The United Federation of Charles: How much should Vampire PCs and NPCs know?

V5 Chronicle Tips

Ignorance is valuable. Note, I don't say ignorance is bliss. I say ignorance is valuable. One of the best advantages you can have as a Storyteller is your players (or their characters) being ignorant of something in-universe. This is usually not possible if they're, like I was, someone who buys every Clan Book or supplement to look for cool concepts. Many players, whether they have disposable income or just borrow a friend's books, are working on their graduate student thesis level knowledge of the World of Darkness' secrets.

This is almost impossible to prevent and isn't actually necessary to do so if you want to make games about exploring the World of Darkness' mysteries. Instead, a better thing to do is actually decide how ignorant your players' characters are. If you don't establish it upfront, they're going to act on their players' knowledge and that can lead to some impressively knowledgeable Neonates that detracts from the experience. "Oh, that's a Nagaraja. They're a bunch of cannibalistic flesh-eating vampires from India that belong to the True Hand."

Basically, it's good to establish a baseline of knowledge for player characters at the start of your games so everyone knows what they do or do not know. This allows players to be able to roleplay a very useful trait in-game: ignorance. As stated above, it is a great thing to have players roleplay as it allows them to learn things in-game and react to new sights with the proper level of fear and/or awe. Will some players metagame and not roleplay their ignorance? Yes. Others will enjoy the opportunity to roleplay a person seeing a Crinos form werewolf for the first time and go, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"

The easiest way of getting a player onboard with total ignorance is making them a literal newborn to the vampire world, starting from their Embrace. This is awkward for larger groups and probably not sustainable for more than once. However, the following recommendations are for usable for fledgling vampires as a whole. Which is, summarized: How Ignorant should Vampire PCs be? Answer: Very.

How much does a Fledgling Know?

Secrets are power in the undead world and every potential bit of occult information shared among peers is hard currency. Some sires are going to be generous with it while others are going to deliberately keep their offspring dependent as well as confused. Others are going to throw their childer into the deep end with no safety net. From there, secrets will be things that have to be prided from their peers or shared. Then, you're reliant on the biases and prejudices of others. In the Modern Nights, most childer are released after only a few years or even months of service with "orphaned" Kindred more common than ever.

It is also a materialistic age where the secrets of things like Caine, the Antediluvians, Gehenna, and the shared World of Darkness are scoffed at by supposedly wiser enlightened immortals of the 21st century. The Masquerade has affected many vampires from their mortal days who no longer come from supposedly ignorant peasant backgrounds that knew creatures like them existed in the night. The Camarilla also suppressed belief in their own Noddist culture for much of their existence, in part because of its tendency to create lunatics like the Sabbat and also because of their desire to discourage Antediluvian worship. The divisions between the Camarilla Clans, Independent Clans, and Sabbat Clans were also fairly distinct until the Modern Nights with many vampires going centuries without meeting a Setite or Ravnos, let alone a Baali or Salubri.

In game-terms, this means that this is the default for what most Kindred over a year old will know about vampire society without any points in an Occult score. It's not meant to be a hard and fast rule and some Kindred will know more than others but represents what your character knows (or doesn't know) without having to roll an Intelligence + Occult, Etiquette, or Politics. Having points in any of these will at least broaden your chance of knowing more pertinent details.

