CHAMELEON
Independent and self-reliant, you manage to blend into any situation. You carefully study the behavior and mannerisms of everyone you come in contact with so you can pass yourself off as someone else later. You spend so much time altering your mannerisms and appearance that your own sire may not even recognize you. Spies, con artists, drag queens and impostors best represent the Chameleon.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you fool someone into thinking you’re someone else for your own (or your pack’s) benefit.
CREEP SHOW
You strive to shock and disgust those around you with gratuitous acts and ostentatiously “evil” mannerisms. You realize, of course, that it’s all show and merely a way to intimidate and control others. Outsiders, on the other hand, think you are the Devil incarnate, and you revel in this image. Shock-rockers, rebellious teenagers and the attention-starved exemplify the Creep Show Archetype.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone recoils from you in horror or otherwise reacts in fear.
ENIGMA
Your actions are bizarre, puzzling and inexplicable to everyone except yourself. Your strangeness may be residual effects from the Creation Rites, or the most effective way for you to carry out the work of the Sabbat — to see the movements of the Antediluvians and counter them. To the rest of the world, however, your erratic actions suggest that you’re eccentric if not completely crazy. Conspiracy theorists, deep-cover agents and Jyhad fanatics all live up to the Enigma Archetype.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone is completely perplexed or baffled by one of your actions that later turns out to be a fruitful endeavor.
EYE OF THE STORM
Despite your calm subtle appearance, chaos and havoc seems to follow you. From burning cities to emotional
upheaval, death and destruction circle you like albatrosses. For you, unlife is a never-ending trial with uncertainty around every corner. Gang leaders, political figures and other influential individuals exemplify the Eye of the Storm Archetype.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever a ruckus, riot or less violent phenomenon occurs around you.
GURU
Your enlightenment draws others to you. You may be a mentor of a particular Path of Enlightenment, a priest with the Church or merely an idealist in your pack. Whatever the case, your presence motivates and moves others to engage in spiritual or ideological pursuits. Your peers view you as calm, centered and “with it,” even when you are preaching about violence as a means to an end. Cult leaders, Zen masters and pack priests are examples of Gurus.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone seeks out your help in spiritual matters and your guidance moves that individual to an enlightened action that he normally would not have taken. Also, regain a point of Willpower whenever you achieve an epiphany that relates to your personal philosophy.
SADIST
Your exist to inflict pain and suffering upon others. Killing is too easy torture is the best way to truly harm a person, and you seek the slowest, most painful means to push others to the ultimate limits. Pain - others’ pain — gives you immense pleasure. Drill sergeants, jilted ex-lovers and some of the terminally deranged may all display Sadist Archetypes at one time or another; sadism is rare enough to appear only in aberrant cases, rather than reliably in one type of person or another.
Regain a point of Willpower whenever you inflict pain upon someone for no reason other than your own pleasure.
SOCIOPATH
All inferior beings both living and undead should be exterminated in order to bring about a harmonious existence. You likely feel no remorse when you kill (depending upon your Humanity or path). On the contrary, you are doing a glorious deed for society. Some Sabbat are critical of your violent nature, but you sometimes manage to sway them with arguments like, “Darwin would agree that I’m only helping nature along!” and, “Only the Sabbat shall survive!”
Regain Willpower whenever you are the greatest contributor to a body count after everything has settled down. This count includes times when you are the only killer, and it needs not result from a massive combat — like killing every member of a movie audience or gunning down defenseless patrons in a bank robbery.
ABILITIES
In addition to the Abilities listed in Vampire: The Masquerade, you may find the following Secondary Abilities of interest. They are designed to reflect the Sabbat member, her unlifestyle and her nightly activities. If your Storyteller does not permit Secondary Abilities, simply ignore them. (The Secondary Abilities, not the Storyteller.)
PANHANDLING
You are a skilled beggar. You are able to get people to give you money just by asking for it. You know whom to ask, how to approach them, what to say and how to avoid the police. This Talent is useful for picking up quick cash or creating a cover.
