P

I"
 by Jennifer Albright
with Nicky Rea and Phil Brucato

f
I
 Credits Special Thanks to:
Development: Nicky Rea Mike “Capt’n” Tinney, for boldly Raging where no
Additional Development: Ian Lemke, Mike Tinney and one has Raged before.
Cynthia Summers Justin “No. 1” Achilli, for being Mike’s Number
Authors: Jennifer Albright with Nicky Rea and Phil One in a department of two.
Brucato
Mind’s Eye Theatre Design: Mark ReinOHagen, Ian
Lemke and Mike Tinney
World of Darkness Created by: Mark ReinOHagen
Original Sabbat Concepts by: Steve Brown Author’s Special Thanks=
Editing: Cynthia Summers and Laura Perkinson To the Spumoni family, who taught me about live-
Art Direction: Richard Thomas action roleplaying, and to Jim, Steve, Greg, and my mate,
Interior Photography: J. Lank Hancock John.
Cover Design: Lawrence Snelly
Layout and Typesetting: Kathleen Ryan
Models: Hunters: Andrew Clark, Brian Wolf, Ryan Miller,
Kalina Mercer, Seth Hancock, and Tony C. The Mummy:
Page Gleason. Ghoul Family: Genevieve McGillicuddy, J.
Lank Hancock, Barbie Sewell, and Bill Aurealis. Sabbat
and Antitribu: IanCampbell, DanEdmonds, AnhNguyen,
Rebecca Allen, S. Stokes, Barbara Sewell, Kim Bell,
Charles Christianson, William A. Wallace,JasonPuckett,
Paul Mercer, Sarah Smith, and Philip Gochenour. Mortal
Victims at Littk Five: Amanda Mulhair and Deedee Jones.

I I
780 PARK NORTH BOUlEVARD
SUITEONE HUNDRED
.. .. . . - .. - - .
CLARKSTON,GEORGIA, 30021
CAME STUDIO
01995 by White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without the written permission of
the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the
purpose of reviews. Mind’s Eye Theatre and The
Masquerade are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc.
All characters, names, places, and text herein are
copyrighted by White Wolf, Inc.
The mention of, or reference to any company
or product in these pages is not a challenge to the
trademark or copyright concerned.
Because of the mature themes involved, reader
discretion is advised. PRINTED IN CANADA.
BookOne: Mortalhtagonists
ChapterOne: Introduction 5
Chapter%o: Daylight In Darkness 17
ChapterThree: On the Threshold of Wilight 21
ChapterFour=Numina: Gifts of Enlightenment 37
Book W o : SupernaturalOpponents
ChapterFive: Shadowsin the Light 53
ChapterSix Enlightenment into Darkness 73
ChapterSeven: Darkness in Ascendance 95
ChapterEighk In Darkness Luminescent 115
Appendix: Masquerade Errata 139
 Well I won’t back down,
No, I won’t back down,
You can stand me up at the gates of hell,
but I won’t back down.
-Tom Petty, ‘‘I Won’t Back Down”

Every story worth reading, every movie worth watch-

ing and every play worth attending is built around some
form ofantagonist. InMind’s Eye Theatre, these adversar-
TheAdversaries
ies are what make the game move forward and keep the Though geared for The Masquerade, the guidelines
conflict interesting. Although there can be brilliant and character creation information for antagonists can
roleplaying without any sort of conflict at all, most players easily be applied to other Mind’s Eye Theatre games.
turn to gaming for adventure and excitement. Both can be This book profiles both mortal and supernatural ad-
greatly enriched by the skillful employment of antagonists. versaries. The section on mortals includes information
This book is designed for advanced roleplayers who about hunters, the Society of Leopold,psychic gifts, Hedge
wish to enrich their chronicles and one-night Mind’s Eye Magic and True Faith as well as new Abilities and mortal
Theatre games with fully fleshed-out antagonist charac- Traits. The second half of the book covers Supernatural
ters. Though it provides much advice for Storytellers about foes, mummies, ghoul families and the long-anticipated
how to construct a story around an antagonist, several rules for creating and playing Sabbat characters.
other topics, which are of equal benefit to players, are also
covered. Guidelines for creating antagonists may also be
used for the development of non-Masquerade stories.
 It is your responsibility to provide the opposition that
makes the plot interesting. You must, however, keep in
In most games, antagonists will reveal themselves at mind that the game is more than an opportunity for you to
some point within the first few hours. This marks a vital prove that you can deceive your friends and manipulate
turning point, as it gives the players a focus for the rest of situations to your advantage. You should behave in a
their exciting adventure. Part of the fun of the game is the manner that keeps the story moving and builds tension for
tracking down of (or mystery-solving needed to discover) the other characters. The best players check in frequently
antagonists and the satisfaction that comes from success- with the Storyteller to make certain they are nudging the
fullyvanquishing them. However, it isnot always necessary plot in a fruitful direction.
for the good guys to win. It is possible to run a successful This doesn’t mean that you don’t have free will
chronicle in which the antagonists win, and the good guys within the game or that you won’t try your hardest to make
must spend future episodes reversing the damage the the good guys fail, but rather that you must work with the
villains caused, retrieving important objects they stole or Storyteller to maximize the potential for conflict within
simply seeking vengeance on their enemies. her plot. If you are the cleverer roleplayer and have tricked
the others into believing that you, a Garou Theurge, are
What It Means indeed the Tremere Justicar, more power to you! But
please remember that the idea of the game is for all the
To Be the Antagonist players to have fun and for the game to be as satisfying as
I’m your worst nightmare. possible for everyone involved.
- Sylvester Stallone, “Rambo III” If you have had a rotten night at Rock-Paper-Scissors
or are involved in a personal out-of-game conflict with
Responsibility of Playing another player, please have enough respect for your fellow
An Antagonist players not to ruin their game by manipulating the rules
out of spite. You must not let your personal distress affect
If you are lucky enough to be cast in the role of an your character. You are the antagonist and therefore
antagonist, you could be in for the ride of your life! It will
responsible, at least in part, for the other players’ enjoy-
be your responsibility for the extent of the game (or your
ment of the game.
character’s life) to actively oppose the group of characters
considered to be the good guys. This doesn’t mean that you Death of the Antagonist
must march up to their gates, challenge the guards and
Not every game has to end with the death and
shout to the heavens that you’re the bad guy. This is, of
destruction of the bad guy, but often they do. If you are
course, an option, but adversaries are often more effective
playing the antagonist, it is probably best to be aware from
when they act subtly.
the beginning that your character might be destined for
doom, and then set about making it a real challenge for the
I I other players to activate that situation. Try to anticipate
A Word For Good Guys how they might get you and work to put a kink in their
plans, or make it difficult for them to kill you off right now
You share the responsibility of making the bad
by offering to ally with them against a greater evil.
guy areal opponent. You must endow that individual
or group with all of the heinousness you can muster. Finally, when you do go down, enjoy your death. If
If you are Sabbat and they are followers of the Path you happen to bite it during the game, make your death as
of Evil Revelations, they must disgust you com- spectacular and memorable as you can. Be creative, espe-
pletely or their destruction won’t be any fun. The cially if the character was one that you were particularly
same goes for the Camarilla. If you don’t invest the attached to or that you played for more than one game.
Sabbat with all of the vile anti-human acts and
rumors you have heard and read about, their demise Anyone’s Game
will only feel like a waste of time. If you don’t abhor Anyone can be a n antagonist. All that is required is
breakers of the Masquerade, their acts won’t shock a willingness to take on a non-standard role and act as an
you and you won’t really care if they live or die. The adversary to another player or group of players. Opposi-
more you invest in your group’sideology,be it anarch, tion can take many forms; the options are limited only by
Inconnu or what-have-you, the more fun you will the creativity of the players and Storyteller. It need not
have. It will also give you more to roleplay than just- lead to obvious combat, nor must it be initially apparent
out-for-myself manipulation and politics. Commit that the antagonist is an adversary.
to being a good guy and let the action unfurl.
 almost infinite variations, and the Storyteller is encoLir-
aged to utilize some unlikely antagonists when constructing
stories and chronicles. For example, stories which pit
vampire against ghoul, clan against elder, the Sabbat
against the Bratovitches(or any other Sabbat ghoul family
for that matter1,Lupinesagainstmummies,Lupinesagainst
Bratovitches, mummy against wraith or Clan Ventrue
against the Grimaldi family can all be very exciting and
full of surprises simply because they depart from the
anticipated norm.
There are many possible levels of antagonists within
a Mind’s Eye Theatre setting. The anarchs could be
gearing up to take out the prince of acity just as the Sabbat
prepares to do the same. If the two cannot agree to
cooperate, conflicts arise between all groups involved.
The prince needs to fortify herself against both the anarchs
and the Sabbat, while the anarchs and the Sabbat are both
trying to outdo each other in their attempts to overthrow
the prince. Who can get to her first?How successfully can
one group subvert the other’s interests and goals?Perhaps
the prince is aware of both plots and is waiting for the
anarchs and the Sabbat to sabotage each other before she
makes her own move. Will her primogen support her, or
will they secretly assist the anarchs in order to rid them-
selves of a domineering leader?
Storytellers need to use caution when employing
these devices, however, or the story may become diluted.
Some players enjoy being entirelyon their own; others If players are overwhelmed by the number of their adver-
prefer to work as a team, with one or more allies. It is saries, they may lose their motivation and give up. The
important for the Storyteller to keep in mind which types story then becomes more about killing enemiesthan about
of alliances her players prefer in order to create successful roleplaying. Antagonists are necessary to give the charac-
antagonists. Those who don’t work well with others will ters someone to roleplay with. They may possess vital
hardly enjoy being cast as part of a Sabbat pack, while information or hold the key to a mystery, or perhaps they
players who work best in groups will have difficultyplaying simply provide a conflict of interest. Antagonists should
a lone hunter pitted against all the vampires of the city. not, however, dominate the story to the point where it
shifts from characters venting frustrations within the
Suspicions context of the story to players venting frustration in real
One of the charms of playing in an entirely Camarilla life because they just can’t take it anymore.
chronicle is that the political structure of the game leads
to inherent distrustof all involved,even those who profess
alliance.Open adversarieswithin one’s own group, as well StorytellerHubris
as outsiders and rivals, all provide a sense of competition
Many Storytellersbecome so caught up in their
and motivate other characters to utilize their strengths to
creations that they make their plots too convoluted
survive. This kind of opposition can operate within any
to unravel and their villains too powerful to over-
group, from the Sabbat to a squad of hunters. Keep in
come. It is not fair to pit the characters against
mind, however, that the game quickly ceases to be any fun
something or someone so strong that they have no
at all if there are no genuine alliances to balance out the
hope for success or no chance to escape from certain
opposition.
doom. This is not fun for the players and only serves
Who’s FightingWhom? to destroy group morale. Whatever the antagonist,
there has to be a way for the characters to survive.
Some obvious choices for antagonists include
Even if they don’t, it is the responsibility of the
Camarilla againstSabbat,vampire againstwerewolf, “mon-
Storyteller to provide such an option and to be
ster” against hunter, wraith against Spectre and demon
absolutely fair and honest in her judgments.
against everyone. These options contain possibilities for

n
Elements of Immediacy
The differences between table-top and Mind's Eye

Storytelling Theatre are evident not only in the mechanics of the

game, hut also in the level of involvement of the players.
In each hour of a table-top game, there is a certain amount
Horror of down-time during which the player gets to make deci-
sions and listen to the actions of the other players. In
The World of Darkness is filled with the potential for Mind's Eye Theatre, no such luxury is provided. Once
supernaturalhorror. Shadowsprey upon the comers, fill the you get into character, with the brief exception of those
alleyways and cloak the things that lurk in the periphery; situations (such as complex challenges) in which a Narra-
what good remains withers and gasps in the clutches of tor is necessary, you are in for the duration.
encroaching evil. Vampires, werewolves and even more The real difference between the two styles lies with
frightening creatures stalk the night, while mortals huddle playability and immediacy. In a Mind's Eye Theatre
terrified, teetering on the brink of violence. By accepting game, if the character has a Blood Bond to a vampire who
the reality of the World of Darkness in the game, we is not a player in the game, that immortal's role in and
transport ourselves to a place where boredom and compla- significanceto the character's life is minimal; the relation-
cency are arare exception,rather than the rule. We discover ship and its plots are not playable. If the character has a
the monsters within us that must be let out to play occasion- Derangement or Flaw involving terrible nightmares, it
ally. People who are attracted to the horror genre,especially will not be playable unless the game will he taking place
experienced roleplayers, tend to become immune to the over more than one day or night and the Storyteller is
horrific elements of the World of Darkness. Although at willing to write some dreams for the character. It is
first they may be fascinated by the unknown that runs extremely effective in table-top games, as are alliances
through occult horror literatureand films, the very elements with characters who are not players, but it does not work
which attract them to the genre are often lost when the wellforMind's EyeTheatre. The immediacyoflive-action
game becomes a politics-riddenmanipulation-fest.If Story- calls for a greater care when planning character Back-
tellers wish to instill horror in their chronicles effectively, grounds, Merits, Flaws and Derangements, as well as a
there are a few basic things they should keep in mind.
close attention to the timing of events, the introduction
of characters, and the choices of plot and subplot ele-
Fears
ments. If these are not handled correctly, the characters To enrich your story even further, discover the fears
will be unplayable or ineffective, the players will lose of each character and tie those fears in with the antagonist
interest and the game will grind to a halt. or the plot. Final Death is always a good one, but smaller
fears such as losing progeny or loved ones, losing one’s
Mystery home or haven, having your comrades make fun of you or
losing face in social situations are very playable and add
People fear the unknown. The best way to generate
greater depth to the story. Even giving the characters
excitement and tension within a chronicle is to present
small fears in the form of Flaws or weaknesses can do
the characters with a frightening mystery. Only after the
wonders for the quality of the roleplaying if the players are
antagonist ceases to be a mystery does the horror and fear willing to commit to what they are given. Even better, let
lessen for the characters. For example: a death occurs
them choose their own fears. Don’t let them wimp out and
shortly after the outset of the game. This gives the players
choose something unplayable (like a fear of unwrapped
something for their characters to respond to. It is the chocolate bars) -that will not add anything to the game.
Storyteller’s responsibility to be sure each character has
some connection to the newly-deceased.
As the game continues, more bodies turn up, each
The Antagonist
more terribly mutilated than the last. The characters are The antagonist is one of the most reliable tools of
steered into a situation from which they cannot escape. horror. The opponent may be no more than a dark,
The death toll may include them at any moment. The hooded figure occasionallyglimpsed in situations of stress,
identity of the antagonist is unknown. Tension builds as or may be hinted at in the characters’ background infor-
the characters attempt to solve the mystery and discover mation. Alternatively, he might be the sneering bully who
the antagonist without becoming the next victim. The always strives to best the character.
moment the bad guy is revealed, even if he was Satan In order to create effective antagonists, the Story-
himself, the horror and tension will inevitably decrease as teller must decide what type of story she wishes to run. A
the characters attempt to destroy, bargain with or make combat-oriented game would probably merit an antago-
peace with their stalking enemy. The anticipation and nist who is a known rival; a mystery is most effective when
fear of the unknown is far more nerve-wracking than a the characters know little about their opponent. In astory
confrontation with a known enemy, no matter how bad of political intrigue, true antagonists may be mixed in with
the situation is. severalred herrings. In a game set in a hostile environment
Similarly, a plot might involve several Kindred who where there is competition for resources, everyone might
have begun to feel a mysteriousfondness for the prince of be opposed to everyone else. One group might possess a
their city. Regardless of their intentions, they find them- mysterious object which another group must procure --
selvesdoing his bidding more and more often and lavishing without damaging either it or the holder. Those around
gifts upon him - gifts they can ill afford. They discover the holder are, of course, fair game. Whatever role the
that their Herds have been poisoned with the prince’s antagonist assumes, he or she must be an element of the
blood, effectively Blood Bonding them without their unknown and a threat to the very lives of the other
knowledge. The moment the source of the problem is characters. Opponents can, in cooperation with the Sto-
revealed, the horrific tension lessens for the characters ryteller, both intimidate and terrify the characters with
and the problem-solving begins. little or no trouble, if used with discretion. Novels and
As soon as the characters think they know what is films are good starting points for ideas on how to use
happening, they begin to work out ways to eliminate the antagonists most effectively.
problem. Because they are now sure of where they stand
and can begin to pool their efforts to find a solution, the story Flow
element of horror diminishes. Keeping the situation hazy, Here is a reliable formula utilized again and again by
revealing only bits of information at a time and playing on filmmakers and novelists: create a situation in which one
the characters’ individual fears will aid you in your quest character appears to be the antagonist. After the next
to create a horrifying story. significant event, or when every character seems to think
they know the solution to the problem, kill off a Narrator
character or reveal a piece of information which throws a
bug in the works and causes the characters to realize that
more is at work here than they’d thought. It is not
necessary to clear the suspected character outright; just
create doubt about his guilt. The next step is to allow the
Functions of
characters to draw their own conclusions, then stage an
event or expose a final clue that informs them they were
Non-Player
wrong yet again. Finally, reveal the true adversary. They
are now aware of the truth of the matter and must solve the
actual situation.
Characters
...but I’m just alongfor the ride.. .
GoingToo Far -Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic
Keep ‘em guessing, but keep it simple. The quickest
way to destroy a Mind’s Eye Theatre story is to overbur-
What is a
den the players with too much information and too many
subplots. They cease to roleplay and begin slaughtering
Narrator Character?
one another in order to survive. A simpleplot on arealistic In Mind’s Eye Theatre games there are two kinds of
scale, enough subplots to motivate the characters and players: those who know what’sgoing on (Narrators) and
provide them with achievable goals, and an antagonist or those who don’t (the players). Those who are actively
two surrounded by mystery and power is far better than trying to solve the problems presented by the story are the
some grand, overblown epic that nobody understands. player characters. Narrators are in on the story and work
with the Storyteller (by playing Narrator characters) to
Cheap Tricks heighten the tension and keep the story flowing for the
Try to avoid cheap tricks. These devices uninten- players.
tionally deprive the players of a realistic, playable story. Playing a Narrator character can be great fun, and
Actions such as magically raising a wall in the Umbra to everyone should try it at least once. If you are playing the
trap the characters in the city and then setting into effect antagonist, the Storyteller has probably shredded the rules
a spell to destroy all magical creatures will only cheat to make you the perfect villain. Opportunities to play
players; they will be left powerless to affect the outcome of custom characters can be few and far between, so take ‘em
the story. while you can.
Stories of such enormity that, in theory, should send Storytellersdon’t need to worry about the rules when
the characters into paroxysms of fear, usually make them making Narrator characters.Create what your story needs,
say, ‘‘Oh well. There’s nothing we can do anyway.” The have logical explanations ready to mollify disgruntled
players get frustrated and will be less inclined to commit players and make sure the players have at least one feasible
to playing if the plot is too huge and confusing. A realistic way to overcome the antagonist. If everything seems in
alternative could be to shrink the scale of the destructive order, there is a way for them to win and you are fair in your
spell or create specific reasons why each character cannot judgments, they won’t care if the opponent is Beelzebub
flee from the city. Honor, progeny in trouble and Blood himself.
Bonds to others within the boundaries are all good choices. Narrator character antagonistscan be an enormousaid
There are dozens of possibilities. You must provide a to the Storyteller. They can appear at the Storyteller’s
significant and playable reason for the characters to be discretion and can modify their actions to follow whatever
forced to face the challenge of the antagonist. route the characters choose (which will probably have
nothing to do with what the Storytelleroriginally planned).
Deux ExMachina The game might not be as scary or surprising to a Narrator
Deux ex machina, on the other hand, are unbeliev- antagonist, but it is certainly a challengingrole well worth
able fortuitous occurrences, such as the appearance of a the extra effort involved. Not only will the Narrator player
ridiculously powerful being who rescues the characters usually get to handle a very powerful individual or group
from events they could not possibly survive on their own. (the players can’t have it too easy), but portraying the
These make players feel small and stupid. Repeated use of adversary as aunique individual will enable the villain to be
this device cheapens the characters’achievements, bores a more effective element in the story, and this will help to
players and makes them reckless, and they will come to bring home the horror of the game to the other characters.
believe that no matter what foolish moves they make, In The Masquerade, Narrator characters are divided
they’ll be rescued in the end by another Storyteller- into three main categories: antagonists, minor characters
controlled wonder-character. (alsoknown as Those Who are About to Die) and messen-
gers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
 NarratorAntagonists or they may be fully integrated into the mainstream of the
story -often masquerading as less powerful characters and
The antagonist category covers all kinds of bad guys,
pretending to be as mystified as everyone else.
from elders to Lupines to hunters. The best antagonist
Another advantage to having an antagonist played by
Narrator characters are created to interact as if they were
a Narrator is the greater control of the story it gives the
player characters, but are in on the story and work in
Storyteller. Many times, a clever, well-intentioned story
conjunction with the Storyteller to keep the plot moving,
goes in an entirely different direction than the Storyteller
disseminate information (or misinformation) and raise
planned and ends up in a disastrous, irredeemable situa-
the tension level of the story.
tion. With the aid of aNarrator in a major role (such as the
The character is an antagonist, but the player portray-
antagonist), these disasterscan be prevented, allowing the
ing the Narrator character, because she knows the story
characters to choose crazy options and to make absolutely
and has a very firm and clear knowledge of what needs to
illogical (and often quite effective) decisions that the
happen, is allowed to take actions independent of Story-
Storyteller herself had never dreamed of.
teller approval. The antagonist player must create her
character with the understanding that she is probably Minor Characters
destined to be destroyed, banished or otherwise elimi-
Minor characters work best when the players believe
nated by the end of the story in order that the player
they are actually members of their group. The players, in
characters may achieve their objectives.
other words, will not know that the minor character is a
One very good reason to allow the antagonist Narra-
Narrator, but will operate as if she were. They will believe
tor to act as a player within the guidelines of the story is to she is a regular player just like themselves. These minor
give a player a chance to create and roleplay a very
characters are wonderful. You can kill them off without
powerful character or to give one of your assistant Narra-
experiencingguilt for ruining the night for aplayer so early
tors a chance to play. Another is to hide the identity of the in the game. You can get them together with the main
true antagonist, thus preventing the player characters
antagonist, and they can work out some sort of fight
from immediately taking steps to eliminate their foe.
(which can be enacted challenge-freeto smooth the event
Narrator antagonists may be very powerful and despi- along) or plan conflicts they can build up without oppo-
cable characters who make only brief appearances,show off sition.
their awesome powers or deliver instructions to the players,
I These characters may be used to introduce the real I
villain or to drop an essential piece of information (per- Inf ernalism
haps the only piece of knowledge the characters need to
Few Sabbat members are infemalists,but since
solve the problem). A variation on this allows the minor
the sect places such powerful emphasis on gaining
character to die before imparting the entirety of the Big
strength and being a potent warrior, some mem-
Clue, leaving a further mystery for the characters to solve.
bers are tempted to seek powers in destructive
Minor characters are great for friends who want to
ways. Infemalists are always Narrator characters,
play but can’t stay all night, or new players who are in part because they have no real freedom. They
hesitant to just receive a character and then be thrown to
are slaves to a demon who may destroy them at any
the wolves, as it were.
moment. The player would often have no control
Messengers over what his character does. Though the
infemalists’ awesome abilities may allow them to
The messenger category of Narrator characters can
decimate Camarilla infidels with ease and speed,
provide some of the most memorable moments in an the price they pay is horrifically great.
entire story, adding an element of humor as well as
When in live-action situations, many of the
bringing information. One person may play all the mes-
player’s true abilitiesand desires show through. To
senger roles, servingas the animalstheNosferatu summon,
crave ultimate power in exchange for the loss of
a pizza delivery boy possessed by the demon to deliver a
one’s soul is neither a healthy expression of per-
message of doom before dropping dead on the chantry
sonal darkness nor a chance for tremendous fun. It
porch, the prince’s ghoul delivering a verdict and a host of
means accepting slavery and awaiting the moment
other fabulous roles you need for only a moment or two.
when a terrifying destruction shreds your soul and
Having someone else to absorb part of the work load
burns your body alive. This is not what most
can make Narrators much happier people, since they will
Masquerade players seek, and it is not what the
be in constant demand no matter how much help they
games seek to teach us. The World of Darkness is
have. If someone is there to play the messengers, the
a vehicle for understanding and experiencing sto-
Storytellercan tell him of the places he needs to cover and
ries that encourage players to expose their fears
any messages she knows he will have to deliver, or she may
and hunt for truth, regardless of where they may
allow him to do it entirely on his own, informing the
find it. Infernalistsdo not conform to these guide-
players before they get into character that he will be the
lines and are only included because they make
catch-all character guy and if you want to feed on the help
swell antagonists. The idea is to defeat these hor-
at your haven, go see him.
rors, not to embrace them.
Having minor characters and messengers also allows
the antagonist to remain separate so that the players do I
not have to come out of character to ask the Storyteller if
he is still Alzobar-Zhulor if he is now Guido the Giovanni
leg-breaker. Advanced
CharactersWho Should Only Be
Played As Narrator Characters
Storytelling
Infemalists (followers of the Path of Evil Revela- Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
tions), anyone of higher rank than archbishop in the - Murphy’s Law
Sabbat, seraphs of the Black Hand, characters who are
going to be tortured or destroyed as an essentialpart of the Troubleshooting
plot, demons, monsters (like were-jaguars and other un- It is certainly a truism that anything that can go
usual breeds), vampire Methuselahs and Antediluvians wrong in a roleplaying game assuredly will, and Mind’s
and really powerful Garou or mages should almost always Eye Theatre is far from the exception. At least in a
be Narrator characters. It is okay if charactersdie, but plots table-top game, the Storyteller is not required to go farther
should never be designed in which a player character’s than the next room to inform all of the players of the
death is the only way to solve the problem. (The one unforeseen turn of events. In Mind’s Eye Theatre, she
exception to this is the martyr story). Okay, we know may have to make her way to the other side of a house,
you’re gonna do it anyway, but remember -we wamed hotel or three-mile university campus.
you!
 This book is full of unique abilitiesand situations that
will all cause their own unique problems. If some of the
Abilities take too long or seem too powerful, cut them
down to suit your needs. Allow players to create their own
Abilities if they want to. This book is a cookbook full of
possible gaming recipes; feel free to change or substitute
the ingredients in any combination you like. Feel equally
free not to serve dishes you dislike. Relax and go with it.

Complications
The Numina for mortals may cause some complica-
tions - you simply cannot add magical and psychic
powers to the game without some elbow work. If you have
characters in your game with these Abilities, youwillneed
a few more Narrators than usual. In the description of
telekinesis,a suggestionis made to have a separatepartici-
pant be in charge of the telekinetic character’s “effects.”
Instead of acting as a player character, the “special effects
person” acts as a Narrator by participating as a silent and
“unseen”presence who causes the unexptainable to occur.
This means the players don’t have to stop and say
things out of character like “Youall see that vase fall off the
shelf.” It is easy enough for the special effects person to
drop an item card in pieces to the floor and say “Crash!”
This gives the characters a situation to respond which
includes more than simple descriptions. It is surprisingly
easy to persuade friends into doing this sort of thing --
Then there are the rules lawyers. Rules conflicts and especially if you let them go crazy with cheap theatrics or
misunderstandings have a way of drawing everyone out of bribe them with promises of an awesome character in the
character and into arguing. All of the rules in this book next game.
have been created to facilitate good roleplaying. The rules
themselves are unimportant if all of the players are com-
Missing the Action
mitted to genuinely portraying their characters and Things tend to happen in a hurry in a Mind’s Eye
responding to situations as their character would, instead Theatre game and sometimes important links or clues
of how a superhuman or invincible version of themselves tend to go awry. For example, a player with a clairvoyant
would. character may stop to go to the bathroom or get a little lost
or disoriented in an unfamiliar setting and arrive on the
Throughout the book, small sections have been added
scene just as the very situation she wished her character to
which explain some things that may, at first,seem to cause
perceive is drawing to a close. There are many ways to
glitches. When in doubt, as a Storyteller,go with your first
handle these kinds of incidents, all of which are at the
instincts and then deal with what’s in the book. If there are
Storyteller’s discretion. It is recommended to have the
certain things you don’t want to bother with in your game,
clairvoyant individualgo to the location and translate the
don’t bother with them. Every player wants to have the
player’s travel time into the time it takes the character to
best advantage they can, and in terms of Storytelling,their
achieve a successful trance. Another way is to have the
best advantage is agood story and aplayable character, not
an hour-long delay while an obscure rule is located. Storyteller simply explain what the character sees if the
situation is not being roleplayed.
This book is designed for advanced players, people
who know the basic rules and can get themselves through
a game without calling for help every 10 minutes. Many
techniques you will find here are more complicated,
because they facilitate roleplaying within very complex
societies like the Sabbat and the Society of Leopold.
Mortals can be used as player characters or as Narrator
characters.Not every mortal in the game possessesNumina
nor should they.
 see ifyoucharm theprince. Youeitherdooryoudon’t.You
must keep this reality aspect of Mind’s Eye Theatre in
mind because it is more difficult to distinguish between
your rival (or worse, your ally) stabbing you in the back in
character and your best friend stabbing you in the back in
real life while playing his character.
It sometimes helps to clarify all of this at the game
briefing when you have everyone assembled. A quick
reminder that it is just a game and anything that happens
is in character and has no bearing on our real lives is
usually sufficient. Arrange for a particular room to be used
as a time-out zone. Anyone who needs a reality check
should go to that room, and anyone who is there will be
assumed to not be in character. That sort of arrangement
allows people who need a break to get one without
disturbing those who want to stay in character all night.
The genre of Gothic horror is exceptional in that it
allows players to face the darker aspects of themselves
within the context of the game, as well as work through
their fears of death and violence. In our increasingly violent
society,we need to find ways to confront of our own horrors
while still in a safe environment. Roleplayinggames can be
therapeutic, but they are not therapy. Storytellers need to
keep in mind that their responsibility includes handling
players who take the game out of context.

Playing the Sabbat

DealingWith Reality: Roleplaying creatures that survive off of other crea-
tures’ deaths, and who pass each night of their unlives
NotesAbout Playervs. preparing for their own destruction through violent war or
by the fangs of their elders, can be very disturbing to the
Character psyches of the players. The Sabbat is essentially an orga-
nization founded upon fear. Among its premises is the
Most roleplayers are very imaginative human beings, looming threat of Gehenna, an armageddon in which they
deeply connected to their fantasy lives. Although some will be the major contenders. Each night, members of the
people do play roleplaying games because they enjoy Sabbat wake and wonder if they’ll survive to see the next
manipulating rules and one-upping their friends and asso- night. It is a reality that they might not. They are not
ciates, the majority seem to play because they like to complacent like so many Camarilla vampires. The Sabbat
pretend. both celebrates itself and condemns itself every night.
Because so many people have lives that are virtually They have no Golconda for the vast majority; they do not
adventure-free, it is important to realize that your friends, seek a happy ending. Be sensitive to players who might
gamer buddies and colleagues are placing in your hands have problems with this, and act accordingly.
their needs and desires to expand their own realms of Just as a Mind’s Eye Theatre game can be thrilling
experience. and cathartic, it can also be unnerving and disturbing. It is
As a Storyteller, be sure you are not treating one the Storyteller’sresponsibility to push the players as far as
player differently than another. When players begin to they want to go and stop before it gets uncomfortable. If
feel the Storyteller has favorites or is particularly harsh on you sense that aplayer (not acharacter) is in anuncomfort-
one individual, the game can be ruined for everyone. A able situation which they are not willing to explore, get
certain amount of manipulation is required on the part of them out of it as smoothly as you can. Nobody should be
both the Storyteller and the players, but this should not be offended by a game. On the same note, players have to be
the focus of the game. responsible for themselves and know when to stop.
When playing The Masquerade, participants are Roleplaying the Sabbat is not for everyone, and not every
forced to rely more on their own wits and charisma than Storyteller should run Sabbat stories. Think before you
on statistics.You cannot roll Manipulation + Etiquette to play.
 -

Though most of us consciously know the difference with it. They may surprise you. The players are looking to
between fantasy and reality, the human subconsciouscan’t you to make up something that willgive them agood time.
distinguish between what we imagine and what our real If you thwart their efforts and force them into situations
actions are. We remember everything the same way in the that are unrealisticfor their particular charactersor groups,
deepest parts of our minds. It’s strange to think that our or find excuses not to let them try some idea you may never
memories do not separate events like assassinating the in your wildest dreams have considered as a possible
Gangrel elder and brushing our teeth or going to work. Our solution, they will know. And they will rebel. They will
imaginationsare very important, as are the ways we nurture get angry, and they will stop roleplaying.
them and utilize our creativity. It’s a very healthy thing to You, the Storyteller, are the most powerful person in
find the darknessor the lightwithin and find ways to release the game. Your word is law, but if you abuse your privileged
it, but we can go overboard in our quest for excitement and position, you will soon find yourself without any players.
fun. When you mess with someone’s fantasy life, you mess Find ways to encouragethe players either by reissuing clues,
with them for real, so think twice about what you do. After letting their unexpected solutionsbe effective or using your
all, we may want to destroy our evil adversaries, but we antagonists to your best advantage. If the antagonists arc
don’t want to destroy ourselves. Enough said! not Narrator characters, pull them aside anyway and ex-
plain the situation.They know they are antagonists because
A Final Word of Advice you will have discussed this previously, and they will be
to Storytellers willing to help you. Everyone wants to have fun, and
Do not fear mistakes. everyone should. Keep your cool, no matter what. Don’t
- Miles Davis give up, no matter what. The players are trusting you to
Players will never do what you want them to. They resolve that 20-character combat with ease. Do it. Be fair,
will not seek the clues in the manner you set up. They will but don’t let the players bully you. If they come to you to
ignore that amazingly obvious clue you laid out on the resolve a situation, they could be angry or upset or merely
livingroomfloor andwonderwhat’sgoingon. It is your job trying to manipulate the rules. Stick to your guns. Balance
and your responsibilityto encourage them, nonetheless. If out when to say yes and when to say no, and the world of
they try to gain Influences you believe are ridiculous, go Storytellingwill lay itself at your feet, as will all the players
who had such an amazing time in your game.

,_A
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I-
15
i
 Come, night, come Romeo, come thou day in night
for thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
whiter than new snow on a rawen’s back.. .
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Mortals Determination
and Force of Will
Compared to vampires, werewolves, wraiths, mum-
mies and various other powerful creatures of the World of Mortals do not have access to such fantastic Disci-
Darkness, mortals may seem a dreary and helpless race, plines as Dominate, Presence or Fortitude, but the
almost useless in the role of the antagonist. However, determination born of their considerably more dire situa-
because they possess Numina or unusual Abilities solely tion in the World of Darkness can be just as useful. Mortals
characteristic of mortals, this is hardly the case. Mortals’ may use their Willpower Traits more liberally than other
vulnerability to death brings the horror of the game even kinds of characters, and in addition, they have a second
closer to home, and as a result, their Numina are more advantage: Humanity Traits.
greatly nurtured and treasured -these gifts, after all, may
be their sole defense against the many potential dangers
that confront them.
Humanity
Mortals in the World of Darkness hardly live in a
One thing all mortals have on their side is their
cushy environment, and this proves to work to their
humanity. Though it may be lost and regained in small
benefit. The Gothic-Punk world carries with it the impli-
quantities throughout the game (adding Derangements to
cation that all beings created therein have a taint of
the personality of the character), certain qualities, such as
darkness, that even the most pure are slightly corrupt.
determination and a capacity for love, always remain
Werewolves find the Wyrm creeping into their hearts,
constant for mortal characters.
vampires feel the Beast rising, wraiths wrestle with their
Shadows, and mortals contend with fear. Supernatural
creatures all have special powers that make them strong.
The advantage mortals possess is their Humanity.

17
jI -= HumanityTraits:
LL.UYL careful not to confuse fear with coward-
ice. A cowardly individual is unwilling to face the object of

I I
/

his fears; rather, he avoids it at any cost. A fearful indi-

Kind, Generous, Benevolent, Helpful, Giv-
vidual, on the other hand, is not so greatly inhibited that
ing, Chivalrous, Honorable, Loyal, Warm,
he cannot confront that which evokes the emotion; he will
Soft-Hearted, Fair, Humane, Charitable, Sympa-
simply approach it with greater caution. By acknowledging
thetic, Empathetic, Liberal, Gracious, Merciful,
the source of his anxiety, he learns to better handle his fear,
I Pious, Moral.
and thus is able to continue on in spite of it.
Mastering Fear
Arguably, many beasts in the World of Darkness can T o use Humanity to overcome fear, the mortal may
possess more Humanity than a mortal character. The choose to spend a Humanity Trait in the presence of the
difference, however, lies in the fact that no mortal, no Storyteller to relieve herself of one natural, fear-oriented
matter how cruel, corrupt or deranged can permanently Derangement for the remainder of the night. This does
lose all of her Humanity. not include fears generated by Disciplines such as Pres-
ence. This can, however, be used to battle fear-based
Humanity Traits Derangements, even if they were triggered by Disciplines
- like Chimerstry. To roleplay this, the mortal must
Humanity Traits depict the positive qualities of the
either confide in a trusted comrade by telling him about
human condition. They represent the best characteristics
her Derangement and her struggle to overcome it, or do
that people may possess. Note: These Traits do not neces-
something appropriate to her Faith, such as confessing to
sarily describe the character’s Demeanor and do not have
a priest or meditating for half an hour. The Storyteller
to be actively played. Just as a Tremere may not always
should not allow the player to spend the Trait until the
want to show her “cunning” side, a mortal may choose to
character has performed some action along these lines.
hide her “warm” side or her “giving” side. For example: a
Humanity Traits can be used whenever a character’s
modern government assassin who seems hard and cold in
“fight or flight” survival instinct would naturally be trig-
his actions and thinking may have a soft spot for babies
gered. If the mortal’s life is threatened, she may spend a
and small animals. Perhaps he lives with a dark secret -
Humanity Trait to add one extra number to the Trait that
although he commits murder for a living, he keeps a house
has been put to the test. If the mortal is in a Physical
full of strays, helpless animals that he has rescued by
Challenge and only has five Physical Traits, he may spend
various means over the years. This character may possess
a Humanity Trait to raise his total to six.
the Humanity Trait Kind,along with Soft-Hearted. Even
the most heinous mortals still retain a shred of Humanity, For example: Mercedes is attempting to feed from a
whether or not it shows in their outward behavior. mortal, Timothy. It’s obvious that she intends to make an
evening meal of him. She and Timothy test (Rock-Paper-
The initial Humanity rating of the mortal character
Scissors), and Timothy wins. Mercedes immediately
may be determined by the Storyteller or created at the
overbids, guessing that she can double Timothy in Physi-
standard of four initial Traits which can then be bought up
cal traits. Mercedes has 11,while Timothy (drunk from an
by the player (see Hunter Character Creation for specifics).
evening of revelry) has only five left. However, Timothy

Using Humanity (fearing for his life) spends a Humanity Trait, raising his
bid to six for this round and shaking off Mercedes’ control.
A mortal may spend her Humanity Traits to power Using Humanity should be fun. Rather than treating
certain Numina, to master and control her fear and to Humanity Traits as simply a set of rules to help out
empower her love. T o use Humanity Traits to power mortals, players should roleplay these aspects of the
Numina, see the section on using Numina. character’s Humanity as much as possible.

Fear The Unlimited Capacityto Love

Fear is a very real, driving force in the life of a mortal. Mortals may be wholly devoted to someone or some-
Every mortal falls into fear’s deathly grip, whether they thing they love. Unlike vampires, who ultimately love
suffer a fear of death or loss, or a phobia of spiders, needles themselves beyond all else, mortals can become caught up
or firearms. Fear may not always be a handicap or burden; in their emotions and may willingly sacrifice everything
a healthy mix of fear and common sense has saved lives on they have, including their lives, for that which they love.
countless occasions. This boundless capacity for love may at times allow them
to increase their Trait pools by two or more, depending on
the situation.
 Knowing No Bounds Sam: This is the best thing for you, Scott. Allow me
By prearrangement with the Storyteller, if the mortal to give you the gift of eternity. It will show you how truly
character wishes to have that person or thing she loves Compassionate I can be.
beyond all else (the Derangement Obsession often accom- Scott: I can’t. I have a wife and child. I can’t give up
panies this), her Humanity can serve her in one final way. my Humanity. True Kindness doesn’t kill to survive.
Should the object ofher love be endangered,the mortal may Now the brothers engage in their challenge by play-
spend multiple Humanity Traits to add to her bid. This ing Rock-Paper-Scissors. Because he was low on Social
works exactly as described above for the case when a Traits, Scott chooses to bid a Humanity Trait (Kind), as
character’slife is endangered.The only difference is that the it is appropriate to the situation (he loves his family).
character may use two or more Traits, instead of only one.
Alternately, a Humanity Trait can be used in place of Regaining Lost Humanity
a regular Trait during a mortal’s initial bid if his loved one Regaining lost Humanity is a very difficult process,
is at risk. This is especially helpful when a character no and one that must be unique to the individual. If a
longer has an appropriate Trait to bid, but must persevere character wishes to regain her Humanity, she must ar-
nonetheless. A Humanity Trait used in this fashion is range a task or set of tasks with the Storyteller which both
gone regardless of the outcome of the challenge. feel will restore and revitalize her. The character must
For example: Scott’s twin brother, Sam, has been accomplishsaid task(s) in a humane and non-manipulative
Embraced by Clan Nosferatu, and Scott and Sam haven’t way. Each assignment should be appropriate to the char-
seen each other at all over the 30 years that have passed acter -a customized good deed. Whatever the deed may
since this occurred. They accidentally meet, and Sam tries be, it should not be accomplished within the same night
to persuade his brother to allow him to Embrace him. or story. Humanity Traits take time to restore, and this
Scott is reluctant, and Sam engages him in a Social process ought not to be taken lightly.
Challenge to convince him to accept the Embrace.
3i
1

i
 Garlic and sapphires in the mud
Clot the bedded axle-tree
I

The trilling wire in the blood

Sings below inveterate scars
Appeasing long forgotten wars.
-T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”

Hunters Who Are The Hunters?

Anyone can be a vampire hunter. The trick is to be
Vampire hunters represent the widest diversity of good at tracking and hunting down these dangerous foes.
groups that can be found in the World of Darkness. Some When creating a hunter, the player should find a really
are gangs of kids; a few are renegade ghouls. They may be strong motivation for her character to want to risk her life
members of the government or the Inquisition. All possess to slay vampires. Some primary motivations are:
one common objective, however, and that is the destruc-
Personal - You have had a personal experience
tion of vampires.Hunters are aware of some of the goings-on
with a vampire.
at night. Sinister bloodsuckers have taken control of
Revenge - Someone close to you has had a
mortal corporations and institutions, whole familieshave
personal experience with a vampire.
been bled dry, and countless victims murdered. In the eyes
of the dedicated hunter, vampires, whatever and whoever Religious - Vampires are the minions of the
they may be, are sick, vile monsters that must be eradi- Devil.
cated. They are a violation of nature and an affront to the Mercenary - There’s good money in vampire
Holy Spirit. By their very existence, vampires disrupt the slaying.
forces of good in the universe. If they are not soon Love - Someone you love has been stolen by a
extinguished, they will take over and enslave all human- vampire, and you want your loved one back.
ity, converting them into mere herd-beasts. Habit - You remember your original reason, but
vampire-slayinghas become a part of your everyday exist-
ence. If you were to change careers, your life would
suddenly have no purpose.

21
 Fear - Get them before they get you.
, Stupidity -What the heck, you don’t have any-
thing better to do.
Bravery -You are a courageous hero and will save
the world by destroying evil.
Insanity -You secretly want to be a vampire, and
you hope that maybe by killing them, one of them will
notice you and Embrace you just for spite.
Science -You experiment on vampires for what-
ever twisted reason you can legitimize to yourself. Perhaps
in the name of progress?
Whatever the reason, just be sure that it is strong
enough to motivate your character to get those nasty
leeches and stake ‘em out to fry.

The Inquisition
Sed Diabolus Only the dewil laughed
Sed Diabolus in inwidia sua Only the dewil laughed
istud inisit, honor to scorn:
qua nullum opus Dei in his enoy he left
intactum dimisit. no wurkof Goduntouched.
-Abbess Hildegarde von Bingen

A Quick History
The Inquisition, a movement born in the early 13th
century, was originally designed to be a means to achieve
religious purgation. Founded upon a desire to root out all The Inquisition retains its terrifying reputation to
heretics against the one “true” religion, the Inquisition, it this day, perhaps due to its gory effectiveness in the
was believed, would lead to the creationof amono-religious, medieval world. The age of the Inquisition’s birth must be
and henceforth pure, world. In A.D. 1231, Pope Gregory taken into account when considering its modern-day
IX issued the Excommunicamus, a document which called practices. Drawing and quartering, boiling alive, buming
for the establishment of courts that would solely try and at the stake, beheading, torture, extreme flagellation and
sentence those accused or suspected of heresy. He also life imprisonment with hard labor were common forms of
enlisted the aid of a select group of zealous monks known punishment in the medieval era. It is therefore no surprise
as the Dominicans and placed upon them the divine that the Inquisition imposed sentences of life imprison-
commission of eliminating heresy. Thus the first Inquisi- ment for repentant heretics and execution for those who
tors came to be. refused to recant. In A.D. 1252, Pope Innocent IV actu-
ally mandated the use of torture in order to obtain
confessions fromrecalcitrantheretics. Many Inquisitors of
1 the past became masters of these arts in their zeal to
Hunters and Prey cleanse the land for God.
A quick word about hunter characters - There are many theories regarding how vampires first
though most of the examples described here are fell into the clutches of medieval Inquisitors. Historically
vampire hunters, you may just as easily create speaking, the appearance of the Cathars (Albigensians)
hunters for Garou, wraiths, mages or changelings. and the threat they posed (being religious dualists as
All that is needed to change your focus from opposed to the Christian monists) might have been indi-
tracking bloodsuckers to blasting werewolveswith rectly responsible. It is likely that during the mounted
silver bullets is a small twist in your motivations. crusades against the Cathars, members of Clan Brujah fell
Maybe a changeling stole your girlfriend, or per- into the hands of the Inquisition as their clansfolk, havens
haps you remember a ravening werebeast tearing and Herds came under the sword. It is believed that this
apart workers at a strip mining site. What the was also the time when the first Lupines were exposed as
heck, maybe you have nothing better to do.... they attempted to protect their human families and caems.

