The players in Vampire: The Masquerade are all members of different vampire clans, each of which possesses their own unique strengths, weaknesses, and place in undead society. The lore of the current edition of Vampire: The Masquerade is still being developed, which means that some Storytellers might want to create their own clans and use them in their chronicle.
It can be a tricky prospect to create a clan from scratch, as there are a lot of things that need to be taken into account when adding a new faction to the setting. It can be a lot of fun to come up with an entirely new set of great-great-great grandchildren for Caine to ignore, but there are also a lot of pitfalls and oversights which the players could take advantage of that the Storyteller should be aware of.
Fitting The Clan In With The Lore
The current edition of Vampire: The Masquerade is still filling out its lore, so there is more room to work when creating new clans and adding them to the established history of the setting than in previous editions.
What Are The Origins Of The Clan?
In Vampire: The Masquerade lore, the clans were said to date back to the 3rd generation of vampires that dwelled in the city of Enoch. It’s easy to fudge the numbers and assume that there were other 3rd generation vampires in the city and they formed their own clans. It’s also easy to replace one of the existing clans and try and fit them into the space left in the lore, so long as the new clan isn’t too different from the one it’s replacing.
If the new clan does date back to Enoch, then the Storyteller should come up with the answers to a few questions, unless they are willing to rewrite the history of the setting. What sect does the clan belong to? Did it belong to a different sect in the past? How did the clan respond to the destruction of the Cappadocians or the Salubri? What did the clan do during the first Inquisition and the Convention of Thorns? What is the clan’s current status in the modern nights? Is it holding onto its power or is it losing ground to enemy clans and the Second Inquisition? These answers don’t need to be incredibly detailed, but it helps to have a general idea of the clan’s actions throughout the ages.
Is It A Clan Or A Bloodline?
One way to avoid the need to create a backstory is to establish that the new clan is actually a bloodline of an established clan. The general rule in the older editions of Vampire: The Masquerade is that a bloodline is differentiated from its original clan due to possessing a unique discipline and bane. As such, the Storyteller can skip most of the steps involved with creating a full clan by establishing that a member of an existing clan spent years developing a new discipline, but that it warped them in the process and changed their undead form. This was the case with Marconius of Strasbourg, who once belonged to clan Lasombra, but a magical experiment transformed his undead body, turning him into the first member of the Kiasyd bloodline.
When establishing that the new clan is a bloodline, the Storyteller still needs to decide how they fit into the world. Does the bloodline belong to one of the major sects? What is their relationship with their founding clan? A bloodline established within the past few centuries is easier to create than a full clan dating back to the days of Enoch, but some work still needs to go into establishing their current status.
What Is The Current Status Of The Clan Founder?
Each of the clans is said to been sired by a 3rd generation vampire. In the older editions of Vampire: The Masquerade, the developers left the details of the Antediluvians up to the Storyteller (outside of vague hints and the Gehenna sourcebook), so the Storyteller has legroom to develop their own clan founder.
The simplest explanation for the clan founder could be that they are dead, as was the canon status of the Ventrue founder. The new clan founder could easily have died after the fall of the city of Enoch and their children could have survived all this time without them. The death of a founder never slowed down the Ventrue, after all.
If the clan founder has survived into the modern nights, then what have they been doing all of this time? The most likely answer is that they have spent a lot of time in torpor, but it’s possible that they have also been manipulating events from afar, even while slumbering. If so, then what is their final goal? This is something that the Storyteller shouldn’t have to think too hard about unless it directly involves their chronicle, and the appearance of an Antediluvian is not something that should be done lightly.
Clan Theme
Many of the clans in Vampire: The Masquerade represent different aspects of vampires from popular culture. The Toreador represent the seductive vampires, the Gangrel represent the bestial side shown in novels like Dracula, while the Nosferatu are a clear homage to Count Orlok and the Nosferatu movie. Not all clans follow this theme, but it makes for a good base to build a clan around.
There were some clans who represented aspects of mythology outside of western vampire tropes, and these could also make for an interesting addition to the lore of the setting, especially now that factions like the Kuei-jin and the Laibon are no longer part of the series. This leaves room open for developing clans that were founded in other parts of the world. A clan that was founded in Africa or Asia could easily have flown under the radar of the clans in Europe for a long time, but the cosmopolitan nature of the modern nights means that these clans could now have a stake in global undead politics.
The Storyteller should not forget that the clans in Vampire: The Masquerade represent the horror of the Kindred’s existence. The Nosferatu will always be monsters on the outside, the Brujah are always a moment away from losing control and harming those they love, and the Malkavians lose a part of their mind that they will never get back. There should be a tragedy involved with the formation of a clan, something that will let them fit in with the other children of the damned. Being a vampire isn’t all about living forever and partying until the sun comes up. All vampires must struggle to maintain their humanity each and every night, and all must endure their own unique hardships.
Disciplines & Bane
In the core rulebook, a member of each clan starts with access to three disciplines, though it’s possible to learn more through the character’s Predator type or by spending experience points. The Storyteller should elect to keep this standard with their new clan, giving a 13th generation Cainite access to three at character creation.
The three disciplines and the bane should all match the theme of the clan. One easy rule is to give the clan access to one physical discipline (Celerity, Fortitude, Potence) and one mental discipline (Auspex, Dominate, Presence), with the third going to one of the unique disciplines that match the theme. The physical discipline will give them some measure of usefulness if a fight breaks out, while the mental one will give them a way of dealing with mortals in order to preserve the Masquerade.
When creating a new bane, the main intention should to make sure that it’s debilitating. One common complaint about the older editions of Vampire: The Masquerade was that some clan weaknesses (Giovanni, Tremere) were barely weaknesses at all, while some like the Toreador weakness was just open an invitation for the Storyteller to mess with the player. A couple of guidelines that the player can follow is creating a bane that a) messes with one of the vampire’s biological functions, such as how they feed, sleep, or recover from wounds, b) a bane that permanently influences their body or mind in a detrimental way, or c) one that influences their position in society in a way that is almost impossible to avoid. It’s also possible to mix several elements together into one bane, such as how the Caitiff have to endure both societal prejudices and must spend way more experience points to improve their disciplines.
It’s important that the bane not being something that the player can get around, such as a bane that influences a character’s stats, as they could min-max their way around it. Think of how the Nosferatu clan bane influences everything about their existence. A -2 or -3 to a stat isn’t enough on its own to leave a lasting impression on the player. The Kindred in Vampire: The Masquerade aren’t supposed to be superheroes, they are meant to be creatures of horror who live a cursed existence, and their bane should reflect that.
