Step Two:

Select Attributes

Players must now assign numbers. The first step in determining a character's numeric Traits is to prioritize his Attributes. Attributes are the natural abilities and raw "stuff" a character is made of. How strong is a character? How attractive? How quick? How smart? Attributes take all these questions and more into account. All Vampire characters have nine Attributes, which are divided into three categories: Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance) and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).

First, the player must select which group of Attributes is his character's strong suit (primary). The player then selects the group in which the character is average (secondary). Finally, the remaining group is designated as the character's weak point (tertiary). Is your character tough but antisocial, or gorgeous but a complete airhead? Character concept and clan may suggest certain ranks for these priorities, but feel free to decide upon any scheme you please. Nothing's worse than playing a boring stereotype. Playing an interesting stereotype, though...

All Vampire characters start with one dot in each Attribute, reflecting the basic capabilities of the mortals from which they're drawn. (The exception is the Nosferatu, who have zero dots in their Appearance Attribute.) A character's priorities determine how many dots the player may allocate to that cluster of Attributes. A player may distribute seven additional dots to his character's primary group, five additional dots to the second- ary group and three dots to the tertiary group. For example, a tough, athletic character will likely allocate seven dots to his Physical category, while a clever, wise character will place seven dots in her Mental category.

Step Three:

Select Abilities

Abilities are also divided into three categories: Talents, Skills and Knowledges. Talents are intuitive Abilities that are inherent or learned "in the field." Skills are Abilities learned through rigorous training or determination. They may be learned with careful practice, but can also be studied or learned through training. Knowledges are just that - "book learning" and the like.

Knowledges are typically mental pursuits or studies learned through schooling or books. Like Attributes, Ability groups are also prioritized during character creation. Players should select primary, secondary and tertiary groups for their Abilities. The primary group receives 13 dots, the secondary group gets nine and the tertiary group receives five. Note that, unlike Attributes, characters do not begin the game with automatic dots in any Ability. Note further that no Ability may be purchased above three dots during this stage of character creation - even among the undead, experts in a field don't grow on trees. You may raise Abilities higher with freebie points, but that comes later.

Step Four:

Select Advantages

Now comes the part of character generation during which the vampire truly becomes unique. Advantages are Traits that make the vampire a contender in the hierarchy of the night. Advantages are not prioritized; a set number of dots may be allocated to each category. Though this number is fixed, additional Advantage dots may be purchased with freebie points.

Disciplines

When vampires are Embraced, their sires teach them certain blood-based mystical powers, known as Disciplines. Each character begins with three dots of Disciplines, which may be allocated as the player chooses. For example, she may spend all three dots on one Discipline or spend a dot each on three Disciplines. Disciplines purchased with Advantage dots must be from the three clan Disciplines all clans possess. Each clan description in the links below this walkthrough lists the Disciplines practiced by that clan, along with bloodline variations, if any. If the character is a clanless Caitiff, she may purchase whatever Disciplines she wants, subject to Storyteller approval. (Note: Disciplines purchased with freebie points need not be clan Disciplines.)

Backgrounds

A beginning character has five dots worth of Backgrounds, which may be distributed at the player's discretion. Background Traits should fit the character concept - a destitute Gangrel street preacher isn't likely to have Resources, for example - though the Storyteller may disallow, or encourage players to take, certain Backgrounds for their characters.

Virtues

Virtues are very important to Vampire characters, for they provide the moral backbone for the characters and determine how readily they resist the temptations of the Beast. A character's emotional responses are very closely tied to her Virtues; these Traits define how well the character resists frenzy and how keenly she feels remorse. Virtues are essential in resisting the urges of the Beast and the Hunger, and most vampires lose points in their Virtues as they grow older and more callous.

A Vampire character has three Virtues. Conscience governs a character's sense of right and wrong, while Self-Control determines how readily she maintains her composure and contains her Hunger. Courage measures the character's gumption and ability to withstand the proximity of fire, sunlight and other things that vampires dread.

Every character starts out with one dot in each Virtue, and the player may then distribute seven additional dots among the Virtues as she sees fit. These Virtues play instrumental roles in determining a character's starting Humanity and Willpower levels, so be careful how you spend the points.

Step Five:

Last Touches

At this stage, the player may spend 15 freebie points to personalize his character. First, however, a bit of bookkeeping needs to be done.

Humanity

A character's starting Humanity score equals the sum other Conscience + Self-Control Traits, yielding a score between 5 and 10. Players are also encouraged to increase their Humanity scores with freebie points, as too low a score indicates that the Beast lies in close proximity.  

Willpower

A character's beginning Willpower score equals her Courage rating, and thus ranges from 1 to 5. Players are encouraged to raise their starting Willpower scores with freebie points, as the Trait is critical to dealing with a Kindred's dangerous emotional situations. Willpower is also used to resist frenzy, undertake especially daunting tasks and power certain Discipline effects.

Bloodpool

The crowning touch to character creation is determining the vampire's starting blood pool. This part is simple - roll a 10- sided die. The number is the number of blood points a character has in his system at the beginning of the game. This is the only die roll that is made during character creation. Freebie Points The player may now spend 15 freebie points to purchase additional dots in Traits. These points may be spent however the player chooses - thus the term "freebie." Each dot has a variable freebie-point cost based on which type of Trait it is. Remember that Disciplines purchased with freebie points need not come from the character's clan Disciplines (although purchase of some Disciplines may require explanation about how she acquired them).

Spark of Life

If you go through the motions above, you will have a character - at least in the purely technical sense. All the dots are on the paper; you can interact your piece of paper with the mechanics of the game, and roll all the right combinations of dice at the appropriate times. 

Frankly, though, for your trouble, you might as well play checkers, because at this point your character's not much more detailed than a featureless piece on a gameboard. Now's the time to take the skeleton you've mechanically built with the rules and flesh it out into a living, breathing (well, formerly living and breathing) person. Take a good long look at your Traits and numbers. Why are they there? How will they come across in the story? What parts of the character don't you know yet? Like a novelist building a literary figure, decide on all the physical, psychological and background details that make your character one of a kind, even among the undead.

Sure, your character has an Appearance of 3 - but what does that mean? Does she have a smile that could launch a thousand ships, or does she simply exude a challenging self-confidence? What color are her eyes and hair? If she's skilled in Performance, or Etiquette, or Firearms, how did she acquire her skill? Did she always want to be a movie star? Is her polished veneer a reaction against growing up in a trailer park? Did she just, for whatever bizarre reason, walk onto a firing range and discover a natural aptitude for plugging holes in targets? Is her Ally actually her ex-lover, who works for the FBI and with whom she maintains an uneasy, tension-laced friendship? Does he suspect what she's become, but help her out for now in an effort to observe her more closely?

This last phase of character creation, while the least "necessary," is the most important. Otherwise, your Brujah with the Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3 will be just like all the other Brujah with Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3 - and believe us, there are a lot of such cardboard "characters" out there. And that's a shame, because characters - especially vampires - should be unique, fascinating, passionate and memorable.

Follow the links below for Creation Resources.