History TabletopGame / VampireTheRequiem

** The Ventrue book references the end of Vidal's control of New Orleans, as well as the maybe-Final Death of the Baron. Of course, given that the New Orleans setting book was published not long before Hurricane Katrina hit, it would have been more notable if that particular bit of the metaplot ''hadn't'' advanced.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Generally, the Kindred who focus on developing the physical Disciplines get outclassed really badly by Kindred who develop the psychic ones, [[ViciousCycle which they then use to recruit Kindred who focused on the physical Disciplines.]] Really, would you prefer to spend 3 dots on Resilience, or 3 dots on Dominate so you can control three guys each equal to Retainer 3? (Eventually one can reach a level in the physical where you become a juggernaut even against psychic powers... but it takes a while.)

* [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Is Somewhat Less Evil]]: The Mekhet hate [[BurnItWithFire fire]] and sunlight even more than other vampires, and the Nosferatu are literally ''impossible to like''. They're also the clans whose Beasts affect their minds in the least obvious ways, so it appears easier for them to be good... which isn't saying much.

*** Of particular note are the Kallisti, a Daeva bloodline outlined in the Invictus sourcebook. On paper, they are the ultimate social manipulators, with [[HypnoticEyes Dominate]], [[MarySueperpower Majesty]], and a bloodline Discipline called Perfidy, which is basically emotional control geared towards causing as much chaos as possible. Plus, they have access to [[SuperSpeed Celerity]] if things get dicey. The catch? Their bloodline weakness is that their blood doesn't cause Vinculum. This doesn't sound too bad until you realize that since vampires (once they reach an appropriate age) can only feed from other vampires, any elder would give his left arm for a blood slave that he can drink freely from without any emotional ties. The Invictus practically keeps them as pets, letting them play tiddly winks with local politics as long as their elders can tap their veins whenever they please. If you're a Kallisti, and word gets out about the weakness of your bloodline, expect a long stay chained up in an elder's basement as he farms you for blood.

* MythologyGag: In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', Mekhet was the name of a mysterious being who may or may not be a secret Antedeluvian with epic conspiracy theories. The clan of the same name keeps the mystery alive, to the point that it may be their [[PlanetOfHats new hat.]]

** The Lancea et Sanctum section of Secrets of the Covenants turns the often overlooked easter egg of the missing verses from the Testament of Longinus book into a conspiracy with some very interesting implications for the setting as a whole

** ''Damnation City'', a sourcebook about creating cities and their cultures for ''Requiem'', offers the rule of thumb that "a city extends as far below the surface as it does above," and advises Storytellers not to neglect all the subeterrenean infrastructure required to keep the city running smoothly.

* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: There's entire ''books'' filled with bloodlines.

* YouAreWorthHell: Some people join their Kindred lovers in undeath, fully understanding the horrible existence to come, under the impression that their love is indeed [[TitleDrop worth hell.]] In the case of the Lancea Sanctum, their main creed actually does believe that hell awaits! But they Embrace out of love anyway.

** Members of the "Romanist" belief (the theory that the first vampires arose spontaneously from certain members of the Julio-Claudian Caesars) sometimes wonder if Nero might have been the first Daeva... they invariably go back to speculating that the Daeva's founder was either his mother, Agrippina, or his aunt-in-law, Messalina. The reason is that general consensus is, simply; Nero was far too much of a ''jerk'' to have become the founder of the Succubus clan. Such a petty, preening poseur is nowhere near charismatic or attractive enough to be the founder of the Succubus clan, who, for all their glitz, only an idiot mistakes for vapid fools.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Well, there's Longinus and Dracula. Additionally, the Mekhet claim the one who [[AWizardDidIt created their clan]] was none other than the mad witch-pharaoh...Akhenaten?!

* HumanoidAbomination: Empty Liars, who appear to be perfectly normal to all senses, and even think they're mortals...except to Aura Sight, which shows them to completely ''lack'' an aura (protip-''everything'' sapient, even '''monsters who were never human''', has an aura), have and induce false memories of their entire "life story", and when exposed to BloodMagic, quickly drop all pretense and [[MysteriousWatcher observe]]. More importantly for blood sorcerers, they're walking lexicons of all the spells they've seen-drinking their blood is like digesting an entire TomeOfEldritchLore at once.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Generally, the Kindred who focus on developing the physical Disciplines get outclassed really badly by Kindred who develop the psychic ones, [[ViciousCycle which they then use to recruit Kindred who focused on the physical Disciplines.]] Really, would you prefer to spend 3 dots on Resilience, or 3 dots on Dominate so you can control three guys each equal to Retainer 3? (Eventually one can reach a level in the physical where you become a juggernaut even against psychic powers...but it takes a while.)