• Novice: You get most of your money shaking cans and washing windshields. You’re still working on a hard-luck story.
•• Practiced: You’re working on the story and using the classic lines, but you still manage to get little more than spare change.
••• Competent: You’re really smooth — you can even hit the hard-hearted for a few bucks.
•••• Expert: Who needs a sob story when you can hustle and scam your way into big bucks from tourists and little old ladies?
••••• Master: Dinners, rides home, cash for a bus ticket easy as pie.
FIRE DANCING
You can enter a trance-like state that allows you to lead through flames. This Skill is vital in the Fire Dance and other ritae. Demonstrating this Skill often equates to being a powerful and dominant member of the pack. This Skill does not grant any
immunity from the fire, but it does allow the vampire to avoid being burned or succumbing to a frenzy. This Skill cannot be part of a split dice pool: The user must concentrate on Fire Dancing and nothing else. When the vampire tries to Fire Dance, damage should be rolled normally, but for every success with this Skill, reduce the amount of damage done by one health level. Few vampires outside the Sabbat have this Skill.
(Note: Unless the fire is actually a bonfire meant for the ritual dance, you do not suffer Rotschreck any less frequently than any other vampire.)
• Novice: You make the necessary leaps to prove that you're not a coward. You usually wait until the fire has died down quite a bit before you leap though.
•• Practiced: You no longer feel that “Oh, shit,” panic when you jump.
••• Competent: You are usually the first to jump, for you do not fear the flames. You live by the motto, “Build it higher, jump the fire!”
•••• Expert: An acrobat in the flames, you command a prowess and fearlessness that serves as inspiration to all who observe you.
••••• Master: A legend among the Sabbat, your moves are simultaneously unholy and magnificent.
Specialties: Leaping, Acrobatics, Distance, Looking Tough
UNDERWORLD LORE
You know the politics and figures of organized crime within your city. You understand how the system works, whom to pay off, whose arm to twist and who gets the cement shoes. Whether it’s street drugs or vampiric blood for a secret cult of ghouls, you know the source and who’s playing the game. This Knowledge encompasses members of all criminal organizations, ethnic and otherwise, including the Mafia, Yakuza, and street gangs.
• Novice: You saw The Godfather a couple times.
•• Practiced: You know a few button men or soldiers and can name most of your city’s prominent gangsters.
••• Competent: You know as much as most connected men.
•••• Expert: If it’s happening in your city, you know about it.
••••• Master: If it’s happening, period, you know about it.
Possessed by: Mafia Dons, Yakuza, Government Leaders, Police, Connected Thugs
Specialties: Loan-Sharking, Drug-Running, Smuggling, Slavery, Politics, Ethnic Organizations
SABBAT BACKGROUNDS
For the most part, the Sabbat looks with disfavor upon Backgrounds, considering them co-dependent ties to the mortal world. Nonetheless, Backgrounds often come in handy, and rare is the Sabbat who would rather die than avail himself of their resources. This section looks at Sabbat views concerning the core Vampire Backgrounds as well as introducing a few new ones specific to the sect.
ALLIES
The Sabbat views allies as an occasional dirty necessity.
Trusting no one outside the sect, much less wanting to be
indebted to anyone, a member of the Sabbat chooses allies with
great reservation. Because allies are mortal, the Sabbat considers them expendable, and practically no Sabbat would entrust
his unlife to something as fragile and inferior as a human being.
Few Sabbat keep allies for any length of time, preferring to
either pay off or bully prospective help into cooperation.
CONTACTS
Sabbat may still have mortal contacts whom they can
manipulate, bribe and hit up for information. These people
hail from all walks of life, though if a player wishes to cultivate
contacts, those contacts must have some reason to be in-
volved with a Sabbat character (considering the sect’s overall
dislike of mortals). As a whole, the sect regards mortal
contacts with little more respect than mortal allies, but it
recognizes the occasional necessity of them. After all, when
Sabbat vampires need guns, sometimes mortal gun-runners
have the best wares. In truth, most Sabbat vampires can and
do benefit from contacts at many points during their
unlives, though they tend to keep quiet about such things.
