Compulsion: (1 pt Flaw)
You have a psychological compulsion of some sort which can cause you a number of different problems. You compulsion may be for cleanliness, perfection, bragging stealing, gaming, exaggeration or just talking. A compulsion can be temporarily avoided at the cost of a Willpower point,. but is in effect at all other times.




Dark Secret: (1 pt Flaw)
You have some sort of secret that, if uncovered, would be of immense embarrassment to you and would make you a pariah in the Kindred community. This can be anything from having murdered an elder to having once been a member of the Sabbat. While this secret weighs on you mind at all times, it will only surface in occasional stories Otherwise. it will begin to lose its impact.




Intolerance: (1 pt Flaw)
You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain thing. This may be an animal, a class of person, a color, a situation, or just about anything at all. The difficulties of all dice roll involving the subject are increased by two. Note that some dislikes may be too trivial to be reflected here-a dislike of White Wolf Magazine or tissue paper, for instance, will have little effect on play in most chronicles. The Storyteller is the final arbiter on what you can pick to dislike.




Nightmares: ( 1 pt Flaw)
You experience horrendous nightmares (daymares?) every time you sleep, and memories of them haunt you during your waking hours. Sometimes the nightmares are so bad they cause you to lose one die on all your actions for the next night (Storyteller's discretion). Some of the nightmares may be so intense that you mistake them for reality. A crafty Storyteller will be quick to take advantage of this.




Phobia (Mild): (1 pt Flaw)
You have an overpowering fear of something. You instinctively and illogically retreat from and avoid the object of your fear. Common objects of phobias include certain animals, insects, crowds, open spaces, confined spaces and heights. You must make a Courage roll whenever you encounter the object of your fear. The difficulty of this roll is determined by the Storyteller. If you fail the roll, you must retreat from the object.




Prey Exclusion: ( 1 pt Flaw)
You refuse to hunt a certain class of prey. For instance an animal-lover might decide to hunt only humans, or a character might decide to spare a class of person she particularly admires: police, teachers, medical professionals, clergy, peace activists and so on. You are disturbed when others feed from this type of prey, and could possibly enter a frenzy (Storyteller's discretion). If you accidentally feed upon this class of prey yourself, you will automatically frenzy and will need to make a roll for Humanity loss (difficulty 8 or greater). Note: This is not as restrictive as the Ventrue limitation, which limits a vampire to a certain class of prey (therefore Ventrue cannot take this Flaw).




Overconfident: ( 1 pt Flaw)
You have an exaggerated and unshakable opinion of your own worth and capabilities-you never hesitate to trust your abilities, even in situations where you risk defeat. Because your abilities may not be enough, such overconfidence can be very dangerous. When you do fail, you quickly find someone or something else to blame. If you are convincing enough, you can infect others with your overconfidence.




Shy: ( 1 pt Flaw)
You are distinctly ill at ease when dealing with people and try to avoid social situations whenever possible. The difficulties of all rolls concerned with social dealings are increased by one; the difficulties of any rolls made while you are the center of attention are increased by two. Don't expect such a character to make a public speech.




Soft-Hearted: ( 1 pt Flaw)
You cannot stand to watch others suffer-not necessarily because you care about what happens to them, but simply because you dislike the intensity of emotion. If you are the direct cause of suffering, and you witness it, you will experience nights of nausea and days of sleepless grief. You avoid situations where you might have to witness suffering and will do anything you can to protect others from it Whenever you must witness suffering, difficulties of all rolls are increased by two for the next hour.




Speech Impediment: (1 pt Flaw)
You have a stammer or some other speech impediment which hampers verbal communication. The difficulties of all relevant rolls are increased by two. Do not feel obliged to roleplay this impediment all the time, but in times of duress or when dealing with outsiders, you should attempt to simulate it.




Low Self-lmage: (2 pt Flaw)
You lack self-confidence and don't believe in yourself You have two fewer dice in situations where you don't expect to succeed (at the Storyteller's discretion, though the penalty might be limited to one die if you help the Storyteller by pointing out times when this Flaw might affect you ). At the Storyteller's option, you may be required to make Willpower rolls to do things that require self confidence, or even to use a Willpower point when others would not be obliged to do so.




