Merits and Flaws for Highlander: The Gathering
Adrenaline Junkie (1-2 pt Flaw)
by Erik Nielsen
Although all immortals are, well, basically immortal, you feel you
constantly have to prove it. Given the choice between the safe and possibly
dangerous ways of attaining a goal, you inevitably take the dangerous path.
Examples: never climb down from a tree or building when you can jump; jump
into burning buildings even if there aren't any people in there to rescue;
drink absinthe (wormwood) on a regular basis; carve ritual tattoos all over
your body and watch them heal; always play chicken with other cars. Unlike
certain daredevils who do this for a thrill, you are addicted to these
experiences, and could not stop if you wanted to.
Bonding Blood (5 pt Merit)
by Marco
An immortal with this merit can Blood Bond kindred to her, using the
normal rules for Blood Bonds. Note: for a character who takes the merit
Bonding Blood, the flaw Tasty Blood becomes a three point MERIT.
Distinctive Quickening (3 pt Flaw)
by LeeGarv
Other Immortals can tell who you are (if they have ever met you before)
by the "taste" of your quickening as you get near. Methos has something like
this, and I'm not sure, but I think Kalas had it too.
Dream Projection (3 pt Merit)
by LeeGarv
You can project dreams, nightmares, and halucinations into the mind of an
Immortal whose Quickenning you have experienced. Make a Quickening test
versus the target's Willpower.
Successes Effect
1 The target has vague dreams centering on the subject
of your choice
2 Dreams plague the character, but he doesn't remeber
them upon waking
3 Recurring Dreams, whose content you control, cause
the character to get no sleep. -1 to all tests.
4 Sculpted dreams, guided by you, you can implant
ideas or delusions. -2 to all tests
5 In addition to the above, the character also begins
having complex halucinations in full daylight. -3 to
all tests, the character begins to doubt his sanity;
the results of this are up to the Storyteller.
This takes a lot out of the projector. The target must be within 30
miles, and only one target may be chosen per year.
Endurance (1 pt Merit)
by Marco
Immortals do not die, but they do weaken if they go for prolonged
periods of time with food, water, sleep, or air. An immortal with this
benefit never needs to eat, drink, sleep, or breath. However, most still
enjoy food and drink - it makes them feel human.
Flinch (2 pt Flaw)
by Erik Nielsen
Because your original death was fairly painless, you are afraid of pain
and will go to great lengths to avoid it. Make a willpower roll to do
anything which might involve a great deal of pain (like jumping off a
building or running into a burning building).
Freindly Watcher (5 pt Merit)
by The Livewire
The Watcher and Immortal are good friends (ex: Duncan and Joe)
Holyground Aversion (3 pt Flaw)
by (charlesfreel)
This would be similar to the Painful detection (qv.) but only applies
to holy ground. Must spend willpower to enter holy ground.
Hidden Quickening (6 pt Merit)
by Marco
Other immortals cannot sense you, although you can sense them. If they
should become aware of you, however, and kill you, they can still get
your gifts.
Ignorant (5 pt Flaw)
by Marco
You know you're special - you realize that somehow, you cannot die, age,
become sick, etc. However, nobody has ever really educated you on what
it means to be an immortal. You probably do not even know that you
*will* die if you lose your head, and you certainly do not know that
there's a bunch of other immortals well trained in swordsmanship who are
out to relieve you of your head. Note that an immortal with this flaw
either tends to be very young (no other immortal has gotten around to
seeking her out yet) or she might have the above merit - Hidden
Quickening (she's old, but other immortals are not aware of her
existance).
Illusion (5 pt Merit)
by LeeGarv
This is the ability to create and maintain convincing illusions by
exercising control over your quickenning. The quality of the illussion is
determined by the successes against the Perception and Occult of any
observer.
Known Watcher (1 pt Merit)
by The Livewire
The Immortal knows there is a person watching him/her, just taking notes.
