Salubri

The Salubri Clan is descended from Saulot, the great vampire who journeyed to the far east in search of wisdom. Some scholars say that in the east, Saulot found enlightenment, either Golconda or some other state that allows kindred to defeat or suppress the beast. The Salubri themselves strive to follow in their founders footsteps, looking for enlightenment - though the prevailing thought among most modern Salubri is that truly defeating the beast is folly and that they must learn to be at peace with their own beasts and thus end the inner struggle - which entails allowing the beast to frequently sate its desires. The Clan went through a major schism when the Anarch Revolt began, with many of the younger vampires siding with the rebels and adopting an almost pacifistic ideology of non-violence and humane behavior with the more pragmatic elders rejecting these ideals. While many Salubri helped the Anarchs and ultimately joined the Sabbat, the majority of the Clan sided with the elders and helped in the creation of the Camarilla - believing that the more egalitarian and soft hearted philosophies of the rabble were incompatible with human and vampiric nature.

The Salubri still consider themselves idealists and philosophers, but their views of both humanity and vampires are that they are savage and foolish by nature and that the elites must lead the masses and decide what is best for them. Which is why they believe so strongly in the rule of the elders and of the right of vampires to rule of humanity. The Salubri believe that as scholars, that they should try to stay aloof from vampiric politics within the Camarilla, though they are often sought after as advisers and sometimes get drawn into politics that way. While seldom holding direct power in a city, they are often the trusted advisors to princes and sometimes even the power behind the throne. The Salubri usually only have moderate power within the mortal world, aside from a handful of ghouls to help procure blood for them, though they occasionally do like to have some contact with the academic community. Salubri are the most common Clan of western vampires in the far east where they are known as the Wu Zao.

Nicknames: cyclops, triclops, unicorns.

Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, and Telekinesis (Movement of the Mind with no blood cost to use).

Weakness: The Salubri are scholars by nature, and each of them has a special focus. At character creation, the player must select an area of study. Whenever the opportunity arises to learn something about this subject, the player must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to avoid pursuing that lead to the exclusion of all else.

Advantage: The Salubri have a greater control over their emotions. All rolls to resist frenzy are at -2 difficulty. Furthermore, a Salubri can raise its Auspex to one point higher than what is normally allowed by its generation, but doing so causes it to grow a third eye. When the Salubri opens its third eye, the difficulty of all vision based rolls and Dominate rolls decreases by 1. On the downside, the third eye causes the Salubri suffer a +2 difficulty to all social rolls with any normal mortals who have seen the third eye.

Appearance: Members of the Salubru can don’t fit any particular pattern of appearance. The tend to have been eccentric mortals in life, often people who cared little for fashion or appearance or that cultivated certain distinctive styles. Some older Salubri, masters of the Auspex Discipline, develop a third eye in the middle of their foreheads, requiring them to  wear hats or style their hair in such a way as to obscure this strange feature. Many Salubri are eastern or southern Asian in ethnicity, especially the elders. 

Haven: Unlike many vampires, the Salubri don’t care that much about luxury or opulence. They favor more mundane havens, small houses in the suburbs or apartments above book or occult stores. If a Salubri does put a lot of money into his haven, it will be used on a library, laboratory, or similar intellectual interests that the Salubri has an interest in. It is not uncommon for Salubri to live on university property or research complexes, ghouling or dominating staff their so as to gain access to the knowledge of such locations and to have a convenient nearby resting place. Of course, since the Salubri do vary quite a bit in their interests, there are many who do not fall into any of the above trends. 

Background: The Salubri are scholars and philosophers, so that is who they embrace. They look for mortals with the ability to think outside of the box, to diverge from the mainstream of society, who are unwilling to conform. This leads to all sorts of unusual individuals becoming Salubri, from fringe political activists, to professors, to religious fanatics, to autodidacts of all kinds. The Salubri also embrace for brilliance, for those whose minds are truly exceptional even if they haven't necessarily accomplished anything - for there is great potential in such people. A Salubri will usually befriend the mortal, getting to know him and having discussions about philosophy, science, morality, religion, poetry, and any other number of intellectual topics. After years of such a friendship, if the Salubri finds the mortal not only worthy but interesting enough to be a companion, then the childe is embraced and becomes the student of the Salubri. A new Salubri will always have some sort of knowledge, intellectual ability, or unique ideas that distinguish him from most humans. The Salubri like Renaissance Men as well, and it's not uncommon for the childer to have other unique skills such as combat experience, great charisma, or virtually any other random experience or ability that unusual people tend to gain.

Organization: The Salubri usually exist in pairs, a sire and a childe, with the elder acting as mentor and master for the younger vampire. This relationship usually lasts for centuries until such time as the two decide that they have learned all that they can from each other and decide to part ways, the younger vampire by then is ready to embrace a childe of his own. Such partings are almost always on good terms and the two remain friends thereafter. The Salubri value learning and knowledge as much or more than any Clan, but instead of hoarding knowledge and keeping secrets, they freely share their knowledge with each other and with other Clans as well. Aside from the relationship of sire and childe, there are no strict hierarchies or organization within the Clan, but there is much in the way of friendly interaction as Salubri meet to share knowledge or debate issues of philosophy. Very few Salubri take action against their fellow Salubri. Usually the only rivalries that arise within the Clan are based on ideological differences and these conflicts usually take the form of heated debates. The Salubri rarely directly involve themselves in political conflicts within the Camarilla and as such, the Clan rarely has to act in concert to defend itself against political pressure from other Clans. Salubri generally consider other Salubri to be friends and allies and seldom act against the interests of Clan mates, the closest the Salubri come to direct conflict with each other is when two Salubri become advisers to rival vampires - though even in that case they don't consider the opposing Salubri to be a personal enemy.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: In their foolish pursuit of power they risk everything. 
Baali: All things in moderation. We must acknowledge our beasts but no become mastered by it.    
Blood Brothers: They are relics of a bygone age, when strength of arms alone could prevail against wit and planning.   
Children of Osiris: How can they truly achieve peace when they are at war with their own nature? 
Gargoyles: Brutish thugs who seek to avenge themselves against long dead enemies.    
Kiasyd: A prince need not be wise, he need only to heed wise council. 
Laibon: An endangered species. Perhaps a few of them could be preserved for future study.  
Lamia: They walk the knife‘ edge between being warriors and being philosophers. It is unfortunate that they do not defer to those wiser than themselves.    
Lhiannan: If only they could rise above their traditions and superstitions, they could truly accomplish something great with their magic.     
Nagaraja: These bullies are consumed by fear of each other and of other kindred. They can only distract themselves from this fear by causing fear in others.  
Samedi: Ah, if only they would share their many dark secrets with us, they might become truly useful to the kindred. 
Sybarites: Underneath a veneer of egotistical hedonists, these kindred conceal some terrible secrets. What could they be?    
Caitiff: Why judge these kindred so harshly?They would make excellent cannon fodder. 
Camarilla: Supporting the Camarilla is the wise choice, even if most of the members are rather unimpressive.  
Sabbat: These fools give no thought to the future or the consequences of their actions. It is a mystery how they have survived as long as they have.  
Anarchs: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 

Salubri

Kiasyd

Kiasyd
According to legend, the founder of the Kiasyd was either and unseelie fae or a carried the blood of the dark fae in her veins before being embraced. For millennia the Kiasyd have been rulers of the night, especially in northern Europe before the coming of Christendom. They were mysterious faerie kings and queens, feared and adored by humanity. As civilization progressed, the strange nature and traditional ways of the Kiasyd could not adapt to the changing world. They were forced to withdraw more and more from the world of mortals and from positions of leadership and dwell more in the shadows. In the modern nights, they still have power among the undead and are some of the staunchest defenders of conservatism, tradition, and rule by the elders. Because of their odd appearance and powers, they cannot deal with humans directly as often as thy would prefer, though they make extensive use of ghouls to serve as proxies and even have a number of revenants ghoul families that have served them for countless generations. Even with their revenant families helping them and their powers of persuasion, as time passes the Kiasyd become increasingly irrelevant in the modern world and in turn because less and less interested in human politics and influence. However, they still have tremendous power and influence in the world of the undead and especially within the Camarilla. Though many other kindred consider them haughty relics of a bygone age, they still hold many of the higher ranks within the Camarilla. Their leadership helps keep the Sect running smoothly and for this they can still command respect.

