Character Creation and Limitations on Character Creation

            How often have you shown up to the first session and been confronted by a group of players with their characters already built but they have nothing in common?  One player has brought a Gangrel who impersonates werewolves.  Another player has a Tzimisce that is the priest of a pack of Black Hand.  A third has built a Baali intent on “watching the world burn.”  The fourth player got confused and built a Wereshark for some strange reason.  As the storyteller you’re left sitting there wondering how to bring these four characters together into a coherent group.  Even after you get the Wereshark player to build a Vampire, you’re still left with three characters that would sooner set the others on fire than work together towards a shared goal. 

The Jester makes sense, but who plays a Dwarf in a Game of Thrones RPG?

            That example might sound hyperbolic, but it’s happened to me.  Letting players bring anything to the table means that they will bring anything!  Instead of letting players choose anything, I prefer to limit their options during character creation, and I also sit with each player as each character is built.  By limiting the players’ options and watching/assisting with character creation, I begin each chronicle knowing that the characters will fit into the plot and setting of the game. 

            For whatever reason, many players approach character creation as solo endeavor.  They sit down with the game books and create their character in a vacuum without input from other players or the Storyteller.  Yet, this character is supposed to fit in with other characters as part of a group.  The best approach to character creation is to spend the entire first session on just that.  The players can discuss their characters as they are being built.  The Storyteller can provide input and make suggestions on which abilities and so forth will be the most helpful during the game. 

            Players can also ask the Storyteller questions and get a feeling for what kind of encounters or scenes that are likely to appear during the game.  For example, most of my games are based around investigations.  I don’t emphasize combat but I do like having lots of chases.  So, players in my games would be better served by putting points in Investigation rather than other abilities.   I also like to set my chronicles in one city rather than having the coterie travel around the world; so, there is no reason for characters to have houses in other cities or planes to travel to distant countries. 

            However, the Storyteller must realize his/her own tendencies.  It took me a while to realize that I was always running investigation style games.  Knowing that tendency I can give players accurate advice on what they can expect during a game.  However, if the Storyteller doesn’t know what his/her tendencies are, they could give bad advice and the character could end up with abilities that are not used during the game.  If the storyteller tells the players that he is planning on having combat every session, but instead he is only has combat once every 4 or 5 sessions then the player who has put every point into combat abilities is going to be useless.  The same would be true if the Storyteller said he liked running games focused on politics and social encounters but every encounter could only be resolved through punching someone in the face. In other words, don’t give players bad advice.  They might be resentful if they spend points during character creation on abilities that will never be used.  

Why is Dave playing SuperPro in a DC game?

            Storytellers should think carefully about what kind of characters they want to allow in their game.  I am a big fan of limiting players’ options during character creation.  If your chronicle is about a group of Camarilla vampires defending their city from a Sabbat invasion, then you probably shouldn’t allow players to be a group of independent vampires who don’t care one way or the other about the Camarilla or Sabbat.  For my last two chronicles, I have limited players to only Camarilla clans; they weren’t allowed to play any independents like Assamites or Giovanni, nor were they allowed to play typical Sabbat clans like the Lasombra and Tzimisce.  That simple limitation made running the game much simpler because all the players were involved in the Camarilla’s politics rather than each character answering to a different group and having to weave together those politics. 

However, running a game focused on the interparty conflict between a group of vampires from different sects (Independent, Camarilla, Anarch, and Sabbat) forced to work together is a great Chronicle, but it wasn’t the Chronicle that I wanted to run.  That would mean that each player must be of a different sect.  Or you could run a game where every character was from the same clan and the primary conflict of the game is clan politics and fighting against other clans.  So every player must build a character from one clan.  Both of these ideas limit players but in different ways.  Without these limitations, the whole basis of these campaigns would fall apart. 

            Rather than treating character creation as a solo experience, the players and Storyteller should work together to ensure that the character being built fits into the group and chronicle.  Rather than each player building his/her character alone and bringing it to the game, the first session should be set aside for character creation so that the Storyteller can offer input and the players can all contribute to each others’ characters.  Otherwise, you’ll have a group of individuals that don’t make sense, and the Storyteller will have to figure out how to explain why that Wereshark is hanging out with a Tzimisce rather than eating him. 

            I’d like to thank David for sending me the idea for this article.  If you have an idea that you’d like me to discuss, please send me an email. 

Late Review: Clanbook: Brujah

Clanbook:  Brujah

By Steve Crow

1992, 66 pages

            Violent Revolution!  Since their birth in the Second City, the Brujah have embodied change and struggle against the system.  The Brujah are the first Anarchs, the first to turn against their Antediluvian founder when Troile diablerized the Brujah progenitor.  While the Lasombra and the Tzimisce later destroyed their own Antediluvian founders during the Dark Ages, they are both late-comers to the struggle against the Elders that the Brujah began millennia ago.  This revolutionary ideal continued from that first act of diablerie and into the modern nights typified by three revolutions:  the American Revolutionary War, the Russian Revolution, and the creation of the Anarch Free State. 

