KINDRED SOCIETY
elected to go into deep hiding to escape the wrath of            The Camarilla
mortals at the Convention of Thorns, the Jyhad con-
tinued unabated. The destruction of any ancien régime            The Camarilla is the most widely influential organiza-
is always a convenient cover for the dead, and both the          tion Kindred history has ever known. Its stated pur-
French Revolution and the October Uprising saw the               pose is to preserve the Masquerade, an elaborate veil
collection of the blood of nobles by Kindred seeking to          of deception pulled over the eyes of the living to hide
destroy their elders. Well into these nights of postmo-          the existence of the Kindred. But the Camarilla is so
dernity, of neon lights and CCTV, methuselahs like               much more. It is a conspiracy to preserve the power of
Helena and Menele still rage against each other, though          the elders, an undead secret society influencing global
Troy is no more than ash and legend.
                                                                        business and politics, the closest thing the Kin-
    Every Kindred wants to believe they                                        dred have to a system of government, and
know their place in the Jyhad, but few                                            an international union of cities akin to
do. Schemes the Prince of Cairo                                                      the United Nations – complete with
hatches to rid his city of faithless                                                    a central inner circle and a cadre of
Anarchs in the chaos of the Arab                                                        justicars and archons traveling the
Spring are not his own, but feed                                                         world to “keep the peace,” answer-
into the plans of a methuselah in                                                        ing to nameless masters. The sect
catacombs beneath Turin. Layers                                                           maintains a fierce moral stance
upon layers of intricate politi-                                                          on preserving humanity in the
cal games and strategic alliances                                                         face of the impulses of the Blood,
obscure reality, but as the Sabbat                                                       seeing themselves as the shep-
howl about Gehenna, the Anarchs                                                         herds of the blind human throng –
take up arms again, and the elders                                                    simultaneously morally superior and
of the seventh generation and lower                                                  inferior to their short-lived subjects.
are beckoned back to where it all                                                       The sheer age, power, and wealth
began, it looks like things are heading for                                        of many Camarilla members, and the
the endgame.                                                                     recent exclusion of the Anarchs from
    The elders who remain in their havens                                 their ranks, makes the sect distinctly upper
gorge themselves on fledgling vitae to stay sane and                 class. These are the monsters that hide behind
resist the call. Instead of governing directly they retreat      $5000 cocktail dresses, meticulously tended stock
into paranoid seclusion, leaving underprepared neo-              portfolios, and havens guarded by blood slaves in
nates to rule in their stead. The “inheritance coteries”         private security uniforms. They are the one percent of
are everywhere now, holding fiefdoms and ganglands,              the one percent and they hunger for more. Their pawns
while their masters have left for the East or are scream-        are placed in banking and in Congress, making deals
ing at the invisible phantoms of their Blood madness.            and passing bills. They are masters of disinformation,
Many of the stand-in rulers do not plan to give back             propaganda, and blackmail, never leaving a loose end
what they got when the elders return. Why shouldn’t              untied for long. These nights, there is a lot of tying to
one generation’s apocalypse be another’s beginning?              do, but the Camarilla does not hesitate to lay ruin to
                                                                 human lives and Kindred unlives to protect the secrets
    But yes, vampires live forever, so who is to say their       of their influence.
apocalypse will not last for a mortal age? If this is the            To most members of the Camarilla, Caine is just
end at all. The unbound shake their heads, describing the        a myth, a metaphor for their curse, rather than a
latest incidents in the blood opera of the Jyhad as nothing      historical individual. That said, many still cling to their
but schemes and personal vendettas disguised as prophecy         Christian, Jewish, or Muslim faiths like straws in a
and destiny. To them, the ancients are just people with          storm, trying to find meaning and purpose in their un-
power, grudges, and way too much time on their hands.
                                                             49
COREBOOK 	
                                                                                                              50
KINDRED SOCIETY
lives. The Middle Eastern counter-   emonies, negotiations, and heated      sloppy feeding with witnesses, a
part to the Camarilla – the Ashirra  debate, protected and directed by      vulgar display of undead might,
– is entirely based on using Islam   the Keeper and their heralds, also     a confession to a beloved mortal.
to temper the murderous impulses     known as harpies. One may be           These things happen, but Kindred
of the Blood. Still, ancestor wor-   hidden behind the dark rooms of        are expected to clean up after
ship is a widespread and accepted    an upscale fetish club, another in an  themselves, or there will be hell
practice in the Camarilla, with      otherwise unused nuclear bunker, a     to pay. The crime-world code
ancient Methuselah like Mithras      third in the Guggenheim’s Brancusi     “snitches get stitches” doesn’t even
and the Dracon serving the func-     collection at night.                   begin to describe how seriously
tion of saints. In some clans the                                           both the Camarilla and the An-
Antediluvians have become objects        Order in the domain at large is    archs take the Masquerade. In the
of veneration – imagined as the      maintained by a sheriff, gendarme,     age of YouTube dares, clickbait,
embodied ideals of their blood-      constable or whatever law enforce-     and fake news, a Masquerade
lines.                               ment term is used locally. They are    breach is easily overlooked by the
                                     usually more hitman than cop, and      masses, but any transgression can
    A Camarilla city is run in the   summary justice tends to be the        end with a black ops team kicking
fashion of a feudal court, even if   norm as the Camarilla frown on         in a haven door. Only the crazi-
their gatherings may look more       modern ideas like due process. If      est of Cainite superiority fanatics
like slick boardroom meetings or     you get dragged before the Council     dream of an age where they can
rough gatherings of criminal car-    to plead for mercy instead of          rule openly; the rest have faced
tels. The hierarchy is absolute. At  chained beneath a sunroof, you’ve      reality – the undead fare better
the top we find the Prince, a crea-  been lucky.                            as parasitic powers behind the
ture impressive or cunning enough                                           throne than as great predators or
to be acknowledged as the absolute   The Six                                infernal lords of human domin-
leader of their domain. Below them   Traditions                             ions.
are the members of the Primogen
Council – representatives of the     The Six Traditions form the core       the second tradition:
major Camarilla factions in the      framework for governance among         the domain 
area. Whether they are clan elders   the Kindred. While they are inter-     Thy domain is thine own concern. All
or a gathering of those who hold     preted in wildly different ways and    others owe thee respect while in it. None
the largest hunting grounds, they    given various attention by individ-    may challenge thy word while in thy
speak directly to the Prince, who    ual princes and councils, they are     domain.
will do best by listening to their   ancient customs that no initiated
advice. More than one lord has       Camarilla Kindred is unaware of.       A prince’s domain is the whole
been ousted by their own council.    Even if they were, ignorance is no     city, but they may grant rights to
Some princes choose a seneschal,     excuse for breaking them.              those who have served them, allow-
who acts as personal advisor or                                             ing others to rule over a district or
replacement when the Prince is       the first tradition:                   a city block in their stead. This cre-
unavailable.                         the masquerade                         ates an elaborate hierarchy of liege
                                     Thou shall not reveal thy true nature  lords and lieges, reminiscent of the
    When needed, the court gather    to those not of the Blood. Doing such  feudalism of the late Middle Ages.
in secret sanctuaries known as Ely-  shall renounce thy claims of Blood.    Knowing the lay of the land and
siums, often changing locations to                                          who has the claim to its use is vital
maintain absolute privacy and using  The first tradition is the only one    to navigating the urban labyrinths
a myriad deceptions to hide Kin-     universally respected, but also the    of the night.
dred affairs from mortal scrutiny.   one that is broken most often. A
Elysiums accommodate feasts, cer-
                                     51
COREBOOK 	
            the third tradition:                    the fourth tradition:                     the sixth tradition:
            the progeny 
            Thou shall only Sire another with       the accounting                            destruction
            the permission of thine elder. If thou
            createst another without thine Elder’s  Those thou create are thine own           Thou art forbidden to destroy another
            leave, both thou and thy Progeny shall  children. Until thy Progeny shall be Re-  of thy kind. The right of destruction
            be slain.                               leased, thou shall command them in all    belongeth only to thine Elder. Only the
                                                    things. Their sins are thine to endure.   Eldest among thee shall call the Blood
            Overpopulation can quickly become                                                 Hunt.
            a serious threat to the Masquerade,     Tonight, release into the Camarilla       The Blood Hunt is the ultimate
            and having to ask the Prince for        is more a question of initiation          punishment in Vampire society.
            permission to make a childe is the      than anything else. If a childe           Normally the destruction of anoth-
            best way to avoid it anyone has         does not have what it takes to join       er Kindred is seen as a cardinal sin,
            come up with. A companion of            the elite, they are thrown to the         but anyone can hunt and kill those
            one’s own Blood is one of the things    Anarchs, to be hunted and stepped         that are named the targets of lex
            most desired by Kindred, and a          on like the rest of the unbound,          talionis, the law of retaliation. Even
            thing they cannot freely have. Thus,    if not destroyed outright. Childer        the thin-blooded, the Anarchs, and
            it is a coveted gift and a powerful     who are accepted, but escape from         the independents are invited to the
            tool in securing alliances.             oppressive sires are still their          murder party. Anything goes in the
                                                    responsibility, so the maker better       Blood Hunt, and if the one who
                Vampire populations used            find their wayward progeny fast.          kills the target drinks it dry and
            to hover around one per 100.000         And punish them.                          claims a part of their power – the
            mortals, but tonight – who can                                                    terrible crime of diablerie – so be
            say? Some cities, like London, are      the fifth tradition:                      it. Helping a Blood Hunt is a good
            almost empty after Second Inquisi-      hospitality                               way into the Camarilla’s graces, so
            tion crackdowns and others are          Honor one another’s domain. When          joining one is often frowned upon
            hives of thin-blood activity.           thou comest to a foreign city, thou       by Anarchs.
                                                    shall present thyself to the one who
                                                    ruleth there. Without the word of ac-
                                                    ceptance, thou art nothing.
                                                        In an age of spy games and iso-
                                                    lated city domains this tradition is
                                                    becoming polarized in its enforce-
                                                    ment. Keeping track of who is in
                                                    your city is a daunting task in the
                                                    era of the refugee and the global
                                                    citizen, and some princes are
                                                    actively backing harsh immigration
                                                    policies, building walls, or infiltrat-
                                                    ing border controls just to keep up.
                                                    Princes usually either give up on
                                                    enforcing this law or do it draconi-
                                                    cally with mortal assistance.
