Merits & Flaws Reference

Merits and Flaws may be selected during character creation only, using Freebie Points. No character may take more than 7 points of Flaws. Some high-point Merits require Mentor or Admin review regardless of rating tier.

Rating	Meaning
✅ Approved	Available as written
⭐ Strong Fit	Recommended
🔶 Niche Fit	Discuss with Mentor
⚠ Needs Review	Admin approval required
🚫 Banned	Not available in RbN, under any circumstances
🔧 House-Ruled	Modified for RbN — use the modified version below, not the book version

Universal Merits

Physical: Acute Senses ⭐, Ambidextrous ✅, Bruiser ✅, Catlike Balance ✅, Daredevil ⭐, Enchanting Feature ✅, Friendly Face ✅, Huge Size ✅ (makes you conspicuous — a Veil consideration), Insensate to Pain 🔶, Nightsight ⭐, Poison Resistance ✅.

Mental: Code of Honor ⭐, Coldly Logical ✅, Common Sense ✅, Concentration ✅, Eidetic Memory ✅, Inner Strength ⭐ (one of the most thematically appropriate Merits for survivors of the End of Times), Iron Will ⭐, Jack-of-All-Trades ✅, Lightning Calculator ✅, Master Craftsman ⭐, Computer Aptitude 🔧 (renamed "Tech Aptitude," covers all Technocracy-salvaged digital tech including Omega Crate hardware), Mechanical Aptitude ⭐.

Social: Confidence ✅, Favor ⭐, Harmless 🔶, Language ⭐ (doesn't count against the 10-dot Merit limit), Local Hero ⭐, Loyalty ⭐, Natural Leader ✅, Noted Messenger ⭐, Officially Dead ⭐, Perfect Liar ✅, Prestige 🔧 (applies within one of the five Factions, a splat community, or a recognized institution — specify the source), Rising Star 🔶, Safehouse ⭐, Secret Code Language ⭐.

Supernatural: Danger Sense ⭐, Lucky ✅, Nine Lives 🔶 (pair with a compelling background reason), True Love ⭐, Guardian Angel ⚠ (the entity and its obligations must be worked out with Admin and an ST), Medium ⭐.

Universal Flaws

Flaws are not just Freebie sources — they are story engines.

Physical: Addiction ⭐, Distinctive Appearance ⭐, Hard of Hearing ✅, Lame ✅, Mute ✅ (establish early with your Mentor how your character communicates), One Eye ✅, Short ✅, Disfigured ✅ (prevents Appearance above 2 — note the Veil implications).

Mental: Compulsion ✅, Deep Sleeper 🔶, Flashbacks ⭐ (perhaps the most authentic Flaw available — every supernatural alive in 200 TE has something to flash back to), Intolerance ✅, Nightmares ⭐ (may carry literal supernatural weight given the cracked Dreaming), Overconfident ✅, Phobia ✅, Soft-Hearted 🔶, Speech Impediment ✅.

Social: Dark Secret ⭐, Debt ⭐, Enemy ⭐, Hunted 🔶 (work with Admin before selecting), Mistaken Identity ✅, Notoriety ⭐, Ward ⭐, Sire's Resentment 🔶.

Supernatural: Cursed ⭐ (work with Storytellers to design a curse proportional to its point value), Foe from the Past ✅, Insane Ancestor 🔶, Slip Sideways 🔧 (available to Garou and spiritually attuned characters given the damaged Gauntlet), Banned Transformation 🔶, True Faith (Enemy) 🔧 (reframed as "Marked by the Machine" — flagged by God-Machine enforcement systems).

Splat-Specific Merits & Flaws

Vampire (Lilum)

Merits: Blush of Health ⭐ (Nosferatu cannot take this), Eat Food ⭐, Early Riser ✅, Refined Palate 🔶, Baby Face ✅ (not available to Nosferatu bloodline), Additional Discipline ⚠.

Flaws: Distinguishing Characteristic ⭐, Lure of Flames ✅, Prey Exclusion ✅, Sire's Resentment 🔶, Thin Blood 🔧 (reframed as a shakily-performed Lilith covenant, performed during chaos or by a distracted or damaged vampire — compensations retained as written).

Werewolf (Garou)

Merits: Camp Acceptance 🔧 (applies to recognized groups within the six surviving tribes — Fianna bardic circles, Glass Walker tech collectives, Children of Eshtarra spirit lodges, etc.), Animal Magnetism ✅, Supernatural Companion ⭐ (the Faction system provides legitimate channels for cross-splat relationships, making this less dramatic than usual — but still not formally recognized by splat communities), Spirit Mentor ⭐, True Gaia's Warrior ⚠ (discuss with Admin how this applies given Wyrd corruption is the setting's dominant threat, not Wyrm taint specifically), Metamorph ✅.

Flaws: Foe from the Past (Ancestor) ✅, Infamous Lineage ⭐, Derangement ⭐ (the decade of animal regression alone justifies lasting psychological damage), Docile 🔶, Forced Transformation ✅ (dangerous given Veil obligations to maintain human appearance).

Lost

Merits: Rigid Mask ⭐ (fundamental Veil Merit), Hedge Sense ✅, Token ✅ (discuss the history of any Token — some in Basilica Purgatory predate the Dreaming cracking open), Lethal Mien ✅.

Flaws: Obvious Fae ⭐ (Veil-critical — a Lost whose nature bleeds through is a walking Veil incident), Vulnerable to Cold Iron ✅ (certain areas of the Mechanism and older Overcity structures are genuinely hazardous), Dream Addiction ⭐.

Hellion & Sorcerer

Flaws: Essence Addiction ⭐, Dharma Conflict ⭐, Pact Restriction ⭐ (Sorcerer — design collaboratively with your Mentor), School Rivalry 🔶 (Sorcerer schools replaced the old Traditions; professional rivalries are the closest thing that remains).

Human & Hunter

Merits: Profession Expertise 🔧 (RbN Original — reduces difficulty of core Profession rolls by 2), Cyber-Adaptable 🔧 (RbN Original — for characters planning multiple cyber-modifications), Imbued (Hunter) ⚠ (the source of the blessing is deliberately undefined — discuss with Admin), Society of Leopold Contacts 🔧 (Society contacts know what you are and can place demands on you), Psychic Potential ⚠ (elevated Veil risk).

Flaws: Supernatural Awareness ⭐, Marked by the Machine 🔧 (RbN Original — the Guild isn't actively hunting you yet, but you're in the system), Mundane Blindness 🔶, Forsworn ⭐ (the defining trait of Bystander Hunters).

Banned Merits & Flaws

Not available under any circumstances. Do not attempt to work around a ban by rephrasing a character concept.

Merit/Flaw	Why It's Banned
True Faith	The God-Machine's Consensus has replaced divine intervention as reality's organizing principle. Gods didn't show up for the apocalypse, and the God-Machine isn't a deity.
Blessed	Same reason as True Faith — divine blessing doesn't exist as a mechanical system here.
Sect Membership Benefits	The Sects (Camarilla, Sabbat, Anarch) don't exist. Faction membership replaced them entirely.
Camarilla Recognition / Sabbat Survivor / Anarch Status	None of these organizations exist in RbN.
Sphere Natural / Avatar Companion	Awakened magic isn't playable. All Awakened are dead or conscripted as reactor fuel.

A Flaw is not a punishment. It is a promise — that this character has a cost, and a story.