The origin of the Malkavian known as Marcus is unclear. What is known is that he travelled extensively, collecting quite a coterie of friends and lovers, before arriving in London. Shortly after, around the turn of the 12th century, a strange plague swept the city, killing only the weakest of mortals but virtually all the Cainites; all except Marcus and his five companions.
Returning after a brief quarantine, the Malkavian declared himself Prince and gave his coterie freedom to sire new Cainites. For a hundred years, London was ruled by Marcus and populated largely by his companions and the Houses they established; outsiders came and went, but only a handful of the city's vampires fail to trace themselves back to that coterie.
In 1206, the plague returned. A blood-borne disease was loose in the city, carried by mortals, bringing sickness and debilitation to the Cainites. Nobody was prepared this time, no safe places to hide, no emergency herd carefully quarantined. But this time it didn't strike so hard: younger Cainites and outsiders were virtually untouched, while even the eldest chider of the original five were only out of circulation for a few months. By some twisted irony, the plague worst affected those who were unscathed the first time: the heads of the five Houses are in deathly torpor and Marcus is missing, presumed the same or worse.
As 1206 draws to a close, the city is in disarray. The tension between the Houses may be the calm before the storm as the new leaders seek someone to blame, and some way to get an edge over their rivals.
The Five Great Houses is a large play-by-forum game of Vampire: the Dark Ages (with some elements of Dark Ages: Vampire, for those who know the difference) that I'm planning. It'll be at RPoL, where the custom-built forums give GMs plenty of tools and control, and it'll be open both to those I know at Tigars and those who are looking for new games at RPoL.
With any luck, I can get enough players to have few NPCs, so that the game has a real player-driven feel like a live-action game. Characters will be the vampires of London, beginning at the close of AD 1206, under the alternate history given above.
Most characters should be from the five Houses. This means playing a character descended from (the childer or grandchilder of, most likely) one of Marcus's five companions. Once I've detailed those NPCs, players should take care to make characters that they might conceivably embrace, or find intermediate player characters so that they can be worse generation.
Until I detail the founders of the Houses, you'll have to make do with their provisional clans:
Players are free to choose these clans, ignoring their normal geographic character. The companions of Marcus left their native lands and came here, and when given free rein to embrace did so from local stock. In essence, we're actually playing bloodlines of these clans based as much on the character of the immediate progenitor as the clan itself, but you'll just have to wait for those descriptions of the progenitors.
Individual Cainites of the following clans would probably be reasonable:
Other clans are not sources of support (or plot devices) in the same way as the main ones. You should only choose one of those clans if you are prepared to work a little harder to get yourself involved in the game.
The other clans (Assamites, Followers of Set, Ravnos) are not appropriate, due to issues of mood and geography. Please do not ask for them.
That's enough for the moment. Get in touch if you're interested or if you want more information.
As a backdrop to the character plays, Five Great Houses will use the following influence mechanic to keep track of off-camera power.
Influence is mostly similar to the background of the same name from the core rules. It doesn't use quite the same scale, but crucially the total amount of influence available in the city is fixed. While there remains unclaimed influence you need only hatch suitable schemes against mortals, but eventually you will have to go up against other Cainites in order to take their influence from them.
Influence comes in four kinds:
In London at the beginning of the thirteenth century, these things are not in balance. The ratio of available influence 'points', and the clans with a 'major' or 'minor' interest in gaining them, are as follows:
| Type | % | Lasombra | Toreador | Tremere | Tzimisce | Ventrue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noble | 40 | Major | - | - | Major | Major |
| Religious | 35 | Major | Major | - | Minor | - |
| Commercial | 15 | - | - | Minor | Minor | Minor |
| Supernatural | 10 | - | Minor | Major | Minor | - |
There will probably be 1000 points of influence available. By providing many points I will be able to make smaller awards so that players can more rapidly see the effects of their actions. Starting characters will receive a modest allotment, somewhere around 20-25 for the childe of one of the Companions, 10 otherwise. The starting points must be chosen from the influences mentioned as clan concerns: if all the points are gone, tough luck.