                                                    52
KINDRED SOCIETY
Kindred
 Fashion
Black is still the new black. Feeding is messy and              wearing a band T-shirt and has daymares about not
bloodstains are easier to hide on dark fabrics. It is that      getting into Berghain. Only the handful of Kindred
simple. Toreador tastemakers in the fashion industry            who still stalk the goth scene dress like “vampires”
return to black each season for this very reason. This          in public.
means light-colored clothes, especially white, become
status symbols. A Brujah in a white tracksuit signals               Elysiums and havens are a whole other story. In
“I’m so skilled I don’t spill a drop.” But wearing light        these no-Masquerade areas the Kindred flaunt their
colors is always a risk, and many Kindred consider the          age and monstrous nature. Here the complex neo-
practice as asking for trouble, no matter how tight             feudal codes of their society rule, and the harpies
their blood-drinking game is.                                   wear Elizabethan dresses or haute couture creations
                                                                that would make Lady Gaga gasp for breath. It’s all
     Fashion is a secret language. Just like mortals,           part of the status game. Arriving from the street into
Kindred signal affiliation, attitude, and ideology              the lair of an elder is a humbling experience – no less
through their dress, both in the street and in Elysium.         so, if the guest kneels in their black jeans and T-shirt
A rose print dress screams “I’m a diva” to those who            before an ageless monster in a chalk-white dress made
know about clan iconography, and attire made from               from human skin.
trash and rags marks you as a Nosferatu – or possibly
a Malkavian. A subtle Edwardian cut to the jacket or                 Anarchs tend to despise the need for embellish-
pullover you wear among mortals hints at your age,              ment as a typical Camarilla thing, instead staying true
and the tenderly preserved 1905 dress you wear to               to a single style, gradually changing through the dec-
court tells neonates to respect their elders. 	                 ades: a modern street interpretation of what they are
                                                                and their personal history, carefully maintaining their
     Kindred dress very differently in the street and           human mask. Baggy hip-hop fashion with memento
in Elysium. In public, the Masquerade is on, and                mori bling and woodcut style tattoos recall the 1500s
looking like an antiquated royal is usually a very bad          for the Landsknecht. A World War II bomber jacket
idea. Vampires are stealth hunters. They blend in               for the rabble taxi driver with a history. Crust punk
with their prey. Most are masked with a human cov-              rivet armor for the Mongol Gangrel warlord. Most
er, and all have a pattern of predation. These two              wear perfectly ordinary everynight street clothes with
factors dictate their street look. A Sandman burglar            hint at their nature understood only by those who
wears trainers and black Adidas with a hoodie, but              know exactly what to look for.	
a leech with the same modus operandi who feeds
from a psych-ward dresses like an orderly. A scene
queen stalking the psychobilly scene spends an hour
every evening on their pompadour and tattoos,
while a minimal techno fiend would never dream of
                                                            53
COREBOOK 	
            ICONOGRAPHY                                                               The Anarch Movement
            A cracked mirror left at the scene of the crime. A cross-like ankh
            marking the spine of a book. A warped tragedy mask spray painted          The revolution against the
            on a tarp tent in Skid Row. The broken Anarchy (A), upside down,          Camarilla is as old as the sect itself.
            tattooed on a biker’s neck. Or wait, are those swords?                    Originally known as the Anarch
                                                                                      Revolt, in recent decades it has
                 Every subculture and secret society has its own ever-evolving        grown vastly, as younger Kindred
            language of signs and symbols, and the Kindred are no exception.          find it hard to understand why
            The marks of the Antediluvians and their bloodlines have been             they should follow the dictates of
            shaped in angular cuneiform, drawn from the broken imagination            elders who seem perfectly happy to
            of a child from Styria, and sketched on empty plates at the seats         throw them to the Second Inquisi-
            of unnamed conclave feasts. From the dawn of time, clan and sect          tion if need be.
            heraldry has evolved into a myriad localized and personalized
            forms, but the themes and core symbology are as never-dying as                The unbound are all those
            the Kindred themselves. The heraldry of noble divas in the late           vampires who fall outside the
            middle ages (not yet named Toreador – the word was coined by              Camarilla. The Anarch Movement
            Bizet in his 1877 libretto for Carmen and promptly appropriated),         in its various forms is a subset of
            featured a rose, the Ventrue kings of Britannia have always held          the unbound and also their most
            scepters, and a mask of some form has been associated with the            visible manifestation. Many seek to
            horrors since before the rise of Greek tragedy.                           escape from the Camarilla’s control
                                                                                      by hiding. But the Anarchs have
                 The new clan and sect symbols presented in this book have            decided to fight back, attempting
            not been designed by some undead art director for universal use           to conquer and control domains
            among the clans. Nor were the symbols that preceded them. The             originally held by those who would
            new variants do however reflect some of the changes in undead             claim themselves their masters.
            society. The Ventrue of the 21st century often add a sword to their       And why not? The Camarilla’s
            scepter, marking them as the Clan of Kings at war with the An-            elders are being called to the Mid-
            archs and the Second Inquisition; the Tremere symbol has evolved          dle East by the Beckoning, and the
            to new complexity after the fall of the Pyramid, and the mirror of        Second Inquisition has destroyed
            the Malkavians is looking back at them. In the reality of the World       princes and primogen all over the
            of Darkness, the clan and sect symbols are seldom used exactly as         world.
            they are shown in this book.                                              The number of elders dwindle
                                                                                      while there is a new crop of hungry,
                One Toreador wears a crown of roses, another has fresh petals         ambitious Anarch licks every year.
            decorating her dress, a third wears a Victorian style brooch shaped
            like a long-stemmed rose, a fourth a navelpiercing designed to be              The word on the street is
            a more abstracted rose with a shorter, curled stem. No clan mark          revolution. No more compromises,
            is ever invalidated, and the Kindred who got inked in the early           no more politics, no more trying
            90’s wear their old-school colors as proudly as those who branded         to make deals with the Camarilla.
            themselves with a new interpretation of the symbols yesterday. In         The Movement has finally escaped
            your game you are well served by abstracting the iconography to           the centuries-long lethargy it
            its core. If you keep it simple, you will be able to find hints of it on  fell into after the Convention of
            punk album covers and in renaissance paintings and radical street         Thorns and the formation of the
            art – blood-red lipstick traces left through art history by our im-       Sabbat, but that time is now over.
            mortal masters.                                                           The Anarchs have remembered
                                                                                      how to fight, galvanized by the
                                                                                      Camarilla’s great betrayal in being
                                                                                      at fault for the Second Inquisition.
            54
KINDRED SOCIETY
     The root causes of Anarch dis-        The Movement is different in
content are not hard to find. Many    each city. Sometimes an Anarch
Camarilla princes like to style       city has a ruler called a baron.
themselves as enlightened and just    More commonly, it is led by gangs
rulers who benevolently look after    who each have their own terri-
the welfare of all Kindred. The       tories. Some cities are currently
experience of the neonate-turned-     divided between the Anarchs and
Anarch is very different. Once        the Camarilla – both sides itching
you’ve been told you can only feed    to take over.
in the warehouse district, your sire
has been executed for obscure vio-         Where the Camarilla influenc-
lations of Camarilla law, and the     es human society from the outside,
Sheriff has murdered your mortal      the Anarchs have burrowed deep
mother because she was a “threat      inside. Many maintain mortal
to the Masquerade,” princely          identities, perhaps even families
rhetoric starts to ring hollow.       and jobs. This makes them simul-
                                      taneously more vulnerable and
                                      more secure. Vulnerable because
                                      they are in contact with their sur-
                                      roundings every night, and sure to
                                      make mistakes. Secure because the
                                      Anarch is never the vampire lord in
                                      a mansion on the hill. They’re the
                                      DJ in the nightclub, the terrifying
                                      cop from internal affairs, the junkie
                                      creeping outside your window.
                                             What motivates the Anarch
                                      Movement most of all is the scent
                                      of victory. For the first time in
                                      centuries, it feels as if it might be
                                      possible to topple the Princes. If
                                      the old order can collapse in Ber-
                                      lin, it can collapse anywhere!
55
COREBOOK 	
            The Autarkis                            is rife with strong personalities       Only the most reclusive autarkis
                                                    uninterested in pre-determined          and Inconnu are unaffected. The
            Even in a city like Paris, dominat-     laws and monthly meetings in            game is up, the use of surveillance
            ed by the Camarilla, many Kindred       Elysium. When all is in flux, you       and high technology has blown up
            remain unbound and in hiding            cannot expect every creature to be      in the face of the Camarilla, and
            from their cousins. Their stories       accounted for or adhering to rules      they are caught in the worst crisis
            are either so old that the sects seem   that you know. The autarkis and         since the Convention of Thorns
            like passing trends to them or so       the unbound are a reminder that         and the creation of the sect itself.
            fresh that they are still busy nurs-    the Kindred are unique monsters,        The Second Inquisition has begun.
            ing connections to the people and       not nations, armies, or religions.
            principles that mattered to them                                                    In response the Camarilla
            in life. They are autarkis, outside     Endings and                             orders the first step, the Wipe:
            society.                                                                        older Nosferatu hackers dismantle
                                                    Beginnings                              their servers, taking SchreckNET
                In Yerevan, Armenia, any at-                                                apart to start vacuuming as much
            tempt by the Camarilla to establish     Mere years after the beginning of       Kindred communication as they
            a prince or primogen council ends       the War on Terror, the Camarilla        possibly can from the web.
            with a rosewood box of ashes sent       finds itself in a desperate situation.
            to a poste restante address in Tbi-     Thousands of Kindred have made              The second step is a Camarilla-
            lisi. In New York, there are about      it onto the NSEERS and other            wide edict, spread by word of
            fifty Kindred that simply refuse        watchlists established by Home-         mouth as well as a last coded
            to align themselves to any cause.       land Security in the United States.     transmission on Kindred commu-
            Their ambitions lie with protecting     In 2007, just after the passing of      nication channels. Any Kindred
            their own bloodlines and ethnic         the “Protect America Act” and           caught contacting another online
            communities (something to do            joining the still classified “Project   will be removed from the protec-
            with a terrible mistake made on         PRIS,” The Vatican’s Secret Service     tion of the Camarilla and declared
            Ellis Island). The Camarilla does       (The Entity), the CIA, and the          disloyal, with the threat of the
            not have a patent on order. Their       NSA launch a major offensive.           Blood Hunt hanging over them if
            Traditions were custom long be-         They do so covertly, backed by          the communication is deemed to
            fore they became law, and even the      the mundane might of the largest        compromise the Masquerade.
            autarkis who keep their head down       counter-terrorist agencies on the
            and stay out of politics abide by       planet. More than a thousand                 The third step is the gathering
            them, or at least variants of them.     Kindred are killed in the space of      of the first global conclaves held in
            Just try walking into Little Odessa     three months.                           a century. Because of the difficul-
            without making the steam room on                                                ties of travel in the wake of the
            Brighton Beach Avenue and kissing           Very few of the strikes are         Inquisition, only representatives of
            the ring of Yurgi your first priority.  reported as lethal to the public.       primogen and princes are expected
                                                    Many are labelled “arrests,” oth-       to attend. One convention is held
                So no, not every “prince” is        ers are hidden as gang violence,        in Chicago, the greatest Camarilla
            Camarilla or Anarch. One domain         the worst even more odiously as         city in the US, the other in the
            is controlled by a clan, another by     Islamic terror attacks. The Vatican-    neutral city of Prague. The Con-
            a group of faceless conspirators, a     SOCOM destruction of the Vienna         vention of Prague almost devolves
            third by no one at all, a fourth by     Prime Chantry in 2008 officially        into civil war as the Anarch faction
            a revenant playing their master’s       remains a “terrorist atrocity” cred-    claims that the Camarilla elite
            strings, and so on. For the deter-      ited to the Islamic Jihad Union.        and their meddling with federal
            mined Kindred there is always                                                   and national governments are to
            a way out, and the underground                                                  blame for the Inquisition, while
                                                                                            the Camarilla point to the gung-ho
                                                    56
KINDRED SOCIETY
fashion in which Anarchs and neo-
nates in general have been using
the internet.
