Creating Your Vampire

This page will help you create your character. Remember to ask your Storyteller if something isn't explained well here.

Core Concept

(V5 Core book, p.133)

1. Who was your character before they became a vampire? What did they do for a living? Did they have a family?
2. Who was the vampire who Embraced (turned) you?
3. Most vampires cannot create new vampires without permission of the city's Prince. This means that they are usually picky about who they Embrace. Why did your sire (the vampire who Embraced you) choose you?
4. Some vampires take a new name after the Embrace. Did you? What was your old name and what new name did you choose?
5. Vampires need a haven; a place to sleep during the day that is secure and has a space that can be made sun-proof. Where is your vampire's haven?

Clan

Your vampire is of the same clan as your sire; the Kindred (vampire) who Embraced you. Choosing a clan is similar to choosing a "race" in other role-playing games; each clan comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. The list below contains the clans that are available to play, along with a link to a detailed page about that clan.

Clan	Description	Disciplines
Banu Haqim	The Banu Haqim used to be an independent clan based in the Middle East that stroke fear in the hearts of Kindred, as they were known to be diablerists (meaning that they drank the blood of other vampires). However, this weakness is largely balanced by their core beliefs in Justice, Fairness and Truth.	Blood Sorcery, Celerity, Obfuscate
Brujah	They were once known as the Philosopher Kings of Carthage, and to this day, they combine their rebellious nature with intense ideals and a physical prowess able to move mountains. Brujah's are quick thinkers, passionate about causes and quick to anger.	Celerity, Potence, Presence
Gangrel	The Gangrel are a nomadic clan that feels most at home in the wilderness and the open spaces. They are called the Clan of the Beast, as whenever they Frenzy, they gain an animalistic trait. They can also shapeshift into animals, as well as communicate with and control them. Gangrel are very independent, very loyal to their kind and very hands-off with their Childer, as they believe that experience will either kill the fledglings or make them stronger.	Animalism, Fortitude, Protean
Lasombra	As their name indicates (Lasombra means "the shadow" in Spanish), the Lasombra are masters of darkness, manipulating it like the Tremere do blood. This is due to their connection with the Abyss, the cold mystical place where light perishes, and that sometimes can be crafted into a handy meeting place.	Dominate, Oblivion, Potence
Malkavian	Malkavians have one of the hardest and most interesting Banes of all: they are mad as a Hatter. They are also mentally connected among all the members of their clan through the Madness Network. Their mental impairments are as varied as the Ventrue's taste is wide. They can have a double personality, be a neat freak or a mass murderer.	Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate
The Ministry	The Ministry firmly believe in Set, the Egyptian god of destruction, dissent, darkness and desert storms, breaker of the chains of self and liberator of human mores. They originated in Egypt, quickly finding recruits and, as the centuries passed, mutating their mask to better fit the most appropriate theological theory.	Obfuscate, Presence, Protean
Nosferatu	Afflicted with horrific deformations that make them a physical breach of the Masquerade, the Nosferatu have occupied the unseen parts of town, creating alliances with the invisible and the forgotten and cultivating herds of humans loyal to their cause. The Nosferatu are excellent information brokers, as they are experts in the art of hiding anywhere and extracting gossip even from rats.	Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence
Ravnos	Known as wandering tricksters, mystics, and vagabonds, the Ravnos are incurable daredevils who gleefully pursue the art of unliving dangerously. Ravnos must sleep in a different location every night or suffer injury.	Animalism, Obfuscate, Presence
Salubri	Rumored to only be composed of seven vampires at any time, the modern Salubri search for perfect balance between their humanity and their vampirism- enacting a bloody ritual when they achieve that state or despair of ever doing so. They are divided into three branches: the healers, the warriors and the watchers.	Auspex, Dominate, Fortitude
Toreador	Toreadors are the most seductive of vampires. They love art, beauty and those humans that are able to create it. While an older Toreador may be a patron of the arts, a recently embraced fledgling might find beauty in a perfectly curated Instagram timeline. They leave a trail of (literally and metaphorically) broken hearts behind.	Auspex, Celerity, Presence
Tremere	The Tremere were never supposed to be vampires; they were Mages that arrived at vampirism through a fumbled experiment to obtain eternal life. This also earned them many enemies in a short amount of time. However, they recovered quickly, becoming Thaumaturgy (Blood Magic) wielders, intellectual powerhouses and one of the pillars of vampire society.	Auspex, Blood Sorcery, Dominate
Tzimisce	If someone were to call a Tzimisce inhuman and sadistic, the Tzimisce would probably commend them for their perceptiveness and then demonstrate that their mortal definition of sadism was laughably inadequate. The Tzimisce have left the human condition behind gladly, and now focus on transcending the limitations of the vampiric state.	Animalism, Dominate, Protean
Ventrue	Ventrues are called the Clan of Kings, and, for a long time, they were the de-facto leaders of the Camarilla. Highly structured, ambitious, invested in their own history and in noblesse oblige, and self-styled as the clan that was the most loyal to their elders, Ventrue are unafraid to take charge.	Dominate, Fortitude, Presence

