We list the available Archetypes (Nature or Demeanor) here for convenience, along with the way in which each one regains Willpower. For the complete text of a particular Archetype, consult the appropriate rulebook, as indicated for each entry:
- “V20” indicates an Archetype found in the Vampire 20th Anniversary Core Book.
- “W20” indicates an Archetype found in the Werewolf 20th Anniversary Core Book.
- “M20” indicates an Archetype found in the Mage 20th Anniversary Core Book.
- “WR20” indicates an Archetype found in the Wraith 20th Anniversary Core Book.
- “UA” indicates an Archetype found in V20’s Anarchs Unbound.
- “BoS” indicates an Archetype found in the M20 Book of Secrets.
- If an entry is not marked, it appears in the core rulebooks for Vampire, Werewolf, and Mage.
Where an Archetype appears differently in multiple books, the version that appears in the majority of them is considered definitive for Willpower gain purposes, although the other versions may still provide useful flavor text. If an even number of books disagree, we have gone with the Vampire version over the Werewolf version, and the Werewolf version over the Mage version.
Activist (M20)
Regain Willpower when you successfully confront abuse, right wrongs, or reveal an actual conspiracy and, by doing so, bring it down.
Alpha (W20)
Regain a point of Willpower when you achieve control over a group or organization involving other individuals, or when you are able to force a rival to submit to your authority.
Anarchist (UA)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you reject unnecessary rules, laws, or social norms and achieve success because of it.
Architect (V20, W20, BoS)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you establish something of importance or lasting value.
Artist (BoS)
Regain Willpower whenever you create a work of art in your chosen medium that communicates a sense of sublime Truth to your intended audience.
Autocrat (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower when you achieve control over a group or organization involving other individuals.
Avant-Garde (WR20)
The Avant-Garde regains Willpower every time she experiences something new and controversial.
Barterer (W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you gain a significant commodity at a good price: this must be something potent akin to a fetish or a favor, not simply sniping an online auction for a bauble.
Benefactor (M20)
Regain Willpower when you provide help that someone else desperately needs. The key here is that desperate part. Teaching Sunday school isn’t meeting that level of need; if you used your Arts to assist autistic kids, however, you’d clearly be making a difference in their lives.
Big Bad Wolf (W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone recoils from you in horror or otherwise reacts in fear.
Bon Vivant (V20, W20, BoS)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you truly enjoy yourself and can fully express your exultation.
Bravo (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower any time you achieve your agenda through brutishness or intimidation. This need not be physical, as many Bravos verbally or socially cow their victims.
Bureaucrat (WR20)
The Bureaucrat regains Willpower every time he uses the established rules to deal with a situation.
Capitalist (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you make a successful “sale” of any commodity. Commodities need not be physical items; they may be bits of information, favors, or other intangibles.
Caregiver (V20, W20, BoS)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you successfully protect or nurture someone else.
Celebrant (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you pursue your cause or convert another character to the same passion. Conversely, lose a point of temporary Willpower whenever you are denied your passion or it is badly lost to you.
Chameleon (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you fool someone into thinking you’re someone else for your own benefit.
Child (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you manage to convince someone to help you with no gain to herself, or to nurture you.
Competitor (V20, W20)
Regain one point of Willpower whenever you succeed at a test or challenge. Note that a test or challenge is more than just a dice roll; it’s an entire dramatic situation.
Conformist (V20, W20, BoS)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever the group or your supported leader achieves a goal due to your support.
Conniver (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you trick someone into doing something for you, or when you convince someone to help you against their own best interests.
Contrary (W20, M20)
Regain a point of Willpower any time you are able to flout social mores without retribution.
Creep Show (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone recoils from you in horror or otherwise reacts in fear.
Critic (UA)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you find a flaw in a design or plan and then improve upon it.
