V5 Nagaraja

[Lysander]

I like the idea of having a ghost bound to your chain and aiding you in capturing mortals and defending you in a fight and fair point that about two dots taken away your humanity being a fair balance. Cruel impartialty is more frightening then sadism.

[ShovelHeart3]

It seems very appropirate for what you have in mind. But maybe you should have them lose 3 dots in humanity in regards to your predator type to make them more unsettling & creepy. What made you choose chain for a weapon specialty in general? It has a cool visual but I'm curious about the choice.

Aesthetics and mechanical synchronization with the Naga and their CS role, which is to immobilize and capture.

I'm building around the Naga's bite, the 3 aggravated damage and no called shot penalty. Think of how a kusarigama works. You have a chain attached to a short scythe. It ensnares and then kills. Instead of the scythe, I forego it for the bite. This gives me options. There is Obdurate, a Potence + Fortitude amalgam that helps you keep footing. I will use this for rolling bonuses when reeling in resisting opponents or trying to maintain balance while in chain combat. There is also the Potence ability Soaring Leap, which is a big jump. I can ensnare someone and then jump and bite them quickly for big damage. It's also useful against Celerity users. If one is coming at you, just swing a big arc to catch them. There is also Touch of Oblivion, which is a grip attack that cripples victims. Once you've caught them in the chain, you can bite them for serious trauma (or death) or cripple them; both facilitate capture. I also plan on binding a ghost to the chain, since ghosts can manipulate objects. For example, when I swing it, the ghost could help guide it and give dice bonuses. You can also use it for climbing. I think aesthetically and mechanically, the chain synchronizes very well with the Naga's menacing attitude and abilities and it is of utilitarian value for his job. With Auspex and Fortitude being in clan Disciplines, he will most likely find you if you're hiding and outlast you in combat. The winning strategy is ultimately patience and persistence.

As far as Humanity goes, I think a loss of 2 is fair as that is the amount given for the most extreme PT's I've seen. He's not necessarily supposed to be very creepy, but more like a roguish bounty hunter who happens to be very terroristic in methodology and lacking in Humanity. It's more like a sublime apathy than outright sadism, which is kind of intimidating in its own right.

[Lysander]

It seems very appropirate for what you have in mind. But maybe you should have them lose 3 dots in humanity in regards to your predator type to make them more unsettling & creepy. What made you choose chain for a weapon specialty in general? It has a cool visual but I'm curious about the choice.

[ShovelHeart3]

I've been doing a little more thinking on this character and what to do with it. I've made some changes and carved out a more defined role:

Nagaraja: Auspex, Fortitude, Oblivion, Dominate (with the optional 4 dot merit for in-clan)
Starting Merit: Remarkable Feature:

•	Possessing a rare, memorable feature such as eye color or unusual complexion. Add two-dice to social interactions with strangers and take a one-die penalty to disguise yourself.

(has black irises with golden highlights for eyes that are accentuated by wearing a face covering to hide his teeth)

I've decided to make a PT for what I'll be doing in the Circulatory System. Tying into the mechanical theme of the Nagaraja as something of an investigator, my character will specialize in hunting and acquiring Hunter, Vampire and Werewolf specimens and their Blood for the CS. This serves a highly specialized role while still being thematically appropriate for the bloodline and discipline spread. Here is my custom Predator Type:

Food Chainer (Circulatory System only):
You're at the top of the food chain, or at least you think you are and work to acquire exotic Blood and specimens for the System.

Gain a dot in 2 disciplines of your choice that you use for hunting supernatural and exceptional specimens like Hunters, Werewolves and other Vampires. (Potence and Obfuscate)

Lose 2 dots of Humanity.

Raise Blood Potency by 1

Choose a weapon specialty (chain)

Gain the Obvious Predator flaw (2 dots)

Gain an exclusive Adversary flaw starting at 2 after your first capture (a Vampire, Hunter or Lupine). Increase it by 1 to a maximum of 4(5?) for every 2 successful captures. Every "faction", Vampire, Hunter and Werewolf is a separate Adversary with up to a maximum of 4(5?) each.

