Help with homebrew WoD creature/game

[Sergeant Brother]

So I have had this idea kicking around in my head in in my various fluff notes for a few years now. It started when I was thinking of alternative sorts of creatures that might inhabit the World of Darkness. The idea I came up with was Cambion families, in some part inspired by the Revenant families and some other sources (Sawny Bean, True Detective, other bizarre inbred families) but removed from the idea of vampiric masters. Basically, families who are descended from demons and have a variety of different quirks and powers based on this along with their own political dynamics.

I was wanting to make them relatively dark - ancient inbred families which practice all variety of horrors in their old ancestral mansions, influenced by their demonic heritage as well as by the conservatism and weird upbringing. I think one of my inspirations is the Addams Family, though they would be played straight more than for dark comedy. I wanted there to be a number of families as well, each incorporating different takes on this theme and perhaps having different sorts of demonic powers.

I've come up with a few ideas so far but I feel like I need to flesh them out a bit more.

I was wondering if any of the creative folk at OPF could brainstorm a bit and come up with some ideas that I might incorporate?

I may share some of my development so far, but right now I don't want to because I don't want anything I've done yet to inhibit the suggestions of anybody who has cool ideas.

Edit (2/4/19)
I created a wiki to show my progress on this, it is here: https://cambionthelegacy.obsidianportal.com

[adambeyoncelowe]

Well, the revenant families are a good place to start for style. But obviously they'll be quite different mechanically:

Numina - Anyone can try rituals provided they have all the tools and texts, and that the ritual is equal to or less than their Occult rating. Paths have to be bought as usual. Psychic phenomena probably don't suit, but you could offer one or two of the psychic paths (those that deal with clairvoyance and precognition, for example) but as paths instead (coverting the rolls and costs as appropriate). You might allow Blood Sorcery and Dark Thaumaturgy with an appropriate teacher, converting blood points costs to Taint (see below), but increasing all such costs by one point.

Power pool - I'm thinking the influence of Torment on their blood, and its warping of Quintessence. Maybe call it Taint? Allow it to fuel hedge magic and any unique powers you feel are appropriate. The Mana Background would thus be thrown out, but you could have a Background to allow characters to spend more points per turn or that allows them to channel ambient Quintessence as Taint (Conduit?) over and above their usual limit. Regaining Taint should require heinous acts, sacrifices, self-scarification, prayers and meditation at midnight or under the full moon. Perhaps characters can automatically regain a point per day as a base amount.

Backgrounds: As well as Conduit, you can have Demonic Patron or Mentor. I like the idea of a Nightmares Background offering infernal guidance like Past Lives or similar traits. Maybe model it after Insight from Time of Thin Blood?

Special Advantages: From Bygone Bestiary or M20. These cover things like claws, fangs, wings, etc. Let's call them Blessings for colour but use the same costs/system.

Merits/Flaws: Perhaps offer a Twisted Avatar Merit for those rare few who are destined to become Nephandi. They don't get any Sphere dots to begin with, but can buy them at the usual costs.

Virtues: Virtues and Humanity/Paths seem appropriate. Start them with five dots of Virtues to represent their tortured nature. Their Humanity should be capped at (10 - total number of Blessings). Use Conscience to roll for degeneration; use Self-Control to roll to resist temptation of any kind; use Courage to resist fear of any kind. Failure on these rolls causes the character to lose a point of Humanity, give in to temptation, or enter the typical fight/flight mode. A botch causes a loss of one dot in that Virtue as well, plus a Derangement. Any infernal investments can use the usual systems or, for simplicity, have a 1-5 rating where you roll this rating in a contested roll against Conscience (each net success reduces Humanity by one).

Weaknesses: Vulnerability to True Faith, as per vampires and demons. Depending on family line, each splat takes a +2 difficulty modifier to one Virtue roll (degeneration, temptation or fear). Starts with usual human spreads at character creation.

Benefits: Maybe they can spend Taint to ignore wound penalties (like the Addams Family seem to ignore pain or else enjoy it). Have them able to take Blessings that allow soak against Lethal damage if appropriate.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Maybe temporary Taint sets or affects the difficulty of your Virtue rolls? If Taint exceeds your Virtue, you take +1 difficulty when trying to remain human or controlled, but a -1 difficulty when facing cosmic terrors and demons (you're just less scared if you're seething with evil yourself).

Do we need a subsystem for communing with the Dark Beyond? Maybe, spend two points of Taint and a Willpower point. Then roll remaining temporary Taint. A single success allows you to connect with the Void for a single turn (lasts a scene at five or more successes). You ignore all wound penalties, cannot be Dominated and have access to the knowledge of the Darkness (roll Wits + Occult, with successes determining the quality of information, but take one bashing damage per question asked as the Darkness wracks your body). The Tainted can't do anything else when asking a question, and is at -2 difficulty to hit, but when not asking questions from the Deep, can act normally. You may, if you want to cover the boosted Attributes angle, allow successes on the roll to boost all Physical rolls for the duration too (which is akin to Invoking the Dragon's Ire from Changeling) or let them spend one Taint point for a one-dot increase for a scene.

[The Laughing Stranger]

I would focus on getting a solid feel for the theme of these families of horrors before getting too tied up in mechanical complexities. How do they fit into the local community, and how are they influenced by their unholy masters? They sound a lot like mockery families/revenants, and differentiating them further might be a good idea. Their cult's beliefs would likely color how they act and think, their tainted bodies and minds moulding to mimic the powers they serve.

Whatever these unwholesome clans look like, they are likely defined by whatever gods or demons or Unutterable Things they serve. You can even use mainstream religious beliefs that have been subtly bent until they are perverted into something almost unrecognizable and savage.

I have a real soft spot for southern gothic literature, Tennessee Williams and Flannery O'Connor. I like the idea of grotesque sister-mothers and uncle-sons muttering into the hollows of each other's necks beneath a florid harvest moon... but these ideas might just as easily be about British old-money aristocrats that devour their own virgins to remain youthful, or homicidal colonial remnants in South Africa that have been leeching power from slumbering Zulu gods.

[Sergeant Brother]

Thanks for the replies. I was getting a bit worried that nobody would respond

I actually have write-ups for a number of Cambion Families, though they are still works in progress. Here are a few brief summaries that I feel more confident about. I have a few more family ideas floating around in my head, but I think that they need a bit of tweaking.

Amidas
This is a family who don't embrace their demonic nature as other families do. While they have dark urges, they also try to fight those compulsions as well as trying to prevent the worst excesses of the other families. They aren't as pure of blood as other families and their powers are less potent, though they are a large family and they find interaction with the mortal world to be far easier than most other families. So what they lack in mystic might, they make up for with numbers, connections, and the ability to utilize the wonders of the modern world better than any other family. Other cambion families see them as weak or even insane, especially their desire to reign in their demonic urges and show compassion to humans.

Ascania
This is a family which embrace their demonic nature and essentially worship Satan or some interpretation of the ultimate evil. They hold that things human call vices are indeed virtues - selfishness, avarice, lust, rage, cruelty. The Ascania also show their dedication to the dark one with human sacrifices and profane rights. This family is divided into two large factions. One which pursues political power and wealth, who delight in wealth and opulence. The other see themselves more as dark priests who practice the art of witchcraft and dedicate themselves to forbidden rituals and the study of arcane lore.

Ephrati
The Ephrati believe themselves descended from angels rather than demons, and so see themselves as holy and blessed by God. Despite this, their behavior is among the worst of any family, for the believe themselves to be exempt from the laws of either man or god, above them and so free to do as they please. The Ephrati enjoy maintaining a veneer of respectability, but engage in some of the most terrible deeds to gain power. The Ephrati believe that it is their right to rule the earth itself, bequeathed to them by God, and so try to achieve temporal power through any means necessary. Believing themselves to be holy, the Ephrati see other cambion families as their eternal enemies, though they bide their time and only strike against them when the believe that the odds are in their favor.

