Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition Core Rulebook

CLANS

In their own eyes, only the Clan of Kings has Who Are the Ventrue?
the restraint, the wisdom, the control, and the
pedigree to lead their kind through the night. Clan Ventrue has long been the leaders of the Cama-
Throughout their time as god-kings of ancient rilla, holding more positions of power than any other
Babylon and lords and ladies of the Dark Ages to clan, and they are loath to give that up. Even after los-
their contemporary roles as guardians of royal blood, ing their most prominent representative to a Brujah
majority shareholders, and campaign fund backers, assassination, the Ventrue continue to maintain that
they have been obsessed with the impulse to rule. they are destined to rule all Kindred, no matter the
They collect their tithes in the form of precious blood, sacrifices involved.
ensuring the growth of their legacy.
The Ventrue believe in the strength of tradition
While many other clans claim positions of influ- and lineage. The Embrace is one of the their most
ence in politics and business, no one can rival the important rituals, and the choice of childe affects the
Ventrue in the game of pure power and wealth. But way other members of the clan treat the sire. Ventrue
lately, their arrogant projections as divinely chosen therefore aim to Embrace overachievers, politically or
rulers, better fit to lead than any other clan, have financially powerful kine, or those with a talent that
begun to falter. Time is running out. As they feel their sets them apart from the masses.
privileges slipping through their fingers, the Ventrue
tighten their grip and fight fang and claw to remain in These nights, the Ventrue are cautious. The talent-
control as the masters of their kind. less fall by the wayside, while the best blend in with
humanity as bankers, shadow directors, reclusive

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moguls, and chiefs of staff. No cause these nights than ever before, member of the order
longer can a Ventrue openly lead adversity only making them more
a board or take a prominent posi- determined to succeed and more The Clan of Kings are well suited
tion in a mortal community. They certain that they have the right to visitors in secret societies such
resent having to influence their do whatever it takes. as the Freemasons and Rosicru-
surroundings from the shadows, cians. This Ventrue knows how to
but know that the risk of a fatal Ventrue Archetypes spin their words. They act as the
Masquerade breach is too high to reclusive leader or an important
risk anything else. cold-blooded corporate member of their society, whether
it be an informal gentlemen’s club,
The Ventrue are the establish- director a ladies’ guild, an alumni society
ment. They set and maintain the for magnates and millionaires, or
rules, punishing those who break This Ventrue controls a successful a gathering of concerned citizens
them, and occasionally reward- corporation, perhaps as the eccen- clandestinely seeking to control
ing those who follow. Their critics tric and reclusive CEO or maybe their neighborhood.
consider them tyrants or the jailers as an influential silent partner
of other Kindred. The uncomfort- involved in guiding the firm. This conservative politician
able truth is that without them, Ventrue is always several steps
the Masquerade, and the Camarilla removed from dirtying their hands The kings have always favored con-
with it, would have fallen long ago. but will rarely hesitate over ethics servatism and maintenance of the
The Ventrue are more loyal to their if it means getting ahead of the status quo. The politically inclined
competition. blue blood acts as the untouchable

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spin doctor, lurks in the wings of the party, or advises Fortitude: Fortitude enables the Ventrue to keep
pundits and newsmen on how to dictate the story. their thrones even when armies array against them,
Manipulating the media, they suppress Masquerade and to weather every blade, bullet, and bomb. They
breaches with ease. use the Discipline to feed in adverse situations, physi-
cal or otherwise. Where other Kindred might run
godfather short on vitae, the Ventrue resist the environment
and take their fill.
The so-called godfather wields their power through
organized crime, manipulating gangs and the path of Presence: The Ventrue seek to tame the court and
cash that runs from the streets to the bankers and poli- build the love and devotion of others toward their rule,
ticians. Other Ventrue may turn their noses up at such and Presence is a helpful tool. The Discipline is also
a shady character, but the godfather knows that to get used by the Ventrue who wants others to see how easy
things done, blood sometimes needs to be spilled. they acquire vessels. The clan values conservation of
time and resources, and Presence allows a hungry blue
high priest blood to be efficient when luring their prey.

The Ventrue have ever venerated their ancestors, both Bane
mythical Kindred such as Mithras, Tinia, and Tia-
mat and historical personages nearly as eminent. This The Ventrue are in possession of rarefied palates. When
ancestor worship ranges from a historian’s thorough a Ventrue drinks blood from any mortal outside their
study to leading a cult in the ancestor’s name. Seeing preference, a profound exertion of will is required or
the touch of their forebears in all that they do, the high the blood taken surges back up as scarlet vomit. Prefer-
priest seeks to repeat history, fulfill the goals of their ences range greatly, from Ventrue who can only feed
ancestors, and spread the knowledge of their glory. from genuine brunettes, individuals of Swiss descent,
or homosexuals, to others who can only feed from
Disciplines soldiers, mortals who suffer from PTSD, or metham-
phetamine users. With a Resolve + Awareness test (Dif-
Dominate: The Ventrue consider themselves the mas- ficulty 4 or more) your character can sense if a mortal
ters of this Discipline, using it primarily to exert their possesses the blood they require.
will on vassals and kine. When feeding, a Ventrue may
command a mortal to bare their neck, or use Dominate If you want your character to feed from anything
to erase all memory of a feeding. Ventrue also expertly but their preferred victim, you must spend Willpower
use this Discipline to protect the Masquerade. points equal to the character’s Bane Severity ■

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103

The Clanless
Panders
Orphans
Trash
Scum
Freestylers

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the

caitiff

Not all Kindred inherit the curse of one for the Embrace. This view is outdated and ignorant.
of the 13. Some don’t care what their These nights, the clanless are increasingly becoming
lineage is. Certain bloodlines of kin- a force to be reckoned with. Though more disparate,
dred have always been clanless, and individualistic, and chaotic than their cousins, they
sometimes childer of the clans are just born different. are all survivors, and they have begun to gather, build
They’re often discarded, exiled, or choose to distance alliances, and make childer of their own.
themselves from the clans that despise them. Pure
vampires, the Caitiff make up for what they lose in The Caitiff who seek out mortals to perform the
respect and pedigree by flexible blood and the absence Embrace generally target the strong-willed and those
of a crippling bane. Proud or ashamed of their clanless used to uncommon hardship. A Caitiff’s position in
nature as they may be, these creatures have no fam- the hierarchy of Kindred is at the bottom, just above
ily and represents vampirism at its purest and most the thin-blooded who should not have been born at
individualistic. all, and they are forced to fight for their place or fall
and be forgotten. The Caitiff see little point in Em-
Who Are the Caitiff? bracing mortals unlikely to make it through the night
on their own.
Many Kindred incorrectly assume all Caitiff are cre-
ated accidentally, that the clanless target no mortals While the Caitiff have begun to purposefully
increase their numbers, most are still created when
a fledgling Embraced into one of the clans does not
form an attachment with their ancestral Blood and

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does not exhibit the tell-tale signs their sire’s protests. The creation parents who either did not care or
of their clan’s curse. When other of a Caitiff is not an exact science, were not able to protect them – if
Kindred talk of the Caitiff, they and many abandoned childer still they had parents at all. It is likely
tell tales of Nosferatu abandoned manifest some of the characteris- they never had hope for a meaning-
for weeks on end without ever tics of their parent clan despite the ful, prosperous life. For them, the
developing any hideousness, absence of their bane. Embrace was an escape, and their
painfully sane Malkavians, and sire performed it out of respect
young Ventrue able to feed from Caitiff Archetypes for their perseverance against the
whomever they want. Unwilling odds.
to accept such a childe as one of raised on the streets
their own, the clan abandon them. abuse survivor
Or the childe senses in their Blood This Caitiff is was brought up in
that they do not belong, despite the worst part of their city by Caitiff habitually target abuse vic-
tims for the Embrace. The survivor

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caught the attention of their sire braced into one of the clans, but
by attending a support group, ap- cannot remember their sire and
pearing in the papers as the pros- never bonded to the Blood. As
ecuting victim in an aggravated the curse of their ancestors never
assault case, or perhaps by writing manifested in their body, they
a particularly striking blog post avoided the bane of their clan.
on the subject of their experiences. Without this marker, the Blood of
As the street kid, the survivor was their brothers and sisters rejects
“rewarded” with immortality and them – and they, it.
a chance to fight back against their
abusers. Having been through ter- Disciplines
rible experiences already, they are
judged to make a fine member of Caitiff characters have access to
the clanless. three Disciplines of your choice
following the Embrace. These are
helplessly overestimated not considered in-clan for the pur-
poses of Experience cost and the
This Caitiff was Embraced by the Caitiff can learn any Discipline at
clanless for all the wrong reasons. the same price assuming they taste
Perhaps they threw off a cruel boss’ the Blood of a wielder at least once
yoke once, or dumped an abusive and fulfill the standard conditions
partner, but this behavior was an for that Discipline.
exception in their life. They were
chosen for their perceived strength, Bane
and now they are hopelessly lost
and overwhelmed by their exist- Untouched by the Antediluvians,
ence as one of the Kindred. the Caitiff share no common bane.
Caitiff characters begin with the
secret caitiff Suspect (•) Flaw and you may not
purchase positive Status for them
This Kindred awoke as a Caitiff, during character creation. The Sto-
but they managed to hide it from ryteller may always impose a one
their sire. They are now a full or two dice penalty on Social tests
member of their ancestral clan, against fellow Kindred who know
attending the rituals and obeying they are Caitiff, regardless of their
the traditions of their kin in return eventual Status.
for the protection of their elders.
They have no desire to go through Further, to improve one of the
eternity alone, and they will do Disciplines of a Caitiff costs six
whatever it takes to keep their times the level purchased in experi-
secret hidden. ence points ■

unwanted childe

The unwanted childe was Em-

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Duskborn
Mercurians
Thin-Bloods
The Young Ones
Run-Off
Weaklings
Chameleons
Abortions

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tthhein-

blooded

Adeterio- removed from Caine. They say it will bring nothing but
rated breed, death and sorrow. But, be it by mistake or design, this
a portent of edict is not always followed.
the end times,
or a vampire for a brave new A 14th generation Kindred, who only by miracle
world? Balancing at the midpoint avoided the flaw of thin blood themselves, drain a mor-
between life and death, the ever- tal in a fit of frenzy and guiltily feed them a mouthful of
changing nature of the Duskborn vitae, hoping against hope that it might reanimate the
evokes pity, jealousy, and fear in equal broken body.
measure. Survivors of the last decades of
pogroms, prejudice, and ostracization, the A Ventrue from a long line of liars thinks herself
thin-blooded are here to stay. Their messy closer to her progenitor than she really is, and believes
street-alchemy and ability to pass as human she is creating a worthy member for her clan.
makes them uniquely suited to thrive outside
Kindred society and make their own fate in the A prince’s great-grandchilde attempts to force their
post-modern nights. diluted vitae into the mouth of their ancestor’s executed,
treacherous ghoul just to get back at the old tyrant.
Who Are the
Thin-Blooded? A Tremere, often overlooked by his clan for his
weakness of Blood and spirit, experiments with the
Sires tell their childer of the 13th and 14th generation Embrace to prove himself as good as them.
never to attempt the Embrace as their Blood is too far
In all these cases, a dusk-born may awaken, if the
Blood wills it.

