Ventrue
The Ventrue offer a very simple boast: They win.
They always win.Other Kindred often despise the
Lords,but they seldom dispute the Clan’s boast. All
too often, a Kindred works and schemes to win
some prize, only to find that a Ventrue owned it all
along. The officers who lead a city’s Kindred
almost always include several highly placed
Ventrue. The Lords acknowledge no defeats, only
setbacks. The Bloodline shares a ruthless will to
power and the power to enforce its will. Their
favored Disciplines account for some of their
success. The Ventrue learn to command the
thoughts of other beings almost by instinct. Their
mastery of lesser animals harks back to nights of
domains in which the Lord was a master of beasts
as well as men. Although they do not especially
cultivate the arts of combat, they often prove
remarkably hard to kill. Ventrue regard their
supernatural gifts, however, as merely a tool to
begin the acquisition of real power — the power of
money, property, corporate stock, political
contacts, rank in Kindred society and large
numbers of mortals, at every level of society,
begging to lick their boots and fulfill their
commands.
The Ventrue take the feudal nature of Kindred
society very seriously. Every sire tells her childe
that some people rule, and some are ruled. As
Lords, they should strive to place themselves
among the rulers. Most Ventrue neonates already
believed this before their Embrace. Throughout the
Bloodline’s history, the Ventrue have sought power
in whatever forms mortals offered. Kindred
historians say that in ancient Rome the Bloodline
Embraced senators and patricians. In the Middle
Ages, they brought knights and churchmen into the
fold. As commerce became an avenue to power,
they cultivated merchant princes, bankers and
magnates. When states grew more bureaucratic,
the Lords Embraced high-ranking civil servants.
The rise of organized crime brought mob bosses
and
drug kingpins into the Bloodline. At the start of the
21st century, Ventrue elders ponder the merits of
Embracing scientists, engineers and computer
wizards. No matter where in society the power lies,
the Ventrue vow to exploit it before other Kindred
even know it exists.
Nickname
Lords
Symbol
Crown and Scepter
Appearance
Ventrue often adopt a conservative, low-key
appearance that expresses high status without
being flashy. Young Lords sometimes favor a
“preppy” look, the timeless suit-and-tie uniform of
business, or (for female Lords) elegant gowns or
business skirt-suits, with unobtrusive jewelry.
Ventrue elders might keep the styles of long ago, at
least in their own havens, and in public they still
tend to look decades out of date. Even rebellious
young Ventrue wear their metal-studded jackets
like a uniform, asserting their dominance. A Lord
surrounds himself with other trappings of wealth
and status, too, from the big, fancy car in the
garage to the wine cellar full of vintages he will
never again have the opportunity to enjoy.
Havens
If a Ventrue did not possess great wealth before the
Embrace, she often becomes rich afterward.
Ventrue select their havens to reflect their wealth
and power. Many Lords dwell in mansions or
actual walled estates. Few would settle for
anything less than a classic townhouse or
penthouse apartment (with secure curtains, of
course). Bloodline tradition holds that any Ventrue
can claim sanctuary from the sun at any other
Lord’s haven and not be refused, but few Lords
ever invoke this right. Not only do proud Lords
hate to beg another Kindred’s aid, a supplicant
henceforth owes a debt of honor to the Ventrue
who provided refuge. Great shame would befall
any Lord who denied a Bloodline mate or who
could not provide a comfortable rest, however, so a
prudent Ventrue makes sure his haven can
accommodate a Kindred guest or two.
Background
The Ventrue most often seek childer among the
ranks of professionals or the cream of high society.
Some Lords prefer childer from “old money”
families or political dynasties, as the closest the
modern world comes to feudal nobility. Other
Lords prefer self-made leaders such as millionaire
entrepreneurs, politicians, military officers or even
crime bosses. As new professions and new forms
of power arise, the Ventrue bring them into the
Bloodline. The rise of the computer industry, for
instance, has prompted a wave of tech-sector
childer.
