Hecata Clan Bane

[Clan Hecata]

Hey Folks,

Just a topic that has popped up in one of my gaming groups and people can't decide how it's intended - of course everyone will just accept whatever the ST says but they're curious how most people deal with the Hecata Clan's new curse in story.

Obviously newly embraced Hecata will have the new Bane plus possibly some element of the old curse from their loresheets - e.g. Samedi going all corpsey whenever they want.

But what about those embraced prior to the reunion?

• Neonates who've only been around for 10 to 100 years?
• Ancilla?
• Elders?
• The really old guys who've been about since before 0 CE?

Do they all lose the old curse or do you handle it depending on age/generation?

Just a curiosity.

- H

[Ragged Robin]

I didn't bother and just kept the old flaws.

[Rhywbeth]

Pretty sure the writing said (or at least implied) that only the post-Reunion embraces aren't manifesting the Cappadocian and Samedi flaws, everyone older than that is unchanged. I think it also said something about the new fledglings being more emotionally dead, but there's no mechanical side to that effect.

Personally I ignore the loss of the old weaknesses. The Hecata have a clan weakness and a bloodline weakness. As a whole they have no Kiss, their bite is only pain. Then Harbingers have no blush of life, Samedi rot, and Giovanni bites inflict extra damage on top of the pain.

[Vilenecromancer]

I run it that the new curse is like an infection slowly making it's way through the bloodlines that make up the clan. Overtime, the older kindred will gain the new curse, and become truly Hecata. I also have a cult that believes the slow expulsion of bloodlines is a sign of Gehenna, and that the Hecata clan is evidence of this.

[SetiteFriend]

I run it that the new curse is like an infection slowly making it's way through the bloodlines that make up the clan. Overtime, the older kindred will gain the new curse, and become truly Hecata. I also have a cult that believes the slow expulsion of bloodlines is a sign of Gehenna, and that the Hecata clan is evidence of this.

As a sign of the Antediluvians stirring and coalescing their lineage? Bringing back the "strays", so to speak

[MyWifeIsScary]

Ignore it completely. The Hecata is a sect, not a clan, and it's not a sect that's destined to get big or last a long time. The families and bloodlines are bound to fracture and disseminate themselves among the other sects.

[Rhywbeth]

Assuming that the Samedi are the descendants of the Infitiores (or a Giovanni experiment, as one of their other origin rumours goes) I think it's fair to call the bloodlines a Clan by a certain definition, since they share an Antediluvian. Same as a Setite warrior is still a Setite, a Salubri is a Salubri regardless of if they're healer or warrior, and a Warrior, Vizier or Sorcerer is an Assamite. It's just that in the case of this clan, its composite bloodlines are antipathic to each other rather than cooperative (and likely to go back to hostilities when the metaplot blows over and a status quo forms/resumes.)

[MyWifeIsScary]

*Nagaraja sweats nervously*

For me at least, the different necromancers having very different discipline spreads, weaknesses and cultures made them interesting, and the ST had a lot of leeway in working out how to do it. Blending them together is a no-no.

[Rhywbeth]

*Nagaraja sweats nervously*

For me at least, the different necromancers having very different discipline spreads, weaknesses and cultures made them interesting, and the ST had a lot of leeway in working out how to do it. Blending them together is a no-no.

The Nagaraja are, at best, a Setite bloodline who only came along so that v5 could streamline all the Necromancers into the Giovanni. They shouldn't be here and don't count. (Although trading shelter for lore and the Vitreous Path seems fair)

I largely agree with you. I do enjoy everybody begrudgingly acknowledging that, "yes, techincally we're related via Cappadocius and part of the giant backstabbing dynastic clusterfuck", even as they'd rather be anywhere else but here together, but literally blending the bloodlines together was a mistake (lore sheets just aren't the same.) At least the original discipline spreads are an option (unless you're Giovanni, anyway.) It's more acknowledgment than the Assamite castes have gotten so far.

[elmerg]

Hey Folks,

Just a topic that has popped up in one of my gaming groups and people can't decide how it's intended - of course everyone will just accept whatever the ST says but they're curious how most people deal with the Hecata Clan's new curse in story.

Obviously newly embraced Hecata will have the new Bane plus possibly some element of the old curse from their loresheets - e.g. Samedi going all corpsey whenever they want.

But what about those embraced prior to the reunion?

• Neonates who've only been around for 10 to 100 years?
• Ancilla?
• Elders?
• The really old guys who've been about since before 0 CE?

Do they all lose the old curse or do you handle it depending on age/generation?

Just a curiosity.

- H

It's ultimately up to you. The text implies that some magic caused them to start having the same Bane, so it's not outside the realm of possibility for that to work backwards. It's open for you to play around with for your story.

[Clan Hecata]

Thanks everyone! I shared the responses with the group for peoples interest.

Storyteller has decided to go with everyone embraced after the Reunion has the new Bane automatically whilst it's slowly spreading out to the older members, the older the slower it reaches the Elder Hecata. Those powerful Harbingers who've refused the Reunion are, so far, completely unaffected.

Anyway thanks again everyone!

- H

[Mr. Stick]

In my house rules I recognize that every vampire who has participated in the familly reunion ritual has changed blood.
And the change affected all of his descendants.

This explains the changes in blood and the fact that some still have old traits.

[Matt the Bruins fan]

As for the Nagaraja, while unrelated at least as far back as the 3rd generation, they do have a history of screwing around with the embrace and the nature of their blood. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they might have magically spliced themselves into the Hecata for the benefits of belonging to a larger clan rather than a nearly extinct, easily identifiable bloodline.

[monteparnas]

I don't see much of an appeal in using the Hecata's Bane as is. Nothing against the Hecata itself, I just think there's more sense in letting those bloodlines keep their own mechanics and that's it.

Except for the Nagaraja, I totally agree that they would help with magicking away their original weakness because it sucks.

[MyWifeIsScary]

I think the Nagaraja weakness is super interesting.... In V20 it doesn't seem to necessarily be human flesh, though it's virtually impossible to upkeep all the time if you rule it needs to be human flesh, outside of a disaster zone at least.

It works a bit better if you have them just lose physical attribute dots. imagine that they're usually content to be emaciated from their weakness; hunting through smarts, stealth or looks rather than brawn, making up for their lost attributes with physical disciplines; then they start eating when they're threatened and feel the need to bulk up.