We recognise fully that at first, Vampire: The Masquerade can appear unapproachable, and overwhelming. The setting and universe contain a plethora of terminology, references, and niche language that can be alienating to people who want to explore the world, but have no prior experience. Especially when trying to craft the story you as a player want to tell, or figure out how your character fits into the World of Darkness; it is completely understandable to feel overwhelmed and confused. As Organisers, we remember how disorienting and disheartening this can be. We've been in those shoes before! It's jarring! Were it not for a community that was willing to walk us through it, we'd never have got to enjoy this setting that we adore. Whilst this page is attempting to emulate that, we recognise that it will likely not cover all possible questions that our players may have. Please, if you have any further questions about the setting or terminology that has been used throughout this website, or in conversations in our Discord, feel free to ask the game team (or even your fellow players if you feel comfortable). We'd love to help!
What is Vampire the Masquerade?
The universe in which our game takes place is a setting rife with monsters. Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts: they are all very real. Not only do they exist, but they walk amongst the world, as neighbours, colleagues, lovers and friends. In the World of Darkness, the stories that make up the myths of the supernatural are all real - and they are all far more monstrous than anyone could have imagined. In Vampire: The Masquerade, you are playing one of these very beings. A supernatural Vampire, who was once human, and has been dragged into the shadows by a predator, forcing you to be a part of their sordid world whether you like it or not. Every Vampire is a monster, clinging to remnants of their humanity - of who they once were, and how the world once looked. Every night they awaken, cursed, damned, hungry. Their condition is parasitic - subsisting off of the lifeblood of a flock to which they used to belong. To be a Vampire is to stalk the night: navigating centuries of intrigue and chaos. Centuries of archaic traditions, rules, and religions merged with the modern understanding of technology and the world. Politics, violence, carnality and betrayal are their currency, all in the pursuit of survival now that they find themselves amongst the ranks of the Damned. The horror is personal. You are the monster. You exist as a bastardisation of humanity, and the sinful urges that exist on the world's periphery. Preternatural powers flow through your veins, with unbound potential. At its core, Vampire: The Masquerade is a tale of conflict, between the limits of morals and humanity in the face of eternal monstrosities: given form in each character.
What Is a Sect?
A sect, in the most simplistic of senses, is a socio-political body formed up of like-minded groups of Vampires. In most cases, they have a distinct ideology that they, and all their members, adhere to. These organisations carry their own hierarchies, internal political positions and structures: with their own interests, and approaches to tackling the events of the world in which they inhabit. They are a means of communal survival. They are warring bodies, vying for control of the Vampire world - each espousing a worldview they hold to be true. No one survives alone, and every Lick is forced to choose a side eventually. In the setting, there are two main sects - the third having fallen for a multitude of reasons before the turn of the millennium. They consist of The Anarchs and The Camarilla. Our Game is an Anarch event, and so the majority - if not all - of the player characters will belong to this organisation. However, when it comes to warring political bodies that run the world for Vampires, even members of one group are aware of how the other works! How else are they meant to have opinions on why the other is awful, or why they're on the right side of the war in the first place?
Who Are The Camarilla?
It is much harder to grasp the motivations of The Anarch movement without first understanding the sect that they are actively subverting: The Camarilla. The Camarilla is, and has been, the defacto and ruling political body for Vampires in Europe since its foundation, almost seven hundred years ago. They are the puppeteers in the shadows, attempting to control mortal society from behind the scenes: all in the pursuit of ensuring the survival of themselves, and the elders to which they answer. A true propaganda marvel: members of the Camarilla are indoctrinated into a worldview dictated to them by their Elders. With the ban on technology in place, there is very little reason to believe otherwise, and contradicting those above you is often met with an iron fist. In years past, the Anarchs and Camarilla were nominally aligned in the war against the Sabbat. An alliance of necessity, if nothing else: as the Anarchs were never truly powerful enough to deny this demand, and simply had to bend the knee to their oppressors. With the Sabbat gone, and The Second Inquisition barking at their doors; the Camarilla cut loose their ties with the Anarchs, declaring open war on their previous allies. Simply, the Elders saw them as too much of a threat to their safety, and the safety of their Masquerade. Leaving The Camarilla is no small feat, and in turn, many are hunted down for doing so. In recent years, The Camarilla have closed the doors to their Ivory Tower. They turn away any who are not deemed worthy by their standards - no Duskborn (or thin-bloods as they call them), no caitiff, none below the 13th generation, and no one of an Anarch persuasion. Theirs is an elitist, and strict, hierarchy. Hellbent on maintaining the order of things, as they have been for centuries. Only certain clans are permitted entry to their domains, and they will violently eliminate anyone caught trespassing.
