The Clans
“Do not give the night your fear. Give her your respect. She is both a lover and an adversary.” — Raphael de Corazon, Toreador Elder
Legend says that the first few generations of vampires did not suffer the divisions of clan, and that they were capable of performing miracle-like feats. As progenitors passed the Embrace down to their childer, and from there, to more childer, the powers inherent in vampiric vitae grew weaker. Powers belonging to vampires of the Third Generation (those known as Antediluvians) were narrower in scope than the powers possessed by their Second Generation Sires. The predilections, aptitudes, and weaknesses of the Antediluvians were more stable than their predecessors’. These distinctions were passed down to the vampires they Embraced, marking each one as belonging to a specific lineage. Those lineages, known as clans, have defined vampiric society throughout history.
Each vampire clan has certain characteristics. The supernatural powers carried in the clan’s blood defines them, as does the specific curse that afflicts members of that clan. These are passed down from sire to childe until the blood is weakened by being so many generations removed from the Antediluvians that it can no longer support these distinctions. These thin-blooded childer are known as Caitiff. They have no clan, and are considered outcasts by vampiric society.
Once Embraced, a fledgling vampire is both physically and spiritually altered. Her body dies and is brought back from the dead, and her blood is replaced with vampiric vitae. Many of these changes are specific to the clan into which she is Embraced, making her more like the clan’s founder. This effect is stronger in those with purer blood, and less obvious in those vampires who are many generations removed. The characteristics of the clan may appear as new quirks in an individual’s personality, faults in her temperament, or physical changes to her appearance. It also manifests in the powers a vampire can learn through the intrinsic qualities of her blood.
Each clan has three disciplines that are native to its blood (listed at the top of the clan’s description). These disciplines, known as in-clan disciplines, can be learned without a teacher. To learn a discipline that is not one of her in-clan disciplines, a vampire must find a teacher. For more information on learning these out-of-clan disciplines, see Disciplines
On rare occasion, the vitae of a small lineage will diverge from the distinctive qualities of the parent clan. These lineages, called bloodlines, still bear notable signs of their progenitor Antediluvian, but may also carry distinctive markers and predilections, different supernatural powers, or a strange variant of the clan’s curse. Like clans, bloodlines reproduce predictably. All childer Embraced by a vampire of a particular bloodline will also have the distinctive qualities of that bloodline. Such childer cannot revert to their parent clan. By default, a bloodline has the same weakness as its parent clan but some bloodlines carry an alternate or additional weakness.
Some rare bloodlines, on the other hand, claim that they are not descended from any of the clans. They have their own distinctive markers and native disciplines, and are treated as oddities and freaks by members of the more legitimate clans.
Clan Merits
Each clan has a list of merits that are available only to vampires Embraced into that clan. These merits are not available to adopted members, allies, revenants, or ghouls, even if the ghoul’s domitor is a member of the clan. These merits are mentioned here only in summary, except for the clan’s bloodlines, which are covered in detail. For the full write up of these merits, see Merits and Flaws
Alternate versus Additional Weakness
In most cases, a bloodline has the same weakness as its parent clan, with no changes. Where this is the case, no alteration is mentioned. On occasion, a bloodline will have an additional weakness defined; the bloodline suffers this weakness as well as the weakness of its parent clan. In rare cases, a bloodline will have an alternate weakness; this weakness supersedes the clan’s weakness. The bloodline does not suffer the clan weakness, but instead suffers only the weakness defined for the bloodline itself.
Camarilla Pillar Clans
Independant Clans
Sabbat Clans
Bloodlines
Cappadocians (Samedi)
