Time of Thin Blood

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TIMEOFTHINBLOOD

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Marvin Jenkins was in that annoying state at the border ofsleep where he felt like a man in a broken elevator: His headwould droop and his mind sink away, only to be jerked backup into consciousness a second later, and then he would sinkagain, and jerk awake again. This was no good he still hadthree hours to go on his shift. Time for another coffee.

He stretched and yawned, picking up his coffee mug.It left a tawny ring on the desk calendar. StarBrite Motel,the calendar proclaimed, as did the mug and half the thingsin the lobby, including the magazines. The remainder ofhis last cup of coffee had turned into a brown sludge at thebottom. He sloshed it around in distaste. He didnt want to

be hyper later. Maybe what he needed was some air.He had started to heave his middle-aged body out of

the chair when an obnoxious, piercing beep from the littlespeaker in front of him signaled a customer wanting in. Herolled forward and squinted to see through the plate-glasswindow. A young couple stood there, overnight bags inhand. He buzzed them in. They opened the door; an icybreeze rushed past them and stirred the things on the desk.Marvin held up a preemptive hand.

Were all booked up, he said. Sorry.

Neither of them seemed especially surprised at the news,but they exchanged glances and pushed inside anyway. Theyoung man came forward, dropping his duffel bag on thedesk with a thunk. He was a skinny kid, nerd type. His parkanearly swallowed him whole.

Didnt you see the sign?

Yeah, I saw the sign, the kid answered, brows comingtogether slightly in annoyance. But listen, weve been allup and down the row, and nobody has anything.

You picked the wrong weekend.

I know. Actually, I didnt pick it, but the youngman glanced at his companion. She said nothing, staringout into the night through the transparent walls of thelittle receptionists vestibule. Peering, actually, and shiftingaround, as if looking for somebody. Somebody shed rathernot run into. Marvin frowned.

You know, the kid finished lamely. Anyway, we were justhoping somebody might have canceled, or checked out.

Yeah, checking out at four A.M. Im afraid not.

UNTOUSA

CHILDISBORN


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PRELUDE: UNTOUSACHILDISBORN

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Look, he persisted, where else are we supposed togo?

You could try on the east side, Marvin said. Theresa La Quinta, a Motel 6 and a Days Inn.

But its four A.M. You said it yourself. And its cold,

and were on a motorcycle, and my wifeReally needs a hotel room right now, the young womaninterrupted in a bell-like voice. She turned around. Pale,hollow-eyed and stringy-haired, she looked like an addict.Marvin let his gaze travel down her frame and spotted thebulge under her puffy, quilted overcoat. She was ripe.

Shit, Marvin exhaled.

See? the young man exclaimed, taking his consterna-tion as a sign of surrender.

Marvin felt his heartburn flaring up again as he reacheddown into a desk drawer and pulled out a fresh check-inslip.

All right. Ive got a room, he said reluctantly. Not

a good roomWell take it.

Lemme finish. There isnt a bed in it right now. This400-pound lady sat on it and broke it, so we had to ordera new one. The toilet doesnt work too good, either. Andits smoking. But seeing as its the holidays, and if you reallydont want to go anyplace else, Ill let you have it. So youcant say there was no room at the inn you know. Heoffered a weak smile.

No. Well take it. Thank you thanks so much.The kid started scribbling furiously on the slip. The youngwoman put a hand over her burgeoning belly and swayeda little, eyes closed.

Hey, shes not gonna drop it right here, is she?

No, no, the kid said, too hastily.

Marvin ignored him and leaned forward, addressingthe girl. Maam. You in labor? Should I call the hospitalfor you?

She just shook her head.

Its not time yet, the young man assured him. TheyreBraxton-Hicks, were pretty sure.

Marvin wasnt sure how sure they were, but he shookhis head. Okay. Ill get you a couple of roll-aways in a littlebit. Theyre better than nothing.

Thanks. Really, you have no idea.

Oh, I do. I remember when my wife was pregnant. Mar-vins gaze fell on the young womans left hand and couldnthelp noticing that it was bare. Wife, huh? Oh, well.

Thats 44 dollars, but since the room is crap, Ill makeit 30.

They paid cash. Merry Christmas, he said as theyhurriedly picked up their bags.

Merry Christmas, they echoed. He handed them thekey and buzzed them out.

* * *

That was pretty good, Leila commented as shestruggled up the stairs. I wasnt even sure youd rememberwhat Braxton-Hicks was.

Im doing good to remember my own name, Pete said.

His hands shook as he tried to get the key into the lock.Finally he managed to unlock the door.

The night manager hadnt been exaggerating. It was adismal room. Stripped of its centerpiece, it looked empty,depressingly boxlike. The rectangle of industrial carpetnormally covered by the bed was a decidedly brighter or-ange than the rest. An aging radiator hissed in the corner.The smell of high-tar cigarettes and other less pleasantsubstances stuck to every surface. One of the light bulbshad burned out.

Pete took off his parka and spread it against the wallso Leila could lie down in something less than hellish dis-comfort. He added a couple of towels from the bathroom

to pad it further. Then he locked the door, deadbolt andchain. He looked out the window before pulling the drapesclosed. He didnt see any headlights, but he knew now frompersonal experience that vampires could drive through thedark without them.

Hope those roll-aways show up soon, he said.

Not too soon. She was pulling one of the drawersfree of the bureau. At first it wouldnt come, but she gaveit a good yank and it popped out. She took off her coat andarranged it inside.

Whats that for?

Well, where else are we going to put it when it comes?Ohh, I must be close. Feel me, see if Im close.

Jesus. It was not exactly a job Pete relished, but heddone it a few times already. He slowly lowered her to thefloor, reached under the pitifully thin fabric of her God-Im-a-whale dress and peeled off her panties. The skin of herthighs was like ice, leaching warmth away from fingers hedthought couldnt be frozen any stiffer. Pete made a face likehe tasted something bitter.

Pete. Pete, am I close?

How should I know? he snapped. Tell me what aboutthis has been normal.

You know what I mean. Am I open?

Pretty wide open. He withdrew his fingers and cleanedthem with a cheap motel washcloth. Good thing we didntstand around any longer, you really might have dropped itin there.

Bullshit, she growled. She sat up, hoisting her ungainlybody into a crouch.

Leila, what are you doing? Lay down, rest, its probablygoing to be a while.

I want to squat.

Fine, squat then. Pete got up and looked out thewindow again. Nothing. This would be the worst part, just


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Leila had given him kicked in; he didnt mean for it to, butit did. The phone crashed into the dingy plaster, scatter-ing a few flakes then falling to the floor with a clang. Thecord, torn from its socket, lashed around like an adder fora half-second before coming to rest.

Did you dial 9 to get out? Leila asked when it wasover.

He was too far gone even to feel sheepish. It was justone more blow to his psyche at this point. No, he saidstupidly. He went over to the cord and examined it. Sureenough, it had left its little plastic attachment behind. Wirestrailed out uselessly.

Then thats why. She was actually smiling a littlenow.

Dammit, Leila

Look, Pete. Her eyes were luminous, bright with exer-tion and pain. We dont need them. For all we know, thisis the first time this has ever happened. Ever in all history.

All it took to make that was you and me.Sex I know how to do, he complained.

Were enough for this too, she persisted. So comeon.

That was the end of that argument. So what if the vam-pires busted down the door? So what if the manager camein with the roll-aways and got all pissed? He let himself becoaxed back, sinking down at her side. There was a newodor now, the powerful, yeasty smell of birth, mingling withthe other scents of mildew and dust and vampire blood andLove My Carpet.

What do you want me to do? he asked helplessly.

Help me breathe.

Help you breathe?

Or whatever! Tell me when to push.

I think starting now would be a good time.

No, look and tell me when.

Im looking. That bags in the way. Should I break it?

Dont. Itll break itself.

What if it doesnt? Oh. There it goes. Oh, Jesusgross.

She strained horribly. The crown of a tiny head peepedout. He could see wisps of black hair, the same shade as his.He thought to himself, it may look like me, but its not goingto be like me. At nine months, its already tougher. Surviving

in a cold womb, finding its own breath and heartbeat withno motherly rhythms to measure itself against. Even unbornit was a hell of a thing, and who knew what it might doonce it was out? He cheered it on mentally. Come on, littlewhatever-you-are. Come on out for Daddy. Dont know whatIm going to dowith you, but lets get this thing going.

They heard a knock at the door.

He froze. Leila lifted her head, still not quite far enoughalong to be oblivious.

The manager? she whispered.

Pete shook his head. Could be. Could also be theirdeath knocking at the door. Either way, nothing could bedone about it.

Then another rapping came at the window, and a voice,

faintly audible through the glass. It was a womans voice. Hecouldnt make out the words, but Leilas senses were tuneda good deal higher. She listened to it for a minute.

See who it is, she said.

What if its one of them?

I dont think it is. Open the door.

What about you?

Im fine need to rest in between anyhow.

Far be it from him to go against female intuition atsuch a time. Pete got up, reluctantly, and opened the door.A young black woman in a turquoise jogging suit hunkeredat the window outside, shading her eyes, pressing her noseto the glass. She straightened up immediately.