Nickname: weirdlings, elves.

Disciplines: Dominate, Celerity, Auspex, Fae Sorcery (Koldunic Sorcery with Obtenebration and Mytherceria as a Paths but no Way of Fire. Fae Sorcery also has no Rituals). Most Kiasyd automatically start with one level of Fae Sorcery.

Weakness: Cold Iron does aggravated damage to the Kiasyd, even a touch of cold iron does a level of aggravated damage to them. In addition, the more they advance in Faerie Magic, the less human they look. With no Faerie Magic, they look as they did in life but slightly paler. At level one their skin becomes more pale, their eyes darken or lighten, and their body becomes thinner. By the time they reach level five or more, their skin is so pale and white that it seems luminescent especially in the moonlight, their eyes are pools of pure darkness or brightly glowing, their ears have become pointed, they have gained over a foot in height from their mortal days, and have an unnaturally thin and delicate build. The change in the Kiasyd's eyes are based on his or her primary Fae Sorcery Path - Obtenebration makes their eyes darken until they become completely pitch black and the Way if Earth makes their eyes look like shining metallic orbs. The other Paths make their eyes luminescent and eventually glow - Mytherceria is violet, Way of Water is bluish green, and the Way of Wind is gray to white. The game effects of this are that the Kiasyd lose one die from most social interactions with mundane mortals for every level of Faerie Magic they learn, up to five. Also, at level 3 or more the Kiasyd is obviously inhuman and risks breaking the Masquerade by appearing in public.

Advantage: Kiasyd have access to a fourth Discipline, Fae Sorcery, which they automatically start with one dot in. These vampires have particularly potent blood, perhaps because it is mixed with the blood of faeries. Increase a Kiasyd's maximum Blood Pool by 20%, rounded down. This means that a Kiasyd with of the 11th generation has a Blood Pool of 14, while an 8th generation Kiasyd has a Blood Pool of 18. Kiasyd who have rejected their faerie nature only receive a 10% bonus to their maximum Blood Pool.

Permutations: A handful of very young Kiasyd, those embraced in the last fifty years, who do not come from Revenant families, reject their faerie nature and faerie sorcery. Because they have done this, they retain their human appearance aside from having unusually pale skin. They are much more active in the world of humanity and more able to use technology than their Clan mates, giving them some major advantages. They do not have Fae Sorcery as a Discipline nor do they get an extra point of it, though they likewise don't suffer the negative side effects of the Discipline. They do, however, suffer a +2 penalty to all difficulties of social rolls with the regular Kiasyd because they are seen as betraying the traditions and heritage of the Clan.

Appearance: Most Kiasyd are embraced from ancient revenant families who have served the Clan for centuries, all of whom are caucasian. The tend to wear high quality, if archaic, clothing like aristocrats of some past age. As Kiasyd age and develop their Fae Sorcery, they becoming increasingly inhuman in appearance, becoming tall and thin, their flesh becoming pale and their eyes taking on an unearthly aspect. Elders often wear the garb that was popular in their mortal days or even before, making themselves seem completely out of place in the modern era. In recent times, some young members of the Clan reject their mystical nature who are more likely to dress in contemporary clothing and sometimes embrace from ethnic groups from places other than Europe.

Haven: Old and stuck in their ways, the Kiasyd nearly always dwell in ancient dwellings. For Old World Kiasyd, this usually means ancestral castles in the countryside outside of cities, complete with housing for large numbers of servants, ghouls, revenants, and childer. In the new world, large mansions on remote country estates are favored. Usually an elder will be master of a single castle while cherished childer will dwell within the haven with them. In most cases, the haven will form a small community of sorts with numerous servants waiting on the Kiasyd’s every need, remote enough from the city so that kine are unlikely to trespass. 

Background: The Kiasyd usually choose childer from their Revenant families, most often the Ascania or Muiredaigh. These are old and noble families, their blood and ancestry is pure. The childe will have served the Clan as a ghoul for decades or even centuries and proven his competence, honor, and obedience. Such a childe often has a skewed view of the world, having grown up in extreme wealth, taught at home by tutors, known of vampires and the supernatural from a young age, and in the case of the Ascania, has been very isolated from the world of humans. These young Kiasyd have a great knowledge of mysticism and the world of vampires for childer, it is their knowledge of the mortal world which is more lacking and which may never improve. A newly embraced childe lives under the reign of his sire indefinitely, until he becomes powerful enough to gain his own domain or the sire dies or enters torpor - though on the plus side the sire is duty bound to protect the childe and instruct him in all necessary skills to thrive as one of the undead. These Revenant childer often have access to great wealth, have excellent if somewhat archaic educations, and have good social skills if not familiarity with human culture. Those childer who are not embraced from Revenant families also tend to come from wealthy or highly accomplished human families and are frequently chosen for their achievements in business, politics, or academia. In such cases, the mortal is usually turned into a ghoul and given a trial period of a century or so to prove themselves before being embraced. It usually takes non-Revenants a bit longer to earn respect as a Kiasyd than the former Revenants do. Virtually every Kiasyd is of European ethnicity, even those not belonging to a Revenant familiy. In recent years, some younger and less conservative sires, often in cities with less Kiasyd presence, have embraced accomplished mortals a bit more liberally without the long testing period. They have done so to allow the Clan to have a closer connection to the modern world. These childer know about computers, telephones, modern corporations and laws - extremely important skills to survive in the 21st century. Unfortunately, embracing such childer has backfired in some cases as the childer reject the Clan's traditions and values.

