Step 1 : Character Concept

Concept needs only to be a general idea — renowned socialite, musical prodigy, heroic savior — but it should be enough to spawn more complex ideas about the character’s motives, environment and relationships. From that simple concept, the character grows into something more complex:EXAMPLE: “My character was a staunch defender of New York’s homeless, fighting for their rights and tending to their needs. His Embrace into the Mekhet clan frightened him into hiding among the downtrodden, who have now come to see him as a predator of the alleys.”As shown in that example, some players might want to include clan and covenant at this time. Keep in mind that the concept should be the skeleton of the character that exists separate from any Vampiric elements. Information regarding clan and covenant is detailed in Step Five.SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Prelude Characters would forgo the selection of clan and covenant entirely, instead arriving at those choices through play. Archaic Characters on the other hand may want to consider the effects of time passing on their concept. Kindred characters cannot be more than 150 years old (including mortal life).

 

Step 2: Select Attributes

All Characters have nine Attributes that define their raw capabilities in all situations. For ease, these are divided into three categories: Mental, Social, and Physical.These three categories are further divided into three sub categories:Mental (Intelligence, Wits, Resolve)Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina)Social (Presence, Manipulation, Composure).These subcategories are measured on a scale of 1 - 5. Average for any attribute is 2, while a 5 is considered truly exceptional.First, you must decide in which of these categories your character excels (called their primary). You will then do the same for their average (secondary) and weaker (tertiary) categories.Then, you will go through and spread your characters abilities among those sub categories as you see fit. You receive 5 points for the Primary, 4 points for secondary and 3 points for your tertiary.Remember that each sub category starts with 1 point for free. Should you wish to have a 5 in any sub category, you will need to spend 2 points (instead of a single point).

 

Step 3a: Select Skills

Skills are divided into the same three subcategories as Attributes: Mental, Physical and Social. Mental Skills tend to rely on knowledge of the world and are improved through study and practical application. Physical Skills rely on training, improved mainly through practice and repetition. Social Skills rely heavily on interpersonal experience and improve through interaction with others or through trial and error.First, you should prioritize skill groups. Like Attributes this means selecting primary, secondary and tertiary groups. Keep in mind, your skill group selections are not required to mirror you Attribute group selections, so feel free to play around.Then, you spend the number of points among the skills you think your character should have. The primary group receives eleven dots, the secondary group gets seven, and the tertiary group receives four.Note: Unlike Attributes, skills do not start with a free point. A character with no points in a skill is considered Untrained in that skill. As before, the fifth dot in any Skill costs two dots to purchase.2nd Note: When creating a human child, per the rules presented in the Innocents game, the biggest difference between the systems is that children have less skills. Teenagers start with ten dots in their primary group, six dots in their secondary group and four dots in their tertiary group. 

 

Step 3b: Select Skill Specialties

While characters might have considerable training in Firearms or expertise in Medicine, they excel in certain aspects of these Skills more so than in others. Furthermore, a character may be only familiar with one aspect of a particular skill, but no real understanding of anything outside of that select aspect.EXAMPLE: Officer Grimes might have a special proficiency with his particular sidearm but not with rifles, shotguns or chain guns. He might understand the basic principles of using these firearms, but the bulk of his training has been with his pistol. Furthermore, he might not know anything about animals, but his family always had dogs, and he is comfortable with them.Represented in game terms, Officer Grimes may have three dots in Firearms, with a Specialty in 9mm automatic pistols. Likewise, he could have a 0 in Animal Ken, but posses a specialty in Dogs.Players choose three Skill Specialties during character creation. These should be very specific. Characters may have more than one specialty in a skill as well, but keep in mind that only one can apply at a time.Note: When creating a human child, per the rules presented in the Innocents game, another difference between teenage and adult characters is that teenagers only receive two starting skill specialties.

 

Step 4: Special Attributes/Advantages (First Pass)

