Abilities
The following is a list of points for each type of character.
Vampire: 13/9/5 dots
Anarch: 12/8/5
Ancillae: 18/9/3 abilities
Elder: 20/12/8
Mortals/Ghouls/Infernalists/Sorcerers: 11/7/4
These points can be divided into of the sections you want Talents, Skills and Knowledge. Say you choose (for a vampire) 13 dots in knowledges, 9 in abilites and 5 in Talents. Just fill in the necessary dots in each section. Again its a do what you want section. You gotta He's good with hands but not too bright and sure as the hell ain't talented then divide the dots as you see fit.
Talents
Alertness
This is your basic knack for noticing things that go on
around you, even when you’re not actively looking for them.
Alertness describes the attention you pay to the outside world,
whether otherwise occupied or not. This Talent is typically
paired with Perception, and is best used when sensing physical
stimuli (as opposed to moods or clues).
* Novice: You’re no mindless drone.
** Practiced: Habitual eavesdropper.
*** Competent: You keep a sharp eye on your surroundings.
**** Expert: Whether from paranoia or good sense, you
are rarely caught off guard.
***** Master: Your senses are on par with those of a wild animal.
Athletic
This Talent represents your basic athletic ability, as well as
any training you might have had in sports or other rigorous
activities. Athletics concerns all forms of running, jumping,
throwing, swimming, sports and the like; however, it doesn’t
cover basic motor actions such as lifting weights, nor does it
govern athletic feats covered by another Ability (such as Melee).
* Novice: You had an active childhood.
** Practiced: High-school athlete
*** Competent: Professional athlete
**** Expert: Top-notch in your sport
***** Master: Olympic medalist
Brawl
The Brawl Talent represents how well you fight in tooth-
and-nail situations. This Talent represents skill in unarmed
combat, whether from formal martial-arts training or simply
from plenty of experience either type can make you a
dangerous adversary. Effective brawlers are coordinated, resistant to pain, quick, strong and mean; the willingness to do
whatever it takes to hurt your opponent wins plenty of fights.
* Novice: You were picked on as a kid.
** Practiced: You’ve seen the occasional barroom tussle.
*** Competent: You’ve fought regularly and routinely,
and generally walked away in better shape than your
opponents.
**** Expert: You could be a serious contender on a
boxing circuit.
***** Master: You can kill three men in four seconds.
Dodge
The first rule of self-preservation, this Talent covers your
ability to avoid blows, missile fire or even oncoming cars. Dodge entails taking cover, ducking punches or any other methods of
getting out of harm’s way.
* Novice: You can reflexively duck and cover your head.
** Practiced: You’ve weathered a self-defense class.
*** Competent: You can evade thrown rocks, maybe
even knives.
**** Expert: It’d take a skilled brawler to land a punch.
***** Master:You can virtually sidestep bullets.
Empathy
You understand the emotions of others, and can sympathize
with, feign sympathy for, or play on such emotions as you see fit. You
are an easy hand at discerning motive, and might be able to pick up
on when someone’s lying to you. However, you may be so in tune
with other people’s feelings that your own emotions are affected.
* Novice: You lend the occasional shoulder to cry on.
** Practiced: You can sometimes literally feel someone
else’s suffering.
*** Competent: You have a keen insight into other
people’s motivations.
**** Expert: It’s almost impossible to lie to you.
***** Master: The human soul conceals no mysteries from you.
Expression
This is your ability to get your point across clearly, whether
through conversation, poetry or even email. Characters with high Expression can phrase their opinions or beliefs in a manner
that cannot be ignored (even if their opinions are misinformed
or worthless). They might also be talented actors, skilled at
conveying moods or feigning emotion with every gesture. Additionally, this Talent represents your ability for poetry, creative
writing or other literary art forms.
* Novice: Your talent has matured past crude poetry
on notebook paper.
** Practiced: You could lead a college debate team.
*** Competent: You could be a successful writer.
****Expert: Your work is Pulitzer material.
***** Master: A visionary such as yourself comes along
only once in every generation.
Intimidation
Intimidation takes many forms, from outright threats and
physical violence to mere force of personality. You know the
right method for each occasion, and can be very....persuasive.
