Characters / Vampire: The Masquerade - Camarilla

The Camarilla

Overall Tropes

Dedicated to ensuring that mortals never learn that vampires exist, the Camarilla enforces strict order upon the Kindred it claims as its members through rigorously-enforced traditions and rules; as such, the Sabbat are their direct antithesis in almost every way — including their belief in the Antediluvians.

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• Ancient Conspiracy:
  • They've been running the world for a long time. Interestingly, they refuse to believe the Ancient Conspiracy of the Antediluvians.
  • V5 makes it more explicit; with the comparatively rebellious and un-influential Brujah and Gangrel clans leaving while the Banu Haqim, who are deeply entrenched in the legal system, and the Lasombra, who wield significant control over religion through the Catholic Church, have aligned with the Camarilla. Between the new additions and the Ventrue's supremacy in business and politics, the Toreador's mastery of media and the entertainment industry, and the Tremere's domination of academia and science, the Camarilla now truly does have significant sway in every facet of societal organization.
• Anti-Hero: As the Guide to the Camarilla points out, the Camarilla aren't the "vampire good guys" in any sense of the word; they're just the most stable and rational of the sects.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite being composed entirely of vampires and having irregular contact with mages, ghosts, fairies, mummies, and other otherworldly forces, the Camarilla refuse to believe in the Antediluvians as a matter of principle. They have dropped this attitude in the V5 timeline.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: They're vampires, sure, but they're not all bad. Except for maybe the Tremere...
• Dark Secret: Perhaps the biggest one in the entire organization is that Hardestadt The Elder was successfully diablerized by the Anarch Tyler in 1395. His childe, Hardestadt The Younger, impersonated him and took his place among the founders to prevent the whole thing from falling apart. Save for a select few members of Clan Ventrue, being aware of this will likely get you killed. At this point, however, it is so far in the past that it would likely not matter to any vampire except Hardestadt himself and a few others due to the clan's massive ego.
• Decadent Court: And even that could be an understatement.
• The Dreaded: The Justicars, who are appointed by the Inner Council every 13 years (there are seven at any given time, one for each clan belonging to the Camarilla) and given virtually unlimited resources and authority when it comes to managing the sect, universally terrify all but the most powerful of Princes. All are beings of immense personal power and influence, and they are the only Kindred who can actually walk into a Prince's city and start giving orders. Crossing one is considered tantamount to suicide.
• Enemy Mine: In the V5 storyline, the Camarilla is under serious pressure from the Second Inquisition, and the facts that the Brujah and Gangrel leadership have turned their backs on the organization in favor of the resurgent Anarchs and that the Tremere have splintered into several warring factions, leaving it desperate for any opportunity to consolidate their power in these trying times. Meanwhile, the Lasombra are in similar dire straits, due to the Inquisition cracking seriously down on the Sabbat too, which have motivated some of the clan's mavericks to make diplomatic overtures towards the Camarilla that is more susceptible to such things than ever. This could potentially set the stage for a truce or even an (uneasy) alliance between the two old enemies.
• Everyone Has Standards: At the sect's foundation, the Giovanni (who didn't want to join anyway) were told that they couldn't become a part of the Camarilla - note that the Camarilla theoretically claims all vampires as members, and the Giovanni still didn't meet their standards. The Followers of Set, however, were secretly invited for their assistance in helping take the Banu Haqim down (the Setites turned them down, as they were loyal to Set and his purpose).
• Fantastic Racism: Despite the claims of being an organization for all vampires in the world, the Camarilla only offers political benefits to the members of the seven core clans. Non-core clan and clanless vampires can be Camarilla members, but they are barred from taking specific clan-representative offices, such as Whip, Primogen, Justicar or Inner Circle member, and those offices that do not officially require core clan membership, such as Prince or Sheriff, are noticeably less accessible for them. The Gangrel also lost their status as a core clan in 1999.
• The Heavy: The Inner Circle are the supreme leaders of the Camarilla, but since they never show their faces, the Princes are in charge of ruling directly.
• Insistent Terminology: They, as a rule, refer to themselves as "Kindred". In some settings, just using the word vampire to refer to them at all is considered gauche at best and at worst, just flat-out rude. The act of turning a mortal into a vampire is the "Embrace", the rather incestuous favor currying and oftentimes brutal politicking is referred to as "Prestation"...
• Jerkass Has a Point: The Camarilla is based around this as a faction. Even some of the more reasonable Anarchs admit that it's hard to argue a lot of their points, such as the importance of the Masquerade or the pivotal functions the other Traditions serve. (Hospitality, that a prince knows the vampires that are residing in his/her territory, or The Accounting, which makes you responsible for your childe's actions) The Anarchs as a whole just have a problem with it because most elders in the Camarilla are corrupt and manipulative and there seems to be little room for advancement for younger vampires other than as expendable tools.
• Kick the Dog: Signed a formal peace treaty with the Giovanni officially recognizing them as an independent clan and the successors to the Cappadocians as the Clan of Death. This allowed the Giovanni to hunt down the last remaining Cappadocians with impunity. The Cappadocians who were not destroyed are, quite understandably, a bit pissed about that.
• Klingon Promotion: The only real way for neonates to advance in Camarilla society is by diablerizing ^note  Drinking a senior vampire's blood to gain their soul and powers a superior. While this is still one of the few genuinely taboo behaviors in vampire society, nearly all high-up members took part in it.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Despite being a Decadent Court of Manipulative Bastards who keep new entrants in fear and powerlessness and run on Klingon Promotion, they're the relative "good guys" due to at least attempting to keep their Horror Hunger in check.
• Masquerade: They enforce it by any means necessary, from falsifying records to executing witnesses — and perpetrators.
• Mutant Draft Board: In theory, the Camarilla claims all vampires as its members. The existence of rival sects does not make them happy.
• Obstructive Code of Conduct: The Six Traditions:
  • The Masquerade: "Thou shalt not reveal thy true nature to those not of the Blood. Doing such shall renounce thy claims of Blood." In essence, don't reveal that you are a vampire to a human, or you will be hunted down like a dog for doing so.
  • The Domain: "Thy domain is thine own concern. All others owe thee respect while in it. None may challenge thy word while in thy domain." In essence, Sacred Hospitality is in effect for all Camarilla Kindred; don't disrespect another Kindred's Domain and they won't disrespect yours.
  • The Progeny: "Thou shall only Sire another with the permission of thine Elder. If thou createst another without thine Elder's leave, both thou and thy Progeny shall be slain." In essence, Camarilla Kindred can't just run around embracing whomever they wish, since doing so runs the risk of breaking the Masquerade.
  • The Accounting: "Those thou create are thine own children. Until thy Progeny shall be Released, thou shall command them in all things. Their sins are thine to endure." In essence, any vampires you sired are to be treated like they were your actual children, and you have to take responsibility for all that they do until such a time as they can be set free from your control.
  • The Hospitality: "Honor one another's domain. When thou comest to a foreign city, thou shall present thyself to the one who ruleth there. Without the word of acceptance, thou art nothing." In essence, a more formal form of The Domain, meant for when a Kindred of lesser stature enters into the Domain of one of higher stature. Make yourself known to the reigning Prince wherever you might be, or you are rescinding their offer of protection while you are within their Domain.
  • The Destruction: "Thou art forbidden to destroy another of thy kind. The right of destruction belongeth only to thine Elder. Only the Eldest among thee shall call the Blood Hunt." In essence, Ape Shall Never Kill Ape, except in cases where an Elder deems a vampire's destruction necessary. In particularly bad cases where a Kindred is threatening the Masquerade in general and the safety of all vampires in a city, the Elder can sic every vampire in their Domain on them in a Blood Hunt to eliminate the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible.
• Order Versus Chaos: Against the Sabbat and the Anarchs, the Camarilla most definitely represent order.
• Population Control: The Camarilla normally expects the number of vampires to be 1 per 100,000 humans, so they are usually very rigorous that aspect, and each Kindred must ask permission before transforming someone. Although the 100,000 rule may vary and there may be cases of populations in which there is one vampire for every 3,000 mortals.
• Pragmatic Villainy: At their worst they can be pretty heinous, reprehensible, and sociopathic... and yet, unlike the Sabbat, they never really Kick the Dog just for the hell of it. Nearly everything about the Camarilla comes from someplace cold, unfeeling, and logical, and Kindred with a tendency towards Stupid Evil are usually offed for being indiscreet if nothing else. The Camarilla roll their eyes at Stupid Good Kindred, seeing them as wide-eyed idealists who are naive in a cruel and unforgiving world, but are in comparison much more tolerant of them, so long as the Kindred in question keep the Masquerade in mind and don't become spanners in the works for the people in charge.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: The Nosferatu/Toreador clan rivalry can feel like this at times.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Doesn't even begin to cover it. The Camarilla is filled to the brim with so much political intrigue and so many heated rivalries that they can barely get anything done. And that's on a good day. They certainly lucked out because, all things considered, the Sabbat really isn't much better. The V5 storyline sees the Camarilla suffer a semi-implosion when the vast majority of Brujah and Gangrel turning their backs on it in favor of the Anarchs, leaving only a few holdouts behind. Meanwhile, the Tremere have fractured into several bickering factions.
• Vampire Monarch: Each Camarilla-controlled city is ruled by a Prince; however, despite their relative autonomy, they still have to answer to the Camarilla's Inner Circle...