Gain 4 exclusive dots to spend between resources and allies to represent the high demand for such lucrative product for the System. Increase to 5 if you achieve at least 3 Adversary points in every "faction".

Thoughts? Does it seem balanced? It's kinda like human trafficking meets Monster Hunter.

[adambeyoncelowe]

adambeyonceloweThe supplement I got the "Incarcerator" PT out of is this, V5: New Predator Types
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product...facturers_id=1

Turns out I had this and ReVamped already. Whoops!

In fact, since the Circ loresheet gives you a free van to use, I was actually thinking of combining the haven merit with the van. So, in effect, I'd have this abduction-mobile/foodtruck.

That's a great idea. It's especially useful for a Nagaraja, because they can just move the murder wagon whenever they need to escape the heat.

Oh, you might also want to check out this other supplement called ReVamped. I've only just skimmed through it ATM, but it looks like it improves the Necromantic aspects of Oblivion quite a bit. V5 is where I started, so I don't have any experience with past editions, so can't really judge it in contrast to Obtenebration. I don't really have too much issue with it, though. Just as you can use electricity to power different things, I don't see a problem with using the dark power of the Abyss for branching applications.

I think, in principle, it's not a bad idea. Thematically, Necromancy, Obtenebration and Daimonion (the old Baali Discipline of curses and hell stuff) would all work as one Discipline of blasphemy, eldritch things and primal darkness.

It's just that the designers merged them, only to force a separation between the two powers again through prerequisites. Which means you end up with weird side cases or players who don't have system mastery getting locked out of options that fit their concept, because they, as players, didn't pre-plan the order of their character's Discipline progression.

So for example, when you wanted to take Arms of Ahriman, that actually made it harder for you to do the other things that fit your concept. And the layout of the Disciplines didn't exactly signpost that, either -- all the Hecata and Lasombra powers are mixed together.

Similarly, making Obeah an amalgam of two readily accessible Disciplines actually worsens one of the original issues of unique Disciplines -- if anyone can get Obeah, then magical healing vampires become more commonplace, and that's quite a different setting as a result.
Ironically, players more familiar with earlier editions will be better at making Lasombra and Hecata characters in V5, because their preconceptions will guide them away from mixing up the powers inefficiently. Which is the opposite of one of V5's stated aims of making the game more approachable.

Personally, I think V5 could've done with paths again. Paths made choosing powers a lot easier. In earlier editions, they were either paths of magic (so Elemental Mastery had five powers for dealing with the elements) or Discipline paths (so Obeah and Valeren were essentially two paths of the same Discipline; one focused on healing and the other on pain). If you know you want the healing powers, you just follow the Obeah path.

Likewise, Banu Haqim had different paths of Quietus (now folded into Blood Sorcery), so they could get cool socialite/courtier/vizier powers, cool demon fighting/spirit banishing/enemy smiting powers, or sneaky assassin/poisoning/corrosive powers.

In my ideal V5.5/V6, each "stream" of powers and amalgams would be signposted as such, perhaps with one or two optional "dipping in" points where you can get one or two powers from a stream without requiring the whole lot. (Or just an optional rule that allows people to pick and mix as they choose, letting STs decide on how much complexity they want in their own games.)

One of the revolutionary ideas at the time of First Edition was that you didn't need to consult a huge tome of powers and deal with decision paralysis -- you just had these discreet lists of five sequential powers. You took the powers you wanted from that Discipline and stopped when you didn't want any more. There were no traps. It was really quick.

And I decided against the in-clan Dominate, both for roleplaying and focus. I want my character to struggle. I want survival to be a challenge and every risk undertaken to be carefully considered. I want to say "oh, shit" if the cops pull me over. I also can't just catch and release after capturing someone and drinking my fill by wiping their memory. There will be no relatively happy endings for any victims. This will make me consider who's life I'm going to irreparably fuck up and probably end in gruesome fashion. I think that adds an interesting dimension to roleplay and your relationship with your Humanity. And yeah, I do want a haunted haven.

Agreed. This is great.

