Step Six of Creating a Character

Allies | Alternate Identity | Contacts | Fame | Generation | Haven | Herd | Influences | Resources | Retainers

Backgrounds flesh out a player’s concept, helping you to define many portions of a character’s history. Does the character have a powerful mentor in vampiric society? Does the character have access to a great deal of money, or is she poor? Does she have any servitors or companions? Backgrounds help you to portray these personal items, creating a framework for the character’s life. Each background may be purchased up to level 5. It’s not normally possible to buy a background above 5.

Background Descriptions
The following backgrounds are available to your character. In general, having multiple dots in a background allows for more effective or more frequent use of that background’s benefit. Some backgrounds change your character during character creation, while others affect the character only after she enters game. Read each background carefully to determine which are appropriate for your character’s story.

The Allies background represents mortals who support and help you. These mortals may be family, friends, or even a loyal corporation or criminal organization. Allies may represent friends who work at the morgue, write for a prominent blog, or circulate in the high society of local celebrities. With Allies, you can make a few calls, cut a few deals, and get trustworthy assistance in a wide range of activities. Remember that Allies are mortal, and are not aware of the supernatural world of vampires. They genuinely believe you are a friend, and they may ask you for a favour in the future. If your Allies ask for a favour in return, and you are unable to assist them, you may lose dots in the Allies background until you “make good” on the deal.

System: For each dot of Allies that you purchase, you must define one group of people with whom your character is allied. For example, a character with 3 dots of Allies may choose to define those Allies as mortuary workers, a local gang called the Vatos, and a local independent rock band known as the Iron Jugs. When you have your character call in favours, you must tell the Storyteller which group (or groups) she is contacting and explain how that group is capable of assisting your character with the specific problem. These Allies can perform reasonable tasks and may be more capable if the task is something appropriate to their profession. For example, Allies in the local morgue could do something mundane, like watch a building. They would be very good at something in line with their profession, like disposing of a body. However, it would be outside their area of expertise to rob the local liquor store. The character’s second Ally, the local gang, would be more appropriate for that task.

If the situation requires character sheets for your Allies, the Storyteller generates up to three Stock NPCs, one of level 3 and two at level 1. All of these NPCs are mortal, and none have any supernatural abilities. Note that Allies are capable of fighting, but they are not designed to be a character’s personal army. If a character’s Allies are killed, the character loses access to the Allies background for the next two games or one month (whichever is longer). You may use this background once per game for each dot of Allies the character possesses.

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You maintain a second identity, complete with papers, birth certificates, or any other necessary documentation. This cover personality may be a ruse to help your character hide among the mortal populace, or it may be a vampire identity designed to infiltrate another clan. You may buy this background multiple times, with each instance representing an entirely separate cover identity.

• Your identity is very shallow. You have a driver’s license or other minor documentation, and it can survive a perfunctory internet search.
• • You have a well-grounded identity that could withstand the scrutiny of a minor criminal investigation. This might include birth certificates and social security numbers, or in vampiric society, it might represent a newly established infiltration.
• • • Your identity is very well established and will stand up to all but the toughest scrutiny. This persona has a long and believable history, including friends, family, and character witnesses. In vampiric society you may have arranged a plausible (but dead) sire and a verifiable history.
• • • • Your identity is designed to infiltrate another clan or sect. At this level you’ve established a rudimentary identity as a new (or fairly new) vampire of the clan/sect you’re attempting to infiltrate. You have arranged a living sire who claims to have created you, and you have been present at several historical events as a member of the clan.
• • • • • Your identity is a respected member of society; it holds powerful office in the mortal world, or among vampires, concretely influences another clan or sect. You have a long history, an in-depth lineage, and your cover is solid enough to pass even supernatural means of verification. Note that this doesn’t prevent the character from being “found out” if you make a mistake and other players catch on. Even the strongest Alternate Identity will fail if you can’t keep a secret.

Alternate Identity will not fool supernatural powers or direct observation. For example, it will not help you when targeted by Telepathy. In addition, an Alternate Identity can be Accepted by another sect or political group, and gain status in that group. For more information on Acceptance and status, see Chapter Seven: Dramatic Systems, Status and Vampire Society on page 310.

