VAMPIRE

Vampire: The Masquerade was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness games, based on the Storyteller System and centred around vampires in a modern Gothic-Punk world. The title of the series comes from "The Masquerade", referring to the attempts of the Camarilla (the largest vampiric sect) to hide vampirism from humans and their governments and media. It also serves as a double entendre, referring to vampires' efforts to convince themselves that they are not the monsters they have become.

Vampires refer to themselves as “the Kindred”, or by some, “Cainites” – reflecting that they are the cursed children of Caine, the first vampire. By contrast, humans are known as “kine” (cattle), as they are now predators of their former race.

Each step away from Caine is called a Generation, and the closer to Caine, the more powerful the vampire. The most powerful vampires have long since vanished; the general belief is that they are still alive, using their near god-like powers to continue their ancient Jyhad – the eternal war to kill each other, using other vampires as pawns their deep, unfathomable schemes.

The latest vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade have reached the 13th Generation, and are so weak they cannot sire new vampires. Many consider this a sign of the impending doom of vampire kind.

Vampiric societies consist of two levels: sects and clans. A sect is a social grouping based on ideological stance; a clan is the bloodline a vampire enters when they are Embraced (become a vampire), based on the bloodline of their Sire. The bloodlines give the vampires certain unifying traits within their clan – weaknesses and strengths – whilst sect reveals a vampire’s political alignment.

In the World of Darkness, there is an increasing number of "clanless" - vampires who were abandoned by their sires immediately following the Embrace and who are ignorant of their clan status; a vampire cannot choose to become clanless. They are called Caitiff by the Camarilla, and regarded as a sign of the Masquerade spiralling out of control, and therefore gaining little respect from their elders. The Sabbat, on the other hand, gladly embraces the clanless (which they call Panders) into the sect. The more superstitious see the growing numbers of these vampires as an omen of the coming Gehenna, the Final Nights of prophecy when all children of Caine will be destroyed.