Cainite Sects
Vampires are strange creatures, to say the least. On one hand, they are often territorial, distrustful, and competitive - not exactly the best companions. On the other hand, they get lonely and usually find themselves drawn to others of their own kind. Their fractious nature never goes away, however, and over the centuries vampires have gathered themselves into various groups. The largest of these groups formed during the Burning Times, when the Inquisition began to hunt Cainites and the world was enveloped in turmoil. The oldest of these groups is probably the Inconnu but there's no way to know for certain. While many groups come and go, the sects below have remained and had an impact. Vampiric sects are usually divided along ideological lines, although they can also be divided according to clan (thus the Lasombra are almost always in the Sabbat).
There are some important things to remember when reading about the various camps. The first is that the books often present biased viewpoints of the sects so you cannot simply take them at face value; the books encourage you to think about what the factions are really like, underneath everything. The books also draw attention to the ways that the sects lie about themselves. These are the things that gamers (especially Storytellers) have to keep an eye out for. It is also vital to realize that, in the World of Darkness, nothing is resolved and none of the sects have really reached their goals; everything is still very much up for grabs and battles can go either way. In some cases this can make vampires feel like despairing but a lot of times the struggle makes Kindred very angry, which explains some of the violence of the Sabbat and Anarchs.
But even the most violent Sabbat member does not believe everything the sect tells them to believe, which leads us to our biggest concern. Cainites are people first, with their own agendas and desires; no matter how good the propaganda is, there is always room for doubt. Sometimes the agendas of a sect and a vampire go hand in hand but this is not always the case, and when there's a conflict of interests vampires are usually willing to bend the rules. Breaking certain rules, like the Masquerade, is dangerous business, but it is also perfectly human.
The Major Sects
The Minor Sects
Coteries/Packs |
Infernalists |
Gehenna Cults |
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