Degeneration

Despite all efforts to the contrary, a vampire is going to succumb to moral failure sooner or later in his
unlife. Willfully or otherwise (ethics are particularly hard to maintain in frenzy), a vampire
occasionally commits an atrocity and risks losing to the Beast. If the character feels remorse for his
actions, he knows that his morality is still intact. If he commits a wrongful act and callously disregards
it, however, his resistance to the Beast is obviously waning.

One of the most important themes of Vampire is the Kindred’s struggle to retain their souls and avoid
the clutches of the Beast. Thus, it is extremely important to use morality in a consistent, dramatic
manner. If the Storyteller allows the players to (sometimes literally) get away with murder, the story
will suffer as one of the tragedies of vampiric existence vanishes. If the Storyteller is too strict with the
morality rules, though, all the characters will be ravening, blood-gorged maniacs by the end of the first
session. Keeping a handle on morality is a hard thing to do, but the degeneration system is designed to
help that. (Since most vampires are on Humanity, from this point forward we’ll talk exclusively in
those terms — special rules for those on Paths of Enlightenment start on p. 313.)

The system is simple: Whenever a character takes an action that the Storyteller decides is morally
questionable, the character may suffer degeneration — a permanent loss of Humanity. If
degeneration is a possibility, the player whose character commits the act should make a Conscience
roll for that character. The difficulty is 8 — reprehensible acts are hard to justify — though the
Storyteller may modify this. Willpower may not be spent for an automatic success on this roll — all
the ego in the world won’t protect a character from guilt.

If the player makes the roll with even one success, the character loses no Humanity — he feels enough
remorse or somehow manages to justify his transgression. If he fails the roll, the character loses a
point of Humanity. If the player botches, the character loses a point of both Humanity and Conscience,
and also gains a derangement, decided upon by the Storyteller. Obviously, morality is not something a
Kindred can afford to take lightly. Remember that a vampire whose Humanity drops to zero becomes
a character controlled by the Storyteller.

On the Brink

A Storyteller should always warn a player before she takes an action that may cause degeneration.
Players should understand the consequences of their characters’ actions, and should have the
opportunity to enjoy making the decision. Likewise, a player whose character is in frenzy should be
told when the character is about to do something heinous. (Remember, though, that a player may
spend a point of Willpower in order to stave off the pangs of frenzy for a turn.) Players should not be
allowed to think they can get away with anything. Make it obvious that a roll may become necessary if
vicious characters persist in committing selfcentered deeds. Likewise, don’t bait and switch. If you
warn them that a roll is imminent, go through with it, or you risk ruining the mechanic’s usefulness.

Using Hierarchies of Sin

Degeneration checks may seem arbitrary or illdefined. To some degree, they are, but this is intentional.
Moreover, degeneration checks are not random so much as they are subjective. A Storyteller has carte
blanche to monitor character morality in her chronicle. This is a huge responsibility for the Storyteller,
but one that ultimately makes for a great deal of tragedy and horror, as the characters gradually
descend into a state of utter monstrosity though they desperately rail against it. Storytellers, beware
players should never feel that you are screwing them out of Humanity or, consequently, their
characters. Use degeneration checks consistently but sparingly, lest the tragedy erode to an incessant
series of failed die rolls.
To lend a sense of order to degeneration checks, consult the Hierarchy of Sin for Humanity on p. 312.
(Other Paths use Hierarchies of Sin as well, though their ideas of “sin” are different.) Whenever a
character commits a dubious act, see how that action relates to the hierarchy. If the action is at or
below the level of the character’s Humanity rating, a roll is warranted — as a character falls further
down the Humanity scale, she becomes increasingly callous, and minor peccadilloes cease to bother
her. The use of the term “violation” in the hierarchy is deliberately vague, to aid the Storyteller. A
violation may be anything questionable, and is presented to avoid inclining the scale toward any single
transgression. Violation may be killing, callous injury, rape (what do you think taking blood by force
is?), or any other villainy.

