Games PC VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE-REDEMPTION User Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SHORT STORY:REDEMPTION ..................................................................3

C

HAPTER ONE: I

Installing Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption........................................................10

C

HAPTER TWO: HOW TO P

Game Control Overview Sheets ..................................................................................17

Game Menus................................................................................................................19

Main Game Screen.......................................................................................................24

Some General Notes about Combat .............................................................................30

CHAPTER THREE: TRAITS AND DISCIPLINES .....................................32

Character Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Disciplines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Common Disciplines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Animalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Auspex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Celerity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Dementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Dominate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Fortitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Mortis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Obfuscate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

CHAPTER FOUR: ENEMIES AND EQUIPMENT......................................45

Enemies........................................................................................................................45

Equipment and Treasure ...............................................................................................48

Weapons.......................................................................................................................48

Armour.........................................................................................................................50

Other Equipment .........................................................................................................50

Artifacts........................................................................................................................51

CHAPTER FIVE: MULTIPLAYER AND STORYTELLING ......................52

The Haven and Character Creation..............................................................................53

Creating A New Character...........................................................................................53

LAN Games: Lobby and Chat......................................................................................55

Internet Games: The WON Lobby and Rooms............................................................56

Create A Game.............................................................................................................57

Playing in a Multiplayer Game.....................................................................................58

Storytelling a Multiplayer Game...................................................................................59

CHAPTER SIX: THE WORLD OF DARKNESS.......................................64

C

REDITS ....................................................................................................98

C

USTOMER SUPPORT............................................................................101

S

OFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT .......................................................102

NSTALLATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT ............10

LAY VAMPIRE..........................................12

Potence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Presence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Protean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Thaumaturgy - General . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Thaumaturgy - Blood Magic . . . . . . . 41

Thaumaturgy - Lure of Flames . . . . . . 42

Thaumaturgy - Hands of Destruction. 42

Thaumaturgy - Blood Rituals . . . . . . . 43

Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Numina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

REDEMPTION

REDEMPTION

A sliver of moon broke through the grey
clouds as Christof reached the top of the hill.
The night wind cut through his battered
armour, chilling his overheated body. His
limbs ached as they never had before and
cried out for rest. But he had not prayed all
day and would not let his body collapse until
he had done so.

The Crusaders of the Order of the
Swordbrethren had been on a forced march
since dawn, chasing the faster, lighter­armoured barbarians. Sir Cuthbert had
reluctantly allowed them to stop only when
nightfall made further travel impossible.

After pitching their tents, the Crusaders
gratefully collapsed onto their straw mats.
But Christof did not. He had a need greater
than sleep. Friar Bertrand’s energetic orations
against the barbarians were stirring, but his
perfunctory prayers gave little consolation to
the eighteen-year-old Crusader. The Saviour
had decreed that Christians pray alone, in
their private chambers, and Christof had
diligently followed that stricture every day
since childhood. But there were no private
chambers in the wastelands of Moravia, so
the desolate, windswept hilltop would have
to suffice.

Christof paused at the peak of the hill and
looked down. From his perch he could see
the entire Crusader camp etched in cold
moonlight. A dozen watch-fires glowed
reassuringly around the perimeter, warding
off the terrors of the night. Most of the
Crusaders slumbered, bone-weary from the
day’s forced march. Even some of the watch
dozed fitfully at their posts. All was quiet,
except for a few unarmoured serfs who
scurried about the camp, hauling sacks of
grain, digging a shallow cesspit and preparing
for the morning meal.

For the first time that day, Christof felt
safe. He pulled off his heavy, battered helmet
and let it clatter to the ground. The cold
night air lashed his long, brown hair, which
was matted and dripping wet. He rubbed his
eyes with a mailed fist, wiping away rust and
sweat mingled with the grit of the road. His
armour was battered and in need of repair.
The white cloth over his mail hauberk was
torn in many places and streaked with dull,
brown dried blood. But the crimson cross
across the chest was still as bright and proud
as the day he first wore it. His limbs ached
from weeks of marching. But Christof was
not ready to rest.

2

He drew his broadsword from its
scabbard, plunged the tip into the crust of
the dry earth and knelt before it. He pressed
his feverish brow into the handle, closed his
eyes and prayed quietly.

“Our Father who art in Heaven....”

But his mind did not stay on the prayer.
The tension that had coiled around his
warrior’s spine slowly melted away. And as
the tension ebbed, a flood of memories rose
up, unbidden. And unwelcome.

***

In his sixteen years, Christof had never
struck a blow in anger. In the little French
village of St. Claire, he had raced against,
wrestled and mock-duelled every lad and
able-boded man. He won most of his bouts

and always emerged unscathed, as if
protected from on high. Until the day a wild
boar had thundered across the village green.

The boar charged the villagers, who
scattered before it like geese, jabbering in
terror as the boar snorted and slashed. Two
watchmen panicked and fled, dropping their
hatchets as they ran past slower-moving
villagers. Christof easily outran the massive
pig, but a scream more piercing than all the
others cut through him like a razor. He
turned and saw that the boar had trampled a
small child, who lay crying on the green. A
white-hot fury ignited in Christof’s chest. He
stopped, and held his ground as the slower
villagers ran past him. In a moment, the
village green was empty except for the child,
the boar and Christof.

The massive pig wheeled to survey the
damage it had done. It snorted with
satisfaction and lowered its yellowed tusks to
charge the screaming child again. Then it
noticed Christof, now very alone on the green.
It charged in Christof ’s direction, testing the
lone, impudent creature who did not fly from
his wrath. Christof quickly stepped sideways,
toward a hut, narrowly evading the creature.
The boar sped past
him and hurtled back
around the green.
Satisfied that Christof
no longer defied him,
the boar returned his
attention to the
squalling child.

Christof grabbed a
sharpened tent pole
from the hut and
approached the child.
The boar snorted with
rage, stomped the
grass and charged
Christof, determined
to punish this act of
defiance. Christof
crouched low, planted
the butt end of the
spike in the ground
and braced against it.
He faced the beast
and lowered the
toward its onrushing
jaws.

The spike snapped
like dry kindling as
the boar toppled Christof and gored his right
shoulder. The beast snarled a blast of hot, foul
breath in frustration as it realised that it had
charged, open-mouthed, right into the tent
spike. It stomped its hooves and ripped at
Christof ’s chest, tusks inches from Christof ’s
face. But the spike had torn though the boar’s
gaping mouth and shattered its neck bone. Its
monstrous head glowered with impotent,

disbelieving rage as the light slowly faded from
its eyes.

The villagers poured into the green,
cheering. They hauled the monster off the
gasping and bleeding Christof. The village
elders held a week-long festival in Christof ’s
honour, and for those seven days, he was great
as King David. “Christof, God hath given thee
a great gift of courage,” the elders said. “Thou

art meant for greater
glory than life as a
freeman baker or
cobbler! Perhaps thou
shalt become the
youngest village elder.”
The vainglory felt
sweet but also
embarrassed him. The
lasses adored him and
lavished him with
honeyed praise.
“Christof, thou art the
bravest man in
Christendom! Blessed
is she thou takes to
wife!” The lads also
admired him.
“Christof, thou
should’st fight for the
glory of God! Go
thou! Go far from St.
Claire! Join the
Crusade, and bring
fame to our village!”
But Christof barely
heard any of them.

All he could see was
the massive, oppressive face of the beast inches
from his face. Angry. Hateful. Fire
in its dead eyes.

***

Christof shook his head to dispel the
memory and focused again on his prayer. He
was anxious to finish and eager to sleep. He

continued quietly, “Forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us....”

***

In his seventeen years, Christof had never
killed a man. The hot sun beat down on him
and a roaring filled his ears, drowning out
the angry clash of steel on steel. Sparks flew
before his eyes, and his head spun around as
the barbarian’s axe struck his helmet from
the right.

Christof was certain he was dead. He
prayed that the Lord would find his soul in
the midst of the battlefield wasteland and
blindly gave his sword one final thrust. The
pommel rattled painfully in his hand as his
blade bit deeply into flesh and struck hard
bone. The barbarian collapsed like a straw
man at a harvest festival and lay still.

The ringing in Christof ’s ears subsided,
and his vision
slowly cleared.
He tugged at
his sword,
which had
pierced the
barbarian’s
heart. But the
weapon did not
budge. It was
caught on the
barbarian’s ribs,
and would not
dislodge.
Christof
gripped the hilt
with both hands
and yanked
furiously . The
barbarian’s
corpse vaulted
upwards, as if rising from the dead. The
shattered chest bones groaned like the hinges
of Hell and snapped open as the sword burst
free. The broken body crashed back to the

earth, shuddered and lay still. But one hand
stuck straight up, as though begging Christof
for absolution.

Christof stared down into the dead man’s
hollow eyes. The piercing black pupils stared
back with the same accusing, disbelieving
look as the boar. Christof looked away but
knew the sight would never leave him for all
his days.

***

Again Christof tried to shake off the
memory and focused on his prayer. But he
felt ill at ease, and the prayer brought him no
comfort. “Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from-”

His attention drifted from the prayer but
not to another memory. He opened his eyes
and peered down the hill to the troops
slumbering below. The camp was quiet,

except for a few
serfs finishing
their chores.
Though they
carried heavy
packs that
weighed as
much as a
Crusader’s arms
and armour,
they were
expected to
labour while the
troops slept. All
seemed well.

Christof was
closing his eyes
again when he
realised that a
guard outside
Sir Cuthbert’s

tent was swaying drunkenly at his post.
Christof opened his eyes and watched as a
small serf in a hood and tunic whispered into
the ear of the tall guard. The guard fell

backward, nearly toppling into Sir Cuthbert’s
tent. But the short serf effortlessly pulled the
large man away from the tent and quietly
lowered his body to the ground. Then the serf
darted toward the guard at the opening of Sir
Cuthbert’s tent.

