Vampire: The Masquerade

Book Two: Becoming

THE BECOMING

The aroma, yes. The succulent savor. Its weight and marrow. I imagine the cooling flames of the elixir cascading down my throat, nourishing me. But I am parched and barren. A husk. My need envelops every painful step I take.

Soon. I will need blood soon.

The click of heels on cement rouses me. I move into the darkness of the alley. The growing cadence is maddening as the vessel draws near.

Thereahhh. A whiff of cheap perfume. The odor of nervous tension. The fragrance of pumping blood. I can almost taste the sweet nectar.

The pale light of a streetlamp brings my prey into focus. Her long hair bounces lightly off her shoulder. A face, rosy with exertion: a beauty only I can appreciate. Her anxious eyes scan the doorways, doubtless envisioning rapists and muggers.

She passes by, quickly glancing into the alley. I break away from the shadows. An arm's length away, I can hear her heart throbbing.

I have become death, the destroyer of souls.

Gliding toward her, the smell of her lifeblood wafts over me, arousing me. She is only inches from my caress. My mind screams with lust.

NO!

I pull back, my arm shaking. I cannot do it. A low moan escapes my lips. She whirls, staring into the darkness, eyes wide with terror. But she is blind to my presence, and with a low sigh turns away. I taste my own blood as it seeps between my clenched teeth, and watch her fade into the night.

I am alone.

Rules

Mythology is a rendition of forms, through which the formless form of forms can be known.

- Joseph Campbell

Every game has rules. Some have only a few and are fairly simple, such as Chutes and Ladders, while others have many and are extremely complicated, such as bridge. Vampire has something in common with both - it has only a few simple rules, but these few rules have a large number of permutations. You need only learn the basic rules, but their permutations evoke the flavor of the game to reflect the true complexity of real life. This chapter provides the basic rules of Vampire; the permutations are what Book Three is about.

Rules are like the myths which shape and describe a culture. They define what is important and delineate the possibilities of existence. Though these rules may seem somewhat strange and exotic, they really aren't all that complicated. Once you understand them, you'll understand how to play this game. Just concentrate on learning these basics and everything else will come naturally.

Time

Time is the moving image of reality.

- Plato

The first thing you need to learn is how time passes in Vampire. There are five different ways to describe time, going from the smallest unit to the all-encompassing one.

Turn - One unit of time within a scene, anywhere from three seconds to three minutes in length. A turn is enough time to take one action (discussed below).

Scene - One compact period of action and roleplaying which takes place in a single location. A scene is made up of a variable number of turns (as many as it takes to complete it); it can also be completed with straight-up roleplaying, which requires no use of turns.

Chapter - One independent part of a story, almost always played in one game session. It is made up of a number of scenes connected by periods of downtime.

Story - A complete tale, with an introduction, buildup and climax, which often takes several chapters to complete.

Chronicle - A whole series of stories connected together by the lives of the characters and perhaps a broadly conceived theme and plot. It is simply the ongoing story told by you and the players.

Actions

Besides acting out their characters' speeches and conversations, players will want their characters to attempt to perform actions they have described to the Storyteller. Actions can be anything from jumping over a gorge to glancing behind oneself to see if one is being followed. The player tells the Storyteller what her character is doing and details the procedure she uses.

Many actions are automatic, such as when a player tells the Storyteller that her character walks across the street toward the warehouse, for instance. All the Storyteller needs to do is keep track of where the character is and what she is doing. However, certain actions require a dice roll to determine success or failure.

Rolling Dice

And the game never ends when your whole world depends

On the turn of a friendly card.

- The Alan Parsons Project, "Turn of a Friendly Card"

There is always chance in life. There's a chance you'll win the lottery, a chance you'll be audited, and a chance you'll die in a plane crash. Chance plays a role in Vampire as well. However, we use dice to simulate the duplicity of Lady Luck.

The game system in Vampire consists of rolling 10-sided dice, which you can buy in any game store. If you are the Storyteller, you will want a lot of dice, at least 10, all to yourself. As a player, you'll want dice as well, but sharing dice with other players will work.

Whenever the success of an action is in doubt or the Storyteller thinks that there is a chance you might fail, you will have to roll dice. This gives your character an opportunity to let both weaknesses and strengths exhibit themselves, thereby revealing something of the character's true nature to both you and the other players.

A character is described by her Traits - the innate and learned abilities and aptitudes she possesses. Traits are defined by numbers; each Trait has a rating from 1-5, which describes how good the character is in that particular Trait. One is lousy and five is superb. This scale of one to five is the "star" rating system made famous by movie and restaurant critics.

You should consider the normal human range to be from one to three, with two being average. However, exceptional people can have Traits of four (exceptional) or five (superb), or even have a zero in a Trait (which is extremely rare, but not unheard of).

x Abysmal

* Poor

** Average

*** Good

****Exceptional

***** Superb

For every dot your character has in a particular Trait, you get to roll one die. Thus, if you had four dots on Strength, you would get to roll four dice. If you had a one Perception, you would get to roll only one die. However, you almost never simply roll the number of dice you have in an Attribute, which defines your intrinsic capabilities. Usually you get to add the number of dice you have in an Attribute with the number of dice you have in an Ability - things which you know and have learned.

So if the Storyteller wanted the players to roll to see if they notice the patrol car creeping up behind them, he would have them roll their Perception + Alertness - an Attribute + an Ability. They would take as many dice as they had points of Perception, put them in their hands, and then they would take as many dice as they had points of Alertness, and put those in their hands also. They get to roll as many dice as they have total points in their Ability and Attribute.

These dice are called the Dice Pool, which is a description of the total number of dice you roll in a single turn - usually for a single action, though you can divide up your Dice Pool in order to be able to perform more than one action. You almost always roll the number of dice equal to a Trait's permanent rating (the circles), not its current score (the squares).

There are many actions that don't require or even have an appropriate Ability, such as when you want to break down a door. In such cases, you would only use an Attribute, rolling the number of dice you have listed for that Attribute - in this case, Strength.

There is absolutely no situation where more than two Traits can add to a Dice Pool. Only one Trait can be used if it has a potential value of 10 (such as Humanity or Willpower). It is generally impossible for a normal human being to have more than 10 dice in a Dice Pool (though vampires are a different story).

Oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

The instruments of darkness tell us truths;

Win us with honest trifles, to betray's

In deepest Consequence.

- Shakespeare, Macbeth

Now you've got to figure out what you need to look for when you roll the dice. The Storyteller will give you a difficulty number, which is the number that you need to obtain in order to succeed in whatever you are attempting. A difficulty is always a number between two and 10. You need to get that number or higher on at least one of the dice you roll in order to succeed. Every time you do so, it's called a success. If the difficulty is a six and you roll a 2, 3, 6, 5 and 9, you have scored two successes. Though you need only one success to actually succeed, the more successes you get, the better you do. Getting only one success is considered a marginal success, while getting three is considered a complete success, and getting five is a momentous event.

Difficulties

Three - Easy

Four - Routine

Five - Straightforward

Six - Standard

Seven - Challenging

Eight - Difficult

Nine - Extremely Difficult

Degrees of Success

One Success - Marginal

Two Successes - Moderate

Three Successes - Complete

Four Successes - Exceptional

Five Successes - Phenomenal

You can see that if the difficulty is lower, it becomes easier to get a success, and if it is higher, it is more difficult. The Storyteller will assign high difficulties whenever the action you have decided to take is difficult, and will either let you do something automatically (because your Attributes and Abilities are so high) or give you a low difficulty if it is particularly easy.

Though they are not on the list above, you, as the Storyteller, can also assign a difficulty of two or 10. However, these should almost never be used. Difficulty two is so pathetically easy that you might as well let the player succeed without wasting time on a roll. Difficulty 10 is so difficult that there is an equal chance to botch (described below) as there is to succeed, no matter how many dice the player is rolling. A 10 is pretty near impossible. On the rare occasions when you do announce a difficulty of 10, be sure you realize how impossible you are making the chance of success. If a player ever rolls a 10, it is automatically a success, no matter what.

Unless the Storyteller says otherwise, the difficulty for a particular task is always a six. This is the standard, assumed difficulty.

There is one last thing about rolling dice, and that is the "rule of one." Whenever you roll a one, it cancels out a success. It completely takes it away. You remove both the "success" die and the "one" die and pay them no more heed. If you roll more ones than you do successes, a disaster occurs; something called a botch takes place. Don't count the ones that canceled out successes, but if even a single one is left after all the successes have been canceled, a botch occurs. Getting a single one or five ones is about the same; the circumstances surrounding the botch determine if it is catastrophic or a minor mishap. If there aren't any ones or successes left, you've simply failed.

You don't want to be rolling dice all the time as it can get in the way of the roleplaying. Vampire employs a very simple system for automatic successes so players do not have to make rolls for actions characters could perform in their sleep.

It works like this: if the number of dice you have in your Dice Pool is equal to or greater than the difficulty, then you succeed automatically. It is considered the equivalent of only getting one success, so sometimes a player will want to roll anyway in an attempt to gain even more successes. But for very simple and often-repeated actions, automatic successes can eliminate a lot of wasted time.

The automatic success rules can be used to completely eliminate dice rolling, something you will want to do during Live-Action roleplaying. In such situations, automatic successes aren't a matter of choice. Either you are good enough to succeed or you are not. It is simple, but so was Cops 'n' Robbers and we liked it just fine. The story was what was important and the rules didn't matter.

This simple system even has a twist, making it not quite so black and white. A Willpower point can be used to earn an automatic success. You won't want to do this often, but on certain actions it can be very advantageous to do so. Of course, the Willpower only counts for one success if multiple successes are required.

When we play, we usually use a combination of dice rolling and automatic successes. During most scenes - especially when we're deep into the story - we don't even roll dice, preferring to roleplay through them without interruptions. However, when we get in the mood for playing-a-game, rather then telling-a-story , we make lots of dice rolls and add many complications to the rules.

You may have already realized that it is quite easy to get a single success, even when you roll only one or two dice. You have a 75% chance for a marginal success when you roll only two dice and the difficulty is a six. While that may sound too easy, there are various ways to complicate matters, some of which are discussed below. For troupes heavily into roleplaying, simple rolls and automatic successes are enough. Generally, you will use a complication if the players or you want a break from the roleplaying, if you want a realistic result or if you want to make a game out of the scene. Complications can add drama to the story and create a depth of passion and focus.

Specific systems of complications have been developed completely in the Drama Chapter. However, below are the basic complications that can be employed in Vampire.

In order to fully succeed, you will sometimes need more than one success - you will need to accumulate three, or seven, or even 20 successes (on rare occasions). When you only need to get one success to accomplish an action, it's called a simple action. When you need to get more than one success to get a marginal success, it's called an extended action. Extended actions are not uncommon, but simple actions are the ones most frequently made.

In an extended action, you will roll over and over on subsequent turns in an attempt to collect enough successes to succeed. For instance, your character is climbing a tree and the Storyteller announces that when you get a total of seven successes, she has climbed to the top. She'll get there eventually, but of course the more times you roll, the more chances your character has to botch and injure herself. If she is attempting to climb down the tree because it is on fire, the amount of time it takes becomes exceedingly important.

During an extended action, you can keep trying to obtain successes for as long as you want, or at least until you fail to get even one success. If you botch, your character may have to start over from scratch, with no accumulated successes. The Storyteller may decide to not let the character try again at all.

Because of the dramatic effect that extended actions provide in the story, they are used frequently in the systems described in the Drama chapter. However, this type of action is more complicated than a simple action and should not often be employed in the middle of intense roleplaying. As the Storyteller, it will be your decision as to what type of action is called for. A little bit of experience will serve you well when employing these rules.

Sometimes you will make an action in opposition to one made by another character. Both of you will make rolls, with a difficulty often indicated by a Trait of the other player, and the person who gets the most successes succeeds. However, you are considered to get only as many successes as the amount by which you exceed your opponent's successes. The opponent's successes eliminate your own, just as ones do. Therefore, it is very difficult, and rare, to get an outstanding success on a resisted action. Even if your opponent cannot beat you, she can diminish the effect of your efforts. On actions that are both extended and resisted, one of the opponents must collect a certain number of success in order to completely succeed. Each success above the opponent's total number of successes in a single turn is added to a success total. The first to collect the designated number of successes wins the contest.

Sometimes characters can work together to collect successes, most often during an extended action. At the discretion of the Storyteller, two or more characters can make rolls separately and add together their successes. They may never add together their separate Traits into one roll, though. Teamwork is effective in some circumstances, such as in combat, shadowing prey, collecting information, and repairing devices. In others it can actually be a hindrance, such as in many social actions (where it can confuse the subject).

The chart below may serve to clear up your confusion on some of the different types of rolls that can be made.

_PRIVATE__Action_Example_Description__Simple_Firearms, Alertness_Task is completed with one roll. The Storyteller announces the difficulty and the players roll their dice. Automatic success is possible.__Extended_Running, Research, Track_Task is completed when a given number of successes are obtained, which may require more than one roll (thus providing more chances to botch).__Resisted_Shadowing_A contest of skill between two individuals. They compare their number of successes and the one with the highest number succeeds.__Extended & Resisted_Arm Wrestling_Two individuals compete as in the resisted action, but before one can claim success he must accumulate a certain number of successes.__

Remember that in the end there is only one real rule in Vampire: there are no rules. You should fashion this game into whatever you need it to be - if the rules get in your way, then ignore or change them. In the end, the true complexity and beauty of the real world cannot be captured by rules; it takes storytelling and imagination to do that. Indeed, these rules are not so much rules as they are guidelines, and you are free to use, abuse, ignore and change them as you wish.

Well, that's it. Those are the rules. This system for dice is all you really need to know to play this game. All the other rules are just clarifications and exceptions to these ones. As long as you understand what's been discussed here, you won't have any difficulty understanding anything else. If you don't think you've caught everything, just read it over again and you'll find it will make more sense the second time around.

Now go ahead and make a few rolls, using the example character from the other page. Malcolm is attempting to jump from the roof of one building to the roof of another, a distance of 15 feet. The Storyteller decides the action has a difficulty of seven. Take four dice because of Malcolm's Dexterity of four, and two dice because of his Athletics rating of two. You should now have six dice in your hand - that's a lot. You don't have much chance of failing, but go ahead and roll; you never know. Look to see how many successes you have, making sure to take away a success for every "one" you roll. Did you make it, or did you botch? The more successes you get, the better you land. Only one success might mean that you jumped to the other roof, but are hanging on by your fingers (which would require more rolls to see if Malcolm managed to keep hanging on and climb up to the roof).

