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Survival (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Skills

Definition

Survival is competence away from infrastructure: tracking, finding water and shelter, reading weather, navigating without a signal, and knowing what will kill you in this particular terrain. Urban survival counts too, because sleeping rough in a city has its own rules and its own predators. For a vampire the stakes are specific. Survival is what finds you a lightproof place before dawn when the plan has collapsed, and what lets you track something through ground that mortals would call empty. Gangrel build entire unlives on this skill, and any Kindred forced out of their domain discovers within one night how much of their competence was just having an address.

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How it works

**Common Rolls**: - Wits + Survival: Tracking, finding shelter - Stamina + Survival: Enduring harsh conditions - Intelligence + Survival: Navigation, reading weather **Daysleep**: Finding or improvising a lightproof resting place on short notice is the roll that matters most to Kindred, and failing it means burning through the day. **Specialties**: Tracking, Navigation, Shelter, Hunting, Urban Survival, Specific Terrain

Tips

**Character Concepts**: Ranger, poacher, homeless survivor, ex-infantry, a Gangrel who has not slept indoors in fifty years. **Synergies**: Animalism turns local wildlife into scouts, Protean lets a Gangrel rest in earth rather than search for shelter, and Animal Ken covers the creatures Survival only tells you how to track. **Worth Knowing**: One dot goes a long way here. It is insurance against the night the haven burns, rather than a skill you build a character around.

Frequently asked questions

Is Survival only for wilderness chronicles?

No. Urban Survival is a listed specialty, and it covers squats, tunnels, and rough sleeping, which is exactly what a Kindred who loses their haven needs.

Can Survival find me a daysleep spot?

Yes, and it is the most valuable thing the skill does. A Storyteller will usually set a difficulty based on terrain and how much of the night is left.

Does Survival help me hunt vessels?

Only for animals and for tracking a specific person through terrain. Finding human prey in a city is Streetwise, Insight, or whichever social skill your predator type uses.

Further Reading

Gangrel ClanAnimalismAll VTM5e Skills
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