The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Tyrants, Warlords, Patricians, Borgias
Ventrue vampires usually choose their progeny from mortals familiar with power, wealth and influence. Seeing themselves as the rightful leaders of vampire society, Kindred of clan Ventrue take up the mantle of leadership wherever possible, often in the form of high positions in Camarilla Courts.
Playing a Ventrue in Bloodlines 2
Ventrue are blue blooded tyrants who incite obedience in both their allies and their foes. Focusing on the Discipline Dominate, Ventrue forces their prey to obey their command to fight their friends, forget what they’ve seen or even kill themselves. Feeding builds up Fortitude, allowing the Ventrue to soak up more damage in case any enemy is powerful enough to resist their force of will.
Abilities
When you choose your clan, you will start out with a passive ability unique to each clan. You are then able to unlock abilities from the Ability Tree, starting with your chosen clan. Each ability requires spending Ability Points to unlock which are earned from completing missions, combat and exploration. At the peak of the Ability Tree, you can unlock the clan Perk, a reward to those dedicated enough to unlock all of the abilities for a clan, giving a permanent passive upgrade.
Flesh of Marble
Clan Passive: Feeding hardens your skin, making you highly resistant to damage.
Cloud Memory
Cause a target to forget you were there, putting them into a relaxed state.
Possession
Possess an opponent, allowing you to see through their eyes for a period. While possessed, the target can be commanded to attack another person.
Terminal Decree
Use your powers of Dominate to command someone to kill themselves.
Mass Manipulation
Subdues enemies within your gaze, preventing them from attacking. Dominate abilities will affect all subdued opponents while Mass Manipulation is active.
Thirst
Clan Perk: Increases the amount of health restored by feeding.
Customizing your playstyle
There are many different ways to play your character in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Venture rely on the rise-and-fall mechanics of their Layered Fortitude, building up a defense to take on stronger opponents, while using abilities to dominate weaker foes and make them fight their friends or even kill themselves. Each clan has a straightforward way of playing, and does not require ability optimization. At the same time, if you want to, you can customize your playstyle by visiting certain important vampires throughout Seattle, who are sworn to assist you by offering their Blood to help you unlock abilities from their Clan.
Abilities from other clans may cost more AP depending on how well they align with your clans Disciplines. The Ventrue Disciplines are Dominate (the supernatural ability to control others) Fortitude (the ability to resist physical and mental attacks) and Presence (the supernatural ability to attract, awe, or terrify). If a Ventrue would try to unlock the Brujah ability Taunt, which is part of the Presence Discipline, it would cost less AP, than if they attempt to unlock an ability from a Discipline they don’t already have, such as Obfuscate. Unlocking additional Clan Perks will make them stack, so you can collect them all if you wish, elevating your power much closer to elder level.
Activated abilities and the Clan Perks can be learned from the other clans, but your clan passive can not. This means that while you can combine abilities and features from other clans in hundreds of different ways, your Ventrue playthrough will remain different from playing as another clan who branches into Ventrue abilities.
Image: Ability tree for Ventrue with all clan abilities and the clan perk are unlocked. The Banu Haqim ability Split Second has been equipped, replacing Possession.
Developing Ventrue
Picture a group of stylish, ambitious vampires, each with a hunger for authority that matches their thirst for blood. That's Clan Ventrue for you - vampires with a taste for power, prestige, and opulence. Our team had a blast bringing their aristocratic grandeur and ambition to life in the game. Equally at home in the corridors of corporate power and the halls of high society, the Ventrue embody leadership, strategy, and a refined decadence. Whether they're making deals in the boardroom or dominating the nightlife scene, the Blue Bloods always maintain their iron grip on power.
Designing modern Ventrue for Tabletop
Just like the Brujah, the Ventrue are a foundational archetype both in Vampire: The Masquerade’s clan assembly as well as in wider vampire fiction. They represent the vampire as the aristocratic leader — classy, regal, and inhumanly majestic. Many silver screen depictions of Dracula would fit well in this clan, as would any number of his derivatives. Before Anne Rice, the Ventrue represented what most people would consider a classical vampire.
Taking the Blue Bloods into the fifth edition was therefore comparatively easy, as the clan has had a solid identity from its first appearance in 1991, never relying on gimmick powers or tangled setting elements. Their arsenal of Disciplines paint a clear picture of the kind of ruler they represent: Presence to incite awe, Dominate to enforce obedience, and — if the previous would fail — Fortitude to withstand retaliation. A true Ventrue commands from the front, but that is also their weakness.
While Ventrue vampires are no strangers to hierarchies, their tradition of Embracing mortals already used to being obeyed often creates brittle power structures with too many leaders and not enough followers. To many Blue Bloods the throne is more important than what it represents, and more than one Ventrue Prince has met final death because they would rather lead in defeat than triumph as a lackey. – Karim Muammar, Designer of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition and Brand Editor for the World of Darkness
Fletcher
“I have two rules: no sneakers, and if you must rip someone to pieces, do it outside. These are original floorboards, you understand.”
You’ll find Fletcher to be extremely polite and well-mannered - as ruthless sociopaths go. He owns several venues throughout Seattle, but you're most likely to run into him in the Makom Bar, tickling the ivories and rubbing shoulders with the other Blue-Bloods.
Educated, intelligent and congenial, you might enjoy Fletcher’s lively conversation, but you’d be wise not to let his affable veneer fool you. He's a Great White amongst lesser sharks, an old hand at vampire politics, and has survived more than one Prince of Seattle.
