Dark Ages

Nature and Demeanor
Barbarian
Civilization is a trap that the the clever set for the weak, and in which they end up snaring themselves. Truly intelligent, brave, strong people understand that sedentary existence only brings you that much closer to the grave, and that what counts is what you achieve as an individual. You respect only actual deeds. Anyone can boast or scheme, but all words vanish in the end. Regain Willpower when you beat "civilized" competition through your barbaric virtues.

Defender
Everything that matters in the world struggles to survive in the face of its enemies. This isn't necessarily a commitment to tradition, though. The thing you defend may be some fragile innovation or the hope of future progress. You may see your role in martial terms, or otherwise; this is an Archtype for healers and priests as well as warriors. You find your fulfillment in defending the cause to which you've given your allegiance. Regain Willpower whenever you successfully defend your chosen object of loyalty from some outside threat.

Jester
In a world full of woes, what can anyone do to survive but laugh. In a world full of fools with power, what can anyone do but mock them. You are the one who sees the world as it is (a veil of folly and deceit) and who enlightens others through the subtle ways of humor. They may see only slapstick or broad comedy, but your insights creep past their mental walls and set up camp, so that in the end, the stupid, vicious, clumsy powers that be all fall down. Where there is wholesome laughter and relieved scorn, there is no room for tyranny. Let the world's would-be masters beware, for you strike at the fear that sustains them. Regain Willpower when you raise the spirits of those in great misery, or whenever you undermine a bully or tyrant by making him the object of ridicule.

Abilities-Talents
Legerdemain
Legerdemain is the ability to perform feats of manual dexterity, ranging from picking a purse from a belt, to juggling and feats of trickery such as palming objects. It encompasses the stealth and concealment involved in using that dexterity without being noticed, such as when palming an object or performing a conjuring trick.
* Novice: You've sometimes taken very small items when nobody was looking and gotten away with it
** Practiced: You can rob alms and steal from blind beggars with impunity, and you are good enough at sleigh-of-hand to entertain local gatherings
*** Competent: You can gracefully make off with nearly anything that isn't nailed down, and you have the polished manner of a professional entertainer, even if that's not your chosen livelihood
**** Expert: When you perform your tricks, they seem genuinely supernatural to most observers
***** Master: People wonder if perhaps supernatural powers are performing the thefts you commit, thanks to your audacity and the lack of clues left behind

Abilities-Skills
Archery
Archery is the ability to use bows, the more common ranged weapons of the era. Experienced archers also know how to maintain and repair their weapons, and even how to make them. Archery covers crossbows and other related weapons. It does not cover spears or other thrown weapons.
* Novice: You can shoot adequately as long as the situation isn't too distracting. You can maintain a bow but not repair it
** Practiced: You can hunt and fight competently with the bow. You can maintain and repair a bow, but not craft a new one
*** Competent: You use a bow with grace and style, and you can make weapons that are respected for their craftsmanship
**** Expert: Warlords and others who need superior archers seek you out
***** Master: Neither distance, darkness nor anything else seems capable of stopping your arrows from going precisely where you want them to

Commerce
Commerce is the ability to sucessfully bring your goods to market, with all that entails. It includes the ability to evaluate goods and to identify who would want them, a knowledge of trade routes and fairs and skill at negotiating prices. Commerce is a catch-all Ability, and you should choose one class of goods as a field of expertise when you first purchase it. You can use Commerce outside your field of expertise to identify potential markets and experts in the field and to negotiate and haggle over just about everything. Evaluating an item or a trade route with which you have no experience is beyond you.
* Novice: You can get a fair price when you bring the harvest to market
Practiced: You can broker exchanges in your field of expertise and know who in the vicinity deals in what trades, legitimate or not
*** Competent: You can make a good living as a merchant or moneylender. You can draw on the expertise of those in other trades without difficulty
**** Expert: You are one of the preeminent experts in your field, and you are rarely (if ever) taken advantage of. No market is closed to you
***** You are a master merchant, expert in commerce spanning the continent

Ride
Ride is the ability to travel astride a horse or other riding animal, keeping it under control in varying circumstances. Experienced riders can fight from horseback, tend horses' common ailments and evaluate the quality of their mounts and related gear.
* Novice: You can get around on a good mount as long as things don't get complicated
**Practiced: You can hunt, chase and sustain long rides safely, if not always comfortably
*** Competent: Horses hold very few surprises for you, and you can fight from horseback without penalty.
**** Expert: You can engage in fancy stunts and keep your horse calm and healthy in the midst of dangerous, rapidly changing situations. You're the one that gets called on when most people fall and fail
***** Master: Alexander the Great and his Bucephelas were no closer than you are with your favored steeds, as troubadours routinely remind their audiences

Knowledges
Hearth Wisdom
This is the lore of the people, as opposed to the academy. It's unsystematic, but in its haphazard way, it covers the body of knowledge accumlated by peasants, traders and other people who do not benefit from servants or live in isolation. It includes mundane matters such as which plants and animals are safe to eat in the area, which herbs are good for cooking and for medicinal purposes, signs of impending bad (or good) weather, rules of thumb for resolving domestic disputes and the folk wisdom regarding the dangers (supernatural or otherwise) of the night. Despite its diversity of topics, Hearth Wisdom is not a catch-all Ability with fields of expertise.
* Dabbler: You know all the common fireside tales of your home and you can recall them at need
** Student: You know the obscure and traditional lore of your region, and very little--even if it's strange and dangerous--takes you by surprise within the fields you know
*** Learned: You quickly acquire the lore of any area you pass through, and others know that when the unseen world makes itself visible, you're the one who most likely knows what to do about it
****Scholar: You are famous for your knowledge of mysterious affairs, and some fear you because of the potential for pacts with dark forces that your explorations afford
***** Master: Your supreme insights into strange matters make you the target of pleas from individuals both high and low who suffer mysterious depredations

Seneschal
Seneschal is the ability to administer holdings, from households to kingdoms. It covers the knowledge of physical assets and their needs, from crop harvesting to the maintenance of buildings, and the social skills to coordinate others' labor, resolve disputes, keep those who must be paid satisfied and so on. A skilled seneschal can evaluate the state of others' holdings based on personal experience and theoretical knowledge, too.

