In A World Of Darkness...
Aptitudes

These Merits and Flaws establish special capacities and abilities for your character, or modify the effects and powers of your character's other Traits.

 

Ambidextrous: (1 pt Merit)

 

You have a high degree of off-hand dexterity and can perform tasks with the 'wrong' hand at no penalty. The normal penalty for using both hands at once to perform different tasks (e.g. fighting with a weapon in each hand) is plus one difficulty for the 'right' hand and plus three difficulty for the other hand.

 

Computer Aptitude: (1 pt Merit)

 

You have a natural affinity with computers, so the difficulties of all rolls to repair, construct or operate them are two less.

 

Crack Driver: (1 pt Merit)

 

You have a natural affinity with driving motorized wheeled vehicles, such as cars, 18-wheelers and even tractors. The difficulties of all rolls requiring risky or especially difficult driving maneuvers are two less.

 

Eat Food: (1 pt Merit)

 

You have the capacity to eat food. It's an ability you developed at an early point in your undead existence, or perhaps it has been a latent ability all along. This is considered disgusting by other Kindred, but can be of great assistance in maintaining the Masquerade.

 

Mechanical Aptitude: (1 pt Merit)

 

You are naturally adept with all kinds of mechanical devices (note that this aptitude does not extend to electronic devices such as computers). The difficulties of all dice rolls to understand, repair or operate any kind of mechanical device are two less. However, this Merit doesn't help you drive any sort of vehicle.

 

Pitiable: (1 pt Merit)

 

There is something about you that others pity. This causes them to care for you as if you were a Child (see the Archetypes section). Some Natures will not be affected by this Merit (Autocrat, Deviant, Fanatic, Sycophant), and some Demeanors may pretend they are not. You need to decide what it is about you that attracts such pity, and how much (or how little) you like it.

 

Natural Linguist: (2 pt Merit)

 

You have a flair for languages. This Merit does not allow you to learn more languages than are permitted by your Linguistics score, but you may add three dice to any Dice Pool involving languages, both written and spoken.

 

Daredevil: (3 pt Merit)

 

You are good at taking risks, and are even better at surviving them. All difficulties are one less whenever you try something particularly dangerous, and you can ignore one botch result when you roll "ones" on such actions (you can cancel a single "one" that is rolled, as if you had an extra success

 

Fast Learner: (3 pt Merit)

 

You learn very quickly, and pick up on new things faster than most do. You gain one extra experience point at the conclusion of each story (not each game session).

 

Jack-Of-AII-Trades: (5 pt Merit)

 

You have a large pool of miscellaneous skills and knowledge obtained through your extensive travels, the jobs you've held, or just all-around know-how. You automatically have one dot in all Skill and Knowledge Dice Pools. This is an illusory level, used only to simulate a wide range of abilities. If the character trains or spends experience in the Skill or Knowledge, he must first buy one dot, then two, etc. as if he had no dot in it.

 

Illiterate: (1 pt Flaw)

 

Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write.

 

Inept: (5 pt Flaw)

 

You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have five fewer points to spend on your Talents (so the greatest number of points you can spend on your Talents at the beginning of play would be eight, and the fewest would be zero). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to buy Talents. However, at the beginning of the game, you cannot have more than three dots in any Talent.

 

Uneducated: (5 pt Flaw)

 

As Inept, above, but dealing with Knowledge Abilities.

 

Unskilled: (5 pt Flaw)

 

As Inept, above, but dealing with Skill Abilities.