Mythos by night

A Storyteller system rpg

Of existential horror

character creation guide 1.0

 H.P.L.

What is this document for?

This supplement is intended to help players create an Investigator.
This is a character, by which using the Storyteller System of
Vampire: The Masquerade version 5, will venture into the world of
the Lovecraftian Mythos.

How do I get started?

One of the most important parts of Mythos by Night (MbN) is
selecting a setting, an era, and a timeline that all players involved
would find fun and interesting to portray a character within. Once
you have that established, the rest is creating a persona and building
that story and seeing it through. It can be historical, futuristic, or
present day, it does not matter one bit. Once you have those
aspects established and agreed upon, your next step would be build
your Investigator.

Creating Your Investigator

As per the templates for mortals within the v5 Storytelling System, you will have the option to create
what is known as a Gifted Mortal. Since the intent of MbN is for the player’s character to star in a role
that is more than simply just an average person. As per v5 system rules, your mortal investigators can
gain experience and increase skills and attributes as desired.

In contrast to Vampire: The Masquerade in MbN you will be focusing on only the following broad factors
as seen on the custom character sheet:

 Name: name of your Investigator.

 Chronicle: the name of the story you are in.
 Concept: an adjective or brief sentence that best describes your mortal concept. For example:
retired cop, surgeon, socialite, soldier, etc.
 Ambition: what is the overarching goal that your mortal would want to attain? For example:
mayor of a town, curing a deadly disease, serving in the military, etc.
 Mortal Flaw: an adjective or brief sentence that describes a significant flaw of your character.
For example: alcoholic, gambler, violent, abusive, etc.

Gifted Mortal Template

Distribute your attributes, skills, and advantages as follows.
■ Attributes: One at 4 dots, two at 3 dots, two at 2 dots, the rest at 1 dot
■ Skills: Two at 4 dots (one with a Specialty), four at 3 dots, four at 2 dots, four at 1 dot
■ Advantages: Spend 10 points (4 points maximum must be spent on Flaws)
■ Mortal Gifts: Choose two Gifts, put two dots in one, and one dot in the other.
New Skill Specialties
 Mythos Lore (Academics) – You made studying mythos lore a passion of yours, perhaps to your
detriment.
 Monster Hunter (Investigation) – You know there are things that go bump in the night, and
you’ve focused on spotting details others may miss.
 Preternatural Anatomy (Medicine) – You’ve had opportunities to capture, dissect, and study
creatures that defy explanation.
 Dabble in The Art (Occult) – You have practiced rituals, chants, and spells associated with
Mythos Lore.

New Tracker: Sanity

On the MbN character sheet, instead of Hunger you will see a different
tracker for your mortal, Sanity. Similar to the Hunger mechanic, Sanity
comes into play when your mortal character faces a physical or social
interaction in game and your Sanity plays a factor in how that interaction
is resolved. All new players start at 0 Sanity lost.

Sanity gives voice to your inner monologue of stability. Keeping your

sanity, and recovering it, is crucially important in Mythos by Night.

As your Investigator interacts with the world and its terrifying

inhabitants, the more this affects your Sanity, and the more you are in
danger of acting out your Mortal Bane (discussed later in this guide).

Sanity, as far as the game is concerned, is the descriptor by which your mortal’s grip upon reality is
measured. Sanity will result in your character manifesting into quite literally losing all touch with reality
and becoming the very worst version of themselves. As Sanity is lost, your Investigator may experience
illusions, visions, night terrors, or become paranoid and lock themselves up in a room. Mechanically, loss
of Sanity results in scaling penalties to use skills and Mortal Gift Amalgam Powers as the voices in your
head try to guide to completing that terrible ritual, or sacrificing yourself to ensure the return of the
Elder Gods.

