Resources (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Backgrounds

Definition

Resources is what your character can spend without explaining themselves. Not the cash in a wallet, but the standing income and assets behind it: a portfolio, a building, a business that runs at night, a criminal operation somebody else manages for you. It shows up constantly once you look for it. Renting a haven, paying off a coroner, buying a car nobody can trace, keeping a retainer loyal, replacing a wardrobe after a bad night: all of that runs on Resources rather than on rolls. Where the money comes from is a story hook too, because every income stream has someone who wants it.

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How it works

**Dot ratings**: One dot is a modest but reliable income and a place to live. Three dots is comfortable, with property and enough slack to solve most problems by writing a check. Five dots is serious wealth: holdings, businesses, and people whose full-time job is managing your money. **Effect**: Purchases at or below your rating happen without a roll. Anything above it needs time, a deal, or a Storyteller-set roll, and repeated large spending can push your rating down. **Cost**: Drawn from the 7 Background dots at creation (typical cap 3 per Background, Storyteller may allow more); after creation each new dot costs 3 times the new rating in XP. **Interaction**: Resources funds the Haven and Retainers backgrounds and makes a convincing Mask easier to buy. Contacts and Allies are often what keep the income safe in the first place.

Tips

**Character concepts**: Trust-fund neonate, self-made landlord, criminal fence, corporate officer whose board never meets before dark, elder living off centuries of interest. **When to take**: Take at least a dot in any modern chronicle, since a vampire with no money leans on the coterie for everything. Decide the source before play, because an income nobody can explain is a Masquerade problem waiting to be audited.

Frequently asked questions

Can I lose Resources?

Yes. Fraud investigations, a burned haven, a rival buying your debt, or spending far above your rating can cost you dots. Some Storytellers ask for a roll to keep a high rating through a crisis.

How is this different from Haven?

Haven is one specific secured resting place with its own rating. Resources is general spending power, and it is usually what pays to upgrade a haven.

Do vampires need money?

Yes, more than mortals in some ways. Blood is free, but bribes, lawyers, property, forged identities, and loyal retainers all cost, and none of them can be solved with fangs.

Resources (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Definition

How it works

Tips

Frequently asked questions

Further Reading