(This is only the lore for vampire the masquerade, Werewolf the apocalypse, Mage the ascension and Hunter the reckoning as these have the most bearing over the modern setting as a whole) Caine kills Abel, this invents murder
#The Suckening Preparation/Background Lore for VTM
ivory pelican
Caine is cursed by god and becomes the first ever vampire and is said that all of his children will bear the same curse
ivory pelican
Anyway Caine then Embraces (the way you turn someone else into a vampire) three people to be his childer (this is just how vampires refer to other vampires that they’ve embraced) creating the second generation of vampire they then create the third generation known as the Antediluvians which are the 13 vampires whose breed of vampirism shapes the 13 vampire clans
(You may notice 14 clans in the image above that’s because there’s some clans made of smaller bloodlines)
Anyway in between this and modern times many vampires come and go and each generation gets weaker with their creation
As well as this the first inquisition happens. This happens because a bunch of mages wanted to kill other mages without directly killing them (this is despite mages having infinite power) and so they tell the Catholic Church about people who are “witches” or supernatural leading to HEAVY casualties for the supernatural causing many to go into hiding
This leads to the creation of the Camarilla to create a unified front of the vampires (but they are also kind of vampire racist and don’t allow those known as Caitiff( Vampires with no ties to a clan (the vampire Grizzly is playing)) and thin bloods ( often abandoned by their SIRE (vampire mum or dad) because their blood is too weak)
They then created the 6 traditions vampire society must follow
Masquerade: Vampires must not be found out by humans ( most important one because if vampires are found out they will be wiped out by humans)
** Domain**: A kindred's (kindred is how vampires refer to each other) hunting ground is his own territory, and he rules it absolutely
Progeny: Sire only with permission of one's elders. (If someone above you in the Camarilla says you can’t create a new vampire you can’t)
Accounting: Until childer are released, their actions are the responsibility of their sire.
Hospitality: Honor the domains of others, and present oneself to the ruler of any domain you visit (A domain is The place ruled over by a member of the camarilla for example a camarilla Prince could rule over a specific city or area)
Destruction: The right to kill Kindred is reserved for the Elder of a community. Only an elder may call a Blood Hunt. (A blood hunt is when the camarilla wants you to face final death (when a vampire is killed permanently) so they send/permit every vampire to kill you)
During the time of the camarilla there was a revolt from the group known as the Anarchs ( they don’t like the idea of a kindred government) and The clan of the Banu-haqim
This happens during the first inquisition
In 1493 The Convention of Thorns takes place setting in stone camarilla rule and created temporary peace between the anarchs and themselves whilst guaranteeing the independence of the banu-haqim
The Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue clans officially joined the camarilla after this
However not everyone was happy with the treaty and so a group of vampire fascists known as the Sabat join together (they believe vampires should rule the earth openly and that humans are cattle)
The organization and superior numbers of the Camarilla gave it a giant advantage over the sabbat and during the 17th century many Sabbat vampires began migrating to the New World(America) leaving most of Europe to the Camarilla
The camarilla at this point was spread thin with dwindling resources and so any hold they gained was quickly lost and they gradually lost domain after domain and what remained of their domains was only held onto because of sabbat civil war
In the 20th century the Camarilla was greatly weakened by internal disputes as Kindred took differing sides in the mortal conflicts in Europe. This was especially true during the Second World War when many elders, particularly among the Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue, supported the Axis Powers the Inner Circle of the camarilla refused to take sides, and even individual high up members ended up working against one another. However, when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, it became deadly apparent how important preserving the Masquerade and global peace was, for mortals now possessed the power to destroy both themselves and all Kindred
As well as this the Anarchs still exist. The Anarchs liberated Los Angeles in 1944; within a year, they established an Anarch Free State across southern and central California, overthrowing the Princes of the liberated cities and establishing in their places the Anarch Barons - which were given a much more tolerant degree of authority over their fellow Anarchs.
