Running Vampire the Masquerade in Sigil & Shadow

Posted 20 Aug 2021 to Urban Fantasy

A loose guideline for how to run a Vampire the Masquerade campaign using Sigil & Shadow. The result is a lighter ruleset, which is more easily compatible with other kinds of Shadows if you want to run a group of mixed types of supernaturals. It is not intended to be a perfect emulation, but a good-enough facsimile of the experience.

 
 

Castings

  • Assumption: all vampires are Shadows.
  • Each player can pick the Shadow Casting that suits the kind of vampire theme they want to explore.
  • At the end of each session, players can choose to shift to a different Casting, according to events in the story and as the theme of their character's story unfolds.
  • Afflicted. You are cursed. For example, you could be a Nosferatu who evokes fear and revulsion in those you meet. You regain 1 bone when you are Scorned for a scene.
  • Devoted. You are blood bound and serve another vampire, or your faction. You regain 1 bone when you devote a scene to serving your master at cost to yourself, or when you beg a task from them.
  • Host. You battle with the Beast, the jealous, predatory id self. You are frequently in danger of losing control. You regain 1 bone when you allow the Beast to gain control for a scene. (This only applies if you voluntarily allow yourself to slip, not if you fail to control yourself normally).
  • Ravenous. You battle with your Hunger. Your urge to feed is stronger than most. You regain 1 bone when you spend a scene performing an act of excessive consumption.

Hunger and Feeding

  • You have a new stat called Hunger, rated from 1-10.
  • Whenever you activate a Vampire Blood Power, roll 1D. This is called a Hunger Check.
    • If the result is higher than your Hunger, you are fine.
    • If the result is lower than or equal to your Hunger, then your Hunger increases by +2. You get more hungry.
    • If you fail a Hunger check when at rating 10, you Frenzy (see below).
  • Every time you make a skill check or resistance check, if the d100 result is equal to or less than your Hunger, then the Beast causes you action to be excessive and extreme.
  • When you feed, reduce your Hunger by the amount of blood you drain from the victim. Minimum 1.
    • Mortals have up to 10 points of blood in them, depending on their constitution (GM can secretly roll 1d6+4). You can drain a mortal of half their blood before they need hospitalization and are in danger of dying.
    • Once you have started feeding, roll a successful WIL+20 check to stop yourself. You can repeat each round.
    • Each point of blood drained, reduces your Hunger by -1.
  • When feeding, a mortal victim is filled with a euphoric feeling and their memories are foggy afterwards. Supernatural beings are not affected by this.

Vampire Blood Powers

  • All vampire characters have the following abilities.
  • You have fangs. You can hide them or extend them at will. They do 1D damage. You feed on blood (see above).
  • Heal. You heal fast, but it costs blood. Roll a Hunger check to heal +1D hp.
  • Blood Surge. You can boost your physical abilities, but it costs blood. Roll a Hunger check to boost your STR or DEX by +10 for the scene. Repeated boosts can stack up to +20%.
  • Blush of Life. Normally, your flesh looks dead and unhealthy. You can force blood into your veins to give the temporary appearance of life and fake the ability to eat food. Roll a Hunger check for 1 scene.
  • Blood Bond. Your blood can bind others to you. Mortals and vampires who drink your blood develop strong feelings of love and infatuation with you. After 3 drinks, spaced out at least 1 day each, they are bonded to you. They must drink your blood once a month to remain bonded. Each time you feed someone, make a Hunger check.
  • Ghouls. Your blood can invigorate and strengthen mortals. A ghoul gains a new stat called Blood rated 1-3. They can use the Heal and Blood Surge abilities above. If fed a significant amount of blood, they can gain a weaker version of one of your Disciplines below. Use of any of these supernatural abilities reduces their Blood by -1.
  • Lick Your Bite. If you have fed from someone, you can lick the puncture wounds to heal them.

Vampire Drawbacks

  • All vampire characters have the following drawbacks.
  • The Beast. All vampires struggle to control themselves and retain a semblance of human civility. A savage, jealous, killer self lurks just under the surface. Sometimes this beastial side of your personality comes out, often at the worst time.
  • You get hungry. Every night, when you wake up, make a Hunger check.
  • Fire weakness. You take double damage from fire.
  • Sunlight burns. You take 2D+2 damage every round of exposure to sunlight.
  • You do not heal naturally Mortals heal +5hp per day. You do not. You can only heal by spending blood.
  • Daysleep. You feel very sleepy during day time. All skill checks are at -20%.
  • Frenzy. Sometimes, if you are provoked or encounter something of primal fear for vampires, the GM can ask you to make a Frenzy check. Roll WILL, modified by a difficulty set by the GM. If you fail, you lose control and go mental in one of the following ways;
    • Fury. Triggered by humiliation or aggression. Your goal becomes to tear the cause of your provocation to pieces, ignoring anyone nearby. Ends when you pass a WILL-10% check.
    • Hunger. Triggered by temptation or failing a Hunger check when at rating 10. Your goal becomes to seek human blood from the closest source. Ends when reaching Hunger 1.
    • Terror. Triggered by self preservation or when confronted by open fire or sunlight or when you've lost half your hps in damage. Your goal becomes to flee the danger, without regard. Ends when the scene ends or the danger is gone.

Disciplines

  • Each of the Masquerade disciplines can be replicated using Manifestations. Examples below.
  • OR you can use the Vampire Disciplines directly from the V5 book. They are rated 1-5 conveniently.
  • Animalism. Use the Animal Communion manifestation.
  • Auspex. Use the Sixth Sense gift (pg. 83). Or use the Psychometry gift.
  • Celerity. Use the Inhuman Ability (DEX) manifestation. Or use the Hasten manifestation. Perhaps allow the Blink manifestation to represent movement faster than the eye can see.
  • Dominate. Use the Compel manifestation. Or use the Mesmerise gift.
  • Fortitude. Use the Uncanny Resistance manifestation.
  • Obfuscate. Use the Concealment manifestation. Or use the Befuddle gift.
  • Potence. Use the Inhuman Ability (STR) manifestation. Or use the Leap manifestation.
  • Presence. Use the Terrifying manifestation.
  • Protean. Use the Shapeshift manifestation to take an animal form.
  • Blood Sorcery. Use the Arcana and spell casting.
  • Others. You can allow players to pick the manifestations below which map nicely to vampire powers we have seen in movies and books.
    Wall Crawling.
    Heightened Senses.
    Ethereal Form (for mist form).

Designer Notes

  • Untested. This is all completely untested.
  • Humanity. I have chosen to not include rules for this. It is not a theme I wanted to explore in my game. Feel free to add your own
  • Generation or Blood Potency. I have not included rules for this. That would the next logical addition.
  • Clans. A big part of Masquerade lore. Feel free to include them if you want. You can prescribe that characters from certain clans must buy certain Disciplines.

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