Vampire Facts

(These are things that are presented throughout the White Wolf books that have nothing to do with stats or rules but are represented in the stories and excerpts that are found throughout. They are very real considerations that should always be kept in mind when playing a vampire.) Vampires are NOT human. From the moment of their awakening following the embrace, they are profoundly aware that they are different. It is more than just facts such as lack of heartbeat, pulse, or warmth. It is a complete physiological change that can be felt from the first few seconds and stays with them their entire unlives. Some of the more mundane aspects of this difference are: 1) Your organs and glands, including your heart, do NOT work. Therefore you do not breathe, eat, sigh, swallow, blink, fart, or pee. Remember this when you are playing - 'She sighs and says' is WRONG. You do need to draw in air when you speak, but that is not the same as breathing, and that spoken breath will not steam on cold winter air, because 2) Your blood does not circulate, and your cells do not burn energy, therefore you are COLD to the touch. Only the unobservant will fail to notice this even when just shaking hands. A freshly fed vampire will be somewhat warm for up to an hour, provided they consumed a LOT of blood in the feeding (as in a whole person, 8 to 10 pints, or 8 to 10 BP). If it was only a small amount (a pint or two, meaning 1 or 2 BP) then it makes no difference - you're cold. At best a vampire will feel room temperature, about an average of 70F or 20c, nearly 30% colder than a normal human being. 3) You do not have saliva or any other bodily fluid. The only way to mimic these things is to force blood through the appropriate tissues. All orifices of a vampire are normally dry unless recently lubricated with blood. That means that any contact with these orifices for another person is either a) dry and cold, or b) bloody and cold. Think about that before you kiss, or whatever. 4) The outer tissues of a vampire's body are unusually dry compared to humans, since all endocrine systems have ceased functioning. This means that fire is a real fear for them. A burn for a human is a blistering and cracking of the skin under heat. For a vampire a burn means CATCHING ON FIRE! A vampire can be as easily ignited as the wick of a candle, even with a common match or lighter. The only way to prevent this, as in the Sabbat firedances, is to waste precious vitae (at least a BP) to force blood to near the surface of the skin, and even then it is a risky undertaking. Therefore vampires do NOT smoke or play with matches except with extreme caution. 5) The feeling of being 'tired' for humans arises from a buildup of what are called 'fatigue poisons' in the system. These are waste byproducts in the cells and blood that come from cellular activity, and once they reach a certain level, they impair function and the body shuts down to clean them out. These are the same chemicals that cause 'muscle burn' when exercising. Since a vampire's cells do not function and burn nothing, no such poisons are produced. Therefore a vampire NEVER feels tired or fatigued (save perhaps mentally, which is psychological, not physical). From sundown to sunrise, you are at your peak. You never experience fatigue, aches, stiffness, muscle cramps, or any other side effect of activity. You feel 100% at all times as long as you have a sufficient amount of blood in your system.

6) The vampire body no longer requires human food or drink. It gains no nourishment from these things, and by consequence it will not react to them with feelings of longing when they are present. Food does not smell good any longer, except in purely psychological ways. The vampire body DOES require blood, however, HUMAN blood. Therefore, humans smell like FOOD. No vampire needs to be told the difference between a vampire and a mortal under normal conditions, one strong whiff of either one and the Hunger will supply the answer. 7) Speaking of scent - the human body produces scent in dozens of different ways, from hair oil to sweat to breath to less savory means. The entire combination of scents produces a unique signature smell, just like in any other animal. Vampires have none of these means of producing scent, but it does not mean they are without a distinct smell. Most importantly they would smell like BLOOD, especially near their mouth and nose, and they would smell like the environments in which they spend their time. Foreign scents like smoke and incense still cling to them normally, and if they wear perfumes or use common toiletries like shampoo, then all these smells combined will form a unique scent for each vampire. 8) Last but not least - a vampire's skin is unusually pale and smooth (unless they are of a clan that specifically makes it otherwise). The paleness comes from the fact that there is no blood circulating near the surface. The smoothness comes from the same effect that is observed in corpses where the skin takes on a smooth and waxy feel shortly after death. It is possible for a vampire to waste vitae and make themselves appear more human, but they would not be inclined to do this except when hunting or when absolutely necessary. (Some vampires have the 'Eat Food' merit which allows them to mimic consuming human food, but at some point in the evening they have to throw it back up again, because they do NOT digest it in any way, and it does NOT pass through them. Some also have the 'Blush of Health' merit that makes you appear somewhat more human, and your skin is only slightly cool to the touch, it does NOT mean you breathe or your heart beats. Vampires do 'swallow' blood, but this is a muscular effort of the body akin to a vacuum cleaner, not an effort of the throat. This is why a strength roll is involved to diablerize, the final bit of vitae requires more 'pull' then the rest.) Taking all of these things into consideration, it becomes easy to see that a vampire would be unable to delude themselves into thinking they are still human. The fact that their body just doesn't react the way it used to in SO many different ways would make any attempt at pretending to be mortal a waste of time and a source of inevitable frustration. But those were just the MUNDANE aspects of the change. A vampire awakens from the embrace feeling very different than they did in their last moments of life. They are no longer in cooperation with their body in many ways, they are now in complete command of it, save for the Hunger. A vampire awakens feeling stronger, faster, keener of sense and mind, than they ever felt in life. This part of the change is not necessarily represented in any stat changes, but it is nonetheless true for ANY vampire. In many practical ways they ARE superior to their former mortal selves. Consider strength as an example. The human body does not have a set strength capability, it has a limit that is defined by health, preparation, level of fatigue, and a dozen other attributes that make the actual limit of any person's strength a fluid and nebulous thing. There are large men that lift heavy weights in competition professionally that have lifted as much as 700 lb. (320 kg) ONCE in a bench press. But when they are forced to do many lifts in a short period of time, what they can lift drops to around 500 lb. (225 kg) or less. This falls back to the fatigue poisons and activity impairment. It is functionally impossible for a human being to work at their MAXIMUM capacity for more than a few tasks at most. Now, consider the vampire - they have no impairment that prevents them from using their maximum potential in every task if they so desire. So it is possible for a vampire to exert themselves completely in

feats of strength, making them SEEM to be up to twice as strong as they used to be. This has no effect on the upper limit of their strength, which doesn't change until they learn Potence, it simply means that they can operate at that limit all night, without ever getting tired. Likewise a vampire will SEEM to be twice as fast on their feet as they used to be when they are forced to run. Why? Because the average human can sprint for a few seconds at a speed roughly twice what they can maintain in an extended run. After those few seconds, the muscular fatigue forces them to slow down. Another factor in running is cardiovascular fitness, if your lungs are out of shape or impaired in any way, they can't supply oxygen as fast as the muscles need it, and the muscles slow down. Vampires do not breathe, and never suffer fatigue, therefore their running speed is in essence their sprint. Around 12 mph (19 kph) for the average reasonably fit human of average size. What about the senses? Why would they be better? This is a bit more nebulous, but in the case of the big three (sight, hearing, and sense of smell) relatively easy to explain. Sight - human eyes dry out when they stare, they water, and they are irritated by various elements in the air quite easily. Combine these things with eyestrain, blinking, and a dozen other factors, and you will see that focusing sharply and totally is difficult at best for the human eye. Since none of these considerations apply to the vampire, it is also easy to see why they would seem to experience clearer and sharper sight. Hearing - this one is even simpler. The human body produces a great deal of 'white noise' that we simply become accustomed to, and usually don't even register hearing - heartbeat, pulse, fluid shifting, breathing, etc. Everything they hear is strained through this web of noise produced by their own physiology, much like listening to one person at a party. When all of that noise is removed, it suddenly becomes obvious that the person they are listening to is actually shouting. So too does the vampiric ear SEEM to be more keen, simply because all the 'white noise' is gone. Sense of smell - humans receive scent data from molecules in the air that they breathe in. Simple enough. But they breathe OUT again almost as quickly, by necessity, and therefore reduce the amount of sensory input they can get from any one breath (this is the reasons that animals, especially dogs, breath shallowly and rapidly when scenting, they cram as much as they can as quickly as they can into their nose, with a minimum of exhalation). Since vampires don't breathe out - well, you can see where this is going. These factors add to the inhuman and unnatural sense that vampires have of themselves, but they are by no means the largest indicators that they have changed. One factor remains, and within it are many attributes that combine to make the BLOOD the largest and most pressing sign of the new vampire's status. The Blood is everything to a vampire. It is every meal, every breath, every thought, every feeling, every action they have ever or will ever take. It is their first, last, and only requirement, their best friend, and at times their worst enemy. Without it they simply cease to exist. The Blood is their power, their drug, their means to live and their reason for living. The Blood brings with it the Hunger, and lurking behind the Hunger is the Beast that all vampires fear to some extent. The Blood, which vampires call 'vitae', infuses their entire body. It takes the place of their nervous system, but it doesn't flow the way human blood does. It's simply there, to be used as needed. It allows them to move, to feel, to think, and to do things no mortal could dream of. It is the most precious thing in existence to a vampire. They never waste it, and they use it carefully, because getting more isn't exactly easy. If they run low through exertion or stupidity, they begin to battle the Hunger, that driving need to have more before it's too late. The Hunger is not a sensation like human hunger or thirst, it is more akin to the drive for self-preservation in an animal, that instinct that will cause a wolf to gnaw off it's own foot to escape a trap, the same kind of drive that will cause even the tiniest creature to turn and bite