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Here's a hint-if a Prince seems too stupid to actually control a domain, but he or she has done so anyway for a long time, it's probably because he or she isn't. Mexican Prince Malintzinita, for example, seems to be a dumb, apathetic party girl...who is actually a ProperlyParanoid IronLady who uses said parties primarily to eavesdrop on her endless roster of would-be assassins.

* PowerPerversionPotential: ...have you been paying attention to a word on this page?

* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: It's just ''barely'' on the middle-ish area. A really determined Kindred could potentially go their entire Requiem without killing...but just about every "biological" and social factor is against them. Feeding requirements only get tougher with age, the Beast means every emotional stimulus can potentially lead to murder, the Danse causes most neonates to get callous, ''fast''. And all their powers make it so ''very'' easy to get corrupted.

** The Invictus Covenant book introduced the Sotoha, a bloodline of [[EverythingsBetterWithSamurai not-quite samurai]] (they prefer the term "Outsider") who gain all the benefits, but few of the flaws, of going into frenzy. Control over direction, the ability to reason...but things still gotta die, and they can become a little...focused...on that. Don't forget they're Ventrue, so there's extra crazy! Which is unfortunate, because some of them [[BlessedWithSuck remain in this state for years]]...

* ArcSymbol: Owls are very present in vampiric folklore, such as stories about clan origins. They represent the Strix.

*** A Strix in the opening of the Strix chapter of ''Wicked Dead'' speaks of his decaying possessions, and how he/she doesn't know who he really is anymore, or why he does all these terrible things. "...and I wouldn't have it any other way."

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: The Strix's GlamourFailure when they're doing the DemonicPossession gig. They're [[OminousOwl owls]], owl eyes flash in light...etc. Unfortunately, they're clever enough to know this, and more social members of the race can make non-possessed people do that, too.

** Well, either that or they'll hit their Final Death beforehand. [[CursedWithAwesome There are indeed ways of getting around the Beast, they're hard as hell to learn outside the Ordo Dracul...but they DO exist. And you can get the upper hand on your Beast]]... of course, you're [[BlessedWithSuck still stuck in an incestuous society and rejected by the living world entirely.]]

** Vampires can feed on other supernatural races, of course. In second edition, the Unnatural Affinity merit allows BP6+ vampires to use one or more kinds of supernatural as an acceptable substitute for vampires when it comes to feeding.

** One of the [[ShrugOfGod potential]] effects of Changeling blood when drunk by a vampire is that the blood may taste like a random, regular food. . . [[MundaneUtility to someone who hasn't tasted food in hundreds of years.]] This is really only mentioned in one [=NPC's=] write-up, but his plan is to [[CutLexLuthorACheck harvest and sell Changeling blood from willing donors to vampires for shitloads of money.]]

** Ghuls tend to see themselves as this: They are cursed to be necrophages for eternity in return for their dark sorcery as mortals...[[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld at the age they were cursed]]...with FunctionalMagic intact...CharmPerson...and the complete lack of anything resembling [[EnemyWithin the Beast]]. It's at that point that the silver lining gets so thick you can't see the cloud.

* [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Is Somewhat Less Evil]]: The Mekhet hate [[BurnItWithFire fire]] and sunlight even more than other vampires, and the Nosferatu are literally ''impossible to like''. They're also the clans whose Beasts affect their minds in the least obvious ways, so it appears easier for them to be good...which isn't saying much.

* CrossOver - It doesn't involve metaplot since it doesn't exist in this iteration of the [=WoD=], but it's still worth pointing out!

** The clanbooks make references to vampires fighting against [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil people in black fatigues carrying the symbol of Sagittarius (the Cheiron Group's field division) and hunters bearing marks of a shield and spear (Aegis Kai Doru). They also make references to The Witch's Hammer (another name for the Malleus Maleficarum.]]

* ArcSymbol: Owls are very present in vampiric folklore. They represent the Strix.