Character Creation
Ventrue favor Social Attributes and Skills — the
traits needed for leadership — though they also
value Mental Attributes and Skills such as Politics
and Academics. The Bloodline excels at Social
Merits such as Resources, Contacts and
Status.Most Lords possessed great social influence
in life, and they acquire more in undeath.
Favored Attributes
Presence or Resolve
Bloodline Disciplines
Animalism, Dominate, Fortitude
Bloodline Bane
The Ventrue are inextricably tied to their domains
of origin, and must rest in the proximity of at least
two handfuls of “native soil” — earth from a place
important to them as a mortal, such as the soil
from their birthplace or the graveyard where they
underwent their Embrace. Each night spent
without this physical connection to the soil, the
player loses one die from all pools for every day
that the character fails to sleep in their special
earth (“special,” because the earth must be from an
area important to the character — birthplace, grave
site, etc. The specifics vary from Ventrue to
Ventrue, but any given character has only one such
site). This modifier cannot grow larger than –5, but
once it reaches this point it persists until the
character has spent a full night in at least two
handfuls of appropriate soil.
Organization: The Lords track their ties of blood
and obligation through an old-boy network that
extends across generations, bloodlines and
continents. A respectable Ventrue knows his fellow
Lords ancestors, their brood mates, allies, enemies
and Kindred owed and owing favors (though the
information might be a century out of date). Two
Ventrue often compare lineages and acquaintances
when they first meet. Thus do they establish their
relationships and status within the Bloodline.
The Ventrue also take Bloodline offices very
seriously. Ventrue Whips, Prisci and other
Bloodline leaders often try to hold monthly
meetings of all Bloodline mates, regardless of
covenant. The Lords use these meetings as
opportunities to brag, size up the competition, cut
deals and chide Bloodline mates who seem to
show insufficient ambition. After all, the Ventrue
have a reputation for steel-fisted power to up-hold.
One does not want other Kindred thinking that any
Lord might go soft.
In the Covenants
The Carthians: The Ventrue win. Victory is
sweeter than blood. And what game is more
engrossing than taking on the house? Some Lords
join the Revolution more for the challenge than for
ideological fervor. Firebrands who value the
Lord’s
input know the difference between succeeding and
just vomiting ethos. Being a champion of the
masses can be addictive
The Circle of the Crone
Lords of men and beasts, some Ventrue expand
their mastery of the world by bending occult forces
to their will. Becoming one with the dark earth,
they make themselves into witch-kings and witch-
queens. The Lords like to connect their Blood to
deities, and some find this urge satisfied by
becoming avatars of the Crone and all of her many
faces.
The Invictus:
There are those, handicapped by an over-reliance
on stereotypes, who say the Invictus is the
covenant designed for the Ventrue. They would not
be wrong. All the best qualities of the Lord’s
Blood are highlighted and encouraged by the First
Estate. Who so elementally manifests the ideals of
the Invictus? Who else is Manifest Destiny made
flesh and fang?
The Lancea Sanctum
Some Ventrue know that their inherent superiority
comes at a price. They must guide their lesser
cousins. How better than as spiritual authorities?
No, don’t thank us. The work is reward enough.
Some Sanctified Ventrue have an iron-clad faith in
a higher power. And some more jaded Lords
believe the only higher power is themselves. These
latter still find value in the Second Estate, for the
clergy of any society are a sure path to power.
Who else is so like the Almighty, so as to better
understand His will?
The Ordo Dracul
For creatures so well equipped and so driven to
master the world around them, it must be
infuriating for the Ventrue to have so little control
over their Beasts, banes, and the Curse within.
How can you rule others if you cannot rule your
own Curse? Some Ventrue join the Order and
study their mystical arts with a frightening
obsession. Step by step, they take praxis over their
vampire bodies, just as they would take over a city,
block by block.?