Writing the Ventrue
“Our design process for Fletcher was to start with the role we needed him to play in the story, in Seattle and in Kindred Society, and shape his personality accordingly. We already knew that the Ventrue would have a deep and long-running grasp on the city, and it takes more players than a Prince to achieve that - Fletcher is neither a king nor a pawn; he’s more of a rook. We always know he is being maneuvered by higher-ranking Kindred, but he also gives us opportunities to explore the history and lore of Seattle and the Camarilla– all wrapped up in a smarmy bastard who’s a hell of a lot of fun to write.” – Cherish Goldstraw, Writer
Combat Discipline Design
For Ventrue’s approach to combat, we wanted to lean into a feeling of superiority and domination. It means nothing to always be superior, though, so you start off at a disadvantage. Ventrue's capabilities in combat aren’t as strong as some other clans, and so you’ll likely need to start out on the lower end of the food chain, staying out of sight and using spoken commands to keep your hands clean. As they feed, their fortitude strengthens- Ventrue's passive turns their skin to marble, so the more blood they have the more resistant to damage they become. This lets you take much nastier opponents head on and allows the use of Ventrue’s more devastating Dominate powers- where once you were skulking in the shadows, now you are an unstoppable god who can kill with words alone! This rise-and-fall fight mechanic is the main draw of the Ventrue’s playstyle, and should be well suited to players who want to keep things varied, or maybe just seek an absurd level of power... – Max Bottomley, Senior Game Designer
What do Ventrue sound like?
In creating the Audio landscape for the Ventrue, our team did ponder for a while what sound would emit that power and domination that are central to this clan’s identity. So to sonically portray that commanding presence, we decided it'd be cool to incorporate the resonant, authoritative tones of steel and metal. The sharp, unsettling screeches of dragging metal, the entire spectrum of the available sounds there, they reflect the Ventrue’s manipulative prowess, control, and rule. The players can almost feel the weight of the Ventrue’s influence as they navigate the game. – Marcus Bagshawe, Sound Designer
What do Ventrue look like?
Commanding influence and timeless elegance – these were the key aspects to reflect in our visualisation of the Ventrue clan. The haunting presence of Hannibal Lecter – the entrapment of his eyes; the ethereal, almost unnatural grace of Tolkien’s Galadriel; characters and quiet luxury from HBO’s Succession – these all were hung on our mood boards for the clan.
The portrayal of Ventrue involved us merging influences from ancient nobility fused with modern high-end fashion. The Ventrue's attire features large, intricate overcoats and contemporary styles, all crafted from lush materials that reflect their elevated status, their longstanding heritage of command. These become more than just garments, but a real declaration – one must know who’s in charge here. Their mere body language, the way they hold themselves – the player can sense their reputation of honour precedes them. What make Ventrue stand out from many other clans is their ability to rule by their voice and presence alone. You can affect singular or multiple people with one full command of your voice or a look.
The Ventrue's power wear is designed not only for impact, but for functionality, too, be it a corporate boardroom or a clandestine gathering. Emphasising their role as the aristocrats of the vampire society, our visual representations marry traditional high nobility with the cutthroat nature of corporate power structures. The Ventrue stand out as both a beacon of old-world aristocracy and modern-day leadership, dominating any room they enter, whether through the subtle art of persuasion or good ol’ physical power. - Ben Matthews, Associate Art Director
Clan Highlight: Banu Haqim
The Clan of the Hunt, Assassins, Children of Haqim, Saracens, Mediators, Lawmen
Cursed with a thirst for the Blood of other vampires, the Banu Haqim stalk the night as judges and lawbringers. To this end, most Banu Haqim adhere to a strict code of conduct - derived from law, faith, or personal ethics - sating their Hunger on those that breach these convictions.
Playing a Banu Haqim in Bloodlines 2
Banu Haqim takes the role of a strategic stalker, using shadows to their advantage. You are a predator on a hunt, and your discipline powers focus on stalking, assassination, and silently moving faster than your foes can track. These skills are great assets when stalking the city for prey.
Abilities
When you choose your clan, you will start out with a passive ability unique to each clan. You are then able to unlock abilities from the Ability Tree, starting with your chosen clan. Each ability requires spending Ability Points (AP) to unlock which are earned from completing missions, combat and exploration. At the peak of the Ability Tree, you can unlock the clan Perk, a reward to those dedicated enough to unlock all of the abilities for a clan, giving a permanent passive upgrade.
Silence of Death
Clan Passive: All your actions become entirely silent for a period after feeding.
Mute
Silence an enemy/civilian. Any sounds they produce, from screams to gunfire, are completely undetectable to others.
Split Second
Move so fast that time appears to stop around you.
Bladed Hand
Slash swiftly in front of you, beheading mortal opponents.
Unseen Aura
Become temporarily invisible to enemies and civilians. Note: You can still be heard unless combined with Silence of Death.
Prowl
Clan Perk: Can remain crouched whilst sprinting.
Customizing your playstyle
There are many different ways to play your character in Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The clan Banu Haqim focus on a stalking based playstyle to take out your enemies one by one, and the clan abilities are built to empower that. As we want to make sure this is not a game where you are required to optimize your abilities to the extreme, we’ve focused on making the base playstyles easy and straightforward. But for the players who want their experience to be a bit deeper and more customizable, you will be able to do so. By visiting important vampires who are sworn to assist the Sheriff (you), you can unlock abilities from their clan by drinking a bit of their blood.
