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I really like concept of Advanced Merits, especially mortal-available ones. What I want to do in this thread is to talk about them and create Advanced Versions of Corebook Merits; then, I will edit the first post to include them so they are in one easy to read place.
Basically, if you want to participate in this thread, I'll suggest:
a) posting what do you think about advanced merits, and what do you think makes them work (or not work)
b) proposing your own take on Advanced version of some merit
c) talking about how to fluff Advanced Merits for different supernaturals; if this is popular, we could try writing different fluff for each Major Splat.
d) just having fun in polite way
I've noticed that most of Advanced Merits:
1. Require you to take full dots of base merit (this one is obvious, but still)
2. Might require Attribute related to the Merit at 3 or 4; putting 5 as requirement is tempting, but I don't think it would be a good design - it's rather impractical and I haven't seen players go to 5 in attribute ever (I hardly see 4, and I think Advanced Merits might make speccing for 4 in a Attribute more tempting)
3. They usually provide some combination of following:
a) Rote quality to the associated action
b) Removal of limitations
c) Expanding of applicability
d) Exceptional Success at 3 instead of 5
e) Stepping up effects in a logical way (Bashing to Lethal, for example)
f) Non-quantifiable, cool unique effect.
I think that they usually hit 2 or 3 from the above list.
4. They are relatively cheap - 1 or 2 dots. This is mostly because you are already investing heavily in the basic version of the merit, so you should consider their cost to be combined; so Advanced Merit of 2 dots with base merit of 2 dots should be seen as "4 dots thing" in total. Advanced Version shouldn't cost more than basic version, or significantly less either.
Trying to kickstart off the brainstorming, I'll try Advancing the Trained Observer
Trained Observer (Advanced, ••) by WHW
Prerequisites: •••• in the Attribute you used to qualify for this Merit and ••• in the other, Trained Observer •••
Effect: When something picks up your interest, it's like time itself slows down so you can take a look. When a basketball thrown at supernatural speed almost dunks your head and you barely dodge, it's normal for you to notice all the small details about it, just like when examining it while holding it in your hands. This Merit has two effects: One, it allows you to achieve Exceptional Success at Perception Rolls with only 3 successes, instead of 5. Two, it allows you to ignore up to Wits or Composure penalties to the Perception roll, no matter their source; for example, character with 4 Composure could ignore 4 out of 5 penalty assigned to the roll by Storyteller. This includes even Supernatural factors.
Indomitable (Advanced, •••) by Xenorath
Prerequisites: Resolve ••••
Effect: Your character can shrug off mental attacks that most would easily succumb to. Anytime you spend a point of Willpower to contest an effect that Indomitable would add a bonus to, add five dice to the dicepool instead of the usual three. Your character may also spend a point of Willpower to subtract three dice from the monster’s dicepool if the roll is resisted instead of 2.
Patient (Advanced, • to •••) by Deionscribe
Prerequisites: Patient
Effect: Patience is a Virtue, and your meticulous care and focus in a task not only helps you get more work done, but also mitigate some of the mistakes that might be made. Each dot not only allows you to make an additional roll above what your Attribute + Skill would allow, but also lets you suffer no negative consequences from a single failed roll
Inspiring (Advanced, •••) by GottaGoFeast
Prerequisites: Inspiring, Presence ••••
Effect: Your character's words are so encouraging that they can help others ignore emotional and mental Conditions and deal with Breaking Points. Spend 1 willpower point and roll Presence + Expression, with the same penalties of the normal version of the Merit. Should the roll me made during combat or a similarly dangerous situation, increase each penalty by one. On a Success, those affected can ignore Conditions like Broken, Fugue and Madness for the rest of the scene. Your character can also let those affected by his words re-roll for a Breaking Point made within the scene, ignoring the penalties of the first roll. On an Exceptional Success, two Conditions may be ignored and a re-roll achieves an Exceptional Success with 3 Successes. This Merit does not affect physical Conditions.
