How Abilities Dots WorkYour ability dots mean more than just some dice. Common questions folks ask include what should you know to get by in game and what each level really means. Here's your answers!
Each dot indicates you know something. Beginner > Practitioner > Trained > Expert > Master. Hitting 4 dots in an ability is quite a feat. Consider it like getting a Masters degree in a skill. Hitting 5 dots makes you known. 5 dots in acting would be Patrick Stewart or Sir Ian McKellen. 5 dots in science would be Stephen Hawking. 5 dots in driving would be Ken Block. 5 dot in fashion design/clothing craft would be Dior and Valentino.
Dots in Melee Example: Roger loves smashing stuff with a bat! He takes melee.
No Dots - He doesn't know shit, or just picked up the bat and started.
• Novice - He can smash stuff pretty good, just takes a long time. He may miss alot, crack the wrong things, but eventually he could kill or break something.
•• Practiced - He can pick out and smash a leg before an arm, knowing better where to target and how much force to use.
••• Competent - Roger can do pretty well in a steel cage UFC fight! He can clobber a head, nigh taking it clear off the neck. He's added steel to the bat, crushing bones and skulls with skill.
•••• Expert - People do not fuck with Roger. He is picked out and paid to obliterate people with that bat. He's pretty much become legend. Only idiots pick fights with him.
••••• Master - The Legend - Roger massacres with a single hit. He's like John Wick. You say his name, people tremble. If anyone lives seeing his work, or it's video taped, he's easy to pick out and be followed for the killing. Some folks seek him out to learn how to become such a famous leg breaker. Cops know his kills just looking at photos.
So what abilities are good to at least know?
• Drive - you can drive around
• Academics - you can read, balance the checkbook, stuff
• Firearms - you can sorta shoot a gun
• Alertness - you notice stuff around you with your senses, like picking people out of a crowd or seeing someone following you
• Awareness - (for the magically inclined) sense some magical stuff happening around you
• Athletics - you can run, leap, etc
Talents: Hobby This category encompasses anything that the Storyteller deems to be mainly self-taught and is usually (though not always) more active than intellectual. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Talents to determine if a particular activity might fall under one of those (for example, Swimming and Climbing would be specialties of Athletics).
ST NOTE: This is your level of expertise in your chosen hobby. If your hobby is comics, it's collecting, the lore, the history, the artists and writers, etc. It is not the artform, creating, and producing.
• Novice: You’ve dabbled.
•• Practiced: You’ve got a good grasp of your hobby’s basics.
••• Competent: Other practitioners regard you as fairly skilled and
competent.
•••• Expert: You are familiar with the subtle nuances and applications of
your Talent.
••••• Master: You could write a book on what you do. Perhaps you already
have.
Suggested Hobby Talents: Carousing, Diplomacy, Fortune Telling, Negotiation, Scrounging, Comics, etc
Skills: Professional SkillThis category encompasses anything that the Storyteller deems to be a taught Ability and is primarily active in application. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Skills to determine if a particular task might fall under one of those (e.g. Tracking would be a speciality of Survival).
ST NOTE: This is something you are trained in, to work and earn pay for. You are a professional in this field, whatever it is!
• Novice: You’ve apprenticed.
•• Practiced: You have a handle on the basics.
••• Competent: You could make a living, although not a fortune, doing what
you do.
•••• Expert: You know the more esoteric uses of your Skill, and are rarely at
a loss.
••••• Master: You are an acknowledged authority in your chosen field of
endeavor.
Suggested Professional Skills: Blacksmith, Cooking, Fast-Draw, Forgery, Game Playing, Gunsmith, Navigation, Torture.
Knowledges: Expert KnowledgeLike Hobby Talent and Professional Skill, this is a catch all category. An Expert Knowledge is anything that is primarily intellectual or mental in nature and must be studied. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Knowledges to determine if a particular field of expertise might fall under one of those (e.g. Forensics would be a speciality of Investigation).
ST NOTE: I view this as far different than Academics. Academics is general studies, mix of literature, science, math, etc, with a degree. You have a smattering of knowledge in that. Expert Knowledge is being the absolute scholar of that field. You eat, breath, sleep your subject.
• Student: You’ve taken an undergraduate course or read a few books.
•• College: You may have minored in the field.
••• Masters: You might hold a degree and are well versed in what’s been written.
•••• Doctorate: You are well-versed in what hasn’t been written.
••••• Scholar: You know the hidden mysteries of your field and are a veritable font of information.
Suggested Expert Knowledges: Archaeology, Game Theory, Military Science, Psychology
Knowledges: LoreLores are specific pieces of information for the many creatures, myths, lengends, and supernaturals of the World of Darkness. You MUST be trained in these knowledges by a mystical library, sire, grand master, spirit, etc to know.
1-2 dots is possible for your character to know depending on your clan, backstory, concept, sire, etc. But that is going to be RARE. Lores tend to be advanced content, you can learn over time, seeking masters.
- Kindred Lore - Anyone can take this 1-2 dots max at start.
- Camarilla Lore - Only Sabbat probationary sect member (flaw) and Independents can have this, and only at 1 dot at start.
- Clan Knowledge - 1-2 dots possible for your clan, not others at this time. Kaitiff/Pander cannot take this.
- Lupine Lore - Werewolf lore, no reason to have this yet.
- Faerie Lore - No reason to have this!
- Mage Lore - Only Tremere would really have this, 1 dot max.
- Sabbat Lore - Sabbat members can have this at 1 dot to start.
- Sewer Lore - Nosferatu only!
- Spirit Lore - Umbra knowledge, need to have a reason for having this.
- Wyrm Lore - Wyrm knowledge, need to have a reason for this.
- Wraith Lore - Giovanni tend to use this, lore of the ghosts and shadowlands
Lore List:
http://www.unmasqued.com/lores.php 
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