So You Want to Play Vampire: The Masquerade

8 min readApr 21, 2018

Vampire: The Masquerade is, like all RPGs, first and foremost a game about looking at lists of things and picking one. But while, say, Dungeons and Dragons “classes” are fairly accessible (you wanna hit shit with swords? Fighter. You wanna magic a motherfucker up? Wizard), Vampire’s version is more opaque. Tor Readers? Ass Mites? Whaaa?

My goal here is to present the Vampire clans, which are kind of like “classes” from other games, in an accessible way that won’t frighten off new players. I tried to be funny and concise, and deliberately describe stereotypes — players can learn the nuances after figuring out if they actually enjoy the game or not.

I’ve also structured the lists with my own players in mind — as such, I’ve explicitly banned a few clans and don’t waste many words on them. You do you, though.

Sparkly Vampire? Sexy Vampire? What Kind of Vampire are We Talking About Here?

In Vampire, you are a [drumroll, please]… vampire. Drink blood, killed by sunlight, technically a walking corpse that never ages, magic powers… a pretty typical Dracula-style bloodsucker. You are also sad. Being deliciously sad is a big part of V:tM, and as a vampire you are caught in a constant struggle between your humanity and the bloodthirsty beast within you.

In V:tM, vampires are not the solitary monsters of Fright Night or Salem’s Lot. Like in Blade or Twilight, there’s a vampire society: A grand conspiracy lurking just behind human history. V:tM isn’t really about drinking blood and killing people. It’s about surviving the machinations of vampires older and stronger than you, through social maneuvering, emotional manipulation, and occasional extreme violence. Blood sustains the character; melodrama sustains the player.

Subdivisions… more than a Rush song

Vampires are divided into clans, and your clan defines what specific supernatural powers you wield and vulnerabilities you suffer, as well as the culture you become part of. When a vampire makes a new vampire, the “childe” (vampires like to add “e”s to the end of words) inherits the clan of the “sire.” Some clans are organized into a power structure, some are more like loose-knit families.

The majority of clans participate in a sect, a sort of umbrella government. If the clans are nations, think of a sect as something like NATO — an alliance in pursuit of a common goal. There are two important sects: The Camarilla, which most clans (and nearly all players, by choice or mandate) participate in, and their main foe the Sabbat… which is less like NATO and more like the Axis selling weapons to ISIS.

The Camarilla: Deep State of the Damned

The Vampire Government. Defenders of the Status Quo. Like a homeowners association, they’re petty, Machiavellian, and consider you a member whether you agreed to it or not. Unlike a homeowners’ association, they’ll have you killed if you break the rules. Formed by powerful elders from seven clans, primarily to enforce the Masquerade, the law against letting humans know vampires are real, lest humans annihilate vampires altogether. Also attempt to maintain peace between clans… or civility, at least. Somehow, accomplishing these two things always ends up maintaining the power of a select few… how ‘bout that?

The official clans of the Camarilla are:

Clan Brujah: More Like Clan Brouhaha [rimshot]

If there’s a viral gif of you punching a nazi, this is your clan. You use the word “praxis” in daily conversation, think Ventrue should check their privilege, have an argument for why smashing Starbucks windows is woke, and take “anger issues” to a whole new level.

As Seen In: True Blood

Perks and Pitfalls: Super strong, super fast, super prone to going full on beast-mode.

Clan Gangrel: Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders

In life, you read blogs about “homesteading,” went to Burning Man because you sincerely enjoyed the camping, and spent more time at parties petting the host’s dog than speaking to human beings. In unlife, you speak to the dog and people pet you.

As Seen In: 30 Days of Night

Perks and Pitfalls: Talk to animals, see in the dark, super-sturdy, gradually turn into a furry.

Clan Nosferatu: What’s Wrong With Your Faaaccccee

Literal basement trolls. You look like a cross between Voldemort and Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Butt-hair Gary, not sexy-top-hat Gary. On the plus side, you get to live in sewers, talk to rats, and spy on people!

As Seen In: Shadow of the Vampire

Perks and Pitfalls: Talk to animals, super-strong, super-sneaky, super incapable of passing for human.

Clan Toreador: You Probably Haven’t Heard of Them

Why didn’t the Toreador swallow any clots? Because they drank blood before it was cool. Tortured artistes and the muses that love them. The only thing better than being pretty is being sad and pretty. Pop Up Trivia: The Pulp song Common People was written about a Toreador.

As Seen In: Queen of the Damned

Perks and Pitfalls: Super-senses, super-fast, super-attractive, super distracted by shiny things.

Clan Tremere: A Wizard Did It

Because you wanted to play DnD but your friends overruled you. It’s like the girls from The Craft formed a sorority. If the Camarilla isn’t bureaucratic enough for you, you just might be a Tremere.

As Seen In: My Immortal

Perks and Pitfalls: Super-senses, mind control, you’re a motherfucking wizard Harry, extremely complicated extra rules.

Clan Ventrue: We Are The 1%

Former Student Government Presidents who managed to bring respectability politics into vampiredom. Love The West Wing, behave more like House of Cards. If the Camarilla is a group project, Ventrue is the kid doing all the work. Know how to get bloodstains off a pantsuit.

As Seen In: Blade

Perks and Pitfalls: Mind control, super-sturdy, super-attractive, super-picky about whose blood you drink.

Clan Giovanni: Carpe Jugulum

The Godfather, with more blood drinking and necromancy. Like to keep it all in the family, in more ways than one. Technically not in the Camarilla, but closer ties to them than the Sabbat.

As Seen In: Innocent Blood

Perks and Pitfalls: Super-strong, mind control, summon ghosts and zombies and shit, messy eaters.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The Sabbat: Rugged Individualists

The Baddies. Well, the Worsies anyway. The Lost Boys, but even bigger edgelords. Stormfront for vampires; they believe humans are worthless cattle, Doomsday is nigh, and the Camarilla is in the way of vampire survival. Detroit is Sabbat-controlled territory, and that should tell you everything you need to know about why you don’t want them running your town.

Technically, there are a few blacksheep members from every other clan within the Sabbat’s ranks, but the two clans unique to them are:

Clan Lasombra: Spooky Scary

If the Ventrue are College Democrats, Lasombra are College Republicans. With creepy shadow powers. So Karl Rove, basically.

As Seen In: Vampire in Brooklyn

Perks and Pitfalls: Super strong, mind control, creepy shadow powers, can’t take selfies.

Clan Tzimisce: Putting the “Sin” back in “Cenobite”

An entire clan of vampiric Hannibal Lecters capable of turning people inside-out without spilling a drop. Tend to look like a Lady Gaga outfit had babies with a Gwar costume. They have such sights to show you, yada yada yada.

As Seen In: Hellraiser… yeah, I know those aren’t vampires but just go with it OK.

Perks and Pitfalls: Super-senses, talk to animals, shape flesh and bone as if it were Sculpey, have to sleep on literal home turf, pronounced zimesch? Zimsqueu? Zimitchi?

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Clans You Can’t Pick Unless You Make Me a Really Good Argument:

Unlike the undead, not everything about a game that debuted in 1992 aged well. Some became problematic — others are just a bit thematically out-of-tune. Or maybe I’m just lazy and they’re difficult to incorporate into a Camarilla-focused campaign.