The concept I have is kinda heretical for this Nagaraja. He's not a morgue dweller and doesn't keep a Ouija board on hand. He's fashion forward and is occasionally partial to vibrant colors. Not a social butterfly, but also not a shut-in. Maybe like a butcher-slash-hitman who enjoys a good laugh and fucking with people by using ghost buddies. I suppose a character portrait might look like this: Nagaraja in a slightly relaxed pose wearing designer hi-tops, nice jeans, a yellow tee, complimented by a thick silver or gold chain around the neck. He has actual chains wrapped around his waist loosely with an end hanging halfway down the leg. Top this off with a big goofy smile showing off a mouth full of shark like teeth, bloodstains on the hands and forearms and voila, my Kusarigama Nagaraja.

Nice! The flesh eating is far more deliberate a decision here, and it seems like it'll be the exception rather than the rule. His biggest barrier will be the painful bite, which will make all things harder. He may, out of necessity, have to become a bit of a scavenger -- eating on carcasses like a vulture -- while all the time trying to maintain this image of someone who's stylish and in control. There's a nice tension between the realities of feeding and the demeanour he projects.

It could have the potential to become an all-consuming conflict in the game, but if you embrace it and deal with it creatively, I think it could be a lot of fun.

[ShovelHeart3]

adambeyonceloweThe supplement I got the "Incarcerator" PT out of is this, V5: New Predator Types

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391489/V5-New-Predator-Types?manufacturers_id=1

You get a dot of Potence or Oblivion and a choice between a grab & snatch approach or finesse by fabricating disappearances. So, I went with the grappling specialty (kidnapping) and like I said, a haven merit that gives a holding cell and a flaw that gives 2 dot enemies. Thematically and mechanically, I think this all synergizes well with a CS-employed Naga on both fronts. In fact, since the Circ loresheet gives you a free van to use, I was actually thinking of combining the haven merit with the van. So, in effect, I'd have this abduction-mobile/foodtruck. Oh, you might also want to check out this other supplement called ReVamped. I've only just skimmed through it ATM, but it looks like it improves the Necromantic aspects of Oblivion quite a bit. V5 is where I started, so I don't have any experience with past editions, so can't really judge it in contrast to Obtenebration. I don't really have too much issue with it, though. Just as you can use electricity to power different things, I don't see a problem with using the dark power of the Abyss for branching applications.

And I decided against the in-clan Dominate, both for roleplaying and focus. I want my character to struggle. I want survival to be a challenge and every risk undertaken to be carefully considered. I want to say "oh, shit" if the cops pull me over. I also can't just catch and release after capturing someone and drinking my fill by wiping their memory. There will be no relatively happy endings for any victims. This will make me consider who's life I'm going to irreparably fuck up and probably end in gruesome fashion. I think that adds an interesting dimension to roleplay and your relationship with your Humanity. And yeah, I do want a haunted haven.

The concept I have is kinda heretical for this Nagaraja. He's not a morgue dweller and doesn't keep a Ouija board on hand. He's fashion forward and is occasionally partial to vibrant colors. Not a social butterfly, but also not a shut-in. Maybe like a butcher-slash-hitman who enjoys a good laugh and fucking with people by using ghost buddies. I suppose a character portrait might look like this: Nagaraja in a slightly relaxed pose wearing designer hi-tops, nice jeans, a yellow tee, complimented by a thick silver or gold chain around the neck. He has actual chains wrapped around his waist loosely with an end hanging halfway down the leg. Top this off with a big goofy smile showing off a mouth full of shark like teeth, bloodstains on the hands and forearms and voila, my Kusarigama Nagaraja.

[adambeyoncelowe]

adambeyoncelowe
1st of all, I'm genuinely touched by all the effort you put into these posts. You went hard as fuck and I really appreciate it, lol. So, with the help of all your input, I actually feel like I had an epiphany.

You're welcome. Historically, VTM has always been a kitchen sink setting, and that's a big part of its appeal. That can be overwhelming, but it can also mean you want to do everything all at once, because there's too much choice.

I just wanted to help you narrow down those options a little.

