Talents describe all intuitive Abilities. Talents do not need to be practiced per se and cannot be studied or learned from a book; they are most often gained through direct experience. If you make a roll using a Talent in which you have no dots (Rating 0), you suffer no penalty; you simply roll your base Attribute Dice Pool.
Acting
You are adept at putting on a persona, feigning emotions, and pretending to be someone or something you are not, whether on stage or in real-life deception.
• Novice: Amateur theatrics or convincing white lies.
•• Practiced: Community theater lead; you can fake tears or laughter on cue.
••• Competent: Professional actor or seasoned undercover operative.
•••• Expert: Method actor; you completely inhabit a false persona without slipping.
••••• Master: Academy Award winner; you could convince someone's own mother that you are her child.
Possessed by: Actors, Con Artists, Undercover Cops, Spies, Politicians
Specialties: Playing Dead, Accents, Emotional Manipulation, Stage, Impersonation, Feigning Innocence
Alertness
This is your basic knack for noticing things going on around you without actively searching for them. It describes the passive awareness you maintain of your surroundings and warns you of ambushes or subtle changes.
• Novice: You are no space cadet.
•• Practiced: Casual observer; not much gets past you in broad daylight.
••• Competent: Vigilant; you keep a sharp eye on your environment.
•••• Expert: Paranoid or hyper-attentive; your senses miss almost nothing.
••••• Master: Your senses are on par with a wild predator's.
Possessed by: Bodyguards, Hunters, Burglars, Journalists, Sentries
Specialties: Noises, Eavesdropping, Ambushes, Hidden Weapons, Crowds, Forests
Athletics
This Talent represents your basic physical prowess, coordination, and training in sports and movement. It covers running, jumping, throwing, swimming, and catching, and applies to both athletic competitions and physical escapes.
• Novice: Active childhood.
•• Practiced: High school varsity athlete.
••• Competent: Talented college or semi-pro athlete.
•••• Expert: Professional athlete or seasoned parkour runner.
••••• Master: Olympic medalist.
Possessed by: Athletes, Dancers, Soldiers, Street Punks, Scouts
Specialties: Acrobatics, Swimming, Throwing, Climbing, Parkour, Sprinting
Awareness (Mage / Werewolf / Changeling)
Awareness is an instinctive gut reaction to the presence of the supernatural. Unlike Occult (which is learned facts), Awareness lets you feel a sudden chill when a ghost passes, spot the shimmer of a magical ward, or sense Quintessence and Resonance ripples.
• Novice: You occasionally get odd hunches or "déjà vu" around the uncanny.
•• Practiced: You can tell when a room or object has a weird "vibe" to it.
••• Competent: You sense when magic or supernatural powers are actively being used nearby.
•••• Expert: You can pinpoint the source and general emotional resonance of supernatural energy.
••••• Master: You perceive the invisible currents of the Tellurian and supernatural auras constantly.
Possessed by: Mages, Mediums, Psychics, Garou Theurges, Parapsychologists
Specialties: Auras, Ghosts, Wards, Nodes/Caerns, Resonance, Illusions
Brawl
Brawl represents your skill in unarmed combat. Whether through barroom brawling, boxing, military hand-to-hand, or natural ferocity (including claws and fangs), you know how to dish out punishment with your bare body.
• Novice: Picked on as a kid; you know how to throw a basic punch.
•• Practiced: Street tough or amateur gym boxer.
••• Competent: Seasoned bouncer or tournament fighter.
•••• Expert: Professional prizefighter or veteran pit brawler.
••••• Master: Lethal living weapon; you can take down armed opponents barehanded.
Possessed by: Thugs, Soldiers, Police, Bouncers, Gangrel, Garou
Specialties: Boxing, Grappling, Dirty Fighting, Throws, Claws, Bite, Multiple Opponents
Dodge
Dodge measures your instinct for self-preservation and your ability to get out of harm's way. It is used to duck punches, weave away from knife thrusts, and dive behind cover when bullets start flying.
• Novice: You duck automatically when something flies at your head.
•• Practiced: Street-smart; you know how to weave and bob.
••• Competent: Experienced street fighter; you rarely take a clean hit.
•••• Expert: Trained martial artist; trying to hit you is like trying to grab smoke.
••••• Master: You can practically sidestep bullets in an open hallway.
Possessed by: Criminals, Street Urchins, Boxers, Soldiers, Courier Runners
Specialties: Dive for Cover, Sidestep, Footwork, Crowds, Close Quarters
Empathy
You understand the emotions of others, can sympathize with their moods, and can often tell when someone is hiding something from you or lying. You are a natural listener and confidant.