Next, try out an example of an extended and resisted action. An example of this is an arm wrestling match. It requires an indefinite series of rolls, each using a different Trait and requiring different difficulties. You need to accumulate five successes more than your opponent in order to finally win. A botch eliminates all of your accumulated successes.

-First roll: Each player rolls Strength; the difficulty is the opponent's Dexterity + 3 (speed is important at first).

-Second and third rolls: Each player rolls Strength; the difficulty is the opponent's Strength +3.

-Fourth roll (and all subsequent ones): Each player rolls Strength; the difficulty is the opponent's Willpower.

Examples of Rolls

Following are some examples of rolls, to provide you with some ideas on how to incorporate these rules into your roleplaying. Please note that each Attribute can work with each Ability, so there are 270 potential types of simple rolls that can be made. Admittedly, you will not often roll Stamina + Computer, but it might come up.

-You threaten the young man by trying to lift him up by his collar. Roll Strength + Intimidation (difficulty 8).

-You want to break down the metal door that was just slammed in your face. You need to roll Strength (difficulty 8). You need to collect six successes in order to break it open enough to slip through.

-How flawlessly do you conduct yourself at the formal dinner at La Omini (even though you can't actually eat anything...)? Roll Dexterity + Etiquette (difficulty 8).

-You try to slip out of your handcuffs (good luck!). Roll Dexterity + Streetwise (difficulty 10).

- After being questioned for hours, you roll Stamina + Acting to see if you can maintain your story successfully (difficulty 8). Five successes will completely convince your interrogators.

- The ritual takes three days to complete. Can you stay awake for 72 hours? Roll Stamina + Occult (difficulty 9).

- How long can you remain motionless in the bushes as the two guards chat for hours on end? Roll Stamina + Stealth (difficulty 7). Each success is an hour.

- Yelling and screaming at the taxi driver, you try to get him to drive even faster. Roll Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty 6).

-You go out on the street and try to gather some information about the new gang moving into the projects. Roll Charisma + Streetwise (difficulty 8). The more successes you get, the more you know. It takes a whole evening to get the information.

-By showing off your moves, you try to convince your opponent to back off. Roll Manipulation + Brawl (difficulty 6). Three successes will cause him to pause a turn, but you can try this action only once...

- You attempt to convince the clerk of the court that you really are the EPA inspector, and that you need to see the court records. Roll Manipulation + Bureaucracy (difficulty 8).

-You want to make a good impression at Modius' party. Roll Appearance + Etiquette (difficulty 4).

-You attempt to entice the young woman to join you in your limo parked outside the club. Roll Appearance + Subterfuge (difficulty 7).

- An initiate of the Sabbat is creeping up behind you. Roll Perception + Alertness to see if you notice his approach (difficulty 9).

- Do you notice the old lady pulling the gun out of her purse in time to dodge out of the way? Roll Perception + Dodge (difficulty 6).

- You try to analyze what's wrong with the car engine from the strange sounds it is making. Roll Perception + Repair (difficulty 6).

- What language is she speaking? Roll Intelligence + Linguistics to figure it out (difficulty 6).

- Why are the ravens crying so loudly? Roll Intelligence + Animal Ken (difficulty 9).

- Suddenly, a man pushes a crate out of the van you have been chasing - roll Wits + Drive to see if you can avoid hitting it (difficulty 6).

Words used by the players:

Ability: A Trait that describes what a character knows and has learned, rather than what she is. Abilities are Traits such as Intimidation, Firearms and Bureaucracy.

Action: An action is the performance of a deed, which is a consciously-willed, physical, social or mental activity. When a player announces that his character is doing something, he is taking an action.

Advantage: This is a catch-all category which describes the mystical Disciplines and Backgrounds of a character.

Attribute: A Traits that describes what a character inherently is. Attributes are such things as Strength, Charisma and Intelligence.

Botch: A disastrous failure, indicated by rolling more ones than successes on the 10-sided dice rolled for an action.

Character: Each player creates a character, an individual she roleplays over the course of the chronicle. Though "character" could imply any individual, in Vampire it is always used to describe the players' characters.

Dice Pool: This describes the dice you have in your hand after adding together your different Traits. It is the maximum number of dice you can roll in one turn, though you can divide them among different actions.

Difficulty: This is a number from 2-10 measuring the difficulty of an action a character takes. The player needs to roll that number or higher on at least one of the dice rolled.

Downtime: The time spent between scenes, where no roleplaying is done and turns are not used. Actions might be made, and the Storyteller might give some descriptions, but generally time passes quickly.

Extended Action: An action that requires a certain number of successes for the character to actually succeed.

Health: This is a measure of the degree to which a character is wounded or injured.

Points: The temporary score of a primary trait such as Willpower, Humanity and Health - the squares, not the circles.

Refresh: When points are regained in a Dice Pool, it is said that they are being "refreshed". The number of points regained is the refresh rate.

Rating: A number describing the permanent value of a Trait, most often a number from 1-5, though sometimes a number from 1-10.

Resisted Action: An action that two different characters take against each other. Both compare their number of successes and the character with the most wins.

Scene: A single episode of the story; a time and place where actions and events take place moment by moment. A scene is often a dramatic high point of the story.

Score: The temporary value of a Trait or combination of Traits used in a single roll.

Simple Action: An action that requires the player to get only one success to succeed, though more successes indicate a better job or result.

Storyteller: The person who creates and guides the story by assuming the roles of all characters not taken by the players and determining all events beyond the control of the players.

System: A specific set of complications used in a certain situation; rules to help guide the rolling of dice to create dramatic action.

Trait: A Trait is any Attribute, Ability, Advantage or other character index that can be described as a number (in terms of dots).

Troupe: The group of players, including the Storyteller, who play Vampire - usually on a regular basis.

Willpower: One of the most important Traits is Willpower. It measures the self-confidence and internal control of a character. However, Willpower works differently than most Traits - it is usually used up, rather than rolled.

And all men and women merely players

They have their exits and entrances

And one man in his time plays many parts.

- Shakespeare, As You Like It

Before you can begin to play Vampire, you must create a character. However, unlike make-believe, you don't just make up a character as you go along (though the Storyteller is faced with this challenge regularly). Instead, you've got to create a character before you begin to play. There is a certain amount of work involved - characters are built, not born. Building a compelling, yet honest, character is a creative struggle even for the most experienced of us.

This chapter describes how to create a unique character, beginning with a general concept and translating this concept into numbers that can be used in the game. It provides guidelines for the players when they create their characters. This process is very simple and the players can easily figure it out for themselves. However, the Storyteller should have a good grasp of the process in order to answer their questions accurately and succinctly.

These numbers may not seem particularly evocative. It is hard to imagine a novelist describing a character by saying "Her silver tongue must have meant she had a Charisma of four." However, these ratings make it simple to describe the strengths and weaknesses of a character. More importantly, it means the random factor created by dice can be employed in relation to the character's Traits. A strong character has more of a chance to break the door down than a weak one.

Character creation always follows a pattern from the general to the specific. First, you develop a general concept of who and what your character is - is she more socially or mentally developed? - and then get specific by selecting the ratings of your Traits - how strong are your Charisma, Manipulation and Appearance? Do not use this process as a chance to create the "best" possible character; that defeats the whole purpose of making up a really interesting individual. These numbers are intended to enhance roleplaying, not open an avenue to some mythical Hall of Fame.

Character creation is not unlike cooking: you've got to gather the ingredients, stir and whip them together, and then let the mixture bake for a few hours. You start by deciding what kind of character you want. Are you going to be a street-hardened punk or a rich and somewhat spoiled ex-debutante? Are you a college graduate or were you tutored in life somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains? The background and personality of your character are the essential ingredients of his persona. From your basic concepts, you can then start to work out the details, such as Attributes and Advantages.

_

There are five basic concepts you need to be aware of before you begin to create your character:

• You can create a character of any age from any culture or nation; however, she begins the game as a fairly young and unsophisticated vampire who has only recently left the tutelage of her sire. Your character knows little about vampire society or Kindred life, except what she has been told by her sire. In any case, she has been a vampire for 50 years or less. Your character's apparent age is the age when she "died."

- This character creation process was designed as much to help you define your character as it was to provide you with a means to interact with the rules. The process of creating the character is meant to help you better focus the concept of your character. Remember that a character cannot exist only as numbers; it is your roleplaying which will shape and define an alter ego.

- This character creation system is a purchase system with only one die roll involved. By choosing Traits from a variety of lists, you decide who your character will be. You will get extra points called "freebies" at the end of the process, which you can then use to add dots to any Trait, so do not agonize over all your choices.

- A Trait of one is poor and a trait of five is superb, so if you only have one dot on something, you are either not very good or only a beginner. Traits are based on the human range, as a vampire's special powers are defined by Disciplines and the use of Blood Points.

- It is your responsibility to create a character who fits into the group. If you fail to get along with the others and disrupt the story because of it, you will have to create a new character. Life as a vampire is far too dangerous for animosity to exist within a brood; in order to survive, you need to work together.

_PRIVATE

__Character Creation Process

Step One: Character Concept - who are you?

Choose Concept, Clan, Nature and Demeanor

Step Two: Choose Attributes - what are your basic capabilities?

Choose Physical, Social and Mental Traits

Step Three: Choose Abilities - what do you know?

Choose Talents, Skills and Knowledges

Step Four: Choose Advantages - in what ways are you unique?

Choose Disciplines, Backgrounds and Virtues

Step Five: Last Touches - filling in the details.

Choose Willpower, Humanity and Blood Pool (and spend "freebie" points)__

_PRIVATE

__Concepts

Criminal - jailbird, mafioso, cat burglar, drug dealer, bandit

Dilettante - artist, writer, intellectual, gambler, student

Drifter - hobo, cowboy, prostitute, hermit, pilgrim

Entertainer - comic, musician, movie star, clown

Investigator - detective, cop, government agent, Inquisitor

Kid - child, runaway, nerd, gang member, street urchin

Outsider - aborigine, Third World resident, homosexual

Politician - judge, mayor, senator, public official, governor

Professional - engineer, doctor, mortician, scholar

Punk - club crawler, mosher, skinhead, classic '70s punk

Reporter - anchorperson, newspaper, paparazzo, town crier

Soldier - bodyguard, mercenary, Green Beret, knight

Worker - trucker, farmer, wage slave, servant, serf

__Role of the Storyteller

As the Storyteller, you must guide the players through the character generation process. After your players arrive for the game session, you need to introduce them to the basic premise of the game and describe the rules system. Your main goal should be to make it as easy for the players as possible. If they are beginners, keep things as simple as you can; let them discover the intricacies of the system on their own.

Start by passing out the character sheets, and then give the players a minute to look them over and ask questions about them. You may also photocopy the "Character Creation" sheet from the back of the book (for personal use only) to use as a reference aid throughout the process. If the players can refer to this sheet and listen to your explanations at the same time, character generation will be much easier to understand. Then go through the character creation process step by step, filling in all the details of the character Traits.

It is usually advisable to spend an entire game session creating characters. This ensures that the players don't feel rushed and that they take the time to make complete, flesh-and-blood characters, not paper-thin stooges. Once you are finished with the practical details of the character creation, you can spend the rest of the game session conducting a prelude for each character. A prelude is a form of abbreviated storytelling in which you tell the story of the character's life up to the Embrace. This will be their introduction to the chronicle as well as their character, so make it memorable. The prelude is described at the end of this chapter.

_PRIVATE

__Clans

(Complete descriptions can be found on pgs. 126-139)

Brujah: Respecting no authority and acknowledging no leaders, the "rabble" consider themselves free.

Gangrel: Loners and rustics, the "outlanders" are the only Kindred who dare venture outside the cities.

Malkavian: Commonly (and correctly) believed to be insane, the "kooks" nonetheless possess an uncanny vision and wisdom.

Nosferatu: Ostracized and misunderstood by others, the hideous "sewer rats" live out their sordid existences in hiding.

Toreador: Known for their hedonistic ways, the "degenerates" prefer to think of themselves as artists.

Tremere: Wizards descended from an ancient legacy, the "warlocks" work together to increase their influence and power.

Ventrue: Aristocrats of rarefied taste and manner, the "blue bloods" are leaders of cool cunning.

Caitiff: Those with no clan - the outcasts and the disgraced.

Step 1: Character Concept (Koncept=obecný návrh postavy)

Each person is many persons: a multitude made into one person; a corporate body; incorporated, a corporationthe unity of a person is as real, or unreal, as the unity of the corporation.

-N.O. Brown

Before you write a single thing down, you need to develop a concept for your character. It only needs to be a general idea of what your character will be like, something unique and interesting that will be enjoyable to play over the long term. This involves choosing a clan (the bloodline of vampires from which the character descends) as well as the personality of the character, which is described by choosing her Nature and Demeanor.

The better you can interrelate these three aspects of your character, the more intricate and complete she will be. Often the Demeanor of a character will be completely different than her actual Nature, and the stereotypical image of a clan can be contradicted with great effect by choosing the Nature and Demeanor carefully.

Though short lists are given in this chapter, complete descriptions of the clans and the archetypes can be found in Chapter Seven, Traits.

Many Kindred find it difficult to abandon their concept of themselves as humans and cling tenaciously to the trappings of their former lives. Thus the first thing you need to do is to come up with an overall concept of who the character was before he was Embraced: what he did, how he lived, and what was unique about him. This concept may describe his profession, how he saw himself, or what others felt about him.

Some concepts, such as knight or hermit, indicate that the character was Embraced hundreds of years ago, while others, such as trucker or movie star, indicate that the character is a product of the modern era. Regardless of when the character was Embraced, he has spent only 50 years or less as a vampire; all years of undead existence beyond that are assumed to have been spent in torpor, sleeping the long sleep of the Damned.

See the "Concepts" chart for ideas on the concepts available to you

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Personality Archetypes

(Complete descriptions can be found on pg: 140)

Architect: You are unhappy unless you are creating something of lasting value.

Bon Vivant: Life is meaningless, so enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Bravo: You are something of a bully; you like to be feared.

Caregiver: Many need your love and protection, and you need them to need you.

Child: You never really grew up, and want someone to take care of you.

Conformist: A follower at heart, you find it easy to adapt, adjust and comply.

Conniver: There's always an easier way - which usually involves someone else doing your work.

Curmudgeon: You are a real sourpuss and cynic of the Nth degree.

Deviant: You're just not like everyone else.

