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A Sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade

 Blood and Country
A V5 Supplement

LEGAL AND CREDITS

W R ITTEN BY: Sebastian Black

EDITING A ND R EADING: Aoife Keane
A RT DIR ECTOR: Sebastian Black
COV ER A RT: Sebastian Black
INTER IOR A RT A ND ILLUSTR ATION: Sebastian Black
GR A PHIC DESIGN A ND L AYOUT: Sebastian Black

**Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised

that this document contains the names of people now passed
and resting in the Dreaming**

World of Darkness, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, Victorian Age: Vampire, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Werewolf:
The Wild West, Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith: The Oblivion, Wraith: The Great War, Changeling: The
Dreaming, Hunter: The Reckoning, Demon: The Fallen, Mummy: The Resurrection, Orpheus, Exalted, Chronicles of Darkness, Vampire:
The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Geist: The Sin Eaters, Demon:
The Descent, Mummy: The Curse, Beast: The Primordial, Promethean: The Created, Storyteller System™, Storytelling System™, and
Storytellers Vault™ and their respective logos, icons and symbols are trade- marks or registered trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB.
All rights reserved.

This work contains material that is copyright of Paradox Interactive AB. Such material is used with permission under the Community
Content Agree-ment for the Storytellers Vault.

PROPERTY® Copyright© [year] Paradox Interactive AB (publ). All rights reserved.

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This is not official WOD Content

 Mature Content Warning
For the past several decades, Vampire: The Masquerade has addressed the darkness in the real
world through horror stories: it has talked about AIDS, capitalist exploitation, sexual predation,
the resurgence of far-right political extremism, religious fanaticism, state and private
surveillance, and many other issues. This version of the game does not shy away from any of the
above, and we believe exploration of subjects like these is as valid in roleplaying games as it is in
other media. Including a problematic subject in a Storytelling game is not the same as glorifying
it, and if you take the chance to explore it critically, it can be the exact opposite. If we
understand the problems facing us, we are better armed to fight them.
V5 includes in-world references and expressions of the following: sexual violence, political
extremism, physical violence and gore, mind control, torture, abuse, imprisonment and
kidnapping, racism, sexism, and homophobia, to name a few. It’s a game about monsters.
“Why are you telling me this?” you might be saying.
Someone at your table is not familiar with this game. Someone at your table has dealt with some
of these issues in real life. Someone at your table wants to know that you read this warning and
know you will be considerate to them as players, while putting their character through the
wringer.
In the Appendix, you will find concrete techniques on how to handle difficult subjects in your
game in a manner that is respectful to your players and their experiences. Calibrate beforehand
which techniques your group wants to use. People have different needs and not every method
works for every person.
This is a game about monsters. But it is only a game.
Don’t use it as an excuse to be a monster yourself.
*
In addition, topics discussed related to the context of Australia are not with the intention to
minimise their very real, ongoing impact, but are instead an attempt at promoting awareness to
the continued hardships and beauty of the many peoples of this country.
The opinions expressed within this supplement are representative of my opinions as the author,
but not all of them, and not to complete accuracy. This holds very condensed opinions, as in
spite of some comments I hold a truly deep love for my country, but the past actions of its
people and government in particular has led to a particular cynicism, present in this work.
The content relating to Aboriginal Australian culture is similarly intended as an exercise in
awareness building, but I recognise that I am also not going to be the best person to cover this
content either. I can only hope what I have done has been respectful and truly encourages
others to contribute ever further, even if in disagreement, to this kind of content from a lens
that may be more adequate than my own. If such a thing happens, you can be rest assured that I
will be the first in line to buy, and support in any way I can. Unless the disagreement comes
from a place of malicious intent, in which case, kindly fuck off.

**Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are

advised that this document contains the names of
people now passed and resting in the Dreaming**

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 TA BLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 8

Chapter 1: The Fringes and Further - Rural Vampires 10

 Freedom in a Sunset & Rules of Engagement 11

 Siring and Accounting 12
 Pillar of the Community & Breaking the Masquerade 13
 From Farm to Table & Sustainable “Living” 15
 Threats to Heart and Home 16
 The Unfashionable Side of Town 17
 No Country for Old Lupines 18

How to Play Rural Kindred 19

Chapter 2: A Sunburnt Country - Australia as a Setting 21

1  The “Lucky” Country & All Kindred Under the Sun 22

 The Camarilla in Australia 24
 The Sabbat in Australia 26
 The Anarchs in Australia 28
 The Autarkis/Independents in Australia 30
 The Duskborn/Thin-Bloods in Australia 31
 The Second Inquisition in Australia 32

Australian Cities 34

Chapter 3: Maalabalun - The Once Dead 38

 Maalabalun 39
 Rites of the Wolf-Hunters, Night of the Hunt & Origins of the
Maalabalun 41
 A Great Change -Taking Back the Past 42
 Relationships with Mortals 43

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Maalabalun in a Chronicle 44
 Path of Dreaming & further notes 45

Chapter 4: Predator Types 47

 Agriculturalist & Bushranger 48
 Folkloric Beast & Grey Nomad 49
 Leashed & Pied Piper 50
 Raider & Scion 51
 Smoker 52

Chapter 5: Disciplines 54
 Protean 55
 Obfuscate 57
 Blood Sorcery Rituals 58
 Oblivion Ceremonies 60
 Thin-Blood Alchemy 61
Discipline Considerations 64

Chapter 6: Backgrounds 66
 Backgrounds - Rural 67
 Indenture 68
 Haven (Mobile) 69
 Additional notes for Haven (Mobile) 71
Merits and Flaws - Animal Instinct 72

Chapter 7: Clan Changes 74

 Clan Tzimisce 75
 Clan Salubri 78
 Clan Ravnos 80

Chapter 8: Loresheets 83
 Neighbourhood Watch 84
 Inquisition Hunter 85
 The Once Dead 87
 A Place Called Bonnie Doon 89

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Chapter 9: Plot Hooks and Campaign Starters 92

 The Ancient Mercurian 93

 Square Pegg in a Round Place 94
 Inquisition Occupation 95
 A Bushranger’s Return 96
 Traditional Owners of the Land 97

Australian Wildlife 99

Dedication and Thanks 101

Announcing… 102

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 Introduction
“I put into your hands this piece of the earth itself as a sign that we restore them
[lands] to you and your children forever.” – Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to Gurindji
Elder Vincent Lingiari (1975)
You have all heard of the Kindred who spend This is intended to act as a rudimentary supplement for
their unlives in big cities chasing big dreams and playing vampires who exist outside of large US cities, it is
finding big problems. This isn’t about those kinds an attempt to explore some of the considerations of life
of vampires. This is about the ones who reject the for Kindred within rural towns and amongst populations
draw of the large cities and machinations of the that never surge past the thousands. The material within
Jyhad, instead choosing to walk the lonelier paths is not to be considered universal in its application and is
of undead existence.
by no means a reflection of every experience that one
This is about those undead who spend their could have at the table within a rural setting. It is merely
unlives on the edges of larger society, deep in the an orientation.
harsh, unforgiving lands of ancestors from times
The content will be provided within the context of an
long past with descendants long angry. Those who
teeter on the edges of spiritualism and survival, Australian rural setting specifically, with suggestions for
bearing knowledge older than the myths of play and perspective that may deviate from canonical lore
“Caine” or “Lilith”, they are those who reject the within the World of Darkness setting, particularly with
folly of the modern nights, becoming guides and regards to the bias/preference afforded to Abrahamic
seekers of alternative paths of enlightenment. faith.

The Kindred in these places follow different rules. As an author of First Nation (Aboriginal) Australian
Territory is a sire’s duty to childe, herds are heritage, this is my chance to tell a different kind of
cultivated and cared for, and one truth reigns vampire story.
supreme, only blood and country hold sacred.

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“When you on country, you
walk with a spring in your
step, you walk with your
head high, you not afraid
of anything. In order to find
yourself you have to get
lost. Best place to get lost
is Country.” – William
Watson, Yiriman Cultural
Boss

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 Chapter 1:
The Fringes
and Further
From the musings of William H.C. Corrigan, Margrave of the Central Tablelands

Cities are to Kindred as bowls are to a dog. They are where we feed, where we hide
and what we know to be safe and certain. But this isn’t all they are, cities slowly become the
leash that restrains and shapes our nature into that which imitates Kine. Parasites unaware of
their own impending destruction. We remove ourselves from that which birthed us, clinging to
faith in a destiny that assures our destruction. This is not what we were meant to be. There was
a time when we predated the Masquerade, and lived with purpose in place of parasitism.
The first vampires lived amongst populations less than thousands, and they did so
without destroying their herds. They lived with them, becoming pariahs and gods walking
amongst their beloved cattle. I am here to make one thing clear, those times never ended. Most
simply forgot. We have not.

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Freedom in a Sunset Rules of Engagement
The lights of a city never go out, The rules that govern those in the
the sunset simply signals the rise of a new larger mortal cities are what dictate the
kind of sun, one mirrored to that of the day terms of conflict. They are the conventions
in the glass of empty office buildings. We of war, politics and religion – no
create a sun shaped of artifice; lights engagement takes place without paying
designed to simulate day as much as they tribute. Even the Sabbat follow these
cast shadow. The lights of the city often mandates in one form or another. Mortals
make the Kindred and Kine alike forget should not know the nature of the
what it is to live in night. This is what the supernatural lest the old hunts begin anew,
rural Kindred mean when they speak of the as has been seen in modern nights. This is
cages of our kind, those that are chosen, the rule many have agreed upon. The
embraced and praised. Masquerade. But not all stand by this
assessment.
One must ask, why a cage? Why
choose to enslave oneself to the The mortal hunters who stalk the
simulacrum of a life lost, and to pursue days and nights, burning havens and
what is lost if it is deemed an impossible staking Princes are not merely the result of
thing? What reason have we to reject our Kine discovering the dead, they are the
mortal ties? What reason have we to reject actions of those scorned. Those who have
our undying nature? Is balance not the been betrayed by their expectations of the
more natural path? Monster and Man nature of their reality and they seek
together? The Kindred of the city are the righteous vengeance and retribution.
example, they are the very image of those Betrayal is not an inevitability. The
who reject either side in favour of the other Masquerade is not the only way.
with no greater understanding of the
When a city Kindred comes to a
spiritual role we must play.
rural town, their first mistake is to believe
Vampires are creatures of that they will go unnoticed. To believe the
invasion, infiltration, ambush, and one locals will not mark their trespasses. There
could argue that there is no threat that are no crowds to blend into, no alleys to
cannot be attributed to the concept of the slip between. All that happens in the dark
vampire. But in truth, blood drinkers of all is seen, and many a fool has met their end
varieties are much the same as the Kine. at the hand of concerned neighbours.
We are all a breed of parasite, and the
The first rule for the rural vampire
parasite cannot sustain itself through
is that if you give to the community, then
ingenuity alone, it must sustain itself on
they will give to you in turn. It is the rule
the life of another, or perish, forever
of the stranger who tries to take their fill
reliant on its host to exist. Kindred within
without reciprocity to fall before they find
cities forget this, they grasp onto notions
haven.
of naïve morality that they are either
superior to the Kine or are cursed. This is Tribute is the rule of Rule. We
no curse, this is transformation, and duty. give, and so we shall receive.
And the night is our kingdom.

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Siring and Accounting
Every new childe brought into the night brings with it a threat. A threat to resources and stability.
Where did this new childe come from? Where are their family? Are they local? Or will they become a
transient leech destined to leave or perish? If so, why grant them the Embrace? Rural kindred don’t have
the luxury of impulsively Embracing their new “favourite” at a whim. There are considerations to be
made, and accounting to be kept. The most important of which is territory. Feeding. How will this new
vampire take to the blood and how will they affect supply? Only so much blood can be taken within a
town before it becomes a liability and so every sire bears a greater burden of care. Siring another means to
sacrifice what one has in favour of this new childe, and as such, the new childe owes more to their sire
than loyalty and respect. They owe blood.
Accounting within a rural town is not as it is in the Camarilla Traditions, it does however
accompany a space between those Traditions of Accounting, Domain and Hospitality. Accounting in a
rural context is the understanding that by the act of siring, you oversee the integration of your new childe
into their new reality, watching over them, teaching them, and when the time comes for them to act
independently (though never truly so) they are to be granted Domain equal to their need. A sire who does
not provide this, will be faced with two choices, to banish their childe and suffer whatever consequences
that may entail, or to destroy their childe, forever marked by Filicide. A stain against oneself that is
regarded worse even than the Amaranth, or Diablerie. As it marks the sign of a selfish, short-sighted and
potentially unfit member of our society.
No childe enters this life without one to watch over them. Those that do may either find that they
are “adopted” by one willing to sacrifice of themselves at a price, or to be left for the sun to take them.

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Pillar of the Community They give in to their lesser nature,
not knowing the benefits of a true herd.
Perhaps the greatest of perceived
crimes that the Kindred of the city I drink with a councillor at the pub
commit is a lack of foresight. The lack of until early morning, downing their poison
ability to see ahead of their own schemes in quiet suffering. I watch his home as he
to understand the importance of the goes on his honeymoon. I am there for the
years, decades and centuries that proceed birth of their child. And when I make
their actions of the night. humble contributions to the founding of
their first hospital, my name is the first that
The Jyhad rages on, and a slight you will see. My name is why none ask
made one night intended to defeat an why the blood drives are always so
enemy a thousand later will leave successful, or where it all goes.
collateral to scale. So, what is the
alternative? Giving up on one’s grudges
is certainly not an option, that would be
Breaking the Masquerade
foolish. But to not consider the collateral
damage is why the Camarilla cannot exist What I am is no secret to those
outside of cities and why the Sabbat have who wish to be a part of something
fallen so far from their initial purpose. greater. They choose to know, because
Anarchs are, by their very existence, they know of power, crave to be close to it.
collateral damage. To serve it.
The Second Inquisition finds it I first revealed my nature when a
just as difficult to gain a foothold within builder had fallen from his station. His
rural communities for the same reason as body twisted in pain and the fear that he
the Camarilla. They are not locals. They would never walk again. The Blood
are not a part of the community. They eventually healed his body to the point that
haven’t lowered themselves to spend he was able to play with his children once
their nights fostering the potential and more. They thanked me with blood. Freely
supporting those who don’t move on and and gratefully offered. The next time I
live transiently. A councillor who accepts stopped a car from running down a mother
a bribe not for greed, but for a care and and her infant. They watched in awe as the
desire to see their community grow. A metal crushed against my form, unable to
doctor who remembers the names and pierce the marble-like flesh. This reminds
faces of every patient they have ever them why they sacrifice. Why they pay
treated. The old outcast with stories of tribute. Why they pay in blood.
war and horrors whose dreams speak of
demons. These are the people they do not Even if that means orchestrating
deign themselves to rub shoulders with. an occasional deranged driver, or
They try to bribe through strangers and construction accident first.
wonder why they’re denied. They hunt They know what I am, and yet no
amongst friends and family, and wonder hunter will be welcomed. My herd
why they’re hunted in turn. They make a understands what the cost of my absence
man disappear and wonder why flames will be.
lick at their heels.

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From Farm to Table Sustainable “Living”
In spite of what it may seem, There is a reason for the Gangrel
blood isn’t always easy to come by. In thriving, as their “Outlander” namesake
truth, more often than not it is the sacrifice would imply, within the outskirts of
of our kind to limit what we take from our civilisation. It is because they have
herd lest they be weakened too much for mastered the basic understanding that to
when they are needed. A society must live on the land is to rely upon it. Shaping
function like clockwork after all, and this the world to suit the needs of those who
is where we get to the less glamourous live on it is the cornerstone of Western
side of rural unlife. Feeding from the farm. civilisation, a cornerstone that crumbles
Feeding on animals. under its own weight.
The advantage of living away Sustainable living. Almost a
from the city means that my domain catchphrase for the mortals of this time.
covers farmland handed between my own Though its sentiment holds value for us
descendants over the years. Land I still just as much as it does them. How many
hold claim to and may live off of when in can we feed upon before it becomes too
need. much? Before they weaken? Before they
question our rule?
We’ve all heard of the process;
mortals feed the cattle, the cattle are then Take in moderation, drink deeply
eaten by the mortal, and then we feed upon of animals and what use do you have of the
the mortals thereafter. A simple process, a meat? None. Give the meat to the mortals
reminder that we are merely the next in most in need and in time the well of
line on the food chain. However, as much gratitude will flow with that which is
as it is to the distaste of the city folk, there earned and all the sweeter for sake of
is no reason as to why we shouldn’t abstinence.
similarly feed on the cattle. True, it doesn’t
Sustainability means sacrificing
hold the same palate as a freshly naïve
the reckless, wasteful indulgence of the
mortal with more blood than sense, though
city in favour of cultivating the deeper
it does serve its function. It sustains. We
satiation that Princes, Barons and
can subsist and conserve resources by
Archbishops alike could only dream of.
limiting ourselves to a watered blend of
animal blood and that of mortals. This is why I advocate all seeking
rural living to master their understanding
I know what some might think,
of the gifts of Animalism as every beast
“Why lower and debase yourself with such
devoured is an exercise in restraint. Use
a ripe colony of mortals just waiting to be
your mastery to feed your herd as they feed
fed upon?”, and so I answer crudely, “For
you. This is how we return to tradition, no
the same reason as to why animals don’t
cities, no masks, but open practice of
shit where they eat”.
stoicism in the face of the Beast and
At any rate, before you start control in the face of our needs.
worrying about the thinness of animal
Feed the Beast enough to be sated,
blood, there are solutions to that.
but never fully satisfied.

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Threats to Heart and Home
Word of this “new
Inquisition” has reached the towns,
and yes, by all reports Sydney
seems to be dealing with the issue
effectively, but what about us? I’ve
already mentioned that my herd
doesn’t take kindly to strangers. A
hunter who comes looking to kill an
upstanding member of the
community is not going to last long.
Even this “Inquisition” seems to
understand their limits. You can
only lose so many people before it
just isn’t worth the effort anymore.
But alas, this is where we get
to the real threat, the reason as to
why the rural vampire must restrain
their behaviour with keen focus.
Families.
I’ve left many friends to the
sun for their part in creating the
worst kinds of hunters. The hunters
who have lost family. Those who
know what we are and are
confronted with the harsh reality of
our lesser natures. A stranger
becomes a hunter and it is an easy
solution, they become food. But
when the child of a family you’ve
watched grow for three generations
comes to your haven torch in hand
after their boyfriend found himself
on the wrong side of the Beast…
well… that is a decision I don’t
want to make again.
The worst kind of threat that
you can face is the one that you
know. The one that you yourself
have made through your actions.