viciously when trapped. The unthinking, unreasoning, uncaring need to survive. Woe to the vampire that let's the Hunger get too strong, because then the Beast takes over, and that Hunger is personified. A vampire in Frenzy will gladly rip the head off their own lover to drink from the fountain of their gushing neck, they would rend their own children in half to get at the blood hidden in their small bodies. NOTHING is more important to the Beast than survival. Nothing. The average human finds drinking blood somewhat distasteful, except where culturally tolerated or encouraged, but to the vampire blood is more than just a necessity. It is more potent and delicious than the most powerful drug or the finest of meals. Nothing can compare to the all-consuming ecstasy a vampire feels when drinking, or the high that stays with them long after the meal is finished. It is a permanent and absolute addiction that instantly becomes the center of their lives. A vampire never treats blood lightly unless they have gorged themselves to the point of bursting, and they can never ignore it. Even the thin trickle from a mortal's cut finger sings a siren call to the senses of a vampire, distracting them, drawing their attention. Open bleeding has been known to drive vampires into a feeding frenzy, they simply can't help themselves. They can smell blood in a room the same way a human being can smell dinner cooking, and they never fail to take notice. Vampires face a problem in this, however, due to the world they live in. Getting the blood they need is generally socially unacceptable, and they must be careful in how they go about it, lest they wake up with a stake in their chest in time to see the ax descending on their neck. If they want to maintain absolute secrecy, they have to hunt carefully, lure potential meals away from spectators, take what they need but not enough to endanger life, then somehow hide the fact of what they've done from the mortal as well. Some vampires are blessed with powers of the mind to accomplish this, others have to rely on subterfuge and wits to get by. If they DO kill their victim, there's the question of disposing of a bloodless corpse. A particularly active vampire may have to spend half the night just in the hunt, since their hunger demands more than what just one victim can provide. For this reason some vampires will keep 'herds', groups of people kept solely for the purpose of feeding. This raises its own problems, because the vampire needs to house these people somewhere and ensure their silence. No matter how they do it, the quest for Blood, for survival, becomes the driving force in a vampire's every waking hour. Despite all of these very real and immediate changes, there is one thing, and one thing only, about a vampire that doesn't change right away. The one thing that becomes a curse that makes all the other curses of vampirism pale by comparison. Their emotions. For a time, often a long time, vampires still feel the way a human would. Their hearts love, laugh, hurt, and cry just as though they were mortal. This is the ultimate bane of the vampire, to be a monster by nature and design, but to be human at heart. They can feel from their first seconds of unlife the truth of what they've become. They can often see it. From those first moments they begin a struggle between their new natures and their old inner selves. The Hunger demands blood, and will kill to get it, but the human within recoils from the horrors that they now find themselves capable of. Guilt, remorse, regret, horror - these things plague new vampires as they feel the monster within clawing its way to freedom. Murder becomes a temptation and a horrifying inevitability they must wrestle with. They look at former friends and smell the blood in their veins, becoming wracked by disgust that they could think of a friend or lover as food, and a secret terror that comes from the knowledge that if they lose control just once - that friend will die by their hand. If they retain their humanity long enough, they watch people, places, things they love age, rot, and die as their own immortality carries them onward unchanging.

For these reasons many withdraw from human society quickly, but many more struggle with the terrible slide away from being human, and experience pain and heartache like they never suffered in life. Most try to turn to their own kind for comfort, but none can be found there either. Vampires view each other as potential threats, competitors, and enemies. At best there can be alliances, carefully plotted and jealously guarded. The demands and pressures of unlife make no vampire trustworthy, and many other factors, such as the Blood Bond, render them downright suspicious. This emotional minefield often drives vampires to complex and manipulative ends to try and create some form of lasting security for their dying hearts. They create childer and try to hold them to themselves, sometimes by binding them with the Blood. They will surround themselves with ghouls that have no choice BUT to love their domitor, and they will even trick and seduce other vampires into the Bond. Ultimately it all fails. In the end the vampire must face the crushing weight of hunger and immortality alone, and make their peace with it whatever way they can. Virtually none of them survive this ordeal with more than a shred of their humanity intact, and the loss is like a surgery without anesthetic that lasted centuries. To fight this horrible tide, most vampires embrace artificial passions to keep themselves feeling 'alive' inside. This zealous pursuit of stimuli to stave off the death of their human side has become so ingrained in the whole of vampire society that it has overtaken and become the very shape of that society. Each clan is defined at its heart by which pursuit it's forebears chose to stimulate their passions, every bloodline now chooses its childer on the basis of how well they match the mold of their own version of that battle. The Ventrue pursue glory in leadership and success. The Toreador quest passion in art and recognition. The Brujah seek revitalization in uncontrolled passion and wild abandon. The Nosferatu seek attenuation through knowledge and the unveiling of secrets. And so it goes, through every possible version of human expression, mirrored and refined to a grotesque art by the immortal souls fearing the darkness within - revenge, trickery, deceit, love, madness, the list goes on. In the end, every vampire is defined by what makes them inhuman, and what they do to try a fight that inevitable truth. Can vampires smoke? Beyond the difficulty with fire, the truth is - some can, some can't, and most wouldn't. The feigning of Humanity through the expenditure of Blood Points lasts for an entire scene - more than enough turns to finish a cigarette, and does not need to be repeated every turn. White Wolf specifically states that vampires on a Path (i.e.: the Sabbat) cannot use their blood to feign Humanity (and furthermore - having abandoned the foibles and trappings of humanity - wouldn't). So while the image of a Sabbat vampire hanging out with a cigarette dangling between their lips may be appealing - it is also highly unlikely. The reason vampires require blood expenditure to breathe should be obvious. As Benedira pointed out during the debate, the lungs (air containers) of a vampire have atrophied and become desiccated due to physical death. The blood is needed to temporarily rejuvenate the lungs and make them pliable, flexible, and useful again. This quite naturally raised the question of how vampires can speak if they do not breathe. It was suggested by one individual that breathing was a simple muscular action, and since they believed that vampires still had the use of normal muscle function, they would therefore be able to breathe with ease. This is not necessarily the case, however. It is quite possible to speak or make noise without pushing air past your vocal chords, but this is not the answer as to how vampires manage to communicate, however. The flow of air through a vampire's vocal apparatus is a natural function that has nothing to do with breathing. Nature abhors a vacuum, and air always moves to fill any area devoid of it in order to equalize gaseous pressure. The fact that a vampire does not. inhale and exhale actually