• Novice: You provide a passable shoulder to cry on.
•• Practiced: You can occasionally literally feel someone else's suffering or joy.
••• Competent: You have a keen insight into what makes other people tick.
•••• Expert: You can almost never be lied to; people are open books to you.
••••• Master: The human soul holds no mysteries from your gaze.
Possessed by: Social Workers, Psychologists, Con Artists, Priests, Detectives, Mediums
Specialties: Emotions, Personalities, Motives, Gaining Trust, Detecting Lies
Expression
Expression is your ability to communicate ideas and emotions forcefully and eloquently through words—whether spoken or written. You can inspire a crowd, pen a moving editorial, or craft a devastatingly sharp monologue.
• Novice: Above-average college composition level.
•• Practiced: You could lead a college debate team or write for a local paper.
••• Competent: You could be a successful writer, speechwriter, or journalist.
•••• Expert: Your work is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize or national broadcast.
••••• Master: Visionaries like Patrick Henry, Shakespeare, or Cicero.
Possessed by: Actors, Writers, Politicians, Journalists, Poets,Demagogues
Specialties: Poetry, Speeches, Impromptu, Journalism, Fiction, Conversation
Intimidation
Intimidation is the art of coercing others through sheer force of personality, veiled threats, or overt physical menace. You know which psychological buttons to push to make someone back down or comply.
• Novice: Cruel teenager or playground bully.
•• Practiced: Mugger or barroom tough.
••• Competent: Drill sergeant or mob enforcer.
•••• Expert: Your cold authority frightens even hardened criminals.
••••• Master: You can cow vicious animals and hardened killers with a glance.
Possessed by: Executives, Gangsters, Military Officers, Brujah, Sabbat
Specialties: Veiled Threats, Physical Coercion, Stare-Down, Political, Torture
Kenning (Changeling)
Kenning is the faerie sixth sense—the ability to perceive the chimerical world, sense the ebb and flow of Glamour, spot hidden cantrips, and recognize the fae mien beneath a mortal facade.
• Novice: You catch glimpses of strange colors or magic out of the corner of your eye.
•• Practiced: You can distinguish between chimerical and mundane reality with focus.
••• Competent: You readily feel the pulse of Freeholds, Treasures, and cantrips.
•••• Expert: You can read the subtle nuances of Glamour and Banality on people and places.
••••• Master: Nothing of the Dreaming is hidden from your eyes.
Possessed by: Changelings, Kinain, Enchanters
Specialties: Glamour, Banality, Cantrips, Freeholds, Chimerical Creatures
Leadership
You are an example to others and can inspire people to follow your commands through nobility, charisma, and decisiveness rather than fear. Leadership is about getting people to want to follow you into the fire.
• Novice: Little League coach or club president.
•• Practiced: Student body president or shift supervisor.
••• Competent: Effective CEO or combat platoon officer.
•••• Expert: Presidential material; you inspire fierce loyalty.
••••• Master: You could be a beloved dictator or unifying savior of a nation.
Possessed by: Politicians, Princes, Pack Leaders, Executives, Military Officers
Specialties: Oratory, Compelling, Friendly, Open, Noble, Military, Cults
Primal-Urge (Werewolf)
Primal-Urge measures the strength of your inner animal and your connection to natural, predatory instincts. For Garou and shapeshifters, it governs instinctive shapeshifting, surviving in the wild as a beast, and channeling the raw wolf spirit.
• Novice: You are comfortable in your skin and trust your gut instincts.
•• Practiced: You move with predatory grace and understand the rhythm of the hunt.
••• Competent: Your inner beast and conscious mind work in seamless concert.
•••• Expert: You are an apex predator; civilizational trappings are mere clothing to you.
••••• Master: You are the living embodiment of the untamed wild.
Possessed by: Garou, Fera, Gangrel, Feral Children
Specialties: Shapeshifting, Scenting, The Hunt, Instinctive Defense, Pack Coordination
Streetwise
You know the pulse of the urban underbelly. Streetwise lets you blend in with the disenfranchised, find black-market goods, understand gang sign and slang, and survive in the roughest neighborhoods without painting a target on your back.
• Novice: You know who is holding drugs on the block.
•• Practiced: You are accorded respect on the street and know the local territory.
••• Competent: You could head your own street gang or run a Vice squad beat.
•••• Expert: You have little to fear in even the worst slums; you know all the players.
••••• Master: If you haven't heard it, it hasn't been said on the street.
