Introduction

The edge of the millennium is here (though even among Vampires the question of when precisely the millennium is due sparks much debate), and in the face of the 21st century, the Camarilla is undergoing drastic and fundamental changes. For five centuries, it has maintained the Masquerade, provided for balance between the mortal and immortal worlds, and most of all striven to uphold the status quo. For more than five centuries, it has been successful. More than that, since the mid-1400s, the Camarilla has been essentially synonymous with vampiric society.

But now, all of that is changing. The Camarilla is beset by foes, within and without. The Sabbat devours the cities of America's eastern coast, while Cathayans probe for weaknesses in the west. In Europe, the old struggles flare into new prominence, while everywhere the signs foretold in the Book of Nod are apparent to those who are looking for them. Even more shocking, one of the seven clans of the Camarilla has left the fold. In the hour of the Camarilla's greatest need, one of its pillars has proven untrustworthy.

It is under such dire circumstances that you are welcomed to The Guide to the Camarilla, the complete sourcebook for all things relating to this most august gathering of vampires. Inside this book is everything you might have wished to know about the Camarilla, the vampires who make up its ranks, the way in which the organization functions, the powers its members and officers possess, and perhaps even a few of the secrets the group's elders have been hiding.

What Is the Camarilla?

To understand what the Camarilla is, it is first necessary to understand, on a deep and abiding level, what it is not. Specifically, the Camarilla is most definitely not the group that contains the vampiric "good guys." There is nothing intrinsically good, true or nice about the Camarilla or the vampires who comprise it. The Camarilla does not exist to protect humanity from vampiric depredation; rather, its function is to ensure the safest and most profitable existence possible for its members. The care the Camarilla takes not to make too overt a presence is precisely the same effort the wolf makes to disguise his presence among the sheep.

What the Camarilla is, then, is a sect by the vampires, of the vampires and for the vampires. It exists to protect its members from the surging seas of humanity, who by dint of sheer numbers could wipe most of the Kindred off the face of the earth. The Camarilla's single greatest creation, the Masquerade, exists for precisely this purpose. A veil of misdirection and falsehood, the Masquerade hides the very fact of Kindred existence from the mortal world. What humanity can't see, it can't kill, and thus the Kindred are safe. The fact that the necessity of preserving the Masquerade cuts down somewhat on the casualties Camarilla vampires inflict on the mortal population is merely a by-product of the need to preserve the illusion.

What the Camarilla is really about, though, is the status quo, and the preservation thereof. The elder vampires who dictate the Camarilla's policy like having power. They like having control over hundreds and thousands of younger Kindred. They like having wave after wave of subordinates there to protect them. And, most important of all, they want to keep things exactly the way they like them. The Camarilla works, at least for the vampires who make the policy decisions, and thus they direct the sect's policies toward preservation rather than improvement. Could the Camarilla work better? Possibly, but then it wouldn't serve the interests of those who control it nearly as well.

Even those vampires lower down in the power structure � primogen and elders, for example � have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Relics of ages long past, these Kindred have no place in the modern world. By themselves, they'd soon perish. The Camarilla provides them with a buffer against the harsh winds of change, protecting them from an era that has no use for fencers or nobles from the court of the Sun King, but every use for coders and phone phreaks. By keeping the Camarilla the quasi-feudal organization that it is, these Kindred make a comfort zone for themselves. By wrapping the Camarilla up in Traditions and offices, they keep the sect on a level they can operate on. Whether this deliberate retardation of the sect's evolution is ultimately harmful, none can say, but there are any number of younger Kindred who are less than pleased with the current state of affairs.

As for the youngest of these immortals, what does the Camarilla offer them? In a word, security: The sect is protection (stifling though it may be) while the new vampire comes into his powers and learns the customs of his new existence. It is a group of allies against the mortal world and other vampires, a shelter against the new and terrible perils of unlife. While that security can quickly grow oppressive, in the beginning it is worth a great deal to a newly Embraced Kindred, who would otherwise be completely and utterly alone.