Director: You hate chaos and are forever taking charge to set things right.

Fanatic: You have a cause and it gives your life meaning.

Gallant: You are as flamboyant as you are amoral.

Jester: Always the clown, you can't take life, or death, seriously.

Judge: You seek justice and reconciliation.

Loner: You are forever alone, even in a crowd.

Martyr: You need to be needed, and enjoy being morally superior.

Rebel: No need for a cause; you rebel out of habit and passion.

Survivor: You struggle to survive, no matter what the odds.

Traditionalist: You prefer the orthodox and conservative ways.

Visionary: Wisdom is your quest, insight your key.__

The next step, and arguably the most important element of character conception, is to choose your character's clan. The clan describes the essential lineage of the character - you are always of the same clan as your sire. The seven clans from which the players can choose are all members of the Camarilla. There are others, but they exist either in their own sects or on the outskirts of Kindred society.

A player does not necessarily need to choose a clan, for some younger vampires are of such diluted blood that the characteristics of any single clan have not been imprinted upon them. These clanless vampires, known as Caitiff, are increasingly common among the Kindred, but they are outcasts - accepted by none, scorned by all. If you wish to play such a character, simply list "Caitiff" as the character's clan.

At this point you can, if you wish, choose personality archetypes that fit your conception of both the internal nature and outward disposition of your character.

Your Nature is the most dominant aspect of your character's true personality, but not necessarily the only archetype that may apply. The archetype you choose for your character's Nature describes the character's most deep-rooted feelings and beliefs about herself and the world; it also provides the primary way in which she can regain Willpower into her Willpower pool. Choosing a Nature helps you describe who your character really is, on the inside.

You should also choose a Demeanor to describe the personality your character pretends to possess. This is the role she plays to the world, the facade she presents to it. It should probably be different from the archetype you have already chosen as the character's Nature, but not necessarily. Whatever you choose is only the character's typical pose; people can change Demeanor as quickly as they change mood. You may change your character's Demeanor at any time, allowing her to adapt to different people and different situations. Demeanor has no practical effect on the rules.

Some examples of personality archetypes you can choose are listed on the next page.

His ardor smolders Phosphorus flies

He radiates with urgency to hypnotize

Stoke the furnace Feed his need

This thirst for fire is all he sees.

- Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Burn Up"

Now you get to start assigning numbers. The first step in this process is to determine your character's basic Attributes. The Attributes are everything which a character naturally, intrinsically is. How strong is she? How quick are her reflexes? How persuasive can she be? Questions such as these are answered by the character's Attributes.

First, you must prioritize the three different categories of your character's Attributes - Physical, Mental and Social. You must decide in which your character is best (primary), in which he is average (secondary), and in which category he is poor (tertiary). Is your character more physical than social - is he smarter than he is brawny?

Physical Attributes are everything that has anything to do with physical effort. They describe how strong, nimble and sturdy your character is, and are the primary Attributes of an action-oriented character - the Physical Attributes concern only the strengths and weaknesses of the body. Is your character powerful, quick-footed or hardy?

Social Attributes describe your character's ability to relate to (and sometimes use) others. Social Attributes are vital in determining first impressions, the character's ability to inspire and motivate people, and the nature of her interactions with others. Is your character charming, well-spoken or good-looking?

The Mental Attributes represent your character's mental capacity, and include such things as memory, perception and the ability to learn and think. Is your character insightful, astute or clever?

The concept and clan of your character may suggest to you what your priorities should be, but feel free to pick any scheme you please. For now, your character conception should be very general - it is necessary to paint a broad, sweeping outline before filling in the details.

All characters start with one dot in each Attribute. Your priority selection determines how many "dots" you get to spend in each category - which category of Attributes you get to add seven dots to, which you get to add five extra dots to, and which one you only get to add three extra dots to. Thus you may choose to add seven dots to your character's Physical Attributes, five to her Mental Attributes, and only three dots to her Social Attributes. The dots may be divided among the Attributes of a category as you see fit - you could assign all three of your Social Attribute dots to Charisma, one dot to each of the three Social Attributes, or two dots to one and one dot to another.

Later in the character creation process it is possible to increase these ratings, so don't worry too much. Let your intuition guide you.

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Attributes

Primary: 7 dots

Secondary: 5 dots

Tertiary: 3 dots

__Note: The space after each Attribute (and Ability) is for you to fill in a specialty, a subcategory of the Trait in which the character excels. Specialties will be fully explained in the Traits chapter; for now, concentrate on choosing your ratings.

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Abilities

Primary: 13 dots

Secondary: 9 dots

Tertiary: 5 dots

Between two worlds life hovers like a star,

'Twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge

How little do we know that which we are!

How less what we may be!

-Lord Byron, "Don Juan"

Abilities delineate what the character knows rather than what he is; they describe the things he has learned rather than the things he can do naturally. All Talents, Skills and Knowledges are Abilities.

Each Ability the character possesses is assigned a rating representing how good the character is in that particular Ability. This number is used to help determine how many dice you roll when your character attempts to use an Ability. This section of the rules guides you in determining what Abilities you may choose and how high or low each Ability is rated.

Abilities are divided into three different categories: Talents, Skills and Knowledges. Each type of Ability has different characteristics.

Talents describe all the intuitive Abilities. Talents do not need to be practiced per se and cannot be studied or learned from a book; they are most often gained through direct experience. Is your character self-taught or does she possess a lot of common sense?

Skills are the Abilities learned through rigorous training of any sort. This category includes any Ability that must be learned step by step through actual practice, but can be taught and studied (unlike Talents). Is your character good at picking up things from daily (or nightly) practice?

Knowledges include all the Abilities requiring the rigorous application of the mind. These are the Abilities generally learned through school, classes, books and teachers, but can also be picked up through experience. Is your character educated or does he have a good memory?

You must categorize these Abilities in the same way you categorized the Attributes. You must decide how to rank your Talents, Skills and Knowledges, choosing in which category your character will be above average (primary), in which she will be average (secondary), and in which she will be below average (tertiary).

You get 13 dots to spend on your character's primary category, nine for the secondary category, and only five dots for the tertiary category.

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Advantages (Výhody)

Disciplines 3 dots

Backgrounds 5 dots

Virtues 7 dots__

However, there is one additional restriction: you cannot give your character more than three dots in any one ability (later, however, you can use your “freebie" points to gain four or even five dots in an Ability).

Step 4: Advantages (Výhody)

You do not prioritize or rank the character's three categories of Advantages. Instead you have a designated number of dots to assign within each one. Though this number is fixed, you can purchase additional dots later on using your "freebie" points.

After characters first become vampires, they gain various Disciplines, which are the mystic arts of the vampires and do much to describe their powers. You have only three points to spend, and may only choose Disciplines that your character's clan is especially proficient with (Clan Disciplines). See the Clans section of the Traits chapter to find out what your character's Clan Disciplines are. If you are a Caitiff and have no clan, you can put your three points on any Disciplines you would like.

Players are urged to be cautious when they choose Disciplines, for these powers are central to a vampire character. Three points isn't a whole lot, but characters should start out weak, and Disciplines can be raised (or new ones added) during the chronicle.

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__Backgrounds

(Complete descriptions can be found on pg. 171)

Allies: Human confederates, usually family or friends.

Contacts: The number of information sources the character possesses.

Fame: The character's renown in the mortal world.

Generation: How far removed from Caine the character is.

Herd: The vessels to which the character has free and safe access.

Influence: The character's political power within mortal society.

Mentor: The Cainite patron who advises and supports the character.

Resources: Wealth, belongings, and monthly income.

Retainers: Followers, guards and servants.

Status: The character's standing in undead society.__

Every character also gets five points to allocate among the various Background Traits. You have only five points to allot, and in some chronicles your choice may be restricted to certain Backgrounds; the Storyteller will let you know the ground rules. Your Background Traits should fit into the general scheme of the concept originally chosen.

Virtues are fundamental to a Vampire character, for they describe the moral strengths and weakness that play such an essential role in the vampire myth. Each of the three Virtues are rolled in different circumstances to determine the emotional reactions of the character. Self-Control is rolled to see if a character can resist the urge to frenzy, Courage is rolled to see if the character can avoid panic at the sight of open flames or the sun, and Conscience is rolled to see if remorse is felt and Humanity loss thus averted when a character commits acts of evil.

Every character automatically starts with one dot in each of the three Virtue Traits, and you may then assign seven additional dots as you see fit. The Virtues are a primary factor in determining what your character's Humanity and Willpower will be, so you will want to be especially careful. Later you may wish to use "freebie" points to boost your character's ratings.

Disciplines

(Complete descriptions can be found on pgs. 156-171)

Animalism: Supernatural affinity with, and control of, animals.

Auspex: Extrasensory perception, awareness and premonitions.

Celerity: Supernatural quickness and reflexes.

Dominate: Mind control practiced through the piercing gaze.

Fortitude: Unearthly toughness, even to the point of resisting fire and sunlight.

Obfuscate: The ability to remain obscure and unseen, even in crowds.

Potence: The Discipline of physical vigor and strength.

Presence: The ability to attract, sway and control crowds.

Protean: Shapechanging - from growing claws to melding with the earth.

Thaumaturgy: The study and practice of sorcery.__

Disciplines (any): 7 points per dot

Attributes: 5 points per dot

Abilities: 2 points per dot

Virtues: 2 points per dot

Willpower: 2 points per dot

Humanity: 1 point per dot

Backgrounds: 1 point per dot

What is the worst of woes that wait on age?

What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?

To view each loved one blotted from life's page,

To be alone on earth as I am now.

- Lord Byron, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage"

Often the most important stage of character creation is applying the last touches - the little details and flourishes that complete the character. In this step you gain your 15 "freebie" points, enabling you to add more dots to any of the Traits on the character sheet. Before you start on the "freebies," however, you must determine what the base scores are for your character's Willpower, Humanity and Blood Pool.

Your character's beginning Willpower is equal to his Courage rating, and will thus range from 1 to 5. You should probably raise it even higher by using "freebie" points. Willpower is essential for controlling the actions of your character, especially in times of stress when your predatory instincts emerge. Willpower is also vital for resisting Domination and employing the Discipline of Thaumaturgy.

Your character's initial Humanity is equal to her Conscience + Self-Control ratings, ranging from 2 to 9. However, it is generally a good idea to purchase a higher Humanity by spending "freebie" points. Humanity is critical for determining how far your character has degenerated into bestiality. A character with no Humanity has completely succumbed to the Beast and can no longer be used as a player character.

The crowning touch of character generation is determining how large a Blood Pool the character has at the beginning of the game. The Blood Pool indicates how much "energy" the character has - blood is the life force of a vampire. Simply roll a 10-sided die to determine the number of Blood Points possessed. This is the only die roll that will be made during the character creation process. The irony of a vampire's existence should not be confined to the story alone.

You now get 15 points to buy Traits anywhere on the character sheet. However, it's not as straightforward as it might seem. If you want to add a dot to an Attribute, each one costs five freebie points, while a Background dot only costs one point. Costs are listed in the chart below. You can buy any Discipline (even ones that are not listed as Clan Disciplines).

There are other aspects of a character that can be detailed in addition to the above. You do not necessarily need to write these things down, but you should certainly think about them - not only now but throughout the career of your character.

Your character's appearance makes her Traits visible to the other characters. You should turn the relevant Traits of your character - such as the Social Attributes and concept - into aspects of her appearance. High Intelligence can become a clear, piercing gaze. A Dilettante concept could mean the character wears stylish and expensive clothes. In this way, the players can make their characters' Traits more tangible and interesting. It is much more evocative to say, "There always seems to be a sneer of disdain on my face," than to say, "You can tell I'm very disdainful."

Make a list of your character's Major and Minor Contacts (if any) on the back of your character sheet. Remember, you gain one Major Contact for each rating point of Contacts. All you need are the names of the Contacts, details on where and how they can be reached, and what kind of assistance they might be good for. See Chapter Seven for more details.

Detail what kind of Retainers your character possesses, if you have selected this Background Trait. Each Retainer is a loyal servant who will steadfastly serve your character. Ask yourself these questions about your Retainers: How do you secure their loyalty? Do you Dominate them? Does your Presence overpower them? Have you befriended them? Do they owe you for something? What are their special skills? What do they do during the day? Are they ghouls or do you feed from them? See Chapter Seven for more details.

You may wish to give your character specialties from the outset. Though most players select specialties for their Traits during play, you can pick them immediately. Specialties are particular aspects of larger Traits that your character is especially good at. Simply fill in the space next to the Trait with an appropriate specialty; suggestions are made with each Trait in the Traits chapter. Though primarily used for roleplaying, specialties can give the character a bonus to dice rolls when performing certain feats or can assist in other ways. What effect they have on play is up to the Storyteller. See page 125 for more details.

If you want to spend money right away to buy equipment, you may do so now. You may buy weapons, clothing, homes, condos, cars, anything - use an appropriate catalog for prices. As the Storyteller, let those who have the time do as much work as they want, but don't punish those who don't - just have them make a Resources or Influence roll during play to see if they have access to various possessions.

By giving your character quirks (interesting personal details and anecdotes) you can add a great deal of depth and interest to him. Write a few sentences on the back of your character sheet about the strange and possibly interesting things that define your character. A quirk could be a twisted sense of humor, a gentleness to animals or a habit of grunting when answering yes to a question.

_

Lisa decides to create a Vampire character. Mark, the Storyteller, hands her a copy of a character sheet and the Character Creation Outline sheet. Using the outline, Lisa begins the process that will turn an idea into a full-fledged character.

First, she must come up with a character concept. Lisa wants to play a male character, since her last character was female, so she uses that to limit her concept choices. A recent TV show on undercover narcotics agents has intrigued her, so she makes her character a narcotics agent. The name Malcolm springs into her mind at this point, so the character suddenly has a name.

After looking through the list of vampire clans, Lisa decides on the Gangrel clan - she's always been fascinated by wolves!

Lisa ponders for a moment about Malcolm's Nature and Demeanor. These two Traits will help her to nail down Malcolm's personality more easily. The Nature is Malcolm's deep-rooted self, the part of him which affects all his thoughts and actions. Lisa decides that he is a Loner, which is the reason he got into the narcotics part of police work - he liked working undercover, alone. To the world, Malcolm pretends to be a Fanatic - i.e. his Demeanor. He figures that most people shy away from Fanatics and leave them alone, thus facilitating his Nature. His vendetta against the drug kingpins of Chicago has given him quite a reputation in the police force and is the focus of his fanaticism. Lisa will decide in the prelude what exactly caused Malcolm to become so fanatical over the drug issue. At this point, Lisa also adds a quirk to Malcolm, deciding that he only feeds off of drug pushers, addicts or other drug-related people.