means that they can keep talking longer than a human being with ease. Consider this - does your voice weaken prior to needing a breath? Do you take another breath because your voice has died? Or is the normal flow of your speech interrupted by your lungs demanding air for the rest of your body? Try it - you will discover that you are able to maintain a precise volume and cadence in your voice right up to the time you begin to see spots for lack of air. This is because speech is caused by air vibrating past the vocal chords and those sound waves being further shaped by the mouth and tongue - not by breathing past the vocal chords. As soon as a vampire speaks, a small amount of air leaves their mouth - true - but the sound wave vibrations they generate pass through the air, not with it. What little air they expend is replaced by air rushing in their nasal passages - since they are not breathing there is nothing to prevent this from happening - and air pressure is equalized. Since nature abhors a vacuum as we all know - there is a constant amount of air in the vampire's speech areas the hollows of the mouth, nose, throat, and even the stomach. (Now that's an interesting thought - an overzealous vampire that feeds too quickly would burp, as trapped air in their throat and stomach rose to the surface of the vitae and escaped. *L*) And - there is no need to assume that vampires experience or utilize normal muscle function to move, walk, gesture, or any of it - this is a trap that is easy to fall into. But since the vampire's muscles are dead like the rest of their body - normal muscle function is an erroneous assumption to leap to. The cells of a vampire's muscles are dead - incapable of normal expansion and contraction hence incapable of facilitating movement on their own. So how does a vampire move? Look to the plant world, and you will find the answer - systolic and systemic pressure . Plants move, twist, and bend daily, without the benefit of muscles, by varying the amount of fluid in the cells and arteries of various parts of their structure. Vampires would be able to do the same through a subconscious control over the blood in their system. Remove the blood from a muscle, and it contracts (exactly as muscular contraction in the dead causes them to curl up if their bodies are allowed to dry with desiccation). Flood a muscle with blood, and it relaxes and expands. This theory supports the fact that a staked vampire is paralyzed - the heart is the center of the systolic system and the magical center of the body - interrupting its function by driving a piece of wood through it would render the vampire incapable of moving their blood - hence they would experience paralysis without unconsciousness if this theory is correct and the blood is the reason they can move in the first place. In fact, it is interesting to theorize that the blood in a vampire's body takes the place of virtually every living systemic function of the human organism. The vitae of a vampire becomes their nervous system, the means by which they move, the means by which they exist entirely. The dead human shell simply becomes the host for a magical creature that is only nominally dependent on the structure of the shell to sustain existence. This might explain why a lack of blood brings on torpor. It might also explain why damaging vital areas of a vampire's body does nothing more than structural injury. A bullet through the brain is only a limited impairment to the vampire, whereas a mortal in their place would only continue to live by a phenomenal miracle. If the consciousness of the vampire is spread throughout their vitae, this ability to shrug off debilitating damage to the head is a little easier to understand. This would also explain why vampires are so malleable to the effects of their own magic, able to change shape, transform into other substances, and even merge with the earth. Nothing about them is particularly centralized or dependent on form for function - the blood permeates their body, and so too does their mind, spirit, and magic. The body can then be free to change at will, without harming any of the vampire's higher functions.

Vampire Erotica: Kindred Pleasures

Are vampires emotionally dead creatures whose passions died along with that once beating lump of meat in their chests? Are they cursed to walk the avenues of night with nothing but the memories and echoes of mortal loves to sustain them through eternity? Perhaps. If this is true, however, why do the myriad writings speak of the Kindred passions in the hunt, the embrace, the nightly Kiss that prolongs eternal life and brings ecstasy to victor and victim? Why are the Kindred described as feeling desire, remorse, lust, anger, hurt, jealousy, and a myriad of other emotional reactions? Obviously the death of the Vampire heart is a fiction, a lie perpetrated by the old upon the young to explain the ennui and failing humanity that comes with age and moral compromise as the Kindred marches further and further into eternal night, ever more distant from the memory of their mortal existence. Vampires do suffer the cacophony of emotional turmoil - desire, anguish, lust, and heartbreak are all real companions on the endless dark road of the Embraced. Their bodies may no longer function the way they did in life, but the Vampire still feels as acutely as ever. Love, anger, hatred, lust, and even pleasure. Pleasure, the honeyed cup that passes to our lips in a plethora of forms, whether we are alive or undead. What is pleasure to the Vampire? What is erotic to the children of the night? What form does Vampiric erotica take? Many think of pleasures of the flesh when the word 'erotica' enters the conversational fray. Carnal desires and gratification are the first, last, and only consideration of the average contemplation of erotica. While the pleasures of the flesh are far from the only form of erotica, this still brings us to an important question. Are carnal pleasures beyond the purvey of the undead? Yes, and no. Carnal desire and pleasure is largely a physiological response to stimuli, and is largely subconscious. What 'turns us on' varies from culture to culture and person to person, but the physical responses to stimulation are universal - arousal. This is true of every relatively functional human being alive. But Vampires are no longer human, and certainly no longer alive in the medical sense. Their bodies do not function, hormones are not produced, their physical responses are truly dead in any erotically relevant terms. In short, autonomic arousal is impossible for the Kindred. It is possible for a Vampire to simulate arousal through an expenditure of precious vitae. The male can ready himself to perform through an act of Will, and the female can be receptive through a similar moment of decision - although close examination of the 'aroused' female Vampire is unwise, since it is blood with which she prepares herself for the act. Neither will respond involuntarily to any amount of physical or emotional stimuli, no Vampire will ever become physically 'turned on' unless they choose to seem to be. In the end, it will always be a simulation, and not the hot, sweaty, and steamy coupling of their remembered mortality. The vampire body is cold and unyielding, stiff, dry and dead to the touch. Even more precious blood must be wasted for the Kindred to temporarily do away with these realities as well. Your average Vampire is reticent to waste so much vitae just to simulate an act which will never give them the pleasure they once felt. They are even less eager to pursue this pointless exercise when they compare fruitless carnal couplings with the intensity and ecstasy of the Kiss - of feeding. The Kiss has been described by a Vampire himself in this fashion: 'drinking the finest champagne and the sensation of the most sensual lovemaking you've ever experienced. Overlay that with the rush the opium fiend feels as he takes that first breath on the pipe' (Vampire: the Masquerade, 3rd edition, Prologue: p.5)

A powerful description, and undeniably one that paints an image of the heights of pleasure. Does this mean that feeding becomes the only pleasure in a Vampire's nightly existence? No. Not necessarily. Feeding may be the epitome of physical pleasure for the undead, but the realm of the physical is far from the summation of all things erotic. The mind and emotions play the largest part in what anyone responds to as erotica, and these faculties are still powerfully functional in every Kindred. What is erotic and erotica quickly becomes a game of the mind and heart for the undead. Feeding brings them life and pleasure, but the means by which they garner their prey can become a large part of their new erotica. For some, the hunt becomes an intense rush of pursuit, capture, and sanguine rape. They stalk their potential victims carefully, admiring them, lusting after them, imagining the final moments far in advance, building themselves towards a frenzy of desire. They sweep down upon their intended meal and drag them into their embrace, reveling in a viciously sensual coupling with an unwilling victim that is as ecstatic and erotic for the Vampire as any sexual release. Others plan their feedings with deliberation, weaving elaborate seductions of the mind and heart that lead to the final willing - even eager - surrendering by their 'lover' of both body and blood. The Vampire builds herself into an icon of sensuality and passion in the eyes of her paramour, while elevating her victim on a pedestal of desire. The final Kiss becomes an emotional and physical apex of pleasure for both. Victims of these grand seductions are often helplessly enslaved to the passions and desires of their dark 'lover', while the Vampire becomes so intensely focused on her play of pleasure that she may come to love her mortal vessel, or at least believe she does. There are many ways that this kind of substitute eroticism can be manifested, but beyond even this there are many ways for Vampires to be erotically active and sensual beings. Beside the means and ways of feeding, there are other forms of erotica and gratification for the Kindred, each of them methods that reach to the mind and heart. Many Vampires develop voyeurism of one type or another as they find their emotions piqued by visions of beauty. A Vampire does not need to be from the clan of the Toreador to develop a fascination for beautiful things, and in the realm of the erotic it is possible for many Kindred to develop a taste for 'watching'. This voyeurism may take the form of peeping in windows of favorite victims or enraptured ghouls. In the more brazen it may take the form of staging erotic or sexual 'performances' from the romantic to the lurid that the Kindred oversees and watches openly. Or it may simply be long and sensual contemplation of a beautiful figure as he or she lounges before an admiring master. A step beyond this voyeuristic pleasure is the vicarious enjoyment of sensuality with the intended victim or favored 'partner'. The Vampire gains their pleasure from watching the effect of their touch or caress on their paramour. This form of vicarious eroticism can take many guises, from the gently passionate lover that brings their partner to the heights of ecstasy through a night of erotic massage, to the sadistic dominant that tortures their submissive into orgasmic release. However it is accomplished, the Vampire participates only vicariously, drawing their own satisfaction from watching the emotional and physical heights of their mortal 'lover'. Vampires are not reduced to sexless and emotionless creatures by the death of their mortal bodies, they are simply redefined, and are still capable of living richly erotic and sensual lives. The act of mere sex may no longer play a direct part in their eroticism, but this lack is by no means a death of sensuality, merely a change. And to some - even a refinement.

