Man is wolf to man.

— Latin proverb
 Credits
Authors: Astrid Carter, Kelly J Clark, Micaëla Clarke, Astra
Crompton, Tobias Dornbusch, Roman Lanzarotta, Mike Massiah,
Jacob Waskow, Sam Young
Developer and Editor: Sam Young
Consulting Editor: Megan Robinson
Artists: Saoirse “Fish” Coogan, Astra Crompton, Alexander
Meza, Nolan Segrest, Scott Paisley
Art Direction: Sam Young and Kelly J Clark
Design and Layout: Sam Young
Front Cover Artist: Scott Paisley
Cover Photoshoot Model: Rebecca Fitton

Special Thanks
Nolan “Cosmic Goose” Segrest for his very generous donation.
Check out his work at www.artstation.com/nolansegrest.
Our vicious test readers: Grace Eccleston, Robin Holford, Jen
Peters, and Christine Rattray
The team behind Savage and Macabre: Gangrel, for tearing us
a new one.
Everyone who took this journey with us through the Requiem.
We hope you stick around — this is just the start.

© 2022 Paradox Interactive AB. All rights reserved. Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf:
The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Promethean: The Created, Changeling: The
Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Geist: The Sin-Eaters, Mummy: The Curse, Demon: The
Descent, Beast: The Primordial, Deviant: The Renegades, Chronicles of Darkness,
Storytelling System™, Storytellers Vault™, and their respective logos, icons, and symbols
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB. All rights reserved.
This work contains material that is the copyright of Paradox Interactive AB. Such material is used with permission under
the Community Content Agreement for the Storytellers Vault.
Check out NMD at: facebook.com/nonedarker. Visit www.storytellersvault.com for more on the Chronicles of Darkness.

2 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Table of Contents
The Reunion (Part I) 6
Introduction 11
Theme: Top of the Food Chain 11
Mood: This Not Too Solid Flesh 11
A History of Violence 11
What’s in This Book 12
Gangrel Media 12
Vampire Media 12
Non-Vampire Media 13
Requiem Books 13
The Reunion (Part II) 14
Chapter One: Packmates 19
Baetyl 20
Bloodline Origins 21
In the Covenants 22
Rumors 22
Ogre 22
Bloodline Gift: The Bezoar Core 23
New Devotions 23
Cerrid 25
Bloodline Origins 26
In the Covenants 26
Rumors 27
Adamantine Wyld 27
Bloodline Gift: The Golden Throat 28
New Devotions 28
Childer of the Morrigan 30
Bloodline Origins 31
In the Covenants 32
Rumors 32
Kira Queen 33
Bloodline Gift: Banshee Crúac 34
New Devotions 34
Daimonion 35
Bloodline Origins 36
In the Covenants 36
Rumors 37
Dr. Timothy Avalon 37
Bloodline Gift: An Ear for the Beast 38
New Merit 38
New Devotion 39
Dead Wolves 40
Bloodline Origins 41
In the Covenants 42
Rumors 42
Rosalina 43
New Merit 43
New Devotions 44
Mystikoi 46
Bloodline Origins 47
In the Covenants 48
Rumors 48
Jeremy Wong 49
Spiritus Sancti 50
Oberlochs 52
Bloodline Origins 53
In the Covenants 54
Rumors 54
Old Alice 55
New Merits 55
New Devotions 55
Twists of the Blood: Extended Family 56
Verlice 57
Bloodline Origins 58
In the Covenants 59
Rumors 59
Missy Barker 60
Bloodline Gift: The Ride 60
New Merit 61
New Devotions 61
Vehicle Systems 62
Wickers 63
Bloodline Origins 64
In the Covenants 65
Rumors 65
Peregrine 66
New Merits 66
New Devotions 67
Yarilo 68
Bloodline Origins 69
In the Covenants 70
Rumors 70
Mother Lux 70
New Merit 71
New Devotions 72
The Reunion (Part III) 74
Chapter Two: The Passenger 79
The Beast, Arisen 79
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 1 79
To Grandmother’s House We Go 80
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 2 81
Snips, Snails, and Puppy-Dog Tails 81
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 3 81
The Voice in My Head Doesn’t Like You 82
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 4 82
Me and My Shadow 83

Table of Contents 3
 Wings Beneath Your Skin, 5 83
Regrets 85
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 6 85
Hell Is Other People 85
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 7 86
Me, Myself, and Eternity: Risen Systems 87
Risen Conditions 87
Making a Monster 88
Roleplaying the Passenger 89
Crowded Mental Space 89
You Can’t Hate Me More Than I Do 89
Never Alone: Sample Risen 90
Alice Barker 90
Dr. Virgil St. Germaine 91
Molly Smith 93
Risen Devotions and Merits 94
Devotions 94
Merits 95
The Reunion (Part IV) 96
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 101
Savage Secrets 101
Archetypes 101
Devotions 102
Merits 107
Crúac Rites 111
In the Flesh: A Players Guide to Protean 112
Skin Like Quicksilver 112
Bit by Bloody Bit 113
Evolution: Playing with Protean 114
New Adaptations 115
Wild at Heart: The Feral Curse 116
Just Below the Surface 116
Intrusive Thoughts 116
Weapon of Last Resort: Playing the Bane 117
Common Banes 118
The Reunion (Part V) 120
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 125
Midnight Wolves 126
Where we came from 126
Who we are tonight 126
Index of Conditions
Beastless 39
Cathectic 165
Posture: Hostile 87
4 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Three Bloodhounds 127
New Merit 128
Neo-American Wrestling Alliance 129
Where we came from 129
Who we are tonight 129
Three Champions 130
Redwater Bay Police 132
Where we came from 132
Who we are tonight 132
Three Rooks 133
New Merit 134
The Brides of Dracula 135
Count Fucking Dracula 138
New Merits 139
New Devotions 140
The Society of the Accord 141
Sample Hellion: Garret Moore 144
Treaties 144
New Merits 146
Blood Mold 147
Background 147
Rumors 148
Dallas Xu 148
Systems 149
Gargoyles 151
Background 151
Rumors 152
The Bone Knight 153
The Birthing Ritual 153
Character Creation 154
Special Systems 155
Aspects 155
Becoming Rampant 156
Hunting Grounds 157
Background 157
Rumors 158
Three Badlands 159
Systems 159
Narya 162
Background 162
Rumors 163
Voivod 163
Systems 164
The Reunion (Epilogue) 166
Posture: Symbiotic 87
Posture: Unleasched 88
Risen Beast (Persistent) 87
THE REUNION
by kelly j clark
 part one: the daughter
There are places outside the big cities where the blood collects in the slopes of dirt roads and pools
near the foul compost of forgotten towns. You know these places even if you’ve never been to one
— main streets lined with boarded-up shops, buildings with sunburnt tin roofs, and trailer parks
overflowing with the desperate squalor of domestic violence and meth labs. Places where churches
dominate every corner like franchise fast food joints, and where it made front-page news when the
first traffic light was installed in 2014. You get there by following the interstate to where sex-toy
shops line the road beneath billboards proclaiming Jesus supports your right to bear arms.
I come from one of these places.
Down in the southeast armpit of Illinois is a town called Lockwood Hollow. It isn’t on Google
Maps, so don’t even try. They wouldn’t send one of their fancy vans down those old roads, which
is probably for the best. The folks in Lockwood are hospitable, but they also don’t take kindly to
strangers, let alone nosy ones. I should know. Before the blood took me, I was one of them. Before
I was Lainey Hendrix, there was Melissa Elaine Henry.
Melissa was a chubby girl with tangled dishwater hair, thick plastic glasses, and a terminal case of
shyness. She would’ve never thought about leaving the comfort of her small-town life, with its beer
runs for dad and Saturday nights hanging out with her brother and his friends at the Pit Stop. And
yet, Melissa wasn’t really alive except on Sunday mornings. On those days, she’d put on her Great
Value Sunday best and head to Cornerstone Baptist, where she’d sing her heart out in the choir
next to the cutest girl in her grade, Andrea Hannah — making sure not to outshine the diva when
the Reverend Hannah was watching. No, she never would’ve left, but it’s when shit goes sideways
that you find out who people really are. And Melissa? Melissa was a coward. When things got bad,
she paid a local boy fifty bucks and a handjob for a ride to the nearest Greyhound.
Lainey Hendrix was born the moment her feet touched the hallowed pavement of Chicago, and she
bleached Melissa away along with her brown hair. Music is the only blood we share, and if there’s any
part of Melissa left, it’s just kindling to the fire in my songs. Melissa is dead and gone… but the dead
have a habit of coming back when you least expect them.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s start over: It’s the Ordo of Dracul’s fault.
Don’t act so shocked. I just said what we’re all thinking. If something goes wrong in the All Night
Society, you can trace it back to the Dragons and their secret society bullshit. Take Chicago, for
example. Whole city is going to hell and — surprise, surprise — it’s the Order’s fault. Some nerd
awakened something or someone and it’s tearing a hole through the city and the Masquerade, and
it’s so bad even the two idiots fighting over praxis called a truce to figure it out.
I should be there right now. I know this in my heart. But instead, I’m driving down the backroads
of Illinois and letting my mind drift to places I don’t normally let it. I blame the moon. I forgot
how dark it gets out here, and besides my headlights, the moon is the only illumination: low, full,
and the pinkish red of a peach. Ever since I met Miriam, and later Rowen, the moon’s always made
me reflective in a way that never sits right.
My sire abandoned me, but I wasn’t in Chicago long before I met Miriam. She was a Savage like
me, but, more than that, she was our leader. At that point, I barely knew what it meant to be a
vampire, so words like Primogen meant a lot more than they do now. Miriam was hot — not just
in looks, but from the boldness that comes from knowing your own worth, and she caught my

6 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

attention the second I smelled a new Lick in the room. She didn’t look much older than me, but
there was a definite mommy vibe there. And when she offered to help me, I think a sliver of Melissa
convinced me to accept; I needed a sire, and Melissa always wished she’d had a mother.
Turns out, I was about to get two. A few weeks after she took me in, Miriam brought me to an
scuzzy apartment building on the Southside. Down in the basement, the laundry room hid an
entrance to a ceremonial chamber. Every surface was covered with candlewax, dry gore, or both,
and standing behind a stone altar was a figure who took up the entire room. I don’t think I’ve ever
been quite as startled as the first time I saw Rowen. Seven-feet tall, face and body wildly deformed,
mouth a graveyard of hungry teeth, and all wrapped in a bloodstained robe. In the darkness, her
eyes were black as a shark’s.
“Her claws bite?” she said with no introduction, her voice like an earthquake in her throat.
Miriam nodded and grabbed my hand. “Deep. And not like they should.” I had absolutely no
fucking clue what they were talking about.
“The price?”
“Deep. Wants to know her sire.”
Rowen appraised me. “Don’t be so sure.” She spat on the altar, then reached into her robes. With
long, curved fingers, she withdrew a huge constrictor, its tongue lashing out to taste the darkness.
She motioned to Miriam, who grabbed me by the wrist and held my hand out for the monster
standing before us. Rowen squeezed the snake’s jaw open, then let it clamp its hooked teeth around
my palm. She drew a gnarled, curved nail down the full length of the snake’s belly, emptying its
guts onto the altar. It bit into my flesh as hard as it could as it writhed in its death throes.
(That’s the exact moment I decided to join the Circle of the Crone, incidentally. It’s a hell of a
recruitment strategy.)
Rowen picked through the offal on the table, making thoughtful little noises as she inspected the
entrails. Finally, she looked up at me and whispered in that creepy rasp of hers, “Drink the moon
as the blackbirds fly, and the mother shall return for her daughter.”
I still have no idea what that means, though on nights like this, the moon does look pretty tasty.
Weird fortune or not, I wouldn’t have survived a year, let alone twenty, without Miriam, Rowen,
or the Crone, and I should be back there standing beside them. But I’m not, and I know I’ll live to
regret it. Maybe they’ll feel charitable about a fellow strong woman making her own choices, but
probably not. They’ll probably kill me, but only if I’m lucky.
I’m driving through southern Illinois because my daddy’s dead. My cousin left me a voicemail
saying the cancer got bad and it’d be soon, but by the time I checked my messages, it was too late.
I didn’t even know he was sick. So, here I am, racing through God’s Own Country that He hasn’t
turned an eye to in generations, trying to remember the way after two decades and hating every
minute of it.
I was blessed with a lot. Perfect pitch, an internal metronome. But out of all my innate gifts, a
sense of direction was never among them, and like I said, Google Maps doesn’t come down here. So
that’s why it’s on the far side of midnight and I’m still looking for a turnoff I only half remember.
I’ve got a Depeche Mode cover (a really good one by my friend Micah) playing over the speakers of
the car I borrowed from Koko, my drummer, and I’m bludgeoning my steering wheel to the beat
of “Your Own Personal Jesus.” That would be the only thing keeping me from frenzy, except for
one thing: I refuse to. Twenty years dead, and I’ve never lost the fight. Maybe Melissa was a coward,
but Lainey Hendrix is in control. Always.

The Reunion 7
 But whether I’m in control or not, I’m looking up at the moon instead of the road, so I don’t see what’s
coming till it’s too late. A shadow stretches ahead of me, all the way across the faded yellow lines to
the weeds on the inbound side of traffic. Even if I’d seen it coming, I wouldn’t have had time to brake.
I sail over it, and four bangs ring out like gunshots as my tires explode, the naked wheels screaming
sparks down the road. Without tires, I slide like I’m on ice, and my attempt to correct with a sudden
turn sends me airborne over a drainage ditch. The world spins as the car hits the ground hard and
rolls. Safety glass fractures, then explodes as I slam into a tree. My seatbelt can’t quite hold me right,
and the momentum spikes my head into the steering wheel. Everything goes dark for a moment.
When my vision returns, the world is crooked. I’m upside down, the seatbelt holding me tight
and my head dangling at a bad angle where the impact snapped my spine. The car isn’t faring much
better. The engine is struggling, and a cloud of gray smoke is billowing into the night. The crash
collapsed the steering column into the dashboard and cut off any access to the ignition — I can’t
turn it off, and I’m starting to smell gasoline.
I have a thing about car accidents, and my Beast tries to take the wheel when I realize this thing
is minutes from blowing up. But if there’s no room for Jesus as my co-pilot, there’s absolutely none
for the feral asshole in my head, so I force it down and look for an escape route. There’s no way
the Beast is going to be smart enough to escape a seatbelt.
I realize I can’t feel my legs, which is a problem. I try to look up at them, but my neck won’t move.
The pain roars as I try, and I realize I can feel a breeze inside my upper chest. Please let it not be
bad, I think as I raise shaky fingers to the spot. It feels like wet newspaper and broken chicken
that bad,
bones. Man do I miss being able to go into shock.
The smoke thickens; I don’t have a choice.
I push the exposed bone back through the skin with one hand while I wrench my neck back into
place with the other. Vitae fills in the broken spots, and the worst noises I’ve ever heard reverberate
through my body. I don’t want to scream — but I’m not getting much of what I want tonight. Shame
burns up my chest, and the sound of my own voice hurts more than the wreck.
My senses reset, as do my broken legs, and I get my hands to stop shaking long enough to thumb
the seatbelt open. I fall hard, landing on the roof. The doors are wedged shut, so I raise my big-ass
boots and hammer them into the glass. Between the smoke and cracks, I can’t see anything on
the other side, so when my foot punches the panel out, I’m caught off guard by a sudden shooting
pain. Something tears into the flesh above my boot, and when I try to pull my leg back inside the
car, it’s heavier than it should be.
There’s a fucking raccoon on my leg, biting and clawing like it wants to rip it off. What the fuck
did I do to you? I try to shake the rabid critter off, but it holds fast, and I can hear the chittering of
more approaching.
The Beast has been trying to ride shotgun all night, and it’s not whispering anymore; it’s yelling,
but I can’t give in. I won’t. I try to shake off the stupid raccoon again, but two more swarm toward
the door. They snarl up at me, all fangs, claws, and fur, and I snarl right back.
Nice claws. Mine are better.
A minute later, I’m running from the car with a pile of furry bodies behind me. Thanks for the
drink, fellas.
fellas. I take cover in the ditch near what’s left of my tires, stretched across the road like shed
snakeskin. I make it right as the car and tree both go up in a fireball, like the burning bush talking
to Moses. The fire roars at me, and I stumble as the panic rises up. I keep hold on my Beast’s leash
with a little compromise, keeping the fire in sight as I back away — neither of us trust it.

8 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 As I shuffle back, my boot catches something hard and sharp. I look down, and a chill runs
through me: Lying across the road is a spike strip, the kind cops use to stop high speed chases.
Someone put out a full anti-tire trap in the middle of a country highway, and it would’ve killed me
if someone hadn’t already beaten them to it. The hell is going on?
As I collect my thoughts, I hear someone coming through the fields across the highway. No —
several someones, I realize as two breaks form in the field. Locals who heard the crash? Melissa’s
voice whispers that maybe they’re here to help. I glance back to the tire strip. Not likely.
I crouch and listen at the edge of the road. Two voices, male and female, call back and forth in
sharp hisses. He doesn’t sound happy, but she’s laughing. As they near the edge of the grain, I can’t
quite make out what they look like, but I finally catch what the woman is saying.
“—just hope whatever’s left is warm enough.” Her words are punctuated by the chambering of a
shotgun shell. I brace myself. As much as I don’t want to hurt anyone, I can take on two people if
I have to.
But that’s when I see half a dozen more waves in the field, all headed my way.

The Reunion 9
 Introduction
The wilderness needs your whole attention.
Jeannine Atkins, “Shears”
The Gangrel aren’t fucking around.
The beast that creeps from its den to hunt the wayward. The
lupine hulk that thirsts for blood and marrow. The slavering,
pitiless thing that tears itself loose from human skin. Only fools
say there’s no such thing as the Big Bad Wolf; he’s still out
there, snapping at heels and baying at the moon. His name is
Gangrel, and he’s no fairytale.
Masters of the flesh and feral as they are canny, the Savages
have hunted us since humans gathered ’round the campfire,
and they’ve evolved along with their prey. Some still haunt the
black forests and high crags, while others stalk alleyways and
tenements and night clubs with equal ease, but in temperament,
they’re still better suited to the beasts of their stomping grounds.
They aren’t about to start putting on manners for anyone. The
world may have modernized, but the Gangrel have never lost
their link to the animal within. So heed their warnings — they
don’t give second chances.
Wild Hunt is the definitive sourcebook for every grisly
detail you wanted to know about the Gangrel in Vampire: The
Requiem Second Edition. In addition to new Savage fiction,
systems, and bloodlines, it includes a complete update of the
mechanics in their original sourcebook, Savage and Macabre.
This book is the final in a series of updates and expansions
that began with Strange Shades: Mekhet and continued on
with Better Feared: Nosferatu, False Gods: Ventrue, and Sin
Again: Daeva. More than Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, it’s a
Savage celebration, a chance to pick at dry scabs and draw fresh
blood. So, one last time, take a deep dive with us through this
final clan of the Damned. Just be sure to bring something sharp.
Theme: Top of the Food Chain
We clawed, bit, and tore our way up to this pinnacle, and
it’ll take more than pampered bitches like you to tear us off the
throne. You think the Lords run this show? Fucking wrong. We’re
the muscle moving beneath the skin, the maw that swallows you
whole. It comes down to assessing risk, see. Know your limits —
then, kill them. The trick is never getting too attached, be that
to Kindred and kine or hearth and home. Be too beholden to
anything, and you’ll find yourself shackled when you most need
to move to higher ground. Right above the prey.
Mood: This Not Too Solid Flesh
So many things in this world are fragile, and flesh is most
brittle of all. But when has true change ever come about with-
out breakage? Become what the Beast needs you to be through
shifting skin, and all the wonders and wrongs of death will be
yours to reap. Let it reflect the truth of your heart in the mutable
tumor you refer to as a body. That’s no funhouse mirror; that’s
you. All horror show, distended and jagged and unfurled. So
what if you can never be human again.
A History of Violence
The Gangrel of Vampire: The Masquerade were “were-
wolves” among vampires, so tied to the wilds that they became
physically animalistic. In some ways, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix
it. In Vampire: The Requiem, the names of the Disciplines
shifted, but the core of the clan was unaltered. Sure, the Savages
are a more urban bunch than the Outlanders, moving through
sprawls as easily as barrows, but they’re just as self-possessed
and versatile, and they still represent the vampire-as-predator.
The Gangrel know the Beast better than any Lick, though
whether that means they can handle the leash is another
question altogether.
Later on, Savage and Macabre: Gangrel showcased the
depths of Savage psychology. All roads lead to the Beast in one
way or another, whether that’s through vampire primitivism
or the worship of primordial blood gods — or perhaps it’s just
a willingness to become a monster to protect the things that
make you human.
Introduction 11
 Finally, Vampire: The Requiem Second Edition pushed
the clan’s proximity to the Beast into slasher-movie territory,
shifting their bane from mental fuzziness to a hairpin trigger
(taking a page from another Masquerade clan). Second Edition
Savages have also expanded their shapeshifting abilities, boiling
over with body horror mutations that give even other Kindred
the shivers. No longer just claws and animal skins, Protean is
about taking the shape of nothing less than the apex predator
of the Damned. Savage and macabre indeed.
What’s in This Book
Wild Hunt: Gangrel is for players and Storytellers alike.
Inside, you’ll find all the material you need to prep your Savage
characters for whatever’s gunning for them tonight, from
bloodlines, Merits, and Devotions to a new system for the Risen
Beast, the lucid internal monologue Gangrel awaken in order
to stand above other Savages.
However, you’ll also need to survive the night with Lainey
Hendrix, Savage rock star. Lainey’s about to meet a true preda-
tor, but even if she can make it out in one piece, she still might
not escape her past.
Chapter One: Packmates revisits four classic Savage blood-
lines and introduces six new members of the pride.
• The Baetyl know the wisdom of stones isn’t mere metaphor.
It’s real. And anything a Termite can touch is hers to feast
upon and make communion.
• It takes music to soothe a savage beast, and the Cerrid ply their
musical trade on the ones clawing at their flesh to escape.
• God is angry, and she sent the Childer of the Morrigan to
spread her rage. Warriors and chaos witches, the Stormcrows
will answer any slight against the Crone with death.
• The Beast speaks; the Daimonion listen. Using modern and
not-so-modern psychological techniques, the Counselors
serve the Damned as confessors, therapists, and blackmailers.
• Many vampires compare their Gangrel Kindred to the
wolfman of myth and legend, the shifting creature who feasts
on human flesh and howls for the moon’s favor. The Dead
Wolves say they don’t know the half of it.
• The Mystikoi are heretics, but heresy is relative when you’re
already Damned. There’s nowhere to go but up from Hell,
and if that means devouring every last spirit they can sink
their fangs into on the climb to Heaven — well, God forgives,
doesn’t He?
• The Kindred of Appalachia know to keep to the cities. Other
predators rule the forgotten hamlets and rural backwaters, and
Lord have mercy if you cross them. These are the Oberlochs,
and their gnarled fists are the only law in their awful fiefdoms.
• Over highways, over city streets, over country roads, the
Verlice drive through the night looking for the next adven-
ture. The Needles follow their own compass in the All Night
Society, and it always points to blood.
12 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
• No doom is written in stone, but the Wickers exact a ter-
rible price to unseal one’s fate. Still, they’re the only ones
with the will to do it — just so long as they don’t attract the
Owls’ attention.
• Nature abhors a vacuum, and the Yarilo are happy to fill it.
Their mindless minions will help them build a new Eden on
Earth, whether the Kindred want it or not.
Chapter Two: The Passenger reveals ways to turn one’s
dark side into a whole different animal. The Gangrel are the
Kindred most in touch with the Beast, but it’s a crude relation-
ship: The “Beast” is just a conglomeration of primitive drives,
and it has no wants beyond the hunt and the kill. Most of the
time. A few Savages make a devil’s bargain, granting the Beast
sapience in exchange for greater control, and here you’ll read
all the gory fine print.
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt is Clan Gangrel’s stock-
pile. In addition to new Archetypes, Devotions, and Merits, we
include Second Edition updates for mechanics in Savage and
Macabre. You’ll also find an in-depth look at Protean and the
Feral Curse, with tips on incorporating the Savages’ predatory
fury into your chronicles.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators takes a look in on the
competition. In addition to new ghoul families and covenants,
you’ll find a whole gang of horrors ready to match your Gangrel
characters blow for bloody blow.
Gangrel Media
When people think of vampires as ruthless predators, they’re
thinking of the Gangrel. From body horror to pack mentalities,
depictions of the Savages abound, and although such media
often fail to provide a motivation beyond an insatiable hunger,
most Gangrel would tell you that’s more than enough.
Vampire Media
30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade: Proving Savages
can have a plan, 30 Days explores what happens when vampires
arrive in the Arctic Circle, where they have the freedom to
move about unchecked during seasons where the sun never
fully rises. While the vampires are painted as little more than
a band of murderous hunters, their wolf-like pack shows a more
calculated, survivalist side of the clan.
The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher: Lost Boys is
what happens when Gangrel get social. From the devil-may-
care attitudes of its teenage bloodsuckers to the chaotic way
they exist in a sunny 80s world, this film proves that not
all vampires are brooding over the nature of their damna-
tion; some joyously embrace it. From trying to gross each
other out to testing their own invulnerability, the allure of
immortality hasn’t worn off for this gang of misfits. In every
raw-throated whoop, you can hear the Beast champing just
below the surface.
 Midnight Mass, created by Mike Flanagan: Take a Savage’s
Humanity down to zero, fill his ghouls with Catholic guilt,
and you’ve got Midnight Mass. A Gangrel might don a mask to
fool its herd, but in the end, only the next meal matters, and
the “angel” of Crockett Island is absolutely famished. Between
its atmosphere of isolation and doomed applications of social
power, this show delves into the dark depths of faith, commu-
nity, and the feral desires lying in wait within even the most
civilized people.
Near Dark, directed by Kathryn Bigelow: Another 80s take on
vampires, Near Dark gives us a Savage still clinging to Humanity
for all its worth. Here we see the cost of living through wars and
disasters and the urge to still search for someone to share that
isolation with. Regardless of the possibility that vampirism can
be cured, these bloodsuckers display the willingness to scorch
themselves in order to keep going. That stubborn will to survive,
no matter what, is quintessentially Gangrel.
Non-Vampire Media
The Brood, directed by David Cronenberg: While Gangrel
don’t typically use Protean to craft other bodies (emphasis on
“typically”), the grotesque embodiment of wrath depicted in
The Brood captures the ways Savages are willing to discard the
human form and the terrible consequences of that predilection.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper:
A family of cannibals who wear the skins of their victims? The
only thing missing is the fangs. Texas Chain Saw kickstarted the
slasher genre, but it was smarter and cannier than many of its
imitators. Inspired by killers like Elmer Wayne Henley and the
infamous Ed Gein, it brought horror into the realm of reality.
These weren’t supernatural monsters, just people who see other
people as prey — and that’s the foundation of all Gangrel.
Requiem Books
“Lullay, Lullay,” by Joshua Alan Doetsch: We all look up to
see my little girl perched at the open window, barefoot in her oversized
red hoodie. It’s her joke. The punch line is brutal. Collected in The
Strix Chronicle Anthology, this short concerns Little Red,
Sheriff of the Four Fiefs. As told by her faithful ghoul/adoptive
father, Red is Savage in every sense of the word, but containing
that animal cunning in the body and mind of a lost little girl
makes death… complicated, especially when even wilder things
take an interest in her welfare. (Onyx Path Publishing)
Night Horrors: Immortal Sinners offers an unblinking
closeup of the Unholy, the signature Gangrel of Vampire: The
Requiem First Edition (the well-endowed lady on p. 107). More
than a vampire, the Unholy is chaos incarnate, a larger-than-
death reminder to Kindred of what they really are. Whether
a bride of Dracula or the Mother of Monsters’ only begotten
daughter, the Unholy glides above the Danse Macabre on black-
winged nightmares. (White Wolf)
Last but not least, Savage and Macabre cuts out the Gangrel
heart and holds it aloft for all to see. In addition to a brutal view
of the Savage Requiem in multiple shapes and horrible sizes, this
supplement introduced several more general concepts carried
over into Vampire: The Requiem Second Edition, particularly
in its presentation of draugr, the wretched Kindred who lose
all Humanity to the Beast. (White Wolf)
Introduction 13
 Part Two: the chase
I have no idea how much time passes before I finally lose their trail. Whoever these people are,
they kept on me no matter how much I zigged or zagged. I thought my boots were leaving obvious
tracks, so I stripped them off and carried them, but that didn’t even slow them down. They stayed
on me like bloodhounds.
It wasn’t till I ran hard through an old fallow field and doubled back through a creek that I got any
distance on them. Even now, I can see them circling in the field across the highway from my perch in
a tree half a mile away. There are at least ten of them, all armed with rifles, shotguns, or farm tools.
Stranger still, I can only count maybe four flashlights or lanterns.
They’re not Kindred; that much is obvious. They leave big, ragged clouds of breath in the cold,
and at least one of them hasn’t showered in days. We’re in buttfuck nowhere, which is sometimes
werewolf country, but I don’t think they’re shifters — I’ve only met a couple, but they give off the
same hungry vibe vampires do (on steroids). Hunters? But how would they know I was traveling
through here? Hell, even I didn’t know I’d be here till yesterday.
Down in the field, a voice calls out an alarm. While I was thinking things out, they circled back
around and found the creek. How they found my tracks so quick in the dark is unreal. Maybe they
are werewolves. Either way, my escape window is closing fast. I reach for my phone and realize it was
in the hands-free unit when I crashed. Whatever’s left of it is probably burned to slag in the car.
It won’t be long till sunrise. I can feel the dawn trying to sneak up on me from the long way
around, but I’ve got a window before either it or these assholes find me. Just enough time for an
old classic. I hop out of the tree and channel my Vitae into the tips of my fingers, pressing them
to the bare earth, and the dirt parts beneath my bloody touch. I prepare to fall into its sensual
embrace as it makes room for me to sleep the day away. But that’s when I notice this grave lacks its
usual sexy symbolism. Instead, the hole is lined with sharp rocks, broken beer bottles, and ragged
shafts of wood. I tumble to the side just as Mother Earth’s hungry vagina dentata snaps around
the place my hands were a moment before.
What— what the fuck?!
No, it’s okay — no time to worry about it anyway. It’ll be fine. It is fine. I just need a phone. Or a
computer. Something I can text on to call out for a ride to… what? Bring a Lick all the way down
from Chicago? Reach out to the Prince of Louisville a hundred miles away? Does Louisville even
have a Prince?
Okay, new plan. All I have to do is steal a car and go somewhere safe… all before the sun comes
up in thirty minutes.
The sound of the approaching hunters interrupts my thought process. Breaktime’s over.
I take off through the woods I hid in. This part of Illinois is mostly field and scrubland, but there
are still patches of wilderness not quite thick enough to be called forests. It’s better than nothing,
and I bolt through skeletal trees.
Melissa used to play with Jason in the couple acres of wood behind their house. They always
wanted a tree fort, but daddy was too busy with work and mama was too sick before she passed.
When Melissa was fourteen, the summer before the bad, Jason took it upon himself to finally build
them one. He was sixteen when he started and seventeen by the time he finished, and therefore

14 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

too old to use it as anything other than a place to smoke weed and screw local girls, but he told
Melissa that a promise was a promise.
It was a tree fort in name only. None of the elms on the property were strong enough to hold a
treehouse, let alone two adolescents; instead, he found five young trees packed together and nailed
a bunch of stolen plywood to them. The floor was bare earth and writhed with earthworms when
it rained, but it was theirs. The trees in this stretch of wood have gone naked from the fall, but
they’re almost all big enough to hold tree forts. Jason would’ve liked them.
I run like hell for almost twenty minutes till I have to take a break. I don’t get tired from running,
but my bare feet can’t take the pace much longer. If those people are still behind me, they’ll have to
pause to catch their breath, right? I take a minute to pull my boots back on over my muddy, frozen
heels. The tracks will be more obvious, but if I’m lucky, I’ll be putting a lot of distance between us.
I’m not. A rifle cracks and the air around me is full of exploding bark, the shot striking a tree less
than a foot from my head. No time to think. React. I crouch and dodge behind a big oak, putting
it to my back and between me and the shooter. Another shot rings out and punches a hole in my
jacket where one of Melissa’s love handles would’ve been. Luckily, the rock star life was thinning.
The shots are coming from the other side of the woods, away from the hunting party. I don’t
risk a look; instead, I finger the bullet hole in my jacket. I focus all of my attention on the tex-
ture, my cold fingers sapping away the dying traces of heat. There’s barely enough left to make
a distinction, but the exit feels slightly lower than the entry point. Shooter’s up in a deer stand.
Elevated. Camouflaged.
I hear a rifle slide eject its shell. He’s using a bolt action like daddy’s old Remington, which means
there’s a slight delay after each shot while the new bullet feeds in. At most, I’ll have a second or two.
I look at the woods ahead and plot a route between the trees that blocks as much of the gunman’s
sightline as possible. The nearest one large enough to conceal me is a dozen yards away, but after
that, the woods thicken. Gods, I wish I could turn into a bat right now.
I need a distraction. I look down at what I have on me and feel my stomach lurch. I say a quick
goodbye and crouch down in a sprinter’s coil. One deep breath to steady myself out of habit, then
I throw my jacket to the left. The hunter takes the bait and fires a killshot through the jacket’s
spine, but I’m already sprinting to the right.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch the jacket fall to the ground in tatters. Jason gave it to
Melissa for her fifteenth birthday, and it was my only blanket on the streets of Chicago. The car
crash sucked, but this hurts.
Another shot rings out, but the gunman’s too late. I’m zigzagging between trees, running so fast
my t-shirt is billowing behind me like a cape, the front suctioned against my abs. So fast, in fact,
that there isn’t a fifth shot. I run through the woods like the Devil Himself is after me with a hot
poker, unsure of my ultimate destination until I see it in the distance:
A soft electric light breaks through the darkness a few hundred feet to my right. It’s an old cabin
on a hill surrounded by a patchy tree line. I pause and watch, straining my ears for any sound of
pursuit. I don’t hear anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time. That cabin might have a phone. It
might be safe. Then again, it’s probably a trap. Still, better than getting a permanent tan.
As I make the decision, there’s a rustle in the leaves beneath me. A pair of skeleton-thin squirrels
charge me, their beady, soulless eyes suffused with rage. I rip the first one in half before it makes

The Reunion 15
 contact, but the second takes a chunk out of my calf. I grab it around the waist, but it tears into
my thumb with shocking ferocity.
I’ve had enough of this shit, and reach out to this little beast with my big one. I click my tongue
a few times, mimicking its chattering. “CALM DOWN. NOW.”
The squirrel stops for a heartbeat and looks up at me in surprise. Then, it offers the squirrel
equivalent of “get fucked” and tears into my thumb again. My eyebrows vanish into my hairline
and forget how much those teeth hurt for half a second. I had the little fucker.
I ignore the mounting unease in my gut and squeeze the squirrel till it pops like a water balloon,
but I don’t drink the blood, no matter how hungry I am. Can vampires get rabies? Not about to
find out.
I hear what might be footsteps in the brush a few hundred yards behind me, but I don’t wait to
find out for sure. I’ve been playing hide and seek most of the night, and I’m starting to feel the
sun prickling at the back of my mind. No time to hesitate. I run for the cabin at full tilt, and I hit
the porch like a brick, nearly slamming into the door. It’s open, against all odds, but who locks
their house in the middle of nowhere? It’s the same in small towns. But I’m not a small-town girl
anymore, and I slam the door and twist the deadbolt.
The cabin is single story but spacious. Despite its age, it’s tidy, save for a dusting of leaves and
dirt on the floor that looks like it was tracked in. It smells of old cigarette smoke, as if whoever
lives here gave up the habit, but the ghost of their addiction couldn’t quite move on. That, and the
lingering scent of boiled corn on the cob.
The front room is simultaneously a foyer, a living room, and a dining room, and most of the
floor is covered by a pair of rust-colored rugs with matching Persian patterns, ragged from wear and
age. Beyond a dining table and a bunch of mismatched recliners, the walls are lined with dozens
of framed photos displaying a growing family. The people I presume to be the grandparents are at
the center of the narrative; they start as young, attractive, and what passes for hip in the Midwest,
with bellbottoms and heinous wide-collar shirts. Slowly, they soften and gray as the wife pumps
out a brood, who in return spawn progressively more fat-faced grandchildren.
They’re all too happy — until they’re not. At a certain point, a girl with ponytails and the pose of
a future riot girl vanishes from the chronology. She’s always wearing the same clip-ons with happy
faces. In her last photo, she’s leaning on a rifle, standing over a deer carcass with a man I presume
is her father. And then, she’s gone. The last photo is a Sears-style family portrait, and her absence
is a wound, barely plugged with an old school photo of her taped in the corner.
These are the people hunting me.
A door opens somewhere at the back of the cabin. I spin around to check the front window
and see flashlights in the treeline; behind them, a thin line of red is rising into the darkness just
above the horizon. I don’t know how they made it here so fast, but it doesn’t matter: They chased
me through what little night was left and now it’s dawn. I force my panic down and look around.
My Beast is on the rise, but I can’t lose control.
The sound of footsteps echoes down the hallway. If I’m quick, I can make it to the other one and
maybe out the back. I don’t know what I’ll do out there, but I’m not about to be dinner for Illinois
redneck cannibals. I rush forward, noticing a suspicious bulge in the carpet just in time to dodge
it — and step right on a trapdoor.

16 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 The carpet falls away and so do I. My fingernails scrape the wood as I grab the lip of the trapdoor,
but a thick cowboy boot slams down on my hand and shatters my finger bones.
I fall for a long time, and when I finally hit the floor, my head cracks against rock. My vision
swims and the red at the corners threatens to overwhelm me. The room is larger than it should
be, and the scent of human waste assaults my nose. Just out of reach, I can make out the shape of
someone moving in the darkness, and I can hear his heartbeat like a hammer on my skull.
The hunter in the tree stand wasn’t trying to kill me — he was trying to corral me.
The world goes dark as the daysleep takes me.

The Reunion 17
 chapter one
Packmates
We’re made to be beasts.
Doesn’t matter what you had in mind to be before; you’re here, now, bleeding on my floor.
But have no fear! That won’t stop you. Nothing can you while you’ve still got a few drops in your veins.
Now get the fuck up and show them what Savage really means — just don’t do it without backup.
Here are ten of the baddest motherfuckers who ever walked the night to join your pack:
The shaman, the bard, the wolfman, the warrior, the shrink,
the god-eater, the hag, the wanderer, the doomsayer, the dryad.
They’re your kin, old and new.
Don’t like them? Who fucking said you had to?
But you damn well better kill for them.

Chapter One: Packmates 19

 Baetyl
The ones who tower over you
A statue looms over you upon a stained metal dais. It doesn’t
move its lips, but its voice echoes in your mind, telling you of
nightmares you’ve feared longer than you remember, and dreams
that could one day become your reality. It’s not offering you a
bargain, though. The voice in your head doesn’t want you to
achieve those dreams — it only desires truth. To know you. To know
everything.
When flesh blossoms from the heart of stone and the monster
inside grinds your bones and drinks your blood, you realize it’s still
listening, tapping into the secrets in your sinew.
The land has a history all its own. The fawn that takes its
nourishment from the bounty of the earth. The wolf that hunts
the fawn. The vulture that feeds from the wolf when it becomes
carrion. Each animal gives to the land as much as it takes, and
every hunt and memory is ready for the Baetyl to collect.
The Baetyl are the sages of Clan Gangrel. Not content to dine
on blood alone, they feast on inanimate detritus, learning truths
the rest of the All Night Society would trample over. Wisdom
only comes with the patience of stone and earth, and for their
unique relationship to the land, their siblings call them Termites.
But a Baetyl prides herself on this distinction: She speaks for the
speechless, and for her efforts, they reward her curiosity.
To achieve this gnosis, a Termite’s first morsel is the Bloody
Core, a stone bezoar bathed in blood. Only by swallowing the
thing whole can her becoming commence. This object helps
Baetyl digest their strange diets, and it changes their forms to
better reflect that — in the end — you really are what they eat.
Even the plastics and processed metals of the kine are just more
fuel to a Termite, from which she can form steel teeth, granite
claws, and unblinking electric eyes. Some can masquerade as
statues, or the very ground beneath their quarry’s feet. Kindred
are right to fear a Haunt cloaked in shadows, or their minds
breaking under the weight of a Lord’s words, but how often
does a Lick think of the pavement he walks upon? The stairs
he climbs as he stalks his prey? What about the blood fountain
at the center of Elysium?
“The mountain knows secrets
to cleave the sky in twain.”
20 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Some Termites share their gift — not with other Kindred,
of course, but the dead familiars they raise in the bond of
death. They feed their loyal hounds with gravel kibble and
iron T-bone steaks; even bones have calcium around the soft
and worthless marrow. By the time stone and iron grows where
once was fur, the Baetyl is ready to help soothe the creature’s
pain. They add to the raw beauty of nature’s hand with runes,
spirals, and potent curses to make the stone hide flexible and
durable. Some Termites raise more than one monster this way,
both a statuary and a menagerie of things lesser minds might
call homunculi — or just abominations.
Then there are the Baetyl who focus on themselves. Instead
of making monsters, they make themselves monstrous.
Through the twisted manipulation of their bodies and the
potency of Vitae, they endow themselves with animal features
refined with the potency of mineral and earth. She’s the
jack-booted thug who walks into war chewing down a box of
nails. He’s the assassin whose wooden claws break a target’s
heart. The Baetyl are both wisemen and warriors, natural and
unnatural. They are the eyes of unblinking statues and the
creaks in floorboards, the paper with ceaseless stories written
in inks of soil, metal, and blood. Do not fear the monster.
Fear what it knows.
Why you want to be us
We eat the earth and digest its secrets. To swallow the core is
to take charge of the land, revealing the wilderness and the city
alike as domains of infinite mysteries. You will know everything,
but comprehend only what you’ve earned.
Why you should fear us
We see it all. We live in walls and ceilings and cameras and
gates, and if that alone doesn’t frighten you, the iron claws
and stone skin should give you pause. We don’t hide; you
simply don’t see us.
Why we should fear ourselves
There’s too much noise. Too much to learn. The stories Styrofoam tells in its
scratches are so hypnotic you forget your name, and sinking into cold steel
feels more natural than a warm bed ever did. You can remember the rhyme
a dead tree trunk taught you, but the sound of your mother’s voice? Lost in
the screech of metal and grinding of stone.

Bloodline Origins
• In Rome, poor Gangrel would feast on banquets of stone and
rubble to fit in among particularly gorged prey. In an age where
weight meant wealth and wealth meant status, a portly belly
could be the difference between sneaking into a lavish party
and starving on the streets at night. But one night, they
stopped being able to vomit out the stones. All the blood
and all the desperation soaked into the dirt and
rock, and before too long, that filth was there to
stay, nestled in these Termites’ guts.
• The Great Depression hit the dead just as hard
as the living, and many Kindred fled their rural
domains for opportunities and better meals in the
populated West. One such vampire was a Savage
Dragon, driving across the Dust Bowl looking for a new
project and an escape from her creditors. As she traveled the
barren land, she found a curiosity. The thing looked and talked
like a man but was entirely artificial, desperate to find the soul he
was missing. After a month of experimentation, the wretch expired
mid-vivisection, and as the Dragon ate up the remains to hide her
crimes, she became something more. Her notebooks still survive,
if you know where to look.
• Once upon a midnight darkly, a street performer dazzled the
masses of Paris. The man could eat anything and everything: corks,
stones, bones, wood, and even watches. He stank, because whenever
he ate, he would grow molten warm and cause the air around him
to sour like milk. When he fought for his people in the Revolution,
the doctors thought to learn what made him tick, forcing him to eat
live animals as well. Pressed into more and more humiliating and
dangerous meals, the man fled, seeking a way to cease his terrible
need, but only death came when he tried to cure himself with a
golden ball meant to forever sate his appetite. The thing that rose in
his place treasured the gift of that shining orb — curiously ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Termites, Gargoyles (erroneously)
Bloodline Bane (The Chimeric Curse): As a Baetyl ages and her connection
to mortality wanes, more and more of the inorganic material ground up by the
Bloody Core remains in her body, pushing up against the skin. This
takes the form of strange nubs and bumps, like stone or metal
teeth, or flesh turning stone gray. As such, her ability to interact
with mortals is limited. In addition to the Feral Curse, Baetyl
effectively have the same bane as the Nosferatu (Vampire, p. 103).
Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Protean, Resilience

Chapter One: Packmates 21


In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: A Firebrand Termite becomes
part of the streets, drinking the pavement and bringing the
righteousness of concrete into her body. She chews up nails
between her fangs before spitting them in the eye of anyone
who stands in the way of the Revolution. As more of the city
becomes an extension of her, the Laws themselves join in, and
they become firmer in her presence. She rules as a well-oiled
political machine, a magnetic cult of personality bringing the
Firebrands marching in step with her own iron boot treads.
The Circle of the Crone: Acolyte Baetyl listen to the Dark
Mother in the lowest places of the earth. They decorate stone
familiars with sacred herbs and oils, and these beings prowl
havens to keep the vampire’s coven safe, curling around a rune
carved pillar where the Termite sleeps every night. While not
every Termite will join the Circle of the Crone, most do, com-
bining their unnatural gifts of second sight with the sorcerous
power of Crúac to fill their natural role as sages.
The Invictus: Termites adapt to the Invictus far easier than
their more backward siblings. One stands at the center of
Elysium, a marble Atlas holding the high table with unyielding
shoulders. He stands strong knowing his brother in blood rests
inside a golden throne, the one their queen rules from. While
First Estate Termites will work the corporate ladder for political
clout, they make a habit of dealing in all kinds of information,
either through the whispers of the Beast or traditional spying.
The Lancea et Sanctum: The Baetyl take their name from
the stone cathedrals of old, and some believe they literally house
God within their bodies. Some nest in the larger libraries of the
Church, protecting each meal within. Others become moving
atheneums, with both the instruments and the knowledge of
holy work resting in their forms. They crush stone tablets and
shred books so they can increaseth knowledge and keep sinful
ideas away from the flock.
The Ordo Dracul: Monster meets machine. Since its incep-
tion, the goal of the Order has been to surpass the limits of
Damnation, and a Termite can take that mission into the 21st
century. He swallows cameras whole to replace dead eyes with
unblinking lenses. He overclocks machines with veins instead
of circuitry and masters both input and output. There’s nothing
outside the laboratory of the new senses; just the Termite and
his endless deluge of human subjects.
Rumors
“There’s this fight club out in the boonies, though you wouldn’t
have heard about it unless you were deep into the Movement. It’s run
by some weird Savage — strangest looking motherfucker you ever saw.
The money’s alright, but unless you’re a fledgling with no other way
to make ends meet, it’s definitely not worth it.”
Fighting rings like these are a common scam young and
enterprising Baetyl set up to establish themselves. These
Termites have their Kindred fight on uncontested ground to
settle disputes, or just to make money, and after every match,
22 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
the Baetyl gets to eat up the sand, dirt, or gravel of the arena
now that it’s been flecked with the blood of the fighters. This
practice can risk Vitae addiction (or worse) but the secrets
gained can be enough to blackmail an entire city.
“There’s a bloodline that turns vampires into gargoyles. Beetle or
Battle or… something like that. Anyway, they feed you this orb and
your body turns into rock. Then, they sell you to the highest bidder.”
Rumors like this follow the Baetyl like a recessive gene,
resurfacing just often enough to be a thorn in their strange
designs. While the bloodline’s elders are often mistaken for
gargoyles (p. 151), there’s no truth to the idea that Termites
can turn other Kindred into them. However, they do build
them an awful lot. The Baetyl have an odd affinity for the
Graven, and some strive to develop methods of building
Rampant gargoyles on purpose. The Termites have yet to work
out the kinks in this process, but doing so would have major
implications for the All Night Society, perhaps even the birth
of a bizarre new clan of the Damned.
“The gifts of the Baetyl come at a price. All those minerals and
metals — let me put it this way: They don’t go anywhere.”
True. While the consequences worsen as the vampire’s
Humanity deteriorates, Baetyl never really “pass” their odd
meals, and they don’t need to vomit them up like other vam-
pires do when they deign to dine on human food. Termites are
walking, talking repositories of processed junk, and a few even
grow in size as the Beast takes hold, transforming into inorganic
hulks that somehow still move against all natural laws. Of
course, natural law has little to do with a vampire’s physiology,
so there’s never really a breaking point. This leads some Baetyl
to wonder if diablerizing other members of their bloodline in
just the right way might also reveal all the accumulated secrets
they’ve acquired…
Ogre
“What innocence to come here seeking my favor. I hope you brought
me a present.”
Ogre is an old thing. Emphasis on old; emphasis on thing.
Amazonian in stature and covered in long, sharp shards of onyx
and marble, the bane of her blood has ruined any chance of
Ogre resembling a person, but her ambivalence toward human
life means it’s not really a problem. Known for eating the bones
of the mortals and Kindred she kills — the source of the moniker
she goes by tonight — she’s sits on the edge of domains as an
unliving font of occult knowledge.
Before she became an Acolyte (or a Baetyl), Ogre was a
librarian for the Lancea et Sanctum, and a practitioner of
Theban Sorcery. She poured herself into every tome in her
charge, reading and rereading as she committed every word to
memory. Then, after some old tomes had been liberated from
older crypts and left in her care, she suddenly left. A crisis of
faith consumed her Humanity until she decided to sacrifice
it all. She turned away from the faith and looked to the dark
places of the world.
 It’s unclear if she found what she was looking for, but
whenever she settles into a domain, she knows far more than a
stranger ever should. Her favor is hard-earned but rewarding,
as she’s very willing to teach rudimentary blood sorcery for
interesting meals. It’s only a matter of time before she’s hunted
down by Sanctified and Acolytes alike for this sin, and the
kind of blasphemy that would bring these groups together
demands a “commensurate” response.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Baetyl
Covenant: Circle of the Crone
Mask: Monster
Dirge: Nomad
Touchstone: Her journal, a reminder of better days.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 4, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (History, Theban Sorcery) 3,
Occult (Crúac) 5
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Claws) 4, Stealth 2,
Survival 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken 3, Intimidation 3
Merits: Atrocious, Atrocious (Advanced), Circle of the
Crone Status 3, Crúac Style: Primal Creation 2, Giant,
Library (Occult) 3, Safe Place 3, Undead Menses
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Auspex 3, Crúac 4, Protean
3, Resilience 3, Theban Sorcery 2
Devotions: Bezoar Thorns, Chimera, Gargoyle’s
Vigilance, Undying Familiar
Crúac Rites: Blood Price, Cheval, Deflection of Wooden
Doom, The Pool of Forbidden Truths, Rigor Mortis
Theban Sorcery Miracles: Bloody Icon, Marian
Apparition
Blood Potency: 6
Health: 12
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 3
Size: 6
Speed: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 5
Notes: Ogre knows a vast number of Crúac and
Theban Sorcery rituals. For brevity, her most common
rituals are listed above. Primal Creation, Bloody Icon,
Marian Apparition, and The Pool of Forbidden Truths
can be found in Secrets of the Covenants. Ogre’s
Protean adaptations are Claws, Feral Senses, and Tough
Hide (p. 115). Her animal forms are bat, bear, and mole.
Bloodline Gift: The Bezoar Core
Baetyl can consume inorganic and inanimate matter. As long
as a Termite can fit an object in her mouth, she can swallow it.
Once per scene, she can consume material and spend a Vitae
to perform a kind of internal alchemy using the odd object in
her belly, granting herself a bonus on all Auspex rolls for the
rest of the scene equal to the Size of the material she consumed,
capping at +5.
New Devotions
In addition to the following Devotions, a Baetyl can purchase
either version of the Gargoyle’s Vigilance Devotion (Vampire, p.
144) for a one Experience discount. This means she can learn
the basic version for free if she meets prerequisites.
Bezoar Thorns
(Auspex •••, Protean ••)
After eating enough inorganic matter, a Termite can force his
Beast to bring those metals and fibers along with it whenever
he uses his Predatory Aspect.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: Before he activates Protean, vampire must
consume inorganic material with Size equal to the points he
wants to use to enhance his Discipline.
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Duration: Scene
While manifesting bestial traits through Predatory Aspect,
the Baetyl can augment his adaptations with materials he’s
recently devoured. These changes look even more unnatural
than normal Protean adaptations, with talons of iron growing
out from the Termite’s fingers or new sensory organs made
from camera lenses and plastic emerging from his face. When
activating Predatory Aspect, the vampire has a number of
points to spend on the enhancement of her adaptations equal
to Auspex dots:
• For one point, the Baetyl applies a +1 modifier on any action
that uses the adaptation. This can be applied multiple times
for a single adaptation, or spread out over multiple traits.
• For two points, the Baetyl only needs three successes to
achieve an exceptional success when rolling a Skill associated
with his adaptation. If the adaptation doesn’t have a specific
Skill, choose one (with Storyteller approval).
• For three points, the Baetyl gains the rote quality on a single
Skill associated with his adaptation.
Chapter One: Packmates 23

Chimera
(Animalism ••, Protean •••)
Animalism provides a Baetyl with a faithful, unnatural famil-
iar, but Protean lets her change the form of this companion into
something far more… versatile.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire uplifts a dead animal with Raise
the Familiar and spends additional Vitae (included in the cost)
coated over a piece of inanimate material.
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Duration: Indefinite
The vampire merges her subject with the inanimate material.
At base, it gains two points of general armor and a level of Size.
In addition, for each dot of Protean, the vampire can apply a
permanent adaptation from Predatory Aspect, manifesting as
unnatural protrusions of metal, stone, or plastic, depending
on the material she fed the creature.
Stone Specter
(Auspex •••, Protean •)
The vampire can cast her Beast out even while the slumbers
to survey anyone and everyone passing near her vigil.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: None (or 1 Vitae)
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Duration: Special
Whenever the vampire enters her Unmarked Grave, she
retains her sense of the surrounding world as long as she
24 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
remains awake, and she can use any Auspex power she knows
on people and objects who walk near her hiding spot.
If the vampire enters daysleep while in this grave, she can
spend a Vitae to trigger a single Auspex power she knows at
some point in the day, with the exception of Twilight Projection.
The trigger must involve a person or object within (Blood
Potency) meters of the Unmarked Grave, but otherwise the
condition can be as specific or as broad as the vampire likes.
For example, it might apply to a specific person, or only ghouls,
or just anyone wearing a particular brand of cologne. If this
condition isn’t met before sundown, the Vitae spent is wasted.
If it goes off, the vampire must pay the usual cost of the power
and her player must make any appropriate roll.
Information gained this way takes the form of a prophetic
dream that the Baetyl will remember upon waking up.
Wisdom of Stones
(Auspex •••)
The world listens, and a Baetyl need only consume a morsel
of it to collect its secrets.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must consume an object with
her bloodline gift and spend an additional Vitae (included in
the cost).
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Instead of a bonus to Auspex, the vampire gains access to the
effect of the Dream Visions Merit (Vampire, p. 111) as if she
had rolled a success. If a character shed blood on this object,
the vampire can ignore the usual restriction of having to use
the effect on a stranger.
The Baetyl can only use this Devotion once per night.
 Cerrid
The ones whose songs consume you
The key change comes with the slick sound of fangs running
over her lip, halfway through a private performance in the wee
hours of morning. Her prey watches as if a goddess of music holds
him in place, but really, it’s just the result of her careful chord
progressions. She likes to play with her food (in more ways than
one), likes to see how far she can push their minds while holding
their bodies in place with her song, taking in the way adrenaline
and fear catapult through their systems.
When she finally sinks her teeth through the soft flesh of his
neck, it’s a symphony of salty citrus. Each victim tastes different,
and she revels in each new movement of the hunt.
The Cerrid are traveling bards and poets without a home.
Sappho and Homer didn’t make their names singing hymns
standing still, and they certainly didn’t find their meals that
way. Like many Gangrel, wanderlust consumes the Beguilers,
but where other Savages slink, they hunt out in the open. They
are sirens and harpies and sphinxes, coaxing prey with hypnotic
lyrics before letting their Beasts devour. They recite improvised
ballads at open-mic nights, staying only long enough to consume
fawning fans or bring another into their entourages. They are
ghosts moving through the music industry, disappearing as
quickly as they rise into the limelight.
The Cerrid are slippery, sonorous yet monstrous. A Beguiler’s
immortal nature means her public persona will always become
untenable when she doesn’t age along with her career, and
when this happens, she relinquishes her identity and grafts a
fresh title to her dead heart. Some take this as an opportunity
to learn a new instrument or enter a new genre, while others
stick to what they know with more intensity than a coke high.
Maybe she meets a spectacular demise as her popularity peaks,
only to be spotted weeks later in the streets of Vegas, passed
off as some incredible impersonator. Celebrity is overrated.
For a Beguiler, the best part of being a musician is not the
untouchable fame of uber-celebrity, it’s the grungy bars where
elbows rubbed become necks bitten.
Beguilers can be solo acts or ensembles. An acoustic folk-
singer shares the coffeehouse stage with no one but their guitar,
and a singer forms bonds with a sharp-toothed backup band,
“Words bite as well as teeth.”
but regardless of her crew’s size, Cerrid always leave behind
worshippers — and legends. A banshee creeps into the bedrooms
of unfaithful men to torture them with the terrible melancholy
of her voice. A selkie at the riverbend plays the guitar so beau-
tifully it adds years to your life, but only if you first provide a
drop of your finest vintage. They are the unsettlingly cheerful
whistle in the empty alley and the sinister rhyme that predicts
the prey’s demise. And once the music stops, so do you.
It isn’t all fame and fans and folklore, though. No, it’s all
about the art, and the Beast is the only audience that really
matters. If a Beguiler fails to perform, to feed the hungry thing
in her head with praise, the Beast claws through the human
mask: scales dance up the side of her face and too pointed ears
lilt upward. Even as they feed on warm bodies, the Beast is
always hungry for an ego boost.
Why you want to be us
We dedicate villanelles to our cakes and eat them too. Our
exploits are documented in story and song, a murder ballad
dripping with the blood of all our victims, and the people can’t
get enough. They call it a Requiem; we call it a celebration.
Don’t you want that too?
Why you should fear us
Every mortal has a particular set of notes to ease their inhibi-
tions, and they’ll serve themselves up on a platter before they’ll
even consider screaming. And who would suspect the oh-so
sensitive poet with the acoustic guitar? You certainly didn’t.
Why we should fear ourselves
Doesn’t matter how long or loud you play, the Beast will
always creep through. Some Kindred are bound to their
Humanity through people, but music is such a fleeting thing.
When the fans file out, you’re left with only the cannibal ego-
maniac in the back of your skull counting rests until the next
crescendo. When you lose your soul at the end of the measure,
how far will you go to get it back?
Chapter One: Packmates 25