Short Fuse: (2 pt Flaw)
You are easily angered. The difficulties of rolls to avoid frenzy are always two less, no matter how you were provoked. This is a dangerous Flaw; don't choose it without careful thought.




Territorial: (2 pt Flaw)
You are extremely territorial. You do not like to leave your territory, nor do you like to have strangers enter it. In fact, you get so nervous and disoriented while outside your territory that the difficulties of all your rolls are increased by one. In addition, you must make a frenzy roll when other vampires enter your territory, unless they obtain your permission to pass through.




Vengeance: (2 pt Flaw)
You have a score to settle. This score may be from either your mortal or vampiric days. Either way, you are obsessed with wreaking vengeance on an individual (or perhaps an entire group), and make revenge your first priority in all situations. The need for vengeance can only be overcome by spending Willpower points, and even then it only temporarily subsides. Someday you may have your revenge, but the Storyteller won't make it easy.




Driving Goal: (3 pt Flaw)
You have a personal goal, which sometimes compel and directs you in startling ways. The goal is always limitless in depth, and you can never truly achieve it. It could be to eradicate the Sabbat or achieve Golconda.. Because you must work toward your goal throughout the chronicle (though you can avoid it for short periods by spending Willpower), it will get you into trouble and may jeopardize other actions. Choose your driving goal carefully, as it will direct and focus everything your character does.




Hatred: (3 pt Flaw)
You have an unreasoning hatred of a certain thing. This hate is total and largely uncontrollable. You may hate species of animal, a class of person, a color, a situation- anything. You must make a frenzy roll whenever faced with the object of your hatred. You constantly pursue opportunities to harm the hated object or to gain Dower over it.




Phobia (Severe): (3 pt Flaw)
You have an overpowering fear of something. Common objects of fear include certain animals, insects, crowds, open spaces, confined spaces, heights, and so on. You must make a Courage roll not to enter Rotschreck when faced with the object of your fear. The difficulty depends on the circumstances. If you fail the roll, you must retreat in terror from the object of fear. If you score fewer than three successes, you will not approach it. The Storyteller has final say over which phobias are allowed in a chronicle.

Deep Sleeper: (1 pt Flaw)
When you sleep, it is very difficult for you to awaken. Raise the difficulty by two on any such roll, and roleplay how you never seem to be on time when you have an appointment early in the evening.




Amnesia: (2 pt Flaw)
You are unable to remember anything about your past, yourself or your family. Your life is a blank slate. However, your past may someday come back to haunt you. (You can, if you wish, take up to five points of other Flaws without specifying what they are, and leave it to the Storyteller to detail them. Over the course of the chronicle, you and your character will slowly discover them.)




Confused: (2 pt Flaw)
You are often confused, and the world seems to be a very distorted and twisted place. Sometimes you are simply unable to make sense of things. You need to roleplay this behavior all the time to a small degree, but your confusion becomes especially strong whenever stimuli surround you (such as when a number of different people talk all at once, or you enter a nightclub with loud pounding music). You may spend Willpower to override the effects of your confusion, but only temporarily.




Weak-Willed: (2 pt Flaw)
You are highly susceptible to Dominate and intimidation by others; you are, in fact, unable to use your Willpower freely. You can employ your Willpower only when survival is at stake or it is appropriate to your Nature.




Absent-Minded: (3 pt Flaw)
This Flaw may not be taken with the Merit Concentration. Though you do not forget such things as Knowledges or Skills, you do forget names, addresses, and when you last ate. In order to remember anything more than your own name and the location of your haven, you need to make a Wits roll or, as a last resort, spend a Willpower point.

Color Blindness: (1 pt Flaw)
You can only see in black and white. Color means nothing to you, though you are sensitive to color density, which you perceive as shades of gray. This makes it impossible to use the Level Two Auspex power of Aura Perception. Note: color blindness actually indicates an inability to distinguish between two colors, but we fudged a bit for the sake of brevity.



Hard of Hearing: (1 pt Flaw)
Your hearing is defective. The difficulties of all dice rolls related to hearing are increased by two. You may not take Acute Hearing if you take this Flaw.




Bad Sight: (2 pt Flaw)
Your sight is defective. The difficulties of all dice rolls related to vision are increased by two. This Flaw is neither nearsightedness nor farsightedness; it is a minor form of blindness, and is not correctable. You may not take Acute Vision if you take this Flaw.




