Lasombra

Jealousy is the provenance of fools and

pretenders.

The Lasombra are leaders and prophets, kings and

caliphs, generals and holy men. They are scrupulous in
deciding who merits the Embrace, and ruthless in
destroying those of the clan who prove unworthy. The
only threat to the power of clan Lasombra is, perhaps, clan
Lasombra itself.
No longer as actively involved in clan affairs,
Montano, Lasombras eldest childe, rules distantly from
the Castle of
Shadows in Sicily. It is there that he guards his sires
slumber, which is said to be troubled with dark dreams of
shadows and the Abyss.
Religious sentiment runs deep; perhaps it is because of
the clans deep connection to darkness, but many of the
clan walk the Road of Heaven. This deeply-held fervor
fuels conflict within the clan and turns their attention
inward. In Iberia, the Shadow Reconquista rages a war
between Christian and Muslim Cainites dividing the clan.
The ripples extend far outside Iberia, involving even
distant partisans.
Christian Lasombra within the Church funnel
resources toward Christians forces, while Muslim
Lasombra seek alliances with other clans, especially the
Assamites. They also try to convince their Jewish
clanmates to stand with them, as they will surely face
worse treatment should the Christians seize power in
Iberia.
For Christian Lasombra, the schism without is
mirrored by the schism within. Within the ranks of the
Church lurks the Cainite Heresy, a heretical cult
dominated by Lasombra priests and bishops. The Cainite
Heresy believes that Cainites, having been marked by God,
are akin to angelic beings, and the Curse of Caine marks
Cainites as holy beings. Of course, even non-Christian
Lasombra find this view to be blasphemy and take every
chance to expunge such teachings they can.
Sobriquet: Magisters
Appearance: The Clan of Shadows is diverse, with its
membership evenly split among those of Spanish, Italian,
Jewish, North African, or Arabian origin. Most Lasombra
dress in the finest clothes that money can buy, be it precious
silks from China, rich French brocades, or the lush woven
fabrics of Arabia. Even those in the Church, which
nominally eschews wealth and its trappings, are often of
sufficiently high rank that some sartorial extravagance is to
be expected.

Haven and Prey: Some Lasombra born to wealth and

power choose to remain in their family holdings,
masquerading as their own heirs in order to retain control
over what is theirs. This allows them plenty of opportunities
to feed, as large numbers of family, servants, and retainers
are needed to maintain such estates.
Others, not wanting the troubles that come with
concealing their true nature among such large numbers of
mortals, establish solitary, lavishly appointed havens,
sacrificing the convenient availability of prey for secrecy
and security. Some members of the Cainite Heresy feed on
their congregants, passing it off as a sacred rite. But this
practice is best kept secret, as it is sure to draw the ire of
Christian Lasombra with more orthodox religious
convictions.

Character Creation
The Embrace: Lasombra frequently choose their childer
from among the wealthy, powerful, or politically elite.
However, Magisters will just as frequently embrace
someone of low status but high ambition and intellect. Mere
accidents of birth cannot determine someones strength of
character or their ability to lead.
Clan Disciplines: Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence
Weaknesses: Lasombra cannot be seen in any sort of
reflective surface, which makes it difficult to conceal their
supernatural nature from mortals. Additionally, members of
the Clan of Shadows cannot abide the presence of bright
light; they take an additional level of aggravated damage
from any exposure to sunlight.

Attributes
Abilities
Disciplines
Backgrounds
Lores
Virtues
Max Merits bought with Flaws
Starting Status (free)
Freebies

Neonate
7/5/3
13/9/5
4
5
4
7
7
1
75

Ancillae
7/5/3
13/9/5
4
5
4
7
7
2
175

Only one max dot per category in attributes and abilities

at creation.
Only one discipline or primary path of Blood Sorcery,
Thaumaturgy and Necromancy can have max dots at
creation.
Only one dot in one advance discipline is allowed at
creation.
Out of Clan Disciplines can be taken at character creation
with Freebie points and only with Storyteller permission.
Celerity, Fortitude and Potence does not need Storyteller
permission, nor does it count toward the max in the
other out of clan disciplines chart.

Starting out of clan Disciplines

Age
Max number of Disciplines
allowed
Max dots in each Discipline
Max number of Physical
Disciplines allowed
Max dots in Celerity, Fortitude
or Potence

Neonate
2

Ancilla
3

3
2

4
2

Before buying the domain background consult with the

storyteller.