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The Unfashionable Side of Town
Not all of our kind hold such high standards unfortunately, some take the Embrace
at its worst and believe that it is now their duty to tear apart the delicate stability that we
build. Not all are content to own farmland and create herds to supplement their diets.
Some are insatiable fools unable to contain their appetites for violence, butchering every
new visitor to their town, paranoid of anyone new and what troubles they may bring. They
control their living families with fear and violence, an abuser made immortal.
Put simply, this variety is unsustainable.
When a mortal hears a violent dispute, they might wish to call the police, or
intervene on their own. Too often fear and a desire to remain out of another’s business is
what stops them from following through.
If you find a vampire in your town, one who acts on impulse, feeds
indiscriminately and cannot contain their baser human impulses and insecurities. You
stake them, tie them to the roof of their haven, and let the sun purge your feeding grounds
of what is no better than a rabid dog. The longer it goes without intervention, the closer
the populace begin to question why they even bother to pay tribute – this cannot be
allowed to happen.
Your worth is measured by your ability to maintain your territory, to protect it
from mindless threats, and to reap the rewards of a new family brought under your
protection, indebted even. Liberation is a precursor to all gratitude.

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No Country for Old Lupines
The first supernaturals to come to this land did not find it empty. They did not find
a land of bountiful prey; they instead found a land under the protection of creatures much
older than they’d encountered before. I don’t know the exact circumstances, but the lupine
were initially greeted in peace. At least, until they did something to anger these older
creatures and their brethren.
Whatever it was that they did resulted in what is possibly the largest scale lupine
hunting effort of our time. All by a group of Kindred that pre-dated our arrival. A group
whose membership is exclusive to those of the Aboriginal population.
I am safely in my position today because of the deal I made with this group. They
never gave a name, but if lupine activity is even remotely suspected, I tell the Garkain.
I’m no fool. Their reach extends far and as I hear it, there hasn’t been a werewolf to leave
Sydney alive since the end of the 19th century.
In all my years I have never once seen a single Kindred take on the lupines with
such ferocity and even-footedness, and yet this group is host to the equivalent of neonates
wearing the pelts of their kills. That kind of ability is not to be taken lightly. I suspect they
hold secrets unknown to others of our kind. The kind of secrets worth killing for.
Don’t take that as an invitation though, if you ever come across any of this group,
don’t anger them. If you wish to be in their favour, either deliver knowledge of the
location of a lupine, or even one of the werebeasts themselves (if it is even possible).
Otherwise, stay out of their way because they do not suffer us lightly and their connection
to the fringes between cities and wilderness is not for nothing. They are all to be regarded
with the same respect as Elders or further, unless you feel the need to learn what kind of
strength it takes to wipe out a pack of wolves.

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 How to Play Rural Kindred

Unlike the standard form of play of Consider what drives a mortal to

Vampire the Masquerade, playing Kindred accept a Kindred, what would make such a
within a rural setting involves different thing seem perfectly rational? Then, consider
considerations and options. Cities are a how you as a vampire would foster such a
default setting that make sense for Kindred to mindset, what would you do to create such an
be active in. Food security is ultimately the environment of “acceptance”. What sacrifices
largest of influences in remaining within a would be required? And how would your
city. Drinking your fill and walking back into character deal with those sacrifices?
the crowd to be forgotten is standard practice. An alternative approach however is
But what if that wasn’t an option? for there to be a system within their town in
The Kindred who live within smaller which the Kindred are kept on a short leash by
communities are expected to face different a third party. The blood they receive is part of
challenges reflective of their living standards. their “rations” and are a privilege for those
The necessity for blood bags and animals to who serve well. Such Kindred might be less
feed from become essential. The existence of socially inclined and act more as local myths
farms makes the latter an easy enough or legends.
process, but then how would they deal with The important factor to keep note of is
the bodies thereafter? Deaths swelling that the smaller scale of a rural environment
amongst livestock doesn’t remain unnoticed. means that personal stories will become
The simplest answer to this problem? essential, and your Kindred will need to be an
The Kindred join the community. They active member of those personal stories if they
become known quantities. They defy the are to believably survive within such a setting.
Traditions and vie instead for a more Or perhaps you’ll choose another
medieval approach of reverence. To option and become the outsiders? The strangers
deliberately construct a narrative around their entering a town thinking you’re in for an easy
identity as an immortal “protector” – and if time only to discover mortals built a little
they happen to take blood for payment and tougher and more prepared than you could
occasionally “remove” problematic citizens. have imagined?
Then that is just the cost of doing business.
Kindred within small towns need to
pursue power and resources as much as any
Common Themes to Consider:
in the cities, however this is derived from a
desperate need to have a community need the Community, ostracism, personal horror,
vampire in turn. Balancing on a knife’s edge dehumanisation, religion, distrust of the
between a town’s dirty secret and the next “other”, corruption, “training” mortals,
monster to be hunted is just another part of indoctrination, betrayal, witch-hunts,
gentrification, inter-generational trauma,
rural life for vampires.
xenophobia/fear of the unknown, city vs
country, secret societies, etc.

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Solitude shows us
what we should be;
Society shows us
what we are.

- Robert Cecil

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 Chapter 2:
A Sunburnt
Country
The good qualities of Australians…their non-
doctrinaire tolerance, their sense of pleasure, their
sense of fair play, their interest in material things, their
sense of family, their identity with nature…their
scepticism, their talent for improvisation, their
courage and stoicism. These are the great qualities that
could constitute the beginnings of a great nation.

The Lucky Country (1964) – Donald Horne

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The “Lucky” Country those whose legacy is as slavers.
To define Australia is a A country that wants heroes
difficult thing, and to define the and is stuck with underwhelming
Australian people is made more villains.
difficult as a result. It is a country
So, when such a country exists
which forges dichotomous people. A
and lives in such a way, what does it
country besieged by the failings of
say for the vampires who live there?
leaders who pursue conditions of
conservativism, anti-intellectualism,
philistinism, puritanism and the
contagious lack of innovation, drive All Kindred Under the Sun
and ambition. These are conditions As a country that is in constant
purposefully perpetuated. turmoil regarding its own identity
But that is not all that Australia Australia holds one thing sacred, if
is. There is a reason that the country’s you are in charge, expect to be called a
greatest folk hero is an outlaw, a fuckwit. That is a given. There is no
bushranger who was opposed to the respect to be afforded to any leader no
powers of the time: the rich, the matter their position, and unless you
police, and the government. His legacy prove yourself to be worth taking note
is one of a violent retribution against of, then expect constant opposition,
those who he saw as having wronged even in the smallest of ways.
him, and he would be remembered for Applied to Kindred society,
it. there are only so many ways this can
What is the Australia that go. No Camarilla within this country
draws such fervour for that Ned can survive to take the attitudes
Kelly? What is the Australia that can displayed in Europe and locations
admire this figure, and yet staunchly across the Americas. If a Prince
sit by while the same injustices are declares that all Kindred within a city
carried on by those same powers must report to them on the goings on
today? An Australia that is conflicted. within their domains, then the only
An Australia whose people want two rational responses given are to
rebellion, who want change and to either completely disregard the order
ever support the underdog who has the with a “Nothing’s going on”, or “Why
least chance of winning but still tries don’t you come down and do it
to overcome the odds. This is the yourself?” – Acts of outright rebellion
Australia worthy of its potential. An are unlikely, but are also not
Australia that tackles change and impossible.
fights against the dulling ruling classes An Australian ruler of Kindred
and their agents of oppression. must adhere to a very simple principle
Because it is the Australia it wants to wherein they can “get the job done”
be, but is too comfortable to challenge. and aren’t seen as outwardly looking
Australia’s true face is one of a down on the people they mean to take
desired rebellion, of a freedom that loyalty from. There is a need to
needed to be taken and wrestled from

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both prove themselves as competent, but
to also be willing to “slum it” with
everyone else. Over the top braggadocio
is the quickest way to become ash.
The Sabbat suffer the problem in
which cults are not terribly common to
the Australian people, and as many as
there are who believe in Christianity or
its variants, most consider others that
take these books word for word as,
politely, batshit insane. Few Australians
are going to care about your belief that
Caine is the almighty leader of all
vampires. Tell them that the Camarilla
are a group of pommy tophs who would
prefer it if the convict days never ended,
well hey, then you have some promising
new recruits. That is a much easier sell,
and so the Sabbat must adapt, as it has
elsewhere.
The Anarchs feel like a natural
fit in many ways for Australia, in
sentiment if not always in practice.
Australians feel stifled under the
influence of old money cowards raised
with silver spoons so far down their
throats as to be still felt in a prostate
exam. It is natural to want to go against
those people, to take what they’ve
denied you. This is how many Anarchs
come to be. Finding the power to take
the opportunities they were never given
and realising there is another obstacle
still left. The Camarilla becomes this
obstacle.
So, what are the options? The
Camarilla must change, be led by
someone more “down to earth”. The
Sabbat must use freedom rather than
religion as their rallying cry. And the
Anarchs must foster that image of the
folk hero, to inspire the legend to exist
once more for a new generation of
Australians.

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The Camarilla in Australia
Direct rule is not the kind of rule that can work in Australia, there is no genuine
cult of personality surrounding those in power, in fact, most politicians within the country
are deeply despised for their actions, inaction and general existence. Apply this to Kindred
and you find that the conventional Camarilla methods are often inapplicable.
Respect is not given without cause or reason, if you are worthy of respect then it
can be yours, if you aren’t, then good luck trying to force it. You might not face outward
rebellion, but few Australian Kindred would run to the aid or call of a tyrant.
A successful Prince is one who interferes as little as possible in the business of
others, adjusts court to their audience and not their own taste, and will primarily be seen
as someone who simply does the job and is good at it. In truth, the title of Prince in
Australia is not to be seen as a glorious one, it is a job, one that is done because nobody
else will, or can, or should. A Prince is a rubber stamp keeping nosy Justicars away.
Anything else is up to individual competence. Ironically, a backstabbing, politically
driven Prince is the least likely to actually become a Prince.
The Sherriff is likely where the real power is, they’re the Nosferatu going to local
clubs, pubs and wherever else they need to in order to talk to the right people. They’re the
Toreador who gets their hands dirty to practice their craft. They’re the Ventrue that gets
down and brawls with the best of them. Or maybe not? The importance for a successful
Sherriff is a lack of pretence, similar to a Prince they are there because it is their job, and
they might even enjoy it, but they’re never too good to not deal with someone personally.
If they have a problem, they make it known to be a problem. The Sherriff is the “kinder”
face of the power, and their real power comes from the relationships they need to build to
keep the Camarilla together.
Seneschals rarely exist within Australia, when they do there is usually the
implication that they are the Prince’s lover and needed a title, ala Ganymede. The primary
exception to this is when the Seneschal’s duties lead them into becoming the Sherriff.
Which is an exceedingly common occurrence. In such cases, the Sherriff will employ
more Hounds than other cities to compensate for their increased responsibilities.
Primogen are rare, existing less as clan representatives and closer to an unelected
council. Representing a smaller population means that they’re more often on personal
terms with their “constituency” and will have a more direct touch on the proverbial pulse
of their city. As such, the roles of Primogen are often interwoven with those of the Harpy.
A Harpy is more likely to be the assistant of a Primogen, but is rarely an established title.
The title of Scourge is a common one in Australia, though less for reasons of
tyranny as much as it is an easier way to deal with the more violently inclined Kindred
that Australia tends to create. Give them a job where they can indulge in their less sociable
needs and a target in trouble makers, and you have yourself an easier city. Scourge duties
tend less to Duskborn and Caitiff however, and are more related to dealing with rabble-
rousing Anarchs on the outskirts. It’s a dirty job, but one that more than a few revel in.
A Camarilla city within Australia is rarely about high politics, conflicting factions

24 | P a g e
and intrigue. Camarilla business in Australia is run, aptly, like a business. It is an
organisation with workers throughout the city, and each of those workers are given
flexible roles and duties that keep the fabric of Kindred society together. Domain and
herds are simply the result of role delegation and bonuses given for that delegation.
As such however, this means that internal disputes are susceptible to favouritism,
bribery of favours, and opportunistic ignorance. If a Gangrel takes issue with an unlawful
expansion of Hecata territory, they could take it to the court, or, they could give the Banu
Haqim Prince an exclusive contract with their construction empire for the period of a
decade in exchange for a single night of ignorance towards their domain and the
consequences therein. Small exchanges are made on an almost nightly basis and so long as
the job is getting done and the city is remaining stable, then a few disappearances mean
very little to the bottom-line. In Australia, corruption is the currency of the land.
Sometimes however, Australia does produce a tyrant, one who has no interest in
humbling themselves, and instead combats even the smallest acts of defiance with the
Blood Bond. Such cities have existed, and such cities do temporarily prosper. The
problem with bonding an entire city to the rule of one, is that all members work towards
the same perceived goal “The pleasing of the Prince” – however, should the Prince’s
behaviour deviate in even the smallest of ways, then it will be noticed, interpreted and
pursued with the kind of zeal only common in an addict finding a fix. The most common
result is for multiple coteries to begin to believe radically dissimilar opinions regarding
the will of the Prince. Such disagreements, when heightened by the Bond result in
passionate arguments with even more passionate consequences. Fire tends to reach these
cities, if the Inquisition doesn’t get to them first.

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The Sabbat in Australia
There is much to be said about the Sabbat, particularly within Australia. Recent
events regarding the sect may have affected the rest of the world in a dramatic fashion,
however the Australian Sabbat is a little different. Many of whom once held non-
aggression pacts with the other sects within the country and so enjoyed relative stability.
Followers of Caine are few and far between here. Most Sabbat that join the Sabbat do so
out of a desire of freedom, to be free from the oppressive forces of the Camarilla, the
expectations of others, or to simply build a new existence.
Without an active warzone within the country, it makes it much easier for the
Sabbat to pick and choose their members. Mortals on their own are irrelevant, however as
potential stock for new members there are some exceptions. Exceptions who speak to the
particular sensibilities that some members of the Sabbat can resonate with. Particularly in
relation to the cultural disdain for those who don’t speak to the point.
This Sabbat is more personal, they rule with a violent disregard, however they also
benefit from stability. They have built a home for themselves in this country and non-
aggression between sects has meant that for many years their ability to resist degeneration
has been notable. What this says about the sect as a whole is another matter entirely, what
is known is that many of the Sabbat in Australia have retained their positions and power;
though some have renounced the new shape that the sect has taken.
The greatest change has come from the Second Inquisition however; it was the fire
of the first inquisition that forged the Sword to begin with and so for those with the
privilege to reflect, this Second Inquisition represents an opportunity to refine the
Sabbat’s focus. Many in Australia have begun to relish in the deliberate breaking of the
Masquerade to lure the hunters out, only to hunt them in turn, creating groups who find a
decadent pleasure in luring hunters to them, only to watch in the moment that the hunt
turns on its head.
To discuss structure, Archbishops still exist, and the title therein is not just in
name, the spiritual wellbeing of the Sabbat is just as important as in any other country,
however, Australian Sabbat can sometimes err on the side of vagaries when it comes to
origin stories. Those faithful to Caine have no regard for such vagaries, nor do the
followers of Lilith, but ultimately, the true spiritual guidance provided by Archbishops is
that of education in the Paths of Enlightenment and guiding their children in accepting
their inhumanity as a blessing. Their deaths simply purge the weakness from their frail
mortal bodies and when they wake anew, they are given divine purpose and mandate. To
control mortals, to command and enslave them beneath their will. For it is clear to all,
mortals cannot lead themselves.
Bishops take their teachings directly from their Archbishops, their knowledge of
the Paths and their cities make for ideal teachers in the indoctrination of new packs.
Teaching them the value of the Silence of the Blood, but also to guide prospective Pack
Priests in their future duties as the spiritual centre of the Sabbat. Sometimes this can result
in Bishops hosting communal havens for multiple packs as members learn their new roles
in this unlife.

26 | P a g e
 Templars and Paladins act as they ever have, in accordance to the needs of those
they serve. They are also more often inclined to become nomadic in their duties, hunting
all manner of threats to the sect as needs require. When not actively on the hunt however,
many do find purpose and stability in educating those not of priestly dispositions into
roles that best serve the Sabbat as a whole, many of which becoming firm practitioners in
the Paths of their teachers. Honourable Accord, Cathari, Beast, and Power & the Inner
Voice given particular precedence.
Ducti are another story, no training goes into becoming a Ductus, you either are
one, or you are not, and many more find themselves thrust into the role after their former
leader found themselves torn apart at the hands of an enemy.
The Sabbat within Australia are simultaneously more traditional than their
counterparts from abroad, however at the same time they also deviate more in that their
culture for hunting elders and the worship of Caine are not as pronounced by simple lack
of exposure to the other sects outside of distant communication. In truth the Sabbat are
more likely to find themselves in conflict with Garou fleeing from the fringes from
enemies unknown.
Finally, the Sabbat of Australia do face one particular obstacle in that when the
Gehenna War began the conditions were clear “Antediluvians slumber in the heart of the
oldest locations of cultures and civilisation – find them”. Australia is home to one such
culture. Many Sabbat began to arrive on Australian shores as the call began, prepared for
their war efforts. Packs passed through the cities having their fill as they liked before
moving further westward, to the heart of Australia. Seeking some ancient blood god to kill
and devour. Those that left with these packs have left a hole in many Sabbat holdings, but
the most concerning factor since this war began is one very simple fact; none have
returned.

