| Backgrounds |
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Your character's Backgrounds help to flesh out ties
| with mortal agencies, role in vampire society and beneficial resources available. Each Background is used differently. In general, having multiple Traits in a given Background allows for better or |
| more common use of that benefit. Some Backgrounds directly |
| affect your character's creation and development; others are called into play later during the game. |
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| allies |
| A few friends, either kept from your mortal days or made after the Embrace, help you out in your endeavors. You can make a few calls and cut a few deals to get assistance in a wide range of activities. Your Storyteller will probably require you to define how you keep your allies and their relations to you. Each Aides Trait possessed represents one person that you can call on for aid. Unlike Influence, your Aides have special talents that make them better than the average person on the street. Though your allies may not be aware of your vampire nature, they can be quite useful if directed properly. In general, your allies do not show up in play directly. Instead, you can use them for certain services between play sessions, by notifying your Storyteller: |
• If you need a particularly competent ally, you can expend multiple Traits to gain access to a mortal with multiple levels of an Ability or Influence. Each Aides Trait that you spend after the first gives an extra level of expertise to your allies. They may use this expertise on your behalf, though rarely with your own skill, and they only help as long as you tie up your Aides Background Traits in this manner.
• An ally can help you to hunt, though obviously, it's not a good idea to rely on your allies as blood sources, or to even tell them exactly what they're doing when they bring people to you. Each Trait of Allies that you use for hunting lets you make a Simple Test. A win or tie grants you one additional Blood Trait. Doing so counts as a project that lasts for the entire time between game sessions. Be wary of calling on your allies too often. An ally may call on you for mutual aid or refuse to help if pressed into dangerous or illegal activities.
contacts
| With the right contacts in all walks of life, you can get a line on all sorts of useful information. Although having an "ear to the wall" doesn't necessarily provide you with good help or loyal servants, it does mean that you know who to ask when looking for the movers and shakers behind the scenes. In game terms, your rating in Contacts allows you to discern rumors and information. When you call on your contacts, you make a few phone calls, check with likely snitches and grease a few palms. In return, you get rumors and information as if possessed of a certain amount of Influence. Doing so lets you find out exactly what's going on in the city within a particular area. You can get information of a level equal to however many contacts you use. If you use Contacts x 3 on Industry, for instance, you get information as if digging up dirt with Industry x 3 Influence. The advantage of the Contacts Background is that contacts can be switched from place to place each game, getting information in different areas at your demand. Using Contacts for especially dangerous or secret information may require you to spend some money or perform a few favors, at the discretion of a Storyteller. On occasion, accidents can cause contacts in one area to dry up, such as a strike that affects your Industry contacts, or a particularly unlucky astronomical conjunction sends your Occult contacts running for the hills. Your contacts will not generally function as aides or lackeys; that is the purview of the Allies and Retainers Backgrounds. Example: Langley, a Nosferatu, has Contacts x 5. This month, his player, Rowen, decides that Langley is going to engage in a little corporate espionage. Robert allocates Contacts x 4 to Industry, learning about local projects and where they're bound for; k leaves one level of Contacts in reserve, for life's little emergencies. Next month, he plans to use his contacts to find an Underworld buyer for his secrets. |
| fame |
| Some vampires are Embraced from among the ranks of the wealthy or talented elite. As a result, many Cainites can make a claim to some distinction in their breathing days. Though such notoriety often fades with the years, your Fame lingers on to influence mortal society. Fame allows you to exercise your connections over a longer distance than usual. Certainly, if you've got the right Influence, you can push things around on an interstate or even national scale, but with Fame, you can just make a few calls and get your Contacts, Influence or Resources exerted over a greater range without any impediment. This is not to say you must have Fame to get anything done, only that it may help. Your total Fame determines your maximum range for unimpeded use of your Contacts, Influence and Resources. When you make an effort to exert your Contacts, Influence or Resources over a long range, you lean on your popularity and image, thus expending your Fame Traits until the next game session. Fame is most often used in the downtime between sessions to facilitate long-range plans. |
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In a less mechanical fashion, your Fame also dictates how recognizable you are to mortals, for |
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generation |
| Generation is the measure of one's fundamental closeness to Caine. Each vampire is Embraced from a long chain of sire to childe, and the blood weakens with each passing. Those Embraced by a sire closer in the chain to Caine and the Antediluvians find that their blood is strengthened by that proximity. The less scrupulous among the younger generations steal this power through the foul process of diablerie. Since a vampire's sheer power and eventual potential are limited by Generation, much of vampire society is ordered by those of low Generation (close to Caine) while the neonates of weak, thin blood and high Generation (many steps removed) champ at a bit that cannot be removed. You must spend one Background or Free Trait for each Generation purchased. Thus, if your character is of die 10th generation, you must spend three Background or Free Traits for this privilege. The Storyteller may place a limit on how low the generation spread may go. The total number of Traits placed in this Background determines your exact generation. You start at the 13th generation, and drop one generation for each Trait spent - thus, with five Traits of Generation, you are of the eighth generation removed from Caine. (You could theoretically have a "negative generation" by taking the Flaw Fourteenth Generation - see p. 114.) Your generation affords great power, for it determines your ultimate potential and raw potency of blood. However, being of low generation also makes you a tempting target for would-be diablerists, who seek to steal your vitae to enrich their own. |
