Kindred (5e WoD Supplement)
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Kindred[edit]
”A beast I am, lest a beast I become.” - The Riddle
Kindred, Cainites, Vampires. The ancient undead abominations that have hunted humanity for as long as they have existed. They are immortal parasites, forced to drink vitae to delay their inevitable insanity at the hands of the beast, their darkest vampiric instincts and desires which they must fight with in a constant struggle maintain their humanity. Vampires are a very diverse bunch of creatures, from the ancient and powerful Methuselah to the thin-bloods struggling to survive in the brutal world of the supernatural.
Physical Description[edit]
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| Vampire (1895) by Edvard Munch |
Kindred are just as varied as the humans they feed on, being immune to aging and permanently keeping the form they took at the time of their embrace. Depending on their clan, they may have some identifying features, like the monstrous deformities of the Nosferatu. Most kindred share some similar traits, such as retractable fangs and a corpselike, pale appearance.
History[edit]
There are many different theories of where vampires come from, one of the most widespread and prominent is the idea that all vampires are descended from the biblical Caine, who according to the Book of Nod is cursed by god to become the first vampire. More secular kindred disagree with the cainite theory, with some groups like the Laibon, Assamites, and Setites having their own origin myths.
The supposed Grandchildren of Caine, the Antediluvians, are the ancestors of all the clans. They are all either dead or in torpor, being some of the strongest and most powerful vampires. According to Vampric myth, the Antediluvians rebelled against their sires the Second Generation, who ruled over the city of Enoch. Enoch was destroyed by the Great Flood, but the Antediluvians survived and created the Second City. Caine supposedly cursed the Antediluvians after the construction of the Second City, giving each of the clans their individual banes.
According to the Book of Nod, the Antediluvians will rise again and destroy all vampires in an apocalypse called Gehenna. The Camarilla claims that the Antediluvians do not exist, but the Noddist Sabbat and puts great importance on the event and is dedicated to preparing for it.
Society[edit]
Almost all vampires are bound to the Masquerade, an effort by most of kindred society to hide the existence of vampires from humanity at large. Breaking the masquerade and revealing your supernatural nature to the world will definitely get you hunted down by either the witch hunters or the Camarilla. The Camarilla being the biggest proponent and enforcer of the masquerade and one of the main factions in world of vampires. The Camarilla is a highly organized group with many rigid hierarchies, enforcing not just the masquerade but also the Traditions, of which there are six. Masquerade, Domain, Progeny, Accounting, Hospitality, and Destruction. The Camarilla as an organization focus on surveillance and control over all else.
The Sabbat is the opposite of the Camarilla, being a radically zealous group who believe in the myths of Caine and the Antediluvians. They reject the Traditions of the Camarilla, they are loosely organized compared to the Camarilla. That’s not to say they follow no traditions, as they follow the Auctoritis Ritae, thirteen rituals that hold great religious importance but are often observed casually. They organize themselves into packs, partaking in a ritual called the Vaulderie, which breaks all previous blood bonds and unite the pack closer together. Packs are lead by a Priest and Ductus, who lead the ritual and secular matters respectively.
Universal Kindred Traits[edit]
These are the racial traits that all kindred share regardless of Clan.
Ability Score Increase. +2 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.
Age. Kindred are immortal creatures who stop aging the moment they are turned.
Alignment. Kindred have inherent evil desires thanks to the Beast and if forced too will most likely do evil things to get access to blood. Aside from this they don’t tend towards any particular alignment.
Size. Medium
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Fear the Light. You take 1d20 radiant damage when you start your turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. You have a vulnerability to Fire and Radiant damage, but also have immunity to Poison damage and resistance to Necrotic damage. If you die from sunlight or radiant damage your body is completely disintegrated into ash. If your heart is pierced by an object you become Paralyzed until the object is removed. You become very tired during the day and must make a Humanity check every hour or fall unconscious until the start of the next night.
