Arcane Caster Merits
Book Savant (1): Your character gets -1 difficulty on rolls to recover Quintessence when using a spell book.
Cross Disciplinary Mage (1): Must have at least one dot of Spell-craft to qualify. Your character suffers no penalty when using spell books, teachers or magical items from magical traditions vaguely similar to your own and only a +1 difficulty penalty on working with wide disparate magical traditions.
Scribe Scroll (1): You can store active spells on scrolls.
You do not need this merit to use a scroll someone else made. Any arcane caster can do this.
Brew Potion (2): You can store active spells in potions or magic oils and make a few assorted wondrous items with clearly finite use such as magic candles that last until they burn up.
Craft Charged Magical Item (2): You can store multiple active spells in an item such as a wand. It does not have to be wand. You can store spells in a stick, the hilt of a sword, or the hem of your robes among other things.
You do not need this merit to use a charged item that someone else made. Any arcane caster can do this.
Eureka Moments (2): Your character can learn new spells without spell books or teachers. Roll Perception + Enigmas to draw on this spontaneous knowledge. The normal experience point cost must still be paid.
Magic Blood (2): You can choose to take an unsoakable level of lethal damage to replenish five points of quintessence any time as a free action. This damage cannot be healed with magic, only with rest.
Craft Permanent Magic Item (3): You can make a permanent non-charged magic item. It could be a ring, clothes, weapons, armor. Anything that is not a wand, potion, or scroll fits here.
Natural Quintessence Generation (3): You get 10 quintessence points every day you get a good night’s sleep, on top of other sources of quintessence.
Pain Tolerant Caster (2): Wound penalties are halved (round up) when casting spells. You need a Stamina of 3 to qualify for this merit.
Practiced Silent Caster (3): You receive a +1 difficulty penalty when forgoing verbal components while casting arcane spells rather than the usual +2 difficulty.
Practiced Still Caster (3): You receive a +1 difficulty penalty when forgoing somatic components while casting arcane spells rather than the usual +2 difficulty.
Arcane Caster Flaws
Spell Book Illiterate (1): Must have Eureka Moments. Your character cannot use or even read spell books of mages outside your order or read arcane scrolls without divination magic.
Arcane Marks (3): Your character prepares spells and regains mana from mystic sigils either tattooed or scarred on his skin or sewn on clothes that he has to wear every day. This means most peasants can immediately identify that you are a mage. People trained in Spellcraft can make an educated guess on what your relative power level is and which schools of magic you favor.
No Silent Casting (2): You cannot even attempt to cast spells silently.
No Still Casting (2): You cannot even attempt to cast without somatic components.
Book Bound (7): Your character cannot regain quintessence without a spell book (or some other talisman) or a magic font. Spell books are not irreplaceable but they are fairly expensive.
Focus Bound (4): Must be an arcane caster. You cannot cast arcane magic without using a wand, athame, icon or some exterior focus. It’s not impossible to replace your arcane focus if it’s lost, but it should take at least a full week to craft a new focus or a couple hundred gold to buy one. Caster’s choice whether they use one ueber-focus such as an ornate staff or one focus per each school of magic such as using an athame for necromancy, an amulet for abjuration, and a crystal lens for divination.
Bardic Mage (8): Your character uses music to cast his spells other than power word spells. Silent casting is impossible and you receive a +2 difficulty penalty if you cast a spell without a music instrument (unless it’s a power word spell in which case you don’t need an instrument). It does not have to be a masterwork or exotic musical instrument (unless you also take Focus Bound).
Merits and Flaws for Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks
For the most part, the difference between sorcerers and wizards is pretty vague and only a few academics or a few hard line purists tend to make much of a distinction.
Sorcerers
Sorcerers have a minimum Willpower rating of 5.
Sorcerers always have Eureka Moments and Natural Quintessence Generation.
Sorcerers never have the Book Bound Flaw and almost never have Book Savant Merit.
It is rare but not unheard of for sorcerers to be Focus Bound
Bardic Mages are rare but not unheard among sorcerers
Sorcerers often have the Draconic Heritage Merit. A lot of sorcerers have draconic heritage with lower case letters. They still
technically have draconic lineage, it's just not outwardly obvious.
Sorcerers sometimes have Merits and Flaws related to Fair Folk or Spirits if not they have non-Draconic magical lineage but often non-Draconic sorcerers have no special traits apart from their sorcery.
Primitive Wizards
Primitive Wizards must have Stamina 3+ and Willpower 5+ OR Stamina 2+ and Willpower 8+
Primitive Wizards usually have the Arcane Marks flaw
Primitive Wizards usually have Quintessence Blood merit
Primitive Wizards often have Natural Quintessence Generation and/or Pain Tolerant Caster
About half of all primitive wizards are Bardic Mages
Hermetic Wizards
Hermetic Wizards must have Intelligence 3+ and Willpower 5+ OR Intelligence 2+ and Willpower 8+
Hermetic Wizards usually have Book Bound Flaw and Book Savant Merit
Hermetic Wizards rarely have Eureka Moments or Natural Quintessence Generation
Bardic Hermetic Wizards are well known but they are a minority. Bardic Hermetic Wizards are less likely to have Book Bound and Book Savant than conventional wizards
Warlocks
Warlocks usually have a few exotic supernatural flaws from the main
Flaws list
Warlocks usually have Magic Blood
Warlocks often have Natural Quintessence Generation
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