    The Convention ends in chaos.
Theo Bell, Brujah Archon and
Camarilla loyalist, executes his old
master before a stunned gathering
of peers. The Camarilla Traditions
are changed forever. The expulsion
of the Anarchs from the sect is a
fact. Anarchs are now considered
anyone affiliated with the Move-
ment as well as all thin-blooded,
caitiff, and autarkis vampires, and
no Kindred of 13th generation or
lower is welcome in the Camarilla.
    For a second it looks like open
war will break out. In the end
the Anarchs agree to uphold one
Tradition and one Tradition only:
the Masquerade. The Camarilla
establishes a “second masquerade,”
dictating that members are to cut
all ties with non-initiated Kin-
dred. A shaky peace is established.
But tensions are mounting, and if
recent events in Berlin and Prague
are anything to go by, the War of
Ages is about to turn from cold to
hot ■
                                      57
COREBOOK 	
            LEXICON OF THE DAMNED
            alleycat (vulgar): a vampire who        the beast: the inchoate drives          other Cainites, out of necessity or
            keeps no permanent haven, but           and urges that threaten to turn a       depravity.
            sleeps in a different location each     vampire into a mindless, ravening
            night. This term also refers to a       monster.                                bloodline: a vampire’s heritage. See
            vampire who feeds exclusively from                                              lineage.
            the homeless, vagrants, and other       the becoming: the moment one
            elements of low society. See footpad.   passes from being a fledgling into      the book of nod: a collection of
                                                    “full” vampire status as a neonate. In  Kindred legend and history.
            the amaranth (archaic): the act         the Camarilla, one may not Become
            of consuming another Kindred’s          until their sire deems them ready       butterfly (vulgar): one who
            blood. See diablerie.                   and gains the Prince’s approval.        mingles among the mortal high so-
                                                                                            ciety elements and feeds exclusive-
            the anarch movement: a vam-             blister (vulgar): a vampire “Ty-        ly from the famous and wealthy.
            pire sect that opposes the tyranny      phoid Mary” who contracts a mortal
            of elders and has placed itself         disease and spreads it to each vessel   cainite (archaic): a vampire; a
            outside the secret society of the       upon whom they feed.                    member of the race of Caine.
            Camarilla.
                                                    the blood: the supernatural,            caitiff: a vampire of unknown
            ancilla: a vampire who has proven       semi-sentient Blood of a vampire,       clan, or of no clan at all. Caitiff are
            themselves, ranking between the         as opposed to mortal or animal          typically of high generation, where
            elders and the neonates. Plural:        blood. Synonymous with vitae.           Caine’s blood is too diluted to pass
            ancillae.                                                                       on any consistent characteristics.
                                                    blood bond: a mystical power re-
            antediluvian: a member of the           lationship between two individual       the camarilla: a sect of vampires
            dreaded third generation.               vampires, where one has partaken        devoted primarily to maintaining
                                                    of the other’s Blood thrice; accept-    the Traditions, particularly that of
            autarkis (archaic): See unbound.        ing Blood from a vampire is an          the Masquerade.
                                                    acknowledgment of their mastery.
            banking (vulgar): the practice of                                               canaille (archaic): the bovine
            “withdrawing” blood from blood          blood doll (vulgar): a mortal           masses of humanity, especially
            banks, hospital reserves, or the        who freely gives their blood to a       the uncultured and unsavory. The
            dead and dying. This blood has          vampire. Most blood dolls gain a        canaille are viewed primarily as a
            little taste, though it will sustain a  perverse satisfaction from the Kiss,    source of sustenance. See kine.
            vampire. Elder Kindred eschew this      and actively seek out vampires
            base indulgence. A Kindred who          who will take their blood.              casanova (vulgar): a vampire
            engages in this practice is known as                                            who seduces mortals to take their
            a banker.                               blood hunt: a punishment sen-           blood, but does not kill them.
                                                    tencing a vampire to final death        See siren.
            the barrens: the areas of a city        at the fangs of their peers. See lex
            unfit for life, including graveyards,   talionis.                               cauchemar (archaic): see Sandman
            abandoned buildings, industrial
            wastelands, and areas of irrevers-      blood leech (vulgar): A vam-            the change (vulgar): the mo-
            ible urban blight.                      pire who feeds upon the vitae of        ment an individual ceases to be
                                                    58
KINDRED SOCIETY
mortal and becomes one of the        entire cities as their domains,       footpad (archaic): one who feeds
Kindred.                             sometimes allowing lesser vam-        by assaulting derelicts and others
                                     pires to claim domain within.         unwanted by society. See alleycat.
chantry: the traditional name for
the Tremere headquarters in a city,  domitor: a ghoul’s master; one who    gehenna: the rumored Arma-
usually part shelter, part library,  gives of their Blood and issues com-  geddon when the Antediluvians
and part laboratory.                 mands.                                will rise from their torpor and
                                                                           devour the race of vampires and
chasse (archaic): the size and       donor (vulgar): a sarcastic term      the world. The Sabbat believe this
quality of a domain or hunting       for vessel, typically human.          time is now and have left their
ground.                                                                    traditional domains, fighting the
                                     duskborn: see thin-blood.             final Gehenna War in the shadow
childe: a vampire created through                                          of Middle Eastern conflicts.
the Embrace — the childe is the      elder: a vampire who has experi-
progeny of their sire. This term is  enced at least two or more centu-     generation: the number of
often used derogatorily, indicating  ries of unlife. Elders are the most   “steps” between a vampire and the
inexperience. Plural: childer.       active participants in the Jyhad.     mythical Caine; how far descended
                                                                           from the First a given vampire is.
clan: a group of vampires who        elysium: a place where vampires
share common characteristics         may gather without fear of harm.      gentry (archaic): a Kindred who
passed on through the Blood.         Court functions in Elysium are        preys in such places as nightclubs,
There are 13 known clans, all of     strictly kept apart from mortals      bars, and the red-light district.
which were reputedly founded by      and surrounded by secrecy, but the
members of the third generation.     Elysium building itself could be a    ghoul: a minion created by giving
                                     public museum, a gallery, or club.    a bit of vampiric vitae to a mortal
consanguineous (archaic): liter-     Berghain is an anarch Elysium. The    without draining them of blood
ally “of the same blood,” generally  Louvre is a Camarilla Elysium.        first (which would create a vam-
denotes lineage.                                                           pire instead).
                                     the embrace: the act of trans-
coterie: a small group of Kindred,   forming a mortal into a vampire.      golconda: a fabled state of
united by the need for support and   The Embrace requires the vam-         vampiric transcendence; the true
sometimes common interests.          pire to drain her victim and then     mastery of the Beast and balance
                                     replace that victim’s blood with a    of opposing urges and principles.
the damned (vulgar): the race of     bit of her own.                       Rumored to be a state similar to
Cainites; all vampires.                                                    nirvana, Golconda is greatly touted
                                     farmer (vulgar): a mocking term       but rarely achieved.
diablerie: the consumption of        for a vampire who refuses to feed
another Kindred’s Blood, to the      on human blood, instead taking        haven: a vampire’s “home” or
point of the victim’s final death.   sustenance from animals.              base; where they find sanctuary
Vampires may lower their gen-                                              from the sun.
eration permanently through this     final death: when a vampire
abhorrent practice.                  ceases to exist, crossing the line    head (vulgar): a Kindred who
                                     from undeath into true death.         feeds upon those who have im-
domain: the area of a particular     fledgling: a newly created vampire,   bibed alcohol or drugs, so as to
vampire’s influence. Princes claim   still under their sire’s protection.  vicariously experience the same
                                     59
COREBOOK 	
            sensations. Those Kindred who          kine: a term for mortals, largely      mask: the mortal cover identity
            prefer individual drugs have their     contemptuous. The phrase “Kindred      a Kindred needs to maintain to
            “poison” prefixed to the term          and kine” refers to the world at       remain hidden among their prey.
            head (e.g. meth head, dope head,       large; everything.
            smack head). See lush.                                                        the masquerade: the habit (or
                                                   the kiss: to drink blood, especial-    Tradition) of hiding the exist-
            headhunter (vulgar): a vampire         ly from a mortal. The Kiss causes      ence of vampires from humanity.
            who hunts and feeds from other         feelings of ecstasy in those who       Designed to protect vampires from
            Kindred. See Blood Leech.              receive it.                            destruction at the hands of man-
                                                                                          kind, the Masquerade was adopted
            humanitas (archaic): the extent to     lex talionis (archaic): the code       after the Inquisition claimed many
            which a Kindred still maintains her    of the Kindred and the system          Kindred unlives.
            humanity.                              for punishing transgression;
                                                   the law of retaliation which is        methuselah: a vampire who has
            the hunger: the urge to feed. For      behind the blood hunt. It sug-         existed for a millennium or more;
            vampires, the Hunger replaces all      gests Hammurabian or Biblical          an elder who no longer participates
            other drives with its own power-       justice — an eye for an eye and        in Kindred society. Methuselahs are
            ful call.                              punishment in keeping with the         rumored to hail from the fourth and
                                                   grievance.                             fifth generations.
            the inconnu: a sect of vampires
            who have removed themselves            lick (vulgar): a vampire. See Kin-     neonate: a young Kindred, recently
            from Kindred concerns and,             dred and Cainite.                      Embraced but more than a fledgling.
