Social Merits and Flaws

Has your character done a favour for an elder -- or incurred a Sept leader's wrath? Does she have a bad
reputation that won't go away, no matter how hard she tries to live it down? What place does she occupy in
human society, if any? Does she enjoy great influence? Has she attracted the notice of hunters outside Garou
society? These Merits and Flaws pertain to your character's relationships with those around her, whether Garou,
mortal or otherwise.

Merit Cost Location Page

Camp Affinity 2 Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. 87
Distant Sire 1 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 75
Good Old Boy (or Girl) 2 Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes 53
Gregarious 2 Tribebook: Get of Fenris, Revised Ed. 87
Loyalty 1 World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary 107
Pathetic Aura 3 Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori 22
Ratkin Buddies 3 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 80
Reputation 2 Werewolf: The Dark Ages 87
Shame 2 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 80
Soothing Voice 3 World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary 108
Struggling 1 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 79
Supporter 2 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76
Winter Garou 4 Tribebook: Red Talons, Revised Ed. 79

Flaw Bonus Location Page

Camp Enmity 2 Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. 87
Charach 1 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76
Foreigner 1 Werewolf: The Dark Ages 88
Human Attention 1/3/5 Tribebook: Red Talons, Revised Ed. 79
Mixed Heritage 1-2 Get of Fenris Tribebook 46
Outsider 2 Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes 53
Wolf’s Obsession 4 Werewolf: The Dark Ages 88

Camp Affinity/Enmity: (2 pt Merit/Flaw) Camp Affinity indicates that a particular camp of Black Furies has a
particular fondness toward you. Perhaps you did them a great favour, or perhaps they are trying to sway you to
join their group. Regardless, you have a -1 difficulty on Social rolls when interacting with that camp. You
should not be a member of this camp when you first take this merit, although you can shift into that camp
during play as the chronicle permits.
Camp Enmity indicates that a particular camp of Black Furies has it in for you. This works best when the
character is a member of a particular camp to which the other camp already has some opposition, like the
Sisterhood and the Order of Our Merciful Mother, or the Bacchantes and the Amazons of Diana. Or perhaps
you're not in a given camp, but you have done something to give offense to one. No matter the case, this Flaw
gives you a +1 difficulty on Social rolls when interacting with that camp.
MET: As a Merit, you gain a one-Trait bonus to Social Challenge resolution with members of this camp in
question; as a flaw, this is a penalty Trait instead. In either case, you should also briefly inform camp members
of this Trait so as to appropriately influence subsequent roleplaying. Note that this bonus or penalty Trait can
exceed your usual Trait maximum or minimum.

Charach: (1 pt Flaw) You are known to have a Garou lover. You may be performing the Rite of the Clouds and
Rain (located in the Child of Gaea Tribebook, Revised Edition), or simply be involved romantically. The
Storyteller will create this character for you, but you should be aware that any charach is regarded by Garou
(even some Children of Gaea) as perverted criminals who deserve death. Other Garou may be very angry with
you for breaking the Litany, and may insist on punishing you. You automatically begin the game with one less
point of Renown and must lose that point of Renown from Honour if at all possible.

Distant Sire: (1 pt Merit) The Children of Gaea adopt so many pups that some Children maintain family ties
with Garou parents of other tribes. This merit simply means that you know of a parent who is Garou (not
Kinfolk) in another Tribe. (Male Children may claim sire-right among the Black Furies). The tribe needs to be
specified and the Storyteller needs to give permission for you to choose the tribe that you specify. In some cases
he may refuse. The Storyteller will create your parent, but will not reveal everything about them to you. In
general, this Merit functions as a dot in Allies within another tribe, although it will also tend to spawn its own
subplots.

Foreigner: (1 pt Flaw) You are from a different country. This new surrounding looks odd to you, and you have
a hard time understanding the language. All of your Social rolls are at a +1 difficulty. Your character must be
from a different country than where your Storyteller is setting the game.

Loyalty: (1 pt Merit) Pliny the Elder tells of a dolphin in Puteoli who befriended a boy and came to his aid in
storms, brought him fish when he hungered and died brokenhearted when the boy fell sick and passed on. The
hound of King Lysimachus of Thrace threw himself onto his master's funeral pyre rather than desert him. Like
that dolphin or Lysimachus' hound, you are loyal to some other person, group or cause. Temptations to
disloyalty mean nothing. If you face some supernatural persuasion (charms, Mind magick, etc.) to betray your
object, your effective Willpower is increased by two.