Bloodline Origins
• The first Cerrid was a
Savage troubadour
of little talent,
mocked by the
rest of the All
Night Society for
tor t ured verse
and a strangled
voice. Desiring
greatness, she sought
out a devil at a crossroads, as aspiring
musicians are wont to do, and the
demon happily obliged in providing
the talent she so craved… though
it did not name the cost. She
returned to her wanderings,
and at first, she found joy in
adulation, her voice flowing
more sweetly than any mortal
balladeer. However, with each
cheer and killer review, her Beast
craved more to stoke the flame of its self-re-
gard. Eventually, she couldn’t keep up with
demand, and her final performance was
a breakdown any star at the peak of his
fame and the end of his rope might rec-
ognize. It only takes one bad gig to kill a
whole career… and the audience. Some
say she wanders still, searching for that
devil to refund her bloody talent.
• Long ago, it was not permitted for mortals
to take the true, triple-blessing of immor-
tality: life, legacy, and youth. Sometimes,
the gods would grant eternities of story and
song but a withering face, or endless vigor
yet equal mediocrity, but never all three. The
Muses loathed this arrangement, for they
wished to share their favorites through all
eternity. Having great passion but little sense,
they thrice-blessed the greatest poet in all of
Greece. However, Thanatos, King of Death,
objected. For the Muses’ insolence, he hexed
the poet with an awful hunger, cursing him to
sing only to the dark. Still, he would have his
legacy, singing dirges in Troy as Cassandra wept.
He would have long life, too, playing backup
to Nero as Rome burned below. And he
would even have his youth, with such a
pure voice to use each time the nightbirds
sing their songs of death and doom.
• Once upon a midnight darkly, a sorceress
watched over a bubbling cauldron. Seven drops
from her potion would grant the drinker true
26 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
inspiration, and so many tried to steal from the pot, only to
be ladled into the witch’s brew. A young boy in her
employ was helping tend the fire that night, and he
was a curious lad. While his lady stepped from her
abode to converse with the Moon and Stars, he
spooned the seven drops into his mouth, but the
sorceress discovered him just as the last touched
his tongue. The witch’s face became monstrous,
with sharp fangs and sharp eyes, and
in a rage,
she ate the
boy whole.
But a witch
never wastes her magic, so she
remade him within her, and it was thus
that he was reborn as her son, the most
wonderful poet in all the land. He
killed his new mother in gratitude,
drinking deeply of her magic and
dedicating himself to singing her
tale for as long as he still walked —
rousingly ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Beguilers, Troubadours
Bloodline Bane (The Cadenza Curse):
Music has charms to soothe the savage beast,
and a Beguiler unleashes hers when she’s dis-
connected from her art. At least once every
(11 – Blood Potency) nights, a Cerrid must
regain Willpower from her Mask via
some form of performance. If not, the
Beast rises to the surface: Fur sprouts
on her hands, pupils contract into slits,
or scales splash up her arms. This muta-
tion reduces her effective Humanity by
two dots for the purposes of the Feral Curse. To
return to normal, she must regain all Willpower
through her Mask via performance. Otherwise,
the mutation lasts until she next falls to torpor.
Disciplines: Animalism, Majesty, Obfuscate,
Protean
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: Cerrid Firebrands are often
at the forefront of the Movement’s recruitment efforts.
They’re always on the road, gathering followers through
performances and engaging interested parties in the kind of
high-minded rhetoric the Carthians so favor. They perform
at covenant events, using their repute to entice visitors into
become comrades. Many double as propagandists, fore-
casting the demise of the opposition in twisted,
self-fulfilling prophecies. It never hurts to have
quality literature to serve as a warning against
those who would take on the Revolution.
 The Circle of the Crone: Acolyte Cerrid harken to the
Greeks and other pagans who thought of performance as just
another form of worship. They form ensembles dedicated to
their deities and put on bloody musicals as both entertainment
and sacrament; they even see their bane as a sign of their god-
dess, believing she marks them with her displeasure when they
fail to worship appropriately. To these Beguilers, every word
and instrument is holy — which means those who would stop
the music are blasphemers of the highest order.
The Invictus: The Cerrid have longstanding ties to the
Invictus, ones that goes back as the covenant’s foundation.
Some of the First Estate’s most notorious princes had Beguilers
on their payrolls, whether as composers, music teachers, or
heralds. Invictus Cerrid create odes to their employers’ exploits,
entertaining at underworld parties and setting the mood at
bloody symphonies. More independent Troubadours work as
oral notaries, singing binding contracts into being and com-
posing Oaths of fealty for new initiates.
The Lancea et Sanctum: Ever seen someone draw a violin
bow across the throat of a non-believer? The sound is unforget-
table. Sanctified Cerrid are the least nomadic vein of the blood-
line, preferring to dedicate themselves to their local churches
as choir masters, organ players, or even preachers. They also
often serve as oral historians, weaving narratives to preserve
and spread the values of the Church Eternal. They bring the
history of their covenant into the here and now, composing
circles around anyone within earshot of their gospel.
The Ordo Dracul: The Dragons and their transcendental-
ism don’t have many options for right-brained types, though
a Beguiler might argue music in and of itself can be transcen-
dent. Those rare Cerrid in the Ordo Dracul use their music
to subdue “unruly” subjects before experimentation, acting as
procurers and honeypots on behalf of other Dragons. Beguilers
of a scientific bent often study the Mystery of the Ascendant,
or otherwise work to develop safer ways to perform Dracula’s
feat of day-walking. If a Cerrid could withstand the sun’s “crit-
icisms,” there’s no telling the kind of fanbases he could build.
Rumors
“Anika got invited to hang out with the Riot after the show! I’d be
jealous if I weren’t so, like, weirded out by the whole… vampire vibe
they’ve got going, you know? I mean, there was, like, literal blood all
over the stage. Ugh! Yes, Madison, I know what blood looks like!”
The Riot are a metal band of Beguilers who walk the knife’s
edge of the Masquerade. Their underground performances
often involve genuine bloodletting (and feeding), and each
performance is a recruitment drive for blood dolls and thralls
as they make their eternal tour across the USA. However, even
by their own lax standards, their most recent performance was
a bloodbath, with the drummer falling to frenzy and the bassist
Embracing a terrified groupie right on stage. The band escaped
into the night without bothering to clean up, and now a gang
of metalhead revenants are on their tail, all with strangely
mellifluous voices…
“Sometimes, they get obsessed with mortals, kind of like the Daeva
do. If they find some talent they just can’t go on without, they’ll
Embrace them, like sticking a fly in amber. Works out about as well
as it does for the Serpents.”
Half true. Some Cerrid Embrace childer exclusively for their
musical talents, without much consideration for other compati-
bility factors. Elders of the bloodline frown on this practice (they
know from experience), but many naïve Beguilers bring their
favorite artists into the Requiem just to preserve their sound.
No evidence exists of a Cerrid Embracing anyone famous for
this purpose, but there’s also no evidence against it either — and
there’s no reason to think some of them aren’t making plans.
“They’re all Invictus spooks. Troubadour Gangrel? Please. Sounds
like Monty Python, which apparently is what goes for spycraft these
nights. They use that wandering bard shit as a cover to gather intel
for the Conspiracy. Regime change; shit like that. Seriously, one of the
biggest psyops right in front of all our fucking noses! Goddamn feds.”
While it’s true that Invictus Cerrid are more common than
those in other covenants, it’s more to do with the First Estate
having the resources it takes to pay them fulltime. That said,
the above isn’t not true. The bloodline’s talents for illusion
and bewitchery pair well with their clan’s scrappy nature,
and this has led more than a few Beguilers to serve cove-
nants as spies (not just the Invictus). Of course, the problem
with being a Cerrid spy is that, eventually, the Beast desires
recognition, which is the last thing a spook needs. Without
fail, every Beguiler operative decides she needs to be James
Bond for a night, and then discovers why Bond isn’t a very
good secret agent.
“I once had to ice this Lick who… God, I don’t know what happened
to the poor bastard. Definitely draugr, but I’ve never seen a draugr who
looked like that. Gangrel go feral sometimes, but they don’t… they don’t
turn into monsters. Okay, sure, Savages literally turn into monsters,
but this thing didn’t resemble a person anymore, or even an animal.
Strangest thing, though? It was carrying around a guitar. Strap was
practically fused to its skin, it was so filthy. And it kept… humming.”
Cerrid who go too long without feeding their egos start to
become something less than either vampire or human. While
unpleasant, this fact of the Beguiler Requiem is never really
debilitating, though rumor has it that some Cerrid undergo
far more extreme mutations as they age. Eventually, so the
stories go, only the most extreme displays of performance and
hubris will keep the Beast properly sated. The monsters that
result from this deprivation would be gruesome indeed, though
perhaps their taste for song would provide a more obvious path
back to Humanity…
Adamantine Wyld
“Darlin’, if you could only see what I’ve heard.”
“Adamantine Wyld” was born the moment she stole her
mother’s shitty truck off the property. In the big city, she
joined a outlaw country band as their front-woman, gaining
momentum and popularity until she caught the drummer
sleeping with her girlfriend. So, sh slept with her girlfriend’s
Chapter One: Packmates 27
 ex-boyfriend as retribution and got herself kicked to the curb.
After that, Adamantine fell off the grid and wound up a blood
bag for a Cerrid in need of a groupie. When she wanted more,
he decided he wasn’t such a fan of commitment, but for all
the good times, her Embraced her, then promptly turned tail.
At first, death didn’t sit well with Adamantine or her career.
Her music took on a melancholic tone, with laments of human-
ity’s fragility and dirges about monsters who hide in the dark.
She felt little of the passion for music that she did in life, and she
feared it would dwindle to an ember the longer she wandered the
night. Fortunately, she found the Dragons. The Order taught her
that music can be more than just a means to an end, and that she
had more ways to evoke passion than just the twang of a guitar.
After some post-life reeducation, Adamantine is now more
archeologist than country outlaw, searching out ancient
Kindred writings all across the world, or speaking to elders
and sifting through their oral histories. He current work goal
is tracking down poetry she believes reveal the extinction of
a lost clan — but she’s still moonlighting. She’s working on a
country opera/Dragon propaganda piece about how the other
covenants are a dead end for true vampiric evolution. She’s even
got a record deal lined up…
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Cerrid
Covenant: Ordo Dracul
Mask: Nomad
Dirge: Questioner
Touchstone: Bernadette, her mother, the first person
she ever played music with, and the only person who
knows her living name.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 4,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (Research) 4, Investigation 3
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Drive 2, Larceny (Breaking
and Entering) 4, Survival 2, Stealth 2
Social Skills: Empathy 3, Expression (Guitar) 4,
Intimidation 3, Persuasion 3, Socialize 3, Streetwise 2,
Subterfuge 1
Merits: Contacts (Archivists, Music Historians), Herd
3, Languages (Ancient Greek, Classical Latin, Old
Irish), Library 3, Ordo Dracul Status 2, Pack Alpha,
Professional Training (Academic) 2
Disciplines: Coil of the Wyrm 1, Majesty 3, Obfuscate
3, Protean 1
Devotions: Fata Morgana, Siren’s Lure
Scales: Epidermal Shielding Bath
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 9
28 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 6
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 4
Notes: Professional Training can be found on p. 46 of
the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook. Adamantine’s
Asset Skills are Academics and Expression.
Bloodline Gift: The Golden Throat
The Blood grants all Cerrid a natural gift for story and
song. Upon entry into the bloodline, Beguilers take a dot of
Expression. If a Cerrid character already has the maximum
dots in Expression, her player can raise a different Social Skill
instead. Furthermore, when a Cerrid spends Willpower to
bolster mundane Expression actions, she takes a +5 instead
of a +3.
New Devotions
Fata Morgana
(Majesty ••, Obfuscate ••)
Whether poetry or music, a Beguiler has the power to shape
the world around her using only words.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
For the rest of the scene, the vampire can use Obfuscate
effects with her voice rather than via touch. Use the system
for Touch of Shadow, applying any costs from other Obfuscate
effects as normal. She can use her Discipline on any object or
person she can see within (10 × Blood Potency) meters; all she
needs to do is paint a word picture of the desired effect, though
the result is limited by her level of Obfuscate. For example, she
can’t make a door look like a castle gate unless she knows The
Familiar Stranger.
Siren’s Lure
(Majesty ••)
Sometimes out on the road, a Cerrid needs to bring the prey
to her. Or maybe she just needs cash for the Greyhound. Either
way, this Devotion offers a solution to both problems.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
 Requirement: The vampire must perform music or recite
poetry in a performative manner.
Dice Pool: Presence + Expression + Majesty vs. Composure
+ Blood Potency (highest in a group)
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Success: Anyone who hears the vampire’s music will be drawn
to her, moving through whatever means they can until they
reach the source of the tune. However, if the vampire stops
playing, the effect ends.
Exceptional Success: The victims also gain the Swooning
Condition toward the vampire.
Failure: Yeah, they’re not falling for that one.
Dramatic Failure: The vampire’s music takes on a sinister
edge she didn’t intend, and passersby will be sure to keep as
far away as possible.
Song of Myself
(Majesty •••)
It’s easy to get caught up in the big picture, but Beguilers do
a good job of remembering that even an individual can make
a big difference.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must perform for the victim for
at least a few minutes.
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Expression + Majesty vs.
Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Duration: Scene
Roll Results
Success: The vampire becomes the victim’s only focus. He
must spend a Willpower to even look away unless the Cerrid
dismisses him, and for as long as she keeps playing, normal
successes using Majesty powers on the victim are treated as
exceptional; rolled exceptional successes apply an extended
duration to the effect, as if the victim had a blood bond to
the vampire.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the above, treat the
victim as if he had a first-stage Vinculum to the vampire for
the duration.
Failure: Don’t quit your day job.
Dramatic Failure: The victim becomes hostile to the vam-
pire, and any subsequent performances will sound like nails
on a chalkboard to his ear. Consider their impression of the
vampire Hostile for the rest of the night.
Chapter One: Packmates 29
 Childer of the Morrigan
The ones who never stop fighting you
Something vicious this way comes. Its left hand holds a bleed-
ing ax, blade chipped and well-loved; its right holds your best
friend’s head. You run, and its laugh pursues you, the sound
of carrion crows celebrating a fresh meal.
The Circle of the Crone is a young covenant, not even
two centuries past its gory birth. Founded from a place of
oppression and persecution, the Mother’s Army’s formation
was — by necessity — a violent one, and the Childer of the
Morrigan were at the vanguard of that violence. They still are.
Acting as unforgiving guardians for their fellow Acolytes, the
Stormcrows defend their covens and cults against those who
would see them broken. In domains where they’re active, they
hunt known enemies of the Crone and slay them for sport,
their remains put on garish display so the rest of the All
Night Society gets the message: To attack the Dark Mother is
to invoke the wrath of the Morrigans, and like the goddess
they’re named for, their fury is endless.
The unifying philosophy of the Mother’s Army (if the
notoriously fractious covenant can be said to have one), is
evolution and creation through tribulation — suffer, endure,
and grow stronger. Many Acolytes view conflict as a chance
for growth, but while some are content to wait for it to come
to them, others like to strike the sparks of their own trials by
fire. Stormcrows exemplify the latter philosophy, preferring
to make their own trouble.
While the stereotypical image of a Morrigan is that of
a hard-bitten warrior spattered with gore, the bloodline
understands modern nights have spawned a wide variety of
conflicts that require diverse — and not always immediately
violent — solutions. Broken teeth and shattered glass are all
well and good, but you can’t always punch your problems
away. It’s for this reason that hacktivists, lobbyists, academic
firebrands, and more can find a home with the Stormcrows,
united by their desire for direct action.
Others in the Circle argue over dogma; the Morrigan see
a threat and snuff it out. While their Gangrel heritage does
“My goddess doesn’t want your apologies —
just your blood.”
30 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
predispose them to rather reckless solutions, a Stormcrow is
just as likely to destroy an enemy with a strategically leaked
email as with a sledgehammer to the skull.
While this decisiveness and ferocity earns the Morrigan
healthy measures of respect and fear, these traits cause as many
problems as they solve. Diplomacy goes out the window once
a Stormcrow hurls a Molotov cocktail through it, and their
“shoot first, ask questions while shooting” attitude doesn’t
win them many friends outside the Circle, or even within it.
Childer of the Morrigan may be the Acolytes’ most effective
enforcers, but their actions are often the flashpoint that esca-
lates a minor conflict into holy war. Not that the Stormcrows
mind, of course — they’re closest to their goddess with viscera
in their hair and screams in their ears.
This reckless attitude extends to the Morrigans’ use of Crúac.
Something in the Stormcrows’ blood allows them to enact rituals
in a tiny fraction of the time they should need, reducing what
would normally be an hour of frantic dancing and chanting
to a single muttered prayer and a spray of Vitae. The Childer
of the Morrigan claim this ability proves they’re favored by the
Crone as her chosen warriors, but other Acolytes say it’s another
reason to give the bloodline a wide berth. When these rushed
rituals work, they’re just as effective as if they had been done
traditionally, but when they don’t, the results are hazardous to
not only the Morrigan enacting them, but to anyone unlucky
enough to be nearby.
Despite their harsh methods (or maybe because of them), the
Childer of the Morrigan enjoy a high status in their covenant
due to their willingness to fling themselves into danger on behalf
of the Dark Mother. Problems arise in how they’re perceived by
outsiders. Rightly or wrongly, many Kindred view Stormcrows
as zealots first and very little second, which can make forming
ties outside of the Mother’s Army difficult. Their dedication
to being the most brutal monsters in a covenant that glorifies
monstrousness makes it hard to relate to mortals as well, and
many Morrigans find their Humanity frays badly before long.
 Some Childer counter this by immersing themselves in Kindred don’t give a lot of weight to this “divine call” story,
some facet of the living world: The steely-eyed night-shift but it is true that the bloodline is rather young — or,
volunteer at the women’s shelter who drains the blood at least, there’s no records of a group of Gangrel
of abusers; the ruthless campaign staffer who employs calling themselves Morrigans before around two
backroom intimidation and boardroom sorcery to centuries ago. More unusual, however, is that no
advance her cause; the gray-hat hacker, teeth gleam- one can pin down who started the bloodline. The
ing in the light of her monitor, tower anointed with eldest waking Stormcrows all say they were inducted
the arterial spray of the last troll she hunted down. within a few years of each other, but none of their
All are Childer of the Morrigan, roosting in places stories of who acted as their Avus match up, and, if
where they can channel their need to fight for a cause. pressed, none are able to recall clear details o the
encounter. This lack of clarity doesn’t seem to
bother the Stormcrows, but some more
Why you want to be us introspective Acolytes wonder where
We are rage given voice, a line in exactly these violent “protectors”
the sand drawn with bloody claws. came from.
You want a fight? We’ll give you a
cause, one that’s worth the pain you • This bloodline predates the
suffered to get here. Aren’t you sick of Circle of the Crone by centu-
how the world treats people like you? ries, perhaps millennia, and
So are we, so let’s tear it all down. “Childer of the Morrigan”
is simply its latest incar-
nation. Addicted to con-
Why you should fear us flict, the Stormcrows
Are you fucking joking? flourished in history’s
We’re the Childer of the most violent eras, attaching
Morrigan. We’ll burn down themselves to whatever orga-
your haven and pluck your nization gave them the most
eyes out before feeding you reliable supply of war. In the
your own ribcage. We’ll use Legion of the Dead, they were
your blood to fuel our the Corvi Belli, and in the
magic and your entrails Das Heiligen Nacht Reich,
to divine the doom of the they were Kampfraben. The
next idiot who crosses us. cause they fight for isn’t
Test us, and we’ll make your important; it’s the fight itself
name synonymous with “dead that fuels them. Their only
idiot” for the next hundred years. goal is to keep whatever
covenant they’ve attached
themselves to embroiled in
Why we should fear ourselves as much conflict as possi-
When all you have is a sword, every problem ble, moving on only when,
looks like it needs a good stabbing. All we know despite their best efforts,
is conflict, and we’re lost without it. We’ve been stability is achieved or
fighting from below for so long, we don’t know (more often), it
what a true victory would even look like, and we’re breaks under
afraid to find out. the weight
of e n d -
less war.
Bloodline Origins
• To hear the Childer of the Morrigan tell it, they were
birthed with the Circle of the Crone itself, responding
to the Dark Mother’s call for warriors to protect
Her fledgling covenant. They adopted Morrigan,
Celtic goddess of fate and battle, as their
patron aspect of the Dark Mother, to
lend them the strength to smite the
enemies of Her newly-formed Army. Most

Chapter One: Packmates 31

 • Once upon a midnight darkly, a handsome warrior on the eve
of war was despairing at his likely end when he met an old
washerwoman toiling along the road to the battle. She had
heard his lament and told him she would give him a blessing,
sparing him from death if he would give her a kiss. The des-
perate warrior agreed and kissed the old woman, whose lips
tasted of blood and ashes. In the battle, the warrior fought
fearlessly, believing himself invincible, but he was soon slain
with a hail of arrows. He awoke the next night, surrounded by
carnage and still bearing the wounds that took his life, only to
find the washerwoman standing over him. “You said I would
live,” he cried. “No,” replied the washerwoman, “I only said you
would not die.” The warrior still fights that same battle each
night, felled by sword, bow, spear, and club, but he’ll survive
every blow, spared death no matter how much he might wish
for it — ceaselessly ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Stormcrows, Crows, Morrigans
Bloodline Bane (The Warmonger’s Curse): Childer of the
Morrigan crave battle. Doesn’t matter if it’s a back-alley brawl
with broken bottles or a boardroom negotiation with expensive
pens. What matters is the fight, and Stormcrows have difficulty
walking away from one. Whenever a Morrigan backs down
from a challenge, deescalates a problem, or otherwise resolves
an important issue through means other than direct conflict,
she suffers a cumulative –1 on frenzy resistance for the rest of
the night. A Stormcrow’s Beast demands bloody victory and will
howl with greater and greater intensity until it gets what it desires.
Disciplines: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Vigor
In the Covenants
Childer of the Morrigan are so intrinsically tied to the Circle
of the Crone, most Kindred assume that none ever leave it — and
they’re almost right. Stormcrows who abandon their covenant
are branded traitors by their bloodline and hunted down with
a viciousness usually reserved for the Dark Mother’s worst
enemies. However, it’s very hard to actually kill a Stormcrow,
and some manage to evade the claws of their former comrades
long enough to make a fresh start in new domains.
The Carthian Movement: Many rogue Morrigans find their
way to the Firebrands. Carthians always have a fight to throw
themselves into, and they’re the last Kindred who are going to
criticize anyone for being too “confrontational.” Stormcrows
tend to balk at Carthian Law, however, instinctively resenting
any restraint on how they wage their new covenant’s wars.
The Circle of the Crone: For the majority of Stormcrows,
joining the Circle isn’t even presented as an option; it’s simply
assumed of them as they enter the bloodline. This suits most
Morrigans just fine. The Acolyte practice of bloody enlighten-
ment aligns well with their thirst for conflict, and this is where
most Kindred encounter the Childer: as wild-eyed, blood-spat-
tered figures leading a pack of Witches, looking to tear asunder
anything crossing their path.
32 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
The Invictus: Some Childer of the Morrigan come to the
understanding that, just because they crave constant war, it
doesn’t mean they have to be on the losing side. For those who
prefer to do battle from a place of power, the First Estate is ready
with a signing bonus. After all, what worthier cause is there than
to fight for the veil of secrecy that protects all Kindred? As the
wiseman said, if you’re good at something, never do it for free.
The Lancea et Sanctum: It’s exceptionally rare to find a
Stormcrow in the ranks of the Sanctified, but it’s also not
unheard of. The word “crusade” has a certain appeal to anyone
who feels most at home in the midst of a fight, and the Sanctum
possesses an exceptional talent for finding enemies who need
to be destroyed for the good of all. However, a Morrigan who
converts so radically had best be very circumspect about her
origins, lest any Acolytes she encounters mark her for a quick
and painful Final Death.
The Ordo Dracul: Not exactly known for introspection,
study, or contemplation, it’s an odd Stormcrow who tries to
become a Dragon. The Sworn of the Ax has some overlap
with their philosophy, to be sure, but even the most mili-
tary-minded Defiant usually act with some restraint, a trait
Childer of the Morrigan struggle to master. Something that
the Ordo Dracul can offer, however, is a way to manage their
dependence on battle. The Stormcrows’ need is rooted in the
Beast, after all, and the Coils offer many ways to bring the
animal within to heel.
Rumors
“Well, well, well. Looks like we finally know why negotiations
between the Invictus and the Crone aren’t going anywhere: The First
Estate’s messengers are getting eaten by the Witches’ pet Crow. Not on
any orders from her people, either, as far as we’ve been able to discern.
She just seems to want the feud to continue. Why? None of our concern,
but go see Phillip and ask him how much that information’s worth
to his masters in the Conspiracy. Then meet with the Crow and ask
what she’ll pay for us to forget about it… Hmm. On second thought,
just send her an email.”
The Childer have a tendency to prolong the conflicts they’re
involved in, sometimes unconsciously, but usually with full
awareness of what they’re doing. The reasons vary. Some
Stormcrows are just feeding their lust for battle, while others
enjoy the prestige and status they’re granted in times of war
and don’t want to give them up. When their warmongering is
discovered, consequences can range from severe to non-existent,
depending on the beliefs of the local Hierophant. In one city,
the domain’s three Stormcrows are under orders to cause and
maintain as much conflict with other covenants as possible,
as the domain’s cult believes that the only proper environment
for worship is one of constant strife.
“The Morrigans make me nervous. I know they’re here to protect
us, but have you ever been close to one when they do their weird
version of Crúac? It feels wrong — and that’s when it even functions at
all. When it doesn’t, things go sideways. I still have nightmares about
the last time, with the vines… I didn’t use to remember my dreams…”
 If the Stormcrows are off-putting to those outside the Circle
for their violence and recklessness, they’re off-putting to those
inside the Circle for how they use Crúac. The bloodline’s magic
is rushed, sloppy, and crude — it shouldn’t work, but it does.
Usually. Mostly. Sometimes, it fails spectacularly, which is why
some Acolytes whisper that the Stormcrows aren’t using blood
sorcery at all, but something more chaotic and sinister. The
possible source of this not-Crúac remains a mystery, however,
as no one who’s confronted the bloodline about it has lived to
regret the decision.
“The Stormcrows aren’t a real bloodline; they’re just a bunch of
Owls pulling a beautiful long-con. Listen! It makes sense! The Birds
hate us, right? So, what better way to beat the shit out of us all night
than go undercover as the Crone’s army of thugs? They win? Great,
they get to kill more of us! They lose? Still great, because then a bunch
of Licks got wrecked and no one’s the wiser. The smug assholes even
use a bird theme for their ‘bloodline,’ just to taunt us. Think about it!”
It’s inevitable that a bloodline with such strong associations
with birds, death, and magic would collect rumors linking
them to the Strix, but none have proven to be substantial.
There are no more shadow-possessed Stormcrows than there
are any other Kindred, nor are they spared in the Parliament’s
schemes. Indeed, for all their physical and magical power, the
Childer of the Morrigan are just as vulnerable to the Strix as
any (in their minds) lesser Kindred, a fact that doesn’t sit well
with those Stormcrows familiar with the Birds of Dis. This
perceived weakness has driven some Morrigans to heavily
research the Strix in order to learn more effective ways to
combat them. Of course, they’re pursuing this goal with all
the subtlety their bloodline is known for, drawing even more
suspicion from their fellow Kindred — some of whom are
watching with yellow eyes.
Kira Queen
“I’ve literally done days of research on how to kill someone and make
it look like an accident, so maybe don’t test me, m’kay?”
Chiara Qureshi could have been a best-selling author, a staple
of bookshelves everywhere. Under the pen name Kira Queen
(her publicist’s idea), she was building a reputation as a novelist
to watch, putting out gripping mystery-thrillers with a feminist
flair. Unfortunately, after an out-of-context comment went
viral, Chiara was plagued by online threats and harassment,
and her publishing contract was canceled. Chiara suffered a
mental breakdown and might have done something drastic if
her sire hadn’t murdered her first.
According to her sire, a respected general of the Mother’s
Army, Chiara has a higher calling in service of the Crone. Kira
isn’t so sure about the destiny part, but she’s taken surprisingly
well to the martial and magical training she’s been provided.
Showing rare patience and creativity (for a Morrigan), Kira has
already proven herself an asset in dispatching the enemies of
the Dark Mother.
If that’s all she was doing with her newfound power, it would
be one thing, but Kira has a list. Through new contacts she’s
made as one of the dead (it’s amazing what a Mekhet with a
laptop can find out), as well as certain guiding rituals, Kira
is tracking down the people who threatened her online and
making sure they never threaten anyone ever again. An under-
standable motivation, perhaps, but some of the people on Kira’s
list have powerful friends…
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Childer of the Morrigan
Covenant: Circle of the Crone
Mask: Conspirator
Dirge: Perfectionist
Touchstone: Tammy Miller, a fan-turned-friend who’s
stuck by Kira through everything. They live on opposite
coasts, so the Masquerade has been relatively easy to
maintain through their constant communication.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 1, Manipulation 3,
Composure 4
Mental Skills: Academics 2, Computer (Online
Research) 3, Investigation 3, Medicine (Poisons) 1,
Occult 2, Science (Morbid Trivia) 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Drive 1, Larceny
(Lockpicking) 1, Stealth 2, Weaponry (Vital Organs) 3
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression (Writing) 3,
Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 3
Merits: Circle of the Crone Status 2, Contacts (Fan
Fiction Writers, Medical Examiners, Police), Fame 1,
Haven 2, Resources 2, Safe Place 3, Sympathetic,
Disciplines: Crúac 2, Protean 2, Resilience 3, Vigor 1
Devotions: Fated Strike
Rituals: Cheval, Pool of Forbidden Truths, Rigor Mortis,
Shed the Virulent Bowels
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 11
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 4
Size: 5
Speed: 10
Initiative: 6
Defense: 5
Notes: Kira’s Protean adaptations are Claws, Feral
Senses, and Patagia. Pool of Forbidden Truths and Shed
the Virulent Bowels can be found on pp. 184–185 of
Secrets of the Covenants.
Chapter One: Packmates 33
 Bloodline Gift: Banshee Crúac
Besides their zealous love of battle, the Childer of the
Morrigan have an instinctual affinity for Crúac, able to call up
power in moments where most Witches need hours. Much like
the Stormcrows themselves, this power is difficult to control,
and it’s prone to lashing out at anyone around it. It was dubbed
“Banshee” Crúac by other Acolytes because of the misfortune
it causes to those nearby, and because if you’re close enough to
hear a Stormcrow invoke it, it’s already too late.
Banshee Crúac uses the following system:
• A Childer of the Morrigan can spend a Willpower when
attempting to cast any rite with a dot rating of three or less.
If she does, the action becomes instant rather than extended,
and she only needs to achieve a number of successes equal to
the ritual’s dot rating to cast it. Contested rituals are resisted
as normal. The Potency of these rites is always considered to
be one, and no more.
• If a Morrigan fails to cast a ritual using this method, it counts
as a dramatic failure. In addition to the normal consequences
of dramatically failing Crúac, the caster and those around her
will suffer a magical backlash from the fumbled power. For
each dot of the failed ritual, any mortals or vampires within
(Blood Potency × Crúac) meters of the Stormcrow (including
herself) suffer a temporary bane. This bane can come from
the examples on p. 118, Vampire: The Requiem, other
supplements, or the Storyteller can invent a new one that
reflects the power of the failed ritual. Victims are unaware
of the nature of their new bane until it triggers. This new
bane lasts a number of nights equal to the dot rating of the
failed ritual.
• Targets of rituals cast this way must be within line of sight,
even if the ritual normally does not require this proximity.
• Exceptional successes on rituals cast this way always result
in the Ecstatic Condition.
In addition, all Childer of the Morrigan with a dot of Crúac
receive an additional animal form upon learning Beast’s Skin,
that of a crow or a raven. This form does not count toward
the number of shapes a Stormcrow can have at the ready
and is always available to her. The exact type of corvid varies
depending on what species an individual Morrigan considers
to be typical to her part of the world.
New Devotions
The Childer of the Morrigan are great innovators of violence
and conflict, and they’ve come up with a few signature abilities
to better serve the Dark Mother in battle.
34 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Fated Strike
(Protean ••, Vigor •)
Warriors singled out by the goddess Morrigan are doomed to
die, and so it is with the victims of this power, the Stormcrow’s
limbs contorting unnaturally to bypass any defense.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: This Devotion can only be used with unarmed
attacks, or when attacking with melee weapons no larger than
Size 1. Natural attacks granted by Protean count as unarmed.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Before an appropriate attack, the vampire can activate this
power to ignore an amount of her victim’s Defense equal to
her Protean dots. If she does, she cannot use the active effect
of Vigor to add damage to the attack if it’s successful, as she’s
modifying her limbs for flexibility rather than strength.
Paths of Blood
(Animalism •••, Protean •••)
This shocking power allows Stormcrows to take greater advan-
tage of the murders of crows they often call up to aid their battles,
allowing them to emerge bodily from any member of the swarm.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The animal must be at least Size 1 and one of
the vampire’s stored forms granted by Beast’s Skin.
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Animal Ken + Animalism – animal’s
Stamina
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Success: The vampire rapidly dissolves into nothing and then
bursts forth from the body of a nearby animal in an explosion
of gore. The vampire must have unbroken line of sight to the
subject and be able to see it with her naked eye, but these are
the only restrictions on how far she can travel using this power.
This does no harm to the vampire, but the animal always dies.
Exceptional Success: The vampire finds traversing the paths
of blood and bone particularly natural. Her next use of this
power on the same type of animal costs no Vitae.
Failure: The vampire stays exactly where she is.
Dramatic Failure: The animal emerges from the vampire’s
body, with disastrous results. The Stormcrow takes unavoidable
aggravated damage equal to the creature’s Size as something
tries to claw its way out of her from the inside.
 Daimonion
,
The ones who ve got you figured out
What is the Beast? Ask a hundred different Kindred and
you’ll get a hundred different answers. Ask the Sanctified or
Dragons and they’ll tell you it’s a curse inflicted by a venge-
ful God. Ask an Acolyte and she’ll speak of the madness of
Dionysus and the furor of the Erinyes. Ask the Night Doctor
and he’ll yammer on about supercharged Ids. Whatever the
truth, if there even is a single one, all Kindred accept that the
Beast is personal. Whether it’s the worst part of yourself exag-
gerated by the Curse, unsullied animal instincts, or something
else altogether, there’s some sympathy between a vampire’s
Beast and the dead heart it nests within. If you understand
the Beast, you understand the Man, though vampires in frenzy
aren’t known for being talkative.
In truth, the Beast is always talking if you know how to listen.
And the Daimonion are always listening.
It’s a common refrain that Gangrel are more in tune with the
Beast than the rest of the Damned, but if any special insight
truly exists, it’s limited to their own, personal dark sides.
Conversely, the Counselors are keenly aware of what other
Beasts have to say about their “owners,” and this sense makes
them valuable to their Kindred, taking up respectable roles as
psychoanalysts, therapists, or advisors to princes and other pow-
erbrokers. Their odd practice of “Therian Psychoanalysis” has
earned them as good a reputation as any bloodline of Savages
might earn, though detractors like to point out how easy it is
to abuse their positions. Trust comes at a premium in the All
Night Society, but the unique advantages (and frailties) of the
Daimonion encourage some measure of cooperative thinking
— mutually assured destruction among the wicked dead.
In Ancient Greece, a daimónion was a spirit guide or inner
voice, one that would warn you of lapses in judgment and
lead you to wise and moral action. Like their namesake, the
Counselors are also guides of a sort — and isn’t the Beast just
another daimónion? No surprise, they say, how often the council
of Beast Whisperers leads to controlled atrocities. Critics are
also quick to point out another etymology: From “daimon”
came “demon,” and one might wonder if members of this line
aren’t just shoulder devils in tweed.
“I’m listening”
Consider the wild-eyed shrink. She has the ears of the city’s
high officials and advises them on ways to manage the severe
pressure of their Requiems. Pressure must be dealt with pro-
ductively, she says. That’s what the Beast is: pressure. But what
might happen if her deep insights into the workings of the court
were to fall into the wrong hands?
Consider the diplomat. She doesn’t break you with sledge-
hammer words or ensnare you with her aura of glory, but she
does know what you want and how you tick. Your Beast told
her. Don’t worry; she just wants what’s best for the domain, but
alas, sometimes that means breaking some bones. Diplomacy
among bloodthirsty monsters can be so heated.
Consider the implacable sheriff. He can hold his own in a
scrap, but his true strength is his unfailing insight. Whether
it’s hunting down draugr and other fallen Kindred or just plain
and simple criminals, he’s always a step ahead of his oh-so-pre-
dictable quarry. The Kindred sing his praises, but you don’t
clean up other’s messes without learning a thing or two — or
developing a few grudges.
What do these Daimonion guide their Kindred toward, and
why do they do it? If they know, they aren’t telling. And what do
they learn from their chats with the Beast? Pray they won’t tell
you, or else you might never be able to look in a mirror again.
Why you want to be us
The Beast drives Kindred, and no one understands these
drives better than us. We combine uncanny senses, remarkable
physicality, and beastly control into the kind of soft power Lords
and Serpents dream about, and we alone can claim something
preciously rare in the All Night Society: trust.
Why you should fear us
We offer so many useful services, but they require you to
open up in a rather intimate manner. That can be liberating,
but it’s all too easy to say too much. Could you even prevent
it from happening? But the better question might be whether
the Beast is really your friend… or if it’s ours.
Chapter One: Packmates 35

Why we should fear ourselves
There’s no blissful ignorance for us. Tearing away the distinc-
tion between Man and Beast and seeing how little separates
the two will never let you rest easy again. You start seeing
everything as cover for vice and predation. Perhaps the
little lies that keep our Kindred getting up at night exist
for a reason. After all, it was learning the truth that made
Oedipus claw his eyes out, but that would still leave our
true senses untouched.
Bloodline Origins
• The Daimonion have no self-pro-
claimed or mythological founder, nor
do they have a defined geographical
origin. Members of this bloodline
have spontaneously developed in
multiple places all over the earth,
but Counselors from Nairobi to
Jakarta can recognize each other as
kin. This has led them (and some
scholars among the Ordo Dracul)
to speculate that the Daimonion
are actually a unique evolution of
inherent Gangrel attributes, and some
wonder if it wasn’t deliberate. Vampires
are known for parasitism but rarely for
mutualistic symbiosis. Susceptibility to loss
of control, comprehensive understanding of
one’s fellows, an uncanny attunement with
them, a predisposition to guide and counsel
them — these factors combine into an excellent
tool of indirect rule. Perhaps the “evolution” of
the Daimonion is guided: Intelligent design for
the Damned.
• The first Daimonion were the result of Strix riding
Savages too long, causing a bizarre symbiosis. The
Owls like to claim they’re the Beasts of Kindred,
and that they spur vampires to follow their true
natures, but the truth is, “the Beast” is the collec-
tive unconscious of the Damned, and the Birds of
Dis are merely its shadowy manifestations. This
makes Strix daemons of the darkest kind, and
over many ages, Kindred have grown so detached
from their own collective unconscious that
something has to give. This tension is
what causes Strix to burst forth from
the depths: They are repression given
shadowy form. Only Gangrel are still close
enough to that primordial sea of souls that when
a Strix comes home to roost within a Savage, this
connection is once again awakened.
• Once upon a midnight darkly, a Woodsman was
traveling his weald when a cunning owl fluttered by
36 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
and told him of a betrayal most foul. Led to a lonely
shack in the woods, he came upon a ghastly
sight. A terrifying creature, all fur, fangs, and
yellow eyes, had devoured the old lady who
lived there along with her granddaughter.
Fattened on its crime, the creature was now
sleeping in delight. Overcome with righteous
anger, the Woodsman tore open the sleeping
Beast and dug oh so deep into the fiend’s
insides, until he nearly disappeared.
However, he only found what little
remained of the feast. Crestfallen,
he came out of the creature’s belly,
yet one does not crawl deep inside a
beast without being changed. Now a
beast himself, the devoured cry out
to him from within all the woodland
things — perceptively ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Counselors, Beast
Whisperers
Bloodline Bane (The Curse
of Attunement): A Daimonion’s
instinctual understanding of other
Beasts goes deep — deeper than is com-
fortable. If a Counselor has the Tempted
Condition at any level, when another
vampire enters involuntary frenzy in her
presence (that is, not riding the wave or
using the Coil of the Wyrm), she must
spend a Willpower or resist frenzy as well.
The desire of the Beast in this case is to
assist the vampire who triggered this sym-
pathetic frenzy. A Counselor can only be
in a sympathetic frenzy with one other
vampire at a time. Once a Counselor has
spent a Willpower to resist this lure, she
is immune to this frenzy trigger for the
rest of the scene.
Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex,
Protean, Vigor
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: The Daimonion bring
many practical advantages to the Movement. Embarrassing
the Establishment is so easy when you know exactly what
sets them off and why. Then the Firebrands can step in
as model citizens to calm the flames — or simply take
advantage of the chaos. Some Carthian Daimonion
also work with the Ordo Dracul in sharing the
newest insights into Therian Psychoanalysis,
believing that the next breakthrough in
Carthian politics will be the product of their
bloodline’s social engineering.
 The Circle of the Crone: Many Daimonion earn exalted posi-
tions as priests and spiritual caretakers in the Mother’s Army.
If the Beast’s wants are indeed the influence of the divine, then
those who can read them with such clarity must be oracles and
prophets. Even if the origins of the Beast are of an earthlier
nature, the Counselors can raise their Kindred to become ever
more perfect predators. Mortal distractions disappear as they
guide their cults to perfect attunement with the Dark Mother.
The Invictus: Among the Invictus, Counselors take up roles
befitting their nickname, whether as Keepers of Elysium or
just personal majordomos. The appearance of propriety and
decorum is of the utmost importance to maintaining the façade
of civilization, so it’s perhaps ironic that a bloodline of Savages
has so much to teach about reining in — or at least managing
— one’s lesser impulses. Those who take a Counselor’s advice
to heart can let petty insults slide off like water while pursuing
their own wants without illusions or distractions. Of course, a
good therapist is also well compensated, or else she may find
other uses for what she’s learned.
The Lancea et Sanctum: Much like Acolyte Beast
Whisperers, Daimonion of the Spear tend toward spiritual
duties. However, instead of preaching self-acceptance, they teach
their flocks to recognize and scourge their weaknesses. God has
cursed Kindred with the Beast for many reasons — it’s a mirror
of the vice and selfishness that caused you to join the ranks of
the Damned in the first place, and thus, it shall instruct you to
humility. It’s also a constant reminder of the purpose of your
Damnation, and Daimonion castigate their congregations until
they truly fit that end.
The Ordo Dracul: The change Defiant strive for crosses the
boundaries between the physical, metaphysical, and psycho-
logical. Predisposed to wild change, the Order is a welcoming
place for Gangrel who can combine ferocious instincts with a
sharp mind. The Daimonion add a unique perspective to the
Order’s research, capable of studying Kindred physiology just
as well as psychology. This grants Defiant Daimonion a greater
degree of freedom in their studies, making them exceptional
interdisciplinarians, visiting a metaphysicist symposium one
night and a gathering of the Impaled the next. They’re also
the most likely to come up with the wildest theories as to the
true origin of the Beast and their own gifts. Some of which
may even be true.
Rumors
“Don’t go to meetings with those ‘Accord’ folk. Sure, they do what
they purport to — get your Beast under control or whatever. But it’s
the Daimonion who do it for them. Know how? They make deals with
your Beast, but they add all those loopholes and tricks you don’t know
about, and then you’re basically their slave because it’ll do all sorts of
shit for them when it takes control. It’s all about control.”
The Daimonion are not the founders of the Society of the
Accord (p. 141), nor do they have any special control over it,
but it’s true that a disproportionate number of Counselors have
leading positions with the Hellions. It’s also true that, when
negotiating a Treaty at a Dialog, their aid is exceptionally useful.
Some believe their gift gives them special control over these
dealings, making it possible for them to weave in loopholes
and secret riders.
“Did you see the Voivode at Elysium tonight? Never seen him so…
out of place? Looked like a human hors d’oeuvre, right? And the way
the Oracle looked at him! I expected her to pounce him at any moment
and just fucking drain him right there and claim praxis. What could
have gotten into the old bat? Guess we better start hedging our bets
on who’s going to be in charge next week.”
As a Daimonion’s mastery grows, she can suppress the Beasts
of others. While this grants short reprieve for some Kindred,
malicious Counselors can use this to weaken those who’ve
angered them. The unfortunate Voivode above had his Beast
curbed by a Counselor he’d angered once too often; now lost
without the Beast’s predatory instincts and drives, he quickly
lost his edge as the auras of his fellow Kindred bore down on
him as if he were a mere mortal. Sensing a sudden weakness in
their ruler, all the city’s Kindred are preparing to make what
gains they can in the coming chaos.
“They say that weirdo Savage they called in would fix the draugr
problem right quick. Doesn’t seem like it to me, does it? Seneschal got
ripped up in his own haven, for God’s sake! Wait, what doll? Oh yeah,
the one the weirdo gave to the Seneschal as tribute? The draugr took
it? Why would a draugr steal a doll?”
Counselors are often called upon when draugr are loose in
a domain. Acting as profilers for those lost to the Beast, they
can predict such a creature’s behavior with uncanny accuracy.
Of course, this insight can also be used to vicious ends. Draugr,
like vampires in frenzy, are hard to control even with the power
of Disciplines, but their simple natures mean their actions can
be broken down into stimulus and response even more easily
than with more human Kindred. And nobody can figure out
the right stimulus better than a Daimonion.
Dr. Timothy Avalon
“Stay aware of your needs and thirst! That’s how you stay healthy.”
Dr. Timothy Avalon (but he wouldn’t insist on such for-
mality) isn’t what people expect when talking about alluring
creatures of the night, or even Gangrel in particular. Pleasant,
forthcoming, and a bit dorky, the local Kindred wonder if a
Lord left him hollowed out before he moved into the domain.
The truth is much stranger.
Timothy is a therapist. He offers psychological counsel for the
sort of people who appreciate his unusual office hours, includ-
ing his fellow Kindred. At Elysium and Carthian meetings, he’s
normally a quiet-yet-observant presence; however, when he spots
someone in need, he rarely misses the opportunity to lend an
ear. His seemingly harmless reputation and appearance often
leave even the most jaded dead humoring him.
Of course, that squeaky clean image has a darker side.
Timothy’s Beast is unusually suppressed in his night-to-night
existence, but even stranger is his behavior when he does fall
Chapter One: Packmates 37
 to frenzy: Instead of serving himself, his frenzies act upon the
secret and not-so-secret wants of the Kindred he’s read with
his bloodline’s gifts. Acting like a horrible guardian angel,
his charges have their desires fulfilled in the most awful ways:
mortal family members torn to shreds after spats, bags of
gore-spattered bank notes dumped in their havens, or their
rivals mysteriously disappeared — and their fellow Kindred
investigating them over it.
Why does he do it? He couldn’t tell you. He never remembers
what he does during these fugue-frenzies, though if he were
confronted with his deeds, he might theorize about “memetic
infections” or rationalize his actions with an overactive (but
selective) empathy. Cranks among the Dragons and his own
bloodline might reference bizarre theories of a Kindred collec-
tive unconscious, of which Timothy is but an agent. Or perhaps
he’s in thrall to even darker forces…
Timothy isn’t subtle in his actions, and it’s only a matter
of time before he keels the unstable equilibrium of the All
Night Society. However, thanks to his unassuming mask, he
hasn’t drawn any scrutiny as a potential suspect — why suspect
someone without a motive? Still, unless a powerful patron
steps in, Timothy will soon be found out, though, by then it
will almost certainly be too late, and no consolation to those
who found their Requiems in tatters after getting the things
they wanted most.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Daimonion
Covenant: Carthian Movement
Mask: Guru
Dirge: Martyr
Touchstone: Tamara, one of his psychotherapy
patients. She’s very self-aware despite her condition,
and this serves as a great tool of reflection for him.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 2, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 1, Manipulation 3,
Composure 4
Mental Skills: Academics (Psychology) 3, Computer 1,
Medicine 2, Science 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Larceny 2,
Stealth 3
Social Skills: Empathy (Therapy, Desires) 4, Expression
2, Persuasion 3, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Therian Psychoanalysis 3, Contacts (Clients,
Academics), Haven 2, Interdisciplinary Specialty
(Psychology), Library (Academics) 2, Professional
Training 3, Resources 2, Safe Place 2, Sympathetic
Disciplines: Auspex 3, Protean 2, Obfuscate 1, Vigor 1
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 8
Willpower: 8
38 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Humanity: 6
Size: 5
Speed: 10
Initiative: 6
Defense: 4
Notes: Professional Training can be found on p. 46 of
the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook. Timothy’s
Asset Skills are Academics, Empathy and Persuasion. His
Protean adaptations are Extra Sense, Feral Senses, and
Prehensile Tail.
Bloodline Gift: An Ear for the Beast
Daimonion are deeply perceptive of the needs and wants of
other Kindred, as communicated by their Beasts. When asking
the Storyteller questions with Auspex, a Daimonion gains an
additional question as long as it pertains to a vampire’s Beast.
This includes questions related to frenzy, Kindred needs, and
the mark’s Dirge. If a Counselor acts on this knowledge in
the same scene, she achieves an exceptional success on three
successes on a relevant action. This benefit can be transferred
to the subject if the Counselor communicates the insight.
When a Counselor uses Auspex on a vampire in frenzy
(including those suppressing their Beast with Willpower),
affected by a Bestial Triad Condition, or a draugr, she effectively
gains the +3 modifier for intimate contact (see Vampire, p. 128).
At the Storyteller’s discretion, this gift works on other super-
natural creatures with a “Beast” or a close connection to bestial
urges. It might even work on the Strix.
New Merit
Therian Psychoanalysis (• to •••••)
Prerequisites: Daimonion, Manipulation •••, Composure
•••, Animalism • or Auspex •
Effect: Your character knows how to rein in a rampaging
Beast and draw forth the Man. She has an instinctual under-
standing of the way frenzying vampires think, move, and attack,
keeping her safe as she takes control of the situation.
Soothe the Beast (•): Your character can use psychological
tricks to diffuse the Beast’s rage. As an extended action, she
can attempt to talk another vampire out of frenzy as if she were
one of his Touchstones (Vampire, p. 104).
Confuse the Beast (••): The Counselor sows doubt in
the Beast. After your character has scored a total number of
successes equal to or greater than a frenzying vampire’s Blood
Potency while using Soothe the Beast, halve (rounding up) the
subject’s bonus to Physical actions as if he had lost at Frenzy
Chicken (Vampire, p. 105).
Know the Beast (•••): Your character has achieved an
instinctual understanding of how the Beast fights. When a
frenzying vampire attacks her, reduce the Blood Potency bonus
from frenzy on the attack roll by her Animalism or Auspex dots
(whichever is higher), to a minimum of zero.
Survive the Beast (••••): Your character’s skill at staying
unharmed against a Beast-ridden attacker has grown even keener.
When spending Willpower to increase Defense, add +4 instead
of +2 against frenzying opponents. When Dodging in this situ-
ation, a Willpower point grants +5 dice and the 8-again quality.
Tame the Beast (•••••): Dealing with frenzying vampires
has become second nature to your character. She can find the
right psychological mechanisms to diffuse the situation while
doing her damnedest to stay unharmed. Once per turn, after
a successful Dodge action against a frenzying vampire, she can
attempt Soothe the Beast as a reflexive action.
New Devotion
Therian Excision
(Animalism ••••, Vigor •••)
With this Devotion, a Daimonion’s predatory nature can rear
up in a terrifying show of dominance, temporarily depriving
another vampire of his Beast. This is often far from a blessing,
as without the Beast, the victim loses many of his advantages.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Animalism vs. Resolve
+ Blood Potency
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Success: The victim loses access to her feral nature; she gains
the Beastless Condition.
Exceptional Success: The victim becomes Beaten Down
until his Beast returns. This applies to social interactions as
well as violence.
Failure: The other Beast proves more persistent than expected.
Dramatic Failure: The Daimonion’s Beast howls in frustra-
tion as it fails to tear out its supposed lesser. The Daimonion
immediately falls to frenzy with a goal appropriate to the cir-
cumstances, usually trying to prove its dominance in other ways.
BEASTLESS
You’ve lost access to the Beast, and with it, many of advan-
tages of the Kindred condition. Without the Beast, you cannot:
• Frenzy;
• Lash out (consider yourself a mortal when targeted by another
Predatory Aura);
• Use or benefit from Disciplines or Devotions;
• Use Kindred Senses.
Furthermore, attempting to drink blood requires a suc-
cessful Resolve + Composure roll, as the act lacks any of
the physical pleasures vampires associate with it. At the
Storyteller’s discretion, this roll may take a bonus if you’re
hungry or starving. This Condition ends without resolving
at the end of the scene.
Resolution: Suffer a breaking point due to inflicting violence.
Chapter One: Packmates 39
 Dead Wolves
The ones who hunt you by moonlight
A predator prowls the night, but it’s not alone. Swift-running
shadows lope beside it, and ghostly howls echo around it. It has
allies of flesh and spirit, and they’re on the hunt. You’d best
hope you’re not the quarry.
Vampires are not the only hunters stalking human prey. For
as long as Kindred have feasted on blood, werewolves have
ripped flesh from bone in the name of their sacred hunts.
However, despite sharing the night for millennia, the two
monsters have little in common besides their predatory nature.
Kindred are selfish, immortal parasites, obsessed with building
their own temporal power at the cost of everyone around them.
Conversely, Uratha have a sacred duty to guard the divide
between flesh and spirit, and anything that interferes in that is
an obstacle to be torn asunder. Usually, they ignore each other,
but when Kindred and werewolves do cross paths, things have
a tendency to end poorly, as misunderstanding and ignorance
lead to savage violence that can spark decades’ long conflicts.
It’s this status quo that makes the existence of the Dead Wolves
unique — and very strange.
Originating primarily in Mexico, the Lobos de Sangre exist as
a tenuous link between werewolf and vampire cultures. While
they’re certainly Kindred, the Dead Wolves have a spiritual
awareness other vampires lack, paired with an instinctual
understanding of werewolf society that lets them interact with
the Uratha and (usually) walk away whole. In fact, in regions
where they’re active, it’s not that unusual for Namus-Ur — as
the werewolves call them — to be made part of a pack. Uratha
packs are often called upon to hunt humans in order to serve
the balance between the worlds, and nothing is better adapted
for that purpose than a vampire. In return for their expertise,
Lobos who join packs get to experience true camaraderie and
trust, which are rarer than diamonds in the All Night Society.
These “adopted” Dead Wolves can also serve as diplomats
and ambassadors, helping to settle conflict between Licks and
wolves before violence breaks out.
However, some Lobos de Sangre take their Requiems in a
completely different direction, using their insight into the ways
of the Uratha to become deadly hunters of their so-called “living
“These? All the better to eat you with, my dear.”
40 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
cousins.” These mercenaries sell their services to princes and
covenant heads, acting as consultants and exterminators for a
high price. Wielding silver weaponry and an understanding of
the Uratha mindset, such Dead Wolves are adept at isolating
pack members and picking them off one by one. Their ability
to interact with the Shadow gives them another advantage, as
Uratha often have many enemies among the spirit world who
are eager to assist in their elimination.
What truly sets the Dead Wolves apart from their Kindred
isn’t their relationship to werewolves, but rather that awareness
of the Shadow. For the normally spiritually blind vampires, this
opens up a whole new dimension of opportunity and danger,
and it’s one of the reasons this scattered and independent
bloodline has survived — and even thrived — for as long as it
has. Of course, becoming aware of spirits also means the spirits
are aware of them, and not all of them are keen on making
deals with dead things.
The Dead Wolves hold a singular place in Mexico’s supernat-
ural ecology. Embraced as vampires but with a connection to a
wondrous and horrifying world that other Kindred are barely
aware of, the Lobos de Sangre rarely feel completely at home in
the All Night Society. As Namus-Ur, they’re capable of running
with the Uratha, but they’re never thought of as equals to their
moon-born comrades, and they’re perpetually on the bottom
of any pack they manage to join.
However, this eternal–outsider status means that neither
Kindred nor Uratha know what the Dead Wolves are truly
capable of. Vampires who persecute them turn up torpid with
missing limbs, and werewolves who decide the bloodline is prey
are found riddled with silver buckshot. Ultimately, Namus-Ur
walk their own path, and both sides of their bloody, brutal
family have learned to leave them to it.
Why you want to be us
We’re the ultimate survivors. To be a Dead Wolf is to see
things every night that even the eldest Kindred never dream of,
and to count as friends the most dangerous predators on earth.
Come howl with us and find joy in the moonlight.
 restoring some semblance of his Uratha heritage. This
Why you should fear us connection has been passed down to his childer
You think yourself safe in your ivory towers and glittering and grandchilder, who’ve kept his story alive long
finery, but you’re not. We can whisper to a spirit of inferno after Colmillo himself met Final Death.
to burn out your haven with you inside it, or reveal to
our pack who was really responsible for bulldozing • This story is true. Once, two young
through its territory. We are the Big Bad Wolf, Uratha grew up hunting and playing
and all of you are just little piggies hiding in at each other’s side, and they wanted
houses of straw and sticks. nothing more than to become strong and
fierce warriors together. However, one
of the pups was cursed by a creature
Why we should fear ourselves of hunger and death, his flesh forced
To the ignorant, we seem like to walk the earth while his spirit was
experts, but we really know just banished. The other wolf, consumed
enough to be dangerous, both to with grief, begged Father Luna
ourselves and ever yone around and Mother Wolf for aid, for
us. Keeping one foot in two cul- she could not accept that
tures means never belonging to either, her friend was lost. The
and that wears you down after a few one who answered her
decades. When we die the second mournful howls, how-
time, it’s almost always alone, and ever, was Death Wolf.
it’s never mourned. The wisest of Father Wolf’s chil-
dren, Kamduis-Ur took pity on the
little Uratha, offering to retrieve her
Bloodline Origins friend’s spirit from the lands of the
dead. However, there would be a cost:
• Juan Colmillo was born to A life must be given for one to be
werewolf parents in the early returned. Without hesitation, the
1800s, and all signs pointed to pup offered her own life, and
him joining them as one of the the bargain was struck. The
Uratha. Before he could expe- two friends saw each other
rience his First Change, how- again, just for a moment, as his
ever, Colmillo was Embraced spirit returned to his body and
by a Savage who wanted to spite hers left her own. The young wolf’s
the young man’s kin. Colmillo’s spirit was restored, but his flesh was
family was devastated, but one of his still dead, marking him as a pariah among
cousins refused to accept his fate. She the People. Moved to pity once more, Death
found Colmillo and, with his consent, Wolf gave this wretch a purpose: He would
staked him to the ground with silver be Namus-Ur, and he would retrieve
in the light of the full moon. She the souls of wolves who were
fed Colmillo her blood and begged slain before their time, allow-
both Father Wolf and Mother ing them to walk the earth
Luna to aid her in bringing her in undying skin so they still
cousin back from his damnation. might serve the balance.
Desperate, she then transformed
into her half-beast form and pro- • Once upon a midnight darkly, a
voked Colmillo into a frenzy, hoping he woman clad in comely red was walking
would overcome his Beast by recognizing through the woods when she was set
her as his true kin. Instead, Colmillo drank upon by an enormous wolf. The beast
her to dust by the light of the moon. This caught the red woman, but instead of
act transformed Colmillo yet again. While killing her, he offered her mercy if she
nothing could undo his Embrace, in taking would bear him a child, for he was
his cousin’s life, he reforged a mea- the last of his kind. Fearing death,
sure of his own link the red woman agreed, and
to the Shadow, sometime later, the
child was

Chapter One: Packmates 41

 born. It was a twisted thing, not all human, but not all wolf,
and stillborn. Its mother buried it in the woods, but it rose
from the earth the next night, searching for its family. Wolves
ran from it, and humans hurled stones and curses, but still the
dead child searched. To this very night it continues its search,
seeking the parents that abandoned it — longingly ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Lobos de Sangre, Lobos, Namus-Ur (among
werewolves)
Bloodline Bane (The Moonstruck Curse): Dead Wolves
don’t (necessarily) worship Mother Luna like their Forsaken
cousins, but beholding the moon in all its glory does stir the
Beast. When Lobos view the full moon for the first time in
a night, they must resist frenzy. After a Dead Wolf learns the
Moon’s Blessing level of Sublunario (p. 44), her chosen moon
phase triggers frenzy instead. Silver, blessed metal of the Moon,
also has a maddening effect on Dead Wolves. The first time in
any scene a Namus-Ur takes damage from a weapon coated with
silver, she must resist fear frenzy with a –3 modifier.
Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Protean, Resilience
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: The Movement’s emphasis on
community is appealing to this oft socially bereft bloodline.
They appreciate the collectivist nature of Carthian Law and
often become its fiercest enforcers. However, sometimes
Carthians will court Lobos de Sangre only because they think
they’ll get werewolf muscle out of the deal. When they’re
inevitably disappointed, they often turn on their supposed
new “friend.” Then they learn the hard way that something
the Uratha do care about is dead men attacking their allies.
The Circle of the Crone: Dead Wolves, often lonely and
Beast-ridden even by Gangrel standards, sometimes find
comfort in the arms of the Crone. Within the Mother’s Army,
the unending hardships of their Requiems take on a holy
aspect, changing from mere torment into a crucible that will
transform them into something stronger. Purer. Furthermore,
the Acolytes’ animist beliefs mesh well with the Shadow lore
Dead Wolves possess. They should be cautious about how
they share this information, though. One infamous Namus-Ur
accidentally set off a schism that ended in the Final Deaths
of half the Circle in a small Mexican town when he revealed
that a presence they’d been worshiping as a goddess was just
a jumped-up mosquito spirit that took a shine to vampires.
The Invictus: The First Estate loves to headhunt Dead
Wolves as enforcers and troubleshooters with unique skills,
tempting them with luxurious signing bonuses and rich feeding
rights. Those Wolves who accept, however, soon realize they’ll
never be seen as more than attack dogs, since few Invictus will
take orders from a “filthy animal.” Some Lobos de Sangre
fight against this treatment, attempting to rise in the ranks
despite the prejudice, but most are content to be pampered
thugs, doing First Estate’s dirty work as long as the blood and
money keep flowing.
42 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
The Lancea et Sanctum: Some Dead Wolves, upon coming
into their awareness of the Shadow, are horrified by what they
discover. Without Uratha or other members of their bloodline
to guide them, they turn to the Judges to protect them from the
“devils” who plague their sight. While more than a few Dead
Wolves turn their talents to hunting werewolves, the most
zealous emerge from the ranks of the Church Militant, eager to
purify both the earth and themselves in the Dark Father’s name.
The Ordo Dracul: The Defiant pursue Dead Wolves for
the same reason they shepherd the Mystikoi bloodline (p. 46):
Vampires with knowledge of spirits are rare and valuable as
research aids. Namus-Ur are seldom interested, however. They
already know how spirits work (or so they think), and they really
don’t want to be poked and prodded in some Dragon’s lab
over it. Furthermore, some Ordo Dracul operations, especially
those connected to Wyrm’s Nests, are damaging to spiritual
ecologies, provoking conflict with werewolves. It’s a rare Dead
Wolf who can explain why his covenant-mates are digging up a
pack’s locus — again — without getting clawed to bloody ribbons.
Rumors
“Dead Wolves are what happens when you Embrace a werewolf.
They’re so rare because it only works if you bite them in human form,
and even then, only on the full moon. Look, dude, I don’t make the
rules, that’s just how it is.”
A persistent falsehood that surrounds the Lobos de Sangre
is that they’re the result of Embracing werewolves, and that
they know how to do so. The Dead Wolves go out of their way
to deny this rumor, as most Uratha hate even the idea of being
turned into vampires, viewing the concept as blasphemous in
the extreme. At least, most of them do. Rarely, one of the People
likes the idea of living forever and seeks out a Dead Wolf to
make it happen. These misguided attempts never go far, usu-
ally ending in the death of the Namus-Ur, the Uratha, or both.
However, whispers pass among Mexican Acolytes of at least
one such folly succeeding. Rather than an immortal werewolf,
this unholy act spawned a twisted, bloodthirsty abomination,
and it now roams the badlands outside Mexico City, preying
on any vampires or werewolves who find themselves outside
the city limits at night.
“They’re all witches! If you fuck with them, they’ll put a curse on
you, and you’ll never know a moment’s peace again. Happened to
my sire’s second cousin, so I know it’s true. She accidentally killed a
Lobo’s favorite blood doll, and then her whole life went to shit. Her
car broke down, her email got hacked, her basement flooded — she
even got audited!”
Dead Wolves don’t have any innate ability with magic, and
they certainly can’t curse people. However, unlike the vast
majority of Kindred, most of them can deal with spirits, who
have a host of alien abilities they can use on behalf of an enter-
prising Namus-Ur. Being the target of an intangible being from
the other side of the Gauntlet can certainly feel like a curse,
as most vampires have no other context for the various mani-
festations afflicting them. It doesn’t help that many Lobos de
Sangre lean into these rumors in order to deter Kindred from
interfering with their business.
“The so-called Dead Wolves are traitors and weaklings. They bow
and scrape to their werewolf masters because they’re too pathetic
to survive the All Night Society without the crude protection those
animals provide. Do not deal with them, and especially do not trust
them, for they hunt their own kind. They may be vampires, but they
are not our Kindred.”
Perhaps the most common Dead Wolf rumor is that they
hunt other Kindred alongside the Uratha. While much rarer
than this gossip suggests, some absolutely do just that. Self-
loathing is a part of every vampire’s Requiem to some degree,
but a few Namus-Ur take it a step further and convince their
packs of something they know in their dead hearts: Vampires
are a menace that must be wiped out. These Wolves act as spies,
leading their werewolf cousins in bloody raids in which they
gleefully participate. While the number of Dead Wolves who
take things this far is few, they have a disproportionately large
influence on the bloodline’s reputation as a whole.
Rosalina
“Oh, sir, the spirits in your home are very, very angry. Do not worry,
however. Just do as I say, and everything will be all right…”
A clever and subtle con artist, Rosalina travels around Texas
masquerading as a shaman and wise woman, solving spiritual
problems that she herself creates. She became a vampire rela-
tively late in life, Embraced out of guilt by a sire who couldn’t
handle another innocent dying to the fangs of his Beast. She
received minimal instruction from her reluctant maker, but
Rosalina bounced back from her own murder pretty smoothly,
and uses her new abilities to her own advantage.
Rosalina, or “Mother Rosa Espiritu” as she refers to herself
when working, avoids other Kindred and is only vaguely aware
of werewolves. She’s fascinated with spirits, though, and enjoys
conversing with them, something she’s learned to do quite well
over the years she’s been dead. She’s good at making deals,
happy to do some spirit’s dirty work in exchange for a favor
or two. Her modus operandi is to find some American with
more money than sense and then begin tormenting them with
Animalism and the occasional spirit. She toys with her prey
for a while before approaching them as Mother Rosa, offering
her services, “to appease los fantasmas.” After taking her client’s
money (and, usually, some blood), she moves on to find her
next mark.
Rosalina’s mobility and low profile have kept her off the
radar of most Uratha, but her luck can’t hold forever. For
instance, unbeknownst to her, her latest would-be victim
just happens to be Wolf-Blooded, and he isn’t as ignorant as
he appears…
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Dead Wolves
Covenant: None
Mask: Nurturer
Dirge: Survivor
Touchstone: Javiero, the only grandchild who bothers
to keep in touch.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 4,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (English Literature) 2, Crafts
(Handicrafts) 2, Investigation 2, Medicine 1, Occult
(Spirits) 4
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Drive 1, Firearms
1, Larceny 2, Stealth 2, Survival 3, Weaponry
(Scissors) 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Cats) 4, Empathy 3,
Expression 1, Intimidation 2, Persuasion 3, Socialize 1,
Subterfuge (Harmless) 3
Merits: Allies (Spirits) 3, Anonymity 2, Danger Sense,
Direction Sense, Esoteric Armory 3, Language (English),
Resources 2, Sublunario 4
Disciplines: Auspex 3, Animalism 4, Resilience 2
Devotions: Blood-Eye Gaze, Vessel of Bone and Blood
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 10
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 5
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3
Notes: Rosalina has many ongoing deals with
a variety of spirits and can call on them for aid
in most circumstances. She also speaks fluent,
unaccented English, but she’ll often communicate in
a broken Spanish brogue to encourage los gringos to
underestimate her. Esoteric Armory can be found in the
Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook, p. 139.
New Merit
Whether they deny or embrace it, all Dead Wolves have a
blood-deep connection to werewolves. Those who choose to
nurture this bond not only gain insight into the ways of the
Uratha, but also find that Luna will share a glimmer of the
blessings she usually reserves for her true children.
No one is quite sure why or how Sublunario works (not even
the Dead Wolves), but learning it is instinctive, and almost all
Namus-Ur develop it to some extent.
Chapter One: Packmates 43
 Sublunario (• to •••••)
Prerequisite: Dead Wolf
Effect: A combination of mystical insight and instinctive
skills, Sublunario grants several distinct benefits to any
Namus-Ur who listens to the howling in her blood.
Wolf’s Blood (•): Dead Wolves have a subconscious under-
standing about how to behave around werewolves and their
kin. Your character gains a +1 to Animal Ken, Empathy, and
Socialize rolls that involve Uratha, Wolf-Blooded, or wolves.
She also counts as Wolf-Blooded for all intents and purposes
(see Werewolf: The Forsaken, p. 296).
Forgotten Rapport (••): Dead Wolves who attain this level
receive a sliver of the connection their Uratha cousins enjoy to
spirits. Your character gains a free Occult Specialty in Spirits
and can communicate in the First Tongue.
Taste of Home (•••): Blood calls to blood, living or dead.
Your character knows instantly if blood she smells or tastes
belongs to Uratha or Wolf-Blooded. Furthermore, she adds her
Sublunario dots to Taste of Blood rolls to gain details from the
blood of werewolves and their kin.
Moon’s Blessing (••••): Namus-Ur might not be Luna’s
children, but perhaps they’re close enough that she takes pity
on them. When your character gains this Merit, choose New
Moon, Crescent Moon, Half Moon, Gibbous Moon, or Full
Moon: She gains the 9-again benefit on the two Insight Skills
associated with this chosen moon phase (see below). During
nights where her chosen moon is in the sky, she exceptionally
succeeds on her Insight Skills with three successes instead
of five.
• New Moon: Stealth and Subterfuge
• Crescent Moon: Occult and Survival
• Half Moon: Academics and Persuasion
• Gibbous Moon: Expression and Politics
• Full Moon: Athletics and Intimidation
Blood Moon (•••••): Namus-Ur who master Sublunario are
able to physically manifest their inner wolf when their moon is
high. During your character’s chosen moon, she lupine form
while in frenzy, with her arms lengthening, her fingers turning
to claws, and fur sprouting all over her body. This shapeshifting
is reflexive and involuntary, though she may spend a point of
Willpower to prevent it. When shifted, your character gains
the following benefits:
• +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Stamina, +1 Size, +3 Speed,
adding to any associated Advantages
• Brawl attacks deal +1 lethal damage. Bites deal +2 lethal
damage and do not require a grapple. This effect stacks with
any Protean weapons she might manifest.
• Defense against Firearms attacks
• +3 dice to all Perception rolls
44 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
New Devotions
Blood-Eye Gaze
(Auspex •)
The first trick most Dead Wolves learn is to peer beyond the
World of Flesh into the Shadow beyond.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
A bloody haze covers the Dead Wolf’s eyes, and his vision
gives way to what lies in the Hisil. The vampire now sees the
shape of the local Shadow, as well as any spirits in his vicinity.
When he activates this power, the Namus-Ur can choose to
have it apply to both eyes or only one. Using both eyes leaves
him completely blind to the physical world, whereas using one
allows for vision in both worlds at once, but imposes a –2 on
all sight-based actions due to conflicting imagery. The vampire
may deactivate the power as a reflexive action at any time.
Vessel of Bone and Blood
(Animalism ••, Auspex ••)
The Namus-Ur uses the corpse of an animal to craft a totem
through which he may communicate with nearby spirits.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae (and 1 Willpower, optional)
Requirement: The mostly intact corpse of a creature Size 2
or larger, or many smaller corpses with equivalent mass.
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Crafts + Animalism
Action: Extended (target is five successes, with each roll
representing ten minutes of sculpting, carving, and tinkering)
Duration: Night or permanent
Roll Results
Success: The Dead Wolf successfully crafts a crude effigy
that invites a nearby spirit in Twilight to use it as a mouthpiece
into the material world. If the vampire knows the name of
the spirit he wishes to speak to, he can incorporate it into the
crafting of the totem, and only that spirit may speak through
it. Otherwise, any spirit in the vicinity can use the totem to
communicate.
This effigy lasts a single night before crumbling into a pile
of rotting offal unless the vampire invests a point of Willpower
into its creation, in which case, the item retains its properties
until it’s destroyed.
Note that while the totem allows communication between the
Namus-Ur and spirits, it does nothing to bridge understanding.
That said, Dead Wolves have their own ways of interpreting
spirits (see Sublunario, above).
 Exceptional Success: The totem is especially well crafted and
allows clear communication between spirit and vampire, even
if they would not normally share a language.
Failure: The vampire creates nothing but failed taxidermy.
Dramatic Failure: Something about the vampire’s creation
deeply offends the local spirits, and he suffers bouts of mis-
fortune for the rest of the night as they torment him from
behind the veil.
Hunter’s True Form
(Protean ••••)
By calling on nearly forgotten memories in their blood, the
Namus-Ur assumes a dreadful form that mimics the wolfman
of legend.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
The vampire transforms into a hulking, fur-covered hybrid
of man and beast, though he more resembles the classic
Hollywood wolfman than the eight-foot terrors Uratha can
become (unless, of course, she also manifests the Moon’s
Blessing of Sublunario). While in this form, the vampire gains
A Wild Family Tree
Players looking to portray one of the Dead Wolves,
or Storytellers who want to make them a major part
of a chronicle, would both be well served to glance
through Werewolf: The Forsaken. Doing so will
provide a better understanding of the Uratha, what
it means to be part of a werewolf pack, and other
character options for the Namus-Ur. There are many
intriguing story elements to be uncovered by reading
through the text with these factors in mind.
a level of Size, one point of general armor, adds Protean to
Intimidation-based rolls, and does not need to be in frenzy to
attack with his fangs without a grapple.
The first time the vampire activates this Devotion in a scene,
he must immediately resist frenzy as if provoked to anger.
Even if the vampire succeeds at reigning in his Beast, the
boiling rage he feels in this form imposes a –2 on all Mental
actions, and to all Social rolls not based on Animal Ken or
Intimidation. If the Dead Wolf possesses the Moon’s Blessing,
he does not suffer this penalty when using Insight Skills.
Chapter One: Packmates 45
 Mystikoi
The ones who surpass you
Despite being immortal parasites who feed on the living,
Kindred are rather earthly, ignorant of the many different layers
of reality that surround them. Closed off to the harmonies of
spiritual choirs, they are blind to the thorns lurking just off
the path. Vampires are drawn to spinning schemes that might
take centuries to mature but will only ever affect a few square
miles of steel and glass. This is for the best. When Kindred
do catch a glimpse of the wider world, they naturally want to
know more: to reach out and touch it, to explore this new layer
of their existence — and to exploit it.
One part hunting lodge, one part Christian cult, the Mystikoi
believe they’ve found the secret to (eventual) divinity. To
become closer to the sacred Unity, the origin of all things, one
must take pieces of it into oneself. The more Divine energy one
consumes, the closer one comes to being part of the Unity. They
accomplish this by eating spirits. The Illuminated (so-called
because they alone see the light of the Divine) have the ability
not only to perceive beings in Twilight, but to interact with
them in all manner of ways, from simple conversation to
tearing open their strange forms and feasting on the Essence
within. Rather than projecting their minds outward with
prayer or meditation, however, the Mystikoi rip bloody holes
in reality, using the power of Spiritus Sancti to assault beings
they shouldn’t even be aware of.
The Mystikoi’s focus on spirits — creatures the vast majority
of Kindred don’t even realize exist — has caused the Lancea et
Sanctum to label them dangerous Heretics, and the covenant
would have hunted the bloodline to extinction if it weren’t
for the intervention of the Ordo Dracul. The Dragons have
protected and shepherded the Illuminated for centuries, using
them as hunting hounds and guard dogs for Wyrm’s Nests.
The entities the bloodline covets are drawn to Nests and often
interfere with the work of Defiant who seek to study them.
The Mystikoi are some of the only Kindred who can deal with
angry spirits directly, and the Order is willing to indulge them
with their strange beliefs if it means heightened security for
“Blood? A distraction.
Our true thirst is for God.”
46 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
their most important assets. There’s also the slight chance the
Illuminated are on to something, and if that’s the case, the
Dragons want to be on hand to record exactly what a steady
diet of Essence does to a vampire.
Hunting is as central to the Mystikoi as their divine philoso-
phy, and a great deal of any Illuminated’s time is dedicated to
tracking and studying potential prey. Largely ignorant of the
Shadow and its laws, Mystikoi can only hunt those spirits who
manage to exist in the between-state of Twilight. Thus, they
can’t afford to be picky: Heretics will attack anything they can
sink their fangs into in their quest for divinity, and their blurry
understanding of what spirits are means that ghosts and other,
stranger entities often end up on the menu.
Fortunately for the rest of the All Night Society, the Mystikoi
are an obscure bloodline with few members. What they lack
in numbers, however, they make up for in zeal. Unlike most
Kindred, the Mystikoi aren’t spiritually blind, or helplessly bound
by the dogma of either Longinus or the Crone. They’ve seen
the truth behind the veil, and it’s made them hungry for more.
Why you want to be us
You don’t want to spend your Requiem squabbling over dirt
and blood. You’ve always felt there must be something more to
this existence of eternal night. There is: us. We’ll take you down
a better path, show you a world beyond this crude matter, and
let you run with us on our holy hunts. What is blood to the
essence of the Divine?
Why you should fear us
Many have tried to end us; all have failed. We’ve survived
crusades and pogroms, inquisitions and blood hunts. We see
into a part of the Divine even the most pious Sanctified and
the most devout Acolyte are blind to, and it fills them with
dread. One night, we shall achieve our ascension, and our
wrath against those who persecuted us will be terrible indeed.
 overwhelmed and consumed by the spirits they sought to
Why we should fear ourselves hunt, becoming hosts for these alien beings. The childer they
The hunt consumes us as surely as it does our prey, and with sire all have a spark of spiritual Essence within them, which
eyes ever lifted to the heavens, we’re too often blind to the is what allows them to use Spiritus Sancti and interact with
happenings on earth. We continue to exist because the Defiant creatures in Twilight. What few Mystikoi know, however, is
see our potential, but a Dragon’s mercy is a fickle thing, and that their Discipline is a trap, and by increasing their connec-
our prey watch for any cracks in the armor. tion to things beyond the veil, they make themselves better
hosts for spirits wishing to escape the Shadow. Masters of
Spiritus Sancti don’t ascend to a higher state. Rather, they’re
Bloodline Origins possessed by powerful spirits who then use their new, immor-
• The Mystikoi began as a small sect of tal hosts to pursue their own bizarre agendas. In effect, the
the Lancea et Sanctum in Byzantium, bloodline acts as a farm, groomed and guided
where they acted as guardians of the by the elders of their line, the first
many records and scholarly works scattered to fall to possession.
throughout the city. It’s through
the study of these ancient
(often heretical) texts that the
Illuminated first became aware of the
state of Twilight. In an effort to
become better guardians, these
proto-Mystikoi began trying to
reach this layer of reality,
using prayer to focus their
Beasts toward a new hunt.
Whether through divine prov-
idence or holy fanaticism,
they succeeded. There,
they found what they took
to be angelic beings, spirits
consuming each other in
an endless cycle of preda-
tion, the successful hunters
swelling with the power of
their prey. If they wanted to
become closer to the Divine,
they concluded that they
too would have to become
hunters. Abandoning their
old duties, the Mystikoi
devoted themselves to
this new calling and were
branded Heretics when the
Sanctum discovered their activi-
ties. Driven from their traditional
holdings, the bloodline might
have been wiped out if not for a
deal struck between the Judges and
the emerging power of the Ordo Dracul.
What promises the Dragons made are
unknown, but they convinced the Church to
call off their dogs and have taken a custodial
role over the Mystikoi ever since.
• The Illuminated are not the hunters
they think themselves to be: They’re
prey. The first of their number were

Chapter One: Packmates 47

 • Once upon a midnight darkly, a master hunter sought out a
great prize. He had brought low many powerful beasts and
feared that nothing remained to challenge him. However, in
the woods one day, the Ceryneian Hind appeared before him.
A great deer with antlers of gold and hooves of bronze, the
hunter knew that to slay such a beast would be the greatest
of challenges. For seven days and seven nights, the hunter
stalked the Hind before finally wounding it with an arrow. As
he moved closer to finish off the bleeding beast, it vanished,
and in its place stood the goddess Artemis. The Hind was
sacred to her, and by wounding it for the sake of his pride,
the hunter had earned her wrath. She cursed the hunter: He
would be able to see the Hind but never catch it, and none
but he would be able to perceive his prey. Doomed to an
existence of desperation and ridicule, the hunter is denied
the rest of death by Artemis, and so he pursues the Hind
still — futilely ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Illuminated, Mystikos (singular), Heretics
Bloodline Bane (The Consubstantiation Curse): Pursing the
divine isn’t just dogma to the Mystikoi: It’s bound to their blood.
Each night, Mystikoi can only consume Vitae from humans equal
to Humanity. Any blood they drink past this cap runs like water
through their systems unless they spend a Willpower to stomach
it (one per feeding). Their ability to feed from Kindred is not
affected, but only as long as Blood Potency remains below six
dots. The Essence-rich blood of werewolves is also exempt, but
feeding on Uratha tends to bring about its own dangers.
Disciplines: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Spiritus Sancti
In the Covenants
A common misconception states that all Mystikoi belong
to the Ordo Dracul, but it’s more accurate to say the cove-
nant serves as a sort of sponsor, and it’s well known among
Illuminated that they can go to most Defiant chapterhouses
and expect hospitality in exchange for small acts of service. This
practice is largely informal, and unknown outside the Ordo
Dracul, but those Kindred who learn of it are often wary about
letting Mystikoi join them, uncertain of their true loyalties.
The Carthian Movement: Largely uninterested in political
pursuits, Mystikoi almost never resonate with the Firebrands’
message, but those who do are rightly feared. An enraged
Gangrel is a fearsome enough opponent, but one who has access
to the alien abilities granted by Spiritus Sancti is terrifying in
a way Kindred minds weren’t meant to conceive. As an unex-
pected benefit of membership, Illuminated who join often find
that spiritual prey is plentiful in Carthian territory, birthed by
the conflict and outrage that the Movement naturally stirs up.
The Circle of the Crone: It’s hard to fathom a group being
too zealous for the Mother’s Army, but the Mystikoi might
claim that dubious honor. Their dogma is such a part of who
they are that it’s difficult for Illuminated to make room in
their dead hearts for other spiritual practices alongside it.
48 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Those few who can reconcile the Crone’s teachings with their
need to consume their way to the Divine make for fanatical
and inspirational Acolytes, always at the head of the pack and
eager to lead by example.
The Invictus: Illuminated in the First Estate are exceedingly
rare, as they’re taught to disregard the sort of temporal power
that the Invictus so covets, seeing it as a distraction. Still, some
ambitious Mystikoi might find the Invictus offers a better deal
for their service than the Dragons, accepting a few Oaths and a
juicy retainer to become unique consultants and troubleshoot-
ers for the often spiritually ignorant covenant.
The Lancea et Sanctum: It would take extraordinary cir-
cumstances for the Church to offer an Illuminated anything
but a painful Final Death. The Sanctified have long memories,
and the casting out of the Heretics is a notable chapter in their
bloody history. Perhaps they might be convinced to take in a
wayward Mystikos who’s renounced the bloodline’s ideology,
but such a supplicant would have to be willing to go to great
lengths to prove their desire to return to orthodoxy. There’s
also the question as to whether the rest of the bloodline would
allow such a conversion to take place…
The Ordo Dracul: While the Defiant have never demanded
exclusivity from the Mystikoi, the majority still willingly follow
the Dragon. After all, the covenant is happy to provide shelter,
blood, and study material for those who join, as well as serving
as a barrier from the tiresome politics of the All Night Society.
If the Illuminated are constantly observed, and occasionally
asked to used their abilities to further Dracul interests, isn’t
that a small price to pay? Whatever Project Shatterglass is, the
Mystikoi are happy to contribute in whatever way they can, as
long as it doesn’t distract them from their divine hunt.
Rumors
“I don’t understand it. Those crazy-ass monks were given that scrap
of territory as a joke, just something to keep them from showing up
every night and ‘demanding their rights’ or whatever. There’s nothing
out there, just crackheads and empty buildings. So why do they all look
so fat and happy? What, do they just feed on pure fucking misery?”
Many rumors surround the Mystikoi’s ability to survive in
even the most dismal feeding grounds, the most common being
that they can somehow feed on suffering. Other Kindred, who
think themselves clever, reason that the Illuminated must know
something the rest of the domain doesn’t about their supposedly
blood-starved territories. That the Mystikoi are feeding on the
many spirits of human misery that are drawn to such places
isn’t an explanation many vampires are going to accept, and
it usually just spawns more gossip. This can lead to strange
conflicts where factions vie for a worthless scrap of turf due to
rumors of hidden value.
“Spirits and a divine hunt? What hogwash. You know who else sees
things that aren’t there and claims to understand layers of reality beyond
the reach of us poor, ignorant souls? That’s right: The whole bloodline is
just swimming in Malkavia. It seems our backwoods cousins aren’t as
immune to the family Affliction as they’d like to believe.”