Mechanics of Sanity
■ Every Investigator, upon interacting with an otherworldly entity or activating a Mortal Gift Amalgam
Power (discussed later in this guide), makes a Sanity Check. This is done to establish how much your
Sanity will influence your daily decisions and actions.
■ An amount of dice equal to the number of your Sanity tracker will be included in any of your dice
pools. Much like rolling your Hunger die.
■ Sanity dice used in resolution dice pools cannot be re-rolled by spending Willpower.
■ Sanity checks may be called by the Storyteller should the scene or session call for it. Typically, these
can be triggers that go against your convictions or seek to sabotage your goals/ambitions, play upon
your Mortal Flaw Power (discussed later in this guide), or to activate a Mortal Gift Amalgam Power.
Recovering Your Sanity
As Sanity is lost, instead of consuming vitae as is done in VtM, your character must engage with what is
in line with your Mortal Totem to recover their Sanity and reestablish their grip on reality.
An interaction with your totem once per session recovers one level of Sanity. Depending on the time
spent with your totem, it is the Storyteller’s discretion if that time recovers more than one level.
You cannot recover Sanity in this manner down to zero. To completely clear your Sanity tracker would
require checking your Investigator into an asylum, or abandoning being an investigator.

What is Your “Mortal Totem”?

Your totem is defined, as far as your character is concerned, the one thing that will root them, calm
them, re-center them mentally, physically, and spiritually. A player’s Mortal Totem need not be
complex, but is required to be of significant positive importance to the mortal.

For ideas, a player’s Totem may be any one of the following as an example:
 A period of intense meditation, prayer, or self-reflection.
 Being in a quiet space for an extended period of time.
 Reading several chapters of their favorite book.
 Watching several hours of their favorite TV show, or movie.
 Needing to be near a waterfall, or running water feature for a period of time.
 Listening to their favorite musical artist, or playing an instrument they are proficient in, for a
period of time.
 Consensual intimate relations with a trusted and loving partner.
 Cuddling with your favorite stuffed animal or playing with a cherished childhood toy for a period
of time.
 Conversation with your single best and closest friend.
 And so forth…

A player’s mortal totem should strive be an activity, thing, or person by

which they can accomplish the process of centering themselves and
recovering their Sanity. It also should strive to be of something that takes a
reasonable amount of time to interact or engage with.

If your totem is interrupted or disturbed by any means, the Storyteller will

call for a Composure + Resolve roll with the number of successes needed
at the Storyteller’s discretion based on the severity of the
interruption/disturbance. On a success, you can resume your totem and
recover your levels of lost Sanity. On a messy critical this is done at a cost.
On a failure, your grip on reality slips and you are taken “out of the
moment” with your totem. You do not recover Sanity, and cannot retry
interaction with your totem until the end of the current session. On a bestial failure, your Sanity is not
recovered, but you gain a level of Sanity loss. If this level of Sanity fills your tracker, your Mortal Bane
immediately takes effect.
What is Your “Mortal Bane”?
Unlike your Totem, think of your Mortal Bane as manifesting the
absolute worst incarnation of your “bad side” due to the fact you
completely lose touch with reality for a period of time. As a rule, your
Bane must be uniformly negative to your character, and provide
significant harrowing consequences for them.

You act upon your Bane when your Sanity tracker is full. As per v5 rules,
you may spend Willpower to take control of your character for one turn
while you’re under the influence of your Bane in an attempt to mitigate
its effects.

Regardless, your Bane remains in play until it reaches its devastating

(but logical) conclusion unless you spend willpower or act upon your
totem. Your Bane should make sense to the character you play, and
should strive to be related to your mortal flaw in some way but it is not a requirement. For example, if
you have a character whose Bane is to get violently blackout drunk, it would make sense they have a
flaw of alcoholism.

For ideas, a player’s Mortal Bane may be any one of the following as an example:
 Poor anger management, resulting in displays of physical and verbal abuse.
 Poor impulse control, you spend money you don’t have, gamble, commit sexual misconduct or
assault.
 Alcoholism. You must get excessively drunk.
 Prideful and overconfident to the detriment of yourself and those around you.
 Overly worrisome and fearful to the point of inaction.
 Paranoid to a ridiculous degree, feeling watched and manipulated.
 Manipulative and deceitful to a horrible degree.
 Be a pathological liar.
 And so forth…

As per above, your mortal Bane needs to be an antithesis to your totem, a side of you that you may keep
very well hidden, or is out there for all to see and you could care less. It is intended to be something that
if ever fully comes to pass, would provide disastrous consequences.