* Dabbler: You can keep your family's household going smoothly and manage a few other resources as long as there's no intense pressure or stress
** Student: You can manage a business or manor and keep almost everyone involved reasonably happy
*** Learned: You successfully oversee multiple properties over an extended area, even in times of war, famine and other calamity.
**** Scholar: Rulers know that they can give you custody of their lands and goods and get them back in better condition than you received them
***** Master: Preachers illustrate the contemporary significance of the parable of talents with stories of your accomplishments

Theology
Theology is the lore of the queen of sciences, the study of God's will in all things. It combines historical scholarship with logic and a measure of artistic expression. Theology by itself does not make a character articulate, but it can provide the information necessary for effective persuasion, and it's crucial in evaluating many social matters. Nothing human or physical lies outside the scope of God's commandments, as heretics and orthodox agree, and there is a theological dimension to political, economic, and other disagreements. Keep in mind that, for medieval people, this is not a matter of unfounded supposition susceptible to reasoned analysis. It is as rigorous a matter as medicine or ballistics
* Dabbler: You know the major tenets of whatever faith prevails in your home, and you grasp the essential spirit of commmon doctrines even when you're unclear on details
** Student: You know holy writ and important teachings, past and present
*** Learned: You can debate the technical points of right belief, as you understand it, and readily understand the beliefs of others even when you disagree with them
**** Scholar: Heretics and infidels fear to contest with you, and you're a pillar of the community of faith wherever you are
***** Master: You are a latter-day Saint Paul or Saint Peter, depending on whether you turn your attention primarily to winning unbelievers' hearts or ministering to the needs of those who already believe

Backgrounds
Domain
Domain is physical territory, almost always within a town or city, to which your character controls access for the purpose of feeding. She can't keep the living inhabitants from going about their business, but she can keep watch herself. She can also have allies or servants look for unfamiliar vampires and alert her when they find some. Domain refers specifically to the land and properties on it, as opposed to the people who may dwell there (which is the emphasis of Herd).

* A family home or a farm and its outlaying properties--enough for a basic haven
** A church or other large structure, a pier and adjacent warehouse or a bridge and a ford--some place with ready but easily controllable access to the outside world
*** A city block or the buildings around a country crossroad--some place with more opportunities for concealment but less thourough security
****A labyrinth, network of cisterns, the estates on a hill overlooking a town or the inns and watch posts on each side of a mountain pass--a place with both prospects and security
***** A ghetto district, self-sustaining border garrison or multi-family farm holding

Generation Most new vampires in the Dark Medieval era are of the 12th gen, and having a lower generation than that means an elder (or a successful diablerist) chose the character as childe for reasons of his, her or its own. In DA, characters belong to the 12th gen unless you purchase Generation Background or they committed diablerie.
* 11th gen, blood pool 12, 1 bp per turn
** 10th gen, blood pool 13, 1 bp per turn
*** 9th gen, blood pool 14, 2 bp per turn
**** 8th gen, blood pool 15, 3 bp per turn
***** 7th gen, blood pool 20, 4 bp per turn

Depending upon the Road chosen, (Ex: Road of Bones upholds the virtues of Conviction and Self-Control.) The character begins with one dot in Courage and one dot in each of her Road's specified Virtues. Then the character has 7 dots to distribute. The sum dots in the Road Virtues determines the character's Road rating. Willpower (Chart) begins equal to Courage. Willpower must be at least for a beginning character, and the Road Rating can be no more then 5.
If the vampire has no road then the standard Conscience and Self Control are used. Conscience
* Uncaring
** Typical
*** Ethical
**** Righteous
***** Remorseful

Conviction
Conviction measures the character's commitment to moral standards as part of a reasoned, deliberate choice taken after rejecting the proffered social norms. He defines his duty himself, and he cares little what others think. Sin is a matter of failing to meet one's chosen goals. High convinction makes a character obviously inhuman and disconnected from the views of the people he moves among and preys on.

* Steady
** Determined
*** Driven
**** Ruthless
***** Completely Self-Assured

Self-Control
* Unstable
** Normal
*** Temperate
**** Judicious
***** Self-Possessed

Instinct
Instinct is the "barbaric" alternative to Self-Control. The character accepts frenzy and complete surrender to passion as part of her nature. Instead of aiming to hold the frenzy back, she aims to retain a core of controlled awareness even as the frenzy unfolds, so that she can choose her course of action moment by moment.
* Intuitive
** Savage
*** Bestial
**** Visceral
***** Feral

Courage
* Timid
** Normal
*** Bold
**** Resolute
***** Heroic

Road
* Souless
** Lost
*** Uncaring
**** Immoral
***** Distant
****** Removed
******* Moral
******** Faithful
********* Righteous
********** Saintly

You have 15 Bonus (Freebie) pts to spend for a DA vampire. The cost chart is the same as the one on the main page. And Road Rating costs 1 pt per dot.