Neck Injury (2 pt Flaw)
by Marco
At some point, the immortal has sustained a vicious injury to the throat
(most likely a near decapitation by another immortal). There is a nasty
scar on the immortal's throat, and he speaks in a horrible, grating
voice. All social rolls suffer a penalty of two dice. On the plus side
of this, the immortal gets a bonus of two dice on intimidation rolls.
("Mom!" - Kurgan)
No Quickening (6 pt Flaw)
by J. Clayton
You can't sense other immortals, can kill em and get the gifts, but you
just can't 'feel' em.
Pacifist (5 or 7 pt Flaw)
by Erik Nielsen
Due to religious beliefs or just amazing morals, you are unable to take
another's life. In any circumstance involving violence you must attempt to
get away or simply accept the consequences of the violence; you are
incapable of fighting. Should you commit a violent act, you will become
violently ill, and will be almost unable to live with yourself. Characters
with this flaw tend to live exclusively on Holy Ground, or are very good at
hiding.
The five point version of this flaw allows you to defend yourself (or
others) but only in life or death circumstances (i.e., against an immortal
out for your head). The seven point version precludes violence of any sort,
and you may not purchase fighting skills of any sort.
Painful Detection (3 pt Flaw.)
by The Livewire
The Highlander's Detect Immortal and Sense Holy Ground are acompanied by
EXTREME Pain, sometimes the pain of their first death, or maybe just the
kicked in the groin/really bad cramps pain. The Character must make a
Stamina check vs. difficulty 6 The net failures are subtracted from all
actions until the character is off the holy ground or out immortals range,
check each time the power is activated.
Pain Tolerance (5 pt Merit)
by Marco
Although immortals cannot die, they can still feel pain, and they do not
particularly enjoy it. Immortals normally have a high tolerance for
pain, because little compares to the agony of their first death when they
become fully immortal. However, those with this pain are virtually
insensitive to painful stimuli. Thus, the immortal would not hesitate to
jump off the World Trade Center, or stick a knife in his heart to prove
to someone they cannot die. In game terms, the immortal reduces the
wound penalties on her dice pool by three. If the immortal is reduced to
"incapacitated", he can still take actions with a penalty of four on his
pool (unless, for example, his limbs are physically cut off - the
Storyteller is the final judge). Note: immortals with this merit are
pretty much immune to the effects of the Dark Thaumaturgy Path of Torture
(Storyteller's Guide to the Sabbat).
Powerful Quickening (3 pt Merit)
by Erik Nielsen
You absorb more ambient quintessence (Quickening) when you kill another
immortal (1.5 the normal amount of Quickening expereince points).
Quiet Quickening (3 pt Merit)
by Erik Nielsen
For some reason, your quickenings are short and quiet. Windows don't
break, cars don't explode, and dogs don't run for cover. General replacement
effects are: Bright, holy light transfixes you for a minute or two; animals
gather around and look at you in wonder; gentle rain falls; rainbows cross
the sky over head; you simply have a quick orgasm and get it over with.
Really Friendly Watcher (7 pt Merit)
by [email protected] (The Livewire)
The Watcher will betray other Immortals to you. Note this will risk him
being expelled from the watchers. If this happens obiviously this merit is
lost, and said jaded Watcher may become a Hunter (Storytellers discression)
Rouge Watcher (5 pt Flaw)
by The Livewire
Your Watcher has turned Hunter. Think of having a really diligent
Vampire Hunter after you who knows your bank account, your job, where you
live, etc.
Slow Healing (2 pt Flaw)
by Marco
An immortal with this flaw heals her wounds at a normal rate. ie - a
paper-cut on her finger will take a couple days to heal. However, she
can still use her Quickening to heal wounds.
[I don't have the Highlander rules handy, so I don't remember exactly
how extra-accelerated healing using Quickening works - it might be more
appropriate to make this a 3 or 4 point flaw depending on how often the
immortal can use her Quickening for this purpose.]
Soft Touch (2 pt Merit)
by Erik Nielsen
Your change from mortal to immortal life was gentle, and so it is more
difficult for other immortals to detect you. Immortals have to make a
Perception + Quickening roll against difficulty 7, or will see you as simply
mortal. (This is the Immortal equivalent of Baby Face.)
