Goto [ Index ]

In Short

If you like the idea of the Carthian Movement, an idea focused around taking the best of human thought and applying it to vampiric life, but wanted more information then this is the product for you. This product provides a full description of the movement including subfactions, major beliefs, and interrelationships with the rest of the vampiric world. While many new mechanics are added to support this group the vast majority of the book is a flavorful presentation of the Carthians that creates an interesting, believable organization.

The Physical Thing

The big downside here is the lack of an index. That would not be a big problem if the game mechanics additions (especially the Devotions) were presented in a logical manner, perhaps alphabetical order. This is not the case, however, and in some cases pages of unordered supernatural abilities are presented near the end of the product with no way for the reader to find any specific ability. Obviously this will not be a problem for many consumers, but some will find it frustrating.

The Ideas

Under the Cover

Chapter 1 A History of the Carthian Movement 12 pages.

The origin of the movement is not a linear progression. Similar ideas evolved here and there over the centuries, and this chapter presents a variety of different almost-Carthian movements that have occurred in the past. The Movement is relatively recent, only having been recognized in the 1800s and not reaching real power until the 20th century. This chapter presents the covenant in a general manner, providing background while discussing the aims of the Movement in the modern nights.

Chapter 2 Unlife in the Carthian Movement 56 pages.

When I first read about the Carthians in Vampire: The Requiem my first thought was that this is just a bunch of different governmental systems, not an actual political group. This chapter makes the Carthians come to life as an interesting, independent political entity focused on individual freedom and the exploration of modern ideas. At the beginning this chapter lays out the four qualities the Movement is known for.

First, the Movement is about tolerance within reason. Exploring new ideas, implementing different governmental systems, and changing the way vampires live are all things that many elders would work to stamp out. Carthians want to experiment, but they recognize that social order and supporting one another is necessary to be able to practice with their ideas.

Second, the Movement is about collective action. This is a covenant that wants to help its members. Vampires who identify themselves as Carthians can expect help making the rent, hunting for food, and even a safe place to sleep in an emergency. A strong feeling of persecution and having to cope with the rest of vampiric society has created a unity among the members.

Third, Carthians respect individual rights. While they as a group give a helping hand to one another, they will also respect privacy and leave members alone. They don’t typically have dues or requirements, and because of that many loners are attracted to the group as an organization that will leave them alone but provide support when it is needed. As an organization the Carthians are very diverse and are experimenting with many different ideas. Because of this, individuals and smaller groups need their space.

Fourth, Carthians strongly encourage members to find a mission or passion to dedicate themselves to. They want to explore the myriad concepts the world has to offer, and need their members to be interested in doing the same. Individuals are supported in their efforts, and a lot of covenant recognition is based on how much work a given vampire has done for the cause and community.

After this discussion a number of example Carthian groups are presented to help flesh out the sorts of things covenant members may be interested in. The Night Doctors, for example, are a group of vampires that meet wearing full doctors’ outfits and surgical masks while referring cryptically to one another. Their goal is to understand the physiology of the kindred and find ways to use modern medical science to aid the blood in healing the body. They have been partially successful, in fact, learning to put the parts back into place to reduce the amount of work the blood must do. These sorts of applications of modern ideas and technology drive many of the Carthians.

Example Carthian Movements are presented, as well as a number of Carthian oriented plot hooks. Discussions of technology, art, subcultures, and other concepts that affect Carthian way of life are also introduced. A lengthy section is presented discussing how Carthians with different skills and disciplines tend to be used to further the goals of the Movement.

An idea called the “failed experiment” is introduced, which represents a Carthian attempt at building a new society which completely fell apart. An example setting is presented along with certain Carthian NPCs and how they react to the failed experiment. Those who are interested in presenting a vampiric dystopia will find ideas here.

Chapter 3 Carthian Movement and the Danse Macabre 42 pages.

While Chapter 2 focuses more on the Carthian Movement as an organization and the mundane role of the people in it, Chapter 3 focuses on the Carthians as a vampiric covenant and how they relate to other covenants.

Joining the Carthians, leaving the Carthians, joining the other covenants from the Carthians, and leaving the other Covenants to go to the Carthians are all topics that receive discussion here. In general the Carthians are much more accepting and tolerant of these sorts of changes than the other covenants. A member of the Ordo Dracul might realize that the Carthians will still allow her to continue her mystical research, but give her more isolation and support when she wants it than her current covenant does. A member of the Carthians might realize his faction is a sinking ship, and that the Invictus is a much better choice. The Invictus, in turn, are likely all too happy to accept a former Carthian as it validates their belief that the old ways are the best ways.

How the Carthians evaluate a candidate for embrace is answered. In effect they look for passionate people who are interested in similar progressive ideas, though at times they “shape” existing mortals to have them fit this criteria. Example governmental systems that Carthians may introduce are presented along with a discussion of how that system would work for a vampiric government. How Carthians go about destroying and replacing an existing regime is also discussed.

Carthians are one of the only covenants to encourage members to establish themselves in “frontier” domains. Effectively these tend to be smaller population areas that vampires simply have not moved into yet. By having Carthians take control of them early they are more able to run small scale social experiments and otherwise have their way. This is a big deal for a faction interested in various forms of vampiric government.

Chapter 4 Factions and Bloodlines 44 pages.

Three major factions within the Movement are presented: Individualists, Collectivists, and The Middle of the Road. As one would imagine they are as simplistic as their name, representing two Carthian extremes and the much more common balanced perspective. A past event called the Cult of Self is discussed to further elaborate on the three principle groups.

