Vampire: The Masquerade

Revised Edition (3rd Ed) — Storyteller Screen

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Core Dice System

Dice Pool Basics

Roll a pool of d10s equal to Attribute + Ability (or other combination)
Each die ≥ difficulty counts as one success
Default difficulty is 6
One success = marginal; more = better
1s cancel successes (one-for-one) — but not Botch 1s if you have net successes
Botch: roll results in net negative successes and at least one 1 showed — catastrophic failure
Specialty: 10s may be re-rolled for additional successes when a character has a Specialty in the relevant Ability

Willpower

Spend 1 Willpower point = 1 automatic success
Cannot be used in combat (except for specific powers)
Willpower pool recovers through rest and roleplaying
Temporary Willpower: current points spent; Permanent Willpower: maximum rating

Virtue Rolls

Conscience / Conviction: Roll when acting against your moral code or after committing a sin — determines Humanity/Path loss
Self-Control / Instinct: Roll to resist frenzy when provoked (anger or hunger) — difficulty set by Storyteller (usually 4–8)
Courage: Roll to resist Rötschreck (fear frenzy from fire/sunlight) — difficulty varies (5–9)

Difficulty Table

Difficulty	Number	Example
Easy	3	Mundane task, no stress
Simple	4	Basic action with minor complication
Standard	5	Competent adult under mild stress
Challenging	6	Default difficulty
Difficult	7	Skilled professional at full stretch
Very Difficult	8	Expert operating under pressure
Extremely Difficult	9	Master-level, nearly impossible
Nigh Impossible	10	Legendary feat

Minimum difficulty is 2. Maximum is 10. Difficulties above 10 are not possible.

Extended & Resisted Rolls

Extended roll: Accumulate successes over multiple rolls until reaching a target number — each roll uses same pool/difficulty
Resisted roll: Both parties roll; net successes (attacker minus defender) determine outcome
Contested roll: Both roll; highest successes wins ties go to defender

Specialties

When an Ability reaches 4+, the character gains a Specialty
Specialty applies when the specific sub-skill is relevant
With a Specialty: any die showing 10 counts as a success and is re-rolled
Re-rolled 10s also re-roll again (no upper limit)

Blood Pool & Generation

Generation Table

Generation	Max Blood Pool	BP / Turn
13th	10	1
12th	11	1
11th	12	1
10th	13	1
9th	14	2
8th	15	3
7th	20	4
6th	30	6
5th	40	8

BP/Turn = Blood Points that can be spent in a single turn. Spending beyond this limit requires additional turns.

Spending Blood

Heal Bashing: 1 BP heals one level of Bashing per turn
Heal Lethal: 2 BP heals one level of Lethal per turn
Boost Attribute: 1 BP = +1 to a Physical Attribute (Strength, Dexterity, or Stamina) for one scene; max = Generation limit per Attribute
Blush of Life: 1 BP to appear warm and alive for a scene (heartbeat, flush, breath)
Fuel Disciplines: Some Discipline powers cost Blood Points to activate
Wake from Torpor: May require Blood depending on circumstances

Feeding — Blood Points Gained

Vessel	Blood Points	Notes
Mortal (full drain)	Up to 20	Kills or sends into coma
Mortal (light sip)	1–3	Victim unaware; no harm
Mortal (deep drink)	4–6	Hospitalization risk
Animal (large)	3–5	Dog, deer, etc.
Animal (small)	1–2	Cat, rat, bird
Stored blood (bagged)	1 per bag	Less satisfying; some Clans refuse
Kindred blood	Varies	Risk of Blood Bond (3 drinks = bound)

Blood Bond

Drinking Kindred vitae creates a Blood Bond
1 drink: mild fondness / fascination toward the regnant
2 drinks: strong emotional attachment, hard to act against regnant
3 drinks (on separate nights): Full Blood Bond — thrall must obey and protect regnant; roll Willpower (difficulty 8) to resist direct commands
Bonds fade over time if no further vitae consumed (Storyteller discretion — months to years)

Diablerie

Diablerie is the ultimate crime in Kindred society. Draining a vampire to Final Death and consuming their soul permanently lowers the diablerist's Generation by one step.

