Physical Merits
Hollow Leg (1): Your character gets -2 difficulty on Stamina rolls related to holding your liquor in. In most cases you don’t need to roll; you can just automatically drink most people under the table.
Ambidextrous (2): Your character doesn’t suffer a penalty when wielding a weapon or tool in your offhand.
Tough (6): Your character has an extra bruise level
Insensible to Pain (6): Your character never suffers wound penalties until your reach incapacitated (you get a mere -2 dice penalty then).
Mental Merits
Cat Napper (1): You need about eight hours of sleep a day to function normally but it doesn’t have to be all at once.
Common Sense (1): The game master is obligated to warn you if you are about to take an action that violates common sense.
Concentration (1): Your natural concentration is such that you do not receive penalties for external distractions such as loud noises or hanging upside down.
Light Sleeper (1): You wake up very quickly and easily receiving a -2 difficulty break to Alertness rolls to wake up at some sign of danger. You suffer no penalties when acting with less sleep than normal, provided you do not forgo your normal sleep for several nights in a row.
Code of Honor (2): You are devoted to a code of honor to such an extent that your receive -1 on Willpower rolls to resist compulsions to violate your code. Players who do not roleplay their code of honor may lose this merit.
Eidetic Memory (3): Your character has a near photographic memory. In most cases you can remember everything without making a dice roll. If he is trying to remember something really minor detail or relay several pages of text that you only saw for a split second you need to roll Intelligence (difficulty 6) to recall it. You need to have least 3 in two mental attributes to take this Merit.
Pain Tolerance (3): You can ignore wound penalties for an entire scene by spending a Willpower point as opposed to ignoring wound penalties for a single turn like most characters.
Social Merits
Agent of the Crown (1): Your character is not a knight, but you do have an official position of some sort that gives you some clout at least within the realm of one noble or nation when carrying out duties on behalf of your lady or lord.
Apseldian Citizen (1): Must be a half-elf or
gnome. Your character can vote in the Apseldian senate and may legally address the assembly for ten minutes on any topic you want (though no one has to listen or agree with you).
Esteemed Ancestor (1): You are a direct descendant from a mighty hero of yore. This can give you social proof in some circles.
Holy Order Member (2): Your character is part of a church’s elite order of some kind. Elite Orders vary from priesthood to priesthood, but you can expect a warm welcome in most distant temples or in nations where your priesthood is politically powerful. You do not have to be a divine caster or priest to be part of a holy order. Holy orders also employ soldiers, clerks, spies, and any number of professionals.
Honorary Dwarf Clan Member (2): Your character is not a
dwarf but was officially adopted via oath as a friend of a Dwarf clan. You get a -1 social difficulty break when dealing with Dwarfs who respect your adopted clan and have some helpful contacts and friends within your adopted clan.
Prestigious Dwarf Clan (2): Must be a dwarf or an honorary dwarf clan member.
You character is not just part of a dwarf clan, but your clan is part of a rich, prestigious, or politically connected dwarf clan.
Noble (2): You don’t necessarily have any land or titles, but your character was either born or married into nobility, or in rare cases, were awarded a courtly title despite your lowly birth for some exceptional service. That doesn’t mean you can automatically get an audience with every lord and lady, but at least the default response to asking won’t be “How dare you seek entry here, peasant!”
Order of Delas Member (2): You are a member of the Order of Delas, a global network that supports the interests of gnomes. Most
gnomes you first meet will be inclined to help you if you prove to them you are a member of the order. You do not have to be a gnome to be inducted into the Order of Delas, but you do have to be fluent in
Gnomish.
Folk Hero (2): Your reputation among the lower classes of your homeland is very positive. Most peasants will give you basic food and shelter if you ask. As long as their lives aren’t directly threatened, they can provide alibis or keep their secrecy for you.
Priest (1): You need at least two dots of Theology to qualify. Your character can marry people, preside over funerals, bless children and lead weekly worship services. The followers of your religion are likely to ask you for advice and are prone to take your recommendations seriously.
You do not have to be a divine spell caster to be a priest. You do not have to be a priest in order to be a divine spell caster.
Mentor (1-3): You have a mentor who can teach you skills you find valuable and provide assistance in some social situations.
Guild Member (1-3): You are recognized member of a guild and have special rights and privileges as well as potential contacts when in areas where the guild has sway. The merit’s value is based on the power of the guild. A wizard’s guild generally has more clout than a blacksmith’s guild. A nationwide guild has more clout then a guild that doesn’t extend beyond a single city.
Coven Member (2-4): You are a member of a coven or magic circle that is officially endorsed by noble. The coven has a parcel of land answerable to a feudal lord. This gives you access to mentors, libraries, and a voice within at least one noble court, but you are required to take actions on behalf of your coven once in a while, or they will revoke your privileges. The more resources and status you have access to, the more expensive the Merit.