It wouldn’t do to have other Cainites know that one is
dependent on the mortals around him.
For the Sabbat, it is more commonplace to have many
minor contacts spread throughout the city than any
single, particularly powerful contact. Of course, bishops,
archbishops, prisci, cardinals and the like typically have
influence they can exert over key powerful individuals, but
this relationship, obviously, falls more into the category of
Influence than Contacts.
FAME
Most Sabbat avoid turning movie stars into vampires, but
it has happened. For a sect that prides itself on exclusivity and
supremacy, fame can bring unwanted attention to the sect.
Besides, once Embraced, even the famous tend to lose interest
in their mortal fans (largely due to their deteriorated Humanity). Those with Fame who do not gracefully fade from the
limelight must use it with the greatest of care. If for any reason,
a Sabbat member with Fame is deemed a threat to Sabbat
security, the Sword of Caine suffers no reservations in eliminating her. One almost apocryphal tale tells of a budding Hollywood
actor who, after being Embraced into the sect, refused to devote
his attention to the Great Jyhad and instead used his vampiric
powers to make a name for himself. Incensed, the Sabbat
destroyed him, leaving an overdosed, fleshcrafted body-double
in his place, dead in front of a popular nightclub. Such ignominy
awaits those who fail to draw the distinction between mortal
renown and Cainite duty.
HERD
Vampires of the Sabbat have differing views on the matter
of herds. Some Sabbat argue that herds promote laziness;
nightly hunting hones survival skills, and herds are impossible
to maintain for nomadic packs. Other Sabbat members, how-
ever, fear disease and use a herd to minimize chances of
infection. Some keep herds to prevent mortals populaces from
ever becoming aware of their presence. Ultimately, it’s a matter
of convenience and pack preference as to whether or not
members support herds. It should be noted, though, that most
Sabbat keep only small herds so as to minimize threats to
security. Many a herdless Sabbat boasts that the Sahbat should
drink from whomever they damn well please!
INFLUENCE
Influence is a character’s ability to sway the mortal
world. The Sabbat has some influence on mortal society,
but does little to further or exploit these human ties.
Actually, the Sabbat finds it difficult to view humans and
their affairs as anything more than a potential liability.
Besides, the Sabbat sees little reason to be involved with
humans. Many packs have extensive rules governing such
interactions. This is due in part to the Sabbat’s disdain for
humanity. After all, a Cainite with only shreds of Human-
ity let alone the palpable evil that exudes from her
when she follows a Path of Enlightenment will have a
difficult time subtly manipulating any human if those
around her are uncomfortable.
Some Sabbat view the human world as a giant chessboard to manipulate at will, but this tactic is dangerous
indeed. Most Sabbat, with the exception of leaders and
elders, simply stay out of mortal matters.
MENTOR
Since Sabbat unlife demands so much from its ranks,
many members look to their packmates, sires and superiors for
guidance. In Sabbat society, the mentor may teach and guide
the Sabbat member on his chosen Path of Enlightenment,
give advice, provide protection from elders by acting as a
buffer, offer caution when intruding on the affairs of other
elders and provide information regarding opportunities for
power and advancement.
• Mentor is a ductus or pack priest.
•• Mentor is a prominent elder or priest.
•••Mentor is a bishop.
•••• Mentor is an archbishop.
••••• Mentor is a priscus or cardinal.
RETAINERS
Because the Sabbat is known for its secrecy secrecy
that has enabled its survival over the centuries, its members are apprehensive at thought of letting a hunch of
humans know their secrets. Even when a Sabbat vampire
takes a retainer, he is much more likely to choose a ghoul
or an animal. There is also an ideological basis for the
Sabbat’s restricted use of retainers; why would a superior
being choose such an inferior being for a servant, assistant
or companion?
