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

Laibon

The Laibon Clan originated in Africa many millennia ago among the tribal people south of the Sahara. A powerful shaman, the founder was able to use the power of his vampiric blood to connect to animal and earth spirits as well as maintain a greater connection to his own spiritual nature. Over the years, the ancient learned mastery over the spirits, at the expense of the potency of his own blood. From Africa, eventually the Laibon would spread out across the world, seeking out remote places where mortals felt a connection to the spirit world. The Laibon were able to extend their influence significantly when Africa slaves were taken to the New World, taking the Laibon with them to spread among a whole continent full of tribal people who respect the spirits.

Since that time, the Laibon have wandered the wild places of the world, interacting with beast spirits and the people who still believe in them. They value their independence and join no Sect, nor do they allow Sect boundaries to limit their travel of their behavior. Because of this, they are often disliked by both Sects who see them as dangerous loose cannons. The Laibon prefer regions of the world that the other vampires have less desire for - jungles, deep forests, third world nations and villages, and other places where people still believe in spirits. Since the age of colonialism of the Laibon Clan has come into conflict more frequently with other Clans as traditional cultures have been displaced or pressured into assimilation and the Laibon lose ground to the combined might of civilization and western kindred. The regions with the largest Laibon presence are sub-Saharan Africa and the villages and jungles of South America.

Nickname: primitives, shamans, natives.

Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Spiritus

Weakness: Laibon have a more powerful spirit than do other vampires, which allows them to commune with the spirits of beasts and gives them their powers. The downside to this is that their blood becomes weaker. They cannot create a blood bond nor will their blood create ghouls, it has no effect on vampires or humans that drink it. Because of their spiritual connection to animals, a Laibon's blood can still create the blood bond in beasts as well as turning them into ghouls.

Advantages: Laibon have a different spiritual nature than vampires. Their aura is not pale as are those of other vampires and they do not naturally repel animals. They cannot be detected as being unnatural by spirits or by creatures that use spirit powers such as werewolves. Increase the difficulty of reading the aura of an Laibon or using similar powers by 2.

Appearance: The Laibon are drawn almost exclusively from tribal peoples from South America, Africa, or Australia. So they are almost always racially black or brown, white Laibon are almost unheard of, as are Asians. Though there are no particular trends in terms of age or gender. Their clothing often reflects that of the culture they were raised in, traditional tribal clothing, loin clothes, or simple shorts and t-shirt. Some Laibon have wandered the jungles and wildernesses so long that they eschew the use of clothing entirely.

Haven: The Laibon seldom have any permanent havens. They wander the jungles and savannah, finding haven in the earth or in what ever dwellings they might happen across. In the rare cases that the Laibon decide to enter an urban area, they will likely sleep in a vehicle or perhaps in the home of a slain mortal. They never stay in towns or cities for long though, so they don’t put much effort into securing or selecting such havens.  

Background: Laibon almost always select their childer from among humans living a tribal exist or close to it. The main regions of influence for the Laibon are Africa and Latin America - where they look for potential childer in poor villages and deep jungles, in search of people who still follow the old traditions and believe in or venerate spirits. For the most part, Laibon don't have that much interest in embracing childer and creating competition, though they feel highly motivated to do so when they encounter a individual with a true connection to spirits. Sometimes such individuals are shamans or witch doctors in little villages, other times they are mad hermits living on their own in the deep wilderness, sometimes they are just random villagers with untapped potential. Virtually all Laibon are of African, Australian aboriginal, or Native American ethnicity as well, very few whites are embraced into the Clan. Occasionally, an urban dweller has some special quality that attracted the attention of the Laibon, but it is rare and even city dwellers with such spiritual potential are seldom seen by a Laibon - though it is becoming more common as traditional tribal lifestyles disappear. Laibon childer seldom have any substantial wealth or education, most are illiterate and have only the skills they will have learned in their villages such as hunting, weaving, primitive farming, etc. Some childer stay with their people, others abandon them and become nomadic hunters in the forests and jungles.

