has to run and hide until you come down.

Catlike Balance
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit] Your mage possesses an innately perfect sense of balance. You reduce the difficulties of all balance-related rolls (e.g. Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by two.

Celestial Affinity
(3 Points) [Blood Treachery - Social Merit]

Your mage has an exceptional instinct when it comes to dealing with High Umbrood. While certain shamans excel at actions with their totemic spirits, and necromancers find truck with the dead a simple matter, your mage's talents make conversing with the noblest and most refined of ephemeral entities easier. You receive a difficulty bonus of two to all rolls to summon, compel, coax, bargain with and otherwise influence such beings. This bonus applies as much to social rolls as it does to Spheres, since trafficking with High Umbrood is often as much a matter of finesse and force of personality as it is one of sorcerous might.

Circumspect Avatar
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

What Avatar? Your mage has never seen her Avatar. In fact, no one's ever seen her Avatar, unless it was her reflection in the mirror, or her shadow, or something that everyone and their dog has.

Your mage does have an Avatar, but it isn't inclined to put on a show. At most, her Avatar is simply her subconscious, and it's just nudged and pushed her into finding her own Awakening.

Having a circumspect Avatar doesn't mean that your mage doesn't have Seekings and Epiphanies. Such events just tend to be rooted in reality. The mage may well find that a series of unusual events in the physical world leads her to greater enlightenment, without ever entering a dreamscape. Who needs to go rooting around in dreams and bizarre mindscapes to find out who they are?

Claws / Fangs / Horns / Hooves / Barbed Tail
(3+ points) [Guide to the Traditions - Physical Merit]

Witches have always been known for their beautiful fingernails and iron teeth, and your character lives up to this reputation, since coming from her, "I'll scratch your eyes out!" is not an idle threat. Or perhaps she has the horns of the devil or the hooves of a centaur, or something more mundane yet cooler - like a surgical steel plate in the skull with bolts to screw spikes on.

For three points, you may buy one type of attack; for five points, two. Seven points allows you to buy three, and nine points allows you to buy four. For eleven points, you can go for the full devil package and have claws, fangs, horns, hooves and a barb at the end of your tail (though it costs an additional three points for your tail to be prehensile.)

At Storyteller option, claws and so forth can be made retractable for an additional +1 per unit of size, like vampire fangs can be pulled back in for one point; for two points, jumbo fangs (the type that stick down over your lip) can be pulled back into line with regular teeth, and for three points, even boar or walrus tusks can be made to disappear - though there will have to be a good explanation given for why this works.

Cloak of the Seasons
(3 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Physical Merit]

You are magically protected from the effects of the weather and the natural environment. You are perfectly comfortable in winter's chill or summer's blazing heat regardless of your clothing (or lack thereof.) You do not suffer from sunstroke or exposure. You're not even bitten by insects or other vermin. Your senses are still limited by the elements (including fog, rain and snow,) and you're not protected from either hunger or thirst.

Code of Honor
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

Your mage has some personal ethic or code of honor, above and beyond the teachings of Tradition, by which she lives. This code guides her actions, promotes higher standards and gives a clear ethical path. Your mage's belief in and struggle to uphold this code grants you two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when he acts in accordance with this code or when resisting some compulsion that might force him to violate the code. You should work with the Storyteller to describe and flesh out the code. Note that if your mage does not uphold the code and ponder its impact on his lifestyle regularly, this merit may be revoked.

Common Sense
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

Your mage has an exceptional body of everyday wisdom and a tendency to deduce clear courses of action in puzzling situations. Although this merit does not give you a benefit to any die rolls, it means that the Storyteller will warn you when your character's actions violate common sense. He may even give you suggestions. This merit is good for new players, as it gives the Storyteller an excuse to treat them lightly.

Concentration
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

By shutting out all distractions, your mage can focus intently on the task at hand. Your character is never affected by adverse situational and environmental circumstances that don't actually cause damage. Thus, you take no penalty if your mage is distracted, disturbed, pushed, jostled, hanging upside down, working in the rain or otherwise inconvenienced.

Conditional Magic
(1-6 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit or Flaw]

There is one thing in the world that is a great boon, or bane, to your character's magic. Perhaps her spells work particularly well against men, or on Tuesdays, or just after a storm, or on people dressed all in black. Maybe she's powerless to affect those who are or who bear that certain thing, such as her magic being unable to affect Christians or those who carry a piece of rowan or red thread. It may be that a certain individual gave her power over them, or perhaps it is utterly proof against her magic due to an oath she swore or spells that were placed on her.

The conditions that affect your magic may be common, uncommon or rare, and the value of this merit or flaw depends on the rarity of the condition. The base costs listed here assume that you have a difficulty modifier of three on all Arete rolls under the given conditions. You may adjust the difficulty by one for every point more or less you devote to the trait.

Cyclic Magic
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your character's magic is tied to some regular and repeating cycle - night and day, the moon, the sun, the tides, the wheel of the year, or even such things as the stock market or the price of tea in China (very important for a Syndicate commodities broker.) As such, your difficulties with magic fluctuate from the standard by a maximum of three, depending on what part of the cycle you set as your personal high point. You may be tied to the dark of the moon, the full moon, the Bull cycle or the Bear cycle. Regardless, while the cyclic nature of your magic is problematic, it is quite useful in some circumstances, allowing your character to schedule rituals for their times of greatest power.

Daredevil
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit]

Fortune favors the bold - and your mage is certainly bold. In dangerous and risky situations, he performs like a true action hero. Any time your mage takes a significantly risky action, like leaping across rooftops in a hail of gunfire or diving between two burning, colliding cars, you get to roll three extra dice and ignore one 1 on the roll. Generally, a task must have a difficulty of at least 8 and the potential to inflict three or more levels of lethal or aggravated damage in order to be considered risky in this fashion. Note that extended risky tasks, like vulgar rituals, get this bonus only at the end of the task, rather than on each roll.

Deathwalker
(4 points) [Euthanatos Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your character has a special tie to the Underworld. While most mages must die or undergo the Agama rite to cross into the Shadowlands, you can use the third rank of Spirit to Step Sideways, just as if you were entering the Middle Umbra. Your aura turns pale and you take on the spiritual imprint of one of the dead. You aren't affected by the Avatar Storms when you cross over; they ignore your "dead" soul as it passes by. You are affected by the Avatar Storm when you venture into the Middle and Astral Umbrae; only the lands of the dead are excepted.

Drahma's Voice
(4-6 points) [Akashic Brotherhood Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Whether you're a child, a drunk or a monk, you speak with more wisdom than you possess. Perhaps you are a reincarnated sage, or you simply have an intuitive connection with the Absolute that expresses itself in your voice and actions.

In game terms, your character is a Mentor for Akashic mages (and, at the Storyteller's discretion, others who might understand her words,) despite the fact that she isn't particularly wise herself. The four-point version of this merit turns your character into a one-dot Mentor - you may add more dots at a cost of one point per dot. For six points, your character serves as a three-dot Mentor to other people, even if she lacks the usual knowledge to teach in such fashion. She can't benefit from this herself. She doesn't know why the other Sidai light up with sudden understanding when she tells them a joke or a bar story!

Driven
(2 points) [Blood Treachery - Mental Merit]

The world is falling to Hell, and the Order is crumbling. Few mages have the spiritual resilience to endure the punishment being heaped on the Traditions in these End Times and keep on going. Your mage is one of them. Once per game session, when the survival of your character's Tradition is at stake, you gain an additional free point of temporary Willpower to spend on any one roll in defense of your mage's Tradition.

Dual Traditions
(7 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage has been educated by two Traditions. Most likely, he was a Hollow One who studied a bit of this and that, and found a couple things that made sense to him. Or, perhaps, he was Awakened by a teacher of one Tradition, but then studied under a different Master and experienced a second epiphany through this new knowledge. For purposes of spending experience, the specialty Spheres of both Traditions come with the bonus (cheap) multiplier. Your character is more open-minded about foci as well, and he may use those of either Tradition. (The penalties for unique foci still apply.) If your mage loses his Hermetic showstone for example, he has to go either about getting another one or rely solely on the props of his other Tradition.

Ecumenist
(5 points) [Celestial Chorus Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Though possibly never having worked with mages outside the Tradition, your mage has developed some unique insights into the distinct factions and sects that make up the Chorus. Perhaps his mentor encouraged him to pursue studies with another teacher as well, or he simply developed a new interest or sense of calling and went off on his own. The character with this merit may purchase both factions' specialty Spheres at the bonus multiplier, effectively having two primary Spheres. This benefit has its downside, however, as both factions may require certain obligations of him.

Eidetic Memory
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

A character with an eidetic memory remembers the general sense of everything that she experiences, and she has greater ease in total recall. Under normal conditions, your character easily remembers everything that happens to her. In stressful situations (like memorizing a book during a firefight,) you may need to make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to memorize or recall the pertinent information.

Faction Founder
(4 points) [The Bitter Road - Social Merit]

Your character has broken with Tradition and founded her own faction. Several acolytes pay heed to her beliefs, she can get recognition as a political force in her Tradition, and she can train Apprentices with her special area of concern.

In game terms, you get a one-point bonus on social rolls within your mage's own Tradition. You get respect (and sometimes fear) for paving new ground. When you teach a newly Awakened Initiate, he learns your chosen faction special Sphere in addition to your normal Tradition specialty.

In story terms, your character probably has several followers and maybe even some Apprentices (take backgrounds as appropriate.) She can start a Chantry and be recognized, and her faction will live on in the annals of Tradition history!

Obviously, this merit is a great hook for political chronicles.

Fae Blood
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Although your character is not a Changeling, she's got their heritage running through her veins - literally. Faerie blood allows her to walk in the Dreaming as if she were fae herself. While doing so exposes her to chimerical attack, it also opens her to a new and wondrous world.

In fae terms, your mage is kinain, a human with some innate Glamour who can learn limited cantrips fueled by her own power. (See Changeling: The Dreaming and The Enchanted for details. Note that a full mage cannot have a Glamour pool.) If your character is a hedge magician, these cantrips are a wondrous adjunct to your Paths; if she's an Awakened mage, they are inherent tricks that are Paradox-free! Her Banality is also quite low (typically two to five) and her presence is often welcome in the courts of the fae. Naturally, this sort of gift carries and obligation to play faerie politics. Nevertheless, it can be a wondrous game.

Folk Hero
(3 points) [Akashic Brotherhood Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Your people love you. You stood up to a corrupt official, ended a drought, got a new hospital built, or did any number of things that endeared you to the people in your community. When you're there, they'll do almost anything to help you, as long as you maintain your previous upstanding behavior.

A signature merit for Li-Hai, Folk Hero gives you a blanket -2 difficulty on social rolls with people from the community you helped. Furthermore, your character can always get basic food and shelter there, and if he's in trouble with the law or just needs a place to hide, they'll find him a garage or back room to lay his head. Just keep two things in mind: First, these are ordinary working class or agrarian people; your character isn't going to be borrowing a jet or a laptop from them (though he might get a bicycle.) Second, while they don't expect him to rescue every cat and till every rocky field for his sick neighbor, they do expect him to stand up for his community when times are rough. If he turns his back on them, they'll turn their backs on him.

Ghoul
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

At some point in time, a vampire fed your character some of her potent blood, possibly bonding her into service. Somehow, she broke free, but the blood's force has granted her some of her mistress's power. In addition to a vague knowledge of vampiric society, your character ages slowly, has an extra automatic success on any Strength roll you make, and she inflicts an extra die of damage with all hand-to-hand attacks as a corollary to that additional strength. If your game integrates Vampire: the Masquerade rules, your character has a blood pool, a dot in Potence and the potential to buy and use some Disciplines, specifically Potence, Fortitude and her Domitor's choice powers.

This power does not come without cost, however. Your mage must continue to feed on vampire blood occasionally. Otherwise, she regains her mortality and craves forever the sweet rush of her former mistress's essence. Should she revert (after going a month or more without the sacred vitae,) she loses her supernatural might (and Disciplines) forever. (Unless she is Embraced as a vampire, in which case she gets them back at the cost of her life and Avatar.) Note also that imbibing the cursed blood of the brood of Caine has all sorts of detrimental effects! A mage gains a dot each in Static and Entropic Resonance immediately the first time she becomes a ghoul. The unaging curse causes the mage to have difficulty with Seekings. This penalty comes on at the Storyteller's discretion, but in general, the mage has a tendency to fail in Seekings due to her own static nature and the foibles of the Curse.