Love Among the Damned

The myths and legends of vampires have their basis in truth, even if many of those tales have strayed far from fact. The picture painted of the classic romantic vampire also springs from truth. Save for those who actively toil to rid themselves of any feeling, Kindred are emotional creatures; perhaps even more driven by their emotions as humanitarian ethics begin to slip away with nothing to replace them. No longer do the human social protocols serve to mitigate the feelings of Kindred, and emotions like hate, fear, lust, and love are thrown into the light of startling clarity. This treatise deals only with the machinations of romantic love, as it is the purest and most powerful positive emotion a vampire can experience. While the normal evolution of romance is changed for Kindred, the raw emotion of love is not. The immortal heart still falls prey to notions of passion and fulfillment, acceptance and invitation, grace and desire. It is no secret that many human beings suffer under the notion that they are incomplete without a spouse or lover; that only through another can they be made whole. There is no magical property of the embrace that changes this quality, and those who experienced the driving need for companionship in life may still in death. Their search is made more difficult, perhaps even more tragically disappointing, by their new condition as it inhibits their ability to fulfill this need. They cannot seek love in the human quarter, for what human would love a creature that preys upon their very race? Even if love could transcend that perceived shortcoming, no such relationship could truly be shared without the human discovering the true nature of the vampire. Two options are left then: the vampire must risk both her own life and the life of her lover to the first Tradition, or her lover must be made a ghoul. Obviously the latter of the choices is more reasonable and more likely, and both may be happy with their romance for a time. As the slavery of the bond becomes apparent, however, this happiness will begin to ebb. The Kindred will eventually be left no choice but to realize that she does not know if it is love or simply the chains of her blood. The ghoul will come to realize that her choice to love has been taken away, perhaps eventually driven mad by the resentment of her situation warring with the love she can no longer escape. Inevitably the relationship turns sour, and the vampire must again look for the love that is the only thing that can make her whole. When this new love is located and likely also enthralled, she is often brought home to face the former lover she is replacing. So begins the jealous rivalry among the Kindred's thralls, and the self-defeating cycle is cemented. Perhaps the vampire will come to realize the painful futility of this process before it ever begins, and shy away from considering humans as possible lovers. Perhaps she will instead turn to her own kind, seeking the redeeming grace of love in the arms of another Kindred. Such a backbiting and deceitful lot are the kindred that it may be nigh impossible to find even one who inspires such dedication and devotion in a kindred heart without the aid of the blood bond. The possibility of romance is decreased even further when that devotion must be returned. There is the rare instance when it does happen though, and those who find their true love among night's children are undeniably in for a bumpy ride. In the most basic terms, love is a weakness; a chink in even the most carefully constructed armor. A significant other is precisely the kind of leverage other Kindred wait for. Perhaps you are too difficult to reach and influence, but your lover is not. Perhaps someone has the ability and drive to put puppet strings on your spouse that even you could not detect. If it comes to it, they can always take your loved one from you and use her as a bargaining chip, for you have already made it publicly known that whatever else you may care about, you care about her. Your lover will be the first target of those who seek to wound you or gain power over you without striking you directly.

There is also the strain of Kindred society on the relationship itself. If you are of different clans, pressure may come from your elders to break your ties with the rival bloodline. You might lose face and standing for consorting with the inferior clan at best, and be marked a traitor to your own clan at worst. Kindred who seek to weaken the position of both you and your spouse simply to assure that you cannot rise above them may orchestrate situations that will place you in direct competition or conflict with your loved one, knowing that the emotional and social turmoil that follows will keep you occupied for quite some time. Eventually the physiology of Kindred will factor in, and the blood bond will become an issue. Kindred are known for their propensity for distrust, and perhaps neither in the relationship will wish to become enthralled to their lover. Conversely, perhaps both desire to bind their lover, to ensure their beloved cannot break their heart. There is also the danger of frenzy, and the horrible impact such a loss of control could have on the union. If the relationship survives all these trials - the possible estrangement from clan, the perils of treachery from your enemies, the basic facts of unlife as a vampire - the Kindred may find herself in a long and somewhat happy relationship. That is, until ennui begins to set in. Vampires are notorious for boring easily, and the strange and meticulous obsessions they develop are proof of that fact. Kindred who overcome the tribulations of having a Kindred spouse often have drudgery to look forward to. They can likely anticipate the day when their lover no longer quickens them, no longer serves as a shining point of fascinating light in an otherwise dark night. And so one or the other tires of their lover first, as synchronous boredom is almost too kind to hope for. In this way the vampire will likely create their greatest enemy, for the wrath of a Kindred heart scorned surely makes their human equivalents seem little more than pouting children in comparison. Amidst the myriad possibilities of war waged by their estranged lover, the Kindred must begin their search anew. But where to look now? To seek refuge in mortal arms? No, the error in this choice is clear now. To seek acceptance in the kindred heart? No, her head still reels from the last undead lover. The Magi, the changing breed, the fae, perhaps the dead? No, for if she knows of them at all she knows there is no quarter for the waking dead in their ranks. This may well be where derangements begin, where a frantic and desperate need that seems to have no hope of fulfillment drives the Kindred to ever more extreme ends. This may be the point when a simple desire becomes a consuming obsession that will color the vampire's every dealing and thought. Conversely, this may be the point where emotional isolation begins. Perhaps the Kindred has faith in the utter futility of the search for something she needs so badly, and contrives to remove herself from the possibility of experiencing the pain of failure. Perhaps this is the point when the Kindred heart and mind are torn, one seeking affection while the other rails against the very notion. But not all Kindred harbor such a consuming obsession, and not all persons who receive the embrace buy into the dogma that one must have a significant other to make them complete. Some are perfectly content to be alone in that respect, feeling like they are in no way lessened by their single state. That does not, however, mean that these Kindred are immune to cupid's arrows. It does mean that these vampires are in a better position to see the folly of playing at games of love when other, more deadly games are constantly at hand. The Kindred who suddenly finds themselves enamored of another is no doubt in for hours of self analyzation, wondering at the wisdom of exposing herself in such a fashion even while she does so. She may develop a strange love/hate relationship for the object of her affections, damning them for their alluring qualities even as she damns herself for falling victim to them. Perhaps she will decide to be content with secret admiration from afar, refusing to take notice of the fact that her favor for this Kindred or Kine is slowly being detected by her allies and enemies alike. Perhaps she will suffer months of personal failure, resolving to divorce herself

from such paltry desires and having those resolutions shattered each time the irresistible other is near. If she is an older Kindred, become accustomed to the devious games of intrigue and manipulation so common among her kind, perhaps she will attempt to use these same games to draw the object of her desire close to her. If the one that catches the kindred eye is human, fantasies of love and acceptance may inspire the kindred to embrace the mortal. This too usually ends terribly, as the loved one realizes what they have become and how closely bound they now are to their significant other. Worse off still is the Kindred whose love is embraced by another, for the sire may ask whatever they like in return for even allowing the enamored Kindred to speak to the object of their affections. The potential disappointments and heartaches of kindred in love are as numerous as the means to manipulate and prey upon the weaknesses of others, and the victory of Kindred love is rare at best. The more that love becomes a driving force, the more difficult the Kindred's situation will become because of it. Love among the humans is never an easy thing to manage, and that one emotion can drive even the most stable and reasoning mind to acts of insanity or desperation. Among kindred, where extreme behavior is easily the norm, those acts can become equally extreme. Whatever the root, whatever the cause, and whatever the target, love is a many headed beast that harries any Kindred who dare enter its lair. Once a vampire falls victim to such powerful emotions, they are likely not to see themselves free of it any time soon.

