Humanity
“These dog-tags remind me of the man I was. The man I still am. You think that makes me weak? Take them from me, and find out.” — John McAdams, Brujah Alastor of the Camarilla
Humanity measures a vampire’s innate empathy. As she degenerates, the vampire loses the ability to form meaningful, emotional connections with others. Her control over the Beast diminishes as it encourages indulgence in twisted pleasures. Perversion, cold-blooded murder, mutilation, and wickedness for its own sake are all signs of a vampire whose control is slipping. A vampire with a low rating in Humanity begins to reflect her Beast in her outward appearance. Her next frenzy may well be her last before complete surrender to the Beast. Such a vampire may be physically mistaken for human, but only under certain conditions (such as dim lighting and plenty of distractions).
One of the most important themes of the Vampire roleplaying game is the undead’s struggle to retain her soul and fight the degradation of the Beast. Thus, it is extremely important to use Morality in a consistent, dramatic manner. If the Storyteller allows the characters to (sometimes literally) get away with murder, the tragedy of vampiric existence vanishes and the story suffers. If the Storyteller is too strict with the Morality rules, all the characters will be ravening, blood-gorged maniacs by the end of the first session. The Storyteller must be very aware of how events in the story will emotionally impact the characters in her game, and she should play up instances of emotional importance and encourage players to show their character’s responses.
Some players find it difficult to really cut loose and show their characters in a state of moral quandary. Does the character scream? Punch a wall? Cry? Fall to the ground, stricken with horror? Players can be very self-conscious about such responses, as civilized society doesn’t usually appreciate emotional outbursts — especially when a person is experiencing fear, sorrow, or failure. However, in a roleplaying game like Vampire, emotional situations are critical, and playing out these emotions is part of the fun of portraying a realistic character. Help your players plan out responses to such situations, and give them every opportunity to feel as comfortable portraying the crushing weight of defeat as they are excited about playing their characters as victors. Remember, Vampire isn’t about “winning the game.” It’s about creating realistic characters, with all their flaws and emotions. Those are the situations people remember and talk about with excitement, long after the game is over.
Characters begin with Humanity 5 (normal), but you may purchase Humanity up to 6 with XP.
Contents
Humanity Rating
6 – Saintly*
5 – Normal
4 – Distant
3 – Unfeeling
2 – Bestial
1 – Horrifying
The Temptation of the Beast
The Beast is calling, scratching at the door. It is hungry, eager, tempting, twisting a vampire’s perceptions. It whispers, “murder is justified, even necessary.” “Here’s one who deserves it.” “That one’s better off dead.” A little here, a little there, the Beast chisels away at a vampire’s ethics and reason until something snaps — and the vampire’s Humanity degrades.
In the end, all vampires are supernatural beings, animated corpses that subsist by preying on others. They are a pestilence, and they exist only by harming others. Further, vampirism reduces an individual’s capacity to feel positive emotions, slowly wearing away the individual’s compassion, empathy, and ability to recognize good from evil. These things are all cast aside by the curse that brings a vampire back from death. With human drives and desires twisted by a raging Beast that demands survival at any cost, vampires must cling to their beliefs. If they lose this tenuous thread, the Beast will win, and the original personality of the vampire will be utterly destroyed. The vampire will enter a frenzied, incredibly violent state known as wassail, and she will never return to lucidity.
Fledglings thrust into undead society often cling to the trappings of their mortal lives. Their original belief systems become guides, reminding them which actions are right and which are wrong, even when the vampire can no longer instinctively tell the difference. This ethical code is known as one’s Humanity: the semblance of living according to positive moral values and principles. By clinging to these innate guidelines, a vampire can fight against the Beast and retain her sanity.
However, a vampire cannot ignore the fact that she is a monster. Even a vampire with a high Humanity rating feels the Beast inside, scratching at her spirit and demanding blood. As a vampire’s Humanity erodes, she becomes jaded and blasé. She may even actively pursue progressively depraved acts in order to feel anything at all. With little memory of her Humanity to guide her, a vampire’s behavior becomes callous in the extreme, utterly degenerate and monstrously predatory. She becomes a beacon of evil, and those nearby – undead and mortal alike – actively feel disconcerted, as something alien and terrible moves among them.
Gaining Beast Traits
Every time your character commits a sin, you gain temporary Beast traits equal to the level of the sin. It is possible to mitigate the number of Beast traits your character gains when committing a sin by making a degeneration challenge (see below).
Note: Beast traits are cumulative. Over the course of an evening, you might gain 2 Beast traits for one sin and 1 Beast trait for a second sin. In this case, you have a total of 3 Beast traits.
- It’s difficult for the undead to remain saintly. Characters with Humanity 6 gain 1 Beast trait when they break the law or when they harm another character. Even minor injuries, such as feeding, count as harm.