Green Thumb
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Flowers spring up in your footsteps and trees burst into bloom at your touch. Your hands are as warm as sunlight or stones from a cheery hearth. A common Merit among Verbena.

Honored Lineage
(2 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Your bloodline is descended from one of the oldest and most respected families among the Verbena, and you can trace your ancestry back to the Burning Times, if not farther. You are a true scion of the legendary Wyck, the First Ones. Among mages (particularly Verbena) who care about matters of lineage, reduce the difficulty of your Social rolls by two (but not to less than 2.) You're also likely to receive a measure of deference and respect from these people, though others will also expect great things of you and could be disappointed if you don't live up to your heritage.

Huge Size
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit]

Your character is abnormally large in size, possibly over seven feet tall and 400 pounds in weight. He therefor has one additional health level, and he is able to suffer more harm before he's incapacitated. Treat this health level as an extra Bruised level, with no penalties to rolls. Note that such characters definitely stand out in a crowd, they may suffer health problems later in life, and they make for easy targets. Storytellers, beware of players who take this Merit solely for the ability to soak up extra damage in combat. Remember as well that the bonus mass and health level go away if the mage uses Life magic to shift into a smaller form.

Hypersensitivity
(3 points) [Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book: Revised - Physical Merit]

Your mage has very keen senses of touch and taste. Indeed, the Cultist can often sense minute motions, and she absolutely adores the touch of silk or the taste of wine. This Merit is different from just an Acute Sense; it's a qualitative difference. The Cultist derives a greater quality of satisfaction and pleasure from all manner of indulgences and carnal activities. The Cultist tastes subtle hints in drinks and can tell the most minute, soft touches. With a Perception + Alertness roll, your Cultist can often perform feats such as telling the exact vintage of a wine by a tiny taste or use a simple swatch of silk or a soft caress as a suitable focus, instead of indulging in more extreme measures.

Immunity
(Variable points) [Guide to the Traditions - Physical Merit]

There is one peril to which your character is completely immune, even to the magical versions. Perhaps, like Mithridates, your mage slowly built up an immunity to all poisons, even those concocted by the Euthanatos. Perhaps he had an accident in the lab and now all metal phases harmlessly through his body, even magic swords and comic-book alloys - or it bounces off his chest. Perhaps it still cuts, but the wounds don't bleed and they seal up immediately.

However, this invulnerability is only to the particular thing, not to any secondary or tertiary effects - Fenris may have blessed your character so that he is unscathed by the teeth and claws of wolves, even werewolves, but that does nothing to stop the silver sword or even the damage when the werewolf pounds your mage's head into a wall. (Fenris, after all, said you'd be unharmed by wolves, not by architecture.) Likewise, even if metal doesn't exist for your mage, it does for his lab coat, and a bullet's going to pack quite a wallop before it shreds the cloth. And even if the faeries at your christening said that no mortal man could ever harm you, that proviso doesn't apply to vampires, or the magics that mortal man might command, or even - for that matter - to his 1957 Chevy Bel Aire.

Your mage might be immune to all physical harm, save one thing, like beheading, incineration or being stabbed through the heart with a dagger thrice blessed by three separate Popes; or he might be immune to all things save in one spot, like Achilles' hell or Siegfried's shoulder. However, this will not prevent him from being turned into a rutabaga, having his soul stolen, being sealed in Lucite or sent into orbit, though his body (if not his sanity) will withstand all these things. He'll merely be an invulnerable soulless rutabaga orbiting the earth in a Lucite block while his enemies look for a third Pope to bless a dagger.

Immunities vary in price, depending on their lethality and their frequency, much as Vulnerabilities do. You must buy each Immunity separately, although a Storyteller may allow a number of similar Immunities (basilisks, snakes, toadstools, iocaine powder) to be packaged as one more common Immunity. Total immunity continues to go up in price depending on the size of the chink in your armor.

Alternately, for half the price of any given Immunity, your character may be Resistant to a particular bane - taking only half damage, rounded down, or reducing your soak roll difficulties by 3... your choice. Anything doing only one die of damage, you ignore.

Objects, especially Phylacteries, may also have Immunity to physical perils, but Storytellers should impose some limit on size so min-maxers will not use this merit to create invulnerable dreadnoughts and impenetrable fortresses. The larger the object, the less of it can be invulnerable. You can have an indestructible moped, but your '57 Chevy won't have puncture-proof tires, and your Winnebago of Doom can have the tires blown out and the windows smashed even while the rest of it remains unscathed. Likewise, your cozy witch's cottage will just need to be re-thatched after the dragon attack, but your mansion will be gutted with nothing left but smoke-blackened walls. However, you can have the last laugh by making your Phylactery your castle, and making the one way to defeat your castle's Immunity being your own death. That way, if your enemies ever sneak into your sanctum and kill you, they get to deal with the castle collapsing on their heads - a common staple of sorcerous fiction.

Need we even mention that this merit can be phenomenally abusive?

Insensible to Pain
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Merit]

Your character might be made of steel, or just hopped up on drugs (although you should also take the Addiction Flaw if such is the case,) but whatever the cause, he doesn't hurt no matter how wounded he is. You ignore all wound penalties until your character is finally killed.

Iron Will
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

When your mage makes up his mind, he's unshakable, and he can't be swayed from his goals. You receive three extra dice against all attempts to influence your mage's thoughts (though not against emotional manipulation.) If your character ever runs afoul of a vampire, he can shake off its mind control powers with the expenditure of a single point of Willpower.

Judge's Wisdom
(4 points) [Akashic Brotherhood Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Merit]

You aren't swayed by emotion. Ever. Perhaps you're a strict Legalist who follows Han Fei Tao's advice to keep emotion out of the business of living, or your heart has been calmed by years of meditation. In any event, even magical attempts to alter your emotional state almost always fail.

Your character is immune to all Mind effects that work on the emotions, the power of vampiric Presence and similar effects. He can still be swayed by attempts at direct mind control, such as possession, mental illusions, vampiric Dominate and the like, and extremely potent powers (with six or more dots) may overwhelm his defenses. Your character can be calm but weak-willed, after all. Note that you cannot take both this Merit and the Merit Iron Will. That would result in a quick ticket to Clarity!

Legendary Attribute
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage has a superhuman Attribute, something in which he has the potential to be greater than human. Although this Attribute is not necessarily automatically better, the mage could potentially exceed the bounds of human ability. Such a gift is rare and precious, and many people with this capacity never even manage to fulfill their true potential.

In your character's legendary Attribute, your character has the potential for a rating of six dots. Thus, your mage might have the Strength of Hercules or the Intelligence of Occam. This Merit does not confer such a rating automatically; it must still be purchased with Attribute points, freebie points of experience.

In addition to the potential for inhuman power, your character has some miraculous capability tied to that Attribute. A mage with legendary Stamina might have the ability to roll a soak against any form of damage, for instance, while a mage with legendary Wits might be able to shift his initiative category by one place in any given turn automatically. This power is generally automatic, and it is subject to the Storyteller's approval. Its potency varies with the character's actual Attribute rating, so a character with a legendary Stamina of 1 has a weak legendary power that might grow with time and experience.

This Merit obviously has the potential for abuse, and it is not appropriate for all chronicles or characters.

Light Sleeper
(1 to 3 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

For one point, your mage needs less sleep than other mortals: he can function quite well on four hours a night. If the Storyteller imposes penalties on other players for sleep deprivation (one or two-die penalties are suggested,) then you are exempt. Needless to say, this Merit allows your character to accomplish a lot more with his daily activities.

For two points, your mage sleeps only about two hours per night. This resilience is quite unusual, and it lets your mage get a lot more done. It also means that he has the luxury of sleeping while on the run.

For three points, your mage is truly sleepless. You may suffer penalties from exhaustion, but he does not need shut-eye. Perhaps your mage's brain's sleep center was destroyed in an accident, or he may be something like a golem that's designed to stand forever vigilant. Regardless, the only time your mage sleeps is if he's drugged or beaten unconscious.

Lightning Calculator
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

Your character can perform complex mathematical equations in her head instantly with little error at the speed of a computer. You as a player can use a calculator during play at any time, even when your character is fleeing for her life.

Long-Lived
(1 point) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Physical Merit]

Whether through heredity, the blessings of the gods or just good, clean living, you are especially long-lived. You age, but gracefully, retaining both your vitality and your faculties. You can easily expect to live to see your first century, and possibly another beyond that. Note that adepts of the Life Sphere can achieve this Effect through magic. This Merit grants it naturally (and does not incur the possibility of Paradox.)

Lucky
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage is just plain lucky. Thrice per story (not per session,) you can repeat a failed roll, even a botch. However, you can only do so once per roll, and you can't apply luck to rolls of magic (involving Arete, Spheres, that sort of thing.)

Mad Science
(2 points) [Sons of Ether Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Merit]

By experimenting with other dimensions, mind-wracking mathematics and Paradoxical technologies, the Sons of Ether risk their mental stability at the price of unique insights. Having touched the infinite, inhuman reaches of Truth, madness takes its toll, but it also brings inspiration.

Characters with this Merit receive a one-point break on magical difficulties as well as uses of the Awareness, Cosmology, Enigmas, Occult, Science and Technology Abilities while in the throes of Quiet or an active derangement.

Manifest Avatar
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Most people see their Avatars only during Seekings, if at all. Your mage's drops by every day for tea, if it doesn't hang out 'round the clock. This Avatar is completely invisible to everyone but your character (and those who can read her mind,) unless you take this Merit in combination with the Allies Background, creating the body of a person or familiar for your Avatar. In this case, your Avatar becomes your bamf!ing buddy, popping in and out of existence when it feels like it. If it's killed, only the mortal shell dies, not your Avatar - unless you also have the Phylactery Flaw, in which case your Avatar's form in immune to all physical harm, but it is manifested permanently. If such is the case, it is able to be kidnapped, transformed and so on.

Storyteller's should note that an Avatar doesn't have to say it's an Avatar, and just because an Avatar is invested into a phylactery doesn't mean that everything that phylactery tells you is a pronouncement from your Avatar. A V-A may have his laptop as a phylactery, but unless he's also taken Manifest Avatar as a Merit, his laptop's warnings to update his virus software are nothing more significant than that. Likewise, you may have invested your Avatar into your best friend, but that doesn't mean that everything (or anything) he says are pronouncements from your personal spirit guide. Such only happens to be the case if you take Manifest Avatar. Even then, why should your Avatar tell you he's anyone except your best friend?

A manifest Avatar can chat with you and other people like the intelligences that show up on the Web to guide Virtual Adepts and converse with their contemporaries. With the right tricks, it can even materialize to harangue you, to fight, to push you around or just make for a hot date.

Medium
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage is a natural conduit to the Underworld. Although this Merit does not reduce the difficulty of working Spirit magic, it does mean that your character can hear ghosts naturally. The mage might not see wraiths without the right magic, but they do tend to hang out, talk, bug the character and ask him to do things. This talent can be helpful in some cases; wraiths are eager to talk to those who can hear them. However, they often make demands, and they can be difficult to banish if the mage doesn't have enough power with Spirit.

Mourner's Chant
(3 points) [Euthanatos Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Your mage has a gift for relieving people of their despair when they are confronted by death. He might be a professional mourner in a traditional society, a grief counselor or even just a compassionate soul willing to listen to and reassure anyone affected by death. His skill is such that the presence of ghosts and the walking dead bring no fear to his charges, so long as he can speak to them in a clear, unwavering voice.

The character gains a -2 difficulty modifier on all Social rolls when trying to comfort someone struck by grief, rage or any other emotion brought on by death. When ghosts and the walking dead approach, he may make a Manipulation + Expression roll (difficulty 7) to steel his charge against terror. Each success adds one point to the subject's effective Willpower when resisting the horror. This does not cover vampires or the use of fear-causing supernatural powers, only the shroud of fear that surrounds these beings. You may split your dice pool to comfort multiple people.

See Mummy: the Resurrection and Werewolf: the Apocalypse for some sample systems for supernatural horror. Otherwise, simply assume that the subject flees or is paralyzed with fear unless he makes a Willpower roll, difficulty 9.

Natural Channel
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage is a natural weak point in the Gauntlet between worlds. The difficulty to use magic to pierce it is one less, and spirits react a bit more favorably to the mage. If your mage finds an especially weak spot in the Gauntlet (with Awareness or Spirit 1,) he can step between worlds without magic.

