Setite
You call us heathens, thieves, and
serpents. You fail to understand that your
hatred says more about you than it does about
us.
The Followers of Set are corrupt, hedonistic, and
venal. They are evil incarnate, spreaders of disease,
heresy, and dissolution. They devote themselves to
their god and their sinful pleasures, and must be
uprooted whenever discovered. Or at least thats
what most clans would have you believe. As
always, their interpretation of the truth is selective
at best.
Set was one of the chief gods of the Egyptian
pantheon. The god of the desert and storms, he was
a harsh god for a harsh land. Then the Ptolemys
came, and the Romans after, and twisted the myths
to suit their own purpose. Ptolemaic influence
turned Set into a god of violence and chaos whose
worship was gradually forgotten in favor of the gods
of the Abrahamic faiths. And so the rest of the world
remembers Set as an evil god best abandoned.
The Followers of Set remember the truth. Set,
not Caine, was the progenitor of all vampires. The
myth of Caine is lies and propaganda, designed to
Christianize vampires. Though Set disappeared
from the world, it remains the duty of his faithful to
spread his word. Followers of Set actively seek to
undermine Christian and Islamic rule in Europe.
They do this not out of a love of chaos, which is
anathema to Set. Instead, they seek not only the
restoration of worship of their god, but to spread it
across the known world. More than anyone, the
Followers of Set know that religions are living things they
are born, flourish, and die. By working to eliminate the
invasive influence of Christianity and Islam, they seek only
to hasten the inevitable.
Sobriquet: Serpents, Followers of Set
Appearance: Followers of Set are mostly Egyptian or
North African in origin. The few Europeans they Embrace
tend to have red hair, which is seen as a blessing or sign of
favor from Set. Styles of dress vary according to need. When
traveling in less tolerant regions, Setites often dress in the
style of North African merchants to avoid drawing undue
attention. In the safety of their temples, however, they favor
the linen robes of the old Egyptian priests.
Haven and Prey: Hatred of the sun god, Horus, and a
need for secrecy lead many Followers of Set to places
underground. They frequently establish centers of worship
to Set in abandoned temples long-since buried or natural
caverns. However, this is not always practical. Many Setites
bow to necessity by establishing havens in port city slums,
or risk maintaining a secure mobile haven as part of a trading
caravan. Regardless of location, most Setites feed on the
dregs of society who will not be missed, so as to not draw
attention from those in power.
Character Creation
The Embrace: Followers of Set tend to recruit from
within the ranks of the secret Set cults that they establish.
Through these cults, they identify mortals with the cunning
and charisma needed to survive and spread the worship of
their god. Potential recruits often serve as ghoul retainers to
their vampiric masters. Those with real promise are selected
for the Embrace, while the weak remain as servants to their
betters. The Embrace itself is a secret ritual that serves as the
new childes initiation as a priest of Set in their own right.
Despite that many of their adherents are European, most
new childer are of Egyptian, Nubian, or Arabian descent, as
many elders of the Clan look down on the colonial
aggressors who destroyed their way of life. As the Followers
of Set expand further into Europe, however, they invite more
Europeans into their ranks particularly Gauls and Franks,
as they are more likely to have red hair.
Clan Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis
Weaknesses: The enmity between Set and Horus, sun
god and son of Sets hated brother Osiris, is eternal. The
Followers of Set carry Horus curse more heavily than other
vampires and take twice the amount of aggravated damage
from any exposure to sunlight than members of other clans.
Setite Warriors and Witches
At this point in history, most Setites encountered in
Europe are of the priestly variety. However, the clan sees
three major divides: The Priests, the Warriors, and the
Witches.
Warriors of Glycon
Yes, all Followers of Set are subtle, forked-tongued
seducers. But to the Warriors of Glycon, every pen is held
by a fist; words without action are no more than weapons
without a wielder. The priests of Set can have their temples
and cults. Leave the witches their caves and smoke. The
Warriors of Glycon claim the body. Kings, merchants,
craftsmen, and criminals all share a single thing in common:
power is only relative to the bodies beneath it. They know it
is not the mind, but the body that acts. Violence is a tool:
steer the body and the mind cant help but follow. It was a
serpent that slept with Olympias to give birth to Macedonias
great conqueror. It was also a serpent that put him down. It
is violence, nothing more, that gathers the world, and words
wielded by violence are all that ever hold it together. The
rule of the warriors over the rest of the clan hangs
precariously thin these nights. Echidnas children prophesy
dire omens that forecast not only their own doom, but that of
the Minyan generals as well. The priests retain their own
guard trained in Potence, and some among Sets chosen
display strange, new powers tied closer to the heresies they
spread, than the gifts of Typhon and the Mother. Yet, as the
warriors partake in the masses prepared by the priests in
celebration of their god of the red desert, the offerings of
supplicants swallow their attention, and any caution is
soothed by affirmation of clan. Though the clan does not
appear in any way divided, the witches are quick to point out
that some venoms still the body, while others strangle the
mind.