Kindred who intend to sire thin-bloods often target
individuals they already have a pre-existing relationship
with, such as a trusted ghoul or a human family member
they cannot forget, or they seek out vessels who dem-

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onstrate specific traits or rare talents that make them tattooed with the “mark of the crescent moon”. Inked
better equipped to survive as the weakest of predators. by a Tremere tattoo artist or scorched with a beam of
Many Kindred view the thin-bloods as a threat to the sunlight, the brand is irreversible. Even Anarchs and
Masquerade and will destroy them, if given the chance. unbound think twice before associating with a marked
Mercurian.
The thin-blooded can be of any mortal origin and
are not affected by their parent clan’s curse nor by their Thin-Blood Archetypes
preferences in the same degree as their sire. If they are
allowed to rise, they will likely be turned away, gaining live one
the luxury of freedom and the danger of solitude.
This thin-blood is deeply connected to the mortal
In 2009 the Inner Circle of the Camarilla issued
an edict that all thin-blooded must be branded or

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world, perhaps more so than the Kindred one. They a way, but before they figure it out this thin-blood
still maintain a family and attempt to hold a job; pay- will try anything and is easy to manipulate by callous
ing the bills is more important than the whim of some Kindred.
baron they have never met. Ironically, to maintain
their human façade, they likely have to lean heavily on Thin-Blood Characteristics
the powers in their Blood.
A thin-blood is created when a 13th or higher gen-
weapon of convenience eration vampire Embraces a mortal. While formally
belonging to the 14th, 15th, or even 16th generation,
A former occultist, ghoul, or blood doll, they were these classifications mean nothing to the thin-
close to the Kindred before joining their ranks and bloods, as they exhibit a wide variety of traits with
knew some of their secrets. This thin-blood was Em- no connection to their supposed generation. A 14th
braced out of their sire’s desperation when backed into generation thin-blood may be too weak to even
a corner, and they were meant to take part in some war Blood Bond with a mortal, while a 15th might still
or pursue a vengeful dream. Whether they choose to retain the ability to Embrace, and vice versa. Among
do so or not is up to them. The Embrace released them the dusk-born, the lines are blurred.
from their former slavery, and now there is nothing
forcing them to do their sire’s bidding. Despite this, your thin-blood character is still
fundamentally a vampire, and unless otherwise stated
guilty embrace follows the same rules as other vampires in this book.

This thin-blood was not Embraced as part of some Blood
elaborate plan. A party-goer, a late-night worker walk-
ing home alone, or just someone in the wrong place at Thin-bloods cannot create Blood Bonds or perform the
the wrong time – a vampire fed from them and drank Embrace with any certainty. A Rouse Check worth of
a little too much. Perhaps the Embrace was performed thin-blood vitae imbues a mortal with ghoul-like pow-
by the drinker as an act of desperate guilt, or perhaps ers, but only for a single night.
their sire was an onlooker who couldn’t bear to watch
them die. Thin-bloods always have Blood Potency 0 (see p.
215).
natural vampire
Clan
This thin-blood was destined to become one of the
Kindred. As a mortal hunter or a member of Arcanum, A thin-blood is always considered clanless and never
they studied the lore of the clans and the myth of suffers any specific clan bane or compulsion.
Caine and became too fascinated for their own good.
Meaning to kill, question, or request the Embrace, they Damage
tracked down one of the Kindred. But their sire was a
not what was expected by the childe, who is now bitter Most thin-bloods sustain damage like mortals but
at the weakness in their veins. mend like vampires. In game terms, they take Aggra-
vated damage not only from fire, but also from slashing
redemption seeker and piercing weapons. Impalement with a stake does
not paralyze them but instead causes massive physical
This thin-blood was turned against their will and trauma, likely sending them into torpor. Once dam-
refuses to accept a place in a world of streetlights and aged, thin-bloods heal according to the rules for other
blood. They are recently turned and desperately look vampires.
for a way to cure their “condition,” seeking out rumors
of others who have done it as well as weird legends
of Golconda and blood transfusions. There is indeed

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Disciplines or if masked and protected by
clothing or thick sunscreen, the
Thin-bloods pioneered and practice thin-blood might only sustain
the art of thin-blood alchemy. This damage every third turn or once
potentially allows them to taste the per minute.
Disciplines of other Kindred … and
to get more than a taste if they can Thin-Blood Merits
find the vitae to fuel those work-
ings. Thin-bloods often display addi-
tional variations. See Thin-Blood
Additionally, whenever a thin- Merits and Flaws (p. 183) for
blood feeds they gain one dot in details.
one Discipline associated with the
Resonance of the blood consumed, Ways Out
together with one level one power
in that discipline. If the Resonance Straddling the line between mor-
is Intense or stronger, they gain tality and vampirism, thin-bloods
an additional dot together with a have a choice. While they do not
second power. No additional powers age, and can thus stay thin-bloods
can be gained in this way nor can the indefinitely, most of their kind
rating increase with experience. This sooner or later chooses the day
Discipline lasts until Hunger reaches or the night. A thin-blood who
5 or the next feeding. manages to commit diablerie on
a “true” Kindred absorbs not only
Hunger and Frenzy their power and spirit but also
their lineage, turning them into a
A thin-blood suffers hunger just as 13th generation Kindred of their
any vampire. However, the Beast victim’s clan. The Camarilla occa-
is far less overt, and a thin-blood sionally dangles this prize in front
never frenzies unless provoked by of dusk-born who show themselves
supernatural means (such as Ani- capable of running the dirtiest of
malism, p. 244). errands and surviving, offering
up a Cainite sentenced to a Blood
Life-Like Hunt as sacrifice.

A thin-blood always counts as hav- Conversely, every thin-blood
ing used Blush of Life (se p. 218), knows someone who knows some-
the exact effects dependant on one who returned to the daylight.
their Humanity rating. The story usually goes that they
became mortal again by clinging
Sunlight to their humanity until they could
hunt down and end their sire, thus
Thin-bloods take only one level ending their curse.
of Superficial damage per turn in
direct sunlight. Less direct sunlight Of course, any mortal who
causes damage with less frequency. knows about the Kindred is a threat
For example, under heavy clouds to the Masquerade ■

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rules

“What would life be without arithmetic, but a scene of horrors?”

– SYDNEY SMITH

Vampire: The Masquerade uses mechanical Time
game rules to provide a reliable frame-
work to the world. Neither the players Time passes in the World of Darkness just as it does in
nor the Storyteller want the Storyteller to our normal world, even if more of it seems to hap-
make up everything as they go along, after all, or even pen at night. That’s because you don’t need to play
follow a completely pre-planned plot; this is a game, out every minute, or even every day, of the time that
not a novel or movie. passes in your chronicle. One game session might last
four hours of real time and cover a decade of game
The most basic of these rules, and thus the fastest time in Memoriam (see p. 311) – or one 15-minute gun-
and cleanest to use in play, appear here. They are the fight just before dawn, although hopefully you’ll use
core of the Storyteller System. the Three Turns and Out system (p. 130) rather than
put yourself through that.
You can run the whole game using nothing but these
rules, the character rules, and the rules and powers in Vampire uses five basic units to describe game
Vampires and Disciplines. For games with only human time:
characters, you may not even need those last two sec-
tions! Turn: The amount of time needed to take a fairly
simple action, such as attacking a cop, searching a
More advanced modular rules appear in Advanced backpack, or buying someone a drink. Turns remain
Systems. Use them or ignore them as you choose. abstract; they take as long as the action takes. Turns
generally get shorter during action scenes and longer
But here beats the heart of the matter, from rolling
dice to throwing down to telling time.

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DROPPING THE DICE in social scenes. It takes longer to
Story, not rules, governs a game of Vampire. Proper pacing can buy someone a drink than to fire
build a narrative to unimaginable heights of tension; slack pacing a gun – in some bars, a lot longer.
kills even the deadliest horror. For this reason, Storytellers can
change the mode of the game to suit their sense of pacing. Many Scene: Generally, a compact series
scenes play just as well – and much faster – without rolling dice of actions and interactions that
at all, as players and Storyteller riff on each others’ contribution, take place in a single location or
dialogue, and actions. between a single set of characters.
A coterie of vampires fleeing across
For some types of scenes, dice definitely help build drama, like the rooftops from a Second Inquisi-
scary music on a film soundtrack. But you can’t fill a whole movie tion hit squad might consist of one
with screeching violins or ominous bass – roll the dice sparingly. scene, as might a series of phone
Don’t think you need to roll them throughout an entire a scene, ei- conversations between a vampire
ther – you can roll them once and then play the scene toward the and their contacts in four different
outcome you “predicted” with the dice at the beginning. (“Okay, cities. You know how scenes work
looks like you got spotted by the trenchcoat guy. How will he do from plays, movies, and television.
that?”) This practice works especially well for dialogue scenes; roll A scene contains as many turns as
at the beginning to see who wins the debate or if the Prince will pacing requires; a scene containing
be persuaded – then both players and Storyteller can shape their pure dialogue or interaction might
speeches toward the known result. Even combat scenes can work have no turns per se in it at all.
this way once players get used to it.
Session: One game session, some-
In short, you can play any scene with lots of dice rolls, with one times called a chapter. Vampire
roll at the beginning or the end, or with no dice at all. doesn’t rely on this division of time
as much as some games do, but it
For more on this topic, see Scenes and Modes on p. 290 of the can provide regularity and balance
Systems chapter. to some rules effects. It also has the

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advantage of being unambiguous; ple, scenes in the past explored something trivial like parking a car,
it’s always pretty clear when you’ve in Memoriam might play lighter it shouldn’t challenge a vampire like
stopped playing for the night. compared to the darkness of the smelling blood, or the Storyteller
modern nights, or vice versa. may decide the proposed action just
Story: A full tale, complete with suits the ongoing drama. Sometimes
introduction, rising action, and cli- Simple Tests skipping a roll just speeds up play,
max. Some stories can take several especially for an easy or average
sessions to complete; others can be Most of the things characters do feat, or something your character
finished in one. Some short stories during a game happen without any really excels at (see Automatic Wins
are effectively vignettes that are rules governing them – they start on p. 120).
nothing more than a single scene. cars, check out appetizing or dan-
gerous strangers, search via Google, But let’s say you’re not quite
Chronicle: A series of stories load weapons, cross streets, sniff the that good, or that you want to do
connected by the characters air, and do a thousand other things something harder than usual, like
themselves and their ongo- as automatically and easily as any- scaling a sheer cliff, reading Sumer-
ing narrative. Some chronicles one in the real world. Even a normal ian, or picking the lock on a door.
possess a unifying theme or activity, however, might require a
overarching plot; others are a dice roll if performed under stress, For those other actions, you
picaresque series of “one damned in a hurry, or against obstacles. And make a simple test. Simple tests go
thing after another.” Most activities that invite stress, haste, like this:
chronicles maintain a common and obstacles require dice rolls ■■ Describe what your character is
tone, be it gothic horror, street more often than not.
lethality, operatic tragedy, or trying to achieve and how.
cinematic action. But individual To begin, tell the Storyteller ■■ The Storyteller tells you which
stories or chapters can shift tones what your character wants to do.
for variety’s sake or to underline The Storyteller may just tell you of your character’s Traits to use
changes in the setting. For exam- that you succeed automatically: it’s to assemble a dice pool.
■■ The Storyteller sets a Diffi-
culty. This number may be kept
secret, depending on circum-
stances and playstyle.

