Vampire Character Creation 101

Introduction
So you wish to make a vampire, do you? To create an unholy, fury-ridden wretch of a monster feasting on babies that are still clutched desperately to a mother's heaving, trembling bosom? Or perhaps to create a penitent noble creature aspiring to higher things and ultimately redemption? Perhaps your idea of a good time fits somewhere betwixt those two extremes...In any case, before you can fling yourself into Manhattan with your blood-sucking parasite in tow, you have to create the concept, as it were...and what better way to begin then by selecting your clan?

If you know the steps and just want the good stuff then Vampire/Dhampir/Ghouls/Mortals/Others Merits and Flaws list, Natures/Demeanors, Backgrounds, Secondary Abilities, Vampire Disciplines, Derangement Enjoy.

Allowed Camarilla Clans: Brujah; Gangrel; Malkavian; Nosferatu; Toreador; Tremere; Ventrue

Allowed Independent Clans: Assamite; Followers of Set; Giovanni; Ravnos ; Lasombra Antitribu

The Next Step

Well, now that you've got that nailed down, your next step is to slap the skeleton of this baby together. This sheet may be a useful way to keep track of things((if i can get a sheet uploaded to a permanent server, i will link it here)) Here's a basic rundown of what is required.
Give us a name to call you by!

Player: That'd be you, precious. If you don't want to give your real name to the creepy internet people, then don't; just give the same name for each character sheet you submit so you don't go exploding the Storytellers' heads; that's just impolite.
Fill in the blank with your clan next.
Natures/Demeanors: Now you have to pick a nature and a demeanor for your character. The nature of your character is the true personality; the demeanor is the façade they throw up to confuse the world. However, natures and demeanors can be the same, in some cases.
Generation: You start off at 13th generation when your character is first made. You can change this later by buying points in the 'generation' background.
Haven: Describe your domicile/residence/pad/digs/crib/cave/ditch near the highway/section of sewer.
Concept: Sum your big, long character history into one or two words. Heartbreaking, I know.

The Step After That Step

Now you get to put dots in things! Thrilling, no? You've got three attribute groups here: Physical, Social, and Mental. Now it's time for you to prioritize.
Your primary group gets 7 dots for you to spend in...
Secondary gets 5...
and tertiary, as one might expect, gets a measly 3.
Spend your magical dots of goodness wisely, and be warned that should you put 5 dots in any one category, you had best have a good reason as to why prepared when you submit your character for ST approval.
(Note: Every attribute begins at 1, unless you happen to be a Nosferatu; they are created with 0 dots in appearance and may never raise that, so just cross it off your sheet now; it's worthless. These beginning dots DO NOT count against your spends, which is awesome. Any Attribute of 4 or five (except appearance) must be explained in the background.

The Step That Occurs After the Previous Step

Here you get to slap more dots around, and this is where your character truly begins to flesh out, so to speak. Once again, you are required to prioritize your groups:
Primary group gets a lucky 13 dots to spread around.
Secondary group gets less at a mere 9 dots...
Tertiary group fails at a depressing 5 dots.
Should you put 3, 4, or 5 dots in any one group, please explain why you did so on your submission sheet, so the ST's can decide if it is warranted. If you don't, you may not be approved, and you can't come crying to me about it because I'm on the internet and I don't give a rat's ass.

Oh, and before I forget: Magical Secondary Abilities! Secondary Abilities
Yes, you can create specialized abilities and spend dots on them, same as you would your main abilities.
Say you want to make an icy Norse Gangrel priestess; that's all well and good. However, you'd like her to be very, very skilled at stabbing people about the face and neck with Icicles: Great, go for it! Make your specialized ability 'Stabbing people with icicles', which, incidentally, sounds kind of awesome. However, the dots you put in here only work if you are ventilating an innocent person with said icicle, and not, say, a knife, axe, piece of wood, or teacup. Rolls using your secondary ability in this way are at a -2 difficulty. This does use up your abilities dots, so be careful.

Another Step to Needlessly Complicate Things

Now you get to figure out your advantages! Hooray! More stuff to piddle around with! Here is the piddling in question:
Backgrounds: You have 5 dots total to spend here spend them wisely, and yes, you do have to explain why you chose these backgrounds when you submit your character.
Generation is Limited to 9th or higher <max of four points> unless approved.
Vampire Disciplines: You have 3 dots to spend among these, and yes, they have to be your clan's disciplines. If you have no idea what your clan's disciplines are, please consult the corresponding wiki page that was made just for you by the magical internet fairies.
Any discipline of four or more, or out-of-clan disciplines purchased with freebies must be explained as well.
Virtues: You've 7 dots to toss about in here, and each virtue begins at 1. Trust me, you shall grow to love these virtues in time.

Yet Another Step, Does it Never End?!

And here's the delightfully fun part. You get to choose merits and flaws for your character from the Vampire/Dhampir/Ghouls/Mortals/Others Merits and Flaws list. For your edification, I shall explain to you how this process functions:
Your flaw pool begins at 0. Lovely number, very rounded.
You can slap down as many flaws as you want; the number will be added to said flaw pool. However, only seven points of these flaws count. Anything extra is just gravy.
You can then spend these babies to buy merits, which are awesome.
You may buy more merits than you have flaw points. For example, if you only took a single, 1 point flaw, you could purchase for yourself a 5 point merit.
If, for some inexplicable reason, you have points in your flaw pool and don't feel like using them to buy merits, you can add those to your FREEBIE POINTS explained in this next step.
(Note: Yes, you DO have to explain merits and flaws when you submit your sheet. Don't whine to me. I don't care.)

Another Step, and We're Finally Winding Down
Humanity: To fill this puppy out, add your conscience and self control virtues together.
Willpower: It's all courage, baby. No, seriously; your initial willpower is exactly the same as your current courage score at this point.
Blood pool: Depends on your generation. 13th generation has ten blood points total. For other generations, check the generation background link or just harass an ST until they tell you in a futile effort to shut you up for five seconds.
Freebie Points: You get 15 of these beauties, not including any extra you got from the flaw pool points that you neglected to spend on merits. The list below shows how many freebie points each particular thing costs; Keep track of this on your submission sheet, so your ST can see what you did.

Stat	Cost
Attribute	5 per dot
Ability	2 per dot
Discipline	7 per dot
Background	1 per dot
Virtue	2 per dot
Humanity	1 per dot
Willpower	1 per dot

THE FINAL STEP

And now....you're almost done! Type up your explanations for your abilities, merits, flaws, etc. As well as your character background. You will also need to type up whatever equipment your character might be carrying around with them at any given time. When you've finally accomplished this daunting task, you may send all of your Word, Notepad, etc. documents to rasubmissions@gmail.com And then loiter around in the #RA_OOC channel for a while. You'll be contacted by an ST, who will go over your character with you, let you know if you've been approved or denied, discuss things and help you as best they can (because unlike your favorite wiki editor, here, they aren't horrible jerks) Do us all a favor, however: Don't get ignorant with the ST's. They are here to help you and to keep the game fun for everybody. Engaging in dickery will get you nowhere.
Aaaand....there you have it! Enjoy sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction wherever the iron-clad boot of your vampire may tread. Just be certain to watch yourself....