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Tyrant
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Aug 5 2016, 01:08 AM
Post #1
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The Toreador are some of the most beautiful and glamorous of the Kindred. Famous (and infamous) as a clan of artists and innovators they are one of the bastions of the Camarilla, as their very survival depends on the facades of civility and grace on which the sect prides itself.
Due to their inherent clan weakness, although lovely and seductive, the members of this clan are as much prisoners of their artistic vision and sensitivity as they are its beneficiaries. They are often overcome by the beauty they see around them, and become immobilized with fascination. Such things as paintings, neon signs, or even sunrises can captivate them. It requires a successful Willpower roll to break the fascination quickly; otherwise, the Toreador will stand, awed and helpless, for minutes or even hours. This trait explains why Toreador so often fall in love with mortals.
Organisation
The Toreador of a city organise themselves into Guilds. While this has something of an artistic ring to it, most Toreador in the city are members, whether they are Poseurs or Artistes (see below). The head of the Guild is typically the oldest and most influential Toreador within the city, with the other members forming a complicated stratified social system, the rules of which boggle many an outsider.
The clan itself has two divisions. The Artistes consist of the sculpters, the painters, the musicians and the writers. They consider themselves to be the 'real' Toreador as inheritors of the Clan's original values and goals. The Poseurs make up the other faction - they can include the failed artists (or those that happened to be Embraced while their sire was riding a particular fad), as well as the professional critics and those who consider their bodies to be their life's masterpiece. It should be noticed that neither group has a nickname for themselves - they tend to be only flung at the opposing faction as a derisive epithet. |
Toreador Antitribu
The Toreador antitribu are the dark mirror image of their Camarilla brethren. Although they are no less beautiful then their cousins, their minds are twisted and warped, and the antitribu often lose themselves watching others suffer, much like their Camarilla siblings lose themselves watching a beautiful painting.
Whether the variance of the antitribus' weakness is just a variance due to circumstance or an actual Bloodline variance is disputed. Within the Toreador antitribu is an actual variant bloodline though: Toreador who as mortals were members of the Sabbat's Zantosa "revenant" family. Zantosa are born with the Vicissitude ability, and when Embraced as a Toreador they retain this as a Bloodline Discipline instead of acquiring the Celerity of mainline Toreador, and they retain their familial weakness of hedonistic addiction instead of acquiring the Toreador antitribu weakness of compulsion toward cruelty. The reputation of Toreador antitribu as being perverts is due in part to Zantosa Toreador. |
Culture
It is said that while the Ventrue are the mind of the Camarilla, the Toreador are its soul. It was one of their number, Rafael de Corazon, who was instrumental in its formation. The Toreador are the greatest supporters of many of the Camarilla's traditions, most notably that of Elysium. This is where the Toreador are in their element, showcasing their latest pieces and practicing their highly effective (and sometimes deadly) form of social manouevreing. From the outside, most other Clans think of one face of the Toreador, but see another. When speaking of them to another, most envision Toreador as the Artistes - billowy shirted, frock-coated fops who crow about the beauty of the ages and lamenting their lost humanity. In reality, outsiders are less likely to meet such characters, given as they are to sequestering themselves away to work on their latest masterpiece. Far more often encountered are those Toreador whose unlives have become dedicated to the Kindred social scene - Toreador are often a large contingent of the city's Harpies, and having spent years with their bitchy and conniving clan-mates they are more than capable of ruining someone's reputation with a pithy comeback or a damning piece of gossip whispered in just the right ear.