Possessed by: Criminals, Beggars, Reporters, Clubgoers, Detectives, Nosferatu
Specialties: Fencing, Illegal Drugs, Gangs, Rumors, Slang, Safe Houses
Subterfuge
You know how to conceal your own motives and manipulate others' weaknesses to get what you want. Subterfuge is the talent of the silver-tongued liar, the courtier, and the con artist, governing both intrigue and seduction.
• Novice: Teenager sneaking out after curfew; basic white lies.
•• Practiced: Vampire or barfly on the prowl.
••• Competent: Criminal lawyer or seasoned double agent.
•••• Expert: Deep-cover operative or Elysium Harpy.
••••• Master: The Prince of Lies himself would applaud your work.
Possessed by: Politicians, Lawyers, Teenagers, Vampires, Con Artists, Spies
Specialties: Seduction, Impeccable Lies, Double-Talk, Finding Weakness, Fast-Talk
Artistic Expression
You have the talent to produce works of art in various media, from saleable two- or three-dimensional art to accurate forensic sketches of a person or place.
• Novice: Simple work, seen as charmingly naive by some and amateurish by others.
•• Practiced: Your work could win prizes at local art society shows.
••• Competent: You could get a showing in a minor gallery.
•••• Expert: Widely admired; galleries contact you about exhibitions and local colleges invite you to teach.
••••• Master: Acknowledged driving force in contemporary art; your work hangs in museums and commands enormous prices.
Possessed by: Artists, Commercial Illustrators, Cartoonists, Police Artists, Forgers, Set-Builders, Model Makers
Specialties: Oils, Watercolors, Mixed Media, Charcoal, Sketching, Caricature, Impressionist, Photo-Realism, Abstract, Stone, Wood, Metals
Carousing
This is the ability to have a good time at a party or social occasion and make sure others around you also have a good time. For vampires, Carousing also includes the ability to appear to eat and drink normally at a dinner or buffet without actually doing so.
• Novice: You can plead a small appetite or recent illness.
•• Practiced: Perhaps you're watching your diet.
••• Competent: A charming dinner companion.
•••• Expert: You obviously enjoyed the food.
••••• Master: You even called for seconds.
Possessed by: Actors, Dilettantes, College Students, Vampires
Specialties: Sexual Innuendo, Lewd Jokes, Drinking, Exaggeration, Anecdotes
Diplomacy
You have the ability to deal with people of all types and creeds. Even when handling touchy subjects, you get results without ruffling feathers. You are skilled at delicate negotiations, mediating disputes, and following formal rules of give-and-take.
• Novice: You can iron out schoolyard disputes.
•• Practiced: Friends ask you to deal with things for them.
••• Competent: You could shine in management or personnel.
•••• Expert: You could be a professional union negotiator or ombudsman.
••••• Master: You can defuse nearly any situation, from an industrial dispute to a religious war.
Possessed by: Schoolteachers, Union Negotiators, Politicians, Tycoons, Diplomats, Counselors
Specialties: Mediation, Negotiation, Etiquette, International Relations, Industry, Personal Relationships, Tact
Fortune Telling
You may or may not have the gift to tell accurate fortunes, but you can make people believe you do through cold reading, theatrics, and divination props.
• Novice: You use one method of divination adequately as a pastime.
•• Practiced: You use one method well and tell people general information that applies to them.
••• Competent: You know a lot about certain methods and can tell detailed, convincing readings.
•••• Expert: You use multiple methods well and have a keen understanding of what people want to hear.
••••• Master: Traditional fortune-tellers take lessons from you.
Possessed by: Fortune-Tellers, Psychics, New Agers, Charlatans
Specialties: Tarot Cards, Prophecy, Romance, Palmistry, Tea Leaves, Runes
Haggling
You are skilled at bargaining and can reduce another's price—or get concessions—under most circumstances. Each net success on an opposed Manipulation + Haggling vs. Wits + Haggling (or Alertness) roll shifts the price by 5% in your favor.
• Novice: Bargain hunter.
•• Practiced: Market trader.
••• Competent: Horse trader.
•••• Expert: Con artist.
••••• Master: Marco Polo.
Possessed by: Traders, Con Artists, Pawn Brokers, Quartermasters
Specialties: Art, Weapons, Automobiles, Contracts, Advanced Technology
Instruction
You have a knack for imparting information and skills to others. You can explain things and demonstrate techniques so that anyone who listens can easily learn, raising a student's Skills or Knowledges up to your own rating.