Natural Shallowing
(5 points) [The Infinite Tapestry - Supernatural Merit]

A rare few souls draw the spirit worlds to them like moths to flame, calling out silently through the Gauntlet. Your mage is one such. The Gauntlet is always one less in the immediate vicinity of the mage (which, in some of the last remaining places of power, can reduce the Gauntlet rating to zero.) Further, by expending a point of Willpower, the mage may cause the Gauntlet to reduce by an additional one, though this is as far as she can go. Note that multiple mages with this power cannot "stack" its effects. Dreamspeakers often see those who possess this Merit as being especially blessed by the spirits and are inclined to be friendly to them (-1 to social difficulties.)

Natural Shapeshifter
(3 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

You are a natural and talented shapeshifter when using Life magic (not necessarily related to the Fera, though you may also have the Shapechanger Kin Merit.) You are never in danger of losing yourself to the identity of your beast-form, and any new shape you adopt is as comfortable to you as your own. Moreover, the difficulty of Arete rolls to change your own shape is two less than normal.

Nephilim
(7 points) [Blood Treachery - Supernatural Merit]

This Merit is exactly what it sounds like. Your mage is the direct progeny of a native of the High Umbra and a human being. Perhaps your character's conception secured a pact, or possibly the reasons were somewhat less pragmatic. In any case, the mage is the intersection of Heaven (or Hell, or the Vulgate, etc.) and Earth. Like the Biblical Nephilim, your character's body cannot fully contain the massive spiritual energies coursing through it, so she has one or a small handful of deformities (at least 3 points worth of Physical Flaws, for which you receive no additional points.) Also, she tends to embody certain characteristics of her High Umbral parent (almost certainly her father.) An angelic parent whose domain is Fury will result in a short temper and a desire to solve problems with one's fists, whereas an Incubus' child will have... darker appetites. Reflect this tendency by starting with three dots of Resonance instead of just one. This heritage does, however, bestow certain advantages upon your character. Mind and Spirit Sphere difficulties pertaining directly to the High Umbra decrease by one, and she is capable of entering the High Umbra physically with a conjunctional Spirit 3, Mind 4 Effect. Also, the entities of the High Umbra fear their bastard half-breeds, and so you receive two bonus dice in all rolls to intimidate, command or make demands of such creatures. (Unless you are very powerful, however, or the creature you are dealing with is very weak, doing so is nigh suicidal.) This Merit cannot be taken with Celestial Affinity; the Nephilim are neither well-loved nor well-received by the Angelic Hierarchies and their like.

Nine Lives
(6 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Merit]

Dame Fortune has favored your mage with the ability to come as close as possible to mortal peril and still to survive. When a roll occurs that would result in your character's death, the roll is made again. If the next roll succeeds, then your mage lives - and one of your nine lives is used up. If that subsequent roll fails, then another re-roll is made, until either a successful roll occurs or your nine lives are used up. The storyteller should keep careful count of how many lives the character has remaining.

Oracular Ability
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

No, your mage is not one of the mystic Master mages living in an ivory tower in the Deep Umbra. Neither is she a software company. What she is, is an ordinary mage with a flair for divination and glimpses into the past, present and future.

Whenever the Storyteller feels you are in the position to see a sign or portent, you may make a Perception + Awareness roll, with the difficulty relative to how well the omen is concealed. If successful, you may then roll Intelligence + Occult to interpret what you have seen, the difficulty is relative to the complexity of what you have seen. Your difficulty for all divination with magic (generally with Time) reduces by two.

Parlor Trick
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your character has a natural ability to perform some small, pretty or useful bit of magic at will. This trick is nothing that can cause much damage, or even serious annoyance; it's just enough to perform some small basic task or give your mage a little flair. Your mage might be adept at the old wizard's trick of conjuring an orb of witchlight to hand or a flame to her finger. She might be a cyborg who had the bright idea of installing a light bulb or pilot light in her head for the same purpose. If your mage uses a magical sense like night-vision often, you might have the added perk that he can make his eyes glow like a vampire's, allowing him to see even in total darkness. If your character is of the scientific bent, he may be able to emit enough x-rays to use with his x-ray vision, or he could have a laser pointer installed in his index finger just for fun. You don't have to roll or spend anything to make this parlor trick work.

Storytellers should note that this Merit is provided to add color and reason to the game, not to give min-maxers a loophole to create engines of death. With this Merit, mages can light pipes without a lighter, conjure roses or martinis, have mood music play in the background or pop a penknife or a single claw out of a fingertip. Yes, you could put an eye out with one of those things, but the combat difference between a penknife, a single tiger claw, and a press-on fingernail is inconsequential.

Personal Talisman
(1 point) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Merit or Flaw]

Though a master mage may have helped (and probably did,) your character has done one of the great and mighty deeds of magecraft and created a Talisman. Well, he may not have created it, but he was there for the crucial and literal willworking - he invested a pawn of his own Willpower into the Talisman and now it is tied to him.

If this is a Merit, you still have the Talisman, and so long as your character holds it, you have an extra point of permanent Willpower, as well as a point of temporary Willpower that cannot be spent. (You must also take at least one point in the Wonder Background if you intend to keep it.)

If this is a Flaw, however, you do not possess the Talisman and the related Willpower point. Mark off one of your permanent Willpower points until you get the Talisman back or somehow gain it from its rightful owner (which should be you, but isn't.) If this drops you below five Willpower, you'll never become a Master until you get it back or you purchase another point. (Your invested point of Willpower still counts as part of your total for purposes of purchasing more, however.)

Protean Psyche
(7 points) [The Bitter Road - Mental Merit]

Like the stonecutter in the old Chinese folktale, your character has been a deer, a tiger, the rain, the wind, a rock and a stonecutter. Or at least, if she hasn't been all these things, she can easily imagine being all these things, and imagination is the most important thing.

If your mage is ever placed in a different body, the experience is perfectly natural. A man? Fine. A woman? Of course. A stoat? No problem. A 50-headed, 20-horned, million-tentacled thingy, like something from Japanese anime as reinterpreted by St. John the Baptist? Sure, sounds good.

If your mage is a shapechanger or a body-snatcher or even a Virtual Adept who changes his icons on the Digital Web frequently, this Merit is almost a necessity. The alternative is to be faced with an unfamiliar body each time, or live existence with a limited catalog of familiar forms (see Mage: the Ascension p. 171.) As an added benefit, you do not need to make Willpower checks when sighting Progenitor monstrosities, horrors from the Deep Umbra, Crinos-form werewolves or Tzimisce Zulo forms because you've been there. Or at least your character's imagination has.

Resistant Pattern
(7 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Physical Merit]

Aggravated damage means nothing to you, at least personally. Enchanted weapons, vampire fangs, deadly spells and toxic waste can still harm you, of course, but this damage is no worse than that dealt out by ordinary weapons, cat claws, car crashes and sports injuries, any of which can still kill you. You take only lethal damage from attacks that would normally score aggravated wounds, including the Avatar Storm.

Resonant Passion
(3 points) [Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

One of your mage's areas of Resonance also reflects a strong internal tie to one of the Nine Sacred Passions. Choose one of your character's Resonance Traits. Whenever your mage performs magic that gains a bonus from that Resonance, you gain a two-point difficulty break instead of one.

Scientific Mystic
(3 points) [Sons of Ether Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Merit]

Some Etherites have a special aptitude for interpreting other magical styles through the lens of their own theories. As a result, they can use mystical methods, even if their own paradigms are devoted to scientific truth. Polymath Adventurers are known for their "secret studies in the East" or esoteric technologies pulled from ancient legends.

This Merit allows a character to use one other Tradition or Craft's foci for one Sphere that the character knows as long as the player can justify how this knowledge fits into the character's paradigm. For example, a rune-carving Son of Ether isn't using "Norse magic," but the geometric, psychological and psionic insights of a culture whose discoveries were, no doubt, downplayed by the enemies of Science! The character may select a specialty focus, but this choice replaces the normal specialty focus for the Sphere.

Shapechanger Kin
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

By some quirk of fate, your mage is related to a werewolf, -cat, -raven, -bear or perhaps even one of the more mysterious breeds. The changing blood has not stirred in him - at least not in the traditional way - but it has left its mark. He's immune to the Delirium (the madness that claims those who see a werebeast's half-human form,) and he has friends among whichever breed he's related to. Having this Merit doesn't mean that he knows their secrets or that he can wander around their sacred sites without retribution, but he has a certain edge that no normal mortal can match. If your character is a Sorcerer, you might be able to learn a few spirit Gifts, and an Awakened mage can use these inherent magical powers as well without threat of Paradox. However, he can never have Gnosis, the innate connection to the spirit world that all shifters share.

You've got a good chance to know some shapechanger lore, and you may share some common contacts and allies. You will probably claim some degree of affection from your relatives' tribe and some animosity from their enemies.

Shattered Avatar
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Although not necessarily weak, your character's Avatar has been broken to pieces. Your mage has one splinter -- your Avatar rating, if you have one, purchased at the normal cost for that Background -- and the other pieces are scattered elsewhere. However, what has been broken can be put back together, at least in this case. If you can find the other pieces of your mage's Avatar through questing and roleplaying, you may increase your Avatar rating after character creation.

The other pieces of your character's Avatar may be scattered about the cosmos, secreted in extra-dimensional hidey-holes with sphinxes and other creatures guarding them, or they may be part of a phylactery, of which you have one or more pieces. For instance, perhaps your mage's Avatar is invested in 10 mighty rings, three of which she has (and a corresponding Avatar rating of 3,) but she must go and retrieve the others from those who have them. Or perhaps there are other mages who share your character's Avatar, and whenever your mage kills one, her Avatar rating grows by their Avatar rating. Unfortunately, the other mages who have this Avatar are out to kill her as well...

Design the nature of your shattering with your Storyteller and decide beforehand what your character must do to regain a piece of his broken spirit.

Sphere Natural
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your character is able to use one of the Spheres of magic with a greater degree of ease than other mages. For whatever reason (inborn talent, powerful heritage, past life, supernatural bargain, etc.,) she's got an affinity for a certain kind of magic. She picked it up quickly, and she now progresses through it at an unusual rate.

During character creation, select one Sphere. From this point on, you only pay three-quarters of the normal cost (rounded down) when buying levels, rituals and similar improvements for magic of that Sphere alone. The favored Sphere must be declared at character creation, and it may be purchased only once.

Stormwarden
(3 or 5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

For some reason, the Avatar Storm that rages across the Gauntlet has no effect upon your mage. When your mage reaches across the Gauntlet, he never suffers any injury from the storm.

For five points, your mage also protects everyone that he touches (including through Correspondence touching) and deliberately desires to shield.

Either version of this Merit is quite rare, and a whole cabal might be built around the power of one individual to travel across the Gauntlet unhindered. There's no apparent pattern to who manifests this boon - some mages who've never studied Spirit magic before suddenly discover this talent when dragged across the Umbra, while other Masters of Spirit still can't simulate it.

Techgnosi
(2 or 6 points) [Celestial Chorus Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

The One is not limited by the changes of history or the challenges of humanity's ever-expanding knowledge. Your character has learned to find the One in the contemporary world of technology, even gaining new and sometimes profound insights about the mystical side of scientific knowledge and the rational dimensions of religious faith. After all, the One is no respecter of human boundaries. The most organized group of Techgnostics is the Alexandrian Society, noted on pg. 46.

The two-point version of this Merit allows your character to use technological foci that are more commonly associated with the Virtual Adepts or the Sons of Ether as long as there is some mystical or religiously oriented content associated with them. (Your character might use a religious website for a Mind Effect, for example.) The six-point version also allows the user to have both Prime (or her faction's primary Sphere) and either Matter or Correspondence as her primary Spheres.

Time Sense
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Merit]

Your mage has an uncanny sense of time, down to within a few seconds of accuracy. This Merit duplicates the Perfect Time Effect of Time 1, but it's natural and ever-present.

Touch of Life
(3 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your Avatar and your Pattern are filled to overflowing with the energies of life. You are especially vital and vivacious, and others find your presence uplifting and energizing (and possibly annoying, for those who don't care for such things.) You recover from injury as if your condition was one health level less serious. (A Wounded character recovers as if he were only Injured, taking a week rather than a month.) Reduce the difficulty of your Stamina rolls to fight off diseases and poisons by one. More importantly, your liveliness tends to rub off on others. Plants thrive under your care (much like the Green Thumb Merit, p. 294 of Mage.) Injured people under your direct care recover as quickly as you do (treating their condition as one health level less serious for purposes of recovery.)

