Generation (World of Darkness)
World of Darkness |
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Masquerade society |
Masquerade Mythology |
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Requiem |
In the former version of the World of Darkness Generation is the measure of how far removed from Caine a vampire is. Caine's Childe are known as the second generation, although it has been stated that Caine himself is not the first generation (generation being how far removed a Vampire is from Caine. The three known members of the Second Generation are Enoch the Wise, Irad the Strong and Zillah the Beautiful, who in turn created the thirteen known vampires of Third Generation, who begat the Clans and far greater numbers of higher-generation vampires with ever-decreasing power.
In the World of Darkness Dracula was considered a Fourth Generation Tzimisce.
Generation |
Name |
Description |
|---|---|---|
First |
Unknown |
Unknown (See above) |
Second |
Caine's Childe |
Enoch the Wise, Irad the Strong and Zillah the Beautiful |
Third |
Antediluvians |
The progenitors of the thirteen clans |
Fourth and Fifth |
Methuselahs |
The oldest vampires still around in kindred society, they are very rare and powerful |
Sixth, Seventh and Eighth |
Elders |
The visible masters of the kindred, these are the vampires who hold positions of power |
Ninth and Tenth |
Ancillae |
Too old to be Neonites, but not yet strong enough to be Elders |
Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth |
Neonates |
Kindred who are still new the curse of vampirism |
Fourteenth and Fifteenth |
Thin Bloods |
Vampires whose blood is so weak that it shows little or no of the normal vampiric traits. Their presence is considered to be a sign of the coming apocalypse |
While a vampire's generation was originally a measure of how many generations of vampires separated a vampire from Caine, it is also used as a measure of the power or strength. A vampire can decrease their generation by a process known as Diablerie.
A surprising development happened when the first 14th and 15th Generation vampires came to be; somehow, while generally far weaker than the vampires of lower generations, those later-day Kindred actually have a couple of capabilities that their predecessors rarely if ever develop.
See also
- Diablerie
- Time of Thin Blood
References
- Justin Achilli, Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-249-2)