Vampire Rules and Character Creation

Camarilla
Step One:
Character Concept
Concept is the birthing chamber for who a character will become. It need only be a general idea - brute; slick mobster; manic Malkavian kidnapper - but it should be enough to ignite your imagination. If you choose, a concept may be quite complex - "My character is a streetwise Tremere, Embraced as a child but with a precocious level of maturity. Being a Kindred scares him, but he knows that the alternative is Final Death and he's not ready for that yet." This stage involves the selection of the character's concept, clan, Nature and Demeanor.

Concept
A character's concept refers to who the character was before becoming a vampire. Many Kindred cling desperately to any salvageable aspects of their former selves - their self-image, their occupation, how they lived, what was unique about them. In their new nocturnal world, echoes of their mortal lives are all that stand between many Kindred and madness. Concept is important because it helps a vampire relate to the world. It's not a numerical Trait, and it has very little mechanical effect on the game. Its benefit is that it allows you to formulate a personality for your character, and it provides an anchor for a vampire who wishes to preserve her dwindling Humanity - or to rail against it.
Some sample concepts are presented on p. 103. If you don't see a concept you like, make one up! Who are we to tell you who you can or can't be?

Clan
A character's clan is her vampire "family," the undead legacy into which she was Embraced. Vampires are always of the same clan as their sires, the vampires who Embrace them. Look at the templates below, and decide which clan you'd like your character to be. As previously mentioned, the Storyteller may disallow members of certain clans based on the sect the chronicle involves. Many beginning chronicles, for example, allow only vampires from the Camarilla clans. If a player wishes, she need not choose a clan at all. Many vampires in these modern nights have blood so diluted that they can truly claim no clan. Unwanted and scorned, these clanless "Caitiff" are increasingly common. If you wish to play such a character, simply write "Caitiff under the Clan heading on the character sheet.

Brujah
Malkavian
Nosferatu
Toreador
Tremere
Ventrue

Nature and Demeanor (Archetypes)
After choosing concept and clan, a player should choose her character's Nature and Demeanor. These behavioral Traits, known as Archetypes, help players understand what kind of people their characters are. Nature and Demeanor are not required to play Vampire: The Masquerade, but they sometimes help players pin down their characters in their minds. Demeanor is the way a character presents herself to the outside world. It is the "mask" she wears to protect her inner self. A character's Demeanor often differs from her Nature, though it might not. Also, Demeanor refers to the attitude a character adopts most often - people change Demeanors as often as they change their minds. Demeanor has no effect on any rules.
Nature is the character's "real" self, the person she truly is. The Archetype a player chooses reflects that character's deep-rooted feelings about herself, others and the world. Nature need not be the only aspect of a character's true personality, merely the most dominant. Nature is also used to determine a character's ability to regain Willpower points (see p. 136).
For a complete list of Archetypes from which to select Nature and Demeanor, see here.

Step Two:
Select Attributes - Physical, Social and Mental
Players must now assign numbers. The first step in determining a character's numeric Traits is to prioritize his Attributes. Attributes are the natural abilities and raw "stuff" a character is made of. How strong is a character? How attractive? How quick? How smart? Attributes take all these questions and more into account. All Vampire characters have nine Attributes, which are divided into three categories: Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance) and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits).
First, the player must select which group of Attributes is his character's strong suit (primary). The player then selects the group in which the character is average (secondary). Finally, the remaining group is designated as the character's weak point (tertiary). Is your character tough but antisocial, or gorgeous but a complete airhead? Character concept and clan may suggest certain ranks for these priorities, but feel free to decide upon any scheme you please. Nothing's worse than playing a boring stereotype. Playing an interesting stereotype, though...
All Vampire characters start with one dot in each Attribute, reflecting the basic capabilities of the mortals from which they're drawn. (The exception is the Nosferatu, who have zero dots in their Appearance Attribute.) A character's priorities determine how many dots the player may allocate to that cluster of Attributes. A player may distribute seven additional dots to his character's primary group, five additional dots to the second- ary group and three dots to the tertiary group. For example, a tough, athletic character will likely allocate seven dots to his Physical category, while a clever, wise character will place seven dots in her Mental category.

Step Three:
Select Abilities - Talents, Skills and Knowledges
Abilities are also divided into three categories: Talents, Skills and Knowledges. Talents are intuitive Abilities that are inherent or learned "in the field." Skills are Abilities learned through rigorous training or determination. They may be learned with careful practice, but can also be studied or learned through training. Knowledges are just that - "book learning" and the like. Knowledges are typically mental pursuits or studies learned through schooling or books.
Like Attributes, Ability groups are also prioritised during character creation. Players should select primary, secondary and tertiary groups for their Abilities. The primary group receives 13 dots, the secondary group gets nine and the tertiary group receives five. Note that, unlike Attributes, characters do not begin the game with automatic dots in any Ability. Note further that no Ability may be purchased above three dots during this stage of character creation - even among the undead, experts in a field don't grow on trees. You may raise Abilities higher with freebie points, but that comes later.

Step Four:
Select Advantages
Now comes the part of character generation during which the vampire truly becomes unique. Advantages are Traits that make the vampire a contender in the hierarchy of the night. Advantages are not prioritized; a set number of dots may be allocated to each category. Though this number is fixed, additional Advantage dots may be purchased with freebie points.

Disciplines -
When vampires are Embraced, their sires teach them certain blood-based mystical powers, known as Disciplines. Each character begins with three dots of Disciplines, which may be allocated as the player chooses. For example, she may spend all three dots on one Discipline or spend a dot each on three Disciplines. Disciplines purchased with Advantage dots must be from the three clan Disciplines all clans possess. Each clan description above lists the Disciplines practiced by that clan, along with bloodline variations, if any. If the character is a clanless Caitiff, she may purchase whatever Disciplines she wants, subject to Storyteller approval. (Note: Disciplines purchased with freebie points need not be clan Disciplines.)