Who are you? he demanded.

Who do you think? she replied. He made the classicmistake for the second time this week and met her swiftglance. She said, Step aside, honey, and he felt his feetshuffling back so she could step past him into the room. Amoment later his body was his own again, but it was toolate.

Leila stared at the stranger; lost to modesty, she made noattempt to sit up or compose herself. Youre one of us.

The woman nodded. Im one of us. Thin-blooded, likeyou. Outcast, like you.

Pete instantly felt another surge of adrenaline, but she

didnt seem intent on doing anything hostile, so he juststood there and quivered. The woman paced from one endof the room to the other, looking all around.

And this is it, she murmured. This is what wesaw.

What are you talking about? he snapped.

This was the vision. Weve never tried it togetherbefore. We had no idea it would be so much clearer. Pissantmotel room, no bed. Orange carpet. Leak stain in the farcorner. Her gaze followed the items on her checklist, not-ing each in turn with the same keen appraisal. Vampire inlabor. Clueless mortal boyfriend. Even the broken volumeknob on the TV set. This is it.

What vision? LeilaThe woman spun around, went back out the open door

and shouted: Boys! This is it! Lets bring in the stuff!

What stuff?

She just smiled over her shoulder and walked away.

Pete ran back to his lovers side, his brain spinning astunted, frantic network of strategies. Moving a woman inher birthing throes was out of the question. That flimsydoor would never stand up to a gang of the undead. The


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last vampire hed shot with his pawnshop .38 had actuallylaughed. But he had a Zippo in his pocket, and somewherein his duffel bag was a can of spray paint.

As he desperately rummaged through it amazinghow the thing most needed always managed to sink to thebottom two men appeared at the door. Easier to tell thatthey were of the undead; they were as chalk-white as Leila.One of them had a bulging grocery bag in his arms. Theother held a baby carrier.

They came in and unloaded their bag onto the floor inthe middle of the room.

I think we got everything here, said the older-lookingof the two. Some formula, just in case. Hot plate to warmit up. And some chunky beef stew for Daddy how longsit been since your last square meal? You can tear the labeloff and cook it right in the can. Baby blanket....

I dont understand, Pete stammered. Leila was inthe middle of another prodigious contraction, howling anddigging her heels into the carpet. He took her head in hishands and stroked her damp hair. I dont understand, whatare you doing, I dont understand.

These might want to wait a while.... The womans imper-turbable voice wafted in with the cold air. She had a tall stack offoil-wrapped presents tucked under her outstretched chin. Themen hastened to unburden her. Suns coming up soon. Andwell have to hit the road the minute it gets dark again.

We?

Yes, we. You gonna strap a newborn baby to the backof a motorcycle in the freezing rain? And go where? I leftthis unwrapped. She dangled a plastic hanger on one fin-ger. Tiny, footed pajamas drifted on the winter gusts like aminiature flag. Pink pajamas.

Who the hellare you? he snarled, knocking it aside.

She looked at him. Her expression hovered in someineffable space between pity and beatitude.

Santa and his elves, she said at last. The Three Wise Men.The Tooth Fairy. Does it matter? Were the ones who are here

now. The ones who come at the time when were needed.She gazed down at Leila, gasping and contorting, at the

birth of a new race and not just of the baby hidden in thecompass of Leilas belly.

And its time.


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There will be no mercy for the Clanless

The Book of Nod

BYDEANSHOMSHAKANDSARAHROARK


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CREDITSAuthors:Dean Shomshak and Sarah Roark

Conceptual Design and Development:Justin Achilli

Editor:Ed Hall

Art Director:Richard Thomas

Layout & Typesetting:Pauline BenneyInterior Art:Mike Danza, Vince Locke and ChristopherShy

Front Cover Art:Guy Davis and Vince Locke

Front & Back Cover Design: Pauline Benney

1999 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduc-tion without the written permission of the publisher is expressly

forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank charactersheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf,

Vampire the Masquerade, Vampire the Dark Ages, Mage the As-cension and World of Darkness are registered trademarks of White

Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Werewolf the Apocalypse,Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Werewolf the

Wild West, Trinity, Ghouls Fatal Addiction, Year of the Reckoning, Guide to the Camarilla, Guide to the Sabbat

and The Time of Thin Blood are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. All characters, names,places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.

The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright con-

cerned.

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fictionand intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.

Check out White Wolf online at

http://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller

PRINTED IN USA.

SPECIALTHANKSMikeBethorTinney, for bringing Spinal Tap to the Sab-

bat in San Fran.

ChrisIll Be Outside McDonough, for giving somethingback to the Points parking lot.

FredRammsteinYelk, for the stirring rendition.BrianDevil Goat FireGlass, for finding deities in Pho-

toshop.

Greg MalaiseFountain, for learning the true price of im-

mortality.

EdGumboHall, for bestowing the honorary title on one

so deserving.

And Extra Special Thanks to Anyone Whos Ever GivenMe A Ride Homeas a result of debauchery on my part.


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INTRODUCTION: THEDARKSEED

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The World of Darkness is a world of giants.

For ages untold, the Kindred have walked thatworld, mightiest of the giants. The very eldest ofthem are indistinguishable from gods. The weakest ofthem can stand against many men. Now safely hiddenbehind the veil of human skepticism, they have insinu-ated themselves into every mortal institution. Citiesswell under their attentive influence to provide evermore disposable vessels for vampires endless thirst.Although wise mortals and other desperate creaturesfight them every step of the way, they continue toflourish. Nothing seriously threatens the prominenceof the undead.

Until now.

In their hubris and selfishness, the Kindred havefinally exhausted the eternal Curse of Caine. Whena vampire of the 14th generation attempts to create

another of his kind, he has a substantial chance of fail-ing; and even should he succeed, his childe will neverbe able to sire a childe of her own. Fifteen is the utterlimit. The Final Nights are upon us. We have enteredthe Time of Thin Blood.

THEEVEOFGEHENNAThis book fulfills its title in two different but closely

related ways. First, it describes a setting, the worldinto which thin-blooded vampires find themselvesEmbraced: Kindred society teetering on the edgeof apocalyptic chaos. Second, it describes the thin-blooded themselves, giving an explanation of theirnature and role in the World of Darkness as well asmechanics for creating a thin-blooded character.

INTRODUCTION:INTRODUCTION:THEDARKSEEDTHEDARKSEED

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con-found the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world

to confound the things which are mighty

1 Corinthians 1:27


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What is presented here for your delectation is notGehenna itself. Instead, the idea is to push everythingthat much closer to the brink, to sound the echoes thateventually bring the avalanche. This book examinesthe millennial hysteria presently gripping the Cainiterace and provides suggestions for chronicles set on the

eve of Gehenna. In other words, it isnt the end, onlythe beginning of the end.

Things fall apart, as the poem says. Peace andcooperation among the Kindred are historically frag-ile at best, and it never takes much to make themcrumble. Underneath their rational, cynical faadesand their smug assurances of superiority, the Kindredare terrified by Noddist prophecy. The Book of Nodtells them that their time is now short. Moreover, ittells them that the very least of their kind, the clanless,thin-blooded masses, will be their undoing. Hemmedin by their own paranoia, they are ready to lash out at

any scapegoat, to follow any messiah, to resort to anystratagem. And as omen after omen manifests, thingscan only get worse.

THERAZORSEDGEThe thin-blooded, vampires of the 14th and 15th

Generations, are the oblivious instigators of all thiscontroversy. Their appearance heralds Gehenna.

Their weak blood, which often lacks the potencyeven to bear the full Curse of Caine, earns them thefear and contempt of other Kindred. Their ignoranceof vampire lore and customs makes them strangersnot only to their own kind, but also to themselves.Worst of all, a few of them bear the dubious gift of

visions. These waking nightmares intimate ancientmysteries and a dire reckoning to come. Possibly, theycould be of use in averting the doom of the Earth,but only if the reluctant prophets can survive longenough to decode them.

Make no mistake: The last generations are patheticweaklings as vampires go. Although, like other clanless,they can sometimes create their own Disciplines, theycan attain only middling proficiency in any power ofthe Blood. Moreover, their diluted vitae can barelysustain their bodies, to say nothing of fueling super-natural feats. Their unique abilities are much more

useful for getting them in trouble than out of it. Mostthin-blooded know they arent long for the world; hell,the worldisnt long for the world.

However, a thin-blooded character is also a uniqueroleplaying opportunity. Of all the Kindred, the weak-lings are chronologically and biologically closest tohumankind. Thus, their temptation is commensuratelygreater. They walk the razors edge: On one side isthe mortal life they havent yet had a chance to leave


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behind; on the other, the Kindred, the deadly and in-scrutable immortals who hold the secret to their newexistence. Here is a chance to look at undeath withnew, innocent eyes.