Atributy

Now Lisa must choose Malcolm's Attributes. She prioritizes his categories in the following way:

Mental is Malcolm's primary category, since his job requires a keen Wits and Perception in order to survive in the inner city.

Physical is Malcolm's secondary category, since being a cop requires a certain degree of physical fitness.

Social is Malcolm's tertiary category. This is because he is a loner and also because his undercover work makes him seem like a lowlife.

Dividing up Malcolm's seven Mental points, Lisa assigns him a 3 Perception (two points + the one point that is free in each Attribute), a 3 Intelligence, and a 4 Wits (all of which are vital for his job as an undercover cop).

Three of Malcolm's five Physical points are spent on Dexterity, giving him a very high rating of 4, while the two remaining points are split between Strength and Stamina, leaving him with ratings of 2 in each.

Finally, of the three Social points, two are spent on Manipulation, giving him a 3 (handy in the streets) and the remaining point is spent on Charisma, giving him an average score of 2. His Appearance remains at the base 1 (he's not very handsome).

Abilities

Next, Lisa has to prioritize and pick Malcolm's Abilities. She decides Malcolm relies more on his innate Talents to survive on the street (this becomes his primary Ability category). Skills are also important to police officers, so this becomes his secondary category, while Knowledges become tertiary by default (scholastic subjects don't amount to much in the face of a revolver).

Lisa has 13 points to spend in Talents. She spends her first six points to give Malcolm ratings of 3 in both Streetwise and Brawl (important Talents for urban survival). She then spends two points each in Alertness (a cop has to watch his back), Subterfuge (a must for undercover work), and Athletics (a police officer has to be in good shape). She assigns the last point to Dodge (to avoid those lethal blows).

For the nine points Lisa has to spend in Skills, she gives Malcolm a 3 in Firearms (a must for a cop). Then, she spends the next four points to gain ratings of 2 in both Drive and Stealth (again, essential for his work), and finally assigns ratings of 1 each in Melee and Survival with her last two points (she may need to spend some of her freebie points here).

Finally, Lisa puts three of her five Knowledge points into Investigation (Malcolm's main line of work), while the remaining two points are put into Law (he knows just enough about the law to get by as a cop) and Linguistics (he speaks Spanish, the language of the narcotics world) respectively.

Advantages

Now comes the vampiric aspect. Lisa has to figure out Malcolm's Advantages, starting with the Disciplines - those powers which make a vampire different from a human. She has only three points to spend on Disciplines; she must choose from Animalism, Fortitude or Protean because of Malcolm's Gangrel lineage. Lisa puts all three points into Protean (she wants to get that ability to change into a wolf, but that will be somewhere down the line).

Lisa decides to spend most of Malcolm's Background points on things connected with his past (i.e., before he became a vampire). Therefore, she spends two points each for Influence and Contacts (with the police department and the drug underworld). The remaining point is spent on Resources (probably equipment from his previous life, with a little dirty money included).

Lisa must now assign points to Malcolm's Virtues. She has seven points to spend (there is already one dot in each Virtue). Malcolm is gutsy and unshakable under pressure, so Lisa expends three points each in Courage and Self-Control, bringing both ratings to 4. The remaining point is spent on Conscience, raising it to 2 (Malcolm has a cynical view of human nature after spending a good portion of the last 10 years in the cesspool of human existence - the world of drugs).

Now Lisa has to put the finishing touches on her character. First she must calculate Malcolm's starting Willpower, Humanity and Blood Pool. Malcolm's Willpower is the same as his Courage rating; i.e. 4. She marks off that many dots on his character sheet. His Humanity is the sum of his Conscience and Self-Control; i.e. 4+2 or 6, which she marks on her sheet. Malcolm's starting Blood Pool is determined by a die roll, which comes up 6 for Lisa, so she marks off six boxes on the character sheet.

Dokončení - freebies

Finally, Lisa gets to spend 15 "freebie" points on Malcolm. She really wants Malcolm to be lightning-quick, so she spends seven of the points to give Malcolm one point of Celerity (a Discipline that Malcolm couldn't get from his clan). Lisa also wants Malcolm's Melee to be a little higher, so she spends two points to raise it to 2. She decides that Malcolm should be almost inhumanly cool under fire, so she spends two more points to raise his Self-Control to 5 (which adds a point of Humanity in the process). Finally, she puts the remaining four points into Willpower, since Malcolm is very strong-willed.

While this officially ends the character generation process, Lisa decides that she wants to fill in a few more little details in order to fully bring Malcolm to life. These details may change during the prelude, but they provide both her and the Storyteller with a base to expand upon when they enact the prelude.

Malcolm has two Major Contacts - Sgt. Grabowski in the Homicide Division and "Softshoe," his informant on the street. Lisa doesn't want to specialize too much yet, but she decides Malcolm's Investigation Knowledge will be concentrated in narcotics, and she writes this in the spot provided on the sheet. Malcolm still rents the apartment he had as a human, using it as a haven and financing the place with money stolen from the drug dealers he kills.

Malcolm's prey are all the derelicts and rejects who sink themselves into the drug subculture - and there is a never-ending supply of them.

The only possessions of note for Malcolm are his service revolver and badge, both of which he still carries even though he has been relieved of his duty due to a poor attendance record (those daytime meetings can be lethal). He also has an old, rusty cop car which he bought at a police auction. In order to picture Malcolm, think of a very unsavory member of a motorcycle gang - unkempt, unshaven and dirty.

Lisa has already established the quirk that Malcolm will only feed on people connected with the drug culture. At this time, Lisa also decides that Malcolm has developed a drug problem of his own from drinking the blood of drug users. Malcolm's main motivation is to continue his life as if nothing had happened. He's content to use his newfound powers to bring the drug community to justice, but he refuses to accept that his life as a human is at an end. Therefore, he still hangs on to his badge, gun and car as the last vestiges of his former life and occupation. At this point, Lisa doesn't have a clear idea about Malcolm's sire, except that he was one vagabond too many in Malcolm's fanatical desire to rid Chicago of drugs.

Voila! A completed character. Now Mark will take Lisa and Malcolm through a prelude to further flesh out some of Lisa's ideas about her character.

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Looked in the mirror and saw what was wrong

Got to get back to where I belong - where I belong.

- Joy Division, "Something Must Break"

In the process of creating a character, you have hopefully become ready to roleplay that character as well. An important part of the character creation process is the attachment that develops between you and your character, enabling you to play the role creatively and with purpose. Nurture your empathy for your character - if she is at all different from you, it might not come naturally.

The process of character creation does not end with the beginning of the first story, for a character never stops growing, changing, developing and maturing. As the chronicle progresses, create new personality traits and historical details. Use your experience wisely to develop your abilities. Seek to build your character's Willpower and maintain her Humanity, and always, always add more and more flesh to the bare bones listed on the character sheet . The true essence of the character can only be captured in your roleplaying; it can never be listed upon the character sheet.

Most importantly, you should think of ways in which the personality of your character might change because of the things that occur in her life and then guide her in that direction. Let her determine her own fate. Never force her to fall into your earlier conceptions of who and what she should be. An angry Deviant who learns to control his rage, or an aimless Loner who gains a sense of hope can be a beautiful thing - especially if the Storyteller catches on to what you are doing and builds a subplot around it. Even characters who only get "worse" can develop deeper and more fully realized personas.

If your character ever bores you, it's probably because you have not developed and changed her enough over time. Ideally, the character simply grows more real as you play in the chronicle, developing as a character and as a person. The way in which a character changes reveals as much about that character as the way she is described. A character in a short story is rarely as real and complete as one in a novel - there simply is not enough time for proper development. Make your characters as complete, vital and interesting as you possibly can throughout the course of the chronicle.

Novelists often speak of characters in their books coming to life, refusing to be manipulated or directed by the writer. This type of character stands out from the page and says "Leave me alone, I'm real"; he then does as he will, regardless of the author's original intent. We can learn much from this experience - it is the epitome of what makes a great character.

The Prelude(Úvod)

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I remember, before, my mother dragged me out to the shops with her. She often did. I'd been a good boy, for a change, and she'd take me to the sweet shop for a couple of candied sticks, or some such. My reward, as it were. We were only there a moment when my mother spied a friend of hers in the shop too. She went over to talk, and left me standing there. It took me a moment, but I realized that I was alone. Me and the metal scoops of candy piled high. A lifetime of dreams, and no one to see me. No one to stop me.

When my mother returned, she found me standing there, shaking, my face red and hands clenched until they nearly bled. Oh, how I'd wanted to just grab and take and stuff my pockets until they overflowed and then fill myself up, stuffing the sweets inside me until I couldn't fit anymore. Only then would I stop.

But I was afraid. Frightened of being discovered, terrified of never being allowed into the sweet shop again, of not being able to stuff enough inside me to be happy forever. I was afraid.

I am not afraid anymore.

- Johann

It is our past that defines us most clearly, for it is the best indication of what we might become. The purpose of the prelude is to give each character a past so the future might be told. It is, in fact, a form of one-on-one storytelling in which the story of a character's life (and death) is told.

The prelude is a way to create character biographies before the chronicle actually begins, allowing the characters to live out their lives prior to the moment when the first story starts. It is quite similar to normal play, except that many years are compressed into a series of rapid-fire decisions.

The prelude provides a frame of reference for everything else that happens in the chronicle. Without it, a character will not make as much sense or be as complete. It's a way of doing some quick and dirty roleplaying to get a character ready for play, much like the page or so of character description a novelist gives major characters when they enter the story. It is essential for the story, but it doesn't need to go on for 100 pages.

A vital part of a character's background is the creation of a personal history, which is one of the things the prelude does best. It helps you create a sense of where your character grew up and what her life was like. The personal biography a player creates in the prelude will be relevant throughout the chronicle, and you may well refer to it frequently as a storytelling technique.

Each player undergoes the prelude alone. It is one-on-one unless two or more characters were friends and spent a lot of time together before the Embrace. While you, as the Storyteller, spend time with each player separately, the rest of them can socialize and start to get excited about what lies ahead. Remember, it's anticipation which can make a story blossom.

You will need to direct the player much more than you usually will. Give him lots of decisions to make, but rush everything and don't give him much time to think. You need to play through things quickly, unless you are willing and able to spend more time (which can enable the creation of very detailed characters). Characters almost never engage in combat during the prelude. If they do, you simply describe the results of any fights (you can't have the characters die before the game even begins!)

During the time you set aside for the prelude, be sure to let the player have a chance to interact with both the setting and the rules. You need to give him a chance to explore both. If the player wants to change a few Traits during the prelude, you should let him, as long as it is done for a rational reason and not as an attempt to create a super-character.

There are many ways to progress through a character's life; any way that helps mold a complete character is fine. During the course of the prelude, you will want to explain the full background of the character, including the origin of her Resources and the identity of her Contacts. The player should have a firm idea of the details of her Background Traits.

You should play through one or more typical scenes from the character's life to give the player a sense of how the character lived as a mortal. You can get the player into her vampire role by showing her the bland tedium of the character's mortal existence. This scene can be something so mundane and common that it will radically juxtapose with the horror of becoming a vampire (which occurs next). Remember, it is the mundane that gives scope to the magnificent.

It can proceed something like this: "You're coming home from work on a Friday and the traffic is especially foul. You've had a bad day at the agency, and find it hard to hold back your temper. You climb up the three flights of stairs to your apartment and try to unlock the door, but your key won't work. What do you do?"

As you describe things, let the player interrupt with her own ideas and details concerning what is going on. You are telling a story together, so treat the player more like a partner. You can also include details that provoke the player into feeling the emotions of her character - "Your father is in a coma in the hospital." Of course, once the character becomes a vampire, she can't freely visit anymore. The father may awaken or may die, but the character may never see him again. The player needs to feel a profound and overwhelming sense of loss in order for the true horror of the game to come across.

Described below are some questions which should be answered by the end of the prelude. If there is no time for a full prelude, you should at least make an effort to answer these questions. It often helps to write out the answers, even if you have undergone the full prelude.

With each question we list what sorts of things the player should ask himself, as well as some advice to the Storyteller on how to run the prelude in relationship to the question.

How old are you?

How old were you when you "died"? What year were you born? How many years has it been since the Embrace? How old do you look?

If the current game year (the year when you intend to begin the chronicle) is 1993, and the character is about 37 years old (19 years as a human, 18 years as a vampire), then you could start the prelude out in 1965, when the character was only nine years old. Since one of the objects of the prelude is to give the player as much freedom as possible when determining the course of her character's life, starting so young is not completely out of line. Sometimes it is easier to assign dates and such after the prelude is over.

What was unique about your childhood?

How did you spend your early years -the period when your basic motivations and attitudes were forged? Where did you go to school? Who were your parents? Did you travel very much? What was high school like? Did you go to college? Did you run away from home? What sports, if any, did you play?

You should try to give each player a sense of his character's childhood, and provide something special to remember it by. Concentrate especially on things that will affect the character's future life - perhaps you can even bury some story leads as you progress through his childhood.

You might include subtle clues in the prelude concerning how the character was being watched over by his sire, even in childhood. Sometimes a vampire is especially taken by a child and spends years watching him grow up, Embracing him only when he is fully grown.

What kind of person were you?

Were you a good person? Were you popular? Did you have a family or live alone?

Once the character is fully grown, you've got to establish the setting just as you would do at the beginning of a scene. Briefly describe to the player what the character's adult life was like, perhaps letting her invent a lot of the basic details. You need to give her the chance to roleplay the character as a mortal, interacting with other humans.

When did you first meet a vampire?

When did you first realize that you were being stalked? What made you first believe in vampires? Were you afraid? Incredulous? Angry?

There are countless different circumstances surrounding the Embrace; however, much like sharks, vampires usually spend a considerable amount of time stalking their prey prior to the actual attack. Evoke and describe the sensation of being watched; slowly build up the tension and suspense. The player knows what's coming, especially if she's read the title of the game, but sometimes that can make the tension all the more palpable. A character may notice a person constantly watching her; whenever she turns around, however, the person is gone. Though the character may try to lose her stalker, somehow she never can.

How did the Embrace change you?

Was the Embrace painful? Did you get a kinky pleasure out of it? Did the hunger tear at you? Did it frighten you? Did it feel right?