Spending Willpower
A player may spend a point of Willpower for several different purposes:
 To re-roll up to three regular dice, (not Sanity dice) in any dice pool except when the rules
specifically exclude Willpower re-rolls: rolling tracker pools, engaging in a One-Roll Conflict (p.
296 of main rulebook), etc.
 To take control of your character for one turn when under the influence of your Mortal Bane.
 To ignore Health damage penalties, including Impairment, for one turn.
Recovering Willpower
Characters can recover Superficial damage to Willpower in the following ways:
 At the beginning of a session, a character can remove an amount of Superficial damage up to
their Composure or Resolve (use highest) from their Willpower track. Exception: a session that
ends on a cliffhanger in which dwindling Willpower levels provide tension. In such cases, the
characters retain whatever Willpower they were left with after last session.
 At the Storyteller’s discretion, once per session, a character who definitively acts to further their
Ambition may immediately recover 1 point of Superficial Willpower damage.
 At the Storyteller’s discretion, a character who plays out a messy critical (p. 207 of main rulebook),
a bestial failure (p. 207), or their Mortal Bane in a sufficiently dramatic way can recover one or
more Superficial Willpower damage.

Characters can recover Aggravated damage to Willpower in the following ways:

 At the Storyteller’s discretion, a character can recover one or more points of Aggravated
Willpower damage when acting to significantly benefit a Touchstone or uphold a Conviction
against their own best interest.
 At the end of a session in which the character has actively worked toward their Ambition, they
recover one point of Aggravated Willpower damage.

Humanity
In v5 Vampire, humanity measures how close a vampire is to their
human life, to specific people that draw them toward life and light,
and to human concerns generally.

In MbN humanity works in a similar fashion, except instead of being

related to how “human” a vampire appears humanity functions as a
tracker, for lack of a better term, how “civilized” a mortal is.

It is usually portrayed that a character with average humanity, while

flawed and has problems, overall is considered sympathetic to the
struggles of the human condition. Has compassion for their fellow
humans, and by and large follows the law and tries to do the right
thing. High humanity characters may be exemplary humans, doing
fantastic deeds, and saying dramatic moving speeches on crucial
humanitarian issues.

Below average and very low humanity characters are humans that are
greedy, selfish, violate human rights, have little to no compassion,
and near zero regard for humanity as a whole.

Investigators can lose humanity and should work with their storyteller using the Humanity guidelines in
the VtM core book to guide how their Investigator now approaches life. Humanity is lost through the
acquisitions of Stains and are resolved as per the Remorse Test rules for v5.
An Investigator who loses their last point of Humanity, from 1 to 0 (zero), goes out in a spectacular style.
Depending on the scenario they are but a shell of a human being, completely devoid of sympathy,
empathy, anything remotely propping them up as a person and doubly so they have completely lost
their grip on reality. The complete loss of humanity calls for the storyteller to immediately assume
control of the Investigator, and also triggers their mortal bane (if it is not already in play). Their bane is
triggered in such a way as cannot be deterred by Willpower or any other similar check. The Investigator
is now out of the game, and is either committed to an asylum, killed, or kills themselves at this point.

Applicable Advantages/Flaws for Mortals

The following is a list of what advantages/flaws are able to be applied to mortal characters only as per
the v5 Vampire Main Rulebook.

Ally/Enemy: Mortal associates, usually family or friends

Advantage/Flaw: (•+/•+] Effectiveness:
(•) A weak and likely useless mortal.
(••) An average mortal or group of weak mortals.
(•••/•] A gifted mortal or group of average mortals.

Advantage/Flaw: (•+/•] Reliability:

(•) They will appear 50% of the time.
(••) They will appear in about 1-10 hours.
(•••/•] They will appear as soon as possible.

Archaic:
Flaw: [••] Anachronism—Your Technology skill rating is permanently 0 or -1.
Flaw: [•] Living in the Past—You have one or more outdated convictions.

Contact: The information sources you possess

Advantage: (•+) Contact—You have a contact with Resources rating ranging from (•) Destitute to (•••)
Wealthy.

Fame/Infamy: How well-known you are among fellow mortals

Flaw: [•+] Dark Secret—Less likely to harm you than infamy, but likely to be more dangerous. Ranging
from [•] having a debt/boon owed to the wrong people or ties to those with [••+] Infamous to [••] been
convicted of a misdemeanor, been convicted of a felony, or worse.
Advantage/Flaw: (•+/•+] Famous/Infamous—You are recognized as famous/infamous ranging from
(•/•] a subculture to (•••••/•••••] globally.