I I
 One Inquisitor, Leopold of Murnau, came across real The Society of Leopold Today
proof of supernatural creatures through his own experi-
The membership of the Society of Leopold has waxecl
ences and requested a conference with the Pope to address
and waned over the centuries since its inception. Cur-
his concerns. Leopold was truly convinced that these
rently the Society boasts 500 Inquisitors and is without
supernatural creatures were at least as great a threat as the
doubt the strongest it has ever been. Neither Leopold nor
heretics and were a sign of the Parousia (the second
Pope Gregory would ever have imagined the extent to
coming of Christ). The Devil was clearly mounting his
which the Society would grow and flourish -attributed
forces with the creation of vampires, werewolves and
in large part to careful record-keeping and members’
other monstrosities. Leopold believed that vampires were
branching out into more secular activities. In the begin-
evil demons and malefic spirits that had been summoned
ning, membership was limited only to male clergy; today,
into the bodies of the dead. Their purpose was to propagate
however, women and lay folk are also welcomed into its
their own kind to form Satan’s army against Christ’s
folds. After having reached its lowest point in member-
arrival. The Society of Leopold to this day still holds with
ship and power in the 18thcentury, the Society has within
this theory.
the last two hundred years begun to refurbish its army.
The Pope allowed Leopold to gather followers and to Most join with the belief that they have a sacred calling.
focus his sacred mission on the hunting and destroying of Some vow that they must destroy the evil in the world;
these supernatural creatures, under the condition that he others claim to be preparing for the Second Coming of
and his fellows operate in secrecy. Leopold was an excep- Christ.
tionally devout and promising Inquisitor, being a faithful
One may join the Society of Leopold either by invi-
Dominican and a crafty planner, and was certainly favored
tation or by request. Many independent hunters encounter
in the eyes of the Pope. Nonetheless, Gregory IX enjoined
members of the Society at some point in the course of their
Leopold to secrecy in order to disavow himself of all
careers and, if deemed worthy, are often invited to join.
responsibility, should the formation of the group prove to
Invitations are subtle; neither the name of the organiza-
be more foolhardy than effective. Leopold immediately
tion nor its origins are mentioned until the candidate has
gathered a zealous and hardy collection of monks to join
accepted the offer. Others may hear of or witness the
in his crusade. By the end of the year A.D. 1231, the
Society in action and petition for admittance.
Society of Leopold was well under way.

23
 In Western Europe, the Society of Leopold maintains
strongholds in (listed in descending order of size and,
subsequently, effectiveness) Italy, France (Notre Dame),
Spain, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland
and England (the Society is very small here due to the
presence of another organization, the Society of Saint
George, which is active in Scotland).
Running a close second to Western Europe is North
America. The Society has Cenacula in Quebec City,
Canada, and a host of cities in the United State, including
Washington, D.C.; Boston; Baltimore; St. Augustine,
Florida; San Francisco; Chicago and a number of others.
Mexico has it own Cenacula, though the Inquisitors
assigned to Mexico City seem to be considerably shorter-
lived than their South American counterparts. Active
Cenacula are also at work in both Central and South
America.
The Society also has members working in Africa,
particularly Cairo, Egypt. Insofar as the Middle East goes,
there is a cenacle in Jerusalem,but this is more or less held
in check by an opposing organization,whose headquarters
are believed to be in Mecca. Eastern Europe and the
Orient are, at present, outside the Society’s area of influ-
ence.

Faith of the Inquisitor

Membership in the Society of Leopold does not
New members are assigned a mentor, and this indi- automatically guarantee a character the possession of
vidual is responsible for their training, which may last Faith. One is more likely to find a hunter with Faith
anywhere from a period of a month to a year. During this involved with the Society, but this is by no means a
time of acclimation,known as the Novitiate, probationary guarantee. True Faith is still very rare, even among mem-
members may not participate in any of what the Society bers of the clergy. There is an enormous differencebetween
calls their witch-hunts. They may, however, attend and religious belief that is born of fear and religious devotion
watch. When the mentor determines that the candidate is that comes of true passion for the tenets and teachings.
ready for membership, he is released into the Society and Having oneself surrounded by holy relics and true believ-
invited to join one of the Cenaculum, or Inquisitor groups. ers and living on holy ground can be comforting for a
Individual Cenacula function more or less independently hunter of the supernatural in the World of Darkness, but
and may draw on the resources of the Society at any time. one must realize that most seek this refuge purely because
Most new members join the cenacle of their mentor, but they fear what lies beyond their holy protections. Sadly
this is not required. A new member may select the cenacle enough, many otherwise good-hearted and devout clergy
of his choice, and as long as the current membership of that lack Faith simply because they lack personal willpower.
group is in agreement, he is welcome to join. Those who do possess Faith have strong souls and dwell
within the radiance of their beliefs, regardless of their
ABrief Geography situation, and they genuinely and sincerely appreciate the
The Society of Leopold exerts its greatest influence in gifts of the divine. They do not simply practice religion as
North America and Western Europe. Its central headquar- a form of self-defense.
ters are located at the Monastery of San Michelle in Italy
and house the Inquisitor-General,who is both the religious What the Society of Leopold Knows
and the military leader of the organization.Though no lay The average Inquisitor,regardless of rank, possesses at
person has yet served as Inquisitor-General, two women least one level of the Vampire Lore Ability. Few have
have held the position in the last century. The Society more than three levels; any Inquisitor possessing four or
maintains a careful balance between religious devotion and five in this Ability is extremely rare. It is the Storyteller’s
military maneuvering, and this relationship keeps the orga- responsibility (and discretion) to adhere to that which the
nizationon target with its originalgoals, which have not lost Society knows as opposed to what an independent hunter
their significance since the days of the Society’s inception. may potentially discover. The ideology under which de-
vout members of the Society operate restricts them from The members of the Society of Leopold are among the
certain of the advanced levels of Vampire Lore. The most competent supernatural beast-slayers in the world
Society of Leopold does not allow all members open access and rightly should be feared. They know nothing of the
to its files, nor does it believe in many things that are in Sabbat, nor do they understand the structure of the
fact possible. The Society still believes, essentially, that Camarilla-based vampiric society. They are ignorant of
vampires are demons or evil spirits that have come to the intricacies of Garou society, although they are aware
possess the deceased bodies of unfortunate mortals. They that there are spirits who aid the beasts and that the
have learned that exorcism doesn’t work, and thanks to Lupines’ lineage is somehow very important to them. As
their closed-minded view of the nature of the universe, for mages, the Inquisition is virtually unaware of the
they will credit nothing beyond the Devil’s spiritual min- Technocracy or the Ascension War, although the Society
ions for the hell on earth vampires, werebeasts, ghosts and is greatly troubled by the existence of these unholy war-
faeries are responsible for creating. The Inquisition’s lim- locks. The Inquisitors know nothing of mummies, but if
ited ability to perceive the true nature of these creatures, they were to encounter one, they would likely treat it as
however, does not inhibit their efficiency in killing them. they would any other magic-wielding creature. Insofar as
changelings go, some individuals may have heard rumors
of them, but most believe faeries to be demons every bit as
Cat’s Paws terrible as vampires.
False truths aside, the Society .of Leopold’s The Society has yet to figure out that Garou tribes and
main failing lies in their ignorance of their own vampire clans bestow different supernatural gifts on their
role as pawns of the undead. Many of the rumors childer and that not all possess the same skills. They
of vampiric and other supernatural goings on are assume that what one vampire can do, all are capable of.
quietly slipped into the rumor mill of the Inquisi- Thus, the Society has only a limited understanding of
tion by other Supernatural creatures attempting to their prey, and tends to overestimate them in some cases
secretly dispose of rivals, enemies and trouble- and underestimate them in others. A few rare scholars
makers. If the Inquisition had any idea how among the Inquisition realize that they must be prepared
successfully it has been used by those creatures it for anything, but the rest merely scoff at them for taking
seeks to purge.... such foolish and unnecessary precautions.
I
 What they do know is how to track a vampire, The Condotierri
werewolf or changeling and how to incapacitate it. There This militaristic group is more concerned with protect-
is no question that despite the Society’s lack of accurate ing the Society than with directly pursuing its goals. The
knowledge, they possess a great deal of firepower. They sect originated with a collection of Venetian mercenaries
have an enormous collection of silver weapons and torture who were hired by the Society to defend its assets. In the
devices, as well as remarkable crossbows, halogen lights, mid-15th century, the Condotierri were sworn in as sacred
wooden bullets and fire bombs. Most creatures in the members of the Society, and they remain such to this day.
World of Darkness have laughed off the Inquisition be-
Members of the Condotierri participate in a slightly
cause they have been so quiet in the past two centuries.
different Novitiate, or training period, which resembles
Perhaps, after all, the hunters will have the last laugh.
basic training in the military. They are not Inquisitors per

Creating se; they serve as Cenaculum guards and bodyguards. The

group is directed by a Condotierre-General, who answers
an InquisitorCharacter to the Inquisitor-General. When farmed out to a specific
cenacle, the senior-ranking Condotierre will usually con-
Character creation for members of the Society of cede to the senior Inquisitor, unless he has reason to
Leopold should follow the guidelines for standard hunter believe that the safety of the Society is at stake.
creation. Society membership should be taken under The Office of the Censor
Backgrounds. I t is here that all practitioners of Theurgy, the
Inquisition’s own heavenly brand of Thaumaturgy, must
Advanced Character Creation register. The study of magic is not a very reputable pastime
Information for Inqaisitors in the Society, where all magic is believed to be more or less
There are several sects within the Society of Leopold. of the Devil, and its practitioners must come under careful
Selecting membership in one of these will add some depth scrutiny. The Office of the Censor is like an Inquisition
to the roleplaying of your Inquisitor character. The Soci- within the Inquisition. Censors investigate, observe and
ety itself fosters three basic suborders: document the operations of the Society itself. They prima-
rily seek to keep the Society pure and to stamp out any
potential threats, whether spiritual or intellectual. It is from their mighty, wicked master and show them the true
important to keep these Censorialmonitors active to ensure path to God, enlightenment and eventually, eternal peace.
that no Inquisitor becomes tainted by the infernal creatures The non-traditional beliefs of this sect, also known as the
with whom she deals. If a Censor visits a cenacle, she will be Florentine Heresy, have led to persecution within the
made privy to all records and may request access to any of the Inquisition in the past, so most modern Florentines hide
members for questioningor to solicit interviewsor opinions. their true ethical beliefs as best they can. Few Florentines
Gladius Dei know for certain how many others share their views,
The Gladius Dei, or Sword of God, includes in its folds because those who do are rarely open about it. Several
the most highly respected and the shortest-lived of the Inquisitors lean toward this sect and have, in recent years,
Society’s members. These Inquisitors are hand-picked by begun to question the methods of their predecessors.
the Inquisitor-General to perform the most sacred and Many such members are retired Inquisitors who still main-
dangerous missions. It is a tremendoushonor to be inducted tain active membership by working as advisors or record
into this order and a great shame to refuse. No auto-da-fe, or keepers in at least one cenacle.
holy quest and investigation, has ever failed when the Order of Saint Peter
Gladius Dei were employed to take it on. Usually they are Ever faithful to their ideal, Saint Peter, who defeated
members of the older cenacles and assemble when called Simon Magus centuries ago in Rome, these Inquisitors
upon. They are rare within the Society and exceptionally work to root out mages, witches and all others who utilize
well trained. Not every cenacle will have one on hand. demonic gifts. The Society is clueless about the Technoc-
racy and the Ascension War, but they are able to find and
Other Sects: Philosophical destroy magic-users with relative frequency.
Differences Within the Society Sisterhood of Saint Claire
Brethren of Albertus Claire was a 13th century nun who believed that one
Following in the footsteps of their icon, Albertus must live in absolute poverty in order to enjoy the riches of
Magnus, the Brethren of Albertus hold the belief that in the Lord. Her sect within the Inquisition is composed of
order to combat the evil magic practiced by the minions those who take vows of poverty in order to enjoy the gifts
of the Devil, they must prepare themselves similarly. The of healing. They refuse all personal possessions and mate-
Albertines engage in the study and practice of Theurgy rial comforts, with the exception of that which is given
(magic powered strictly by heavenly sources). They are
often placed under investigation by officials from the
Office of the Censor.
Children of Lazarus
This group believes that the greatest possible sin is to
violate the truth of Christ. They maintain that only Jesus
was able to rise beyond death, and all creatures who claim
to do the same are purveyors of the greatest sin. This, the
largest sect within the Inquisition, is obsessively con-
cerned with the destruction of vampires. They are
unquestionably the greatest threat to the Kindred.
Fathers of the Good Death
This assemblyof ordained priests followsthe doctrine
that vampires are essentially evil spirits from the time
before the Flood who have taken over the bodies of the
innocent to cause the moral decay of society. The Fathers
believe that these creatures breed sin by actively destroy-
ing the religious ethics, individual codes of honor and
spiritual love of their prey. This sect focuses primarily on
tracking and destroying these spirits before and directly
after they become vampires.
The Florentines
The Florentines work in a manner far different from
that of the rest of their organization. They believe in
saving the soulsof the damned, not destroying them. They
work to aid supernatural creatures in order to rescue them i
them by the Society to equip them for their mission. They Leaving the Society
are excellent at acceleratingthe healing ofwounds (whether
Inquisitors may retire at any time, although this can
mortally and magically inflicted) by the power of their
be a dangerous move for one who has been a member of an
prayer, their devotion and the laying on ofhands. Members
organization that antagonizes some of the most powerful
of this order must take at least two Traits in Faith.
beings in existence. It is the belief of the Society that if an
Sons of Tertullian individual no longer hears the call, she should no longer
This extremely orthodox sect subscribes to the theory be expected to serve. Most hunters join the Society of
that all who denounce God must be possessed. They Leopold because they feel a sacred calling to do the work
pursue wraiths with the same ardor that the Children of of the Holy One, or because they experience a need to
Lazarus pursue vampires. For more details on this sect, fulfill a sacred mission by dissolving the threat of super-
consult pg. 236 in Wraith: The Oblivion. natural evil.
Sect of Saint James
This sub-cultof the Sons of Tertullian combats wraiths Society Procedures
on their own turf- that of the Underworld. Each member Once a suspected creature or activity has been satis-
of this cult eventually commits a religious suicide with a factorily confirmed by the research of a cenacle, it is
weapon of their own fashioning and construction in order officially recorded, and the act of faith, or auto-da-fe,
to transport themselvesover the border to the Shadowlands. begins in earnest until the creature or situation has been
They then proceed to destroy as many wraiths as they can overcome. The term auto-da-fe is synonymouswith “hunt”
before they themselves are destroyed. For more informa- in Societal terms, as the Society views their witch-hunts
tion on the sect, see pg. 237 in Wraith: The Oblivion. to be acts of faith in defense of all humanity.

Structure of the Society of Leopold Troubleshootingin the Society

The Society is governed by an Inquisitor-General Many of the Society’s activities are undeniably ille-
who is often advised by a cabinet of his or her own gal. Most Inquisitors carry unregisteredweapons, a number
selection, as well as the Condotierre-General (head of of which are quite unusual. All Inquisitors are required to
Society security). The Condotierre-General answers to memorize the phone number of a legal help-line in the
the Inquisitor-General, as do all Inquisitors. event that they are threatened with incarceration. Occa-
Next on the hierarchical ladder are the Provincials, sionally the charges are not dropped (depending upon the
Inquisitors chosen by the Inquisitor-General to govern a severity of the crime), and an Inquisitor will spend some
specific geographicaljurisdiction. Censors are also chosen time in prison. It often depends on the influences of the
by the Inquisitor-General and are based out of a separate creature the Inquisitorwas stalking and the strength of her
office located near the Monastery of San Michelle in Italy, desire for revenge.
referred to as the Office of the Censor. Accidents also happen. Not everyone the Inquisition
Chosen by the Provincials are the Abbes, or Inquisi- targets is guilty of the suspected sin. Cenacles are usually
tors responsible for the activities of a specific Cenaculum. forgiven for these mishaps as long as they seem appropri-
The Cenaculum may also vote in their own Abbe, as long ately penitent and the mistakes are few and far between.
as the Provincial agrees with the choice. A cenacle that develops a high accident rate is likely to fall
Below Abbe is the rank of Councellor. Councellor is a under investigationfor infernal influencesby the Office of
title a Provincial may bestow upon an Inquisitor who has the Censor. If this should occur, the investigated parties
proven himself worthy through successful auto-da-fe and are placed on holding, or certiorari, until all of their seized
zeal. This title is bestowed only upon those who have won diaries, files and belongings have been thoroughly re-
great respect for their wisdom and deeds within the Society. searched.
The majority of Inquisitors hold the rank and title of
Tertiary, which is given them following the dedication and
Special Numina of the Inquisition
oath of loyalty by which they are inducted into the Society. Theurgy
Theurgy is a brand of magic created by the Albertines
Law and Order to combat Thaumaturgy (see Chapter Four) and other
Each cenacle is run according to the preference of the malefic magics encountered in the process of seeking to
Inquisitors who comprise its membership -some demo- destroy the minions of the Devil. Theurgy supposedly
cratically, some with a stricter code of hierarchical draws on the power of the heavens and the forces of God
leadership. It is considered very poor form to disregard a and the archangels. Except for its divine origins, Theurgy
request from an Inquisitor of higher rank, and disobedi- is essentially the same as any other type of Hedge Magic.
ence to a Provincial or the Inquisitor-General is grounds
for punishment and potential suspension or expulsion.
 The Order of Saint Joan The women of the Order train in aikido, including all
With headquarters in New Orleans and roots going aikido weapons: the jo (a four foot long, inch-and-a-half
back almost as far as the Inquisition itself, this all-female thick staff), the bokken (a two-and-a-half foot wooden
collective of vampire hunters is passionate, vicious in sword)and the wooden knife. Sword and knife techniques
battle and entirely inspired by God. Not only has each one are also taught after the novice has achieved a certain
had personal experiences with the holy forces, but all level of success with the bokken.
possess at least one Trait in Faith and many wield True In addition to this, and the workouts for stamina to
Faith, on account of the intensity of their devotion and which most dedicate at least two hours per day, these
their constant rituals of purification. hunters are encouraged to take some form of dance to
Each member of the Order of Saint Joan has experi- improve their agility, stealth and strength, as well as to
enced at least one holy vision or angelic visitation. All balance out their fanatical natures.
members are guided to the Order by a religious revelation Members of the Order of Saint Joan’s are encouraged
of their sacred mission to war against the supernatural to become active in their communities and to get to know
minions of the Devil. It is most common for a vision to be those around whom they live and work. This is why,
responsible for this epiphany and for the woman to learn though they are celibate and spend much time in church,
for herself how to find the Order, either from a vision or they do not live in a cloister. The Matriarch of the Order
through extreme meditation and prayer. believes that the Society of Leopold is too narrow in its
Members of this society usually live in groups of three focus. She also believes that the Societyof Leopold is so out
or four in homes all over Louisiana and have taken vows of touch with the community it is supposed to be saving,
similar to anun’s. They are celibate warrior maidens, most that it no longer follows the true instructions of the Lord,
virgin, most very young (late teens, early twenties) when but rather has become an institution of pride and ego.
brought to the Order. The Order of Saint Joan does not Nonetheless, these two groups have worked together
recruit; they pray for God to bring them the right girls and in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The
women to carry on the sacred mission until the Parousia. Lord works in mysterious ways, and one should accept His
They spend their days engaged either in prayer, service aid whenever one finds it. The members of The Order of
work for their church or physical training. Saint Joan, believing themselvesto have been inspired to
join in order to fulfill a greater purpose, will not marry
their collective to the Society of Leopold for one main Center for Disease Control
reason: If the Lord had wanted them to belong to the
In brief, the CDC researches and studies current
Inquisition, His angels would have taken the novice there
viruses and potential epidemics that appear in the coun-
instead of to the Order of SaintJoan. Some Warrior Maids
try. As a result of the last decade’s AIDS epidemic and the
of the Order of Saint Joan do permanently shift their
spread of other blood-related viruses, the research has
affiliation to the Society of Leopold, and no one holds it
turned up some fascinating and unexplainable data. An
against them. You have to go where the Lord believes you
extremely small group of researchers is currently conduct-
will do the most good, says the Matriarch, who is referred
ing studies of blood samples they have received from
to by all as the Reverend Mother.
various sources, and has begun to hypothesize about what
kind of creature’s blood potentially maintains living cells
GovernmentAgencies of each type in one sample. The current trend of vampiric
Three United States government agencies are cur- popularity in the entertainment industry and the
rently involved, i n extremely small ways, with neo-occult revival has given these researchers some ideas.
investigations of the existence of vampires and other Their private records would be very difficult to access,
Supernaturalbeings. Presumably, other countries also have though their homes are easy enough to find, provided, of
similar agents, though these are too extensive to be listed course, the seeker knows who they are looking for. The
within this book. Government agents prove to make files pertaining to this study are well hidden from the eyes
exceptional antagonists, as most vampires aren’t expect- of any higher-ups in the CDC.
ing them. They might expect to have their phone tapped
by a Ventrue or a Serpent of the Light, or their favorite Federal Bureau of Investigation
Blood Doll Embraced by the Sabbat for revenge or temp- and National SecurityAgency
tation into Jyhad, but it is unlikely that they will consider Both FBI Special Affairs and the NSA have
government agencies to be anything more than a joke. independant branches which often become involved in
the hunt for the supernatural. Very few government
employees are even aware that either of these offices
 - -. -- _I__-

exists. In fact both organizations are unaware of the other. The mechanics of the character creation process are
Investigators who work in these organizations research the same as for any other hunter characters. The Story-
the files of late police detectives, bureau investigators and teller should feel free to allow her players to create new
intelligence operatives who had rather unusual causes of Abilities for themselves (such as military equipment spe-
death (such as complete blood loss with no evident wounds cialist, Government Lore, Forensics or espionage
or their bodies being shredded limb from limb). techniques). Also, government-basedcharacters may have
Most characters who work in these offices have had at entirely different Influences, such as CIA contact, morgue
least a minimal amount of military training, are certainly contact or a personal friendship with a foreign ambassador.
capable of using a small-caliber firearm, and also possess It is important to remember that antagonistic forces
varying degrees of Occult Abilities and Vampire Lore. must be somewhat equal in each other’s eyes to make the
They are generally patriotic, paranoid and on the prowl for conflict any fun. There needs to be something on the side
anything that undermines American culture and society. of the mortals that keeps the Tremere from setting them
all on fire, and there needs to be a reason why the
GovernmentAgent government agents can’t call in the entire Coast Guard to
CharacterCreation raid the local chantry. Government agents who believe in
vampires are an isolated minority. Each one should possess
Creating a US government employee antagonist char-
at least a mild paranoia or phobia of being found out by
acter can be an exciting way to involve politics and
their higher-ups, who would no doubt have them retired
espionage on a different level than that of the standard
to a psychiatric institution as soon as possible. If the
Kindred manipulations and power plays. The World of
agent’smission of vampiric discovery and/or destruction is
Darkness is equipped with technological advancements
truly valuable to her, she’ll watch her step. If the President
and Abilities that can give the most dedicated spy novel
knew what the W i c e of Miniature Logistics was really
fan a run for their money. It may seem difficult at first to
doing, the office wouldn’t exist very long. Governments
make these two contrasting genres coincide, but as long as
have ways of finding things out and ways of eliminating
the Storyteller takes care to create a highly descriptive
those who threaten their security -even if the threat is
environment, there is no reason why the variety shouldn’t
posed by another government agent.
function effectively.Just think of the success of The X Files.
 It is entirely feasible for a Mind’s Eye Theatre kinds of experiences should not be saved only for new
)I chronicle to have a story line in which a mortal govern- players, however. Old players can have lots of fun redis-
ment agent or team must confront two different antagonists: covering things through a mortal’s eyes as well.
the vampire they are seeking to eliminate and the When creating or running a Mind’s Eye Theatre
NSA-hired Cleaner (assassin) attempting to take them hunters game, the objective will usually be to eliminate the
out. Keep in mind the elements of fear, isolation, death vampire(s) in question. The more mystery that surrounds
and the unknown as you create your stories. A six-person the antagonist, the more effective the relationship between
Masquerade story can be even more intense than a 60- sides will be. Games of this nature call for Narrator charac-
person game if the environment and threats are well ter antagonists as well as the occasional Narrator plant in
balanced and carefully constructed. the party, unbeknownst to the other players. Perhaps the
Narrator plant could be the one who gets kidnapped and
Creating a Hunters Chronicle Embraced and returns to terrorize his former comrades.
Creating a game where the mortals are the protago- Mortals are the most vulnerable character types in
nists and the vampires are the antagonists may seem like the World of Darkness and their vulnerability should not
a moot point in the World of Darkness. Considering the be wasted. Make your mortal characters run for their lives
nature of the game, it can be a valuable experience for after having lost their first confrontation with the antago-
people who normally play powerful (or not so powerful) nist. Encourage your vampire characters to uphold the
vampiric characters to take a break and see themselves Masquerade instead of slaughtering the mortal party out-
from the other side. A personal confrontation between a right. Use hunters to your advantage both as opportunities
Tremere Justicar and a 13th generation Caitiff is nothing to roleplay and as an opportunity to create unusual stories
in comparison to a mortal’s first confrontation with even which bring the game back to its basic principle: Human-
the weeniest vampire. ity vs. the Beast, both within the heart of each character
The fear factor is one of the reasons people play this and within the conflict of the story.
game, and it should not be overlooked. The newbie hunter Every game does not have to be an epic of demons,
staking a vampire for the first time and watching her magic and city-wide manipulations to be fun, exciting and
continue to acknowledge him with her frozen gaze can be scary. Every now and again, it is refreshing to take a break
quite scary, especially if the player is new to the game and from the complexities of a game you’ve been running and
really doesn’t know “the facts” of the world yet. These release your players and yourself into an old-fashionedhunt.
Hunter
Character
Crea&ion
When creating your hunter character, you should
focus primarily on your character’smotivation for hunting
vampires. This will determine the kind of organization to
which you belong or the nature of your independent gang.
Perhaps you have a common purpose, such as avenging a
mutual friend. If your characters are mercenaries, perhaps
you were hired to join an organization of hunters. What-
ever the case, your character’s personal desire to hunt
vampires can dictate an entire Prelude which will give you
all the background you need to roleplay effectively. If
finding the reason behind your character’s desire to slay
vampires doesn’t set your imagination on fire and inspire
you to blurt out the character without really having to do
much work, then you must begin again. Uninspired char-
acters will not have the necessary commitment to be
playable.

Preludes
Decide when your character is going to begin vam-
pire-hunting (find the motivating reason for your
character), then go back to the basics: Where are you
from? How old are you? What do you do professionally?
AssigningTraits
How many brothers and sisters do you have? What has Your Traits should reflect your character’s goals and
been the most significant experience of your life so far? personality. Thanks to the variety of reasons people hunt
vampires, it’s obvious that not every vampire hunter will
Chapter Three in the Masquerade Players Kit (pp.
have primary Physical Traits. For example: You are a New
57-78) is a Prelude flow chart for vampire characters,
York City socialite whose 17-year-old daughter gets Em-
which provides a series of random choices of events that
braced by a Nosferatu and comes to you to pass on her gift.
may have occurred during a vampire’s mortal life. This can
You manage to escape by talking her out of it and find
be an extremely useful tool for stimulating ideas that will
yourself faced with the dilemma of whether or not to go
add depth and reality to your mortal character. It might
after the one who made her. You decide to do it, effectively
also help break through any imagination-blocksyou may
becoming a vampire hunter, but your primary Attribute
encounter in the process of creating your hunter character.
would still be Social even if you work out with a profes-
If your character is going to possess Numina, you sional trainer every day. Common sense and a realistic
should incorporate that into your background. Once you
imagination will serve you best when choosing your pri-
become a hunter, you might end up spending more time
mary, secondary and tertiary Attributes. Each mortal
tracking beasts in the night than studying your psychic,
character may begin with statisticsthat are almost equiva-
thaumaturgic or religious craft, so choosing that right off
lent to those of a 13th generation vampire, giving
can help.
themselves six Traits in the primary category, five in the
secondary and three in the tertiary.
Mortal Character Step Three: SelectAbilities -
What do you know?
Creation Chart Choose five Abilities from the Abilities list on page

Step One: Character Concept - 20 in The Masquerade, Second Edition or work with your
Storyteller to create Abilities of your own. You may also
Who are you? choose from the New Mortal Abilities list given later in
Choose your reason for becoming a vampire hunter. this book.
Decide the basic facts about your life: age, profes-
sion, hobbies, familial status, geographic location,
Step Four: SelectAdvantages -
possession of Numina, etc. What makes you human?
Choose your Nature and Demeanor. A list of You may now choose up to four Negative Traits
Natures and Demeanors and their explanations can be (page 23, The Masquerade, Second Edition) at the price
found on pages 19 and 42 in The Masquerade, Second of one-for-one to boost your Attribute Trait pools. No
Edition, or you may make up your own. more than two Negative Traits may be acquired for any

Step W o : SelectAttributes - category. No mortal may possess more than eight Traits
per Attribute category except by special arrangement with
What are your basic capabilities? the Storyteller. Note: Negative Traits may also be used to
purchase other advantages. See below.
Determine the order of your Attributes (Social,
If the Storyteller has not given you a target Human-
Physical and Mental), primary (6), secondary (4) and
ity rating, you may choose four Humanity Traits.
tertiary (3).
Choose Attribute descriptors for each category. A
complete Attributes list can be found on page 20 in The
Step Five: Last Touches -
Masquerade, Second Edition.
What makes you unique?
You may now return to the list of Negative Traits
and use them to purchase your Numina at the cost of two
per level of Numina. You may only purchase Numina in
one category without Storyteller permission.
 You may purchase one additional Humanity Trait
at the cost ofone Humanity for each Negative Trait taken.
Choose one Influence. Additional Influences may
be purchased one-for-one with Negative Traits, or by
special arrangement with the Storyteller.

New Mortal Abilities

Homiletics
This Ability allows you to tell a successful homily or
inspirational story. For each time the player chooses this
Ability, her character will be able to engage someone in a
Social Challenge to convince them of some religious
value or life lesson. This may not change the character’s
life, but it may change her mind. Traits lost while giving
a homily may be regained by spending this Ability.
Hunter Lore
For each time you select this Ability, you know about
and can perhaps identify one or two other hunter groups.
Possessing the Ability once may only alert the lone hunter
to the location where he may find another kook like
himself. It also may alert him to a gang of mortal hunters
roaming the streets of his city. Taking this Ability five
times could give you a computer data base with names and
addresses of every hunter in the country or within their
region. Keep in mind that most hunter groups try to
remain underground and secret. You and the Storyteller
together should come up with how you acquired this
Ability and how detailed the knowledge you possess is. sort of governing organization. She might know details
Vampire Lore about the Masquerade and the names of some of the clans.
The character knows or has reliable leads on a potential
You know the basic facts about vampires. Sunlight
haven or two. Choosing to acquire this Ability for a fifth
always works, crosses sometimes work, and the vampires
time allows the character open access to knowledge about
can do some really nifty superhuman things. A hunter
the Camarilla and its comings and goings. She can identify
without this Ability fully believes in the myths surround-
some of the primogen, maybe the prince, and has probably
ing the efficacy of crosses, garlic, running water and
tracked, if not destroyed, a few of their ghouls or childer.
inviting a vampire in and would prepare herself for combat
She is aware that not all vampires belong to their organi-
according to such beliefs.
zation and who is controlled by whom, and that they call
If an individual takes this Ability twice, she would
themselves Kindred. She knows they’re after her because
know that there are different kinds of vampires, they have
of the extent of her knowledge of them. Storytellers may
lots of mortals under their control, that most could care
feel free to manipulate the knowledge of the characters
less about crosses, that you can see them in mirrors, and
with this Ability for purposes of the story or chronicle.
that they try to hide themselves behind some sort of law.
She would also know that stakes don’t seem to kill them, Influences
but only paralyze them somehow. In addition to the
Mortals may have Influences just like vampires. A
previously mentioned information, if someone takes this
complete list and description of the Influences can be
Ability three times, she will also know what ghouls are, a
found in pp. 69-75 in The Masquerade, Second Edition.
few distinguishing characteristics of the clans or some
Each mortal may choose one Influence for free during
reliable leads on where to spot vampires.
character creation. Additional Influences may be bought
If she chose this Ability a fourth time, she’d know a with Negative Traits at a cost of one-for-one or given out
few names and would be aware that vampire leaders are at the Storyteller’s discretion.
called princes and maybe even that vampires have some
 There hawe been witches in all ages and countries. That is,
there hawe been men and women who hawe had a knowledge of
cures, philtres, charms.... at times they were hated, at times
they were lowed; at times they were highly honored, at times
persecuted. They claimed to be.. .in communication
with.. .spirits, the dead,and sometimes with the lesser gods.
- Gerald B. Gardner, Witchcraft Today

Some mortals have special powers, collectively called

Numina. These include Hedge Magic, True Faith and
Psychic Phenomena. They are unique to mortals because
True Faith
they are powered by Humanity. Were a vampire to possess True Faith is a form of Numina powered by the belief
Numina as a mortal, the Ability would dissipate during the in a being or consciousnesshigher than one’s own. People
Embrace as a result of the Beast’s taint on his soul. These from many religions (not just Christians) may possess
Abilities must all be taught and trained. Most must be True Faith. It is something that must be constantly fed by
nurtured through lifestyle. Numina are the secret weapon habit and practiced every day. True Faith is possessed by
of many vampire hunters and the bane of many hunted few, and most who have it aren’t very conscious of it
creatures’ lives. because they focus on the good of others instead of the
People with Numina usually have only one talent and good in themselves. True Faith is selfless, hopeful, dedi-
focus their efforts on it rather than diversifying. Storytell- cated and rare.
ers may even rule that those with one sort of Numina True Faith gives the wielder the power to turn back
cannot learn another sort, that True Faith precludes evil. It is based on a strong belief in a specific deity whom
knowledge of psychic phenomena and Hedge Magic, for you may call on to strengthen your will. When using True
example. Those whose games are more high powered may Faith, the phrase, “In the name of ” must be

feel that just the opposite should be true. used. It is not the character who is turning evil away, it is
the force of the deity.
 another challenge or call Fair Escape. Any vampires who
!) saccharine
People who possess True Faith do not have to be
in demeanor, they must simply practice their use Celerity may eventually catch up. True Faith has an
ethics. Most involve kindness, fairness, helpfulness and a automatic negative effect on vampires, and the challenge
strong sense of right and wrong. is engaged simply to determine if the vampire flees the
Advancement in one’s True Faith rating is earned, scene in terror or if he is only repelled a short distance.
not purchased, and Faith‘s effects (other than that stated Up to four Humanity Traits may be spent to retake a
below) are largely the Storyteller’s option. test where True Faith is invoked. It will work as an overbid
of Willpower. The Humanity Traits spent translate into
Faith and Will temporary Willpower Traits for the duration of the scene.
The vampire has no resistance of any kind if the mortal
For every hour of meditation and prayer the character
possesses a quantity of Willpower Traits equal to or greater
is willing to sit alone communicating with no one, she may
than those of the vampire. If the vampire is willing to risk
either add to her Willpower one additional temporary
her Willpower Traits and can match the bid of the mortal,
Trait which lasts twelve hours, or she may regain one
she may bid them just like a normal overbid. If the vampire
Willpower Trait previously lost. The amount of Will-
loses the test or the retest, she may not use Willpower in
power Traits obtainable is limited to the Faith Rating (a
direct conflict with the wielder of True Faith again for the
number between one and five), determined by the player
durationof the story or, at the discretionof the Storyteller,
and Storyteller together. A Faith of five would indicate
the chronicle. The vampire will also automatically be
someone like Mother Theresa. The average mortal is
penalized one Trait appropriate to any challenge during
lucky to possess one point i n Faith; t h e
any conflict in the presence of the wielder of True Faith
considerably-above-average mortal is extraordinary to
whether the wielder is among the challengersor not. The
possess three.
vampire will not permanently lose the Trait, just the
A mortal possessing three points in Faith would be temporary use of it while in the presence of one who
required to spend three hours in meditation, prayer etc. in defeated him earlier. Characters should, if possible, drop a
order to reacquire three Willpower Traits every 24 hours. courage-relatedTrait.
A mortal possessing one point in Faith would only be able If a mortal loses a challenge and the vampire does not
to concentrate for one hour because of the limit to their
flee the scene as anticipated, the mortal, (if she survives)
practice and their dedication, so only one Willpower Trait
will be left with a question of Faith. She will be down one
could be acquired or restored in any given 24 hour period.
Social Trait for the remainder of the evening (not includ-
In the case of a long game (one lasting over consecu- ing the one she lost in the challenge) and loses the ability
tive nights or a regular chronicle game), these meditation to invoke her True Faith again until she has engaged in
hours may take place during the day or when the game is one half-hour of meditation. Storytellers of short games
not in session, as long as the 24 hour time limit is observed. may wish to abbreviate this time. As stated previously, an
If a short four to six hour game is being played, the additional half-hour will allow her to engage extra Will-
Storytellermay feel free to shorten the meditation periods power Trait(s) or replace a previously lost Humanity (if
required, as long as she keeps in mind that Willpower used as Willpower in the overbid situation described in
Traits are not easily regained and should not be tossed the previous paragraph) or Willpower Trait. The charac-
around carelessly or used the way a vampire uses blood. ter must find a location appropriate to the nature of her
faith in which to meditate. A Druid priestess must go to
Using and Losing the woods, a Christian must go to a church, a rabbi must

True Faith go to a synagogue.The important thing is for the character

to go to a place that will make her feel unquestionably
In order to use True Faith, a character must speak the surrounded and engulfed by safety and the presence of her
phrase “In the name of -” and engage in a Social deity.
Challenge. If the character wins, the vampire (or other True Faith automatically repels any demon worship-
evil creature) must flee the scene. If the character loses, pers or infemalists. If an antagonist is such, under no
the vampire must back off a few feet and cower before circumstances may she do anything other than relent and
taking action. The vampire may not take action for one flee the scene. Those possessing True Faith will not be able
full round (including using Traits in any bids and invoking to distinguish infemalists from other nasties who flee their
any Disciplines) immediately following the challenge. Faith unless, of course, other proof is given within the story.
This delay may allow the wielder of True Faith to initiate
 What To Do Those who are able to remain in the presence of the
mortal may use Disciplinesor ranged weapons against him
When a Group of Vampires if they so desire. Those who flee may not remain within
is Confronted With True Faith range for such.
Very simply, when more than two or three vampires
are confronted with a wielder of True Faith at the same Holy Symbols
time, all should engage in a simultaneous Static Social A holy symbol is an object used to represent the
Challenge with the wielder. Those who lose flee the scene influence of the deity invoked by those with True Faith.
regardless of Willpower Traits. Those who win must recoil Any character who possesses True Faith may choose to
approximately 10 feet from their current position (this wield a holy symbol as a weapon against creatures of the
takes one full round) before attempting any action. night. This may stir up thoughts of the classic, fearless
If players resist this overbidlesssystem or if the Story- vampire-slayerturning back the powers of evil with across.
teller wishes, after the initial challenge has been won and In the World of Darkness however, many symbols of faith
lost, each losing vampire may, in turn, call out the number will serve a similar function. The Star of David, as well as
of Willpower Traits they wish to bid to attempt an over- specific deity-invoking symbols from Eastern, Native
bid. The challenged wielder should then respond in kind. American, African, European and ancient Greek and
This should be conducted as a group affair with all the Roman mythos are all valid in the hands of a true believer.
vampires (or challengers) going first and the defender The wielding of a holy symbol involves the character
going last. There should be no individual challenges at speaking the phrase “In the name of -” and brandish-
this point. Those who successfully double the Willpower ing the object of their focus. The object possesses its own
of the character withTrue Faith may then proceed through Physical Traits (see below) and does not affect the Social
one additional test. If any vampires win, they may retain Challenge between players in any way except by adding
their current positions. Losers must flee the scene entirely. the Social Trait Intimidating to the Trait pool of the
All Willpower Traits bid in this challenge will be lost until wielder for the length of the challenge. If used in physical
the Storyteller restores them or a Willpower-regaining combat to touch the target creature, a holy symbol will do
ritual or Discipline is used. one level of aggravated damage on contact, per round, as
long as the verbal invocation above is made and the
Physical Challenge won.

39
 The character using a holy symbol as a weapon must Blessed weapons do not have to be wielded by those
engage in a Physical Challenge with the target character. with True Faith in order to work. As a rule, they are
Holy symbols lose their Traits as would any other weapon extremely rare and very hard to come by. Those characters
and only blessing them will restore their usefulness. Holy operating within the Inquisition will most likely c a q at
symbols that have been blessed in game by a priest of least one blessed weapon. Finding a priest with a Faith
whatever faith will generate one extra temporary Trait. rating high enough (5) to pass his blessing on to an object
Blessings may only occur once per night. Each blessing for an extended period of time is n o easy task. Any weapon
requires the expenditure of one Humanity Trait by the can be blessed multiple times throughout the history of its
blesser. Note: Objects that are used in combat as holy use, although this additional blessing will not add up
symbols must be specific items, not just two fingers placed cumulatively. If a weapon is blessed 13 times and remains
together in the shape of across or the equivalent makeshift. unused, it will only acquire the original Holy Trait. The
The adjectives or Physical Traits possessed by all holy weapon can not accumulate holy Traits at all. One must
symbols are Burning and Searing. Alternative Traits, or be spent for another to slide into its place. Weapons may
Traits for use after blessings, are Blinding, Branding, Purg- be blessed either prior to the start of the game or during the
ing, Cleansing and Purifying. game. An individual weapon may only be blessed once per
24 hour period and the blessing must come from a priest
Blessed Weapons with a Faith rating of 5.
It is possible for those characters who have connec-
tions within the church (of any religion) to acquire blessed Relics
weapons. Commonly, these are daggers, knives, stakes, Relics are pieces of saint’s bodies or belongings that
crossbowbolts and ammunition for firearms. Blessedweap- have somehow been preserved over the centuries and are
ons all possess one extra Trait from the list above for holy imbued with holy energy. Relics that are not frauds are
symbols. This Holy Trait may be used only once. Each extremely rare and never discovered in the United States. It
challenge in which the character bidding the Holy Trait is said that the Society of Leopold’s Reliquary in Italy has the
wins, he may inflict one level of aggravated damage with largest collection of relics known to humankind. They also
his blessed weapon. If the character uses the blessedweapon possess an enormous library with thousands of volumes on
but doesnot bid the Holy Trait, regular damage is inflicted. Christianity, the occult and witch-hunting. It is rumored
that the library, located at the Monastery of San Michelle
has one entire, unseparated copy of The Book of Nod.
Relics can be as large as an altar or as small as a splinter
of bone. Any container that houses a relic is known as a
reliquary. Most relics are too fragile to be moved and
therefore are rendered useless to most hunters. Relics may,
however, possess as many Holy Traits as the Storyteller
wishes to suit the story. A sliver from the True Crosswould
probably wield a maximum of 10 Traits, while Saint
Aloysius Gonzaga’s alms bowl might only possess one or
two. A vampire touched by a relic would suffer one level
of aggravated damage for each Trait contained within the
relic. Traits possessed by relics are permanent and will not
wear off or get used up.