You should play through the transformation in detail, allowing the player to actually feel the trauma of being changed. If the player is attacked by the vampire, then make it horrific and let the player make rolls to push the vampire away. However, such attempts are all ineffective. Depending on the type of chronicle you want to run, you can add in details that make the personal horror overwhelming. The sire might throw the character's spouse into a cell with her, as the new vampire begins to grow hungry. Try to lure the character into committing that first horrible act, but encourage temperance as well. You might want to roleplay this part out in detail, making the feeding rolls as described in the Drama Chapter.

Who was your sire?

Was your sire brutal, arrogant, or wise? What did you know about her? Did you get along with your sire? Did you know your sire at all?

Many neonates know nothing about vampire society, for they have been kept in the dark by their sire. Most sires consider themselves the princes of their progeny, ruling over them and treating them like slaves. They are reluctant to introduce them to other Kindred.

How did your sire treat you?

How long did you stay with your sire? What was your sire like? Did she aid or hinder you? How long was your "apprenticeship?" Where did you live? Where did you go? Why did you sire Embrace you?

The sire is the most important person in a neonate's first few years. The treatment the character receives from his sire will make a big difference in the character's personality. It will be the primary indication of how he will interact with other Kindred. Most sires keep their progeny with them for many years, training and tutoring them, and keeping them as companions. Many such fledglings are told nothing of vampire society at large, and are even prevented from interacting with it. Sires do this because they are intensely jealous and wish to forge the personality of their childe without interference.

There are many reasons why a vampire will create progeny. You must determine why the sire of the character created him. Maybe she will use the progeny to regain her humanity, or perhaps she simply wants company. Does want a slave, or is her blood so thinned with age that she needs progeny as vessels?

Were you presented to the prince?

Did the prince welcome you to the city with open arms, or was he reluctant to accept you? Did he need to be bribed or threatened? Are you on the run from the prince? Is he your enemy?

Eventually, the character is released into the world and given her freedom. The sire relinquishes all hold, and in so doing, no longer has responsibility for the neonate. This moment is marked by the age-old tradition of presenting the neonate to the prince.

The prince may accept the character reluctantly, angrily, with good grace, or (on rare occasions) with great kindness. Normally this depends on the sire's relationship with the prince. The most important consideration, however, is whether the sire asked for permission before or after the Embrace. A surprising number of vampires do not bother to gain permission from the prince first, but insist upon it later (most likely because they probably wouldn't be given permission before).

The character might be released because she has become too dangerous to keep. In some cases, a neonate only conclusively learns that there are others of her kind after she has been released.

In terms of roleplaying, make sure the sire explains the Six Traditions handed down from Caine. It starts out with the neonate being told of her clan and generation: "You are of the Eleventh Generation from Caine, of the Clan Tremere, and so his words are not so distant from you, for they were spoken by him to his Fledgling and so unto you." These Traditions are described in the Chapter Two: Setting on page 37.

How did you meet the others in your brood?

Were you brought together through chance or design? Do you get along with the others? Are you united in purpose and attitude? How long have you been together in the city?

Before the chronicle begins, the characters need to trust each other; otherwise your stories will self-destruct. If the Storyteller is the glue holding the coterie together, then their relationship won't last very long. Let the characters forge their own ties and give them the responsibility for maintaining them.

Each character needs to meet the others at some point, and it is best if this is some sort of unique meeting. It can be done two at a time, so that each character has a unique relationship with one or two other characters, or you can have everyone meet all at once and get it over with. It is not suggested that you wait until the game begins before you introduce the characters. It is generally best to solidify a relationship between them before the action gets hot and heavy.

Where is your haven?

Where does your character live? Where does she hide during the day?

Some Kindred have an actual home in which they reside, while others have a particular part of the sewers where they like to lie. Others, particularly the more paranoid Kindred, have many secret places where they might spend the day.

What are your habitual feeding grounds?

Whom do you feed upon, and where? Do you have a domain you seek to protect? Is your favorite hunting ground used by others? Do you compete with others for the same vessels? Do you ever kill when you feed?

It is likely that a character maintains regular sources of food near his haven. As long as a character is near his haven, he can feed without requiring a roll or any roleplaying. But you need to detail this source of blood - does he feed from the inmates of an asylum? Go club-hopping every night? Or do children come over to his house each evening for piano lessons?

What motivates you?

Do you have any enemies, anyone you wish to seek vengeance against? Do you have any desire to return to your old life? What is it that you search for most avidly?

Your characters' primary motivations are central to understanding who and what they are. After they cease being human, vampires' priorities and standards often change, usually drastically. Things that were once important no longer are, and new values become central in their lives. If you want to have a real and complete character, you must first have an understanding of what drives her and keeps her from depression and total aimlessness (which can be interesting to play as well - simply decide that your character has no motivations at all). Your Nature and Demeanor can be of great assistance in determining your motivations.

No one commands me. No man. No god. No Elder. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What is a claim of power for ones who defy death? Call your damnable hunt. We shall see whom I drag screaming to Hell with me.

- Günter Dörn, Das Ungeheuer Darin

This chapter describes how to establish and develop a Vampire chronicle. It serves the same function for the Storyteller and the chronicle that the previous chapter does for the player and the character. It not only describes how to design a chronicle, but includes advice on how to keep the level of player interest high throughout its course. The process of designing stories as well as chronicles is explained in detail, and examples are provided. This chapter provides you with the tools to create a compelling and complete Vampire chronicle, not only at its genesis, but at all stages of its development.

Creating a chronicle is not unlike creating a character, and involves at least as much work and creativity. A chronicle is not always easy to create, simply because of the scope of the story which it describes. Indeed, a chronicle is never truly designed, but evolves through a series of stories. Stories are the blood and sinew of a chronicle, and are almost as important, in their own way, as the characters.

However, this chapter is not intended to be an all-inclusive description of the stories you can tell in Vampire. That would be impossible in this limited space (it would take an encyclopedia). We will, however, try to present some of the best story archetypes, along with some of the most interesting chronicle archetypes as well.

Regardless of their undeniable import, a chronicle is more than the sum of its constituent stories - it is in fact a story itself. The chronicle is the saga told by the characters' lives.

It has a beginning and an ending. It has obstacles for the characters to overcome and it has a consistent style and motif. More than likely, the same antagonists will appear again and again to terrorize the characters. A chronicle is not simply a string of stories slapped together - not unless you are willing to settle for something mediocre. A chronicle must be created with as much patience, creativity and grace as a model plane or an oil painting. It must be treated as the central character in the game.

_

Her lips were red, her looks were free

Her locks were as yellow as gold,

Her skin was white as leprosy.

The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,

Who thicks man's blood with cold.

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

You need to begin designing the chronicle long before the players create their characters. Hopefully, you will have already spent several hours of work, at least, in determining the substance and texture of the chronicle you want to run.

Everything else depends on what you come up with initially. The sharper your ideas and overall concept, the better everything else will work later on. It can be time-consuming to create a Vampire chronicle, but the work you do at the beginning will pay off in spades later on.

While the players create their characters, you shouldn't sit around idly. Before the chronicle can begin, you need an idea of what it will be like - its setting, antagonists and central issues. You must create a setting that will excite the players, antagonists that will provoke them, and issues that will involve them. Creating the chronicle is like creating the most important character of the game.

You have a number of decisions to make as you create the chronicle. First, you need to decide the setting - what city is it set in and what is that city like? Second, you need to determine what connects the characters and binds them together, and what you can do to help describe their motivations. Third, the primary antagonists of the players need to be delineated - what are their motivations and powers? Fourth, a plan of the progression of the chronicle should be constructed, to detail where you want to take it and where you must start. Finally, you need to determine the motif of the chronicle, which describes the recurring images, subjects, moods and special rules you will include in it. Making these decisions wisely will ensure that your chronicle runs smoothly.

Elements of a Chronicle:

Motif (Motiv)

A motif is a recurring subject, theme or idea that comes up again and again in an artistic work, and in some ephemeral way unites the work. For your chronicle to be truly complete, it needs a motif.

You need to decide what will be the dominant idea or feature of the chronicle. What are you trying to say? What issues galvanize and connect every story? What is the theme of the chronicle and how will it be presented?

The motif even incorporates such things as your style as a Storyteller. Will you be abrasive, understated, gory or combative? What effect do you hope to gain by using that style? You can use your style to direct the players' attention to the things you want them to be aware of, or the motif itself.

Will there be special rules in the chronicle that cause it to work differently than most Vampire chronicles? Will you make the frenzy rolls uncommon, or perhaps make Humanity even more precious? Will you call for a lot of dice rolls, or none at all?

Many chronicle concepts restrict which Backgrounds the players may choose, as well as how high a rating the players can take on them in general. Before the players get to Step 5 in the character creation process, you must have a firm idea of what restrictions you will place, and that means you have to do some planning. Will the cost of Generation (a Background Trait) be double normal, or will you restrict the score to only 3?

You can invent a unique feature that the characters can encounter or interact with repeatedly. A distinctive and recurring character, theme, mood, place or object can bond the players to what is going on. This can be anything from a club which they frequent to a bum they keep meeting whose drunken ramblings contain an uncanny wisdom. Perhaps you keep mentioning a tarnished statue of Achilles on the street, never directly explaining its significance. These recurring features can do a great deal to add a mood and a sense of significance to your chronicle. Invent something that will add depth, and then weave it into your stories.

In Vampire, it is not necessary to create an entire world from scratch, for the world is so much like our own. However, the counterpart to it is creating the city. The city is the locus of the Vampire game. It is where vampires live and feed, and it is where they are often trapped.

You need to present your city in a realistic and consistent manner if you want the players to believe in it. The setting must live and breathe for the players; until it does the characters cannot themselves fully exist. The setting is where the plot of the story takes place - the more interesting and exotic it seems the more everything will come to life. With each story you run, define the city a bit better, but don't give away everything at once. As the chronicle progresses, add details of geography, custom, plot, and so on. Build it bit by bit and at whatever pace you choose.

The mortal structure of the city is fairly easy to determine. Though the setting is Gothic-Punk, much of it is identical to our world. Get a travel book for that city, or write the Chamber of Commerce. If you live in the city where you are setting the chronicle, details shouldn't be a problem at all. You will want to change a few details here and there to suit the mood of the game, but the basic structure is in place.

Creating the vampiric aspect of the city is a little more difficult. You need to decide how the power structure functions and who controls it. The prince is likely to be the most important individual in a city, but that is not always the case. The prince might be the actual ruler, or she could simply be a figurehead, with some elder manipulating things from the shadows.

The intrigues among the Kindred of a city are often quite ferocious, so decide how they work in your city. How many different "sides" are there? Why are they opposed to one another? Members of various clans could be antagonistic, or the classic elder versus anarch conflict could be the major

source of division. Are there Methuselahs behind the scenes manipulating the various sides, or are most of the Kindred slaves only to their own passions?

You need to decide what groups oppose the group or individual who controls the city, and which groups support the status quo. How do the Kindred of the city interact with the mortal rulers? Are the police becoming suspicious, or do ruling Kindred control the mortal authorities?

Some cities, especially the smaller ones, might have very few or no conflicts between the Kindred who live there. But how interesting would that be? Don't make your city one of those peaceful, and boring, ones. Fill it with enough intrigue and iniquity to power a hundred stories, or at least plan future strife to devastate the peaceful city you create now.

Last, but not least, you should make sure the design of the city meshes well with the motif of the overall chronicle. If the chronicle is going to be about corruption, then the city ought to be corrupt as well, both the mortal and Kindred elements of it.

Characters

The characters are the basis of the chronicle, as it is for their sake that the chronicle is told in the first place. The characters are always the focus of events, and the decisions of the players determine the course of the plot. A great chronicle requires equally great characters.

One thing you must determine as the chronicle begins is why the characters are together - why they form a brood. Of course, the players will have a lot to say about this, perhaps even the primary say, but it is up to you to make sure the characters fit together. Does each character in the group have a reason for being a part of the group? Ask yourself what kind of relationship the characters have with one another. Why are they friends? Why do they work together? In short, will the characters make sense in terms of the chronicle?

Ask the players to decide how their characters will relate to one another and what roles each will play in the group. Make sure that at least one of the players with leadership skills plays a character who is a leader. If you have any players who tend to be disruptive, gently direct them toward characters who strongly share the same aims as the brood. If your players are incorrigible anarchists, select a chronicle concept that gives them strong and forceful allies, provides them with significant responsibilities, or which allows them to be exactly what they want to be: anarchs rebelling against the establishment.

You must be sure that character conflicts won't become the focus of the chronicle (unless that's what you are looking for). All too often, players will create their characters in isolation from one another and worry about meshing into a group once the game starts. Often what results is a group of anarchists, with no system for working together or getting anything done. A lot of time is wasted with endless, meandering debates on what to do next.

If nothing else works, you may want all the players to have a personal history in common. You can presume that the characters have been friends for some time, perhaps since even before they were transformed into vampires. At the extreme, you can say they are from the same clan, or even share the same sire.

If the characters still are not cooperating after the chronicle begins, you need to find ways to make them do so. A system of rewards and punishments (experience points, Humanity) can work wonders on the attitudes of the players. Alternately, you can allow the characters to break apart into groups, continuing the chronicle with each separately. Eventually adopt the most interesting group as the primary one, and have the other players create characters to fit.

The prelude is a great way to get characters prepared for the chronicle. It can explain the nature of the setting to them, give them contacts to go to in times of need, and enable them to better understand what will be required of them. Motivations can often be created and expanded during the prelude as well, making a complete character out of one that was paper-thin. Use the prelude to prepare your players, so that when the action begins, they will be ready with the right sort of character.

Antagonists (Protivnci)

The characters will need someone or something to struggle with, a "monster" to fight. For the characters to have something to do, they must face obstacles. When you need the characters' goals to be thwarted, bring in the bad guy. An antagonist, at base, is an obstacle for the characters to defeat. An antagonist can be nearly any sort of adversary - Kindred or kine, animate or inanimate, cunning or brutal.

Most often, antagonists are villains, individuals who oppose the characters and are nasty enough to hate. But for them to work at their sinister best, you need to make them malevolent. Over time, you want to build your players' hate for the villains - it will make their defeat much more palpable. You need to start early, however, by developing both the hate and the villains from story to story.

An entire chronicle can be based around a single archenemy who has the influence and status to command many minions. The object might be to defeat this enemy, or merely survive his attacks. The characters may even need to discover his identity. This enemy could be anyone from the Prince of the city to the Methuselah who secretly controls the city, from a mundane witch-hunter to a powerful voodoo mage. The single arch-enemy concept is the simplest form of creating antagonists. If you have multiple enemies, you can complicate matters immensely (perhaps the enemies are enemies of each other).