What About Werewolves?
The Uratha are charged with maintaining the
balance between the mundane world and the
Shadow. So, how do they react when they encounter
a group of vampire monks chowing down on some
Ensih that slipped through the cracks? Depends on
the pack. Spirits aren’t supposed to be in the World
of Flesh in the first place, so in a way, the Mystikoi
are doing them a favor by stopping a problem
before it gets worse. On the other hand, when a
vampire devours a spirit’s Essence, it doesn’t remain
in the proper cycle of existence. It just seems to
vanish into them like some sort of spiritual black
hole, and that cannot be a good thing.
Deciding the Illuminated need to be clawed
to bits isn’t an unreasonable conclusion for
your average werewolf (especially a Bone
Shadow), but open-minded or inexperienced
packs might not mind the help keeping the
borders clear. However, unlike the Dead Wolves
(p. 40), another spiritually aware bloodline,
the Mystikoi are almost totally ignorant of the
true nature of their prey and their own impact
on the ecosystem of the Shadow. This lack of
understanding can cause significant harm, even
if they don’t intend it. Ultimately, if the Uratha
are going interact with the Illuminated in your
chronicle, do whatever is most interesting for
the story you’re trying to tell.
False. The Illuminated don’t carry the M any more than any
other bloodline, but their obsessive sermonizing and fixation
on forces most Kindred cannot perceive makes it easy for them
to be mistaken for the Afflicted. This can cause the already
persecuted bloodline additional problems in many domains,
but what happens when a Mystikos really does become infected?
How does Dementation interact with Spiritus Sancti — and is
it the reason that every Gangrel in one domain woke up last
night suddenly able to see into Twilight? For more on Malkavia,
see False Gods: Ventrue.
“The Mystikoi? Gangrel? Nah, man, that’s bullshit. How many
Savages you know read that much? Just think about it. They see
shit that no one else can, and they know shit they shouldn’t be able
to. They ain’t blood, brother; they’re just Shadows who learned to
grow claws.”
In a strange bit of bigotry, many Gangrel refuse to believe
the Illuminated, with their scholarly mindset and knowledge
hoarding, are part of their clan at all. They’re often thought to
be Mekhet, or at least tainted with Shadow blood, which can
lead to insult and conflict when the Mystikoi try to integrate
into the local Savage community, only to discover they aren’t
welcome. Of course, in that case, who’s to say the Shadows
wouldn’t take them in instead? The Khaibit might find the
Illuminated to be valuable allies, if they could properly focus
their hunger toward deserving targets.
Jeremy Wong
“What the fuck is that thing, and why does it have so many mouths?!”
According to his sire, Katarina Lyberon, Jeremy has been
marked by the Divine for greatness and is meant to serve as a
guide on her hunt for ascension. According to Jeremy, he’s a
third-year bio-chem student who was an affirmed skeptic up
until a year ago, when he was turned into a walking corpse with
a hunger for blood and the ability to see monsters that should
definitely not exist.
Now Jeremy is in way over his head as he tries to figure out
how to keep from disappointing his unstable sire and cope with
the existence of the supernatural in all its varied and horrible
forms. He’s managed the first, so far, by introducing Katarina
to the world of modern science, which she previously only had
a passing familiarity. She’s a fast learner, though, and Jeremy’s
incomplete knowledge of his field is going to run out at some
point. For her part, Katarina is attempting to train him in the
ways of the Divine hunt, but as a lifelong nerd and (prior to
his Embrace) asthmatic introvert, he’s not having an easy time
with it. It doesn’t help that the nightmarish beings he can now
see still terrify him, and he can’t fathom wanting to sink his
fangs into one of them.
Of course, the only thing Jeremy fears more than spirits
is his sire and what she’ll do if he can’t fulfill whatever eso-
teric purpose she’s chosen him for. Katarina is very old, very
powerful, and very not-all-there after centuries of devouring
Essence from a wide variety of spirits. However, she also has
many enemies who’d be happy to be rid of her, and Jeremy
might find allies among them if he can gather the courage
to seek them out.
Jeremy’s only consolation in all of this is that he’s taken to
his covenant like a duck to water, and while peer review might
be a little bloodier in the Ordo Dracul than the University of
Victoria, the academic trappings are familiar enough to be com-
forting. He’d like to know more about this “Project Shatterglass”
thing, though. Specifically, why both his and Katarina’s names
keep cropping up in otherwise redacted files.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Mystikoi
Covenant: Ordo Dracul
Mask: Scholar
Dirge: Child
Touchstone: His overly supportive mother, who’s still
pulling for Jeremy to become a doctor one night.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 1, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 3,
Composure 2
Mental Skills: Academics (Research) 3, Crafts 1,
Investigation 2, Medicine 1, Occult (Twilight) 1,
Science 3
Chapter One: Packmates 49
 Physical Skills: Brawl 1, Drive 2, Survival 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Cats) 1, Empathy 2,
Persuasion 2, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Good Time Management, Haven 2, Herd 2,
Mentor 3, Ordo Dracul Status 1, Resources 2, Retainer
1, Safe Place 1
Disciplines: Coil of the Ascendant 1, Protean 2,
Resilience 1, Spiritus Sancti 1
Scales: Day-Wake Conditioning
Blood Potency: 1
Health: 9
Willpower: 4
Humanity: 7
Size: 5
Speed: 8
Initiative: 3
Defense: 1
Notes: Jeremy has turned his beloved orange tabby,
Plasma, into a ghoul, and she accompanies him most
everywhere he goes. His Protean adaptations are Extra
Senses, Patagia, and Wall Crawling.
Spiritus Sancti
Literally translating to “Holy Spirit,” Spiritus Sancti is
what allows Mystikoi to perceive, feed from, and manipulate
their sacred prey.
While much ritual and esoterica surround this Discipline,
at its core, Spiritus Sancti is about teaching the Beast to hunt
a new kind of food. As a consequence of this, an Illuminated
in the grips of hunger frenzy will perceive spirits as a source of
nourishment and is fully capable of using all levels of Spiritus
Sancti to bring down his prey.
Cast Off the Scales •
The most basic level of Spiritus Sancti allows the Illuminated
to track the Divine beings at play behind the scenes and feast
upon their Essence.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
The vampire can perceive beings in Twilight for the rest of
the scene, even if these creatures have a supernatural power of
concealment. Nothing can escape his divine sight so long as
they remain in his presence. Furthermore, his Kindred Senses
attune with his new prey, and he can detect the presence of
nearby ephemera exactly as if he were attempting to detect the
blood of living creatures.
The vampire can use Disciplines on ephemeral beings as he
would humans and animals if they can perceive him, but effects
that require victims to smell his Vitae do not work unless he
uses Step Upon the Path.
Step on the Path ••
Moving beyond simple sight, this power allows Mystikoi to
interact with spirits directly — mostly in a predatory capacity.
Cost: None
Requirement: The vampire must activate Cast off the Scales.
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Spiritus Sancti
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Roll Results
Success: The vampire can interact with beings in Twilight
as if they were in the physical world: she can see them, hear
them, touch them, and — most importantly — feed on them,
even if she can normally only feed on Kindred blood. As with
other supernatural beings, she must spend Willpower to impose
Scarred or Swooning on an ephemeral victim.
Note that ephemeral beings can interact with the vampire as
easily as she can them. This power only affects the vampire’s
body; she can strike a spirit with her fist, but not stab it with a
knife or shoot it with an arrow. Likewise, worn armor provides
no protection against a spirit’s attacks.
Exceptional Success: The effect lasts the rest of the night or
until the vampire chooses to end the effect.
Failure: The vampire fails to move beyond the material world.
Dramatic Failure: Spirits can affect the vampire, but not
the other way around.
Shape of the Divine •••
As the Illuminated feeds upon more and more spirits, he
gains the ability to mimic some of their traits.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must Step Upon the Path to
attune herself to Twilight.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Duration: Scene
The vampire gains access to a number of Numina equal to
her Discipline dots. When required, she rolls Intelligence +
Occult + Spiritus Sancti to activate these powers, spending
Vitae in place of any Essence costs. If a Numen’s potency is
determined by Rank, use the vampire’s Blood Potency. Upon
learning this Discipline, she gains a single Numen automatically
(player’s choice), but she must feed on an ephemeral being to
the point of discorporation to learn more. She can choose to
forget Numina if she reaches the limit imposed by her Discipline
dots, but she must wait a full day and night before she can use
the new power.

50 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Story Seed: Project Shatterglass
The Ordo Dracul have taken care to maintain good relations with the Mystikoi, sheltering the bloodline from its
Sanctified enemies on many occasions throughout history. However, the Defiant rarely do anything without an angle,
and they have plans for the Illuminated. Referred to unofficially as Project Shatterglass, some elders of the covenant
have been studying the techniques and adaptations of the Mystikoi for centuries, and they’re close to a breakthrough
concerning mass application. What does this mean for the domain where the first tests get underway?

Consecration of the Self •••• Kingdom of Heaven •••••

The vampire consumes a spirit whole, temporarily gaining
a portion of its power to wield as her own — but warping her
flesh into strange new shapes.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Requirement: The vampire must fill the ephemeral being’s
corpus with lethal damage then activate this power. If the
spirit has no Essence in its pool, it cannot resist, though failure
means it will die.
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Spiritus Sancti vs. Resistance
+ Rank
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Duration: Night
Roll Results
Success: The vampire devours the spirit, temporarily com-
bining her flesh with its Essence. For the duration, she gains
access to the follow abilities:
• She can feed ephemera her Vitae to provide them with
Essence on a one-to-one basis. This still imposes a Vinculum.
• Her fangs are a bane to all ephemera.
• She is unbound from the rules of the material world. She can
walk up walls, sit on ceilings, and otherwise freely decide what’s
“up” or “down” at any given moment. This can be treated as
a kind of flight, but she can only move her normal Speed.
• She can take an instant action to pass through beings and
solid objects, but only as long as nothing in Twilight obstructs
the way. If she uses this in conjunction with a Dodge action,
she adds her Discipline dots to the roll.
While this Discipline is active, the vampire’s body takes
on an expression of the creature she devoured. For example,
devouring an ice spirit might turn the Mystikos’ extremities
black and purple, as if she were experiencing extreme frostbite
Exceptional Success: The transformation lasts for nights
equal to Blood Potency.
Failure: The spirit’s Essence will not merge with the vampire’s.
Dramatic Failure: The spirit possesses the vampire for the
rest of the scene (see Chronicles of Darkness, p. 134).
The vampire anoints an area with Vitae, creating a heaven
on earth where spirits are prey and he is the apex predator.
Cost: 3–9 Vitae and 1 Willpower
Requirement: The Mystikos must scribe holy sigils along the
perimeter of the Kingdom in Vitae. Three Vitae is enough to
mark a mid-size house or garden, six can secure a city block or
large cemetery, while nine is enough to claim an entire megamall
or city park. If any of the sigils are removed before the process
is complete, the power fails and the vampire must begin anew.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: One week per dot of Blood Potency, longer if the
vampire remains in her Kingdom
Any ephemera in Twilight within the Kingdom gain the
Materialized Condition as long as they remain, even if they
wouldn’t normally be able to do so. Angels, ghosts, and spirits can
sense the breakdown of the barriers keeping them from the world
of flesh and are drawn to the area. When an entity in Twilight
comes within (10 × Blood Potency) meters of the Kingdom, it
must roll Resistance + Rank penalized by the vampire’s Spiritus
Sancti dots. Failure means it is compelled to enter.
Once within, ephemeral beings find it difficult to leave with-
out the vampire’s consent. An entity must spend a Willpower
and succeed at a contested roll of Power + Rank opposed by the
Mystikos’ Presence + Intimidation + Spiritus Sancti in order to
leave without permission. The vampire can sense the location of
any ephemeral being within his hunting grounds without a roll.
While within his own hunting grounds, the Illuminated
does not have to pay the initial Vitae cost to activate Shape
of the Divine. Multiple his Kindred Senses for the purposes
of sensing ephemera with Cast Off the Scales by his Spiritus
Sancti dots.
Particularly canny Mystikoi use their Kingdoms not only to
feed, but also to extract bargains from trapped spirits, extorting
favors in exchange for allowing them to depart intact.
The vampire’s Kingdom remains empowered for the dura-
tion, though the effects of this Discipline only end when the
vampire leaves after it expires.

Chapter One: Packmates 51

 Oberlochs
The ones who want you gone
The city is a straightjacket. To live in a modern metropolis,
Kindred leash themselves with human mores in the hope that
they might keep the prey ignorant to the monsters lurking in
the dark. Maybe that means better eating, but anyone who
sacrifices liberty for gratification is a fool, a dog who’ll sniff any
master’s throne for a big enough bone. The Oberlochs know
better. Living off the grid has taught them many harsh lessons,
but the one that took root was the simplest: Freedom trumps
safety. Safety is an illusion for bloated ticks who think hiding
in concrete slabs is living.
The Kin are the most isolated bloodline in the All Night
Society. Called Rats among the Kindred (at least Kindred who’ve
survived an encounter), they make their havens in the hamlets
and homesteads that still riddle Appalachia, whether mountain
hideaways or just towns that never got around to incorporating.
They nest in places the long arc of progress didn’t give a shit
about, bringing kine to heel with the Blood and the boot. They’re
moonshiners with secret recipes for bathtub gin and biker crank.
They’re sallow-eyed villagers who turn hitchhikers into statistics.
They’re mutant cannibals on the edge of town who worship
made-up death gods just for the thrill of it. No two broods are
alike, but they all follow the same code: outsiders stay out. This
is the highest law of the grandparents, a gerontocracy composed
of the bloodline’s mustiest elders, and they’ll enforce it with an
authoritarian zeal the Invictus would blush at.
That grandparent terminology isn’t just metaphor, either.
Rather than the eternal summer of other Kindred, the
Oberlochs suffer a ceaseless winter, aging into husks as they
surpass mortal lifespans. This even carries over into other
forms, though some find petty pleasures in taking on the shape
of skeletal wolves and bats to scare off trespassers. All who bear
Oberloch Vitae must bear this burden, and so the bloodline
seeks out ever fresher flesh to fasten to its decrepit corpse.
The reasons for this curse are disputed. Back in the 1800s, the
mortal Oberloch family fed on death long before they became
vampires. Their mining concern was the most profitable in
Pennsylvania, and its coffers were slick with its workers’ blood.
Among their many victims were the mortal relatives of a Gangrel
“Get out or get dead. All the same to me.”
52 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
wanderer called Bartholomew Ahern, who returned to his native
soil only to find most of his kin dead or maimed in the mines.
Without much of a grip on Humanity in the first place, the loss
fueled a lust for vengeance that overtook his reason, and he
bound every worker to his Vitae in order to unleash them on the
family’s manor house. Fire consumed most of Millionaire’s Row
that night, and the Oberloch estate was the blazing epicenter.
Only one family member survived: Alice, the mother. Ahern
was impressed as she climbed from the wreckage, gifting her
with the Embrace for her desperation, and this is the lie Alice
still tells her grandchilder to this very night.
Whatever the true catalyst for her Damnation, Alice fled
into the wild. Ashamed of what she’d become, and terrified
of being caught by her family’s former victims, she wandered
Appalachia for many years, scraping by on the blood of beasts
and unfortunate travelers. When her hair began to gray and
her skin to wrinkle, she didn’t realize anything was wrong,
taking it as a given that the punishment for her family’s sins
was to be eternal suffering. However, as the years grew longer,
she became lonely, missing the pleasures of her daylight life.
In Harmony, Pennsylvania, a backwater even among backwa-
ters, Alice took back what was taken from her. Her husband
taught her everything she needed to know about ruling over
peasants, and years of life on the lam had ground out whatever
compassion she had left.
Tonight, Old Alice still casts a shadow over her bloodline,
prima inter pares of the grandparents. Under her watchful,
desiccated eyes, the Oberlochs expand far and wide across the
Midwest, testing prospects for physical strength, low cunning,
and a desperate need to go along to get along.
The Oberlochs believe in freedom, sure, but they’re not anar-
chists. Liberty has to have structure, and the bloodline’s leaders
know the kind of bedlam that would befall their domains if they
let their childer run wild. They are Savages, after all. Which
isn’t to say there’s no room for upward mobility, but you also
have to take what you can get. If someone else wants it, you’d
better be ready to stake them for the sun, Kin or not. If not, it
was never yours to begin with.
 Some Kindred worry the Kin are siring an army, hidden from
the Masquerade’s scrutiny in their rural strongholds. Rumors
make the rounds that the Rats are abandoning their nests,
• Alice wasn’t Embraced. Not deliberately. Bartholomew had no
making their way into domains they would’ve once avoided.
Rural America only continues to shrink, and forced from of
their domains, the time may be coming for the Oberlochs
to fight back.
Why you want to be us
That’s not up to you. Dreams are for uppity dead
men who presume to call us their Kindred. You were
Oberloch the day you were born; you just didn’t know
it. You can’t always get what you want, but you’ll
be what we need.
Why you should fear us
“No Trespassers” isn’t a threat. It’s
a guarantee.
Why we should fear ourselves
Eventually, the body just…
unmakes itself, cell by cell, atom
by atom. Not decay or rot — dis-
solution. Entropy. All that’s left
of you is a husk of jerked bone
the Blood keeps on moving past its
expiry. What you become after that
isn’t human anymore, and it damn
well isn’t a vampire.
Bloodline Origins
• No one believes Bartholomew
Embraced Alice, to the point
that it’s almost a family in-joke.
Not that any of them have dared
ask the truth, but a few Oberlochs
have a little pet conspiracy. These
Kin believe Alice had some Vitae
in her veins already, and that
perhaps she and her husband
were thralls to another Gangrel
— maybe even the last scion of
a lost bloodline, one that suffered
the same aging curse. If so, Bartholomew’s
attack may not have been so altruistic, and
possibly just an attempt to kneecap a rival.
This nameless sire (if he did/does exist)
would’ve Embraced Alice posthumously or
completed her Embrace after she rose as a
revenant. However, that leaves the question
of why this sire let Alice wander the wilds
for so many years, though if he had a knack
for the Lord’s words, like his grandchilder, it may have been
a compulsion…
interest in bestowing his gift on parasites, draining
the family dry only for the pleasure of vengeance.
He left the corpses to the flames, not realizing
the toll his bloodlust would take. Before he
could flee, his victim rose and threw her-
self upon him with a bottomless hunger,
stealing his Vitae till she was beyond sati-
ation. But, not knowing what she was or
what she was doing, she didn’t complete the
Amaranth. Neither revenant nor Kindred,
Alice walked from the blaze dragging
Bartholomew’s remains behind her,
hoping one night she might learn
what transpired between them.
She still keeps his deathless head
mounted on her wall, rotting
along with his found family.
• Once upon a midnight
darkly, a lonely old woman
waited for her granddaughter
to come up the forest path.
However, the little girl in red
never made it through the
dark wood, for a terrible beast
of tooth and claw swallowed
her whole. Fat with the child’s
tender flesh, it crept down the old
woman’s chimney, springing from
the fireplace to devour her in one
greedy gulp. But the weight of the
crone’s years spread through the
beast like a mold, graying its fur
and dulling its teeth and sapping
its strength. Now it must wander
the woods for all time, lost in a
haze of its own withering mind —
feebly ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Kin (among
themselves), Rats (derogatory)
Bloodline Bane (The Putrefying
Curse): The Oberlochs age. Due to this
eternal half-life, Kin have difficulty connecting to
true immortals, taking Social penalties on rolls to
relate to other vampires as they do with mortals.
Oberlochs at Humanity 9 and 10 do not gain
a bonus to these actions. In addition, when
Kin Embrace, their childer join their
bloodline automatically.
Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate,
Protean, Resilience
Chapter One: Packmates 53
 In the Covenants
If they knew what covenants were, they might join them.
Some runaway Oberlochs make their Requiems among the
five major factions, but most Kin consider other vampires to be
bureaucratic meddlers and martinets (at best). However, many
broods fall into similar archetypes.
The Carthian Movement: A few Oberloch coteries have orga-
nized themselves around egalitarian principles, but that equitable
view doesn’t extend to mortals, or even other vampires. These Kin
combine their family’s insularity with half-understood Marxist–
Leninist bromides, using vulnerable humans and would-be
revolutionaries as catspaws, whether to foment violence so they
can feed once the dust settles, or to throw their minions against
“oppressors,” whether that’s human institutions or Kindred ones.
The Circle of the Crone: The Mother’s Army doesn’t
always confine itself to the urban sprawls the Kin avoid, and
Appalachian Acolytes looking to establish rural territory have
often come to blows with the Oberlochs. The Crone’s anarchis-
tic ways clash with the bloodline’s strict hierarchy, and many
Gangrel choristers take it upon themselves to “liberate” neonate
Oberlochs from their bizarre family. These feuds typically end
with the Kin bringing down the full brunt of their forces on the
interloping Witches, but rumor has it that one breakaway brood
and a Crone coven merged at the height of the Satanic Panic,
escaping far away from the grandparents and the Danse Macabre.
The Invictus: If the Kin could be said to have a political
default, it resembles the Invictus in all but name. Most Oberloch
grandparents rule their broods in a top-down fashion, taking
blood tithes from childer and grandchilder in exchange for
access to protection and very old money. These arrangements
are never sophisticated enough to produce Oaths, though they
do employ mundane promises like handshake deals and plain
old personal honor. A few Oberlochs have tried to learn the
secrets of true Oaths, but so far, the First Estate has always
come away with the better end of such bargains.
The Lancea et Sanctum: A few Kin believe the Lord Himself
cursed Alice, and that they must atone for the sins that warranted
such a punishment. While these Oberlochs lack the sophisticated
dogma of the Church Eternal, their methods are similar: pun-
ishing the wicked, scaring the wayward straight, and generally
raising holy hell on God’s behalf. Unlike the Sanctified, Kin do
worship with mortals, some hoping the Almighty will find it in
His heart to redeem them for tending their sheep well.
The Ordo Dracul: Transcendence is in the eye of the
beholder. For most Kindred, it’s surpassing the Curse; for the
Oberlochs, it’s being normal vampires at all. A few wayward
Kin find a place among the Dragons, either those who couldn’t
live with their bane or just the ones who chafed under their
grandparents’ rule (and who didn’t have the lefty bent to tol-
erate Carthian politics). These Dragons focus their studies on
the Coil of the Ascendant, hoping to kickstart the gift their
broken Embraces denied them. At least one has found her way
to the heretical Coil of Ziva, but so far, she hasn’t existed long
enough to find out if it’s working.
54 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Rumors
“You know that Serpent who runs the record store on Fifth? The
silver fox? Yeah, well, he sure does it for me. Anyway, I hear he had
some dealings with a family of Savages from out in Kentucky. Overlock
or Offenbach. No clue what it was about, but I’m reliably informed
the Gangrel all looked about his age. I’m just saying, you don’t see a
lot of middle-aged Licks around. Maybe there’s a social club for late-
life Embraces?”
A few other Kindred lineages lack eternal youth. The best
known of these bloodlines are the Erzsébet of Clan Daeva,
who age in fits and starts, but unlike the Oberlochs, the
Cavaliers can revert their decrepitude with torpor. On the
surface, the Kin have little in common with the so-called
Withered, but one only has to scratch that surface to see they
share some spiritual DNA. The Erzsébet are the one-percenters
of the All Night Society, and in their way, so are the Oberlochs.
They’ve hoarded considerable wealth and land over the last
two hundred years, and despite their reputation, more than
a few grandparents have had the wherewithal to invest that
capital. Furthermore, neither bloodline is particularly beloved
— the Kin for obvious reasons, and the Cavaliers for their
unsavory business dealings. If these two bloodlines were, for
example, to combine their resources into a search for some
hypothetical de-aging therapy, the lucky Lick who helped
them could make some serious coin. Or, maybe she could
just sell them out to their many, many enemies. For more on
the Erzsébet, see Sin Again: Daeva.
“Wasn’t just Alice who got out. She pretends she made it on her
own like some undead pioneer, but at least two or three members of
the family cleared the flames, and I reckon ole Bart gave them the bite
too. The grandparents don’t say it so plain, but you can read between
the lines. And yeah, I do think she ate ’em.”
They would never say it aloud, but some of the bloodline’s
elders suspect Alice isn’t their sire. If they had the basic edu-
cation most Kindred receive, with an understanding of how
Vitae forms ties between childe and sire, they might even
know it. Through a haze of discordant emotions and déjà vu,
the names Sophie and Alfred sometimes appear unbidden on
their cracked lips, leaving only half-recalled grief in their wake.
Alfred and Sophie Oberloch were indeed Alice’s husband and
daughter, but in mortal historical records, they’re recorded as
having perished in the fire. But then, so was Alice.
“I hear they ride with the Brides. Like, hillbilly vampire biker gangs.
Now there’s a movie I’d like to see.”
The Brides of Dracula (p. 135) are one of the few groups of
organized Kindred that the Kin are willing to deal with. While
not many Furies have territory in Appalachia, Brides looking
to expand eastward have started paying Oberloch broods to
store guns, drugs, and other contraband in their homesteads,
whether to move it later on or to stock up for their predicted
end times. One or two Rats have even patched up, aiding the
covenant using their time-honored traditions, like, say, taking
over a small town in a single night.

Old Alice
“Come closer. Granny wants to take a good look at you. She won’t
bite… hard.”
Old Alice has been there from the beginning, and by God,
she’ll be there till the bitter end. Married at an early age, Alice
(“a-LEE-suh” to her German immigrant family) never wanted
for anything. Lovely and urbane, her life as the bride of a brutal
coal baron was a dream come true, right up to the moment it
became a nightmare. She didn’t think she’d make it a night out
in the wild, but maybe just enough of her husband’s ruthlessness
rubbed off as she crawled charred and naked into the night. That
was the moment she decided she’d never be weak again, and it’s
how she’s shaped the nightmare into a dream.
Still holding court from the fief she carved out of Harmony,
Old Alice gets a taste of every deal her bloodline sinks its fangs
into, whether that’s drugs, protection rackets, or just Vitae.
In theory, she’s just one of many elders, but most of the other
grandparents owe blood bonds to her, ones they’re obligated
to top up at the bloodline’s annual family reunion. Those
who don’t renew their vow are shunned, a practice that’s more
proactive than the term might suggest.
Among outsiders, Alice is more legend than fact. Some say she’s
withered to little more than a skeleton, and that she has a pack
of feral ghouls act as her arms and legs. Others say she uses her
Disciplines to possess meat puppets, pretty ghouls and childer
she mentally hollows out to wear when it suits her lusts. However,
these half-truths obscure a far more frightening fact about the
Oberloch’s matriarch: She’s bored. Alice is tired of rotting away
in Harmony, and she regrets divorcing her brood from the All
Night Society so utterly. She might’ve been the prince of some
eastern city state by now if she hadn’t set her sights so low, not
realizing the kind of empires the Blood can really build.
Alice has sent new childer to start Embracing in nearby cities
like Scranton, and even farther-flung places like Philly and
Pittsburgh. Soon, a whole new generation of hungry Oberlochs
will be making their way into the All Night Society, and they’ll
be bringing Grandma with them. Maybe that will mean adopt-
ing some of those that stifling “Kindred” culture she poisoned
her childer against, but she’s old enough to know rules only
apply to the young — and the weak.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Oberloch
Covenant: None
Mask: Monster
Dirge: Authoritarian
Touchstones: Her “family” is the only thing that
resembles a link to humanity anymore.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 5, Wits 3, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 5,
Composure 6
Mental Skills: Academics (Book Learnin’) 2,
Investigation 2, Occult 3, Politics (Family) 5
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Larceny 3, Stealth
3, Survival (Appalachia) 5
Social Skill: Animal Ken 4, Empathy 3, Expression
(Dominate) 3, Intimidation 4, Socialize 2, Persuasion 5,
Subterfuge (Blatant Lies) 5
Merits: Bloody Talent, Claws of the Unholy, Oberloch
Status 5, Resources 5, Retainer 5, Small-Framed, Swarm
Form, Staff 5, Striking Looks 2
Disciplines: Animalism 5, Dominate 5, Protean 5,
Resilience 5
Devotions: Barn Raising, Conditioning, Interloper!,
Stalwart Servant, Summoning, Undying Familiar
Blood Potency: 6
Health: 11
Willpower: 10
Humanity: 3
Size: 4
Speed: 8
Initiative: 8
Defense: 3
Notes: Alice suffers the Holy Day bane (Sunday), but
she no longer experiences breaking points for creating
revenants. Her Protean adaptations are Extra Sense,
Feral Senses, Wall Crawling, and Rubbery Flesh. Her
animal forms are barn owl, coyote, hawk, lynx, and rat.
New Merits
Bloody Talent (••)
Prerequisite: Oberloch
Effect: Due to their isolation, Oberlochs rarely have access
to Disciplines beyond those tied to their blood. However,
this limitation has provided the Kin a skill for squeezing the
most out of the little they have. When your character buys a
Devotion that keys only to her in-clan Disciplines, she takes a
one Experience discount if she exceeds the prerequisite dots
for at least one of the composite powers. If this would lower
the cost below one Experience, take a Beat instead.
New Devotions
The Kin have no unifying abilities at their disposal, just a
hodgepodge of dirty tricks they’ve developed to keep the right
people in and the wrong people out. As such, any vampire can
learn the powers below from a willing Oberloch teacher.
Easier said than done.
Chapter One: Packmates 55
 Barn Raising
(Animalism •••, Dominate •••)
With this Devotion, an Oberloch can put her herd to good
use without needing to do a lot of legwork.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The victim must have the Mesmerized
Condition when the vampire activates this Devotion, and
she must then implant an Iron Edict trigger using Entombed
Command, paying all necessary costs.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: As with Entombed Command
The vampire’s victim becomes a vector for her commands.
Others won’t carry out her orders with the same single-mind-
edness, but they’ll feel an urge to help. If the victim undertakes
a task while under the effect of the Dominated Condition, up
to (Blood Potency × 2) people within the vicinity will find their
way over to check things out. Anyone who helps the victim gains
a Willpower for their effort. Those who accept this Willpower
suffer a –3 modifier to resist the vampire’s Dominate powers
for the rest of the night.
Interloper!
(Animalism ••••, Dominate •••)
With this Devotion, a Rat can hex her victim, using her
mortal pawns to do the dirty work for her.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must smear a point of Vitae on
the subject (included in the cost). Oberlochs usually spit on
their victims.
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Intimidation + Animalism –
Composure
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
Roll Results
Success: Any mortal stranger who sees, hears, or smells the
victim must resist the effect of Feral Infection (Vampire, p. 127),
applying the vampire’s successes as a penalty. On a failure, the
subject of this Devotion becomes the target of the bystander’s
rage until he’s dead or the scene ends, whichever comes first.
Anyone who suffers this frenzy effect won’t quite remember
what happened when they come out of their rage, and they’ll
dismiss any signs of violence until they have a chance to clean
up. At that point, they just won’t think about it at all.
Exceptional Success: Bystanders will attack the victim until
he’s dead or the end of the night.
56 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Landmines and Spring Guns
and Bear Traps, Oh My!
The Rats don’t just rely on supernatural ingenuity
to keep the Kindred out. The bloodline’s siege
mentality leads them to fill their domains with
boobytraps and other deadly defenses, and woe
betide any Lick who finds out the hard way. If you
want a more robust system than the Safe Place Merit,
creating a trap falls under the Building Equipment
system. Instead of conferring a bonus, the device
incurs a penalty on characters trying to escape or
evade it. Some traps have a trigger, which applies a
further penalty to notice or avoid it, to a maximum of
–5 overall. For complete trap systems and examples,
see Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition, p. 282.
Failure: People might look at the victim a little funny, but
they won’t bother him unless he bothers them.
Dramatic Failure: The victim takes on an aura of innocence,
and the vampire suffers a 5-die penalty on all actions to turn
people against him, including Disciplines. He cannot be the
subject of this Devotion for the rest of the night, and he cannot
be made the target of a normal use of Feral Infection.
Twists of the Blood: Extended Family
Technically, most “Oberlochs” are ghouls. The bloodline’s
bane doesn’t extend to the half-damned, so the Kin apprentice
their prospective childer for long periods, siring only when
doing so outweighs the downsides. This practice isn’t out of
any pity or nostalgia for lost youth, just a recognition that their
curse has a schedule.
This means that Oberloch ghouls usually stand on a more
even keel with vampires than their counterparts in normal
domains. They’re not treated well, but abuse is evenly distrib-
uted among ghouls and childer. Blood dolls and Vitae addicts
tend to fill the role of servants, as do any other mortals the Kin
can get their hooks into.
If you want to treat the Oberlochs as a ghoul family as well
as a bloodline, use the following system. Depending on the
particular brood, they can be either biological or social.
Touchstone: The local grandparent.
Benefit: Rats apply the higher of Dexterity or Wits to Defense
while operating within their family’s domain. Furthermore,
they treat Dominate as if it were an in-clan Discipline.
Drawback: Oberloch ghouls are even more removed from
mortals than (some) Kindred. Treat all failures on Empathy
rolls with normal humans as dramatic failures.
 Verlice ,
The ones you can t catch
The headlights blind you as your squint at them in your mirror.
No one else should be on the road this late — not way out here — so
it’s just your luck you found the only midnight tailgater. You don’t
see any flashing colors, so it’s not the cops.
Just as suddenly as they appear, they’re gone. What happened
back there? Did they crash? You pull over and step out onto the old
cracked pavement and look back, calling out. The only answer is
the headlights, right behind your car again, and a dark blur rushing
toward you.
The world is littered with small towns, villages, and hamlets,
lost in a concrete bramble tying all the little points of light
together. These places are usually invisible to Kindred; they
can’t support even a single vampire long-term, and even if they
could, they provide little support to build a Requiem.
The Verlice see the bigger picture. A small town might not
sustain a Lick forever, but it provides enough sustenance for
a few nights — even a week. The Needles draw maps and plot
routes, hopping from one quiet oasis to the next in search of
a meal or a job, sometimes going years without encountering
their Kindred. Plenty of places don’t even appear on GPS, but
a well-traveled Needle knows them all, collecting those tiny
drops of blood overlooked by the rest of the All Night Society.
The world is a much larger place than most vampires think,
and a Verlice can traverse that void like a wolf.
When Needles do choose to stay in town, they explore, dig-
ging into all the little cracks and worming their way through
the secret pathways that lace the city together, but they’re always
alert for trouble, ready to set out on the road at a moment’s
notice. Either the trouble they cause or the call of their own
blood eventually compels them to seek new journeys. They
make a habit of begging forgiveness rather than asking per-
mission, especially when it comes to the territory of others. A
little poaching is easy to get away with if no one knows your
face, let alone your name.
Travel is a way of life for this bloodline, and members will
offer their services as couriers and transports to other vampires
for favors owed (if they ever return), or just for the materials
they require to keep them moving. They take particular interest
in local Gangrel, ever watchful for others they can free from
“You think those walls will protect you?”
the confines of a city’s gilded cage. Needles look at cities and
don’t see the neighborhoods or buildings the way most other
Kindred do. No, they see a circulatory system at work, moving
lifeblood around to touch every person, place, and dead thing.
To a Verlice on the road, their Ride is their home, hideout,
and fortress. The stereotypical Needle owns a muscle car, an old
warhorse that was hardy even before the vampire got hold of it,
but many use trucks, vans, boats, or even small planes. Few use
motorcycles, though, mainly because of the lack of shelter and
storage space. Their whole existence comes with them wherever
they go, and it’s a rare Needle who gets by with so little that it
fits in a saddlebag long term. The bond a Verlice shares with
her Ride runs deep, and most hold superstitious beliefs about
treating them well. They’re often overheard speaking to them
as if they were pets, and rumors abound that these vehicles are
intelligent to a limited extent, watching out for their owners and
working to keep them safe. Stories of a Ride’s engines growling
around particular people, smelling faintly of old, rusted blood,
or of silently turning to face someone when they weren’t looking
are just that — stories. Right?
Why you want to be us
Our blood makes us free. Don’t let the others trick you
with all their noise about domains and territories. All that’s
for suckers who were willing to make do with less, the scraps
left over when the meal’s done. If the sheriff won’t chase you
ten miles past city limits, she won’t chase you at all, and there’s
always some Lick in the next town willing to hire a courier or
pay for dirt on the place you just left. We keep our ears open
everywhere we go for little tidbits — gossip, graffiti, and grudges,
just in case they come in handy down the road.
Why you should fear us
Know that feeling when you look out into the dark and your
spine crawls because you’re sure something’s looking back?
That’s us, waiting just outside the firelight. We stick to out-of-
the-way places because no one is ever happy to see us when we
come to town, even if they all line up to offer deals once they
Chapter One: Packmates 57
 think no one else is looking. Sometimes they think they
can cross us, that the city protects them, but they also
haven’t ever been dropped on the side of an interstate
an hour before dawn.
Why we should fear ourselves
It’s not all blood and roses. Our cage is bigger
than most, but we carry it wherever we go. We
don’t need walls, but we’re always looking down
the road because of it. We don’t have a home,
and we never will, but part of us can’t
stop craving one. People aren’t meant
to keep moving. They’re supposed to
put down roots and live among their
fellow men — even the dead ones.
Without a tether, the road goes on,
and you won’t like what you find
at the end.
Bloodline Origins
• The Verlice began with a
choice: the open road or cer-
tain death. John Verlić was an
exile, or so they story goes, cast
out for nebulous crimes against
an elder, a covenant, or an entire city.
The legend says his blood changed
after a night spent in a scrapyard far
from any city. Desperate for suste-
nance, he scraped the rusted blood
off vehicles destroyed in wrecks,
or found an ancient ambulance
stocked with stale plasma. These
are the only points the Needles
seem to agree on, and they take
their founder’s name in his honor.
• The Needles have been around
since long before the combustion
engine, born from people who
were killed by vampires, their
corpses left on the open road. These
dead highwaymen have been behind
many legends of ghostly carriages and
caravans, spotted at a distance but disap-
pearing before anyone can get close.
• The Verlice aren’t related to other Kindred
at all. Once, they worshiped the first god of
pathways in the ancient darkness before history,
when all humanity clustered around tiny
twinkling fires surrounded by the night’s
infinite void. The power to move from
58 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
one place to another, and the bravery to undertake such a
journey, was a boon and a blessing, and mortals sought
out the emissaries of this god in untamed places to
grant them that strength. A few returned changed,
mightier than their kin, telling stories of gifts given
by shadowy things with farseeing eyes.
• Once upon a midnight darkly, a wolf stalked the
forest for fresh prey. A foolish thing in red crossed
his path and quickly found herself caught in his
jaws. She begged and pleaded, crying that she was
lost, but the wolf paid her no heed as the ground
turned the color of her cloak. Sated, he slept,
but when he awoke, she was awake too, her
skin a shining white under crimson, still
whispering that she was lost and needed
to find the road home. Now fearful,
the wolf fled, diving into the forest
dark to escape, but to his horror, she
followed, a pale thing in the gloom
just at the edge of his sight. He ran
as far and as long as he could,
and when he finally collapsed
with exhaustion, she was there,
and he could see the hunger
glinting in her eyes. When her
meal was finished, the thing of
red and white wandered into
the dark again, searching for
the road to her destination
— endlessly ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nick n a me s: Ne e d le s,
Coyotes, Trespassers (disre-
spectful)
Bloodline Bane (The
Stagnant Curse): T he
boredom of staying still is blood
deep for the Needles, and it drives the
Verlice to inhuman things in an attempt
to feel connected. All Trespassers suffer
from a withering of their Touchstones
when they remain in the same place.
Each night after the first that a Verlice
sleeps in the same (Blood Potency)
mile radius, her effective Humanity
lowers by a dot for the purposes of
attached Touchstones. Only resting in
a new area for a full day can alleviate
this bane, and she cannot rest in the
same area for a full week.
Disciplines: Auspex, Obfuscate,
Protean, Resilience
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: What revolution is complete
without messengers to run news ahead of the vanguard, or
convoys to make sure the guns and bullets reach the right hands
in time? The Verlice take duty to the Movement seriously even
if they don’t stick around to fight on just one front. Coyotes
make excellent guerrillas, picking off Kindred who think the
periphery of a warfront is safe, or even guided missiles, deliver-
ing a coterie of ass-kickers precisely where they can do the most
damage. Occasionally, Carthian Verlice make a pretty penny
getting someone out of town at the right time, whether or not
the passenger is willing.
The Circle of the Crone: Quiet and forgotten places are
where one can best seek the gods, and much wisdom exists
outside of cities, locked away from the grasp of most Kindred,
and spirit guides among the bloodline enable others to take
the pilgrimages the Crone requires of them. Verlice Acolytes
are also a relatively reliable source of rumors and information,
and they’re often consulted before a journey. Frustratingly,
at least for the Needles, young Acolytes will pester them for
“blessings” before just about any travel if the opportunity
presents itself.
The Invictus: An empire is only as strong as its ability
to project force. Every monarch requires transports for her
soldiers, and drivers willing to deliver them to violence. Less
directly, Needles often serve as couriers or chauffeurs when
just a phone won’t do, or chase after criminals trying to flee
a domain. Verlice represent deniable assets to the Conspiracy
of Silence, since many are willing to commit transgressions
the Invictus can’t dirty itself with, and the fact that many are
more than willing to move on from a domain afterwards is
just icing on the cake.
The Lancea et Sanctum: Ever find God on the road? Meet a
wandering preacher who seemed just a little off? Get followed
down a lonely highway by headlights in your rearview? Sanctified
Verlice are lone wolves among vast herds of unwatched sheep,
prowling midnight roads in search of those who need to be set
on the straight and narrow. Sometimes people get rescued from
hitchhiking by strangely intense drivers and delivered exactly
where they needed to go, but just as often, the last thing these
travelers will ever know is a sinister questioner and a car that
smells faintly of copper.
The Ordo Dracul: The Dragons and the Verlice want the
same thing, even if it comes in slightly different forms: freedom.
Freedom from the constraints and limitations their blood places
upon them. Neither wants stagnation, so growth together is a
natural fit, even if they rarely agree on the methods. Coyotes
have little patience for staying put to see experiments through,
but they’re excellent at gathering information on places of inter-
est, so the most common relationship they share with Dragons
is one of commerce, trading whispers of occult interest for the
innovations of others.
The Verlice in Your Chronicle
Most players will portray a Verlice in the time
they spend in a city. A Needle can hunker down
for years in a large enough domain, exploring
and learning all the twists and turns the urban
jungle offers. Playing a Verlice isn’t about fleeing
at the first sign of trouble (unless that’s the sort of
game you’re playing); it’s about finding a reason
to stay when your blood is screaming at you to
go. That tension lies at the heart of all Verlice,
and it’s where you’ll find their most interesting
stories. It’s a balancing act to build a Trespasser
with a desire to leave but a reason to stay, and
designing that reason is an important part of
creating your character. Some sort of pressure,
social or otherwise, is keeping your Coyote around
long enough to take part in the story, and it’s
essential to know what it is.
For more ideas on how to run a story on the road
and the sorts of things you might find there, see
Midnight Roads and Nomads.
Rumors
“Chrissy here isn’t just any car. She’s tough, and we’ve been through
everything together. We look after each other. Feel that finish; hear
that purr. Sharp edge catch you? Sorry about that, sometimes she’s
hungry for a little more than petrol.”
The Verlice joke that they’ve replaced their connection to
animals and nature with a love of motor vehicles. They’re only
half joking, since many of the Devotions they’ve developed
out of necessity do give them a significant advantage over
other vampires trying to survive on the road. None of them
dwell too much on the times their vehicles have shown a little
too much awareness of dangers nearby, though they certainly
won’t dismiss the help. Sometimes rumors make the rounds
of Rides that have become truly sapient, like hellish Knight
Riders or Christine on steroids. The Needles dismiss these
stories as tall tales meant to spook their neonates… just out of
earshot of their Rides.
“I’m telling you, there’s a whole bunker out here full of weapons and
a weird museum of… stuff. The outside is pretty well camouflaged, but
it’s got cutting-edge security. Getting in wasn’t easy, so if you want the
location, my price has doubled. Hold on a sec, was that…? I’m not alone.”
Some Coyotes say they’re the last inheritors of a group called
the Gallows Post. Apparently, the Post once had safehouses in
all the dark places between cities, and the Needles know where
they are and how to use them. After all, the Verlice have a repu-
tation for vanishing from cities for years only to turn up again,
no worse for wear, so perhaps they’re using these stockpiles to
supplement their own considerable talents.
“You know that old service station off I-44? Some wandering vamp
tipped the Dragons off to the weirdness there, but when they went to
Chapter One: Packmates 59

Story Seed: Cloisters
Cloisters are the word Kindred use for cities
cut off from the rest of the All Night Society. Not
every domain welcomes visitors, and some have
strange, threatening reputations that require the
hardiest scouts to investigate. Cloisters might go
dark because of cults, hunters, or stranger monsters,
and other cities may take years to notice. Often,
neighboring Kindred grow interested or paranoid
about what became of these places, and some might
be concerned for erstwhile childer. A Trespasser
contracted to explore such a city — whether as a
rescue or a post mortem — can learn things vampires
more familiar with traditional domains can’t, but the
price is high for such sojourns, and depending on
the cloister’s reputation, the Needle might need to
hire some muscle.
see the place, it fucking ate them. Of course I’m not being literal; I just
know none of them came back, and when the Kogaion made someone
go check, all he found was their clothes.”
Every vampire hears stories of monsters lurking in the night
beyond the city lights. The Verlice tell each other stories of the
things they’ve seen traveling — thorn-wreathed goblins, light-
ning-wielding hitchhikers, ethereal ladies in white — and they’ll
avoid a particular spot or route if one of their blood reports a
strange experience with it. Most Verlice answer strangeness the
same way they do any other threat: flee, survive, and start fresh.
Out on the darkest roads, no one will ever come searching for
you, so best to not go missing in the first place.
Missy Barker
“Sure, I can get the stuff to Phoenix, but it’ll be an in-and-out kind
of job. Been a while, but there might still be some unhappy folks who
remember my face.”
Missy haunts the freeways of Arizona, moving from town
to town looking for humans in need of correction. Hardly
anyone besides a few Sanctified bishops even know she exists,
and even fewer have any idea of the impact she’s had. Missy
doesn’t look like much — small frame, dusky complexion, and a
practiced demeanor that places her below most people’s notice.
Everything about her radiates non-threatening, which she’s
learned to play to her advantage.
Missy is a missionary of the bloodiest sort. She’s taken the
Spear’s holy duty to heart, acting as the wolf to humanity’s herd,
driving people back to God’s love one frightened traveler at a
time. Her favorite tactic is to pick up hitchhikers, but whether
they get where they’re going or not depends on how the ride’s
conversation goes. More than a few turn to a higher power after
as the only way to ward off her promise of return. Her methods
are blatant, and if she’s being honest with herself, a threat to
60 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
the Masquerade. But that’s a problem for the cities where her
victims wind up, and that’s good enough for her.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Verlice
Covenant: Lancea et Sanctum
Mask: Spy
Dirge: Guru
Touchstone: A green metal air freshener hanging
from the rearview of her Ride, which she considers a
good luck charm. It reminds her of sunlit days and long
highway drives.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 2,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (Scripture) 2, Computer 2,
Occult 2, Politics 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Drive (Bad Weather) 3,
Brawl 1, Larceny (Vehicles) 3, Stealth 2, Survival 1
Social Skills: Persuasion (Travelers) 3, Socialize 3,
Subterfuge 1
Merits: Allies (Phoenix Church Group) 1, Anonymity
1, Contacts (Highway Patrol), Crack Driver 3, Direction
Sense, Head of a Pin, Lancea et Sanctum Status 2
Disciplines: Auspex 1, Protean 3, Resilience 2, Theban
Sorcery 2
Devotions: Hold Together, Scavenge
Miracles: Liar’s Plague, Vitae Reliquary
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 9
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 6
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 5
Notes: Direction Sense and Crack Driver can be found
in the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 44
and 47. Missy’s Protean adaptations are Feral Senses,
Patagia, and Wall Crawler. Her animal forms are rabbit,
coyote, and cactus wren.
Bloodline Gift: The Ride
A Verlice can anoint a vehicle with a point of Vitae and spend
a Willpower to designate it as her Ride, bonding with it the way
a human might bond with a pet. The Devotions listed below
only function on the Ride.
 The Ride responds to this relationship. Small coincidences
make it seem like the car wants to help its Needle: The doors
are never locked for its owner, its horn goes off or flash its lights
if danger is nearby, it subtly nudges the steering wheel during a
tense chase to avoid an obstacle, etc. If the Ride’s aid could ben-
efit one of the Needle’s actions, once per chapter, the Storyteller
can roll the vampire’s Drive + Blood Potency in secret, applying
successes as a bonus to a relevant action. In addition, reduce a
Ride’s Handling Modifier by half, rounding down.
New Merit
Turn the Eye (••)
Prerequisite: Verlice
Effect: A mobile haven might provide less protection than a
building, but it can also be hidden in plain sight. When your
character uses Obfuscate effects on her Ride, they last until
the next sundown, and she doesn’t suffer penalties on Touch
of Shadow due to the vehicle’s Size.
New Devotions
Christine
(Auspex •, Protean •)
Verlice with this Devotion can exert control over their
vehicles while they’re merged with them, giving rise to stories
of ghost cars without passengers prowling forgotten roadways
at night.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Requirement: The vampire merges into her vehicle using
Unmarked Grave.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Night
As long as she benefits from Unmarked Grave or until the
next sunset (whichever comes first), the Verlice can control the
vehicle she resides in, allowing her to perceive her surroundings
and operate the vehicle as if they were in the passenger seat.
This allows her the added protection of a metal frame, as well
as the ability to move about in the daylight, provided she can
remain awake.
Hold Together
(Resilience ••)
This Devotion strengthens a Ride, toughening it against
future harm or keeping it operational even when it should
have fallen apart.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Drive + Resilience
Action: Instant
Duration: Scenes equal to successes
Roll Results
Success: The vampire’s Resilience dots are applied to the
vehicle’s Durability, and he ignores penalties from environ-
mental hazards on Drive actions. This also obviates the effect
of any moderate damage to the Ride, though it can’t account
for grievous damage like missing tires or a removed brake line.
Exceptional Success: The Verlice and his vehicle are truly
one, operating at peak efficiency. The duration lasts for the
current night and the next.
Failure: The car is no worse for wear, but it’s no better either.
Dramatic Failure: Something critical within the vehicle
breaks instead of being protected. Reduce the Ride’s dice
modifier by three until it can be repaired.
Know Road
(Auspex •••)
When all you have is the road, knowing where you’re going
and how to get there becomes life and death. Verlice in remote
areas know they can’t rely on technology to save them, so they
cultivate this Devotion to fill that gap.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
The vampire gains an understanding of any obstacles on the
road in her path, which might take the form of downed trees,
spike strips, serious ice or snow, or anything else that could slow
her progress. This understanding extends for roughly (Auspex
× 5) miles and allows the vampire to exceptionally succeed on
three successes for Drive actions to navigate obstructions.
The vampire also gains an inherent understanding of the
route she needs to take regardless of distance. This under-
standing manifests as a fundamental feeling that the route is
correct, but it doesn’t impart knowledge of the areas she needs
to move through. She gains her Auspex dots as a bonus to any
actions related to navigating to her destination, and she cannot
be surprised en route.
Scavenge
(Protean ••)
On the road, you can’t always find a garage that’s open in the
middle of the night. The Verlice learn to jury-rig parts to keep
their Rides running as long as there are any other vehicles at
hand. Even parts that are from completely different makes and
models can be made to function using this Devotion.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Chapter One: Packmates 61
 Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The new part must be anointed in the Needle’s
blood, included in the cost.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
The Verlice can swap a damaged old part for a new one,
which will fit as if it was designed specifically for her Ride.
She must still make any appropriate mundane repairs, but the
object is the right one for the job, adding her Protean dots to
any relevant Crafts actions. Once installed, the new part will
function even if it’s wildly the wrong size or type. It will serve
this purpose until the next sunrise, at which point the vampire
will need to spend another Vitae or find a proper replacement.
Vehicle Systems
Vehicles are essential to Verlice characters, but their rules
don’t appear in Vampire: The Requiem. As such, we provide
them here for ease of use. These systems have been condensed
for space; for more complete rules, refer to the Chronicles of
Darkness Rulebook, p. 98.
Vehicles have the same basic traits as all equipment, with two
additional qualities: Handling Modifier and Speed.
Handling Modifier is a penalty that applies to a driver’s
Dexterity + Drive in chases, high speed maneuvers, and similar
situations. Driving through the city at a leisurely pace require a
handling roll, but avoiding a head-on crash with a cop car does.
As with vampires and mortals, Speed determines how fast
the vehicle can go. Each Speed listed in the chart below is the
standard, safe Speed the sample vehicle can reach. Usually,
this requires a minute of acceleration (20 turns), but things
like sports cars can reach this speed in about 15 seconds (five
turns). Most vehicles can reach 1.5 times their Speed within
another minute. When operating above this safe Speed, double
the vehicle’s Handling Modifier on all Drive rolls, and treat
all failures to maneuver the vehicle as dramatic failures. In
addition, turning the vehicle more than 45 degrees while above
normal Speed requires an instant action to stay stable; failure
overturns it and counts as a crash.
As a general rule, most vehicles gain 5 Speed per turn.
Successes on a Dexterity + Drive roll adds 5 Speed to the
normal acceleration. Remember to apply the vehicle’s modifier
to this roll.
Crashes
When a vehicle hits an object, a character, or another vehicle,
a crash occurs. By default, crashes cause bashing damage to
the vehicle and object using the following formula: 1/2 the hit
object’s Size (rounding down) + 1/10 Speed. Damage exceeding
a vehicle’s Durability applies to passengers, but effective safety
devices halve this damage.
If an object is less than half a vehicle’s Size, the driver can
avoid damage to her car with a Dexterity + Drive action. If
she’s trying to hit a small object/person, roll Dexterity + Drive
(– Defense). Failure is a miss. Successes add to the damage cal-
culation above, but extra damage doesn’t apply to passengers
if the driver fails to negate vehicle damage.
For vehicle collisions, add both Speeds in head-on/T-bone
crashes, and subtract the lower Speed from the higher if the
vehicles were moving in parallel. With successful Perception
actions before a crash, both drivers can roll Dexterity + Drive
to negate two damage per success.

