The most popular splat of the World of Darkness, attracting countless players by being D&Ds darky, edgy, and more social counterpart. You play a Kindred, a vampire, the inheritor of Cain's curse.
In a usual game, you play a newly sired neonate, trying to keep your humanity while being inhuman. Facing the tragedies, the drama and the tension of slowly losing what is left of your humanity as you "live" your now cursed existence.
Or you are just "Supers with fangs" and having fun with your new existence. 50/50 I say, depends on the ST and the campaign.
There is an image that describes VTM perfectly.
Yeah, this does match my experience with VTM. It's honestly very fun to experience being a member of a coterie or a pack with so many different cultures, clans, abilities, and ages.
So let's talk about them! Unfortunately, I have limited image slots and thus I will be talking about the main clans that reside in the Camarilla. Not the Sabbat or the Independents or the bloodlines. (I know, I also wanted to talk about Tzimisce or Baron Samedi's bloodline or True Brujah with their Time based Discipline.)
Let's start with the Camarilla. While they may have members in the Sabbat or in the Anarchs, the whole clan is usually Camarilla aligned. Well, expect Gangrel but I will be including them here too.
The vampire society, they are the ones who make the laws that the majority of the kindred obeys. The Elders sitting in their Ivory Tower, ordering the masses of younger kindred. It's an organization for Kindred, by Kindred.
Once they were the philosophers, the thinkers of the among the Kindred, those dreams and aspirations mostly died with the fall of Carthage (long story).
These days most of them bar the eldest (who are Inner Circle members) are angry, passionate rebels. Activists and protestors usually find themselves home in Brujah.
Their weakness and some Princes nightmare's are that their passion fuels their Frenzy and they have difficulty resisting it.
They are honestly the easiest clan to play and a favorite among new players. Unlike their bloodline True Brujah.
Don't underestimate them, they may have little pull in the Camarilla but they rule the streets and funny enough, academies and universities. If you are anindependent loner, support of the Brujah clan is more important than Camarilla.
Malkavians, insane but enlightened vampires, a favorite of players for different reasons. Frankly, I know some STs that don't even allow Malkavians in their game or require you to prove yourself you can play them.
They are a hard clan to roleplay and their types range from obsessed professors to insane asylum escapees. But one thing is true, they are insane even if it might not be obvious.
And just like Tzimisce, once you are one of them there is no escape. Malkavian Madness Network consumes all.
Straight out of the films. Their looks may be monstrous but under that flesh lies the most secretive and manipulative clan. They may pledge their alliance to the Camarilla but know this, for them the Clan is the first. Sabbat and Camarilla aligned Nosferatu known to exchange information.
If there is one clan to not make enemies out of, it's clan Nosferatu. They may not hold positions of power in the Camarilla like the position of Prince but they are vital to the Camarilla and the secrets they hold are priceless.
Funny enough, they are not that hard to play as long as you have Obfuscate 2. Practically all the public concerns are handled as long as you stay away from cameras and phones. Even that may be changed if you have one of the merits that makes your Obfuscate effect machines.
The seductive vampires, the club leaches, masters of art, would be Slaanesh cultists.
You could say that after Ventrue they are the ones most involved in the Camarilla and in the mortal world. They are the ones that seek excellence in both beauty and skill. Their artists and the warriors are equally skilled in their respective fields and all of them are experts in social situations. Stand in awe against the millennia-old Toreadors, those who refined their crafts to their respective limits, beyond human comprehension. (Not joking, they are known for making arts that require Auxpex or it's equivalent to even manage to comprehend.)
Their influence is vast, they could make or break one Kindreds reputation, a Prince's days are numbered if they make enemies out of the Toreador clan. After all, Harpies are mostly made out of Toreador members.
Their Sabbat members are...well like Dark Eldar, they prefer art made out of bodies and suffering and pain.
I can recommend them for new players, especially if they like Social play.
Once a house under the Order of Hermes, they sacrificed their mortality and their Awakened magic for immortality and Blood magic. They are the most organized clan out of all the vampiric clans. They have a strict hierarchy, powerful Blood Magic and glories but bloody plans. They have a strong presence in the Camarilla but they aren't liked. They are mostly known for their BS Blood Magic.
As for their enemies? They have a lot of them and most of them are justified. First the whole clan Tzimisce, especially the old. After all, they basically slaughtered a bunch of Tzimisce and used their blood while making their Vampire Potion. Then after becoming a vampire clan, they needed help against fighting Tzimisce who wanted to kill them all so they slaughtered a bunch of Nosferatu, Gangrel, and Tzimisce to make Gargoyles. Which caused the other two clans to hate them too and join Tzimisce.