Must drain the victim to zero Blood Points
Black streaks appear in the diablerist's aura (Auspex can detect)
Stains fade over years (roughly one year per Generation level of the victim)
Roll Humanity/Path — failure means Humanity loss
Some of the victim's Disciplines may be temporarily accessible

Disciplines

Animalism Gangrel, Nosferatu, Ravnos, Tzimisce

● Feral Whispers Communicate with a single animal

●● Beckoning Summon animals of one species to your location

●●● Quell the Beast Suppress frenzy in a mortal or vampire

●●●● Subsume the Spirit Project consciousness into an animal's body

●●●●● Drawing Out the Beast Transfer your frenzy into another being

Auspex Malkavian, Toreador, Tremere, Tzimisce

● Heightened Senses Sharpen all physical senses to supernatural levels

●● Aura Perception Read the emotional aura of any being

●●● The Spirit's Touch Read psychic impressions from objects or places

●●●● Telepathy Read surface thoughts; project words into a mind

●●●●● Psychic Projection Project astral form; interact with the spirit world

Celerity Brujah, Gangrel, Toreador

●–●●●●● Passive Bonus Each dot grants one extra action per combat turn at no Blood cost; actions split from a full dice pool

Celerity dots can also be spent (1 BP per dot) to add dice to Dexterity-based rolls outside combat.

Dementation Malkavian

● Passion Inflame or dull a target's emotions dramatically

●● The Haunting Plant sensory hallucinations that recur over days

●●● Eyes of Chaos Perceive hidden patterns; inflict confusion on a target

●●●● Voice of Madness Drive targets into frenzy or Derangement with your voice

●●●●● Total Insanity Inflict five Derangements simultaneously on a victim

Dominate Giovanni, Lasombra, Malkavian, Tremere, Ventrue

● Command Issue a single-word spoken command; target obeys instantly

●● Mesmerize Lock eyes; issue complex verbal instructions (must be obeyed)

●●● The Forgetful Mind Restructure, alter, or erase the target's memories

●●●● Conditioning Slowly break down a victim's will over extended time

●●●●● Possession Project your mind into a mortal's body and control it

Fortitude Gangrel, Ravnos, Ventrue

●–●●●●● Passive Soak Each dot adds to soak rolls vs. Lethal and Aggravated damage (normally unsokeable). Diff 6 to soak Aggravated with Fortitude.

Fortitude dice always add directly to Stamina for soak. No activation cost.

Necromancy Giovanni

● Insight Glimpse the last moments of a corpse or sense ghosts nearby

●● Summon Soul Call a specific ghost to your presence

●●● Compel Soul Command a ghost to perform a service

●●●● Haunting Bind a ghost to a location or object permanently

●●●●● Torment Inflict terrible pain on a ghost; use it as a weapon

Obfuscate Assamite, Followers of Set, Malkavian, Nosferatu

● Cloak of Shadows Remain still and blend into surroundings perfectly

●● Unseen Presence Move invisibly; observers unconsciously ignore you

●●● Mask of a Thousand Faces Alter your perceived appearance to any mortal face

●●●● Vanish from the Mind's Eye Disappear even while being directly observed

●●●●● Cloak the Gathering Extend your Obfuscate to conceal a group of people

Obtenebration Lasombra

● Shadow Play Animate and reshape nearby shadows at will

●● Shroud of Night Create an area of impenetrable supernatural darkness

●●● Arms of the Abyss Summon shadowy tentacles that grasp and crush

●●●● Black Metamorphosis Partially transform into a shadow-creature; gain tentacles and abilities

●●●●● Tenebrous Form Transform entirely into living darkness; travel as shadow

Potence Brujah, Giovanni, Lasombra, Nosferatu

●–●●●●● Passive Strength Each dot adds one automatic success to all Strength rolls (including damage). No activation roll required.

Potence auto-successes add directly to the result — they cannot be cancelled by 1s.