Example Vehicles
Handling
Vehicle Modifier Size Durability Structure Speed
Motorcycle –1 7 2 9 100
Compact Car –2 8 3 11 90
Family Car –3 12 3 15 80
Sports Car –1 10 2 12 140
Limousine –4 20 3 18 60
Van –3 18 3 21 80
Pickup Truck –2 15 4 19 80
SUV –2 15 4 19 100
Motorboat –2 10 2 12 60

62 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Wickers
The ones who grip your fate
“Go ask the Hawk.”
“Anything but that…” Scout shudders, blood and soot still
smeared across his haggard face. His packmates back away, leaving
him groveling on his knees. Everyone else knows what’s good for
them and gets out.
Lucifer takes a long, warm drink from his pint, mulling over the
disaster facing his family. Fledgling or not, Scout fucked up. He curls
his lip and repeats himself, voice like lead, “Go ask the Hawk.”
Scout’s really squirming now, every twitch an apology. But it’s too
late for sorries. “Maggie went to the Hawk and came back babbling
about monsters. Seared her own eyes out!”
Lucifer snorts, slamming the glass down on the table, frothy red
liquid spraying across the tarnished wood. “You should’ve thought
of that before you fucked over your pack. Might’ve started a war
tonight. I don’t see a way out of it. Neither do you, clearly.”
“Please, anything else!”
The old vampire licks a fang and shakes his head, mentally
washing his hands clean of his dumb-as-shit childe.
“The only one who can help you now’s the Wicker… and that’s
punishment enough.”
When you’re backed into a corner and can’t see a way out.
When you’ve made a mistake you wish you could take back…
go ask the Hawks.
The Wickers glean secrets never whispered, each pair of glow-
ing eyes foreseeing a different permutation of a disastrous future.
They seek meaning in the Requiem, but their path to succor is
twisted and full of terror — for them and their prey. The desperate
seek them out, looking for counsel, support, or just impossible
solutions. And they do know things, but other Gangrel say they’re
too far gone. Perhaps they’re so secretive because they’re trying
to create distance. Owl and Hawk, ancient enemies, tug on the
same threads of fate, but there’s only room for one monster in
the skies, and the Flock will break into a thousand pieces before
they’ll allow themselves to be caught. Where the Striges bring
vile omens, the Wickers dare to prevent those dooms.
“Hear that — the silence?
The birds have stopped singing. Run.”
If a Gangrel’s goal is to be at the top of the food chain, a
Wicker’s is to be the carrion bird, cleaning up after the fray.
They remain on the fringes of society, holding court among the
derelicts and destitute. If you only see one, take care; they can be
in many places at once. You might not even notice them among
the pigeons clogging the city streets, the murmurs of starlings
inking the twilit sky. When they coalesce, they cut the kind of
figure most folk would cross the street to avoid: ragged, soiled,
not quite right. In their efforts to outpace the Strix and defend the
All Night Society from its fringes, they’ve slipped to the other
side of the mirror. If they catch your eye, you might see horrible
things, or feel like you’re falling into the void, or be forced to fight
against a sudden, debilitating fear. Consider this a handshake.
It’s a courtesy; they don’t have to let you see them at all.
When hunting, they take to many wings, shifting into mur-
ders and rookeries and parliaments and scattering themselves
across the weald and suburb alike, joining with the nightmares
they create. You don’t want to be on the end of their talons
unless you’d like to lose a few pints. It’s easier to feast from a
thousand cuts than it is to drain a single corpse. Drink too much
from one and their memories can transfer, swilling around
with all the other voices in the Flock. That kind of invitation
isn’t given lightly.
So, find the crumbled stairway, the forsaken ruins, the thou-
sand glowing eyes. Make your request. When they’re ready, the
Hawks will find you.
Why you want to be us
Seeking hidden knowledge from the dark heart of humanity?
Come, step into the folds of our wings! From on high, see as
God sees, know what only the divine knows, and stare deep
into the black heart of the universe. The things you uncover
will make you swift and sharp and a multitude of voices, a
master of mysteries, and none will be able to follow the crooked
paths you fly.
Chapter One: Packmates 63

Why you should fear us
You can’t fight us, for each of us is legion: a
thousand pecks from a thousand razor beaks, a
thousand harbingers of death. Have
you been wicked? No point
lying — we’ve been watching.
Take care, or we’ll swallow
you whole.
Why we should fear ourselves
Holding onto humanity draws a
line between us and… well, you know.
But deep down, we realize it’s a line
drawn in sand, easily blown away by
a careless sweep of our wings. And
then? Screeches shatter our mul-
tifaceted minds, mocking our
futile clinging to a sense
of self that can’t but fade
away. We’re broken things
from the moment we’re
made, but we believe
in dreams of tomorrow
that cut as much as
they sustain,
and it’s only a
matter of time
until the pieces
can never be put
together again.
Bloodline Origins
• On a distant mountainside many
centuries ago, Romulus and Remus
were raised by their sister, Lupa.
When a shepherd took the boys away
to their fate, Lupa was left behind.
She tried to find them, asking the
birds of the mountains to follow
where she could not. They brought
her messages that mortals could
not understand, and so she came
to know of many hidden things. The
villagers even thought her a wise woman and came
to her for guidance. One night, at last, one of her
brothers returned to her, but she saw at once that he
was changed. Against her will, he made her like him,
then abandoned her once more. Only the birds tended
her as she came to understand her new nature. As the
years passed, Lupa intertwined more and more with the
birds of the mountain until she could not find where
she ended and they began. Then the mountain people
64 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
feared her, and only the most desperate came to seek
her counsel. Soon, Lupa forgot her brothers and
her beginnings. Now, only the birds remain.
• This story is true. Old
Hawk was born of the moon
at the dawn of all things. One
of the first powers to enter the world
when it was still young, before
humans scrabbled over the earth,
Old Hawk watched. For many
years, he studied the secrets of
the universe, but around him,
the world grew and changed
and the apes multiplied. Still,
Old Hawk watched. With each
waning of the moon, another
fragment of him broke away to
glitter in the night sky until the
black was spangled
with the stars of
his soul. As each
star left him, he
lost a little more of
himself. Now Old Hawk was
blind, vicious, ravenous. In
his thirst, he finally moved
from his perch. He clawed
at the world with his tal-
ons until every creature in
it bled. The blood nourished
him, but so did their
thoughts, their memo-
ries. At last, Old Hawk
had found the secrets
of the universe, but it only
made him crave more knowledge.
And so he drinks each night from
a thousand-thousand prey and
dreams of secrets. Best stay out of his way.
• Once upon a midnight darkly, a mother
sat rocking her child. She swaddled her Little
Bird in red feathers to keep her hidden,
to keep her safe, but still she feared. She
murmured tales of the woods, so wild
and free, of the hunter and hunted, and
beasts that lurked in the trees. The monsters of
the world seek a spilling of red, and the mother knew,
sooner or later, they would come for her child. The
only way to protect her was to gobble Little Bird up,
hiding her inside her belly once more. When the Wolf
came prowling, she perched above the door, silent as
death, until it went away. When the Hunter came
knocking, she lashed out with her hands, so like
talons, spilling a little bit of red. The Hunter
fell with a cry and Mother fled into the night,
 her child still safe in her belly. Among the boughs forever
she’ll perch as the hunger eats at her veins, for Little Bird
is pecking inside her, straining for a way out — wretchedly
ever after.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Hawks, the Flock
Bloodline Bane (The Curse of the Parliament): Long have
the Wickers and Strix warred, and the Owls watch for any
signs of their enemy. If a Wicker fails a breaking point, her
player must roll Humanity. On a failure, a Strix will find her
before the end of the story. Each time this roll is a success, the
Storyteller applies a cumulative –1 the next time it triggers.
Once it goes off, this bane is dormant for the rest of the story,
and any accrued penalties reset at the beginning of the next.
As a rule of thumb, the Owl’s Shadow Potency should be equal
to the vampire’s Blood Potency.
Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Nightmare, Protean
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: Carthian Hawks scrounge to get
what they need, nicking blood as they press through food-bank
queues. They leave cryptic messages scrawled on subway walls
and bathrooms stalls, much needed wisdom for those who find
it. They whistle warnings when the authorities come to flush
the guttersnipes out with truncheons and Molotov cocktails.
They hollow out the burnt-down factory so birds and bums
alike can take refuge. It’s a hand-to-mouth life, but they know
not to take tomorrow for granted; they’ve seen what disasters
it will bring. After all, a Flock takes care of its own.
The Circle of the Crone: The Hawks are steeped in augury.
They’re the sibyls of tonight, and Kindred bring offerings for
their altars in return for their prophecies. Truly, no coven acts
with such deathly precision as one with a Wicker among their
number. As arcane librarians, fortune tellers, clinic nurses,
and cottage witches, they still aim to influence the living, and
they remind themselves of the wisdom inherent to the hearth.
If they seek to resist the terrible rapture brought on by the
Murmur, Hawks turn to Crúac for power and control. They
claim it helps slow the corrosion of their minds.
The Invictus: Like birds of prey, Wickers join this covenant
to claw their way up the pecking order. They strike fast and
without remorse, thriving as assassins, mob enforcers, and
bounty hunters. These professions enable them to — barely —
uphold the Masquerade; every culture needs its boogeyman.
Of course, you see some nasty shit doing that kind of wet work,
and some Wickers are so eaten up with pain and suffering, they
can’t help but become living nightmares themselves. Torment
is just as effective a tool of control as talons, especially when
they let their bodies unfurl. They’ll descend upon their quarry
en masse, inspiring avian phobias for generations to come.
The Lancea et Sanctum: The Flock fell from grace with
intent. They dove like fallen angels into the dark, cloaking
themselves in visions of Hell. Hear them laugh in the face of
all who say they’re Damned for what they do. The Hawks see
the corruption and sin in everything, and they feel a need to
tear the carcass of the world open and lay all its ugliness bare.
As exterminators, executioners, and butchers, the Wickers
haunt the night, and if the Sanctified want to play that game
too, they’re welcome to. They’d just better stay out of the way.
The Ordo Dracul: Wickers who join the Ordo Dracul are
unlikely to uncover new Mysteries, unless it’s by accident.
Instead, they’ll share the collected knowledge of the bloodline
to learn the most forbidden secrets of their dark gift. They
embrace the Coils to become better monsters because they
believe each fragment of self should be pushed further until
nothing can escape their talons. What is a monster but an evo-
lution of the Man? The Strix would destroy every last shred of
humanity, but the Wickers would push those shreds to evolve
into something more. If consciousness is an illusion, why not
spread it around?
Rumors
“At some point, all Wickers go birdbrained. The younger ones aren’t
so bad, but talking to their elders is like having a conversation with
forty people in a Zoom call — and some of them are talking on mute.
That’s what comes of breaking yourself into so many bodies all the
time, I suppose.”
Minds are good at compartmentalizing — to a point. The
act of constantly breaking your body into pieces and stitching
it back together takes its toll on even the most anchored vam-
pire. Some fragments inevitably take on personalities of their
own. Then, the Hawks start naming them. At what point do
they count as their own entities, with their own desires and
destinies? That’s a question the Flock strives to answer. But
sometimes it requires staking the peskier fragments of self to
feel whole again.
“I’ve heard of Hawks eating their prey whole: blood, bones, viscera —
all of it. They say it’s some sort of ritual, a grotesque ’upload’. Adding
their victim’s memories into their cursed collective.”
Not every Wicker is a flesh eater. Not even a plurality. Indeed,
it’s a carrion-bird tactic to frighten away other predators in
displays of dominance, and Nightmare can easily produce such
illusions of flesh-eating. Still, some develop this predilection as
a side effect of their fragmenting psyche and Humanity, though
it’s certainly not an inherent function of the bloodline… not
yet, at any rate.
“Since the Flock tapped into the secrets of the universe, they’ve taken
control of everything. They have their ‘Pillars’ everywhere, watching,
prognosticating, unmaking events. Their Council of Talons is the true
Illuminati, pulling all the strings, influencing all the covenants and
all the clans alike.”
The Murmur contains a vast wealth of knowledge, but there’s
no Dewey Decimal System to retrieve the secrets of creation. It’s
more like diving into a vat of quicksilver and hoping you can
find what you need before you’re poisoned. There’s a price to
be paid for being part of that collective, and that price doesn’t
play well with clarity of thought and complex plans of world
Chapter One: Packmates 65
 domination. The cult known as the Council of Talons (p. 67)
does hold a position of influence, but not every prince who
seeks a prophecy necessarily heeds it to the letter. And the
Murmur doesn’t give its power without a terrible price. Yes,
certain disasters might be averted, but the more the Wickers
play with fate, the hungrier the Strix become.
Peregrine
“Grits said you’d be here. Yeah, I know, you’re always right, Grits
— no, Tangle, we’re not pecking their eyes out. I know they’re shiny.
Sorry, they’re so fuckin’ rude. Where was I? Right, I gotta message for
you. Heh, Grits says you’re not going to like it!”
Peregrine is small, sharp, and sketchy. Their grin says you
look mighty tasty; their steel-toed boots say they’re ready to do
some shit-kicking. But their eyes? Their eyes have seen horrors
you wouldn’t dare dream.
Peregrine is something of a runner for the local Carthians:
a message-bringer, warning-maker, and doomsayer. You think
you’re having an okay night, and then, bam. Peregrine’s there,
looming under a streetlight. Dressed in that tattered bomber
jacket, leggings full of holes and days-old blood caked under
all their talons. They cock their head, listening to a chorus of
voices you can’t hear. They smile in a way that makes your Vitae
run cold. A cryptic sentence later and they’ve vanished again,
leaving you with a sinking feeling. For a split-second, you could
have sworn you caught a glimpse of rib cages rent open, slick
viscera swinging like puppet strings, countless feasting mouths.
You must have imagined that, right? Right.
But where does Peregrine go when they’re not running mes-
sages? They choose to fall through society’s cracks and keep
falling. They lurk in the forgotten places, giving an ear to the
voices that never get heard. Some whisper they have a hovel
down on the bad side of town — a burnt our basement suite
or a shit-festooned pigeon coop on a roof. There Peregrine
goes into trances, cackling and weeping at what the universe
has to say.
No one’s ever seen Peregrine meeting with the Council of
Talons… but then, how would you know if you had seen one of
them? No, they’re lost in the shadows, and they use younger,
scrappier Wickers like Peregrine to do their bidding. Peregrine
doesn’t seem to mind. Though, there’s not much “mind” left.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Wicker
Covenant: Carthian Movement
Mask: Masochist
Dirge: Questioner
Touchstone: The peregrine skull they wear around their
neck, and from which they take their name. It’s the only
memory of being alive Peregrine has left: waking up on
the side of the road, next to a roadkill falcon.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 3
66 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 4,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 1, Investigation 3, Occult
(Prophecy) 5
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Stealth 3, Survival (Shelter)
1, Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Birds) 2, Empathy 2,
Intimidation 2, Persuasion 3, Streetwise (Rumors) 2,
Subterfuge (Playing Dumb) 1
Merits: Acute Senses, Atrocious, Carthian Pull 2,
Dream Visions, Claws of the Unholy, Double Jointed 2,
Iron Will 2, Mystery Cult Initiation 3, Riding the Wave 3,
Small-Framed, Swarm Form
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Auspex 3, Nightmare 4,
Protean 4
Blood Potency: 3
Health: 9
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 4
Size: 4
Speed: 12
Initiative: 7
Defense: 7
Notes: Peregrine is a servant of the Council of Talons.
Their Protean adaptations are Claws, Feral Senses,
Patagia, and Horrid Talons. Their animal forms are crow,
hawk, pigeon, and seagull.
New Merits
In addition to accessing the Merits below, all Wickers gain
Swarm Form for free upon learning Beast’s Skin. If a charac-
ter had this Merit before joining the bloodline, she instead
gains two Experiences to spend on other Protean Devotions
or Merits.
Breaking Up the Flock (•)
Prerequisite: Wicker, Swarm Form
Effect: When he transforms into a swarm, your character
can split his consciousness into small fragments. For each dot
of Blood Potency, he can peel off a chunk of his swarm, which
he can use to be in multiple places at once.
Drawbacks: These fragments are barely corporeal. They
cannot affect the world beyond moving or nudging small
objects, and any successful attack will destroy them. In addi-
tion, the longer your character stays fragmented, the more
disoriented he becomes when he coalesces again. If he spends
more than a scene this way, he gains the Confused Condition
upon coalescing.

Mystery Cult Initiation:
The Council of Talons (• to •••••)
The Council of Talons believe all vampires are part of a great
flock connected through the power of Vitae, and that each
Requiem is a wealth of information too precious to be recorded
in words. Instead, they work to preserve this repository within
their collective consciousness. While their primary purpose
it to collect and guard the wisdom of the Kindred — of every
covenant, clan, and bloodline — they also study how vampires
interact with the kine. Astronomy, history, war, politics, and
disease are of especial interest to them, and each “Pillar” shares
what she learns with the other members through a psychic
connection. It takes a toll, this distorted dreaming, but in its
whispers, all answers can be found. To this end, there is no
good or evil — only truth.
Kindred who aren’t members of the Wicker bloodline can
join this cult, but mortals cannot.
• A Prophecy Specialty in Occult
•• The Dream Visions Merit, ignoring the clan prerequi-
site. This version of the Merit only works on sapient
beings, and it requires the cultist to drink a subject’s
blood to trigger the effect. However, this means it can
be used on a subject more than once, but only once
per night.
••• A dot of Academics
•••• Three dots of Cacophony Savvy, ignoring the Status
prerequisite
••••• The character gains access to the Talons’ vast mental
archives. Once per chapter, she can spend a Willpower
to call on the collective unconscious of the Council,
gaining the Steadfast Condition. She can spend this
Condition on any action before the end of the session,
at which point it expires if it goes unused. However,
she only gains a Beat upon resolution if using the
Condition furthers the goals of the Council.
New Devotions
The Murmur
(Auspex ••, Nightmare ••)
A Hawk can mingle her mind with the fragmented conscious-
ness of her bloodline brethren, granting access to various memo-
ries, patterns, and esoteric secrets. This augury takes the form of
a horrifying, existential vision, or a riddle of fragmentary images
tainted by cajoling whispers. The prophecy requires decoding
once connection to the Murmur is severed, but it contains the
ability to disrupt fate in a significant way, including preventing
an event, a disastrous decision, or even a death.
This Devotion costs no Experiences if the vampire meets
the prerequisites.
Cost: Upon successfully using this Devotion, subtract the
number of times the vampire has used the effect in the current
story from six. She suffers a breaking point at that level if it
equals or is lower than her current Humanity. If the resulting
number is negative, she takes a Humanity 1 breaking point
with the difference as a penalty to her player’s roll.
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Auspex
Action: Reflexive
Duration: One night per Blood Potency
Roll Results
Success: The Murmur reveals the future in fits and starts.
For each success on the activation roll, the vampire gains the
Advanced Action quality on a number of future dice pools for
the duration relating to the prophecy she gained. That is, the
player rolls the action twice and takes the better result of the
two. She cannot use this Devotion again until the duration
expires or she uses all of her Advanced Actions, whichever
comes first.
The Wicker can also bestow a single Advanced Action on
another character by using Dread Presence to inflict a glimpse
of her awful prophecy on the subject. If she uses Face of the
Beast, she can bestow all these actions on another character
(who can forgo the usual resistance if they consent).
Exceptional Success: The voices screech in unity. The
vampire also gains the 8-again quality on one of these actions.
Failure: The Murmur is silent.
Dramatic Failure: The vampire taps into the wrong flock:
She’s caught an Owl’s attention, and it will arrive before the end
of the current story. If this power then triggers the vampire’s
bloodline bane, that means two Strix are coming for her.
The Wisdom of Crowds
(Auspex •, Protean •••)
Being in many places at once means having multiple angles
to take in information, and with this Devotion, a Wicker can
channel her supernatural senses through multiple eyes.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: None
Requirement: The vampire must use take the form of a
swarm to use this Devotion.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
The vampire gains great clarity from viewing the world
through many eyes. Using Auspex becomes a reflexive action
for the duration, and she gains a number of additional free
uses of Beast’s Hackles and Uncanny Perception equal to her
Protean dots.
Chapter One: Packmates 67
 Yarilo
The ones who outgrow you
— Pin your heart on the hawthorn tree
Villagers in Ashbrook have given the old orchard a wide berth
since the 1700s, after a plague swept the town causing all who lived
there to walk in trances, tending to the trees but neglecting all other
duties. Only when the church sent a new priest to the parish were
the people slowly pulled out of their collective fugue.
— Paint its white bark red with blood
He instituted an offering of lamb’s blood on the roots of the trees,
a practice that continues to this day on the vernal equinox. All was
peaceful, at least until a fateful August afternoon in 1975, when a
developer came to town with the intention of razing the gnarled old
forest and putting up a shopping complex.
— Wait for the harvest moon to glow
Despite the protests of some superstitious locals, the bulldozers
rolled through, pushing down the first line of ancient peach trees.
That night, on the full moon, the orchard fought back. Grinding
earth and shrieking metal sounded through the still night air.
— The wood’s savage might shall reap and sow.
In the morning, the villagers saw that the old trees had moved.
The machinery was all suspended in their branches, twisted beyond
repair, and the construction workers and their big city developer
were gone. The only trace was a red color flushing the roots of all
the trees. The spirits of the orchard had been appeased, it seemed.
With luck, they’ll sleep again for another two hundred years.
The Yarilo are one with the pulse of the earth. This obscure
bloodline of Savages is tied to the trees for their protection,
community, and power. Far more interested in the flora over the
fauna of their domains, the Vines creep through the greenspaces
of the All Night Society, dedicated to preserving and mastering
nature. Their long-sighted temperament makes them less brash
than other Gangrel, but just as wild — and territorial. While
others of their clan lash out with claw and fang, the Vines cam-
ouflage themselves in forest canopies, difficult to find and even
harder to harm. And rather than trust their fates to blood-bound
ghouls, the Vines’ mental control spreads out in a miasma of
spores, rendering their retainers pliable and docile. A true herd.
“Breathe deep and cast off your cares. Be returned
to the oldest power — the first power: Nature.”
68 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Yet, despite their inextricable ties to nature, Yarilo can be
found in even the most urban settings so long as there’s a tree
to hang from. Their philosophy is simple: Grow, flourish, and
keep out. Their goals, however, are more complex, and their
co-existence with the kine oscillates between shepherding
their food and culling their foes. Either way, they embrace
a role of stewardship. They are the taciturn graveyard gar-
dener escorting generation after generation to their eternal
rest. They are the game warden with the unseasonably high
record of hunting accidents. They are the old-growth forest
logging protester whose enemies suddenly have a glassy-eyed
change of heart.
Vines play their part in the Masquerade like long-suffering
grandparents waiting for their wards to grow up. If they’re
beneficent, it’s because the forest is an ecosystem full of
bounty. If they are terrible, it’s because nature is unforgiving.
The woods hold grudges, and they are covetous of their land.
So tread lightly, and be careful when you’re pruning branches.
Look twice at every lonely tree. You’ll survive in the Yarilo’s
kingdom only if they allow it.
Why you want to be us
Paradise was never lost. It lives inside each of us, a new
Garden of Eden we can coax back into the world, a land lush
and green and growing. Docile kine, ripe and ready for the
feasting. We are givers of life and of death, Cernunnos, Cybele,
and Demeter. We are bountiful and terrible in equal measure.
Bite of the fruit, and all this can be yours.
Why you should fear us
Nature always wins. Our roots grip you in a stranglehold, so
why fight the inevitable? Breathe deep our sweet spores. Better
to be lulled into submission rather than forced — that’s the
righteous order of things. And when you cease to be of use,
you will nourish our roots like so much loam.
 Yet still the tree squeezed, working to protect him and ensuring
Why we should fear ourselves he would never feel the cold again.
As the kine swallow the earth, our self-control
strains. We need the good soil to ground us, but • Yggdrasil the World Tree fills all the realms
searing asphalt bars our way. We lash of reality, overcoming frost and fire and light
out with spore and splinter, but they and darkness to create a perfect harmony.
come with chainsaws and torches. The Yarilo are its branches. With a little
We can’t be held responsible for the of their blood, they brought Odin back
carnage that follows. Wrath bursts from death, placed him as a king on
from us in a crush, destroying all his throne. Their roots run deep,
in its wake. Then, sleep. In time, impervious to the gnawing of lesser
we awaken to reclaim all we’ve beasts. Their branches stretch
lost — all but the memories of high, holding up the very heav-
what we once were. ens. All beings walk in their
domain at their pleasure,
and if they are displeased,
Bloodline Origins they’ll shake you down until
you beg for mercy. Sometimes
• Ya r i l o , b r i g h t a n d they’ll listen, and other times
b e aut if u l, b elonge d they’ll water their roots with
to a nomadic people who your blood. Worship in their
roamed t he steppe s of groves or give their kingdom wide
Eastern Europe. Together berth; it matters not. As the
they laughed, traveled, world turns, held together by
and gathered the bounty their roots, they shall outlast
they would need to sur- us all.
vive the harsh winters.
Then, late one autumn, • Once upon a midnight
a wolf came into the darkly, the Woods slumbered
camp, hungry peaceful and still. Not a bough
and hateful. stirred; not one mewl
Yarilo tried or caw dared shat-
to face the beast, ter the quietude of
but it bit into his death. This was
flesh. In coward- a s t he Wo o d s
ice, the boy fled liked it. But soon
into the night. came a girl in a bright
He climbed and red cloak — red like poison
climbed up the mushrooms. She went off the trail,
valley, but the night snip-snapping young branches and
grew colder until he plucking rare blossoms, and the Woods
feared the blood would freeze gathered its rage. It sent a wolf
in his veins. Seeking shelter, he to eat the little vagabond,
pulled himself into the branches of draining her all in a gulp.
a sacred oak and begged it to hide him Then a huntsman came ahunting,
from harm. The wise old tree bent its ax sharpened bright. The Woods sighed
branches around him, hugging him the spores that would soften the swing of
into its heart, but its bark was that huntsman’s arm, and the wolf’s belly
rough and hard, and broke remained uncut. All would remain just as
the skin. Yarilo began the Woods liked it — naturally ever after.
to bleed. Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nick n a me s: Vi ne s,
Arboreals

Chapter One: Packmates 69

 Bloodline Bane (The Tinderbox Curse): With their deep
connection to forests, it should come as no surprise the Yarilo fear
fire above all, but not in the way other Kindred might expect. As
they draw closer to the Beast by embracing the wild, fire becomes
a spiritual bane as well as a physical one. Whenever a Vine takes
damage from fire, treat her Humanity as one dot lower for the
purposes of attaching her Touchstones for the rest of the night.
Disciplines: Animalism, Celerity, Dominate, Protean
In the Covenants
The Carthian Movement: Yarilo among the Carthians
believe the Blood has elevated them into stewardship roles over
both Kindred and kine to prevent corruption in the natural
world. They know they can’t just run to the hills and nurture
a grove; they must fight in the concrete jungles, protest against
the rape of Mother Earth, and become the seed that starts
a revolution of change. They wield the law in their favor as
environmental lobbyists and lawyers, fighting for the future.
From eco-terrorists to weekend warriors, these Vines anchor
in clipped, union-blood-fed trees. They seek to reconnect to
nature — and grow their own power in the process.
The Circle of the Crone: Since the Maenads first danced
naked through the woods, rending limb-from-limb any mortal
who dared cross their path, the Vines have embraced some form
of the Dark Mother. Each consecrated tree serves as the daytime
haven of Acolyte Vines, and within their witchwoods, every
movement is noted, and only blood can atone for trespasses.
These Yarilo care little for the world of humanity beyond their
borders, at least so long as they and their trees remain unmo-
lested. And thus they grow wild and ancient, keeping their own
counsel and bending to no one.
The Invictus: Yarilo of the First Estate aim to gain territory
they can rule absolutely, unburdened from tax laws and petty
concepts like human rights. From the smallest of backwater
fiefs to complex networks creeping through urban centers with
spore-afflicted servants, it would be a mistake to underestimate
these Kindred. They see no borders but the ones they create,
reclaiming abandoned amusement parks, building eco-city
arcologies, and establishing bylaws demanding lush parkways.
Inch by inch, they bring the wilds back with a vengeance and
make a tidy profit in the process.
The Lancea et Sanctum: Sanctified Vines believe it’s their
duty to protect the Lord’s creation. To harm the earth is a deadly
sin — several, actually: greed, gluttony, sloth… Humankind is
merely the last of the animals God created, little more than
chattel to be reared and controlled. If that means they must
sabotage rapacious corporations and punish wastrel sinners, it’s
the Lord’s work. After the air clears, these Vines will repopulate
the world with legions of docile-yet-sinless kine, ensuring that
only the meek inherit the Earth.
The Ordo Dracul: The Vines in this covenant understand
the depths of the weird and wonderful yet to be found in the
world and the blood. They are researchers in the depths of the
Amazon, deep-sea divers (it’s not like they need to breathe), and
70 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
rugged explorers in the highest of the Himalayas. These Yarilo
push the limits of endurance, studying poisons and cures, the
deadliest of the animal kingdom, and the nature of symbiosis.
They believe the secret lies in their spores, and they’re not above
self-experimentation.
Rumors
“You know how sometimes Gangrel go feral? Well, the Vines go…
uh, floral. Know that weird old oak in the cemetery? Yeah, that used
to be one of ’em. Every now and then, it wakes up to feed. I don’t
know how, but once in a while, a ‘sickness’ will sweep through town —
headaches and leaden limbs. You know. Anemia. They tried to burn
it down once, back in the early 1900s, and that filled up the graves
faster than anything, so now they just leave the damn thing alone and
hope the Vine doesn’t get hungry too often.”
Because Yarilo use Protean to camouflage with their surround-
ings, some believe they’re literally becoming trees. While this
seems like a tall tale, a few chilling anecdotes may support this
rumor. Recently, a rather famous, thousand-year-old bristlecone
pine just outside town left the craggy rock it had clung to, mov-
ing closer to the subdivision that was going up nearby. Perhaps
there’s a limit to how many times the Arboreals can merge into
their Heartwoods before nothing of flesh is left within the bark.
“Big Foot sightings have started up in the Pacific Northwest again.
Dave’s managed to get a few really great prints, and last week, he set
up this motion-tracking hardware, but the Sasquatch must be smarter
than folks give it credit for, because when he went to pick up the footage,
the recorder was all smashed and, like, embedded in a tree trunk.”
More than a few cryptid sightings are Vines on their nightly
prowls. As reclusive as they are, they still need human blood
to sustain themselves, and between their bark-like flesh and
foliage-festooned attire, they sometimes look like shaggy swamp
things creeping into civilization. After all, what cop is going to
take claims of a cryptid attack seriously? If the Yarilo must follow
the Masquerade, they’ll find fringe ways to hide in plain sight.
“Lately, everyone at the office has been acting strange. Like they’ve
stopped thinking for themselves. We’re supposed to go on this corporate
teambuilding retreat this weekend, but I’ve got a bad feeling. I’ve never
liked the woods, but now the city is starting to feel like a jungle.”
Not every Vine is a tree-hugging hippie. With the encroach-
ment of cities on formerly wild (or at least natural) places, many
Yarilo have slipped down corporate hallways the way they once
mastered forest trails. They rule boardrooms of spore-induced
sycophants, build “relaxing” green spaces in the company lobby,
and mandate evening roundtables to keep control of their
employees. The boss talks about the company’s green footprint
for an hour and everyone’s nodding their heads. Spores in the
air, spores in the water. That’s corporate culture for you.
Mother Lux
“Tonight, we are purified in God’s grace. Tomorrow, we eat the rich.”
Guru, enviro-philanthropist, and Mother Earth incarnate —
that’s how the former Lucia Verde sees herself tonight. Like a
weed, she burst onto the scene as if from nowhere, preaching
a vision of a new and better future: God’s Garden of Eden
rebuilt, and all his creatures living in harmony. It might’ve been
a pipe dream, but “Mother Lux” was as much talk as she was
action. Her lectures quickly gained popularity among certain
fringe environmental groups, especially among Christians
concerned about climate change. She spoke at church groups
and fundraisers and night classes, and each time she did, a few
members of her audience would get a gleam in their eyes and
walk away from the lives they’d led to sit at Mother Lux’s feet.
Eventually, she had enough to build a commune. Behind the
floral-themed gates, her faithful live out her holy dream — just
so long as they follow her commandments.
But behind this pious façade, Mother Lux’s ambitions are
growing. The commune is a good start, but she’ll need many
more spore servants and childer if she wants to remake the
world in her image. Obedience pleases her above all else, espe-
cially obedience achieved without violence. Inspiring action
through words, then spores, then blood, makes everything
run safely and smoothly. And between her donations from
environmental charities and drinking from any of her multitude
of followers, Mother Lux is dying her best death.
Does she still believe the world needs to fall back to nature?
Sure, why not? Apocalypses are notoriously difficult to pin
down, and Lux long ago gave up on knowing the day and hour.
And anyway, her goal of remaking the world for God doesn’t
have to come all at once, and it certainly doesn’t have to be
unprofitable. Saving sinners means stretching her roots into
all their precious corporate infrastructure, seeding them from
the inside. She calls it reclamation. These days, you don’t even
need to live on the commune to be a member of the Luxite
church. They could be any one of you.
Clan: Gangrel
Bloodline: Yarilo
Covenant: Lancea et Sanctum
Mask: Idealist
Dirge: Cult Leader
Touchstone: Grandmother Cypress, a 2000-year-old
tree that grows in the courtyard of her commune.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 5
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 4,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (Christianity) 3, Occult 4,
Politics 3, Medicine 1, Science (Botany) 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Drive 1, Firearms 2,
Survival 5
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy (Calming) 2,
Expression (Speeches) 4, Intimidation 3, Persuasion 3,
Socialize 2, Subterfuge 4
Merits: Anointed, Feeding Grounds 3, Haven 4, Herd
5, Honey Trap, Lancea et Sanctum Status 3, Of Rose
and Thorn, Retainer 4, Safe Place 4, Striking Looks 2,
Trained Observer 3
Disciplines: Animalism 2, Celerity 1, Dominate 5,
Protean 5, Theban Sorcery 3
Rituals: Vitae Reliquary, Liar’s Plague, Malediction of
Despair
Blood Potency: 4
Health: 8
Willpower: 8
Humanity: 3
Size: 5
Speed: 12
Initiative: 7
Defense: 6 (Active Defense 7)
Notes: Lux has all Merits and Devotions below. Her
Protean adaptations are Claws, Extra Senses, Patagia,
and Rubbery Flesh. Her animal forms are giant hornet,
grizzly bear, crocodile, mountain lion, and python.
New Merit
In addition to accessing the following Merits, Yarilo charac-
ters gain the Of Rose and Thorn (p. 109) for free if they have at
least a dot of Animalism. If a character already has this Merit,
she is refunded the Experiences spent instead.
Heartwood (• to ••••)
Prerequisites: Yarilo, Protean •
Effect: Your character has a psychic link to a tree in her
territory. As this connection grows, she learns to hear all the
voices of the forest.
Drawbacks: Heartwoods are an extension of a Vine’s physical
and spiritual essence, and your character can only have one at
any given time. Furthermore, the destruction of a Heartwood
is a breaking point at Humanity 3 and higher.
Forest’s Embrace (•): Your character can merge with her
Heartwood using Unmarked Grave without paying Vitae, no
matter its Durability.
Wooden Bounty (••): Whenever she feeds in excess, your
character can store Vitae in her Heartwood, up to as many
points equal to the tree’s Structure or five, whichever is
lower. To regain this Vitae, she must merge with the tree with
Unmarked Grave; she gains a point per turn.
Rustling Leaves (••): By resting in her Heartwood with
Unmarked Grave, your character can initiate blood sympathy
with other Vines with Heartwoods. Treat sympathy as thrice-re-
moved to unrelated characters; if the characters are related, add
dots in this Merit to the sympathy roll.
Vast Ecosystem (•••): The vampire can travel through the
Heartwood network. By merging with her own Heartwood
using Unmarked Grave, she can spend a Willpower to move
Chapter One: Packmates 71
 to another vampire’s Heartwood anywhere within the extent of
their mutual blood sympathy range (including the pseudo-tie
of Rustling Leaves). She can only travel to Heartwoods that
have not been closed off from the network. Drawback: This
travel is traumatic to the vampire’s body, inflicting a point of
aggravated damage.
New Devotions
As an additional prerequisite, a Yarilo must learn Spore before
they he acquire other Devotions from the following powers.
Spore
(Dominate •, Protean ••)
The most basic of the Yarilo’s mind influencing abilities,
this Devotion allows Vines to implant potential servants with
mind-altering, fungus-like spores.
This Devotion costs no Experiences if the vampire meets
prerequisites.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must have the blush of life active.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Once per scene, the Yarilo can spew out a continuous cloud
of microscopic spores as she breathes and speaks. Any mortal
who inhales theses spores over the course of the scene becomes
trivially susceptible to the vampire’s Dominate effects, applying
half her Protean dots as a penalty on all rolls to resist. The
vampire can affect a number of individuals in a scene equal to
her Blood Potency plus one.
Bloom
(Dominate •••••, Protean •••••)
A good gardener knows you have to rip out a weed by the
roots or else it will return. One would be well advised to
remember this truth when dealing with the Yarilo. Vines
debate whether vampires who use this Devotion are the same
individual or just a copy, but most don’t like to think about it.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: None
Requirement: The vampire must have infected at least one
fully blood-bound mortal with her spores within the last month.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
If the vampire suffers a death blow, she can activate this
Devotion to — for lack of a better term — explode, caking the area
in viscera. For all intents and purposes, she’s dead. However, over
the next night, one of her thralls will experience an agonizing
transformation as his body mutates into a facsimile of his mas-
72 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
ter’s, replacing his mind with hers. Once she comes to herself,
she regains all traits. For all intents and purposes, she’s undead.
Once the transformation is complete, the vampire suffers a
Humanity 1 breaking point. Each time she uses Bloom again
in a story, the detachment roll suffers a cumulative –1 modifier.
Sprout
(Dominate ••, Protean ••)
Ghouls and retainers have their places, but sometimes
you need a servant who obeys implicitly, one who’ll act as an
extension of the self. Among the most notorious of the Yarilo’s
powers, with this Devotion, a Vine can use her botanical nature
to hollow out mortals into half-human, half-plant thralls.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Requirement: The must inf lict the victim with the
Mesmerized Condition and then use the Spore Devotion
on him.
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Expression + Dominate
Action: Extended (target is ten plus the victim’s Resolve, and
each roll represents half an hour of time). The usual results
of exceptional success, failure, and dramatic failure for an
extended action apply to this action.
Once she achieves the required successes, the victim becomes
a cipher, totally incapable of acting under his own will. In
effect, the Mesmerized Condition becomes persistent, and it
can only be resolved if the victim suffers aggravated damage
to his head. This Condition applies for the requirements of
other Dominate effects, so the vampire has no need to use
Mesmerize on the victim.
In addition, the spores implanted in the victim’s bloodstream
warp his flesh into plant-like protrusions, granting the equiv-
alent of a permanent Predatory Aspect adaptation (vampire
player’s choice). If the vampire knows Unnatural Aspect, she
can apply an adaptation from that power as well.
Harvest
(Dominate •••)
Reap what ye sow, they say, and the Yarilo are capable of
building up a significant bounty.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower, plus one Vitae per victim after the first
Requirement: The vampire must have implanted her spores
in all potential victims using Spore within the same scene.
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
The vampire can apply Mesmerize to all characters who were
exposed to her spores in the area; use the highest resistance trait
in the group to contest the activation roll. She must still spend
Vitae and make separate rolls for other effects of Dominate.
 Part Three: The Escape
I hate this dream. I’m in the shitty apartment my band shares between tours. It’s a fucking mess
because we’re still fighting about whether we’re calling ourselves the Hell Holes or the Cherry Pilots,
and I’m pacing over piles of iron-on t-shirt merch while I wait for the operator to connect me. The
phone’s cord is kinky and knotted, and when I stop and try to untangle it, the receiver falls out of
my hand to skid across the floor. That’s right when the operator comes back on.
“Miss Henry?”
“Yeah!” I scramble down to grab the receiver before she hangs up. “I’m here.”
“Miss Henry, I have some very unfortunate news: Your brother was killed last week.”
The world fades to white from my scalp on down. “What?”
“There was an altercation in the lunch line between two prisoners… your brother was in the
wrong place at the wrong time. I’m very sorry. The body is with your family.”
Next thing I know, I’m on the road. It’s the end of January, on the edge of a snowstorm that’ll
lock the state up for days. If I know about it, I don’t care. Instead, I’m screaming along with our
demo tape in our shitty tour van, half cut on a mix of vodka and meth. But the cocktail’s wearing
off quick, and I’m in the process of considering whether to snort one of the speedballs my girlfriend
made me for Christmas when I hit it. Or maybe it hits me. The memory is different every time —
sometimes I see it before I hit it, and other times it jolts my eyes back to the road. Sometimes I see
it in slow motion: glowing eyes and pale skin, perched like an owl on the hood of my van. It gives
me a big, white smile.
Then, the van flips. I survive the crash, but I don’t survive what I hit. The dream ends with the
feeling of teeth in my neck and the cold spreading into my bones.
I was a mess when I made it back to Chicago. I hitchhiked my way home and damn near murdered
a trucker or two along the way. I’d seen enough vampire movies to get the idea, but the exact ins
and outs weren’t obvious. It would’ve ended badly if Miriam hadn’t found me. All she ever asked
was that I have her back. Instead, I take off in the middle of the night when she needs me most.
Now I’m trapped in a hillbilly’s murder basement. Karma’s a bitch, man.
I come to with my eyes already open. The blue–white glow of a cellphone illuminates the cellar’s
walls, and I can see that it used to be poured concrete. The structure breaks away in jagged clumps,
leaving rough stone for the last fifteen feet. Someone tore its guts out with a jackhammer to make
it deeper.
I’m not alone. The guy holding the cellphone is young East Asian man, with dark hair, smooth
skin, and an athletic build. He’s standing on a precarious pile of rock and leaning against the
wall, a phone charger cable running into a plug several feet up. Is he one of the hunters? I have
to play this smart. I slowly sit up, and though I try to be quiet, the crack in my skull elicits an
unbidden groan.
He turns to look at me in shock and whispers in a hoarse voice, “Holy shit! I thought you were
dead! I didn’t feel a pulse and you were so cold. Are you…?” He wobbles a bit on his rock pile and
loses his grip on the phone; it swings on its charging cable, spiraling its light around the basement.
He hops down. “Don’t get up. Let me check you over. You hit the ground super hard. What’s
your—” I snarl, warning him I’m not to be touched, and he holds his hands up in apology. “Sorry.

74 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

I didn’t mean— I just… this is all super fucked up. But I promise, I’m not with them.” He laughs
nervously. “Do I look like a guy who’d own a murder cabin in the woods?”
I snort in spite of myself. No, between the UChicago Engineering hoodie and the Air Jordans,
he looks like anything but a serial killer with a lair. He relaxes a bit and takes a step forward.
“I’m Jamie. What’s your name?” Fuck. Right. Brace for the awkward. I mouth, NO, then draw a
line across my throat, shaking my head to punctuate it. To my surprise, he gets it in one. “Oh shit,
you can’t talk? Did they—”
NO,, I mouth again.
NO
“Okay, well, uh… shit. I took some ASL freshman year, but—” I shake my head. I can indeed Sign,
but I’m nonverbal, not deaf, and this will go faster if he just keeps talking. I mouth, I CAN HEAR
YOU, then point to his phone, still dangling above his head like a halo.
“No signal. This entire area is a dead zone. I’m just lucky I had my charger on me. I’ve been hid-
ing it whenever they come around.” I look up at the plug in the concrete and back at him: There’s
a ten-foot difference between his reach and the outlet. I furrow my brow and he catches my drift.
“Nah, I didn’t do it alone. I’m not like… parkour.” He mimes some hybrid of kung-fu and hopscotch.
“I wasn’t alone. I’m just the last one left down here until… you.”
I take a rock and carve into the dirt, HOW LONG?
“About a week. Me and five of my frat brothers got grabbed. We were on our way back from a
concert in Nashville when Tom found some girl on Tinder — Morgan. She said we could crash at
her family’s cabin and party. And then… they’re all gone.”
Something about the finality in his voice provokes the Beast. Maybe it’s just my aching, nearly
empty stomach, but his tone irks me. But now would be an especially bad time to let go, so instead,
I hurl the rock as hard as I can, and it vanishes into the dark without a sound.
Jamie keeps rambling, his entire body shaking. “Micah tried to grab the old man’s shotgun and
he— they blew his… he’s dead. They come back every night and take us two at a time. Tom and
Ian, then Brad and Jared. Until I was alone. And tonight’s going to be us.” He looks up at me, his
pupils constricting into tiny points. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”
I don’t respond. Instead, I pick up another piece of rock and carve in the dirt, big and easy to
read: LAINEY.
“Nice to meet you, Lainey.”
The trapdoor squeaks open above us, and light floods into the hole from behind a circle of faces,
gathered around an old man with rosy cheeks and curly, silver hair. He looks like a retired football
coach and sounds about the same. He’d seem kindly if… well.
“Glad to see you two lovebirds getting along. Hope you’re keeping your hands to yourselves and
Jesus between you both.” He laughs. “But where are my manners? Young lady, I’m Frank, and this
is my wife, Bonnie. Everyone just calls us Ma and Pa around here — even the grandkids.” Bonnie
waves at me, cooing something I can’t quite make out. Frank grins at that and gestures at a heavy-
set man in a camo jacket. “I think you met my boy Max. Helluva shot, eh?”
He’s a slow talker, and he takes his time introducing all the other smiling faces. His middle son
Morris and his wife Stephanie; his daughter Stella and her husband Lyle; and teenage grandkids
Logan, Jackson, Daniel, and last, but certainly not least, the lovely Morgan. I have a million screams
inside me that I’d like to unleash, but instead I give them the finger.

The Reunion 75
 Pa laughs. “Ornery type! Probably just hungry. Ma made you both some dinner.” There’s a soft,
slapping noise as a pair of sandwiches wrapped in plastic hit the floor next to me. “Eat up now.
You’ll need your strength for when the cousins get here. We can’t give the land a starving meal.”
The shit does that mean?
The hatch closes, dropping us into darkness once more. Jamie and I sit in silence for a few minutes
and I struggle to listen. I hear their footsteps move away, then the scuff of chair legs and casual
conversation. They’re sitting at the dinner table, no doubt having a grand old time. Laugh it up,
you redneck assholes.
Jamie just sits and stares at the floor, so I stand up and pace, tossing a new rock between my
hands. I could shift my fingers and toes into claws to climb up the walls, but then I’d still have to
deal with an entire family of armed psychos. Gods, I’ve never wanted to be Dracula so much in
my life. Cool cape, big castle, and the ability to turn into mist to avoid awkward social situations.
I could merge with the exposed dirt — if it lets me this time — but the pretty little frat boy will see.
I could always suck him dry first… which would solve two problems at once…
No! That isn’t me. I force the hunger down and tell the Beast to shut up. It wouldn’t help me
deal with the family anyway.
I chuck the rock at the wall in frustration. Again, it makes no sound — and it should, shouldn’t
it? I hurry over to where it lands, and what I feel beneath my fingers makes me smile. Daddy was
a lot of things, but above all, he was a contractor, and he loved to talk about work when he drank.
Which means I know all about the family trade.
When the hicks dug out their basement to make this oubliette, they didn’t factor in the geology.
The hill the cabin sits on is full of clay and shale, nature’s bitch materials. And with the rainy
autumn weather, the ground is damp as hell.
Jamie watches me and quickly catches on. “We tried it, but the ground’s too hard without proper
tools. We only got a couple feet in before…” The look on his face is one of absolute defeat, and for
a moment, he looks like he’s going to lose it — but he fights it. He even forces a smile, unwilling to
let despair control him, and I feel a sudden swell of respect for the poor bastard.
He gestures at the loose earth. “Some engineer. If I could’ve just figured out something to dig
with. But there’s nothing.”
Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, celly. I point at the hatch and mouth to him, GO. WATCH.
He looks confused, but turns and does as I ask.
I will Vitae into my fingertips, reshaping them into the thick, sharp claws of a mole. I start to dig,
and my claws punch through the soil like it’s cardboard. Even so, there’s still probably about thirty feet
of it; I whistle back to him, but he’s already right behind me, scooping the stray dirt onto the floor.
“You’re stronger than you look. Let’s fucking go!” For the first time, he sounds enthusiastic, and
I’ll be damned if it isn’t infectious.
I burrow as fast as I can, but there’s a lot of rock. Clawing straight through will take too much
time, so instead, I make an upward curve, but it’s taking me three times the work for less than half
the progress I want. I’m about to lose hope when my claws bite through a patch of shale into open
air. We’re still a good twenty feet below the surface, but I won’t complain. Instead, I punch through
the remaining rock and wriggle through, heedless of the jags ripping up my arms and shirt. I shift
my hands back to normal and reach back to help Jamie squeeze through. He’s bigger than me, but
he makes up for it with adrenaline.

76 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 We lie on the ground, him catching his breath and me pretending to, and I use the pause to
study our new environment. We’re in a cave, at least a hundred feet wide. Probably more, but
even I can’t see that well in the dark. The air’s wet and fresh, and everything smells like rot. I
turn my head toward the sound of running water, and Jamie already has his phone’s flashlight
out in that direction.
A soft burble announces an underground spring, which empties into a wide pool. In the center
is a small island with an ash tree growing on it, entwined in thick vines that blanket every inch of
soil. Its highest branches reach out of the cave through a large hole in the ceiling. The edges are
sharp and crisp, probably carved with the same tools that turned the cellar into a prison. Through
it, I can see the full moon, bloody and beaming through a haze of clouds. I’m transfixed by the
sight again, but Jamie’s voice snaps me back to reality.
“Oh shit .” He’s at the edge of the water, his face contorted in horror. “Oh my God. Look.” He
shit.”
points into the water and I follow his gaze. The pool at the base of the tree is deeper than it first
seemed. I don’t need Jamie’s phone flashlight to see in the dark, but it still takes me a second to
understand exactly what I’m looking at.
Bones.
Everywhere.
The vines wrapping around the tree spiderweb through the pool, their tendrils skewering hundreds
of small animals — rodents, birds, cats, dogs, even cattle. It’s so full of bone we can walk across them
like a bridge. As we approach, we see a human hand jutting from a tangle of roots, as if planted
years ago. But it wasn’t, and we both know it: It’s wearing the same style of beaded frat bracelet
as the one on Jamie’s own wrist. And yet, the skin is papery and thin, desiccated like a mummy.
This close, I can see the vines have rubbed most of the tree’s bark off, leaving it knotted and rough,
like the skin of lepers in old pictures Melissa looked up after Sunday school. But in the center of
the trunk is a patch where the vines refuse to grow. In a small hollow rests a human skill. A child’s
skull, in point of fact, fused to the tree as if the wood were clay. Around it in the water are various
toys and trinkets, including a pair of grinning yellow hairclips that send a shudder down my soul.
“What is this?” Jamie asks, panic rising in his voice. Even if I could talk, I wouldn’t have any words
for this, but I’ve seen enough blood magic to know one thing: This isn’t a cave. It’s not even a shrine.
It’s an altar.

The Reunion 77
 chapter two
The Passenger
The voices in my head, they don’t care what I do,
they just want to argue the matter through and through.
Leonard Cohen

The Beast wants. It wants you to claw the smug look off that cop’s face, to bury your fangs in your date and drink till there’s
nothing left, to flee from that bonfire as fast as you can and rip apart anything — and anyone — in your path. Most vampires sup-
press the Beast. They smother it with logic, bury it in ritual or prayer, or chain it with Coils. Anything to keep it quiet. Contained.
Some Kindred know better.
In this chapter, you’ll learn what happens when Gangrel really listen to the Beast — when they stop trying to fight it down
and learn instead to raise it up. The Risen Beast is more than wild impulse and desperate hunger, and it will tell you exactly
why you ought to heed it.

The Beast, Arisen

Kindred like to pretend they’re separate from their Beasts —
that the atrocities they commit in the grips of frenzy aren’t their
fault, but that of another entity. It’s a convenient collective lie
that better allows vampires to cope with their Requiems. But,
it is a lie. Kindred are monsters, and “the Beast” is just their
name for the collection of brutal instincts they possess but can’t
bear to accept; in this way, it’s no different from superstitious
mortals blaming evil spirits for their own misdeeds (“The devil
made me do it!”)
Except… why does the Beast sometimes know things Kindred
don’t? If it’s just a bundle of feral reactions, how does it know
there’s an assassin lurking in a packed concert hall, or how to
work the bizarre ligaments of the wings you just grew? Most
vampires dismiss these questions as irrelevant. The Beast is,
at best, a tool to use against one’s prey and one’s enemies, and
it should otherwise be kept locked in a box to better muffle
its howling.
The Gangrel have no choice but to listen to the Beast, as it
lurks so much closer to the surface. Other clans banish their
wilder sides to the cracks and crevices of their psyches, but the
Savage Beast prowls just beneath the skin. Spend enough time
listening to its growls and mutterings, and you might start to
think it’s something more than impulse and hunger. Some
Gangrel, desperate for a sense of control over themselves, lis-
ten closer to the sounds of the Beast, trying to make sense of
the rage within. Some even talk to their “other,” like children
might speak to a spooky imaginary friend; they know it’s not
real, but it’s still calming to pretend someone’s listening, even
if that someone scares you.
It’s only when the Beast talks back that these Savages start
to worry about what, exactly, they’ve awoken.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 1
“No! No, no, nononononono…”
The denials came faster and faster, spilling from Molly’s lips
like the blood gushing from Frank’s ruined throat as he hits
the dirt, his eyes wide and glassy. He only lies there a moment,
though, before the thing is on him, red-rimmed mouth fasten-
ing to the wound and sucking with such ferocious energy that
Molly can practically hear the blood drain.
She backs up a step, then another, shaking, before her
back hits a tree. She stops, the last of her strength draining
away as she slides down the bark to the ground. She doesn’t
remember when she started crying, but it’s through wet eyes
that she watches the hunched creature finish with Frank and
turn toward her. It steps through a shaft of moonlight shining
through the canopy, and Molly gets a good look at the thing
that murdered her friends for the first time. Its face, even
stained with sticky red, is human, but there’s nothing humane
in the way it’s looking at her, or in the hungry parody of a
smile it’s wearing.
“Monster…”

Chapter Two: The Passenger 79

 For a moment, Molly isn’t aware it was even her who spoke,
the one word floating up in the air between her and the crim-
son-stained not-man. He hears her though, cocking his head
to one side, and some of the shine leaves his eyes, replaced by
something else. Anger? Pride? Regret? Molly doesn’t have time
to decide, because in the next blink, he’s beside her, pinning her
to the tree, so close she can smell Frank’s blood on his breath.
“Monster?” The creature’s voice is raspy and thick, a rusty
tool being pulled reluctantly from the box. “You don’t know
what that is. Maybe I’ll show you…”
Molly’s only answer is a whimper as she feels its too sharp
fingers brush her hair aside, and she screws her eyes shut as it
draws closer still. Pain fills her flesh as its teeth pierce her neck,
then a treacherous flush of heat, and Molly’s scream turns into
a moan that becomes a sigh.
Soon after, she makes no more noise at all.
To Grandmother’s House We Go
In the beginning, they were faint whispers in trees and distant
howls through misty nights. Tonight, they exist as geocaches
in federal parks and dead drops buried in forgotten subway
tunnels: Rumors and stories of Gangrel who’ve made their
Beast into something more — more cunning, more rational…
more dangerous. Savages who’ve taken their worst impulses and
forged them into something that thinks, something they can
speak to or even bargain with. Clever. Patient. Risen.
80 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
The name of the first to awaken their Beast is lost to the fog
of history, but it’s been happening for a long time, for at least
as long as humans have had words to speak and understood
the concepts of us and them — with all the violence contained
within that distinction. Introspective Savages reckon it’s their
very independence that’s responsible for the Risen phenome-
non. If you never have to look outward for help, all that’s left
is to look within, and for Kindred, that means taking a long,
hard look at the Beast.
Some wonder if there’s a more sentimental explanation,
though. Gangrel, more than any others among the Damned,
can survive all on their own, but that can lead to a rather
secluded Requiem. If you can’t trust other Licks, and humans
are food, and animals are servants, who do you talk to? Who
can you tell your secret fears or dreams? Who can you cry out
to in the middle of the dark woods in order to prove you still
exist? Perhaps, some speculate, the first Risen were born not
of utility or soul-searching, but of loneliness.
Gangrel aren’t exactly known for historical records, so there’s
not a lot of hard documentation regarding the Risen. While
it’s not exactly a clan secret, it’s difficult to confirm rumors
of the Risen Beast amidst all the other stories surrounding
the Savages. If the oldest Gangrel in the city claims to talk to
her Beast, and that it answers, most Kindred aren’t going to
question her, but they probably don’t actually believe her. At
least not out loud. How do you prove the reality of a mental
Passenger without sounding mad? In recent nights, Gangrel of
a more scholarly bent, notably in the Circle of the Crone and
Ordo Dracul, are attempting to put to paper their findings on
the Risen, but for now. it remains a deeply personal journey.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 2
She’s so hungry. The hunger is worse than anything she’s
ever known, anything she’s ever even conceived of. Molly looks
down at her stomach expecting to see a sucking pit, a gaping
maw, something that would explain this horrible feeling of
need — but there’s just pale flesh, smooth and cold under her
equally chill fingers. She doesn’t know why she’s so cold. She
doesn’t know anything except for how hungry she is, not even
what she needs to fill the aching hole inside her. She already
tried eating everything left in her backpack; then, when she
retched that up, she tried mushrooms and leaves in desperation,
but nothing helped.
A twig snaps.
Molly’s head whips around, her whole body suddenly tense
for… what? Running? Hiding? Any more questions are cut off
as something stumbles through the underbrush toward her.
“Mols? Is that you? Oh, thank God! I thought you were all
dead!” The thing — a person — is talking at her, and through
the haze of hunger clouding her mind, Molly manages to pluck
a name.
“Mark?” Her voice sounds strange, like listening to a record-
ing of herself. Mark doesn’t seem to notice.
“Yes! It’s me! God, I’m sorry! I ran — I had to! You saw what
it did to Frank and Lisa. Listen, I’ve been looking for you
everywhere! We have to get out of here!” Mark is babbling as he
gets closer, and Molly is staring at him. Staring into him. Past
his skin, past the flesh flush with fear and panic to something
deeper. As Mark finally gets close enough to put a hand, dirty
with dry blood, on her arm, she finally realizes what she’s been
hungering for.
Snips, Snails, and Puppy-Dog Tails
There’s no codified process to awaken the Beast, no certified
ritual that guarantees success. The ways instinct and anger
undergo metamorphosis into awareness and cunning are as
individual as the Gangrel who attempt them. Some even stum-
ble upon the process accidentally, desperation leading them to
elevate the Beast for want of any other ally.
The one constant is sacrifice. A Savage must give of them-
self in order to make the Beast more than it is. The form the
sacrifice takes doesn’t matter, just so long as it tears a piece of
the vampire’s Humanity away with it. The only caveat is that
the vampire making this sacrifice cannot frenzy as she makes
it. The sacrifice is a gift, given knowingly or otherwise from
the vampire’s conscious self to the Beast to aid in its rising.
• In the crumbling remains of a tenement building, clawed
hands scrape symbols into peeling plaster. The bound man
on the floor struggles against his bonds, pleading for his life,
but his voice is not the one his captor wants to hear.
• The polished floors of the hunting lodge are scuffed where
the corpses have fallen, but there’s not a drop of blood to be
found. She’s promised every rivulet to the hunger inside her
so it might listen the next time she begs it to stop.
• His fingers scrabble at the stalagmite impaling his belly, dead
guts spilling out around it. He knows he doesn’t need those
pale organs anymore, that he should be able to pull himself
up and off — but he can’t. In the void of the cave, he calls out
for someone, anyone, to help him, and from the darkness in
his own mind, something responds.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 3
“I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry, Mark!” She shakes the corpse, but
it doesn’t answer, just stares up past her at the leaves with empty
eyes. She remembers finding Mark in the woods, remembers
the hunger, and then… and then…
“No!”
Molly’s wail startles sleeping birds awake, scattering them
away from her as she cries red tears over the corpse of her friend.
“No… please… I didn’t mean to… I don’t want this… I don’t…”
She looks up, the sky barely visible past the tree, stars glittering
coldly above her. “God, please… I’m sorry…” Half-remembered
prayers tumble from her lips between sobs, the words awkward
around the fangs she refuses to acknowledge. She asks to be
saved, then she begs to be damned. When neither is delivered
to her, she falls silent. In the quiet clearing, a moth alights on
Mark’s cold lips. All his warmth is in her now.
“Please… anybody… Help me… I don’t want to be like this…”
…like this…
Molly’s head snaps up, she looks around fearfully, not want-
ing to see anybody else, not wanting to feel that awful hunger
rise up again. “Hello?” She keeps looking, but it’s just her and
what’s left of Mark.
…hello…
“Who are you?” Her tears have stopped, confusion tempo-
rarily replacing despair.
…you…
“What?” Molly blinks, slowly realizing she doesn’t know
where the voice is coming from.
…you don’t want to be like this.
“No! No! It’s awful! I— I’m— No!” She shakes her head as
hard as she can, unable to put any of it into words. If she says
it, it’ll be true.
You don’t have to be.
That brings Molly up short. “…I don’t?”
Below her, the moth crawls across Mark’s cheek, its proboscis
descending daintily to sample the still sticky red stain there.
No. I can take it all away.
“Who are you?” Molly whispers.
A friend. I know it hurts, Molly, but it’s okay. I can show you how
to make the hurting stop, and then you can just… fly away.
Chapter Two: The Passenger 81
 “…What do I have to do?” Heartbreak and hope war in Molly’s
quavering voice.
Well, to fly, you need some wings first. Those will do.
“What?” She shakes her head, not understanding.
Right there, silly.
Molly’s attention is drawn again to the moth peacefully sitting
on Mark’s ruined face.
Just take those wings into you, and I’ll do the rest.
“But…” Molly frowns, trying to make sense of it.
Don’t you want my help? I don’t have to be here. I could just leave
you alone, if that’s what you want.
“No! No. I want it to stop…” Molly’s hand strikes out in a blur
and snatches up the moth before it has a chance to so much as
flutter its wings. Not stopping to think about what she’s doing,
she stuffs the insect whole into her mouth and bites down. The
moth’s pulped innards taste of the same ashen nothingness
as everything else she’s tried to eat since waking up — save for
the sweet joy she pulled out of Mark. She chokes it down, the
legs still twitching.
Good job, babe. What a good girl you are!
“What now?” She doesn’t feel different, still cold and empty.
Now you just let me take care of everything.
Molly feels something shift within her, like the twitching of
the insect’s legs against her throat, but deeper. Her skin ripples,
and the sensation spreads. As she watches, a small patch of flesh
on her arm peels away and gives a little flutter.
“What’s happening?” Molly stares, transfixed, as more bits of
her skin peel up and out, twitching as if stirred by an unseen
breeze. Dimly, she reasons she should probably be scared, but
all she can feel is wonder.
Those are your wings, Molly. You’re about to fly.
Molly opens her mouth to ask another question, but instead,
a dozen moths pour out from between her lips, followed by a
dozen more. Molly tilts her head back, opens her mouth wide,
and becomes a hundred whisper-soft wings.
The Voice in My Head Doesn’t Like You
Those who make the sacrifice and survive the consequenc-
es,feel the change immediately. They’re not alone in their head
anymore — something is listening to them, watching them,
searching for weakness. The occasional, whispered word can
be heard among the Beast’s ever-present shrieks: Feed. Flee. Kill.
When the first real words form, many Gangrel deny what
they’ve done. However, the Risen Beast will quickly make itself
impossible to ignore. It no longer just demands action with urge
and instinct. It speaks and, what’s more, it questions:
Why not take it all? We’re hungry.
Are you sure you should let her live? She’ll just hurt us again.
The sun comes soon. Is this meeting really worth it?
While it might sound disconcerting — and it is — to have a
second voice questioning your choices, the advantage to having
82 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
a Passenger is that the vampire can now explain herself, and
show her Beast a world beyond the momentary present:
We leave some so we’re not marked as a poacher.
She owes us her life now, and that’s more valuable than her ashes.
We’re winning the negotiations, and this will give us access to much
richer feeding grounds.
Naturally, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes the Beast still
boils over, but bargaining isn’t an option other Kindred even
know exists, let alone how to access it. Gangrel know the Beast
must be sated eventually; it can only be put off with words for
so long, and you can’t hide from something in your own mind.
In the meantime, however, remaining in control when other
Kindred would fall to mindless fear or anger is invaluable.
What’s more, negotiation is only the first step in a relationship
that could last for centuries…
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 4
“I don’t like doing this, Moth,” Molly lies, stroking the fur
of the dead deer, its blood warming her insides.
I know, pet. Moth knows she’s lying, but that’s all right. Molly
needs her lies to be comfortable, and Moth prefers it when she’s
comfortable. But, you need to, to stop from hurting.
“I like being wings more,” Molly sighs, and that’s closer to
the truth.
Which is why we hunt. The more blood we have, the more you can
fly, and the less you have to hurt.
“You’re right…” she agrees, absently licking blood from a tal-
oned finger. Moth taught her how to make those so she could
hunt better, just like how she taught her how to hide from the
sun in the earth — and so many other things. Moth taught her
a lot about being a monster.
I’m always right.
Moth’s voice is teasing, and Molly laughs. “You are not! Brat.”
Oh, really? Name me one time I’ve been wrong. Just one.
“Umm… You didn’t think that bear would charge me! That
really hurt!” Molly runs a hand over the hole in her shirt where
the animal’s claws caught her, the flesh beneath unblemished.
That wasn’t my fault! You didn’t talk to it right.
“Well, I still think—” Molly cuts herself off as she catches a
faint cry from the east. Not a scream, exactly, but loud enough
to be heard over the rustling leaves and the night birds. “—that
counts as you being wrong,” She tries to keep going as if nothing’s
happened, but it’s too late. If she heard it, then so did—
Molly.
She stops walking. Hands limp at her sides, she stares at the
ground.
Go on. You know what you have to do.
Still silent, Molly nods once. Her reluctant steps gradually
turn into a run, her stride literally lengthening as she pushes
the blood inside to make her limbs longer and nimbler.
Good girl.
Me and My Shadow
After compromise comes cooperation. The Beast is now the
Gangrel’s Passenger; it has no choice in this, but it also has
independent desires now, which may be very different from
those of the vampire who rose it up. A Risen Beast soon acquires
a personality, a twisted shadow of its Savage’s, and while it’s
still a being of impulse and gluttony, its goals extend beyond
simple animal instinct:
He always thinks he’s so much smarter than us. We should show
him! Hurt him so he never looks down on us again!
The markers need to be clear. No one should be ignorant of our
territory. I’m thinking… dog skulls with rusted nails for teeth! It’s
good, right? You love it.
Another meeting? But we just fucking got here! Skip it! Don’t go!
Look, that blond over there is winking at us. I bet he tastes like
spun sugar…
One might be tempted to ignore these selfish agendas and get
on with more important activities, but sometimes indulgence
has a power all its own. Perhaps your Passenger thinks the
blood of dancers tastes the most delectable. Drink deeply from
the local recital hall and you’ll find your senses sharper and
your reflexes faster as your inner predator moves in concert.
The Beast was born of you, after all, and the things it wants
are, somewhere down in a shameful corner of your soul, the
things you want too.
This new dynamic dramatically alters the experience of
frenzy. Usually, holding back the Beast is an act of concen-
trated will, a stamping down of mindless desire and instinct.
However, with a Passenger riding shotgun in your brain, frenzy
can be less “giving in” and more “letting go.” The Beast is
always stronger and sharper than you, so when some asshole
you both hate needs his insides turned into outsides, why not
let the Risen handle it?
With you and your Beast in agreement, there’s no struggle,
simply action, and a deep satisfaction as your enemy falls to
ribbons at the business end of your claws. Of course, working
so closely with the Beast blurs the lines of identity, making any
frenzy harder to resist. It can be tempting to just let the monster
have what it wants, when it wants, but complacency may mean
you can’t stop when it really matters.
There’s another benefit, however. With a Risen Beast
making a lair in his mind, the vampire becomes immune to
possession by the Birds of Dis, or any other entity that cares
to try (including Lords). Having gained enough sapience to
have its own wants and needs, the Beast rejects any third party
trying to slip into its already crowded headspace. Any success-
ful attempt to subsume the vampire’s mind instead results in
frenzy as the Passenger violently displaces the intruder. If this
effect were more widely known, perhaps more Gangrel would
seek out the change.
However, if a whole clan became resistant to the Parliament’s
predations… well. Ask the Julii what it’s like defying the Strix.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 5
“Are those… human?” Jake asks me, staring at the bones
arranged at the base of a large tree, the beam of his flashlight
illuminating them into odd, contorted glowsticks. I was the
one to spot them first, looking for a place to camp. I was so
startled I cried out, much to my embarrassment. So much for
my outdoorswoman rep. Luckily, Jake was too distracted by
what I’d found to tease me.
“No… they can’t be,” I answer back, though the hollow-eyed
skull staring at me from the neat little pile seems to be calling
me a liar. I take a moment to sweep my own flashlight around,
and I discover there are bones all around this little clearing
we’ve found: hanging from branches, scattered on the ground,
or stuck in the dirt, seemingly at random. Only the set at the
base of the tree is laid out with care, and it’s the only one that’s
obviously human, despite my denial.
“Hey,” Jakes calls to me, having moved to the other side of the
space, presumably to not have to look at the definitely human
bones anymore, “Is this a tent?” He’s prodding at the dirt with
his boot, and when I go over to him, there’s a flap of something
faded orange in the beam of his flashlight.
“I think it is,” I say quietly, and I feel the hair on the back my
neck stand on end. I grab the exposed corner of canvas and give
it a hard tug, revealing more of the fabric in a shower of dirt. It’s
a tent all right, or the remains of one. It looks like it’s been in
this clearing for years, stained and frayed with several long tears.
“You shouldn’t be here,” a woman’s voice says from behind me.
I jump, but this time I manage to stifle a noise as I turn around.
She’s kneeling at the edge of the clearing, outside the range of
our pocket flashlights, only dimly illuminated by the moon and
stars. She’s young, maybe college-age, with straw-blond hair and
pale skin. Despite the chill of the evening, she’s only dressed in
a ragged pair of cutoffs and a stained, ragged tank top.
“Who are you?” Jakes asks, taking a step in front of me. He’s
easily twice this girl’s size — hell, I’m pretty sure I could bench-
press her without much trouble — but this whole situation is
so messed up that we’re both on edge.
“Molly,” the girl answers.
“Well, ah, ‘Molly’… do you know what happened here?” Jake’s
doing his best to sound non-hostile, his councilor training
coming to the fore, but I can tell from his voice how nervous
he is. Can’t say I blame him; my heart is going a mile a minute,
and a little voice in the back of my head is telling me I should’ve
started running a long time ago.
“People died,” she replies with a little shrug. She sounds sad,
and she turns her head to look over at the pile of human bones.
“Did you… know them?” I gently ask instead of the first
question that comes into my mind.
“No, I don’t want to,” she says, shaking her head. I frown.
What is she talking about?
There’s a beat. “Can’t we just let them go?”
That puts a bolt of pure panic through my spine, and I take
a step back before I know what I’m doing. The girl’s head snaps
Chapter Two: The Passenger 83
 up in my direction, her eyes gleaming unnaturally in the
dim light. I freeze.
“Molly, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Jake’s still talking to her. He even takes a step forward, arms
wide and welcoming. “Let’s just talk, okay?”
“See? They’re nice. Can’t we— Oh. Yes. Okay…” There’s
another pause, and I realize that, whoever she’s talking to, it’s
not us. “You’re right.” She drops her head again, not looking
at us. “I don’t want to see it. Can you…? Thanks, Moth.”
The girl shivers, then looks directly at us for the first time.
“Molly?” Jakes asks, taking another step forward and rais-
ing his flashlight so the beam finally catches the girl straight
on. This time, he’s the one who screams.
The stains on her clothes are blood, and she flashes a pair
of gleaming fangs with a big, shit-eating grin. She laughs and
shakes her head.
“Mol’s gone. She’s too nice for what comes next, but that’s
why she has me!” She steps forward and Jake backs up.
“Stay back!” he yells, voice shaking.
She ignores him, “I really have to thank you, darlings.
Deer blood keeps you going, but it’s about as appetizing as
mud.” She suddenly darts forward, her arms lengthening to
pull Jake into a hideous parody of an embrace. He struggles,
but somehow this girl a foot shorter than him holds him
fast. She pulls back her lips to give me a better look at the
fangs, then plunges them into his neck, pulling another
scream from him, this one of pain.
That’s when I hit her in the side, plunging my camping
knife as deep as it’ll go into her back. The girl — the thing
— shudders in pain, tearing its mouth away from Jake’s neck
with a horrible ripping noise. She lets go, and he topples
limply to the ground.
“No! Jake!” I scream in her face and stab her again, but she
barely seems to notice, just smiling at me with red, wet teeth.
When I go for a third strike, she grabs my wrist and bends it
back until I’m forced to drop my knife from numb fingers.
“That won’t work, pretty,” she tuts as if I’m a misbehaving
schoolchild. “You can’t kill a monster with a knife.” I stare
at her, mind blank with horror, and she laughs. “I do appre-
ciate your spirit, though. Tell you what, if you can make it
to the creek down the hill, I’ll let you go. I’ll even give you
a headstart! Molly would like that.” She lets go of my wrist
and gives me a little shove, her bloodstained hand leaving a
smear on my jacket.
“Go on, now! One… two…” she starts counting in a sing-
song voice, like a kid playing hide-and-seek. “Three…”
I know the creek she’s talking about. It’s not that far.
“Four…”
I’m in good shape. I could make it. But Jake—
“Five…”
I look down at him, motionless on the ground.
“Six…”
I run.