Generation
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Max. Traits
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Max. Abilities
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Blood
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Willpower
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Thirteen
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10
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5
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10/1
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2/6
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Twelve
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10
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5
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11/1
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2/8
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Eleven
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11
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5
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12/1
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4/8
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Ten
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12
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5
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13/1
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4/10
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Nine
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13
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5
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14/2
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6/10
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Eight
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14
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5
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15/3
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6/12
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Seven
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16
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6
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20/5
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7/14
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Six
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18
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7
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30/6
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8/16
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Five
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20
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8
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40/8
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918
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Four
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25
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9
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50/10
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10/20
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Three
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30
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?
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?
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?
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Max. Traits shows your maximum number of total Traits in your primary area of development. As an optional rule, your Storyteller may lower this quantity by one in your secondary Attribute and by two in your tertiary Attribute, meaning that you will always have your best potential in your strongest original Attribute area. This limit Joes not count against Bonus Traits, but you can never claim more than twice your maximum Traits even with bonuses. |
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herd |
| Whether surrounding yourself with mortal cultists, or just making sure that you have regular access to a blood bank, your herd gives you a guaranteed volume of blood for feeding. You don't have to go very far to hunt; your herd, when available to you, offers you a safe and easy way to sustain your powers. You should work with your Storyteller to describe the exact nature of your herd, since these Traits can be lost through hazards or deliberate sabotage. You could have mortals who are conditioned to enjoy the Kiss, access to medical blood supplies outside of the normal channels or a religious cult that gives you blood freely. Each Trait of Herd can be used to gain one extra Blood Trait once per session. You can do this immediately on entering the game to represent that you have previously fed, thus improving your blood from your starting Traits for the evening (based on your Blood Test, as described on p. 106). You can also take 15 minutes out of play to call on a herd and gain a Blood Trait. You can split up Herd Traits if you wish, so you may use some Traits to start with extra blood, then use more later to replace spent vitae. Members of your herd (assuming it is composed of people and not plastic bags) are not necessarily particularly competent or loyal - they simply let you feed from them. You must take Aides or Retainers if you want them to do other tasks for you. Example: Xavier, a lOth-generation Tremere, has Herd x 3. The player, Paul, ties on his Blood Test as he enters play. He starts with half his bloodpool (rounded up), or seven Blood Traits. Paul decides to expend Herd x 1 to gain one additional Trait be/ore play, placing him at eight Blood Traits. Later, after a particularly strenuous Thaumaturgy battle, he is in desperate need of sustenance, so the player marks off another Herd x 2 and spends 30 minutes out of play. Xavier returns with two extra Blood Traits. |
| influence |