Christof pulled the sword from the ground
as he leapt to his feet. He tried to cry out but
no sound emerged from his mouth. He
charged down the hill as the small serf gently
lowered the second guard to the ground.
Weary Crusaders glowered at Christof as he
stormed past them. Only when the serf
disappeared inside Sir Cuthbert’s tent did
Christof finally find his voice.

“Alarum! Alarum!” he shouted breathlessly,
bursting into the tent. The serf was already
crouching over Sir Cuthbert, who lay atop his
straw palette, dead to the world. Christof
sword flashed in the torchlight and crashed
down on the serf ’s head, where it bit deeply,
with a satisfying crunch. The skull caved in,
and a chunk of bone and gristle flew across
the tent. But the serf did not fall. Instead he
turned and glowered at Christof with eyes that
were black pools of hate. Christof froze. For a
moment, all was still in the tent as the serf
locked eyes on him. Dead eyes. Full of hate.

Then the serf snarled and clawed at
Christof with long, cracked fingernails
encrusted with filth. Christof dimly noticed his
sword bouncing silently off the hard earth at
his feet, and his right arm suddenly felt cold
and faraway. The serf paused to wipe his eyes
clean of the blood that flowed freely from the
gaping head wound Christof had delivered.
The serf crinkled his ashen face into a wicked
leer. His thin dry lips peeled back to reveal
long, glistening yellow teeth. The yellowed
fangs flashed in the torchlight as he silently
lunged toward Christof ’s unarmoured head.

The stillness abruptly shattered with a roar,
as shouting men in clanking mail burst into
the tent. The serf unlocked his grasp on
Christof ’s arm and pushed him toward the
charging Crusaders. Christof stumbled

backward, blocking their path. The serf
howled a hideous, high-pitched snarl and
turned, shredding the back of the tent with a
sweep of his razor-sharp talons. He bounded
through the hole and ran, toppling a Crusader
who stood in his path.

Christof found he could suddenly move
again and charged after the serf. He ran
headlong through the dark, past groggy troops
rising from their deep and troubled sleep. An
uproar swept through the camp. Finally,
Christof slowed. He peered into the darkness
but to no avail. The creature had vanished
into the chill of the night.

Fear replaced exhaustion in the hearts of
the Swordbrethren and banished all hope of
sleep as word of the blood-mad devil raced
from man to man. Two of Sir Cuthbert’s
officers found the shivering Christof and led
him back to Sir Cuthbert’s tattered tent,
which flapped in the night wind despite the
efforts of several serfs to mend it. The tent was
now ringed with a barrier of Cuthbert’s
retainers, who muttered angrily to one
another, debating the most fitting punishment
for the serf, once they caught him. Sir
Cuthbert’s steward parted them and beckoned
for Christof to enter. The retainers stepped
aside to admit Cuthbert’s officers, but they
scowled suspiciously at Christof, who
appeared indistinguishable from any other
young, front-line soldier.

Inside the tent, the white-haired company
empiric was examining a pale Sir Cuthbert,
who looked weary, but solid as granite. At
length, the old man gruffly announced, “’Tis
the will of God that Sir Cuthbert be delivered
from the devil’s grasp! He is whole.”

The officers roared with relief and toasted
his health. But an impatient Sir Cuthbert
pushed past them and strode out of the tent.
Outside, the anxious troops erupted in
cheers. With an abrupt wave of his hand, Sir
Cuthbert cut them off, and the camp fell
silent. Sir Cuthbert surveyed his men for a
long moment before speaking.

“Saved,” he hoarsely bellowed, “by the
grace of God!” The troops cheered again,
louder.

Christof tried to follow Sir Cuthbert out
of the tent, but the empiric blocked his path.
The old man peeled back the blood-soaked
mail from Christof ’s right forearm and
gripped his bicep to stanch the blood flow.
He forced Christof to sit on a barrel.

“The demon unleashed a torrent of blood
from thy arm,” the old man scolded, pouring
wine over the jagged claw marks. “Thy very
life leaks out upon the uncaring soil!” He
gently rinsed grit from the wound and
wrapped it tightly in fresh linen. “Disturb
not this dressing,” he said sternly. When he
finished, the empiric retrieved Christof ’s
broadsword from the ground. The old man
scowled as he handed Christof the weapon,
saying, “When next thou are inclined to
chase the spawn of Hell... pray remember to
bring thy sword!” And just for a moment,
Christof thought he saw a hint of smile on
the sour face of the old man who had
witnessed so much suffering and death.

Outside the tent, Friar Bertrand intoned,
“In the name of our Lord and God Jesus
Christ, for His glory and for the exaltation of
His holy faith. Amen. The barbarian dogs
felt the sting of God’s wrath in our swords,
and they fear us. They flee our wrath like
coward’s! They cannot win by honest force of
arms, so they have sent a devil to our camp
to slay your lord and master, Sir Cuthbert.
But the Lord was with us this day and drove
the devil from the sight of righteous men!”

The Crusaders cheered again, louder. As
Friar Bertrand continued his litany, Sir
Cuthbert stepped back into the tent. He
approached his steward and said, “Give the
men an extra tot of brandy tonight, or they
will never rest.”

“But is that wise?” the steward asked. “We
must rise before dawn! If we should delay
further, that barbarian hoard shall surely-”

“We’ve lost those jackals,” Sir Cuthbert
snapped. “We could wander these hills for
weeks and not find their trail. The filthy
barbarians wear armour of fur so that they
may run like deer and hide like mice. But it
will protect them no more than it did the
beast they skinned!” He paused and
composed himself. “No. Let the men sleep
past sunrise. We’ve pushed them hard enough
for one week.”

“Whither do we go after sunrise?” the
steward asked.

“To the barbarian supply camp! We shall
seek for it here in these Moravian hills. It was
doubtless the hoards destination. And we are
close, by God, or their demon master would
never have risked entering our camp, even by
night!”

“Yes, my lord!” the steward replied. “But
they will continue to seek thy murder!”

“Aye. My retinue will protect me, if God
wills it. Now fetch the men their brandy.
Tomorrow we scout these hills. I want the
men full of vigour when we find the
barbarian camp.”

“It shall be so,” the steward nodded,
turning to leave.

Sir Cuthbert glanced at Christof.

“Who is this boy?” he snapped at
the steward.

“The very one who smote the demon and
drove him from this tent!”

Cuthbert studied Christof a moment and
then motioned him to approach. Christof
stepped forward, trying to conceal the
trembling in his knees. He had never been
this close to the great Crusader before.
Christof fumbled as he clumsily sheathed his
sword and knelt.

“What is your name, boy?” asked Sir

Cuthbert.

“Christof Romuald, of St. Claire.”
“Thou art a brave lad, and true, Christof

Romuald of St. Claire. Dost thou love God?”

“Aye, my liege.”
“Seek ye salvation of thy sinner’s soul?”
“With all my heart, my liege.”
“Art thou prepared to die for the

Kingdom of God?”

“Aye, my liege.”

“No longer shall thou fight upon the line.
Thou shalt join my retinue and smite all who
would kill me.”

Christof felt light-headed. Almost giddy.
“I obey, my liege,” he said, breathlessly.

“Thou hast cleft the devil’s skull in twain

and lived to boast of it.”

Christof nodded slowly.

“God has smiled upon thee. He spared
thee from certain death because He has
conceived a higher purpose for thee.
Therefore, fear not in battle, but give the
devil his due, for thou art blessed!”

“Aye.” Chirstof replied, though he was far
from reassured.

Christof slept deeply that night, dragged
under by weariness and wine. For the first
time, the hateful, hollow eyes of the dead
boar and the dead barbarian no longer
haunted him. Instead, all he could see were
the hateful, living eyes of a dead man.

CHAPTER ONE:

CHAPTER ONE:

INSTALLATION AND

INSTALLATION AND

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

After Vampire setup is complete, your

computer will install the Microsoft DirectX

7.0 or higher drivers if you do not already
have them. When DirectX 7.0 or higher
installation is complete, you will need to
restart your computer for the new drivers to
take effect. For more information on
DirectX 7.0 or higher, see the Technical
Help file.

Now you can run Vampire by choosing
Programs/Vampire The Masquerade
Redemption/Play Vampire (CD 2 required).
Please note, that the game will require that
you have the Play CD in your CD Rom
Drive at all times in order to play the game.

IMPORTANT: Your copy of the
game came with a CD-key, which
should be located on the jewel case.
When you first launch the game, it will
request this key. Please enter the key
exactly as it appears on the jewel case.
Keep your copy of the CD-key safe
and private in case you need to
reinstall the game at a later point. Your
CD Key is unique, and you should
safeguard it because without this key,
you will not be able to play the game.

INSTALLING VAMPIRE:
THE MASQUERADE
REDEMPTION

Please make sure your computer system
is 100% Windows 95/98 compatible.
Vampire is not compatible with Windows

3.1 or other operating systems.

Note: For Vampire to operate the best, it
requires that your system have the latest
DirectX 7.0 or higher compatible drivers for
your CD-ROM drive, sound card and video
card, as well as any other peripherals you want
to use. If you have any problems running the
program, older sound or video drivers are the
most likely cause.

If you need help to obtain the latest
sound and video drivers, check out our
Technical Help file accessible from the Start
menu or the Vampire title screen. Just insert
the Install CD into your CD-ROM drive,
and once the splash screen appears, simply
press the More button and then the Help
button. We have supplied a list of major
computer hardware companies and their
telephone numbers to help you with most
problems. You can find them listed under
Vendor List. This file has a lot of other

helpful information on installation and
system setup, as well as game-specific
technical help.

