New Player Reference

[SeaSaltSong]

As promised, here is information for new players.

Clans

When embraced (being turned) the blood that you possess is part of a lineage. This lineage is referred to as clan. Your sire is the same clan, as their sire, and the sire before them. Each clan hass access to different disciplines, special vampire powers, and has its own stereotypes. In addition, each clan has its own clan weakness, or bane. An additional curse of the blood.

Just because a discipline isn't in a clan doesn't mean you can't learn it. You definitely can if you can find someone willing to teach you.... and pay the price.

Here are the clans:

Assamite - Assassins. you want someone dead? Hire one of these guys. Historically they have hailed from the middle east, but in the connected world of today that is not necessarily the case. Their disciplines are:

• Bane: unable to drink the vitae (vampire blood) of another without taking damage. To drink one all the way dry can be near-fatal. Must tithe profits from contracts to sire. Skin gets darker with age, unlike all other clans that get lighter
  • Celerity - Hyper speed. running as fast as a car, and in extreme cases faster than the eye can see
  • Obfuscate - Concealment. Not true invisibility, but the ability to force others to be unable to perceive your presence. Can also disguise one's self
  • Quietus - Other tools for assassination. Silenece, poisons, and the likes to snuff out life.... or unlife

Brujah - The rebel. Street thug, brute, heavy hitter. If you are calling in some muscle, you're likely calling in a Brujah. Their disciplines are:

• Bane: Brujah are known for their tempers and anger issues, and thus suffer a penalty to resist going into frenzy when the beast surfaces
  • Celerity - Hyper speed. running as fast as a car, and in extreme cases faster than the eye can see
  • Potence - Hyper strength. Punching through solid concrete, bench pressing a car
  • Presence - Swaying the emotions of others for better or worse, but usually always in your favor

Followers of Set - Also known as Settites. Hedonists by hearts and relish in luring others into their vices.

• Bane: Having origins in darkness, Settites take extra damage from sunlight and receive penalties while in areas of bright light.
  • Obfuscate - Concealment. Not true invisibility, but the ability to force others to be unable to perceive your presence. Can also disguise one's self
  • Presence - Swaying the emotions of others for better or worse, but usually always in your favor
  • Serpentis - Snake themed powers. Eyes that hypnotize, hard scales, etc.

Gangrel - Shapeshifters. Legends of vampires turning into bats or wolves originated from these hardy bastards. Often solitary, they still sometimes pack together

• Bane: When going into frenzy, a physical animal trait manifests for some time even after the frenzy ends. This could be as simple as cat eyes, or as extreme as skin become lizard scales. The animal trait developed is completely independent of the favored forms of the victim
  • Animalism - Communing with and controlling animals as well as the instincts of a target. Having this also lessens your offense to animals just by existing
  • Fortitude - Sturdyness. Other kindred tank bullets, but high levels of this allow taking even worse things. In extremes, even sunlight
  • Protean - Changing form into that of a beast. Starts off with simple mods that rend, until full transformation is learned

Giovanni - Necromancers. This is more than a clan, but actual mortal family. The Giovanni only embrace within the family, and are the read godfathers of the mob

• Bane: Every other kindred's bite brings unearthly levels of bliss and pleasure, but the Giovanni only bring pain. If not careful, someone could even die just from heart failure from the pain.
  • Potence - Hyper strength. Punching through solid concrete, bench pressing a car
  • Dominate - Forcing your will and making the target do what you want or even completley changing their memory
  • Necromancy - Summoning the dead or reanimating a corpse. This is an advanced skillset with multiple branches and rituals

Lasombra - Masters of shadow, cruel and sadistic. Emphasis on the master aspect. This clan is new to the Camarilla and treated with much suspicion because of their long, bloody history

• Bane: Lasombra cast no reflection and sppear almost as a glitch in camera feed. Houserule flavor: this has no mechanical effect, but lasombra also cause technology to glitch slightly. lights flicker or the tv screen twitches as if poor reception. This can never have impact on mechanics, however.
  • Potence - Hyper strength. Punching through solid concrete, bench pressing a car
  • Dominate - Forcing your will and making the target do what you want or even completley changing their memory
  • Obtenebration - Manipulating shadows as if they were physical and using them to perform many horrific feats

Malkavian - Madmen lost in their own insanity. Twice cursed, all Malkaviens have debilitating mental afflictions. As a result, most don't take the Malks seriously, but the wisest and oldest know that in their madness is prophecy.

• Bane: All malkavians have a derangement. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. This is taken to an extreme, more than what you and I likely deal with

NOTE: This clan is very difficult to play, and can often lead to problems depending on the group. As a result, this clan is off-limits to new players until you learn how the game runs and plays.

Nosferatu - Rats in the sewers. This horrific looking monsters are easily the ugliest, smelliest.... things you can find. in a cruel joke, they tend to be the kindest because of this, though sometimes it does lead to resentment of others. Still, without them the world would collapse. Masters in secrets, the Nosferatu are an incredible information network. irreplaceable and indisposable.

