Bloodline to Clan

[Excess]

There seems to be this idea floating around that Clans could have originated as Bloodlines, but I am not sure how to mechanically represent that or even what the prerequisites are.

Does the number of affinity Disciplines shrink to three or stay at four? Does the exclusive Bloodline Discipline become available to all Kindred? Can it still be joined by those who are already of another Clan?

How does the transition occur anyhow? Population growth? Age? Ruining something?

[Yossarian]

So they just need to make a bargain with a demon king and/or have a large scale blood orgy, and perhaps get a city or two destroyed in divine retribution. Easy peasy!

I mean, that's what I would do.

[LostLight]

My sort of half-kidding headcanon is that the Twice-Cursed just need to figure out how to become Akhud, and then everything will be great for them!

So they just need to make a bargain with a demon king and/or have a large scale blood orgy, and perhaps get a city or two destroyed in divine retribution. Easy peasy!

[Yossarian]

The Twice Cursed are indeed an interesting example of what happens when the Blood goes weird, and the Mekhet blood IS full of weirdness, between the Hollow, the Grettir and what now seems to be the Omoyo (a Clan which I actually theorized about existing before, just didn't knew their name). Considering that the Jiangshi are also very likely a former Mekhet Twice Cursed, and that Banes are what defines the Clan, it makes me wonder what do the poor New England Twice Cursed need to do if they wish to gain a curse of their own, instead of being burdened with dual curses- a strange bargain, in a way- exchange two Curses to gain one unique to them.

My sort of half-kidding headcanon is that the Twice-Cursed just need to figure out how to become Akhud, and then everything will be great for them!

[Baaldam]

The Twice Cursed are indeed an interesting example of what happens when the Blood goes weird, and the Mekhet blood IS full of weirdness, between the Hollow, the Grettir and what now seems to be the Omoyo (a Clan which I actually theorized about existing before, just didn't knew their name). Considering that the Jiangshi are also very likely a former Mekhet Twice Cursed, and that Banes are what defines the Clan, it makes me wonder what do the poor New England Twice Cursed need to do if they wish to gain a curse of their own, instead of being burdened with dual curses- a strange bargain, in a way- exchange two Curses to gain one unique to them.

So many ways for the alchemy of the blood to go pear-shaped within a human being's inanimate carcass. As an aside, Ayanda's story and the rumors about her got me thinking of a OD "Gangrel" Kogaion i once played that was quite peculiar in a number of ways unrelated to the Ordo's great work. Much like his brood that didn't limit itself to any one covenant in fact.

[LostLight]

The Twice Cursed are indeed an interesting example of what happens when the Blood goes weird, and the Mekhet blood IS full of weirdness, between the Hollow, the Grettir and what now seems to be the Omoyo (a Clan which I actually theorized about existing before, just didn't knew their name). Considering that the Jiangshi are also very likely a former Mekhet Twice Cursed, and that Banes are what defines the Clan, it makes me wonder what do the poor New England Twice Cursed need to do if they wish to gain a curse of their own, instead of being burdened with dual curses- a strange bargain, in a way- exchange two Curses to gain one unique to them.

[Yossarian]

Curiously, looking for Omoyo on Google led me to this.
Coincidence I Think Not.


Now, a little less tongue-in-check and more on topic, one of the rumors on Ayanda got me thinking if her own creation was wholly as planned, if her bane wasn't as much happenstance as much as her planned childer turning Mekhet, but revenants perhaps turning more spectral. Botched banes for botched embraces?

Could a secret of breaking from a strain of vampirism into another be hidden in something so simple?

Hmmmmmmm...

Others say it wasn’t a specifically Daeva and Nosferatu problem. The Embrace goes wrong sometimes, especially if given for the wrong reasons. With enough mistakes in a small space of time, patterns form. Perhaps the Kindred of New England were just as prone to hysteria as the humans. A Ventrue resurrects her last mortal grandchild to keep a grasp on her legacy, realizing too late what she’s robbed him of. A Mekhet sees an untimely death and tells himself he’s doing a kindness, that his curse is the least awful of all the clans, but soon he learns the price of lacking self-awareness. In that light, the Kindred of New England were covering up their own sins.

