If you decide on playing a character that has ventured from the modern world, the program should open up a Vampire The Masquerade character sheet. If it does not go to the Options menu and make sure the Default Dark Ages or Default Sabbat options are Not checked.
If you wish to play a member of the Sabbat simply go to the Options menu and make sure only the Default Sabbat option is checked and none other. Note: In the Thiatrë de Morë Sabbat players are not known to survive long.
Once you have your character sheet set up you can now continue on to the creation of your character.
Step 2: General Settings
Now that VtMChar has been set up you can now proceed with creating your character. Double click on the first section of the sheet (containing Name, Player, Chronicle ext.) or select General from the Change menu.
This will bring up the General Settings menu for your character. Fill out the Name and player name of the sheet (Please do use your real name in the Player Name section and exactly how your character's name will be in VPlaces). In the Chronicle portion if you wish input Thiatrë de Morë or Lands of Knarl.
Next select your clan from the list provided (all clans and bloodlines are included in accordance to 2nd edition Vampire the Masquerade and Dark Ages). The following list are just a few of the typical clans and their disciplines
The clans, their stereotype and their in clan Disciplines:
Assamites - The mysterious 'Saracens' of the Middle East have perfected the art of the silent kill. (Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus)
Brujah (old clan) - Philosophers, scholars and warriors, the fractious 'Zealots' peruse their dream of a perfect society. (Temporis, Potence, Presence)
Caitiff (not a clan) - The rare and luckless Canites with no clan are outcasts and disgraced. (any, except Thaumaturgy)
Cappadocians - Seeking the wisdom of the grave, the 'Graverobbers' call upon the spirits of the dead for enlightenment. (Auspex, Fortitude, Mortis)
Followers of Set - Originally hailing from Egypt, the 'Serpents' spread corruption and vice in their wake. (Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis)
Gangrel(closed until further notice) - Wanderers and rustics, the 'Animals' are closer to the beasts of the forest than to any of their Cainite kin. (Animalism, Fortitude, Protean)
Giovanni - The closest-knit of the clans, the Giovanni seek to control the dead even as they manipulate the living. (Dominate, Necromancy, Potence)
Lamia (restricted char numbers) - Gorgons. Millenialists of sorts. They are the spleen and soul to the Cappadocians' brain. (Deimos, Mortis, Potence)
Lasombra - Masters of darkness and shadows, the 'Magisters' seek to control mortal and vampiric society alike. (Dominate, Obtenebration, Obfuscate)
Malkavian (old clan)- Cursed with insanity, the 'Madmen' enjoy surreal and disturbing insight. (Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate)
Nosferatu - Hideous beyond words, the ostracized 'Lepers' are spies and informants without equal. (Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence)
Ravnos - Wandering vagabonds and hucksters, the 'Charlatans' gleefully practice their arts of deception and theft. (Animalism, Chimerestry, Fortitude)
Salubri (restricted char numbers) - Perceived murderers and diabolists. Preachers of Golconda, the faithful. (Auspex, Fortitude, Obeah) Toreador - Lovers of art and beauty, the 'Artisans' freely indulge in their tastes for the aesthetic. (Auspex, Celerity, Presence)
Tremere - A young and insular clan of wizards, the sorcercerous 'Usurpers' struggle to establish themselves. (Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy)
Tzimisci (old clan) - Terrible Slavic flesh crafters, the 'Fiends' mercilessly lord over their mortal subjects. (Animalism, Auspex, Dominate)
Ventrue - Imperious and commanding, the 'Patricians' consider it their duty to lead vampiric society. (Dominate, Fortitude, Presence)
Brujah (new clan) - Respecting no authority and acknowledging no leaders, the 'Rabble' consider themselves free (Celerity, Potence, Presence)
Malkavian (new clan) - Commonly perceived to be insane, the 'Kooks' possess an uncanny vision and wisdom. (Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate)
Tzimisci (new clan) - Called 'Fiends' for good reason, the Tzimisci are noble yet cruelly inhuman. (Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude)
Note: With the old and new clans you will need to change the appropriate discipline as VtMChar will not add in the different disciplines. The ST's will understand what clan you are using by the disciplines.
