Coteries
Psychology and Formation
Recognition
Clan Considerations
Sire Relations
Common Interests
Common Enemies
Orders from Above
-- Your Mission…
-- Release the Hounds
Sticking Together
Expectations of the Sire
Methodology
Keeping Busy
Single-Clan Coteries
The Ties That Bind… Forever
Brood Politics
Strategies
-- Embrace Strategically
-- Create a Group Identity
-- Respect the Blood
-- Cultivate Diversity
-- Competition
The Allure of Dissolution
Covenantal Conflicts
Outside Interference
Competition
Boredom
Disillusionment
Cross-Covenant Conflict
Family Values
Nosferatu Coteries - Brute Squad/Assassins ; The Frighteners ; Traders of Rare Antiquities ; Rebels
Gangrel Coteries - The Wild Ones ; The Posse ; Savants ; Pretenders
Mekhet Coteries - Spies ; Seers ; Sorcerers ; Scholars ; Ambassadors
Ventrue Coteries - Influence Brokers ; Blood Cult Leaders ; Oligarchs ; Social Club
Daeva Coteries - Diplomats ; Socialites ; Debauchees ; Widows ; Thugs ; Critics
Carthian coteries
NIGHT TO NIGHT: NEONATES
Enthusiastic, aggressive and unrestrained are three
terms commonly used to describe Carthian coteries.
The line between anarchic mob and dynamic agents
of change is, among Carthians, a thin one. Any project
that intensity and impulse might facilitate is perfect
for the Movement’s youngest members. Such coteries
are known for achieving their goals through means
best termed “unorthodox.” No other group embodies
the “whatever it takes” philosophy like a coterie of
Carthian neonates. On any given night, such a coterie
might be found…
• undermining the domain or influences of an
elder who’s been harassing local Carthians
• staging a rally to make other Kindred aware
of the unjust actions of some elder or covenant
• making inroads in a local mortal institution
such as a labor union, gang or civil service branch
• looking for suitably idealistic mortals to bring
into the covenant
• touting the advantages of revolution and the
Carthians to neonates of other covenants in an
effort to attract “converts”
• using the Internet, libraries or other archives
to research a target of the Movement
• finding a way to break an elder’s monopoly
on some sphere of mortal influence in the city
• obtaining the components for some terrorist
endeavor
NIGHT TO NIGHT: ANCILLAE
For all intents and purposes, ancillae are at the
top of the heap in the Carthian Movement — or
would be if the covenant recognized a unilateral
hierarchy. Still, while power and the obedience of
younger Carthians are two benefits an ancilla might
not be able to depend on, she can still command a
certain respect through her great experience. Given
the dearth of elders in the covenant, coteries of
ancillae have to do everything that a covenant’s
elders would normally do. Luckily, they work well
together, because they’d be out of their league
otherwise. Any given night might find a coterie of
Carthian ancillae…
•launching an influence attack on a
troublesome elder
• coordinating a unified recruiting campaign to
increase the number of the domain’s Carthians
• establishing a cult
•arranging to have a key “enemy of the
Movement” kidnapped, staked or destroyed
• assembling a collective to achieve a major goal
• inciting younger Carthians to action
• conducting a spirited debate about the future
of the Movement
• keeping its eyes on the activities of fractious
Carthian neonates
NIGHT TO NIGHT: ELDERS
Coteries of Carthian elders do not often enjoy the
status or the comfort of station that elders of other
covenants do. Younger members of their own
covenant might perceive them to be part of the
problem that the Carthian Movement set out to
solve or resent them as potential traitors. The elders
might come to believe that revolutions are for the
young, but the decades that they gave to the
Movement are like chains restraining them from
exploring other options. There is no rest, no reward
for sticking with the cause except for the suspicious
and contemptuous glances from the Movement’s
younger members and the occasional, fleeting,
impression that they might be doing the right thing.