One Eye: (2 pt Flaw)
You have one eye - choose which, or determine randomly during character creation. You have no peripheral vision on your blind side, and two fewer dice are rolled for any feat requiring depth perception. This includes missile combat.




Deaf: (4 pt Flaw)
You cannot hear sound, and automatically fail any rolls that require hearing.




Blind: (6 pt Flaw)
You automatically fail all dice rolls involving vision. You cannot see-the world of color and light is lost to you.

Illiterate: (1 pt Flaw)
Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write.


Inept: (5 pt Flaw)
You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have five fewer points to spend on your Talents (so the greatest number of points you can spend on your Talents at the beginning of play would be eight, and the fewest would be zero). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to buy Talents. However, at the beginning of the game, you cannot have more than three dots in any Talent.


Uneducated: (5 pt Flaw)
As Inept, above, but dealing with Knowledge Abilities.


Unskilled: (5 pt Flaw)
As Inept, above, but dealing with Skill Abilities.

Cursed: ( 1-5 pt Flaw)
You have been cursed by someone or something with supernatural or magical powers. This curse is specific and detailed, it cannot be dispelled without extreme effort, and it can be life-threatening. Some examples follow:

If you pass on a secret that was told to you, your betrayal will later harm you in some way. (1 pt)

You stutter uncontrollably when you try to describe what you have seen or heard. (2 pt)

Tools often break or malfunction when you attempt to use them. (3 pt)

You are doomed to make enemies of those to whom you become most attached (so whatever you do, don't get too close to the other characters! ). (4 pt)

Every one of your accomplishments or achievements will eventually, inevitably, become soiled and fail in some way. (5 pt)


Taint of Corruption: (1 pt Flaw)
Plants wither when you approach, and will die if you touch them. It is rumored that Caine himself possesses this Flaw.


Repulsed by Garlic: (1 pt Flaw)
You cannot abide the smell of garlic, and the smallest taint of its scent will drive you from a room. The full force of its pungent odor will bring bloody tears to your face and render you nearly blind, while its touch can cause boils and even open wounds.



Magic Susceptibility: (2 pt Flaw)
You are susceptible to the magical rituals of the Tremere, as well as to spells of mages of other creeds and orders. The difficulty to cast a spell upon you is two less, and all spells cast have twice normal effect on you.


Repelled by Crosses: (3 pt Flaw)
You are repelled by the sight of ordinary crosses ( just as if they were holy). Kindred who were of the Church prior to their Embrace are the ones most likely to possess this Flaw; they perceive that their new form is a judgment from God.


Can't Cross Running Water: (3 pt Flaw)
You cannot cross running water unless you are at least 50 feet above it. "Running water" is any body of water more than two feet wide in any direction and not completely stagnant. A Kindred with this Flaw obviously believes too much in old wives' tales.


Haunted: (3 pt Flaw)
You are haunted by a ghost that only you (and Mediums) can see and hear. It actively dislikes you and enjoys making your life miserable by insulting, berating and distracting you - especially when you need to keep your cool. It also has a number of minor powers it can use against you (once per story for each power): hide small objects; bring a "chill" over others, making them very ill at ease with you; cause a loud buzzing in your ear or the ears of others; move a small object such as a knife or pen; break a fragile item such as a bottle or mirror; trip you; or make eerie noises such as chains rattling. Yelling at the ghost can sometimes drive it away, but it will confuse those who are around you. The Storyteller will likely personify the ghost in order to make things all the more frustrating for you.


Dark Fate: (5 pt Flaw)
You are doomed to experience a most horrible demise or, worse, suffer eternal agony. No matter what you do, someday you will be out of the picture. In the end, all your efforts, your struggles, and your dreams will come to naught. Your fate is certain and there is nothing you can do about it. Even more ghastly, you have partial knowledge of this, for you occasionally have visions of your fate - and they are most disturbing. The malaise these visions inspire in you can only be overcome through the use of Willpower, and will return after each vision. At some point in the chronicle, you will indeed face your fate, but when and how is completely up to the Storyteller. Though you can't do anything about your fate, you can still attempt to reach some goal before it occurs, or at least try to make sure that your friends are not destroyed as well. This is a difficult Flaw to roleplay; though it may seem as if it takes away all free will, we have found that, ironically, it grants freedom.