At this point, you should be able to calculate various special attributes for your character. This includes their speed, defense, willpower, humanity and initiative. We call this step the First Pass, because you will come back to these special attributes again as the final step of character creation. This is a good time to get acquainted with what each of these Special Attribute are, however, and why any future choices you make might be relevant to the character.Size: Set this at 5. All adults are assumed to be Size 5 unless something extreme is in play. This isn't their height + Weight so much as an abstract category.Speed: Simply put, this is the distance your character can move. This attribute is just a baseline, and may change if you are running or crawling. To determine this Special Attribute use the following equation: (Size + Strength Attribute + Dexterity Attribute).Defense: This is a simple score that determines how tough it is for your character to be harmed by another. This value can change depending on your situation and perhaps equipment. This score is equal to the lower of your Wits or Dexterity Attribute.Willpower: Willpower is a representation of your characters ability to dig deep and use sheer grit to get something done. This is represented by additional dice being added to a particular roll your character is called to make. This can be used in any situation that your character finds especially dire and can often make the difference between success or failure. Unlike other Special Attributes, Willpower is a finite resource, and each time you use it, the attribute is reduced by one. Eventually, this depletes, and your character is just considered to have exhausted themselves. Keep in mind that Willpower may only be used once per round/conflict. To determine your characters Willpower use the following equation: (Composure + Resolve).Health: This a simply way to keep track of how physically tough your character is. Should your character run out of Health, they are dead. We will miss them of course. Keep in mind that as your character becomes more and more injured, their ability to act may be penalized. Your character's health can be calculated by adding their Size and Stamina together.Humanity: This always starts at 7 and is considered to be a measure of your characters morality, emotional stability, and intellectual clarity all rolled into one. Many people use it as a measure of how sane a character is. As a character is put in stressful situations, and forced to challenge their own beliefs, their humanity is put into jeapordy. As a characters Humanity lowers, they find themselves plagued by mental illness, social ostracism, and generally monstrous drives. Should your humanity ever devolve to zero, your character is considered unplayable, either losing themselves to monstrous instinct or insane to the point of lacking any rational capabilities.Initiative: While Speed determines distance of movement, Initiative is a measurement of how quickly your character responds to danger and opportunity. This can be how quickly they reply to a social zinger, how quickly they hit the deck when bullets are fired, or even how quickly they can lock a door before enemies swing it open. To determine your initiative, simply add your Composure and Dexterity together.

 

Step 5: Add Template

At this stage you add an appropriate Template for your character. Current templates available in the LARP include the Vampire template found in the Vampire the Requiem book, and the Ghoul minor template, as found in the Ghouls book. 

 

5a: The Vampire Template

The embrace changes the character into something no longer mortal, endowing her with special abilities and unique advantages unimaginable in her previous existence.Choose ClanA character’s clan serves as a sort of extended family of the night, bound by lineage and responsible for certain similarities among its members. Vampires are always of the same clan as the sires that Embrace them, though they may later spawn into a separate bloodline as their blood grows in potency. Each clan has a pair of favored Attributes, enjoying a more acute development of certain natural aspects of the body. Once a clan is chosen, choose one Attribute from a clan’s favored pair and add one dot to it.

• The Daeva evoke the image of vampires as seductive, decadent, sexually transgressive predators who blur lust and hunger together, equating the act of feeding with sensual pleasure. Unrivaled in their grace and passion, the Daeva attract worship and jealousy from Kine and Kindred alike, but their insatiable hunger for pleasure and sensations old and new, and the inevitable frustration of wanting to experience human emotions make for a quick road towards personality disintegration and surrender to the beast. The favored attributes for Daeva are Dexterity and Manipulation. Clan Disciplines include Celerity, Majesty and Vigor.

• The Gangrel embody the idea of vampires as predator. They represent vampirism as crude predation and evoke ideas of basic instinct, untamed ferocity and freedom that are commonly associated with predators. Gangrel hunt alone or in packs and frequently adopt nomadic lifestyles, rejecting the shackles of a pseudo-civilized life for bestial freedom. They favor the virtues of self: self-awareness, self-reliance and self-confidence, and often turn to introspective contemplation of their own beasts from which spiritual insight and supernatural power can be gained - the mad-eyed savages are frequently revered as vagrant wise-men with unique perspectives on the vampiric condition and are unrivaled in the ease with which they summon the beast forth and ride the frenzy. But this very same intimacy with the raging Beast might make it easier for it to erode the rest of a Gangrel's soul in the long run. It also makes their baser instincts cloud more reasoned thought sometimes. The favored attributes for Gangrel are Composure and Stamina. Clan Disciplines include Animalism, Protean and Resilience.

• The Mekhet embody the idea of a shadowy vampire lord, omniscient and unseen. Nicknamed "Shadows" by the other clans, Mekhet are known for keeping secrets and knowing the secrets of others. Paranoid and alien, their insatiable quest for knowledge leads to both power and a spiritually corrupting indifference. With the same ease a Mekhet investigates the source of a quote on a centuries old tome, he will dissect a screaming subject to understand its secrets, speeding the Beast's grasp over him. As the Beast gains ground, a Mekhet's personality simply vanishes, leaving them frightening empty automatons. The favored attributes for Mekhet are Intelligence and Wits. Clan Disciplines include Auspex, Celerity and Obfuscate.

• Nosferatu vampires are the repulsive, yet fascinating, alien monsters of legend (such as Count Orlok of their movie namesake). They either have an inexplicable inhuman air about them or are outright grotesque. This unique outward manifestation of their monstrous nature results in a difficulty to engage in social interactions not involving intimidation, this is mechanically represented by penalties in some Social-based dice pools. The relationship a Nosferatu maintains with his obvious inhumanity and its social implications varies greatly, ranging from crippling self-pity to ecstatic pride; some hide their hideousness while others revel in it, marveled at what they have become, and each one explores his own otherness uniquely. The favored attributes for Nosferatu are Composure and Strength. Clan Disciplines include Nightmare, Obfuscate and Vigor.

