• Wits: Your number of Dots in Wits limits how many splat-specific powers (e.g. Disciplines, Spheres, Lores, etc.) you can increase in one expenditure of XP. For example, if you have Wits 2, you may buy one dot in two Disicplines at once, but cannot buy a third until at least one of the other dots' completion date has been reached. Please note that even if a high number of dots in Wits allows you to learn three, four, or even five at once, keep in mind that time is finite; if you're studying that many different complicated fields at once, please don't then participate in a million scenes, otherwise your ST is granted the right to refuse one or more of the purchases even after approving it. (This is a SOtS universal rule)

It is an unfortunate reality that no two splats within the classic World of Darkness feature exactly the same list of abilities, which is of course a problem in a multi-splat game. To alleviate this issue we make use of the following lists of primary and secondary abilities for all splats.

• Technology is a Skill, in all system types.
• Research is a Knowledge, in all system types.
• Martial Arts are no longer hard OR soft style. All styles are both. This is covered in depth in Combat System House Rules.
• Religion has been subsumed in the more general Belief Systems.
• We allow Dual Specializations, but they can only be purchased after character creation, never during. For the mechanics behind this, please see Page 277 of Mage 20th Anniversary Edition corebook, specifically the section titled 'The Well-Skilled Craftsman.'
• While most abilities receive a specialisation at four dots, there are some exceptions: Academics, Art, Belief Systems, Crafts, Esoterica, Hunting, Performance and Science receive a specialisation at the first dot.
• Since the following abilities are defined differently in different game lines, the following compromise shall apply to all splats:
  • Art is a talent and applies to visual art forms: Drawing, painting, sculpting, flower arrangement, etc.
  • Performance is a skill that applies to performance arts: Dancing, singing, acting, etc.
  • Expression governs activities that involve the effective use of language, including writing novels or poetry.
  • Crafts encompasses abilities for the creation of primarily functional objects, like tailoring, carpentering, forging, etc.
  • Technology refers to the building, operation, and maintenance of electronics and electromechanical devices.
  • Computers is the software side to Technology's hardware. Writing, operating, and maintaining computer programs is handled by this ability.

(Of the one offered, below are the Secondary Talents available to Vampires)

Blatancy: Through theatrical flair, audience appraisal, and raw audacity, you’re good at getting away with blatant acts of magick. Typically, this involves using tried-and-true dodges: “We’re shooting a movie,” “It’s all an illusion,” “Haven’t you ever seen a flash-mob before?” – that sort of thing. As you might expect, such claims typically require props to lend credibility to your claims (a “camera crew,” stage magic gear, a pack of willing conspirators, etc.). If and when you have the goods to back up your dodge, however, you can pull reality over people’s eyes more often than you would be able to do otherwise. • Novice: “No, seriously – we’re filming a video.” •• Practiced: “That just looked easy. It took me years to figure out how to do that trick.” ••• Skillful: “All the necessary permits and explanations are posted on our website.” •••• Expert: “We did this trick on Mythbusters.” ••••• Master: “Nothing to see here – move along.” (Source: M20 Core Book, page 291)(roll: Performance)

Carousing: You can be the life of the party. This Ability is the knack of having a good time at a social event and making sure that others enjoy themselves as well. It involves knowing the best places to go, eating and drinking without making a fool out of yourself and drawing out others so that they'll have fun. • Novice: You can hold your liquor and keep your wits about you. •• Practiced: You've been to a few parties in your time, and people find you an enjoyable guest. ••• Competent: You know how to wine and dine someone quite well. •••• Expert: Everyone wants you at their parties. ••••• Master: Your gatherings are the greatest social events around. (Source: Mummy: The Resurrection, page 60)(Requirements: Blush of Health merit, enough dots in Resources background to equal the size and scope of party, Contacts background who can bring their associates. Charisma roll.