The Toreador portray themselves as the vampires closest to the living, breathing pulse of the humans around them (though this honour might be shared with the Brujah). They claim that this is what keeps them so vital and modern. Indeed, Clan members are often the first ones to be aware of what mortals are wearing, eating, buying and sleeping with. While a Malkavian elder might be found in his 1800s finery, the Toreador is much more likely to be wearing something from this year's Paris catwalks. |
Embraces
As stated before, there are two rough moulds that clan members fall into. Artists make up a large proportion of the clan, which in the modern nights can include computer graphics artists, avant-garde performance artists and sportsmen alongside the singers, dancers and writers. The other portion consists of businessmen, critics and those who are simply beautiful. While the main detractors of the clan, often the Nosferatu and the Brujah complain that Toreador coddle their childer, the truth is a much more brutal one. Toreador sires are notoriously faddish, and while the subject of their Embrace can be the most cutting edge, the most innovative, the most beautiful, the most now, they can easily be terribly passe and embarrasing the following week. The sire then inevitably dumps the new childe as soon as is feasible, leaving the young vampire confused and struggling to make their own way. Such is the nature of the Toreador. |

Celerity
Celerity is a Discipline that grants vampires supernatural speed and finesse by expending vitae. Normally each dot provides an additional action that can be used for movement, attacking, or other physical feats in a single round without penalties for multiple actions. This extraordinary speed violates the laws of physics in that the Cainite doesn't experience any change in momentum, friction, etc. A knife thrown by someone using Celerity isn't any faster, and a vampire moving at incredible speeds will never catch fire no matter how fast they move.
Unofficial Abilities
Standard Abilities
- Level One - If the vampire sees/knows that a certain person is going to perform an action, they are able to use their Celerity to react faster in response. For example: if they know an opponent is going to draw a gun, they can use level 1 Celerity to draw your gun before they do. However, you need knowledge that they're going to do it before you complete this action, such as seeing them reach for their gun.
- Level Two -The vampire's movement speed is at constant peak human sprint speed.
- Level Three - The vampire's movement speed is double the speed of anyone that doesn't possess Celerity.
- Level Four - The vampire's movement speed is triple the speed of anyone that doesn't possess Celerity.
- Level Five - The vampire moves in a blur when running with Celerity activated.
If you wish to know more about Celerity, please click here to visit White Wolf Wikia. |
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Auspex
Auspex is a Discipline that grants vampires supernatural senses. It is one of the most common and favored Discipline among Cainites due to its versatility and overall usefulness in just about every facet of vampiric existence. In addition to the individual powers granted at each level, Auspex allows someone the opportunity to see through illusions, such as from Obfuscate or Chimerstry, so long as the user possess at least an equal mastery in Auspex as the Discipline in question. Furthermore, it has been known to grant some degree of oracular ability, particularly when alerting a Cainite to danger, even if they are in torpor.
Official Abilities
Standard Abilities
- Level One - Heightened Senses: Raise one of your five senses to superhuman levels
- Level Two - An Ear for Lies: Know when someone lies to you
- Level Two - Aura Perception: Learn various qualities of a person from their aura
- Level Three - Artist's Intent: Learn details of an artist's state of mind in relation to a piece of art
- Level Three - The Spirit's Touch: Learn something of an object and its previous owner from its resonance
- Level Four - Telepathy: Briefly probe someone's mind or project a telepathic message to them
- Level Five - Psychic Projection: Free your mind to travel the world in astral form
If you wish to know more about Auspex, please click here to visit White Wolf Wikia. |
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Presence
Presence is a Discipline of supernatural allure and emotional manipulation. It is a fairly common among vampires, especially within the Camarilla, both because of its versatility and because of its subtlety. Many Presence powers can be used upon large groups of people at once and transcend virtually all boundaries of gender, race, religion, class, and supernatural status. Though Presence can be resisted through force of will and by ignoring the user, most do not realize when it is being used upon them.
Official Abilities
Standard Abilities
- Level One - Awe: Make your words seem interesting and reasonable to those who hear you
- Level Two - Dread Gaze: Frighten someone with a look
- Level Three - Entrancement: Make someone obsessively want to please you
- Level Four - Summon: Compel someone to come to you immediately
- Level Five - Majesty: Appear as a figure of absolute power and authority.
If you wish to know more about Presence, please click here to visit White Wolf Wikia. |
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[ * Credit to Caine of Vampire: The Masquerade Roleplay on Habbo. * ]
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