SOCIAL

APPROACHABLE (1-PT MERIT)
There's something very inviting and nonthreatening about you. People find you very easy to start a conversation with. Even distrustful creatures tend to put aside their instinctive wariness of mortals in regard to you. Reduce the difficulty of any Empathy rolls involving other people or hunters by two, and by one when human-seeming monsters are concerned.

 

EARLY ADOPTER (1-PT MERIT)
"Wow! Look at that new palmtop computer. I just gotta have one." You want to have the latest gadgets and technology. It's a drain on your cash, and your apartment is cluttered with some neat technology that never made it, but you have a solid sense of how to use the latest gadgets. You quickly understand and use most new consumer-level technology. Not only that, you have a great collection of stuff that can be useful on the hunt. Add two dice to any Technology roll when trying to figure out how to use an unfamiliar device.

 

FUNNY (1-PT MERIT)
You can make people laugh. Your timing and sense of the absurd are second to none. You're always being invited to parties because you're so much fun. However, you're also very good at judging the appropriateness of your humour. Sometimes, the right joke can lift the spirits of people when everything seems to be going against them. So, you do what you can to make life more bearable for your fellow imbued, even when the situation seems darkest. Lower the difficulty of any Social roll intended to boost morale by two.

 

GOOD LISTENER (1-PT MERIT)
You're interested in people, you enjoy hearing what they have to say and you're prepared to hear them out without interrupting their opinion with your own. Others can sense this and open up to you without really meaning to. The difficulty of all apparently friendly Social rolls that involve people talking to your character is reduced by two.

 

GOOD TASTE (1-PT MERIT)
You have a knack for choosing the right food from the menu, telling the right anecdotes and giving the right presents. You've seen the right films for discussion in cultured company, and you wouldn't know who starred in Dumb and Dumber, let alone have the first clue about the plot. Your taste makes forging social contacts among the similar folk much easier, whatever your origins. Lower the difficulty of any Social roll intended to gain acceptance or to impress in a like-minded gathering by two.

 

GOSSIP (1-PT MERIT)
You're an incurable gossip, and other gossips recognise a kindred spirit in you. You're more than happy to spend hours shooting the breeze with others, all the while discussing the minutiae of other people's lives. Surprising how much information you can pick up that way, isn't it? Lower the difficulty of any Interrogation rolls made in a social situation, without bullying or intimidation, by two.

 

MEDIA JUNKIE (1-PT MERIT)
TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, films – you love them all and can't get enough. You're a voracious consumer of pop culture and are always up on the latest movies, music and current affairs. Lower the difficulty of any Social or Research roll that involves pop culture by two.

 

NATURAL LEADER (1-PT MERIT)
You have been gifted with a certain bearing and personality that naturally make people defer to your opinion or orders. You receive two extra dice on Leadership rolls. You must have a Charisma of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit.

 

NATURAL POLITICIAN (1-PT MERIT)
You're right at home among the devious minds of the political world. Whether it's the cut and thrust of office jockeying or the showboating of regional politics, you know how to get what you want. You receive two extra dice on Manipulation rolls in social situations that involve an element of politics, such as an office meeting or gun-club gathering. You must have a Manipulation of 3 or more to have this Merit. Politics and Bureaucracy Abilities have no bearing on application of this Merit because it represents raw talent, not the knowledge gained through long experience.

 

PUNCTUAL (1-PT MERIT)
You're a master of the virtually lost art of arriving on time. If you have a meeting at 10 AM, you're sitting in the reception area 9:59. If you have an 8 PM dinner date with your beloved, you'll be in the restaurant at 8 on the dot. Barring deliberate interference in your plans, you almost always manage things so you turn up on time. It makes you a great organizer, assuming your allies come through for you.

 

SMOOTH (1-PT MERIT)
You might come from the wrong side of the tracks. You probably don't have a clue which fork to use when eating out. But none of that matters. You present yourself with such an easy grace and carefree attitude that people forgive you most errors. They might not like you much, but they enjoy your company so thoroughly that your rougher edges are quickly forgiven and forgotten. Lower the difficulty of any Manipulation roll by two.

