VAMPIRE-L FAQ Version 5.1

VtM FAQ V 5.1 .
http://web.archive.org/web/20020225170458/http://machno.hbi-stuttgart....
Arcanum Information Misc. Errata FAQs Library of Links Publications
VAMPIRE-L FAQ Version 5.1
****************************************************************************** DISCLAIMERs ******************************************************************************
Disclaimer:
Storyteller, World of Darkness, Vampire: the Masquerade,
Werewolf: the
Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, Wraith: the Oblivion, and a multitude of other terms herein are all trademarks and copyrights of White Wolf. inclusion is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights held. Their
This FAQ answers the more commonly asked questions that occur in the VampireL@Oracle.Wizards.Com list. It is not an introduction to the White Wolf games,
and assumes the reader has played, or owns at least one or two of the gaming books.
******************************************************************************
Preface: the Writer's rant
When I first started this FAQ, I though the hardest part would be defending my answers. I was wrong. Almost no one had problems with my answers. (I had
problems with my answers, but that is another story).
The real problem was keeping the answers short but useful. thing to do.
It was not an easy
I kept wanting to re-write the answers until they grew into full
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essays.
Answers ranged from the painfully blunt to the sickingly poetic.
(My
desire to be plainly understood, battling with my desire to write beautifully).
Just as I was finishing version 4 of the FAQ, the "Vampire Storytellers Handbook" was released. I loved this new book, it had it own FAQ. Many of Where I
the questions for which I had to do "guess work", they gave answers.
had to limit my answers for space considerations, they used whole chapters.
Then came The Erciyes Fragments, which revealed even more.
As a result, Version 4 has been scrapped.
Finally, I writing the FAQ on an Apple Powerbook 190. The FAQ is written using Corel's Word Perfect 3.5e, and formatted to be printed using the 10 point Courier font. However, when uploading to the net, it is translated into a I don't bother with HTML or other formats as I'm
standard ASCII text file.
trying to maximize the readability across various computer platforms.
Now, onward with the corruption of today's youth...
Table of contents:
Section 1: General Questions
1.0) 1.1) 1.2)
Why a FAQ? What is the Vampire-L mailing list? I found this FAQ on a WEB site. the Vampire mailing list? How do I Subscribe to
1.3) 1.4)
How do I Un-subscribe from the Vampire mailing list? Why don't I see my own messages?
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1.5) 1.6) 1.7) 1.8) 1.9)
Are there any other WOD mailing lists? What are the Golden Rules for Vampire-L? Why the Shorthand? How do I use the archives? What is considered inappropriate SPAM on Vampire-L?
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Section 2: Clans & Bloodlines - Who is what?
2.0) 2.1)
What is the difference between a Bloodline and a Clan? What of the "Clan" status of Bloodlines who no longer have an Antediluvian?
2.2) 2.3) 2.4) 2.5)
What is a "sub-clan"? What of the Antitribu? Are they separate Bloodlines?
How small can a Bloodline be, and still be a Bloodline? Who are the Dark Ages Clans, where can they be found, and their Disciplines?
2.6) 2.7)
What of the Dark Age Bloodlines? Who are the Modern Clans, where they can be found, and what are their Disciplines?
2.8)
Who are the lesser Bloodlines of the Modern Age, where they can be found, and what are their Disciplines?
---
Section 3: Bloodlines - The Mutation.
3.0) 3.1) 3.2) 3.3) 3.4) 3.5)
When did new Bloodlines first start forming? What is the origin of the Baali??? Who are these True Brujah guys? What of the Old Clan Tzimisce? What happened to the Cappadocians? If the Giovanni are 'Childer of Cappadocius' -- why are their Disciplines & Weakness different?
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3.6)
Why do the Toreador Antitribu have a different Clan weakness from their Clan counterparts?
3.7)
Why does the Salubri weakness keep changing?
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Section 4: Bloodlines - The Created.
4.0)
What makes "Created Bloodlines" different from the other offshoot Bloodlines?
4.1) 4.2) 4.3)
Can you tell me where to find the Created Bloodlines? What happened to the Created Bloodlines? Why did Whitewolf design Gargoyles as vampires, and not make them mystical creatures?
4.4)
Can other vampires learn the Gargoyle's Flight Discipline?
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Section 5: The Clanless - Caitiff, Thin-Bloods and others.
5.0) 5.1) 5.2) 5.3) 5.4) 5.5) 5.6)
What are Caitiff? How do Caitiff discover what their Disciplines are? I thought Caitiff could create Disciplines? Aren't all Caitiff supposed to be thin-blooded? What about extremely high generation vampires? The Thin-blooded can create Disciplines? Who are the Clanless?
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Section 6: Questions about the Ancient Vampires
6.0)
Is Caine 1st or 0th generation?
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6.1) 6.2) 6.3) 6.4)
What are the Second Generation? Who else is "claimed" as Second Generation? What happened to the 2nd Generation? Why all the confusion about some Clans having a 2nd generation progenitor, or a progenitor claimed as a 4th by another Clan?
6.5)
If TEF is true, why did the generations start "degrading" in power?
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Section 7: Origins - Not of Caine
7.0) 7.1) 7.2) 7.3)
Don't all vampires have to be descended from Caine? Some Clans really claim a different origin than Caine? What do the Setites claim as their origins? What do the Ravnos & Gangrel say about their origin?
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Section 8: Antediluvians - Who is Who
8.0) 8.1) 8.2) 8.3) 8.4) 8.5) 8.6) 8.7)
What is an Antediluvian? How many Antediluvians are there? Which Antediluvians are still alive? OK, what were the generations of Osiris and Set? Who were some of the other possible Antediluvians? What about the Crone? How old are the Antediluvians? Who are the four Antediluvians hidden in the Shadowlands' image of Nod?
---
Section 9: Background - Sources & Lore
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9.0) 9.1) 9.2) 9.3)
What is the Book of Nod and who wrote it? What other books of lore or legend are there? Are the Clan Novels (or any WhiteWolf novels) canon? What is this "Ars Magica" storyteller game that keeps popping up when the Tremere are discussed?
9.4) 9.5)
Are there any non-Whitewolf supplements for the WOD? Where did White Wolf get the Clan/Bloodline names from?
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Section 10: Background - Cults & Sects
10.0) 10.1) 10.2) 10.3) 10.4) 10.5)
Who are the Tal'mahe'Ra?
What is their "angle"?
Isn't the Black Hand another name for the Sabbat? What are the "Followers of Osiris"? What can you tell me about the Iconnu??? Are any of these Sects related? Are there any other Sects or Cults?
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Section 11: History & Revisions of the WOD
11.0) 11.1)
Who were the Bushi and Gaki? I just read "Chaos Factor", I thought Ennoia was the Gangrel Antediluvian, and who is Ashur?
11.2) 11.3)
Does a vampire in torpor spend blood or not? Is it me, or do some of the Clans of the Dark Ages have different Disciplines and weaknesses?
11.4) 11.5) 11.6)
What are some of the changes in the "Revised Edition"? Which Clan does Rasputin belong to? How many Kindred are there now?
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Section 12: Other Supernatural beings
12.0) 12.1) 12.2) 12.3) 12.4) 12.5)
What of the other supernatural critters of the WOD? What about WOD:Gypsies? What happens if a vampire embraces another Supernatural? What is an Abomination? Can the "other" were-critters become Abominations? Which Bloodlines have/had some link to the other supernaturals?
12.6) 12.7)
Why are the Ravnos and Gangrel at odds? Vampires verses werewolves, who would win?
---
Section 13: Disciplines - Quirks & Limits
13.0) 13.1)
Which Disciplines can a vampire use while staked? Can my Giovanni use Necromancy to summon a wraith who has no fetters?
13.2) 13.3) 13.4) 13.5) 13.6) 13.7)
Will a vampire using Obfuscate be seen in a TV screen? Does Obfuscate have a range? Does the Fairyland power really allow Malkavians go to Arcadia? Can you use Animalism to talk to a werewolf in Crinos? Does any of Animalism's powers affect werewolves? Can a Gangrel pass for a werewolf?
---
Section 14: Disciplines - Alternative Powers and Rules
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14.0) 14.1) 14.2) 14.3) 14.4) 14.5)
Just how weird does the Discipline of Valeran get? Incompatible Disciplines? Disciplines can now have multiple Paths & alternate Powers? What are some of the alternate versions of Discipline powers? Who can learn the these alternate powers? "Character driven" alternative powers?
---
Section 15: Disciplines - their Creation and other Unique Powers
15.0) 15.1) 15.2) 15.3)
Where can rules be found for creating new Disciplines? What are Unique Powers, and Combination Disciplines? How do I create new Combination Disciplines? What are some of the Combination Disciplines?
---
Section 16: Bonds of Blood
16.0) 16.1) 16.2) 16.3) 16.4) 16.5)
Can you blood bind someone whom you are blood bound to? Can you blood bind your sire, or more remote progenitors? Can a vampire be blood bonded to more than one vampire? How much blood is required to create a blood bond? What about tasting vampire blood? While under a full blood bonded, is a vampire safe from additional blood-bindings?
16.6) 16.7) 16.8)
How does the Sabbat's vaulderie differ from a mutual blood bond? How many ways are there to break a blood-bond? How can the Vinculum be broken, or does it just fade?
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Section 17: Ghouls - Care and Feeding
17.0) 17.1) 17.2) 17.3) 17.4)
How much vitae can my ghoul hold? What about ghouls who drink "concentrated" Elder blood? OK, How do I feed my Ghoul? What happens if I overfeed my ghoul? How many blood points does a ghoul lose per day?
---
Section 18: Ghouls - Problems of being unNatural.
18.0) 18.1) 18.2) 18.3) 18.4)
What about side effects of ghouling? What happens to my ghoul, if I forget to feed it my vitae? I ghouled and blood bonded the mayor. Can he break the bond? Might a powerful Ghoul be able to diablerize a vampire? What is the difference mortal becoming a vampire, and a ghoul trying the same?
18.5)
Can a vampire become blood bonded by drinking from another's ghoul?
---
Section 19: Other vampire Minions of the WOD
19.0) 19.1) 19.2) 19.3) 19.4)
Do Zombies exist in the WOD? Who creates and uses Zombies?
What are they like?
What are those Revenant things? Who are the "Ghoul Families", and what happened to them? What were the Disciplines of the Ghoul Families? Where can I find them?
19.5)
What about Dhampirs?
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Section 20: Damage - Supernaturals Soaking & Healing in the WOD
20.0) 20.1) 20.2) 20.3)
What *IS* aggravated damage? Why do supernatural take aggravated damage? What is Soaking Damage? If a weapon that causes non-aggravated damage, severs a limb, would the damage then be considered aggravated?
20.4) 20.5)
Will a missing arm grow back on its own? Will the bullets shot into a vampire get expelled from her body during the day?
20.6)
If a vampire's arm was ripped off ... Will the arm grow back with the tattoo?
20.7)
What if the vampire got the tattoo after his embrace, or a nose ring?
20.8)
What if said vampire were to dye or bleach her hair?
---
Section 21: Damage - Mortal & Ghouls
21.0) 21.1) 21.2)
Can mortals Soak? What is the difference between the two types of damage? What about aggravated damage? Do mortals take aggravated damage?
21.3)
Can Ghouls regrow Limbs?
---
Section 22: Vicissitude
22.0) 22.1)
What the Hell is Vicissitude? But anyone can get Vicissitude, doesn't that make it more
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than a vampire Discipline? 22.2) 22.3) 22.4) What are Souleaters? What about the disease option? Can a vampire heal Vicissitude damage?
---
Section 23: Vampires and Blood Magic
23.0) 23.1) 23.2)
What is the difference between Blood Magic and Disciplines? Did the Tremere really invent Thaumaturgy? What is the difference between Dark Thaumaturgy and the Tremere's Hermetic Thaumaturgy?
23.3) 23.4) 23.5) 23.6)
What other vampires have Blood magic? What is basic Countermagic? And can vampires use it? What about the Tremere's Thaumaturgical Countermagic? Is Thaumaturgical Countermagic a Path or Discipline?
---
Section 24: Mortals and Blood Magic
24.0) 24.1) 24.2)
What are "Mystic Disciplines"? Can mortals learn Blood magic? What happens to Hedge Magicians when they are embraced?
---
Section 25: Try Explaining This...
25.0) 25.1) 25.2)
How was Haqim made immortal "by his own hand"? How can Haqim be 2nd? What's the real story?
Are there any other groups who use an alternate lineage?
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25.3)
Where did White Wolf get their inspiration for the clans?
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Section 26: Crossover Rulings
26.0) 26.1) 26.2)
Why aren't there crossover rules in VTM?!? Why not a book of Crossover rules? Wait a minute! Doesn't Whitewolf have a folder hidden somewhere
that explains how all the games interlock into one "Whole"???
---
Section 27: Dragging Werewolf Cosmology into Vampire
27.0) 27.1)
Wolf boy says my vampire character smells wormy! We are doing a crossover using Garou, what can the Vampires do about their Wyrm taint?
27.2)
Wait! Why can a "Garou" kill humans and be doing good, while a vampire who acts the exact same way is "Wyrm Tainted"?
27.3) 27.4) 27.5)
OK, which Paths of Enlightenment cure vampires of the Wyrm? Should my vampire know that Silver hurts werewolves? Is there a good reason why a vampire shouldn't be loaded down with silver weapons?
---
Section 28: Game Play - Character Creation
28.0) 28.1)
How many Dots in Disciplines should Elder characters have? I'm having trouble playing Malkavians?
28.2) Does Protean 4 have to be bat & wolf forms?
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Section 29: game Play - Questioning the 'Rules'
29.0) 29.1) 29.2)
Why should Infrared cameras notice a Vampire?
...
If a pregnant woman gets Embraced, what happens to the baby? Is it theoretically possible to diablerize one's Sire in the process of the Embrace?
29.3)
Are you sure a vampire can only drop one generation at a time through Diablerie? No matter how old the victim?
29.4) 29.5) 29.6)
Can you store vampire blood for later use? If it is so easy to store blood for later use, why did ... Can a mortal can be 'embraced' by another mortal using just a scalpel and a vial of Vampire blood?
---
Section 30: Cosmology - Umbra and the Underworld
30.0) 30.1) 30.2) 30.3) 30.4)
What is the Umbra? Are there any books on the Umbra? Can vampires enter the the Umbra? Do vampires have problems with the Umbra? Is the Malkavian Madness Network part of the Umbra, Digital Web, Astral plane, etc.?
---
Section 31: WOD Sources of Information
31.0) 31.1) 31.2)
What are some WWW Sites with Information for Vampire? Books of WOD Fiction Non WOD books
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31.3) ---
WOD Gaming and Source books
Section 32:
Classic Stuff
32.0) 32.1) 32.2)
Ever heard of Varney the Vampire? Have you seen this Nosferatu? The other Dracula of 1931.
****************************************************************************** Section 1: General Questions ******************************************************************************
1.0) Why a FAQ?
Some questions keep re-appearing.
The original FAQ attempted to address this
problem by providing a Q&A of the most common (and some uncommon but difficult to answer) questions. The Revised Editions have answered many of the The Current FAQ is closer to being an index
questions once listed here.
pointing to where the answers can be found.
This FAQ is written and maintained by Ronald Romine who is always on the lookout for new questions and better answers. His E-mail address changed, but The new
hopefully will not vanish from under his feet like his old one did. address is:
Ron_Romine@mailandnews.com
******************************************************************************
1.1) What is the Vampire-L mailing list?
A mailing list is a way for large numbers of people to exchange messages about common interests. It uses the power of E-mail, combined with mass mailing.
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By joining, you request that copies of any-and-all messages sent to the "Vampire-L" address, should also to be sent to your E-mail address. sent back to the list, are also sent to all other list members. Replies
As you can guess, the Vampire-L mailing list specializes in discussing the role playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. Through E-mail we exchange ideas, It is
ask questions, and debate viewpoints about the vampires of the WOD.
also used for the exchange of favorite 'house rules', showing off custom Bloodlines and Disciplines, and *short* stories.
******************************************************************************
1.2) I found this FAQ on a web site. mailing list?
How do I subscribe to the Vampire
Send an E-mail:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: subscribe vampire-l
******************************************************************************
1.3) How do I Un-subscribe from the Vampire mailing list?
Send another E-mail:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: Unsubscribe vampire-l
******************************************************************************
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1.4) Why don't I see my own messages?
After subscribing, the default is to not send you copies of your *own* messages. To solve this problem, send the command/message:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: set vampire-l mail repro
---
However, if you only need to know if your messages are being received by the others of the list, you can request notes of acknowledgment instead.
Send the message:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: set vampire-l mail ack
******************************************************************************
1.5) Are there any other WOD mailing lists?
Yes, there is one for each of the Storyteller games.
To access them, follow
the same instructions used for subscribing to Vampire-l, but substitute the name of the other list:
vampire-l@oracle.wizards.com werewolf-l@oracle.wizards.com mage-l@oracle.wizards.com wraith-l@oracle.wizards.com changeling-l@oracle.wizards.com
[Vampire: the Masquerade] [Werewolf: The Apocalypse] [Mage: The Ascension] [Wraith: The Oblivion] [Changeling: the Dreaming]
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---
To subscribe to the "Kindred of the East" list, send the E-mail:
To: kote-l-request@aspects.org Subject: with the message: subscribe
After you become a member, E-mail is routed through "kote-l@aspects.org".
---
Vampire: the Dark Ages can be subscribed by sending E-mail to:
To: majordomo@innocence.com Subject: with the message: subscribe VDA
******************************************************************************
1.6) What are the Golden Rules for Vampire-L?
1) Do not post "In Character" messages to the Vampire-l mailing list. The list is NOT for "Characters" to use as a part of their Chronicle.
2) Give SPOILER warnings, when discussing Whitewolf fiction and Chronicles. Most list members like to be surprised by the books they are reading, or by the Chronicle the Storyteller just started running.
3) Give warning when posting a custom Path, Bloodline, Discipline, or other work of fiction. Many of the Whitewolf developers are members of the list.
Due to legalities, they are not allowed to read stuff posted to the net.
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4) Never.
Ever.
Send a 3-meg file to the list. You ask list members if they
want a copy, of a large file then you E-mail the file to their personal address. Or you post large files on a WEB site, then post the location to the
list so they can download the files in their own time.
******************************************************************************
1.7) Why the Shorthand?
It is easier to type VTM, than "Vampire: the Masquerade", especially when your having to do it a few hundred times. at the end of the FAQ: A fuller list of shorthand is included
Revised editions and the newer books:
VRev VStH VStC GttC GttS ToTB CotN BMST NoP
Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire Storytellers Handbook Vampire Storytellers Companion Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Sabbat Time of Thin Blood Children of the Night Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Nights of Prophecy
Dark Age Books:
VDA DAC LS1
Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: Dark Ages Companion Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State
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LS2 LS3 LS4
Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Libellus Sanguinis 4: From the Dust (still due)
Older materials:
VTM VPG CB:xx PGS SHS
Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire Players Guide Clanbook The Players Guide to the Sabbat Storytellers Handbook to the Sabbat
Chapbooks/Prop Books of Lore:
BON RDM TEF
Book of Nod Revelations of the Dark Mother The Erciyes fragments
******************************************************************************
1.8) How do I use the archives?
Contributions (messages) sent to the list are automatically archived. You can get a list of the available archive files by sending the command/message:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: INDEX VAMPIRE-L
---
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You can then order these files with a command/message:
To: listserv@oracle.wizards.com Subject: with the message: GET VAMPIRE-L LOGxxxx
******************************************************************************
1.9) What is considered inappropriate SPAM on Vampire-L?
1) Advertisements not related to VTM or any of the Whitewolf games, are inappropriate. acceptable. Notices about needing to buy or sell White Wolf books are
Dealers looking for business by posting their entire line of
Whitewolf wares are not.
2) Long thread discussions about Wraith, Mage, Werewolf or Changeling are inappropriate as they have their own mailing lists. Quick questions about how
creatures from Wraith, Mage, Werewolf, or Changeling interact with vampires is acceptable until the thread refuses to die.
3) Posting binaries to the list is in bad taste.
They require additional If you have a graphic,
decoding, and expand the size of the weekly LOG files.
font, or text file large enough to need compressing, post them to a WEB site and send a notice to the mailing list telling where the file can be found. send them by private E-mail to those who request them. Or
4) Everything you post is stored in the archives.
This includes off-topic There
messages sent to the list, and all replies sent back through the list.
are no filters nor kill files that prevent off-topic messages from filling the weekly LOG file. Every Off-topic rant you send to the list, will be preserved
"as posted" for years to come.
5) After posting a mid-sized-to-large text file of a new Bloodline, Sect,
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Discipline, creature, etc., please wait at least a week before you post the re-write or update. It helps in keeping the weekly LOG files small.
6) Don't post a 3-meg file (or any large files) to the list.
A weekly LOG
that should have been only 300K of text, swells to 3-meg in size.
****************************************************************************** Section 2: Clans & Bloodlines - Who is what? ******************************************************************************
2.0) What is the difference between a Bloodline and a Clan?
A Bloodline is a lineage of vampires who have established their own identity. The Founder normally being between 5th and 9th generation.
A Clan is a bloodline with Status.
As a game mechanic, this is the status of
having one of the legendary Antediluvians (or 3rds) as a Founder.
VStH (pg. 49-53) covers this topic, and the creation of Bloodlines.
******************************************************************************
2.1) What of the "Clan" status of Bloodlines who no longer have an Antediluvian?
The official claim of the Camarilla Elders, is the Antediluvians are extinct (or so deep in torpor, they can never awaken). doesn't mean much to them. The loss of an Antediluvian
The Sabbat, which hunts Antediluvians, probably sees loss of an Antediluvian as improving one's Clan status.
VStH (pg 50-51) talks about this under the topic of "Decimation".
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2.2) What is a "sub-clan"?
In VDA, the term refers to a Bloodline which has diverged from the main Clan, but still functions as a loyal part of the parent Clan. various reasons: They can exist for
- They may be identical to the main Clan except for their religious beliefs, or the following of a Path of Enlightenment.
- Some Clans use a caste system, in which new members are embraced into their caste, creating separate bloodlines.
- a member of the Clan started embracing only from a family or subgroup of mortals, and his prodigy continue the tradition.
Sub-clan are often marked by having its own signature traits, such as an alternate weakness, or changes in Disciplines.
******************************************************************************
2.3) What of the Antitribu?
Are they separate Bloodlines?
A Bloodline is a lineage of vampires which has established its own identity, the Antitribu simply did so politically (not through mutation).
VStH (pg 49-50) covers this under "Renunciation".
******************************************************************************
2.4) How small can a Bloodline be, and still be a Bloodline?
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A Bloodline can have as little as one member.
This vampire may be:
a Caitiff with the power to pass his traits (a special Merit found in WOD:Outcasts), thus could create a new bloodline.
a vampire who has been mutated by magic or science, but has not sired yet (i.e. Yaryan from CbN2).
the soul survivor of a bloodline which has died out. (Sartak, of the Bahadur bloodline, from the WOD novel "Netherworld").
VStH (pg 49) which covers "Mutation and Self-Alteration", and (pg 52-53) which covers "Siring a New Line".
******************************************************************************
2.5) Who are the Dark Ages Clans, where can they be found, and their Disciplines?
Cappadocians [CB:Ca, VDA]
Auspex,
Fortitude,
Mortis
Lasombra Tzimisce Ventrue
[LS1, VDA] [LS1, VDA] [LS1, VDA]
Dominate, Auspex, Dominate,
Potence, Animalism, Fortitude,
Obtenebration Vicissitude Presence
Toreador Tremere Brujah
Auspex, Auspex, Celerity,
Celerity, Dominate, Potence,
Presence Thaumaturgy Presence
Gangrel Malkavian Nosferatu
Animalism, Auspex, Animalism,
Fortitude, Dementation, Obfuscate,
Protean Obfuscate Potence
Assamites Ravnos
[LS4, VDA] [LS4, VDA]
Celerity, Animalism,
Obfuscate, Fortitude,
Quietus Chimerstry
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Setites
[LS4, VDA]
Obfuscate,
Presence,
Serpentis
******************************************************************************
2.6) What of the Dark Age Bloodlines?