The Movement’s elders are forced to push the
Carthian agenda of egalitarianism even more
aggressively than they did early on in their time with
the covenant lest the Movement’s neonates and
ancillae accuse them of “selling out” and overthrow
them. Consequently, there is no comfortable reward
for devoting their Requiems to the pursuit of justice
and equality. Instead, any given night might find a
coterie of Carthian elders…
• pretending to defect to another covenant to
discern inside information
• leading the younger Carthians in attempts to
overthrow the more antiquated covenants (which
is to say, all the others)
• convincing younger Carthians not to overthrow
them
• concocting a new identity to strengthen the
local Carthian “revolution” through sheer charisma
and star power
• quietly arranging the destruction of a Carthian
neonate or ancilla who didn’t know when to hold
his tongue
• fending off attacks and assassination attempts
from other covenants, who find the very notion
of a “Carthian elder” simultaneously deplorable
and threatening
• placating the fears of other elders who find
themselves feeling threatened by the Carthian
Movement
• talking younger members of the covenant out
of some of their more extreme ideas for “the
grand revolution to come”
• planning a period of torpor
• defecting to another covenant
Invictus coteries
NIGHT TO NIGHT: NEONATES
Neonate coteries have the least control over
their own nights. In pursuit of advancement,
they’re likely to find themselves serving under
oaths to ancillae and elders in small ways that
pose no threat to the coterie but expose the
group to new facets of the Requiem.
Alternatively, the powers that be in a city might
think of them as disposable, especially if the
coterie has a history of behavioral problems. On
a night-to-night basis, a coterie of Invictus
neonates might find itself…
•investigating reports of a new,
unacknowledged Kindred in the city
• charming mortals into service
• orchestrating complex power plays in order
to acquire new or greater influence in the mortal
world
• carrying messages, summonses or invitations
to ancillae or elders of other covenants
• ejecting Kindred of another covenant from
Invictus territory
• “neutralizing” a mortal threat to one of the
covenant’s (or the covenant’s allies’) favored
influences
• locating the haven of a problematic Kindred
of another covenant
• learning the finer points of the Danse Macabre
from a mentor
NIGHT TO NIGHT: ANCILLAE
The ancillae usually compose the bulk of
Invictus membership. Potentially on the brink
of being elders themselves, they have more
experience and power than neonates, but they
have yet to become institutions in the way that
elders often do under the responsibilities of City,
Covenant and Clan Status. In the course of an
average night, a coterie of Invictus ancillae
might find itself…
• grooming and building mortal influences for
the next stage of their careers, thereby increasing
and extending their usefulness
• conducting a meeting with a mortal banker,
stockbroker or financier to shepherd its
investments and protect them from hostile
influences
• making an appearance at Elysium to hobnob
with the city’s luminaries
• adjudicating a feeding grounds dispute
between two Invictus neonates
• searching for a Lupine or mage suspected to
be at large in the domain
• undermining the efforts of a rival coterie to
gain positive notice from the covenant’s scions
• stealing influence from Kindred of another
covenant
• daring the space between cities to consolidate
Invictus efforts in another domain
NIGHT TO NIGHT: ELDERS
At least at first glance, the nightly games of the Invictus’ elders are the subtlest of all. That’s because they
have the most to lose. They have not made it as far as they have by making rash mistakes, and they’re not
likely to make any move that puts their unlives, their empires or even their mortal influence at risk. They’re
playing for the highest stakes, including a monopoly on the city’s influential mortals, the covenant’s future in
a particular domain and positions among the Inner Circle. Failure could be disastrous not only for them but, in
some cases, for the covenant as a whole.
On a nightly basis, a coterie of Invictus elders might find itself…
• systematically undermining the mortal influence of another covenant in preparation for a power grab
• issuing a formal declaration of war on another covenant in the domain
• meeting with the Prince, Primogen or Prisci to negotiate favorable terms for the covenant’s members
• appearing at Elysium in full formal regalia to attend to domain business
• forming bloodlines or broods of their own, or studying unique Disciplines
• making preparations before a member enters a long torpor or welcoming back a member who’s just coming
out of a long torpor
• calling in favors from the city’s media outlets in order to squelch a major breach of the Masquerade
• attending a production of Madame Butterfly with the mayor and her family