#vtm 5e

You can’t go back to who you were, of course, and there’s no point pursuing the things you yearned to do before your unlife to some. However, you still pick up those knitting needles, you still go out to the that track field to run, you still pick up that guitar and play. I think that’s the beauty of it honestly. There is nothing stopping these kindred from enjoying the hobbies they previously had to make time for as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. It’s a small freedom for them.

For a few reasons, I ended up making a V5 charsheet for Beckett, and I figured I’d share the results with you guys. I used the following sources to put it together:

Beckett's Jyhad Diary;

The Victorian Age Trilogy;

Time Of Judgment Trilogy - Book 1 - The Final Night.

I haven't read the 'Year of the Scarab' trilogy yet, so I might have missed some details. So, we know Beckett is 7th Gen. I went with Blood Potency 4, because in V5, a 7th Generation vampire can range from BP 3 to 7. The rules say that theoretically, your BP goes up by 1 for every 100 years of active unlife, but we also know you have to spend XP to actually increase it. First off, I doubt Beckett would intentionally do that more than once. At least, I don't think he’d really aim for it (except maybe for the first 100 years of his unlife, back when he was still enthusiastic about his nature). But since he’s never spent a long time in torpor, I don't think his BP would be lower than 4.

But my main argument is the Blood Potency table. It says that starting at BP 5, a vampire can only drop their Hunger to 2 unless they kill a human. And Hunger 2 is a lot - it's pretty uncomfortable for a vampire. In the books, it doesn't seem like Beckett is constantly struggling with that level of Hunger, and we know he mostly feeds on blood bags and animals. We also know Beckett is a heavy eater and needs a TON of blood to get full. For example, in the scene with Prospero, they give him a bunch of blood bags first and only then let him bite a living person. Obviously, Beckett is a special character and doesn't have to follow V5 rules perfectly, but I want it to feel logical.

I don't think it's strictly necessary to pick a Predator Type, since it’s more about feeding habits than hard behavioral rules, but I went ahead and did it anyway. I was torn between Bagger and Farmer for a long time, but I finally settled on Farmer. Obviously, Beckett is 300+ years old, so his habits are pretty much set in stone, but based on the description and the related merits and flaws, Farmer just felt like a better fit. And of course, I gave him the Iron Gullet merit, because he clearly has one. The rulebook says the Farmer feeding type has a Flaw where you need to spend 2 Willpower to feed on a living human. But I managed to get it up to 10 Willpower, soooo Beckett can afford it. And it makes sense, I guess - Beckett really does avoid biting people. Next up, Disciplines. I didn't invent anything special here; I just listed everything I've seen in the books. Fortitude 3. Judging by how easily Beckett falls for other vampires' Dominate and Presence, all his Fortitude powers must be related to physical endurance. His peak is basically just standing in the sun for a few seconds longer than Emma Blake. Plus, in the books, he's constantly getting seriously injured, which definitely doesn't fit someone with Fortitude higher than 3.

However! He gets seriously injured often, but he stays on his feet and is pretty good at healing on the fly. So I gave him high Stamina, which brought him up to 10 Health points. I think that really fits him. Moving on to Animalism - this part is a bit trickier. - I don't recall Beckett ever using the first power, Sense the Beast, but maybe the books just described it as heightened perception. - As for Feral Whispers, I've never actually seen Beckett talk to animals, but he’s constantly summoning them to feed. - Animal Succulence - see my point above about Blood Potency and being able to stay satiated on animals as a 300+ year-old elder. - For level 4, the core rulebook has Subsume the Spirit, but I’ve never seen Beckett use it, so I went with Sway the Flock from the Players Guide. He does something similar in the Gehenna book. - And for level 5 - Drawing Out the Beast. Beckett definitely did that in the books. Next, Protean. Obviously Beckett's favorite Discipline. - Eyes of the Beast, Feral Weapons, and Earth Meld - no need to explain those. - Shapechange – well, wolf. - Metamorphosis – bat. - Mist Form – yep, Beckett can do that one. Now for the hard part - Attributes and Skills. I think he dumped most of his 300+ years of experience into these. Strength and Dexterity are at 3, because Beckett rarely uses brute force and he’s definitely not that agile (honestly, Dex might even be a 2). But Stamina is a 5 - we know he can run for ages, and he clearly has a huge health pool. I put Charisma at 4. He’s super charming in Bloodlines, though the books don't focus on it as much. Manipulation is at 3, mostly because of Bloodlines again. He can probably lead people by the nose if he wants to, but he rarely bothers. His brain is usually too busy with a million thoughts to play mind games, I think. Maybe should be 2, I don't sure. Composure is a 5. I’d say he’s mastered controlling his Beast, given his supposed Humanity level and the fact that he hasn’t reached Golconda. Especially since he’s actually pretty hot-headed. Intelligence - oh, come on, he’s been reading non-stop for 300 years. He’s brilliant and highly educated. 5. Wits is at 4. On one hand, he’s sharp and cautious, but on the other, he sometimes misses obvious things and totally derps out. I put that down to him being distracted by deep, heavy thoughts. Resolve is a 5. The guy has been chasing the same answer for three centuries - he’s incredibly persistent.

And finally, the skills! - Athletics 2. At the very least, Beckett’s body looks good. <3 - Brawl 5 (Specialization: talons). This one is a given, it's his default way of fighting. - Craft 0. I don't remember him ever making anything. - Drive 1. He can drive a car, but if there’s anyone else to get behind the wheel, he’ll let them. I don't think he's particularly good at it. - Firearms 2. He’s a decent shot with a pistol, even if he’s not a fan of using them. - Melee 2 (Specialization: Stake). Because why not? It makes sense that he could grab a stool and smack an enemy slightly more effectively than a total amateur. Plus, Beckett definitely knows how to use a stake. - Larceny 1. Beckett doesn't seem like the type to be good at this, he usually has other ways. To get into locked rooms, he’d just use Mist Form. - Stealth 2. I don’t think Beckett is stealthy at all, but he needs at least some basic skill here. - Survival 5 (Specialization: Hunting). Self-explanatory. - Animal Ken 4. Beckett doesn't really like or understand animals that much, but the blood of the Clan of the Beast comes with certain... obligations. - Etiquette 1. He has a bit of it, but he rarely bothers to use it. - Insight 3. On one hand, he’s brilliant. On the other, he can be incredibly naive sometimes. - Intimidation 3. "I suspect they would have staked me and drank slowly from my body had I not come out fighting, declaring with angry pride 'I’m of the Clan of the Beast, damn it!' steadily." (c) - Leadership 2. I think he can lead if he has to, even if he tries his best to avoid it. - Performance 0. I don't remember him ever showing any talent for this. - Persuasion 3. Beckett can be pretty convincing when he talks, but he often fails to actually sway other Kindred. - Streetwise 3. I figure after 300 years, he’s picked up a fair amount of street smarts. - Subterfuge 2. Only if he really puts his mind to it. - Academics, Science, and Occult (Noddism) 5. He’s a scholar wolf, after all, heh. - Awareness 5 (specialization: feral Instincts). Beckett has top-notch instincts - he wouldn’t have survived this long otherwise, lol. - Finance and Technology 0. He’s completely clueless about this stuff. - Investigation 4. From what I can tell, Beckett is really good at investigating and piecing together cause and effect. - Medicine 1. He has a basic understanding of how living humans work. - Politics 2. He knows how the game is played, but he tries his best to stay out of it.