2nd Edition Brujah

            As glorious as this history sounds, Clanbook Brujah falls flat with its presentation of the clan and its ideals.  Themes of struggle and revolution run through this book because it was written from the perspective of the Anarch movement, and according to this book, the primary conflict of the Kindred world is not Sabbat versus the Camarilla but the Anarachs against the entrenched power of the Prince and Primogen, what the book calls the Toreador/Tremere/Ventrue triangle of power.  However, by limiting the perspective to just the Anarch’s voice, many of the deeper themes of the Brujah fall by the wayside.  They are reduced to being just rabble rousers.  For example, when discussing the three types of meetings that the clan has, the Rant, the Rave and the Debate, the Rant and Rave are described as exciting and intriguing events, but the Debate is a mind-numbingly boring affair for Elders.  A Rant is the most common meeting of Clan Brujah where clan members argue and fight, shouting at each other and even getting into fights.  Rants are where the Brujah hand internal crimes and resolve clan issues.  A Rave begins with a scavenger hunt where clan members have to hunt down a series of clues to find the location of a massive party or even a Rant.  A Debate is best summed up as a House subcommittee meeting where point after sub-point after sub-sub-point is discussed endlessly about an unimportant issue but is never resolved. 

            The Brujah, according to this clanbook, are divided into three groups.  The largest group is the Iconoclasts who are typically Anarchs that fight against the entrenched power of the Princes and Camarilla.  The second group is the Idealists who are the Elders of the clan and represent the more academic minded.  Finally, the smallest group is the Individualists who act as mediators between these two groups.  However, because this clanbook has a strong Anarch bias, the Idealists and Individualists aren’t all that interesting and aren’t really given much depth. 

How many of these people sleep with their eyes open?

            Chapter 2, Legends of the Brujah which discusses Troile’s overthrow and murder of Brujah (or Ilyes) in the Second City, the American Revolution, and the Russian Revolution is blandly written.  The text is matter of fact and reads like a history book.  Carthage is mentioned, but not much depth is given other than to say it was an attempt to recreate the “paradise” of the Second City where vampires could roam openly amongst mortals and ruled the city directly. 

            The inclusion of vampires into the history of the American Revolution and the Russian Revolution is almost comical at times.  Benjamin Franklin is mentioned, but he was so popular that several clans wanted to embrace him.  None did because he was more useful as a mortal.  The birth and fall of the Soviet Union is a comedy of errors perpetrated by and on a council of Brujah Elders who can’t make up their minds about Lenin, Stalin or their plans to turn the Soviet Union into a new Carthage in the 20^th century.  Rather than being indirectly involved in world history, Clanbook:  Brujah suggests that Kindred are actually the real movers and shakers of the world but can’t accomplish anything because they are too busy stabbing each other in the back.  Finally the Nosferatu Elder Baba Yaga awoke from torpor and destroyed the Brujah Council’s hold on the Soviet Union and most of the council members as well leading to the Soviet Union’s destruction and the creation of the Russian Federation.  The whole section on Russia is a comedy of errors and the Brujah are the punch line. 

A Brujah that's not an Anarch?  Say it isn't so!

            As for new mechanics, only the Debate resolved by rolling the Secondary Ability Debate, (In V20 this would be Performance or Expression) and the introduction of Combination Disciplines are added.  The Combination Disciplines are for Brujah only, and generally interesting.  However, the lack of an experience point cost attached to these new Disciplines could encourage power gaming.  The only requirement is that the character must learn these abilities from a mentor, and the required time could take months.  Burning Wrath, for example, makes all brawling attacks do aggravated damage.  Although no mechanics are introduced for the True Brujah, these direct descendents of the Brujah Antideluvian (not Troile), are included in a side panel.  Their discipline, Temporus, is briefly mentioned as well, but again, no actual mechanics.  These are left to the Storyteller to explore, but the seed is there for the mystery of these strange Kindred, much like the Nictuku in the Nosferatu book.  Although unlike the Nictuku, the True Brujah are detailed later in Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand and in Vampire the Masquerade 20^th Anniversary Edition. 

            Chapter 4:  Brujah Templates provides a large variety of stereotypical Brujah for players to use.  The only templates that go beyond the basic stereotypes are the Fake Rapper and the Rapper.  Because this book was published in 1992, Vanilla Ice and Ice Cube are the obvious origins of these templates.  This pair of templates best represent how to draw inspiration from real world celebrities and bring them into the World of Darkness without being too cheesy.  The Rogue Cop/Vigilante Template is a great twist to the classic Brujah.  This character was once a cop who went rogue and became a vigilante after seeing too many criminals set free by corrupt cops.  She/He hates the typical Brujah because they have a complete disregard for Mortal and Kindred laws and are no different than the criminals she/he hated when she/he was a mortal. 