            largely, the Jyhad. Many methuse-
            lahs are rumored to exist among        lien (archaic): the compliance of      papillon (archaic): the red-light
            the Inconnu.                           the kine in a domain or hunting        district; the area of town punctu-
                                                   ground.                                ated by drinking establishments,
            juicebag or juice box (vulgar):                                               brothels, gambling houses, and
            a contemptuous term for mortals,       the life (archaic): a euphemism        other locales of ill repute. The prime
            indicating that their sole use is for  for mortal blood. Many indred          hunting grounds of a city, where
            sustenance.                            regard this term as affected and       the disappearance of mortals goes
                                                   effete.                                hand in hand with the area’s general
            the jyhad: the secret, self-                                                  seediness.
            destructive war waged between          lineage (archaic): a vampire’s
            the generations. Elder vampires        bloodline; the Kindred’s sire, sire’s  portillon (archaic): the security
            manipulate their lesser kin, using     sire, etc.                             and level of protection in a domain
            them as pawns in a terrible game                                              or hunting ground.
            the rules of which defy compre-        lupine: a werewolf, the natural
            hension.                               and mortal enemy of the vampire        praxis (archaic): the right of
                                                   race. Plural: lupines.                 Princes to govern; the Prince’s claim
            kindred: the Camarilla term for                                               to domain. This term also refers to
            vampires as a whole, or a single       lush: a vampire who typically          the Prince’s matters of policy and
            vampire. According to rumor,           feeds from drugged or drunk mor-       individual edicts and motions.
            this term came about in the 15th       tals in order to experience their
            or 16th century, after the Anarch      inebriation.                           prince: a vampire who has
            Revolt.                                                                       claimed a given expanse of
                                                   60
KINDRED SOCIETY
domain as their own, generally      intelligence agencies to combat        thrall: someone under the effects
a city, and supports that claim     the Kindred as if they were a          of a Blood Bond, having drunk
against all others. The term can    terrorist threat. Few individual       another Kindred’s Blood thrice.
refer to a Kindred of either sex.   agents understand what they are
In Anarch cities they are some-     fighting and the intra agency col-     turf (vulgar): a modern affecta-
times called Barons.                laboration codenamed FIRST-            tion used in reference to a domain.
                                    LIGHT places enormous import
progeny: all of a given vampire’s   on keeping their operations            unbound: A vampire who remains
childer collectively.               secret and disguised as ordinary       outside the larger Kindred society of
                                    anti-terrorist action.                 a given city, either by ignorance or
the rack (vulgar): the hunting                                             choice. Usually considered an An-
ground of choice, including bars,   sect: a group of vampires argu-        arch by members of the Camarilla,
nightclubs, drug dens, and other    ably united under a common             though most unbound have nothing
bacchanalian locales, where         philosophy. The two most widely        to do with the Movement.
mortals go missing all the time.    known Sects currently populating
See Papillon.                       the night are the Camarilla and        vegan: a contemptuous term for
                                    the Anarch Movement.                   one who drinks exclusively from
rake (vulgar): a habitual visitor                                          animals. See farmer.
to the Rack, especially in the      sire: a vampire’s begetter; the Kin-
interests of feeding.               dred who created them.                 vessel: a source of blood for suste-
                                                                           nance or pleasure, primarily mortal.
regnant: a Kindred who holds a      siren (archaic): a vampire who
Blood Bond over another.            seduces mortals in order to drink      vitae (archaic): the Blood of a
                                    from them, and then only takes a       vampire.
retainer: a human who serves a      small quantity of blood, so as to
vampiric master. Kindred rarely     avoid killing them.                    whelp (archaic): a derogatory term
go without at least a few of these                                         for a young Kindred, originally used
mortals, both for convenience       slumming (vulgar): the practice of     with exclusive reference to one’s own
and protection.                     feeding from derelicts, the home-      progeny.
                                    less, and other dregs of society; one
the sabbat: a sect of vampires      who does this regularly is known as    whig (archaic): a contemptuous
that rejects humanity, embracing    a slummer.                             term for a vampire who possesses
their monstrous nature. They are                                           an interest in mortal trends and
currently believed to be engaged    tease (vulgar): See casanova and       fashions.
in the Gehenna War, having left     siren.
or been driven out of their hold-                                          wight: a vampire lost to the Beast,
ings in the West.                   thin-blood: a vampire of the           slave to the will of the Blood.
                                    14th or 15th generation (and pos-
sandman (vulgar): a vampire         sible above) who does not experi-      witch-hunter (archaic): a mortal
who feeds only upon sleeping        ence the curse of Caine in the         who hunts down and destroys vam-
victims.                            same way as other Kindred.             pires and other supernatural beings.
the second inquisition: a col-      the third mortal (archaic):
lective name among vampires for     Caine, who was cast out and became
the recent coordinated efforts of   the first vampire.
                                    61
62
CLANS
clans
                                                                	              O, could ye know the sequel
                                                                              From such a deed atrocious,
According to Kindred mythology, Caine                                        E’en would thy hate ferocious
               sired three childer, who in turn sired
               childer themselves. This third generation                              Bid me in horror stay.
               came into being before the Great Flood                            Monster without an equal,
– and some say it was their sins that called it down.                    And canst thou nought but slay?
The survivors, known as the Antediluvians, became
the progenitors of the modem clans. Each Antedilu-                              –GAETANO DONIZETTI, LUCREZIA BORGIA
vian’s Blood endures in their descendants, feeding the
common powers, weaknesses, and perhaps even the                        innumerable minor bloodlines as well as the Caitiff
behaviors and beliefs of the Kindred who belong to                     and thin-bloods, who prouder and more powerful
the clan they begat.                                                   lineages reject. Two of the 13 (Lasombra and Tzi-
                                                                       misce) have fallen under the shadow of the Sab-
    Tonight, there are 13 distinct clans along with                    bat. Two (Giovanni and Ravnos) have been driven
                                                                       nearly extinct outside their ancestral strongholds by
                                                                       enemies mortal and sorcerous. Another two (Banu
                                                                       Haqim and the Setite Ministry) remain in limbo
                                                                       between the Gehenna warzone and the dubious
                                                                       protection of the Camarilla. The final seven continue
                                                                       to maneuver for position and duel for power in the
                                                                       endless night of the Jyhad.
                                                                   63
The Learned Clan
                         Rabble
                         Punks
                      Hipsters
                Prometheans
                        Rebels
          Philosopher-Kings
                       Hellenes
                                                                                                             64
CLANS
The dream of the learned clan is a world                         visible outsiders, their desire for rebellion reaches as deep
              where all injustice has been eliminated            as the fraudster ripping off his own company, the lawyer
              and the living and the undead can coexist          representing the poor pro bono, the neo-Nazi claiming
              in peace. They say it is for love of the mor-      to be “alt-right,” and the basement-dweller download-
tals that they lead them against their masters. In truth,        ing thousands of movies illegally for redistribution on
they may simply rage against a distant or non-existent           streaming sites. Fledglings Embraced to fight and protest
God they can never fight, against a curse they can               are commonly known as rabble.
never end. Theirs is a dream that poisons everything
it touches. As they infiltrate or instigate revolutions,             The Brujah can be passionate fighters but also critical
their hunger and passion ensure that blood will flow,            thinkers; the clan activists are often very different from
innocents die, and peace never be attained.                      the clan theorists. On many occasions, the latter are
                                                                 Embraced from former gender studies or sociology stu-
Who are the Brujah?                                              dents, those who have survived near-death experiences,
                                                                 and people who have in other ways suffered and endured
Clan Brujah have always Embraced from the ranks of               great personal loss. The philosophical Brujah, known
those sympathetic to counterculture and revolution.              as Hellenes, believe the best method of dismantling the
They seek out allies who question normative ideas, and           establishment is to understand the social and cultural
recognizing the fire of the oppressed, they gravitate            systems that allow it to exist in the first place.
toward the underdog.
                                                                 Brujah Archetypes
    Common perception place punks, gang-members,
maladjusted immigrants rejected by the society that              cancer in the system
should protect them, and placard-carrying and Molotov-
wielding rioters among the Brujah. While the clan                This Kindred exists as a cog in a corrupt system. They
definitely includes substantial numbers of vocal and             may be a night worker for a mortal corporation known
                                                                 for treating its employees like dirt, a staffer in a broken
                                                                 political party, or one of the remaining Brujah in the
                                                             65
COREBOOK 	
                                                                                                              66
CLANS
Camarilla. They work to bring the       wants to party to piss off the police,   force, as it is simpler to hold a kine
system down from within, maybe          or a fourth-wave token “feminist”        in place or crack their skull open
hoping to replace it with something     who spent more of their mortal           and drink its insides than to nego-
better, but often having the process    time attacking other feminists           tiate for a mouthful of blood.
of rebuilding as the last of their      and their allies than coordinating
priorities.                             responses to oppression. Short-term      Presence: Brujah use Presence to
                                        action yields massive results, but       win the hearts of the crowd, turn a
voice of the people                     does not always benefit the Brujah.      threatening mob against itself, or
                                                                                 send a dangerous opponent fleeing
The Brujah have always strived for      monster in disguise                      into the night. Brujah intellectuals
progress in Kindred society. Many                                                prefer feeding with Presence to con-
of them were progressives in life and   The Brujah claim there is no clan        vince vessels to give up their blood
follow the same path in undeath.        closer bonded to humanity than           voluntarily. Other clan members use
The voice of the people might be a      their own, which is why they exhibit     Presence to terrify their prey, as it
former feminist activist, eco-warrior,  such fiery passions. But some take       apparently adds “an exquisite, bold
or an anti-capitalist protester who     it further than that, and strive to      taste” and fuels the less subtle pow-
channels their passion into speaking    live like mortals by keeping up to       ers of their curse.
out against the Ventrue and Tore-       date with modern culture, forming
ador or fomenting political unrest      relationships, and building families.    Bane
among mortals. Their ambitions          The payoff for this behavior is a
may come back to hurt their clan,       startling duality of dream and real-     The Blood of the Brujah simmers
but sometimes they form the core of     ity. The Beast will not be denied for    with barely contained rage, explod-
revolutionary movements.                long, and undead family men and          ing at the slightest provocation.