How fucking ever during the late 20th century, the Free State withstood constant incursions from Camarilla and Sabbat alike, the Kuei-jin (vampires from Asia who aren’t actually vampire they do their own thing) staged a concentrated incursion into the region in the late 1990s with the assistance of ex-Anarchs who sought to preserve the region's independence the region holds a fragile peace between four factions: the Anarchs in what remains of the Free State, the Kuei-jin in the New Promise Mandarinate centered around San Francisco, the Camarilla with footholds in Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Sabbat to the south, in Mexico
(Sorry for the last bit being a huge block of text)
I will continue this is like an hour and talk about the other supernatural races, the clans of the vampires and anything else that may be important
ivory pelican
There are many vampire clans and bloodlines but I’m only going to do an overview about the main 13/14 clans
ivory pelican
Before I speak about them I will have to cover some basic ideas about kindred
Vampires can use blood to enhance their bodies and use supernatural powers called Disciplines
Each clan has their own set of disciplines but they can often still vary in ability
Vampires MUST consume blood
Each vampire has a different preference in feeding some MUST kill their victims to fully others require consent and others drink from the dead or the sleeping
Whenever a vampire is embraced they lose all their bodily fluids and have them replaced with blood so for example for a vampire to cry they cry blood
Blood can also be used to heal vampires but when an injury is critical vampires can enter torpor putting them into a state of paralysis like a corpse letting them heal their injuries
Vampires must also control their beast within as they have become a predator to man kind and so if they grow too hungry or too angry they will frenzy and turn somewhat feral
In addition to this each clan has a compulsion and a bane a clan compulsion is something a kindred must do or has an overwhelming urge above all else to do so and a clan bane is a negative which provides the vampire with a weakness. Banes and compulsion widely range in severity and can be different for individual kindred
As well as this vampires have many weaknesses apart from their banes
The obvious few are sunlight and stakes with sunlight being guaranteed death and a stake forcing a vampire into paralysis
But these aren’t their only weaknesses decapitation will kill a vampire and as well as this they can be killed by weapons which have the potential to do major damage such as a shotgun one shot might not kill them but depending on the vampire a good few will
As well as this individual vampires may have weaknesses such as garlic which is rare for vampires to have as a weakness but some still do
And finally other supernatural creatures such as werewolves, balefire sharks and mummies are very deadly
The first clan we’ll mention are the Banu-Haqim
The Banu Haqim:, a cult of assassins located in the middle east. They accept assassination contracts against vampires while fulfilling their clan's own goals. Their clan joined the Camarilla after the Second Inquisition started.
They have three separate castes each with their own abilities which I’m not covering because I’m not reading that mountain of rules
But the casts are known as the warrior caste, the sorcerer caste and the vizier cast
The next clan is
The Brujah: Anarchists who want to fight for social justice for the sake of fighting for social justice they usually pick from the downtrodden in society to embrace and are very involved in the Anarch movement
Their abilities include:
Celerity, Potence and Presence
Celerity is increased speed and reflexs
Potence is physical strength
Presence is magical charisma
The Brujahs bane is violent temper and their compulsion is rebellion
ivory pelican
The Gangrel (Condis character) bestial and untamed, often coming to resemble the animals they are often embraced as people in the wilderness either very well acquainted with it or entirely out of their element most of the time gangrel don’t choose to be vampires and if they do they’re looked down upon by the rest of the clan
Their abilities include:
Animalism, Fortitude, Protean
Animalism allows for manipulation and communication over animals
Fortitude allows for increased durability
Protean allows for the user to gain features from animals or entirely shapeshift
Their clan bane is bestial feature which means that once they frenzy they will get an irremovable animal feature for a few nights until it naturally disappears Their clan compulsion is feral impulses which forces them to turn feral (not frenzied)
Clan Hecata are a clan of necromancers comprised of multiple bloodlines (they’re very new idk much about them cut me some slack)
Their abilities include:
Auspex, Fortitude, Oblivion
Auspex is supernatural perception
Fortitude allows for increased durability
Oblivion Their bane is that when they embrace someone or drink from them it is excruciatingly painful and does not cause pleasure like it does when other kindred do it the clan compulsion of the Hecata is an obsession with death
Clan **La Sombra **
Are kindred who are out for themselves and do not strive to achieve goals if they don’t benefit themselves. They choose a specific person to embrace from and proceed to ruin their life until they believe that the person is strong enough mentally and physically to be embraced
Their abilities are Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence
Dominate is mind control/manipulation
Obtenebration is control over shadows
Potence is physical strength
Their bane is distorted image causing any use of technology by the kindred to be unresponsive as well as this they are easily found through electronic detection
Their compulsion is ruthlessness
Clan Malkavian (TRIGGER WARNING, DISCUSSIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH)
ivory pelican
This clan has take the roles of seers and oracles among kindred and are connected to the “Madness Network” (not the most subtle naming) which connects all malkavians to each other through a psychic link. those often embraced are people with mental health conditions.