HOW TO INSTALL

1. Before installing, close all other
applications. Also make sure Virtual
Memory is on (located in your System
Control Panel). Verify that you have 1,300
MB (plus 80 MB for Windows swap file)
of free hard drive space for a full install or
720MB (plus 80MB for Windows swap
file) for a minimum install.

2. Insert Vampire CD#1, the Install CD,
into your CD-ROM drive. If you have
Autoplay enabled, the title screen will
display shortly after inserting the
Vampire CD into your CD-ROM drive.
If Autoplay is not enabled, simply
double click on My Computer, and then
double click on your CD Rom Drive to
launch the game installer. On the title
screen, click the Install button to begin
the installation process, and then follow
the on-screen instructions.

10

11

CHAPTER TWO:

CHAPTER TWO

OW TO

H

OW TO

H

PLAY VAMPIRE

PLAY VAMPIRE

The following chapter explains the basic

information needed to play V ampir e: The

Masquerade Redemption
Redemption, you will take on the role of

Christof Romuald as he makes his journey
from the world of mortals to the world of
the undead. Travelling through four
different cities across the span of time, you
will venture into the dark underbelly of the
world in your undying quest for love.
Choices will be made that will affect your
future, and you must learn to temper your
unending thirst for blood brought on by the
Beast raging inside you. You will encounter
all of this as you journey into the world of
V ampir e: The Masquerade Redemption.

®

. In V:TM

GAME CONTROLS

In this section, you will learn the
various controls and commands used to
play V:TM Redemption. To interact with
anything in the game, position your mouse
cursor over the desired object, which will
highlight to show that it is being targeted,
and then press one of the mouse buttons
to trigger a command.

When you put your cursor over an
object that highlights, the cursor will
change shape to show what action will be
performed if you click on the highlighted

:

item: The cursors are Talk, Attack and
Pickup/Use. Rollover text will also appear
in the text window, giving you more
information about your target.

C

HARACTER MOVEMENT

To move your character around the
game world, position your mouse cursor
over the spot you wish your character to
move towards, and then left click on that
spot. If your character can move there, a
movement target icon will appear on the
ground, and your character will
immediately move towards it. If your
character cannot move to that spot, then a
large red X icon will appear, and your
character will stay where s/he is.

If you do not wish to click on the
destination for your character, there is
another method of moving him as well.
You can click on your destination and, as
your character begins to move toward it,
hold down the mouse button and begin to
move it to a new destination point. As
long as you hold down the mouse button,
your character will redirect himself to
wherever you place the mouse cursor.
However, if your character runs into a wall
or you leave you cursor in an area where
he cannot walk, then he will stop moving

and you will have to restart this process.
This method may be easier for those who
know an area well and wish to run quickly
through it without clicking repeatedly.

Depending on the distance to your
destination, your character will either
carefully walk towards the spot or run
towards it. If the destination is near the
character, s/he will walk carefully to it. If
it is further away, then the character will
run to the location. If you want to make
the character run to a desired spot
regardless of the distance, then hold down
the shift key and left click with the cursor
over the spot. Also, if you have a three­button mouse, you can use the third
mouse button instead of clicking and
holding down the shift key.

Please note, if your character is badly
wounded, s/he will limp for several steps
before resuming his or her normal
walking speed.

To operate doors and other portals,
you must place your cursor on the portal
and left click. When you first place your
cursor on the portal, it will highlight to
show that it has been targeted. After you
left click on the portal, your character
will move toward and interact with it
(e.g. open the door.) If the portal cannot
be opened, then a message will appear in
the text box in the middle of the screen.

ATTACKING

In order to initiate an attack, move your
cursor over an enemy, and the Attack icon
will appear. When you left-click on the
target, the character you are controlling
will then attack the target using whatever
weapon is in his or her hand at the time. If
you continue to hold the left mouse button
down, your character will continue to auto
attack your target until the target is killed
or until you are damaged. Pressing the
third mouse button or holding the shift
key while attacking, will cause your
character to perform a secondary attack.

This is normally a slower, yet more
damaging attack.

Next to the standard melee weapons,
there are a variety of ranged weapons in the
game. Unlike melee weapons, ranged
weapons will require ammunition, which
can be found by defeating enemies or
purchasing it from a store. On some of the
ranged weapons (e.g. pistols, revolvers,
bows, crossbows, rifles, etc), the secondary
attack will fire rounds with a higher
accuracy, however this will be at the
expense of a slower firing rate. As you
progress through the game, you will also
encounter certain guns (e.g. machine guns,
chain guns) with which you can hold down
the ALT key and point at the location
where you would like to fire. You can then
focus your fire on an entire group of
adversaries in the distance instead of one
single enemy.

To use a throwing weapon (e.g. grenade
or holy-water vial), you will first have to
select the item by either right or left
clicking on the item when it is in your
inventory. If you have selected the item,
then your icon will change into the image
of the item that you have selected. Also, if
item the is in your quick items slot, then
you can hit the corresponding quick item
key to use the item (For more
information, please see Chapter Two:
Main Game Screen). To use the item on
an enemy, you will simply have to left
click on your target, and the item will be
thrown and it will then disappear from
your inventory. If you accidentally
equipped an item and wish to return it to
your inventory, you can left click on an
open spot in your inventory or right click
anywhere on the in-game screen and the
item will be automatically returned to
your inventory. Special targeting modes
such as ALT+Left Mouse click will work
for thrown weapons as well as projectile
weapons.

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13

Using a scroll is done in a similar
fashion as well. To prepare a scroll for use,
right click or left click on the scroll when
it is in your inventory. Your cursor should
now become the image of the scroll
indicating that you are now ready to use
the scroll. To use the Discipline, place the
image of the scroll over the intended target
and press the Right Mouse button. Your
character will then use the scroll on the
intended target (which may be an enemy
character, a friendly character, an item in
your inventory, or comrade depending on
the purpose of the scroll) and the scroll
will then disappear from your character’s
inventory. If you choose not to use a scroll
which is being held, simply left click on an
empty inventory slot, and the scroll will be
placed there.

DISCIPLINE U

To attack a target with a Discipline,
make sure that you have the correct
Discipline selected and then right-click
over the highlighted target. If your place
your cursor over the Discipline icon in the
Discipline window, a small description of
the Discipline, which includes the target
type, will appear in the status window,
which is located in the bottom middle of
the screen. Note: if you have selected a
Discipline that does not require a target,
for example Blood Healing, that Discipline
will activate even if nothing is highlighted
by the cursor. Also, if you right click on a
target and cannot use the Discipline, then
you may not have enough blood to use the
Discipline or the selected target may not
be affected by the selected Discipline.

SAGE

COTERIE CONTROL

In your travels through the World of
Darkness™, your party of vampires,
which is also known as a coterie, will
encounter a variety of enemies. In order to
survive in this world, you will need to

carefully control the attitudes and actions
of your coterie members.

By default, the characters in a player
controlled coterie are set to a Neutral
stance, meaning that they will follow your
lead character and engage in combat as
needed and directed by their leader. To
switch characters, click on the head of the
character that you want to control in the
middle bottom of the screen. This
character will then become the lead
character that the others take their cues
from, and a red border will surround the
status bar of this character to indicate that
you are currently controlling him. Also,
you can hit the Tab key to cycle through
the characters until you find the one that
you want to control. Another keyboard
shortcut that you can use is the F6-F9
keys. Hitting F6 will allow you to take
control of Christof, F7 will allow you to
take control of the character to the right of
Christof, F8 will let you take control of
the character two slots to the right of
Christof, and F9 will let you control the
character in the fourth slot.

When you control a character, you can
change the stance of the coterie members
by clicking on the Offensive/Defensive
buttons, which are located in the lower left
hand corner of the game interface. A
character set to offensive will seek out
enemies to fight on his or her own and
will be freer in their use of Disciplines and
blood. A character set to defensive will
conserve his or her resources and avoid
combat wherever possible. You can return
a character to neutral stance by clicking on
the Neutral button at any time.

To gain more control over individual
coterie members, you can separate them
from the group by clicking on the green
light next to their character portrait. Once
a character is “out of the group” s/he will
no longer follow the lead character.
Clicking the Regroup button will cause

the entire coterie to return to the lead
character. If you want the entire party to
meet at a specific point, move the cursor
to that point and hold down the CTRL
key and left click on that location. Note,
when a coterie member is separated from
your group, s/he will not come to the lead
character’s aid if he is damaged nor will
this character engage any enemies at all.

If you want to focus all of the coterie’s
attacks on one enemy, then highlight the
enemy with the cursor and hold down the
CTRL key on your keyboard as you
attack. The entire coterie should then
focus their attacks on this enemy as long
as you continue to hold down the CTRL
key while you attack.

BLOOD

As a human, blood courses through
your veins in order to sustain life. As a
vampire, blood no longer courses through
your veins, but it is still as important as
ever in sustaining your unlife. In order to
be able to use your Disciplines, as well as
to prevent your character from frenzying,
you will require blood. In your character’s
status bar, there is a red bar, which
indicates your Blood Pool. As you use
Disciplines, blood will be used from your
Blood Pool, and this bar will go down. In
order to replenish your Blood Pool, you
will need to Feed (for information on
using the Feed Discipline, please see
Chapter 3: Traits and Disciplines) on other
creatures throughout the game. However,
not all creatures can be fed upon, and
there are many that will attempt to resist
you. Failure to catch someone in your
grasp will leave you in a vulnerable
position, and you will be open for a
counterattack. It is commonly known that
a creature under your powers can be more
easily fed upon than creatures that still
have the use of their own free will.

