Chapter Four: Merits and Flaws

Psychological

"No. If they think we're monsters, perhaps we should live up to the name."
- Lexington

Berserker: (2 pt Merit)

You have the ability to place yourself in a state of Outrage at will, thus ignoring Wound penalties. All other rules regarding Outrage still apply, and the character still has the normal chance to go into Outrage involuntarily.

Clan Mentality: (1 pt Flaw)

The Clan is, naturally, important to you, but you sometimes carry this to extremes. You will always unquestioningly follow the orders of your Clan's leader. If outside Gargoyle society, you adopt your new friends as your Clan, and will follow the directives of whomever seems to be in charge. You will constantly think of the Clan's good before your own. The Clan leader's opinion is very important to you, and you will come to him with any problems you are having.

Compulsion: (1 pt Flaw)
Dark Secret: (1 pt Flaw)
Driving Goal: (3 pt Flaw)
Hatred: (3 pt Flaw)

Hidebound: (2 pt Flaw)

You are extremely set in your ways, and most likely older than your compatriots. Gargoyles defend, so that is what you do. It takes nothing short of an emergency or a direct order from the Clan leader to get you to leave your castle unguarded.

Add 1 to the target numbers of any actions which "go against the grain."

Intolerance: (1 pt Flaw) Low Self-Image: (2 pt Flaw)
Nightmares: (1 pt Flaw)
Phobia: (1 to 3 pt Flaw)
Over-Confident: (1 pt Flaw)

Short Fuse: (2 pt Flaw)

The difficulty to resist all Outrages is two greater.

Shy: (1 pt Flaw)
Soft-Hearted: (1 pt Flaw)
Speech Impediment: (1 pt Flaw)
Territorial: (3 pt Flaw)
Vengeance: (2 pt Flaw)

Mental

"No, it wasn't a dragon, I think it was... some kind of machine."
- Lexington

Absent-Minded: (3 pt Flaw)
Amnesia: (2 pt Flaw)

Calm Heart: (3 pt Merit)

The difficulty to resist Outrage is always two less.

Common Sense: (1 pt Merit)
Concentration: (1 pt Merit)
Confused: (2 pt Flaw)
Eidetic Memory: (2 pt Merit)
Iron Will: (5 pt Merit)
Lightning Calculator: (1 pt Merit)
Self-Confident: (5 pt Merit)
Time Sense: (1 pt Merit)
Weak Willed: (2 pt Flaw)

Awareness

"Oo. Not good. Not good."
- Brooklyn

Bad Sight: (2 pt Flaw)
Blind: (6 pt Flaw)
Color Blindness: (1 pt Flaw)
Deaf: (4 pt Flaw)
Hard of Hearing: (1 pt Flaw)

Infra-Red Vision: (3 pt Merit)

You were born with the ability to see in the infra-red spectrum when your eyes glow.

One Eye: (3 pt Flaw)

Aptitudes

Ambidextrous: (1 pt Merit)
Computer Aptitude: (1 pt Merit)
Crack Driver: (1 pt Merit)
Daredevil: (3 pt Merit)
Fast Learner: (3 pt Merit)
Inept: (5 pt Flaw)
Mechanical Aptitude: (1 pt Merit)
Natural Linguist: (2 pt Merit)
Pitiable: (1 pt Merit)
Uneducated: (5 pt Flaw)
Unskilled: (5 pt Flaw)

Supernatural

Charmed Existence: (5 pt Merit)
Cursed: (1 to 5 pt Flaw)
Danger Sense: (3 pt Merit)
Dark Fate: (5 pt Flaw)
Destiny: (4 pt Merit)
Guardian Angel: (6 pt Merit)
Luck: (3 pt Merit)

Shattering Roar: (4 pt Merit)

This is the ability to let out a roar so powerful that it can shatter stone or rip metal. The Gargoyle spends one point of Legendary Potential and rolls Dexterity and Performance. The difficulty number is dependent upon the substance the Gargoyle wishes to affect.

Glass	3
Wood	5
Concrete	7
Stone	8
Metal	10

This roar has no effect on living tissue.

True Love: (1 pt Merit)

Human Society

Hunted: (3 pt Flaw)

There is a particularly relentless Gargoyle-hunter after you. These hunters could be members of the Inquisition, Technocracy, the Illuminati, or even the dreaded, ageless Hunter, Macbeth himself!

Physical

"Grrumph."
- Bronx

Attached Wings: (2 pt Flaw)

Instead of having wings on your back, like most Gargoyles, yours are a thick membrane of skin that stretches between your arms and legs, like a flying squirrel. Because of this, you cannot perform any other actions while gliding, but your gliding difficulties are at minus one.

Beak: (3 pt Merit)

You have a pronounced beak instead of a jaw and teeth. This gives you a Bite attack with a Damage of Strength + 3. However, no character with this Merit can have an Appearance above one.

Double Jointed: (1 pt Merit)

Fangs: (1 pt Merit)

Your teeth are exceptionally sharp and strong. You have a Bite attack with a damage of Strength + 1.