27 | P a g e
The Anarchs in Australia
Anarchs have long been a group of Kindred believing that they could “change
things from the inside”, and well, we all know how that song and dance goes. In Australia,
Anarchs are a staple of culture, they’re the ambitious larrikins telling old money moguls
where they can stick their pipeline. Whether it travels back to the days of the stockades, or
whether it’s just a part of culture, Anarchs represent a very particular idea within this
country.
In practice, many Anarchs are formed by new money moguls trying to go up
against their old-world equivalents. They’re vampires who saw an opportunity, they saw
their chance to make something from out under the stifling grip of a power structure
designed to keep the workers at someone else’s boot, and they said “fuck no, we’re done
with this”. In many cases, where the Camarilla sells the idea of security and safety, the
Anarchs sell the idea of opportunity and equality. Whether the application of this matches
the idea is up to personal interpretation.
One phenomenon that has been found across the world, and in Australia
particularly, is that of Sabbat defectors. Those who once found home in the Black Hand
seeing the degeneration of their cousins across the pond figured that it was only a matter
of time before the Sect itself fell. They instead hedged their bets on this newly formed
Anarch Movement. Contrary to popular belief many Lasombra chose this option, just as
others of their number flocked to the Camarilla, not willing to betray former allies and
refusing to put on a collar in exchange for refuge. The Kindred in Queensland are a mixed
bag in this respect, still existing half way between Sabbat and Anarch, more of a
rebranding than any actual change really. Something learned from the Ministry no doubt.
So then, the question comes, what does an Australian Baron look like? Well, there
are a few flavours that they come in. There is the obvious crime boss who learned their
talents for leadership through years of violence and knowing the right palms to grease to
get the wheels of society moving. Or one might invoke images of the unionist sick and
tired of seeing the first-hand impacts of the bloated indulgence of the upper class, or one
of the oppressed groups, often drawn from Aboriginal and migrant populations, wanting
to be seen as anything other than a “novelty” or as “lesser” than their colonial
counterparts. Anarchs are the desperate and willing, those willing to take a better chance
even if it comes in a poisoned chalice of vitae. Above all, a Baron is willing to get their
hands dirty on their own, but they also need to know when the time for diplomacy comes.
All Barons should keep a pen in one hand and a sword in the other, both need to be
mighty if they’re going to survive in Australia.
The Anarch Reeve is the equivalent to a Camarilla Sherriff with the notable
exception that they are not under the control of a single individual as much as they are
deployed by a council of representatives as decided by the local Kindred. An Australian
Reeve is more often than not much like a Police presence to remind everyone to behave
and not go around telling your family that you drink blood and can’t go out in sunlight.
House calls are common, or rather, haven calls, and are not given the threatening tone as
the image of a Sherriff might provide. However, they are ultimately “keepers of the
peace” and don’t simply have the role because it sounds cool, they are just as capable as

28 | P a g e
any Sherriff of delivering unholy justice to anyone idiotic enough to jeopardise the
Masquerade because “they wanted to show off how many caps they could drop without
ODing”.
Emissaries are the Anarchs with the most work in modern nights, often needing to
work alongside Sweepers in order to organise, accommodate, record and prepare for the
migration of new Kindred into Anarch domains. A particular concern when dealing with
prospective Sabbat defectors. Roles of bureaucracy becoming more common amongst
Anarch domains have raised concerns however as to just how different they are from the
Camarilla really? Few take kindly to the implication.
To the benefit of the Anarchs however, they are quickly approaching the status of
becoming the largest fully functioning sect within Australia. What this means for their
identity as they grow in number, influence and culture is yet to be known. The mass
converts from amongst the Tzimisce for instance has been a cause of concern for many
both within and without as rumours abound of the Dragons bringing Sabbat rites with
them, including, but not limited to, the Vaulderie, and the promise of breaking the blood
bonds, just as was true in the First Anarch Revolt. Many already find the promise to be too
good an opportunity to ignore.
The Australian Anarchs are a sect at home, a group without the level of opposition
as might be found elsewhere. To that end, their focus has become pre-occupied with
defining culture and developing an answer to the question “What is it that the Anarchs
truly want to become?” – until an answer is found, many Camarilla domains remain wary.
And if nothing else, so long as the answer are unclear, there will always be sect spies
infiltrating these Anarch cities to find out, what they find however is as yet unknown.

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The Autarkis/Independents in Australia
It always takes an exceptional Kindred to remain politically separated or neutral in
the Jyhad. Sometimes it just takes a lack of communication or access. This is why, within
Australia, the majority of Autarkis reside amongst rural communities. They are removed
from larger Kindred politics by very definition, however when any number of Kindred
gather, even near one another, there is a need to establish “ground rules” for mutual self-
interest and protection. This is not established in order to assume political power or even
to interfere with others, it is more of an informal understanding that each can teach other
means of survival in the world away from cities and that if co-existence is meant to
happen then the mistakes of those within the larger cities cannot be replicated in their own
domains.
Margrave is the unofficial term for an Australian Kindred with power and
authority over a large area of rural land. A single domain for a Margrave will often
encompass land more than three cities in size, and is more often than not the title held by
the eldest, or most competent in keeping their territory away from the larger Jyhad. Within
that immense territory, the Margrave will often own farmland to support their feeding, and
establish themselves within a community to become invaluable to them, and to retain their
connection to humanity, something which becomes a greater threat when existing in
isolation amongst the rural domains. The sheer territory covered by the Margrave however
usually means that several smaller towns will fall under their rule, something which
eventually needs to accommodate for the existence of other Kindred who left the cities in
order to pursue a different existence.
Those who hold power over smaller towns/suburbs are often given the title of
Viscount, Burgrave, or Landsknecht. The reason for this is often relating to the cultural
origins of the land itself and which migrants most readily found themselves in the
location. The title is a pleasantry to acknowledge control over their own domain and
recognised as such. Monthly meetings are to take place between members under the
Margrave to ensure that management of the lands are occurring as efficiently as possible
to prevent the potential interest from those they sought to keep away from their domains.
Power is not leveraged, roles and territories are not renegotiated, it is something which
acts as a check-in and reassurance that the hard-earned independence is something that
will not be threatened by vampire nature.
Any vampires below this will rarely hold title, the only exception being in personal
domain, drawn from the taste of the individual vampire in question, as some have taken to
quaint ideas of declaring their own groups of “knights” or other such fancies.
*
Then there is the other group of Independent/Autarkis Kindred. The group of
Aboriginal Kindred, whose impressions can vary from the mystical to the horrifying, and
sometimes even hopeful. All impressions are captured in instances of contact that pass just
as quickly as they appeared. This is a group that would be preferred to not exist by some,
denied by others, and best thought of as an unsavoury rumour spread by “backwards
bushmen” with nothing better to do.

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The Duskborn/Thin-bloods in Australia
A relatively new phenomenon all things considered, but a curious one. They are
thought to be a sign of the end times and abominations of the undying world. Flouting
their place between the dead and the living, having the audacity to live and breathe with
all the warmth of life. It’s almost enough to wonder if they are even cursed.
Superstition is rampant everywhere in the world, but there are always those who
believe in it, and those who ridicule those that believe in it. There are about as many
opinions and superstitions related to the Duskborn as there are Duskborn. They are a new
breed almost, and reveal an insecurity in many of the more superstitious Kindred; they are
able to experience all that the others cannot, and so the others fall to fear and jealousy.
The Duskborn themselves are treated in a multitude of ways, however most find
easy home amongst Anarchs. The Camarilla still bristles in mistrust, and the Sabbat
always want to “use” them for something; possibly related to the Duskborn visions that
appear when they congregate in large numbers. But no, ultimately, the Anarch’s give
them sanctuary, and for a rather simple, sadder reason. The Camarilla has a long history
of Embracing those already in positions of power to maintain their position in society,
those with positions of power in Australia, were, for lack of a better term, immensely
racist.
It was more often than not the Anarchs who Embraced minority populations out of
kinship and familiarity, or the Sabbat who Embraced from those same populations for
similar reasons, but primarily out of practicality and a lack of care for cultural difference
(that’s a mortal concept, why would the undead care?). And so, when the Duskborn first
appeared, frequently denoted the term “Thin-Blood”, it irked many who remembered
being called something similar in their own time. The derogatory “Half-caste”, a vile term
with vile connotations. And so, easy allies are born in the face of an unchanging enemy.
The role of the Duskborn in Australia is that of the renowned “underdog” and as
such, even amongst the more established of Kindred, there is a hope that this new group
can sustain themselves, grow and make something of themselves in these modern nights.
They are the purest of underdogs in the Kindred world after all, bottom of the barrel, but
with only up to go, this is a position that many Australian Kindred see as ideal for a those
wanting to make a name for themselves.
Duskborn Princes? They happen. Duskborn Barons? Why not? Duskborn
Archbishops? You should watch out for these ones.
The Duskborn are capable of assuming all mantles of authority and power in
Australia, all they are limited by is ability and their own willingness to go that extra step
farther than the last person. Because with every new story about their revolutions is a
room full of ash, the one’s they left behind, or the one’s who simply got in their way.
Because the thing they rarely like to talk about with an underdog is that it isn’t always just
hard work to overcome the odds, it is ruthlessness and ingenuity, and the ability to put
aside everything else to get to your goal. The Duskborn underdog is the truest of
opportunists and they, more than any other, remember that the enemy you humiliate today
will become the enemy you regret leaving alive tomorrow.

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The Second Inquisition in Australia
When one thinks of the Second Inquisition, it invokes images of soldiers in
equipment a full decade ahead of production, guns that shoot white fire and weapons
created with holy, righteous fury, designed to obliterate all “Aberrants” from the face of
this Earth. The Inquisition is drone strikes and torture, Stingrays and data extrapolation;
they are a force that exists in such incomprehensible number with the benefit of any
number of new recruits willing to liberate themselves of their country’s “blank-bodies”.
As with everything else, it works a little differently in Australia.
When the Inquisition came to Australia following London, they had found one
fatal flaw in their operations, the Australian government didn’t care. Why would they?
What about this new threat changed anything? So long as they were getting paid, then it
didn’t matter. The Inquisition in Australia isn’t a holy war on the undead, it’s a war of
resources. Those who took the threat seriously didn’t see an opportunity to liberate
themselves from parasites, they saw the kind of money that someone living for hundreds
of years could accumulate. However, Australian Inquisition efforts were not spearheaded
by government agencies and law enforcement, and instead fell back onto the conservative
Liberal party mantra of “There is nothing we can do, that a private company can’t do
better” and at higher cost.
Private companies are the face of the Inquisition in Australia, taking government
grants for “recreational activities” and as “not-for-profit” religious organisations. The face
of the Inquisition isn’t government agents and faceless men, it’s competitive pay and
benefits. But keep your mouth shut, otherwise a visit from plain-clothed anti-terrorism
police unit is in your future. No, in truth, vampire hunters are much easier to find through
employment and training rather than looking for the righteous. True Faith is hard to come
by after all. Besides, with all those pesky restrictions of firearms, their efforts are best
served through more traditional methods.
For some context, the gun laws passed in Australia mean that the most firepower
that an average civilian would be exposed to is that carried at a police officer’s side. This
changes for those living rurally of course, however, there is a cultural distrust of guns and
those who use them. A task force roaming the city with firearms capable of tearing
through an entire suburb? That draws questions, criticism and in serious cases of
retaliation from those in fear of being next. As such, Second Inquisition forces are limited
in what degree of firepower they can use without severely jeopardising operations by
dragging collateral damage into the mix. So, tactics have to change, they harry with
warranted searches, they cause inconvenience, and when the situation is confirmed to be
the activity of their targets, they bring fire. An accidental inferno is easier for people to
ignore than gunfire.
The true difficulty for the Second Inquisition however lies in their targets.
Australia doesn’t trust authority, at least, most of the time. Barring for individuals, and the
hope that the police would choose the right side; they don’t trust them, they don’t like
them, and if it wasn’t so much effort, they’d actually do something about it. This cultural
fact has meant that the Kindred in Australia have taken to this new threat with open arms,
learning from each other and hunting these new hunters for sport, because now they don’t

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 have a choice, and possibly to the dismay of SI agents, they seem to relish in it all.
There is nothing more frightening than someone finally letting themselves off of their own
leash, and so what many foreign agents from SI operations have found most confounding
is an issue of retention.
The efforts in Australia against the SI have often been very direct in function and
efficiency. They orchestrate a deliberate Masquerade breach, plant rumours, be seen in
certain places on certain nights; the SI can’t ignore it and like clockwork their squads
move in, target the individual in question for extraction and execution, and then the true
hunters appear. Kindred from all over bargain for the opportunity to join in the anti-hunter
operations, for many it is the only thing more exciting than a Blood Hunt. The Australian
SI isn’t hunting vampires desperately holding onto humanity through denial of their more
violent natures, nor are they dealing with the blind arrogance and stupidity of Beast-driven
Shovelheads, they’re dealing with vampires whose humanity flourishes and flares in the
face of a chance to oppose the faceless cruelty of private industry funded through
government corruption that has long stifled their lives.
This also leads to the uncomfortable rumours of lupine and vampire cannon fodder
employed by the more desperate efforts of the SI as well. Often broken and removed from
themselves, these victims have undergone a process that few can comprehend.
*
Inter-agency relationships are still significant, and ASIO is often more than willing
to provide assistance as their mass surveillance of internet activity must have some
purpose after all. It also wouldn’t be the first time that the anti-terrorism unit has been
deployed to deal with private individuals at the behest of a politician either. SI has
options, cooperation and the willingness. It is just a battle of attrition on both sides
waiting for the other to slip.
The honest reality of the Inquisition in Australia is that it is troublingly under
control, there is no zeal, there is no holy cause. It’s business. A business that mortal and
immortal alike can make use of. One provides their resources in the hopes of taking more
resources, the other provides resources to unify an inherently fractured, parasitic and
back-stabbing people. It all serves the same end, and the ones who suffer most are always
at the bottom.
*
There is one other consideration for an Australian SI, which is the numerous
human rights abuses by the country in the indefinite detention of refugees in camps. The
Australian Government has an appalling history in this regard, and I don’t suggest making
light of a genuine atrocity, but the kind of disregard, outrage and inhumanity shown by the
media, people and the government in regards to people in these camps provide the same
sort of treatment many Kindred could find directed at themselves by the Inquisition. It is
the “out-of-sight out-of-care” attitude that reveals the inhumane bureaucracy in a country
which bases its immigration decisions on a fear/hatred/disregard for those who need help,
and those who are specifically “foreign” in designation. Australian Kindred may find
themselves designated as a “foreign threat” for the sake of unity amongst SI agents.

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 Australian Cities
Canberra:
Canberra is the height of Camarilla power within Australia. Not because of the
influence held within that place, nor the potential for control over mortal politics. Rather
simply, it is the only capital within Australia that has remained uncontested out of a lack
of desire. Few Kindred desire to live in a political centre where the only flavour is
bureaucrat and government worker - in truth, the Ventrue inhabiting the Canberra with
their fixed palates find the population to be a stable fix to their needs. And with little
competition, it truly is a paradise for those Ventrue with a taste for ministerial blood.

Darwin:
The relatively small, independent coastal city with a population number short of
150,000 (approx.) could commonly be mistaken for a place without much Kindred
activity. On the contrary though, it acts as the staging grounds for one of the more
ambitious of Kindred projects involving the unification of efforts between the Kindred
leader, Uncle Prentice, and his South-East Asian contacts. Few know the true extent of
Uncle Prentice’s plans, but word is that ever since the Week of Nightmares he has been
importing shipments of the earth upon which the dreaded Ravnos Antediluvian fell. Tales
of the powers of the ancient’s blood stirs the imagination, and many believe it is the power
of this blood that makes fantasy real.

Hobart:
Called Hobart by the mortals, and Nipaluna by local Mouheneer people, the city
has long been thought to be a Camarilla domain, but in truth ever since the desecration of
King Billy and Aunty Tru, the colonial Prince has been holed away in his haven, for more
than a hundred years he has been presumed in Torpor. If true, then Hobart is a city just
waiting for change. For the most part it has maintained an independent stability, but
rumours of the sleeping former Prince attracts the attention of many local Kindred looking
to make their claim to Elder vitae and the city by association. The real question is, how
did he end up in Torpor in the first place? And why is it only now that his blood has
become such an avid temptation?

Adelaide:
The “City of Churches”, and of murder, was once a Camarilla domain constantly
on the verge of attack from nomadic Sabbat packs, and eventually, the city fell into Sabbat
hands. But then something odd happened. It, simply put, changed. The city lost the reigns
of its Sabbat handlers and they either left north following the call for Gehenna, or
remained to rule Adelaide. Currently, the city prospers under Lasombra leadership and
many of those Camarilla who survived the takeover suddenly reappeared in full support of
their new Autarkis domain. Strange circumstances to be sure, but it is nothing if not a city
of budding opportunity for eager go-getters willing to defend their Independence from the

34 | P a g e
impending return of Gehenna war veterans. Why did Archbishop turned “Prince” spare
the survivors? When did the change even occur? And importantly, why did the Sabbat
who were present not contest the actions in the moment that their leader began to call
herself Prince?

Perth:
Perth has long been designated an “Anarch” city, their takeover of the city was
years in the making, and once it happened, they inevitably faced the same issue as many
other Anarch aligned groups - the question of “What now?”. Well, typically, that is
answered by the Baron ensuring stability, supporting the business interests of their city
and reaping the benefits. But unfortunately, by this point many begin to wonder how
they’re any different from the “other guys”, and then the Baron named her elected council
of officials Primogen, and herself the Prince. As a city of wealth and culture, Perth felt
bound to push itself into the path of a Toreador Prince, and so it has come to pass. Not all
are happy, and many still remember the sting of betrayal in learning their hard-earned
freedom was taken not by force but by backroom deals and bribes. How will those within
the city respond? Will they lean towards the new Prince in trying to assure their stability
as a new capital of Australian art and culture? Or will their freedom and independence
mean more than the promise of a certain future?

Brisbane:
As far as anyone in Brisbane is concerned, they are a Sabbat city, they have always
been a Sabbat city, and anybody who says otherwise is looking for a fight. In fact,
Brisbane is such a Sabbat city that it doesn’t even have a single leader. Ever since the
unceremonious fragmentation of the Sabbat, those who remained in Brisbane had very
different thoughts on how their city should be run. And so, now the city is broken up
between various pseudo-Anarch Packs all vying for power and supremacy of their “ideal”
vision for Brisbane. Some have fantasies of blood-fuelled revelry, others of their own
brand of post-death “nationalism”, and some are simply out for vengeance against the rest.
The brand that marks the flesh of each pack is but a symbol of their allegiances and all
they’re waiting for is someone to ignite this powder keg of biblical proportions for their
long-lasting stalemate to finally reach its end.