If you are unable to find a suitable

vessel of blood, there are other ways of
obtaining blood in the game. Rats that
you can find scurrying around the city are
always good for a small supply of blood.
However, there is always a chance that
they will infect your character with any
disease that they may have. Also, bottles of
vitae can be found scattered throughout a
rival vampire’s haven and are excellent
sources of blood. In certain cases, some
bottles of vitae may not only replenish
your Blood Pool but even hold some
special powers when ingested.

FRENZY

Vampires are monsters, possessed of an
inner Beast. Though, like humans, they
have the capability to overrule their baser
instincts, sometimes they fail. When this
occurs, the Hunger and the Beast become
uncontrollable, and no one is safe.

In the game, there is an orange bar,
which monitors your Frenzy level. As you
take damage from enemies, your Frenzy
level will increase until you can no longer
control your actions, and friend and foe
alike must be wary of you, since you will
begin to attack indiscriminately. The rate
at which you frenzy does depend on a few
variables including the clan type (some
Clans frenzy more quickly than others),
Blood Pool level (if your character is
starving for blood, then he is more likely
to frenzy), and the type of damage (some
types of Aggravated damage such as fire
will increase the Frenzy level faster).

Certain Disciplines will also cause a
character to frenzy faster, and there are also
a few Disciplines that will lower the Frenzy
level as well. Eventually, your character will
naturally become unfrenzied. However, if
you are on the verge of frenzying, the use
of the Heal Discipline has been known to
subside the need to rage.

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15

AWAKEN

If one of your characters is damaged
until s/he no longer has any Health, then
that character will fall into a state of torpor,
which is a death like sleep. In order to
bring your character out of torpor, you will
need another character to use the Awaken
Discipline on the fallen comrade. The
Awaken Discipline is available for use by
acquiring scrolls or learning the Discipline
by spending experience. When you have the
Awaken Discipline selected, simply right
click on the portrait of your fallen comrade,
and your character will use this Discipline.
If your character is successful, then your
fallen friend will Awaken with a low blood
supply and a minimal amount of Health.
For more on Disciplines, please see Chapter
Three: Traits and Disciplines.

If all of your characters fall into a state
of torpor, then the game is over, and you
will need to load from an older saved game.

SAVING/L

OADING A GAME

In V:TM Redemption, there are two

possible ways of saving a game.

First of all, you can choose to let the
game autosave for you. Every time you
enter a new area (this occurs when the
“loading” screen appears), all of your
character’s information and status will be
automatically saved. The autosave is
particularly useful when you are going
from one level of a dungeon to another
and you do not wish to travel back to the
Haven in order to save the game.

Second, you can save the game by
clicking on a save cross (if you are human)
or a save ankh (if you are a vampire),
which are located in your Haven. When
you clicking on the save cross/ankh, this
will bring up the save game screen. Simply
click on the slot, where you wish to save
the game, and then click on ok.

To load a saved game, just go to Single
Player, and then click on “Load a Saved
Game.” When the Load game screen
appears, you can then click on Autosave (to
load an autosaved game) or click on a
specific game slot. In the game slots, the
name of the level and the time, which you
saved, will be listed here. Once you have
chosen the game that you wish to load, just
click on “OK”, and the game will load it up.

GAME CONTROLS OVERVIEW

The following is a summary of the game controls in both Single Player and

Multiplayer. Generally speaking the controls will do the following:

Left Click Walk to Location, Talk to Person, Attack an Enemy, Pickup Item
Left Click + Alt Fire at Ground (clicking on the ground), Pickup to Cursor (clicking on an item)
Left Click + Ctrl Party Attack (clicking on enemy), Party Regroups to Location (clicking on the ground)
Left Click + Space Hold Attack (enemy), Turn in Place (ground)
Hold down Left Click Automatic Attack
Right Click Use Discipline or held scroll. Store held item back into inventory.
Right Click + Space Use While Stationary
Third Mouse Button Acts like Shift + Left Click

For users with a Mouse with more than two buttons:

Button 3 (middle) Acts like Shift-Left Click
Button 4 Zoom to first person view/Acts like “Z”
Button 5 Party Attack (clicking on enemy), Party Regoups to Location (clicking on the ground),

+ Space Stationary cast

The specific combination controls for single player and multiplayer are the following:

M

OUSE CONTROLS (SINGLE PLAYER)

Select current character Left click on character portrait
Autowalk Hold down Left click on desired target location
Attack Left click on highlighted enemy to attack
Secondary Attack Third mouse button click on enemy to attack
Activate door/switch Left click on door/switch
Talk to NPC Left click on NPC if talk cursor is present
Pick up item Left click on item if pickup cursor is present
Use current Right click on target to use Discipline

Discipline/Numina (different powers have different targeting requirements)
Use inventory item Right click on item to use from inventory
Set current Left click on Discipline from quick-list or from the Discipline Pane

Discipline/Numina
Feed/Kiss Press “F” or select “Feed” Discipline from list and use as normal
Display Statistics Pane Left click on “Character” button
Display Inventory Pane Left click on “Inventory” button
Display Discipline Pane Left click on “Disciplines” button
Display Map Left click on “Map” button
Display Quest Log Left click on “Quest” button
Change Coterie stance Left click on desired stance from coterie controls icons
Take gold/money Left click on gold display, type in amount (defaults to half total).

from inventory Gold/money drops to the floor.
Remove stake from Left click on character to de-stake, the current character will approach and remove

coterie member the stake

Group Toggle (clicking on the UI head ) / Acts like Ctrl + Left Click

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KEYBOARD CONTROLS (SINGLE PLAYER)

Pause game/display in-game menu Esc
TAB Cycle current character s, release Possession of character
Stop action Spacebar
Force run to destination Shift + Left Click on destination
Display Character Pane “C”
Display Inventory Pane “I”
Display Discipline Pane “D”
Display Map “M”
Display Quest Log “Q”
Close all Panes Backspace
Use quick item F1 – F5
Quick Character Selection F6 – F9, F6 for Christof, F7 for character in slot two, etc.
Toggle Status Bar Display F11
Take Screenshot F12 (saves shotxxx.bmp in current directory)
Select active Discipline from quick list 1 – 6
Zoom Camera +/­Regroup coterie R
In/Out coterie toggle G
Switch to First Person View Hold down Z
Swivel View Toggle X or Numpad 5
Fire at the ground (missile weapons only) ALT + Left click on the ground
Party attack CTRL + Left click on target
Party Regroup to Locations CTRL + Left click on destination
Secondary attack Shift + Left click on target
Force run Shift + Left click on the destination
Turn in place Space Bar + Left Click on the ground
Stationary Discipline casting Space Bar + Right Click on the target
Skip current conversation line Space
Abort/End current conversation Esc
Exit shop/conversation bar Esc

KEYBOARD CONTROLS
(ADDITIONS/CHANGES FOR MULTIPLAYER GAMES)

Talk Enter
Toggle between Storyteller and Player Mode \
Toggle Possession (ST only) “P”
ST Actor Pane Toggle “A”
ST Object Pane Toggle “O”
ST Controls Pane Toggle “V”
ST Locations Pane Toggle “L”
ST Scenes Pane Toggle “S”
Emote commands Type “wave,” “bow,” “menace,” etc. in talk prompt
Scroll Text Display Page Up / Page Down
Place ST Head (ST Only) Right click on target position
Jump to Location (ST Only) ALT+Right Click

GAME MENUS

MAIN MENU

The main menu offers the main
options to the game. You may choose
Single Player, Multiplayer, Options, View
Credits or Quit.

SINGLE PLAYER

This will start a Single Player game.
You will be prompted to Start A New
Game or Load A Saved Game.

M

ULTIPLAYER

This will start a Multiplayer game. You
will be prompted to connect over the LAN
or the Internet.

OPTIONS

This brings up the Options Menu.

VIEW CREDITS

This will bring up the list of all the
people who have contributed to this game.

QUIT

This will exit the program.

SINGLE PLAYER MENU

NEW GAME

This option starts a new game of V:TM

Redemption. After selecting this option, the

game transitions into the opening
cutscene, and the game begins. Warning:
Clicking on New Name will erase the
current autosave.

L

OAD GAME

You can use this option to load
previously saved games. A list is presented
containing the save game names. The first
item on this list is always your autosave.
The names of the other saves consist of the
save location, game date and time (e.g.
“Convent,” 3:54am). By selecting one of
these options and hitting ‘Ok’, the game
loads and begins from the point at which
you saved. Selecting ‘Cancel’ on this
screen returns you to the Main menu.

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GAME MENUS GAME MENUS

MULTIPLAYER MENU

LAN

LAN games are played over a Local
Area Network. You will not need to login
(assuming your computer is constantly
connected) and will be taken directly to
your Crypt when you choose this option.
In a LAN game, you will only be able to
chat and play with other users that are on
the same LAN as you are.

Should you wish a wider range of
games and players, you will need to
connect to the Internet via WON.

INTERNET GAMES

Internet Games connect your computer
to WON, where you can chat, find games
to play and connect with users from all
over the world. You can connect to
WON from any machine that has direct
Internet access.

From here, you can log onto WON
with an existing account or create a new
account. To use an existing account,
simply enter in your Username and
Password, and click the OK button.
Remember, both your User Name and
Password are case sensitive.

FOR ALL NEW USERS TO WON:

To create a new account, click on the
Create Member button. Your Internet
Browser will open, taking you to the WON
pages that allow you to create an account.
Please follow the onscreen instructions in
order to create a new account. If you are
having problems creating a new account,
please contact WON.

The panels on the right-hand side of
the login screen will take you to the
websites of WON, Activision, Nihilistic
Software and White Wolf.