| Mortal society builds on institutions. As humans raise their cities, they form gatherings of expertise that are manipulated by the Cainites hiding in their midst. If you have Influence, you can sway the direction of some areas of mortal society, pushing cities to grow as you direct. Your Influence can be used to strike indirectly at your foes while protecting your own assets, or to gain information and special resources. Influence comes in many different areas. You must allocate Traits separately to each Influence; thus, if you have Legal x 4, you could still have Police x3 independently but you would have to spend the Traits for each. You cannot manage more Influence than the sum of your permanent Physical, Social and Mental Traits combined. This limit counts against all of your total Influence - your combined levels cannot exceed this total. After all, there are only so many things you can do in a night. When you exercise Influence, you expend temporary Influence Traits. The tables for various Influence areas detail what you can do with a specific number of Traits. Performing an action requires a number of Traits equal to the level of the action; you must use three Traits to perform an action listed at the third level of an influence chart, for instance. Thus, with high levels of Influence, you can perform any small actions, or a few significant ones. Certain levels of Influence gift you with items, money or aides. Unlike the Resources Background, money and equipment garnered with Influence does not come automatically each month. If you want a steady income from Influence, you must direct your Influence in that direction continually, and this income does not come with any associated trappings of wealth (you'd have to buy a house and car separately, for instance). Aides garnered with Influence generally help only for one specific task, and they usually only have the equivalent of one level of Ability in their area of skill - for more competent and readily available help, take Aides. Most cities have only a set amount of Influence in various areas. For instance, Atlanta has a great deal of Transportation Influence, because it is a huh of travel, while Hollywood would have a lot of High Society and Media Influence. A Rust-Belt city where manufacturing and heavy industry has all but disappeared would have very little to no Industry Influence. Storytellers should map out the total amount of each type of Influence to he had in the city. Once all of the Influence of a given type is used up, the only way to get more is to use Influence to grow that area of society (making new projects or sponsoring investment), to destroy someone else's Influence and thus free up those resources, or to acquire an adversary's Influence in an area. Also, each city may have different reflections of the Influences listed here. A city with a thriving independent film community is going to have a different picture of Media or High Society than a city where the arts are being literally starved out due to budget cuts. Each area of Influence has its own description. Elder vampires may possess truly far-reaching Influence, giving them the power to exert control beyond the levels included here. |
| Bureaucracy |
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Church |
| Though the modem church has arguably less control over temporal society than it did in the Middle Ages, its policies still exert considerable influence over the direction of politics and communities. Knowing the appropriate people allows insight into many mainstream religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto or Buddhism (fringe or alternative groups, such as Scientology, are considered Occult). When you exercise Church Influence, you can change religious policy, affect the assignment of clergy and access a variety of lore and resources. Contacts and allies affected by Church Influence would include ministers, priests, bishops, Church-sponsored witch-hunters, holy orders and various attendees and assistants. |
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Finance | |
Manipulating markets, stock reports and investments is a hobby of many Cainites, especially those who use their knowledge to keep hidden wealth. Though your actual available money is a function of your Resources, you can use Finance Influence to start or smother businesses, crush or support banking institutions and alter credit records. Clearly, such power over money is not to be trifled with - fortunes are made and destroyed with this sort of pull. CEOs, bankers, stockbrokers, bank tellers, yes-men, financiers and loan agents are found among such work.
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Health | |
Some vampires rely on connections in the medical community to acquire blood. Necromancers and practitioners of arcane arts may also require body parts or medical data to further their studies. Furthermore, maintaining the Masquerade often calls for alteration of medical records or faking of particular diseases; some Cainites even specialize in the study of blood-home ailments. All of these sorts of research and development fall under the purview of Health Influence. Coroners, doctors, lab workers, therapists, pharmacists and specialists are just a few of the folks found in this field.
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High Society | |
The glitterati at the top of society move in circles of wealth and elegance. Many Kindred find such positions alluring, and they indulge in the passions of the famous and wealthy. Access to famous actors, celebrities and the idle rich grants a certain sway over fashion trends. Combined with Fame, a modicum of High Society Influence turns a vampire into a debonair darling of the most exclusive social circles. Among these circles, one finds dilettantes, artists of almost any stripe, old money families, models, rock stars, sports figures and jetsetters.
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Industry |
The grinding wheels of labor fuel the economies and markets of the world. Machines, factories and blue-collar workers line up in endless drudgery, churning out the staples of everyday living. Control over Industry Influence sways the formation of unions, the movements of work projects, locations for factories and the product of manufacturing concerns. Union workers, foremen, engineers, construction workers, manual laborers and all manner of blue-collar workers exist among these ranks.
| Legal | |
Since many of the operations that Cainites undertake are at least marginally illegal, a good amount of sway over judges and lawyers is indispensable. Those Kindred who dabble in law often pull strings in the courts to make sure that the questionable practices of Cainite society go unnoticed and unpunished. Of course, a little Legal Influence is also excellent for harassing an enemy's assets, too. Such Influence ranges from law schools and firms, to lawyers, judges, DAs, clerks and public defenders.