Organization: The Kiasyd Clan are highly territorial. Each member if the Clan will claim a section of a city, or in some cases an entire small city or town, for himself. They do not like trespassers and travelers are expected to get permission before entering another Kiasyd's domain. In modern cities, retaining this policy is all but impossible, though at least other Kiasyd are expected to follow these traditions and other vampires are pressured to do so as well, especially by Kiasyd in positions of power. Sometimes there will be a single powerful Kiasyd who controls vast sections of a city and has a number of younger Kiasyd who have divided up subsections for themselves but still pay homage to the elder - very much like vampiric feudalism. Within an individual Kiasyd's domain, they will almost always be the only Kiasyd except for their own childer who spend a number of decades to centuries learning from and obediently serving their sire. When a city has a Kiasyd prince, he usually divides up the city along feudal lines with the Primogen of each Clan controlling certain territories. The one exception to the above policy is the expectation of obedience to a sire. A Kiasyd is expected to always obey and show deference for his own sire, and the sire has the authority to enter his childe's domain if he so desires. The Kiasyd lords usually have cordial relationships with each other that obey ancient protocols and formalities. They strongly believe in honor and truthfulness, in repaying debts and keeping their word. While Kiasyd from different domains sometimes view each other as rivals or even enemies, the sense of honor and tradition that permeates through the Clans facilitates interaction as they can depend on their Clan mates to act in certain ways. The youngest members of the Clan, those who have rejected their fae nature and the Clan's traditions, are often outcasts and not welcome in any domains of the elders. They are sometimes forced to join together in small groups in less desirable areas of a city, sometimes forming alliances with other Clans or trying to keep a low profile.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: He without honor is not fit rule.
Baali: They respect the rule of elders and the order it brings, but their methods leave much to be desired. These are allies, not friends.  
Blood Brothers: In elder days we crushed these treacherous creatures, it seems that we must do so against. 
Children of Osiris: Our enemies must be fought and defeated, but we cannot disparage their motives, only their judgment. 
Gargoyles: Foul abominations born from sloth and cowardice. They are undeserving of eternity.  
Laibon: They rule the lands beyond civilization, one day they shall fall beneath cities of stone and steel. 
Lamia: They are noble peers who have stood beside us with honor and bravery for centuries. With good fortune, they will continue to recognize our leadership.    
Lhiannan: Since the ancient nights, the priests have always served the lords and pacified the masses. Then as now, the Lhiannan serve their purpose.  
Nagaraja: Ferocious dogs who can be brought to heel and directed for a purpose beyond their understanding.
Salubri: Their council is of great value to us, though we must always be wary of any who would seek to influence us.  
Samedi: Their dark magic presents unknown dangers, we must be careful that our necromancers do not dance too near to the precipice. 
Sybarites: They are fools not to submit themselves to the authority of the Camarilla. Fortunately, these children seek merely to play and do not meddle in adult matters.   
Caitiff: These weak blooded childer should be destroyed for their own sake. 
Camarilla: The Camarilla is order, the Camarilla survival. Only through the rule of elders can the immortal rule of kindred be insured. 
Sabbat: Driven by madness and hate, the Anarchs continue to try to bring down our immortal race. We must destroy these villains if kindred are to survive. 
Anarchs: They should be put to the torch, each and every one, we must remember what threat the Anarchs posed when the rose before. 

Kiasyd

Lhiannan

The Lhiannan are priests and priestesses of the undead. They have always seen vampires as a part of nature and not a damned condition to be feared or lamented. They practice an ancient mystical art, Ogham, which draws from many ancient pagan traditions. In ancient days, the Lhiannan were blood priests in agrarian tribes, leading them in sacrifices, fertility rights, and finding their own connection to the seasons and the natural world. Now the Lhiannan cannot be as open among mortals as they once were, but still like to influence human believe and spirituality. They still see themselves as spiritual guide for humanity, there to help humans commune with things greater than themselves. This includes being patrons of the arts, supporting political and social causes, and sometimes even creating cults that they can lead as they did in the ancient days. They feel the most comfortable in small rural communities instead of big cities. Even those Lhiannan who dwell in cities often have havens on the outskirts, in suburbs, or even parks where they can be closer to nature. Those cities which are most influenced by the Lhiannan are those not far from rural countryside or vast wildernesses - most of the Lhiannan will live outside of the city and only make the occasional journey to handle Clan business, deal with politics, or for some special purpose. Perhaps more than any vampires, the Lhiannan continue to treasure human sexuality and many of their rituals involve sexual congress with each other or with mortals. The darker side of their desire to guide humanity is a need for control and power, to be worshiped and desired by mortal followers.

Nicknames: Druids, tree huggers.

Disciplines: Animalism, Presence, Ogham (Ogham is the first path that all Lhiannan learn, other paths available to them are the Green Path, the Path of Blood, Neptune's Might, the Path of Mars, the Berserk Path, and Weather Control. They can also learn rituals as normal.)

Weakness: the Lhiannan are most at home in natural surroundings, places with trees, crops, or the bare earth. For each day that a Lhiannan is deprived of such surroundings, they suffer a cumulative -1 penalty to all dice pools down to the Lhiannan's Stamina. Recovering these lost dice requires at least a full day in a rural or wilderness location, though a point of Willpower can be spent to ignore the penalty for a scene.

Advantage: The Lhiannan draw vitality from nature, their domain, and the revelry of mortal followers. If a Lhiannan leads a ritual involving nature, sex, and blood, then the blood he or she consumes during that ritual is doubled in value. For example, the Lhiannan could consume 3 Blood Points from a human during such a ceremony and gain 6 Blood Points from it. The ritual requires 2 human participants for each extra BP gained (so six in the previous example) and requires an equal number of hours to perform (or bask in the revelry of) the ritual.

Permutations: there are some Lhiannan who dedicate themselves to fighting and combat. In modern times they are called beserkers, though there are many other names depending on the Lhiannan's culture or ideology. Berserkers have Potence as a Clan Discipline and their main Path is either the Berserk Path (if Potence replaces Presence) or Path of Mars (if Potence replaces Animalism).

Appearance: Typically, Lhiannan come from rural communities in Europe and North America and their style of clothing represents styles from rural cultures. Practical or conservative clothing is common, work clothes or old fashioned dresses are common, though hippy or earthy styles aren’t rare either. The great majority of the Clan members are caucasians, though individual appearances vary. When they gather together or appear in formal setting, Lhiannan will often wear white Druid’s robes. Many Lhiannan also mark their bodies with tattoos or painted mystical symbols, traditionally woad is used.

Haven: The druids live in rural areas, in small villages or forests. Their havens are usually on farms, plantation houses, or remote estates. On occasion, a number of Lhiannan will dwell together on a large farm along with a number of ghoul and human servants, though it is also not uncommon for a single Lhiannan to live in a house by herself or with a small number of servants. The Lhiannan favor rustic abodes, made from rough hewn wood or natural stone, sometimes large luxuriant houses are prefered but some Lhiannan like small and humble havens, simple log cabins or stone huts.  

Background: The Lhiannan are Clan of priests and mystics, each coven leading a group of mortal followers in the Clan's ancient religion. New childer are almost always selected from among the Lhiannan's cult following and embraced by the head of the coven. The embrace is often given as a reward for long and faithful service, as well as competence and natural talent. The Lhiannan also believe in using magical divination to determine a mortal's potential - sometimes such divination causes them to reject seemingly perfect candidates or embrace subpar ones. Members of a Lhiannan's cult are almost always rural people or those with a great love or knowledge of nature and the wilderness, but aside from these qualities they can be from all walks of life - rich or poor, educated or illiterate, male or female, strong or weak. They can all find a place with the Lhiannan, though the vast majority of Lhiannan as well as their mortal followers are of European ancestry. Despite their diversity in some regards, most cult followers and especially those who are considered for the embrace tend to be intelligent, willing to think introspectively, and have a strong sense of spirituality. Most candidates for the embrace are either on the older side for mortals or have spent time as a ghoul before being embraced, as time and loyalty of service is often a big factor in selecting a childe.