Retainers must always he controlled in some way,
either through a salary, the donation of Cainite blood or
direct mind-control. They may not always be loyal, though
typically they are, considering the consequences. Depending on how well they have been treated, some
retainers feel the temptation to betray their masters if
given the chance. Sabbat members keep tight reins on
their retainers. Usually, a retainer is killed at the slightest
sign of mistrust or disobedience.
BLACK HAND MEMBERSHIP
You are a member of the feared Black Hand, the body of
assassins and soldiers that serves the Sabbat fervently. Having this Background indicates that you are a full-fledged
member of the organization, and you have all the responsibilities and benefits that accompany membership.
You may call upon members of the Black Hand to aid
you, should you ever need it. Of course, this ability is a two-way street, and other Hand members may call upon you to aid
them. Thus, you may find yourself assigned to perform assassinations, lend martial aid or even further the political ends
of the Hand as a diplomat or spy. You may also be required to
attend crusades that take you away from your pack. All
members of the Black Hand must heed the call of another
Hand member, especially the superiors of the faction.
Being a member of the Black Hand is a prestigious
matter, and other members of the Sabbat respect the organization. When dealing with other Sabbat, should you choose
to reveal your affiliation with the Hand, you may add your
rating in this Background to any Social dice pools, even after
other Status or Abilities have been taken into account. Most
Hand members, however, choose not to reveal their allegiance. Also, the Black Hand is remarkably adept at hunting
down Sabbat who claim membership in the sect but do not
truly belong. Liars, beware.
• You are a grunt; you may call upon one Black Hand
member once per story.
•• You are known and respected in the Black Hand;
you may call upon two Black Hand members once
per story.
••• You are held in the Black Hand’s regard; you may
call upon five Black Hand members once per story.
•••• You are a hero among members of the Black Hand;
you may call upon seven Black Hand members
twice per story (but you’d better have just cause — if it seems you’re becoming soft, you may lose points
in this Background). You may also lead large numbers of Hand members into action should it ever
become necessary.
••••• You are part of Black Hand legend; you may call
upon 12 Black Hand members twice per story (but
see the preceding caution). You may also lead large
numbers of Hand members into action should it
ever become necessary. The Seraphim may even
seek your counsel on matters of import.
RITUALS
You know the ritae and rituals of the Sabbat, and you can enact many, of them. This Background is vital
to being a pack priest without this Background, ritae
will not function. This Background is actually a supernatural investment, drawing on the magic of the eldest
Tzimisce sorcerers. Sabbat vampires who are not their
pack’s priests should have an outstanding reason for
acquiring this Background, as pack priests are loath to share
their secrets with more secular members of the sect.
• You know three of the auctoritas ritae (your choice).
•• You know nine of the auctoritas ritae (your choice)
and three ignoblis ritae (your choice).
••• You know all 13 of the auctoritas ritae and nine
ignoblis ritae (your choice). Also, you may create
your own ignoblis ritae, given enough time
(consult your Storyteller for development time
and game effects).
•••• You know all the auctoritas ritae and 20 ignoblis ritae
(your choice). You may create your own ignoblis
ritae, given enough time (consult your Storyteller
for development time and game effects). You are
also familiar with the functions of numerous re
gional and pack-specific ignoblis ritae, even if you
cannot perform them.
••••• You know all the auctoritas ritae and 40 ignoblis ritae
(your choice). You may create your own ignoblis
ritae, given enough time (consult your Storyteller
for development time and game effects). You are
also familiar with the functions of almost all re
gional and pack-specific ignoblis ritae, even if you
cannot perform them; if it’s been written down or
passed around in lore, you’ve heard of it.
SABBAT STATUS
Respect had its perks, not the least of which was the ability
to quiet the rabble when one must speak directly to them.
While the Sabbat values individuality, the strength of
the packs lies within the strength of its leadership. Only
leaders who are respected and revered within the pack and
the sect can achieve this level of recognition. Status plays an
important role in getting and keeping a leadership position.