Abilities from other clans may cost more AP depending on how well they align with your clans Disciplines. The Banu Haqim Disciplines are Celerity (speed enhancing abilities), Blood Sorcery (the ability to control blood with your arcane knowledge) and Obfuscate (abilities to easily hide, move without being noticed, and cast illusions.). If a Banu Haqim wishes to unlock a Blood Sorcery ability from another clan, it would cost less AP to unlock than an ability for a Discipline Banu Haqim don’t have. Those who unlock all abilities from a clan and get the Clan Perk, are able to stack them and have the effects of them all, elevating your power.
The activated abilities and Clan Perk can be learned from the other clans, but the clan passive can not. Because of this, you combine the clan powers in hundreds of different ways, but a Banu Haqim playthrough will remain its own gameplay experience.
Ability tree for Banu Haqim with all clan abilities and the clan perk are unlocked. An ability from the Tremere tree has been equipped instead of Split Second.
Developing Banu Haqim
Let's now leap into Banu Haqim, another captivating Vampire clan that the players will encounter in Bloodlines 2. The essence of the Banu Haqim is defined by their mastery of stealth, precision, and a moral code that guides their hidden hand of justice. Our team had a lot of fun in reflecting these properties in their subsequent departments.
Designing modern Banu Haqim for Tabletop
The Banu Haqim (“Assamites” at the time) were one of the first clans to be added to the original assembly in 1991. As such, they were less connected to a vampire archetype out of fiction and instead modelled on the Hashshashin — the Order of Assassins — out of Alamut. In time, they were expanded upon in the setting and incorporated new elements of mysticism and religion, but the core stereotype — the “arab assassin-cultist as vampire” — regrettably remained. Needless to say, they needed some work to align with the design principles of Vampire: The Masquerade’s latest edition.
The concept of a hunter of hunters driven by strong principles or a deep-seated sense of justice does resonate with powerful elements of vampire and vampire-adjacent media. Blade, Angel, and (for those that remember it) Forever Knight all feature vampires seeking redemption by taking the fight to their own, while the very vampire-esque Dexter is a poster child for the concept, as is the Caped Crusader. It is no fluke that the internal shorthand for the Banu Haqim was “clan Batman”.
Thus, while their origins are still the same, the shift in focus has provided the Banu Haqim with a role more easily applied to characters of any background or conviction. Cursed with a hereditary thirst for vampire Blood, the so-called Warriors shackle their impulses to strict codes of conduct, derived from mortal religions, vampiric tenets, or personal creeds. These traits, along with their feared reputation, makes them sought after as soldiers, lawbringers, and — occasionally — assassins in the societies of the night. Yet, the siren song of Kindred vitae perpetually tempts them, and more than one Judge has been tasked with the destruction of one of their own. To be Embraced into the Banu Haqim clan means walking an eternal tightrope, with no end and with nothing to catch you when you fall.
– Karim Muammar, Designer of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition and Brand Editor for the World of Darkness
Niko Angelov
“This vase belonged to a man who promised to visit his mother in hospital but did not. So I ripped out his spleen. Some people really do not know how to behave!”
Niko is wholly committed to living an honest life, to the point of barely being able to keep a single thought to himself.
You can find him at Aurora Pawn surrounded by the trinkets of hapless mortals. He pleases the Court by sourcing rare artifacts and by taking on special tasks for the Prince. Equally, he infuriates the Court by refusing to deviate from using strictly honourable means in all his transactions.
You might find that transparency helpful as you unravel the mysteries of the city, but be warned; he won't keep a secret, not even yours, so choose your words with care.
Writing the Banu Haqim
“One of the most interesting facets of the Banu Haqim is their blue-orange morality. It's a clan that often appeals to seasoned players of the tabletop game because it allows them to challenge themselves with the self-imposed restrictions of their character's unique moral code. This is something we wanted to reflect with Niko; his obsession with absolute truth renders him incapable of being complicit in the back-stabbing nature of Kindred politics, so he must find other ways to make himself useful. His sincerity also makes him vulnerable to the manipulation of the Camarilla, which the player can choose to protect him from... or you could manipulate him yourself, if that's the kind of game you're playing.” – Cherish Goldstraw, Writer
Combat Discipline Design
“Banu Haqim, alongside Tremere, is our second clan that leans more into stalk within combat. While we’ve tailored Tremere for a slower, more tactical style of play, the Banu Haqim clan’s use of Obfuscation and Celerity make them much better suited to a faster, more confident approach.
The Banu Haqim abilities primarily focus on these two disciplines – the player can silence themselves and others, move impossibly fast, and vanish from sight completely. These can be used at any pace, but they truly shine when used swiftly together, dancing in and out of sight and dispatching opponents quicker than they can react. This makes them ideal for a player who likes to stay hidden, toy with their victim’s senses, and when needed, kill everyone in the room faster than a Tremere could decide their first move.
While we use quite a bit of slo-mo effects across combat, Banu’s version of celerity is its biggest use case - we needed a small subsystem specifically to manage time dilation across gameplay, to allow for its use in combination with other abilities. This has really paid off, I genuinely never get tired of using Banu Haqim’s lethal beheading strike in (almost) stopped time! – Max Bottomley, Senior Game Designer
What do Banu Haqim sound like?
