Merits & Flaws

Misfortune of apparently supernatural origins makes your character’s life difficult; the more points the Flaw gives you, the greater the character’s misfortune.

• (1 point) Minor quirks of fate. Examples: You have a hard time keeping secrets; tech suffers tiny malfunctions in your presence; people tend to think ill of you.

• (2 points) Small but annoying problems. Examples: You stutter at inopportune moments; tires go flat and warning lights go on when you depend upon your car; expensive clothes wind up ruined by stupid accidents.

• (3 points) Chronic misfortune. Examples: Tools break when you use them; children fear you; red lights slow you down whenever you absolutely, positively need to be somewhere on time.

• (4 points) Major problems arise. Examples: People dislike you on principle; your greatest plans collapse for no predictable reason; your bank account keeps suffering unexpected withdrawals from sources that aren’t you.

• (5 points) Pervasive bad luck. Examples: Your endeavors inevitably fail; tech never works the way it’s supposed to function; chronic pain or poor health sap whatever vitality you possess.

The Storyteller determines the eventual effects of your curse, as well as the methods you might use to lift it. In any case, the curse becomes a major part of your character’s story and cannot be dispelled without some major effort on his part.

You have fallen afoul of someone with supernatural abilities that has cursed you with a specific effect. This curse may have been laid during your prelude, or perhaps even at your birth; it may even be inherited from your ancestors. Your curse is very specific and difficult to dispel without undertaking some major quest or aton­ ing for whatever offense you have committed. Some examples include:

• (1 point) If you pass on a secret you were entrusted with, your betrayal will come back to harm you in some way. • (2 points) Things you value for sentimental or functional reasons tend to disappear — memen­ tos, minor fetishes, or significant utilitarian items like the keys to your car or your favorite knife. • (3 points) Tools break or malfunction when you try to use them, always to your own detriment or inconvenience. • (4 points) Relationships seem to go wrong as soon as you begin to care for someone. This might keep you from establishing good relations with the members of your sept, your kinfolk, or the rest of your pack. • (5 points) At critical moments, you tend to ex­ perience catastrophic failures. A Fetish doesn’t work when you need it most, your gun misfires or jams during combat, or you get stuck while crossing the Gauntlet in an emergency situa­ tion. As a significant Flaw, Storytellers should feel free to put you into peril on a frequent basis with this level of Curse.