V5 Rules Reference
Rouse Check
One ordinary d10 is the price of calling on the Blood. The die is not a Hunger die, Willpower cannot touch it, and a failure raises Hunger by 1.
Looking for classic Generation and blood expenditure? Read the V20 Blood Pool rulesThe short answer.
A Rouse Check is one ordinary d10, never a Hunger die. It pays for a Discipline, Blush of Life, Mending, Blood Surge, or waking. A 6–10 leaves Hunger unchanged. A 1–5 raises Hunger by 1. Willpower cannot reroll it. You cannot choose to Rouse at Hunger 5. A forced failure past 5 tests Hunger frenzy at difficulty 4 instead of raising Hunger. A failed wake at 5 is torpor.
What spends the Blood
Each of these is its own check. Do not fold a turn's blood into one die.
- One ordinary d10
- Roll a single normal die. Hunger dice never enter a Rouse Check. A 6–10 leaves Hunger where it is. A 1–5 raises Hunger by 1. Several checks are several dice, and each failure is its own +1.
- Voluntary spends
- A Discipline power that lists a Rouse cost, Blush of Life, superficial Mending, and Blood Surge are choices. At Hunger 5 those choices are refused. No die is rolled, and refusing them does not start a frenzy.
- Waking is not a choice
- Rising at dusk is an involuntary Rouse Check. Hunger 5 does not block it. If that check fails while Hunger is already 5, the vampire does not rise and does not frenzy. The result is Hunger torpor.
- No Willpower on the die
- Willpower rerolls up to three normal dice on an action. It never rerolls a Rouse Check. Blood Surge, Blush of Life, Mending, and waking also never take the Blood Potency Discipline reroll.
Blood Potency and a Discipline Rouse
A failed Discipline Rouse may be rerolled once when the power's level is within this Blood Potency cap. The second die stands. This reroll does not apply to Blood Surge, Blush of Life, Mending, or waking.
| Blood Potency | Highest power level | Failed Discipline Rouse |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | None | The failure stands. There is no reroll. |
| 1–2 | 1 | Reroll once, and only for a level-1 power. |
| 3–4 | 2 | Reroll once if the power is level 2 or lower. |
| 5–6 | 3 | Reroll once if the power is level 3 or lower. |
| 7–8 | 4 | Reroll once if the power is level 4 or lower. |
| 9–10 | 5 | Reroll once if the power is level 5 or lower. |
Run it in this order.
- Name the spend. If it is voluntary, stop at Hunger 5 and do not roll.
- Roll one ordinary d10. Do not add Hunger dice, and do not spend Willpower on it.
- Read 6–10 as no change and 1–5 as Hunger +1. Repeat that reading for each separate check.
- On a Discipline activation only, reroll one failure when Blood Potency covers that power's level. Leave Blood Surge, Blush, Mend, and waking alone.
- If the failures would push Hunger past 5, leave Hunger unchanged, do not spend the blood, and test Hunger frenzy at difficulty 4.
- If the failed check is the one that wakes a vampire already at Hunger 5, they enter torpor. There is no frenzy test.
The die is not part of the action pool
A Rouse Check has no difficulty to miss and no pair of 10s to read. It cannot be a Bestial Failure or a Messy Critical. Resolve the action with the Hunger you had before this check, then apply the Rouse result to later rolls.
Blood Potency rerolls a Discipline, not the Surge
The table above is the only Discipline-Rouse reroll. It is one extra die after a failure, and only when the power's level sits inside the Blood Potency cap. It does not apply to the Blood Surge Rouse. Fluent Swiftness may reroll a Surge Rouse once, and only on a Dexterity or Celerity test. That exception is not a license to reroll Blush, Mend, or waking.
Past 5, the blood was not spent
Hunger does not rise above 5. A committed check whose failures would pass 5 leaves Hunger where it was. The Discipline does not fire, the wound does not close, and Blush of Life does not take. The resist roll is Composure + Resolve at difficulty 4, with no Hunger dice. A failed Surge Rouse that only moves Hunger from 4 to 5 is not that test, and it is not a frenzy.
Mending has two clocks
One Rouse Check mends superficial damage by Blood Potency: 1 point at 0–1, 2 at 2–3, 3 at 4–7, 4 at 8–9, and 5 at 10. An aggravated level is not closed in the scene. It is booked, then paid the next night with three separate Rouse Checks. If those three would pass Hunger 5, nothing is healed.
Keep each drop on its own die
Vampiro Life rolls the Rouse, separates it from the action, and leaves Hunger 5's refusal visible so the Storyteller is not tracking the Blood by memory.
Common mistakes
- Treating the Rouse die as a Hunger die, or spending Willpower to reroll it.
- Using the Blood Potency Discipline reroll on Blood Surge, Blush of Life, Mending, or waking.
- Rolling one Rouse for every blood effect in the turn.
- Calling a failed Surge Rouse that moves Hunger from 4 to 5 a frenzy.
- Letting a vampire at Hunger 5 volunteer a Rouse, or frenzying them for the failed check that should have woken them.
One Rouse at the table
The first die fails. Blood Potency decides whether there is a second.
Inez opens her hands
Inez, Blood Potency 3, Hunger 2, activates Feral Weapons, a level-2 power with one Rouse Check.
The first die is 4. Blood Potency 3 covers a level-2 power, so that failure is rerolled once and comes up 8. Hunger stays 2. Willpower is not spent on either die. A Blood Surge Rouse in the same scene would not receive this reroll.
How Vampiro Life rolls a Rouse Check
The server rolls the d10 and applies Hunger. It does not let Willpower touch that die. Strict and Casual chronicles do not charge every spend the same way.
- Strict chronicles charge Blush of Life, superficial Mending, and the waking Rouse on the server. Casual chronicles, the default, narrate those spends without that charge.
- A Discipline check rolls its listed Rouse dice and raises Hunger for each 1–5. It does not apply the Blood Potency reroll. In Strict, a result past Hunger 5 leaves Hunger unchanged and rolls Composure + Resolve at difficulty 4. In Casual, Hunger clamps at 5 and that frenzy test is not rolled.
- The combat resolver does reroll one failed Discipline Rouse when Blood Potency covers the power's level. Today that path is the supported combat powers, not every Discipline.
- Blood Surge keeps its own Rouse after the action. Blood Potency does not reroll it. Only Fluent Swiftness does, and only on a Dexterity or Celerity test. A failure that moves Hunger from 4 to 5 does not call frenzy.
Frequently asked
Can I spend Willpower to reroll a Rouse Check?
- No. Willpower rerolls up to three normal dice on the action. The Rouse die is never one of them, in either Hunger mode.
Does Blood Potency let me reroll every Rouse?
- No. It can reroll one failed Discipline Rouse when the power's level is within the table. Blood Surge, Blush of Life, Mending, and waking never take that reroll.
What happens if I am already at Hunger 5?
- You cannot choose to Rouse. No die is rolled for that choice, and the refusal itself is not a frenzy. An involuntary wake check can still fail you into torpor.
Is a Rouse Check a Bestial Failure when I roll a 1?
- No. There is no Hunger die in the check and no difficulty to miss. A 1–5 only raises Hunger by 1, unless that rise would pass 5 or the check was the one that should have woken you.
Do ghouls Rouse?
- No. A ghoul has no Hunger and no Blood to rouse. A power that would cost a vampire a Rouse costs the ghoul one Aggravated Health instead. See the Ghoul rules.
Related rules
Keep each drop on its own die
Vampiro Life rolls the Rouse, separates it from the action, and leaves Hunger 5's refusal visible so the Storyteller is not tracking the Blood by memory.