Smilin' Jack from VtM Bloodlines

            Of all the clanbooks, this one is the weakest, but it is also the first.  Clanbook:  Brujah does offer some information on the mysterious Baba Yaga and the events happening in Russia which has always been a great mystery.  However, even those morsels are not enough to make this book a good investment except for fans of Vampire the Masquerade who want to complete their collection or fans of clan Brujah who absolutely must know every little detail of the clan.  Groups that have transitioned to V20 will have to make changes to make templates fit in the new system because of changes to some of the skills and abilities.  Finally if you’re a fan of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, then you’ll recognize Anarch Smilin’ Jack who has a short write up in the Appendix of famous Brujah.           

Clanbook Brujah is available at DriveThruRPG as PDF or you can purchase the original book from Amazon.             

           

Player Rewards in Vampire the Masquerade

            The comparison of Vampire the Masquerade and Dungeons & Dragons is not a fair comparison to either.  Nevertheless for the purposes of this article, the comparison is necessary if only to point out the contrast.  Character progression falls into three distinct categories:  improvement of traits, increased material wealth, and enhanced reputation.  Improvement of traits is the most obvious way that characters increase.  Whether you are playing a classic fantasy table top RPG or a science fiction MMORPG, experience points are gained and then spent on improving a characters abilities, attributes, traits and so on or once a threshold is met a character gains a level.  Put more succinctly, characters level up.  Their hit points improve, their attacks hit more easily, and so on.  Increased material wealth is also an obvious way that characters improve.  With greater wealth, characters in a fantasy themed RPG can earn gold to buy greater and greater magical swords or have new armor commissioned and so on.  Enhanced reputation is not as obvious.  By enhanced reputation, I mean all the rewards and accomplishments of a character that are included in the Backgrounds section of the character sheet for World of Darkness characters, or not directly tracked at all for other games.  An enhanced reputation can take several forms such as a title granted by a king or prince or an infamy that spreads across the lands. 

            In Vampire the Masquerade, characters gain experience and improve their skills and so on, but they do not gain much in material wealth.  Money is just not that important for the Kindred and that’s reflected in the way wealth is handled during character creation.  A beginning character in Vampire the Masquerade can be as wealthy or as poor as the player decides. In truth there isn’t much that can be bought in Vampire the Masquerade that will give a character a greater advantage over his or her enemies. 

Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, access to money does not mean access to more power; instead, in Vampire the Masquerade, characters cannot improve themselves just by acquisition of wealth.  Of course, having more points in Resources, the measure of character wealth in VtM, means having a nicer car or perhaps more firearms or a prettier sword, but that firearm or sword won’t do more damage.  The focus of character progression in VtM then becomes enhanced reputation.  Tracked as Backgrounds in Vampire the Masquerade and other World of Darkness games, they cannot be purchased with experience points.  These are earned through game play and role play.  These are the key to character growth beyond improving attributes and abilities. 

The most important trait on a character sheet, mechanically, is the Background Generation.  This single stat defines the maximum level for every other trait, ability, Discipline, and attribute along with the size of the character’s Blood Pool and blood use per turn.  The more points in Generation a character has the greater his or her power.  However, after character creation the only way to improve Generation is through Diablerie, murder of a vampire and the taking of that vampire’s soul and power.  In this single trait, Storytellers and players are offered a variety of plots, and improving this trait also means that the character is now a criminal.  If anyone discovers the crime, the punishment is the Final Death.  The singular importance of Generation means that some players often risk everything just to get that sixth point in Generation which allows them access to sixth level disciplines and the powerful abilities they offer.  Entire campaigns have been derailed by a player character’s diablerie and then earning a sixth dot in a Discipline.  Generation is the ultimate reward for a player’s character if handled properly. 

After Generation, the most important trait is a character’s Disciplines.  Disciplines, even the early levels of some Disciplines, are extremely powerful, almost game breaking.  Each Vampire begins play with access to three clan Disciplines.  However, beyond those, players should not be allowed to simply spend experience points to buy new Disciplines.  According to the Vampire the Masquerade 20^th Anniversary Edition book, in order to learn a new Discipline a character must drink a blood point from a Vampire who currently has that Discipline.  This restriction puts players at a significant disadvantage because players don’t want their character to lose his or her autonomy and become a blood bound servant to another vampire.  This alone is a deterrent for characters. 

