Traits
____The power and skill of a vampire are measured by her Traits: abilities possessed by all humans to some extent. These four Traits are:
____Physical: This Trait measures a vampire's physical prowess - her raw strength, agility and stamina. This Trait is used to resolve all tasks involving fighting, lifting things, running, etc.
____Mental: This trait measures a vampire's brains, reasoning ability, wits and cunning. This Trait is used to resolve all tasks concerned with trying to notice something, puzzle out a clue or think quickly.
____Social: This Trait measures a vampire's charm, attractiveness and presence. Social is used to resolve all tasks concerned with trying to coerce, seduce, convince or con someone into doing something.
____Psychic: This Trait measures a vampire's inner strength: her willpower, inner discipline and self-mastery. In many ways it is a measure of a vampire's soul. Psychic is used to resolve all tasks concerned with resisting intimidation, mind control or frenzy.
____Traits are rated from 1 to 4; a rating of 1 indicates a mediocre level of ability, while a rating of 4 indicates a Trait at peak human ability (an Olympic athlete, a genius, a great statesman, or a near-Buddha). It is possible to have a zero in a Trait, reflecting a crippled or decrepit character (most characters do not start out with any zeros, though Nosferatu characters do have zeros in their Social Traits, reflecting their hideous appearance). It is also possible for vampires to attain superhuman scores - 5 or even higher (again, most characters do not start with such might, but vampire elders and those close in blood to Caine often have such Traits).
____Most humans possess ratings of 1 or 2 in their Traits; beginning vampire characters, however, are considered the cream of the crop.

Trait Ratings
____0 Abysmal
____1 Mediocre
____2 Pretty good
____3 Really good
____4 Human perfection
____5+ Superhuman (vampires only)

____Players creating new characters rank these Traits from 1 to 4. So, a player creating a stereotypical high-society Toreador might place a 4 in Social (she's absolutely fabulous, dahling), a 3 in Mental (of course she knows the difference between Post-Modernism and Abstract Expressionism), a 2 in Physical (those ballet lessons weren't a complete waste), and a 1 in Psychic (how dare you criticize her taste in vessels? What kind of Philistine are you? Ohhhh, the pain).

Disciplines
____Vampires are miraculous - or horrific - by dint of their very existence. One might think that the spectacle of a corpse rising from death to live again is wondrous in itself. But Caine's curse bestowed other dark gifts on its victims. Though the Blood itself makes vampires formidable creatures, the Disciplines are what truly give the undead their power.
____Disciplines come in two levels: Basic and Advanced. Each level gives a vampire access to a number of supernatural powers. A Blood Level must be spent for each power activated (two Blood Levels to use an Advanced Discipline power). Obviously, a vampire with an Advanced Discipline has mastered the Basic Level as well. Mastering a Discipline level gives access to all the powers listed under that Discipline.

Animalism
____Vampires with the Discipline of Animalism find themselves with greater control over both the animal world and the Beast Within.
Basic
____-Beast Speech: The vampire may communicate telepathically with any animal larger than an insect. The power lasts for a scene.
____-Beast Summons: The vampire may summon any animals of a given species within one mile. The animals must actually exist in the area (i.e., summoning tigers in Brooklyn is unlikely to work), and they answer the summons as fast as their own mobility allows. The animals obey the caster's commands if they are not too dangerous. If two opposing vampires both employ Beast Summons on the same animal, the one with the higher Social Trait wins.
Advanced
____-Song of Serenity: The vampire may sing a soothing song, pacifying all creatures in the vicinity. Beings who hear the song become lethargic and incapable of acting aggressively toward anyone. Mortals are automatically affected by the power; to target another vampire, the singer must make a Mental roll (difficulty of the victim's Psychic +2).
____-Drawing out the Beast: The vampire may "cast" her Beast on another. To use this power, the vampire must be in a situation where she risks frenzy (see the frenzy rules, below). She may then transfer her inner Beast into another being's soul by making a Psychic roll (difficulty of the opponent's Psychic +2). If the transfer succeeds, the target immediately enters frenzy. Once the target's frenzy ends, the Beast returns to its "owner."

Auspex
____The Discipline of Auspex bestows telepathic and extrasensory perception powers on its practitioners.