Attributes and Skills

For best results, make sure you have a blank Vampire: The Masquerade character sheet.

How These Work

All dice checks in Vampire consist of a pool of 10-sided dice called a "dice pool". Your Storyteller will tell you how many dice to roll by saying something like "Roll me Strength plus Brawl". You would count the number of points ("dots") you have in Strength and add that number to the number of points ("dots") you have in Brawl. That total is the number of dice you roll. Every result that is a 6 or higher is a "success". The more successes you get, the better your result.

This part of character creation is where you will decide how many dots your vampire has in their skills and attributes; it's where you get to shape the things your vampire is good at.

Attributes

1. Put four dots in one attribute.
2. Put three dots in each of three attributes.
3. Put two dots each in four attributes.
4. Put one dot in one attribute.

Skills

You can choose one of the following three methods of putting dots in skills:

1. "Jack of All Trades" - One skill with three dots, eight skills with two dots and ten skills with one dot.
2. "Balanced" - Three skills with three dots, five skills with two dots and seven skills with one dot.
3. "Specialist" - One skill with four dots, three skills with three dots three skills with two dots and three skills with one dot.

Specialties

Specialties allow you to further customize your character by choosing a specific area within a skill where you will get a bonus die added to your die pool. There is no list; you choose your own definition (with the permission of your Storyteller). For example:

• If your vampire was an actor, you might give them an "Acting" specialty in the "Performance" skill. Anytime your character needs to do something like acting, you'll get an extra die on that roll.
• Perhaps your vampire is really good with pistols; you might take a "Pistols" specialty in the "Firearms" skill.
• Your vampire might be a student of the paranormal; you could take a "Ghosts" or "Spirits" specialty in the "Occult" skill.

Follow the following steps to add specialties:

1. If you have dots in the "Academics" skill, you make take a specialty in Academics (e.g., "Anthropology", "Art History", "Law").
2. If you have dots in the "Craft" skill, you may take a specialty in Craft (e.g., "Auto Mechanics", "Cosmetics", "Painting").
3. If you have dots in the "Performance" skill, you may take a specialty in Performance (e.g., "Acting", "Singing", "Dancing").
4. If you have dots in the "Science" skill, you may take a specialty in Science (e.g., "Physics", "Genetics", "Hematology").
5. You may take one free specialty in any other skill where you have dots.

Disciplines

Disciplines are the gifts of the blood, the vampire powers that your character has. Each vampire clan can choose from three categories of Disciplines (shown above in the "Clans" section). For your character, choose two of the three Disciplines available for your clan. Put two dots in one and one dot in the other.

For the category that you gave two dots, you may choose either one second-level power or two first-level powers. For the category where you gave one dot, you may choose one first-level power.