Organization: The Lhiannan organize themselves in small groups, sometimes called covens. These covens lay claim to large swaths of land, usually in rural or wilderness areas. The members of the coven live with or near each other for centuries and are quite loyal to each other, acting almost as a vampiric family. The covens are usually lead by the eldest in the coven, sometimes the sire of the other members. Covens of Lhiannan are fairly territorial and don't like other vampires to come into the area under their protection - it is expected that any traveling Lhiannan must get permission from the local owners of a domain before entering it. On special holy days, various different covens of the Clan from miles around gather during certain days of the year (winter solstice is the holiest of days to the Lhiannan) and have a great celebration in some neutral area, often a holy place the Lhiannan. During the holy day, the Lhiannan establish friendships between covens, share mystical knowledge, and generally grow closer as a Clan. In some cities, the Lhiannan presence may include a number of different covens from the surrounding area. In most cases, Lhiannan give each other preferential treatment, even to members of other covens. There are some cases where two covens might have a rivalry, in which case other Clans may play upon these rivalries for their own benefit.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: They cannot see beyond their own egotism. They cannot coexist with others and will thus eventually perish.
Baali: Useful allies by any standards, but what dark gods do they worship in the secrecy of their havens?   
Blood Brothers: Savage barbarians who would destroy all on their own mad quest for power.   
Children of Osiris: Their faith is strong, but they seek to destroy us and themselves in hopes of becoming something that they never can be. 
Gargoyles: The unfortunate results of using unnatural magics without thought for the consequences.   
Kiasyd: Their blood is thick with magic and age, dominance is their birthright and they have earned their position through dedicated labor. Of course, they need us to secure their position.
Laibon: These savage priests worship lesser gods and have therefore condemned themselves to mediocrity.  
Lamia: A pillar which provides vital support to the Camarilla. Though they have many dark secrets, what is the true goal of their Clan?         
Nagaraja: Monsters and boogeymen, they can be useful but is associating with these creatures worth the cost? 
Salubri: Their knowledge is wide but shallow. They gaze upon many things but only see the surface.   
Samedi: We have powers over life while they command what lies beyond. We have much to learn from each other.  
Sybarites: They are more in touch with their true nature than many of our kind, unfortunately they cannot seem to use this wisdom for any higher purpose.    
Caitiff: Some mortals are born to rule and others to serve, why should kindred not be the same? 
Camarilla: It is right that the old should rule over the young, that the strong should rule over the weak, that the immortal rule the mortal.  
Sabbat: When one fights the natural order, it can only lead to ruin. 
Anarchs: The young are foolish, they must be disciplined and shown the error of their ways.

Lhiannan

Samedi

The Samedi are among some of the most feared of vampires, they are even disconcerting to their own kind because their terrible appearance reflects to true nature of vampires - abominations, unholy monstrosities, ambulatory corpses. The Samedi resemble rotting corpses, either putrid and slime covered, perhaps crawling with insects, or withered and dried with bones protruding from papery flesh. Mortals recoil in horror from the sight of them and even vampires find their appearance highly unpleasant. The Samedi not only reflect death in their appearance, they seem to have an obsession with death and the undead state - which likely relates to their mastery of necromancy and the ability to speak with ghosts and animate the dead. The Samedi are also amazing survivors, able to thwart death at every turn. The Samedi attribute to their ingenuity and abilities while some others might say that beneath their hideous appearance that they are cowards. The Samedi, because of their horrible visage and association with death, tend to be kept at a distance by other kindred. Though they have proven their loyalty to the Camarilla on many occasions and their unique powers are frequently needed by other Clans, they are friends best kept at a distance. Many make a practice of only embracing humans who have some terminal illness or that are about to die, perhaps because they realize what a terrible curse being embraced into the Samedi Clan can be, or perhaps because they believe that the outlook of a dying human prepares someone for unlife in the Clan of death. Because they are highly skilled at stealth as well as necromancy, they are sometimes valued as spies or informants - they may not know as many dark secrets as the Baali do, but they are more trusted to provide the truth a a fair price.

Nickname: stiffs, liches.

Disciplines: Fortitude, Obfuscate, Necromancy (Thanatosis is now a path)

Weakness: the standard Samedi weakness.

Advantage: Samedi are immune to pain. They suffer no wound penalties unless they are taken to incapacitated, in which case they act as though they were mauled. Only being placed into torpor can keep them down, which affects them normally.

Appearance: Saying that a Samedi resembles a rotting corpse is, sadly, in no way a euphemism. Their flesh is soft and tends to leak fluid if poked too hard. Their ears and noses rot away (but still function normally), and tiny bits of their skin tend to slough off and regrow. Skin retracts from the eyes and teeth, giving them the appearance of grinning skulls, but too much meat clings to the cranium for them to achieve the cleaner horror of the Harbingers of Skulls. Some Samedi are leathery and dry, like unwrapped mummies. These Stiffs still stink, but their stench is more reminiscent of rotted flowers and old decay than fresh putrescence. Samedi frequently dress in rotted and tattered clothing from their mortal days or nothing at all, clothing being meaningless to such ruined created. Some others wear dark robes or concealing coats or cloaks, hiding their bodies from those who might catch a glance.  

Haven: As creatures of death, the Samedi are drawn towards havens that are often associated with death, scary places where mortals fear to go or where the Samedi can be near death or the dead. This could include old dilapidated “haunted” houses, mausoleums, old rotting manses, abandoned fairgrounds or amusement parks. Sometimes they like to live near places where large numbers of people have died - death camps, closed hospitals prisons, burned down buildings, or other such locations. The Samedi seldom make any attempt to maintain their havens, allowing them to appear deserted or condemned. Each Samedi usually has a haven of its own, but they often have a single centralized and isolated haven in a city for the Samedi to congregate and socialize or share necromantic secrets.

Background: The Samedi view themselves as a Clan of scholars and scientists of a sort, whose area of focus is death and the dead. Because of this, the Samedi almost always choose intellectuals and academics for the embrace. They also prefer loners and eccentrics, people who don't fit in with society or even their colleagues, for such individuality will suit them well in the Clan of death. They also prefer to select people who have had experience with death, either those who are dying, people who have witnessed much death and suffering, and even those who have caused many deaths. A cold hearted or detached view towards death is a big plus as well. In a city with Samedi, the right to embrace usually goes to the most senior Samedi, though sometimes elders take turns with the embrace. A newly embraced Samedi spends many years as an apprentice to his sire before being released. This involves not only helping the sire as a research assistant, but learning Necromancy from him as well as Obfuscate and establishing a method for getting blood on a regular basis without threatening the Masquerade - vital skills for a creature as hideous as the Samedi. New Samedi childer usually abandon their mortal lives entirely, they are dead to the world of mortals.

