MTH:Merits

NEW MERITS

New Merits for superhuman and heroic characters. These are purchased in the same manner as normal Merits, though they usually have higher prerequisites than the Merits in the corebook.

A number of these Merits refer to "effective" Attributes, usually as prerequisites; this refers to an Attribute's rating after all permanent modificatioins have been factored in, such as a Mega-Attribute. For example, a character with Dexterity 3 and Mega-Dexterity 1 would have an effective Dexterity score of 5.

Some Merits created for other supernatural creatures might be appropriate for superhuman or heroic characters; perhaps a character's advanced technology could be represented by the "Imbued Item" or "Enhanced Item" Merits from Mage: the Awakening, or a superhuman who enjoys a good reputation among the heroic community could benefit from the "Repute" Merit from Promethean: The Created. Characters who wish to take Merits from other supernatural games are encouraged to speak with their ST in order to decide whether or not such a purchase would be appropriate.

MENTAL MERITS

BODY CONTROL (**)

PREREQUISITES: None

EFFECT: This Merit duplicates the effects of the Mage: The Awakening Life 2 spell "Body Control" (M:tA, p. 182). This Merit is always active, use the character's Power Level as successes to determine the exact effect; see the spell description for further details.

MULTI-TASKING (* or **)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Intelligenge 5+ & Wits 5+

EFFECT: The character can can compartmentalize her mind so that she can hold more than one distinct train of thought in her mind simultaneously. For one dot, the character can duplicate the effects of the Mage: The Awakening Mind 1 spell "One Mind, Two Thoughts" (M:tA, p. 206)and perform two extended-action knowledge tasks at once.

For two dots, the character can duplicate the effects of the Mind 3 spell "Multi-Tasking" (M:tA, pp. 211-212). This spell does not allow the character to activate two Powers at the same time, since activating powers is not purely a mental action. Botth versions of this Merit are always in effect and require no effort from the character to use.

OMNIVISION (***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Wits 5+

EFFECT: Whether by incredibly sharp senses, a sixth sense, or a literal 360 degree field of vision, the character is keenly aware of her surroundings at all times. She suffers no ill effects from being surrounded in combat, and it is impossible to sneak up on her under normal circumstances (though extraordinary circumstances, such as poor lighting or invisibility, may allow the character to be snuck upon as normal). The character must still roll to avoid surprise in the case of ambush or similar situations; this Merit allows the character to perceive normally in every direction at once, but does not grant any special form of perception or precognition.

PHYSICAL MERITS

AQUATIC ADAPTATIONS (** or ***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Stamina 4+

EFFECT: The character is specially adapted for life in the water. Both versions of this Merit allow the character to safely drink salt water and to swim at her normal Speed without effort. However, she cannot do the equivilent of running and double her swimming speed by taking no other actions that turn. In addition, for two dots, the character also receives the equivilent of the Strong Lungs Merit (nWoD p. 113), except that this Merit adds +3 to the character's Stamina for purposes of holding her breath. Also, even when in combat, the character can hold her breath for one minute per dot of Stamina (with the +3 bonus included).

For three dots, the character can instead breathe both air and water with equal ease.

LIGHTNING DODGE (***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Dexterity 5+ or effective Wits 5+

EFFECT: The character's reaction time is so quick that he can literally dodge bullets, or (when combined with Weaponry Dodge or Brawling Dodge) deflect them with a melee weapon or even snatch them out of the air with his bare hands. This character may apply his Defense to firearms attacks. At the Storyteller's discretion, this character's Defense may also apply in other situations where Defense doesn't normally apply.

NIGHT VISION (*)

PREREQUISITES: Superhuman

EFFECT: The character has the night vision of a cat or someone wearing light-intensifier googles. As long as there is some light, such as starlight under and open sky or the light coming through the crack under a door, the character can see normally and suffers no penalties for poor vision. In totally lightless conditions, such as being locked in a safe with no light, the character cannot see.

PERFECT BALANCE (***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Dexterity 5+

EFFECT: The character has absolutely flawless balance; she is able to stand atop flagpoles, sprint along tightropes, and even traverse crowds quickly by running on peoples' heads. The Storyteller should only make this character roll Dexterity + Athletics to keep her balance in the most extreme situations, EG running along a tightrope on a moonless night while carrying someone and being shot at; it can be assumed that the character automatically succeeds at any such rolls under less trying circumstances.

