Rules

Most of the action in Vampire is determined by the players and Storyteller, but we provide a few rules to help arbitrate complex situations.

This system uses six-sided dice, which you can find in most hobby stores, Monopoly sets, Wal-Marts, etc. When a player decides to have his character undertake an action for which the outcome is in doubt (shooting a gun at a distant foe, trying to fast-talk the prince, etc.), the Storyteller looks at the character's Traits and decides which Trait (Physical, Mental, Social, Psychic) is most relevant. He gathers a number of dice equal to his character's Trait, and the Storyteller assigns a difficulty number (a number between 2 and 6) to the feat. The player then rolls the dice. If at least one (or sometimes more) of the numbers on the dice equals or exceeds the difficulty number, the action succeeds. If not, the action fails.

Automatic Tasks Versus Dice Rolls

Most tasks are automatic. If Cynthia says, "My character Maxine walks into the deserted alley," Cynthia does not need to make a roll to do this. It happens automatically. Likewise, for the purposes of drama, routine tasks such as driving to a nightclub or climbing a ladder can be assumed to succeed, even though in real life there is always a chance of having a wreck or falling off the ladder. Rolls need be made only for those events that are particularly dramatic and that have a good chance of failing.

Sometimes a routine event can become a dramatic, tension-filled scene if performed in haste or under duress. For example, if the character driving to the nightclub is barreling down the road at 100 m.p.h., against the flow of traffic, while being chased by the Sabbat and the city police, Physical dice rolls to avoid wrecking the car might well be called for!

Difficulties

Difficulties range between 2 and 6. A difficulty of 2 represents the easiest feats; a difficulty of 6, the most challenging. When in doubt, the default difficulty is 4. Difficulties can never be higher than 6 - if a difficulty is calculated to be greater than 6, reduce it to 6.

2 Easy (walking atop a two-foot-wide wall)

3 Routine (seducing someone already "in the mood")

4 Normal (stalking a reasonably alert victim)

5 Challenging (shooting a target at long range)

6 Really tough (escaping from handcuffs)

Number of Successes

Each die whose number equals or exceeds the difficulty number is called a "success." Most of the time, a single success allows the vampire to succeed in her attempted task - barely. Getting more successes indicates a higher level of performance. For example, let's say a Toreador (Social 4) gives a performance in a nightclub. Four dice are rolled; while a single success indicates an acceptable performance (she doesn't get booed off the stage), three or four successes are needed to give a brilliant or virtuoso performance.

Successes Quality

1 It'll do

2 Good

3 Great

4+ Masterful

Example of Play

Cynthia's character, Maxine the Brujah, has been sought out by Devil Jack, the prince's Gangrel enforcer. (Devil Jack is played by the Storyteller.) Devil Jack begins questioning Maxine concerning her whereabouts on last Wednesday night (the night an anarch gang set fire to the prince's refinery). Cynthia, speaking as Maxine, indignantly denies any knowledge of the deed ("I was at a dance club on the other side of town!"), and the Storyteller tells Cynthia to make a Social roll to convince Devil Jack. Maxine has a Social score of 2, and the Storyteller tells Cynthia that the difficulty is 4 (Devil Jack is loyal to the prince and knows that Maxine occasionally hangs out with anarchs, but he likes Maxine and is inclined to trust her). Cynthia rolls two dice and scores 1 and 5: one success. Devil Jack reluctantly accepts Maxine's alibi (perhaps he is unwilling to question the story too deeply), but sternly warns Maxine that the prince's eyes are everywhere, and that she'd better toe the line for awhile.

If, in the Storyteller's opinion, Devil Jack had particularly damning evidence against Maxine, or disliked her, the Storyteller might have raised the difficulty of Maxine's roll to 5 or even 6, or might have decreed that Maxine needed two successes to convince Devil Jack of her innocence.