Vitae. Depending on your Blood Potency you either have 15 (Low), 20 (Med), or 25 (High) points of Vitae. Every time you finish a Long Rest you must spend 1 Vitae to rise, if you are out of Vitae then you will gain two levels of exhaustion when you finish the long rest. Vitae can be spent to gain either 1d10 (Low), 1d12+3 (Med), or 1d20 (High) temporary hit points as well as increase your ability scores by 1 per vitae for 2 minutes. Some discipline abilities can cost Vitae as well but most don’t. You can restore your Vitae by feeding on blood. Depending on your blood potency you will be able to drink from different sources, Low potency can drink from any source of blood, including animals. Med can only drink blood from living humanoids. And high can only drink blood from other vampires. Feeding can be done as a downtime activity, by drinking blood from an object like a vial, blood bag, or corpse; or by drinking from a living creature.
You can feed off creatures in combat as an unarmed strike. To feed on a creature it’s neck or other similar parts must be in reach of your mouth, your mouth must be able to bite the creature, and it must have actual blood to feed off of (this excludes most constructs, oozes, and plants). When attempting to feed on someone they must make a DC 18 constitution saving throw, if they fail the creature will become paralyzed and you will gain 1d4 vitae per turn you are feeding on them. Every turn a creature is being fed on they must make a constitution saving throw every turn or gain a level of exhaustion. The DC starts at 5, increasing by 1 every turn. Small and tiny creatures have disadvantage on the saving throw. When a creature dies during feeding, they are treated like a container of blood and will only provide as much vitae as the DM allows.
Depending on your blood potency every time you go under a certain amount of vitae (10 for Low, 15 for Med, and 20 for High) you must make a Constitution saving throw or Humanity check with an initial DC of 10. Every time you go under the hunger threshold or spend Vitae while under the threshold the DC increases by 1. The DC will reset after feeding. If you fail the saving throw you grow hungry and restless and must roll from the Compulsion table. If you are at 5 Vitae or lower you will roll directly from the table instead of making a saving throw. The negative effects of the Compulsion table will last until either the satisfaction is met or you perform a long rest, compulsions stack. If you roll the same compulsion then nothing happens, if you have all compulsions active at once you suffer from one level of exhaustion.
Undead Creature. Your creature type is considered both Undead and Humanoid and you do not require sleep, food, or drink. Because of your undead nature your heart does not beat, and as a result you don’t give off body temperature and feel cold to the touch. You can’t eat normal food without vomiting violently, and you always appear pale and corpselike in appearance. Creatures can notice your unusual traits with Perception or Investigation. You cannot eat food or feed off of creatures without blood and will throw up if you try. You can hide your vampiric appearance and restart your heart for an hour by spending one Vitae, giving disadvantage to perception or investigation checks noticing or looking for your undead traits. This effect only hides your paleness, and your body still gives off no temperature. Eating food and not vomiting also costs 1 Vitae but only delays it for 10 minutes per vitae spent. When you die, your body rapidly decays to a state as if you died on the day of your embrace.
You gain a new skill, Humanity. This skill is a representation of your ability to resist the beast and retain human morals. Every time you do something monstrous like killing or feeding off a mortal, you gain disadvantage on your next humanity check.
If you fail your death saving throw you don’t die, instead you make a humanity check with a DC depending on your morality. This determines how long you have to stay in torpor, ranging anywhere from a day to several millennia. While in torpor you are completely unconscious and cannot do anything, vitae can be donated by other vampires to shorted the length of your torpor. If exposed to any radiant damage or fire damage while in torpor you will have to make death saving throws or experience Final Death and truly die.
