2nd Edition Bloodlines: Alucinor, Architects of the Monolith and the Morotrophians

[Nifara]

These are my own personal takes on these bloodlines, they may not fit with your vision of the bloodlines. That caveat out of the way, here are the alucinor:

Alucinor

You probably haven’t seen me watching while you sleep. But you fear me when you’re awake. In those moments between slumber and awareness, when you’re paralyzed by all the hidden things around you, before they resolve into the mundane, I am waiting. And your dreams taste so sweet.

It is a short step between invading the mind of another and clambering into their dreams, but few kindred make the step for the dreamscape is strange and intrusive, even to the dead. The Alucinor make this journey without fear, accepting the confusion and strangeness of slumber in return for the power and influence it gives them over their victims. An ancient line of kindred, the Alucinor have survived into modern nights by being whispers and legends, hidden even from kindred either in shadows and whispers or in plain sight. For the Sandmen their brief forays into dream are but the first steps into a wider world, and they long to discover the true mysteries of nightmare.
Background: Tracing their lineage back to the Camarilla itself, the myths of the bloodline say their founder was a young neonate who created the bloodline in a single burst of mad energy as she drank the soul of a slumbering Nosferatu elder. The fractured nightmares of this torpid kindred overwhelmed the fragile mind of the young woman and opened her senses to the wonders and horrors of dream and nightmare. Her name is lost, and so the bloodline uses the name of the Roman world of dreams for its own.
Though subtle and hidden, it is clear that the Alucinor have been active throughout history. The origin of the night mare myth itself, where succubi and other horrors clambered upon sleepers and drank their souls through their dreams, is almost certainly evidence of the bloodline’s activities during the middle ages, and some Lancea et Sanctum scholars are still wary of the brood due to these tales’ links with demonic forces. Despite this evidence of early activity it is clear the bloodline vanished for many centuries during the renaissance, only to be reignited at the beginning of the 20th.
The line remerged in 1931 when a Greek Cypriot kindred known as Ariadne Metaxas rose to prominence, demonstrating the powers of the bloodline to others for the first time in known history. She claimed to have been visited in her dreams by the founder of the line itself, and to have been avused by her while she slept. Whatever truth there is to this, it is clear that after several years of fame amongst the kindred community in Europe she was consumed by ever-more terrible nightmares, and became obsessed with the work of Carl Jung, disappearing to try and find more. She was never heard of again.
Tonight the bloodline has returned to its roots of secrecy, but with a more pragmatic air. Though they do not make themselves known in an overt fashion as Ariadne did, they do not keep themselves totally cloistered as the bloodline supposedly did in times of old. To those who have an interest or a need for their abilities, they are known well enough, and for the rest they are simply an oddity that needs no investigation.
The Becoming: The Alucinor are not a strongly coordinated line and so their membership requirements are not exact. Ultimately each Alucinor admits those who they see as interesting or suitable, and what that means varies hugely. However, almost all of those who join the Sleepwalkers are given to introspection and insight and a certain meditative if pragmatic approach. They particularly favour those whose culture places importance on dream and nightmare, or who are already invested in its mysteries. Intellectual and social, few of the line tend towards raw physical might but some see value in learning stealth and criminal skills.
Interactions With the Danse: The Alucinor have no real fixed role within the All Night Society, but do tend to drift into positions that reward insight and sound judgement rather than enforcement or bureaucracy. They don’t usually reach for leadership positions, but when they find themselves occupying them they are not poor Princes and Primogen. They suit best an advisory role, and gravitate towards being second in command. In terms of covenant they have a natural draw for the Ordo Dracul, as they open up another avenue of research, but are also attracted to the Circle of the Crone and the Lancea et Sanctum as both covenants value the spiritual aspects of their powers. The few who join the political covenants often find themselves being used by their fellows rather than being involved, and many are trapped into an unpleasant unlife of servitude.
Parent Clan: Mekhet
Nickname: Sandmen, Nightmares, Sleepwalkers
Bloodline Bane: It becomes hard for the Alucinor to distinguish between true horrors and the nightmares that plague them. Whenever they encounter a strange phenomenon that they have not encountered before they suffer the Spooked condition. In addition, they cannot ever regain Willpower from rest as they are plagued with nightmares at all times.
Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Nightmare, Obfuscate