84 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

Regrets
Once the pact is made and the Beast growls its first guttural
words, there’s no shutting it up, and upon realizing this, more
than one Savage has decided to meet the sun rather than
share eternity with her sinful nature made manifest. Others,
though, find the idea comforting. As they age, Kindred lose
so much: Mortal relations age and die, and institutions they
once thought of as vital fall into obscurity. Even other vam-
pires meet Final Death or drift away as the decades erode
once tight bonds.
But not the Beast. The Beast is eternal, and it’s always on
your side. If you go, it goes, after all, and so it’s always going to
be in your corner, even if its suggestions are often abhorrent (or
worse, tempting). Whether soothing or maddening, a Requiem
with a Passenger in your head is never lonely.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 6
You know why we had to do that, right?
Molly is silent, kneeling next to the little stream as she tries
to clean some of the blood from her fingers. She nods.
Say it.
“Because… because if people knew I’m here, they’d find out
what I’ve done. They’d hunt me, and hurt me, and I’d never
get to fly again.” The words, even whispered, flow with the
familiarity of long repetition.
That’s right. You know, if you would just get rid of those bones,
people wouldn’t keep finding you.
Molly shakes her head fiercely, her denial as strong as every
other time Moth has made that suggestion. Molly knows Moth
is just trying to protect her, but those bones are important.
She needs them to help her remember when she wasn’t just
a monster.
Well, it’s your decision.
“Moth?” Molly stares at her reflection in the water.
Yes, pet?
“I’m going to be wings now. I think I’m going to be wings
for a long while.”
Of course, lovely.
Molly closes her eyes, and with a sigh of relief, melts into a
fluttering gray mass.
Hell Is Other People
While it’s not spoken of often, all of the major covenants
have Gangrel in their ranks, and so their various chapters
are aware of the Risen Beast to some degree or another.
While the attitudes toward it vary wildly across geographic
and cultural lines, there are some general views each of the
major factions holds.
Passengers of Other Clans
This chapter assumes the Risen Beast is a
phenomenon restricted to the Gangrel, but that
doesn’t have to be the case in your chronicle. Here’s
a brief look at what the Risen of the other four clans
might look like:
Daeva: A Serpent’s Passenger is a thing of wanton
desire and instant gratification. Almost always of
the Seductive aspect, these Risen challenge their
Kindred to new heights of indulgence and excess.
Mekhet: Risen who spawn from Shadows are
concerned with security above all else. The Beast
councils caution and focuses on self-preservation,
with survival their foremost priority.
Nosferatu: A Haunt’s Risen Beast is an alien,
frightening thing. Usually of the Monstrous Aspect,
they urge their Kindred to respond to threats or
insults with horrific acts of intimidation and violence
so that no one will dare taunt them again.
Ventrue: It’s not enough for a Lord’s Passenger
to know it’s the best: Everyone else must also
acknowledge the obvious. Almost exclusively of the
Competitive aspect, they council ruthless tactics to
crush would-be rivals before they can even think
about challenging their betters.
The Carthian Movement
Unsurprisingly, the Firebrands don’t have a united view on
the Risen Beast, but most who know about it are positively
disposed. After all, it gives vampires the ability to negotiate
with their dark sides, to possibly reduce some of the chaos and
randomness of their Requiems. Of all the covenants, Carthians
are the most likely to treat a Passenger like a separate entity,
often using a different name for it from the vampire who cre-
ated it. While this might seem a bit like pandering to outsiders,
the Firebrands know it’s entirely practical. If you’re on good
terms with not only Jerry, but his Beast Tin-Tooth, maybe ol’
Tin-Tooth will sidestep you for a different target the next time
Jerry loses his cool during a debate.
The Circle of the Crone
Of the five great covenants, the Mother’s Army has the most
approving outlook toward the Risen Beast. What’s not to love
about communing with your inner monster? To be able to speak
to that dark, blood-soaked part of yourself that’s never been
human, with no interest in mortal wants or needs? That’s the
Dark Mother in all her glory. Acolytes often look to Gangrel
who’ve elevated their Beasts as spiritual guides and mentors,
and those who’ve Risen themselves pay close attention to
what their other half tells them. It’s rumored that Passengers
can perform a wilder, more feral form of Crúac, one that has
insidious effects on the Beasts of other Kindred.
Chapter Two: The Passenger 85

The Invictus
The First Estate is divided over Passengers. One the one hand,
having smarter, more controllable frenzies is theoretically good
for the Masquerade. On the other, most Risen don’t care about
the Masquerade outside of immediate survival. They also don’t
care about money, fancy cars, stock options, or designer suits,
which can make them difficult to influence. Worse? They aren’t
bound to Oaths. If a Passenger breaks the terms of an Oath
while in control of the Savage who swore it, the consequences
don’t manifest until said Savage is back in the driver’s seat (as it
were). If this were widely known, indentured and vassal Gangrel
might be interested in cutting a few loopholes.
The Lancea et Sanctum
When the Devil whispers in your ear, it’s a blessing. Now
you know what not to do. The Sanctified are more accepting of
the Risen Beast than those outside the covenant might think,
but most react to it as a temptation, the voice of a demon
attempting to lure them from a righteous path. Indeed, some
Gangrel who’ve regretted their transformation will seek out
the Church for support against the ceaseless voice. However, in
some domains, the Sanctum will use the Risen Beast as a kind
of sin-eater, surrendering control in order to commit heretical
actions deemed necessary for the covenant’s survival whilst not
sullying the hands of an actual Sanctified.
The Ordo Dracul
The practice of raising the Beast is in the process of being
forbidden in the ranks of several Dragon branches, pending fur-
ther investigation into what’s commonly known as the Parisian
Incident. Hoping to elevate his understanding of the Beast to
greater heights, a master of the Coil of the Wyrm ritually sacri-
ficed his beloved sire in order to gain the power of a Passenger.
The resulting hourslong frenzy caused the Final Deaths of
every other vampire in the chapter house. Containment was
only possible through a failsafe procedure that one of the last
survivors managed to engage, which consumed the property
and everyone in it. While the Defiant won’t outright reject
membership from those who’ve got a Risen Beast in their head
(such a thing is hard to prove, at any rate), that member will
be watched closely, and they’ll most likely be forbidden from
studying the Mystery of the Wyrm.
Wings Beneath Your Skin, 7
“I thought we needed to avoid people,” Molly says, looking
down from her treetop perch at the lights of the city glittering
coldly below.
Things are different now. You’ve felt it — the deer and raccoons are
hollow. They can’t feed us anymore.
Molly nods; it’s true. Her prey’s life no longer keeps the
hunger at bay, and it’s been building up for weeks.
I know you’re nervous, babe. It’s been a long time since you left, but
you can’t let yourself get too hungry. Remember Mark?
“Yes…” Molly whispers. She’ll always remember Mark. “But I
don’t want to have to do that again. To… eat… people like that.”
Of course not. Moth’s voice is so soothing. You won’t have to. We
can just sneak up and take little sips. Tiny nibbles. I’ll teach you how.
“Okay…” Molly says without enthusiasm.
It’s this or fall asleep forever, Moth warns. Do you want that?
“No…”
In truth, sleeping forever doesn’t sound so bad to Molly. It
sounds peaceful, like being wings. But she knows if she sleeps,
then Moth sleeps too, and she knows that’s not want Moth wants.
Are you ready to go?
Molly takes a deep, unneeded breath. “Just small sips?”
The smallest. They’ll barely even notice. Promise.
Molly knows Moth isn’t quite telling the truth. She can tell
her friend doesn’t want to take small sips — she wants to drink
every last drop from everyone they can find. She can’t help
it though. Moth’s a monster, and that’s what monsters want.
Molly understands, though, because she’s a monster too. At
least with Moth, she’s not a monster by herself.
“Let’s go.” She stands, balancing easily on the thin branch.
“Together?”
Together forever.
Molly smiles and launches herself off the branch into the
night sky, her body exploding into hundreds of fluttering wings
that swirl toward the lights below.

The Way Back Home

As written, awakening the Beast and making it into a Passenger is irrevocable. However, sometimes the exceptions
that prove the rule make for the best drama. We won’t offer any hard rules here, but, by way of suggestion, we
offer two potential approaches to accomplish this feat:
The High Road: The Gangrel must perform an act of such selflessness that it silences the Risen Beast forever.
Maybe she risks her Requiem for another vampire’s Touchstone, or renounces her standing in the All Night Society
just because it’s the right thing to do.
The Low Road: The Gangrel must perform an act of such depravity that the Beast is frightened back into its former
state. While this certainly fits in with the themes of Vampire, if you do choose this option, make absolutely sure that
everyone at the table is comfortable with whatever you (whether as a Storyteller or a player) come up with.

86 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Me, Myself, and Eternity: Risen Systems
Every Gangrel has the potential to elevate the Beast. To
initiate the transformation, a character must have a Humanity
rating of 6 or less. The character then makes the sacrifice and
loses a dot of Humanity, gaining the Risen Beast Condition
(below) and a brand-new voice in her head.
Existing with a Risen Beast means balancing between three
Conditions called postures: Hostile, Symbiotic, and Unleashed.
A character may only ever be under the effects of one posture at
a time. If she would gain one before another resolves, the new
Condition overwrites the previous without granting a Beat.
Risen Conditions
RISEN BEAST
(PERSISTENT)
Your Beast is awake and aware, a conscious presence in your
mind and an active participant in your Requiem. It knows
everything you know and perceives everything you perceive —
and sometimes more. It speaks inside your mind, and you can
answer it silently or out loud, though the latter tends to make
you… unpopular with other Kindred. You and your Beast can-
not lie to each other. In this state, you and your Beast may not
always agree, but you’re not working against each other, either.
This has the following effects:
• You are immune to possession, be it from Kindred, Strix,
ghosts, or more esoteric creatures. Any attempt to possess
your body that would otherwise succeed instead fails. You
then enter frenzy with the possessing entity as the target.
Easier Said Than Done
On paper, elevation is simple. In narrative terms,
creating a Passenger is a soul-shaking experience, at
least for the character attempting it. Learning about
the Risen Beast and arranging the circumstances
to elevate one’s own could easily be the focus
of several chapters. The sacrifice requires your
character to do something that triggers a breaking
point while not in frenzy and then lose a dot of
Humanity. It should be a harrowing and uncertain
experience, and one the character isn’t quite sure
is going to work until they hear the Beast’s first
cognizant whispers. Keep in mind that a character
might not know what she’s doing, but a player
should always be aware of their choices.
• You can choose to resist frenzy with Manipulation + Persuasion,
talking your Beast down rather than just denying it. This roll
is not capped by the Feral Curse. If you succeed, you don’t
gain the Tempted Condition, but the Beast will require an
exchange of some sort in the future. Reneging on this bargain
before your next frenzy inflicts the Hostile posture.
• Your Beast is more cunning and patient, even while in
frenzy. It’s capable of using tools, taking complex actions,
and speaking. This can be both a blessing and curse,
depending on the situation.
Resolution: N/A
Beat: Act upon your Beast’s wishes over a political or social
obligation.
POSTURE: HOSTILE
You and your Beast are not on the same page. Maybe you
snubbed its suggestions one time too many, or perhaps it’s just
been whining about wanting more blood even though you’re
full. Whatever the reason, your internal squabbling has the
following effects:
• You gain a +2 modifier to resist frenzy, but such rolls are
now Contested against a dice pool equal to twice your Blood
Potency as you and your Beast struggle for control. You cannot
attempt to calm your Beast with Manipulation + Persuasion.
• You cannot ride the wave.
• Once per Scene, your Beast can impose a –2 to any Mental
or Social roll by distracting or insulting you.
• Once per night, you can regain a point of Willpower by
actively thwarting your Beast’s Aspiration.
Possible Sources: Dramatically fail a roll to resist frenzy.
Ignore your Beast’s Aspiration. Renege on an agreement with
your Beast.
Resolution: Fulfill your Beast’s Aspiration. Forgo frenzy
resistance. Glut yourself with blood. Risk detachment.
POSTURE: SYMBIOTIC
You and your Beast move and act as one, supporting and
empowering each other. This synergy won’t last very long, but
while it does, the two of you are a force to be reckoned with.
• Riding the wave does not cost Willpower.
• Once per night, you gain +3 to lash out at other Kindred.
• Once per scene, the Beast can grant you a +2 to any Physical
or Social roll by lending you some of its power or insight.
• All rolls to resist frenzy and detachment suffer a –1 modifier.
Chapter Two: The Passenger 87
 Possible Sources: Fulfill your Beast’s Aspiration. Successfully
ride the wave. Indulge the Beast’s desire for violence, blood, or
safety without falling to frenzy.
Resolution: Fail to resist frenzy. Fail to lash out. Refuse the
Beast’s demands or advice. Succeed a breaking point.
POSTURE: UNLEASHED
Whether out of desperation, foolishness, or blind trust,
you’ve surrendered control to your Passenger, allowing it to
remain active for much longer than normal.
Unlink a frenzy, this posture ends without resolving when
you next enter daysleep or torpor, though the Beast is capable
of attempting to remain awake.
• Your Beast is in control and has all the advantages of frenzy
while active. You are aware of what’s happening and can
speak to your Risen at any time, but you cannot take direct
action or communicate to the outside world.
• While in control, your Beast applies the rote action quality
to lashing out and doubles the range of Kindred Senses.
• If your Passenger fulfills its Aspiration while in control, you
regain all spent Willpower.
• Actions taken by your Beast cannot cause you to suffer a
breaking point, but once this posture resolves, you automat-
ically suffer a Humanity 1 breaking point for having allowed
your inner monster so much freedom. Do not apply any
bonuses for attached Touchstones.
• Once per scene, you can attempt to end the posture via a
successful Resolve + Composure roll, but the Passenger will
contest with a dice pool equal to twice your Blood Potency.
Your Beast may end this posture without resolving it at any
time. If it does so, it can choose to shift to either Hostile
or Symbiotic.
Possible Sources: Allowing your Beast to take total control.
Massive trauma.
Resolution: Successfully regain control.
Making a Monster
The Risen Beast’s voice doesn’t arise from nothing. Its desires,
goals, and even its personality are all derived from the vampire
who spawned it, filtered through a bloodstained lens. Some
Kindred, wishing to separate themselves a little further from
their Passenger, might even give it a name, while others pick up
the habit of referring to themselves in the plural — especially if
they spend a lot of time in the Symbiotic posture.
When a character elevates her Beast, her player chooses one
aspect for it to embody from the Bestial Triad (Vampire¸ p.
88 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Risen Beast Creation Summary
• Choose the Competitive, Monstrous, or
Seductive aspect. Gain the Cutthroat, Atrocious,
or Enticing Merit based on this chosen aspect.
• Select an Aspiration for the Risen Beast.
• Gain the Risen Beast persistent Condition.
92): Competitive, Monstrous, or Seductive. The Passenger
views everything through this aspect and will react and speak
accordingly. To represent this, the character gains a free
Merit based on the aspect of their Risen Beast: Atrocious
for Monstrous, Cutthroat for Competitive, or Enticing for
Seductive. If the vampire already has one of these Merits, she
gains the Advanced version instead. See p. 108 for Atrocious,
Advanced, p. 111 of False Gods: Ventrue for Cutthroat,
Advanced, and p. 99 of Sin Again: Daeva for Enticing,
Advanced. If you don’t have access to these supplements, the
character gains an Experience instead.
This doesn’t necessarily mean every Monstrous Risen is a
bloodthirsty predator, or that a Seductive Passenger is going
to want to spend all its time swiping right on Tinder. Rather,
think of the aspect as a filter: A Competitive Risen might be
in complete agreement with its vampire about protecting his
mortal child, but it insists that the best way to do so is through
rigorous physical training. Remember, the Risen Beast comes
from the vampire, and won’t completely dismiss that vampire’s
goals or wants (except in matters of survival), though it may have
radically different ideas about how to achieve them.
All that said, the Risen Beast also has its own desires. To rep-
resent this, characters with a Passenger gain a bonus Aspiration
at the beginning of each chapter, representing what their Beast
most wants to accomplish. In keeping with the Beast’s straight-
forward nature, this Aspiration will usually be simple, but that
doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. A Monstrous Beast might want to get
back at one of the Sheriff’s lackeys by murdering their favorite
blood doll, for instance. A simple enough task for most Kindred,
but one with far-reaching consequences. The vampire is under
no obligation to achieve the Beast’s Aspiration, but ignoring
it too often can lead to the Risen trying to take control and
achieve its goals through its own brutal methods.
There’s one final cost to having a Passenger, one that most
Gangrel don’t realize for years, and some never do: It limits
Humanity. Having a vocal mental entity composed of hungry id
is an undeniable and constant reminder to Savages that they’re
no longer human and never will be again. Kindred with a Risen
Beast cannot increase Humanity above six dots.
 Roleplaying the Passenger
Beyond the nuts-and-bolts aspect of managing a character
with a Risen Beast, it’s important to keep in mind how
portraying such a character is different from playing your
average vampire.
Crowded Mental Space
The most important thing to keep in mind is that your char-
acter is never alone. Ever. The Beast might be quiet sometimes,
but it’s always there, a witness to everything your character says
and does. Consider what that would be like, having a witness
to even your most intimate and shameful moments, no matter
how hard you try to conceal them.
True privacy is impossible, and most vampires with a Risen
Beast give up even attempting an illusion of it within a few
years. Maybe your character mutters to herself constantly, so
used to the running narrative in her head that it leaks into
her speech. Even if she’s quiet, her expression might suddenly
change as she reacts to what her Passenger is saying, though it
may look random to everyone else. She might not always bother
with personal modesty, or she might be inclined to graphically
overshare due to the warping of her concept of personal space.
The next thing to think about is relationship. Read through
the questions below and consider what sort of relationship your
character and her Beast have:
Origin Story: What did your character do to make her Beast
into a Passenger? Was it a deliberate act of predatory cruelty that
she justifies to herself? Was it a desperate, instinctive act that
still haunts her? What were the consequences of her sacrifice?
Internal Relations: How much does your character trust her
Passenger? Are they friends, rivals, or bitter enemies? Does she
think she made the right choice by elevating her Beast, or does
she regret this whole “Risen” business? Does she accept that the
Beast’s urges and persona ultimately stem from her, or does she
deny ever having such cruel, selfish desires?
External Relations: Has your character told anyone else
about the voice in her head, such as a childe, sire, or, perhaps,
a trusted coterie-mate? How did they react to being told? Did
they believe her? Do those who know treat the Passenger like
a separate entity or as another facet of your character?
Shared Interests: What does the Beast think of your char-
acter’s Aspirations — are they worth the trouble she’s going
through? If not, what does it think she should be doing instead?
If your character has Merits such as Allies, Mentor, or Retainer,
what opinion does the Passenger hold about them? Important
resources, or dead weight? More importantly, what does it think
of her Touchstone(s)?
Ride or Die: How does the Beast behave when it’s in control?
Does the Passenger have its own mannerisms and voice, distinct
from your character’s? Does it try and “help” by doing things in
the midst of a frenzy that it believes your character wants, but
is too scared to do herself? Does it deliberately provoke her by
taking actions it knows she’ll find abhorrent?
Portraying a vampire with a Risen Beast can be a bit like
playing two characters at once, which can be intimidating,
but there’s also a rewarding roleplaying experience to be had
in playing someone who can have a literal conversation with
her own inner monster.
You Can’t Hate Me More Than I Do
An important question both players and Storytellers should
consider is who’s going to portray the Risen Beast. Some players
might find it a fun and interesting challenge to voice both sides
of an argument, or try to convince their own character to make
questionable choices, but this can be difficult for some players
to keep up for multiple sessions.
Another solution, especially if there are only one or two char-
acters with Passengers in their heads, is to have the Storyteller
take on the role. The Storyteller usually dictates the actions
of characters in frenzy to begin with, so it might be a natural
progression to have her vocalize the Beast’s desires in more
complex ways. This can work especially well if the Risen has
insight or knowledge about the story that the character — or
player — doesn’t possess. It can be fun for Storytellers to be
able to tempt a character in more complex ways, but it’s also
more work, too. Be certain you and your Storyteller are on the
same page about who’s going to be doing the heavy lifting when
portraying your Passenger.
Another possibility is to have a different player take on the
role of a character’s Risen Beast. This works especially well in a
story where many or all of the player characters have Risen, so
that the Storyteller isn’t overloaded by having to voice everyone’s
Beast on top of every other Storyteller character. In this case,
the players can decide who wants to play which Risen, allowing
internal arguments and cajoling to happen between players
while the Storyteller is voicing different dramatis personae. This
does require a lot of cooperation and trust between players, but
it can be a fun and alternative way to tell a story.
However you choose to portray the Passenger, it needs to
be a solution that everyone is comfortable with. First of all, it
should probably go without saying that no one should be forced
or coerced into portraying a Risen Beast if they don’t want to.
Also, any player with a Passenger who’s being voiced by some-
one else needs to accept that this person will know everything
about their character — there are no secrets from one’s Beast.
Finally, Storytellers need to remember not to spend too much
time on a character’s internal dialogue with their Risen, thus
running the risk of neglecting other players. Not every conver-
sation needs to be roleplayed out, especially during someone
else’s important scenes. All that said, remember to have fun
with the evil voice in your head: That’s the whole point or
portraying a character with a Risen Beast, after all.
Chapter Two: The Passenger 89
 Never Alone: Sample Risen
No two Passengers are quite the same, and the relationship between a vampire and her Beast can vary wildly. Here are a few
examples of what a Requiem with the Risen Beast might look like.

Alice Barker
“Hazel says you’re lying. We don’t like liars.”
Alice always wanted to belong to something. The problem was, she often confused this feeling
for wanting to belong to someone, and this led her through a series of abusive and predatory rela-
tionships, the last of which was a little more literal than the others. Embraced to be an eternal
pack omega, Alice endured years of exploitation at the hands of her sire and coterie-mates. Her
only comfort was her younger sister, Hazel, who never gave up trying to help her even
though Alice could never tell her what was really going on.
One night, however, when it was worse than normal, Alice fled to her
sister’s place rather than continue to put up with the abuse. Her sire
followed her, and the resulting confrontation saw Alice explode
into frenzy. When her rage cleared, her sire was in torpor and
Hazel was barely alive. Rather than subject her sister to
the Requiem, Alice drank the rest of Hazel’s life. Then,
refusing to let her sire ever hurt her again, Alice drank
his soul — all the while lamenting that she was now
truly alone. These two acts, combined with her
desperate desire for belonging, awakened Alice’s
Beast, and together they took care of the rest
of her supposed “pack.”
Alice is convinced her Beast is some rem-
nant of Hazel, and she calls it by her sister’s
name. “Hazel” accepts the label, as it gives
her more influence over Alice and makes it
easier to convince her to commit more dia-
blerie. Tonight, Alice and Hazel roam their
city, using Alice’s propensity for playing the victim to lure in
targets, and Hazel’s savagery to subdue them. For now, Alice insists
they only attack people who “deserve it,” but Hazel works every night
to try and broaden that label. Alice is in a downward spiral, but it’s
going to be difficult to get her to stop as long as she believes her
Beast is actually the voice of her dead sister. Meanwhile, both the
disappearance of Alice’s sire and her ever growing list of victims
are making ripples in the domain that are being felt all the way to
Elysium, where the covenants are beginning to accuse each other
of Alice’s crimes. If they’re not stopped soon, Alice and Hazel
might spark a war without even being aware of it.
Clan: Gangrel
Covenant: None
Mask: Child
Dirge: Junkie
Touchstone: Her old family home, where Hazel was
still living before her death.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3,
Stamina 2

90 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 4,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 1, Crafts 1, Computer
(Graphic Design) 3, Investigation 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Claws) 3, Drive 1,
Stealth 2, Survival 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy (Attraction) 3,
Persuasion 2, Socialize 1, Subterfuge (Harmless) 3,
Streetwise 2
Merits: Atrocious, Acute Senses, Bloodhound, Danger
Sense, Fast Reflexes 2, Sympathetic
Disciplines: Animalism 1, Auspex 1, Celerity 1,
Obfuscate 1, Protean 3, Resilience 3, Vigor 1
Blood Potency: 3
Health: 10
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 4
Size: 5
Speed: 11
Initiative: 8
Defense: 6 (Active Defense 7)
Notes: Alice is addicted to Vitae and diablerie. Her
Protean adaptations are Claws, Patagia, and Wall
Crawling. Her animal forms are cat, mastiff, and pigeon.
Hazel’s aspect is Monstrous, and her Aspiration revolves
around convincing Alice to commit more diablerie.
When she’s in control, Hazel is confident and vicious,
but she’ll avoid any fight where she’s clearly outmatched.
Story Seeds
• Alice has been found to be behind a string of Kindred disap-
pearances in the coterie’s domain, and the court has called a
blood hunt down on her. However, when the characters catch
up with her, “Hazel” offers them a deal. She’s learned a lot
of interesting things from her diableries — precious secrets,
Disciplines, and more. She’ll teach the player characters all
of them if they’ll just help her and Alice escape rather than
bring them down.
• It turns out Alice is the grandchilde of someone important
in the domain, and they’ve learned about her embarrassing
activities. This powerful Savage charges the characters with
finding Alice and bringing her home before her crimes can
be discovered and linked to him. Alice is intrigued by the
idea of new family, but Hazel has other ideas, not wanting
anyone else to have influence over Alice.
• Alice and Hazel have marked one of the characters as their next
victim, but they know they can’t take on the whole coterie, so
they need to divide and conquer. Alice approaches her mark
as a potential ally in need of help, playing on their sympathies
and offering herself as a potential subordinate or partner,
whatever she thinks will get her closer to her chosen meal…
Dr. Virgil St. Germaine
“Second opinions are overrated.”
Virgil St. Germaine was a genius who was tragically unrecog-
nized in his own time — according to him, at least. A leading
(entirely orthodox) scholar of behavioral psychology in life,
Virgil was headhunted by the Ordo Dracul and inducted into
their ranks after he signed up for what he thought was a week-
end seminar about the impact of death and grief on habitual
behavior. He eventually agreed the irony was rather delicious,
but only after he got over being murdered.
Within the Ordo Dracul, Dr. St. Germaine did excellent
work, but much like his mortal accomplishments, it was all very
“safe.” This frustrated the good doctor, who craved more recog-
nition but could never push himself to truly break new ground
in a way that would grant him accolades. Having learned about
the Risen Beast from some texts he studied while beginning
work on the Mystery of the Wyrm, Virgil decided this could be
the push he needed to step out of his comfort zone.
Unlike many who elevate their Beast, the doctor’s approach
was clinical and pragmatic, albeit borrowing heavily from the
rites of the Impaled cult. Dr. St. Germaine successfully awak-
ened his Beast on a humid July night using a well-documented
and replicable process, completely ignoring his covenant’s cur-
rent ban on it. Virgil was certain that, if he could simply make
a large enough contribution with his work, his transgression
would be forgiven. He would simply have to keep his condition
quiet in the meantime.
Easier said than done. His Beast was awake and rather talk-
ative, already demanding the doctor tell others about it — turns
out his Beast craved recognition as much as he did. Virgil and
his Passenger (whom he refuses to name) exist in a state of
constant tension. The vampire can’t risk being exposed, but
his Beast resents being hidden like some sort of mistake, as
it considers itself Virgil’s greatest achievement. The doctor is
now attempting to find a way to reverse the irreversible, but
he must be exceptionally cautious while doing so, making use
of third parties to gather new information. His Beast, on the
other hand, wants to be heard, and it doesn’t much care how
that happens…
Clan: Gangrel
Covenant: Ordo Dracul
Mask: Scholar
Dirge: Competitor
Touchstone: A former student from his mortal days who
still keeps in touch over email.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2,
Composure 2
Mental Skills: Academics (Psychology) 3, Investigation
3, Occult (The Beast) 2, Medicine 2, Science 2
Chapter Two: The Passenger 91
 Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Drive 1, Firearms 2, Larceny 1, Stealth 1
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Lab Animals) 3, Empathy 1, Subterfuge 1
Merits: Contacts (Academia, Animal Laboratories), Cutthroat, Haven 3, Ordo Dracul Status 3, Safe Place 3,
Resources 3, Retainer 3, Sworn
Disciplines: Animalism 5, Coil of the Ascendant 3, Coil of the Wyrm 1, Resilience 2
Devotions: Smothered Rage
Scales: Day-Wake Conditioning
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 9
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 6
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 4
Defense: 4
Notes: Virgil works out of a secure lab that he’s
anointed with Vitae to invoke Lord of the Land.
Several former lab animals he’s made into ghouls
roam free within, including dogs, ravens, swarms
of rats, and a rather vindictive chimpanzee. Virgil’s
Passenger, who refers to itself as Breakthrough,
is of the Competitive aspect, and its Aspirations
have to do with gaining recognition as a separate
being from Virgil. When in control, Breakthrough
is brash and boastful, and always emphasizes
that it’s not Virgil.

Story Seeds
• Virgil considers himself a proper scientist, and he’s looking to
repeat his results by awakening another Passenger using his previously
successful methodology. However, thanks to his covenant’s ban
on Risen Beasts, he must look elsewhere for test subjects.
Virgil contacts the coterie, looking to have them
acquire a subject for him… or perhaps the good
doctor finds that one of them possesses all the
qualities he’s looking for.
• Virgil’s work is discovered sooner than
he’d like. He’s now on the run from his
fellow Dragons, desperate to get out
of the domain in one piece. He might
contact the coterie, promising wealth,
favors, blood, Coils, or stranger things in
exchange for their help escaping — with
Breakthrough complicating matters at every
turn. Or, perhaps, the characters are a coterie
of Dragons charged with hunting down and
retrieving this rogue element.

92 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

• Turns out the Ordo Dracul knows what it’s talking about. Through a strange interaction with the Mysteries of the Wyrm,
Virgil has been consumed by Breakthrough, who’s now running amok in the domain. Heedless of the Masquerade, the creature
craves acclaim and recognition in the All Night Society, and it isn’t very particular about how this
occurs. The Sheriff wants this menace put down, the Dragons want it captured for
further study, and Breakthrough itself just wants to be known. The characters
have a wealth of opportunity in front of them, but only if they’re up to the
task of tracking down this wily Risen.

Molly Smith
“You’re all alone under your skin? That’s so sad…”
Molly never really stood out when she was alive: beautiful but intensely
shy, “nice” but never “interesting”, she got by in the safe embrace of mediocrity.
Even the camping trip that ended in her death wasn’t anything special; just
a few young adults looking for a bit of temporary freedom before the world
finished grinding them down. Then something old and hungry found them,
and they all died screaming. Only Molly woke back up.
Molly has had an unconventional Requiem, having only her Passenger,
Moth, to guide her since her early nights. Now that her blood is too thick to
feed on animals anymore, Molly’s been forced to enter a proper domain for the
first time, and it’s difficult to say which is less prepared for the
other. She’s never encountered other Kindred before, and
she’ll be moved to pity when she realizes the vast majority
of them don’t have a voice guiding them.
Besides blood, Molly is mainly motivated by curiosity.
Having spent the past few decades in the woods means that a
modern city is full of strange wonders. She’s managed to clean
herself up and stolen some nice new clothes (much to Moth’s
taste), but her odd demeanor will make her easy to find for
anyone looking — but how do you bring in someone who
can dissolve into a cloud of moths?
Molly has no concept of the Masquerade beyond
a predator’s instinct for privacy, and she tends
to converse freely with Moth in most situa-
tions, making her appear to be deeply mentally
ill to the average passerby. She’s been honed
into a skilled hunter and survivalist, but she
has very little experience in the world, making
her a strange mix of predator and naif. By her
very nature, she almost can’t help but cause
disruption wherever she stumbles.
Clan: Gangrel
Covenant: None
Mask: Child
Dirge: Survivor
Touchstone: The campsite where she died.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (Poly-Sci) 2, Investigation 2,
Medicine (First Aid) 1

Chapter Two: The Passenger 93

 Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Natural Weapons)
3, Stealth 3, Survival (Tracking) 4
Social Skills: Animal Ken 2, Empathy 1, Intimidation 2,
Socialize (Blending In) 2, Persuasion 1
Merits: Acute Senses, Enticing, Fast Reflexes 2, Fleet
of Foot 2, One Eye Open, Speaking Their Language,
Swarm Form, Striking Looks 1, Team Effort, Twin Minds
Disciplines: Animalism 1, Protean 4, Resilience 3
Blood Potency: 3
Health: 11
Willpower: 5
Humanity: 4
Size: 5
Speed: 13
Initiative: 8
Defense: 6
Notes: Molly’s Protean adaptations are Claws, Extra
Senses, Quadrupedal and Horrid Talons. Her animal
forms are bat, bear, lynx, and rattlesnake. She also has a
unique swarm form where she can dissolve into hundreds
of moths, despite moths not being predators. She cannot
cause direct harm in this form beyond feeding, which
takes double the usual time. Molly’s Passenger, Moth, is of
the Seductive aspect, and its Aspiration is to make Molly
the apex predator in whatever surroundings she finds
herself in. When in command — which happens a lot —
Moth is soft-spoken, playful, and flirty, belying the swift
and brutal violence it’s capable of at a moment’s notice.
Risen Devotions and Merits
While having a Risen share your headspace can lead to
deadly complications, it also provides some definite advan-
tages — if the vampire is willing to cooperate.
Devotions
If the Beast is the source of a Discipline’s power, then it follows
that having an open dialogue with it would open up new pos-
sibilities for manipulating that power. Gangrel with Passengers
have created a handful of Devotions unique to their condition.
A vampire must possess have a Risen Beast to learn any of
the following powers.
Forced Awakening
(Animalism ••, Dominate •)
It’s the nature of the Beast to lash out at other predators.
Vampires who’ve elevated their Beasts can build on this skill,
temporarily turning the Beasts of others into adversarial
Passengers rather than mindless instincts.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
94 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Story Seeds
• Molly isn’t the only newcomer in town. Ever since she arrived,
the Owls have been spotted in increasing numbers, and
several of them appear to be watching Molly specifically.
Oddly, none of these Strix have tried to claim her (not that
they could), but they haven’t extended the same courtesy
to other Kindred in the domain, and the usual chaos and
paranoia that come with the Birds is rampant. When Molly
shows up on the coterie’s doorstep and informs them this is
where she’s meant to be, how will they respond?
• The characters get an offer not from Molly, but Moth. Moth
has realized that a busy city is no place for Molly, and it wants
the coterie’s help in transporting her somewhere more rural.
In exchange, Moth will give the coterie a death: It will mur-
der anyone in the domain they ask it to, provided there’s a
reasonable prospect of success. What does the coterie say to
this bloody pact, and do they bother to ask themselves why
Moth chose them?
• The prodigal daughter returns. It seems Molly’s mysterious sire
has done rather well for themself in the intervening decades
and is now the domain’s prince. What’s more, they want to
welcome Molly with open arms into the All Night Society,
despite her rather shaky grasp of it. Molly is enchanted with
suddenly being a vampire princess, but Moth doesn’t like
being repressed, and their sudden rags-to-riches story has
bred resentment among the domain’s elite. When the Prince
assigns the characters to make sure his new childe is fitting in,
do they accept the assignment with grace, or do they conspire
with one of the Prince’s rivals who’d like to see Molly fall?
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement:  The vampire must make eye contact with
the victim.
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Animalism vs. Resolve
+ Blood Potency
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
Roll Results
Success:  The vampire’s Beast temporarily awakens that of
the victim, inflicting the Hostile Posture upon him. Once the
Condition resolves or ends, the victim’s Beast loses the ability
to speak and becomes “normal” once more.
Exceptional Success: The Hostile Posture lasts a night.
Failure: The two Beasts growl, snap, and snarl at each other,
but neither is able to overpower the other. The Devotion has
no effect.
Dramatic Failure: The vampire’s own Beast balks at the
vicious face of its opponent. The victim can choose to inflict the
Bestial, Competitive, or Wanton Condition as if the vampire
had lost a Predatory Aura contest.
Smothered Rage
(Animalism ••••)
With practice, Risen Beasts can curb the fury of other preda-
tors with a well-placed snarl.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The victim must be a vampire in frenzy
(including a victim riding the wave).
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken + Resilience vs. Resolve
+ Blood Potency
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Success: The vampire growls, looms, or makes some other
obvious display of dominance toward the intended victim, who
is abruptly pulled out of frenzy as her Beast is cowed by a more
advanced predator. She also gains the Tempted Condition.
Exceptional Success: The experience of subduing another
Beast brings the Savage and his Passenger closer. The vampire
gains the Symbiotic Posture if he wasn’t already under its effects.
Failure: The Passenger is unable to halt the victim’s rage.
Dramatic Failure: The would-be victim resents the interfer-
ence of the Risen. The vampire is now the target of his victim’s
frenzy if he wasn’t already.
Tug the Leash
(Animalism •••, Vigor •)
From its position of relative freedom, a Passenger can
redirect the fury of a lesser Beast, using its rage as it sees fit
to terrible effect.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The victim must be a vampire in frenzy.
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Animal Ken + Animalism vs.
Composure + Blood Potency (victims who are riding the wave
gain a +3 to resist)
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Success: The vampire may now alter both the type and target
of the victim’s frenzy. For instance, turning a killing rampage
into an urge to flee, or directing the victim’s wrath toward a
member of her coterie.
Exceptional Success: Both the Gangrel and his Risen exalt
in their absolute control over the other Beast. The vampire
regains a point of Willpower.
Failure: The vampire’s Risen cannot goad the other Beast
to act the way the Passenger wants.
Dramatic Failure: The Passenger’s fury at its own failure is
terrific. The vampire must roll to resist frenzy and, should she
fail, will attack the would-be victim of this Devotion.
Merits
All of the following Merits require a character to have the
Risen Beast Condition.
Determination Over Death (•••)
Effect: When your character and her Passenger are acting in
concert, nothing can stop them. While she’s riding the wave, she
will not fall to torpor from damage if the goal of her frenzy is
incomplete. Other effects that would render her torpid, such as
stake through the heart, will still function as normal.
One Eye Open (•)
Effect: The Beast never sleeps, and it can alert your char-
acter to danger during daylight hours. Gain +2 to Humanity
rolls made to awaken during the day. Gain +3 instead if your
character had the Symbiotic Posture before she went to sleep.
Speaking Their Language (••)
Effect: The Passenger has incredible insight into the minds
of lesser beasts, and it may, if it wishes, pass on this expertise
to your character. Mundane Animal Ken rolls gain the rote
quality, and your character gains the 9-again quality on uses of
Animalism that affect normal (i.e., not ghoul) animals.
Drawback: You cannot use this Merit’s effect if your character
has the Hostile Posture.
Team Effort (••)
Effect: Working in concert with the Passenger can produce
impressive results — but beware a disappointed Beast. Once per
chapter, if your character has the Symbiotic Posture, she can
spend two Willpower on a single action.
Drawback: If your character fails the action, she falls to frenzy.
Twin Minds (••• or •••••)
Effect: Your character’s Passenger has a distinct enough per-
sona that alterations to your memories have a lesser effect on it.
At three dots, your Beast is aware any time your memory of an
event has been altered and can make you aware of this fact, but it
does not know the truth of those events. At five dots, the Beast is
completely unaffected by effects or Conditions, such as Amnesia
or False Memories, that would alter its memories of past events.
Drawbacks: The Passenger is under no obligation to share
the truth of your character’s memories with her…
Workshopping (•)
Effect: Most Risen aren’t that erudite, but having a captive
audience can lead to unexpected insights. Once per chapter,
you can reroll a failed mundane Mental action as your character
takes a moment to mull the problem over with her Passenger.
Drawback: You cannot use this Merit if your character has
the Hostile Posture.
Chapter Two: The Passenger 95
 PART FOUR: The Sacrifice
The ground begins to tremble. We don’t get earthquakes in Illinois, which means I officially don’t
want to know what’s causing it — we need to go now.
“We need to go,” Jamie says, reading my mind.
I nod and look around the cave. There’s only one way out, and it involves climbing a tree fused
with decades of human and animal sacrifices. Guess I can mark that off the bucket list. I point to
the tree, then the hole in the ceiling, and Jamie tilts his head like he’s not sure if I’m joking or not.
He figures it out pretty quick.
We head for the tree, but the ground trembles and some of the soil gives way beneath my feet,
launching me toward the pool. I tumble in a full cartwheel, plunging underwater into sharp bone
and root. I scramble back to the surface, grasping at the island’s edge, but something grabs my leg.
I look down, and my ankle’s wrapped with bone; for a second, I think the skeletons are reanimat-
ing. Then I see the vines wrapping through the corpses, constricting around my foot like pythons.
My nails dig into a thick root, but the vines pull me backward and under the water’s edge, trying
to drown me. I kick at the vines with all my might, not caring if it means I lose skin, or even my
foot, but I can’t get them off. Other vines are winding their way toward me through the water, and
I reach for the shore one last time, desperate for any handhold.
A strong hand grabs mine and pulls. My body strains as the warring sides pull with all their might,
and I feel the bones in my ankle crack and snap. Something tears along my calf, and I’m not sure
if it’s my jeans or my skin. Just as I’m about to tear in two, one last bone snaps, and the vines lose
their leverage. My mangled foot slides free, and Jamie pulls me onto the island.
He looks down at my foot. “Can you climb?”
I nod, already forcing the bones to knit. He helps me to my feet and I step gingerly, partly to play
into the damage, partly because it really does hurt like hell. Behind us, the vines break the surface
of the water and thrash toward us. We don’t have much time.
Jamie checks the tree for footholds and starts climbing, then reaches back for my hand, only to
find me staring at the girl’s skull. I hear the Beast in my ear, hot with fury, and for once we agree
on something: Fuck this bitch.
I snarl and punch the skull as hard as I can, putting everything have into it. I feel the bones in
my hand snap on impact, but I follow through. A soft crack echoes through the cave and the world
goes silent for a second as a hairline fracture appears between the skull’s nose and eye socket,
then down along the mandible. The lower jaw falls open, bobs twice, then falls off. I catch it and
grin up at Jamie.
Rowen taught me just enough about sympathetic magic to make a dangerous assumption. I squeeze
the jawbone tight, its mix of adult and baby teeth biting into my palm, and I stab the jagged edge
into the trunk. The cave shakes and the vines frenzy, like the legs of a beheaded insect. That’s all
the notice I need.
I jump up onto the tree beside Jamie. Below us, the cave is going into a full-on seizure. The vines
lash up and bite into my back like a bullwhip in a dozen places. I can smell enough of Jamie’s blood
to know his hoodie is protecting him a bit more than my shirt, but not enough. Only a few more
feet until the lip of the hole. All we have to do is jump over to the side closest to the tree — only
a couple feet — and we’re out.

96 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 A rifle barrel juts over the edge and into my face, held by Stella, Pa’s middle-aged daughter. She’s
a thick square of a woman, with brown hair dyed blonde at the tips. She looks winded, like she’d
been running, and her gun’s shoulder strap dangles beneath her.
“I got you, cunt!” she screams. She slides the bolt back and aims, but Jaime is too fast for her,
leaping up and grabbing the shoulder strap. He yanks it from her grip, knocking her off balance,
and she slips from the mouth’s edge and falls down into him. They both tumble down, but Jamie
catches part of the tree with his other hand. She doesn’t.
Stella hits the island hard, bones cracking beneath her own weight. She screams as the vines rise
up, and her mouth and nose are flooded with them an instant later. They surge into her till her skin
splits like overripe fruit.
Jamie swings the rifle over his shoulder and continues to climb.
Finally, we rise up over the edge of the cave. We’re behind the cabin, a few yards from the back
door. A murder of crows roosts on the roof, their little black bodies silhouettes in the moonlight.
The backyard slopes down for about an acre, with a good two dozen vehicles of every make and
model parked along it. Some are overgrown with waist-high weeds, while others still look bright and
fresh. Jamie scans the cars and points at the base of the hill where the cleanest, least weed-tangled
ones are parked. “Look for a red Chevy!” he shouts.
I see a red SUV in the distance and assume that’s where we need to be. I point, he nods, and we
take off running through the maze of vehicles, keeping as low as we can. Behind us, I can hear the
shouts and heavy footfalls of the family running to the cave. Hopefully, the damage I did to the
altar will keep them off of us for a few minutes.
A shape moves in front of us and we slide to a stop behind a station wagon, ducking low. In
the car’s rearview mirror, I can see Morgan, the honeytrap, running back toward the cave mouth.
Jamie squeezes the rifle in his hands and looks like he’s considering it, but I nudge his foot with
my own and shake my head. He sighs and shuts his eyes for a second. He whispers, “You know, I
just went because they needed a designated driver.” A smile creeps across his lips and he starts for
the Chevy. We’re almost there — just a few more feet.
BLAM.
A shotgun thunders from behind us, and my hand is mist.
BLAM.. BLAM
BLAM BLAM..
Two more shots tear through me, one straight through my kneecap. I collapse.
BLAM.
One last blast takes me in the back and shatters my ribs. The man — I don’t even know which
one of these fucks it is — presses his shotgun to the base of my skull as Jamie raises his own rifle.
The barrel trembles in his hands.
“C’mon, kid. Drop it. You’re just going to make this worse for yourself.”

***
Like every Saturday evening, Melissa wanted to hang out with Jason, but that night was special. That
Saturday, he was going to teach her to drive. Their daddy went out hunting with his friends again
— another excuse to get drunk in the woods for a few days. As was often the case, he’d neglected
to leave any real food in the house or money for it. Jason stole the keys to daddy’s beat-up truck

The Reunion 97
 and let her drive it all the way out to the Pit Stop, telling her to park around back. It was almost
midnight, and though she’d lived in the same Podunk town for fifteen years, the world suddenly
felt strange and new.
“Wait here, and be ready to go as soon as I get back,” Jason said. He grabbed something from the
truck bed and headed into the convenience store, but she was so buzzed from the thrill of newfound
adulthood that she hadn’t paid attention. But after a few minutes, the excitement began to build in her
bladder, and she wondered what was taking so long. It was 12:03 AM. The Pit Stop closed at midnight.
She put the car in park and checked the brake twice to make sure it was set properly, then headed
around the side. The lights were still on inside, and as she pulled open the front door, the cheery
electric bell greeted her.
“Patty, can I use the bathroom if you and Jason ain’t done flirt—”
The sight before Melissa froze her in her tracks. Patty Wilson closed up the Pit Stop on Saturdays.
She was a pretty lady in her early forties, known for giving discounts to teenage boys willing to do
a bit of flirting — or even a bit more. She wasn’t flirting now, though. Jason stood on the other side
of the counter. He had a pair of their dead mom’s pantyhose pulled over his face. Hanging in the
silence between the two was the Remington, his finger on the trigger.
Patty looked terrified, but as Melissa walked in, a strange, cold calm filled her eyes. “You’re that
Henry kid! Just drop it. You’re just going to make this worse for yourself.” She reached for something
under the counter and Jason — beautiful, wonderful Jason, who built the tree fort for her, who let his
lonely sister hang out with him and his friends despite the teasing he got, who gave her his favorite
leather jacket to cover the bruises and cuts on her arms — spooked and fired into Patty’s face.
The store went silent in the wake of the shot. Then, with a stunned softness, Jason set the gun
down, handed Melissa a wag of cash from the open register, and told her to go before the police
came. Melissa ran like hell.
It was the last time she saw her brother outside of a prison. She never forgave herself for not
hugging him goodbye.

***
Those words set my brain on fire. Gods, I’m so hungry, so angry, and I want to let go so bad — but
I won’t let myself. I want to feel this kill too bad. I force my knee and ribs to knit with nearly the
last of my Vitae, then jump on the man, claws out and fangs down, ready to tear him apart.
I’m not fast enough. The rifle explodes in my ear and takes half my skull with it. I stumble. Try
to heal. The man aims at Jamie. Another shot. I’m still not fast enough.
But Jamie is.
I don’t hear the shot, but as I struggle to knit the bone fragments of my skull back together,
the man drops his gun, blood gushing from a hole in the center of his hunting vest. Jamie tries
to slide another bullet in time, but the guy stumbles behind a car and takes off. He won’t make
it far with that wound, but the others will have heard the shots. It won’t be long now. Above us,
the crows have taken to the skies, circling us like a black halo.
“Lainey!” Jamie slides next to me, and his rifle clatters to the ground beside us, forgotten. He
strips off his hoodie and presses it against the side of my headwound, too panicked to realize I’m
not bleeding. He pulls me up against his chest, and without the hoodie, I can smell the blood from
every nick and cut he’s suffered.

98 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 He whispers down at me, forcing his voice to be calm. “You’re going to be okay. Hold on.”
The birds screech down at us, as if calling for the family to finish us off. I lick my lips. I’m so
hungry. I can’t heal. I have nothing left. And my other option… I can’t.
Something scratches against my face. I wrestle my eyes open and see it’s a lanyard around Jamie’s
neck, his school ID still pinned to it. I read it in a daze before the significance hits me. I read it
again, feeling my chest seize as my heart hardens within it.
I reach up and pull his throat down to my mouth. He hugs me, trying to comfort a dying girl,
and he doesn’t even know to resist as my fangs break the skin. His muscles stiffen as I swallow his
life until, with a soft whimper, they release, and his body goes slack. I drink until there’s nothing
left in him. It’s the least I can do for him.
I never would’ve made it this far without you, Jamie. I’m sorry. You deserve better.
My body heals. My skull and brain tissue reknit first, then the rest of me. I run my reformed hand
down his face as I lower him to the grass. As the birds circle and screech above me, my fingers
brush against his lanyard. I read it again: Junyoung Moon.
There was nothing I could do. It was destiny.
A drop of blood falls on his ID. Red tears are streaming down my cheeks as I raise my eyes toward
the sky, and the angry shrieking of the crows shifts to cackling. They descend on me, flying faster
and faster until the blackness of their wings blots out the world. Finally, they converge on a single
point and melt together into a writhing mass of feathers and talons. From that shadowy mass forms
the shape of a woman with flowing black hair, pale flesh, and sharp teeth.
Hello, Mother.

The Reunion 99
 chapter three
Tools of the Hunt
Problem-solving is hunting; it is savage pleasure and we are born to it.
Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs

Ferocity and fortitude define the Gangrel. They are the ones you can’t stop, the ones you can’t escape, the ones you can’t kill.
True predators, the Savages are apex hunters who possess the tools to outlast and exhaust any prey they set their sights on — yet
they pay for these advantages with more than a portion of their Humanity, grappling with a Beast fiercer than any other clan
among the dead.
This chapter contains Clan Gangrel’s armory: Devotions and Merits to empower their hunts, sample Archetypes and banes
to give texture to their Requiems, and discussions of Protean, the most inhuman of all the gifts of the Damned, and the Feral
Curse, the frothing rage held at bay within the mind of every Savage.

Savage Secrets
A good hunter always has a wide arsenal at her disposal.
Below you’ll find special Devotions and Merits for your Gangrel
characters, as well as new Archetypes to define their Masks and
Dirges. Not all of these systems are exclusive to the Gangrel,
but at minimum, they’re Savage-focused.
Archetypes
The Gangrel may be shapeshifters, but their personas are
rather fixed — some Kindred might even say immutable.
Savages have no illusions about who they are; a predator with
an identity crisis isn’t a predator for long, and even as eons pass,
Gangrel will hold fast to the things that make them whole.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t adaptable, but they don’t let go
of their Anchors unless they have a good reason.
As a Gangrel ages, the Mask becomes a skinsuit for the Beast,
something she shoves herself into when the moon isn’t full. As
for the Dirge, Savages take those that best reflect their hunting
methods, whether as animals barreling after prey or corporate
cutthroats who take blackmail payments in warm blood.
The following Archetypes are available to all clans, but the
Savages slip into them with greater ease than other Kindred.
Brawler
A brawler lives for the next fight. Violence is the means to
all ends, whether it’s with words or fists. If he can’t get what he
needs without conflict, it isn’t worth having.
Single Willpower: Make a fight out of something trivial.
Full Willpower: Ruin a relationship due to your violent nature.
Criminal
A criminal refuses to play by the rules. He’s not necessarily
breaking laws, but he knows that the best way to play the game
is to cheat.
Single Willpower: Take what you want without permission.
Full Willpower: Violate a major taboo to get what you need.
Lone Wolf
A lone wolf doesn’t need anyone. They don’t hate others, but
they don’t have any use for them. Attachments will always get
in the way of survival.
Single Willpower: Refuse aid even when it would make
things easier.
Full Willpower: Walk away from something you truly love.
Metamorphosist
A metamorphosist sees flesh as clay. Her body is a work in
progress, and the more she whittles away what God gave her,
the closer she gets to becoming a god herself.
Single Willpower: Harm yourself in the pursuit of new forms.
Full Willpower: Kill to learn more about the new flesh
you’re designing.

Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 101

 Scavenger
A scavenger makes due with whatever’s on hand. She scrapes by with castoffs and
other people’s trash — and she’s all the happier for it, avoiding the bigger predators to
build a kingdom of scraps.
Single Willpower: Accept less because it’s the safer choice.
Full Willpower: Make a task significantly more difficult because it’ll be less dan-
gerous than easier methods.

Devotions
In addition to new powers, the following section updates Devotions found in
several First Edition sources.
All vampires can learn the following powers, but they’re most often found among
Savages, and the Storyteller might require a Gangrel teacher as a prerequisite.

Awaken the Horrid Form

(Animalism •, Protean ••)
Some Gangrel learn to command the flesh of others like they do animals, pulling
horrors from their victims’ skins.
A vampire must be touching her subject to use this Devotion.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae per adaptation (1 Willpower, optional)
Requirement: The victim must consume or be anointed by 1 Vitae
(included in the cost).
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Crafts + Protean vs. Stamina + Blood Potency
(if unwilling)
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
Roll Results
Success: The Gangrel applies adaptations from Predatory Aspect
to a human, ghoul, or another vampire, up to a limit of her Protean
dots divided by two (rounding up). This does not have to be one of
her own forms, but inflicting a form she doesn’t know requires her
to spend an additional Vitae. This effect stacks with any forms the
subject can already access through Protean, but the vampire can’t
double up the same effects.
If the subject is a ghoul, the vampire can spend a Willpower to make
his transformation permanent, but she cannot use this Devotion on him
again unless to remove or swap out adaptations.
If the vampire knows Uncanny Aspect, she can apply a single form
from that Discipline for two Vitae.
Exceptional Success: The Gangrel grants a part of her essence to
the subject, who counts as being twice-removed in terms of blood
sympathy with her for the duration.
Failure: O, that this too too solid flesh would melt!
Dramatic Failure: If he’s a vampire, the subject’s Beast
recoils at this alteration, and he enters frenzy with the Gangrel as his target. If a human or ghoul, he suffers cardiac
arrest or another catastrophic medical event.