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■■ Unless the test is an automatic win (see p. 120), you utes to build the pool. Often an Attribute pool repre-
roll the dice pool and count your successes. Every sents a straightforward test of the given Attribute:
die that shows 6 or higher is a success. A 0 on the Strength + Strength to lift a heavy beam off a coffin
die means a result of 10: a success. lid, for example. Sometimes, two Attributes combine
to make a pool, such as Resolve + Composure tests to
■■ If the number of successes you get equals or exceeds resist many Disciplines (p. 243). A character who lacks
the Difficulty, you win the test and accomplish that a Skill rolls only the pool’s Attribute, with no addi-
action. tional penalties.

EXAMPLE: EXAMPLE:

Juan's character is canvassing the neighbourhood for John’s character wishes to research an occult topic in an
information on movement in the area. The Storyteller arcane library. He has three dots of Intelligence and two
decides this is a simple Resolve + Investigation test with dots of Occult, and thus possesses a pool of five dice.
a Difficulty of 2: straightforward. Juan's character has 3
dots in Resolve and 3 dots in Investigation and so he rolls Take a number of ten-sided dice (d10s) equal to the
6 dice, getting three successes – more than enough for a number of dots in those Traits and roll them. Traits
win. The Storyteller gives Juan the info he sought: a clue usually have ratings between 0 and 5, so pools generally
he might be able to use. range from one die (the minimum pool size, if you can
roll at all) to ten dice or more.
Traits
Especially when dealing with social actions, such as
Traits define characters, from their physical potential; seduction or diplomacy, don’t force the dice into the
to their learned skills; to their various natural, secret, path of the roleplaying. If a player has their charac-
and supernatural advantages and hindrances. The ter say something particularly inspired (or painfully
Storyteller System demarcates Traits in dots, usually wrong), open with a truly tempting (or utterly insult-
ranging from zero to five. For example, a person with ing) gambit, or offer a cunning (or transparently false)
one dot in Strength is feeble or puny; a person with explanation, the Storyteller should feel free to modify
five dots in Strength could potentially win Olympic the Difficulty or even let the character succeed (or fail)
weightlifting medals. without involving dice and Traits.

We call the Traits that define a character’s innate and The Storyteller should perhaps warn a character
potential abilities Attributes, while Skills define the ways with a high Trait away from a disastrous approach – “as
characters most reliably or successfully apply that poten- one gifted in Etiquette, you know better than to slap
tial. Both Attributes and Skills fall into Mental, Physical, the Prince on the back.” But even a one-dot Skill can
and Social categories. All of these, including other Traits, shine if the player applies the right polish.
such as Backgrounds, appear in the Character chapter (pp.
133-199). Vampires always replace normal dice with their
current Hunger dice in every pool. See p. 205 for more
Pools details.

The Storyteller tells you which combination of Traits specialties  Characters may possess greater aptitude or
creates your dice pool, the number of ten-sided dice you expertise in one particular aspect of a Skill. If a character
will roll, for any action. attempts an action that falls within one or more of their
specialties for the skill used, they gain one extra die for
Although most actions use a Skill pool (Attribute + their dice pool.
Skill or Attribute + Discipline), a few only use Attrib-
For more on Specialties, see p. 159.

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trackers and pools  Three of the Attributes di- quired to accomplish a task, not the target number for
rectly relate to two special pools called trackers: the individual dice, which is always 6 or higher.
■■ Health equals Stamina + 3.
■■ Willpower equals Composure + Resolve. equipment  Some tasks use specialized equipment,
such as picking a lock, performing surgery, or engag-
Tracker pools go up and down as characters spend ing in gunplay. If the Storyteller considers equipment
from them or take damage to them. Tracker pools can- a core component of an activity, they may apply a +1
not exceed their starting value, noted above. Difficulty modifier for improvised, unreliable, or poor-
quality equipment. Without any equipment, the task is
If the Storyteller calls for a roll using a tracker, the impossible.
dice pool equals the current undamaged pool of that
Trait, not the tracker’s full rating. No dice pool can fall opposition  Characters sometimes attempt actions
below 1, so a roll for an empty pool still yields one die. that a Storyteller-played character (SPC) opposes, e.g.,
hacking a bank’s monitored computer system, sneaking
EXAMPLE: past a guard, or seducing a victim.

Bhavna has a Willpower of 7 but has spent 3 points The Storyteller can choose to define those actions
this session, so she would roll four dice, not seven, for a as contests (p. 123), but for speed of play they might pre-
Willpower roll. fer to represent the opposition with a static Difficulty
number. They can determine that Difficulty several
Difficulties ways, using whichever one is fastest:
■■ Decide on a Difficulty according to the table below.
The Storyteller determines the Difficulty of the action ■■ Divide the SPC’s corresponding dice pool in half,
you’re attempting, expressed in terms of how many suc-
cesses you need to win, i.e. to accomplish that action. rounding down (see Taking Half, p. 123).
■■ Decide the target SPC’s Skill and use that as the
Unlike in earlier editions of Vampire, note that
the Difficulty means the number of successful dice re- opposing Difficulty. Even if the foe’s nominal Skill
is zero, the Difficulty is 1. Skill (and Attribute) rat-
ings of 2 or 3 are the most common; most mortals

difficulty of action difficulty number

Routine (striking a stationary target, convincing a loyal 1 success
friend to help you) 2 successes
3 successes
Straightforward (seducing someone who’s already in the 4 successes
mood, intimidating a weakling) 5 successes
6 successes
Moderate (replacing a car’s sound system, walking a tight-
rope) 7 or more successes

Challenging (locating the source of a whisper, creating a
memorable piece of art)

Hard (convincing a cop that this isn’t your cocaine, rebuild-
ing a wrecked engine block)

Very Hard (running across a tightrope while under fire, calm-
ing a hostile and violent mob)

Nearly Impossible (finding one specific homeless person in
Los Angeles in one night, flawlessly reciting a long text in a
language you don’t speak)

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pose little challenge to vampires, or even to very Dice Pool Results
capable fellow mortals.
When you roll a dice pool, every individual die result
modifiers  The Storyteller might decide to add or of 6 or higher is a success, including a result of 10
subtract a modifier to any dice pool. Vampire has two (represented as 0 on most d10s). If you roll a number of
basic types of modifiers: successes equal to or exceeding the Difficulty number,
■■ Change the size of the dice pool. This modifier the rules call that a win.

reflects a change or circumstance for the character: criticals A result of 10 on two regular dice (00)
they are drugged, they use a specialty, they appear is a critical success. A critical success counts as two
terrifying, etc. additional successes above the two 10s (four total suc-
■■ Alter the Difficulty. This modifier reflects a change cesses), as you perform your task much faster, more
or circumstance for the action: rainy weather, badly stylishly, or more thoroughly than normal. A winning
maintained equipment, performed under gunfire, roll containing at least one critical success is called a
on unfriendly turf, etc. critical win, or sometimes just a critical.

In general, shifting the dice pool up or down by two
dice has the same statistical effect as decreasing or
increasing the Difficulty by 1.

Storytellers should use common sense when stack-
ing modifiers. At some point, no amount of gilding the
lily helps accomplish a task; likewise, characters’ basic
gifts can carry them through seemingly dire circum-
stances. Consider capping modifiers at plus or minus
2 to the Difficulty, or at three dice added or removed
from the character’s pool. This guideline applies to
ad hoc Storyteller modifiers, not to modifiers from
specialties or other specific rules.

Penalties can never cause a pool to drop below one
die.

automatic wins  If a character’s dice pool is twice
the task’s Difficulty, the Storyteller may opt to rule
that the character wins automatically without a dice
roll. Automatic wins streamline play and reduce
distracting rules interludes. Apply them vigorously,
especially outside of combat or for tests where char-
acter failure is boring: information-gathering tests,
conversation-openers, or gambits that open up the
scene or let it move forward dramatically.

Automatic wins seldom apply in combat or other
stressful situations. A Storyteller willing to speed up
opening rounds or to blow through a location they
didn’t intend to be challenging, might allow automatic
wins against mooks and nameless obstacle humans: rent-
a-cops in the office lobby, not real cops in the streets.

120

RULES

examples of rolls using regular dice:

Martin (dice pool of 6) rolls    = 5 successes. 4

for the critical success ( + ), 1 for the regular success ( ).

Freja (dice pool of 5) rolls   = 5 successes.

USING THE VAMPIRE DICE: REGULAR DICE 4 for the critical success ( + ) and 1 for the single . Freja

 = (1-5) Failure might want to use Willpower (see p. 122) to reroll the two
= (6-9) Success
= (10) Success, potential critical win (each pair of failures, hoping for a fourth , that would bring her result to a
is worth 4 successes)
whopping 8 successes – 4 for each pair of ’s (10’s).

See chapter 7:Vampires for a guide on how to read and use
the symbols on the red Hunger Dice.

Each pair of 10s count as their own critical suc-
cess, so three 10s (000) would add up to five successes,
whereas four 10s (0000) would count as eight.

In some tests, a critical win yields additional effects
apart from the one stated above, and the Storyteller
can even award complete wins regardless of Difficulty
when a situation merits it. Vampires can also achieve
messy criticals (see p. 207).

margin The number of successes exceeding the
Difficulty of the roll is called the margin. If the Dif-
ficulty was 4 and you rolled seven successes, your
margin is three. Damage, many power effects, and
some other rules use margin to calculate the degree
of effect.

Even outside those circumstances, the Storyteller
can narrate a degree of success depending on the size
of the margin rolled: the larger the margin, the greater
the success.

In an Automatic Win, the margin is always zero.

win at a cost If your roll includes any successes,
but fails, the Storyteller may offer you to win at a cost.
You achieve your goal, but something happens to make
things worse for you anyway: you take damage, attract
unfriendly (and powerful) notice, lose something you
value, etc. Any player (including you) or the Storyteller
can suggest the cost; generally it should scale with the
number of missing successes. If it’s too high, you can
always opt to fail instead.