[Baaldam]

A little insider baseball:

My first draft of Ayanda included a lost clan called the Omoyo. Possibly related to the Mekhet, they had a variant Auspex power called Umbono, which related to the dead specifically, but couldn't affect the living. This concept got redlined for a couple of reasons, mostly because the book ended up with more lost clans than expected / needed, and they weren't quite different enough from the Mekhet to really fit in the setting. Anyway, here's what they looked like:

Curiously, looking for Omoyo on Google led me to this.
Coincidence I Think Not.


Now, a little less tongue-in-check and more on topic, one of the rumors on Ayanda got me thinking if her own creation was wholly as planned, if her bane wasn't as much happenstance as much as her planned childer turning Mekhet, but revenants perhaps turning more spectral. Botched banes for botched embraces?

Could a secret of breaking from a strain of vampirism into another be hidden in something so simple?

[Yossarian]

Oh.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.

And now I wonder is that resemblance to the Khaibit's Discipline spread is a coincidence or not.

A little insider baseball:

My first draft of Ayanda included a lost clan called the Omoya. Possibly related to the Mekhet, they had a variant Auspex power called Umbono, which related to the dead specifically, but couldn't affect the living. This concept got redlined for a couple of reasons, mostly because the book ended up with more lost clans than expected / needed, and they weren't quite different enough from the Mekhet to really fit in the setting. Anyway, here's what they looked like:

The Ones Who Spoke for the Dead

Something dead approaches. If it ever had a heart, it fed it to Hell to lighten the load. Thus unburdened, it proclaims the wisdom of graves, and a promise that soon you’ll know it too.

Ayanda believes she’s the last of the Omoya, but she has little interest in continuing the line. The dead should remain so. A handful of elders may hide in torpor or among the Acolytes, but if they were to sire, most of their childer would end up Mekhet.

Most.

Nickname: Specters

Favored Attributes: Intelligence or Strength

Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Vigor

Clan Bane (The Taboo Curse): [as with Ayanda's bane in NH:SB]

[LostLight]

Oh.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.

And now I wonder is that resemblance to the Khaibit's Discipline spread is a coincidence or not.

[Yossarian]

Ayanada from Spilled Blood have a variant Bane which makes her more ghostlike than the common Mekhet, which is the subtype referred here

If you look closely at Ayanda's powers in her stat block, you can also see what her clan Disciplines are.

[Baaldam]

Ayanada from Spilled Blood have a variant Bane which makes her more ghostlike than the common Mekhet, which is the subtype referred here

Oh yeah, indeed. A condition that could make also a kind of bridge with the Jianshi too, i guess. Time to hit the book again for some creative fodder.

[LostLight]

Kind of forgot to ask back then, who are those subtype you mean?

Ayanada from Spilled Blood have a variant Bane which makes her more ghostlike than the common Mekhet, which is the subtype referred here

[Baaldam]

My personal guidelines for "Bloodline to Clan evolution" are as follows-

As the Bloodline (the Child) becomes a different Clan from the original (the Sire), it loses one of the four Disciplines. Those Disciplines, as well as its favored attributes, will decide its final fate-

a) if the new Child maintains the same three Disciplines and have the same favored attributes as the Sire, it becomes their "sibling"- such as Hollow Mekhet and regular Mekhet, or the strange Mekhet subtype from Spilled Blood.

Kind of forgot to ask back then, who are those subtype you mean?

[Baaldam]

Bane acquisition is one of the Trait-agnostic markers for character progression in Vampire. (The other big one being elders' extra Anchor and tweaked relation to the Touchstone systems.)

Goes to show how much i need to separate some weekend for a 2e reading binge/marathon of sorts i think.