102 Wild Hunt: Gangrel


Battering Ram
(Celerity •, Resilience •, Vigor •)
It’s very human to shy away from harm, and a Gangrel strug-
gling to maintain his Humanity first developed this Devotion
after realizing most of the world around him was likely to break
before his body did.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
If the vampire runs into an object, he can inflict his
Resilience dots as a penalty to that object’s Durability. He can
crash through walls, break down doors, or shatter weapons
used to harm him, but he must be running his full Speed.
Body of Steel
(Resilience •••)
Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense. This Devotion
causes weapons used against the vampire to shatter and attack-
ers to injure themselves
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, or 1 if the vam-
pire knows Battering Ram (above).
Cost: 1 Willpower
Requirement: The vampire must absorb incoming damage
with Resilience.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
The vampire spends a Vitae if she’s successfully attacked,
and any Health levels absorbed by her Resilience are inflicted
upon the melee weapon that hit her, dealing damage to its
structure. A weapon destroyed this way inflicts (Resilience) dice
of bashing damage on the wielder as it shatters in his hand.
Characters making unarmed attacks against the vampire take
damage directly if she uses this effect.
Brood Mother
(Animalism ••, Protean •••••)
The vampire masters her physical form, gaining the ability
to split herself into many pieces.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 3 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
The vampire births a mobile minion from her own flesh. This
creature is Size 2, has a Physical dice pool equal to the vampire’s
Protean + Blood Potency, and Health equal to the vampire’s
Stamina (including Resilience). Its Defense is half its master’s,
rounding up, and it acts after the vampire’s turn in combat.
In addition to the cost, the vampire can spend additional
Vitae to provide the creature with a Vitae pool, up to an amount
equal to its Health. It can spend this Vitae as if it had Blood
Potency 1, and it can use Physical Intensity and the active effects
of the vampire’s physical Disciplines. It can also manifest its
master’s current Predatory Aspect adaptations.
When the vampire births this creature, mark off her rightmost
Health dot; she cannot regain this dot until she reabsorbs the
creature or its remains, or she enters daysleep. At the end of the
duration, the creature becomes an inert pile of flesh. In addition
to Health, the vampire recoups any remaining Vitae in its system.
Consume
(Auspex ••••, Protean ••••)
This horrific Devotion allows a vampire to absorb her prey,
slowly feeding on him until he withers away to nothing. The
vampire’s body merges with her victim’s, mystically containing
his mass without any outward signs.
This Devotion costs 5 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 5 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must drain a mortal victim of
blood to the point of death.
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: One week
The vampire draws the victim into her body, completely
absorbing him, and knowledge flows between the two. She
gains all stored Willpower the victim had and, for the duration,
can use any of his Mental and Social Skills if they are higher
than her own. If the vampire wishes to consume a new victim
before the duration expires, she must spend a Vitae to messily
regurgitate the previous victim’s bones and partially digested
viscera beforehand.
Earthen Insight
(Auspex •, Protean •)
By slumbering beneath the surface of an area, the vampire
gains insight into its comings and goings, allowing him to
navigate it with ease.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: None
Requirement: The vampire must spend a full hour resting
in her Unmarked Grave within the target area.
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Duration: 24 hours
The vampire enjoys the 9-again quality for all Drive, Stealth,
Streetwise, and Survival rolls made within the area, as well as
any Perception rolls. The area in which these bonuses apply is
centered on where he used Unmarked Grave, and is equal to
a radius of (Blood Potency × 3) kilometers.
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 103
 Elastic Visage
(Protean ••)
Unconstrained by a single identity, some Gangrel change
their forms in whatever ways they desire.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
The vampire can take fine control over her physical form:
facial features, hair length/color, irises, skin tone, voice, fat,
musculature, sexual characteristics, and so on. Changes don’t
have to be particularly human, and the vampire can add
bizarre flourishes (extra eyes, spare fingers, unnatural skin
tones, etc.), though these alterations offer no benefit beyond
aesthetic. As a rule of thumb, she can gain or subtract about
a foot of height and 50 lbs from her frame, but these changes
aren’t enough to affect traits.
This Devotion can bestow Striking Looks 1 or 2, but this
costs a Willpower. Sanctity of Merits does not apply. It can also
temporarily remove Striking Looks, in which case, Sanctity of
Merits does apply if the vampire permanently redefines her form.
Transformation lasts until the vampire chooses to revert to
her default. She can also spend a Willpower while resting in
her Unmarked Grave to redefine her default form.
Endow the Familiar
(Animalism ••, Protean ••)
Even the most stalwart companion is still made from flesh, but
while the flesh is fragile, it’s also flexible. With this Devotion, a
vampire can endow her familiars with a bit of her own elasticity.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire spends an additional Vitae when
uplifting an animal with Raise the Familiar (included in the cost).
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
The familiar’s body warps, gaining two dots of Protean. The
creature cannot raise this Discipline, but it can change adapta-
tions as Kindred can. The vampire can also use this Devotion in
conjunction with Undying Familiar (Vampire, p. 148), imbuing
a ghoul with this effect when and if it dies.
Flesh Crafting
(Dominate •, Protean ••)
This Devotion allows a vampire to take command over a
mortal subject’s flesh.
The vampire must touch her victim to use this Devotion.
104 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Shapeshifting vs. Banes
When it comes to Elastic Visage and Flesh
Crafting, vampires with banes related to
appearance operate under slightly different rules.
Vampires who age, like the Oberlochs (p. 52),
can benefit from these powers, but must spend a
Vitae per scene to maintain a youthful appearance,
rapidly aging when they enter daysleep or when
they stop spending Vitae, whichever comes first.
They maintain other cosmetic alterations, however.
Nosferatu gain full access to these powers, but a
Haunt who permanently alters her form to negate
the outward appearance of her bane will gain
a whole new flaw, one that isn’t dependent on
appearance. However, the mechanical downside of
her bane can never be negated.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, or 1 if the vam-
pire knows Elastic Visage (above).
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must inflict the Mesmerized
Condition on the subject, who must also consume or be
anointed by a Vitae (included in cost).
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite on humans; one night on vampires
The system works the same as Elastic Visage, but the vampire
can only use this Devotion on other characters. Alterations
created with Flesh Crafting can be preserved with Willpower
during daysleep, as with other changes to a vampire’s form. On
humans, they’re permanent until the vampire feeds or anoints
the subject with another Vitae. Each notable change to a body
part takes a turn of contact to effect.
Flesh Sculpting
(Dominate ••, Protean ••)
The Gangrel can turn her subject’s flesh to soft, mutable clay,
shifting his form as it suits her deathly designs.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, and the vampire
must know Flesh Crafting (above).
Cost: 1 Vitae and 1 Willpower
Requirement: The vampire must inflict the Mesmerized
Condition on the subject, who must also consume or be
anointed by a Vitae (included in cost).
Dice Pool: Dexterity + Medicine + Protean – Stamina
Action: Extended (target successes is ten plus the total
Attribute dots and/or levels of Size to be altered, and each
roll represents ten minutes of work manually shifting the
subject’s flesh)
 Duration: Indefinite on humans; one night on vampires
Roll Results
Success: The vampire can shift the subject’s Physical
Attributes and alter his Size with the following restrictions:
• The total number of dots moved and Size levels altered
cannot exceed her own Protean dots.
• She cannot reduce an Attribute below one dot.
• She cannot reduce a character’s Size below 3 or above 7.
• She cannot exceed trait limits imposed by Blood Potency
and human physical limitations.
• She cannot delete Attribute dots, but she can inflict persistent
Conditions like Blind, Crippled, or Mute (Chronicles of
Darkness, pp. 288 and 290). Each Condition/Tilt counts
as a discrete alteration.
For humans, this form is permanent until the vampire feeds/
anoints her with another Vitae. Vampires revert in daysleep
but can preserve their new forms by spending a Willpower per
each dot/Size level altered.
Some Gangrel learn to perform this Devotion on themselves,
but this requires a vampire to know Beast’s Skin and to spend
an additional Experience on top of the price above. The system
is the same as the above, but she does not subtract Stamina
from the activation roll, and she does not need to inflict herself
with Mesmerized.
Exceptional Success: The vampire refreshes a Willpower
point from the sheer elegance of her work.
Failure: The subject’s body rejects such gross alteration.
Dramatic Failure: Something awful happens. The Storyteller
has free rein to get icky.
Forced March
(Celerity ••, Resilience ••)
A product of Clan Gangrel’s frequent need to cross large
expanses of the wild before the sun catches up, this Devotion
allows Kindred to move at top speed over long periods. Forced
March is most often employed by Carthian Savages, especially
couriers, preventing the Revolution’s enemies from zeroing in
on important communiqués.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, or 1 if the vam-
pire is a member of the Carthian Movement.
Cost: 3 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Hours equal to Resilience
The vampire can move at the maximum Speed allowed by
Celerity for the duration. Except for reflexive actions such as
Perception, she can do nothing but move in this time.
If the vampire stops for any reason, she must reactivate this
Devotion. However, any potential assailants must match her
Speed or else they have little chance of catching up to her.
Frog Prince
(Animalism ••, Protean •••)
An animal minion, no matter how sophisticated, can’t match
the sophistication of a human mind. Conversely, a human-
shaped body isn’t a universal tool, especially in large spaces.
To this, the Gangrel say, why not have both?
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, or one if the
vampire knows Awaken the Horrid Form.
Cost: 2 Vitae
Requirement: The victim must consume or be anointed by
a Vitae (included in cost). If the vampire wants to bestow an
animal form she doesn’t have memorized, she must consume
blood from such a beast on the same night.
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken + Protean vs. Stamina +
Blood Potency (if unwilling)
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
Success: The subject transforms into an animal for the
rest of the night or until the vampire feeds/anoints her with
another point of Vitae, whichever comes first. If the Gangrel
has the Swarm Form Merit (Vampire, p. 114), she can bestow
that effect as well.
Exceptional Success: The transformation lasts for additional
nights equal to the vampire’s Blood Potency.
Failure: The victim’s body resists the vampire’s alteration.
Dramatic Failure: The vampire is forced into her own ani-
mal form for the rest of the scene and loses access to her other
Protean powers.
Gorge
(Protean ••, Resilience •)
Any predator knows that food can sometimes be scarce, so it’s
best to eat as much as possible whenever sustenance is available.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Nights equal to Blood Potency
The Gangrel floods her flesh with Vitae, bulging like a well-
fed tick. Swollen with blood, she can store up to her Resilience
dots in extra Vitae. While swollen, her skin takes on a crimson
hue and a taut appearance that’s unsettling to look upon.
This Devotion cannot be used again until the vampire’s Vitae
pool contains fewer points than her normal limit.
Graft
(Protean •••, Resilience ••)
Skilled shapeshifters know that, sometimes, their own forms
don’t have the right tools for a task. Wielders of this Devotion
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 105
 learn to make use of the body parts of others, living or dead,
creating a monstrous fusion of forms.
This Devotion costs 3 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae per limb
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Night
The vampire attaches a limb his body, torn or removed from
its original host, which he can now use as if it was his own. Each
limb added grants +1 to Dexterity and Strength; extra organs
or bones apply +1 Stamina. However, he can only apply extra
parts to his body equal to his Blood Potency dots plus one. The
duration above can be reset each night by spending one Vitae
per part the vampire wants to keep attached.
Inner Rage
(Animalism ••••, Resilience ••••)
In desperate situations, the Beast knows best, even if that
means feeding its worse impulses. With this Devotion, the
vampire can avoid mental coercion by letting out the mother
of all frenzies.
This Devotion costs 4 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
When the vampire fails to resist Dominate, Majesty,
Nightmare, or a Devotion requiring any of these Disciplines,
she can activate this Devotion. Doing so causes her to ignore
the effects of the Discipline or Devotion targeting her, but she
enters frenzy as if she had dramatically failed to resist. She
cannot ride the wave or otherwise influence this frenzy, even
with the Coil of the Wyrm.
It Will Not Die
(Resilience •••••)
Vampires are already difficult to kill, but this Devotion
pushes a Lick’s physical limit near invulnerability.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: Varies
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
The vampire can spend one or more Willpower dots to ignore
an equal number of Health levels of any damage type. In addi-
tion, once per scene, if she would fall to torpor for any reason,
he can spend a Willpower point to remain active for a number
of additional turns equal to Resilience. However, even if damage
in the character’s last Health box is healed in these turns, he
will still enter torpor when the duration expires.
This Devotion does not function against damage dealt by
sunlight or personal banes.
106 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Regeneration
(Protean ••••, Resilience ••••)
Elders of Clan Gangrel are rumored to exist beyond the reach
of Final Death, shrugging off grievous wounds like sweat. Many
of these tales are just that — tales — but some Savages know
ways to deal with injuries their Kindred don’t.
This Devotion costs 4 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 5 Vitae per wound
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
The vampire can heal any number of aggravated damage
she has without resting, manually pressing her flesh back
together through painful, ad hoc surgery. However, this is an
enormous strain on her dead physiology: Whenever she uses
this Devotion, the vampire gains the Lethargic Condition,
which ends without resolving in scenes equal to the amount
of aggravated damage healed.
Sheep’s Clothing
(Protean •••)
To transform into an animal, a vampire proficient in Protean
must first kill that creature and drain its blood. This Devotion
takes this principle a step further, allowing a Savage to use
Beast’s Skin to transform into any human he’s consumed in
this manner.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, or 1 if the vam-
pire knows Elastic Visage (p. 104) or Face of the Trickster (False
Gods: Ventrue, p. 54).
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Action: None
Duration: Permanent
When the vampire drains a mortal to death, he can memorize
his form. Just like transforming into an animal, he takes on
the Physical traits (Attributes, Skills, Size, Speed, and Health)
of the person he’s copying, but none of her memories or per-
sonality. Sheep’s Clothing cannot replicate cosmetic changes
such as piercings, tattoos, or other body modifications. Other
than this restriction, the form the vampire adopts is a perfect
replica of his victim at the time of her death.
Forms gained with Sheep’s Clothing count towards the num-
ber of Beast’s Skin forms the vampire can know at one time.
Walk It Off
(Resilience •••)
Pain is one thing, injury another. With this Devotion, a
vampire can force her corpse to keep functioning past the point
where a living one would start to fall apart.
This Devotion costs 1 Experience to learn.
 Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Duration: Turns equal to Resilience dots
The vampire can spend a Willpower to ignore the effects of a
Personal Tilt for the duration (e.g., Arm Wrack, Beaten Down,
Leg Wrack, etc.). However, she can only ignore Tilts like Arm
Wrack or Leg Wrack if the limb in question is still attached.
Merits
With a few exceptions, most of these Merits are exclusive to
Gangrel characters, but a Storyteller might allow vampires of
other clans to purchase them in special circumstances.
Alien Limbs (• to •••••)
Prerequisites: Protean ••, Athletics ••, Brawl ••, Survival ••
Effect: A vampire with the ability to transform her body is no
longer limited to human modes of combat. This Fighting Style
blends brawling arts with the freedom and creativity that comes
with not being locked into a single form, turning an already
deadly opponent into a horrifying, unpredictable combatant.
Rumor has it that this technique was created by Gangrel in
the Camarilla’s Legion of the Dead, and that it’s one of the
covenant’s few surviving “martial arts.” Some say it allowed
lone Roman Savages to take on whole squads singlehandedly.
Flexible Strikes (•): Hyperextending joints gives your char-
acter superior reach that an opponent can’t anticipate, driving
them off-balance. She counts as two attackers for the purposes
of reducing Defense when facing multiple attackers, and halves
any Defense granted by shields.
Slip-Twist (••): Your character can bend and twist in bizarre
ways while keeping perfect balance. Add +1 Defense against
Brawl and Weaponry attacks as long as her feet are on the
ground. She also cannot be knocked down.
Constrict (•••): Bending her limbs around her opponent
becomes second nature to your character, easily tangling most
adversaries. Add Protean dots on rolls to establish grapples.
Rend (••••): Focusing all her strength into a pinpoint strike,
your character can exploit weaknesses in her enemies’ defenses.
Her All-Out Attacks ignore two points of armor and inflict
either an Arm Wrack or Leg Wrack Tilt.
Envelope (•••••): A short-lived transformation causes your
character’s body to explode outwards, simultaneously injuring
and snaring a victim close to her. Spend a Willpower to initiate
a grapple and make an unarmed attack in the same action.
Aspect of the Predator (••)
Prerequisite: Gangrel
Effect: Sometimes, the trick to getting rid of the competition
is just looking like you’re the bigger monster. When lashing
out, your character’s Blood Potency is always treated as one
dot higher than another vampire’s. This means she never has
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 107
 to spend a Willpower to respond to another Beast, and other
characters must always spend one to respond to her.
Drawback: Failing to back up your bark with sufficient bite
can be disastrous. If your character loses a Predatory Aura
contest with a vampire of higher Blood Potency, she must take
the Bestial Triad Condition even if she would normally be
immune to it, and its duration is doubled.
Atrocious, Advanced (••)
Prerequisite: Atrocious
Effect: Your character’s Beast is a thing of legend, a feral
demon that resides within her veins. Once per chapter, gain a
Beat whenever she invokes the Monstrous Beast in someone
who has attacked her.
Drawback: When lashing out with the Competitive or
Wanton Beast, any failure becomes a dramatic failure.
Beast Meld (•)
Prerequisite: Protean •
Effect: All things are potential havens to your character, even
the bodies of others. She can use Unmarked Grave on other
creatures by spending Vitae equal to their Stamina.
Drawback: Unwilling, sapient victims (i.e., not animals) can
spend a Willpower point to eject your character.
Disciple of Dis (• to •••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Occult •••
Effect: The blood of primal spirits runs in your character’s
accursed blood. Other vampires may feel uneasy around her,
or see minor, shadowy manifestations whenever she’s present.
For each level in this Merit, your character gains one of
the Doom Dread Powers of the Strix. At one dot, she gains
one Dread Power available at Shadow Potency 1; at two dots,
Shadow Potency 2; at three, Shadow Potency 3. Replace the
Ephemeral being Attributes in the listed dice pools with any
Attribute of the appropriate type from your character sheet.
Drawback: When you purchase this Merit, your character
acquires a bane. This curse does not count against her max-
imum number, but it does not mitigate any breaking point
triggers.
Available at character creation only.
Feral Combatant (• to •••)
Prerequisites: Athletics ••, Brawl ••, Protean •••
Effect: Your character specializes in fighting in a particular
animal form. For each dot in this Merit, choose a technique
from those listed below when she takes on this form. This only
applies to a single animal form; she must take this Merit again
to access it for others. If she later changes an applicable form,
she loses access to these techniques, but Sanctity of Merits
applies as usual.
108 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Blending In: Your character knows how to use natural
camouflage to the utmost advantage. Apply her Stealth dots
as weapon damage to any surprise attacks.
Don’t Touch: Getting near your character is asking for pain.
Characters who successfully attack yours take a point of mundane
lethal damage as she instinctively snaps or claws at them.
Fight and Flight: Your character can take an instant action
while running or otherwise moving at her top Speed.
High Ground/Low Ground: Your character is adept at
attacking from above. When making a Brawl action starting
from at least a meter above your victim’s head, apply the 9-again
quality. Alternatively, animal forms that must move closer to
the earth can apply this advantage if their height is lower than
an opponent’s knees.
Hang Tight: Whether with talons or teeth, your character is
adept at latching onto opponents. When attempting to control
a grapple, she gains a +3 but subtracts a success if she applies the
Damage move, as much of her strength is applied to holding on.
Night Moves: Your character can take advantage of her inhu-
man form in low light. Her Defense gains a +2 when she fights
in poorly lit settings; double this bonus in blackout conditions.
Flesh Focus (• or •••)
Effect: Your character is more in tune with the shape-chang-
ing aspects of Protean than other Savages. At one dot, she
can memorize and assume a fourth adaptation with Predatory
Aspect. At three dots, she can assume a specific second trait
with Unnatural Aspect by spending an extra Vitae.
Hart’s Blood (•••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Animalism •, Blood Potency 5
or less.
Effect: While animal blood runs thin on the fangs of most
Kindred, some Gangrel can gain greater sustenance from the
hunt. Any animal your character personally hunts and kills
provides at least some Vitae, depending on his Blood Potency:
• 1–2 Dots: Vitae equal to animal’s Size.
• 3–5 Dots: 1 Vitae.
Drawback: At Blood Potency 6, your character loses this
Merit. Sanctity of Merits applies.
Head of a Pin (••)
Prerequisite: Protean •
Effect: No longer bound to hiding places of any particular
size, your character can merge with any object to a minimum
of Size 1 when activating Unmarked Grave.
Inhuman Resistance (•••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Blood Potency ••+
Effect: Your Beast won’t be leashed by lesser predators. When
resisting powers of mental or social compulsion, your character
gains the 9-again quality on any contested action as long as she
has Blood Potency greater than that of the aggressor. If the
action is resisted, the Discipline-user loses the 10-again quality.
Drawback: If she fails to resist a lesser predator’s powers,
your character loses a Willpower point.
Iron Heart (• to •••)
Prerequisite: Resilience •
Effect: Your character’s heart is made of firmer stuff. Each
point in this Merit adds an additional point of damage neces-
sary to stake him.
Mutable Psyche (•••)
Prerequisites: Protean ••, Resolve •••
Effect: Your character’s mind has become truly changeable,
throwing off old habits and routines with ease. Some Kindred
use this flexibility to remain unpredictable to those who might
hunt them or try to observe their behavior. Each time your
character fails a breaking point, you can choose a new Dirge for
them. You cannot choose the same Dirge within a single story.
Of Rose and Thorn (••)
Effect: Your character can use Animalism on plants of Size
1 and greater, gaining the following effects at each level of
her Discipline:
Feral Whispers: She can communicate with plants and give
them commands. For example, she might tell a vine to grow
a certain way, or a tree to watch out for any trespassers who
happen by. However, plants don’t perceive the world as animals
do, and they have difficulty expressing concepts that rely on
vision or a sense of time. As such, the vampire must roll Wits
+ Survival to correctly interpret a plant.
Raise the Familiar: She can revive a dead plant in the same
manner as the usual applications of this Discipline. Instead of
Stamina, use Size to determine duration. The vampire can also
use Undying Familiar on a plant if she knows that Devotion.
Summon the Hunt: By letting her Vitae drip into soil, she
can command any plants within the defined area to do her
bidding, provided they have the ability to do so.
Feral Infection: Affected plants lash out at passersby, inflict-
ing a point of bashing damage per turn on anyone who comes
within reach. They also envelop the area in pollens and other
excretions, levying a –3 modifier on all Perception rolls based
on sight or scent.
Lord of the Land: In addition to the usual effects on animals,
plants affected by Raise the Familiar can serve as vectors for
Feral Whispers.
Prey’s Trail (••)
Prerequisite: Survival ••
Effect: The ability to track prey is heightened in your char-
acter, even beyond the already extraordinary senses of other
vampires. He can track anyone whose blood he’s tasted as long
as they are in roughly the same geographic area. This requires
an extended Intelligence + Survival roll for every hour of
tracking, with a target of ten successes. This trail follows only
where the prey has been, and it will not lead to them via the
shortest possible route. The ability to track this way fades after
a number of nights equal to your character’s Blood Potency
unless he tastes the victim’s blood again.
Pack Bond (••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Kindred Status •
Effect: Savages feel a deeper connection to the pack around
them than other Kindred. Your character has learned to draw
on this connection to ground themself, resisting the call of
the Beast. Count your character’s highest Kindred Status as
an additional Touchstone.
Drawback: This Touchstone is not attached to a tier
of Humanity, but if your character has no other attached
Touchstones, she also loses the benefit of this Merit.
Pack Blooded (•)
Prerequisite: Gangrel
Effect: Your character has a designated pack, a group of
Kindred who are ride or die when it comes to her Requiem.
In combat situations involving this pack, she gains a +1 to
Initiative, Defense, and Speed. Furthermore, she adds her
Animal Ken dots as a bonus to a primary actor’s teamwork
action where one of her packmates fills this role, but only in
action scenes (that is, those where turns are tracked).
Drawbacks: This Merit only applies if another member of the
coterie also has this Merit. In addition, looking to the pack for
stability instead of the Man makes it easier for the Beast to slip
its claws in. Breaking points incurred for defending packmates
suffer a –1 modifier on the detachment roll.
Pack Omega (•)
Prerequisite: Ghoul with Gangrel regnant
Effect: Some people are born followers, intuitively and effec-
tively supporting their superiors without the need for direct
communication. Your character has adapted well to this role,
and, regardless of her exact relationship with her regnant, she
works effectively in concert. Whenever she takes a teamwork
action when her regnant is the anchor character, gain the rote
quality on the roll.
Drawback: Your character is very uncomfortable in leader-
ship positions. If she attempts a teamwork action in which she
is the anchor character, she loses the 10-again quality.
Predator-Marked (••)
Prerequisite: Ghoul with Gangrel regnant
Effect: Most people think twice about messing with a
Gangrel’s stuff. For better or worse, that includes you. Once
per scene, your character can gain a bonus on an Intimidation,
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 109
 Persuasion, or Socialize action by invoking his regnant’s name
among those who know it. This bonus is equal to your regnant’s
highest Status rating or Blood Potency, whichever is lower.
Drawback: While name-dropping can be useful, wise ghouls
don’t lean too hard on this reputation, lest their regnant become
annoyed that their name is being invoked over every petty matter.
The Red Surrender (•••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Beast is not Risen
Effect: Gangrel are closer to the Beast than other Kindred
— too close, some say, but well out of hearing of any nearby
Savages. Still, some believe it’s not close enough.
With the Red Surrender, your character can blur the lines
between the Beast and her own personality. Unlike the Risen
Beast (p. 79), this is a communion rather than a division, and
as such, those who’ve chosen the path of the Passenger can
never use this technique.
While operating under the Red Surrender, the vampire
enjoys a variety of benefits from the Beast’s power. Once
per chapter, the vampire can spend a Willpower to take the
Tempted Condition. As long as this Condition lasts, she gains
the following benefits:
• +1 on Athletics, Intimidation, Stealth, and Survival rolls;
this applies to Disciplines and Devotions;
• +1 to Initiative;
• +1 to Perception;
• If she spends Willpower on dice pools involving Animal Ken,
she gains a +5 instead of +3.
Each time the Tempted Condition compounds, these bonuses
above increase by one, to a limit of +5. Once per scene, your
character can spend another Willpower to compound Tempted
by one, or she can provoke the Beast and hope she wins.
Drawback: Letting the Beast so close to the surface means
the Man falls into the depths. Any breaking points suffered
during this period suffer the Tempted Condition’s penalty as
a modifier.
Roughin’ It (•)
Prerequisites: Crafts ••, Survival ••
Effect: Your character is adept at using only minimal tools
and supplies to survive, whether in the wilds of nature or the
unforgiving streets of sprawling metropolises. Reduce all pen-
alties on Crafts or Survival rolls due to improper or improvised
tools by half, rounding down. While she can’t do the impossible,
your character can make do with a sharp rock and some leaves
when most people would require a hatchet and a pup tent.
Savage Kenning (•)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Animal Ken •••
Effect: Your character has an innate rapport with a particular
kind of animal, such as wolves, rats, carrion birds, big cats, or
110 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
crocodiles. He gains a free Animal Ken Specialty that reflects
this bond and achieves an exceptional success with three
successes rather than five whenever this Specialty applies. In
addition, all things being equal, animals in general will tend
to react favorably toward your character.
Taste of Prey (••)
Prerequisites: Gangrel, Survival ••
Effect: Most Kindred hunt, but for Gangrel, it’s a deeper
experience than just finding their next mouthful of blood.
Savages feel a connection to their prey, and they use this
insight to track down their old victims whenever they want
another taste. If your character has previously tasted the blood
of someone, he can detect them at twice the normal distance
with Kindred Senses, and he exceptionally succeeds on three
successes instead of five on any Investigation, Streetwise, or
Survival rolls to find them.
Tireless Pursuit (• to •••)
Prerequisites: Stamina ••, Athletics ••
Effect: Kindred don’t tire. Their muscles don’t get sore
from overuse, and they never need to catch their breath. Your
character is a relentless tracker, leveraging the advantages her
dead body grants her in order to run down and exhaust her
chosen prey.
This Merit uses the Chase system presented on p. 84 of the
Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook. If your group isn’t using
that system, alternate benefits have been presented for levels
that reference it.
Cruise Control (•): Not having to worry about burning
lungs or cramping sides leaves your mind free for other tasks
while you run. When your character would ordinarily take
an instant action to double her Speed in an action scene, she
can still take an instant Mental action such as searching for
signs of her prey, analyzing the area for threats, or trying to
remember the face of the truck driver who plowed into her
two blocks back.
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop (••): You don’t win because you’re
stronger or faster; you win because you never, ever quit. When
involved in a Chase, your character can substitute her Stamina
in place of either her Strength or Dexterity for the purpose of
calculating her Speed. Alternatively, if you’re not using the Chase
system, substitute Stamina in place of Strength or Dexterity for
the purpose of calculating Speed whenever your character is
physically pursuing something — or someone — she considers prey.
Right Behind You (•••): Eventually, sheer determination
always wins out over cunning. During a Chase, if your quarry
would seize the Edge, your character can spend a Willpower
and suffer a point of bashing damage to claim it instead. She
simply plows over and through whatever circumstances her
quarry attempted to put in her path to slow her down.
Alternatively, if you’re not using the Chase system: While
running at full speed, your character can spend a point of
Willpower to plow straight through any barrier that has less
Structure than her Stamina (within reason), but she suffers the
objects Durability in bashing damage.
Top Dog (•)
Prerequisite: Empathy •• or Intimidation ••
Effect: Your character instinctively understands the flow of
authority. Success on a Wits + Empathy roll will determine the
hierarchy of a group of people your character has observed for
at least a scene. Once per chapter, this grants an exceptional
success on three successes instead of five on any social interac-
tion with the group’s leader(s).
Unbound Form (•••)
Prerequisite: Protean •••••
Effect: No longer limited to a single form, your character
can manifest Primeval Miasma as other substances. Often
this is a cloud of blood or a spray of ashes, though the choking
cloud can now appear however your character chooses. While
transformed using Primeval Miasma, your character inflicts
an Environmental Tilt appropriate to the substance she has
become. She can only manifest one Tilt per scene.
Unstoppable (• to •••••)
Prerequisites: Athletics ••, Brawl ••• or Weaponry •••,
Stamina •••, Protean •, Resilience •
Effect: Gangrel have a reputation for being terrifying com-
batants, and Savages who lean into that stereotype have learned
ways to leverage their natural toughness and mercurial flesh to
ignore pain and power through injuries that would leave other
Kindred in ruins.
I’ve Had Worse (•): Minor injuries barely phase you. Your
character ignores wound penalties caused by bashing damage.
Take It on the Chin (••): Rather than avoiding harm, your
character is an expert at taking hits so that they do minimal
damage, your skin hardening at the point of impact. Once per
attacker in a turn, she can use her Stamina rating rather than
the lower of Dexterity or Wits to calculate her Defense. Any
attack suffered while this technique is active does not reduce
your Defense against future attacks during the same turn.
That’s Mine Now (•••): Your character’s skin becomes a trap
for overconfident enemies, knives and swords becoming mired
in your dead flesh. Once per turn in an action scene, when your
character uses the active effect of Resilience to reduce damage
from a melee weapon that pierces or cuts skin, you can roll your
character’s Stamina versus the attacker’s successes as a reflexive
action. If you garner more successes than your attacker, they
lose hold of their weapon, as your skin closes around the blade,
trapping it within you.
Iron Jaw (••••): Your bones are like steel, your skin like
sandpaper. Whenever you are struck by an unarmed attack,
the attacker takes a point of bashing damage.
That All You Got? (•••••): You’re too stubborn to just
stay down, even when you should. If your character would fall
into torpor from damage, she can spend Willpower to remain
conscious until the end of her next turn. This does nothing to
mitigate the damage from the attack itself. Drawback: Once
she uses this effect, she can’t use it again in the same scene.
Urban Hunter (••)
Prerequisite: Streetwise ••
Effect: Your character is skilled at tracking prey in highly
urbanized environments, able to read signs in discarded cigarette
butts and traffic lights like more traditional hunters can read
muddy tracks and animal spoor. You gain the 9-again quality on
Investigation, Streetwise, and Survival rolls made to find or track
specific people in the city as long as you’ve met them at least once.
Veil of Invulnerability (••)
Prerequisite: Resilience •
Effect: Your character does not appear to suffer harm when
resisting damage with Resilience. Any attacks that deal no
damage leave no wounds or marks. Any mortal attacker wit-
nessing your character’s apparent invulnerability suffers –1 to
Composure rolls for the scene against her.
Crúac Rites
The Gangrel say they brought Crúac to the All Night Society.
The Circle of the Crone only pretends at a legacy the Savages
created, for when the clan was young, they murdered whatever
blasphemous gods spawned the Kindred race and took their
unholy magics as a trophy.
That’s what they say, at any rate. The origins of Crúac are
nowhere near settled (just ask the Camarilla — or the Strix), but
the Gangrel do have a certain affinity for this form of blood
sorcery. The Savages know more unique rites than most of the
Damned, even compared to bloodlines who practice Crúac,
like the Penumbrae and Yagnatia, or Shadow Cults like the
Followers of Seth.
Still, the supposed curse of the lone ritualist (Vampire, p. 150)
still applies to Gangrel who would use the Dark Mother’s magic
outside the auspices of her army… though, considering how widely
Crúac is practiced in groups that aren’t aligned to the Circle of
the Crone, perhaps all a Savage sorcerer really needs is peers.
The rites below are a few examples of those taught by Gangrel
members of the Circle of the Crone. Other Kindred can learn
them, but sharing outside the clan is often considered taboo
among Acolyte Savages.
Prey’s Blood (•)
Target Successes: 3
Contested: by Composure + Blood Potency
The vampire chooses a victim she’s fed from in the last lunar
month and casts the ritual. For nights equal to Potency, the
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 111
 ritualist has a rough sense of where the prey is in relation to the
four cardinal directions, and she applies her Crúac dots to all
Investigation or Survival and Kindred Senses rolls to track him.
If the ritualist has a blood tie to the ritualist, the feeding require-
ment is negated; some Gangrel use this ritual to keep track of
packmates, and if the subject is willing, the rite is not contested.
Tickblood (••)
Target Successes: 7
Resisted: by Stamina
The vampire feeds her victim the sacrifice and doubles his
Vitae capacity for nights equal to Potency, with any vampire who
feeds from him in that time gaining two Vitae for every lethal
damage inflicted. For the duration, the victim’s flesh bulges
and distends, only deflating if he’s fed upon. This “padding”
provides two points of general armor for the duration, though
this doesn’t apply to a vampire’s bite.
If a victim is subjected to this rite too many times, he might
become one of the Gorged (Half-Damned, p. 118).
Balancing the Four Humors (•••)
Target Successes: 6
While Kindred are more durable than most humans, even
a vampire won’t be able to do much in a hurricane. By spilling
the sacrifice in a mixture of the four traditional humors (blood,
yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm), the ritualist can create a
potion to protect herself or others from the ravages of Mother
Nature. Anyone consuming this mixture before the end of
the night applies the ritualist’s Crúac dots on rolls affected by
penalties from extreme environments (Vampire, p. 184) and
In the Flesh: A Players Guide to Protean
Our only security is our ability to change.
John Lilly
Razor sharp claws. Limbs warped to run faster, climb higher,
and dig deeper. Grasping tails, spreading wings, gaping maws
and things less easily described. Any or all of these images might
come to mind when discussing Clan Gangrel. With the Beast
made manifest in their very flesh, is it any wonder the Savages
have such an intimate connection to it? Possessing the Discipline
of Protean alters a vampire’s Requiem in fundamental ways that
no other power of the Blood does. This section examines how
Protean affects not only the physicality of the Damned, but their
psychology, and even the very core of their identities.
Skin Like Quicksilver
Even among the unique powers granted to each clan, Protean
is special. Every other clan Discipline has some parallel that
can be connected to human abilities, or even thought of as
normal skills magnified.
112 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Environmental Tilts. This does not apply to any environment
involving fire or sunlight. The effect lasts the rest of the night,
and the vampire gains doses equal to Potency.
Sacrifice of Odin (••••)
Target Successes: 8
Taught by Gangrel in the Norse tradition, this ritual grants
the vampire greater reserves of strength at the cost of a piece
of herself. In addition to the sacrifice, the vampire must inflict
herself with a level of aggravated damage, removing or ren-
dering useless an eye, foot, hand, or her tongue. This inflicts
an appropriate Tilt or Condition. For as long as the wound
remains, the vampire gains a +5 when spending Willpower to
bolster actions, and bolsters her Resistance Attributes by +3
instead of +2. In addition, each time she spends a Willpower
on a mundane action, roll a die. On a 10, she regains that
point.
Curse of Ahasverus (•••••)
Target Successes: 10
Wandering Savages who’ve been denied succor by their
Kindred often employ this terrible curse. The victim (who must
be within a mile of the ritualist) is perceived as an outsider and
interloper to whoever sees him. Vampires who meet him must
spend a Willpower not to immediately lash out at him with the
Predatory Aura, which is free of its usual cost if they do so.
Furthermore, all rolls to resist frenzy in the victim’s presence
suffer a penalty equal to the rite’s Potency. His presence isn’t a
trigger to frenzy in and of itself, but any frenzy will be directed
at him if it does occur.
Auspex? Who doesn’t make leaps of intuition now and again?
Dominate? There are entire workshops and books dedicated
to making people do what you say.
Majesty? Charm is cheap! So many people are effortlessly
charming, with smiles that open doors and legs alike.
Nightmare? Likewise, there are those who can silence
dissent with a raised eyebrow, who project menace in every
move they make.
All these powers, unnatural though they may be, can be
thought of (and, indeed, often are by Kindred clinging to
the past) as simply “human… but more.” But there’s nothing
human about exploding into a cloud of mist, or melding into
a block of granite, or shedding your body like an old coat
in favor of one with wings, claws, and scales. Protean, more
than any other Discipline, announces its user’s inhumanity to
both herself and the world. To possess it is to hold constant,
undeniable proof that one is no longer mortal, and the impact
 of that fact can’t be overstated.
Daeva and Vent rue sub -
merse themselves in the
herd of humanit y,
pretending to still
be one of them.
Mekhet and
Nosferatu lurk
unseen among the masses,
desperate to still be a part
of them. The Gangrel who
soars above the crowd on wings she didn’t possess
yesterday knows, unequivocally, that she’s something
fundamentally different, and that there’s no going back.

Bit by Bloody Bit

The abilities granted by Protean are so diverse that it’s worth going through the
Discipline’s various abilities to better examine how it alters the experience of its
users. Below you’ll find a dot-by-dot examination of each level.

Unmarked Grave
Protean doesn’t ease anyone into its use. Right off the bat, young Gangrel find
their whole bodies merging with the earth itself while their minds remain active
and aware, a feeling indescribable to anyone who has not experienced it themself.
This is often enough to cause dysphoria and other mental trauma as the neonate
is forced to grapple with the radical alteration of form.
However, Protean’s earliest gift is also one of its most potent. To possess even the
barest understanding of the Discipline is to be untethered from domain or haven in a
way that Kindred without it simply can’t match. Savages new to their Requiems might
not appreciate how powerful this gift is at first, but all come to be deeply thankful for it
in time. The knowledge that safety from the sun (or, indeed, most threats) is just a patch of
dirt away helps instill the confidence the clan is known for.

Predatory Aspect
Perhaps the most iconic Gangrel ability is being able take on a variety of animal-inspired features
at a moment’s notice, and it’s available relatively early in their Requiems. It’s hard to overstate the
sheer versatility of Predatory Aspect; it turns a Gangrel’s body into a Swiss army knife, from extra
limbs to multiple senses. However, it also throws a Savage’s monstrous nature into the fore. Sure,
that Haunt over there might be sort of creepy, but her Gangrel friend just grew ten thousand
insect legs and is crawling around on the ceiling — so which one is less human?
The obvious nature of these alterations also means that a vampire must be conscious of their
surroundings and any potential witnesses when calling upon their gifts. Many Kindred abilities
can be dismissed as tricks of the light or passing mania, but watching someone radically alter
their physical form right in front of you is hard to dismiss. This Masquerade-induced need
to hold back helps explain the isolationist nature of many Gangrel, and why they often prefer
more secluded environments where they don’t need to worry about prying eyes.

Beast’s Skin
A less strange but much more versatile transformation than Unmarked Grave, a vampire
with Beast’s Skin is only limited by what animals she can sink her fangs into. While there
are many options for both stealth (rats, house cats, snakes) and combat (wolves, bears, lions)
granted by this ability, perhaps none are more Requiem-altering than taking on a form that can

Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 113

 fly. Personal flight is a dream long held by humanity, and many
Gangrel report feeling something akin to true joy the first time
they launch themselves into the night on their new wings. Be
it in the form of a bat, owl, eagle, crow, or something stranger,
being able to enjoy a whole new dimension of movement is a
mind-expanding experience. If nothing else, Savages who can
fly note how infrequently Kindred or people actually look up.
Not only does this facilitate travel across vast swaths of
terrain unseen, but the potential for hunting is significant.
If Unmarked Grave is the first taste of freedom, then Beast’s
Skin is the full course meal. What does domain mean to
Kindred who can travel between cities through the air? What
meaning do a prince’s laws have when you can leave when
things get too complicated?
The idea of a totally untethered Requiem is seductive, and this
is yet another reason so many nomads are Gangrel. However,
a vampire without ties is also one without Touchstones, or
other tools to keep the Beast at bay, something Savages already
struggle with. A wise Gangrel keeps a few roosts to land in, lest
they become little more than a gory urban legend on a lonely
stretch of highway.
Unnatural Aspect
If the tools granted by Predatory Aspect are the most iconic,
then the weapons given by the penultimate Protean ability are
the most notorious. Easily the greatest contributing factor to
the wariness that other clans regard the Gangrel with is their
ability to sprout awful claws that can rend even the resilient
flesh of the Kindred asunder. Often, just the sight of these
horrid talons is enough to stop fights before they begin, and
it’s at this point that those with Protean understand how much
power they really possess.
While some become swaggering brutes, many Gangrel who
reach this level of Protean actually become more reserved and
willing to resolve things without violence (especially those who
bear the Unholy’s claws). They know how much destruction
they’re capable of — particularly if they fall to frenzy — and they
feel a sense of responsibility to not use their power recklessly.
It helps that, at this point, most Savages feel they have very
little to prove.
Primeval Miasma
Protean’s final gift is a potent one. As a miasma, a Gangrel
has the safety of Unmarked Grave but coupled with the ability
to move almost anywhere, as little can bar her entry. What’s
more, one doesn’t even have to resume a solid form to feed,
and some Savages are known to spend nights on end in this
form, simply enjoying the untethered power.
The only weakness of this shape is its lack of speed; any
healthy prey can easily outpace the miasma, and moving any-
where in the form takes significant time. Still, this Discipline
can impart a true feeling of invincibility upon those who achieve
it, and that feeling is hard to argue against, especially when you
happen to get caught up inside it.
114 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
This is the ultimate expression of the survivalist nature of
Clan Gangrel, and it leads many of them to become reckless.
After all, what’s to fear when you can dissolve into a nigh-in-
vulnerable cloud at a moment’s notice? It’s at this point that
older Savages, the ones who’ve existed for centuries and have
seen all the terrible, dark corners the world, will offer a smile
without humor and mutter, “You’ll see.”
Evolution: Playing with Protean
Perhaps more than any other Discipline, possessing Protean,
especially at high levels, alters how you can play Vampire.
From character creation to feeding and, of course, violence,
Protean offers a wealth of options that aren’t always apparent
— at least at first.
Below you’ll find a discussion on how the mechanics of
Protean can alter the ways Gangrel characters might approach
their Requiems.
Conceptualizing Change: Character Creation
Right away, possessing even a single dot of Protean allows a
massive amount of freedom in how you build your character,
especially with regards to Merits. Safe Place? Haven? Who
needs them! Already, your character can dispense with one of
the most fundamental concerns most Kindred deal with: safety
from the sun. Why sink multiple dots into shelter when any
large enough patch of dirt will do?
Going further, putting all three of your starting Discipline
dots into Protean means you have access to Beast’s Skin, which
allows for flight. Who needs a car when you can wing it across
town in half the time? Dots in Resources suddenly become
optional when you’re your own taxi service and apartment.
That said, using Protean for transport and shelter is expensive
in terms of Vitae, so perhaps put some of those Merit dots you
saved earlier into Herd or Feeding Grounds. Also consider
taking Allies, Contacts, or other Social Merits in domains
other than the one where your chronicle will be taking place.
Having Protean allows for much easier travel between cities,
and maybe your character is known in multiple domains as a
courier, troublemaker, leg-breaker, or Lothario. Maybe he has
two (or more) entirely different identities in separate domains,
perhaps even belonging to multiple covenants. Protean means
freedom, so think about how that freedom has impacted your
character’s Requiem before the story begins.
Keep Your Head Up: Freedom of Movement
One of the more unappreciated aspects of Protean is how
much it affects a character’s mobility. It may lack the raw
speed of Celerity, but two dots grants access to powers like
Wall Crawling. Suddenly, your character can exist in a truly
3D environment, able to scale buildings and cling to ceilings
effortlessly. With one more dot, you have Beast’s Skin and access
to true flight, opening up things even further.
 If you’re a player, ask your Storyteller about what’s above you
when they’re describing a scene. How high are the buildings
around you? What are the ceilings like if you’re indoors? Protean
allows for so many fun and creative escapes and ambushes, not
to mention unique combat moves. Stand on the ceiling, rip off
light fixtures or decorations and hurl them down at victims
below. On a grander scale, flit from rooftop to rooftop with
your Unnatural Aspect-granted wings, firing a rifle down at
the poor, earth-bound suckers trying to catch you.
As a Storyteller, think about how the Gangrel in your story’s
setting might use this freedom of movement. Maybe they all
haven underwater, or burrow deep into the foundations of
skyscrapers. Perhaps the local Savages maintain holdings or
supply caches in places your need wings to reach, or remote
areas that offer no shelter from the sun (but plenty of earth).
When an entire clan can flout the rules of conventional human
(and Kindred) movement, it can lead to some rather unique
situations.
Never Say Die: Survivability
Most people think of Resilience when discussing the leg-
endary toughness of Clan Gangrel, but consider that, while
both they and the Ventrue possess Resilience, only the Savages
are “The ones you can’t kill.” More than simply allowing a
vampire to absorb harm better, Protean allows total immunity
to danger starting with its very first dot. Unmarked Grave
grants an escape from most forms of peril, and all it needs
is either a decent-sized patch of soil or some Vitae to merge
with tougher substances. Unless a Gangrel’s assailants have a
jackhammer handy, there’s not much they can do if she melds
into a pillar of concrete.
Keep this capacity to simply disengage in mind when con-
sidering how your character is going to survive a situation,
especially scenes of violence. Many players get caught up on
the idea that “winning” a fight means incapacitating all oppo-
nents, but Protean gives you so many ways to simply end the
conflict. Run up an alley wall with Predatory Aspect, or just
fly away with Beast’s Skin. Dig out a quick escape route with
Unnatural Aspect, or use Primeval Miasma and drift away
while bullets and blades pass harmlessly through you. Here’s
a fun one, and you only need a single dot: Take a flying leap
out of a high-rise window and activate Unmarked Grave as
you hit the ground. By the time your opponents get down,
you’ll be long gone.
A Gangrel might not always be able to prevail in a fight,
but you can be damn sure they’re going to walk away from it.
Think about these abilities as you consider how your charac-
ter approaches conflict. Are they cocky, constantly looking
for a fight, certain that nothing can touch them? Or maybe
they’re more reserved, viewing violence as pointless and garish
because they, at least, can always opt out. Do they go all-out
in a fight, only escaping when it’s clear they can’t win, or are
they more cautious, retreating turtle-like into the ground at
the first sign of danger?
New Adaptations
The following are additional adaptations to supplement those
listed for Predatory Aspect and Unnatural Aspect in Vampire:
The Requiem.
Some of the adaptations below first appeared in Strange
Shades: Mekhet as transformations for the Norvegi bloodline,
but they are reprinted here for ease of use and to provide dif-
ferent aesthetic interpretations.
Predatory Aspect
Constricting Grip: The vampire’s arms swell and elongate,
making it difficult for prey to escape her grasp. Victims lose
the 10-again quality in rolls to oppose her grapples.
Hollow Bones: The vampire’s skeleton hollows out like
a bird’s, lending an unsettling staccato quality to all of her
movements. She can take the higher of Dexterity or Wits when
calculating Defense.
Horns: The vampire gains horns or other bony protrusions
from her skull. If she successfully attacks a victim’s head with her
own (typically as part of a grapple), she inflicts the Stunned Tilt.
Poisonous: The vampire’s skin turns a brilliant, neon hue
like a lizard, making her flesh mildly toxic. She inflicts a point
of bashing damage per turn on anyone who comes into skin-
to-skin contact with her flesh.
Siphoning Tongue: The vampire’s tongue becomes forked
and snake-like, dealing –1L damage with a successful Dexterity
+ Brawl attack, to a minimum of one point of damage. The
vampire can steal a single point of Vitae on a successful attack
if she chooses (included in the damage inflicted on mortals).
Tough Hide: The vampire’s flesh becomes durable and rough.
She gains two points of general armor against all sources of
damage except those caused by banes.
Venomous: The vampire’s teeth elongate and hollow, allow-
ing her to produce and inject venom. With a successful bite
attack, she inflicts the Moderate Poisoned Tilt (Chronicles of
Darkness, p. 286).
Unnatural Aspect
Horrible Musk: The vampire exudes a potent scent that
confuses the senses, making her victims easier to pick off. She
applies her Protean dots as a penalty to all victims’ Defenses.
Hulk: The vampire gains a level of Size, adding to her Health
and applying a –5 as a modifier on all rolls to establish grapples
with her.
Hungry Hands: The vampire manifests suckers or cloacae
on her palms. This means she need only succeed on a Brawl
roll to feed, as long as she can attain skin-to-skin contact
Otherwise, the system works as with the Feed move (Vampire,
p. 99).
Iron Heart: The vampire’s heart petrifies into a hunk of
calcified matter. She gains three points of general armor against
all attacks that would successfully pierce her heart.
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 115
 Shark’s Maw: The vampire’s mouth distends and grows sev-
eral rows of teeth. When she successfully deals damage with
a bite, she also inflicts a point of aggravated damage, even to
other Kindred.
Tentacles: The vampire’s limbs extrude into horrible ten-
drils, and she can reach out across unnatural distances. She
can make Brawl and Weaponry attack targets at a range of up
to five meters.
Wild at Heart: The Feral Curse
But one mustn’t underestimate the primal appeal — to lose one’s self,
lose it utterly. And in losing it be born to the principle of continuous life,
outside the prison of mortality and time.
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Cowards call it a bane. Savages call it a birthright.
Rage, hunger, instinct — Gangrel don’t view their curse in
clinical terms. Nor, really, do they view it as a “curse” at all.
This primal force is just the nature of being Savage. Every clan
knows what it feels like when the Beast rages, so if the Gangrel
know it more intimately than other Kindred, that’s to their
benefit… isn’t it?
This section discusses the Feral Curse, the bestial urge that
burns a hole through Savage souls until only an animal remains.
Just Below the Surface
Some nights, my mind feels like a thin crust of ice. The Beast is
just below the surface, pushing and pushing, shattering everything
I am. There’ll be no more sure footing after I break. Even if I claw
my way back — fight against that tireless rage — I’ll have destroyed
all I love, ruined my last chance, burned every last bridge.
“But,” the Beast whispers, “won’t that feel good?”
And it does. God help me, it does. It’s more than an addiction;
it’s life.
Every vampire knows the Beast. Some deny it, others muzzle
it. But for the Gangrel, the Beast is riding shotgun, reading
the map, and — when you least expect it — taking the wheel.
The Beast enables Savages to bring what they do best to new
extremes, to be stronger, tougher, and deadlier than all the
other Licks. Yet, while that pounding force coursing through
every limb can make a vampire into a potent monster, it erodes
a little more of the Man. One flash flood, and that sense of self
might be swept away entirely.
Even the youngest Savages don’t need to dig deep to access
the Beast. It’s always lurking just behind their eyes, and it
doesn’t need an invitation to burst forth. It’s instinctual rage,
insatiable hunger, and a defiant sense of survival. It will only
ever go down fighting — even if it started the fight in the first
place. There’s no logic, or at least there’s nothing more complex
than the most primal urges. It cannot be bargained or reasoned
with. It cannot be assuaged.
116 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Webs: The vampire’s tongue hollows and swells out of her
mouth like a proboscis. With this appendage, she can spray
webbing at victims with an instant Dexterity + Athletics –
Defense roll, inflicting the Immobilized Tilt (Durability 3). She
can also use these webs to create traps, but the webbing only
lasts a night before disintegrating. The vampire can produce
enough webbing for (Protean) attacks in a scene.
After all, it’s an inherent part of the Blood. If the vampire
doesn’t fight it, there’s less struggle, less strain. Why run
from the Beast when one could ride it into battle? This force
is a part of them, always present and eager to rise, so the
Savages rise with it, borne aloft on a sea of blood. That primal
euphoria cuts everything into clear categories: black–white,
live–kill, eat-or-be-eaten. Gangrel like clear cut lines. To be
straightforward. Simple.
The ever present rage keeps things very simple indeed, but
whether that predilection arises from their slipping Humanity
or their swelling Beast is anyone’s guess.
Intrusive Thoughts
Survival of the fittest, my sire said. I’m young. I need to compete
for food and territory or I’m not going to last long in this world.
I need to stay sharp. But the Beast snarls at every threat, rages
out whenever I’m challenged. It’s off the leash before I can even
scramble for the harness.
The blood dries. I come back to myself. Or as much as ever comes
back these days.
The enemy didn’t know a fledgling like me had that much fight
inside. I didn’t know either, honestly.
“But do they think I’m a threat?”
I try to shut out that thought, but I can’t. The predator in me is
always loudest at times like this. Always looking for bloody angles.
They’ll be back. I know they’ll be back, and if I let them get
away, they’ll keep pushing. “Don’t give them that chance,” the voice
in my head growls.
Just kill them. Kill them all.
The Beast slathers like a devil on each Savage’s shoulder, a
wicked conscience and an endless font of intrusive urges. Bite
him. Take her. Jump! It’s not just a matter of impulse control; it’s
a matter of salvation. As reckless as the Beast is — and as sloppy
as it makes its vampire — it fights to win. Other clans may see
the Savages as quick to anger, but it’s easy to fear what’s not
well understood. Gangrel understand intimately.
 Among packmates, a bit of a tussle, some spilled blood, a
little in-fighting? That’s nothing to sweat over. They all feel
their tempers flaring. There’s no high ground to stand on
when everyone gets the urge to react with abandon. So while
their mistakes and offenses might get them into hot water
with other clans, among their own, a fight is over when the
dust settles. No point hashing it out, trying to dig into the
why of it. No point trying to soothe bruised egos when the
Beast is all id.
Yet, understanding these truths doesn’t negate the danger.
The Beast knows no social niceties. It cares nothing for bad
timing, and it’s a stranger to restraint. That can get a vampire
into trouble they might not survive. Shooting their mouth off
at the wrong time. Eviscerating the wrong retainer. Diablerizing
the wrong Lick. The Beast can be a damned liability, and while
the Gangrel know it, they’re still going to let it loose. They can’t
not. It’s in their nature.
Weapon of Last Resort:
Playing the Bane
This old Savage has weathered wars and feuds and regicides. I’ve
been through it all thanks to my Beast. It always gave me warning
before things turned bad. It lets me fight back, strike first, get out of
Dodge while the getting’s good.
But I couldn’t always take others with me. Kin who didn’t have a
Beast quite so loud, quite so sharp.
I ran, fought, and survived while they were torn to shreds behind
me. Lost one after another — but I kept on keeping on.
Now I’m old and lonely. But I’m never alone.
At the end of the night, the Beast is a Savage’s nuclear
option. It’s a weapon they can always use when all else is lost.
It might eat through one’s Humanity. It might destroy one’s
Kindred. It might even slaughter one’s Touchstones, but the
Gangrel will crawl out, still kicking. As the tethers that keep a
vampire anchored fray and fall away, and the Savage becomes
ever wilder. The memories of whatever life looked like before
— a life without that incessant pull — become hazy. They cease
to hold the Gangrel’s focus. Then, they cease to be important
motivators. Then, they simply cease to be.
As your character’s clan bane intensifies, think about how
this affects her persona. Does she become skittish like an ani-
mal at loud noises? Does she growl when displeased? Or does
she just forget to not stare at her prey? Many Savages take on
these ticks and habits without realizing it, though some rare
few adopt them to keep other vampires at bay.
Still, the Beast can only tear through its host for so long
before it wears through. At that point, the Savage becomes
little more than a gibbering husk that haunts both Kindred
and kine. Perhaps this is what the other clans fear: That if the
Gangrel are allowed to run amok unchecked, there won’t be
any stopping their rampages.
Culpability
The Beast isn’t (normally) a discrete being. It’s
no more an individual creature than your own
fight or flight instinct; it’s just more violent and
overwhelming. The Beast is predatory urge and
animalistic need, nothing more, nothing less. “Beast”
is the easy metaphor Kindred provide themselves to
obfuscate the evil they do.
Some vampires justify their crimes or deny
responsibility (“It wasn’t me! It was the Beast!”),
but that’s bullshit. A vampire is the sole perpetrator
of her atrocities. While she might personify her
thoughts at times, she’s just talking to herself.
Even those who take on the Risen Beast (p. 79) are
doing little more than division: Nothing the so-called
Passenger wants is truly unique to it. Every urge is
the vampire’s own, and some Kindred will raze their
Humanities denying this truth.
The secret is, many Savages fear this too. To fully give in to
the Beast means that whispering shadow becomes the only one
left standing at their side, inseverable as their own Vitae. As
such, consider how your own character clings to her human
side. All Kindred must attend to this aspect of the Requiem,
but Savages are so close to the Beast that ceding ground to
it has far more obvious — and violent — consequences. Even
the Nosferatu evoke fear because they’re not quite human; the
Gangrel are animals. Some Savages use meditation techniques
or practice martial arts to keep their predatory sides in check,
while others put themselves in spaces where the rage has less of
a chance to rear its head; more than a few Gangrel have taken
grunt work for their domains because it means they don’t have
to deal with people. The Savage who cleans up corpses and
crime scenes to preserve the Masquerade doesn’t have a lot of
time to hunt, but he still eats well.
Of course, isolation is just another way to feed the Beast.
Many Gangrel try to separate themselves from their prey
because they think they can do less harm that way, but vio-
lence is only one aspect of the Feral Curse. A Lick who spends
all her time alone neglects the human niceties that gird the
Masquerade. She forgets that humans don’t go around with
stale blood on their breath, and that clothes aren’t optional
in most places. This is the eternal paradox of Gangrel blood,
to keep humans at an arms’ length for their own safety, yet
needing them as close as possible to remind the Beast to stay
in the shadows.
Keep this problem in mind as you build your Savage charac-
ter, and think of ways she might try to deal with it. Even if she’s
as humane as a Gangrel gets, this tension should always be at a
simmer, threatening to boil over every time she loses control.
Some of the best drama comes from embracing contradictions,
and the Feral Curse is a great way to make your character’s
Requiem thrillingly — and bloodily — incongruous.
Chapter Three: Tools of the Hunt 117

Common Banes
The Gangrel are perhaps the earthliest of the five clans, but
that doesn’t mean they never get weird. Their common banes
are typically tied to frenzy and the Beast, and though Kindred
of all stripes can take the following curses, they’re most common
among the Gangrel.
Blood in the Water: Your character’s Beast is roused by the
fury of others. If other Kindred in her vicinity frenzy, you must
make a successful Humanity roll or spend a Willpower (choose
one). If she fails or does not spend Willpower, she must resist
frenzy as well.
Lunacy: Your character’s Beast is beholden to phases of the
moon. Choose a moon phase (new, crescent, half, gibbous, full)
and a frenzy trigger (anger, hunger, fear). On nights when this
phase is visible in the night sky, failing to resist this frenzy prov-
ocation always results in a dramatic failure, and the breaking
118 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
point to escape must be at least one tier lower than her current
Humanity rating. This means Humanity 1 vampires with this
bane must frenzy until they fall to daysleep or torpor, or get
talked down by a Touchstone.
Rabid Cur: When your character’s Beast rises, it’s harder
to push it back down. If your character takes a Bestial Triad
Condition, it fades without resolving in a number of nights
equal to the usual duration or 10 – Humanity divided by two
(rounding up), whichever is higher.
Unsolid Flesh: Your character becomes more outwardly bestial
each time she frenzies. After any scene where she fell to uncon-
trolled frenzy, roll Humanity. On a failure, she gains a physical
or behavioral manifestation of her inner animal (scaly skin, cat’s
eyes, bird-like head movements, etc.) Treat her Humanity as two
dots lower on all Social rolls to related to humans. This fades
at the next sundown. If she frenzies again, the mutation merely
shifts on a Humanity failure; it does not compound.
 PART FIVE: THE MOTHER
The crow woman standing before me looks nothing like my mother, but I know that’s who
she is. I realize I’ve seen her many times before: I saw her crouching on the hood of my van
in that snowstorm twenty years ago. I’ve seen swarms of crows watching me from power lines
and following me like black clouds. I’ve seen her out of the corner of my eye in alleys and on
rooftops, watching me, silent and still, only to vanish when I turn in her direction. I’ve seen
her in my dreams.
This woman is my sire. She stands just under six-feet-even in cowboy boots, but she fills my
entire vision. She’s dressed in black jeans and a frilled leather jacket rolled up to her elbows
with no shirt underneath. Her forearms and throat are covered with thick, black feathers and
her nails are talons that clench and flex of their own accord. On top of it all, a crimson hood
and scarf wrap around her throat, a viper’s nest of hair spilling out from beneath it.
I’ve heard the stories — we all have, especially us Savages. She’s a legend. A boogeyman. And
I know what follows in her wake. But now that I see her with my own eyes, I’m anything but
afraid. I understand what happened to me, and I know why Miriam and Rowen kept me close.
It was because of her.
They call her the Unholy.
“Been a while,” she says. Her voice is cool as a breeze and completely blasé. “How’s tricks?”
The windshield of the car next to our conversation explodes as the sound of a gunshot fills
the field. She doesn’t flinch. I hear screams of rage and profanity from the family as they take
aim at us. The Unholy tilts her head to one side. “That good, huh? Well, go on, speak up. Use
that lovely voice.” I shake my head and she frowns, mocking emotion. “I gave you a voice to
be heard.”
Those words freeze me, but for only a second. One of the grandkids rounds the corner of
the Chevy and thrusts Max’s bloody shotgun at me, but I’m aware now. I don’t even look away
from my sire as I open his throat with my claws. Bye, Whoever. The shotgun fires into the air
as he dies, spraying pellets impotently between us.
“Go on,” she says.
I try to speak. My throat burns as vocal cords not meant to form human words constrict and
tear. I try to say NO. I try to ask WHY. I try to say anything at all, but my voice comes out
as the raw roar of a mountain lion. I haven’t tried to talk in years, but she smiles as I do, and
now I can’t stop. I let the sound rise to a screech as my mutilated vocal cords strip away the
human thought from my voice, leaving only the animal need behind. I sound like a monster.
But as I shriek into the night, I hear something down deep in the sound, beneath the noise,
something buried: my own voice. For the first time since I died, I hear my own voice, smoth-
ered and maimed as it may be, and I want to weep. I slide down to my knees.
My sire steps toward me, and her full lips curl into a smirk. “Better.”
A bullet tears through her arm, but instead of blood, half a dozen crows spill out and take
to the sky. She looks over her shoulder with casual disdain at Ma. The old woman is holding
a massive revolver in her wrinkled hands. The Unholy shrugs, and the spilt blackbirds arc in

120 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

the air and dive bomb the old woman, embedding themselves beak-first like wasps. The bitch
screams as they squirm down her throat, her flesh bulging like a frog’s neck. She falls on her
back, drumbeats of movement dancing under her frame as the birds swim through her, moments
before bursting from her belly, fat from the blood.
The rest of them cry out at the death of their matriarch. More gunshots, but nothing touches
us. All around us, the family is charging, armed with rifles and axes and other implements
of death. The ground itself begins to rumble, and I can see hungry vines thrashing from the
cave’s mouth in the distance. From deep within the cavern, the tree thrums with a cold green
light and the promise of pain.
My sire looks down at me and extends a clawed hand. “Isn’t it funny?” she asks. “All this to
feed the dirt when we’re right here. Come on, kid. Let it out and let’s give them what they’ve
been praying for.”
I shake my head and growl at her, struggling on every word. “CAN’T GIVE IN.”
The Unholy shrugs. “Suit yourself. I don’t think it matters to them.”
She dissolves into blackbirds as a wood ax swings through her and at my head. I duck and
dive out of the way, but it still hacks out a chunk of my ribs. It’s one of the teenagers, and
he’s varsity-football big. I slide over the hood of a car to put some distance between us, but
he’s fast, and he almost lands another hit. Instead, he buries his weapon in the car, and the
fucking hood almost rips in half as he pulls it free. What the hell are they feeding these kids?
Or maybe whatever’s in that tree is a lot more powerful than I imagined. In the distance, the
green glow is getting brighter.
I need to get out of here. I turn to run, but the yard is flooding with more and more people, all
armed and hungry for blood. The cousins have arrived.
The Unholy reforms in front of me. “Aren’t you tired of this yet?”
“NOT. A. MONSTER.”
She smirks as the teen with the ax whacks at her again, but she’s just toying with him, blur-
ring away to perch atop the car in a blink. The boy swerves and continues after me. He swings
wide and I leap into it, taking the ax low under my armpit. I drop my arm to pin the ax into
my ribs, and with my free hand, I tear off his face. He falls to the ground screaming, but to my
surprise, he tries to get back up — only for the Unholy’s boot to come down on his throat and
snap his spine.
I glare up at her. The family is almost on us, and a hail of bullets slam into my sire’s chest,
tearing her jacket apart. She rolls her eyes like this is so last season, then leans down and cups
my face with her cold talons. “You can’t outrun this. You can only survive.”
A shotgun blast catches me in the side of the head, but the shooter is too far away to do much
besides wreck up my skin. I snarl and spin around: Pa is about thirty feet away from me, point-
ing the shotgun at my face. Beside him is his wife’s dead body; he looks like he’s been crying,
but his aim is steady as the grave.
Oh, hi, Frank. I’ll be right with you.
He motions with the barrel. “Let’s go, girlie. Time to bleed.”

The Reunion 121

 I charge, darting left and right, but Pa’s a real hunter, and his shots track with me as he fires
over and over into my chest. The Unholy stalks behind me, watching my every movement,
judging every wound and drop of blood. My vision is swimming with pain by the time I reach
him. I know the next shot will take me out, but then I hear the shotgun click click.. “Well, hell,” he
says, and tosses it to the ground, spreading his arms wide. I should know something’s wrong,
but by the time I do, I’ve tackled him to the ground with my claws boring into his ribs.
He grunts as I wrap my fingers around his heart. “The land is eternal. We shall rise a—” He
doesn’t get to finish as I bury my fangs in his throat and squeeze his heart till my fingers touch
my palms. But it was a trap. As I feel Pa’s heart burst in my hands, the rest of the family sur-
rounds me. They’ve abandoned the guns, ready to hack at me with machetes and knives. I lash
out and blood rains down in the circle. I maim unnamed cousins. I pull out someone’s ropey
intestines. I tear out Morgan’s pretty eyes. It doesn’t stop them.
Just at the edge of my vision, the Unholy watches me. She’s waiting.
No. I have to keep control. I can get out of this. I can run.
They tear into my flesh. Knives and teeth and bare fingers ripping apart my skin. My muscles tear.
My bones snap. Their hands reach inside me, pulling things from the dark depths of my corpse.
Stop. Please…
And they do, just long enough to lap my blood from their fingertips. Then they seize me by my
torn limbs and pull me toward the tree, which has pulled itself out from the cave. Its vines crawl
toward us with a slow and terrible determination. At the center of its trunk, the cracked skull glares
down at me with pure, unleaded malevolence. I should have finished it off when I had the chance.
I just need to think. I just need to figure out a way to escape.
I hear the Unholy’s voice from beyond the circle of pain. “Always running. Abandoning
everyone you ever loved. And now you want to run again… maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.”
The tree’s branches and vines lash out in front of me. The tips are just inches away from my
broken ankles now. I’m going to die or — who knows what blood magic these fuckers can do. And
she won’t. Stop. Talking.
“You’ve always been a coward…”
Stop. Stop talking. I have to get out. I have to escape. I have to—
“Melissa.”
Oh.
When I let go, it’s not what I expect. There’s no explosion of rage, no burning fire in my
mind. It’s like sliding into a warm bath at the end of a cold day, and the heat flows through my
entire body. I imagined a red haze, but instead, it’s an ocean of blood pouring into my vision.
The animal voice inside my soul, kept starved through years of captivity, wakes up and asks to
share the load. I surrender to it, and nothing in my existence has ever felt so right.
My flesh doesn’t heal; I have no need for it. My bones remain broken; they move as I see fit.
My muscles don’t knit; rage fuels my strikes. The family screams in surprise and agony as the
broken, small-town girl explains the flaw in their logic: Prey does not hold a predator.

122 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 The Unholy’s lusty laugh echoes into the dark, and mother and daughter dance through the
night as the sky rains blood. We guzzle their delicious, fragile lives like cheap wine while we
listen to the music of their death rattles. I echo my mother’s laughter — and the tree doesn’t
like that. It wants to avenge its cult, but it doesn’t realize we’re the hunters here. The thing tries
to flee into its den, but we tear into it like rabid dogs, and our gore slicked claws tear the little
girl’s skull from its trunk, crushing it like an eggshell and sending her soul back to whatever hell
it belongs in. Around us, the ground shakes as the cave collapses, swallowing the cabin. The
land itself lashes out in death throes, and it all falls down, consumed by the cold, wet earth.
And when it’s all done, I don’t want to go back. I don’t ever want to go back.
Melissa is dead and gone, and she’s never coming back. In her place is a piece of me where
two lifetimes of rage and pain have crystalized. An ocean of fury where my hunger is law, and
no amount of sweet death can ever truly sate it. Maybe you know the place — I thought I did,
but it turned out I’d only seen the shore. I dove deep and found wilder depths, a place where
there’s no fear or humanity, only the universe’s primal truth. I surrender myself to it.
I never did make it back to Lockwood Hollow, and I never did get to see my daddy that one
last time. But that’s okay. His little girl’s been dead twenty years. And she has a new family now.

The Reunion 123

 chapter four
Interloping Predators On the ragged edge of the world I’ll roam,
And the home of the wolf shall be my home…
Robert Service, “The Nostomaniac”

In herds and flocks and murders, the monsters move. The Gangrel can choose their packs, be they siblings in blood or beasts
of convenience, but that leaves all the other freaks and misfits out there. What’s killed for sport or spared to grow fat for a later
meal is different for every Savage, and each monster is an animal all of their own.
The following are some of the ones that got away.
This chapter contains a roster of antagonists and allies to seed into your chronicles. While they may not all share the literal
blood of Gangrel, they’re kindred spirits, ready to hunt the unaware and be made prey by the worthy.

Ghoul Families
• The Midnight Wolves are predators to predators, keeping the Old West undead by taking bounties on any Kindred unlucky
enough to cross their path.
• All over the USA, crowds flock to the Neo-American Wrestling Alliance. Stretching the limits of both kayfabe and the
Masquerade, the Champions are determined to put the blood back in blood sport.
• Justice is what you make of it. The Redwater Bay Police have an ever-expanding definition, but they’re always ready to serve
and protect their master’s interests.

Covenants
• The Brides of Dracula are preparing for the end, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a kickass time doing it. As the Vanguard
of the Apocalypse, one night, they’ll rule over the ashes of the All Night Society, though whether that’s what the Count (no,
not that one) really wants is up for debate…
• Fighting the Beast is always a losing battle, whether a short and glorious burnout or a centuries’ long tragedy. You know what
they say, though: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. The Society of the Accord can show you a better way, a path that employs
healthy doses of psychobabble and hedonism in equal measure.

Horrors
• In the darkest corners of the world, the Blood Mold waits. More than a disease, this vile fungus can grant its own form of
Embrace, transforming mortals into hulking, bloodthirsty beasts with no desire beyond feeding — and propagation.
• Gargoyles are bespoke servants of the Damned, wondrous, horrible beings who serve their masters faithfully and selflessly.
Until they don’t.
• Not all vampires were once human. Sometimes, when enough blood is shed or enough pain collects in a single space, Hunting
Grounds form, and these earthen nightmares can rival the hunger of any Kindred.
• The Narya are above mere dead things, and their mastery of the form goes beyond any Savage’s. Supposed scions of a lost
empire, the Colossi stride across the earth in search of a way to rise above the rest once more, but as their numbers dwindle,
their desperation (and hubris) grows.

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 125

 Midnight Wolves The ones with something to prove
You’re a funny guy. Tell me another after I feed you your fangs.
Your motorcycle growls like a wild animal as the highway
disappears beneath you toward a blood-red horizon. A road sign
flashes through your periphery; the bar’s coming up. You kick the
gearshift and cruise on in to rest your ride along with the dozen or so
others parked outside. You’re hungry, but business comes first. The
door creaks open and a dozen sets of eyes turn to regard you. The
bartender doesn’t look up. She knows better than to get involved.
This isn’t the first time she’s seen you, and besides, she known you’re
good to cover the damage.
Your black, steel-toed boots drum a sluggish beat against the dirty
tile floor. You approach the biggest, meanest-looking motherfucker
in the bar, the one with a price on his head in three domains.
“There are two ways this can go down: quick or fun,” you say.
The biggest, meanest-looking motherfucker laughs, fangs flashing
in the dull neon of old beer signs. The whole table stands, and they
surround you. Someone glasses you from behind and you stagger,
shards biting into your scalp. You reach a hand up and it come
away slick with red. Adrenaline surges through you like a guitar riff,
and you smile.
Looks like you get to eat after all.
Where we came from
Typically, the more established a ghoul family, the longer it’s
been around. Many Kindred respect ghouls as members of the
All Night Society — not necessarily as members of equal rank,
but even the most prestigious families has to build connections
and infrastructure to become valuable assets to their regnants.
The Midnight Wolves stand in sharp contrast.
In the early-1800s, way out in what’s now Colorado, a Savage
called Mary Quick fancied herself an outlaw. This wasn’t espe-
cially common among the dead, as daylight tended to compli-
cate matters, but Mary wasn’t easily deterred. She found herself
a posse of smalltime cattle rustlers led by a dude named Jack
Beaumont. Jack was smart enough to recognize a good offer
when it sauntered into camp and punched him in the gut, and
that’s how Mary found her first Midnight Wolves.
It didn’t take long for them to become public enemies on the
frontier, less for their actual robberies and more for what they
did to anyone who tried to bring them to justice. But after a
few years of building their reputation, Jack and his boys started
126 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
to feel restless. The power Mary gave them was like nothing
they could’ve imagined, but it was only a taste. The frontier was
growing smaller every day, and Kindred influence crept ever
westward along with it. It wasn’t hard to find vampires who
were interested in some established muscle who could take care
of business at high noon, and that’s how the Mad Dogs pushed
into Nevada and California.
As for Mary? Jack always claimed she got tired of the outlaw
life, but no one’s heard from her since around the Gold Rush.
Still, her legacy lives on in a gang of Bloodhounds, ones who’ll
still do just about anything to prove themselves.
Who we are tonight
The Midnight Wolves are the last surviving vestige of the
American frontier, cowboys and killers who won’t accept the
quiet lives of city folk. Sure, they traded in their horses and
six-shooters for Harleys and sawed-offs, but the thirst for vio-
lence remains. Still, violence in and of itself is usually only a
means to an end, and the Bloodhounds have repurposed yet
another aspect of their frontier past: bounty hunting. This
provides them just enough cover for all the hellraising that
Ghoul Family Systems
If you don’t have access to Half-Damned, ghoul
families come in two types: biological and social.
Biological ghouls breed true, have natural lifespans
of about 150 years, don’t age rapidly when lacking
Vitae, and can learn common Disciplines without
Kindred. Social families are looser associations of
humans and ghouls who band together to achieve
a particular goal or live under the thrall of a single
regnant. They have no special inherent qualities.
Both family types have an Integrity 6 Touchstone,
a Benefit, and a Drawback.
Families in this chapter all fall under the social
category, though the Neo-American Wrestling
Alliance is starting to become a true family
business, and the Midnight Wolves have a few
gangs with a pedigree.
actually interests them. Midnight Wolves use their ability to though. He also had a special talent for being in the
operate over daylight hours to track and corner wrong place at the wrong time. That’s how, one night,
Kindred outlaws, whether those who pissed Jose ended up in the middle of an active
off the authorities or just those Licks who have gang war. By rights, he should’ve bled out
high-roller enemies. If you’ve got enough cash in the gutter after taking a stray bullet, but
and Vitae, you can buy a Bloodhound. the thing about being a born loser is that
Wolf gangs are common all across the Pacific you get a lot of experience at survival, and
Coast and American Southwest, most of which are nothing’s more impressive to Midnight Wolves
based out of dive bars, mob casinos, and other than being able to take a beating and keep going.
nexuses of human misery. There aren’t many When the Bloodhounds began rolling the bodies,
Midnight Wolves who care to waste their they were shocked to see one of them was
time actually running a business, still breathing and still willing to put up
but fortunately for them, plenty of a fight. Getting shot was the luckiest
humans are willing to pay for pro- thing to ever happen to Jose.
tection, or Kindred who tolerate Nadia Jack was the kind of kid who
their rowdiness if it means most folks pitied. She was always
having reliable goons who the smallest and weakest person in
can handle their enemies. the room. Her parents and teachers
Other than whichever treated her like she was made of por-
dead man’s paying for celain, and the kids her age avoided
them tonight, their com- her because they didn’t want to get
mand structure is non-ex- blamed if she got hurt. For a long time,
i stent ; wor r y ing about Nadia was desperate to have a normal life.
seniority is for First Estate As she grew, that desire turned sour, and
pencil necks, and money eventually, it became hate. Along with it
doesn’t count for much if grew a fascination with the biker gang that
you aren’t strong enough rolled through town every few weeks.
to keep it. They were wild and free, the same
Cont rar y to popular way Nadia wanted to be. Her father
belief, however, Mad Dogs aren’t told her to keep away from them,
stupid, and they don’t have a death and said that every single one
wish. Few among their number go of them probably had to kill
around antagonizing the entire a man before they could
All Night Society, and the ones join. That’s why, when the
who do invariably meet violent 16-year-old girl showed up
and lonely ends. Brass knuckles at the bar they called home,
can only do so much against she wore a dress stained in pop’s innards. Turns
blood sorcery or Protean claws. out he was right, for once.
That’s why they hunt in packs, There are plenty of stories — gossip, really — about
and that’s also why they keep their Gangrel ghouls. Whispered tales of how sometimes
noses clean, at least when it comes they turn into animals, or that they at least end up
to the Danse Macabre. more dog than man in the end. There’s a kernel of
But Midnight Wolves who’ve been truth to that idea, and Brutus is the living proof.
around for a while all too often lose their Brutus was a pit bull whose only crime was being
headstrong bravado. While their family is defined adopted by bad people. They kept him tied up in the
by the drive to prove itself, those jaded few are the yard with a choke chain, meant as an intimidating
ones who’ve realized exactly where they fit in the world. figure to discourage unwanted visitors. The problem
There’s a reason that the rest of the cowboys died out. was, Brutus didn’t have a violent bone in his body.
So, his owners decided they had to change that; they
starved him and they beat him, anything to kill the
Three Bloodhounds friendly pup and replace it with a cold-blooded killer.
And it mostly worked. Thing is, Brutus’ owners
Jose King’s defining trait his entire life was shit had powerful enemies. One night, those enemies
luck. He spent more money on losing lottery tickets rolled up to deal with them. The Bloodhounds
than a small jackpot would’ve earned, and he learned real could have killed Brutus easily, but in him they
fast not to even both at poker. That wasn’t the worst of it, saw someone alike. When they gave Brutus his

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 127

 first taste, he took to the lifestyle quickly. It’s what he’d been
taught, after all. Brutus was never meant to be a guard dog.
He’s a Midnight Wolf
Nicknames: Bloodhounds, Mad Dogs (derogatory)
Touchstone: A chapter’s leader is treated as its Touchstone.
Benefit: Midnight Wolves never back down, not even in
a hopeless fight. After taking lethal damage in a scene, a
Bloodhound’s unarmed attacks deal +0 lethal damage instead
of bashing for the remainder of the scene, including to vampires.
In addition, Bloodhounds gain the Taste of the Wild Merit
(Vampire, p. 298) for free at character creation.
Drawback: Midnight Wolves never back down, not even
in a pointless fight. After taking lethal damage in a scene, a
Bloodhound must spend a Vitae to exit the scene non-violently
or to retreat from a fight before it ends. Otherwise, she gains
the Broken Condition.
Stereotypes:
• Daeva: Look, but don’t touch. Especially if you don’t have
the cash.
• Gangrel: We’ll try to kill each other sometimes, but hey,
that’s family.
• Mekhet: Rodents.
• Nosferatu: Outsiders, like us.
• Ventrue: Never trust anybody who talks that much.
New Merit
Hound Dog (••)
Prerequisite: Midnight Wolf
Effect: Midnight Wolves often use animal ghouls in their
efforts to bring in outlaw Kindred, and your character’s can find
Licks like a homing missile. When hunting Kindred with an
animal ghoul created with Taste of the Wild, apply the 8-again
quality to all tracking rolls, and add the animal’s Wits score
as a bonus on any rolls to detect your quarry’s concealments,
even supernatural ones.