I haven't yet decided whether outsiders (those not of the five lineages) will have initial influence; probably not. They will have to gain it during play, a task which will be that much harder without a supportive clan. Major campaign events, such as a concerted effort by a number of influential PCs, may be able to change the amount of available influence or the balance between the types.
Although they have no direct mechanical effect, you may want to measure your progress against other characters with the following totals:
I will probably be keeping league tables of these scores on the web somewhere as the game proceeds. Note that it doesn't correspond directly to anything the characters can discern; they'll just have to work it out for themselves.
The progenitors of the five great lineages to be found in London are detailed below. With each is a description of what manner of people they preferred to embrace, as well as in what manner of influence they and their progeny are most interested (more about influence later).
After a distinguished career as a household knight, Algernon was made responsible for all the forces of his Lord, a Norman noble. Showing considerable aptitude for managing and commanding commoners and knights alike, he attracted the attention of a Ventrue elder who needed good underlings to follow William's incursion into England. The campaign was a success, but the machinations of the Toreador back in France drew the attention of Algernon's sire farther and farther from England until the powerful fledgling was on his own.
Although the details of how each member of the coterie was persuaded to join Marcus remains secret, what is clear is that Algernon secured London much like he did his Lord's lands. Much of the prosperity of the last century is due to Algernon and his childer, rooting out undesirable elements in Cainite society and protecting the domain's borders against allcomers.
Algernon seems to be motivated mainly by a sense of duty, and even makes concessions for honour on occasion. He has taken great pleasure in being responsible for the safety of his master's subjects, and gathered considerable respect and goodwill from local Cainites.
Relations: Although he never put much stock in the idea of being destined for leadership because of his lineage, his assumption that he was always second-in-command may have had a similar effect on his childer with Marcus gone. A quiet alliance with Edith always helped secure the city, and John tended to remain beneath his noticed. Mainly he was wary of Melchiorre, who was a threat to his assumed position at Marcus's right hand, and Erzsébet, who is simply too unpredictable to trust.
Likely Childer: Algernon favours military candidates for embrace, although these are more often chosen for their skill at command or logistics than for raw skill at arms. In later years he sought to solidify the sources of troops he needed by accepting non-combat nobles of note.
Influence: Algernon's brood are interested mainly in noble influence, bringing them into conflict with Melchiorre and sometimes Erzsébet. They keep small interests in commercial circles in order to secure supplies of arms and mercenaries, which sometimes brings them up against Edith's childer.
Generation: Algernon of Clan Ventrue is Sixth generation.
From a long line of mages in the Hermetic tradition, great things were expected of Edith. When it became clear that she lacked even the slightest grasp of the Order's magic, she was left doing menial work in her family's chantry while others around her became distant and barely acknowledged her. She continued to study magical theory, and on learning what House Tremere had done she went to them, offering her services as archivist and researcher. Within a decade her hard work and devotion to learning earned her the embrace.
Few were surprised when she excelled at Thaumaturgy and soon she was sent to London to assist the Regent of the chantry there. It was on the way, however, that she met Marcus, and changed her plans. It is not clear exactly what deal was struck, but it is assumed that the affliction that so conveniently paved the way for Marcus' ascension was of her making.
Edith is cold, used to being unfairly looked down on and now only too happy to do the same. Her mastery of various forms of blood magic is unquestionable, and she seems torn at times between a paranoid desire for her security and an academic love of her field. It is whispered that the only thing that stopped Edith and her students executing a coup and taking control of the city was the fractured organisation she imposed on them to stop them plotting against her. Another whisper, on the other hand, tells that she secretly loved Marcus...
Likely Childer: Edith's childer tend to be those with a knack for blood magic. It is unclear how she can tell, and true that a few failed students have gone missing over the years, but mainly Edith embraces from all walks of life those who subsequently prove strong in Thamaturgy. Most other functions she needs are left with ghouls or things less human entirely, both of which are more easily controlled.
