This in depth guide to the storyteller system used in the Vampire: the Masquerade role playing game compiles many of the core concepts of play from the V5 core rulebook into easy to read, explanatory sections, designed to simplify the learning process, or as a refresher for seasoned players.
Here in part I of the guide readers learn the basics of play including traits, disciplines, hunger and damage. Readers are introduced to the concept of point expenditure and augmentation. This part of the in depth guide is a perfect starting point for beginners of the World of Darkness storyteller system and/or players new to the role playing game Vampire: the Masquerade, but it also suits seasoned players as a quick refresher of the basic rules.
In part II of this guide standard tests, contests and conflicts are described in detail including many of the core game mechanics available to PC's (player characters) during play and a few combat scenarios showing these mechanics in action. This section is suitable to beginners, seasoned or advanced players, and storytellers alike as it covers many of the core mechanics involved in playing the game and in depth explanations of each.
In Part III (coming soon!) conflict systems described in part II are further expanded on, and readers delve into the realm of social combat, institutional conflict, and extended tests.
The Storyteller System
The Storyteller system used in World of Darkness RPG’s (role playing games) such as Vampire: the Masquerade, is simplistic yet diverse, and highly narrative driven. During directed play the PC's (player-character's) roll D10's (ten-sided dice) to determine the outcomes of their actions.
Rolling a 6 or higher on a D10 constitutes a success. Players will need to roll enough successes to pass the difficulty set by the Storyteller for each action. Minor actions may be completed as freeform play and do not require any dice rolls.
The number of dice rolled during a test is determined by the difficulty of the action and the traits required to perform the action. Some competitive actions use a slightly different test called a contest and aspects of a test can be modified by elements such as what armour the character is wearing, what weapon they are using or whether or not they have sufficient cover. If it sounds confusing now don't worry, it's actually quite easy once you get the hang of it.
Traits
Stats or characteristics a PC (player character) possesses are represented as traits and are called upon to create dice pools. The dice pool determines the number of dice needed to roll for a test. The three main traits used in the storyteller system are: attributes, skills, and merits/flaws. In Vampire the Masquerade a fourth trait called disciplines is used to represent supernatural powers, more on disciplines later in this post.
Rather than using numbers to represent the skill level of traits, the storyteller system uses up to 5 dots on the character sheet. The more dots in a trait the higher the skill level.
1 dot in a trait represents a general knowledge
2 dots in a trait represents a general and highly practiced knowledge
3 dots in a trait represents an advanced knowledge
4 dots in a trait represents a highly specialised advanced knowledge
5 dots in a trait represents peak performance and unparalleled execution.
The number of dots in a trait is equal to the number of dice added to the PC's dice pool. Most often the PC will combine the dots from an attribute with the dots from a skill and place that many dice in their dice pool.
For example: using the character sheet below a player-character may be asked to roll 'charisma + etiquette' to please a Primogen at a dinner party. The player adds their dots of charisma(4) to their dots of etiquette(3) and rolls 7 dice.
Before the dice pool is rolled the PC may need to replace some of the dice with hunger dice depending on the number of hunger points they have. Hunger is a trait which changes throughout gameplay and is represented by 5 squares rather than 5 dots. Hunger is also the only trait a PC 'does not' want to have too many points in. More on hunger later in this post.
Health, Willpower and Humanity are three more traits which differ in that they can have 10 to 15 squares on the character sheet rather than 5. These traits also change depending on your characters actions during gameplay. Generally a PC will leave the squares blank, this allows them to track damage or stains as /'s or X's and colour in the unused squares to signify points in the traits they have not gained yet.
Hunger, Health, Willpower and Humanity are the most important traits in the game and should be monitored closely. Here are some reasons why they are so important:
Getting hungry will cause a PC to act on impulses they may not want to act on meaning they start to lose control as the beast takes over.
Losing too much health will send a PC into torpor or possibly cause death. Once dead the PC will need to create a new character, no backsies!
A PC will start to lose face when their willpower is used up. Social interactions become difficult, their status in kindred society may be affected by terrible social rolls and trust me, social interactions are the brunt of the game!
Humanity represents a PC's fall from grace, the less humanity they have the closer they will find themselves succumbing to the beast entirely.