OPTIONS SCREENS

Select Options from the Main Menu to
bring up the Game Options Screen. There
are four options to select from the Game
Options Screen. From any of the options
screens hit OK to accept the changes you
have made or CANCEL to return to the
previous screen making no changes.

DISPLAY

The Display Options Screen allows you
to optimise the look and performance of
the game based on the video card in your
system. The options are broken down into
basic and advanced options.

BASIC SETTINGS

DEVICE: Shows the current display
driver installed on your computer, and
allows you to change drivers between
primary and secondary cards (if you have a
secondary card installed.)

VIDEO MODE: Shows the current
display resolution and colour depth. Not
all video cards will support all resolutions,
and colour depths and settings that are too
high may severely impact performance.

DETAIL LEVEL: This allows you to
raise or lower the graphics detail to
optimise performance on your machine.
Detail level ranges from Very Low to High
and can be adjusted by clicking the arrows
next to the box.

BRIGHTNESS: This slider controls
the brightness of the game display. Slide
the arrow to choose a setting that is
compatible with your monitor’s settings

ADVANCED DISPLAY OPTIONS

The Advanced Display Options allow
you to customise the graphics settings for
the game on your machine. If a feature

does not have a check box in it, then it is
most likely that your video card cannot
support this particular feature. Some of
these options are very video card
dependent and may cause the game to
fail to run properly if they are enabled.
Non-advanced users are cautioned
against any changes of these settings!

DRIVER INFO: This box displays
information about the video card currently
used by the game.

DRAW SKY: This box turns the sky on
and off.

3D UI HEAD: This enables the
animation of the 3D User Interface Head.

REFLECTIONS: This will toggle
whether the game displays reflections or
not.

TEXTURE BIT DEPTH: This allows
you to switch between 16-bit and 32-bit
colour depth.

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GAME MENUS GAME MENUS

TEXTURE FILTERING: This allows
the selection of bilinear or trilinear texture
filtering. Filtering reduces jitter and
“sparkling” of textures as they move into
the distance and smoothes them when they
are close.

STATIC LIGHTING: This toggles
between the use of lightmap or vertex­based lighting. Lightmaps provide more
accurate shadows but are slower. Vertex
lighting is faster but less detailed.

STYLED LIGHTS: This turns styled
lights on or off.

DYNAMIC LIGHT BLOBS: This
enables dynamic lighting (from fireballs,
muzzle flashes, torches).

MODEL LOD: This slider sets the level
of detail for character models.

UI HEAD LOD: This slider sets the
level of detail for the character portraits.

PARTICLE LOD: This slider sets the
level of detail for particle effects in the game.

DECALS: This slider sets the number
and frequency of decals in the game.

AUTOMATIC MIP LEVELS: This
determines how many mip levels of a
texture the engine will auto-generate.

MIP SELECTION: This will allow
users, who have 3D cards with low
memory, to select a default mip map level
lower than the default. This causes textures
to appear blurrier, but uses less texture
memory and increases performance.

CHARACTER DYNAMIC LIGHTS:
This slider sets the level of dynamic
lighting on character models.

CHARACTER SHADOWS: This slider
sets the number of shadows that each
character in the world casts.

SHADOW DETAIL: This slider
controls the appearance of shadows from
simple blobs to detailed character silhouettes

SOUND

This options menu allows you to adjust
the in-game sound settings. The following
options are available:

3D SOUND DRIVER: These selections
allow you to set the best sound driver for
your hardware should you have 3D sound
available.

SPEAKER SETUP: These buttons allow
you to chose the configuration of the
speakers that best describes your
computer’s setup.

MUSIC VOLUME: This slider allows
you to adjust the volume of the in-game
music.

SOUND FX VOLUME: This slider
allows you to adjust the volume of game
sound effects.

CONTROL

The Control Options menu allows
you to set some of the basic control options
of the game relating to the mouse and
coterie AI.

Control Options

ENABLE MOUSE PITCH: This
options toggles whether moving the cursor
to the edge of the screen will move the
camera or not.

AUTO CAMARA SLEWING: This
option sets the camera to automatically
swing into position behind your lead
character

AUTO REPEAT ATTACK: This option
allows you to repeat attacks by holding
down the mouse button.

AUTOLOAD QUICK SLOT FROM
BACKPACK: This option toggles whether
items on the Quick Inventory Slots are
reloaded from the character’s backpack if
the same item, e.g. a Blood Vial, exists in
both places.

Coterie AI Options

USE QUICK DISCIPLINES ONLY:
This sets the AI to only use the Disciplines
in their Quick Discipline Slots.

USE QUICK ITEMS ONLY: This sets
the AI to only use Quick Inventory Slot
items and not to reach into their backpack

AUTO-DISCIPLINE USE:

AUTO-USE HEALING: This toggles if
you allow AI controlled characters to use
healing Disciplines, e.g. Blood Healing

AUTO-USE BUFF: This toggles if you
allow AI controlled characters to use
buffing (enhancing) Disciplines, e.g.
Fortitude

AUTO-USE DAMAGE: This toggles if
you allow AI controlled characters to use
damaging Disciplines, e.g. Fireball.

AUTO-USE SPECIAL: This toggles if
you allow AI controlled characters to use
special Disciplines, e.g. Earth Meld

GAME OPTIONS

The Game Options screen allows you
to turn blood and subtitles on or off.

NO BLOOD: Use this option to turn
the appearance of blood off in the game.

SUBTITLING: Use this option to turn
subtitling during cutscenes on and off.

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MAIN GAME SCREEN

The Main Game Screen contains the In-Game Screen, Coterie Commands, Quest
window, Map window, Text box, Portrait box, five Quick Items slots, six Quick Discipline
slots, Character window, Inventory window, Discipline window, Conversation box,
Purchase window, Advancement Screen and the In-Game Menu.

IN-GAME SCREEN

The 3D view shows the environment
from a third person perspective, with the
camera view being behind the currently
selected character at about a 45’ angle. You
can alter the perspective by moving the
mouse cursor to the edges of the 3D
window. Thus, you can tilt the camera up
or down slightly, so you may look at the
horizon, cityscape and sky.

If you press and hold-down the Z key,
you can shift into first-person mode for a
better look at your surroundings. While in
first-person mode, your cursor is disabled.

COTERIE COMMANDS

These buttons allow
you to issue commands
to the rest of your group
and are very useful in
determining how your
characters will react
when not directly
controlled by you.

The first series of buttons, Aggressive/
Neutral/Defensive, set the stance of the AI
for each character in the coterie.
Characters set to Aggressive stance will be
much more proactive, seeking out and
destroying enemies on their own initiative.
Also, they will burn a lot of blood,
choosing to use powerful Disciplines in
order to eradicate the opposition.
Characters in the Neutral stance will
follow the main (player-controlled)
character’s lead, conserving their resources
and staying closer together. Characters set
to the Defensive stance will protect
themselves from harm and will show little
initiative even in dangerous situations.

Beneath these buttons is the Regroup
button. Pressing this will cause all coterie
members to rejoin the group and gather
close to the main character. Next to the
Health, frenzy and blood bars, there is a
small green light. If you wish to separate a
particular character from your coterie (i.e.
have the character ignore the player
character’s actions), then simply click on
the green light of the character that you
want to separate. To have the character
resume taking orders from the player
character, then click on the green light
again. When the light is on, then that
particular coterie member will follow the
orders of the leader, and if the light is off,
then that coterie member will be
independent of the player’s coterie.

In addition to these specific tools, you
can influence the coterie AI in subtle ways:
Items such as Blood Vials that you place in

the Quick Inventory Slots are available for
AI use; and the Disciplines you place in
the Quick Use Slots are more likely to be
used by the AI than any other powers. In
this way, you can influence the actions of
the characters that you are not directly
controlling. You can set many options
relating to coterie AI control from the
Control Options menu.

QUEST PANE

This button opens the Quest
pane, which lists all the quests
your coterie has undertaken
and whether they have been

When a new quest is available, the Quest
Button will have a flashing red border to
indicate this. Also, when you complete a
Quest, the red flashing border will appear
as well. After bringing up the Quest pane,
if you leave your cursor over a specific
quest, more description about that quest
will appear in the text box.

MAP

on this map and that your coterie’s current
location is also displayed. While the Map
pane is open, the game is paused.

marked with diamonds on the map. The
one that is highlighted in green shows the
current location of your character. The
map only shows the outside of the areas –
you will have to explore the interiors of
buildings and dungeons without a guide.

successfully completed or not.

PANE

This button opens the Map
pane, displaying a map of the
city you are currently in. You
will notice that specific
locations are identified by name

The separate locations within a hub are

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25

TEXT BOX

Below the In-Game Screen, but above
the Portraits Box, is an area where you will
see various text messages displayed. These
text messages cover a variety of situations
but usually appear when you attempt an
action or something happens to one of
your characters. In multiplayer games, this
area is also used to show text messages
from other players (refer to the Multiplayer
and Storytelling chapter for more
information on multiplayer games).
Extended rollover text will appear in place
of the character portraits.

PORTRAIT BOX

An animated head on the bottom of the
screen represents each person in your
coterie, including the main character, and
this portrait is used to show what state, or
condition, each character is currently in. A
few of these conditions are listed below:

Damaged: The portrait will show the
character is under pain when taking damage.

Unconscious: The character’s head will
roll back and stop moving when he is
unconscious/dead.

Frenzy: The portrait will flash red; the
character’s portrait will show a frenzied look.

The Kiss: As the character feeds, his or
her portrait is displayed with fangs bared.

Animal: If you change into an animal
form (e.g. a wolf), the portrait will change
into that animal’s head.