Note: You have the option to play a clan known as the Baali. It is not advisable to play such a clan due to both its difficulty and the current Prince's hatred of them.
Nature & Demeanor
The next step in the General Setup of your character is his/her Nature and Demeanor. In quick summery a person nature is how a person is, and their demeanor is how others see you. From the Archetypes select both a nature and demeanor that would best suit your character.
Archetypes
Autocrat - Stability requires order. It is your duty to bring it about.
Barbarian - Civilization is a joke; honor is everything
Caretaker - Suffering is everywhere; you must temper it with love.
Celebrant - Something fills you with joy, and you cannot hide that pleasure.
Child - You're young, or at least you appear to be so.
Defender - The meek must be protected from the wicked by the strong.
Fanatic - your cause is everything to you.
Gallant - Grace is all that counts; romance is your ideal, and God's (or the Devil's) will your pleasure.
Innovator - There is always a better way to do something. Your task is to bring it about.
Jester - There is to much pain in the world to endure without laughter. You make a mockery of sadness.
Loner - You've never fit in and never will.
Monster - God has demanded that you play the beast; who are you to argue?
Penitent - Your sins can only be forgiven after you have prove your worth.
Rebel - You're sick of being ordered around! Hide your feelings well, and work for the time of change.
Rogue - To hell with rules, to hell with everyone! Life (or unlife) is yours to plunder.
Survivor - No matter what storm you sweep though, you will always prevail.
Tyrant - The only way to get things done is to do them your way! All other paths are folly.
With your nature for role-playing purposes when you are acting your nature to the full extent you are able to regain willpower. An ST will notify you if you are doing so.
The Generation portion of your character is determined during the backgrounds portion of character creation.
In the Concept and Haven portion of your character sheet place your e-mail and ICQ # if you have one. These are essential for the Story Tellers so they will be able to send you your gesture pallets for the game.
Once you are done filling out these area's click okay and that section of the character creation shall be completed and your in clan disciplines for your character shall be automatically imputed in the discipline section. Before you go on, please note: as per the Gen chart on page 140 of the VtM book WW2002 it states: TRAIT MAX RATINGS: Note that is is impossible for player characters to have more than a five rating in any Trait, at least at the beginning of a chronicle.
Step 3: Attributes
Attributes are your characters physical, mental, and social abilities such as strength, charisma, and intelligence. Double click on the attributes area, or select Attributes from the change menu to bring up the Attributes section.
You will notice a pull down menu in a section called Attribute Priority. Here you will decide weather you are more physical, social, or mental. Open the pull down menu and select what areas of your attributes will be Primary, Secondary and Tertiary.
The Primary attribute will have 7 points to distribute, Secondary will have 5 points to distribute, and Tertiary shall have 3. Once you have selected Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary attributes simply distribute the points among the dots in the area.
Note: the program will not allow you to exceed the # of points appointed to the area.
When you have distributed your points simply click on okay and it will add your selections to your character sheet.
Step 4: Abilities
The Next step is to select the abilities of your character. Again double click on the Ability section or select Abilities from the Change menu. Again as the same with Attributes, at the bottom of the menu is another area to designate what area will be designated as Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Once you have designated what areas are to be Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary distribute the allotted points among the three areas. Keep in mind when distributing your dots in your abilities that you can only dedicate a maximum of 3 dots while in the initial stage of character creation. When you move into the freebie portion of creation you can add another 2, assuming you want to spend that, for a grand total of 5 dots.
When you have completed this area click on okay and your choices will be added to your character sheet.
Step 5: Disciplines & Backgrounds
Double click on the Disciplines area of your character sheet or select Disciplines & Backgrounds in the Change menu to continue on with the next area of creating your character.
