Clans in Vampire: The Masquerade
In White Wolf Game Studio's role-playing game Vampire: the Masquerade, a clan (often spelled Clan, with capitalization) is a group of vampires "related" by blood; i.e. the vampiric equivalent of an extended family or lineage. A clan is usually a large group, acknowledged widely in the vampiric society, and not a small offshoot (which is called a bloodline).
It is assumed that each clan descended from a single progenitor (called Antediluvians in Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Dark Ages, who passed to each of his descendants, or childer, his unique gifts and flaws. However, in the original World of Darkness, it is also assumed that each of these Antediluvians came from a common source: commonly accepted to be Caine, the first [...].
The Book of Nod names certain clans as the original thirteen; the Kingship Clan (Ventrue), the Clan of the Beast (Gangrel), the Moon Clan (Malkavian), the Clan of the Hidden (Nosferatu), the Wanderer Clan (Ravnos), the Clan of the Rose (Toreador), the Night Clan (Lasombra), the Clan of Shapers (Tzimisce), the Snake Clan (Setites), the Clan of Death (Cappadocians), the Healer's Clan (Salubri), the Clan of the Hunt (Assamites) and the Learned Clan (Brujah). Other fragments have alluded to the possibility of there being other clans who did not survive into the final NiGHTS.
Each clan within a domain will send a representative, called a Primogen, who is usually the eldest and most powerful member of the clan, to attend the prince's advisory council.
Clans
Clan |
Progenitor |
Disciplines |
Weakness |
Sect allegiance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Assamite |
Haqim |
Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus |
all members give a 10 percent blood tithe to their sire. Each Blood Point from another Kindred that somehow enters an Assamite's system inflicts one Health Level of non-aggravated wounds before it is purged. |
Mostly an Independent clan, antitribu in the Sabbat, Schismatics in the Camarilla. Highly variable clan, containing castes of Warriors, Viziers, and Sorcerers. They are no longer the stereotyped "Middle Eastern Assassins". |
Brujah |
Troile/Ilyes |
Celerity, Potence, Presence |
The difficulty for frenzy rolls is always two higher than the number listed. |
Mostly Camarilla, antitribu in the Sabbat; most Brujah are descendants of Troile, who supposedly diablerized Ilyes; the remaining vampires of the so-called True Brujah clan are practically extinct. The Brujah are warriors and brutes, idealists and iconoclasts. |
Followers of Set |
Set or Typhon |
Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis |
Add two health levels to any damage inflicted by exposure to the sun. Followers of Set also subtract one from all dice pools while in overly bright light (Spotlights, Magnesium flares, etc.). |
Mostly an Independent clan. Exist as Serpents of the Light in the Sabbat; this is the proper term for a Followers of Set antitribu. The two factions do not get along because of ideological differences. Known for being corruptors, sometimes in their secret endeavor to awaken Set. |
Gangrel |
Ennoia |
Animalism, Fortitude, Protean |
the player of a Gangrel character must pick a new animal feature each and every time the character frenzies. For every five animal features gained, the player must lower one of the character's Social Attributes by one. |
Mostly an Independent clan since they abandoned the Camarilla en masse. They are known as a feral clan that hunts in the wild. Antitribu in the Sabbat. |
Giovanni |
Augustus Giovanni |
Dominate, Necromancy, Potence |
The Giovanni Kiss causes excruciating pain in mortals, which keeps them from feeding on the living with ease. |
Independent, necromancers. They mainly consist of members of the same family. Other families have been added over their time. They have close ties to organized crime as well. Most don't want to try and find out any more. |
Lasombra |
Lasombra |
Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence |
Lasombra vampires cast no reflections. They cannot be seen in mirrors, bodies of water, reflective windows, polished metals, photographs and security cameras, etc. This curious anomaly even extends to the clothes they wear and objects they carry. Additionally, due to their penchant for darkness, Lasombra take an extra level of damage from sunlight. |
Mostly Sabbat, rulers of the sect. Their power over shadows is unnerving to most as well as the fact that, unlike other vampires, they don't cast a reflection. Some Lasombra do cast a reflection but it is of a decomposing corpse or a skeleton depending on how long the Lasombra has been a vampire. A few antitribu in the Camarilla. |
Malkavian |
Malkav |
Auspex, Dominate (or Dementation), Obfuscate |
All members of this clan have a permanent derangement, chosen at character creation, that cannot ever be completely overcome. |
Mostly Camarilla. Known for their insanity and most other vampires don't talk with them unless they must. Aside from their insanity, Malkavians are privy to immense insight into things that would otherwise be unknown. These insights sometimes surface in whispers emanating from (but not spoken by) other Kindred. Antitribu in the Sabbat. (Evidence exists to suggest, though, that the antitribu are in fact the Camarialla Malkavians, while the true clan joined the Sabbat.) |
Nosferatu |
Absimilliard |
Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence |
Nosferatu are so ugly that they have an Appearance of zero. Nosferatu fail any action that involves their Appearance. |