Below the portrait are three bars of
different colours, representing the status of
the characters Health (Blue), Blood (Red)
and Frenzy (Orange) statistics. A full bar
means that the character is at his or her
maximum for that character Trait. As the
level falls, the Trait is correspondingly lower.
This is very useful information as it provides
quick access to a character’s overall state of

being and whether or not s/he is about to
die, run out of blood or enter into a frenzy.

If you place the cursor over a character’s
portrait you will receive a numerical display
of his or her Health, Blood Pool and
Frenzy levels (Health, Mana and Faith for
humans.) You can transfer inventory items
between characters by dragging an item
onto the character portrait. If the
characters are close enough to each other,
the item will be transferred.

QUICK ITEMS

Within the status bar are five slots for
quick use items. These items can be used
by either right clicking on them or by
pressing the function keys F1-F5. Items
may also be dragged/dropped from the
inventory screen into these slots.

QUICK D

quick selection of Disciplines. Any of these
Disciplines can be selected as active by
either left clicking on them or by pressing
the numeric keys 1-6. You can set up
which Disciplines are housed in the Quick
Discipline slots by opening your Discipline
Window and left-clicking on the desired
Discipline’s icon and dragging/dropping it
into the correct slot.

ISCIPLINES

The status bar also displays six slots for

CHARACTER WINDOW

The character’s Traits are shown in this
window: Their name, clan, rank and
generation followed by their Attributes,
Health, Blood Pool, Humanity and Frenzy
levels.

The character’s Attributes are shown
with the current level, influenced by
wounds, Discipline use or magic, first
followed by their base level. This allows
you to gauge the effect of different
equipment and powers on your character.

Another important Attribute that is
listed is your Humanity level. Your actions
within the story will change your
humanity, and if your Humanity falls to
zero, then your character will go mad, and
the game will end.

The range for the character’s currently
equipped weapon is displayed along with
the damage type. Also, the soak totals for
all of your armour (including helms,
shields and body armour) against both
normal damage and elemental attacks are
clearly shown here as well.

All of these character Traits are
explained in their own sections later in
this manual.

INVENTORY WINDOW

This window shows all of the items and
money that the character is carrying. A
graphical icon, which takes up a certain
number of inventory slots, represents items
carried by the character. Characters are
limited to how much they can carry in
their inventory by having a finite number
of inventory slots. You will receive an
audio cue if your character is
overburdened and cannot carry any more
items. If a character is unable to use a
certain item, then it will highlight in red,
and there will be an audio cue if you
attempt to use it.

To equip an item, simply drag it to the
appropriate spot on your character
portrait. Items can only be placed in a
specific location on the character portrait.
Weapons (e.g. bows, swords, guns) can
only be placed in the slot with the “sword”
icon, and shields or utility items (e.g.
footman’s shield, torch, flashlight) can
only be placed in the slot with the “shield’
icon. To equip armour, simply drag the
piece of armour to the “chest” slot, and
helms can be equipped by dragging it to
the “head” slot. Finally, necklaces can be
placed in the slot to the left of the “head”
icon, and items such as rings can be placed
in the “hand” slots.

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Please note, if the sword or weapon
that you are equipping is a two-handed
weapon (this can be seen by rolling your
cursor over the weapon and seeing “2H”
appear in the item description), then you
cannot equip a shield or utility item. If
you have a shield or utility item equipped,
then you will have to first remove this
item, prior to equipping the sword. Also,
some weapons and armour have a
minimum requirement to equip them.
Some items may require a certain
Strength, Humanity or even Faith
requirement before you can equip them. If
you cannot equip an item, please roll your
cursor over the item to bring up the item
description. Verify that you have the
requisite characteristics, if any, in order to
equip this item.

D

ISCIPLINE WINDOW

A list of the character’s current
Disciplines is displayed, including the
current level of proficiency in each,
indicated by the number of filled dots.
You may set up the Quick Discipline slots
by dragging and dropping the Discipline
icons into one of the six slots in the status
bar. You may also left-click to select a
Discipline from this list (and later right­click to use it) or right-click on any
Discipline in this list from this pane to
activateit immediately.

CONVERSATION B

During some conversations between
your characters and non-player characters,
you will be given the option to choose one
of several responses. Your response has an
affect upon how the non-player character
responds back to you and, in some cases,
the state of the game. When these response
options appear, you must select one by
clicking on it with your cursor.

OX

PURCHASE WINDOW

When dealing with merchants, a
purchase menu will appear, allowing you
to buy or sell items. The merchant’s wares
will be displayed on the left-hand side of
the screen, while your character’s inventory
will be on the right. To switch the
character that is purchasing or selling to
the merchant, just hit TAB or click on the
character’s portrait.

When buying, you are presented with a
list of the merchant’s wares with prices. If
you highlight an item you will see it’s icon
and be able to hit the Buy button to
purchase it if you have sufficient money.
The cost of the item will then be deducted
from your cash reserves. If you do not
have enough money to buy an item, then
that item will be greyed out. Also, if an
item is listed in red, then your character
does not currently have the Attributes to
wield the weapon or wear the armour. You
can still purchase the item, however you
will not be able to equip it until you meet
the item’s minimum Attribute
requirements. When selling, you can select
any of the items that your character is
carrying, and the price you are being
offered will appear on the merchant’s side
of the screen. If you accept the offer, hit
the Sell button, and the money will be
added to your total.

On a side note, the price your character
pays for items and the money they receive
for selling can be higher or lower
depending on the Manipulation Attribute.
Thus, a Manipulation of 90 will garner a
much better buying and selling price then
if your character has a manipulation of 10.

ADVANCEMENT SCREEN

Between completing quests in the
single player chronicle, you will have the
opportunity to spend the experience

points you have earned on the various
character Attributes. In certain missions,
an advancement window will
automatically pop up after the mission is
complete. You can also visit your Haven at
any time to spend experience points for
any of your coterie. To do this, when you
are at your Haven, just click on the coffin
in your Haven to bring up the
Advancement Screen. In multiplayer
games, you can click on the coffin in your
Haven to bring up the advancement
screen, however it is also up to the
Storyteller’s discretion to award extra
experience points for a well played
scenario or completing a quest.

The Advancement Screen shows your
character sheet with the current levels of
Attributes and Disciplines, and crosses
next to each item that you may advance.
To increase the level of your Attribute or
Discipline, simply click on the cross to
spend your experience points in exchange
for the increase. If you place your cursor
over an Attribute or Discipline, the
experience point cost will appear in the
dialogue box at the bottom of the screen.
You can cancel or reverse changes in order
to tweak things as desired by hitting the
reverse arrow below your character sheet.
Once you are satisfied, hit the OK button.

As you gain experience from your
battles, your ranking will go up as well.
Starting as a Fledgling, your character will
climb the ranks as more experience is
gained. As your character’s ranking
increases, the character’s Health will also
increase, as well as the Blood Pool. Thus,
the Blood Pool and Health level of an
Antediluvian will far exceed a character,
who is merely a Neonate.

The Storyteller has access to an
Advancement Screen similar to this,
although s/he has the capability of
modifying the experience you receive,
along with what new Disciplines are
available to you. There is an Advancement

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Screen for each character (showing the 3D
head and other stats of the character) from
which the Storyteller can assign and spend
experience points for each coterie member,
thereafter returning to the game

IN

-GAME MENU

You can press ESC at any time to bring
up the In-Game Menu. This pauses the
game in single player and allows you to
resume the game, exit the game, load a
saved game or adjust options.

SOME GENERAL NOTES
ABOUT COMBAT

DAMAGE TYPES

There are three main types of damage
that can be suffered in the game: Bashing,
Lethal and Aggravated. These types are
distinguished in order to allow for certain
resistances that vampires may have and to
show how human and Kindred alike can
soak them.

LETHAL

These are attacks meant to cause
immediate and fatal injury to a victim.
Vampires can soak Lethal damage with
their Stamina Attribute, but humans have
no natural resistance to it.

AGGRAVATED

Attacks that are deadly even to the
undead, including fire, sunlight, the teeth
and claws of vampires and werewolves and
certain Holy attacks, are considered to be
Aggravated attacks. Aggravated damage
can only be soaked with the Fortitude
Discipline.

In addition to these three main types of
damage, the game supports resistance or
sensitivity to the following specialised
forms of damage:

Electrical

Includes lightning bolts, high­voltage traps, etc.

Cold

Freezing attacks, ice weapons,
freezer traps, etc.

Fire

Fireballs, fire traps, lava, hot
rooms, etc.

Sunlight

Direct sunlight or sunlight­casting artifacts. Only damages
vampires.

SOAKING

Before damage is applied, the victim
has the chance to absorb part or all of the
damage before it affects the character’s
Health. This ability to absorb damage is
also known as “soaking.” Soaking accounts
for the existence of armour and other
natural and preternatural abilities to resist
damage. As indicated above, there are
specific requirements for soaking certain
types of damage. The factors involved in
soaking are:

ARMOUR

Armour allows soaking of all three
forms of damage, except for the specialised
Aggravated types of fire, sunlight, holy,
electrical and cold (some exceptions exist
here, like special grounding armour,
magically enhanced items or heated
devices.)

STAMINA

Humans may soak only Bashing
damage using their Stamina. Vampires use
their Stamina to soak both Bashing and
Lethal damage but not Aggravated.

FORTITUDE

Fortitude is a specialised Discipline that
allows soaking of Aggravated damage. It
has an advantage over items and armours
which normally only defend against a
limited number of Aggravated damage
types. Fortitude also adds to the soak
values for Bashing and Lethal damage.

STAKING

When a vampire is impaled in the heart
with implements of wood, it renders them
completely immobile until the stake is
removed. If one of your characters is staked,
another member of the coterie can remove
the stake by selecting the available character
and then left-clicking on the staked
character. Also, if you do not have a
character that can unstake you, a staked
character will be able to expel the stake from
his or her body after some time has passed.