Awarding Beast Traits and Paths of Enlightenment
It is important when assigning Beast traits to characters on alternative Paths of Enlightenment that the Storyteller review the tenants of the path to verify that said Beast traits are assigned correctly.
Beast Traits and Combat
When a character commits a sin outside of combat, she gains Beast traits as described above. During a combat scene, the Storyteller should not slow down the action by running multiple degeneration challenges. Instead, the Storyteller should track the most severe sin committed by each character, assign Beast traits accordingly, and resolve degeneration challenges at the end of the combat scene.
Degeneration Challenge
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” — William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
When a vampire commits a sin, she may attempt to feel remorse to mitigate the loss of Humanity. This requires displaying regret and taking action such as apologizing, making amends, self-flagellation, or whatever would be appropriate for the character. The test pool is Mental + Willpower with a standard difficulty rating (10) +1 per level of sin. For example, if Suzie broke her victim’s finger for information (level 1 sin), her difficulty for the degeneration challenge is 11 (base 10 + 1 for the level of the sin).
If the Storyteller feels that the actions triggering the degeneration challenge were justified due to circumstances or the greater good, she may reduce the difficulty by up to 5 points. However, this should be rare, as struggling against the Beast and taking the high road is a major theme in Vampire.
If the degeneration challenge succeeds, reduce the number of Beast traits gained by 1 point.
Characters on Humanity cannot reduce the number of Beast traits gained when committing diablerie.
Beast Traits
As a vampire commits sins, she accumulates Beast traits. These Beast traits indicate her Beast’s current control over her actions. When triggered with the proper stimuli or motivation, the Beast attempts to take over, trying to force the vampire to frenzy.
While under the effects of frenzy, a character may take any sort of action or challenge as per usual (Physical, Social, or Mental) but all of the character’s actions must be bent towards the motivation of her frenzy. You may use Auspex to find new victims, Dread Gaze to force your enemy to flee, or Obfuscate to hide from a terrifying foe.
If a vampire spends an entire day sleeping, her Beast is lulled back into relative quiescence and all her Beast traits fade.
Losing Humanity
A vampire loses Humanity when her Beast becomes too strong to fight, and she loses some of her control. Once the vampire acquires 5 Beast traits, she suffers the loss of a dot of permanent Humanity. Each additional 5 Beast traits claims an additional permanent point of Humanity.
Regaining Humanity
“They only dimly recalled the things they had lost and refused to believe that there had been a time when they were pure and happy.” — Dostoyevsky, The Dream of the Ridiculous Man
The key to any story about regaining Humanity should be an examination of the Beast and repenting for the sins that the vampire has committed in her drive to sate her desires. The Storyteller should closely monitor a character who seeks to regain her Humanity and only approve it if the story feels appropriate.
Here is a sample of what a story to regain Humanity might look like:
Suzie the Brujah has frenzied one time too many and accidentally killed an innocent. She realizes that she is slipping to the Beast. She’s very worried that she’ll frenzy one time too many and then won’t come back. Suzie begins to examine her past errors with the help of an ally.
She decides that she needs to make amends for her mistakes, even if it is metaphorically. This might involve helping out the family of her victim or completing his last great work.
Suzie tries to live life according to a higher set of expectations (living at the level of Humanity that she wants to achieve), and eventually she learns to be the person she wants to be.
Permanent Humanity can be repurchased for 10 XP per dot and should involve significant roleplay. Characters who wish to buy back their Humanity should spend time making amends for the sins that caused the Humanity loss.
Beast Trait Chart
Level of Sin Description
1 Harm Another: You’ve significantly harmed another individual physically, socially, mentally, or financially in a way that will take weeks for the victim to recover. For example, you may have broken a mortal’s arm, inflicted a point of aggravated damage on a vampire, or severely damaged a mortal’s livelihood.
2 Permanent Injury: You’ve harmed another individual in a way that will take the victim years to overcome (if ever). For example, you may have ripped a mortal’s leg off, left a vampire staked and buried, or driven someone permanently insane.
3 Killing: You’ve killed another individual.
4 Multiple Murders: You’ve killed more than one individual.
5 Heinous Acts: You’ve committed inhuman acts that cannot be excused. For example, you may have brutally tortured your victim or committed diablerie.
Effects of Low Humanity
If your character’s Humanity drops below 5, she suffers the following penalties:
Humanity Effects
4 Appears slightly inhumane; the cost to take on a semblance of humanity is doubled (2 Blood per scene)
3 All test pools are reduced by half during the daytime
2 Appears very inhumane; The difficulty to resist all frenzies is increased by 5
1 Cannot wake during the daytime; Does not automatically wake from sleep when damaged
0 Enters wassail, a permanent state of frenzy; The Beast has taken over, and no vestige of the human personality or spirit remains. The character becomes an NPC and will be controlled by the Storyteller.
