Optional Extras
Clan Bane Variants¶
Each of the 14 Clans has a variant Bane, which you may take as an alternative to the usual one with the approval of the Storyteller. For a bit of additional challenge, with the Storyteller's permission, you may opt to suffer from both of your Clan's Banes in exchange for 5 XP. All Banes are permanent and cannot be removed. This XP must be spent by the end of your first slumber or it is lost.
| CLAN | BANE | CONSEQUENCES |
|---|---|---|
| Banu Haqim | Noxious Blood | Your corrupted Vitae is like poison. Any creature who drinks it takes Aggravated Harm equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) per instance. Your Vitae cannot heal mortal injuries, only create them. Creating a Ghoul or Blood Bond requires the mortal to survive this damage each time they drink (most don't). |
| Brujah | Violence | When you have 3 or more Hunger and you deal Harm to anyone regardless of intent or cause, the Beast demands you slay them. You must continue attacking that target until they are dead or you successfully Stay Chill to wrench yourself back. If you kill someone this way, mark 2 Stains (unless doing so aligns with your Convictions). |
| Gangrel | Survival Instincts | When you Stay Chill against fear (fire, sunlight, overwhelming danger, or any genuine threat to your survival) you always have Disadvantage on it, plus an Ongoing penalty to all rolls equal to your Blood Potency until you are guaranteed safe from whatever freaked you out. Your particular Beast would rather run than fight, and it will drag you along with it. It knows when you're outmatched even if you don't. |
| Hecata | Decay | Your presence radiates entropy, corroding everything around you. When you move into your Coterie's Haven, distribute a total of -1 modifiers among the Coterie's stats (Clout, Cohesion, Charm, Claim, or Currency) for each Touchstone you have. You may stack multiple penalties into the same stat if you choose, but no Coterie stat can be reduced below -3. These penalties cannot be redistributed once assigned. If a Touchstone visits the Haven, they are horrified/disgusted by the decay; you lose that Touchstone permanently and mark 1 Stain, but the associated -1 penalty is removed. If you gain a new Touchstone during play, assign the new -1 immediately (any stat). |
| Lasombra | Callousness | When you make a Remorse Check, roll with Disadvantage. The Beast eats your guilt before you can feel it, and you slide toward monstrousness faster than most Kindred. |
| Malkavian | Unnatural Manifestations | When you use any Discipline Power at all in the presence of mortals, they become deeply unsettled for the rest of the scene. Take an Ongoing penalty equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) to all social rolls with those mortals except if you're intimidating them. This isn't a Masquerade breach, but they know something is profoundly wrong with you. Kindred in proximity recognize you as a vampire but suffer no ill effects. |
| The Ministry | Cold-Blooded | You can only use Blush of Life if you have Fed from a living vessel in the current scene, the one just before it, or within the last hour (Storyteller's discretion). When you do, make a number of Hunger Checks equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) instead of the usual one. If any of these Checks would bring you to 5 Hunger, Blush of Life fails and you stabilize at 4 Hunger instead. Your Beast can find another way to slither inside. |
| Nosferatu | Infestation | Vermin (rats, pigeons, cockroaches, fleas, mosquitoes, etc.) follow you constantly and infest any enclosed space you inhabit. Your Haven is perpetually crawling with them; everyone present there (including you) takes -2 Ongoing to social rolls and to any activity requiring patience or focus. At any other enclosed location where you spend a scene, the vermin tag along and impose -1 Ongoing to the same. Attempts to control the vermin with Animalism have Disadvantage. You are not necessarily hideous (you may or may not also carry the standard Bane), but you are never, ever alone. |
| Ravnos | Unbirth Name | You have a secret name from your mortal life that you literally cannot forget. Anyone who learns it immediately gains a Debt over you, whether you know about it or not. If anyone speaks your unbirth name to your face, they gain Advantage on all rolls to resist your Discipline Powers for the rest of the scene, and you roll with Disadvantage to resist theirs. Guard this name with everything you have. |