* Novice: Crude teenage bully
** Practiced: Mugger
*** Competent: Drill sergeant
**** Expert: Your air of authority cows casual passersby.
***** Master: You can frighten off vicious animals.
Leadership
You are an example to others and can inspire them to do
what you want. Leadership has less to do with manipulating
people’s desires than it does with presenting yourself as the sort
of person they want to follow. This Talent is usually paired with
Charisma rather than Manipulation.
* Novice: Captain of your Little League team
** Practiced: Student body president
*** Competent: An effective CEO
**** Expert: Presidential material
***** Master: You could be the lord and master of a nation.
Streetwise
The streets can provide a lot of information or money to
those who know the language. Streetwise allows you to blend in
unobtrusively with the local scene, pick up gossip, understand
slang or even dabble in criminal doings.
* Novice: You know who sells drugs.
** Practiced: You’re accorded respect on the street.
*** Competent: You could head your own gang.
**** Expert: You have little to fear in even the worst
neighborhoods.
***** Master: If you haven’t heard it, it hasn’t been said.
Subterfuge
You know how to conceal your own motives and project what
you like. Furthermore, you can root out other people’s motives,
then use those motives against them. This Talent defines your
talent for intrigue, secrets and double dealing; mastery of Subterfuge can make you the ultimate seducer, or a brilliant spy.
* Novice: You tell the occasional little
white lie.
** Practiced: Vampire
*** Competent: Criminal lawyer
**** Expert: Deep-cover agent
***** Master:You’re the very last person anyone would suspect.
SKILLS
Animal Ken
You can understand an animal’s behavior patterns. This
Skill allows you to predict how an animal might react in a given
situation, train a domesticated creature, or even try to calm or
enrage animals.
* Novice: You can get a domesticated horse to let you pet it.
** Practiced: You can housebreak a puppy.
*** Competent: You could train a seeing-eye dog.
**** Expert: Circus trainer
***** Master: You can tame wild beasts without benefit of supernatural powers.
Crafts
This Skill covers your ability to make or fix things with your
hands. Crafts allows you to work in fields such as carpentry,
leatherwork, weaving or even mechanical expertise such as car
repair. You can even create lasting works of art with this Skill,
depending on the number of successes you achieve. You must
always choose a specialization in Crafts, even though you retain
some skill in multiple fields.
* Novice: High-school wood shop
** Practiced: You’re starting to develop your own style.
*** Competent: You could make a living at your work.
**** Expert: Your work might be featured in college-
level textbooks for your field.
***** Master: Your artistry is virtually without peer.
Drive
You can drive a car, and maybe other vehicles as well. This
Skill does not automatically entail familiarity with complicated
vehicles such as tanks or 18-wheelers, and difficulties may vary
depending on your experience with individual automobiles.
After all, helming a station wagon doesn’t prepare you for
controlling a Lotus at 100 miles per hour.
* Novice: You know how to work an automatic transmission.
** Practiced: You can drive a stick shift.
*** Competent: Professional trucker
**** Expert: NASCAR daredevil or tank pilot
*****Master: You can make a Yugo do tricks out of a
James Bond movie.
Etiquette
You understand the nuances of proper behavior, in both mortal society and Kindred culture. Your specialty is the culture with which you are most familiar. This Skill is used during haggling, seduction, dancing, dinner etiquette and all forms of diplomacy.
* Novice: You know when to keep your mouth shut.
** Practiced: You’ve been to a black-tie event or two.
*** Competent: You know your way around even obscure silverware.
**** Expert: Her Majesty would consider you charming.
***** Master: If the right people came to dinner, you
could end wars or start them.
Firearms
Executing a mortal with a sword starts investigations. Clawing someone to ribbons shakes the edges of the Masquerade. So
Cainites adapt, and many have devoted their energies to learning
how to kill with guns. This Skill represents familiarity with a range
of firearms, from holdout pistols to heavy machine guns. Of course,
this Skill doesn’t include heavy artillery such as mortars or tank
guns. However, someone skilled in Firearms can clean, repair,
recognize and, of course, accurately fire most forms of small arms.
