Nosferatu

Book Source: Core Rulebook.

Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate and Potence.

Clan Bane: Hideous and vile, all Nosferatu count as having the Repulsive Flaw (-2) and can never increase their rating in the Looks Merit. In addition, any attempt to disguise themselves as non-deformed incur a penalty to the dice pool equal to the character’s Bane Severity (this includes Discipline powers like Mask of a Thousand Faces and Impostor’s Guise). Most Nosferatu do not breach the Masquerade by just being seen. They are perceived by mortals to be grotesque and often terrifying, but not always supernaturally so.

Alternate Clan Bane: In recent nights, the Nosferatu bane has changed, mutated. No longer afflicting the Nosferatu's appearance, their curse instead affects their aura in unsettling and sometimes terrifying ways. Many Nosferatu can appear, at first glance, normal, even conventionally attractive. However, the Nosferatu is afflicted by a palpable aura of menace that affects, in some cases, even their surroundings; a shadow that animates when the Nosferatu is still, lights that flicker and dim in their presence, a monstrous appearance when the Nosferatu lingers at the corner of your vision and then vanishes when you turn to look, a twisted or even unsettling reflection in the mirror or in the water of pond. These strange occurrences are not enough to break the masquerade, but they are enough to perhaps catch the eye of a hunter, or to unsettle nearby mortals and kindred alike. As a result, the Nosferatu suffers a -2 to social rolls when dealing with mortals and kindred of other Clans.

Clan Compulsion - Cryptophilia: The need to know permeates the vampire. They become consumed with a hunger for secrets, to know that which few or no one knows, almost as strong as that for blood. They also refuse to share secrets with others, except in strict trade for greater ones. All actions not spent working toward learning a secret, no matter how big or small, receive a two dice penalty. The Compulsion ends when the vampire learns a secret big enough to be considered useful. Sharing this secret is optional.

Low key, yet indispensable, that is the legacy of Clan Nosferatu in the city of Montreal. While many in numbers, Clan Nosferatu failed to make any major waves in the long history of their presence in the city. Members of the Clan know, however, that this was all by design; whether as scolars, spies or informants, the city's rats were always content to influence the sect's trajectory from the shadows. The city was always incredibly well suited for Clan Nosferatu, from it's early days as a colony where inhabitants had to dig deep, intricate underground passages and labyrinths to avoid canon fire from naval attacks, all the way to the modern day where the sewers and Underground City of Montreal allowed them to travel all over the island without ever being seen or heard.

Sabbat
- While most Nosferatu were masters of the underground, Elias the whale was the master of the sewers. A large, overweight man in life, the embrace turned Elias into a revolting behemoth of flesh who had to rely on Potence to move around. He found a home in the depths of the sewers and rivers where flowing waters and currents allowed him to move around the city more freely. Over the years, this method of travel changed him into a literal sea monster. Embraced in the 1960s, Elias found common ground and some would even say friendship with the Tzimisce known as Stephanie L'Heureux. The two of them would go on to form the pack known as The Wretched, a pack renowned for exploring the limits of inhumanity. While Elias never achieved much in the way of acts of heroism, Elias was a renowned Noddist scholar, and was a major contributor to the local Necropolis' library and reliquary. Elias' fate is currently unknown, but it is believed he was destroyed in the FIRSTLIGHT attack on the Necropolis.
- The childe of the famed Meeks brood of Lousianna, Slade is a former Camarilla spy. Slade left the Camarilla shortly after the fall of SHREKNET, abandoning his family to begin travelling the east coast before finally joining the Anarchs of New York. When the call came to help establish a new Barony in Montreal, Slade was one of the first to answer. At first he joined with the Severed Hand, as everyone else, but when the group split into two packs, Slade came up with the idea to use his skill set to lead a group of tech savvy and nosy kindred and establish a spy network just like the one he used to work for in New Orleans. The result was the Eyes of Argus, named after Argus the all-seeing from Greek Mythology. When without a mask, Slade appears as a distorted, gaunt version of himself, his eyes too large and sunken, and his teeth and fingers too elongated to be considered human.

- Nosferatu PCs are unlikely to have ties to any of the local Nosferatu as none of them remain active in the city.
- Nosferatu PCs can be the childe of Slade.
- Nosferatu are more likely to join the Eyes of Argus than any other pack. Nosferatu with the alternate clan flaw and martial talents could also consider the Thracians.
- Nosferatu are highly unlikely to join the Keepers of the Gate, unless they are heavily knowledgeable in a suitable academical or occult field of expertise.
- Nosferatu cannot join The Masisi, and are actively shunned from it's ranks.