Custom Merits

Adamant Way ••

Prerequisites: Adamant Hand, Status: Adamantine Arrow 2+, Gnosis 2

Description: True dedication to the way comes through rigorous training guiding yourself through adaptation and the multitudinous ways to combat the Lie. Many naïve Arrows believe that the only way to do so is through combat, but as they mature, they learn that the battlefield has long since evolved beyond the directness of bloodshed. While practitioners of this way of truth may utilize violence, it is certainly not the only tool at their disposal.

Benefit: Members of the Adamantine Arrow, have long honed themselves towards Magical combat and duels. Through their rigorous training they’ve learned to move beyond the limitations of the body, learning to operate at their peak by allowing their supernal souls guide them and protect them more thoroughly. This allows members with this level of dedication to the cause may utilize their Gnosis for their Defense rather than Athletics (or any other skill substitution with merits.) This Merit unlocks various sub-merit Attainments, you can take a sub-merit for each dot in Status you have with the Adamantine Arrow, but your first must come from a ruling Arcana, to emphasize your soul’s natural talent.

*Note to all the sub merits listed. The WP can only be spent on one sub merit per round (only one sub-merit may be activated per round) Also the player must spend the WP to gain the ability to use the mana expenditure.

Death’s Hand ••

Pre-req: Death 1

Description: When facing down a necromancer, or anyone who cavorts with the dead, you have to wonder just how it affects their soul, is their very presence altered in how it can affect others? Arrows with this spoke of the Way can, it’s not only fear that can cause one to lose control of their facilities, with a touch or tap of a weapon the sudden fear of death takes over the body, how far it spreads, depends on just how much ire you’ve earned.

Benefit: By spending a Willpower before making an attack/touch your foe suffers the Arm/Leg wrack Tilt for a number of turns equal to half your Death rounded up. By spending a Mana during this duration, you can inflict the Immobilized tilt on your target, but the effect immediately drops to one round duration.

Twisted Circumstances ••

Pre-req: Fate 1

Description: Witches are beguiling, not because they’re lying necessarily but because they simply don’t hesitate in a lot of situations. They move, trusting unerringly that their backs are covered because what is supposed to happen, will happen. The sorts of people who sell promises only to have them become actualities in the future no doubt. People find themselves inherently drawn to that sort of fortune, hopeful perhaps that it will spread towards them.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower, During Social ‘combat’ you unlock doors equal to half your Fate rating rounded up if you succeed. Exceptional Successes add an additional unlocked door. Spend a Mana and your target gains Charmed Condition in the form of providing them something they need, that occurs within the day.

Once in Motion ••

Pre-req: Forces 1

Description: Common knowledge dictates that once in motion, an object will stay in motion, granted when you are someplace with air, there’s friction and so that sort of energy is perpetually frayed. But if you could ignore that for a moment, you’d find that your impacts were never slowed till they hit their intended targets. Thaumaturges, the typical masters of energy have worked towards that very goal. Pushing beyond the constraints of the lies limitations of their truth.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower your attack gains the ability to cause Knockdown regardless of their damage bonus. Spend a Mana and you inflict the Deafened tilt for half Forces dots rounded up in actions.

Life Finds a Way ••

Pre-req: Life 1

Description: Trying to slow down someone who is literally the embodiment of evolution is difficult, it could almost be said that Shamans and other practitioners of Life truly embody the physicality of Adaptation, those who have learned this spoke of the Way have proven that to be true. Nigh unstoppable when they’re moving they are possibly some of the most terrifying physical combatants. Woe is unto those who believe they’ve backed them into a corner, for as everyone remembers, that’s when one is most dangerous.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower to ignore tilts that would hamper your movement for half of your Life Arcana in Rounds, rounded up. If you spend a mana, if you’re in Wound penalties, invert them and apply them as a bonus for the same duration.