Melbourne:
Melbourne is a city that best exemplifies the necessity of balance between sect
politics. A city once infiltrated by Sabbat saboteurs, the local Prince of the time saw the
necessity to make peace with local Anarchs against a common enemy. Now the city is
ruled with Camarilla stability, but also Anarch sentiment. A far cry from the oppressive
Ivory Tower so commonly thought of. Now Melbourne is a cultural centre for many
within Australia with its many historical landmarks and reminders of its not-so-distant
past. The Nosferatu Sheriff is a testament to the relaxed yet professional air of Melbourne
as she is a common and welcome, if somewhat anxiety-provoking, sight. Whether it is the
Lasombra at a small, Greek café, or a Tremere working in a tailor’s, the Kindred are
always close by. For a Camarilla city, it recognises the importance of a handshake over an
iron fist, and although not all of their enemies are gone, there is a stability maintained by a
collective
35 | P a g e
desire for nobody to “rock the boat” as it were. It is for this precise reason that former
Baron Joseph Theodor Leslie “Squizzy” Taylor had to go. Whether he was run out of the
city as most believe, forced to lay low and gather his resources, or if he was truly put
down permanently and it is one of his lackeys taking on his reputation for themselves,
there are rumours abound of the rise and return of the violent mobster turned opportunistic
Anarch. Should he return under what conditions will it be? And how long will it take for
reprisals? Those are questions on many Kindred’s lips in these modern nights. Either way,
everybody has a horse to back in this particular race.

Sydney:
Welcome to Sydney, a city for sale. A city constantly for sale. There is no sole
leader established, Anarch, Camarilla, Sabbat, Independent or otherwise; the reason being
is that Sydney is a city that goes to the highest bidder in the moment, allegiances are
found in auction rooms, and Sect association is a rubber stamp to put on the contracts
before destroying historical infrastructure for the sake of parasitic developers who give the
Kindred a run for their money. Of course, Camarilla leadership is the formal flavour of the
city, but this is in name only, and only for the sake of the money and corruption that they
rampantly invoke. In truth, Sydney has been in a death spiral for decades, value falling far
behind price, and the future of the city is uncertain. A Sabbat priest declares Sydney the
new haven for a “Reforged Sword” claiming freedom of the Kindred spirit to be the future
of Sydney. The Camarilla lay claim through Sarrasine, the Prince who taught the
Inquisition to tread carefully in cities where they’re not welcome. The Anarchs have a folk
hero in the former “Queen of Sydney” Kate Leigh, fondly referred to as “Mum”,
seemingly forced underground in early decades. Many wonder what future there is to
Sydney, the beliefs of many are that Kate never truly went underground and has simply
been waiting for a moment of weakness in the Ivory Tower, waiting for her time to strike.
Others put their money on the priest and his promise of the Reforged Sabbat, of his tales
of the former Lord of London and his “Institution” touting a return to the values of the
First Anarch Revolt. The Camarilla’s money is on money, as it has always been, they’ve
loosely held the city for almost a century as a prized golden pig, and they’ll be damned if
some “provincial” upstarts will take their city away from them.

36 | P a g e
 Australia is a lucky
country run by second-
rate people who share
its luck.

The Lucky Country

(1964) - Donald
Horne

37 | P a g e
 Chapter 3:
MAALABALUN
THE ONCE
DEAD

Maalabalun The names for this

group are many and varied. Few
Once Dead from without ever see them,
Garkain and those that do are usually
chosen with intent and
Wolf purpose.
Hunters/Biters The Maalabalun, or the
Kurdaitcha Once Dead, are neither clan
Illapurinja nor sect, and yet they are also
both. They are a collective of
Yara-ma-yha-who those whose role shifted with
Namorrodor the arrival of colonial powers
from that of Storytellers to
Stewards to Executioners.
They are a group of
ritual, purpose and wisdom
indicative of their age. 38 | P a g e
MAALABALUN
Virtually unknown to the began.
Kindred outside of Australia exists a
The actions of the Garou didn’t
group known amongst some as the
go unnoticed, and in an act that
Maalabalun, derived from the
subsequently justified (if falsely) the
Gamilaraay words for Once, and Dead.
wolves’ accusations, the Maalabalun
Though many names cross the lips of
came to the aid of the protectors, those
those who need to describe this group of
oft referred to as “Bunyips” or “Yowie”.
enigmatic executioners of the feared
The lupine argument was that this
natural enemy of the vampire species.
revealed their corruption.
The werewolf, garou, lupine.
Few lupines can prepare for the
To describe this group as a clan
fate awaiting them in the face of the
would be inaccurate, and to call them a
Once Dead. Few lupines live long
sect would imply political motives. No,
enough to realise as such. Every drop of
the Aboriginal Garkain are pursuant to a
blood shed in Australia feeds the power
different cause.
of the Maalabalun. Whether to give
Once guardian ancestors, them sustenance, or to strengthen them,
passing their wisdom to their mortal kin, or even to weaken their hated foes.
this group existed in a singular
One of the last Northern
harmony, thirst sated by the very land
Territory lupines to escape the wrath of
they walked on and collective purpose
the Once Dead spoke to his kin of being
interwoven with the understanding of
pointed at with the fingerbones of his
their duty to their people. But this was
fallen packmates. They saw the lethargy
to change.
and pain that began to wrack his body,
Few know the truth behind the the smell of rot taking over, the
grudge held against the lupine threat by corruption that began to spread. He
the Garkain, however it stems from the didn’t make it long after that. The curses
arrival of the First Fleet and the wolven of the Kurdaitcha are not to be taken
“guests” that came alongside them. lightly.
Kindred are by their nature
parasitic; however, it is the lupines who
repeatedly disrupt harmony. It is their
blind, short-sighted rage which launches
the Mother into chaos, and so, when
confronted with protectors who fulfilled
their duty to the truest of their intent,
and without the usual rage and violence
against the local Fera, the wolves knew
only one response in their jealousy and
fear. Genocide. Thus, the War of Tears

39 | P a g e
40 | P a g e
Rites of the Wolf-Hunters Origins of the Maalabalun
Stories of the Maalabalun exist The question then comes, what
in the form of rumours and transitory are the Maalabalun? Where did they
encounters. An elusive people only come from? If they aren’t a clan, how
appearing to those not of their own did they come to be?
when on the hunt. These rumours and
The answer is varied between
sightings lead many to misinterpret their
groups and rumours. Sabbat scholars
intentions, origins and capabilities. The
(they do exist) assert that Caine
most significant of these is in the form
ventured farther than mortals,
of the rituals and ceremonies carried
discovering groups unknown to the rest
over from their former lives, now given
of the Cainite world. The Once Dead
new purpose and power, fuelled by their
laugh at this.
blood.
The Camarilla simply considers
them to be liars. Asserting their origins
The Night of the Hunt as older than their own to cover-up for
their failure to resist Camarilla rule. The
The first things the lupines hear Once Dead don’t laugh at this.
are the lizard-skin drums, becoming a
constant rhythmic mirror to their hearts The Anarchs have been known
as the drums slowly overtake their to sometimes speak in fully coherent
composure and didgeridoos join in sentences. Well done to them.
harmonious foreboding. The Maalabalun exist, because
They can’t sense the Wyrm. they were meant to exist. Parasites exist
They can’t tell where the rising war cry to be parasites, to propel evolution and
comes from. They only know it’s close. change. So, it is with vampires.

Then the smoke begins to roil, Their perspective holds that

surrounding the pack. It is slow, every being who exists has a reason and
travelling like fog. Embers flashing in purpose to exist. Those who lose their
the distance as burning leaves strike the purpose are merely sick, sometimes it is
ground. in the body, sometimes it is in the spirit.
Healing can take many shapes, and not
Smoke closes in, they feel all are kind.
something is wrong. Their Totems have
left them? Their bodies are weakened as They are part of everywhen.
the land itself reaches into their forms. They preserve and uphold their
Erasing their insult. traditions in the face of an unspoken
threat. Many are chosen to be Embraced
Emerging from the smoke, the into this life because they are believed
last vision that the lupines will see. to hold the strength and will necessary
Leeches. Men in the blooded furs of to carry this sacred duty.
their kin, women in the tear-soaked
feathers of those they’ve wronged. They exist, because they are
meant to exist.
The last thing heard from the
pack is silence.

41 | P a g e
A Great Change – Taking Back the Past
For many years, the Maalabalun have had one great mistake in the eyes of their youngest.
An unwillingness to intervene in the actions of the colonial Kindred and mortals. Their Elders
know of a time and place for change to occur, but had remained stoic in their wisdom. This
needed to change, and so a new kind of first contact was made.
Rumours of the Once Dead who have begun recruiting en masse amongst Aboriginal
populations, finding those who wish to honour their heritage and those who are lost. The damage
caused by the Stolen Generation affect many to this day, the disenfranchisement and removal of
one from one’s cultural roots is an open wound that these younger revolutionaries believe they
can help to repair through reconnection and asserting themselves into the greater political
landscape. Newer members consisting of many more of those with “mixed” heritage.
Not all are in agreement with this course, not all consider these “lost” children as their
own. But neither are all opposed. Change is constant, and if a being exists then there is a reason.
All is a part of a truly necessary cycle, and without adhering to the ebb and flow of this timeless
cycle, one can only become lost themselves.
The young rise, and Elder’s decide. Change is coming. How this presents in the face of
Elder’s wishing to provide guidance and neonates craving greater agency in the world at large is
yet to be known.

42 | P a g e
Relationships with Mortals
If there is any constant to the Garkain it is that they do not take kindly to the interference
of their duties. They are a group whose focus on the present whilst being torn into struggles of
the past and future means that their interactions with both mortal and immortals alike are veiled
with feelings of distrust and disregard. Half way between being suspicious of the motives of
others, but without the care to find out, believing in their own ability to overcome the
interference. However, all groups are in need of greater members, and hunting werewolves is a
dangerous game, even with all of their tricks for dealing with them.
Mortals are not regarded as appropriate food; they are instead thought of as either
potential kin or those best left alone to their own business. Even in the face of a harsher world,
even when losing their mob, a Garkain is to understand that they are part of a greater cycle, one
of interconnectedness.
The relationship the Maalabalun has with mortals is complicated, on one side they see
them as being connected by bonds of blood and country, however many believe that their only
role in the lives of mortals is to intervene in the wake of a wrongful death. They help to guide
their people after such death into peace, and to make it so that the suffering felt in life is not
carried over into death. Vampires exist between life and death, not after, as such, their purpose
can sometimes be to allow for the transition between the two states into something dignified.
Those with first-hand experience however, as stated before, have different views on the
matter. Believing that to help their people in life and to fight against the suffering forced upon
them is the only way to heal the scars of the past and to build something newer and greater. The
moderates of this side believe in elevating their people still living. Those of more extreme
minds however believe that the wolves are not their only enemy, and that the mortal capacity
and drive for genocide is a far more immediate threat.

43 | P a g e
 Maalabalun in a Chronicle
The conception behind the their youngest.
Maalabalun began as an attempt to express The separation of roles and duties
the desire to provide a group of Kindred between men and women continue in many
whose unliving ancestors pre-dated the groups, however the exact nature of this
existence of the Bible itself, and whose separation varies in accordance to each
origins cannot be placed in the same group’s needs and values.
category as the major clans. This was meant
As stated earlier, favour of the group
to create a questioning about the nature of
can be garnered through either presenting a
some concepts within VtM that can
lupine pelt/head (if you are so lucky), or to
sometimes limit the beliefs and philosophy
provide the location of either a pack or
of the Kindred as characters. This is a group
individual. This can create the potential for
who pre-dates the idea of Caine, and who
the Garkain to become allies, though few are
have no reason to conform to the religious
inclined to involve themselves in any matter
ideals that contradict what they already
of political concern.
know. This is partially what makes them a
non-playable group by design. They are a The group itself abstains from
challenge to the status quo. This is out of drinking mortal blood entirely. Instead opting
respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait for the blood of animals, werewolves and
Islanders of the past, present and future, as I even each other in communal feeding. Some
am not wishing to “gameify” an entire can also gain sustenance by lying within the
culture. Earth itself (through Meld Earth or otherwise)
– this is drawn from all blood spilled on
So, how then do we include this
Australian land. This is more thematic than
group into a Chronicle?
mechanic, as it is based on the spiritual
Consider the impact of an entire connection to land.
group of Kindred whose sole calling is to
All Maalabalun follow the Path of
eliminate the lupine threat before it even
Dreaming, a deviation of the former Path of
realises what is happening.
Harmony.
They are a group that travels in
They are by no means perfect
silence, and remains unseen right up until
however and can present with a disregard for
the moment they strike. They know where
modern lives and suffering, this is often
their enemies are, they know how many
reflected in their lack of intervention in the
there are, how they fight, how they think,
face of suffering. Often believing that it is not
and their only motivation is one of duty to
yet the time to challenge.
the past and the hope to preserve the lives
of those last remaining “Bunyip” and A final consideration is to respect that
“Yowie” that they defended all those years country is everything, land is everything, and
ago. to be separated from one’s country/land is a
deeply traumatic experience that can leave a
If they have no reason to speak,
sense of disenfranchisement from one’s own
they will not. When they do speak, it will
identity. This group believes the Garou are a
likely be through an intermediary, one of
threat to this very concept.

44 | P a g e
 Common Disciplines:
Path of Dreaming – Convictions
 Oblivion
 Show care for your place of being –  Protean
You are not entitled to the  Blood Sorcery
destruction of that which the world  Animalism
has so freely given you.  Auspex
 Respect the natural world and the  Obfuscate
roles it creates – You exist because
you are meant to exist and to
believe otherwise is an insult to all Further notes/context:
other life.
 Discipline variation will
 Dichotomies do not exist in nature, exist, as clan origins may
life must always exist in balance – still be a factor to consider.
Do not lose touch with your human Though most may hold a
clan identity derived from a
nature, nor with your vampiric
place somewhere between
nature. Both have a role and both the conceptions of the
are to be respected. Tzimisce (Koldun) and the
 We are a part of everything, and Gangrel (Lhiannan). An
immutable connection to
everything is a part of us – Never land and ancestors reflecting
neglect the relationships we share their discipline choice.
with others, our community or the  In the case of the use of
Oblivion, ceremonies are not
universe itself. This
used to control wraiths as
interconnectedness comes with much as they are to appease
responsibilities we bear to each. and bring peace to them, to
communicate last wishes and
to request assistance when
hunting lupines. The spirits
of the Bunyip are the
readiest to answer in
protection of their still living
descendants from lupine
threats.
 Oblivion is also used to
pacify/negate Garou Totems
and weaken the Garou
themselves. Oblivion in this
use can risk polluting a caern
and other locations, thus,
after every hunt, a Smoking
Ceremony must take place to
thereby cleanse the location
of the stains of such
violence.

45 | P a g e
I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind,

I could tell you of crimes that shame

mankind,

Of brutal wrong and deeds malign,

Of rape and murder, son of mine;

But I’ll tell instead of brave and fine

When lives of black and white entwine,

And men in brotherhood combine-

This I would tell you, son of mine.

Son of Mine (1964) - Oodgeroo Noonuccal

46 | P a g e
Chapter 4:

Predator
Types

47 | P a g e
Agriculturalist: Bushranger:
(Resolve or Intelligence + Animal Ken (Charisma or Wits + Intimidation or
or Science) Firearms)
The poor reputation for those Whether you err on the side of
who feed from animals comes from roguish folk hero charm or cruel and
those eating strays in alleys or rats in brutish bloodthirst, you’re a hunter just
sewers. What you do is different. You as efficient as any other. Your
care for your livestock, ever reputation precedes you; you’re
experimenting to produce animals of known, loved, feared and always seem
exceptional quality, and more just one step ahead. Whether you’re
importantly, exceptional blood. You ambushing travellers or robbing people
are a student of the agricultural openly, you do it with a certain charm
sciences or maybe just a humanist, that sometimes leaves even your
either way, you gain your sustenance victims bragging about meeting the
in the same way as mortals. The “one and only”.
greatest benefit being that you can still
sell the meat after you’re done  Add a speciality in Intimidation
draining your stock. (Hold-ups) or Stealth
(Ambushes).
 Add a speciality in Animal Ken  Gain one dot in either Fortitude
(Farming) or Science or Presence.
(Agriculture or Animal).  Gain two dots of criminal
 Gain one dot in either Contacts.
Animalism or Blood Sorcery.  Gain one dot of Fame.
 Spend two dots between  Spend two dots between
Domain and Resources. Resources and Fame.
 Gain the Feeding Merit: Iron  Gain one dot of infamy.
Gullet (•••).  Gain the Enemy flaw (•)
 Gain the Farmer flaw (••). encompassing either a past
victim out for revenge or police
knowledge of your actions.

48 | P a g e
Folkloric Beast: Grey Nomad:
(Strength or Dexterity + Brawl or (Manipulation or Charisma +
Stealth) Subterfuge or Insight)
People know of you, and that is Not every Kindred is given
as far as they get. They hear the immortality in the time of instability
whispers of the creature that lurks on and rampant hormones. Some have
the fringes and stalks its prey by lived full lives before even knowing
moonlight. The story is never quite the about vampirism. For whatever reason,
same, but your presence is felt you are one such Kindred. The greys
everywhere that you go. Something were already running through your
about becoming a myth takes away a hair before your Embrace and now that
human part of you, replacing it with you’ve eternity ahead of you, you
whatever dark thing that you let slip travel the country taking in all that you
inside. You’re the reason why parents couldn’t before with fresh eyes and an
don’t let their children play outside at untiring body. All you need is a map,
night. At least, that is what they tell motorhome and maybe some munchies
themselves. for the road.
 Add a speciality in Brawl  Add a speciality in Drive
(Grapple) or Stealth (Urban or (Caravan) or Survival
Wilderness). (Navigation).
 Gain one dot in Protean and  Gain one dot in either
one dot in either Oblivion or Obfuscate or Auspex.
Potence.  Spend two dots between
 Gain the Bloodhound Resources and Haven (Mobile).
advantage (•).  Gain the Living in the Past
 Gain the Zeroed advantage (•). flaw (•).
 Spend four dots between
*Kindred taking this predator type
Haven and Domain.
should have an apparent age roughly
 Lose one humanity.
equal to the appropriate retirement age.
 Gain the Obvious Predator flaw
(••). *Kindred couples with this predator
 Gain the Folkloric Block/Bane type can pool successes on feeding
flaw (•). rolls.