Non-arcane casters can still be members of covens especially if they can provide valuable support services and/or have family ties to mages in the Coven.
Knightly Order member (1-4): You are knight (or some other similar title) working for your lord or religious organization. You have legal privileges when acting on behalf of your lord in realms where your lord holds sway. The more points you take in this, the more politically powerful your lord or organization is and/or the more leeway your superiors gives you.
It is common for knights to be skilled at mounted combat, but this is not universal. Anyone capable of helping with the muscle aspects of governance can be a knight, whether or not they can fight from horseback.
Advanced Combat Training Merits
Shield Proficiency (1): You can use shields with no penalty.
Mounted Archery (1): You get half the usual penalty for ranged attacks from atop a moving horse. +1 difficulty for a walking horse. +2 difficulty if the horse is moving at a trot or faster (normally the penalty is +2 and +4). You need Archery and Ride of at least 2 to qualify for this.
Two Weapon Style (1): The character receives some situational bonuses when fighting with a weapon in both hands. See
two weapon fighting for details.
Arrow Deflector (2): You can use a melee weapon deflect thrown weapon attacks against you with a difficulty 6 parry. You deflect arrows at difficulty 7. You need Melee and Wits of at least 3 to qualify.
Opportunistic Brawler (2): Requires Wits 3+, Melee 2+, Brawl 2+. Sometimes in the movies when someone punches or kicks an enemy sword fight, it looks realistic, other times not so much. Either way it usually looks cool.
At the end of a combat round, if you have three or more unused dodge or parry successes from your B-action, you may make a punch, kick, or similar bashing damage attack for free with a two-dice penalty.
Blind Fighting (3): When fighting blind or against an invisible opponent, the penalty is only +2 instead of +3. You need to have Alertness and Wits of 3 to qualify.
Living Weapon (3): You never suffer a penalty to when fighting unarmed against an armed opponent. You can inflict lethal damage with your bare hands (or bashing damage if you choose) You need to have a Brawl and Wits of 3 to qualify for this.
Arrow Catcher (4): You can use your hands to deflect thrown weapon attacks against you with a difficulty 7 parry. You deflect arrows at difficulty 8. If you beat the attack roll by two successes you can catch the projectile. You need Brawl, and Wits of at least 4 to qualify.
Sneak Attack! (4): You do an additional +2 damage in close quarters combat when attacking an unaware opponent, an opponent who is immobilized, an opponent who is flanked, or when striking with a dagger while grappling. You need to have Dexterity and Wits of 3 to qualify.
Supernatural Merits
Draconic Aura (2): Social rolls with dragons,
kobolds,
chimera , and most
[giants are at -1 difficulty.
Fae Touched (2): Social rolls with Fae creatures are at -1 difficulty. They are less likely to treat you as an outsider but are likely to try to involve you in their intrigues.
Greymoria’s Chosen (2): Must be an arcane caster or a divine caster with
Greymoria as a patron. Greymoria-friendly monsters treat you as one of their own. -2 on social difficulties with them, but they will probably ask you for favors.
Spirit Medium (3): You get -1 difficulty on all social rolls involving spirits of the Aetherial Plane. Spells that summon spirits are at -1 difficulty.
Natural Weapon (3/5): You have a natural or perhaps supernatural weapons such as claws or fangs that can inflict strength + 1 lethal damage. For five points, it’s easily retractable or concealable when not in use.
Legendary Attribute (3): You have the capacity to raise one attribute of your choice above your maximum by one point. You still have to pay for it with freebie points or experience but the potential for superhuman ability is there.
Void Resistant (5): Damage from negative energy attacks and attribute hexes are at half strength against you (rounded down). Demons and undead may leave you alone if you take no action against them (assuming you or your companions aren’t attacking). Characters who are aware of this resistance may be suspicious of you.
Natural Armor (6): You get an extra soak die against lethal and aggravated damage, stacking with worn armor and magical augmentation. In most cases, this should be paired with the Flaw Distinctive Appearance for unusual looking skin.
Oracle (8, 11 or 13): Your character may or may or not be a divine spell-caster but either way she has access to the level five divine sphere power of Divination skipping the level 1 through 4 powers.
8 points means she is an oracle for a powerful Fae lord, 11 points means she is an oracle for one of the Nine and 13 points means she is an oracle for all of the Nine collectively. Oracular visions and answers are going to be limited to the patron’s knowledge and answers will be slanted slightly by the patron’s agenda. Answers may be vague or cryptic but are never completely false.
Oracles do not have to roll Perception + Theology to activate their gift. Oracles can roll almost any justifiable attribute + ability combination depending on how their visions manifest but once the decision is made at character creation, it cannot be changed.
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