Characters concepts with merits and flaws in V20

[Eltacolibre]

I know merits and flaws are an optional rule but a lot of them, seems to bring a good amount of roleplaying options between being able to eat normally or supernatural merits like true faith.

So what kind of character concepts can you come up with all the merits and flaws in v20? I always thought some of them made some interesting combo, like having a Malkavian who is a toymaker with the medium supernatural merit with Schizophrenia derangement, a good mix of what is real or false, when he is talking with his toys.

[Baaldam]

True Faith per se never really interested me, always felt making it into a separate stat & etc was a wonky solution.

With the rest, well, It all depends on one's willingness to play with such things - some i feel could be subsumed into character history or the backgrounds with little to no work, in fact the line separating some of them can be paper-thin sometimes, at least with the mundane ones, that compose the greater part of them.

That said, the meaty part for many are probably supernatural merits and flaws - where do they come from, why do some kindred have such weird traits or gifts, how do they balance out - or not - with disciplines or thuamaturgic rituals, etc. From a roleplaying standpoint, trying to explain - or understand, if unexplained - them can be as much of a dramatic tool as their benefits &/or complications.

And that not even going into the bold, ruthless or crazy ones that might look for those kindred as experimental subjects, something the Tremere as a whole are quite suited for but, but far from a proprietary niche/interest. That can lead to whole subplots or story arcs depending on one's game and the coterie's loyalties. Great plot fodder indeed.

[Darkwaters]

1950s body builder Toreador or Tzimisce with conspicuous consumption flaw. Or Ventrue with the prey group of health nuts.

[Baroness Nerak]

It's VDA Merits, but the Setite in Conspiracy leans heavily on having Sweet Blood and Sanctifying Kiss, so her blood has a wine-like taste and she can put people a step toward blood bond with a Kiss. She has gotten a lot of mileage out of it, being seductive (in a butch way) to start with. And everyone has Extra Clan Discipline (from V20), because seriously why not?

[Darkwaters]

Child prodigies
Toreador Musician
Malkavian Chess Master

Coldly logical, eidetic memory, calm heart, concentration may be appropriate merit choices

[atamajakki]

My Gargoyle is less interested in being a glorified guard dog with one hell of a punch and would much rather watch the midnight city from the rooftops; her Extra Clan Discipline is Obfuscate, and it's what allows her to be the character she is without causing a massive breach of the Masquerade. (Perhaps there's a bit of Nosferatu in her lineage? She'll never know).

[rat_bastard]

Not a V20 example but I got considerable millage out of Discipline Affinity: Fortitude. Being able to survive things really gives you a feeling like you can take risks.

[CarnivalCash]

I've had a concept for a Sabbat character for a while now. I had him on the Path of Cathari as a very shark-inspired character who drew people to him just from the sheer fearlessness he had, with a reputation for being even more of a wildman than most Gangrel, and almost suicidally brutal in how he approached a fight. He was kind of low on the totem pole as far as status went because he was a brute and didn't care whether people thought less of him for it. The reason his name is spoken of in awe/incredulity/fear/hatred was because he specialized in taking down other Kindred and he fought in a way that most Kindred simply can't understand. I gave him the Face the Flames merit and borrowed from Werewolf to give him the Berserker merit, allowing him to throw himself into Frenzy at will, though this was offset somewhat by the Short Fuse flaw, representing that his reliance on fighting alongside his Beast made him more prone to frenzying even when he didn't want to.

This was combined with a love of molotov cocktails, flamethrowers and white phosporous. Of course, while you're in Frenzy you're immune to Rotschreck, and with Instinct you have a mild amount of control over your actions.

Of course, chances are this guy would get dusted fairly quickly because Kindred hate loose cannons, but it'd still be interesting to play, I think.