For combat, I'm going to do like you said and scrap the Arms of Ahriman idea and instead use a chain for grappling and my primary weapon! Here's the plan: In a couple 3rd party supplements, there's a kidnapper PT that also confers a haven merit, grappling specialty and Potence. I feel this synchronizes well with the Naga's nastiness and the System theme.

Yeah, that's perfect. Which supplement is that in? I'll have to check it out.

So, instead of being a bargain bin Lasombra, I'll focus on Soaring Leap and Obdurate, the latter of which is conveniently an amalgam with Fortitude. I'll use a chain to ensnare and Obdurate for keeping balance/reeling in and Soaring Leap for a quick hook and pounce. I also like that I can use the chain's wide swinging arc against Celerity users. GET OVER HERE, bitch. I'm going to look through the material and see if I can bind a wraith to it for any extra bonuses, too. Plus, I can use it for climbing and I wonder if I can use Potence to swing it fast enough to partially deflect projectiles.......

That seems wise. For me, the problem of mixing Obtenebration and Necromancy is that they're essentially so different (the overlap was mostly in the Abyss Mysticism of Lasombra). So when Oblivion came out as one combined Discipline, I think it muddied the two streams somewhat.

If you played earlier editions, it seems obvious that Hecata shouldn't take the Lasombra powers (because they aren't optimised for it), but new players easily miss that and mix the powers.

The risk, then, is that you block yourself from certain power progressions because of how prerequisites work.

Which was a weird way of V5 having its cake and eating it too. It wanted to kill unique Disciplines, but then it put in place an artificial system of dividing the shadow and necromancy powers into two streams again. Really, they either needed to keep them separate or allow them to truly mix.

That being said, I think I finally found a cool compromise to bridge the gap between VTM's idea of the bloodline and my individual take. I definitely won't be taking Repulsive (I don't think a mouthful of fangs detract that much from attractiveness, personally) and want to break from the Naga stereotype type by focusing more on Athletics and having some Charisma and social skills, especially with the nature of the System. Oblivion also looks like it provides more than enough general utility and I'll be getting my Shaman King on. I'm going back and forth on taking the 4 dot merit to open Dominate as a 4th in clan, though. It's obviously incredibly useful, but it almost feels 2 EZ to me and Covid has made mask wearing normal in the West, so IDK.

Anyway, lemme know what you think if you feel inclined. Without you, I might not have had the chain idea and probably would've moved on to a different clan (still planning on making a Thin-Blood, though, let's go Blood Sigils!). Thank you very much for all your help.

*bows respectfully*

It's no problem at all. We're all here because we love these games (even if we don't always love everything about them all the time).

I remember when I first started playing VTM (~13 or 14 years old), and the generosity I found online from other people helped me stoke that interest, so it's always a pleasure to help other players.

Honestly, your ideas sound great, and a lot of fun (which is the most important part). The sample character I posted above was intentionally optimised for bite combat rather than roleplay (hence why I went with the "easy" flaw of being Repulsive in V5, with the added benefit that the ugliness adds to intimidation), but I think you've managed to strike a neat balance.

I agree with you, BTW, that Dominate may be too easy for this character. From a purely optimisation standpoint, it could be helpful to take that Merit, but as you can only purchase so many Merits, I think something more flavoursome would be better.

If you're only ever going to get one or two dots in Dominate, it's fine to leave it out of Clan (or pick up that Merit later on, if it makes sense).

I think you'll have more fun roleplaying social combat normally (which still does Willpower damage, BTW) and using a combination of combat and Oblivion to deal with your opponents.

But if you do need more points for Merits, making your Haven haunted is a) super appropriate (you pissed off the wrong spirit, or they want your help but can't explain how or why because they're tormented) and b) the sort of hindrance that could lead to interesting stories (although a PITA initially, they act as a form of unwilling CCTV for your Haven, they might even scare off intruders, and you have the capacity to eventually buy off the Flaw or turn it into a Merit as a you "befriend" the spirit).

[Lysander]

The posters try to be quite helpful when they can.