The downside of this Merit is that your blood is particularly rich in life force, meaning vampires gain twice the normal amount of blood points when drinking from you. This might make you a target of bloodsuckers and similar life-draining creatures.

Tradition Herald
(2 points) [The Bitter Road - Social Merit]

Your character has been recognized by the Traditions as a formal herald. He is granted safe passage in all Tradition territory, such as chantries and nodes, and he can expect hospitality from Tradition mages. In the modern age, this hospitality may just include crash space on a couch and a meal from McDonald's, but it's enough to survive.

Your mage may be asked to carry messages physically, since magical methods can be detected and intercepted while he can (theoretically) defend himself. Although you cannot expect to enter the inner Sanctums of most Traditions, he can ask for audience with their heads and expect to be heard (at some point.) You can also expect passage into and through territory that's special to a Tradition, such as admittance to a historic Akashic monastery where other mages are normally not permitted, for instance.

Furthermore, any Traditionalist who attacks your character except in self-defense is subject to censure and branding. If your character aggravates the attack (taunting someone until he attacks,) he may also be stripped of his position and branded. In general, however, he's safe from direct fighting among the Traditions. A herald can still be challenged to certamen, though. He can speak the truth freely or even insult people in a diplomatic capacity, but he'd better make sure that he's right.

True Faith
(7 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

In a world of horror and uncertainty, your mage keeps a small core of shining faith alive. Your character has a strong belief in and love for the Almighty power that drives the universe - be it God, Allah, the Hindu pantheon, or even just faith that everything will turn out all right.

Your character has one Faith Trait. This Trait acts as a die of countermagic, and it adds to all Willpower rolls. Gaining further Traits is nigh-unto impossible, and it requires extreme work and dedication. Even a single Faith Trait indicates a character of surpassing generosity of spirit. A character must maintain a code of the utmost standards in order to keep his faith. Those who interact with the character should quickly realize that he's special, touched and devoted in a way that's rarely seen in this world, and the character should uphold the highest spiritual tenets of his belief. It's possible for the faithful to be antagonistic - righteous soldiers of God, perhaps - but it's very, very rare. Most of the faithful are filled with compassion, honesty and an overwhelming love for the whole of Creation.

From time to time your character might be able to perform miracles fueled with faith; the exact details of such inherent magic are up to the Storyteller. Performing such tasks may exhaust the individual's faith for a time until it can be reaffirmed, in effect lowering the Faith rating. Miracles of this sort do not garner Paradox, and they seem to stem from some unknown force. Perhaps there is a benevolent power that watches over the universe.

True Love
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Social Merit]

Despite the bleakness of the world and the alienation that most mages suffer, your character has discovered a true love. Such love gives hope and inspiration in the face of even the greatest difficulty, for it is a sign that the world is not totally devoid of higher, purer powers. You gain one automatic success on all Willpower rolls, which can only be negated by a botch. On the other hand, you probably have to spend time rescuing your true love from danger or questing to find him or her again.

Twin Souls
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage's Avatar has been fragmented, and he has a "soul mate" - equal in power to his own Avatar, and similar in Essence, Nature and Demeanor. A physical twin, a look-alike, another mage or a complete stranger (possibly a Sleeper) might possess this fragment. When in physical contact with this soulmate (or spiritual mate, for actions in the Umbra,) the two may share Quintessence and cast spells as one, taking the highest ratings in Arete and Spheres, also gaining an additional measure of Quintessence equal to the strength of either individual. The parts are greater than the whole. However, this joint pool must be replenished through meditation in a Node, the same as a regular pool of Quintessence. Paradox points gained from joint spells are not split, however, and each twin gains the same amount of Paradox.

With only one dot in Correspondence, your character will always know where her soulmate is. With one dot in Life, she'll know his state of health, and with one in Mind, she may share his thoughts. If one soulmate dies, the player of the other must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to avoid psychic shock. She must wait also until her soulmate's reincarnation before the power may again be shared. Soulmates are not just walking Merits; they must be presented and run as characters, preferably by different players in a group. Also note that a mage does not have to get along with her soulmate. Twin souls are distinct and separate individuals, not just tag-team powerhouses.

Umbral Affinity
(4 points) [The Infinite Tapestry - Supernatural Merit]

Despite the coming of the Reckoning and the looming threat of Disembodiment plaguing most mages in the days since, your character is blessed with an exceptional tolerance for the unique circumstances of the Otherworlds. Whether this stems from spirit heritage, long exposure to the pre-Reckoning Umbra, or from no cause the mage can determine, she is fortunate enough to be able to sustain longer-term exposure to the Umbra than most. The character suffers no effects for first- and second-stage Acclimation (see the Acclimation chart on p. 33,) and all other stages affect him one step less. Hence, third-stage acclimation only inflicts second-stage symptoms, and sixth stage acclimation only inflicts fifth-stage symptoms. What's more, this character does not suffer from Disembodiment until four full moon cycles have passed while within the Umbra. (Those Realms that modify the time required for Disembodiment have those timeframes doubled by this Merit.)

Unaging
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Your mage does not age, ever. Perhaps she drank an elixir in the Mythic Ages, or she tasted the Peach of Immortality, or she ate the Apple of Hesperides, or she dined on the forbidden savor of mermaid's flesh. Perhaps she was injected with the perfect Iterator nanotech or Progenitor symbiote. Perhaps her body is composed of timeless stone or metal. Perhaps the cause is a complete mystery. Regardless, she remains unchanged as the years pass by, save for scars and accumulated knowledge.

Unbondable
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit]

Vampire blood cannot enslave your mage's will. No matter how much of it she consumes, the dreaded blood bond won't take hold. For that matter, she is immune to the eternal infatuation of the incubus's kisses and enslavement to ancient Artifacts created with soul-binding powers. This Merit can be powerful - a little too powerful for some chronicles - if combined with the Ghoul Merit. Therefore, if a character wants to be a free-willed ghoul, bear a soul-binding ring safely or be in any other situation where he gets the favors of the king without having to swear fealty, the player has to pay double the usual amount.

On the flip side, your mage should not go around drinking vampire blood at random. The stolen power of undead creatures cursed by God certainly has nasty Resonance.

Well Connected
(3 points) [Virtual Adepts Tradition Book: Revised - Social Merit]

Your name is well known throughout virtual space, and you can expect some assistance from other people online. This can range from other Awakened mages to simple Sleepers who like the "cool guy" they've been talking to. Help can vary as well, but usually comes in the form of information.

Ability Deficit
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Your character is not attuned to his natural aptitudes, so you have five fewer points to spend on his Talents, Skills or Knowledges. Therefor, the most you could take on that category would be eight dots, and the least would be zero. Of course, you can still spend freebie points to take Abilities in the appropriate category. However, you cannot have any Ability in that category at three dots or higher at the start of the game.

Addiction
(1 or 3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage suffers an addiction to some substance, such as nicotine, alcohol or some hard drug. If the substance is relatively trivial and easily obtained, this Flaw is worth one point, and it probably won't cause any game-related difficulties. If the substance is illegal, dangerous or liable to cause health or psychological problems, the Flaw is worth three points. Some mages or constructs may be addicted to extremely unusual or magical substances. Although such substances generally don't assess any penalty, they may count as a severe addiction due to their unusual nature.

A mage who can't get his fix will go through withdrawal, with penalties assessed by the Storyteller.

Aging
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage is either not as spry as he used to be, or he is not yet mature. Either way, one Physical Attribute score (your choice) must be lowered by one point. This Flaw must be taken once per decade over the 40-year mark, or once for each age bracket under 15. Your character loses one dot between the ages of 11 and 14, two for being between seven and 10, and he loses three for being between four and six. If you take this Flaw to represent youth, you must also take the Child Flaw.

Amnesia
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Your character can't remember anything about his past, his history or the events of his life. The character can still use his various Abilities, but he may not remember how he learned them. Your Storyteller has final say on your character's history, and some things may come back to surprise you. You can set aside two to five additional points of Flaws for use by the Storyteller; the Storyteller gets to pick Flaws worth one fewer point (thus, if you take four extra amnesiac Flaws, your Storyteller chooses three points of Flaws but you get the four freebie points.) Of course, you don't know what these flaws are, so you may be in for a surprise!

Anachronism
(1 to 3 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Social Flaw]

Your mage was raised in another time and hasn't quite caught up to the present. Maybe she traveled forward (or backward) in time, or sideways from a parallel universe. Maybe the Awakening made her recall one of her past lives so vividly that she thinks she's supposed to be in 10th century Egypt. Or maybe she's from one of the few quaint backwaters of the present day and everything in the modern Western world might as well be Mars for all the sense it makes to her.

For one point, the character is just a little out of sync. Pick any decade from the 20th or 21st century, excepting those on both sides of the current one, and set your attitudes and beliefs accordingly. For two points, pick any decade in the 18th or 19th century (or 22nd or 23rd.) For three points, pick any decade from the 17th century or before, or any particularly well insulated backwater of the present day (if any still exist) or just some totally weird social behavioral construct. The character has a two-point difficulty penalty when dealing with anything outside this cultural identity. Thus, a character used to the 1800s has trouble with computers but understands light bulbs; a character from a hypothetical 23rd century parallel universe might have trouble with telephones, which never existed in her world experience!

This flaw can be bought off over time and with roleplaying. In the meantime, culture shock can be fun.

Bad Sight
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

The character has some sort of noncorrectable vision problem - a severe astigmatism, myopia or the like. This problem can't be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, and fixing it with Life magic requires extensive permanent work to bypass the problems of Pattern bleeding (and thus requires the expenditure of experience to remove the flaw.) You always suffer a two-point penalty to all rolls in which vision is a factor. Since sight is such an important sense, this Flaw is worth more than a simple Defective Sense.

The Bard's Tongue
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Your character speaks the truth, uncannily so. Things he says tend to come true. This Flaw is not a facility for blessing or cursing, or an Effect ruled by any conscious control (use Time 2 instead.) However, at least once per story, an uncomfortable truth regarding any current situation will appear in your character's head and come out his mouth. To avoid speaking prophecy, the owner of this "gift" must expend a Willpower point and take a wound of one bashing health level from the strain of resisting (especially if he bites a hole in his tongue.)

Beast Within
(5 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Mental Flaw]

The Beast is awake within your character! He is prone to frenzies, just like a vampire or werewolf. These are caused by situations of intense emotions: fear, anger, hate. Your character is a figure of great rage and fear to the rest of humanity, much like Charles Manson or Mike Tyson. Your mage automatically has one extra dot of Dynamic Resonance, and whenever placed in a stress situation, you must roll your mage's Dynamic Resonance, difficulty 6 - with any successes, your mage flies off the handle into a frenzied rage with all the same qualities as the Berserker Merit. This Flaw is especially appropriate to Ghoul and Kinfolk mages.

Bedeviled
(6 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Flaw]

Job - that guy in the bible - was a whiner. Someone or something is watching your character and ruining his life. Your mage has no idea who or what it is but knows it's responsible for all the things that go wrong, or at least the big ones. When things are just starting to look up, it socks him with another personal tragedy, but instead of letting him die, it always seems to save him and take someone close to him instead - just so it can watch him suffer (or so he thinks.) The Storyteller must decide why you are being watched and what is watching you (it is not necessarily the Devil, despite the name.)

Blind
(6 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

The character has no natural sight - the world of color and vision is lost to him. You cannot even make Perception rolls that require vision, and you suffer a three-point difficulty penalty on any Alertness roll where you do have a shot, unless the matter relies exclusively on another sense. The difficulty of all Dexterity-related rolls increases by two. Your mage must target his magic by hearing, Correspondence or some other magical or mundane sense.

Blood-Hungry Soul
(2 to 5 points) [Blood Treachery - Supernatural Flaw]

One of your prior incarnations (likely one alive during the original Massasa War) fell under the seductive spell of vampiric vitae. Your mage was "born" into his Awakened life an addict (as were all of his incarnations after the unfortunate imbibing of the accursed nectar.) It is only now, however, with the rekindling of the war, that his Avatar remembers the desire for the blood that so fulfilled it.