REFLECT SHOT (**)

PREREQUISITES: Lightning Dodge, Weaponry Dodge

EFFECT: The character has honed her defensive skill and reaction time to such a degree that she is able to reflect projectiles back at their attacker. In order to use this Merit, the character has to be holding an appropriate melee weapon and has to dedicate her action to dodging. If an opponent makes a ranged attack against this character and scores no successes on the attack roll, the character may make an immediate attack roll against the opponent; the basic dice pool is the character's Dexterity + Weaponry, and she counts as having the same weapon as her attacker.

SHOCKWAVE (***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Strength 8+

EFFECT: Such is the character's strength that he can damage nearby opponents and objects by striking the ground they stand upon. In order to use this ability, the character must spend a point of Willpower and roll his Strength + Brawl as an instant action. Each success on this roll deals one point of bashing damage to everything within a one-yard radius of the impact point (except the character using Shockwave himself), including other characters, objects, and the ground being struck (which may be a problem if the character is standing on a bridge or riding in a vehicle when he uses this ability). Characters and objects further than one yard away suffer one less level of damage for every full yard of distance between themselves and the impact point. In addition, any character who takes damage from the shockwave must roll her Strength and score at least as many successes as she took levels of damage, or else she will fall prone. Only characters and objects standing on the ground can be affected in this way; airborne characters and objects are immune to the effects of a shockwave.

SPECTRUM VISION (**)

PREREQUISITES: Superhuman

EFFECT: The character can see into both the ultra-violet and visual and thermal-infrared spectrums. As a result, even in the total absence of light, the character can still clearly see anything that has a different temperature from its environment, which includes all animals larger than small insects. Outdoors, the character can see as well at night as during the day, and because of the advantages of having a far wider spectrum of vision, the character also gains +1 to all rolls for visual perception.

TELESCOPIC VISION (**)

PREREQUISITES: Superhuman

EFFECT: The character has distance vision equivilent to someone using a moderately good pair of binoculars (x 25 magnification). The character eliminates most penalties for observing events at a distance, and can easily read text on a computer monitor from a distance of up to 100 feet. In addition, when using ranged weapons, the character eliminates all penalties for medium range and reduces the penalties for attacks at long range to -2. This Merit also in no ways impairs the character's close-up or normal vision.

THUNDERCLAP (***)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Strength 8+

EFFECT: The character is able to clap her hands hard enough to unleash a shockwave of destructive force. In order to use this ability, the character must spend a point of Willpower and roll her Strength as an instant action. Each success on this roll deals one point of bashing damage to all other characters and objects within a one-yard radius of the character. Characters and objects further than one yard away suffer one less level of damage for every full yard of distance between themselves and the character using Thunderclap.

UNSTOPPABLE (*** or *****)

PREREQUISITES: Effective Stamina 4+ or effective Resolve 4+

EFFECT: The character's pain tolerance is so incredibly high that he can continue to fight after taking injuries that would have dropped lesser creatures. A character who has the three-dot version of this Merit does not have to roll to remain conscious if all his health levels are filled with bashing damage. However, he will still lose consciousness and begin to bleed to death if all his health levels are filled with lethal damage. A character with the five-dot version of Unstoppable does not lose consciousness even when all of his health levels are filled with lethal damage, though he will begin to bleed to death as normal; such a character only stops moving when he dies (IE all his health levels are filled with Aggravated damage).

WALLCRAWLER (** or ***)

PREREQUISITES: Superhuman

EFFECT: The character is able to cling to sheer surfaces, such as walls and ceilings. A character with the two-dot version of this Merit can cling to any horizontal or vertical surface without need for handholds, but she cannot move along such a surface any faster than a slow crawl. A character with the three-dot version of this Merit can move along such surfaces at her normal Speed (including the ability to run along walls and ceilings), whether or not the surface has handholds or would normally be climbable. At the Storyteller's discretion, particularly slippery surfaces or adverse conditions might require the character to make a Strength or Dexterity + Athletics roll to maintain her hold.