[ShovelHeart3]

adambeyoncelowe
1st of all, I'm genuinely touched by all the effort you put into these posts. You went hard as fuck and I really appreciate it, lol. So, with the help of all your input, I actually feel like I had an epiphany.

For combat, I'm going to do like you said and scrap the Arms of Ahriman idea and instead use a chain for grappling and my primary weapon! Here's the plan: In a couple 3rd party supplements, there's a kidnapper PT that also confers a haven merit, grappling specialty and Potence. I feel this synchronizes well with the Naga's nastiness and the System theme. So, instead of being a bargain bin Lasombra, I'll focus on Soaring Leap and Obdurate, the latter of which is conveniently an amalgam with Fortitude. I'll use a chain to ensnare and Obdurate for keeping balance/reeling in and Soaring Leap for a quick hook and pounce. I also like that I can use the chain's wide swinging arc against Celerity users. GET OVER HERE, bitch. I'm going to look through the material and see if I can bind a wraith to it for any extra bonuses, too. Plus, I can use it for climbing and I wonder if I can use Potence to swing it fast enough to partially deflect projectiles.......

That being said, I think I finally found a cool compromise to bridge the gap between VTM's idea of the bloodline and my individual take. I definitely won't be taking Repulsive (I don't think a mouthful of fangs detract that much from attractiveness, personally) and want to break from the Naga stereotype type by focusing more on Athletics and having some Charisma and social skills, especially with the nature of the System. Oblivion also looks like it provides more than enough general utility and I'll be getting my Shaman King on. I'm going back and forth on taking the 4 dot merit to open Dominate as a 4th in clan, though. It's obviously incredibly useful, but it almost feels 2 EZ to me and Covid has made mask wearing normal in the West, so IDK.

Anyway, lemme know what you think if you feel inclined. Without you, I might not have had the chain idea and probably would've moved on to a different clan (still planning on making a Thin-Blood, though, let's go Blood Sigils!). Thank you very much for all your help.

*bows respectfully*

[adambeyoncelowe]

Ah, my attempt at doing the character in V5 tripped the spam thingy. I've reposted it here and edit the earlier post if it ever gets taken out of the approvals list.

Here goes:

Hmmm. I've read your posts, and while I think you're asking for a lot (and you probably can't have all of it), there are things you can do to make the character more effective. Just don't be tempted by all the shiny things -- and honestly, that is still a problem I face even after 25 years. VTM just has so much shiny stuff.

But firstly, a disclaimer: the Nagaraja are not a core character type. They're advanced. And they are one of the more lore-intensive bloodlines. And you have to buy them as part of a LOREsheet, which does, in fact, signal that there will be some focus on VTM's lore (as rich and as maddening as it is).

V5 may or may not have done their introduction justice, but the lore actually helps explain some of the discrepancies. If you choose to ignore the lore when it's pointed out, it's no wonder the bloodline still doesn't make sense to you. And that part's on you. (Also, the Tal'mahe'Ra was and is still canon, even though it was nuked. It's even mentioned in V5 books, albeit obliquely.)

But onto your query.

The Nagaraja have never been combat monsters, but vampires were always much better equipped at overpowering humans in earlier editions. So the "serial killer" bit worked as a cool side thing for extra flavour, even though they weren't CQC specialists. Think of them as desperate, creepy carrion-feeders more than thugs.

In V5, vamps are generally weaker versus humans, which makes it harder to play a mystic character that's also a serial killer on the side. But as I say, they were never a martial clan, and even in V5 they aren't really.

They're outsiders (as you note) because they have arcane and deathly interests, but not the same ones as the rest of their "clan". They're survivors not because they're soldiers but because of that arcane knowledge and the power it brings (e.g., in older editions they could literally eat ghosts, which is great for hiding out in the Underworld).

So yeah, this character could be done much more easily as a Lamia (who also have a horrific bite, BTW), as you note. They're the standard "sort of deathly but mostly bodyguards and assassins" bloodline. They used to have a Necromancy bite power that doubled their aggravated damage, too. If you converted that to V5 Oblivion, you'd be set. But I've digressed enough...

