VtM20 Storyteller Cheat Sheet Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by LoafofHead

Stage One: Initiative
• Roll initiative (1d10 + (Dex + Wits)) (or add 6 to the initiative rating). Everyone declares their actions. The character with the highest initiative performs her action first. Actions can be delayed to any time later in the order of initia­tive.
• Declare any multiple actions, reducing dice pools accord­ingly. Declare Discipline activation and Willpower expend­iture.

Stage Two: Attack
• For unarmed close-­combat attacks, roll Dexterity + Brawl.
• For armed close-­combat attacks, roll Dexterity + Melee.
• For ranged combat, roll Dexterity + Firearms (guns) or Dexterity + Athletics (thrown weapons).
• A character can abort to a defensive action (block, dodge, parry) at any time before her action is performed, as long as you make a successful Willpower roll (or a Willpower point is spent).

Stage Three: Resolution
• Determine total damage effect (weapon type or maneuver), adding any extra dice gained from successes on the attack roll.
• Targets may attempt to soak damage, if possible.

Commiting Diablerie: To commit diablerie, the diablerist must take blood directly and immedi­­ately from the victim; the blood may not be stored and used later and only one diablerist may commit the act on a given victim.

Once a vampire’s body has been drained of all blood, the diable­­rist’s makes an extended Strength roll (Diff. 9). Each success inflicts one automatic health level on the victim (the victim cannot soak, and damage is considered aggrav­­ated). When all the victim’s health levels have been drained, the body begins to decay immedi­­ately.

A vampire committing diablerie is vulnerable to attack, all attacks against a vampire attempting diablerie are made versus a difficulty of 2

Rewards: Upon completion of diablerie, the diablerist is overwh­­elmed by euphoria, and a Self-C­­on­t­r­ol­­/In­­st­incts roll is necessary (Diff. 10 - Humani­­ty­/­Path) to avoid losing control.

The true benefit of diablerie becomes evident if the diablerist feeds on the vitae of a vampire of lower Generation (e.g., 9th gen. diable­­rizing 7th gen.). The diablerist literally steals the power and potency of the victim’s own blood, and thus perman­­ently lowers her own Generation by one. All benefits of the lowered Genera­­tion: a larger and more potent blood pool, the ability to Dominate more Kindred and, in some cases, the ability to increase Traits above 5 — are bestowed.

If the victim was of far greater power (5 or more Gen. levels) than the diable­­rist, the ST may rule that the predator lowers her Gen by more than one step. It would not be unreas­­onable for a 12th gen. neonate who drank the blood of a 3000-y­­ea­r-old 5th gen. to advance 3 or more Genera­­tions.

Drinking the vitae of elder vampires can tempor­­arily increase the diable­­rist’s Discipline levels by 1, 2, or more. These increased powers last for a single scene, unless the ST decides otherwise.

First drink: The drinker begins to experience interm­­ittent but strong feelings about the vampire. She may dream of him, or find herself “coinc­­id­e­n­tally” freque­­nting places where he might show up. There is no mechanical effect at this stage, but it should be rolepl­­ayed.

Second drink: The drinker’s feelings grow strong enough to influence their behavior but not yet enslaved. She may act as she pleases, but might have to make a Willpower roll to take actions directly harmful to the vampire. The vampire’s influence is such that he can persuade or command her with little effort (Social rolls against the thrall are at -1 diffic­­ulty)

Third drink: Full-scale blood bond. A regnant may use the Dominate Discipline on a thrall, even without the benefit of eye contact. Additi­­on­ally, should the thrall try to resist the Dominate (or similar mental control power) for some reason, the difficulty of such resistance is increased by two. Naturally, a higher­­-G­e­n­er­­ation vampire still cannot use Dominate on a lower-­­Ge­n­e­ration thrall.

Resisting the Bond: It's possible, though difficult, for a vampire to tempor­­arily resist a blood bond. Doing so requires the player to make a Willpower roll (diffi­­culty is typically 8, but can be modified based on the regnant’s treatment and the thrall’s Nature) and accumulate a number of successes equal to the number of times the thrall has partaken of the regnant’s blood, to a maximum of difficulty 9. The thrall must then spend a Willpower point. Upon doing so, the bond is negated for a variable amount of time.