Overview

This is a complete rules reference for Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition (V20), organized as technical documentation for active play. It is not a narrative introduction to the game — it assumes familiarity with the World of Darkness and is structured for lookup during sessions.

What is V20

Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop roleplaying game in which players portray vampires — beings of the night who struggle with their monstrous nature while navigating centuries-old political conflicts. The 20th Anniversary Edition (2011) is the definitive compilation of the original game line, consolidating rules from across the V1–V3 era into a single authoritative text.

Core tensions built into the system:

• The Beast vs. the Mask — Every vampire contains an animalistic predator (the Beast) that fights constantly against the facade of humanity. Frenzy, Rötschreck, and the hunger mechanic force the Beast into play.
• Power vs. Humanity — Gaining power (Disciplines, lower Generation, political influence) typically requires acts that erode Humanity. The game is designed so these pressures are always in conflict.
• The individual vs. the Jyhad — Every PC is embedded in a centuries-old war between Antediluvians playing out through their descendants. What looks like personal politics may be a move in a game played by beings who were old when Rome fell.

The dice system: Pool-based (d10s). Roll a number of dice equal to an Attribute + Ability combination. Each die at or above the difficulty number (usually 6) is a success. More successes = better outcome. One success is enough for most tasks; extended actions require accumulated successes. A botch (all dice fail, at least one showing 1) means something goes wrong. No successes is a clean failure.

How This Reference Is Organized

The sections follow V20’s chapter order — the same sequence the corebook uses to introduce the game.

Society

The world Kindred inhabit before character creation begins. Five Sects govern (or claim to govern) vampiric society: the Camarilla, Sabbat, Anarchs, Tal’Mahe’Ra, and Inconnu. Also covers diablerie, prestation (the boon economy), the Red List, and hunters.

Start here if you need to understand who the power players are and what the political stakes look like before building a character.

Character Creation

The five-step V20 character creation procedure, with full coverage of Clans (the 13 great bloodlines), Bloodlines (the ten minor bloodlines), Attributes, Abilities, Backgrounds, and Merits & Flaws. Includes experience point costs for advancement.

Clan selection is the first real decision in character creation — your clan determines in-Clan Disciplines, your weakness, and your political affiliations.

Disciplines

All 17 core Disciplines — the supernatural powers of the vampiric condition — listed alphabetically from Animalism through Vicissitude. Each page covers all five dot levels, elder powers, and clan-specific variants. Also includes Combination Disciplines, Sorcery Traditions (Akhu, Dur-An-Ki, Sadhana, Wanga), and Dark Thaumaturgy (infernal blood magic).

For quick access: See the Disciplines index for the Clan Disciplines table showing which clans have which powers.

V20 Mechanics

The complete rules system. Follows V20’s Systems and Drama chapter order:

Solo Engine

The Mythic GME 2E oracle system used to run the game without a Storyteller: the Fate Chart, Chaos Factor, Random Events, and the Tourniquet Scale for tracking narrative momentum.

Running the Game

The Basic Game Loop

Every scene in V20 runs on the same cycle:

1. Establish the scene — Where are we? Who is present? What is at stake? Set time of night, location, and any ambient pressure.
2. Declare intent — The player states what their character is attempting. The Storyteller (or oracle, in solo play) frames any obstacles, opposition, or complications.
3. Determine if a roll is needed — Not every action requires dice. Roll only when:
   • The outcome is genuinely uncertain, and
   • Failure has meaningful consequences
4. Assemble the dice pool — Choose the appropriate Attribute + Ability combination. Common pools: Dexterity + Stealth (sneaking), Charisma + Persuasion (social), Dexterity + Firearms (shooting). Set difficulty (default 6).
5. Roll and count successes — Each die at or above the difficulty is a success. One success completes most tasks. Extended actions require accumulated successes across multiple rolls.
6. Narrate the outcome — Successes determine degree of success. Failure means the character did not achieve their intent. A botch (no successes + at least one 1 showing) means something goes wrong.
7. Advance the fiction — What changed? Update blood pool, clocks, NPC dispositions, and Chaos Factor. Move to the next beat.

When Not to Roll

Rolls are for uncertainty with stakes. Do not call for a roll when:

• The character has the relevant Attribute/Ability at a level that makes the task trivially achievable
• Success or failure does not change what happens next
• The character could not possibly succeed regardless of the roll
• Failure would simply stall the scene with no dramatic payoff

When in doubt, default to dramatic necessity: if rolling is more interesting than not rolling, roll.

Determining Difficulty

Circumstances modify difficulty up or down. Environmental factors, equipment, and Discipline use all contribute. No pool may have its difficulty raised above 10 or lowered below 3.

Action Types

The Scene Structure

A well-formed scene has three parts:

Opening — Establish location, time, NPCs present, and the immediate goal or threat. In solo play, the oracle determines scene setup via the Fate Chart and any Random Events.

Middle — Player decisions meet obstacles. Dice resolve uncertain moments. NPC reactions are determined by disposition and oracle rolls where the Storyteller is absent. The scene builds toward a resolution point — a decision, a consequence, or an escape.

Close — Tally what changed: blood spent, damage taken, relationships shifted, clocks advanced, new information learned. A scene that ends with nothing changed has failed its dramatic function. At minimum, one thing should be different at the end.

The Night’s Arc

A single session typically covers one night of in-game time, structured as:

• Dusk — Characters wake, spend 1 blood, assess immediate needs (hunting, messages, threats)
• First acts — Two to three scenes pursuing the session’s central pressure
• Complication — An unexpected development, NPC reaction, or Random Event shifts the situation
• Resolution — The night’s main conflict reaches an outcome (resolved, escalated, or deferred)
• Dawn — Characters seek haven; end-of-session bookkeeping: update blood pool, Humanity, threat clocks, NPC states

Blood pressure is a constant background mechanic. Every scene costs time and potentially blood. Characters who delay hunting run the Self-Control penalty that comes with a depleted blood pool — making frenzy more likely exactly when the situation is most demanding.

NPC Reactions

NPCs have dispositions (friendly, neutral, cautious, hostile) that modify social dice pools and determine their default behavior. When the outcome of an NPC interaction is unclear:

1. Assess disposition
2. Identify the most likely response given their motivations
3. If genuinely uncertain, use the Fate Chart (solo play) or Storyteller judgment
4. Apply the mechanical result (social roll successes, Dominate compliance, etc.)

Elders act from centuries of accumulated paranoia. Neonates act from ambition and insecurity. Mortals act from fear, desire, and self-interest. The Beast is always a factor for Kindred — any NPC vampire can frenzy if pushed.

The Dual Axis

Every session should register movement on both of V20’s core axes:

• External power — The PC’s influence, resources, political position, and Discipline development. Winning fights, building alliances, securing havens, advancing agendas.
• Internal erosion — Humanity loss, derangements, blood bonds, frenzy incidents. The cost of power. The slow drift from whatever the character was before the Embrace.

A session that advances only the external axis plays like an action game. A session that grinds only the internal axis becomes oppressive. The game works when both move — when winning costs something real.

On This Chronicle

This reference supports Vampire: The Masquerade — Forged in Steel, a solo chronicle set in the V20 metaplot circa 1990. The mechanics are standard V20; the setting is Chicago and Gary, Indiana, run with Mythic GME 2E as the oracle system.