For two points, your mage's Avatar remembers its addiction as a long-recovered addict might; it was a bad choice, made long ago and foolishly. Nevertheless, the hunger whispers to his soul every so often, prompting a Willpower roll (difficulty 5) to resist temptation whenever an opportunity to potentially get vampire blood presents itself. Failing that, you must make another roll (difficulty 6) to turn down the stuff if the initial opportunity proves fruitful.

The three-point version of this Flaw is identical to the weaker version, save that the first roll's difficulty is 6 and the second increases to 8.

The five-point variant awakens within the character all the wracking agonies of a ghoul's lust for his unclean sacrament. Players of these unfortunates must roll Willpower (difficulty 8) to stay the hell away from a chance to lay hands on the sweet venom of Caine's Curse. Should that roll not prove sufficient, make a second roll (difficulty 10) to thrust it away and flee from this self-annihilating lust. (A few Thig have taken to referring to this Flaw as having a "crack-baby Avatar.")

Bound by the Law of Three
(5 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

For whatever reason, you are more than just a believer in the Verbena ideal of the Law of Threefold Return, you are a living embodiment of it, in that whatever harm you do to others using magic eventually returns to plague you.

The exact definition of "harm" is up to you and the Storyteller to decide, but it definitely includes inflicting injury, pain, illness and bad luck, as well as influencing others against their will. Using magic to achieve any of these ends is always considered "vulgar with witnesses" for you (you and the gods are witness to it, if no one else.) This means you accumulate more Paradox for it (possibly much more,) and you're more likely to suffer Paradox Backlashes because of it.

You can still use magic on others against their will, as long as doing so does not cause harm. Examples include binding someone to prevent them from doing harm to themselves or others, and using rotes like Banishing Blessing to gently guide unwanted people out of your life for a while.

Calling Card
(2 points) [Euthanatos Tradition Book: Revised - Mental/Supernatural Flaw]

Maybe your character has a self-destructive streak or maybe it's just bad luck, but she can't seem to keep from leaving some trace of her presence anywhere she doesn't want to be connected to. This persistent clue of her involvement can be found at crime scenes, abandoned safe houses or any number of compromising places. Dogged investigators can recognize the signs she leaves and soon learn when she's been around.

You should choose some sign or set of signs the character leaves behind, like butts and packaging from her favorite brand of cigarettes, odd signs of her Resonance, or even an actual calling card that she has a compulsion to leave behind. Finding the calling card usually takes two successes on a Perception + Investigation roll (difficulty 6,) but once the investigator finds the sign twice it drops to a single success. The calling card also reveals some minor detail about the character, such as her habits or musical tastes.

Finally, this is a "hole" in the Arcane background, which doesn't stymie the use of abilities to glean information or find the calling card. Magical attempts are countered as usual.

Cast No Shadow or Reflection
(1 point) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Flaw]

There are many explanations for this phenomenon, and no two agree: Your mage may have attended the legendary Black School, where the Devil who runs the place took the hindmost as payment - in this case, your character's shadow. Or maybe it got trapped in a mirror or left in a little girl's bedroom somewhere - which is better than the alternative, for some believe that if it escapes, it runs around as your evil twin. In any case, your character casts no shadow or reflection (your choice,) and this may cause many problems, especially because this is a common Flaw among the Nephandi.

Child
(1 to 3 points) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

Your mage was a young child at the time of his Awakening, and he has all the problems that come with his age. People don't take him seriously, he can't get into clubs, and in particularly severe cases, people tend to ask him where his mommy is.

The value of this Flaw depends upon exactly how young your mage is. This Flaw particularly bites if your character hangs out with older mages and does all sorts of weird stuff that a child shouldn't or can't do (such as sex, drugs, self-mutilation...)

A young child character should also take the Short Flaw.

Compulsion
(1 to 4 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

There is something your mage is compelled to do or not do, and whether or not he likes this fact is immaterial. This Flaw may be psychological, physiological or supernatural in nature. If it's purely psychological, you may roll Willpower to resist the Compulsion [difficulty 6 + the point value of the Flaw.] However, if it's physiological or supernatural, it doesn't matter how willing the mind is, since the spirit is bound or the body is crippled, and he is unable to do this thing no matter how hard he tries. The Flaw is worth two extra points if such is the case.

Compulsions can also vary. Not being able to touch something and not being able to harm it are two completely different things. An evil sorceress might not be able to physically touch an innocent, but she could still stand back and blast away with a shotgun or a spell of flaming death.

This Flaw is worth varied points, depending on the frequency and severity of the Compulsion.

Conditional Magic
(1-6 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Merit or Flaw]

There is one thing in the world that is a great boon, or bane, to your character's magic. Perhaps her spells work particularly well against men, or on Tuesdays, or just after a storm, or on people dressed all in black. Maybe she's powerless to affect those who are or who bear that certain thing, such as her magic being unable to affect Christians or those who carry a piece of rowan or red thread. It may be that a certain individual gave her power over them, or perhaps it is utterly proof against her magic due to an oath she swore or spells that were placed on her.

The conditions that affect your magic may be common, uncommon or rare, and the value of this merit or flaw depends on the rarity of the condition. The base costs listed here assume that you have a difficulty modifier of three on all Arete rolls under the given conditions. You may adjust the difficulty by one for every point more or less you devote to the trait.

Crucial Component
(2 to 5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

There is some raw ingredient your mage needs to work his magic, besides magic itself. This component may be something rare or esoteric, like diamonds or ghostly ectoplasm, or perhaps something common or easily obtainable, like anger, alcohol or electricity. Without this crucial component, he cannot work his magic, and if this crucial component cannot be worked into a casting, oh well - you need to find a different Effect.

This Flaw does not merely represent a Technocrat's reliance on scientific devices and scientific principles. A Virtual Adept does not need a computer to work his computations; if he had to, he could use a slide-rule or a pencil and paper, or even do them in his head - it just takes longer. But Dr. Va-Voom! requires diesel fuel to power all his Devices, and they won't work if he tries to attach solar cells or an etheric proton pack - or at least they won't work for him. This substance does not have to be direct from the source - moonlight can be charged into moonstones and holy water can be bottled - but it does have to be properly stored, with whatever methods or rituals are appropriate. (Charged moonstones must be kept in a black velvet pouch, away from the light of the sun, while holy water must be kept in a specially blessed flask.)

Curse of the Otherworlds
(2 points) [The Infinite Tapestry - Supernatural Flaw]

For whatever reasons, you do not do well in the worlds beyond the Gauntlet. Perhaps your Avatar is tied a little less strongly to you than most, or maybe your lineage includes an incarnated spirit in the ancient past and that heritage cries out for you to join the ranks of the Umbra's natives. In any case, you Disembody at an accelerated rate and, whereas Acclimation is a pain for some, it is, for you, an object of dread. Whenever you enter the Umbra, you automatically begin at second-stage Acclimation for the purposes of returning and you halve all times between stages, with the roll to resist Disembodiment occurring at the end of six weeks instead of twelve. Subsequent Willpower rolls to resist Disembodiment are made every three days thereafter. Some spirits may find you particularly repulsive on account of this Flaw, while others (not necessarily malevolent, given the strange moralities to which such beings adhere) may be quite friendly to you and try to convince you to enter and remain in the Umbra for as long as possible. Among Dreamspeakers, despite the methods developed by that Tradition to circumvent the possibility of Disembodiment and the need for Acclimation upon return from the Otherworlds, this is seen as a terrible stain on a mage's soul. Dreamspeaker characters with his Flaw, therefore, increase all difficulties for social rolls with others of their Tradition by two.

Dark Fate
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Some terrible fate looms over your mage, and worse still, she knows it. She will die in a horrible way, or she may be doomed to suffer for eternity. Maybe she had a vision of her own Gilgul, or of entering the Cauls of the Nephandi. Your character cannot escape this fate, and it will come to haunt her sooner than she thinks. Occasionally, situations may remind your mage of the futility of her existence. You must spend a Willpower point to overcome such lassitude or else lose a die from all rolls for the rest of the day. Only the Storyteller knows the exact nature of this fate, and it's up to him to determine how it will come to pass.

Dark Secret
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

Some terrible past haunts your character. Perhaps he turned on his mentor, or maybe he is secretly in love with a Widderslainte. Either way, your character's secret - which should come up from time to time as the Storyteller feels it appropriate - can cause some embarrassment or trouble for your mage (although it's unlikely to get the character killed.)

Dead Passion
(4 points) [Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Some terrible trauma has scarred your Cultist permanently. Pick one of the Nine Sacred Passions (p. 39.) Whenever your character experiences that passion (Storyteller's discretion,) even in passing, you must expend a Willpower point for any magic that the character performs. Perhaps with lots of work and therapy the character might overcome this scarred passion, but this terrible victimization will always follow him.

Deaf
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage's natural pattern is deaf, and the mage cannot hear at all! You fail all rolls involving hearing automatically. This Flaw increases the difficulty of many Alertness rolls by three as well, since your mage must rely on other senses for warnings and clues. Overcoming this defect with magic, as with all such Flaws, requires the use of difficult permanent rituals and the expenditure of experience points.

Deep Sleeper
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Snore, toss and ignore the alarm - your mage sleeps like a force of nature. Whenever your mage is trying to wake up, you suffer a difficulty penalty of two on the roll, and your mage continues to stagger along bleary-eyed and uncomprehending for the rest of the scene (with a further one-point penalty on all rolls.)

Defective Sense
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

One of your character's senses is dulled or abnormally damaged in some fashion. Perhaps the character is hard of hearing, has limited taste receptors, is color-blind or is correctably nearsighted. In each case, you suffer a two-point penalty to the difficulty of all rolls involving the flawed sense. Obviously, you cannot take this Flaw in conjunction with an Acute Sense of the same type!

Deformity
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage has some kind of deformity - a misshapen limb, hunchback, clubfoot, etc. - that affects his physical abilities and interactions with others. Having a hunchback, for instance, would lower a character's Dexterity by two dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one, when appropriate. After all, a hunchback can type as well as the next guy, and social interactions aren't based on appearance over the Digital Web. It is the responsibility of the Storyteller to determine the specific effects of the chosen deformity.

Degeneration
(3, 6 or 9 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your character will die without the aid of magic or science to sustain her. She might be the victim of a disease or curse, or maybe she's something that wasn't meant to be alive in the first place.

At the lowest version of this Flaw, your character simply does not have the natural healing factor with which most mortals are born. All wounds he suffers remain until treated with magic or Technocratic science. He will not heal any damage otherwise.

At the six-point version of this Flaw, your character is actually falling apart. A hideous disease might be eating him up from inside, or maybe he's a victim of beetles and/or natural decay if he's the result of someone's half-assed necromancy. Maybe Iteration X didn't tell him that his "perfect android body" was a prototype made by the lowest bidder and that all the warranties are expiring. Whichever version you take, your character takes one health level of damage at three months, one a month later, another a week after that, one more three days beyond that, one the next day and a final one an hour after that. In short, your character's health deteriorates at an accelerated rate, following the progression for natural healing backward until he is dead. Obviously, the character doesn't heal normally either.

With the nine-point version of this Flaw, your character falls apart at the same rate as before, but the damage is aggravated. Obviously, this Flaw is meaningless (and should not be allowed) in short-term chronicles and one-shot games.

Deranged
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Due to circumstances beyond her control, your character is permanently insane. This state may result from a congenital brain disorder, or maybe she saw things she wasn't meant to see that drove her mad. Although you can overcome this insanity temporarily with Willpower, your character might never overcome its grip. However, while your mage is crazy, she is not necessarily a Marauder. Her magic or science may, in fact, be one of the few sane things about her. Choose or create a Derangement.

Devil's Mark
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Somewhere along the line, your mage made a pact with a demon or devil and it funneled its power into him, leaving a mark in the process. This blemish (known as a witch's nipple) is dark and unwholesome looking, but it is insensitive to pain. In ages past, the "witch prickers" of the Inquisition would test these marks with special pins before they burned infernalists at the stake. In modern day, the puritanical pricks are few and far between, and most people who see this mark will just think it's a birthmark. Despite the name "nipple," it can grow anywhere on your mage's body.

On the plus side, if you have some demonic familiar, your imp can suck Quintessence directly from your character's third nipple, with the added bonus of it being insensible to pain - a real perk when you have a cat chewing on your tit.

Diminished Attributes
(Variable) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Life isn't fair. When they were passing out brains, brawn or beauty, someone else got your character's portion - maybe several of them. What this means is that your character is remarkably lacking in the social, physical or mental department. He might be a victim of disease or brain damage, or he may just have been born on the shallow end of the gene pool. It happens.

