Vampire: The Masquerade V5

Character Creation!
This is a reference for making Kindred characters for V5, currently excluding how to
create Thin-Bloods as they function differently.

This is meant to be used in conjunction with the V5 Core Rulebook, breaking down
character creation and referencing sections inside the book.

Getting Started:
When creating a character, I enjoy coming up with the concept first, you might like designing the concept around your chosen clan.
Regardless, here are some useful questions to consider when creating a character.
Check with your Storyteller to find out what their story concept is and what templates are using!

Decide at what age your character was embraced, and when they were turned.

Childer from 2004 onwards.

Neonates between 1940 and 2003.
Ancillae between 1780 and 1940.
Note that these are approximations.

Questions to ask yourself:

What was my character's mortal life like?

Why was my character embraced?
How old is my character?
What faction does my character support and why?
Who was their Sire?
What are Kindred kinds opinion of their Sire?
How was their life as a after being embraced?
What kind of Vampire are they now?

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 Attributes & Skills: Disciplines: (V5 pg. 243.)
Attributes and Skills are the very core of your sheet. Of your character's 3 Clan Disciplines, you pick 2 of them to
start with.
Attributes measure a character's strength, finesse and
resistance in the physical, social, and mental fields. One of them starts at Level 2,
Skills are a measure of your character's abilities or The other at Level 1.
knowledge in a variety of talents and disciplines.
Keep in mind that many disciplines offer more than 1
Attributes: (V5 pg. 155.) power option at each level, so you must pick which of the two
available powers you wish your character to have.
Among the 9 available Attributes pick: More Disciplines can be bought later on during the
One Attribute at 4, character creation process for Neonates and Ancillae
Three attributes at 3, characters. These are explained in the Templates section
Four attributes at 2, later on.
One attribute at 1.
Be sure to add your points where it makes sense, a The Caitiff (V5 pg. 107)
Gangrel who lived his life as a cage fighter and is a high This clan can choose any three disciplines but at
school dropout is unlikely to have high Intelligence or low a cost. Check with your Storyteller if you can be a
Caitiff. Using what is in the book, this guide still
Strength. works.
Health
Health is equal to the characters Stamina + 3.
This is how much superficial and/or aggravated damage
you can handle. Predator Type: (V5 pgs. 175
Willpower - 178.)
Willpower is equal to their Composure + Resolve scores. Pick your character's Predator type, and then apply its merits
to the character sheet:
Willpower lets you re-roll up to 3 failed dice, not including
hunger dice, you use up the willpower by doing so. Add one of the listed Specialties.
Your unpent willpower is also used for tests against frenzy, Add one point to a listed Discipline.
such as seeing a fire etc. Apply any associated advantages or flaws.
Skills: (V5 pg. 159.)
Advantages, Flaws &
Backgrounds: (V5 pgs. 179-
Choose one of these templates: 194.)
Jack of All Trades Balanced Specialist You have 7 points that can be spent in Advantages,
One skill at 3 Three skills at 3 One skill at 4 Backgrounds and/or Merits.
You start with 2 points in Flaws on top of those you
Eight skills at 2 Five skills at 2 Three skills at 3 earned from your Predator Type.
Ten skills at 1 Seven skills at 1 Three skills at 2
Make sure to flesh out any Merit, Background or Flaw
- - Three skills at 1 accordingly on your sheet.
For example, if your character picked a few dots in
retainer, do a quick write-up of who that retainer is, and
what purpose they serve.
Skill Specialties: (V5 pg. 159) Loresheets: (V5 pgs. 382 - 396.)
A Skill Specialty represents a particular expertise in a These are a special type of Advantage you can choose by
given skill. selecting a Loresheet and spending dots in it as you would in
Pick a free specialty if you have points in Academics, Advantages.
Craft, Performance and Science. They are often very different and you should check with
Pick another free Specialty for a skill of your choice, such your Storyteller if it is appropriate for your Chronicle.
as grappling for the Brawl skill, or lockpicking for the There are more Loresheets available in the supplement
Larceny skill. books as well.
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Beliefs: XP:
These beliefs have no numerical rating, but help to drive the You either start with XP given the template you’ve chosen, or
character and story. So they have a mechanical effect in game gain XP through playing.
as they provide tension and drama.
Convictions: (V5 pg. 172.) Finally:
Select from 1 to 3 Convictions, human values you uphold The last things to consider, which are more to your
even in undeath. imagination!
Touchstones: (V5 pg. 173.)
Appearance:
Select an equal number of Touchstones as to your Decide upon what your character looks like.
Convictions. Touchstones tend to be living humans that The build of their body, hair colour and style.
represent your convictions. Do they wear modern clothing or more familiar older
Humanity: styles?
Set your character's Humanity to 7 as a baseline, unless What is their body language like?
anythign else affects it. Equipment:
Pick equipment and items for your character.
Keep it within the realm of possibilities in relation to their
Templates: number of dots in resources.
A character with 1 in Resources is unlikely to have a
This section will break down the playable and non-playable wardrobe of high end clothing and high end laptop and
Templates. smartphone.
Childer Template: (V5 pgs. 139 - 140.) These are Kindred Characters are limited to one small or medium sized
embraced within the last 15 years, as recently as last night. melee weapon or one small firearm at creation.
The more recent, the most likely they will be Thin-Bloods, of
the 14th, 15h or 16th generation. You could be a new Childer Haven:
of the 12th or 13th Generation. Give some details on your character's haven, it is where
As this is a reference on making Kindred, not Thin-Bloods they ‘live’ after all.
Do they have one?
as they are created differently, pick a Generation between Where is it located? Describe any important features.
12th or 13th. Is it separate from any Coterie havens that you might
Add your Blood Potency of 1. have?
Neonate Template: (V5 pgs. 139 - 140.) Think secret base of operations.
Embraced within a human lifetime, say the 100 or so years.
Pick a Generation between 12th or 13th.
Add your Blood Potency of 1.
Spend 15 extra XP and record your spending on your
sheet.
Ancilla Template: (V5 pgs. 139 - 140.)
Under 250 years old from when they were Embraced. Thank you:
I love Vampire the Masquerade, and made this to help my
Pick a Generation between 10th and 11th. group of old WOD playersand brand new players create their
Add your Blood Potency of 2. characters.
Add 2 points of Advantages.
Add 2 points in Flaws. We did not use Thin-Bloods, whichis why they are not in this
Subtract 1 Humanity. reference.
Spend 35 extra XP and record your spending on your I hope this will be a useful resource for others.
sheet.
Elders: (V5 pgs. 139 - 140.)
These are Kindred older than 250 years and tend to be 9th
Credit:
generation or lower. As The Beckoning’s siren call of the Created by A.R.B - R. Archer.
Gehenna War is affecting them, they are unable to be played https://sites.google.com/view/arb-publishedworks
at the current time. This document was made using The Homebrewery.
http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/

VTM V5 CHARACTER CREATION

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