 

WAY WITH WORDS (1-PT MERIT)
Language is a finely honed tool for you, not a blunt instrument. You are able to create exactly the effect you want by choosing your words carefully, in both written and verbal communication. Gain two dice on any Expression roll that involves words.

 

BEST FRIEND (2-PT MERIT)
You have the good fortune to have a best buddy. He stands with you through thick and thin.
You've shared jokes, tragedies and al the highs and lows of life over the years, all of which has forged a bond between you that some married couples never achieve. Perhaps you were at school or worked together. Although you are not be able to share the details of your new life with your friend, you can rely on him to back you up to the best of his abilities and not to ask too many difficult questions. A best friend is closer to you and more committed to helping you than an Ally, but demands far more in return. He goes that extra mile to get you out of trouble, whereas an Ally wouldn't. But remember, your best friend counts on you to do the same for him - if not more.

 

FASHION SENSE (2-PT MERIT)
Your character doesn't just dress well, he has an innate sense of what sort of clothes suit a particular occasion. This isn't a case of slavishly following the latest trends from the hottest designers. It's a matter of knowing when to dress smart and when to be casual, and having the know-how to carry it off on a limited budget. Deduct one from the difficulty of Social rolls in situations in which dressing appropriately is important, such as in a business meeting, chatting at a club or attending an invitation-only function.

 

GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER (2-PT MERIT)
You have an instinct for reading people. You can make an appraisal of the kind of person someone is after meeting her for a few seconds, based on little more than gut instinct. You're rarely wrong. Decrease the difficulty of any Perception roll based on assessing a person or human-seeming monster by two.

 

GREAT LIAR (2-PT MERIT)
Lying comes naturally to you. Even the most involved deception sounds like God's own truth when it comes tripping off your honeyed tongue. Gain two dice on any Social roll that involves lying to or deceiving another person or monster.

 

LAID-BACK FRIENDS (2-PT MERIT)
Everyone needs pals. You've got a particularly good bunch. They're pretty cool about when they get to see you; they don't get uptight if you're not in contact for a while. They're also great at not interfering with your life. Sure, you've gone through some changes of late, but that's your choice. They'll be there if you want to talk or need help, but they'll otherwise stay out of your hair. If these guys are also your Allies, they'll help you without asking too many difficult questions. Hey, your life, your business, right?

 

PEOPLE PERSON (2-PT MERIT)
You're a social animal. You just like being around others. Hell, they like being around you. Your open and gregarious nature makes people warm to you quickly. The difficulty of any Social roll to create a good impression on another is decreased by two.

 

PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY (2-PT MERIT)
You're a fine, upstanding person, respected by people around you. Through participation in local events, helping out with community groups or helping others, you've become will-liked and trusted by those who live around you. When you bring them a warning of potential danger or offer an explanation of strange events, they're likely to believe you. You may even be able to call upon their aid in a pinch. You may not get it, however.

 

SEASONED TRAVELLER (2-PT OR 4-PT MERIT)
You've visited distant and different places on your own, and you know how to fit in. You don't hit town expecting everyone to think and behave the way you do. With the 2-point version, you're adept at finding accommodation, supplies and local help wherever you go in your home country. With the 4-point version, the same applies to foreign countries. You might not speak the language of a place well, or at all, but you know how to go about obtaining things and learning about the local culture without offending the natives, through a combination of prior research and general street smarts.

 

SOCIALLY AWARE (2-PT MERIT)
Social interplay is an open book to you. You're the first to spot the hidden relationships between people, after only a few minutes of observation. Subtle clues like body language and position, voice tone and choice of words speak volumes to you about the underlying connections between people. Gain two dice on any Perception roll involving interaction between other people and/or human-seeming monsters.

 

TRIVIA CHAMP (2-PT MERIT)
Where do you get this stuff? Whether it's through plenty of reading, too much TV or just an eclectic bunch of friends, you have the oddest collection of facts stored way in your skull. Once in a while, at the Storyteller's discretion, one of them turns out to be just the piece of information your fellow hunters need. You might not actually be very bright, but the sheer amount of knowledge you've picked up makes you appear that way. This Merit doesn't confer knowledge of the enemy or the occult, beyond what is likely to be known in common culture (and may well be dangerously wrong).

