Character 12: Vampire: the Reqiuem

Whereas the early 20th century saw Vampires being a horrifying personfication of anti-semitism, the late 20th and 21st century have made vampires cool. Vampire: the Requiem gives you the chance to play one of these bloodsucking monsters.

This is pretty much the perrenial World of Darkness game and chances are if you've heard of WoD, you've heard of Vampire. Vampire is a great game for anyone who loves Byzantine politics. The setup of Vampire puts you in the middle of a society in the shadows where numerous factions and shaky alliances bid for power.

In many ways, being a vampire sucks. They're vulnerable to many things, including sunlight, fire, their own blood and various forms of fear. They are, by far, the weakest of the supernaturals. Still, playing one is a bit of a blast and I for one love the political machinations of a Requiem game.

Randomly determining what my character is going to be will be rather difficult, considering this is essentially a point-based system with few random elements, so I've decided to do it this way. I'm rolling 1d6 to determine which of my ability (phsyical, mental and social) categories are primary and flipping between the remaining two to decide which of the remaining two are seconday and tertiary. Same goes for skills. My clan and covenant will be decided by a d6 roll (with a 6 on clan being rolled again). For virtue and vice, there's a fantastic section of the Ordo Dracul covenant book (I highly recommend it) that uses tarot cards to determine every single combination.

Okay, so I roll my two d6. My first comes up a 1, making my character part of Clan Daeva. Daeva are the beautiful monsters of the vampire world, compelling, yet ruled by their dark vices and passions. They can win a person over with their aura of powers (majesty) and can kick quite a bit of ass with their physical disciplines (celerity and vigor). They lose willpower every time they have an oppurtunity to indulge in their vice but don't. My second d6 also comes up a 1, making my character a member of the Carthian movement. Carthians are the revolutionaries of vampire society, struggling for a non-fuedal government (democracy or republicanism is the usual, but there are a number of fascist carthians). They have a large support network to draw form as well.

For my abilities, they've come up mental, physical, social in that order. My guy is pretty brainy and fit, but not amazingly social. Odd for a Daeva, but we'll go with it. For skills, I've got Physical, Mental and Social. So my guy is quite focused on physical ability and has a few mental skills, not too much in the social department. Interesting.

Finally, my virtue and vice. Using an internet card reading with the present card (makes sense after all), I get the Judgement card, making his virtue Justice and his Vice Pride. This guy has very little doubt about his actions, clearly.

Okay, I think I've pieced something together. Roseanne O'Donnel was once a Police Officer, the kind who throws themselves into their work, to be the best she can be, rarely socialising or "wasting her time". Her sire died before he had time to explain why exactly he embraced her, so she's fallen in with the Carthians, in this city some militaristic jackboot types that believe the current system of vampiric government is decadent and soft. Only hard order backed with military discipline can ensure vampire society doesn't collapse on itself and Roseanne has become a fierce supporter of the cause.

Roseanne O'Donnel, Carthian Soldier
Clan: Daeva
Covenant: Carthian Movement
Embrace: 2007
Apparent Age: Late 20s, early 30s
Mental: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3
Physcial: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Social: Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 3
Mental Skills: Investigation 3, Medicene 2 (forensics), Politics 2
Physical Skills: Athletics (chases) 4, Brawl 2, Firearms 3, Larceny 1, Stealth 1
Social Skills: Intimidate (staredown) 3, Streetwise 1
Merits: Contacts (law enforcement), Mentor 2, Haven (Size 1, Security 2) 3, Status (Carthian movement) 1
Willpower: 6
Humanity:7
Virtue: Justice
Vice: Wrath
Health: 8
Initiative: 6
Defense: 3
Speed: 11
Blood Potency: 1
Disciplines: Vigor 1, Celerity 2
Vitae/per turn: 10/1

Roseanne here is fairly suited for combat, with her decent physical abilities, skills and disciplines. Fortunately, daeva are just as good at being combat machines as they are social maniuplators. However, she's also pretty good at investigative scenarios, in both casing a crime scene, following up leads and interrogating witnesses. She's also held on to her own apartment as a haven when the sun rises and thanks to a superior officer in her covenant, has some pull within the Carthians as well.