Lamia Lhiannan Liabon
[DAC] [DAC] [DAC]
Mortis, Ogham, Abombwe,
Potence, Animalism, Animalism,
Deimos Presence Fortitude
Salubri Baali Giovanni
[CB:Sa, DAC] [CB:Ba, VDA] [CB:Ca, ]
Auspex, Obfuscate, Auspex,
Fortitude, Presence, Fortitude,
Valeran Daimoinon Mortis
Gargoyles
[BSS]
Fortitude,
Potence,
Flight
Kiasyd
[LS1]
Potence,
Mytherceria,
Obtenebration
Telyavs *
[LS2]
Auspex,
Presence,
Sielanic-Thaumaturgy
Greek Gangrel Mariner Gangrel
[LS3] [LS3]
Animalism, Animalism,
Obfuscate, Fortitude,
Protean Aquatic-Protean
Assamite - Vizier
[LS3]
Quietus, Quietus,
Auspex, Auspex,
Celerity Assamite Sorcery
Assamite - Sorcerer [LS3]
******************************************************************************
2.7) Who are the Modern Clans, where they can be found, and what are their Disciplines?
All Clans are listed in VRev:
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Brujah Gangrel Malkavian Nosferatu Toreador Tremere Ventrue
[VTM, GttC, CB:Br] [VTM, GttC, CB:Ga] [VTM, GttC, CB:Ma] [VTM, GttC, CB:No] [VTM, GttC, CB:To] [VTM, GttC, CB:Tr] [VTM, GttC, CB:Ve]
Celerity, Animalism, Auspex, Animalism, Auspex, Auspex, Dominate,
Potence, Fortitude, Dementation, Obfuscate, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude,
Presence Protean Obfuscate Potence Presence Thaumaturgy Presence
Assamite Giovanni Ravnos Setites
[VPG, [VPG, [VPG, [VPG,
, CB:As] , CB:Gi] , CB:Ra] , CB:Se]
Celerity, Dominate, Animalism, Obfuscate,
Obfuscate, Potence, Fortitude, Presence,
Quietus Necromancy Chimerstry Serpentis
Lasombra Tzimisce
[PGS, GttS, CB:La] [PGS, GttS, CB:Tz]
Dominate, Animalism,
Potence, Auspex,
Obtenebration Vicissitude
******************************************************************************
2.8) Who are the lesser Bloodlines of the Modern Age, where they can be found, and what are their Disciplines?
Gargoyles Lasombra Antitribu
[StH, GttC] [GttC]
Fortitude, Dominate,
Potence, Potence,
Visceratika Obtenebration
Blood Brothers City Gangrel Kiasyd **
[StH, GttS] [PGS, GttS] [SHS, GttS]
Celerity, Celerity, Dominate,
Potence, Obfuscate, Mytherceria,
Sanguinus Protean Obtenebration
Salubri Antitribu Harbingers of Skulls Serpents of Light
[GttS] [GttS] [GttS]
Auspex, Auspex, Obfuscate,
Fortitude, Fortitude, Presence,
Valeran Necromancy Serpentis
Daug. Of Cacaphony [VPG, VStC]
Fortitude,
Melpominee,
Presence
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Samedi Salubri
[VPG, VStC] [VPG, VStC]
Obfuscate, Auspex,
Fortitude, Fortitude,
Thanatosis Obeah
Baali Nagaraja True Brujah
[StH, VStH] [DSBH, VStH] [DSBH, VStH]
Obfuscate, Auspex, Potence,
Presence, Necromancy, Presence,
Daimoinon Dominate Temporis
Tzimisce - Koldunic Tzimisce - Bratovitch Setites Ravnos - Warrior - Phuri Dae
[VRev] [VRev] [VRev] [VRev]
Auspex, Potence Potence, Auspex,
Animalism, Animalism, Presence, Animalism,
Koldunic Sorcery Vicissitude Serpentis Chimerstry
** The Kiasyd are also known by the name of "Nocturnae".
****************************************************************************** Section 3: Bloodlines - The Mutation. ******************************************************************************
3.0) When did new Bloodlines first start forming?
The branching of vampirism into 13 bloodlines can be said to have started at the point Caine cursed the 13 Clan Founders. TEF places the cursing during
the time of Empires (post Flood, but before the start of the Second City).
The first off-shoot bloodline from the 13 appears to be the Baali.
Most of
their origin stories link their creation time to after the founding of the Second City, yet before its fall.
******************************************************************************
3.1) What is the origin of the Baali???
No one is sure, but there are three basic stories telling of their origin:
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- From DAC (pg.170-171), there is the story of Shaitan, whose pride in his own appearance and singing voice, makes him jealous of his Elders and their thicker blood. Supposedly, he is the first childe of Ashur. He forms a war
party of 4th generation vampires, one from each Clan.
After his defeat, he
became an Infernalist, leading an early version of what could be called "antitribu". These antitribu being 4th generation childer of various Clans.
They sired broods and infiltrated the Clans to recruit others, or lead them to destruction. City. However, this story takes place during the time of the First
- DAC (pg 172-174), links the Baali to the Salubri during the time of the Second City. The Baali were a mortal cult of Infernalist, who were seeking Saulot sent four warrior Salubri to infiltrate the Saulot's own This
the secret of immortality.
Baali and learn how close they were to gaining immortality.
childe betrayed the others, and soon the Baali leaders were embraced. lead to several Salubri-Baali wars. (CB:Sa, pg.66)
- From their own Clanbook Baali (pg 13-18) the Baali tell an origin that may be the most unsettling of all. The "Children of Darkness" were beings of pure They sleep They
darkness who fell, burning to earth when God created the light. beneath the earth.
The Baali, then a tribe of mortals, found one.
learned how to tap its power using the magic of True Names.
One night during He
a rite, a vampire came to them, calling them "childish" in their evil.
attacked the tribe, tortured & played with them, then threw them into the pit where they sacrificed. He spilled his blood into the pit, then left. Three
4th generation vampires emerged from the pit. the Baali.
These became the Progenitors of
Each Progenitor believes the mystery vampire to be a different (Cb:Sa, pg.67-68)
Antediluvian: Saulot, Ashur (Cappadocius), or Tzimisce.
******************************************************************************
3.2)
Who are these True Brujah guys?
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There are legends of a vampire named Troile (childe of Brujah) who diablerized the Brujah Clan Founder during the fall of the Second City. his/her own Clan using the same name "Brujah". (BON pg.54) Troile then sires
The legends also speak of Brujah having childer who survived the fall of the Second City, who then formed the bloodline now know as the "True Brujah".
While first mentioned in the Brujah Clanbook, the write up for the True Brujah first appeared in "Dark Secrets of the Black Hand". the Bloodline appeared in VStH. (pg.34-35) The revised version of
There are two differences between the True Brujah, and the more common "False" Brujah.
- True Brujah do not seem to have the same weakness.
The game mechanic of
their weakness requires them to pay twice as much experience to raise Humanity, Path ratings, Conscience and Conviction (VStH). atrophy of their emotions as they study and contemplate. This is due to the
- Instead of having Celerity, the True Brujah have Temporis.
Some claim
Celerity devolved from Temporis, while others believed Temporis is an outgrowth of Celerity.
---
The Erciyes Fragments (pg.109) speak of the diablerie happening three times among the 13 Clan Founders. Of the first, it speaks of the Ante's silent
death, unheard, and "children who will bear his name, but not his blood."
This appears to refer to
Troile's diablerie of Brujah.
******************************************************************************
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3.3) What of the Old Clan Tzimisce?
Information on the "revised" Old Clan can be found scattered throughout the VStH (pg.191-192).
The current portrayal casts them as a group of "Old World" Tzimisce.
Not so
much as an offshoot or bloodline, but Elders from several Tzimisce lineages which long ago decided to walk a different path from the rest of the Clan.
Old World Tzimisce do not have Vicissitude as a Clan Discipline, instead they have Auspex, Animalism and Dominate. Powers better suited for ruling small
communities and traveling the wilds, instead of playing with flesh. Vicissitude is seen as unwholesome, and freakish. wise and knowledgeable leader uses. Not the type of power the
A small lunatic fringe of "Old World" Tzimisce has its own beliefs concerning Vicissitude. They wage a Shadow War against beings they see attempting to Dark Spirits and evil ghosts who
subvert the worldly power of vampires. possess vampires.
Shape-shifting is seen as a sign of possession, making
those who possess Vicissitude, Protean, or Serpentis their prime targets. The lunatics even hunt werewolves and other shape shifters, believing their shape shifting to be evidence that they are possessed by these spirits and ghosts.
VStH notes that after the destruction of the Black Hand Sect, the Old World Tzimisce returned to their lands (which many still retained), and many have turned to practicing Koldunic Sorcery.
******************************************************************************
3.4) What happened to the Cappadocians?
Augustus Joe and the Raiders of the Lost Tomb, ate them.
But seriously, there
were two events that affected their numbers: the Feast of Folly, and the rise
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of the Giovanni.
At one point in early Dark Ages, Cappadocius called *ALL* members of the Clan for a great meeting, judged each vampire, and sealed the unworthy in the Clan's catacombs beneath the city of Kaymakli. before Vampire: the Dark Ages begins. This appears to of happened
(CB:Ca pg.17-18)
In 1444 AD, Augustus Giovanni rose up and Diablerized Cappadocius, then had his own bloodline hunt down all the remaining Cappadocian bloodlines.
******************************************************************************
3.5) If the Giovanni are "Childer of Cappadocius" - why are their Disciplines & Weakness different?
The Greybox on page 42, of the Giovanni Clanbook states they abandoned Mortis for Necromancy.
On page 14, the Giovanni claim the modern Clan weakness appeared only after the Giovanni diablerized the Lamia. (The Deimos Discipline's second level
power has the same affect as the modern Giovanni's bite.)
If diablerizing the Lamia caused this mutating effect, it may of also resulted in the gaining of the Lamia's Discipline of Potence as well. However, others
think the switch to Potence was the result of embracing ghouls.
As for why the Giovanni switched to Dominate, it may have been a choice to exchange the last of the old Disciplines for the Discipline of control.
---
There is a story in Clanbook Cappadocian (pg 20-21), of Japheth laying a curse upon the vessel containing the blood used to embrace Augustus Giovanni.
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The curse would become the Giovanni weakness.
However, this does not explain
why the new weakness did not appear for nearly four centuries.
******************************************************************************
3.6) Why do the Toreador Antitribu have a different Clan weakness from their Clan counterparts?
For years the Toreador weakness has been like the Wizard of Oz, a powerful looking figure, but all smoke and mirrors.
With Vrev, Whitewolf has given us a glimpse of the man behind the curtain. was just an added game mechanic (a Self-Control Roll), but it gives us a foundation on which we can build some spectacular "expressions" of the Toreador weakness.
It
---
So, why is the Antitribu weakness different?
Maybe it isn't.
Antitribu share the same (Self-Control) weakness, but the Sabbat "culture" has opened newer, non-traditional ways to "express" the clan weakness.
Many of the Toreadors of the Sabbat are embracing the skills of Body Crafts (tattoos, piercing, ritual scarring, etc.) as arts. Other Sabbat Toreador are
viewing the acts of violence, torture and pain as having artistic forms.
******************************************************************************
3.7)
Why does the Salubri weakness keep changing?
The "Erciyes Fragments" speaks of the Clan weaknesses as Curses placed directly on the 3rd generation by Caine, and to be passed down to all prodigy.
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Pg 89, states that Saulot was not Cursed by Caine.
Instead, he and his (Some suggest
prodigy were blessed, that all might recognize who they were. this was the origin of the third eye.)
In theory, the Salubri do not have a weakness, unless it is the inability to conceal who they are.
However, by following "the Commandments of Saulot" or by adhering to certain (Warrior/Healer) philosophies, they seem to create weaknesses for themselves.
****************************************************************************** Section 4: Bloodlines - The Created ******************************************************************************
4.0)
What makes "Created Bloodlines" different from the other offshoot Bloodlines?
The normal method of creating a vampire is to drain a person of blood until he reaches the point where he will die. At this point feeding him fresh vampire The person can also be killed,
blood causes him to transform into a vampire.
then feed fresh vampire blood before his spirit escapes his flesh.
In both cases, the person is already dying when he partakes of blood, and the blood is fresh, still full of power. This is important as normal vampire The power to
blood starts losing power after leaving the vampire's body.
embrace vanishing within seconds of leaving the vampire's body.
---
Now, what about a person who uses old vampire blood as an ingredient in an immortality potion. The person doesn't kill himself (or appear to die), but
becomes a vampire anyway?
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Or a person who attempts to become a vampire by using a magic ritual.
It
appears to work, but the person has to eat flesh as well as drink blood. And instead of having a pair of fangs, all the teeth become "shark teeth".
How about a person who is fed the blood of two different kinds of vampires while undergoing a magic ritual using mystic earth. The person grows wings,
stony appearance, and an innate flight power not possessed by vampires.
A type of vampire that can not embrace?
Is created via magic, but only in
groups in which the individuals are somehow linked?
Vampires who get merged with the blood of another race of supernaturals? only do they look abnormal, they have the weakness of the other race.
Not
Finally, the vampire whose experiment with magic caused it to lose the ability to embrace. However, it gains a new power linking it to animal spirits.
---
These bloodlines lead to the question... In a WOD, there are "half-vampire" creatures called ghouls, Revenants and dhampirs. "created bloodlines" are 100% vampires? So, can you be sure these
******************************************************************************
4.1)
Can you tell me were to find the Created Bloodlines?
Tremere Nagaraja
(VRev pg.78, CB:Tr) (VStH pg.32, DSBH pg.60)
Kiasyd Ahrimanes
(GttS pg.62, LS1 pg.28-29, SHS pg.38) (SHS pg.37)
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Gargoyles Blood Brothers
(BMST pg.135-136, GttC pg.56, BSS pg.76) (BMST pg.136-137, GttS pg.54)
******************************************************************************
4.2)
What happened to the Created Bloodlines?
The Tremere, Gargoyles and Kiasyd are doing well.
As for the rest...
- The Black Hand's City of Enoch was destroyed, leaving only seven Nagaraja left. (VStH pg.32, pg.191)
- The Ahrimanes have vanished from the face of the Earth. (VStH pg.52)
- Blood Brothers can not embrace, and may be dying out. (VStH pg.50, under Creation.)
******************************************************************************
4.3)
Why did Whitewolf design Gargoyles as vampires, and not make them mystical creatures?
In the Real World, Gargoyles were never mystical creatures, they were a style of French architecture.
At one time, gutters would spill the rain waters directly from the heights of a build's roof or ledge. A way was needed to prevent the water from running So the gutters funneled
down the side of the building (causing water damage).
the water away from their build, forming a system of spouts.
At some point, the spouts were craved into grotesque looking faces
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representing men and animals.
The effect was a ring of statuary surrounding
the roof (or standing at the corners); water pouring forth from their mouths. The channeling of water through their `throats' lead to them being called gargoyles. The french word for throat was gargouille (as in "to gargle").
******************************************************************************
4.4)
Can other vampires learn the Gargoyle's Flight Discipline?
In GttC (pg.115), the Gargoyle's power of Flight has been retconned into a separate Discipline, it is no longer a side-power of learning Visceratika.
Part of the ritual that creates a Gargoyle, grants it a variant of "Movement of the Mind" as an innate power.
Being a "by-product" of the alchemical/thaumaturgical process used to create the Gargoyles, Flight can not be learned by any other vampire. (Even if they tasted Gargoyle blood or Diablerize a Gargoyle.)
---
Note: Visceratika can be learned by others.
It does not affect appearance nor
does it grant wings (or flight) to non-gargoyles.
****************************************************************************** Section 5: The Clanless - Caitiff, Thin-Bloods and others. ******************************************************************************
5.0)
What are Caitiff?
Within the game:
Caitiff are considered a social problem involving vampires who were Abandoned,
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Uneducated or Orphaned.
Rarely are they presented to the Prince, and most Most don't even know who (or what) sired
were not sired with permission.
them, and in the Modern Nights their blood is often so thin and weak, it lacks the strength to hold any Clan traits.
---
Outside the game:
There is more to it than "vampire street urchins".
An anomaly in the sire's
blood permitted the passing of Caine's Curse, but failed to transmit the associated "clan traits". Yet, their blood is just as thick and powerful as
any other vampire of the same generation.
Thus, Caitiffs are really throwbacks to the time before the passing of Clan traits began. It is like discovering your pedigree poodle just gave birth to
a creature from the Ice Age -- a Dire Wolf.
---
Caitiff are strong-blooded vampires which lack the Clan weakness, signature Disciplines, Clan specific Flaws or Merits. They can not create Disciplines,
but they can learn all Disciplines equality well.
******************************************************************************
5.1) How do Caitiff discover what their Disciplines are?
Caitiffs have no Disciplines, this is what makes them Caitiff.
The character creation rules are for creating Neonate vampires; characters that have already been vampires for 25 years. These rules are not for
creating characters that were embraced just yesterday.
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Under Whitewolf's rules, it is assumed that most vampires will develop between 3 to 5 Dots in Disciplines during their first 25 years of existence. The 3
Dots granted to Caitiffs, represent the Disciplines they were able to learn >from others, or teach themselves through trail-and-error over 25 years.
GttC (pg.54) provides a common set of Disciplines a Caitiff might acquire (Potence, Fortitude and Presence). These three Disciplines are common enough,
traditionally granted to vampires by mortal legends, and do NOT require the Caitiff to learn how to empower Disciplines with blood.
******************************************************************************
5.2) I thought Caitiff could create Disciplines?
"WOD:Outcasts" (pg.37) provided the 2nd ed., guidelines for playing Caitiffs.
Under its rulings, as a result of not being "bound" by Clan Disciplines, they had the special ability to create new Disciplines. They were also freed from
having the Clan weakness of their sires, unless it was purchased as a Flaw.
Under the new Vrev rules, (ToTB pg.32), the power to create new Disciplines now belongs to the Thin-Blooded. Thin-blooded Caitiff can create new
Disciplines, but like all other Thin-blooded, they lose the power if they lower their generation past 14th.
******************************************************************************
5.3)
Aren't all Caitiff supposed to be thin-blooded?
The creation of Caitiffs is often blamed on the thinning of blood.
The belief
being that Caitiffs lack Clan traits due to their blood being too thin and weak to carry the traits.
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This is not necessarily true. traits.
Caitiff are simply vampires without Clan
They can be sired by vampires of *any* generation, regardless of how
thin or thick the sire's blood is.
So, unless they have "Thin-Blooded Flaws", Caitiff are just as thick-blooded and powerful as any Clan vampire of the same generation.
******************************************************************************
5.4)
What about extremely high generation vampires?
In recent years a new group of vampires has appeared. truly thin. Not by flaw, but by generation.
Vampires whose blood is
These are the 14th and 15th
generation vampires, truly the Thin-Blooded.
While they have 10 point blood pools, they cannot spend their full blood pool to power Disciplines or boost Attributes. be used by the daysleep. The reserved blood points can only
A 14th generation vampire has a 50% chance of also being a Caitiff, while all 15th generation vampires are Caitiff (having no clan traits).
Many have special abilities such as the power to create new Disciplines, and clairvoyant powers.
See "Time of Thin Blood" (pg 15-19).
******************************************************************************
5.5) The Thin-Blooded can create Disciplines?
One of the mutations of the Thin-blooded is the amazing power to create new
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Disciplines.
They still have the 14th & 15th generational limits, which
prevent them from developing the new Disciplines above level 3 or 4.
---
As for why?
My favorite theory:
The power of an Elder's vitae is like a lead pipe. and can make quite an impact when used as a weapon. stiff and unbending.
It is solid, heavy, strong But this also makes it
Only the most powerful magic or science can re-forge the
"lead pipe" into a new shape.
The Thin-blood's vitae has grown diluted, become thin. like a wire coat hanger.
Their vitae has become
So thin, so weak, so easily bent into new shapes.
Their vitae will never make an impact, but it just might open a few car doors.
******************************************************************************
5.6) Who are the Clanless?
The Clanless are the vampires who lack Clan legitimacy.
These are the Orphaned and Abandoned vampires whose lineage is "Unknown". (This group also includes vampires who have abandoned their Clans.)
Some are true Caitiffs, others are Thin-bloods.
However, many are thick-
blooded vampires who are simply ignorant of their Clan lineage.
Many thick-bloods can eventually prove their Clan derivation, gaining acceptance into their Clans, even though their sires remain Unknown.
****************************************************************************** Section 6: Generations - Who is What?
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******************************************************************************
6.0) Is Caine 1st or 0th generation?
Good question.
In the real world, generation measurement begins with a "Primus".
The Primus
generates the "1st Generation", who in turn generate the "2nd Generation".
In the WOD, Caine is considered both the 1st vampire and the 1st Generation of vampires. His childer are referred to as the Second Generation.
---
However, there are other theories:
While immortal & cursed, Caine didn't gain the powers of the vampire until after he drank the blood of the Lilith. Thus, in a way the Lilith is the
Primus of vampirism, and Caine is the 1st generation of vampires.
Others place Caine as a Primus, and claim that he did sire a "1st" generation of vampires. These vampires are a total mystery, but are the true sires of
the 2nd Generation vampires known as Zillah, Irad, and Enoch.
******************************************************************************
6.1) What are the Second Generation?
The traditional view of vampire lineage assumes Caine was the 1st generation of vampires. Thus, all vampires sired by him (his childer) constitute the
Second Generation of vampires.
Most Clans name only three vampires as being embraced by Caine: Zillah, Irad and Enoch.
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The Assamites name two more vampires as embraced by Caine: The King and Queen of En'esh. Supposedly, the King & Queen were killed before the embrace of the (Assamite Clanbook)
other three.
The Erciyes Fragments name five vampires (who survived the Deluge) as being Caine's Childer: Enoch, Zylla, Jabal, Adah, Tubal and Mehujael. (TEF pg.81)
******************************************************************************
6.2)
Who else is "claimed" as Second Generation?
- Enoch the first-born, Zylla [Caine's] most beautiful, Jabal and Adah and Tubal and Mehujael. (TEF pg.81)
- The Crone who blood bonded Caine through a ritual. Caine to make her immortal. (BON pg.40-43)
She then commanded
- The Ravnos Clan claims Ravnos was embraced by a vampire called Kaen, who is claimed to be Caine. (CB:Ra pg.13-17)
- The King & Queen of En'esh (City of Enoch?). who is claimed to be Caine.
Embraced by Khayyin,
(Assamite Clanbook, pg.13)
- Haqim who embraced himself using blood stolen from the King & Queen of En'esh (pg.14)
- The Crone commanded the blood bonded Caine to give her some of his "Childer's childer" which were never seen again. (BON pg.44)
- Dracian, whose wife used a rock stained with his blood and the magic of her own Blood, to transform Ravnos into a vampire.(WOD:Gypsies 89-91)
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- Some Cainites believe Ashur to be another name for Cappadocius. Others believe Ashur to be the sire of Cappadocius. (CB:Cappadocian, pg.12)
- Osiris, was embraced by a vampire called Typhon. If Osiris was 3rd, then Typhon would have been 2nd. (Mummy, Hunters Hunted)
*****************************************************************************
6.3)
What happened to the 2nd Generation?
- Enoch the first-born, Zylla, Jabal and Adah and Tubal and Mehujael, were ALL destroyed during the fall of the Empire (TEF pg.81)
- The Crone was staked by Caine, and left to die in the Sun. (BON pg.44)
- As the King and Queen of En'esh slept during the day, they were killed by (the mortal) Haqim and his troops. Haqim claims to have drained his
own blood using a knife and was then was fed their blood by his troops, which turned him into a vampire. (CB:As, pg.13)
- During the fall of the Empire, Nosferatu tried to diablerize his sire, Zillah, in the process she died. (CB:No, pg.16)
- Dracian was growing a magical fruit.
Another vampire called Amriat During the
sent a group of men to attack at dawn and seize the fruit. attack, Daenna (his wife) fled with fruit.
She returned to find only
Dracian's blood stains. (WOD:Gypsies pg.89-91)
- In the alternate origin, Ravnos was embraced directly by Caine. version has Ravnos siring Ennoia (Gangrel).
This
Ravnos's mortal sister
"witnessed through a vision", him being nailed to the rooftop of a high temple and destroyed by the sun. (CB:Ra)
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- As for Ashur, there was no proof that he ever existed. believe Ashur to be another name for Cappadocious.
In fact many
- Except for the embracing of Osiris, Typhon is not mentioned anywhere else. (Mummy 1st & 2nd, THH)
*****************************************************************************
6.4) Why all the confusion about some Clans having a 2nd generation progenitor, or a progenitor claimed as a 4th by another Clan?
The Erciyes Fragments reveals the blood of Caine did not weaken in the beginning. A 99th generation vampire was as potent and powerful as the 1st
generation vampire.
During the Flood, the vampires hunted and fed off each other.
As all were of
equal power, diablerie did not grant any benefits of increased power or blood pool. It was simply the only way to fed during this time, after the Flood water subsided, the surviving vampires were still of equal power.
After the Flood, the rest of the survivors could not find Caine, although they had an awareness that Caine survived and watched them. Left alone, the
survivors (some of which were Caine's own childer) took over the Cities of the Children of Noah. childer. They sired more childer, who in turn sired their own
All were of equal power & abilities.