 

UPRIGHT CITIZEN (2-PT MERIT)
Up until the moment of your imbuing, you were a model citizen. There's never been even a whiff of scandal about you. Your working life has been good without being extraordinary. Your friends would be hard-pressed to come up with any embarrassing secrets about you, and even your ex-lovers are complimentary about you most of the time. You just don't have any dirty secrets to come back to haunt you, and people who know you have a hard time believing anything bad about you.

 

VIBRANT NEIGHBOURHOOD (2-PT MERIT)
You live in a part of the city where everything goes, and does so most of the time. The streets are fairly busy late at night and the inhabitants are up to all sorts of strange things, legal and not so legal. Whenever anything odd happens, people tend to dismiss it as just another part of the daily routine.

 

CORPORATE SAVVY (3-PT MERIT)
You’ve been a warrior on the cubicle battlefields for a long time, and you know how the corporate mind works. You understand the dynamics of money, business, information and power that make up companies, and you can manipulate them for your own ends to a limited degree. Add two dice to any roll involving manipulating a corporate structure or a corporate employee.

 

MEDIA SAVVY (3-PT MERIT)
There’s a knack to dealing with the media, and you have it. You’ve learned what journalists want and you do your best to provide it in a way that best suits you. You can create, suppress and redirect stories with a fair amount of effectiveness, just by the spin you put on them. Most of the time, you try to set up situations so the media read them the way you want, say by making a hit on a monster look like drug-related violence. Add two dice to any Social rolls in which you deal with journalists or news organisations.

 

SUPPORTIVE FAMILY (3-PT MERIT)
Sure you’re acting strange. There’s something going on that you can’t or won’t tell them about, but it’s important to you. That much is clear. But they’re your family, they’ll love you and they’ll be there for you. They’re sure you’ll get around to telling them the whole truth sooner or later. Until then, they choose to trust you. Unless you have also taken your kin under the Allies Background, your family won’t go out of the way to help you. They just don't ask the questions that you can't answer.

 

LUCKY (4-PT MERIT)
You were born lucky. Since you were a kid, things have worked out your way. Maybe you took a job with a small firm just before the business went through the roof, leading to your rapid promotion. Or the one time you were dumped, the guy you had your eye on also split
up and the two of you hooked up within weeks. Once per chapter (game session), the Storyteller may decrease the difficulty of a critical roll you make by two. If you succeed, it's because some random factor makes things easier for you. You cannot start the game with both this Merit and the Fool's Luck Innocence edge. If you gain the edge in the course of the game, you may spend your four freebie points on other Merits that develop during the chronicle.

 

PHYSICAL

 

ACUTE SENSE (1-PT MERIT)
One of your senses, be it sight, smell, taste, touch or hearing is exceptionally keen. The difficulty of any roll involving this sense is decreased by two.

 

GOOD RIGHT / LEFT HOOK (1-PT MERIT)
The power of your punch belies your modest frame. Maybe you were a boxer for a while, or perhaps you've just been in a lot of fights. No matter the reason, people tend to fall over when you hit them. Add two dice to your damage roll for any Brawl-based attack.

 

HOLLOW LEG (1-PT MERIT)
You can drink like a fish. The amount of alcohol you can put away during a binge is truly phenomenal. What's more aggravating to your buddies is how little you suffer for it. Anyone who gets into a drinking competition with you quickly regrets it. Halve any penalties you suffer for consuming alcohol.

 

LIGHT SLEEPER (1-PT MERIT)
Although you sleep well, you are awakened quickly by a commotion. Any disturbance, from a poltergeist tossing objects around your room to a cat getting amorous on a neighbouring rooftop awakens you immediately. Unlike possessing the Vigilance edge or the Endurance Trait, you still need eight hours' sleep to function properly. You just wake up more easily than most.

 

NATURAL RUNNER (1-PT MERIT)
You've enjoyed running ever since you were a kid. Whereas most people wheeze and complain about exercising, running has always been an absolute plea- sure for you. Asa result, you can run like the wind when the situation demands it. Your Dexterity counts as one point higher than it actually is for purposes of determining Movement rates.

 

PERFECT BALANCE (1-PT MERIT)
Your sense of balance is superb. The narrowest of ledges holds little fear for you, because you have such a good command of your physical equilibrium. You're probably a good dancer, too. This Merit allows you to reduce the difficulty of all balance-related rolls by two.