Also, despite their outcast status, the thin-bloodedare inextricably linked to the changes taking placein the World of Darkness. An anarch or autarkis canremain skulking at the edges of Cainite society foras long as he wishes; few really care. But many thin-blooded, whether they like it or not, find themselvescaught up in something far larger than themselves,simply by virtue of their part in the ancient prophecy.They have no power, no control, no answers. Whatthey do have is destiny.

A quick note on vocabulary: Kindred of the clansoften use the word vagrantsas a general term for allthose troublesome, benighted vampires who refuse toparticipate in the traditional order, whether of legiti-

mate or illegitimate siring. Anarchs, autarkis, Caitiffand thin-blooded are all vagrants. The phrase the vagrantproblemis being bandied about Elysium with increasingfrequency as disaster looms ever nearer.

Chapter One: Twice Damned examines thebiological reality of what renowned Malkavian sangui-narian Dr. Douglas Netchurch refers to as Thin BloodSyndrome. It also contains certain rules systems for

thin-blooded quirks, such as altered blood point costsand information on the half-vampire dhampirs.

Chapter Two: Alas, That Great Cityexplores thesocial aspects of the Time of Thin Blood. It explainsthe perspective and the survival strategies of weaklingvampires, then discusses the Kindred reaction to the thin-blooded and other portents of doom (the picture is not apretty one). The scourge a bloody reincarnation of anancient Kindred office is expanded and developed.

Chapter Three: A Stain on the Soulprovides mechanicsand suggestions for creating vampires of the last generations,as well as systems for the curious power of Insight.

Chapter Four: Written in Redoffers conceptsand advice to Storytellers for building chronicles seton the eve of Gehenna, particularly with thin-bloodedplayer characters.

Chapter Five: New Bloodgives five plug-and-playtemplates for thin-blooded and dhampir characters.

Finally, the Appendix: The Week of Nightmarelooks at the terrible toll the Time of Thin Blood hastaken on the World of Darkness and one clan inparticular. It seems that Gehenna came early this yearfor one of the Cainite clans.

Proceed, then, with caution, into the birth of anew and darker age.


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CHAPTERONE: TWICEDAMNED

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of blood) can spontaneously occur whenever a thin-blooded

vampire expends many blood points in a short time. The most

common trigger is healing an aggravated wound especially if the

vampire spends a Willpower point to heal more than one health

level of aggravated damage in a night. Such minor, spontaneous

effects are best left to the Storytellers discretion.

If a thin-blooded vampirewants to reactivate some mortalbiological function for a night, she can spend a Willpower pointand at least five blood points. (This doesnt suffer the doublingpenalty that most vitae expenditure receives.) Being seen to spit

real saliva now and then or to need a shave are good ways toprotect the Masquerade or throw witch-hunters off the track.

AGINGDespite anomalous biological activity, thin-blooded vampires

normally do not age any more than their stronger-blooded sires.

EATINGFOODThe thin-blooded still cannot digest mortal food or

drink, but they can at least hold it down for a few hours be-fore they must vomit it up again (a normal vampire vomitswithin minutes). If Storytellers need a more definite rule, the

character must make a successful Stamina roll (difficulty 7)each hour to hold down the food. If the roll fails, she throws

up the food, generally amid a bloody shower of vitae.

Generous Storytellers may allow a thin-blooded vampireto actually digest food if the player expends a Willpower point

and five blood points to reactivate her characters digestivesystem for a few hours. In that case, the vampire gains nomore than one blood point of sustenance from a full meal

rather an expensive trade.

PREGNANCYANDCONCEPTIONOnly vampires of the 15th Generation can become pregnant

or get someone else pregnant. Deciding when sex results in preg-

nancy is left completely to the tender mercies of the Storyteller. Avampire who deliberately wants to get pregnant, or to impregnate

a woman, can expend a Willpower point and five blood pointsto reactivate the necessary anatomy. She still receives no more

than a 20 percent chance of success, even with all other factorsoptimized. The resulting child is born a dhampir, a self-sustaining

ghoul from birth assuming the conception, pregnancy and birthtake place unhindered.

Such strange pregnancies only have a 50 percent chance of

carrying to term. Otherwise, they miscarry. This rule applies whether

the mother is a 15th-generation vampire or a mortal. The Storyteller

really ought to make this decision according to what would make a

better story, though, instead of leaving it to the fall of the dice.

Can a 15th-generation male vampire impregnate a 15th-generation female vampire? Intuition says that this cant happen

a pregnancy should require a spark of genuine life. Then again,theres something wonderfully weird (or disgusting, or horrific,

depending on ones point of view) about two vampires having ababy. This possibility is left to the discretion of individual Storytell-ers. Characters (and their players) should never know the exact

limits of a thin-blooded vampires reactivated biology.

BLOODUSAGEKindred of the highest generations have 10 blood points,

but some functions cost double the normal number of bloodpoints. Also, thin-blooded vampires cannot necessarily ex-

pend all their blood points as they please.

14THGENERATION14th-generation vampires can use their last two blood points only

for survival through the day, sustaining ghouls, giving the Embrace or

feeding another vampire (for instance, to create a blood bond). They

cannot spend those last two points on Disciplines, raising Attributes or

healing wounds. This is purely a factor of generation, though, regardless

of whether the character has the Thin Blood Flaw or not.

15THGENERATIONA 15th-generation vampire can spend its lastfour blood

points only on waking up or feeding another vampire (the former

will never blood bond the latter, though). To use other functions

of vitae, they must have at least six blood points in their system(remember, every other function has double cost).

WAKINGUPThe blood point cost just to survive through the day remains

the same for the thin-blooded: one blood point every evening.

BLOODBONDFourteenth-generation vampires without the Thin Blood

Flaw follow the normal procedure for creating a blood bond:Feed one blood point of your vitae to a mortal or another

vampire on three successive occasions. Other thin-bloodedvampires, however, can never blood bond another being.

CREATINGANDSUSTAININGGHOULSVampires with the Thin Blood Flaw cannot create or sus-

tain ghouls. Neither can vampires of the 15th Generation.

DOUBLEDCOSTSThis rule applies only to 15th-generation vampires, or 14th-

generation vampires who actually have the Thin Blood Flaw. Any

Discipline power that uses vitae has double cost; i.e., if a normal

vampire would have to expend one blood point to use a power, a

vampire with thin blood must expend two. This also applies to rais-

ing Physical Attributes: Each additional dot of Strength, Dexterity

or Stamina costs two blood points instead of one. Healing wounds

also has double cost. To heal an aggravated wound, a vampire with

thin blood must burn through 10blood points! Thats very bad forthe highest generations; they need to refill at least once before

they can finish healing a single aggravated wound.

DISCIPLINESA 14th-generation vampire cannot learn any Discipline past

the fourth level. A 15th-generation vampire is limited to the thirdlevel of their Disciplines. The only ways to surpass those limits are

Golconda or lowering ones generation through diablerie.

On the other hand, vampires in the highest generations cancreate new Disciplines. Any vampire of 14th or 15th Generation


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And here are some new terms, ones specifically con-cerned with the thin-blooded:

Abactor: Old Form. Literally a cattle thief, avampire who poaches on another vampires huntinggrounds. Thin-blooded vampires often become abactors

without knowing it. Camarilla princes sometimes punishthis behavior as a violation of the Tradition of Domain.The Sabbat just doesnt like trespassers.

Avetrol:Old Form. An obscure word for a bastardchild. Among the Kindred, an avetrol is an illegitimatechilde whom the prince permits to exist, even though

its Embrace violated the Tradition of Progeny. Many ofthe thin-blooded are illegitimate. To become accepted in

the Camarilla as an avetrol, they must show some specialusefulness to the Kindred in power (or acquire some really

good blackmail information). Cleaver: Vulgar Argot. A vampire who tries to

maintain a relatively normal human family life.

Cockalorum:Old Form. A vociferous and abrasive

leader of an anarch gang, or any weak vampire who actslike a big shot.

Comprador:Old Form. A vampire who works for

some other supernatural being, such as a mage, fae ormummy; or another supernatural employed by a vampire.

The thin-blooded become compradors far more often thanother vampires do.

Fluke:Vulgar Argot. Any vampire with unique supernatural

powers, such as Insight, a personal Discipline or a supernaturalMerit. Sometimes this name applies to any vampire.

Homebody: Vulgar Argot. Another word for aCleaver.

Inceptor:Old Form. The inventor of a new Disciplineor founder of a distinct bloodline (often these are one andthe same). In times past, only Antediluvians and their

childer or grandchilder earned such a title (for instance,the Assamites regard their Antediluvian as an inceptor

because they claim he invented Quietus). Applying such arare and exalted title to thin-blooded dregs of the Cainite

race leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of elders.

Prometheus:Another name for an inceptor, intro-duced and favored by the Unbound movement.

Rastacouere:Old Form. A vampire whose identity

(clan, age or sect) is suspected of being less respectablethan claimed. Example: a Caitiff who claims to be the

grandchilde of a distinguished Ventrue prince.

Seer:Common Usage. A vampire who receives vi-sions through the power of Insight.

Snoop:Vulgar Argot. A less polite word for a Seer.

Also Psychic, Dreamer, Tattletale.

