Unused Merits

If you’re looking for a Merit that isn’t listed otherwise, please search the text of this page to see if we’ve decided not to use it (and perhaps have suggestions for something to take in its place), rather than not having considered it yet.

  • Addictive Blood, Clear-Sighted, Critters, Dracon’s Temperment, Guardian Angel, Mute Devotion, Nine Lives, Sight Beyond Sight, Soapbox, Style Sleeper, Trusty Companion, Vitae Mutation: These Merits all require that a Storyteller track information that is not easily available to players (if at all) and apply benefits on the basis of that information. They’re fine for the tabletop, but impossible to handle fairly in a MUX environment.
  • Advanced Tech, Alien Perfection, Bioluminescence, Chorus Trained, Death Grip, Fugue Instinct, Skin of Porcelain, Speed Eater, Stillness of Death, Wolverine’s Palate: These Merits are all specific to a very narrow range of character types that are expected to be rare or nonexistent in-game, and so we have opted not to include them. Of all the items on this list, these are probably the easiest to get added if one of them is extremely important to your character concept.
  • Alcohol/Drug Tolerance: Use Poison Resistance instead.
  • Antitoxin Blood, Judge’s Wisdom, Untameable: These Merits provide flat immunity, rather than increased resistance, to things that other players may have invested large amounts of XP into. We don’t think that’s reasonable; consider something like the Poison Resistance, Iron Will or Heart of Needles Merits instead.
  • Apostate, Devil’s Mark, Simply Waiting, The High Price: These Merits are intended for Baali or other infernalist vampires, which are not currently supported as PCs (and most likely never will be).
  • Arcane: We support this as a Background, but not as a Merit.
  • Aura of Command, Regal Bearing: Use Natural Leader instead.
  • Avatar Companion, Benevolent Domitor, Broken Bond, Celestial Affinity, Circumspect Avatar, Groomed for Embrace, Prized Collection: These Merits either expect a level of Storyteller involvement in and portrayal of NPC characters that we do not have the ability to support, or else are solely dependent on the behavior of a PC domitor/regnant/etc. In neither case do we feel that players will get full value for investing in them.
  • Bardic Gift: Use Artistically Gifted instead.
  • Bigger Boys Came, Cold Read, Common Sense, Melody of Days to Come, Oracular Ability, Prophetic Dreams, Prophetic Vision, Seer, Wolf-Sense: These Merits all rely on the relatively constant availability of a Storyteller at the table to provide information that depends on the workings of and events in their game world. We don’t have that, and we don’t want to induce people to spend points on something that won’t have its promised value.
  • Barrow Sense, Friend of the Underground, Subterranean Affinity: Use Tunnel Rat instead.
  • Because I Think I Can: Use Self-Confident instead.
  • Benevolent Patron, Spirit Mentor, Useful Knowledge: These are best handled as specific types of Mentor.
  • Blessed by St. Gustav, Court Favorite, Disciple of Lazarus, Half-Life, Revenant Disciplines, Styx Baptism, Unmarked Antitribu, Vicissitude Modifications: These Merits are intended for Sabbat vampires, which are currently not supported as PCs.
  • Blessing of Atlas: A troll with two oaths sworn is already capable of reaching a Strength of 8, one of the highest Attributes possible in the game. We don’t think providing the option to reach 9 is necessary.
  • Blood Flaw Immunity, Embraced Without the Cup, Fatalist, Free of the Yava, Hidden Diablerie, King or Queen of Shadow, Metamorph, Psychic Leech, Sanguine Incongruity, Step Sideways, Unbondable, Virulent Strike: These Merits allow characters to sidestep elements of the setting or the character type that we consider integral to the game.
  • Blood of the Wolf, Fae Blood, Faerie Affinity, Shapechanger Kin, Supernatural Companion, Supernatural Kinfolk: These have been combined into the general Supernatural Ties Merit. Please read the text for that Merit carefully, since it differs from its parent Merits in important ways.
  • Boon, Bullyboy, Camp Goodwill, Clan Friendship, Former Ghoul, Harmless, Heir to the Throne, I Know You, Keys to the Library, Lawman’s Friend, Living Legend, Loyalty (Vampire Merit), Mark of Favor, Notable Heritage, Noted Messenger, Prestigious Mentor, Prestigious Sire, Primogen/Bishop Friendship, Prized Patch, Protege, Quartermaster, Rep, Reputation, Rising Star, Sage, Trophy Allegiance: These Merits all allow characters to (in effect) purchase the cooperation or goodwill of NPCs even if the character’s actions should lead those NPCs to think exactly the opposite. If that’s the effect you want, consider instead purchasing Allies, Contacts, Influence, etc., with the appropriate group.
  • Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya: These Merits revolve around the Ravnos adaptation of the caste system in India. That’s a bit too narrow in scope for us to feel they’re necessary.
  • Bruiser, Eyes of Shadow, Intimidating Stance, Intimidation, Murderous Mien: Use Physically Impressive instead.
  • Cat/Fox Magic: This Merit allows characters to take supernatural powers from two entirely different spheres, which we do not support due to potential balance issues.
  • Constant Sending, Good-Looking, Swim Sideways: These Merits are intended for Rokea, which are not currently supported as PCs.
  • Crack Shot: The World of Darkness combat system is too abstract for this Merit’s effects to work well. If you want to deal more damage through being an expert marksperson, buy more dots in Firearms, which will lead to more successes, which will lead to more damage.
  • Dark Triad: This Merit is supposed to have significant downsides that are difficult or impossible to enforce in an ST-light environment, and, without those downsides, its price is much too low for the utility it provides.
  • Dead Friends, Family Support, Old Pal, Sectarian Ally, Sugar Daddy: These are best handled as specific types of Allies.
  • Detached, Psychic Awareness, Twin Link, Wild Talent: Psychic characters are not currently supported in-game.
  • Discerning Palate: We feel that Connoisseur is a better fit overall.
  • Dual Affiliation: There’s nothing wrong with having a Focus that could fit in with several Traditions, or with having Allies and Contacts in other Traditions. But the central idea of Mage is that your magick works because of the strength of your belief in a particular way the universe works; this Merit doesn’t fit in with that, and undercuts the whole notion of an increasingly broader view as being dependent on one’s journey towards Ascension.
  • Dynamic Personality, Secret Stash, Shattered Avatar: These are Merits that permit purchase of things after character generation that we simply allow people to purchase after chargen; there’s no need for a separate Merit.
  • Early Maturation: This Merit is intended for Gurahl, which are not currently supported as PCs.
  • Elysium Regular, Outside Haven, Secret Society Member: We don’t think that these Merits warrant players spending points on them, since they provide no mechanical benefit and since we are not likely to monitor individual players’ activity closely enough to adjust NPCs’ attitudes accordingly.
  • Enchanting Voice, Voice of a Songbird: Use Enchanting Feature instead, while being aware that it has been repriced to better accord with its utility.
  • Entrepreneur: This has been subsumed into the Finance Ability.
  • Everything Stops for Tea: This is a nightmare to adjudicate in a multi-sphere game, and we’re also leery of allowing a single player to hold up a combat until they run out of Willpower. Additionally, it would be exceedingly unbalanced if it were used by a group built to use the extra free rounds to execute a “buff up for the imminent fight” plan.
  • Expert Driver: Use Wheelman instead.
  • Extra Sharp, Gut Instincts, Heavy Hands, Long Fingers, Monstrous Maw, Natural Weapons, Slimy: We’re wary of Merits that tinker with the balance of the WoD combat system — it’s not all that well balanced to start with, after all. Some or all of these may eventually be allowed if we’re confident they won’t cause any issue, or if we can revise them to a form we’re happy with.
  • Faerie Eternity, Unaging: Use Immortal instead. Unaging and the 5-point version of Immortal provide essentially the same benefit for widely varying prices, and we feel that the latter is more appropriate in terms of its desired frequency among PCs.
  • Faster: We don’t really think a Merit is required for this.
  • Flow of Ki, Forces of Spirit, Strength of Psyche: We think the use case for these Merits is better handled with magickal effects (c.f. “Magick Enhancing Abilities” in the M20 Core Rulebook, p. 533).
  • Fly Fingers: Use Animalistic Favor instead.
  • Fury’s Focus: The Path of Entelechy is not one of the Paths of Enlightenment we currently support.
  • Grand Library: We feel the “Library” Background (q.v.) is more appropriately priced.
  • Granite Skin: We feel that the similar “Stone Skin” Merit (q.v.) is more appropriately priced.
  • Hands of Daedalus: As written, this Merit allows technomancers to claim the Personalized Instrument bonus on almost every casting roll they make; we don’t think that’s reasonable.
  • Hideaway, Property, Safehouse: Use Base of Operations instead.
  • Fake It, Higher Purpose, Inner Knight, Loyal Heart, True Love: In an ST-light environment, it’s very difficult to fairly adjudicate what constitutes something that should benefit from one of these Merits.
  • Impervious to Weather: Use the 1-point version of Cloak of the Seasons instead.
  • Infrared Vision, Spitting Cobra: These Merits are intended for Nagah, which are not currently supported as PCs.
  • Instrument of God, Mark of Caine, True Faith: True Faith (and its vampire equivalent) don’t fit in with the type of stories we have in mind for London.
  • Legendary Attribute: We view this Merit as being fundamentally at odds with some of the key themes being explored in Mage.