In our Audio Design for the Banu Haqim clad, I leaned into harnessing the sounds of whispers and wind signifying the clan's predilection for stealth and silent execution. Our department here introduced a use of real-time Audio processing techniques that bring the player's manipulations of time and silence to life. As you use Split Second to slow time you will hear the pings of bullet shells dropping to the floor and strange voices slowed down to really sell the idea of good ol' Bullet Time. We intend to craft a fully immersive experience that comes with moving faster than sound, making every moment a deliberate and calculated dance between predator and prey. – Marcus Bagshawe, Sound Designer
What do Banu Haqim look like?
“When putting together the aesthetic identity for the Banu Haqim clan in the game, as always with us at The Chinese Room, we started with a rich palette of inspirations and tonnes of brainstorming. A tonne of good stuff ended up on our mood boards - functional aspects of Techwear (Health Goth, utility-based items with a high-end edge), the blend-in quality of corporate attire, and the vibrant, enduring spirit of Modern Persian fashion. These choices reflect a mixture of tradition and modernity, embodying the clan's adaptability and their profound connection to both their heritage and the demands of the modern world.
Banu Haqim’s garments in our game then are as much about form as they are about function – concealment, illusiveness. The ability to quickly disappear into the urban landscape or emerge as a silent avenger is key to the Banu Haqim's visual identity, mirroring their role as the unseen arbiters of justice in the shadow world, their righteousness and role as silent guardians of the vampire society.
Drawing inspiration from iconic figures and settings such as John Wick, Lisbeth Salander from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the Fremen from Dune, we sought to imbue the Banu Haqim with a sense of concealed danger and an air of mystery. These influences helped shape a look that is both understated and unmistakably potent, emphasizing the clan's themes of elusiveness and intent. Our designs focus on clothing that allows for quick concealment or blending into the background, highlighting the Banu Haqim's proficiency in moving unseen and striking from the shadows.” – Ben Matthews, Associate Art Director
Clan Highlight: Tremere
Warlocks, Usurpers, Haemetics, Thaumaturges Clan Tremere embraces scholars, academics, researchers, and other relentless pursuers of knowledge. These Kindred have an obsession with blood and vitae — vampire Blood — beyond even that of other Kindred, an obsession which extends to its control. Whether the blood coursing through their enemies veins, or a Tremere’s own vitae, a drop of red can turn into a deadly weapon in the hands of an experienced Warlock.
Playing a Tremere in Bloodlines 2
As a Tremere in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, you use your arcane powers to control your own Blood and that of your foes. The playstyle is rewarding when keeping your distance in combat, making enemies scream in agony as you boil their blood, shaping your own vitae into projectiles, or even ripping the blood from their veins.
In vampire society, Tremere are often mistrusted. Some characters in Bloodlines 2 may respond differently in dialogues depending on whether you reinforce or challenge their expectations of your clan.
Abilities
As you select your clan, you unlock the clan’s unique passive ability. By spending Ability Points, you can then unlock abilities from the Ability Tree, starting with your chosen clan. Ability Points are earned when completing missions, combat and exploration. When you’ve unlocked all abilities for a clan, you can unlock the clan Perk, a permanent passive upgrade for those dedicated enough to unlock all abilities for a clan.
Corrosive Touch
Clan Passive: Bodies will dissolve away after being fed on.
Cauldron of Blood
Torture your victim by boiling their blood slowly from the inside, making them drop to their knees screaming. Nearby enemies/civilians are drawn to their screams.
Recall
First Use: Mark your current location with a ward. Second Use: Deconstruct yourself, and explosively reconstruct yourself at the marked location obliterating any enemies standing in that spot.
Blood Curse
Curse a victim. The next time they take damage, their body swells horrifically and they explode, doing damage to all around them.
Blood Salvo
Conjure a set of blood daggers that can be thrown at enemies.
Greed
Clan Perk: A chance when feeding, that the last used ability receives twice as much blood, increasing the rate you can perform abilities.
Customizing your playstyle
In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, you can play your character in different ways. Tremere are a ranged, glass-cannon type, and the clan abilities are focused around supporting that playstyle. We want it to be straightforward playing a clan, and this is therefore not an ability optimization game where you have to go through a multitude of abilities and weigh them against each other.
For those who prefer a more advanced playstyle, you can customize your playstyle by visiting important Seattle vampires that are sworn to assist the Sheriff (you) , including offering their Blood to help unlock abilities from their clan. Abilities from other clans may cost more AP depending on how well they align with your clans Disciplines. The Tremere Disciplines are Auspex (the supernatural ability to become aware of more than meets the eye), Dominate (the power to mesmerize and control the actions of others) and Blood Sorcery (the ability to control blood with your arcane knowledge). If another clan has a Dominate ability not part of the innate Tremere kit, it would cost less AP to unlock than an ability for a Discipline Tremere don’t have, such as becoming faster which is a part of the Celerity Discipline. Clan Perks stack, and unlocking several elevates your power much closer to elder level.
In contrast to the activated abilities and Clan Perk which can be learned from the other clans, your clan passive can not. This means that you can combine features from other clans in hundreds of different ways, but your Tremere playthrough will remain unique from playing as another clan who branches into Tremere abilities.
Ability tree for Tremere with all clan abilities and the clan perk are unlocked. An ability from the Banu Haqim branch has been equipped, replacing Recall.
Developing Tremere
Allow us to introduce another Vampire clan in Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. world of So definitely different from Brujah!