The Basics

In theory, the Camarilla is the universal organization of vampires (called Kindred, as a means of cushioning the harsh reality of vampirism) that speaks for and legislates for every vampire in the world. Bound by a series of Traditions regarding the creation, behavior and destruction of Kindred, the Camarilla is open to any vampire, regardless of clan or origin. The sect also strives, in accordance with one of the Traditions, to hide the existence of all vampiric activity from mortal eyes. This deception, called the Masquerade, is the defining detail of the Camarilla's existence; the creation, maintenance and armed struggle to uphold the Masquerade is what drives much of the sect's overt policy. Regardless of how powerful any individual vampire might be, there are still only a relative handful of Kindred in the world. Should humanity become aware of vampires' existence, the resultant war could only have one possible conclusion: humanity victorious, the Kindred essentially exterminated. The sheer weight of numbers would be too much for even the most potent Kindred to withstand. Fear of the day when that genocidal tide rises is why the Camarilla strives as hard as it does to defend the Masquerade.

In truth, the Camarilla is far from universal. Of the 13 full-fledged clans of vampires, only six pledge their allegiance to the sect. One (the Gangrel) has recently abandoned the Camarilla, two stand in direct opposition to it as the heart of the Sabbat, and four stand aloof, supposedly neutral or at least unaligned. Even the supposedly loyal clans are imperfect in their loyalty; so-called "antitribu" abandon the Camarilla's clans to serve the enemy, and more Kindred proclaim themselves to be anarchs, beholden to no sect or group save the ones they themselves create.

So, beset by foes within and without, the Camarilla must be a tiny, crumbling collective, yes? Hardly. Even on the doorstep of the Final Nights, the Camarilla is the largest, strongest and most populous sect of vampires in the world. It still controls much of the Americas, has inroads in the Far East and rules almost all of Europe. While fewer than half the clans belong to the Camarilla, it still boasts more clans than any other sect. And while the ferocity of the sect's foes may give them certain plusses, the Camarilla's unparalleled mastery at working with and through humans offers it a tremendous advantage.

In Practice

In practice, the Camarilla is a sect of cities. The faction as a whole is ruled by the Inner Circle, though few outside that body's ranks can tell you who, what or how large that Circle might be. The most popular rumor is that the Inner Circle consists of either the quasi-legendary Founders or their childer, but no one seems to know for certain. The Inner Circle meets once every 13 years to appoint new justicars, who then serve as the ruling council's agents in the field for the next decade-plus. Each justicar in turn appoints and blood bonds archons to assist in her work, and thus the internal policing of the sect is assured.

The vast majority of the Kindred, however, are not archons, justicars or members of the Inner Circle. They dwell in the cities, and are frankly more concerned with the nightly business of whatever metropolis they call home than they are with the sect's sweeping policies. Cities under the Camarilla aegis are ruled by a prince, who is advised (or sometimes dominated) by a council of elders called the primogen. Beneath the prince is a whole array of appointed and self-appointed officers who keep order, uphold the Traditions, and squabble amongst themselves seeking more power. Those Kindred who don't hold titles seek them, those in power seek more power, and at the top of the pyramid the prince seeks to maintain his authority while still keeping his domain strong enough to repel attacks from all comers.

For the average vampire on the street, the Camarilla exists as a series of laws to follow, powers-that-be to avoid or impress and peers to maneuver against. His concerns are keeping his haven safe against mortal and immortal intruders, finding a way to advance in the city's hierarchy (or at least to keep himself from being ground underfoot by the machinery of rule), and keeping himself fed without drawing the ire of a more powerful Kindred. It's as far from the grand and glorious war against the Sabbat or the high intrigue of the elders as one can imagine, but this, too, is an essential element of the Camarilla.

Many of the movers and shakers of the Camarilla are old � centuries or even millennia old. They have seen empires rise and fall, philosophies and utopias crumble and have moved, unchanged, through all the tumult. Theirs is the stabilizing � some would say, ossifying � presence that anchors the Camarilla firmly in its Traditions and history.

At the same time, there are more young Kindred in the sect than ever before. As the mortal population has exploded, so too has the capacity of the cities to support the Kindred. That means more and more young vampires, all of whom look at their staid, stable and terrifyingly powerful elders with a combination of fear and resentment. Even as age defines the Camarilla, it divides the sect as well.

Imagine This

Imagine working for a normal, mortal corporation. You're brought on fresh out of college, work your way up the ranks, and, as those ahead of you retire or seek employment elsewhere, you make your steady way to the top. The process is time-consuming, yes, but inevitable. Everyone grows old and dies, even CEOs.