---
A second possibility is all "vampires" are not related.
The vampires of the East are acknowledged as being a different supernatural
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creature from the "Kindred" of the West.
Some Western Bloodlines/Clans could have a different origin than Caine, but share enough traits to be confused for Cainites.
*****************************************************************************
6.5) If TEF is true, why did the generations start "degrading" in power?
Between the time of the Flood and the founding of the "Second City", there was a "Time of Empires". When the vampires more or less scattered, taking over They waged war against each
mortal Empires founded by the children of Noah. other in secret, and openly.
Then came the fall of the post-Flood Empires, when childer turned on sire. During this time, the Childer of Caine were destroyed. Caine who vanished
during the Flood, now re-appeared after his last Childe was destroyed.
Caine individual cursed 12 of 13 surviving vampires, then cursed all surviving vampires. The blood of all surviving vampires would now weaken with every
generation until it became as water.
After this cursing, the 13 Clan Founders built a new city from the ashes of the old Empires, the Second City. They then sired a new batch of childer, who The new childer were called the Fourth
for the first time had weaker blood. Generation.
((previous generations were referred to as Childer of Childer)
---
These events allow for the 13 "surviving" vampires to be a mix of generations >from 2nd to 99th. survivors. Some even being the childer (or grandchilder) of other
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However, all of them now sire "4th generation" childer regardless of the Survivor's actual generation or relationship to each other.
The Erciyes Fragments (pg.91), BON (pg.52-53)
****************************************************************************** Section 7: Origins - Not of Caine ******************************************************************************
7.0) Don't all vampires have to be descended from Caine?
Not necessarily.
The business about all vampires being related, thus The Dark
"kindred" appears to be a Camarilla story used to unite the Clans.
Age books reveal at least three Clans use to have non-Caine origin stories.
The Eastern Kindred are not of Caine.
Also consider this, the Lilith was not of Caine. She was already suffering a similar curse, but she had powers. her blood. Caine gained his Disciplines from drinking
What if Caine (or Lilith) feed his/her blood to others who were Not turning them into vampires, but transferring
already cursed with undeath? the power of Disciplines?
******************************************************************************
7.1) Some Clans really claim a different origin than Caine?
Yep.
In LS3, and "Wolves of the Sea" it reveals the Setites, Gangrel and Ravnos, have origin stories which do not speak of Caine.
******************************************************************************
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7.2) What do the Setites claim as their origins?
The Setites tell an origin were Set & Osiris were brothers. desired the wealth held by the dead of the Underworld.
Ra, their father
Ra created laws which
unbalanced "Maat" and weakened the dead, allowing him to defeat them when he crossed over into the Underworld.
Osiris, was granted the Upper kingdom of Egypt.
Set requested the lower
kingdom, the desert wastes, desiring a place were the people could still live under the ways of Maat. desert. Ra refused him, and exiled Set to the deepest
While Set was in this desert, he dug for water and uncovered the dark river which bridged life and death. Still he drank of the dark water. His Ka & Ba
remained in his body, but his akh fled to the Underworld. him what Ra had done to the afterlife.
His akh revealed to
Drinking the water made him a creature of both worlds, one of the unliving.
By giving his blood (which still contains traces of the dark water) Set is able to show others the truth about the corruption of the Underworld. process sends the akh to the Underworld, while the Ba & Ka remain. This
As both Setites and Cainites are beings of both worlds, they share similar restrictions and needs. Sleeping by day, drinking of blood, etc.
As for the "Cainites" origins, Setites believe the upsetting of Maat released evil spirits into the world. of these evil spirits. The Cainites being the descendants (or servants)
*****************************************************************************
7.3) What do the Ravnos & Gangrel say about their origin?
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The Gangrel have two origin stories.
The one held by the Gangrel of the North, those of Viking descent, tell a story of Odin One-Eye, lord of the slain and necromancer.
While traveling the battle fields of earth looking for slain warriors worthy to fill the halls of Valhal, Odin came across the wounded Canarl. Odin
learned that Canarl had a rune-mark upon his forehead, and that Canarl believed he could not die.
Odin gave Canarl of his blood, making him strong and untouched by age, and pronounced that by the art of war Canarl would rule. But the Fates demanded satiation. Canarl would have to hide, avoiding sunlight and fire. Drink only
blood and no meat.
(Wolves of the Sea, page 41-42) ---
The other is told by Gangrel originally from the East.
Ennoia and Churka (Ravnos) were the children of gods.
They leave their
father's house, as all their siblings are arguing/battling over who gets to be god of what.
Traveling to their mother's house they start arguing over who will be the first to address her. Being their father's children they begin to argue. A
war begins, and they recruit others.
They fought only by night, so their mother would not see them. Ennoia was winning, but lose the war due to betrayal. the Eastern hunting grounds. The Gangrel are force to abandon
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Meanwhile, The Ravnos awaken the Giants (Cathayans) and war with them.
(LS3, pg 12)
****************************************************************************** Section 8: Antediluvians - Who is Who? ******************************************************************************
8.0) What is an Antediluvian?
Antediluvian means `before the Deluge', referring to the ancient Flood of the Bible. It is also used to describe anything from pre-history; the time before
civilizations (or groups of people) left historical records.
After the Deluge destroyed the First City, (TEF pg.69-72) vampires survived by hunting and feeding from their fellow vampires beneath the waters. vampires were killed in this way (diablerie). Many
Caine and the vampires who survived the Flood, are collectively known as the Antediluvians.
---
However, Antediluvian has also become a title for vampires who are considered to have blood of Antediluvian strength.
As such, both vampires sired before the Curse of Weakening Blood, and vampires who diablerized one of these Ancients are referred to as being Antediluvians.
The most notable Antediluvians being the "Clan Founders", who are rated as being 3rd generation in blood strength.
******************************************************************************
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8.1) How many Antediluvians are there?
If Antediluvian is used to mean vampires sired before the Flood, or even vampires who survived the Flood, no one knows. Tradition allows for only 13
vampires of (3rd generation strength) surviving the fall of the Second City.
- in his letter to Mina Harker at the beginning of the book, Vlad states that, in his research, he has come across various writings which state that the Third Generation numbered at 9, 27, 100, and 0. (VTM, pg.13)
- in VRev, there is a mention of a BON fragment which claims "three by 10" instead of "three and 10" as the number of Antediluvians. 30 instead of 13 Antediluvians. Meaning there were
Many Storytellers use a "standardized canon" in which regardless of how many Antediluvians there once were:
- all the Second generation vampires as destroyed. - only 13 Vampires survived the Fall of the Empire, - each of the vampires suffered a different curse from Caine. - each of the 13 then Founded a Clan, siring 4th generation vampires. - some of the 13 are now dead or have been replaced via diablerie.
******************************************************************************
8.2) Which Antediluvians are still alive?
If you mean the 13 Clan Founders, all are believed to be alive except:
* BC, Brujah, 1133 AD, Saulot, 1405 AD, Lasombra,
was diablerized by Troile, was diablerized by Tremere,
(CB:Br pg.14) (CB:Tr pg.17) pg. 41,49)
dies at the hand of his childe, (CotI
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1413 AD, Tzimisce,
is attacked by Lugoj,
(CotI (GC1 (ToTB
pg. 43-45) pg. 80-81) pg.115-127)
1444 AD, Cappadocius, was diablerized by Giovanni, 1999 AD, Ravnos, dies in a massive conflict,
* It is believed that Troile diablerized Brujah during the Fall of the Second City.
---
Note:
The Erciyes Fragment contain prophecies describing the diablerie of three Antediluvians (pg.109-111), and the total destruction of another (pg.126).
******************************************************************************
8.3)
OK, what were the generations of Osiris and Set?
According to Bill Bridges.
When "Hunter's Hunted" was originally written, the
Children of Osiris were conceived as one of the 13 original Clans, and Set was a 4th Gen Diablerist. (However, he also said several of the details had
"changed" since he left.)
However, Frank Frey (the Setite creator) claims Set was supposed to be a normal Antediluvian. So it appears Set was embraced as a 3rd.
The Nosferatu claim Set is a Nictuku.
The Nictuku being the 4th generation
Nosferatu, who are blood-bonded to their Ante and hunt the non-bonded Nosferatu.
---
If Set and Osiris were embraced before the Cursing of Weakening Blood, their
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generations do not matter.
They both had blood of Antediluvian strength, and
would be siring "4th generation" childer after the fall of the Empires.
******************************************************************************
8.4) Who were some of the other possible Antediluvians?
There are many ancient vampires whose generations are unknown or at least unconfirmed. They are believed to be of very low Generation. Some are
rumored to be 2nds, others anywhere from 2nd to 5th.
Namrael: (WOD:Midnight Circus, pg.26-27)
Namrael the Enochite, she broke from "the undead city of her sires" and joined the Circus. Being of Enoch implies she is a produce of the First City, which
would give her blood Antediluvian strength.
However, she is supposedly dead.
Her story has her sacrificing herself in a In the story she
rite to strengthen the Midnight Circus so it could continue.
bleeds to death to feed her power to the Incarna "Cara" an ancient spirit of the "Midnight Circus".
---
Ashur: (Cappadocian Clanbook, pg.12)
While many believe Ashur was another name for Cappadocius, some Cappadocians believed Ashur to be Cappadocius's sire. They cite the claims of the
Assamites as possible evidence that there were more than three 2nds.
Since Ashur is Egyptian for Osiris, it is possible he was Cappadocius's sire. Ashur having been destroyed by Set, before the Curse of Weakening Blood.
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---
Laodice: (CotN, pg 98-100)
Mahatma of the 4th generation, names Laodice as his sire. revealed that Laodice is another name for Cappadocius.
It has been
---
Elimelech: (CotN, pg.14-15)
Elimelech The Twice Damned, of the Sabbat, is rumored to be anywhere from 2nd to 5th Generation. His stats in CotN reveals he has a Humanity of 1, and several Disciplines at 9. This would make him at least 4th generation.
As for his age, he claims to be the Elimelech of the Book of Ruth, buried by his wife after she mistook his recent embrace for death.
*****************************************************************************
8.5) What about the Crone?
There are three references to the Crone:
Book of Nod:
This Crone was mortal to Caine's senses, and their meeting appears to predate the Flood, as Caine's post-flood appearance supposedly happens after Zillah is killed.
Caine sought the Crone's help with winning Zillah's love, and learned the secret of the Blood bond.
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Both this Crone and Zillah "lived" at the same time. childe of Caine and an Antediluvian.
Making this Crone a
However, Caine supposedly killed her.
---
Clanbook Baali:
Some Baali believe the Crone to be the "third" Baali Progenitor.
This 4th generation, post Deluge vampire would be a different Crone from the one Caine knew.
---
Dark Ages Companion:
The Lhiannan Bloodline of the Dark Ages claims descendence from the Crone.
It is possible Caine's Crone sired a bloodline before her death.
The Lhiannan
special Discipline is quite mystic in nature, and might be a remnant of the Crone's magic. The Baali's Crone would be a more likely choice. Both their
weakness and the Lhiannan's weakness are similar in nature.
But in LS3, the Gangrel claim the Lhiannan as an offshoot. The Lhiannan founder being a chieftain of Ennoia, who betrayed her in her war against the Ravnos. The Dark Age Gangrel hunt them.
*****************************************************************************
8.6) How old are the Antediluvians?
This is an *IFFY* answer (if this, then that):
- If the origin of vampires really was the Cain of the Bible...
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- If you place the casting out of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden at the traditional 4000 BC... - If there was a Biblical Deluge.
Cain killed Abel before Seth was born. old.
Seth was born when Adam was 130 years
How much earlier Cain & Abel were born before this 130 year time frame, This places the birth of Caine between 4000-3870 BC. This
is not recorded.
makes Caine between 5869 and 6000 years old, counting from his mortal birth date.
The Antediluvians were embraced before the Flood. in the 1656th year (about 2344 BC).
One source places the Flood
This date is derived by using Genesis to When they were born, and number
cross reference the ages of the men listed. of years lived before their death. dying in the 1656th year. the Flood.
This places Methuselah of the Bible, as
Methuselah is said to of died in the same year of
Making the vampires of the First City *at least* 4341 years old, But counting their mortal life
if embraced in the same year of the Flood.
spans, and the possibility they were embrace within a year of Caine's Curse, they could be an additional 1655 years older.
Vampires sired after the Flood (postdiluvian 3rds and 4ths) would be no more than 4340 years old. Most likely the Antediluvians had remained in torpor
long enough for the mortal population to grow in numbers to support their thirst for blood.
---
That was the IFFY answer, if you treat the Biblical Cain origin as myth, or as an archetype story, and base the ages on other comments.....
The stats for some Methuselahs have them several thousand years older than the traditional Biblical origin of Cain.
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In GC1:TLS, Japheth is listed as being embraced in 7225 BC. 9200 year old, as of the year 1999.
He would be over
ToTB speaks of the Ravnos Antediluvian, and all true Antediluvians as being over 10,000 years old.
---
However, the ages of two Modern "3rds" can be guessed.....
Tremere (and the Council of Seven) were transformed into vampires in 1022 AD. He Diablerized Saulot in 1133 AD. As of the year 2000, he has been a vampire
for 978 years, and an Antediluvian for 867 of those years.
However, as a mage, Tremere may of lived an additional 300 years as a mortal, before becoming a vampire. This is based on him being a character imported
>from the "Ars Magica" storyteller game.
Giovanni was about 55 years old when embraced in 1005 AD. Cappadocius in 1444 AD.
He Diablerized
As of 2000, this makes him 1050 years old, 995 spent
as a vampire, and 556 of those vampire year as an Antediluvian.
*****************************************************************************
8.7) Who are the four Antediluvians hidden in the Shadowlands' image of Nod?
If they are truly Antediluvians and not "something else".....
Their chambers, which reside within a labyrinth, are said to have many names inscribed on the walls and seals. and Loz. Three of the names used are Nergal, Ninmug,
Some members of the True Black Hand (Tal'mahe'Ra) believe them to be
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the Toreador, Venture, and Nosferatu Antediluvians.
The fourth is unknown,
but is rumored to be Malkav, others have made the assumption that it is Caine himself.
Other members of the True Black Hand claim they appear in dreams:
- Loz, coming in nightmares as a fierce warrior, the dreamer fearing his presence.
- Ninmug, causing prophesies to appear written in blood in the books of the Library of Brujah.
- Nergal, said to be a beautiful woman, tells how to save the world from destruction.
Some players have speculated that these beings may be dead Antediluvians, or even the members of the 2nd generation. The Black Hand does call these beings And the descriptions of them as
the 'Aralu', a Babylonian word for the dead.
they appear in the dreams, do seem to match those of Enoch the Wise, Irad the Strong, and Zillah the Beautiful.
***************************************************************************** Section 9: Background - Sources & Lore *****************************************************************************
9.0) What is the Book of Nod and who wrote it?
It is more or less the compiled history of vampire lore and prophecies. of the stories going back to the First City.
Some
It was supposedly compiled by
Saulot from various sources and more ancient documents.
Now with that in mind..... there is no "official" Book of Nod nor any known "complete" version. There are various versions floating around with different
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translations, stories, chronicles, recordings, prophecies and advice.
Any
real Book of Nod, dated back to the First City or just the Second City, would most likely take the form of tablets, scrolls, petroglyphs or may have been known as the "Cave Paintings of Nod".
---
Whitewolf has published a "Book of Nod" for use as a prop for LARP, but it also acts as a source of information for tabletop games. This version was
"compiled and translated by Aristotle deLaurent, Beckett, et al."
*****************************************************************************
9.1) What other books of lore or legend are there?
There are at least two more "prop" books of Lore written for VTM:
- The Revelations of the Dark Mother - The Erciyes Fragments
---
The Revelations of the Dark Mother:
A "modern" writing about
the Lilith, her history and followers.
---
The Erciyes Fragments:
The compiled journals and notes of Niccolo Giovanni, a Noddist Scholar and Monk of the Dark Ages. It describes his discovery of several pages or It reveals new or more detailed information
"fragments" of the Book of Nod.
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about Caine, the vampire cities, and the past nature of vampires.
*****************************************************************************
9.2) Are the Clan Novels (or any WhiteWolf novels) canon?
The Clan Novels are para-canonical, meaning they are "mostly true", but details described at the individual level are most likely to be wrong.
Similar to a movie about a famous event.
The overall facts my be correct, yet
the parts played by individual actors may be scripted on hearsay, legends, and pure speculation as what the real people did.
---
As for the other novels of fiction?
They can be divided into three classes:
1) Pure fiction.
These are books written purely to entertain.
They have the
same affect on the WOD as a Storyteller's homemade chronicle.
2) The Half-truths.
They might use real WoD characters, their events might
even alter the WoD on a local level, but not in the ways the canon says it happened. These are like second hand stories. The details are wrong, but the
rest of the gossip is dangerously true.
3) The Nearly True.
These are novels written to be cannon.
They grow fuzzy
in some areas to give Storytellers some room, but the characters and events are considered cannon.
---
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Of course, the golden rule is always in effect:
The Storyteller is always free to choose what will be canon for her WOD.
*****************************************************************************
9.3) What is this "Ars Magica" storyteller game that keeps popping up when the Tremere are discussed?
Before Vampire, there was "Ars Magica", the first storyteller game handled by Whitewolf. (The WW 1000 series of books.)
The game is similar to Mage or Sorcerers Crusade, but set in the "Mystic Age". A magic enriched Age just prior to the Dark Ages. magical Houses of the Order of Hermes. The Tremere were one of the
When Whitewolf created their second game "Vampire: The Masquerade", they decided to do a crossover with Ars Magica.
Vampire was to take place in the same World, but in the Modern Age. in which magic had more or less faded. magic.
A place
Only the Tremere survived the fall of
They only did so by escaping into vampirism, trading the ancient Arts
of Sorcery for Blood magic.
(Whitewolf sold Ars Magica.
The new owners revised Ars Magica into its 4th Thus,
edition, choosing to have the Tremere lose their war with the mages. the "those" Tremere are no longer part of the World of Darkness.)
*****************************************************************************
9.4) Are there any non-Whitewolf supplements for the WOD?
There have been two chronicles published by others:
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Blood Nativity (AG 2917), By Atlas Games. the Players starting as mortal characters.
Written for Vampire, the story has They are invited to a dinner
party, only to find themselves embraced an left alone as part of a survival test. How long can they last?
The game is still available, and can be found at:
http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG2917.html
---
Trails of Mexico, is another non-Whitewolf supplement, however, I"m having trouble tracing down information on it.
It appears to be written for the Wild West game for Werewolf, and describes the Wild West of Mexico.
*****************************************************************************
9.5)
Where did White Wolf get the Clan/Bloodline names from?
Ahrimanes - From the name Ahriman, the Zoroastrian god of evil and darkness.
Assamites - 1) If it refers to a "Follower of Assam", then in all likelihood, the "Assam" referred to here is the western mis-pronunciation of "Hassan" asSabbah. A member of the Nizari Isma'ili sect of Islam (sort of), popularly The name "Assassin" was applied to them 2) If it
known in the West as the Assassins.
by crusaders from a local term "hashshashin" (hashish eaters).
refers to a "person from Assam", then there is the remote possibility it refers to a belief that the "Assamites" were coming from Assam. This is one
of the states of India, located on the eastern tip between China and Myannmar.
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Baali - From the Mesopotamian word Ba'al, meaning a Lord or master of a city
Brujah - 1) from the Spanish/Latin American word brujo or bruja meaning a witch. 2) Or from brouhaha [a disturbance].
Caitiff - Medieval English.
A 'caitiff' was someone without honor or power
(from the Latin stem 'captivus'; a captive.)
Cappadocian - Cappadocia was a region of the Roman Empire in Asia Minor that was an early stronghold of Christianity.
Daughters of Cacophony - A cacophony is a harsh discord of noise.
Followers of Set - The Latin name for the Egyptian god called Sutehk. Considered the god of the desert and sun. Early Egyptian beliefs placed his nature as a war god. Greeks saw him as the Egyptian version of Typhoon, a Greek god of death and evil.
Gangrel - Medieval British dialect (old English/Scottish), meaning beggar, wanderer, vagabond or rover.
Giovanni - From the Italian name meaning 'young man', English equivalent would be Johnny. More commonly a surname, but is also known to be a family name.
Kiasyd - The Kia-Sidhe (AKA Leanan Sidhe) were blood-drinking faerie who appeared in Ars Magica's Faerie supplement.
Liabon - Term for chief, used by the Masai people of West Africa.
Lasombra - From the Spanish 'la sombra', meaning 'the shadow'.
Lamia - a Vampiric figure of European myth which attracts mortals to her
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through her voice and drains them not only of blood, but of willpower and strength as well.
Malkavian - It comes from the Hebrew Malak, meaning Angel. meaning of Malak is king.
A secondary
Not to mention Malach which means to vanish, whose
root word is Maal, which refers to one who commits a severe transgression or trespass. (From Dan Greenberg)
Nagaraja - Means "Serpent King", or Lord of the Serpents, from one of the languages of India. (Refers to the Indian god of life and incarnation.)
Nosferatu - This word appears in Dracula, but is found nowhere else in Europe before being made famous by the novel. A common theory is it is a word the One researcher
arthur (or his source) had heard, but did not see spelled.
believes it may have been derived from the Romanian 'nesuferit', which as a noun means 'a nasty fellow'; as an adjective means "unbearable" or "horrid". And as the word "nesuferitul" which is pronounced without the "l", translates almost literally into "the insufferable one".
Pander - 1) Joseph Pander is the name of the founder of the organized Caitiff movement of the Sabbat. 2) The British term "pander" means a go-between, usually between those looking for a good time and those in the business of providing a good time. The name comes from Chaucer's story of "Troilus and
Criseyde", in which Pandarus arranges liaisons between the two.
Ravnos - 1) Old French 'ravis' - to seize or carry off. 2) from the Romany adjective "Ruvno", which describes something that is wolf-like or lupine.
Samedi - Baron Samedi is a death god of Voudun lore, whose name is derived >from the french word for 'Saturday'. Saturday is considered the day of death
in voudun lore as it is the full day Christ spent dead.
Salubri - From Latin word salubrious; favorable to health or well-being.
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Toreador - 1) Spanish for bullfighter (actually the spear carrier for the matador). 2) One person claims its Italian for 'entertainer' (Unsupported).
3) Another person claimed it was a slur referring to the style of pants worn by bullfighters (a clan of fancy pants).
Tremere - 1) from the Latin word tremere, meaning 'to tremble'.
Tzimisce - 1) From the name of an Armenian family of the tenth century, one of whom, John I Tzimisces, was Byzantine Roman Emperor 969-976 AD. 2) The name
comes from the Armenian word "Tshemshkik" which means "Red Boot".
Ventrue - Feminine form of the French word for pot-bellied, which is a nickname sometimes used for the well feed nobles.
***************************************************************************** Section 10: Background - Cults & Sects *****************************************************************************
10.0) Who are the Tal'mahe'Ra?
What is their "angle"?
The Sect first appears in "Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand".
This is a
crossover book for Vampire which takes place in MAGE territory.
DSBH is about a Mage stronghold, hidden in the Tempest of the Underworld. was originally established by an "Afterlife" cult of Middle Eastern mages called the Tal'mahe'Ra. At some point they opened their organizational They sought knowledge about death, and believed
It
membership to the undead.
vampires may be able to aide their quest.
What the Tal'mahe'Ra approached and
recruited was an unnamed Gehenna cult of vampires.
Over time the vampires of the cult usurped the stronghold (probably around 500 BC when most of the mages left). The vampires had come to believe (or claim)
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the city to be the "ghost" of the fallen city of Enoch; somehow rediscovered by the mages.
Around 450 AD, the vampire controlled sect split into two parts.
The Western
branch which desired to be the only vampires who controlled mortal society, and the Eastern Branch which didn't care about mortals at all.
Also, about this time the name "Manus Nigrum" (The Black Hand) became a popular name for the sect, especially the Western branch.
The two halves eventually rejoined, but the organization (and the city itself) was recently destroyed by the Wraiths of the Underworld.
(The revised Black Hand can be found in VStH, chapter 7, pg.177-200.)
*****************************************************************************
10.1) Isn't the Black Hand another name for the Sabbat?
Not quite.
The Sabbat has an inner circle (or sub-sect) which functions as a Sometimes called the "Manus Nigrum" or just the "Hand", the
special militia.
organization is only activated for short periods of time, usually in small units or packs.
Since one of the Hand's specialties is breaking the Masquerade (to divert Camarilla resources), this may help explain how the Camarilla came to the belief that Sabbat uses "Black Hand" as a nickname.
Revised Sabbat Hand can be found in GttS (pg.34-36).