Ivorix
These are a naturalistic family which lives far away from humanity, in deep dark forests. They have a rather non-Abrahamic idea of their existence as the descendants of demons, and are more pagan instead. They venerate nature and natural behaviors - sex, violence, the thrill of the hunt, the changing of seasons. They practice bloody rituals on solstices and equinoxes. They can control animals and plants, sometimes even the land itself. The forests that the Ivorix have longed dwelled within often have a unnatural quality to the plants and animals, a demonic taint. Additionally, they have a supernatural animal magnetism which not only makes them seductive but intimidating, they are natural leaders. Mythology's most famous cambion - Merlin - may have been of this family.

Sklavi
This family is the least human of any and are almost entirely female. The Sklavi are ruled by their Patriarchs, who devour any male infant born, drawing power from it’s body and soul. They are also the least human of the cambions, and live secluded lives away from mortals with their own bizarre customs and lifestyle. Most Sklavi have misshapen bodies like hunched backs, twisted features, or mismatched limbs. Though because of the chaotic and mystical nature of the family, their specific deformities change over change over time. They are also insane by any human standard and are considered dangerous and unpredictable even by other cambion families. As they age and grow in power, they can control their weird shape shifting and change shapes deliberately, eventually gaining the ability to temporarily assume a more human appearance.

Vesion
This family is obsessed with with sensation, with pleasure and pain and pushing the boundaries of both. They are known for their perversity and sometimes cruelty, as sadists as well as masochists. They ritualistically scar their flesh with arcane symbols which often grant them greater abilities. They also have the ability to dominate the minds of humans through the use of magic combined with extremes of pain and/or pleasure, often branding or scarring their human slaves to supernaturally bind them. While the Vesion do enjoy the pleasures that great wealth can bring, they are often too removed from mortal society and obsessed with pleasures of the flesh to gain great wealth or power and must often rely on there mortal slaves.

I would focus on getting a solid feel for the theme of these families of horrors before getting too tied up in mechanical complexities. How do they fit into the local community, and how are they influenced by their unholy masters? They sound a lot like mockery families/revenants, and differentiating them further might be a good idea. Their cult's beliefs would likely color how they act and think, their tainted bodies and minds moulding to mimic the powers they serve.

Whatever these unwholesome clans look like, they are likely defined by whatever gods or demons or Unutterable Things they serve. You can even use mainstream religious beliefs that have been subtly bent until they are perverted into something almost unrecognizable and savage.

I have a real soft spot for southern gothic literature, Tennessee Williams and Flannery O'Connor. I like the idea of grotesque sister-mothers and uncle-sons muttering into the hollows of each other's necks beneath a florid harvest moon... but these ideas might just as easily be about British old-money aristocrats that devour their own virgins to remain youthful, or homicidal colonial remnants in South Africa that have been leeching power from slumbering Zulu gods.

Those all sound like excellent ideas and I do want to have some versatility in the concept, with both aristocratic, redneck, and other archetypical cambions having some representation. As for the the unholy masters, I was thinking that they should be largely mythical, at least that they have not contacted the cambion families for quite some time and have left them to their own devices. Much the same way that powerful ancients generally do in the WoD. Though the thoughts regarding those demonic ancestors, and their exact nature (traditional Satanic demon, eldritch horror, paganesque nature deity, etc.) varies between the families.

Well, the revenant families are a good place to start for style. But obviously they'll be quite different mechanically:

Numina - Anyone can try rituals provided they have all the tools and texts, and that the ritual is equal to or less than their Occult rating. Paths have to be bought as usual. Psychic phenomena probably don't suit, but you could offer one or two of the psychic paths (those that deal with clairvoyance and precognition, for example) but as paths instead (coverting the rolls and costs as appropriate). You might allow Blood Sorcery and Dark Thaumaturgy with an appropriate teacher, converting blood points costs to Taint (see below), but increasing all such costs by one point.

Power pool - I'm thinking the influence of Torment on their blood, and its warping of Quintessence. Maybe call it Taint? Allow it to fuel hedge magic and any unique powers you feel are appropriate. The Mana Background would thus be thrown out, but you could have a Background to allow characters to spend more points per turn or that allows them to channel ambient Quintessence as Taint (Conduit?) over and above their usual limit. Regaining Taint should require heinous acts, sacrifices, self-scarification, prayers and meditation at midnight or under the full moon. Perhaps characters can automatically regain a point per day as a base amount.

Backgrounds: As well as Conduit, you can have Demonic Patron or Mentor. I like the idea of a Nightmares Background offering infernal guidance like Past Lives or similar traits. Maybe model it after Insight from Time of Thin Blood?

Special Advantages: From Bygone Bestiary or M20. These cover things like claws, fangs, wings, etc. Let's call them Blessings for colour but use the same costs/system.

Merits/Flaws: Perhaps offer a Twisted Avatar Merit for those rare few who are destined to become Nephandi. They don't get any Sphere dots to begin with, but can buy them at the usual costs.

Virtues: Virtues and Humanity/Paths seem appropriate. Start them with five dots of Virtues to represent their tortured nature. Their Humanity should be capped at (10 - total number of Blessings). Use Conscience to roll for degeneration; use Self-Control to roll to resist temptation of any kind; use Courage to resist fear of any kind. Failure on these rolls causes the character to lose a point of Humanity, give in to temptation, or enter the typical fight/flight mode. A botch causes a loss of one dot in that Virtue as well, plus a Derangement. Any infernal investments can use the usual systems or, for simplicity, have a 1-5 rating where you roll this rating in a contested roll against Conscience (each net success reduces Humanity by one).

Weaknesses: Vulnerability to True Faith, as per vampires and demons. Depending on family line, each splat takes a +2 difficulty modifier to one Virtue roll (degeneration, temptation or fear). Starts with usual human spreads at character creation.

Benefits: Maybe they can spend Taint to ignore wound penalties (like the Addams Family seem to ignore pain or else enjoy it). Have them able to take Blessings that allow soak against Lethal damage if appropriate.

Thanks for all of the cool rule suggestions. I haven't done that much work yet on actual mechanics though I have a few ideas and am inspired by your suggestions as well. I was thinking of a trait almost like vampiric generation that marks the purity of a cambion's demonic blood. This trait would give access to greater levels of mystical and physical power, but would reduce the humanity of the cambion as well as increasing the chances of inbreeding related problems. I was thinking that every family would basically have their own form of witchcraft or sorcery and that the individual styles of the families could flavor that magic if not actually affect the rules. Then individual families would have their own powers and proclivities based on their lineage.

I was thinking of a few core abilities common to all families - some degree of regeneration, some enhanced physical ability, and so on. With additional powers based on family, blood purity, and learned powers. The blood purity trait would be rather potent, since I would want it to determine both mystical potential as well as increasing physical prowess, so I was thinking that it needed to be tied to potent weaknesses as well.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Thanks for the replies. I was getting a bit worried that nobody would respond

I actually have write-ups for a number of Cambion Families, though they are still works in progress. Here are a few brief summaries that I feel more confident about. I have a few more family ideas floating around in my head, but I think that they need a bit of tweaking.

Amidas
This is a family who don't embrace their demonic nature as other families do. While they have dark urges, they also try to fight those compulsions as well as trying to prevent the worst excesses of the other families. They aren't as pure of blood as other families and their powers are less potent, though they are a large family and they find interaction with the mortal world to be far easier than most other families. So what they lack in mystic might, they make up for with numbers, connections, and the ability to utilize the wonders of the modern world better than any other family. Other cambion families see them as weak or even insane, especially their desire to reign in their demonic urges and show compassion to humans.

Ascania
This is a family which embrace their demonic nature and essentially worship Satan or some interpretation of the ultimate evil. They hold that things human call vices are indeed virtues - selfishness, avarice, lust, rage, cruelty. The Ascania also show their dedication to the dark one with human sacrifices and profane rights. This family is divided into two large factions. One which pursues political power and wealth, who delight in wealth and opulence. The other see themselves more as dark priests who practice the art of witchcraft and dedicate themselves to forbidden rituals and the study of arcane lore.

Ephrati
The Ephrati believe themselves descended from angels rather than demons, and so see themselves as holy and blessed by God. Despite this, their behavior is among the worst of any family, for the believe themselves to be exempt from the laws of either man or god, above them and so free to do as they please. The Ephrati enjoy maintaining a veneer of respectability, but engage in some of the most terrible deeds to gain power. The Ephrati believe that it is their right to rule the earth itself, bequeathed to them by God, and so try to achieve temporal power through any means necessary. Believing themselves to be holy, the Ephrati see other cambion families as their eternal enemies, though they bide their time and only strike against them when the believe that the odds are in their favor.