 

ROBUST HEALTH (1-PT MERIT)
You have the constitution of an ox. You rarely get ill, if ever, and food poisoning is a stranger to you. You don't even get hangovers, you bastard. Reduce the difficulty of any roll to resist illness or poisoning - including alcohol poisoning - by two.

 

BUNDLE OF ENERGY (2-PT MERIT)
You are full of energy. You subsist on five or six hours' sleep a night, you find yourself unable to stay in bed any longer. Your days are full of physical activity, and you can work long into the night without penalty. You cannot have both this Merit and the Endurance Trait. If you develop the Vigilance edge through play, you must cash in this Merit for two freebie points.

 

CAT NAPPER (2-PT MERIT)
Although you need six to eight hours' sleep per night, you don't need it all at once. You catch your Z's as and when you can. As long as your naps total six to eight hours in a 24-hour period - and they usually do unless you're forcibly denied naps - you can function as normal.

 

FORGETTABLE (2-PT MERIT)
It's not that you're ugly. It's just that, well, people's eyes tend to slide over you. You're of average height and build, unremarkable looks and run-of-the-mill dress. People have problems remembering your appearance after they meet you, unless you have talked with them for a long time. Certainly, people won't be able to give a useful description of you if they only see you briefly. You must have an Appearance of 2 or 3 and a Charisma no higher than 3 to take this Merit. If either of those Attributes moves outside its assigned range through play, you lose this Merit. You might have a dreadful credit rating, a police file as thick as the phone book and a sexual history that would make a porn star blush, but people on the street just don't remember you.

 

GOOD NIGHT VISION (2-PT MERIT)
Maybe you spent a lot of time camping. Maybe you're just a fisherman who's used to getting up before dawn. For whatever reason, your night vision is excellent. The difficulty of Perception rolls at night is decreased by two.

 

DAREDEVIL (3-PT MERIT)
You love taking risks, and the adrenaline rush you get helps you succeed at stunts. Whether, you're leaping from a moving train or taking on a rot in face-to-face combat, you live for danger. When attempting any dangerous action, you can add three dice to your roll and ignore one botch die that results. In general, the action attempted must be at least at difficulty 8 and have the potential to do three health levels of lethal damage or six levels of bashing damage if you fail. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of when this Merit applies, and she may impose a cap of one hair-raising feat per game session.

 

HUGE SIZE (3-PT MERIT)
You're one big individual. You're stand almost seven feet tall and weigh 300 pounds or more, making your physical presence nearly impossible to ignore. Because of your sheer bulk, you gain an extra bruised health level. Your Storyteller may also award you bonuses for attempts to push objects, break down doors or resist being knocked down.

 

MENTAL

 

COMMON SENSE (1-PT MERIT)
You've been gifted with practical, everyday wisdom that allows you to avoid making stupid, obvious mistakes. Whenever you're about to act in a way that's contrary to common sense, the Storyteller can make a suggestion as to the likely outcome of the action, possibly warning you away from it. Unlike Hunter's Intuition Ability, this Merit doesn't allow you to make good guesses, nor does it offer you any particular insight. It just helps you avoid doing really, really dumb things.

 

CONCENTRATION (I-PT MERIT)
You're rather good at shutting out distractions and focusing on the task at hand. You're unaffected by disturbances - such as screaming kids, loud noises, hanging upside down or DJs playing really terrible music - when you focus on a particular action.

 

GOOD MAP READER (1-PT MERIT)
You're the Holy Grail of drivers everywhere: someone who can read a map well. Whether you're using an old map and a road atlas to locate a bloodsucker's nest, or you're navigating the New York City subways with a street atlas, you can find your way to where you need to be.

 

FAST READER (1-PT MERIT)
You can read and understand a piece of writing far faster than most people. Although it can make long journeys by train or plane expensive propositions due to the number of books and magazines you go through, it allows you to quickly extract useful information from anything written in your native language.

 

GOOD RECOGNITION (1-PT MERIT)
You are great at remembering the names of people you've encountered, and places you've been. You can call to mind the name of somebody you met briefly at a party three years ago, while you were a bit drunk, as clearly as if you'd met them only yesterday. You can also remember the streets you staggered along on your way home. You're even good at remembering the names of people mentioned in newspaper stories and broadcast reports, and locations glimpsed in still photographs or on TV.