Fledgling Knowledge

* They all know the Masquerade
* They can deduce how vampires are made from context even if no one told them the specifics of how to do it.
* Sunlight and fire are instinctual. No one needs to be taught this anymore than blood is yummy.
* Vampire weaknesses like holy items, garlic, and invitations are lies. Barring an encounter with someone with True Faith yourself, all vampires assume it's just psychological.
* There's the Clans of the Camarilla (Brujah, Malk, Nosferatu, Ventrue, Toreador, Gangrel, and Tremere--maybe Assamite and Lasombra depending on the year).
* Generally, they have a broad awareness of the Camarilla's stereotypes regarding these Clans.
* They're generally aware of Caitiff and Thin Bloods these days. Neonates generally get taught to treat them like trash if they're not either themselves.
* They're aware Lupines exist but some are skeptical. It's a "friend of a friend" sort of thing unless you live in Chicago, Milwaukee, or Vancouver.
* They're aware Blood Magic exists but not magic in general (the only wizards you know exist are Tremere).
* There's a big vampire Illuminati called the Camarilla but no one deals with it beyond the Prince and Sheriff level generally
* There's a vampire resistance that amounts more to street gangs and constant complaining called the Anarchs.
* Older People (like, over 10 years) sometimes mention the Sabbat and clam up if you ask for details. The most you'll know is vampire terrorists or something out of the Satanic Panic.
* There's other Clans out there but you'll almost never meet them.
* There's Princes, Primogen, and Sheriff. They also know Elders gather in social clubs and museums even if not aware of the term "Harpy."
* There are rules to "civilized" vampire existence. Less the "Laws of the Camarilla" and more, "Don't make any more vampires without permission.", "Elders get pissy if you feed in their turf.", "Don't fuck up the Elders' clubs", and "Introduce yourself to the boss vampire in an area if you enter a new area. Don't worry, they'll find you."
* Blood Hunts are called by vampires who break the law too many times or the Masquerade once (unless you're connected).
* Drinking another vampire until they die is punishable by death. Why another vampire would do this is kept mum about save in the most secure quarters.
* Everyone will have heard the "Caine origin" but almost no one takes it seriously in the Modern Nights and it's more like a one sentence, "Yeah, a lot of Older Vampires say Caine from the Bible was the first vampire. Sounds like a joke but there it is."
* Few will have heard of the Antediluvians unless they're Tremere, Assamite, Nosferatu, or Lasombra. Maybe Ventrue just to explain what "Generation" is.
* Gehenna will NOT be spoken of save by Malkavians or deliberate agitators.
* An exception to the Masquerade in ghouls will come up pretty early. Blood addicts, slaves, and disposable trash to most Kindred. Some are really attached to theirs, though, and off limits.
* You might believe in ghosts but no vampire other than the Hecate, Banu Haqim, or Tremere is likely to know for certain they exist.
* The same for demons. Many vampires believe in the infernal and the fact it is a literal thing is limited to rumors about the Sabbat or Ministry.
* More esoteric supernaturals are simply scoffed at or beyond the knowledge of other vampires.
* Most vampires will have never heard of a Bloodline unless they have met them specifically.

How can Skills and Knowledge Impact what Your Fledgling Knows

This is just a bit of shorthand that would help those who want to know how much their occultist or deliberately savvy PC might know if they put the points in. Obviously, certain Clans will know more about certain topics. It is recommended if you want to keep use of this kind of ignorance to restrict the PCs, even the really smart ones, to only an Etiquette, Politics, or Occult of 3.