Ivorix
These are a naturalistic family which lives far away from humanity, in deep dark forests. They have a rather non-Abrahamic idea of their existence as the descendants of demons, and are more pagan instead. They venerate nature and natural behaviors - sex, violence, the thrill of the hunt, the changing of seasons. They practice bloody rituals on solstices and equinoxes. They can control animals and plants, sometimes even the land itself. The forests that the Ivorix have longed dwelled within often have a unnatural quality to the plants and animals, a demonic taint. Additionally, they have a supernatural animal magnetism which not only makes them seductive but intimidating, they are natural leaders. Mythology's most famous cambion - Merlin - may have been of this family.

Sklavi
This family is the least human of any and are almost entirely female. The Sklavi are ruled by their Patriarchs, who devour any male infant born, drawing power from it’s body and soul. They are also the least human of the cambions, and live secluded lives away from mortals with their own bizarre customs and lifestyle. Most Sklavi have misshapen bodies like hunched backs, twisted features, or mismatched limbs. Though because of the chaotic and mystical nature of the family, their specific deformities change over change over time. They are also insane by any human standard and are considered dangerous and unpredictable even by other cambion families. As they age and grow in power, they can control their weird shape shifting and change shapes deliberately, eventually gaining the ability to temporarily assume a more human appearance.

Vesion
This family is obsessed with with sensation, with pleasure and pain and pushing the boundaries of both. They are known for their perversity and sometimes cruelty, as sadists as well as masochists. They ritualistically scar their flesh with arcane symbols which often grant them greater abilities. They also have the ability to dominate the minds of humans through the use of magic combined with extremes of pain and/or pleasure, often branding or scarring their human slaves to supernaturally bind them. While the Vesion do enjoy the pleasures that great wealth can bring, they are often too removed from mortal society and obsessed with pleasures of the flesh to gain great wealth or power and must often rely on there mortal slaves.



Those all sound like excellent ideas and I do want to have some versatility in the concept, with both aristocratic, redneck, and other archetypical cambions having some representation. As for the the unholy masters, I was thinking that they should be largely mythical, at least that they have not contacted the cambion families for quite some time and have left them to their own devices. Much the same way that powerful ancients generally do in the WoD. Though the thoughts regarding those demonic ancestors, and their exact nature (traditional Satanic demon, eldritch horror, paganesque nature deity, etc.) varies between the families.


Thanks for all of the cool rule suggestions. I haven't done that much work yet on actual mechanics though I have a few ideas and am inspired by your suggestions as well. I was thinking of a trait almost like vampiric generation that marks the purity of a cambion's demonic blood. This trait would give access to greater levels of mystical and physical power, but would reduce the humanity of the cambion as well as increasing the chances of inbreeding related problems. I was thinking that every family would basically have their own form of witchcraft or sorcery and that the individual styles of the families could flavor that magic if not actually affect the rules. Then individual families would have their own powers and proclivities based on their lineage.

I was thinking of a few core abilities common to all families - some degree of regeneration, some enhanced physical ability, and so on. With additional powers based on family, blood purity, and learned powers. The blood purity trait would be rather potent, since I would want it to determine both mystical potential as well as increasing physical prowess, so I was thinking that it needed to be tied to potent weaknesses as well.

World of Darkness: Ethnic Slur had a Blood Purity trait. Another name might avoid the negative comparisons to that supplement. Hence why I suggested Taint as a (bloodborne) marker of infernal inheritance. Descent might be another cool name (suggesting both a character's decline morally and their descent from dark gods, so that, unlike Generation, it can increase with time). Breeding might work too.

[The Laughing Stranger]

World of Darkness: Ethnic Slur had a Blood Purity trait. Another name might avoid the negative comparisons to that supplement. Hence why I suggested Taint as a (bloodborne) marker of infernal inheritance. Descent might be another cool name (suggesting both a character's decline morally and their descent from dark gods, so that, unlike Generation, it can increase with time). Breeding might work too.

Maybe just call it Purity? That emphasizes how backwards these foul groups have become; after all, they aren't tainted, they are blessed! The more twisted and insane they become to outside observers, the more holy and enlightened they believe themselves to be. I think that could fit well with the idea of the Amidas not being as potent or gifted as the other broken houses.

I like what I am seeing; if you got more, Sargeant Brother, feel free to share. I think these boards could use more home-spun ideas/creativity and less population threads/circular discussions about open-ended rules.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Maybe just call it Purity? That emphasizes how backwards these foul groups have become; after all, they aren't tainted, they are blessed! The more twisted and insane they become to outside observers, the more holy and enlightened they believe themselves to be. I think that could fit well with the idea of the Amidas not being as potent or gifted as the other broken houses.

I like what I am seeing; if you got more, Sargeant Brother, feel free to share. I think these boards could use more home-spun ideas/creativity and less population threads/circular discussions about open-ended rules.

Yeah, you know what, you're right. Plus the cambion families aren't based on real ethnicities, so it's not so much a problem. It does, as you say, highlight their inbreeding.

[Sergeant Brother]

Yeah, you know what, you're right. Plus the cambion families aren't based on real ethnicities, so it's not so much a problem. It does, as you say, highlight their inbreeding.

Maybe just call it Purity? That emphasizes how backwards these foul groups have become; after all, they aren't tainted, they are blessed! The more twisted and insane they become to outside observers, the more holy and enlightened they believe themselves to be. I think that could fit well with the idea of the Amidas not being as potent or gifted as the other broken houses.

I like what I am seeing; if you got more, Sargeant Brother, feel free to share. I think these boards could use more home-spun ideas/creativity and less population threads/circular discussions about open-ended rules.

Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking that purity or them is so different in connotation than a real world ethnic group that it would be OK. I like the idea of calling it purity because it would be how the cambions themselves usually see it. I was thinking that Legacy is another word I might toss in there, maybe Cambion: the Legacy. I'm not sure.

Well, since The Laughing Stranger asked for more, I will present some more. All of these are still subject to change and I have a few additional ideas floating around. I haven't worked much on actual rules yet, so I guess that would be the next step and I will take some inspiration from some of adambeyoncelowe's suggestions.

Anyway, here are some more details write ups of some of the families. Critiques and suggestions are welcome.


The Amidas

The Amidas family stands out from among the cambion families, because as opposed to embracing their twisted demonic natures, they fight against them. The Amidas attempt to hold on to their humanity, morality, and their honor despite dark drives that they may still have. This often puts them at odds with other families, as they often seek to curtail other families’ worst abuses of humanity. They also work diligently to police their own members as well, as some succumb to the worst part of their natures. The Amidas family is relatively thin blooded and they exert less control over the breeding practices of young members and often even marry and reproduce out of love rather than family loyalty.

The Amidas have strong passions and sometimes lose control of them - experiencing terrible rages or bouts of depression, perhaps from the stress of trying to suppress rather than act on their dark urges. Much effort within the Amidas family is spent trying to suppress these feelings - meditation, prayer, philosophy, distractions, and various methods of venting their feelings are all common. Some even turn to drugs, alcohol, or other addictions.

The Amidas family has few supernatural abilities. To a large degree they eschew sorcery and witchcraft as they know that drawing power from such dark forces can only corrupt them eventually. Their blood is weak by Cambion standards and while their physical prowess is quite impressive for mortals, it pales by comparison to some others. Members of the Amidas family do, though, put a great deal of effort into learning to fight. Not merely close combat and martial arts, but many join the military or dedicate themselves to small unit tactics, mastering firearms, or even constructing explosives. The Amidas family also loves to utilize technology and any advantage that it can provide, especially against more conservative (if mystically potent) families.

While they aren’t known for any particular supernatural abilities, the Amidas family has had a long tradition of adopting members of the other cambion families who have fled their own family. Because of this, the Amidas can manifest a variety of relatively weak supernatural abilities, sometimes even powers that other families are known for. Very few do the Amidas excel in any of these powers, they are quite weak compared to the mastery shown by many families, but the versatility of the Amidas give them certain advantages over more specialized families. Some Amidas display no supernatural abilities save for the enhanced physical prowess universal to all cambions and some will possess powers that are associated with a number of the families.