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CRITICALS IN PLAY conflicts. Conflict is inherently
The Storyteller should get used to critical successes showing stressful, and failure often carries
up in play. With larger dice pools, they become more and more its own cost in such circumstances.
common: a ten-dice pool has a slightly higher than 25% chance
of rolling a critical success. Of course, a ten-dice pool represents total failure If your roll
someone at the absolute pitch of human perfection – or someone includes no successes at all, your
who has worked the odds carefully enough, or drawn on enough character has totally failed. Total
dark power, to resemble perfection. failure sometimes means only that
your character didn’t achieve the
Be aware of this when adding extra dice to players’ pools – if a desired result; sometimes it means
critical seems like it might break suspense or harm the narrative, dire consequences occur. The Sto-
just lower the Difficulty instead. Mathematically, lowering the Dif- ryteller defines what total failure
ficulty by 1 equals adding two dice to a character’s pool. means according to each situation
and circumstances, and decides
But that said, our advice is to embrace criticals. They allow whether you can try again after a
players to show off their characters, and even when the opposition total failure.
gets them, they produce rapid, dramatic effects – kind of ideal, we
think, for stories of tempestuous predators in conflict. EXAMPLE:

EXAMPLE: try, try again If a character Sam rolls no successes when attempt-
fails an action, they can sometimes ing a dangerous jump between two
In the beginning of a chronicle, the try again. After all, failing to pick rooftops. Her character promptly falls
coterie tests to escape a burning a lock does not mean the character to a meeting with the only thing that
building. Since failing the roll can never insert a lockpick into is always there for you when you fall
would mean character death, which that door again. To justify such an – the cold, hard ground.
would derail the story before it be- attempt, circumstances need to
gins, the Storyteller instead has the merit it – the character obtains teamwork If two or more char-
player characters receive damage as a better set of lockpicks, for ex- acters can effectively work together
a cost for each missing success on ample, or their skill has improved on a task, such as investigating a
their tests. since last time. crime scene or tag-teaming a mark
in a confidence game, roll the larg-
Characters can repeat most est pool among the participants,
actions in combat, chases, or other adding one additional die for each
character assisting that has at least
one dot in the Skill involved. If no
Skill is involved, anyone can assist.

willpower Characters may
spend 1 point of Willpower to
re-roll up to three regular dice on
any one Skill or Attribute roll,
including a roll involving vampiric
Disciplines. Characters may not
spend Willpower to re-roll Hunger

122

RULES

dice or a tracker roll, such as DESCRIBING THE TEST ter’s Traits to use to assemble a
Willpower or Humanity. A spent After a test is resolved, dice pool.
point of Willpower counts as hav- describe what happens in ■■ The Storyteller chooses which
ing sustained a level of Superficial vivid detail, according to the of the opponent’s Traits to use
damage to Willpower (see p. 126) circumstances. This is now the to assemble a dice pool.
and is marked as such. reality of what has happened, ■■ Each contestant rolls their dice
for better or worse. Let your pool and counts their successes.
For more on Willpower, see pp. words be guided by the result ■■ If the acting character rolled
157-158. of the dice, the mood you’re equal to or more than the
going for, the personality of number of successes rolled by
checks Unlike rolls, checks nor- the character acting, and the the opposing character, the test
mally use a single die. The player specific circumstances of the is a win.
makes a check by rolling one die, situation. The player and the Player characters can definitely
attempting to achieve a target Storyteller are encouraged engage in contests against each
number of 6 or higher. to help each other out in de- other! The Storyteller still deter-
scriptions, but ultimately the mines which character assembles
Vampire primarily uses checks Storyteller is the final arbiter which dice pool.
to determine Hunger gain (see of what the result of any given
Hunger, feeding, and Rouse test is. taking half To reduce the num-
Checks, p. 211). ber of dice rolls in a session, Story-
tellers should feel free to take half
Characters may not use Will- for SPC rolls during basic contests.
power to re-roll checks. Automatic
wins and taking half never apply To take half, count the num-
to checks. ber of dice in the opposition pool,
divide it in half, rounding down,
Contests and that’s the number of successes
they got.
Storytellers use contests to model
direct opposition: e.g., hacking a Conflicts
monitored system, sneaking past a
guard searching for you, or seduc- Situations involving basic contests
ing an undercover vice cop. that result in damage – physical
or mental – are called conflicts. The
In a contest, the acting charac- basic conflict rules value simplicity
ter and their opponent each build and speed of play, and they apply
a dice pool. This process does not to any hostile interaction, from
have to use the same pool; the street fighting to particularly vicious
Storyteller might tell the sneak- courtly debate. Storytellers and play-
ing character to use Dexterity + ers should invest these basic conflicts
Stealth, but roll Wits + Awareness with as much narrative detail as they
for the searching guard. like, clothing the bare dice results in
narrative flesh and gore.
Basic contests go like this:
■■ Describe what you want your For more advanced conflict
systems, see pp. 295-305.
character to do and how.
■■ The Storyteller decides some-

one opposes your effort and
tells you which of your charac-

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The Conflict Turn and are now fighting for their Brawl or Composure + Firearms;
lives. Going left to right across the in a debate, it might be Charisma
Conflict happens in a flurry of table, the Storyteller asks them to + Persuasion or Manipulation
blows, rhetorical or physical. describe their intended actions. Fa- + Etiquette. Characters might
When each participant in the con- bian wants to dive for cover, Tracy change pools during a conflict,
flict has acted once (or declined to hoses bullets downrange, and for example, if they pick up a
act), that defines a turn. Turns take Leah desperately tries to fend off a tire iron or change debate tactics
as much time as the narrative indi- crazed hook-wielding attacker. from flattery to bullying.
cates they should – two gunshots
might happen in less than a second Once all players have decided EXAMPLE:
and end a fight, while a three-hour on their course of action, the Sto-
series of innuendos and courtesies ryteller makes the same decisions Tracy rolls Composure + Firearms
might compose the first turn of an for all SPCs and then tells the against Difficulty 2 (her target is
all-night seduction attempt. Thus, troupe which dice pools to build. in the open, coming right at her)
one roll does not necessarily rep- The players then roll to attempt it. while Leah engages in a Strength +
resent one swing of a baseball bat, Brawl vs Dexterity + Melee contest
unless the Storyteller says it does. EXAMPLE: with the hook-wielder. The Sto-
ryteller tells Fabian that he finds
At the start of every turn of No one attacks Fabian, Tracy is cover without needing to roll, since
the conflict, each player declares charged by her target, and Leah’s he was not attacked this turn.
their intent – what they are trying attacker keeps attacking.
to achieve. This can be anything Both the attacker and de-
from trying to tackle the driver of Conflict Pools fender roll their pools simultane-
an escaping motorcycle, to assist- ously in a basic conflict. As with
ing in the seduction of a ghoul by The dice pool each participant other basic contests, the side
distracting his domitor, to simply uses in a conflict turn is called that scores the most successes
taking cover. their conflict pool. In a fight, the wins their turn of that conflict.
conflict pool might be Strength + The winner subtracts the loser’s
EXAMPLE: successes from their total and

Fabian, Tracy and Leah have
been ambushed in an old church,

124

RULES

WHO GOES FIRST? applies the remainder as damage to one of the loser’s
trackers: Willpower or Health (see Damage, p. 126).
This question mostly arises
during physical combat – in If the conflict is one-sided, such as when the
debates, having the last word defender is trying to avoid getting shot, only the
may be more valuable than attacker can inflict damage. If both participants are
dropping the first allegation. able to cause harm to their opponent, the conflict is
two-sided, with both sides counting as attackers. In
Unless one side has sur- this case, the actions of both parties are merged into
prise – usually resulting from a single conflict roll. A tie results in both parties
a success on an earlier test, inflicting damage on the other with a win margin of
perhaps of tactics or sneaking one.
to set up an ambush – charac-
ters act in descending order of ranged weapons Ranged combat is resolved as a
action. Close combat between contest, usually vs the defender’s Dexterity + Athlet-
already engaged parties goes ics. In cases where two combattants are attacking
first, followed by ranged com- each other at range, you can resolve it as a two-sided
bat, followed by newly initiated Firearms conflict as above. This assumes that the sub-
physical combat, followed ject has access to limited cover, such as a car or the
by everything else. If neces- corner of a building. A character with no available
sary, break ties by comparing cover subtracts 2 from their defense pool, whereas
Dexterity + Wits, or if equal, superior cover (sandbags, concrete fortifications and
by dots of the Skill used. similar bullet-proof obstacles) merits a bonus of 1-2.

example: dodging When engaged in a Brawl or Melee con-
In the conflict above, Leah flict, the defender can always opt to use their Dex-
fights simultaneously with terity + Athletics instead of a combat skill to defend.
her attacker, since they are If they do, they inflict no damage on the opponent,
mutually engaged in close no matter the margin, if they win.
combat.Tracy resolves before
her attacker, since ranged multiple opponents In a conflict where teaming
goes before initiated close up makes sense, a character facing multiple oppo-
combat.Whether Tracy goes nents loses one die from their pool when they defend
before Leah or not is moot. against each successive opponent that targets them.
Nobody cares when Fabian To attack multiple foes, a character must split their
resolves his action, since no dice pool.
one is interacting with him.
EXAMPLE:
For troupes desiring a more
traditional initiative system, Katarina is fighting three security guards. With Dexter-
see p.300. ity 3 and Brawl 4, her defense pool is 7 against the first
guard’s attack, six dice against the second guard, and
only five dice against the third. If she wants to attack two
guards during the turn, she must split her seven dice into
two pools: four dice and three dice, for example.

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Damage When a point is voluntarily Superficial damage to vampires.
spent from a tracker, such as Superficial damage in social
The Storyteller decides which when using Willpower to re- conflict means embarrassment
tracker the conflict damages. In a roll dice, mark it as Superficial or a bruised ego and has no
physical conflict, this is normally damage, a “/”. If all points are lasting effect on the target’s im-
Health; a social conflict normally already Superficially dam- age of others or themselves.
damages Willpower. aged, turn one into Aggra- ■■ Aggravated damage: causes
vated damage instead, as per broken bones, wounds, and
The winner of each contest the usual Impairment rules. life-threatening injuries. Sharp
applies their success margin to the Superficial damage sustained and piercing weapons do Ag-
loser’s relevant tracker as damage. through spends is not halved. gravated damage to humans.
A character using ranged weapons Normally, only fire, sunlight,
likewise applies their margin from and the claws and teeth of
their attack test. some supernatural creatures do
Aggravated damage to vam-
Sometimes, circumstances pires. Attacks that reveal secret
mandate extra damage after the knowledge about the target or
contest: attacks from close friends and
■■ If the winner used a weapon, trusted figures do Aggravated
damage to Willpower.
they add the relevant weapon’s
damage rating to the total tracking damage Characters
damage (see p. 304). apply their damage to the relevant
■■ In a social conflict, add damage track: Health or Willpower.
depending on the audience (see
p. 305). The Storyteller may Unless otherwise stated, divide
also add damage if the loser Superficial damage in half (rounded
particularly values the audi- up) before applying it to the tracker.
ence’s opinion.
Mark each level of Superficial
EXAMPLE: damage on the character sheet by
making a “/” on one box on the
Firing her shotgun at a police of- track.
ficer, Clara achieves a margin of
two successes. Adding the shotgun’s Mark Aggravated damage on
weapon rating of +4, the officer the character sheet by making an
suffers 6 points of damage. “X” on the tracker.

types of damage In the Sto- impairment Once the character
ryteller System, damage comes in sustains enough damage (of either
two types: type, or a mix) to fill their tracker,
■■ Superficial damage: causes they are Impaired. Impaired charac-
ters lose two dice from all relevant
bruising, sprains, and the like dice pools: Physical pools from Im-
but not immediate life-threat- paired Health, Social, and Mental
ening injury. Fists, kicks, and pools from Impaired Willpower,
non-lethal weapons, such as and any other pools the Storyteller
tasers, do Superficial damage to believe to be similarly weakened.
humans. Standard weapons do