Just to make it perfectly clear: The thin-blooded are thevampires of the 14th and 15th Generations also called

the highest or last generations. If a vampire is 14th or 15thgeneration, it is thin-blooded, even if it does not actuallyhave the Thin Blood Flaw. As far as this book is concerned,

thin-blooded and highest generations mean the same thing.Even if a vampire of 13th Generation, or lower, has the Thin

Blood Flaw, however, she cannot create Disciplines, have In-sight or have the other special abilities described in this book.

Confused? Dont be instead, use this lapse in unambiguousterminology to sow the seeds of confusion in the characters.The thin-blooded are so new a phenomenon that very few

Kindred have Dr. Netchurchs degree of familiarity with them even thin-blooded characters themselves.

Other terms of frequent relevance to the thin-

blooded include: Anarch:A vampire who rebels against Camarilla

authority, but who doesnt join the Sabbat either. Most

anarchs form small gangs with little power or purpose; thisis the Anarch Movement most Camarilla vampires see. A

few anarchs, however, make serious attempts to find otherways for the Kindred to order themselves. The anarchs

actually comprise vampires endorsing a wide variety ofsocial and political platforms, from would-be dictators tosocial democrats who want to end the Masquerade and

claim kine civil rights. Many of the thin-blooded are siredby anarchs and join the movement in turn.

Autarkis:A vampire who survives completely onher own, spurning (or unaware of) clan, sect and eventhe anarchs. Some of the thin-blooded become autarkis

by default, just because they dont know about any groupsthey could join. When they meet other vampires, they

must decide whether to join their factions.

Caitiff:A vampire who does not exhibit any clantraits neither any special aptitudes for some Disciplines,

nor any archetypal physical, psychological or supernaturalweaknesses. Caitiff are extremely common among thethin-blooded but not every Caitiff is thin-blooded

and not every thin-blooded vampire is a Caitiff. (Notethat many Kindred label as Caitiff any vampire who does

not show obvious clan traits or heritage. Storytellers areadvised to remember the difference between Caitiff as a

social phenomenon and Caitiff as a game mechanic.)

Clanless:A more politically correct term fora Caitiff.

Unbound:A loose social movement of anarch

vampires who reject traditional dominance by elders anddivision into clans. Some Unbound get quite evangelical

on the subject to the annoyance of other vampires.

TERMINOLOGYANDSLANG


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can create a Discipline, whether she is a Caitiff or not. Conversely,Caitiff of 13th or lower generation cannot invent Disciplines.

If a thin-blooded vampire lowers his generationat allthroughdiablerie, she loses her ability to invent Disciplines. She maycontinue to develop a Discipline she already invented and ofcourse she can still learn new Disciplines from other vampires.

(The Stoneman, a legendary low-generation Caitiff who suppos-edly invented several Disciplines, must have been averysuccessfuldiablerist.)

Other vampires can learn the Disciplines invented by athin-blooded vampire. Naturally, the Discipline always has out-of-clan experience point costs, and no normal vampire charactercan begin play knowing a Discipline created by a thin-bloodedvampire. Characters must play through the search for a tutor andthe learning process.

Point costs aside, the Storyteller may impose whatever story dif-

ficulties she wants on learning a novel Discipline (this rule applies to

learninganynew Discipline, not just the personal Disciplines inventedby the thin-blooded). Some vampires believe that learning another

vampires Discipline requires drinking her blood. A few claim that

diablerie speeds the learning process by capturing and assimilating

the other vampires soul. Not that any vampire outside the Sabbat

ever admits to committing diablerie to test the theory.

See below for a discussion of creating personal Disciplines.

THEEMBRACEThe thin-blooded differ from other vampires in two

significant ways where the Embrace is concerned.

GIVINGIf a 14th-generation vampire with the Thin Blood Flaw tries to

Embrace a mortal human, 80 percent of the time the mortal simplydies. A 14th-generation vampire who lacks that Flaw can Embracenormally. A 15th-generation vampire cannot Embrace at all.

RECEIVINGNormally, the Embrace takes place very quickly: Less than

a minute after she tastes Cainite vitae, the bloodless and dyingmortal rises again as a vampire. By the 13th generation, though,the Curse of Caine has weakened so much that sometimes it takeseffect more slowly. Minutes or even hours may pass between mor-tal death and undead rebirth. A thin-blooded childe might wellremain a corpse for the better part of a night and day, only risingas a vampire upon the next nightfall. After the childe awakens,

however, it takes normal damage from sunlight. The sun neverdestroys a nascent childe, though: An obscure Providence makessure that the change never takes place during the day. No oneknows why, though several vampires have made guesses.

More than half of all Seers had a delayed Embrace, comparedto one in five for the highest generations as a whole. Once more,however, no actual rule determines when a childe has a delayedEmbrace: The Storyteller has total discretion. Delayed Embraceexists to add drama and mystery to a characters prelude.

If a character sires a thin-blooded childe in the course of play,the Storyteller must decide whether or not a delayed Embrace would

improve the story. A delayed Embrace becomes especially dramatic

when the sire has the Thin Blood Flaw: Will the prospective childe

revive, or is she really and truly dead? A delay also adds tension

when an Embrace happens near dawn, and the sire suddenly faces

the challenge of hiding the body until the next nightfall.

INSIGHTOnly the thin-blooded can have the prophetic power

called Insight. Whats more, if a Seer a character with In-sight lowers her generationat allthrough diablerie, she losesher Insight. Whatever strange power links the thin-bloodedto the Great Beyond, diablerie breaks the connection.

In rules terms, Insight is treated as a Background. It isdiscussed in more detail in Chapter Three.

STAKINGSome features of the thin-blooded stay the same, even

for the 15th generation. A stake through the heart affects

the thin-blooded just as it does any other vampire.

SUNLIGHT14th-generation vampires suffer aggravated damage and a normal

chance of Rtschreck from sunlight. It doesnt matter whether they have

the Thin Blood Flaw or not. Fifteenth-generation vampires, however,

do not take aggravated damage from sunlight. Instead they take lethal

damage the same sort they would take from a blade or bullet. They

can soak the damage from sunlight with their Stamina, without the

need for Fortitude. Sunlight still never inflicts more than three health

levels of damage per turn, even with maximum exposure.

The intensity of the sunlight still determines the difficulty of

the soak roll. Faint sunlight, such as twilight or a heavily overcastday, carries a soak difficulty of 3; but bright, direct sunlight stillcarries a soak difficulty of 10. A botch on the soak roll also stillmeans the vampire has caught fire and automatically takes extrahealth levels of damage thereafter and this fire damage isag-gravated! See Vampire: The Masquerade, pp. 227 and 232, forthe details about sunlight damage and soak difficulties.

Perhaps because they dont take such serious damage from it,sunlight also is less likely to provoke Rtschreck in 15th-generationvampires. Their difficulties to resist Rtschreck from sunlight arealways two less than they would be for other vampires.

As a result, 15th-generation vampires can endure sunlightfar more than other neonates. Bright sunlight is still pretty much

a death sentence, but a quick dash through a shady lobby hardlybothers them. A 15th-generation Kindred with a good supply ofblood for boosting his Stamina and healing wounds can surviveextended exposures to weak sunlight. This galls older and far stron-ger vampires, who would burn if a single sunbeam hit them.

Note, however, that fire itself still does aggravated damage to15th-generation vampires, and may cause normal Rtschreck.

WAKINGUPINDAYTIMEThin blood gives no advantage in awakening or acting

during the day.


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CREATINGADISCIPLINESo how does a thin-blooded character create a new Disci-

pline and become an inceptor? In a strictly game-mechanical

sense, the player has merely to plunk down the requisite expe-

rience points. That, however, is only the last stage. First theplayer and Storyteller must agree on what the new Discipline

can do. Then they must work it into the ongoing story.

THEEASYWAYThe easy way to invent a new Discipline is to give an old

Discipline a facelift. Such Disciplines already exist: Serpentishas undeniable similarities to Protean, whereas Dementationhas kinship to Dominate. Its not hard to design other varia-tions upon familiar Disciplines.

Then again, assortedVampiresupplements have already presented

more oddball Disciplines than any campaign could ever need. Mel-

pominee, Mytherceria, the assorted lost Disciplines from Vampire:

The Dark Ages players have no shortage of candidates for what

amount to unique new Disciplines. Storytellers need only say that in their

campaign, theres no such thing as a Kiasyd, a Daughter of Cacophony

or any of the other peculiar bloodlines presented in past supplements.

And if some of the powers in the Discipline seem out of place, one can

replace them with something that has more applicability.

THEHARDWAYIf nothing else seems quite right, the player and Storyteller

can create a whole new Discipline from scratch. Here are someguidelines but no examples. With more than 30 Disciplinesin print, additional ones would serve no purpose.

Storytellers should keep in mind that this whole system isoptional!A Storyteller does not have to allow hand-crafted per-sonal Disciplines in her campaign at all, or can do all the work ofdesigning a Discipline based upon a players general statement ofwhat the Discipline can do. In case you missed that, or you havea particularly vehement player who demands that her characterbe allowed to create a unique Discipline, we reiterate.

