You can have a character in one of two ways: Make it using these guidelines or I can make one for you. Whatever works best!

Basics

The characters are small-town vampires, living discreetly among ordinary humans in Bristol, U.K. Some may have told their friends or relatives about their immortal status but even they lead fairly human lives.

Most of all, the characters are small-time, still connected to the human society around them. They can have jobs, friends, families. However, they’ve all started to understand that as time passes, the only people who will remain are the other vampires.

All the characters are friends who regularly hang out with each other. Nobody’s been a vampire longer than five years.

Possible concepts:

An office worker who can’t find the motivation to go to their job because aren’t vampires supposed to be above things like this?

A subculture god who’s used to being the most admired, desired and envied person in a small local subculture. Becoming a vampire only rises your status, but also makes it painfully clear that you’re a big fish in a small pond.

A blessed hustler, a deadbeat and a drug dealer who was having a very hard time of it until becoming a vampire made everything so much easier.

A tempted cop who keeps their vampire status a secret from everyone at their workplace but who has started to wonder what’s the point of trying to be an honest person when everyone around you will wilt away eventually.

Style

Being a fuck-up is good. Having a character who can do spontaneous, dangerous and silly stuff is good. This is not a game that runs on competence and effectiveness, so a character who’s self-destructive and impulsive is better than one who’s so smart, they never get into trouble.

One way to think about it is to make a character who can do all the stupid stuff that would be fun to do if you didn’t have to experience the consequences.

Good qualities are: Likes to meddle in the affairs of others. Falls in love/lust at the drop of a hat. Can’t keep a secret.

Basically things that allow engagement!

Personality

Every character should have a personality, themes and motivations that allow them to access the core content of the game.

You should be small-time enough to be genuinely surprised at what the vampires get up to in the big city.

You should be corruption-ready enough that you won’t just pack your bags and go home the moment things go bad.

All the characters know that vampires in London lead fabulous lives of luxury and excess. You know the vampire society there is dangerous and immoral but deep in your souls you’ve started to hunger for all the beauty and wonder you feel is the due of every vampire.

Who knows, maybe you can learn to lie to yourself about the price it will exact on your soul.

Aesthetics

You should have a picture of the character. Steal one off the internet, use the face of an actor, whatever. The main thing is that the image reflects who you think the character is. Send the image to me and I’ll use it in the game.

Physically becoming a vampire is pretty great. You look cooler and more attractive, more like you’ve always wanted to look. You feel energized and healthy. This is reflected in the general vampire aesthetics of this game.

Basically, we’re in True Blood territory when it comes to the “vampire level” of what characters look like.

Finishing touches

In this game, I’m trying out some new ideas, and using the basis of Vampire: the Masquerade for the rest. Your character will have stats but we’ll do those quickly at the start of the game. That’s also when we pick a few vampire powers. For now, you need:

Concept

Name

Picture

If you’re familiar with Vampire, you can also pick a Clan from these options: Brujah, Toreador, Gangrel, Ventrue, Lasombra. However, as your characters are largely disconnected from wider vampire culture, you don’t really know what it means to be from this Clan or that. The choice will affect how other people will see you during the game, as well as your superpowers.

The concept doesn’t have to be a wall of text: A bunch of notes is enough!