Brujah

A clan of former warrior-scholars, the Brujah was one of the founding clans of the Camarilla; unfortunately, by the modern nights, they have degenerated into a clan more or less composed of street punks and brutes. They are passionate, however, and always ready to rally under a banner worthy of their cause.

Weakness: Brujah have an extremely hard time keeping their tempers under control, manifesting as a penalty to rolls to resist frenzy.

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• Badass Biker: They often tend to evoke this image.
• Berserk Button: If a Brujah doesn't already have a Hair-Trigger Temper, expect there to be at least something that makes them go berserk.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Has given birth to a lot of these, Smiling Jack probably being the best example.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Often characterized as this. Subverted, given the Clan is still allied with the Camarilla despite their misgivings. Played straight in the case of the Brujah antitribu, who really are as violent and chaos-addicted as the clan stereotype suggests.
• Cool People Rebel Against Authority: If they can agree on most anything as a clan, it's this. They've been constantly challenging the status-quo of Kindred society throughout history.
• Defector from Decadence: In the V5 timeline, the entire Clan Brujah has pulled this on the Camarilla, instead joining up with the Anarchs, after the anti-authoritarian maverick Theo Bell assumed leadership of the clan.
• Feral Vampires: The clan are for the most part a thuggish, disorganised gang of Bomb-Throwing Anarchists united by their belief that Cool People Rebel Against Authority. However, they have Hidden Depths, are deeply passionate and were once proud poets, warriors and philosophers.
• Gender Flip: A version exists between the editions of the game in regards to Troile, who is referred to as a male in the first edition, female in the Gehenna scenarios, and is said to have intentionally kept it questionable in the Revised edition; nonetheless, they have generally been described as masculine.
• Genius Bruiser: Surprisingly, many members of the clan tend to be this even in the modern nights.
• Glory Days: Brujah of the Promethean faction have nostalgia for Carthage, claiming it was a utopia of sorts for vampire and human alike, naturally run by the Brujah clan. They claim that the destruction of Carthage by Rome was orchestrated by the Ventrue clan out of jealousy, and wish to restore Carthage to its former glory or create some sort of substitute. Since the Ventrue clan effectively run the Camarilla, this position is officially heretical and the mere existence of the Promethean faction (even amongst leaders of the clan) is a guarded secret.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Brujah have a tendency to Frenzy a lot easier than other vampire clans. Pointing it out to them might be a bad idea.
• Hidden Depths: They were considered one of the high clans in The Middle Ages, and The Book Of Nod refers to them as 'The Learned Clan.' Even in the modern times, they're the clan with the strongest ties to mortal academia.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: Even Brujah who hate one another get pretty pissed when anyone else gives their clan mates shit.
• Irony:
  • They were a big part of the original Anarch Revolt, which was the primary catalyst for the ultimate creation of the Camarilla. Not only are they one of the most important clans in regards to the sect's foundational history, the Camarilla is essentially the "egalitarian" organization they were fighting for at the time.
  • All members of the mainline Clan Brujah descend from the original Brujah antediluvian through his childe, Troile. Brujah (or Ilyes) was a cold, calculating creature, while Troile was a fiery rebel. The True Brujah are supposedly descended from Brujah’s other childer, and resemble him in spirit more than the main clan do. One of the Gehenna scenarios reveals that Ilyes only ever embraced Troile, meaning the mainline Brujah are his only actual descendants.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Surprisingly many of these exist within the clan. While often rude, noisy and very unruly, they are very passionate individuals and are on par with the Toreador when it comes to understanding the human world.
• Lightning Bruiser: Thanks to the Disciplines of Celerity and Potence.
• Lunacy: In the Gehenna scenario "Fair Is Foul," the entire clan is afflicted with madness under the moon.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: In the past, intelligent Brujah have played to the clan stereotype in order to fool their enemies, pretending to be more crude and foul-tempered than they actually are to lull opponents into complacency. Nowadays, the stereotype is more common than ever.
• Proud Scholar Race: They used to be an unemotional clan of scholars and poets. They have since become a...
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: What they are now- a clan of Bomb-Throwing Anarchists with little organization and a love of violence.
• Rebellious Spirit: The Brujah are not afraid of letting their voice go heard if they are displeased. This is, after all, the clan that gave birth to the Anarch Revolts, and as a result, the Anarch Movement.
• Renaissance Man: One of their lesser general themes is "mastery of the self". Ancient Brujah believed in the constant need to train and improve oneself in every way possible, physically, mentally, psychologically and ethically. Presence and Celerity can also make them fairly flexible at tasks other than just combat.
• Satan Is Good: A common sentiment throughout the Clan's history. The Brujah's opposition to the status quo and awareness of its cruelties frequently led them to the conclusion that, if those claiming to be good are actually evil, perhaps those labeled as evil may actually be good. At no point were the majority of Brujah Lucifer-worshippers, exactly, however they were instrumental in the creation of the many varieties of the Road of Sin. Focusing on defying traditional concepts of good and virtue, the Road of Sin can range the whole gamut from Hollywood Satanism Then Let Me Be Evil to Anti-Nihilist Utopia-builders. One variant, the Road of the Adversary, does actually emulate Lucifer as symbol of freedom and rebellion against tyranny, and the traditional Promethean path of the Clan similarly holds great admiration for Prometheus as another rebellious lightbringer.
• Sealed Good in a Can: In the Gehenna scenario "Fair Is Foul," Ilyes, the original Brujah antediluvian, turns out to have survived the attempt on his life thanks to his mastery of Temporis; unfortunately, he ended up accidentally displacing himself in time for over a hundred thousand years until he finally emerges in the Final Nights. Depending on what side you take in this particular version of Gehenna, Ilyes can be either sealed good or sealed evil — in either case, he's escaped by the start of the game.
• Self-Made Orphan: Possibly. One theory holds that Troile, the Clan's founder, was a vampiric version of one of these. Under the impression that her sire, Ilyes, the Brujah Antediluvian, was planning to kill Troile in order to correct the mistake he'd made in embracing her, she diablerized him and seized control of the clan. In one Gehenna scenario, "Fair is Foul", it is revealled that Ilyes is still alive and in the mood for vengeance. Others believe this is a smear created by the Ventrue.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: With the Ventrue.
• Sour Supporter: To the Ventrue and by extension to the rest of the Camarilla. Most elders of the clan are still a little grumpy over the loss of Carthage to the Ventrue, but they still accept and support their role in the Camarilla to varying degrees.
• The Spock: The clan's true Antediluvian was this, exemplifying the Brujah's original nature as unemotional scholars rather than passionate warrior-poets.
• The Stoic:
  • Extremely rare in the modern nights amongst the clan, but in the clan's ancient past, the Brujah were one of the clans that had their hands in the shaping of ancient Greece, specifically Athens, which also happens to be the birthplace of the ideal of stoicism. A little ironic, then, that the clan that likely had the most hand in shaping the very concept of stoicism could fall so far from such a path by the modern nights.
  • The Path of Entelechy is a Path of Enlightenment trying to return the Clan to the ideal. Members cultivate strength, discipline and dispassion in order to become ruthless dominators and conquerors... who devote their entire existence to defending humanity against other vampires and perfecting ethics.
• Super-Speed: Via Celerity.
• Super-Strength: Potence is another one of their Disciplines, befitting their nature as a warrior clan.
• Warrior Poet: What they used to be in the past.

Gangrel

Free-spirited and animalistic, the Gangrel are much closer to the Beast than vampires of other clans; loners and nomads by nature, they prefer to dwell in the wilderness beyond human civilization, communing with the animals and enjoying the thrill of the hunt. Though they were one of the founding clans of the Camarilla, during the Final Nights they leave the Camarilla altogether and become an independent clan.

Weakness: The Beast is always close to a Gangrel, ready to emerge if given the chance. Each frenzy they suffer grants them an animalistic feature, slowly making them into walking Masquerade breaches and damaging their Social Attributes.