ToTB Alternatives III: Age and Levels

Caine lived 6,000 years ago? Or - what does an antediluvian have to do with anything? I'm an ELDER. Biblical scholars have placed the time of Cain over 12,000 years ago - why I'm not sure, but that's what they are saying these days. Conversely, there are some scholars that place the Flood about 7,000 years ago. Here's some good reading on it http://www.aapg.org/explorer/archives/04_99/greatflood.html Considering that geological dating methods have placed the age of the ORIGINAL sphinx (the lower body, the head was re-carved later) at about 9,000 years old, and have proven that the stone of the body shows strong evidence that it was UNDER water for some time - which would have been before the Egyptian records of the statue - this also points strongly to the fact that if you are going to include the flood in any real world model (which is what WoD is a model based on the real world) then you have to take as much science as mythology into account. The bible is a set of parables and allegories, as well as a somewhat broken account of a family's lineage. It has been proven time and again that the dates in the bible are off sometimes drastically. Furthermore, the bible contradicts itself as to exactly how many generations there were between Adam and Jesus. The book of Matthew says there were 41, while the book of Luke says there were 76. When the average generation at the time seems to be anywhere from 30 75 years, you're talking about a discrepancy of between 1,050 and 2,625 years. Quite a difference, wouldn't you say? That alone blows the knee-jerk 3,974 years between Adam and Jesus right to Hell. More reading - http://users.uniserve.com/~tfrisen/Jesgenco.html In round figures, and adding in the discrepancy, the time of Adam was at LEAST between 7,000 and 9,000 years ago. Further evidence and theories push that date back even further.

Paleontologists have found evidence of cultures in the Tigris Euphrates valley (a common theoretical origin for Eden) That date back over 10,000 years. To bring all of this together into a working model of the World of Caine's Childer, and not throw away mythology or science in the process, one must believe that Caine himself lived somewhere in excess of 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Which brings me to the chart of ages that I worked from this model to take the various 'stages' of Kindred into account - i.e.: Antediluvians, Methuselahs, Elders, Ancilla, and of course - Neonates. Under 100 years - Neonate 'Neonate' arises from 'newly born' - or simply 'new'. 100 years is roughly the span of the 'modern' or 'new' world. Under 400 years - Ancilla 'Ancilla' arises from 'ancillary', meaning auxiliary or supplementary. The Sabbat/Camarilla split occurred just over 400 years ago - so all childer born after were supplementary to that monumentous occasion. Under 1,850 years - Elder The Christian Gospels were written between AD 70 and AD 100 - another event that drastically changed the face of the world. Elders are then vampires embraced in the 'Christian Age'. Under 7,500 years - Methuselah The best evidence places the Great Flood between 7,000 and 7,500 years ago, therefore any vampires between 1,900 and 7,500 should qualify as Methuselahs. Over 7,500 years - Antediluvian And given all of that - this should be self-explanatory. 'Ante-' meaning 'before', '-diluvian' meaning 'of the flood'. Antediluvians are vampires embraced before the flood. Okay, nice story, with a little historical Three-card Monty to spice it up, but what does this mean in play? A few things. First - since everyone loves it so damn much - let's talk raw power. To simplify this, I am going to again turn to the point system, since by now everyone should be familiar with it. If you aren't - just follow along, the 'points' used here are equivalent to the xp needed to account for a character's power level at any given stage of her existence. The 'point spread' takes into account the slowing of the learning process that is espoused in the 'Elysium' Elder rules by White Wolf. Human - 230 points Neonate - 320 points at 100 years (maximum) Ancilla - 455 points at 500 years (maximum) Elder - 815 points at 1,850 years (maximum) Methuselah - 1025 points at 7,500 years (maximum) Antediluvian - 1035 points at 10,000 years (roughly maximum) Consider that a dot in an Attribute is only worth five points, and you can see the monumental difference between even an Ancilla and an Elder, and you can see that the Elders have very good reason to fear the Methuselahs. But even more important than the dots - is the experience. In the human mind, ten years worth of experience can make the difference between a stock person and an executive. Try to imagine 1,000 years of experience more than you have - it boggles the mind to imagine. In the Kindred world, everything comes down to age. All other considerations are subordinate - even generation. A Fourth Generation Neonate is at a tiny fraction of their potential, whereas a Tenth Generation Elder may be very close to their maximum. The Neonate will never hold a candle to the elder, in terms of power and experience - no matter

what their generation is. And don't talk to me about spending Blood and Blood Pools - it is a limited and useless effort, especially when the Elder is wise enough not to carry the fight into an area where spending Blood would make a difference - a very easy thing to do. Experience breeds that wisdom. The adage 'old age and treachery will defeat youth and enthusiasm every time' has a very real basis in truth, especially for vampires. So let's take a look at the practical aspects of each level of vampire. The Antediluvians. These ancient creatures are older than the span of recorded civilization. They survived the attempts of God to cleanse the earth of their kind, and have walked down through the ages gathering wisdom and experience along the way. The Sabbat whispers that they are out there, and wage a war against their influence that has spanned four centuries and several continents. Part of the reason the Sabbat is so adamant and blood-thirsty is from sheer terror of the awakening of these terrible creatures - if they are all even asleep. Gehenna will come, are the whispers, and the ancient ones will rise to slay us all in their final endgame against each other. The Camarilla claims they are all dead, mere myths and legends to frighten Neonates with. No matter HOW you stack it - Antediluvians are not even common knowledge, especially among the Camarilla. At best they are whispered legends and terrible rumors. To the average Camarilla kindred, an encounter with an Antediluvian would be judgment day on two legs, akin to Hell on Earth - a terrifying experience of Biblical proportions. No amount of Will or courage could turn such an encounter into a blas event. The Methuselahs. These aged kindred are only slightly more common than the Antediluvians, but at least enough of them have been seen that they exist in at least some frame of reference for the average Elder. Still, the Methuselahs are far and away a breed apart, and even Elders shake and quake when a known Methuselah passes by. To try and understand a Methuselah is to try and wrap your mind around something that has lived as much as ten times as long as your average Elder, or more. Try to imagine how strange and obscure adults seemed to be when you were a child, and you may have an inkling of how Methuselahs seem to the average Elder. Ancient power, unimaginable thoughts, more experience at being a vampire than you can possibly imagine. Even a young Methuselah is treated with cowering respect and fear by the common Kindred, because there is no way any Elder can hope to withstand the onslaught of such a creature if it is angered. The Elders. These are the most accessible of the aged Kindred, and the ones that perhaps pay the most attention to age and status. 1,500 years is better than 1,200, 1,200 is better than 900, 900 is better than 600, and so on, and so on. This 'pecking order' is strictly observed and maintained by the Elders - perhaps because they are aware of the looming powers above them and are trying to salvage their egos as best they can. No matter the cause, Elders enforce the system of status and respect religiously, and come down on those that buck this system like the fires of Hell itself. Elders are also the Kindred that shape the world for vampires as a whole. It is they that make the laws and decisions, it is their games that write history and reshape life for everyone around them. It is for this reason they are both feared and hated - even by their younger associates. The Elders' word is the first, last, and only Law that dominates the sum of the Kindred world, save when a Methuselah or Antediluvian chooses to dabble. The Ancilla. These Kindred are the work force and 'Middle Class' of the Kindred world. They vastly outnumber the Elders in most cities, and it is they that carry out the wishes and whims of the