Diplomacy: You’ve got a knack for smoothing things over, making friends, and getting people to see past their differences. When you need to, you can also back up your guile with spine. A combination of ingratiating people skills, social psychology, knowledge of the situation, and innate timing allows you to gain people’s respect and then maneuver them to your desired point of view. A good diplomat can be transparent about his motives and yet still have people doing what he wants them to do while believing it’s their idea to do so. • Novice: Advice columnist. •• Practiced: Relationship counselor. ••• Skillful: Hostage negotiator. •••• Expert: Noted diplomat. ••••• Master: Jimmy Carter. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 19)(roll: Manipulation)

Haggling: You are skilled at bargaining and can reduce another's price, or get some other concession, under most circumstances. To bargain, make an opposed roll using your Manipulation + Haggling against the other character's Wits + Haggling (or Wits + Alertness). Each net success you score reduces the price by five percent if you are buying, or increases the character's offer by five percent if you are selling. Failure means the price does not budge. A botch angers the other character, driving her away in disgust or worsening her offer by 50 percent in either direction (Storyteller's call). • Novice: Bargain hunter •• Practiced: Market trader ••• Competent: Horse trader •••• Expert: Con artist ••••• Master: Marco Polo (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 23)

Homiletics: You can give persuasive homilies, and inspirational sermons. You manage to turn almost any daily event into a life-enriching experience with many lessons to learn. This can be used from the pulpit, from a street corner, or even at the local bar; the audience can be a congregation or a circle of friends, • Novice: You can retell a good homily you once heard. •• Practiced: You can construct a small sermon of your own. ••• Competent: You can do this every week if you have to. •••• Expert: You actually make people listen. ••••• Master: You have changed lives. (Source: The Inquisition, page 54f) (roll: Manipulation, diff 8. This can be done once a month to gain a dot in Contacts.)

Instruction: You’re really good at relaying information, teaching material, and helping other folks understand potentially complex principles. It’s not so much that you’re an expert on the subject at hand (though you might be), but that you’ve got a knack for taking your subject and making it easier to comprehend. A very useful Talent for mentors, professors and, of course, instructors for any given course of study, this Ability helps your character share his expertise with other characters. • Novice: You can pass along basic concepts. •• Practiced: A topic’s finer points are easy for you to express. ••• Skillful: Assuming you know something, you can teach it. •••• Expert: You’re one of those folks that people want to learn from. ••••• Master: A master of all aspects of learning, you’re a teacher that pupils recall for the rest of their lives. (Source: M20 Book of secrets, page 19)

Interrogation: You are able to extract information from people by fair means or foul. Using a mixture of threats, trickery and persistent questioning, you ultimately unearth the truth. • Novice: Nosy neighbor •• Practiced: Movie cop ••• Competent: Talk-show host •••• Expert: Investigative journalist ••••• Master: Spymaster (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 24)

Intrigue: Machiavelli’s ghost smiles upon you. In the vicious whirlpools of backstabbing power, you’re a force to be reckoned with. A combination of instincts, audacity, knowledge, guile, and ruthlessness gives you insights and edges that most folks lack. You may serve a greater purpose, work toward hidden agendas, or simply enjoy making puppets dance. Whatever your ultimate purpose, you’re a player, not a pawn, in your personal Game of Thrones. • Novice: Ned Stark. •• Practiced: Cersei Lannister. ••• Skillful: Varys the Spider. •••• Expert: Littlefinger. ••••• Master: Tyrion Lannister. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 19f)

Lucid Dreaming: Most folks float through dreams with no sense of control. Not you. When you choose to assert yourself in the dreamlands, you may shift the tone of a dream, change locations, confront nightmares head-on, or even construct dreams of your choosing. In game terms, this Talent lets you manipulate your surroundings in a dream (Perception + Lucid Dreaming, difficulty 6); shape new structures (difficulty 8); or take complete control over that dream and your place in it (difficulty 9). • Novice: You’re aware of your dreams and can remember them if you choose. •• Practiced: You can try to dream a certain dream. ••• Skillful: Some control over your dreams. •••• Expert: You know how to influence and read dreams as aspects of your inner self. ••••• Master: You understand themetaphysical elements of dreams and can manipulate them, recall them, inspire them, or share them to your will. (Source: M20 Core Book, page 294)

Malkavian Time: This Malkavian-specific Trait represents a Lunatic's particular connection to her clan's shared subconsciousness; needless to say, it's quite supernatural in nature. It allows the Malkavian to “plug into” the floodwaters of the Madness Network and filter out messages, impulses, shared visions, and knowledge of upcoming clan gatherings. • Novice: Your “cousins” are usually surprised when you manage to make it to a gathering. •• Practiced: You've become accustomed to the occasional Call. ••• Skillful: You sometimes hear echoes of messages that might not be intended for you. •••• Expert: When one of the family dies, you know. ••••• Master: You are the undisputed local authority on what is necessary. (Source: Clan Book Malkavian (Revised Edition), page 59)