• Ventrue are regal vampires who value power and dominion to the point of obsession, self-styled "lords of the night" they represent vampirism as a metaphor for maddening power, like Bram Stoker's Dracula. Obsessed with power and hierarchy, the Ventrue seek dominion over others with all their actions and in all their relationships. They often enthrall, control and embrace from the elites of human hierarchical structures, including politicians, union leaders, businessmen, and crime bosses. This obsession with power has tainted their blood with a propensity to insanity that reveals the corrupting, maddening effects of power. This is mechanically represented by a greater difficulty in resisting derangement rolls. The favored attributes for Venture are Presence and Resolve. Clan Disciplines include Animalism, Dominate and Resilience.

 

Choose Covenant

A covenant is more social than familial, concerned with a character’s worldview and relationship to other Kindred rather than the advantages and bonds of the Blood.

• The Carthian Movement works towards finding the best form of government for the Kindred, basing its experiments on mortal systems like Democracy, Fascism and the like. It is the only Covenant that elects leaders, and is the newest major Covenant. Members frequently argue over the best form of government and this Covenant is primarily secular in outlook and character. Members of the Carthians may purchase the Allies, Contacts, Haven and Herd Merits at half the normal experience-point costs (rounding up).

• The Circle of the Crone is a collection of pagan and Neopagan cults and religions within the vampiric culture. Generally, these groups are structured around a belief in a generative cycle, though they often revere a particular representative goddess, and these shared associations give rise to their eponymous association with the Crone. They celebrate most of the major pagan holidays, such as the solstices and Yule, and practice the Blood Magic known as "Crúac". Despite many differences in belief and opinion between various circles and cities of the Covenant, they typically dislike the Lancea Sanctum. Members of the Circle of the Crone may learn the Discipline of Crúac, purchased at out of clan Discipline costs.

• The Invictus (also known as the "First Estate") An order of vampires that claim to be descendants from an ancient Roman sect known as the Camarilla. They are mostly concerned with material gain and power and therefore heavily involved in city politics and business. Members of the Invictus may purchase the Herd, Mentor, Resources and Retainer Merits at half the normal experience-point costs (rounding up).

• The Lancea et Sanctum is an organization which grew parallel to Christianity, therefore commonly being mistaken for a vampiric equivalent of it. They claim the Roman Centurion Longinus as their founder and they believe Kindred (the word vampires use for themselves) have a role in the Divine Providence: that of the ultimate predators. As vampires, they're to prey upon humans, thus unleashing God's Wrath upon the unworthy and representing tests for the pious. Members of the Lancea et Sanctum may learn the Discipline of Theban Sorcery, purchased at out of clan Discipline costs.

• The Ordo Dracul is focused on understanding the vampiric condition, improving upon it and ultimately transcending its limitations. They learn a collection of powers known as The Coils of the Dragon which alter the practitioner, generally alleviating particular limitations of the vampiric condition. The members of the Ordo believe that this discipline was created by the founder of the covenant, the infamous Dracula. Members of the Ordo Dracul may learn the Coils of the Dragon, purchased at out of clan Discipline costs, with each Coil representing a unique discipline.

• The Unaligned is simply a catch-all term for any Vampires that do not belong to a covenant.

 

Disciplines

When vampires are Embraced, their sires teach them certain blood-based mystical powers known as Disciplines. Disciplines are those mysterious and often terrifying capabilities that the Kindred can manifest at will. Taking the shape of an animal, running at superhuman speeds or bending a victim’s will to one’s own are examples of Disciplines in use. Each character begins with three dots of Disciplines, which can be allocated as the player chooses. At least two dots must be devoted to a character’s clan Disciplines, however, before any thought is given to an out-of-clan or bloodline Discipline.

 

Blood Potency

A character’s Blood Potency represents how much innate, mystical power has concentrated within her dead veins. Characters with high Blood Potency possess both great mastery over their Vitae and much inherent potential in that Vitae. Characters with low Blood Potency are either unpracticed or their Blood is so young or inert as to have little connate potential. All vampire characters receive the Blood Potency advantage at one dot for free. Blood Potency can be increased with Merit-point expenditure at a rate of three to one at character creation.