Good Old Boy (or Girl): (2 pt Merit) Either gender, this Merit means the same thing: You're an intrinsically
nice person, and you genuinely care about your fellows. Depending on the setting, werewolves and other Kin
(both human and wolf) tent do like you and confide in you. Even lupus Garou may approach you in a friendly
manner; something about you just seems trustworthy and inviting. Take and extra die on all Social rolls
involving interaction with Garou or Kinfolk.

Gregarious: (2 Pt Merit) Although most Get of Fenris cannot purchase the Contacts Background, you are
somewhat more outgoing than your tribemates, and have managed to make a few connections and
acquaintances here and there. You have a small number of minor contacts, as described in the Werewolf
rulebook (pg. 121); whenever you need to get in touch with one, you may roll three dice, difficulty 7, to locate
the person you need. This Merit does not, however, provide any major contacts.
MET: When seeking out these minor contacts, make a Social Challenge to determine if you can locate your
person of choice. On a win, you find exactly who you were looking for. With a tie, you find someone, but not
necessarily the person you wanted.

Human Attention: (1/3/5 pt Flaw) Humans have spotted you in a place where no wolves should be, and now
they're trying to find you again. This Flaw assumes you were seen in a place you frequent (like the edge of a
sept) and can't just avoid from now on. For one point, word of 'wolves in our forest' has leaked out, but hasn't
gotten much negative attention, although scientists may arrive to tag and release your kin (which will lead to
other problems anyway). For three points, the locals take offense to lupine infringement on 'their' land and have
started carrying rifles and looking for wolves. For five points, you've caught the attention of a supernatural
being or beings who recognizes (or at least suspects) your true nature – a local group of Imbued, a powerful
vampire, or a Pentex branch.

Mixed Heritage: (1 to 2 pt Flaw) Get of obviously mixed heritage are scorned by others. They are less likely to
be accepted, must work harder to gain Renown (at the Storyteller's discretion) and are often treated as poorly as
metis by the more militant members of their tribe. The Get suffer penalties on all Social rolls with Get of Fenris
(+1 difficulty with 1 pt Flaw; -2 die with 3 pt Flaw). Note: This Flaw does not affect the Pure Breed
Background.

Outsider: (2 pt Flaw) Because of false rumours, an ill-done deed or some other reason, you have a poor
reputation among Kinfolk and Garou. They don't necessarily hurt you, but they let you know you aren't
welcome in their camps or homes. Make all Social rolls involving interaction with werewolves and Kin at +2
difficulty.

Pathetic Aura: (3 pt Merit) You are a truly needy person, or at least appear to be so; anyone with an ounce of
compassion will feel so sorry for you that they will become your protectors, friends and patrons, and often
remain so regardless of your behaviour. These guardians will not die for you, but some may kill if the
circumstances are right. This Trait does not equal an endless supply of Allies; your helpers will be purely
mundane and will back off if the shit gets too thick. So long as you keep your obvious problems to tantrums,
lies and debts, however, you will probably be forgiven. Although some normal-seeming fomori have this Merit,
badly deformed ones can muster enough sympathy to outweigh a multitude of sins.