Strong Aura (5 pt Flaw)
by Marco
The immortal radiates a particularly strong, unique aura which is
automatically sensed by any supernatural creature possessing Auspex or
its equivalent. Unless vampire/mage/etc is familiar with immortals (not
very likely) they will be puzzled by the immortal's presence, and will
probably cause trouble for her at some point. Even a vampire who knows
about immortals will most likely cause problems for the character - such
kindred are most likely Elders and Mesthuselahs who are jealous of their
territory and *very* paranoid: they will want to know what the immortal
wants and who sent them... Princes in particular are not too
enthusiastic about the prospect of decapitated bodies cropping up in
their cities.
Supernatural Metabolism (2 pt Merit)
by Marco
Immortals do feel the symptoms of any drugs/poisons/etc that enter their
system, although they cannot die from an overdose. An immortal with this
merit is completely immune to the effects of any drug or poison that is
inhaled, injected, or consumed. The immortal could drink a gallon of
pure alcohol without becoming slightly intoxicated. However, the alcohol
is still in her system, and while the immortal could walk in a straight
line or touch her nose without a problem, she would still utterly fail a
breath test. Note that this merit only applies to poisons and drugs that
have specific biological targets in the body, not to corrosive
substances. For example, if the immortal drinks battery acid she would
still have a bad case of heartburn, or if she inhales vescicants like
chlorine or mustard gas, her lungs are history until she heals them. But
the immortal will be pretty much immune to the effects of most other
substances, including nerve gases, biological toxins like snake venom or
botulinum toxin, general anesthetics, heavy metals like lead, arsenic or
mercury, and of course any narcotic.
Tasty Blood (3 pt Flaw)
by Marco
Vampires get no benefit from drinking an immortal's blood. However,
kindred tasting the blood of an immortal with this flaw will get an
incredible rush. The vampire will seek out the immortal on future nights
and may Frenzy if denied the blood. Incidentally, for the immortal, the
Kiss is not enjoyable AT ALL.
Technophobia (1-5 pt Flaw)
by LeeGarv
You are unable to comprehend or operate anything that was invented after
your first "death". If you are under 60 years old, it's a 1 point flaw; if
you are under 150, it's 2 points; under 400, 3 points; and over 600, 5
points.
"Thousand-Yard Stare" (2 pt Merit)
by Marco
When immortals have died their first death, they get a glimpse of what
is beyond, and some take that with them when they come back to life. An
immortal with this merit can unnerve any who meet her gaze, be they
vampire, garou, mage, or human. The immortal gets a bonus of three dice
to any roll involving intimidation. An additional benefit is a vampire
will not be able to gaze into the immortal's eyes long enough to Dominate
her unless the vampire scores three successes on a Courage roll
(difficulty 7).
Unbeating Heart (1 pt Flaw)
by Marco
After the immortal's first death, her heart just never started beating
again. This actually makes it possible for her to pass as a Kindred, but
imagine what a vampire-hunter will do ("They're running around during the
DAY, now??!!").
Unfortunate Quickening (3 pt Flaw)
by Erik Nielsen
For some reason, luck just isn't with you. Any time you behead another
immortal and experiences the Quickening, weird events occur which generally
cause you some damage. Examples: Lightning strikes the stone staircase
you're on, plummet to the ground; a survivalist nut with a Mac-10 uses you
for target practice; a fireworks factory is standing nearby and lights up;
the cops hear the sprinklers in the underground parking lot go off and come
to investigate; you lose your footing and fall into the river.
Weak Persona (4 pt Flaw)
by LeeGarv
Your persona is strong enough for normal circumstances, but when you are
infused with the knowledge and memories of another Immortal (by taking their
heads) the conflict is just too much sometimes. Make a test of Willpower
-vs- Willpower, and if you lose, then you begin exhibiting traits of the
fallen foe's personality. This cannot be taken along with Iron Will.
Well Known Watcher (2 pt Merit)
by The Livewire
The Immortal knowas Who their watcher is.