Best Vampire: The Masquerade Clans

Key Takeaways

• World of Darkness created Vampire: The Masquerade, with vampires existing in unique clans with distinct powers and weaknesses.
• Bloodlines 2, an anticipated RPG, is set to release soon, prompting players to explore the tabletop game to select their clan.
• Each clan, from powerful Salubri to cunning Lasombra, offers unique abilities and challenges, making for diverse gameplay experiences.

World of Darkness sired the legendary vampire IP Vampire: The Masquerade, bringing a new and unique take on the mythos of the nocturnal fanged beasts. Here, they pull the strings of the mortal worlds from the shadows, striving to keep their existence a secret lest vampire hunters sever their heads.

Instead of all vampires being more or less the same, vampires exist in clans, each boasting unique powers known as disciplines as well as having a weakness or ‘clan bane’ that will challenge them. While each clan is home to some truly powerful entities, some clans are more powerful than others.

Updated November 11, 2024 by Mara Cowley: As 2024 grows to a close, the time for Bloodlines 2 draws near, the much-anticipated RPG that has met its share of development trouble. For those who feel like they can’t wait to sink their fangs into the game, it might well be worth visiting or revisiting the tabletop role-playing game to sate their thirst.

The most important choice to make when creating their vampire is the clan. Whether they want to be alluring, strong, or magical, there is a clan for everyone. This article has been updated to include every clan currently available in the fifth edition so prospective players get a detailed overview of each and can choose the right bloodline for them.

14 Salubri

Other Vampires Covet Their Blood

• Primary Allegiance: Independent
• Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Fortitude
• Clan Bane: Hunted – Their vitae has a unique trait where, when another clan partakes in their Blood, they find it difficult to pull away. Once a non-Salubri has consumed at least one Hunger level worth, they must make a Hunger Frenzy test at difficulty 2 + the Salubri’s Bane Severity (3 + the Salubri’s Bane Severity for Banu Haqim). If they fail, they will continue to consume the Salubri until pried off. Additionally, each Salubri has a third eye, and while it’s not always human-like, it’s always present and cannot be obscured by supernatural powers. In addition to this, whenever they activate a Discipline, the eye weeps vitae, with its intensity correlating to the level of the Discipline used. The Blood flowing from the eye can trigger a Hunger Frenzy test from nearby vampires with Hunger 4 or more.
• Compulsion: Affective Empathy – Overwhelmed with empathy for a personal problem of someone else, any action not taken to help the person mitigate their suffering is at a two-dice penalty. This Compulsion continues until the sufferer’s burden is eased, a more critical problem arises, or the scene ends.

In modern nights, the Salubri are one of the rarest kindred to encounter. The Salubri only embrace when achieving Golconda, and the embrace to them is not to be done on a whim. They select prospective candidates for the embrace very carefully, normally those who have inquisitive minds or personal struggles they battle with daily.

Their small numbers combined with how many kindred desire their blood are part of what make the Salubri one of the weakest clans in VtM, but they are also one of the more unique, complex, and interesting vampires to RP. Their struggle to find a place to belong with no sect opening their walls to them, and any kindred they find themselves in the company of tempted to devour them are additional dangers they must learn to navigate, which many Salubri’s before them have fallen to.

13 Ravnos

The Amalgam Discipline Allows Ravnos To Craft Hallucinations

• Primary Allegiance: Independent
• Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Presence
• Clan Bane: Doomed – Anytime they daysleep within the same place more than once in seven nights, roll a number of dice equal to their Bane Severity. If they receive any 10’s they then take 1 Aggravated damage for each as they are scorched from within. What constitutes the same place is defined by the chronicle, but generally will need a mile distance between the two resting places before the bane is triggered. Mobile havens do work as long as the haven is moved a mile away.
• Compulsion: Tempting Fate – When faced with their next problem, the Daredevil must attempt the solution with the most dangerous or daring of actions, anything less incurs a two-dice penalty. Context-appropriate flashy or risky attempts may even net bonus dice. They are free to convince others to follow them in their actions but may as well go it alone. This Compulsion persists until the problem is solved or further attempts become impossible to accomplish.