Disciplines are the powers of the Kindred. Each clan has a different combination of disciplines, each of them one form of separating one clan from another. When you did the General portion of your character your characters In Clan Disciplines were automatically inputed into this section. If you decided to play an Old Clan Brujah, Malkavian, or Tizimece you will want to change the corresponding Disciplines.
In the discipline area each player is given 5 points to distribute among the In Clan disciplines already inputed. Though it does not allow 5 points to distribute during the Freebie Point you will be allowed to add how ever many levels needed to achieve 5 points among your In Clan disciplines. The following list are the disciplines
Kindred Disciplines
Animalism: Supernatural affinity with and control of animals.
Auspex: Extrasensory perception, awareness and premonitions.
Celerity: Supernatural quickness and reflexes.
Chimerstry: The ability to create illusions and hallucinations. (Ravnos specific)
Dementation: The ability to pass madness on to a victim. (Old Clan Malkavian Specific)
Dominate: Mind control practiced through the piercing gaze.
Fortitude: Unearthly toughness, even to the point of resisting fire and sunlight.
Mortis: The supernatural power to control the process of death. (Cappadocian Specific)
Necromancy: The supernatural power to summon and control the dead. (Giovanni Specific)
Obfuscate: The ability to remain obscure and unseen, even in crowds.
Potence: The Discipline of physical vigor and strength.
Protean: Shape changing - from growing claws to melding with the earth. (Gangrel Specific)
Quietus: the Assamites' arts of the silent kill. (Assamite Specific)
Serpentis: The reptilian, corruptive Discipline of the Followers of Set. (Setite Specific)
Thaumaturgy: The study and practice of sorcery. (Tremere Specific)
Vicissitude: The Tizimesce art of flesh-crafting. (Tizimece Specific)
If you are in need of further explanation of a discipline and its powers do not hesitate to ask an ST.
Backgrounds are special advantages of your character. You have 5 points to distribute among the backgrounds that you chose.
Note: Sabbat characters start off with no points in Backgrounds though Generation can be purchased through freebie points.
Backgrounds
Allies: Human confederates, usually family or friends.
Contacts: The number of information sources the character possesses.
Generation: How far removed from Caine the character is. Every 2points of generation will decrease your characters generation by 1. You will need to keep in mind that VtMChar will subtract only 1 point from your backgrounds when decreasing your generation. 7th generation is the lowest any character is allowed to go. Further explanation on how to add more dots to your character sheet will be explained during the freebie points section.
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, normally in the form of ghouls.
Once you have distributed your points among both Disciplines and Backgrounds click OK and your selections will be added to your sheet.
Step 6: Psychology
Again double click on the Virtues area or select Psychology from the Change menu to proceed with creating your characters Virtues and Road (path).
Virtues are the moral strengths and weaknesses of a character. The Virtues of a character will determine their level of their Road (Humanity, Path), and their level of willpower. you will have 7 points to distribute among the three area's.
For each point you place in Consciousness (Conviction) and Self-Control (Instinct) your Road (Humanity, Path) will be increased by one. As already 1 point has been allocated to each level already you start out with 2 levels in your Road (Humanity, Path).
For each point you place in Courage your willpower will be increased by 1. As you already start out with 1 point in Courage you start out with 1 point in your Willpower automatically.
For those players playing a character that have decided to play a character coming from the Dark Ages, or decided on playing a Sabbat character you will notice a section in the Psychology section called Road of [blank] or Path of [blank]. From the following list of Roads of enlightenment and Paths decide which your character shall take.
Roads of Enlightenment
Road of the Beast: Feed the Beast, that it will not break its chains.
Road of Blood: Vampiric blood grants the power for revenge. (Assamites only)
Road of Chivalry: Treat your equals within honor and your betters with respect.
Road of the Devil: We are created evil and must play our part.