SOCIAL MERITS

BASE(* to *****; special)

EFFECT: A Base is a safe, secure location in which a character can train, plan his actions, recuperate from injuries, or simply rest while he's not saving the world. Perhaps there is a cave beneath his house in which he's set up a lair, or he has access to a special penthouse in a skyscraper. All Bases are not created equal. A warehouse might have sufficient space, but might not have sufficient security to drive away intruders. A hidden basement in the character's house might be hard for others to breach, but might offer barely enough space to hold the character's specialized equipment. Great time and effort is spent in finding appropriate Bases, and their value is represented by two factors: Size and Security. See the "Sanctum" Merit from Mage: The Awakening or the "Haven" Merit from Vampire: The Requiem for rules to apply to Bases.

CIPHER (* to *****)

EFFECT: The character has made some effort to hide details of his life from public scrutiny; the exact details of this process are left up to the player and Storyteller to decide, but possibilities include tampering with government documents, entering the Witness Protection Program, or simply putting on a mask and costume before heading off on an adventure. Each dot in this Merit imposes a -1 penalty on any attempts to learn personal information the character has worked to keep hidden. It is up to the Storyteller to decide whether the penalty from Cipher should apply in a given situation.

Keep in mind, the existence of this merit doesn't mean that every character who wears a mask or uses other methods of identity-protection must take this merit. It's simply that having the merit identifies that your defenses are at least somewhat mechanically effective, giving you the benefit listed above. Players are always free to use whatever secrecy measures they can devise, with attempts to breach those measures handled on a case-by-case basis.

UNLIMITED RESOURCES (*****)

PREREQUISITES: Resources 5

EFFECT: The character has access to vast wealth: at least $1,000,000 a month in disposable income and millions, billions, or even trillions of dollars in assets. The character might be the beneficiary of a huge trust fund, the heir to a massive hereditary fortune, the owner of a multinational corporation, or some combination of these. For this character, it's not a question of whether or not she can afford any given item, it's a question of how soon she can get it.

Generally, it isn't necessary to quantify exactly how much the character is worth unless the player or Storyteller desires to; in game terms, the character is able to make an effectively unlimited number of Resources 5 purchases per month, and is probably capable of affording purchases beyond the grasp of even a Resources 5 character, such as private spacestations or bleeding-edge energy weapon and powered armor technology.

Note, however, that being richer than God does not equate to being God; even a character with this level of wealth can be held accountable for her actions, and a character who uses her fortune to cause trouble will almost certainly attract the attention of other powerful characters. Furthermore, the Storyteller should reserve the right to restrict the character's use of Unlimited Resources, or even remove the Merit altogether, if the character foolishly squanders her fortune.

NEW FLAWS

For all their powers and abilities, superhumans often possess great foibles and weaknesses that serve to temper their strength. The flaws listed below function in the same way as the flaws listed in the World of Darkness core rulebook; IE, any time the flaw comes up during gameplay and significantly hinders the flawed character, that character gains an additional experience point.

MENTAL FLAWS

As with standard World of Darkness characters, characters in More Than Human may take permanent derangements as Flaws. Common derangements for heroic characters include narcissism and fixation, while villainous characters might have megalomania, paranoia, or schizophrenia.

PHYSICAL FLAWS

ALLERGY

The character is violently allergic to a specific substance or condition, and takes physical damage if exposed to this allergen. The Storyteller determines what level of damage is taken and how often, based on the character's proximity to the allergen and the purity or intensity of the allergen in question. This flaw only provides experience if the character is hindered by it beyond the additional damage taken; for example, a hero weakened from allergen exposure might be unable to pursue a fleeing villain, who later returns to abduct the hero's love interest

SOCIAL FLAWS

Inhuman

The character either has some physical abnormality which makes them appear less then human, and/or they actually are something non-human (alien, robot, ect) but are close enough to both be a viable character and use the same rules. This flaw applies only if the character's nature is in some fashion repugnant to most of humanity, causing them to have to deal with social stigma or outright hatred. Note that many other merits and flaws can be coupled with this one to represent the nature of the character.

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