It is not uncommon for the Amidas family to find itself in conflict with others families. The Amidas view themselves as good, or at least struggling to be, and so they seek to thwart some of the worst atrocities of other families. Though, because they cannot take on all of the other families together, they must use discretion, only fighting other families when the circumstances are truly dire or when they can form an alliance against one of the more evil families. This leads to the Amidas family being the black sheep of the cambions, not really respected but rather seen as a thorn in the side by other families.

The Amidas family allows young members to mate and marry with whom they desire, leading to many thin blooded Amidas and human extended families. This also leads them to being more physically diverse than other families. It is not uncommon to find members of the Amidas family of any race or ethnicity or mix of them. While they aren’t the wealthiest family, the Amidas are larger than many other families and have networks of human allies and extended family which can sometimes aid them in times of strife. This fact combined with the ability to interact with mortals allows them to gain greater influence and resources than families who find it difficult to adjust to modern mortal society.


The Ascania

Among all of the Cambion families, no other family embraces their demonic nature as do the Ascania. This family openly accepts their nature as evil personified and, in fact, have dedicated themselves to the worship of the Abrahamic fallen angel Satan. The Ascania see themselves then as dark priests of sorts, dedicated to opposing God and conquering Heaven itself in the name of the father Satan - who they believe to be the literal ancestor of their family as well as their spiritual father.

The Ascania embrace a philosophy which they hold as counter to Christianity - the embrace violence, deceit, fornication, and blasphemy. In practice, this ideology has become one which encourages not only the strong to dominate the weak, but for the treacherous to rule over the honorable. This also causes conflict and intrigues within this family, as rival siblings or cousins seek to prove themselves worthy of leading the family. Maintaining their religious dedication to serving Satan and opposing God causes them to attempt to maintain at least the appearance of family loyalty, though secret attempts to undermine family members is an ever present concern that sometimes causes the family to fail when a more cooperative family might have succeeded.

The Ascania believe in acquiring temporal wealth and power, they are obsessed with it in fact, not only as a path to greater power, but as a symbol of their devotion to avarice. Ascania are one of the wealthier and more influential Cambion families. The Ascania are dedicated not only to serving Satan, but in winning converts, in corrupting other Cambions as well as mortals. This activity takes the form of trying to morally corrupt humans through the use of the media and with wealth. They try to find a human’s weakness and use that to turn them to evil, either through sex, money, drugs, or what ever other vice a human might have. Those people who are sufficiently debauched will be invited to join the worship of Satan.

Members of the Ascania family usually extremely attractive. They are tall and fit with perfect features. They tend to have very fair skin, blonde hair, and light blue eyes. The few exceptions are those individuals who have entirely dedicated themselves to the worship of Satan, the family priests, whose dark magic causes them to take on reptilian characteristics such as scaly skin, extended faces full of fangs, serpentine eyes, or even scaly wings. In recent years, a bit of a schism has arisen in this already fractious family between those devout worshipers of the Devil and members of the family who are more interested in worldly power than impiety.

Sometimes these worldly Ascania will marry into influential human families and create a number of half blooded children, who are looked down upon by other cambions including many Ascania, but who still have their uses to their full blooded parents and cousins. These mortal mates are usually very rich and talented, often from prominent families in the world of finance, politics, or entertainment. Conversion to the dark faith is certainly encouraged too. This new blood provides the benefit of allowing the Ascania to retain closer connections to humanity and they also tend not to be quite as insane or detached. It also creates the risk of diluting their demonic blood.

Among the powers commanded by the Ascania are a supernatural ability to manipulate emotions, to create passions in others especially dark ones. Some members of the family can sense emotions or in some cases discern moral frailty and sin with a glance or sometimes a touch. Both of these abilities serve the Ascania well in attaining temporal power. The Ascania are also masters of fire. Their skin always feels a bit warm to the touch and they are immune to all fire or extremes of heat. When they become angry their skin grows even hotter, becoming painful to the touch and their eye start to glow with fiery heat. Many Ascania can call upon this fire, using it to burn their foes. When they become angry, their ability to manipulate fire and heat increases and they can wreath themselves in flames as their eyes glow with fiery intensity. The more powerful the Ascania, the hotter their flames. The weakest among the family may only be able to burn a mortal with a touch, others can call upon red and orange flames, while the pure blooded ancients can summon blue flames that can even blind mortals who look upon them. Elder Ascania and those who have trained themselves in the mastery of hellfire can cause foes to burst into flames, burn down buildings, or melt cars into slag with a wave of their hand. The dark priests of the Ascania few the dragon features as Satan’s blessing, though the more secular Ascania who treasure their ability to interact with mortals avoid delving too deeply into the mystical rites of the family.


The Ephrati

The Ephrati are unique among the cambion families because they consider themselves not the descendants of demons, or even of creatures which transcend moral classification, but instead as the descendants of angels. The Ephrati see themselves a holy family, uniquely blessed by God. Contrary to what one might imagine, this belief does not drive the Ephrati family towards goodness and virtue. Quite to the contrary, the Ephrati family may be one of the most wicked of any of the cambion families. They see humanity as nothing more than chattel, to be used and abused as they desire and ultimately to be enslaved or even sacrificed for the benefit of the Ephrati.

The Ephrati believe that God has anointed them, and them alone, to rule over all of humanity and elevated them to a level where moral law no longer applies. They see it as their right to inflict what ever harm on humans that they please - even the most innocent of humans. The goal of the Ephrati is to eventually openly rule the world, with humanity completely subject to their every whim. To achieve this goal, they believe it is first necessary to bring down human civilization - to spread misery and suffering, to foster hatred and vice, to encourage conflict and immorality until human society must turn to the Ephrati as their saviors.

In their mission to bring down the world’s civilization, the Ephrati seek power within both the business and political worlds. They amass great wealth and power and use this to cause as much misfortune as possible. They are even involved in organized crime, including child pornography, sex slavery, kidnapping, racketeering, contract killing, and other activities. Because of their supernaturally enhanced luck, they excel at gambling and games of chance, and this is another major source of income and influence for them.

The Ephrati have some of the strange quirks that many families have, though they also believe in maintaining contact with humanity and staying abreast of human affairs. The Ephrati do not isolate themselves as many families do, but instead send the young members of their family into the world to learn mortal ways. This often involves going to a university, especially a prestigious one, and pursuing some profession. Common professions desired by the Ephrati include law, business, finance, banking, journalism, entertainment, and sometimes even academia. Because the family maintains close connections to each other, they can use these contacts to rise within their chosen profession before they must retire from the mortal world because of their slow aging. Needless to say, the Ephrati are one of the wealthier and more well connected of the cambion families.

The Ephrati don’t have particularly weak or strong blood as cambion families go, they walk a line between the more supernaturally potent inbred families and the well adjusted thin blooded families. As a result, they seldom look inhuman, though they tend to have a distinctive appearance. They tend to be tall and willowy, with olive colored skin and dark hair, though their eyes have an amber or even golden appearance. They tend not be be attractive in the traditional sense, but seem to carry with them an aura of dignity and authority that makes humans inclined to trust them. They tend to wear expensive fashionable clothing, attire befitting their wealth and status.

While the Ephrati have few scruples when it comes to dealing with mortals, they are a little bit nicer to each other. They believe that it is their duty to help any other family member in need when ever possible. This tradition exists more in theory than in practice, and while they are not nearly as vicious with each other as they are with humans, they frequently work to one-up or undermine each other and have as little guilt for doing so as they do for harming mortals. Ultimately, the Ephrati believe that God does not hold them accountable for any sin, and so they need never feel guilt for any misdeed.

The supernatural abilities of the Ephrati are linked to deception. Even the most young and inexperienced Ephrati can tell lies that even the most discerning individual might believe. As they grow in age and power, the Ephrati’s lies become supernaturally potent and they can convince people to believe things that contradict what they can see with their own eyes. These supernatural deceptions can even be used to erase or alter people’s memories, convincing them that things happened in their past that did not, or can even be used to cause a victim to experience hallucinations.

