Merits & Flaws

An associate of yours has it out for you, and while this rival cannot openly move against you (probably because of an external authority she doesn’t want to risk annoying, or social pressures that she can’t avoid), she’ll make your life as difficult as she can under the circumstances. Rumors, sabotage, exposed scandals, and perennial traps are just a few of your rival’s weapons against you. And while you can dance around most of them, a few still manage to hit their mark.

The value of this Flaw depends, as usual, on the amount of trouble this rivalry causes for you:

• (3 points) Someone of a lower or equal degree of power and influence wants to complicate your life.

• (4 points) A rival of greater power and influence throws obstacles in your path whenever possible.

• (5 points) A far more powerful rival is seriously dedicated to keeping you miserable… possibly even to making you dead.

Why does this person hate you? It could be a “simply business” sort of situation, like the rivalry between Syndicate executives or Hermetic Adepts. There may be a romantic tangle or family history involved, or perhaps an academic dispute, as is often found among members of the Etherite Tradition or Progenitor lab-groups. Chances are, this person doesn’t actually want you dead – just disgraced or removed from further consideration. Fatal rivalries do arise, however… and as Doissetep’s implosion proved long ago, such things can get really ugly when mages are involved.