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• Animal Eyes: A common option for frenzied transformations.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Ennoia manages to achieve this in "The Crucible of God," being one of the few Antediluvians to achieve godhood.
• Beast Man: Gangrel who have frenzied too often tend to resemble this.
• The Beastmaster: Their mastery of Animalism allows them control over the beasts they dwell alongside.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Sometimes, Frenzying may result in a Gangrel taking on insectoid or arachnid attributes.
• Country Mouse: Most Gangrel disparage urban life, with the exception of the City Gangrel Bloodline.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Thanks to their mastery of Protean.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: At higher levels of Protean, Gangrel can transform themselves into living fire; they can also meld with the earth, allowing them to travel unseen beneath the ground and avoid sunlight at a moment's notice. The clan founder, Ennoia, like many surviving Antediluvians, takes the clan disciplines further than any other — in this case, melding with the entire planet and allowing herself to be lulled to sleep by the earth's core. In the Gehenna scenario "The Crucible of God," she takes this even further by only manifesting in the form of earthquakes and other natural disasters, swallowing anyone who tries to enter the Earth.
• Feral Vampires: Their Voluntary Shapeshifting is granted from a connection to the Beast which makes them prone to violence and predisposed to live in the wilderness.
• Fish People: The Mariner Bloodline have adapted to living almost exclusively in and on the ocean. Intially, their piscine nature is technically limited to fact that their use of the Protean discipline is modeled after various forms of sea creatures instead of the usual bats and wolves; however, they take on animalistic features like all Gangrel after frenzy. They just exclusively take the features of sea creatures.
• Genius Bruiser: Much like the Brujah, some Gangrel have eschewed the traditional stereotype and become intellectuals — among them the famous scholar Beckett.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: A popular pastime among the antitribu, and often how Gangrel choose new targets to Embrace.
• Inhuman Eye Concealers: The Protean ability "Eyes Of The Beast" allows Gangrel vampires to manifest glowing red eyes that can see perfectly in darkness; unfortunately, this can freak out mortals very easily, so Gangrel players are advised to wear sunglasses if they have to interact with anyone while this power's active.
• Initiation Ceremony: Immediately after being embraced, Gangrel childer are abandoned in the wilderness and left there until the transformation and their first few nights alone are complete, whereupon they are accepted into the clan.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: A possible consequence of repeated frenzies, Gangrel can grow more and more animalistic in both mind and body. In "Fair Is Foul," some even lose the ability to speak.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Thanks to their use of Fortitude.
• Noble Savage: Averted. They have their vices like any other vampire. The Followers of Set handbook is quick to point this out.
• Odd Friendship: With the Nosferatu; despite the fact that the two clans rarely meet in their chosen habitats, they treat each other with surprising empathy. Some speculate this is because the Gangrel know that they, too, might just become as monstrous-looking as the Nosferatu; others believe that the Nosferatu understand what it means to lose all sense of self-image and identity. In any case, both clans have great respect for one another.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Out of all the Antediluvians released in "The Crucible of God", Ennoia undoubtedly does the most damage: not only does she actually destroy the Shaper's physical body, but goes on to obliterate entire cities in her search for food.
• Power Incontinence: "Fair Is Foul" sees the Gangrel lose control of Protean and begin shapeshifting at random.
• Primal Polymorphs: They not only possess a clan-unique Discipline of Protean, allowing them to shapeshift into wolves, bats, mist, earth, and even fire, but they're also the most animalistic of the thirteen clans. Solitary, territorial, and individualistic, they're one of the few clans that are comfortable outside cities and are even in the habit of abandoning their newly Embraced childer in the wilderness as a rite of passage to test their survival skills.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: A Gangrel will not like it if you look down on them.
• Red Right Hand: Every time a Gangrel character frenzies, they develop an animalistic feature — a tail, catlike eyes, tusks, scaly skin, and so on.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: What the Clan as a whole has done.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Gangrel sires typically leave their childer to fend for themselves right after the transformation is over, often without much (or any) explanations. Their reasoning is that if the childe can't survive on their own, they weren't worthy of being a Gangrel in the first place.
• Sixth Ranger: Of a sort, as anyone who knows anything about their clan culture might be confused about why exactly they choose to align themselves with the rigidly structured and socially based Camarilla. At the Convention of Thorns, while the other six clans had made their choice pretty much from the get go, the Gangrel simply joined up because it seemed a better alternative than joining the raving Sabbat hordes or going it alone permanently as independents. They were the only clan to ever, as a whole, consider joining the Anarchs. Even the Brujah only join the Free Movement on an individual basis.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: The clan-unique discipline of Protean allows this. At the earliest levels, this merely grants a character the ability to grow claws or see in the dark; at higher levels, it allows them to transform into wolves, bats, clouds of mist, even fire.
• Winged Humanoid: Another possible result of frenzying. Unfortunately, the wings can't be used to fly, but only to glide.
• Worthy Opponent: Though they rarely deign to trust them, the Gangrel consider the Lasombra worthy of respect for their skills as leaders and brutal honesty; in turn, the Lasombra admire the Gangrel for their strength of character and ferocity.

Malkavian

The madmen. The Malkavians all share the curse of insanity — along with the power to project it onto others, making them a clan to be feared. On the other hand, their madness gives them a unique insight into things that the other clans don't have, and there's often some kind of method behind their madness. They all share a connection through the Malkavian Madness Network, a hive-mind rumored to be part of the consciousness of the clan founder itself, Malkav.

Weakness: Every single Malkavian is insane, in oft-unique and unusual ways. A Malkavian character starts with a Derangement that they can never get rid of.

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• Chaotic Stupid: Certain players use Malkavian insanity as an excuse to indulge in "wacky" behavior. Enter the infamous "Fishmalk".
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Count more than a few of these to their numbers.
• The Cloud Cuckoolander Was Right: All too often. Being insane very often gives them an insight into what's really going on in the Jihad.
• The Collector of the Strange: One of the character archetypes from the revised clanbook.
• Creepy Child: In "Nightshade," Malkav himself appears as a group of hive-minded little girls.
• Darker and Edgier: The revised edition clanbook, which depicts mental illness in a much more tragic light than its whimsical first edition predecessor.
• The Dreaded: A lot of other vampires do not like the Malkavians for their use of Dementation. As one puts it, "Domination might control the mind, but Dementation destroys the soul."
• Funny Schizophrenia: Unfortunately, some players choose to play Malkavians as wacky, gibberish-spouting comedians with no gauge on their behaviour — leading to them being dubbed "Fishmalks."
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Every single member of the clan is driven incurably insane by their experiences during the Embrace. Assuming, of course, they weren't already insane to begin with.
• Hive Mind: The Malkavian Madness Network is an example of genuine shared consciousness, allowing members of the Clan to communicate and share information. It's also Malkav, the Malkavian Antediluvian, who shed his physical form long ago and spread his mind throughout the minds of his childer. Unfortunately for Malkavian players, during the events of "The Crucible of God", he awakens and starts spreading his consciousness across the entire network, slowly taking over the minds of his children.
• Humanity Is Insane: Some Malkavians think so.
• Infectious Insanity: One of the most common aspects of Dementation. Taken to extremes during "The Crucible of God", when Malkav's lunacy actually starts infecting ordinary human beings, transforming them into unrestrained berserkers or cold-hearted sociopaths. This even happens within the Clan. Back during the Dark Ages, the Malkavians who planned to join the Camarilla did... something that wiped Dementation from their chunk of the clan and replaced it with Dominate, making them more at-home in the sect and leaving the madness powers to the antitribu. Centuries later, the antitribu pull a Great Prank and send it surging back through the entire clan.
• Insanity Immunity: The 9-dot Dementation power, Blessing of Chaos afflicts the vampire with an additional derangement. In return, they become immune to Presence, Dominate, Chimerstry and other Dementation.
• It Makes Sense in Context: In-universe. The first edition clanbook features clan abilities that appear deranged to onlookers but actually serve practical purposes. For example, Malkavians' indecipherable writing is actually code that only other Malkavians can read. A Malkavian's indecipherable scrawl on the wall or graffiti on a building is actually a hidden message to other clan members. A Malkavian who appears to be talking to herself may actually be having a long-distance telepathic conversation with others of her kind.
• Mad Artist: Some Malkavians fit this trope. Averted in that most Malkavians with a flair for the arts express their creativity in positive ways. The character templates in the revised Malkavian clanbook include a bipolar musician and an art gallery owner who displays art created by psychiatric patients.
• The Mad Hatter: Some Malkavians behave in this fashion.
• Mad Oracle: Their insight ability can give them the ability to catch the occasional glimpse of the future. More often than not, it will be incomprehensible and first make sense in hindsight.
• The Mentally Disturbed: The first edition clanbook depicts the Malkavians' insanity as a form of enlightened thinking that makes them quirky. The revised edition, however, depicts mental illness more realistically as tragic, sometimes disabling, but not necessarily an obstacle to a meaningful life.
• Mind Rape: The nastier applications of Dementation. The lesser ones are temporary, more advanced ones (6 and more dots) can be permanent and affect multiple targets, with powers such as Stain the Soul and Mind of a Killer. As the following quote shows, Cainites fear Dementation above any other Disciplines for a good reason.
  Dominate might erase your memories, Vicissitude might reshape your form, but Dementation can destroy your soul.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: The sheer way Dementation can ruin a person's sanity causes them to be this.
• Obfuscating Insanity: More than one Malkavian has had it in their best interests to appear even more insane than they already are in order to get their desired results.
• The Ophelia: A possible character archetype for Malkavians. The Plague Bride, a friend and childe of Malkav who brings comfort to tormented Malkavians, embodies this trope.
• Order Versus Chaos: Malks embody both. Onlookers would be puzzled why the Camarilla would consider the highly chaotic and random Malkavian as one of their own. But those who manage to glimpse slightly deeper into the clan will find a certain pattern to their madness, which is rife with conspiracy theories and paranoia. Look further at the core of the clan, and you will find the Malks are actually a highly-organized clan, bordering on a Hive Mind, thanks to the Malkavian Madness Network.
• Power Born of Madness: The Dementation discipline cannot be used unless you are at least somewhat insane. Characters without Derangements simply can't use Dementation at all - not a problem for Malkavians, who must have a Derangement and can't get rid of it, but sane vampires from other clans who try to learn the discipline hit a brick wall.
• Power Incontinence: In "Fair Is Foul", the clan loses all control of Dementation and starts unleashing it on almost everyone in range. Even worse, as Gehenna continues, Dementation doesn't weaken like most disciplines: it starts growing more powerful — to the point that it starts to alter the physical world.
• The Prankster: Several Malkavians have dedicated themselves to disrupting human/Kindred society and preconceptions via elaborate practical jokes; unfortunately, the aforementioned Fishmalks tend to portray this as common to all Malkavian characters.
• Proud Scholar Race: Because of their lateral way of thinking, Clan Malkavian has produced a significant minority of scholars. The clan as a whole is said to know 'all of the answers and none of the questions'.
• Red Herring: Usually very good at delivering these.
• Sanity Strengthening: Despite Dementation's general use as Mind Rape, this can be done using its 9-dot power, Touch of the Saints. It permanently removes anything affecting or influencing the target's mind at the time, including Presence, Dominate, and even blood oaths. It can't be used to remove a Malkavian's derangement though, but even that can be subdued temporarily.
• Science-Related Memetic Disorder: A possibility for Malkavians of a scientific bent. One of the signature Malkavian characters, Dr. Douglas Netchurch, is an obsessive-compulsive physician who is the utmost authority on vampire physiology. His meticulous, obsessive behavior is actually an asset to his profession.
• Talking to Themself: Subverted. Malkavians who appear to be talking to themselves may actually be having a telepathic conversation with other clanmates via the Malkavian Madness Network.
• They Look Like Everyone Else: Plenty of them have derangements that are not immediately obvious.
• Trickster Mentor: The first edition clanbook depicts the Malkavians as this for the Camarilla. Malkavians prank fellow kindred in order to teach them humility or help them see reality from a new perspective.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: And vice versa. Malkavians can gain terrible powers from their madness, but their madness colors everything they do.