Elders above them. More often than not, the Ancilla are the caretakers of everything below them, assuring the Elders that all is in order and functioning properly for their aged masters. It is only on the rarest of occasions that the Ancilla are allowed a voice of their own, and very few Elders even consider them worth listening to at all - indeed, most Elders take vicious, and often deadly, offense to any Ancilla that dares to pretend to be the equal of an Elder - and this offense could be as simple as speaking out of turn. This does not mean the Ancilla are without power, for as a mass they could destroy an Elder even a few, although many Ancilla would enter Final Death in the Process. The Elders and the Ancilla exist in a state of symbiotic dependence - without support, the Elders would find their power a hollow thing, but without the protection of an Elder, the Ancilla would find themselves easy prey for any other Elder that came along. From this codependency arises the system of Status, Prestige, and politics that is the familiar venue of nightly Kindred life. The Neonates. These young Kindred exist at the bottom rung of recognized Kindred society. With little power, no voice, and less responsibility, it may seem that they are doomed to a life of oppression and victimization. In some ways this is true, but in many ways they are also the most free of all the kindred - with nothing to do but live their lives as best they can, and occasionally do as their elders instruct. This life does run the risk of ending abruptly when the whim of an Ancilla or Elder steers the Neonate down a suicide path, but that risk only serves to enliven their otherwise relatively carefree life. Only the foolish Neonate tries to gain access to the halls of power, since they can never really compete and will eventually - if not immediately - fall prey to the machinations of the aged. Of all the levels of Kindred Society, the Neonate's place is perhaps the easiest of all. Death and destruction lurk in the shadows for all Kindred, but the Neonates have less occasion or reason to invite it than any other class of vampire. The Childer. These newly embraced and unreleased Kindred are a class of non-people. Even the Traditions that serve and protect other vampires do not yet apply to them. Childer exist by the leave of their sires and nothing more. They are not even held accountable for their own actions, and any mistakes they make are taken up with their sires instead. Of course, this could result in an errant childe simply being destroyed after a particularly embarrassing episode - since no vampire is going to risk their hard-fought Prestige on the repeated bad behavior of a disposable commodity. Childer are the possessions of their sires, and it is the fortunate few that are treated as anything more than that. Childer have no recourse, no authority to turn to save their own sire, and no one to speak for them. Until they are released, they do not exist except as an accessory to their sire's presence. The Ghouls. If Childer seem to have it bad, they only need to look to these half-breeds to see how bad it can truly be. If vampire Childer are truly the children in a Kindred household, then Ghouls are the family dog - at best. At worst, Ghouls fill the function of prized chickens or pigs. Raised with care, fed from, and eventually slaughtered to commemorate some auspicious occasion. Every conceivable concept of 'human rights' disappears with the advent of the Blood Bond, and only the extremely fortunate can ever hope for the best of fates for a Ghoul the Embrace, or a quick death. The Humans. Cocktails, anyone?

And so, there it is in a nutshell - Kindred society from top to bottom, from a slightly Camarilla-slanted point of view, but in this day and age that is what serves us all best. Remember this canon well the next time your Neonate is about to piss off an Ancilla, or your Ghoul lips off to their Domitor, or your Ancilla decides to get uppity with an Elder. This is the way Vampires live - and if your character survived to BE more than a year old, there is no way they did so without observing this code, no way at all. After years of dealing with what seems like a pandemic inability for the average player to comprehend the world their vampire lives in, it has occurred to me that this simply may arise from a basic difference between the vampire world the characters inhabit and the mortal world we live in. To those of us that are advocates of historical understanding and are wellversed in past systems of social and governmental conduct, this game and its internal structure seems to be child's play to understand - but for the average denizen of our modern world, it may be a completely foreign concept. Hopefully, with the following essay, I can draw parallels and contradictions between the two systems that will alleviate some of the misunderstanding and aid players in managing characters within the game environment. Misconception 1: It is a free country. For all but a very few people that may be exposed to this game - personal freedoms and rights are a matter of course. As we march boldly into the new millennium, this basic concept has become so ingrained in our global and national consciousness that most of us don't even think about it. The right to speak freely, be counted as a unique and valuable individual, and have the freedom to make decisions for ourselves is taken for granted as inalienable. Kindred Truth: It is a fascist monarchical dictatorship. Fascism: a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control and extreme pride in country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed. Monarchy: A monarchy is a country which has a king or queen. Dictator: A dictator is someone with complete power in a country, esp. when the power is achieved by force. There are NO inalienable rights in Kindred society save those granted by a liberal interpretation of the Six Traditions. Even those can be taken away by your superiors at their whim. The entire system is created by and supports the oppression of the weak by the power of the strong. Misconception 2: Etiquette is optional. In modern mortal society, the ability to be rude and socially unacceptable is an unfortunate byproduct of the first misconception detailed above. People can do or say what they want to whomever they want - within the limits of laws that have virtually nothing to do with social convention. Our society prides itself on not dictating by law any conventions of thought, behavior, or performance - which is part of the reason our modern society sucks in so many ways. But that is how it is. Kindred Truth: Etiquette is mandatory. Among Kindred, etiquette is the ONLY convention that keeps the entire system from degenerating into a chaotic miasma of demigods battling it out tooth and claw for dominance, and laying waste to the entire system in the process. Etiquette is the drum to which the entire system marches, and it is expected of virtually every member of the society. The conventions of this etiquette are dictated by the old - so naturally those conventions reflect an older or seemingly archaic system of values as well. 'Period' fiction and movies that portray eras prior to 1850 are perfect examples of the sort of etiquette we speak of in action, and should be absorbed by anyone even thinking of trying to play in this setting. Misconception 3: There are no consequences. In our modern mortal society, one can expect to live a fairly consequence-ridden life if one

chooses to ignore what conventions there are. If you are a rude bastard, that is your right but you won't have any friends. If you break the law, you will (probably) be caught and punished. If you don't work, you will probably go hungry. This is something almost every sane member of society understands. In role playing systems, many of them HAVE no such consequences. The characters may do largely as they please, and all consequences are reduced to an 'Us versus Them' circumstance. Social convention is ignored in favor of personal pursuit and gain, and you can get away with anything if the dice favor you. Kindred Truth: There are ALWAYS consequences. In the Kindred world, consequences for everything the character does hinge on the mood and opinion of those immediately above them on the social ladder - and those dictators of custom and providence are NOT nice people concerned about the welfare of every individual. Everything your character does will have a consequence of some kind, and in this system it is determined moment by moment by those above and around you - NOT by an impersonal and static system of laws. Misconception 4: The right to life. It is illegal to murder someone in almost every social system that exists - but even murderers are still considered to have a right to life by many conventions of law. Thou shalt not kill is as ingrained and taken for granted by (at least) North American society, that death by violent means comes as a horrible and debilitating shock. Consider the horror and outrage that follows any example of murder, mass murder, mass suicide, or even sanctioned killing such as warfare. There is the depth of pervasiveness of this convention of thought. Kindred Truth: Death and murder are a way of life. Life is a cheap commodity that comes and goes as easily as a cloud on a spring day. No one and nothing has a right to life in the Kindred world. While one of the Traditions does seem to state that Kindred cannot randomly kill one another - what it really says is that murder is the right of the elder, and who that elder is changes depending on the region and circumstance. The easiest way to understand this is to simply think of it like this - YOU cannot kill your people indiscriminately, but WE can. Mortals do not even enter into the equation - THEY can be killed as often and readily as you can get away with without endangering the Masquerade. Misconception 5: All people are created equal. The rights mentioned above are largely reinforced by the misconception that 'equality' is another inherent facet of simply being alive. While any dolt with half a brain and a pair of eyes realizes how wrong this misconception is - it is still ingrained in our social consciousness as the way things SHOULD be. Men and women are not equal, stupid and smart are not equal, poor and wealthy are not equal, weak and strong are not equal - and yet we pride ourselves on a social convention that lies to men, stupid people, poor people, and weak people and tells them they are as important as their opposites in the grander scheme. Kindred Truth: There is NO SUCH thing as 'equality'. The older you are, the better you are - in every measurable way. The more respected and connected you are, the better you are. The more cunning and devious you are - able to twist situations and circumstances to your advantage - the better you are. The entire social system of Kindred is BASED on the inherent understanding and reinforcement of inequality. If you are not old, respected, well-connected, cunning, and devious - or some advantageous combination of those factors - you are NOTHING, and no one cares. Misconception 6: A bad attitude is a social merit. The entire concept of the anti-hero is another popular theme in our modern culture. Bad attitudes, belligerence, and poor social graces are often seen as the marks of the admirable 'rugged individualist' - and with so many heroes of modern entertainment displaying exactly those sort of characteristics, it is no wonder. This has become such a pervasive sentiment in our society that those with proper manners, acceptable social graces, and respectful attitudes

