Humanity

Humanity

Humanity is, for want of a better description, a measurement of how much a vampire's original mortal soul remains intact as they live on into an increasingly bloody and questionable eternity. Every vampire was once a human, and therefore they begin their afterlives with the lingering philosophy, morals, and emotions that most humans do.

In a broad sense, humanity is what tells a vampire "right" from "wrong"; acts such as murder or torture are anathema to humanity, while kindness and cooperation are often encouraged. Many vampires think of their humanity as their conscience, or even as a semi-sentient being, a sort of angelic opposition to the Beast that also rages inside them. Vampires with higher humanity are more able to interact with other beings more easily without being read as predators, while those with lower humanity tend to not only look but also think and act like the monsters they are.

Vampires who completely reject or fall away from humanity are usually forced to replace it with a morality path, or else are likely to lose their minds completely and become Wights.

Humanity Levels

Each "level" of humanity (commonly measured in dots) represents where the vampire who possesses it is morally and describes both what lines they refuse to cross and what concepts they think are important. The higher a vampire's level, the more humane and saintly they become; the lower the level, the more monstrous and depraved. A vampire's humanity level also controls how long they sleep in torpor, how easily they can awaken each evening, and how mortals react to their presence.

Unless there is an extremely compelling reason to do otherwise, all characters start at either level 3 or 4.

Humanity 1

Humanity 2

Humanity 3

Humanity 4

Humanity 5

Crisis of Conscience

When a vampire does or is confronted by something that is wildly incompatible with their current level of humanity, they can enter a Crisis of Conscience, a state in which they are forced to examine their own morals and decide whether or not they are committed to them. A vampire having a Crisis of Conscience is faced with a choice: decide that the act they have just committed or witnessed is fine with them going forward, or decide that it was a hideous mistake.

If the vampire decides that the act was a mistake, they are wracked by hideous guilt and horror for what they have done, whether they did it with their own two hands or only stood by while someone else did. Many vampires enter Frenzy when faced with their actions, succumbing to rage or fear; others simply shut down or weep inconsolably. Regardless of their reaction in the moment, they suffer from a new permanent derangement related to the incident, representing the lasting trauma that they now carry.

On the other hand, if the vampire decides that they are comfortable with their behavior and would be all right doing it again in the future, they instead drop to the next lowest level of humanity automatically; by definition, their current level of humanity cannot accommodate this new moral line, so they progress to one that can. While this often seems like the more comfortable option, allowing a vampire to shrug a trauma off and adapt on the fly, the fact that it slowly shaves away humanity causes vampires who do it one too many times to suffer the consequences of falling to Wassail.

Losing Humanity

By far the most common way of losing humanity is through Crises of Conscience; most vampires who fall from their humane goals simply saw or did one too many horrible things as a consequence of their status as the walking dead, and eventually the onslaught cut away large swaths of their ability to care about any damage they may inflict. This is an unfortunate fact of life: most vampires are in the process of watching their humanity slowly decay, whether they try desperately to stop it or give up and let nature take its course.

It is possible to lose humanity via other means, the most obvious being the practice of diablerie; such an act automatically lowers the perpetrator's humanity at least one level. Some disciplines also interact with a vampire's humanity, temporarily raising or lowering it, or lowering it by requiring heinous ritual acts to be committed in order to use them.

Gaining Humanity

Humanity is extremely difficult for a vampire to regain once lost, but it is not impossible. Much as becoming a better person is a long, slow process for mortals, so it is for vampires, who if anything have an even harder road ahead of them as they fight to regain morality in the face of the horrors of the nighttime world and their own undead natures. Most vampires actually assume that it is impossible to regain lost humanity due to these obstacles, and few have ever encountered anyone who managed it.

For a vampire to regain humanity, they must choose a cause or project that does real, tangible good and dedicate themselves to it completely, using it as a conduit to take moral actions and avoid evil ones. Many vampires attempt by approaching through the fervent adoption of or return to a religion, which can help them become philosophically and spiritually stable; others found charities, rescue refugees, or create moving public artwork. No matter what they choose, they must dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to their project, and they must actively participate in it to have any hope of seeing a change in their spiritual landscape. Vampires who put in the time and work can increase one level of humanity in about a year, although for many the process takes longer and may be fraught with setbacks as crises and dangers put them in situations where evil is much easier.

There are rumors of disciplines that can restore a vampire's humanity, even from the grip of Wassail itself, but while such stories have been persistent for centuries, no one can swear to ever having encountered such powers.

See Also

Beast
Frenzy
Morality Path