Contests

Sometimes, a character will be in conflict with another person or vampire, not simply a situation. Such events are known as contests. To resolve a contest, the player rolls against a difficulty number as normal, but the opponent also gets to roll his own Trait against the same difficulty number. The contestant who scores the most successes wins. Ties reroll.

Almost all contests are considered difficulty 4. First, the attacker rolls. Then the defender rolls in an attempt to take away the attacker's successes.

Example #1: Baron d'Havilland (Social 4) and Lady Ravenwood (also Social 4) are striving to seduce the same beautiful model. Because the model likes d'Havilland and Lady Ravenwood about equally, both vampires must roll versus difficulty 4. D'Havilland rolls four dice and scores 1, 3, 4, and 6 - two successes. Ravenwood also rolls four dice and scores 2, 5, 6, and 6 - three successes. The model slinks away with the smirking Lady Ravenwood, and d'Havilland must seek blood and companionship elsewhere this night.

Example #2: Baron d'Havilland (Social 4) is attempting to order a recalcitrant mortal (Psychic 2) out of his way. D'Havilland rolls four dice and scores 1, 3, 5, and 5 - two successes. The mortal rolls two dice and scores 3 and 6 - one success. D'Havilland wins - the mortal grudgingly lets the vampire pass.

Example #3: Maxine the Brujah (Physical 4) is arm-wrestling a Nosferatu (also Physical 4). Both vampires have Basic Potence, so they are considered of approximately equal strength. The Storyteller decides that the first vampire to score three cumulative consecutive successes wins. On Turn #1, Maxine rolls two successes, and her opponent rolls one. Maxine has one success in the contest; she levers the Nosferatu's arm down ever so slightly. On Turn #2, the Nosferatu scores two successes, and Maxine scores none. The Nosferatu not only canceled out Maxine's "stored" success, but got one of his own; he powers his arm back to the neutral position, then bends Maxine's arm over a little. This battle will seesaw back and forth until one or the other wins.

Drama

The nocturnal world of a vampire is a cauldron of danger, mystery and terror. The following section presents some common quandaries faced by vampires, as well as rules to resolve them.

Time

Time, in Vampire, is fluid. It is measured in terms of turns, scenes and stories.

Turn: A turn usually lasts about three seconds. It is used when adjudicating dramatic situations involving split-second decisions and actions, such as combat. In one turn, each character can take one action, unless he has the Discipline of Celerity.

Scene: A scene is a sequence of events in roughly the same time and place. So, a brutal back-alley brawl and a soiree at the prince's mansion both constitute a scene, even though the party lasts longer than the fight.

Story: A story is an entire sequence of events in which the characters take part. It has a plot, a climax and a resolution.

Example: In the movie Star Wars, each swing of Obi-wan's/Darth Vader's lightsabers took a turn; the scene in the Death Star garbage disposal took, appropriately enough, a scene; and the entire movie was a story.

Initiative

Sometimes it's important to know who acts first. A vampire who gets the jump on her opponent is said to have the initiative.

To determine initiative, compare Traits in this order:

Hunter's Instinct (activated)

Advanced Celerity (activated)

Basic Celerity (activated)

Highest Physical

Highest Mental

Ties: Roll one die; the highest roll wins. Keep rolling until the tie is resolved.

Example: Devil Jack the Gangrel attacks a monstrous Gangrel vampire of the Sabbat. Both have activated Hunter's Instinct. Neither has Celerity, so the Storyteller compares Devil Jack's and the Sabbat vampire's Physical Traits. Both have Physical Traits of 4. Comparing Mental Traits, the Storyteller sees that Devil Jack has a Mental Trait of 3, while the Sabbat vampire has a Mental Trait of 1. Devil Jack attacks first. If the Sabbat vampire had had a Mental Trait of 3, the Storyteller and Devil Jack's player would have simply rolled a die, with the highest roll acting first.

All extra actions gained via Celerity come after everyone has taken their first actions. Initiative of extra actions is determined normally.