• Bane: All nosferatu have an appearance score of zero (typically minimum of 1). They are so disfigured and mostrous, that a mortal even seeing one is a breach of the masquerade
  • Obfuscate - Concealment. Not true invisibility, but the ability to force others to be unable to perceive your presence. Can also disguise one's self.
    NOTE: All Nosferatu have access to the mask of a thousand faces power from this discipline to disguise themselves and walk in society.
  • Animalism - Communing with and controlling animals as well as the instincts of a target. Having this also lessens your offense to animals just by existing
  • Potence - Hyper strength. Punching through solid concrete, bench pressing a car

Ravnos - Drifters, the Ravnos typically don't call any one place home. but, isn't everything considered short term in the face of eternity? Often thieves, con artists, and negative stereotypes of the Roma people (I remember being told we are not using the g word anymore, so I'm avoiding it) describe the Ravnos. At least to mortals

• Bane: All Ravnos have an insatiable addiction, often from life but not always. It could be drugs, sex, or anything for that matter. it's almost impossible to resist this vice.
  NOTE: As a vampire, the effects of a physical addiction like drugs still don't work on you. you could snort all the cocaine in the local evidence locker and only feel desire for more with no release.
  • Animalism - Communing with and controlling animals as well as the instincts of a target. Having this also lessens your offense to animals just by existing
  • Fortitude - Sturdyness. Other kindred tank bullets, but high levels of this allow taking even worse things. In extremes, even sunlight
  • Chimestry - Summoning illusions and tricks of the mind. At more advanced stages, this becomes actual warping of reality and creating something rom nothing, even if it's only temporary

Toreador - Patron of the arts. Toreador love art in all of its forms. Dance, painting, theatre, if it is expression you can bet a toreador has some investment into it.

• Bane: When presented with something truly strikingly beautiful, a Toreador might become entraced and able to do nothing else but talk about and interact with the object of this beauty. It could be a truly beautiful person, a remarkable performance, or even catching a glimpse of the sunrise and forced to watch it....
  • Presence - Swaying the emotions of others for better or worse, but usually always in your favor
  • Auspex - Hyper perception. The ability to not just see and hear what is beyond a mortal's dreams, but also read auras and other "second sight" abilities
  • Celerity - Hyper speed. running as fast as a car, and in extreme cases faster than the eye can see

Tremere - Mages through and through. This clan is seen as the lowest of all the clans and treated with massive distrust and contempt from others. Still, only a fool wouldn't agree that they are exceptionally skilled and valuable

• Bane: Very easy to blood bond. What would be a light blood bond for one kindred is twice as strong on a tremere. if House tremere you will be bonded to your sire, but in return have access to more knowledge than those of, say, house Carna
  • Dominate - Forcing your will and making the target do what you want or even completley changing their memory
  • Auspex - Hyper perception. The ability to not just see and hear what is beyond a mortal's dreams, but also read auras and other "second sight" abilities
  • Thaumaturgy - Blood Magick. This is branched into many different paths and rituals. There is too much that can be done to list here

Tzimiche - Almost exclusive to the Sabbat, this clan of horrors manifested is sadly off the table for play.

Ventrue - Clan of kings. The ventrue believe themselves the rightful ruler of all things. If the Prince of a domain is not a ventrue, you can bet your ass the clan is plotting to get one of their own into the seat of power. The ventrue are the bankrollers of the night life and all have a mass of wealth to their name. All clans support their own, but this is more true with the Ventrue as well. A poor ventrue is only seen as a mistake, and woe unto you.

• Bane: Being of a... higher breed, the Ventrue have a more refined pallet. They may only drink from someone of a specific quality. It could be that they are a natural redhead, a certain blood type, or something else of that variety. it could even be something more insubstantial. It could be only people that are in an abusive relationship, people who are currently cheating on their significant others, or someone who got a promotion at work in the last month. if you can imagine it, that might be a Ventrue's taste. Storyteller discretion.
  • Dominate - Forcing your will and making the target do what you want or even completley changing their memory
  • Presence - Swaying the emotions of others for better or worse, but usually always in your favor
  • Fortitude - Sturdyness. Other kindred tank bullets, but high levels of this allow taking even worse things. In extremes, even sunlight

Caitiff - This is not a clan, but worth the mention. The Caitiff are clanless. Through one reason or another their blood did not bond with that of their sire and they are left without a clan

• Bane: Caitiff are not bound to an ancestry, and are thus not bound to a bane in the traditional sense. That said, they are viewed of having no loyalties, and is some areas are killed on sight. In the non-traditional sense, it is harder for a caitiff to learn a discipline than that of someone who belongs to a clan. For most, in-clan disciplines cost 5 xp and out of clan disciplines cost 7 xp. For Caitiff, all disciplines cost 6 xp
  • Any three* - Caitiff start with access to any three disciplines at creation up to GM discretion. Dots in these disciplines can be bought as normal for anyone else. Choose your three disciplines at character creation.
    NOTE: I will not approve some disciplines. Necromancy and Thaumaturgy are more of a study and guarded secret than something that can mutate in you (And even if it mutated in you, advancing it would be next to impossible)