The one supernatural ability that the Ephrati are known for is potent if rather subtle. They can manipulate luck and chance, usually giving themselves slightly better odds at any game of chance or random event, while giving their opponents a slightly lower chance of victory. This ability is almost always subtle and is often used subconsciously with relatively young Ephrati. Only a handful of the oldest and most potent Ephrati can change chance so as to be obviously unnatural, such as causing all of the shrapnel of a nearby explosion to miss the Ephrati, leaving it unharmed - and even in those cases it requires a great expenditure of mystical energy.

While the Ephrati have contempt for mortals, their animosity is even stronger for the other cambion families who they see as descendants of demons and thus their eternal enemies. Despite this belief, the Ephrati do have dealings with the other families on occasion and even make temporary alliances with them. They betray these alliances at their convenience, stabbing their former allies in the back at the most opportune times. Because of this, the Ephrati are despised by all of the other families, though most cambions do not know of the ultimate goals of the Ephrati nor of their claim to be descended from angels.


The Vesian

The Vesian are a family known for their extreme pursuit of sensation. While the Ivorix are known for their libidos and the Ascania for their love of fine living, the Vesian put both of these families to shame. The Vesian crave sensations of all kind, sensual pleasure, varieties of food, drugs and chemicals, or even self inflicted pain. To the Vesian, all sensations are pleasurable and worthy of embracing. The Vesian are also known for their sadism, their desire to inflict pain (or pleasure or both) on others.

The Vesian have pale skin and black hair, though this hair often turns gray or white at a young age, while their eyes tend to be shades of gray. While many members of the Vesian family are ugly by human standards, others are breathtakingly, if somewhat eerily, beautiful. Regardless of their appearance, Vesian tend to have an intensity about them, a look in their eyes, that can intimate even the bravest souls. What ever usual features that a Vesian may have, they seem to become more pronounced with age, even extreme attractiveness. In addition to what ever strange physical characteristics a Vesian may have, many also have numerous scars, tattoos, or other marking that they have inflicted upon themselves for pleasure or to enhance their magical potential. In most cases, the Vesian dress conservatively in old fashioned but expensive clothes.

The Vesian are effectively immune to pain, they find any feeling pleasant no matter what harm it does to their bodies. They are some of the most physically resilient of all Cambions, able to endure terrible physical harm and recover quickly. Additionally, some Vesian have the ability to manipulate pleasure or pain as well as other sensations eventually. This could also include enhancing the pleasure provided by sensual activity, making the Vesian lovers without peer. Vesian of greater power can inflict pleasure or pain with a mere touch or, in some cases only a glance.

The Vesian are scholars among the Cambion families as well. They value learning and education, not only of conventional topics, but on magic and the supernatural. Unlike the other families of Cambions who study just magic, the Vesian see it as a science and so often combine elements of science with their magic for more amazing and sometimes dangerous effects. The Vesian are masters of alchemy especially, and are known for creating magical potions and drugs which have a variety of strange effects. In particular, the Vesian obsession with sensation and with exploring the limits of pleasure and pain, has lead them to developing a number of magical concoctions which can dramatically heighten the senses or can cause intense euphoria or terrible agonies. They also create a variety of devices that are unspeakable in their purpose and effects.

Many of the supernatural pleasures that a Vesian might inflict upon a mortal are highly addictive, in fact some of the most prized magical rituals of the Vesian allow them to bind mortal slaves to them through alternating painful and pleasurable effects. A Vesian may subject a mortal to this power over time, eventually turning the human into a willing slave. For addicted humans, the Vesian master will have a mystic control over their minds, with the control growing stronger with the greater sensation the human has been subjected to - especially when combined with the brand.

Vesian who study magic often carve magical symbols into their flesh or the flesh of others. These infernal symbols often confer magical effects and the carving requires a special ritual which prevents the regenerative abilities of a Cambion from healing them. In some cases, these symbols may confer not only powers to the recipient, but power over the recipient by the Vesian sorcerer. Many Vesian have their human slaves so marked, or branded as some call it. Common brands for mortal slaves allow the Vesian master to inflict pleasure or pain on the slave from miles away, give them telepathic commands, or even sense their emotions.

Though members of the Vesian family family often find it difficult to interact with modern mortal society, with mortal slaves from various walks of life, includes business and politics, the Vesian do command quite a bit of influence and power. Despite being willing to do terrible things, some Vesian have a sense of honor when dealing with each other and even when dealing with mortals or other Cambions. They often only target people for truly unpleasant activities who they feel are dishonorable or deserving, and for the more innocent mortals they enslave, they feel protective or believe the relationship ultimately beneficial for the human. Many Vesian become involved at some point with organized crime, though often the criminals the Vesian deal with fail to live up to their sense of honor and end up the victims of Vesian depravity.


The Krann

The Krann have a mostly human appearance, a bit strange looking as a result of years of inbreeding, but nothing that wouldn’t permit them to pass as humans. The Krann have a strange look about them, not obviously inhuman but ugly and distinctively inbred. The size and shape of the Vesian seems to vary more than most other families. Krann usually have tanned skin and dark hair and eyes, like a person from southern Europe, though there is some diversity in this regard. Some are exceptionally tall while others unusually short. Some members of the family grow immensely fat while others seem to be nothing more than skin and bone. Most Krann also have an androgynous look about them as well, and sometimes outsiders have trouble distinguishing between male and female Krann. The Krann usually don’t give much concern to fashion and dress more for convenience than to impress, and their clothing is often old disheveled or even tattered.

Krann can read human minds at a glance, looking not only into surface thoughts, but gazing deep into the memories and subconscious of the victim. Seeing their worst fears, greatest secrets, hidden shames, and subconscious mental issues. They can then bring these fears and secrets to life before a victim’s eyes, making their worst fears real. They can bring forth memories of dead relatives, of slain foes, or childhood nightmares. These illusions can cause physical pain as the are so realistic and can cause some to pass out or even die from fear.

The Krann can also enter into the dreams of those people they have before encountered. They can learn their secrets from these dreams, give them terrible nightmares, or sometimes even drive people insane by giving them horrifyingly realistic dreams. While physically weaker than some cambions, the Krann draw power from the fear of their victims and can seem to become much more powerful when facing a terrified enemy. The Krann can also gain strange insights into the future or past when the themselves dream, sometimes these dreams can allow the Krann to learn magical secrets from their demonic ancestors in these magical dreams. The Krann are immune to fear themselves and take delight in the most frightening and repulsive sights that humans can imagine. The Krann can also use their illusionary powers to make themselves appear as other people (such as an old friend taken from a victim’s mind) or cloud the minds of humans so as to walk unseen and unheard.

Some Krann learn to use their powers to access other kinds of information from the psyches of their victims. This sometimes includes their dark secrets or most perverse fantasies. The Krann will the use this information to torment or tempt the human subject, sometimes even taking delight in learning the most tantalizing secrets of mortals or exploiting those secrets in sadistic or lascivious ways.

They are more bookish than physical in nature and may be the most scholarly Cambion family. They study ancient mysteries, both from their mystical dreams and from more mundane research. They also document the various fears and dreams of the humans they have encountered, giving them a vast library of nightmares which they believe gives them greater insight into humanity and even the nature of reality. Some Krann even study science, with a special interest in psychology and medicine.

Because of their ability to delve into human minds and read their members, along with the power over illusions, allowing the Krann family to be masters of secrets as well as fear. They often sell their services to other families, trading secrets for money or other famous.


The Mordua

The Mordua are descended from demons of darkness, night, and freezing cold. They are known for their dispassionate natures, being less controlled by their emotions and more by their rationality. They are more hierarchal and organized than many other families, more controlled in many senses. The Mordua are not merely selfish as many other families are, they believe that their family has a purpose. That purpose is to bring complete peace and stability to all of reality - the intend to do this by purging all reality of life. It is the belief of the Mordua that existence itself is suffering, especially thought and emption, and by purging these things they can end that terrible suffering. They tend to keep this goal secret from the other families, who may be cruel and evil, but would rather not see all life perish.

A Mordua begins the purge of emotions and thought from within. They believe in suppressing all of their emotions and passions - their fear, desire, lust, hatred, and happiness. All that should remain is the cold determination to purge this reality of life. Unfortunately for the Mordua, this dispassionate nature has resulted in a lack of drive as well and through the centuries the family has sharply declined in number as well as influence. In the ancient past, the Mordua were quite a powerful family and were greatly feared. Now they use great caution in dealing with other families.