Infamy: Flaw traits equal to Fame advantage

Influence: Your political power within mortal society
Flaw: [••] Despised—By a group or region of the city. They actively seek to thwart you and your goals. -2
from dice pools in social situations with them.
Flaw: [•] Disliked—By most. -1 from dice pools in social situations with all except your contacts, allies
and close friends.
Advantage: (•) Well-connected—You’re ensured a hearing.
Advantage: (••) Influential—People want to do you favors.
Advantage: (•••) Entrenched—Mortal power-brokers tread carefully around you.
Advantage: (••••) Powerful—With few exceptions most will obey you.
Advantage: (•••••) Dominant—Your subservient mortals attempt to anticipate your whims.

Linguistics:
Flaw: [••] Illiterate—You cannot read or write. Your Academics and Science skills cannot be raised above
1 or be granted specialties.
Advantage: (•) Language—You are fluent and literate in an additional language.

Looks:
Flaw: [••] Repulsive—Relevant Social dice pools have -2.
Flaw: [•] Ugly—Relevant Social dice pools have -1.
Advantage: (••) Beautiful—Relevant Social dice pools have +1.
Advantage: (••••) Stunning—Relevant Social dice pools have +2.

Mask: A false identity

Flaw: [••] Most Wanted List—Most (if not all) of your identifying information is part of several
intelligence databases as a potential terrorist. You are at high risk to be targeted by the appropriate
agencies.
Flaw: [•] Known Corpse—You “died” recently and people will recognize you.
Advantage: (•) Fake ID Card—You can get anything from a credit card to a birth certificate with this card.
Advantage: (••) Fake Identity—You can pass an in-depth back-ground check. *With this advantage you
can purchase the following two advantages at (•) each:
 Advantage: (*) Zeroed—Your real identity has been erased.
 Advantage: (*) Cobbler—You can make or source Masks. Making a Mask takes three days per (•)
and possibly exposes you online. Sourcing a Mask takes one day per (•) and can cost.

Resources: Wealth, belongings, and income

Flaw: [•] Destitute—You have no money and no home.
Advantage: (•) Portfolio Proletariat—You live paycheck to paycheck.
Advantage: (••) Middle Class—Nice apartment/small home with cars.
Advantage: (•••) Rich—Great condo or nice house with luxury items.
Advantage: (••••) Wealthy—Mansion. Private helicopter or jet.
Advantage: (•••••) Ultra Rich—Anything money can buy.

Substance Abuse:
Flaw: [••] Hopeless Addiction—Your dice pools have -2 if you have not taken your drug of choice within
the last 3 days.
Flaw: [•] Addiction—Your dice pools have -1 if you have not taken your drug of choice in the last 7 days.
Advantage: (•) High-functioning Addict—Your dice pools have +1 if you have taken your drug of choice
for the next 24 hours.
Mortal Gifts
Vampires have amazing disciplines by which through the magic of their
blood they call forth and manifest supernatural disciplines.
Werewolves, by virtue of the preternatural power that dwells within them,
are able to change their form and through force of will use fantastic
abilities.

Mortals however do not share these aspects. Some mortals though

through determination, grit, will, and focus raise above their human
constraints and do extraordinary things as far as mortals are concerned.

As per the MbN Character Sheet, your mortal has three areas in which
they may excel in their gifts: Physical, Social, and Mental.

Mortals only have access to three dots worth of gifts per category. Depending upon the composition of
mortal the attempt is to offer the player an area in where they may surpass their fellow mortals in one,
and perhaps two areas upon character building.

Unlike Vampire Disciplines that have varying levels per dot, mortal gifts are a little more straightforward
and streamlined. One dot is equivalent to one gift within the category you choose. Gifts, while intriguing
aspects of your Mortal, are not intended to be the only aspect by which your character is based. Yes,
they are a dominating feature (you’re very strong, quick, beautiful, or intelligent) but they are only part
of the story. Mortal gifts have their own Perquisites, System, and Duration independent of the Amalgam
Powers that can be used.

Amalgam Powers:
The Amalgam Power listed with the associated Mortal Gift is resolved as per the power description in
the VtM v5 core rule book with the exception that a Sanity check is required to have your Investigator
use that power even if the cost of the power is free.