Camarilla Positions
Each cell of the Camarilla, called a Court, is allocated control over a Domain - typically cities and counties in the U.K. - which they are charged with maintaining by the Elders above them in their pecking order. Each court is made up of positions, which are often fought over within these courts. These positions are as follows: PRINCE: The Tyrants are at the top of the court, and it is the Prince who has the final say in what happens in a Camarilla territory. She decides where the court is held, when it happens, who is permitted attendance, and who is banished. Typically they are the Eldest and most established member of a Domain, the most powerful and most well-connected. To deny a Prince is to court death at the hands of her court. They answer only to the most powerful members of the sect - The Justicars and Archons - whose names are whispered in backrooms, and whose appearance means death to a whole domain. The figureheads of the Camarilla, the Princes embody everything the Anarchs disagree with. SENESCHAL: The right hand of the Prince is the seneschal who acts as the head of the court when a Prince is indisposed. They deal with all matters of importance that are not worthy of the Prince's time and often act as a point of communication between the Primogen Council and the Prince of a Domain. A position of seniority and respect amongst the court, no one gets to be a Seneschal without fucking someone else over to get there. HERALD: The Herald is the voice of The Prince. They are tasked with communicating the rules and whims of a Prince to their Domain. It is the Herald who informs the Domain of the rules of each court and of the arrival of influential kindred in the area. PRIMOGEN COUNCIL: The Primogen are an internal office within a Domain, made up of the Elder, or most respected, member of each Clan in the Domain. They are tasked with ensuring each of their clan tow the sect line, and with bringing a consensus on matters to the ear of the Prince. SHERIFF: It is the purview of the Sheriff to enforce the traditions of a Domain. They are the blunt implement by which the Kindred in a Prince's domain are kept in line, and anyone caught violating the Traditions likely meets their end following a short investigation at their hands. SCOURGE: As the name would suggest, the Scourge is a position granted to a vampire who holds a vested interest in scouring the Domain of undesirables. Given free rein, without need for investigation, to destroy those within a Domain that does not meet the Camarilla's standards for kindred society - be that due to generation, clan, or the very nature of their Embrace. The Scourge purges all. HARPY: Less of an official position, a Harpy becomes one simply by acting like a Harpy. They are the trendsetters, maintainers of the social status quo as well as providers of gossip and political insight. They keep an eye on the movers and shakers in any Domain and are a focal point for people to find out who's who, and what's what at any court.
The Traditions
The members of The Camarilla adhere to The Six Traditions, as they were written at the end of the Dark Ages. These traditions are as follows: The Masquerade: The most important tradition, the Masquerade ensures that Kindred keep themselves hidden from mortal institutions. Since the inception of the Second Inquisition, this is more important to the Camarilla than ever. The Domain: Much like empires of old, the Camarilla carves and divides the world geographically based on cities and territories, each a Domain allocated to a Prince. The Progeny: It is the third tradition that ensures that a new Vampire is only created with the express permission of the Elders in a Domain. These Elders, however, are rarely subjected to this rule. The Accounting: A means of keeping track of what Vampires are born, and where. It is Accounting that makes newly embraced Vampires slaves to their Sires, until a time when they are deemed worthy to be seen as an individual in their own right. The Hospitality: To move between Domains is to subject yourself to a new Court, and its rules. If a vampire does not notify a superior of their travels, they are swiftly disposed of by the Sheriff or Scourge. Hospitality dictated that Kindred do not violate the rules of the Domains they travel through. The Destruction: The murder of another vampire is considered tantamount to signing your death warrant in the Ivory Tower. If someone has transgressed egregiously it is the right of Destruction that allows Elders to hunt them down. Anyone caught breaking these traditions, or found in violation of a Prince's interpretation of the rules, is disposed of. Those who are lucky, escape to the Anarchs.