Many players want to expand their characters suite of Disciplines beyond just their three Clan Disciplines.  A Brujah brawler is greatly enhanced if he/she acquires Protean Two which gives the character claws that do aggravated damage.   Players should be able to acquire new Disciplines, but only through role playing and earning the respect and trust of an NPC mentor.  However, the Storyteller should keep a tight rein on the disciplines made available to characters.  Otherwise, things become unhinged rather quickly as players combine Discipline effects and run roughshod over NPCs and plots. 

Generation and Disciplines have mechanical effects, but Status is purely a factor of the player’s ability to role play and to enhance his or her character’s reputation.  Of all the Backgrounds available to characters, Status is the most telling of a characters true power within Kindred Society.  Status is a reflection of how well respected a vampire might be and whether or not his/her word is listened to at Elysium.  The slow climb up the hierarchical ladder of a Kindred City is the real mark of a character’s growth.  Whether that city is Sabbat or Camarilla, a character’s Status reflects what NPCs may think of him or her. 

Without Status, a character is a nameless, faceless, and worthless neonate that no one respects.  Even the most powerful character with tons of Disciplines and maxed out Attributes and Abilities is beyond notice or respect without points in Status.  However, as a character’s status grows, so does the characters ability to influence the politics of the city.  Primogen and Princes begin to listen. 

Status, unfortunately, has a glass ceiling built into it.  Only the Prince has a Status of Five.  Only the Primogen of a city have a Status of Four.   Player characters can’t rise above level three in Status unless they can also claim the title associated with that Status.   These titles are a double edged sword; a high position in a city also brings with it increased responsibility to the operation of a city.  Outside of a single city’s hierarchy, other positions are available in the Camarilla and Sabbat.  In the Camarilla a PC could rise to the rank of Archon who are responsible for traveling from city to city and upholding the rulings of the Camarilla’s leadership, the Inner Council.  Inquisitors serve a similar role in the Sabbat, seeking out heretics and infernalists.  Beyond Status in a particular sect, a character could also rise in status amongst his or her clan.  In previous editions of Vampire the Masquerade, Clan Status was tracked independently with Backgrounds such as “Brujah Clan Status” or “Assamite Clan Status.”  These are no longer used in V20, but offer options for looking at character growth. 

The most hated book in the CWoD

Secret societies are another way to advance as a character.  The Inconnu, the Black Hand and the Tal’Mahe’Ra, or True Black Hand, are three such examples found in Vampire the Masquerade.  Each society offers different objectives for the players and often these objectives may be at odds with the stated objectives of the group.  Players can discover the truth behind these organizations as they balance their own desires against the well being of their coterie.  Black Hand Membership is included as a Background in V20 which offers players back up in the form of Black Hand members who will come when called.  The Tal’Mah’Ra and Inconnu don’t provide a mechanical benefit but offer many opportunities for advancement. 

Another important way for a vampire to grow is by increasing his or her territory.  The Domain Background provides the mechanical benefits of controlling territory.  Beyond the mechanical benefits, territory represents a vampire’s powerbase.  A Prince claims a whole city and divides that territory out to his or her followers.  Claiming territory is a symbol of power and dominance over the other vampires in the city.  Domain provides a place from which the vampire may control other aspects of the city or world.  Good choices for a domain are a university or hospital as both provide the character with access to a Herd and Influence over a useful mortal institution. 

Allies, Contacts, Influence, Retainers are other Backgrounds that allow for character development beyond just experience points.  Allies and Contacts provide access to mortals who can assist the character as he matures. A player can focus on expanding the character’s access to mortals.  Resources may provide the money, but most characters can’t actually lay their hands on military grade weaponry or a powerful artifact without help from mortals Allies or Contacts. Retainers, on the other hand, are usually ghouls who directly assist the player character.  Increasing this Background is only a matter of blood bonding NPCs and maintaining those blood bonds throughout the chronicle.  Influence, on the other hand, represents control over a mortal institution whether that is the city’s police force, a political institution such as city hall, or the previously mentioned hospital or university.

Whether it is a Background or a Discipline, each of these ways to improve a character’s reputation and power within a city allows for new conflicts as well as growth.  Resources in a city are limited and most have already been claimed by Elders and Ancillae who have lived in the city for decades or even centuries.  Wresting away control over the police or a university from a powerful Elder is the heart of an Anarch story or just the story of an upstart Kindred looking to take advantage of an Elder who has grown complacent with his power. 

More information about titles and Status can be found in the V20 Companion which offers titles and mechanics for their use in the Camarilla, Sabbat, Tal’Mahe’Ra, Inconnu, and Clan Specific Titles.  TheGilded Cage has many suggestions for ways that characters can improve their Backgrounds and amass power in their city. 

Thank you Niccolo for suggesting this topic.  If you have any suggestions for an article please submit them to me via email.