Mostly Camarilla, antitribu in the Sabbat. Gatherers of knowledge and information. If a vampire wants information, they go to the Nosferatu — if they can find them. When a human becomes a Nosferatu, they undergo a horrid transformation and appear hideous in the end. Sometimes it is like Count Orlok from the movie Nosferatu. Unlike Tzimisce, they don't choose what they look like as no two Nosferatu have the same abnormalities. It is said that Nosferatu affected by a Tzimisce's Fleshcrafting Discipline "heal" back to their original disfigured shape over time. Nosferatu take any chance they can get to disgust Toreadors with their appearance and actions. They usually live in the sewers and elaborate secret tunnels. |
Ravnos |
Dracian (also called Zapathasura) |
Animalism, Chimerstry, Fortitude |
Each has a specific area of thievery and deception in which she is especially interested, and practices it every chance she gets. in fact, a Ravnos must make a Self-Control roll (difficulty 6) not to perform her crime of choice when the opportunity presents itself. |
Mostly an Independent clan of thieves and tricksters, they are known as the Gypsy clan. Antitribu in the Sabbat. |
Toreador |
Arikel or Ishtar |
Auspex, Celerity, Presence |
They are often overcome by the beauty they see around them, and become immobilized with fascination requiring a successful Willpower roll to break the fascination quickly; otherwise, the Toreador will stand, awed and helpless, for minutes or even hours. |
Mostly Camarilla. Toreadors are more in touch with Kine than any other vampire clan. They are artists and lovers of beauty. Most don't have the ability to lead like the Ventrue or Tremere but are content to drink in the finer things of life that most Kindred don't care for. antitribu in the Sabbat. |
Tremere |
Tremere |
Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy |
Tremere neonates must all drink from the blood of the seven elders of the clan when they are created. This means that all Tremere are at least one step toward being Blood Bound to the clan. |
A tightly hierarchical clan in the Camarilla, very few Sabbat members, but the real antitribu-bloodline was completely destroyed by a ritual. Their hatred for the Tzimisce knows no bounds. Their hatred for the Tzimisce is born from the Tzimisce's hatred for Tremere. The human mage Tremere, used the Tzimisce Antediluvian in a blood ritual to make himself into a vampire. The Thaumaturgy discipline was born from this combination of Vampire power and human magic. Tremere attained the rank of Antediluvian when he diablerized Saulot, progenitor of clan Salubri. Their rituals and blood magic makes them most feared. |
Tzimisce |
[Referred to only as "The Eldest"] |
Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude |
Each time the Tzimisces sleep, they must surround themselves with at least two handfuls of earth from a land important to them as mortals (usually their homeland or the graveyard where they underwent their Creation Rites). If they fail to do this, they cannot rest in peace and lose half their dice Pools from all actions every 24 hours until down to one die; this weakened state continues until they rest amid their special soil once again. |
Sabbat, Tzimisce outside the sect are extremely rare. Their hatred for the Tremere knows no bounds. Their ability to shape the flesh and bone of others makes them most feared. Only a Nosferatu could not be disgusted with their appearance and practice of using their power over flesh and bone on themselves. If this ability is used on Nosferatu their body will eventually revert back to its previous state. Members of the so-called Old Clan Tzimisce claim independence from the Sabbat. |
Ventrue |
Veddhartha |
Dominate, Fortitude, Presence |
The player must pick a restriction on the type of blood her character can feed upon, e.g. only young men, no animals, only virgins, etc. The character receives no benefit from the consumption of any other type of blood. |
Mostly Camarilla, they are known to be nobility, natural leaders, and business-oriented individuals who are in charge of many aspects of power and society. They are the founders and generally leaders of the Camarilla. Antitribu in the Sabbat. |
Names in brackets are placeholders for the unknown real names of the progenitors.
Augustus Giovanni was the patriarch of a wealthy family of necromancers, who stole the power of the Cappadocians.
Tremere was a powerful mage who stole the power of the sleeping Saulot.
Bloodlines
It is worth noting that not all vampires belong to one of the major clans, some belong to smaller familial groupings of vampires, called Bloodlines. While some bloodlines are descended from the great clans, others origins are more mysterious and obscure.
Clanless
In the World of Darkness, there is an increasing number of "clanless"—vampires who were abandoned by their sires immediately following the Embrace and who are ignorant of their clan status; a vampire cannot choose to become clanless. They are called Caitiff by the Camarilla, and are regarded as a sign of the Masquerade spiraling out of control, therefore gaining little respect from their elders. The Sabbat, on the other hand, gladly embraces the clanless (which they call Pander) into the sect. The more superstitious see the growing numbers of these vampires as an omen of the coming Gehenna, the Final Nights of prophecy when all children of Caine will be destroyed.
The Tremere
Unlike other clans, the Tremere of Vampire: The Masquerade did not all descend from a single progenitor. Rather, they were mages that used the blood of Tzimisce to become vampires. The wizard Tremere then gained the status of an Antediluvian by performing diablerie on Saulot, the Antediluvian father of the Salubri clan. Despite this, the Tremere are still considered a clan by most modern-day vampires, presumably because of their usefulness to the Camarilla.
New World of Darkness
For the clans that appear in the vampire game for The New World of Darkness, Vampire: The Requiem, see Clans in Vampire: The Requiem.
Links
- NPC clan gallery NPC (non-player character) gallery with examples of characters of every clan
- White Wolf Wiki - Clan (VTM)
ru:Клан (Мир Тьмы)