It seems hard to slide to the lowest echelons of the scale, but consider the prominence of the Beast as
Humanity falters. Sooner or later, the character will be committing depravity outside her own volition.
The Storyteller is free to decree that characters of low Humanity (4 or less) occasionally act according
to various urges and impulses that must be resisted with Conscience rolls or Willpower expenditure.
This is the crux of Vampire — how closely can the character walk with the Beast before it drags her
into damnation?

Bearing

A vampire’s morality has a direct impact on her bearing — a feeling the Kindred unconsciously
projects. The greater the vampire’s Humanity or Path rating, the stronger this tendency is. For
example, vampires on Humanity have a bearing of normalcy; the humane connection that such
vampires hold keeps them from seeming strange and terrifying to mortals.

Generally, a vampire’s bearing has little or no direct effect on her nightly activities — it’s only a
vague impression. Very high or low morality ratings impose a bonus or penalty to specific rolls
associated with the character’s bearing — for Humanity, the bearing modifier affects Social rolls for
appearing normal and winning sympathy. These modifiers can affect rolls used for Disciplines, where
relevant. Paths of Enlightenment have their own bearings, which are listed with each Path description.

Humanity/Path Rating Bearing Modifier

10 -2 difficulty
9-8 -1 difficulty
7-4 no modifier
3-2 +1 difficulty
1 +2 difficulty

Humanity

Let’s make one thing clear: just because a vampire follows the Path of Humanity doesn’t mean she is a
friendly, congenial saint. Vampires are predators by nature, and Humanity only gifts them with the
ability to pretend they’re not. It is an internal charade that protects a Kindred from herself, much as the
Masquerade protects vampires from the mortals outside.

Unfortunately, the very nature of existence as a vampire is anathema to one’s Humanity. As the
centuries wear on, the Beast takes hold, and Kindred become less and less concerned with the
wellbeing of the kine (after all, they’ll die eventually, anyway). As such, characters are likely to lose
Humanity over the course of the game.

Mortals also typically follow the Path of Humanity, though this is largely out of ignorance: They don’t
know they can be anything else. As such, this mechanical system for morality rarely comes into play
for them. Certainly, some mortals — rapists, murderers, and the like — have low Humanity ratings,
but they have no Beast roiling within them, as do the Kindred. It is possible for a vampire with a high
Humanity rating to be more humane than some mortals are!
X Monstrous
• Horrific
•• Bestial
••• Cold
•••• Unfeeling
••••• Distant
••••• • Removed
••••• •• Normal
••••• ••• Caring
••••• •••• Compassionate
••••• ••••• Saintly

Effects of Humanity

A Kindred’s Humanity rating reflects how much of a character’s mortal nature remains despite the
curse of Caine. It influences how well a character may deny her vampiric state, as well as how
effectively she may pass for mortal.

• Vampires sleep unnaturally deeply and are loath to rise even if presented with danger. Vampires with
higher Humanity rise earlier in the evening than vampires with lower Humanity ratings. Also, if a
Kindred is forced to act during the day, the maximum dice pool he may employ for any action is equal
to his Humanity rating.

• Humanity also affects a character’s Virtues. Whenever a certain Virtue is called into question, a
player may not roll more dice for a Virtue than her character has dots in Humanity. Obviously, as the
character sinks ever more deeply into the arms of damnation, questions of morality and self-
preservation mean less and less. As Humanity depletes, the character creeps slowly toward the night
when she loses all self-control.

• The length of time a Kindred spends in torpor (p. 283) relates directly to his Humanity rating. A
vampire with low Humanity remains in torpor for a longer time than a vampire with a higher
Humanity rating.

• Humanity determines how human a character appears and how easily she may pass among the
populace. Vampires with low Humanity acquire unnatural and disturbing features like sunken eyes,
perpetual snarls, and bestial countenances (a reflection of the vampire’s bearing — see the sidebar on
the previous page).

• If a character’s Humanity rating ever drops to zero, that persona is no longer suitable for use as a
player’s character. Completely controlled by his Beast, the character is mindless and falls under the
Storyteller’s control.

Humanity ratings fluctuate based upon the Hierarchy of Sin — if a vampire accidentally or
purposefully commits an act rated lower than her Humanity rating, she must roll her Conscience Trait
to see whether she accepts the act (and thus loses Humanity) or feels remorse and maintains her
current level. Humanity may be raised only by spending experience points on it.