Organization: Laibon have virtually no Clan organization, they reject such notions and their lifestyle of frequent travel and subsisting from animals make organization largely unneeded. When two unfamiliar Laibon cross paths, they either politely greet each other and share a night of telling stories, or the two fight for dominance before the loser flees or is killed. In most cases Laibon are solitary, though the sire of a childe will often stay with the childe for a few years to show him the ropes. In some instances, a Laibon will attach itself to a tribe of humans, helping to protect them and feeding off of them as well. In such cases, a childe is allowed to stay as long as it doesn't strain the tribe, though other vampires are driven off or killed. As Laibon territory is being reduced by the expansion of other Clans, some groups of Laibon have begun to form rough alliances to fight off the invaders. These alliances seldom last longer than the external threat does. In many places in the world since colonialism, the threat of "civilized" Clans is so great that it is creating regional and long term organizations of Laibon.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: Why should they demand to rule over us?
Baali: They are corrupt and evil, using the most despicable methods to torture and exploit our mortal kin.   
Blood Brothers: Fearsome warriors, but they fear wild places and the sun’s rays, so they trouble us very little.  
Children of Osiris: Why should an eagle seek to instead be a mouse? 
Gargoyles: They should never have been created. Now that they exist they seek oblivion in endless conflict.   
Kiasyd: These villains seek to enslave the world in chains of steel and glass, making them the gravest threat to our people and traditions.  
Lamia: Any man is wise to fear a serpent’s strike.   
Lhiannan: Shamans like us, they see value in wild places and the people there. It is a tragedy that they would conquer the spirits instead of befriending them.   
Nagaraja: Foul predators who kill and destroy not only for sustenance but for pleasure. We cross their paths but rarely and destroy them when we can.
Salubri: They see more deeply than others of our kind, why then can’t they act upon their insight?  
Samedi: Unholy abominations or misguided fools, they should not meddle with spirits of the dead. 
Sybarites: In pursuing undying pleasure they blind themselves to the suffering their pleasures cause.   
Caitiff: Why should any judge the weak blooded? They suffer enough from their state. 
Camarilla: These ancient evil doers desire power and control above all other things. They have taken our lands and destroyed our people, a time will come when we shall make a stand and bring down this threat. 
Sabbat: They have lost their way, but still oppose those who would destroy us. 
Anarchs: Why do these vampires not take a stand against the evil in their midst? 

Laibon

Ahrimanes

The Ahrimanes rose to prominence in the ancient Middle East. There they used their power to rule over mortals as god kings, controlling some of the earliest cities and agricultural communities. The Clan controlled great wealth and power during the bronze age, but with changing times and shifting fortunes, lost their power and human kingdoms. Since those days, the Ahrimanes have sought to reestablish themselves as masters over men and vampires. When the Anarch Revolts blazed across the Western world, the Ahrimanes saw their chance to reestablish themselves as leaders within the vampiric world and attacked both the anarchs and elders, carving out regions of control in both the Middle East and Europe.

After the conflict died out, the Ahrimanes were too proud, and now too hated by either faction, to ally with other vampires. They now had their own domains again and the new formed Camarilla and Sabbat were too spent, tired of war, and fearful of each other to strike out against the reemergent Ahrimanes. An uneasy coexistence was established. Since that time, the Ahrimanes have ruthlessly sought out power, control, and wealth to try to establish themselves as rulers among kindred and kine alike - refusing to bow before the Camarilla or the Sabbat. Unlike many of the other Clans who see themselves as nobility, the Ahrimanes have no sense of honor or duty, no goals for the exercise of their power, but merely crave power and prestige for their own sake and will lie, cheat, and steal from from each other. The Clan only maintains its unity in cohesion because of the nearly universal sense of superiority they have other other vampires and the hatred that other vampires have for them. Unfortunately for the Camarilla, the Ahrimanes have managed to develop no small amount of temporal power and they are sometimes forced into conflict or sometimes even alliance with the Ahrimanes.

Nickname: tyrants.

Disciplines: Dominate, Presence, Quietus

Weakness: Ahrimanes, from millennia of being rulers over mortals, routinely gorged themselves on mortal blood. As a result, their thirst became stronger and stronger with passing ages. Now the Ahrimanes require 2 blood points each day to awake from their slumber. Additionally, the difficulty to resist any hunger related frenzy is increased by +1.

Advantage: Ahrimanes traditionally never had difficulties finding victims to drink from, so they became more adept at rapidly expending their blood. The Ahrimanes can spend one additional blood point each turn above and beyond their generational limit.