                                        working women must slip away from        Subtract dice equal to the Bane Se-
blood worshipper                        their fake lives ever so often to avoid  verity of the Brujah from any roll
                                        seeing red, returning only after they    to resist fury frenzy. This cannot
The Brujah were once considered         have satiated their dangerous urges.     take the pool below one die ■
a High Clan, superior to most and
respected by all. Some Brujah still     Disciplines
believe their Blood is stronger than
that of other clans, and that they      Celerity: Brujah use Celerity to
have the right to apply their doc-      strike fast and escape uprisings
trine on others. Brujah who uphold      they have started. They hunt with
this form of blood idolatry often       it to snatch vessels from the streets,
come from fundamentalist back-          feeding from them savagely, or to
grounds, right-wing groups, and the     rapidly dispose of a mortal before
academic elite.                         vanishing into the night.
trolling punk                           Potence: Brujah use Potence as a
                                        devastating weapon, cutting short
Clan Brujah includes many vocal         any confrontation with destructive
and physical activists who follow       finality. Though the clan preaches a
the zeitgeist uncritically, reveling    connection to humanity, its mem-
in their righteousness. The trolling    bers often take what they want by
punk cares about the fight, not the
cause. They are an aggressor who
provokes confrontation with mi-
nority groups, a squatter who just
                                        67
68
CLANS
The Clan of the Beast      Ahunger older than mankind burns inside
   Animals                                the wolves. When other Kindred curse
     Ferals                               their appetites and choose the gilded cage
        Savages                           of the city and the leash of social hierar-
          Barbarians       chy, the wolves accept the Beast as a part of themselves
          Outcasts         and run free. Crossing borders between species, na-
         Wolves            tions, and domains with the ease of perfect predators,
            Strays         they belong to the wild and the wild belongs to them.
                           To think of them as noble savages is perilous, as the
                           animals have little respect for the arrogance of civiliza-
                           tion, and only the strongest survive their bloody hunts
                           and savage initiations. Trading stories of war and the
                           secret histories of their kind around campfires lit with
                           the bones of their oppressors, they have turned their
                           backs on the Camarilla and fight tooth and claw to
                           escape the endless plots of their fellow Kindred.
                           Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. I see your shoulders
                           hunched, your brow furrowed, your hair on end. “Rudi,”
                           you’re thinking, “have you brought me out to the projects just
                           to dust me?”
                               No, young blood. We’re not meeting in the shittiest part
                           of the city so I can snap your head off or for you to take in
                       69
COREBOOK 	
            the view. This place is the wilderness          Gangrel Embrace from the          adventurer
            we get these nights. In your grandsire’s    ranks of survivors and fighters:
            time, you might have been stalking the      leaders of prison crews and gangs,    The Gangrel are no strangers to the
            woods and plains while the Ventrue ran      explorers (urban and otherwise),      wild, spending much of their time
            the cities. But that time’s gone. They’re   and any kine who sees the world       beyond city limits and communing
            losing control of their cities, and we are  as something to traverse instead      with creatures and clans outside
            taking control of the ways in and out.      of something to hide from. They       those in the Camarilla. In life and
            This is your territory now, and you         care not for looks or title, but for  undeath, the adventurer has seen and
            won’t let it go without the pack’s say-so.  accomplishment and reputation. A      experienced something few could
                                                        childe may be a challenge, but the    comprehend. They have walked from
                You’ve got to prove your worth in       clan follows rituals and initiations  place to place, spending their life on
            the Clan of the Beast. We’re not some       to ensure the fledgling is worth the  the road, living only by wits, a stran-
            exclusive club for snobs and elitists, but  time. Success means a new, hon-       ger’s kindness, and a rich curiosity.
            we believe in deeds over words and in       ored member of the clan. Failure      This wolf has no fear of the path
            the strength of the pack and the unity      means simply a forgettable reject     ahead, wherever it might lead.
            of family. If you defend our haven, take    or a pile of ash.
            out one of our enemies, bring us the                                              folk favorite
            skull of a Ravnos or shapeshifter, or           Any mortal capable of project-
            just humiliate the Prince by trashing       ing their will onto others, leading   Clan Gangrel practice the tradi-
            her favorite car, you’ll be good by our     a group from disaster to success, or  tions of storytelling around the
            standards. It doesn’t take more than        fighting impossible odds draws the    fire, although they are the furthest
            that. Just remember that lone wolves, as    clan’s attention. This fact results   from boy scouts. Whether around
            cool as they seem, get picked off first.    in a symptom known as “too many       a burning barrel, tire fire, or at
                                                        chiefs,” when the clan consists       a great convocation, this animal
                We’re more than just glorified bik-     of more leaders than followers.       knows the songs and the stories to
            ers, but I accept the analogy. We don’t     Customs encourage fights for          celebrate the names of fallen heroes
            put down roots, we take initiation into     dominance, but these rarely last      and enemies who must never be
            our group seriously, and we accept no       until final death, as Gangrel elders  forgotten. In their mortal lives they
            masters. Your grandsire? He or she knelt    advocate against taking compe-        might have been singers, entertain-
            before some blue blood and learned to       tition for authority personally,      ers, or independent artists.
            take it like a bitch. You? If you kneel,    instead encouraging a culture of
            I’ll kill you myself.                       healthy rivalry.                      director of the board
            Who are the                                 Gangrel Archetypes                    This Gangrel believes in power wield-
            Gangrel?                                                                          ed not merely with physical blows,
                                                        uncaged jailbird                      but through social presence, author-
            Clan Gangrel are outcasts, wander-                                                ity over others, and command of a
            ers, rogues, and hunters. They make         This Kindred spent most of their      group of people such as a club or a
            havens in the poorest parts of the          mortal life in prison or was once     corporation. The boardroom Gangrel
            city and feel no shame for doing so.        incarcerated for a severe crime.      is an alpha who thrives on causing
            They claim few domains as their             Such a past conveys a reputa-         fear and respect, who does not play
            own but defer to no prince. If a            tion and a jaded attitude toward      by the rules, and who is capable of
            feral enters a city, the prince will        authority leavened with a desper-     commanding others to perform the
            either accept it or have to fight the       ate taste for freedom and opportu-    most unethical actions with threats
            feral to get them to back down.             nity to exercise liberties formerly   of personal and professional losses.
                                                        denied them.                          They stalk their prey through office
                                                                                              corridors at night and in five-star
                                                                                              hotels paid by company card.
                                                        70
CLANS
71
COREBOOK 	
            unrepentant beast                 Disciplines                           Fortitude: As longtime body-
                                                                                    guards and soldiers for the other
            The Gangrel relish their animal   Animalism: A Gangrel can use          clans, the Gangrel have benefited
            features and feral natures, and   Animalism to take on an animal        hugely from Fortitude. The
            many behave as wild beasts do     companion, sometimes called a         Discipline can give them a sense
            – leading unlives dominated by    famulus. The animal companion         of fearlessness, as it allows them
            immediate physical drives and     can be used for hunting, spying,      to hunt across harsh terrain and
            desires. The unrepentant beast    and attacking. Some Gangrel will      take bullets and knife blades
            behaved like an animal already    turn pets on their owners, hound      without worry. The Gangrel who
            before the Embrace. Perhaps       vagrants with packs of dogs, or lure  emphasize growth in Fortitude
            they were a predatory criminal    strays to them for a quick feeding.   likely expects a lot of harm to
            or an individual who used legal                                         come their way.
            means to let out their dangerous
            desires. As a vampire, they are
            little better.
                                              72
CLANS
Protean: Gangrel are known for         Bane                                 musk reduces Charisma, while
their mastery of Protean, as few                                            batlike ears reduce Resolve (“all
other clans possess its gifts. Strad-  Gangrel relate to their Beast much   those distracting sounds”). If noth-
dling the line between vampirism       as other Kindred relate to the       ing immediately occurs to you,
and shapeshifting, the Discipline      Gangrel: suspicious partnership. In  the feature reduces Intelligence or
allows a Gangrel to take on the        frenzy, Gangrel gain one or more     Manipulation.
physical properties of another crea-   animal features: a physical trait,
ture, or in other ways change their    a smell, or a behavioral tic. These      The number of features a
physical shape. Gangrel who feed as    features last for one more night     Gangrel manifests equals their
animals often consider this the tru-   afterward, lingering like a hango-   Bane Severity. If your character
est, or at least the best, of kills.   ver following debauchery. Each       Rides the Wave of their frenzy
                                       feature reduces one Attribute by 1   (see p. 219) you can choose only
                                       point – the Storyteller may decide   one feature to manifest, thus
                                       that a forked tongue or bearlike     taking only one penalty to their
                                                                            Attributes ■
                                       73
74
CLANS
The Clan of the Moon          Psychologists would diagnose the children
               Lunatics                   of Malkav with schizophrenia, depression,
               Madmen                     obsessive compulsive disorder, or post-trau-
                 Jesters                  matic stress disorder. Sometimes all at once.
                Oracles       In reality, they have all of these things and none. Like
              Dervishes       the “wise madmen” of poetry their derangement stems
                              from seeing too much of the world at once, from un-
            Visionaries       derstanding too deeply, and feeling emotions that are
  Children of Malkav          too strong to bear. They self-medicate with blood, but
                              that is just a temporary solution.
                              “We’re not clowns, Jeanette. We’re not here to amuse the
                              other Kindred.”
                                  “Baloney. We’re here to make them laugh, make them
                              cry, make them sticky with delight or embarrassment…”
                                  “You drag our club through the muck. Our clan! Time
                              was, we were the Kindred the others went to for advice,
                              foresight, strategies in times of war.”
                                  “Pull that stick outta your ass, Therese. Unless you like it
                              up there. We’ve always been jesters.”
                                  “Jesters in times gone by assessed the court and delivered
                              their findings to the Prince.”
                                  “And so do we! God. You see my skirt and makeup, and
                              just think ‘slut,’ don’t you?”
                          75
COREBOOK 	
                “Of course. Are you not?”               “they are each mad, so why should       dimension to their instability. As
                “Yeah, but how many nuggets of          their respective origins matter?”       if their thoughts and actions were
            gold do you think I pried from the          To the Malkavians, origins matter       based on otherworldly logic, there
            ghoul I was screwing, the repressed         a great deal. Though sires may pick     seems to be no knowing when their
            warlock I loosened up, or Prince            childer from all walks of life, age     condition will manifest destructively
            LaCroix when he was bouncing up and         groups, ethnicities, and genders, eve-  or when it will offer important per-
            down on my love gun? Bang. Bang.”           ry mortal selected for the Embrace      spectives where such were previously
                “You… God, you disgust me. I            possesses something only visible to a   lacking. As a rule, no other Kindred
            acquire intelligence through visions,       Malkavian.                              feels completely comfortable around
            through sampling the blood, through                                                 a known Malkavian, often view-
            debate, business transaction, reading           One of the gifts the Malkavians     ing them as unpredictable maniacs
            emotions, drawing out uncomfortable         look for in a mortal is what they call  whose flashes of insight are rarely
            truths. . .”                                “second sight.” If a person interprets  worth the fits of insanity.