---
There is a link between the Sabbat Black hand, and the "true" Black Hand of the Tal'mahe'Ra. (VStH pg.184-187)
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10.2) What are the "Followers of Osiris"?
Back in pre-Egypt, Osiris and Set fought over rulership. banished Set to the desert.
When Osiris won, he
Later, a vampire called Typhon came to see
Osiris, and eventually embraced him.
Set returned, having became a vampire while wandering in the desert. Set used trickery to trap Osiris, but Osiris escaped.
At first
Battling Osiris in This time
physical combat, using the powers of vampirehood, Set won again. ripping Osiris to pieces and scattering them.
Isis (a mage) was able to gather the pieces of Osiris, and restore Osiris to undeath using a special ritual involving his childer's blood. and destroyed Osiris and almost all of Osiris's childer. Set returned
(Osiris becomes a wraith.
He now rules the Dark Kingdom of Sand, also known
as the Egyptian Underworld, which they call the Westernlands.)
Osiris had only one surviving childe, Khetamon, who fled to India and started a group called "The Followers of Osiris". Supposedly Khetamon and his For it was
followers do not embrace out of respect for the now dead Osiris.
said that Osiris had lost the power to sire after being restored to unlife through the power of Isis's magic. Osiris. Some Osirians mistake Khetamon as being
(At least this is what the Osirians claim.)
As they do not embrace, the Osirians are technically a Sect; recruiting vampires from other bloodlines. Recruits have the Disciplines (and
weaknesses) they bring with them, and are taught the Discipline of Bardo
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(which gives them an additional weakness).
---
Being the WoD, the truth may not be so clean cut, nor the pre-Egyptian history so tight. showed up. The Setites speak of Set ruling Egypt for centuries before Osiris The Setites also talk of Set being a god long before Caine
embraced him.
---
VStH (pg.52) reveals confrontations between the two groups grew in the last decade, becoming an outright war. attacks stopped. Osirian sect. Then reports of Osirian sightings and
It is believed that the Setites finally won; destroying the
Note: Previous to VStH, the sect was called "Childer of Osiris" instead of Followers of Osiris.
*****************************************************************************
10.3) What can you tell me about the Inconnu???
Not much.
They are one of the most mysterious Sects in the WOD.
VDA (pg.40) speaks of them as being the vampires from the Roman Era of Cainites. They opposed the younger vampires, who fought against the old ways The younger vampires preferring a Feudal system of
of Greece and Roman. vampire government.
One story claims the Inconnu's goals changed after they arranged for the fall of Carthage. Driven by guilt, they evolved into a Golconda cult.
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In the Modern Age, they are supposedly an organization of high humanity vampires who have withdrawn from politics, and seek Golconda on a full time basis.
They are believed to be based in either South America or Eastern Europe. There are tales of vampires who make infernal packs to keep the castle (which they use as their base of operations) invisible to others.
They use agents called Monitors, to recruit high humanity vampires.
---
The Tal'mahe'Ra see the Inconnu as their nemesis, an invisible bogeyman responsible for almost everything that goes wrong with their plans.
*****************************************************************************
10.4) Are any of these Sects related?
Its kind of funny, how they are related. but it is a scary type of quiet.
First, the Inconnu quietly vanishes,
No one really knows what they are doing.
The Tal'mahe'Ra attempts to become the sole vampire controllers of humanity. Deciding to use mortals, they point the Inquisition at any other group or individual vampire who is involved in mortal politics. They lose control.
Elder vampires across Europe throw their childer at the Inquisition hoping to appease them into believing they killed the head vampires.
Thanks to the discovery of the Vaulderie, Childer break their bonds and rebel against their Elders. This is the start of the Anarch Revolt.
The Elder's form a united front, creating the Camarilla.
They later claim it
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was created to defend vampires from the Inquisition (nothing to do with hiding >from gangs of "free" childer desiring revenge for being used as canon fodder).
The Tal'mahe'Ra believe the Camarilla is the tool of the Inconnu.
They
secretly aid and support the Anarch Revolt, hoping to transform it into their own organization of vampire tools.
The Anarchists kill the Lasombra & Tzimisce Antediluvians.
The Tal'mahe'Ra is They
horrified as it believes itself to be the Antediluvian's "royal guards". decided the Antes are not dead, but must be faking it.
Learning of the Ante deaths, the Elders finally pull together the power of the Camarilla. They eventually offer the proposal called the Convention of
Thorns, which promised the Anarchist that nothing would happen if they ended their revolt.
Most Anarchists gave up.
However, the Lasombra, Tzimisce and other anarchists They
that had committed certain "crimes" against the Elders, knew better. refused the Pact, and organized into the Sabbat.
However, not all Anarchist joined the Sabbat or Camarilla. Some continued the Anarch Revolt, but not with the same energy they use to have.
:Whew:
*****************************************************************************
10.5) Are there any other Sects or Cults?
Cainite Heresy for Dark Ages, lists Cults whose religious beliefs revolve around the nature of Caine and his curse. It also contains information on
Christian Heresies and other popular religions of the time.
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VDA (pg.39-41) lists a number of sects: Inconnu, The Furores, The Order of Bitter Ashes, Autharkis, The Promethians, The Manus Nigrum
Vrev (pg.44-45) lists only the main Sects: Camarilla, Sabbat, and Inconnu
GttS (pg 34-35), speaks of the Black Hand of the Sabbat.
ToTB (pg.55-60) lists several Gehenna cults: The Royal Order of the Edenic Groundskeepers, The Way of the Ancient Lawgivers, The Servitors of Irad, The Twilight Cult, The Cult of Enlightenment, The Arimatheans. (It also has a few words on Lilith Cults and Seer Cults.)
****************************************************************************** Section 11: History & Revisions of the WOD ******************************************************************************
11.0)
Who were the Bushi and Gaki?
In earlier source books Whitewolf introduced some 'Eastern Bloodlines' which were supposed to be vampires from the Far East. Since then, Whitewolf has
created a "Kindred of the East" game in which Eastern concepts of "vampires" are used.
The information in DAV and WOD 1st Ed., has been retconned.
At best the
information is now portrayed as the assumptions of the Western Vampires, based on their perceptions of early encounters with these eastern vampires.
The Bushi [DAV], where seen as having Celerity and Presence. known to use a special Discipline the westerners called Kai.
They were also
The Gaki [WOD], where believed to be using Auspex, Dominate, and a dream based power that westerners called Rift.
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---
Under the new system the Eastern Kindred do not have Bloodlines.
They are a
species of "vampire" who rise after having died and visited the spiritworld (similar to the western Risen). some share similar effects. Their powers are also called Disciplines, and
Bushi was revealed to be a slurring of the name "Bishamon".
The Bishamon are
a Japanese "Court" of Eastern Kindred; a group of Eastern Kindred who function as a territorial "family" controlling provinces encompassing several cities.
Eastern Kindred call themselves Kuei-jin, but are called Cathayans by western vampires. They also have more localized names for themselves. Gaki (or
Ketsuki) is the name Japanese Kuei-jin use for themselves. of China are called Wan-Kuei.
While the Kuei-jin
---
When converting Gaki and Bushi characters from VTM to KotE, Rifts can become either the Disciplines of Tapestry or Cultivation. the Disciplines of Kiai or Obligation. Kai can be replaced with
******************************************************************************
11.1)
I just read "Chaos Factor", I thought Ennoia was the Gangrel Antediluvian, and who is Ashur?!
Here is some missing background info...
Nergal is a 4th generation Baali, he believes Ashur (Cappadocius) to be the sire of the Baali. Turned Infernalist, he was banished by magic. Years later
he re-appeared under the name of Shaitan.
As Shaitan, he claimed to be the
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Bloodline's founder.
He was discovered and stopped.
Since that time, Nergal or someone else, has been creating false Shaitans. These false Shaitans are armed with Baali powers, and secret Baali knowledge, many appear to truly believe they are the real Shaitan. mind wiped, washed, and polished.) (They appear to be
One of the more famous false Shaitans, who was both an Infernalist and spreader of Baali secrets, is rumored to have traveled West across the sea. (CB:Ba, pg.66) I'm guessing this is the Baali who appeared in Mexico.
---
In the Mage/Vampire crossover chronicle called 'The Chaos Factor', there was a powerful vampire called Shaitan. He appeared in Mexico 1500 years ago, and
has been asleep beneath Mexico City until recently.
He tells a story of himself being the first childe of Ashur, betrayed by the 4th childe of Ashur -- Gangrel.
This story (if true) would make Gangrel a 4th generation Cappadocian.
The *author* of Chaos Factor said Shaitan's story was suppose to refer to the 4th childe of Ashur as being Giovanni (which is more or less true.) However,
Giovanni was not embraced until 500 years after Shaitan arrived in Mexico.
So, the editor changed it from Giovanni to Gangrel, 'cause, well, it started with "G" too.'
In other words, IT WAS A WRITER'S ERROR CAUSED BY NOT KNOWING THE TIMELINE, COMPOUNDED BY A BAD EDITING DECISION.
---
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Gangrel was not supposed to appear in the original story and is not a childe of Cappadocius.
******************************************************************************
11.2) Does a vampire in torpor spend blood or not?
Under Dark Age guidelines, vampires always burn one point of blood a day, even in torpor. Even if the vampire voluntarily enters torpor. The only way to
retain blood through a long sleep was to use one of the Discipline powers that preserve the blood (i.e. Mortis level 4, or Serpentis 3).
There was a meta-Discipline listed in the Dark Age supplement "Wolves of the Sea". Called Wintering, it allowed a vampire to enter a normal, voluntary
torpor, yet retain some blood points.
---
VRev, (pg.216) changed the rule.
Vampires who *voluntarily* enter torpor, stop spending blood points.
Vampires who are forced into torpor will continue to spend the daily blood point until they run out. A forced torpor can be caused by physical trauma
(surviving an attack but being left Incapacitated), or by being staked but not killed.
******************************************************************************
11.3.) Is it me, or do some of the Clans of the Dark Ages have different Disciplines and weaknesses?
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Yes.
Whitewolf is showing Clans (and Disciplines) do change over time.
For example:
Some Clans are forever making adjustments in the powers of their Disciplines. LS2, reveals the Dark Age Brujah were experimenting with improving Celerity. The new variation for Modern Age (VRev) isn't just a rule change, it is an actual evolution in the Discipline which took place within the game.
Modern Assamites have a problem with becoming addicted to vampire blood. LS3, reveals a this was not the their true weakness, but a curse cast by the Baali. In the Dark Ages the curse was still spreading, and only in the warrior bloodline. (Assamites having three separate bloodlines.) purchased as a Flaw. The weakness was
*****************************************************************************
11.4) What are some of the changes in the "Revised Edition"?
This gets tricky.
There were two types of change.
The "in game" changes which resulted from Clans and Bloodlines evolving for one reason or another. These changes can usually be found in the Clan
descriptions (Vrev, GttC or GttS, the LS books), or are part of a chronicle.
Retcons (retro-active continually changes), are NOT events or changes that happened within the WOD. They are improved game mechanics, re-designs, We will only cover the retcons...
revisions and re-writes of history.
1) The Sabbat Malkavians are more stable, having only one Derangement instead of two. (Retcon or side-effect of sharing Dementation?)
2) The "Venture Antitribu" have been retconned.
They have the same set of
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Disciplines as their Camarilla counterparts.
3) A Sub-bloodline of Assamites called Viziers were revealed to have a Thaumaturgy as a Clan Discipline.
4) The Tzimisce have a bloodline of "Kolduns" who have Koldunic Sorcery, instead of Vicissitude. (Some source books refer to it as Thaumaturgy.)
5) The Tremere are now portrayed far more seriously as hunters of Tremere traitors and other users of "their" Thaumaturgy.
6) In the Dark Ages, Thaumaturgy rituals always succeeded, but in Modern time they can sometimes fail. (Players now have to make a Success Roll).
7) Necromancy was retconned into a form of magic similar to Thaumaturgy. comes complete with various death related Paths and rituals.
It
8) The Samedi were retconned, they never had Necromancy as a Clan Discipline. Some Elder Samedi have acquired Necromancy, but as an out-of-Clan Discipline.
9) Kiasyd have also been retconned.
They never had Necromancy, but they did
replace Dark Age Potence with Modern Dominate.
10) Sabbat members now start with Humanity intact.
The "grab anyone and hit Most Sabbat
him with a Shovel" is noted as being a war time only thing.
vampires choose who they will embrace using a set of standards and period of observation, just like non-Sabbat vampires (then hit them with the Shovel).
11) Nihilistics has been retconned. Nagarajan Necromancy.
It is now the "Vitreous Path" of
12)
The Mortis Discipline still exists as a normal Discipline, but the
Harbingers have a similar Necromancy Path called the "Mortuus Path".
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******************************************************************************
11.5) Which Clan does Rasputin belong to?
Once upon a time, Dan Greenburg did have plans for Rasputin, but they have long since been shelved. Rasputin was to be a Malkavian masquerading as a
Malkavian, Setite, Garou, Mage, etc.
Today, Rasputin is Whitewolf's "poster child" for the concept that you can't believe what you read. beliefs. Clanbooks are presented as being Clan lore and general
And just because the Clan believes something, doesn't make it true.
Only the side-bars (gray boxes of text) are presented as facts.
******************************************************************************
11.6) How many Kindred are there now?
The worldwide average for the Modern Age is a ratio of 1 vampire for every 100,000 mortals. Thicker in some places, thinker in others.
With about 6 billion people in the world, that gives us 60,000 vampires.
However, at least 20,000 of these vampires are Cathayans (Eastern Kindred) and thus not "Kindred" at all. 40,000. Reducing the number of Western Vampires to
(VstH pg.16)
***************************************************************************** Section 12: Other Supernatural beings *****************************************************************************
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12.0) What of the other supernatural critters of the WOD?
Just within Vampire, there are the "generic" rules for playing Ghouls, Werewolves, Magi, Faeries and Wraiths. (Vrev pg.276-283). These rules use
vampire stats, Disciplines, and traits to simulate the powers and abilities these type of creatures should have.
If you don't want to play a supernatural, you can play a mortal antagonist. There are generic rules for playing witch-hunters, government agents, mortals with True Faith, watchers (The Arcanum), and Criminals. (Vrev pg.206-275).
If you need some expanded rules, there are the expansion games:
- WOD:Mummy, you play an immortal who still dies every 100 years (or so), you have to spend some time as a ghost, but you get to repossess your old body restoring it to life.
- Ghouls:Fatal Addiction, has rules for playing ghouls of varies Clans, not to mention playing a Revenant.
- The Hunters Hunted, is about playing independent hunters of vampires.
- The Inquisition, you play a member of a vampire hunting society.
- The Arcanum, is about a society of watchers, who watch and study the supernatural.
- WOD:Sorcerer, how to play a mortal magic user, without being a Tremere.
- Risen, actually a part of Wraith, you play a ghost who has learned to re-animate his old body.
Finally, those desiring to do crossovers with these other Storyteller games, a
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Vampire based set of crossover rules is provided in VStH (pg.159-175).
*****************************************************************************
12.1) What about WOD:Gypsies?
Have you ever had a really bad idea that sounded good on the surface?
Such as the idea of adding a supernatural race to the WOD.
A branch of humanity who are descended not from Eve, but from a daughter of the Lilith, and the grandsons of Eve. Ennoia, born in the First City. ancient secrets and knowledge. They would be the mortal children of
Outcasts who now walk among us, guarding
Later, a descendent was mystically altered, awakening blood based powers called "Blood Affinities". human. has. Her children spread. They still look and act
They can breed with humans, but they have powers and secret no human
Hidden in plain sight, they move among us.
Whitewolf did this, but made the mistake of using a REAL ethnic group; instead of using an imaginary sub-group. Whitewolf released "WOD:Gypsies".
The game is considered to be in bad taste.
*****************************************************************************
12.2) What happens if a vampire embraces another Supernatural?
OK, this chart assumes the BEST of conditions, when attempting to ghoul or embrace a member of that supernature. All appear to retain their special
powers if they can be ghouled, but most lose those powers if Embraced.
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Race: ----------Werewolves Kinfolk Gypsies Mages Mummies Risen Changelings Animals Hunter
Ghoulable: ---------rarely yes yes yes No No yes yes No
Blood Bondable: --------------rarely yes yes yes No No ? yes No
Embracable: ----------rarely yes yes yes No No No rarely No
Loses Powers: ------------some yes yes yes N/A N/A slowly N/A (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) Retains old Gifts, but can not learn new ones. (2) Kinfolk with Gnosis can learn Gifts, but only if they are *living*. (3) Can temporarily restore "Blood Affinities" by drinking Gypsy blood. (4) If Embraced, they lose Sphere Magic and Hedge magic. (5) They gain a banality point each time they drink vitae and are likely to enter bedlam or become typhoids. (6) Most animals either die of the shock, or fail to avoid sunlight. The Tremere have a ritual that allows animals to survive embrace.
*****************************************************************************
12.3) What is an Abomination?
One sick puppy.
In WtA, when a vampire tries to embrace a werewolf, the werewolf makes a Gnosis roll. If the werewolf *succeeds* it dies quickly, if it Fails it dies If it Botches (and only if it Botches) does the
a horrible and painful death. werewolf become a vampire.
These vampire-werewolves are called Abominations.
(VStH pg.162-163)
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******************************************************************************
12.4) Can the "other" were-critters become Abominations?
More information can be found in their "breed" books.
- Were-bears Abominations are almost identical to the werewolf Abomination.
- Were-ravens, are creatures of sunlight.
They can be Embraced, but start
losing Gnosis immediately, their connection to Helios (the Sun) is broken, and they take a sun bath as soon as the Sun rises (if they live that long).
- Were-gators, are also creatures of sunlight. they awaken from the embrace.
They enter frenzy as soon as
They rampage until the sun rises and destroys
them (if they aren't destroyed in some other way).
- Were-rats can be embraced, but they don't gain the vampire's gift of a "preserved" body. Vampire were-rats keep rotting, until they fall apart into
a pile of bones, stingy flesh and rotting organs.
- Were-spiders, seem to be too alien to become vampires or share "blood".
******************************************************************************
12.5) Which Bloodlines have/had some link to the other supernaturals?
The Kiasyd are descended from a Lasombra who used the "Blood of Zernebooch" and Fae blood in an experiment that went wrong. With the help of the Dark Age They have the Fae
Fae they developed a Discipline called Mytherceria. weakness to 'cold iron'.
The Giovanni use various forms of Necromancy to contact wraiths.
Giovanni
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have/had a business relationship with the wraiths called Haunters.
The Malkavians believe they have access to the "fairy realm", and sometimes perform pranks to pay the "fairies" for its use as a short cut.
The Dark Age Toreador have a legend of a great Toreador singer who sought the secret of a Fae rival's singing. the arts of Fae Song. appear again. She was being taught deep under the hills
One day, hundred of years into the future, she was to
(A possible Fae origin for the Daughters of Cacophony?)
The Revelations of the Dark Mother also speculates yet another origin for the Daughters of Cacophony, involving the Lamia and the songs of Lilith.
The Dark Age Tzimisce and Lasombra had relations with House Tytalus. This was another House of the Order of Hermes, trying to stop the Tremere.
The Followers of Osiris had dealings with the Mummies, who are related through Horus (who is both a Mummy, and Osiris's mortal son)
******************************************************************************
12.6) Why are Ravnos and Gangrel at odds?
There are many tales linking the origins of the Gangrel and Ravnos.
In the Ravnos Clanbook (1st ed.), the Ravnos tell a tale of Ravnos embracing Ennoia. Within a few years (less than a mortal lifetime) Ennoia grew weary of In the
Ravnos, and betrayed him to vampires of one of the early Cities. story, Ravnos dies by sunlight.
These Ravnos claim to be protectors of the Gypsy. childer of Caine.
Protecting them from the
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This could explain the friction between the two, but in ToTB it is revealed that the Ravnos Antediluvian survived to the Modern nights.
---
In LS3, it reveals the Gangrel originally fought with the Ravnos over the Eastern hunting grounds (India?). Due to betrayal, the Gangrel lost, and now
fight the Ravnos to prevent loss of the Western (European) hunting grounds.
In their story, Ennoia and Churka (Ravnos) were the children of gods.
They
leave their father's house as all their siblings are arguing/battling over who gets to be god of what. Traveling to their mother's house they start arguing over who will be the first to address her. others. A war begins, and they recruit
They fought only by night, so their mother would not see the. Ennoia
was winning, until two of her chieftains fled, causing the loss of the war.
The chieftains later sired the Lhiannan and the Liabon. betrayers and enemies, and are known to hunt them.
Gangrel consider them
As for the Gypsies, the Gangrel of LS3 claim no special status as protectors. The Gangrel hunt the Ravnos who hide among them, and will prey on Gypsies just as they would anyone else.
******************************************************************************
12.7) Vampires verses a werewolves, who would win?
It is all a matter of tactics, intelligence and preparation.
All things being equal, the Garou wins.
(Of course all things are never equal.)
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****************************************************************************** Section 13: Disciplines - Quirks & Limits ******************************************************************************
13.0)
Which Disciplines can a vampire use while staked?
First, vampires can not spend blood as long as the heart is staked.
Any
Discipline power requiring the spending of blood can not be activated.
Second, the vampire is physically paralysed. Celerity are rendered useless.
Disciplines such as Potence and
Spending willpower should be possible as long as the brain is still intact. Disciplines such as Presence, Auspex and even Dominate might be usable, although verbal commands would not. Even Obfuscate might be possible.
---
There are a few Disciplines that have levels specially designed for dealing with being Staked.
The 8th level Protean power 'Movement of the Slowed Body' allows a vampire to move very slowly while staked, and if given enough time (at least 30 minutes) the vampire can pull the stake out.
The DAC has an 8th level Protean power 'Purify the Body' which forces foreign objects out of the body (including Stakes).
******************************************************************************
13.1) Can my Giovanni use Necromancy to summon a wraith who has no fetters?
Nope.
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A Wraith with *NO* fetters, can not be summoned. she must have at least one fetter.
For a wraith to be summoned,
The Necromancer does not need to possess a wraith's fetter, but failure to gain possession of a fetter increases all difficulties +2.
******************************************************************************
13.2) Will a vampire using Obfuscate be seen in a TV screen?
Yes and No.
Obfuscate is a mind trick, it has nothing to do with light bending or invisibility. target. It has no affect on the eyes, ears, nose, or tongue of the
A person being affected by Obfuscate continues to see, hear, and smell the target. This is why a person, who has *broken* through Obfuscate, remembers everything the Obfuscated person did in the target's presence. (Vrev, Pg.166 under unseen presence.)
The target creates his *own* mental blocks preventing him from acknowledging the vampire is there. These blocks can be so strong, the target may not even
be able to see the vampire on recorded media (a film or tape), long after the vampire is gone. (Vrev pg.166, fifth paragraph.)
If the target is being affected by Obfuscate, it doesn't matter if he is holding a camera, looking through its viewfinder, or wearing night vision glasses. It is his own mind is betraying him, not his eyes.
---
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Electronic or purely mechanical devices, such as a camera, motion sensor or weight sensor, will react the same for an obfuscated vampire as they would for a normal person.
Vampires using Obfuscate will be seen by surveillance devices, but the people seeing through these devices can still fall under the affects of Obfuscate.
******************************************************************************
13.3) Does Obfuscate have a range?
The closest thing to a range I have found, is a ruling on who can be affected by mental powers. It comes from the MET version of Vrev.
Unless otherwise noted, targets of Disciplines must be sensed directly.
vampire must use his own senses, which can be Discipline enhanced to locate his target. A vampire can not "lock" to someone on a TV screen, and Dominate The vampire can
them, but they might recognize the place the target is stand.
use Auspex to astral project to the place, and use Dominate directly from his astral form.
In the case of Obfuscate, I would reverse the ruling. When the target directly senses the obfuscated vampire with his own (enhanced) senses, the target become affected. The vampire should not have be aware of each new target
wandering toward him, especially if he doesn't detect them.
******************************************************************************
13.4) Does the Fairyland power really allow Malks to go to Arcadia?
According to sources at White Wolf, Malkavians don't really travel to Arcadia. It is an Umbral Reflection realm that they THINK is Arcadia.
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Any creature with Banality couldn't get within a hundred miles of Arcadia.
"Visit Faerieland", the 7th Obfuscate Discipline of the Malkavians is most likely the power to "side step" through the Near Umbra, directly into the "fairy realm" called the "Arcadia Gateway". This realm supposedly acts as an
airlock between Earth and Arcadia, and is guarded by Fey.
******************************************************************************
13.5) Can you use Animalism to talk to a werewolf in Crinos?
Maybe.