  • Long-Term Planning: This Merit is just too difficult to adjudicate fairly in the a MUX environment. We may add a version of it at some point if we can come up with one we’re happy with.
  • Long-Winded: Use Long-Distance Runner instead.
  • Microchiroptera: This Merit is intended for Camazotz, which are long since extinct in our timeline.
  • Mole: This is best handled as an Ally or as Spies.
  • Mortuario, Spawning Pool: We’re wary of broad, general difficulty breaks for supernatural powers when they aren’t part of the base game.
  • Nephilim/Laham: This Merit is extremely difficult to balance against the rest of the Mage sphere, and is not really well-suited to the type of stories we hope to tell here.
  • Noble Blood: This should be handled with the Fame Background.
  • Open Road: The game’s setting in the greater London area means that travel between cities is very rare, and this Merit is unlikely to provide fair value.
  • Paragon: Many of the Backgrounds this Merit allows you to raise to 6 work differently on TowersMUX than in the core rulebooks, and most of those already allow you to reach 6 or higher. Those Backgrounds affected by this Merit that cannot be bought above 5 here are either those we don’t feel comfortable having in the game at 6 dots (Fame, Herd, Mentor), or which aren’t used here at all (Status). The exception is Resources, which can be bought to an effective level of 6 via the Wealthy Merit.
  • Paranormal Link, Scholar of Enemies, Scholar of Others: These are not allowed for similar reasons to why we don’t have Lore as an Ability — we prefer that characters gain this knowledge IC, rather than by paying points for it.
  • Path Natural: It’s extremely unlikely that this Merit will ever provide fair value for its cost.
  • Pict Kith: This Merit is intended for chronicles that include the White Howler tribe of Garou, which are long since extinct in our timeline.
  • Powerful Ally: We don’t feel comfortable with the power level of some of the allies permitted by this Merit.
  • Precocious: Aside from the fact that we don’t make use of learning times per se, this Merit alters XP costs, which we consider to be undesirable.
  • Research Grant: There’s no need for this Merit; buy Resources and define your Resources as a research grant.
  • Scent of the Other: Use Personal Masquerade instead.
  • Scientific Mystic/Techgnosi: We like the idea behind these Merits, but Mage is a complex enough game as it is, and adding more layers of what’s coincidental and what’s vulgar, when you can surpass tools and when you can’t, etc., etc., makes it even harder to handle. If your Focus writeup can coherently explain why you use different types of Instruments, staff will work with you on that, but for the moment you’re either a mystic or a technomancer. It is possible we may add a version of this Merit in the future if we can make it work in a way we’re happy with, but don’t hold your breath.
  • Secret Code Language: If you need a Language that isn’t in the database currently, talk to staff.
  • Setite Initiate: This Merit might be approved if and only if your character is known to have converted and is essentially a Setite in all but bloodline; majority staff approval will be required. Be prepared to be the subject of a great deal of enmity from your old clan, if you go this route! It will not be approved post-chargen, nor if your character is working undercover in their original clan (nor will characters of that sort in general).
  • Sex Appeal: Use Animal Magnetism instead.
  • Socially Networked: This is a Merit that simulates access to substantial amounts of Allies, Contacts, Influence, and Resources, all for 2 Merit points. We’re not against characters having access to those things; we just think they should purchase them as Allies, Contacts, Influence, and/or Resources instead.
  • Sphere Natural: This Merit represents poor value, as it costs the equivalent of 30 XP and offers a maximum savings of 27 XP, assuming zero dots were put in the Sphere in character generation. We try not to include things that will never be worth what you pay for them, and, since the only thing this one does is give you an XP discount, we left it out.
  • Stitcher: We don’t really track injuries with the specificity that would make this Merit worth its price.
  • Stormwarden/Quantum Voyager: We do not use the Avatar Storm in this game, rendering this Merit meaningless.
  • Supporter: -2 difficulty to all Social rolls is an extremely strong benefit, especially for 2 Merit points. We may include a version of this that’s been repriced appropriately, but a complete revision to make the bonus more specific is probably most likely.
  • Thousand-Meter Killer: Resolving combat from outside visual range may be effective, but it’s not very interesting. This Merit encourages characters to fight in a way that eliminates the opportunity for interaction and therefore for roleplaying, which is exactly the opposite of what we want.
  • Ties: This is best handled as some form of influence-related Background — Allies, Contacts, Influence, etc.
  • True Celerity: Use Additional Discipline instead.
  • Twin Souls: This is a great idea, but the implementation is clunky and difficult to balance.
  • Umbral Affinity: The Shifter version of this Merit is not used because it’s restricted to a particular Nuwisha camp, and Nuwisha are not currently supported as PCs. The Mage version is not used because we don’t anticipate any Umbral journeys that extend for long enough for it to make a difference over not having it.