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Media |
Directing media attention away from vampire activities is a key component of the Masquerade. Putting specific emphasis on certain events can place an enemy in an uncomfortable spotlight or discredit a rival. With Media, you can crush or alter news stories, control the operations of news stations and reporters and sway public opinion, with DJs, editors of all varieties, reporters, cameramen, photographers and broadcasters at your disposal. At Storyteller discretion, Media Influence may also allow access to the more technical areas of television, radio or movies.
Occult
The hidden world of the supernatural teems with secrets, conspiracies and unusual factions. Obviously, a vampire is aware that there are strange things out there by dint of his very existence (after all, if vampires exist...), but hard knowledge of such things is a function of Abilities. By using Occult Influence, you can dig up information to improve your knowledge, get inside the occult community and find rare components fur magical rituals. Even parts of the elusive Book of Nod are available to those with the right connections. Cult leaders, alternative religious groups, charlatans, occultists, New Agers and a few more dangerous elements can be found here.
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Police | |
"To protect and serve" is the motto of the police, but these days, Kindred and kine alike may have cause to wonder who is being protected and served. That said, Police Influence can he very handy to assist with the Masquerade, to protect one's holdings or to raid the assets of another. After all, attitude won't save the anarchs whose haven is the target of a daylight raid. Police of all ranks, detectives, clerical staff, dispatchers, prison guards, special divisions (such as SWAT or homicide) and local highway patrol make up these ranks.
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Political | |
| Deal-making is second nature to most vampires, so they can get along very well with other bloodsuckers - that is, politicians. Altering party platforms, controlling local elections, changing appointed offices and calling in favors all falls under the purview of Political Influence. Well-timed blackmail, bribery, spin doctoring or any sundry tricks are stock in trade on both sides of this fence. Some of the likely contacts and allies include pollsters, lobbyists, activists, party members, spin doctors and politicians from rural zoning committees to the mayors of major cities or Congressional representatives. | |
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Street | |
Ignored and often spat on by their "betters," those in the dark alleys and slums have created their own culture to deal with life and any outsiders who might come calling. When calling on Street Influence, you use your connections on the underside of the city to find the homeless, gang members of all sorts, street buskers, petty criminals, prostitutes, residents of the slums or barrios, and fringe elements of so-called "deviant" cultures.
Transportation
Most Cainites make their havens in defensible parts of cities. Traveling across the wilderness is difficult, with the problems of daylight and marauding Lupines. Without this Influence, the vampiric world shrinks into islands of "civilization" with dangerous wastelands in between. Getting access to special supplies and services can also take a measure of Transportation. All these things can be controlled with a hit of sway over harbors, railroads, airports, taxis, border guards, pilots and untold hundreds, as well as more mundane aspects like shipping and travel arrangements.
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Underworld | |
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| The world of crime offers lucrative possibilities to strong-willed or subtle leaders. Guns, money, drugs and vice - such delicious pastimes can he led by anyone talented or simply vicious enough to take them. Underworld Influence lets you call on such favors for all manner of illegal dealings, and its ranks are filled by the Mafia, La Cosa Nostra, drug dealers, bookies, Yakuza, tongs, hitmen, fences and criminal gangs. | |
University
Institutions of learning and research are the purview of the University Influence Access to the halls of learning can help you with any number of resources, from ancient languages to research assistance to many impressionable young minds. School heads, students from kindergarten through college, graduate students, professors, teachers, deans, Greek orders and a variety of staff fill the ivy-covered halls.
