Playing Vampire Solo

Why Vampire Works Alone

Vampire: The Masquerade is already a game about being alone. The Kindred hide among the living, trust no one, and wrestle with the Beast in private. Playing solo, you take the part of one vampire and let the dice answer the questions a Storyteller would. The tool for that is the one you already use: a pool of ten-sided dice where 6 or higher is a success, and where your Hunger dice can turn any answer ugly.

Everything on this page except the rules of Vampire itself is a house rule. The oracle, the scene check, the Suspicion clock, the attitude roll and the sparks are tools for solo play, not part of the 5th Edition rulebook.

What you need

• A character built with the normal rules, with their Convictions, Touchstones, Ambition and Desire written down (see Character Creation).
• About ten ten-sided dice, a few of them a different colour for Hunger dice, or the Solo Tool below.
• Somewhere to write: a journal suits the game, or use the session log built into the tool.
• A city and a want. One line will do: where you hunt, and what you want from tonight.

The Oracle

When you want to know something a Storyteller would tell you ("Is my haven still safe?"), phrase it as a yes-or-no question, decide how likely a "yes" is, and roll that many dice against Difficulty 3. As many of those dice as your character's current Hunger are Hunger dice, just as in a real test. Your Hunger never changes the odds of a yes, only how ugly the answer can get.

• A critical win (3 or more successes with a pair of 10s): Yes, and… Better than you hoped.
• A messy critical (one of those 10s on a Hunger die): Yes, and…, but the Beast shapes it. You get what you asked for, in a way that costs someone. Add 1 Suspicion.
• 3 or more successes: Yes.
• Exactly 2 successes: No, but… Not what you asked for, but something close or useful.
• 0 or 1 success: No.
• A bestial failure (a "No" or "No, but" with a 1 on a Hunger die): add a twist that works against you, ideally one that tempts the Beast, and add 1 Suspicion.

Don't spend Willpower on oracle rolls, and don't make Rouse checks for them. Those belong to your character; the oracle is the night.

Exact odds

Worked out from every way the dice can land. Choose your Hunger to see how often the Beast gets into the answer. Messy criticals are part of "Yes, and"; bestial failures are part of the two "No" columns.

Scenes, People and Sparks

Scene check and the Suspicion clock

A lone vampire's worst enemy is attention: from hunters, from the Second Inquisition, from rival Kindred who notice too much. Track it as Suspicion, a clock from 0 to 6. Add 1 whenever the oracle gives a messy critical or a bestial failure, and 1 by hand whenever your character does something that could break the Masquerade: feeding where you might be seen, a body left behind, a messy critical or bestial failure on a real test, a Discipline used in front of witnesses.

At the start of each scene, say in one line what you expect to find, then roll one d10. If it is equal to or under the Suspicion, the scene is interrupted by the attention you've drawn. Play it out, then clear Suspicion to 0. Otherwise a 10 means the scene is altered: one important detail is different. Anything else and the scene is as you expected. With Suspicion 0 that is 1 in 10 altered and 9 in 10 as expected; every point of Suspicion adds a 1-in-10 chance of interruption.

NPC attitude

When you meet someone and their mood matters, roll 3 dice and count successes. If they are one of your own Advantages (a Contact, an Ally, your Herd, a Retainer), roll 5 instead.

Attitude is a starting point, not a verdict. A wary bartender can still be talked round, or Dominated: that is a real test, with a Difficulty you set first.

Sparks

When the oracle says "but" or "and", or a scene is interrupted, and nothing comes to mind, roll two dice and read them together: an action and a subject. Roll a d6 for each.

Playing the Storyteller's Part

Tests and Hunger

Anything your character does that could fail is a real test: Attribute + Skill against a Difficulty you set before you roll, with Hunger dice as usual. Make every Rouse check the rules ask for, and wake each night with one. Hunger is the clock that drives a solo chronicle: let it climb, and let it force you out to hunt. The Dice Roller handles tests, Willpower rerolls, Rouse checks, frenzy and Remorse.

Humanity alone

With no Storyteller to call it, you have to be honest about Stains. Write your Convictions and the Chronicle Tenets you're playing under at the top of your journal, mark a Stain whenever you break one, and make the Remorse roll at the end of each session. Your Touchstones are the best story engine you have: when the oracle needs a subject, reach for them first.

A coterie of one

A single vampire can't do everything a coterie can, so lean on the Advantages you bought: Contacts, Allies, Herd, a Retainer, a Mawla. Roll their attitude, then decide what they will do for you, and what they will want in return. Kindred society runs on boons; keep a list of who owes whom.

Solo Tool

Your First Solo Night

1. Make a vampire and a want. One character, their Touchstones, and one thing they want tonight.
2. Wake. Make the waking Rouse check. Your Hunger now is the number of Hunger dice in every roll tonight.
3. Frame each scene. One line of what you expect, then a scene check.
4. Play it. Ask the oracle what a Storyteller would tell you. Make real tests, with the Difficulty set first, for anything your character does that could fail.
5. Feed, carefully. When Hunger gets high, hunt with your Predator type's pool, and remember who might be watching.
6. End before dawn. Make the Remorse roll if you took Stains, and write one line about who your character is becoming.

An Example of Play