Do not create new Disciplines unless it suits the story oryou suffer a burning urge to do so.

Too often, lazy players define their characters by their clansor Disciplines, and giving them the impetus to behave thus re-moves all sense of individuality from the character. A charactershould have a reason for her characters sudden acquisition of a

new Discipline, and the Storyteller should suffer no qualms aboutvetoing a players bid for a slew of random powers because theplayer thinks it would be kewl.

DEFININGTHEDISCIPLINEFirst, the player needs some idea about what the Discipline

will do. Each Discipline has a theme. (For instance, Presence is allabout controlling other peoples emotions, Auspex is a set of sen-

sory powers for gaining information, Protean lets vampires changeform, and so on.) A collection of powers with no underlying logicto connect them does not make a very good Discipline.

Do try to keep balance with the standard Disciplines. Infact, personal Disciplines probably should stay weaker than the

old favorites. Vampires have spent thousands of years refiningthe standard Disciplines to make them as powerful as they can

be. Additionally, the value of a new Discipline lies in its abilityto surprise, not to crush all opposition. An arms race between

players to see whose character can invent the most powerful newDiscipline rapidly becomes tedious. (Trust us on this. Weve seenit happen and its not pretty.)

Next, the player and Storyteller must agree upon the specific

powers gained at each level of the Discipline. You need only two

or three powers to begin with. After all, a thin-blooded character

probably will not get a chance to master even the standard five levels

of any Discipline let alone levels six and beyond! (Remember,

the higher-level powers require a generation of seven or lower.)

The first level of any Discipline is never very powerful, thoughit may be very useful. Look at the standard Discipline set: Talking

to animals, seeing in the dark or getting a second action in a turn

will not exactly make other characters fall down in reverence, but aclever vampire can achieve a lot with them. Higher levels become

progressively more powerful, though exact comparisons of powerlevel become difficult. (Is the ability to sink into the groundreally

more formidable than the ability to do aggravated damage, butless powerful than turning into a wolf?) Fortunately, one doesnt

need to agonize over the order of powers within a Discipline. Itsenough that the first-level power is the weakest and the fifth-level

power is the strongest.

Finally, the Storyteller must decide upon the game mechanics

for each power. What dice rolls, if any, does each power need? Should

the power cost blood points? Most of the standard Disciplines, familiar

to vampires of many clans, do not cost blood points. The more exotic

Disciplines practiced by only one clan each, such as Vicissitude orObtenebration, generallydocost blood points. This limits their use (and

may explain why the standards became standard). Unique Discipline

powers should probably cost blood points too, to reflect their lack of

refinement. Only the most lethal or outlandish powers, or powers that

never fail to have full effect, ought to cost Willpower points.

KILLERDISCIPLINESPlayers and Storytellers may feel tempted to create a combat

super-Discipline. Resist this temptation. Killer Disciplines are less

fun than they might sound because they arent good for muchexceptkilling enemies. For neonate vampires (and especiallythethin-blooded), killing anyone who gets in the way is a very bad

strategy. Even if a neonate has the super-mega-ber-Discipline-o-Death, the older vampires are still so much more powerful

and sneaky. Open, physical threats only offend them.

Wise vampires do not even gratuitously kill weak, powerlesshumans. Remember the Inquisition? The elders do thats why

they enforce the Masquerade. Modern police are no joke. If thepolice dont put an indiscreet vampire in jail to watch the sunrise,

the elders will arrange it. Peaceful methods are safer all around.

Considerations of unlife-expectancy aside, Vampire is astorytellinggame. Characters tend to face situations that are testsof, well, character not their ability to rack up a body count. A


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character who has no way to deal with problems except killingsomeone may soon become frustrating to play.

LEARNINGTHEDISCIPLINENow that the player has defined the new Discipline, the char-

acter still needs to learn it. Even the highest generations dont just

blow new Disciplines out of their noses. Discovering a Disciplinecan become an important part of the characters story, whether inthe prelude or later on in the chronicle. The player should give some

reason why the Discipline appeared. Did the character deliberatelytry to invent a new power? If so, what made him think he could do

STANDARDTABLESFORDISCIPLINESAs a convenience for Storytellers, here are some com-

mon guidelines for Discipline powers that give the level ofeffect for each number of successes. Following this chart

should help an inceptors new Discipline stay roughly equal

to the old standards.DIRECTLYDAMAGINGEFFECTS

Discipline powers that cause actual health levels ofdamage dont need a table. Typically, they do one health

level of damage per success rolled. Second-level powers or higher may inflict aggravated damage.

INDIRECTLYDAMAGINGEFFECTSThese powers do not actually inflict health levels of

damage on the victim. Instead, they reduce his combatabilities in some other way. Scorpions Touch (QuietusLevel Two), which reduces the victims Stamina, is an

example of an indirectly damaging effect. Use this table if

a duration for the effect is needed.The severity of the effect is often based on the char-

acters level of Discipline mastery. Severity may also be

fixed for instance, an attack that always reduces a Trait

by two, no more or less.

Note that no handicap is truly permanent at leastnot for vampires. If nothing else, victims can raise lost Traits

again with experience points. A vampire can remove manyother indirectly damaging effects if she is willing to suffer

aggravated damage (for instance, putting out her eyes andregrowing them to cure blindness.)

1 success One turn

2 successes One hour3 successes One day

4 successes One month

5 successes One year or indefinitely

NON-DAMAGINGEFFECTSUse this table for effects that do not directlycause any

harm. This might be some power that affects the vampireherself, changes the surroundings in some way, or that af-

fects another person in a non-damaging way. (Dominate

and Presence are examples of such effects. They do not

harm the victim; they merely change his actions andopinions. Non-damaging effects can still become terribly

inconvenient for the victim.)

1 success One hour or scene2 successes One day

3 successes One week

4 successes One month

5 successes One year or indefinitely

AREAEFFECTSSome Discipline powers affect an area rather than a

person or object. For instance, a Thaumaturgical curse couldinfest an area with roaches, or a Presence effect might aweeveryone within an area.

One might define an area of effect in terms of radius sothat everything within a circle is affected. Alternatively, one

might prefer simply to say that a power affects everythingwithin a given area, but the vampire can define the shapeof that area each time he uses the power.

1 success 1 yard radius 5 sq. yards

2 successes 2 yards radius 10 sq. yards




MULTIPLE-TARGETEFFECTSSome powers might affect a number of people or other

targets potentially as many as there are within range.

(The Presence power of Awe and the Animalism power ofthe Beckoning set the standards.) In this case, the number

of successes determines the number of people or otherrelevant targets affected:

1 success one person/other target

2 successes two targets, or a quarter of targets

3 successes six targets, or half the targets

4 successes 20 targets, or almost all targets

5 successes all targets in the appropriate area

this? Did she study the occult? Or did he just get in a situation wherehe needed a certain power a whole lot and, hey presto, he had it?

SPENDINGTHEPOINTSAt long last, the player can pay the experience points for

the first level in the characters new Discipline. Alternatively,

she can purchase that first dot through freebie points at charactercreation. A character should notbegin with more than onedot in her personal Discipline. Later on, characters increase

unique Disciplines just like any other out-of-clan or CaitiffDiscipline.


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CHAPTERTWO: ALAS, THATGREATCITY

37

The Jyhad is a millennia-old minuet. Its steps andpostures are formalized down to the last turn of the ankle;

the dancers thread around one another with expert grace,

backs straight, eyes distant, now advancing, now retreating,now changing partners. Lately, however, one can discern astumble here and there, not because the dancers themselves

grow careless though that accusation has been made butbecause the world is shifting under their feet.

To the outsider, all vampires seem irretrievably selfish

and complacent. The truth is more complex: Underneaththose keen self-preservation instincts lie other, equally pow-erful drives that few Kindred ever dreamed they possessed

before now. Do they stem from ancestral memory? From the

subconscious influence of the sleeping Antediluvians? Fromevolutionary programming? None can say, but whatever the

cause, more Cainites fall prey to these mysterious impulses

with each passing month. As long-foretold omens appearand ancient plots approach fruition, Kindred society spiralsfurther and further into chaos, until the wildest predictions

of Noddist lore become plausible.

The following section deals specifically with the thin-blooded: how they see themselves, how they see others,

how they cope. The remainder of the chapter covers awider range; it examines the Cainite reaction, not only tothe thin-blooded and the threat they pose, but also to their

own apocalyptic fears.

C

HAPTER

T

WO

:CHAPTERTWO:ALAS THATALAS, THATGREATCITYGREATCITY

And you will know these last times by the Time ofThin Blood

The Chronicle of Secrets, The Book of Nod


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BABESINTHEWOOD:THETHIN-BLOODED

PERSPECTIVEUNDERSTANDINGTHECAMARILLA ANDALTERNATIVES

Thank you for coming tonight. Usually Idont get more than two or three people at thesemeetings and here we have, what, five?