We hope you enjoy this collection of testimonies from a few of our departments and how they have approached crafting the formidable, legendary Tremere.
Designing modern Tremere for Tabletop
“While the vampire-as-sorcerer is rare outside of Hammer Horror films, the hubristic magician is an archetype strong enough to sit comfortably alongside the scheming undead of Vampire: The Masquerade. But for the game’s fifth edition we wanted to look beyond their signature powers, exploring the driving characteristics beneath.
Given that their concept implies — even necessitates — the practice of mystical arts, the Tremere are almost synonymous with Blood Sorcery. However, this is only one aspect of the Warlocks. Digging deeper we find that their defining trait, regardless of supernatural abilities, is raw, irreverent ambition. Their history is a tableau of temerity. Unwilling to settle for mortality, they clawed their way into undeath. Chafing at the limits of their condition, they turned a primordial curse into their instrument. And, once despised as pretenders, they now count themselves as pillars of the Camarilla.
Yet, for all the Tremere’s accomplishments, their triumphs are also their tragedies. Seeking eternal life, they found only an eternity of death. They are masters of the Blood, yet their own vitae is lacking, bereft of fundamental qualities. And even as they roam the halls of power, they are assailed by whispers: Blood-Thieves. Pretenders. Usurpers. A Tremere vampire walks an ill-fated path — challenged by their peers, haunted by suspicion, and doomed to risk every prize crumbling to ash in their hands.”
– Karim Muammar, Designer of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition and Brand Editor for the World of Darkness
Mrs Amelia Thorn
“There is an order and protocol to things around here, my dear. One must conduct oneself with proper decorum if one doesn’t want to get fucked over.”
Amelia Thorn does not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. You'll find her at the Wake the Dead all night coffee-bar, where she serves up bitter grounds and biting criticism in equal measure.
Mrs Thorn serves as the Tremere Magister for Seattle's Court. She credits her longevity, both as a mortal and as a Kindred, to loyalty and knowing one's place. Work your way into her good books, and you'll find a powerful ally who can provide insights into everything from Camarilla secrets to arcane thaumaturgical rituals. Spill coffee on her books, and she is perfectly capable of turning your innards into outards.
Writing the Tremere
“We wanted Mrs Thorn's personality to reflect some of the history and archetypes of the Tremere clan; perfectionism, the influences of the Pyramid with its dedication to order and hierarchy, and of course, the grim experiments with blood rituals.
We were inspired by themes of Victorian occultism, which inform the character's backstory, and allow us to really revel in the stark contrast between propriety and order with black arts and violence. That's what makes Mrs Thorn so fun to write - she's a bloodthirsty anachronism, and what's more vampiric than that?”
– Cherish Goldstraw, Writer
Combat Discipline Design
“Tremere's Gameplay was designed to befit a more careful, scheming, and perhaps for a sadistic kind of player. Their combat abilities are all centred around Blood sorcery, and allow them to manipulate with pain, kill quietly from afar, and set up a cascade of gory death at a time and place of their choosing!
Tremere are at their strongest when they are patient and have a plan. This makes the clan ideal for players who want to take things at a slower pace, avoid direct (or fair) conflict and make use of vampiric abilities on a regular basis.
Cautious players should find appeal in the ability to dissolve dead bodies with acidic touch, keeping enemies unaware, while their recall ability (which allows you to quickly transfer and reassemble yourself at a previously marked location) gives you a great way to escape when your schemes don’t work out as planned...
Sooner or later though, the Tremere lust for knowledge will push you beyond caution. What happens to somebody standing where I'm going to recall to? What tactical uses might boiling blood torture have? Exploring and developing on these “what-ifs” has been the best part of building the Tremere’s combat toolset for me.”
– Max Bottomley, Senior Game Designer
What does a Tremere sound like?
"For the Tremere audio, I wanted to focus on the haunting sound of blood and gore as the players manipulate the enemy's vitae. When you boil an enemy's blood from the inside, causing them to explode, you will hear the chilling sounds of guts and gibs splattering all around you. The enemies’ pained screams will morph and distort, echoing hauntingly as they are consumed by the inferno within. For full immersion, subtle arcane whispers and the eerie pulsation of blood magic will be heard, intensifying the macabre spectacle, and hopefully sonically reflecting the Tremere's mastery over blood sorcery.”
– Marcus Bagshawe, Sound Designer
What does a Tremere look like?
“In crafting the visual identity of the Tremere clan for Bloodlines 2, we delved deep into the essence of blood magic and its enigmatic allure. Our Tremere are envisioned as beings that combine agility and fervour, also reflecting their preference for engaging in combat from a distance. This approach not only informs their abilities but also ensures their physical portrayal appears formidable, predatory, and adaptable while oozing ancient mystique. All this works in tandem when casting spells with intricate hand movements or unleashing their power from afar.
The Tremere wield their abilities to not only inflict direct damage, but also to apply offensive and passive effects by manipulating the vitae around them. This focus on ranged combat and blood sorcery will be visually represented through their movement, the visual effects of their spells and their outfits. The attire of the Tremere is a tapestry woven from the threads of various cultural influences, most notably the New Romantics, Baroque fashion, and Nu Goth. We tried to convey a sense of the ancient, and the energetic, modernised; mirroring the Tremere's rich history and the vibrant, living essence of their blood magic arts. The goal for our department was to encapsulate an aesthetic that speaks to the Tremere's arcane roots, with outfits that hint at an opulent, mysterious past, and a potent, otherworldly presence. We hope you like them!”