However, you [the player] have points to spend on other stuff. Real life might not be fair, but at least game reality is. However, Storytellers should be careful with this Flaw, and make certain that the player roleplays the actual realities of being shortchanged.

For each dot that you lose from your character's Attributes, you get three points back from this Flaw. This kickback isn't subject to the normal limits of seven points of Flaws, but you cannot take more than one additional Flaw without special Storyteller approval and a damn good story. Note that this arrangement is not fair in terms of freebie points, but it lets you make a character who's totally crippled in one area and still get some payback.

Discredited
(1 point) [Sons of Ether Tradition Book: Revised - Social Flaw]

When you turn to unorthodox methods, you stand an excellent chance of burning your bridges. This occurs quite frequently in the Sons of Ether. A Discredited character has had his name dragged through the mud in academic circles and is considered a crackpot or a dangerous fraud.

Accordingly, characters with this Flaw suffer a straight +2 penalty on all Social and Background rolls involving the scientific community as well as informed laypersons, impertinent undergraduates and inveterate skeptics. The person on the street still doesn't know who you are, and you might have fringe sympathizers, but reputable academics consider you to be near anathema.

Discordant
(1 or 3 points) [Celestial Chorus Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

For some reason, your mage doesn't fit into the harmony of the Chorus. This Flaw isn't an actual problem with singing - although she probably isn't any good at that, either - but rather, it's a problem in finding a way to become part of the whole. Any time your Singer wishes to perform magic by acting in concert with another mage, you suffer a penalty.

For the one-point version of this Flaw, you just suffer a one-point difficulty increase on your rolls for acting in concert.

For the three-point version of this Flaw, you not only have the difficulty problem with acting in concert, but you must spend a temporary Willpower point to do so!

Disfigured
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

A hideous disfigurement makes your character's appearance disturbing. The difficulties of all die rolls relating to social interactions increase by two. The character may not have an Appearance rating greater than 2.

Distorted Image
(1 point) [The Bitter Road - Supernatural Flaw]

Your character's image does not do what it's supposed to; that is, look like her. Her shadow may make obscene gestures behind her back or show the form of her alter-shape, and her reflection pulls faces at her from the mirror or reveals to her companions that she is, in reality, a dragon or a vacationing extradimensional horror. Worse yet, this trouble extends to all audio-visual equipment and any likeness created by particularly talented artists. However, since said artists have probably already seen the mage for what she really is (or imagines herself to be,) this Flaw isn't as much of a problem as the mall security cameras showing that Shiva the Destroyer is in Housewares, Aisle 6.

Dogmatic
(2 points) [Celestial Chorus Tradition Book: Revised - Social Flaw]

Your mage believes in the principles of his religion so strongly that he just can't stomach other faiths. Not only is your character inclined to treat believers of other religions in a condescending manner, but he can get downright nasty when his precepts are challenged.

You suffer a two-point difficulty penalty on all social interactions with people of different faiths (for instance, if your character is Episcopalian and he's dealing with a Methodist.) Your character's condescension or mistrust always seems to come out argumentatively.

Echoes
(1 to 5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Your mage manifests the traditional marks associated with the supernatural. Maybe it's a little quirk like not having a shadow, or something as severe as a baleful aura. Perhaps milk curdles around your mage and mirrors break.

Look up some superstitions associated with the heritage of your mage's Tradition, and pick a few! The Storyteller determines the value of this Flaw, based on the severity of these supernatural problems.

Faust's Burden
(3 to 6 points) [Blood Treachery - Supernatural Flaw]

Either your mage or one of her prior incarnations cut a deal with a potent Umbrood, and now she must uphold her end of the bargain. This creature need not be a demon. Mammon, after all, is likely to be much friendlier (in the short term, at least) about the matter of a debt owed than, say, Uriel. If it was a previous incarnation that forged this ill-advised pact, the entity remembers your mage's soul (read: Ava-tar,) and it will begin hounding her soon after the Awakening for its due.

For three points, your mage owes a significant service to this creature. This service might include a dangerous quest in its name, the freedom to possess you at any time of its choosing thrice in your life, or frequent sacrifices of property or Tass. For four points, this Umbrood may demand more significant sacrifices. For example, it might compel your mage to undertake a potentially life-threatening quest, demand that her magic always be worked in ways that create a Resonance pleasing to it, or impose significant strictures on her life. The five-point version of this Flaw grants the spirit leave to send the mage into a virtually certain-death scenario, to claim her first-born, or to force her to use her magic at any time in any way it sees fit.

In the case of these first three variants of this Flaw, failure to comply will be punished accordingly (the Storyteller is encouraged to be a genuine bastard.) For the full six points, your mage owes the being in question her immortal soul. It may command her, possess her, use her powers, senses, knowledge (et cetera) at will, and it is perfectly within its rights to do its damnedest to collect as quickly as possible, short of killing her itself.

In theory, an awe-inspiring number of successes on a Prime 2, Entropy 5, Spirit 5 Effect might break this obligation. It is much more likely, however, that a combination of cunning, bravery, sheer willpower and luck will overcome the bargain.

Geasa
(1 to 5 points; must be attached to another Flaw or Merit) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

There is something your character must or must not do, and his life, his luck, his magic (and perhaps his very soul) depends on it. It may be something that has always been upon him, a Geas prophesied by druids at his birth, or a curse laid on him by faeries at his christening. It may also be a sacred oath or vow he swore, or a promise or bargain he made, and Someone (with a capital S) witnessed it and is going to hold him to it. If he disobeys, the consequences are dire, if not deadly.

The value of a Geas depends on how easily it is broken and the penalty for violating it. If the penalty is the loss of some Merit or Background, deduct the Geas' rating from the value of the Merit or Background and make that number the value of the Flaw. For example, your character's sword may be a five-point Artifact, but you have been told, "If you ever raise this blade in anger, the angels who gave it to you will take it away." Never raising one's sword in anger is a small sacrifice, so it's worth four points, making a four point Flaw.

When you take a Geas, choose the Flaw(s), Background(s), and/or Merit(s) to which the Geas is attached. Then either lessen the final value of the Flaw(s) or decrease the cost of the Merit(s) and/or Background(s). In the case of Merits that may be taken multiple times, you may take the Geas the same number of times to decrease the cost. However, your Geas should be at least one point less than the total value of the Merits, Backgrounds and/or Flaws to which it's linked. In other words, you cannot get a Merit or Background for free just by piling on strictures and limitations. Storytellers should examine each Geas to make sure it makes sense in terms of story, rather than just being a pile of bizarre restrictions and commandments that could only be explained by faeries dropping acid at a christening. Storytellers should also blackball any Geas that does not cause actual problems. Losing your soul if you die is a problem, and so is losing an legendary Attribute if you lose your virginity. However, it's to be expected that you'll lose all of your Attributes, enhanced or otherwise, when you die, so this is not a legitimate problem unless your character also has some way to come back from the dead.

The point value of the Geasa suggested here is only approximate, and it will vary depending on character and circumstances.

Characters may have several Geasa that may come into conflict. Cuchulainn had the Geasa to "Never refuse hospitality" and to "Never harm a dog" (his namesake.) Three hags then offered him roast dog for dinner and Cuchulainn died soon after. Consequently, most mages try to keep their Geasa secret, lest they be used against them by enemy mages. Unfortunately, Geasa can be divined by a simple Entropy 1 Effect mixed with a little skill in fortune-telling as can one's destiny. Elaborate traps have been devised to force mages to violate all their Geasa in succession, leading to their flamboyant destruction. Perversely, Geasa, curses, holy vows and binding oaths are also marks of great status among certain Traditions, particularly the Akashic Brotherhood, Verbena, and Celestial Chorus, who accord status to mages with such Flaws. Simply put, unimportant people don't have Geasa or family curses, and someone who takes a binding oath or makes a sacred vow (and keeps it) is worthy of respect. Most Technomancers, on the other hand, aren't impressed by people who take vows of chastity or silence, and they are similarly blase about those who break them.

Traditionally, there is very little that may be done about Geasa, which are simply facets of one's destiny, and curses are devilishly hard to lift (and the Flaw must be bought off if they are). However, with binding oaths, sacred vows, and bans imposed by totem spirits, characters who violate them accidentally may attempt to atone for their crime. A witch who has vowed to never eat any red meat, then suddenly finds ham in her pea soup, might be able to atone for the trespass by fasting and sending checks to PETA. However, if a mage violates an oath willingly and with full knowledge — and survives — he becomes an oathbreaker, one of the most foul epithets among the Traditions. The destiny of an oathbreaker is scarred permanently, and the marks show clearly to the same Entropy magic that reveals a mage's destiny. As such, it is virtually impossible for an oathbreaker to find a tutor or any sort of aid among those Traditions that value one's sworn word. Some Traditions, notably the Order of Hermes and the Verbena, kill oathbreakers on sight, numbering them among the Nephandi, whose dark paths of power are the only ones left open to them. Ironically, many oathbreakers are young infernalists who foreswore their allegiance to the Dark Masters — and the binding oath they had been given — after realizing the price of that power. Destiny, however, does not play favorites, and those who break their word to Hell are just as stigmatized as those who lie to Heaven.

Characters who wish to begin as oathbreakers should take Dark Fate or some other curse. Occasionally there are good and noble characters who have sworn foolish oaths in the past, then have broken them rather than allow some greater evil to occur. It is impossible to erase the stain from the soul once one is foresworn, but some have friends who will still stand by them, even though most mages will spit when they say their names.

Geasa may be taken at the same time as the Compulsion Flaw, assuming that the Compulsion does not make the Geas impossible. For example, a witch could be both under a Geas and supernaturally (or just psychologically) compelled to stop and pet every cat she saw, lest she suffer a dark fate.

Horrifying
(7 points) [The Bitter Road - Physical Flaw]

Something about your character's appearance inspires horror, like the man-beast form of the werewolf or the monstrous beasts of legend or the raw circuitry and wires of a HIT Mark with its synth-flesh torn off. You may not use Social Traits (except for Intimidation,) except in regards to other characters who are horrifying in the same way or those who can't see what makes your character so disturbing.

However, appearance isn't everything. The beetles crawling through the decaying hole in your character's chest can be covered up with a nice thick turtleneck and cloven hooves can be stuffed into ordinary cowboy boots. Therefore, your character can generally disguise whatever makes him horrifying (with a successful Wits + Subterfuge roll) and present an ordinary or even handsome human face to the rest of the world, depending on his exact problem.

Obviously, if this trait is easily disguised and worked around, then this Flaw is pretty worthless. Storytellers should make sure that social interaction forces the mage to deal with the consequences of this Flaw.

Ineptitude
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Your mage just sucks at one particular Ability. Maybe he can't handle driving worth a damn, or he makes computers burst into flames and emit pink smoke. Pick one Ability in which your character has at least one dot--preferably one that will be important to our character in some fashion. (Your Storyteller will know if you do otherwise, and he has nasty ways to make you pay.) You suffer a difficulty penalty of two on all rolls with that Ability.

Inglorious Pedigree
(1 point) [Blood Treachery - Social Flaw]

The Order of Hermes has traditionally stood on the might of its great houses. Even Ex Miscellanea has always had, at any given time, what might be considered its more significant houses. Although your mage hails from the Hodge-Podge, hers is a minor sub-house of little regard with only a handful of members. In fact, she (and quite possibly her mentor) might currently be the only living Awakened members of her praxis within the house. She could be one of the four or so mages of fallen Criamon currently conscious, sane and coherent. Or, she could belong to a sub-house that has never been of any great prominence, always getting by with the barest trickle of Apprentices. In the latter case, you should delineate a very specific set of duties or line of research important to the foundation of your sub-house and choose an appropriate name for it. You suffer a difficulty penalty of two to all Social rolls among mages of the larger houses of the Order when your mage tries to impress them or just get them to take her seriously. In addition, she may sometimes find herself cut off from some of the perks that other mages of the Order take for granted (such as access to surplus Tass or audiences with Masters,) simply because she has no powerful fellowship to back her up.

Lame
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Due to an unhealed injury or a missing limb, your mage has trouble walking. The character has a pronounced limp and a slow stride, and he must use some means of support to walk like a cane, leg braces or Forces magic. The character's movement speed is quartered, and running is impossible. This Flaw may also add to the difficulty of maneuvers that rely on the legs - jumps, swimming, martial-arts kicks - at the Storyteller's discretion.

