VTM Study Guide and Rulings
06/2020
GM: Andrew Dufault
Dice Rolls - Different situations can change a familiar setting
Difficulty & Successes:
Dice rolls are now separated into two categories: Difficulty and Successes. Difficulty is your
“success” number. Before this number was always 6, now it can vary. Successes are sometimes
not given to the players. This number is the amount of winning dice you have in a dice roll.
Modifiers for stressful situations can be used here to create tension. Example: Normally, Picking
a standard lock and a deadbolt on a door would be difficulty 5 or 6, but by getting shot at, it adds
+2 or +3, making it Difficulty 8, Successes 2 - If your dice roll read 2, 5, 7, 9, you would only have 1
success and therefore fail the roll.
Grace and Flair
In many situations, you usually only need 1 success to complete a somewhat skilled task,
additional successes are only required for difficult or very skilled tasks, they are also the amount
of grace you have when you succeed. Example: Difficulty 4, Success ? - your dice roll reads, 4, 6,
10, if you only needed 1 to complete your task (success 1 - set by GM) then your 3 successes have
you perform extremely well.
Skills - Skills will be handled in two categories: GM used, and non-GM used.
GM used
These skills will be used in the campaign as called rolls. This includes any skill not in the “Non-
GM used” category.
Non-GM used
These skills will never be called out as a roll, but you will be responsible to call them out as a roll
you want to make. Example: I will never ask for an ‘Insight’ check, because it would be red-
flagging an npc as something to hide. You will be responsible for asking for this roll. Everything
else is fair game to be used by the GM.
Skills in this category: Craft, Larceny, Stealth, Animal Ken, Insight, Intimidation,
Leadership, Streetwise, Persuasion, Subterfuge, Finance, Investigate.
Combat - Physical and Speech - This is what makes Vampires more powerful than humans!
Physical: You can use blood to increase your stats if you have the matching Discipline up to the
amount of dots you have in it. Example: you have two dots in strength, but also two dots in
Potence. You can spend one blood point to increase your strength by two, making it four! (lasts
one scene or combat) In some cases, like with Celerity, you can spend blood to also give
additional effects. (This effect includes taking one additional action per blood point. And this
effect is increased in effectiveness when higher levels of Celerity is acquired. More down below)
Speech: The same can be said for spending blood to increase stats in speech, however, take
note that Vampires and other creatures that can sense blood can tell when you are using their
blood on them! So make sure you succeed!
Disciplines and Stats - Matching Disciplines with stats
Use these disciplines to increase their tied stat at the cost of one blood per scene:
Auspex - Intelligence or Dominate - Resolve Presence - Charisma or
Wits Fortitude - Stamina Manipulation
Celerity - Dexterity Potence - Strength Protean - Composure
Not all Disciplines have matching Stats, these include Animalism and Blood Sorcery.
Animalism could be considered the same as Presence, but shouldn't be considered for
interactions with those that can speak. In the same stroke, Animalism can be used instead
to increase the Animal Ken skill instead. Blood Sorcery has many facets that border on
overpowered, (mastery over blood could increase any aspect you wish) and for this
reason, it doesn't have a tied stat.
Other Rules of Note
● Vampires add dice equal to half their Blood Potency (rounded down) to their dice pools to
use or resist Disciplines (see Blood Potency, p. 215). General rules for specific Disciplines
appear in the Characteristics section of each Discipline.
● Humanity damage is calculated by extremely heinous acts. Example: Killing an innocent
in cold blood for no reason damages your humanity. (You roll a straight Resolve check
with Difficulty 6 to prevent Humanity damage) This standard is increased when Humanity
is lower. To gain humanity, you perform acts of kindness or mercy, increased by the
amount of humanity you have.
Negative Positive
➔ Humanity 7-10 = Killing someone in ➔ Humanity 6-10 = Helping a group of
cold blood when they could’ve lived Innocents or someone close to you
➔ Humanity 4-6 = Killing a group of with something major.
aggressors all at once in an ➔ Humanity 1-5 = Letting someone
extremely gruesome manner and in who wanted you dead live after an
cold blood attack
➔ Humanity 1-3 = Killing a large group
of innocents without mercy
Pages of Note in Corebook (v5)
Skills: pg.159 Clans: pg.63
Disciplines: pg.243
Vampire Core rules (how to use your
character: pg.201
