Clan Ventrue

Read Blood and Smoke for an exploration of the Ventrue mindset and relationship with the Beast. Our notes below give an idea of how they function socially and politically within Dark Metropolis.

Please bear in mind that these are still early notes and are not set in stone, especially as more setting information becomes available from White Wolf. However, we do not anticipate deviating from these notes drastically when we run Dark Met.

Clan Ventrue
Never. Lose. Your. Grip.

Mask: Controlled Power-Brokers, Upstanding Citizens

Dirge: Image-Obsessed, Inhumane Backstabbers


Who Are They?

A Kindred may wear a human appearance and speak a human language, but beneath it all lies a savage creature at its heart. Locked in a constant struggle between human and animal, Clan Ventrue are the most aware of just how fragile this human face is.

This is the Ventrue's greatest insight, and their greatest shame.

Some try to fight it. These are the good citizens, the respectable ones, the ones who like to flaunt just how much they are in touch with their human side and scatter good deeds into the night. They have human friends. They spend a lot of time with them. Most nights, they can even remember their names.

But even they know it is only a front. The Ventrue's struggle to maintain distance from the lure of the Beast puts them in an extremely precarious position in a Court which places such importance on self-control. In the Metropolis, Ventrue are seen at best a liability, and at worst dangerous vermin to put down.

And yet, they have their pride, and are desperate to gain and cling to power in this city where all eyes are on them, waiting for them to fall.

What Do They Want?

For a Ventrue, reputation is everything, and that holds true even in a city where they are reviled. Preoccupied with image and surface appearance, they are desperate to belong and excel, and desperate to show a united front to those outside the Clan.

But don’t mistake their united front for cosiness. Loyalty to the clan is all well and good, but it is surpassed by far to loyalty to family - and for a Ventrue, this is a vital distinction.

Blood ties are extremely important to a Ventrue, and one who chooses not to speak about their family, or who has no relationship with them, is looked at askance by their clanmates. At heart, they are social creatures. Some theorise that they need a support network to enact their schemes; some that they feed upon their families when times are tough. Ultimately, though, it's simpler than that. A Ventrue's family are the ones who will understand them. An immense strength, and a vulnerability.


Where Did They Come From?

It was not always so. Before Prince Anastasia came to power in World War II, Clan Ventrue had far greater standing. Prince Sebastian Cheverton, youngest scion of the Cheverton lineage of Ventrue, favoured his close family with largesse and clear favouritism, just as long as they played along with his every whim.

And his whims, by the end, were monstrous. The permissive, thrilling nihilism so prevalent in kine popular culture during the 1920s set the scene for his Court, but just as Ventrue can soar the heights of power, so too can they fall.

Distancing himself from humanity, Prince Sebastian became lost in his own mania and world of twisted decadence - so lost that he failed to take into account the dangers of the Blitz. Legend has it that he laughed when the bomb fell that put him to Final Death.

In the power vacuum that followed, and the rise to power of Prince Anastasia Lockwood, the remaining Ventrue scrabbled to rewrite history and help the clan recover its reputation. Prince Cheverton had been an unfortunate soul, they said, but should not be taken as a sole representative of the Clan. They were different. They would show the new Prince Lockwood just how different they were.

Most were unsuccessful, due to suspicion and fear from the other clans. In the end, many slunk away to the Low Court, fed up with pretending to be something they're not; others grasp for the Prince's favour.


What Do They Do?

Despite their poor reputation, the Ventrue of Norwich are still proud of who they are. And why shouldn’t they be? Their reputation stems partly from the fact that they wield such terrifying power over the world around them. From the besuited activist feeding upon a trustee during a board meeting to the stinking alley-lurker ripping apart her messenger pigeons when they bring bad news, every Ventrue holds dominion, in their different ways.

Self-control is the key. Whether a Ventrue leads a humane or inhumane Requiem, scrutiny from the other clans means that they are always under threat of being discredited. Whatever atrocities they might commit behind closed doors, in public they must maintain a tight leash on their behaviour. A reputation for violence - which many Low Court Ventrue cultivate - is no use if the Sheriff decides you are too out of control to be safe.

But Ventrue are also about controlling others. With a choice word here or there, a Ventrue will make a whole gathering aware that they know exactly what that Kindred sitting in the corner was up to last week. By pulling in favours from other clans and their human webs of connections, they wait for the right moment and strike at a weak spot. Such an attack may be social or physical, but either way the Ventrue walks away with their hands ostentatiously clean.

And what happens when a Ventrue threatens the reputation of the clan with out of control behaviour? Rumours are whispered of the Retreat, where eccentric Ventrue occasionally make visits for their health. Even members of the clan know little more than this - unless they are unfortunate enough to have direct contact with the Retreat themselves. In truth it is a prison where dangerously inhumane Ventrue are confined until they can regain their composure. After all, putting a relative, even a distant one, into involuntary torpor just because of an indiscretion is tremendously uncouth.


High Court and Low Court

The rare Ventrue who have managed to make it in the High Court don’t dwell on the bad old days - and if they do, it’s only to trusted family. To be successful they must demonstrate to the Prince and the rest of Court that they are responsible, good citizens of the Metropolis. Thus the High Court Ventrue are often famed philanthropists, high-profile assistants to those in need … anything to show just how far they are from their Beast.

In the Low Court, where Ventrue are more common, things are more varied. Some vie for approval from the High Court, providing services - some reputable, others less so - for their more prestigious clanmates. Others are whispered of as “fixers”, Kindred who’ll do dirty jobs another clan wouldn’t touch. Some Low Court Ventrue milk their name and lineage for all it’s worth, even if compared to a High Court line they’re no more than a peon. Where for some reason a Ventrue is solitary, they will try to fit in with coteries of other clans or else build a group of humans around themselves.

Whether High Court or Low Court, Ventrue are expected to display how in control they are - of themselves first and foremost. In the High Court, symbols of connection to humans are popular amongst Ventrue. Members of the same lineage will sport the same type of symbol, so several closely related Ventrue will wear a plaited ring of human hair on their forefinger, for instance. In the Low Court, current fashion is to carry a small vial of blood attached to a necklace or wristwatch to flaunt the fact that they will not frenzy in its presence.


Development Notes
The classic Ventrue is a creature in charge and in control. We wanted their Disciplines to reflect not only their hunger for dominion, but also their savage ability to enforce their will on others around them, so in Dark Metropolis they have Vigor as an in-clan Discipline (replacing Resilience).

While Ventrue are, understandably, often seen as a powerful clan compared to others, we want to explore how they behave as underdogs and how social pressures mould them. How far will they betray their darker urges - their truer selves? - in the hunt for greater power?

Questions to think about when playing a Ventrue:

How did you get the attention of your sire, and how does that affect how you approach your Requiem?

Who is your immediate family? Who do you get on with and who do you not? How are your relationships going to change?

If you are looking for approval from the High Court, how will you get it - through favours, backstabbing or violence? If you reject the High Court, how are you going to carve out a name for yourself?

How are you going to approach the social mores of Norwich, and how will you negotiate the tightrope between humanity and the Beast?