The Clans

Assamites

Nickname: Assassins

Disciplines: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus

Clan Weakness: When an Assamite drinks vampiric blood, it gains 2 Beast traits for the next 10 minutes. If it frenzies during this time, it will attempt to diablerize the last vampire whose blood it tasted. These Beast traits do not count when determining morality loss.

Assamites are very insular and are often assassins or spies. The clan originated in the Middle East, but younger Assamites can come from anywhere. Assamites have an ancient hatred of the Tremere.

Brujah

Nickname: Rabble

Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Presence

Clan Weakness: A Brujah's difficulty to resist frenzy is increased by 2.

The Brujah were once scholars, but the clan has been shattered and rebuilt as warriors and rebels. They feel mortal passions more intensely than other clans. Brujah can come from anywhere, and often fit in well with mortals in various countercultures.

Followers of Set (aka Settites)

Nickname: Serpents

Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis

Clan Weakness: Settites receive an additional point of damage from sunlight, and all test pools are reduced by 2 for any challenges attempted while in bright light. Defensive tests pools are not affected.

The Followers of Set began as a death cult in ancient Egypt, and they remain religiously devoted to their Antediluvian, Set. They specialize in exploiting the weaknesses of others, offering a variety of hedonistic pleasures in exchange for whatever people are willing to offer.

Gangrel

Nickname: Outlanders

Disciplines: Animalism, Fortitutde, Protean

Clan Weakness: All Gangrel have at least one animalistic feature, such as scales or a tail. Every time a Gangrel frenzies, it temporarily gains another animalistic feature that fades until it sleeps for a day.

Gangrel are loners and travellers, living closer to nature than other Kindred. They tend to be wary of organized societies.

Giovanni

Nickname: Necromancers

Disciplines: Dominate, Potence, Necromancy: Sepulchre Path

Clan Weakness: A Giovanni's bite is excruciatingly painful for the mortals it feeds on, and it does 3 points of damage for every blood point drained instead of 2.

The Giovanni began as Venitian merchants, who were Embraced by the Cappadocian clan to be its liasons to the mortal world. They turned against their sires and crew in wealth and power. Giovanni act friendly toward outsiders, but they are ruthless and ambitious. They have a reputation as incestuous necromancers.

Lasombra

Nickname: Magisters

Disciplines: Dominate, Potence, Obtenebration

Clan Weakness: Lasombra cast no reflection. Their image cannot be captured by devices that use mirrors, but they do show up on modern cameras.

Lasombra are regal and arrogant. They gravitate toward the nobility and seek to reign over others.

Malkavian

Nickname: Lunatics

Disciplines: Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate

Clan Weakness: All Malkavians have a permanent derangement, for which they do not receive Flaw XP. They may gain and lose other derangments normally, but not their first. A Malkavian may never have fewer than 1 derangement trait.

Malkavians' minds are shattered during the Embrace, leaving them irrevocably insane. While most can still function among other Kindred, they don't quite operate on the same frequency. With insanity comes insight, however, and Malkavians sometimes know things that other Kindred can't see. The hard part is figuring out what of this knowlege is genuine and what is imagined.

Note: If you choose to play a Malkavian, you need to be careful to avoid what are often called "Fish Malks" ("How are you today?" "Fish!"). While your mind doesn't follow the same logic as others, it does have its own internal logic, and using "because I'm crazy!" to justify random, annoying behavior will not win you any friends, especially among people who deal with mental illness IRL. Know your derangement, know your triggers, and behave in a way that makes sense within your character's mind.

Nosferatu

Nickname: Sewer Rats

Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence

Clan Weakness: All Nosferatu are inhumanly deformed. They cannot have the Appearance focus, and allowing mortals to see them without a disguise is a breach of the Masquerade.

The ugliness of the Nosferatu keeps them from fully integrating with society as a whole, which draws them close together. Nosferatu tend to be more cohesive than other clans, living together in the sewers and sharing resources. They are information brokers, skilled in learning and using secrets.

Toreador

Nickname: Degenrates

Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence

Clan Weakness: When a Toreador encounters a piece of art, a performance, or some other beautiful thing that it hasn't seen before, it must give the item its undivided attention for a full scene or spend a Willpower to resist what is colloquially known as "Tori Trance". It can be interrupted by major events occurring around it, but it reacts to such distractions with anger or even violence.

The Toreador clan consists of artists, writers, performers, and other creators. They revel in beauty and love politics and hierarchy, with little patience for those who are ugly or uncivilized. For obvious reasons, the Toreador bear a strong dislike for the Nosferatu.

Tremere

Nickname: Warlocks

Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy: Path of Blood

Clan Weakness: Tremere cannot be first-level blood bonded. One drink takes them to second level, and two drinks takes them to third level.

The Tremere began as mortal sorcerers who studied and claimed vampiric immortality for themselves. It is generally believed that the Tremere have committed atrocities and escaped retribution through skilled politics, but no details are commonly known. They are have a highly regimented internal structure, and lower ranked Tremere are almost always blood-bonded to someone of higher rank. Tremere who turn against their clan lose the ability to use Thaumaturgy.

Tzimisce

Nickname: Fiends

Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude

Clan Weakness: Tzimisce must rest in proximity to at least two handfuls of soil from a place that was important to it as a mortal. Each day without physical connection to its native soil gives the Tzimisce a cumulative -1 to all attack test pools, to a maximum of -5. The penalties last until it rests for a full day in its native soil.

I don't know much about the Tzimisce, and a player who is new enough to need a cheat sheet probably shouldn't be playing one anyway.

Ventrue

Nickname: Kings

Disciplines: Dominate, Fortitude, Presence

Clan Weakness: A Ventrue has a preference for a particular type of mortal blood (bankers, athletes, people with red hair... get creative). All other blood provides no sustenence and is immetiately vomited up. If forced to feed in unfamiliar territory, a Ventrue must spend an additional downtime to find appropriate blood. Blood from supernatural creatures is exempt from this restriction and provides the same sustenance to a Ventrue as it would to any other Kindred.

The Ventrue are the nobility of the Camarilla. They see rulership as their right and their obligation. A Ventrue will always be ready and willing to recite its lineage.

Caitiff

Nickname: Trash

Disciplines: Choose three from Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Presence, or Potence.

"Clan" Weakness: Caitiff cannot begin play with more than 2 dots of Generation and cannot teach in-clan disciplines.

Caitiff is not actually a clan. Some unfortunate Kindred are broken away from their lineage due to an unexplained accident of the Embrace. Caitiff are the lowest of the low in Kindred society. Most Kindred see them as expendable, using them as pawns and abandoning them when they are no longer useful. Some domains drive out any Caitiff, and a few kill them on sight. The best reaction that a Caitiff can hope for is condescending tolerance. Some Kindred believe that Caitiff are a sign of the coming End Times.

Lesser Clans

I'm getting tired of typing, and if you're new enough to need a cheat sheet you probably shouldn't be playing a lesser clan anyway.

Baali

Nickname: Demons

Cappadocians

Nickname: Graverobbers

Ravnos

Nickname: Deceivers

Salubri

Nickname: Furies

Rare Bloodlines

I'm getting tired of typing, and if you're new enough to need a cheat sheet you probably shouldn't be playing a rare bloodline anyway.

Daughters of Cacophony

NIckname: Sirens

Gargoyles

Nickname: Grotesques