Vampire V5 Hunger & criticals cheat sheet
Hunger dice, messy criticals, bestial failures, and Rouse checks. At-the-table reference for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition.
VtM V5 Hunger, messy criticals, and bestial failures: the personal-horror engine that makes the dice matter beyond pass/fail.
Hunger basics
- Range
- 0 (sated) to 5 (the Beast is in control)
- Hunger dice
- Replace the last N regular dice in any pool (N = Hunger)
- Feeding
- Reduce Hunger by drinking blood (amount depends on source)
- Hunger 0: only possible immediately after draining a human (killing or nearly killing them).
- Hunger 1-2: manageable. Hunger 3-4: dangerous. Hunger 5: desperate.
- Animal blood and blood bags can reduce Hunger to a minimum of 2 (not lower).
Rouse checks
- Trigger
- Using Disciplines, waking at dusk, mending damage, Blood Surge
- Roll
- 1d10; 6+ = no change, 1-5 = Hunger rises by 1
- Double rouse
- Roll 2d10; both must succeed
- At Hunger 5: cannot voluntarily rouse. If forced, automatic failure (Hunger cannot exceed 5; frenzy instead).
Messy critical
- Condition
- Roll succeeds AND a Hunger die shows 10 paired with any other 10
- Result
- The action succeeds, but in a violent, bestial, or horrifying way
- Examples: you win the fight but drain the opponent, you charm someone but your fangs show, you hack the system but destroy evidence the coterie needed.
- The Storyteller narrates how the Beast taints the success.
- A messy critical at Hunger 5 may trigger a Hunger frenzy.
Bestial failure
- Condition
- Roll fails AND any Hunger die shows 1
- Result
- Fail and the Beast surfaces: compulsion or frenzy risk
- The Storyteller chooses: a Clan Compulsion fires, or the vampire risks a Frenzy check.
- Compulsions are clan-specific: Brujah rage, Ventrue domination, Nosferatu isolation, etc.
- A bestial failure does not automatically cause frenzy; it is a narrative prompt.
Frenzy types
- Fury frenzy
- Attack the source of provocation (combat trigger)
- Hunger frenzy
- Feed on the nearest living being (Hunger 5 or messy crit)
- Terror frenzy
- Flee from fire, sunlight, or overwhelming threat
- Resist frenzy: Willpower (Composure + Resolve) vs difficulty (3 base, higher for extreme triggers).
- In frenzy: the Storyteller controls your actions until the trigger ends or Willpower is spent.
- Riding the wave (voluntarily frenzying): +2 dice to physical pools, but no self-control.
Common mistakes
- Messy critical requires a HUNGER die 10 paired with any 10, not just any two 10s.
- Bestial failure requires a HUNGER die 1 on a failed roll, not just any 1.
- Hunger dice cannot be rerolled with Willpower.
- A lone Hunger 10 without a pair is just a normal success; no messy critical.
- Frenzy is not automatic on a bestial failure; the Storyteller decides the consequence.