are belittled and demeaned as being weak, homosexual, tight-assed, or worse appellations of social degradation. Kindred Truth: A bad attitude will get you killed. In a system where etiquette rules everything, being disrespectful of your superiors is the highest form of social crime. In a system where you can kill as often as you can get away with it (like the popular conception of the wild west where you could shoot anyone you could outdraw, for any reason you chose) - giving someone attitude is tantamount to putting your life at risk. Misconception 7: Vampires are people too. In modern society there is an accepted way to get almost anything done, and while the actual process to achieve anything desired may vary slightly, it is generally understood that there is a defined system of actions any person alive must follow to reach their goals. What you want, you must pay for. What you have to pay with, you must work for or perform for in some way. To have a place to live, you have the options of friends, family, rental, or ownership. These things apply - more or less - to every living being on the planet. Kindred Truth: Mortal rules do not apply to vampires. Vampires have so many means at their disposal to circumnavigate the normal processes and conventions of life, that it is patently ridiculous to think of them as constrained by any requirement that dictates the processes of mortal endeavors. Dominate, Presence, intimidation, blood bonding, and even outright extortion or murder are all means by which a vampire can completely bypass the requirements that mortals must adhere to. Basic needs are so minimal for Kindred that they are beyond simplicity to accomplish or acquire. Food, a haven, money - any of these things should be child's play for ANY vampire to acquire (within reason) - given the powers and freedoms at the disposal of even the most lowly of Kindred. It amazes me to see players tying themselves and their characters up in complex knots over even the simple process of acquiring a home. Perhaps the largest misconception here is that vampiric lives largely mimic their mortal counterparts. One must remember that vampires are DEAD. They do not have driver's licenses, they do not carry identification, they do not have bank accounts in their names, they do not sign contracts or leases, they do not have paying jobs alongside mortals (mostly, or for long), they do not have social security numbers - at least not in their real names. When you absorb and accept this reality, you will begin to wonder how it is that a vampire can accomplish anything in the modern world - given that these conventions seem to be absolute requirements to do or have anything. As soon as you begin to ask yourself THAT question, you will begin to see the alternate possibilities. Lies, deceptions, theft, dominance, slavery - THESE are the means by which a vampire attends to their nightly needs - NOT the local real estate company and a large bank account. If vampires DO make use of these things, it is through mortal proxies and from behind a complex web of deceptions and misdirection that protect their anonymous status - and by doing so, protect the Masquerade. This does not mean that acquiring these basic necessities should be overlooked - it simply means that to go about it in a MORTAL fashion is ridiculous. There are numerous other misconceptions that exist more on a case by case basis - but these are the most glaring errors that seem to dictate ninety percent of the mistakes that players in this setting tend to make. I hope that by reading and absorbing these comparisons and refutations, you might begin to understand just a little bit more about what makes the vampire world so alien, terrifying, depressing, and glorious as it is.

The Importance of Clan

It seems that, for many people, merely the fact of being a vampire is enough. Other details such as Clan, Background, Merits, Flaws, and so forth seem to be chosen on the basis of

improving the character's survivability, or to flesh out a limited concept. Clan especially seems to be chosen more on superficial impression and the point-spread of Disciplines than for any other inherent value. I have heard and read many character's make some variation of the following statement: "Well, I want to play an (choose a clan), except that I want" In one swift moment Clan is considered then discarded as they get on to the 'except' part - the additional Discipline(s), the exceptional Background, the unique Merit or Flaw that separates them from what they believe is the sea of sameness. They seem to view individuality only as that one Trait that makes the character stand out from the crowd, or that one Trait that makes the character superior to the average. It seems that the entire structure of the Vampire world, and the larger realities of the embrace, are largely ignored. It is true that role-playing allows for great diversity - even encourages it, but somehow these players seem to view the inherent structure of Vampire to be limiting and oppressive. They do not feel they are individualistic enough unless there is something about their character that sets them apart from everything else. Yet at the same time they continue to try and argue their character's seamless integration into a structure they have chosen to be outside of. The most difficult question for these players to answer seems to be "Why was the character embraced as a (fill in the Clan)?". The second most difficult question seems to be "Why did your character embrace (x person)?". When it really comes down to it - they don't know. The most crucial and vital point of their character's background - and they have no answer, because they chose the Clan before they fully conceived of the character - on the basis of what sounded cool or what they wanted to be able to do. It is for this reason that online gaming especially seems to suffer from a rash of Clan fads. One person creates a new character with an original Clan concept, and suddenly you have that Clan crawling out of the woodwork as others jump on the cool bandwagon. Following this is a rash of embraces, without any thought of why the embracee would be given the gift, and suddenly you're hip-deep in Gangrel, for example. A month later the forests are silent, but there seems to be an Assamite behind every piece of furniture, and the month after that you can't swing a cat without hitting a Tremere, but there isn't an Assamite to be found when you really need someone dead. (In a more vague sense this also affects Sect choice, and even genre choice as new books are published and attention spans wane.) If every Vampire within a given Clan is a complete individual with unique disciplines, Merits, Flaws, and Archetypes why then are their Clans at all? Why is so much effort put into describing Clan views, tendencies, and stereotypes - if there are no examples of these stereotypes in a sea of individuality? The sad truth is, there is a tendency towards a form of bigotry or racism that endures in role-playing. It is the same form of racism that allows bigots to say 'All Asians look alike to me.' Or 'All whites look the same.'. It is the assumption that you must have some glaring and outrageous feature in order to be separated from the crowd, and in the pursuit of that outrageous individualism the essence of the larger whole is lost or discarded. I have seen players state matter-of-factly that their character was embraced as a particular Clan, then carry on to explain the rest of the details of their character that - in the end - can only be summarized as completely disregarding everything that makes their Clan what it is. Yet - Clan should be the most carefully considered choice of all. Why is that? Because the Clan forms the backbone upon which all other considerations of the character's overall disposition are based. While it is true that all characters are individuals, the Clan of the Vampire is the template that forms the foundation of each character's individuality. There is no way to over-emphasize the importance of Clan in the character's construction. From before even the moment of embrace, Clan is the measure against which everything that