Insomnium
The Alucinor gift of Insomnium grants them the ability to sense and interact with the dreams of others, using their power over nightmare and slumber to become mystic figures of the dreamscape. They can manipulate dreams and nightmare, and even infuse the power of slumber into the bodies of their foes.
All Alucinor gain the first Devotion, Dreams of the Many, upon joining the bloodline. Additional devotions have prerequisites as normal, and cost 2 Experiences each.
Dreams of the Many
The Alucinor becomes attuned with the dreams of those nearby, the dreams of mortals slumbering in the night a constant, subconscious flood. Such intrusion is usually a mere distraction but with care a Sandman might pluck fleeting glimpses of those dreams and nightmares from the minds of those around them and discern useful information from them.
With this power the Alucinor becomes attuned to all sleeping minds within a number of miles equal to their Blood Potency. Dreams sensed in this manner are not consistent or easily comprehended – the vampire gains no information as to the sleepers’ locations, and the information gained is vague and fragmentary. When this power is used the Alucinor chooses a single sleeper nearby and gains insight into them in the form of their Vice and Virtue (or Mask and Dirge for kindred). This is expressed through confusing imagery and metaphor which is left
to the user to interpret.
Dreams to Nightmares
With this power the Sleepwalker can do more than just observe the dreams of others, clambering into their sleeping subconscious and altering their dreams to suit the vampire’s purposes. By twisting their minds to match the kindred’s vision their dreams turn to nightmares, and nightmares shift to reflect the unnatural horror of the intrusion. Upon waking such dreamers find their will weakened and are less able to resist coercion. First you must locate a mind using Dreams of the Many and then enter their mind to alter their dreams. Any individual targeted by lucid dreaming does not recover willpower for that rest, and is considered to have one less door than normal for the purposes of social contests. This effect lasts until they next sleep, and cannot stack (you cannot affect a single individual twice with this power, even with multiple Alucinor working together).
Prerequisite: Nightmare 2
Chain the Enslumbered Mind
Those who sleep usually shed the lethargy of slumber upon waking but with this power they may not manage to. By infusing a sleeping mind detected via Dream of the Many with slumber and sleep they retain their confusion upon waking. Individuals targeted with Chain the Enslumbered Mind find that the first scene they are in upon waking (immediately upon waking up) they are confused and sluggish – their memories become vague and confused, and they cannot resist the powers of the blood as easily. During this scene they suffer a -1 penalty to all resistances made against discipline powers and against the bestial triad (if applicable), and once the scene is complete they must make a successful Intelligence + Composure check to recall any event that happened in it. Failure indicates they don’t remember it at all, and any success that is not Exceptional indicates they remember it fuzzily as if it happened in a dream. An Exceptional Success indicates they remember it perfectly.
Prerequisite: Obfuscate 2
Lullaby
The Sandman lulls those around him to sleep, and the Alucinor carry on that tradition. With a simple song or hummed tune, enhanced with the expenditure of Vitae, the Alucinor can make a contested Presence + Expression + Nightmare check against all mortals within earshot (who resist with Composure). Those that fail to resist immediately fall into a deep sleep. They can be woken normally (very loud noises, being shaken, etc) but otherwise continue to doze unimpeded for a number of hours equal to 10 – their Willpower. Those remarkable individuals with Willpower of 10 are immune to this power, as are supernatural creatures of all kinds.
Prerequisite: Celerity 2
Pains of the Daysleep
Kindred may not sleep in the way that mortals do, but that does not mean that the Alucinor’s powers of slumber have no hold over them. By opening their eyes to the hidden dream-states of the waking kindred, the Sandmen can sense the struggles of the daysleep within their target. This power allows a member of the bloodline to use Dream of the Many to find the scraps and remnants of kindred dreams, even if those kindred are awake or in torpor, rather than just in daysleep as the power normally allows. In addition, these insights reveal the vampire’s humanity
score as well as their Mask and Dirge.
Prerequisite: Auspex 2
Mare Ride
In myth the mare was a creature that rode on the chests of sleepers slowly suffocating them and giving them terrible dreams, and the Alucinor are Nightmares themselves. An Alucinor will not wake a sleeping mortal or kindred by clambering upon them, and once there can spend a Vitae to physically slip into their dreams. Whilst inside a target’s dreams they are physically absent from the waking world, existing only within their mind. If the target wakes, the Alucinor is immediately ejected (usually to confusion and horror of the victim). Whilst inside their head they can use other devotions normally as if they were in the room, and can communicate with the sleeper, leaving messages and portents through their dreams. This devotion is most useful,
however, for escaping pursuit or notice, particularly when combined with Lullaby.
Prerequisites: Obfuscate 3, Nightmare 3

[Nifara]

The Architects of the Monolith presented something of a different challenge. I decided to go down the route of Blood Sorcery, but I recognise it's not to everyone's tastes.

Architects of the Monolith

There is a sacred pattern concealed within these streets and with enough blood at the right points of that pattern I might see beyond this world. I built these streets, I designed these monoliths, and now I will spill this blood. I will ascend to be the God Of All Gods.