Ratkin Buddies: (3 pt Merit) You poor bastard. Ratkin like you. For some reason, an entire pack of them has
taken a personal interest in you. On a good day, they'll swarm into your life and solve one of your pesky little
problems -- sometimes by twisting it around into a completely different problem. On a really good day, they'll
decide that one of your enemies is their enemy, too, making the poor fool's life a living hell (that is, worse than
yours). And then there are the bad days, the ones where they show up unexpectedly asking for a place to crash,
eat all your food, borrow some of your stuff, or generally raise hell where you live. You've learned to be really
tolerant of them too, because if you're not, they'll make your life a living hell, too.
No more than one Garou in a pack can take this Merit. Ratkin have a chance of manifesting at a random time
once every four sessions of game play. The Storyteller decides the precise moment the player must roll a die on
this nifty little table:
Roll Result
1 Bad day. Ratkin make your life difficult.
2-5 Sad day. No Ratkin. Go outside and leave a present for the local rats.
6-8 Good day. Ratkin perform a minor favour.
9 Really good day. Ratkin allies save your ass.
10 One Ratkin joins the rat pack, one leaves. The new Ratkin leaves you a gift as an introduction. He
thinks it's neat, even if you don’t.
The results affect the story as defined in the first paragraph of this Merit. The Ratkin pack has a number of
wererats equal to the size of the character's pack minus one.
Note that Ratkin are not inclined to appear to Garou other than Bone Gnawers; if you're part of a multitribal
pack your packmates may never learn the nature of your hidden 'benefactors'. As an optional rule, if Ratkin
show up as part of the chronicle, the player whose chosen this Merit plays his Garou character, but every other
player in the troupe can temporarily play a character in the rat pack.
MET: You have a pack of Ratkin that find you "interesting." This doesn't mean that you can just call them up to
deal with problems; thought; they have their own lives and show up on their own time. Typically, about once
every three or four game sessions, the Storyteller will make a Simple Test with you. If you lose, the Ratkin
show up and make things difficult by lounging around, scaring off guests and drinking all of your beer; you
cannot take any between-game actions after that session. If you tie, the Ratkin wind up helping you out with
some task that month; during between game actions of that session, you count as if you have and extra level of
Influence in one area, even an area where you normally don't have any Influence. If you win, the Ratkin really
pull out the stops to help you out with something, and you not only gain the bonus level of Influence, but also
can pick one of your downtime actions to benefit from a free retest, if any tests are involved -- or the Storyteller
might even declare that it works out by fiat. You also tend to collect trinkets and odd junk (and Junk); the
Storyteller might include a random, generally worthless, item card with your character record at random events.
Don't throw it away, though, or you risk insulting the Ratkin.
Reputation: (2 pt Merit) You have a good reputation among the Garou of your sept. The reputation can be your
own, or it might derive from your pack. You gain three dice for all social dealings with your sept's Garou. This
Merit is not the same thing as Renown. A werewolf with little renown might have good reputation based on
breeding, ancestors or an event for which she has already received Renown (such as something that occured on
her Rite of Passage).

Soothing Voice: (3 pt Merit) Did the serpent in the Garden possess such a voice? Your voice is calm and
soothing, almost entrancing. Hot heads and rash tempers are cooled by your liquid oratory. People (and beasts)
in earshot will be inclined to trust you. In game terms, add two dice to all rolls that directly include use of your
voice to soothe or lull the hearer (Leadership, Manipulation, Singing, etc.).
This Merit differs from the Musical Influence Special Advantage (page 117) in that Musical Influence
requires musical expression, not speech, and can enrage as well as calm. Musical Influence requires a roll,
whereas Storytellers should take Soothing Voice into account even when you aren't actually making a roll to
persuade or favorably influence the hearer. (The difference resembles that between Appearance and Seduction.)
A mute beast may not possess this Merit, although he might have Musical Influence.

Shame: (2 pt Merit) Your distant Garou ancestors weren't Bone Gnawers. Somewhere along the way one of
your ancestors shamed himself in some way. As a result, his descendants were so infamous or reviled that only
the Bone Gnawer tribe would take them in. His reputation precedes you, as well.
The good news is that you can still draw upon the strength of a few of your more esteemed ancestors. Treat
this like one dot in the Ancestors Background. None of these ancestors were Bone Gnawers (of course) and
none of them were more recent than at least three centuries ago. This is the closest a Bone Gnawer can ever get
to the Ancestors Background (without using the optional Bootstrapping Rule mentioned earlier, of course).
The bad news is that the elders may learn of or even recognize your shameful lineage. Here's the catch: Each
time you meet an elder for the first time, the Storyteller may roll your permanent Glory against a difficulty of
(your Rank +5). If the roll scores even one success, your family's dark past is revealed. In addition to any story
complications, you then gain an additional +2 difficulty on all Social-based dice pools with an elder in that sept.
(If you're using the optional Tribal Disadvantage, this disadvantage stacks with that +1 difficulty.)
This game mechanic doesn't preclude some rival (or an inquisitive Shadow Lord) from finding this dark
secret on his own as part of a story in your game. in fact, a chronicle can involve an entire subplot with a Bone
Gnawer who tries to gain a deeper understanding of his ancestry while hiding it from his sept's elders. The
ancestor may do more than simple bestow an occasional benefit to a dice pool – he may also grant forbidden
lore or a temptation that may affect the Bone Gnawer's destiny forever.
MET: You have a virtual level of the Ancestors Background, and can invoke it just like that Background.
Unfortunately, your infamous pedigree can get you into trouble. You effectively have the Negative Social Trait:
Shamed, only when dealing with Garou. Any elder Garou who uses the Politics Ability to try to 'sniff out' your
place in Garou Society will immediately realize your shameful lineage and Negative Trait if he wins in a simple
Social Challenge against you.