Frenzy. If you have a compulsion active or have less than your blood potency’s vitae threshold you can enter a frenzy by getting provoked, to resist the frenzy you have to make a Humanity check with the DC depending on the source. Some of the things that can provoke you are the sight of blood (DC 5), the smell of blood (DC 5), being harassed (DC 8), immense stress (DC 8), physical provocation (DC 12), taste of blood (DC 12), loved one in danger (DC 16), and public humiliation (DC 16). When in a frenzy the beast takes over your personality completely, making you lose control of your character’s actions. If in combat the DM takes control of your character as if it was an NPC. When in a frenzy, you will become incredibly hostile towards whatever caused you to enter a frenzy. You will be violent towards anything that obstructs you from attacking the source of your frenzy are nearby and will be unable to speak or communicate. You also gain 1d20 temporary hit points and become resistant to bludgeoning and piercing damage. You can make a wisdom saving throw to resist doing an action taken during a frenzy. You are immune to charm and frighten while in a frenzy, and you temporarily lose all levels of exhaustion or active compulsions if you have either until you are no longer frenzied. The frenzy ends either when you are knocked unconscious or the source of the frenzy is incapacitated. When the frenzy ends any compulsions you had are nullified.
Blood-Bond. You can feed one vitae to a creature to temporarily charm them. If they fail a DC18 constitution saving throw, they will be charmed for 1d10 turns. In order to be properly blood bonded they have to accept your vitae three times, with a long or short rest between each offering. A creature who is blood-bonded with you becomes supernaturally influenced by you. Bloodbonded creatures are permanently charmed by you and have to make a wisdom saving throw of DC 18 to act against you in any way. Bloodbonded creatures typically become very attached to the kindred they are bonded too, but the blood bond will weaken every day that it is not reinforced through giving another vitae. Every week the DC of acting against you will decrease by 2 until one month of no reinforcements it will break. Reinforcing it any time will reset the DC back to 18. Bloodbonding a non-vampiric humanoid will turn them into a Ghoul.
Diablerie. You can diablerize another kindred that is unconscious as a special melee attack. The target has to be in reach of your mouth, be able to be bitten by you, and unconscious for the whole process. The diablerize action consumes one vitae, but fully diablerizing your target requires you to repeatedly diablerize them until they run out of vitae. Every diablerize action requires a Strength saving throw to absorb the vitae, starting at DC 5 and increasing by 1 for each vitae successfully drained. If you successfully diablerize a kindred you gain 1 level automatically and can select two extra discipline features. If the target of diablerie had a higher generation than you your generation goes up by 1.
Languages. You can speak, write, and understand any one human language.
| d10 | Compulsion | Effect | Satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Hunger | Have to roll a DC 8 + days since last meal Wisdom saving throw to spend Vitae willingly, with the exception of long rests | Feed off of something. |
| 4-5 | Dominance | Disadvantage on skill checks you aren’t proficient in | Assert dominance over another and gloat about it. |
| 6-7 | Harm | Gain disadvantage on humanity checks and on saving throws of your highest and second highest attribute | Kill, incapacitate, or destroy something/someone. |
| 8-9 | Paranoia | Gain disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls | Spend at least 10 Minutes or so in a place that feels safe. |
| 10 | Clan Compulsion | Varies | Varies |
Clans[edit]
The Clans represent a variety of different vampire stereotypes in fiction.
Banu Haqim[edit]
Baali[edit]
Blood Brothers[edit]
Brujah[edit]
Caitiff[edit]
Daughters of Cacophony[edit]
Gangrel[edit]
Gargoyle[edit]
Hecata[edit]
Lasombra[edit]
”Morte Ascendō” -Clan Motto
Social darwinists and ruthless machiavellians. The Lasombra, also known as the Keepers or the Night Clan, are one of the main clans of the Sabbat. They well known for their inherent desire for power and control, their unrelenting ambition and propensity towards manipulation and betrayal make them very dangerous. They have a long-standing rivalry with the Ventrue, the leaders of the Camarilla. Their ancestral home is in Sicily, and they generally have close ties to the Catholic Church.
Historically the Lasombra were the leaders and some of the most active members of the Sabbat, since 2019 however they defected to the Camarilla due to the gradual decline of the Sabbat over the centuries.