In Vampire: The Masquerade lore, Clan Ravnos was thought to be erased during the Week of Nightmares, a time when signs of vampire doomsday began appearing. As one of these portents, the descendants of Ravnos all fell to madness and began slaughtering each order. The rest of the kindred thought the entire clan had ended, but a few plucky Ravnos have survived, which alone is a testament to the hardiness of the Ravnos clan.

Along with surviving their clan’s apocalypse, the Ravnos also have interesting powers at their fingertips, such as Presence to sway the minds of others, Obfuscate to hide from sight, and Animalism, which can allow them to communicate or even control animals. But, the Ravnos clan bane can be difficult to deal with, as they must sleep somewhere a mile away from where they had their last day’s rest, meaning they can never set down roots, and should they be captured, they could be in for a world of pain.

12 Malkavian

Their Blend Of Powers Can Be Weaponized To Induce Madness In Others

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate
• Clan Bane: Fractured Perspective – When suffering a Bestial Failure or a Compulsion, their mental derangement comes to the forefront. Suffers a penalty equal to their Bane Severity to one category of dice pools (Physical, Social, or Mental) for the entire scene. The penalty and nature of the affliction are decided between the player and Storyteller during character creation.
• Compulsion: Delusion – Whether it’s figments of their imagination or extrasensory perception of the truths. For one scene, the Malkavian suffers a 2 dice penalty to rolls involving Dexterity, Manipulation, Composure, and Wits. As well as rolls to resist terror Frenzy.

Members of Clan Malkavian are the descendants of the Antediluvian Malkav and consequently gain his powers while suffering from his clan bane. All those embraced into the clan of Seers suffer from some form of mental illness, be it psychosis, DID, paranoia, depression, anxiety, or any psychological ailment a mortal could potentially have.

Malkavians are also blessed with some truly unique powers that make them stand out in the World of Darkness. They can make themselves unseen with Obfuscate, gain the sight to see beyond the veil with Auspex and bend the wills of mortals or even other supernaturals with Dominate. Their unique blend of disciplines means they can inflict madness on another, so other kindreds should beware they do not get on the wrong side of a Malkavian.

11 Toreadors

The Clan of Roses Comes With A Few Thorns

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Presence, Auspex, Celerity
• Clan Bane: Aesthetic Fixation – A desire for beauty takes control over the Toreador and when in lesser surroundings they suffer. When they are within settings they find less than beautiful, they take a penalty equal to their Bane Severity when using Disciplines
• Compulsion: Obsession – Utterly obsessed with a single thing, the Toreador cannot speak of anything but that object. Be it a person, a piece of artwork, a blood splatter in the right lighting, or the sunrise itself, they cannot take their attention from it. Any other actions receive a two-dice penalty. This Compulsion lasts until they can no longer perceive the object or the scene ends.

Beautiful mortals and artistic souls sooner or later draw the eye of a seductive Toreador, dark sirens of the night that are drawn and fixate on things they find beautiful, which differ from person to person. Classical paintings, musical performances, or even the bloody unleashing of death can catch their obsessive nature, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Toreadors are strong in the way they can puppeteer mortals and other kindred alike, wielding their beauty and their mastery over clan disciplines Dominate or Presence to enforce their will on another. Who needs brute strength to protect themselves when one can simply command another to protect them with simple words and eye contact?

10 Ministry

Temptation Is Their Weapon

• Primary Allegiance: Anarch
• Disciplines: Protean, Obfuscate, Presence
• Clan Bane: Abhors the Light – When a Minister is exposed to direct illumination, be it naturally caused or artificial, they receive a penalty equal to their Bane Severity to all dice pools while subject to the light. They also add their Bane Severity to Aggravated damage taken from sunlight.
• Compulsion: Transgression – The Minister suffers a burning desire to influence those around them to shatter the chains of their own making. They suffer a two-dice penalty to all dice pools that do not relate to enticing someone or themselves to break a Chronicle or personal Conviction. The Compulsion ends once the Minister causes someone, or themselves, at least one stain.

The closest one will get to a cult in Vampire: the Masquerade is being part of the Ministry clan, who love all things sinful, dressing it up as liberation. Freedom always comes with a cost though, and those that are successfully swayed may find themselves losing everything.