Drawback: Pulling others from the brink of insanity and despair is not easy, and it can take a toll on your character's mind if they have to do it often. If they use this Merit more times than their Resolve in a [Chapter or Story, not sure which is more balanced], they must roll for a Breaking Point at a -3 penalty at the end of the scene where they exceeded their limit, and a Failure becomes a Dramatic Failure automatically (a Beat is still earned)
Ghoul Retainer (Advanced, • to •••••) by Jakondite
Prerequisites: Vampire, Retainer •
Effect: Your retainer is a ghoul, and fitted with the power of the blood. In addition to being able to use the blood to benefit himself in all the ways a ghoul might have, each dot in this merit represents both the amount of vitae he can have in his system, as well as the amount of disciplines he is knowledgeable in.
Drawback: In addition to all the drawbacks a normal retainer might have, the ghoul requires constant maintenance - a price of blood paid monthly otherwise that ghoul may very well lose its status. Sometimes, a ghoul may be over protective of their master, to the point of actually containing their master to protect them from outside sources.
Vampire Retainer (Epic, • to •••••) by Jakondite
Prerequisites: Vampire, Retainer (Advanced, ••)
Effect: You have in your service another Kindred. Perhaps he is your child, or perhaps he is otherwise bound by the blood to you - regardless of how you came about him, he is your devoted underling and more than willing to serve. Each dot in this merit represents the relative strength of the kindred in question. For each level in this, add one discipline to the retainers total. Assume that the blood potency of this kindred is equal to 1 at the first dot, 2 at the third, and 3 at the fifth.
Drawback: Et tu, Brute? While a powerful retainer, even close vampires cannot be trusted as well as a ghoul or mortal can - with great power comes great risks and any vampire, even a subservient one, is looking out for themselves before anyone else. A weak kindred may well consider -why- they have a powerful vampire willing to serve them - are they being served, or is it just a part of their retainers own power play?
Indomitable (Epic, ••••)by Xenorath
Prerequisites: Beast, Resolve •••••
Effect: Your indomitable will is a thing of legends. Any contested roll that would benefit from Indomitable gains the 8-agian quality. In addition to this, if you spend a point of willpower on a resisted roll you may subtract a number of dice equal to your Resolve from the monster's dicepool instead of 3.
Helping Hand (• - •••••) by Arcanist
Prerequisite: Medium (Advanced), Occult ***, Specialty in appropriate Ephemeral Beings
Effect: When targeting an Ephemeral Being with a ritual using the Medium Merit, they can ease the Ephemeral Being's transition into the mortal world above and beyond what even the Ephemeral Being could accomplish on its own. For every dot in this Merit, choose a Manifestation effect. When the Medium has provided the appropriate prerequisite Condition, they may spend a number of points of Willpower, or suffer a number of points of Bashing Damage, equal to the Essence necessary to activate the Manifestation. This does allow a Medium with this Merit keyed to the appropriate Manifestation to open an Avernian Gate, tear a hole in the Gauntlet, become Claimed, or forcibly Discorporate an Ephemeral Being. If the Spirit doesn't want to Claim the Medium, or if the Medium uses Discorporate, roll the Medium's Presence + Occult against the Ephemeral Being's Resistance + Rank.
Drawback: Opening up such a channel to the powers of Ephemeral Beings make them far more vulnerable to those same powers. The character with this Merit always has the Open Condition, and the Ephemeral Being may ignore up to their dots in this Merit in terms of points of Essence spent to affect this character.
Indomitable (Advanced, •••) by Amravanti
Prerequisite: Beast, Resolve ••••
Effect: Your character can shrug off mental attacks that most would easily succumb to. Anytime you spend a point of Willpower to contest an effect that Indomitable would add a bonus to, add your Resolve to the dicepool instead of the usual three. Your character may also spend a point of willpower to subtract three dice from the monster’s dicepool if the roll is resisted instead of 2. If you resist a supernatural effect that indomitable would add a bonus to, you are immune to that effect from all sources for the rest of the scene.