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mentor |
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An older or more experienced Cainite looks after you and comes to your aid occasionally. Whatever the case, you can get assistance from your mentor, though his favor may be fickle. When you call on your mentor, you risk a certain number of Traits to achieve a given effect. A lowly one-Trait mentor probably knows only little more than you, while a five-Trait mentor may well have luminous standing within your sect and a wide range of potent powers. Regardless, taking up your mentor's valuable time is costly. You must engage in a Simple Test when you call on your mentor. If you succeed, your mentor deigns to aid you. If you tie, your mentor grants you assistance, but then requires something in return. If you fail, your mentor demands the favor first before helping. In any case, your mentor can he called on only once in any given game session, and only if you have an appropriate way to contact him or her. The level of aid that your mentor can give depends on the number of Traits in this Background (and Storyteller approval, of course): |
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• For one Trait, your mentor is privy to a single piece of specialized information at a level above your own. If you have Cainite Lore x 2, for instance, your mentor can be called on to gift you with one piece of information from Cainite Lore x 3. |
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• For two Traits, you can borrow one level of Contacts, Influence, Resources or Status from your mentor for the duration of the game. If your mentor is very powerful (four or five Traits), you can borrow two levels. |
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• Two Traits allow your mentor to instruct you in a Basic Discipline that you do not know. |
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• For three Traits, your mentor can instruct you in an Intermediate Discipline that you do not know. |
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• Also at a cost of three Traits, your mentor can train you in the ways of a special Hobby / Professional / Expert Ability that is outside your normal ken, such as Wraith Lore. |
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• For four Traits, your mentor can train you in an Advanced Discipline beyond your grasp. |
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• For five Traits, your mentor can train you in the phenomenal powers of the elders, if your blood is potent enough to learn such secrets. Since Mentors can prove unbalancing by providing too many different powers over the course of a long game, the Storyteller may lower your total Mentor Traits as you call on his knowledge. This decrease represents the fact that as your character learns the mentor's secrets, the mentor has less left to teach. |
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resources |
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You have access to liquid capital and spending money. You also have some solid resources that you can use when times are tight. Unlike the use of Finance, these resources are always readily available, and they come to you automatically due to your investments, jobs and holdings. |
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Resource Allocation |
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One Trait: Small savings and holdings; income $500. Have apartment, cheap means of transportation. |
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Two Traits: Modest savings and holdings; income $ 1,000. Have condo and motorcycle or |
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modest car. |
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Three Traits: Significant savings and holdings; income $3,000. Own house, car. |
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Four Traits: Large savings and holdings. Income $10,000. Own large house or some |
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small properties, two vehicles, some luxuries and unusual items. |
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Five Traits: Rich. Income $30,000. Own estate and grounds, multiple small properties, |
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several vehicles, arts and treasures, luxury items. |
Your number of Resources Traits determines the amount of money and capital that you can secure. By expending temporary Resources Traits (which return at the next game session), you can draw on your regular income, as shown in the accompanying table. If you expend permanent Resources, you can divest yourself of holdings, allowing access to 10 times the amount shown on the table. However, the limits of what you can buy are always adjudicated by the Storyteller. Truly powerful uses of Resources are best left to downtimes and moderation between game sessions.
| retainers |
| Whether out of personal loyalty, love, Conditioning, the blood bond or some other power, you have managed to secure the fellowship of a mortal (or several mortals) who obeys your every whim. Unlike the Allies Background, your retainers are nearly always around, overseeing your personal effects, defending your property and furthering your goals. They may not have the specialized knowledge of allies, but they are mostly loyal to your cause, and they serve your needs first. You should work with your Storyteller to determine how you managed to secure a loyal retainer. Your retainer's exact capabilities are up to the Storyteller; a retainer may be skillful but unmotivated, or loyal but inept. No retainer is ever perfect, but they all can be a great help. |
• A retainer can be used to manage your assets and perform tasks. Retainers tied up in this fashion allow you to manage more Influence than normal; they add to the number of Attribute Traits that you possess for purposes of counting your total Influences. Each retainer directed in this fashion adds one to your maximum Influence Traits. If retainers are later lost, killed or reassigned, the excess Influence Traits are lost, starting with the highest levels of Influence held.
• A retainer can perform other menial functions, as allowed by the Storyteller. You can get someone else to pick up your character's dry-cleaning. You may choose to declare that any one of your retainers is a ghoul, if you so desire. However, for each ghoul that you have in your holdings, you begin each session's play one Blood Trait down from usual, as you must feed and maintain the servant. Ghouls have the usual benefits of Disciplines and an improved understanding of vampire society, so they make useful guards, but too many can he troublesome. Jealous ghouls (especially when many are blood bound to the same domitor) can cause no end of troubles.