Now imagine that same corporation, but with no competitors for employees to flee to and no chance of the executives growing old and dying. There is no opening above you, and there will never be � unless you make it. Either you force your way into the power structure by any means necessary, or you spend eternity as entry-level. You have no authority, no hope of advancement and no protection against the whims of your superiors.

That, in a nutshell, is the dilemma of the young vampire.

Power is the currency of the Camarilla. Power over one's childer, power over one's domain and power over one's foes � all these are the coin the vampires behind the Masquerade trade in. Alliances are formed and broken, childer and ghouls created and destroyed, and murders carried out in the shadows of night, all for the sake of power. In truth, what else is there for the sect's vampires to acquire? Money is worthless, sex pointless and love easily compelled. Power, then, becomes the only thing worth pursuing.

That is not to say that the only struggles for power take place within the sect itself. The Camarilla wrestles with its foes for dominion in the wider world; individual Kindred face the Sabbat, the Lupines and other enemies on a nightly basis. Regardless of whether the conflict is over a prized city office, control of a nightclub or the rule of an entire city, the struggle for power is one that envelops all Camarilla Kindred, willing or no.

The prime benefit of the vampiric condition is immortality. The Kindred need not worry about aging, becoming decrepit and finally succumbing to death. They have literally all eternity before them.

With that in mind, the average vampire becomes very, very cautious about exposing herself to risk. Consider all that she has to lose by placing herself in the line of fire: not years or decades, but centuries and millennia. As a result, no sane vampire wants to risk her boundless future any more often than is absolutely necessary.

That means that the vampires of the Camarilla don't go in for gun battles, brawls in the street or sword duels atop abandoned factories. They're just too dangerous. As a result, the predatory instinct for dominance and control innate to all Kindred needs to be sublimated, redirected and channeled into less risky pursuits.

And so the Kindred weave intrigues and plots the likes of which would have amazed the di Medicis, often for prizes so small as to make the whole affair pointless. Sometimes the machinations reach across centuries and continents, with the authors of the schemes watching patiently as the events they planned so carefully unfold. Other times the intrigues are the creation of a moment, a contest between two jaded Toreador to see who can seduce or destroy a mortal more quickly.

The plots serve their purpose, ultimately. They provide the predators with distance from one another and give them something with which to while away the never-ending nights. In the end, though, the games of intrigue are inescapable. Those who don't initiate them inevitably are caught in them. Since it is better to be the puppetmaster than the puppet, Kindred caught such begin intriguing on their own, and so the chain continues unto the very weakest.

How To Use This Book

This book serves as the overview to all things Camarilla. It's not a be-all end-all of everything affiliated with the sect, but rather an overview of everything you need to run or play in a chronicle centered on the Camarilla. Most of the book is information for both players and Storytellers; only a few chapters are Storyteller-specific. If you look in here for the answers to questions like "Who was the Ventrue primogen in Poitiers in 1762?", you're going to be disappointed, but that's the nature of the beast. If we put in that sort of detail, the book would simply drown in a sea of names and dates, and not be very useful to anyone. On the other hand, if you're trying to find information on how to build a city, what high-level Disciplines are available to Camarilla characters, how the sect was founded and how it functions from night to night, all that you need is in here. The Guide to the Camarilla is not intended to dictate to you how to run your Camarilla chronicle. Rather, it's a tool to help you understand the options available for playing Camarilla characters or running Camarilla chronicles.

Breakdown

Chapter One: (The Basics in Blood: The Sect Defined) is an overview of the Camarilla � what it is, where it came from, and where it's putatively going. Included are breakdowns of the various offices, rights, privileges and Traditions of the sect, as well as places where those customs are starting to break down.

Chapter Two: (Thin Traceries of Blood: The Clans ) contains information on the clans, bloodlines and associated lineages of the Camarilla. In addition to the six basic clans (along with the remaining Gangrel), smaller groups such as Lasombra antitribu and Gargoyles are covered. Finally, there's information on Caitiff.

Chapter Three: (From the Beginning: Character Creation) is a guide to Camarilla character creation, including additional Archetypes, Abilities, Backgrounds, Merits and Flaws.