* AGodAmI - Every member of the Asnam bloodline. To wit, the Asnam are a [[TheBeautifulElite Daeva]] bloodline whose special abilities allow them to make a ghouled human appear prettier than he really is, transfer blood or willpower to or from one of her ghouls over large distances, sleep in the body of a ghoul and prepare a child in such such a way that, when the Asnam suffers FinalDeath their soul is transferred into the body of the child. They are also true egomanics, which allows the [[GameMaster Storyteller]] to grossly underplay the difficulty of a task up to two times per scene.

** In truth, Sam is [[spoiler:probably, in terms of physical and mystical might, the single most powerful vampire in the entire state of Louisiana. He was an elder when the current elders of the city were barely more than fledglings themselves, and faked his own Final Death, falling into torpor, where he slept until the late 20th or early 21st century. And he appears to have slept at the center of a network of Ley Lines, which...''changed'' him somehow.]]

** downplayed in 2e, the Invitus are still pretty traditional, but they are also more adaptable when it comes to technology than they were in 1e

* TheBaroness - The female Ventrue

* BeingGoodSucks - Not all the time; it's more that EvilFeelsGood. However, the opposite of the Gangrel Red Surrender--which may or may not even be real, but which is rumored to exist--results in getting penalties where the Surrender gives benefits and vice versa, for a single night once per week...and one other ironic twist:

** downplayed in 2e, the Invitus are still pretty traditional, but they are also more adaptable when it comes to technolgy than they were in 1e

'''The Clans:''' A Clan is basically a blood family which is determined by the Sire. Instead of the previous game's thirteen (and then some) clans, clans being the most distinctive (and easily litigated) feature of White Wolf's system, it was whittled down to [[FiveBadBand five "archetype" Clans]], but each one of them has tons of [[PrestigeClass Bloodlines]] that adds a few more [[VampireVarietyPack variations]].

* '''Lancea Sanctum:''' Founded by [[HistoricalDomainCharacter the Roman Centurion Longinus]], the [[ReligiousVampireSanctified]] believe that [[TheScourgeOfGod God cursed them as vampires to unleash His Wrath upon sinners]]. They can range anything from Catholic (most common) to Jewish and Muslim in pomp and circumstance. ''[[BloodMagic Theban Sorcery]]'', their kind of magic, is the invocation of dark miracles upon the world.

* '''Lancea Sanctum:''' Founded by [[HistoricalDomainCharacter the Roman Centurion Longinus]], the Sanctified believe that God cursed them as vampires to unleash His Wrath upon sinners. They can range anything from Catholic (most common) to Jewish and Muslim in pomp and circumstance. ''[[BloodMagic Theban Sorcery]]'', their kind of magic, is the invocation of dark miracles upon the world.

* '''Daeva:''' Faster, stronger and sexier, [[HornyDevils the Serpents]] are the sex symbols of the vampire race. As expected they are [[TheBeautifulPeople good-looking]] or at least very charming. That talent for moving among humanity is a double edged sword, though, as Daeva become [[StalkerWithACrush obsessed]] with their human victims the more they feed off them. Their Disciplines are: [[SuperSpeed Celerity]], ''[[{{Glamour}} Majesty]]'' and [[SuperStrength Vigor]].

* EvilVersusEvil - In a game where [[YouSuck you]] are a VillainByDefault in a society based on TheSocialDarwinist trope and the game's system tries to make it really hard to play TheAtoner, you get this.

* '''Ordo Dracul:''' By studying what it means to be a vampire, using a [[MadScientist scientific method]] [[{{Magitek}} blended with]] [[HermeticMagic occultism]], they try to find a way to [[EvilutionaryBiologist transcend the curse limitations]], such as that little sunlight allergy. The result of such studies are the ''[[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic Coils of the Dragon]]'', powers negate some of their weaknesses. They make heavy use of a student-mentor program.

** The Ventrue book references the end of Vidal's control of New Orleans, as well as the maybe-Final Death of the Baron.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: The core book informs the curious just what would probably happen if one of the Kindred found themselves at the bottom of a deep-sea trench or [[RecycledINSPACE in outer space,]] with [[{{Parabombing}} parentheticals]] asking just [[WhatTheHellPlayer what kind of chronicle you're playing for this to come up.]]
** [[HilariousInHindsight Six years later, the Infinite Macabre supplement was released.]]

** The Players bloodline has art of a girl cosplaying as AnitaBlake.