While they cannot come close to achieving their goals to end life itself, they do cause death when they can and their unique magical talents allow them to act as spies and, and even more appropriately, assassins among the cambion families. Obviously, other cambion families don’t take kindly to having their members slain by the Mordua, and so have had to retaliate against them a number of times over the years and even threaten them with destruction. Now the Mordua still fight to maintain relevance among the cambion families, but now must act subtly and often by building alliances with other families.

All Mordua have skin as white and cold as snow, with solid black eyes and sclera that seem to radiate darkness. Many Mordua are entirely hairless, though for those who have hair, it is raven black. The Mordua also favor black clothing, giving most a gothic macabre style and appearance.

The Mordua have power over a number of supernatural forces. The Mordua can control darkness and night. They can call forth shadows and cloak an area in darkness, obscuring all vision save for that of other Mordua. These shadows seem unusually cold for those enveloped in them and frightening as well. Older Mordua can give these shadows more tangible form, forming tendrils of pure darkness that can lift foes from the ground or strangle them, their touch chilling victims to the bone. With enough power or will, the Mordua can make these shadows even colder, freezing water, causing frost to form around, and killing those beings susceptible to cold. Many Mordua also have power over what they call Abyssal Flame, fire that they can call forth which burns black and seems to emanate darkness instead of light. This flame burns icy cold and can freeze living things solid and make them shatter like glass.

The Mordua also have some control over space, especially with the aid of darkness. Some Mordua can peer through shadows and see through other shadows elsewhere, allowing them to see far off places as long as those places have enough shadow and darkness. They can step through a large enough shadow and travel miles in an instant. More powerful Mordia can teleport vast distances without stepping through shadows at all. Some can even bend space, making a fleeing foe’s pathway seem to stretch out like some kind of nightmare or to walk upon walls or ceilings as though they were floors.

Despite their power, Mordua also have a weakness to light. Bright light is painful to their eyes and a fully illuminated area effectively blinds them. The direct light of the sun causes their flesh to seem to rot and wither and significantly reduces their mystical and physical power. The Mordua seldom leave their havens during the day and when they do, they must take cautions to cover themselves from the light of the sun. Many Mordua wear sunglasses even at night, both to hide their unnaturally black eyes from humans and to shade their eyes from the discomfort of artificial lights that they might encounter.


The Ivorix

The Ivorix are passionate, violent, and sensual. They embrace their animalistic nature, enjoying the bliss of sexuality and the thrill of the kill. The Ivorix feel at home in the wild places away from population centers, where they can live as they desire without the fetters of modern human society. They practice a form of sorcery and mysticism based around their connection with nature and their primal side - rituals conducted beneath the full wood and within ancient groves, rituals of sex and blood giving honor to the primordial forest and their demonic ancestors.

The Ivorix have a sort of feral beauty about them. Many family members can mostly pass for human though with a certain animalistic or earthy quality to them. Most of the Ivorix have flaming red hair which they wear long, including beards for men, and their skin is fair or ruddy. All members of the Ivorix family have unusually animalistic eyes, like those of a wolf or cat. These eyes are strangely luminescent, seemingly to glow in the presence of light. For the elder members of the family or those of purest blood, they usually have more obviously inhuman characteristics. This often includes horns or antlers upon their heads, clawed hands or fanged teeth, fur or scales on certain parts of the skin, wings, or any number of other animalistic features. It is then left to the younger members of the family to interact with humanity, as the elders cannot pass for human.

The Ivorix exude a certain animal magnetism that has the ability to charm humans. Humans are drawn to them, feel a compulsion to obey them, to fear and yet be captivated by them. They also exude an aura of sexuality that arouses mortals even if they don’t understand why. This allows the Ivorix to seduce mortals with ease, but also to lead and influence them in other areas of life, should they be inclined to do so. The Ivorix also have extremely heightened senses, the sense of smell like a bloodhound or the night vision of a cat. The power that the Ivorix are most known for is their ability to control the minds of animals. All animals feel compelled to serve and obey the Ivorix and for the more skilled members of the family this can include more overt control over the thoughts of animals, sometimes even the ability to see through they eyes and command their thoughts from vast distances away. Many Ivorix can even transform themselves into the shape of animals or take on animal characteristics, such as growing claws like a tiger or even wings like a bat or bird.

The Ivorix also have a supernatural connection to the forest they dwell in which establishes itself after many years of ritual and communion with nature. They have the ability to feel when someone or something is in their territory, as though the trees, earth, and stones speak to them. For the very ancient and powerful among the Ivorix, they may even animate plants or earth to do their bidding. Many Ivorix domains have been inhabited by them for centuries, in some cases the family has been dwelling in a single abode for millennia. The longer a forest has been under the control of the Ivorix, the more the dark nature of the Ivorix is reflected by that forest - the trees seem dark and twisted, almost seeming to reach out towards strangers, the animals grow large and ferocious, protective of their Ivorix masters and hostile to strangers, and even the earth and stone seems unnatural.

Finally, the Ivorix practice a form of sorcery tied to nature, this magic often involves night long rituals, orgies, or even blood sacrifices of animals or humans. These rituals are often conducted on the night of the full moon when the magic of the Ivorix is usually at its most powerful. The Ivorix are some of the most potent magic users among the families, especially deep within their forests and especially on certain nights of the year. For the Ivorix, witchcraft is not just a path to power, but a spiritual pursuit, a communion with forces greater than themselves.

The Ivorix shun human cities, though they sometimes reside in small rural communities among the humans there. Many times, these Ivorix see themselves are spiritual leaders of humanity, encouraging mortals to embrace their animal passions and connection to nature and the earth. Those Ivorix who take greater interests in influencing human society usually have a strong tendency to Social Darwinism, encouraging the strong to flourish and the weak to perish.


The Sklavi

The Sklavi are the least human of any family, the most bizarre, inbred, and twisted. There are virtually no male members of the Sklavi family, they are all female save for a handful of patriarchs. These patriarchs take and devour any male infant born, consuming the babe’s soul as well as flesh and so increasing their own mystical power. The Sklavi family is divided into several branches, each with a patriarch ruling over his daughter wives. The Sklavi also have a taste for the flesh of humans and cannibalism often increases their mystical abilities.

The Sklavi have a distinctly unnatural look about them. They are hairless and pale with strangely bright or glowing green eyes. Their bone structure seems odd, as though not exactly human, with sometimes twisted or misshapen limbs, humped backs, asymmetric features, or other deformities. Sklavi are chaotic creatures and so their deformities are particularly strange, as they change over time, sometimes from week to week or in some cases over the course of minutes. One day they will have a humped back, the next they will straighten out but their arms will be long and legs short. They also usually have a feral almost animalistic look to their faces with unusually large mouths filled with sharp teeth as well as clawed fingers. Despite their strange appearance, some Sklavi may possess a certain inhuman beauty or sensuality, at least temporarily. The daily appearance of a Sklavi may reflect it’s mood to some degree. An amorous Sklavi may subconsciously become more attractive, while the same Sklavi in pitched combat may be terrifying and monstrous.

With age and practice, the Sklavi can control their physical forms - growing claws, stretching or compressing their bodies, sometimes even making themselves beautiful for a time. Consuming human flesh helps connect them to humanity physically, allowing them to more easily assume a beautiful form. In some cases, particularly skilled Sklavi can even assume the form of one of their consumed victims. As Sklavi become truly ancient, their minds become less human and they no longer like to assume humanoid forms and appear as nightmarish abominations more than anything resembling a human. Despite their inhuman appearance, the Sklavi do have a distinctly female appearance and quality about them that seems to transcend their strange features - except for the patriarchs whose mere appearance it is said will drive mortals mad.

The Sklavi are also extremely tough and resilient, even for Cambions, with wounds they suffer healing so quickly that its almost like liquid flowing back together rather than flesh healing. The exception being damage from fire or from holy or blessed weapons. Sklavi are the most pure blooded of the cambions and so are mystically the strongest, though they are likewise the most vulnerable to demonic weaknesses and those least able to coexist with humanity.

