Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Character Creation
Embrace the darkness
Create a Kindred character for the World of Darkness. Choose your clan, define your hunting style, and struggle to preserve what remains of your humanity.
Quick reference
Step 1: Choose Your Clan
Your clan is your vampire bloodline. It determines which Disciplines you can learn easily and what supernatural curse (Bane) you carry. Choose based on the character you want to play.
Rebels, revolutionaries, and firebrands. The Brujah channel their passion into causes and conflicts.
Feral survivors who roam the wilds. The Gangrel embrace their bestial nature.
Seers cursed with madness. Every Malkavian hears the whispers of the Network.
Information brokers cursed with hideous appearance. They know everyone's secrets.
Artists, socialites, and aesthetes obsessed with beauty and sensation.
Blood sorcerers who traded their humanity for arcane power.
Blue-blooded aristocrats who see themselves as the rightful rulers of the night.
Step 2: Choose Predator Type
Your Predator Type defines how you hunt and feed. Each type grants bonuses to certain skills, Disciplines, or Backgrounds, and may come with restrictions or advantages.
Step 3: Distribute Attributes
Distribute 7/5/3 dots across the three attribute categories. Choose which category is your strength (7), average (5), and weakness (3).
Step 4: Distribute Skills
Distribute 11/7/4 dots across skill categories. No skill can exceed 4 at creation. Choose a specialty for any skill at 3+.
Step 5: Choose Disciplines
Assign 3 dots among your clan Disciplines. You can have at most 2 dots in any single Discipline at creation.
Step 6: Select Backgrounds
Distribute 7 dots among Backgrounds. These represent your resources, connections, and advantages in the world.
- • Haven: Your secure resting place
- • Resources: Money and material wealth
- • Herd: Mortals you feed from regularly
- • Retainers: Servants and assistants
- • Allies: Mortal friends who help
- • Contacts: Information sources
- • Influence: Power over institutions
- • Status: Standing in Kindred society
Step 7: Define Your Humanity
Humanity measures how much of your mortal self remains. Create Convictions (moral beliefs) and Touchstones (mortals who anchor those beliefs) to protect your humanity.
Moral principles that let you resist the Beast. When you would lose Humanity for an action that violates your Chronicle Tenets, your Convictions can protect you.
Living mortals who embody your Convictions. They anchor you to your humanity. If they die or reject you, you may lose your Conviction.
All vampires struggle with the Beast, a primal hunger that drives them to violence and feeding. Low Humanity means the Beast controls you more. Frenzy can strike when hungry, angry, or afraid.
Step 8: Calculate Derived Traits
Calculate your derived traits based on your attributes. These determine your health, mental resilience, and vampiric power.