– Ben Matthews, Associate Art Director
What is a Brujah?
For those who are new to the Vampire the Masquerade universe, the Brujah are a Vampire Clan. They are all descendants of the same bloodline that gives them similar strengths and weaknesses. They have access to supernatural Strength, Speed and Charisma. Their curse is that they are easily riled to anger and often use this reputation to their advantage with intimidation and threats. All these traits make them deadly opponents on and off the battlefield.
When we looked to adapt these rebels and philosophers into a video game, we were inspired by real world culture and vampiric fantasies to help you get immersed in their playstyle.
Here are some perspectives on building different Brujah from across the studio and an introduction from Karim from World of Darkness on how Brujah was developed for Vampire: The Masquerade fifth edition.
Designing modern Brujah for Tabletop
“With the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade, we wanted each clan to primarily embody a vampire archetype out of fiction and popular culture, rather than looking to their powers and fictional history alone for identity. Fortunately, for the Brujah this was easy.
The Brujah clan represent one of the oldest and most recognizable vampire archetypes: that of the eternal rebel. Brujah vampires identify fiercely with a personal cause, and cannot resist picking fights for the sake of this conviction. Explosive strength — of body as well as personality — thus becomes a defining asset of the clan. In previous editions of Vampire: The Masquerade the Brujah were often overshadowed by other clans in martial acumen, at least in practice, so we now made sure that their unique combination of Celerity and Potence would allow them to dominate most physical altercations.
However, in a game of personal horror, each archetype should be defined by their flaws just as much (if not more) than their powers. The tragedy of the Brujah is that beneath their surface idealism lies a deeper need — an addiction — for conflict. Mortals Embraced into the clan come from all walks of life and champion any number of causes, savory and less savory, united only in their belligerence. While many Brujah would claim to fight for the downtrodden, the perception of “downtrodden” is as varied as there are Brujah. And if a Brujah vampire would ever see their cause triumphant, they often find themselves championing the other side, the cold fire in their dead hearts goading them back into the fray — forever caught in a self-perpetuating cycle of destruction.”
– Karim Muammar, Brand Editor for World of Darkness
Simeon Ladock - “Silky”
"Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven, right? Name's Silky. This is my place, these are my people."
“Phyre won’t be the only Brujah in town. You can butt heads with several other characters that share this clan. Silky is one that we’d like to share today and you’ll learn more about him in the next post too.
He may look like he thinks with his fists, but assumption makes fools of us all. Silky is eloquent, persuasive, and a man of letters, quoting Milton, Shakespeare, and the Sex Pistols with equal reverence.
Silky is solid, the one you want on your side, clear-sighted and unimpressed by the posturing and drama of the establishment. He was the only one the Camarilla could name as Primogen for the Brujah because he's the only voice the rabble will listen to.
You'll find him holding court in The Dutchman, his beloved bar. Stay on his good side and you won’t see trouble there.” - Cherish Goldshaw, Writer
Writing the Brujah
“It was important to us when designing our Brujah characters to show the variety of the clan - it’s not all about brutality, and clan members have very different ways to challenge the status quo and champion their causes, yet must still co-exist within Seattle’s Kindred society. Silky came in from one of our writers at the design stage feeling fully-formed and someone we wanted to spend time with. We knew who he was very quickly, and that makes writing him a joy.” - Ian Thomas, Narrative Director
Combat Discipline Design
“Designing the Brujah's in-game powers, we first had to consider the kind of player that best fits the Brujah archetype. Bloodlines 2 pits the player against overwhelming odds, and while Phyre is exceptionally powerful, these situations are often best approached quietly and carefully to begin with. Most clans have tools at their disposal to sustain and exploit stealth, picking apart large groups of opponents and remaining unseen until the time is just right... But for some players, the time is right now and the tool is blunt force.
These players rebel against the planning and tension of stalking, instead preferring to trust their skills and instincts in the chaotic flow and dance of combat. With that in mind, the Brujah clan gives them the tools they need to get in people's faces and come out on top! All the Brujah powers are offensive in some capacity. There's no easy way out, no help in staying alive, it's kill or be killed, so you'll need to be aggressive to survive. While that may sound simple, it won't be enough on its own. Each ability is designed to have utility beyond simple damage, so as you get to grips with combat, you'll find yourself using these more as tools to keep the flow of conflict under your control, which is where Brujah's real strength lies.
Your abilities allow you to crash through groups of opponents and drag enemies into a more isolated spot for a fairer fight or a safer feed. You’ve already seen a video of how to quickly deal overwhelming damage to a single target, but an even better tactical use is for bringing multiple opponents to the brink of death for a lethal follow up.
Brujah will also make use of Presence to taunt and enrage opponents, this makes them predictably aggressive, and is great for motivating a heavily armed mortal to try and club you to death with their firearm instead of shooting you! There's also a big explosive use of Potence, which can be used as both a crowd control and combo tool.
With all of the player's powers (and Brujah in particular), we've aimed to give them all a punchy, rhythmic feeling that makes them weave right in with your regular attacks and punctuates the chaos. My favourite's got to be the Presence-based power- Slagging opponents off to weaponise their emotions really puts you in the mindset of a belligerent Brujah troublemaker.” - Max Bottomley, Senior Gameplay Designer
What does a Brujah look like?