Crusader (M20)
Regain Willpower when you accomplish some great deed in the name of your higher goal. As a player, you need to define what that higher goal is, and then follow it even when it hurts you. A true Crusader’s beliefs are not governed by convenience.
Cub (W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you manage to convince someone to to nurture you, or to help you with no gain to herself.
Curmudgeon (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone does something specific and negative, just like you said they would. You must predict and quantify this failure aloud.
Dabbler (V20)
Regain Willpower whenever you find a new enthusiasm and drop your old one completely.
Deviant (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower any time you are able to flout social mores without retribution.
Director (V20, W20, BoS)
Regain a point of Willpower when you influence or aid a group or influential individual in the completion of a difficult task.
Enigma (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone is completely perplexed or baffled by one of your actions that later turns out to be a fruitful endeavor.
Entertainer (BoS)
Regain Willpower when your work makes some significant change in the lives of people around you.
Explorer (WR20)
The Explorer regains Willpower every time she discovers something previously unknown.
Eye of the Storm (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever a ruckus, riot, or less violent but equally chaotic phenomenon occurs around you.
Fanatic (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you accomplish some task that directly relates to your cause.
Fatalist (W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone does something specific and negative, just like you said they would. You must predict and quantify this failure aloud.
Follower (WR20)
The Follower regains Willpower every time he demonstrates absolute loyalty under trying circumstances.
Gallant (V20, W20)
Regain a Willpower point whenever you successfully impress another person.
Gambler (WR20)
The Gambler regains Willpower every time she comes up against unwinnable odds and somehow emerges the victor.
Guardian (BoS)
Regain Willpower when your actions directly save a weaker group or character from assured destruction.
Guru (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone seeks out your help in spiritual matters and your guidance moves that individual to an enlightened action that he normally would not have taken. Also, regain a point of Willpower whenever you achieve an epiphany that relates to your personal philosophy.
Hacker (M20)
Regain Willpower when you detect a flaw in some important structure, system, or device, or else when you puzzle out a way to improve something that was supposedly designed well to begin with.
Heretic (BoS)
Regain Willpower whenever you challenge a commonly held conviction and manage to change people’s minds about that belief.
Idealist
Regain a point of Willpower any time an action in pursuit of your ideals furthers your goals and brings your ideal closer to fruition.
Innovator (M20)
Regain Willpower when your inspiration leads to a helpful new breakthrough.
Jester (WR20)
The Jester regains Willpower every time he makes a dire situation lighter through comedy.
Judge (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you correctly solve a problem by considering the evidence presented, or when one of your arguments unites dissenting parties.
Kid (M20)
Regain Willpower when you bring out the nurturing side of someone who doesn’t normally care much for other people.
Leader (WR20)
The Leader regains Willpower every time she assumes control of a situation.
Loner
Regain a point of Willpower when you accomplish something by yourself, yet which still benefits the group in some way.
Machine (M20)
Regain Willpower when you transcend the limits of mere flesh, bone, and steel, accomplishing something that no one else has managed to do.
Mad Scientist (M20)
Regain Willpower when you successfully bend the rules of your technomancer sect while still applying something that seems oddly like science (see the sidebar SCIENCE!!!, p.290) and manage to avoid invoking Paradox. This feat should feature a bizarre stroke of ingenuity that shouldn’t work and yet somehow does. Generally, only technomancer characters can take this as a Nature, although anyone can have it as a Demeanor.
Martyr
Regain one point of Willpower when your own suffering leads to some tangible gain for you, and two points of Willpower whenever you experience pain in a truly unique way.
Masochist (V20)
Regain one point of Willpower when your own suffering leads to some tangible gain for you, and two points of Willpower whenever you experience pain in a truly unique way.
Mediator (WR20)
The Mediator regains Willpower every time she convinces others to compromise on a high-stakes disagreement.
Mentor (BoS)
Regain Willpower when your guidance helps your pupil(s) accomplish something that had been beyond their reach before.
