Name: The character's name -- this may be anything from the character's birth name to a pseudonym. Some ancient vampires are known b many names, while others are no longer known by names at all.
Player: This is the name of the player portraying the character in question.
Chronicle: This is the series of linked stories in which the character participates. Your Storyteller will provide you with the name of the chronicle (though he/she may need your help in deciding).
Nature: This is the "true" personality of your character -- who she is deep down.
Demeanor: This is the personality your character presents to the world. More often than not, Nature and Demeanor are different, especially given the deviousness of the vampire mind.
Clan: Your character's clan defines her lineage and her relationship to Caine, the progenitor vampire. Clan dictates your character's vampiric powers and weakness.
Generation: Closely related to clan, your character's generation defines the potency of her blood and how many steps removed she is from Caine.
Concept: Your character's concept is a one- or two-word "sketch" of who yoru character was prior to the Embrace -- anything from Crazed Vigilante to Porn Star.
Attributes: Attributes define your character's inborn aptitudes and potential. These fall into three separate categories. Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance), and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).
Abilities: Abilities are those proficiencies your character possesses intuitively or has learned. These are broken down into Talents, Skills and Knowledges.
Advantages: A catchall term for the numerous benefits a vampire has over "norma" folk, Advantages refers to a collection of three other Traits. Disciplines refer to the vampirc powers a character possesses as a result of her Embrace. Backgrounds define the character's material assets and scoail network. Virtues show the character's spiritual and moral fiber -- or lack thereof.
Humanity/Path: These Traits define your character's outlook on unlife. A character has either a Humanity rating or a rating in a specific Path, never both (though a character may pretend...). Humanity is the "default" Trait.
Willpower: This Trait reflects your character's inner drive and desire to succeed at tasks she undertakes.
Blood Pool: Your character's blood pool dictates how wellfed she is, or, conversely, how hungry.
Health: Although a vampire is no longer "alive," her corpse-body may still suffer sufficient trauma to incapactiate her, and a sufficient quantity of damage can even "kill" the vampire anew (forcing you to create a new character). The Health Trait measures how much injury the character has suffered.
Experience: Your characte'rs Experience Trait represents how much she has learned since her Embrace. All characters beign the game with an Experience Trait of zero. Experience is spent to purchase new Traits.
Character Creation Process
Step One: Character Concept
Choose concept, clan, Nature and Demeanor.
Step Two: Select Attributes
Prioitize the three categories: Physical, Social, Mental (7/5/3). Your character automatically has one dot in each Attribute.
Rate Physical Traits, Strength, Dexterity, Stamina.
Rate Social Traits: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance.
Rate Mental Traits: Perception, Intelligence, Wits.
7/5/3 is the amount of dots you have to spend. 7 would be the most important to you. So say you decide to priotize Physical at your highest, you may spend 7 dots among Strength, Dexterity and Stamina. 5 dots for the next highest priority, and then 3 dots in the lowest priority.
Step Three: Select Abilities
Priotize the three categories: Talents, Skills, Knowledges (13/9/5).
Choose Talents Skills, Knowledges.
No Ability higher than 3 at this stage.
Again like above, 13 dots in one category, 9 in another, and then 5 in the last is available at this point in the creation stage. You cannot borrow from one category to the next. In other words, you cannot put 12 dots in Talents, and then put 10 dots in Skills right now.
Step Four: Select Advantages
Choose Disciplines. You get 3 dots in Disciplines. Backgrounds, you get 5 dots for those. Then rate your Virtues, and you get 7 dots for those. Your character automatically has one dot in each Virtue.
Step Five: Finishing Touches
Record Humanity (equal to Conscience + Self-Control), Willpower (equal to Courage) and Blood Pool (which is defined by your Generation).
Spend Freebie Points. You have 15 Freebies points to spend in a regular VtM campaign when creating your character. You must spend them all when you are creating your character. You cannot save them, and add them later.
Freebie points are spent as follows:
Attribute = 5 points per dot
Ability = 2 points per dot
Discipline = 7 points per dot
Background = 1 point per dot
Virtue = 2 points per dot
Humanity = 1 point per dot
Willpower = 1 point per dot