Masquerade: This Talent cannot be taken during character generation, and is available only to vampires. Masquerade reflects how skilled a character is at appearing to be mortal: feigning respiration, creating a heartbeat, producing pink skin (by bringing blood to the surface), sneezing, masking vampiric tendencies, et al. Masquerade may be paired with a Social Attribute to determine whether the character successfully passes as a mortal among mortals. • Novice: You might succeed - in ideal circumstances. •• Practiced: You are able to pass casual inspection. ••• Competent: You are undetectable under most normal circumstances. •••• Expert: You may succeed even under duress. ••••• Master: Even a witch-hunter would be fooled. (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 24)

Mimicry A skilled imitator, you can mimic voices or sounds; the higher your rating, the greater your ability. The human larynx is quite flexible, capable of a wide vocal range. At the lower levels, you can imitate accents or the voices of specific people, while higher levels help you fake an impressive range of sonic phenomena. • Novice: You mock celebrities for fun. •• Practiced: Given time and practice, you can mimic a decent range of accents and voices. ••• Skillful: Your impersonations can fool folks who’re familiar with the people or sounds you’re imitating. •••• Expert: You’re like that dude in those old Police Academy flicks. ••••• Master: Your ability to mimic almost anyone or anything is downright unsettling. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 20)

Negotiation: An acute perception for what people want makes you a master wheeler-dealer. Combined with social savvy and the ability to say “No” when you need to do so, this perception lets you bring other folks around to your point of view, helps them strike bargains, and puzzle out the potential agendas that drive them to – and away from – the bargaining table. • Novice: You mediate disputes at home. •• Practiced: You’re good at herding cats toward a common destination. ••• Skillful: Your arbitration skills are in professional demand. •••• Expert: Regardless of the dispute, you often get your way. ••••• Master: You could forge lasting peace between old enemies, and leave them happy to have followed your lead. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 21)

Newspeak: Language is your playground. In a brave new age, you coin brave new words. Why? Because language is the gatekeeper of status and initiation. Obfuscatory miscourse is keycode. Disinfotech relegates the bleaters to Sidelinedia. Coprosperity sails on neochop, and so you bait the beespeakers and decompartmentalize linguiblocks. What the hell are you saying, anyway? Whatever the hell you want it to mean! Essentially, this Talent helps you spin and juggle buzzwords, either existing or original. Beyond the roleplaying fun you can have with this Trait, Newspeak provides a verbal arsenal for social entanglements. By pairing Social Attributes with this Ability, you can excite, incite or inspire your audience (Charisma + Newspeak); dazzle, befuddle or intimidate opponents (Manipulation + Newspeak); or blast holes in Preconceptionsville by pairing beauty with brains (Appearance + Newspeak). Intelligence + Newspeak may help you decipher or deconstruct someone else’s wordstorm, while Perception or Wits might help you keep track of a slogan-spitting raconteur… or beat her at her own game! (Ideally, this Talent should be roleplayed out. Relegating it to a simple roll of dice is no fun at all.) • Novice: Lol •• Practiced: u mad, bro? ••• Skillful: Your neologic metaphases into commcom. •••• Expert: Masspeak is youspeak. Youspeak is allspeak. ••••• Master: That whirring sound you hear is Orwell’s grave. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 21)

Panhandling: You are a skilled beggar. You are able to get people to give you money just by asking for it. The art of panhandling is performed through a subtle blend of Manipulation, Empathy, Intimidation, Streetwise and Subterfuge. You know whom to ask, how to approach them, what to say, and how to avoid police. This is a useful Talent for picking up quick cash or for creating a cover. • Novice: You can tell a good hard-luck story. •• Practiced: You can gain sympathy from most people. ••• Competent: Real smooth. You can hit even the hardhearted for a few bucks. •••• Expert: People want to take you home and feed and clothe you. ••••• Master: You can get whatever you want (within reason) for free. (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 24)

Public Speaking: You are able to mold the emotions of a crowd by making a speech. This might be at a political rally, in a courtroom, at a lecture or even at the barricades once the revolution is underway. Whatever you want your audience to feel is what it feels. • Novice: Entertaining speaker •• Practiced: Compelling speaker ••• Competent: Inspiring speaker •••• Expert: Popular champion ••••• Master: Demosthenes (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 25)