Nosferatu

The most visibly cursed of all clans, the Nosferatu are hideously disfigured by their embrace; forced to hide in sewers to conceal their true nature from mortals and disparaged by the rest of the Camarilla, the clan has nonetheless thrived in their subterranean environment — mainly because their outcast nature forces them to bond together in a way that most clans rarely do. Serving the Camarilla primarily as information brokers, they tend to know pretty much anything that happens in any town they are present in.

Weakness: Becoming a Nosferatu warps you into something out of a living nightmare. Nosferatu have Appearance Attributes of zero (they don't even get the free dot other characters do).

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• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Their preferred living habitats and thoroughfares. Justified, given the clan likely had a hand in the civic planning that led to their construction.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Often subject to considerable mockery by the other clans, particularly the Toreador.
• Badass Bookworm: Thanks to Potence, the nerdier characters inducted into the clan tend to become these in combat.
• Bald of Evil: The vast majority of Nosferatu are bald.
• The Beastmaster: Thanks to the discipline of Animalism, Nosferatu can tame the animals that dwell alongside them — rats, stray dogs and cats, even the occasional Sewer Gator. More impressively, they can also make these same animals grow to immense sizes by feeding them some of their blood. The Clan's founder, Absimiliard, has an entire army of ghouled monsters at his command; during "The Crucible of God," he actually goes so far as to enter the field during the day, hidden inside the belly of the gigantic ghoul lizard at the head of his army.
• Beneath the Earth: They build vast underground havens beneath their sewers.
• Berserk Button: Most Nosferatu develop a very deep and abiding hatred for arrogant, beautiful people — in particular, the Toreador.
• Body Horror:
  • The clanbooks go into exquisite detail as to the agonizing transformation inherent in the Nosferatu embrace; it generally takes about a week to run its course, and throughout the process, the newly-embraced childe will be in constant pain. Because no two Nosferatu are quite the same, the transformation is vastly different in every case: sometimes, the cartilage of the nose and ears distends, creating pointed ears or an elongated nose; in other cases, it dissolves, resulting in a gaping crater when the childe's nose used to be. On the final day, the skull itself begins to warp out of shape, flattening, stretching or collapsing altogether.
  • In a few rare cases, a childe will be deformed beyond all functionality by the embrace, resulting in feeble monstrosities that cannot survive without assistance — perhaps because their limbs have become too long and warped to support them, or their sensory organs have dropped off, or their skeletons have liquified. In any case, most of these are killed as soon as their embrace is concluded, but a few are kept alive by horribly misguided Sires.
• Break the Haughty: Basically the whole point behind embracing Cleopatras.
• Creative Sterility: Subverted. Thanks to their alienation from both mortal and vampire society, the Nosferatu maintain a healthy spark of creativity; some create sculpture gardens built from raw materials and debris with their Super-Strength; others play haunting melodies using the acoustics of the subway system; some even cultivate fungi gardens. In a twisted way, they're better artists than the Toreador.
• Cursed with Awesome: Initial reactions to the embrace may vary from horror to disgust to acceptance, but even most Cleopatras will eventually come to love their new situation — assuming they don't die first.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While not exactly hero material, the Nosferatu aren't automatically villains despite their repulsive appearances; in fact, during the Dark Ages, Nosferatu agents went out of their way to shelter Salubri fugitives.
  Such pure faith in such tainted shells! It makes me weep to think of it. Would that Saulot's gifts would let me heal the Lepers of their curse, as Christ healed the leper in Jerusalem!
• The Dreaded: No one fucks with the Nosferatu because screwing with them can mean very bad news. Starting from the fact they are experts at stealth and secrets through to the fact that Nos are loyal to other Nos regardless of faction. The Camarilla, especially, depend on them for their Knowledge Broker skills.
• The Fagin: A few particularly vile members of the clan act as this, feeding their blood to orphans, beggars and other desperate slum-inhabitants in order to form gangs and blood-cults.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Machines are near the top of the list of things Nosferatu are better with than people. Indeed, they were the original creators and primary users of Schrek Net.
• Garden of Evil: Some Nosferatu warrens sport large fungi gardens, often used as a secondary line of defence against intruders: because they have been exposed to Nosferatu blood, these mushrooms often grow and change in bizarre ways — some becoming deadly poisonous even to vampires, some growing to the size of trees and forming a maze around the warrens... some even move.
• Gonk: While Looks Like Orlok is the norm, Nosferatu can take on any form, as long as it's hideously repulsive and blatantly nonhuman, crippling most social interaction.
• Gossipy Hens: Sometimes. A popular Nosferatu game is to take a relatively innocuous piece of gossip and see how much it can be twisted before releasing it into the public domain, preferably to the local Brujah.
• The Grotesque: Not all of them are as noble as the trope would suggest, but the clan tends to be a lot more honest than most of the Camarilla. "Fair Is Foul" presents Gehenna as making them even uglier than usual.
• Invisible Introvert:
  • On top of being segregated to the fringes of Kindred society, they're also in the habit of Embracing outcasts, introverts, vagrants, nerds, and the chronically asocial - on the grounds that they will be able to cope with the hardship of becoming a Nosferatu. As such, the Clan's favourite Discipline is Obfuscate, allowing them to disguise their monstrous faces and even make themselves effectively invisible, the better to hide from unfriendly vampires... or the Niktuku.
  • Also, there's a Nosferatu subculture that fit this trope even better: known as "Skins," they despise their own identities so much that they spend inordinate amounts of time using Obfuscate to pose as literally anyone else; a variant of this involves a Skin spending most of their time invisible in order to avoid any kind of social interaction, even with fellow Nosferatu.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Cleopatras, beautiful people embraced by Nos, start off regretting their lost beauty. Some never get over it, and remain very bitter.
• Karmic Transformation: The embrace of a Cleopatra, intended to punish the victim for an unbearable mixture of beauty and arrogance. This is played with somewhat, as it's pointed out that, while vain beauties are frequently embraced into the clan, it is also not unheard of for some Nosferatu to embrace beautiful mortals who explicitly don't deserve it, just out of petty spitefulness born from their own horrid condition.
• Knowledge Broker: They spend their days collecting secrets and other information, for the most part.
• Looks Like Orlok: Though no two Nosferatu look exactly the same, quite a few of them tend to follow in this particular mould. Since the Nosferatu are named after the film Orlok comes from (and have powers similar to his), this is likely intentional.
• Mad Artist: One notable subculture among the Nosferatu is that of the "Leatherfaces"; essentially serial killers, they go out of their way to ensure that every murder they commit is a work of art in every way — to the point that one Leatherface stopped right in the middle of a killing because "the lighting wasn't right."
• Master of Disguise: Thanks to their mastery of Obfuscate — specifically the technique known as "Mask of a Thousand Faces," - Nosferatu are experts at changing their appearances if need be. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a subculture of Nosferatu vampires called "Skins," who use this technique as a way of coping with their deformities, crafting new identities in a vain attempt to recapture their mortal lives — often with unpleasant results when the "Skin" is finally discovered.
• The Morlocks: No two look alike, but the stereotype of the clan is this due to their hideous ugliness and atheir ground-dwelling habits.
• Mysterious Antarctica: It's rumoured that Absimiliard is currently hiding beneath Antarctica.
• Nightmare Face:
  • There is a reason why seeing them is a violation of the Masquerade.
  • V5 changes this up somewhat; some Nosferatu are inflicted with a less severe version of the transformation and can pass as relatively normal, if slightly deformed humans (think someone with a birth-defect or severe burn scars) from a distance, and they will no longer break the Masquerade merely from walking around in the open. However, they all now instead involuntarily exude an extremely creepy and malevolent aura, which gives them significant difficulties in social situations. Mortals will instinctively find them terrifying or at the very least disturbing (even if they cannot explain why rationally) and generally try their hardest to stay out of their way, and even other Kindred will at best be slightly uncomfortable in their company.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Both mainstream Nosferatu and antitribu have a thing for creating and collecting things designed to horrify and disgust those outside the clan — to the point that "Gross Childe" is actually a character concept.