Basically, if you want to participate in this thread, I'll suggest:
a) posting what do you think about advanced merits, and what do you think makes them work (or not work)
b) proposing your own take on Advanced version of some merit
c) talking about how to fluff Advanced Merits for different supernaturals; if this is popular, we could try writing different fluff for each Major Splat.
d) just having fun in polite way
I've noticed that most of Advanced Merits:
1. Require you to take full dots of base merit (this one is obvious, but still)
2. Might require Attribute related to the Merit at 3 or 4; putting 5 as requirement is tempting, but I don't think it would be a good design - it's rather impractical and I haven't seen players go to 5 in attribute ever (I hardly see 4, and I think Advanced Merits might make speccing for 4 in a Attribute more tempting)
3. They usually provide some combination of following:
a) Rote quality to the associated action
b) Removal of limitations
c) Expanding of applicability
d) Exceptional Success at 3 instead of 5
e) Stepping up effects in a logical way (Bashing to Lethal, for example)
f) Non-quantifiable, cool unique effect.
I think that they usually hit 2 or 3 from the above list.
4. They are relatively cheap - 1 or 2 dots. This is mostly because you are already investing heavily in the basic version of the merit, so you should consider their cost to be combined; so Advanced Merit of 2 dots with base merit of 2 dots should be seen as "4 dots thing" in total. Advanced Version shouldn't cost more than basic version, or significantly less either.
Trying to kickstart off the brainstorming, I'll try Advancing the Trained Observer
Trained Observer (Advanced, ••) by WHW
Prerequisites: •••• in the Attribute you used to qualify for this Merit and ••• in the other, Trained Observer •••
Effect: When something picks up your interest, it's like time itself slows down so you can take a look. When a basketball thrown at supernatural speed almost dunks your head and you barely dodge, it's normal for you to notice all the small details about it, just like when examining it while holding it in your hands. This Merit has two effects: One, it allows you to achieve Exceptional Success at Perception Rolls with only 3 successes, instead of 5. Two, it allows you to ignore up to Wits or Composure penalties to the Perception roll, no matter their source; for example, character with 4 Composure could ignore 4 out of 5 penalty assigned to the roll by Storyteller. This includes even Supernatural factors.
Indomitable (Advanced, •••) by Xenorath
Prerequisites: Resolve ••••
Effect: Your character can shrug off mental attacks that most would easily succumb to. Anytime you spend a point of Willpower to contest an effect that Indomitable would add a bonus to, add five dice to the dicepool instead of the usual three. Your character may also spend a point of Willpower to subtract three dice from the monster’s dicepool if the roll is resisted instead of 2.
Patient (Advanced, • to •••) by Deionscribe
Prerequisites: Patient
Effect: Patience is a Virtue, and your meticulous care and focus in a task not only helps you get more work done, but also mitigate some of the mistakes that might be made. Each dot not only allows you to make an additional roll above what your Attribute + Skill would allow, but also lets you suffer no negative consequences from a single failed roll
Inspiring (Advanced, •••) by GottaGoFeast
Prerequisites: Inspiring, Presence ••••
Effect: Your character's words are so encouraging that they can help others ignore emotional and mental Conditions and deal with Breaking Points. Spend 1 willpower point and roll Presence + Expression, with the same penalties of the normal version of the Merit. Should the roll me made during combat or a similarly dangerous situation, increase each penalty by one. On a Success, those affected can ignore Conditions like Broken, Fugue and Madness for the rest of the scene. Your character can also let those affected by his words re-roll for a Breaking Point made within the scene, ignoring the penalties of the first roll. On an Exceptional Success, two Conditions may be ignored and a re-roll achieves an Exceptional Success with 3 Successes. This Merit does not affect physical Conditions.