Organization: The structure of the Samedi Clan is based on the hoarding and exchange of magical secrets. The Samedi greatly value necromantic and even mundane secrets, gaining power and influence from their ability to utilize or exchange this knowledge. As each Samedi researches rituals or performs experiments with the dead, he gains wealth and status within his Clan. Young Samedi are usually embraced by a local elder to act as a research assistant, often serving the sire for many decades or even centuries before venturing out on his own. The Samedi value their privacy and do not allow themselves to get close to others, and that is fine by most other ampires. Still, the Samedi do at times feel isolated and lonely, seeking out others of their Clan for interaction - which usually means conducting research together in the dark arts or sharing macabre tales about death or the dead. The Samedi, while distant even from each other, are loath to act against members of their own Clan and display an amazing amount of loyalty to other Samedi even when they don't know those Samedi or consider them to be rivals. A Samedi who openly acts against his own Clan does not face any official sanction, but his brethren simply turn their back on him and refuse to share any knowledge with him or interact - leaving the offender truly isolated.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: Children who play at being kings, they will soon have to mature or die. 
Baali: Their dark magics are a rival to our own and their friends are far more dangerous.    
Blood Brothers: These kindred are nothing more than animals, they will be put like like rapid dogs.   
Children of Osiris: What miraculous powers these eccentric kindred command and what mad ends do they expect to achieve? 
Gargoyles: These strange constructs have turned upon their creators. Let that be a lesson to us all.    
Kiasyd: A trustworthy fool makes a better ally than an intelligent scoundrel.   
Laibon: They dwell in secret places and speak with strange spirits. What might we learn from them before they perish, or after?     
Lamia: These strange women serve their ancients, what plans might those inhuman creatures have for the world?   
Lhiannan: Why should creatures of death seek to command the magics of life? If they could cast away their mortality they would be a force to be reckoned with.      
Nagaraja: These silly children see themselves as frightening. If they could see what we have seen, they would hide beneath their beds for all of eternity.
Salubri: They see themselves as the great minds behind the Camarilla. Oh, how wrong they are.    
Sybarites: How long can the dead continue play acting as mortals and living among their prey?    
Caitiff: Their weak blood makes them minor threats at most, let the Kiasyd purge them if they desire, we have greater problems to worry about. 
Camarilla: It is better to have allies than to have enemies. It is better to have order than to have chaos. Only in unity can the kindred achieve their potential.   
Sabbat: No attempt to return to mortality or morality can succeed, no scheme to make childer the equal of elders could result in fate fate of disaster. The Sabbat are blind to reality, and so they must be eliminated for the betterment of all.    
Anarchs: They will fall in line when the time comes, until then they are only a distraction.

Samedi

The Sybarites

Sometimes known as the Daughters of Cacophony and Sons of Discord, it is unknown how this unusual Clan originated or much about their founder. They rose to prominence in the ancient mediterranean where art and music flourished, where they became known as muses or sirens. The Clan spread with civilization and mere major powers within Rome and well and the great civilizations which followed in in Europe and the Middle East. They have always loved the spotlight and the adoration of mortals, the hustle and bustle of great cities, and most of all their music. Traditionally, the Clan has been mostly female and that is the reason for a common nickname, as well as the curious fact that females within the Clan seem to have a greater innate ability with the Clan's signature Discipline of Melpominee. The Sirens love to be the center of attention and to be culturally relevant as well, they believe that art and especially music can have a great influence on culture and thought and believe that their power in the mortal world lies there. To some degree, they are right and their influence within the music world has sometimes had major effects on mortal society. Unfortunately, the Sirens seldom have any unified goals aside from protecting their ability to make music and bask in adoration, so their power over mortals is sometimes squandered. The Sirens are less interested in vampiric politics as they are in protecting their personal lifestyles, so will often ally of trade favors with who ever they believe will best facilitate that. The Clan sides with the Camarilla because they favor the stability and conservatism of the rule of the elders, which provides them with the most safety and luxury - though they are not the most ardent supporters of the Camarilla and are more likely to rebel than other vampires in the Sect as well as being less than helpful in times of need. Many vampires of the other Clans consider them mostly useless, though the influence that the Sybarites have among the masses can sometimes prove useful when they choose to wield their power to its fullest extent.

Nickname: sirens, muses.

Disciplines: Fortitude, Presence, Melpominee

Weakness: Sirens constantly hear music within their minds, they hear their own voice singing songs they have sung before, even new melodies yet to be written, or a mysterious voice that some believe is the voice of the Clan founder. This increases the difficulty of all perception rolls by 2. Additionally, the sirens feel compelled to sing or hum along with the music in their heads. This increases the difficulty of all stealth related rolls by 2. By spending a point of Willpower, the Siren can block out this music from their minds for a scene.

Advantage: It is said that the Clan founder sings to the Sybarites, that they hear her voice all of the time within their heads. So great is their love of this singing that they count as having the true love merit - they get an automatic success on all Willpower rolls.

Appearance: The majority of the Children of Cacophony are young and beautiful, selected for being pleasing to the eye as well as having singing ability. There are a few members of the Clan that do not follow this trend, though they are rare exceptions and must compensate for their lack of physical beauty with greater skill or charisma. Females are more common than men among this Clan, but Sons of Cacophony are by no means rare. They take pains to wear the most expensive and fashionable clothing, enjoying being the center of attention. 

Haven: The Sybarites love to dwell in the midst of mortals in epicenter of human culture. This will often include expensive downtown apartments or havens built into clubs, opera houses, or concert halls. They are fairly social, but also enjoy their privacy as they can be self centered or capricious and living with other vampires requires some degree to compromise or to obey. In almost every case, they live with a large number of ghoul servants to wait on and/or entertain them. Some Sybarites don’t settle on any single location, spending their days in five star hotels or in the homes of lovers.

Background: To the Sybarites, the embrace is more of a love affair than a calculated political move. A Sybarite will become enchanted with the musical ability of some mortal and then if the potential sire has enough influence and political sway to embrace the childe, then she does. If not, then she will frequently ghoul the mortal and keep her around for a future embrace. The childe can come from any sort of background as long as she has the ability to sing beautifully, though youth and physical beauty is often valued as well though the Sybarites don't like to admit it. What other skills the childe might have often doesn't matter to the Sybarites, so young Sybarites have a diversity of skills and abilities or lack thereof. A Sybarite sire will keep act a mentor, friend, lover, or patron for a variable amount of time - which usually ends with one or both vampires tiring of each other, usually the sire tires of the childe as a childe who wishes to leave may find herself blood bound. The sire teaches the childe in the ways of the Camarilla and introduces her to important vampires or mortals, though some sires may not perform this duty to the childe's satisfaction. The most common influence new childer may have is in the mortal world, as they all have wonderful singing ability and many will use this to gain fame and fortune. It is the duty if the sire to prevent the childe from becoming too famous though, as fame threatens the Masquerade.

Organization: The Sybarites have very little Clan organization. After a short period of tutelage or artistic patronage, a Sybarite sire will grow tired of her childe and let her go her own way. Sometimes a close friendship will remain between the two, but just as frequently there will be a terrible rivalry. The Sybarites see each other as kindred spirits and so connect to each other over shared interests in music and the arts, but they rarely act together politically and usually follow their own agenda. This makes the Sybarites a political wild card in Camarilla cities, as different Sybarites can be enticed to ally themselves with various other Clans or individuals if the reward is adequately tempting. In some cases, Sybarite elders will attempt to form some coalition of Sybarites to act together to achieve some common political goal - though these projects usually meet with either limited success or total failure. Pride, cattiness, or sometimes even apathy can split apart such alliances. Despite their lack of unity, the Sybarites still thrive within the Camarilla in part because they aren't collectively seen as a threat to other Clans and in fact are perceived as potentially useful allies or pawns. Many of the Sybarites are more crafty than other vampires give them credit for, and will frequently play off potential puppet masters against each other or build up vast sums of wealth or influence in the mortal world under the noses of the other Clans - though almost always to their own benefit and not that of the Clan.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: As pompous as the Camarilla but less rational.  
Baali: They share our refined tastes for exotic pleasures but their vices can be much more extreme than ours.    
Blood Brothers: How are these morons still alive?   
Children of Osiris: Why would any kindred seek to spoil everyone else’s fun? 
Gargoyles: Vicious and singleminded. It is fortunate that we occupy a place relatively far down on their list of grudges.   
Kiasyd: Why should we submit to their rule when we can benefit from the order they create without having to grovel on bended knee?   
Laibon: We exist in two different spheres. We see no reason to intrude into their’s.     
Lamia: So beautiful and yet so deadly. Why take unlife so seriously?   
Lhiannan: They have a certain taste and esthetic that we can respect, a love of life and connection to their feelings.       
Nagaraja: Crazed killers that should avoided or destroyed, which ever is more convenient. 
Salubri: Self important narcissists who think that they have all of the answers.  
Samedi: Disgusting creatures with dangerous hobbies. We have no reason to associate with them aside from perhaps morbid curiosity.     
Caitiff: Perhaps they deserve a bit more respect. We have no reason to reject them, nor should we risk ourselves for them either. 
Camarilla: Why should we bow down and submit to their will when we can go our own way? Of course, it is best not to antagonize them lest they bring their force to bear against us.  
Sabbat: Fools and madmen. The best thing that can be said of the Camarilla is that they seek to crush the Sabbat.    
Anarchs: Very reasonable sorts, with more sense than the Sabbat and more respect for freedom than the Camarilla.  