The Sklavi are inhuman not only in body but in mind as well. It is said that the patriarchs descend from bizarre eldritch horrors which the human mind cannot even conceive of. They are creatures of chaos and change, they are insane by mortal standards, with wildly swinging moods and personalities, sometimes experiencing hallucinations or other psychological maladies. While some can transform into beautiful humans, few have the social skills to maintain this masquerade for long with acting out in some bizarre manner. Most would say that these mental conditions are from their minds mutating and shifting as easily as their bodies, though the Sklavi often contend that their insanity is a result of their ability to see beyond the illusion that others call reality. Indeed, sometimes their weird visions give them some forms of insight. Beyond being merely insane, the Sklavi tend to have an alien mindset with strange desires and compulsions, with no sense of compassion or even restraint. The Sklavi are known for some of the most perverse of all practices among the cambion families, engaging in orgies of sex, violence, and/or cannibalism routinely. They are typically cruel and calloused, with little regard for human life, though they are almost all completely dedicated to the patriarch masters.

In addition to changing their own bodies, other things tend to change in the presence or under the influence of the Sklavi. Some can cause strange mutations with a touch of their hand, can cause an inanimate object to become twisted or distorted. Some particularly skilled Sklavi can even direct these changes to living things, shaping animate or even living matter as they desire. Most notably, the presence of the Sklavi can drive others insane, twisting their minds in strange and unpredictable ways and often elder Sklavi can deliberately force this on their foes. Often the madness inflicted by elder Sklavi on enemies cause them to see terrible visions of their worst fears. Other cambions are resistant to the chaotic effects of the Sklavi, but not completely immune.

Despite their madness, the Sklavi are talented sorceresses. While members of other families might have to study for years to achieve some magical talent or perform a ritual lasting the night to create a supernatural effect, many Sklavi intuitively develop spells and can cast them virtually at will without the great effort required by most other cambions. Of course, because of the insane and chaotic nature of the Sklavi, these spells often create strange side effects that even the Sklavi themselves cannot prevent or predict.

[adambeyoncelowe]

I like this a lot!

[Sergeant Brother]

I like this a lot!

Thanks! I'm happy to know that somebody likes what I've done here. Do you have any more ideas or suggestions?

I was thinking of incorporating one if your suggestions above into the rules when I get around to those. I was thinking that cambions coud have pints they send to activate powers, basically like almost all beings do in WoD. It could slowly recover normally, but cambions could do something special to replentish their supply and that activity could be based in the family. For example, maybe the Vesian have to experience some sort of pain or pleasure to recover energy while the Ivorix must be in some wild natural place.

I was wondering how to do the individual family powers, maybe something like how Clans work with different powers available to each family.

[The Laughing Stranger]

I agree with Adam, these are very cool. I will say I expected something a little... weaker, I guess? Something between ghouls and sorcerers in terms of power, but these freaks sound pretty potent, especially the Sklavi and the Krann. Even the Ephrati could do some pretty devastating things in the hands of a cunning player.

I think many of them, at least for the purposes of a 'dry run,' could use vampiric disciplines. The Ivorix, for example, would probably be able to use Animalism, Ogham, and Presence. Sklavi get Vicissitude and Dementation and probably some weird larger 'magic' power that might just be sorcery.

That having been said, I think it would be cool if Cambions get access to impressive abilities (like 3,4,5 dots in their 'disciplines'), but they are pretty taxing to use. Kind of like how werewolves can't just blow through all their Gnosis and expect to have it refilled the following night.

It also seems like rituals are on the table here, something messy and a little loose, probably similar in feel to Thaumaturgy rituals.

Now I gotta eat some tacos, so this is as far as my inchoate suggestions go.

[Sergeant Brother]

I agree with Adam, these are very cool. I will say I expected something a little... weaker, I guess? Something between ghouls and sorcerers in terms of power, but these freaks sound pretty potent, especially the Sklavi and the Krann. Even the Ephrati could do some pretty devastating things in the hands of a cunning player.

I think many of them, at least for the purposes of a 'dry run,' could use vampiric disciplines. The Ivorix, for example, would probably be able to use Animalism, Ogham, and Presence. Sklavi get Vicissitude and Dementation and probably some weird larger 'magic' power that might just be sorcery.

That having been said, I think it would be cool if Cambions get access to impressive abilities (like 3,4,5 dots in their 'disciplines'), but they are pretty taxing to use. Kind of like how werewolves can't just blow through all their Gnosis and expect to have it refilled the following night.

It also seems like rituals are on the table here, something messy and a little loose, probably similar in feel to Thaumaturgy rituals.

Now I gotta eat some tacos, so this is as far as my inchoate suggestions go.

Thanks! I hope you enjoy your tacos.

Yeah, my initial thought was basing them on Revenant families, since they are similar in many ways. With a bit of thought though, I decided to make them full powered splats on par with vampires, werewolves, mags, etc. I thought that would be more fun and allow for them to be more interactive (allying, competing, fightings, etc.) with the rest of the setting, at least make as an option.

In some cases the Disciplines would work pretty well to represent family powers. I do like the idea, though, that certain powers are harder to use and can't be used that often. For example, while the Sklavi do have something like Vicissitude, almost any Tzimisce can become beautiful or disguise itself as other people - though for a Sklavi doing this would be rather difficult and they could only maintain that form for a limited period of time. So I could see playing around with the levels a bit.

If I made it so that consuming human flesh was necessary to restore a Sklavi's energy and attractive transformations required energy based on the time in that attractive form, then it might represent the rarity of those transformation. It could also match up with the trope of the ugly witch in the woods who likes to eat children.

Since most of the families have the ability to use magic to some degree, I might just want to make rituals and the like open to everybody and maybe come up with a a rule (or even just flavor) for each family regarding how their magic and rituals are different from other families.

I have a few more ideas (both background and rules) floating around and I'll try to post more later

[adambeyoncelowe]

I think there can be unique powers like Birthrights and Flaws from Changeling. Make them really simple but useful. So a Sklavi may not need Vicissitude if she has mimicry as a family power, for instance.

I think Numina make a good basis for their powers, but Discipline-esque powers make sense too. To be honest, Numina are pretty versatile anyway. Adding in Thaumaturgy Paths and Rituals should work just fine.

I like Taint as a power pool. But you could have Torment to tie them directly to demons or Angst to Malfeans. You could also call it Dweomer, Cratia, Hexe or Urge. Urge has a similar dark edge to Taint.

I like the idea of each family having a way to regain these points. Changeling 20 is, I think, doing something like this with kiths. So for one family, it might be torture, ritual scarification and sacrifice. For another it might be midnight mass, meditation and incanting forbidden names. A third might use holy places, the phases of the moon and runes.

[Sergeant Brother]

Alright, I have added a bit more. Sorry for the delay, I have had a busy week and was unsure about exactly how to create these rules plus curs.

Curs

A cur is a mongrel, a cambion without a family. The majority of curs are weak blooded bastards, children produced through the union of a “normal” cambion and a mortal, usually a mortal woman. Some families kill such offspring as a matter of course, thus preserving their relative monopoly on supernatural power. The families wouldn’t want who knows how many weak blooded independents running around with demonic powers. More often than many families would like, a libidinous cambion with have sex with a mortal woman and impregnate her and allow her and/or the child to escape. Because of this, there are often a number of curs around and about the world, often not knowing what supernatural potential they have, merely believing themselves to be unusually strong and resilient.

The other source of curs, curs who are not weak blooded, is when a child is born between the union of two cambions from different families. These cambions can, in some cases, have quite potent blood and often have some of the supernatural abilities of both of their parents. The existence of these curs is highly frowned upon by all of the families save for the Amidas. This disapproval in some part hypocrisy, because most families would enjoy having a member with powers from a rival family, but the rival family would consider this such a threat that it would likely provoke a family war. For this reason, sex between cambions of different families is strictly prohibited and mixed blood curs are ruthlessly hunted. Of course, some families may adopt a cur is it can be done secretly.

The Amidas family is willing to adopt curs that it finds, including mixed blooded curs. Because of doing this over the centuries, the Amidas family has gained a bit of the blood, as well as abilities, of many other families. Members of the Ascania family will sometimes sire weak blooded children and allow them to serve as inferior family members, which has been a major source of contention within the family for the last century.