Sobriquet: Crooks
Disciplines: Obfuscate, Potence, Serpentis
Weakness: The Warriors are power-obsessed by
nature, and each has a special focus. At character creation,
the player must select a nominated source of power
military prowess, status, politically relevant secrets,
alliances, wealth, etc. Additionally, Warriors must accept an
opponents surrender when presented (usually proven
through the defeated opponent submitting to a Blood Oath),
lest they lose a potential convert. Whenever an opportunity
presents itself to directly acquire more power or a convert,
the player must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to avoid
pursuing that lead to the exclusion of all else.
Quote: I will make myself into armor, because Im
hungry and hollow and just want something to call my own.
Witches of Echidna
At one time, long before a myth propagated by a
lone zealot from Ur would associate itself with the vampires
of Europe, a kingdom devoted to the earth-encircling serpent
encompassed northern Greece and Thessaly. Though her
worship was later transposed upon the heavens as the dual
deities Hydra, zigzagging at the elliptic, and Draco, spiraling
around the chasm, the motifs are unmistakably the same.
The Oracle at Delphi, the omphalos (navel) of the world,
older even than the tree of rejuvenation in the epic of
Gilgamesh, was the Pytho. Thousands of years before
Alexanders devotees would birth the Ptolemaic heresies
that now dominate the clan, the Cretan veneration of the
mother serpent at Knossos stretched to the far North,
shedding her skin and sex from mother to father to son, from
Hydra to Ophion to Jrmungandr. The Witches serve the
mother. No matter the form, no matter the name, the
costume, or the dogma, the Witches serve the mother.
Echidna ripples through their hearts, growing through her
cycles to meet the new age. Though the priests of Set confuse
the semantic in their fanatic Hellenistic fervor, they have
ever done their part to push the clan forward to keep it
young and to keep the mothers coils wrapping round the
world. And for this, the Witches are grateful. While the
Warriors of Glycon vie for dominion and control and the
Priests of the aardvark-headed god spread her sermon, the
Witches of Echidna serve.
Sobriquet: Gorgons
Disciplines: Animalism, Presence, Setite Sorcery
(Thaumaturgy)
Weakness: Echidna feasts with her children and
displays herself through their Beast in times of stress.
Whenever a Witch makes a frenzy check, he must also make
a Self-Control check at the same difficulty level. If he fails
either roll, his Appearance is reduced to 0 for the rest of the
scene as Echidnas Visage lashes out in fury, twisting her
acolyte into a tartarine demon. No roll is required for
Witches with Instinct, who automatically assume Echidnas
Visage whenever provoked to frenzy. Furthermore, Echidna
claims her due. Each time a Witch uses or consumes blood,
Echidna consumes a point at the end of the scene. For
example, if a Witch spends two points to boost his Attributes
in a scene, he actually loses three; if he drains a mortal of ten
blood points, he only gains nine. The only exception to
Echidnas feasting occurs when a Witch fuels his sorcerous
power, either through Ritual or Thaumaturgy. Echidna is
appeased and abated by the blasphemous energy coursing
through her servant and demands no additional tribute.
Quote: All you wanted waits reflected on the back
of fear. I am that ruin wearing your lovers skin.
Attributes
Abilities
Disciplines
Backgrounds
Lores
Virtues
Max Merits bought with Flaws
Starting Status (free)
Freebies
Neonate
7/5/3
13/9/5
4
5
4
7
7
1
75
Ancillae
7/5/3
13/9/5
4
5
4
7
7
2
175
Only one max dot per category in attributes and abilities
at creation.
Only one discipline or primary path of Blood Sorcery,
Thaumaturgy and Necromancy can have max dots at
creation.
Only one dot in one advance discipline is allowed at
creation.
Out of Clan Disciplines can be taken at character creation
with Freebie points and only with Storyteller permission.
Celerity, Fortitude and Potence does not need Storyteller
permission, nor does it count toward the max in the
other out of clan disciplines chart.