                “You wear the suit, I wear the          dreams, can perceive spirits, or
            stockings. We’re mentally impaired as       unerringly predicts future events,          Some Malkavians claim there is
            a clan, but hell, if it allows us to both   the Malkavians take notice. Such a      a common factor to their madness;
            lower our inhibitions and get a little      person acts as a beacon, calling out    that they are all psychically linked
            dirty to do what must be done, I say        to every member of the clan that sees   through a communal wavelength, a
            bring on the personality disorders. It’s    them.                                   shared consciousness of sorts. Those
            like a cocktail in my head.”                                                        who are aware of its existence refer
                “There is nothing wrong with me.            Another gift revered by the         to it as the cobweb or, more recently,
            You’re the one with the special needs.”     Malkavians, is that of “insight.” A     the madness network.
                “Oh, you need your daddy just as        high level of empathy, finely-tuned
            much as I do.”                              knowledge of complex subject            Malkavian Archetypes
                “Shut up. Shut up. For one night,       matter, or just an obsessive drive to
            could you go without mentioning that        pursue the answers to philosophical     influencing presence
            we’re all headcases and instead focus       questions each appeal to the clan. As
            on what we accomplish?”                     insight is often tied to profession,    This visionary is addicted to the
                “Sorry, sis. I guess there’s two sides  the clan benefits from a range of       thrill of reinventing and present-
            to being a Malkavian. The visionary         academics and doctors – especially      ing themselves in different ways,
            and the maniac. We’re a good team!”         therapists and psychologists.           thriving on the attention they get
                “I hate you.”                                                                   through the stories they tell. They
                “You hate us.”                              Finally, the Clan of the Moon are   seek to influence others through
                “We hate us.”                           fascinated by the “broken” – indi-      words, images, or the use of their
                “I love you.”                           viduals who have been changed by        Disciplines – whether it be for
                “I love me too.”                        traumatic experiences or who were       the purpose of pleasure, to forget
                                                        simply born slightly detached from      their problems, or to comply with
            Who are the                                 themselves and the rest of society.     the whispers of the cobweb. As
                                                        To the Malkavians, they are but one     a mortal they might have had an
            Malkavians?                                 gentle push away from having access     extended network of followers on
                                                        to an altogether different plane of     social media or led the destructive
            It has long been the misconception          reality. Rather than treating them as   life of the mythomaniac.
            that few Kindred families are as            burdens, the clan sees them as having
            disparate as the Clan of the Moon.          great potential.                        medium
            Other clans see them and reason,
                                                            All Malkavians suffer mental        The ability to sense and register
                                                        illness following the Embrace -         more than any other Kindred
                                                        sometimes accentuating an existing
                                                        condition, other times adding a new
                                                        76
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77
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            afflicts the members of Clan
            Malkavian with its infamous
            instability but it can also reward
            them with great insight. Some find
            ways to use and benefit from their
            curse openly without breaching the
            Masquerade, such as the medium
            who reveals fictitious or existing
            spirits attached to objects, areas,
            and individuals – to help the griev-
            ing or for personal gain.
            bad analyst
            Some Malkavians instinctively know
            how to pick apart and reassemble
            minds, whatever state they are in.
            Maybe the analyst was a therapist
            in life, excelling in helping others
            through personal crises. Or maybe
            they use the experiences of their
            own agonized psyche as a guiding
            light, prying open the minds of
            their patients and victims with the
            purpose of finally healing themselves.
            The analyst is respected as well as
                                                    78
CLANS
                                        Disciplines                              Bane
feared for their ability to travel the  Auspex: Malkavians use Auspex to         Afflicted by their lineage, all
labyrinth of the mind – and trap        enhance their senses, strengthening      Malkavians are cursed with at least
another inside it.                      their sight or hearing to a supernat-    one type of mental derangement.
                                        ural level, or to determine a mortal’s   Depending on their history and the
fanatic                                 fears, illusions, and mental weak-       state of their mind at death, they
                                        nesses, so they can play on them         may experience delusions, visions
Malkavians are prone to fanaticism      horribly as they prepare to feed.        of terrible clarity, or something
fueled by mental instability. Fanat-    Many a Malkavian has persuaded a         entirely different.
ics each have one purpose that con-     vessel to “tell them all about it,” be-
sumes most of their existence. This     fore draining their weeping victim           When the Malkavian suffers a
could be anything from a strong         not ten minutes later.                   Bestial Failure or a Compulsion,
religious or political convictions to                                            their curse comes to the fore. Suf-
an immense passion for detective        Dominate: Some Malkavians use            fer a penalty equal to your charac-
novels or 9/11 conspiracy theories.     Dominate to lift all distractions        ter’s Bane Severity to one category
Devoted to this one passion, it         from a victim’s mind, completely         of dice pools (Physical, Social, or
is safe to say the fanatic knows        enthralling them; others use the         Mental) for the entire scene. This
almost all the details and informa-     Discipline to draw forth or inflict      is in addition to any penalties
tion there is to obtain about it.       psychoses, through the infamous          incurred by Compulsions.
                                        variant known as Dementation.
pure blood addict                       While some do it mainly for the              You and the Storyteller decide
                                        sake of experimentation, getting         the type of penalty and the exact
Defined by bizarre insight and fringe   into a mortal’s head and convinc-        nature of the character’s affliction
beliefs, many Malkavians feel that      ing them that they want to give up       during character creation ■
certain blood calms their symptoms      their blood greatly assists the clan
or derangements. For the blood          in surviving night to night.             Example:
addict, this has become a constant
goal and all they think of. In life,    Obfuscate: The Malkavians do not         Hector decides that his character, a
they abused prescription drugs,         advertise their use of Obfuscate,        Malkavian known as Gizzard, some-
had hypochondria, or was perhaps        conveniently allowing many Kin-          times experiences physical sensations
a gourmand, and now they cannot         dred to forget they even have ac-        as voices rather than feeling them.
help but drink and drink until the      cess to this Discipline. What they       When this affliction comes to the
gnawing noises quiet down or the        use it for differs vastly. While some    fore, he suffers a -1 penalty (his Bane
anxiety lessens. They know which        Malkavians might want to observe         Severity is 1) to all Physical pools
vessels to pick to obtain the best,     the court from secluded corners or       as the voices become too distracting.
most filling blood, and they take       play tricks on their prince, others      Naturally, this is also roleplayed.
every meal seriously.                   secrete themselves in the houses,
                                        wards, and care homes of the kine,
                                        watching the sleeping faces before
                                        discreetly feeding.
                                        79
Horrors
                  The Clan of the Hidden
                                Sewer Rats
                                     Lepers
                                      Hives
                                   Carnies
                                     Scabs
                                    Kapos
                                Vagrants
                                  Orloks
                                                                                                            80
CLANS
For the Nosferatu the Embrace is a journey                         targets, we’re the easiest to identify. It’s not like my face is a
           through abjection, as the Blood of the hor-             subtle examination in horror. Yeah, once they learned to look
           ror gradually deforms the struggling tissues            at us without fleeing, they started posing a few problems.
           of the human body into grotesque abomi-                 Still, what’s fucking new? If we weren’t hunted by our bet-
nations. Weeks of pain result in deformities similar               ters, by mortals, shapeshifters, or our ancestors, we’d come
to terrible birth defects, cancer growths, crippling               up with something else to run away from.
injuries, and leper-like sores. Those who endure it
find themselves as monstrous echoes of Murnau’s                        Does that make us cowards or doomed to final
silver-screen vision. But perhaps pain and humiliation             death? No, on both counts. Of all the clans, we’re
teaches compassion. The Nosferatu, as they jokingly                the most likely to survive this new purge. Roaches
call themselves, are the most humane of the Kindred,               and nuclear bombs, baby. We screwed it up with
wearing their curse on the outside rather than the                 SchreckNET being compromised, but guess who took
inside. To blend in, some call on the Blood to wear                the brunt of that blast? Not us, because we were long
the borrowed faces of their victims or disappear from              gone by then.
sight, while others rely on prosthetics and heavy
make-up.                                                               We know to go to ground before the panic
                                                                   starts spreading. Why would we go and try to
I guess those inquisitorial cunts can be thankful to the good      explain our case in a crowded Elysium used as a
Lord above for the curse we Nosferatu bear. Of all their           hideout when we can just as well send a servant
                                                                   and not risk the anger of our more attractive
                                                                   cousins? No, we’ll kindly refuse the outreached
                                                               81
COREBOOK 	
                                                                                                              82
CLANS
83
COREBOOK 	
            hands of those who would throw us in      domain gumshoe                        with minimal effort. With many of
            the path of danger. And as of right now,                                        the Brujah and Gangrel gone from
            that doesn’t just mean the Brujah, it     Nosferatu make superb inves-          the Camarilla, Nosferatu now ex-
            means everyone outside our clan.          tigators as long as they stick to     ercise their capacity for brutality
                                                      the shadows and wear plenty of        at much higher rates. Often Em-
                We wait. We put up walls, take        layers. The gumshoe is comfort-       braced from criminal or survivalist
            stock, and adapt to the new reali-        able stalking the streets, darting    stock, such Nosferatu suffer little
            ties. And that’s why we’re a clan of      from doorway to doorway in the        conscience over beating an enemy
            survivors because we’ve learned to like   rain, and shows no qualms about       to ash.
            it underground, in sewers, catacombs,     breaking into homes, havens, or
            and deserted subway stations. Person-     vaults for that precious last piece   rat
            ally, I prefer an abandoned rowhouse      of the puzzle. Sometimes recruited
            basement, while my sire occupies an       as domain sheriffs, this Nosferatu    The comparison of Nosferatu
            old bunker, but the concept is the        emphasizes research and inves-        to rats goes further than sewer-
            same.                                     tigation, preferring to take the      dwelling and extended incisors.
                                                      thinker’s route to most answers       History reveals repeated instances
                We may not be pretty or able          over violent means. The domain        when horrors turned on their
            to blend in with the kine. We can’t       gumshoe likely comes from law en-     masters for their own preserva-
            pretend to be anything but degenerate     forcement, was an amateur sleuth,     tion, betrayed their own for a little
            monsters. But you know what? That         or has an academic background.        extra, or attempted to play both
            gives us perspectives every one of those                                        sides of a conflict. The rat may be
            other deluded bastards lacks.             more animal than man                  involved in corporate espionage or
                                                                                            claim to be Anarch but scurry to
            Nosferatu Archetypes                      This Nosferatu identifies more        their Camarilla prince at the first
                                                      closely with the creatures scurrying  sign of trouble. Some rats do what
            information hub                           beneath the city or flying through    they do just to stay alive and are
                                                      the suburbs at night than with the    not beyond sympathy.