• Odd Friendship: With the Gangrel; with one clan being composed of outsiders with no love for urban environments and the other being composed of outcasts largely dependent on cities and their byproducts, it's a bit hard to see how they'd ever form friendships. However, because both have lost connection to their humanity, they have surprising empathy for one another.
• Ominous Hair Loss: Almost invariably bald on top of being hideously disfigured, the result of a week-long metamorphosis during which newly-Embraced Nosferatu vampires are warped beyond recognition: during days two to four, while the cartilage of their nose and ears begins to distort, their hair begins to fall out in patches - usually revealing more disfigurations of the skull in the process.
• Only Sane Man: Downplayed, but it's there. Once you get past their appearance, the Nosferatu are actually quite dependable; lacking the mental curses or hierarchal hang-ups of their sibling clans in the Camarilla.
• Our Ghouls Are Creepier: Nosferatu ghouls are second only to victims of the Tzimisce in terms of sheer creepiness; because Absimiliard's curse is carried in the blood of all his children, ghouls also inherit a greatly reduced version of it for every drop of Nosferatu blood they drink. While it doesn't result in them becoming quite as hideous as their masters, it does result in them appearing ever-so-slightly unnerving to people around them; extreme cases have been known to become almost as ugly, though, and many of them are found as worshippers in Fagin blood cults.
• Pater Familicide: It's believed that Absimiliard, the Antediluvian founder of the clan, is hell-bent on killing every last one of his children — apparently in the vain hope that Caine will forgive him and restore his appearance to normal - and has dispatched monstrous creatures called the Nictuku to exterminate the Nosferatu wherever they are found. It is for this reason that the clan has remained so unified: they need to be ready for when the Nictuku attack.
• Power Incontinence: Obfuscate is one of the many disciplines that become unreliable during Gehenna; many Nosferatu find this out the hard way, with Skins changing back in public, endangering the Masquerade.
• The Prankster: Despite how direly serious the clan can be at times, this doesn't stop them from siring some pretty dedicated practical jokesters; occasionally, the clan itself has strayed into this territory in regards to people it doesn't like, via delivering misinformation and spreading unrest (the Brujah are the most common targets of this).
• Proud Scholar Race: Nosferatu are obsessed with acquiring knowledge in almost any form, and though espionage and tactical information is the most common, the Clan has also fostered several accomplished scholars and occult experts.
• Punished with Ugly: The Cleopatras are a natural recipient of this; selected from the ranks of those too beautiful and vain for the local Nosferatu to tolerate, just about every aspect of their new lives — from the initial disfiguration to the new home in the depths of the sewers — is designed to demoralize and humiliate them. Some Nosferatu do this in order to teach the Cleopatra a lesson, while others do it for their own sick amusement. The Toreador see the Nosferatu as the living embodiment of the trope. The Nosferatu founder, Absimiliard, was punished this way by Caine himself.
• Scavenger Hunt: A popular game among the clan, often used to hone a Nosferatu's abilities.
• Sewer Gator: Nosferatu vampires will sometimes train alligators to protect their lairs beneath the cities represented by the Reptile Buddy merit. Some of the problems with alligators actually living in the sewers can be handwaved by the vampires turning them into ghouls. Calebros, the ex-prince of New York, has a gigantic pet albino alligator called Charioteer that is trained to ferry visitors through the sewers to one of his sanctums.
• Sneaky Spy Species: Having been cursed with monstrous ugliness at the dawn of vampire history, they have been forced to live in the shadows ever since, relying on stealth and unity as a Clan to survive. Because of this, they are widely known as expert spies and information brokers, making themselves indispensable to the Camarilla through their apparent omniscience. According to their clan books, they gather secrets through Obfuscate, ghouled janitors, modern technology, the occasional Animal Eye Spy, and mundane stealth techniques; they've even created a Clan-restricted data-sharing network known as Schrecknet in the Modern Nights. For good measure, the unique services they offer allow them to make exorbitant demands of customers - granting them consequence-free revenge on the clans that exclude them from Kindred society.
• The Spymaster: Elders and primogen of the clan usually take this role.
• Stealth Expert: Even without Obfuscate, Nosferatu are experts at remaining unseen. In fact, many actually consider it an ostentatious waste of blood, and advise members to only use Obfuscate when normal methods will not suffice. This advice turns out to be rather prescient given the events of Gehenna, when the Withering results in disciplines failing at particularly inconvenient moments.
• Super-Strength: The Potence discipline; unlike other wielders of this particular discipline, the Nosferatu have found many applications for it outside combat — punching through solid rock in order to build new tunnels, or bending steel for the creation of traps or subterranean artworks.
• Taking You with Me: In the event that their defenses have been breached and they are facing a Fate Worse than Death at the hands of invaders, Nosferatu have been known to deliberately collapse the roof of the warren to ensure that they at least take the enemy with them.
• Thicker Than Water: Camarilla Nosferatu remain on good terms with antitribu and Anarch berethren, because Nosferatu remain undyingly loyal to each other; the clan supersedes all other allegiances.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Either due to personal preference or an inability to find blood anywhere else, some Nosferatu have taken to feeding on children; these vampires are labelled "boogeymen" by both their fellow Kindred and their victims.
• Trap Master: Because of their need to defend themselves from either Black Spiral Dancers or the Nictuku, the Nosferatu have become adept at trapping almost every single entrance to their havens and warrens with landmines, electrocution traps, pitfalls, and so on.
• True Companions: The Nosferatu are one of the few clans that ever reach this level of unity; because nobody else can understand or tolerate them, they rarely bother with the usual array of politics and backstabbing common to the Tremere and the Ventrue, and because they are under daily threat of being discovered and killed, few ever leave the Clan.
• Tunnel King: To say the least.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Other clans have a nasty habit of underestimating just how powerful the Nosferatu really are; this usually lasts right up until they make the mistake of trying to bully a Nosferatu on home turf.
  • One Tremere Elder made the mistake of writing a treatise on the Nosferatu that characterized them as "subhuman" and "instinctual", only capable of surviving with the generous assistance of the Camarilla. The manuscript was never finished; the author was found dead, having been dissected with his own surgical tools — and nobody was able to identify his murderer.
  • Some Tzimisce are under the impression that they would be able to gain the allegiance of the entire Nosferatu clan by using Vicissitude to return them to normal; not only do these attempts fail thanks to Absimiliard's curse, but after growing accustomed to their newfound appearances, the Nosferatu are rarely willing to listen to such overtures.
  • A line from the Book of Nod ("In war, the Nosferatu are the first to die") has led many to underestimate the clan. Unfortunately, as al-Ashrad pointed out in the Revised Assamite Clanbook, the quote is actually a mistranslation: what it actually says is "In war, the Nosferatu are the first to disappear." In other words, when the clan renowned for knowing everything ahead of everyone else decides to take cover, you're in trouble.
  • In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, many characters seem to be under the impression that Andrei the Tzimisce has trapped the Hollywood Nosferatu in their warren, and Andrei himself believes that his fleshcrafted warriors are about to "gouge out the eyes of the Camarilla." In reality, only one Nosferatu has been killed; the others are safely hidden in the depths of the warren; lastly, far from being trapped, the Nosferatu primogen has set up a tunnel leading directly to the surface.
• We Are Everywhere: And it's not restricted to their use of Obfuscation or Animalism, either. Like many clans, the Nosferatu have several ghouls placed in key positions across the cities they dwell in. However, unlike the Ventrue or the Toreador, they don't ghoul officials or leaders; instead, Nosferatu ghouls are usually janitors, bureaucrats and other lowly workers — ideally people considered Beneath Suspicion.

Toreador

The social elite of the Camarilla, the Toreador are mainly composed of the beautiful, the artists and visionaries in their former lives, and dedicate themselves to these pursuits even in the afterlife. One of the most influential clans in the founding on the Camarilla, the Toreador probably is one of the clans most tied to the human world, through culture and social interactions with the kine, particularly the upper classes. As to this, they have much influence over the kine of any city, especially the cultural sections.

Weakness: As patrons of the arts and believers in the beautiful (or as some would tag them, vain fops and hedonists), the Toreador are easily taken in by beauty. If they see something truly beautiful (from a brilliant painting to a stunning sunrise), they must fight to resist staring at it to the exclusion of all else.