49 | P a g e
Leashed: Pied Piper:
(Composure or Resolve + Etiquette or (Manipulation or Charisma + Stealth
Insight) or Subterfuge)*
Not all vampires are masters of You have no need to leave your
their unlife, you certainly aren’t. For haven to hunt for your food. You’re a
one reason or another, you are collared business owner after all, and your
to the will of another and blood is business brings the blood directly to
graciously given by the one holding your door. Whether you’re a travel
the leash. You don’t hunt, you don’t agent, hotel owner, stock broker, or
seduce, you try to anticipate your even the manager of a restaurant, you
keeper’s wishes and appeal to their reap the rewards of both a steady
better nature for your needs. This source of income and a steady source
relationship can vary between a sire of blood. What your business is will
and childe, master and servant, or affect the kind of clientele you’ll feed
perhaps even gaoler and prisoner. from, but one thing that is certain is
Whatever the case is, you’ve learned that the food comes to you.
long ago that life at the end of their
 Add a speciality in Finance
leash is easier than at the end of their
(Player/ST Choice) or
ire.
Subterfuge (Innocence).
 Add a speciality in Etiquette  Gain one dot in either
(Appeasement) or Insight Presence or Dominate.
(Empathy).  Spend three dots between
 Gain one dot in either Auspex Resources, Haven and
or Fortitude. Herd.
 Gain the Cold Dead Hunger*  Gain the Enemy flaw (•)
Mythical merit (•••). your business was the last
 Gain the Thrall* flaw (••). known location of a
missing person, their next
of kin has an interest in
*Cold Dead Hunger is found in
discovering what happened
Forbidden Religions, p.87.
to them.
*The Thrall flaw is on p.67 of Blood
*Alternative rolls can be made
and Country.
according to the style of feeding.

50 | P a g e
Raider: Scion:
(Strength or Composure + Melee or (Charisma or Intelligence + Leadership
Larceny) or Finance)
“You need an invitation to Vampires staying in contact
enter” is a laughable superstition to with living relatives is not an
you. You don’t need anyone’s uncommon thing, though your reasons
invitation, nor do you need their are what make you uncommon. In
permission, you take what you want, your time, you are the one who made
everyone else be damned. You know your family name, without you, they
when people feel safest, when they’re would have nothing, and you’ll be
least safe and how long the local damned if death was going to stop you
authorities take to come to the report from protecting that name from
of a scream in the house next door. descendants who never knew what you
Home is where the heart is, and that went through to be where they are
heart has blood, so for as long as today. You’re the one who makes the
people feel safe in their homes, you’ll family decisions with enlightened
find a steady source of what you need. vision, you guide them onto correct
paths, and they will obey, because they
 Add a speciality in Larceny know what you are and wouldn’t dare
(Housebreaking) or Melee do otherwise.
(Improvised Weapons).
 Gain one dot in either Fortitude  Add a speciality in Leadership
or Potence. (Command) or Finance (Estate
 Gain three dots of criminal Management).
Contacts.  Gain one dot in either
 Lost one humanity. Dominate or Auspex.
 Spend three dots between
Haven, Status, or Resources.
 Gain the Herd advantage (••).
 Gain the Dark Secret flaw
(Cleaver/Serial Masquerade
Breacher) (••).

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Smoker:
(Charisma or Wits + Streetwise or
Science)
Blood isn’t the only addiction
found in the Kindred, and some find
that the sheer logistics of satiating their
formerly mortal needs on top of their
immortal ones should be more efficient.
Enter, the Smokers. In a method devised
by Thin-Bloods to create “Blood
cigarettes”, Smokers take whatever
scraps of blood they can get, even if
they have to scrape it off of the walls of
the havens of their fallen friends and
give it another form. They either take all
of the dried and congealed blood to an
Alchemist or do the work themselves to
create a simple, inconspicuous means of
gaining sustenance from the blood
vapours. The method can be messy, and
risky, but there are more than a few
“full-bloods” who pay top dollar for
these sorts of things.
 Add a speciality in Streetwise
(Alchemist) or Science
(Evidence Collection).
 Gain one dot in Thin-Blood
Alchemy.
 Gain the Feeding Merit: Iron
Gullet (•••).
 Spend two dots between
Substance Use, Bonding, or
Feeding flaws.
*Australian Kindred might colloquially
refer to this Predator Type as a “Durry
Duster”.

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One should as a rule respect public
opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of
prison, but anything that goes
beyond this is voluntary
submission to an unnecessary
tyranny.

- Bertrand Russell

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 Chapter 5:

Disciplines

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Protean

Level 1:
Mantle of the Beast
Amalgam: Oblivion 1

The vampire draws on a deep and primordial connection to “wear” their Beast on
their sleeve. Minor alterations to the vampire’s form take place, reflecting the worst faces
of the user’s own Beast. The changes appear physical, but are also intangible. Changes
occur at shoulder level and above. An example of this power may be the user’s hair
extending out into a writhing, mane-like mass, their mouth growing in size and severity,
or their face appearing to have an “overlay” from another more bestial face.
Cost: Free
System: No roll is required to activate Mantle of the Beast. While active the user receives
a die bonus equal to their Blood Potency on all Intimidation rolls. In addition, the Mantle
conceals the face of the user as if shrouded or masked. Use of this power may qualify as a
masquerade breach.
Duration: As long as is desired.

Level 5:
Aspect of the Beast
Amalgam: Oblivion 3
Prerequisite: Mantle of the Beast
Dice Pools: Resolve + Protean
Whether the vampire’s connection with humanity has grown tenuous, or perhaps
even stronger, either way, Aspect of the Beast shows one truth. There is no escape from
what you can become, because what you can become is powerful. Aspect of the Beast
shifts the entire form of the Kindred into that of the of one’s innermost Beast, taking what
was once an echo of monstrosity and refining it into the physical. The form taken differs
between Kindred, but one thing that is certain is that it seeps with stains of the Abyss and
leaves a trail of violence in its wake.
Cost: Two Rouse Checks
System: Aspect of the Beast takes a full turn to activate, during which time the vampire

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can only defend, using pre-Aspect of the Beast dice pools. The user rolls Resolve +
Protean and can purchase a benefit from the table below less than or equal to the number
of successes from their roll. All Superficial damage inflicted by the vampire while Aspect
of the Beast is active is not halved, including on supernatural creatures. For each turn that
Aspect of the Beast is active the user must make a Rouse Check, on a fail the user must
take a Stain as the Abyss begins to take its payment in more than blood. Any critical
successes rolled while Aspect of the Beast is active counts as a messy critical.
Duration: As long as desired; or as long as can be maintained.

Number of Success “Purchasable” Benefits

2 Successes  Increase in Brawl, Intimidation and
Athletics – One die per success.

3 Successes  Increase your dice pools by:

Physical 4; Social 2; Mental 1; or
 Reduce a single opponent’s dice
pools by: Physical 2; Social 2;
Mental 2.

4 Successes  Increase your dice pools by:

Physical 6; Social 3; Mental 2; or
 Reduce a single opponent’s dice
pools by: Physical 4; Social 4;
Mental 4.

5 Successes  Your natural weapons gain the

ability to deal aggravated damage.
 Two creatures from the Abyss are
drawn to your call – these creatures
take a form as chosen by you, but
will share their dice pools with the
Guard Dog on pg.373 of the V5
Core Rulebook.

*ST discretion is highly advised. Aspect of the Beast is intended to be high risk high
reward power, the cost being to one’s humanity if not careful.
*Numbers/bonuses can be altered to suit personal preferences/campaign.
*Aspect of the Beast is possibly best used as an NPC discipline or for a Sabbat campaign,
as its design comes from the idea of directly sacrificing one’s humanity in the pursuit of
power and strength that touches on the otherworldly.

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Obfuscate

Level 5:
Permanence
Amalgam: Presence 4
Prerequisite: Fata Morgana
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Obfuscate
An extension onto the power of Fata Morgana, allowing for the crafting of more
elaborate illusions with the addition of granting those illusions a degree of “permanence”
or stability within the world. The illusion of a heavily locked gate for instance can be
created to dissuade would be intruders, but would no longer need the illusionist to be
physically present in order to sustain the illusion. The rules otherwise are identical to
those within Fata Morgana*.

Cost: Two Rouse Checks

System: The user makes a Manipulation + Obfuscate test against a Difficulty equal to two
plus the number of senses the hallucination targets. (An audio-visual hallucination would
thus be Difficulty 4, while a complete five-sensory experience would be Difficulty 7.) The
easiest visual hallucinations to create are fairly small or discreet — increase the Difficulty
by one for room-sized hallucinations, two for house-sized hallucinations, and so on.
Further complications can add additional Difficulty, but that is left to the Storyteller’s
discretion. Any attempt to mimic the appearance of a specific individual or in other ways
deceive can require additional Performance or Subterfuge tests as appropriate.

Duration: 24 hours on a win, one week on a critical success – unless the vampire chooses
to let it lapse before that.

*Note: Fata Morgana and the rules pertaining to it are found on p.26 of the V5
Companion.

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Blood Sorcery Rituals

Level 1:
Farmer’s Friend
This Ritual is used to increase the potency of animal blood, using it as a base for
volume to provide ample sustenance for the Kindred whose Blood Potency ordinarily
makes animal blood unpalatable.
Ingredients: Animal blood, one drop of fresh human blood per level of hunger’s worth of
animal blood, 10g/ml of a blood coagulant.
Process: The caster begins by pouring the animal blood into its intended receptacle,
followed by the drops of human blood, once the blood settles, the coagulant is to be added
and stirred. The caster then envisions the change in the potency of the blood, its taste,
scent and feeling. If successful, the blood will begin to grow warm as if drawn directly
from a vessel.
System: A successful ritual transmutes the animal blood into blood that is as potent and
delicious as that of a mortal, this makes animal blood treated by this ritual only begin to
slake half hunger at Blood Potency 4, rather than 2. The blood maintains the usual animal
resonance. The blood prepared by this ritual must be consumed within a night or lose its
potency. On a critical win the blood sates hunger at twice the ordinary amount per volume
and will keep its potency for three nights.
*This ritual can be applied to Blood Bags at ST discretion.

Level 3:
Blood of the Chimera
This Ritual follows the rules of Farmer’s Friend, however in addition the caster
will be able to “manufacture” resonance or dyscrasia within the blood.
Ingredients: Animal blood, one drop of Kindred vitae (not belonging to the caster) per
level of hunger’s worth of animal blood, 50g/ml of a blood coagulant.
Process: The caster first coats the interior of their chosen receptacle with the Kindred
vitae, scratching a symbol to represent a chosen resonance they wish the blood to assume.
After this, they conduct the ritual as in Farmer’s Friend.
System: A successful ritual roll transmutes the animal blood into as potent and flavourful
as that of a mortal, animal blood treated by this ritual only begins to slake half hunger at
Blood Potency 4, rather than 2, and the blood assumes the desired resonance.

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Blood prepared by this ritual will retain its potency for a period of a week. On a critical
win, the blood also assumes a random quality of Dyscrasia, will retain its potency for a
month, and will instead assume the flavour and potency of the Kindred whose blood was
used to coat the receptacle – allowing for sustenance at all levels of Blood Potency.

Level 5:
War Dance
This Ritual serves to demoralise enemies and embolden allies, creating a bond of
blood and solidarity to a common end. This Ritual varies in practice between caster, but it
cannot be performed perfunctorily, it must be felt, believed in, and be practiced. Often
used as a “welcoming”, this War Dance also serves as a warning, a warning that your
actions don’t go unnoticed, and you’re on the land of people older than your Gods.
Ingredients: Ochre, weapon of choice, and songs/music of Lore.
Process: The caster and those assisting the caster must paint themselves in ochre drawn
from the land of their people. The caster is to be supported by others of true belief in the
Lore and story being told, who provide this through accompanying song and dance. The
caster, weapon in hand, dances with the utmost of sincerity and earnestness, feeling the
stories of their land fill them. The caster should have an intended opposition group as the
target of the ritual. This opposition will have in some form, disrespected the Lore and
stories of the land they walk. The caster is to hold their weapon in hand for the duration of
the ritual. Allies wishing to gain the benefits of this ritual must participate.
System: The caster makes the usual ritual roll, and all allies/participants must make a
Resolve + Performance roll at difficulty 3. The ritual is rolled at difficulty 7, this difficulty
decreases by 1 for each ally/participant who succeeds on their Resolve + Performance roll.
Any successes that exceed the minimum required roll subtract dice from all rolls against
them by the intended opponents, and add dice to the caster and allies at a 1:1 ratio of the
successful margin. (E.g., The caster succeeds a difficulty 4 ritual roll with 7 successes,
the margin of difference is 3, this removes 3 dice from all rolls by their opponents
against them, and increases their own dice pools by 3 when working against their
opponents).
*This ritual is always employed by the Maalabalun against their lupine targets. War
Dance rituals in such cases will have multiple casters and multiple participants, average
difficulty will be either 3 or 4 for the Maalabalun.

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Oblivion Ceremonies

Level 2:
Smoking Ceremony
Pre-requisites: The Binding Fetter, Oblivion’s Sight, or Where the Shroud Thins
This Ceremony calms the spirits of an area, spiritually and physically cleansing
the location. Used after violence to consecrate land and prevent the vengeful dead from
rising again. Can also be used to weaken the connection of lupines and their Totems or
other spirits they may have to aid them.
Ingredients: Blood from the descendants of the spirits of the land and the caster’s vitae
(not mutually exclusive), emu bush branch & leaves (or another plant with anti-microbial
properties), fire.
Process: The vampire holds the branch in their right hand, combining their blood and that
of the descendant along the thickest most part, they will then smoulder the leaves over a
fire, rising and encircling the desired area. Once they have circled the area, they will set
the branch down over the fire, and will the smoke to aid the spirits to either move from
the area, return to country, or watch over them in peace.
System: The vampire makes an Oblivion ceremony roll vs. the Resolve + Composure (or
Willpower if not defined) of spirits/wraiths in the area. If the blood of the descendant was
taken by force, the vampire must make a further Manipulation + Subterfuge roll at a
difficulty to the spirit’s willpower. On a win, the vampire may find their efforts aided by
the spirits in the area, through small guidance or hampering of enemy actions within the
land. The spirits will not take commands. Weakening the connection to Totems for
lupines results in them taking a -2 penalty to their awareness and resolve checks.
If the spirits/wraiths win the contest, then the vampire in question will not be given
trespass and will instead suffer a -2 to awareness and resolve checks alongside taking a
single point of superficial willpower damage.

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Level 5:
Bone-Pointing
Pre-Requisite: Touch of Oblivion
This Ceremony channels the debilitating effects of Touch of Oblivion, and curses
an individual to feel its effects at a later time when they are least able to anticipate it. The
process of this involves channelling Touch of Oblivion through a bone that is pointed at
the intended target with a retributive justice in mind.
Ingredients: Caster’s vitae, a pointed bone to be held in one’s hand, retributive intent.
Cost: One rouse check
System: Following a Rouse Check, the vampire points a bone at their victim channelling
the force of Touch of Oblivion into it willing its effects on the victim, and the victim will
make a Stamina + Resolve vs the caster’s Resolve + Oblivion. If the victim fails, they will
suffer two levels of Aggravated damage as well as a crippling injury. This will take place
between 1 and 3 hours after the Bone Pointing is complete.
If this injury is inflicted to an arm or leg, the targeted limb is rendered crippled and will in
the case of mortals require lengthy rehabilitation, while vampires can mend the damage as
regular Aggravated damage.
Likewise, Touch of Oblivion may render a target mute, deaf, or blind. See crippling
injuries in the V5 Core Rulebook (p. 303) for details on the mechanical effects of crippled
limbs. Storytellers may decide that such mutilation warrants Stains.

Thin-Blood Alchemy

Level 1:
Pack a Day
First created by Thin-bloods trying to manage a smoking habit whilst also finding
the time and money to feed, some of them had a brilliant idea. “What about we make
blood smokes?” and so began a lengthy, expensive process of trying to infuse cigarettes
with human blood in a way that also provided sustenance. After many failed experiments
and mishaps, they found a way to make it work. So much so their efforts have even
extended into the e-cigarette/vape market in certain areas.

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 Ingredients: The alchemist’s blood, one rouse check’s worth of phlegmatic
human blood, a grated sponge, a handful of vitamin & fish oil tablets and the substance of
choice for smoking.
Activation cost: Free
System: This alchemy infuses their chosen substance with one or more rouse check’s
worth of blood. System wise, this will act as the equivalent of a blood bag and hunger will
not be fully sated until the infused substance is fully consumed/used.
One rouse check will provide blood for infusion that equates to roughly five cigarettes; for
measurement reference this is roughly 5g per rouse check. This formula is typically
created through a Fixatio method by blending the additional ingredients before distilling
and seeping the smoking substance in the resulting mixture until dried, however Calcinato
and Athanor Corporis alchemists may blend the ingredient into a paste first, before
consuming the mixture, or having their vessel consume it before then seeping their chosen
substance in the mixture afterwards.
The roll for the ritual is made at the completion of the alchemy. The roll is the standard
for the alchemist’s methods. On a win, the 5g becomes infused with a rouse check’s worth
of blood and can be consumed at leisure in order to reduce hunger by 1. On a critical win,
every 2g of the alchemist’s batch will become infused with the equivalent of 1 rouse
check, allowing for the satiation of more hunger per alchemy roll. (E.g., a win will make
10g capable of satiating 2 hunger, whereas a critical win makes that same 10g
capable of satiating 5 hunger).

Level 5:
The Withering
This formula is the vengeance of the Thin-Bloods manifest, rumours once
circulated of phenomenon in times past called “The Withering”, rumours perhaps
circulated by the creator of this formula? Regardless, the Duskborn employing this power
will be able to turn the potency of Kindred vitae against its bearer, going so far as to even
negating the gifts of the blood. Disciplines become harder to use, wounds become easier
to sustain, and healing becomes a more gruelling task.
Ingredients: The Alchemists’ blood, Melancholic human blood, Choleric human blood,
Sanguine human blood, Phlegmatic human blood, animal blood, dead/inert human blood,
one cup of sugar, a tablespoon of liquid mercury and liquid nitrogen.
Activation cost: One rouse check
System: The alchemist mixes all of the blood, the sugar and mercury in an Erlenmeyer
flask, before slowly mixing over heat. At the conclusion, the sticky caramel-like
substance should be transferred to a smaller, open-top vessel. Liquid nitrogen is then
poured slowly over top of the mixture to harden it. The alchemist quickly swallows the
hardened mixture before it becomes liquid again.