This Skill is also used to unjam guns.
* Novice: You had a BB gun as a kid.
** Practiced: You while away the occasional hour at
the gun club.
*** Competent: You’ve survived a firefight or two.
**** Expert: You could pick off people for a living.
***** Master: You’ve been practicing since the debut of
the Winchester.
Melee
As the Kindred maxim runs, Guns mean nothing to a lifeless
heart. A blade is often worth far more, as is the skill to use it
properly. Melee covers your ability to use hand-to-hand weapons
of all forms, from swords and clubs to esoteric martial-arts
paraphernalia such as sai or nunchaku. And, of course, there is
always the utility of the wooden stake....
* Novice: You know the right way to hold a knife.
** Practiced: You may have been in the occasional street fight.
*** Competent: You could make a college fencing team.
**** Expert: You could keep order in the prince’s court.
***** Master: Your enemies would rather face a SWAT
team than your blade.
Performance
The Performance Skill governs your ability to perform artistic
endeavors such as singing, dancing, acting or playing a musical
instrument. You are almost certainly specialized in one field,
although true virtuosos may be talented in many forms of performance. This Skill represents not only technical know-how, but the
ability to work an audience and enrapture them with your show.
* Novice: You could sing in the church choir.
** Practiced: You could get a leading part in a college production.
*** Competent: You’re in demand at the local clubs.
**** Expert: You have the talent to be a national sensation.
***** Master: You are a virtuoso without peer.
Security
This Skill entails familiarity with the tools and techniques
for picking locks, deactivating car or burglar alarms, hot-wiring
automobiles or even safecracking, as well as countless forms of
breaking and entering. Security is useful not only for theft, but
also for setting up “the unbeatable system” or deducing where a
thief broke in.
* Novice: You can pick a simple lock.
** Practiced: You can hot-wire a car.
*** Competent: You can bypass or disable house alarms.
**** Expert: You can crack a safe.
***** Master: You could get a bomb out of — or into
the Pentagon.
Stealth
This Skill is the ability to avoid being detected, whether
you’re hiding or moving at the time. Stealth is often tested
against someone else’s Perception. This Ability is, for obvious
reasons, highly useful in stalking prey.
* Novice: You can hide in a darkened room.
** Practiced: You can shadow someone from streetlight
to streetlight.
*** Competent: You have little difficulty finding prey
from evening to evening.
**** Expert: You can move quietly over dry leaves.
***** Master: Nosferatu elder
Survival
Although vampires have little to fear from starvation and
exposure, the wilderness can still be dangerous to a Cainite. This
Skill allows you to find shelter, navigate your way to civilization,
track prey and possibly even avoid werewolves (although this
last is exceedingly difficult).
* Novice: You can survive a five-mile hike.
** Practiced: You “roughed it” on a regular basis.
*** Competent: You know poisonous mushrooms from
edible ones.
**** Expert: You could live for months in the wilderness of your choice.
***** Master: You could get dropped naked into the Andes and do all right for yourself.
KNOWLEDGES
Academics
This catchall Knowledge covers the character’s erudition in
the “humanities”: literature, history, art, philosophy and other
“liberal” sciences. A character with dots in Academics is generally well-rounded in these fields, and at high levels may be
considered an expert in one or more areas of study. Not only can
this Knowledge impress at salons and other Elysium functions,
but it can also offer valuable clues to certain past and future
— movements in the Jyhad.
* Student: You’re aware that 1066 is something more
than a Beverly Hills area code.
** College: You can quote from the classics, identify
major cultural movements, and expound on the
difference between Ming and Moghul.
*** Masters: You could get a paper published in a
scholarly journal.
**** Doctorate: Professor emeritus
***** Scholar: Scholars worldwide acknowledge you as one
of the foremost experts of your time.
Computer
This Knowledge represents the ability to operate and program computers, as well as the savvy to keep up with the latest technology.
* Student: Point and click.
** College: You can process data with relative ease.
*** Masters: You can design software.
**** Doctorate: You can make a very comfortable living
as a consultant.