Like the Toreador, they excel in using Presence to make themselves more alluring or fearful to any who behold them, though their intentions might be slightly more nefarious than those of the Rose’s. Their access to Protean can make them more formidable, as they can manipulate their form from extending their fangs to assuming the shape of a snake for when all else fails.

9 Nosferatu

None Have Perfected The Art Of Invisibility Like The Nosferatu

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence
• Clan Bane: Repulsiveness – Cursed by their blood, when they are Embraced they are twisted into revolting monsters. They can never raise their rating in the Looks merits and instead must take the Repulsive flaw. Any attempt to disguise themselves incurs a penalty equal to the character’s Bane Severity, this also includes the use of Disciplines such as Mask of a Thousand Faces. However, most Nosferatu do not breach the Masquerade by being seen, they are instead perceived as gross or terrifying.
• Compulsion: Cryptophilia – Consumed by a hunger for private secrets, the Nosferatu seeks to obtain knowledge no matter big or small as long as it’s not a well-known bit of information. During this, they also refuse to give up their secrets except in strict trade for something greater than their own. Any action not actively working towards gaining them a secret they take a two-dice penalty. This Compulsion does not end till they learn a secret they deem to be useful, sharing this secret is entirely optional.

Clan Nosferatu is the exact inverse of the Toreadors, as these vampires suffer the clan bane of extreme disfigurements and physical scarring that leave them looking not only ugly but akin to hideous monsters from a horror B-Movie. A human that spies a Nosferatu who is not employing any powers to look like an ordinary person could be counted as a masquerade breach, as their appearance is inhuman.

While this clan bane is a big hindrance, it does mean the Nosferatu have perfected the arts of going unseen and using alternative means of traversing a city rather than the streets like other kindred. Instead, they claim the underbellies of cities as their territory and use Obfuscate when they ascend to the upper levels. Their mastery of stealth and technology places them as the biggest information brokers in the World of Darkness. If someone needs information, they speak to a Nosferatu.

8 Gangrel

Gangrel And Their Affinity With Animals Is Unparalleled

• Primary Allegiance: Anarch
• Disciplines: Animalism, Fortitude, Protean
• Clan Bane: Bestial Features – In Frenzy, Gangrel gains animalistic features equal to their Bane Severity. These features last for one more night afterward, each feature reducing one Attribute by 1 point. The Gangrel may choose to Ride the Wave to only have one feature manifest and only lose one Attribute point.
• Compulsion: Feral Impulses – Unleash the animal hidden in their Blood. This urges the Gangrel to regress into an animalistic state where speech becomes difficult, clothes become too constrictive, and arguments and best settled with claws and teeth. For one scene the Gangrel suffers a -3 dice penalty to all rolls involving Manipulation and Intelligence as they are only able to speak one-word sentences during this Compulsion.

The Gangrel are the clan known for their strong affinity to animals, which is where their strength comes into play. After all, who doesn’t want the power to shift into a wolf to forget about people’s problems for a while?

There is more to this clan than their shapeshifting ability. Like the Ravnos, the Gangrel clan has access to the Animalism discipline, which means they can communicate and befriend other animals, but they also have Fortitude, which allows them to better soak physical damage and shield their minds from control. Protean is the discipline that allows them to shift their form and even specific parts of their bodies, such as eyes to see in the dark or their nails to give them dangerously sharp claws.

7 Banu Haqim

Judge, Jury, And Executioners

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Blood Sorcery, Celerity, Obfuscate
• Clan Bane: Blood Addiction – When the Banu Haqim slakes at least one Hunger level from another vampire, they must succeed a Hunger Frenzy test at difficulty 2 plus Bane Severity. If they fail, they must gorge themselves on vitae, in turn opening the door to possible Diablerie
• Compulsion: Judgement – Urged to punish a wrongdoer, the vampire must slake one Hunger from anyone that acts against their Convictions. Failing to do so results in a three-dice penalty to all rolls until the Compulsion is satisfied or the scene ends.

The path of the night is a dangerous one to all who walk it, be it a mortal or a kindred. Mortals fear all that goes bump in the night, but kindred have more to fear, from enemy vampires to hunters to their own withering humanity. Convictions can be a useful tool in helping them toe the line of humanity, and none follow these as stringently as the Banu Haqim.