128 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Neo-American Wrestling Alliance
The ones you cheer for
Ever cut loose for a crowd of thousands? No feeling like it.
Neon lights and LED screens fill the stadium with contrasting
electric songs, and the rumble of the crowd that’s swelling in the
bleachers is choral accompaniment — music to your ears.
You never feel more alive than on fight night. All those people
chanting your name as you ricochet someone’s face off the turnstile?
There’s no other high that can compare. Not from before your first
taste, or after.
Sometimes you still think back to the life you left behind, the one
with the bank job you hated and the fiancé who was screwing his
way through the apartment building. Then your intro music comes
on and the stadium roars. You wonder if gladiators ever felt this
good, and you make a note to ask the boss about it later. After all,
the boss used to be one.
But right now, your public awaits.
Where we came from
Maxine Donahue founded the Neo-American Wrestling
Alliance for one purpose: to make modern gladiators for a
modern world. If you catch her in a good mood, she’ll regale
you with stories of her time back in the arena; just don’t make
the mistake of asking her about anything else from back then, or
her good mood will cease and your lifespan will quickly follow.
These nights, there aren’t many Kindred around who actually
lived through the fall of Rome, and ghouls from back then are
basically unheard of. “Maxine Donahue” isn’t exactly a Latin
name, and there are some vampires who think she’s full of
shit, but most of them are also smart enough not to say that
to her face.
But Maxine is the real deal. She was a Gallic slave in her old
life, and some asshole thought it would be amusing to put a
dull sword in her hands and watch a scrawny girl fight a real
gladiator. No one was laughing when that scrawny girl ripped
his throat out with her teeth. Even back then, she knew how
to get the audience’s attention.
Among that audience was the Gangrel who would become her
regnant, a vampire named Borso. Borso purchased her, taught
her how to be a real champion of the ring, and then eventually
sponsored her so she could really test her mettle. She didn’t
disappoint, and as the girl’s star rose, Borso started to see her as
more than just a simple asset. The story goes that he offered to
Embrace her, but she turned him down for reasons she doesn’t
care to explain. She still accepted the gift of his Blood, and the
moment she tasted it, she was truly born as the first Champion.
At least, that’s how she tells it. Embellishment is part of the job.
The two of them fled the fall of Rome and traveled the world
together. Every century or so she’d adopt a new identity to fit
the times and whichever culture they found themselves in. If
she flourished in the ring, it was nothing compared to when
she stepped out of it. With each passing decade she came more
into her own, and everywhere they went, she’d find a crowd that
was happy to watch two people beat the shit out of each other.
That’s how their stable of Champions grew; she would look for
the fighters who could hold their own while still putting on a
show, then make them an offer. Eventually, their new family
settled in America, a place that really knew how to appreciate
violence. That’s where she first learned of modern professional
wrestling, the “evolution” of the gladiatorial fights of her old
life, something that elevated arena combat to an art form. And
with Vitae powering her Champions, it meant they could put
on a show unlike any a human wrestling organization could
ever hope to do. She would make superstars.
Yet as Maxine grew brighter, Borso only seemed to fade
deeper into the shadows. He’s still around, at least as far as
anyone knows, but it’s been a hundred years since anyone’s
actually seen him. The way Maxine tells it, he just doesn’t care
to see anyone but her most nights, and no one is in a position
to argue the point. It’s a common joke among some Kindred
that Maxine was the real vampire all along, and Borso was her
ghoul. Other Kindred don’t think it’s much of a joke.
Who we are tonight
The Neo-American Wrestling Alliance is one of the top
promotions in the business. Many Kindred weren’t too crazy
about Maxine’s scheme to broadcast her employees’ death-de-
fying abilities to a general audience, but hey, most professional
wrestling outfits were already doing shit in the ring that should
kill normal people. Besides, everybody knows wrestling is fake.
That aside, even her most vocal critics have to admit they
put on one hell of a show. It’s no surprise that NAWA became
an overnight sensation, especially with a little support from
the shadows. Even vampires with no interest in wrestling can
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 129
 still benefit from a room full of rowdy, drunk humans. It’s
better still if all those humans have a built-in excuse not to
question anything weird that they might notice (“Is that guy
drinking that chick’s blood?! Great production values!”). If a
NAWA show is coming to town, chances are the local Kindred
paid big for a buffet.
Don’t misunderstand, though. Plenty of Licks love the show
even more than the kine do, Gangrel especially. Even if the
matches are staged to have a certain ending, that flying elbow
off the top of the cage and the sound of a collarbone shattering
is pretty fucking real. And a little Vitae will make sure you can
see it all again the next night. The Blood’s way better for your
health than steroids, and you really don’t have to worry about
a stunt coordinator if you can just unbreak your neck.
That’s part of the problem. Some night soon, a point may
come when the audience will start really seeing past the
kayfabe. If that point does exist,
Maxine seems fixated on find-
ing it. If she succeeds, she’ll
finally find a fight she can’t
win for the first time in her
very long life.
bit the Champion his mother is. However, instead of fighting
in the ring, he fights in the board room. The truth is, the
Neo-American Wrestling Alliance only become a household
name because of Lester’s work behind the scenes. Sometimes
a careful smile and precise words can be as devastating as any
elbow drop, and maybe, one day, mom will appreciate that.
Champions of NAWA all have their turn at a face or heel
arc. It keeps the audience engaged. The Night
Terror is different. Even some of the newer
wrestlers in the company are scared of
them, not that any would ever admit it.
And who can really blame them?
The Night Terror is a 6’6
enigma who moves as

Three Champions
Muriel Valentina
Ricci was a nobody;
a troubled kid who
grew into a trou-
bled adult, one who
bounced from shitty
foster home to shitty
foster home until she
was old enough to do the
same with dead-end jobs.
But Muriel was as tough as
they come, and she threw right
hooks like a pro. It didn’t matter what
kind of trouble she found herself in as long as she could slug
her way out, and that’s what got Maxine’s attention to begin
with. Muriel wasn’t an easy sell, but the scrappy ones never
are. They always need to be broken in first. But once Muriel
understood the kind of power she could have? Well, it
wasn’t like anyone would miss her. Muriel Valentina
Ricci was a nobody, but Uri Valentine, the Mauler of
Moskva, is a Champion.
Lester Donahue wasn’t the son his mother wanted.
When you’ve accomplished the things that Maxine has,
most people pale in comparison. But then, Lester isn’t
most people. He’s an anemic scarecrow of a man, 98
lbs. soaking wet. He’s soft-spoken and genial, with
nothing of his mother’s swagger or overpowering
charisma. If she hadn’t birthed him, Maxine
would have trouble believing they were related
at all. And yet, in his own way, Lester is every

130 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

silently as a cat and looks like they have more in common with
a Haunt than any Savage. They twitch and scuttle around the
ring like they’re possessed, and watching them fight someone
is like witnessing a spider pulling the wings off a fly. And the
really weird part? They never break kayfabe. They maintain the
fucked up exorcist routine at all times. Some wrestlers do gossip
about them, but never too loudly, especially not since that one
rookie who tried to bully the freak. Janitors were cleaning his
blood out of the locker room for weeks.
Nicknames: Champions, Champs, Borso’s Beasts (among
themselves)
Touchstone: Maxine Donahue, founder, CEO, and public
face of the company. Sometimes she even gets in the ring, and
for that, her Champs love her all the more.
Benefit: Any punk can win a fight. The Champions of
NAWA win fights and look good doing it. NAWA wrestlers
add their Strength as a bonus to any Presence + Intimidation
or Persuasion rolls made to influence someone who’s witnessed
them fight. In addition, NAWA wrestlers treat Resilience as if
it were an in-clan Discipline.
Drawback: Drawing a crowd isn’t always what it’s cut up to
be, especially if they start showing up at your apartment. Rolls
to find or identify Champions enjoy a +2 modifier, which com-
pounds with any dots of Fame she might have. Furthermore,
at the beginning of a chapter, the Storyteller rolls a single die.
If the result is a failure, she can introduce an unexpected and
dramatic complication for the Champion at any point during
that chapter. For example, if the wrestler is attempting to move
through a building without being noticed, he might run into
one of his biggest fans who recognizes him on the spot. If he
wants to get information at a bar, then maybe one of the other
patrons decides to see how tough he really is. This complication
should not constitute an immediate failure, but it should force
the Champion to think on her feet.
Stereotypes:
• Daeva: In this business, you’ve gotta respect a good face.
• Gangrel: The only ones who really know what it means to
cut loose.
• Mekhet: They help us draw a crowd; in return, they get a
crowd to skulk in.
• Nosferatu: Horror storylines are big right now.
• Ventrue: Tough as hell, and they know how to work an
audience.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 131
 Redwater Bay Police The ones who maintain order
Alright, sir, start from the top. Tell me exactly what you think you saw.
It’s a Tuesday night in the middle of July, and Redwater Bay is
as peaceful as ever.
It’s the kind of place where parents don’t have to worry about
what their kids are getting up to; the police keep the neighborhood
safe, and they have the statistics to prove it.
Redwater’s got the lowest violent crime numbers in the state, and
even vandalism is virtually unheard of. Of course, every so often,
a family does up and move out of town without so much as a good
bye. But these things happen, and most folks have come to agree
that it’s perfectly normal.
Yes, the police in that precinct really are a credit to their
uniform. So why is it that anytime you see an officer, all the
little hairs on the back of your neck stand on end? If they make
eye contact, you feel an animal compulsion to run and hide,
like a rabbit staring down a wolf. They’ll smile, and you’ll
smile back, but all you can think of is a predator showing his
fangs. It’s probably nothing. Authority figures are always a little
intimidating…
It’s a Tuesday night in the middle of July, and Redwater Bay is
as peaceful as ever. Just make sure the cops don’t have a reason to
knock on your door.
Where we came from
While it’s common practice for Kindred to enthrall powerful
humans, typically, vampires won’t go to the effort of juicing
up just any public servant who’s under their influence. It’s just
not a good investment. So, in the late 1990s, when an Invictus
Savage named Rochelle Abara made exactly that investment
with her city’s entire police precinct, it drew a lot of skepticism
from her peers in the First Estate. But Rochelle knew potential
when she saw it, and if you don’t take some risks sometimes,
you’ll never get your reward.
That reward took the form of Noelle Rathborne, an
up-and-coming sergeant one who was ambitious to the point
of hunger; she was the kind of person who desperately craved
power over others — just the sort of person you’d want as a
cop — and she saw her position as an ideal avenue to pursue
that goal. However, with whispers of brutal tactics and “miss-
ing” evidence threatening to end her career, Rochelle saw a
chance for leverage.
132 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
It wasn’t the first time a suit tried to offer Noelle a deal,
but it was the first time she was genuinely interested in the
possibilities. Her new regnant promised her a whole precinct
of unquestionably loyal officers: They would keep the peace
however they saw fit, and in return, they would clean up after
any messes other Kindred left in their territory. Sometimes that
meant dissolving body parts in rubber bins behind a hardware
store; sometimes it meant scrubbing blood spatter out of shag
carpet; and sometimes, it meant “bringing someone in for
questioning” on special request.
It didn’t take long for the crime statistics in Redwater Bay
to become something other precincts only aspire to. It does
help quite a bit when your officers are erasing the evidence of
vampire-related murders or disappearances, but then, every
precinct will pad its numbers in one way or another.
Who we are tonight
Since Captain Rathborne took over, Redwater Bay has seen
very little staff turnover, and anyone who might inquire about
that gets pretty much the same answer: Noelle runs a tight
ship, and she demands both loyalty and dedication from her
officers. People who keep asking questions are prone to suffer-
ing messy accidents, or taking all-expenses-paid vacations to
sulfuric acid baths.
The residents of the neighborhood all seem thrilled with
this turn of events. Honestly, a little too excited, as if they’re
putting on a performance for someone in the cheap seats. If
anyone points this out, they’re quick to laugh it off and change
the subject. They all know, on some level, that the police don’t
tolerate dissenters.
Location, Location
Redwater Bay can occupy any locale according
to the constraints of your story. It might be a
suburb of a large city, or it could be a little town
just far enough off the grid that no one ever
looks too closely.
 As for Rochelle Abara, she’s happily reaped the fruits of
her efforts for years, but she hasn’t repeated it yet. A few
decades isn’t that long in a Requiem, and there’s still
one important thing she needs to know: What happens
when people start realizing none of Redwater Bay’s
police officers are aging? Sure, there are ways of making
sure no one looks too hard, but even a Savage knows
to respect that old adage about not shitting where you
eat. The First Tradition must be respected, and if it
isn’t, it might be time for Captain Rathborne to
take a well-deserved retirement.
Three Rooks
Officer Saul Warwick
is intensely unremark-
able. Average looks,
middle of the road
marks in school,
and just generally
the kind of guy you
expect to see in the
background of a movie; there’s
definitely a body there, but you’re always
meant to look at other people. People who
actually matter. Maybe that’s why Saul
decided to become a cop. If people wouldn’t
respect him, then they had to respect the
badge, right? Wrong. It turns out an extra
in a police uniform is still just an extra. He
spent his entire early career being passed
over for promotions and stuck with the
worst beats. It would have stayed that
way too, but he did manage to attract
the attention of one person: Captain
Noelle Rathborne. Her precinct could
use officers whose faces and names you
just can’t remember. Saul Warwick spent
his whole life looking for admiration,
but it turns out what he really wanted
was to be feared.
In the strictest sense, Ainsley Keates
does not work at the Redwater Bay precinct.
At least, not in the way most officers do.
Despite that, she’s one of the most important
members of the family. See, Ainsley grew
up with a passion for seeing justice done.
She knew the system failed a lot of people,
but was determined to make a differ-
ence by working from within. She
came up through the ranks of the
department quickly, and within a
few years, she’d made it into internal
affairs. She was ecstatic. Finally, she could root out corrup-
tion and really make a difference. Her first assignment sent
to the Redwater Bay precinct; after all, their stats
were too good to be true. Something had to be
up. Ainsley Keates walked through their doors
knowing she might be threatened or coerced
into dropping her investigation, but nothing
could have prepared her for the temptations of
Vitae. Now she has the full-time job of making
sure her bosses don’t look in the direction of
Redwater Bay. Ainsley Keates really thought
she could make a difference, and she
was right. After all, if she vouches
for the Redwater Bay precinct,
then they must be on the level.
Sergeant Dash Daniels
has a rare talent among
his peers: He’s likable. In
fact, calling him likable
is a disservice. Dash
Daniels is a bona fide
force of charisma. In
another life, he could’ve
been one of the biggest
names in the business world.
Instead, he wears a uniform,
and Captain Rathborne knows
just what to use his talents for:
He works as the official liaison to
the local school district. A lot of his
days are spent visiting classrooms
to tell them about how great it is
to be a police officer. The kids eat
it up. Then, he poses for pictures or
answers silly questions. It’s important,
because children are our future. And
you really want to find the best ones
while they’re still young and impres-
sionable.
Nicknames: Rooks (among the
Invictus), Pigs (among everyone else)
Touchstone: Captain Noelle
Rathborne serves as her precinct’s
Touchstone, as she takes a personal
interest in every bloody detail her
officers handle.
Benefit: While working in their
precinct, Redwater Bay officers gain
the 8-again quality for all Drive,
Intimidation, Investigation, and
Streetwise actions related to their
current assignment.
Drawback: Redwater Bay police
officers take after their regnant, and
as such, feel more connected to
Kindred than they do to humans.
Rooks lose the 10-again quality for all
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 133
 Empathy, Persuasion, and Socialize rolls made against humans
who don’t relate to their current assignments.
Stereotypes:
• Daeva: You think Gangrel make a mess? Try cleaning up
after a Serpent’s house party.
• Gangrel: If you get a call from a Savage, bring a shovel and
a bottle of bleach. Trust me.
• Mekhet: If I tell you to “follow up on a lead,” I mean, “talk
to a Shadow.”
• Nosferatu: For a few favors, a beat cop’s best friend. Probably
won’t care for the favors, though.
• Ventrue: Don’t trust those smiles, but it never hurts to know
the DA’s domme.
134 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
New Merit
Qualified Immunity (••)
Prerequisite: Redwater Bay Police
Effect: Not only does your character benefit from the usual
code of silence among cops, she’s one of Rochelle’s favorites,
and her regnant’s Invictus connections provide her a means to
take far more extreme action in the name of “justice.” Whenever
she performs an illegal act to preserve the Masquerade, the
Conspiracy of Silence will make any complications go away,
provided she doesn’t leave too much of a mess.
Drawback: Rochelle’s influence only goes so far. Your char-
acter should make sure to repay any big favors in kind, or else
she’ll be assigned to something much worse than desk duty.
 The Brides of Dracula
the vanguard
There were six of them, twenty of us. They found us just
outside Shelby running guns up the border, and they waited
till we had the weed and smack before jumping us where the
I-15 curves just past Bronken Road. Problem was, Shelby’s just
like the rest of northeast Montana: fucking flat. We had no
idea where they even came from, riding out from empty wheat
fields like goddamn ghosts. They rode like they didn’t want to
live, swinging out in front of us and smashing into our bikes.
Johnny’s ride flipped and wiped out before I could even grab
my shotgun, but I managed to hit one of them center mass.
Small victories. Of course, they crushed us after that.
Now, there’s six of them, one of me.
They have me tied up like a roast — thrown by their van while
they take everything of ours apart like piranhas. The drugs and
guns are obvious, but then they start ripping our bikes apart.
I watch my Harley disintegrate into a pile of bolts and a frame
in minutes. They don’t need any lights, just stars and the faint
glow of a moon are more than enough. I try to reach for my
knife in my back pocket, to cut myself free, but that’s when
they surround me.
“He fucked up Maurice. Rules say that’s a beatdown, then
death,” the big one says. He’s bigger than Johnny and doesn’t
look like there was a strand of hair on him, like some cheap
comic book gangster.
“First of all, a shot with pellets ain’t shit. Second, I like his
attitude. Real ‘do or die’ vibe. Even if that mustache needs
to go…” says a slimmer dude — no, a chick, sunglasses even
at night. I would’ve called her a poser ten minutes ago, but
somehow, I know she’s making direct eye contact with me,
even in the darkness.
“It’s my choice.” The one I shot, Maurice, steps forward. I
don’t know if it’s my mind going, but I swear he’s got claws.
The headlights turn on, and before I can even adjust to the
light, I see his jaw’s stained in red. In blood. The sick freaks.
“I say we need a new member. Five’s too small if we’ve got all
of Montana, and the ghoul’s due for a promotion. We’re gonna
need a new bitch.”
I grab at my knife, but it’s too late. They pin me down,
Maurice reaching over and plucking the blade from my pocket
Fuck you.
then slicing his wrist in one fluid movement. When it’s all over,
I love him like a brother.
Sure, I do shit work during the day and only get to sleep
when no one’s looking for me, but it wasn’t too different from
before I earned my first patch. Because at night, we rule the
asphalt. Brides all.
You want to join the Brides of Dracula because
You know might makes right. You were a biker or rally racer
in life and want to keep burning rubber in death. You’d rather
learn things on your own terms than have someone tell you.
You’re not interested in hiding from your prey. You believe in
individualism but you’re still desperate for a family.
The big picture
Vampires, superior to the human flock they’re made from,
are predators at heart. There’s no religious or spiritual signif-
icance to a sentiment like that: It’s stating a fact. Kindred are
strong, so they hunt humans. They take what they want from
the kine and move on. How insignificant is a human compared
to a lone Lick, even before the potency and powers of the
Blood? Why bother hiding from them at all? Sure, it’s good to
not to leave any witnesses, but that also means leaving every
motherfucker you even think saw you gnawing on some punk
rotting in a ditch. Some predators hunt in the shadows their
whole existence, stepping into the light only when they’re sure
they’ll never, ever be caught.
The Brides of Dracula call these vampires “bitches.”
Part gang, part cult, part Mongol horde, the Brides are the
All Night Society’s only officially chartered motorcycle club.
More than that, they’re an army, but they don’t fight at any-
one’s behest. Their founder takes a hands-off approach to his
band of wild monsters. Nor do the Brides fight for ideals, or
some vague political endpoint. Laws, decency, and even the
Traditions are, at best, “guidelines,” or, at worst, contrary to
the pursuit of whatever the hell a Fury wants. The strong rise
above the weak, and the weak test themselves until they’re
strong or dead. Or both.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 135
 Why the obsession with personal strength? Ask the Count. Count Dracula, son
of the Impaler. Count Fucking Dracula, the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the
Danse Macabre. See, the Count has done his work. He’s read the tea leaves and
applied his book learning, looked into the future and found it wanting. One night
soon, Kindred won’t be able to deny what they are to the world, and that’s a world
that’ll hunt down every last vampire under the gleaming eye of the sun. For the
vast volume of secrets and lies that keep the All Night Society
safe, they’re still fragile things, and in an age of social
media, smart phones, and increasingly deadly weapons, a
time will come when there’s no more hiding. Humans
already know vampires are real, but once they figure
out how to pick them out of a crowd, it’ll be apoc-
alyptic, and the Brides are the Count’s Vanguard
against the coming storm.
The Furies thrive in a culture of war against everyone and
everything. Sooner or later, something’s going to cast a painful
light upon the Kindred, and they aren’t going to be caught
unawares. Some chapters are doomsday preppers, building
secret fortresses where they’ll party as the walls tumble down.
Others are quasi-religious, always moving judgment day down
the calendar whenever a prophesy doesn’t deliver. The end
is always looming, but no one wearing a cut really gives a
fuck what form it takes. The Brides will survive the end
and march into the uncertainty of eternity. Till then,
and ever after, they’re going to ride like there’s
no tomorrow.

Where we came from

Every Bride worth her colors knows
it all starts with one man: Count Fucking
Dracula. First among Brides, the Count
ain’t some possessive asshole, but his
reputation does precede him. On a
midsummer night in 1995, that
reputation led Ken Salk — the
boss of a mickey mouse crew
called the Desert Raiders —
to track down the Count
after a half-dozen drug
sales were disrupted
by a crazy, hulking
nightmare in a leather
trench coat. But Salk was only human, and that night was the last it’d be
true. Apparently, the Count saw something in the scrawny little fucker,
so the Big D Embraced him. Thus, the first Bride was deflowered. Soon,
other Kindred followed in Ken’s wake, a tide of Licks brave enough to
stand in the Count’s seven-foot-seven shadow. They organized, the strong
ripped away from the weak and the sharks pulled from the waves, and the
Count began to build his army.
Or that’s the word we hear from the Mother Chapter. Sure, everyone claims
they’ve met the Count, but he’s like a cryptid: You always just miss him no matter
how hard you look. Everyone has an opinion on where he’s currently hiding and
what he really wants. If he needs to send down orders, they’re always through
the Mother Chapter, but orders are so rare that no one bats an eye about never
hearing from the Big D directly.

136 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Once Salk remade his gang, they began roaming the
continental US looking for recruits. They’d “patch up” the
baddest motherfucker each town they rode through, leaving
him behind to spread the word. Those badasses, in turn,
made more badasses, and soon, there were chapters all across
North America, reaching into Mexico and the long highways
of Canada. Expansion into the former set off our first (and,
thus far, only) turf war. The Bruja bloodline and their biker
thralls had deep roots all over the Southwest, so the Mother
Chapter ordered a hostile takeover. That provided us the
bloodline’s smuggling routes, drug chemists, hogs, and most
of its membership, as well as a more intimate understanding
of Kindred society. Now we had everything we’d needed to
prepare for the long nights ahead.
Tonight, we wait for the war to come, remaking ourselves
into an army that can survive without supervision, an army
that can be ready for anything and everything humanity might
throw at us. The All Night Society is changing, and not for the
better. The beasts of the dark have grown too obsessed with
politics, hunting merely to survive. The Count wouldn’t abide
by that — and neither should you.
Our practices
We’re organized into chapters, overseen by Salk and his
childer in the Mother Chapter. We ain’t no democracy, and
that means you follow the rules — all of them. There are a
lot, but most treat on how to deal with civvies and how to
properly contaminate any potential crime scenes you might
make whilst minding your own goddamn business. You might
also be called to “war,” driving a state or two over to fuck up
a domain, protect your sister chapters, or just fire bomb some
rich prick’s haven.
Most importantly, you wear your cut, and until you meet
the Final Death, you don’t take it off. You patch it with your
colors: the skull to show you’re a Bride, logos for your local
chapter, and then all the flair you earn for being a badass.
Crash Elysium? That’s a patch. Wipe out a police station on
your lonesome? That’s a patch. Think up something so awful we
ain’t got a patch for it? That’s a fucking patch. Collect them all,
you creepy bastard. ’Course, the baddest of them all are those
who wear the Red Tooth. You only get that for eating a soul,
and you’ve not seen a riot till you witness a chapter celebrating
some newbie popping her cherry.
Our most important practice is the rally. A rally is food,
folks, and fun, a place we can shoot the shit or plan the next
big kill. Sometimes we put on our own events, drawing Licks
from miles around to take in the bloodshed, but mostly these
are private affairs, or ways for chapters to settle scores on an
even playing field. Otherwise, we take to the mortal circuit,
preying on drunk Hell’s Angels as they cheer us on. Oh yeah,
they know all about us. Nothing draws a crowd like the Brides of
Dracula. Most don’t take us for actual vampires, but we play up
the spooky shit for the crowd. Bonus points if the Masquerade
police show up and you run over some Invictus dirtbag with
your ride (you better believe that’s a patch).
Story Seed: Just One Dracula
Ken says the Count’s his sire, but, while the
Mother Chapter will back him up on that, the
Big D has never claimed him openly, and a few
Brides suspect he may be a more metaphorical
progenitor than a literal one. That said, the
Count’s own parentage is murky at best, so
maybe there’s more to Ken Salk’s Embrace than
just Count Fucking Dracula’s whims.
But for all the rules, all the rallies, all the fighting, the most
important thing is freedom. If you aren’t being called on to do
something by your chapter president, or someone higher up on
the food chain, you can do whatever the fuck you like. Usually
that means getting involved with drugs, or maybe an extortion
racket or two — this is a gang, after all. Any money you earn
is yours to keep, save for a small wealth tax when the Mother
Chapter needs to do some fundraising. But hey, if you’re run-
ning low, there are other ways to contribute. The expectation,
of course, is that you’re gonna share with the gang the same way
you’d share with a brother or a sister — or sibling, if you prefer
(the Count doesn’t care what’s in your pants). You know how
to fix up bikes? Be a good Bride and help out changing oil and
fixing gearshifts. You know how to cook? Great — make the best
damn meth in the state and make the whole chapter filthy rich.
If you’ve earned you cut, you’re your own Bride, just like
the Count. A real one-percenter type. You put in the work
when you’re asked, and you work hard. CEO mindset. Once
that’s done, no one’s gonna bat an eye if you play so hard you
leave a few bodies in your wake. You didn’t just earn it: You’re
entitled to it.
Nicknames: The Furies (within the covenant, formally);
the Vanguard, sometimes the Vanguard of the Apocalypse
(within the covenant, informally); Dracula’s Bitches; the Club;
Gearheads (derogatory)
Concepts: Stunt-driver, biker babe, gonzo journalist, border
coyote, dive bar owner, street samurai, roaming mechanic,
libertarian outlaw
When we are in power
We rule as the Khans did. Kindred of power, those who
hold the keys to the kingdom or who know where all the
bodies are buried, they either “join” us as consultants until
their usefulness runs dry, or they get a crispy makeover the
morning after we ride in. Those who give themselves freely
find feeding grounds and havens assigned based on who’s got
the most muscle, not the most connections. The streets are
patrolled in squads and, while justice is brutal, those with no
skin in the game have easy Requiems ahead of them. Shame
everyone’s a fucking critic.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 137

When we are in trouble
We skirmish, snatching Licks off the streets and holding
them ransom before taking the money and scarfing them
down anyway. When you move like water, you can’t be cut
or crushed, but you gotta stay moving. Really, we’re almost
always on the edge of disaster, and that’s where we Brides are
most comfortable. After chasing us for long enough, thinking
they’re “winning,” be it vampires or police or hunters, they
try to chase us out into the wilderness and highways. That’s
when no one ever sees them again. That’s when they know
we’re the trouble.
Count Fucking Dracula
“Y’know, for all the blood on my coat, I ain’t no brute.”
Where the Count is really from isn’t a detail anyone but the
Count gets to know. Still, legends ride the backstreets on their
own accord: Grandson of the Dragon, heir to the Impaler,
Embraced — birthed? — by the Brides (the other ones), childe
of the Unholy. Maybe all of them; maybe none. The fuck’s it
matter? The Count knows what he knows, and what you think
most definitely doesn’t concern him.
For all his vulgarity — and by God, there’s a lot of it — the
Count is well educated, and more positive personal accounts
place him as downright erudite. The Count prides himself
as something of an autodidact, and that dedication to higher
learning has made him the man he is tonight, a man of letters
and learning. Of honor. Of course, honor is almost always
achieved through bloody violence, or so his history books say,
so it’s a little complicated.
Where the Big D’s been is pretty easy to figure out thanks
to the persistent body count, but then, most Kindred don’t
survive very long if they’re easy to find. The Count prefers
to keep his own council. He’ll explore Wyrm’s Nests without
permission, commandeer relics to solve problems he doesn’t
bother to elaborate on, and comport himself with all the grace
of a hobo with a shotgun. But at most encounters, he stands
alone. As for the Brides, the Count doesn’t fuck with -isms…
but an imperfect solution is still a step in the right direction,
especially if what he sees coming down the line is real. And if
Ken wants to play John the Revelator? So be it. Can’t be any
worse than what he was doing before.
While the Count’s past is obscure, what he’s planning is
downright obtuse. Sometimes he’ll walk into a chapterhouse a
complete stranger, only asking where the best feeding grounds
are then walking right back out the door. Other times, he
appears from the shadows, pushing a parcel filled with carved
bones into the hands of some random Fury, promising that, if
it isn’t delivered to the next town over that very night, it’ll be
“someone’s” last night dead.
Any slight against the Count, his Brides, or his bike is
met with swift and brutal correction. That sort of behavior
would get other Licks killed, no matter who they claim to be,
138 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
but despite it all, the Count walks the night without fear. It
might be his strange humility: He doesn’t steal the spotlight
at rallies, he gives no orders in his name, and he doesn’t even
wear a biker cut — just a plain leather duster.
While Count Fucking Dracula is a legend, he doesn’t seem
to care to be legendary. That isn’t his choice to make, as much
as he hates to admit it. The Count’s star is on the rise, stained
in blood and shining pure in spite of it all.
Clan: Gangrel
Covenant: None
Mask: Nomad
Dirge: Scholar
Touchstones: The Count is obsessed with his
motorcycle, often spending hours maintaining and
cleaning every nook and cranny (6); Felix isn’t exactly
a good influence, but fuck it — you’ve gotta care about
someone (5).
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Investigation 3, Occult 3,
Politics 2, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Dirty) 5, Drive
(Motorcycles) 3, Firearms 2, Stealth 1, Survival 2,
Weaponry 2
Social Skills: Intimidation (Staredown) 3, Persuasion 1,
Socialize 1, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Aspect of the Predator, Atrocious, Cheap
Shot, Defensive Combat (Brawl), Fame 2, Giant, Street
Fighting 5, Touchstone 1, Twisted Metal 4
Disciplines: Animalism 3, Protean 3, Resilience 3
Devotions: Serpent in the Belly
Blood Potency: 3
Health: 13
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 5
Size: 6
Speed: 12
Initiative: 6
Defense: 6 (8 with Defensive Combat)
Notes: Cheap Shot, Defensive Combat, and Street
Fighting can be found on pp. 61 and 65 of the
Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook. The Count’s
Protean adaptations are Claws, Extra Sense, and Feral
Senses. His animal forms are crow, rattlesnake, and
Mexican wolf.
New Merits
Code of the Road (• to •••)
Prerequisite: Brides of Dracula Status •
Effect: To prepare for the apocalypse (in whatever form it
takes) your character has learned to see past the limits of human
morality, and through raw devotion to the Count’s philosophy,
she’s managed to cut a new path. Whenever you purchase a
dot in this Merit, choose a breaking point. If your character
triggers one of these breaking points while acting on behalf of
her covenant or defending a fellow Fury, the detachment roll
gains a 2-die bonus.
If your character would no longer suffer breaking points for
this trigger due to taking a bane or just general apathy, she loses
a dot in Code of the Road. Furthermore, if your character loses
her last dot of Status in her covenant, she can no longer access
this effect. She can either claw her way back into the Vanguard’s
good graces or cash in dots as per Sanctity of Merits.
Drawbacks: Betraying the Brides is a breaking point at
Humanity 2 and higher, with a penalty equal to dots in this
Merit on the detachment roll.
Stash (•)
Prerequisite: Brides of Dracula Status •
Effect: While the Furies maintain turf like any covenant,
their territories are more widespread, and chapterhouses for
a single Bride domain can be separated by miles of highway.
Because of this, Gearheads tend not to keep their bounty or
bitches all in one place, and the more patches you’ve got on
your cut, the more you’ve got to spread around. For each dot of
Bride Status, your character gains a dot of Retainers, Resources,
Safe Place, or Staff, divided however you prefer.
Drawback: Your character only has access to these Merits
when she’s near one of her chapter’s clubhouses. She can either
hoard them in a single space or distribute them evenly across
multiple bolt holes (make a note on your character sheet). She
retains access to any allotted Merits for only as long as she
remains in the vicinity of a chapterhouse.
Twisted Metal (• to ••••)
Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, Composure •••, Weaponry
••, Firearms ••, Motorcycles Specialty in Drive
Effect: Your character is a monster atop her chopper. She’s
been fighting on two wheels for so long it’s become second
nature, and she’s picked up a few choice tricks along the way.
Steady Grip (•): Your character lives behind the wheel, and
she always knows when to let loose with her grip and when to
steady up. While driving under distracting conditions, like in a
firefight or through an Environmental Tilt, ignore any penalties
to Drive rolls equal to dots in this Merit.
Lingo
The Brides use much the same terminology as
mortal biker clubs, albeit with a Kindred twist here
and there.
Cut: A leather vest Brides wear to display their
patches. The most important piece of clothing a
Fury owns.
Mother Chapter: Ken Salk’s gang and de facto
heads of the covenant. The Mother Chapter has
no territory of its own, instead traveling the night
and occasionally showing up unannounced to keep
its sister chapters on their toes. Only the Mother
Chapter has the right to declare war, and it wields
its purported links to the Count like a cudgel.
Patches (sometimes Colors): Insignias and other
markings that members wear on their cuts to
indicate chapter, locality, etc. This includes blood
stains. “To patch” a mortal is to Embrace her.
President (P): The head of a chapter; unelected.
Always the strongest Fury, and typically the one who
sired the most chapter members. Rarely, the Bride
equivalent of a prince.
Prospect: A probationary member; sometimes a
term for a ghoul.
Red Tooth: A patch earned for diablerie; a term
for diablerists in general.
Sergeant-at-Arms (SA): A president’s second in
command. An administrator/bureaucrat; often the
MC at rallies.
Cowboy Shot (••): Shoot from the hog. Your character knows
how to adjust her aim with the road, to the point that she’s a
better shot on wheels than she is on her own two feet. When
aiming from her ride, your character subtracts her Merit dots
from any penalty to aim at a specified target. This does not
apply a bonus if her Merit rated is higher than the penalty.
Clutch Kick (•••): Through creative uses of breaking and
gear shifting, your character can move her ride in almost
unnatural ways, even going sideways while maintaining for-
ward momentum. While others might use this for creative
driving, she can use it to maximize destruction. When taking
a Firearms or Weaponry action while driving, you character
can perform a stunt to add half her dots in Drive as weapon
damage, rounding up. Drawback: If she misses, treat the action
as a dramatic failure.
Gutter Run (••••): Named after a technique involving slot-
ting a wheel into a gutter, your character can move her vehicle
with the terrain rather than into it, keeping her ride steady
and fast without steering. Whenever your character makes a
Drive action during combat, she can spend a Willpower to
take a reflexive action to fire a gun, slice with a sword, or any
other action that uses her hands. Drawback: You cannot use
this ability in conjunction with Clutch Kick.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 139
 Bruja
The ones who kick your ass
The Bruja are a bloodline of Savages from the Southwestern
United States, founded by one Carlos Saavedra, a petty crook
who earned the nickname Hijo de Bruja for his ability to luck
out of scrapes with the law. From its inception, the line’s been
associated with biker gangs in and around the California–
Mexico border, and to the first Brides, they represented a
golden opportunity to expand.
With their founder missing for almost a decade, and no
territory to speak of, many members defected, bolstering
the early Vanguard’s numbers. Others left the biking scene
entirely, escaping to nearby urban centers and integrating
with local Carthians. Those core biker Bruja who remain
independent are stoic, refusing to add any non-Scorpion
members into their gang. Of course, that’s led to a jump
New Devotions
Serpent in the Belly
(Animalism ••, Protean ••)
With this Devotion, the vampire awakens a manifestation
of her lizard brain, a coiling thing that whispers when her
comrades are in danger. Rumors say the Count taught the first
Furies this trick, just in case they ever needed him.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn, and the vampire
must be a member of the Brides of Dracula in good standing.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Requirement: The vampire must feed or anoint her subject
with a point of Vitae (included in the cost).
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
The subject can signal the vampire his rough location and
emotional/physical state. This takes an instant action and costs
a Vitae or a self-inflicted point of bashing damage. A kind of
down and dirty blood sympathy, this method isn’t very precise,
140 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
in Embraces around their turf, and with the number of
vampires increasing, the Bruja might start bringing hunters
into this gang war.
Parent Clan: Gangrel
Nicknames: Scorpions, Rabble, Filhos des Bruja (“Sons
of the Witch”)
Bloodline Bane (The Indolent Curse): The Bruja tend
to let the Beast do as it will. Otherwise, they might have
to work for their meals. A Scorpion must spend a point of
Vitae before she can spend Willpower to stave off frenzy.
This only applies on the first turn of resistance and does
not apply to riding the wave.
Disciplines: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Vigor
but the vampire will be able to follow the subject’s trail for the
rest of the night and know how far away he is. If she can’t find her
comrade by sunrise, he’ll need to wake the serpent once more.
The vampire can revoke this effect at any time.
Toughest SOB in the Room
(Resilience ••; Majesty •• or Nightmare ••)
Brides know that, sometimes, being on the wrong end of a
beatdown can help you look badder than you really are.
This Devotion costs 2 Experiences to learn.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Scene
For each point of lethal or aggravated damage in the vam-
pire’s Health track, apply a 1-die bonus to any activation rolls
on Majesty or Nightmare, to a maximum of +5. This applies to
Devotions as well, but only those where the relevant Discipline
is the only or highest rated component. A vampire can learn this
Devotion twice to benefit both powers, but she must activate
both versions if she wants them both to apply.
 The Society
of the Accord
The Hellions
Erin licks her lips, and I can see the blood rushing to her
face. The Navigator says we should always use the blush when
hunting; it makes things more intense. Feeling alive isn’t the
point, but giving the Other an experience to remember is.
Blush or not, Erin looks the happiest I’ve seen her since we
both joined up.
She didn’t take well to the Embrace at first, but all the weird
vampire therapy shit seems to have actually done some good
for her. I was skeptical when she showed up one night after
ditching us, raving about this new group she found and how
it was changing her Requiem, or how I was the only one who’d
understand it. How she’d convinced the higher-ups I’d be an
excellent recruit. Well, she wasn’t wrong. I’d be lying if I said
it hadn’t expanded my horizons… and I wasn’t that attached
to our old gang anyway. We have new hunting partners now —
friends is too strong a word.
Our Volery’s worked up a convincing enough front as rave
organizers. They’re quite trendy. The 90s are in right now, with
people chasing dreams of an idealized past where things aren’t
sanitized for corporate approval, which made it a lot easier than
it should’ve been to convince a bunch of twentysomethings to
go into the woods at night. Kind of sad, really.
I lived through those days, and I can tell you they weren’t
any better than now. People strung out on E trying and failing
to dance, mashups and remixes made by DJs with more ego
than skill. People couldn’t even dress themselves — thought rave
fashion meant picking the first thing you could find that’d glow
in UV. Trash everywhere. Same shit, different faces.
But being able to hear your prey’s heartbeat pounding in
your ears along with the music? That adds a different angle to
things. I can almost enjoy it again.
I’m the one who has to clean this up later, so that puts a
damper on the proceedings, but that’s the last thing on my
mind right now. Be like the Other and live in the moment, Erin
would say. I mentally run through all the steps I’ve been taught.
Breathe in. Smell the prey’s blood. Hear its heart beating. Watch
the tension build in its body as it knows it’s being watched. The
Beast lunges and snaps at the confines I’ve built for it.
I let it go.
You’re just in time for your session! Start running.
The hunt is on, but I don’t need to be here for it. The Other
knows best.
You want to join the Society of the Accord because
You’re tired of fighting the Beast. You want to apply modern
psychology to the Kindred condition. You chafe against the
Traditions. You’re not ashamed of being a monster.
The big picture
Every vampire suffers from the Beast’s urgings. Indeed, tradi-
tional wisdom within the All Night Society states that it must
be resisted and denied at every turn. Pity the poor predator
burdened by her instincts: Woe is the restless dead, cursed with
immortality and chained to a monster. It’s enough to make you
lie recumbent in your haven with the curtains open.
Isn’t that just so insufferably Victorian? The world has moved
beyond such moral self-flagellation. There’s so much more now
that we understand about the human condition, and we know
wallowing in misery just drives you deeper into it. And, being
once-human, these new ideas of psychology almost certainly
apply to the Kindred. These are foundational principles for the
Society of the Accord, to open a dialog between the Man and
the Other. Beast is such a sinister name for a constant compan-
ion — and do you really want to alienate such a valuable ally?
It sounds noble enough on paper, but there’s a certain old
adage about what you pave the road to Hell with. The Hellions
do have means to keep the Beast under control, to some extent,
but they do so through brutal games of bloodshed and domi-
nance. They drape themselves in layers of symbolism and ritual
to hide their cruelty, but there are only so many ways you can
dress up chasing around members of your covenant until they
fear for their Requiems, ending with an orgy of frenzy on both
sides of the equation.
Between the violence they bring in their wake and their
philosophy sharing more than a few similarities with, oh, say,
Belial’s Brood, the Psychonauts prefer to keep their practices
secret. This, so far, has kept the Society of the Accord from ever
growing beyond an underground counterculture. Lost neonates
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 141
 and disaffected ancillae, unhappy with the stifling hierarchies
and expectations of the larger covenants, are the most likely
to join, often scouted out by senior members when their
dissatisfaction becomes clear. Elders are rare, as Hellions
tend to have a short shelf life. Accidents happen, after
all. A careless cleanup draws negative attention from the
Prince, or maybe the Society is finally considered more
trouble than they’re worth. That, and massive murder rate
spikes invariably result in at a few mortals with a grudge.
Nevertheless, if you ask a Hellion, it’s better to have
a happy-but-short death than a long, uncomfortable
immortality. The Society has a reputation for
relentless hedonism, and that’s not unearned,
but they’re not without sense, and those who
buy into the rumors of being one step away from
draugr would be surprised by the academic bent
their teachings take. Then again, so much of
the Kindred condition is monstrosity draped
in pretty language and posturing at humanity.
They’re just taking a different route.
Where we came from
A desire to escape the negative effects
of the Beast has existed for as long as the
Kindred. Rumors have circulated for cen-
turies of vampires who manage to do this,
though substantive proof has been thin on
the ground, usually explained away as the
saintly vampire being a hermit. This state
of enlightenment has been referred to as
“Golconda” in modern times, though it’s
rejected by most covenants as idealistic at
best and dangerous at worst.
The Society of the Accord is perhaps
the longest-lasting Golconda cult — not
that we use the word cult. That’s a loaded
term. Still, by Kindred standards, our
Society is young. We started as small,
isolated secret societies with wildly
varying practices. Few left any records,
but there were always just enough left
in the ashes to spark further interest
in Golconda. The Apostles of the
Destroying Angels were the first
group to commit their ideas to
writing, but their theory that
the Beast was an angel of death
tethered to a vampire’s corpse
proved… unpopular with
the Sanctified; the idea
that sufficient prayer
and carefully applied
violence could appease
142 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
the angel even less so. Yet, while the Church
might’ve been able to put the Apostles’
havens to the torch, their treatises sur-
vived. Now their practice of letting the
Beast speak through frenzy is our own,
though trying to say it’s some divinely sent
power, or that whatever it kills deserves it,
is a superstition best left in the past. Or
at least, don’t give it too much credit.
L at e r, t he Br ot he rho o d of
Enlightened Predation, inspired
by their mortal contemporaries in
London hellfire clubs, started as a
way for Kindred gentry to have just
a few moments of wild indulgence after
the first few decades of death got dull.
One infamous and particularly wild night
left the Brotherhood with several newly
risen revenants in their care, and while
the experiments conducted on these pseu-
do-vampires did prove useful in furthering
an understanding of the role of hunger in
controlling the Beast, the secondary result
of keeping around abused, ravenous mon-
sters without proper safety precautions
was entirely predictable. However,
there were enough survivors
who kept an interest in
the academic study of the
vampiric psyche to form
the earliest version of
what we now call the Society of
the Accord.
These nights, the Hellions have
learned from their predecessors and
remain sparse. The most optimistic of
us believed the Internet might give us a
shot in the arm and provide an easier way
to spread our teachings, but this hasn’t
panned out over the past thirty years,
and it seems unlikely to bear fruit in the
future. The All Night Society is loath to
change, and a group that flies against the
Traditions as much as we do isn’t exactly
predisposed to gaining any real footholds.
Tonight, we’ve begun to adopt the trap-
pings of psychoanalysis and self-help as a
framing device for our practices. It’s a happy
coincidence that cognitive behavioral ther-
apy strongly resembles the reasoning behind
our Dialogs, though a human therapy
session would typically have less murder
involved — how dull!

Our practices
All vampires have an inner impulse that drives them from
Humanity. You can frame it as a metaphor, and we certainly
do try to personify it (for better or worse), but its existence is a
practical reality whether you like it or not. That “something”
takes over in times of heightened emotions, tearing away the
façade of the Man to leave the monster underneath. What sets
the Society of the Accord apart from other Kindred is that we
believe we can reason with that monster.
Hellions keep a fragile peace with the Beast through a regimen
of reward and punishment. Some nights, we gather together
for a feeding frenzy, or force ourselves to face what the Other
fears most, whether that be fire or emotional agony. Sometimes
we just hunt each other to bring our instincts to the forefront.
Regardless of the means, it’s always a night to remember, if only
for the destruction it leaves behind. These occasions are called
Dialogs, and outsiders are rarely invited, if only because such
events tend to provide excellent blackmail material.
Gatherings of Hellions are called Voleries, and for many
vampires, the Volery replaces the coterie as a primary social
unit.  Within the Volery, there are several positions that fully
initiated members can work within, though these are not static.
The Navigator is in charge of a night’s Dialog, the Advocate
gives voice to the participants’ Beasts, and the Cleaner works to
keep the Masquerade in place in the typically violent aftermath.
One reason we prefer to stick together is the idea of ceding
ground to the Beast goes against what most covenants teach.
The problem is, doing so produces results. Ask a Hellion and
they’ll say the traditional treatment of the Beast gets the “stick”
part of the equation right by denying what it wants — but if you
beat an animal enough, it only obeys out of fear. And once that
fear is gone, you’ll live just long enough to regret it.
Dialogs, however, provide the carrot. The Beast wants blood,
a chance to show its dominance, or to be let off its leash for a
few moments. More often than not, this involves casualties, and
those casualties aren’t always human. Usually, we let prospective
members who’ve earned our trust have just a small taste of
what’s to come by accompanying us on a hunt. The first taste is
free, no questions asked, and most end up coming back again.
Otherwise, we put newcomers through a gauntlet where senior
members are whipped into frenzy, with the potential initiate
being hunted until they, too, fall to the Other. We even provide
medical aid for all involved parties afterward. We might be
monsters, but we’re civilized ones.
Once you’ve survived that, the sky’s the limit. Everyone’s
path to forming a relationship with their Beast is a bit different,
but we have a few favorites. Starvation brings the Beast to the
forefront, but just to make sure you don’t try to break your fast
too early, we provide a saferoom. The key is ours, though, not
yours, and the locks are for your own safety. Hey, you’ll get
out eventually. Some nights, we wait for the dawn outside a
haven to see whoever can stand the sunlight the longest before
fleeing to safety. The winner gets the first taste of blood on
the next hunt; the loser gets to be the one who tries to break
in through barred doors.
But the hunts are really the main draw. You, a few other
members of the Volery, a gathering of humans, no witnesses,
and no survivors. It’s always worth the wait. Ultimately, the Man
must learn that the Beast is his companion, one that cannot be
controlled or ignored. The desire to stand over a pile of flesh
that used to be a person while licking the blood from your fangs
isn’t something to be ashamed of. There’s nothing wrong with
wanting to take some harpy’s head off his shoulders after the
way he insulted you last year — everyone knows he’s a prick and
would deserve it. Those impulses to kill and dominate are just
part of being a vampire, and the harder you try to fight them,
the worse the Other will be when it finally gets free. With us,
you get to choose the time and place to do these things. Better
yet, you get to do it with backup. Until then, we’ll hold some
space for you to listen to all of those nasty little impulses you’ve
been trying to hold back.
The end result of a Dialog is a Treaty — the Accord — where
the Man and the Other reach an understanding. It’s not a
friendship by any means; it’s more akin to a relationship
between a falconer and her bird. The bird has no real love for
this person, but it understands that following orders means its
needs will be fulfilled, so it doesn’t lash out and harm its master.
Conversely, the falconer must understand the fragility of this
relationship and not test its limits. In the end, there’s a peace.
It’s happy enough, and that’s what matters. Can you really
hope for anything more?
Nicknames: Hellions, Psychonauts, Mediators, Animists
Concepts: Bestial guru, suspicious newcomer, failed life coach,
thrill-seeker, just here for the party, New Age burnout, proud
monster, rebellious fledgling, overly enthusiastic masochist
When we are in power
What a celebration it is! Night after night, we allow the Other
its indulgences, and blood flows freely across feeding grounds.
Kine all die so young, anyway; it’s best to not get attached to
your food. There are moments of carefully measured violence,
but it’s better than unmeasured violence, and planning a few
murders here and there means you’re less likely to get caught.
The Cleaners take care of the mess anyway, so don’t worry
about it. Maybe this is all leading to one last, violent blowout
as mortals with torches come to our door after one too many
botched Dialogs — but aren’t we all constantly talking about
how immortality gets boring? Nobody can say we don’t keep
things interesting.
When we are in trouble
We’re accused of being a pipeline to Belial’s Brood, and
maybe we are, but that’s not enough of a reason to stop the
party. Still, we try to keep things on the downlow: When the
All Night Society looks too close, when we’re denied our out-
lets and the Other struggles at the chains we’re forced to put
on it, things can get rowdier than usual. As we try to make up
for lost time, casualties tend to pile up, especially among the
Kindred who would try to put out our flame. Soon they realize
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 143
 it’s better to leave us to our business, or else they get to really
know the Other. Inside and out.
Sample Hellion: Garret Moore
“Yes, I know it’s hard — sorry, can someone please hold him down?
I know you want to fight back. But you can’t. Not yet. To face the
Other within, you must face the Other without. So keep going. Stare
my Other in the eyes.”
Garret grew up a straight-B student, drifting his way into a
bachelor’s degree and half a master’s before both scholarships
and his modest inheritance ran out. Despite his degree being
one of the few things to hold his interest for any extended
period of time, he took a semester off to work out what to
do with the rest of his life. Unfortunately, it ended on a
horrifying camping trip before that could happen. After a
few terror-stricken hours of being chased through the woods,
he woke up dead, and then was promptly dragged into the
labyrinthine social mores of the dead.
He didn’t take it well. An uninvolved sire didn’t stop him
from building resentment against the structures of the All Night
Society, but any attempts at active rebellion were staunched by
depressive apathy. In this state, he was soon scouted out as a
potential member by the local Volery.
It wasn’t hard to draw a connection between common coun-
seling practices and the Hellions’ philosophy, which granted
him quite a head start. Garret rarely misses a Dialog, and he’s
taken well to acting as an Advocate. His skill and passion lie
primarily in Dialogs of Need, and he’s working on several new
methods using members of his Volery as test subjects to bring
Treaty-creation further into the modern era. Sometimes, he
even let’s them know they’re an experiment!
Most recently, Garret’s interests have shifted toward reviv-
ing some of the practices of the Brotherhood of Enlightened
Predation. Their studies of revenants were aborted tragically
early, but he’s sure they can be resurrected with enough modern
precautions to keep the kill count low. Revenants always live
on the razor’s edge of frenzy and starvation, and Garret has
theories on all the potential techniques he can employ to build
new Treaties. The wretches are miserable anyway, and everyone
else always acts like they’re a security risk. This way, they get a
safehouse to hide in and a purpose in their half-death. When
you think about it, he says, he’ll be doing them a favor. For better
or worse, he hasn’t managed to acquire any subjects yet, but it’s
not for lack of trying. Rumors have started circulating about
someone willing reward those who can bring in a revenant or
two — preferably in good condition.
Clan: Gangrel
Covenant: Society of the Accord
Mask: Visionary
Dirge: Guru
Touchstone: Before his untimely passing and
un-passing, Garret was working on a study of the
144 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
sociological pressures that lead cults to becoming larger
religions, and he still sometimes tweaks his never-
submitted paper (6); Garret and his sibling were always
close, and so far, he’s managed to pass off his sporadic
appearances as just the slog of academia (5).
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 4
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 3,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics (Sociology) 4, Computer 1,
Investigation 1, Medicine 2, Occult 3, Politics 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 1, Stealth 3,
Survival (Woodlands) 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Cats) 2, Empathy 4,
Expression 3, Persuasion 3, Socialize 1, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Advocate 2, Area of Expertise (Sociology), City
Status 1, Haven 1, Riding the Wave 4, Resources 1, Safe
Place 1, Society of the Accord Status 2
Treaties: Exposure, Satiation
Disciplines: Protean 3, Resilience 2
Blood Potency: 2
Health: 9
Willpower: 7
Humanity: 5
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative: 5
Defense: 4
Notes: Garret’s Protean adaptations are Aquatic,
Claws, and Quadrupedal. His animal forms are cat,
dog, and wolf.
Treaties
The pinnacles of a Hellion’s meditative work are Treaties,
abilities that alter her relationship with the Other and its needs:
It becomes more patient, less likely to frenzy, and more flexible
in the face of threats. While frenzy is the most readily obvious
of the Beast’s manifestations, Treaties rarely empower its use.
Rather, the Society of the Accord allows for a greater finesse
over what the Beast can do.
Only a vampire with Status in the Society of the Accord can
purchase these Merits, and he must prove his commitment if
he wants to gain the most potent of them. To learn any given
Treaty, a vampire must have a Status equal to at least one less
than a Treaty’s rating, to a minimum of one dot. For example,
a character with three dots of Hellion Status can purchase 1–4-
dot Treaties, but he cannot purchase any 5-dot ones. He must
also participate in an appropriate Dialog (below).
Dialogs
Keeping up with your Treaties takes work, and to remain
in good standing with the Other, a Hellion must participate
in Dialogs.
There are three classes of Dialog recognized by the Hellions,
each representing a different aspect of the Beast: Anger, Fear,
and Need. Each Treaty is keyed to a different Dialog type.
The Accord describes Dialogs in dualistic terms, with each
pole representing an “argument” for humanity or bestiality. A
Hellion is said to be Humane, for example, if she refrains from
draining a victim to death, whereas she’s Bestial if she does the
opposite. These Dialogs are an ongoing rapport between the
Man and the Other.
Participation in the appropriate Dialog preserves any corre-
sponding Treaties for one lunar month, and these rituals are
never performed alone. As such, at least three Hellions must
be involved with a Dialog for it to be considered successful;
typically, this involves a Navigator, an Advocate, and a Cleaner,
but smaller Voleries can muddle through without these spe-
cialized roles.
A Dialog must employ at least one of the following elements
of the appropriate type. Characters must contribute as many
elements as Treaty types they have, or else those they neglect
are not considered to be renewed. As such, Psychonauts tend
to focus on one Treaty type over the others, though jacks-of-
all-trades aren’t unheard of.
Dialogs of Anger
Participating in a collective hunt. Allowing a Volery member
to taunt or humiliate you to the point of frenzy. Engaging in
combat with another member until inflicting at least three
points of lethal damage to each other.
Dialogs of Fear
Facing exposure to a bane. Allowing multiple Volery
members to lash out at you. Playing the part of prey during
a mock hunt.
Dialogs of Need
Cornering a group of humans and feeding to excess. Locking
yourself in a room and avoiding feeding until starving. Facing
frenzy due to hunger. Spending a night communing with a
burrow of revenants.
Acuity (••)
Effect: The Society of the Accord doesn’t just teach its
adherents to understand their Others, but also to know the
Other of all vampires. If your character takes a Bestial Triad
Condition from another vampire, she gains a +2 on Empathy
rolls with that character and treats blood sympathy toward
him as one step higher than usual, even if it’s normally none.
This lasts until the end of the chapter or the Condition ends,
whichever comes first.
Dialog: Fear
Affinity (•)
Effect: The Other recognizes its own flesh and blood, if only
because their downfall might be its own. If a character related
to your own has a Bestial Triad Condition, she automatically
knows what happened to him as though you had rolled a single
success on a blood sympathy roll. If she initiates sympathy with
him, any normal success is treated as an exceptional success.
Dialog: Anger
Compassion (• or ••)
Effect: Hunger sharpens the senses. At one dot, when your
character is in the presence of “hungry” or “starving” vampires
(that is, for the purposes of frenzy resistance penalties), she takes
a +3 to Kindred Senses and blood sympathy. At two dots, this
applies when she’s hungry/starving herself.
Dialog: Need
Exposure (•••)
Effect: A bane is the manifestation of a vampire’s inhuman
nature. You can never mitigate them entirely, but you can man-
age them in small ways. Hellions who use this Treaty have gone
through extensive and brutal training to stare down the things
their Others fear, changing the flight instinct into a fight instinct.
When faced with a bane that would ordinarily force your
character to resist frenzy, whether that be sunlight, fire, or one
unique to her, she can instead impose a Bestial Triad Condition
upon herself. So long as she acts in accordance with the imposed
Condition for the rest of the scene (i.e., not willingly taking an
action that would impose the listed 2-die penalty), she holds her
ground. This does not prevent her from taking damage or other
ill effects; it only prevents a fear-induced urge to fight or flight.
Dialog: Fear
Indulgence (••)
Effect: A Hellion’s Other is active in his psyche. Moreover,
giving it what it wants feels good. When under the effects of
a Bestial Triad Condition, your character regains a point of
Willpower from pursuing the Beast’s interests and increases
the bonus for spending Willpower on doing so to +5.
Dialog: Need
Metamorphosis (•••••)
Effect: Disciplines are how the Other protects the Man, and
its protection isn’t as static as the other covenants would have
you believe. This Treaty represents a profound evolution of
your character’s relationship with the Other. Once per chapter,
your character can spend a Willpower to swap out two of their
Discipline dots for two in any other in-clan Discipline for the
rest of the scene.
Drawback: Once the duration expires, the vampire falls to
anger frenzy with no chance to resist or ride the wave.
Dialog: Anger
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 145
 Negotiation (••• or ••••)
Prerequisite: Advocate
Effect: This special Treaty is available only to Advocates. By
negotiating with the Other and allowing it a little more purchase,
your character can stave off its predations in her fellow Hellions’
souls. Choose a frenzy trigger when purchasing this Merit (fear,
anger, or hunger). If your character participates in at least an
hour of one-on-one conversation with another Hellion and then
inflicts a Bestial Triad Condition on him, for the rest of the
night, that Condition effectively becomes a Touchstone on any
breaking points actions taken while in he’s in frenzy. If he has
one attached already, he’s considered to have multiple; if he has
none attached or none at all, he’s considered to have one. If he
already has multiple Touchstones, she gains a +1. Conversely, if
your character is present for one of these breaking points and he
succeeds, she gains a Beat. At three dots, Negotiation only applies
to involuntary frenzy. At four, it also applies to riding the wave.
Drawback: The frenzy penalty for the Advocate Merit
increases by one for being in the presence of vampires experi-
encing frenzy due to this trigger.
Dialog: The one appropriate to the frenzy type.
Redirect (• to •••)
Effect: The Other is multifaceted. There aren’t many facets, but
there’s more than one, and a trained Hellion can mediate which
one the Other focuses on. When afflicted with a Bestial Triad
Condition, your character can swap it out for a different one.
This does not resolve the Condition, but she does take a +2 on
whatever interests that aspect of the Triad applies to. She may do
this a number of times per night equal to her dots in this Treaty.
Dialog: Anger
Refocus (•••)
Effect: Lesser minds might call the Beast single-minded in its
viciousness. This is only half-true. The real problem is, they’ve
never tried to redirect its attention to something else in order to
pacify it. Once per chapter, when faced with a frenzy trigger, your
character can instead lash out with their Predatory Aura against
a target of their choice. If they prevail, this prevents the frenzy
altogether. If no target is available, they cannot use this Treaty.
Dialog: Fear
146 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Satiation (•)
Effect: The Society of the Accord forces its members to live
at the extremes of the Kindred condition. As such, they’re
accustomed to both starvation and gluttonous excess. Once
per chapter, if your character falls to two or fewer Vitae, she
can take the Inspired Condition with regard to the pursuit of
blood. If the resulting feeding attempt results in her gaining
four or more Vitae, she takes the Raptured Condition.
Dialog: Need
New Merits
Advocate (••)
Prerequisite: Society of the Accord Status •
Effect: Your character is an Advocate for her Volery, clarifying
the desires of each member’s Other. When conducting a Dialog,
make a Wits + Empathy roll. A small Volery levies a –1 die pen-
alty, a medium one a –2, and a large one a –3. On a success, all
listeners gain the Sated Condition, including herself. In addition,
she also has a deeper understanding of other Beasts, gaining a
2-die bonus on all mundane Social Skill rolls with characters
who have a Bestial Triad Condition or the Tempted Condition.
Drawbacks: A Dialog can only have one participating
Advocate at a time, or else the message gets lost in the medium.
Furthermore, empathizing with the Beast isn’t always a good
thing. In the presence of frenzying vampires, your character
suffers a –1 modifier on resisting her own Beast.
Navigator (•)
Prerequisite: Society of the Accord Status •
Effect: Your character is a Navigator for her Volery, a role that
lies somewhere between alpha wolf and a self-help guru. Taking
this position requires her to have the necessary materials to
perform her duties. Each month, she gains access to a number
of dots in Feeding Grounds, Herd, Resources, or Retainer equal
to her Society of the Accord Status.
Drawback: These Merits are the property of the Society of
the Accord, and failing to appropriately employ them in Dialogs
is one of the few discretions the Hellions will punish.
 Blood Mold The Creeping Terror
It’s not as bad as it looks!
AKA: Ophiocordyceps lucifuga
Fungus is something of a paradox: simple but complex, nei-
ther plant nor animal, a harbinger of entropy yet a branch of
life all its own. Fungi are adept at returning dead, inert matter
into the food chain, and what’s a vampire but a walking, talking,
thirsting pile of compost?
It was only a matter of time before a fungal network got
a taste of undeath and evolved. In the end, nature devours
us all. The Kindred exist comfortably at the top of the food
chain, but beneath their feet lies a hungry and ever-expanding
predator that craves the brittle flesh and sanguine ichor of the
dead. It is a patient and subtle killer, and if you’ve noticed it,
no antifungal will save you.
Background
Back in the 70s, a Carthian called Marguerite Samson
founded the Second Earth Revival Fellowship, a commune and
cult of personality she used to protect her territory in the local
state park. Then, in the late 90s, corporate logging interests
associated with the Invictus rolled into her turf. Marguerite
couldn’t have that, and her particular style of dispute resolu-
tion left six human loggers and a First Estate ghoul dead. She
planted the bodies in an unmarked grave deep in the forest,
hoping that nature would take care of the rest.
In a way, it did. The topsoil around the bodies was laced with
fungus from the parasitic Ophiocordyceps family. Steeped in the
rich, profane nutrition of Vitae-infused human flesh, the fungus
drank deeply. Slowly, it evolved to feed a new hunger, and to
do that, it borrowed the bodies it had been provided. Imagine
Marguerite’s surprise when the Invictus flunky and his goons
wandered back into her commune three days after she killed
them all. Visualize her shock as they began to grow in size and
appendages whilst they drained her coterie. Picture her horror
as they ate her alive. From there, the creatures headed to the
city, slaughtering four more Kindred before the collective might
of the domain’s elders destroyed them.
Yet fungus is pernicious. It doesn’t constitute a discrete
being, but rather an assemblage of many. One of the crea-
tures managed to enter the end stage of its bizarre life cycle,
bursting into a miasma or spores as its host was destroyed.
Hitching a ride on nothing more than the wind, it’s been
spreading ever since.
Waking Up Dead
Occult medical experts call this new species lucifuga
(“day-fearing”). It can grow on just about any surface, taking
on the appearance of a fuzzy carpet the color of deep red wine.
This appearance is the source of its other, more common
name: Blood Mold. It enjoys the dark, and those without the
knowledge to differentiate would say that it resembles a bad
case of black mold. Its brittle mycelia allow it to particulate
airborne spores, which, ideally, migrate into any nearby lungs.
In living tissue, the fungus is no more dangerous than any
other spore or mold. Mortal blood lacks the essential nutri-
tion of Vitae, so O. lucifuga instead uses human bodies as a
transmission vector for its rotting infection. Infected humans
develop a wet, wracking cough and flu-like symptoms, as well
as a sensitivity to light. Those with weakened immune systems
or asthma may develop pneumonia, but most recover with the
aid of drugs. Infected Kindred, on the other hand, find their
blood supplies grow thin, though this never poses much danger
beyond inconvenience, and the infection will burn itself out by
consuming too much of its host’s precious Vitae.
The real fun begins when the fungus finds a corpse. Without
an immune system or Blood Potency to fight off the invasion,
within a few hours, the fungus will replace any damaged surface
tissue with its own, resparking the corpse’s nervous system and
raising the body from the dead.
In a few nights or weeks, the Blood Mold pushes its
host to feed. Each time he does, the parasite colonizes the
corpse’s body more and more, mutating it into a monstrous
entity best suited to prey on as many victims as possible. At
first, patches of mold spread across his flesh, starting at the
mouth and lower orifices, followed soon after by sprouts of
woody, fibrous growths with a shriveled texture like morel
mushrooms. When the victim speaks, his breath carries the
stale sweetness of rot. By the time these growths spill from its
victim’s mouth, nose, and eyes, the colonization is complete.
From there, he becomes hulking thing with only two drives:
feeding and breeding.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 147
 Rumors
“One word: bioweapon. The question, however, is who made it. Smells like the CIA to me — practically reeks of them.”
False. As noted, O. lucifuga was an accident of nature, but there are a few mortal biologists out their working on samples, and
rumor has it that they’re getting funding from vampire hunters. However, it’s unclear if this is just an attempt to add another
weapon to the hunters’ arsenals or if this is in preparation for an all-out war on the Kindred. Either way, some Dragons who’ve
heard these rumors are preemptively working on their own bioweapon research, and if this becomes an arms race, it could
upend Kindred and mortal society.
“Look man, I’m just asking questions. God, you Kindred are so damn suspicious — you can’t even see when someone’s trying to do you a
favor. All I wanna know is what you did with the dude’s corpse. I ain’t no snitch, and I don’t give a rat’s ass why you iced him. My pack’s seen
this kind of thing before, and I can guaran-fuckin’-tee we can handle it better than a bunch of vampires. No offense.”
Werewolves, especially those among the Hunters in Darkness, sometimes speak of the Usudwirku, fungal beings that grow around
loci to keep Uratha from entering the Shadow. These creatures possess corpses to act as agents provocateurs, and to eventually seed
more spores in their favored habitats. It doesn’t take much to see a disturbing connection between these creatures and Ophiocordyceps
lucifuga, at least on a surface level. One werewolf pack noticed this link after a firsthand encounter with the latter while hunting
for the former, and since then, they’ve been tracking Blood Mold infections all
over the country. They haven’t found any links yet, but they do know one
thing: They must never allow the two fungi to come into contact. For
more on the Usudwirku and their pawns, the Namusiden, see Night
Horrors: Wolfsbane, p. 85.
“Blood-drinking zombie fungus…
someone’s been playing too
many video games. I mean,
diseased corpses who rise
from the grave as vampires?
It’s just revenants. Half
the weird stuff you hear
about zombies and shit is
revenants. Those things are
weird enough without some
sci-fi explanation.”
While O. lucifuga is all too real,
its symptoms in risen corpses do
have parallels to revenants, and its
first host might’ve become one of the
half-damned if he hadn’t been left in
the wrong grave at the wrong time. No
one knows what might happen if a corpse
tainted with vampire blood were also infected
with the fungus. Would it simply rise as a host, or
would the Curse win out? Or would they become
something altogether… hungrier?