| Salubri | Asceticism | When your Hunger is at 2 or below, take an Ongoing penalty equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) to all Discipline rolls. Your Vitae resists its own power when sated; only the pangs of starvation unlock its full potential. Your third eye still bleeds when you use Disciplines regardless of which Bane you carry (and you're still tasty). |
| Toreador | Agonizing Empathy | Whenever your Feeding causes Harm to the vessel, you suffer the same amount as Aggravated Harm, up to a maximum equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1). The damage manifests as vivid and obvious internal bruising at the bite location. |
| Tremere | Stolen Blood | In an effort to offset your bloodline's weakness, you swapped out a large percentage of your Vitae with someone else's. When you Blood Surge, make a number of additional Hunger Checks equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) on top of the normal one. If any of these Checks would bring you to 5 Hunger, you must choose: cancel the Blood Surge entirely (any Hunger already gained from the Checks is kept, up to a maximum of 4), or complete the Blood Surge and immediately enter a Beast Frenzy at 5 Hunger. |
| Tzimisce | Cursed Courtesy | You cannot willingly enter a private residence unless invited by someone who lives (or unlives) there. If you force your way in, gain +1 Hunger automatically and take an Ongoing penalty equal to your Blood Potency (minimum 1) to all Discipline rolls for the duration of your stay. Public and abandoned buildings are unaffected; individual apartments count as separate residences. You can't take the Invitations Folkloric Bane. |
| Ventrue | Hierarchy | You respect authority too much to raise a hand to it. When you use a Discipline Power against a Kindred with higher Blood Potency than yours, roll with Disadvantage. To directly attack such a Kindred physically, you must first successfully Stay Chill or find yourself unable to raise a hand against them. If you fail to Stay Chill, you cannot enact violence upon them for the rest of the scene unless they start the fight. |
Folkloric Banes¶
Folkloric Banes are entirely optional, but when creating your character, you may choose to take up to 3 that make sense (or don't at all, for entertainment purposes) for your character. As with the other varieties, taking on a Folkloric Bane is permanent — you can never be rid of it until you meet Final Death — and the XP granted by taking them on is fleeting and must be spent by the end of your first slumber or it is lost.
| BANE | CONSEQUENCES | GAIN |
|---|---|---|
| Noxious Garlic | Touching garlic deals 1 Aggravated Harm to you. Eating it deals 3, but also reduces your Hunger to 0 and nauseates you, preventing you from Feeding until the next night. | +1 XP |
| Holy Water | Touching holy water deals 1 Aggravated Harm to you. Drinking it causes Final Death. Why would you do that? | +1 XP |
| Pale Beasts | When you see an all-white animal of any kind, you must Stay Chill with Disadvantage or flee the scene at once. | +1 XP |
| Invitations | You are physically unable to enter any private building unless invited in by somebody with sufficient authority. | +2 XP |
| Running Water | You are physically unable to cross running water and must find a way around. This includes streams, brooks, rivers, sewer pipes, aqueducts, and loose garden hoses. Bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, oceans, etc. do not trigger this. | +2 XP |
| Searing Silver | Touching silver deals 2 Aggravated Harm to you. If incorporated into a weapon, all its damage is Aggravated. | +2 XP |
| Holy Symbols | Being within 2 Ranges of a holy symbol (you select which apply to your character) deals 2 Aggravated Harm to you per round of exposure. Within 1 Range, it deals 3. If physical contact is made with the symbol, it deals 5. | +3 XP |
| UV Light | When exposed to UV light from sources other than the sun, you take 3 Aggravated Harm per round of contact. | +3 XP |
| Stake Bait | Being staked through the heart causes instant Final Death instead of incapacitating you. Oopsie-daisy! New vamp! | +3 XP |
| Stigmata | When at 4 Hunger or higher, you bleed extensively from wounds on your hands, feet, and forehead. They never heal, and while bleeding, you have Disadvantage on all Demeanor rolls and are a walking Masquerade violation (unless it's Halloween and you're dressed as Jesus). | +3 XP |