Starting out of clan Disciplines
Age
Max number of Disciplines
allowed
Max dots in each Discipline
Max number of Physical
Disciplines allowed
Max dots in Celerity, Fortitude
or Potence
Neonate
2
Ancilla
3
3
2
4
2
Freebie Point cost
Trait Cost
Attributes
Ability
Discipline
Blood Sorcery Path
Blood Sorcery Ritual
Backgrounds
Lores
Virtue
Area of Expertise
Road
Willpower
(Per Dot)
5
2
7
4
Ritual Level
1
1
2
1
2
1
Organization: Setite enclaves follow the old Egyptian
temple system. A Prophet and High Priest of Set leads each
temple, with varying numbers of subordinate Priests beneath
them. Larger enclaves might have many mortal cultists as
well as ghoul servants and retainers, while smaller temples
might boast only a handful of mortal adherents.
Stereotypes
Assamites: The Children of Haqim are our enemies.
They preach the word of a god that has supplanted the old
ways. If the worship of Set is to flourish once more, they
must be destroyed.
Lasombra: The poor godless fools. They tear
themselves apart from within, unable to decide which face
of the Abrahamic god to devote themselves to. You need
only give them the occasional nudge and they will destroy
themselves.
Tzimisce: Misguided, perhaps. But their war against the
Ventrue crusaders is a noble one and should be supported,
so long as it would not damage the cause of Set.
Cappadocians: Their abiding interest in the past and the
dead make them occasionally useful. However, they lack any
real passion or fervor, which makes them useless as potential
adherents of Set.
Tremere: Their hunger for power makes them useful
tools against our enemies, though one must never forget
what lengths they are willing to go to for that power.
Setite-Specific Merits/Flaws
Before buying the domain background consult with the
storyteller.
Drug Resistance (2 Point Merit)
You are unusually resistant to drugs. Alcohol, opiates and
similar addictive substances have little or no effect "upon
you. You can drink from winos with impunity, or pretend to
be far drunker than you are in order to take advantage of an
opponent.
motion and the gleam of eyes and teeth in the dark. They
get closer every night. What do they want from you?
Poisonous Bite (2 Point Merit)
Obfuscate
You have developed poison glands in the roof of your
mouth. The poison is virulent, although Kindred and other
supernatural creatures are unaffected by it. You, of course,
are immune. When you bite, you always inject this poison,
usually killing your human victims. You must learn to feed
in other ways, perhaps drawing the blood you need with a
syringe or razor, if you do not wish to kill every time you
feed.
Addictive Blood (3 Point Merit)
Your blood is especially delicious to others, Kindred or
Kine, containing a substance they find physically addictive.
Once they have drunk it, they must drink again, or spent a
Willpower point at inconvenient moments to avoid the pangs
of craving. Setites with this Merit find it much easier to
Blood Bond an opponent, as once they have tasted the
tainted vitae, they will do almost anything to drink it
again.(Storyteller discretion if non Setites can take this
flaw/rare)
Scales (1-3 Point Flaw)
During your Embrace, a portion of your skin became scales.
If only a small area, one easily hidden, such as a patch of
skin on your shoulder, this is only a one-point Flaw. Having
an entire limb affected, such as an arm, forcing you to wear
long gloves at all times is a two-point Flaw, while having a
scaled, lipless face is a three-point Flaw.
Forked Tongue (2 Point Flaw)
Your tongue is forked and flickering, like that of a snake.
You speak with a hiss. Upholding the Masquerade becomes
difficult for you. Note that this tongue does not inflict
aggravated damage, nor draw blood.
Heartless (4 Point Flaw)
Having removed your heart via the fifth level of Serpentis,
you have lost it. The heart might be in the possession of a
foe, or simply missing. If it is possessed by some other
Cainite, (perhaps a Setite elder, or your sire) you must obey
their every command. If it is lost, the anxiety this causes you
interferes with your nightly existence.
Aura of the Typhon (5point Flaw)
Something slithers beneath your skin, coiled in your very
essence something that causes the Lupines to stalk you
for some dread purpose you do not understand. Their
howls follow in your wake. You catch glimpses of blurred
Confusion of the Eye ( )
This power extends the effect of Mask of 1,000
Faces to another person in a specialized way. While under
the influence of this power, the victim perceives one other
person of the vampires choosing as someone else. For
instance, the victim might see and hear the citys
Chamberlain as a fishmonger, or a crusader knight as a
Muslim silk merchant whose favor the victim desires. The
victim hears whatever the masked person says, but
unconsciously explains away any inconsistencies in the
persons responses. If the masked person directly tries
to persuade the victim of his true identity, the victim will
prove hard to convince and may become angry.
System: This power costs one Willpower point to
use. The vampires player makes a Willpower roll
(difficulty of the targets current Willpower). If the roll
succeeds, the victim sees one person of the characters
choosing as one other person, also of the characters
choosing. The effect lasts up to 24 hours.
The victim will rationalize or ignore most
evidence that the masked person is not who he believes.