It is often fun to make antagonists many times more powerful than the characters so they will not be able to successfully act against their foe directly - at least, not at first. Certainly they will be able to combat the lesser minions of the enemy, but the characters would not survive if faced with a

direct confrontation. The characters must move against powerful enemies indirectly by gathering clues and allies, engaging in guerrilla warfare, and probing the defenses of their antagonists. Only after great effort will they be able to act against their enemy.

On the other hand, a team of antagonists who are individually roughly equal to the characters provides wonderful opportunities for various personal rivalries and grudges to spring up, and allows you to present frightening "funhouse mirror" images of the characters. An example is a Sabbat pack where each member is a twisted reflection of one of the player characters, and which serves as a reminder of what the characters could become if they step too far over the line.

See the appendix for descriptions of a number of different types of antagonists, as well as examples and rules for creating your own.

Scheme

Finally, you need to create a plan for how you want the chronicle to progress. Where should the stories take the characters, and how will the chronicle eventually end (if ever)? The initial plan is a blueprint for creating not only the beginning of a good chronicle, but the entire thing.

This scheme details where you want the chronicle to go and what you want the characters to be doing. More than likely, the chronicle will end up very differently than what you intended. Indeed, if it does end up exactly as you thought it would, it might mean you aren't allowing the characters enough free will.

The scheme is intended to be a guide to help you understand what you want the chronicle to be - it's a means of forcing yourself to make it dynamic, with changes in tempo, mood and content. It should have a beginning, a middle and an end, and should progress relentlessly towards a resolution.

Always try to stage a great ending to the chronicle. Never let it slowly decline into an obscure death. Will the chronicle end with the death of the characters as part of a heroic sacrifice, or will one of them manage to become mortal once again?

A chronicle shares many of the same characteristics that a series of movies or novels does, only it can be even longer and broader in scope. It can last for many years (player years) because it is based upon the lives of vampires, who are immortal. Thus, it is possible for a single chronicle to cover several hundred years in time, particularly if you begin it at some point in the past. However, if you set the chronicle in the present, it is likely that your chronicle will take place over years or decades, not centuries. After all, Gehenna is fast approaching, and there is not much time left.

In a typical chronicle, individual stories occur within weeks of one another, though sometimes they will be separated by months or even years of downtime, which are described by the Storyteller and not roleplayed through. You should think of stories as the exciting but infrequent events that punctuate months or even years of quieter pursuits.

Naming Your Creation

At some point before the chronicle begins, you will need to name it. A name can be, strangely enough, quite important, for it sets the tone from which everything else follows. Every character is described by the chronicle in which she belongs, so the players are likely to be pestering you for a name. The name should be suggestive of the theme and potential of the chronicle without giving too much away. A chronicle name can be very simple: for example, the name of the city in which it is set, or the prince who controls it.

Chronicle Archetypes

It is precisely the soul that is the traveler; it is of the soul and of the soul alone that we can say with supreme truth that 'being' necessarily means 'being on the way.'

- Gabriel Marcel

Below are a number of descriptions of different types of chronicles you could create. They are described according to the type of group they require. There are three different categories of chronicle concepts: Classic, Roleplaying and Bizarre. You should have some idea of the mood and gaming style of your players, so choose accordingly.

The Classics (Klasika)

These are the classic examples of a Vampire chronicle - the best examples of what it should all be about. They should be very familiar to you, because they are the ideas which are most often depicted in the movies and in books.

Gang: The characters are a group of anarchs (or even elder-sponsored "counterterrorists") in a major city, who have formed a brood molded in the pattern of a street gang. They live death as exuberantly as they can, eking as much pleasure and enjoyment out of their existences as possible. Proud and often haughty, they hold in scorn all those who are not members of their brood. To the mortals, they may seem little more than a gang of hoodlums, but their image belies their power.

The characters must constantly protect their "turf" (hunting ground) from other gangs, as well as from Kindred who might encroach upon it. Elders are loath to acknowledge that it is the characters' domain, for it was not awarded to them by the prince. But since the "turf" is all they have, the characters protect it fiercely.

Like all anarchs, they scorn the power of the prince and pretend that he has no power - but they understand the Traditions and fear the power of the Justicars. Much like mortal gangs, they rebel against the establishment - only in their case, the establishment is less restricted by the law.

Typically, such Kindred are affiliated with mortal gangs, and may control them (treat mortal gangs as either Allies or Herd). In fact, each member of the vampire gang may be the leader of a mortal gang, which each character should create and develop.

Wanderers: The characters travel around the country on motorcycles (or perhaps in an RV or stolen car), finding a safe place to sleep every night. They are focused on survival, and are bound to run into the Lupines at one point or another. There is much that they will discover on their journey.

You and the players will need to decide why they are wanderers. Are they hunted, continuing their headlong flight out of terror and a strong sense of self-preservation? Or do they simply have nowhere to go? The characters must rely upon one another to survive in a hostile and constantly changing world.

Each story could begin with the characters arriving in a new city, attempting to adjust and make themselves at home, and each time their efforts result only in their flight once again. Keep 'em scared, and keep 'em running - and don't let them stop.

Whatever type of wanderers the characters are, the focus needs to be on survival. Accentuate the side effects of life as a fugitive. Because the characters are wanderers, they will not have Contacts or Influence. The setting, of course, will

vary wildly from story to story, so you must always be on your toes and will need to do more preparation work than with most chronicles.

Rock Band: Another possibility is to let the characters form the nucleus of a rock band (or even a classical, folk, jazz or country ensemble). They are trying to make it as musicians. Perhaps they were a band in their mortal existence and were all taken by the same sire, or perhaps they have decided to do this after being vampires for some time. Whatever the case, they are bound to get in considerable trouble as the Camarilla and most of the elders vigorously suppress any activities that threaten the Masquerade.

Each character will need a rating in Music (unless that character is the manager), and each will have to choose a specific instrument. Who will be the lead vocalist? Who is steady enough to be the drummer? Mellow enough to be the bassist? Creative enough to break those stereotypes? What kind of music do they play - jazz, pop, punk, metal, rap? They start in the local clubs of their native city, but success may bring a concert tour. How do they handle this?

Refugees: The characters are castoffs from another city; perhaps they are even from a clan which does not belong to the Camarilla. They have run away from their prince, sire or clan. The city in which the chronicle is based is the place where they have fled for refuge. They must spend much of their energy and time hiding both from mortals and other Kindred.

The chronicle begins as the characters arrive in town, without a clue as to the power structure. Don't give the characters any Background points, to reflect this and to drive the point home. Because they are new to the city, detail more of the mundane aspects than normal, including the things only a newcomer might notice.

They get a rats-eye view of the underside of a city. They will probably not reveal themselves to the prince at first , so later they may get in big trouble for violating the First Tradition. Make the players truly afraid, and try to convince them that the other Kindred will kill them if they are found, even if it is not true.

Historical: You can play Vampire in many other periods besides the present day. Any era, from the ancient world of the Nile to the Victorian age, can be fascinating when you add the vampire myth. Choose any time period and set your chronicle there. Just make sure you know a little history before you start, or at least more than your players.

Imagine roleplaying Vampire in the age from which many of the legends stem - the Middle Ages of historical Europe. The vampire is most frequently a member of the nobility, the ruling class of the time. It is a time of decadence and romance, of cruelty and honor. Entire regions may be under the control of the undead. However, the populace grows gradually restless, and when the envoys from Rome learn what is going on, the vampires may face a Crusade. Though the characters may not be truly evil vampires, they can be trapped in the same situation as the evil ones.

The chronicle could go something like this: Embraced against their will, the characters find themselves vassals to those whom they despise. Ultimately, they must choose between survival and morality - or chart a careful course between the two poles.

Roleplaying

These are chronicles that emphasize roleplaying, and thus have little combat or dice rolling. These sort of chronicles are intended for advanced roleplayers, though they are challenging for any group.

Primogen: The characters are the primary Kindred of a medium-sized city (less than one million) - about the size of Charleston, North Carolina or Madison, Wisconsin. In some sense, they "own" it; they certainly rule it. Because of the size of the city, the characters might even be the only vampires living there.

When danger or peril arrives, it is up to them to protect their "turf." Any elders who do exist are likely to be mentors of the characters, capable of providing much assistance but demanding aid in return.

You will need to create some sort of crisis for the characters to deal with. It could be anything from a powerful coterie of elders seeking a new city to control after being exiled from the one they once ruled, to a Methuselah who simply wants peace. Play up the travails of being responsible.

The characters might even be anarchs who have taken the city from the elders who once ruled it. Now they must maintain control of it, as well as survive the arrival of a Justicar and her Archons. Other elders may come in order to punish the characters, or simply to take over the city for themselves.

Player intrigue will be high, and you should encourage it. Limit the Resources and Influence available, and make them fight among themselves for it. A different style of play might be called for, with players interacting with you separately much of the time.

Brood of a Prince: The characters are the brood of the city's prince. Their sire is either a vampire of great nobility or a total bastard. The characters thus support the elders of the city, and work to control and restrain the wilder impulses of the anarchs. Making sure that the mortal authorities of the city don't discover the Kindred can be a full-time job - one has to suppress evidence, intimidate officials and cover up deaths.

You might want to make the characters a little more powerful than normal, giving them more freebie points (20 or so). Most of the chronicle will be centered around the haven of the sire, but the city needs to be detailed as well. You must create may different areas of potential conflict and aggravation - who is out there to give the characters trouble? Remember that their sire is a prince as well, and thus has many demands made upon her as well as innumerable constraints. Does she take things out on the characters? Can the characters trust the prince, or are they only pawns in the end?

Mortal Politics: For some reason, the characters wish to manipulate politics, either in their city or on a national level - probably because other vampires are attempting to manipulate it in an opposite way. Vampires control many of the institutions in the mortal world, especially those which are centrally located and controlled by one city. Those institutions might be employed by vampires who control them as pieces in the Jyhad. This means the characters might get involved in campaigning, political espionage, and even electoral cheating (or preventing the other group from doing the same). Such intrigue-oriented activities are rare but not unheard of among the Kindred, and frequently can be traced to a maneuver of the Jyhad.

Influence and Resources would be very appropriate Background Traits for the characters. You need to detail the participants in the political race and their importance to the Kindred. This can make for a very intrigue-ridden and bloody chronicle. Play up the plot twists and the intensity of what is going on.

High Society: The characters mingle in the high society of the upper class, and become embroiled in its politics and affairs. Though it is only a game for them, it is a most intriguing one and it may be a means for the characters to compete with one another (e.g. who can seduce Vladimir the Russian pianist first?). However, by being involved with the elite of a city, the characters may be able to manipulate events and decisions in times of crisis. If the police are about to launch a major investigation, such contacts can be essential. Mingling with the high society could be the "duty" assigned them by the prince or another elder. Play up the elegance and beauty of the setting, so as to make the stain of blood even more vivid.

Before the game starts, give each character an automatic Resources of 3, and encourage them to purchase that Background Trait even higher. You will need to decide who are the leaders, gossips, hosts, wannabes and outcasts of this high society.

Bizarre (bizarní)

This type of chronicle is for those who like things that are truly different. These concepts describe some very unique ways to play Vampire. Try them out only if you have a taste for the strange.

Archons: The characters are among the most feared and respected Kindred in the Camarilla. They are the enforcers who travel from city to city, assisting the Justicars (and sometimes the princes) in maintaining the status quo. The characters will become heavily involved in Camarilla politics. They are united by ambition or by shared views on political affairs.

Either selected and trained by or created as the brood of a Justicar, it might be wise to let the characters begin the game with five or more Discipline points (if they ever have to venture into Sabbat territory, they will need them). Give the characters 25 Freebie points each, so that their characters will be capable of combating more powerful Kindred. Teamwork will be essential regardless. They might have Mentor or Status as backgrounds. They will travel, but will likely be based in a single city.

Present the players with moral conflicts like Duty vs. Justice. Do they search for truth or do they continue to mindlessly serve their masters? Play up the intrigue - the characters should not know what is going on, and should be able to trust no one. Ask yourself what is going on: what is the nature of the greater conflict?

Fanatics: The characters can play IRA partisans, Moslem fundamentalists or eco-anarchists. They are members of some sort of extremist group who will go to nearly any lengths to carry out their cause. The characters are dogmatic, idealistic and totally committed to their group. Though they have become vampires, they have not given up their mortal beliefs (not yet at least) and they use their powers to do whatever they can for the cause. Can the characters gain the wisdom of restraint in time to preserve their own humanity? Start the chronicle with the characters carrying out their missions, but gradually bring in other issues and themes. Eventually, they must leave the cause in order to preserve their Humanity or to have any hope of rebirth or Golconda.

The characters should all be from the same fanatic group. They probably volunteered as a unit for some sort of hazardous duty which brought them into contact with their

eventual sire. Define the nature of the extremist group to which they belong, and have their opponents fully worked out as well.

Each character will likely have a Herd rating to reflect the members of the cult, and perhaps Resources as well. Unless the players wish to establish the cult on their own, starting from nothing, you will have to detail what it is and how it works - more than likely with the participation of the players.

Patrons: The characters are patrons to some human institution, such as an orphanage, a small business, a church or even a baseball team. The characters are do-gooders, but the more good they do, the more they are expected to do.

They seek to promote their institution in every way they can. Protecting and serving it is the focus of their existence. All you have to do is figure out why they are oriented in this manner.

You need to decide what type of institution the characters are protecting, and what problems are facing it. It is a good idea to let the players decide, so that they feel the urge to protect and nurture it. If you simply tell them they must protect it, they will feel like you have taken away their free will.

Other World: Though Vampire is already set in a Gothic-Punk world, you can elect to place it in a setting even more removed from our own reality. A chronicle can be forged from the fantasy, post-holocaust, science fiction or even cyberpunk genres. You can twist and change the setting to nearly anything your fervid imagination can invoke, though it can help your players visualize your setting if it is taken from a movie or a novel.

You can even craft your chronicle around a fictional setting, such as the horrific worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, or J.R.R Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Vampire can work well in nearly any kind of medieval fantasy campaign, especially when undead comprise much or all of the nobility.

Depending on what type of setting you use, you can create a radically different mood for your chronicle than what is described in this book. If you have the creativity and the time, you might as well make use of it.