 

5b: Ghoul Minor Template

Strictly speaking, the choice of clan is the most important thing you need to know about your ghoul’s regnant, as the regnant’s blood transmits a natural aptitude for his in-clan Disciplines to the ghoul, especially the physical one inherent to his clan. Deciding on the regnant vampire’s covenant doesn’t confer any particular mechanical benefit in and of itself, but this is as good a point as any to make a note of it.The most obvious benefit to becoming a ghoul is the access to the regnant’s Disciplines. As per this character-creation template, you may select two Discipline dots that the ghoul can use. One of those dots must be the first dot in the physical Discipline that is in clan for his regnant. Aside from that first dot in a mandatory physical Discipline, the second dot is available from a wider variety. As long as it comes from a Discipline that is in clan for the regnant, the ghoul character can have it. If, when he creates the ghoul, the ghoul’s regnant is an active member of a bloodline, be it his sire’s bloodline, a clan bloodline or a bloodline of his own inception, the bloodline’s Disciplines are all considered in clan for the ghoul’s purposes.Ghouls can hold an amount of Vitae in their systems equal to their Stamina score. Step 6: Select MeritsA beginning character has seven dots worth of Merits, which may be distributed at the player’s discretion. Currently, all Merits from the World of Darkness Core Book, the Vampire the Requiem Core Book and the Covenant books are approved for use in LARP. These traits should fit the character concept — a Daeva socialite isn't likely to have the Stunt Driver Merit, for example, unless her background involves it somehow. A Storyteller may encourage or disallow certain Merits. Also make note of the specific Merits that are changed or added on the House Rules page of this Wiki. Step 7: Special Attributes/Advantages (Almost Final Pass)

• Start with Defense. Remember it equals the characters Dexterity or Wits, whichever is lower.

• A character's Size is relative to his species (human) and age. If this was changed, adjust it now. The average adult human's Size is 5. A child's is 3.

• A character's Health trait reflects his body's capacity to cope with injury and remain functional. As your character suffers damage, whether accidentally or in combat, each point of damage inflicted lowers his Health by one. Health is equal to your Size plus your Stamina, plus any dots in the Resilience Discipline you begin the game with.

• Your character's Initiative trait reflects her reaction time and ability to think on her feet in a crisis, be it a barroom brawl, a shootout or a desperate lunge to stop a child from wandering into a busy street. Initiative is equal to the character's Dexterity + Composure. If anything changed this total, change it now.

• After the Embrace, a vampire begins to lose touch with those elements of her nature that make her human. These qualities erode over time as the vampire becomes more jaded and the world evolves without her. Her Humanity, which begins at 7 for all characters, represents this fall away from the 'Man' to the 'Beast'. Note that for humans or ghouls, Morality is used instead. Ghoul Morality starts at a 6 instead of 7, to represent the damaging effects of Kindred vitae on the human psyche.

• Your character's Speed is the number of yards she can travel in a single turn. This trait is a combination of her Strength (lean muscle mass), Dexterity (coordination and agility) and a species factor that reflects her age, physical configuration, Size and other considerations (5 for adult humans, 3 for human children; see below for other examples). Other species such as horses and cheetahs have physical configurations that lend themselves to high travel rates. To determine final speed, add Strength + Dexterity + Species Factor.

• The Virtues and Vices available to mortal characters are the same as those available to vampires, though they manifest in different ways. For instance, a character who suffers the Vice of Wrath might be prone to frenzy, while one indulging in Gluttony might leave a trail of exsanguinated bodies in her wake, finding it difficult to stop feeding before victims’ hearts stop. On the other hand, a character with the Virtue of Hope might dedicate his nights to achieving Golconda, while a character with the Virtue of Justice might carefully choose his victims from among those deserving punishment (such as rapists or murderers), becoming a crusader of the night. Virtues are Charity, Faith, Fortitude, Hope, Justice, Prudence and Temperance. Vices are Envy, Gluttony, Greet, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Wrath.

 

Step 8: Finishing Touches

• New Characters will start with (TO BE DETERMINED) to add on top of starting dots.

• Bloodlines are rare in the vampire world, and thus shall be rare in this game. All Bloodlines must be approved by Savannah M.

 

Step 9: Special Attributes/Advantages (Final Final Pass)If any of your exp expenditures have changed any of the base attributes, or purchased a merit that may change any of your special attributes, make your one final change, and be glad your done. Your persona/character is ready to enter the shadowy and dangerous World of Darkness: Kindred Voodoo.

 

Experience Point Costs

Trait Experience Point Cost

Attribute New Rating x 5
Merit New Rating x 2
Humanity New Rating x 3
Skill New Rating x 3
Skill Specialty 3 Experience Points

Trait Experience Point Cost

Blood Potency New Rating x 8
Discipline (Clan or Bloodline) New Rating x 5
Discipline (Out of Clan) New Rating x 7
Discipline (Crúac) Ritual Level x 2
Discipline (Theban Sorcery) Ritual Level x 2

Note: When you spend Experience Points to go up more than one dot in a trait, you need to pay for all of the intervening levels. For example, to go from Weaponry 2 to Weaponry 4 you must pay Experience costs for both the third and fourth dots; you cannot simply pay for the fourth dot and skip the third dot.