The guidelines in Werewolf:The Dark Ages (pg.159-163) says:
Werewolves are not animals.
Powers that affect only animals, do not work.
Animalism's "Feral Speech" can only be understood by a werewolf who is in wolf form. And as far as the werewolf in wolf form is concerned, it is being
spoken to in the "language of the wolf" (or the generic animal/spirit speech all WOD animals seem to know).
In their other forms, Werewolves use human language (or their own Garou Talk). Animalism does not grant the "knowledge" of how to speak in these languages, any more than it grants knowledge of how to speak Japanese or French.
Note: this ruling is for playing Werewolf in the Dark Ages.
---
VStH (pg.161), confirms that Feral Speech can be used to talk to Lupines, but does not mention any limits concerning the werewolf's form.
******************************************************************************
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13.6)
Does any of Animalism's powers affect werewolves?
Animalism powers that affect only animals, do not affect werewolves. the werewolf was born as a wolf. (VStH pg.161)
Even if
Under VStH, a werewolf's Beast (Rage trait) can be affected by Animalism, but only by those powers designed to affect the "Beast".
---
Ethan Skemp (WtA developer) has stated that Quell-the-Beast is *not* effective against Shapeshifters, any more than it is against Vampires.
The reasoning involves a Werewolf's Beast (Rage) being greater than the beast of any mortal or natural animal, and that is the source of their immunity.
---
With that said, it should be noted that mortals and animals are considered to have Beasts, but their beasts have not been "awakened".
Vampires are not affected by Quell-the-Beast because their Beasts are awake.
The high Rage of Werewolves, as well as their ability to draw on it as a source of power is representative of an awakened Beast. Thus, like Vampires, Quell-the-Beast does not powerful enough to suppress their Rage.
By extension, this ruling makes anyone who is subject to Frenzy (which can only happen in those with an awakened Beast), immune to Quell-the-Beast.
******************************************************************************
13.7) Can a Gangrel pass for a werewolf?
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Under VTM 2nd edition rules (which pre-date 1st edition Werewolf rules) Gangrel could impersonate werewolves, and work their Rites. worked or not for vampires, was another matter. Whether the Rites
---
Under the newer WtA rules, it is not possible for a Gangrel to impersonate a Garou, as all vampires smell dead, even Gangrel in wolf form.
Also, only Garou can access spirit Gifts, and work Rites
---
Otherwise, its the Storyteller's ruling. the Lupines into something different.
Especially, if he decides to make
****************************************************************************** Chapter 14: Disciplines - Alternative Powers and Rules ******************************************************************************
14.0) Just how weird does the Discipline of Valeran get?
In DAC (pg.72) it reveals there are two Paths (Healer and Warrior), both are suppose to be the same Discipline with alternate effects.
Disciplines of Blood magic offer multiple paths, but they only reach level 5, while both Valeran paths reach level 9. It is unlikely to be Blood magic.
Due to philosophies problems, learning both paths is difficult, but not impossible. Learning the second path is +1 to difficulty. Just learning an
alternate power of a path is suppose to be impossible. Then again both paths must be learned starting at level one, even though levels 1 & 2 are the same.
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In Constantinople by Night (pg.107, 116), a Salubri with a Dreaming power exists. Could this possibly be a third Path? A Tremere follower creates a
Thaumaturgy Path based on it.
The Salubri Clanbook (pg.44), just goes wild.
It speaks of two rituals (the
true one, and the false one) used for awakening addition abilities in the Warriors. And reveal three more alternate "uses" of the healing powers.
******************************************************************************
14.1) Incompatible Disciplines?
VStH (pg.43) mentions an optional ruling which makes the Disciplines of Celerity and Temporis incompatible. Once Temporis is learned, it blocks the
use of Celerity and prevents new Celerity levels from being learned.
Supposedly, one of the Disciplines is a refinement of the another, with Temporis being the more overpowering.
---
There is other reason why two or more Disciplines might be considered incompatible: the concept of the character.
Some Disciplines should be incompatible with the nature of a character. Having True Faith and Dark Thaumaturgy does not make sense. has faith in god, why would he turn to dark powers for help? If the character
******************************************************************************
14.2) Disciplines can now have multiple Paths & alternate Powers?
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To my understanding, each Discipline has a theme, a motif it is developed around. A very imaginative person could think of dozens of possible powers
which fit the motif at each power level of a Discipline.
However, Disciplines are quite vertical in nature.
You can have only one
power per level, although that power might appear to have multiple effects.
In theory, a fledgling could develop a variation for each power level of her Clan Disciplines. The powers "everyone" learns are simply the only ones being
taught, or has become the instinctive powers bound into the blood.
In LS3 (pg.32), it hints that a power might be replaced. of the animal forms of Protean level 3, are replaceable. forms (one for fight, one for flight).
It actually speaks A Gangrel learns two
If a Gangrel learned to use the tiger
form in India, then migrates to Northern Europe, over time she can replace the tiger form with that of a wolf. Albeit, she has to sacrifice the old form.
So, the hard and fast rule is one power per level.
The softer ruling is one
power "at a time" per level, meaning the vampire loses the old power if she purchases an alternate power for that level.
As for learning multiple paths, except for the Disciplines of "Blood magic", Valeran is the only Discipline to have recognizable multiple paths.
Disciplines such as Dominate & Dementation, or Protean & Serpentis share enough similarities, they once may have been the alternate paths of the same Discipline. Or they could have evolved from a more primal path. Today, they
are separate Disciplines of which both can be learned without restriction.
******************************************************************************
14.3) What are some of the alternate versions of Discipline powers?
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Someone at Whitewolf likes alternate powers, the list keeps growing.
As a
result I have listed only the alternate power's name, and where it can be found.
Animalism: - Cowing the Beast, - Song of Serenity, level 3, level 3, (VDA & VRev) (VDA & VRev)
Auspex: - Artist's Intent, level 3, (LS2)
Protean: - Dolphin's Unsight, - Vicious Tusks, - Phocidaen Webbing, - Shark form, level 1, level 2, level 2, level 4, (WOD:Blood Dimmed-Tides) (VRev, but undefined) (WOD:Blood Dimmed-Tides) (WOD:Blood Dimmed-Tides)
Obtenebration: - Nightshades, - Black Metamorphosis, level 4, level 4, (VDA) (VRev)
Quietus: - Disease, - Dagon's Call, level 3, level 3, (VTM & VDA) (VRev)
Valeran: - Auguring the Sickness, level 2, - Peacemaker, level 3, (Clanbook Salubri) (Clanbook Salubri) (Clanbook Salubri)
- King David's Blessing, level 4,
******************************************************************************
14.4) Who can learn these alternate powers?
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This is a tough one, because almost every Storyteller is going to have a slightly different take on the guidelines.
Whitewolf's basic guideline is "one power per level", but only for the first 5 levels of a Discipline. Starting at level 6 a vampire can have all the powers
he is willing to develop.
The next level of guidelines, allow any vampire to learn a series of alternate powers instead of the common 1-5 powers, but still "one power per level". This locks out learning both the common and alternate powers.
The exception being an Elder who can learn any and every alternate level 1-5 power as level 6 Discipline powers.
---
Some Storytellers have "house rules" allowing for common "default" powers; the instinctive powers developed by most vampires. They then allow for the
learning of multiple, alternate power at adjusted cost:
If it is a totally differ power to the default, the difficulty is increased by one. In having learned the default power, the vampire has developed a reflex The extra experience cost reflects this need to
for activating it first.
learn to suppress the first while learning the secondary power.
Some alternate powers are refinements to the original power. When learning these powers, the difficulty is lowered by one. activating the old power, then fine tuning it. The vampire is basically
******************************************************************************
14.5) "Character driven" alternative powers?
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Sometimes it makes no sense for a character to have a certain power. Storyteller might chose to give the character alternate powers.
The
For example: The six year old child, embraced as a Venture.
Her first level Presence power is "Looking Innocent", which disarms certain feelings others have about her.
As her second Presence power is "Doe-eyed Look", which makes others seek to aide or defend her. Etc.
****************************************************************************** Chapter 15: Disciplines - their Creation and other Unique Powers ******************************************************************************
15.0) Where can rules be found for creating new Disciplines?
ToTB (pg.20,34-35) has rules, advice and suggestions for creating new Disciplines or altering old ones.
Page 35, includes tables for determining:
- directly damaging effects - indirect damaging effects - area affects - and multiple-target effects
******************************************************************************
15.1) What are Unique Powers, and Combination Disciplines?
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They first appeared in the Brujah Clanbook as "unique vampire powers".
Who
first developed the powers, (or how), is not revealed. What is known, is the powers do exist and can be learned from a tutor.
Vampires desiring to learn them, must have certain qualities or they will give up in frustration long before learning them. Even with these qualities, a
tutor and rigorous training, Unique powers can take months or years to learn.
A Vampire must have the self-mastery to learn certain Discipline powers, before he can even think of attempting to master the unique powers. A vampire
unwilling or unable to develop Celerity 3, simply does not have what it takes to learn "Burning Wrath" or even "The Scourge of Alecto".
---
Talk of Unique Powers then seemed to vanish; not being touched upon in any other VTM supplement. reappeared. It wasn't until the release of VDA that Unique Powers VDA, DAC, the Dark Age
They started appearing everywhere.
Clanbooks, the Libellus Sanguinis books.
However, very little information was given. given for this "class" of powers.
In fact, not even a proper name
On the Vampire-L mailing list, some members
started referring to these powers as "meta-Disciplines".
---
Finally, Unique Powers made their way into the Revised books, appearing in GttC & GTTS. GttC even included a small section on the unique powers, now
called the Combination Disciplines.
****************************************************************************** 15.2) How do I create new Combination Disciplines?
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Guidelines for creating new powers was included in GttC (pg.116-117):
- No more than two Disciplines should be used per Combination.
- The Player should roleplay the researching of a Combination, or the search for a tutor and tutoring.
- The Player should not "stockpile" the needed experience points. Instead, the points should be paid in advance, one point at a time, to simulate the lost "resources" that could have been spent elsewhere. Resources the character could have spent on Abilities, Attributes, or Skills, but was instead invested in this quest for a "new power".
---
Most Combination Disciplines listed in VDA & Vrev supplements, have a preset cost listed. However, No guide lines are given for calculating the experience
cost of a custom created Combination Discipline.
One "house rule" is the number of required Discipline levels involved x 3, as being the number of experience points needed.
******************************************************************************
15.3) What are some of Combination Disciplines?
The Brujah Clanbook: - Burning Wrath
(Disciplines which must be Mastered) (Celerity 3, Potence 3) pg.31 pg.31 pg.31
- The Scourge of Alecto - Iron Heart
(Celerity 2, Presence 4) (Potence 3, Presence 3)
Vampire: The Dark Ages: - Retain the Quick Blood (Quietus 3, Celerity 3) pg.163
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- Hatch the Viper - Body Armory
(Serpentis
4, Protean
2) 3)
pg.164 pg.173
(Vicissitude 3, Protean
Dark Ages Companion: Armor of Darkness (Obtenebration 4, Fortitude 2) pg.87
Wolves of the Sea: Bear's Skin Fenrir's Talons Wintering (Animalism 2, Protean (Fortitude 2, Protean 4) 2) pg.70 pg.71 pg.71
(Animalism 4, Fortitude 2)
The Cappadocian Clanbook: - Blood Pearl - The Illness Unveiled - Blessed Resilience (Mortis, Necromancy, Thaumaturgy) (Auspex (Mortis 2, Fortitude 7) 4, Fortitude 8) pg.36 pg.41 pg.41
Clanbook Baali: - I Am Legion (Daimoinon 3, Obfuscate 2) pg.47
Guide to the Camarilla: - Elemental Stoicism - Martyr's Resilience - Unassailable Parry (Fortitude 8, Obfuscate 4) (Fortitude 7, Auspex (Celerity 7, Auspex 4) 3) pg.117 pg.117 pg.117
Guide to the Sabbat: - Body Armory (Protean 3, Vicissitude 3) pg.123
Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State: - Smothering Darkness - Dark Steel - Shadow Eyes - Aura of Inescapable Truth (Obtenebration 2, Obfuscate 1) (Obtenebration 3, Potence (Obtenebration 3, Auspex (Dominate 4, Presence 3) 3) 4) pg.33 pg.33 pg.33 pg.95
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Libellus Sanguinis 2: Masters of the Word: - Diplomat's Boon - Double-Tongue - Command the Wary Steed - Esprit De Corps (Presence 5, Auspex (Presence 6, Auspex 3) 3) pg.37 pg.37 pg.102 pg.102
(Presence 3, Animalism 2) (Presence 5, Potence 5)
Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door: - Enhance the Wild Ride - Read the Winds - Call the Wild Hunt - Draught of the Soul - Eyes of Blades - Truth of Blood - Blood Tempering (Animalism 4, Protean (Animalism 4, Auspex (Animalism 5, Protean (Auspex (Auspex (Auspex 4, Quietus 4) 5) 4) 5) pg.29 pg.30 pg.30 pg.65 pg.66 pg.66 pg.66
2, Celerity 2) 4, Quietus 2) 4)
(Fortitude 2, Quietus
****************************************************************************** Section 16: Bonds of Blood **************************************************************************** **
16.0) Can you blood bind someone whom you are blood bound to?
Yes.
Jill binds herself to Jack by drinking his blood three times.
Jack in They could
turn binds himself back to Jill by drinking her blood three times. also drink from each other at the same times.
Each vampire becomes fully bonded to the other.
Each has the power of being a
full Regnant (master) over the other, and a full Thrall (slave) of the other.
******************************************************************************
16.1) Can you blood bind your sire, or more remote progenitors?
First, the blood of even a 13th generation neonate, has enough binding power
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to blood bond Caine himself (Vrev, pg.219).
So, unless the vampire has a
Flaw, she is able to blood bind any other vampire.
---
Some Storytellers use a special ruling involving childe verses sire.
Under this ruling, the Sire is the only vampire on the face of the earth the childe can't blood bind as her Thrall. the blood of her sire. The childe was embraced by receiving
"Returning" the blood back to the Sire does not have
the same binding affect as it would on other vampires.
******************************************************************************
16.3) Can a vampire become blood bonded to more than one vampire?
>From Vrev (pg.219), A blood bond grows in stages.
The first drink grants the "victim" intermittent, but strong feelings toward the Regnant. All vampires start with a first level bond toward their sires.
As the embracing blood counts toward the building of a full blood bond.
The second drink, causes the victim's feelings to influence her behavior. this point when the Regnant makes a Social rolls against the victim, the Regnant's difficulties are reduced by 1. The victim still acts as she
At
pleases, but taking directly harmful actions against the Regnant may require a Willpower roll.
A vampire can enjoy the affects of first and second level blood bonds to a multitude of different vampires.
The third drink results in a full blood bond. of the Regnant.
The victim becomes the Thrall
All lesser blood bonds, that existed with others, are
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shattered.
******************************************************************************
16.3) How much blood is required to create a blood bond?
This seems to have been left up to the Storyteller, but I am going to argue that only one drop needed per stage
First, it takes only one drop of blood to create a vampire, and vampires are born one-third blood bonded to their Sires.
Second, if your going to require a whole blood point be consumed, then you are requiring up to "one pint" (16 oz.) of fluid (at least for a 13th generation vampire) be consumed. This takes away the fear factor. If you needed to
drink a whole pint/point of blood a night to become blood bonded, then drain only a half-pint each from a bunch of vampires and you can drink their blood every night of the week.
Third, in Whitewolf fiction, vampires are known to serve blood to guests, but secretly mix their own vitae in it. This implies that it is the *process* of There is no way to Nor
drinking vampire blood, and not the amount that matters.
make sure a whole "point worth" of vitae was consumed by each vampire.
was there any way to make sure the vitae mixed evenly with the bottled blood, so that each vampire was served at least a point of vitae.
******************************************************************************
16.4)
What about tasting vampire blood?
In one of the San Francisco novels, a vampire bites his tongue and wills blood to flow into his mouth. He then kisses another vampire (open mouth of But notes that he also strokes her lower
course), spitting the blood into it.
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jaw, triggering her swallowing reflex.
Getting her to taste his vitae was not enough, he made sure she swallowed it.
I note this, because of Werewolf rulings on ghouling & blood bonding.
Feeding
vampire blood to werewolves usually causes a violent upchucking of the blood, comparable to an allergic response. This immediate vomiting of the blood can
"purge" the werewolf of its taint, preventing ghouling or blood bonding.
Touching blood is not enough, even if you touch it with your tongue and swish it around in the mouth. I see the need to swallow the blood, and allowing it
to merge into the blood pool.
******************************************************************************
16.5) While under a full blood bond, is a vampire safe from additional blood bonds?
Yes.
The full (3 drinks) blood bond makes a vampire immune to being emotionally or physically bonded to others. vampire. This allows her to freely drink from any
The only vampire who can cause her emotional "hang ups" is her
Regnant (the vampire to which she is already bound).
But as a gift, it has its price.
The blood bonded vampire can not strengthen
her emotional bonds for any other vampire (besides the Regnant) by partaking of his blood. If she takes a vampire lover, she can not increase the She can still give of her blood, binding him
emotional bliss she has for him.
as a slave, but not drink from him to bind herself as an equal.
******************************************************************************
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16.6) How does the Sabbat's Vaulderie differ from a mutual blood bond?
In a mutual blood bond, only two vampires are involved. process of three drinks to complete the bonding process.
They use the natural
The Sabbat use a ritual called the Vaulderie.
It allows shattering of Master-
Slave blood bonds, and the creation of multiple bonds that can not be shattered by a full blood bond.
---
A Vaulderie is a low level Koldunic ritual (GttS).
While anyone can perform
the mechanics of the ritual, only a vampire with the Rituals Background can make it work. Normally, only the "Pack Priest" performs the ritual.
Using a knife dedicated to the ritae, blood is drawn from all members of the pack. etc). blood. The blood is then mixed in a chalice ( which can be a bowl, teapot, The pack priest then recites an incantation which concentrates the Each pack member then drinks from the chalice.
After just one drink, a special bond of loyalty (called the Vinculum) is created between the drinkers. the blood bond's 3 levels). this level of loyalty. There are 10 levels of bonding (instead of a
Additional Vaulderies can increase or decrease
******************************************************************************
16.7)
How many ways are there to break a blood bond?
1) Time and willpower.
If a Thrall can avoid seeing or drinking from
Regnant for 12 months (minus the thrall's Willpower), the blood bond will drop one level. However, this requires the Thrall to be aware If the Thrall's Nature is Child or
of the bond and resisting it.
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another dependent archetype, the vampire may NEVER have the willingness to break the bond.
2) The Vaulderie.
If a Thrall is drained of all blood except his last
blood point, then drinks six blood points from the chalice during a Vauldeire, the old bond is broken. The blood bond is usually broken
the first time; stronger bindings may require two Vaulderies.
3) Kill the Regnant.
This will shatter the bond, however, the thrall's He may believe himself to still
Nature may still cause problems.
under his dead sire's influence, or develop other derangements.
4) Strong Magick.
There is a Mage rote which can break the bond, using
(Life 4, Mind 3, Entropy 3, Prime 1) and lots of Kindred Lore.
5) A powerful "Blood magic" Ritual should also work.
6) Death breaks the blood bond.
In GC4 (pg.41), a Ghoul who is embraced
loses his blood bond when he becomes a vampire.
******************************************************************************
16.8)
How can the Vinculum be broken, or does it just fade?
A Vinculum rating created by a Vaulderie does not fade. last hundreds of years.
In fact, they can
The only "known" way to weaken a Vinculum rating is to undergo additional Vaulderies, which sometimes lower a Vinculum rating instead of raising it.
There are rumors of Sabbat leaders who know of rituals that can break the bonds of the Vaulderies.
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****************************************************************************** Section 17: Ghouls - Care and Feeding ******************************************************************************
17.0) How much vitae can my ghoul hold?
A Ghoul stores the vampire's vitae in her stomach and veins.
Assuming one blood point equals one pint, the ghouls can store 2 blood points in the digestive system. This is enough to make the person a Ghoul, but
leaves the ghoul with a very small blood pool to use.
If a ghoul desires to store vitae in her circulatory system, blood must be removed to make room for the vitae. With care, all 10 points of blood in the
circulatory system can be replaced with vitae.
As vitae is spent, normal blood is generated to replace it.
(G:FA, pg.28, in the grey box)
---
Note: if a ghoul lives long enough, her blood pool increases one blood point for every 200 years of being a ghoul. (G:FA, pg.29)
******************************************************************************
17.1) What about ghouls who drink "concentrated" Elder blood?
Normally, a pint of blood equals one point of blood.
However, vampires of One pint of 4th
low generation have concentrated or "compressed" blood.
generation blood contains 5 blood points instead of 1 blood point.
Elder vitae "decompresses" when consumed by vampires of weaker generation.
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So, it is possible for a vampire to physically consume more low generation vitae than his system can keep compressed. Unless spent, the extra blood is
lost (decompresses out of the body) at a rate of one blood point a day until the maximum blood pool is reached. (This blood loss is in addition to the blood point normally lost during the daysleep.)
---
There is no decompression rule listed for Ghouls. apply this "decompression" rule to Ghouls.
But, it would make sense to
******************************************************************************
17.2) OK, How do I feed my Ghoul?
Assuming the vampire is one of the high generation vampires (8th-13th) ...
As a point of vitae can equal up to pint of fluid, a ghoul can only consume up to two points of vitae at a time. "fit" in the digestive tract. This is the amount that can comfortably
This will create the most basic of ghouls. mortal as a ghoul.
One point is "empowering" the
The other point of vitae can be "spent" or saved for
empowering the ghoul next month.
---
However, if the goal is to create a ghoul with some decent healing abilities who can last a few months without a re-fill, you need to get the vitae into the circulatory system.
Luckily, once blood is drained from the circulatory system, the vitae will automatically flow through the lining of the digestive system and into the
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veins, much the same as alcohol.
The vampire could fang the ghoul and drain a couple of blood points, letting the vitae in the digestive system flow into the veins. But then there is the problem of the ghoul being weakened by the vampire's feeding. level is lost with each blood point drained. One health
Luckily, the use of medical
equipment to drain the mortal can remove this problem.
It will take repeated feedings to fully replace the entire blood pool with vitae. You can not drain the ghoul all at once, then re-fill it. You would
get a corpse or a vampire.
---
There is an alternate system of feed ghouls. If a Ghoul is fed Vitae every night for over a month, he gains a new power; he can "assimilate" vitae.
This allows him to transfer the power of the vitae directly from his digestive system to the mortal blood of his body. blood point to be transformed per night. However, this power only allows one
Using this method he can store up to 10 points of vitae in the circulatory system without having to be drained first. He can then spend the "power"
stored in the blood without suffering the price of blood loss.
******************************************************************************
17.3) What happens if I overfeed my ghoul?
Normally, blood has to be removed from the circulatory system to make room for the vitae. However, a Ghoul can also "cram" an extra blood point for every A Ghoul with a Stamina of 5, can cram an extra 5
point of Stamina she has.
points of blood into her system, storing up to 15 blood points safely.
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But when a Ghoul drinks more vitae than can be safely Crammed, it is called "Overdosing".
When a Ghoul overdoses, she must make a Stamina Roll.
If she succeeds, she If
managed to "hold down" the point of extra vitae and can use it normally.
she fails, she suffers a health level for *every* blood point she was storing above her safe amount, and can not use ANY of her vitae until the excess vitae is purged.
The "safe amount" being the basic 10 blood points + Stamina, (plus any points gained through advanced Age).
******************************************************************************
17.4) How many blood points does a ghoul lose per day?
No matter what, the Ghoul always retains one Blood point of Vitae, which only vanishes after a month passes. This is the point of vitae that is empowering
the ghoul, granting Potence, and keeping it ageless.
(Info found in G:FA, pg.30, third paragraph.)
If the Ghoul spends blood on nothing else, then only one blood point vanishes per month. However, if they desire, they can also spend blood points Healing, They just can't spend
boosting physical attributes, and powering Disciplines.
that last (first?) blood point which is keeping them a ghoul.
---
A Ghoul who has the power to "assimilate" vitae is different. store vitae the same way as normal ghouls.
As he doesn't
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If he goes more than three nights without feeding, he loses the power to assimilate blood. It then takes another month of nightly feedings to restore
the power to assimilate vitae again.
Even worst, if the nightly feedings are not restored after the third night, the vitae in his body starts to convert into normal blood. into blood at the rate of one point every three nights. Vitae degrades
This vitae loss can be halted by feeding again (thus retaining existing vitae), but it still takes a month of feedings to restore the power to assimilate again.
****************************************************************************** Section 18: Ghouls - Problems of being unNatural. ******************************************************************************
18.0)
What about side effects of ghouling?
