Advantages

Alongside their Attributes, Skills, and Disciplines, Kindred also have Advantages from before they began the Chronicle. Advantages are broken down into different types — Merits, Backgrounds, and Loresheets. The opposite end of Advantages are Flaws, which are ongoing problems for the characters.

Unless otherwise stated, Advantages and Flaws without a rating may be taken at any level from • to •••••.

MERITS & FLAWS

Linguistics — Merits covering the ability to communicate or understand spoken or written language.
Linguistics (• +) Each dot of Linguistics allows the character to read, write and speak fluently in another language outside of the default two they already know, which is their native language and the language of the Domain.
Illiterate (••) The Character cannot read nor write and their Science and Academics Skills may not go beyond 1 dot.

Looks — Merits related to the appearance, supernaturally influenced or not, of the character.
Beautiful (••) Add one die to related Social pools
Ugly (•) Lose one die from related Social pools.
Stunning (••••) Add two dice to related Social pools.
Repulsive (••) Lose two dice from related Social pools.
Semblance of the Methuselah (• — ••) With an appearance strikingly similar to a methuselah, gain one die on rolls to impress, intimidate or attract the attention who recognize your face. As well as gain other bonuses such as status or additional die when meeting the methuselah they resemble.
Diminutive (••) You were Embraced whilst clearly a child. At the Storyteller’s discretion, you suffer a one-die penalty to physical activities involving your height, size, or other physical developments. You also suffer a two-dice penalty to all Social rolls where being a child is a detriment, especially when dealing with mortal adults.(Homebrew Content)

Substance Use — You seek out prey with a specific drug in their system.
High Functioning Addict (•) Add one die to either Physical, Social or Mental pool when the last feeding had the drug of desire.
Addiction (•) Unless the action is to immediately gain their drug, lose one die to all pools if the last feeding was not on the drug of their choice.
Hopeless Addiction (••) Unless the action is to immediately gain their drug, lose two dice to all pools if the last feeding was not on the drug of their choice.

Archaic — These flaws may only be taken by Ancilla or older vampires.
Living in the Past (•) Unable to grasp modern societies mindset, one or more of the character's convictions reflect outdated views.
Archaic (••) Cannot use computers, cellphones and the character's Technology rating is always 0.

Bonding — Not all vampires respond to the Blood Bond equally.
Bond Resistance (• — •••) Add one die to resist Blood Bonds per level of this merit.
Bond Junkie (•) The bond is sweeter to the character, they lose one die when acting against Blood Bonds.
Short Bond (••) Bonds decrease by two levels each month if not reinforced.
Long Bond (•) Bonds fade slower, decreasing by one level for each 3 months without reinforcement.
Unbondable (•••••) Unable to be bonded.
Bondslave (••) Bond instantly to another kindred with just one drink, not three.

Feeding — Related to the act of feeding, taking one does not mean the character must take the others.
Bloodhound (•) Able to sniff out resonances without tasting it.
Iron Gullet (•••) Able to consume rancid, defractionated or otherwise unedible blood to other vampires.
Prey Exclusion (•) Unable to feed from a certain group and take Stains as if breaking a Chronicle Tenet when they do.
Methuselah's Thirst (•) Hunger can only be slaked to 0 by Supernatural blood.
Farmer (••) Must spend 2 Willpower Points to feed on human blood. Ventrue may not take this.
Organovore (••) Slake hunger only by consuming human flesh and organs.
Agonizing Bite (••) When drinking directly from a victim, you may only take harmful drinks, resulting in blood loss.(Homebrew Content)

Mythic — Strengths and weaknesses related to vampire mythology.
Eat Food (••) Can consume food but still with no nourishment.
Cold Dead Hunger (•••) Add two dice to resist Hunger frenzy.
Pack Diablerie (••) The character will always be the one to take the soul unless they otherwise choose during Diablerie. Additionally, if they help another consume the soul, they gain 5 experience points to spend in the same manner as if they'd committed the Diablerie themselves.
Folkloric Bane (•) Take Aggravated Damage when touching a specific object rooted in vampire mythos of what harms them, example Silver.
Folkloric Block (•) Must spend Willpower or move away a specific object vampires are known to fear in Vampire Mythos, example Holy Symbols.
Stigmata (•) Bleed from wounds on the hands, feet, and forehead when at Hunger 4.
Stake Bait (•) Attempts to drive a stake or other weapon into your heart require only three successes (before halving) instead of five.(Homebrew Content)

Contagion — Related to blood-borne ilnesses
Disease Vector (•) When feeding from a sick mortal, the illness is always contracted and will be passed onto the next vessel.
Plaguebringer (• — ••) The Kindred carries a disease that cannot be removed from their vitae. At one dot the disease is minor with visible traces, at two dots the disease can be potentially fatal if not treated. It is passed through the bite.

Psychological — Sub textual personality ticks. These are also accessible to mortals and ghouls.
Living on the Edge (••) When confronted with a risky temptation that the character hasn't done before, they suffer a two-dice penalty for all actions till they participate or the scene ends.
Weak-Willed (•••) Even when they are aware that someone is attempting to sway they may not use the active resistance systems to avoid the attempts.

Cults — Usable for those in blood cults or more mainstream belief structures.
Unholy Will (•• — ••••) With two dots, add one die to any pool when resisting or contesting against an individual with True Faith when related to their faith. The character also suffers one less point of damage from holy sources. At four dots, add two dice and suffer two fewer points of damage.
Beacon of Profanity (•) Mortals with any amount of True Faith can sense your presence, regardless of True Faith level.
Zealotry (• — •••) For each dot in this merit, once per session when succeeding with a normal roll that relates or aligns to the character's Conviction, turn it into a messy critical.
Crisis of Faith (•) Whenever there is a bestial failure, take one point of superficial Willpower damage in addition to other outcomes.
Penitence (• — •••••) Once per session, take one point of self-inflicted Superficial Health Damage in exchange for one point of Superficial Willpower damage.
Horrible Scars of Penitence (•) This flaw is equivalent to the Repulsive flaw when around those not within the cult.
Groveling Worm (••) The character must find the time to scourge their own flesh once per session for two points of Superficial Health damage or they suffer one point of Aggravated Willpower damage at the next session. Cannot be taken with Penitence Merit.

OLD SCHOOL RULE

As per the rules, Advantages are best used at character creation. However, through discussion with the Storyteller and either ongoing roleplay or a sufficient period of downtime, players may purchase some at the cost of 3 XP per dot in each, with Flaw dots taken after character creation granting equal Advantage dots.

You are encouraged to consider why your character possesses Merits and Loresheets, as any new power goes some way toward defining your character and their roles in the Chronicle. Any new Advantage should make sense within the context of the story and come from an agreement between player and Storyteller.

SCARCITY OF BACKGROUNDS

This is an optional mechanic introduced in Chicago By Night: Let the Streets Run Red, specifically for Kindred living in smaller towns where a Storyteller may decide the number Backgrounds given the smaller population.

Contacts — A certain amount may be rewarded freely, but largely the rest are opposed with other Kindred of the domain.

Influence — Similar to Contacts scarcity, but also attempts to grow Influence come with the need for defense rolls. Online or location-agnostic Influence may not be affected depending on the storyteller.

Herd and Feeding — Storyteller may have Herd operate in a limited size, migrating Herd face a degree of fluctuations, and failed hunts may have repercussions for the wider setting.

Haven — Kindred struggle in sharing the prime real estate in this setting.