Sybarite

Lamia

In ancient days, it is said, the founder of the Lamia was a great king, a philosopher and warrior who ruled with an iron fist, but was also known for having wisdom and a harsh sense of honor. The king sought to learn mysteries of life and death and in his contemplation, he studied mystic arts and had an affinity for serpents. In his musing, he came to believe that humanity like the natural world had natural classes, and that the great should rule over the masses and that the weakest should be eliminated - though also the string had a duty to protect and guide their lessors. The king also had a love for women, and had a harem of many wives, for he believed that a great man such as himself must spread his seed as much as possible. When the founder joined the ranks of the undead, he embraced his wives as well and would only give his blood to those women who he thought worthy of being his brides. To his brides, the founder passed along his knowledge of mysticism, along with his combat prowess and his own philosophical views. In the modern nights, the Lamia are still a Clan of only females, with many viewing themselves as the spiritual brides of their founder and others seeing themselves as dark nobles who have a duty to rule and to exalt the strong over the weak. In many Camarilla cities, Lamia are in positions of leadership, though more generally with their sense of honor and martial mentality, they serve as warriors protecting the Traditions and enforcing the will of the elders. Despite having a strong sense of honor and duty, the Lamia still carry the sensual and hedonistic inclinations of their founder and are known to be pleasure seekers as well as warriors.

Nickname: gorgons, serpents.

Disciplines: Animalism, Potence, Serpentis (replace level 2 with Feral Claws and Level 5 with a serpentine version of Horrid Form)

Weakness: it is said that the founder of the Lamia never wanted his childer to drink the blood of, much less ghoul or embrace a male. A Lamia's bite is poisonous to males causing men who are bitten to lose a point from each physical attribute every hour until they die. If a male human imbibes Lamia blood, the same thing will happen. Living male supernatural creatures who have exceptional constitutions (like werewolves, ghouls, faeries, etc.) take a level of aggravated damage per blood point imbibed or bite delivered - also, male ghouls get no benefit from this blood nor can living males become blood bound to the Lamia. Vampires are immune from this, unless they are embraced by a Lamia in which case, they too become poisoned die the final death mere hours after they are embraced. This means that all Lamia and Lamia ghouls are female. After the embrace, Lamia also develop unusually luminescent green or yellowish eyes.

Advantage: When using Animalism, the Lamia are at -4 (minimum of 2) difficulty to use any power that affects a snake. Male snakes can be ghouled by Lamia blood and suffer no side effects. A poisonous snake ghouled by a Lamia gains venom so toxic that it can kill most mortals with a single bite. Even vampires who take damage from the bite of a Lamia's ghouled snake take a single level of aggravated damage that can only be soaked with Fortitude at a difficulty of 8.

Appearance: All Lamia are female, they are incapable of embracing males. Potential new Clan members are selected as young women, usually with at least some degree of athletic or combat ability, and so virtually every Lamia appears to be in her teens or twenties. Lamia tend to dress either conservatively, when more formal attire is appropriate, or in lose fitting practical clothing in other situations. As many Lamia have shape changing abilities, their frequently wear clothing that can easily be discarded or removed quickly, such as robes, loose fitting dresses, or overcoats. The Clan’s originated around the Mediterranean and many Clan members have that ancestry, though by no means all.

Haven: Serpents favor communal havens, constructed to be secure and easily defensible.  This will usually resemble some large compound or complex that houses not only a region’s Lamia but all of their ghouls and servants. Sometimes these places will have some cover for why so many women live here together, such as a convent, girls’ school, or in modern days, a women’s shelter. These compounds are usually built with a variety of security measures - motion detectors, solid metal doors, barred windows, and maybe even traps. Sometimes large sections of the havens will be subterranean or have secret escape routes.

Background: Before a mortal is embraced into the Lamia Clan, she must spend many decades as a ghoul proving her competence, learning valuable skills, and serving the Clan. The Lamia usually select young women in their teens or twenties who have made great accomplishments as well as shown determination, intellect, and the ability to work hard. These girls are usually highly accomplished students, child prodigies, women who own small businesses, or who have distinguished themselves with some kind of activism or other activity. Mental abilities are most sought after, but physical and social skills are desirable as well. The Lamia favor young candidates who show potential, girls who they can mold into their ideal vision of the perfect Lamia. As a ghoul, the candidate will be taught the Clan's ideology, trained in a variety of combat skills, and her talents will be utilized in serving the goals of the Clan and her domitor. Only a minority of candidates are ever embraced, the others either lose their lives in service of the Clan or fail to distinguish themselves and remain ghouls indefinitely. Over the course of decades of being a ghoul servant, these candidates are gradually drawn away from their lives as mortals - becoming more and more distant from friends and family while they make new friends or contacts that serve the interests of the Lamia Clan.

Organization: The Lamia are one of the most tightly knit and organized of the Clans. They follow their traditions from ancient times of childer being blood bound to their sire, meaning that there is a relatively strict hierarchy enforced by blood bonds as well as tradition. The Lamia have codes of honor and personal conduct which governs how they treat their childer, so only a small number were able to break free during the Great Ritual and many who did remained loyal to the Clan. The Clan is ruled by a handful of ancients, who some say are in direct contact with the founder of their Clan. In theory, there is a chain of blood bound Lamia extending from a newly embraced childe all the way up to the Clan's founder, though in practice deaths within the Clan along with distance and infrequent contact mean that there are many broken links in the chain. The Lamia do not see the blood bond as a necessity, they merely see it as an added bit of protection especially against being blood bound by members of other Clans. The Clan, so the Lamia claim, is held together by loyalty, purpose, and love more than blood. All Lamia start off as ghouls and spend many decades in this state before being embraced by their sires. Childer are relatively well treated as they are taught the ways and powers of the Lamia, though they are still expected to serve and obey. At some point a young Lamia may be released of the blood bond when she has proven herself competent and loyal, especially if she is needed at some location far away from her sire for a prolonged period of time. All Lamia must show complete obedience to their sires, blood bond or no, and to give proper respect for Clan elders as well.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: Do they deserve to rule? They must first prove themselves through strife and struggle.

Baali: What treacherous snakes have we invited into our homes? They are of great benefit to the Camarilla, but do we use them or do they use us?   

Blood Brothers: Such bravery and martial process wasted in a mad pursuit for violence.   

Children of Osiris: What degeneracy could drive any creature to reject strength and embrace weakness. 

Gargoyles: A slave with no master has no right to exist. They fight well and shall die bravely.   

Kiasyd: To the Kiasyd, to rule is an obligation, they are both our servants and masters. They have honor and nobility, that alone makes them better rulers than most. 