There are several problems, and potential problems:
- Ghouls don't age.
This isn't the same as remaining youthful. (i.e. Pregnancy)
Many common Biological functions are frozen.
- The other problem with not aging, is people may notice.
- Ghouls can regrow limbs.
A problem if limb loss was witnessed.
- A ghoul storing more than 5 blood points, starts to show signs of his master's Clan Weakness.
- when a Ghoul Overdoses, he gains one Dot in Dexterity, but some Clan weaknesses manifest in their full forms during an "Overdose".
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18.1) What happens to my ghoul, if I forget to feed it my vitae?
One affect is aging:
If a ghoul goes "more than a month" without any vampire vitae in her body, she will revert into a mortal and start aging.
- If a ghoul for less than a 100 years, she begins aging at the normal rate.
- If a ghoul for 100 to 250 years, she begins to age at an accelerated rate of 10 times normal until her true age is reached.
- If she has been a ghoul over 250 years, she instantly crumbles to dust.
Remember, the ghouls has a one month grace period of being without vitae, before the aging begins. (True Death causes instant aging.)
---
Another affect is withdraw:
Ghouls can suffer from withdrawal for up to six weeks. Stamina the withdrawal period is shortened by a week.
For each dot in
During this time, the ghoul suffers self-control problems when it comes to chances to "score" some vitae, as well as problems resisting the temptation to replace the addiction with mortal blood, flesh or even sex.
******************************************************************************
18.2) I ghouled and blood bonded the mayor. Can he break the bond?
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The bond starts forming on the first drink, from which the ghoul displays strong feelings toward the donor. The second drink forms the equivalent of a
vinculum rating of 5 (willing to help the donor, even if there are minor risks.) The third drink forms a full blood bond.
Ghouls can "wean" themselves from the blood bond.
The ghoul must go through a The dry spell is equal
"dry spell" of refusing to drink her donor's blood.
to 12 months, minus a month for each point of permanent Willpower the Ghoul has.
If a weaning is successful, the ghoul's blood bond drops "one level".
******************************************************************************
18.3) Might a powerful Ghoul be able to diablerize a vampire?
Nope.
A ghoul can only drain the blood of a vampire, he has neither the
Vampiric ability to drink health levels nor the power to drink the soul of the vampire.
******************************************************************************
18.4) What is the difference between a mortal becoming a vampire, and a ghoul trying the same?
At first glance, there would appear to be very little difference. However, the presence of "vitae" in their bloodstream enhances their stamina. It is more
difficult to get the ghoul to the "near death" point where the vitae embraces them instead of refilling their blood pool.
They became vampires only after being drained of nearly all the "vitae", or after being drained unto death. Once dead, a ghoul has only about a minute or
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so to be feed the vitae, making him a vampire.
******************************************************************************
18.5) Can a vampire become blood bonded by drinking from another's ghoul?
Nope.
A Ghoul can't Embrace, Blood Bond, or ghoul others regardless of the Just as blood entering a vampire's body
potency of the vitae he drinks.
undergoes the transformation into vitae, upon entering a living ghoul's body it transforms into something else.
This makes vampires safe when drinking from ghouls.
However, in Whitewolf
fiction there have been attempts to blood bond vampires who drink from the recently dead. Apparently, dead ghouls (or corpses) can act as storage
containers for vitae.
****************************************************************************** Section 19: Other vampire minions of the WOD ******************************************************************************
19.0) Do Zombies exist in the WOD?
What are they like?
Yes, they are the animated corpses of the truly dead.....
They are Automatons; robots composed of dead flesh.
They don't talk, they
don't think, they don't do anything; unless their master tells them to do it. Most can understand only the simplest of commands.
******************************************************************************
19.1) Who creates and uses Zombies?
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Various groups of vampires know how to make Zombies:
The Giovanni have the Bone Path of Necromancy, which specializes in creating zombies of various abilities. They exist until destroyed. (Vrev pg.163)
The Cappadocians could use Mortis level 6 and higher to reanimate the dead for short periods of time. (VDA pg.153, DAC pg.84)
There is a mixed group of Haitian vampires (including Samedi and Lasombra) who have access to a form of Necromancy, which might grant the ability to create Zombies. (BMST Pg.107)
The Samedi's special Discipline has a level 8 power (VStC pg.42) which can raise the body of a recently dead person, which lasts 3 days as a zombie.
The Tremere have some knowledge of Zombie making.
They use Thaumaturgy to (BMST pg.136)
bind souls to their own decaying bodies -- Corpse Minions.
******************************************************************************
19.2) What are those Revenant things?
Many Kindred used to keep ghouls.
Some Vampires ghouled whole families of In time, the Ghoul Families were
nobles; breeding them like hunting dogs. formed.
Generation upon generation of family members who existed just to
serve their vampire masters.
Then something special happened.
The children within these Ghoul Families They could At some
gained the power to generate a near equivalent of Vampire blood.
use their blood to heal or power Disciplines, just like true Ghouls.
point they were even "granted" a set of "Family Disciplines" which could be passed to their children. are called Revenants. These special half-vampires of the Ghoul Families
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Exactly how Revenants came to be is un-revealed, but almost all of them belonged to the Tzimisce Clan, or can be linked to a groups who had dealings with the Tzimisce.
---
Revenants have a blood pool of 10 points, and regenerate the special blood at a rate of one point a day. For every 100 years they live, their blood pool Vampire vitae can be added to their blood However, the combination of Vitae and
Max increases by one blood point. pool in place of their own blood.
Revenant blood can not exceed the Revenant's normal blood pool size (same as the ghoul's 10 + Stamina rule.)
The Revenants are known to age very slowly, and can live hundreds of years. However, this causes problems when dealing with mortal society as childhood can last 50 years. to full term.) (It takes 3 years just for the female to carry the fetus
Like normal Ghouls, drinking real vampire vitae will stop
their aging completely.
---
Like vampires, Revenants have Humanity problems. even on the Path of Humanity.
Many Ghoul Families are not Think
Passing for normal is often a problem.
of the Addams Family without the cuteness, or the cannibal family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
******************************************************************************
19.3) Who are the "Ghoul Families", and what happened to them?
The Dark Age books reveals the Tzimisce's Ghoul Families as being:
- Basarab, who split into the Danesti and Draculesti Families.
All the
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Basarab were destroyed by the Tzimisce in response to the actions of Dracula (who was supposedly a Revenant of Draculesti lineage.)
- Bratovitch, handlers of the Tzimisce's hounds in the Dark Ages.
In the
Modern Age they are used as Sabbat guides in the wilds, and enjoy going on Lupine hunts. A special Bloodline of Tzimisce vampire who embrace only from They are distinguished by having
the Bratovich exists in the Modern Age.
Potence instead of Auspex as a vampire Discipline.
- Danislav, bred from ShadowLord Kinfolk who settled in Tzimisce territory. They revolted, and the Tzimisce united to destroy them. hurt badly, and may have been destroyed. The Danislav were
- Grimaldi, the merchant family.
Survived to become agents of the Sabbat.
In the Modern Age, they are horribly wealthy and have influence almost rivaling the Giovanni and Venture. They do the Sabbat's "hush work"...
killing "bizarre death" stories, bribing cops, silencing witnesses, etc.
- The Obertus, (The Hidden) served the Tzimisce of the Dark Ages by working in monasteries and libraries. The Hidden survive into the Modern Age, out
living the Draconian branch of Tzimisce who created them.
- Szantovich, the Dark Age Tzimisce's infiltrators into various courts. the Modern Age they Anglicized their name to become the Zantosa. still rich, but have grown quite hedonistic. a hidden underground crypt in New York. there is rumored to be Tzimisce himself.
In
They are
They have been secretly guarding
The ancient Elder who *was* sleeping
- Vlaszy, the cavaliers and king-makers, loyal to the Tzimisce Elders they were destroyed during the Anarch Revolt.
- Krevcheski, a scholarly line not well trusted by the Tzimisce, were "given" only two Disciplines. They turned against the Tzimisce to join with the
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Tremere, changed their family name to the Ducheski.
- Khavi, serving the Ancient Tzimisce called Byelobog, they were exterminated by the Teutonic Knights.
---
The Tal'mahe'Ra (True Black Hand) used three Ghoul Families.
They speak of
their Families being created in Eastern Europe between 700 BC and 300 AD.
- Enrathi, originally of Italian descent they have breed with other ghoul Families of Eastern Europe. Slavers and Bankers. In the Middle Ages, they were black market
Serve by stealing children for the Tal'mahe'Ra.
- Marijava, descended from the leader of a Thuggee sect of robbers and assassins. descent The Family does not mix with others, and have remained of Indian
They spy on just about everyone for the Tal'mahe'Ra, most being
highly trained assassins, thieves or professionals in some white-collar field.
- Rafastio, the Tal'mahe'Ra once had dealing with the mage Tradition known as the Verbena. One family of Verbena of Northern Italy became a Ghoul Family.
---
VStH (pg.182-183) speaks of the Enrathi and Marijava as being Ghoul Families long before being contacted by the Tal'mahe'Ra.
The VStH, also reveals how the original Marijava Family served the Assamites and Ravnos Clans. When the Marijava joined the Tal'mahe'Ra, it split the Those loyal to the Assamites and Ravnos, and those
Family into two branches. loyal to the Tal'mahe'Ra.
The Tal'mahe'Ra used mystical spells to hide their branch from the original
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Family, but the spells also hide the original Family from the Tal'mahe'Ra branch.
---
The Bloodline Baali also have a Ghoul Family. the family is not revealed:
How they created or acquired
- D'habi, descendants of Nergal's priests.
Originally served Nergal, but
later they turned to serving the entire Bloodline after Nergal's supposed death. Used by the Baali for dark experiments (as both victims and
researchers), they had already become greatly degraded by the Dark Ages.
---
The GttS, speaks of rumors that the Assamites, Giovanni, Setites and Tremere having followed in the Tzimisce footsteps, creating their own Ghoul Families.
The GTTS (pg.217) also names three more Tzimisce Ghoul Families:
- the Narov and Ruthvenski Ghoul families.
Which were absorbed into the
other surviving Ghoul families through intermarriage.
- the Rustovitch are rumored to have broken away from the Tzimisce to serve other masters.
******************************************************************************
19.4) What were the Disciplines of the Ghoul Families? I find them?
Where can
Basarab
Dominate,
Protean,
Vicissitude
[Trans by Night]
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Danislav
Auspex,
Protean,
Vicissitude
[Trans by Night]
Khavi Krevcheski Vlaszy
Animalism, Obfuscate, Auspex, Dominate
Vicissitude
[LS1] [LS1, BMST*]
Animalism, Potence,
Presence
[LS1]
Bratovitch Grimaldi Obertus Zantosa
Animalism, Potence, Dominate, Auspex, Auspex, Celerity, Obfuscate, Presence,
Vicissitude Fortitude Vicissitude Vicissitude
[GttS, LS1, GFA] [GttS, LS1, GFA] [GttS, LS1, GFA] [GttS, LS1, GFA]
D'habi**
Dominate,
Presence,
Daimoinon
[Clanbook Baali]
Enrathi Marijava Rafastio
Dominate, Celerity,
Obfuscate, Obfuscate,
Potence Presence Thaumaturgy
[DSBH, VStH] [DSBH, VStH] [DSBH, VStH]
Animalism, Auspex,
Narov Ruthvenski Rustovitch
? ? ?
[GttS] [GttS] [GttS]
* **
Presented as the Ducheski. D'habi who exhibit any knowledge of Daimoinon are killed by the Baali.
******************************************************************************
19.5) What about Dhampirs?
These are either something new to the WoD, or the return of something very, very old. Dhampir is an old Romany word for a half-vampire, the child of a
mortal women and male vampire union.
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Some Thin-blood vampires (14th & 15th gens) can procreate with mortals, producing offspring. These children are almost identical to Revenants, and
are sometimes mistaken for masterless ghouls.
Rules for Dhampirs can be found in ToTB (pg.90-91).
****************************************************************************** Section 20: Damage - Supernaturals Soaking & Healing in the WOD ******************************************************************************
20.0)
What *IS* aggravated damage?
Vampires have at least two ways to quickly heal their wounds:
1) The mysterious power of True Form which can heal most damage during the daysleep.
2) The spending of a blood point and resting a turn to instantly heal a level of damage.
Aggravated damage is simply damage that does not automatically heal using these "super-duper-healing powers". It has to heal at the mortal healing
rate, unless the vampire is willing to spend 5 times as much blood as normal to repair the damage.
******************************************************************************
20.1) Why do Supernaturals take aggravated damage?
The term Aggravated is used by Doctors to refer to a condition being made worse by some complicating factor. For vampires, the aggravating factor is
usually the source of the wounding: Sunlight, Fire, and supernaturally enhanced teeth & claws.
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There is something special about the type of wounds they make.
The damage
goes beyond the mere flesh, its as if the True Form of the vampire itself had been damaged.
******************************************************************************
20.2) What is Soaking Damage?
Whitewolf doesn't have the best combat system in the world, but it does try to address certain issues that can appear in combat. toughness. One is a character's
Not how tough the character can act, but how much physical damage This toughness is
his body can take before something breaks or ruptures. measured using Stamina.
Some people are tougher than others. punch to the jaw and not even flinch.
During a bar fight one man could take a A different man receives an identical The only difference
punch, but it knocks him unconscious and breaks his jaw.
between these two men was their ability to "soak" the punch.
To Soak the damage, the victim's Stamina is Rolled to see how well his body was able to resist, absorb or deflect the "potential" damage. success, one level of damage simply "did not happen". For each
The damage would have
occurred in a lesser person, but the victim was tougher than expected.
******************************************************************************
20.3) If a weapon, that causes non-aggravated damage, severs a limb would the damage then be considered aggravated?
Non-aggravated damage is still non-aggravated, regardless of the amount of damage. However, the way in which the wound is healed, and the amount of time
that passes before the wound is healed, can affect the amount of blood needed.
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- If a vampire reacts fast enough, healing within the same turn.
The severed
limb is considered to have started re-attaching itself, before the wound was finished being made. The blood actually holding the limb in place, and A healing of this type only requires
knitting the to pieces back together. one blood point.
- If the vampire didn't react fast enough, or the nature of the weapon caused the limb to separate from the vampire. the limb and hold the limb in place. She has one scene in which to regain
She can then spend a blood point to heal
the slice closed, re-attaching the limb.
- If the limb is separated from the vampire for too long, it reverts to its true age (rotted meat or ash). At this point the limb is lost. The vampire
will have to re-grow the missing limb. (but non-aggravated) damage.
The loss is considered to be crippling
The limb is considered regrown once ALL levels
of this Crippling damage are healed.
VStH (pg.18) speaks on this subject.
******************************************************************************
20.4) Will a missing arm grow back on its own?
Yes, but some Storytellers limit the amount of healing a vampire can expect during the daysleep. After all it is only one point of blood being spent.
As a missing arm is a large wound, but quite localized, the Storyteller may have the vampire awaken in perfect health except for the missing limb. vampire then functions as if he had the "one Arm" Flaw until the arm regrows. The
At this point the vampire could chose to spend the 6 extra blood points to heal the arm back (from Crippled), or let the daysleep heal the arm at the rate of one health level per day for the next 6 days.
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20.5) Will the bullets shot into a vampire get expelled from her body during day?
Nope.
If you do not remove bullets or deeply embedded foreign objects, the You will have to pull (or cut out) the foreign
body will heal around them.
objects unless you have a Thaumaturgy Ritual or Discipline that purifies the body.
******************************************************************************
20.6) If a vampire's arm was ripped off ... Will the arm grow back with the tattoo?
A vampire's body does not replicate foreign objects, nor does it magically expel them out of the body.
Ink and dye are foreign objects inserted into the body.
If a vampire had a tattoo (pre-embrace), the tattoo would be allowed to remain. Years later after her arm gets ripped off, the arm would grow back The body is healed, not the ink which was ejected
but without the tattoo. into the arm.
******************************************************************************
20.7) What if the vampire got the tattoo after his embrace, or a nose ring?
According to GttS, vampires who get tattooed or pierced post-embrace, heal the wounds, expelling the ink and rings.
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Considering that vampires don't expel arrows or bullets, this sounds a little funky. But remember, vampire flesh does not become intangible nor turn into If the opening the bullet created when it entered the
liquid during healing.
body heals behind it, there is no exit path through which the bullet can be pushed out.
With piercing I would rule that the foreign matter can be pushed out as the wound heals behind them. Thus, rings, pins & etc., using "closed loops" or
some form of clasp, can be prevented from being pushed out of the wound, although the wound may heal very tightly around them.
******************************************************************************
20.8) What if said vampire were to dye or bleach her hair?
Hair is explicitly stated to return each day to its state at the time of Embrace. Many Storytellers assume this refers only to length of the hair, and
not to the way it is combed, parted and curled.
Hair dyed before the embrace would remain dyed, but if cut the dye would not be replicated.
After the embrace, hair dyes which work by impregnating the hairs with coloring chemicals would remain for the rest of the night, but would be pushed out during the daysleep. Hair coloration products which "paint" the outside of the hairs, would be just as permanent/temporary as they would be on mortals.
As for bleach or other hair care products that extract the bio-chemicals responsible for naturally coloring the hair. Daysleep will heal the hair.
****************************************************************************** Section 21: Damage - Mortals & Ghouls ******************************************************************************
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21.0) Can mortals Soak?
Yes, but not all forms of physical damage. divided into classes: bashing, and lethal.
In Vrev (pg.217), damage is now
Mortals can use Stamina to soak Bashing damage, but not Lethal.
******************************************************************************
21.1) What is the difference between the two types of damage?
Bashing damage represents battering, bruising, punches, short falls and the like. A healthy mortal has little to fear from "low level" impact damage.
Especially, if impacts are dispersed throughout the body, and not concentrated in small spots.
Lethal damage occurs from gunfire, slicing weapons, long falls and strikes to the head. Regardless of your relative level of health, a bullet through the Mortals cannot soak
liver, or a sword through the lung will kill you rapidly. this lethal damage with their Stamina dice.
However, the proper use of armor can reduce some types of lethal effects into bashing. This is how most forms of "bullet proof" vests work, they spread the
kinetic energy from the impact site to the whole surface area of the vest. The officer may still suffer a few broken ribs and a chest sized bruise, but he keeps his vital organs intact.
******************************************************************************
21.2) What about aggravated damage? Do mortals take aggravated damage?
Unless the mortal had special powers (like Mages or ghouls), all forms of Damage would fall under Bashing or Lethal.
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Aggravated can be considered a secondary characteristic of damage, one which determines whether it can be quickly healed (or not) by the use of mystical or supernatural means.
In the event that a mortal does have access to advanced healing powers, Fire and Acid (in addition to teeth & claws of the supernatural) are usually considered the two main causes of Aggravated damage.
******************************************************************************
21.3) Can Ghouls Regrow Limbs?
Yes, but its not automatic. A success Roll is required.
In G:FA (pg.31) it
reveals that ghouls can regenerate limbs, and gives a cost system for the blood needed:
- A single finger or eye cost one blood point. - A hand or foot will cost two blood points. - An arm or leg would cost three blood points.
****************************************************************************** Section 22: Vicissitude ******************************************************************************
22.0) What the hell is Vicissitude???
You have several choices: Discipline, Disease, alien parasite, etc.
Part of the answer is in the inspiration for the Tzimisce.
The Tzimisce with Vicissitude appears to be inspired by the "Necroscope"
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series by Brian Lumley.
The "Wamphyri" of Lumley's books gained their longevity and powers by being infected by a leech-like parasite which could reshape flesh. infect others, creating lesser vampires. could be fleshcrafted by Wamphyri. Feeding could
Anything infected by the Wamphyri,
The host's body is slow replaced by the
parasite's mimicking cells, so after a time there is little left of the host's physical body.
Lumley also made the Wamphyri creatures from another world, an earth-like planet in another dimension. A cosmic accident created a bridge between
worlds, and occasional Wamphyri entered our world.
---
When Whitewolf borrowed the concept, but vampirism was already explained through the existence of Caine. It was the Tzimisce's Discipline that became
the "parasite from the Deep Umbra".
Many Vampire players don't like this "Souleater" concept.
******************************************************************************
22.1) But anyone can get Vicissitude, doesn't that make it more than a vampire Discipline?
Not really.
Many of the creatures the Old Clan Tzimisce saw as being Vicissitude infected are really fomori. spirits. This are people who have been possessed directly by bane-
New info from VstH, reveals the Old Clan also thought the shape They also
shifting powers of werewolves were signs of Vicissitude infection. thought Protean and Serpentis were Vicissitude infections.
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As for vampires & ghouls who develop Vicissitude by drinking Vicissitude tainted blood..... GFA, explains how mortals (ghouls) develop Disciplines.
Ghouls must drink "Discipline tainted" blood to develop Disciplines.
So anyone who drinks the blood of a vampire, can develop any of the Disciplines possessed by that vampire. It was not limited to Vicissitude.
******************************************************************************
22.2) What are Souleaters?
Souleaters first appear in Dark Secrets of the Black Hand.
This is a
crossover book for Vampire which takes place in MAGE territory.
Enter the "Old Clan Tzimisce", a bloodline of vampires who belonged to the black Hand cult. They appear to be Tzimisce in every way but one. They have
Dominate instead of Vicissitude as a Clan Discipline.
Their story is one in
which they are the original Clan of Tzimisce, with the title of Old meaning the "original or pure".
(At this point we travel deeper into Mage territory of game play).
The Old Clan speak of a 4th generation Tzimisce who traveled into the Deep Umbra, and was attacked by one of its creatures. He was infected by the The infection takes This 4th
creature when he frenzied and attempted to feed from it.
the form of a parasite which grants the power known as Vicissitude.
generation vampire then infected other Tzimisce who passed the infection to their childer. the body. Eventually the parasite eats the host's soul, and takes over
The Old Clan calls these creatures Souleaters.
The Old Clan sees infection spreading to other vampires, mortals, animals and even plants. The Old Clan is also said to be paranoid, delusional, dangerous
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and should be humored as much as possible.
---
This is a legitimate Mage story archetype.
Creatures from the Deep Umbra who A cross of "Invasion of
seek physical hosts, so they can invade the Earth. the Body Snatchers" and "Species I & II".
But not exactly a vampire archetype story.
******************************************************************************
22.3) What about the disease option?
In GTTS, it talks about Vicissitude becoming like a disease.
It does not speak of Vicissitude as a germ or virus, but as something gone corrupt. A Discipline driven cancerous by the Tzimisce's supernatural link to
the soil of a land grown dark with spiritual corruption.
When you think of Vicissitude as a disease, don't think of it as some virus taking over the body. cancerous. It is much, much worst. It is your own body growing Now the merest twitches of
No longer reacting to just your touch.
emotion or thought causing misfires of spontaneous flesh crafting from within.
******************************************************************************
22.4) Can a vampire heal Vicissitude damage?
Yes, Vicissitude damage (including improvements) can be healed as aggravated damage, but only if the victim is of equal generation or lower than the vampire who re-crafted his flesh.
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Nosferatu always heal Vicissitude damage, whether it made them look better or worse, regardless of generation.
****************************************************************************** Section 23: Vampires and Blood Magic ******************************************************************************
23.0) What is the difference between Blood Magic and Disciplines?
For my understanding, Blood magic represents another type of magic (in addition to Sphere Magic and Hedge Magic.)
Blood Magic draws upon the mystic essence of blood, or more properly the power of life itself. Blood being used as the conduit. When Blood magic isn't
consuming life energies to empower the spell caster's Will, it is using the life energies as a filter for other sources of power (entropic energies of used by Necromancy?).
This implies something different is happening.
That Disciplines like Potence
and Fortitude are empowered not from the presence of blood, but are a part of the vampire's own nature.
(BMST, pg.33-34, and pg.35, paragraph 5 & 6)
---
Yet, I have been told, Justin Achilli has stated that Thaumaturgy is NOT magic, it's merely a Discipline like all others. ALL Disciplines use Blood and Willpower to act as a catalyst to create a desired effect. Thaumaturgy is merely approached like magic, but it is no more innately magical than Auspex.
This implies that Disciplines can structured in at least three ways:
- A Singular Path rated 1-10
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- Multiple sub-Paths rated 1-5 - And individualized rituals which can be used with either path system*
* The Discipline of Valeran uses two Paths of 1-9, and rituals.
******************************************************************************
23.1)
Did the Tremere really invent Thaumaturgy?
Yes and no.
The Tremere invented Hermetic-Thaumaturgy.
Blood magic, has been around for thousands of years. Tzimisce had Blood magic.
Assamites, Setites and
And several mages and sorcerers embraced by other
Clans learned the secret of converting their magic to blood magic.