So fair; so sweet; withal so sensitive

All vain desires, all lawless wishes quelled

Be thou to love and praise alike impelled

Whatever boon is granted or withheld.

- William Wordsworth

A Vampire story is more complex than other story forms because it is interactive. The players take a very active role in its creation; you, as the Storyteller, do not have complete control over the form that the story will take. In fact, you are more of a guide than a teller of tales.

A story is almost always built around a series of conflicts or problems that the characters attempt to overcome to achieve their aims. Your primary job is to present the characters with a problem, and then let them run with it. You shouldn't try to predict what the characters will do; just invent a conflict and leave the players to deal with what you give them.

If you have problems coming up with ideas, just look in a newspaper for story concepts. Nearly any article can be the genesis of a story; just twist and mold what you read until it fits the dictates of the world of darkness. Remember, vampires are behind many major disruptions in the world, so the repercussions of their conflicts are sure to end up in the news.

Designing a story is very similar to designing a chronicle, only you need to do so on a regular basis. It is a difficult task, because you should not "over-design." In fact, sometimes the less you do, the better the story is.

While you do not always have to design a story ahead of time, make sure that some sort of consistent story is told. If your chronicle becomes rich enough in detail, the characters will be able to find something interesting to do without any prior planning on your part. They will guide themselves through their stories. Until that point, however, you will need to devise stories for their amusement. Even if they do direct themselves, you should try to get an idea of what they want to do in the next session so you can plan for it.

Preparation is often the most important part of a good story. While stories can often be conducted with just a few notes and some good ideas, a story is usually much better if you have time to think it out at your leisure. If you plan your stories carefully, they will seem more real than stories for which you have not prepared at all. However, prepared stories tend to give the players less free choice. This can make things a lot less fun for them.

Though the players may go where they will and do what they want, it doesn't mean you don't have to do any work. On the contrary, it means you have to work even harder to come up with appropriate things to interest them, such as characters, plot twists, traps and obscure items. The best way to ensure a good story is simply to have a firm and detailed grasp of the setting. Your efforts to design the city are essential to give stories the depth they truly require.

Just as a character is an amalgamation of many parts -Attributes, Abilities and Advantages -so is a story made up of several things. Though some literature professors might not agree with us, we have divided the story into five different aspects to give you a better insight into what stories incorporate as well as to make it easier for you to design them. These aspects are Theme, Conflict, Drama, Plot and Mood.

Theme (Téma)

Every story needs a theme - a way you can fit everything together. Furthermore, a theme focuses the players' attention upon the story and makes it easier for them to learn something from it. Stories with depth are stories which have something to say.

The theme is more than the moral of an Aesop's fable - it is the tangible embodiment of the direction, flavor and purpose of a story. While it is not necessary to pay attention to the theme while playing the game, this information will at least provide a foundation for your story. If you are ever unsure on what to do or how to react, then you can always fall back on the theme for guidance.

Stories almost always have a theme. However, in good stories, the lesson learned is subtle rather than overt. You shouldn't have a prepackaged lesson ready; rather, the story should present a situation and let the players make of it what they will.

The central purpose of your story should be the exploration of the theme. It is what ties everything together and makes sense of the disparate elements of the story. Focusing on the theme can add a new dimension to your roleplaying by making it a more artistic, fulfilling and thoughtful process.

A story becomes larger than life when is not only an adventure but a moral lesson as well. Fairy tales, passion plays and even Star Trek use this technique. This is a key reason why we tell stories in the first place.

The theme is not meant to make the story more serious or highbrow. Neither is it intended to give you the opportunity to lecture the players with a diatribe on good and evil. The theme is simply intended to help you create a better story, a story with more depth, pathos and poignancy. Don't place too large an onus on the theme and it will work out for you.

The theme is usually expressed as a question which the story presents, but without an answer given. Pose the theme as a question you would like answered, and then do nothing to answer it. It can be practically anything, from "What is evil?" to "Why do so many people lie about their age?" Some of the most common themes in Vampire concern corruption, violence and the nature of reality.

Below are several examples of themes you can employ in your stories. Do not take this as any sort of complete list; there is no end to the themes you can create.

Love - What is the fragility of love, and the weaknesses and strength that it can bestow? What effect can it have on the characters' lives; how can it change them? What should

or should not love be? Can anyone feel love, even the most depraved? What sustenance does love provide?

Hate - What creates the emotions of hate and vengeance? Why can't they be controlled? How can they ruin a life?

Chaos - Is there any truth or security in the universe? Is everything in such a continuous state of flux that true stability is impossible? Is true peace possible is such a world?

Morality - How useful is conventional morality? In what ways could it be improved? Where does it excel and where does it fail? Why do people bother with morality at all? Is perfect morality impossible? Are there any immutable and absolute rules of morality?

Leadership - Where does the need for leadership come from? What is required of a leader? When does leadership fail, and when does it succeed? What is the tragedy of authority?

Society - Where do our societal myths originate? Why are they so important to us? What have they done to us; how have they programmed us? Can we ever escape our upbringing, or are we slaves to our culture forever? Are myths only symbolic, or are some true?

Conflict provides energy and direction to a story, and influences the course of the plot. It propels the story by involving and motivating the characters. Though the characters need not be the primary participants in the conflict, they may become involved simply by being enveloped in the struggle. Conflict is the reason the story is interesting enough to tell or to listen to in the first place -it can be both entertaining and illuminating.

Any collision or disagreement, contention or controversy, struggle or quarrel can be seen as conflict. Conflict occurs whenever people or groups of people find it difficult to get along, whether it be due to incompatibility, mutual antagonism, or an intrinsic opposition of interests and principles. Conflict need not be between enemies, and it need not be resolved by bloodshed. Sometimes it can be simply an internal disharmony in one individual.

You can mix many different conflicts into the same story, but in order not to confuse things too much, one or two primary elements are best. You can use conflicts in your story in the same way that Archetypes are used in a character - one conflict is what the characters think is going on (the Demeanor) while the second conflict is what is really going on (the Nature).

In Vampire, there are 13 primary levels of conflict that you can use in your stories. Though we describe them only briefly below, you can use them in innumerable ways.

Kindred vs. Hunters: There are many who pursue vampires. Some merely wish to learn more about the Kindred, but most want to slay them out of hand.

Kindred vs. Lupines: The werewolves deeply resent the intrusion of Kindred into their territory, which includes most of the land outside the cities. Lupines may also have obscure plans and missions that compel them to enter the city, a place they despise.

Anarchs vs. Elders: The young always resent the rule of the old. When the old live forever, the effect is only exaggerated.

Elder vs. Elder: The Jyhad is an ancient, immortal war, and most Kindred are somehow tangled up in it; indeed, many of them struggle and die without realizing what they fight for. The Jyhad exists on every level of Kindred society, and practically any sort of intrigue can be considered to have its origin in the eon-old war.

Camarilla vs. Sabbat: This is, at base, simply the conflict between these two sects, but it can also be seen in terms of the eternal war between order and chaos, mercy and hate.

Humanity vs. the Beast: The inner war between the silence and the rage never ceases. "A Beast I am, lest a Beast I become." For more roleplaying-oriented stories, this makes an excellent conflict, as it allows you to probe deeply into the personalities of the characters and players.

Clan vs. Clan: The clans continually war with one another, and the envy and antipathy run deep. The Ventrue could be attempting to take over the Mafia, or the Tremere might be pushing for a Conclave.

Kindred vs. Kindred: Warfare over hunting grounds and turf is not uncommon, and the horror of diablerie is always of concern.

Kindred vs. Magi: There are many wizards who have uses for vampires. It is said that they have strange rituals which require the blood and organs of Kindred.

Kindred vs. Prince: Political upheaval in the city is always tumultuous, especially if the prince is involved, not as a judge, but as a contestant.

Kindred vs. Society: The Masquerade must be maintained lest all be destroyed. The Kindred must constantly struggle to keep their secret from the press and society.

Kindred vs. Victims: The characters might find themselves hunting a powerful and interesting member of the kine. It could be anything from "feed-on-the-mob-boss's-girl" to vessels who actually fight back.

Sanity vs. Madness: There is much in the life of a vampire that can drive one over the edge of sanity. Resisting madness is most difficult, as it is often impossible to escape the circumstances which created such a terrible state.

Survival vs. Justice: The most cerebral of conflicts, the conflict between the needs of survival and the demands of justice, is often the most difficult to resolve.

Kindred vs. Unknown: The characters do not realize who their enemy is, or who seeks their demise. This makes it all the more terrifying.

The plot is the fabric and pattern of a story. In fact, sometimes when we talk about the story, we are actually speaking of the plot. Plot describes the progress of the story, through scenes, actions and events. A poorly conceived plot invariably leads to a trite story, but a complete and intricate plot may well provide the skeleton for a story of great depth.

The main thing to keep in mind about plot is that it should progress in a series of distinct phases. There are a number of story conventions in Western culture, and the ones that dictate the plot are the most rigid. The story is often expected to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The end is expected to be climactic, and stories that start with a bang are more appreciated. The audience expects to be drawn into the story, and resents anything which pulls it back from full immersion. Although we encourage you to experiment, you violate these conventions at your own risk.

Detailed below are the various stages the plot can go through. Use them as a rough guide on how to structure your plots and to provide ideas on what you might need to include.

Setting the Scene: You need to explain to the players where they are and what they might expect. This can take only a few seconds, or you might want to have a whole description of the scene worked out ahead of time which can then be read to them. It is usually best to set the scene actively, by allowing the players to interact with it, rather than simply reciting a descriptive monologue. Make sure you use all the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

Hook: You need something realistic and compelling to get the characters and the players involved in the story. You can be brutal and force them into it (e.g. "You hear knocking on the door, and someone shouts 'Open up! Police!'"), but there are many more subtle ways.

You should present the players with the major conflict of the story in a unique and compelling way that teases, tantalizes and promises extraordinary adventure. You want to capture their imaginations from the start, so as to deeply involve them in the story.

In each story, the player should immediately become aware that something is amiss, danger is awaiting, or some threat hangs over the characters' heads. The hook draws the players into the narrative and arouses their curiosity.

This must happen early in the story. You should present the hook as dynamically as you can, so that the players have a chance to affect the plot from the very beginning. If you don't get them involved from the beginning, they will give up on the story.

Buildup: You need to give the characters chances to overcome obstacles by providing them with elements of the central conflict to confront. The buildup needs to create a feeling of suspense and propel the characters onward into some sort of climax. In Vampire, the buildup should be constant and inexorable. When it is halted by dead-end investigations or dull periods, you should try to make those interruptions as short as possible. Keep the players involved and tell the story so that there are multiple ways to reach the conclusion. Don't let them bog down so completely that the mood and urgency of the story is lost. The buildup refers to a buildup in emotions, and it is a very tricky medium to affect. Do not falter.

Cliffhanger: Sometimes you will want to build the tension up, way up, and then relax it again, as a way to really get the players raring to go. Cliffhangers are one of the most common ways to do this. You simply make the characters think that they have reached the climax, and then present them with new elements of the problem to face. These might even be miniature climaxes that give the players some sense of resolution, but do not completely wrap things up. At the end of each chapter of your story (each game session), you might want to leave things in a cliffhanger - it will make sure that the players come back

Plot Twist: Try to insert plot twists whenever possible. Simply change the plot in midstream to add an element of surprise to the story. This could be a "snake in the grass" - a friend that turns out to be an enemy or a victim that turns out to be a monster. Or it could be the old "Switcharoo" - one of the player characters that lost all his Humanity becomes the biggest villain in the chronicle.

Climax: This is the great resolution of the story, where all the questions are answered (or at least some). If the characters are successful (not that they should always be) then this ending should satisfy the players. In any case, it must be a logical result of events that occurred at the beginning of the story. The climax cannot be forced - the players must be emotionally prepared for the ending. It must evolve naturally from what has occurred before and be affected by what the characters have done. The characters' actions must have an effect upon the story's conclusion. The climax should never be preordained.

Resolution: This is a special ending that often follows the climax and winds down the story. For some reason, it is hard to make such trailers work out right; they either seem trite or get ignored by the players. Though a resolution may be difficult to effect, it is an excellent way to set up the next story and unwind the players from the intensity of what has just occurred. It is also a time when characters who squared off during the story can make up. Resolutions can be a lot of fun to roleplay, as they allow the characters to interact with one another in a relaxed way. Use the resolution as a time to reward your players. Give them new information, wrap up the loose ends of the story, or provide them with extra power, money, or mystical artifacts.

However, do not mix the resolution with the climax - keep the two separate. Furthermore, do not ramble on with the trailer for too long; it should normally be very short. Once the suspense and drama is concluded, the curtain should close shortly thereafter.

Just as plot is the most important element of the story, drama is the most important element of the plot. Drama, for our purposes, is any series of events that has vivid, emotional, or striking results upon the lives of the characters. Dramatic moments are the sensational, startling, and deeply involving periods of the story, when everyone's attention is riveted onto what is occurring. They are the most intense and exhilarating moments of the plot.

Often drama is achieved because the lives of the characters are at stake, or the object of all their attention is about to be revealed. Staging a dramatic scene can be a difficult task, but it is essential if you want to create an engaging story. Drama can be thought of as synonymous with excitement, but there is more to it than that; drama is the essence of a story.

Just as an author or director has to maintain tension, pace and flow in the stories she presents, so a Storyteller in a Vampire game has the same responsibilities toward the "audience"; i.e., the players. Drama is essential if the characters are to have the opportunity to directly affect the plot through their characters' actions.

There are a number of different techniques you can use, but you should realize that the way in which you create drama must suit your storytelling style. Dramatic verisimilitude is not so much a skill as it is a talent - you've got to pick it up on your own.

You shouldn't simply stage a dramatic scene straight up. Always mix it with something else to make it different and new. If you're planning a gun battle, don't simply have two sides blast each other; mix it with a heart-stopping car chase down a mountain, set it in a graveyard with lots of stealth and misinformation, or somehow introduce new situations that force and encourage new strategies and tactics. Make each scene different so that later on, the players can look back and have something they will remember it by.

The Drama chapter is your guide to creating effective dramatic monuments. Use it to create and sustain drama in your story. Those action scenes are often intrinsic to the players' enjoyment.

Every story should have a certain emotional quality that is in some way unique to it. The mood of a story describes the emotions you want your players to feel as it is told. The emotional response of the players is of immense importance, as it defines how much they "get into it". A good story causes the players to get into the story so much that they feel what their characters feel. The mood can affect the players in a way that heightens the effect of the story.