126

RULES

At the Storyteller’s discretion, EXAMPLE: aggravated health dam-
mortal SPCs are incapacitated at age For mortals, a character with
this stage. After having drawn significant Medicine can convert Aggravated
heat on the vampire community damage on the Health tracker to
For every level of damage of by shotgunning a police officer, the Superficial damage. They must suc-
either kind, Superficial or Aggra- coterie is chewed out by their elders ceed at a simple test of Intelligence
vated, that a character takes while in Elysium. Those that lose all their + Medicine; the Difficulty equals the
Impaired, convert one previously Willpower in the ensuing social con- total Aggravated damage sustained
sustained Superficial damage to flict are unable to defend or deflect by the patient. Attempts to heal
Aggravated damage on a one-for- their blame, and come morning, oneself add +1 to the Difficulty.
one basis. Turn the “/” to a “X” on they get to see the sun for the first
the track. time since the day of their Embrace. The maximum points of Ag-
gravated damage that a character
Remember to halve Superficial Healing can convert is half that character’s
damage as usual before converting it. Medicine rating, rounded up.
superficial health damage At
the end of the tracker A the beginning of a session, mortals This healing happens over the
character with their tracker can remove a number of Superficial course of the night. The Storyteller
completely filled with Aggravated damage levels up to their Stamina decides if any remaining injuries
damage is out of the conflict, pos- rating from their Health tracker. require only another day of similar
sibly permanently. treatment, or hospitalization.
Vampires can remove a number
In a physical combat, they are of Superficial damage levels from Hospitalization avoids the need
comatose or dead (if mortal), or their Health tracker by Rousing the for more dice rolls, but injuries
fall into torpor (if a vampire; see Blood each turn (see Mending Dam- take the patient’s total Aggravated
p. 223). age, p. 218). damage in weeks to heal fully. The
Storyteller can lessen this amount
EXAMPLE: superficial willpower dam- to fit the story better or allow the
age At the beginning of a session, character to walk around injured –
The officer from the example above vampires and mortals alike can wearing a cast, for example.
suffers 6 levels of Aggravated remove a number of Superficial
damage (shotgun versus mortal), damage levels up to their Compo- Vampires can normally mend 1
but he has only 5 health levels. He sure or Resolve rating (use highest) level of Aggravated Health damage
promptly expires. from their Willpower track. each night by Rousing the Blood
(see Mending Damage, p. 21).
Filling the Willpower tracker with EXAMPLE:
Aggravated damage outside of a aggravated willpower dam-
social conflict has no immediate Terence has Resolve 3 and Composure age At the start of the next ses-
effects other than Impairment. If 4. He suffered 6 levels of Superficial sion, a character who has acted in
it happens within a social conflict, damage to his Willpower tracker accordance to their Ambition can
the defeated character completely during a gang face-off. He can erase heal 1 level of Aggravated Willpow-
break down and loses face. They 4 levels of Superficial damage at the er damage.
may be exiled from court, lose beginning of the next session.
dots in Status or other Merits, or However, the other conse-
suffer any other consequence the quences of losing a social or mental
Storyteller decides. (Note that one conflict – a bad reputation, lost Sta-
such consequence may very well be tus, susceptibility to mental control
the death of the character.) or social dominance – may continue
as long as the Storyteller decides.

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Examples will sustain a level of Aggra- ■■ How long can you remain
vated Health damage for each motionless in the bushes while
of Rolls success you failed by. the guards chat about baseball?
■■ You try to distract the body- Roll Stamina + Stealth. Each
We designed this rules system with guard with your left hand success allows you to hold still
flexibility in mind. For example, while surreptitiously slipping for one hour.
the current range of Attributes your knife back into your belt
and Skills yields about 270 combi- with your right. Roll Dexterity ■■ It would be foolish to threaten
nations for dice pools. This poten- + Subterfuge (Difficulty equals your rival openly while in the
tial doesn’t even include the effects half the bodyguard’s Wits + confines of Elysium. Roll Ma-
of specialties, or of any other Skills Awareness). nipulation + Intimidation (Dif-
you might add if you feel the need. ■■ You lock gazes with the gang ficulty 4) to properly veil your
The Storyteller has a huge variety leader, trying to cow him into threat without leaving them in
of rolls to model actions – choose submission before his gang – doubt as to your intentions.
whatever you think works to of course, he wants to do the
further drama or narrative or to same to you. Basic contest ■■ Suddenly, a man pushes a crate
simulate a real-world effect. of Charisma + Intimidation out of the van you’ve been
between the two of you. chasing! Roll Wits + Drive
The following examples of ■■ You need to board up the door (Difficulty 5) to swerve out of
rolls can give you some idea of the to your haven in record speed the way in time.
possibilities that might come up in – and it needs to be durable,
a game: too. Roll Wits + Craft (Dif- ■■ Can you distract the guard
■■ You want to conduct yourself ficulty 3). Each additional suc- dogs while you slip in? Roll
cess in the margin adds 1 to the Manipulation + Animal Ken
flawlessly at the governor’s Difficulty of breaking in. (Difficulty 3 + your Bane Sever-
formal dinner (and you can’t ■■ It’s not the message of the ity).
actually eat anything). Roll song, it’s how good you look
Dexterity + Etiquette (Diffi- singing it. Roll Charisma + Per- ■■ Did they just threaten you?
culty 4). formance (Difficulty 3) to have Roll Wits + Intimidation
■■ You’re miles from your haven, your choice of groupies.
and the sun will be up soon.
Roll Wits + Survival (Difficulty
4) to find shelter for the day.
You will eventually find shelter
regardless of the roll, but you

128

RULES

(Difficulty equals whichever formation you receive, but the ■■ You have to keep running if
is greater of their Manipula- legwork takes an entire night you’re going to outdistance
tion or Etiquette) to figure out regardless. your pursuers. Contest of
what that lick meant by that ■■ What sort of alarm system Stamina + Athletics to outlast
comment. does this place have? Roll In- them.
■■ You try to get the mob’s at- telligence + Larceny. The more
tention by driving your knife successes you get, the more ■■ You need to convince the sta-
through the mook’s hand and information you receive. tion chief to release you before
into the oak bar. Roll Strength ■■ Whose story will the Prince the sun rises. Roll Charisma +
+ Melee (Difficulty 3). believe: yours or your enemy’s? Academics (Law) (Difficulty
■■ You try to pull alongside the This calls for a basic contest of 4) to make a plea eloquent
fleeing Mercedes so your Manipulation + Persuasion. enough – or Manipulation +
friends can leap aboard. Roll ■■ You try convincing the clerk Politics (Difficulty 5) to have
your Wits + Drive resisted by of the court that you’re an your agents pull strings behind
the Mercedes driver’s Wits IRS auditor and that you need the scenes.
+ Drive. If you win, you pull to see the court records. Roll
alongside in pole position; if Manipulation + Finance (Dif-
not, the Mercedes escapes. ficulty 5).
■■ The new gang in town has ■■ Can you read the German ver-
been awfully good at picking sion of The Book of Nod with-
out Kindred-run operations out losing something in the
to take over. Roll Charisma + transition? Roll Intelligence
Streetwise to see what people + Occult (Difficulty 6 minus
know about them. The more your dots in the Linguistics
successes you get, the more in- Merit).

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Three Turns and Out least to surrender with some EXAMPLE:
dignity.
We strongly recommend ending ■■ Change the situation. Perhaps Evan wants to increase his Resolve
conflicts after roughly three turns, some new, third force enters from 2 to 3. He must spend 15 expe-
unless everyone is still having fun. the scene, such as the police, rience points to do so (5 x 3).
Too much dice rolling slows down or the Prince. Perhaps the
the drama and becomes harder conflict simply changes venue Storytellers may insist that players
and harder to describe creatively. from the alley to a nearby have their characters take action
If the Storyteller and players warehouse or from the court in the course of the game to make
want the old-school feeling of to a concert. The change any improvements, not just Merits,
fighting down to the last Health should present new options to plausible.
box, they’re welcome to do so, both sides.
of course. But for the rest of us, ■■ Use One Roll Conflict, see p. The Golden
here’s a few ways to decide who 296. Rule
won if you’ve gone three rounds
and both sides are still standing. Experience and This is the most important rule of
■■ Allow the players to break the Improvement all, and the only real rule worth
following: There are no rules. This
conflict off if they want. The Characters who survive the dangers game should be whatever you want
Storyteller may require a basic of the night improve their chances it to be, whether that’s a nearly
contest to do so (for example, of surviving the next one. We dice-less chronicle of in-character
Strength or Dexterity + Ath- represent this Darwinian process socialization or a long-running
letics to flee or Composure + of learning and improvement with tactical campaign with each player
Etiquette to divert the discus- experience points. controlling a small coterie of vam-
sion), or their foes may simply pires. If the rules in this book
let them leave. The Storyteller awards each interfere with your enjoyment of
■■ If the players’ foes have taken player 1 experience point per ses- the game, change them. The world
more losses – or even an un- sion played, plus 1 point at the end is far too big – no set of inflex-
expected amount of damage of each story. In shorter chronicles ible rules can possibly reflect it.
– the Storyteller can simply and others where more rapid im- Think of this book as a collection
decide that they break off the provement adds to the drama, the of guidelines: suggested but not
conflict, as above. Storyteller may choose to award 2 mandatory ways of capturing the
■■ Simply award victory to the points per character at the end of World of Darkness in the format
side that won the most con- each session. Players spend their of a game. You decide what works
tests or to the side with the points to improve their characters’ best in your game. And you may
fewest points of Aggravated Traits or acquire specialties (p. 159) freely use, alter, abuse, or ignore
damage. The Storyteller nar- according to the Trait Cost chart these rules at your whim ■
rates the end of the conflict in the Characters chapter on p. 151.
based on the results of the
previous contests. Ideally, if
the player characters lost, they
have a chance to flee or at

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RULES
131

132

CHARACTERS

characters

All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts.

– WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, AS YOU LIKE IT

Playing a storytelling game is an opportunity by drawing your characters and the people they know,
to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Grab mortal and Kindred, onto the Relationship Map.
it and milk it for all it’s worth. Think of
your chronicle as a co-created prestige HBO Character Fundamentals
television series in which you portray a vivid character,
probably very different from yourself, who finds them- Your character is a powerful way to shape stories. They
selves in terrifying and heart-wrenching situations that define what kind of Vampire: The Masquerade stories
change and grow them in dramatic ways. They are your you will tell together. Playing a junkie priest struggling
in-game viewpoint and personality, so ask yourself: with their lost faith sends a very different message to your
“Who do I want to pretend to be?” Your character fellow players and the Storyteller than creating a profes-
defines your in-game voice, appearance, and body sional killer working for an Armenian drug lord. Other
language as well as the faith, political values, and ethics player characters, Storyteller-played characters (SPCs),
that define who they are and the Abilities, Skills and and coterie characters treat these people very differently,
Disciplines that determine what they can do. You de- and the Storyteller creates stories and reactions that
fine your character’s core concept, Abilities, and Skills suit them. Your choices from the beginning, including
during an immersive prelude session or simply by concept, coterie, and clan, clearly signal the style of play
choosing a Predator type and a clan and following the you prefer.
instructions given to create a quick player character.
Throughout, you flesh out the world of your chronicle You are not your character. In a Storytelling game you