The Tremere were the first to apply the Hermetic formula of magically theory to Blood magic. Creating a structure of learning and research which allowed
developing Blood magic in new ways.
---
Part of the problem is Whitewolf quite often use "thaumaturgy" as a generic term for all forms of Blood magic. In the past, every vampire who learned Some vampire
some form of blood magic, was listed as having Thaumaturgy.
supplements even suggested using Thaumaturgy as the magic system for mortal Hedge magic.
As a result, there could be hundreds of forms of Blood magic.
However, due to
limited game mechanics, their mystic powers are defined using the paths & rituals listed for Thaumaturgy.
******************************************************************************
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23.2) What is the difference between Dark Thaumaturgy and the Tremere's Hermetic Thaumaturgy?
Both GttS and DAC, reveal Dark Thaumaturgy and Thaumaturgy are really the same Discipline. However, the Thaumaturgical Knowledge for Dark Thaumaturgy is
gleamed from Demons.
The price of Dark Thaumaturgy is cheaper in experience points, but being taught by the Infernal scars the soul, taints the aura, and marks the flesh.
BMST (pg.51-52) speaks more on this subject.
Dark Thaumaturgy is often more
crude, as the Dark Thaumaturgist is only taught the actions needed to achieve the basic effects.
******************************************************************************
23.3)
What other vampires have Blood Magic?
The Tzimisce have a form of magic called Koldunic Sorcery.
Wolves of the Sea, a Dark Age supplement speaks of "Rune-wise". this is a hedge magic based on the use of Runes.
For mortals
For vampires it takes the
form of Blood Magic, using carefully crafted Runes and blood.
GttS reveals many of the rites practiced by the Sabbat are low level magic rituals. Only vampires with Ritual Lore can make them work. Many believe
they are descended from Koldunic Sorcery rituals.
The Necromancy of the Giovanni, is a Blood magic complete with three different Paths and a number of rituals.
The Harbingers of Skulls (GttS) appear to have acquired Giovannian Necromancy.
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They have their own path (the Mortuus Path), and can learn other Necromancy Paths after learning the 3rd level of Mortuus.
The Nagaraja (VStH, & MET J.#1), developed their Necromancy Discipline separately from the Giovanni's. The Nagaraja's primary path is the Sepulchre
Path, but after learning the 3rd level they can learn their own special Vitreous Path.
The Assamites have a magic using Bloodline called the Viziers. to study Thaumaturgy and Middle Eastern magic. "Assamite Sorcery" as a Clan Discipline.
They are said
They replace Celerity with
The Setites are revealed to have magic, which isn't surprising considering the culture from which they descended.
In GttC, the Tremere are revealed to have a second form of magic that does not require the learning of Thaumaturgy. Called Thaumaturgical Countermagic, it
can cancel out Tremere Thaumaturgy, Hedge magic and non-Tremere blood magic.
"Awakening: Diablerie Mexico" has a low generation Gangrel called Mictantecle who was Embraced around 51 BC in North America. downward into the Mayan Empire. Priest's Blood-magic. Eventually, he wandered
Mictantecle was able to learn the Mayan
Some Rituals worked unchanged, others required him to
"significantly redraft the procedures to align them with his Vampiric nature". (The blood magic of the mortal priests is also called Thaumaturgy in this early supplement.)
A mixed group of Haitian vampires (including some Samedi), have acquired a form of Necromancy from a wraith-like creature called "Baron Samedi".
******************************************************************************
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23.4)
What is basic Countermagic?
And can vampires use it?
Those who cast magic sometimes have to undo magic cast by others. countering of magic, it falls into three classes:
Called the
- Basic Countermagic, the defensive countering of magic, is the ability to block or parry a spell being cast directly upon oneself. The victim still
gets hit by the spell, but if successfully countered its strength will have been reduced to the point it has little-to-no effect.
- Offensive Countermagic, is the ability to use magic to deflect a spell being cast either on someone else or upon a nearby object.
- Unweaving, the undoing of a spell that has a continuous affect.
This could
be removing a curse, dissolving a ward, transforming a lawn chair back into a vampire, etc.
---
VRev, uses the ruling that Vampires who practice Thaumaturgy can engage in Basic Countermagic. The System involves using Occult Knowledge and Wits to
counteract a spell as it is being cast.
The advanced forms of Countermagic (Offensive & Unweaving) require more.
Most
Thaumaturgists can not undo the spells of others, nor can they stop a spell being cast upon a nearby person or the floor under their feet.
******************************************************************************
23.5) What about the Tremere's Thaumaturgical Countermagic?
Tremere are of the old school of magic, having once been mortal mages of the Order of Hermes. They understand countermagic, and created a specialized path
called Thaumaturgical Countermagic.
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Not as effective as the counter magic used by Hedge Wizards and Mages, but it works better than nothing.
Using Thaumaturgical Countermagic, they can better engage in Basic Countermagic, unweave spells, as well as defend people and objects from magic.
******************************************************************************
23.6)
Is Thaumaturgical Countermagic a Path or Discipline?
Both.
It can be considered a another Discipline of Blood magic, similar to Koldunic Sorcery or Necromancy, but with only one path and no rituals.
****************************************************************************** Section 24: Mortals and Blood Magic ******************************************************************************
24.0) What are "Mystic Disciplines"?
Under Jess Heing's crossover rules for Mage...
Ghouled-Mages & Awakened Revenants, can learn "normal" Disciplines. static "powers", and not static forms of magic.
These are
The "mystic" Disciplines are those Disciplines which allow access to a static form of magic, or use blood to filter magic. form of magic accept Sphere magic, thus: Mages can not access or use any
- If the ghoul or Revenant had mystic Disciplines before becoming a Mage, the powers are lost or become replaced by their Sphere magic counterparts.
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- Attempts to learn them after Awakening result in failure, as Sphere magic overpowers all other mystic power sources.
Mystic Disciplines include all forms of Blood Magic:
Hermetic Thaumaturgy (aka Tremere-Thaumaturgy), Necromancy, Koldunic Sorcery, Assamite Sorcery, and Setite Sorcery. The Disciplines of Quietus and
Chimerstry are also mystic Disciplines.
Jess says the inability to learn Quietus might have something to do with Quietus' origins as a magical Discipline from old Babylo-Sumerian religious rites.
The incompatibility of Chimerstry is unrevealed.
As it affects Changelings I've
and Fae, (its affects are chimerical), it may make use of the Dreaming. heard that Sphere magic is incompatible with the Dreaming.
******************************************************************************
24.1)
Can mortals learn Blood Magic?
With great difficulty. overcome.
There are problems mortal spell casters must
First, mortals have no natural way to draw the "power" out blood.
Second, If the mage uses his own blood, he can die of blood loss, just casting the minor rituals. If he uses someone else, that person might as well be
considered a human sacrifice.
Ghouls and Revenants may be the exception.
At least two Ghoul families have However, they may be
Thaumaturgy as a Family Discipline. (BMST pg.139,140). using "hedge magic", instead.
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24.2)
What happens to Hedge Magicians, when they are embraced?
When a Hedge Magician is Embraced she loses all her hedge magic.
However, because she did have hedge magic, she has leg up on the normal Fledgling. Part of the process of acquiring hedge magic, is acquiring
experience in using Path & ritual magic, as well as an understanding of supernatural effects.
In this rare case, the experience can be "recycled".
WOD:Sorcerer, page 54, provides a system of converting Dots in Hedge Magic back into experience points for the purposes of purchasing Thaumaturgy Paths or Disciplines similar to the magician's old powers.
****************************************************************************** Section 25: Try Explaining This...
******************************************************************************
25.0) How was Haqim made immortal "by his own hand"?
Haqim's origin story (as found in the Assamite Clanbook) begins with him being a mortal guard in the City of En'esh. existing King & Queen. Caine enters the city and embraces the
Haqim learns of Caine, and how he embraced the King & Queen.
By day, Haqim leads his soldiers into the royal chambers, and they kill the King & Queen. Haqim gathers their vitae in a bowl. Cutting his own throat,
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Haqim bleeds to nearly to death, but his men feed him vitae from the bowl.
Haqim awakes a vampire.
A vampire, not by embrace, but by drinking vampire
vitae after "sacrificing" his life.
******************************************************************************
25.1)
How can Haqim be 2nd?
What's the real story?
The traditional view places Caine as the 1st generation of vampires, and his childer as the 2nd Generation vampires. As Haqim drank the blood of two 2nd
generation vampires, he should be 3rd generation.
In CotN, a 4th generation Assamite vampire claiming to be the second childe of Haqim appears. Haqim is 3rd generation. At least in all the ways that count.
---
As for the real story...
When the author of Clanbook Assamite, wrote the book he established that the Assamites are one of the Clans which measure lineage differently. in "Steps from Caine". They count
Caine's childer are one step away from him, and his grandchilder are two steps away from him. Haqim is stated as being Two Steps from Caine.
However, at one point in the book it states Haqim is 2nd generation. a mistake. It would have be true if using the "Primus"
This is
method of counting
generations.
The author of Clanbook Assamite, has said that when he wrote the
book, he made the mistake of counting Caine's generation as being 0th.
******************************************************************************
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25.2) Are there any other groups who use an alternate lineage?
It hard to tell, Generation as a game mechanic is quite consist across all source books. The only time a player (or even a Storyteller) might notice a
Clan uses alternate names or lineage counting, is when it is spoken of in a Clan book or Clan Novel.
I did notice that in Clan Novel Setite, Hesha speaks of himself as being "a Son in the 7th Degree of Set", instead of being "8th Generation of Caine".
Among themselves, the Setites appear to count lineage in degrees, with Set being of the first degree.
******************************************************************************
25.3)
Where did White Wolf get their inspiration for the clans?
While unconfirmed, I'm creating a list of possible sources of inspiration. The various Clans and bloodlines appear to have been drawn from classic horror and folklore, as well as modern movies and fiction.
Brujah - Often compared to the vampires seen in the "Lost Boys" movies.
Yet,
they may be modeled after the nomadic vampires from the movie 'Near Dark.' (Near Dark is also referred to as inspiration for the Sabbat nomadic pack.)
Gangrel - Some Players believe the Gangrel was Whitewolf's early attempt to introduce werewolves by explaining them away as being wolf-shifting vampires. Whether this is true or not, were-wolfism and vampirism are intertwined in Eastern Europe. The undead were often believed to have been the victims of
werewolf attacks, while werewolves were believed to come back from the dead as vampires if the proper burial rites were not used.
Malkavian - I heard the original inspiration wasn't a vampire, but a comic
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book character called "V" from Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta".
Nosferatu - They were definitely modeled after the vampire in the 1922 silent film named "Nosferatu". It was the first film based on the book "Dracula", The vampire's bizarre appearance
however it was an "unofficial" adaptation. was due to him NOT being ageless.
He was supposed to look like a human who
was hundreds of years old -- balding, back bent by age, a cadaverous thinness, large ears and nose (they never stop growing while alive), heavy eyebrow growth, etc. In addition, the vampire was a plague carrier, and infected
others with sickness when it fed.
Ravnos - In the real world, many of the European beliefs and legends about vampires may of originated from India by way of the Romany. Their version of
the vampire, the Mullo, could appear as a normal human, a corpse, or a monstrous creature with animal features.
Dhampirs (children fathered by vampires, who in turn have special powers for hunting vampires) is one of the Romany's legends.
Toreador - These "beautiful people, artsy vampires" are most often seen as being modeled after the vampires in the movie 'The Hunger'. However, the
Toreador weakness appears to come from 'Interview with the Vampire', where these "gentleman" vampires have heightened senses that can distract them by showing them more than one is used to seeing.
Tremere - Once upon a time Whitewolf distributed a game called "Ars Magica". The game took place in the "Mystical Age" of Europe, and featured magic users. In Ars Magica, there was House Tremere, one of the mystic Orders of Hermes. When Whitewolf designed VTM, they did a crossover; the Tremere of Ars Magica having become vampires and survived to see the "Modern Age". After Ars Magic
was sold, the 4th Edition of that game has House Tremere losing the war against other Hermetic Mages and being destroyed.
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Tzimisce - The "Old Clan" Tzimisce are classic variations of "Count Dracula", while the Koldunic Tzimisce remind me of "Lord Strahd" of the Ravenloft novels. The Tzimisce with Vicissitude appears to be inspired by the
"Necroscope" series by Brian Lumley.
Ventrue - Someone mentioned 'Brides for Dracula'
****************************************************************************** Section 26: Crossover Rulings ******************************************************************************
26.0) Why are there no crossover rules in VTM?!?
Vampire:The Masquerade, is one of the earliest of Whitewolf's Storyteller series. In fact, the second edition of VTM was written before the first
editions of many of the other mainline games (Mage, Changeling and Wraith.) Any changes in rules would have to appear in the latter books.
Some crossover guidelines can be found scattered throughout the other games, but usually they dealt with the way vampires function in those other game series.
The "Revised Edition" of VTM answers some questions. The new "Vampire Storytellers Handbook", has a whole chapter (pg.159-175) dedicated to many of the problems with crossing over "powers".
---
Some crossover guidelines on how Disciplines affect (or don't affect) Werewolves, are found on page 158, of Werewolf:the Dark Ages. However, these
are the guidelines for a game running under Garou Cosmology, and not Vampire cosmology.
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26.1) Why not a book of Crossover rules?
The viewpoint of the developers is that Whitewolf publishes five separate WOD games. setting. Allowing for five different role playing experiences in the same loose Each developer doing the best with his line, and letting the others
do the best for their lines.
Not that there are 5 separate Worlds of Darkness, just that each game is optimized for its own game setting. different card games. It is like having the option to play in 5
All use the same table, same cards, different rules.
You can play Poker, Bridge, Hearts, Blackjack or Solitaire, but each game has its own ruling on:
- card strength - competing
(wild cards, highs and lows, suites), (against dealer, all other players, in teams),
- determining who wins (one person, a team, or multiples) - and what she wins (the dealer's money, the pot).
Whitewolf has no problems with characters from one game joining another, as long as they remember they are playing by the new game's "rules".
******************************************************************************
26.2) Wait a minute!
Doesn't Whitewolf have a folder hidden somewhere
that explains how all the games interlock into one "Whole"???
Quote from Ethan Skemp, "The problem is that we have five such folders, and we're working on a Sixth. problems." If we only had one, then there would be no
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---
Many gamers believe that "in the beginning" the games were supposed to interlock into one large game, but the current Whitewolf staff are holding them separate.
There is some merit to this line of thought. five games can use the same:
Using the card game analogy, all
- deck of cards, - gaming table, - group of players, - dealer
(backgrounds, attributes and abilities) (world)
(Storyteller)
---
But others would disagree, pointing to the way each game keeps "score".
In VTM, the characters are given the traits of Humanity and Virtues.
While
only Vampires (and some Humans) have an awakened "Beast", in VTM based games, all characters are considered to have a Humanity rating and suffer from its loss. And I do mean *ALL* characters: vampires, ghouls, mortals, even the
Mummies. (In Vrev, the lupines are also listed as having Humanity ratings.)
When WTA was released there were no Humanity or Virtues listed on the character sheets. The game used the traits of Gnosis, Rage and Renown. Then
came Mage, again no Humanity or Virtues, nor Gnosis or Rage. for the Wraith games.
The same goes
How actions affect one's Humanity, is simply not a part of their game, and no record of its growth (or loss) is kept.
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---
The games may be designed to use the same card table and the same cards, but each has its own set of rules which "define" the game.
You can make a unified WoD (lots of people do), but it is mix-and-match.
You
can take various elements from the different games, but you have to leave some behind.
****************************************************************************** Section 27: Dragging Werewolf Cosmology into Vampire ******************************************************************************
27.0) Wolf boy says my vampire character smells wormy!
You mean "of the Wyrm".
This should not be a problem unless your doing a
crossover using the Garou Cosmology rules.
If I understand Ethan Skemp correctly, under WtA rules:
The Garou fight a Holy War against the Wyrm, the spiritual force of Corruption. The Garou see themselves as the earth's anti-bodies, seeking out
the minions of the Wyrm and destroying them.
Garou use the power "Sense Wyrm" to detect the taint of the Wyrm. using a Geiger-counter to detect radiation.
It is like
It detects both active radiation
sources, and the glow of those who were merely 'exposed' to a radiation source. Just as people passing too near Uranium can register as radioactive,
people passing too close to a source of Wyrm taint, also show up as tainted.
In a WtA game, Leeches (vampires) smell strongly of the Wyrm. the result of the nature of being undead.
The taint is
A newly Embraced vampire starts
with the same Wyrm taint as most mortals, but the vampire's undead nature (not
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necessarily the nature of his Beast) often leads him into committing atrocious activities that are quickly and increasingly Wyrm-tainting.
This taint has little to do with how poorly the vampire controls the Beast, its just the unwholesomeness of undeath. The other forms of undead also
register is Wyrm tainted: Zombies, Risen, Kuei-jin, high-Angst wraiths, BaneMummies, normal Mummies, and almost anything animated by Necromancy.
******************************************************************************
27.1) We are doing a crossover using Garou, what can the Vampires do about their Wyrm taint?
Wyrm-taint is a form of spiritual taint.
With a stringent-and-compassionate
enough code of ethics, it is possible for vampires to spiritually *purify* themselves.
We are talking about following certain Paths of Enlightenment. right Paths can slow, and even stop the spiritual tainting.
Following the
This does not
drive the taint away entirely, but the vampire can shove the remaining tainted spirit down into a thimble-sized portion deep inside where it won't show up on Gifts or the like.
The fact that deeply moral, compassionate, stringent behavior just happens to control the Beast is a cute frill, but not ultimately the point when it comes to suppressing Wyrm Taint. Some Paths deal very well at suppressing the
Beast, but doing so is not the same thing as suppressing the unwholesomeness of undeath.
******************************************************************************
27.2) Wait!
Why can a "Garou" kill humans and be doing good, while a
vampire who acts the exact same way is "Wyrm Tainted"?
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>From my understanding of the way it works...
In WtA cosmology, every creature has a role to play in nature: Wolves are wolves, Garou are Garou, and Humans are Humans.
Turning away from (or Falling from) one's role, opens oneself to corruption. Or to be more precise, he is opened to forms of corruption he was not originally designed to handle on a spiritual level.
Vampires are "Fallen" Humans.
In trying to play the literal role of predator,
leech or parasite, they open themselves to new forms of corruption they were not designed to deal with as humans.
******************************************************************************
27.3) OK, Which Paths of Enlightenment cure Vampires of the Wyrm?
Vampires with at least a Humanity 7, do not smell of the Wyrm.
Part of the
idea behind a Vampire following her Humanity (or the Path of Humanity) is being the "ideal" human, with an underlying theme of viewing mortals as human and not "juice bags" or cattle.
A few of the alternate Paths of Enlightenment can also decrease Wyrm taint, but not all Paths. A key element of de-Wyrming Paths is the recognition of Secondly, the Path must be both stringent
humans not as cattle but as people. and compassionate.
The Dark Age Road of Heaven has been recognized as an alternate Path that overcomes Wyrm taint. However, Humanity is the only Modern Road which is Most Modern "Paths" concentrate on dealing
considered to overcome Wyrm taint.
with the Beast, but overlook dealing with one's human side.
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This explains why Path/Road vampires (especially those who participate regularly in atrocities) often have high Wyrm taint - even if they have high Road ratings and total mastery of their Beast.
It is not the low Humanity aspect that "Sense Wyrm" detects, but low humanity vampires have a bad habit of doing wyrm-tainting things which are detectable.
---
A simplified game mechanic for determining if a Path handles Wyrm taint:
- Does it support both the Virtues of Conscience and Self-Control - Does it see mortals as "human" and not just another meal.
******************************************************************************
27.4)
Should my vampire know that Silver hurts werewolves?
In the Dark Ages, this was rare knowledge among the populace. vampires knew, but keep it a secret to increase its value. bartered the knowledge with other Elders.
Some Elder
Elders traded and
---
In the Modern Age, it depends.
Hollywood made the silver weakness famous, so But considering what they say about
every one now knows about the weakness.
vampires, how much would you trust Hollywood to get the story straight?
- Does silver kill or merely wound werewolves? - Does it affect *ALL* werewolves, or just some? - Does it have to be pure silver, or silver plated? - Will being armed with silver really make a difference? Against
a werewolf twice your height, and 5 times your strength?
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And
- the Storyteller can always decided the silver-weakness is a myth, changing it to something else. Perhaps it is bone-knifes (or any
weapon crafted from bone) which is another real world legend.
**************************************************************************
27.5) Is there a good reason why a vampire shouldn't be loaded down with silver weapons?
Pure silver ain't no good.
Silver is a soft metal and knives made from pure A knife made from a silver alloy (silver
silver will not hold a sharp edge.
mixed with another metal) could hold a sharpness, but such knives are special order items.
Most guns are designed with barrels with rifling for either lead bullets or lead bullets encased in a protective metal jacket. Silver bullets are likely
to melt due to the friction of traveling down the gun's rifled barrel.
Using silver bullets and automatic weapons is near impossible with out jamming. The high rate of fire would fill the barrel of the gun with the
melted silver residue, which would cool to form blockage.
Silver bullets using protective metal jackets should work; however these would be specialty items. Silver shot (for shot guns) is safe to use, but getting
the silver shot would be specialty item.
****************************************************************************** Section 28: Game Play - Character Creation ******************************************************************************
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28.0) How many Dots in Disciplines should Elder characters have?
New rules for designing NPC vampires, appear in CotN (pg.5-7).
- Start with the standard number of Dots for a Player character.
- add two Dots in Attributes for each century of unlife achieved. After five centuries this drops to only 1 Dot per century.
- Add five dots to Abilities for each century of unlife survived.
- The square root of the vampire's age determines how many Dots are distributed among his Disciplines.
The rest of the traits are largely determined by the what the character has allowed his life to become.
******************************************************************************
28.1) I'm having trouble playing Malkavians...
Here are some guidelines which should help:
The Malkav is a wonderful character, because he is the vampire with the "customized" weakness. The derangement is "personal", and doesn't have to That is a different aspect of the
reflect some hidden knowledge or insight. Clan as a whole.
If you think about it, you don't even have to worry about playing a "mental" derangement. The insane can believe anything. They can believe there is
something physically or supernaturally different about others or themselves.
Next, the deranged don't always know why they act or think the way they do.
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Your Malkavian doesn't have to know either.
He simply has to believe
something which binds his acts as seriously as a Clan weakness would.
So, I suggest "borrowing" a Claw weakness as the "manifestation" of your derangement. Or perhaps one of the 2 point or higher Flaws?
Imagine believing you had the "equivalent" of the Lasombra (no reflection), Nosferatu (hideous visage) or Samedi (your rotting) weakness. You act like a
normal person, who is always having to watch for mirrors in public, hiding his true appearance, or smearing himself with skin creams and sleeping surrounded by ice.
Next, with your Storyteller's help, conceal your character's derangement from the other players. Let it be a mystery for their characters to figure out.
******************************************************************************
28.2) Does Protean 4 have to be bat & wolf forms?
Protean 4 grants two different forms. flight, the other for fight.
As LS3 (pg.32) describes them, one for
I have taken this to mean the "take flight, or stay and fight" reflex, and not just a reference to the physical nature of the two forms. One form is meant
to be used to take a stand; to attack or counterattack. While the other form is meant to be used for a quick escape. Of course either form can be used for
other things: travel, spying, hunting, etc.
It goes on to say the forms can be localized (no special merit required. Over time the vampire can even change his forms. A Gangrel from India can replace However, he can only have
his tiger form with take of a North European wolf. two forms at a time. The old tiger form is lost.
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****************************************************************************** Section 29: Game Play - Questioning the 'Rules' ******************************************************************************
29.0) Why should Infrared cams notice a Vampire?
IMHO Vampires are dead
and so don't have a body temperature. They have the temperature of their environment.
Some cams notice the defection of heat.
They will notice the vampire as it
deflects (blocks) heat by passing between the cam and heat sources.
---
Also, while vampires may not generate their own body heat, they do retain body heat just like any other 'cold-blooded' animal or physical object. As a vamp
moves from a warm place to a cool place, its body temperature will change.
******************************************************************************
29.1) If a pregnant woman gets Embraced, what happens to the baby?
Well, two distinct possibilities exist. (VStH, pg.18)
First, and most likely, the pregnancy terminates immediately, causing a miscarriage, infant stillbirth, whatever, depending on how far along the mother had progressed in the pregnancy. Incidentally, this is also what
happens when a pregnant (and non-revenant) woman becomes a ghoul.