The grand streets of Paris that sprung up under the rule of Napoleon had a greater purpose than the mortal eye might pick apart. The ordered lines of houses that flourished under forgotten pharaohs at the dawn of Egypt matched the grand plans of ancient hands. When the Temple was built on the orders of King Solomon he did so for dead voices whispered in his ear. Behind every great city, lurking at the heart of all most enduring monoliths, are the Architects. This secretive bloodline, more conspiracy than brood, traces its origins back through history and across continents claiming a magnificent and terrible work that drives their members. They are the hand that moves the world through graceful curves and stark lines, and they will reap the rewards when their great work is complete.
Background: The true origin of the Architects of the Monolith is unclear. Some claim a heritage shared with mortal Freemasonry, speaking of Hiram Abiff who designed King Solomon’s Temple, but others follow that path back further still, to the priests of Dionysus in Greece who conquered the madness of the ecstatics with rationality and learning, controlling the power of the mad ones within stone temples and shrines.
What is known is that the bloodline dates back at least to Europe in the Middle Ages where the Architects of the Monolith were responsible for some of the greatest designs of the time, from the Palace of Aachen to Notre Dame. In every capital and almost every city at least one of their number carefully guided mortal hands and minds, creating complex tapestries of city streets and monoliths until the very places they resided in hummed with power.
The goal of the Architects is a grand secret that they guard jealously, and for good reason. When the Lancea et Sanctum discovered even a fragment of their intention in Rome they ripped the bloodline apart and hunted its members for centuries. Tonight they keep their devotions secret from outsiders, and even those within the bloodline find the secrets of their kind are only slowly revealed by their elders. The goal itself is deceptively simple: become God.
The masons believe that they can harness the power of architecture, of patterns carved in human lives, and then, with the application of blood sacrifice at specific and significant points, ascend this mortal coil and become greater than they are. They see their skill with the powers they call “Gilded Cage” as a stepping stone to this goal, and most are entrenched in occult lore as they seek the right way to escape their dead forms. To this day none have achieved it, but every member who knows they divine purpose longs for it. Those inducted into the greater mysteries of the line know of the God of All Gods, the triple-headed horned beast that a true mason might one day join, and they know its sacred name though such things are never revealed to outsiders.
The Becoming: Few masons would induct a member not of their direct blood, and when they do it is because that individual shows remarkable promise of some kind. Both occultists and architects are sought after, but that is not the extent of their membership – literal masons and builders are the bedrock of the line, and every aspiring deity needs its worshippers and followers. The only true requirements for membership is the ability to keep a secret absolutely and the ability to influence human affairs with a sure hand. Almost every mason keeps extensive contacts within mortal communities and many even have a mortal guise through which they guide their own organisations and companies.
Interactions With the Danse: It is perhaps unsurprising that the goal of ascending to godhood lends itself naturally to the Ordo Dracul, and indeed many of the bloodline join that covenant looking to supplement their powers with those offered by the Dragons. But just as many join the Invictus for the influence and power over the mortals it offers means that they can continue their projects with interference, and the prominence of the Invictus in many cities means they are usually able to contain kindred interest too. In cities with a large population of masons they often rise to leadership for there are consumed by an obsession with themselves that can rarely be matched, and this leads to rampant ambition. For those that are not in a position of power they often become advisers to those who are in order to better insulate their plans from intrusion.
Parent Clan: Ventrue
Nickname: Masons
Bloodline Bane: The Architects of the Monolith not only believe that it is possible to become God, they yearn for it even if they are never told the true secrets of the bloodline. However, their power is totally bound up in the cities of the kine and without protective streets and buildings to shelter them they find their power unravelling. First, all members of the bloodline are consumed by narcissistic self-interest: putting themselves in danger for others provokes a detachment check at Humanity 1. In addition when they leave the comfort of built-up areas they suffer – they are only truly comfortable in the inner city. They suffer a -1 penalty to all frenzy checks when in the suburbs, a -2 penalty when in villages or sparsely populated areas, a -3 penalty when in deep rural areas, and a -5 penalty when in the wilderness.
Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Gilded Cage, Resilience
Gilded Cage
The terrible powers of the Architects of the Monolith are a unique form of blood sorcery fuelled by the power generated by the cities they design and live in. They call these powers the Gilded Cage, for though it grants them much influence of their domains it is ultimately a cage, a limited for of true and immense power that one day will be theirs.
Gilded Cage follows all the standard rules for blood sorcery as laid out in Blood Sorcery: Sacraments and Blasphemies with the additional rules presented in Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition.
Gilded Cage requires an expenditure of Willpower, just like Theban Sorcery, but does not require a sacrifice. It is also unusual in that it does not allow for improvised rituals – all rituals must be
learned in advance and committed into the blood to be achievable. This makes the discipline considerably less powerful than other forms of blood sorcery, but also cheaper to use (and to purchase with experience as it is considered in clan for the masons). The linked themes of Gilded Cage are Divination and Transmutation, and they gain a free dot in each of these and a free dot in a third of their choice when first purchasing the discipline. Additional theme dots (not granted automatically by increasing the discipline itself) can be purchased for 3 experiences each. The masons use the following rolls for performing rituals of each theme:

Theme	Dice Pool
Creation	Wits + Crafts + Creation
Destruction	Wits + Academics + Destruction
Divination	Resolve + Academics + Divination
Protection	Resolve + Expression + Protection
Transmutation	Intelligence + Science + Transmutation

The invocation of the shapes of power writ in human lives, Gilded Cage invokes the power of the ritualist’s own blood to affect the city around them. They devote mental and spiritual energy to their cause forming rituals which are careful and elaborate, with all the details formulated in advance of the casting. They involve complex and strange invocations and expressions, calling upon occult wonders and horrors in their use. Regardless of their content all of them have a single focus: the city.

Gilded Cage is Deliberate – performing the ritual required to invoke the city requires spiritual and mental effort from the ritualist and no mason would sully their arts by practicing them outside of their sacred places or without careful thought and planning.
Gilded Cage is Occult – it is bound up in strange and bizarre trappings and unusual and complex rituals. Sacred circles of phenomenal complexity are chalked on the floor or drawn in spilt sand, and important objects will be brought together to focus the energy of the city. They draw upon the sacred symbols of the masons – the pyramid, the eye, the square and compasses, and the horned triple god of all gods.
Gilded Cage is Urban – the city and its buildings are the true focus of the power and without the city it cannot be controlled. Masons often incorporate models of buildings and urban areas in their works, creating correspondences between their workings and the target. They perform their rites at junctions, where lines of power crafted by their construction efforts are channelled together.
Creation
With the power of genesis that his control the mason crafts the intersections of power in the city and aligns them to gift new expansion. Gilded Cage can summon urban pests like rats and cockroaches with ease, but larger animals such as predators appear like feral urban creatures – a summoned bear might have knotted fur and rotting food around its jaws, a plastic bag trapped around its hind leg. Physical objects produced with Gilded Cage cannot help but be urban in their very nature – even trees and natural phenomena are grey and polluted as if exposed to the city centre too long. Creation excels in truth at the creation of buildings – with enough power a mason can erect a monolith in a single night.
Destruction
Masons rarely embrace destruction but sometimes an area must be cleared before construction might begin. Those targeted are not struck down directly, but by the city – hit by a truck as they cross the road, or electrocuted by a faulty pylon. When the target is a physical object then matters usually arrange themselves swiftly to destroy it – a building catches ablaze, a statue crumbles due to acid rain, or knife simply rusts away. Urban decay reigns supreme when the mason embrace destruction, and they are loathe to do so for that very reason.
Divination
No Architect of the Monolith would fall to low as to fail to hear what the city says. The roar of car engines, the hum of electricity, and the screams of the human mob speaks to them in a language clearer than words. Masons often use this theme to locate individuals and objects within their domains, and to gain insight to events that have occurred within. It is also learned in order to combine it with other themes so that their powers can target the correct individuals across the urban landscape.
Protection
The masons use rituals of Protection to ensure their works are not disturbed, and to defend themselves against persecution for their practices. Few powers of the Gilded Cage allow an Architect to ward of banes, but many allow them to gain the protection of the city. They are cloaked by crowds and confusion, hidden by rumour and urban legend, and defended by birds and feral beasts. They bend the power of the city, the power of the sacred patterns, to ward themselves against the intrusions of others, and to defend against magics that do not understand the true power of the God of all Gods.
Transmutation
Though the Architects of the Monolith could twist their power to change water into wine or a bat into a bird, such things generally do not interest them, and they concentrate more on ephemeral and conceptual transmutation. With this power a mason changes a traffic jam to an open road, an abandoned building to a shining palace, and a red light, green. They can twist the habits and souls of mortals, change their forms and their needs, and make them ever-more dependent on the bosom of the city.
Sample Gilded Cage Rituals
Paths of the Prey
Themes: Divination 1
This ritual combines an ability to read ley lines with intimidate knowledge of the traffic flow of a city to make it much easier for a vampire to find mortals suitable for feeding. If the ritual is completed, apply the ritual’s potency as a bonus to a hunting check that the mason makes that night. If it is not used that night, the effects are not applicable.