Freebie Point cost

Trait Cost
Attributes
Ability
Discipline
Blood Sorcery Path
Blood Sorcery Ritual
Backgrounds
Lores
Virtue
Area of Expertise
Road
Willpower

(Per Dot)
5
2
7
4
Ritual Level
1
1
2
1
2
1

Organization: Within the clan exists an organization

known as the Amici Noctis the Friends of Night.
Membership is by invitation only, and invitations are only
extended to those who have truly proven their value to the
clan. The Amici Noctis preside over the Courts of Blood.
Any member of the clan may petition to the Courts of Blood
for the right of Amaranth against someone they see as
unworthy to be Lasombra. By officially sanctioning the
Amaranth, the Amici Noctis maintains strict control of its
use. Any Lasombra performing the Amaranth without
permission faces summary destruction.
The Amici Noctis is most powerful in central Europe.
Montano famously dislikes the Friends of Night and has
barred them from Sicily and the Castle of Shadows. In the
Iberian Peninsula, the Shadow Reconquista hampers the
power of the Amici Noctis. Officially, the Amici Noctis has
declared neutrality on any issue relating to the Shadow
Reconquista. In practice, this is because they have no power
to impose order on the chaos in Iberia.

Stereotypes
High Clans: A useless distinction drawn by equally
useless people. The Lasombra hold power because we value
excellence, not birth. That we are counted as High and not
Low says more about them than it does about us.
Low Clans: Let the other High Clans spurn them. Only
a fool shuns a useful tool or an invaluable ally.
Assamites: We share more with the Children of Haqim
than we do with most other Clans. Let others be blinded by
prejudice. They are honorable and worthy allies.
Ventrue: The Scions have always confused power and
station, much to their detriment. Let them chase after high
office; it only makes them easier to manipulate.

Followers of Set: Let them try to bring back the worship

of their dead god. Time moves ever forward, and those who
try to stand against progress will get trampled every time.
Tzimisce: Godless heathens, the lot of them. They have
been offered the chance to turn away from their pagan ways,
but have refused. While we cannot deny their power, we
cannot trust them either.

Aura of Command (3 point Merit)

Whether you are good at barking orders or simply
have a commanding tone, people tend to do what you tell
them to do. You are not so much a natural leader as a born
commander. When using the Leadership skill to get others
to obey you, the difficulty is reduced by two
Pelagic Harmony (3 Point Merit)

Lasombra-Specific Merits and

Flaws
Weather Sense (1 Point Merit)
This acumen is very much prized among seafaring
Lasombra. A few sires manage to pass on its intricacies to
their childer. You subconsciously sense impending bad
weather. The Storyteller makes a Perception + Survival roll
(difficulty 7) on your behalf to give up to several hours'
notice of storms and other weather problems before they
manifest.
Eyes of Shadow (1-4 point Merit)
There is something about your eyes that makes you
look dark and dangerous. Making eye contact with you is
like staring into the Abyss. It may not be obvious why, but
anyone you talk to gets a chill when they meet your gaze.
The difficulty for any Intimidation roll is reduced by the
number of points in this Merit (to a minimum of 2).
Faint Reflection (2 Point Merit)
Those with this talent can actually appear in
mirrors, albeit in extremely pale, ghostly guises. Objects
moving behind a Lasombra casting a faint reflection will be
clearly seen through her form. However, often even a faint
reflection is enough to allay the suspicions of those who
notice.
Call of the Sea (2 point Merit)
There is something about the sea that makes you
feel at home. You are in tune with the tides and rhythm of
the ocean. When on a boat in the ocean or on a river, you
may add a die to all your dice pools except for Disciplines.
Controllable Night Sight (2 point Merit)
Your night vision is extraordinarily good, even for
a vampire. The deepest shadows are like looking into a welllit room for you. However, in normal light or bright
conditions, you have to switch back to less-sensitive vision,
or the weakest light quickly blinds you. While your night
sight is active, you suffer no penalties for the dark and can
see perfectly well. Should you use it in well-lit conditions;
you suffer a penalty inversely proportional to the usual
penalties for darkness.