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are liberated from the constraints light. Playing with clichés and tropes relationships. Vampire is a game
actors have when taking on roles for is fine and harmless – indeed it’s where who you know is often more
TV and movies. Your character can sometimes inevitable that you resort important than how far you can
literally be anyone of any gender, to tropes in an improvisational throw someone through a wall. In
ethnicity, or background with any game, where lines are made up at Vampire, we use a Relationship Map
religion, politics, or world-view. You the drop of a hat – but clichés can to keep track of relationships in
don’t have to agree with your charac- be boring or ignorant if that’s all you the game. You should add char-
ter’s opinions or respect their values. bring. Consider reading up a bit on acters, relationship arrows, and
In fact, it’s probably a more thrilling the culture and social environment descriptions to this sheet through-
experience if you don’t. Vampire is that shaped your character. Watch out character generation, including
a game about playing a fascinating videos made by people like them, anything important: clan, Back-
monster: an anti-hero, an addict, a make the effort to understand and grounds, and even Skills if need
parasite with a soul about to plunge respect the person whose cold, dead be. Your coterie can thus map out
into darkness or rise towards the flesh you inhabit, and your portrayal your close social network, sires,
gains heft and power to you and and surviving mortal Touchstones.
others. Reality always leaves fiction
behind when it comes to the unex- Last but not least, your character
pected and the complex. is a vampire. You’re here to play the
monster. A humane monster per-
Your character is not an haps, but never forget you are por-
island. More than anything else, traying an undead predator dressed
a character is defined by their in the skin of their victims. You look
like a mortal (okay, maybe a dead or
schSochloalarr disfigured mortal), you sound like
a person, but thinking that you are
human is only a mistake your vic-
tims make. Inside, the Beast in the
Blood howls, constantly reminding
you of your monstrous hunger. In
Vampire, you portray a wide variety
of bloodsuckers inspired by more
than three centuries of gothic sus-
pense and horror fiction. Whatever
image the word “vampire” brings to
mind, you can find a type of leech
that fits your wants and expecta-
tions while simultaneously subvert-
ing them. The World of Darkness
hosts a multitude of breeds, clans,
religions, philosophies, and sects of
the undead ■

134

CHARACTERS

Character Creation

This chapter describes how to create a unique charac- Setting your game
ter, beginning with a general concept and translating
this concept into the numbers used in the game. It There are several different possible approaches to set-
provides some guidelines to keep players on a level ting your game, each with their own advantages and
field while still allowing customization and individual disadvantages depending on the nature and experience
flavor. Players can easily figure out this simple iterative of your group, personal taste, and available time:
system for themselves, but the Storyteller remains part
of the process. They should not only answer technical show, don’t tell In “Show, don’t tell,” players
questions or provide rulings, but also guide the players initially spend a minimum amount of time creating
to create characters who both fit into the chronicle their characters, instead saving all details to come up
as initially conceived and drive it in new and exciting during play. Only offer the most basic description of
directions. your character to the other players and a hint of what
the relationship between the characters are like. All the
Characters begin and end with a story. Ask yourself rest will emerge during play, and when it does, note it
who you want to play: a street-hardened punk or a sleek down on the Relationship Map. Players may even de-
shark of the boardroom? Did you learn occult secrets in cide to leave some things undecided, such as the exact
a tree-shaded quadrangle or your own strength in the nature of Contacts and Allies.
dust and heat of Afghanistan? Did you live for others
or for yourself, or like most people, for some combina- This method is advantageous for players with lim-
tion of the two? Where did you draw the line? And after ited time and/or patience for the other methods, who
monsters redraw that line for you, what now? either have vast experience with the setting, or none.

Build the character in your mind’s eye with the session zero With this method, take your time and
dots and numbers of the Storyteller System as the spend an entire game session creating characters. This
skeleton, not as the soul. Don’t try to create the “best
possible” character – not only does that defeat the pur- THE FLIER
pose of drama, it’s also impossible to have more dots Some Storytellers find it useful to give players some
than a whole city full of predators, much less a whole guidelines regarding the chronicle they want to run ahead
World of Darkness. The game is about survival, terror, of time. The Storyteller often distributes this document,
and tragedy – make a character who plays that game: a the flier, on social media, in email, or over a file-sharing
character who truly lives despite being dead. site rather than printing it. The flier should include the
chronicle’s cool, evocative name and all the essential
The Role of setting details and rule modifications, along with well-
chosen graphics, (anti-) inspirational quotes, lyrics, or
the Storyteller even embedded videos or art.

As the Storyteller, you guide the players through the The look, feel, and text of the flier influences Ses-
character generation process. After your players ar- sion Zero and can simultaneously create excitement, set
rive for the game session, introduce them to the basic expectations, organize timing, and establish a dramatic
premise of the game and describe the rules system. framework for the chronicle. Sell your chronicle concept
Make things as easy for the players as possible. For and talk about the dark themes you want to explore
beginning players, keep things as simple as you can; together in your stories.
help them build the character they want, but let them
discover the intricacies of the system on their own.

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Character Csrueamtionmar y

CORE CONCEPT Add free specialties to Academics, Craft, Perfor-
What was your character’s name in life? What did mance, and Science Skills.
they do? Where and when were they Embraced? What
is their name now? Where are they now? Write your Take one more free specialty.
character’s name on the Relationship Map.
DISCIPLINES
CLAN AND SIRE Choose two of your clan Disciplines. Put two dots in
Pick your clan. Write your character’s sire on the one and one dot in the other.
Relationship Map along with relevant sect SPCs.
For Caitiff characters, choose any two Disciplines.
ATTRIBUTES Put two dots in one and one dot in the other.
Take one Attribute at 4; three Attributes at 3; four
Attributes at 2; one Attribute at 1. Thin-blood characters have no intrinsic Disciplines.

Health = Stamina + 3; Willpower = Composure + PREDATOR
Resolve. Pick your Predator type (p. 175) and apply it:
■■ Add one of the listed specialties.
SKILLS ■■ Add one dot to a listed Discipline.
Pick one Skill distribution. ■■ Apply any associated Advantages or Flaws.
■■ jack of all trades: One Skill at 3; eight Skills at
ADVANTAGES
2; ten Skills at 1 Spend 7 points on Advantages, and take 2 points of
■■ balanced: Three Skills at 3; five Skills at 2; seven Flaws in addition to the ones gained from your Preda-

Skills at 1
■■ specialist: One Skill at 4; three Skills at 3; three

Skills at 2; three Skills at 1

136

CHARACTERS

tor type. Thin-blood characters must take between ◻◻ 12th or 13th Generation: Blood Potency 1
one and three Thin-Blood Merits and the same num- ◻◻ Each player spends 15 experience points
ber of Thin-Blood Flaws. ■■ ancillae: Embraced between 1780 and 1940
◻◻ 10th or 11th Generation: Blood Potency 2
Add any new supporting cast from Advantages and ◻◻ Each player adds 2 points of Advantages
Flaws to the Relationship Map. ◻◻ Each player adds 2 points of Flaws
◻◻ Each player subtracts 1 Humanity
CONVICTIONS AND TOUCHSTONES ◻◻ Each player spends 35 experience points.
Select one to three Convictions. (p. 172)
TRAIT COSTS: EXPERIENCE
Create an equal number of Touchstones (p. 173),
each connected to one Conviction and add them to trait experience points
the Relationship Map.
Increase Attribute New level x 5
Set your Humanity to 7. Increase Skill New level x 3
New Specialty 3
SEA OF TIME Clan Discipline New level x 5
Together with the Storyteller and other players, de- Other Discipline New level x 7
cide if your coterie are: Caitiff Discipline New level x 6
■■ childer: Embraced within the last 15 years Blood Sorcery Ritual Ritual level x 3
Thin-blood Formula Formula level x 3
◻◻ 14th, 15th, or 16th Generation (thin-bloods): Advantage 3 per dot
Blood Potency 0 Blood Potency New level x 10

◻◻ 12th or 13th Generation: Blood Potency 1
■■ neonates: Embraced between 1940 and a decade ago

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Vetervaneteran

WHAT DO I DO IN THIS GAME? process ensures that the players don’t feel rushed and that
■■ Hunt for blood they take the time to make complete, flesh-and-blood
■■ Struggle with the Beast characters.
■■ Build and break relationships
■■ Hide from, or fight, the Second Inquisition At the beginning of this introductory session, or
■■ Rule the streets “Session Zero,” the player group and the Storyteller gather
■■ Protect the Touchstones of your Humanity at the table, armed with blank character sheets, a copy of
■■ Rise to power this rulebook, pencils, several ten-sided dice, a big blank
■■ Plot against other Kindred sheet for the Relationship Map, and some scratch paper
■■ Unearth terrible secrets for notes. You might also want to have colored pens avail-
■■ Face the consequences of being a monster able, and copies of any Loresheets you plan to use in the
■■ Fight radical, primitivist werewolves chronicle, so that players can read them at the same time.

Players are encouraged to offer each other suggestions
to help them build characters whose stories interweave
and whose abilities complement each other, building an
intricate web of relationships, dependencies, and intrigue
as a basis for their upcoming chronicle.

the prelude In a prelude, you rapidly paint an
impressionistic picture of the character’s human
life – and play out the terror and cruelty of their
Embrace. Other players take roles as supporting cast
and might portray relatives, friends, the character’s
sire, and the like. The prelude introduces the player
to their character and to the chronicle, so make it
memorable!

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CHARACTERS

Character, Coterie, ryone at the table knows what the city looks and feels
like, what people you can expect to meet, and what’s
Chronicle happening at night. The Storyteller may already have
an idea of which clans and sects rule the night in their
Storytellers and players shape their stories together chronicle and can easily slot them into your own city.
in play, but they begin that process during character
creation. Players build their vampire characters as somewhere by night You can use a published
part of a coterie, a term for a small group of associated setting book to define your setting. Whether you use
Kindred – specifically, the group comprising the player a new Vampire 5th Edition book or a book from an
characters. As that definition reminds us, the coterie earlier edition of Vampire and update it to the modern
starts out as part of a setting, one built by the Story- setting matters little. The books in the By Night series
teller using the World of Darkness as its backdrop. offer an almost endless supply of characters, story
hooks, and deep-dives into local Kindred history.
The story of the player characters, the coterie they
form, and the ways that coterie explores (or battles Age and Generation
against) the setting and the World of Darkness, be-
comes the chronicle. Thus all three elements – charac- How old are the vampires you portray? Vampires from
ters, coterie, and chronicle – influence each other from different centuries, or even from different decades,
the beginning and throughout the game. That’s why the may hold very different values and beliefs from fledg-
Storyteller and the troupe should design the founda- lings Embraced a week ago.
tions of those three elements together from the get-go.
Your sire is one generation lower than you; an 11th
The first session should be exciting for players and Generation Kindred sires a 12th Generation lick. For
Storyteller alike, as the shape of the chronicle emerges. game-balance reasons, all the characters should be of the
Here the preparations and plans of the Storyteller meet same generation. If equal power among player char-
the characters the troupe creates and their own expec- acters doesn’t concern you, feel free to play a sire and
tations for the game. Usually the Storyteller started their childe, or any other combination of Kindred that
designing their setting before the first session, so we’ll intrigues you.
talk about that process first – but in reality, around the
table, all three elements blend simultaneously. Together with the Storyteller and other players,
decide if your coterie are:
City
OTHER ERAS
The default game of Vampire happens in a city. Vam- By default, Vampire is set tonight, right now.
pires need lots of food, and people cluster in cities. In
the nights haunted by Second Inquisition kill squads However, nothing stops you from running
and airport watch lists, vampires retreat to their feudal a chronicle that starts its clock in 1991, 1968,
fastnesses. Where do you want to set your chronicle? 1888, 1204 or in ancient Rome 120 AD. While
this book doesn’t have full rules or setting sup-
Your Storyteller may have an idea of what city they port for historical chronicles – and obviously
want to set their story in, or they may throw it open no edition could ever cover all of Kindred his-
to discussion, or a better idea might emerge during tory – older editions and versions have plenty,
the first sessions. Consider the following options and most notably Victorian Age Vampire and
consult the Cities chapter (pp. 317-335) for a wealth of Vampire: The Dark Ages.
further detail.