            When the Second Inquisition               kine wandering the streets. Maybe
            found SchreckNET, many of the             a former pest controller, vet, or     Disciplines
            Toreador secretly proposed a toast        simply an antisocial individual
            to the collapse of Clan Nosferatu.        this Kindred speaks to animals,       Animalism: The Nosferatu treas-
            The clan lost credibility and many        controls them, and likely acts like   ure the Discipline of Animalism
            members, but those who endured            one. Some Nosferatu do not limit      for its utility in increasing their
            and flourished had mastered the           their animalistic urges to behavior   spy network, gaining familiars,
            arts of secure archiving, physically      but become literal hives for bugs     allowing the delivery of messages,
            and online. They bolstered their          and nests for rats. They reason that  and granting the ability to sud-
            existing bonds with contacts and          their stomach and lower abdominal     denly swarm an opponent with
            clients, and steadily regained the        cavities were being used for little   a horde of rats, bugs, or birds. Ani-
            trust of Kindred who value a cen-         before, and at least the infestation  malism also assists the Nosferatu
            tral information hub for research         benefits from the vitae.              who wishes to feed from animals
            and the exchange of secret mes-                                                 – it is often easier, and arguably
            sages. In an era when contact and         hunter of monsters                    more moral, to summon a pigeon
            movement between domains grow                                                   and drain it than to stalk a mortal
            more precarious by each night,            Having for so long been associ-       and feed from their neck.
            Nosferatu like these have become          ated with animals and isolation,
            invaluable. If they can guarantee         many forget that the Nosferatu
            privacy, they can name their price.       can smash through a wall, break a
                                                      spine, or rip a door off its hinges
                                                      84
CLANS
Obfuscate: The Nosferatu have        Bane
mixed opinions on Obfuscate, as
the Discipline enables them to       Hideous and vile, all Nosferatu
blend in with others, but also mas-  count as having the Repulsive
querades that which defines their    Flaw (-2) and can never increase
clan – some Nosferatu are proud      their rating in the Looks Merit. In
of their unconcealed monstrosity,    addition, any attempt to disguise
while others take every effort to    themselves as human incur a
hide it. Regardless of the contro-   penalty to your dice pool equal
versies, Obfuscate is an excellent   to your character’s Bane Severity
tool for hunting and feeding, as     (this includes the Obfuscate pow-
few other methods allow a sewer      ers Mask of a Thousand Faces and
rat to interact with the kine.       Impostor’s Guise) ■
Potence: Nosferatu use Potence
to rapidly neutralize foes. The
Nosferatu understand the merit
of hit and run, incapacitating a
vessel before feeding and fleeing,
or breaking the Anarch Baron’s
head before vaulting away from
their hangout. Many Sewer Rats
hesitate to use Potence before the
kine, as its unfiltered might op-
poses their deceptions.
                                     85
Divas
                   The Clan of the Rose
                             Degenerates
                                    Artists
                                   Harlots
                                Arikelites
                                Hedonists
                                Sensates
                               Perverts
                                                                                                            86
CLANS
  Cursed by their unbridled                                      I serve my clan – your clan – in unearthing sleeping
                                 sensuality, the divas are       ancients such as yourself and introducing them to
                                 obsessed by aesthetic per-      the world as it is tonight.
                                 fection. A fashion model
               overdosing on a bad batch of heroin,                  You seem surprised that a member
              a YouTube clip of a perfectly executed             of the Clan of the Rose would dirty her
             beheading, the dazed eyes of a child who            hands with excavation and study. Let
            has seen too much, or the reflection of the          me guess: you thought our clan
           moon in a pool of blood – these are the               more suited to parlors, admiring
          kinds of things that make a Toreador lose              mortal singers, dancers, and art-
          themselves. They say the first diva finally died       ists? It is true, the face of our clan is
         in front of their looking glass, unable to tear         one of superficial beauty, but we have not
        their gaze away from the image of their face             lost our core. At its heart, Clan Toreador is
       touched by the reflected dawn.                            the clan of creation. The sculptor dirties her
           But, to dismiss the Toreador as wanton                hands with chisel and stone. The painter
      perverts or shallow artists is the last mistake a          will accumulate all manner of stains.
     Kindred will ever make. Beauty is power, and love           My calling is in bringing the torpid
    can make anyone do just about anything. And that             back to us and asking for their stories.
   is the promise of the Toreador. They can make even            It is my art form.
  the dead feel something raw, something real.
      Now you have fed, it is time for introductions. My             Clan Toreador has not missed
                                                                 a step since you fell into torpor.
name is Carmelita Neillson. I am a doctor. I use that word       We still ride high, leading a
                                                                 sect known as the Camarilla
because you probably won’t know what an archaeologist is.        alongside our peers among the
                                                             87
COREBOOK 	
            Ventrue and Tremere. Do not believe       all forms of entertainment and         several such places and the people
            we take second or third place in that     stimulation. The clan courts the       who go there. Deeply connected
            triumvirate. We are the voice, the        greatest actors, singers, writers,     to a city’s social atmosphere, they
            inspiration, and the soul that binds the  dancers, and even sex workers,         have the knowledge to help others
            sect together.                            if the degenerates believe such        gain or lose the spotlight as they
                                                      mortals will offer something new       please.
                In these nights, the Toreador are     to their clan.
            the burning hope for all clans. We are                                           gadabout
            proof that Kindred can be more than           Despite the custom of Embrac-
            slaves to their Beast. Others come to us  ing only the best, the Toreador        With charisma, social intellect, and
            for guidance and seek to emulate our      fixation on beauty and innocence       a cunning smile, the world is yours
            devotion to beauty and innocence. We      has caused many a diva to make a       to conquer. The gadabout hedon-
            teach, but none will master the arts as   fledgling in haste. Many a moonlit     ist masters the art of manipula-
            well as we.                               night, new clan members have           tion, attraction, and empathy so
                                                      emerged as shallow hedonists,          well that even shy Cainites desire
                For every true artist, innovator,     one-hit wonders, or just a stunning    their attention or take pleasure in
            and great mind in our clan, we have a     body with nothing else to offer.       watching as they effortlessly min-
            sycophant, amateur, and vapid beauty.     The greatest mistakes are erased       gle into every clique and category.
            It is as it should be. Everything is      and forgotten. Still, the clan is      This Toreador fits into any profes-
            beautiful, old one, including the         diverse, its members considering       sion in which handling customers,
            duality we represent. While the others    the ensemble as a kaleidoscope of      patients, or clients is key, and they
            mistake us for preening fools, we work    talent and beauty.                     use every trick in the book to get
            our wonders to make all of Kindred                                               their targets exactly where they
            society a better place.                   Toreador Archetypes                    want them.
                Welcome back to Clan Toreador.        l’artiste                              patron of the arts
            The night is ours.                        The Toreador indulge in the beauty
                                                      of all art forms and strive to be      The patron is a collector of raw tal-
            Who are the                               creators themselves. Whether com-      ent and promising beauty that just
            Toreador?                                 petent on the strings of the violin,   needs a guiding hand. They shape
                                                      weaving notes as lustrous as the       not clay or glass into intricate
            Clan Toreador has ever preached           subtle glow of the crescent moon,      forms but people, and they see it as
            selectiveness in its rituals of the       or wielding a spray-can to form        their gift to the world to pick out
            Embrace. The clan elders stress           harsh prismatic lines on back-alley    the best before they wither. The
            time and again that the clan              walls, this Kindred is an artist       patron may pose as an eccentric
            requires pioneers among the arts          revered intensely by their clan.       heiress whose home is open to
            and every kind of avant-garde. The                                               struggling poets and painters or
            clan is at its strongest when com-        stage manager                          they may take on the role of the
            prised of the freshest thinkers and                                              talent scout or critic, aiding their
            those who desire experimentation          Without a puppeteer to pull the        pupils with funding and guidance
            and aesthetic discovery. For this         strings, the puppet would not          in return for their blood.
            reason, many Toreador emerge              know how to dance. This diva’s fin-
            from the ranks of accomplished            ger is constantly on the pulse of the  t
            artists, both new and faded. But          night. They know every happening
            not all artists need wield a brush:       at every club and bar worth a visit,   thespian spy
            To the Toreador, art encompasses          and likely has great influence over
                                                                                             The Toreador love a performance,
                                                                                             and the one who plays at being
                                                                                             a spy knows how to pry valuable
                                                                                             chunks of information from a tar-
                                                      88
CLANS
89
COREBOOK 	
            get, often taking more time than
            they need to properly enjoy the
            game. Perhaps over-dramatic, yet
            rarely suspected due to an affable
            nature, the thespian spy inserts
            themselves in multiple domains to
            entertain, observe, and compile li-
            braries of information to exchange
            for other pleasures.
            Disciplines
            Auspex: Toreador are ever on
            the hunt for exquisite experi-
            ences and use Auspex to identify
            the most susceptible vessels and
            those who might, through their
            feelings and temperament, offer
            new tastes and sensations to the
            drinker during the feed. Torea-
            dor also frequently use the Disci-
            pline on other Kindred, catering
            to their desires or antagonizing
            them with truths they should not
            know.
            Celerity: The Toreador claim they
            are not combatants, but few move
            as swiftly as the degenerate using
            Celerity to cut an opponent to
            ribbons before they have even
            had time to draw their weapon.
            Toreador often use Celerity to
            enhance artistic or performative
            skills. In feeding, they use the
            Discipline to take what they need
            from a vessel and vanish before the
            mortal realizes the truth of what
            has occurred.
                                                 90
CLANS
    Presence: The Toreador master the
    Discipline of Presence, often using
    it in concert with Auspex to ma-
    nipulate the emotions of Kindred
    and kine. Presence can guarantee
    an appreciative audience or cause
    the failure of another artist. Some
    Toreador will use the Discipline to
    indulge in carnal pleasures with an
    unnaturally enthusiastic partner or
    to lure a vessel into their arms and
    under their fangs. The members of
    the clan adore willing vessels, even
    if the willingness is a supernatu-
    rally induced façade.