Red Light
Themes: Divination 2, Transmutation 1
Traversing a well-planned city should be effortless, while crossing a poorly planned city is a daunting task. Using this ritual an Architect is able to increase the amount of time it takes a subject to get from one point to another by invoking the random functions of the city to plague him and infecting them with the sluggishness of kindred day-sleep. The potency on the ritual increases the time taken on the next journey of the intended target across the city by 25% per point.
Green Light
Themes: Divination 2, Transmutation 1
The opposite of Red Light, this ritual enables an Architect to use secret detours, lucky coincidences, clear road, and traffic lights to help hurry someone from one point to another. Using this ritual an Architect is able to make a journey taken by the target (which can be them) across the city by 10% per point of potency, to a maximum of 50% of the base time.
Aura of the Monolith
Themes: Transmutation 2
Great architecture inspires compelling emotions, be they of awe, reverence, or fear. This ritual allows the caster to enhance her personal aura, giving her something of the authority and radiance of the structure itself. When within the structure targeted, the mason gains a bonus to all social checks equal to the potency of the ritual, as long as the rolls are related to the building’s character and purpose. For example, an art gallery might grant a bonus to Expression, but a court house probably would not.
Gather the Herd
Themes: Divination 2, Transmutation 4
A well-planned city not only makes it easy for citizens to move through its streets, it actually guides and influences that movement. By using this ritual a mason can force a group of kine to assemble at a particular location over the next hour (the ritual duration begins at the end of this hour of gathering). The ritual doesn’t give the mason any particular control over those people, but they are merely travellers who, despite their intentions to end up elsewhere, find themselves at the target location. Ten mortals are called for each point of potency of the ritual, and they cannot leave until the duration expires but otherwise may act normally. A more potent form of this ritual exists using Divination 3 which calls a specific type of mortal (such as ravers, police
officers, and so on).
Eye of the Pyramid
Themes: Divination 3
One of the reasons monumental architecture is so powerful is that it can be seen from almost anywhere, and thus has a mystical correspondence to perception. A mason using this ritual gains sensory powers over the building on which it is cast. With this ritual the mason can see events that occur within the target building as if they had senses throughout it. They can make Wits + Investigation checks to notice particular events if they wish. During this ritual’s operation they cannot make use of their own senses.
Lock the Gilded Cage
Themes: Divination 2, Transmutation 4
The poetic term that kindred use to describe their reliance on the city has been one of the mason’s fascinations since the bloodline’s inception. This ritual allows the caster to make a city into a literal cage for a subject. The targeted individual (who can resist as per the normal rules) find themselves unable to leave the city they are currently in for the duration of the effect. Any attempt to do so leaves them lost, confused, and often back where they started. Even being driven or carried by others does not help, for they go astray, their guides lose their way, or disaster stops them. The effects are never fatal, but merely stop any attempt to leave. If the target has some supernatural mechanism of leaving the city (such as a mage teleporting) then consider the potency of Lock the Gilded Cage as a penalty to any activation checks.
Metropolis of the United Diagram
Themes: Divination 2, Transmutation 5
The ritualist opens himself to the connections among the powerful monuments of his city. The vampire them vanishes from his current location and appears at another. This is one of the most
powerful rituals known to the masons, and only their most adept members have any hope of casting it. When the ritual is complete mason simply winks out of existence and reappears at his target location, which must be a building within the city he has visited before. He awakens in this new body (which is identical to his old body, down to clothing and personal possessions
carried) in any location within that building he wishes (and knows about). The “transportation” occurs immediately upon the completion of the ritual and is in effect an instant action. Supposedly and even more powerful version of this ritual exists incorporating Divination 5, which is rumoured to be a step on the way to true ascension to the God of all Gods. Whether this is true or not is unknown, as those who have mastered it have no interest in sharing their results.