Staking can occur with actual stakes
(used as a melee weapon) or with ranged
weapons such as crossbows and stake-guns.
If the stake hit is considered critical, a
staking occurs.

COTERIE COMBAT AI

During play, all coterie members, other
than the ones you have selected, will move
and attack on their own, but in accordance
with any coterie commands you have
selected. AI controlled characters can
perform a wide range of tasks
automatically, including reloading their
weapons, switching from a ranged attack
to a melee weapon, as well as healing and
replenishing their Blood Pools. Also, by
holding down CTRL and left-clicking on
an enemy, you can tell the rest of your
coterie to concentrate their attacks on that
one opponent.

BASHING

These attacks include punches, kicks
and any other kind of blunt trauma, which
are less likely to kill a victim instantly
(especially a vampire). All characters
(including humans) can use Stamina to
soak Bashing damage.

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Holy

Prayers, attacks with holy water
or holy ground. Only damages
vampires.

31

CHAPTER THREE:

CHAPTER THREE:

TRAITS AND

TRAITS AND

DISCIPLINES

DISCIPLINES

Much of a character’s life comes from the
way in which you describe and roleplay
him. However, certain aspects of a character,
his physical prowess, looks and special
powers, are described in numerical terms
and used in conjunction with the mechanics
of the game. These features are called Traits
and Disciplines.

CHARACTER TRAITS

Most Traits are based on a 1-100 scale
for player characters, though there is no
upper numerical limit. Disciplines are the
exception, as they utilise a system of dots
(•) to represent levels of power. The more
dots, the more power a character has in
that particular Discipline, with the
maximum being five dots.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

Strength

The raw brute power the character can
use for lifting, pushing and inflicting
melee attacks. Strength allows the
character to be able to move large objects
and also modifies the amount of damage
inflicted by melee weapons. Some items,
such as armour, have minimum Strength
limitations you must meet before you can
utilise the equipment.

Dexterity

Dexterity modifies the base movement
and attack speeds for the character and also
increases the aiming ability for projectile
weapons. A high Dexterity will also increase
a character’s chance of making a critical hit,
which causes an enormous amount of
damage. Also, some weapons have a
minimum Dexterity for usage.

Stamina

Stamina is the character’s constitutional
ability to soak damage. Humans use
Stamina to soak only Bashing damage,
while Ghouls, Vampires and some
monsters can soak Bashing and Lethal
damage with their Stamina Attribute.

MENTAL ATTRIBUTES

Perception

Perception is the ability to observe one’s
environment.

Intelligence

Intelligence is the character’s grasp of
facts and knowledge and ability to reason
and solve problems. A high Intelligence is
required for the most advanced Disciplines.

Wits

Wits is the ability to maintain your cool
and think on your feet, especially in intense
situations. Most importantly, characters
with high Wits will have a slower
progression towards becoming frenzied.

SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES

Charisma

Charisma measures your character’s force
of personality and command. Characters
with a high Charisma are better able to
overwhelm the minds of their foes with
Disciplines such as Dominate and Presence.

Manipulation

Manipulation is the ability to lie,
connive and convince others of your point
of view. It is an insidious Attribute that
allows you to influence others.
Manipulation grants you success at some
mental Disciplines and also lowers prices
at shops.

Appearance

Appearance is the measure of the
character’s physical attractiveness, poise
and natural beauty. This becomes
extremely important as you use the
Presence Disciplines.

RANK

Based on a character’s experience
points, they are given a Rank. This can be
very useful in quickly determining how
ancient, powerful and dangerous a
particular character is. Refer to the
“Generations of Caine” section in Chapter
Six for detailed information on each Rank.
In the game, a character’s rank will apply
bonuses to his or her Blood Pool and
Health as s/he gains experience.

BLOOD POOL

A Character’s Blood Pool measures how
much blood (a.k.a. vitae) the vampire has
in his or her body, and it is from their
Blood Pool that characters draw energy to
use their supernatural powers. Most

Disciplines drain anywhere from a small to
a large amount of your character’s Blood
Pool when activated (the rollover text will
list each Discipline’s specific cost.)
Vampire characters may replenish their
Blood Pool by drinking blood from any
number of sources including bottles of
vitae or humans.

HEALTH

Health measures a character’s physical
condition, from perfect health to torpor or
Final Death. As characters are wounded
their Health level goes down and they have
a harder time performing actions. The
more a character’s Health diminishes the
harder it will be for him or her to do the
things you want him or her to do. As a
character loses Health, s/he will move
slower and suffer penalties to his or her
Attributes. Once a vampire’s Health
reaches zero, s/he will collapse into a
comatose state know as torpor. Without
the intervention of an ally with the
Awaken Discipline, this sleep of the ages
can lead to Final Death.

Note: Characters in frenzy ignore all
Health-related penalties.

FRENZY RATING

The Frenzy rating is the character’s
tendency to frenzy and speed at which s/he
will reach it. As a character takes damage
or loses blood, s/he becomes more prone
to frenzy, eventual falling into an
uncontrolled rage. While a character is
frenzied, s/he will attack anyone without
any discretion. Over time, the Frenzy level
will subside and the character will regain
his senses.

HUMANITY RATING

The Trait of Humanity is an integral
part of the underlying theme of any V:TM
game. It is a moral code that allows
vampires to retain their mortal sensibilities
even though they’ve been transformed into

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parasitic monsters. In essence, it is what
keeps a vampire from becoming a mindless
animal, enslaved by his or her thirst for
blood. In game terms, the lower a character’s
Humanity is, the more monstrous s/he
appears to others. If a character’s Humanity
rating reaches zero, then that character has
lost all sense of reason and becomes nothing
more than a mindless beast of evil over
which you no longer have control.

Certain events during the chronicle may
raise or lower your Humanity: Killing the
innocent will almost always cause it to
drop, while protecting the weak may cause
it to rise.

INCREASING TRAITS

Between completing quests in the
single player chronicle you will have the
opportunity to visit your Haven to spend
the Experience Points (XP) you have
earned. In multiplayer games you receive
this opportunity after each scene in the
story (or whenever the Storyteller decides.)
To spend your characters’ experience
points, you must go to your Haven and
click on the rest coffin.

HUMAN

multiplayer games, differ from the
Kindred. They do not use blood, cannot
frenzy and use Numina and Holy Power
instead of Disciplines.

humans, empowers any holy powers they
possess. The Faith Trait can be raised with
experience and can also be temporarily
boosted by the possession of holy objects.
Many holy powers have a minimum Faith
requirement.

on Mana, which is used to fuel the spells
and abilities of Holy Power and Numina.
Unlike vampires, who need to feed to gain
power, humans naturally regenerate their
Mana pools over time.

CHARACTERS

Mortal characters, who are available in

The Faith Trait, which is unique to

Instead of blood, human characters rely

There are certain items in the game,
which may only be used by human
characters. Likewise, humans may not use
Kindred Disciplines or mystical items.

DISCIPLINES

Though vampirism is a curse, the Blood
of Caine grants great mystical powers to
those with the insight and dedication to
pursue them. These powers are known as
Disciplines.

Following is a list of the more common
Disciplines wielded by vampires and other
supernatural creatures. Rare vampires and
stranger creatures may have powers not on
this list, as there are mysteries that remain
hidden within the World of Darkness. The
term Discipline refers to both the
Discipline group (Animalism, for example)
and the powers within that group (Feral
Whispers.) Each clan possesses a group of
Disciplines that are common among their
ranks. However, it has been whispered that
vampires can learn Disciplines outside their
clan’s strengths but at a much higher cost.

Most Disciplines are linked to a key
Attribute and will be resisted if used upon
an enemy. There is also a chance of failing
to use a Discipline based upon the
character’s Attributes and power in the
Discipline. Almost all Disciplines have
minimum Attribute requirements; for
example, you cannot use Heightened
Senses unless you are already perceptive or
Fireball unless you are very intelligent.

As you gain more experience through
your battles, you can use this experience in
order to increase your specialty in your
Disciplines. As you increase in power, your
mastery over the Discipline will allow you
to cast the Discipline more effectively and
at a lower blood cost. Thus, if you have a
Discipline of five dots, then you are truly a
master, while a vampire with a Discipline
level of one dot will be casting it a very
rudimentary level.

COMMON DISCIPLINES

Note that in V:TM- Redemption all
vampiric characters automatically

start with the Feed and Blood
Healing Disciplines. This represents the
inherent ability of all vampires to feed and heal
themselves. In multiplayer games, all vampires
and ghouls will start with these abilities.
However, human characters will not have any
inherent Traits.

FEED

Various levels of this Discipline
indicate the ability to effectively
drain a creature of its’ blood
without killing the victim.

Feeding is remarkably important
for a vampire, as it is the best way to replenish
your Blood Pool. As your lev el increases, your
ability to feed without killing your victim will
increase as well.

BLOOD HEALING

This allows a vampire to convert

Blood Pool points into Health

points, in order to heal his or

her wounds. The various levels

of the Discipline dictate how
fast you can heal and how much Health is
regained and may enable healing of
extraneous things like disease.

BLOOD STRENGTH

This Discipline grants a
temporary increase of the
character’s Strength Attribute,
which can be used to increase
melee damage or for any

Strength-related puzzles.

BLOOD DEXTERITY

This Discipline grants a
temporary increase of the
character’s Dexterity Attribute,
which can be used to increase
combat effectiveness.

BLOOD STAMINA

This Discipline grants a
temporary increase of the
character’s Stamina Attribute,
which can allow for the soaking

of more damage than normal.
It does not grant you the ability to soak
Aggravated damage.