  Bane
    Toreador exemplify the old say-
    ing that art in the blood takes
    strange forms. They desire beauty
    so intensely that they suffer in
    its absence. While your character
    finds itself in less than beautiful
    surroundings, lose the equivalent
    of their Bane Severity in dice
    from dice pools to use Disci-
    plines. The Storyteller decides
    specifically how the beauty or ug-
    liness of the Toreador’s environ-
    ment (including clothing, blood
    dolls, etc.) penalizes them, based
    on the character’s aesthetics.
    That said, even devotees of the
    Ashcan School never find normal
    streets perfectly beautiful. This
    obsession with aesthetics also
    causes divas to lose themselves in
    moments of beauty and a bestial
    failure often results in a rapt
    trance, as detailed in the Com-
    pulsion rules (p. 208) ■
91
92
CLANS
         Usurpers      AHermetic mage in eighth century Roma-
         Warlocks                     nia, Tremere was the leader of cabal of
         Hemetics                     magick users rightfully feared for their
  Thaumaturges                        obsession with knowledge and power.
    Transgressors      Able to prolong his life unnaturally for centuries,
The Broken Clan        his powers eventually lessened and his grip on youth
   Blood Witches       became shaky. Unable or unwilling to accept his own
                       mortality, Tremere cast his eyes on the hallowed secret
                       of immortality. In his greed, the mage instigated the
                       most terrifying magickal experiments ever conducted,
                       damning himself and his followers to a hell of their
                       own making. Thousands of mortals were murdered and
                       hundreds of Kindred vivisected and drained in ritual
                       circles before Tremere and his cultists thought they
                       had found the elixir of life. How surprised they were to
                       have discovered the curse of Caine. Terrified, they died
                       and woke again to an eternity of unlife and hunger, cut
                       off from their craft.
                           In a mockery of their former magickal rituals, now
                       only fresh blood allows the Tremere to cast their thau-
                       maturgic spells to twist reality.
                   93
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            “Allow me to call to order this meeting        Carna shrugged without looking       ing with their fellow Kindred and,
            of minds. We must discuss the kinds        up. “That sounds like a problem, Karl.   increasingly, with each other for
            of mortals who are brought into the        One you need to address. Note that       anything that might allow them
            fold on this and future nights.” Schrekt   House Carna is still Camarilla, for the  to regain some of their former
            eyed his two counterparts across a         time being at least.” Her head facing    power. A clan-wide chase for
            triangular-shaped table. The room in       her hands, her eyeline flicked upward,   artifacts and grimoires belonging
            which they sat existed in three places     and her gaze connected briefly with      to their ashen ancestors rival the
            at once.                                   his. “You have heard the same voices     social intrigues in ugliness, and
                                                       we have. Neither of us is wrong. We      the alliance with the Camarilla
                “Herr Schrekt, I do not believe our    must be permitted to pursue our paths    is an oft-used weapon between
            practices have changed overmuch. We        separately and come together when the    the houses of Clan Tremere.
            still Embrace only the most brilliant      time is right.”                          Meanwhile, the term “mercenary
            minds, and those already attuned to                                                 magus” is becoming increasingly
            the occult. While my house does target         Schrekt smiled unconvincingly.       widespread, as warlocks who were
            subjects with less restrictive morals      The representative from House Gora-      formerly Bound by the will of
            than yours, I can assure you that we       trix vanished. “Just you and I now. Are  their masters find themselves free
            will not be granting immortality to the    we really going to fill our clan with    to serve for whatever price they
            undeserving.” The representative for       amateur tarot readers, women who         choose.
            House Goratrix concluded his state-        dawdle with tea leaves, and spiritual-
            ment, leaning back into the shadows.       ists? We were a noble clan.”                 Tremere serve in three ways:
                                                                                                the Warlocks serve the other clans
                Schrekt stared across the table            Carna faded away, her voice softly   with occult expertise, they serve
            at his counterparts. If the choice had     following. “We were never noble. Our     the Camarilla with Blood Sorcery,
            been without consequence, both would       clan consists of mortals who sought      and they serve themselves with
            be snuffed out without hesitation.         power they didn’t deserve. Perhaps it’s  their missions to grasp power.
            Unfortunately, they served a purpose.      time we Embrace those who love magic     Though more Tremere ascend to
            He knew because his Blood told him it      for its own sake.”                       praxis these nights than ever be-
            was so. He turned to the woman at the                                               fore, they still claim fewer thrones
            other corner. “And House Carna?”           Who are the                              worldwide than Clan Nosferatu. In
                                                       Tremere?                                 truth, most Warlocks acknowledge
                Carna ran her right forefinger                                                  that becoming the Prince is only
            over the palm of her left hand as she      After the Second Inquisition             useful if it helps them expand their
            spoke. “Our house rejects the old ways     destroyed the Prime Chantry in           knowledge. Tremere see true power
            shaped by men, and seeks pagans,           Vienna in 2008, the Tremere fell         as knowing the ways of shaping the
            witches, and chaos magicians who look      from gray eminences to personae          world, having access to the right
            to the future. For the sake of our clan’s  non gratae in many regions. The ar-      blood, and owning the rarest of
            survival, we must cast our net wider.      rogance of the Pyramid had made          ancient artifacts.
            Now that the old bonds wither, and         the Usurpers few friends. But the
            your house is one of the last keeping      need for sorcery has not disap-              As the Tremere ally with con-
            with the regimented structure of the       peared; if anything, it grows as the     fused coteries seeking them out,
            Pyramid, I see no reason to cling to       cursed Blood shifts in the veins of      hunt for well-protected relics
            tradition.”                                the Kindred.                             and artifacts, or closely analyze
                                                                                                fragments of lore relating to the
                Schrekt clenched his jaw without           Without the Pyramid order-           Cainite mythos – all the while
            realizing it, his fists balling. “You      ing them into rank and value, the        miserly guarding their secrets
            would abandon centuries of tradition       warlocks find themselves compet-         from each other – they are all
            on a schismatic whim? How is it that                                                united in their thirst for knowl-
            House Tremere finds more in common
            with House Goratrix these nights?”
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CLANS
edge. A Kindred who wishes to under-          clan’s prestige and notoriety. Some Pyra-
stand a piece of their history will do well   mid loyalists wish to search Vienna for the
to approach the Tremere for answers, as       remains of their clan’s information trove,
long as they are at peace with sharing a      though Tremere elders have declared the
few secrets of their own – knowingly or       domain out-of-bounds.
otherwise.
                                              eternal scholar
Tremere Archetypes
                                              This Tremere was a dedicated researcher
pyramid loyalist                              before their Embrace, and death does
                                              nothing to stop them from their obsessive
Until recently, the Pyramid hierarchy made    pursuit of knowledge. Even if the clan has
the Tremere one of the most rigid clans.      always looked to the arcane, the scholar
They still include a number of conserva-      does not need to be a former occultist,
tive loyalists, fiercely bound to the clan’s  but might as well have been a ground-
original order by will, if not by blood. A    breaking surgeon, a theologist with a taste
Pyramid loyalist might still adhere to the    for sacrilegious texts, or a collector of rare
customs of responsibility between sire and    books. Often this Kindred is preoccupied
childe, uphold the ranks and tutelage of      with understanding their own nature, and
a formal chantry, and seek to rebuild the     it is possible they have become an expert
                                              on the history of their kind.
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COREBOOK 	
                                                                                                              96
CLANS
pagan nonconformist                                           Tremere looking for a pliable vessel, as they can discern
                                                              the enthusiastic from the reluctant. Many Tremere use
Other Kindred often style Tremere followers of                Auspex to determine what a mortal needs in order to
Carna as “new agers,” failing to understand the depth         be more malleable.
of magical exploration, feminine worship, and liberty
these warlocks practice. Whether actually a former            Blood Sorcery: Master thaumaturges, the Tremere’s
Wiccan or Satanist, a prior member of Clan Trem-              expertise in blood magick makes them a valued, if mis-
ere who has aligned with Carna’s rebellion, or just           trusted, pillar of the Camarilla. Using Blood Sorcery,
someone who in life was downtrodden and longed                they can convey devastating attacks on an opponent’s
for personal autonomy and authority over those who            mind and body, defend themselves, and ease their feed-
would hurt them, something about this blood witch             ing. Some warlocks use Thaumaturgy to sap a mortal’s
goes against the grain of the clan’s traditions. They         blood from their veins without ever having to touch
speak of change, and excitedly pursue their dreams of         them.
forbidden magick.
                                                              Dominate: The Tremere will do almost anything for
ambitious outsider                                            the sake of knowledge and influence, and Domi-
                                                              nate is the Discipline that lets them get away with
The new willingness to Embrace from outside the tra-          it. Thievery, backstabbing, and the unjust murder
ditional ranks of academics and occultists brings forth       of a clan member’s ghoul are all made easier by
an array of individuals with ideas for the clan and the       the ability to control a mortal’s mind and body.
practice of Thaumaturgy. The ambitious outsider may           When attempting to feed, a Tremere will show little
be a white witch or a rebel destined for the Anarchs. It      compunction against using the Discipline to force a
is likely such a Tremere would struggle to gain respect       mortal into baring their throat.
in the clan, but with a lot to prove and the nominal
support of House Carna, the ambitious outsider could
go far.
chief of security                                             Bane
The Tremere are more than scholars and librarians.            Once the clan was defined by a rigid hierarchy of
The gifts they possess allow them to identify threats,        Blood Bonds reaching from the top to the bottom
manipulate minds, and destroy aggressors – even               of the Pyramid. But after the fall of Vienna, their
after the dissolution of the Pyramid, many other              Blood has recoiled and aborted all such connec-
Kindred still regard the usurpers with mistrust,              tions. Tremere vitae can no longer Blood Bond other
remembering them as the clan of killers and tortur-           Kindred, though they themselves can be Bound by
ers. The Tremere sheriff or chief of security likely          Kindred from other clans. A Tremere can still bind
inherited their specialized skills from a former life         mortals and ghouls, though the corrupted vitae must
as an enforcer of some kind.                                  be drunk an additional number of times equal to
                                                              the vampire’s Bane Severity for the bond to form.
Disciplines                                                   Some theorize this change is the revenge of the
                                                              Antediluvian devoured by Tremere, others attribute
Auspex: Tremere use Auspex to perceive the auras of           it to a simple mutation. Regardless, the clan studies
others, search for evidence of magical essences and im-       their vitae intently to discover if the process can be
portant objects left behind, and to communicate with          reversed, and, indeed, determine if they would want
each other across vast distances without fear of being        to do so ■
overheard. When needing to feed, Auspex assists a
                                                          97
The Clan of Kings
                   Blue Bloods
                        Tyrants
                       Warlords
                     Patricians
                        Borgias
           the Cult of Mithras
                                                                                                            98