How to Create Toreador for Vampire: The Masquerade

Choose an art form. This should be something that you as a player have a passing knowledge of. After all, nothing screams "I-don't-know-what-I'm-talking-about" faster than creating a character that is a famous painter and not knowing the difference between Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

Select your stats. Because Toreador are primarily consider to be the social elite of vampire society, most players are tempted to make their social skills primary over their mental and physical abilities. However, Toreador are cursed with having disciplines that are tied to each other. Auspex is related to mental skills, celerity is related to physical ability and presence is tied to your social skills. Decide early which one you want to be the very best at.

Pick up socially-related skills. Nothing is more embarrassing than having a vampire mocked by her own clan because she doesn't fit in with the stereotype. It might a stereotype that Toreador are uptight and pretentious, but chances are that your storyteller will believe that the stereotype came from somewhere.

Spend some of your background points in resources. The starving artist persona is another one that is likely to get ridiculed by your clan mates. Most people assume that if an artist is successful, he makes money. This will also help get your character into swanky events and high-priced dinners.

Create a fun backstory about your art, your embrace or both. Toreador are the clan most likely to embrace for love, either personal or love of the artwork, so give your storyteller something fun to work with. Unrequited love or a lost masterpiece can be great story hooks to give to your storyteller.