• Novice: You can take simple concepts (e.g., basic arithmetic) and present them in a digestible manner.
•• Practiced: You can teach moderately complex things (e.g., algebra) and make them interesting.
••• Competent: You can make differential calculus sound like the simplest thing in the world.
•••• Expert: Learning from you is scarcely an effort; you could teach Sumerian cuneiform to almost anyone.
••••• Master: You are an inspiring teacher and bestow a touch of greatness on anyone who studies with you.
Possessed by: Elders, Mentors, Teachers, Professors, Drill Instructors
Specialties: Lore, Customs and Laws, University, the Arts, Sciences, Combat
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.
Possessed by: Cops, Journalists, Secret Service Personnel, Inquisitors
Specialties: Good Cop/Bad Cop, Threats, Trickery, Moral Blackmail
Intrigue
You know the finer points of plotting and deal-making in the halls of power. You understand the practical use of power in non-confrontational ways to achieve your ends, and can separate truth from the endless amounts of false gossip in court or Elysium.
• Novice: Neonate.
•• Practiced: Ancilla.
••• Competent: Elder.
•••• Expert: Primogen.
••••• Master: Prince.
Possessed by: Elders, Courtiers, Politicians, Harpies
Specialties: Gossiping, Feigning Ignorance, Threats, Plotting, Rumormongering, Alliances, Betrayals
Masquerade (Vampire Only)
This Talent reflects how skilled a vampire is at appearing mortal: feigning respiration, creating a heartbeat, producing pink skin by bringing blood to the surface, sneezing, and masking vampiric habits.
• 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.
Possessed by: Vampires
Specialties: Breathing, Simulating Heartbeat, While Sleeping, Sneezing, Producing Skin Tone, Warming Skin
Mimicry
You have a very versatile voice and can imitate accents, specific people, and mechanical or animal sounds to entertain or deceive.
• Novice: Passably duplicate a few accents and a couple of well-known personalities.
•• Practiced: Duplicate a range of accents well enough to fool anyone but a native speaker.
••• Competent: Stage-worthy; you can pick up someone's vocal mannerisms after a couple of hours of study.
•••• Expert: Imitate a specific person well enough to fool someone on the phone; duplicate animal and technological noises.
••••• Master: There is almost no accent, person, or noise you can't imitate.
Possessed by: Entertainers, Con Artists, Pranksters, Bird Callers
Specialties: Accents, Celebrities, Birds and Animals, Mechanical Sounds, Vocal Impersonation
Panhandling
You are a skilled beggar able to get people to give you money just by asking. You know whom to ask, how to approach them, what to say, and how to avoid the police.
• 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.
Possessed by: Street People, Addicts, Drifters, Professional Beggars
Specialties: The Rack, Yuppies, Sob Stories, Targeting
Poetic Expression
You craft words in ways that evoke thoughts, emotions, and reactions, composing poetry, fiction, essays, scripts, or song lyrics.
• Novice: You can write a short poem or extemporize a limerick when the Muse is with you.
•• Practiced: Publishable in a local journal, or basic hit-parade lyrics.
••• Competent: Publishable novels or anthologies; you can extemporize complex verse forms.
•••• Expert: Asked to do readings nationwide; you write lyrics people will quote in 10 years.
••••• Master: Your work is taught in classes and recognized as timeless art.
Possessed by: Poets, Lyricists, Novelists, Journalists, Advertising Execs, Rappers
Specialties: Limericks, Short Fiction, Novel, Scripts, Classical Forms, Extemporaneous, Lyric Writing
Public Speaking
You are able to mold the emotions of a crowd by making a speech—at a political rally, in a courtroom, at a lecture, or on the barricades.
• Novice: Entertaining speaker.
•• Practiced: Compelling speaker.
••• Competent: Inspiring speaker.
•••• Expert: Popular champion.
••••• Master: Churchill or Cicero.
Possessed by: Politicians, Revolutionaries, Actors, Professors, Preachers
Specialties: Entertaining, Moving, Demagoguery, Vote-Catching, Lies
Scan
You are practiced at noticing small details and changes in the environment when you purposely look or listen. Unlike Alertness (which is passive), Scan is used when you actively state you are scanning an area for threats.
• Novice: If anyone notices police sirens, it's you.
•• Practiced: Police could use your detective abilities.
••• Competent: The slightest motion draws your attention.
•••• Expert: Nothing escapes your glance.
••••• Master: You can count the grains of salt on a pretzel by taste.