Lore and character concepts aside, the main obstacle to building this character, as I see it, is that V5 chargen is much more restrictive and all the Disciplines have essentially been broken up into smaller parts, which means you need twice as many to be proficient. That's why you're struggling to get everything you need for the concept you want.

Difficulties are also quite high in this edition. The expectation seems to be that you'll get a lot of "win at a cost" results, and thus have to settle for a steady stream of complications.

E.g., the "average" difficulty is 3, but most published powers and the like are 4+, meaning you'll only reliably succeed with 8 or more dice in your pool (6 for difficulty 3). You'll be much more likely to roll 1-3 successes, and therefore have to accept a cost.

It's also intentional that you can't buy Arms of Ahriman straight out the gate, because that was always, traditionally, a Lasombra power. V5 has decided clans shouldn't get their own Disciplines completely, but they've rejigged how Disciplines work so only certain clans can get those powers that were previously unique at the start of play (a bit of a compromise).

Nagaraja CQC specialists suffer especially because you can't just sink freebie points into combat Disciplines like Potence and Celerity like you could in earlier editions (where you'd have been able to get three dots in out-of-clan Disciplines at chargen with 21 freebies). You need to pick the right Predator Type and squint a bit. You also can't just use vitae to buff your attributes for a scene anymore, either.

The intent seems to be that amalgams should feel somewhat restrictive. So if you're investing in an out-of-clan set of amalgams like Obtenebration (Arms of Ahriman, etc), you are sacrificing the option to invest in others (like Obeah and Valeren). That's the system working as intended.

Once you accept that, you actually free yourself up to focus in on what you can do. I think you're needlessly wasting valuable dots, for instance, on trying to get Auspex and Fortitude so that you can get Obeah later, when in reality, this vampire could just ghoul a human and make them heal themselves.

If you have enough sources of flesh (and the one-dot Nagaraja Loresheet effect allows them to gain vitae from corpses, which is a lot better than it seems), and ways to dispose of flesh-stripped corpses (something Oblivion allows you to do at the first level), it's pretty easy to top yourself up to then feed your vitae to humans, who can then heal themselves as ghouls.

Better still, you could drop the magical healing aspect, and just take First Aid as a Specialty. Leave that to someone else. Nagaraja are more about death than life, after all.

Personally, I'd also scrap the Arms of Ahriman thing, too. Oblivion causes stains whenever you roll a 1 on the rouse check (in addition to any extra Hunger gained), and this power has a serious weakness on top: against bright lights, you'd need to make a Wits + Oblivion roll to dodge, or the arms get banished. It also uses your action to attack this way.

Doing one type of attack well is better than trying to do several and failing. In V5, you can't really be broad in the same way as in V20, where two dice gave you a 75% chance of success.

That all said, here's how I'd do it:

Predator Type: Alleycat (flesh eating isn't essential, so you can do this for most victims and reserve the flesh eating for a fancy treat), providing Brawl (Grappling), Potence 1 (or Celerity), Contacts (Criminal) 3, -1 Humanity,

Attributes:
Strength 4
Dexterity 3
Stamina 3
Charisma 1
Manipulation 2
Composure 2
Intelligence 2
Wits 3
Resolve 2

Secondary Attributes:
Health: 6
Willpower: 4
Humanity: 6

Skills:
Brawl (Bite, Grappling) 4
Occult 3 -- but technically, you could drop this in V5, as it's not used in Oblivion at all; so consider Awareness 3 instead (for ambushes), opening up one dot for Science or Survival
Melee 3
Stealth 3
Medicine 2
Intimidation 2 (+1 success when using your maw, +2 dice when using Shadow Cloak)
Athletics 2
Streetwise 1
Awareness 1
Subterfuge 1

Disciplines:
Dominate 1* (Cloud Memory)
Oblivion 2** (Ashes to Ashes, Shadow Cloak)
Potence 1*** (Soaring Leap, or Lethal Body if you want more CQC options)

*Using alternate rule to swap Dominate for Fortitude.
**Turn mutilated corpses to ash after you've finished with them. Use Shadow Cloak for a +2 bonus to stealth and for intimidation against mortals.
***Consolidating your CQC options by either closing distances to attack or doing more damage. With Lethal Body, your bite becomes less essential, making you more versatile, but that may detract from your intended focus.