AWAKEN

This Discipline is normally
used to awaken, or reanimate,
another Vampire who has
nearly been killed and lies in

torpor. Unless a character has
died an unequivocal Final Death, the use of
this Discipline allows the subject to be
awakened. Such characters will awaken
with little blood or Health and will need to
feed very soon, since they are quite prone to
frenzy with their need for blood.

WALK THE ABYSS

This dark power draws on the
connection between a vampire
and its Haven, opening a
mystical portal between the two.

When this Discipline is used, a
two-way gate opens between the coterie’s
current location and its Haven. To be able to
open such a portal, you must know the
location of your Haven and the abyssal
portal can be blocked by mystical means.

Key Attributes: Intelligence and Wits.

ANIMALISM

Vampires with the Discipline of
Animalism find themselves with

greater control over both the
animal world and the Beast Within. While
the Gangrel are known to be the masters of
this Discipline group, other clans, such as the
Nosferatu, have shown skill in Animalism
as well.

Key Attributes are Charisma and

Manipulation.

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35

FERAL W

HISPERS

Makes the targeted animal
temporarily fight for the player’s
coterie.

Key Attribute: Manipulation

BECKONING

Allows the caster to temporarily
enlist the assistance of an animal
ally, possibly lasting beyond
the scope of a single combat.

action by the vampire’s will and disappears
when finished. The summoned animal acts
like a temporary member of the character’s
coterie, fighting with and travelling alongside
the caster until the effect wears off. (For clans
that have separated themselves from the
natural world, the creature thus summoned
may be distinctly unnatural; for example,
Cappadocians summon a skeleton to fight at
their side, and the Tremere a homunculus!)

The animal is summoned to the

Key Attribute: Charisma

QUELL THE BEAST

Has the effect of calming the
target. When cast upon a coterie
member, this reduces his or her
frenzy amount, bringing him or

stopping it altogether.

S

UBSUME THE SPIRIT

hit TAB to return to your own body.

her out of frenzy faster or indeed

Key Attribute: Manipulation.

Allows temporary possession of
an animal. You will have full
control over the creature,
perceiving the world through its
eyes until the effect ends or you

Key Attribute: Manipulation

DRAWING O

behave erratically, with all the advantages/
disadvantages frenzy offers). In mortals, it
triggers the fear mode. Use of this should be
limited to times when the Frenzy level is
nearly full, but at the highest level, a full
Frenzy level is not required to cast this.

Key Attribute: Manipulation

UT THE BEAST

Dumps the caster’s Frenzy level
onto another. This causes a
frenzy mode on enemies
(frenzied enemies would attack
each other, flee or generally

AUSPEX

The Discipline of Auspex bestows
telepathic and extrasensory

itioners. As the vampire’s powers grow, he will
not only be able to sense the psychic aura and
flow on creatures and objects, but he will also
be able to project his or her body into an astral
form in order to see what is around him or
her. The death-loving Cappadocians, as well
as the Toredor and Tremere clans, all
specialise in the Auspex Discipline.

HEIGHTENED SENSES

AURA PERCEPTION

the target. The user will learn information
about the creature including the target type,
Health and Blood Pool.

perception powers on its pract-

Key Attribute is Perception.

This allows the character to see
invisible or hidden enemies and
objects.

Key Attribute: Perception.

The user of this Discipline
may sense the invisible “aura”
surrounding all living creatures,
allowing the caster to gain
insight into the true nature of

Key Attribute: Perception.

THE SPIRIT’S TOUCH

Allows the caster to determine
the nature of an object – its base
statistic limitations, its abilities
/curses, its “true” name, etc. A

successful use of this Discipline
will give an enhanced description of that
item from then on. When this effect is
activated, you will need to click on an
unidentified object in your possession to
receive information about it.

Key Attribute: Perception.

PSYCHIC PROJECTION

Psychic projection allows you to

control a “ghost” object, much

like the ST ghost, to move

unseen through areas for a brief

time. No interaction with objects
is possible in this state.

Key Attribute: Perception.

CELERITY

Those with Celerity are dangerous
foes, for this Discipline enables

them to move and attack at
superhuman speeds. To mortals, they appear
to be nothing more than a blur. As the levels
of this power increase, so does the speed of
the vampire and the duration of the
Discipline.

DEMENTATION

This Discipline is the special

legacy of the Malkavian clan, a

mental sickness that allows those
infected with it to channel madness, focus
it and pour it into the minds of those
around them.

Key Attributes: Charisma,

Manipulation and Perception.

PASSION

The character may stir his victim’s
emotions, either heightening their
fear or stirring them into a crazed
frenzy.

Key Attribute: Charisma.

THE HAUNTING

This power is used to disturb the
sensory centres of the target’s
brain, flooding them with
visions, sounds, scents or feelings

that aren’t really there. In effect,
the victim will believe himself to be under
attack from a host of nightmarish apparitions.
Most mortals will flee in fear, while
supernatural creatures will be momentarily
distracted as they fend off their imagined
ghostly assailants.

Key Attribute: Manipulation.

EYES OF CHAOS

This peculiar power allows the
user to take advantage of the
fractured wisdom hidden in
insanity. With it, the character
can detect the aura of another.

Key Attribute: Perception.

VOICE OF MADNESS

With this power, the character

can speak to another and pull

forth the madness that resides in

the deepest recesses of the

victim’s mind, focusing it into an
overwhelming wave of total insanity. This
power has driven countless victims, mortal
and supernatural alike, to unfortunate ends.

Key Attribute: Manipulation.

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DOMINATE

Those with Dominate may
mesmerise others or even control

the powers of Dominate are resisted by the
victim’s Wits Attribute. Kindred who
specialise in the use of Dominate include the
Giovanni, Lasombra, Tremere and Ventrue.

Charisma.

C

the vampire who used the power.

MESMERISE

towards the character that mesmerised him
or her. The effects of Mesmerise are
cancelled if the target is attacked by one
who used the Discipline.

THE FORGETFUL MIND

normal routine.

their minds outright. Many of

Key Attributes: Manipulation, Wits and

OMMAND

This power allows the vampire
to seize control of another’s
mind for a short time. While
the effect lasts, the victim is
under the total command of

Key Attribute: Manipulation.

Use of this Discipline puts the
target into a trance-like state,
whereby they cease all action
and stand still. At higher levels,
the target will dreamily walk

Key Attribute: Manipulation.

This power sends the target into
a dazed state and causes them to
forget about what they were
doing. This will make enemies
ignore you and return to their

Key Attribute: Wits.

POSSESSION

The user of this Discipline forces
their will upon the target and
takes total control of them. This
gives the player total control over

the enemy character, seeing the
world through his or her eyes and forcing
him or her to perform any action until the
effect expires.

Key Attribute: Charisma.

FORTITUDE

Characters with Fortitude prove
unnaturally resistant to damage.

They must often be literally hacked
apart before they can be stopped, as even the
most devastating wounds prove nothing more
than a nuisance. This Discipline also helps
protect against damage from sources such as
sunlight and fire. The Cappadocian, Gangrel
and Ventrue clans all have a natural
predisposition to this Discipline.

MORTIS

This Discipline was developed by
the Cappadocians in an attempt

to uncover the secrets of death. It
seeks to explore many aspects of death,
from outright cheating it, to causing it with
a single touch.

Key Attributes: Wits and Intelligence.

SHAMBLING HORDES

This power allows a character
to call forth the dead from their
graves to fight alongside him or
her. Though weak and not

particularly adept, these undead
allies can still be of great aid in battle. To
use this power, target a fresh corpse close to
the character.

Key Attribute: Wits.

VIGOUR MORTIS

By feeding a corpse some of his
blood, the character may
reanimate the body, creating an
undead servant that serves its

master until it falls completely
into decay. To employ this power, the
character must find a corpseto target.

Key Attribute: Wits and Intelligence.

SUMMON SOUL

With this power, the character is
able to summon a wraith beyond
the shroud that separates the
world of the living from that of

the dead. The wraith can only
exist in the world of the living for short
period of time, but while there, it will do the
characters bidding. A wraith can only be
summoned at the scene of a recent death.

Key Attribute: Perception.

PLAGUE WIND

An advanced Mortis effect, this
power conjures up a whirlwind
of decay and chaos. Any caught
within this cloud of destruction

will suffer massive amounts of
damage, as the full effects of Death’s cold
breath are unleashed upon them.

Key Attribute: Intelligence.

BLACK DEATH

This power turns the character’s
hand into the hand of Death
itself. By touching an individual,
the character can cause the

victim to experience an early
death or, in the case of vampires, to enter
torpor. This power inflicts massive damage
on a single target.

Key Attribute: Intelligence.

OBFUSCATE

Obfuscate is the ability to mystically
cloak oneself in illusions or

shadows, thereby disguising or
concealing oneself. With Obfuscate, you can
attack an enemy and then mystically fall back
into the shadows. At higher levels, this ability
will becomes more effective, and you will be
able to strike your enemy before they can
realise it. Obfuscate can be defeated by the use
of other Disciplines, most notably Heightened
Senses. If a creature has a Heightened Senses
Discipline higher than your Obfuscate level,
then he will be able to detect you with ease.
While there are several clans that use this
power, it is the Nosferatu that has truly
perfected its use.

Key Attribute: Wits.

CLOAK OF SHADOWS

The vampire may disappear
from plain sight. The lowest level
of this power allows the user to
remain effectively invisible if

standing still within shadow.
Higher levels of Obfuscate allow the user to
remain invisible even while moving.

Key Attribute: Wits.

CLOAK THE GATHERING

This Discipline is similar to
Cloak of Shadows, save that it
affects the entire coterie. The
level of this Discipline indicates

duration, and the effectiveness
is equal to the equivalent level of the Cloak
of Shadows power.

Key Attribute: Wits.

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