Other Carthian factions are presented. The Bodhisatracy wants to be led by a vampire in Golconda (the vampiric perfect state of being), so members are constantly striving to reach that state so they may then lead other members to Golconda. Carthian Atheism is a movement that, well, embraces atheism. The group takes joy in upsetting religious beliefs and working to destroy religious institutions. Various other groups are presented, the most interesting of which is the Anti-Obstructionist Army which believes in using applied violence to prevent vampires from tampering with the new, progressive ideas of humanity. They believe humanity will only create fresh, interesting ideas if they are left in peace, and so terrorize or kill vampires who mess with intellectuals and memes. All of these factions are interesting and very playable.

Several new Bloodlines are introduced as well.

The Barjot are a family of free thinkers that have been hounded and chased away from every community they have tried to join. Today they have done all in their power to become closer, and are a family Bloodline that continues to explore the arts and modern thought together. The Bloodline members engage in regular sexual intercourse with one another in order to reaffirm their humanity. This closely knit group suffers severe penalties when no longer within sight, touch, or hearing of other group members. On the plus side this Gangrel based Bloodline may choose from Animalism, Celerity, Protean, and Resilience.

The Deucalion is a Ventrue Bloodline obsessed with purity and somewhat fearful of the existence of Bloodlines. The Bloodline has attracted racial supremacists over time, but they do not make up the entirety of the group. In return for a severe Weakness (they lose a point of Willpower whenever they fail to accomplish a goal) the Bloodline gains access to Animalism, Dominate, Impurity, and Resilience. Impurity is a new Discipline that allows Deucalions to force the vampiric Weaknesses of the five clans on other vampires.

The Zelani are the Bloodline of Lorna Zelan, an extremely influential Carthian whose current machinations seem to involve nothing less than ruling the world. Lorna was the product of an extremely brutal home invasion, and so all members of her Bloodline cannot enter another person’s home without permission. In return for this weakness her Bloodline gains Celerity, Majesty, Serendipity, and Vigor. Serendipity is a new Discipline that allows a vampire to subtly manipulate luck and fate.

Chapter 5 Rules and Systems 36 pages.

The big new mechanic introduced in this product is called Carthian Law, and it’s really neat. Carthian Law requires a three dot Merit called Carthian Lawyer. Whenever a character with that merit witnesses a vampire attempting to use anything vampiric (blood expenditure, Discipline, Rite, etc) in a way that violates established Carthian law (such as Don’t Kill) the character rolls Intelligence + Resolve + Status (Carthians). Each success subtracts one success from the opposing vampire. Where the opposing vampire does not use a dice pool (such as Protean 1 Claws of the Beast) every success just subtracts one from the Discipline attempting to be used. This power only works in areas where Carthians are powerful and have an established code of law, and it can only work if the Carthian with Carthian Lawyer is witnessingthe attempted violation of the law. Nevertheless, it’s an extremely powerful ability that any vampiric law enforcer would love to have.

About four pages of new Merits are introduced, including several very flavorful ones. Carthian Pull represents the fact that Carthians are always willing to help one another, and can be traded in for dots in other merits for a single day once a month. Thus a vampire with Carthian Pull 2 could trade those in for a level 2 Haven or Contact for one day each month. The versatility is very nice.

Night Doctor Surgey allows a Carthian who belongs to the Night Doctors to assist vampires with healing by realigning bones, nerves, veins, and generally making it easy for the blood to heal the body. Most of the Merits here allow dice rolled while using a Skill to reroll on 9s as well as 10s. Finally, a new fighting style called Swarm Fighting represents special Carthian tactics used in protest and creating a revolt.

The two new Disciplines, Impurity and Serendipity, mentioned earlier are here as well. Impurity allows a vampire to inflict a modified (often stronger) Clan Weakness on another vampire. Thus a vampire with level three Impurity could force the Daeva curse on a kindred, forcing the kindred to indulge in vice every night for a time. These abilities tend to be subtle and low key. Serendipity allows a vampire to manipulate fortune. This ranges from figuring out the right thing to say to always arriving at the destination at the perfect time. Typically this means bonus dice are given to a wide variety of actions, and generally the vampire has amazing fortune outside of game mechanics while using the ability.

Eleven pages of new Devotions are presented. Some of these have a Carthian flavor, but most of them are just general Devotions. They range all over the place in terms of cost, utility, and effect. From Regeneration to abilities that resist Dominate to other more unusual abilities. One of my favorites is Behind the Throne which combines Majesty with Obfuscate. A vampire can hide and draw attention to the subject/object of his choice.

Artifacts are also presented. These are magical objects in the sense that they were exposed to intense emotion and still retain some of it, or in that they are just superior works of literature. They provide minor mechanical benefits and are largely just flavorful additions to a game.

Appendix Allies and Antagonists 18 pages.

This excellent utility is 18 pages of general NPCs that can be dropped into any game. They generally have a Carthian slant in concept and design, which makes them excellent choices for a Storyteller who wants a Carthian NPC but does not want to take the time to build a new character.

My Take

The new mechanics are generally fun, and there are several I would want to use if I was participating in a Vampire game. The biggest thing they have going against them is how hard they are to find in the product. The first three chapters read more like an enjoyable textbook or novel, and don’t really need an index as the reader is unlikely to refer to them for play. The Factions, Bloodlines, and new game mechanics are entirely different. They can still be found without much trouble (since a reader isn’t looking over that many pages), but the Devotions in particular should have been organized better. Additionally, some of the new Merits repeat the exact same mechanic (reroll 9s and 10s) over and over. While they each have a bit of flavor, most readers would probably prefer one Merit (skill mastery or something) instead of a Merit for every skill in the game spread out over the supplements.

This is an excellent addition to the Vampire line, and anyone who is already a fan of the product line will not be disappointed. Additionally, a lot of the detail on Carthians is sufficiently atmospheric to make this a good buy for players who are fans of the Carthians or intending to portray one in a long term Vampire campaign.

Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.