“Things are never what they seem. Misdirection and subterfuge, my friend. They want you to look at the shiny coin so you don’t see the dagger in your gut.”
– Miles Tapper, AM Radio Podcast, Toreador

Merits and Flaws are traits that define a specific benefit or drawback in your existence, allowing customization of a vampire’s condition and night-to-night experience. They are categorized by theme:

• Bonding Merits and Flaws refer to how the Blood Bond and its effects are different for
• your character than other vampires.
• Connection Merits and Flaws refer to personal traits that relate to your character’s interactions with the mortal world.
• Feeding Merits and Flaws alter how your character reacts to consumed blood.
• Mythical Merits and Flaws are related to the mythology that many humans wrongly
• believe to be true for all vampires. Unfortunately, these things are true for your character.
• Physical Merits and Flaws deal with the actual physical capabilities of your character’s body.
• Psychological Merits and Flaws pertain to quirks of the mind and behavioral abnormali-
• ties that a vampire may possess.
• Thin-Blood Merits and Flaws may only be taken by thin-blood vampires.
• Ghoul Merits and Flaws can only be taken by ghoul characters.

Characters may purchase Merits for 3 XP per dot. They may also take Flaws in exchange for Merits on a one-to-one basis (dots of Flaws for dots of Merits), up to a limit of 10 dots of free Merits.
Characters may combine and split dots of Merits andFlaws in this way, taking one dot in two Merits in exchange for a two-dot Flaw, or taking a 2-dot Merit in exchange for two 1-dot Flaws.
This exchange does not require the Merits and Flaws to be within the same category.
Unless otherwise stated you cannot purchase a specific Merit or Flaw more than once. In addition, you may not purchase Merits and Flaws that contradict or negate each other. This includes taking Unbondable along with any of the Bonding Flaws, or taking the Short Bond Merit in conjunction with the Long Bond Flaw. Your Storyteller is the final authority on whether a Merit and Flaw contradict or negate each other.

Removing Merits and Flaws #

All Merits must be paid for with XP, received for free in exchange for taking Flaws (those not
assigned by your Predator type), or given to you free from your Predator type. To remove a Flaw
from your character sheet, obtain your Storyteller’s permission. If you received free Merit dots
in exchange for the Flaw, you must do one of the following:

• Purchase the Merit with XP. If you do not have enough XP to do so, you may go into XP
  debt. Any XP you earn in the future must be used to remove this XP debt.
• Select another Flaw equal to the one being removed and add it to your character sheet.
  

Flaws given from your Predator Type that are removed with your Storyteller’s permission do not
require XP spending or the selection of another Flaw as described above. However, your Storytell-
er may reassign the removed Flaw should you fail too many hunting challenges.
You must remove a Flaw if you are no longer eligible to have it, such as by no longer meeting
the prerequisites or when purchasing something that is disallowed by the Flaw.
Merits cannot be removed from your character sheet once purchased.