Monster (V20, M20)
Malignant deeds reinforce the Monster’s sense of purpose. Monster characters should pick a specific atrocity, regaining Willpower whenever they indulge that urge. For example, a tempter regains Willpower for luring someone into wickedness, while an apostate earns back Willpower for causing another to doubt her faith.
Nihilist (UA)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you engage in self-destructive behavior.
Optimist (WR20)
The Optimist regains Willpower every time he discovers and champions the bright side to an otherwise grim event.
Pedagogue (V20, W20)
Regain one point of Willpower whenever you see or learn of someone who has benefited from the wisdom you shared with them.
Penitent (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you feel that you have achieved absolution for a given grievance. This redemption should be of the same magnitude as the transgression — the greater the crime, the greater the penance.
Perfectionist (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you accomplish your goal without any demonstrable flaw or impediment, and regain a Willpower point whenever you motivate another character to succeed as a result of your own shining example.
Pragmatist (WR20)
The Pragmatist regains Willpower every time she succeeds by putting the goal first.
Prophet (M20)
Regain Willpower when you speak Truth to power and inspire a successful change.
Rebel (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever your actions adversely affect your chosen opposition. Rebels may oppose the government, the Church, or any other holder of authority. The player should choose whom or what his character rebels against when he adopts this Archetype.
Rogue
Regain a point of Willpower when your self-centered disposition leads you to profit, materially or otherwise. As well, you may regain a point of Willpower when your efforts benefit the group to which you belong when that benefit comes at the expense of another group.
Romantic (BoS)
Regain Willpower when you throw yourself into a gloriously ruinous affair or reveal life’s howling beauty to a previously hesitant soul.
Sadist (V20)
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you inflict pain upon someone for no reason other than your own pleasure.
Scientist (V20, W20)
Regain Willpower any time a logical, systematic approach to a problem helps you solve it, or information gathered logically is of use in another, similar situation.
Sensualist (M20)
Regain Willpower when you get a chance to revel in some potent sensual experience… especially if you get to share with someone else. (Novelty, though, is key; when you do the same thing over and over just to get a rush, that rush fades to boredom in no time.)
Sociopath (V20)
Regain Willpower whenever you are the greatest contributor to a body count after everything has settled down. This count includes times when you are the only killer, and it needs not result from a massive combat — like killing every member of a movie audience or gunning down defenseless patrons in a bank robbery.
Soldier (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower when you achieve your orders’ objectives. The more difficult the orders are to fulfill, the better it feels to accomplish them.
Survivor
Regain one point of Willpower whenever you survive a threatening situation through tenacity, or when your counsel causes someone else to persist in spite of opposition.
Thrill-Seeker (V20, W20)
Regain a point of Willpower any time you succeed at a dangerous task that you have deliberately undertaken.
Traditionalist
Regain a point of Willpower any time the proven ways turn out to be the best. Also, regain a point of Willpower any time you adhere to one of your previously espoused positions and it proves to be a wise course of action.
Trickster
Regain a point of Willpower any time you manage to lift others’ spirits, especially if you are able to assuage your own pain in the process.
Tycoon (BoS)
Regain Willpower when a long-shot plan of yours pays off in grand style. Not simply with money – that’s too easy – but with influence, love, or other marvelous achievements.
Vigilante (BoS)
Regain Willpower when you inflict major suffering on your target of choice. This target must be larger and more powerful than a single person. It could be an organization, a mage-sect, a government conspiracy, or an aspect of the underworld. Whatever it is, it’s big enough to consume your entire life… or end it. Such vigilance is an endless task.
Visionary
Regain a point of Willpower each time you are able to convince others to have faith in your dreams and follow the course of action dictated by your vision. Note that gaining support is the key to a Visionary regaining Willpower. Success need not come to a Visionary, at least not with every step in changing the structures in question.
Zealot (BoS)
Regain Willpower whenever your deeply held beliefs are proved right through your behavior.