[Nifara]

And last, but not least, the Morotrophians.

Morotrophians

Welcome to my little domain. Everyone here is just like one big happy family, and we all get on like a house on fire. Just think what it’s like being a family in a house on fire.

The dying pensioner lying on a hospital bed sees a figure loom over him and tries to cry out, but his cancerous throat lets out no real sound. In the psychiatric ward down the hall no one believes the young schizophrenic that one of the doctors eats people, even though occasionally they find a body in a bed a little too cold and a little too pale. If the cleaners whisper about an urban legend stalking the halls then, well, don’t they always try to inject a little extra mystery into life?
This is how the Morotrophians survive. They prey on those who have no voices, who are trapped in institutions that moulder from the inside, corrupting those who inhabit them, collapsing into themselves with moral degradation. They see the institutions they dwell in like fat juicy blood dolls, plump with nourishment and unable to cry out.
Background: In the 16th Century a young German monk was embraced by a Nosferatu whilst in Nothern Italy. Who this mysterious sire was is still unknown, but what is known is that the embrace was somehow taints – the young kindred discovered that he had a terrible weakness, unable to leave the walls of the monastery his abided within except through a supreme effort of
will. He found himself devoted to the place with and unnatural urge and it wasn’t until the monastery was burnt to the ground and the young kindred was forced to flee in frenzy that he found himself free of it.
He travelled to France and there found a new monastery to make his home, and soon the same madness overcame him. But this time he came to realise that is was the perfect form of sustenance, and began to invest in the monks and the buildings there, even feeding the abbot his blood to make him is personal servant. Eventually out of loneliness and despair he embraced, but soon discovered that though his progeny shared his weakness they could not share a haven – one vampire feeding within such a small institution was dangerous, but two was a masquerade
breach waiting to happen. His childe left the monastery and sought out a place of his own. Thus the bloodline began to spread.
Whilst originally confined to religious houses, the progenitor’s childe were not as pious as he, and soon the morotrophians began to spring up in all kinds of different places. In modern nights they haunt many different places, from hospitals to prisons, and with the slow decline of organised religion in the west they found their traditional hunting grounds superseded.
The Becoming: New Morotrophians are rarely embraced out of anything except loneliness and the need for companionship, despite the heavy knowledge that any such embrace is likely to lead to a broken home within a few short years. The occasional brood of monks does share a haven for a longer period, but only when there is a dense enough population to sustain them, and even then the conflicts it creates are often their undoing – the risk of masquerade breaches is just too great. Those who are brought into the bloodline are almost embraced into it, as few would choose such confinement for themselves. The perfect victim of the embrace is quiet and unobtrusive, insightful and yet not vocal about their understanding. Subtlety is their greatest ally and this is rewarded. They quickly cultivate elaborate and extremely secure havens they take great pride in, hidden within the institutions where they make their homes.
Interactions With the Danse: The Morotrophians rarely involve themselves in the All Night Society as a whole, for to do so would mean leaving their homes and subjecting themselves to the fear and rejection of the outside world. Those few who do tend to conduct their business primarily via intermediaries, sending ghouls and servants to interact with others, though a handful manage to pry themselves away in order to attend court in their city of residence. Few see the appeal of the covenants but when they do join a larger organisation it is usually one that offers them specific advantages. The bloodline has a strong history within the Lancea et Sanctum whose divine miracles allow them power from a distance that they crave, and whose monastic traditions mesh well with their behaviour. A handful join the Ordo Dracul as well choosing to study the mysteries of the vampiric form away from their fellows, engaging in complex and horrific experiments within their homes, far from prying eyes. Almost none join the Invictus or the Carthians, for social and political interaction is really not their strength, and the wild abandoned and communal nature of the Circle of the Crone grates badly with them. Most monks remain isolated from city politics, but some become important figures, watching over vital locations, and “disappearing” those their fellows want gone from public view when necessary.
Parent Clan: Nosferatu
Nickname: Monks, Abbots, Directors
Bloodline Bane: The Morotrophians become dependent upon the same institutions that they prey upon, and find themselves extremely uncomfortable leaving them and feel extremely emotionally attached – even when it is irrational. They have the equivalent of a second-stage blood bond towards the institution itself including its buildings, organisation, and inhabitants. In addition, they must spend a point of Willpower in order to leave its premises once attuned.
Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Nightmare, Obfuscate, Vigor
Institutionalize
The Morotrophians learn to twist their undead power towards institutions rather than just individuals. They learn to feel the soul and psychology of the place itself rather than the individual thoughts and intentions of those in it. The way in which a prison is run, the attitude of the doctors and administrative staff at a hospital, the particular dogma of a monastery, all of these things can make an institution distinctive and unique, and can allow the Monks to wriggle deep within it.
With enough time and effort an abbot can “merge” with an institution, resonating with its unique personality so they can apply their powers of the blood to it directly as a whole rather than those within it. In order to apply the following effects Morotrophians must first “attune” with the institution. They must abide within it for a minimum of 10 – Blood Potency months, and have at least one touchstone associated with the institution (and the institution as a whole, not any of its components). They must make their haven within the grounds, and they must spend considerable time and effort getting to know the people and places within it.
Not all institutions are suitable for the monks. In general those that are must be bound to a specific and fairly small geographical area with ongoing attendance mandated by walls, the will of a leader, or by personal fear. Individual in the institution must be dependent on other members and act within certain specified roles (such as doctors and patients, guards and prisoners, and so on). Finally at least some of the group in the institution must not have legal control over some major aspect of their own lives.