Chapter Four: (Powers Beyond Understanding: Advanced Disciplines) details the advanced Disciplines of the Camarilla clans, including new Thaumaturgical paths and rituals.

Chapter Five: (The Rhythm of Immortality: Tactics and Systems) is a night-to-night guide to how the Camarilla does everything from trials to blood hunts.

Chapter Six: (The City By Night: Building Your Setting) is the complete guide to building a Camarilla city � what you will and won't find, what sort of mortals and immortals are likely denizens of the town, how the Camarilla influences the mortal politics of the city and more. Also included is a sampling of standard characters to populate your city with � everyone from Caitiffs and ghouls to princes and archons.

Chapter Seven: (Tales of Imagination and Mystery: Storytelling) is the Storytelling chapter, with ideas for running all flavors of Camarilla-based chronicles. The emphasis is on what makes a chronicle Camarilla-specific, and on using the unique features of the Camarilla to help create stories.

Chapter Eight: (Allies, Enemies and Others) wraps up the book, with information on anarchs, elders and ghouls (human and less than human), enemies and allies of the Camarilla.

Lexicon

A different existence calls for a different vocabulary. There are titles, experiences and whatnot that are common matters to the Kindred that have no equivalent elsewhere � and such things demand their own phraseology. Below is a listing of some of the more common terms used exclusively by the Camarilla to explain and define their nightly existence. Not every Camarilla vampire knows or uses all of these terms; many cling to humanity by refusing to adopt a vampiric vocabulary. In the end, though, the phrases below are what the Camarilla uses to help define the experience of its members, and thus itself.

Note: Many vampiric terms that are not Camarilla-specific can be found in Vampire: The Masquerade.

Allthing: A gathering of Gangrel, often called by the eldest clan member in a particular region. A smaller gathering is called a thing.

Anarch: A vampire who has rejected the Camarilla to exist as an independent. The vast majority of anarchs are under a century old.

Archon: A vampire in the service of a justicar. Archons are rarely of the same clan as the justicar they serve so as to avoid the appearance of favoritism, and are deputized with a wide array of powers. Most archons are blood bound to the justicar they serve.

Barrens: The areas outside a city proper that are uninhabitable by Kindred. Generally the Barrens start in the near suburbs and extend outward from a city.

Blood Bond: The supernatural love created by the act of ingesting a Kindred's vitae three times. Bonds can rarely be broken, especially if they are periodically reinforced with more vitae.

Blood Hunt: The process by which a prince declares another vampire to be outlawed, and the prosecution (in the form of an actual hunt) that follows.

Camarilla: The sect of vampires, theoretically universal, that defines itself by the Traditions and the Masquerade.

Coterie: A group of Kindred who work more or less in concert. Most coteries are made up of members of multiple clans, and few endure for more than a few decades.

Court: The formal audience granted by the prince to his subjects, often given at Elysium. When a prince holds court, in theory any of the city's Kindred may approach him to present themselves, request boons or otherwise make requests for favor or action.

Domain: A territory assigned to a single vampire, who then has primary rights to feeding, industry and whatnot within her domain.

Destruction: The power of life and death over other Kindred. Possessed by a city's prince and occasionally bestowed on others within his dominion.

Elysium: A haven of art and culture within a Camarilla city. Elysiums are, by long tradition, zones wherein combat or the use of Disciplines is strictly forbidden. Much of the harpies' work is done in Elysium.

Ghoul: 1. A mortal (usually, but not always a human) who has been fed vitae and acquired a hint of vampiric power as a result. 2. The act of making someone a ghoul.

Harpy: A de facto title given to the Kindred who sit in judgment on the rest of a city's social status. The harpies mandate the social pecking order through innuendo, rumors, favoritism and other such tools.

Inner Circle: The council of elders that controls the Camarilla and its policies. No one knows how many Kindred sit on the Inner Circle, let alone the clans and names of those who do so.

Justicar: A roving representative of the Inner Circle charged with upholding the Traditions and laws of the Camarilla. There is one justicar from each clan, elected to a 13-year term by the Inner Circle and subject to replacement at the end of that term. Justicars have sweeping powers, including the right of destruction, to enforce the laws and Traditions.

Keeper of Elysium: The vampire charged with upholding the sanctity and quality of a city's Elysium.