Influence: The city's Tremere like to dabble in - and control, where possible - the magical and supernatural elements of the city; in this they oppose John's Toreador. They fall back on some commercial concerns when appropriate, although rarely competing for the interests the Ventrue desire.
Generation: Edith is Eighth Generation.
Clan Weakness: Because she had only loose ties to her clan since joining Marcus, Edith's childer are not bound to the Council, as a properly embraced Tremere should be. Instead, they are bound only to her, but stand to suffer greatly if ever the clan proper dares to send a capable agent to London.
A minor noblewoman in Hungary, Erzsébet was married off to a Transylvanian lord in order to cement some or other agreement. Her husband was a better leader in war than peace, and she quickly learned to run the holding without him, including brokering necessary deals with unruly subordinates and neighbouring powers alike. When he returned from campaign each time, he had no idea how much he owed her, but the Tzimisce Voivode who had been considering him for the embrace noticed, and took her instead.
Erzsébet is subtle and cunning. She does not play the game for its own sake, but that isn't to say she doesn't enjoy every moment. While Melchiorre often could not help but proclaim his involvement in some delightful scheme, Erzsébet would be happier if nobody ever noticed, provided she reaped the rewards properly.
Likely Childer: Like herself, Erzsébet's childer must be subtle. They must be driven and ambitious, but above all Erzsébet respects control and precision, for drive is worthless without them.
Influence: Behind the scenes, the Tzimisce contest the noble influence desired by the Ventrue. However, their seemingly indiscriminate desire for power and the marvellous delicacy with which they conduct themselves mean that many a Cainite has taken stock of a trusted holding only to find that it has been subverted and undermined by one of Erzsébet's brood.
Generation: Erzsébet is Seventh Generation.
In contrast to his 'brother' Melchiorre, John certainly had faith, and retained it until the second plague struck. He had been a monk as a mortal, happy to spend his time between meals and prayers toiling away in his cell creating fine tapestries, for that was his gift. It was a gift he more or less lost when embraced, causing a proud Toreador to leave him where he'd found him rather than take him back to France.
Since then, John has spent his time praying, studying and generally contemplating his place in the world. He takes a liking to anyone who makes good conversation on such topics, but does not much mind what they do with themselves at other times.
Likely Childer: John has one of the more diverse groups of childer, since he finds desirable traits in all kinds of person. He would most likely offer the embrace to someone of a similar spiritual and academic leaning, but this has not always been the case.
Influence: John's brood contest the religious influence strongly, with Melchiorre's childer trying to block them at every turn. The idea that John may actually have had good cause to take sanctuary in the Church only heightens the divide. They also dabble in supernatural influence, and the only reason Edith never took steps to stop them was because they seem to lack the talents to pose a threat.
Generation: John is Seventh Generation.
It is unlikely that Melchiorre, once a Bishop not too far from his native Rome, actually maintains any sort of faith, and is debatable that he had any to begin with. The turning point may have been his embrace, of course, but he keeps the details to himself. What is clear that whatever caused him to leave his previous life hasn't followed him here, and he has settled into quite the powerbase, using the Church to gain temporal influence and power.
Melchiorre is a consumate schemer, matched only by Erzsébet. He is patient, enjoying long-term plans that are always more than simply a means to an end. Marcus seems to have trusted him enough, bringing him to London and letting him dig his fingers into the Church and its holdings. It was in playing these mortals off against one another - and doing the same to Cainites wherever he could get away with it - that he passed much of his time.
Likely Childer: Melchiorre embraced in his own image, picking those who had a similar flair for games of power and politics, and sturdy soul and stomach for the constant competition. He encouraged games even between his childer, but was always clear that they should put one another before anyone not of their clan.
Influence: Melchiorre's brood predominantly hold influence in religious and noble circles, for that is where their brand of temporal power is to be found. While the enmity between the Lasombra and the Ventrue is a simple struggle of power and pride, their opposition to the Toreador stems as much from ideology as competition, since religion was very much a means to Melchiorre and an end to John.
Generation: Melchiorre is Seventh Generation.