Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

ecognition of a bloodline chapter one: • size society and of population
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a hundred years? A new bloodline must persist for decades, if not centuries, before other
Kindred consider it worth serious attention. The slow pace of communication among Kindred
of different cities also makes sure that word of a new bloodline takes centuries to reach
vampires who dwell far away.
For much of their history, the Kindred did not especially care about bloodlines in distant
lands. Foreign vampires could not affect them, so most Kindred did not bother learning
about them. Modern travel and communications have changed that to some degree. Travel
remains diffi cult for Kindred, but a journey across continents is not much harder than a trip
of a few hundred miles. As a result, rare Kindred visitors to a city might include members of
bloodlines formerly limited to distant regions, such as the Burakumin. Some elders now want
very much to know who or what might come to their city, so that they can exploit, avoid or
destroy an intruding member of a foreign bloodline.
Therefore, when you design a bloodline, give thought to how much other Kindred know
about it. Do they consider it a minor, idiosyncratic group within an existing clan, or do they
recognize it as a distinct lineage? How many Kindred even know that the bloodline exists?
Has word of the bloodline spread very far? If so, how? The Kindred react in different ways to
an envoy from a known bloodline than to a wholly mysterious vampire threat.
Just as importantly, how much information on a bloodline is accurate? Rumor might ascribe
any sort of strange powers and horrible customs to an obscure and distant line. Consider
that 500 years ago, educated Europeans seriously believed that central Asia held one-eyed
giants, dog-headed cannibals and pygmies who lived off the smell of apples. The Kindred
travel less than their mortal ancestors did 500 years ago. Any “foreign” Kindred might be
suspected of diablerie, sanguinary sacrifi ce to strange gods or any other foul practice, just
because someone’s great-grandsire said it was the custom of Kindred in that part of the world
or among that bloodline.
SIZE AND POPULATION
Approximately how many members does a bloodline have? The Tradition of Progeny keeps
Kindred from siring childer very often, so a bloodline’s numbers probably do not grow quickly.
A bloodline might take centuries to build up respectable numbers.
Cultural factors and historical events can slow a bloodline’s growth even further, or actually
reduce its numbers. The bloodline’s founder might not want to sire many childer, or he
might forbid progeny to his childer in reverence of the Traditions. A bloodline’s members
might think that very few mortals deserve the Embrace. Confl icts with other Kindred, other
supernatural beings or with mortal witch-hunters might result in the destruction of many
members of a line. For example, the Toreador Embrace only those who fi t into their social
clique, and they limit their numbers to maintain a sense of rarity and therefore signifi cance
and uniqueness.
Storytellers should not say exactly how many members a bloodline has unless it’s so small
and localized that every member can appear in a particular story arc. Rough estimates, such
as “a pittance,” “a few dozen” or “maybe a hundred,” preserve the setting’s sense of mystery
and the unknown.
Age and population also tend to correlate with how far a bloodline has spread. Since vampires
seldom travel, a bloodline could take decades to spread from the domain in which it
began, and centuries to reach other nations or continents. A populous, old bloodline might
have spread through several countries, and the odds are better that some member takes the
risky step of moving far away to the young cities of the New World.