Hollow Bones: (3 pt Merit)

Your bones are hollow and light, reducing your weight by more than a third, and enabling you to attempt actual flight for short periods. Unfortunately, hollow bones are brittle bones. Subtract 2 from Stamina for the purposes of soaking damage from any impact damage (falling, melee combat, etc.). In order to fly, roll Strength + Gliding (it will act as a substitute for Flight) with a difficulty of 6. For each success, the character can fly for one minute before fatigue forces him to glide once again.

If the Character also has Tremendous Wingspan, then he can fly for a number of hours equal to the successes rolled.

Horns: (3 pt. Merit)

You have horns protruding from your head that give you a + 2 to the damage of all Headbutt attacks.

Huge Size: (4 pt Merit)
Lame: (3 pt Flaw)
Longevity: (2 pt Merit)
Mute: (4 pt Flaw)
One Arm: (3 pt Flaw)

Prehensile Feet: (3 pt Merit)

Your feet are a second pair of hands that you can use for any of the same things you use your actual hands for. This can be used to grab something, to carry something in flight, or even to wield a weapon. However, the feet are not as easily controlled as the hands. For any Ability use attempted with the feet, add 1 to the difficulty.

These feet cannot be used for extra attacks.

Prehensile Tail: (2 pt Merit)

Your tail can be used as a primitive extra hand. Any Ability use attempted with the tail is made with a +2 modifier to the difficulty.

Quadrupedal: (5 pt Flaw)

You walk on all fours and don't have the proper configuration of muscles and bones to stand upright. Not that it would do much good anyway, since you also have no opposable thumbs.

You cannot perform any Abilities requiring hands without extreme preparations (voice activated computers, for example).

Running speed is now 1.5 times what it would be for a bipedal Gargoyle.

Short: (1 pt Flaw)

Tremendous Wingspan: (5 pt Merit)

Your wings are twice as long proportionately than other Gargoyles. In addition to being ungainly in cramped quarters, this gives you a +2 bonus to the damage for any wing attacks, and your Gliding distance is doubled.

If the character also has Hollow Bones, they are capable of true flight (see above).

Wingless: (5 pt Flaw)

You have no wings, and can therefore glide about as well as any other rock.

