Alea Iacta Est

About Disciplines

The 'common' discplines can be learned by any character (the ones in bold are very common; more or less instinctive):

Animalism (speaking to and controlling animals), Auspex (perception), Celerity (speed), Dominate, Fortitude (toughness), Obfuscate (stealth), Potence (strength), Presence (charm)

Other discplines are generally found in only one clan. If you aren't of the right clan you'll probably need tuition, blood or both from someone who is.

Chimerstry (illusion; Ravnos), Dementation (inducing madness; Malkavian), Obtenebration (shadow manipulation; Lasombra), Mortis (necromancy; Cappadocian), Protean* (shape-changing; Gangrel), Quietus (silence and assassination; Assamite), Serpentis (snakes; Followers of Set), Thaumaturgy (hermetic magic; Tremere), Vicissitude (flesh-crafting and shape-changing; Tzimisce)

Thaumaturgy and Mortis are very versatile; certain other clans (including Tzimisce, Assamite and Followers of Set) have their own versatile magics but they're progressively more unusual.

* If you know the setting you might not have expected Protean to be a clan-specific discipline. The books might not show it that way. Just another house rule, for the good of the Gangrel and the setting...

The Clans

The stereotypes are gross simplifications, as befits the size of the summaries: it only takes one member of a clan to decide you should be recruited. Most clans favour nationalities or ethnicities, although there are occasional exceptions. Weaknesses aren't generally fully explained.

In general I'd rather not have multiple player characters of the same clan. The Tzimisce are an exception.

This list is predominantly so that interested players can see which ones they'd like to know more about. As usual, talk to me.

Assamite

Assassins from Araby and the Middle East. Disciplines: Celerity (speed), Obfuscate (stealth), Quietus (silence and assassination; exclusive). Weakness: Must tithe blood to the clan; appears as diablerist to aura perception. Not a great choice for this game: Assamites are generally obvious foreigners from a long way away.

Brujah

Warrior-philosophers and idealists. Disciplines: Celerity (speed), Potence (strength), Presence (charm). Weakness: more prone to frenzy than normal. Brujah are fair game: they embrace from various places and nationalities, they hate the Ventrue (see below) and have quite a nice style. Contrast the modern Brujah, who are iconoclast rabble-rousers and anarchists; much less interesting.

Cappadocian

Morbid necromancers. Disciplines: Auspex (perception), Fortitude (toughness), Mortis (necromancy; exclusive). Weakness: corpse-like pallor. Although the Cappadocians tend to work with the Ventrue, there are enough that don't for this to be a fair choice. However, by modern nights the Cappadocians in general are all but extinct, so only the Giovanni family of Venetian necromancers and merchants makes for sensible characters in this game.

Followers of Set

Religious corruptors worshipping the Egyptian god. Disciplines: Obfuscate (stealth), Presence (charm), Serpentis (various snake-related religious tricks; exclusive). Weakness: Especially weak to sunlight. Settites aren't ideal; like the Assamites they are from far away, and although they're less picky about race they also have a certain amount of suspicion from this referee...

Gangrel

Animalistic and primal loners. Disciplines: Animalism (speaking and controlling animals), Fortitude (toughness), Protean (shape-changing; exclusive). Weakness: Develops animal features during frenzy. Great clan: they have locals, they hate the Ventrue and the Tremere, and interesting they're a clan who seem to be in the wrong faction in modern nights.

Lasombra

Proud and noble patrician clan (I). Disciplines: Dominate, Obtenebration (shadow manipulation; exclusive), Potence (strength). Weakness: No reflection in mirrors. Another good clan: although they're typically from a long way away there's good reason to have one around.

I may have one person interested in Lasombra already, although I don't think that's in stone. People who speak to me more get preference, and I'm sure you cna guess who speaks to me most ;-)

Malkavian

Crazy people. Disciplines: Auspex (perception), Dementation (inducing madness; exclusive), Obfuscate (stealth). Weakness: Each one is incurably deranged in some way. Malkavians would fit in fine, but there's a tendency for people to play them for laughs. I welcome concepts for Malkavians who aren't comic relief, and have some kind of madness you think you can play in a way that's fun and entertaining without being farcical.

Nosferatu

Hidden spies and information brokers. Disciplines: Animalism (speaking to and controlling animals), Obfuscate (stealth), Potence (strength). Weakness: Ugly as sin; on a scale of 1-5 (or more), Appearance stat is always zero. Another good choice, if you can stand the weakness. There are local Nosferatu, they hate the Tremere, they'll work with the Tzimisce, and their abilities are handy.

Ravnos

Gypsy thieves and spies. Disciplines: Animalism (speaking to and controlling animals), Chimerstry (illusions; exclusive), Fortitude (toughness). Weakness: Each is addicted to a particular form of deception. This campaign is an appropriate setting for a Ravnos - the Rromani are spreading into Europe at this time, often through Transylvania - although I'm a little wary of them; they have an odd philosophy of redistribution of magic, and it can be very disruptive to a game.

Toreador

Aesthetes and hedonists. Disciplines: Auspex (perception), Celerity (speed), Presence (charm). Weakness: Prone to being distracted and overcome by beauty. Toreador are iffy: they tend to be Western, allied with the Ventrue and so at odds with most of the party. I've generally seen Toreador PCs end up being shallow and vacuous, which is to be avoided if you want to make the most of this game.

Tremere

Magicians, embraced from among a house of mortal mages. Disciplines: Auspex (perception), Dominate, Thaumaturgy (hermetic magic; exclusive). Weakness: Close-knit authoritarian clan; members are almost blood-bound to their superiors already. They're at war with the Tzimisce, allied with the Ventrue and just generally a clan that should be off-limits. However, if you're determined I'm up for trying to squeeze in a renegade of some kind; you'd have a different clan weakness, you'd be hunted by the Tremere, you'd be hated by the Tzimisce, but that's how useful and important Thaumaturgy is...

Tzimisce

Traditional Eastern European vampires. Disciplines: Animalism (speaking to and controlling animals), Auspex (perception), Vicissitude (flesh-crafting and shape-changing; exclusive). Weakness: Must sleep with a handful of dirt from his homeland. The Tzimisce are ideal: they're the only clan I wouldn't mind having two of in the party. This is their homeland: the Ventrue, the Tremere and their allies are threatening that and must be dealt with accordingly.

Ventrue

Proud and noble patrician clan (II). Discplines: Dominate, Fortitude (toughness), Presence (charm). Weakness: Each has a favoured kind of prey and must drink that blood exclusively. Off limits. They have all the disadvantages of the Tremere, without the saving grace; definitely bad guys for this game.

There are lesser bloodlines, but they're meant to be rare and they tend to have died out by modern nights, making them unsuitable for a crossover game. Besides, if I want to use them myself it'll be better if I don't tell everyone about them in advance. If you already know about any of the unusual WoD bloodlines feel free to pitch me something, although no promises.