Ceremonies:
The Gift of False Life (raise undead servants; only because the other level one ceremony doesn't seem as useful, but you could easily swap these around as this isn't central to the concept either way)

Advantages:
Background: Contacts (Criminal) 3
Loresheet: Circulatory System

• Tap into the System 1

Bloodline: Flesh-Eaters

• Viscus 1
• Monstrous Bite 5

Flaw: Repulsive (your minging maw, mate...) -- DON'T take Organovore

Key pools (take half):
Sneaking: Dexterity + Stealth 6 (3) or 8 (4) with Shadow Cloak
CQC: Strength + Brawl 8 (4)
Grappling: Strength + Brawl 9 (5)
Biting: Strength + Brawl 9 (5), and no called shot penalty
Intimidation: Strength + Intimidation 6 (3, 4 when using your maw) or 8 (4, 5 when using maw) when using Shadow Cloak
Feeding Pool: Strength + Brawl 9 (5) / Wits + Streetwise 4 (2)
First Aid: Wits + Medicine 5 (3)

This character can sneak up on people, attack them, grapple them and bite them hard. Technically, any attribute can be used with any skill, so if you use your maw and display your strength to intimidate people, you can use that instead of another dice pool. Otherwise, drop a couple of dice to use Resolve (browbeating, I guess?) or Manipulation (verbal threats, blackmail, etc). Likewise, First Aid may need Intelligence (drop one die), but there's an argument for using Wits in the heat of things.

Anything with a "take half" of 4 or 5 is solid. Anything with a 3 is the minimum you need to succeed often enough not to have to worry about setbacks all the time. The 2s will do in a pinch, but you may want to develop those areas with time and XP.

If you're getting any XP (e.g., playing a neonate instead of a fledgeling), you can afford to purchase the 4pt. Merit to get Auspex as well, if you really, really want to. But I would consider Oblivion 3 (Touch of Oblivion) instead, so you can inflict crippling injuries AND blind your target, making them ripe for your bite next round...

I don't think the Nagaraja count as a Low Clan. They didn't historically. So I wouldn't bother trying to get an extra Discipline that way -- especially as you probably want the Circulatory System Loresheet more.

You may also want to consider a Haven, such as a crypt in a hospital cemetery. If you can get a Herd, make it the hospital and attached morgue. Feast like mad on the dead bodies! Ashes to Ashes would also work really well if you made your haven in a crematorium, too, and would probably save you lots of money on business costs.

This character isn't perfect, but can do a few things pretty well. You can focus on rounding them out with XP as the game progresses.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Out of interest, if running the character as a Lamia in V5, you'd only need to change the Disciplines, Ceremonies and Advantages to get something similarly combat-proficient:

Auspex 1 (Heightened Senses for combat, or Sense the Unseen if you'd like to be more necromantic)
Oblivion 2 (Ashes to Ashes, Shadow Cloak, though, again, you could swap the latter with Oblivion's Sight for something more necromantic)
Potence 1 (Lethal Body)

Advantages:
Backgrounds: Haven 2 (Hospital Crypt)
Bloodline: The Gorgons

• Medusa's Gaze 5

Flaws: Archaic (you've recently awoken, but hail from the days of the Giovanni purge against the Cappadocians, which makes things... interesting)

You could also take Sandman as a Predator Type with a Lamia, giving you a specialty in Stealth (Break-ins) or Medicine (Anesthetics). That may help with the healing and sneaky elements you wanted. That would also let you swap Auspex for Obfuscate, if you wanted.

Medusa's Gaze is great for stopping people in their tracks. It can be used both in and out of combat, resulting in a very vulnerable opponent.