Drawback: Pulling others from the brink of insanity and despair is not easy, and it can take a toll on your character's mind if they have to do it often. If they use this Merit more times than their Resolve in a [Chapter or Story, not sure which is more balanced], they must roll for a Breaking Point at a -3 penalty at the end of the scene where they exceeded their limit, and a Failure becomes a Dramatic Failure automatically (a Beat is still earned)
Ghoul Retainer (Advanced, • to •••••) by Jakondite
Prerequisites: Vampire, Retainer •
Effect: Your retainer is a ghoul, and fitted with the power of the blood. In addition to being able to use the blood to benefit himself in all the ways a ghoul might have, each dot in this merit represents both the amount of vitae he can have in his system, as well as the amount of disciplines he is knowledgeable in.
Drawback: In addition to all the drawbacks a normal retainer might have, the ghoul requires constant maintenance - a price of blood paid monthly otherwise that ghoul may very well lose its status. Sometimes, a ghoul may be over protective of their master, to the point of actually containing their master to protect them from outside sources.
Vampire Retainer (Epic, • to •••••) by Jakondite
Prerequisites: Vampire, Retainer (Advanced, ••)
Effect: You have in your service another Kindred. Perhaps he is your child, or perhaps he is otherwise bound by the blood to you - regardless of how you came about him, he is your devoted underling and more than willing to serve. Each dot in this merit represents the relative strength of the kindred in question. For each level in this, add one discipline to the retainers total. Assume that the blood potency of this kindred is equal to 1 at the first dot, 2 at the third, and 3 at the fifth.
Drawback: Et tu, Brute? While a powerful retainer, even close vampires cannot be trusted as well as a ghoul or mortal can - with great power comes great risks and any vampire, even a subservient one, is looking out for themselves before anyone else. A weak kindred may well consider -why- they have a powerful vampire willing to serve them - are they being served, or is it just a part of their retainers own power play?
Indomitable (Epic, ••••)by Xenorath
Prerequisites: Beast, Resolve •••••
Effect: Your indomitable will is a thing of legends. Any contested roll that would benefit from Indomitable gains the 8-agian quality. In addition to this, if you spend a point of willpower on a resisted roll you may subtract a number of dice equal to your Resolve from the monster's dicepool instead of 3.
Helping Hand (• - •••••) by Arcanist
Prerequisite: Medium (Advanced), Occult ***, Specialty in appropriate Ephemeral Beings
Effect: When targeting an Ephemeral Being with a ritual using the Medium Merit, they can ease the Ephemeral Being's transition into the mortal world above and beyond what even the Ephemeral Being could accomplish on its own. For every dot in this Merit, choose a Manifestation effect. When the Medium has provided the appropriate prerequisite Condition, they may spend a number of points of Willpower, or suffer a number of points of Bashing Damage, equal to the Essence necessary to activate the Manifestation. This does allow a Medium with this Merit keyed to the appropriate Manifestation to open an Avernian Gate, tear a hole in the Gauntlet, become Claimed, or forcibly Discorporate an Ephemeral Being. If the Spirit doesn't want to Claim the Medium, or if the Medium uses Discorporate, roll the Medium's Presence + Occult against the Ephemeral Being's Resistance + Rank.
Drawback: Opening up such a channel to the powers of Ephemeral Beings make them far more vulnerable to those same powers. The character with this Merit always has the Open Condition, and the Ephemeral Being may ignore up to their dots in this Merit in terms of points of Essence spent to affect this character.
Indomitable (Advanced, •••) by Amravanti
Prerequisite: Beast, Resolve ••••
Effect: Your character can shrug off mental attacks that most would easily succumb to. Anytime you spend a point of Willpower to contest an effect that Indomitable would add a bonus to, add your Resolve to the dicepool instead of the usual three. Your character may also spend a point of willpower to subtract three dice from the monster’s dicepool if the roll is resisted instead of 2. If you resist a supernatural effect that indomitable would add a bonus to, you are immune to that effect from all sources for the rest of the scene.
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