Presence Brujah, Followers of Set, Toreador, Ventrue

● Awe Radiate supernatural attraction; Social rolls become easier

●● Dread Gaze Project primal terror; targets flee or are frozen in fear

●●● Entrancement Cause a target to become devoted and helpful for hours to days

●●●● Summon Compel anyone you have ever met to come to you immediately

●●●●● Majesty Awe everyone present; no one can act against you without a Willpower roll

Protean Gangrel

● Eyes of the Beast Grant eyes glowing red; see perfectly in total darkness

●● Feral Claws Grow razor talons dealing Aggravated damage

●●● Earth Meld Sink into natural earth to hide and rest safely in daytime

●●●● Shape of the Beast Transform into a wolf or large bat (Gangrel-specific animal)

●●●●● Mist Form Dissolve into an invulnerable mist; pass through tiny gaps

Quietus Assamite

● Silence of Death Create a sphere of utter silence around yourself

●● Scorpion's Touch Transmute your blood into a paralytic poison

●●● Dagon's Call Cause a target's blood to boil in their veins at range

●●●● Baal's Caress Coat a weapon in your blood to cause Aggravated damage

●●●●● Taste of Death Spit caustic Aggravated-damage blood as a ranged attack

Serpentis Followers of Set

● The Eyes of the Serpent Captivate and immobilize a victim with your gaze

●● The Tongue of the Asp Grow a forked tongue; bite causes Blood Pool loss per turn

●●● Mummification Cause a target to mummify; effectively put into Torpor

●●●● The Heart of Darkness Remove and safely store your own heart outside your body

●●●●● Body of the Cobra Transform into a massive cobra; gain constriction and venom

Thaumaturgy Tremere

● A Taste of Blood Sample blood to learn Generation, current BP, and if Kindred

●● Blood Rage Force a vampire to spend Blood involuntarily

●●● Blood of Potency Temporarily lower your effective Generation for a scene

●●●● Theft of Vitae Drain blood from a target at range; gain BP directly

●●●●● Cauldron of Blood Boil the blood inside a target's body — instant kill power

Vicissitude Tzimisce

● Malleable Visage Reshape your own flesh and bone to alter appearance

●● Fleshcraft Sculpt another's flesh (willing or unconscious target)

●●● Bonecraft Reshape bone structure; add spurs or modify skeletal form

●●●● Horrid Form Transform into a massive monstrous war-form; +3 Strength, +3 Stamina

●●●●● Blood of Acid Convert your blood to acid; deal Aggravated to anything touching it

Chimerstry Ravnos

● Ignis Fatuus Create minor static illusions affecting one sense

●● Fata Morgana Create full multisensory illusions that remain in place

●●● Apparition Grant movement and behaviour to an existing illusion

●●●● Permanency Make an illusion permanent without concentration

●●●●● Horrid Reality Craft an illusion so real it causes actual physical damage

Combat

Initiative

At the start of each combat round:

Roll: Wits + Alertness + d10 (add result)
Highest total acts first
Ties: re-roll (or Storyteller discretion)
Declaring actions: lowest initiative declares first, highest acts first

Attack Rolls

Attack Type	Roll	Difficulty
Unarmed (Brawl)	Dex + Brawl	6
Melee weapon	Dex + Melee	6
Thrown weapon	Dex + Athletics	6
Firearm (aimed)	Dex + Firearms	6
Firearm (point blank)	Dex + Firearms	4
Firearm (long range)	Dex + Firearms	8
Grapple (establish)	Str + Brawl	6

Successes on attack = bonus damage dice. Defender may soak damage separately.

Damage Types

Bashing — Punches, kicks, blunt weapons. Vampires heal naturally each turn. Mortals fill health track normally.
Lethal — Blades, bullets, claws (without Feral Claws). Vampires convert to Bashing at half rate. Mortals do not heal without medical aid.
Aggravated — Fire, sunlight, Feral Claws, supernatural powers. Costs 5 BP + 1 Willpower + 1 night per level to heal. Cannot be soaked without Fortitude.

Soaking Damage

Bashing: Stamina (diff 6)
Lethal: Stamina only for vampires (diff 6); mortals cannot soak lethal without armour
Aggravated: Not sokeable without Fortitude — roll Stamina + Fortitude (diff 6)
Each soak success removes one point of damage
Armour adds dice to soak rolls (varies by type)

Health Levels

Level	Dice Penalty
Bruised	0
Hurt	−1
Injured	−1
Wounded	−2
Mauled	−2
Crippled	−5
Incapacitated	Unconscious / unable to act

Beyond Incapacitated: one more health level of damage = Final Death for vampires.

