The Traditions

I seem to be having a thing with sevens in this re-imagining of the world of darkness.  Seven Clans, Seven non-physical disciplines, and now seven Traditions.  I liked the six traditions of Masquerade, even if they were a bit redundant, and I liked how the 3 Traditions of Requiem were tied to specific vampire weaknesses.  Also, Elysium has always been remarkably important in the literature, but dashedly hard to support in an actual game, so I've decided to toss that in there too.  What I've come up with is Seven Traditions that are a mix of Masquerade and Requiem + Elysium with specific attached weaknesses.
Because of the supernatural implications of these Traditions, they extend across all political boundaries, though different sects/covenants treat them differently.

Masquerade - Do not reveal your true nature to those not of the Blood.  Doing so forfeits your claim to the blood.

I should pause here to note that in this particular setting, vampires have revealed their existence to the world, much as described in TrueBlood/Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, or in the Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton.  However, they have done this only in the barest sense, which is to say that they more or less claim to be humans with an affliction that lowers their metabolic rate, requires them to drink blood, and have mild problems with sunlight, slowed aging, among other vague symptoms.  What they have not revealed are bloodlines, the extent of their powers, their various secret societies (Sects and Covenants), or the extent of their longevity. I haven't yet worked out how their feeding is presented.  Trueblood has synthetic blood, Anita Blake does not, but has particular legal limits on feeding (not that all vampires follow those).

For those on the side of this revelation, the Masquerade is used to enforce the idea of not demonstrating the extent of their nature beyond this.  Naturally, there are also those who feel going this far is blasphemous, and they tend to remain hidden, either that they are vampires or out of mortal sight entirely.  Naturally, since vampires have been revealed, this makes it more difficult for vampires who do not wish to reveal any of their nature to remain hidden.

The Lost Reflection - Kindred experience odd distortions with their reflection, and with their image captured on film or camera.  This varies with both Blood Potency and Humanity.  As long as Humanity is higher, it will show as a smudge, or mild occlusion.  When Blood Potency eclipses Humanity, blurred and half formed monstrous shapes occasionally appear, especially when disciplines are used, which can result in the classic horror scene of someone looking into a mirror and seeing a monster standing behind them, and whipping around to see nothing (the vampire is invisible).  This otherwise operates as in Requiem and the vampire can spend willpower in various ways to mitigate its effects.  Thus vampires tend to avoid mirrors and cameras unless they are distinctly prepared for them.


Domain - Thy Domain is thine own concern.  All others owe thee respect while in it.  None may challenge thy word while in thy domain.

Predator's Taint - This essentially operates the same as in Requiem, with two notable alterations.  First, the discipline Aspect of the Predator has been altered and moved to the Bêtiare Discipline, and now it essentially adds the character's Bêtiare rating into the comparison.  Second, if there isn't a Domain Merit somewhere, I'll be devising one, and it will also be available to add to the comparison (though probably only the higher of the two will add), essentially amping up its territorial value.


Progeny - Sire another at the peril of both yourself and your progeny.  If you create a childe, the weight is your own to bear.

Amaranth - as describe previously under Amaranth, creating a childe requires spending a permanent Willpower Dot and expends your top level of Blood Potency, or free Blood Potency Points you may have accumulated.  This is both a weakness and a boon, as it weakens the sire, but can also be used to stave off the growth of Blood Potency.


Accounting - Those thou create are thine own children.  Until thy Progeny shall be Released, though shall command them in all things.  Their sins are thine to endure.

Sires are expected to house and direct their childer until they are released.  Childer cannot acquire the Domain Merit until they have been released or the sire dies.  I'm also considering throwing in some special relationship with mental/social disciplines involving unreleased childer, which may also somehow play into the functioning of the Tremere hierarchy.


Hospitality - Honor one another's Domain.  When though comest to a foreign city, thou shall present thyself to the one who ruleth there.  Without the word of acceptance, though art nothing.

Invitation - This one has been used a lot in film lately, and to good effect, as well as being one of the classical weaknesses that is often overlooked in games.  In this setting, the tradition of Hospitality has arisen from the limitation of the Invitation.  A vampire can enter anywhere, but cannot use his powers on someone in a mortal residence unless he has been invited by a resident of that dwelling.  Obviously this rules out various kinds of mind control and Auspex, but also prevents the use of physical disciplines if directed against mortals, particularly any bonuses they might provide to affect the mortals.  I haven't quite decided about how Thaumaturgy, Protean and Tenebrus should apply, but mostly they shouldn't be usable to directly attack or manipulate inhabitants.

This does not stop him from using those powers at the door to obtain an invitation, for example via Dominate or Presence, but does essentially require their acquiescence at the time of entry or some time prior.  An open ended "come over some time" counts as a freestanding invitation.  Once invited, he can be disinvited, but this doesn't take effect until after he has left the residence.  This also only applies to private, inhabited mortal residences.  Public space are not affected, nor are abandoned or unoccupied houses or apartments.  Another exception is if the vampire somehow owns the building, or if his haven is somehow inside the residence.  A haven in the basement of a house would exempt him, but a haven in the basement of an apartment building wouldn't necessarily allow access to the inhabited apartments.


Destruction - Thou art forbidden to destroy another of thy kind.  If you violate this commandment, the Beast calls to your own Blood.

Amaranth - Essentially the loss of humanity that comes from Diablerie.  However, to varying degrees, it is also forbidden to even kill another vampire without general sanction, whether this is by decree of the Prince or via large scale consensus.  Usually it is only considered acceptable to kill a kindred that has unlawfully killed another, or who has otherwise heinously broken the Traditions.  If a blood-hunt is called, it is generally considered acceptable to commit Amaranth on the hunted.  In this setting that may be undertaken by multiple individuals, following the system previously mentioned, and this tends to kill the target faster.  The order of draining will generally depend on initiative.


Elysium - The Halls of Elysium are sacred, no violence is to be committed there.

This basically uses the Fourth Tradition rules on page 21-22 of MET Requiem.  A willpower must be spent to enact overt violence, and a Willpower Dot must be spent to attempt to kill or Diablerize another kindred.


Note to all:  I realize this isn't the most refined presentation of this material and it may at points seem somewhat kludgy.   What I'm doing here is working out the system and presenting my ideas as I do it, though some I've previously worked on that will eventually be presented.