Laibon: They are kings without a kingdom, masters of empty land. Until such time as we must destroy them, leave them to their jungles.    

Lhiannan: Are these masters of magic or mere slaves to superstition. In either case, they are allies and we must abide their eccentricities.      

Nagaraja: Fearsome assassins and killers with no honor or greater purpose. How can such as them be trusted? 

Salubri: Scholars and intellectuals or merely sophists? Listen to their words but do not become reliant on them.  

Samedi: Hideous monsters with black magic, it is fortunate that we are allies and not enemies.  

Sybarites: We understand their love of pleasure and mortal attention, but one must live for more than their own egos.   

Caitiff: Judged by their utility or the potency of their blood, they are equally found wanting. 

Camarilla: An adequate structure which preserves order while allowing for the wisest and strongest to rule over their inferiors.  

Sabbat: So the mortals and the childer would throw off the rule of their betters? Not while we still walk upon the earth. 

Anarchs: Like the Sabbat, with greater wisdom but less courage.

Lamia

Baali

The Baali are one of the more influential Clans within the Camarilla. They hold a great deal of social and political power and like to exploit their abilities to their fullest extent. They are known as the Clan of dark secrets, of treachery and deceit, or forbidden vices, and of other dark elements of unlife. They run criminal empires based on drugs, prostitution, pornography, kidnapping, and other unspeakable activities - they also have many politicians and influential mortals in their pockets, likely those who sometimes indulge in forbidden pleasures. The Baali strive to make mortals as immoral, degenerate, violent, and debauched as they themselves are. This gives vampires as a whole better feeding opportunities but ultimately leads to more power for the Baali. Baali believe in completely embracing the evil nature of vampires, to take pleasure in inflicting pain, to use deceit and trickery to exploit others, and to place one own welfare above all others. They might be uncontested rulers of the Camarilla if they were not so generally mistrusted by their fellow vampires. Despite this, Baali know that there is a great value of having allies and that the stability of the Camarilla is vital to their safety and prosperity, so they try their best to balance their own selfishness with the interests of the Sect. In fact, without the wealth and influence of the Baali, the Camarilla would be in a much weaker position and other Clans will reluctantly acknowledge this fact if pressed. The exact origin of the Baali is largely shrouded in mystery, with a mix of legends, lies, and half truths. Many say that the Baali worship demons or that they are demons themselves - there is some truth to this as some Baali do indeed gather together to perform dark rituals, especially the elders of the Clan.

Nickname: demons, devils, imps.

Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Infernalism (Like Thaumaturgy, though Path of Corruption is the always the primary Path and other Paths cannot be learned until Coruption is at level 5. Other paths available are Lure of Flames, Daimoinon, Way of Fire, and Path of Conjuration. All Paths use Manipulation + Occult instead of Willpower rolls. Infernalism allows for rituals to be learned as well, as long as they are suitably evil and as long as Infernalsim is at level 5 or higher)

Weakness: The standard Baali weakness.

Advantage: The Baali are more resistant to fire than other vampires are. They take lethal damage from fire instead of aggravated damage and can soak it normally, plus they do not suffer from Rotschreck from fire.

Permutations: Many younger Baali have abandoned demons in favor of merely pursuing their own power and pleasure. Instead of Infernalism, these Baali have Dominate.

Appearance: The Baali love to accumulate wealth and power and their clothing choices often reflect this fact. They adorn themselves with expensive clothing, from conservative power suits   to sexy designer dresses. Often Baali are physically attractive, as those with great beauty have one more tool at their disposal to use in manipulating others, though older or less attractive Clan members are by no means rare - as intellectual or social ability always trumps mere physical beauty. Many members of the Clan like to deliberately cultivate a dark or menacing appearance, wearing black, red, or dark grays - though just as often some may adopt a false veneer of conservatism or piety.

Haven: As a Clan that accumulates great wealth and power, the Baali favor large mansions or lavish estates. Each Baali will likely have his own haven, though many cities with a number of Baali will have a large communal haven in some remote region of the city or surrounding area where the Baali can conduct dark rituals far away from the prying eyes of mortals. Some Baali like to connect their havens to clubs, brothels, or other dens of iniquity so that they may surround themselves with the forbidden pleasures they so enjoy. 

Background: The Baali choose mortals for the embrace who have shown themselves to be highly competent manipulators. Lawyers, politicians, con men, lobbyists, pimps, captains of industry, investors, leaders of organized crime, pornographers, and many others. Essentially, the target must have shown his ability to successfully interact with people, make great fortunes, and must have very few scruples. Often the Baali choose long time business associates who they have seen the competence of first hand. Most candidates for the Baali embrace are middle aged, old enough to have proven their ability and build up a sizable fortune, but not so old as to significantly decline physically or to lose their hunger for power. The Baali of a single city must get together and discuss the candidates, deciding together which is best. When the decision is made, they then select which Baali among them will perform the embrace. The potential childe is then approached, offered a choice to become a vampire or continue on as if nothing had happened - most agree to become a vampire, those who refuse are usually ghouled so that they can continue to be useful but wont talk to other humans about the Baali.

Organization: The Baali have a looser organization than some of the other Clans of the Camarilla. Baali fear competition and so have some reluctance to embrace new Childer, but alternatively they understand that if they do not expand and replace new members that their Clan will wither and die. In the past, many young Baali were kept as blood bound thralls to their sires, used as slave labor and expected to be obedient. In the modern age this tradition has virtually disappeared. Baali now fear the power that being a sire gains in creating a childe and when the childe is embraced, he is expected to be cut loose from the sire relatively quickly so that there is no real bond of loyalty. The Baali neonate is then usually watched over by other Baali in the city, none taking too active of a hand but all providing advice and trying to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the young Baali. The world of the Baali is cutthroat and personal interest always takes precedent over Clan loyalty. Despite this, the Baali know that they are neither loved nor trusted by the other Clans and realize that working together is more beneficial to the Clan than is fighting amongst themselves. For this reason, the Baali try avoid stabbing Clan mates in the back, unless of course the potential benefits of doing so are too enticing. For the most part, seniority in the Baali Clan garners no inherent respect or obedience, the Baali respect power and the degree to which that power can harm or benefit them. Among older Baali, there exist various cults that worship and claim to be able to commune with demons. These cults tend to be more tightly knit than the Clan in general and are looked upon somewhat suspiciously by the more independent members of the Clan. Despite embracing evil and selfishness, the Baali can still form personal friendships with others, especially their fellow Baali with whom they share common interests and often enjoy the company of. In a strange way, the shared experience embracing hedonism or inflicting pain helps to maintain a semblance of Clan unity.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: Why do they think that they deserve power that they are too incompetent to seize?    
The Brotherhood of Blood: An aged lion, still dangerous but their nights are numbered. 
Children of Osiris: Their struggle for humanity and virtue is their greatest strength and most easily exploitable weakness.
Gargoyles: In throwing of the chains of the warlocks, they have become unwitting servants to the Children of Osiris. 
Kiasyd: These honor bound relics live in the past, but they do have their uses.
Laibon: They are welcome to rule over jungles and primitives. 
Lamia: Fearsome warriors and stalwart allies, though I can’t help but contemplate what forbidden pleasures they partake of in their communal havens.   
Lhiannan: They have potential, if only they would open themselves to the path to true power.
Nagaraja: They have neither intellect nor ingenuity, merely useful powers.
Salubri: Seemingly benign and useful allies, which is reason enough to be wary.
Samedi: Frightening to behold, but they command great power and possess valuable knowledge.
Sybarites: Occasional allies and useful pawns, they are too easily enamored by mortal attention. 
Caitiff: Potential pawns, their desire for acceptance makes them easy to manipulate. 
Camarilla: There is power in numbers, we are well served by these pawns and protectors. 
Sabbat: These lunatics would destroy us all, tearing down all order and making of slaves instead of masters to humanity.
Anarchs: Spoiled children who expect all the advantage of wealth without having to earn it.