Healing

Damage Type	BP Cost	Rate
Bashing	1 BP	1 level / turn
Lethal	2 BP	1 level / turn
Aggravated	5 BP + 1 Willpower	1 level / night

Frenzy

Triggers: Provocation, hunger (Blood Pool 1–2), fire, sunlight, witnessing violence
Resist: Self-Control / Instinct roll (difficulty 4–8 per Storyteller)
In Frenzy: must attack source of rage or flee (Rötschreck); ignore wound penalties; cannot use Social or Mental powers
Rötschreck (Fear Frenzy): Courage roll; failure = flee from fire/sunlight at all costs

Humanity loss possible after Frenzy — roll Conscience at difficulty equal to the sin committed.

Sunlight & Fire

Indirect sunlight (dawn/dusk, shaded): 1 Aggravated per turn; Rötschreck diff 3
Direct sunlight: 3 Aggravated per turn; Rötschreck diff 5
Daylight (full sun): 3+ Aggravated per turn; Rötschreck diff 8
Fire (small/torch): 1–2 Aggravated per turn; Rötschreck diff 3–4
Fire (large/inferno): 3+ Aggravated per turn; Rötschreck diff 7+

Torpor & Staking

Torpor: Reached when all health levels are filled with Lethal/Aggravated or by running out of Blood; vampire is comatose
Duration in Torpor depends on Humanity rating and the Storyteller's judgment
Staking: An attacker who achieves 3+ successes on a called shot to the chest with a wooden stake paralyzes the vampire (not Final Death — remove stake to awaken)
A staked vampire may still use purely mental Disciplines depending on Storyteller ruling

The 13 Clans

Assamite

Disciplines: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus

Addiction to Kindred blood; historically under a clan curse that caused Vitae to transform into water when drunk (lifted in Revised). Assamites must still resist the lure of diablerie.

Brujah

Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Presence

The Beast is always close to the surface — all frenzy difficulties are 2 lower than normal, and they suffer −2 dice on any roll to resist frenzy.

Followers of Set

Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis

Sunlight causes double the normal Aggravated damage. They suffer a penalty (−1 die to all pools) when in the presence of holy symbols or ground genuinely considered sacred.

Gangrel

Disciplines: Animalism, Fortitude, Protean

Each time a Gangrel frenzies, they permanently gain one animal feature (a physical change such as a tail, cat eyes, or fur patches). These features accumulate over time.

Giovanni

Disciplines: Dominate, Necromancy, Potence

The Embrace is extraordinarily painful for those they sire. Their Kiss causes aggravated pain — mortals bitten by a Giovanni take double the normal blood loss damage from the feeding.

Lasombra

Disciplines: Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence

Cast no reflection in mirrors or any reflective surface, and do not appear in photographs. They suffer −1 die on Social rolls against non-Lasombra Kindred who know of this weakness.

Malkavian

Disciplines: Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate

Every Malkavian suffers from at least one permanent, incurable Derangement that cannot be bought off with experience. This madness is central to their character.

Nosferatu

Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence

Physically hideous — Appearance Attribute is permanently 0. All Social rolls with mortals who can see them default to difficulty 8 minimum. They cannot use Appearance-based Presence powers.

Ravnos

Disciplines: Animalism, Chimerstry, Fortitude

Every Ravnos has a nightly compulsion tied to a vice or criminal inclination (theft, deception, gambling, etc.). Each night they must resist this urge or indulge it — Self-Control roll difficulty 6.

Toreador

Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence

When confronted by exceptional beauty (artwork, music, a stunning person), they must roll Self-Control (diff 6) or become entranced and stand motionless, losing all actions until the scene ends or something breaks the reverie.

Tremere

Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy

All Tremere are automatically Blood Bound to the seven-member Inner Council. They must spend a Willpower point (difficulty 9) to take any significant action against the clan's interests.

Tzimisce

Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude

Must sleep in at least two pounds of native soil (soil from their homeland or the place they were Embraced). Each day without it costs 1 Aggravated health level as the blood burns.

Ventrue

Disciplines: Dominate, Fortitude, Presence

Can only feed from a specific type of mortal, determined at Embrace (e.g., only red-haired women, only investment bankers, only the deeply intoxicated). Other blood simply does not nourish them.