Scan: Your quick eyes spot things other people miss. Darting your gaze across a place or situation, you can catch a quick appraisal that would take most people a while to observe. Generally combined with Perception, this Talent helps your character scope out potential targets, threats, clues, faces, escape routes, and other vital details. He might not always know just what it is he sees, and he has to actually think about scanning an area in order to use this Ability. Given time for a fast glance or two, however, he’ll probably snag enough material to work with once he’s got the chance to process what he’s seen. • Novice: You catch the obvious hints. •• Practiced: You’re good at noticing the little stuff. ••• Skillful: Quick appraisals are your specialty. •••• Expert: Few details escape your gaze. ••••• Master: Sherlock Holmes wishes he were you. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 21)

Scrounging: Dude! Where’d you find that? You’re pretty good at spotting goodies in the oddest places. A skilled scavenger, you can discover all kinds of unlikely stuff. • Novice: You and Macklemore hit thrift shops together. •• Practiced: You are Macklemore. ••• Skillful: You scrounge most of what you need from society’s cast-offs. •••• Expert: Given enough time and trash, you could find almost anything you need. ••••• Master: Money-wise, you live off little or nothing. (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 21)

Search: Given time and motivation, you know how to toss a room or comb the woods. You’ve honed an eye for clues, mastered the classic hiding spaces (and puzzled out some new ones), and learned how to follow your instincts. If there’s something to be found, you’re likely to find it… • Novice: You’re good at finding lost stuff. •• Practiced: Clues seem to jump out at you. ••• Skillful: The last place to look is the first place you try. •••• Expert: The pros consult you when something or someone needs to be found. ••••• Master: Your gift for detections seems downright supernatural… and probably is. (Source: M20 Core Book, page 294f)

Seduction: You’re good at being bad. A master of attraction, you can draw people into engagements they might otherwise ignore or avoid. This Talent reflects the combination of carnal allure and emotional manipulation that can wind people around your fingers (or other parts of your anatomy…) whenever you want their attention. Seduction isn’t always sexual.It does, however, play off the target’s desires. Note that you don’t have to be gorgeous to use this Ability; many seducers, in fact, seem unremarkable until they put this gift to work. • Novice: You can score desperate drunks. •• Practiced: You can have almost anyone you want. ••• Skillful: You’re good enough to get people to go against their better natures. •••• Expert: Turn on the charm, turn off their brains. ••••• Master: Vows, homes, hearts, and marriages are yours to break at will. (Source: M20 Core Book, page 295)

Sense Deception: Over the years, you have developed the ability to know instinctively when people are not telling you the truth or not telling you the whole truth. There is a way they look, a tone of voice, a movem ent of the eyes - you can't analyze it, but it's always there and your instincts rarely let you down. • Novice: Sometimes you can tell, hut you still get suckered - though more rarely than the average person does. •• Practiced: It takes a silver tongue to pull the wool over your eyes. ••• Competent: Anyone who can slip one past you is a highly skilled con artist. •••• Expert: You could make a living screening people for security. ••••• Master: People whisper behind your back, and many are nervous talking to you. Your ability is almost supernatural. (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 26)

Style: You may not have been born good -looking, or possessed of a natural charm, but you know how to dress and make the most of your appearance. Even if you are not physically attractive, heads turn because of your dress sense and style. Note that this Talent only applies to people's reactions to your appearance; once you get closer, it's up to you. • Novice: Good taste •• Practiced: Socialite ••• Competent: Celebrity •••• Expert: Celebrity advisor ••••• Master: International model (Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 22)

Ventriloquism: You have the ability to throw your voice, making it appear to come from somewhere else. This Talent can be used for entertainment - or deception. • Novice: You could do a ventriloquist act at a children's party. •• Practiced: You could get a spot with a local amateur vaudeville club. You can make someone standing next to you appear to speak. ••• Competent: You could almost make a living from your talent, with occasional TV variety shows breaking up the round of cheap clubs and theatres. You can make someone (or something) within five yards of you appear to speak. •••• Expert: You could take your act to Vegas. You can make your voice appear to come from any spot within 30 feet of you. ••••• Master: Young hopefuls bombard you with questions, and Variety calls you the savior of a lost vaudeville art. You can make your voice appear to come from anywhere within earshot. (Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 26)