Mortal Gifts: Physical

Physical mortal gifts, naturally, are derived from the sphere of those mortals that seek to hone their
physical bodies to the absolute peak performance the human form may be able to achieve. Strength,
agility, balance, quickness, all come into play.

Physical Gift - Extraordinary Strength

You have a musculature honed by countless hours spent training your body. You are able to lift push and
drag extremely heavy loads.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Strength.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Strength attribute has +2 dice to the pool. Any brawl
attacks inflict one additional Superficial damage to the target, provided the target isn’t immune
to Superficial damage.
 Duration: One Scene.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Lethal Body (Potence)
Physical Gift - Superior Agility
You have a sense of balance and litheness that is unparalleled. You dance gracefully, walk a tightrope
without so much as a wobble, and can balance upon your palms for minutes on end.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Dexterity.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Dexterity attribute has +2 dice to the pool. You can
also leap twice your height, and vertical jump one half your height for the duration of your turn.
 Duration: One Turn.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Cat’s Grace (Celerity)

Physical Gift – Enduring Stamina

You have a well of stamina that few other mortals can match. You can run cross country with the best of
them, cycle for hours, backpack in the mountains for miles and take a beating.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Stamina.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Stamina attribute has +2 dice to the pool. You can
also reduce up to one point of Aggravated damage to Superficial damage instead.
 Duration: One scene.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Resilience (Fortitude)

Mortal Gifts: Social

Social mortal gifts lie primarily in the realm of being able to convey a unique presence. Wither it be with
compelling attractiveness, or projecting a true force of personality, Social gifts typically address how a
mortal can enchant and inspire their fellow mortals.

Social Gift - Extraordinary Beauty

You have an appearance that is unparalleled to other mortals. You check the box on everything that
mortals would find attractive and alluring. Your beauty many mortals find intoxicating to be near.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Charisma.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Charisma attribute has +2 dice to the pool. Gain two
dots in the Advantage: Influence. These dots do not count against your total dots to spend on
Advantages/Flaws.
 Duration: -
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Awe (Presence)

Social Gift – Skillful Manipulation

You possess a clever and calculating wit in manipulating emotions, or circumstances you may find
yourself in. Most mortals are struck in awe at your shrewd handling of both people, and situations.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Manipulation.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Manipulation attribute has +2 dice to the pool. Once
per session you may choose to re-roll up to 3 dice in your pool (excluding Sanity dice) without
expanding a Willpower point.
 Duration: Special.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Compel (Dominate)
Social Gift – Resolute Composure
You have an equanimity matched by few mortals. Even in the most chaotic or toxic situations, you retain
an amazing sense of self-control.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Composure.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Composure attribute has +2 dice to the pool. Up to
one point of Aggravated Willpower damage in a social conflict is instead turned into Superficial
damage.
 Duration: One scene.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Unswayable Mind (Fortitude)

Mortal Gifts: Mental

Mental gifts revolve around a mind cultivated in education and the acquisition of knowledge. You dazzle
other mortals with your knowledge of obscure trivia, tough subjects, or high-minded philosophy.

Mental Gift – Superior Intellect

You have an intellect rivaled by few other mortals. Your mastery of academia is astounding to those
mortals with the privilege to know you.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Intelligence.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Intelligence attribute has +2 dice to the pool. You
are considered to have an eidetic memory, the ability to recall an image from memory after
seeing it only once, with high precision for a brief time after exposure.
 Duration: -
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Sense The Unseen (Auspex)

Mental Gift – Extraordinarily Quick-Witted

You possess a fastness to your thinking that shocks other mortals. You always think quickly “on your
feet” and can piece a situation together in a rapid amount of time.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Wits.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Wits attribute has +2 dice to the pool. Once per
session, you cannot be caught off guard/surprised in either a physical or social conflict.
 Duration: Special.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Heightened Senses (Auspex)

Mental Gift – Concrete Resolve

Your level of determination is unmatched by few mortals. You can endure through an amazing force of
will, tremendously stressful physical, social, or mental situations.
 Prerequisite: Minimum 3 dots in Resolve.
 System: Any dice pool made involving your Resolve attribute has +2 dice to the pool. One point
of Aggravated damage to health or willpower may be ignored.
 Duration: One scene.
 Amalgam Powers (require minimum 1 Sanity Check): Level 1 – Unswayable Mind (Fortitude)