Their culture is centered around the power and ambition, and they put all their efforts into gaining power. Influential Lasombra are all part of a group called the Friends of the Night, a secret society dedicated to managing the clan. They are known for managing the Courts of Blood, which manage diablerie within the clan. Diablerie is not a tragedy or grave sin to the Lasombra, but a necessary fact of life. Lasombra tend to embrace those who can serve their ideals and goals, usually ruthless and cutthroat individuals or those who have survived through immense hardship. The Lasombra only pick the best of the best for their clan.
The Lasombra have access to the disciplines of Dominate, Obtenebration, and Potence. Obtenebration is the signature discipline of the Lasombra, allowing them to manipulate shadows for a variety of purposes. Lasombra are a versatile clan whose disciplines allow for domination in and out of combat, having a variety of utility through Obtenebration. Their signature features are Posession, Banishment, and Dark Steel.
Their Clan Bane is Distorted Image. The souls of all Lasombra are inherently tainted by the Abyss, making all recordings, reflections, or recordings of them corrupted in some way. They won’t appear in mirrors or on camera, sometimes being fully transparent but often leaving behind strange flickers and distortions. Recordings of their voice are corrupted and motion detectors will go haywire around them. This bane makes it hard for them to fit in and act casually around humans without outing themselves. Lasombra will often have people to deal with technology for them, especially those who prefer to stay in the shadows.
Their Clan Compulsion is Ruthlessness. Lasombra despise failure above all else. When under the effect of their compulsion, if they fail a skill check they will gain a disadvantage in all unrelated rolls (skill checks, saving throws, attack rolls, etc.) until they succeed at a skill check of that same type, at which point the compulsion passes.
Bloodlines[edit]
Lasombra Antitribu: Before the Lasombra became part of the Camarilla, the Lasombra antitribu were those who served the Camarilla instead of supporting the Sabbat along with the rest of the clan. They aren’t despised or considered traitors by the Lasombra, as their culture believes in seeking power at all costs regardless of loyalties. The Camarilla rightfully distrusts them but acknowledges their immense talent.
With the mass defection of the Lasombra to the Camarilla the Lasombra antitribu are now the many Lasombra who decided to stay within the Sabbat. These Lasombra are often the most faithful and genuinely dedicated to Noddism and the Sabbat’s ideals. Lasombra are not very sentimental, so this is often out of a belief in the superiority of their beliefs over the supposed weakness of the Camarilla.
Qabilat al-Khayal: The Lasombra of the Ashirra, these Lasombra are some of the most devoted to the sect, with the founder of the Qabilat al-Khayal being the Mullah of the Ashirra himself. They are respected by the main clan despite their alliance with the Camarilla and with the Lasombra defecting they are becoming closer to the main clan every night.
Xi-Dundu: The Lasombra of the African Laibon, they are similar to the Lasombra in many ways are known for their rivalry with the Gurubi Nosferatu bloodline of Laibon. They descend from the Ramanga, moving west and splitting from them.
Ramanga: Lasombra of Madagascar, they have Obfuscate and Presence instead of Dominate and Potence. They are the original Lasombra of the Laibon but are mostly extinct after centuries of spreading out and interacting with the rest of the vampiric world. Since the Victorian Era the original Ramanga are mostly limited to Madagascar while the rest of the Lasombra Laibon are all Xi-Dundu.
Kiyasid: Kiyasid are the strange looking fae-blooded bloodline of the Lasombra. They possess either Necromancy or Dominate, their signature discipline Mytherceria, and Obtenebration. They are tall and possess pale white skin with glowing blue eyes. They are often bookish collectors of lore, preferring to stay out of sect politics and live secluded lives.
Maeghar[edit]
Malkavian[edit]
Nagaraja[edit]
Nosferatu[edit]
Osirisan[edit]
Ravnos[edit]
Salubri[edit]
Toreador[edit]
Tremere[edit]
Thin-Blood[edit]
Tzimisce[edit]
Ventrue[edit]
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