Light-Sensitive: (5 pt Flaw)
You are even more sensitive to sunlight than other vampires are. Sunlight causes double normal damage, and even moonlight (which is, after all, the reflected light of the sun) harms you. Indeed, even bright lights can be painful, but that pain can be mitigated by wearing sunglasses. When the moon is shining, the light it casts will cause wounds in the same way sunlight does for normal individuals. However, the wounds caused by the moon are not aggravated, and can be healed normally. Remember, even on nights when the moon is full, it may have already set when you venture outside, or be obscured by the clouds.

Enemy: ( 1-5 pt Flaw)
You have an enemy, or perhaps a group of enemies, who seek to harm you. The value of the Flaw determines how powerful these enemies are. The most powerful enemies (Methuselahs or Archmages) would be five-point Flaws, while someone nearer to your own power would be worth only one point. You must decide who your enemy is and how you became enemies in the first place.


Infamous Sire: (1 pt Flaw)
Your sire was, and perhaps still is, distrusted and disliked by many of the Kindred in the city. As a result, you are distrusted and disliked as well. This is a heavy load, and one not easily shed.


Insane Sire: (1 pt Flaw)
Your sire has completely lost his grip on reality, and has become dangerously insane. Any wrong committed by your sire may affect your standing, and some of your sire's dangerous schemes may somehow involve you. Because their sires are already assumed to be insane, Malkavians cannot take this Flaw.


Mistaken Identity: (1 pt Flaw)
You look similar to another Kindred, and are mistaken for her, much to your chagrin. This individual's allies will approach you and tell you things you do not want to hear, her enemies will attempt to do away with you, and others will treat you in odd ways. Ultimately you might be able to sort out things, but it will take tremendous effort.


Sire's Resentment: (1 pt Flaw)
Your sire dislikes you and wishes you ill. Given the smallest opportunity, your sire will seek to do you harm, and may even attack you if provoked. Your sire's friends will also work against you, and many elders will thus resent you.


Twisted Upbringing: (1 pt Flaw)
Your sire was quite malevolent and taught you all the wrong things about Kindred society. All your beliefs about how vampires interact are wrong, and your faulty beliefs are likely to get you into a great deal of trouble. Over time, after many hard lessons, you can overcome this bad start (the Storyteller will tell you when). But until then, you will continue to believe what you were first told, no matter how others try to "trick" you into thinking otherwise.



Clan Enmity: (2 pt Flaw)
For some reason, something about you inspires contempt or hatred in members of a clan other than your own. There is a two-dice penalty to all rolls for social dealings with members of this other clan. Select the 'enemy' clan randomly or choose.


Diabolic Sire: (2 pt Flaw)
Your sire is engaged in acts that could cause a tremendous uproar in the Camarilla. She could be wantonly breaking the Masquerade, or hunting down the elders of the city and feasting on their blood. Archons are likely to come to you in order to discover your sire's whereabouts, and they may not believe you if you tell them you do not know.


Notoriety: (3 pt Flaw)
You have a bad reputation among the Kindred of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your sire. There is a two-dice penalty to all dice rolls for social dealings with the city's Kindred. A character with this Flaw may not take the Merit of Reputation.

Anachronism: (2 pt Flaw)
You have been a vampire for some time, and are unable (or unwilling) to keep up with the changing times. An Intelligence roll is needed whenever you have to deal with something from a later period than your own breathing days. If the roll is failed, total the net failures and use this total as a negative modifier to your attempts. Example: Osric, a fifth-century Goth by birth, has this Flaw and is attempting to deal with a computer. His Intelligence roll results in two net failures. Osric now has a two-dice penalty when determining the outcome of his attempt to make the infernal machine cooperate. Note that characters with this Flaw will generally have been vampires for longer than the 50 years suggested in Vampire, so Storytellers should decide whether or not to allow this Flaw in their chronicles.


Ward: (3 pt Flaw)
You are devoted to the protection of a mortal. You may describe your ward, though the Storyteller will actually create her. This character may be a friend or relative from your pre-Embrace days, or simply a mortal you admire and consider important. Wards have a way of getting caught up in the action of stories, and are frequent targets of a character's enemies.


