Unread postby Chuckg » August 19th, 2009, 5:36 pm
Requiem has what I consider to be a more sensible arrangement than Masquerade: although clans still exist, vampires generally organize by Covenant (political affiliation/philosophy) rather than clan.
Also, the Camarilla is now vampiric legend, the overarcing organization of Kindred that fell with the fall of Rome. Its the new Carthage, basically, although they don't tell of it as a golden age, simply a great time when vampires had much influence on mortal society and the same rules applied across all cities, and all that.
Requiem is, essentially, the anarch game: while the Covenants and the Clans are generally the same everywhere you go (oral tradition, written tradition, history, etc), and keep in touch, with the possible exception of the church of the Lancea Sanctum there is no formal organization above the city-state level. So, basically, the DM has every reason to make the ruling organization, philosophy, and style of his campaign city pretty much anything he wants. Vampiric gang wars of all-against-all and no Prince whatsoever? Entirely possible. A strong Prince ruling in classic Camarilla-style fashion, with all the trope of 1e Vampire the Masquerade? Again, entirely possible. Weird vampire cult ruling the city? Yup. Heck, the "Shadows of Mexico" supp presents three different possible Princes for Mexico City alone -- a brutal warlord who controls all the street gangs of Mexico City from prison and runs an empire of fear, an urbane and scheming crime boss who collects 'tribute' from every vampire within a hundred miles but otherwise runs a fair arrangement; and an ancient Aztec priestess who rules via the velvet glove rather than the iron fist.
To sum up the five major covenants very very quickly:
* Invictus -- The Ventrue philosophy of the old World of Darkness, now as a political faction rather than a bloodline. Their motto is basically 'Everybody else offers some kind of bullshit belief system or obsesses over some kind of freaky ancient knowledge. We're more practical. We just offer wealth and power in return for loyalty and competent service. Mmmm, wealth and power. Wouldn't you like to have some?' Invictus-ruled domains tend to look the most like old Camarilla princedoms from 1e.
Despite the ethical philosophy of this faction best being summed up as "Ain't got any", the Invictus still have the relative virtue of sincerity: its actually /against/ Invictus tenets to screw over your subordinates like a stereotypical 1e ancient elder. The founders of the Invictus were smart enough to know that if you promote your organization as a meritocracy, you actually have to promote based on merit, or else eventually people are going to just stop buying into the system.
* Church of the Lancea Sanctum -- 'There is a reason God created the curse of vampirism. We exist to harrow and test the faithful.' Perhaps the next most significant movement after the Invictus, the Lancea offer the comfort of, well, a belief system that actually tries to help you deal with being an undying monster what has to drink the blood of the living. Between the sincerity of their believers and their #'s, they're generally a significant political force.
* The Carthian Movement -- The Carthians are, well, basically, they're the Sabbat and anarch philosophy minus all the monstrous elements. Directly opposed to the Invictus, they're the rabble-rousers, the power to the people types, the young turks who want to break free of the stifling rule of the elders. The youngest and most 'modern' of the covenants, they're still a major force because there's a lot more have-nots than haves, and not everybody has the 'Someday, I'll be on top!' patience of the lower ranks of the Invictus, forex.
Ironically, Carthian-ruled territories tend to be the most messed-up cities to live in, both for Kindred and mortals. They don't like to admit it, but Carthians make far better gadflies than administrators. :)
* The Ordo Dracul -- 'Have any of you actually tried to *study* the vampiric condition? I mean, its only a total transformation of our bodies and souls that we have to live with for eternity, its not like that's *important* or anything'. One of the smallest covenants, the Ordo Dracul are still significant for one very simple reason: having devoted centuries of mystic study to the ins and outs of vampirism, they have the most control over it. The Ordo-specific disciplines and merits involve greater control of the Beast and buying off or mitigating vampiric weaknesses, including sunlight. Stereotypically, they are the cloistered scholars and natural philosophers of the Kindred.
* The Circle of the Crone -- Blood magic. Old, pagan religion. Witchcraft. The power of the ancient ways. This is what the Crone are all about. You can probably imagine how well them and the Lancea get along.
Note: the Crone-specific discipline, Cruac, is the only one in the game that has a Humanity maximum... and the higher you get in the discipline, the lower your maximum possible Humanity gets. When they say freaky blood magic, they ain't jokin'.
Anyway, here endeth the lesson. :)