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• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Their Clan Curse makes it so that if a Toreador sees anything they find beautiful, there is a chance they will ignore everything else to marvel at it.
• The Beautiful Elite: Oh, very much so.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • It's mentioned that the Toreador can get downright terrifying once they begin to succumb to their inner beast. They're called the degenerates for a reason...
  • Also, it's easy to forget that the Toreador were a part of the vampire coalition that helped to eradicate Carthage.
  • A lot of people, in-universe and out, get so distracted by their beauty, wealth, social status, and supernatural Presence that they forget the Clan's other two favored Disciplines are basically Super-Speed and Super-Senses, affording a Toreador many options to wreck your day without you ever seeing them coming.
  • Toreador like to while away the centuries by applying themselves to an art. Some Toreador take up marksmanship or martial arts as their preferred art forms. Even the Banu Haqim mind their pleases and thank-yous around these vampires.
• Brainless Beauty: Seen as this by some of the other clans in the Camarilla, particularly the Nosferatu.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: While seen by many as brainless dilettantes, they are remarkably skilled. The Toreador clanbook notes that they make excellent Sheriffs since they excel at investigation and interrogation.
• Charm Person: Skilled users of the Presence discipline.
• Combat Aestheticist: Disciplines such as martial arts and swordsmanship are pursued avidly as art forms by a notable minority of the clan.
• Deadpan Snarker: Experienced Toreadors have been described as able to ruin reputations with but a "pithy comeback".
  [about the Followers of Set] Worms breed in their vile footprints.
  [about the Gangrel] Beauty and the Beast, only without the complication of Beauty. Pity them.
  [about the Giovanni] Which is more unctuous: their smiles or their hair?
  [about the Lasombra] If I looked like they do, I’d hide in the dark, too.
  [about the Malkavians] The tedium of it all.
  [about the Nosferatu] They make a strong case for the Mark of Caine being a sickness.
  [about the Tremere] Aren’t they supposed to turn back into pumpkins at midnight?
  [about the Tzimisce] It is a poor artist who blames his tools, but that’s the only conceivable answer here.
  [about the Ventrue] Why are older brothers always such corpulent bullies?
• Distaff Counterpart: While all Clans embrace people of all sexes, the Toreador are often styled the queens to the Ventrue's kings, a distinctively feminine alternative and basically a valid option to pick if you want to be a Ventrue but don't care for being The Stoic.
• Distracted by the Sexy: The Toreador clan flaw means that they easily get attached to something they find beautiful and space out (which could be something as simple as a cigarette butt on the ground). This is worse than it sounds; Toreador can't cut it as close to dawn as the other clans because they might get fixated on the sunrise—and stand there staring at it until they burn to death.
• Distracted by My Own Sexy: They can be distracted by anything they find beautiful, even their own reflections.
• Emotional Bruiser: Combat-oriented Toreador tend to evoke this.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Of all the modern clans, the Toreador is most likely to fit into this category. As social creatures, they tend to be involved in all aspects of a society, and host things ranging from fine galleries and high society, to children's theater.
• Gossipy Hens: A role the Toreador excel at. One of their greatest talents is "accidentally" revealing secrets in front of a Nosferatu.
• The Gunslinger: Combine Auspex with Celerity and the Toreador interestingly have a natural knack for this.
• The Heart: It was said when the Camarilla were created that the Ventrue were the mind behind the organization, but the Toreador were its soul.
• Jack of All Trades: In theory, their Discipline set is supposed to mostly be used for socialization and art creation. In practice, Auspex, Celerity, and Presence are all among the most versatile of Disciplines, allowing a Toreador to fulfill pretty much any role they can imagine, from Master Swordsman to Phantom Thief, with the only real stipulation being that you might want to pick up some Fortitude if you aren't interested in being a Fragile Speedster (and even that is relative, given how tough vampires already are).
• Mad Artist: The Toreador antitribu's style of art tends to be rather... bizarre in contrast to their Camarilla cousins.
• The Man Behind the Man: This is the way Toreador prefer to hold power.
  "Our influence is forever. The Prince's is not."
• Master Swordsman: Some Toreador are this, yes.
• Mayfly–December Romance: As the most human of the clans, they are the most likely to form romantic attachments with humans.
• Nephilim: One of their more important bloodlines was themed and named after these. Contrary to the usual depictions of sinister Fallen Angel types (and even the depiction of the actual Nephilim in Demon: The Fallen), the Toreador Nephilim were fairly benevolent vampires who genuinely considered themselves proper angels and stewards of the Dream of Constantinople, idealizing Christlike martyrdom and protecting mortals and shepherding them towards creating beauty.
• Nightmare Fetishist: What a Toreador considers "beauty" can be quite disturbing, such as the last breath of a murdered child, or the piercing scream of a dying animal.
• Something about a Rose: Their symbol is the Rose, and they are called the Clan of the Rose.
• Straw Critic: In addition to artists and cultural people, the clan also counts to its ranks quite a few critics, which can sometimes lean in this direction.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Those who only see the Toreador as wimpy, self-absorbed poseurs would be very quickly blindsided by how much damage they can do to someone, be it just through manipulating the local rumor mill or taking the direct approach, for those into the physical arts. They make excellent Sheriffs for a reason, after all. It's also worth noting that their Clan legacy in Europe was once intimately tied to Chivalric Romance and all idealized depictions of warfare, and if you go back even further, they are direct descendants of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the very embodiment of Interplay of Sex and Violence. And just like Ishtar was also in charge of kingship, Toreador have all they need to be powerful princes. Beauty, after all, doesn't have to be cute, harmless and innocent. A deadly monster can be beautiful in the sublime sense, and so can the terrifying absoluteness and perfection of an ancient-style god-king. Toreador can very much be the Clan of "All Shall Love Me And Despair".
  • Two more common ways Toreador are underestimated:
    • Toreador as harmless due to their art focus: In reality, the main contribution of Clan Toreador tends to be functioning as the "social glue" of the Camarilla, creating the spaces and membranes where the Clans intersect and can form at least some measure of cooperation, as well as the dissemination of publicly-available information. With Vampire: The Masquerade essentially being a feudalized invoked What Do You Mean, It's Not Political? version of modern-day US politics, this makes the Toreador the equivalent to the news media and the entertainment industry. Consider the level of impact those have on the average US election cycle and you'll see just how much power the Toreador actually have.
    • Toreador as apolitical: While they do typically benefit from the status quo, Toreador can be just as fervent, passionate and uncompromising in their ideals as the Brujah. Art is, after all, often an expression of political opinion. Thus, the Toreador have created society-shaping events such as aforementioned Chivalric Romance or the medieval supremacy of Constantinople. The only main difference to the Brujah is that the Brujah tend to aim for social change out of a dislike of and bad experiences with the current system, while the Toreador are more likely to simply find a particular vision, ideal, or social system, beautiful and appealing for its own sake.
• Upper-Class Twit: Can evoke this, particularly during the 1st edition.
• The Vamp: Are almost always beautiful, and command great sex appeal.
• Vampires Are Rich: Toreador are often patrons of the arts, and often have money to do it.
• Vampires Are Sex Gods: The Toreadors are the most likely to invoke this trope and often Embrace attractive mortals.
• Vampires Own Night Clubs: Well, the Toreador often do.
• Wicked Cultured: Most are incredibly high society.

Tremere

Vampire warlocks who originated from the now-extinct House Tremere of the Order of Hermes back during the medieval times, Clan Tremere did not attain immortality through traditional embraces, but through magical experiments on Kindred. Though it took some time for the Tremere to gain any kind of legitimacy as a clan, they eventually helped form the Camarilla and aid the Ventrue in keeping order in their society. Masters of blood magic and the arcane amongst the kindred, they follow a rigid power structure where each childe is blood bound to their elders, extending all the way to the Council of Seven that rules the clan — and the mysterious Tremere himself.

Weakness: In the original version, the Tremere didn't have an innate weakness due to their unusual origins, but every Tremere childe was made to drink the Council of Seven's blood, leaving them one step away from being forcibily blood-bound. After the collapse of the Pyramid, the Tremere can no longer Blood Bond Kindred from outside the Clan.