Holy Gronnd
Ifthe Storytellerwishes,shemay establishholy ground
somewhere in the geography of the setting. It might be a
small Southern Methodist church represented by a side
room or an ancient Native American burial ground repre-
sented by a wood pile in someone’sback yard. The amount
of attention currently paid to the place is important in
determining its value as a holy site. A seemingly less
mysterious location that is constantly used by people of
genuine piety will have a higher Faith value than will a
place in ruins and entirely unused, but more impressive
due to size, architecture, or history.
 _I

--

Being present on holy ground will allow the character

who already has True Faith to boost her Trait pool up by
however many Traits the holy site is worth. A cathedral of
PsychicAbilities
hypocrites may have no Faith at all while a hill by a deep Psychic abilities are available only to mortals in the
pond where a dedicated congregation of 25 Baptists has World of Darkness and must be selected during character
met twice a week for the last 30 years may have a Faith of creation. These abilities may not be improved with expe-
two or three. The Vatican, because it is a site of countless rience points unless a teacher is found during the course of
pilgrimages, could potentially possess a Faith of five or six, the story. There is no ability that would take less than one
depending on the current administration. Stonehenge night to learn, so acquisition of new abilities may only
might still possess a Faith of four or five. Tourism does occur between stories in a chronicle (if the mortal should
little for holy ground; it tends to suck up the divine like a last that long).
cheap vacuum. If Stonehenge were not such a tourist sight True psychic abilities which develop instinctively
and practitioners of the old religions were allowed to during childhood and miraculously survive adolescence
practice there regularly, it would probably possess a Faith are rare. Most folks who wish to develop their sixth sense
of eight or nine. in any way have to do so consciouslythrough reading and
Holy ground is not something that should be com- practice. In the World of Darkness, few possess these
mon or created as an emergency escape. It should be exceptional abilities, and if a character is so lucky, she
established at the beginning of the game for those who probably possesses only one. Psychic abilitiesare separated
would know of its existence and left anonymous for those into different Phenomena. Though it is possible for those
who would not. Vampires may travel freely on holy ground dedicated to study and practice to develop skills in more
if they are invited and must otherwise spend a Mental than one area, they would probably not go past the basic
Trait to tread over the boundaries. A vampire who has level, nor would they progress in their main avenue until
been successfully warded off holy ground by someone their focus returned to it.
wielding True Faith may not set foot on that ground again Developing psychic abilities is exhausting and frus-
without burning a Willpower Trait for every 50 feet she trating. Trial and error forces those who practice such
wishes to travel. skills to question their faith in themselves and in the
paranormal. The younger the character, the more likely
they are to still be able to develop new abilities and to use
 A Static Mental Challenge (difficulty determined by
range) Must be made in order to succeed.
Short Range (less than a mile) 4
Medium Range (up to 100 miles) 6
Long Range (over 100 miles) 8

Basic
Secret Glimpses
The clairvoyant, in the early development of her
skills, can only see at range. No audio accompanies her
visions at all, except the white noise inside her head.
Visions last up to two minutes, and the clairvoyant must
have previously seen the area or individual she wishes to
psychically reach. The clairvoyant must be somewhere
quiet and rest in a comfortable position, either sitting or
lying down. Trance will take from five to ten minutes to
occur.

Intermediate
Whispers of the Hidden
A t this stage of development, the clairvoyant may
focus her attention for up to 10 minutes and hear dimin-
ished sound, as if all parties involved were whispering.
This will allow the clairvoyant to grasp the gist of the
conversation, but not understand every word or sentence.
Asking the characters who are speaking to whisper audibly
their original ones without losing morale if the powers while the clairvoyant stands five to six feet away will
don’t work. Children and adolescents are more likely to approximate the conditions of the vision. Trance takes
blame an outside source for their failure, while older five minutes to achieve and the clairvoyant must be
characters tend to blame themselves. Psychic Phenomena physically passive, sitting or lying down.
are not instant-access powers. Concentration is required
for the duration of the effect, and some sort of focus may
Advanced
be needed as well. Visions of Beyond
Psychic Phenomena go against a difficulty of 7 or The clairvoyant may now see any unwarded place or
require a challenge against the target’s Mental Traits, individual. She may have visions which last up to 20
depending on the Effect. minutes and may hear what is happening in her vision
without hindrance. Trance takes three minutes to achieve
Clairvoyance and, as before, the clairvoyant must remain physically
passive.
The character with clairvoyance may, after putting
herself into a trance, see, hear and otherwise perceive
information from situations in which she is not present.
Divination
This is a tricky Numina in a Mind’s Eye Theatre setting Divination is the art of fortune telling. Skills in this
because it involves the character using her senses at range. power allow the character to uncover clues, discover
No matter how advanced the clairvoyant is, she is merely personal information and make general predictions based
an observer and may not affect the events she witnesses in on the process of asking a specific question and/or per-
any way. Clairvoyance is magically undetectable and also forming a specific physical activity. True divination is just
immune to Auspex. Mechanically, it is easiest if the player as its name implies -divine. The discovery of informa-
goes to the actual sight ofwhatever she wishes to perceive. tion through this method requires a certain amount of
See the Troubleshooting Numina section at the end of natural or cultivated psychic sensitivity to tap into the
this chapter for ways of dealing with this specific Numina. higher consciousness of the querent (the person for whom
the character is doing the reading), to invoke one’s own
higher self or to somehow tap into a force of higher energy.
 The combination of psychological interpretive skills Advanced
and psychic openness allows a few gifted mortals to per-
Sapience
ceive the truth through divination. For each level of
Numina the character purchases, she may choose one At this stage, the character is an expert diviner. With
form of divination to practice. Tarot cards, I Ching, tea the previous two required skills under her psychic belt, she
leaves, dice throwing, runes, playing cards, crystal ball or can now, by winning a Simple Test and spending a Mental
any other method may be chosen to reflect the style Trait, acquire up to 10 specificfacts about an individual or
appropriate to the character. These tools may either be situation. The individual does not have to be present or
pure roleplayingprops -unnecessary to the actual power, even an acquaintance of the diviner. She may determine
but a nice touch that provides a visual aid, or the psychic facts such as specific as names and dates, as well as
may be required by the Storyteller to procure her preferred intentions (whether someone’s are good or bad for the
method whenever she uses her powers. In that case, the querent) and various situational information. The infor-
actual tools or an item card representing them must be in mation at the diviner’s disposal is very much a matter of
asking the right questions,and Storytellersmay feel free to
the psychic character’s possession in order for her to use
use their discretion in answering exactly the question
her divination abilities.
asked rather than volunteering unrelated facts.
Basic
Query
Telekinesis
With this ability, the character has only a limited Telekinesis allows the character to project her will
knowledge of the art of divination and has only learned to and move objects with the power of thought. The charac-
acquirebasic knowledge or to answer a simple question. By ter must expend a Humanity Trait or engage in a Static
winning a Simple Test and spending one Mental Trait, Mental Test in order to actuate this power. If the character
the character may discover answers to a simple yes or no seeks to move something that is in another character’s
question. If a Storyteller is involved, an idea to enhance possession, she must then engage in a Mental Challenge
the roleplaying is to have the character initiating the against that person. To first pick up an object, it must be
challenge (and any other characters nearby) close his eyes within the character’s line of sight. It does not have to
so only the Storyteller sees the outcome and responds to remain within the character’s line of sight once she has
the yes or no question in kind. Most psychics are con- lifted it, however.
vinced their answers are correct until proven wrong, and
no one else really knows for sure.

Intermediate
Insight
As the character progresses in her studies, she learns
to divine more complex answers. Now, in addition to yes
and no answers, she may also determine and interpret
situations. By spending a Humanity Trait or engaging in
a Static Mental Test, the character may gain insight into
as many as five specificfacts surroundinga given situation.
For example, the head of the Pentex corporation comes to
the diviner and asks the question, “Will my current
businessdeal be successful?”The diviner has him drink his
cup of tea or shuffle the cards and replies, “ASI see it, no.”
The businessman would like more information. The di-
viner concentrates for a moment and explains that he will
have two separate groups opposing his actions in the deal.
She can also determine that someone involved is lying,
and the way for him to change his destiny and achieve
success in this operation has something to do with stop-
ping some kind of scientific study his company is funding.
At this point she must spend another Mental Trait to
divine further information. At this level, the diviner
cannot get much more specific than these general sorts of
situational clues.

43
 i.-- ,

Basic Advanced
Tip the Scales Floating Form
A t this level of ability, the individual may affect Human-sized objects and creatures, including hu-
small, nearby objects, lifting, throwing or bending mal- mans and Supernatural beings, may now be moved using
leable ones (such as spoons). Individuals may lift no more this power. Intelligent beings may resist, if they so wish, by
than two objects or a total weight of 10pounds. T o utilize engaging the psychic in a Mental or Physical Challenge
objects as thrown weapons, the individual must engage (whichever is the better for the target). Anything within
her target in a Mental Challenge. Gesturing helps. a 200 foot radius of the psychic may be moved, so long as
she can initially see it and it does not weigh over 300
Intermediate pounds. The individual may pickup as many objects as she
Phantom Arm has Mental Traits and may use them as thrown weapons
The individual may now handle an object in the next (one at a time) by initiating a Mental Challenge against
room and throw it around. Any object of less than human her target. More delicate manipulations (undoing a zip-
size and weight may be lifted and moved or small manipu- per, unloading a gun, pouring champagne) may now be
lations (flicking a switch, pushing a button) made. Live attempted as well. This requires a Static Mental Chal-
targets may now be moved as well, though they must be lenge with the difficulty determined by a Narrator.
animal in nature, not human or supernatural. Note that
the psychic could lift a lion, but unless she had some other Telepathy
way to get the lion out of its cage, the psychic could not Telepathy allows the character, with concentration
then “throw” the lion at a target so that the lion would and the expenditure of Humanity Traits, to read the minds
attack. At most, four objects totaling no more than 70 of those she can see. If the character is blind, she must hear
pounds may be moved, but their movement is slow and or touch people to read their minds.
they cannot be used as thrown weapons. The player must
expend a Mental Trait and win a Simple Test in order to
be successful.
 Basic Advanced
Emotional Contact Unseen Contact
The character may, by using the Emotional Contact The psychic may access the thoughts of someone just
Ability, perceive another’s emotional state. This is not as he did in Thought Process, only he does not have to he
visual as in the vampiric Discipline Aura Perception. It in the physical presence of the person. He must win a
allows the player to perform a Mental Challenge and, Mental Challenge to effect this Phenomenon. At most,
upon winning, request that the other character explain his five minutes of thoughts may be overheard in this fashion.
current emotional state. The character should not explain Implant Thought
why he feels a particular emotion, only that he is experi- By spending a Mental Trait and winning a Mental
encing it. Challenge, the mortal may insert one of her thoughts into
Unheard Thought the mind of anyone she chooses. This takes tremendous
This Ability allows the mortal to perceive a thought concentration and is not instantaneous. The mortal must
that remained unsaid. In order for this ability to work, the stay still and concentrate for two minutes to “send)) her
mortal must be standing in silence next to someone else thought, which must not exceed seven words. She does
who is also silent. The mortal may then ask, “What did you not need to see the target, nor does a challenge need to
say?” and engage in a Mental Challenge to determine occur, but the closer the telepath is to the target, the easier
whether or not she “heard” the last sentence thought by this becomes. This Ability is most commonly used in
the other character. In order to initiate the test, the mortal emergency situationswhen the telepath is calling for help.
must ask either the above question or a question referring Vampires using Auspex may engage in a Mental
to what she thought she just heard. This also serves to help Challenge with a telepath who is listening in on them to
the target character to confirm or specify which thought see if they notice an intrusion. With the exception of
the psychic character is asking him to repeat. One sen- Implant Thought, telepathy is very passive and most
tence is about the limit of this Ability. people would not detect it at all. It is difficult to trace, but
In game terms, this Ability might allow the telepath the concentration on the part of the mortal might give her
to “hear”someone’s involuntary thought which occurs as away to an observant target. Also, individuals with True
a response to someone else’s question, however, silence is Faith may engage in a Simple Test to recognize that
necessary for this Ability to work. If used in an interroga- implanted thoughts are not their own, if the thought
tion situation, the telepath would be unable to hear the contradicts what the character with True Faith believes.
subject’s thoughts as long as someone in the room was Other psychics may defend themselves by engaging in a
speaking. Mental Challenge with the aggressor or may elect to have
a Storyteller perform the challenge in his stead in order to
Intermediate conceal his Abilities. If the defending psychic is successful,
Thought Process the aggressor knows nothing except that her power failed.
The mortal may, by engaging in a Mental Challenge
with the other player, tune in to his or her thoughts for as SpecialAbilities
long as she concentrates on them. The mortal will have In the realm of Psychic Phenomena, there are many
access to the basic thoughts of the character to whom she individual Abilities which occur only at particular times
is directing her attention. She will not be able to hear or under specific circumstances. They can happen to
outside conversations,even though they are present in the anyone and usually to those who least expect or desire
room. The thoughts of her target drown out all other them. This category of Abilities comprisesseveral psychic
sounds. Using telepathy is a lot like using aradio. The user Numina options. However, since each is quite potent and
can only tune in to one station at a time. If the telepath is always effective, it is the only Numina possessed by the
listening in on someone’s thoughts, she effectively “tunes character. In other words, if a Special Ability is chosen,
out” the other stations or regular conversation. The mor- the player may not choose any other Numina at all during
tal will appear to be in a trance-like state because of the character creation. Special Abilities cost three Negative
concentration required, and the link will be broken as Traits to start and may not be purchased with experience.
soon as someone tries to distract her from her focus or her
physical person is touched or moved. The character using Send/Receive
this Phenomenon must be in the physical presence (within This Special Ability allows a pair of people to have
20 feet) of the target. This is very draining to the psychic, unlimited telepathic communication. If they are in the
and she may not keep concentra&g in such a fashion for
physical presence of each other they can have full conver-
more than 10 minutes at a time.
sations telepathically. If they are not in the physical
presence of each other they will always know the others
 I
I basic emotional state and be ,able to hear seven to ten word
sentences. Mechanically, it is recommended that any pair
Terrible things happen when he’s around, but it is actually
part of the plot for the characters to figure out his Ability
or players who wish to use this Ability should probably and save him from the true antagonist who has been
bribe a friend to be their go-between when they “talk” at a manipulating him all along. Anyone attempting to per-
distance (or buy a pair of walkie-talkies) because no Story- ceive the aura of fire created in this manner would simply
teller will have time to effectivelycarry it out. While their observe it as regular fire, not magical.
telepathic communication is in effect, neither will be able Note: Any uncontrolled Ability relies to a certain
to hear conversations or other usual noise around them. extent on the character’s Humanity. As the Humanity
This Ability is recommended for siblings, mates and chil- lowers, the Ability may lessen or even get so repressed it
dren, but is certainly available if any two characters have goes away altogether. Many of the above uncontrolled
spent time consciously practicing for a number of years. Abilities could be trained over time by the character,
This Ability must be purchased by both characters and is should she be lucky enough to find someone who recog-
unlimited in use. It does not cost anything to activate it. nizes her potential and has the knowledge to train her.
Uncontrolled Abilities add a wonderful chaos factor to a
Unconscious Telekinesis story for all players involved if they are carried out by an
When a character becomes overly emotional about “unseen presence” who has discretion as well as a good
anything, things around him begin to break. A glass may sense of humor. Also, the process of training an uncon-
knock itself off the table, a car headlight may smash. The trolled Ability can make a chronicle game more consistent
character may not control what breaks, nor is he aware and real for a mortal character, since it gives them an
that this weird thing that happens around him is a result immediate, playable, necessary goal to be achieved. After
of his untrained instincts. Big things like wires snapping in all, being aware of one’s Ability hardly means one is in
a piano or windows shattering may also occur depending control of it.
on how afraid, angry or emotional the character becomes.
This is completely uncontrolled by the character and can
be channeled in no way. HedgeMagic
It is recommended that a separate player, who does The art of Thaumaturgy that is accessible to regular
not exist as a character in the reality of the game, accom- mortals who do not fall into the realm of mages, mummies
pany the unconscious telekinetic and alert the group to or infernalists is considered Hedge Magic. It is low magic
strange occurrencesby making decisions about when they and requires some kind of ritual or focus to work. Hedge
happen (usually by asking the character how she is feeling Magic is the sort of magic used to give a Gypsy a good name
or by conscious awareness and observance), then describ- or a bad reputation or that can bring a good lover or hex
ing to the group what moves or breaks. Alternatively, the a bad one. Some call it wise lore; others believe it is
accompanying narrator may act as a special-effectsperson. divinely inspired and refer to it as Theurgy, but whatever
The Storyteller may not even wish to inform a character it is called, it is the sort of magic that most people don’t
of his uncontrolled Ability, just bribe a friend to be the believe in.
unseen presence, as it were, and watch the effects. See the Mortals in the World of Darkness possess four main
Advanced Storytelling section in this book for more reasons for wanting to perform magic: to acquire, be rid of,
information on such helpers. change or protect something or someone. When purchas-
ing Hedge Magic during character creation, mortals may
UncontrolledPyrokinesis choose either to purchase only one Path and advance
The character unconsciously starts fires when in an through Negative Trait exchange, or to purchase the
overly emotional state. She cannot control where the fires beginning levels of more than one Path with Negative
start. Usually only easily-flammableobjects will light up Traits and advance through experience. If the latter
-a pile of newspaper, a heap of dry garbage or dollar bills method is chosen, the character is limited to Basic rituals
in someone’s pocket, for example. The rules and condi- in all Paths until taught more in character or until expe-
tions above apply in exactly the same way for uncontrolled rience points are spent between stories.
pyrokinetics as they do for uncontrolled telekinetics. The
Most rituals cost one Mental Trait and require a test.
character with the Special Ability may not control it in
Some rituals are stated otherwise and may require the
any way and it is best to have an unseen presence player expenditure of Humanity Traits in addition to or instead
handle the effects. He should be observant enough to see of Mental Traits. All Basic rituals take 30 minutes, Inter-
when the character becomes genuinely emotional. This mediate rituals require 45 and all Advanced rituals take at
type of Ability is excellent for Narrator characters whom least one hour, unless stated otherwise. Storytellers who
the Storyteller is setting up to be sympathetic in the end. are running particularly short games may choose to alter
This could be a character who seems really out of control. these times to suit the needs of their story.
 Conjuration Intermediate
Misfortune
For all intents and purposes, this Path is basically the
same as the Psychic Phenomenon Telekinesis. The same At this level of ability, the wizard may cause serious
effects may be performed at the same levels. The one injury or illness (gunshot wound, broken leg, influenza) or
difference in the two is that with conjuration, the wizard a misfortune that has lasting effects (broken friendship,
may elect to pre-prepare objects and people (at the appro- political incident, house burned down).
priate level) so that they may be moved at need. When the
objects are readied ahead of time, conjuration may be used
Advanced
more like teleportation than simple levitation and ma- Great Curse
nipulation. Things may even be removed from within Thiscauseseither alasting, debilitating illness (stroke,
closed spaces. Thus, a sword left in the wizard‘s closet, but heart attack, Alzheimer’s) a terrible calamity (family
prepared in advance might be summoned to her hand or murdered, all material wealth lost, object of country-wide
a pre-prepared comrade popped out of a fight he cannot manhunt) or death. If the wizard intends death for her
hope to win. Each use is separate. Preparing something in target, she may use all her Willpower and Humanity Traits
advance must be done within game (see time costs above) in one big blowout to power her curse. Having expended
unless arrangementsare made with the Storyteller before- everything which gave her the power of magic, she will
hand. Wizards are limited to three prepared items per then either die herself or live on as a mindless vegetable.
game session. The character must be turned over to the Storyteller.
It is also possible to manipulate an object without
moving it, creating effects such as the Indian rope trick,
Ephemera
spinning coins or making objects vanish (back to a pre- This Path allows a medium to contact spirits. The
prepared place). nature of the spirits contacted depends upon the rituals
the medium knows. One group of rites allows congress
Items and persons “conjured” in this fashion do not
with natural spirits, while others breach the barrier be-
become magical themselves. Once used, any prepared
tween the living world and the Shadowlands. Note that
object or person must be “re-set”before the magic can be
even the medium herself might not realize which spirits
used again. Only one object can be conjured at a time.
she deals with. Amateur mediums frequently get them-
Cursing selves in trouble this way, opening themselves to Banes or
worse.
One of the oldest known forms of magic, a curse is Mediums open themselves up into spirit channels.
intended to cause trouble for or harm someone who has Those spirits, however, have minds of their own. If they
offended the wizard. The wizard decideswhat effect he wants have some reason to mislead, possess or abuse the magi-
his curse to have (within his ability), spends one turn per cian, they may try.
level building up his malice and ill will, then discharges it in Thankfully, these magicians have some defensive
some cathartic fashion (a scream, a dance, etc.). This calls Rituals to help them out if the spirits are unruly. Wise
for the expenditureof a point of Willpower.He then engages mediums are versed in the practices of Warding and
in a Mental Challenge with the target of his ire. If he Forbiddance.
succeeds, the Storyteller determines exactly what form the
curse takes or how it unfolds. Curses are rarely instantaneous; Basic
they usually occur almost coincidentallywhenever circum- Open to the Unknown
stances allow. They subtly nudge things or people already in
The medium opens herself to spirits she can feel
motion towards fulfilling the caster’s desire toward the
moving and even get their attention with a successful test.
target, and may take weeks or even months to be realized.
What the spirits do is up to them. This is a dangerous but
Supernatural creatures may be cursed, but they can necessary phase in a medium’s path.
resist the effect by expending a Willpower Trait, but must
Ward
be made aware of the curse in order to do so.
Warding protects an area from ghostly intrusion. By
Basic using some precautionary charm (an intricate chant, a
prayer, painted sigils, iron nails, sprinkled salt, smudging
Inconvenience
with incense, etc.), spending a point of Willpower and
A brief inconvenience (dropping an object, saying engaging the spirit in a Mental Challenge, the medium
something stupid, breaking a treasured object) or a minor can block wraiths and other unwanted spirits from enter-
injury or illness which does no lasting harm (cutting ing an area for one game session.
oneself, slamming a finger in a door, getting a migraine)
can be inflicted at this level.

47
 Intermediate even when she doesn’t call! The spirits of nature and the
dead know her name and respond. No test is needed unless
Spirit Call
the spirit is unwilling to help.
The medium may now call upon a spirit she knows,
Dolor
identify unfamiliar spirits as to their general type and
summon them in order to interact with them. Spirits thus The medium can punish or banish spirits who dis-
called will perform one service for her if she defeats them please her. When the medium engages in a Mental
in a Mental Challenge. Challenge with the spirit, she may elect either to inflict
damage or to try to banish the spirit. A Health Level will
Forbiddance
be inflicted each time the medium succeeds in a Mental
Forbiddance immediately drives a wraith from an
Challenge against the spirit; to banish it, the medium
area. By defeating the spirit in a Mental Challenge and
must expend a Willpower Trait and win a challenge.
expending one Willpower Trait, the medium can push a
ghost from her immediate area. A willful wraith can Healing
oppose this ritual by spending one of its own Willpower,
This Path allows a magician to quell pain or even heal
but must otherwise flee until the medium has left.
small injuries or illnesses. Such healing is not a miracle
Natural spirits may be summoned and dismissed in cure-all; it takes a long time to treat an illness or injury and
the same manner by adjusting the ritual slightly. At the longer still for the patient to fully heal. Magical healers
Storyteller’s discretion, these powers may be useful in often have a strong sense of duty and compassion, and the
holding such creatures as werewolves and changelings at traumas of the World of Darkness can use up such people
bay. long before their time. Healing may be accomplished
through a Static Mental Test. Each ailment treated costs
Advanced one Willpower Trait to affect. This Path cannot heal
Pierce The Veil aggravated wounds.
The medium can pierce the veil between worlds and
actually see and hear those ephemera around her. Most
spirits respect her for her insight and ability. Some come
 Basic Intermediate
Soothing Touch Potent Concoction
The healer can soothe a headache, backache, sprains, These can put people to sleepwith a pinch, reduce the
migraines, flu and minor infections easily, as well as effects of deadly poisons and serious illnesses, speed recov-
helping broken bones and nasty wounds heal twice as fast ery of open wounds and broken bones by 50% or more, put
as they normally would and without infection. The healer folks into light trances or randy moods and perform other
can help an Incapacitated character to her feet and get her obviously unusual functions with amazing speed. Brews
moving, though he cannot heal the injuries. and items created with this level of herbalism can accom-
plish some obviously unearthly things such as adding one
Intermediate or two Physical or Social Traits for a scene, clearing up an
Cure All infection in a few minutes, aid recovery from
Chronic diseases are not beyond the healer’s care, life-threatening illnesses and such.
although healing them will take hours or weeks. Broken
bones and severe trauma will heal 50% faster than normal, Advanced
and the healer’s touch banishes all but the worst pain. An Magic Brew
Incapacitated character may have two Health Levels These are the magical potions of legend - sleeping
restored through the healer’s ministrations. potions, love oils, deadly poisons, healing salves, instant
cures, all-night aphrodisiacs, flying ointments and other
Advanced impossible (or at least improbable) solutions. Such po-
Hands of Healing tions, if they work (expenditure of a Willpower Trait is
With effort, the healer can cure deadly conditions - mandatory to even make a test), allow the imbibers to defy
AIDS, cancer, meningitis, stroke -though it takes a lot conventional reality for a scene or two. With such a brew,
out of her and requires weeks of treatment. When these three to four Physical, Mental or Social Traits may be
diseasesgo, they’re gone for good. Broken bones and major added for a scene or two or for the duration of the session.
trauma heal almost instantaneously (really complicated
ones take one to three weeks of care), and infection poses Purification
no risk as long as the healer is on the job. The healer may The focus of this Path is the ridding of bad influences.
restore up to three Health Levels to an injured patient. It is a very powerful Path in the hands of a hunter and is
one of the preferred Paths of the Theurgists of the Society
Herbalism/Brewing of Leopold. It must be noted, however, that many of the
This elemental Path allows a wise person to brew Society’s practitioners are unaware of the true nature of
natural ingredients into potions, salves, oils, incense, the spells they are casting, believing that they are “casting
poultices, stews and powders with realpotency. Herbalism out demons” and such when in fact, they are ridding a
demands acertain investment of time, effort and material. vampire of a Beast Trait, for example. All of the spells cost
Only the right ingredients will do! Potions and such take one Humanity Trait instead of a Mental Trait to invoke
one hour per level to concoct, and each is good for a single and many also require a test of some kind. The idea of
use. purging the world of evil in one way or another is definitely
Victims of the darker variety of herbalism should be a function of Humanity in the World of Darkness because
allowed to resist the effect by initiating either a Mental of of its inherent value and selflessness. All characters who
Physical Challenge against the herbalist. Herbalists may wish to pursue this Path must have at least one Trait in
make a Static Mental Test to see if they have successfully True Faith.
created the brew they intended to make.
Basic
Basic Cleanse Object
Minor Tincture By using this, the character may clear an item of any
Enables the herbalist to concoct poultices and brews evil influences. It requires a Mental Challenge to do so,
which let one sleep (or keep one awake), cure minor but a Humanity Trait will be risked instead of a Mental
illnesses and pains, avert or confer pregnancy with 100% Trait. The character may attempt to break any previous
certainty, radically alter a person’s mood, discourage or magical protections, wards or assignmentsover the object.
attract animals or insects, induce or cure intoxication By assignments, it is meant that if the item was magically
with a few sips and other such minor effects. enchanted to do something, the caster may attempt to
j/shatter this influence. Truly potent magical items can after which the vampire will rise with five Beast Traits or the
often overbid the newbie purifier. The caster must be in desire to destroy and feed, feed, feed; or complete madness
possession of the item and lay her hands on it in order to wherein the vampire will be struck with five Derangements
perform this spell. which she must begin to play immediately. In the case of
Golconda, the exorcism has been a success. In the case of
Intermediate torpor, the exorcism will appear to be a success. In the case of
Banish Taint madness, the exorcism has gone completely awry, and the
This Numina allows the mortal to attempt to banish vampire will probably tear the exorcist apart before proceed-
the taint of evil from another character. Specifically, the ing elsewhere. It is also possible for nothing to happen at all
character being purified will be relieved of one Beast or and for the exorcism to fail completely.
Path Trait for the remainder of the night. This does not Here’show to determine what happens. After the Men-
work on regular mortals. A Mental Challenge must occur tal Test (Humanity vs. Mental), the Storyteller should
with a Humanity Trait at risk instead of the Mental Trait. compare the number of Humanity Traits possessed by the
This spell must be performed within a circle. If the mortal to the number of Beast or Path Traits possessed by the
caster loses the test, the Trait is still banished, but it subject.Ifthe mortal won the test and/or the ensuingoverbid,
immediately becomes the property of whomever is near- the vampire reaches Golconda by virtue of the purity of her
est, but not inside, the circle. Even if the nearest individual exorcist. If the mortal wins any test and the vampire has no
is 10 miles away, the banished Trait will find its way there. Beast or Path Traits, she will also reach Golconda through
The receiving character must, naturally, play the Beast or this ritual. Ifthevampire hasaquantityofBeastor PathTraits
Path Trait as if it were her own. The Storyteller should equal to or greater than the mortal’s pool of Humanity Traits,
explain her new “feelings)’to her. The race or supernatural then madness is the result because the Beast inside the
status of the character is entirely inconsequential. If the vampire has been severely agitated. If the vampire wins the
character already possesses said Trait, she may no longer initial test, nothing happens, and the mortal is left witheither
engage in a Static Test to see if she may resist the frenzy. impending death or a severe question of Faith. If the vampire
loses the initial test and calls for an overbid and loses to the
Advanced mortal, madness results. If the vampire loses the initial test
Exorcise and wins an overbid, then torpor is the result.
This Numina allows the mortal to rid someone of a This advanced spell takes one hour. It is recommended
being possessing him. A Thaumaturgical exorcism requires that all exorcisms be thoroughly roleplayed since they are
a circle to be drawn and 12 candles, all white, to be lit so climactic and exciting. A Storyteller must be present.
around the edges (item cards do well for this). The caster
must speak her intention, “With this spell I do exorcise the Summoning,
forces of evil from this hapless victim,” then perform a
Mental Test (Humanity vs. Mental) with the creature the Binding
caster is attempting to exorcise (not the victim of the
possession). If she wins, the skinriding wraith or other and Warding
possessing entity will be driven permanently from the Although this is a legitimate magical Path much
subject. If she loses, the exorcism fails. Another exorcism practiced among those of darker bent, it is best left to the
may not be performed again until the caster has had either realm of Narrator characters. For those who seek to
three hours of uninterrupted rest or until the next 24 hour incorporate it into their Mind’s Eye Theatre games, a
period has passed. If the caster attempts another exorcism complete explanation is included in the Mage supplement
within 24 hours, she will be down two Traits on all ac- Ascension’s Right Hand.
counts. Note that all practitioners of this Path must possess
at least one point of True Faith and therefore must also
restore their Faith before attempting to redo an exorcism.
Troubleshooting Numina
Players often have to undergo situations like the
Exorcise the Beast
following:
This extremely powerful Thaumaturgic exorcism allows
“You can’t go in there.”
the caster to attempt to exorcise the Beast from any vampire.
“I’m not really here. I’m using Clairvoyance to see
The caster must create the 12 white candles circle as per the
inside the room.”
regular exorcism and have both herself and the vampire
inside. She must also speak her intention as above. This spell “Wait. W e have magical wards up on the doors; you
can result in three basic responsesfrom the subject: Golconda, couldn’t see in unless we knew about it, and we wouldn’t
the state of vampiric nirvana where the Beast is no longer in let you.)’
residence in the soul of the vampire; torpor for two weeks
 “But my Numina is undetectable, and it’snot affected In the above scenario, the Storyteller who arrives on
by the wards.” the scene should explain to the characters inside the room
“We’d better get a Storyteller. I’ll stop the scene that they have detected nothing, and explain to the
inside and wait for this to get resolved.” mortal that Numina can be repelled by magical wards.
These are the sorts of situations everyone hates and The mortal might be allowed to engage in a Simple
everyone encounters. A few definitions can help resolve Test to break through the ward, if that is her objective.
the confusion so that things like this can be avoided. Wards can often overbid characters if they are established
Psychic Numina are not magical in any way. They by some character of great power and these details should
are products of extra sensory perception and will not be be clarified before the game begins. In the above case, the
detected as magic in anyone’s aura. They are effectively vampires never notice the clairvoyant, and the clairvoy-
warded away by most magical shields set up to cover, hide ant is unable to perceive the events inside the room. If she
or protect an area, object or individual from observation wins her test against the ward (assuming the Storyteller
or intrusion. agrees that it is appropriate to perform said test), then she
A Mental Challenge must occur to psychically will take the damage from the ward and perceive whatever
locate or envision an individual using Unseen Presence. her ability will allow her to. The vampires remain oblivi-
A clairvoyant would not be able to locate or detect a ous to the psychic spy.
person using Cloak the Gathering or Soul Mask.
 Be you still, be you still, trembling heart;
Remember the wisdom out of the old days.. .
-W.B. Yeats, “TOHis Heart, Bidding It Have No Fear”

Supernatural been corrupted by the Wyrm, and is believed to be its

servants. These are known as Black Spiral Dancers. Many
Black Spiral Dancers are allies of the Sabbat. How the
Antagonists antagonism between vampires and werewolves was initi-
ated is difficult to say. The Garou sought to destroy the
Wyrm, vampires enmeshed them in one plot or another
Werewolves and both sides thirst for revenge.
Most vampires would be quite excited to retain Lu-
Though the oppositionbetween werewolves and vam-
pine allies or retainers if for no other reason than their
pires is not unexpected, werewolves never fail to be
awesome warrior capacity. The Crinos form (the enor-
exciting as antagonists.They are combat gods in compari-
mous, man-wolf body) gives the Garou an incredible
son to most vampires, and their philosophic code of ethics
capacity to both inflict and receive damage. Werewolves
can easily entangle them in vampire-oriented plots and
may also travel in the spirit world (known as the Umbra),
subplots. It is their mission to prevent the Wyrm (the
a place inviolate by vampires. The Garou accept no
Garou embodiment of corruption) from winning the battle
alliances with the Wyrm, and woe to those who would
between good and evil and to protect their Mother Gaia
attempt to manipulate them; they do not suffer such
from destruction and corruption. Those who have become
humiliation in silence. For more information on Garou
the Kindred of Caine, needing to destroy in order to
society and how to craft a werewolf character, see the
survive, have been deemed “of the Wyrm” and therefore
Mind’s Eye Theatre supplement, The Apocalypse.
mortal enemies of the Garou. One tribe of werewolves has

53
 The deceased was familiar or close to the players
and asks for their help to release her Fetters. In the course
of their action, they discover that there is adarker purpose
behind her intentions. They do not want to injure their
former friend, but must find a way to overcome her
obstacles. Perhaps it is a wraith who is only pretending to
be their former associate and is really looking for more
souls to sell in the Stygian slave market (one of the
Underworld settings of Wraith: The Oblivion).
Unbeknownst to the other characters, one among
them has been possessed by a wraith. The possessed
character could be either a player or Narrator, depending
on the goals of the story and if being possessedwould be fun
for the player involved.
The wraith was once a hunter who still has it in for
the vampire or vampires who slew him or can’t give up
searching for the one that got away.
A wraith wishes to save her beloved from the
clutches of his vampire master before he is Embraced into
the life of the Damned. This can create tremendous
conflict, especially if the beloved wants to be Embraced.
Finally, wraiths offer endless options to all Giovanni
chronicles oriented around summoning and other necro-
mantic practices. One simple flub on the part of the
summoning character could result in a situation that is
gripping and involving for the rest of the night. Mummies
and wraiths could be compatible antagonists as well. More
Wraiths information on playing wraiths is available in the upcom-
ing Mind’s Eye Theatre game The Oblivion.
When death finally comes upon us, if we are lucky and
have resolved the important issues in our lives, released
our Fetters (those things and people that bind us to our
past lives) and found within ourselves a realization that
our lives have come to a close, we will quietly pass on to
Transcendence. If not, we become wraiths. Wraiths refuse
to embrace the lessons they lived their lives to receive.
Wraiths are creatures caught between worlds, wishing for
resolution and final peace, but too fearful to let go of life,
even if it is just a shadow of itself.
Wraiths can be fearsome antagonists because of their
passion. They are creatures with enough will and desire to
stop the flow of nature and continue to pursue what they
left incomplete. They are often frustrated. They can be
hostile. And depending on how much power they have
amassed in the Shadowlands, they are also dangerous.
Wraiths can be incorporated into your story as Narrator
characters, either as primary antagonists or a secondary
accomplice to the adversary in your story. They affect the
spirit world much more readily than they do the physical
world, but possessions,hauntings and dangerous materializa-
tions do occur. Wraiths are excellent antagonists for a story
with many layers, where the characters should not discover
the truth of the bad guy until the very end of the game. Some
ideas for using wraiths as primary antagonists include:
 Mummies are extremely old and incredibly powerful.
Few know of them, but those who do maintain that each
mummy holds magic potent enough to destroy all vam-
pires. Some say they are simply moldy old kooks. It is likely
that neither of these extremes are true, but who can say?
The value of mummies as antagonists comes more
from their personal habits than from their supernatural
beings. Mummies tend to stay out of other creatures’
business, but do not hesitate to destroy what stands in the
way of their goal: The complete annihilation of Set and all
of his minions. Mummies are excellent for stories in which
the Storyteller wishes for a happy ending as opposed to a
violent one. You can’t destroy a mummy permanently, nor
can you prevent them from returning to the mortal world
(which opens realms of possibilityfor a rematch). You can
trap them, capture them, restrain them from destroying
your valuables (like allies, packmates or havens) and help
them solve their age-old psychological problems.
Because of their repeated lives, they habitually suffer
cases of amnesia. Some cases are very minor, such as
forgetting how to cook or write fluent Latin, while some
are more serious. For example, a mummy may wake from
. . a # . I a hundred year sleep and believe that you, the first creature
she sees, killed her last incarnation. Or she may wake, and
after a week of feeling a bit lost, realize that you were the
one who Embraced her mortal lover in 1759 and effec-
tively stole him. Naturally she will want revenge.

Mages Secretsof Creation

It is beyond the scope of this book to outline mages as There are 43 mummies in the world who were created by
adversaries; the subject is simply too complex. It is sug- the spell of Isis and Anubis. After acquiring the spell himself,
gested that Storytellers and players wanting to include Set created seven more, known as Bane Mummies. Bane
mage characters adapt them from Mage: T h e Ascension. Mummies are detailed down to their names and attributes in
The almost unlimited effects mages can create through World of Darkness: Mummy. There may be others, but for
combining Spheres of magick make them deadly and the purposes of this book we will deal with the original 43.
unpredictable opponents. Those interested in portraying Isis and Anubis created each mummy in ancient Egypt
magic-wielding characters should consider playing hedge for a specific reason. They sought those of noble heart and
wizards (see Chapters Three and Four). strong will who would be willing to spend the rest of
eternity battling their nemesis, Set, until his destruction.
Mummies Each mummy has one very closely kept secret: her true
name. Every mummy has three names: her current name
Mummies huve an immortality far different from that of (whatever she goes by in this incarnation), her known name
vampires or faeries. The ritual which created mummies has (the name she was called in her first life and the name by which
actually deprived them of the ability to permanently die, rather all other mummies will recognize her) and the true name
than given them the ability to physically live forever. Mummy which is seldomrevealed even to the closest of friends. It is this
charactersgo through cyclesof death and rebirth similar to those trilogy ofnames that forms a very essential part of the mummy’s
ofreincarnation, except that the mummy always returns to the personality and keeps her in touch with her ancient past.
same physical body upon rebirth. The cycle of living in the
Mummies are generally loners, having only a few,
physical world, physically dying, living in the spirit world, and
intimate friends, but some have been known to ally them-
rebirth have been repeated for millennia by the select few men
selves with the Children of Osiris, an obscure group of
and women from ancient Egypt who were blessed (urcursed)
vampires who seek to destroy all those created by Set, the
by the spell of Isis and Anubis or Set’s perversion of it.
archenemy of their sire. It is said that some mummies travel
-World of Darkness: Mummy to the temples of the Children to rest between lives because
they know their bodies will be safe and well cared for there.
 Fragments of the Soul Sekhem
Death was a vital part of the culture of ancient Egypt, This is the part of the soul that controls how much
and the rituals surrounding death were both beautiful and power the mummy has to magic*an inner e'ementa1
complex. ne E~~~~~~~view of the soul was primarily force that is the equivalent of magical willpower. It only
responsible for this. Ancient Egyptians viewed the soul as comes into Play when the mummy is to work
having nine parts. There are three that are essential to the some sort of spell. Sekhem Traits can be spent like Mental
existence of each mummy. Traits or Willpower Traits, but only when magic is being
invoked.
 Ka fashion, like a poltergeist, and can be adjusted for the
This is the guardian spirit of the mummy which is needs of the story.The ka can be useful if the characters are
responsible for protecting the mummy’s body while she is discovering a mummy’s tomb, uncovering a mummy’s
dead. corpse or violating a resting place, like a museum, mauso-
Ba leum, old attic or dusty basement.
This is the part of the mummy’s soul that travels The players will be unable to see the ka spirit. The
among wraiths. The ba is effectivelythe wraith of the dead Storyteller might consider having the Narrator-character
mummy. A mummy dies when all of her Ba Traits are ka dress with some special sign, wear an armband, mask or
gone, and she may not die until her Ba Traits have been a gray sweat suit (anything that will not be common
depleted. For every PhysicalTrait possessed by the mummy, among the characters), and inform the players that any-
she receives one Ba Trait at character creation. For every one they see with such garb is invisible. This can be very
two Mental and Social Traits the mummy receives one Ba effective when the ka picks up some object and moves it
Trait. In other words, a mummy who has seven Physical across the room and the players “see” the object floating
Traits, eight Mental Traits and nine Social Traits (24 along by itself.
traits total) would have 15 Ba Traits at the beginning of
the story. Mummy Magic
Losing Ba In order to determine the mummy’sSekhem total, the
These two mystical qualities are important for mum- Storyteller and player must determine the mummy’s origi-
mies because of their heritage. The gain of Sekhem is the nal occupation. The only chance a mummy has to learn
magical goal of the mummy because it strengthens her will Sekhem-powered magic is in his first life in ancient Egypt.
to use magic. They avoid ba loss at all times because once The mummy’s original occupation will also determine his
it is gone, they die. Again. social standing in present-day mummy society.
One Ba Trait may be lost whenever the character
loses a challenge made while casting a spell. The Occupations:
Any timeaspellwhichdoesnotrequireatest iscast, Architect - Primary Attribute: Mental
the mummy must win or tie a Simple Test to keep a Ba Sekhem Traits: 15
Trait
Artist - Primary Attribute: Mental
Losing and Regaining Sekhem Sekhem Traits: 20
If the mummy fails at any given spell during the game, Beggar - Primary Attribute: Social
she only loses half the Sekhem Traits she initially bid. Sekhem Traits: 5
Sekhem is spent to power magic and is nonrefundable Craftsman - Primary Attribute: Physical
until the next night, if one-half hour is spent after the Sekhem Traits: 15
game begins and before the character joins play, when the Doctor - Primary Attribute: Mental
mummy may meditate uninterrupted. Half of the lost Sekhem Traits: 40
Sekhem may be recovered in this manner. For example, a Farmer -Primary Attribute: Physical
mummy has 30 Sekhem Traits at the beginning of the
Sekhem Traits: 10
story. By close of play that night, she has lost 20 Sekhem
Traits. By meditating for one half-hour before joining play Merchant - Primary Attribute: Social
after the game has begun the following night, she may Sekhem Traits: 15
regain 10 Sekhem Traits. Magician - Primary Attribute: Mental
Sekhem Traits: 50
Using Ka Pharaoh - Primary Attribute: Social
The way to use the ka in Mind’s Eye Theatre is either Sekhem Traits: 30
to find a player or Narrator-character to volunteer to stay Priest - Primary Attribute: Social
with the corpse of the mummy and protect it. Alterna-
Sekhem Traits: 30
tively, the player whose mummy character just died could
Sailor, Fisherman - Primary Attribute: Physical
also portray this guardian spirit. The ka is a sort of
half-wraith, who is incapable of traveling in the spirit Sekhem Traits: 10
world and who is bound within 500 feet of the mummy’s Warrior -Primary Attribute: Physical
corpse. The ka can affect the physical plane in a limited Sekhem Traits: 15
 While it may be tempting for the player and Storyteller
to construct a super-character,both should remember that
Alchemy
the character will need to fit the story. Player character Alchemy is the art of brews as practiced by mummies
mummies should never overshadow the other characters or [different from the Hedge Path of Herbalism/Brewing].
be capable of taking out the main adversary single-handedly, The user knows how to create all manner of elixirs, oint-
nor should they be so weak that they are essentially useless to ments, aphrodisiacs and formulas. All brews take one
the story. Mummies are different and exotic, and most people half-hour to create unless stated otherwise. During this half-
know nothing of their powers. This in itself might serve to hour, the player must sit alone and interact with none of the
dissuade those who would challenge them needlessly. other characters. Storytellers may alter any time restraints
placed on the characters if they are running particularly
Magic Paths short or long games. It is feasible that the character may
have some brews prepared at the beginning of the game.
There were a variety of magics practiced in ancient
Egypt. Many sciences combined with the belief of the Basic
people to create the pure forms of magics mostly lost to us
5 Sekhem Traits per brew.
today. This raw, essential magic is what the mummies
Enhancement of the Creature
possess. It is not powered by their will so much as by their
soul essence and the force of their personal connection to The imbiber can invoke the essence of a small animal
the elements that control nature. Mummies recognize and increase her Physical, Mental or Social Traits by two,
that other supernatural creatures could make potent use of or any two by one Trait. This does not include Sekhem. The
Egyptian magic, whether or not they are able to handle it. effect lasts for one hour. Ingredients vary for the animal
Such magic is not shared freely with just anybody. invoked and Traits gained must reflect the animal as well.
For example, a mummy could increase her Physical Traits
A player character mummy may choose any number
or quantity of spells that equal, but do not exceed her total
by invoking the essence of a bear, but could not increase her
Mental Traits by invoking the essence of a frog.
number of Sekhem Traits. After each spell is a Sekhem
cost, which determines the number of Sekhem Traits the Potion of Numbness
character must spend each time she uses the spell. The This potion, once drunk, lasts for one hour. During
Sekhem cost is also the number of Traits the player must that hour, the mummy will feel no pain to her body as the
“spend” to acquire that spell. potion acts as an anesthetic. The mummy will also lose no
more Physical Traits, though she may not initiate any
Physical Challenges. Many mummies use this potion to Amulets
prevent losing all of their ba during a fight. Amulets were used in Egyptian magic to protect the
wearer and to encourage “good” energies that would give
Intermediate him aid. Many were used to guard the spirit of the dead
10 Sekhem Traits per brew. once he crossed over into the spirit world, and tombs were
Enhancement of the Elder Creature often littered with such magical artifacts. A few remaining
Much like the basic potion, this allows the user to mummies can still fashion and enchant these amulets,
summon the essence of two creatures to increase any one encouraging the powers of their homeland to embody the
Trait by four or any two Traits by two. The Traits in- charm and give it power to work magic. All amulets must
creased must be appropriate to the animal invoked. be attached to the user’s person in some fashion, as a
necklace, bracelet, earring or anklet, for example. Just
Perfume of Longing
carrying one in a pocket will not enable it to function
This odorous concoction will give the wearer one
effectively.
retest for any Social Challenge she loses during the night.
To enact the retest, the mummy player must ask the other Basic
player: “Can you smell my perfume?” If the character
10 Sekhem Traits per amulet.
replies affirmatively, even if insultingly, the retest may
Mind Ward
occur at the mummy’s request. If the other player replies
to the negative, the mummy may not call for a retest. This amulet gives the wearer immunity to the first
Players who have read about this effect may not answer two levels of Presence (Dread Gaze, Entrancement, Sum-
negatively if their characters would normally be able to mon) or the first two levels of Dominate (Command,
smell the concoction. Only after experiencing this first- Forgetful Mind, Mesmerism). The name of the appropri-
hand or finding a tome which describes the effect may ate Discipline should be written on a piece of tape on the
characters “wise up” to the magic being used against them. amulet or on the card representing the amulet. The wearer
of this amulet must spend a Willpower Trait if he is not the
Elixir of Good Body
creator, and the creator must spend one Blood Trait to
Upon imbibing this potion, the user falls into a deep,
activate it, for herself or anyone else. Ingredients and
healing coma. The coma lasts for two hours, during which
procedures for this amulet’s creation consist of burying the
time the character will be impossible to awaken. When he
amulet insideahumanbrainandleaving it inapotofearth
wakes, all damage (including aggravated damage) will be
while chanting calls to Egyptian deities.
healed at no cost to the imbiber.