Who Are The Anarchs?
Without the existence of the Camarilla, there would be no Anarchs. The Unbound, as they often call themselves, resent the privilege and superiority that the Elders of the Ivory Tower use to suppress the neonates and disenfranchised. Born of a rebellion centuries ago, the Anarch Movement can be summarised as standing for one thing above all else: the liberation of the vampire kind from the tyranny of the Elders that suppress the voices of the young. They despise the indoctrination tactics employed by the Camarilla, their need for control over all things, and actively fight against the attempts of those who deem themselves superior to curtail the free will of those who have been Embraced. Whilst they still share the Camarilla's belief in upholding the Masquerade and respecting the Domain of another Vampire: their application of this philosophy is widely divergent. Even if they do not respect the institution that enforces these rules, they can recognise the necessity to uphold some of them in these dangerous Modern Nights. In the Anarchs, a Baron takes charge of maintaining and organising the movement in a given location - acting as a focal point for the ideologies held by those in their cities, and making decisions on how to act based on this. There is no Baron, without the support of their community. There is no status quo, and Anarch communities vary widely in practice depending on the prevalent personalities in each location, and ideological perspectives. In the early Modern nights, the Anarchs were relegated to the peripheries of Kindred society: with the Camarilla's boot keeping them out of full-fledged cities and Domains. Since the Fall of London however, and the vice grip of the Ivory Tower loosening as they retreated from mortal societies, the Anarch Movement has stepped in to fill the void of influence. Now the two Sects are at war once again, the remnants of the treaty in tatters. The Anarchs are much more loosely organised than their enemies in the Ivor Tower. Taking a much more egalitarian approach to their organisational structure, it is often the case that outside of a Baron, and their Sweepers - there are very few official positions to be held. Rather, an Anarch is as important as they can prove themselves to be in the fight against the Second Inquisition, and Ivory Tower. There are no courts amongst the Anarchs, no stifled politics and anachronistic feudal process. They gather when it becomes necessary to do so - to Rant or Rave in the face of the issues presented to them. Unsurprisingly, these meetings are conducted in a plethora of ways, with some being excuses to party hard and plan their next step. Others can be as simple as an exchange in the Haven of a well-established sweeper, simply to mull over minor issues and resolve grievances. There is no great crusade for the Anarchs - no longing to control the world and make peons of mortal society - they cling to an idealism of freedom from tyranny, and a utopia where there are no Elders enforcing how things are run, or enslaving Childer simply to uphold the Status Quo. Unlike their staunch enemies, the Anarchs have always embraced the progress of technology as a tool to be weaponized and levied against the mortal world, as well as other Kindred. After all, how are you supposed to fight someone at their own game, if you aren't employing the same tech as they are? Before the arrival of the Second Inquisition, they had a strong presence on the Internet, for recruitment purposes - or simply conversation. In recent years this has retracted a little, into darker chat rooms and message boards, but it still exists (if a little harder to find). The Anarchs do not care for your generation, history, or creed. As long as you play your part, are there when called upon, and assist in rooting out the tyranny of the Camarilla - you are one of them. Thin-blooded, low Generation, Caitiff; all are welcome amongst the Unbound. This isn't to say that there aren't restrictions! An Anarch may be distrusting of an Ex-Camarilla member for example, or someone of a nominally Camarilla clan: but if they prove that they're worth their salt, these reservations can be swept aside with ease.