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• Ambition Is Evil: Only the Ventrue exemplify this better.
• Blood Magic: Their speciality.
• Badass Bookworm: Most Tremere are embraced from scholars and mystics, and often devote themselves to learning. Of course, they fight hard if pressed and any Sabbat siege of a Camarilla city makes the local chantry a priority target since the Tremere supply heavy arcane firepower to support the frontline Brujah. This one is literal if some of the rumors about Tremere’s final form are true.
• The Chessmaster: Tremere elders are renowned for devious, scheming behaviour and long-running schemes; Tremere himself is master planner — when he's conscious, of course — as "The Crucible of God" demonstrates.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tremere has backstabbed House Diedne, the Order of Hermes in general, his inner circle, Goratrix, the Tremere antitribu, possibly Etrius, and possibly his inner circle again and/or clan in general in V5.
• Court Mage: Their role in the Camarilla.
• Deal with the Devil: Most contracts signed with the Tremere are signed in blood, meaning that the party is practically a slave until the contract is completed. On the other hand, the clan generally discourages literal Infernalism. Not because they have any moral objection to consorting with demons, but because they see it as a lazy and ultimately inneffective shortcut to power, with stronger demons being highly unreliable or too pricey, and weaker ones offering only trivial gifts.
• Evil Sorcerer: Tremere and his lieutenants.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The rest of the Camarilla really just kind of tolerates them. Accepted, respected even... but by no means liked.
• Grand Theft Me: In later supplements — Gehenna, for example — it's revealed that after diablerizing Saulot, Tremere ended up being possessed by the dead Antediluvian's spirit. Though Tremere spent most of his time in torpor in an attempt to regain control, he failed during the Final Nights and was forced out of his body — leading him to perform a Grand Theft Me of his own on Goratrix, one of his former lieutenants.
• Horrifying the Horror: Other Kindred don't like discussing where the Tremere's original Gargoyles come from.
• A House Divided: In the V5 timeline, this fate has befallen Clan Tremere. When the Second Inquisition struck against the Kindred, they came down especially hard upon the Vienna chantry, the seat of the clan's uppermost leadership, apparently operating under the mistaken belief that the chantry was the leaders of the Camarilla as a whole, and brutally and swiftly eliminated the entire top of the Tremere pyramid. For a clan that relied so heavily on such a very rigid power structure, the sudden vacuum was downright catastrophic. Without any leading figure to unify the clan, several higher-ranking members, owing no loyalty to anyone but themselves, began fighting for leadership positions, with each now claiming that they were the legitimate head of the clan. Clan Tremere splintered among these new leaders, with the upstart House Carna seeking independence, House Ipsissimus allying themselves with the Anarchs, the hardline traditionalists under the elder Karl Schrekt and a resurgent House Goratrix loyal to the Camarilla. Meanwhile, there are even quite a few smaller independent groups of Tremere, or even the rare lone operative, who offer their services for hire as mercenary vampires.
• I Know Your True Name: In "The Crucible of God", it's revealed that Tremere has been trying to discern the true name of the entire human race. And he got it. It was the Human Genome Project.
• Immortality Immorality: Tremere and his House had been immortal for much of their lives before becoming vampires, thanks to their proficiency in magic; however, as humanity began to lose their belief in magic, the House's immortality began to fail — resulting in the Clan stealing immortality from captured Tzimisce vampires. And it didn't stop there: in order to gain legitimacy and power, Tremere himself went so far as to diablerize the sleeping Salubri Antidiluvian, Saulot; for good measure, his underlings had the rest of the Salubri branded as demon-worshippers and hunted down.
• Inhuman Eye Concealers: The Tremere clan's Salubri inheritance comes back to bite the Tremere clan in the Gehenna scenario "Fair Is Foul:" as the Withering sets in, the clan begins manifesting third eyes of their own, effectively branding them as pariahs and forcing them to hide their new eyes lest they end up on the receiving end of their own pogrom.
• Klingon Promotion: One of the ways to get in the higher echelons of the pyramid is to kill your direct superior in a Wizard Duel. Though it is not the only way.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Tremere ends up getting evicted from his own body by the Antediluvian he tried to steal power from. Also, things do not end well for the Tremere Clan in Gehenna:
  • To begin with, in "Fair is Foul," the entire clan develops Salubri third eyes — features from the very clan they tried to destroy.
  • In "Nightshade," Tremere — in Goratrix's body — manages to diablerize Tzimisce and regain his lost power... only to have it fail at a critical moment due to the Withering, resulting in him getting minced to death by the player characters.
  • Finally, in "The Crucible of God," the entire Council of Seven gets wiped out, and the Clan loses all their former power with the fall of the Masquerade and the human-vampire war that follows it. Towards the end of the scenario, Tremere himself uses a blood ritual to control all humans and Kindred on the planet, hoping to destroy the Antediluvians and secure global domination for himself- with the players' help, of course; unfortunately, thanks to the process that allowed Tremere to become a vampire in the first place, he's left open to possession by the Tzimisce Antediluvian, resulting in the complete destruction of Tremere's soul and Tzimisce using the ritual to spread himself throughout humanity.
  • Even in V5 where Gehenna somehow got averted, they didn't come out scot-free. The clan's leadership was destroyed by the FIRSTLIGHT organisation in one of the opening salvos of the Second Inquistion, leading to several of their most powerful secrets and artifacts getting lost in the confusion, and the clan splitting into several bickering fractions in open opposition against each other. Carna of Clan Tremere managed to get her hands on a book that broke her blood bond to the pyramid, and is now using it on other Tremere in order to destabilize the clan and create her own house, House Carna, breaking ranks with the Camarilla to go her own way. Not to mention that House Goratrix somehow managed to survive into the modern nights and are now reemerging. Needless to say, these events together happening in a clan so focused on hierarchy and rigidness caused a great deal of internal strife within the clan.
• Lesser of Two Evils: When the nascent Camarilla was recruiting clans, one steeped in occult lore could prove to be useful. The Tzimisce were firmly Sabbat and the Followers of Set turned them down. That left the two "usurper" clans, the Tremere and Giovanni. It speaks volumes of just how depraved the Giovanni were (and are) that the Tremere were accepted for membership while the Giovanni were never even seriously considered to be Camarilla material.
• Magical Library: Not uncommon amongst its members.
• Magic Versus Science: Averted. While magic is more common among the Tremere, a significant number of them use scientific advancement, often in conjunction with magic. A neonate even developed the path of Technomancy, and though many elders are uneasy with it, it's very likely he had support from at least one since neonates usually don't develop whole thaumaturgic paths from thin air.
• Mad Scientist: While most Tremere use magic, quite a number use science to advance themselves.
• The Man Behind the Man: In V5, it's strongly implied that the resurgent House Goratrix is actually lead by Tremere himself, still possessing Goratrix.
• Manipulative Bastard: Quite a few of their members are renowed for manipulating whole clans and sects to accomplish their ends.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Council of Seven; nobody is quite sure what they're up to at the best of times...
• Our Gargoyles Rock: The Clan used to create and use Gargoyles as servants back in the middle ages, using the blood of Tzimisce, Gangrel and Nosferatu vampires. The success was debatable, as the program earned them the enmity of the Gangrel and Nosferatu (the Tzimisce just wanted to kill them even more) and the Gargoyles escaped en masse after a while, but they were instrumental in making sure the clan survived its infancy rather than being wiped out by the Tzimisce.
• Playing with Fire: One of their most well-known abilities.
• Pride: Tremere's vice of choice.
• The Purge: Though famous for performing an especially unpleasant one on the Salubri, during the Modern Nights, the Tremere clan also went out of their way to purge their clan of traitors and antitribu via a blood ritual.
• Pyramid Power: Their clan is modeled on a pyramid, symbolizing the rigid hierarchy and control of many by an elevated few.
• Rule of Seven: A habit of their organization, particularly in the case of the Council of Seven. Ideally, it would extend all the way down, from Councilmember to Pontifex to Lord to Regent to Apprentice, with every holder of one rank having seven subordinates of the next-lower rank, but there are quite a few holes in the roster in practice.
• Secret Art: They don't share their Blood Magics with just anyone.
• Shout-Out: They're essentially House Tremere from Ars Magica turned into vampires, since Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen worked on both games.
• The Social Darwinist: The Tremere indoctrination process and overall lifestyle is supposed to weed out the weak. Apprentices committing suicide is not at all an uncommon occurrence, and after a certain point, a Wizard Duel to the death is the only way one can progress further in rank.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Elders of the clan tend to evoke this- Tremere and Goratix in particular.
• Squishy Wizard: Averted, they can be just as combat-oriented as any other clan.
• Straight Gay: Tremere, apparently.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Clan Tremere would like to once again remind you that they most certainly do not possess a ritual that can shatter blood bonds. Stop speaking such nonsense.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Tremere comes across this way in his appearance in "Blood Treachery".
• Third Eye: Tremere vampires begin spontaneously developing these during Gehenna as a sign that Tremere has lost his battle with Saulot.
• Token Evil Teammate: For the Camarilla. They're in an organization of undying, parasitic monsters. They still fit. Though, when the Sabbat are your measuring stick, the bar is set pretty low. They also win extra points for purging the Salubri, the token good teammate for the entire vampiric race.
• Unholy Matrimony: Tremere and Goratrix were a couple for a while, with not a shred of morality between them.
• Wizard Duel: A way of solving disputes (or a possible avenue of advancement within the Tremere hierarchy) is to defeat another Tremere in a blood magic duel, termed a "Certamen". Once the rank of Pontifex has been reached, Certamen to the death is actually the only means of further advancement.

Ventrue

Also known as Blue Bloods, the Ventrue are natural leaders, and as such, they believe it is their duty to rule. It is no surprise that they were the most influential clan in the forming of the Camarilla. Because of this, they are some of the strongest supporters of the sect in the modern nights, and tend to have a skill for management and leadership that is hard to match. After all, a strong organization needs a strong leader to survive.

Weakness: Any given Ventrue becomes obsessed with a certain "flavor" of human blood; examples include virgins, blond men, children, drug users... Ventrue cannot drink any human blood save for that which they choose at creation, even if starving, nor animal blood (unless they choose that). Vampire blood is not affected.