The second, less common event is a bit more horrifying. The fetus dies, as the mother dies to become a vampire, but remains forever in the mother's womb, a dead, static thing. Gross. It may even become a monstrous little vampire-fetus itself, perhaps gnawing its way from its mother's guts in a disgusting display of primal survival-urge. It will not grow, however; if it for some reason
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survives (some pervert vampire takes it an feeds it blood, whatever), it will be a mindless little beast-fetus-thing, creeping the hell out of whoever looks at it. Yuck. Just stomp on it and put it out of its misery.
******************************************************************************
29.2) Is it theoretically possible to diablerize one's Sire in the process of the Embrace?
This won't happen normally, but it is remotely possible.
The childe would
have to drink not only the Sire's vitae, but also all of his health levels. So, if the Sire had been wounded, and low on blood... yes.
******************************************************************************
29.3) Are you sure a vampire can only drop one generation at a time through Diablerie? No matter how old the victim?
Some Whitewolf source books appear to say "only" one drop in generation, yet they have characters listed that have dropped multiple generations.
The source book called "Awakening: Diablerie Mexico", makes the statement "the feeder advances (at least) one generation", implying that while Diablerie grants one drop in generation, it is possible to drop additional generations.
The most notable example of a vampire dropping more than one generation appears in WOD1. Montgomery Coven dropped from 11th to 6th, when he chanced If the
to find a pre-beaten, injured, near torporus, 4th generation vampire.
4th (named Mithras) had been healthy enough to respond to Coven's presence, Coven would have been the slurpee.
---
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VRev suggests only one drop in Generation, unless the differences between generations is high and/or the victim is ancient.
******************************************************************************
29.4) Can you store vampire blood for later use?
Yes, however, it loses some of its power after it is removed from the source vampire. It does retain enough strength to be used to feed ghouls or nourish
other vampires, but you can't Embrace with it.
---
The source book called "Awakening: Diablerie Mexico", talks of storing a vampire's blood in glass vials for later use, however the containers must first be washed with rainwater, and can not have been used for anything else. The vials of blood must be airtight. The blood loses its effectiveness five
seconds after the vial is opened (just enough time to drink it).
******************************************************************************
29.5) If it is so easy to store blood for later use, why did the Sabbat see fit to create a ritual, albeit first level, to store blood under similar circumstances?
The Sabbat Thaumaturgy Ritual is for storing mortal blood for later use. Ritual was created before refrigeration, and is useful as a form of blood storage that does not rely on keeping mortal blood cold.
This
The glass container storage method mentioned in section 29.4, is for storing the vitae of vampires for later use.
******************************************************************************
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29.6) Can a mortal can be 'embraced' by another mortal using just a scalpel and a vial of Vampire blood?
Under VRev rules, vitae starts becoming inert after you remove it from the source vampire. It does retain enough strength to be used to feed ghouls or
nourish other vampires, but you can't Embrace with it. (VStH pg.19-20)
The glass vial ritual described in section 29.4, may work to keep the vampire's blood fresh just long enough to Embrace with, but it would be a matter of seconds in timing.
****************************************************************************** Section 30: Cosmology - Umbra and the Underworld ******************************************************************************
30.0)
What is the Umbra?
(Making this as simple and short as possible...)
The Umbra is Whitewolf's take on introducing other dimensions, planes of existence, demi-planes, dream worlds and ghost lands.
---
Need more?
OK.....
When VTM was written, the Spirit World was the invisible world of spirits and auras. No fancy barriers or sidestepping. You just needed the right kind of
Discipline to interact with it.
Spirits were sort of like seeing ultra-violent coloring.
It is everywhere in
nature, but most humans need special "color conversion" lens to see it.
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Then came the other game systems:
Werewolf cosmology separates the Physical World and Spirit World.
The
werewolves claim they were once one world, but now are separated by a barrier called the Gauntlet. On one side of the barrier you have the material Earth, Werewolf
on the other side a Earth's spirit counterpart called the Penumbra.
Cosmology has the Penumbra filled with anima spirits, totem spirits, as well as animal, plant and elemental spirits.
Mage built upon the concept of the two worlds.
They expanded the spirit world The High Umbra
into three places: the High, Middle and Low Umbra realms.
being a place of the mind and concepts taken form, they call it the Astral Plane. The Middle Umbra being a place of spirits and nature, it is also known Both the High
as the Living Umbra and is the spiritworld used by werewolves.
& Middle umbra share the same Penumbra, but extend it into different directions. The Low Umbra was a place of decay.
Wraith expanded the Low Umbra into the Underworld, creating another spiritworld called the Shadowlands -- a sort of Penumbra just for the dead. It is separated from both the Living Penumbra and material Earth by a barrier called the Shroud. This umbra is also known as the Dark Umbra.
Kindred of the East then comes along. World, and adds the Yomi World.
It speaks of the Yang World, the Yin
It appears to call the Living Umbra the Yang It mentions the High Heavens as
World, and the Dark Umbra the Yin World. being rumor.
The Yomi world has been revealed to be an artifical place build Yomi floats between the
>from pieces taken from both the Yang and Yin worlds. two and connects them.
Changeling uses the Dreaming, which is like a separate, unrelated umbra, but it touches all the other umbras.
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Then there is the Periphery (Soft Umbra).
Its a sort of umbral mist which The barriers are more of
exists on the physical side of the umbra barriers.
the chainlink type of fence than brick wall, and stuff leaks through into the physical world. You can think of it as a thin fog of ephemeral, ectoplasm, dreamstuff, and ether, which normal cannot be seen, and most supernaturals ignore for the deeper waters of the Umbra.
Finally to add more confusion, The Book of Worlds mentions there are at least 10 different world (realm) systems interacting with Earth, not to mention the possible hybrid worlds created where two or more realms touch.
******************************************************************************
30.1) Are there any books on the Umbra?
White Wolf has several books dedicated to just the Umbra and those who dwell there. Most of the books are written for Mage and Werewolf as they their
games make use of the Umbra on a regular basis.
Some of the books dealing with the Umbra are:
- Umbra: The Velvet Shadow
(For Werewolf Cosmology)
- Beyond the Barriers: The Book of Worlds (For Mage Reality) - Axis Mundi: The Book of Spirits - The Spirit Ways (For Werewolf Cosmology) (For Mage Reality)
******************************************************************************
30.3) Can vampires enter the Umbra?
Yes.
The powers of Auspex, and various Disciplines of "Blood magic" interact with the Umbra in limited ways.
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Auspex sees into the Astral Plane and even allows astral travel.
Auspex 2 can While
be considered peeking into the same Penumbra used by Mage and Werewolf. Auspex 5 is projecting one's spirit into this Penumbra and traveling it.
However, Auspex (or at least the lower five levels) does not peek into or deal with the Shadowlands. This lets wraiths remain invisible unless they
physically manifest, or travel into the Penumbra were Auspex can see them.
The Book of Worlds (for Mage) has references to using Auspex and the spirit worlds. On page 10, it speaks of how vampires view the Penumbra. On page
186, has a chart of the powers that can be used to interact with the umbra.
In WOD:Mummy (1st ed.) a young vampire was astral projected into the "spirit world" by a Mummy's magic. umbra with aid of magic. It appears the spirit of a vampire can reach the
The Tal'mahe'Ra, had a ritual which they used to physically transform and transport vampires into the Tempest, a section of the Dark Umbra in which the legendary city of Enoch existed.
In their Clanbook the Tremere are revealed to use a ritual to physically travel through the Umbra.
Necromancy allows seeing into the Shadowlands, communication with the beings of this dark Umbra, and even physical travel into Shadowlands.
The Kolduns of the Dark Ages were known to enter the umbra and fight bane spirits.
As for the Dreaming, Vampires don't normally dream (you need a merit or flaw). However, Chimerstry and Mytherceria interacted with the Dreaming.
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30.3)
Do vampires have problems with the Umbra?
Yes.
WOD: Mummy (1st ed.) revealed that the astral projection (spirit) of vampires is stained black in the umbra. Almost a negative image. If you think of the
umbra as the Living Umbra glowing with energy, vampire are the consumers of life-energy. Always absorbing, never creating it.
If you use Werewolf cosmology, there is a species of spirit which likes to swarm vampires like mosquitos on a water buffalo. Called banes they can feed
on misery, and the dark emotions common to vampires.
There is no blood in the umbra. earth to fed.
Vampires traveling the umbra must return to
******************************************************************************
30.4)
Is the Malkavian Madness Network part of the Umbra, Digital Web, astral plane, etc.?
According to Daniel Greenberg, the original conception for the MMN was Malkav's consciousness descending into his clan. That way, the clan as a
whole would have consumed him, rather than him consuming them on the night of Gehenna. He was supposed to be the only antediluvian trying to save his clan.
As for what the current developers have made of the MMN, is un-revealed.
---
As for possible MMN manifests in relation to the Umbra...
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It is possible to view the Malkavian Madness Network is a telepathy based network using Malkav as the central hub. MMN to broadcast information. Auspex powers do exist which use the
Malkav's mind is said to be active on the Astral Plane.
So a place in the
High Umbra is possible, or just a thin hidden network of mental threads in the Penumbra.
However, the Mage source book the Digital Web 2.0, speaks of rumors of vampires in the Web with the term "Malkavian" appearing along with the rumors. Of course the Digital Web is rumored to exist in the Batini's realm of "Mt Qaf", maybe their mountain and the MMN are both hidden somewhere within?
But in the end, it is the ST's call.
****************************************************************************** Section 31: WOD Sources of Information
******************************************************************************
31.0) What are some good World Wide Web sites with Information for Vampire the Masquerade'.
Try these locations:
http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~adashiel/wod/wod.html
http://www.white-wolf.com
http://machno.hbi-stuttgart.de/Arcanum/
http://www.batcave.co.uk/darknight/
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31.1) Books of WOD Fiction
The World of Darkness: (White Wolf Fiction/White Wolf Publishing)
(WW 04800) (WW 04820) (WW 11001) (WW 11007) (WW 11018) (WW 11500) (WW 11501) (WW 11517)
Vampire Diary: "The Embrace" Prince of the City The Beast Within City of Darkness Unseen A Dozen Black Roses House of Secrets (WW 15000?)
On a Darkling Plain (WW 15001?) As One Dead
(WW 11695)
Book of the Kindred
(WW 11810) (WW 11811) (WW 11812)
Dark Destiny Dark Destiny: Proprietors of Fate Dark Destiny III: Children of Dracula
(WW 11868)
Dark Tyrants: A Vampire The Dark Ages Anthology
---
The World of Darkness-Vampire: (Harper Paperbacks)
(WW 5422) (WW 5670) (WW 5473) (WW 5674)
Dark Prince Blood on the Sun Netherworld Blood Relations
---
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Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy:
(WW 12400) (WW 12401) (WW 12402)
Blood War Unholy Allies The Unbeholden
(Volume 1) (Volume 2) (Volume 3)
---
The Grails Covenant:
(WW 11031) To Shift Through Bitter Ashes (Book 1) (WW 11032) To speak in Lifeless Tongues (WW 11033) To Dream of Dreamers Lost (Book 2) (Book 3)
---
Trilogy of the Blood Curse:
(WW 11081) The Devil's Advocate (Book One) (WW 11082) The Winnowing (WW 11083) Dark Prophecy (Book Two) (Book Three)
---
The 13 novel serial:
(WW 11100) Clan Novel: Toreador (WW 11101) Clan Novel: Tzimisce (WW 11102) Clan Novel: Gangrel (WW 11103) Clan Novel: Setite (WW 11104) Clan Novel: Venture (WW 11105) Clan Novel: Lasombra
(longest day, eternal night) (the doorway to depravity) (as humanity fades...) (snake eyes) (the halls of power) (a cathedral of shadows)
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(WW 11107) Clan Novel: Assamites (WW 11106) Clan Novel: Ravnos
(Night of the Assassin) (enter knave, smiling)
******************************************************************************
31.2)
Non WOD books
While most do not take place in the WOD, these books of fiction and horror have that special flavor... the way the characters act, the way the powers are presented ... they shows how a good VTM story could be written.
---
A very well written 'Vampire by Gaslight' series, set in the 1800's.
Those Who Hunt the Night, Traveling With the Dead,
by Barbara Hambly by Barbara Hambly
---
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series.
Imagine a world in which the vampires
have no Masquerade, the were-critters really are created by infection, and raising Zombies is a legal and public profession.
Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse,
by Laurell K. Hamilton by Laurell K. Hamilton
Circus of the Damned, by Laurell K. Hamilton The Lunatic Cafe, Bloody Bones, The Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Blue Moon, by Laurell K. Hamilton by Laurell K. Hamilton by Laurell K. Hamilton by Laurell K. Hamilton by Laurell K. Hamilton
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---
Near Death,
by Nancy Kilpatrick
---
Nancy Collins wrote a three book series for White Wolf Publishing, about a vampire called Sonja Blue. The original three books did not take place in the They have been collected under the
WOD, but in the dark world of Sonja Blue. single title of "Midnight Blue".
The three original books were:
Sunglasses After Dark, In The Blood, Paint It Black,
by Nancy Collins by Nancy Collins by Nancy Collins
(WW 13000)
Midnight Blue: The Sonja Blue Collection
With her fourth book she decided to do a crossover into the WOD.
While she It not
uses many of the WOD elements, one must remember this is hybrid world. pure WOD, nor was it ever intended to be.
(WW 11018)
A Dozen Black Roses (hardback)
******************************************************************************
31.3)
WOD Gaming and Source books
For those wanting to know which source books are available, I have compiled a list of vampire source books, fiction, and a few source books from the other systems which contain information that the Storyteller or player can use to for those odd chronicles, characters or crossover games.
White Wolf has a coding system which aides in identifying which system a book
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was intended for. multiple systems. system.
Some books do not fit neatly, or were meant to be used by The paperback books of fiction seem to use a different
List of the codes used for Source book: WW 1xxx WW 2xxx WW 3xxx WW 4xxx WW 5xxx WW 6xxx Ars Magica (no longer handled by WW) Vampire: the Masquerade Werewolf: the Apocalypse Mage: the Ascension Mind's Eye Theater Wraith: the Oblivion
YotH = Year of the Hunter series YotA = Year of the Ally series YotL = Year of the Lotus series YotR = Year of the Reckoning series YoRe = Year of Revelations
Note: the shorthand listed is not 100% standard. alternate system. these tricks:
Some players use an
If you can't identify a book using the shorthand used, try
1) Many prefer a three-letter-only system, and drop small words such as 'the' and 'of' when shorting long names that would become 4 or 5 letters. Some keep the beginning T' of THE
to expand two letters names to three.
2) Others prefer the word 'Storyteller' to be two letters (i.e. StHS instead of SHS for Storyteller Handbook to the Sabbat.)
3) Many supplements don't have a standard set of shorthand letters. Either the first name has been enough, or the book needs to named almost fully before being recognized.
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4) If this does work, ask him what he is talking about.
Vampire: The Masquerade:
(WW 2000) (WW 2001) VTM (WW 2002) (WW 2003)
Vampire: the Masquerade
(1st Ed.)
The Storyteller's Screen (1st Ed.) Vampire: the Masquerade (2nd Ed.)
The Storyteller's Screen (2nd Ed.)
VRev VStC GTTC GTTS
(WW 2300) (WW 2301) (WW 2302) (WW 2303)
Vampire: The Masquerade
(revised edition)
Vampire Storytellers Companion/with screen Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Sabbat
ADM WoD:HK BH:DB
(WW 2005) (WW 2009) (WW 2010)
Awakening: Diablerie Mexico World of Darkness: Hong Kong Bloody Hearts: Diablerie Britain (YotL)
Inquisit (WW 2020) GFA WoA CotN RotDM (WW 2021) (WW 2022) (WW 2023) (WW 2024)
The Inquisition
(YotH)
Ghouls: Fatal Addiction (YotA) War of Ages Children of the Night Revelations of the Dark Mother (reprint of WW 2207 and WW 2233)
Cb:Br Cb:Ga Cb:Ma Cb:No PGS Cb:To Cb:Tr Cb:Ve
(WW 2051) (WW 2052) (WW 2053) (WW 2054) (WW 2055) (WW 2056) (WW 2057) (WW 2058)
Clanbook: Brujah Clanbook: Gangrel Clanbook: Malkavian Clanbook: Nosferatu The Player's Guide to the Sabbat Clanbook: Toreador Clanbook: Tremere Clanbook: Ventrue
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Cb:As Cb:Se Cb:Tz Cb:La Cb:Gi Cb:Ra
(WW 2059) (WW 2060) (WW 2061) (WW 2062) (WW 2063) (WW 2064)
Clanbook: Assamite Clanbook: Setite Clanbook: Tzimisce Clanbook: Lasombra Clanbook: Giovanni Clanbook: Ravnos
GC1:TLS GC2:B&F GC3:ShS GC4:NM
(WW 2090) (WW 2091) (WW 2096) (WW 2097)
Giovanni Chronicles Giovanni Chronicles
I: The Last Supper II: Blood & Fire
Giovanni Chronicles III: The Sun has Set Giovanni Chronicles IV: Nuova Malattia
AH ToTB AtA BB SC MbN BMST
(WW 2100) (WW 2101) (WW 2102) (WW 2103) (WW 2104) (WW 2105) (WW 2106)
Alien Hunger Time of Thin Blood (YotR) Ashes to Ashes Blood Bond Succubus Club Milwaukee by Night Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy
CbN1 CbN2 VPG THH VPG TAC NObN LAbN DCbN DC BbN MobN
(WW 2201) (WW 2203) (WW 2204) (WW 2205) (WW 2206) (WW 2207) (WW 2209) (WW 2210) (WW 2211) (WW 2212) (WW 2214) (WW 2216)
Chicago by Night (1st Ed.) Chicago by Night (2st Ed.) The Player's Guide (1st Ed., soft cover) The Hunters Hunted The Player's Guide (2nd Ed., Hardback) The Anarch Cookbook New Orleans by Night Los Angeles by Night D.C. by Night Dark Colony - New England area Berlin by Night Montreal by Night
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WOD1 WoD:M StH WoD:G Mummy WOD2 WoD:DHX
(WW 2220) (WW 2221) (WW 2222) (WW 2223) (WW 2224) (WW 2226) (WW 2227)
A World of Darkness A World of Darkness: Mummy The Storytellers Handbook World of Darkness: Gypsies World of Darkness: Mummy World of Darkness
(1st Ed.) (1st Ed.)
(2nd Ed.) (2nd Ed.)
World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X (YotL)
KMW
(WW 2230) (WW 2231)
The Kindred Most Wanted Diablerie Prince's Primer Elysium: The Elders Wars Chicago Chronicles 1 (reprint WW2201, WW2104) Chicago Chronicles 2 (reprint WW2203, WW3102) Chicago Chronicles 3 (WW2102, WW2103, WW2105) (reprint WW2005, WW2010)
PP Elysium CC1 CC2 CC3
(WW 2232) (WW 2233) (WW 2234) (WW 2235) (WW 2236)
CotI
(WW 2250)
Who's Who among Vampires: The Children of the Inquisition
BON
(WW 2251) (WW 2252)
Book of Nod Tim Bradstreet Vampire Artfolio Storytellers Handbook to the Sabbat
StHS
(WW 2255)
NoP
(WW 2265)
Nights of Prophecy
Dark Age books:
VDA
(WW 2800) (WW 2801)
Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Storytellers Screen Vampire: The Dark Ages Book of Storyteller Secrets Constantinople by Night Vampire: The Dark Ages Companion Clanbook: Cappadocian
BSS CobN DAC Cb:Ca
(WW 2802) (WW 2803) (WW 2804) (WW 2805)
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LLL LS1 TrbN TP:SS CoW TC1 TC2 TC3 TC4 LS2
(WW 2806) (WW 2807) (WW 2808) (WW 2809) (WW 2810) (WW 2811) (WW 2812) (WW 2813) (WW 2814) (WW 2815)
Liege, Lord, and Lackey (YotA) Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Transylvania by Night Three Pillars: A Society Source book Clash of Wills (A story for VDA.) Transylvania Chronicles 1: Dark Tides Rising Transylvania Chronicles 2: Son of the Dragon Transylvania Chronicles 3: Ill Omens Transylvania Chronicles 4: The Dragon Ascendant Libellus Sanguinis 2: Masters of the Word
Cb:Ba
(WW 2817)
Clanbook: Baali
WotS Cb:Sa LS3
(WW 2820) (WW 2822) (WW 2823)
Wolves of the Sea Clanbook: Salubri Wolves at the Door
FoBC TAK
(WW 2825) (WW 2826)
Fountains of Bright Crimson The Ashen Knight
Eastern Source books for VTM:
KotE KoEC 10KH
(WW 2900) (WW 2901) (WW 2902)
Kindred of the East Kindred of the East Companion The 1000 Hells
Other books the ST may want to use:
BN
(AG 2917)
Blood Nativity
(by Atlas Games)
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PTw
(WW 3064)
Project Twilight (YotH) Outcasts: A Players Guide to Pariahs (Caitiffs) Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori World of Darkness: Midnight Circus Under a Blood Red Moon Dark Alliance Vancouver Book of the Wyrm Caerns: Places of Power Umbra:The Velvet Shadow World of Darkness: Combat World of Darkness: Blood Dimmed Tides
Outcasts (WW 3065) FL:PGF WOD:MC UBRM DAV BotW Caerns Umbra WoD:C BDT (WW 3066) (WW 3068) (WW 3102) (WW 3103) (WW 3200) (WW 3201) (WW 3204) (WW 3206) (WW 3350)
WWtDA
(WW 3800)
Werewolf: The Dark Ages (Vampire and Werewolf)
HoA WOD:S DW2 TSW CF DSBH
(WW 4009) (WW 4010) (WW 4016) (WW 4043) (WW 4101) (WW 4210)
The Halls of the Arcanum (YotH) World of Darkness: Sorceror Digital Web 2.0 The Spirit Ways The Chaos Factor Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand
Q&D Mediums WOD:T NecA
(WW 6008) (WW 6102) (WW 6103) (WW 6200)
The Quick & the Dead (YotH) Mediums: Speakers with the Dead (YotA) World of Darkness: Tokyo (YotL) Necropolis: Atlanta
Mind's Eye Theatre:
(WW 5000) (WW 5001) (WW 5002) (WW 5003)
The Masquerade (1st Ed.) Book of the Damned The Masquerade Player's Kit Masquerade: The Book of Props
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(WW 5005) (WW 5006) (WW 5007)
Laws of the Night Liber Des Goules (The Book of Ghouls) (YotA) Laws of the Wild (The Apocalypse 2nd ed.)
(WW 5013)
Laws of the Night (VRev ed.)
(WW 5200) (WW 5201) (WW 5300)
The Masquerade (2nd Ed.) Playbook: The Elder's Revenge The Apocalypse (Werewolf)
(WW 5401)
Mind's Eye Theatre Journal: Issue 1
(WW 4501) (WW 4502) (WW 4503)
The Oblivion (Wraith) Antagonists (YotH)
Elder's Oppression
****************************************************************************** Section 32: Classic Stuff
******************************************************************************
32.0)
Ever heard of Varney the Vampire?
Between 1846 and 1847, James Malcolm Rymer wrote a 868 page "penny dreadful" serial starring a vampire by the name of Sir Franis Varney. The ongoing
serial was known as "Varney the Vampyre; or The Feast of Blood".
The more famous Count Dracula, wouldn't be penned for another 50 year (written by Bram Stoker in 1897.) Many of the elements from Rymer's Varney can be found in Dracula.
The text for the series (all 237 chapters) can be found on the WEB at "www.comclin.net/humphrey/varney".
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32.1)
Have you seen this Nosferatu?
If you can find it, look for the 1922 silent film called "Nosferatu".
Starring Max Shreck as the vampire, this was an early adaptation of Dracula. However, due to legal problems (trademarks I believe) the film was released under the title of "Nosferatu" with the vampire named Count Orlock.
This vampire never turns into a bat or wolf, but does have (in WoD terms) Potence, Obfuscate, Animalism, and Celerity.
Unlike other movie adaptions the vampire is a pale, bald head, and has rat like fangs. A somewhat tall creature, his back appears bent with age. The
vampire's monstrous appearance partly borrows from Romanian beliefs, but he also was presented as not being an "ageless" vampire. centuries old, and looked his age. He was several
There was a remake of Nosferatu in 1979.
This new version was available in
either German or English (or as a box set of both.)
******************************************************************************
32.2)
The other Dracula of 1931.
Everyone has seen "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi, right?
Now how would you like to see another Dracula movie. film sets and identical scripts? speaking Spanish?
One using the EXACT same
Oh, and did I mention that everyone is
When Dracula was filmed, Universal Studios had two versions created.
The
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first was was the well known English version which was shot by day.
At night
a cast of Spanish speaking actors used the same sets to film a Spanish version of the movie.
If you want to see it, Universal City Studios has released the movie on video with English Subtitles. Look for the:
"The Special Spanish Version of Dracula"
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