Quick Guide to Vampire: The Masquerade

The Story… or at Least… Some of It

Each clan has its own history; there are thousands of pages of literature on V:tM and there’s no way to tell its complete history in a paragraph. Clans conflict, and fight, they work together against common goals as a group however. The clans in the Camarilla for example, are the most benevolent, –which isn’t saying much. The Sabbat is considered rogue, killers with no regret or class, whose ultimate goal is to bring about their own version of the vampire apocalypse. The Independent clans work towards personal gain, but don’t mind occasionally provoking other clans to fight, if there’s something to be gained politically.

The Clans

Camarilla

• Brujah – The anarchists, zealots, and quick-tempered of the Camarilla; they like to fight, and will, both amongst themselves and other clan members.
• Ventrue – The snobs of the Camarilla; Ventrue are class driven, and obsessed with all things rare, original, and high-priced.
• Toreador – Toreador clan members are obsessed with all things beautiful; fine art, sculpture, music, or just something shiny, whatever it is, the Toreador clan loves its artwork, and can be found behind the high-class exhibits in major cities.
• Tremere – Fastidious and very organized; all new vampires are just an inch away from being Blood Bound to their sires. The Tremere focus on control and attention to detail.
• Malkavians – Insanity has never had so many faces; the Malkavians are out of their minds, and exist in various stages of insanity. They’re also malicious pranksters, and their pranks range from benign, to fatal.
• Nosferatu – The Nosferatu are hideous sewer dwelling creatures that avoid contact with humanity, unless to feed. Despite their vile appearance they are scholars, easy mannered, and relaxed.

Sabbat

• Lasombra – This clan of the Sabbat cast no reflection; one of their strengths is also their biggest weaknesses, because they are so vain and appearance-obsessed. Their love of darkness makes them extremely susceptble to the dangers of sunlight.
• Tzimisce – This clan is bound, like the Lasombra, to certain traditional vampire beliefs; they must sleep with earth from their mortal home, or a place that was especially important to them as humans, or risk losing strength, and eventual death.

Independent Clans

• Followers of Set – A clan of vampires that originated in Egypt, their descendency is traced back to the Egyptian god Set, this clan is suffers from daylight more than any other clan.
• Gangrel – All Gangrel vampires are especially close to their inner Beast; each time they frenzy, they acquire an animal feature, and for each five features, they lose social attributes. Gangrels are also the only vampires that are, supposedly, overlooked by werewolves.
• Giovanni – The Giovanni cannot create ghouls, or human slaves, as easily as other vampire clans, because their bite causes more damage. Humans bitten by Giovanni typically die soon after.
• Ravnos – This clan is infamous for its specialty in criminals; each member of the clan is a criminal with a particular habitual crime fetish. Whether it’s murder, or tearing the tags off mattresses.
• Assamites – Assamites specialize in sorcery, as well as diablerie, a form of legitimate betrayal in the vampire community; because of their blackened auras, they grow darker as they get older.