Maybe youve heard a name, the Camarilla, andyou want to know what it means. Or it least what itmeans for you. Ive been a vampire almost 15 yearsnow and in that time Ive bumped into the Camarilla

a lot. At first I didnt know what it was either,but I kept my eyes and ears open. Eventually, Ifound other vampires who could tell me about it,just like Im telling you now. Im pretty sure thatmost of what Ive learned is accurate.

I know that to those of you whove encoun-tered it, the Camarilla doesnt seem to makemuch sense. Look at it one way, and it seemsto rule the world. Look at it another way, andits so fractured and anarchic that you wonderhow it lasted a month, let alone centuries. Onenight, a Camarilla prince sentences anothervampire to Final Death; the next, he shrugs andtells a petitioner that he has no authority to

do what she wants.CAMARILLAOVERVIEW

Let me start with a quick overview of theCamarilla for the complete beginners. First,lets get the name right. The name is Camarilla,not Caramella, Catalina or Camellia. The wordmeans Little Room, a place for private dis-cussions. The Camarilla claims to be a societyfor all vampires, a venue where they can meetto resolve their differences and make plans fortheir mutual protection. Yeah, right I cantell that some of you have already experiencedthe Camarillas mutual protection.

Each major city has a prince. A prince has

four main jobs: He or she arbitrates disputes between

vampires. For instance, he works out the bound-aries between vampires hunting territoriesand decrees what parts of the city are commonhunting grounds or kept off-limits.

The prince grants the right to turn amortal into a vampire.

The prince interprets tradition and dis-ciplines other vampires when they violate it.As part of this last role, he has sole right toorder the execution of another vampire.

The prince oversees the Masquerade, mak-ing sure that the police and the media do notsee a vampires indiscretions or at least donot publicize them.

Ultimately, a prince has as much authority asother vampires believe he has. Some princes become

virtual dictators to their subjects, while othersbecome laughable figureheads. If a prince actstoo brutal or arbitrary, though, other vampireswill depose him and probably kill him

A group of elder vampires called primogenelect the prince I believe, as I have never casta white or black stone and advise him thereaf-ter. Each primogen represents one of the vampirefamilies within the Camarilla. The name meansfirst-born, which should clue you in that theCamarilla operates on a strict seniority system.The older you are, the more rights and respectyou have in the Camarilla.

Its not much of a government, but then theCamarilla only deals with very small popula-tions. Few cities have as many as 50 vampires.Such small groups dont need enormous legalcodes and bureaucracies just a judge and aprosecutor. The prince fills both roles.

You have a question, sir?Thats a good question, and I wish I knew

the answer. I know about seven houses in theCamarilla: Brujah, Venture, Toreador, Warlock,Malkavian, Nosferatu and Gang-Gel. Some of thesenames come from the vampires ancestor, and afew are descriptive terms, but I have no ideawhere the other names come from. Ive never metanyone else who knew, either.

Each clan has its traditional culture, justlike each tribe or caste would. These nights,most tribes are pretty loose. Younger vampires like us might not pay much attention to theirbloodline or may even drop out completely. Oldervampires take clan tradition very seriously,though. Ill have more to say about the forceof tradition later.

Brujah have a reputation as punks youknow, the sort of nonconformists who all rebelthe same way. Ive seen plenty of younger Brujahwho wore their black leather jackets and bodypiercings like a uniform, but also Brujah whodidnt fit that mold at all. According to mylineage, Im a Brujah myself, as if I cared.

The few older Brujah Ive met were all collegeCommunists, lace-cuff liberals and old-timeunion activists my grandsire still thinks theSouth can make a comeback.

The Brujah have no clan-wide institutions,though its not for lack of trying. Many Brujah wantto organize the clan as a union or a revolutionaryparty or something, but it would take an act ofGod to make five Brujah agree on anything. Theyhave more sympathy for us younguns, though.

Malkavians are even more chaotic than theBrujah. So far as I can tell, the clan elders


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have no common interests at all. Supposedly,Malks are all mad: Either they only recruitlunatics or the Embrace itself drives theirchilder insane. I dont know; Ive met Malks who

seemed normal enough. The really spooky, beyond-the-pale Malks look to me like theyre puttingon an act to freak out everyone else. Ill saythis much: I never met a stupid Malkavian. Ivemet some who act like idiots, but most of themscare the hell out of me in a serial-killer-Im-going-to-eat-your-flesh kind of way.

The Warlocks are the exact opposite ofthe Brujah and Malkavians. They have a super-organized secret society, with hierarchies andsecret passwords and loyalty oaths. Like theirname says, the Warlocks do real, honest-to-Godmagic so they say. I never met one.

House Venture dominates Camarilla poli-

tics. More than any other family, the Ventureresemble the classic Dracula-clone vampiresyou see in movies: Old-fashioned clothes,high-toned airs, lots of money. Venture selecttheir childer carefully and indoctrinate themthoroughly. These vampires deliberately seekpower in both the Camarilla and the mortalworld. While Ive never heard of any actualorganization of Venture, they track theirlineages closely, and they all seem to knoweach other second or third-hand. An awful lotof princes come from this clan. I think the

name comes from their constant plans to growricher or more influential: They always seem tobe undertaking some venture or another.

In a charitable mood, Id call the Toreador

a clan of esthetes. Most of the time, I call thempretentious art fags. Older Torries go on aboutcweating and pweserving beauty foah the ages.Even the younger ones act nearly as stuck-upas the Venture. If the Venture are the vampireequivalent of the ivy-league Old Boys Network,though, the Toreador are the Modern Art Ghetto:They bitch at each other constantly, but sticktogether out of contempt for us uncultured slobs.Okay, so Ive met a few exceptions.

The Nosferatu form a complete contrastto the beautiful Toreador. The Embrace changesNosferatu, making every one of them hideouslyugly. This forces them to dwell in the sewers

and other hidden places. They seem to sticktogether, if only from shared rejection. Atleast, I never heard of really murderous fac-tionalism in the clan, but then the Nossiesdont talk much to outsiders.

Dont insult the Nosferatu, though: Mostof them can cloud mens minds through hyp-nosis, so that you dont see them. We couldhave a dozen Nosferatu in the room with usand not know it.

Finally, the Gang-Gel only seem to be aclan because everyone else says they are. They


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sion or the permission of the oldest vampirein the community; dont kill another vampireunless the oldest vampire orders it; donttrespass on another vampires territory; inyour own territory your word is law; and aboveall, dont let mortals know that vampires

exist! Camarilla vampires also have rulesabout trading favors, respecting the peaceon designated neutral ground and the properway to petition the elders in power.

None of these rules are written down. No onemay suggest that they are unjust or out-of-dateand should be changed. No lawyer will help youplead your case to the prince. You have no pow-erful friends to speak on your behalf. If theprince or a primogen accuses you of breakingthe traditions, youre pretty much screwed.

Weak Central GovernmentWeak Central GovernmentAmong kine traditional societies, local

authorities matter the most. The village elderor tribal chiefs word carries more weight thanthe laws of a distant king or president.

In the same way, each prince has a freehand in managing his city and is answerableonly to the primogen. Thats why the Cama-rilla is not the world-spanning conspiracyyou might think. The Camarilla only existsas an abstraction, like the business estab-lishment. The reality consists of many localCamarillas, completely autonomous in theiractions but united by common practices.

In fact, government is probably notthe best word to describe what were talkingabout, but it suffices. From what Ive seen,the Camarilla is more like a secret society,

with its own bylaws that it expects you toknow. Basically, the Camarilla is a group ofvampires who think they know whats best foryou, not some global conspiracy or represen-tation of the vampires by the vampires.

Let me qualify that. I have heard of rareconclaves, in which vampires from manycities gather to debate the great issues ofthe night, but Ive never heard that princesreally have to follow a conclaves decisionsif they dont want to. Just like human tra-ditional societies, all the real power stayslocal. If you dont like a princes decision,tough luck!

You, sir. Mr. Cargill, was it?Justicars? Ive only heard that term twice

and both times with another word: archons.They seem to refer to some sort of judge oroverlord. My guess is that the archons are thesires of the various princes and primogen.Archons might be the same as the justicars,or maybe the justicars serve the archons. Theymight be emissaries or assistants.

You heard it the other way around? Doubt-ful. Archon is an ancient Greek word for achief magistrate, ruler or president. Justi-

car sounds like a mangling of justiciar, afancy word for judge. Archon seems to implybroader powers. Either way, they both seemto have authority over princes. I guess evenprinces sometimes disagree and need someoneto arbitrate between them. I gather that jus-

ticars or archons also have some connectionto conclaves, but since Ive never talked toa vampire who actually attended a conclave,I dont know what justicars and archons actu-ally do. From what Ive seen, they dont domuch very often.

Subsistence EconomySubsistence EconomyMortal traditional societies live by farm-

ing, raising livestock or some other sort ofsubsistence economy. They dont trade much;each community provides for itself.

Now, obviously we vampires dont need tohoe the crops or chase the buffalo. Just asobviously, the Camarilla doesnt need to tradewith other societies; it exists as a parasiteupon human society instead.