Then they realized they needed an Antediluvian to actually have a say in the Kindred world so they went and diablerized Salubri while he was sleeping, the best and the good vampire Antediluvian, and killed most of the Salubri clan, the good vampire clan. The remaining Salubri hates Tremere to the core and turned from peaceful paladins to blood fueled maniacs, joining the other three clans in hating them.
Then, they went and cursed Assamites, the third semi-good vampire clan!*
So let's tally, Gangrel, Tzimisce, Nosferatu, Assamites and Salubri remnants hates Tremere. With passion.
As for playing Tremere characters, I wouldn't recommend it to first time players. Not only they have a strict hierarchy all of them are also blood bounded together. You will be blood bounded to your sire, who will be bounded to their superior/sire, who will be bounded to their superior/sire, who will be... all the way up to now Antediluvian Daddy Tremere, controlling every Tremere. (They are also blood bounded to the Council of Seven)
Plus you are actually expected to study and learn the art of Blood Magic for a few decades rather than go out and play when you are newly sired.
As for Sabbat Antitribu Tremere, they have a lot more freedom and not blood bound but they are extremely rare. Plus you will have a mark on your forehead that is visible to all Tremere that brands you as a traitor, making your life hard if you are known to be Antitribu Tremere.
By the way, if your ST has Mages in the game. Stay away from Order of Hermes mages, you might not like the results otherwise.
*Second good vampire clan, Cappadocians got murdered by Giovanni who they embraced. They were friendly humble scholars before their demise. You might be wondering why all but one of the good clans got murdered, it's because this is World of Darkness and good vampires don't make it here.
The makers and leaders of the Camarilla. These once Knights turned Kings.
Each and every Ventrue are groomed for their embrace. Usually have their own companies and businesses even before they are embraced. Even the worst of Ventrue will have plenty of resources, influence, and clout, both in the Camarilla and in the mortal world.
And if that's not enough, they are known for Dominate and Fortitude. Dominate makes higher generation vampires your pawns and Fortitude is one of few ways of soaking Aggravated. Not to mention turning a hail of bullets into nothing but annoyances.
They value success over all other criteria, be successful enough as a Ventrue and you will be dining with the Board of Directors and Fortune 500 elites. Probably by becoming a Fortune 500 CEO. Their ties in the mortal world may be their strongest strength. A call from an established Ventrue may end a pack of Werewolfs as mercenaries and ghoul squads armed with Silver weapons begin their hunt.
Their Antitribu is known for going back to their roots, usually being Blood Knights, noble and deadly who prefer to use force and might rather than political or social power. Lasombra, Ventrue's Sabbat counterpart, doesn't like them very much but tolerates them.
They are honestly fun to play. Even for new players. Just know that you will have harder Hunting rolls if you don't have a herd. Don't take Methuselah's Thirst flaw.
Mostly solitary loner vampires. They may be confused with Werewolves but they are not. And no, they aren't friendly with Werewolfs. Though Gangrel is known to move in packs too if they prefer the company of each other.
They are mostly aloof, preferring animals to humans and to vampires. They dislike socializing if unnecessary. They prefer to let bygones be bygones and stick to their basic needs rather than politics. All of them have a savage side and a frenzy that causes them to gain animal traits, permanently.
In V20, it's up to ST if they left Camarilla, they are leaving or they didn't. If they left, don't expect much support in Camarilla other than your fellow Camarilla-aligned Gangrel. In Sabbat, only your pack will support you fully and if you are solitary...well, you are a Gangrel so it's normal to get no support.
They are easy for new players but I heavily recommend being a Camarilla or Sabbat Gangrel than being Independent unless you are playing a Gangrel only game.
And this is Camarilla! Now they have Tzimisce, Lasombra, Ravnos, Giovanni, and other clans members but they are very small and their main clan is either Independent or Sabbat aligned. I will be covering them in their own post.
So what do you think? Which clan sounds the most fun? Which clan was your first? I had the most fun with Antitribu Ventrue, being a master swordsman at that campaign, so obsessed with the swordsmanship that I got my skill as a separate ability rather than just using Melee and had all of my Sword related rolls have -2 difficulty. My first VTM character was a Brujah, it was exciting as I didn't know about VTM that much and had to learn my discipline abilities by testing them as my character was days old Kindred whose sire left him to himself.
