Pandemonium Traditional & Live Action Roleplaying
Vampire Culture Overview

As stated earlier, most of our characters are vampires, therefore we have spent most of our time developing the culture of Pandemonium's vampire inhabitants. In the average introduction of a newly made vampire into vampire society there is little preparation, and no explanation. The following sections are for those of you who would prefer to enter the world of the nightcrawlers slightly prepared.

The House

There are many mircocosms which make up vampire society. The first that you will encounter is that of your character's House. Each House is a society in its own right, with a class structure and laws and punishments and an absolute monarch.

Your character begins as the lowest of the low, a newly born with no status except that gained from the importance of your Sire. From these disadvantaged beginnings you journey towards either power and fulfillment or utter destruction. The best way to advance and survive is to keep your head down (bowing to your betters is a good example) and your ears open (for any tidbit of information which might disadvantage a rival). This is a good course of action unless you want your unlife to be short and painful. Very few vampires manage the heavy task of murdering their way to the top - which is the quickest way to advance in the land of the everyoung - those who do become the Lords. Or even, shhhhh, a Tyrant. Ooooo, be impressed.

Within any Household there will be several kinds of obstac...ah, people. Let's start with the "Lord" (our term for the ruler of a House). Ages ago (or maybe last Wednesday) this powerful vampire left the House of her birth and founded a House of her own. As soon as she built up a cadre of loyal vampire children and assorted ghoulish servants, she became a power to be reckoned with. After the Lord in importance are her eldest children. These are the vampires to really worry about, they're powerful enough to have a taste for domination, but are either devious or loyal enough to create real problems for any newbie ladder-climbers. If the House has been around for a while there may be several or many layers of the Lord's childrens' children, creating a strong and intricate political dynamic within the House. Ghoul servants and other beasties may be attached to the House by twisted loyalty or magical compulsion. And don't forget hired hands and human chew toys. In a particularly astute Lord's House there may even be a hostage or two guaranteeing a rival Lord's friendly behavior.

The Domain

The next social grouping your character will encounter - pending survival of your first audience with your Lord - is the Domain. (The Domain may also be referred to as "The Princedom", "The State", "The Territory", "The City", etc.) The Domain is ruled by a Tyrant. Several Houses will reside within a Domain, and the Lord of the (currently) most powerful and impressive House will claim the office of Tyrant. The Tyrant will rule until deposed by one of the area's other Lords. These usurpations are slow to plan, quick to execute, and leave many hurt feelings and crushing betrayals.

A Tyrant does not so much "rule" an area, as oversee it. The actual territories in a Domain are administered over by the Lords which hold them. The Tyrant's job is to keep everyone (at least on the surface) playing fair. A Tyrant will proclaim a bunch of laws which prevent the discovery of vampire-kind by the public and dictate certain "behavioral guidelines" within the vampire community. Often, when the Tyrant is substantially more powerful than the other Lords in the Domain, they will aspire to more a despotic reign.

The Orders

The realm of the House is a personal one, ruled by manipulators and car salesmen. The realm of the Domain is a political one, ruled by thinkers and lawyers. It is the realm of the Orders in which the warriors and visionaries rule.

Whether they belong to some sort of formal organization or not, all vampires can be sorted into one of three catergories: The Order of The Sun, The Order of The Dead, and The Order of Shadows. When we talk about Orders, we're talking personal philosophies, not eclesiastical organizations. We use the word "Order" because gamers like to use cool terminology when making generalizations. And hey, it's cool.

The Order of The Sun

Vampires are supreme. From the Ziggurat to the Corporate Tower, the altar from which we are worshipped has changed, but our superiority remains the same. Humans are our sustenance, our slaves; playthings and prey. The killer in our nature is what raises us above them, as all predators are more advanced than the creatures they hunt.

The majority of ancient vampires have the attitude of the Order of the Sun. Once you've been a god, it's hard to see yourself a "one of the guys". Also, many young rebellious children feel the need to disgard human constraints and indulge their new urges.

The Order of The Dead

We are damned. We are evil. We are no longer worthy to walk in the light of day. We are a curse on mankind and on ourselves, for our evil nature causes us to continually betray all that is good in the world. We bleed life away from the living so that we may continue in our torturous existence. We are the lowest of the low ... parasites.

The Order of the Dead developed in conjunction with the rise in popularity of the "guilt religions". The belief that the physical world is inherrently evil inspires an epiphany of self torment when ascetic Christianity and vampirism are combined.

The Order of Shadows

Hey, man, we're just different, okay?! Once human, now vampire. Better, different, with special needs and special concerns. The main concern is hiding our physical differences from the humans. They get a bit touchy, think Salem, or better yet, think Torquemada. Get it? Good.

The paranoia of the Order of Shadows is inspired by, you guessed it, the Inquisition. But its origins go back farther. Ever since the first human reached out beyond himself and his family, to form communities, to communicate and share resources. That human urge to connect with others is a threat to the power of the vampire. An informed and organized prey is not prey for long.

These are the ways that vampires see themselves, and isn't it always the moral principals that people end up killing each other about?

So there you go, you have completed your introduction to vampire society. Sorry, but you don't get a certificate. Survival is proof enough.