The real similarity comes from the attitudetowards land. In many (not all) traditionalsocieties, a small class or ethnic groupcontrols all the land and loans it out toeveryone else, according to rank. Isnt thatwhat the prince does when he divides the cityinto hunting grounds?

If you must enter a Camarilla city, locatethe open hunting regions the Camarillasversion of the village green, available toeveryone and stick to them. Poaching onan elders hunting grounds gives him one ofthe typical justifications for destroying the

likes of us.

KINSHIPBONDSThis is the most important factor of all.

In traditional societies, you are what yourfamily makes you. If your father is a farmer,you become a farmer. If your mother spinswool, you spin wool. More than that, yourplace in the family determines your rank and because people keep track of lineagesand marriages for generations, ultimatelythe whole society is a gigantic extendedfamily. Father has authority over sons;older brothers have authority over younger

brothers; some lineages carry more prestigethan others. Grampa is an important villageelder because, well, hes Grampa.

The Camarilla pays great attention to familyrelationships based on who turned you into avampire and who else he or she turned into avampire. Your sire also has a sire and brood-mates of his own. Continue this and eventuallyyou have a whole vampire tribe, called a clan,all descended from a single vampire about fourhundred years ago. Each clans traditionalcharacter comes from the founder Embracing


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people who shared his interests. The childerfollowed the same practice and hundreds ofyears later, people say, Oh, Toreador are allartists, as if this were some sort of law ofnature. My contacts said that the clan foundersall met Final Death decades if not centuries

ago, or just went to sleep and will neverwake up again. At least, thats the officialstory the elders tell.

Beyond even that, some vampires say, thefounders of the clans all descend from a single,first vampire called Caine. Yes, again, theCaine from the Bible, but spelled with an eat the end. That makes all the vampires in theCamarilla distant relatives. I guess thatswhy they call themselves Kindred instead ofjust vampires. Also, thats where the storygets unreliable. If this is the Biblical Caine,why do vampires only go back four centuries?Some Kindred speak of a cycle, so Im inclinedto believe this vampire thing basically burns

itself out every few hundred years, and thenstarts anew. Oh, get this: The Camarilla as anorganization (or whatever) doesnt even believein the founders of the clans. They parade aroundas if their family was the most important thingin the world and snipe at each other over fam-ily rivalry, but they refuse to acknowledge thefamilies founding members. Maybe Im missingsomething, but that doesnt sit right with me.Then again, they may just think the foundersare all dead, and Im misunderstanding theirself-important vampire code words.

Thats the line, anyway. I can believe thepart about clan founders, but not the legend

of Caine. Among mortals, when smaller kin-ship groups unite to form a tribe they makeup some mythical common ancestor to justifytheir alliance. I think the Camarilla didthis. Only the very oldest vampires couldpossibly know the truth, though, and theydont talk to the likes of us.

What does all this mean to you and me?In mortal societies, when Grampa dies thenext-oldest family member takes over his job.Eventually, you might become a Grampa your-self and get some status and power that way.Among our kind, though, Grampa never dies.Odds are, Great-Great-Grampa is still aroundand wants to stay in charge. He takes greatcare that no younger vampire kills him totake his place. For a young vampire, then, theCamarilla is pardon the expression a deadend. You may win some rights if you kiss assfor a few decades, but you will never have areal voice in government. In European cities,vampires 100 years old still follow ordersgiven by 200-year-old sires, who themselvesbow to a 300-year-old prince.

Most of us are Caitiff and 13th Genera-tion or higher. That means were at least 13generations away from Caine, according to the

buzz. Exactly how you find out what generationyou are, I dont know, but it obviously hassomething to do with lineage. We arent goodenough to join the fancy club because we havetoo many ancestors between us and Caine, andwe cant name them all. For us, the Camarilla

is a mugs game. Dont even try to play.ALTERNATIVES

The good news is that you dont have to putup with the Camarilla. In fact, you shouldnt.No matter how much theyd like you to believeit, the elders do not control everything.

The SabbatThe Sabbat?God, no, Mr. Cargill, I certainly dont mean

the Sabbat! I dont know much about the Sabbat,because those vampires tend to attack anyone whonoses around asking questions. I only talked toan actual Sabbat member once, and she was nuts.Absolutely batshit. When she tried to recruitme, she asked if Id like to enjoy her word a little mutual torture with soldering ironsafter she initiated me into the Sabbat. Fromwhat Ive heard, by the way, Sabbat initiationinvolves burial and getting hit on the head witha shovel. I said it sounded great and she shouldmeet me in the graveyard in an hour. Since shewould bring the soldering irons, Id bring therefreshments for afterwards. Once I got out ofsight, I ran for my car and drove out of townas fast as I could.

I know this: The Sabbat demands more fromits members than the Camarilla does at itsworst. The Sabbat is some sort of vampiredoomsday cult. Think of Nazi storm troopers

and death-camp doctors crossed with JehovahsWitnesses. They say theyre all about lettingvampires be vampires; they actively try tobe inhuman monsters. Maybe so, but I neverheard of any Sabbat atrocity or philosophyworse than what some mortal did or believed.Im told the Sabbat prevents defection byhaving everyone blood bound to everyone else no, I dont know how they create multipleblood bonds, either.

If you meet the Sabbat, dont run. Thatonly encourages them, like running from adog. Instead, do like I did: Seem friendlyand interested, but make some excuse toleave. Then run.

The InconnuThe InconnuYes, Ms. Bennett? Inconnu? Im afraid Ive

never heard of that group at all. Perhaps youcould tell us something about them?

Hmm. They sound a bit detached. Theydont sound like very likely allies.

Anarchs UnboundAnarchs UnboundNo, Im talking about the anarch states.

Id like to point out, though, that anarchjust means anyone who doesnt toe the Cama-rilla line. To say it properly, you have to


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sneer and be at least 100 years old. Its agood name if you want to scare an elder.

Maybe youve heard self-proclaimed anarchstelling you to rebel against the Camarilla or at least to tweak the elders noses. Theseanarchs stand out most, but they arent very

important. Why? Because they still operate inthe Camarillas shadow. They stick to their en-emy like Brer Rabbit to the tar baby and neveractually achieve anything. I have news for you:These rebels without a clue only survive becauseelders have more important problems. In citieswhere princes deputize scourges to deal withthe anarchs, the anarchs are dealt with.

You dont believe me? Visit Minneapolis-St.Paul. I did. You wont find any anarchs there.The scourges destroyed them all last year.Ill warn you, though, they almost caughtme too when I came to town. Dont mess withelders. If a group of them really wants youFinally Dead, you will die.

Let me guess, youre an anarch. Sorry, nothingpersonal. I just calls em as I sees em.

AutarkisAutarkisGetting back on topic not all anarchs

rebel so noisily. You have more choices thanyou might think.

Some vampires go it completely alone.Autarkis, some call them. The usual autarkisfinds a small town or a suburb too remote forany Camarilla vampire to notice and takes itas his hunting ground. Sure its dangerous,but many vampires pull it off for years.

Let me give you an example an extremecase, I admit. I rode into this Iowa town ina cattle car, meaning to spend a night hunt-ing, sleep for a day, then hop another trainfor Kansas City. I woke up the next eveningin a jail cell with a sheriff and two deputiespointing shotguns and a machine gun at me. Notan Uzi, a real, honest-to-God, belt-fed andwater-cooled machine gun on a tripod. Next tothem, Prince Suzie held a can of gasoline anda book of matches. Believe you me, it tooksome fast talking to avoid becoming vampireflamb.

Turned out, Prince Suzie had blood boundthe entire county sheriffs department, themayor and the owner of a local slaughterhouse.

Her pet cops had machine guns and grenadelaunchers, for crying out loud and silver-loaded shotgun shells in case of Lupines. TheCamarilla wouldnt call Suzie a prince (andshe didnt seem very old or smart), but Ivenever seen a town more tightly controlled.She really is a law unto herself.

CleaversCleaversOther anarchs dont see why they have to

cut themselves off from humanity the way theCamarilla insists. These vampires let theirfriends and relatives in on their big secret

and ask them for help. Sometimes they getit, too. They hold down real jobs and evenraise families of course, these vampireshad their kids before their Embrace.

The Camarilla elders would insist thatvampires cant do this, its impossible,

itll all end in tears or a witch-huntersstake through the heart but I know severalvampires willing to give family life a try.Other vampires in and out of the Camarillasometimes make fun of them, calling themCleavers or homebodies, but I think theyare the bravest of us. Even most anarchs wontdare to break the Masquerade so completely.

UnboundUnboundMe? I belong to the Unbound. Were even

less organized than the Camarilla, but we dothink of ourselves as a social movement. Weshare an interest in breaking traditions andfinding new ways for vampires to exist.

For instance, we reject division into clans.Even if you believe that story about Caineand the clan founders, what does it matter?Training accounts for the supposed aptitudesfor various Disciplines among the clans: Ifyou spend 20 years teaching childer how tocontrol peoples minds instead of turning intowolves, is it any wonder that they become goodat one feat but not the other?