Baali

The Brotherhood of Blood

The Brotherhood of Blood began when a ruthless and power hungry megalomaniac was embraced in the ancient days of vampires. The founder of Brotherhood felt the power of the vampiric blood in his veins and sought more, sought to drain the souls of other vampires, to become a blood god. He went to war against the other Clan founders and barely escaped with his unlife. He realized that he needed an army and began to embrace childer and to craft them into perfect killers. He realized that his minions must work together to destroy powerful kindred, and thus works to make them think and act as one. The army drank each other's blood in a terrible ceremony that bound them all together, and together hunted and preyed upon other vampires. Over time, the Brotherhood developed many strange powers and side effects from their unity, including looking more and more alike, being able to mystically share blood or exchange organs, and even sensing each other's injuries. Eventually the other Clans realized that they must destroy the Brotherhood of Blood once and for all. The sorcerers and blood priests among the other Clans placed a great curse upon the Blood Brothers, making them fall upon each other with terrible ferocity. The Brotherhood of Blood collapsed upon itself as brother slew brother in a frenzy of destruction while warriors of the other Clans picked off the survivors. For many centuries, they were thought destroyed, though during the middle ages some Blood Brother activity was spotted again, though they were now much less organized and were now divided into small autonomous "hives" which had to be more conservative and cautious. Blood Brothers are embraced from the blood of the entire hive mixed together, the resulting childe is one generation higher than the lowest member of the hive. No hive may have more than 13 members, a mystical number among the kindred, and the 14th member so embraced will cause the hive to split into two seven member hives who will immediately seek to destroy each other. They are still hated and feared by most kindred, though in some rare cases they will be hired as mercenary warriors by particularly ruthless and reckless undead - though any association with Blood Brothers is strictly forbidden within the Camarilla.

Nicknames: blood brothers, clones, freaks.

Disciplines: Potence, Celerity, Sanguinus

Weakness: Blood Brothers feel the pain of any other Blood Brother in the their hive, as in the book. In addition, any Blood Brother who sees or knowingly gets into close proximity with a Blood Brother from another hive must roll to resist frenzy with a difficulty of 8. A failed roll means that the Blood Brother frenzies and attacks the rival hive member in a frenzy. Success means that the Blood Brother endures the other's presence for a scene before needing to roll again, though during that time all difficulties to resist Frenzy are increased by two. All of the Blood Brothers in a hive are effectively blood bound to each other, making them immune to being bound by others as well as totally loyal to each other.

Advantage: Blood Brothers are all Blood Bound to each other and thus immune from the Blood Bond. Furthermore, all the members in a hive can sense the thoughts of other hive members.

Appearance: When a mortal is embraced into a hive, all of their hair falls out and their features blend with the members of the new hive until all members look identical - so if a hive of white members embraced a black man, all of the older members of the hive would darken slightly as the new childe significantly lightened so that all members become the same. The Brotherhood of Blood respects great physical strength and very few females are embraced into the Clan, though when a female is embraced she takes on masculine features as the members of her hive become more feminine in appearance. There are a few hives where every member is androgynous because of the frequent embrace of females, rarer still are hives of females sometimes called Blood Sisters. It is thought that the Clan founder went mad when his childer began to destroy each other and either destroyed himself or sunk not a deep torpor in some remote location. Their clothing tends to be entirely practical garb suited for combat, stealth, or other physical activity.

Haven: Blood Brothers seldom have a single long term haven. They are generally nomadic in nature, never staying in one location for too long. They often travel the land in vans, RV’s, or caravans, stopping only in a single city for a short time to conduct attacks on other vampires before moving on before a counterattack can be organized. When they do stay in one place for more than a few days, they will often find some abandoned warehouse or mall in a deserved or high crime area of town where they are unlikely to be bothered.

Background: Blood Brothers embrace for combat ability only. They do not care about a human's class, intellect, morals, race, education, or any other quality but the ability to kill. When the Blood Brothers need to replace a slain member of a hive, they embrace the most skilled warrior that they can find within the next week. They often target military personal, police officers, martial artists, athletes, gang members, members of paramilitary groups, hit men, terrorists, or gun enthusiasts. Childer are virtually always male. When a childe is embraced by a hive of Blood Brothers, his individuality melts away. He forget values and friends he had in life or those memories become a hazy blend with the thoughts of the rest of the hive. Who the childe was is dead and gone, what he becomes is one of the Blood Brothers. The childe's personality shifts to become like that of the rest if the hive, his desires become the desire for the amaranth - they do not even retain their mortal appearance.

Organization: In the ancient days of early civilization, the Brotherhood of Blood was completely unified under the Clan's founder, totally obedient to him and worked as a single body to conquer foes and drain the life force from other vampires. Those days are long past, as the Clan torn apart by the warlock's curse. For centuries, the Blood Brothers have had to operate in small groups of 13 or less or face frenzy and destruction. Within each of these hives, loyalty is absolute, like a single soul sharing multiple bodies - between hives there can be very little direct interaction. In the past century, the Clan has been growing in power and unity because of the ease of communication from technology. Different hives have been able to learn of each other and coordinate activities over the phone or by e-mail. This allows the Blood Brothers to avoid killing each other on sight and to work together against mutual enemies. Other vampires are only just learning that the Blood Brothers have found a way to undermine the curse and fear that there may be a terrible conflict to come.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: They will find that no amount of wealth or influence will protect their necks from our blades or fangs.
Baali: These degenerates deserve death more than most, we will be happy to give it to them.     
Children of Osiris: Their foolishness allowed for our return to power, for that we shall make their deaths quick and painless.
Gargoyles: We share many enemies, they are brave warriors, and they did help to destroy the hated warlocks. Perhaps there is some hope for them.  
Kiasyd: One day each and every weirdling will fall beneath our fangs. Then our revenge will be complete.
Laibon: Their independence and isolation will make them difficult prey. 
Lamia: Their potent fighting ability and dedication to the Camarilla present a challenge to us. Challenge accepted.   
Lhiannan: When the time comes, they may pray for mercy from any god they desire, those prayers will fall upon deaf ears.
Nagaraja: Dangerous foes who possess both martial prowess and cunning. Were that their courage were a match to their abilities we might have reason for concern. 
Salubri: Honorless curs, they would hide behind others instead of facing us in open combat.
Samedi: Almost too disgusting to feast upon with dangerously unpredictable black magic. We should save them for last.
Sybarites: While they would seem pathetic in comparison to us or even other vampires, sometimes outward appearances can be deceiving. 
Caitiff: Easy prey, too weak to resist us and too hated to gain protection from others.  
Camarilla: The greatest threat to us and yet the greatest potential source of power. One day we shall have our revenge and grow strong from their souls. 
Sabbat: An enemy to the Camarilla but no friend to us either. We must exploit the disorder created by them to feast off of both the young and old.
Anarchs: If they were wiser in the ways of the world, the would cower behind their elders in fear that one day we might come for them. 

Blood Brother