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The mixture then remains dormant within the vampire. The Withering can then be
activated through a rouse check and a Resolve + Alchemy roll. The Withering affects an
area equal to the number of successes in the Resolve + Alchemy roll in metres.
Disciplines activated within the area make their rouse checks as usual, however then the
user of the Discipline must deduct their Blood Potency from the roll; and for as long as
they are within the radius of The Withering they cannot benefit from their Blood Potency.
E.g., A vampire with a Blood Potency of 4 cannot benefit from a Blood Surge beyond
one die, can only heal 1 superficial damage per turn, cannot add any Discipline
power bonus dice, nor can they benefit from a Discipline rouse check re-roll. For all
intents and purposes, from within The Withering’s radius, the Kindred in question
is treated as a Thin-Blood in the case of blood potency – with the exception that their
ordinary Blood Potency of 4 would be deducted from every Discipline roll.

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 Discipline Considerations
The following are merely considerations for Discipline changes from the
official V5 material. This may be derived from a biased position, or sometimes
just a result of disagreements and adjustments made in play. Ignore or use as
you please.

Duskborn/Thin-Bloods: Avatar far too superior for serving a

similar function. It is a means of balance.
 If taking the Discipline Affinity
merit - rules suggest treating it as Blood Sorcery:
out-of-clan, but that is too
punishing and discourages  Scorpion’s Touch (Lvl 3):
Duskborn PCs – treat it as in-clan Vampires with Protean, and more
for added flavour. specifically Feral Weapons, can
apply their Scorpion’s Touch to
 Blood Sorcery may be learned by
their weapons (including altered
a Duskborn as an out-of-clan
fangs) at the cost of an additional
discipline, however the effects
rouse check on top of activation of
produced may differ due to the
each discipline – approx. 3 rouse
mercurial nature of the Duskborn
checks total. Serves the purpose of
vitae.
saving time in combat, but also
Animalism: adds an element of high risks for
high returns.
 Atavism (Lvl 2): Include Freeze  Theft of Vitae (Lvl 4): Can
and Fawn as additional affect supernatural creatures
stress/threat responses. Freeze including vampires, coaxing the
results in the target becoming vitae out, increasing hunger of the
unable to take any action at all, target whilst providing 1:1
instead being held motionless in sustenance for the caster. Dice
fear. Fawn results in the target pool for Kindred targets is:
immediately trying to Intelligence + Blood Sorcery vs
please/appease the target with Stamina + Composure or
compliance in order to avoid Fortitude.
conflict.
 Consider, any discipline power Blood Sorcery Rituals:
that manifests an individual’s
 Communicate with the
stress response to include Freeze
and Fawn as valid responses. If the
Kindred Sire (Lvl 2):
Beast is to act, as its namesake, Communication is not limited
then these two responses are just between Sire and Childe should
as valid as Fight or Flight in there be sufficient access to blood
ensuring survival. of the desired target, the blood of
the caster and intended target are
Protean: blended together in the process of
dripping, and concentration is
 Mist Form: Can be used focused on the individual rather
reflexively at a baseline of two than the sire. A Bestial Failure can
Rouse Checks – justification: it is possibly result in communication
a 5th level power and the three-turn with an unintended or undesired
limitation makes Oblivion’s target linked by the blood of either
Tenebrous the caster or of the target.

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Modernity is a surprisingly
simple deal.
The entire contract can be
summarised in a single
phrase:
Humans agree to give up
meaning in exchange for
power.

- Yuval Noah Harari

65 | P a g e
 Chapter 6:

Backgrounds

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Backgrounds – Rural ask some questions as to why you need
their Ute so early in the morning, but
Living rurally and within a you wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t
small community means that sooner or important. And hell, they’re not going
later, people are going to begin to to be calling the police.
recognise you, and you will become a
familiar face. You can either reject Contacts:
this, or embrace it. (•) – You know a local gossip,
Allies: someone always willing to talk about
what he said and she said, sometimes
(•) – You’re recognised, people know though, they come back to you with
you’re not a tourist and you seem something very interesting.
pleasant enough that they’d be willing
to speak of you positively in your (••) – There is always at least one guy
absence. who is preparing for the apocalypse,
and he has your number. Should you
(••) – You’re a frequent face locally, be in need of an “extra-legally”
you rarely return to your haven acquired firearm, they might be able to
without a friendly nod by someone you help you out; “just in case y’know?”.
recognise, people who know you will
be willing to defend your name in your (•••) – All of your time with local
absence. police has meant that you have some
leniency these nights, someone willing
(•••) – You have a group of what could to look the other way in exchange for a
be best thought of as “drinking small favour. If you have enough to
buddies”, not to say you drink from give them in return then maybe they’ll
them, but you always have a spot at even “misplace” some evidence for
their table and if anyone starts any you.
unsavoury rumours, they’ll be more
than willing to beat the lies out of their (••••) – Police, council and small
mouth in your absence. After all, what business owners, they all owe you a
are friends for? small favour here and there, and
sometimes that’s all that’s between
(••••) – You have friends across many you and an overconfident hunter from
groups in your town, they know you, the city.
smile as you approach and all of them
give you the benefit of the doubt in (•••••) – If you need a favour, someone
your habits. There is always someone will step in, there are few people who
available who might be willing to do wouldn’t be willing to get on your
you a favour, if you ask nicely. good side. You’re the one who gets
things done after all, and should they
(•••••) – Your friends extend to high need something down the line they
places just as much as the small. There understand that getting into your good
are a number of reliable, close friends books is the first step.
who’d be willing to go above and
beyond if you needed help, they might

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Status – Local: need, the sooner you’re gone, the
happier everyone else will be.
(•) – People remember you, you helped
organise that night festival, right? Or, Influence:
was it something else? You seem
(•) – You’re a familiar face in local
familiar.
council meetings.
(••) – People see you all the time,
(••) – People know to expect you where
seems like you really care about
decisions are being made.
supporting the small businesses in
town. (•••) – Local councillors and police
know better than to ignore you, you’re
(•••) – Everybody in town knows of
taken very seriously.
you, your face has been on more than a
few newsletters about local initiatives (••••) – You are a part of your local
and philanthropy. Some seem to recall council or are part of management for
you delivering a sermon once? It was police in the area; your decisions drive
rousing, to say the least. the future of the town.
(••••) – There isn’t an event run (•••••) – This is your town, your home.
without your name attached on the last Nobody will deny that, and nobody can
page, your donations and effort in take that away from you.
supporting the community has not
gone unnoticed and everybody knows Indenture
it. There exist two inherent desires
(•••••) – Your family has been here for amongst the Kindred: To dominate, and
generations, and sure, you went away to be dominated. The allure of power,
for a while, but nobody stays away and the allure of giving in to a greater
from “God’s country” for too long. power. Both have a place, and are most
You are the talk of the town, and the commonly utilised through boons,
good that you do is nothing to be however Thraldom takes many forms,
shrugged at. If parents were to need a and it’s not just other Kindred who
local role model for their children, you have a desire to dominate the blood-
would be it. drinkers.

Infamy – Local (flaws): Flaw: (••) Thrall – Your freedom is

not your own, whether it is under a pile
(•) – You’re just not “one of us”, you of countless boons held against your
might seem a little too arrogant, as name, a blood-bond of the severe
though you think you’re better than degree, or perhaps you’re even a
everyone else. Nobody is going to be prisoner of the SI, your leash is limited,
buying your drinks that’s for sure. and your actions will often come at
mandate or threat of death. How you
(••) – You’re a pariah, there’s no other
deal with this is up to you, but one thing
word for it, you belong outside of town
is certain, few who hold the reigns give
but while they’ll tolerate you coming
them up willingly, or bloodessly
to get groceries or whatever else you

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Flaw: (•) Indebted – You owe some (•••••) Boon Collector - You have
favours, more than the usual Kindred traded favour for favour and Boon for
your age. Whether this was planned or Boon until eventually, you’ve reached
simply a necessary sacrifice is up to a point where there are few in the city
the individual, but in a moment of who you can’t reach with a Boon - the
need, there are more than a few names proportion of Major to Minor Boons
willing to use you to the fullest that should be at an approximate ratio of
Prestation will allow. 1:5.
(•) Favours - Whether it was an (•••••) Life Boon - People would kill
accident, choice or something else, for what you have, and you’ve killed
you’ve accumulated a small number of to take what you have. There is a
favours amongst mortals in your Kindred who would not be alive today
domain, you won’t be able to drag if it weren’t for you. You risked your
them along for long, but when you call life to save theirs, and now they owe
upon your favour, they’ll be inclined you. Up to and including facing certain
to help you out, just this once. death at your word. How you use this
power will shape how your fellow
(••) Minor Boon - There is a Kindred
Kindred see you.
in the city you’ve helped out in a way
when no other did, but they couldn’t Haven (Mobile)
pay you then, it was no big deal
because boons are how this game (•) – You have a small car with
works, and now you have them in your windows you can black out in a real
pocket, at least until the boon is hurry. Worst case scenario you can
satisfied. crawl into the boot with the spare tyre
for the day.
(•••) Minor Boon Collector - From
the moment you heard about the (••) – It’s touch and go, but your car is
currency of Boons and the Kindred, spacious and built to accommodate for
you knew you needed to get working. your day-sleep needs. Possibly a 4WD,
You knew the value of having as many or a hearse, for those who like it
Boons owed to you as quickly as traditional.
possible in order to survive this life, (•••) – Your van is a reliable old thing,
and so, sure enough, you did favour and fortunately not too creepy either,
upon favour, collecting enough Minor but best of all is that nights of work
Boons to be recognised as someone have been worth it as you now have a
who can get things done, and, as a taste of luxury without ever needing to
threat. leave your driver’s seat.
(••••) Major Boon - You’re not new to (••••) – A mobile home was definitely
this game, and someone owes you big the right investment, it took some
time. What you will use your Major work, but you take your home with
Boon for is unsure, but it is the surest you, sleep in a bed, and can rest
way to stay alive in this world, so assured that you won’t be getting any
you’ll use it to the fullest.

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fines for parking illegally. It’s less do something to change that –
likely at the very least. otherwise this can occur at rather
inopportune moments.
(•••••) – You don’t have a vehicle; you
have a veritable home and mobile (•) Armoured Vehicle – each dot
fortress. You know where everything invested in this merit adds one point to
is and your vehicle has been built to the health of your Haven (Mobile) and
survive all but the worst of threats to one die to rolls defending your vehicle
your existence. Makes all that time from attack. After three dots in this
stripping down that Bushmaster worth merit, authorities gain an extra die per
it. additional dot in detecting the true
nature of your vehicle.
Haven (Mobile) Merits and
Flaws: (•) Urban Camouflage – each dot
invested in this merit adds a single die
Flaw: (••) Conspicuously Modified – to Stealth checks for finding a location
Your vehicle has had illegal to park your vehicle where it will
modifications, and it shows, it really avoid detection by interested parties.
shows. It doesn’t take long for local Each dot will also remove a single die
authorities to identify your vehicle as from authorities in detecting the true
one that is more in need of nature of your vehicle in the case of
impoundment than a warning. Police conspicuous modification.
and other authorities gain a two dice
bonus in rolls to identify your vehicle (•) Hidden Armoury – As with
from previous police reports and pg.189 in the V5 Core Rulebook,
complaints by concerned citizens. however the armoury is built into the
vehicle beneath seats, behind mirrors,
Flaw: (••) Free Candy Van – Look, etc.
there is no easy way to say it, your
vehicle looks like you shouldn’t even (•) Hospitality – For each dot, your
be parking it on the same street as a vehicle can accommodate an extra
school. It’s noticed, and people are person. This is on top of the regular
uncomfortable. You can’t park your vehicle space as determined by player
vehicle in the same location in and ST.
residential areas for two nights in a (•) Bull Wagon – Not every encounter
row, not without the police being on the road is pleasant and sometimes
called in to investigate. you need a place to keep prisoners. For
Flaw: (•) Off with a Warning – Your each dot in this merit, you can securely
vehicle isn’t in the best condition, and hold prisoners in a concealed cage
although you’re not doing anything serving as its own room.
suspicious, sometimes police will pull (•) Public Transportation – Your
you over to just make sure you’re vehicle is one that should ordinarily be
aware that your rear left light is government funded, as such, for each
broken. Your vehicle draws innocent dot in this merit you can add one die to
attention, and will continue until you your feeding rolls, to represent a

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temporary herd of passengers.

Haven (Mobile) – Additional

Notes:
 For a Haven (Mobile) of four dots
and above, the kind of vehicle can
be altered. One consideration
might be an altered bus, or if
appropriate, even a train or boat.
This should be discussed between
players and STs and would be best
implemented as a collective haven
if the vehicles reach this size and
investment – though this is not a
requirement.
 Each point spent on the Haven
(Mobile) background is to be
accompanied by an associated
merit – if you buy a four-dot
mobile haven, then it should have
four merits come with it.
Additional merits on top of that are
for flavour and investment.
 To determine the “Health” of your
mobile haven, double the points
spent in Haven (Mobile) and add
additional health through the
Armoured Vehicle merit as
appropriate.
 Defending against attacks against
your mobile haven should require a
Composure + Drive check.
 If hit, each dot of Armoured
Vehicle can be “spent” in order to
further reduce damage taken. After
spending these dots, the Haven
(Mobile) loses those dots
permanently, or until they are re-
purchased in full.

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Merits & Flaws - Animal Instinct
Flaw (••) Zoophobia - You are a predator
amongst mortals and a creature of
immortal violence, unfortunately, you also
bear a deeply seated discomfort or fear
around animals. When you are aware of,
or believe in an awareness of the presence
of animals nearby, you are immediately
discomforted, reducing all dice pools
requiring awareness or focus on a specific
task are reduced by two.
Flaw (••) Predator’s Aura - Animals are
rarely naturally affectionate towards
Kindred. Whether they sense your true
nature or you project a feeling of unsafety,
animals are the first to stay away. All
interactions with animals are rolled at a
penalty of two, and attempts at calming an
animal that is alert to your presence is
made at a penalty of three.
(•) Animal Affinity - You have an innate
understanding and rapport with a specific
type of animal. All interactions with that
animal are made with two additional dice.
(••) Of the Swarm - Insect swarms
recognise you as a kindred spirit of a kind
and will inevitably be drawn towards you.
These swarms will remain undisturbed by
your actions and can act as a warning
should your place of rest be compromised.
If the swarm leaves, so should you.
(•••) Practical Symbiosis - Your
relationship with the creatures of decay
has reached a state of symbiosis. Many
creatures know that you can provide a
source of food and safety that they would
not have otherwise, and in exchange, you
have a convenient means of hastening the
disposal of inconvenient bodies, and a
colony of creatures who may occasionally
bring you objects or information of tribute
as though trained. Animalism determines
your ability to communicate with them.

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The real voyage
of discovery
consists not in
seeking new
landscapes but
in having new
eyes.

-Marcel Proust
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Chapter 7:

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DRAGONS, FIENDS, METAMORPHOSISTS, THE OLD

CLAN, KOLDUNS, VOIVODES, STOKERS, DRACULAS

There are many faces taken on by the Old Clan, and that extends beyond
their use of Vicissitude. They have long been a clan of conflicting ideals and sense
of self, a clan of stability and yet also of constant change. Every shift in ideal and
identity a carefully crafted attempt to understand and perfect the vampiric
condition. Their forms are varied, their motivations many, and their “signature”
discipline is not limited to the physical. The physical is its manifestation, but not its
intent. The true face of a Dragon is to be a figure of myth, to touch upon a
collective psychology and give physical form to a spiritual ideal. Azhi Dahaka was
once the name of their holiest of pursuits. True perfection of self. The physical
body transcending to match the spiritual intent. If this sounds at all familiar then
consider yourself lucky, for the newer face the clan wears is one of treachery and
falsehood.
The mould many of the Tzimisce currently fit is that of the petty landlord
and old-world capitalist - the face of Old Clan assimilation. This artifice is
sickening. It is an insult to the sacrifices made by a clan in decline. Did the
Tremere pursue the Voivodes for simple convenience? Of course not. They saw the
gifts of the blood of Kolduns, and wanted it for themselves. They didn’t sup upon
the blood of the long-fallen Dragons for their ability to resemble a kleptomaniac
Ventrue.
The blood of the Tzimisce is the blood of change. It provokes thoughts and
dreams of the beauty that was Constantinople. It was the defiance in the face of
Elders who grew stagnant. We did not rebel for power. We rebelled for change. To
assume a new face, and that new face changes yet again, as Old Clan infiltrators
corrupt the spirituality of those who were older and wiser still. But not all is lost.
Not all of the clan is susceptible to this modern plague upon our being. Some still
bear the wisdom of the Eldest. The insight that bore dreams made manifest. It
wasn’t a desire for possession that drove the Dracon to become the spirit of our
greatest era; it was a dream; it was passion, and it was vision.
For the Tzimisce are nothing if not visionaries and dreamers. A return to the
true face of the clan is very much in order.

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 Disciplines
Animalism:
The Tzimisce use of Animalism can range from a desire to become as “one” with
their domains through even the smallest of creatures that surround them. Some use
Animalism to draw on the instinctual fears of mortals to invoke terror and pain. The
image of a Dracula-esque figure commanding legions of creatures of the night inspire
many Tzimisce in these very nights.
Auspex:
The discipline of insight, of heightened senses, the mastery of mental acuity, no
discipline is more suited for a clan born of one whose founder held the gift of the Sight
before their Embrace. Auspex is the ability to see what lines exist between flesh and
fantasy and tear through them. A Dragon who cannot see beyond their hoard is one who
will perish at the end of a blade, just as many had within the Anarch Revolt.
Protean:
The Eldest was twice born through the mastery of the Protean arts. Gangrel have
long been thought its master, but in truth, they simply cannot separate the animal within
from the form without. Tzimisce use of Protean is a practice in the mastery over the
physical, of transcending physical barriers and shaping oneself into a form that touches
the divine.
Protean is the instrument used to carve the primal clay, Auspex perceives its form;
together the art of Vicissitude is born.