Massasa Contact
(3 points) [Blood Treachery - Social Flaw]

Your mage has committed one of the direst sins of war: She has gotten in bed with the enemy. She numbers a massasa among her associates, and (for whatever reason) she cannot or will not terminate either her relationship or the vampire. Maybe the creature is a friend or loved one, cruelly Embraced, or maybe it is a source of intelligence against the enemy massasa. In any case, though, a scant few in the Order would look the other way were they to chance upon such ties. Many, however, would denounce and persecute the mage out-of-hand. Remember, most mages of the Order take for granted that all massasa fall under the ancient schism of House Tremere, so most would see your mage as a dangerous liability were they to find out.

If this vampire is useful to your character, she should also be taken as an ally (as per the Background.) At the other end of the spectrum, a very few vampires have been approved for dealings by certain higher-ups within the Hermetic chain of command (such as it is).

Therefore, it is not absolutely necessary to take this Flaw if you wish to purchase a vampiric ally. This Flaw is necessary only if you want a vampire ally whose camaraderie could prove dangerous.

Mayfly Curse
(5 or 10 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Common among Progenitor Victors and those with shifter or demonic blood, your character matures at an accelerated rate and declines at the same. At the lower level, your character ages one year every two months, which means that when you're physically 18 years old, you're chronologically three. At the higher rate, you age a year every week, making you 16 in less than four months and 52 by the end of the year. It's not much of a lifespan, certainly, but it's more than sufficient for shock troops. This flaw can be combined with any degree of Aging. Storytellers should certainly forbid this Flaw as meaningless twinkery for any short-term or one-shot games!

Mistaken Identity
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

Your mage is not the reincarnation of some ancient hero or nefarious character from history, the favored child that some great animal totem set its mark upon, a powerful immortal wizard who has not been seen for a hundred years or some god come down in human form. Unfortunately, he looks the part, and people who value iconography more than actions will believe he fits the role. This confusion can naturally get your mage into all sorts of trouble. People may expect him to have capabilities that he doesn't, or they may blame him for problems that aren't his own.

Monstrous
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage has an Appearance rating of zero. He may be the stereotypical pock-marked leper, or he may have the face and body of a demon or bug-eyed monster. Otherwise, someone just beat him with the ugly stick.

Mute
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage can't speak. This shortcoming may derive from physical damage, a magical curse, or a natural deformity. You may communicate with your game group to describe your character's actions, but you aren't allowed to actually talk in character (and if you do so "out of character" to get your point across, your Storyteller may penalize you by awarding you fewer experience points). You can use Linguistics to learn sign language, or write (assuming your character isn't illiterate as well). Mind magic can also overcome this problem to a limited degree.

Nightmares
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Horrid nightmares afflict your mage, whether due to a natural condition like night terrors, a curse, or perhaps a vivid replaying of a terrifying event. Your mage has trouble getting enough sleep, and he often wakes up horrified, soaked with sweat and exhausted. You must make a Willpower roll when your mage wakes up. Failure indicates that you lose a die from all dice pools for the rest of the day. A botched roll might indicate that the mage still believes himself to be locked in the nightmare (and Storytellers will be quick to take advantage of this impression.)

One Ear/Eye
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw] Your character is missing an ear or eye, or else he has suffered damage or a birth defect that makes such an organ useless. The difficulties of all Perception rolls within the appropriate sense increase by two (just like the Defective Sense Flaw.) Furthermore, a character with one eye increases the difficulty of all rolls involving depth-perception by one (including ranged attacks,) while a character with one functional ear suffers a one-point difficulty on all rolls to determine the location of a given sound (due to the loss of binaural hearing.)

Ontological Pacifist
(3 or 5 points) [Akashic Brotherhood Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Flaw]

You literally believe that peace is the way of the Drahma. Violence is an offense against the Dharmas themselves, and they would never manifest in someone who had stained himself with it.

For three points, your character immediately loses all benefits from use of foci if he ever commits an act of violence that isn't direct self-defense (i.e. striking preemptively or without cause.) You will probably have to use the Surpassing Foci rules (Mage: The Ascension, page 203) to cast effects. The foci won't work for your character until he makes some sort of restitution to the victim or purifies himself in a suitably arduous fashion (the restitution should generally be the easier option.) For five points, you suffer this penalty if your character directly or indirectly commits a violent act against any sentient creature for any reason. In both cases, magical compulsion makes no difference. And yes, the problem becomes less severe as you discard foci.

Paraplegic
(6 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your magician is confined to a wheelchair, completely unable to stand and move without the aid of crutches, the chair itself, or some other difficult and painful system. Your mage generally moves a single yard per turn, and doing even that much is torturous. Perhaps the wizard's body is broken by accident, or he may not have been born with any functioning limbs. This flaw makes life very difficult, and you should consider carefully before taking it!

Permanent Wound
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Due to Pattern damage, a permanent Paradox injury or some other nastiness, you have a wound that never heals. Even if you repair the injury with magic, it reoccurs at sunset or sunrise of each day (your choice as to which.) This wound causes your character to suffer the Wounded health level with lethal damage that cannot be soaked. Such damage is cumulative with other injuries (and it could kill a badly wounded mage if it reoccurs while he's already injured,) but it is not self-cumulative. That is, your character's bleeding head wound doesn't cause any more damage the next morning or evening if he hasn't bothered to heal it magically for a day.

Personal Talisman
(1 point) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Merit or Flaw]

Though a master mage may have helped (and probably did,) your character has done one of the great and mighty deeds of magecraft and created a Talisman. Well, he may not have created it, but he was there for the crucial and literal willworking - he invested a pawn of his own Willpower into the Talisman and now it is tied to him.

If this is a Merit, you still have the Talisman, and so long as your character holds it, you have an extra point of permanent Willpower, as well as a point of temporary Willpower that cannot be spent. (You must also take at least one point in the Wonder Background if you intend to keep it.)

If this is a Flaw, however, you do not possess the Talisman and the related Willpower point. Mark off one of your permanent Willpower points until you get the Talisman back or somehow gain it from its rightful owner (which should be you, but isn't.) If this drops you below five Willpower, you'll never become a Master until you get it back or you purchase another point. (Your invested point of Willpower still counts as part of your total for purposes of purchasing more, however.)

Phobia
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Some simple stimulus engenders an overwhelming fear in your mage. Your character might be afraid of snakes, heights or large crowds of people. Your must make a Willpower roll whenever your mage is confronted by the object of terror. If you fail, your mage retreats from the situation, while a botch means that the mage flees completely out of control or curls up into a helpless ball and quivers. If forced to stand ground against such a fear (fighting a giant magical snake, for instance,) you suffer a difficulty penalty of two on all rolls.

Phylactery
(7 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Historically, a phylactery referred to a special arm wrapping with a prayer box that contained sutras, divine power, and a portion of the wearer's soul. Mages refer to a phylactery as a container for the power to perform magic. Your mage's Avatar exists in the physical plane, invested into an object or place, or possibly imbued into some creature or person (such as his familiar or ally) or even a part of his body. On rare occasions, it may be invested into some nebulous concept, like a bloodline, secret society, or a religion. The good news is that this object or creature is now Correspondence Range 0 in regards to yourself, which means you can sense it wherever it is, unless it's shrouded by warding. Teleporting your phylactery ring off your finger or making you drop your phylactery sword is as difficult a feat as teleporting your finger off your hand or forcing you to chop off your own arm. The bad news is that you must be in actual physical contact with your phylactery in order to work magic -- even if that physical contact is long distance, like a Virtual Adept linked via modem to the mainframe in his bedroom. Moreover, you need to be very obvious about what it is you're using to perform your arts. If your mage's phylactery is his staff, your mage must wave it grandly during all invocations; if his phylactery is a crown, he must hold his head high and wear the crown everywhere he intends to do magic.

If your mage's phylactery speaks to him as his Avatar, you should also take the Manifest Avatar Merit. If the phylactery is an object, you should probably take the item as a unique focus. As with any unique focus, a phylactery can be repaired or retrieved if it's damage, destroyed, or stolen.

If your mage is separated from his phylactery, you may roll Perception + Awareness to sense the surroundings of where it is, depending on how the phylactery might perceive such things. If your mage's phylactery is animate (as with a cat or horse or severed-but-still-living hand) it'll also do its best to find its way back to you, having the same homing sense.

Similarly, if your mage's Avatar is invested into a place, such as the Royal Forest of Dean or San Francisco, transporting him away from it, at least by magical means, is about as difficult as teleporting a city block to Istanbul. If he is removed from his phylactery by mundane means, his homing sense will lead him back. In cases where a phylactery is a place, the Avatar fuses with the City Father of that area. That is to say, your Avatar becomes one with the totem spirit of that particular region -- Emperor Norton in San Francisco, Belle in Atlanta, a certain highly trademarked mouse in Disneyland. You should take an Avatar rating on par with the importance of your character's bailiwick. Wild places such as forests, deserts, rivers,and even oceans can be linked with the same way, although your character must be in them or on them to work his magic. The Pacific Ocean is huge, but if that's your mage's phylactery, his connection to it ends once he sets foot on dry land. Generally speaking, it's not the size of an area that's important so much as the identity. The Queen of Angels may control most of Los Angeles, but there's a different identity to Hollywood and Malibu.

If your character's phylactery is a place, your Storyteller may also allow your character's magic to work in other places somehow linked to it. A mage with Hashberry for her Avatar could probably work her magic in other parts of San Francisco with raised difficulties the further she got from the Haight, and more powerful Avatars could probably work their magic in foreign lands tied to their spirit.

Finally, if your mage's phylactery is a concept with a physical or temporal manifestation, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Iteration X, the witch's Sabbath, or the season of Christmas, you may work magic as long as your character is an accepted part of that institution. The symbols and tools representing it can be destroyed, of course, stripping your mage of his magic temporarily, but they can be replaced.

In cases of identity phylacteries, your mage loses his connection to his Avatar if he is disowned, banished, defrocked, excommunicated, or otherwise kicked out. As such, members with this Flaw are intensely loyal. If the organization or other concept is destroyed, the Avatar is destroyed, but an organization can't be destroyed until all members either die or truly renounce their loyalties. When a concept is your mage's phylactery, his Avatar is the protector or mascot of that concept.

If a mage with a phylactery ever dies, the Avatar may or may not go free, at the Storyteller's option. If it doesn't go free, the phylactery remains as it is, awaiting the mage to reclaim it in his next incarnation.

Primal Marks
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

Your mage may have an Avatar of the Primordial Essence, some totem or god of legend, or perhaps she's just gained some powerful spirit's patronage and it's set its mark on her. If the totem is an animal, she resembles what such an animal would look like in human form so strongly that people who don't even know her call her "Bear" or "Moose" or "Raven." If the Avatar is some well known god or hero, your character looks just like people would expect her to, including any particular deformities (although you do get extra points for such handicaps.) Your mage looks the part so much that anyone can guess her nature at a glance, and there's some danger in that, especially if your Avatar has a legendary enemy (as most do.) Your character's totem or Avatar will also require her to protect its species or finish up its unfinished agenda.

Your mage might alternately be the descendant of some famous or infamous house: Pendragon, Murasaki, Bacon, Bathory, Borgia, or Le Vey. Besides the family name, you've also inherited the family "look." Students of history can easily picture you banishing the Devil and slaying dragons, or poisoning entire families and bathing in the blood of virgins -- especially since they have the illustrations that might give them this idea.

Alternately, your mage may just look the part of her profession too well. Perhaps she has the red hair and green eyes of an Irish witch, the pale eyes and dark skin of an Arabic sorcerer, the grown-together brows and elongated ring-fingers of a born shapeshifter, or the intense yellow, violet, or emerald green eyes of one the fae. Students of ancient lore recognize these signs, and your mage may easily become the victim of witch-hunters. However, some witches, changelings, shapeshifters, and others may accord you more status in their societies if you "look the part."

Probationary Member
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

Your character joined the Traditions (or Conventions, or appropriate Craft) recently, and he is on bad terms. He may be a former rogue who recanted, or perhaps he defected from the other side. The mage is treated with hostility and suspicion. Even a mage with a high Destiny rating is looked at askance. There's no telling if such a luminous individual will turn again to become a powerful enemy.