 

HEALTHY SCEPTICISM (1-PT MERIT)
You're good at separating truth from fiction, and someone has to be up pretty damn early to catch you off guard. You rarely take what people say at face value until you're able to check the details yourself. This Merit allows you to reduce the difficulty of any roll to perceive a lie by two. It should be roleplayed as much as possible.

 

RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1-PT To 3-PT MERIT)
Your character has strong belief in a particular religious doctrine, the intensity of which is reflected in the Merit rating you choose. This belief gives your hunter strength, comfort and calm in trying times. His devotion grants 1 to 3 additional Willpower points when he's tested, when he must perform a challenging task, or when he needs confidence to succeed at an action. Your character probably prays or asks for guidance or depends upon his own trust in a Supreme Being during these moments. You then have a separate pool of Willpower points that you may draw upon for the remainder of the scene. These points must be spent in efforts that support or affirm your character's devotion, such as saving another person's life, lifting an obstructing object or controlling his own fear. They cannot be squandered on selfish acts or petty efforts. In essence, if a point is used to perform an act that runs counter to the teachings or values of your character's faith, perhaps to save himself or to lash out in unjustified anger, he has probably misapplied his devotion. You and the Storyteller must agree what are appropriate circumstances in which you may spend your bonus Willpower points. When points are squandered or used inappropriately, your character may have strayed from his faith. For major transgressions, he might lose his sense of self and connection to his Creator, temporarily or even permanently. Your character loses this Merit and possibly even additional points of his Willpower rating. Subtle transgressions, such as cursing your Creator for the injustices of the world and doubting your faith as a result, deny your character access to a point or more of his Religious Devotion until he pays emotional penance or reconciles his beliefs. In general, Religious Devotion can be called upon once per chapter (game session). It may be summoned more frequently under particularly demanding or appropriate circumstances - say to save someone's life or to put your character directly in harm's way – but the Storyteller must consent.

 

TIME SENSE (1-PT MERIT)
You have an almost uncanny sense of time. You can estimate the amount of time that has passed, and the approximate time of day, without using a clock or any other means of measuring time.

 

CODE OF HONOUR (2-PT MERIT)
You have a personal code of ethics to which you adhere strictly. This code may be related to your creed or not. There's no reason an Innocent can't have a code of honour that dictates she seek retribution for any direct harm done to her friends. You should work out the details of your code with the Storyteller before play begins. You gain two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when accomplishing a major feat in accordance with your code.

 

DETERMINED (2-PT MERIT)
You're one tenacious bastard, determined to go your own way. It can be really difficult for people to persuade you otherwise. Gain two dice in any resisted roll in which someone tries to persuade you to do something. This Merit also applies to attempts to resist supernatural tricks that have mind-control effects if you do not have Conviction active. You might also have the Stubborn Flaw.

 

EIDETIC MEMORY (2-PT MERIT)
You have perfect recall. As a result, you can remember things you've seen, heard or read in perfect detail. Entire conversations, documents or pictures can be committed to memory with only minor concentration. Should you attempt such a feat under stressful conditions - for example, trying to memorise a long list of names while three rots pound at the door - you must make a Perception + Alertness roll, difficulty 6, to summon enough concentration to finish the job (unless you also have the Concentration Merit, which allows you to commit information to memory flawlessly).

 

INTERNET SAVVY (2-PT MERIT)
The Internet is becoming increasingly commonplace, but it is far from universal. Many users never progress beyond the basic email/simple surfing to "sites whose address you know" stage. Characters with this Merit are adept at using the Internet in all its vast, rambling confusion. You can track down and use mailing lists, research obscure weapons and maybe even pick up clues about monsters online.

 

NATURAL LINGUIST (2-PT MERIT)
You have a gift for other languages, reading and speaking them with the fluency of a native. When you learn a language, reflected by increases in your Linguistics Ability, you learn it in more depth and with greater fluency than do most others. You may add three dice to any roll involving writing, reading or speaking a language you know, barring your native tongue (presumably, you use that language almost flawlessly).