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• Affably Evil: Even the nastier ones are surprisingly polite, even when faced with final death or worse.
• Arch-Enemy: Manage to have two. The Lasombra are a dark mirror of the Ventrue, and they often seek out power in different places to oppose each other. The Lasombra now lead the Sabbat and historically manipulated the church, the Ventrue lead the Camarilla and historically manipulated royalty and the government. The Brujah are more similar to the inverse of the Ventrue - angry, passionate fighters who are often rebels and anarchists (and Anarchs). There is far more animosity between the Ventrue and Lasombra, however.
• Badass Bureaucrat: They lack Disciplines that aid in direct combat, but they don't need to step into the fray themselves when they have a legion of minions and the system at their command. Even if you're a 5th-Generation Elder, a Ventrue can simply condemn your house and have it demolished in daylight.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Ventrue philosophy regarding appearance is that one must stand out, not stick out. Therefore, modern-day Ventrue tend to wear nice suits.
• Berserk Button: Ventrue do not react emotionally, but if you mention the Lasombra, expect a cold stare and a thinning of the lips. Mention the Ventrue antitribu and... That is, there's no such thing.
• Blue Blood: Heck, it's even their nickname.
• Charm Person: Presence isn't as powerful as Dominate, but it can affect an entire room of audience. Very useful for when they need to make a public speech.
• The Chessmaster: If a Ventrue isn't playing someone against another, it's a rare occurrence.
• Compelling Voice: As masters of the Dominate discipline, the Ventrue are natural examples of this. Very useful for when Presence fails, or when you are having a private meeting. However, many of them consider reliance on it to be vulgar, preferring to rely on more traditional methods of persuasion before resorting to mind control.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: What they tend towards in modern nights, to the point where modern members use business terminology to refer to their clan structure, i.e. the most influential elders are "the Board of Directors".
• Deadly Game: Some Ventrue wage proxy contests through human pawns and bet on the outcome, usually ruining the pawns in the process. It's considered tacky but innocuous, so long as the Masquerade isn't broken.
• Deadpan Snarker: An attitude favored by the Ventrue.
  [about the Brujah] Just admit you're beaten and this will become much more pleasant.
  [about the Followers of Set] When you learn of them in your domain, do not hesitate to introduce them to their master, the sun.
  [about the Gangrel] Who would guess that Kindred so simple could be so groundlessly prideful?
  [about the Giovanni] Our stillborn siblings, who never developed a sense of right and wrong or what not to stick your cock into.
  [about the Nosferatu] Surprisingly functional, should you be able to handle their odious personalities and overestimation of their own value.
  [about the Toreador] For every King, there is a Queen. And there are many queens among the Rose clan.
  [about the Tzimisce] What more do you need than their cloying scent of corruption to know that theirs is an ill presence.
• Greed: They are a proud people like many other vampires, but they are the only ones who love money for its own sake.
• Initiation Ceremony: Called the "agoge", just like the Spartan tradition. A childe wishing to be accepted by the clan must take over an aspect of the business world. This can be whatever the childe wants, but he cannot interfere with the business of anyone who assists the childe. As such, most Ventrue, even if they don't care for the childe, will assist.
• Kneel Before Zod: A Ventrue prince or elder will have you kneeling before them, whether you want to or not.
• Manipulative Bastard: Mind control is their last resort, they will scheme using any method they can.
• More than Mind Control: Dominate is mind control, but it cannot make someone self-destructive or defy their nature. But many Ventrue know how to use words to get around that limitation.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Enemies of the clan tend to forget that the Ventrue possess Fortitude; even if they lack the disciplines to make them better at fighting, they still have the ability to shrug off things that would obliterate other Kindred.
• Not So Stoic: When their plans crumble around them, it's not uncommon for them to experience a Villainous Breakdown of terrifying proportions. Just look at Sebastian LaCroix.
• Obstructive Code of Conduct: In addition to the Traditions, the Ventrue have a lengthy, if technically unofficial, list of rules and guidelines for those within the clan, covering everything from the use of Disciplines and social interaction to what colors should be worn at clan meetings.
• Only Sane Man: They like to think they are this for the Camarilla, (and in general) and while there may be some degree of truth to that, like most vampires they are generally Not So Above It All.
• Opposing Combat Philosophies: Ventrue have both Presence and Dominate, meaning they can choose between the carrot (Presence) or the stick (Dominate) when dealing with others, including enemies.
• Personality Powers: They believe themselves to be the most suited to lead and possess the Dominate and Presence Disciplines. Fortitude is also fitting for the clan who don't outwardly display a lot of emotion even in the face of constant criticism and insults.
• Picky People Eater: Every Ventrue can only feed from a single type of human, which could be anything from virgins to gay men to a particular ethnicity. Blood that doesn't match the bill provides no benefits and gets vomited up. Kindred vitae is immune from this. During Gehenna, though, this changes, and Ventrue are only able to feed from other Ventrue.
• Proud Merchant Race: Certainly has shades of this. Money is power, and the Ventrue love being in power. Aristocrats and plutocrats alike often find a place within this clan, and the stereotype that Ventrue run Fortune 500 companies and multi-million corporations around the globe is certainly well-earned.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Played straight in ages past, not so much in modern nights. The rare Ventrues from blue-collar backgrounds are also likely to take up Potence.
• Renaissance Man: Like the Brujah, the Ventrue see overspecialization as weakness and demand excellence in every area, though this by no means translates into the idea that a Ventrue has to get their hands dirty personally when it's not absolutely necessary.
• The Rival: As a clan, the only people who can match the Ventrue for leadership are the Tremere (who are rigidly organized and determined), and the Toreador (who can influence just about anyone). Fortunately for the Ventrue, the Tremere are not exactly trusted, and the Toreador would rather attend to their own personal projects.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Thanks to Dominate and Presence, they have the ear of just about anyone in their field.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: A lot of money.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Unfortunately, due to their nature as leaders, some Ventrue view themselves as more influential than they actually are. This usually results in replacement by someone more... capable.
• Smart People Play Chess: Ventrue consider the "game of kings" to be suitable for the Clan of Kings, hence the existence of Ventrue chess societies, where play is naturally Serious Business.
• The Stoic: The Ventrue don't allow themselves to display strong emotions, since they see it as "common" and a sign of weakness.
  "Anger is impolitic. Impoliteness is a sin."
• Stone Wall: They have Dominate and Presence to help with social encounters, but lack the Disciplines of the other clans to help with direct combat; after all, a Ventrue's place is in the war room. That said, they do have all the benefits of Fortitude and thus can survive things that would easily kill other Kindred. Ventrue who hone their Fortitude can shatter swords and other mundane melee weapons against their bodies, shrug off streams of fire from flamethrowers, laugh at C4 charges blowing up at their feet, resist being staked through the heart, and even manage to resist sunlight to become a Daywalking Vampire for a brief time.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Most Ventrue don't particularly care for each other, but a Ventrue will aid another Ventrue if asked (Ventrue are also instructed never to ask unless it is desperately needed.) In addition, Ventrue will often participate in the initiation ceremony of another's childe, if only because the ceremony involves taking over an aspect of business, often bringing to ruin rival competitors. Anyone who assists is considered off-limits.
• Thicker Than Water: Members are expected to place the clan's well-being first, which includes providing assistance to clanmates in times of need, regardless of how much risk it would entail. Individual Ventrue might hate each other, but they present a united front against everyone else.
• Tranquil Fury: They may not tear your guts out or beat you to death if you get them angry; they probably won't even raise their voice; but you will understand when you have pissed one off.
• Underestimating Badassery: Some clans have a lot of trouble figuring out just how the Ventrue ever rose to power. As the revised Assamite clanbook rightly points out, the Ventrue not only have the benefits of Fortitude, but thanks to Dominate, they also have the backing of almost everyone they've ever come in contact with.
• Upper-Class Twit: Between them and the Toreador, this is often invoked by other clans.
• Vampires Are Rich: More likely than not, any particular Ventrue will have a huge amount of money at their disposal. It's emphasized that the money itself matters just as much as what you can do with it and who you can buy.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Often forced into this, due to their clan flaw making them only able to drink from certain victims, which can vary from mildly-annoying to damn near impossible.
• Wicked Cultured: They are as wicked as any other, but culture and politeness is more important to them than almost any other clan.

The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle is the organization that acts as the council of the Camarilla. They stay hidden and use the Justiciars to carry out their will.

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• Arbitrary Skepticism: Some of them do not believe (or choose not to believe) in the Antediluvians, even though some of them are from the fourth generation. This no longer applies in V5 as the Camarilla dropped their policy of denying the Antediluvians.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: There is one for each clan that is part of the Camarilla.
• Co-Dragons: The Justicars are in charge of fulfilling the will of the Inner Circle and acting as a public face.
• Greater-Scope Villain: They have much more power than a Prince and can remove him from his position if they deem it necessary, but usually they let each Prince act autonomously.
• No One Sees the Boss: They stay hidden, and if they want to do something, they send a Justicar to take care of it.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Inner Circle is usually made up of very old and very low-generation vampires. Some of them even belong to the fourth generation.
• Vampire Monarch: The highest authority of the Camarilla, being above the Princes.