Struggling: (1 pt Merit) By hard work and diligence, you've gotten yourself off the streets. You can raise just
enough money for a legitimate home, regular (but cheap) food and even a few basic amenities. However, all of
your resources are tied up maintaining this home, and you have to struggle to keep it. As a Bone Gnawer, you
can't have points in the Resources Background. Thus, mustering more than a few dollars of disposable income
is difficult for you – it seems like you're always paying off debts and bills. You do, however, have to score
some extra cash once in awhile. Struggling may be tough, but it's a damn sight better than living on the streets.
Downtime is critical to a Struggling character. Even though he's part of the chronicle, your character can't spend
every day wandering around looking for adventure. Drawing a paycheck requires at east twenty to thirty hours
of part-time work a week; presumably this happens in the time between game sessions. Since this Merit limits
the sort of tale your Storyteller can tell, it obviously requires her approval. Your character will, however have a
home, an address, and a phone number.
 At the start of each chapter in the chronicle, the Storyteller rolls your characters Wits; every two successes
bestows the equivalent of one dot of Resources for the rest of the chapter. (If you've got Wits 4 or 5, you can
reroll 10's.) The words 'job security' mean nothing to you, however. On a botched roll, you lose everything and
have to start over (as described below). You can also temporarily lose this Merit if you leave town, or can no
longer work to keep up your home.
Whether through a botched roll or negligence, you can fall through the cracks again at any moment. Your
landlord is ready to evict you in a heartbeat, and your bills are almost always overdue. Setting yourself up as
'struggling' again requires at least a month of downtime and a number of experience points equal to the cost of
this Merit. The Struggling Merit is fairly common among followers of the Rat Fink camp, who often hold down
jobs to hide their methods of gathering information, but as you can see, they have trouble holding onto them for
long.
MET: With this Merit, you have a virtual level of Resources. While you don't actually hold the Background,
you can make use of it as if you had a single level. Each time you flex your Resources, though, you must make
a Simple Challenge (win or tie). If you lose, then you lose the Merit until you spend a full period between
games doing nothing but working to re-establish your Merit -- no downtime actions, no Influence uses, nothing.
This Merit reduces your ability to do other things: Instead of being limited to the sum of your Attribute Traits
for your maximum level of manageable Influences, lower your limit by three. Furthermore, you can only take
two actions between games regardless of what those actions are.

Supporter: (2 pt Merit) You inspire all around you to greater efforts. (You must roleplay this, of course).
Whether by speaking, writing or leading by example, you give anyone who works with you reason to go on and
hope of success. You have a -2 difficulty to Social rolls and you give any group effort a +1 to its total dice pool.

Winter Garou: (4 pt Merit) You have been chosen as one of the Winter Garou. Unless you are a member of an
all-Red Talon pack, you are probably a spy and instigator of your tribe, and are acting under orders from a
superior. In game terms, you effectively have a Mentor 3, and can expect favours from your tribe (including
having the Rite of False Justice, pg 75, performed for you if necessary). You may also learn Winter Pack Gifts,
and receive extra Renown from your tribe for your efforts.
However, you are expected to kill humans at any opportunity, and the only excuse that the tribe will accept
for failing to do so is that your pack was watching and would have discovered your allegiance. If you are ever
found out, the Red Talons will either spirit you away, or kill you rather than allow the truth of the Winter
Council to become common knowledge in the Garou Nation.

Wolf's Obsession: (4 pt Flaw) Wolves mate for life, and before your Change, you were married, engaged or at
least in love. You have never forgotten your lover, and you are obsessed with her and her well being. You
cannot allow yourself to be too far away from your paramour, and if circumstances separate you, you cannot
regain Willpower until you see her again. You also lose sight of the fact that you are dangerous on certain
nights. When your auspice moon shines, you feel almost uncontrollably drawn to your love's side (roll
Willpower every other scene to avoid searching out your love).