The Downward Spiral

Vampires are monsters, and even a Kindred with the highest of Humanity ratings is nothing more than
a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Nonetheless, as Humanity erodes, vampires not only become capable of,
but also actively pursue, ever more depraved acts. It is in a vampire’s nature to hunt and kill, and
eventually every vampire finds himself holding the corpse of a vessel he had not intended to murder.
It is important, then, to know how vampires change as their Humanity ratings deteriorate. Vampires’
behavior, even under the auspices of Humanity, may become so utterly depraved and alien that the
very thought of her causes discomfort in others. After all, a low Humanity rating indicates that very
little connects the Kindred with her mortal origins.

Humanity 10-8

Kindred with Humanity ratings this high are, ironically, more human than human. Many fledgling
vampires sometimes adhere to codes more rigorous than they ever held in life, as a reaction against
becoming a predator. Older Kindred scoff at this practice, laughing at the thought of newly whelped
neonates cowering beneath fire escapes and subsisting on the foul blood of rats, vainly rebelling
against their murderous natures.

In truth, vampires who maintain high ratings in Humanity are rare, as every Kindred must kill sooner
or later. Vampires with high Humanity are almost unbearable by their peers, who find frustration in
their perceived naiveté and self-righteousness; most Kindred prefer to suffer through unlife without
kicking themselves. High Humanity ratings indicate aversion to killing and even distaste for taking
more vitae than is necessary. Though not necessarily passive or preachy, Kindred with high Humanity
uphold excruciatingly exacting standards, and often have very clearly defined concepts of moral right
and wrong.

Humanity 7

Most human beings have Humanity ratings of 7 or so, so vampires at this level of Humanity can
usually manage to pass for mortals. Vampires with 7 Humanity typically subscribe to “normal” social
mores — it’s not acceptable to hurt or kill another person, it’s wrong to steal something that another
person owns, but sometimes the speed limit is just too damn slow. The vampire is still concerned with
the natural rights of others at this stage of morality, though more than a little selfishness shines
through.

Humanity 6-5

People die. Stuff breaks. A vampire below the cultural human norm has little difficulty with the fact
that she needs blood to survive, and she does what needs to be done to get it. Though she won’t
necessarily go out of her way to destroy property or end a victim’s life, she accepts that sometimes
that’s what fate has in store for some folks. Though not constantly horrid, Kindred at this stage of
Humanity are certainly at least mildly unpleasant to be around. Their laissez-faire attitudes toward
others’ rights offend many more moral individuals.

Humanity 4

The vampire begins an inevitable slide into urge indulgence. A Humanity of 4 indicates that killing is
acceptable to this Kindred, so long as his victim is “deserving.” Many vampire elders hover around
this level of Humanity, if they haven’t adopted some other moral code. Destruction, theft, injury —
these are all tools, rather than taboos, for a vampire with Humanity 4. The vampire’s own agenda
becomes paramount at this point, and screw whoever gets in the way.
Humanity 3-2

The lives and property of others are irrelevant to a Kindred this far gone. The vampire likely indulges
twisted pleasures and aberrant whims, which may include any manner of atrocity. Perversion, callous
murder, mutilation of victims, and wickedness for its own sake are the hallmarks of a Kindred with
very low Humanity. Few vampires maintain ratings this low and lower for very long — their
damnation is all but certain at this point. Physical changes show up at this stage; while not hideous in
the sense of the Nosferatu or certain Gangrel, the vampire acquires a pallid, corpselike, and noticeably
unwholesome aspect.

Humanity 1

Only nominally sentient, Kindred with Humanity 1 teeter on the edge of oblivion. Little matters to
vampires this far gone, even their own desires outside of sustenance and rest. There is literally nothing
a vampire with Humanity 1 won’t do, and only a few tattered shreds of ego stand between him and
complete devolution. Many who attain this stage find themselves no longer capable of coherent
speech, and spend their nights gibbering blasphemy in their gore-spattered havens.

Humanity 0

Must sleep. Must feed. Must kill. Players may not run characters with Humanity 0. Vampires at this
stage are completely lost to the Beast.