Urge
The use of certain dark powers gives a cambion Urge. Urge is a supernaturally strong desire to commit terrible acts. As Urge increases, the compulsion to do horrible things becomes so strong that eventually a cambion can no longer resist. Urge can only be eliminated in a few specific ways, all of which are based on a cambion’s family. The effects of accumulating Urge is described below under Dark Desires.

When a cambion’s Maleficia (innate powers) or Goetia (magic) emulates a vampire’s power such as a Discipline or Thaumaturgy Path, instead of expending Blood Points, the cambion instead gains that equivalent amount of Urge.

Urge Reduction
The way that a cambion can reduce it’s Urge (aside from going into Perdition, below under Dark Desires) depends on the family of the cambion.

Amidas
Amidas eliminate Urge per spending Willpower. Each point of Willpower spent eliminates 1 point of Urge.

Ascania
Ascania eliminate Urge by satiating their Dark Desires. Each time an Ascania acts on a Dark Desire, it loses a point of Urge. Furthermore, engaging in a profane ritual that involves some terrible blasphemy or evil act (human sacrifice, raping a virgin, defiling a church, corrupting a child, etc.) eliminates one point of Urge as well.

Ephrati
Ephrati eliminate their Urge through prayer and devotion. They must seclude themselves for one week, during which time they fast and pray daily. Any major activity breaks the tranquility and forces them to start over. At the end of the week, they lose a point of Urge.

Ivorix
Ivorix can eliminate Urge through engaging in rituals. Each night long ritual, with a number of participants equal to current Urge or higher, eliminates one point of Urge. Also, hunting a challenging animal or human prey, killing, and then devouring part of that prey also eliminates 1 Urge.

Krann
In order to cleans themselves of Urge, Krann must dream. They enter a state of deep sleep, during which time their minds dream and their souls float about experiences the worst nightmares of humanity. Each full day of such sleep requires the Krann to make a Willpower roll with a difficult of 8. Once the Krann has accumulated a number of successes equal to the Krann’s current Urge, it awakens with one less point. A botch means that the Krann has encountered a pleasant and elevating dream, causing the Krann to gain one Urge and have to start over.

Mordua
The Mordua eliminate Urge by allowing themselves to sink into nothingness for some amount of time which allows for the cleansing of their soul. To do this the Mordua goes to some dark secluded location and meditates until it disappears. Removing one point of Urge requires that the Mordua remain gone for a number of days equal to its current Urge. So, for example, a Mordua with 7 Urge would need to remain gone for a total of 28 days to be purged of their Urge. An alternative method is to slay a human or other sentient being, doing this causes the Mordua to lose a single point of Urge.

Sklavi
Sklavi eliminate Urge by consuming human flesh. Each adult human has enough flesh to reduce the Sklavi Urge by 5, though (assuming the human is alive and survives) each Urge lost must inflict at least 2 health levels of aggravated damage. Another way to eliminate Urge is to have sex with the Sklavi’s patriarch, which eliminates all of the Sklavi’s Urge.

Vesian
One way a Vesian can eliminate Urge is by engaging in orgies. Eliminating a point of Urge require at least a number of participants equal to the Vesian’s current Urge and it takes an hour to reduce of such activity to reduce Urge by 1 point. This means that if the Vesian has only one point of Urge, it may be eliminated with an hour of self pleasure. The other alternative is torture. A Vesian may torture a single victim to eliminate Urge. though each point of Urge eliminated in this way requires a number of hours of torture equal to the Vesian’s current Urge.

Curs
Curs lose one point of Urge each day as long as that day is relatively peaceful, relaxing, and uneventful.


Dark Desires

All cambions start with 3 points of Dark Desires. They can be spread across any of the following Dark Desires. When ever a temptation arises to indulge in one of these terrible acts, the cambion’s player must roll a number of dice equal to the soccer in that Dark Desire. A success means that the cambion succumbs to temptation. The more successes, the more completely the cambions falls to darkness.

While a cambion only needs to roll to resist Dark Desires that it has put points into, the cambion’s current number of Urge adds to all Dark Desire rolls.

If a cambion’s Urge score should ever rise above 10, the cambion is driven temporarily mad with the compulsion to act out on its higher Dark Desire and will begin an orgy of destruction that will last one hour per point of Urge over 10. Each hour of such madness reduces the cambion’s Urge by 1. This temporary madness is called Perdition.

The difficulty of a Dark Desire roll is the cambion’s own Willpower, though particularly enticing temptations may decrease the difficulty. A single success will be enough to give into temptation if it is convenient to do so (a quicky with a sexual partner that has a room available) where is 5 successes makes the cambion ignore all other concerns (tearing off the clothes of your object of desire in front of a crowded party.

Lust
This is the desire for sex and sexual pleasure. While sexual preferences and fetishes vary, the basic drive is quite simple. Temptations include willing and attractive potential sexual partners. When a cambion enters Lust Perdition, it seeks out sexual congress with almost any target - human, adult, child, and even animal. It will seek out beautiful and willing partners, but neither condition is required. If a parent cannot be found, the cambion will masturbate for the duration of the perdition, causing it to take 1 level of bashing damage per hour.

Cannibalism
This is the powerful desire to consume human flesh. Temptations include dead foes combined with a lack of witnesses. Cannibalism Perdition causes the cambion to attack any human in sight in order to kill it and devour his or her flesh. If the cambion cannot find suitable victims, it must devour it’s own flesh - suffering one level of aggravated damage per hour.

Covetousness
This is a strong desire for material possessions along with money. All cambions with with Dark Desire crave money, but they also long for other material possessions as well - some may like fancy cars, others jewelry, some are gun aficionados. The player and Storyteller should discuss some possessions which the cambion craves. There should be at least one additional category of items desired per point of Covetousness. Temptations would include bribes or offers of money, seeing money or valuable items that can be easily stolen. Covetousness Perdition causes the cambion to run amok stealing any item which it perceives to be valuable or that might strike its fancy. If unprotected valuables aren’t available, it will attack people in order to rob them. If no valuable property is available, the cambion will stuff its pockets with dirt, trash, or rocks.

Sadism
This the is desire to inflict pain and suffering on others. This doesn’t just have to be torture (though it often is) but it can also include bullying, ridicule, humiliation, or even causing damage which the cambion knows will cause emotional harm. Temptations include vulnerable victims which the cambion can inflict suffering upon. A vulnerable victim would include a captive which could be physically tortured, an ugly person who is very sensitive about their appearance and who could be insulted or ridiculed, a cat with a kitten (which the cambion could torture or kill), the list is nearly endless. For a cambion in a Sadism Perdition, psychological torture is seldom enough. The cambion will fall upon any vulnerable human or animal to capture it and them torture it in the most horrific way possible. If the cambion cannot find a suitable victim, it must inflict pain upon itself, taking one level of aggravated damage per hour.

Narcissism
This Dark Desire causes the cambion to seek self aggrandizement when it it can. The cambion will tell stories of its own greatness, which usually includes lies and half truths to gain attention and accolades. That is only the half of it, the cambion will also seek to belittle and disparage anyone that it sees as a rival in in way, anyone who might have some advantage over the cambion will be an object of hatred. The temptation for this is ever present, all social situations are opportunities for the cambion to sing its own praises or disparage others. A Narcissism Perdition goes beyond merely bragging. The cambion will try to kill anyone it perceives as being superior to it or having some advantage that it does not.

Sloth
The cambion is lazy and hates to exert itself at all. All the world is a temptation to this cambion, for each strenuous task which the cambion may endeavor to undertake requires a Dark Desire roll and a success means that the cambion decides not to do that. Of course, if there is some pressing need the cambion might act anyway, unless it scores 5 or more successes, in which case it wont even run fight to defend itself. A Sloth Perdition causes the cambion to become catatonic for the full duration.

Wrath
The cambion is burning with rage and when angered it will become violent with the source of it’s anger. Temptations include insults, slights, and any time it is wronged. Extreme frustration might also require a roll - such as the cambion’s computer crashing while it is writing an unsaved document. A successful Wrath roll causes the cambion to attack the source of its anger and fight until one of the two is destroyed. A Wrath Perdition is very straightforward, the cambions attacks anything in sight with the intent to kill it. If it cannot find a victim, it will attack itself, inflicting 1 lethal wound per hour.