Being close to the sea calms you and reinforces your

self-control. All Willpower rolls made while you're on or
within sight of the sea have their difficulties lowered by one.
Strength of Shadows (4 Point Merit)
Allows the Lasombra who possesses this Merit to
strengthen the shadows he calls so that even daylight will not
immediately dispel them. The Strengthened shadows
dissipate after four hours in the sun, but it certainly does
provide a nasty surprise to enemies when, even after sunrise,
shadows hound them.
Instrument of God (5-point Merit)
Your self-confidence comes not from a belief in
your own abilities, but due to a direct manifesto from the
Lord. You have a divine purpose and He works through you,
even though your goals may seem anything but holy.
Whether it is because of you powerful will or an actual
connection to the divine, you gain three additional dice to
resist the powers of True Faith when they are used against
you.
Poseidon's Call (1 Point Flaw)
Your self-control varies with the weather. Make
rolls to resist frenzy at -1 difficulty in completely calm
weather, but +1 difficulty on rough seas, +2 in thunderstorms
and +3 in hurricanes.
Uncontrollable Night Sight (2 Point Flaw)
Your night vision is good, but you cant turn it off.
While you can see easily into the deepest shadows, any light
is almost blinding to you. You suffer penalties the brighter
the area you are in is lit, inversely proportional to the
standard penalties for darkness. Even just standing in a welllit room is uncomfortable to you.
Pelagic Compulsion (2 Point Flaw)
You become increasingly agitated when on land.
Raise the difficulty of all Willpower rolls when you've been
away from the sea for more than 24 hours by one.
Death's Reflection (3 point Flaw)

You cast a reflection normally, which would cancel

out the clan weakness - except that your reflection always
shows the state that you'd be in if you were dead. Any
Lasombra more than a few decades old looks in reflection
like an ambling skeleton. Younger vampires appear as
rotting corpses.
Image Obsession (1-5 Point Flaw)
As Lasombra cannot see their appearance, those
with this Flaw find themselves hypnotized by the vagaries of
their own appearance. The compulsive behavior may be
small at first (1 point), manifesting itself as a repeated
questioning of others as to their looks. ("Does my hair look
alright? Really?"), to obsessive behaviors such as brushing
hair, adjusting clothes and the like. The symptoms
occasionally run the gamut to full-fledged mania (5 points),
wherein the afflicted Lasombra are constantly attended by
ghouls intent on grooming them and can speak of little save
their appearance.
Enmity of Shadows (4 Point Flaw)
Very few unlucky Lasombra are afflicted with this
Flaw, in which the shadows that they summon may well turn
and attack him without provocation (a Lasombra with this
Flaw must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) each time he
uses an Obtenebration power of Level 3 or above. a success
indicates that the power functions normally; with a failure
the summoned shadows attack their putative master.)

Dominate

Implanted Opinion

Dominate usually focuses on giving the

target specific orders. Using this power, a vampire
can instill a feeling, opinion, or even a personality
trait the victim will believe is their own. He might
be told he loves modern art, hates his new
neighbors, or that aliens are looking to abduct
him. He can be given new political or religious
beliefs, suddenly becoming a dedicated liberal or
a born-again Christian (although in the latter
case he dont gain real faith; he just decides to
follow the tenets of a faith). He might even be
given bigoted views, making him racist or sexist,
or he may be cured of such opinions. Unlike
Conditioning, the vampire has little connection to
the target, and can use him as an agent to steer
policies to her design without needing to explain
her plans.
System: When attempting to implant a
new belief, opinion, or following, the vampire
makes a Charisma + Leadership roll at a difficulty
equal to the targets current Willpower. The

Storyteller may insist on a certain number of

successes, depending on how contrary to the
subjects original beliefs the new opinion is. Once
instilled, the new belief is very hard to remove. If
the subject remains for months in an
environment conducive to their old opinion, he
may be granted Willpower rolls for the old beliefs
to reassert themselves.

Memory Block
This variant of The Forgetful Mind allows
the vampire to stop a dominated subject talking
about or revealing specific information without
forgetting it. When questioned about the memory
or detail, the victim will evade the question
without even noticing she is doing it. If pressed,
she will discover he cannot say out loud or even
write down the blocked information. This is very
useful when a servant needs to possess classified
data, but the vampire wants to be certain she
cannot reveal it, even under torture.
Successes
1
2
3
4
5

Result
One hour
One day
One week
One month
One year

System: As with The Forgetful Mind, the

vampire makes a Wits + Subterfuge roll (difficulty
equal to the targets current Willpower). If
successful, the memory is locked for a duration
dependent on the amount of successes. Another
vampire can unlock it with Dominate by making
a Wits + Empathy roll. The subject of this power
may make a Willpower roll (at a difficulty equal to
the original vampires Dominate rating) if he tries
to answer a specific question about the blocked
memory.

Obtenebration
Shadow Perspective
Using this ability, the vampire can
potentially observe anything done near the
shadows. She shifts her perception from the
shadows she is standing in to a nearby shadow.
She can choose to shift any or all of her senses
across to that area as if she were actually
standing there. Should she move all her senses,
it will be as if she is standing in the other shadow,
but she would not even feel an attack made on
her own body.

