The Embrace [Vampire Open Development]

Open Development, Vampire: The Masquerade

The past two open development blogs on Gehenna and Humanity have been very informative. I’ve kept an eye on them both, and it’s interesting to see where people draw their own lines about what is central to their Vampire: The Masquerade experience. I’ve also been discussing my ideas with some very insightful consultants, who have helped me articulate the core essence of the game, and I plan to dig deep into every single comment on both blogs shortly to bring all the threads together. While this form of open development is different from what I’ve done before, it’s all very useful to me. So, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to made their thoughts known.

One of the areas that needs a good examination is the Embrace. It seems like a simple concept to make a human into a vampire through the ecstasy of the Kiss, but over the years a lot of questions have come up that undermine that perceived simplicity. Is the Embrace a supernatural or physical process? What part of the Embrace imprints the sire’s clan on her childe, and how does that go wrong in order to create Caitiff? Does the sire have to actually be the one who kills the potential childe? If the sire changes their Generation via diablerie or blood magic, how does that pass on to the childe? There are other complications as well, such as how being a ghoul impacts the Embrace (if at all), the creation of a vampire via multiple sires (such as by a cup of blood), and any potential connections between the Embrace and diablerie. The questions about the nature of the Embrace have led to a number of interesting stories and character concepts — I know I’m not the only one who has played a Sabbat Pander shovelhead with a few different vampires’ blood sloshing around inside — but there are areas where players and Storytellers could stand to have more clarity and understanding of the process, even if characters in Vampire don’t have an easy instruction manual.

So tell me what you think. What areas of the Embrace should be changed or clarified, and what areas should be kept mysterious?