your own city Playing in your hometown or a
nearby city you know well can be a good choice. Eve-

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Childer or Fledglings: Embraced Sect Movement asks every vampire the
within the last 15 years, down to as question: “Why do you obey?” As
recently as last week or last night Of the many undead societies, old as the Camarilla, the Move-
for an all-fledgling chronicle. The which one claims your characters? ment has finally been thrown out
more recent the Embrace, the more Each sect has its own distinct of the Tower as an unacceptable
likely the characters are to be thin- flavor, described elsewhere in this threat in dangerous times. The
bloods of the 14th, 15th, or 16th book and in detail in the Anarch result: war in the streets, new
Generation. However, new childer and Camarilla sect books. Each blood feeding new collectives and
of the 12th and 13th Generation sect below has only a brief descrip- baronies, and inevitable purges. As
remain plausible even tonight. tor, along with the default clans many Anarchs march under black
and most likely coterie types (p. banners as red, and as many again
Neonates: Embraced within a 197) for players to consider. just want to keep their heads down
human lifetime, roughly between and figure out who their next meal
World War II and the present. the camarilla During the early is coming from. Anarch chroni-
Neonates are most likely of the Renaissance, the vampire lords of cles concern changing society, life
12th or 13th Generation. Thin- the high clans created the so-called under surveillance, the difference
bloods were vanishingly rare before Ivory Tower to hide the Kindred between ideology and actuality,
recent decades, mostly because from the mortal Inquisition. It has and the price of revolution.
older Kindred persecuted them become one of the most powerful
mercilessly as signs of Gehenna. secret societies in history, subvert- Typical Clans: Brujah,
ing and infiltrating governments, Gangrel, dissidents from
Ancillae: Embraced between the corporations, organized crime, and the Camarilla clans, some
American Revolution and World mass media. Organized along feu- Caitiff
War II, under 250 years old. An an- dal lines, with Princes ruling over Typical Coterie Types:
cilla came of age during the modern the vampires of a city like dark Blood Cult, Champions,
era or at least in an era when the lords of a bygone age, the Cama- Commando, Fang Gang,
divine right of princes were becom- rilla combines civilized order and Nomads, Questari, Sbirri,
ing an eccentric joke instead of the ruthless cruelty. Camarilla chroni- Watchmen
foundation of society. It was the con- cles concern the uses of power,
trast between their relative moder- the dead hand of the past, and the thin-blood You wake up with a
nity and the medieval mindset of the questions of safety and duty versus hangover and a new addiction. All
Camarilla that led to the rise of the honor and freedom. the flavors of blood call out to you,
Anarch Movement. Even hard-line tempting you to extract strange
Camarilla ancillae believe the system Typical Clans: Ventrue, alchemies and trips from the peo-
should loosen up – which other Kin- Toreador, Nosferatu, ple you used to call your friends.
dred interpret to mean “give us more Malkavian, Tremere, and Your nights have few rules, many
power.” Ancilla characters can be as dissidents from the Brujah questions, and endless horrors. Are
low as 10th or 11th Generation. and Gangrel clans you alive or dead? What are these
Typical Coterie Types: ancient things moving through the
Elders: Older than 250 years old, Cerberus, Commando, night like sharks in deep waters?
Ninth Generation or lower. The Day Watch, Hunting Will you try to become human
Beckoning slowly calls the elders to Party, Maréchal, Plumaires, again or drain a Cainite to embrace
the Gehenna War, and they are not Questari, Regency, Sbirri, the night and live forever as one of
available as player characters in this Vehme, and Watchmen the Damned?
book.
the anarchs  The Anarch In a thin-blood chronicle, you

140

CHARACTERS

investigatIonverstigator

discover the world of the Damned might also have a clan concept in the group or the game. Unlife as
from a personal perspective, one mind: “sweet old grandma, but a vampire is far too dangerous to
night at a time, and players need a raging Brujah” or “Nosferatu open yourself up to hostility from
no prior knowledge of the setting cosmetic surgeon.” within; survival requires coopera-
to start playing. The thin-blood ex- tion.
perience can seamlessly merge into As you figure out more about
a Camarilla or Anarch chronicle. the story and setting, your core Decide why your vampire
concept might shift or just come joined up with their Kindred
Typical Clans: Thin-blood into better focus. Ask your fellow companions, and why they stay
only players and the Storyteller for together. Do they have a mis-
Typical Coterie Types: ideas and suggestions if you’re sion in common or an enemy?
Champions, Day Watch, stuck. Think about the coterie Are they mystically or politically
Fang Gang, Hunting Party, taking shape, and the sect you’ll connected? “The Prince made us”
Nomads, Plumaires be running with. Come up with works perfectly well as an answer
concepts that play interestingly to the first question; you can aim
Core Character Concept off other player characters; Mad- your roleplay to answer the second
die builds an arms dealer with a question.
While you decide where your political conscience, so you build
chronicle happens and whose a Big Pharma doctor with military
claws you have fallen into, your contracts.
core character concept emerges.
Think of it like a pitch, a vague but It is your responsibility to cre-
hooky notion: “vampire hit man” ate a character who works with the
or “really weird club kid prophet” coterie or at least doesn’t sabotage
or “Jessica Jones, except she drinks
blood instead of whiskey.” If you
know the Vampire setting, you

141

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Choose Your Clan nately, your Blood may be so thin The Relation-
that you have no clan – if you’re
If you haven’t yet, choose your char- beginning a thin-blood chronicle, ship Map
acter’s clan. (See Clans, p. 63, for the decision is already made.
details and more archetype ideas.) Vampire depicts dramatic action.
Their clan describes your charac- creating a thin-blood char- Drama occurs between people,
ter’s essential lineage; they drank acter  Thin-blood characters some of whom may be vampires.
their sire’s vitae, so their sire’s clan have some rules differences during When two people interact, they
– their Blood – determines your character creation. Thin-bloods create, reinforce, or change a rela-
character’s own. The seven clans in pick no clan and gain no dots in tionship. By drawing a Relation-
this book represent the majority of Disciplines. Instead, they gain tem- ship Map, you can bring drama
vampires in the lands of the Cama- porary Disciplines depending on visually to the forefront, keep
rilla and the Anarch Movement. the Resonance of the blood they track of supporting characters
Other clans exist on the outskirts of consume and can also learn Thin- you’ve neglected, and provide both
the Jyhad, for now. Blood Alchemy through a Merit or Storyteller and players with emo-
experience. tional meat for those interpersonal
Perhaps you are not part of You must also choose between one scenes.
a recognized clan at all – that’s to three Thin-Blood Merits and an
perfectly reasonable. However, equal number of Thin-Blood Flaws You begin the game with your
those vampires don’t take well to before choosing regular Advan- player characters, each of whom
outsiders. They call you Caitiff, and tages (p. 182). has a sire and Touchstones. Then
they would spit on you, were it not perhaps you add vampiric mentors,
a waste of bloody saliva. Alter-

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CHARACTERS

human lovers, or a shady journalist who always knows The other thing a relationship line needs is a label:
the latest supernatural rumors. You almost certainly add a description of what the relationship means. Rela-
the Prince of the city or the leading Anarch Baron or tionships always go both ways and are very seldom
Councilors. As you draw lines and describe connections equal or the same in both directions. Vampires are
between your characters and these new SPC figures, the masters of wearing masks and hiding their true feel-
Relationship Map of your chronicle takes shape, and ings, so an attitude arrow in one direction can be
your game takes on life and possibility. “hate” and “love” in the other. Other possible descrip-
tors include: “overprotective sire,” “psychotic jealousy,”
As more supporting characters appear and as rela- “ghoul,” or “Blood Bond.”
tionships change, you scribble in new names and cross
out old truths. Make note of that hidden haven or the Write one party’s descriptor of the relationship on
really great hunting ground that the Gangrel found. one side to the arrow, close to their name. Write the
Update the map as allies become adversaries follow- second party’s descriptor on the other side, close to
ing a failed negotiation in Elysium, or as an unknown their name. Relationships you set at the beginning of
vampire Embraces a dangerous recurring inquisitor. the game and between coterie members might well be
Soon enough, the map becomes a mess of scribbled both true and mutual, but connections the players and
notes about the characters, Post-its with pictures, Storyteller add as the chronicle progresses only show
memorable quotes, wine stains, and sketches. what the players believe in the moment. Update the
chart as true motives emerge, or as passions change.
Your Relationship Map becomes your mad con-
spiracy wall or your pictures-and-string investigation Starting the Map
board straight out of The Wire. Use it not just to drive
drama, but also to keep track of the tangled web of During Session Zero, you begin the Relationship Map,
local Kindred deception. Keep it near the table where possibly working in pencil at first. At this first core
everyone can read it. Its form is up to you: a big sheet concept stage, draw in the player characters, along
of butcher paper, a digital mind map, a presentation with several relationships and supporting cast mem-
deck, a printout of the map of your city with domain bers.
boundaries drawn in.
coterie relationships Write down the names of
You can use whatever colors you have in a drawer the characters in big letters. Then draw lines (or ar-
or on the computer, but the Relationship Map illustra- rows) between your character and two of the other
tion in this chapter use these: characters in the coterie. Write a positive relation-
■■ Black denotes player character names, locations, ship on one of the arrows and a negative one on the
other. Positive coterie relationships might include:
and notes. “fascinated,” “old friend,” “confides in,” “owes big
■■ Red denotes fellow Kindred and their havens and time,” and “fellow gun-lover.” Negative descriptors
could read: “mistrust,” “competes over X’s affec-
interests. tions,” “needs to upstage,” “wants his blood doll,” or
■■ Blue marks mortals and their activities and bases. “replace as Sheriff.”

Arrows and Descriptors Remember, you can change these relationships for
the better or worse during character creation if you
You can go as deep into the graphical woods as you think of something better, something that fits into the
care to. For example, every line between two char- characters’ story more elegantly, or in response to the
acters can be an arrow, pointing from the dominant events of the chronicle.
party to the weaker party. The line between your
sire and your character points at you, not them, for
instance. If the sides have actual equality, then the line
has no arrow ends. Draw one in when you figure out
who really called the shots all along.