Advanced Intermediate
20 Sekhem Traits per amulet.
20 Sekhem Traits per brew.
Metal Ward
Potion of Vile Body
This amulet protects the wearer from all damage done
This disgusting, thick black liquid is the consistency
by metal. Bullets, swords, knives, metal bludgeoning de-
of mud. Any creature, other than the mummy who created
vices, etc. can do no damage to the mummy or wearer. The
it, must spend one Willpower Trait in order to actually
mummy will still lose Physical Traits lost during a chal-
drink it. This potion causes the imbiber’s body to become
lenge if the amulet is used in a combat, but will lose no Ba
awellspringofpoisons. The imbiber is, naturally, immune.
or Health Levels. Anyone not the creator must invest a
The person’s blood will cause one level of aggravated
Whllpower Trait to attune it to himself. Many have
damage per Blood Trait consumed to any who drink it.
discovered that certain modem metal alloys (such as
Participants in the Vaulderie would each take one Health
carbon steel or TeflonTM-plateditems) are often not
Level of damage (non-aggravated), and the stench would
significantly affected. Such experience is usually dearly
surely indicate who the source of the bad blood is. The
bought. Ingredients include mercury placed inside an-
imbiber may also cry tears of acid that will cause one level
other soft material, such as gold.
of aggravated damage to whatever they touch. Blood
Wood Ward
spilled in combat will cause similar aggravated damage to
those who lose Physical Challenges with the mummy or This amulet functions identically to the Metal Ward
imbiber. Ingredients should include poisons from at least except for one small difference. The Wood Ward will
four animals: snake venom, spider venom, scorpion poi- cause all wood that comes in contact with the body of the
son. etc. wearer to dissolve or crumble to ashes. This includes
chairs, tables and other wooden items. Mummies know
vampires are particular about wood and generally avoid

59
’I
/
alerting them to this ward. Any supernatural wearer must
invest one Willpower Trait if he did not create the item.
Ingredients include a piece of a metal ax head melted to
supernatural creatures in animal form, causing the same
reaction as from normal animals. The magician must win
a Social Challenge and bid a Trait such as lntimldating in
form the amulet. order to use this power.
Inviting the Stone In
Advanced This spell allows the caster to invite another form
30 Sekhem Traits per amulet. into her body, such as stone. Once the name is invoked,
Amulet of Cloud Walking the caster’s body will begin to take on the shape of an
This amulet must be created on a sunny day with dew unrecognizable (as human) lump. Within two minutes,
collected at the winter solstice and fashioned of silver. It she will have completely changed form into the actual
will allow the wearer to effectively levitate into the sky mineral or rock invoked. The magician’s body is not
and transport herself within one mile of the original invulnerable in this form. In fact, any damage done to the
take-off point. This is not teleportation. Since the user lump is equivalently absorbed by the body of the magician.
does not become invisible, she could feasibly be followed Any damage acquired while in another form may not be
by someone on the ground on a clear night. The amulet healed by the magician until she is back in her normal
will raise the wearer to the top of the cloud level, and she form. The magician must win a Static Challenge to effect
may travel at walking or running speed over the clouds to the change.
her destination. One Mental Trait must be spent each
time this amulet is used. Intermediate
25 Sekhem Traits per command.
Hekau Become Animal
Hekau is the Egyptian art of name mastery. Each thing This spell allows the enchanter to assume the form of
in the universe has a true name, and the magician has only any animal she can name. She gains all of the advantages
to discover it. Mastery of a thing’s true name gives the and disadvantages of the form until she chooses to return
magician mastery over it, allowing her to control, create to her normal shape. The one danger of the spell is that the
and sometimes even become the creature named. Mum- longer the magician retains the form, the more comfort-
mies protect their true names very carefully and never give able she becomes in it. The magician must win a Static
them away as use names, not even with friends. Each Physical Challenge to initially assume the form and spend
human being has a true name all her own, while the true one Mental Trait for each half hour she chooses to remain
names of dogs, elephants and other animals are shared by in the form. If the magician retains the form for over one
each species. The latter is also true of plants and minerals. hour, she must win a Static Mental Test to retain the rest
of her Mental Traits. If she loses the test, she loses her
Mental Trait pool and remains in animal form for the
15 Sekhem Traits per command. remainder of the evening, retaining only those Mental
Traits appropriate to an animal, i.e. Cunning. She may
Forgetting the Stone
choose to spend 10 Sekhem Traits instead and will retain
This spell allows the magician to name a mineral or her Mental Trait pool until the beginning of the next hour
metal and then trace a Hekau script in the air, effectively when the entire procedure must be repeated.
“forgetting” the name of the object. The object, in re-
It is advisable to wear a card on your clothing saying
sponse, forgets itself right out of existence. Onlookers
what kind of animal you appear to be. The printing on this
would see the stone or pile of dirt just suddenly disappear.
card should utilize letters big enough for the other players
Players must be sure to explain what object disappeared to
to be able to read from a reasonable distance (across a
clarify the situation for other players, or aNarrator must be
medium-sized room). Otherwise, acting like the animal or
employed to do so. The player must win a Static Social
wearing a small prop like cat ears or a bird beak will suffice.
Test to see if her name calling worked.
Command the Thinking
Naming the Warning
The magician may, with the aid of the true name of
This is available to students and masters of Hekau
the individual, issue a one sentence command and expect
who know the names of animals. This spell allows the
obedience. The magician may not expect obedience if the
magician to speak the true name of an animal in a
command is something against the individual’s nature
threatening way, alerting the animal to the fact that the
(such as harming herself or a close ally). The mummy must
magician can gain control of it. The instinct of most
engage in a Mental Challenge and may overcome a loss by
creatures is to run in terror, and very few will stick around
spending an extra five Sekhem Traits after the initial
to be controlled. If they are cornered, they will do what-
challenge. The victim may not avoid obedience with
ever they can to get away. This power can be used on other
Willpower.
 The mummy is advised to have a Storyteller on hand mummy must spend an additional five SekhemTraits. She
in case she mispronounces a name or neglects a middle is not required to explain what she is doing, especially if
name or uses an alias by mistake. This should be roleplayed she is not in the direct line of vision of the victim. She
and not discussed with the Storyteller previously. This must be able to see the victim’s entire body before she can
spell can easily be mistaken for Dominate, and the Story- activate this spell. A vampire whose heart is damaged in
teller should be aware of the differences. The Storyteller this manner may engage in a StaticTest to prevent himself
may wish to have the victim whisper her name into her ear from going directly into torpor. If the victim wins the test,
before allowing the mummy to proceed. he will only be Incapacitated. She will be able to heal
herself at the normal rate for Incapacitation.
Advanced This spell is extremely exhausting for the magician
35 Sekhem Traits per command. and may be used only once per night. After it has been
Naming the Organ’s Destruction used, the mummy will be unable to initiate challenges for
The mummy must speak aloud the name of the organ the next half hour and will be down to half on all her
she wishes to destroy followed by the Hekau chant of Attribute Trait pools for the remainder of the night.
destruction. During character creation, this spell costs the Whispers to My Body
full Sekhem Trait cost per organ name the mummy pos- This wicked enchantment allows the mummy to
sesses. In other words, if the mummy wants to possess the change her body into anything she can physically see at
name of one organ, she must possess 35 Sekhem Traits the time (except other people or creatures). She must
which have not been used to purchase any other spells. speak her own true name along with the Hekau chant of
Very few mummies know more than one or, at best, two metamorphosis. She must also spend one Blood Trait to
true names of organs. The mummy must designate with activate this power. The mummy may become a pool of
the Storyteller during character creation which organ rainwater on the sidewalk, a tree, or even a door or book.
name she wishes to possess. The mummy must initiate a In addition to the B l d Trait spent, the mummy must also
Physical Challenge (using the mummy’s Mental Traits vs. engage in a Static Mental Challenge to see if she can
the victim’s Physical Traits) with her victim and win to actually become what she wants.
effect this spell. In order to attempt an overbid, the
 so until either commanded to stop by its animator or until
Necromancy it has been hacked apart. The corpse must lose seven
Necromancy is the art of preparing the bodies of the Physical Challenges before it can no longer fight.
dead for entrance into the aftenvorld. At least that’s how Statistics for an animated corpse:
it seems at first. The more a character becomes involved Physical Traits -Tireless x 4, Stalwart x 4,Steady x 2.
with Necromancy, the stranger and more unsettling he is Mental Traits -None (immune to all mental attacks)
to be around. Each mummy possesses the first Basic
Social Traits - (Negative only) Repugnant x 3.
Ability on this list at no cost.
Willpower -Who’re we kidding?
Basic Abilities - Brawl x 4, Melee x 2.
10 Sekhem Traits per Ability (except Body Preserva- Animated corpses may not: initiate a challenge of any sort,
tion which each mummy possesses at no cost). use any weapon other than a bludgeoningdevice, use words
Body Preservation with more than two syllables, speak quickly, speak while
doing anything else, act against gravity (this includes going
This spell only costs two Sekhem Traits to use and can
up stairs before both feet get to any step, running, walking
be performed at any time. The mummy must have 15
quickly, or standing while it could be sitting).
minutes of uninterrupted ritual time to perform it once he
has begun the ritual. Body Preservation is the Ability that Reshaping the Lost Soul
allows the mummy to preserve his body or any others prior This Ability allows the mummy to free an earth-
to death. This is usually used if the mummy is expecting to bound, or Fettered, wraith from one of her bonds. It
die again soon or if he feels his ba losing strength. This effectively releases the wraith from her original purpose,
spell prevents a body from decaying for up to 50 years. though perhaps not from the area. If a wraith wishes to
Revisit Death resist the Mental Challenge initiated by the mummy, she
may do so. If she wishes to relent and be free of her bonds,
This Ability allows the mummy the opportunity to
discover a corpse’s exact manner of death by laying his she must spend one Willpower Trait. The mummy may
hands on it and humming the note of rousing. The compensate for this expenditure by giving up five Sekhem
information will come to the necromancer in a vision that Traits in addition to the 25 already spent, if the wraith is
replays the scene of the death. The necromancer must win too weak to do so for herself.
a Static Mental Challenge to successfullyperform this.
Creating a
Intermediate
15 Sekhem Traits per Ability.
Mummy Character
Separate Ba T o create a mummy character:
This effectively allows the mummy to separate his ba Choose names: the common name, the known
from his physical body and travel into the spirit world. The name and the true name.
physical body of the mummy is left unaware and helpless Choose an occupation. Occupation will determine
as the mummy’s spirit travels at the end of a silver cord the number of Sekhem Traits the character will possess.
through the world of the undead. The ba or wraith of the (Note: There are no adjectives for either Sekhem or Ba
mummy can only call upon the knowledge of Hekau or any Traits due to their unusual, magical and secret nature.)
other art that does not require physical objects or ingredi- Determine Attributes. Storytellers and players must
ents while in this form. For every half hour the mummy is determine their own standards for Attribute Traits since
out of his body he must either spend five Sekhem in they will need to create the mummy character to fit into the
addition to his initial 10 or one Mental Trait. story well. Bear in mind that these are ancient creatures.
Choose Abilities. The mummy’s quantity of Abili-
Advanced ties should reflect how long she’s been alive this time, how
25 Sekhem Traits per Ability. much she remembers from former lives, and what her
Animate Corpse current goals are.
This power costs an additional 10 Sekhem Traits Determine magic skills.Remember, no mummy can
(total 35) to be performed successfully. By massaging a possess more spells than he can purchase within his
corpse’s heart, the necromancer may imbue the corpse original Sekhem score.
with a semblance of life. The corpse must be given simple If the Storyteller wishes to award freebie points dur-
and explicit instructions if the mummy wishes to control ing character creation or break the rules to fit his story, he
it, because the corpse is virtually mindless and can only may do so. Once again, these are guidelines primarily for
understand very simple words and commands. Much like player character antagonists and will hopefully be useful in
old movie zombies,if commanded to fight, a corpse will do your development of Narrator characters as well.
 There are many uses for mummy non-player charac- Usingthe Children asAdversaries
ters in the World of Darkness. The Disciplineshere are by
There are several reasons for including the Children
no means the complete list of their magical accomplish-
among the list of antagonists, though these may not be
ments; they are simply the ones most useful for character
initially apparent.
play. Feel free to expand on this list using costs and types
The Children wage a never-ending struggle against
of tests and challenges as guidelines. For example: The
the Followers of Set. They consider themselves the mortal
mummy might invoke magic similar to the vampiric
enemies of Set and wish to destroy him, as do mummies.
Discipline Auspex, provided the mummy always keeps a
pouch of flies and small animal eyes in her pocket. And
A mummy allied with a Child of Osiris could make quite
potent adversaries.
any Narrator character mummy could have far greater
Abilities at much less cost or strange magics unheard of, The Children of Osiris are harboring an ancient
depending on the needs of your particular story or adver- vampire (Khetamon), whom most of them believe is
sary and whether or not you want your antagonists to have Osiris. Therefore, the foundations of conflict with the
the feeling, at least, of being players as well. Sabbat have coincidentally been forged.
The Children possess a very dangerous secret. If
The Children of Osiris their ideas spread and take hold among Camarilla vam-
pires, most will seek Golconda. The elders’ days may be
When Osiris was given the Embrace, vampires were numbered. There will be no one to manipulate, no one to
different creatures than they are now. Even the most exploit.. .. This could be bad.
crazed and heinous vampires of today couldn’t hold a The Children are a peaceful people, but they recruit
candle to the passions and madness of the grandchilder from all clans and have many warriors amongst them who
and great-grandchilder of Caine. It was a time of epic wish to destroy evil and corruption in the world. Who
battles between beings so powerful they were called gods, knows how strong an army they might build? They seem
an age before the Masquerade was in force, a time when to be seeking some sort of universal unity among all
madness was seen as the hand of the divine at work. Those vampires, and the more they convert, the closer it comes
days and nights are long past, but not for all. There are to fruition. Once they convert all who can be converted,
some in the world who continue to practice their ancient who’s to say the Inquisition would not begin again -only
arts and battle their equally ancient enemies with all the this time, the Inquisitors will be vampires, too.
fury and fervor of their ancestors.
The Children of Osiris are such a group. Dedicated to Creating a
practicing and spreading Osiris’ art to the deserving, the Child of Osiris Character
Children of Osiris continue to battle Set and his minions
Children of Osiris should be created like any other
while preparing for the reawakening of their own lord,
vampire character, except that the following should be
Osiris. Osiris himself saw the Embrace of Caine as a
kept in mind.
violating corruption as well as a gift of awesome powers.
This led him to fight the Beast within, and he set forth on Disciplines
an eternal journey toward relief from the evil that con- All who become Children of Osiris were originally
sumed him. Osiris died a horrible, burning death at the from some other clan or were Caitiff. The Children
hands of his brother Set, but taught his art to a select few cannot directly create progeny; they must adopt followers
of his childer. Unfortunately, all but one of them were from among existing vampires. Because this is so, newly
destroyed in the great battle along with their sire. created characters should take at least one other Disci-
Khetamon, who now slumbers in a remote temple far from pline (from the clan they would have been a part of), then
civilization, was the lone survivor. It is actually his awak- take at least one level of Bardo. The character does not
ening that the Children anticipate. receive Bardo in addition to her other Disciplines, but as
Khetamon is responsiblefor the majority of the devel- a substitute for one. Pre-existing characters who convert
opment and the entire teaching of Bardo. More than a and become Children of Osiris retain whatever Disci-
vampiric Discipline, it is a philosophy and way of life for plines they possessed before joining and add Bardo to the
,,, the vampires who study it. The Children of Osiris are list when their Experience allows.
believed to be extinct by most, including the Setites. They Advantages
live in remote areas of the world, occasionally leaving The Childrenof Osiris have strong virtues. Because of
their studies to recruit other lost vampires and teach them this, they can work to dissolve their Beast Traits by using
their gifts. The blood of the Children is infertile, and none their Discipline of Bardo. For each two years of service
of them would wish to create progeny anyway, as the with the Children, each member gains another Willpower
central principle of Bardo is the taming and dissolving of Trait in addition to her original pool. Also, each member
the Beast within. has at least one Background Trait in Mentor.

63
 contact or speak to any other players while out. To accom-
plish this for someone else, the subject must spend one
Willpower Trait and the Child must spend one Mental Trait.
Banishing Sign of Thoth
This Discipline allows the Child to defend herself
from other vampiric Disciplines. To evoke this power, she
must make the appropriate gesture where her opponent
can see it. She may engage in a retest by spending one Trait
that is appropriate to the challenge. The Discipline wards
against Thaumaturgy, Dominate, Presence and Auspex.

Intermediate
Boon of Anubis
This Discipline allows the Child to protect a mortal
from the Embrace,T o effect the Boon of Anubis, the Child
must spend a Willpower Trait and win or tie in a Simple
Test with a Narrator. The Child must sit in meditation or
out of game for one half-hour for this to be effective.
Neither the mortal nor the vampire will be aware the
mortal has not become a vampire until she wakes from her
first sleep. The victim will still be a ghoul. This power must
be used before or during the mortal’s Embrace. It will not
work after the Embrace has been given.
Pillar of Osiris
This allows the Child to set up her own temple where
the study of Bardo may occur. For every month away from
Disadvantage a temple, the Child develops a higher risk of frenzy. This
Their blood is infertile, so they cannot create prog- can only be laid to rest inside a temple. This Discipline
eny. Many are unfamiliar with the ways of technology requires one-half hour of meditation and the expenditure
since they live such ascetic unlives. of one Status Trait.
Organization
Advanced
The Children of Osiris live in a temple with one head
Mummification Ritual
of the group called the Undying King. He may or may not
have a consort who is known as the Queen. The Children This allows the Child to cause torpor in a vampire for
are respectful of each other and of living things. They any given length of time. It is normally used to eliminate
speak softly and spend much time under the tutelage of the those who are evil and corrupt without causing Final
Undying King, who is effectively their mentor and guru. Death. The Children have quite a collection of such
vampires, some rumored to be Sabbat, whom they store for
New Status Traits safekeeping. To effect this ritual, the victim must first be
Beloved, Advised, Righteous, Honored, Radiant, incapacitated. Then the Child and the victim must go to a
Bright, Purified, Clean, Humane private place for one hour to perform the ritual. Others may
be present, but the Child must be left undisturbed. It will
Note: These Traits are only honored by other mem-
require a Mental Challenge for the Child to successfully
bers of the Children of Osiris.
place the victim in torpor. Failure may be circumvented by

Bardo the expenditure of two Willpower Traits from the Child.

Ra’s Blessing
The Child may engage in two hours of meditation or
Basic spend two Willpower Traits to evoke this blessing. It
Restore Humanitas enables the Child to withstand sunlight for as many hours
This Discipline allows the Child of Osiris to purge as she is willing to spend Willpower Traits to do so. It costs
herself or another of a Beast Trait. It is only possible to do this two hours of meditation or two Willpower Traits for the
for others if it is a Trait they recently gained (within the last first hour, and additional hours cost one hour of medita-
few weeks). The Child must spend one Willpower Trait and tion or one Willpower Trait per hour.
meditate or sit out of game for one half-hour. She must not
Sabbat Ghoul Families The Sabbat’s general disregard and disrespect for
humanity leads them to make very few ghouls. Ghouls are
Sabbat revenants, or ghoul families, make excep- viewed as a potential security threat and a waste of time.
tional antagonists. There are four such families currently The prevailing philosophy regarding humans is: If they are
in existence. The Bratovitches are avid werewolf hunters, worthy, Embrace them. If not, kill them. In contrast to
the Grimaldis are wonderful spies, the Zantosas are cor- this, the existence of these revenants is permitted because
rupters and criminals and the Obertuses are collectors of of extreme insistence by ClanTzimisce. Hundreds of years
ancient lore. The Obertus family would be excellent ago, they drew most of their progeny from these noble
opposition for a mummy, a mage or Clan Tremere. The houses and used other members as spies and guards. Today,
Zantosas could rival the Ravnos and Giovanni. If you are most families live on the estates of their ancestors and
looking for a potent and unanticipated adversary, the populate the Americas with 15-20 estates per family.
Sabbat ghoul families might be just the thing.
 Revenants differ from other ghouls because they are Revenants have, as arule, more knowledge of the sect
born into the world of the supernatural. In exchange for than even high ranking officials and most vampires that
their childer long ago, the Tzimisce made many members can match them in age. Each family serves the sect
of these families ghouls. The ghouls began breeding exclu- faithfully when called upon to do so, but their involve-
sively with each other, and eventually their children ment with sect affairs is kept to a minimum at the request
began to be born with vampiric blood already in their of most. The Bratovitches disgust even the most vile
veins, resulting in bomghouls, or revenants. The revenants Sabbat vampires, and the other families are viewed (ex-
of the Sabbat ghoul families no longer need constant cept by the Tzimisce) as more pestilent than useful.
vampiric blood to empower them. Normal humans are Considering their amassed knowledge and power, the
rarely taken as mates, because the children born of such families could easily become potent and exciting antago-
couplings are weak and impure. They are quickly de- nists. For more detailed information on their histories and
stroyed. lifestyles, see T h e Storytellers Handbook to the Sabbat.
The revenants possess a variety of Disciplines with all
except the Grimaldis possessing Vicissitude. It is rumored The Bratovitches
that the Bratovitches taught the Tzimisce that art ages The Bratovitch family is very close-knit and is more
ago. By puberty, each revenant is already developing her or less despised by all other ghoul families. Easily the most
Disciplines. Each revenant also has a Blood Pool which bizarre of the ghoul families, they maintain a reputation
she can use to power her Disciplines. for inhuman experiments, self mutilation, bizarre tastes in
Some other advantages of revenants are their ex- food and unusual feeding habits.
tended life spans (up to three hundred years) and their With a long history behind them as bodyguards and
arcane knowledge of the sect. The families are, for the breeders of wolf-hounds , the Bratovitches of today breed
most part, still very attached to their history and do not fit and raise ghoul dogs for Clan Tzimisce and are renowned
in well with normal mortal society. They consider them- for their abilities to bring down werewolves. It is perhaps
selves superior to mortals and follow the Paths of no small thing that they give even their masters chills
Enlightenment instead of possessing actual humanity. upon occasion.
Revenants may not ask to becomevampires. The Tzimisce The Bratovitches live in family groups on old estates
refer to them as pets, and indeed that is how they are which are nothing short of disgusting. Their decrepit
viewed. mansions are so full of junk only one of the family can
navigate with any amount of safety. Any servant brought Advantages
in usually goes insane at the sight, flees in horror or The Grimaldis often have many Background Traits in
becomes a between-meals snack. People in the areas of any contacts, retainers, influences and resources.
Bratovitch estate avoid it at all costs, as do most of the Disadvantages
Sabbat, though newcomers to the area tend to disappear. All members of the Grimaldi family are Blood Bound
Rumors abound concerning the Bratovitches “inviting to a bishop or archbishop to ensure their activities don’t
you over for dinner.” get out of hand. Usually they are Blood Bound to more
Disciplines: than one of holy rank. They agree to this willingly and
Animalism, Potence, Vicissitude serve with the view that this is an even exchange and to
Character Creation their advantage.
Physical Attributes are primary, followed by Mental Path Preferences
and then Social. The Path of Honorable Accord is popular because it
Advantages helps them hide their occasionallygrowing humanity. The
The Bratovitches operate primarily in groups of fam- Paths of Harmony and, rarely, Caine are also followed.
ily members. They keep a significant number of their
ghoul dogs for themselves. The Obertuses
Disadvantages The Obertus family is the most well educated in the
They frenzy very easily and are not well acquainted realms of the occult and ancient history. They have
with modern technology. Most do not even have televi- infiltrated the Society of Leopold, the Arcanum and
sions. certain mage societies. The Obertuses keep to themselves
and only become involved in sect affairswhen calledupon
Path Preferences
for information. They retain contacts only with members
None. Many Bratovitches practice Paths no longer
of Clan Tzimisce, often possessing massive, extremely
taught among the Sabbat today. Their moral codes are valuable libraries that could make a Tremere weep with
usually oriented toward survival, hunting and sadomas- desire. They do not maintain family estates; rather they
ochism. have created their own little villages and towns. Educa-
tion is primarily acquired from their elders, except in fields
The Grimaldis like medicine where up-to-date knowledge is better found
The Grimaldi family, aside from being very rich and elsewhere. Information found outside the family is viewed
well adjusted to mortal society, is the most normal seem- as supplemental to the thousands of years’ worth of knowl-
ing of the Sabbat ghoul families. It is their main task to edge and truths they have preserved in their private
retain a masquerade of sorts for their vampire masters. libraries. Obertuses are avid pursuers of the Paths of
They are highly skilled at blackmail and bribery and have Enlightenment.
many connections in media and finance. Originally, the
Disciplines
Grimaldis served as spies for the Sabbat in churches and
Auspex, Obfuscate, Vicissitude
structures of mortal society the vampires of the Sabbat
would have a difficult time penetrating. They are superb Character Creation
at infiltration and acquiring information. This ghoul Mental Traits are primary, Physical secondary and
family is responsible for keeping news of many mass Social Tertiary.
murders off the front page. They virtually control the Advantages
media in all Sabbat-held cities. Members of the Obertus family almost all have a
Grimaldis, unlike all other revenants, live among nor- mentor and some resources. Some have contacts through
mal mortals and only contact eachother for business purposes. their infiltrations. They have masses ofknowledge at their
They are well educated and often conservative in appear- disposal.
ance. They all follow the personality archetype Professional Disadvantages
because they all eventuallygo to work in the family business. Most Obertuses either possess the Obsession De-
They breed with normal humans and stand the greatest rangement or the Perfection Derangement. Any
chance of any ghoul family of developing humanity. Derangement associated with spending too much time
Disciplines locked in study could apply to an Obertus. They all are
Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude deranged in one way or another.
Character Creation
Mental Traits are primary with Social next and Physi-
cal last.
 Path Preferences maintains a large stable, not because the families enjoy
The Path of Death and the Soul is widely followed riding, but because they have acquired a rather extensive
and sometimes the Paths of Harmony and Honorable collection of equine recipes.
Accord. All Paths are practiced within the Obertus fam- Disciplines
ily, but none are so dominant as these. Auspex, Presence, Vicissitude
Character Creation
The Zantosas Social Traits are primary, then Mental, followed by
The Zantosas and the Grimaldis have been rivals Physical.
since they met. Disputes over land and other possessions
Advantages
have haunted them for centuries, and though less preva-
The Zantosas are primarily left alone by the leaders of
lent today, are nowhere near finished. The Zantosas are an
the Sabbat and ignored by all others. They are allowed to
enormous financial supporter of the Sabbat, coming from
live and do as they wish as long as the checks are written
nobility and very old money. They are the most respected
when necessary. Zantosa estates are often used as arsenals
of the ghoul families (not that that’s saying much) and are
in times of great strife.
clever and treacherous, having served as spies and infiltra-
tors since the days of the Ottoman court. They are Disadvantages
hedonists, much like their ancestors, and are firm believ- The Zantosas are the keepers of a tremendous secret
ers in the corruptions long known to humankind. Slavery, which would certainly bring about their annihilationwere
addictions and deviancies of many sorts are used for their it discovered - they are the keepers of the Tzimisce
widest commercial value by the Zantosas and are primarily Antediluvian. Most are also extremely susceptible to
responsible for the family’s current income. those things that give them pleasure and easily become
The Zantosas are easily the most contemporary of the addicted to the source of that pleasure. They often possess
families. They live fairly unstructured lifestyles in huge, the Derangement Addiction, and even more often, pos-
well-kept estates as contemporary as they can find. Vicis- sess it in triplicate.
situde is used to beautify their usually swarthycomplexions Path Preference
until they reach their desired appearance. Each estate The Path of Cathari is most popular, but those who
guard the Ancient are followers of the Path of Caine.
 Obscure Antagonists when the Sabbat sent her out on a mission from which she
never returned. The Gangrel untirn’bu from her pack, who
Within the allies of the Sabbat, there are several was sent to be sure she did not become a security leak, saw
almost entirely obscure groups that can provide unex- her slain by a group of hunters. What he did not see was the
pected, and therefore, effective antagonists. The Sabbat bound and unconscious form of his packmate behind the
maintains few secret alliances, but used creatively by a illusion her captors created. Since she was on her first trial
crafty Storyteller, these alliances can be most intimidat- and not yet considered True Sabbat (and therefore had no
ing, especially if the players only discover near the end of great secrets), the packlet her go without seeking revenge.
the game who the real opponent is. The Sabbat has been The Arcianist Historical Society preserves its secrets
known to place its fingers in murky water just to shock the carefully. It maintains a very minor alliance with the
undead spit out of their enemies, and here are a few Camarilla Ventrue and provides them with many ghoul
examples of such. candidates. The Ventrue have been very pleased with
their Arcianist-attained servants and have referred those
Arcianist Historical Society of other clans to them. The Arcianists have yet to meet
The Arcianist Historical Society is the front organi- personally with the vampires. They use their secretary,
zation for a group of mortals who dabble in magic. Jeanette, to take care of all deliveries. Before they release
Unbeknownst to their vampire allies in the Sabbat, they future ghouls to their potential masters, the Arcianists
are all renegade Tremere ghouls. Combining stolen knowl- hypnotize them and plant one subconsciouscommand: at
edge acquired from their former vampire masters, and a nine-thirty a.m. on such-and-such specific date, call this
few abilities gleaned from captured mages and mortal phone number and report the exact whereabouts of your
hunters, these ghouls have managed a very devious lifestyle. vampire master. Explain all of the security systems and
Collectively there are five members, all men. They then wait by the back door.
have created spells to seal their auras and prevent anyone, It is the goal of the Society’s members to destroy all
vampire or kine, from seeing their true natures. The base- vampires in existence. One of its members spent two
ment of their business office is connected by tunnels to two hundred years in the service of a Camarilla Tremere and
of their homes, and underneath one ties the source of their ultimately wishes to destroy him for his cruelty. During his
vitae, a seventh generation Tremere untimibu named Emily ghoul slavery, he was treated horrendously and occasion-
Crow. Emily had been a vampire for only three months ally served as the guinea pig for Tremere experiments.
 From a Sabbat perspective, these pleasant gentlemen Daron McQuade, practitioner of minor ritual magic,
have their uses. They alert their Tzimisce contacts to the focusing on wards, protections and shields for mind and
whereabouts of Camarilla vampires and assist them in any body, former Tremere ghoul (65 years).
way they can with their destruction, as long as they do not Father Franklin Deleanor Estenburg,formerTremere
actually encounter the vampires themselves. They are ghoul (43 years), exorcist, avid hunter.
preparing for the day when they will be able to do that JimlJack Greenhall, former Tremere ghoul (120
without fear of reprisal, but that day has not yet come. years, apparent age 16), possesses dual personality as a
There are rumors among the Tzimisce that these men result of a Tremere ritual gone awry. Personality One:
possess a Sabbat artifact known as the Undying Heart. It born-again Christian, Bible expert and member of Cru-
is said that whoever keeps it within the confines of his sades for a Satan-Free America. Personality Two: black
flesh cannot be destroyed. A special surgery and complex belt in aikido, security expert, espionage scholar and
ritual are required to successfully insert the item. The technician. Both personalities hate vampires.
Tzimisce wish to either acquire it or see it destroyed. They These five men and their secretary, Jeanette, form a
are well aware of the trouble an item like that could cause force that can be extremely formidable. Both David Klein
in the open territory of their sect. The war of greed that and Father Franklin possess True Faith, which they have
could ensue would destroy the Tzimisce’s last hundred regained since their imprisonment by the Tremere. Jim
years of attempting to maintain an even balance of power also possesses this advantage when in Personality One.
within the sect and strengthen the bonds of blood and Each of these amazing people managed to escape five
loyalty among its brothers and sisters. years ago when the Sabbat attacked 10 chantries in three
The current members of the Arcianist Historical nights all over the continent. It was a foolish move on the
Society are: part of the sect, and many were lost. They did manage to
Dr. James Elon, psychotherapist and licensed hyp- take out two of the Tremere elders, however, and several
notist, former Tremere ghoul (ten months). neonates. The ghouls who now form the Arcianists man-
David Saul Joshua Klein, former Tremere ghoul aged to escape their burning chantries and the eyes of their
(200 years), Qabbalist and Jewish mystical expert. masters. Though they use the Sabbat for their own ends,
they do owe them their freedom.
 Dr. Elon hypnotized each man as he met him and
found the ritual to break Blood Bonds in the storehouseof
Mr. McQuade’s deep memory, obviously something he
had witnessed and then been Dominated to forget. The
acquisition of the complete formula took months, but
each man was able to sever the bonds and still manages to
evade the notice and attention of his former alliances.
They also keep Emily Crow a very tight secret; otherwise,
the Sabbat would crush them as quickly as Clan Tremere.
Many areas of information about this group have
been left purposely vague to allow Storytellersto fill in the
gaps with their own surprises. Feel free to change things
around so long as you keep them consistent. The Disci-
plines these antagonists possess are up to the Storyteller,
who may thereby control how powerful each character or
Narrator-character is. It is possible to add new characters
to this group so that players encountering the character
don’t recognize the name and immediately make the
connection. Suit the power levels of the villains to the
power levels of the characters. If you are running an
all-elders game, the Arcianist Historical Society may not
be appropriate. The secret name of this society has also not
been included so players do not absorb it on the sly. Have
fun, and do as you will.

The Talons of Black Rage

The Talons of Black Rage, or more commonly, the
Talons, are a secret group of Lasombra ghouls trained in The Talons are comprised of seven men and six
the arts of Obtenebration, Chimerstry and the martial women. The vampires who feed them are all followers of
arts. It is the goal of the Lasombra responsible for this the Path of Power and The Inner Voice. They know of the
group to overtake the mysterious Black Hand and gain its Tzimisce revenants and oppose their use at every turn,
power for themselves. Thirty- five members of Clan hoping to force the Tzimisce to consent to the revenants
Lasombra are involved. destruction as well as to divert attention from their own
The Lasombra breed mortals of exceptional genetic growing ghoul army. The Lasombra in this group realize
structures with similar ghouls, then make ghouls of the the value of daywalkers and feel the need to retaliate
children when they come of age. This process has been secretly against the group they suspect of wanting to take
going on for five generations, and the Lasombra clan has over the Sabbat - the Black Hand.
created a force of approximately 13 warriors to date. The The clan currently uses the warriors to assassinate
Chimerstry Discipline came from a Ravnos antitdm who members of the Black Hand on their way home from
taught his skills to his Lasombra pack leader. Camarilla assassination hits. The Talons have taken out
four so far, all in the last year. Up until last year, the
warriors were still in training, and many Lasombra lies
have been told regarding where certain pack leaders go
every few nights. Future uses of the ghouls include their
Embrace and infiltration into the Hand, removal of rival
packs and other forms of dirty work.
 ... your values are twisted
let us help you unwind
You may look like we do
talk like we do
-but you know how it is
You’re not one of us...
- Peter Gabriel, “Not One of Us”

Welcome to To create a successful chronicle surrounding the

vanquishing of any group of Sabbat, it is essential that the
Storyteller and the players playing Sabbat characters have

TheSabbat a very clear and thorough knowledge and understanding

of the sect. The ideology of the Sabbat is very specific and
very strict. Within the hierarchical framework of its
The Sabbat is h o w as a terrifying Sect of vampires
whose primary goal is the destruction of the Camarilla. leadership, the Sabbat attempts to provide its members
Their often heinous ways make them ideal antagonists in with ultimate freedom and warrior capabilities.
any setting. Sabbat vampires no longer possess any hu- The Sabbat embodies the qualities of a good antago-
manity, and the haunting tales of their torture chambers nist. Its members are unpredictable - some are cunning
would tuma butcher’s stomach. The sect’shierarchy is run and subtle, other blatantly violent and public. They oper-
as a vicious parody of medieval Catholicism and considers ate primarily in groups, which creates a tactical and
anything mortal to be little more than food. I t punishes strategic challenge, and some of their Disciplines are
those who violate its principles with horrid tasks, agoniz- strange permutations of the traditional. The worst of the
ing torture and as a last resort, Final Death. Anyone with Sabbat are demon worshippers (whom even the other
adesire to vanquish cruelty, violence, religious heretics or Sabbat despise) and practitioners of dark arts potent
the forces of evil would find the Sabbat a most pleasing enough to make a Tremere Justicar blush.
adversary. And anyone challenged by them will certainly
want revenge.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
73 t
Sabbat Ideology ABrief History of the
Sabbat ideology is based on the two main principles
of freedom and loyalty. Each vampire is taught that she is
part of a bigger picture and reality where her life is The Sabbat was formed during the Kindred wars
dependent on those with whom she is bonded. The new following the original Inquisition. Vampire childer were
vampire is also taught that it is her responsibility to forced to fight to defend their elders, thereby giving up
become as strong as possible in order to be an effective their own unlives so their elderscould escape. Clan Brujah
warrior when the Antediluvians wake. Before the time of was the first to take action against this cowardice and
Gehenna, she must hone her skills through contest and began recruiting others to their cause
battle with the servantsof the Antediluvians,the Camarilla At the same time, a group of Tzimisce conspirators
infidels. was experimenting with rituals designed to break their
The Sabbat preach freedom from the ruling fist of Blood Bonds and free them from the whims and passions
elder vampires. The sect was founded on the principle that of their elders. Their experiments led to the discovery that
no vampire should be forced to die for the cowardice of by mixing the blood of all in the group and then allowing
those who created him. The idea of the Vinculum, a each member to consume some of the liquid, they could
shared Blood Bond, is that it will create loyalty among all form a Blood Bond potent enough to render all previous
vampires of the sect and inspire them to unify in times of Bonds ineffective and create a new, stronger Blood Bond
trouble and destroy the enemy. Participation in the Vin- among themselves.
culum also prevents one vampire from being secretly Grown soft from easy living, the elders of this age had
Bonded only to another. Like the Catholics they parody, created progeny freely in order to have loyal servants and
the Sabbat see the ritual of Vaulderie, in which all partici- compliant companions. The childer began to suspect that
pants spill some of their blood into a chalice and then perhaps their generous sires were actually attempting to
drinkfromit, as asortofvampiriccommunionwithCaine. create a brood of weaker vampires so that when they tired
Each Sabbat vampire is raised believing he is superior of mortal blood or reached the stage when it would no
to all others of the race. Any vampire who is not Sabbat is longer provide them with nutrition, they would have
not as good, strong, brave or cunning as those who are. more than enough of their own kind to feed upon.
Therefore, each neonate is encouraged to develop his will As the Sabbat was forming, the Camarilla was also
so that it may strengthen him in battle. Freedom, as the coming into being. Their purpose was to forge an alliance
Sabbat see it, can mean many things, but focusesprimarily among those persecuted by the Inquisition and, hopefully,
on being liberated from the influence of cowards who hide protect them all from future assaults. The Masquerade was
behind masks of humanity and who will not embrace their created to hide the existence of Kindred society from the
true natures. They hold to the concept that each vampire prying eyes of the church and to give the Camarilla a code
should do what her instincts tell her and enjoy hervampiric of traditions to obey in the name of unity. Instead of facing
existence as fully as she can. the reality of their history, however, they ignored it. They
The Paths of Enlightenment (detailed later) de- shunned Sabbat theories of Antediluvian vampires rising
scribe, to an extent, how each vampire views freedom and from torpor to enslave and consume their childer, prefer-
loyalty, along with his vampire nature. Sabbat have no ring to ignore or forget that such things might be. In the
humanity, so the Paths are essential to character forma- Camarilla’s attempts to retain their humanity, they also
tion, as they provide the moral code by which the vampire retained humanity’s flaws. The Sabbat could not respect
lives. Freedom and loyalty can be taken in many directions the morality ofhiding behind the Masqueradeand waiting
and usually are. Most packs have common ideas of how to be destroyed by the sleeping Antediluvians, so they
these two principles function, and many share similar vowed themselves the enemies of the Camarilla and began
Paths, clans and political factions. plans for the infidel sect’s destruction.
The importance of Sabbat ideologycannot be stressed The rebel sect named itself Sabbat as a reminder of its
enough. The indoctrination is extremely thorough, and origins in the Inquisition. It was a name which, at that
any who refuse to subscribe are annihilated. Without an time, expressed the essence of rebellion and served to
understanding of these principles and the upcoming dis- honor those who were destroyed because of their elders’
cussion of Sabbat society, players will not be prepared to betrayal. Sabbat vampires to this day call themselves
undertake the task of playing a successful Sabbat pack. “vampires”and will not stoop so low as to refer to them-
selves as “Kindred.”
 CurrentGoals of the Sect I I