• After the first month in which a monk abides within the institution that institution is considered to have a first-stage blood bond to them. This means that all individuals, and the very bureaucracy itself, acts as though it had such a bond. Those who enter the grounds of the institution to visit, etc are not affected, but as soon as they become part of the institution they are within a few hours. After a full year of residence, this rises to the equivalent of a second-stage blood bond, and after five full years it rises to a third-stage blood bond. These bonds work in exactly the same way as any other (they can be overridden by other bonds, and at a third-stage those in it cannot be affected by any other bonds) but they last only as long as an individual is part of the institution, and only as long as the abbot remains upon the grounds (the effect will pick back up when they return, but if they, for example, ran into a doctor in town whilst outside the institution, that doctor would not have the effects applied to them).
• The Morotrophian can express its displeasure at the institution as a whole by lashing out at it. This works almost exactly like a normal attempt to lash out (with a supernatural institution resisting with the highest pool of its members and mundane institutions failing automatically) with the institution backing down in a way that is humiliating or degrading, and all members of that institution gaining the associated condition. Most monks do not use this power except in very unusual or extreme circumstances as the results can be very unpredictable.
• Certain disciplines can be applied to the institution as a whole rather than just individuals within it. Specifically, certain powers of Auspex and Nightmare can apply to the institution as if it were an entity in of itself. By spending a Willpower at the same time as activating the discipline you can choose a subset of the institution to specifically targets (such as “the prisoners” or “patients on ward 5”). Beast’s Hackles and Uncanny Perception can be used with the target of the Institution itself, with the questions altered to reflect this accordingly. Dread Presence, The Grand Delusion, and Waking Nightmares can all be used on the institution itself rather than on the normal target. When this happens all individuals in the institution suffer the same effects, but only when within the walls. Twilight Projection works normally, but within the confines of their institution all movement is instantaneous, and returning to the institutions when outside of it is also instant.

[Arabidopsis]

The link between Architects and the God-Machine is so big that I didn't think of it until I read your post XD but hey, awesome idea

[saibot]

In addition, they cannot ever regain Willpower from rest as they are plagued with nightmares at all times.

Sorry, have not had time to go through everything in detail yet, but to the above: In 2e, vampires never recover Willpower from sleep to begin with. A Kindred's Daysleep is not as recuperative as a human's sleep.

[Nifara]

Arabidopsis: Thanks! I was pleased with how much overlap there was between the two. I left it generic enough that you don't have to use the link, but I think it works well thematically.

Saibot: That's a very good point and an oversight on my part. Blame me trying to keep as much of the 1st ed version as possible I think. Do you have a suggestion for a replacement, or do you think the rest of the weakness holds up on its own?

[saibot]

Saibot: That's a very good point and an oversight on my part. Blame me trying to keep as much of the 1st ed version as possible I think. Do you have a suggestion for a replacement, or do you think the rest of the weakness holds up on its own?

A problem I see with the Spooked Condition is that it is effectively a Beat machine. It does not give any strict mechanical effects, but simply gives the player a chance to act out the Condition for a Beat.

How about this:
"Alucinor find they have trouble separating their haunted dreams from reality. Every night after daysleep they need to Resolve + Composure, on a failure they suffer the Delusional Condition. The Storyteller decides what kind of delusion they are suffering."

You could add Blood Potency as a penalty to the Res+Comp roll, depending on what kind of flavour you are going for. I happen to like the idea of older Alucinor being overwhelmed by their own nature. Sort of an unpleasant version of the Dream Visions Merit. Another option to consider is switching out Delusional for a resolveable version of the Distracted Condition (both on p. 302).


Devotions: Currently many have no Cost or Dice Pool. While this could make sense for some, some really should have both, I think. In general I really like the ideas, though.

Lullaby: How about making the time dependent on the vampire's Blood Potency somehow? Like BP x hours or something? This would circumvent the Willpower 10 issue.


(cont.)

[saibot]

Architects of the Monolith: Ah, one of my favourite Bloodlines!

Bloodline Bane: Seems fine, although the first part might be a bit too harsh. From what we have seen of Bloodlines in 2e so far, their Banes do not tend to be quite so crippling. Maybe remove the Breaking Point bit and leave the megalomania as flavour. The rest seems fine, although if you really want to highlight their niché, just make it a general penalty and not just to frenzy.

Bloodline Disciplines: Personally, I would give them a regular Bloodline Discipline and make Gilded Cage their Bloodline Gift (at the regular cost for Blood Sorcery: 4 Experience per dot, 2 Experiences for additional Rituals).

Some candidates for the regular Bloodline Discipline would be Obfuscate (blending in with the world around to work their powers; also Oubliette!) or Majesty (to play up the cult and megalomania angle). It really depends which part of them you want to highlight.

Gilded Cage: I just had an idea. If you remove the megalomania from the Bane, maybe you could come up with relevant Conditions for Dramatic Failures or Exceptional Success on Gilded Cage? They do not gain Stumbled, Raptured and Sated and so on, but are overtaken by their own power which causes bouts of extreme narcissism.


Morotrophians: Just an aside, may I say how much I love the quote you chose?

Looks fine all around, although the Bloodline Bane seems redundant because of the effects of Institutionalize ending with a third-stage Blood Bond. Am I misunderstanding something?

You might also want to drop some words about how, generally, Institutionalize interacts with Dominate, Animalism and Majesty, should the Morothrophian find a way to develop these.

[Nifara]

Thanks for all your feedback!

I think that bane for the Alucinor makes a lot more sense, and I like it a lot. I'm just gonna switch that in.