Precision Tools ••

Pre-req: Matter 1

Description: Sometimes it really is a matter of bringing the right tool for the job, but when your job is putting down someone who’s trying to strengthen the lie, or sacrifice people to further their own power? Sometimes you just have to improvise, tools that the Arrow with this spoke are bolstered, echoing with the intent and aura of the soul of the one using them. Of note, this particular use of the Way, does require an object, but a pair of gloves works well for a brawler, we didn’t forget you.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower so that your tools allow you to roll 8-again with its use, for a number of rounds equal to half your Matter rounded up. Spending a mana will also give your tool an AP rating equal to Matter score for the same duration.

Distracting Whispers ••

Pre-req: Mind 1

Description: Warlocks are not beguiling, but they are certainly a quarry designed to infuriate and disorient their foes. It doesn’t matter if it’s in social or physical combat they are unyielding in the way that they force your own doubts and fears to overwhelm you into making mistakes that you may later chastise yourself for, providing you survive the encounter. Even if you do, you might end up choosing to check yourself into the madhouse or at the least a psychologist.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower during social combat and your opponents lose 10-Again due to overwhelming distraction. Spend a mana, and this translates into a loss of 10-Again to combat-related rolls, as your focus is constantly pulled from your opponent. Duration is Half Fate rounded up in turns

Unraveling the Skein ••

Pre-req: Prime 1

Description: In the heat of battle, of any kind, it is sometimes too much to worry about counter-spelling right in the middle. But if you found a way to attack spells rather than their users that would emphasize adaptability, as well as showing off your ability to assert dominance without killing your foe. Those skilled in the arcana that governs all magic, have done just that, attacking the magical makeup of their opponents without seeming to harm them at all.

Benefit: Magical Effects have ‘Health Levels’ Equal to their Potency with an Armor rating of half the Caster’s Gnosis. (You’d strike and defeat them in the same method you’d beat an opponent bloody.) Spend a WP to be able to attack the magic around your foe, if you spend a mana, you gain Armor Piercing Rating equal to half your Prime rounded up. This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to half your Prime, rounded up.

Stuttering Step ••

Pre-req: Space 1

Description: Keeping track of someone who you’re fighting when they consider all space to be a lie is increasingly difficult, the natural penchant for them to find your openings while closing all of their potential easy shots makes it infuriating to attempt to fight them on anything that might be considered even footing. There’s always the chance that they’ll note that you haven’t capitalized on the distance between them and that’s precisely when the Arrows with this spoke.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower, reduce the penalty of called shots by half Space, rounded up. Spend a Mana add half Space rounded up to Dodge action, including actions based on the Dodge Action. The duration is equal to half Space rounded up.

Not that Solid ••

Pre-Req: Spirit 1

Description: Some Shamans don’t protect the spirit world from the madness of mortals, some also protect humans from the obscurities of the spirit world. Though even amongst them not so many are so proactive as to assault the spirits before they come into this world. Arrows with this particular talent can’t naturally see across the gauntlet, but they’re ability to carve past it regardless to ensure that spirits don’t come over.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower your attacks cross into the Hisil for a number of actions equal to half spirit rounded up. Spending a Mana lets your attack count as a Bane against the spirit that you assault. Duration is Half Spirit rounded up.

Right Place, Wrong Time ••

Pre-Req: Time 1

Description: You know how sometimes you’re just off your game? Arrows with this talent have figured out how to force that upon their opponents in a variety of ways, sometimes ensuring that people suffer some serious foot in mouth, sometimes by ensuring that they’re just off-beat enough that your ribs find the knife far too deep within them. Not exactly the most beneficial way to come across the Arrow who’s gunning for you. C’est le vie.

Benefit: Spend a Willpower to cause your foes to be ill timed in their actions, suffering a circumstance penalty to ability rolls equal to half Time, rounded up. Spending a Mana allows you to apply this negative to their Defense, as you know where they’ll be. Duration is as above, Half Time rounded up in rounds.