 

FAST LEARNER (3-PT MERIT)
You learn the basics of a subject very quickly indeed. You can cram simple information about virtually any subject into your head with speed and ease. You take the normal time to develop a deeper knowledge, of course, but you start getting the hang of things very quickly. The cost to gain a new Ability is one experience point instead of three. Costs for higher levels are normal, however.

 

NATURAL APTITUDE (3-PT MERIT)
You have a particular Ability at which you excel. You're just a natural, or you've studied it so extensively that the Ability comes easily to you. You pay fewer than normal experience points to gain dots in the Ability. Each level is achieved as if it were the one below. The first point of the Ability costs only one experience point to gain if you learn it after play begins. You also gain one extra die on any roll involving that Ability.

 

UNFLAPPABLE (3-PT MERIT)
You are a naturally placid person and take most things in stride. You were almost hit by a car? That was close. Your wife has left you? Ah, well. Although you have emotions as others do, you don't let them affect you to the same degree. You gain two extra dice on any Willpower roll that involves staying clam or not overreacting to mundane experiences - those within your pre-imbuing bounds of comprehension. You might have witnessed dead bodies before, and can deal with seeing them now, but seeing a dead body that's partially devoured is probably beyond your previous experience.

 

DIRECTION SENSE (4-PT MERIT)
You have an innate sense of where you are and the distance you've travelled. You can make a good guess of which way is north, even without clues like the position of the sun. You rarely get lost and can estimate the distance between two points pretty well. You may even
be able to navigate your way through The Big Apple's one-way systems. Maybe.

 

OPTIMISTIC (4-PT MERIT)
Despite the horrors you've experienced since the imbuing, you have retained a basically positive outlook on life. Even when things go wrong, you face each day with the hope that things will get better. Regain two Willpower when you wake up each morning, rather than the usual one.

 

LEGAL

 

SPECIALIST DRIVERS LICENSE (1-PT MERIT)
Your driving repertoire extends far beyond the SUV or sports car. You're qualified to drive trucks, farm vehicles or some other specialized form of vehicular transportation.

 

FIREARMS LICENSE (2-PT MERIT)
This Merit indicates that you have a license to carry unusual, concealed or powerful firearms such as automatic weapons.

 

ECONOMIC

 

ALIMONY RECIPIENT (1-PT To 3-PT MERIT)
Your marriage has failed, but at least that cheating asshole has to pay you. The level of Merit you buy indicates the number of Resources points you can have (that must be purchased separately) for which you don't have to work. Your rating also suggests how wealthy your ex was, or how badly he was beaten in court. Chances are you have the Children Flaw, too.

 

BARGAIN HOUND (1-PT MERIT)
You have a knack for getting things cheaply. Sometimes you get the goods you need in sales. Sometimes you get them through wholesalers. Sometimes, you just hunt around until you get a bargain. However you do it, the difficulty of any Resources roll you make is decreased by two.

 

INDEPENDENT INCOME (1-PT To 5-PT MERIT)
Through hard work, heredity or phenomenal good fortune, your Resources rating is an independent income for which you don't have to work. The level of Merit you buy indicates how may dots of Resources (which must be purchased separately) you have that do not require you to work.

 

GOOD CREDIT RATING (2-PT MERIT)
You've always had a reasonable income, paid your debts on time and built up enough financial security to keep the most cynical banker happy. You have access to a decent amount of credit as a result. You must have 3 or more Resources to purchase this Merit.

 

WEALTHY PARTNER (2-PT MERIT)
Your other half is pulling in a fortune, at least by your earning standards, and happy to be the breadwinner. With someone else covering the bills and living expenses, you can get away with a part-time job that allows you time to pursue the hunt.

 

FLEXIBLE JOB (3-PT MERIT)
Your job allows you to a flexible schedule or allows you to travel a lot. Or perhaps you're effectively your own boss, with no one monitoring your activities. However you do it, you can earn your Resources rating through a job that doesn't significantly restrict your hunting activities.

 

PAID MORTGAGE (3-PT MERIT)
Your house is your own. You've finished paying the bank, so mortgage instalments are no longer an issue. Nor is repossession a threat. Even if your hunting costs you your job, you have a roof over your head.