At present, the Sabbat continues to plan and raise SabbatLessonsFrom the Past
sieges against Camarilla-held cities in hopes of spreading Do not allow yourself to be bullied by your
their dominion and word of the truth. It is a Sabbat belief elders if they are acting out of cowardice or fear.
that anyone who is not serving the Sabbat is serving the Do not trust anyone who does not believe in
Antediluvians and must be converted or destroyed. The the truth about the Antediluvian threat.
sect does not maintain strong ties in the mortal world, Increase your strength at every opportunity.
since they see kine as useful for only one thing: food. The
Elder blood is best used by the young.
sect has some control over mortal affairs in the cities they
All elders are secretly preparing to destroy
hold, but leave such machinations up to their servants
all vampire youth to support their own treacherous
among the four revenant ghoul families.
unlives.
The Sabbat’s primary goals include destruction of
Camarilla elders, Methuselahs and Antediluvians. They I I
often create and train packs solely for search and destroy cause they see them trying to manipulate the younger
missions. It is assumed by all Sabbat that the Antediluvians vampires for their own purposes. The Sabbat is unwilling
are completely insane and extremely dangerous. They to concede that age and comfort are superior to strength
cannot be reasoned with (or tortured or bullied) and made and skill. As members of the Sabbat age, they are either
to see the error of their ways. They must be slaughtered. slain in the Jyhad (a noble death) or go mad.
There is no other alternative. The Sabbat will generally
Some clans within the Sabbat have their own agendas
destroy whatever gets in their way, but may also attempt within the framework of the main philosophy,as do follow-
to use it to their advantage first.
ersofsomePathsofEnlightenment.Inachroniclecontaining
The responsibility of youth to preserve what it deems only Sabbat characters,the potential for political factioning
important and vital to its way of life is one of the principles and manipulation is almost as great as a Camarillagame,but
that propelled the Sabbat into existence. The necessity of with a less intimate approach. Most members of the Sabbat
not allowing age, comfort and greed to override one’s would not be attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of
ideals of justice and truth is essential to the Sabbat their packmates so much as challenging another pack or an
mentality. The younger generations spurn the elders be- archbishop whom they suspect of infernalism or disloyalty.
J
c
- Deviations The Ultra-Conservatives
This faction is mostly comprised of older members of
from the Norm the sect. They see that the time for absolute freedom is
ending and that the sect must stand together as a unified
Political factions within the Sabbat are distinct, but whole in order to win the Jyhad. They believe that within
not dominant. Many members of the Sabbat do not structure there is freedom, the freedom of knowing where
subscribe to any one faction. They believe that political you stand and how much you can accomplish within your
contests of any kind inhibit the freedom of their minds and limitations. Ultra-Conservatives also question their lead-
are one more step to indoctrination like that of the ers, but they follow orders they perceive to be sound. Most
infidels. The Storyteller may or may not choose to incor- Ultra-Conservatives have great respect for the Sabbat
porate these factions into her chronicle, depending on her hierarchy, and many hold positions therein. They follow
story and the desiresof the players. The followinginforma- strong leaders faithfully and try to remove the weak from
tion is intended for use after the players are very familiar power.
with the complexities of the Sabbat and wish to dive in
one step further. It may also aid the Storyteller in setting The Blacknand
the scenario, mood and theme of the story. The Hand, as it is known, is a tight militia within the
Sabbat serving as the sect’s primary assassin pool. If
Sabbat Political Factions someone needs to be taken out, the Black Hand are the
The Loyalists ones to do it. Though the Sabbat Assamites are respon-
This faction is generally made up of the youngest of sible for the maintenance of the Black Hand, other clans
the Sabbat, though certainly not all of them. It believes are represented within their ranks. While they are a
that the old tactics of chaos and complete freedom of will secretive sect within asect, these elite warriors do not exist
should be followed. The Loyalists believe the sect is in packs of their own apart from the rest of the Sabbat.
becoming too structured.They often disobey orders, though The Black Hand comprises a special militia which the
they are frequently punished for it. Mostly Ventrue and leaders of the Sabbat can muster in times of need. Through-
Brujah antitribu, the Loyalists are strong supporters of the out its history, the Hand has always served faithfully.Even
purposes of the sect and have never engaged in activities during the Sabbat Civil War, when the subcult was so
that have caused others to question their loyalty. powerful that they could have taken control from the
The Moderates Lasombra and Tzimisce, they did not. Most Black Hand
Most of the sect belongs to this faction. It holds vampires are called upon to lead assaults against Camarilla-
support from all clans and retains only slightly less power controlled cities or to eliminate threats to the Sabbat,
than the Status Quo, which is populated primarily by either internal or external.
leaders. The moderates believe the sect is gaining in Entry into the Hand is through selection by the
structure, and this concerns them. They sometimes ques- current membership. Candidates are put through a rigor-
tion orders from their leaders although they usually carry ous series of trials to test their martial skills, cunning,
them out. Most Moderates discourage use of the Crusades physical prowess and willpower. Those who pass the trials
(attacks on Camarilla-held cities), opting in favor of are inducted into the Black Hand, which assigns the new
infiltration and other, more subtle techniques. member a mentor to teach him the order’s ways.
The Panders A council of four powerful vampires rules the Black
The Panders (known in the Camarilla as Caitiff) are Hand. They are known as seraphim and act as generals for
a faction unto themselves, though some subscribe to other the order, serving the Regent (the overall leader of the
factions’beliefs. Since they are a minority within the sect Sabbat) directly. They are aided by dominions, lower-
and hold virtually no power whatsoever, their political level leaders. Each vampire within the Hand holds a
philosophy is also rather general. It is the goal of the particular position. These are indicative of specialization,
Panders to gain power and increase clan prestige. They not of rank. They are:
wish to become fully accepted and attain legitimate posi- Raiders - Basic grunts. 80 percent of the Hand are
tions of leadership within the sect. raiders.
T h e Status Quo Rangers - Advance scouts. They are skilled in
This faction wants to keep things the way they are. hunting, tracking and outdoor skills.
They are mostly Lasombra, Tzimisce and Black Hand who Covert Agents - Scouts who infiltrate and gather
see the Sabbat’s current struggles as paying off in obvious information from the enemy camp. They occasionally
rewards and do not wish to change the way the sect assume alternate identities.
operates.
 Removers-Exterminators. They usually work alone, Sabbat characters provide a different look into the
but sometimeswork with teams who get the Remover into psychology of a vampire who espouses qualities other
the area so she can make the kill. vampires are encouraged to suppress. The place where a
Hardwares -Advanced weaponry, small arms and Camarilla character would gain five Beast Traits and go to
explosives experts. Enough said. the Narrator permanently is where the Sabbat vampire
Magicians -Those skilled in Thaumaturgy. Highly begins. It is up to the player how the newly-created
prized and few in number, they are used mostly against monster deals with her unlife and how the violence
Camarilla Tremere. inherent in a collective based on concepts of war can be
Overseers -Unit leaders on field missions who are balanced by the ethics of a Path of Enlightenment.
skilled in tactics. Many of these rise to become dominions. The Sabbat provides a unique opportunity for players
The Black Hand are all marked by a black crescent to expand their imaginations, but acertain amount of time
moon which is magically branded into the palm of their and commitment to the understanding of the sect is
right hands. They support the Status Quo and lean toward necessary for the game to work. Playing a Sabbat character
the Ultra-Conservatives, but they are rumored to be is about roleplaying with a team, not individual power
fighting the power of the Sabbat Inquisition (which works gain. A character’s lack of humanity is not an excuse to kill
to stamp out the practitioners of the Path of Evil Revela- indiscriminately; it is a release from the mortal morality
tions). This may be politically motivated, or they may surrounding the vampire’s predatory nature. Playing the
have something to hide. In any case, recent rumors have Sabbat requires a commitment to viewing your character
surfaced which indicate that the Black Hand may be more as one of the great heroes, one of the chosen saviors of the
than it seems. Such rumors are whispered, however, for vampiric race. Without this internal commitment, the
rumormongers have a way of disappearing permanently Sabbat become nothing more than the vicious and dis-
when the Black Hand is involved. gusting monsters the Camarilla claims they are.
If you want an easy-to-understand character who is
RoleplayingThe Sabbat only out for himself, the Sabbat might be something to
save for a later date. If you want a character with higher
The Sabbat is not for beginners. Not only must goals than personal power and the chance to become part
Storytellers and players understand certain things about of a tight pack of immortals bound for glory and destined
both the Sabbat and the Camarilla, but the mechanics of for destruction, fighting their way to a world they believe
the game become more complex to suit the needs of this to be free of threat and ripe for feeding, the Sabbat might
advanced style of play. Sabbat characters live by an be just the thing for you.
ideology of survival infinitely more complex than that
arranged for the Camarilla in terms of the Traditions. Not
only is there a regulated set of laws within the sect, but the
RunningWith the Pack
player must also be able to balance within herself the Almost all Sabbat vampires are members of a pack.
conflicting ideas of loyalty and freedom. Some packs are very small, with as few as three members;
In order to successfully play Sabbat, players must fully others are very large, with upwards of 20 vampires. There
comprehend the responsibilities of the Vinculum, the is an enormous difference in being a member of a coterie
Paths of Enlightenment and the ideology which supports and being a member of a pack. A coterie is a group of
the sect and its goals. Every member of the sect has some vampires who profess allegiance to each other and agree to
understanding of their history and goals. work toward similar goals. A pack is not a political group.
It is not an agreed alliance. No child chooses her parents;
Vampires within the Sabbat generally operate in
no Sabbat member chooses his pack.
packs, the group in which they live and hunt. There are
very specific roles within each pack that need to be filled, The pack is a natural organization among wild hunt-
such as leader, priest, abbot and the like. Each member of ers. Since members of the Sabbat embrace their vampiric
the Sabbat is free to pursue her own will and goals, but the natures and view themselves as the ultimate hunters, it is
survival of the pack is primary. The player has an oppor- no surprise that they enforce the natural symbiosisof pack
tunity toplay aspart ofa team that has strong bonds oftrust existence. Those with more experience are consulted by
and loyalty along with its own set of personality conflicts the youth in order to gain skills, knowledge and thereby
and squabbles. The morale of the pack is vital to the wisdom. A pack is a combination of family, military unit
dynamic of play because it enhances the feeling of playing and religious cult, and each develops its own rituals, bonds
as a group and operating within a structure in which you and habits. Each pack is a completely unique structure
are a unique part. providing variations on the sect’s main theme. Usually, a
vampire’s pack is responsible for her enlightenment into
darkness and her current position at the top of the food
 Drinking the blood of another vampire is the most
intimate activity in the life of a vampire. Members of the
Sabbat engage in this practice with several vampires on a
nightly basis. This creates groups that are very tightly knit,
often learning to work and fight as a whole. In some cases,
an almost telepathic bond forms between packmates, just
as it does between close mortal friends. Many vampires
develop a craving for the blood of those in their packs.
This is not a hostile craving; it simply illustrates the kind
of dependencies that can form among members of a pack.
A pack that fights and is in earnest conflict with itself is an
exception. Most pack leaders have unquestioning loyalty
from their packmates simply because they know beyond a
shadow of a doubt that their leader will sacrifice her unlife
for their safety and survival. The emotional ties among
packmates are extremely strong, and most will not tolerate
slights or insults from outsiders even within the sect.
The Sabbat itself is a collective born of war and
dedicated to survival. This survival can only come to pass
through victory in an even more dangerous war than that
which sprang from the original Inquisition. In order to
fortify itself against the threat of the Ancients, the Sabbat
is creating an army ofwarriorswho, over time, will become
stronger and more cunning than any vampiric kind before
them. The Sabbat uses the natural pattern of predators
running in packs to encourage the strength and morale of
its army and prepare itself for the ultimate holy war against
chain. Pack members are often nicknamed appropriately the Antediluvians. The pack creates, through the nightly
as they prove to be good at one thing or another. The interdependence of group lifestyle, a bond, a pride and a
privilege of bestowing a nickname, or pack name, belongs sense of responsibility for one another that could be
to the individual who brought the vampire to the truth. achieved no other way.
Commonly, the privilege belongs to the vampire’s sire or,
if the vampire was converted, to the pack leader or a Warriors Within
person of the pack leader’schoosing. This pack name then Members of the Sabbat are reduced to insane mon-
becomes the only name by which the vampire is known. sters completelypossessed by the Beast during the Creation
Vampires have changed packs from time to time. This Rites in order to teach each warrior what it feels like to be
is usually the result of the rest of the pack being slaughtered, consumed by one’s inner nature. They are then taught
but it has been known to happen voluntarily. It must be Paths and self-control in order to add a layer of cunning to
noted, however, that most who leave their packs to join a a state as violent, passionate and abandoned as frenzy.
different one are usually reported missing in action within Frenzy is a taste of the power of war and a toast to the true
a week or two and never seen or heard from again. The warrior within. The Sabbat hopes to win the Jyhad through
Sabbat preaches freedom,but it also preaches loyalty. Most dominance and strength. A chain is only as strong as its
believe that personal freedom is less important than collec- weakest link, and the Sabbat knows this. From their very
tive loyalty,and those who voluntarily abandon their packs beginning, they have found ways to challenge and test
are viewed as ungrateful to those who raised them and themselves constantly to ensure their readiness when the
taught them the way of the truth. This, in turn, is generally Ancients begin to waken.
viewed as disloyal and the first step to betraying the sect. Every member of the Sabbat is a warrior of one kind
Being a member of a pack carries with it a certain or another. They despise weakness and cowardice because
mind-set for the players involved. The first thing to recog- it will not fortify them for the coming battle. There is no
nize and remember is that disloyalty is the exception rather doubt in the Sabbat consciousness that the supremeJyhad
than the rule. Very few Sabbat can muster true disloyaltyto will come to pass and that they are the saviors of the
their packmates. Though they may fight among themselves species. When the Ancients rise, the Sabbat will be there,
due to conflicts of personality, Path or interest, when it swords drawn and AK 47s ready to destroy their blood
comes down to it, they will defend each other to the death. enemies.
 EarningAlpha: ing place, haven or storage area was compromised, so
beware ye who seek rank. Abbot is usually the first rank
Roles Within The Pack acquired by a Sabbat vampire. It is customary to have an
Pack Leader untried abbot followed by an older, more trusted member
In nature, wolf packs are headed by an alpha, or of the pack to ensure that no mistakes are made.
dominant wolf. It is the responsibility of the alpha in
nature to provide for the needs of the pack and protect it Beyond the Pack
in times of need. It is also the privilege of the alpha animal Above and beyond the pack, there are ranks for
to eat first in order to remain strong, to punish those who governing Sabbat territories.
endanger the pack and to serve as the pack‘s primary Bishop
hunter and protector. It is the same in the Sabbat. When
Just above the pack leader is the rank of bishop.
any given pack member can prove herself stronger and
Bishops serve as advisors to archbishops and oversee sect
more fit to feedandprotect the pack, she takes the position
activities within a certain area.
of leader through the ritual fight of Monomacy. This may
Paladin (also called Templars)
or may not result in the death of the initial challenger or
the current leader, depending on the bonds of Vinculum Paladins are bodyguards and assassins for bishops,
and the mercy of the winner. archbishops and prisci. They are not allowed to be memd
bers of the Black Hand.
Pack Priest
Archbishop
Being the pack priest is an enormous responsibility, as
he is responsiblefor running the rituals and supportingthe The archbishop usually serves as leader of a Sabbat-
spiritual well-being of the entire pack. He is usually an held city, though bishopshave also been known to perform
advisor and mentor, and pack priests are often nicknamed this duty.
“Confessor.”The Sabbat models its hierarchy as a parody Cardinal
of the medieval Catholic church, and ritual is vital to the Above the archbishop is the cardinal, a vampire who
pack‘s nightly living. Ritual provides a moment of respite oversees a very large area such as the East Coast of the
from the Beast and serves to create a stronger group morale United States.
and bonding. Priscus
Lieutenant Rising above the cardinal is the priscus. The Sabbat
The second in command of the pack is often titled prisci advise the Regent and the cardinals.
lieutenant. In times of battle, lieutenants, of which there Regent
are rarely more than two per pack unless the pack is Finally we come to the Regent, who is the true
unusually large (12 or more vampires), lead strike forces commander of the Sabbat. The Regent resides in Mexico
and advise the leader in the areas of strategy and tactics. City, the largest Sabbat stronghold in the world.
During times of rest, they advise the leader in other matters
and serve as bodyguards when necessary. Lieutenants usu- The Reality of Rank
ally feed primarily off the leader who hunts first. Other Ranks within the Sabbat often overlap. The pack
pack members may then be allowed to feed off the lieuten- leader might also serve as priest. A bishop might be a pack
ants. This reduces the amount of carnage left by the pack leader. A pack priest may earn the rank of bishop without
per night as well as heightening the bonds of the pack. The ever having led a pack (rare, but possible). A lieutenant
term “bodyguard” is used loosely when dealing with the could occasionallyhold the simultaneousresponsibility of
regular pack unit because, ideally, the pack protects each abbot. In fact, most everyone who holds any rank at all
other and collectively watches each other’s backs. Once a within the sect has served some time as abbot. The abbot
vampire has proven herself True Sabbat, all are viewed as or lieutenant might also be the pack priest or, if the pack
equal, with certain respects being paid to expertise. leader is a bishop or archbishop, the lieutenant may serve
Abbot as his templar.
It is the duty of the abbot to provide safe havens for Some of the informal roles adopted by pack members
the pack and to locate safe storage places for weapons, depending on the purpose and goals of the pack include
prisoners and the like. In live-action, abbots can be interrogator, torturer, recruiter and weapons technician.
especially useful in finding secure places to meet. The Leader, priest, lieutenant and abbot are the primary ranks
privileges of abbot involve more time away from the rest within every pack structure. The other titles are more
of the pack, thus the opportunity to hunt independently oriented towards who is good at what and will depend on
and acquire new information about the movements and what type of action is necessary at the time. There could
plans of others. A few abbots have been found locked in easily be an entire pack of torturers or recruiters, depend-
Tzimisce torture chambers for weeks after a Sabbat meet- ing on the needs of the story and the players.
 Determining Pack Morale The Sabbat has one advantage when infiltrating the
Camarilla: If they don’t break the Masquerade or use
Because of the hive nature of most packs and the
Vicissitude in front of the prince, no one will suspect
interdependence found among members of the same pack,
them. Any Sabbat member who puts on a nice suit or
it is important to understand the vitality that group
conservative dress and speaks politely will probably not
morale has and perceive its effects. In the table-top ver-
come under suspicion until events begin to point to him.
sion of this game, Sabbat members roll dice to determine
Subtlety is the key to infiltration, regardless of the tactic.
whether or not their morale remains good even in times of
stress. For example, if a pack is being attacked and the Mistaken Identity
leader runs away, the rest of the pack will most likely
This tactic involves the kidnapping of a Camarilla
follow. If the pack is being attacked and the priest is
vampire and the Sabbat vampire assuming her identity. It
screaming war-cries of success, the rest of the pack will
takes some time and care to pull off, since extensive use of
probably join in. Pack members feel like they are members
Dominate and questioning are necessary to acquire the
of a very special and private group, and when one falls, the
bulk of information the Sabbat member will need to seem
others may either grow angry and gain courage or become
like the genuine article. The advantage is, no one is
fearful and lose courage.
immediately going to be suspicious until he makes his first
Pack morale usually comes from the roleplaying. If a
mistake. The Sabbat chooses its vampire infiltrators care-
system is needed, the following is quite effective: When
fully when using this tactic; one mistake on a matter of no
the pack is involved in a group combat of any kind and the
seeming importance could ruin the mission. In any case,
rest of the pack notices one member losing a challenge,
after the questioning is complete, the Sabbat spy is care-
each pack member player must engage in a Simple Test
fully fleshcrafted to be identical to the other vampire. The
with any nearby individual. If the majority of the pack
Sabbat spy must practice the other vampire’s speech
wins the test, the morale will remain high, and the pack
patterns and typical inflection to make his voice identical
should engage in action to defend their brother or sister.
as well. The spy himself is often allowed to put the subject
If the majority of the pack loses, they will either run or get
under personal experiments and scrutiny in order to dis-
out of the situation as quickly as they can. Just as one picks
cover how he reacts in situations of panic, such as frenzy
up feelings of fear and intimidation from one’s close
or Rotschreck, or how his sire takes his tea.
friends and family, so do the Sabbat from their packmates.
The Sabbat tries to be as thorough as they can with this
If morale remains high, the pack might throw themselves
a Blood Feast in congratulations. If they have lost morale, process because it is so involved. Often the spy is Domi-
the pack leader will force them to perform a ritual, go on nated (Intermediate level -Mesmerism) to call a specific
a hunt together or do something to reaffirm themselves. number at a specific time or to identify another sect spy by
the use of a code word or phrase which they will not recall
Many Sabbat games and rituals (see Sabbat Rituals sec-
tion) are excellent for this purpose. until they hear it. The spy also often goes through a period
of estrangement from her pack, where she is fed pack blood
Sabbat Tactics nightly, relents to Dominate or is hypnotized repeatedly
until even under extreme mental probing, she would be
of Infiltration unable to confess she is Sabbat. This mental conditioning
must be performed with care so as not to injure the mind of
One of the primary ways the Sabbat works to corrupt the Sabbat agent and to be sure she retainsknowledgeof her
and destroy the Camarilla is through infiltration. This is mission. It is almost alwaysoverseen by acardinal or priscus.
usually carried out in several steps and is one of the most
effective ways of attracting recruits as well as ruining Introduction
already established coteries, business deals and mortal In this method, the Sabbat agent waltzes right in to
relations. It is a wonderful way to use an antagonist - the prince’s chambers and announces herself as a loyal
especially in a murder mystery style story, where the “one Camarilla member. This requires little preparation, but
who done it” is among the assembled group, all of whom back-up is nice, just in case.
had formerly appeared to be allies. It is also a great way to
keep a chronicle running with a consistent antagonist Kill Thief
who, at the end of four or five separate stories proves to be This tactic is used when the Sabbat intercepts a foreign
the influencing evil. This ends the chronicle with a bang vampire traveling to a specific city and quickly uses Vicis-
and an enormous adrenaline rush as the characters finally situde to mirror him in appearance while hoping for the best
get the bad guy whom they mistakenly trusted all along. as far as personality goes. It is most often used to disseminate
The world of the Camarilla is a corrupt one; why not make false information and forged documents, and to start fights,
the best of all of your story options? rivalriesand all-out wars between the clans of the Camarilla.
 A I I A

Injured Kindred alone with no one to take care of her ... blah blah blah.
The idea is to infiltrate with one who has been Dominated
This particularly cruel method of infiltration is the
to genuinely believe the story she tells. The Sabbat usually
Sabbat’sway of suckering the Camarilla, counting on the
picks helpless-looking,attractive teenagers for these kinds
Kindred’s humanity to be their downfall. A pack will
of infiltrations. They do not like to rely on mortals either,
either expose one of its members to a fight with a Lupine
so the infiltrators are usually Dominated and given the
(waiting until their packmate is nearly incapacitated
suggestion to acquire a specific piece of information,
before joining the fight), or the pack itself will inflict the
jewelry, book or some such once she has been accepted. If
damage using the most cruel ways of wounding they can
true indoctrination has been achieved, the ghoul then
find. Sometimes they set this up to happen in front of a
returns to the Sabbat with the item in question.
group of Camarilla with all but the victim having changed
faces. The victim/agent is then left to be found by the
Camarilla and hence “rescued.”At least one pack member Sabbat Hijinks
will usually stick around to make sure the rescue goes okay Here is a list of some of the Sabbat’s favorite ways to
and to follow the infidels to the place where the agent is cause trouble for the Camarilla.
going to be kept and treated. The agent then befriends the
Camarilla vampires and proceeds to do as planned: assas- Dominated Flunky
sination, stealing documents, setting bugs, recruiting the The Sabbat either makes a vampire or Dominates a
prince’s progeny or whatever. This method has been fairly new one to attack whomever they are with on a word
effective in the past as a way of reintroducing a vampire or phrase cue. This can be a wonderful Masquerade-
who had been kidnapped and replaced as in the first tactic. breaker and a great way to distract important vampires
from their urgent business. It’s is a particularly popular
Convinced Ghoul thing to do with primogen progeny.
This tactic is used when a vampire in the Sabbat
creates a ghoul and tells her she is someone else. The ghoul Vulnerable Hunter
will then believe she is, for example, the servant of the In this little game, Sabbat members grab a mortal off
fifth generation Camarilla Caitiff, Doreen, but her mis- the street and convince him vampires are real. They then
tress has just been killed by hunters, and now she is all arm the person with stakes or large firearms and show him
s
who to go after. They usually say they will be there to back
him up or that he is only their back-up. They convince the
mortal that what he has to do is vital to the world’s survival.
Sabbat SecurityTactics
I’d rather die than
give you control.
Armed Madman -Nine Inch Nails, “Head Like A Hole”
Sabbat Malkavians love to give the gift of madness Every Sabbat member realizes that if the Camarilla
and do so whenever they find those who are worthy. If they gets hold of the secret information the sect protects, it
happen to find such an individual on the night of say, a could be a major catastrophe - partially or completely
Toreador event, they will often drive him completely destroying everything the sect has tried over hundreds of
mad, arm him and then send him in to make trouble. years to create. It is uncertain how many of the Camarilla
Sometimes the Malkavians will use Cloak the Gathering elders are directly serving the Antediluvians. Therefore, it
to sneak the intruder into the party before releasing him. must be assumed they all are. All Sabbat, regardless of
their differences of opinion regarding violence, conver-
UPS/Fed Ex Surprise sion, ritual and the like, will defend the secrets of the sect
The classic messenger with gun scenario. with their unlives.
The few who have survived Camarilla questioning in
Child Abuse the past and returned to the Sabbat have met with most
The Sabbat uses Dominate to convince kids to throw unpleasant fates. It is assumed that they bought their
rocks through Elysium windows, spray-paint Masquerade- unlives by selling out. Not only did they divulge informa-
breaking graffiti on haven walls or vampire-owned cars, etc. tion that could destroy the sect’s purposes, but they
This tactic is very annoying and troublesome because most endangered the lives of those to whom they are Blood
Camarilla vampires can’t really bring themselves to punish Bonded. If the sect fails in its goals, they believe, all
children, regardless of the damage they do. It can be a vampires will be destroyed upon the awakening of the
wonderfuldistraction for a kidnapping orothercrime, as well Ancients. Thus, endangering the saviors of the race by
as a way of insulting, humiliating and/or framing the enemy. revealing secret information is unquestionably a crime
warranting Final Death. If your Sabbat judge doesn’t kill
City Trouble you, the Wild Hunt or the Black Hand will.
This is extremely funny to most Sabbat, especially In dire circumstances, therefore, the following be-
when they can time it to coincide with the arrival of some haviors are fully condoned:
out-of-town primogen or a Justicar. The object of this
Gouging out of one’s own eyes (to prevent falling
escapade is to make the prince and the other vampires in
victim to Dominate).
the city look like complete idiots. The impression desired
is that they have absolutely no control over their territory. Provoking Final Death by attacking the enemy
(Even if you die, the secrets of the sect must be defended
Anywhere from one to three Sabbat packs converge on a
Camarilla city one or two nights before the arrival and and guarded).
learn their way around. O n the night in question, they Final Death in any form.
begin wreaking havoc. A partial list of some of their antics: Revealing yourself as Sabbat just prior to Final
release all of the animals from the pound, sabotage city Death (Just for that extra dig).
buses with tear gas, cause blackouts, destroy computer Running away, but only if by doing so you preserve
systems, Dominate mortals to commit crimes, cause car a current infiltration or plot.
wrecks, call in bomb scares, set people on fire, set cars on
fire, set public buildings on fire, set other vampires on fire, The Idiot’s Guide
run through the streets busting open all fire hydrants, to CompromisingInformation
disconnect traffic lights, dig up sections of main roads with What does the sect consider a security compromise?
hot-wired construction trucks, exchange street signs, play
Sabbat blood being in the hands of anynon-Sabbat.
Cowboys and Indians and just about anything else that
This includes diablerie (Those who diablerize Sabbat
would cause trouble and give them a good laugh.
vampires can count on being on the top of the Black
All of the above ideas are good plot initiators or Hand’s hit list as well as being the target of the next War
random distractions to heighten tension. Most of them do Party by the pack to whom the victim belonged).
not require much preplanning and can be great game-
The revealing of any information regarding the
savers if things are not proving as exciting as you had
rituals practiced by the sect, especially the Vaulderie.
hoped or the players need a boost to jump-start them into
Names of other sect members in non-sect hands.
character. Victims of the above crimes are excellent
Messenger or Minor type Narrator characters. True goals of the sect, particularly immediate goals,
revealed to those not of the sect.
 Anything and everything that might even slightly endurance of the warriors involved. I t has also been the
alert an outsider to a truth about the sect. Lies are fine, but warrior’s right throughout history to be blessed before \ - -4
truth is completely unacceptable. battle and celebrated upon return. The Sabbat observes
Those who fail to defend the sect will be severely this custom and encourages it through use of various kinds
punished, if not (and this is far more likely) completely of ritual.
destroyed. Ritual is an important element in the Sabbat mind-
set in a live-action situation. A well-run ritual serves to get

SabbatRituals all of the players into character and jump-start all of the
characters onto the same wavelength. Ritual can provide
a moment of quiet in the midst of chaos and allow the
UsingRituals in a characters to prepare for battle or any potentially stressful
or life-threatening event. Ritual can give the lone infiltra-
Mind’s Eye Theatresetting tor a sense ofwho she is out to protect and why keeping the
sect’s secrets and defending the sect is so important.
The Sabbat is distantly related to medieval Catholi-
Roleplaying rituals requires a commitment from the
cism in the form of parody, sometimes viciously so.
players. Sometimes people talk or get silly during the
Catholicism has, from its beginnings, been swathed in
passing of the Vaulderie chalice. If, however, the players
ritual -from baptism to the giving of Holy Communion
are willing to really involve themselves in the lives of their
to the last rites. To this day it is not uncommon for Sabbat
characters one more step, the intensity and experience of
priests to read the last rites over the bodies being drained
ritual in play can greatly enrich the roleplaying for every.
by their fellow pack members during the Creation Rites.
one involved. All of the Sabbat rituals are either parodies
Many still read them in Latin (whether they understand
of those found in the Catholic church or they are fictional.
them in Latin or not is an entirely different matter).
No ritual has the potential to harm anyone for real. Many
The Sabbat places great importance in its rituals since
of them are designed to test the character’s abilities, but
they serve both to bolster morale and to teach the sect’s they are in no way intended to do so for the players.
doctrine. Many packs possess more than one ritual freak
There is a very spiritual side to the Sabbat, perverse at
and spend many nights performing and creating more
it may seem. They have created a culture that must nurture
rituals. Rituals within the Sabbat are also tests. Many were
strength, independence, freedom and loyalty. Spiritually
created for the sole purpose of testing the strength and

I
speaking, each character in the Sabbat must find a way to
survive without any humanity. They are hunters who
depend on their instincts to guide them. Many people
Kinds of Rituals
choose to play Sabbat characters as mindless brutes who The rituals of the Sabbat can be divided into three
kill, maim and destroy with no apparent conscience or basic groups: the Auctoritas Rim,the Ignoblis R i m and the
reason. That’s perfectly fine. What these players are de- customs of each particular pack. The Auctoritas Rim are
priving themselves of though, is the richer, deeper very traditional and are practiced by all Sabbat. The
awareness the Sabbat possesses. Ignoblis Rim are practiced indifferent ways by most packs,
depending on their particular goals and make-up at the
Each member of the Sabbat undergoes what people in
time. Each pack also develops their own customs which
our current society no longer have the advantage of
often take ritual forms and change with the times.
experiencing.Throughout history there have been rites of
passage for young people to bring them undoubtedly into
the world of the adult. With only a few exceptions, such Auctoitas R!tae
as a bar mitzvah or the Quificeara, hardly anyone experi- These are some of the Auctoritas Rim which are most
ences anything even close to a rite of passage in Western useful in Masquerade games.
culture today. We may go through a high school or college
graduation, but that is impersonal at best. The Creation Rites
At their creation, recruits of the Sabbat are brought These are the series of rituals used to convert and
into a group that nurtures them to make them strong and Embrace new vampires into the sect. For more informa-
willing to fight. But it is not violence without reason. Each tion and rules, see the section on Creation Rites later in
time a Sabbat member gains a new ability or overcomes a this chapter.
new threat or obstacle, the pack celebrates and makes the
neonate aware of her accomplishment.They punish wrong- The Vaulderie
doing with equal enthusiasm. Society today has lost many Perhaps the most important of the Auctoritas Rim,
of our cultural rituals in favor of technology, and the this is the ritual on which the Sabbat was founded. In the
Sabbat allows us to return to some of those instincts we Vaulderie, each vampire sheds some of her blood into a
have forgotten we possess. chalice. Once the blood has mixed together with the
blood of all present, the chalice is passed around a second
time for all to drink from. This ritual initiates and main-
Games of Instinct
tains the collective Blood Bond (known as the Vinculum) The Games of Instinct are the equivalent of vampiric
that the Sabbat maintain with each other. Rules for the Olympics and involve tests of strength, agility, wits, per-
Vaulderie and for Vinculum can be found later in this ception and stamina to see which vampiresare the strongest.
chapter. They are not always formal and are often played when the
vampires have nothing else to do. Each pack creates its
Monomacy own games as a means of testing their hunting ability,
resistance to pain, fighting prowess, bravery or wit. The
Monomacy is a ritual fight (usually to Final Death)
games are intended as competitions, and betting on the
used by the Sabbat to settle disputes. Most of these
winners is a minor game in and of itself.
disputes concern who should be leader of the pack at a
given time. Many vampires are diablerized during this
ritual either by the winner or someone the winner chooses IgnoblisRitae
if the blood is not useful to him personally.Unless rules are These rituals mutate and change with each pack who
established at the beginning of the fight, it is generally performs them.
understood to be open for anything as long as only the two
involved actuallyfight. If one is discovered to have outside Acceptance Rites
aid, the pack will kill them both for the principle of the This ritual is used by a pack to accept a new leader or
thing. priest or to welcome a recruit to her new standing as True
Sabbat. It should be used to award Status Traits within a
Sermons of Caine pack. The mechanics of the ritual usually consist of the
These are rituals led by the clergy and preached to the pack priest or leader reading a brief bit from the Book of
gathered pack. Catholic Masses are often bastardized for Nod about raising one’s standing and becoming closer to
format while the actual sermon comes from the Book of Caine. The individual for whom the ritual is being per-
Nod. Legends and history of Caine and his vampiric formed is usually required to kneel in the center of a circle
legacy are very important to Sabbat ideology, and these of her packmates and have a chalice of their blood touched
sermons are used to direct the focus of the sect and remind once to each shoulder. It is with this dubbing that Status
all members of their origins and destiny as the world’s is bestowed. Blood is usually rubbed on the forehead of the
ultimate hunters and the saviors of the race. Sermons of vampire as well and is not to be removed until it wears off.
Caine are always followed by the Vaulderie. The Vaulderie is then performed. If the vampire at the
center of the ritual is becoming the pack leader, she should
War Parties hunt for the pack before the ritual to show her willingness
This is a wonderful ritual for a Sabbat-only Masquer- and ability to provide for them.
ade story because it involves two or more packs who all go
on the warpath to acquire the blood of a Camarilla elder. Initiation Rites
The contest is in seeingwho can get him first. Most Sabbat These usually occur a couple of weeks after the
go all-out during War Parties; war paint and rituals of Creation Rites. At this time, the pack reveals the truth
blessing before and after are common. about their sect identity and performs a small ritual wel-
coming the fledgling into the sect. It is explained to her
Wild Hunt that she will have to prove herself by trial or in battle with
The Wild Hunt is the Sabbat version of the Blood the infidels. This ritual is often performed by the priest
Hunt. Anyone who has committed a seriousenough crime alone, depending on the time and duties of the pack. The
may be hunted. Wild Hunts are generally called by arch- entire pack is not required to attend.
bishops, but packs have been known to spread the word on
their own (although the members are usually severely Welcome and Farewell Rites
beaten and otherwise punished later). This ritual is used These rites are used to greet and bid farewell to fellow
primarily to hunt down vampires who have leaked serious Sabbat entering or leaving a city. Often a party of sorts is
information to the Camarilla or other outsiders. The fun thrown with a Blood Feast of mortals on tap. The Vaulderie
thing about the Wild Hunt is that all those who may may be performed, and all priests and leaders are required
possess the knowledge are targeted. to say a few words in welcome or in farewell praise of their
brethren. Any others who wish to speak are also welcome.
It is common for each vampire in attendance to present
themselves to every other and either offer their name and
place of origin or a few words of farewell.

85
 Fun and Games
Sabbat games are fun for livening up a game that Headbanging
is a bit slow and for serving as starting events in an all-
This game involves Sabbat members going into
Sabbat chronicle. Creating a situation in which the
clubs, particularly ones with mosh pits, and allowing
pack is just out to play one of the games and ends up
themselves to frenzy. Anyone they wish to drink from
encountering something entirely unexpected (the
must be challenged, either Socially or Physically,
antagonist) can be a very effective use of Storyteller
depending on the willingness of the victim to be
resources as well as giving an exciting, immediate start
drunk from. Note: this one gets tough if you don’t
to the game. When running an all-Sabbat chronicle, a
have a club setting with mortal and/or supernatural
key factor to success is to encourage the players to play
creatures (i.e. other players), to populate it.
as a team right from the start. Sabbat games can be a
great help in doing that. Cowboys and Indians
These are some of the games that are universally
Sabbat members costume themselves like cow-
popular with the sect. When they go, they go all-out,
boys and Indians and hunt each other publicly. They
and the Masquerade does not slow them down at all. If
shoot with real bullets, and if someone needs to take
anything, many are designed to break the Masquerade,
time out to heal herself, this is always allowed. This
annoy the Camarilla and have a load of fun.
game is particularly popular among the sect, and
Dueling With the Enemy almost all find it incredibly fun.

This involves a Sabbat member challenging an Football

anarch to a duel just for fun. The characters involved
This is your average game of backyard football.
should set their own rules and both be prepared for
The trouble starts when the brutality goes far beyond
what could become disastrous if a Final Death occurs.
human capacities and the vampires attract attention
Sabbat fighters do this to test their enemies as well as
from others of their race (or other races), or when
to prove their own strength. Players should remind
twenty cop cars show up.
themselves in character that the characters do this for
fun, not to start wars. If someone were to die, any Fox Hunt
self-respecting Sabbat or anarch would assume the
The Sabbat capture a Lupine and taunt him to
other person cheated and undoubtedly seek revenge.
the verge of frenzy. Then they release him into the
Trick or Treat city and hunt him down themselves. The Lupine is
always given a head start. Games like the fox hunt are
Sabbat members, when hungry or bored, often go
good for initiating the action of a game, but the
door-to-door trick or treating. If they are not given
Lupine ought to be set up as an antagonist or a
candy or something else a bit more useful (watches,
Narrator character. Dooming other players’ charac-
money, jewelry), they sneak inside and “trick” the
ters to certain death can be pretty cruel.
people by drinking their blood. Social as well as Physi-
cal Challenges can come into play during this game.
I H
Blessings
- and frequent undertakings in the Sabbat because of their
superstitious and ritual-dependent culture. Most pack
Blessings can be used at any time to bless the pack or
members secretly look forward to blessings because they
an individual who has a specific quest. They usually occur
are just about the only moments of peace and quiet a
before fights, invading enemy territory and going after a
Sabbat vampire gets.
desired object or individual. Blessings often occur during
the Vaulderie since blood is required. Each pack member Cali to Caine
traditionally kneels before the priest and asks for blessing
This is a speech asking the guidance and protection of
thus: “Will you bless me in my task of-!”
Caine in an upcoming mission. Calls to Caine are usually
As the priest presses a finger or thumb print of blood parts of other rituals, and each pack member gets a turn
onto the third eye region of the forehead or sprinkles some
making the call.
blood over the vampire’s head, she replies, “Caine hears
your call, and you are blessed.” Blessings are very serious
 Confession Sunrise Service
This rite is opened like a traditional service or Ser- Initiated by the most egotistical or insane Sabbat, this
mon of Caine. Then the priest asks which of her brothers test of bravery calls for all to participate in a blessing or
and sisters would care to confess their sins in the eyes of all Call to Caine and then wait for sunrise to see who can
present and in the name and honor of Caine. Those who brave it the longest. Unfortunately, many Sabbat end up
wish to may do so. The pack spends a good bit of this dead.
confession time teasing and cheering for themselves. It
becomes more of a bragging contest than anything else. Rituals of Justice
Sometimes fires are built and mortals brought to listen. These are rituals the Sabbat isn’t supposed to perform
They are used as snacks after everyone who wants a without a bunch of officials,but most packs do anyway. No
confessionhas had one. The priest asks, “Who among you punishment in the Sabbat is dealt without some ritual to
is brave enough to take Holy Communion and atone for help intimidate the accused. Often the pack will gather in
your sins?”- at which point, any mortals present had two lines, and the accused will be bound and laid horizon-
better be ready to meet their own Maker. tal between the lines of his packmates on the floor. He
must then answer seven questions of the pack leader or
Ghost Dance whoever the pack leader allows to ask. At the end of the
This rite is held to honor the dead. It is enacted in seven questions, the pack, still looking down on the
many different ways. One pack may dress all in white, wear accused, will either agree he is guilty and punish him
clown-whitemake-up and drag wheelbarrowsaround while however they see fit, or they will ask another series of 13
knocking on doors and calling, “Bring out your dead! questions. If the accused is determined innocent, the
Bring out your dead!” Another pack may make a bonfire accuser will normally be punished in his place.
and dance while other pack members play drums.

Jyhad Rites
Usingthe Ignobl‘sRitae
The Ignoblis R i m can be used as often or as little as the
This is usually a mock battle ritually enacted by the
players desire. Players should also feel free to make up their
pack to bring luck in the Jyhad. Some pack members play
own. The Storyteller may wish to allow Trait gain in the
the Camarilla, and others play heroes of the Sabbat. It is
form of temporary Traits for the characters after perform-
often followed by a blessing.
ing some rituals. For example, the pack performs a sacrifice
Oaths of Fealty for strength in battle. Each member of the pack receives an
additional Physical Trait for the duration of the antici-
This rite is part of other Sabbat rites, most commonly
pated contest. If the pack is blessed before going on a
the Vaulderie. After passing the chalice or while each
scouting mission into enemy territory, the Ritual may
member holds it in her hands, before she drinks of the
grant them each one additional Social Trait. If the pack
communal blood, each individual will make a promise of
performs a Rite of Loyalty and bonding other than the
loyalty to the pack. She then drinks and passes the chalice.
normal Vaulderie, they may all go up one point in their
Sacrificial Rites Vinculum ratings for each member of the pack. All Traits
gained by ritual use are temporary and last either until the
These are also part of other rites, like the Jyhad rites end of the anticipated event or until they are used. A
or some blessings. A human or Lupine is sacrificed (the vampire who has six Physical Traits and who participates
blood is not drunk by any vampire of the assembly) to in a rite which adds one to her pool, may not, when
bring luck on whatever the pack desires, usually a battle. spending her sole Willpower Trait at the end of the fight
toregain her Traits, reacquire the gift Trait from the ritual.
Pack Creed Once the character uses them, they are gone for good. If a
A short speech about loyalty and preserving the character has any gift Traits left over from one night to the
honor of the pack, this is usually spoken by the leader and next, she must forfeit them.
is generally part of other rituals.
The condition which goes along with these tempo-
Thanksgiving Ritual rary gift Traits is that the pack can’t just say they did it.
They must either roleplay the rite in real time or sit out of
This ritual is used whenever a Sabbat pack is success- game for half an hour. Gift Traits must always be Story-
ful in their quest. It often employs a version of the blessing
teller-approved.
where the priest says, “For what do you wish to thank
Caine?” The vampire will reply appropriately, and the
priest will conclude with, “He hears and is with us.”
’i SpecialPractices
Next, the pack cracks each candidate over the head
with the shovel used to dig the graves to knock them
unconscious. The pack then must dump the bodies into an
The Creation Rites open grave, one for each candidate, and bury them. It
usually takes at least an hour for the candidate to wake and
Kneeling down with broken prayers,
possibly claw their way out of the packed grave. The pack
hearts and bones from days of youth, spends this waiting time engaging in whatever ritual they
Restless with an angel’s wing, choose to effect their own bonding and the anticipation of
I dig a grave to bury you.. . progeny. Bonfires are often built with fire walks ensuing as
released from circles guarded tight, part of the pack‘s morale booster.
Now we all are chosen ones. What is happening in the grave is the loss of humanity
-The Indigo Girls, “Secure Yourself” and cracking of the spirit. Each vampire Embraced by the
The Creation Rites of the Sabbat are different from Sabbat emerges from the grave abandoned by any shred of
any other kind of vampiric ritual. They serve to weed out sanity he once possessed. While in the grave he may have
the weak before they are initiated and to alter the sanity heard voices, seen visions, re-experienced all of the trau-
of the prospective member in order to destroy any human- matic events of his mortal life, been assaulted by the
ity within the candidate’s mental or spiritual reach. The wraith whose grave he is violating, been touched by the
CreationRites are avery specific processwhich the Sabbat dreams of his former clan elder and so on. The result is a
does not regard lightly. It is one of the most significant starving, mindless monster in a state of frenzy that has
events a character can experience. been completely given over to the Beast. Other characters
Physically, the process involves the potential pack cannot Dominate, calm or control the vampire fledgling
bringing the candidate (or candidates) into a graveyard in any way until he has completely filled his Blood Pool.
New Sabbat vampires are in the position of Camarilla
and draining their blood. Once the blood is drained, the
mortal body dies and only one Blood Point from the sire is vampires who have gone into permanent frenzy from the
fed to the candidate. The individual who drains the blood acquisition of five Beast Traits.
will become the sire if the Embracee is mortal or a ghoul. Emerging from the grave is no easy task, and each
If the candidate is another vampire, draining of the blood vampire who experiences it remembers vividly what oc-
is necessary as well, leaving only one point for them to curred. It is extremely painful physically, and wounds are
survive on once in the grave. often incurred in the grave itself. Breaking a fist on an old
skull or being lacerated by a coffin shard are quite com-
mon. Often vampires in the Sabbat are haunted by
nightmares of their Creation Rites throughout their entire
existences.