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sires Write the name, and perhaps details like clan, those levels with experience points gained through
year of Embrace, and known sect position of your play. Neonates and ancillae get experience points
character’s sire in a box some distance away from to spend on more Traits and Advantages at the end
your character. Then draw an arrow pointing at your of character creation, but the Storyteller should let
character and describing – initially – the Embrace. even childer move points around after the prelude to
Descriptors might include “accidental Embrace,” custom-fit the numbers to your character. Don’t get
“groomed for power,” “my mistake,” “torturous Em- too hung up on all your choices.
brace,” and “hates.”
The game measures Traits in dots, sometimes
sect supporting characters Every vampire, called “levels” or “ratings.” Traits range from one to
except for the merest childe, has connections in their five dots, with five being the best humanly pos-
sect. Ask the Storyteller for two local vampires or sible. A character with a five-dot Dexterity and a
take a connection from another character’s sire or five-dot Athletics is an Olympic-level athlete, for
supporting cast. Write any newly named SPCs in example: one in a million, perhaps.
boxes just like you did your character’s sire: name,
clan, year of Embrace, and known sect position. From set your attributes Look at the Attributes at the
your character box, now draw an arrow to or from top of your character sheet. Which one is your charac-
each one and add descriptors. One relationship can ter best at? Color in four dots next to that Attribute.
be positive: “my liege,” “respects her candor,” “in Which one are they worst at? Color in one dot next
awe of,” “bled together against the Prince,” “fellow to that Attribute. Then pick four Attributes at three
roof-dweller,” or “weirdly attracted to.” The other is dots, and three Attributes at two dots.
negative: “owes me money,” “backstabber,” “coward,” best attribute: 4 dots
“Anarch tendencies” (or the opposite), or “creepily three attributes: 3 dots each
into me.” None of these relationships (yet) equal full four attributes: 2 dots each
Advantages or Flaws, although you can always put worst attribute: 1 dot
dots into them later.
Now derive two more Traits from your Attributes as
Your Human Life follows:
■■ Add three to your Stamina to derive your Health.
All vampires begin as human beings. Player characters ■■ Add your Resolve to your Composure to derive
began that way, too.
your Willpower.
You may create a character of any age, from any
culture, and from any nation, subject to the Storytell- EXAMPLE:
er’s approval. The core coterie and chronicle concepts
can help you narrow things down from seven billion Christopher is assigning dots to his character, and
choices. decides that above all, his character is composed in the
face of adversity, thus placing four dots into Composure.
If you haven’t done so yet, decide your character’s However, he also sees his character as having a weak
name. constitution, thus assigning one dot to Stamina. Resolve,
Charisma, and Wits get three dots each, and the remain-
Choose Your Traits ing attributes get two dots.

In Vampire, you build your character – you decide choose your skills Skills tell the story of your
what they can do in the game – by buying different character’s life. What did they do all day, when
levels of Traits. Later on in the game, you can improve

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they could do things by day? You can either use the SAMPLE PROFESSION PACKAGES:
Quick Skills Assignment method in the box on p.
147 or go into a little more detail using the below ■■ artist: Craft (Art) or Performance • • •   Insight • • •
method. Academics • •   Awareness or Occult • •

Think a little bit about what each Skill means in ■■ coder: Technology • • •   Academics or Craft • • •
the context of your character’s life story. Did they Finance • •   Persuasion ••
get those three dots in Brawl after a shitty year as a
bouncer in Pattaya, during a career in the merchant ■■ executive: Finance • • •   Intimidation or Persuasion • • •
marine, or by going to a really good dojo in Gainesville Insight • •   Subterfuge • •
during college?
■■ investigator: Investigation • • •   Insight • • •   Awareness • •
Professional Skills Brawl or Firearms • •
You probably did best at what you had to do to earn a
paycheck. You certainly got the most practice at it. ■■ junkie: Streetwise • • •   Animal Ken or Brawl • • •
Insight or Larceny • •   Subterfuge • •
Your profession gives you two Skills at three dots
(•••) and two Skills at two dots (••). ■■ mafioso: Brawl or Subterfuge • • •   Streetwise • • •
Intimidation or Larceny • •   Melee or Firearms • •
The words in parentheses represent specialties,
which give a bonus to tests of that Skill in that specific ■■ scholar: Academics or Science • • •   one other
area. Whenever you acquire your first dot in Academ- Mental Skill • • •   Craft (Writing) • •   Persuasion • •
ics, Science, Craft, or Performance, take a specialty in
that Skill. ■■ socialite: Performance or Technology • • •   Finance • • • 
Insight • •   Etiquette or Subterfuge • •
Choose a professional specialty in one of your
professional skills. ■■ veteran: Athletics or Awareness • • •   Firearms • • •
Stealth • •   Survival or Leadership • •
Life Event Skills
What major life events shaped you? Did you serve a
tour in Iraq, go through an abusive relationship, win
the lottery, or have kids? Did you get mugged and
take up taekwondo? Whatever it was, it taught you
something.

Specifically, one event taught you a Skill at three
dots (•••) and another one taught you a Skill at two
dots (••).

Leisure Skills
What did your profession pay for or your events inter-
rupt? Did you run a triathlon or go to EDM festivals
every weekend? What you do for kicks also teaches you
things.

Take three leisure Skills at one dot (•) based on
hobbies or other pastimes:

Extra Skills
Now go ahead and take those Skills you’ve had your eye
on this whole time. Pick one of the options below:

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Specialist: Take one more SAMPLE EVENTS codes: these make good Conviction
Skill at four dots (••••). If you (pick or roll): fodder. The Storyteller must al-
like, you can change your 1. served in combat: ways approve your Convictions; in
professional specialty to a some troupes, all the players must
specialty of this Skill. You Awareness or Firearms agree on your Convictions.
cannot move a free Specialty 2. bad breakup: Manipula-
from Academics, Craft, Think about where and how
Performance, or Science to a tion or Subterfuge these Convictions became impor-
different Skill, however. 3. homeless: Streetwise or tant to you. Did your family instill
them? Did you adopt them at
Generalist: Take two more Survival Sorbonne or from a lover? Perhaps
Skills at two dots (••) and 4. college: Academics or your major life event from the
four more Skills at one Skills selection step produced one
dot (•). Science of them.
5. political campaign:
Ideally, come up with a plausible EXAMPLE:
reason for why you have these new Politics or Subterfuge
Skills, but don’t bog down or kill 6. crime victim: Brawl or The character Thomas has been
yourself trying to figure it out. created for a chronicle exploring
Larceny how bad people meet bad ends,
set your beliefs What were 7. severe illness: Medicine and Thomas has Convictions that
your character’s moral and ethical reflect this. “I only care about me
values? Were they a believer, a or Insight and mine,” “Others should not rise
communist, a vegan? Who were 8. got rich: Finance or above their station,” and “Greed
the most important people in ensures the transfer of power from
their life? These things are the Etiquette the weak to the strong” are com-
Convictions and Touchstones 9. had kids: Insight or Per- pletely at odds with the chronicle
of a character’s Humanity, their Tenets (see p. 172), but this is
moral integrity and protection suasion exactly the effect Thomas’ player
against the alien Beast inside every 0. joined a cult: Occult or wants to achieve.
vampire. Intimidation
Touchstones
Convictions SAMPLE HOBBIES AND Now think about those around
Convictions are a person’s core val- PASTIMES you and about whom of those you
ues: a set of moral principles that (pick or roll): most love. If becoming a monster
fortifies their actions against the 1. marathon runner: pushed them away, who would
degeneration of the Beast. you risk everything to see again?
Athletics Whose memory keeps you from
Create one to three Convic- 2. gamer: Technology tearing out a helpless throat?
tions central to your character 3. maker: Craft
in life. Convictions often begin 4. activist: Politics or Lead- Those people are your Touch-
with “never” or “always;” these are stones. Pick as many mortals as you
strong beliefs concerning some- ership have Convictions. These people
thing likely to come up in play. 5. national guard: Fire- literally define the best in human-
Killing, love, loyalty, core ideals, ity for you and serve as examples
political principles, and religious arms of these Convictions. They might
6. hunter: Survival
7. actor or musician: Per-

formance
8. cheater on your

spouse: Subterfuge
9. night school: Academics
10. street racer: Drive

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CHARACTERS

ALTERNATIVE QUICK be your wife and child, your best coming businessman that Thomas
SKILLS ASSIGNMENT friend and your old sergeant, or is convinced that he despises, but
Pick one Skill distribution: your bartender and a beautiful girl who still remains very important
■■ jack of all trades: One you’ve watched from a distance but to him. The third, “Greed ensures
never approached. See the Touch- the transfer of power from the
Skill at 3; eight Skills at 2; stones section on p. 173 for more weak to the strong,” is linked to
ten Skills at 1 possibilities. Thomas’ ghoul, whom he grooms
■■ balanced: Three Skills for a later Embrace.
at 3; five Skills at 2; seven
Skills at 1 EXAMPLE: Write down the names of your
■■ specialist: One Skill at Touchstones on the Relationship
4; three Skills at 3; three For Thomas’ first Conviction, “I Map next to your own character.
Skills at 2; three Skills at 1 only care about me and mine”,
his player chooses Thomas’ mortal
Add free Specialties to Aca- descendant, whom he cares about
demics, Craft, Performance, a great deal. It is also decided that
and Science. her beliefs are completely different
from Thomas’. The second, “Oth-
Take one more free Spe- ers should not rise above their
cialty. station,” is linked to an up-and-

sociaSolciitaleite

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COREBOOK

Ambition you want to improvise your vam- or eat. If you maintain a Mask,
What was your greatest aspiration pire experience based on how your much less hold down a job, you
as a human? This goal may change Embrace plays out. need to explain why none of your
after you enter the night, but at mortal acquaintances ever see you
the moment of death, what was If you’ve already picked your during the day. A few nocturnal
your life’s purpose? This question thicker-blooded clan or know the career ideas:
often just informs your prelude, lore of Vampire well and have a ■■ Security guard
since death and Embrace tend to strong idea of the kind of Kindred ■■ Cover band drummer
change your priorities. That said, you want to create, or you just ■■ Sanitation worker
many centuries-old bloodsuck- want to have character creation ■■ Coder or stock trader who
ers still strive to complete their done first, finish the Embrace and
mortal Ambition, sometimes in a After stage. The Storyteller can works from home when India
warped and debased form. weave your choices into your first or Japan are awake
session as foreshadowing or as a ■■ Night shift reporter, cop,
See the Ambition section on p. more overt story hook. You may nurse, therapist, or EMT
173 for more ideas and guidance. know what kind of vampire you ■■ Donut shop or convenience
will become, but you don’t know store worker
And then, some monster kills you. how until you play it out. ■■ Citizens Watch group mem-
ber (“Crime never sleeps, so
Embrace who are you now? If you neither do I.”)
and After died recently and secretly enough ■■ Bartender
that your ATM card still works, ■■ Taxi or Uber driver
Two kinds of people make the best you don’t need a new name. But ■■ Bike messenger
licks. The first have lived grey routine if you’re legally dead, or you died ■■ Tabletop game designer
lives they stick to religiously. For in another century or on another
them, the Embrace is a new job, a new continent, you need to choose the Perhaps you just never hang out
disease in the family, a new life-plan- name of your Mask. You use your with boring day people at all. You
ning challenge to overcome. The other Mask name when pretending to be don’t really have a job, but nobody
kind think that the worst has already human; if you died long enough ago you meet ever asks. You might pose
happened and things can only get bet- or had a common name like “Susan as (or be) a:
ter from rock bottom. They’re wrong of Johnson,” you might still use your ■■ Scenester or swinger
course, but the mindset helps. mortal name. ■■ Gambling addict
■■ Criminal
entr’acte and prelude  If you You might also have a Kindred ■■ Sex worker
are playing a thin-blood chronicle, name you only use in Elysium or ■■ Homeless person
especially a fledgling childer story, among your own kind. This moni- ■■ Paperless immigrant or refugee
you can play out the Embrace ker could be anything from your
right now and complete the rest of life name to a Latin name indicat- (“I can’t go out when La Migra
the mechanical creation for your ing adoption into a powerful line- might see me.”)
character once you’ve played it age to a gang handle you use when
through. You can do the same if terrifying rival Anarchs. A word to Blood Potency
the wise: Harpies make great sport The closer a vampire is to Caine, the
of dumb mortal ideas about cool higher the potential of their Blood,
vampire names, so step carefully. and the more powerful the arts they
work with it. Beginning characters’
Who are You at Night? Blood Potency depends on their
You cannot go out in the sunlight generation, as determined earlier:

148