Id bet my fangs that the various clan obses-sions and foibles happen because of training, too.Once upon a time, some neurotic vampires convincedthemselves they had refined tastes in blood, orwent googly at paintings and flowers, or frenziedat the drop of a hat and they brainwashed their

childer to believe it too. Then those vampirestaught their own childer to believe it, and af-ter a hundred years or so you have Clan Venture,House Toreador and the Gang-Gel Tribe.

In modern nights, we can see that blood-line traits are nonsense because so manyyoung vampires dont endure decades of in-doctrination by their sires. I know childerof Venture sires who can feed on any sort ofperson they want. On the other hand, I oncemet a vampire who insisted she was a Toreadorbut she would feed only upon handsome youngblack men. I found that Im descended from oneof those angry Brujah, but folks tell me Im

an even-tempered guy. The elders can call usall thin-blooded Caitiff scum if they want:They just cant accept that we escaped thelimitations they placed upon themselves.

I even know a few vampires who inventedwhole new Disciplines, something the Camarillaelders say cant be done ever. Other vampires,all young and of the highest generations, havea weird, psychic insight into other vampiresactivities, past, present and future. Theseseers sometimes find secrets that eldersthought were buried long ago or that the


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elders didnt know themselves. So much forthe wisdom of the centuries.

We Unbound also reject the Camarillasobsession with rule by the eldest. Wereadults, and by God well be treated that way!Some of us in the anarch states try to adapt

American law to our circumstances, with jurytrials and popularly elected leaders. Othersexperiment with completely new and originalsocial systems. We actually have more ruleof law than the Camarilla does. I cant sayweve succeeded in creating laws and govern-ments for vampires, but were trying.

Long ago, the Camarilla might have madesense as a way for vampires to govern andprotect themselves, but the world has changed.I dont believe the Camarilla can keep theMasquerade forever. Information moves tooquickly. When the mortal population dis-covers that we exist, we undead had betterpresent ourselves as good citizens insteadof parasites. When that night comes, I wanta group ready to lobby Congress on behalf ofthe metabolically challenged.

Some of us Unbound even want to reach outto the other supernatural creatures who mustexist. Im sure most of you have heard horrorstories about Lupines werewolves tearingapart any vampire they meet? Ive heard rumorsabout wizards and witches, ghosts, zombies,faeries and even mad scientists, robots and

aliens. If these creatures really exist, Iwant to meet them and start a dialogue to breakdown whatever ancient suspicions and codes ofsecrecy keep us apart more traditions.

CONCLUSION

Many vampires sneer at the Unbound asfoolish idealists. I never saw idealism asfoolish, not when I was a mortal PoliScistudent and not now. Like the song says, thetimes they are a-changin. The world turnscrazier every night and more dangerous.

I mentioned the Ravnos clan before. A fewmonths ago, they apparently all went mad andstarted killing each other. I saw two of them,contacts of mine, ripping at each other untilone chewed out the others throat and drankall his blood. The survivor never returned toher haven. All my contacts around the countrytell similar stories. I only personally knowone Ravnos who survived that week of mad-

ness, and he had abandoned his clan to joinan Unbound coterie.

The night before the Ravnos went mad, Ihad a dream. Maybe youll think Im a nut fortaking a dream seriously. Maybe I am a nut except later I met two separate vampireswho told me the same dream. They both hadreputations as seers.

I dreamed that a king walked out of amountain. He had ten arms and ten heads. He


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cut off his heads one by one and his remaininghead swallowed them. Then a tiger, a dragonand some kind of bird, a stork maybe, attackedhim. Finally, the sun came up and they allburst into flames.

My Camarilla informants told me a legend

about the clan founders a legend that theelders insist they dont believe. Accord-ing to this old myth, some night the clanfounders will all wake up. They will be veryhungry after sleeping for thousands of years.Because of their incredible age, human blooddoesnt satisfy them anymore. Instead, theyhunger for the blood of vampires especiallytheir own descendants. They will eat all theyounger vampires and ravage the world.

I think my dream was not just a dream.I think the king was the ancestor of theRavnos clan. He woke up. He fought some-thing. Maybe other powerful vampires whodidnt want to become his breakfast, maybesomething else. When he died, really trulydied, something broke in all his descendantsand they went mad.

Thats why I take the risk of going toCamarilla cities and giving talks like this.If any other clan founders wake up, theywill seek the vampires they can identifyas their family the vampires in theCamarilla who so conveniently track theirown bloodlines and insist on obedience tothe eldest among them. I dont think theCamarilla will survive.

If we stay alone and afraid, clinging tothe fringes of the Camarilla, we will die

with it. If we work together, though weso-called Caitiff and anarchs, whatever othersupernatural beings we can befriend, and evenour mortal friends and families some ofus might survive.

Thank you for your time. Oh, and Mr. Car-gill? Tell your master not to bother huntingfor me or the others in attendance. We re-ally dont endanger the Camarilla; as youveseen, I want to take these unwanted vampiresoff your princes hands. Leave them alone andtheyll just leave.

How did I know? Really, Mr. Cargill.I did say that the vampires who shared my

dream were seers. They had visions and knewthings they could not know. Ive never hadvisions, but Ive learned to trust my spe-cial hunches and I have a hunch that youwork for a scourge. Calm down, folks. Lethim go. Hes a treacherous coward, but ifIm right hell receive a punishment muchworse than anything you could do if nottonight, then in time.

Thats it, folks. See you out west! Hey,anybody know a good, open hunting ground?Talking makes me hungry, and I could reallygo for Chinese.

SELF-PERCEPTIONThin-blooded are rarely chosen from the elite of human

society; their sires dont move in such circles. Instead, theyare often inner-city teenagers, cubicle slaves, starving grad

students, struggling artists, hoodlums, temps, day laborers,

single parents in short, regular people. And they tend toregard themselves as such, even after the Embrace.

In the clans, a new vampire is taken firmly under his sireswing. Centuries of tradition come to bear as he is taught thelore, ideology and etiquette. By the time he is presented to

Kindred society, he has been trained to think of himself as acreature set apart from humanity. But no one performs this

service for the thin-blooded. The average anarch, often afledgling herself, is doing well enough just to teach her childe

to hunt assuming she sticks around to do so (many siresof thin-blooded vampires, appalled at having produced such

stunted excuses for progeny, disavow them completely).

Players of thin-blooded characters should keep this inmind. The edgy, tragically hip persona of the typical neonatemay be inappropriate. Remember, you probably dont know

about Caine, the 13 ancient clans or anything else associatedwith vampires. All you know is that youre not quite like the

vampires in the books and movies. Your mind and soul still seemto be your own. As far as you can tell, youre much the same

person you always were with a few disturbing differences.

VIEWSONOTHERKINDREDThin-blooded vampires attitudes toward the sects and clans

vary widely, largely because their contact with other vampires isso scattershot. Ones who know their sires tend to take their sires

views for granted until they learn something different, and sotheir outlook has much in common with that of the anarchs andother Kindred malcontents. However, many more thin-blooded

are abandoned, orphaned or estranged. They have no idea whatbeing Kindred is all about... and trying to learn in a vacuum can

be a terrifying and confusing experience.

Consider the plight of Daphne, a thin-blooded fledglingwho has her first encounter with the Camarilla when she tries

to hunt in a nightclub owned by the local Ventrue. So you

just wander into myclub, kill one of mycustomers and leave thecorpse inmydumpster? Your sire ever mention this little code called

the Traditions? Oh really? Escaping from that fiasco with just

the clothes on her back, she settles in another city, only torun into a prowling Sabbat pack. Look, a mewling weakling.Lets set her on fire and see if shes got what it takes to join thetrue brotherhood. Traditions? Stop talking bullshit before you get

us mad. A few nights later, smudged with soot, she emerges

to find theyve evidently given up on her. She flees againto Boston, figuring a vampire could easily hide there. TheGiovanni have their own opinions on her little plan.

Shell probably be dead before she ever figures it out. Still,she has good reason to keep trying. The Kindred are a savageand inexplicably hostile race, but they are also her forebears, her


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family the only ones who could possibly understand what shesgoing through. Besides, whats the alternative... to just keep on

slinking around, night after night, in this parasitical existenceand never to know the meaning of it all? This uneasy mixture of

longing and fear is typical. Many a thin-blooded innocent sets outto prove to herself that she isnt the only vampire in the world,

only to discover to her chagrin that shes absolutely right.

ASSOCIATIONSAssociation among the thin-blooded, like much else

about them, is haphazard. There are no Washington lobbies,no support groups, no alt.kindred.high-gen, no sewing circles,no Pulitzer-chasing journalists to evangelize their plight. How

do they ever find each other? Usually they dont.

To have sired a frail vampire is generally considered adisgrace in the clans. Many thin-blooded internalize their

sires shame and refuse even to speak to other weaklings.Instead, they try to earn status by strengthening themselves

(via training or diablerie) and seeking the patronage of theirelders. These tactics rarely succeed. At best, such a youngster

might find a prince or bishop willing to cut a deal: protectionand legitimacy in exchange

Time of Thin Blood

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