Creation Rite Systems

Whatever the ritual performed by the pack, they must
all remain out of play (describing the physical and
roleplaying the verbal aspect of the ritual is greatly encour-
aged) until their new whelp makes his test to see if he
makes it out of the grave. This out-of-game period should
last for one hour. If the game itself has been constructed to
last only four to six hours, the Storyteller may feel free to
shorten this time. The important thing is that the players
receive a sense of having been through a ritual and/or an
ordeal to create and initiate their progeny. Fifteen min-
utes is the shortest possible time this ritual should be
allowed to take. The players must remain together (pref-
erably somewhere isolated) and not interact with other
players at all. If they so choose, the roleplaying should
continue through this time.
The new whelp must, at the end of the hour, engage
in a Static Challenge with the Storyteller. The other
players must not see the results out of character. Either
they see the hand emerging from the dirt, or they sit there
wondering why it’s taking the fledglings so long to climb After the Emergence
up. The potential Sabbat must win two out of three Static
Once a vampire has made it out of the grave and fed,
Tests to emerge successfully from the grave. If he wins only
she may have no idea what has occurred. The Paths of
one out of the three, he only gets halfway. The player may,
Enlightenment are vital to the mental recovery of newly
if he loses, proceed to engage in one retest for every
created vampires because it gives them a replacement for
Physical Trait he is willing to spend. He must still win at
their old code of ethics. Their sense of right and wrong was
least two out of three Tests, although they are cumulative.
entirely destroyed in the grave, and the Paths provide a
In other words, if the player loses the original challenge by
simulation of their old humanity. Converted vampires
not winning two out of three Tests, he may proceed to call
will function on their former Beast Traits until they
for retests until he is out of Physical Traits. Even if he
acquire the Path Traits to replace them.
spends four Traits, as long as he wins at least two of the
tests, he may emerge from the grave successfully. The The Vaulderie is performed once all who are going to
Storyteller may feel free to add five minutes extra onto his survive emerge and feed. The first Vaulderie is extremely
time in the grave for every additional retest he takes. It is important to the new Sabbat because it initiates them into
possible for the other characters to dig up the tardy or the ideology of loyalty they will live by for the rest of their
unsuccessful progeny in times of great need, but, without unlives. It is an incredible blood high, leaving all partici-
pants feeling pumped up and ready to take on the
his required time underground (for the retesting progeny)
Antediluvians themselves. Pack morale is high, and ten-
or being dug up at all for the unsuccessful candidate, he
sions between its members are low. I t is a thrilling
will be stark raving mad and completely uncontrollable for
experience for all involved because of the importance the
the remainder of the night.
Sabbat places in its rituals. This is the new ones’first taste
The pack is advised to have some fresh blood on hand
of pack blood, and they’d better respect it!
for the new arrivals, because when they emerge from the
This initial Vaulderie is viewed as a gift rather than
grave they are completely bloodless and mad. They are in
the right it becomes once the vampire is accepted as True
frenzy and must Physically Challenge the first person or
Sabbat. The pack is sharing their valuable blood with
blood source they see. They will not release the blood
those who may be killed in their first battle or never truly
source until they have drained it completely. Freshly
recover from the madness of the grave and have to be
created fledglings have no self-control and 10 Willpower
exterminated. They are still too close to their mortality for
Traits until their Blood Traits have reached its maximum.
the comfort of the pack and are watched closely for at least
Their stats will then return to normal. The pack usually
the first year, if they live that long. Until a new member
provides many previously captured mortal victims from
proves herself as True Sabbat by exterminating one or
whom the whelps may feed.
more infidels in the Jyhad, or, in times of peace (ha!),
Sabbat vampires, thanks to the shock of the Creation
completing whatever task the pack deems fit, she isn’t
Rites, emerge from the grave with one new Derangement
worth much.
caused by some experience they had during their enforced
It is usually the responsibility of the sire to teach the
burial. The Storyteller may wish to describe to the victim
new pack member Disciplines and instruct her in a Path.
some of the events under the earth during the rites and
Instruction takes one half-hour of game time during which
select a Derangement for her. The new player must not be
the sire or teacher and fledglingmust speak uninterrupted.
allowed to choose her Derangement, because she wouldn’t
have any control of what happens to her cracking, blister-
ing mind. I I
Another suggestion is to have a selection of random Watching Out for the New Kid
event cards and allow the player to blindly draw one or
Players with pack leader characters should
more. It could describe anything from an injury to avision
beware of the stigma placed on new progeny,
to a voice screaming in her ears until she emerges. The
because even though they may have a fledgling
Storyteller should be as creative as possible in these event
character with not a lot of experience, they also
cards, because any memories from these rites will have
have a player who wants to be an active partici-
some bearing on how the character changes from one life
pant in the action. Encouraging the new progeny
or sect to the next. The most important thing is that the
to be their sire’s assistant as well as encouraging
Derangements be playable. The Derangement acquired
the sire character to include her progeny in her
during the Creation Rites is not permanent. Once the
activities may help solve this possible exclusion.
character has acquired two Path Traits, the Derangement
The new progeny is amember of the pack now, and
from the Creation Rites will dissolve.
even the lowest on the totem pole need to feel
welcome and included in the group dynamic.

a9
i
I Many packs consider this teaching part of the ritual and
insist on all being in attendance. If the Path of the sire does
not appeal to the progeny, she must petition the others of
their place. The Vaulderie is such a rush, the best feeling
of the Embracees’ existence so far (either vampiric or
mortal), that they have no desire to turn back to their
her pack to teach her instead. Most are willing to teach former ways. The truth has been revealed! The Beast is not
their Path because each Path believes it is the best and the to be fought; it is to be nurtured, cultivated, if you will,
one closest to truth. until the new vampire and the Beast are one symbiotic
In practical terms, the Creation Rites change the organism, each feeding off the needs of the other. Ah,
character permanently. The shock of the abandonment of Sabbat! There is no longer any other way.
humanity as well as the adjustment to being alive after
death (or for an already Embraced vampire, the shock of
ConvertingOthers
enjoying one’s eternity with the Beast) usually leaves a Converting others (Camarilla and vampires without
creature feeling very uncertain. The Vaulderie provides specific sect alliances) into the Sabbat is one of the sect’s
physical and spiritual reassurance. Once a character be- major goals. There is no such thing as a Sabbat-proof
comes Sabbat, there is no going back. Any former Blood vampire. Any vampire can be Embraced into the Sabbat,
Bonds are broken, and a new, more powerful one has taken although some clans are riskier than others. The Sabbat
believes all vampires in the world must either be Sabbat or
be destroyed. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us” is a
Ten QuickandEasy clear and all-consuming point of Sabbat philosophy.
As an action of the antagonist, conversion can be
Steps to the Creation Rites used very subtly to create more tension among the pro-
1. Get the victim to the graveyard. tagonists. It must be controlled though, because the
2. Sire consumes blood (Physical Challenge, if Embrace into the Sabbat often leaves character personali-
necessary. Blood Traits are consumed at the rate of ties completely altered. Their faces may be the same, but
one per round) and feeds only one Blood Trait back once their companions begin to hear their opinions and
to the victim. watch them “forget” about the Masquerade, look out.
3. Unconsciousness is inflicted on the victim In order to convert a member of the Camarilla or any
with the shovel (No other items are acceptable. It othernon-Sabbat vampire, she must first be surprised. The
has to be with a shovel. Tradition says the ritual Creation Rites are sacred, and no one should have any idea
won’t work without one. No one has ever emerged about what is going to happen to her.
from the grave who was hit on the head by anything
other than a shovel).
4. The pack stays together for one hour and
Vaulderie and Vinculum
begins its rituals.
Of all the Amtoritas R i a , the Vaulderie is the most
important ritual the Sabbat practices. In fact, it is essential
5. The victim suffers and acquires one new
to what the sect is, the foundation for Sabbat society and
temporary Derangement.
success. The Vaulderie (the ritual of shared blood) creates
6. A t the end of the hour, the Storyteller a Blood Bond among all participants and breaks any
engages the victim in three successive Static Tests. previous bonds for new members. The feeling the Vaulderie
Two out of three wins for the victim and she is creates is one of fellowship, comfort and intense loyalty. It
home free. If the victim loses, she may retake this raises the morale of the participants and gives them a
test once for every Physical Trait she possesses and tremendous rush. When the combined vitae of your broth-
is willing to spend. Otherwise, she must create ers and sisters hits your lips, it is always better than ever
another character at the discretion of the Story- before, and it is always amazing. Many Sabbat become
teller. addicted to their packs’ blood through the Vaulderie and
7. The new member Physically Challenges the become panicked if a night or two goes by without the rite
first person she sees. This continues until her Blood being performed. The Sabbat does not frown on this kind
Pool is full. of addiction. In fact, they encourage it.
8. Vaulderie. The loyalty created by this bond is far beyond any
9. Teaching, if desired. One half-hour is re- human emotion and therefore, much more profound.
quired to teach Disciplines and Paths. Loyalty is primary to the survival of the Sabbat because it
10. Voila! A new Sabbat character is born. keeps the sect from falling into complete chaos. Sabbat
The player should read the sidebar in this book: “A vampires who survive the Creation Rites and their initial
Word For Those Who Become Sabbat During the trials are creatures of strong will and powerful body.
Game.” Loyalty to each other keeps the competition for power
under control and the sect functioning as a whole. All
vampires who share in the Vaulderie are Blood Bound to A Clarification
each other. Weak bonds are the exception, and with the
frequency with which the Sabbat practices their rituals,
of the Heightened Bond
weak bonds are unlikely to remain so for long. If you participate in the Vaulderie and end up with a
Blood Pool made up of many Blood Traits from other
The Vinculum characters, those you specifically draw become more im-
portant to you. You feel even more drawn to them than
The rules of the Vinculum are described in the usual. This will effectivelyup your rating one notch. Once
simplestterms possible to facilitate ease ofplay. A numeri- your Vinculum rating rises to a certain height, you must
cal definition is not given for Vinculum ratings because a spend Willpower to even plot against the person.
Blood Bond is not done by halves. You either are or you You may not intentionally harm, betray or fail to
aren’t. As vampires in the Sabbat age and perform the defend these individuals. A n agreed Monomacy is the
Vaulderiemore and more, the ties become all the stronger. only exception.
Some Bonds are stronger than others, and not all Sabbat
Erase the numbers on your acquired Blood Traits and
are willing to give their own unlives for every single person
replace them with your own. Note that any Blood Traits
in their pack. On the same note, many are. Members of the
acquired during the Vaulderie are ingested into the other
Sabbat can’t control who they become closer to over the
participants’ blood streams and are not usable against the
years. It just happens. This intensity of bond sometimes
originator for any sort of blood magic or any other rituals.
can result in sticky situations such as jealousy,
All blood acquired during the Vaulderie becomes solely
over-protectivenessand obsession. Your bond with some-
that of the vampire who ingests it.
one may become so intense, you practically frenzy when
people other than yourself drink his blood (see the De-
rangements list for more ideas on Vinculum bonds gone
I I
awry). In any case, even your first Vinculum Blood Bonds A Word for Those Who Become
you to those with whom you share the ritual. SabbatDuringthe Game:
The Vinculum means the following: You like the Welcome! You have been Embraced into a
person. You don’t want to see anything bad happen to her. world where your humanity is no longer a source of
She is a member of your family, and even though you may struggle for you. It’s gone. The madness you expe-
disagree on things, you will not go out of your way to cause rienced while crawling out of the grave in a
her problems, nor will you allow her to be in danger frenzy-to-beat-all-frenzieshas driven all humanity
willingly. If she doesn’t take your advice, well, she has free from you. You must now function in an entirely
will too. If she openly antagonizes you first, you would different society.
probably respond in kind, but once you like someone, it’s The Sabbat is your life now. Without your
hard to understand why they don’t like you back. fellow sect members, you are just an appetizer for
the Antediluvians. It may be hard for you to kill or
Vaulderie Rules: betray those who have shown you kindness in the
Find a chalice, cup, bowl or some physical represen- past, but if you survive, those humanitarian feel-
tation thereof (hats do nicely in a pinch) and dig around ings should wear off by the next game.
for those Blood Traits. Once you have been a participant in the
Each character present should place between two Vaulderie, all of your previous Blood Bonds are
and four Blood Traits into the chalice. It is the privilege of broken and one far more intense is shoved into
the pack leader or vampire of highest rank to put in the their place. The rules of the Vinculum now apply
highest number of Traits, not exceeding the number of to you!
participants. The pack leader or priest then mixes the The Creation Rites change your character
Traits around and passes the chalice back around the permanently. While you may not entirely sub-
circle. scribe to the ideology of the sect vet, the new bond
Each character should then pull out, at random, the you feel is such a power-rush and a blood-high, you
same number of Traits he or she contributed. The indi- don’t want to go back. You might be the lowest on
viduals (indicated by number) on your ritually acquired the totem pole, but you arefree!No more Masquer-
Blood Traits are those for whom you feel a heightened ade! Embrace your true vampiric nature! Need the
bond for the duration of the night or until the Vaulderie Hunger, don’t suppress it! Enjoy your unlife. You
is performed again. are one of the chosen. In the Camarilla, you were
just a pawn, a baby antelope in a world of hyenas.
Welcome to the ranks of the lions!
I I

91
Diablerie Diablerie Immunity
No women, no kids.
Diablerie, known to the elders as the Amaranth, is
-The Professional
the act of draining the essence or life-force of one’s elders
and using it to become more powerful. This is a very Becoming a vampire is not an instantaneous event. It
common practice among the Sabbat. They actively hunt requires a painful and drawn-out death before the occult
Camarilla elders in order to diablerize them and thereby creature is reborn. Most particularly,it takes some time for
heighten their own powers. In game terms, this act, if a vampire to come into her powers and bring her body and
completed successfully, will lower the generation of the mind completelyout of shock. The Kiss is a very traumatic
diabolist by one. At the Storyteller’sdiscretion, a success- event, and the human mind doesn’t just accept it and wipe
ful diabolist may increase his Blood Pool and/or gain one off the blood. Somehow the mortal must come to terms
or more of his prey’s Disciplines. with the new reality in which he has died and is now alive
The greatest flaw of the Camarilla (also the primary after death. Physically, the shock is tremendous.
flaw the Sabbat seeks to exploit) is the manipulation and It takes at least two weeks for a new vampire’s blood
deception of the younger vampires by their elders. The to gain any potency beyond its former mortal standing. As
Sabbat does not accept this within its ranks willingly. This the mind adjusts and the body recovers fromdeath and the
is the reason that Sabbat vampires are such avid diabolists Embrace, the blood will also grow in potency. This initial
- to destroy the source of deception before it destroys
weak stage occurs regardless of the generation of the sire
them. and cannot be sped up in any way. It also renders the blood
of the new vampire infertile for the two week duration.
For more information on the rules of diablerie, see
Anyone attempting to feed off the fledgling will gain no
pages 91-92 in The Masquerade, Second Edition.
nutrition, the fledgling can create no progeny and anyone
who attempts to diablerize the fledgling will be very
disappointed. Due to the infertility and weakness of the
new blood as well as the other traumas to the body and
mind of the fledgling, nothing is gained by diablerizing a
vampire under two weeks of age.
 StorytellerTroubleshooting Storyteller Blood Traits Drawn Willpower
Players will argue you to death about what exactly pre-rating needed to burn
their Vinculum rating means and all the horrible things 1-3 1-3 2
the other character did to make them not have to obey 4-6 4-6 3
their bond. One thing to note: even if you hate someone’s
7 -9 7-15 5
personality,decisions or feeding habits, you are still Blood
10 15+ Impossible
Bound to them. Vampire: The Masquerade, Second
Edition, likens it to being in love. Sometimes you really
don’t like what’s going on, but you just can’t help yourself,
Monomacy and Vinculum
you do what the other person wants or needs. Even if you If you have a Vinculum rating of 6 or higher for the
want to stop, you can’t. person whom you will fight, you must bum one Willpower
In order to plot against someone for whom the char- to initiate the Monomacy contest. Whenever a challenge
acter has a Vinculum rating of 3 or higher, the character is lost by the challenger within Monomacy, regardless of
must spend one Willpower Trait. In order to plot against whether or not the challenger bumed Willpower initially,
someone for whom the character has a Vinculum rating of one more Willpower Trait must be spent to continue the
6 or over, the character must spend two Willpower Traits. contest. There is no cost to the defender, since they are
obligated to accept regardless of Vinculum.
To attempt the destruction of someone for whom the
character has a Vinculum rating at all (i.e. has shared in Punishment and Vinculum
the Vaulderie with and drawn their name even once, or
begun the game with a Storyteller rating of 2 or over), the
If you are punishing someone in your pack for whom
you have a Vinculum rating of 6 or higher and someone in
character must bum two Willpower in front of a Story-
your pack protests,you must engage in a Social Challenge.
teller, or the attempt will prove invalid. Without the
bumed Willpower, the character will find herself realizing
If you lose, you must bum a Willpower Trait to continue
the punishment.
that the person she hates really is loyal to the sect and
worthy of respect. The most important thing is that the players must play
their Vinculum ratings emotionally instead of dealing
with them numerically.
 So hear my words with faith and passion
for what I say to you is true
And when you find the one you might become
remember part of me is you.
- Lyle Lovett, “Simple Song”

Creating Next, choose your clan. While you are determining

your clan, decide whether you were converted from the
Camarilla ranks or are a native Sabbat vampire. Sabbat

ASabbat characters may choose from the list on page 19 of The

Masquerade, Second Edition or the new Sabbat list

Character below.
Through the former process, you have determined
the basic facts about your personality. Once this is done,
The first two things to consider when creating a look up your Attributes by clan. The number of Mental,
Sabbat character are the character’s Nature and Path of Physical and Social Traits you may acquire will be deter-
Enlightenment. These two items may have even more mined by your clan as well as your generation. Please
bearing over your character’sdevelopment than her clan. remember that those vampires converted from the
Clan stereotypes are not as thick in the Sabbat as they are Camarilla will retain their original Disciplines for at least
in the Camarilla because all of the characters are rebels of the first year of their unlife as True Sabbat.
a sort. Sabbat all have the qualities of a warrior and can
You must now work with the Storyteller to determine
survive what might be fatal to many of their Camarilla
your role in your pack. The pack is the primary unit of
peers. Your Nature will determine the dominant quality of
Sabbat society,and each character’sbackground is strongly
your personality while your Path of Enlightenment will
affected by the life of her pack.
describe your code of ethics.
The final step is to choose your Abilities. You may
choose from the list in The Masquerade, Second Edition
on page 50 or choose from the list below.

95
New Personality Drunkuncle
When things are going your way, you are everybody’s
Archetypes for best friend. You are generous with money and blood, and
you do your best to see that everyone else is happy too. If
Sabbat Characters things are lookingsour, so do you. You become moody and
impatient. Your temper becomes short, and you seem
Daredevil irrational to those around you. Your moods seem to
You love risk. You seize any opportunity you can change at the drop of a hat, and you tend to make enemies
perceive out of the comer of your undead eye to take a out of even your closest friends. You usually enjoy gam-
chance. You will gamble your unlife in an almost careless bling and associating with Daredevils and those more
fashion if you think the reward of saying you did whatever popular than yourself. When in the worst of your moods,
it was would be worth it. You like to be known for your however, you often accuse them of being the way you
escapades and never turn down the opportunity to stoke really think they are. Drinking blood in the mean state will
your own fire. You pride yourself on your bravery and will try only make you more ornery, although you do not realize it.
anything once. You love to play Sabbat games like Cowboys Drinking blood in your happy state will rev up your
and Indians or go Trick or Treating. You will hide any engines and make you want to hunt, kill infidels or just
injuries you incur as best you can. You want your fellows to have a good time.
believe you are invincible, and will go to any lengths to see
that this is so. Note: the Daredevil Archetype is not synony- Interrogator
mous with the Bravo. Many Daredevils are soft-spoken and The ultimate form of revelation is the question. You
shy unless given the opportunity to share their adventures. believe you can get anything in the world you desire if you
ask the right questions. Everyone has some piece of knowl-
Dark Pioneer edge you could have. And you want it. You want every bit
You know that traditions are leftovers from a time of knowledge in the world. You might have a Derange-
inferior to the here and now. Your vampiric rebirth woke ment regarding the collection of bits of trivia. You cannot
you up to the present. The past is dead and the future is bear to kill anything until you have sucked its mind for
evil, but it exists, strong and sure. Every action from the everything it’s worth. Why read when you could just
past, every story retold is a little death. You have no capture a scholar ?Thepsyches of living creatures fascinate
regrets, because the past is gone. Youcannot change it. But you, and questions are keys to infinite chests of under-
the future is malleable, it can be affected, and you are the standing and knowledge. Of course you will use your craft
warrior to do it. You want to move forward with the times, when the pack needs someone interrogated, but you have
with the flow of the darkness around you. You can feel the your own agenda of questions that goes far beyond “Who
evil building in the world and seek to travel with it to the do you know?”and “Did you kill Franz?”
tops of the highest peaks of technology and understand- You have a way with words and excel in extracting
ing. You never say no to anything new. It could bring you information from the most unwilling of subjects. This is
closer to the ultimate darkness. You tolerate custom, but your passion. You love the question like you love blood.
do not wish to partake if you can avoid it. It sinks you into Riddles can be amusing, but they lead only to foolishness.
the past instead of moving you forward. When people The true art of information and knowledge is the guided
stand around, you try to persuade them to go with you to question. You can trick a Ravnos out of a game of three
do something. If there is someone you haven’t met, you card Monty with your questions. Or at least you believe
approach him. You don’t wait; you move. you can.

DarkPoet Recruiter
You love language and art. You see the arts as the way Killing the infidels is more a waste of time than
to discover the secrets of your vampiric existence. You anything else. In order for the Sabbat to build its strength
may pursue any art form and use every opportunity to it needs to take on as much power as it can. You are a firm
increase the awareness of others with your talent. This is believer in converting the infidels. “Join us or die” is your
not a snotty, status-oriented pursuit; you don’t care about motto, but you try your best to get them to join. You are
ever being recognized. You see the dark side of the world passionate in your belief in the Sabbat ideology, and you
and the humancreature. You know compassion is a lie and see murder tactics as a waste of time and energy. After all,
humanity is a cover up for what human souls are really the sect loses almost as many as it destroys. Once people
about. It is your dream to enlighten the world with this see the truth, they cannot avoid it. You shed light on the
knowledge. You believe that once any creature learns to truth for anyone you can. You do not encourage destruc-
embrace its dark side, it can begin the search for truth. tion until you have had a chance to work your convincing
magic on them first. You are not above using unpleasant
ways like torture or blackmail to encourage people to
convert. You know deep in your soul that once they see the
truth, they will be grateful. Perhaps you were among them
once. In any case, why waste a perfectly good vampire
body just because it has been brought up as apuppet?After
all, you can persuade them to change that.

Shamanist
You feel the waves of nature and follow them to the
dark roots of human denial. Humanity has denied itself
the senses to guide itself out of selfishness and triviality,
and you have found in yourself the secret to mystic
fulfillment. You seek the destroyers of magic and the
spiritual.You havedifficultytolerating materialists. Death
is part of the cycle of every philosophy, and you seek to
undermine those who will destroy the natural and dark.
You see nature as a vehicle for death and are satisfied with
your role. You seek the mystic awareness that the darkness
of the soul brings and know that you must embrace the
darkness in order to destroy the lies that perpetuate in the
light.

Stalker
You live for the chase. The kill is not nearly as
exciting as the rest of your packmates make it out to be.
You are quiet and personable - except to whatever or
whoever you are stalking. You recognize your vampire
nature as the truth of the wild hunter, only more refined.
Torturer
You view yourself as the ultimate killer precisely because You love pain. You love to watch it. It isn’t much fun
you are not partial in favor of or against actual killing. It if the individual is willing though. You exploit every
is simply what occurs at the end of a hunt. If the hunt is opportunity you get to capture and torture anyone to
successful, you kill; if not, you try again. If your prey ever whom you are not personally bound. And even then, if
eludes you, you will not give up. Nothing can daunt you they really deserved it ... To be tortured is a gift. It is a test
from pursuing the ultimate hunt. of strength and tolerance. It is a testimony to your
vampirism. You are obsessed with the ways of pain and
Sorority Sister torture throughout the ages. In fact, if a weapon is not
Even if you have never belonged to a sorority or extraordinarily painful, you have little or no interest in
happen to be male, this Archetype may apply to you. You using it. Guns are a waste of time. Not nearly painful
want to be accepted by those you think are cool. You laugh enough and so easy to recover from. You willingly give the
at jokes you may not think are funny and dress in any way gift of torture to your enemies because it will result in their
that will make other people pay positive attention to you. destruction and offers you an ideal opportunity to experi-
You may mutilate yourself so that your packmates will find ment with just how much agony a creature can take before
you more beautiful. You may kill ferociously so others will becoming incapacitated or reaching Final Death. Torture
applaud your embrace of the Beast. In fact you are quite is the ultimate art form, and you work to perfect your craft
cold because your identity is created by the desires of at any given chance. Torturers may not follow the Path of
others. You try very hard to fit in, and you thrive on Harmony.
attention. Some might think you a bit bratty, but you
know that you must try harder so that people don’t change
their minds and put you down among the less than cool.
Your Demeanor changes every time you encounter a
different person or go from being in a crowd to being with
one other alone.

97
:ISabbat Bloodlines herself replied that the world of men was more trouble
than it was worth. Men, she claimed, were more interest-
ing in fighting than hunting.
Ahrimanes Today, only a handful of Ahrimanes exist. They all keep
This fierce and independent all-female bloodline large estates in the Deep South as well as secret underground
sprouted from the Sabbat Gangrel. A vampire called havens. They keep out of Sabbat politics as much as possible.
Muricia, exhausted from the infighting between the coun- Though they live alone, they contact their pack sisters at
try and city factions of Gangrel antihibu, abandoned her least once a month. The sect doesn’t give them a hard time
sire and ran south into the lands of the Native Americans. about their independence because they are well aware that
She studied the magic of the native shamans and found the Ahrimane bloodline is particularly responsible for con-
within it the ability to break her Blood Bond with her trolling any Lupine threat the sect would experience.
pack. The richness of the spiritual culture gave her many Disciplines: Animalism, Presence, Spiritus
gifts, and she wanted to share them.
Advantage: The Ahrimane bloodline is particularly
Though she tried repeatedly, Muricia found that she well balanced. The clan is not carefully watched by the
could create no progeny. She resigned herself to never sect and are pretty much free to do what they want.
being able to spread her new knowledge. Then she met
Disadvantage: There are very few Ahrimanes because
Sahana, a ferocious hunter. Sahana was already a vampire,
all of them are infertile. Their blood is weak, and they can
and she reminded Muricia of herself. Sahana also wanted
neither pass on their gifts or Blood Bond anyone to them
to be rid of the sect’s political wars and live the life the
outside of the Vaulderie. They can however, be Bound.
Gangrel were naturally destined to have. Sahana was
Preferred Paths: The Path of Harmony, the Path of
powerfully loyal; when Muricia explained her situation to
Honorable Accord.
Sahana, she agreed to be her former clanswoman’s guinea
pig. Muricia found she could not simply pass her evolved Organization: Ahrimanes live independently of each
blood along to Sahana the traditional way, but instead, other but gather with their pack sisters once a month to
through experimentation, found she could cast the same keep up on the news and to tell stories. They sometimes
spell on Sahana that had been cast on herself by her engage in Sabbat rituals like the Auctoritas Ritae.They are
shaman mentor before he died. friendly with each other and share the same philosophy.
The Ahrimane is one bloodline in which there is no
After the ritual, Sahana’s Gangrel blood and appear-
internal dissension or competition.
ance altered in a way she could not explain. As time went on,
she learned to take the gifts of animal spirits instead of the Quote: (Click click)Sir, are you aware you’re trespass-
animals themselves. This offered her an enormous edge over ing on my land?Did you happen to miss the No Hunting signs?
the other natural hunters and soon she left Muricia in search We’ll see who’s the hunter on this land. Go on. Run. Here,
of her own destiny. Once a month, they met and told stories I’ll give you a head start.. . .
in the tradition of their mother clan, and Muricia began to Stereotypes:
invite more female Gangrel to join her new bloodline and The Sabbat -We may come from it, but we have
free themselves from the chains and associationsof the past. found our way within its walls. Always show obedience,
The recognition of the Ahrimane bloodline came but never show your throat.
shortly after a Black Hand Gangrel came looking for The Camarilla - These little pawns want their
Muricia to recruit her. She declined, but introduced him hands in everything. The only thing good about them is
to three of her brood, who remain the only Ahrimanes to their blood, and it should be freed from their bodies at
take willingly to the road the Black Hand travels. Muricia every opportunity.
 Kiasyd would certainly not be punished or pursued if she refused.
Kiasyd are extremely rare in the United States; three, at
The Kiasyd bloodline, a millennia older then the
most, reside away from their European homeland. They
Sabbat itself, was created by three members of Clan
would certainly know each other’s whereabouts, but prob-
Lasombra in an attempt to discover more about their
ably would not intrude on each other’sprivacy very often.
Obtenebration Discipline. One of their band volunteered
to be the subject of the experiments which involved Disciplines: Mytherceria, Necromancy,
transfusionsof fae blood and something the group was told Obtenebration
was “blood of Zeemebooch, God of the underworld.” Advantage: The Kiasyd bloodline is not part of the
The vampire undergoing the experiments, a fifth Sabbat, nor are they associated with the Camarilla. They
generation Lasombra called Marconius, began to alter in are rare and virtually unknown, so their freedom is great.
some very unusual ways. His height increased by over a They possess strange knowledgessuch as Faerie and Wraith
foot, and his skin grew thinner and paler. His eyes became Lore. It is rumored they have been taught by ancient
more round and as the pupils began to spread, the entire goblins to craft stone with their bare hands.
eye became solid black. All of his features lengthened and Disadvantage: This bloodline is not a full clan, and
became more angular and defined. their unusual appearance keeps them from interacting
In his new form, Marconius quickly tired of the with human society much. They also have a very strong
company of his clansfolk and vanished one night, not to aversion to iron. Kiasyd tend to frenzy if in iron’spresence
be heard from again until the late Middle Ages. After his for over half an hour, though a Blood Trait can be spent to
resurfacing in Strasbourg, others of his kind (childer prevent it (One per half-hour over the original is needed).
presumably) came to the attention of the Lasombra. No Touching iron causes them to frenzy immediately, and no
Traits can be spent to prevent this. Being damaged by iron
two, except occasionally for sire and childe, live in the
causes aggravated damage to the Kiasyd.
same city. It is a breach of Kiasyd etiquette. They are all
scholars and seem very even-tempered. Kiasyd are calm, Organization: The Kiasyd are not particularly orga-
gracious and cordial, always welcoming guests as long as nized or disorganized as a group. They keep in touch and
they don’t stay too long. They prefer to drink blood out of spend most of their time in quiet study or working with
anything other than the vessel that issued it. stone.
Kiasyd are all extremely tall, growing from six inches Quote: I thank you for coming, but I’ve got things in the
to two feet upon their Embrace and taking on features like oven that must be tended to. Once again, you are welcome to
those of Marconius. This transformation period usually return any time. Oh, and if you could remember that book, I
lasts for two nights, and the vampires must be locked up would greatly appreciate it. Safe journey.
during that period because the madness that shakes them Stereotypes:
is extremely potent. The pain also drives them into The Sabbat -The clan of our creation leads these
constant frenzy until the transformation is complete. beasts and sought our vitae when they went to war with
Kiasyd are not part of the Sabbat, but they are left the Camarilla. We taught them better.
alone out of respect. The Sabbat considers them allies and The Camarilla - Who? Oh, them. Harmless.
might call upon one for information, though the Kiasyd Useless. Mostly, ridiculous.
9 Antitribu Clans
Assamite Ant%ribu
The Assamite antitribu are an entirely separateblood-
line from the original Assamites. During the Anarch
Revolt following the Inquisition, the Assamite clan joined
with the Lasombra to take out the Lasombra third genera-
tion Antediluvian. Once the two clans began to work
together along with the other anarchs, they discovered
real potential for alliance. During the conference and
treaty signing between the anarchs and the Camarilla,
known as the Convention of Thorns, some Assamites
agreed to the peace but not to the Blood Bond demanded
of them. They instead allowed the Tremere to enchant
them, rendering them incapable of diablerie. A few
Assamites fled from both the Blood Bond and vile en-
chantment to support the new sect sprouting from the
anarchs. Thus, the Assamites of the Sabbat gained their
freedom and began to form agroup of their own within the
sect, and thus, the Assamiteantitrihof today have no such
restriction.
Assamite antitribu are entirely responsible for the
creation and maintenance of the Black Hand. The
Assamite antitribu maintain all of the traditions of their
originalclan, except for the racial limitations. Westerners
are accepted into the clan as readily as any others and are
treated similarly.The clan itself is structured with regard Disadvantage: Assamite antitribu can easily become
to training, progress and service. Each neonate serves her addicted to the blood of other vampires. Each time they
sire for seven years, and if she survivesand does not fail any engage in the Vaulderie, the character must engage in a
mission (upon which time she would be killed), she goes Static Challenge to determine if she gains an addiction to
on to seven more years of service and her warrior training. the blood. If she loses the challenge, the addiction is
Each Assamite engages in a total 14 years of service before gained and she must attempt to drink that same blood
they are allowed out on their own. mixture at least twice more during the night. One Will-
Members of this untinibu clan are very respectful and power Trait may be spent to prevent the addiction.
polite. They are also honorable to their word. They are Preferred Paths: Path of Caine (most follow this
philosophers at heart and spend time in meditation as path), Path of Honorable Accord.
preparation for their murderous tasks. They each search to Organization: The Assamite antihibu are organized
get closer to Caine and are avid diabolists. They see their and very hierarchical. They respect and obey their elders,
training and their skills as part of the price they must pay ritually slaying the eldest once every hundred years. The
to reach their spiritual ideal. Assamite antitribu childer are clan has many traditions, which are all honorably ob-
often chosen from mortals who already possess skills in the served. Assamites who break their word are often shunned
martial arts. Some are criminals, some are bodyguards. from the clan and (depending on to whom the word was
Both men and women are chosen equally. Mortal back- originally given) sometimes hunted and slain. It is very
grounds vary as much as they do in any other clan. The poor form for Assamites to allow other clans to see any
Assamites look for internal power and external resilience dissension among them. They try to maintain complete
over all other qualities. unity, both in truth and in the eyes of others.
Disciplines: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus Quote: Hello. You are obstructing the path to my target.
Advantage: Assamite antitribu are not bound in any Please remove yourself, or I will have to slay you. One, two,
way to their former clan. The Black Hand is growing three. . .
stronger, and since most Assamites are created to go into Haven: Generally private, with several emergency
Hand service, they are privy to many secrets that even exits.
Sabbat clergy may not know.
 - ._ __I-

They often possess winningpersonalities,and, due to their

annoyance with Toreador Poseurs, they are usually very
genuine. The Brujah personality is not usually that of a
Conniver. They tend to prefer honesty and straight talk,
since if it were not for being lied to and betrayed in the
past, they wouldn’t be where they are today. It is their
elders’fault that vampire societywent to hell. If it were not
for the elders’ betrayal, everyone would already be Sabbat.
The current Sabbat Brujah live under some harsh
stereotypes but are constantly surprising many with their
true colors. Not every Brujah is encased in T-shirt, jeans
and leather jacket. It is more important to the Brujah to
express their individuality within a common theme than
to be a clone. Brujah hate to be insulted and will not hear
it from others regarding their clan. Many Brujah anticribu
are used by the Sabbat as scouts into unknown Camarilla
cities and as recruiters.
Disciplines: Celerity , Potence, Presence
Advantage: Brujah antimibu blend in well with other
non-Sabbat Brujah and are very persuasive. They can be
very subtle recruiters,their genuine natures leading others
to believe they are correct in opinions and philosophy.
Disadvantage: Brujah antitribu frenzy extremely eas-
ily, and they enjoy it. They are very nice people until you
make them angry. Brujah anticribu gain Path Traits at
almost twice the rate of other vampires. This can, of
course, be controlled by the individual vampire.
Brujah Antifribu Preferred Paths: Path of Power and the Inner Voice,
The Brujah antinibu are hardly distinguishable in Path of Cathari or Path of Harmony.
behavior and appearance from their Camarilla counter- Organization: The Brujah antifribu are usually gre-
parts. They tend to frenzy just as easily and become even garious and social. They enjoy bonding with their clansfolk,
more incensed when their personal freedoms are infringed but no real clan structure exists. They don’t hold meetings
upon. They are also some of the most loyal members of the or communicate clandestinely. They are a very loyal clan,
Sabbat because if it were not for their ancestors, the sect especially to each other, and occasionally hold Rants.
would not exist. These are very infrequent, because their packs and other
The youth of the Brujah clan were responsible for Sabbat duties keep them pretty busy.
uniting the anarchs during the Anarch Revolt (sprung Quote: You know, Joe, there’s probably a reason you
from the fury of younger vampires either abandoned by or aren’t feeling so sweet around old princey-pooh anymore. Ya
forced to defend their elders during the Inquisition.) see, there’ssomestuffhehasn’ttoldya. Hell, Idon’tktanyone
Together with Clan Tzimisce, they rallied together many boss me around the way you let him boss you. Look, I have to
vampires and fought against their elders, destroying many meet afn’end at twelve. Meet me around the c m r by the old
(including the Lasombra Antediluvian, thanks to the graveyard - unless of course, Prince Snotty-pants has you
Assamites and the Lasombra anarchs). The Brujah of that washing his socks.
day effectively founded the Sabbat with a little help and Haven: Communal
support from their friends.
Today the Brujah anticribu still work to convert other
anarchs. They blend in well with their Camarilla clansfolk
and hold on to their roots in history well. They know that
strength is in numbers. The original Brujah were from
varied backgrounds,some intellectual, some very warlike.

101
 Gangrel Antifribu oddly enough, tend to take on the characteristics of city
animals like rats, dogs or cats, while Country Gangrel tend
The Gangrel of the Sabbat have diverged into two
to remain in the realm of the traditional, taking on the
separate bloodlines, City Gangrel and Country Gangrel.
features of wolves, bats and other wild things.
The qualities they share include physical prowess, strong
Disciplines:
hunting skills and a dedication to the sect. Their differ-
ences have developed due t o their environmental City Gangrel - Celerity, Obfuscate, Protean
preferences and an enormous fight between their leaders Country Gangrel -Animalism, Fortitude, Protean
back in the early days of the Sabbat. Advantage: Gangrel antitribu are trustworthy and
City Gangrel prefer an urban environment where the enjoy many privileges within the sect because of their
hunting is challenged by crowds, other vampires and devotion and sound instincts. Most are quite fearless, but
obstacles like buildings and traffic. They are masters of the they are rarely reckless. When missions of necessity are
fire escape and roof-hopping. They may or may not live formed, Gangrel are often some of the first to go, and most
with their pack, but they are easily reachable in case of of them return.
emergency. Those who do live with their pack are gener- Disadvantage: They start to look like the animals
ally keen on the functioning of the Sabbat in groups and they become after a while. Each time they frenzy, the
enjoy group hunting. Any pack with one or more City Traits get stronger and more pronounced. This makes it
Gangrel probably hunts as a pack under their tutelage at hard for them to pass as anything other than what they are.
least once a week. City Gangrel rarely hold leadership Preferred Paths: The Path of Harmony and Path of
positions because they are easily fed up with politics and Honorable Accord.
prefer to hunt. For this reason, they are often lieutenants. Organization: This clan does not meet except at
Their advice is usually sound, and they are frequently the regular Sabbat gatherings. They keep in touch through
pillars of common sense within the group. City Gangrel them.
comprise about one quarter of the Black Hand. They are
Quote: It doesn’t make sense to go that way. If we curve
usually great fans of Sabbat games, especially when in
around to the left, they will block themselves into a corner by
Camarilla cities where they can really go nuts. City
the railroad bridge and we can trap them there. But go wherever
Gangrel rarely travel without their pack. They prefer to
you want. I don’t care. Anyone who’s with me, let’s go.
know their environment inside and out, and one city
Haven: Private.
usually has enough to keep them busy.
Country Gangrel, on the other hand, travel like the
world was a giant monorail. They go where they want
when they want, much like their Camarilla cousins. They
retain close ties to their pack, always showing up for rituals
unlessthey get some incredible opportunity, like a wounded
Lupine. There is none of the “we have the wolf in com-
mon” between Sabbat Gangrel and werewolves.
Werewolves are good for nothing, except maybe a rug for
the kitchen floor or a wall mount for the communal haven.
Country Gangrel do not usually live with their packs,
though the emotional bond is great. They tend to rely on
their wits and Protean Discipline to find somewhere
convenient to spend the day. They are hunters in the pure
sense, often joining with the Beast in form to enjoy their
predator nature as best they can. Like all other Gangrel,
they enjoy a good story and the art of the contest. They are
ethical about what they kill and the way they do it. Why
bother with things that are smaller and weaker then
yourself? No challenge, no good. They have many
animal-like qualities: they trust and show affection toward
those who are kind to them; those who are mean to them
get bitten. They are generally forthright and honest as
well.
Both bloodlines share the tendency to take on
animal-like characteristics physically in their human form
after repeated use of the Protean Discipline. City Gangrel,
 MalkavianAntifribu them to corrupt the minds of those they deem deserving.
They will not share this Discipline with other clans. Many
Malkavian antitribu are considerably more twisted
of them are just downright scary. Whether it’s from the
then their Camarilla counterparts. Each begins play with
look in their eyes or their inner chaos - who knows?
two Derangements the player must constantly integrate
Malkavian antitribu are not blown off nearly as much as
into the character’s behavior. Most Malkavians do not
Camarilla Malkavians.
believe in Malkavians because they have never met one.
Disciplines: Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate
The curse of Malkav has indeed warped these vam-
pires into exquisite insanity with grace and ease, but it has Advantage: Malkavian antitribu are genuinely cha-
not left them very many ways to adapt. Almost all of them otic. They function primarily on the Traits dictated by
are quite distinctly vampires and have a very difficult time their Derangements, and they are not bound by the
moving about in mortal society without stares and com- stereotypes and quirks of other clans.
ments. They are passionate about whatever they believe, Disadvantage: Malkavianantitribuare genuinelycha-
whether it is loyalty to the sect or complete aloofness. otic. They begin the game with two Derangements and
They are, for the most part, considerably more intimidat- may continue to gain more as time goes by. They are by
ing than their parent clan, for several reasons: they are and large not well trusted because of their chaotic natures
extremely unpredictable; they do not share the cutesy and are always watched closely by their packs.
sense of humor of the Camarilla Malkavians; and their Preferred Paths: A Malkavian may follow any Path
pranks tend to be much more deadly or genuinely prob- or her own medley of them all.
lematic. For example, a Camarilla Malkavian might send Organization: There is no real organization within
a prince flowers with ink-squirting sensors hidden in the this clan because they don’t believe their clan exists. They
bouquet. A Sabbat Malkavian would cut the phone lines, do however, occasionally find themselves in groups of
try to destroy the prince’s account with the electric com- others who seem somehow like them.
pany and then send him dead flowers from the Nosferatu Quote: 1don’t think you understand what’s really going
primogen consoling him on the losses. on here. We are going to hit you on the head and you are going
Thanks to the separation of their bloodline from that to die. Then you will be a werewolf. Do you understand?
of their Camarilla counterparts, Sabbat Malkavians pos- Haven: Communal, unless very lucky.
sess the unique Discipline of Dementation, which allows
 Most Nosferatu do not try to convert each other out
of mutual respect for their clan heritage. They will also
rarely turn each other in. In times of Jyhad,however, they
will not spare their clansfolk and will in fact try to target
them themselves just to prevent any dishonor. The
Nosferatu are enemies with a professional working rela-
tionship. Travel in each other’s territory is permissible as
long as they stay underground. Above ground, neither will
offer the other protection or guidance.
It is the primary goal of Sabbat Nosferatu just as it is
for the Camarilla Nosferatu to be the purveyors of fine
information and to be the guardians of the kingdom
underground. They do not appreciate false information or
breaches of etiquette regarding permission to enter the
sewers. They rarely have pity on violators of those two
codes and occasionally find themselves in a mess of body
parts after a frenzy so potent they can hardly remember
what happened.
Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence
Advantage: The Nosferatu are potent information-
gatherers. They manage to gain access to just about
everything. Their cordial ties with their former clan
allows them more freedom than other Sabbat experience
with regard to travel behind enemy lines.
Disadvantage: The Nosferatu are hideously ugly.
They all have an appearance of 0 and lose three Social
Traits whenever they are in their natural form (i.e. not
NosferatuAntifribrr using Mask of the Thousand Faces).
Of all the clans in the Sabbat, the Nosferatu are the Preferred Paths: Path of Caine, Path of Harmony,
only ones who have any respect for their clan origins. They Path of Honorable Accord
often maintain courteous, though not necessarily friendly, Organization: Clan Nosferatu gathers in meetings
ties with the Nosferatu of the Camarilla and periodically called Hostings whenever need arises. Usually any
will exchange information as long as nothing is men- Nosferatu may attend, but some are, naturally, Sabbat
tioned about the sect or any business pertaining thereto. only. They communicate well as a clan when they need
Sabbat Nosferatu are very protective of the sect’s secrets each other, but otherwise leave each other alone, prefer-
and will not bargain with them. Most of the information ring to find out the truth by hearing it with their own
the Camarilla has received about the Sabbat through (usually long and pointy) ears.
Nosferatu sources is either misleading or downright false. Quote: I know you’re out there, you turd-eating
The Nosferatu have a deep connection to their sonofabitch! Now GET OUT!!! And don’t come buck!
clansfolk regardless of sect because of the torture each Jeezus, that guy doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.
experienced during his Embrace. Both Camarilla and Haven: Sewers. Usually private.
Sabbat Nosferatu consider other vampiric clans slightly
inferior due to their lack of experience with pain and
suffering. Thanks to this mutual respect of each other’s
political views and ethical beliefs (though each perceives
the other as having “sold out” to a non-clan cause), the
Nosferatu of the Sabbat refuse to refer to themselves as
antitribu. They are not a separate bloodline from their
Camarilla kinfolk; they just happen to see the truth the
others overlook.
 The Panders may be ambitious, but they are not
traitors. The vampires comprising this group realize that
they wouldn’t even have a chance at freedom in the
Camarilla. Since the Sabbat are already rebels, they at
least have a chance at a future equal to that of other clans
once they are able to unify and gain enough status by
accomplishing missions, infiltrating the infidels and initi-
ating or completing other tasks the sect deems worthy.
They believe in the ideology of the sect, especially the
theories of the Loyalists. The way to remain loyal to the
sect is to demand absolute freedom.
Disciplines: Whatever their sire taught them.
(Dementation, Obtenebration and Vicissitude are clan-
specific and are not available to Panders except under the
circumstances noted in the section on Disciplines.)
Advantage: Panders have very few guidelines and
therefore possess certain freedoms other vampires within
the Sabbat do not. Most of their advantages fall into play
during character creation. Also, because they are a rela-
tively new clan, each character has a significant say in
what the future of the clan will be like.
Disadvantage: No Pander may begin the game with
more than two Status Traits, and most begin with none,
unless their pack has bestowed it upon them.
Preferred Paths: Path of Cathari, Path of Honorable
Accord.
Organization: The Pandersorganizethemselveswhen
Panders need be. Usually during times of Jvhad, they stick with
The Panders are the Sabbat Caitiff.They were clanless their packs, hoping to work their way up and do some
until a man named Joseph Pander came along in 1952 and damage to the other side. During times of peace, they
gathered the stray vampires under his own wing. Pander gather when they can, rarely more than once a month.
himself now holds the rank of priscus, which is probably Once every three years, they have a huge, week-long
part of the reason those calling themselves Panders are meeting called the Convergence. Lots of Fire Rituals and
able to function as a clan as well as a political faction Blood Feasts take place, along with detailed discussion of
within the sect. Many vampires in the sect still do not clan progress and affairs. All Panders attend, and new
accept the Panders, although the bloodshed the Panders progeny take the opportunity to introduce themselves.
have initiated to encourage the sect to recognize them has Quote: So, Max, let’s say, theoretically of course, that
been great. my pack brings down the Toreador elder. Then what? Do we
The Panders are comprised of all kinds of people, get a say in what happens next, or are you just going to try and
though intelligence seems to be valued a bit more than use us to do more of your dirty work? ‘Cause that ain’t gonna
brawn. They have their own rituals as well as the Auctorius happen.
R i m and lgnoblis Rim, and are the only clan within the Haven: Communal
Sabbat who can trade Status freely amongst themselves.
Many Panders who gain high amounts of Status will
permanently spend their Traits by giving them away to
those with less in order to strengthen the position of their
clan. They wish to increase clan status so they can make
a bid for positions of leadership over the next two or three
decades.
 Ravnos ~ntitriiju The Sabbat Ravnos are loyal and dedicated to the
sect, but they try to do as little for the sect as they can.
Ravnos antitribu are far more dangerous and sinister
They avoid missions with heavy responsibility and posi-
than their unallied cousins. Not only are they organized,
tions of rank that would inhibit their freedom to muck
they have a mission. Historically, Ravnos have been a
about and scam whoever they please. Once a Ravnos,
wandering, thieving clan because they have had nothing
always a Ravnos, although there is no love lost between
better to do. The Ravnos of the Sabbat are still pranksters
the antitribu and the independents of the clan. They are
and thieves, but with a purpose. They are dedicated to the
neither friends nor business partners. Neither trusts the
cause of the Sabbat. Otherwise, they would still be roam-
other, and they will either avoid each other or do every-
ing from town to town committing as many cons and
thing they can to expose the other as a con artist or a thief.
crimes as they could and moving on just before the
Ravnos antitribu make great advance scouts, however, for
authorities could catch up with them.
few princes will take the chance of enraging (and thereby
When the Ravnos joined up with the anarchs during ensuring a terrible retaliation from) the independent
the Anarch Revolt in the 13th century, it was the first Ravnos by banning them from the city. Ravnos do not like
time members of the clan had ever come together in a to be alone in their packs. They usually try to make sure
unified manner. It is the nature of the Gypsy to roam, and that they have at least one other Gypsy descendant in the
never before had they experienced that kind of success group to defend them if something goes awry.
without fear. Only 15 Ravnos stayed with the anarchs to
Disciplines: Animalism, Chimerstry, Fortitude
form the Sabbat, but their efforts and dedication resulted
in childer with quick wits, cunning minds and a perverse Advantage: The Ravnos antitribu function well in
sense of honor which dedicates them firmly to the sect and teams working as distracters while their packs commit
creates in them an unfamiliar code of ethics. This is the crimes. They also are often overlooked and find ways to
honor of favors and the honor of thieves. You scratch my gain their freedom by seeming harmless.
back, I’ll scratch yours. You stay away from the pretty one Disadvantage: Unfortunately, most know the truth.
in red, and I’ll stay away from the tall one in black. Anyone Ravnos antitribu are far from harmless. They are crafty and
who spits in their hand and then shakes with a Sabbat devious, and the Sabbat needs them that way. They are
Ravnos had better hold to their promise or they’ll have the usually fairly low on Status and high on Derangements.
whole pack hunting them down. Preferred Paths: Path of Harmony, Path of Cathari
Organization: This clan prefers to travel in groups,
even if the entire pack is not Ravnos. They do not gather
officially except for the Carnival which occurs once every
10 years. They meet if there is a clan-oriented threat and
offer their highest honor to each other when they meet by
chance.
Quote: I have just the game for you. It’s called Tarot
Jack. Ewer had a Tarot reading?Ewer played BlackJack? This
is a combinationof the two. The first card is what you bet your
money on, and the second one tells your fortune.Just put your
money on the tableand-Hey, is thatguy holdingagun? Oh
sorry, guess not. Well now as I was saying.. . What do you
mean, where’s your money?
Haven: Communal
 Serpents of the Light
Serpents of the Light are not the Sabbat version of
Setites. The Serpents are former Setites that joined up
with the Sabbat in Haiti in the 1960s when the sect
became involved with a voodoo cult that worshipped
vampires. T o this day, the Serpents will aid or show their
allegiance in any way necessary to the human members of
the cult they themselves were once a part of. This clan is
extremely small, and its members are rare.
Serpents of the Light naturally excel in areas of
espionage and sabotage. They prefer to work behind the
scenes,allowing others to run the show while they success-
fully annihilate the Camarilla as subtly as they can. They
want to increase their numbers within the sect, but they
are usually too busy dealing with those who can get them
what they need to complete the prince's blackmail pack-
age or the computer chip that will transmit a virus to the
Ventrue and Giovanni computer link. A few members of
this clan belong to the Black Hand. No Serpent of the
Light will wear anything Egyptian or indicative of Set.
They consider Setites their mortal enemies and work as
hard to destroy them as they do the Camarilla. All progeny
chosen are highly intelligent and often possess technical
or military knowledge before their Embrace.
Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis
Advantage: These vampires are very subtle and cun-
ning. They enjoy a certain amount of Status within their
packs because they are usually so effective. Organization: The Serpents of the Light have no
formal organization within their clan, but they keep in
Disadvantage: They are extremely sensitive to light.
touch for business and favor purposes.
They are down one Physical Trait when in the presence of
light any brighter than a three-quarters moon or a 100 Quote: jeerus *!#!ingChrist, it's bnghtin here! Turnoff
watt light bulb. four of those lights, and I'll show you what I got.
Preferred Paths: Path of Caine, Path of Cathari,
Path of Death and the Soul