Road of Heaven: God made us vampires to exact His wrath.
Road of Humanity: The struggle to maintain one's humanity.
Road of Paradox: Existence is a lie; change reality for its better. (Ravnos only)
Road of Typhoon: Sin and corruption are the keys to understanding. (Setites only)
Paths of Enlightenment
Path of Caine (Assamites only)
Path of Cathari
Path of Death in the Soul
Path of Harmony
Path of Honorable Accord
Path of Power and the Inner Voice
Note: No short explanation of the Paths of Enlightenment are avilable. If you wish more information on them please contact a Story Teller.
Once you have finished distributing your points among your Virtues, and have chosen your Road or Path (if applicable) click okay and your selections will be added to your character sheet.
Step 7: Merits & Flaws
Merits and Flaws are special areas of your character that he/she may have obtained in his/her mortal life or even during his/her vampiric life. A player can have up to 7 points in Flaws. If a player wishes to obtain Merits, he/she must invest in flaws. I.E. Johnboy has 7 points in flaws. Johnboy can now invest up to 7 points in merits.
Due to their high number avilable, Merits & Flaws can be found here.
Step 8: Freebie Points Now that you have completed the initial stage of character creation you go on to the Freebie Point portion of character creation. Go to the Stage Menu and select the Freebies option, this will allow you to change your character to the Freebie Points section. A character starts out with 20 Freebie Points to spend amongst any section of your character. Though this may sound quite wonderful do keep in mind that each area has a different cost to increase it 1 level. The Following chart will explain how many Freebie Points it will take to increase an area 1 level as well as a chart describing the generations and their maximum Trait's and Blood Pool.
| Freebie Points | Generation | Chart | ||
| Trait | Cost | Max Trait | Blood Pool | |
| Attributes | 5 per dot | Sixth | 7 | 30 |
| Abilities | 2 per dot | Seventh | 6 | 20 |
| Backgrounds | 1 per dot | Eighth | 5 | 15 |
| Willpower | 1 per dot | Ninth | 5 | 14 |
| Disciplines | 7 per dot | Tenth | 5 | 13 |
| Virtues | 2 per dot | Eleventh | 5 | 12 |
| Road (Humanity, Path) | 1 per dot | Twelfth | 5 | 11 |
| Other Traits | 2 per dot | Thirteenth | 5 | 10 |
Note: A character of 6th Generation has one extra in clan discipline
VtMChar will automatically track your Freebie Point spending in the Total Freebies Used Box. This can help you track your calculations.
Disciplines: As said earlier in the Disciplines section you are given 5 points to distribute among your in clan Disciplines. At this point you are allowed to spend however many Freebie Points to gain that amount. You will go over 20 Freebie Points spent do not worry about such the ST's will understand and will accommodate for such.
Generation: Should you wish to be 7th or 6th generation, you may notice that there is not enough room to place the extra 1 or 2 dots. If you wish to be such generation select Generation Override from the Change Menu. In the Generation Override menu check the All Traits 10 max. box and click OK. This will give you the allotted room to decrease yourself to the generation you wish. Please keep in mind that you can go no lower than 6th generation.
Other Traits: On your character sheet you will notice a section called Other Traits. This area is for Secondary Abilities and purchasable through Freebie Points at a cost of 2 points per Ability. Due to the Mass amount, a list of Secondary Abilities can be found here. Note: VtMChar does not track Other Traits spending so you will need to calculate the spending on your own.
Once you have completed the Freebie Points section of your character save it under your characters name and submit it to a Story Teller or Assistant Story Teller to have it authorized and to receive your game gesture pallet.
In addition you may wish to write up a character history write it up on a separate Text File or Word Pad, along with any equipment or weapons your character may have. Please keep in mind we have a maximum of 2 weapons allowed to a starting character. To obtain weapons you will need to visit the weapons rules page. You will find the link at the java pull down menu on the Thiatre Hall page.