Tzimisce Bloodline Alternatives

Tzimisce characters can select to take on an optional bloodline, with varied

in-clan disciplines. These optional bloodlines can exchange Protean for Dominate
or Blood Sorcery. Signifying Old Clan and Kolduns respectively. A character can
alternatively purchase a 4-point merit at creation allowing for a fourth in-clan
discipline chosen from the above alternatives.

Vicissitude amalgams should be altered so as to still use Protean, but to

replace Dominate with Auspex in its application. I.e., Protean + Auspex =
Vicissitude, or Protean + Blood Sorcery in the case of the Kuldun bloodline..

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 Tzimisce Alternative Compulsion

Adaptation:

Your failure haunts over you oppressively, unable to achieve your

desired goal the first time is a sign of your flawed form. You must find a way
to conquer what you previously failed to overcome - whether through the
change of your physical form, personality, or mind, you will quash this
humiliation.

You receive a two-dice penalty on all rolls until you roll a critical
success on a previously failed task, this is to be achieved through means of
change or in overt application of vampiric power. The penalty is reduced to
one die for a repeated attempt of the task in question and then removed
entirely for further attempts.

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 The Healers are an oft maligned clan of the curiously chosen, those
Embraced into the clan come from all walks of life and there was once a time
where the Peacemakers would only Embrace those on the verge of death, those
who could still give more to the world, and whose empathy inspired something
akin to tragedy in their hearts. Some would have you believe that this image of the
Salubri still holds fast. I disagree.
The modern Salubri is a sword sheathed. They are the bayonet for the
wounded. Their mercy comes in moods and true, they are cursed with a torturous
empathy, however long dead is the true Healer caste. Some may still appear,
though one fact cannot be forgotten. The Salubri were on the verge of extinction.
They faced the last of their number and it was only with the emergence of the
Sabbat Adonai that the Paladins found their numbers once more filled in the form
of the long-forgotten Warrior caste. Don’t be deceived, all Salubri in these modern
nights are derived from this caste.
What has become of Adonai is unknown, however the reappearance of the
Salubri can allude to only one fact; he has been busy.
The new Salubri are an echo of vengeance centuries in the making. It is no
coincidence they resurface in the moment of the Tremere’s greatest crisis, they are
drawing their blades and reclaiming what was taken. The Tremere know this, or at
least wisely fear it, and so they spread rumours, of blood so sweet as to be
mythical, of a long-dead clan rising back to steal souls. They did it once before,
and so they do it again.
No, the Salubri do not “taste yummy” - although sure, go ahead and try, I’m
sure the experience will be enlightening.
The Salubri are fallen. A clan toted as empathic. However, one fact that
people always seem to forget is that empathy doesn’t always take the form of
compassion, sometimes empathy is a tool in the lesson of cruelty, and few
understand cruelty greater than those who have been hunted so ardently. The
Paladins, Peacemakers and Dajjals - the Salubri; they are angels who will kill you
in mercy and say a prayer for your soul before extinguishing it forever.

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 Salubri Alternative Bane

The Salubri Warriors were born in a crucible of blood and violence,

their legacy is one of righteous fury, justice, and extermination of those
creatures deemed a threat to all. As such, many found that they could only
truly gain sustenance from those they have bested in some form - usually, but
not necessarily, in bouts of physical prowess.

If you wish to gain nourishment from one you have not overcome or
bested, you must spend a number of superficial willpower equal to your Bane
Severity. If no willpower is expended, the blood will not slake any hunger for
you.
If the individual you have “bested” lost to you on purpose, no sustenance can
be gained as your blood rejects the insult.

The write-up I most agree with, with regards to the Salubri for V5,
comes from the Storytellers Vault’s “The Sword of Caine - A V5 Guide
to the Sabbat” by Raymond Jenkins - I personally don’t believe my own
interpretation of the Salubri Warriors/Antitribu varies enough to
provide any more than that book contributes - particularly with regards
to the Valeran write-up.
Keeping Valeran as separate to other Amalgams feels appropriate for a
clan of a by-gone era with resurging membership and the intrigue
relating to their clan founder.

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 ROGUES, RAVENS, CHARLATANS, TRICKSTERS,

DAREDEVILS, TRAVELLERS, SEEKERS, ILLUSIONISTS

The Ravnos have lost much since the Week of Nightmare, first and foremost
is even their claim to clanhood. Are they a clan? Are they merely a bloodline? Who
knows? What they are though are survivors. They survived the death throes of an
inconceivable monstrosity and God of blood and violence. Since that moment the
clan has been on a crash course into confronting a fate unknown to many.
Some say the sun chases these Kindred, burning through their blood until
the day it breaks free from the flesh. This might explain why they’re constantly on
the move, however, there is an alternative, and much simpler explanation.
Prejudice amongst the Kindred runs deep, and after being chased out of enough
cities, eventually you create your own narrative, one that makes you the master of
your own life. No. The Ravnos do not flee the sun, they flee the drive that leads
them to ostracism, the drive that leads them to pushing themselves further than
almost any other Kindred, pursuing a life of high-risk, and high-reward.
The Ravnos travel in the footsteps of tricksters and gods, finding their
footing in stories that explain their need to push and push until they’re either left
outside in the cold or on the top of all others. This risk-taking drive to continue to
push themselves past the limits of their own expectations is what makes a Ravnos
dangerous - they cannot help but push themselves closer and closer to the brink of
final death in a fervour and pursuit of adrenaline that only the Sabbat could hope to
match.
This fervour sometimes manifests as an age-long pursuit against perceived
“demons” that once haunted their history. Others pursue political ends, and some
simply travel and travel until there are no more places to visit. The life on the road
for a Kindred is a dangerous and deprived one, but it is exactly the kind of life that
the Ravnos were made to pursue.

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 Ravnos Alternative Bane

The Ravnos crave stimulation, they chase the kinds of risks that push
them further and further each time. Some can keep a hold on it, but like the
Brujah, sometimes the draw to one’s instincts is too strong to ignore. This
often manifests as a reckless abandon and disregard for their own lives in
order to get that next fix of adrenaline.

If a Ravnos suffers a Bestial Failure, their curse comes to the fore. The
Ravnos receives a penalty equal to their Bane Severity on all Composure and
Mental rolls, until they take their first point of Aggravated damage to Health
or Willpower; or until the scene ends.

Ravnos Alternative Compulsion

Traveller’s Call:

The Ravnos reputation for travelling comes from many places, but the
truth is very simple; to remain in a place of discomfort is deemed unnatural by
their blood, and so it calls for them to move on until sanctuary is found.

You must escape or leave a situation, and until you do, you gain a two-
dice penalty on all rolls, as your attention is drawn exclusively to the desire to
leave your current location and go somewhere new. What will count as
somewhere new will be up to player and ST discretion, though typically this
will require a change of scenery of some kind - I.e., from a city to forest or
small town; or industrial area to community park.

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82 | P a g e
 Chapter 8:

Loresheets

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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
There is nothing that says a community
that cares, like one with an active, panoptic
Neighbourhood Watch. The action of every
citizen is noted, judged, and discussed at length
by the best representatives that your home can
offer, true pillars of the community.
Of course, the actions of the NW can
vary, sometimes it is just surveillance and other
times it’s a slap on the wrist, but you can’t
create the “best village” with surveillance and
warnings alone. And if the town has a
disproportionate number of fatal accidents per
capita? Well, sometimes you need to make
some concessions in service of the greater good.

LORE

• Newsletter: You’ve subscribed to the NW’s •••• Coded Newsletter: You now know the
weekly newsletters informing you about the weekly newsletter to have a different purpose.
comings and goings of the town, local Each week when you receive the weekly
announcements, business interests, baby gossip, you have your cipher book in hand.
births, and any other titbits of information What this information reveals is up to ST
and gossip deemed appropriate. discretion, however it may identify potential
targets of interest, targets that the NW may
•• NW Meeting Agenda: You’re a local and look fondly upon the disappearance of.
you have things to say, fortunately the NW
takes note of some of these considerations for ••••• Seat on the NW: You are a true
their activities, assuring that your concerns member of the NW, you understand how far
are addressed – what other interests this they’re willing to go to protect their town, and
serves is on a need-to-know basis. you have a place in their conspiracy. Whether
their members consist of fellow Kindred or
••• Watch Meetings: You’re not sure of all simply zealously friendly Kine, they’re not to
the ins and outs yet, but you have an open be underestimated. Should your role be in the
invitation to all official NW meetings and identification of threats to community unity,
agendas therein, at times you are even or in the disposal of said threats, you have
allowed to make proposals for “areas of allies willing to cover up more than a few
interest” – finding that Ghouled swan will be little indiscretions in exchange for services
much easier with a surveillance team that rendered. Just don’t think about leaving town,
could rival the SI. the NW can be a jealous sort at times.

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 INQUISITION HUNTER
In the nights of the First Inquisition, the
Kindred who refused to be burned alive
formed the basis for what would eventually
become the Sabbat. In modern nights,
they’re in the process of becoming
something new. Modern Kindred, fearful of
these genocidal, authoritarian death squads,
resist by learning their methods,
The actions of the Second understanding their doctrine, and pursuing
Inquisition were shocking in their counter-Inquisition activities with the sole
earliest days and have left an indelible intent to eliminate this threat once and for
impact on Kindred society. However, the all.
Kindred don’t simply ignore the hunters
or lead themselves into willing slaughter.
Some vampires have taken to this threat
with open pragmatism.
LORE

• Tracker: You know Inquisition tactics an unexpected choice. You gain a four-dot
when they infiltrate a city, and know what to retainer whose infatuation grants you their
look for. Add three dice to any roll relating to loyalty. They will feed the SI false
tracking Inquisition safe houses once per information on your behalf or can feed
session. information to you. Be aware though, their
interference in SI activity can only happen so
•• Counter-Intelligence: The key to many times before suspicions begin to be
immobilising the SI is to take away their eyes. aroused.
You are intimate with SI intelligence
operations and can undertake activities to •••• Defector: You know their tactics,
distract or sabotage their tracking of Kindred abilities, and weaknesses because you used to
within the city. Add two bonus dice to all be one of them. A former SI agent and hunter
rolls relating to the sabotage of SI turned vampire. Now you hunt your former
surveillance. allies, using your intimate understanding of
their practices to your own benefit. You gain
••• Honey Trap: The SI often employ a two dice bonus to all Mental tests relating to
unsavoury tactics, sometimes this can the SI. You also gain the merit Zeroed and a
include placing agents who are immune to two-dot Mask to represent your time as an SI
the Blood Bond into the path of one most agent. Your Mask will not draw suspicion
likely to Ghoul them. Whether by chance from everyday law enforcement, though an SI
or design, one such individual found agent may make a roll of Intelligence +
themselves in your path and made an Investigation at difficulty 5 to see if they

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recognise the signs of a Mask in use. How the agent responds to this recognition is left to ST
discretion.

••••• Head Hunter: You are a practiced hunter, you have survived more than a few SI ambushes,
and you’ll survive even more still. You know what to do to lure them in, you know what to do to
track them, and most of all, you know how to kill them so thoroughly that the next group
reconsiders their career choices. Your word is the first and last in hunting the SI. If others hope to
survive these modern nights, they’ll need to listen to your experience. You gain plus two dice in
all Mental and Physical tests relating to the SI. When acting as a part of a group you can also
make a roll of Intelligence + Leadership at the beginning of an encounter or in the planning of an
encounter with the SI. Each group member present is able to add one die per success, from the
Intelligence + Leadership test, to their own pools. These dice are to be spent on rolls of their
choosing so long as they relate to the Second Inquisition.
(E.g., You roll Intelligence + Leadership and gain five successes, each member of your group
present will be able to spend up to a total of five bonus dice in moments of their choosing,
such as spending two bonus dice to locate where the SI agents will be likely to strike first,
and then expending the last three bonus dice to an attack on an agent to ensure they go
down – representing your knowledge of SI armour or their Close Quarters Combat (CQC)
training.)

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 THE ONCE DEAD
The Once Dead do not recruit readily, but
allies of convenience are a necessity. They know
the importance of rewarding informants, and as
much as they would prefer to avoid the politics of
a city, they understand the value in making use of
those who have made the cities their own.
What it takes to win the favour of the Once
Dead can range between informing them of local
lupine dens to defending one of their emissaries
from an entitled Prince intent on making use of
the curious Garkain for their own ends.
The rewards vary, but can come in the
form of previously unknown artifacts, reagents,
education or even assistance in maintaining one’s
humanity and self in the face of diablerie.

LORE

• Single Signal: You possibly helped one of reagents are not to be underestimated. For
the Once Dead at some time in your unlife. It each time you inform the local Garkain of a
was likely not even intentional, but if you lupine den, you may ask for rare ingredients
make the request for audience you can get in in return, these ingredients can range from a
touch with one of their emissaries once per vial of Changeling blood to the still-beating
story. heart of an Abomination. The ingredients
received will increase in rarity and value
•• Wolf-Biter: You’ve tasted lupine blood, according to the number of lupines killed in
and in front of the Maalabalun too. For this their raid.
act alone you have been awarded with a
symbol of their respect in a lupine pelt sash, •••• Harmony in Suffering: You have been
tooth, or claw marked with a supernatural tutored in the tenets and practices of those
brand. This affords you a three-dot Mawla who follow the Path of Dreaming. You may
who can be called upon for either tutelage in not follow the path, but your familiarity with
disciplines or in the hunting of lupines. They its sentiment of harmony between Humanity
will however not tolerate one who tries to pull and Beast provides benefits. Once per session
them into city politics or tries to take when incurring stains you may mend the
advantage of their good will. equivalent number of superficial willpower
damage.
••• Give and Take: Garkain pay well for
information relating to the location of lupines. ••••• Ancestor’s Guidance: The Maalabalun
You know that their talent for acquiring rare have no cultural qualms when it comes to the

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diablerie of other Kindred. In many cases, it is the punishment meted out against one who acts
against their group in self-interest or in opposition to the group’s purpose. This diablerie will
typically take place at the hands/fangs of their own childe, or another of lower blood potency. This
relates to the Maalabalun’s perspective that diablerie brings them closer to the Ancestors who
charged them with their purpose. Adhering to this belief in your own unlife, when diablerising a
vampire of higher or equal blood potency you do not suffer an automatic drop in Humanity. You
may still lose humanity if rolling poorly in the contest between your souls.

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A PLACE CALLED BONNIE DOON
The home away from home is not collective understanding. Bonnie Doon
just a mortal concept. Sometimes you just is a place for rest and respite. A place for
need your own time away from things, a peace and quiet. A place for the wars of
place to call your own. Well, you have the world outside to be left at the
something like that, a place where all who doorstep and replaced with a mutual
find it are welcome, a secret in idea only. understanding to either stay out of each
Thought to be the Australian legacy and other’s way, or enjoy the time together.
dedication to the island of the legendary
Stoneman, this Caitiff founded place is
simple in its purpose and provides what
Kindred for centuries and millennia have
pursued but never attained, serenity.
The true name of this place is
shrouded in mystique and secrecy, but
when an Australian speaks of their very
own “Bonnie Doon” there is a wave of

LORE

• Suffer in ya Jocks!: In true act of defiance, items, curiosities and artifacts of all
you’ve tapped into a cultural identity that kinds. It can hold potions of Duskborn
punches upwards, and your time in your own alchemy, Blood Sorcery notes, weapons,
Bonnie Doon has equipped you with a voice and items ranging between the
of repudiation. Add two dice to all Social dangerously arcane to the worryingly
rolls involving hostility towards someone
mundane. The best of all is that for those
with higher Status than yourself.
with access, like yourself, it is a place
•• Tell him he’s Dreamin’: Bartering for communal storage, a place where
and haggling is one of the fine arts of you can borrow the items of others with
Bonnie Doon, as is knowing the true the expectation that they will either be
value of something. You gain a two dice returned, or another item of similar
bonus on all rolls involving haggling and value will be provided in its place.
bargaining and can make a Wits + Access to this veritable hoard does
Finance at difficulty three to determine require that you be willing to part with
the true worth from items of interest. items in turn, but it will not be called
upon unless you take particular liberties.
••• The Pool Room: Within Bonnie
A fate not many would willingly court.
Doon there is a place for some known as
the “Pool Room”, marked so by its •••• It’s the Vibe: Few would expect a
eponymous pool table. This is a room for Prince, Baron, Archbishop or Margrave

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to favour you, however, when you call upon the mutual interests outside of courtly
intrigue, drawing upon a shared membership of that sacred place of neutrality. Well,
things can just go your way. Once per story, you may appeal to the better nature of the
local hierarchy and be granted the equivalent to a Major Boon in exchange for owing a
Minor Boon - the specific circumstances behind this may vary, however many within the
city could be jealous of such favour, and so maintaining secrecy may be paramount.
••••• How’s the Serenity?: Bonnie Doon is a place unlike any other, and your time there
is the perfect thing after a time of stress and a heavily taxing unlife. When in need, you
can retreat to your Bonnie Doon in the name of recuperation. Every full night spent there
will automatically recover one aggravated willpower damage, one aggravated health
damage, and a single crippling injury; all without the expenditure of blood. This process
cannot be taken lightly, as the travel involved in reaching Bonnie Doon allows for a one-
way trip per night. (E.g., It takes a full night to drive to Bonnie Doon, once arriving,
there is a short period of time to prepare for morning, and then from subsequent
nights spent entirely there the rejuvenation will begin. Recovery cannot take place
on the same night as travel.)

