How to Create a Night’s Black Agents Character
Build a burned spy turned supernatural hunter! This step-by-step guide walks you through creating a Night’s Black Agents character ready to face conspiracies and vampires.
From burned spy to vampire hunter, here’s how to build an agent who can survive in the shadows. Night’s Black Agents blends high-stakes espionage with supernatural horror; your character is the sharp edge between them.
If you haven’t yet read our Night’s Black Agents: Espionage with Fangs overview, start there for the tone and mechanics. Then come back here to create your own operative.
Character creation in Night’s Black Agents begins with a question: What went wrong?
You were trained to deceive, manipulate, and kill. You had a badge, a handler, and a cover. Now you're out. Burned. Alone. And something inhuman is watching. Creating an agent is fast, but never shallow. Every decision is a breadcrumb in a conspiracy only you can trace. Here’s how to start.
1. Choose Your Background
Your Agency Background is who you were when the world still made sense. It defines your skillset, worldview, and former loyalties.
Pick one that fits your concept. Some common examples:
Wet Work: Trigger-pullers. Field assassins, special ops, black-bag specialists.
Signals/Tech: Surveillance experts, hackers, crypto analysts.
Fieldwork: Case officers, double agents, undercover assets.
Psy-Ops: Interrogators, behavioral profilers, mind-game tacticians.
Medical: Trauma surgeons, ex-military medics, virologists with secrets.
These reflect real-world training that will keep you alive when the hunt begins.
Example: “Ex-Mossad operator burned after Istanbul. She knows too much. And someone knows she knows.”
2. Assign Investigative Abilities
These abilities are used to uncover information. You don’t roll for them. If you have the ability, you can use it. They’re divided into:
Academic: Archaeology, Vampirology, Human Terrain
Interpersonal: Intimidation, Negotiation, Bullshit Detector
Technical: Digital Intrusion, Explosive Devices, Surveillance
You'll get a pool of points to assign, based on your group size. Distribute broadly or specialize. But remember, investigative coverage is the lifeblood of the game.
Example: A paranoid ex-NSA analyst might invest heavily in Traffic Analysis, Data Recovery, and Electronic Surveillance.
3. Assign General Abilities
These are the skills you roll for. These cover action, survival, and improvisation:
Combat: Hand-to-Hand, Shooting, Weapons
Tradecraft: Infiltration, Disguise, Filch, Preparedness
Resilience: Health, Stability, Driving
Each ability has a rating and a pool. The higher the rating, the better you are. Spend points from your pool to influence rolls, although your pools don’t refresh easily.
Tip: Always invest in Preparedness. It lets you have the right gear at the right time.
4. Choose a Drive
Drives answer why your agent keeps going. They’re personal, psychological, and required.
These might include:
Atonement: Making up for something you did.
Revenge: Someone burned you. Now it’s your turn.
Altruism: You saw what’s out there. Someone has to fight it.
Curiosity: You need to know what’s behind the curtain.
Drives give the Director (Game Master) leverage. They’re how you get drawn into the next op, even when running would be safer.
5. Define Sources of Stability
When your agent starts losing their grip, these people, places, or principles keep them from breaking.
A child in Vienna.
A prayer whispered every morning.
A former mentor you never stopped trusting.
You get one main anchor and a few additional ones. They’re roleplayed, tracked, and endangered. If they fall, your mind might too.
6. Build Your Cover and Gear
Pick a cover identity, a role that lets you move, gather intel, or go unnoticed. This isn’t your “real self,” but it might be the one you survive with.
Your gear is flexible and narrative-driven: firearms, surveillance tools, hacking kits, vials of holy water. GUMSHOE emphasizes fiction and functionality over spreadsheets.
Example: “My cover is a corporate security consultant for a biotech firm. My go-bag has two burner phones, a Glock 19, and a vial of blood marked ‘Donor: Classified.’”
7. Flesh Out the Legend
What made you leave the agency?
What did you see that made you believe?
Who betrayed you?
This is the truth behind your dossier. Not just where you’ve been, but where you’re willing to go.
Customize It All in Quest Portal
With Night’s Black Agents fully supported on Quest Portal, you can:
Plug into our No-Code Character Sheets
Journal your agent’s (possible) descent in Notes
With Pro: Generate dossiers, prompts, and briefing materials on the fly
Whether you're running Dust, Mirror, or Stakes mode, everything you need is in one place.
Final Thought: What Makes You Dangerous?
You’re not a superhero. You’re not immortal. But you were trained by the best. Now you’re up against something older than tradecraft. And it’s winning. So ask yourself: Who are you willing to burn to stop it?
Your cover is in place. Your Drive is locked in. The conspiracy has noticed. Let the game begin.
TL;DR
Pick a Background to define your skillset
Assign Investigative and General Abilities
Choose a Drive and Sources of Stability
Build a Cover Identity and narrative Gear Loadout
Flesh out your Legend and drop into the conspiracy
Next Steps
Read Night’s Black Agents: Espionage with Fangs to understand the game’s tone
Get the Night's Black Agents Rulebook on Quest Portal's Marketplace
Make a Night's Black Agents character with our no-code template
Start playing with the ENNIE Award-winning Dracula Dossier Director’s Handbook available on Quest Portal's Marketplace
Join our Discord to talk NBA in #pelgrane-press
FAQ
Q: How long does character creation take in NBA?
A: Usually under an hour, depending on how deep you go into backstory.
Q: Do I need to cover every ability?
A: The team as a whole should cover investigative gaps, but individuals can specialize.
Q: Can I play NBA without vampires?
A: Yes. The system works with any high-level conspiracy or supernatural threat.
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