* A Politics or Etiquette of 1 score will tell you the formal names of the Camarilla's laws.
* A Politics or Etiquette of 2 score will tell you the actual titles and working structure of the Camarilla as well as what things like a "Justicar" as well as "Archon" do.
* A Politics or Etiquette 3 gives you a sense of not only the local players in a given city but their names as well as general personalities.
* A Politics or Etiquette score of 3 will also inform you of the existence of the Inner Council. They are also aware of things like Conclaves and the way their Clan structures itself.
* A Politics or Etiquette score of 4 or 5 will let you know not only the existence of other groups like the Sabbat and Anarchs' structures but even that groups like the Ashirra as well as Jade Courts exist. Your sire has been very thorough indeed in your education.
* An Occult score of 1 will give you the names of all 13 Clans and maybe a one sentence descriptor of their broadest stereotype.
* A Occult score of 1 can tell you a bit about the Sabbat being a third sect as well as the "monstrous inhuman religious zealot" thing not being hyperbole or propaganda.
* An Occult score of 1 will tell you that diablerie is a way that Kindred can increase their power.
* An Occult score of 2 will inform you that Wraiths, Mages, and Demon are real but almost nothing about them.
* An Occult score of 3 is required to know about Bloodlines with the Salubri and the Baali being the two most famous.
* An Occult score of 3 will inform you of something called Golconda and there's supposedly a sect of vampires seeking it called the Inconnu.
* An Occult score of 4 knows things like fairies and spirits literally exist, though this level of knowledge starts to make your vampire sound like a lunatic if he tries to explain it.
* An Occult score of 5 means you have a broad understanding of the concept of other splats that will sound like a Marvel comic book nerd explaining Jack Kirby's 4th World, the Multiverse, and the Eternals to a casual fan. Even then, it is in only the broadest sentence form. "Werewolves are nature worshiping pagans that believe vampires are spawn of their Devil figure", "Fairies are creatures of mankind's stories brought to life", and "Mages are people who learn to impose their will on reality and fight their own war for who will rule the world behind the scenes." A good way of restricting this is to suggest that with Occult 5 you know the broadest outline of "one" splat and everything else you know is completely wrong.

How Much Do Ancilla Know?

Generally speaking, an Ancilla of most Clans has learned the majority of what they need to survive in the Kindred world and can be presumed to have an Occult of 2. They've become aware of the Thirteen, have heard of the Nod story (even if it sounds like bullshit), and at least someone has told them their End of the World conspiracy theories. They're aware Lupines exist and have probably encountered other weirdness even if they don't understand it like True Faith wielding hunters or a ghost in their time. Maybe they've dealt with a witch or seen some sort of hideous mutated monster living in the sewers that wasn't a Nosferatu. Fifty to a hundred years is a long time to be dead and dwell in the shadows. They know the hypocrisies of the Camarilla, Anarchs, and Sabbat as well as the fact that you have to be wary of everyone. Idealism is, after all, the first thing to die as a vampire.

How Much Do Elders Know?

Generally, most Elders will have made at least one area where they have attempted to seek some sort of lore out that will give them an advantage against their fellows. Usually, these efforts don't pan out and they stop seeking before it consumes them. However, generally all Elders have an Occult score of 3 as well as Etiquette as well as Politics scores of 2 or 3 at least. True Elders, those over two hundred years old, will have 4-5 in probably all of them.

A safe assumption is every Elder knows at least one supernatural group or faction among Kindred reasonably well, often in surprising ways. Usually, this is more likely to be their fellow vampires (A Nosferatu knowing the Tremere or a Brujah Primogen having a surprisingly in-depth knowledge of the Sabbat) but its not impossible for other supernaturals.

A Toreador Elder may have a surprising knowledge of Lupine tribes (as many as three names) and how to hunt them. A Ventrue banker may go into a deranged conspiracy theory-filled rant about how an offshoot of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn controls all the finance and technology sectors in the world. Possibly including some pretty antiquated (and wrong) racist assumptions along the way. A Gangrel can tell you the secrets of the Fae Realm if you'll drink his blood. Not always and often just enough to get them killed if they pry further but the information is there...for a price.

Using Ignorance in your Games

There's a lot of fun to be had in probing the World of Darkness' secrets. You can make use of misinformation and ignorance to highlight the inherently deceitful nature of the undead as well. Maybe a Banu Haqim delegation is arriving and someone wants to spread the word that they're all blood-addicted diablerists worshiping an ancient Methuselah. Maybe the Ministry really does just worship Set and their new claims of being a religious Clan in general are just more serpent lies. Perhaps the Salubri that has been supposedly spotted in town really is a Satan worshiping Baali (perhaps they all were). You're the ST and wielding your players' knowledge against them is not just right but your obligation. After all, knowledge is power.

And Kindred do not share power.

The United Federation of Charles

Saturday, July 1, 2023

How much should Vampire PCs and NPCs know?

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