“When it came to designing the look of the Brujah we really wanted to capture their chaotic and rebellious nature. This direction naturally led us to drawing inspiration from many real-world archetypes and movements that equally encapsulate that same vibe; punks, bikers, metalheads for example. All counter-cultural movements that stem from an anti-establishment and anarchic look on life, movements that we felt really captured the same feeling of being a Brujah. The punk and biker culture we wanted to incorporate has that same feeling of rebellion and conviction that is so prevalent within these movements. It was important to capture the unconventional and distressed clothing that punks tend to wear like the military surplus wardrobe, all the things that really show a disdain for conformity. These things we felt go hand-in-hand with what the Brujah represent, a rebellious and fiercely individual spirit.
We wanted the areas the Brujah inhabit to reflect their anarchic nature too. The Brujah will likely be found in dive bars, shady sections of Seattle away from the other more authoritative clans who also reside in the city. From this, we wanted their world to be messy, chaotic, with furniture tipped over from a recent brawl and graffiti covering the walls. We wanted the Brujah and their environment to reflect other rebellious pieces of imagery from real-life. Scrawled symbols of anger and defiance. Bright, non-conforming colours. A general sense that, at any point, something unpredictable could happen.” - Jordan Grimmer, Senior Concept Artist
What’s Next?
Over the next few months, you’ll learn more about the playable clans through our upcoming Clan Highlights. Following a dev diary much like this one, where the team at TCR lets you in on their approach to create the clan in question, a Clan Highlight will showcase specific abilities and how the clan choice impacts roleplaying in the game.
Every fourth week, you’ll be able to follow TCR in a new dev diary regarding a specific clan. Following each diary, a Clan Highlight with material related to the clan presented in the previous dev diary will be released, with the Brujah Highlight coming in two weeks.
Explore the World of Darkness
Hello again,
This is my 3rd dev diary, and I have used the last two to talk about the 1st and 2nd pillars of the game: Feel Like a Vampire, which covered the player fantasy; Visceral Immersive combat, which covers the action gameplay. Today I want to tell you about our 3rd and final game pillar: "Explore The World of Darkness," which covers the setting, society, characters, story, and RPG elements of the game. We'll be talking in-depth about RPG elements at a later date, so today I am going to focus mainly on the setting, society, and characters.
The World of Darkness is the larger umbrella for the Vampire The Masquerade IP and the related games. It handles the supernatural in a mature and grounded way, basing it on the premise that vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are actually real, but are hidden from our contemporary human society. Video games offer a unique perspective on this world that other mediums don't, being able to walk around it and explore it. Our goal with this pillar was to create a version of Seattle that is authentic to The World of Darkness IP and makes you believe that this hidden side of Seattle, where vampires are in control, could be real and that in contrast the human world feels more alien to you and potentially unreal. To that end, we didn't set about making an exact replica of Seattle, as our priority wasn't to represent the human world, but the vampire one. The Seattle you experience in Bloodlines 2 is a kind of "best-of" Seattle where we've taken key landmarks and brought them in closer together. For example, Pioneer Square is a key location, and it speaks to us of the old city and its founders (some of which were vampires that you will meet), but we also have volunteer park, which in reality is on the outskirts of the city but we loved the idea of doing a creepy mission there that reveals something sinister beneath this iconic conservatory.
We want you to feel like you are seeing Seattle through the eyes of a vampire, so we have also made buildings taller, lights brighter, and alleyways darker to give an overall heightened feeling to what you are seeing as if you are looking through the eyes of an apex predator. For a better explanation of this, I suggest you read Ben Matthews dev diary on our neo-noir art style.
In Bloodlines 1 you were a new vampire in a city with a large Anarch presence where the Camarilla don’t have complete dominance. For Bloodlines 2 we have flipped this on its head. You play Phyre, an Elder vampire (~400 years old) in a city where Camarilla has been dominant for decades, and any hint of Anarch sympathy is squashed. Phyre's number 1 loyalty is to herself, but she is wise enough to respect the power of the Camarilla and, more importantly, the Masquerade. Within the story Phyre earns a seat at the top-table of the Camarilla as the court's Sheriff, giving her the court's protection but also a powerful authority within Seattle's vampire society. This is an RPG, of course, so you can roleplay Sheriff in multiple ways, maybe you are a loyal Sheriff of the Camarilla, or an Anarch sympathiser working from within to undermine the court, or maybe you're a self-centred Elder vampire playing the different factions off each other to your advantage.
Phyre's motivation in the story is driven (at least initially) by regaining her power - she has awoken after 100 years in torpor (vampire hibernation) 6000 miles from home with markings all over her body which are limiting her powers. This sets up the narrative context of the ability tree (which we will show in due course) which instead of being about adding new powers to Phyre, like levelling up in the pen-and-paper RPG, you are unlocking her existing powers. Over her 300 years roaming the old world, Phyre had gained many powers, not only those from the disciplines of her clan. An important part of the Masquerade is that vampires are hidden in plain sight in our society. There are several vampire hangouts in the city which, to a passerby appear innocent, but to those in the know, are important places in vampire society. For example, the little old lady who runs the all-night coffee shop may not be as sweet and defenceless as she seems at first glance. A key location the player often returns to, is Weaver Tower, a Seattle corporate HQ that is actually the front for the Camarilla, inspired by the downtown skyscrapers in Seattle and giving the city's Prince a skyline view over their domain.