Members of the Sabbat do not recognize Clan Prestige (see
the Guide to the Camarilla) for the most part (though a few
Tzimisce do, as do a fair share of Lasombra). Rather, sect
comes before clan to most Sabbat, and thus, it is better to be
recognized by the sect as a whole. At the Storyteller’s discretion, Sabbat Status may add to a character’s Social Trait
when she makes a point of it. Obviously, Sabbat Status
confers no particular benefit and is more likely a detriment when
dealing with members of the Camarilla or even some
independent Cainites.
• Ductus or pack priest/Well-known
•• Templar or paladin/Respected
••• Bishop/Renowned
•••• Archbishop/Pillar of the Sabbat
••••• Priscus or cardinal/Luminary
MERITS AND FLAWS
In addition to the Merits and Flaws listed in Vampire:
The Masquerade, the following may be used to effectively
enhance your character. As always, Merits and Flaws may be
used only with Storyteller approval.
EARLY RISER (lpt MERIT)
No one can explain it, but you seem to have the ability
to exist on less rest than your fellow packmates, tending to
rise at least one hour before everyone else. You always seem
to be the first to rise and the last to go to bed even if you’re
been out until dawn. While your packmates may still be
groggy, you tend to be awake and aware.
VULNERABILITY TO SILVER (2 pt FLAW)
To you, silver is as painful and as deadly as the rays of the
sun. You suffer aggravated wounds from any silver weapons
(bullets, knives, etc.) and the mere touch of silver objects
discomfits you.
LAZY (3 pt FLAW)
You are simply lazy, avoiding anything that requires
effort on your part. Preferring to let others do the hard work,
you lounge around. For any action that requires preparation,
there’s a good chance you didn’t properly prepare. Difficulty
rolls for spontaneous Physical actions (including combat,
unless it’s part of a planned offensive) increase by one.
INFERTILE VITAE (5 pt FLAW)
During your Embrace, something went horribly wrong causing
your blood to mutate under the stress of dying and rising again. All
those you try to Embrace die. No matter what you do, you may not
create any childer. However, your blood can still be used in the
Vaulderie or for any other vampiric need, including making ghouls.
SOCIAL
SANCTITY (2 pt MERIT)
This Merit is sometimes called the halo effect; everyone
considers you pure and innocent, though not necessarily not
naïve. You have a saint-like quality that is hard to pinpoint but
cannot be denied. You are trusted, even if you are not trustwor-
thy. At the Storyteller’s discretion, you tend to receive lesser
punishments for wrongdoing, and you are liked by most.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY (1 pt FLAW)
Shortly after your Embrace, you volunteered for some task in
order to gain respect and approval from your pack members. Now,
you wish you had never opened your damn mouth! While you are not
given any special credit for performing this duty, you would lose much
respect from the pack if you were to stop. The nature and the details
of your duty should be worked out with the Storyteller in advance.
Ideas can range from lending money to pack members to acting as
pack messenger or possibly gathering victims for Blood Feasts.
MENTAL INTROSPECTION (1 pt MERIT)
You have keen insight into the ulterior motives of all your
actions. Through this nightly exercise, you also have incredible
insight into the underlying motives of others’ actions. Add two
dice to your Perception dice pool when you must take an action
against someone with the same Nature or Demeanor as you.
FLASHBACK5 (6 pt FLAW)
You managed to make it through the Creation Rites, but
not wholly intact. The most insignificant thing can throw
you into a different mood or state of mind. Your behavior is
extremely unpredictable. Because of your precarious emo-
tional state, your Willpower fluctuates. At the beginning of
each story, make a Willpower roll (you may not spend
Willpower for an automatic success, obviously). If you succeed, you may participate in the story as normal. If you fail,
however, your Willpower is considered to be 1 for the
duration of that session. You may roll again at the beginning
of the next session to see if you regain your wits.