The kindred a PC meets during gameplay will generally have 5 or 6 points of humanity; PC's usually start with 7 points of humanity and gradually lose points as the beast becomes more and more satiable. It is possible however to go up in humanity if the PC performs some highly morel deed which sits well with their convictions. However, if a PC performs deeds which go against the chronicle tenants or their personal convictions they will receive a stain to their humanity. A stain is represented by a slash '/' on the humanity tracker.
Each of these traits represented by squares on the character sheet are often referred to as trackers because they change during gameplay.
Disciplines
In Vampire: the Masquerade the disciplines available to a PC are determined by the clan they originate from. It is possible however through gameplay and the Storytellers discretion to learn new disciplines not originating from the clan of the sire who made the PC into a vampire. Each discipline is unique and comes with many supernatural abilities, PC's may choose one ability per level of the discipline trait they have chosen, up to 5.
Generally to use a discipline a PC must make a rouse check. They roll a single hunger die to determine if they gain a hunger from using their powers, if the PC rolls a 5 or less on the hunger die they must gain one point of hunger which in turn adds one more hunger die to future dice pools.
Hunger
If the results of a rolled dice pool include one or more 10s and surpasses the difficulty of the test this is called a critical win. However, if the critical win includes any 10s rolled on the hunger dice the win becomes a messy critical: "you still manage to succeed at what you were trying to do but you lose control and the beast rampages through you, usually making quite a mess of things, possibly to the detriment of the character or coterie"
Failing a test means you did not roll enough successes to pass the difficulty set by the Storyteller. Failing a test with one or more 1s rolled on the hunger dice is called a bestial failure: "again, the beast takes over but this time it fails to do what you intended to do and then fails even more making your unlife a living hell"
If you succeed on a test but manage to roll a 1 on the hunger dice nothing happens and you succeed as usual, and similar; if you fail a test but manage to roll a success on one or more hunger dice nothing happens and you fail as usual. – This is the best outcome you can hope for when rolling with hunger dice. It’s best to quench your thirst at every opportunity and keep the hunger at bay.
Damage types
There are two types of damage in a Vampire: the Masquerade game; superficial damage and aggravated damage. When counting superficial damage HALF the amount dealt before adding to your health or willpower trackers, as vampires you are exceptionally tough when it comes to taking a beating. Aggravated damage is never halved but can be negated by wearing armour. Stakes, daggers, and anything piercing will usually cause aggravated damage to a vampire.
Point Expenditure and Augmentation
In Vampire: the Masquerade and other World of Darkness games PC's can spend points in certain traits to gain re-rolls of dice in their dice pools. In Vampire: the Masquerade a PC can spend a point of willpower to re-roll up to three dice from one trait. Hunger dice can never be re-rolled.
A second way to affect tests is to use an innate ability only available to vampires called blood surge. This ability allows a PC to augment one attribute type adding +1 die to their dice pool when using the attribute type during a test. The attributes on the character sheet are split into three types: physical, social, and mental. During the round or scene a PC can only use blood surge once to affect one attribute type and the augmentation affects one roll only.
A third way to affect tests involves wearing armour or wielding weapons to augment the amount of damage taken or dealt by characters. Some actions add bonus dice to the dice pool next round, such as the manoeuvre action described in part II.
The all-out-defence action allows the PC to expend all their effort into defending themselves gaining +1 die to their dice pool for that round, however, they cannot make an attack roll or deal any damage. This tactic could be useful when health is low and taking any more damage would be risky, or when defending against multiple enemies.
The all-out-attack action guarantees a +1 bonus to damage provided the PC wins the contest, however, the PC puts all their effort into attacking aggressively and does not get to defend themselves, ALL the successes their opponent rolls will deal damage not just the margin of successes, and the PC takes the damage even if they win the contest. It's a risky move to make and due to the aggression involved cannot be used during a surprise attack which usually requires a bit of stealth. If they tie or fail the contest they deal no damage, and their opponents gain +1 dice to their dice pools in the next round.
It is up to the storyteller to decide which set of mechanics work best in their story, some storytellers prefer not to roll too many dice and instead use the one-roll-conflict method to continue their political horror story with few interruptions. Other storytellers prefer to run highly dice detailed epic combat scenarios. Whatever works best in the moment and provides the most entertainment or drama is usually the best option.
Having fun is the number one rule of any RPG.
Appendix
For more information on all the concepts mentioned in part I of this in depth guide refer to the core rulebook for Vampire: the Masquerade 5th edition:
Standard Rules on pages 115 to 130
Advanced Mechanics on pages 289 to 305
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