Clans
The 13 great vampire clans — bloodlines, disciplines, weaknesses, and culture.
The thirteen great clans are the primary social and genealogical divisions of Kindred society. Clan membership is determined by the blood of one’s sire — with exceptions, a childe inherits the clan of the vampire who Embraces them.
Clan is not merely biology. It shapes psychology, Discipline access, social standing, and the specific form of the vampiric curse each bloodline carries.
Clans at a Glance
| Clan | Disciplines | Weakness Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Brujah | Celerity, Potence, Presence | Frenzy difficulty +2 always; cannot spend WP to avoid frenzy |
| Gangrel | Animalism, Fortitude, Protean | Gain animal features after frenzying |
| Giovanni | Dominate, Necromancy, Potence | Bite causes double damage; victims feel it clearly |
| Lasombra | Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence | No mirror reflection; Obtenebration is erratic |
| Malkavian | Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate | One permanent, incurable derangement |
| Nosferatu | Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence | Monstrous appearance (Appearance 0); cannot disguise via mundane means |
| Ravnos | Animalism, Chimerstry, Fortitude | Compelled to indulge a specific vice nightly or lose Willpower |
| Toreador | Auspex, Celerity, Presence | Can become entranced by beautiful stimuli; lose actions |
| Tremere | Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy | One drink of another vampire’s vitae = two stages toward blood bond; fully bonded after two drinks |
| Tzimisce | Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude | Must sleep in home soil each day |
| Ventrue | Dominate, Fortitude, Presence | Feed only on one narrow mortal type; cannot feed on others |
| Assamite | Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus | Blood curse: skin darkens with age; addicted to vampire blood |
| Followers of Set | Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis | Take extra damage from sunlight; hate bright light |
The Camarilla Clans
The Camarilla is nominally composed of seven clans — the Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue. These form the political backbone of the Sect. In practice, the Ventrue dominate the Camarilla’s upper hierarchy; the Tremere enforce it from within; the Toreador provide its cultural legitimacy.
The Gangrel historically walked a middle path and formally departed the Camarilla in the late 20th century in many chronicles.
The Sabbat Clans
The Sabbat claims the Lasombra and Tzimisce as its founding Antitribu clans. Most other clans have Sabbat splinter groups (Antitribu), but the Lasombra and Tzimisce are the only clans whose entire population (with rare exceptions) aligns with the Sabbat.
The Independent Clans
The Giovanni, Ravnos, Assamite, and Followers of Set operate as Independent clans — acknowledging neither the Camarilla nor the Sabbat as their governing structure, though they interact with both for practical reasons.