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You have established close personal relationships with people all over the city.

When you start making phone calls and asking for gossip or inside tips, the amount of information you can dig up is impressive. You know who to bribe, manipulate, or coerce into offering information, and the favourites list on your cellphone looks like a who’s who of the city’s most important people.

Your Contacts help you keep an ear out for rumours and gather information. When you call on your Contacts, the character makes a few phone calls, checks in on her snitches, and listens to the local gossip mongers. The character very quickly gets rumours and information appropriate to the network she’s established with this background.

System: For each dot of Contacts that you purchase, you must define one individual with whom your character has a close relationship. This individual is considered to be very well connected in their field or area of expertise; she knows a great deal and actively remains aware of current events within her sphere of influence. For example, a character with 3 dots of Contacts may choose to define those individuals as Bethany, the wealthy socialite; Carlos, the head of Accounting at a local financial conglomerate; and Jane Anne, the owner of one of the most popular nightclubs in the city. When the player has her character call these Contacts, she must tell the Storyteller which individual (or individuals) she is contacting and explain how that individual might know information of use to her character
in the specific situation.

When you use your Contacts, you may ask the Storyteller for one piece of information about an ongoing plot, or you may ask for information about one influence transaction that occurred within the city in the last month. If used to investigate plot, these Contacts will provide information that the Storyteller considers appropriate. If the Contacts are used to investigate influences, the character will gain a full description of the influence result and information that may be used to discover who controls that influence (if anyone). You may use this background once for each dot of Contacts the character possesses, per session.

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Mortals are often chosen for the Embrace from the ranks of the elite. As a result, some vampires can claim a particular distinction from their breathing days: whether a prominent career in music or art, or a birthright within a royal or exceptionally wealthy family. Fame fades over the years, and is therefore normally the province of younger vampires. A player portraying an older vampire with this background must justify to the Storyteller the reasons that her character is still well known and recognizable to mortal society.

When purchasing Fame, decide why your character is famous. The number of dots purchased in this background determines the range of the character’s mortal acclaim. For example, a painter with 1 dot of Fame might be known only within artistic circles, while an actor with 5 dots of Fame would be a nationally known celebrity.

When you interact with mortals who recognize your character’s Fame, you may add +5 to any non-supernatural Social challenges. Additionally, NPCs will often give you favors, assist you without question, and grant you the benefit of the doubt. For example, a famous celebrity will not have difficulty getting a private room, borrowing someone’s car, or convincing people in a hotel that the strange things they saw were just scenes being filmed for a new horror movie.

Note that when you call on your Fame to help you, the circumstances will quickly become common knowledge among your sphere of acclaim. If a famous painter asks for a free ride home from the airport, it will make the news and, people will speculate about her reasons for needing the ride.

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The purity of Kindred blood has not yet begun to falter. In this last great age of vampiric power, when Kindred can still maintain private circles of undead society in their palatial estates, powerful sires are more common. The fears of weaker generations are merest rumour. The chance that diablerie might be detected is slimmer. The vampires of these nights are potent and confident. The worst times are still a generation off, after all.

According to some clans’ legends, the biblical figure known as Caine was cursed by God and became the first vampire. Caine then Embraced a second generation of vampires, who in turn Embraced a third, and so on. Because of this legend, vampires (even those who do not believe the myth) measure the strength of their blood in generations, counting how many sires have passed between them and the mythical apex, whomever it might be.

Generation is the measure of a vampire’s capability, based on the strength of her blood. Generation can only be purchased at character creation and is static thereafter for the course of the game (except in the case of diablerie, see below).

Vampiric blood, also known as vitae, is a significant factor in a vampire’s potency. To reflect this, there are mechanical differences, both advantages and disadvantages, to purchasing Generation. Having several dots in Generation means your vampire has stronger, purer blood, which can support elder powers. Thus, vampires of the 8th generation and above are collectively called “elders.”

Buying fewer dots of Generation means the vampire’s blood is diluted, thinner and less pure, but therefore also less static. The blood of a character with fewer ranks in Generation is flexible enough to support techniques: powers created by mixing two or more disciplines together into a single effect.