107
 such). They know for a fact that they are the true artists in
this world and all other Toreador are fooling themselves.
The attempt at retaining humanity is a lame mask of fear,
and fear is for the weak. Vampires are no longer human,
and those who continue to deny themselves the full
potential of their existence will never attain the achieve-
ment of true art.
Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence
Advantage: This clan is widely liked within the
Sabbat. No one really feels them a threat, and they have
proven themselves worthy over and over again.
Disadvantage: They are easily distracted. They are
not as reliable as their leaders would wish, and they tend
to wander off.
Preferred Paths: Path of Cathari, Path of Death and
the Soul
Organization: The Toreador of the Sabbat hold an
annual event each year on the Winter Solstice called the
Ball. They primarily operate individually unless they can
agree on artistic theories and projects, in which case they
will work artistically as groups. They function well within
a pack because they enjoy observing others and using
those less enlightened than themselves as proof of their
artistic prowess.
Quote: Icansee that youhaveglimpseditwithinyourself.
Don’t be afraid. The violence can belong to you if you know
where it comes from. Look at your darkness and encourage it.
ToreadorAnditrihtr The more you repress it, the more pathetic you will become.
You have touched it. You know what it is. Either you will give
The antitribu of Clan Toreador are some of the sickest
in to your fear and the lies you’ve been told, or you will rise to
and most perverse of the Sabbat. They explore art in a way
the truth.
that is not remotely human. They are interested in hu-
manity, but primarily the darkness that can be found Haven: Communal or someplace private among
within. Masters of persuasion and denial, they can find mortals.
what a mortal or Camarilla vampire has denied about
himself and demonstrate or teach through their art that
the recognition and embrace of one’s own darkness is part
of the way to salvation.
Within the sect, they are not Status-oriented, prefer-
ring to study and pursue their art forms regardless of
audience response. They become, over time, very intro-
spective, and many are introverts socially as well. They are
after the truth of darkness, humanity and art, and devil
take those who cannot see the light. They take offense if
treated with the snotty disdain of their former clan, never
ceasing to remind those that mock them that they are
warriors in their own right. Toreador antitribu are quite
fearless and do not shirk or fear a good fight. They are also
quite easily distracted. Like their Camarilla cousins, they
may become caught up in something that pertains imme-
diately to their art and lose track of other goals to pursue
it. They believe in pushing art past the points of human
limitation, and this often leads them into some very
bizarre practices (blood sculpting, torture massage and
 Tremere Antitdbu
Though the Tremere antitribu are the smallest clan
within the Sabbat, their presence is known and respected.
Due to their former clan’s conflicts with the Tzimisce, no
Tremere antitribu will ever be allowed to rise in rank past
pack leader. Since the Tremere are more interested in
magical power than political power, this usually turns out
for the best. Tremere antihibu are magic-users with an
edge. They no longer possess kindness, and mercy is truly
rare. Keenly intelligent, they use their strengths to support
the sect rather than destroy it. They know that the Sabbat
was their vehicle to break from the ruling powers in
Vienna, and they are grateful that they may trade spells
freely instead of being forced to keep them secret. They
will not teach Thaumaturgy to just anyone, but they will
exchange information more or less willingly among them-
selves.
The Tremere antitribu are often wily and conniving,
though the older ones may seem a bit doddering to those
who have never seen them angry. Many of them possess
the Derangement Obsessed and apply it to their magical
study. None of the Tremere untitribu are nomadic. They all
place a certain value on study and magical practice, and
wanderlust does not suit their purposes well. They often
serve as advisors to ranking leaders and are well aware that
their gifts are best saved for Jyhad with their Camarilla
siblings. Every Tremere in the Sabbat hates the Camarilla
Tremere with a violent passion, some even becoming Also, because of the Tremere-Tzimisce historical
upset at simply hearing them mentioned. Their former rivalry, any Tremere antitribu caught manipulating others
clan’s destruction is one of their ultimate goals; they for her own purposes is put to death.
rejoice if a chantry is burned or destroyed. Preferred Paths: Path of Death and the Soul, Path of
Sabbat Tremere focus many hours on developing new Honorable Accord, Path of Caine
Paths and rituals. Storytellers should not feel bound to the Organization: The Sabbat Tremere place an extreme
rituals included in either The Masquerade, Second Edi- focus on loyalty amongst their clan. Authority within the
tion or this book if the players wish to create their own and clan is to be respected and obeyed. Once every seven years
the story will not suffer as a result. The way for Tremere a gathering is called. This is referred to as the Synod.
antitribu to gain Status within their clan is to destroy the Quote: 1will bepresent, 1willbeprepared. Ifwearegoing
Camarilla Tremere and to create new magic. to successfully destroy the chantry, though, 1 will need the
Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy cooperation of everyone during the ritual as well LIS a couple of
Advantage: This clan’s advantage lies in the respect little things I haven’t yet acquired. Perhaps you can help me
they receive as their price for not being leaders. Their locate them?
advice is usually heeded and asked for again. Haven: Within Sabbat temples are rooms designated
Disadvantage: Tremere antitribu are immediately rec- for Tremere to work and study. Each has her own sanctu-
ognizable by their Camarilla counterparts because of a ary. This is a private haven within a communal
magical curse that takes the form of a glowing brand on environment.
their foreheads. All Camarilla Tremere can see this with-
out any sort of test. It is suggested that the Storyteller give
a small sealed envelope to the Camarilla Tremere at the
beginning of the night and invite them to open it when
they meet a certain (or a group of certain) individual(s).
Inside will be the description of the glowing brand.

109
 VentrueAnti~hrr
Ventrue antitribu have been set free from the expec-
tations and standards of their former clan. Though they
are still wheelers and dealers in a business sense of the word
and instinctively know how to invest wisely, they prefer to
rebel against their former clan in every way they know
how. They try to make a new name, a warrior’s name for
the Ventrue of the Sabbat, and they avoid their old
stereotype as much as they can.
Ventrue antitriibu are the prime supporters of the
Loyalist movement within the Sabbat and view them-
selves as the quintessential rebels. Even more than the
Brujah, this clan fights its former image in every way it can.
Their image may not be as outlandish as the Brujah, but
leather and chains feel extremely risque to the antitribu of
the Ventrue who are more accustomed to suits and ties.
The main goals of the Sabbat Ventrue are to unify as
a clan and to exert themselves as individuals. They believe
in freedom over all else, and they have proven their loyalty
to the sect through their extreme, but not careless, use of
freedom. They often acquire massive fortunes for them-
selves and fund the sect liberally. Their instincts for
financial growth and economic security and control can-
not be overcome. They are closet readers of the Wall Street
Journal and FinancialTimes. They are also the sort that trip
old ladies in the middle of Fifth Avenue traffic. Most of the
Sabbat do not perceive them as twisted or bizarre in nature Organization: Once every 10 years the Ventrue hold
because they are generally well-grounded vampires, if a a meeting where everything is discussed from sect politics
little over-zealous in their political views. Politics and to individual investments. They call this the Vestry, and
money - you can take the Ventme out of the business, everyone dresses up. On a day-to-day basis, too much clan
but you can’t take the business out of the Ventrue. communication would invade the freedom of other clan
Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Fortitude members, although a sect emergency is always acceptable
Advantage: The Ventrue antitribu are almost all as a reason to call.
involved with the Loyalist movement which preaches Quote: I’we got ten thowand dollars in my pocket,
individual freedom over all else, except sect loyalty. The Vinnie, andthey’wegotyourmmonthem. Nowalllneedare
way to be loyal to the sect is to do whatever the hell you the goods we discussed last night. Either you have them or you
want. These vampires tend to disobey orders more than don’t, andplease, hawenodoubts that this littlegirl body won’t
other clans and challenge ideas and tactics. kick your ass and steal your goods if you don’t come clean.
Disadvantage: Sabbat Ventrue have the same weak- Haven: Communal
ness as their former clan. They are very picky eaters. Only
one kind of blood will do. Everything else is just, well...just
not up to their individual needs.
Preferred Paths: Path of Honorable Accord, Path of
Cathari
 Sabbat Inquisition has interrogated many Lasombra lead-
ers for suspected infemalism and accidental deaths of
Tzimisce advisors. For the most part, they lead well, and
their bravery in battle serves as an example to the others.
They consider themselves the purest of the Sabbat and
easily enrage at insult. Their instincts to control cannot be
ignored, but they are not the sole motivations for the
Lasombra.
There are a rare few Lasombra antihibu out there, but
they mainly work toward their own ends and do not
interfere with the Sabbat. The Lasombra within the sect,
however, despise these traitors and actively seek them out
to destroy them. Unlike other clans within the Sabbat,
they will engage mortals to do their dirty work for them
(although they are violently opposed to the ghoul fami-
lies), particularly those involved with the police forces
and other political structures as well as the church. The
Lasombra like the Sabbat just as it is and do not seek
change because it might upset their monopoly on the
sect’s leadership. “TOlead” is synonymous with “to live”
for the Lasombra, and anyone who challenges them can
expect a good fight against a dangerous and ambitious
opponent.
Disciplines: Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence
Advantage: The Lasombra are greatly respected and
lead most groups within the sect, with the exception ofthe
Black Hand.

Native Sabbat Clans Disadvantage: They are invisible in mirrors and on

film of any kind. In mortal society, this immediately
identifies them as supernatural and makes them poor
Lasombra infiltrators into the Camarilla for similar reasons. It is not
The Lasombra are the leaders of the Sabbat. They are unheard of for a Camarilla vampire to not be seen in
openly aggressive and competitive. Almost all of the mirrors, but it is extremely rare, and she will surely be
intrigue within the sect springs from the Lasombra. Per- noticed for her odd habit.
haps it’s because they did not have slavery in the Camarilla Preferred Paths: Path of Power and the Inner Voice,
to teach them better. In any case, the Lasombra earned the Path of Honorable Accord
respect of the other clans far back during the Anarch
Organization: Clan Lasombra gathers frequently,
Revolt when they joined up with a band of Assamites and
grouping together in meetings called conventicles four
destroyed their own Antediluvian. This won them Status
times a year. They do not keep in touch on a day-to-day
points which they still hold over the heads of the other
basis, although it is considered very rude and disrespectful
clans in times of desperation and/or argument.
to not come to the aid of one’s clansfolk when requested.
The primary loyalty of the Lasombra is to the sect.
Quote: My loyalty is unquestionable. I have proven
They are good leaders and inspire those who follow them
myself to be worthy enough to lead and therefme othersfollow.
with loyalty and passion. They also avoid having other
Do I take itfrom that glove on the floor that you are challen@ng
clans take over leadership positions. It is better to have a
me? Bad move.
Lasombra in power, even if it can’t be themselves. They
Haven: Communal
are warriors who have an instinct for treachery. The

111
 Tzimisce During the forming of the Sabbat, the Tzimisce clan
provided the ritual which is now referred to as the Vaulderie,
Clan Tzimisce is renowned for its twisted practices
as well as many of the other rituals among the Auctorita
and unshakable cruelty. They are not notable for their
R i m and Ignoblis R i a . The Tzimisce are the most com-
sense of humor, and anyone within the clan who possesses
mon clan of priests, and many thoroughly enjoy this duty
such is surely a rare exception. This clan is devoted to the
as counselor and moral backbone of the pack. Their
cause of the Sabbat. They are scholars and warriors,
twisted and bizarre natures are often hidden behind polite
preferring to hold themselves a bit aloof from their
and calm demeanors with their true colors showing when
Lasombra leaders. None shirk from the duties of leader-
asked questions about ideology and punishment. Most are
ship, but they prefer to advise and exert their control by
fanatically loyal and possess Derangements as such. The
forcing the Lasombra to depend on them for information,
Tzimisce hate their untim’bu as much as the Lasombra
guidance, weapons and whatever is necessary to ensure
despise theirs. They will stop at nothing to either convert
that the violent ones do not make fatal ego-oriented
them or kill them.
mistakes. The Tzimisce clan has one of their own behind
five out of every six Lasombra leaders to ensure honest Subjects which tend to fascinate the Tzimisce are
dealing and to be sure the figurehead takes the heat while torture, ancient history and languages, the arts, architec-
the Tzimisce appears the rescuer. ture, Egyptology and ancient religions. They are avid
pursuers of the occult, and some are doctors of both
The Tzimisce clan is the second most numerous clan
medicine and occult philosophy. Many dress in clothes
in the Sabbat. Next to the Lasombra, they also hold the
far, far out of date.
most status and power within the sect. The Tzimisce
power the ideology and goals of the sect, allowing the Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude
Lasombra to see that they get observed and carried out. Advantage: The Tzimisce are among the oldest mem-
Tzimisce are passionate about the ideology of the sect and bers of the Sabbat. They are respected and sought-after
firm in punishing those who break the rules. They are just, mentors. They retain close relationships with their prog-
but their sense of justice is considerably crueler than most. eny.
 Disadvantage:The Discipline of Vicissitude is actu-
ally a disease which somehow warps the mind of the
vampire using it very frequently. Each time the vampire
uses the Discipline more than three times per night, they
gain either a Path Trait or a Derangement, at the Story-
tellers discretion.
Preferred Paths: Path of Death and the Soul, Path of
Caine, Path of Honorable Accord
Organization: Clan Tzimisce is a clan in which
respect and conservatism are important. Their wickedness
is balanced out by respect for elders and the subconscious
need for Status to replace their desire for leadership.
Tzimisce need to feel respected, and the clan will not
award Status to the obnoxious, rebellious or foolish. Any
Tzimisce caught disgracing or spreading rumors about the
clan, bad-mouthing their clansfolk in front of non-Tzimisce
vampires or speaking against the sect can expect to be
punished severely when caught. The clan gathers on a
different date each year around the beginning of autumn.
They are a tightly-knit clan, and the clan leader, or
Voivode, as she is known, must take care to make wise
decisions that do not jeopardize the sect or clan power.
Quote: Your decision, though wise, has overlooked one
thing. May I...?
Haven: Private, unless emergency with pack.
i
 Once we have begun to walk our road,
we must walk it all the way.
Or we are lost. And all m a y be lost.
-Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic

A Mental Challenge must be performed. If the char-

acter wishes to invoke this in a very sneaky way (since it
is difficult to tell who the source is), the Storyteller may
Disciplines perform the test with the victim and simply inform the
character of the results of the challenge. This Discipline
cannot be consciously resisted; it either works or it doesn’t.
Dementation Confusion
Confusion allows the vampire to affect anyone who is
Basic paying direct attention to him with complete befuddle-
Mind Tricks ment. He must engage in a Mental Challenge and win for
this Discipline to function. It will completely bewilder the
This Discipline allows the Malkavian antitribu to
victim for five minutes, and the vampire may spend
induce minor hallucinations. The vampire casting this
Mental Traits to increase the duration at the cost of one
cannot control what the victim sees. She must find a
Mental Trait per additional five minutes. Three more
Storyteller and engage in a Mental Challenge. If the
Mental Traits spent would result in 20 minutes total of
Malkavian wins, the victim is affected in whatever way
confusion for the victim. Victims will have trouble re-
the Storyteller describes to him (fear, disorientation and
membering their names, where they are and what they are
temporary Trait loss are common). This is an excellent
doing. If they are attacked within the time they are
distraction technique. The Malkavian may not use this
confused, they will not have any problem defending
Discipline simultaneously with any physical action that
themselves.
would distract him from concentration on the target. In
other words, this Discipline could be used while walking The vampire must win a Mental Challenge against
slowly toward the victim, but not while running furiously the victim andspendMentalTraitsifhe wishes to lengthen
away from, actively fighting or throwing an object at the the duration of the confusion.
victim.

115
 Intermediate Mental Traits as they wish to ward an area. Kiasyd may
choose to spend three or more Mental Traits to ward a 10
Eyes of Chaos
foot area, even though only one Trait is required to ward
This Discipline allows the character to perceive an the area successfully. This additional Trait expenditure
individual's true Nature and/or any patterns of insanity will effectively boost the potency level of the glyph, and all
inherent in her personality. Patterns of insanity would those wishing to avoid the effects will have a higher
include Derangements, Beast or Path Traits and possibly difficulty level to challenge. Victims may engage in a
Negative Traits if the character does not possess any of the Mental Challenge with a Storyteller or the Kiasyd to
aforementioned personality quirks or Traits. avoid the effects. They must bid the same number of
This Discipline requires the character to win one Mental Traits the Kiasyd spent to ward the area.
Mental Test for each item he wishes to perceive. The first
test might be for the victim's true Nature, the next for one Advanced
Derangement or Beast Trait and so on. Stone Travel
Advanced Kiasyd have a natural affinity for earth and can
identify all rocks and minerals without having to spend
Total Insanity any Traits. Using this Discipline, the vampire can burrow
Using Total Insanity, the vampire can afflict her a tunnel into the earth. He can be followed into this
victim with five Derangements for 10 minutes. The Sto- tunnel, but they tend to collapse. Kiasyd must spend one
ryteller determines the Derangements, not the vampire Physical Trait for every 20 feet they wish to burrow. This
who is invoking the insanity. Any victim in this state may Discipline can be activated on dirt or natural stone only.
not initiate a Mental Challenge. The victim should be It may not be used with asphalt, concrete, brick walls or
encouraged to play out the Derangements within the walkways, or stone which has been tainted with synthetic
context of the story. substances such as non-clay or sand mortar.
The Malkavian must win a Mental Challenge against
the victim and spend one Willpower Trait for every 10
minutes of complete insanity she wishes to inflict on her
Obtenebration
victim.
Basic
Note: Malkavian antitribu keep this Discipline a
Shadow Play
closely guarded secret and have not been known to teach
it to any outsiders. This Discipline allows the vampire to blend in with
shadows. If there is a real shadow, the vampire may stand
Mytherceria in it with arms crossed for Obfuscate and remain unseen.
Mental Challenges may be initiated by others to try to
This Discipline can only be possessed by those of the discern the vampire in hiding. A character who success-
Kiasyd bloodline. fully wins the challenge and notices the vampire could not
draw the conclusion that this was anything other than
Basic normal Obfuscate.This Disciplinemay not be used unless
Fey Sight real shadows are present. Very dark rooms, closets, under
This Disciplineallows the vampire to see changelings tables if it is dimmer, etc. are also acceptable.
and wraiths for what they truly are with her normal vision. Shroud of Night
She may then speak with any creature she sees by winning This second level Discipline allows the vampire to
or tying a Simple Test with that individual. For every test create an area of inky black matter. This will blind
won or tied, she may speak with the wraith or changeling everyone regardless of Heightened Sensesor Gleam of the
for five minutes. If the test is lost, she loses her vision of the Red Eyes. The darknessobscures light and sound, but does
other creature(s) for one minute. not eliminate sound. This will no doubt look unusual to
those on the outside. It appears as a huge black blob and
Intermediate looks nothing like a natural shadow.
Faerie Wards Shroud ofNight costs the vampire one Blood Trait for
Kiasyd can protect an area of 10feet per Mental Trait every 10 feet she wishes the darkness to extend. A Story-
spent with faerie glyphs. This causes anyone who enters teller should be present to explain the phenomena to all
the area to become extremelydisoriented while within the involved. It will not be traceable physically back to the
area and for 10 minutes after he leaves the area. This is vampire invoking it unless people notice her high concen-
used more to prevent others from returning to the area of tration level.
choice than as a practical joke. The Discipline affects all
worlds, including the Umbra. Kiasyd may spend as many
 \‘k
Intermediate must win a Simple Test to see if he can return the
Ahrimane’s communication. He should also describe to
Arms of the Abyss
her what animal he would most smell like.
With this Discipline, the Lasombra can force shad-
ows within 15 feet of her person to attack a specifictarget. Intermediate
Use of this Discipline requires real shadows to be present
Aspect of the Beast
and the victim must be able to see them (although the
victim does not actually have to be looking at the shad-
By spendingone Blood Trait, the Ahrimane can access
either Alacrity (Celerity), Vigor (Potence) or Wolf Claws
ows). If the character being attacked is blind, then a
(Protean). She may not use more than one of these Disci-
Storyteller may vouch for the existence of the shadow.
plines at a time, and any costs to activate the Discipline still
Shadows may be used to hold, knock over, trip, grasp or
apply. This Discipline is the direct result of the Ahrimane’s
block an opponent. The Lasombra may not engage in any
meditation and communication with animal spirits. She
other physical action while she is controlling the shadows.
must, in addition to the blood expenditure, concentrate for
This Discipline costs one Blood Trait per shadow the
a full minute before her requested Discipline will engage.
character wishes to use and requires a Physical Challenge
This is the time when the Ahrimane is asking the spirit of
(the shadow’s PhysicalTraits, listed below, vs. the victim’s
the animal to help her. The spirit’s aid will last for 20
Physical Traits). Once the attacker has spent the Blood
minutes or one Physical Challenge, whichever passes first.
Trait, the other characters will see the shadow form into
a tendril and move about, seemingly of its own volition. Advanced
The shadow tendrils cannot move around an area, they
The Wildebeest
may only whip, slash and grab from their initial point of
origin. They both inflict and take normal damage. Using this Discipline, the Ahrimane can attain a feral
state in which she becomes slightly larger, more catlike in
Each shadow possesses three Physical Traits. Please
appearance and ready for vicious combat. She may not use any
feel free to allow characters with this Discipline to choose
Social Traits except Intimdating. This Discipline results from
their own adjectives, as long as they suit the shadow. The
the Ahrimane’s communion with spirits of wild animals and
Lasombra has the option of spending additional Blood
being inclose enough contactwith them to allow them to lend
Traits to add additional Physical Traits to her shadow
their strengths to her body. It takes one full minute of uninter-
tendrils at a rate of one-for-one.
ruptedconcentrationtoevokethisstate.Shegainsthe following
Advanced Physical Traits: Ferocious, Graceful, Lithe, Athletic, Dexterous
and Tireless. The player should be sure to describe the physical
Shadow Body
change in the appearance of her character to those around her.
The vampire can turn her body into an oozing form of
shadow. She is immune to physical harm except for sunlight
or fire (which do one extra Health Level of damage in this
Thaumaturgy
form). She may not initiate any challenges or attack in any Antitribuvampires with this Disciplineprobably know
way. Shadow Body will allow the vampire to slip through some of the traditional rituals and Paths associated with
cracks in walls and slither at walkingspeedalong any surface. their Camarilla cousins. Here are the Paths and rituals
This Discipline costs two Blood Traits, one to assume that belong solely to the Sabbat. Other Tremere may
the shadow form and one to return to normal form. It takes have heard of these rituals and Paths, but it is unlikely
one full minute to change forms. that they possess them since the Sabbat Tremere are quite
protective of their secrets and advantages.
Spiritus Paths:
This Discipline was taught to the Ahrimanes by
Native American shamans. No one else has ever been
known to possess it.
Gift of Morphens
This path allows the Thaumaturgist control of others’
Basic sleep and dreams.
Speak With Spirit
Basic
This Discipline allows the Ahrimanes to speak to
Cause Sleep
nearby wraiths without any Trait expenditure. The com-
munication is purely telepathic and cannot be overheard By winning a Mental Challenge with the victim, the
by those with Heightened Senses. The Ahrimane cannot, Thaumaturgist may induce a very sleepy state. The victim
however, see the spirits. She can smell them. A wraith will not fall over and snore on the floor, but they will, over
a period of five minutes, fall gradually asleep. Any loud

117
 noise or physical contact will wake the victim. While this
, was intended for use against mortals, the character can
Basic
Blood Rush
spend a Willpower Trait and to affect a vampire (a
Blood Rush allows the Thaumaturgist to create the
Mental Challenge must still be won).
sensation of drinking blood in himself. With his eyes
Mass Slumber
closed, he must spin three times to the left and chant the
The Thaumaturgist may, by spending a Willpower secret phrase three times in his mind. If the player does not
Trait, cause a group of mortals to fall asleep. Mortals can enact this ritual, the character will not feel its effects. It
spend a Willpower Trait and test against the Thaumaturgist may be used to prevent a blood frenzy by making the
in a Mental Challenge. If there are ghouls or Garou Thaumaturgist feel as though he has just fed. It will create
present in the “mortal” crowd, the Thaumaturgist must a sensation of more than about two Blood Traits being
engage in individual Mental Challenges with each consumed, although no actual Blood Traits will be gained.
non-mortal. This ritual is best invoked in the presence of One Physical Trait must be spent to enact this ritual.
a Storyteller.
Domino of Life
Intermediate This allows the Thaumaturgist to invoke one aspect of
human life for the duration of the night. She may eat, drink,
Enchanted Slumber
raise her body temperature, simulate a heartbeat or any-
This allows the Thaumaturgist to cause a creature to thing else she desires. Only one aspect may be invoked at a
fall into a sleep from which she cannot be wakened until time. This will not change her aura in any way. This ritual
a specific event occurs (like a kiss from Prince Charming).
costs one Physical Trait (and the winning of a Static
These tasks should be achievable, though not necessarily
Physical Challenge, 2 Trait difficulty, and may only occur
easy. This is very effective when used on a Narrator
directly after the consumption of two traits of mortal blood.
character. If used on a character who is not the antagonist,
Rotten-wood
the caster should remember that if the conditions are not
able to be met in game, they could cause another player to This ritual must be performed upon the vampire’s
be effectively cut out of the game for the duration of the waking and lasts for one night. She must chew through a
evening (at least). Storytellers may disallow the setting of one inch thick piece of wood without using her strength
impossible conditions such as “She may not awaken until to break it. After this, all she must do is speak aloud the
her body is physically transported to the planet Mars.”The ritual word and any wood she touches will crumble to dust.
target will rouse if her life is threatened, although she will This will work on anything from an enormous antique
be down two Traits in all areas. A Willpower Trait must table to a stake. The Thaumaturgist must win a Static
be spent and a Mental Challenge must be won to invoke Mental Challenge against anything she wishes to disinte-
this sleep. grate during the course of the night.

Advanced Intermediate
Dream Mastery Fire In the Blood
The Thaumaturgist may enter the mind of a specific This ritual causes the victim to suffer one aggravated
sleeper and induce nightmares or use Disciplines such as wound every time she engages in a Physical Challenge. It
Presence, Dominate or Auspex if she possesses them requires physical contact between the caster and victim (a
herself. The Thaumaturgist effectively gains control over Physical Challenge) and may be performed as a separate
the sleeper’s dreams and can do as she wishes. Any challenge during combat or in advance. The caster must
Discipline used on the sleeper must incorporate the usual also speak a word of command out loud, such as “Burn” or
number of challenges and other Blood and Willpower “Boil.”In a non-combat situation, this word, though it must
expenditures. This requires the Thaumaturgist to win a be audible, may be delivered quite subtly. When activated
Mental Challenge and spend one Mental Trait. The during combat, the ritual is an obvious attack, and the
sleeper may take normal action in her dream. victim will be aware of what the Thaumaturgist is doing to
her. In either case, the caster must win a second challenge
against the victim in order for the ritual to be effective (the
caster’s Mental Traits vs. the victim’s Physical Traits).
Rituals are magical systems of action that require The victim will experience extreme pain from the
specific ingredients, incantations, blood and time. They heat of the blood in her body whenever she is active in a
are also very draining to the Thaumaturgist’s will. They Physical Challenge for the duration of the night. If this is
are neither easily mastered nor easily taught, and many performed in advance with the physical contact being, for
guard their secrets jealously. example, a handshake, the Storyteller may wish to give
While the Camarilla Tremere have many rituals, the the victim an envelope to open when she engages in her
Tremere antitribu have developed many of their own.
 .

first Physical Challenge (not including the one with the Advanced
caster) which explains the effects of this ritual without
Chill of the Windsaber
directly revealing its source.
This very potent ritual costs two Willpower Traits
Iron Mind and a Mental Challenge against the target. T h e
This ritual, performed when the vampire wakes, will Thaumaturgist must prepare it in one hour of solitary
render the caster almost entirely invulnerable to Auspex uninterrupted ritual (the player must remain alone, out of
for the duration of the night. A piece of iron must be worn game). This ritual allows the Thaumaturgist to decapitate
on the caster’s head, and she must spend one Willpower a victim with sheer telekinetic force. She must create a
Trait to engage the ritual. She must also sit in uninter- voodoo doll of the intended victim using some piece of the
rupted meditation for 15 minutes before joining play. If victim’s clothing, hair, flesh or blood (a card representing
another character wishes to perform a Mental Challenge the item or a Blood Trait from the target character must be
to use any of the powers of the Auspex Discipline, she must shown to a Storyteller before the challenge can occur).
spend a Willpower Trait to perform the challenge. If the The Thaumaturgist must then chant over the doll and
challenger is willing to do this, and wins the challenge, the tuck it safely away with a small piece of glass. To activate
effects of Auspex will continue as usual. the ritual, the Thaumaturgist must be within 50 feet of the
Recure of the Homeland individual and snap the piece of glass in half. She must also
This enables the Thaumaturgist to heal any aggra- point her finger at the target and engage in a Mental
vated wounds she may have. The ritual requires dirt from Challenge. If the caster wins, the victim’shead is chopped
the homeland of the vampire, which must be rubbed on off by the force of the Thaumaturgist’s ritual. There is no
the wound while the vampire sits in meditation for 10 warning for this very advanced and rare ritual unless the
minutes. The meditation must not be interrupted, al- character targeted manages to find out what is going on
though it could feasibly happen in a communal haven and put a stop to it before the ritual can be enacted.
with others present. One handful of dirt heals one aggra- Storytellers should disallow this ritual if it unbalances
vated wound. At most, the user may only hold two their game.
handfuls of dirt, and the ritual may only be enacted once
per night. It requires a Static Mental Challenge.
 Invisible Chains Of Binding
This ritual allows the Thaumaturgist to render an-
Vicissitude
other creature immobile by summoning a supernatural
force. The victim is actually chained with invisible chains
Basic
and ties which force her to remain where she is. The Changeling
Thaumaturgist may chain up to four people with this This Discipline allows the vampire to alter her own
ritual, but must spend one Willpower Trait for each. The appearance. The appearance may only change as much as
caster must make bold hand gestures like tying and be sure the vampire’s natural bone structure will allow. In other
the victim(s) sees her. The Thaumaturgist must be able to words, you may not go from being a five foot one over-
see those she is trying to bind. If the victim wishes, he may weight, bald man to a six foot skinny person. You may look
spend a Willpower Trait to resist, then a Challenge must completely different, but your basic size and shape remain
occur using the Thaumaturgist’s Mental Traits against the the same. It is advised to bring a few extra costume pieces
victim’s Physical Traits. A Storyteller or the caster should with you, so that people in your pack will know not to
inform any victim of Invisible Chains of Binding of his recognize you when you are wearing the brown jacket or
option to spend a Willpower Trait to initiate a Physical the fuzzy green hat.
Challenge. Most players will be unaware of this option. This Discipline costs one Blood Point per use and
Thirst Unquenchable takes five minutes. It is not a Discipline like Obfuscate
The Thaumaturgist creates within another vampire that you can just pop in and out of. It requires time and
the sensation of the Hunger for the remainder of the concentration on the part of the vampire. You must
evening. No matter how much the victim feeds, he will change your number (if they are being used) to identify
remain starving. The Thaumaturgist must stand in the you as someone different when using this Discipline.
presence of the victim for five minutes and sprinkle salt Fleshcraft
around her in a circle. The prolonged effects of this ritual Fleshcraft allows the character to alter the flesh of a
almost always induce frenzy. creature other than himself. I t is often used as a combat
technique in inter-Sabbat arguments or to terrify and
intimidate other opponents. The vampire must engage in
a Physical Challenge with an unwilling victim and win or The user must spend two Blood Traits to activate
tie a Simple Test with a willing one. The challenge’s Horrid Form. While in Horrid Form, no Social Traits may
outcome determines whether or not the Tzimisce was able be used with the exception of Intimidating. The following
to lay his hands on the victim as well as invoke the Physical Traits are gained: Brawny, Ferocious, Dexterous,
Discipline. This Discipline will not function without Quick, Enduring and Stalwart. All damage inflicted while
physical contact as in laying on of hands. in this form is aggravated.
If this Discipline is used to improve the appearance of A Word on Vicissitude
another (the case of the Simple Test), one appropriate Vicissitude is not just a Discipline, it is a disease (and
Social Trait is gained by the victim for as long as her some say more than just a disease). Using this Discipline
appearance remains altered. Failure on the Simple Test can be a tremendous strain on the mind of the vampire. If
means one Social Trait is lost by the victim. the Discipline is used more than three times per night, the
This Discipline costs one Blood Trait each time it is user permanently gains one new Derangement or one Path
used and takes at least 10 minutes uninterrupted time to Trait at the discretion of the Storyteller.
perform (if altering an entire face).

Intermediate
Bonecraft SabbatAbilities
Bonecraft allows the character to alter the bone In addition to all of the Abilities listed in The
structure of his victim. Since its effects are particularly Masquerade: Second Edition, Sabbat characters may also
painful, the Sabbat find this technique most useful in choose from among the following:
torture situations. Storytellers may feel free to not allow
the use of this Discipline in their games. With Bonecraft, Blacknand Knowledge
the Tzimisce may increase or decrease the size of a bone, You have access to much information about this
insert objects into bone (as long as the bone itself can be secretivegroup within the Sabbat. You can find out about
touched), carve bone with their bare hands or engage in current members, rituals and philosophy as well as (per-
similarpractices. This Discipline is not useful in combat to haps) some plans. A Mental (or in some cases Social)
aid the Tzimisce in breaking bones (that would involve Challenge will be in order to acquire information you do
the character’s Physical Traits and Brawl Ability). How- not already possess.
ever, it will allow them to bend bones once physical
contact has been established with the victim (a Physical Blind Fighting
Challenge with strength-related traits). The effects of this Many Sabbat games and Monomacy ritual fights re-
Discipline are permanent unless altered by someone using quire use of this ability. Blind fighting means you are
the same Discipline. practiced at fighting without the aid of your eyes. Many
Bonecraft costs one Blood Trait to use and requires a packs blindfold new initiates and teach them to fight that
Physical Challenge (unwilling victim) or Simple Test way. Your pack has trained you to use your instincts,hearing
(willing victim). If a character wishes to use Bonecraft on and innate hunter nature without relying on the use of your
himself to enhance the effects of Changeling, he runs the vision. You may use this Ability to retest whenever you are
risk of a pain frenzy. The alteration of an entire skeleton fighting in the dark or blindfolded. This Ability also enables
will take at least twenty minutes to perform, and the the character to initiate challenges in the dark.
victim must either spend one Willpower Trait to avoid
frenzying from pain or engage in a Static Physical Chal- CamarillaLore
lenge. This Ability allows a member of the Sabbat to acquire
information about who’s who in the Camarilla. It may
Advanced only be possessed by converts, Nosferatu or Malkavian
Horrid Form untitribu,infiltrators of any clan or those with a really good
With this Discipline,the user may assume the form of reason to have it. A Mental Challenge will be required for
an enormous, disgustingmonster. The body of the charac- the character to attempt to gain new knowledge.
ter is transformed into a seven to eight foot tall creature
with blackish oily skin and other enchanting features like Fire Walking
bony knobs protruding from the spine, a hideously de- You may enter a trance-like state which relieves you
formed head and huge, claw-like, seven-fingered hands. from Rotschreck and allows you to cross burning coals
The player also must find a way to alert other nearby during some Sabbat rituals. You do not get nervous around
players to his change. Raising your hands from your sides, fire if you can sit apart and meditate for five minutes before
fingers splayed and claw-like can be appropriate. encountering the flames. You may use this Ability to retest
any Rotschreck tests regarding fire. If you are able to Sewer Lore
meditate, you may use this Ability without a test to resist You know the sewers of your city like the back of your
fear during rituals. hand. The more abilities you possess in Sewer Lore, the
better you know the happenings in the passages, the
Fortune Telling escape routes of other vampires, etc. You must engage in
You may or may not have the psychic chutzpah to a Mental Challenge to use this Ability.
really do this, but with a Social Challenge, you can make
people believe you do. This Ability allows you to try your Snake Charming
hand at any common fortune telling art such as palmistry,
You can mesmerize snakes and enjoy handling them.
tea leaves, Tarot cards, the I Ching, dice or rune-casting. This Ability will allow you to retake a Social Challenge
You may engage in a Social Challenge to convince your when you are sure you are engaged with a Setite or Serpent
client that you are telling the truth or are a real psychic. of the Light. It will also allow you to charm snakesfor show
History or for certain Sabbat rituals.
You know your history. You can acquire information Torture
on just about any period if it’s not already in your head. You know how to inflict pain, and you are efficient at
The Sabbat has taught you much through its rituals and
doing so. This Ability will allow you to retake any Physical
Path teachings. You may have had no interest in history in
Challenge when you are in a torture situation (i.e. when
your mortal life, but now you find it fascinating. This
you are the torturer). Regular combat would not be an
Ability will allow you to research history quickly and
appropriate use for this Ability.
efficiently. It is possessed by many Sabbat because of their
education within the sect and strict indoctrination. A
Mental Challenge is required to use this Ability.
New Sabbat
Panhandling Derangements
You beg with skill and ease. People just end up giving
you money. You may engage in a Social Challenge at any
Blood Addict
time to encourage passers-by to share the wealth. Your You are addicted to the blood of your pack. It gives
Demeanor may vary from a crying child to an aggressive you a physical and emotional high that can’t be beat. For
old drunk. every period of six hours you go without consuming pack
vitae, you lose one Physical Trait until you get your fix.
Ritual Knowledge When you wake, you are down one Physical Trait until
Because the Sabbat translates so many of its practices you get pack blood.
into ritual form, most members can figure out how to make
a ritual to accomplish a given objective. This Ability
Blood Taste
allows the Sabbat member to create, construct and enact You hate the taste of blood. Your body craves it, but
a ritual for common practice. This does not include you think it tastes disgusting. You go out of your way to
Thaumaturgy, but might include a hex or a curse that feed on drunks (the alcohol helps kill the taste), even
could rob the target temporarily of one to three Traits. going to the extreme of hanging out in mortal bars getting
Specific ritual requirements, like how many Traits the people drunk just to feed. You have tried everything to
packmust spend to extract Traits from their target, etc. are make it taste better, but nothing seems to help. The
up to the discretion of the Storyteller. This Ability will Vaulderie is torture; one person’s blood is had enough by
also allow the vampire to recognize that a ritual is in use itself, but the blood of a whole pack let out to go stale in
should she witness it. Unless the vampire is a Thaumaturgist the air like that is really vile, not to mention the aftertaste.
and has witnessed or studied the ritual before, she will not You must winor tie a Static Test each time you participate
be able to identify the exact ritual. in the Vaulderie to see if you spit out the blood. If you fail
the test, you must bum a Willpower Trait if you wish to
Sabbat Lore keep the noxious fluid in your mouth.
You are privy to much information, including the
activities of the sect in cities other than your own. You
Confusion
know many rituals and enjoy gathering as much knowl- When you emerged from the grave during your Cre-
edge as you can about different goings on within the sect. ation Rites, you had no idea what was going on. You may
A Mental Challenge is required to gather knowledge you have been nearly incapacitated by your intense confusion.
don’t already have. Now your befuddlement lingers, and every time you see a
Storyteller, or an individual you and she select, y o u
 cured many hang-oversby feeding fully on
those who have been in need of a remedy. Death is a
Derangements wonderful cure for a hangover. And you feel so lovely
Derangements are mental conditions that afterward.
are always present in a character. They remain
inert, yet always influencethe character’s thoughts Ideology Fanatic
and actions. If a Derangement is “triggered,”the You believe in Sabbat ideology so much you are
character will frenzy unless he spends a Will- willing to do anything to spread the word. You believe in
power Trait to avoid doing so. If the character converting before killing, although those who are weak
remains in the presence of the condition which and stupid are not worth converting. You are driven to
triggers his Derangement, his Willpower Trait convert from within the ranks of the enemy and will
will wear off in about 10 minutes, and he will sacrifice your unlife to do so. You want to infiltrate. You
once again risk entering Frenzy. are convinced it is the way to win the Jyhad. Your personal
mission is to win the Camarilla to the Sabbat willingly.
You may engage in one retest per night when you fail your
initial Static Test to resist frenzy from a Path Trait. You
become horribly confused about your Nature, identity and
may only do this in the presence of one or more Camarilla
the current events. This lasts for three to five minutes. You
members.
and the Storyteller might also choose to randomly invoke
your Derangementwhenever you hear a prespecified word. Mercenary
If you want your Derangement to be particularly serious,
Killing is a gift. You are a great and powerful hunter
you might choose a word like “sect” or “feed.” If you want
and may, if you so choose, bestow the gift ofdeath. It is not
it to strike you a little less often, you might choose a word
remotely worth your while if there is not an exchange, a
or phrase like “business arrangement” if you are a Brujah
gift for a gift. You happily kill for money, valuables or elder
or “this sucks” if you are a Lasombra.
blood, but you refuse to bestow your gift without receiving
Creation Memory one in exchange. The satisfaction of doing the sect or a
friend a favor is not enough. You rarely kill those you feed
You are plagued by memories of your Creation Rites.
from (a complete waste of time), and will not kill or feed
High stress usually triggers the memories, especially vio-
lence. You may also choose a random factor and invoke
the memories whenever you see a Storyteller or hear a
specific word. Your thoughts will immediately go back to
the time of your creation, and you feel a pressing need to
share these memories with whomever you are with. This
Derangement can be played as anything from a near frenzy
to the burning desire to tell anecdotes. You are down one
Mental Trait whenever you lapse into memory.