Malkavian Madness Network: The poorly understood connection that links all Malkavians by means of their shared altered perceptions. Outside theorists postulate that the network has developed some sort of link to the Net, but details are understandably hard to come by.

Masquerade: The Camarilla's strict policy of concealing the existence of vampires from the mortal world.

Ordeal: A form of trial among the Kindred, wherein the accused undergoes some sort of test (combat, sunlight, etc.) in order to prove her innocence.

Pioneer: The first Kindred into a city or area. Pioneers often set themselves up as princes, and call for reinforcements to help them maintain their holdings. Few pioneer princes last long; once they've stabilized their domains, most are rudely shoved aside by usurpers less inclined to take risks.

Primogen: A member of the council of elders who putatively advise the prince of a city. The primogen council's actual power varies from city to city.

Prince: The ruler of a city or its equivalent in the Camarilla; the supreme authority in local Camarilla affairs. The title applies to both male and female Kindred.

Rack: The prime feeding grounds in a given city. Often composed of clubs, bars and shopping districts.

Red List: The listing of those Kindred whom the Camarilla most ardently desires to see purged from the face of the earth. Vampires on the Red List are considered under continual blood hunt.

Scourge: Title given to a Kindred charged by the prince with cleansing the city of unwanted, unauthorized vampiric rabble.

Seneschal: A prince's right-hand vampire. The seneschal handles many of the night-to-night operations of a city.

Sheriff: Kindred charged by a prince with the duty of upholding the laws and Traditions of the city.

Spawning Pools: Breeding chambers for ghouls used by the Nosferatu. The water of the pool is tainted with Nosferatu vitae, making ghouls of any and every living thing therein. Over centuries, these creatures can grow to monstrous size and power.

Traditions: The most sacred and basic laws of the Camarilla, established at the same time as the sect.

Vitae: Blood. More specifically, Kindred blood, but the definition is not an absolute one.

Vulgar Argot

Just because there's a word for something doesn't mean that everyone wants to agree on that particular terminology. The younger Kindred of the Camarilla have their own phraseology, which they use to establish their own identities and to confound their elders. Most of the following terms are Camarilla-specific in their usage, but as slang knows no borders, many of these have cropped up in unlikely places.

Angstburger: Over-the-top moping about one's vampiric condition. Usage: Dominic was chewing on a big old angstburger at the Goth club tonight.

Ash: A vampire who's been destroyed. Usage: Tomasino pissed off the sheriff; now he's ash. Sometimes used as a verb, meaning "to kill."

Bloat: Taking more blood than one needs, resulting in reddened eyes, a ruddy complexion and the continual shedding of tears of blood.

Bot: Someone clearly acting under the influence of Dominate. Often reserved for mortals reduced to automaton status.

Brightening Sunsets: Another term for a destroyed Kindred. It refers to the way in which excess dust and ash produce particularly brilliant coloration. Usage: Lisette crossed the Nosferatu elder, so now she's brightening sunsets.

Collar: Blood Bond. The term has a distinctly sadomasochistic inference attached to it.

Doornail: As in, "dead as a." Used to refer to a corpse left behind. Usage: We went out for supper and dropped a couple of doornails in the river.

Do Over: The process of erasing memories from a mortal's mind. Often used to cover up evidence of feeding.

Fossil: Derisive term for a vampire who is stuck, stylistically, in an anachronistic mode of behavior. Often used to refer to elders.

Happy Meal: The process of drinking from a mortal who is intoxicated or otherwise under the influence of some sort of controlled substance.

Lunch: Vitae, or the mortal from whom the vitae is obtained. Usage: I met lunch at the coffeehouse tonight.

Lupine Alley: Travel arteries that run through Lupine territory, and are notoriously dangerous for vampires to traverse.

Monster: A vampire who terrorizes younger, weaker Kindred. Sometimes spelled Monsta, usually by poseurs.

Nibs: The prince or any other important vampire. Not intended as a compliment.

Oops: A breach of the Masquerade. Usage: We had a little Oops tonight, but it's taken care of.

Perv: A vampire who insists on indulging in mortal sexuality to mask the process of feeding.

PF: Short for "pity fuck." A Kindred who receives the Embrace because of guilt or pity on the part of his sire.

Rabbit: A vampire who only feeds on animals. Animal blood is sometimes also known as rabbit food.