Possessed by: Detectives, GIs, FBI Agents, Bodyguards, Night Watchmen
Specialties: Keeping Watch, Quick Scan, Listening, Smelling, Assassins
Scrounging
You have a knack for finding almost anything under almost any circumstances—from rare black-market hardware to unrecorded services on short notice.
• Novice: Basic equipment and services, such as drugs, illegal weapons, and hired thugs.
•• Practiced: A vehicle, a forged passport, or a skilled wiretapper.
••• Competent: An aircraft and pilot or a hitman at an hour's notice.
•••• Expert: State-of-the-art military hardware and any vehicle you desire.
••••• Master: You could find a rent-controlled penthouse for $100 a month.
Possessed by: Criminals, Intelligence Operatives, Entrepreneurs, Nosferatu, Bone Gnawers
Specialties: Illegal Goods, Vehicles, Services, Art, Technical Equipment
Search
You know how best to go about looking for someone or something in a small, confined area where you can concentrate your perceptions (e.g., tossing an office or finding a hidden wall safe).
• Novice: Good at finding lost items.
•• Practiced: Tell-tale signs (e.g., disturbed dust or broken plants) are apparent to you.
••• Competent: You know exactly where people hide things.
•••• Expert: Nothing escapes your search.
••••• Master: You can spot the Purloined Letter in two seconds flat.
Possessed by: Detectives, Maids, Policemen, Prison Guards, Thieves
Specialties: Sounds, Woodwork, Small Objects, People, Concealed Doors
Seduction
You know how to lure, attract, and command the attention of others in a romantic or sexual manner through posture, gaze, and tone of voice.
• Novice: Teenager.
•• Practiced: Experienced charmer.
••• Competent: Heartthrob.
•••• Expert: Movie star.
••••• Master: Legendary siren.
Possessed by: Thespians, Escorts, Socialites, Toreador, Cultists of Ecstasy
Specialties: Witty Conversation, Opening Line, Innuendo, Alluring Look
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—through micro-expressions and vocal cadence.
• Novice: Sometimes you can tell, though you still get suckered occasionally.
•• Practiced: It takes a silver tongue to pull the wool over your eyes.
••• Competent: Anyone who can slip one past you is a master con artist.
•••• Expert: You could make a living screening people for intelligence security.
••••• Master: Your ability is almost supernatural; liars are nervous just talking to you.
Possessed by: Bodyguards, Reporters, Interrogators, Security Personnel, Detectives, Mothers
Specialties: Interviews, Investigative, Courtroom, Technical (Polygraphs)
Style
You may not have been born good-looking, but you know how to dress and make the most of your appearance so that heads turn when you enter a room.
• Novice: Good taste.
•• Practiced: Socialite.
••• Competent: Celebrity.
•••• Expert: Celebrity fashion advisor.
••••• Master: International runway icon.
Possessed by: Socialites, Celebrities, Fashion Professionals, Hollow Ones
Specialties: Classic, High Fashion, Street Fashion, Retro, Gothic, Ethnic
Swimming
You are able to swim and survive in aquatic environments. (Note: Vampires do not float naturally; if they do not swim, they sink.)
• Novice: You can swim and stay afloat.
•• Practiced: You can swim fast or for extended periods.
••• Competent: Red Cross instructor or lifeguard.
•••• Expert: Championship swim team.
••••• Master: Olympic gold medalist.
Possessed by: Athletes, Lifeguards, Sailors, Navy SEALs
Specialties: Racing, Distance, Open Sea, Survival, Lifesaving
Throwing
You know how to throw objects accurately and use thrown weapons—from spears and hatchets to throwing knives and grenades.
• Novice: You sometimes get the ball over home plate.
•• Practiced: High school baseball pitcher.
••• Competent: Deadly even in a food fight.
•••• Expert: Decathlon javelin champion.
••••• Master: Major League Cy Young winner or master knife-thrower.
Possessed by: Athletes, Hunters, Ninjas, Soldiers
Specialties: Knives, Spears, Grenades, Target, Moving Targets
Ventriloquism
You have the ability to throw your voice, making it appear to come from somewhere else for entertainment or tactical distraction.
• Novice: Children's party act.
•• Practiced: Make someone standing right next to you appear to speak.
••• Competent: Make someone or something within five yards of you appear to speak.
•••• Expert: Make your voice appear to come from any spot within 30 feet.
••••• Master: Make your voice appear to come from anywhere within earshot.
Possessed by: Entertainers, Con Artists, Mediums, Tricksters
Specialties: Distance, Clarity, Dummy, Inanimate Object (e.g., radio)