Dallas Xu
“I… can’t get it off. Come closer. I can’t get it off! Help me… I… ARGHH!”
Dallas Xu was born with a mind for science. While his parents
wanted him to go into medicine, his true passion was research,
and he compromised by becoming a physician-scientist focused
on biochemical research. For the next twenty years, he split his
time between the hospital and the lab, working to combat the
coming storm of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
It was going great until the remains of a peculiar corpse came
across his desk. Apparently, the thing had become infected with

148 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

an odd mold, one the boys down in the lab couldn’t identify.
Intrigued, Dallas began to dedicate all his time to investigating
the infection, which ultimately led to his current predicament.
A freak accident taking the stairs instead of the broken elevator
left his neck broken — for about two minutes. That’s when he
got back up, and nothing has gone right since.
Dallas knows just enough about the fungus to realize he’s
in deep trouble. Worse, someone’s going to find the med tech
he drained dry and hid in the unused morgue sooner or later.
He’s also started to notice that one doctor who takes all the
late shifts, the one with the odd dragon tattoo who smells…
delicious. Strangely, she was the only other physician on call
the fateful night the elevator was out of commission.
Virtue: Curious
Vice: Cowardly
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 2, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 2, Manipulation 2,
Composure 2
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Computer 2, Investigation
2, Medicine (Infectious Disease) 4, Science (Biology) 4
Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Stealth 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Lab Animals) 1, Empathy 1,
Socialize (Dry Wit) 2, Subterfuge 2
Merits: Allies (Doctors) 3, Area of Expertise (Infectious
Disease), Bloodhound, Interdisciplinary Specialty
(Infectious Disease), Language (Mandarin), Resources 3,
Staff 2
Blood Potency: 0
Health: 7
Willpower: 4
Integrity: 4
Size: 5
Speed: 12
Initiative: 5
Defense: 3
Notes: Dallas is at Stage 2 of his infection and can
manifest the Claws and Patagia adaptations.
Systems
O. lucifuga seeks out animal and human corpses to propagate
its existence. Like any fungus, it lives in dark, dank places, but
without Vitae, it cannot reach its full potential.
Blood Mold will infect any cadaver that’s been dead no longer
than a day or two, but once a corpse hits the “active” stage of
decay, it’s no longer viable. Living humans infected with O.
lucifuga experience mild cold symptoms, while vampires gain
an unsightly, sweet-smelling skinrash and suffer a reduction in
Vitae capacity, losing an additional point per night. Kindred
clear the infection whenever their Vitae pools next fall to zero,
starving the fungus to death in a matter of moments.
If a carrier vampire feeds on a mortal victim to the point of
killing him, the victim will always rise as a host.
Special Traits
O. lucifuga hosts share the following qualities:
Alien Urgings: When faced with reasonable opportunities
to feed, the host must resist the urge to feed with Resolve +
Composure. Unless he gives in of his own violation, failure
means he enters a frenzy-like state, which the fungus might
still attempt to induce if he doesn’t drink a victim dry. Each
mutation stage (below) acts as a penalty to this roll.
Blood Sense: Hosts gain the Bloodhound Merit, ignoring
the Wits prerequisite. Furthermore, while they don’t have
Predatory Auras, hosts can recognize Kindred from the sweet
scent of their Vitae.
Sanguine Hunger: Hosts can feed on blood as Kindred do.
However, instead of a Kiss/Assault effect, the fungus inflicts
victims with a paralytic poison, rendering them immobile for
each turn of feeding (treat this as the Stunned Tilt if necessary:
Chronicles of Darkness, p. 286). Humans have no resistance to
this chemical, but vampires can resist the effect with Stamina
+ Blood Potency, taking the host’s mutation stage as a penalty.
Vampirism: A host has Blood Potency 0, which cannot be
raised. Being ambulant corpses, they also downgrade damage
like vampires, though wounds still heal over time. However,
natural healing always adds more fungal matter, making the
infection’s presence more obvious as time goes by. They also
do not pass out from full bashing or lethal damage in their
Health tracks.
Unkillable: If a host “dies,” the fungus will resurrect him
within a day, healing all wounds. The only way to kill a host
is to burn his corpse to ash or to expose it to sunlight at later
stages of mutation. Resurrection involves replacing more of the
creature’s body with fungus, and this automatically advances
the host’s mutation stage.
Mutation Stages
Blood Mold hosts go through five stages of mutation. At each
stage, the fungus replaces more and more of the victim’s body
with itself. These stages progress based on how often the host
feeds: Whenever the host consumes blood, roll his unmodified
Resolve + Stamina. On a failure, he mutates into the next stage.
If the blood came from a vampire, apply the total Vitae taken
as a penalty on this roll.
The effect of each stage is cumulative.
Stage 1
The sudden influx of repaired tissue leaves the subject feeling
energized despite his recent demise. He looks like he’s put on
some muscle and lost some fat, partly due to his desiccated
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 149
 Story Seeds
• While (living) mortals experience O. lucifuga as little more than a bad cold, ghouls aren’t exactly mortal. The infec-
tion has made its way into one of the Prince’s servants, and the fungus is rapidly evolving to outfox her immune
system, sapping away her Vitae and editing her body. If she doesn’t find a cure quick, the Blood Mold might have
a platform for some impressive acts of evolution, and a whole city of Kindred to feed its transfigurations.
• In the worst part of town, a sub-basement in an old factory hides a temple the Circle of the Crone uses to make
living sacrifices. Called the Pit of Tribulation, humans are left within to starve in the depths of a dirt-filled hole in
the ground, with nothing to sate them save rats and the marrow of those who came before. But they aren’t the
only thing in the pit that’s hungry. One night soon, a whole army of Blood Mold hosts will make their way out,
and then there’ll be hell to pay.
• There are no cures for O. lucifuga, at least none that involve the host getting to live. In theory, a corpse cleared
of the infection would almost certainly a candidate for posthumous Embrace, though it may manifest some…
peculiar abilities as one of the Kindred.

flesh and partly due to the masses starting to build up under
his skin. Upon rising, the host gains a dot of Strength, which
can take this Attribute past the human limit.
Stage 2
Fungal tissue swells in the victim’s muscles, granting him
another dot in Strength but riddling his skin with rashes and
distending his form as fruiting bodies begin to press against
his flesh. This stage also grants limited shapeshifting abilities:
Choose two adaptations from Predatory Aspect. The host can
spend a Vitae to manifest these forms for a scene at any time
with an instant action. Furthermore, sunlight deals him a bash-
ing damage per minute of exposure, which cannot heal until he
seeks shelter or he spends Vitae to repair the damage manually.
Stage 3
Mushroom-like tumors tear through the victim’s skin, and his
vital organs begin to wither to make room for more fungus. He
gains two more Predatory Aspect adaptations, and manifesting
his mutations no longer costs Vitae. Now that his body is rid-
dled with O. lucifuga, he can no longer digest any food except
blood. Sunlight now deals him a lethal damage.
Stage 4
In a grotesque, agonizing transformation, the host gains
a level of Size, two adaptations from Uncanny Aspect, and
the equivalent of a Resilience dot as his skin boils over into a
carapace of mushroom-like growths. All adaptations are now
permanently manifested, and short of brief, agonizing moments
of lucidity, the host’s mind no longer has control of its body:
Calculate the creature’s Defense using the higher of Dexterity
or Wits and treat Intelligence as 0. Sunlight now deals an
aggravated damage per turn.
Stage 5
The host’s body explodes into a mobile spore colony. Use the
system for Primeval Miasma to represent the creature, using
Stamina plus five to determine its maximum Size. Until the
next sunrise, the cloud will try to infect as many corpses as it
can. At the end of the night, it will find a dank place away from
the sun to die, leaving behind more spores and beginning its
life cycle anew.
This creature takes aggravated damage from fire.

150 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Gargoyles
Children of the Stones
Yes, master.
AKA: The Graven
Vampires are creatures of flesh, but the Blood doesn’t always
limit itself to the organic. Vitae spares little from its corruption,
blighting even stone and steel, and with a just little effort and
hubris, the stain of vampirism can take hold in more solid
things than corpses.
Since time immemorial, vampires have birthed beings both
dead and never alive, hardier than ghouls and far more loyal
than childer. Gargoyles are ideal servants for Kindred with no
need for a personal touch. These Children of the Stones are
devoid of drive or desire, and they’ll follow their creators’ orders
unto Final Death — or not. Some gargoyles gain a touch of the
Humanity their unholy births deny them, stealing into the
night to make their own way in the All Night Society, whether
for freedom, revenge, or a better offer.
Background
The gargoyle looming over church eaves is an indelible image.
These sneering grotesques carried a power all their own, and
before they became mere waterspouts, they were wards against
the Devil, a practical application of holy terror to protect
the house of God. While the righteous slept, the gargoyles
stood vigilant, and for their trouble, they were treated with a
superstitious respect. The Children of the Stones have similar
origins, and undoubtedly this is why they share a name with
these figures. Ancient Kindred were just as prone to ritual and
magical thinking as the mortals they once were, offering blood
sacrifices to idols, lucky charms, and other fetishes shaped in
the rough form of a man. What they thought when these objects
first started coming to life is unknown, but it didn’t take long
for them to learn how to use them.
Graven in the Roman Camarilla were carved of polished mar-
ble in the form of griffins, gorgons, and other mythological beasts
to patrol the halls of the Necropolis. In Viking Scandinavia, they
were crafted with wood as wicker imps who would sabotage their
masters’ enemies in the daytime. And in China, Kindred nobles
would imitate the emperor, commissioning terracotta armies to
protect themselves for their journeys through death.
Tonight, gargoyles have shed much of their mythological and
spiritual baggage. More akin to multitools of the Damned, most
Graven live up to stereotypes as guardians glaring down from
castle keeps, or as menials designed to keep havens in efficient
order. Some designs — especially among elders with more blood
than sense — range into the esoteric. A vampire might create a
flock of single-use Graven, each a key to successive doors through
an arcane vault. Or maybe the gargoyle has no practical appli-
cation at all, instead serving as a semi-sentient art installation,
nothing more than an unliving symbol of its master’s power.
Automata and Rampant
A gargoyle is a blunt, bespoke instrument; nothing more. Most
can communicate with their masters, though spending time with
a talkative one isn’t unlike typing at an above average chatbot. For
this reason, Kindred are even given to calling them Automata,
a term that gained currency as the Industrial Revolution helped
humanity develop its own advanced technology.
However, it has no agency beyond its master’s wishes, and for
some Kindred, that in itself is worth the heavy blood invest-
ment. Yes, a ghoul or a childe can understand the spirit of a
command, but most gargoyles will never deviate from the letter.
The key word here, however, is “most.” In rare cases, a gar-
goyle can earn a scrap of the Humanity it never had, achieving
an intellect beyond impulse and devotion. Kindred call these
creatures Rampant, Graven who escape the confines of their
design perimeters to become something almost like a real
vampire. Some Rampant abandon their creators to make their
own Requiems, while others come to new terms with their pro-
genitors, offering services on more equal ground. Still others
watch and wait, keeping up a façade of docility for the chance
to take revenge on years of mindless toil. How this transforma-
tion takes place is unknown (or at least inconsistent), but the
possibility is often enough to put vampires off using Graven
servants altogether.
In the Covenants
As with everything else, the five great covenants have differ-
ing viewpoints on the creation and use of gargoyles.
The Carthian Movement: Many Firebrands ban the creation
of gargoyles. Whether Automata are sapient or not is beside the
point — building creatures with no purpose beyond service is
no better than any other feudalistic practice in the All Night
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 151
 Society. However, Rampant gargoyles do sometimes find their way to the Movement, though their inability
to maintain a Masquerade makes remaining difficult. Even among the most liberal Firebrands, a gargoyle
can’t contribute to the cause in the way a normal vampire can, so many are limited to grunt and wet work.
The Circle of the Crone: The Acolytes view gargoyle creation as holy. Spawning life (even a facsim-
ile) from inanimate things is surely sacred to the Dark Mother, and so the Crone rewards her faithful
servants with faithful servants of their own. Gargoyles are regarded with a certain reverence among the
Mother’s Army, though that’s no guarantee they’ll last long: Sacrificing a gargoyle for a Crúac ritual is
rumored to infuse the magic with incredible potency…
The Invictus: There’s nothing this covenant likes more than new toys, especially ones that can
protect their assets. The Invictus uses gargoyles as technology: weapons, security systems, amenities,
and any other functional roles its elites can think of. Most First Estate Automata are outsourced,
crafted by Dragon or Acolyte builders for considerable sums or favors. Some lower-ranking Invictus
members will create their own Graven, but many elders look down on
nouveau riche who would use gargoyles as a quick fix to make up for
a proper powerbase.
The Lancea et Sanctum: Many a Sanctified church has a
gargoyle installed in the eaves, watching and waiting for anyone
foolish enough to violate holy ground. The Church’s theology
views gargoyles as less than animals, inherently sinful things they
can use as they please to exact the Dark Father’s will. This extends
to the Rampant, though the Sanctified don’t really recognize
the distinction. Coincidentally, Sanctified gargoyles are the
most likely to turn on their masters if they achieve sapience,
seeking revenge for years of thankless tasks.
The Ordo Dracul: No other covenant produces as many
gargoyles as the Ordo Dracul; even the Mother’s Army
seem like dabblers in comparison to the Order’s assembly
lines, and in some cities, it’s unheard of for Defiant not to
maintain at least one Graven servant around their chantries.
Gargoyles and their never-living state provide all sorts of oppor-
tunities for research and development, an endless source of fruitful
experimentation. Defiant are also the most accommodating to
Rampant, as long as they’ll submit to some testing now and then.

Rumors
“The All Night Society is an astonishingly myopic institution.
Take gargoyles, for example. I don’t blame Kindred for not
having the word ‘Promethean’ on the tip of their tongues,
but that none of them seem to have caught on over the years
is truly an indictment on their research skills.”
Gargoyles aren’t Prometheans. While they
resemble the Unfleshed lineage in form
and function, Vitae animates them, not
the Divine Fire, and they can’t become
human through any divinely man-
dated spiritual journey. Of course, that
doesn’t rule out a gargoyle becoming a
Promethean. Nor does it mean a handful
of obsessive vampires haven’t accidentally
built Created when they meant to build
Graven. A few members of “Clan” Hypatian
(Night Horrors: Spilled Blood, p. 90) say they’ve
conducted experiments in this regard, but they’re
keeping the data close to heart.

152 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 “Sometimes Rampant will group up for protection, and if they’re
hostile, you better break out the pickaxes. That’s the kind of artillery
you do not want bearing down on you. Remember, those things are
daywalkers, and a lot of them know where you fucking live. Now
imagine it’s five of them.”
Rampant “flocks” are so rare as to be mythical, but one
infamous case stands out. A gang of gargoyles spent much of
the late 80s tearing up Invictus holdings in Bucharest, largely
overlapping with the mortal Romanian Revolution, but why
these Graven were so bent on bloodying the All Night Society
is still debated. The Prince and her lackeys believed they
were Carthian pawns moving against the First Estate, but
the Firebrands denied any involvement, instead claiming the
creatures were attempting to liberate Automata. If so, and if
they succeeded, no one has seen the flock since, though it may
only be a matter of time before they return in greater numbers.
“You can build in a kill switch, you know. Just in case it ever decides
to take off. Like a code phrase, or even something like wolfsbane.”
False, but a few Kindred are working on developing such a
contingency. Factions like the Circle of the Crone and the Ordo
Dracul produce gargoyles in larger numbers than the members
of the other covenants, and they have much more cause to kill
any potential Rampant in the cradle. However, some Kindred
fear that if either group were successful, the same technique
might be applied to the Embrace, offering a way for elders to
more firmly keep their childer on the leash.
The Bone Knight
“Out of my way.”
The Bone Knight is not what she once was. Long ago, she was
many. She — they — were their master’s power made manifest,
both tools of vengeance and instruments of brutal discipline.
The Bone Knight doesn’t remember where or when this was,
but she knows her body was more than the hulking mass it is
tonight, and once, each piece was separate yet whole.
That time is long past. One of the few things she recalls with
any clarity is a corpse on a battlefield, rapidly dissolving to
ash, and a skull driven through with a pike set at a high point.
Then, pain. What caused the Bone Knight’s amalgamation is
a blur of agony and grief, followed by the horrible clarity of
self-awareness. Now, she seeks revenge. For at least 200 hundred
years, she’s searched for her master’s killer, a creature she isn’t
even sure even exists anymore, if it was a single vampire — or
a vampire at all.
The Bone Knight is a hulking mass of human bone in a
vaguely feminine shape, held together with rusting bolts and
fraying rope, like a Harryhausen skeleton powered by night-
mare fuel. Her armor is an English design, but its age and wear
have removed most identifying marks. She can also take on a
human form to pass among Kindred and kin, a red-headed
woman in a matching set of green clothes that conforms with
whatever fashions seem modern. Whether this body was once
her master’s, or some third party’s, is unknown even to herself,
but the more time passes, the more she spends in this shape…
Chassis: Tough
Virtue: Dedicated
Vice: Bitter
Touchstone: Her master’s sword, a two-handed
claymore dating to the late 1400s.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 5
Physical Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5
Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 1,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Investigation 3, Occult 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 4, Brawl 2, Larceny 1,
Weaponry 5
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Horses) 2, Intimidation 5
Merits: Kindred Dueling 5, Language (Welsh),
Resources 2, Striking Looks 2
Disciplines: Celerity 1, Obfuscate 2, Protean 4,
Resilience 4, Vigor 3
Devotions: Body of Will, Force of Nature
Aspects: Child of the Wild, Hard as Rocks, Masker
Blood Potency: 4
Health: 15
Willpower: 8
Humanity: 2
Size: 6
Speed: 14 (Species Factor 3)
Initiative: 6
Defense: 7 (Active Defense 8)
Armor: 4/2 (plate)
Notes: When the Bone Knight dons her plate
armor, subtract 2 and 3 from Defense and Speed,
respectively.
The Birthing Ritual
To create a gargoyle, a vampire must conduct a special rit-
ual similar to blood sorcery. This rite has different trappings
depending on the vampire’s clan and covenant, but whatever
the surface details, the core mechanism is the same across the
All Night Society.
Before conducting the ritual, the vampire must fashion an
appropriate chassis for her creation. This need not have moving
parts; it just needs to take the shape of the intended gargoyle,
as well as the primary material that will take up its form. Once
the ritual is complete, the Blood will provide all the necessary
logistics of mobility. If other vampires contribute to the gar-
goyle’s creation, the creature will follow their commands as
well, but its creator’s orders override all others.
Successfully creating a gargoyle is a Humanity 3 breaking point.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 153
 Cost: Vitae equal to five plus the gargoyle’s intended Blood
Potency. A new gargoyle’s Blood Potency cannot exceed more
than half its creator’s, rounding up.
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Blood Potency
Action: Extended (target is ten plus the gargoyle’s desired
Blood Potency, and each roll represents an hour of time)
Roll Results
Success: The ritual accumulates successes. If the target num-
ber is met, a new gargoyle is birthed.
Exceptional Success: The vampire makes great strides in com-
pleting the birthing ritual. Her player can choose one of the usual
effects of an exceptional success on an extended action, or she can
take either the Ecstatic Condition or the Raptured Condition.
Failure: The vampire accumulates no successes. Her player can
choose to abandon the birthing or take the Stumbled Condition.
Dramatic Failure: The birthing ritual fails, and all spent
Vitae is wasted. The vampire takes the Tempted Condition.
Character Creation
Create gargoyle characters following the steps outlined below.
Step One: Chassis
First, choose the gargoyle’s material. Graven can be composed
of any inanimate or dead material, but the most important con-
sideration is function rather than form. A golden gargoyle could
be a hulking knight just as easily as it could be a delicate sparrow.
The specific material is less important than how it’s used. As
such, gargoyles tend to fall into one of the three types below:
Heavy
The gargoyle’s body is cumbersome, but it cannot be stopped.
Benefit: The gargoyle cannot be grappled or moved against
its will short of supernatural effects. All mundane attempts to
do so automatically fail, and the action is wasted.
Drawback: The gargoyle cannot double its Speed while
running, and mundane Physical actions that would normally
be reflexive are treated as instant.
Lightweight
The gargoyle’s body is lithe and agile.
Benefit: The gargoyle gains the 8-again quality on Athletics
rolls to move, including Dodge actions, and doubles all jumping
distances.
Drawback: The gargoyle’s body does not downgrade damage
like a vampire.
Tough
The gargoyle’s body has a hard shell, ensuring that wounding
it is more trouble than its worth.
Benefit: The gargoyle halves all bashing and lethal wounds,
rounding down.
154 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Drawback: All mundane Dexterity rolls lose the 10-again
quality, and any failure on such an action is treated as a dra-
matic failure.
Step Two: Traits
Anchors: Graven have Vices and Virtues like mortals, often
reflecting their creators or the functions they were assigned.
Automata rarely have the wherewithal to regain Willpower
through these traits, though these Anchors do define their
personalities to some degree.
Form: Gargoyles come in many shapes. By default, Size
and Species Factor are the same as a human’s, but each Size
level below five increases Species Factor by three, and each
level above five decreases it by two. This can apply a negative
modifier to Speed if the gargoyle is too cumbersome. Some
vampires intentionally design immobile gargoyles, affixing
them as permanent guardians in their havens.
Attributes, Skills, and Merits: Gargoyles gain the same pool of
Attribute and Skill dots as starting Kindred characters. However,
for Automata, Mental Skills cannot exceed those of their creators,
and Intelligence can never exceed one dot. These limits do not
apply to Rampant characters. Starting gargoyles gain five Merit
dots; the Storyteller is the final arbiter of appropriate choices.
Advantages: Apart from Size and Speed, Advantages are
calculated as with vampire characters.
Step Three: Kindred Qualities
Disciplines: A gargoyle starts with three dots to distribute
among Celerity, Resilience, or Vigor. These are considered
in-clan. They can learn other Disciplines in the same way as
vampires, though Automata cannot blood sorcery. Neither
gargoyle type can learn Coils of the Dragon.
Humanity: Automata do not track Humanity; Rampant
begin play with a single dot and no attached Touchstones.
Blood Potency: Automata have Blood Potency dependent
on the birthing ritual (see above). If the gargoyle is a Rampant
player character, it begins with one dot, or more with the
Storyteller’s permission.
Advancement
Automatons are immutable creatures designed to serve a
specific function. However, some Kindred choose to refine their
servants, modifying them to suit needs as they arise. If you’re
maintaining a character sheet for Storyteller Graven who serve
the player characters, as an optional rule, whenever a gargoyle
plays an important role in a chapter, her master gains a Beat
to spend on her servant. To make a modification, the player
spends the appropriate Experiences and the character invests
her gargoyle with a Vitae, adding to its reserves.
Experience costs are the same as for Kindred characters.
Aspects cost 3 Experiences each. Rampant characters purchase
traits like normal vampires unless otherwise specified, but they
cannot learn Aspects after character creation.
 Story Seeds
• One of the Archbishop’s gargoyles goes missing. A venerable creature, it served as the Sanctum’s mobile archive
for many decades, memorizing records that could breach Masquerades all over the city if it fell into the wrong
hands. The Sanctified aren’t sure if the creature was stolen or went Rampant, but they’ll pay well for its return
— or destruction, as the case may be.
• The city has undergone a bloody change of praxis, but a fragile peace now stands. The coterie is assigned to
untangling the previous court’s many assets, which brings them to an old warehouse that was overlooked for
years due to administrative neglect. There, they find an army of dormant gargoyles, enough to easily outnumber
the Kindred of the city. Will the coterie turn their find over to the new regime, or will they make their own play
for power? And what happens when agents of the deposed court return for their army?
• The new prince has an odd look. Her skin has a smooth, plastic quality, and she has scars around her joints
as if the flesh had been grafted on. Some say it was the result of a mortal injury, while others say she’s just
a Nosferatu and leave it at that. However, a far nastier rumor has floated around of late: She’s a gargoyle. If
that’s true, she was apparently designed to look as human as possible, and indeed, she even passes among
mortals. Nothing on the domain’s books says a gargoyle can’t be prince, but, on the other hand, that’s not
going to stop anyone from objecting.

Special Systems Aspects

All Gargoyles operate like normal Kindred with the following
differences.
• They do not burn in sunlight, and staking them does not
inflict torpor.
• They do not need to rest, but sleeping restores a Willpower.
• They have no Kiss effect, but the Assault works as usual.
Automata operate under the following constraints. If a gar-
goyle becomes Rampant, it loses these qualities.
• Automata are unfailingly loyal to their creators and cannot
resist their orders in any way (nor do they desire to). If a vam-
pire uses a Discipline on her gargoyle, it automatically works
provided she pays the cost. Automata are immune to Vincula
and the mental manipulation powers of other vampires.
• Automata cannot create blood bonds or foster ghouls.
Instead, feeding from an Automaton with stored Vitae
enforces any existing blood bonds a character might have
with the creature’s master.
• An Automaton must take Vitae equal to Blood Potency from
its master once per lunar month or else it will go into torpor
indefinitely. If an Automaton’s regnant meets Final Death
and no other Kindred contributed Vitae to its creation, it
falls to torpor upon the next sunrise. Whoever next feeds
the creature awakens it and becomes its new regnant. If a
gargoyle becomes Rampant, it must spend a Vitae at each
sunset like normal vampires.
• Vitae of any Blood Potency rating will revive an Automata
from torpor.
• Automata cannot commit diablerie, and Blood Potency does
not increase through age.
• Automata do not suffer frenzy or have a Predatory Aura.
Aspects are niche abilities vampires grant gargoyles to better
serve their designated purposes.
Clan Aspects
Graven gain one of following Aspects based on creator clan.
A gargoyle can take a different clan’s Aspect as a common
Aspect, but only if a vampire of that lineage contributed Vitae
to its Birthing Ritual.
Daeva — Child of the Beloved: Gargoyles created by Serpents
are too beautiful to violate. It costs a Willpower per attack to
harm a Child of the Beloved who has not (obviously) acted
violently in a scene. This does not apply +3 to the roll.
Gangrel — Child of the Wild: Gargoyles created by Savages
are brutal killers. Children of the Wild always deal +1 lethal
damage with unarmed attacks, including on vampires and
other supernatural creatures who would downgrade damage.
Mekhet — Child of the Dusk: Gargoyles created by Shadows
are exemplary spies and sneaks. Noticing a Child of the Dusk,
or even finding hints of its passage, requires an exceptional
success using Perception or Investigation. Any other result is
treated as a dramatic failure.
Nosferatu — Child of the Despised: Gargoyles created by
Haunts are terrifying to look upon. A Child of the Despised
cannot fail mundane Intimidation actions. Treat any failure
as accruing a single success, and treat normal successes as
exceptional successes, even on Disciplines.
Ventrue — Child of the Estate: Gargoyles created by Lords
are superlative servants even among customized lackeys like
the Graven. A Child of the Estate halves all times on extended
actions and can spend a Vitae on a one-to-one basis for addi-
tional rolls, up to its Blood Potency dots. This effect does apply
to supernatural powers.

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 155


Other Clans
If you want to use gargoyles created by the lost
and minor clans in various Vampire: The Requiem
supplements, map the following Aspects to the
lineages listed below or come up with your own.
Daeva Aspect: Twice-Cursed
Gangrel Aspect: Amari, Pijavica, Nhang
Mekhet Aspect: Akhud, Dukhan, Jiang Shi
Nosferatu Aspect: Hypatians, Twice-Cursed
Ventrue Aspect: Bekaak, Julii
Common Aspects
Far-Seer: The gargoyle can perceive over vast distances. As
long as its view is unobstructed, it can see with perfect clarity
and in minute detail up to (Blood Potency) kilometers away, and
it automatically detects changes to its environment.
Fast Healer: The gargoyle heals at the rate of a mortal.
Hard as Rocks: The gargoyle is immune to being knocked
down and does not suffer wound penalties caused by damage.
Keeper of Ways: Once a night, the gargoyle can open any
door and use it to move through another aperture in a location
designated by its master (or by itself, if Rampant). If someone
follows the creature through the door before it closes, they will
teleport as well.
Living Library: The gargoyle has a perfect memory, and
it requires no roll to memorize or recall even minute details.
Masker: The gargoyle reflexively take on a human form for
a night, usually resembling its creator in some way. Its traits
remain the same except for Size; adjust Health accordingly.
Mentalist: The gargoyle can communicate with its creator
telepathically over any distance, even when the vampire is
resting, though she won’t get the message till the next night
unless it’s regarding a threat.
Mimic: As an instant action, the gargoyle can take the form
of a particular inanimate object indefinitely. This might be a
statue, a piece of furniture, or even a pile of ash. The creature
can revert at any time with another instant action. While in this
form, it cannot act or move, but it is also impervious to harm.
156 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Mockingbird: The gargoyle can imitate any sound or person
it hears. This is not an illusion, and is not subject to powers of
revelation like Auspex.
Trapper: While standing on soil, the gargoyle can spend a
Willpower to form a trap as an instant action. The trap can be
up to (Blood Potency + 5) meters away from the creature, and
anyone who walks into the trap suffers the Immobilized Tilt
as if the gargoyle had successfully grappled him. Traps last the
scene, then collapse back into dirt.
Becoming Rampant
Despite the efforts of a few forward-thinking Kindred, there’s
no surefire way for an Automaton to gain sapience. The fol-
lowing are a few suggestions for how it might happen, but don’t
treat this list as exhaustive. Use whatever system inspires the
most drama in your chronicle.
Birthing Botch: If the Birthing Ritual is a dramatic failure,
the player can take a Beat for the ritual to succeed at the cost
of birthing a Rampant gargoyle.
Brain Drain: If an Automaton drains a mortal to death
through feeding, there’s a chance it might “diablerize” her. If a
gargoyle kills a feeding victim, roll its creator’s Humanity. On
a failure, it will attempt to drain her even further. The system
is the same as a normal diablerie, but upon success, it instead
gains a dot of Intelligence and becomes Rampant.
Falling for Love: Some gargoyles develop affinities for
objects and people. If a gargoyle ever defies its master to pro-
tect the object of its affection, it becomes Rampant and gains
a Touchstone at Humanity 6.
Made Too Well: Improving a gargoyle runs the risk of
Rampancy. For every five Experiences spent on a gargoyle, roll
the creator’s Humanity. On a success, the gargoyle becomes
Rampant for the next chapter, returning to its mindless state
at the end of the session. On an exceptional success, it perma-
nently becomes Rampant.
Self-Preservation: If a vampire orders a gargoyle to perform
an action that will inevitably cause its destruction, roll its
Resolve + Composure with its creator’s Blood Potency as a
penalty. On a success, it becomes Rampant.
Strigid Influence: If a character who contributed to the
Birthing Ritual was ever possessed by a Strix, the gargoyle
may become Rampant at a time of the Storyteller’s choosing.
 Hunting Grounds The Hungry Earth
<a low rumble followed by muffled screams and the sound of branches breaking>
AKA: Badlands
The Savages share many legends around the fire. While some
are just meant to see who can spook their Kindred most, these
yarns often illustrate useful lessons, especially to fledglings. If
a vampire sheds her essence too often, some say, her haven will
take on her curse. The candlelight dims in her presence, the
spiders weave words in the webs, and the floors creak almost like
a moaning voice. Or so the tales go. Mostly, this is superstition,
coupled with an animal inclination not to shit where you eat.
Still, Vitae is nothing if not adaptable.
Sometimes, the taint of death pools in low places, and the
pain refuses to fade away. Sometimes, the land goes bad. Stains
like this exist throughout the world, and left to fester through
neglect or ignorance, this seeded corruption can sprout.
Hunting Grounds are the end result of this awful sowing,
and while not all are the product of Kindred carelessness,
these places all share the Beast’s mindset without any of the
Man’s self-control.
Background
Hunting Grounds are vampires. They feed on blood and
manipulate the living to get their fill of it, hiding in plain
sight as the masses walk on by. They don’t cling to covenants
or Traditions or Humanity or discrete bodies, but maybe that
just makes them a purer strain of death than the Kindred.
Strix sometimes roost in Badlands for this reason, providing
the creature with fresh victims in exchange for shelter during
the day.
Hunting Grounds form when too much blood spills in one
place. Usually, this is due to a vampire lairing in the same area
for many years, letting her prey’s viscera dribble into the earth.
Draugr often spawn Badlands for their habit of leaving kills to
rot in their nests, but any vampire who doesn’t bother to clean
up after a meal can form one of these creatures. At other times,
this spark emerges from human influence, like a killer storing
hundreds of his victims in a single grave, or a battle flooding
the soil with gore.
However it forms, bloodlust leaks from a Hunting Ground
like radiation. It works its way through the air, the earth, the
groundwater, and into all the creatures that live within its reach.
The influence spreads first through wild beasts like birds and
rodents, then through domesticated animals, then, finally, into
humans. And as this influence grows, so too does the Hunting
Ground’s thirst.
Most Kindred have never heard of Hunting Grounds, but
Gangrel have encountered them many times over many centu-
ries. Whether this is due to the sort of places the clan chooses
for havens, or because they spawn Badlands more often than
other vampires, is a topic for debate, but it was undeniably the
Savages who named the phenomenon, and it’s the Savages who
are most often left to deal with it.
One of Us
The primeval cunning of a Badland isn’t intelligence, per se,
but it knows a predator needs a pack, especially one without
mobility. While Hunting Grounds have an inherent mastery
over the lower beasts who burrow and nest within it, most that
recognize humans are apex predators in their own right, and
they can tap into that strength for their own greedy ends. Like
Kindred, a Hunting Ground can grab mortals by the lizard
brain through the addictive power of Vitae, and once a person
belongs to it, she becomes its “willing” agent in the world. She
becomes its Hound.
Despite the name, Hounds need not be feral brutes on
leashes. Humans have always been hunters, and a good hunter
adapts to its environment and prey. A Hound can just as
easily kill with a knife in her victim’s back, or an “accidental”
misfire during deer season, or a box of poisoned muffins at a
PTA meeting. In some Badlands, Hounds are hulking, hairless
monstrosities born from humans merging with forest animals;
others are filled with beautiful people whose lovely eyes belie
their soulless, mindless interiors; and yet others are populated
with “normal” people who carry the sickly sweet scent of tumor-
ous interiors like walking, talking rotten fruit.
Where the Heart Is
At the center of each Hunting Ground is its Heart, the spir-
itual seat of its hungry urges. Like the Hunting Ground itself,
the Heart can be anything: a forest pit lined with thousands
of bones, a bloody altar in an old church, or even the fountain
inside a shopping mall. The Heart is the only place where
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 157
 the Hunting Ground’s thirst can be quenched, but, like any habit of digging into the earth, combined with Animalism’s
vampire, it’s also the part that’s most vulnerable. Even while power over territory, can accelerate an area’s corruption
stalking prey, the Hounds mustn’t stray too far away from the through her presence alone. Not to mention being messy
Heart. It’s the seat of their community and the ritual focus of eaters in general. Some foolhardy Savages have tried to tame
their lives. Should an interloper manage to damage the Heart, these spaces with their powers over beasts — as have a few
either by destruction or exorcism, the Hunting Ground dies, Lords — though so far, the results have been little more than
and any gifts bestowed upon its Hounds end with it. one predator growling at another until one flinches (usually
the Gangrel). Still, taming a Hunting Ground would be quite
a feat, and if a cunning Savage managed to do so, she would
Rumors never want for territory again.
“You know how they have to deconsecrate churches? There’s a
reason for that, and not just the sacrilege angle. This Sanctified
chick I used to date told me how an old cathedral burned down
in her home town. For some reason, the kine never got
around to ‘unchurching’ the area, and that pissed
God right of. The building started killing the
teens and homeless dudes who’d sneak
in to dick around with the wreckage.
Violating holy ground, so to speak.
Apparently, the Spear had to
go in with one hell of an
exorcist.”
While most Hunting
Grounds are the prod-
uct of shed vampire
blood or immense
violence, desecrating
a sacred place can
cause much the same
effect. If enough peo-
ple hold an area dear,
destroying or violat-
ing it is sufficient to
trigger its formation
into a Badland, just
as long as these acts
inflict enough emotional
pain. However, it still
requires a bit of blood
to push it over the edge.
Sometimes this can
lead to a long delay,
w it h t he potent i a l
Hunting Ground wait-
ing decades to taste its
first drop of Vitae.
“The Gangrel have
some connection to those
things. Resting in dirt,
hunt ing lik e f u cking
animals — of course the
Savages are behind it.”
True, insofar as Gangrel
are the most likely clan to
birth Hunting Grounds. Their

158 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You. Can’t. Embrace.
A house.”
Badlands aren’t Embraced — not exactly — but that doesn’t
mean no one’s tried. A bloodline of Shadows called the
Család are experimenting with exactly that premise, using
their unique blood sorcery in an attempt to awaken Hunting
Grounds on purpose. They haven’t had much success yet, but
with enough shed blood, it might only be a matter of time
before they figure out a way to brute force it. For more on the
Család, see Strange Shades: Mekhet.
Three Badlands
Local legend says an epidemic closed the sanitarium, but in
truth, it was the thing growing beneath the floors, supping
on the blood and trauma of its residents. However, when the
place was shut down, the creature lost its food supply, and so
it fell to dormancy. Eventually, an enterprising Lick acquired
it as a bolt hole, a place she could bury her prey without fear
of scrutiny. Unfortunately for her, the Invictus was watch-
ing, and when they came to put her down, the bloody fight
awakened the structure. Now the vampire and the sanitarium
work together, using Kindred victims to grow their mutual
territory, exponentially.
The Tri-County Shopping Mall is dying. Years ago, it was
a magnificent monument to 80s consumerism, a home away
from home for weekend shoppers, teenagers, and elderly
walkers, but today, it’s succumbing to wounds dealt by online
shopping and other modern conveniences. When a bankrupt
shop owner hurled himself to his death from a third-floor
railing, the land beneath the mall awakened. Though small in
number, its Hounds are composed of a healthy mix of youthful
bodies and families who’ve begun to lure others into their
burgeoning cult. In a way, the mall hungers for community.
It longs to be full of life again, and if it can’t have that, the
blood will do just as well.
Everyone in town knows the wishing well in the middle of
the park. Once upon a time, it was the town’s original water
supply, but over the years, a lack of maintenance left it as little
more than a relic and an eyesore. That is, until a little boy
drowned trying to skim coins from it in the middle of the
night. The body was never recovered, and the well woke up.
Now, rumors are spreading that the old wishing well can really
make your dreams come true if you make the right offering.
The well hungers for sacrifice, and the larger the trade, the
greater the reward. As long as the sacrifice holds value to the
person offering it, the Hunting Ground will accept it, and as
the sacrifices build up, so too does its ability to grant wishes
to its faithful.
Systems
When creating a Hunting Ground for your chronicle, define
the following qualities. Note that Hunting Grounds have only
two traits with dot ratings: Influence and Blood Potency. If a
Badland ever needs to take an action that does not fall under
the rules below, roll these two traits.
The Heart
The creature’s Heart is its central point, radiating corrup-
tive power through the surrounding environs. The nature of
the Heart also influences the Badland’s Hounds: A Hunting
Ground with an old oak tree as a heart might have Hounds
who come to resemble nymphs and dryads, while one formed
around a rusted sword in a stone might have cultists who don
scrap metal as crude, knightly armor.
The Badland’s Heart has a Health trait equal to Structure
+ Blood Potency.
Influence
A Badland’s Influence is a measure of its hunger, and the
hungrier it is, the more power it has over its immediate environs.
Influence often relates to the environment the creature occupies.
For example, a Hunting Ground situated over an abandoned
prison might have a Confinement Influence, whereas one on
a historical battleground might have one relating to Warfare.
By spending Vitae, a Badland can do any of the following
depending on its level of Influence:
• Strengthen: The creature can enhance its sphere of
influence. It can add to the Defense of a servant, make
an emotion stronger, an animal or plant healthier, or an
object more robust, gaining the entity’s Blood Potency
in Health or Structure. The cost is 1 Vitae.
•• Manipulate: The creature can make minor changes
within its sphere of influence, such as slightly changing
the nature or target of an emotion, or make minor
changes to an animal’s actions, a plant’s growth, or an
object’s functionality. The cost is 2 Vitae.
••• Control: The creature can make dramatic changes
within its sphere of influence, twisting emotions entirely
or dictating an animal’s actions, a plant’s growth or an
object’s functionality, applying its Blood Potency as a
bonus to any relevant actions, or as a penalty to any that
counter this Influence. The cost is 3 Vitae.
•••• Create: The creature can create a new example of its
sphere of influence. It can instill an emotion, create
a new sapling or young plant, a young animal, or a
brand-new object. The cost is 4 Vitae.
••••• Mass Create: The creature can create multiple examples
of its sphere of influence, triggering emotions in mul-
tiple people, creating new groves of trees, small groups
of animals, or multiple, identical items. The cost is 5
Vitae. The number of examples of the Influence created
is equal to Blood Potency times two. Alternately, the
entity can create one instance of its sphere of influence
permanently, although it can’t permanently alter the
mind of a sentient being.
Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 159
 Influence Durations Blood Potency Sizes
Blood Potency Maximum Area
Level Duration Cost
• A few trees or single room
0 One minute No additional
per success Vitae cost •• A clearing or small house

• Ten minutes No additional ••• A patch of woods or large

per success Vitae cost farmhouse

•• One hour 1 additional •••• A large field or mansion

per success Vitae
••• One day per 2 additional
success Vitae
•••• Permanent 2 additional
Vitae
Influence is measured in both scale and duration. To use an
Influence, compare the Hunting Grounds Influence rating to
the level of the intended effect and how long it’s to last. The
total must be equal to or less than the entity’s Influence rating
in order for the Influence to be attempted.
The entity pays the listed cost in Vitae and the Storyteller rolls
Influence + Blood Potency, with success creating the desired
effect. If the Influence is meddling with the thoughts or emo-
tions of a sentient being, the roll is contested by the higher of
Resolve or Composure + Supernatural Tolerance.
Finally, each dot of Influence grants the Hunting Ground an
effective rank in Animalism, rolling Influence + Blood Potency
to activate effects. Otherwise, the systems work as written.
Blood Potency
As with Kindred, Blood Potency determines how much Vitae
a Badland can spend in a turn and how much it can store at
any given time. It rises and falls like a vampire’s, increasing
for every fifty years of activity and falling for every 25 years of
dormancy. As with Kindred, Blood Potency restricts the crea-
ture’s prey; the more powerful it becomes, the more potent the
blood it requires to maintain its existence. Blood Potency also
determines the upper limits of the creature’s size (see chart).
Vitae
• While all Hunting Grounds crave blood, each craves it in a
different way, requiring peculiar rituals and ticks to satisfy
its needs. A Hunting Ground with a Violence Influence will
only accept Vitae earned through combat, while one with an
Influence over Water might need its victims to be drowned.
• A Badland must expend (Blood Potency) Vitae once per
week to maintain itself. If it doesn’t, it goes dormant until
its Hounds feed it once more.
••••• A cornfield or a sprawling
estate
••••• • A small forest or a school
••••• •• A mid-sized forest or a
shopping mall
••••• ••• A few kilometers of wilder-
ness or a college campus
••••• •••• Dense wilderness or a
neighborhood
••••• ••••• Sprawling wilderness or a
small town
• Feeding works the same for a Hunting Ground as it does
for a vampire. Usually this means its minions must bleed
victims over the Heart, but some hunting grounds can
siphon blood through natural hazards, like brambles, or
not so natural ones, like ground glass.
• Hunting Grounds can bleed Vitae through fissures in
the earth, lace it into ground water, or even aerosolize it.
However, only mortals are affected by aerosolized Vitae.
• Badlands can use Physical Intensity to add dice to physical
actions or to bolster an individual Hound’s dice pool.
Bane
Each Hunting Ground suffers a bane, an object or material
that can severely wound it and its Hounds. A Hunting Ground
created by long torpid vampire is weak to the creature’s blood
(or the blood of its childer), while one formed by a murderer
is vulnerable to the killer’s blade or the bones of his victims.
When wielded against the Hunting Ground’s Heart or one
of its minions, the bane deals aggravated damage. Only full
aggravated damage to the Heart can destroy a Badland.
Hounds
When a human enters a Hunting Ground, the creature
might decide to add her to its pack instead of treating her
as prey. To do so, it spends a Vitae to suffuse the air with its
essence, inflicting a first-stage Vinculum on the subject. It can

160 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 Story Seeds
• The young woman who just moved into the apartment down the hall is pretty and charming, albeit a tad naive,
which makes sense given she grew up on a farm. Or so she says. In truth, she’s the only surviving Hound of a
Hunting Ground, one that was destroyed by a pack of rural Gangrel vying for territory. She was conceived and
born in the Badland, and she carries a piece of it inside her. The creature isn’t dead, just dormant, and all they
need is to find the right place to plant the seed.
• A Hunting Ground has taken over a nearby park, and there’s something sinister hidden in its Heart. Whatever
it is — a methuselah, a demon, or something stranger — the being wants to be freed. Its presence is bleeding
cryptic messages into the surrounding area, hidden in print ads and scrawled along bathroom walls, hinting at
forgotten lore and powerful rituals. Whatever it is, the sleeping creature possesses incredible knowledge and is
more than willing to make a trade. But first, it’s captor needs to be razed, with prejudice.
• There’s a sleepy little village a short drive away from the coterie’s city called Misty Vale. Once known as a quiet
sunset community for retirees and newlyweds, its reputation has become rather literal of late. A thick fog blan-
kets the town, and within its borders the sun no longer rises, and no one who travels through the wall of mist
ever returns. Even telecommunication signals fail within the town’s borders — yet it’s hotels and resorts are still
taking bookings. What’s causing this strange phenomenon? And can it be solved before tourist season begins?

compound this bond on each subsequent visit, and it can inflict
the subject’s dreams with a desperate urge to return. Once this
bond reaches the third stage, the character becomes a Hound.
Hounds have the following traits and qualities:
• They are effectively ghouls with a dot a single dot of Animalism,
Celerity, Obfuscate, Resilience, or Vigor. Remaining in the
Badland sustains a Hound’s immortality even if she runs out
of Vitae, but leaving incurs the Deprived Condition within 24
hours if she has no blood in her system. Destroying a Hunting
Ground restores the character to normal, but she’ll suffer the
usual consequences for ghouls deprived of Vitae.
• Once per scene, spending Willpower on teamwork actions
with other Hounds grants +5 instead of +3.
• The character becomes singleminded in the pursuit of
its Badland’s desires. She loses the 10-again quality on
all actions that do not directly or indirectly contribute to
feeding or defending the Hunting Ground.
A Hunting Ground can telepathically communicate with its
Hounds as long as members remain in its bounds.
Note that the system for Hounds provided here is for indi-
vidual members of small- or moderate-sized packs. However,
some Badlands can grow so vast and powerful that they can
summon dozens (or, according to rumor, hundreds) of min-
ions. If you want to represent a true horde, use the Zombies!
Environmental Tilt, found on p. 150 of the Chronicles of
Darkness Rulebook.

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 161

 Narya The Colossi
The most potent warriors are patience and time.
AKA: Antediluvians
Kindred were not the first vampires to walk the earth. Those
who count themselves among the All Night Society are merely
the most successful. Long before the Kindred drank their first
draft, other horrors stalked the night in search of prey.
The Narya are one such horror. These deathless monsters
— vampires in all but name — say they once ruled a golden
empire, yet now their numbers have dwindled to barely a hand-
ful. Scant evidence of their past exists in eerie and intricate
statues, murals, and reliefs, but little does the waking world
suspect that these immaculate works house the monsters they
depict. And when these ancients wake, it is with a deep and
desperate hunger.
Background
The Colossi say their human ancestors ruled over a long-lost
kingdom in a remote part of the earth, before the time of the
biblical flood. However, this kingdom was nearly shattered
when a sudden catastrophe befell it. The earth shook, the moon
swallowed the sun, and the sky was sundered. In desperation,
the royal family of this land offered up a sacrifice to the “void”
spreading from the wound in the sky. When the calamity
passed, the nobles were changed into gods, not only masters
of their people, but masters of the physical form, whether their
own or anything they touched. What they called themselves
is lost to time — even they do not recall — but Kindred records
use the term Narya, a Sanskrit word for heroism and potency.
The Narya themselves prefer Colossi, for they stride across the
earth as giants among lesser beings.
Now more than mere mortals, the corrupted royal family
raised temples to their own egos, devouring sacrifices in the
thousands and waging proxy wars against each other for their
own amusement, all hidden in the shadows. For although they
were eternal, their pact with the void had cursed them to turn
to stone under the wrathful gaze of the sun.
All of humanity might be under their wretched yolk tonight
had the unthinkable not happened: Almost overnight, the
Narya became sterile. Some speak of a plague that passed
silently among them, the symptoms only apparent long after it
was too late, while others believe they made some slight against
the void, punished for their hubris.
162 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
The Colossi had always limited their bloodline, but without
a means to breed, the rigors of time, ennui, and the threat of a
hateful sun devastated their numbers. Now those who remain
have embraced the long sleep of torpor in hopes of emerging
in more interesting eras, or perhaps to find the key to their
survival in human innovation.
Blood and Stone and Flesh
Each Colossus can reshape her body at will, similar to the
Savages but with far more versatility. Unfortunately, this does not
include creating more of their kind. To the Colossi, the Kindred
are an inferior strain of vampirism, but not in how they reproduce.
For all their power and functional immortality, the Narya breed
as humans do, but none have successfully mated since their
golden age. Some have tried to conceive with ghouls, dhampir,
or even Kindred, but the results are always the same: failure.
Maybe that’s for the best. While the Colossi can savor food
and drink, they cannot survive without the blood, and they
often have a thirst that can match any methuselah’s. However,
even that would be more manageable than the sudden and
capricious moods that possess them. These emotional jags come
on like hurricanes, driving the Narya to acts of selfishness that
would make a draugr raise an eyebrow. While in these states, a
Colossus might consume an entire city in one night, slaughter
his own armies, or uncontrollably weep until the sun rises and
seals his fate.
No known mortal weapon can slay a Colossus, but they do
fear two things. The first is the sun their ancestors betrayed to
the dark; the second is the loneliness of eternity. With no pros-
pect of a future for their dying race, many have lost themselves
to despair and embraced the daystar’s judgment.
Now that only a handful remain, this loneliness has con-
sumed them. The Colossi long for the companionship of their
own kind, whether as friends, lovers, or rivals, and they scour
the world in search of one another, especially on the off-chance
that a coupling might produce heirs. When these efforts fail,
many take their frustrations out on the ever changing world and
its inhabitants. Some orchestrate power fantasies and mystery
plays, drawing unwitting actors into their webs to play heroes
and villains, often with themselves at the center of the narra-
tive. And when this too grows wearisome, the Narya returns
to torpor. Within a tomb of living stone, the vampire sleeps
away the centuries and dreams of nights past until she wakes didn’t have anything, but he passed me a couple benjies. Not bad for a
to repeat the blood-drenched cycle all over again. night’s work. Funny, though. I pegged him as one of us at first, but he
didn’t give me that prickly feeling. Maybe… I dunno. Old soul, I guess.”
The Arisen remember the Narya. Or, they remember them as
Rumors well as anything else, which is always a bit tricky to unpack when
“So… they’re, like, proto-Gangrel. I mean, obviously. They’re Savages it comes to mummies. The Nameless Empire was roughly con-
on steroids.” temporary with the Narya and their kingdom, and Deathless will
sometimes seek out Colossi on the chance they might remember
False, but no one could blame you for thinking otherwise.
something of their murky past and the fate of the Shan’iatu. The
The Gangrel rose from the grave in whatever way they rose,
Narya have tried to avoid the subject for some reason, and many
but the Narya had nothing to do with it, and they consider
Arisen believe they’re doing so on strict orders.
Savages to be little more than, well, savages. That said, the clan’s
mastery of form resembles the Colossi’s in all but “They have a language no one understands, but I don’t think it’s as
a few details, and it could be the first Gangrel dead as it seems. You ever heard of something called First Tongue?”
learned some of their shapeshifting ability The Narya speak a language unfamiliar to both human
from a Narya. Or perhaps whatever force or Kindred ears, and no authentic written records of it
that elevated them also had a hand in survive into the modern era. However, if a werewolf ever
the clan’s creation. caught a few words, she might be very surprised to get the
“You know how Ivanna has that room gist of it. While the Colossi language isn’t one-to-one
filled with old, busted-ass statues? I was with the First Tongue, it could easily be an offshoot.
there during her last soirée and I caught Stranger still, the Narya have never claimed that this
her talking to one them — but not just is the native language of their kingdom (or, if they
that: It seemed like she thought it was do, they’re lying). Perhaps, then, this language was
talking back.” yet another gift of the void…
Properly preserved, a petrified
Nar ya can last for thousands of
years before the stone erodes to dust,
Voivod
but until then, her mind carries on. “What a mistake to allow these
Trapped forever inside her own body, insects to flourish. No matter. We
these ancients can be great founts of shall correct it.”
knowledge for those with the ability Voivod has always been
to read minds. Throughout history, a predator first. When she
many Kindred have collected these was accidentally awakened
strange “thinking statues” without by Red Army soldiers in
ever knowing what they really are, the ruins of a bombed out
and an entombed Narya will do any- Transylvanian castle, just after
thing she can for a bit of company. the end of World War II, she
However, some Colossi have also hunted the men for weeks on
used their centuries of experience end, stalking them through the
to manipulate the foolish vampires icy forest canopy each night. She
who seek their counsel, taking grim learned much of the world in this
satisfaction in the destruction of time, not having tasted blood since a
Kindred and domains they’ll never battalion of Mongol Kindred forced her
see with their own eyes. into torpor in the 13th century.
“Had this weird guy in the shop the Decades later, Voivod is still active,
other night looking for books on mythical and she’s seen the devastation of indus-
civilizations. Atlantis and Mu and crap trialization scouring her once pristine
like that. Wanted to know about some forests. With her favorite hunting
‘lost’ race called the Narya. I refrained grounds wounded, she’s decided
from mentioning that stuff’s all Nazi to remove the human blight from
horseshit — I thought it real hard the area, starting at the top. Now
— but he seemed like a nice Voivod spends her nights stalking
enough dude. Mostly he just and devouring the power behind
seemed lost, like he couldn’t these companies, leaving grisly scenes
quite remember something he was of carnage that have begun to gain
supposed to ask me. At any rate, I international publicity…

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 163

 Virtue: Honorable
Vice: Petty
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 5, Wits 4, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5
Social Attributes: Presence 5, Manipulation 5,
Composure 3
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Crafts (Pottery, Sculpting)
4, Occult 5, Politics 2
Physical Skills: Athletics 4, Brawl (Grappling) 6,
Larceny 2, Stealth 3, Survival 4, Weaponry 3
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Cats, Horses, Lions)
2, Expression 2, Intimidation (Smiling Promises) 5,
Persuasion 4, Streetwise 1
Merits: Languages (Gothic, Old Church Slavonic, Old
Turkic, Romanian, Russian), Library 2, Resources 3, Safe
Place 4, Striking Looks 2, Undead Menses
Disciplines: Crúac 3, Protean 5
Rituals: Cheval, The Hydra’s Vitae, Pangs of
Proserpina, Rigor Mortis, Touch of the Morrigan
Blood Potency: 4
Health: 10
Willpower: 6
Humanity: 2
Size: 5
Speed: 14
Initiative: 8
Defense: 8
Systems
The Narya function like Kindred except as follows:
Anchors: Colossi see no need to hide their natures, and they
have even less use for the All Night Society. As such, Narya have
Virtues and Vices rather than Masks and Dirges.
Banes: Narya are no more vulnerable to fire than humans,
but even minor exposure to sunlight turns their bodies to stone.
Once petrified, they can never be restored, but they remain men-
tally aware until something or someone destroys their remains.
The Beast: Narya lack Beasts. Instead of frenzy, they suffer
Hamartia (below). Furthermore, a Colossus who loses her last
Humanity dot does not become a draugr. Instead, she gains a
persistent form of the Cathectic Condition (p. 165).
Disciplines: While they can learn blood sorcery, Narya have
no Disciplines of their own (with the exception of Protean;
see below). Instead, they can manifest Discipline powers by
spending Vitae equal to the total dots they wish to access.
This lasts a scene and is limited to the ten powers common to
most Kindred. Narya cannot improvise Devotions or Merits
that tie into Disciplines, but they can learn them, ignoring
164 Wild Hunt: Gangrel
Lies, Damned Lies, and History
Kindred who’ve heard of the Narya and their
empire wonder at the latter’s veracity, which isn’t to
say the Colossi are lying, but they’re predisposed to
self-aggrandizement, and, if nothing else, vampires
know having a long memory doesn’t mean you have
an accurate one. Some Kindred have heard stories of
this lost empire and sought its remains, though if any
Narya still recall its location, they’re keeping mum,
at… least until they get a good offer.
prerequisites. They must manifest these prerequisites to use
these powers, however.
The Embrace: Narya cannot Embrace and do not spawn rev-
enants through careless feeding. In theory, they can reproduce
naturally, but none have been able to do so for eons.
Ghouls and Blood Bonds: Narya can form Vincula, but they
cannot create or foster ghouls. Colossi are immune to Vitae addic-
tion and add their Resolve dots to any rolls to resist blood bonds.
Physical Intensity: In addition to the usual effects of Physical
Intensity, a Narya can spend Vitae to increase a Mental or Physical
Attribute by a dot, up to her trait limit. The vampire can do this
as many times in a scene as she has Blood Potency dots.
Physiology: Narya bodies have autonomic functions like
humans, including natural healing. Instead of a blush of life,
a Colossus can spend a Vitae to seem corpselike. Furthermore,
they sleep like mortals and do not need to spend Vitae to rise
for the night, though they also do not experience a Cleansing
effect. By spending a Vitae and a Willpower, a Narya can heal
all bashing damage in her Health boxes. She also does not need
to rest to heal aggravated damage, though she can only mend
a point per scene. Furthermore, only full aggravated damage
can send her into torpor, at which point she can don her Stone
Chrysalis (below).
Gifts of the Void
The Narya differ from the Kindred in their mutable forms
and command over matter. However, the darkness also exacts
a heavy price upon their souls, inflating their egos to tumorous
proportions as they fall further away from Humanity.
Body Mastery
Colossi possess complete control of their forms. All Narya
possess the equivalent of five dots in Protean with the fol-
lowing expansions:
• Predatory Aspect and Uncanny Aspect: The vampire has
access to any conceivable adaptation without needing to rest
in her Unmarked Grave, but she must renew these powers
to change out the forms she chose for the scene once she
manifests the usual limits of these effects.
 Story Seeds
• Each member of the coterie has been having the same dream: A beautiful, androgynous figure comes to them
begging to be freed from a terrible prison of stone. It promises untold rewards if they would only perform a
special sacrifice during the upcoming solar eclipse. Will the characters buy in to these promises? And who else
has been having these dreams?
• In a far-off Siberian monetary, a friar of the Lancea et Sanctum has unearthed an ancient tablet. After weeks of
translation, he believes he’s found a Theban Sorcery ritual that will grant a boon akin to the miracle of transub-
stantiation but in vampire flesh. In actuality, he has an incomplete copy (of a copy) of the dark ritual that created
the Narya. If such godlike powers were originally granted to mere humans, their effects on a vampire could be
beyond conception, yet even if the ritual is successful, time has stripped crucial details from the tablet. In his holy
fervor, the monk hasn’t considered how this might this affect his apotheosis.
• One of the coterie’s Touchstones has discovered that a significant part of her ancestry belongs to a people of
unknown origin. What she doesn’t know is that she’s a direct descendant of Narya royalty. While her poten-
tial power lies dormant for now, it’s only a matter of time before it starts to seep out in bursts, which will be
more than enough to awaken the slumbering Colossus at the local museum, hiding in its chrysalis as part of
an exhibit.

• Beast Skin: The vampire can steal human guises, copying the
appearances of mortals she drains. The number of forms she
can memorize is determined by Protean or Blood Potency,
whichever is higher.
• Narya all inherently have access to the equivalent of the
Elastic Visage Devotion (p. 104).
has a blood bond to the vampire, she can alter him from any
distance as long as she has Vitae and Willpower to spend.
Because they cannot create ghouls, Narya often use this ability
to build more effective servants.
Vampires and other characters with Supernatural Tolerance
traits (including ghouls) are immune to this effect.

If a Merit has Protean as a prerequisite but would normally Stone Chrysalis

be restricted to Gangrel, a Narya character can still purchase it.
Hamartia
Despite (or because of) their great power, the Narya have
fragile egos, and they lack the stirrings of the Beast to keep the
Man in check. Whenever a Colossus is provoked to extreme
anger, hunger, or fear, his player must resist his basest urges
with a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll. He cannot spend
Willpower to bolster this action. On a failure, he takes the
Cathectic Condition instead of falling to frenzy.
Material Mastery
By bleeding Vitae over any non-organic/on-synthetic material,
Narya can shape up to a cubic foot of matter per Vitae. They
can also transmute one substance into another as long as the
aforementioned restrictions apply.
Colossi can also apply this ability to living beings with sig-
nificantly more effort. By spending a Vitae and a Willpower, a
Narya can reshape a mortal subject more to her liking. She can
completely redefine the subject’s appearance (build, apparent
sex, skin tone, etc.), redistribute her physical Attributes, and
even turn a human into an animal — or vice versa, though this
has no effect on Mental and Social traits. Transformation only
takes a turn of contact and an instant action, but if the victim
As long as she has Vitae in her system, a Narya can spend
a Willpower to expend all remaining blood reserves at once
to turn to stone. This takes an instant action. Within this
cocoon, she resembles a sculpture and is immune to harm,
even from sunlight. In this state, the vampire can choose to
preserve her Blood Potency, keeping the Blood from thinning
in the intervening years. Otherwise, this stasis works the same
as torpor for Kindred.
CATHECTIC
You are overcome with your worst impulses, caring not for
consequences or propriety or morality. Until you resolve this
Condition, you lose the 10-again quality on all actions that do
not contribute to indulging your Vice. Furthermore, fulfilling
your Virtue grants no Willpower at all. This Condition fades
without resolving in nights equal to Blood Potency.
If this Condition is persistent, you must first regain a
Humanity dot to resolve this Condition, and you take a Beat
whenever your pursuit of Vice hinders an important goal or
long-term Aspiration.
Resolution: Refill your spent Willpower pool completely.

Chapter Four: Interloping Predators 165

 epilogue: wild hunt
I can never get over how dark it is out in the middle of nowhere. Without any light from the new moon,
it’s only starlight to guide me along the long-forgotten highways of southern Illinois. The GPS is barely
working beyond a geotag, and it’s been beeping at me for the better part of ten minutes by the time I
see her in my headlights. I pull over to the side of the road, and that’s when I get a good look at her:
She looks like shit.
Every inch of her is covered in either mud or blood. Her platinum blonde hair is pasted to her
skull where it’s not knotted and tangled into ropes, and her hands twitch at her sides, the fingers
still elongated into claws. No big deal. Girl’s just gone feral. Act casual.
I roll down my window and lean out. “Need a ride, stranger?”
The only reply is the soft crack of her claws reforming into fingers. She opens the passenger door
and tries to slide her filthy ass into the seat, but I stop her with a raised hand. “Nuh-uh. Not on
the Bentley. Change of clothes is in the back. Got you a new phone too.”
She nods absently and grabs the duffel bag I set aside for her. I’d normally worry about size, but
it’s mostly my gym clothes, and she’s a waif like most of the rocker girls I’ve ever known. She strips
down to nothing and cleans the grime off with the wet wipes I packed. I watch her, and it’s a few
seconds before I realize I’m doing so. I pull my eyes away, mad at myself. Creepy, Reagan. Creepy.
I check my makeup in the mirror and try to distract my roving eyes. “So… what the hell happened?”
She looks up and stares at me in the mirror. There’s something wild behind that gaze. “You know
what? I don’t want to know.”
As she finishes cleaning herself up, she pushes the duffel to the side, and that’s when I realize she’s
not alone. Another Lick slides into the back seat, a handsome East Asian man in his early twenties,
coated in the same amount of blood and dirt she was. He has the thousand-yard stare of the newly dead.
“Who the hell is that?! And why the fuck didn’t you clean him up?”
Lainey shrugs, then hands him the wipes and duffel bag. “Sorry. A friend,” she signs.
“Yeah, well, your friend looks pretty ripe.”
She pauses for a moment before sheepishly signing, “Childe.” She fingerspells the E for effect.
“Well… well fuck. At least there’s no one at home to complain about it. Welcome to the party,
man. Name’s Riddle. Please don’t make a mess in my car.” He just stares through me, and I really,
really hope both of them are fed.
Now all cleaned up, she slides into the front seat. She still smells like blood and death, but at
least she’s easier on the eyes. “There’s the Lainey I know,” I say. She smiles that gorgeous smile like
she always does, but there’s a bit too much fang for my comfort.
I shift the car into gear. “And nice to meet you… uh…?”
“Jamie,” a low growl responds from the backseat.
“…Cool. The more the merrier. We’re going to need all the help we can get. The others are going
to want to talk to you as soon as we get back.”
She tilts her head to the side and signs, “Why?”
I grin and hit the gas. “Because we have to save Chicago.”

166 Wild Hunt: Gangrel

 we've met before,
but this is the last time.
you owed a debt of blood
the moment you stepped
into my woods, little red,
and the BIG BAD WOLF
never forgets what she's due.
what, you think that's no fair?
oh pet, there are no rules
but the ones i make
with tooth and claw.
i always play fair, though.
The game's no fun if it's easy!
so have a headstart, little red.
LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN
MAKE IT HOME TO MOTHER.
-- moth
The Gangrel are death in the flesh, apex predators of the Damned. But that
fact earns them few friends among Kindred or kine, and as their isolation
grows, the Beast finds new ways to slip through their skin. Now, for the first
time in over 13 years, run free again with Clan Gangrel.
Wild Hunt is a complete guide to the Gangrel for Vampire: The Requiem
Second Edition, with updates and expansions to their original clan book,
Savage and Macabre. It includes:
• Ten Savage bloodlines: Old soldiers like the Childer of the Morrigan, Dead
Wolves, Mystikoi, and Oberlochs, ready to take up the fight once more,
along with fresh meat from the ranks of the Baetyl, Cerrid, Daimonion,
Verlice, Wickers, and Yarilo.
• The secrets of the Risen Beast, the dark passenger Gangrel can awaken to
become the most savage ones of all.
• A pack of wolves to keep you on your toes, including three rabid ghoul
families, four horrors, and two vicious covenants, featuring the return of
the Brides of Dracula, revving their engines in the face of the end times.
• Exciting new fiction from the Chronicles of Darkness: Chicago setting.
• Devotions, Merits, banes, and more tools for players and Storytellers alike!