Interlude: A rock and a Hardcase To the casual observer, the roof of the Higen Building was a constant, unchanging over the last twelve years. But the more observant would notice that the statues on the roof had been replaced about a year ago. The very observant would notice that the hideous gargoyles perched on the roof would change positions from night to night. Of course, it wouldn't require keen observation to know something was amiss at sunset. As soon as the last ray of sunlight dropped beneath the horizon, the eyes of the Gargoyles burst into a blazing glow, and the forms began to move, exploding out of a thin stone shell, showering the city with flakes of rock. All six of the Gargoyles let out colossal, howling yawns. A strange sound, yes, but the neighbors and residents of the Higen building had begun to get used to it. Just another thing to live with in the city, they guessed. Shriek was eight feet tall, with white hair in an unruly shock on top of his head that continued down to the small of his back between his huge wings. His horns curved upward, giving him a demonic appearance, enhanced by his deep red skin. He stretched his arms and unfurled his wings to their full twelve foot span. "Ahhh!" he said, working the stiffness out of his bones. "Well, my brothers and sisters," he said to the rest of the Clan, "are we ready to greet the parasites' return tonight?" A deep, throaty cheer went up from the Clan. They knew the vampires would come back, this time in force. While they did not seek out violence, they welcomed the thrill of a righteously fought battle. Shriek wished that it didn't need to be this way, that it could've ended last night, but he saw something in their leader, the one called Turloe -- something cold and bitter and empty. Turloe must have been a hard man when he was alive, and his death had only served to temper him. That was why Shriek had Howled and broken Turloe's harness, rather than simply taking off his head. He wanted to send a message, and he knew that a strike team gone mysteriously missing would not do it. He needed the vampires' master to know who had thwarted them. And then, when the prideful team leader came back to deal with the Gargoyles, all involved would know he had been toyed with the night before. Shriek turned to the Clan. "They will be here soon, to take full advantage of the dark. All of you, get to the positions we discussed last night. And remember, they will be ready for you and better armed. Do not rely on your might alone, but use guile and speed when they will not expect it. I have to talk to Troy." The Gargoyles leapt off the roof and began gliding streetward on their wings, circling the building on the way to their posts. None of them envied Shriek the sad duty he had. Shriek went to the door on the roof and opened it. Crouching through the doorway, he went down the stairs to the first landing. "Troy? Are you here?" He called out cautiously. A young voice called up the stairs toward him, "Here I am, Shriek." The boy must have already been on his way upstairs when Shriek came in. He reached the landing and the Gargoyle could see the boy had been crying. "My Dad never got to his place today. Gina says she hasn't seen him since last night. The super here says that he and the other guard on duty last night never finished the second half of their rounds. Something's happened to him. Even Mom's been crying. She hasn't cried about Dad since the divorce." Troy accepted the huge arm that offered him a hug. "Troy, I'm afraid something did happen to him." Shriek tried not to let his own tears betray themselves. "Last night, some men broke into the building, and your father and his partner did their duty. I've seen your father at work before, Troy, he was very efficient and professional. But these men were more than thieves,... they were monsters. Vampires. They killed your father and his friend, and we were not in time to stop them. We drove them off, but they will be back tonight. I will exact revenge myself for your father's murder. You must stay inside until we tell you it's all right. Tonight is not a good night to be a vampire." Troy looked up at his friend. They had done a lot for each other in the past year, but he had trouble comprehending the enormity of Shriek's resolve. "But, I..." Troy saw the look in the creature's eyes and knew there would be no denying him. "Okay. I'll tell Mom. She knows about you guys, and I think she'll be glad to see something being done." The boy turned down the staircase and headed to his home. Life had been rough on him before, but he was being forced to grow up before he was even thirteen years old. Shriek knew the taste of revenge. He knew it felt like a mouthful of ashes, and you never got the stain off your soul. But he wanted to make sure that Troy's soul never picked up that taint, so he was going to handle it himself. He turned and climbed the stairs to the roof once again, preparing to settle in and listen for the alarm cry that would tell him where the enemy were attacking from. He peered down at the street and wondered how many unnatural things walked the streets, mingling with the humans he loved, shielded by disguises, magics, or a human shape. Just as he envied them, he pitied them for living a lie. He may have to remain hidden, but he didn't have to pretend to be something he wasn't. Shriek waited for a long time. The Vampires had either given up on the Higen building, or they were going to wait for another day. Perhaps their master had slain them. No, even a despot does not waste his resources. It was nearing five o'clock. The sun would be up soon, and the Clan would have to roost at their stations. This was no real hardship for them; they had done it often enough. But Shriek did not relish sleeping with Turloe on his mind. Those cold eyes had stayed with him throughout the day. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a sound. Shriek spun around and saw the object of his thoughts attempting to climb into the shielded antennae structure on the roof. He must have come up from the inside, but how did the sentries miss him? "Turloe." Shriek said, just loud enough to catch the vampire's attention. The dead man turned around and looked at Shriek. "Well, you know my name. I'm flattered. And relieved. I was going to wait here until your Clan returned and blast you to pieces while you were stone, but this will be much more satisfying." He swung his arm back and it came back up with an Uzi sub-machine gun. "Smile for the birdie." The gun spat a rain of chattering, leaden hate toward Shriek, but he had already dived off the top of the building. Turloe jumped down from the antennae and ran to the ledge, looking down. "You know it would be much less messy if I could just kill you up here. If I kill you while you're airborne, you'll leave one hell of a dent in someone's car." He looked up and down the street, but didn't see where the crimson Gargoyle had gone. He hadn't looked behind him. Shriek had glided around the building and caught an updraft that took him slightly above the roof. Angling his wings, he dove straight at Turloe's back. His arms reached around the killer's torso. Exercising incredible control, Shriek grabbed the gun out of his hand before plowing into the vampire, sending them both off the roof. Then it was Turloe's turn to exhibit speed. He spun his body around and caught the lip of the ledge. He quickly hauled himself up and rolled away from the edge. The Gargoyle was nowhere to be seen. Turloe's heart was jack-hammering with stolen blood, making him faster even than the Gargoyle. All he needed was to get his hands on him once. Get the beast in a judo hold and throat him. That was it. Then he'd have to get inside and be quick about it. Shriek landed suddenly and heavily in front of him and raked his Talons across Turloe's chest. Blood ran freely from the deep wound, but Turloe seemed unfazed. He still had the same ice-cold expression he wore when he drained the life from Troy's father the night before. Turloe seemed to be waiting for the blow, so Shriek obliged him. But his claws caught nothing but air, and Turloe was nowhere to be seen. The mystery was quickly over, however, when the vampire's own claws dug into Shriek's back. Spinning around to meet his foe, Shriek lunged forward clumsily, and Turloe again was too fast to touch. Shriek was a fast learner, though; he spun and ducked at the same time, whipping his tail around, knocking Turloe's knees from under him, breaking one with a wet snap. In agony, Turloe looked at the Gargoyle with red eyes and said, "Stop. Turn around, and sit down on the ledge. Don't move from there." Shriek's eyes glowed white. "I don't think so." He growled, smiling. Quickly, he rushed to the Vampire attempting to get up. He grabbed Turloe's arms at the wrists. He held him up in his left hand. Carefully avoiding the kicks aimed at him by the vampire's good leg, he reached up with his right hand and casually crushed Turloe's right wrist. Turloe's screams were quickly drowned out by Shriek's piercing wail. Vampire still in hand, Shriek stepped over to the ledge. Shriek drew himself up to his full height and extended his arm out over the open air. "What are you going to do? Drop me? Do you think that scares me?" Shriek grinned widely. "No." The expression froze on his face as he transformed into stone. Turloe's eyes widened; the first moment of fear he had experienced in three hundred years. He turned his head to the right and saw the terrible sun breaching the horizon. The Gargoyle's grip, hard enough to break while it was flesh, was impossible while it was stone. After a few moment's struggle, Turloe gave up. There was no use. His skin had already begun to smoke. His last words, just before his brain caught fire were, "Man, is this guy cold."