Create a distinct atmosphere for each story. Ask yourself what is the dominant emotional tone of your story. Adding mood to a story is the best way to arouse real and vivid emotions.

When players get to this point, not only do their characters become real to them, but the world does as well. The most precious moments in storytelling are at such times. They are transcendent, illuminating and indescribable - when they happen, you'll know.

You need to begin as soon as the game session opens. Always make sure the players have enough time to get comfortable. They should get their socializing out of the way so they are ready to get into the roleplaying. Try to time things so that when you enter into the story, the players are ready to go.

After the lights are dimmed in a movie theater, there is always a slight pause. That brief interlude is somehow always enough to bring anticipation and even a sense of delight. If you can accomplish the same sort of thing before every session of Vampire, you will be highly rewarded.

Begin the story with something dramatic and quirky that gets the players into the right state of mind. Perhaps you can start with a long low growl (another Kindred in the bar they are frequenting), describe the sirens they hear in the distance (that gradually get closer and closer and closer), or say nothing at all but simply stare at each player in turn (a Malkavian trying to decide whom to speak with first). If you start with a bang, you ensure that the story will have vitality, and have a better chance of capturing the imagination of the players.

As the story progresses, continue to do things that accentuate and highlight the mood and tone of the story. In your descriptions of people or settings, use your voice, your facial expressions, the encounters you create, the pacing of events, and the rolls you have the players make to carry across the mood. Use every tool at your disposal to build and perpetuate the emotions that you want the players to feel.

Below are examples of some of the different types of moods you can create in your stories.

Brooding: There is an oppressive weight in the air and a sense of great evil hangs over all that the characters do.

Romantic: There is a beauty and airiness to the story and things seem particularly special and bright. This is probably the most difficult mood to evoke.

Mysterious: Fog and shadows shroud the landscape. This is the mood of Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. The imagination is aroused by the things that remain nebulous and hidden. Characters should not understand all that goes on.

Excitement: Nonstop action, full of intensity. Include lots of dramatic moments and suspense - anything to keep the players' blood pumping.

Dank: The atmosphere is rancid and unbearably foul. Portray the degenerate aspects of the world and the fetid underbelly of the city. Play up the bizarre and the grotesque.

Eerie: Everything has a strange, unreal quality to it. Nothing seems like it is occurring until the effects are actually felt.

Madness: This is the feeling that things are out of control, and that there is neither rhyme nor reason to anything that occurs. Throw things at the players randomly, and never give them a moment's peace. Evoke an atmosphere of delirium and dementia throughout the setting.

Idyllic: This is the mood of peace, tranquillity and pastoral bliss. Of course, you're using this to set up the players in order to dash their expectations apart.

Humorous: You might want to take a really big break and create an extremely lighthearted mood. Humor does have a place in Vampire, as long as it is properly employed -but don't overdo it.

And I knew that this was only one of the many agonies, many deaths, in the unending scarlet loop of my modius existence. It had happened before, was happening now, and would happen again...and again...and again.

- Dan Simmons, Carrion Comfort

Listed below are a number of concepts for story elements that you can use as starter kits for creating your own stories. They are issues, situations and themes which can become the germ of a story. Read them over to get ideas and perhaps pick one that you like. Then weave a story from the premise you have chosen. Eventually, you'll come up with concepts of your own, but these will give you something to start with.

Mean Streets

These stories concern life on the streets, if it can indeed be called life. They deal with violence, fear, anger and madness. On one level they are the most basic of all stories, while on another they are the most emotive and intense.

Urban Nightmare: Vampires not only feed on the seamy underside of the city, they are an intrinsic part of it. The question of how they interact with the very environment which tears down so many mortals will be a critical one for the players. How do they deal with homeless vagrants who are unlikely to survive more than a few years on the streets, malnourished and ill residents whose blood is so tainted as to be poison to a vampire, and people whose desperation has led them to kill over tennis shoes? Do the players act as angels of mercy even as they feed on the populace, or do they become just another plague on these people's lives?

At the same time, the vampires must deal with an environment where they are constantly surrounded by sweet, tempting blood, where almost any action can be observed by someone, and where picking the wrong victim can bring swift and lethal retribution from armed police and criminals.

Adventure: In order to keep your players amused, you need to give them a chance to cut loose - to go on an adventure. Sometimes that requires gratuitous violence. If the players need the blare of gunfire to keep them amused, give it to them - not as much as they want, perhaps, but enough to keep their blood pumping. However, don't let the players think they can treat the police as if they were punching bags, and make sure that no matter how outrageous things get, Humanity rolls are always made. After the excitement is over, there needs to be a period of silence and solemn introspection. However, if you need really foul villains and bad guys, only fellow Cainites will really do.

Wilderness Trek: There are many reasons why a Kindred would leave the city; unfortunately, none of them are good. The Gothic-Punk countryside is populated with werewolves, spirits, faeries and farmers carrying 12-gauge shotguns in their pickup trucks. Is that old barn where the characters want to spend the day haunted by ghosts, home to a pack of young lycanthropes, or simply deserted?

As far as vampires are concerned, any area outside the city is considered wilderness, and it is even more dangerous for Kindred than it is for kine. The city offers security, as so many of the mortal institutions in a city are controlled by the undead, and there are places to hide no matter where one goes. There are so many people in the city that it is easy to fade into the crowds and find food. In the wilderness, strangers are easily noticed - especially by the Lupines.

There are many reasons why vampires might want to travel in the wilderness, such as to speak with one of the Inconnu (necessary if Golconda is sought). The characters may have to track down someone who is hiding in the wilderness, or punish a group of Lupines who have made a foray into the city. You can also combine the wilderness trek with the Escape story concept for a very deadly story.

Diablerie: Whatever the unique motivations and goals of the characters, they are likely united by their desire for power. This concept only works if the characters are engaged in the dangerous and destructive struggle to locate, exterminate and drink the blood of their elders - and in so doing effectively advance from one generation to the next. As a group, they are able to take on these extremely powerful beings. However, the possibility for Humanity loss should be extremely high, especially if the elder had any redeeming qualities (i.e. he was a nice guy).

This is a simple hunt and kill concept. Each story should present the characters with a new target, quite likely an evil and oppressive elder. You will want to tie some basic moral issues into the chronicle, thereby making it a little more involved than a series of hack-and-slash adventures. Force the characters to pick and choose their targets, investigate them before they go in for the kill, and do the deed with finesse and cunning. At some point, you will want to have the characters face their own vigilantism and ask themselves if they are any better than the ones whom they hunt. For the purposes of this chronicle, you may want to change the rules to allow all those who partake of the blood of an elder to lower their generation level, not just one.

Illuminatus

One of the best types of stories to tell in Vampire is the tale of intrigue. It fits the Vampire psyche very well, and is very easy to do - simply involve the characters in the Machiavellian politics of vampire society. They may be blamed for something, witness something, or get involved of their own accord. Intrigue is far better if the characters get involved on their own initiative. You need to offer them obtainable goals and ideas on how to get there, then cut them loose.

Jyhad: The Antediluvians see no reason to end their everlasting existences, especially not at the claws of those fourth generation whelps. For millennia they have battled one another through pawns of lesser generation which they have manipulated, dominated and subjugated. The players may become involved in anything from helping such an Ancient eliminate the pawns of another Ancient to preventing an all-out assault on her haven. However, no matter how many others they must battle, their true enemy will always be the one behind the scenes who is using them as pawns.

The Jyhad also exists on other levels as well, for all Kindred are in competition with one another. The characters must watch their steps carefully, lest those with power choose to use it on them. For instance, a character's sire enlists the characters in her scheme to become prince by promising them great power. However, if the current prince ever discovers their role in destroying his reputation, he will stop at nothing to extinguish them.

Vendetta: This story starts out with something really nasty happening to the players (something embarrassing usually works the best). Make sure that you attach an antagonist to the "evil deed," giving said antagonist a spiteful and hateful personality, and then let the players loose. They'll tear each other apart just trying to get at the evil bully. This is probably the easiest kind of story to run, because the players do all the work for you. The hardest part is setting things up so that the players really hate the bully, down to their very cores. It's almost impossible to go too far in making the bad guy bad -lay it on thick.

Make sure the players spend a lot of time planning how and when they are going to get their revenge. Encourage them to imagine it often and in great detail. The longer you can delay their vengeance, the hotter they will get. In the end, you can have it all be a big misunderstanding - the bad guy is really a nice guy - but this can be a dangerous practice. The players get very frustrated when you try to pull things like that.

The Masquerade: Neonates' temptations to make the world their oyster through their newfound powers must be tempered by a realization of what the world, even a world of ants, can do to them. Often the players will have to deal with hunters without killing, injuring or even threatening them, lest their disappearance alert the nest of danger. They must prevent mortals from discovering the truth about the existence of vampires. Violence is not often an option - for instance, killing the newspaper reporter hot on their trail will only draw the attention of even more journalists, so the players must figure out a way to misdirect him.

Alternately, some other vampires may become too obvious for the players to allow their activities to continue unhindered. How do they deal with a rock star who can back up his claims to immortality?

Escape: No matter how powerful the players are, there is always something more powerful. Imagine the players having to escape from New York with the mob, their sires, the Sabbat and the police all after them for one reason or another. This can be a thrilling story, and a great way to flip everything in your chronicle upside down. There is something very primal about having to live by the seat of one's pants in hostile territory, simply surviving from day to day (or night to night, in the vampire's case). However, players do not like to lose - don't let them know about it, but you've got to give them a better than even chance of survival. In some cases, you might want them to have something to run to as well as something to run from.

Mission: The players must undergo some sort of quest or mission, which has been "assigned" to them by a greater power. They may be rewarded for doing so, or may be forced into action through Domination, threats, or blackmail. The characters may even undertake the mission as a favor to a friend. While on the mission, they not only have to deal with

the enemies of the person they are serving, but must also explore their relationships with the one who now controls their existences.

The Mission concept gives you a great deal of latitude to create any sort of story you desire, since it does not need to mesh with the rest of the chronicle as closely as other sorts of stories do. However, the mission is also less fulfilling for the players and can be very aggravating. Use missions rarely, and space the stories in which you use this concept widely.

Many of the best Vampire stories incorporate very human values and issues which the characters must face. They are trapped in very alien situations, yet still deal with very familiar problems. Bourbon Street is a style of story full of pathos; it is the most advanced of all the styles, and the most difficulty to employ.

Tragedy: While Vampire as a whole is marked by constant tragedy, it is possible to weave individual stories around that idea. The basic idea of tragedy is that no matter what the protagonist does, there is no way to avoid the tragic ending - the hero is doomed. Whether it is Oedipus destined to slay his father and marry his mother, or King Lear killed by his own pride, the main character is what she is and cannot change her fate. In Vampire, the players have more free will than these figures of literature; however, the very fact of vampiric existence leaves them open to the destructive rampages of frenzy. Though they may sometimes be able to control that frenzy, this will not always be the case.

The secret of using tragedy in a story is finding a way to make the characters' intrinsic nature work against them. If a character or characters frenzy at an inopportune moment, such as when visiting the prince or while surrounded by police, the characters will have to spend the rest of the story atoning for these mistakes.

Place the characters in situations where they must feed off loved ones in order to survive or have their enemies strike at them through those same allies. Remember, however, that even though the world of Vampire is rife with such horror, you must always give the players at least a modicum of free will in their characters' fates.

The Becoming: Start the players out as humans and take them through the whole process of being created. It is a very traumatic, intense and emotional experience. You have to decide why the characters were chosen and why they were selected as a group. Are they the brood of a single sire, or perhaps the progeny of the elders of a single city who created many neonates at a single time?

The goal of the characters could be to find a way to become human again. They have left behind people whom they love and who need them. The focus of the chronicle is their increasingly desperate desire to escape the curse. What lengths will they go to in order to attain their goal, and will they, tragically, destroy their Humanity in the process?

Characters start with no Disciplines, but they will gain their three points over the course of the chronicle - as they are trained by their sire. You need to describe the haven of the sire in detail, as well as his immediate enemies and friends. The sire must be an exquisitely complete character. Make both the haven and the chronicle as a whole have a claustrophobic feel, so that when they finally move on they will truly feel a sense of wonder and anticipation.

Romance: Vampires of both myth and cinema are often deeply sensual beings, both sexually and romantically. As creatures of untamed passions, they forge much more intense bonds than most mortals will ever know. The conflict between a vampire's hunger and love, and the attempt to keep the Beast from destroying that which is most treasured, can be the concepts for innumerable adventures. For instance, how does the player cushion the shock for his mortal lover after he becomes a vampire?

Besides their attachments to mortals, vampires have to deal with the deep emotions they sometimes feel for one another. The relationship between a sire and his progeny is not only that of a parent and a child, but can also be that of an experienced lover with a virgin. This makes it even harder, and perhaps even more important, for a childe to become independent.

There are also the deep attachments Kindred form through Blood Bonds. While it is easy to play this out through the guidelines provided, it is more interesting to force the players to test the boundaries of their love and devotion to the other vampire. They will sacrifice their friends, their plans and even their lives to make their master happy. Of course, this becomes even more interesting when the other vampire is Blood Bound as well (to the player or a third vampire).

Redemption: Some vampires want nothing to do with the hunts and riddles which make up other Kindred's lives. For them, the goal is to regain their humanity. Simply present the characters with an opportunity to set something right, to do something good. This could be anything from assisting an old man in combating the Brujah who is living in his home to helping a Malkavian see past her delusions and accept the fact that she is a vampire. Often stories about redemption can involve the gaining of Humanity, and indeed this is the only way to regain one's mortality.

The Quest: The characters seek Golconda as a means of not merely escaping, but transcending their curse. This is a somewhat existential approach to roleplaying, for the

characters look for that which is not real, yet is true, and for that which is illusion, yet so essential. The quest leads the characters into their own souls, so it is absolutely essential that they be fully created and realized. Often it is best to transform a story into a quest after it has been going a while.

A Normal Life: The characters are attempting to continue their mortal lives even after the Embrace. They must somehow balance their two lives, keeping each a secret from the other. The characters must learn to rely upon one another to succeed. If they are well-known for any reason, it can make things all the more difficult. Play out the prelude at length, to make the characters as real and detailed as possible, but start the chronicle soon after they are Embraced. The whole point is to roleplay through the transition period.

You will need to detail the everyday worlds of each character in order to give them something to interact with. Provide something of compelling interest in the city as well to draw them into the world of vampires. Juxtapose the two opposing worlds as often and as vividly as you can, and force the characters to balance the two of them.