Recruiting: Breaking the Masquerade so as to prepare a mortal for the Embrace.

Renfield: A long-time ghoul, usually one who has far exceeded normal mortal lifespan.

Sabbot: A derisive term for the Sabbat. Pronounced "SAA-bet," usually in some form of ridiculous accent.

Soy: Vitae taken from an animal; a less-filling and tasteless substitute for the real thing.

Speed Bumps: Mortals or inexperienced ghouls pressed into combat against vampires.

Starfucker: A vampire who makes a habit of feeding from the rich and famous.

Suntanning: Being staked out for the sun. A common punishment used by princes on rebellious Kindred.

Teardrop: A Kindred who kills mortals on a regular basis. Possibly derived from certain mortal gangs' custom of tattooing teardrops on the cheek of gang members who have committed murder.

TFBS: Bela Lugosi's Dead, by Bauhaus. Nearly universally loathed by all Kindred, who have simply heard it too damn many times for the joke to be funny anymore.

Trashman: A vampire who feeds on the homeless and other human detritus. The term derives from such Kindred's tendency to pick up supper from alleyways or curbsides.

Uncle: An elder who takes an interest in or who patronizes a younger Kindred. Sort of a vampiric sugar daddy.

Valentine: 1. A Kindred who uses his powers to achieve mortal celebrity, often in violation of the Masquerade. 2. The mortal lover of a Kindred, usually the source of much angst.

Vector: Vampire who spreads mortal diseases; so called because the CDC has taken an interest in the way in which blood-based diseases have been spreading.

Vlad: A Kindred who acts in stereotypically "vampiric" fashion. Vlads usually wear capes, flaunt their powers and speak in strained Eastern European accents. Few last very long.

Wolfie: A vampire, often a Gangrel, who prefers spending time in a non-human shape.

Old Form

The Camarilla is a sect of tradition and heritage, and many of its older members refuse to learn new terms to replace ones they've been comfortable with for hundreds of years. While old-form terminology is incomprehensible to many young Kindred � few freshly Embraced Brujah have any idea what a cauchemar is, for example � the elders insist on using it as a way of maintaining the dignity of the sect.

Of course, the fact that the use of such archaisms also renders conversations between elders unintelligible to many inexperienced Kindred has nothing to do with the matter.

Autarkis: An anarch or other lawless vampire. Specifically used by elders to refer to those rebels who took part in the Anarch Revolt.

Blood: Not vitae, but rather a Kindred's lineage and heritage. Many Kindred refer to themselves as being "of the Blood" of a particularly notable ancestor. For example, some of the most prominent Ventrue proudly declare themselves to be "of the Blood of Hardestadt."

Carthagos: Archaic form of Carthage. Any city that a vampire considers to be an exalted or special place.

Diaspora: The dispersal of elders from their lands in Europe, remembered bitterly by many American elders. Also used to describe the exile of vampires from the Second City.

Fall, the: The Anarch Revolt, considered by many elders to be the first step on the road to Gehenna.

Jus Noctis: Literally, "the law of the night." In practice, the authority a Kindred has over her childer until she grants them their freedom as responsible members of the Camarilla. Under the Jus Noctis, a sire is totally responsible for her childer's actions until she releases them.

Jyhad: The great game played by the Antediluvians amongst themselves, in which all younger Kindred fear they are merely pawns to be moved about the board.

Kiss, the: The act of taking blood from a mortal. In some cases the term has also grown to mean the Embrace.

Nemesis: The Sabbat. More generically, a vampire with whom another Kindred has had a rivalry extending across centuries.

Noddist: Of or relating to vampiric legend. Also, a vampire who studies such lore.

Pax: A formal truce between two elders or clans. Often the name of the Kindred who brokered the peace is attached to the term.

Praxis: The right of a prince to rule. Often extended to mean legitimate authority.

Promethean: A thief or other undesirable. Often used to refer to elders of the Sabbat, as opposed to the street-level rabble.

Siren: A vampire who seduces mortals in order to feed on them, but who does not kill his prey.

Somnus: Antediluvian. More generally, any ancient and powerful Kindred rumored to be asleep beneath a city.

Whelp: A neonate or young vampire. In practice, any Kindred younger than the speaker.