comprises the character will be set. The Clan that you intend the character to be will determine what kind of person they were before their embrace. It will determine how, where, and by what means they were embraced, and it even determines how they were treated before and after their embrace. Even Sect is secondary to Clan in this regard, and should be the second consideration, not the first. Sect can be a hazy and indistinct concept, with many alternatives other than the Big Two (Sabbat and Camarilla), and does not hold nearly the formative power in creating the character that their Clan will. No matter what the circumstances of the character's embrace, Clan plays a powerful role before and after. Each Clan description details some of the attitudes and viewpoints of the Clan that come into play when choosing a candidate for the embrace. Some candidates are chosen because they aptly fit the mold of what the Clan should be. These fledglings will find themselves in a much better position following their embrace, able to adapt to their new lifestyles more quickly, and better suited to absorb the combination of necessary teaching and inherent propaganda that comes with their sire's blood. They are more likely to succeed early, and are much more likely to be trusted - achieving earlier release and recognition. Their struggle with the truth of their new undead status will be eased somewhat by the fact that much of their new reality is not too far removed from what they had grown accustomed to in their mortal existence. On the other hand, there are some embrace candidates that are mistakes, or embraces of passion that are not well thought out by their sires beforehand. These types may not have the skills, talents, or mindset suited to be a member of their Clan. Their struggle will be an uphill climb, constantly being forced to control and second-guess their own instincts and try to adapt to a foreign way of life. Their progress will be slow and fraught with failures and close calls. They are much more likely to fall prey to recruitment by opposing forces or Sects, and all in all they will not be even remotely happy. Whichever type your character turns out to be, the tendencies and expectations of the Clan play the paramount role in your early life as one of the undead. In an even more immediate fashion, the Clan of your sire will determine the actual circumstances of your actual embrace - one of the most crucial and memorable events of your undead life. No two Clans carry out the embrace in the same way - to think they do is ludicrous. Would a Ventrue and a Brujah conduct such a ceremony in the same fashion? Would the embrace of a Tremere and a Gangrel bear any resemblance? True - the actual mechanics of the embrace are always the same from Clan to Clan, varying only with added ritual in some cases such as the Sabbat, the Tremere, the Assamites, etc. But even here in this explanation I've been forced to draw certain distinctions between Clans, because at the heart of the matter even the basic mechanics of the embrace are not precisely identical. The embrace of a Malkavian is a harrowing, maddening experience - even assuming the candidate isn't insane to begin with. Just imagine being hounded by a mad genius who really and truly wants to turn the most basic parts of you - your very mind and soul - completely inside-out. On the other hand, the embrace of a Ventrue might be imagined accurately to be something akin to a promotion party, with a very strange crowning moment. There would be a great deal of speech-making, pomp, and circumstance to usher the new candidate into the Blue-blooded halls of power. The embrace of a Toreador may be a fabulous production with wonderful sets and props, or it may be an unbelievable private seduction as the sire's ego takes the stage for the grand finale of the candidate's mortal life. It is rumored that Gangrel candidates are often stalked and hunted for days, run to ground like a prey animal and taken like a beast into the final death of their mortal form. It is said they often awaken alone and unsheltered - forced to prove themselves to their sires in the

most basic of Darwinian exercises - if you are strong enough to survive and deal with what you are, then you will. End of story. The embrace of a Brujah potential might take the form of a really all-out party that somehow goes astray somewhere after the eleventh hour - getting abruptly wilder than anyone mortal could imagine. Just imagine the scene in Near Dark when the vampire group locks the doors of the bar. It may smack of the Sabbat to the experienced, but if you read the Brujah description it's fitting there as well. (What? You haven't seen it? Oh, you gotta see it. Forgive the eighties schtick and production, it's still a classic.) Inversely once again, the embrace of the Tremere is ritualized to the extreme. Held in the Chantry or whatever closest substitute is appropriate, with many more than just the sire in attendance, it would bear a great deal in common with a witches' esbat or a druidic ceremony. From the moment of their embrace, the fledgling Tremere is blood-bound to their elder, just as their elder was bound to their sire, and so on. It is powerful, mystical, and provocative. Never easily forgotten. Speaking of inspirational dark mysticism, imagine the embrace of a Lasombra - full of religious and mystical overtones liberally mixed with powerful dogma and oppressive stricture. Imagine being ushered into a cult of inspired religious and political leaders that are the essence of darkness itself. Not something easily overlooked or gotten over, is it? And on and on it goes, with each Clan as unique and powerfully formative in their embrace practices as the last. From the moment of their embrace, every Cainite knows at the center of her very soul what she has become, and it is much more complex than simply 'vampire'. But what of the Caitiff and the Panders, you may ask. For them the LACK of clan is as powerful a formative tool as the existence of Clan is for the others. (for more on this see the Overview of the Caitiff and the article on Creating a Caitiff elsewhere on this site.) Even after the embrace is through, the influence of Clan is a constant and powerful force in every Cainite's life. Because each Clan is so specialized and unique, each member finds they are faced with a sea of expectation, teachings, reputation, and stereotype. She is expected to behave in much the same fashion as the rest of her peers, both by the Clan itself and by the rest of the Cainite world. The Cainite that disavows her Clan traditions, codes, and morals can face extreme reprisals, even death. She certainly will not prosper in her course, becoming a pariah and a laughingstock among her own kind. Who will teach her? Who will shelter her? Who will guide her from the pitfalls that lead to the Prince's or the Cardinal's wrath? Worse still, she will be viewed as an embarrassment by her sire, and no matter the Clan - Cainites are prideful creatures. Embarrassments are most often simply erased before the reputation of the sire can be irrevocably harmed. This is not to say that a rogue cannot survive - there is a certain romantic appeal to the underdog - but there is no way that the rogue will ever gain any true status or respect within their Clan. Their life will always be harsh and unforgiving, with downfall waiting at every turn. If the Cainite is particularly cunning and savvy, she may be able to conceal her rogue nature and survive within the Clan, but this turncoat will always be walking the edge of the razor, and by that reasoning will often be twice as careful and three times as paranoid as any of her Cainite brethren. Her next mistake could be the one that exposes her as a fraud, and then it would be all over. She would be twice as leery of making that mistake, yet twice as likely to make it. This morass of prejudice, distrust, expectation, and stereotype creates another reality in the Cainite world that is often conveniently overlooked by players wishing to give their character a unique 'edge'. Disciplines. It is true that most individual disciplines are shared by more than one clan. But the combinations of Disciplines become unique to each and every Clan. No two Clans share

precisely the same combination of Disciplines, and many Clans are jealous of the perceived advantage that their uniqueness gives them. These Clans would be reticent if not downright hostile about the idea of freely teaching a vampire from another Clan one of their own Disciplines. She would be - in effect - adding a terrible advantage to an already powerful source of potential competition. The Ventrue that learned Celerity would suddenly rise head and shoulders above her peers, able to perform in ways that her competition could not. The Brujah with Auspex would become a powerful and deadly competitor on the field of the night, outstripping his compatriots and able to outmatch many opponents from other Clans as well. It may not seem to be a large concern to the average player - perhaps because they are so accustomed to characters with four, five, six, or even more disciplines. But if it is viewed from the standpoint that the MAJORITY of each Clan's members have only the three basic disciplines, then suddenly the advantage of even just a fourth supernatural ability becomes vastly apparent. The teaching of a discipline to an outsider would carry a heavy price, and often would be a matter conducted in great secrecy. Worse still, the use of an ability so obviously one of the 'other Clan's' may bring the character under a great deal of suspicion, Their loyalties and motivations might be called into question, their intentions will certainly become suspect as their peers and elders realize that this Cainite is now dealing from a slightly stacked deck. Life would become drastically more difficult for this vampiric entrepreneur, and they might find their lateral freedom and upward mobility severely curtailed, or they may find themselves the favored pawn of a savvy elder no less expendable than other pawns, but put into play quite a bit more often. Beyond these considerations, Clan even has the effect of directing the tendencies of the character's nightly existence. The predilections and tendencies of Clan will dictate and shape such things as where the character makes her Haven, where she prefers to Hunt, where she gathers with others of her kind, and what kinds of activities she will choose to fill her waking hours. To view every vampire in the narrow mold of the romantic loner, spending her nights in search of prey and nothing more is a narrow and unfulfilling viewpoint. Yet for some reason it is a very common theme. I have seen Toreador played that create or introduce nothing, and likely couldn't even name the talent they were supposedly embraced on the strength of. I have seen Ventrue that behave like disaffected Brujah on an alcohol-laced bender, and I have seen Brujah that seem perfectly happy to curl up in front of a fireplace with a good book. There is a point where individuality blurs with a simple failure to grasp the concept. Worse still are the shallow cardboard cutouts of the most basic Clan stereotype - the fabulously wealthy and pompous Ventrue, for example, who then does nothing politically, financially, or socially save hang around and demand that people kiss his pinky ring - it begs the question of how he achieved the wealth, status, and power in the first place. By the time your character's stat sheet has been completed, you as the player should have a solid grasp of what your character is doing with their existence. The character should have a reasonably defined set of goals, habits, idiosyncrasies, and quirks. You should be able to face each night of play with the solid knowledge that the character can keep busy, has things to do, and has things to accomplish. This above all else is your best way to contribute to a storyline, and all of these things will be partially molded by the Clan your character belongs to. Every Clan offers a wondrous maze of complexity and diversity to be explored, without ever needing to create that glaring difference just to be unique. To disregard the psychological, social, and moral complexities of your character's Clan is to disregard the very essence of what your character's life has been and will be. Don't play with the ball - be the ball.