Handler
Weapons suck. Guns are for pansies. If you can’t do it
with your hands, you don’t deserve to do it. You love your
fangs and claws. It is your philosophy that vampires are a
superior species and should use their Disciplines as their
war tools. Guns are for the fearful, the weak, the cowardly.
You refuse to hide behind any such machinations of
technology. Force the bravery out of those you fight.
Ropes, stakes and weapons of nature are acceptable in a
pinch. Close-range weapons at least allow you to see the
whites of their eyes before you decimate them.

HangoverHelper
You like to kill, but not if it’s really hard work. You
prefer to feed on those weaker or more incapacitated than
yourself. You especially enjoy preying on those who are in
the throes of a bout with drunkennessor adrug-stimulated

123
from animals unless they have something you need, like Paranoid of Ancients
the furs, bones for some ritual you need performed or
Everyone, everything that is not expressly Sabbat is a
something else of value. You will not waste the gift of
tool of the Antediluvians for your personal destruction.
death unless you get something of value out of the arrange-
All of your loyal comrades are doomed along with you. You
ment.
are suspicious and wary of anything outside the sect. You
Obsession will not infiltrate the Camarilla for fear of being taken
over subliminally by their ancient masters. You feel the
You are obsessed with someone in your pack. You need to purify those who have made contact outside the
have a Vinculum of 10 for her and can't shake the desire
sect to be sure they have not been overcome by the
to be constantly in her business and affections. You try to influence of the Ancients themselves.
suck up as much of her attention and blood as you can and
prevent others from getting what you crave. Passion Player
Pack Feeding You loved religion in your mortal life, and now you
understand the reality behind it. God created vampires to
You believe you can no longer feed on mortals or bring His children home to Heaven more quickly. Vam-
other vampires other than your pack. You become ill when pires are predators and are supposed to kill so as to end the
vitae other than theirs passes into your system. You have sufferingsof mortals. You belong to the ranks of the angels
very high Vinculum ratings because all of your food comes now. You are an angel of death, though your pack may
from your pack. No one is sure if this is a psychological view you as an angel of mercy. Your kills are quick and to
condition or a physical addiction. In any case, it is reality the point. You feel a desire to kill all those you feed on so
for you. This Derangement makes diablerie almost impos- they may move on to Heaven as soon as they can. You love
sible. It is up to the Storyteller whether or not the being a vampire, but regret that you will spend eternity as
character may spend Willpower Traits to attempt diablerie God's servant on Earth instead of as God's guest in
or to feed from another source. Heaven. You strongly dislike torture and refuse to take
part in it. Killing is your genetic duty, and you clearly see
that the Camarilla vampires are full of self-will to avoid Sect Fanatic
killing, that they are disrespectful the wishes of their
You love the Sabbat. You are as loyal as the night is
Creator. They hide behind the Masquerade even when
long. The Sabbat made you what you are today, a powerful
they do kill, though it is God’s will for them to reveal
hunter long past your miserable life as a juice-bag and your
themselves as the angels of death that they are. Each time
pathetic former cares and worries. If it were not for your
you kill, you make sure your victim knows exactly what
packmates or those who Embraced you, you would still be
you are first.
one of the small, weak and disgusting.The ideology of the
Path Last sect enchants you. You believe every word without ques-
tion and will do anything you have to do to see that the
You are obsessed by your code of ethics. You follow
Sabbat is victorious in the coming Jyhad with the An-
your Path to the letter and will not back down when some cients. Killing the infidels of the Camarilla is a pleasure
point regarding your Path philosophy is debated. Thanks and a treat. You congratulate your fellow Sabbat and offer
to your overwhelming dedication to your Path, you enjoy them your support. You really enjoy the Vaulderie and
the frenzy your Path Traits invoke. You may only engage become incensed when your packmates and others do not
in one Test per night to determine if you can control your wish to engage in the ritual at least once per night. You are
frenzy. unquestionably loyal to the sect and despise those who put
themselves before the good of the Sabbat. If it were not for
Progenitor the Sabbat, they would be lost. They should be more
Vampires are part of the ultimate scheme of things, grateful. You are wary of those vampires, for their loyalty
and the Sabbat are the saviors of the race. You feel is questionable.
personally responsible for the procreation of your race.
The world must be peopled withvampires, and the Sabbat Strangler
(hopefully your pack) will sire them. You dream of breed- You cannot bear the sight ofblood. You shut your eyes
ing juice-bags for food and having a universe run by the during the Vaulderie and clean up as soon as possible
superior species of the Sabbat. All vampires who are not afterwards. You walked out of Reservoir Dogs and refuse to
Sabbat are among the weak and are nothing more than go see any kind of slasher film. You enjoy killing but must
Prey. find ways to do it without bloodshed. You love the taste of
blood; you just can’t take the visuals. You have to shut your
Promise eyes when you feed. If someonehanded you a glass of blood
You force people to promise you things in order to outside of the Vaulderie, it would almost be too much for
help them learn to keep their word. Honor is the only your stomach to handle.
thing that will strengthen the sect, and it is your personal
quest to be sure the sect is strong. You run the risk of frenzy Wrist-Slitter
if you discover that someone has lied to you. You love to bleed. You encourage others to drink from
you at every opportunity, and you are willing to do the
Ritual Freak same. You cannot live without that rush of your brothers’
The more rituals your pack performs, the happier you and sisters’ blood into your veins. You can smell yourself
are. You insist on Vaulderie at least twice a night, once at on them, and it reminds you of your passion. Even when
rising and once before sleep. You encourage others to you aren’t hungry, you have been known to find a member
participate in rituals before every anticipated combat and of your pack and just snatch their wrist, but you will not
after every unanticipated one. You believe everyone who drain or harm them. You would just rather drink that
ventures into the realm of infiltration should be blessed by delicious blood of bonding and truth than that of any
a Sabbat priest before they go and upon each return. All mortal. You will, however, happily drain a mortal and
of the Auctoritas R i a fascinate you and all of the Ignoblis then return to your pack to spread the wealth. The worst
Rim celebrate you. You adore ritual use, and will use every punishment you could think of would be being denied
opportunity to engage others in one. pack blood.
',ThePaths of
/
demeanor. They study philosophy, ancient languages and
other subjects that will guide them along the path of wisdom.
Assamite antinibu remain the primary followers of this Path.
Enlightenment Diablerie is practiced in order to grow closer to Caine. They
seekknowledgeof Caine and will pursue it at almost any cost,
Vampires who possess humanity are constantly involved includingtheir own unlives. They often desire hours alone to
in the battle between their self-controland the Beast within. spend in meditation and actively fight against frenzy. They
They do not want to frenzy and create havoc with their are generally respectful of their elders and aloof toward
violent and potentially murderous ways. The Sabbat, how- humans, believing that vampires were created by God and
ever, enjoy the Beast within and are encouraged to frenzy therefore should act according to their natures. Predators
more often than not. Without humanity, it would seem that don't usually get chummy with their food.
they would all become crazed monsters and killing machines.
Each member of the Sabbat follows a Path of Enlight-
Path Traits
enment, however, which provides a code of ethics that Diabolist
prevent the vampire from constantly frenzying and estab- Frenzy whenever you are prevented from committing
lishes a sense of morality within a creature whose innate diablerie. The victim must be present. If someone else is
sense of right and wrong has long since perished. Path getting in your way, remove them. They are preventing
Traits assume the position of Beast Traits for Sabbat you from becoming closer to Caine.
vampires by determining what kind of situation or circum- Abelite
stance will cause them to frenzy. Frenzy whenever two or more of your packmates have
succumbed to the Beast. You believe frenzy is for the weak
The Path of Caine and uncontrolled, not you. Frenzy is the crime that caused
Caine to murderAbe1. Pack morale dropping so low makes
The Path of Caine was founded by Assamites, who based
you furious and forces you into unwilling frenzy.
their beliefs on fragments of The BookofNod. Followersof this
PathconcludedthattheCamarillaisatoolofthe Antediluvians Self-controlled
to raise vampire childer in fear so the Ancients may prey upon Frenzy whenever anyone accuses you of having fren-
them more easily when they awaken. Most followers of this zied. You possess far too much self-control and have never
Path are fairly reserved in character and knowledgeable in in your unlife stooped so low.

126
 Separatist
Frenzy whenever you witness a vampire revealing
The Path
himself to a mortal. Vampires are not meant to live
alongside juice-bags. You are the superior species and
of Death and the Soul
should hold yourselves aloof. This Path claims followers who neither fear Final
Death nor seek it out. It is the oldest Path still practiced by
Scholar
the Sabbat today, having been founded as a Tzimiscedeath
Frenzy whenever someone directly prevents you from
cult which transformed into a legitimate school of thought
acquiringknowledgeofCaine. Inotherwords, ifa Nosferatu
during the Age of Enlightenment. To this day, followers of
dangles a page of The Book of Nod in front of your face and this Path seek to study death in all its forms. They are
refuses to let you see it, frenzy. fascinated by the occult and wish to discover all they can
about its uses and theory. The heart of the body is consid-
The Path of Cathari ered to be the home of the soul by believers in this Path.
Followersof this Path believe in the religious dualism Blood has a spiritual as well as a physical essence. Followers
of two creators: one good, who made the spiritual world, of the Path of Death and the Soul have no qualms about
and the other an evil creator of the material world. As killing, especially if there is something to be learned from
vampires, they are part of the material, or evil, world. They the subject. Their experiments and studies have been the
accept their inherent evil, seeking wealth and pleasure, subject of many rumors and horrific tales throughout the
avoiding Final Death, Embracing others without restraint ages. They are known for performing rituals containing
and preying on mortals without qualms, because they also both human and vampiric sacrifices. Followersof this Path
believe in reincarnation. They believe that slain mortals are generally dispassionate and courteous, eschewing frenzy
will return, as will slain vampires. They avoid Final Death and often preferring to be alone.
because they believe they will return as mortals, without
their powers and pleasures. They court temptation, suc- Path Traits
cumbing to the Beast whenever they feel like it. Excavator
Frenzy whenever anyone prevents you from occult
Path Traits discovery. They must either be withholding information
Pack Fiend they have told you they possess or have destroyed some
Follow another vampire into frenzy whenever pos- puzzle-piece you desired.
sible. What could be more fun? You should probably Debater
attack his or her target, but the next closest person will do Frenzy whenever anyone blows you off during a philo-
if the other is entirely out of reach or already decimated. sophical discussion. You are attempting to discern the
Creator keys to the universe, and all they can do is snidely say,
Frenzy whenever anyone in your pack hesitates to “Uh-hunh, whatever.”
create new vampires. A victim of some sort must be present. Discoverer
Final Death Frenzy whenever you are prevented from killing for
Frenzy whenever directly threatened with Final Death. the sake of knowledge. You do not fear death; you wish to
You believe in reincamation, but you will return as a communicate with it. Allow n o one to interfere with your
weakling mortal, not as a powerful immortal. experiments.
Materialist Passion
Frenzy whenever someone damages your possessions. Frenzy whenever three or more of your packmates
Catharists believe in living comfortably and making their begin talking in raised tones at once. Battle-cries and the
eternal life as enjoyable as possible. Destruction of your like can be excepted. You abhor the ruling of emotion over
property is a blatant insult to your person and your code of logic and refuse to tolerate it in those close to you. You
ethics. Defend your stuff! must force them all to regain their composure, even if they
Hedonist are in little pieces by the time you do it!
Frenzy whenever you are restrained from seeking Persona
pleasure. This can include feeding, acquiring new prop- Frenzy whenever you are accused of emotional behav-
erty or engaging in activities you find enjoyable. You ior or cowardice with regard to death. You do not fear Final
ought to enjoy your immortal gifts, and no one can prevent Death. You will prove it right now.
you from doing so.
The Path of Harmony it and their comrades with their lives, and observe the rites
and rituals faithfully. They place the goals and well-being
The Path of Harmony is the most gentle of the Paths of the sect above their own.
currently practiced by the Sabbat. Its principles involve Vampires who espouse this Path are honest and loyal.
finding a balance between one’s vampiric nature and They refuse to betray another’s trust and will punish
remaining humanity. All life is precious, and though anyone they catch disobeying a leader they believe to be
vampires must prey upon humans to live, they are not to trustworthy and loyal to the sect. They do not tolerate
be wasted or treated as valueless. This is a Path which calls those who do not follow orders during times of Jyhad and
for its followers to have strong morals, humane ideals and enforce the Sabbat ideology through order as best they can
emotional stability. In some ways it is akin to the Path of at all times. They prefer Final Death to dishonor.
Golconda. Harmonists oppose the needless taking of life,
though they have no qualms about the taking of blood. Path Traits
They are often highly attuned to nature and seem the least Ritualist
evil members of the Sabbat. Frenzy whenever anyone refuses to participate in the
Vaulderie or any other Sabbat ritual. They are obviously
Path Traits untrustworthy and disloyal to the sect. They are the
Protector unquestionable target of your wrath.
Frenzy whenever a mortal is needlessly killed by your Deception
pack. All life is to be respected, and if you kill all the mortal Frenzy whenever you discover a fellow Sabbat lying to
food, you also destroy yourselves.
you (or whenever you discover that one has done so in the
Naturalist past). You expect lies from the infidels, but one of your
Frenzy whenever your pack is responsible for needless own?You must teach them to be honorable if it’s the last
destruction of the environment. Dumping cans of gaso- thing you do!
line or motor oil into a body of water, burning a forest or Promise
nature preserve or the explosion of a building full of
Frenzy whenever anyone breaks a promise to you,
mortals are a few such events that set you off.
regardless of sect or species. You value honor above all
Drinker else, and violation of it makes you want to destroy.
Frenzy whenever your feeding is interrupted. It is the Obedience
natural order of things for you to engage in this behavior.
Frenzy whenever someone disobeys your leader or, if
Someone or something is disrupting your contact with
you are the leader, disobeys you. The Sabbat must act in
your harmonious inner nature. Get ‘em!
accordance with itself in order to successfully win the
Dedication Jyhad. Disorder is not to be tolerated.
Frenzy whenever anyone for whom you have a Vincu- Insult
lum rating is destroyed. You abhor waste, and will risk your
Frenzy whenever you hear someone slight, insult or
own life for those to whom you are Bonded.
blatantly disrespect the Sabbat. This can include sect
Failure members. In order to be strong, you must all stand to-
Frenzy whenever you fail to achieve a goal. This goal gether. Those who tolerate insults or slights of any kind are
can be as small as feeding before 1O:OO p.m. or as large as cowards, unwilling to defend their honor. Your first target
capturing a renegade sect member. Any time you fail at is the person responsible for the insult; your second target
something important to you, you are disrupting the natu- is the person who allowed it to be said!
ral order of things. You hate that!

The Path The Path of Power

of HonorableAccord and the Inner Voice
The original followers of this Path, devotees of Lord
Followers of the Path of Honorable Accord believe in Marcus of the Lasombra, are among the strongest leaders
honor as a path to inner discipline. In order for the sect to the sect has ever seen. Current followers of this path are
operate to its maximum potential, members of the sect passionately devoted to the success of the sect - and of
must behave with honor and bravery. Devotees of this themselves. They reflect the sect’s need for power as well
Path are fair when dealing with those they believe to be as its desire to create a world free of the Antediluvian
acting justly and courageously and harsh to those who are threat. Followers of this Path are driven by instinct and
weak and cowardly. Personal honor requires followers of take their own advice over anyone else’s. They treat their
the Path to act generously, uphold the Sabbat and defend underlings fairly and have a healthy sense of competition
for positions of authority. Most believe they are the best
leaders the sect has ever seen, even if they are not yet in obeying, the next person who even makes a suggestion
a position of power. Devoted to ambition and strength, about what you should do next deserves to suffer. You
these vampires cannot bear humiliation and will not cannot take it out on your superior, but behind closed
accept defeat. They will not back down in a fight if they doors, look out!
believe they are right or physically stronger. Rarely do Interruption
they offer anyone help without obtaining something in Frenzy whenever anyone interrupts your private con-
exchange, nor do they easily accept those whom they templation. You are trying to listen to your Inner Voice,
believe to be weaker or less capable than themselves in and they are disrupting you. This is one of the primary
position of power. They obey others only if they deserve to foundations of your ethical beliefs. Teach them not to
be obeyed. If someone following this Path does find a interrupt you again!
leader other than themselves whom they can respect, Respect
their loyalty will be unfailing.
Frenzy whenever you see a leader mistreating a suc-
cessful underling. Those who complete their missions
Path Traits should be rewarded well. This Trait will also invoke frenzy
Underling if you see an underling disobey a leader whom you believe
Frenzy whenever someone fails at a task you set them. to be brave and worthy of her power. They must learn from
To fail is to be weak, and only those who are strong will the power of their superiors, not disrespect it.
survive. You must punish those who are weak to teach
them to be strong.
Humiliation
Rules for Using
Frenzy whenever you lose face in front of a crowd. Path Traits
This can be either publicly or within your pack. The loss The Sabbat are known to frenzy more than other
of a Status Trait will invoke this frenzy.
vampires and have therefore learned more about how to
Follower ride the wave. Whenever a situation occurs where a Path
Frenzy whenever you are forced to follow someone Trait is invoked, the player must win or tie a Simple Test
you believe to be weak or unworthy. If you are a pack to see if she can resist tearing apart the individual or group
leader and a bishop you believe to be incompetent gives in question. If the player loses, a second test may be
performed to determine whether or not the character has A RoleplayingHint
enough control over her frenzy to focus on destroying
The more Path Traits your character has, the more she
property instead of people. If the second test is won, the
believes she is following her Path truthfully. The higher
player may attack an object of her choice instead of a
the number of Path Traits, the more righteous she thinks
person, group, etc. If the initial test is lost and the second
she becomes in accordance with the ethics of the Path.
test is also lost, the character must frenzy on the offending
target. All tests involved with Path Traits are optional Why the Sabbat
(Sabbat vampires can frenzy if they want to). Sabbat
vampires may use two Willpower Traits to resist frenzy.
Followthe Paths
and How the Paths Affect Them
Acquisition of Path Traits Sabbat vampires believe the Beast to be their rightful
Vampires may only acquire Path Traits which belong claim to superiority among the species. When a new and
to the particular Path they follow. For example, someone untried Sabbat vampire emerges from the grave, he is
following the Path of Power and the Inner Voice may not completely out of control. It takes a while to regain any
acquire any Traits from the Path of Cathari. Each Sabbat semblance of one’s sanity after the experience of the
vampire older than one year possesses at least one Path Creation Rites.
Trait. Path Traits are acquired when Sabbat vampires fail The teaching of the Paths by either a sire or pack priest
to follow their Path. For example, if someone following allows the new vampire to gain control of his faculties,
the Path of Honorable Accord runs from a legitimate especially if he is recruited from the ranks of the mortals.
fight, she should receive a Path Trait. Path Traits are Unless a Sabbat vampire sets out to intentionally reacquire
awarded by Narrators and Storytellers at their discretion. his humanity and save his soul (which goes against every-
A character with five Path Traits can no longer control thing the sect preaches), the Paths bring him out of his
himself. His obsession with his Path drives him com- creation insanity and teach him to control his initial state of
pletely mad, and he can no longer distinguish between frenzy. Once a certain level of insanity has demented the
frenzy and normal conduct. The player must hand over the human mind, elements of former normalcy can not truly be
character to the Narrator or Storyteller. recovered. The Paths of Enlightenment are Sabbat substi-
tutes for what the vampire lacks - humanity. The mind

130
never fully recovers from its initial shock and biological Feared
change; something deep within the vampire snaps during the A character may only acquire this Trait if someone
Creation Rites and drives him inevitably toward a com- has confessed he fears her, or there is a witness to more
pletely debilitating madness from which there is no escape. then one person distinctly getting out of the way when she
The Paths serve to protect the vampire’s sanity by forcing his approaches.
subconscious to ignore the madness in favor of a self-regulat- Loyal
ing code of behavior. No matter how much a creature A vampire who has Vinculum ratings of all five or
believes he has perfected the Path on which he travels, more for her pack. This Trait does not disappear when the
however, the downward spiral into the madness tasted during character engages in the Vaulderie with new or unfamiliar
the Creation Rites has begun, and there is no turning it back. Sabbat.
Hence, the essence and irony of the Sabbat existence.
Devoted
More information on the Paths of Enlightenment can
A vampire of pack priest or leader rank or above.
be found in Chapter Four of the Players Guide to the
Sabbat. Respected
A vampire who has won the respect of packmates and

StatusTraits others through non-physical means.

Blessed
A vampire who has been blessed by those of higher
Status within the Sabbat is useful only within the
sect, just as Camarilla Status is only useful within the rank with the rank of bishop or higher.
Camarilla. Status has no function between sects because Confirmed
they despise each other so strongly that any Status the This Trait is possessed by all pack priests.
other would possess would have little or no effect on their Enriched
antagonists. This Trait is possessed by any vampire who has
The Traits themselves also differ, because what con- committed diablerie.
stitutes status within the Camarilla is quite different from Enlightened
what would describe status to a member of the Sabbat. A vampire holding the rank of archbishop or above
only.
Sabbat Status Traits Ominous
Initiated, Proven, Battle-scarred, Loyal, Devoted, A vampire who has a reputation for being very Feared
Blooded, Blessed, Enriched, Undefeated, Confirmed, En- and Respected. This Trait is often held by members the
lightened,Feared,Respected,Hunted, Ominous, Infamous. Black Hand. A prerequisite of at least three other Status
Traits (including Feared and Respected) is required to be
When to Use Which Traits Ominous.
Initiated Hunted
A Sabbat who has been a member of the sect long This Trait is possessed by vampires who have survived
enough to acquire a Path. This Trait may be gained during at least one to four open hunts for their blood or head.
the Initiation Rites if the situation is applicable. Final Death was the objective of these hunts.
Proven Infamous
A Sabbat who has been accepted as True Sabbat by This Trait can only be possessed by a vampire who has
her pack via some sort of trial. survived four or more open Blood Hunts, diablerized or
Blooded killed two or more Camarilla elders or completed two or
A Sabbat who has killed a member of the Camarilla. more otherwise highly respectable tasks by Sabbat stan-
This Trait is not applicable to those recently converted who dards.
killed Camarilla members while being a member of that sect. Vampires under one year of age or who have not yet
Battle-Scarred had the opportunity to choose a Path have no Status.
A Sabbat who has participated in direct Jyhad and Until a vampire has acquired the Status Trait Initiated,no
been wounded, but survived. other Status may be accrued.
Undefeated
Using Status Traits
A Sabbat who has not been defeated in three or more
Status Traits within the Sabbat have several different
battles. Note: The loss of any fight where Physical Traits
uses.
have been bid, regardless of how many contests are lost or
won in the process, will cause the bearer to lose this Trait.
Those who have it are extremely respected.

131
 You may bid an applicable Status Trait in place of challenges, you may not ignore the Status Traits of another
a Social Trait in any Social Challenge against a fellow until you regain your own. If you have no Status to begin
Sabbat member. with, happy hunting, but beware the wrath of those you
You may bid a Status Trait to prevent someone from annoy. In the Sabbat, it’s likely you’ll be seeing the sun rise.
attacking you or to force them to back down. For example,
Razor and Fury are engaging in a challenge. Fury says, Gaining and Losing Status
“Razor, you wimpy little midget! You’re going to help me Status may be removed in several ways. One is a pack
kill that werewolf because I’m feeling mighty Ferocious, consensus. If a character reveals a pack secret, makes a big
and I’ll take your head off if I can’t have his!”Razor, instead mistake that jeopardizes the pack or fraternizes with the
of responding to the challenge with a Physical Trait such enemy, along with being punished, the pack can decide to
as Bramy, might choose to calm Fury with his Status, remove one or more Status Traits. You can not remove a
saying, “Fury, I know how badly you want a werewolf skull Trait like Blooded. It is fact-based on a physical accom-
for the haven mantel, but let’s wait for a bigger one. I’m plishment, and you cannot remove past actions unless
Undefeated in battle, and if you think I’m going to waste my they occurred as a unit with the pack. You may remove a
time on some dog I’ve already intimidated once, you’re Status Trait like Proven without a thought because it is
crazy!” Now the packmates perform Rock-Paper-Scissors. entirely based on pack respect and opinion.
Razor wins, and Fury goes off to bash werewolves without Traits lost in this manner can only be regained
Razor’s aid. If Fury had won, Razor would then have been through the means they were removed: pack consensus.
forced to engage in a second challenge and use his Physical Sabbat packs are usually very close-knit groups, and any
Traits or go with Fury. Both would have lost the original Status removed in this way is a source of humiliation for
Trait bid, Razor’s being Status and Fury’s being Physical. the vampire in question. This Trait, when removed by the
The Sabbat do not expend as much energy trying to pack, is completely gone. You may not attempt to use it
impress each other as the Camarilla does. Therefore, it is under any circumstances unless it is reawarded to you.
easier to acquire Status and easier to lose it. You may ignore Scratch it off your sheet.
Status Traits if they are bid against you, but by doing so, you Status Traits may also be removed by those with higher
forfeit any use of your own for the remainder of the night. Status and rank. A bishop may remove Status Traits from
If you possess Status Traits and you have used them all in someone of lower rank whom they deem disloyalor ineffec-
tive. The character with rank must defe;
Social Challenge in order to permanently remove the
- -B

I
Rank Issued Number of Traits Number
Trait. If the high ranking challenger loses, she loses one

i
Spent Gained
extra Social Trait in addition to the one lost in the initial Pack Leader/Priest
challenge. All Traits bid by all parties in the case of initial
[Bishop
Templar/Paladin
loss by the challenger are only lost for the remainder of the
night. Those of higher rank who remove Status from other
leaders, pack leaders, priests and the like, ought to be aware Black Hand
that the loyalty the pack has for the leader who lost the Archbishop 46 2
Trait could go two ways. It could cause the pack to realize
that their leader is a loser, or it could cause them to mutiny Ranks such as pack leader or priest may be endorsed
against the individual of higher rank. The Sabbat respects by anyone with or without Status, but no Status will be
proven power over proclaimed power, and those who flaunt gained by the honored party, nor will he receive any
titles without being able to back them up should beware. respect except from those who have sworn to obey him.
Status Traits can be gained in ways similar to that in In order to receive the rank of bishop, an archbishop
which they are lost: through pack consensus for doing must ritually dub you so, same as in the Catholic Church.
something of value and as a reward from a higher-up. The In order to be accepted into the Black Hand, agroup
addition or destruction of a Status Trait should be brought of Hand members (four or more) must deem you fit, often
to the attention of a Storyteller as soon as possible without after a rugged initiation. They, in turn, must respond to
interrupting the flow of game play. their superiors.
To award Status, at least five Status Traits must be In order to receive the rank of archbishop, at least
possessed by the awarder. If it is by pack consensus, at least two other archbishops must ceremonially initiate you.
seven Status Traits must be possessed by the group. In
The above qualifications are outlined for the sake of
order for rank to be issued during play, one Status Trait
knowing who can spend their Status Traits to enrich
must be permanently spent by each member of the party
others with rank and station. Four non-Black Hand mem-
responsible. For each two Traits spent, the newly elected
bers can't just spend a Status Trait each and then say their
character may gain one Status Trait totaling no more than
pack leader is Black Hand. These are guidelines for Story-
three new Traits in addition to his current status.
tellers if a conflict should erupt.
 Status Traits The best way to create a successfulpack, however, is
to do so in concert with your players. If you all sit down and
for Special Occasions brainstorm together, with you taking their suggestions
(especiallyfor Narrrator characters) and incorporating their desires into the game, it is easier
Black Hand only for players to get a handle on their characters’ lives. Of
Enforced, Branded, Engaged course, a few surprises should be worked in individually!
Inquisitors only Each pack within the Sabbat is unique and has its own set
of habits and standards. Many packs are made with only
Supported, Protected, Sanctified
one clan constituting the membership. Others are created
Prisci, Cardinals and others by Sabbat leaders for a particular function. Vampires may
Glorified, Gifted, Recognized (by the Regent), be removed from the pack that sired them, tossed into the
Fortified Vaulderie and have to form a pack with strangers for the
purpose of some mission. Decide how the pack came
Storytelling together and discuss the pack‘s history.
Along with the pack history, you should give them

for the Sabbat some final touches. Does the pack have a secret password?
Where and what is their communal haven?Who brought
down the last Camarilla infidel?Is there anyone who only
Creating APack drinks from blondes?What is the current Test of Verifica-
tion (The Test of Verification is an exchange of a few
Creating a successful Sabbat pack is no small effort. prescripted sentences that alert Sabbat to their sect fel-
The Storyteller must take into consideration the role each lows in a subtle and covert manner)?If you have time and
member of the pack fills, balancing out the skills, Abilities want to really make your players love you, give them each
and power within the group. It is of utmost importance their own information sheet about the pack including
that the Storyteller dedicate some serioustime and thought only that knowledge they would have depending on the
to the Vinculum. This Blood Bond is what holds the sect amount of time they have been with the pack.
together.
 Decide what Paths they follow and try to balance out
the power levels so that no one player will have an
ment and commitment from the players as they can. There
is no rule, though, that can inspire good roleplaying nearly
\
awesome character while the others must settle for spear- as effectively as a clean, well-run, exciting story.
carrier roles. Their mortal Preludes will give you ideas for In designing a Sabbat chronicle,the first thing to decide
stories, as will the history you generated earlier. Now on is the goal, or goals, of the characters. Create an antago-
decide what makes the pack a good antagonist group and nist to try to stop them from achieving their goal. Some
what sorts of antagonists they should encounter. excellent antagonists for Sabbat characters, other than the
Once you have created a set of characters, you must Camarilla or opposingmembers of their sect,are the revenants
give them a reason to be together. Vinculum works great, as ofSabbat ghoul families,the Society of Leopold, the Arcianist
do temporary packs formed for missions. There are a million Historical Society, the Setites, a mummy who believes a
reasons you can create; the important thing is to give the pack of Serpents of the Light are Setites, etc. Try to dig up
players more than an average answer. Maybe they all have something your players won’t be expecting. On the same
Vinculum ratings of 9 or 10 for each other. Maybe their note, the classic battle between age-old enemies can be
pack has just been run out of town and is being actively terrific fun if presented in a new and interesting way.
pursued. Whatever the situation, you need to give them Designing goals can be tricky with the Sabbat because
something they can play and something that will require an you need to give each character something personal to
immediate response. The players will have no down-time strive for that does not involve betraying those whom you
once they are in character. Everything will be happening profess alliance toward. Sabbat pack members are Blood
right here and right now. You must give the characters goals Bound to eachother, and betrayal is often a real kick in the
and reasons for being who they are and where they are so teeth. Use your devices of destruction carefully in the
that they can respond in character in believable ways and Sabbat, or you could have players who end up frustrated
lose themselves in the story you’ve created for them. and defeated at the end of the game, and that’s not good.
Perhaps the most important goal is the pack goal. It is
Running an All-Sabbat Chronicle the Storyteller’s responsibility to plant the seeds of pack
Sabbat chronicles can be some of the most exciting reaction to this goal within the roots of each character.
roleplaying there is. There is sure to be lots of emotional This doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to be done.
involvement, passion,violence and excitement. The rules The pack doesn’t have to like the goal, but they must need
in this book are designed to encourage as much involve- to accomplish it.
,/ A very exciting way to introduce either a pack goal or you the only Storyteller for a 25-person game?Don’t try to
an antagonist (or both) is by using the Sabbat games. For tough it out. Get help.
example: The characters are out playing Cowboys and Storytelling the Sabbat is a bit more complex than a
Indians when a mortal that got caught in the crossfire Camarilla game because of the ritual use involved. O n the
stands up and freezes the accidental attacker with a ser- same note, characters are more likely to solve their prob-
pentine gaze. The face of the person exactly resembles the lems by going to their pack leaders instead of coming out
one on the Sabbat wanted list put out by Archbishop of character to find you. Having players who know the
Linnas just tonight. The story proceeds from there. rules well cast in leadership roles can be very helpful. If you
Sabbat games can serve the Storyteller in many ways. can find someone to play your antagonist Narrator char-
They quickly get the characters into a team mind-set that acters instead of you, it is highly recommended. Not only
is essential for the success of the game, they facilitate the will it help the players feel less of the division between the
introduction of the plot and/or antagonist, and they give reality of being dressed-up “play” vampires and actually
an adrenaline jump-start to the players who are already being the characters in the given situation, it will also be
anxious for action three hours before the game begins. much less hectic for you and allow you to mediate conflicts
There is one pitfall to opening a Sabbat chronicle with a more effectively. Be fair, go with the flow and have fun.
Sabbat game: If your players aren’t willing to really get into
character and dig around for the part of them that remem- A Final Word to the Wise
bers childhood, you could get stuck as a Storyteller with a Storytellers must keep in mind that the Sabbat is a
big handful of player attitude. Character attitude is great; very cruel and vicious lifestyle, and games must be watched
it’s the player attitude you’ve got to watch out for. for signs of character behavior becoming confused with or
Regardless of the way you begin, remember that you interfering with real player behavior. If a problem arises
cannot count on the characters doing anything you plan that is disturbing play, the Storyteller must take care of it.
or reacting in the way you hope or expect. So think of the The Storyteller is given the authority by the players to
way youwant thestorytogo.Nowvary it.Howmanyother control the game and everything within its confines,
possibilities are there within this plot?Get your plot down including calling the game, and eliminating player behav-
to a maximum of three possible endings and remind ior (not character behavior) that gets a little out of hand.
yourself that this is only a game. You do this for fun. Are Don’t put up with the obnoxious power-gamer who’s just
out to kill the other players; boot him out of the game.
 Playing the Big Guys, playing a priscus or a cardinal, you are epitomizing Sabbat
power. Some characters may want your rank and power,
Sabbat Narrator Characters others may hate you for having rank and power beyond
If you are playing an antagonist who happens to be a what anyone in the sect should hold without a pack to
non-player character, it is likely you will be extremely pow- share it with. Give your role as a Sabbat elder the respect
erful,extremelyevilorboth.Inanycase, it is yourresponsibility and justice she deserves.
to work with the Storyteller to create a foe suitable for the If you are the sole antagonist and the game perhaps
chronicle or story. It is doubly important then for you to know revolves around your destruction, know this and then
the sect inside and out, since you are probably playing figure out what your role is going to entail. Brief moments
someone who comes as close to remembering the founding of of showing up, illustrating your awesome powers and then
the sect as anyone these days. It may be your ultimate end to teleporting off to another realm can be very effective, but
be diablerized or shot to pieces, but while you are alive, it is not if you are not sufficiently heinous to incite the players
vital that you have a character as fully fleshed-out as the to hate you. People love a good villain, so spend the time
others and not just view yourself as a one-dimensional villain. to be sure you have the correct Traits, know how the rules
One of the qualities that helps make antagonists more work (other characters will surely be challenging you) and
real is realizing that they, too, believe themselves to be be prepared to have fun and die gloriously.
heroes in pursuit of the right course of action. If you are
 The following is an errata sheet for The Masquerade, Derangements are taken during character creation,
Second Edition. We would like to apologize for any but can also be gained at any time during a story. The most
inconvenience caused by the missing rules. Any further likely instance in which another Derangement is gained is
questions concerning Mind’s Eye Theatre Products can be if you are depleted of Blood Traits and enter frenzy in a
addressed to Ian Lemke c/o White Wolf, 780 Park North desire for more; you bow to the Beast. Derangements may
Blvd., Suite 100, Clarkston, GA 30021 or email at Pooka be “awarded” by a NaGator in response to inhuman
[email protected]. actions inflicted upon or by you. When you suffer or
commit evil acts, it always warps you. Derangements take
Derangements this into account.
For a complete understanding of how frenzy operates,
All Kindred possess some sort of neurotic need or
see Chapter Five. Defined below are some examples of
even psychosis that directs and guides their behavior.
Derangements:
When you are under stress or find a situation offensive, a
Derangement can “activate,” controlling your actions. Amnesia - In highly traumatic situations, you
This curse is a form of frenzy. Activation of Derange- sometimes forget who and even what you are. This typi-
ments, in the form of frenzy,can also be provoked by other cally occurs when you come face to face with your vampiric
vampires who sense weakness in you. condition. You may simply forget the memory of a single
situation, or you may forget everything about your iden-
Derangements are described by the situations that
tity, including your true nature. Whenevents and situations
provoke their onset and by the behaviors that are exhib-
that might remind you of your lost memories present
ited when they are provoked. An activated Derangement
themselves, those memories may return, sometimes doing
always rules the mind of the character. Derangements are
so violently and sending you into a frenzy.
engaged only when a Narrator decrees or when provoked
by another character who knows you possess the Derange- Crimson Rage -You have a tremendous capacity
ment. T h e other player must name the correct for rage and violence. When you are provoked, angered,
Derangement, the circumstances must be appropriate bullied or threatened, you sometimes erupt into a frenzied
(you must be under some stress related to your Derange- rage during which you passionately attack the one who
ment) and your opponent must win a Social Challenge. offended you. This frenzy may end as quickly as it began,
Derangement frenzies last varying amounts of time, but 10 but often only after you have vanquished your foe or have
minutes is standard. They always end as soon as the yourself been defeated.
circumstances of their onset are eliminated.
 The Hunger -You suffer from a constant lust for or anything that tries to “bring you down” (i.e., make you
blood. You crave it even when your Blood Pool is not yet listen to reason or frustrate you) may trigger a frenzy. You
depleted. When exposed to blood, you do whatever is will readily spend Blood Traits for the most trivial of
necessary to get it. You’ll attack for it if need be and drink reasons. In your depressive phase, you act as per Undying
it in reward. When you do feed, you seek to drink all you Remorse. You may switch from manic to depressive at the
can until the suurce is depleted. whim of the Storyteller.
Immortal Terror- In the presence of sunlight and Multiple Personalities -You possess a number of
fire, you sometimes experience such extreme terror that different personalities and may change Nature and De-
you become completely unable to take any sort of action meanor in times of great personal stress. Thus you behave
except to flee in fear. Even the sight of a lighter flame might in radically different ways at different times. Naturally
instill you with a wave of fear. Your reaction is considered this causes others to distrust and be wary of you. Your
a frenzy, but it is a frenzy of fear rather than anger. current personality persists until either you change per-
Intellectualization -You have recoiled from the sonality again during a stressful situation or you expend
horror of your situation and protect yourself by feeling Willpower to return to your “basic” personality.
nothing. You insulate yourself in a world of logic and Obsession -When a new person enters your life,
intellectual vigor where emotions have no place. By or you are faced with a dramatic situation, you can some-
isolating your incompatible needs and thoughts into sepa- times become obsessed with that person or some fetish
rate compartments, you avoid losing control. However, associated with the situation. This obsession is some sort
the pressure inevitably mounts, and the dam eventually of perverse ambition toward which you direct all your
bursts. If your passion and emotion are thrust upon you energy. If you are directly thwarted in your obsession, you
during a stressful situation, you may frenzy. This frenzy may enter into a frenzy.
may last for some time depending on how long it’s been Paranoia - When you are threatened or stub-
since you last “let off steam” (talk to a Narrator). bornly opposed by someone, you can become convinced
Manic-depression -You suffer mood swings that that the person is after you and wants to get you. You
take you from euphoric bliss to utter despair. You begin become obsessed with those you believe to be your en-
each game in either a manic or a depressive phase emies and make all kinds of insane preparations to protect
(Storyteller’s call, or flip a coin). In your manic phase, you yourself. During bouts of this Derangement, you trust no
are wildly happy and excited - to the point that anyone one and hold even your closest friends under suspicion. If

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
140
 i
you are pushed too far while in a paranoid state of mind, Vengeful -When you have been wronged in any
you may enter into a frenzy. way, you can become so obsessed with vengeance that you
Perfection - When nothing seems to be going direct allyour energy toward it. You will not rest until your
right, you can become obsessed with perfection. Every- foes have been punished for their sins. If you are thwarted
thing must be perfect, and you use all your energy to in this goal, you may enter into a frenzy. Once activated,
prevent anything from going wrong. All your attention is this obsession persists until vengeance has been won (or
focused on keeping everything about you in perfect, unal- Willpower is spent).
tered condition. When things become hopelessly confused,
fault-ridden or messy, you may enter into a frenzy. Fair Escape
Power Madness - You can become so obsessed Fair Escape is a simple rule which allows a player to
with control, power and dominance that you lose all escape from a potentially deadly situation without actu-
control of yourself. When your ambitions are thwarted, ally vaulting over a table and charging head-long out of a
you sometimes become enraged and attack those who room, possibly causing harm to herself or others. This rule
oppose you. Ingeneral, you seek total and absolute control also allows a player to avoid combat without going through
over everything and everyone around you. cumbersome challenges to see if she can “get away.”
Regression - In times of stress, when much is Use of this rule allows a player to call “Fair Escape”
being demanded of you, you can become childlike, retreat- any time a player sees another player approaching with
ing to a less mature aspect of yourself. At such times you whom she does not wish to interact. Once “Fair Escape” is
find it difficult to do anything for yourself, and without the called, the player may leave the area without any pursuit
aid of others, you are quite helpless. If, after you have by those she wishes to avoid. There are several guidelines
become childlike, you are physically threatened, you may which must be followed when using this rule, however.
enter into a frenzy. The Fair Escape rule may not be used if the person
Undying Remorse - When reminded of some approaching is nearby (within conversational distance).
great evil or vile deed that you once committed, you In such cases, a challenge must be made. Common sense
sometimesenter into a state of such complete remorse and must be used in places where there is a great deal of noise
self-pity that you are incapable of taking any action except and conversational distance is reduced to a minimum, i.e.
defending yourself. The pain can become so great that you a nightclub.
enter into a frenzy.
 If someone calls, “Fair Escape,” you may counter by A character with Obfuscate (Unseen Presence)
calling, “Celerity”(or Rage) if you possess the appropriate may employ Fair Escape at any time before a challenge has
Discipline.The person attempting to flee may then counter been initiated, unless it is countered by another with
with Celerity. At this point, the players must determine Auspex (Heightened Senses).
who has the greatest amount of Celerity. This rule is intended to quicken play, not obstruct it.
Situations which involve an ambush (all exits are Try to use common sense when employing Fair Escape.
blocked, or the target is surrounded) may negate the use of
Fair Escape. Again, common sense should be used. Influences
There is no Military Influence, though Storytellers
may feel free to include it in their own chronicles if they
desire. We decided not to include it because it seemed
unbalancing to game play.
The rainy, darkened Stretches before

1sI51u I-303u4-3UL-3
STOCK #WW5020
$15.00us/$21.75 can
51500

A 9 781565 045026