Traits



Traits Much of a character's life comes from the way you describe and roleplay him. For example, your character's general disposition and attitude toward feeding, as decided by you, might all contribute toward his overall role in the story. However, certain aspects of a character - his physical prowess, his looks  powers, for example - are described in numerical terms and used in conjunction with the systems of the game. These features are called Traits.

Traits quantify your character's particular strengths and weaknesses, which guide the character in his interactions with other players' characters and the characters the Storyteller creates. For example, your character might have high Mental Traits, making him invaluable when brains and cunning are required. However, he might have low Physical Traits, forcing him to rely on a friend's character when violence or brute force is called for.

Character and Traits
Traits are commonly described in numerical terms with ratings between 1 and 5. (Humanity/Path scores and Willpower are exceptions to this guideline, and some particularly ancient and powerful characters are rumored to have other Traits exceeding 5...) These numbers represent the quantity and quality of the character's prowess with a given Trait. One dot is considered a poor rating, while five dots indicate superiority. Think of Trait ratings as similar to the stars with which restaurants and hotels are rated - one is dismal, while five is excellent. Trait ratings become important when rolling dice to perform actions (see Rules for specifics).