System: The vampire must be in line of

sight to the shadow she wishes to shift her
perception to, and spend a blood point for each
sense she moves. She may only shift her sensory
perceptions (touch, taste, sight, smell, or
hearing), and cannot affect the area with any
other powers she cannot already use from where
she is currently standing. However, by shifting
sight she can change her options for any line-ofsight effects. She must stand in shadow for the
power to work, and there must be shadow at the
area she shifts her perceptions to.
She may attempt to shift perception to an
area she cannot see but knows very well. If she
does so, she must also make a Perception +
Awareness roll (difficulty 9) to succeed. If there
are no shadows at the area in question, the power
will not work, but the blood points are still spent.

Combination
Disciplines
Armor of the Abyss
(Obtenebration , Fortitude )
When the vampire calls on this power, strands of
darkness weave around him and solidify into a dark suit of
armor. The vampire is completely encased in shadow, but
able to see out of it as if it wasnt there.
System: This power is invoked in much the same
way as Arms of the Abyss (V20, p. 189), by spending a blood
point and making a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7).
If successful, the strands of shadow encase the vampire
instead of reaching out. This cloak of shadow fully protects
the vampire but does not encumber him in any way,
conferring no penalty. It grants him an armor rating equal to
his Fortitude and lasts for 3 rounds (or ten minutes) for each
success gained on the activation roll.
This power costs 18 experience points to learn.
Empower Minion
(Dominate , Potence )
Using this ability, the vampire can pass his
immortal strength on to those who serve him. No matter how
far apart they are, the bond of command allows the vampire
to channel his Potence to his servant to assist her in doing his
will.
System: Any allies currently under the control of
the vampires Dominate power may act with a portion of the
vampires Potence. The vampire must spend one blood point
per point of Potence for each thrall he wishes to empower,
up to a maximum of three dots of Potence per thrall (the
vampire can spend blood over successive turns, as long as
the Dominate power is in effect). If the target already has

Potence, the controllers Potence level replaces it instead of

adding to it.
This power costs 18 experience points to learn.
Fear of the Dark
(Presence , Obtenebration )
With a mixture of Dominate and Shadowplay, the
vampire using this ability can inspire a terrible fear of the
shadows in his target. Those caught in this effect find their
paranoia runs rampant, as fearful shapes seems to form in the
shadows around them in the corner of their eye.
System: The vampire invokes Shadow Play, and
then makes a Manipulation + Intimidation roll, (difficulty 6).
For each success, the vampire may force one person (mortal
or supernatural) in the immediate vicinity to see frightening
shapes within the shadows around them. If the target fails a
Courage check at difficulty 8, she runs in terror.
This power costs 12 experience points to learn.
Mind Strike
(Dominate , Potence )
By focusing his mental power, the vampire can
channel their Potence into a powerful mental attack that does
real damage to the victim. He simply meets his victims gaze
and delivers a strike into her very mind.
System: This power costs a Willpower point to use
and requires eye contact. The vampire makes a Manipulation
+ Intimidation roll (without any bonus from Shadow Play
against a difficulty of the victims current Willpower. The
amount of successes are added to the vampires Potence
rating and become bashing damage to the victim. Normal
soak rolls apply. As with many Dominate powers, targets of
a lower Generation are immune to its use.
This power costs 12 experience points to learn.
Shadow Mark
(Dominate , Obtenebration )
Shadowstep only allows the vampire to move
between shadows. However, with this power he can mark
those he Dominates and use any shadow they are
standing in instead.
System: This power allows the vampire attempting
Shadowstep to step to one of his Dominated minions instead
of another shadowy area. The minion must be standing in
shadow himself or the power will not work, but otherwise
distance is no object: the vampire simply appears out of the
nearby shadow. There is no additional roll or expenditure
when making such a Shadowstep, although the difficulty is
one level higher.
This power costs 27 experience points to learn.
Shroud of Absence

(Obfuscate , Obtenebration )
This variant of Shroud of Night creates not just an
area of shadow, but also an area no one looks at. It is
effectively a cloak of invisibility, an area any bystander will
simply ignore. To look inside the cloak of deception requires
a powerful act of will.
System: The use of this power requires a blood
point and a roll of Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty 7).
If successful, an area about ten feet/3 meters across within
the vampires line of sight is cloaked. The cloaked area can
be moved at a normal walking pace and lasts for an hour for
each success. Anyone wishing to look into the cloaked area
must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) and score more
successes than the vampire did to create the area. If she
succeeds, she can see through the cloak as if it wasnt there.
This power costs 18 experience points to learn.