Appearance: Though most elder Ahrimanes are middle eastern in appearance and usually male, since the middle ages they have embraced from all ethnicities and both genders. Virtually all Ahrimanes are embraced from the upper classes or from people who have the potential to work their way into that class. They tend to dress in expensive and dignified clothing, wearing what is appropriate for displaying wealth and power for their place and time. In the modern era, this usually means power suits, including pantsuits for women. They usually foster a conservative style, one which projects a degree of authority, though the Ahrimanes also strive towards keeping up with modern fashions and not living in the past.

Haven: The Tyrants almost universally dwell in havens of great expense and luxury. Mansions, castles, penthouses, are all common havens for the Ahrimanes. These dwelling are finely decorated with the most expensive modern styles meant to display wealth and opulence. As the Ahrimanes hate to share power, they seldom live with or even near each other, though most haven will have servants quarters for an assortment of ghouls and perhaps a herd. 

Background: Ahrimanes are often embraced from among people who crave power and who are talented in attaining it. This usually includes politicians, bureaucrats, nobility, and charismatic manipulators of all sorts. While these are the preferred candidates for the Ahrimanes, they are not particularly picky when choosing candidates for the embrace and - since they reject the authority of sects - embrace who ever they desire. New childer are blood bound to the sire and used as servants or cannon fodder until such time as the sire sees fit to release the childe to go their own way or becomes unable to hold the childe in blood bondage. Often a childer will be allowed to go his own way under the agreement that he goes to some far off location to establish himself there, away from his sire’s territory. Because of this, many young Ahrimanes lose their unlives in conflict with their master’s enemies, those who survive long enough have proven themselves worthy to be true members of the Clan. This means that a young Ahrimane could have a diverse set of skills and abilities, as some are embraced for their social ability while others are chosen as bodyguards to protect their sires - and in their case they develop any number of additional talents while the slave away for their masters and struggle to stay unliving. 

Organization: The Ahrimane Clan is ruled be a handful of ancients who still remember the golden age when Ahrimanes ruled mortal empires and drank the blood of kings and queens. These ancient are seldom active and their childer are the ones who act more directly. Each Ahrimane of any significant age, called a shah, is an independent agent of sorts, accumulating what ever power he can in his struggle against other vampires, even those of the Ahrimane Clan. The ancients, more unified than the younger members of the Clan, have commanded that Ahrimanes are never to act against other Ahrimanes. This edict is often violated, especially through proxies or other subtle means. The Ahrimanes will frequently join forces with each other to counter a common foe, especially members of other Clans, or when an ancient awakes and demands action. Beneath the various shahs are their childer, usually blood bound to them and thus subservient. Because the Ahrimane Clan did not rise to prominence again until after the Great Ritual, their Clan was not that impacted by the shattering of blood bonds. They are, however, wary about relying too much upon blood bonds to maintain Clan unity, which is why childer of a certain age are usually either sent away to establish power within some rival’s domain or sent on dangerous missions until they are destroyed. While the Ahrimanes can frequently work together, they never fully trust each other, especially not their childer who may come seeking their blood one day.

Stereotypes

Baali: It is unfortunate that these pathetic worms are so adept at hiding in the shadows.   
The Brotherhood of Blood: Savage beasts crazed with bloodlust. They would make adequate servants if they could be trusted to submit.
Children of Osiris: What madness could have gripped these creatures to cause them to reject divinity for mortality.
Gargoyles: Were that the Gargoyles our slaves, they would continue to serve us to these modern nights. 
Kiasyd: Our greatest rivals seek to justify their rule. In their hearts they know they are not worthy.
Laibon: These savages are below our notice.
Lamia: Their dedication is worthy of respect, but their foolish alliance with the Camarilla marks them as fools.  
Lhiannan: Superstitious fools who live in the woods. They would be wise to avoid our cites.
Nagaraja: Like rodents scurrying in the shadows, they are only frightening to the weak of heart.
Salubri: A Clan of ineffectual scholars. When their masters fall, they will bow before us.
Samedi: Such hideous abominations have no right to eternity.
Sybarites: Cowards one and all, they will bend the knee to who ever possesses the most power.
Caitiff: We judge these weaklings not by the purity of their blood but by their uselessness. 
Camarilla: Enough fools and weaklings gathered together in large enough power may wield more power than true kings, though they rule a house of cards. 
Sabbat: Their animosity with the Camarilla may some day prove useful. Beyond that, a sect which embraced chaos and weakness deserves no respect.
Anarchs: A day will come when rebellious childer will be brought to heel. Until such time, the provide a distraction to our enemies.

Ahrimane