Hunted: (4 pt Flaw)
You are pursued by a fanatical witch-hunter who believes you are a dangerous, vile beast inimical to humanity (perhaps you are). All those with whom you associate may be hunted by the same individual as well. Though this hunter seeks to destroy all vampires, something about you drives the passion of this killer.

Allergic: ( 1-3 pt Flaw)
You are allergic to some substance, in a manner not unlike mortal allergies. However, you do not get hives or sneeze, but are actually incapacitated by your reaction. If the substance was in the blood you drank, the reaction will be very strong, though touch alone is enough to disturb you. If it was in the blood, you will have five fewer dice on all your Dice Pools for 10 minutes - if you just touched it, the penalty is reduced to two dice. Choose from the list below or make up the substance to which you are allergic.

Plastic: 1 pt
Alcohol: 2 pt
Illegal Drugs: 2 pt
Metal: 3 pt
Short: (1 pt Flaw)
You are well below average height, and have trouble seeing over high objects and moving quickly. You suffer a two-dice penalty to all pursuit rolls, and you and the Storyteller should make sure your height is taken into account in all situations. In some circumstances, this will give you a concealment bonus.



Disfigured: (2 pt Flaw)
A hideous disfigurement makes you ugly and easy to notice as well as remember. You therefore have a zero Appearance, much like the Nosferatu (who cannot take this Flaw).



Selective Digestion: (2 pt Flaw)
You can digest only certain types of blood. You can choose whether you can drink only cold blood (the blood of a dead person), blood with the taste of fear (found in blood only in moments of terror), or blood with the taste of joy, or perhaps only certain types (A, O, etc.) of blood. This Flaw may not be taken by Ventrue characters, since they already have something like it through their clan weakness.



Child: (3 pt Flaw)
You were a small child at the time of the Embrace. Although time and experience may have changed your outlook, you are stuck with a child's body. You have the Short Flaw (see above), and you find it difficult to be taken seriously by others (two-dice penalty to all relevant rolls). Because you have never before experienced any sort of transformation change (never having undergone the experience of puberty), you are ill suited to withstanding the demands of the Hunger (the difficulties of all such rolls are one greater). Additionally, certain clubs may not admit you, because you are "underage."


Deformity: (3 pt Flaw)
You have some kind of deformity - a misshapen limb, a hunchback or whatever - which affects your interactions with others and may inconvenience you physically. The difficulties of all dice rolls related to physical appearance are raised by two. Your deformity will also raise the difficulty of some Dexterity rolls by two, depending on the type of deformity you possess.



Lame: (3 pt Flaw)
Your legs are injured or otherwise prevented from working effectively. You suffer a two-dice penalty to all dice rolls related to movement. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit Double-Jointed.



Monstrous: (3 pt Flaw)
There is something wholly monstrous about you, something that makes you even more hideous than a Nosferatu. You scarcely look human, but the manner in which you differ is up to you. Perhaps you have grown scales or warts all over your body, or perhaps the scream you issued when you died has been permanently frozen on your face. Not only is your Appearance a zero, but you make even the Nosferatu uneasy. Nosferatu may take this Flaw, but only gain one point for it.



One Arm: (3 pt Flaw)
You have only one arm - choose which, or determine randomly at character creation. This happened before the Embrace. It is assumed that you are accustomed to using your remaining hand, so you suffer no off-hand penalty. However, you do suffer a two-dice penalty to any Dice Pool where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit Ambidextrous.



Permanent Wound: (3 pt Flaw)
You suffered injuries during the Embrace, which your sire did nothing to repair. You start each night at the Wounded Health Level. This can be healed like normal damage, but each evening, after sleep, your wounds always return.


Mute: (4 pt Flaw)
Your vocal apparatus does not function, and you cannot speak at all. You can communicate through other means -typically writing or signing.


Thin-Blooded: (4 pt Flaw)
You have weak blood, and are unable to use it for anything but sustaining yourself from night to night and healing your wounds. Blood cannot be used to add to your Physical Attributes, to fuel blood Disciplines, or to create a Blood Bond. Moreover, you will not always be able to create a vampire. Half the time the Embrace will simply not work.


Paraplegic: (6 pt Flaw)
You can hardly move without assistance, such as a pair of crutches or a wheelchair. Even then it can be painful and cumbersome to do so. The Storyteller and you should take care to roleplay this Flaw correctly, no matter how difficult it makes things. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit of Double-Jointed.