To play a vampire, you must purchase 1 dot of Generation. You may purchase more dots during character creation, but you cannot purchase them after the character enters play. Players should note that these dots are not additive — if you buy 2 dots, you don’t get the bonuses of both: only those of the highest dot purchased.

••••• Generation (Luminary Elder 6th)

Luminary Elders are fearsome creatures. These vampires are pure-blooded reflections of the ancient founders, with extremely thick and potent vitae. This potency allows a Luminary Elder to utilize elder powers, but the purity of her blood makes learning out-of-clan disciplines more difficult, as her blood is so strongly attuned to the powers of her clan.

System: With 5 dots, the character is of the 6th generation. A Luminary Elder has a Blood pool of 30 points, and can spend that Blood at a rate of 5 points per round. Luminary Elder characters may purchase any number of elder powers (both in-clan and out-of-clan). Luminary Elders may purchase the sixth level of all skills. A Luminary Elder cannot purchase any techniques. Luminary Elders pay increased costs for all out-of-clan disciplines (including elder powers). The cost for a Luminary Elder to purchase an out-of-clan discipline is the new level x5 instead of the standard new level x4. Luminary Elders purchase skills and backgrounds at standard costs.

Attribute Bonuses
A character’s attributes comprise her Physical, Social, and Mental capacity. All characters in Vampire have a default maximum of 10 attributes in each of the three categories.

Each dot of Generation gives a character one bonus attribute point. Players can use these points to increase their
character’s attribute maximums. Each bonus point increases a single attribute category maximum by 1; a character must still purchase the attribute with XP as normal.

An 8th generation character receives 3 bonus points granted by her dots in Generation. The player of this character may choose to raise one attribute maximum by 3, to a new maximum of 13; this means she leaves the other two attribute maximums at 10. That same player could instead decide to raise one attribute maximum by 1 point (to 11), and one by 2 (to 12) points, leaving the third attribute category at its standard maximum of 10.

Again, in all cases, the character must spend XP in order to purchase attributes up to that new maximum. Players are not required to assign attribute points until the character is ready to purchase an attribute above 10.

For example, Marlowe the 8th generation Malkavian has 3 bonus attribute points, but at character creation none of his attributes are above 10. After playing for a few months, Marlowe realizes that the Mental discipline Obfuscate has become a staple of his play-style and decides to raise his Mental attribute to 11. At this point Marlowe has spent 1 of his 3 bonus attribute points.

Diablerie
The less scrupulous among the higher generations sometimes steal the power of their elders through the foul process of diablerie. Diablerie allows a vampire to consume the soul of a more potent vampire and therefore gain some of her victim’s power. For more information on diablerie, see Chapter Seven: Dramatic Systems, page 306.

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Every vampire must have a safe place she can retreat to during the day, commonly described as a haven. A vampiric haven can be any place your character may reasonably survive: an expensive hotel suite, a mansion, a trailer park, a hidden tunnel in the sewer system, etc.

System: Every time you purchase a dot in the Haven merit choose one of the following advantages. You cannot select the same advantage more than once for a single Haven location.

• Guards: Guardians regularly patrol your Haven. Anyone who tries to infiltrate your Haven must contend with 5 levels of Retainers who guard your Haven (you may choose to make five level 1 retainers, one level 5 retainer, or any other combination that adds up to 5. Your guards only work in your Haven and cannot travel with you. If you want underlings who can leave your Haven, consider the Retainer background.
• Library: Before making a Research or Lore test, you can spend one hour looking things up in your library to receive a +3 bonus to your pool.
• Location: Your Haven is located in a prestigious neighbourhood. Anyone who wishes to use downtime actions to negatively affect you must spend twice as many downtime actions as long as you regularly stay in your Haven. Additionally, you receive a number of story benefits (police respond quickly when you call, your roads get cleared first when the weather is bad, etc.)
• Luxury: You’ve filled your Haven with comfortable and expensive extras, such as televisions, automatic chairs, computers, or works of art. You receive a +3 bonus to Social tests versus mortals when they are in your Haven.
• Security: Any challenges made to break into your Haven or to bypass detection suffer a −3 penalty. Additionally you will always receive at least one turn of warning when someone attempts to break into your Haven (no matter how well your attacker tests). Characters with the Security skill gain this bonus for free.
• Size: Your Haven is enormous with dozens of rooms. You can comfortably house up to 10 additional characters.
• Staff: Your Haven includes several servants who see to the needs of yourself and your guests. Staff doesn’t normally fight, but if forced to engage, treat them as level 1 Retainers with no specialties applicable to combat.
• Occult: Your Haven contains a number of simple wards and hedge-wizard tricks to keep out unwanted guests. You may have runes carved into the window sills or a line of salt at the door. Regardless of the wards used, supernatural Stock NPCs cannot enter your Haven without being invited. This has no effect on player characters or NPCs with full character sheets. You cannot purchase this bonus unless you have the Occult skill.