[adambeyoncelowe]

As a bit of fun, here's the same character in V20:

Attributes:
Strength 2
Dexterity 5
Stamina 3
Charisma 2
Manipulation 3
Appearance 1
Perception 2
Intelligence 3
Wits 3

Abilities:
Athletics 1
Awareness 2
Brawl 3
Intimidation 3
Streetwise 3
Subterfuge 1
Firearms 1
Larceny 1
Melee 3
Stealth 3
Survival 1
Medicine 2
Occult 3

Backgrounds:
Generation 5
Herd 1 (Morgue)

Disciplines:
Celerity 1
Necromancy (Vitreous Path) 4
Obfuscate 1

Rituals:
Preserve Corpse
Parting the Veil
Death's Head
Impregnable Soul

Virtues:
Conviction 2
Self-Control 3
Courage 4

Path of Death and the Soul 5
Willpower 4

Flaws:
Haunted 3
Hunted 4

It took me a fraction of the time to make this character, but I think they would be far more capable. Note that you could switch one of the Discipline dots for Potence if you prefer, but breathing death on people is kinda cool.

[adambeyoncelowe]

(See below. Reposted due to tripping the spam filter.)

[ShovelHeart3]

It feels to me that them being Nagaraja is irrelevant to you. You may as well be a Caitiff with a Merit or a weird mutation that could be mapped out by that loresheet. Considering how much extra work you're putting on your Storyteller to include a reason why someone would even embrace such a character AND to flesh out this person as a NPC for the campaign seems like overkill when you won't care about who they are and why they do what they do. You're picking the rarest of the rare and then just ignoring everything about what and why makes them rare. Clans and bloodlines choose who joins them, especially bloodlines that are essentially elaborate cults that seek the perfect members to inherit the mastery of Death as given by the Idran.

Suffice to say, most Storytellers wouldn't be thrilled by a player inflicting this level of work for a whim. There's a reason why in the olden days the Nagaraja were tucked away in the Storyteller's Handbook.

I'm a solo player and I personally disagree with you about what makes the Nagaraja unique. By function, they are outcasts. Their existence is more visceral and survival is a different game to them. In V5, they have no established lore. All anyone knows is that they are outsiders that cannot be related to and have an intimate relationship with Death and their bloodline abilities further reinforce this connection to violence. Sure, I could be a Caitiff with a mutation, but again, all that cosmic lore can also be copy and pasted onto any new Hecata bloodline. You have to look at the sum of the parts, not just the parts themselves.

A Naga has Auspex because they have a deeper experience with the relationship between both sides of existence, Life and Death.

A Naga has Fortitude because their unlives are more difficult, so a stout body and mind is required to push through a world that is against you.

And a Naga has Oblivion because their soul is stained by shadows, just as their hands are stained with blood.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a Nagaraja feeding alone in the corner of a secluded room, hiding away from the world, with a face caked in flesh and blood says more to me than a page full of verbose lore ever will. The True Black Hand is gone. The Naga can write their own story.

[Asmodai]

To me personally, no. You could create a bloodline and copypaste that exact same lore onto them. Before I read in depth about the Nagaraja, I got acquainted with them because of their teeth and diet. That's what made me want to learn more about them because that's what stuck out. Every clan and bloodline has intricate lore, but what do you think most people would think of predominantly associate with the Naga? Also, V5 is a soft reset. We don't know the metaplot of them at this point and there may not even be one. What we know is that they are pariahs with big teeth who live comparatively more difficult lives. That is far more distinctive and visceral to me than ostentatious lore.

It feels to me that them being Nagaraja is irrelevant to you. You may as well be a Caitiff with a Merit or a weird mutation that could be mapped out by that loresheet. Considering how much extra work you're putting on your Storyteller to include a reason why someone would even embrace such a character AND to flesh out this person as a NPC for the campaign seems like overkill when you won't care about who they are and why they do what they do. You're picking the rarest of the rare and then just ignoring everything about what and why makes them rare. Clans and bloodlines choose who joins them, especially bloodlines that are essentially elaborate cults that seek the perfect members to inherit the mastery of Death as given by the Idran.

Suffice to say, most Storytellers wouldn't be thrilled by a player inflicting this level of work for a whim. There's a reason why in the olden days the Nagaraja were tucked away in the Storyteller's Handbook.