Architects: oooooh boy this took my ages and weeks of arguing players to get down, and we went through many iterations of the same points you're razing. The feeling was that by giving them a sorcery discipline that others can only get through covenant membership, they should really have a whopper of a bane. As one of my players pointed out, they could feasibly end up with sorcery AND coils. Which is a bit much. I do like the idea of dropping the breaking point and instead subbing in conditions on gilded cage failure though, so I may well move towards that.

Do you really think that having an extra discipline AND gilded cage is reasonable? It just seems a little overpowered to me.

Morotrophians: Thanks! I laughed a little when I wrote that quote, I'll admit.

The point of the bane is that whilst their power institution a bond from the institution to them, the bane makes it run the other way - they suffer the effects of a bloodbond towards the institution. That means they'll struggle to ever act against it, and (more importantly) others can really screw with them socially by playing off their defensive nature in regards to it.

That's a good point about the other disciplines - the focus was on the bloodline disciplines, but of course the others should be mentioned. I'll write something up later on.

[saibot]

Do you really think that having an extra discipline AND gilded cage is reasonable? It just seems a little overpowered to me.

Well, most Bloodline Gifts are free, Gilded Cage would not be. Even the first dot would requires Experiences, so getting a major benefit from your Disciplines and Gilded Cage would require quite a lot of Experiences. It really does not make them significantly more powerful in an immediate sense, but simply gives them a greater number of things to spend their Experiences on. To give an example, I do not think a Sanctified Ventrue with Dominate 4, Resilience 2, Theban Sorcery 3 is noticeably worse off than a Defiant Architect with Dominate 2, Obfuscate 1, Resilience 1, Coil of the Voivode 2, Gilded Cage 3, but they both spent the same amount of Experiences on their supernatural abilities.

It is probably also worth keeping in mind that, all things considered, Gilded Cage is less flexible than either Theban Sorcery or Crúac because of its narrow focus.

[Xenorath]

Good work on these. I've wanted to see the Morotrophians updated to 2nd Edition for a long time and I think you did an especially good job. As far as ideas for a 4th Discipline for the AotM, maybe Auspex? I could see a Devotion existing to let them see ley lines and nexuses of power to make it easier to map out good building sites. Another one could be something that makes them aware of the layout of a building. I could see the second one being useful for Morotrophians as well.

[Black Flag]

The original Architects of the Monolith got Auspex, although I could also see an argument for Obfuscate. And I agree that Gilded Cage should be treated as sorcery and not a Bloodline Discipline. Sure, it's one more set of things they have access to, but it's also another XP sink. And that way it's something other factions could potentially steal and make use of.

I agree with giving Morotrophians Auspex and converting Institutionalize into a more abstract gift. I'd say the Morotrophians' gift allows them to take mortal institutions as Touchstones rather than individuals. Note that institutions aren't synonymous with places; I think the writeup here leans too heavily on the locational aspect. In any case, Morotrophians' gift should let them use their disciplines freely on any institutions they have taken as Touchstones, treating them as a single target and as if they had a Vinculum with the Morotrophian.

But I must say that the new weakness doesn't sit well with me. On the one hand, the Vinculum doesn't really make a lot of sense when applied to an entire institution as regnant—or at least it doesn't add anything that wouldn't already be served by the Touchstone. The old weakness had the Morotrophians suffer a dice penalty in situations in which there were no recognizable physical or social barriers to confine/comfort them. I like that, as it keeps them from being tied to a place while at the same time giving them something analogous to agoraphobia. If anything, it will make them more prone to get deeply involved in Kindred society, Covenant affiliation, etc., which is good.

The one thing I'd change is to move it from a flat -2 to something that scales with Humanity. For ease, I'd just say their Nosferatu weakness becomes generalized so that it doesn't just affect interactions with mortals but all activities, as the Morotrophian stops being able to relate to anything that doesn't follow perceptible rules and strictures. That keeps players from having to remember another value, and also it starts small and gets worse over time. My idea is that Morotrophians stop relating to mortals as individuals and instead shore up their Humanity by shepherding their little ant farms and mimicking them in a more abstract, cerebral sense. But that kind of detachment can lead to their being unable to cope when they're not in control (which they understand in terms of knowing the rules).

[saibot]

The one thing I'd change is to move it from a flat -2 to something that scales with Humanity.

Just as an aside, while it is obviously up to Nifara to decide, Bloodlines Banes (at least going by the ones we have seen so far) do not scale off Humanity.

[That Other Guy]

You know, I'd be tempted to give the Architects a treatment as a Covenant rather than a legacy, in like of B&S

[Audrey St. John]

You know, I'd be tempted to give the Architects a treatment as a Covenant rather than a legacy, in like of B&S

I'd make this iteration a cult.