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You have gathered a group of mortals from whom you feed without fear of reprisals or risking the notice of mortal authorities. A vampire with the Herd background doesn’t have to go far to hunt; the Herd offers a safe and easy way to gain blood.

You must define your Herd, whether they are kinky club-goers captivated by a vampire’s charisma, or a fanatically religious cult that views you as some kind of priestess or incarnate divinity. A Herd could be a group of enslaved prisoners, a medical pass that gives you access to fresh blood supplies, or a personal zoo of animals. Work with your Storyteller to describe the exact nature of your character’s Herd.

Characters with the Herd background do not have to spend a downtime action feeding each month.

If plot, influence actions, or other circumstances require vampires to spend more than 1 downtime action feeding, you reduce the number of downtime actions required by a number equal to your dots in Herd. If you have more dots in Herd than you must expend for downtime actions to feed, you may allow other individuals to feed on your Herd, thus using the dots to supplement their downtime actions in the same manner.

Additionally, at any point you may spend five minutes out-of-game feeding rather than the standard 15 minutes. If you do, you will gain a number of Blood points equal to your herd rating. You cannot allow other characters access to this advantage.

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Mass production is just beginning, but plenty of important-seeming "consumables" exist for the proletariat to waste their wages on and maintain their economic position. It is not enough to spend money in Victorian society, one must be seen spending it. Of course, charity is also considered proper for the upper class, though very specific (and biased) determine where such money should rightfully go.

Liquid assets may be inconsistent, even with a high Resources rating. English lords may have a bad year, but much of their wealth is usually tied up in things such as real estate and art that cannot be easily spent. Likewise, though it is becoming more common for members of the upper class to earn their fortunes through business ventures, allowances from rich parents are not uncommon. Thus, purely social concerns can have a serious impact on an Englishman's ability to spend but may not much change his standard of living. The counterpoint to this is the state of the poor, who are unlikely to escape their tenements or labour jobs even if they come into a lavish windfall. Unless they are accepted into the social circles of the bourgeois, actual cash may not affect their standard of living.

A character with no dots in the Resources background is impoverished. She has enough clothing and supplies to survive, and she may live in a cheap motel or a small apartment (or something similar). Characters without Resources have little or no liquid cash and cannot afford luxury items. They rarely, if ever, pay their debts. The Resources background provides a guideline for a general standard of living. It shows wealth and buying power in mortal equivalents; most vampires who have Sufficient Resources do not pay taxes, for example, and almost none earn an income from holding down a regular job. The gulf between each dot of Resources widens considerably the farther up the scale you go, but the exact amount of cash your character has on hand should be decided by the Storyteller. You must also work with your Storyteller to detail exactly where your character’s money comes from and how it can be accessed.

A pound is broken down into 20 shillings, and a shilling is worth 12 pence. Other British monetary units included the guinea (worth one pound and one shilling), the sovereign and half-sovereign (worth one pound and 10 shillings, respectively), and the crown and half-crown (worth 5 shillings and one-eighth of a pound, respectively). These coins were all used less frequently than the three principle coins, however. This monetary system has been in place for 300 years, and it will remain in place until 1971 when the pound will finally be decimalized.

A trashy paperback book costs a mere shilling, while a luxurious meal in a restaurant costs £2. Cabs cost around l pence per minute. Coal, the primary method of heating one’s home, was £1 per ton (most households would go through 12 tons per year).

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