Prone to Quiet
(4 or 5 points) [Virtual Adepts Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

An Adept inflicted with this Flaw falls into Quiet more easily than most mages. This is unfortunately common among Nexplorers and Reality Coders for different reasons. Nexplorers fall prey to it because they escape into digital fantasy to relieve frustrations. Reality Coders gain it because their work in realspace leads to quicker accumulation of Paradox. Storytellers may impose a "Quiet roll" on mages with this Flaw in times of stress. The player must roll Intelligence + Enigmas against a target number set by the Storyteller based on the severity of the stress.

Renunciate
(1 point) [Blood Treachery - Social Flaw]

Your mage was indoctrinated into the Order from without. Unlike most, he did not have to endure the grueling three-to-five year period of tutelage (at least, not from a mentor approved by the Order of Hermes.) He was instead wooed over to the cause by House Fortunae's frantic recruitment drive. He may have been an Orphan practicing his own brand of Hermeticism, or perhaps he was a convert from another Tradition. Regardless, he is looked down upon by many within the Order for his lack of "appropriate instruction." Your character suffers a difficulty penalty of two on all Social rolls dealing with traditionalists within the Order (i.e. the better part of the Order of Hermes.) Most Fortunae, Solificati and Thig (as well as certain mavericks within the other Houses) cut your character slack, but he is never allowed to forget his "inferior heritage." This Flaw differs from the previous one in that a mage with an inglorious pedigree finds it difficult to be taken seriously, while one with this Flaw finds it hard simply to be accepted.

Short
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

A character with this Flaw is four and a half feet tall or less. The character may have trouble reaching objects on shelves, and he's certainly noticeable. Such a character runs at half the normal speed.

Short Fuse
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Your mage is quick to anger. Whenever anybody ticks off your character, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to not go on the offensive. This Flaw is especially dangerous with the Berserker Merit, as it increases the difficulty of the roll to resist going berserk by two.

Shy
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

Large groups of people make your mage uncomfortable, and although he doesn't necessarily panic and flee from crowds, he has trouble dealing with such gatherings. Your mage has trouble speaking and presenting himself when the world's watching. Any time your mage interacts with strangers or becomes the center of attention for a group of three or more other people, you suffer a difficulty penalty of three on all Social rolls.

Sleepwalker
(1-4 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Magic? What a load of bullshit. No one in his right mind believes in magic. This is the 21st Century. You'd have to be nuts to believe in that stuff.

Unfortunately, your character is nuts. However, his madness is that he doesn't believe in magic no matter how much evidence he sees to the contrary. He rationalizes everything, and even if he can be awakened for a short time by incredibly vulgar magic, the next day he'll remember everything as a weird dream or too much acid, not an earth-shattering revelation of the true nature of reality. He may believe in laser guns and personal jet packs -- after all, that's science -- but he refuses to believe in all the nonscientific bell, book, and candle stuff. Anything outside the Consensus of modern technological society is just bunk as far as your character is concerned.

Or, alternately, your mage believe in magic, faeries, ghosts, and werewolves just fine, but he refuses to believe in this strange thing called science. This world view doesn't make much sense for a resident of the 21st century, but it's a perfectly reasonable perspective for a visitor from the 16th.

Of course, even if your mage's conscious mind is in denial, his Avatar is quite Awake and willing to help with magic and/or technology. After all, just because you don't actually believe that God is going to send angels and flaming chariots to your rescue doesn't mean you shouldn't pray for Him to send them...

As a one-point Flaw, you may only engage in coincidental magic or super-science. Your mage doesn't believe in the vulgar stuff, and he disbelieves it when he sees it. (That is, your character counts as a Sleeper with regards to vulgar magic or super-science.) For a two-point Flaw, your mage doesn't believe in either magic or super-science, and he counts as a Sleeper against both kinds of vulgar Effects. At double the appropriate value, your mage is able to perform vulgar magic and/or super-science, but he counts as a Sleeper with regard to his own Effects. Moreover, he hallucinates a more rational turn of events. ("What do you mean demons dragged him down to Hell? I just said 'Damn you!' and then he dropped one of his ninja smoke grenades and ran off!") Therefore, the mage gets Paradox from his own vulgar Effects even in a sanctum!

Storytellers should be cautious with this Flaw, not allowing players to create min-maxing Technocrats who bring extra Paradox down on their enemies and none on themselves without allowing it to cause them significant problems.

Slow Healing
(3 points) [Mage: Revised - Physical Flaw]

The mage's body's natural healing processes are slow, whether due to a bad immune system, old age, bad diet, or just genetics. You heal all of your character's wounds twice as slowly as everyone else. All Life magic Effects heal half the damage they should, rounded down.

Soft-Hearted
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Your character can't stand to watch others suffer. Your mage avoids any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8).

Speech Impediment
(1 point) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

A severe lisp, stutter, cleft palate, outburst of Tourette's Syndrome, or similar problem makes it difficult for your mage to speak clearly. Try to roleplay this Flaw; you suffer a two-point penalty to all verbal communication rolls.

Sphere Inept
(5 points) [Mage: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

For some reason, your mage sucks at a certain kind of magic. She could be paying off some karmic debt or struggling with some metaphysical concept. Maybe she invested her knowledge in some item in a past life and she hasn't run across it yet in this incarnation.

This Flaw acts like Sphere Natural in reverse. Advancement in one particular Sphere (chosen at character creation) costs ¼ more Experience Points than normal, rounded up. To take this Flaw, choose one Sphere that your character plans to study. This Flaw can be selected only once, and it must be chosen at character creation.

Storm-Scarred
(1-3 points) [The Infinite Tapestry - Supernatural Flaw]

You have walked through the Gauntlet in the time since the birth of the Avatar Storm. Perhaps you were trapped on the far side of the Gauntlet when the terrible destruction in Bangladesh took place or maybe you simply weren't yet aware of the dangers when you called upon the Spirit Arts for the first time after that destruction. Or perhaps you were just desperate to get away from something and had to dive through, knowing fully of the potential consequences. In any case, both your body and your soul have been flayed by the Avatar Winds and you wear the scars of your encounter with that nightmare storm.

For one point, you bear a few physical marks of your harrowing journey (superficial scarring of a slightly unusual nature: perhaps a mildly strange color or in inexplicable patterns.) These old wounds throb slightly while in proximity to areas with low Gauntlet ratings or actual gateways (temporary or permanent) into or out of the Otherworlds, inflicting a difficulty penalty of one on your character for all strenuous physical activities. (Note that the character does not suffer any pain while actually in the Umbra; only when he is near portals that lead into or out of it.) Under certain circumstances, these marks might also increase the difficulty of certain Social Attribute rolls by one, depending upon what and where the scars are and what the character is trying to do.

For two points, the scars are more substantial and are much harder to conceal (+1 to all difficulties for seduction or in cases where raw physical beauty is called for.) Otherwise, they cause you pain and discomfort similar to that sustained in the one-point version of this Flaw.

For three points, your wounds have never fully healed properly. In addition to the physical disfigurement suffered for the 2-point version of this Flaw, your scars will open and bleed anew whenever you are anywhere with a Gauntlet of 5 or less or you actually cross into or out of the Otherworlds. The savaging of your body inflicts an unsoakable Health Level of lethal damage that may be healed normally. Strange phenomena, clearly identifying the harm as stemming form no earthly source, often accompanies the re-opening of Storm-Scarred wounds: faint moans issuing forth from the bloody gashes as they open, tears that bleed in arcane and terrible shapes, and the hissing and smoking of searing flesh are fairly common manifestations of this level of Storm-Scarring.

Territorial
(2 points) [The Bitter Road - Mental Flaw]

Your mage is extremely protective of his Chantry, his sanctum, and everything he considers his. The character is distrustful of strangers and ridiculously overprotective of guests. He flips out if he finds out that anyone's been in his room, or worse yet, messing with his stuff, and he goes overboard on security measures, warding, and so forth. Your mage has probably locked his magic books so tightly shut that he's forgotten how to open them, and friends and Chantry-mates have to deal with the fallout from this behavior. If he's shy, this behavior becomes even worse. The mage goes out of his way to avoid people, and he closets himself away like a hermit.

Any time someone violates your mage's "stuff" (steals one of his possessions, enters his place uninvited while he's there, messes with his familiar,) you must expend a Willpower Point or else your mage automatically flies into a rage and seeks retribution.

Touch of Chaos
(1 point) [Euthanatos Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

Disturbing things happen when you character's around. This is one persistent manifestation of decay or randomness that, while not immediately apparent, will give away your occult connections. Withering plants, signs of pestilence, or wild, inconvenient luck could easily be the one thing that always happens when you've been around. This occasionally irritates others and makes it harder to hide your nature.

Touch of Frost
(1 point) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Flaw]

Plants wither at your character's approach and die at his touch. His touch is as cold and clammy as a corpse -- a refrigerated one at that. A common Flaw among the Euthanatos.

Vengeful
(2 points) [Mage: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Someone pissed your mage off, and he plans to get even. Your mage wants to even the score with one individual or group. This victim may or may not be an enemy -- the subject may not even be aware of the perceived slight -- but your mage takes it seriously and counts it as a major part of his life. You must spend a Willpower point to turn your mage away from the object of his vengeance when a situation crops up to potentially wreak havoc on the opponent in question.

Vice Grip
(2 points) [Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book: Revised - Mental Flaw]

Some Cultists are addicts, but your character takes it a step further. One of his vices is so intense that you simply can't do any magic for which you normally use it unless your mage is blasted out of his mind. Typically, the mage has a two-die penalty to all actions, being drunk, stoned, spaced out or totally immersed in something else. It's only under such a circumstance -- which usually lasts for a while and impacts everything the character does -- that the Cultist can use magic for which that vice is a specialty focus. Fortunately, the specialty focus bonus still applies.

You must, of course, take the vice as a specialty focus for at least one Sphere that your character knows.

Vulnerability
(1-7 points) [Guide to the Traditions - Supernatural Flaw]

Your character possesses a Vulnerability -- a substance, element, or power that can harm or even kill him, like Superman's problems with Kryptonite or the Wicked Witch of the West's aversion to cleaning buckets. The level of this Flaw depends on whether his weakness can fatally injure him, or simply weaken him, and on how common the substance is. Damage caused by a Vulnerability cannot be soaked, except by Armor, assuming it's the right sort of Armor (the Wicked Witch of the West would have survived if she were wearing a hazmat suit or just a raincoat and umbrella).

A normal, weakening Vulnerability causes one health level of aggravated damage per turn of contact. A mortal peril causes three health levels of damage per turn of contact. A mortal peril causes three health levels of damage per turn of constant. If the slightest drop of the substance is certain death, instantly bringing your destruction, this Flaw is worth an extra point beyond that. If merely being in the presence of the substance causes you damage -- being in the same room as the Emperor's perfume or standing in indirect sunlight -- or the most infinitesimal drop causes you harm, this Flaw is also worth one point more; while if you actually have to be damaged by the substance -- stabbed with the Lance of Longinus, beaten with an iron crowbar -- this Flaw is worth one point less. If taken at the full seven-point level, this Flaw means a single beam of moonlight or the mere sight of a drop of blood can instantly kill you.

Witch's Bane
(3-5 points) [Verbena Tradition Book: Revised - Supernatural Flaw]

The touch of cold iron is anathema to either you or your magic, or both. This may be due to some faerie heritage or the like (and is most common among Verbena with the Fae Blood Merit.) As a 3-pt Flaw, the touch of cold iron either provides three dice of countermagic against your spells or inflicts a health level of bashing damage per turn it's in contact with you. As a 4-pt Flaw it does both, or inflicts lethal damage. As a 5-pt Flaw, it provides three dice of countermagic and inflicts a health level of lethal damage each round it is in contact with you.

Witch-Hunted
(4 points) [Mage: Revised - Social Flaw]

A dangerous and skilled mortal hunter stalks your character, fully aware of what your mage is and what he can do. Worse still, the subject is intelligent and crafty, he works to negate the advantages of your character's magic, and he may extend his hunt to your companions and associates. While just about every mage can claim some enemy, this Flaw makes your mage a pariah. (Nobody wants to hang out with someone who's going to bring a psycho killer along!) The hunter may even have friends or allies who continue to trouble your mage if your mage eludes, dissuades, or kills the individual. Whatever the case, this guy wants your mage dead, he's not going to stop, and he has access to special resources (or, at the very least, specialized knowledge) in his quest.