***** Scholar: You’re on the bleeding edge.
Finance
You know the ins and outs of commerce, from evaluating an
item’s relative worth to keeping up with currency exchange
rates. This Knowledge can be invaluable when brokering items,
running numbers or playing the stock market. Sufficiently high
levels in Finance allow you to raise your standards of living to a
very comfortable level.
* Student: You’ve taken a few business classes.
** College: You have some practical experience and
can keep your books fairly neat.
*** Masters: You’d make a fine stockbroker.
**** Doctorate: Corporations follow your financial lead.
***** Scholar: You could turn a $20 bill into a fortune.
Investigation
You’ve learned to notice details others might overlook, and
might make an admirable detective. This Knowledge represents
not only a good eye for detail, but also an ability to do research
and follow leads.
* Student: You’ve read your share of Agatha Christie.
** College: Police officer
*** Masters: Private detective
**** Doctorate: Federal agent
***** Scholar: Sherlock Holmes
Law
With all the lawyers and lawmakers out there, this Knowledge
can prove very useful. Law can be useful for filing suit, avoiding
lawsuits or getting out of jail. What’s more, even the Kindred keep
their own laws, and more than one vampire has saved his own
unlife by deftly exploiting a loophole in one of the Traditions.
* Student: You’ve watched your share of courtroom dramas.
** College: You’re either studying for or just passed the bar exam.
*** Masters: Ambulance chaser
**** Doctorate: Major public figures have your number —
just in case.
***** Scholar: You could find the loopholes in the Devil’s contract.
Linguistics
You begin play with the native language of your choice for
free, but if you want to speak any other languages, whether
modern or ancient, Linguistics is a must. This Ability allows you
to understand additional languages, but at high levels also offers
a more general understanding of linguistic structure. Linguistics
may allow you to recognize accents or decipher word puzzles.
* Student: One extra language
** College: Two extra languages
*** Masters: Four extra languages
**** Doctorate: Eight extra languages
***** Scholar: 16 extra languages
Medicine
You have an understanding of how the human body, and to a
lesser extent the vampiric body, works. This Ability entails knowledge of medicines, ailments, first-aid procedures, and diagnosis or
treatment of disease. Medicine is of great use to those Kindred with
an interest in repairing, damaging or reworking the human body.
* Student: You’ve taken a CPR course.
** College: Premed or paramedic
*** Masters: General practitioner
**** Doctorate: You can perform transplants.
***** Scholar: You are respected by the world’s medical community as a modern-day Aesculapius.
Occult
You are knowledgeable in occult areas such as mysticism,
curses, magic, folklore and particularly vampire lore. Unlike
most other Knowledges, Occult does not imply a command of
hard, factual information; much of what you know may well be
rumor, myth, speculation or hearsay. However, the secrets to be
learned in this field are worth centuries of sifting legend from
fact. High levels of Occult imply a deep understanding of
vampire lore, as well as a good grounding in other aspects of the
occult; at the very least, you can discern what is patently false.
* Student: You’ve paged through the New Age section of a Waldenbooks.
** College: There seems to be some unsettling truth to
some of the rumors you’ve heard.
*** Masters: You’ve heard a lot and actually seen a little for yourself.
**** Doctorate: You can recognize blatantly false sources and make educated guesses about the rest.
***** Scholar: You know most of the basic truths about
the hidden world.
Politics
You are familiar with the politics of the moment, including
the people in charge and how they got there. This Knowledge
can aid you in dealing with or influencing mortal politicians, or
even offer some insight into the local Cainite power structure.
* Student: Activist
** College: Political science major
*** Masters: Campaign manager or talk-radio host
**** Doctorate: Senator
*****Scholar: You could choose the next President of the United States.
Science
You have at least a basic understanding of most of the
physical sciences, such as chemistry, biology, physics and geology. This Knowledge can be put to all forms of practical use.
* Student: You know most of the high-school basics.
** College: You’re familiar with the major theories.
*** Masters: You could teach high-school science.
**** Doctorate: You’re fully capable of advancing the
knowledge in your field.
***** Scholar: Your Nobel Prize is waiting for you.
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