Covens: For Vampire the Masquerade.

Covens are and idea that hasn’t so much been borrowed from VtR, but more from an idea that jumped up from Karac’s VtM scenarios.

Here’s the premise.

Covens are the political movers and shakers behind the Camarilla, the Sabbat and the Independent clans. They can be considered to be a Vampires extended family, offering benefits of solidarity and unity against what is often the dictatorship of Clan. The influence of a Coven can be mild – little more than a gang, or a major political string puller. They can offer a vampire anything from an untraceable firearm to accessing other disciplines or even more arcane abilities. All for a promise of loyalty and a little blood.

The Covens are bought like backgrounds and give automatic benefits. Like everything in life; the more you put in the more you get out. 1 BP gives only a minor alliance with a Coven where as 5 completely ensconces a character in its murky depths.

Politically, covens ally themselves to either the Camarilla or the Sabbat but are not exclusively tied to either one. An active Coven can have at any given time, Vampires from Camarilla, Sabbat and the Independent Clans all acting for the betterment of the Coven. This said, some Covens are fickle and only open to certain clans, sects and bloodlines. Some are extreme in there ties to either Camarilla or the Sabbat. Some Covens are not Cainite specific and include Shapeshifters, mages etc (but these tend to either be very closed ranked or very short lived).

From a players perspective the Covens should be a way of adding depth to a character, to expand on his belief system outside of standard clan ideals and impositions of Nature/Demeanour. They are not too and must not be used for “mini/max”ing a character (Not that I think they ever would!)

Over the coming weeks I’m going to put a couple on and see what you think but I’d really like to see Covens developed by other Masques members on here too. Hopefully they will take off and add additional colour to our Vampires.

Freddy