Character Creation

[Alex]

Vampire: The Masquerade, 5th Edition places a much greater emphasis on character creation beyond the confines of the character sheet than its predecessors did. So for our first foray into the genre, I have created a set of guidelines to help guide the creation of character bios to meet the new requirements and make sure nobody misses anything.

Character Biography Rules

Core Concept: [Describe your core concept briefly here - and I do mean briefly. This should be one line, at most - "My character is someone who does/is/has/was something" is an example of a good core concept.]

Clan: [Brujah, Caitiff, Gangrel, Lasombra, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, Tzimisce, Ventrue]

Generation and Humanity: [Characters begin play at 12th Generation and 7 Humanity. They may sacrifice one Humanity to lower their Generation, and may do so twice for a minimum of 10th Generation and 5 Humanity. Note: This lower Generation can be a result of diablerie, but doesn't have to be. The implication is that more powerful Vampires are probably generally a bit less humane. This can happen through diablerie or simple existence.]

Convictions: [Select 1 Conviction per two dots of Humanity rounded down - mortal beliefs which your character holds. These should be maxims to live by, and should be at least somewhat humane. Players should have at least one Conviction at character generation, and may defer the remaining ones until after the fast forward.]

Touchstones: [Select a number of Touchstones equal to the number of Convictions you have - humans or Kindred who represent those convictions. These must be people who do something to remind you of your lost humanity. Like Convictions, these may be deferred until after the prelude. As a note, Touchstones shouldn't be entirely fleshed out characters - just people important to your Vampire. If you take that touchstone as a Background, they can be fleshed out additionally.]

Ambition: [A concrete, long-term goal your character wants to achieve. This should be a goal which can be reasonably accomplished in the course of the game. Feel free to blend the character's ambitions with your own - we'll get them to see things your way. This may be deferred until after the prelude.]

Predator Type: [The way in which you expect your character to feed. This does not indicate that you can only hunt for Blood in this way, but it confers benefits that will help you do so. Predator types are on pages 175-178.]

Narrative Biography: [Write a narrative biography of up to two pages describing your character, the experiences that formed them, their backgrounds, their scandals, and their human relations. This is an optional step - we can come up with all of this before we begin play.]

Character Creation Rules

You may find the Excel sheet we'll be using for Shattered Masquerade at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing. Please do not edit the base sheet at this link - just copy it.

Generation

Generation will be determined on a character-by-character basis. In general, characters with lower Generation may also have slightly lower Humanity.

Attributes

4 Dots - 1 Attribute
3 Dots - 3 Attributes
2 Dots - 4 Attributes
1 Dot - 1 Attribute
3 Dots - Free Choice

Skills

Select one of the point distributions listed below.

Jack of All Trades

3 Dots - 1 Skill
2 Dots - 8 Skills
1 Dot - 10 Skills
6 Dots - Free Choice

Balanced

3 Dots - 3 Skills
2 Dots - 5 Skills
1 Dot - 7 Skills
6 Dots - Free Choice

Specialist

4 Dots - 1 Skill
3 Dots - 3 Skills
2 Dots - 3 Skills
1 Dot - 3 Skills
6 Dots - Free Choice

Specialties

Add specialties to Academics, Crafts, Performance, and Science Skills.
Add one additional Specialty.

Disciplines

5 Dots - In-Clan Disciplines

Predator Type (pg. 175 - 178)

Add 1 Specialty per your Predator Type
Add 1 Dot to a listed Discipline
Apply all associated Advantages and Flaws

Advantages

7 Dots - Backgrounds and Merits
2 Dots - Negative Backgrounds and Flaws
These may be spent after the prelude if your flaw would be more applicable to your time in New Orleans