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91 | P a g e
 Chapter 9:

Plot-Hooks
and
Campaign
Starters

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 The Ancient Mercurian
Many have heard of the Duskborn Alchemy, this new and curious art that allows
for imitation of the powers of others and the inception of all new powers. And as many
rumours as there are about its origins, there are few answers given. Why now? Why has it
only appeared now? Well, some of the Duskborn believe they know the answer to this.
An answer not freely given mind you, nor one easily taken either. A code of silence that
extends deep within their collective psyche after all beholds them to this secret. The secret
of an individual who teaches them this art in moments. Trickling information in the form
of inspiration, until eventually they begin to realise that there is a face to the inspiration
and one who speaks between moments of relaxed consciousness.
This individual leads the Thin-Bloods on a path, one which had been tread upon
by many others across the world until eventually they realise that they’re following in the
footsteps of another, of the First. The Chameleon. The Ancient Mercurian.
The Duskborn visions that allow them to see the intricate workings of the Jyhad
sometimes show them of the First of their kind, a figure who has been active in the world
since the days before the Methuselah’s slept. A figure that erased themselves from the
memory of this world through the first ever application of their now renowned, yet crude,
Alchemy.
The stories differ, but many assert that an Antediluvian had experimented to test
the capacities of the blood, to create childe after childe, forcing each successive
generation to sire anew. Right up until the point where they could sire no more. Some lay
this act to Malkav, others the Eldest, a small few accuse Saulot, as is the fashion. The
story continues to say that the Antediluvian was heartbroken by the sight of the last of
their progeny simply killing the mortal and their blood not being enough to bring them
back. In their grief, and shame at what they had done, they destroyed the line of progeny
so as that none could know what they had done. It was only once this was done that the
last, the mortal, rose again the night following their death, as the first of the Duskborn.
Some say that their collective visions are the fragments of the Chameleon’s will being
carried to them, guiding them to their ancient cousin. Some say that the sudden surge in
Alchemy is the result of this entity teaching others and sending them on missions to
unknown ends. If this Mercurian truly exists then what is their goal? And why? And what
kind of effect does age have on one of the half-damned?

The Mercurians are rarely taken seriously by the “full-blooded” vampires of the
world. Instead, they must push further and overcome limitations unique to their own
circumstances. But what would happen if they were to unify and take advantage of
their ability to view the tapestry of the Jyhad as it weaves its way through the Kindred
world? And what are the true limits of Thin-Blood Alchemy? Are the only limits the
result of the user’s creativity?

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 Square Pegg in a Round Place
The Neighbourhood Watch has guided this town with an enlightened hand for
three decades. There are sacrifices made in the name of prosperity and the contentedness
of the people who live there. But in the end, change is always on the horizon, and this
change most often comes in the form of strangers.
Perhaps you yourselves are the strangers entering an isolated, mistrustful town of
old ways and secrets carried far deeper than the catacombs beneath the local church, there
is a conspiracy to unravel that will eventually lead you to realise that those who at once
had seemed most benign and well-meaning have reasons to turn to murder. Not all reasons
are equal in intent however, and the choices you make once this betrayal is known will
shape the town for decades to come.
Or maybe you are a part of the Neighbourhood Watch, watching over the town
through the well-intentioned panoptic surveillance network and gossipers whose nose for
a rumour outwit even the most avid of Nosferatu. What will you do to protect your town?
Strangers are always a threat and these new ones are not the first to stir the pot, nor will
they be the last. But it is not the fate of all strangers to end up disposed of, the talents of a
sympathetic soul could be just the thing this town needs to continue its growing legacy.
The Neighbourhood Watch should exist as a seemingly benign group of
busybodies who mean well in their actions and portray themselves as a caring community
group consisting of small business owners, police sergeants, librarians, and any other
person who has a genuine interest in maintaining the sterling reputation of a town free of
violence, theft and even litter. It is a town free of crime, but full of terrible accidents that
just can’t be explained by bad luck alone. Though as far as the Neighbourhood Watch is
concerned it certainly can be. People have accidents all the time after all, and there is no
need to start jumping to ridiculous conclusions such as murder. This isn’t the city after all.

A vampiric presence might not be the cause of this sinister nature behind the
Neighbourhood Watch, sometimes there is a simple reliability in human involvement in
the taking of human lives. The obsessions we hold and perfectionism we strive for in the
creation of our “Dream worlds” can take a sinister turn in the end, a turn that can’t be
explained for monsters that escape our imagining but are instead one far closer to
home.
At the same time, the Neighbourhood Watch could perhaps even be the
prolonged conspiracy by a single vampire whose influence runs so deep in the town that
trying to pull it out from the roots will crumble the lives of the people living there just as
easily as it will for the perpetrator. For example, a cultivating Malkavian trying to
escape their bane could very easily try to shape their world into an idyllic, small,
country town of beauty and peace. At what cost will serenity come? And how high will
that body count rise?

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 Inquisition Occupation
There was no sign that it was going to happen, but Elysium was held and the court
gathered to discuss growing hunter activity in the city. Then things turned bad, real fast.
They came like a raging fire, spreading through the court subduing and eliminating
Kindred left and right. Their targets were set on the Prince and the Primogen. Many tried
to run or fight back only to find themselves weakened. Impotent. Not knowing why they
weren’t able to call on the blood to save them. Then it became clear as they marched
through their soldier, Duskborn, not the image of the “junkie” blood addict, but something
else. A group of seven. Each in uniforms befitting their intended roles, the soldiers of the
Inquisition stopped firing and took knees before the group. Each representative of their
clan origins, and yet clearly beyond as well. The Soldier may have bore the presence and
bearing of a Brujah, but with none of the temper. The Shadow drifted between sight,
scarred slightly, but seemingly not from the mark of her Nosferatu kin. Each bore hints to
the nature of their clan origins, and yet as they took their place within the room, none
could confirm any truth.
The leader of the seven, The Anima, spoke to all present. The city was to be theirs.
The games of the Kindred were weak. They could not unify behind false lords of blood.
Mortals and immortals will find common cause, or both will drown in ash. Their
command was clear, release the survivors, those who swear fealty “live”, those who do
not may run. After a single night, all activities that run counter to the will of the seven will
be hunted. Those who wish to swear fealty have 24 hours.
The Inquisition in your city, led by seven Mercurians, are now occupiers of this
city. Their extermination of the court was efficient and brutal. They were merciless and
sudden in their takeover, and yet, they left you alive. They left many alive. They did not
purge the city in holy fire. There are intentions behind these seven, and few older Kindred
would debase themselves by prostrating before some upstart “Thin-bloods”, let alone the
mortal Inquisition.

What will you do? Will you feign loyalty and use the opportunity to get close?
Will you refuse entirely and leave, spreading tales of what happened in that city? Will
you remain in resistance, opposing them at every step? Or will you truly swear fealty
and discover what intentions would drive the Duskborn into leadership of the
Inquisition. What great enemy or cause would possibly lead them to leave so many
alive, at such an opportunity?
The plans of the seven are unknown, but whatever they are it requires both
Kindred and Kine unity, if only temporary. If such a goal is in mind, then what was the
threat to provoke it? Could the rumours of the Antediluvians be true? Could that be the
reason? Or is there something else? An unknown threat with intentions most
unsavoury. It isn’t ordinarily the practice of the SI to be led by the Duskborn though, is
it? Maybe. There are so few survivors of past attacks, would we even know?

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 A Bushranger’s Return
The Camarilla represents the most blatantly authoritarian structure within vampire
society, they are a monolith of inequality and the maintenance of the status quo. A status
quo and system of government opposed by many in the history of Australia. Ned Kelly,
Musquito, John Dunn, Ben Hall, “Captain Moonlite” and “Black Caesar” are all names of
note in this regard. Some would even go so far as to say that although they ultimately lost
and Australia became what it is, they have left a lasting legacy in the minds and spirit of
the colonial country’s cultural heritage. But what if they didn’t simply die? What if the
worst and best amongst them returned as members of Kindred society?
The Camarilla presents a united front, touting their “stability” as a reason for your
loyalty and submission. And it works. At least, for a little while. And then the Sherriff met
final death, followed by his Hounds and then even the Scourge by hands unknown. The
Camarilla must enforce its rule now more than ever, and replacements are easy to find in
the case of Hounds, but a new Sherriff and Scourge will need to prove themselves. A
group is chosen, one with debts, favours or just more to gain than lose by accepting. What
they will find is not an unsympathetic cause, but instead a group of former legends
wanting nothing more than to make the claim for freedom that eluded them in life.
Will you risk going against a group of formidable killers who’ve had over a
hundred years to prepare for their vengeance? Or will you join them, and reveal the true
face of the Camarilla, showing them that the monsters they create can be worse than even
the Sabbat could manage?
The bushrangers themselves see the Camarilla as the same power that they fought
against in their own time, though now the mask has fallen and they are able to see the true
monstrosity behind the systems that raised them. They are people out of their time, who
can range from charismatic and reasonable, to violent and abhorrent. They are varied and
complicated folk heroes that represent a desire to stand up against the authoritarian
systems that would keep all in chains if it made them easier to control. Often, it does.

A game of opposition of power and guerrilla tactics in a hostile urban

environment that can span into the rural or otherwise. This should be presented as a
violent and sudden opposition from unseen forces, and once their targets are eliminated
or they have collected what they wished to take, then they disappear in the fog before
the authorities show up. But one thing to keep in mind is that there is no surrender with
them. They can be captured or killed, but there is no surrendering. They will fight
harder and more recklessly, but they will be prepared, knowing that they’re up against
an uphill battle of greater numbers and resources. But it is in the bushranger spirit to
persist regardless and create a war of attrition that they will not be able to afford. It
would not be uncommon for Australian Kindred to have a desire in joining this group
as well, especially in the case of a foreign British Prince. And so, defectors are a
potential threat or ally to always keep in mind.

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 Traditional Owners of the Land
All Australians without Aboriginal heritage are occupiers in one way or another,
some have built a place for themselves and deserve to call this country home, to be
welcomed with open arms. Others are parasitic, colonial pests worthy of nothing more
than an abrupt and violent end for their continued crimes against the traditional owners
and custodians of the land. At least, this is the perspective of some groups within society.
In Kindred society, the Aboriginal people have often been treated as curious
oddities, or a “dying species” in need of preservation. Though this is not out of care, or
humanity. It never is. Many are treated as “pets” to their British sires, and such a pattern
had remained for many years. No more however.
En masse, Aboriginal Kindred from all across Australia have turned on their
contemporaries, staking sires to be left out to the sun - many suddenly breaking the Blood
Bond in order to do so. Their actions happened all at once, some even claim that this
“rebellion” took place throughout the Week of Nightmares, leaving only the Beckoning in
its place in the end. Many Elders fell to the sun in that week. But the questions began to
emerge. How? Why now? And most importantly, where did they all go?
Names like Pemulwuy, Windrayne, Jandamarra, Yagan, Tunnerminnerwait, and
Tedbury have become whispers in the winds that follow their tracks. Rumours of a
creature waking in Australia’s centre and calling to a generation of Methuselahs for an
unknown end. It is said that those wishing to purge themselves of the foul blood of their
sires may join with this creature’s call and receive what power is held within the country
to those whose blood was born from it. The chains of slaver blood removed, and a new
Aboriginal bloodline is forged in the heart of the country that has anticipated their
presence in the 55,000 ≈ years since first arrival. The creature has watched over them for
long, and now it has called all to itself.
The actions of these liberated souls shook their cities when they first occurred,
some glad to see it happen, others calling for blood in vengeance. But the only thing they
ought to be considering now, is what happens when they return?
The world is one which leans darker than any of us can truly be okay with for
prolonged periods of time. Eventually something has to give, and in the face of an
oppressive, occupying force that even its own people despise there is much hope to be
found. But it isn’t a hope of protest or peaceful resolution. It is the hope that comes
from envisioning the heads of your greatest enemies laid out before their soldiers and
claiming righteous bloody vengeance. This is a true and beautiful manifestation of the
desire to one day be free from injustice, it is the refusal to accept a false peace in the
instant that you find your power. That is what this story can be, one of removing the
foreign oppressor with the help of those thought to be loyal to them. Because no foreign
power can stand in a country that is not their own and hold it for as long as those who
first living there still draw breath, especially when every breath is an act of defiance in
the face of something vile.

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 Australian Wildlife
Koala Kangaroo
A creature of primary passivity and A familiar symbol of Australia to all. This
helplessness rivalling the sloth. Its disarming marsupial is a creature frequently
appearance and slow demeanour can make it underestimated. The aggression of roos is
an unconventional, yet, not entirely not something to balk at, many having
ineffective spy for bush-dwelling Kindred. strength far beyond that of people. They
Standard dice pools: Physical 3, Social 1, have been known to deliberately enter water
Mental 1. shallows when attacked by dogs or dingos
Secondary attributes: Health 3, Willpower and then drown their attacker. A fitting
3. companion for Kindred not city-bound.
Exceptional dice pools: Stealth 4, Standard dice pools: Physical 7, Social 1,
Subterfuge (Innocence) 6, Awareness 4. Mental 1.
Secondary attributes: Health 6, Willpower
Wombat 3.
A seemingly docile creature at first, the Exceptional dice pools: Brawl (Boxing) 8,
Wombat has been known to aggressively Athletics 8, Intimidation 5.
chase cars over long distances and crush the Special: Add +2 to damage done by
skulls of predators with posterior alone. Kangaroo attacks.
Such a creature benefits uniquely from
Kindred blood. Red-Bellied Black Snake
Standard dice pools: Physical 5, Social 1, Not nearly as hostile as is often expected
Mental 1. from a venomous Australian snake, however
Secondary attributes: Health 7, Willpower their bites are known to cause various
4. significant illnesses through the neurotoxins,
Exceptional dice pools: Athletics myotoxins, and coagulants of its venom.
(Fortitude) 7, Brawl (Tackling) 5, Survival Victims can sometimes even lose their sense
(Burrowing) 5. of smell; temporarily, or permanently.
Standard dice pools: Physical 4, Social 1,
Dingo Mental 1.
Regarded as an ancient lineage of dog, the Secondary attributes: Health 4, Willpower
dingo has long held a close relationship with 1.
Aboriginal Australians of domestication and Exceptional dice pools: Stealth 7,
commensalism. A highly desired ghoul for Awareness 5.
some Australian Kindred due to their Special: Add + 2 to damage done by
mutually dedicated hunting behaviours Redbelly bites against mortals.
creating a sense of kinship.
Standard dice pools: Physical 5, Social 2, Redback Spider
Mental 2. This small, web-producing spider is a staple
Secondary attributes: Health 5, Willpower of every laundry, toilet or otherwise
2. enclosed space. They are a small, highly
Exceptional dice pools: Awareness (Scent) venomous and primarily nocturnal spider
5, Brawl 6, Intimidation 4, Animal Ken whose lifestyle and appearance both serve
(Pack Hunting) 6. the needs of a Kindred very well,
Special: Add + 1 damage done to Dingo particularly as spies.
bites. Standard dice pools: Physical 2, Social 1,
Prey Exclusion: Babies. Mental 1.
Secondary attributes: Health 1, Willpower
1.

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Exceptional dice pools: Stealth 10, Standard dice pools: Physical 8, Social 1,
Awareness 4, Brawl (Biting) 4, Craft (Webs) Mental 1.
7. Secondary attributes: Health 8, Willpower
Special: Add + 2 damage to Redback bites 3.
against mortals. A swarm will have +4 Exceptional dice pools: Brawl 10, Stealth
health due to sheer number. 9, Awareness 4.
Special: Add +4 damage to the Crocodile’s
Sugar Glider bite.
Not at all the typical presentation of
Australian wildlife, but this small, nocturnal Wedge-Tailed Eagle
gliding possum can glide over a distance of The largest bird of prey within Australia is
50m and can easily serve the purpose of spy, known for its ability to take down large
but is also a well-known exotic pet by some. prey, including adult kangaroos. With a
A sugar glider is more likely to be maximum wingspan of almost 3 metres and
companion than tool. eyesight that extends into ultraviolet bands,
Standard dice pools: Physical 2, Social 2, these eagles make for a strong companion
Mental 1. for any willing and able to tame such a
Secondary attribute: Health 3, Willpower creature.
2. Standard dice pool: Physical 5, Social 1,
Exceptional dice pools: Athletics 6, Mental 1.
Awareness 6, Persuasion (Fawning) 6. Secondary attribute: Health 4, Willpower
3.
Tasmanian Devil Exceptional dice pools: Brawl 7,
There is something to be said for Kindred Awareness 8, Investigation 4.
kinship with animals, particular those known Special: Add + 1 to damage from this
for their violence and endangered status. The eagle’s attacks.
Tasmanian Devil is a carnivore the size of a
small dog with a muscular frame, disturbing Great White Shark
screech, and raw ferocity. Its large head and A greatly demonised species, as is with all
neck allow for an uncommonly strong bite. deadly creatures, the reputation of the Great
Standard dice pools: Physical 4, Social 2, White precedes itself. There is an appeal to
Mental 1. the notion of an ancient predator drifting in
Secondary attribute: Health 5, Willpower the ocean until prey can be found, they are
3. predators outclassing many others. Beyond
Exceptional dice pools: Awareness (Scent) this, they are a species of multiple
6, Brawl (Bite) 7, Intimidation 6. adaptations with particular note to self-
Special: Add + 2 damage to the Tasmanian healing, immunity to age-related ailments,
Devil’s bite. and the ability to detect electromagnetic
fields emitted by living creatures.
Saltwater Crocodile Standard dice pools: Physical 7, Social 1,
With males growing to lengths of 6.3m and Mental 1
weighing up to 1300kgs, it is no wonder that Secondary attributes: Health 10,
this apex predator draws much interest from Willpower 3
the Kindred. It is an animal that feeds Exceptional dice pools: Brawl (Bite) 10,
through ambush, either drowning or Awareness 7.
swallowing its prey whole. Being caught in Special: Add +3 damage to Shark bites.
the death roll of such a machine of nature is,
as the name implies, a death sentence.

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 Dedications and Thanks
If you have made it this far then all I can do is thank you for being a part of
something I never thought that I would do but am immensely glad that I have. I
hope that this supplement has proven to be worth your time.
I also more personally thank my editor and partner for her part in this
project, and just life in general. May her reputation forever be marked by her
particular contributions to the name “Durry Dusters” and giving me the idea for the
Grey Nomad predator type.
I would also thank my players for so actively pursuing character trauma and
constantly putting my ability to improvise to the test. I am always impressed to
watch as you take carefully plotted storylines and stuff them into a meat grinder to
create something to make this Tzimisce heart grow by three sizes. I would never
want things to go entirely to plan, and you always seem more than ready to oblige.

I would also like to take a brief moment to thank and acknowledge Selene
and Artemis - for their unyielding determination to try and make sure that this
supplement would never be completed.

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Announcing…

An upcoming multi-media
project
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 Blood and Country
A V5 Supplement

This supplement contains:

 Rural vampire culture and practices.
 Considerations of play for an Australian
setting.
 Discussion of the Maalabalun,
Aboriginal Australian werewolf hunters.
 9 New predator types.
 10 New Discipline Powers.
 Brief suggestions of changes to the clans
from the V5 Companion guide.
 4 New Loresheets.
 5 Story/Plot Hooks.
 11 Australian Wildlife examples

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