Children of Haqim follow personal, government, or religious rules to the letter, which in itself demonstrates a strong sense of will and ethics, and they have the prowess to back this up. The Haqim can tap into unique Blood Sorcery rituals to better strike down the wrongdoers, such as Dagon’s Call. Combining that with their ability to shroud themselves using Obfuscate, or improve their speed and agility with Celerity, any who cross paths with a Banu Haqim better hope they do not find them wanting.

6 Brujah

The Hardest Hitters Of All

• Primary Allegiance: Anarch
• Disciplines: Potence, Presence, Celerity
• Clan Bane: Violent Temper – A rage is simmering in the back of the mind with a Brujah with the slightest provocation able to send them into a frenzied rage. Subtracts dice equal to the Bane Severity of the Brujah against Fury Frenzy.
• Compulsion: Rebellion – The Brujah craves to take a stance against those who represent the status quo. This does not relent until they have gone against orders, expectations, or changed someone’s mind. During this Compulsion, they suffer a -2 to dice all pools.

Brujah is the clan for those who don’t want any fancy magical powers and simply want to punch things. The VTM equivalent of Barbarians in D&D, Brujah are the antithesis of Ventrue. They are all about chaos, freedom, and sticking it to the man. They are a bread-and-butter Anarch clan, but there are some in the Camarilla as well, lending their brute strength to the Tower and their relentless pursuit of extending their territories and influence.

Members of clan Brujah gain access to Presence, allowing them to bolster their strength with intimidation tactics, Celerity to move faster than their opponent’s eyes can see, and Potence to ensure they can hit their opponent with the force of a freight train.

5 Hecata

The Masters Of Death And The Dead

• Primary Allegiance: Independent
• Disciplines: Auspex, Fortitude, Oblivion
• Clan Bane: Painful Kiss – Hecata may only take harmful drinks from mortals which result in blood loss. Unwilling mortals who can escape will make the attempt, even those who are convinced or willing must succeed in a Stamina + Resolve test against Difficulty 2 + Bane Severity to not recoil. Vampires who are willingly bit must make a Frenzy test against Difficulty 3 to avoid terror Frenzy.
• Compulsion: Morbidity – The vampire must move something from life to death or vice versa, any action not taken to end or resurrect something suffers a two-dice penalty. The subject does not have to be a living thing and can instead be an object or more abstract such as ideas or conversation points. This Compulsion lasts until they manage to kill or return something to life.

Once, there were multiple bloodlines that prided themselves as the most knowledgeable scholars of death and how to use it to serve their means. Distilled into just one, they are now known as the Hecata. They remain one of the very few clans that still largely consider themselves independent of each Sect, though some defectors find their studies may lead them to the Anarchs, the Tower, or even the Sabbat.

They have access to Disciplines such as Auspex to see what mortal eyes might see, Fortitude to soak damage, and Oblivion. It is through certain Oblivion rituals that they can commune with the deceased and manipulate them for their own personal use.

4 Tremere

Magic Flows Through Their Vitae

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Blood Sorcery
• Clan Bane: Deficient Blood – Before the fall of Vienna, they were defined by their rigid hierarchy of Blood Bonds within the Pyramid. After the fall, their Blood weakened and rejected all prior connections. Tremere are unable to Blood Bond other Kindred, though they can still be Bound by other clans. Tremere can still Blood Bond mortals to do their bidding, but the vitae must drink an additional amount of times equal to their Bane Severity.
• Compulsion: Perfectionism – Nothing but the best will satisfy them, anything less than exceptional still instills a profound sense of failure. When afflicted by this, the Warlock suffers a two-dice penalty to all dice pools. The penalty is reduced to one die when actions are repeated and removed entirely on a second repeat. This does not end till they manage to score a critical win on a Skill roll or the scene ends.

What could make being a vampire even cooler? Being a vampire with magic running through their veins, which is exactly what the Tremere are, the warlocks of the VTM world. They are largely seen as untrustworthy by the majority of other clans but given how bloody vampire politics can get, vampires of the same clan are hesitant to trust.