Lastly, there can be no World of Darkness without light - the world of humans. The city is populated with "civilians," unaware that you are a vampire walking among them. Whilst this may seem great to a vampire - free-ranged food on every street - it also comes with risk, as using your vampiric powers or feeding in front of witnesses can trigger a Masquerade breach, and while you are Sheriff, even you are not above the law and could have the court's Scourge sent to deal with you if you are reckless on the streets of the emerald city. So make sure to hunt like a vampire: stalking from rooftops, hunting in alleyways, isolating your prey and if you are observed, deal with witnesses swiftly.
I hope you enjoyed hearing more about the setting and world of Bloodlines 2. We look forward to sharing more information with you in future dev diaries.
Good night! Alex Skidmore, Project Creative Director
Extended Gameplay Reveal
Good evening Kindred,
Today in our Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 stream, we shared exciting news about the game and our first extended gameplay trailer. On the stream, The Chinese Room (TCR) Community Manager Josh Matthews was joined by Alex Skidmore, Project Creative Director at TCR, who shared insights on the game, the narrative background, and how the game plays. If you missed the stream, you can check it out below.
The gameplay stream contains several spoilers, and if you wish to avoid them, there are sections marked in the video timeline, or you can watch the trailer version of the gameplay video, which does not contain any major spoilers.
Full video.
Trailer version
Concept art from Willem’s warehouse.
What’s Next Following this extended gameplay video, we will go into more details on each of the four base clans in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, showing abilities and how to customize your playstyle.
Visceral Immersive Combat
In dev diary #1, Alex Skidmore, Project Creative Director at The Chinese Room (TCR) wrote about the first game pillar “Feel like a Vampire”, which sets the player fantasy as a guiding light for creative decisions. We’ve shown a lot of combat so far to give you a taste of the power and flow. What you’ve seen is influenced by the second game pillar: "Visceral, Immersive Combat" which directs the action gameplay. Today, Alex is back to share his thoughts on this important part of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.
Concept art
When designing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 combat the goal was to create an action experience that can compete with modern titles. We think of it in three main gameplay styles we want to offer to you all - existing Bloodlines fans, and players who are new to the World of Darkness.
The 1st playstyle we at TCR call the Strategic Stalker: as the name reflects, fans of more strategic combat experiences where staying hidden and using the element of surprise is key will get their vampire predator fantasy. Did you enjoy the Dishonored series, or playing stealth-focused builds in Fallout or Elder Scrolls games? Me too! It gives you time to prepare what Discipline power you’d like to use and when. Once your plan is ready, summoning the powers of the blood, sneaking up on an enemy, distracting them, feeding on them before a fight breaks out or hit and run tactics are options for people who love to play this way.
The 2nd playstyle we call the Action Brawler: For players who prefer to jump straight into the action and rely on their fast reflexes and combat skills. Any Clan can brawl but this is where the Brujah shine. You’ll see them in our January gameplay reveal video. Their powers are aimed at dominating close combat. References for this style are action-brawling games like the God of War series, Shadow of Mordor and Elden Ring. It is about being in the centre of the brawl and using your abilities to control the crowd so you can deliver as much damage as possible. We see the above playstyles as two extremes on the same action spectrum, with players being able to play any mixture of the two to find the balance of stalking and brawling that works for them.
The 3rd playstyle we call the Narrative Adventurer: For players who are less interested in combat and action gameplay and want to focus on the fantasy, narrative and exploration elements of the game. We envision that a core of the Bloodlines 1 fans identify with this playstyle and also fans of TCR's titles to date (and a lot of the developers working on the game), so we’re making sure the gameplay pillar doesn’t add action at the detriment of these important players. You can still enjoy exciting battles without having to delve too deeply into the combat mechanics if things like characters and story are more important to you.
So, how do we go about achieving this? We focus on immersion over complexity: A streamlined control scheme with actions that are easy for all three playstyles to pick up and play. We then build depth on top of these to give longer-term mastery for the players that want it. For example, the defensive mechanic is a dash, allowing players to dodge incoming attacks or reposition. If dodge is used towards an enemy performing a melee attack, it becomes a counter, staggering the enemy - it is fine for players to never do this move, but for those that want a higher skill-ceiling, it is there. How we use abilities is also streamlined, to maintain immersion. Abilities are mapped to the face buttons (on gamepad), limiting the player to 4 available at one time. This is a small enough amount that a player can use them without breaking their flow, but also deep enough, through the different ways you can combine and use them that it keeps combat engaging and fun.
All of this serves our principal of Immersive Combat. We would rather players were thinking about what cool thing they want to do next, rather than how they do it.
Visceral Combat is a stylistic choice we have made as we believe being a vampire should be a bloody business. Feeding plays a huge role in any vampire story and we wanted to give you a cool reason to tear out throats in the middle of a fight. As an Elder vampire, Phyre has become desensitised to violence, and we want the same to happen to the player over the course of the game - maybe being shocked the first time they chop someone's head off, but after a while accepting that violent carnage is par-for-the-course when you are a 400 hundred year old vampire in a city where everyone is out to get you.
The final game pillar in Bloodlines 2 is “Exploring the World of Darkness”. I look forward to talking to you about that in the next dev-diary.
Good night! Alex Skidmore, Project Creative Director
What’s Next
As Alex mentions above, the next dev diary will be on the third pillar ‘Exploring the World of Darkness’, coming in two weeks. Before that, you'll be able to see how everything comes together when we debut our gameplay trailer and deep dive on January 31.