AI Assistant •••

Prerequisite: Computers 1 and Techne merit The Free Council embraces the wonder in the new. It’s no surprise that they are the first to manage to create a sort of artificial familiar. Somewhere a master program creates children that the Free Council adopts as their own.

Effect: These being are not spirits and possess no real bodies. They are unaffected by Spirit magic either. They exist instead in the cloud and hardware of the Fallen World. Treat them as a five dot retainer allowing them to perform almost any technical task that doesn’t require a body. Furthermore, they have the ability to interface with other devices around their mage partner as if they possessed the Transmission (Forces 1) spell. Finally, each assistant is a little different in both personality and abilities. They have the ability to perform a task that replicates either a single level 2 spell or two level 1 spells. They have a dice pool of ten for these spells but otherwise, are treated as Imbued Items. These assistants can hold up to ten Mana which can be regained in the same way Familiars can.

Arcane Ironbearer ••

Pre-req: Adamant Hand, Firearms 3

Description: Your character has not eschewed the archaic methods of combat but has also studied the more modern style of war and martial arts. This isn’t some simple gun-fu or some other cinematic style of combat. Though it will surely look that way to someone who is less enlightened into the Martial Arts of the Arrow. This Merit allows the use of Firearms in combat as a reflexive Order tool Yantra, adding dice to the spell cast on subsequent turns, or to a spell cast reflexively in the same turn as the combat action.

Silver Rungs ••

Pre-req: Silver Ladder Status 1+, Awakened

Description: While Arrows rely on their physical combat and the Free Council on their technology, the Silver Ladder rely on the social structures they have formed to improve their magical prowess.
Benefit: A member of the Silver Ladder gains a free dot of Allies, Contacts, Resources, or Retainer for each dot of Status of Silver Ladder they have. Also, pick one of the above merits. You may apply it as a yantra when ritual casting a spell. (For Allies and Retainer pick only one instance to apply as a yantra. This may still not exceed 5 for any reason.)

Soul of Blood •••

Prerequisite: Silver Ladder Status 2, Manipulation 3

Effect: There is a grand order to the Tapestry of Creation. Thearch knows this intimately as taught by the Percept of the Star. On some level, every person knows this and for the mages that embody this Percept, they can make use of this. Mages with this merit can spend a point of willpower to gain status in a mortal institution equal to their Silver Ladder status, this only last for the scene. Furthermore casting a spell that causes a being to act against their will does not count as an Act of Hubris.

Soul of Thunder •••

Prerequisites: Silver Ladder Status 2, Presence 3

Effect: The Silver Ladder knows that magic is the right of all humanity. By adhering to the Elemental Percepts and the tenants of the Silver Ladder the beliefs of the Silver Ladders bleeds into the mages magic. Mages that embody the Law of Thunder believe with all their hearts that magic belongs to everyone and that it is a great tragedy that Sleepers exist at all. As a result of their faith and conviction, obvious magic no longer counts as an Act of Hubris for these mages. Furthermore, they’re love and compassion for Sleepers grants them a +2 dice bonus to resist the resulting Breaking Point they must face. Finally, these mages find it easier discovering the Sleepwalkers among humanity. Whenever a mage with this merit purchases a Retainer rated higher than two dots they may declare them as a Sleepwalker with the Banner Bearer. They gain one dot in Banner Bearer for each dot above two of the Retainer merit.

Soul of Diamond •••

Prerequisites: Silver Ladder Status 2, Composure 3

Effect: The Awakened are one nation, and the Silver Ladder shall lead the way to victory. A Thearch embodying the Precept of Diamond may grant a number of Mages equal to her Presence a Yantra bonus equal to her Silver Ladder status when she leads them in ritually casting a spell as a Teamwork action; this bonus Yantra does not count against the Gnosis-derived limit. In addition, any Summoning of Supernal Entities she participates in does not suffer a penalty for the presence of Mages of different paths.