Tremere share some disciplines with other clans, with Auspex to see or sense what might be hidden from mortal view, Dominate to sway the minds of others, and Blood Sorcery, a Discipline that allows them to use their vitae to cast powerful spells.

3 Lasombra

The Shadows Serve Them

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Dominate, Potence, Oblivion
• Clan Bane: Distorted Image – In reflections or recordings (live or not) the Lasombra appear to be distorted; those who know what vampires are know precisely what’s going on, while others might be confused but know something is wrong. This does not, however, hide their identity with any certainty and they are not likely to be caught more often on surveillance than any other Kindred. In addition to this, modern technology which includes making a phone call requires a Technology test at Difficulty 2 + Bane Severity as microphones struggle with them as much as cameras. Avoiding any electronic vampire detection system is also done with a penalty equal to their Bane Severity.
• Compulsion: Ruthlessness – The next time the vampire fails an action they receive a two-dice penalty to all rolls until a future attempt at the same action succeeds. This penalty applies to future attempts of the same action still.

This clan of ambitious and ruthless kindred have a particular affinity for the darkness, able to tap into the abyss to wield powers of shadows. They were the puppeteers of the Sabbat, a faction that holds the ideals that vampires are the apex predators, and there is no need to hide their true nature from mere mortals. But on modern nights, many Lasombra fled to the Camarilla, terrified of the threat of the Second Inquisition.

Members of the Lasombra clan can manipulate the minds of others through the use of Dominate while also having access to Potence to wield their strength against others and Oblivion, which allows the vampire to call forward and control supernatural darkness. The Lasombra are darkness incarnate and can inhabit and move through shadows, making them a clan to be feared.

2 Tzimisce

Artists Who Treat Flesh Like A Canvas

• Primary Allegiance: Sabbat
• Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Protean
• Clan Bane: Grounded – Each Tzimisce must select a specific charge, be it a physical location, a group of people, or something even more esoteric. Each night they must sleep surrounded by their charge, if they do not, they sustain aggravated Willpower damage equal to their Bane Severity upon waking the following night
• Compulsion: Covetousness – When afflicted with this compulsion they become obsessed with owning something in the scene, be it an object, or property to a living person. Whatever it is, they must add it to their collection, and any action taken not towards this purpose incurs a two-dice penalty. This penalty continues until ownership is established or the object of their desire is unobtainable.

Another key clan to the Sabbat, the Tzimisce are feared in large part due to their powers over anatomy. Kindred can often identify them because of their startling appearances, as they shape themselves into their view of perfection.

Tzimisce are contenders for the strongest clan of all due to their clan Discipline. With their knowledge of Animalism and Protean, these Sabbat Lords can shape skin, flesh, and bone like a sculptor with clay. They can change the form of another, with or without their consent, and can create horrifying monsters known as Vozhd that they can use as soldiers in the war against the Camarilla.

1 Ventrue

The Kings And Queens Of The Night

• Primary Allegiance: Camarilla
• Disciplines: Presence, Dominate, Fortitude
• Clan Bane: Rarefied Tastes – When the Ventrue drinks the blood of a mortal who does not fall within their preference, they must spend Willpower equal to their Bane Severity else they will vomit the blood from their bodies unable to slake their hunger. Their preferences range within the clan, some looking for descendants of a certain nationality to soldiers suffering from PTSD. With a Resolve + Awareness test, they can sense if a mortal they seek to feed from fits within their preference. At character creation, their preference should be selected.
• Compulsion: Arrogance – Fueled by the beast and their natural desire for power, the Ventrue must force someone to obey a command given. The order cannot be given through supernatural means such as Dominate. Until they satisfy the requirements, they receive a two-dice penalty for any actions not directly related to leadership.

Compared to other clans, Members of the Ventrue are much more selective about embracing their children, guaranteeing every single Ventrue is worth their salt.

As the leaders of the night, the Ventrue are equipped with the means to back up their words, with Fortitude allowing them to shrug off mental or physical damage, Dominate to turn their words into an edict that must be followed, and Presence to make others fear or be in awe of them. What they lack in brute strength, they make up for in the sheer authority that they exert over others.