Their abilities include:
Auspex, Obfuscate, Dementation
Auspex is supernatural perception
Obfuscate is the ability to trick the minds of others into not noticing your presence (It’s mostly viewed as just basic invisibility but varies depending on story teller)
Dementation is used to cause madness in others or utilise your own to gain insight into things through the madness network Clan bane : fractured perspective (TW) Malkavians are guaranteed one mental health issue because of their lineage and so depending on their history and the state of their mind at death, they may experience delusions, visions of terrible clarity, or something entirely different Their clan bane is delusion. (Hopefully this was worded tastefully I’m pulling some phrasing for this one directly from the wiki as I don’t want to sound insensitive)
The Ministry aka The Followers of Set They are a cult who worships the Ancient Egyptian god Set. They believe hat Set will return to rule or consume the world, and that they must prepare the way for his resurrection. They remain independent from other factions of kindred
Their abilities include
Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis
Obfuscate is the ability to trick the minds of others into not noticing your presence (It’s mostly viewed as just basic invisibility but varies depending on story teller)
Presence: supernatural charisma
Serpintis is snake shape shifting very similar to protean
Their bane is that they are weakens under any light
And their compulsion is transgression which makes them compelled to create their own destiny
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Clan Nosferatu They are so ugly they are living masquerade breaches and must sneak around in sewers to not be detected. However because of this they are so good at stealth they are only seen when they want to be seen and if you’re kindred you need to assume there’s a nosferatu in the room with you at all times
They mostly take on the role of info brokers and assassins
The nosferatu only embrace those who are already down trodden in society or those who are beautiful and believe themselves above the rabble and so to embrace them beings poetic justice
Their abilities include
Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence
Animalism they have a good connection with animals often rats or birds
Obfuscate they don’t want you to see them so you won’t
Potence they have super strength
Their bane is repulsiveness ( I do not need to elaborate )
And their compulsion is cryptophilia they can’t let things be secrets and must uncover them
Clan Ravanos are nomads who do illusions and love to tempt fate like they’re dare devils
They have the abilities of Animalism, Fortitude, Chimerstry
Animalism allows for manipulation and communication over animals
Fortitude is supernatural durability
Chimerstry is the creation of illusions
Their bane is that they can’t sleep in the same place more than once every seven nights
And their compulsion is that they must take the most death defying dangerous solution to each problem
ivory pelican
Clan Toreador are the artists and art critics of the kindred world and are know for their sensuality and exuding charisma
They mostly pick the people they embrace from artistic backgrounds for their childer be it music or traditional art
Their abilities include
Auspex, Celerity, Presence
Auspex is supernatural perception
Celerity is super speed and reflexes
Presence is super charisma
Their bane is Aesthetic Fixation they must have everything be appealing tastes or else they’re negatively effected Their compulsion is obsession meaning they’re focused on a specific thing they find beautiful it could be a song, the moon or a piece or type of art
Clan Tremere these are a group of EX-mages who wanted to become immortal and not lose their magic but ended up doing that anyways and now they do blood magic to compensate and they’re also extremely authoritarian
Their abilities include
Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy
Auspex is supernatural perception
Dominate is mind control/manipulation
Thaumaturgy is blood magic