Anarch Positions
THE BARON: A Baron is the established and respected leader of an Anarch State or Domain. Theirs is the voice of revolution and the people. No Baron who ignores their fellow Anarchs lasts for long, and they are often replaced by someone deemed more ideologically compatible, or better suited to their Domain. They can be despotic, but at least they are doing so in the pursuit of a common ideal, and not some dusty old regime enforced by the Elders for the last seven centuries. THE SWEEPERS: Sweepers are the eyes and ears of the Baron in the Domain. Their job is to keep an eye on who's who, and relay that information to the person in charge. There are often several, allocated to coteries, to keep the Rebellious and revolutionary in check: as well as to ensure that their passion is directed and the enemies of the Movement, and not inward. Sweepers are still regarded with suspicion by the more radical Anarcha, as they are an extension of what could easily become a police state. In times of turmoil, a Sweeper may find themselves treading on the wrong toes, and meeting their end at the fangs of those they have upset. THE EMISSARIES: Emissaries are the Baron's messengers to the other Sects. When a Baron declares open war - it is an Emissary that delivers the declaration to a Prince, or independent faction. They are also known to carry messages to other Anarch states when a simple Email would be too dangerous to send. Whilst essential to the maintenance of inter-sectarian politics, in recent years the younger kindred have begun to see their position as a relic. After all, who needs a messenger when open war has already been declared? THE ENFORCERS: An unofficial title much like the rest, an enforcer is someone who gets shit done when it's needed. There are the militant amongst the Unbound, and when the Baron needs a problem coterie dealing with; or when the Camarilla have stuck their nose where it wasn't wanted (anywhere, in reality) it is the Enforcers who bring the boot of the Anarchs down on the throat of their transgressors. It is also often these Kindred who are tasked with dealing with a vampire who has succumbed to their beast and lost all hope of remaining humane. THE CHAMELEONS: Even the Anarchs need spies. A Chameleon is a Lick who has obtained a position of influence or power in another sect (usually within the Camarilla) and acts as a person within the walls of the enemy. Whilst a dangerous job, it is only given to trusted members of the movement who are a minimal risk when it comes to defecting. Essential to the Anarchs, although rare, it is these deceitful revolutionaries that allow the sect to stay one step ahead of their adversaries.
Who Are The Second Inquisition?
The Second Inquisition represent the largest threat that the Kindred world has seen in centuries. For the first time, international governments are aware of the existence of Vampires, and they are actively purging the world of their existence. In centuries past these Hunters were small splinter cells and zealots, loosely organised as part of the various religious institutions. Now, they are so much more. Military institutions have joined with the religious movements and united in a fight against the monsters in their midst. They go by various names and splinter groups - Operation Antigen, The Society of Leopold and so many more. Whilst their philosophical objections to the existence of kindred may differ - their goal is the same. Complete and utter extermination. Some resort to tried and tested occult methods, whilst others weaponised new technology and a pseudo-scientific understanding of the weaknesses of the damned. In any case, they are effective. Scores and scores of kindred have met their end at the hands of these Inquisitors - and with every Lick asked, they grow stronger in their resolve to see the job done. Splinter groups are even rumoured to resort to deliberately joining the ranks of the Damned if only to eradicate them from within. Rarely, a Vampire might even align themselves with the organisation willingly, in some ill-fated attempt at securing their survival. It was the Second Inquisition that destroyed the chantries of the Tremere in Vienna. It was the Second Inquisition that purged London of all kindred presence in the late 2000s, and with every year that passes, they add more and more of these achievements to this list. For most Licks, if a Hunter makes their presence known to them, it is already too late. Recent history is littered with stories of Havens being razed to the ground during the daylight, burning everyone inside. The Anarchs, The Camarilla, every Lick that walks the earth: they are wise to be terrified.
The Beckoning
For as long as Kindred have existed, there have been rumours of mythical Elders, who sired the clans that exist in the world today. The now-dissolved Sabbat were dedicated to hunting these creatures down and destroying them. As if out of nowhere, during the late 1990s, the more powerful and old Vampires began to feel a pull to the eastern regions of the world, calling entire swathes of Methuselahs and Elders of the blood towards places of power. Pulling them from their Havens and Domains, their territorial disputes; to the cradles of civilisations and history. This phenomenon has grown to be known as The Beckoning. Members of all Clans have felt it - the call becoming more and more prevalent as the aged grow stronger, closure in generation and age to these mythological figures. There are anomalous accounts of certain clans and bloodlines not feeling the call: but the accuracy of these rumours vary. Save for Clan Hecata, who openly espouse that they are immune. No one can say for sure why, or how, this is happening. But the fact remains, as time goes on, fewer and fewer of the aged in kindred society can resist the call, as they begin to wander to these desolate regions of the world: to meet whatever fate awaits them.