If the masked person tries to convince the victim of her
true identity, the masked person makes a Charisma +
Subterfuge roll, while the victim makes a Willpower roll
(both difficulty 7). If the victim gets more successes than
the masked person does, she is convinced. Otherwise,
she isnt, and must make a Self-Control roll to keep her
calm.
Mental Maze ( )
This power removes a victims sense of direction,
forcing him to move in circles and binding him to an area
of the vampires choosing. The vampire can trap a person
in his own home. To the victims point of view, the house
folds back on itself, and all the exits lead back inside.
System: The vampires player must make a
Charisma + Intimidation roll (difficulty of the targets
current Willpower). The difficulty increases by 2 if the
character cannot speak to her chosen victims, telling them
they cannot escape. For each success, the character may
affect one victim. The effects last a full scene.
Normally, the power is used in a multi-room
structure such as a house, or an outside area about the
same size. A much larger area (anything from an office
tower to a neighborhood) reduces the difficulty by 1 and
increases the duration to a full day. If the vampire wants
to trap a victim within a single room, the character must
expend a point of Willpower. A character must also
expend a Willpower point to use the Mental Maze upon
supernatural victims such as werewolves, mages, other
vampires, or ghouls.
victim sees the vampire as a loved one for as long as the
vampire remains in her presence.
Presence
This power costs 18 experience points to learn.
Temptation ( )
Typhonic Beast
(Potence , Serpentis )
This power lets a Setite tempt the victim into
some action that she normally wouldnt do. This is usually
some sinful action, but Temptation works just as well to
provoke unwanted generosity as greed, or chastity as well
as lust. The Setite must talk to the victim for at least a
minute and allude to the action she wants the victim to
perform.
System: To goad the victim, the character must
make a successful Manipulation + Leadership roll
(difficulty of the targets Humanity or Path of
Enlightenment rating). A simple success results in a
change to the victims personality and goals for a scene.
If the number of successes exceeds the victims
Conscience or Conviction rating, the change lasts
indefinitely (although the victim may overcome it with
time and expenditure of Willpower, like a Derangement).
The Setites have created many variations on this
power. The player chooses which variation at the time of
purchasing this power. Sample variations include:
Obsession: The victim suffers an overpowering
lust for a certain substance, action, or condition. She may
fly into a rage (the victim receives a frenzy check) if she
cannot possess or experience the object of her desire
before her next sleep.
True Will: This persuades the victim, for a time,
to act on any passing desire, or according to his Nature,
without self-restraint.
Combination
Disciplines
True Loves Face
(Obfuscate , Presence )
Through perfect combination of Mask of 1,000
Faces and Entrancement, the Setite can appear to another
person as someone he already loves. If she does not know
of such a person, she can let the victim define his own
true love and let the power do the rest. In that case,
however, the Setite will have to use her wits to discover
who the victim thinks she is.
System: The vampire receives a roll of Charisma
+ Empathy (difficulty 6). Success means that the chosen
The Setite calls upon the primordial chaos of the
Duat, expressing it through his own flesh. The vampire
takes on the form of the mysterious Typhonic animal.
System: This power requires the expenditure of
three blood points; the transformation takes three turns to
complete. The transformed vampire gains one dot each of
Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina, as well as the benefits
of Potence. The Typhonic form gains the soak benefits of
Skin of the Adder: dropping the soak difficulty to 5; and
the vampire can use her Stamina to soak aggravated
damage from claws and fangs, but not from fire, sunlight,
or magic. The Setite also gains the venomous bite of Form
of the Cobra, doubles her running speed, and gains +2
dice on all Perception rolls related to smell or hearing.
The vampire remains in bestial form until the next
sunrise, or until she voluntarily changes back. Clothing
and other small personal items transform along with the
vampire.
This power costs 21 experience points to learn.
Weigh the Heart
(Auspex , Serpentis )
The ancient Egyptians believed that conscience
and judgment resided in the heart. In the afterlife, the gods
weighed a persons heart, the record of his deeds, against
the feather of truth. A Setite who has learned The Heart
of Darkness not only can remove a vampires heart to
keep it safe, he gains a potential insight into the
consciences of others. He can develop that potential
through Auspex. Like the god Anubis, a vampire with this
power can weigh another persons heart to read his
character and sins. Such knowledge of another persons
character makes tempting, corrupting, or teaching him
much easier.
System: This power calls for a Perception +
Empathy roll (difficulty 8). Each success reveals one truth
about the targets character, with particular emphasis on
the persons weaknesses, passions, and guilts. The first
truth is always the targets Nature. Subsequent truths
might include any Derangements or mental Flaws, strong
passions, or deep-laid fears and guilts (although never
specific details about specific crimes).
This power costs 24 experience points to learn.