Their bane is that they can no longer blood bond with their kindred (blood bonding is a way to force feelings of friendliness and compliance between a kindred and another being) this was particularly important for the temere as they used it to control those below them in their authoritarian structure of the clan
Their clan compulsion is perfectionism
Clan Tzimisce are known as the old clan. One of their most well known members was actual fucking Dracula and they are known for being the most inhuman of all the clans and create monstrous abominations and creatures
They often embrace from people with obsessions or hobbies similar to their own
Their abilities include Vicissitude, Animalism, Auspex
Vicissitude is the ability to shape flesh and bone to create abominations
Animalism is manipulation and communication to animals
Auspex is supernatural perception
Their bane is that they must have something specifically clearly defined and limited so they may sleep historically this would have been their grave soil
Their compulsion is covetousness meaning they will randomly become obsessed with having it this could be a person an object anything but no matter what it is they MUST have it
And last but most certainly not least
The Ventrue They are the high society assholes of the vampire world such as politicians or CEOs in short they’re control freaks
They also embrace from high society e.g royalty or important families
Their abilities are
Dominate, Fortitude, Presence
Dominate is mind control/manipulation
Fortitude is supernatural durability
Presence is supernatural Charisma
Their bane is that they must drink from mortals of their preferred type or else they’ll become sick
And their compulsion is arrogance
Meaning they need to rule and feel in control
And that’s all the main clans of vampire the masquerade
If you have any questions about VtM or the wider world of darkness leave them here and I’ll get back to you when I can : )
runic elk
Which clan is each player (I know condi is the gangrel, but what is grizz and bizly?)
ivory pelican
Oh shit I thought I put those down sorry
Grizz is a clan-less caitiff
And bizly I don’t think has confirmed but from the looks of things his character could be ventrue
runic elk
Thank you!
ivory pelican
NW
ivory pelican
Oh shit yeah I said I’d do other magic races
Guess I’ll start with the werewolves
Werewolves in WoD are shapeshifters who serve the world spirit Gaia and are pretty much a bunch of VERY DEADLY environmentalists
Werewolves refer to themselves as garou and are insanely strong a single werewolf could kill an entire group of vampires with ease they have a bunch of different cultures rules and clans but idk enough about them to put it here
Next on the different supernatural species are
Mages
Mages deny reality
They are just normal humans that literally believe that things will happen so they do except for the fact that they have to sneakily perform their magic or else they will break consensus (what people accept as reality) and then will be taken by the reality police (not a joke)
They fight against the technocracy which are just mages but they don’t believe in magic whilst simultaneously knowing it exists, performing it and fighting it
Mages range from mathematicians to dead ass wizards to steampunk explorers who explore the hollow earth and fight nazis on airships which can go in space
Next up are
The Kuei-Jin who are East Asian vampires with their own culture and lore to the western vampires, they are technically not vampires and I do not understand their background for the life of me
There are many more species in WoD such as mummies, demons, changelings and more which I recommend you read the wiki about for a better explanation because this franchise is like 35 years old and I don’t know what’s canon and not anymore
ivory pelican
verbal otter
@ivory pelican you sure did
ivory pelican
I could’ve just copy pasted this bollox
verbal otter
OH
verbal otter
that is very nice of you thank you man
ivory pelican
Probably gonna get rid of the World war 2 slide tho
I only forced my friends to go through that cuz I had to
verbal otter
look if theres problematic lore from the last 40 years of WoD im just gonna ignore it or rewrite it
verbal otter
OH.
ivory pelican
Which weren’t fun
Like
I can’t describe these
Without sounding bad
There’s a lot more words in this then I remembered
verbal otter
yeah