Brujah

Clan Brujah is largely composed of rebels, both with and without causes. Individualistic, outspoken and turbulent, Brujah hold social change near to their undead hearts, and the clan�s ranks contain some of the most violent of the Camarilla Kindred. Most other vampires perceive the Brujah as nothing more than punks and miscreants, but the truth of the matter is that genuine passion lies behind their polemics.

Brujah Kindred adopt pet passions and causes, which they support with volume and vitriol. Some Brujah follow charismatic members of their clan, while others prefer stances of blatant, defiant individualism. The clan claims a history rich with warrior-poets, and it has adapted this concept into the modern night; many Brujah are glad to have an opportunity to speak their minds, then indulge in a bit of destruction afterward to illustrate their points. The Rabble�s espousal of change unites them, albeit tenuously, in their nightly crusades. Given a common enemy, Brujah with vastly differing ideals will join side by side to oppose their foe. After that foe is defeated, however, all bets are off and it's to business as usual.

A common Brujah theme involves the foundation of a Kindred �Utopia,� or the recreation of a mythical one from nights past, though each Brujah vampire has a different idea of what said Utopia is. Brujah rely on chaotic behavior and upheaval to get their ideas across, and the Rabble are allowed a certain leeway that other clans do not have. In fact, Brujah are almost expected to be incoherent and bellicose; this stereotype works to the advantage of many eloquent, well-spoken members of the clan, who have no need to resort to violence when making their arguments.

Respected for their martialry and readiness to rally under a banner, the Brujah are the physical strength of the Camarilla. Of late, however, many Rabble neonates see their role in the Camarilla as an institution unto itself, and more than a little unrest circulates among the Other Kindred believe that the Brujah would be the �first to leave the Camarilla. The Brujah believe it, too....

Nickname: Rabble

Sect: Rhetoric aside, most Brujah are in the Camarilla. Brujah Kindred also support the anarchs, arguably more so than the Camarilla. Indeed, the anarchs have more Brujah than members of all other clans combined.

Appearance: Brujah vary widely in appearance, though many adopt radical styles and bold looks. If dismissive stereotypes are to be believed, the typical Brujah wears a biker jacket, tattered jeans, combat boots and a fearsome array of high-maintenance hair. In truth, few Brujah fit this image. Youthful, fashion-forward dress and noteworthy hairstyles are indeed found among many Brujah, but others favor tasteful wardrobes that encourage others to take them seriously. In the end, a Brujah�s appearance often suggests his attitudes: A skinhead bravo is likely an open rebel or anarchist, while a bespectacled pedant in a tweed suit is probably a reformationist or liberal. It should be noted, however, that given the Brujah penchant for nonconformity, any assumption of ideals based on appearance could be potentially dangerous. Brujah look how they want.

Haven: Wherever they damn well please. Are you going to tell them to leave? More so than any other clan, the Brujah keep the company of other vampires, and one haven might house an entire brood. Brujah Kindred also keep multiple safehouses and boltholes, as their conflict-driven existence often makes single locations inhospitable. Some Brujah neonates even carry on the urban practice of the home invasion, Dominating or killing a home's occupants and taking over. Like other pursuits, however, home invasions rarely sustain the Rabble's interest, and the vampires often move on once they grow bored with the locale.

Background: Brujah prefer those who espouse change in form or another, and often recruit from college campuses, political groups or oppressed minorities. Young Brujah may hail from any background and often have a pet cause or issue of burning personal importance. All types of dissidents find their way into the ranks of the Brujah, from bomb-throwing biker anarchists to vociferous fascists to nihilistic radicals. This is, of course, part of the reason the clan is so disorganized--hatred between Brujah is often more bitter than hatred for those whom they mutually oppose.

Character Creation: Brujah often have violent, criminal concepts, but they are as likely to be intellectual or socially adept. Natures and Demeanors tend to be aggressive and similiar, as Brujah wear their emotions on their sleeves (when they have sleeves...). Physically predisposed characters are predominant among the clan, but some favor Mental Attributes. Likewise Skills are favored, with Knowledges running a close second. Any Backgrounds may be appropriate to a Brujah character, though many in the clan cultivate Contacts, Allies and Herd. Very few Brujah claim Mentors.

Clan Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Presence

Weaknesses: Fiery passion is at once the Brujah's blessing and curse. Though they are quick to adopt a cause, they are equally as quick to fall to frenzy. Of course, the brujah rabidly deny this penchant for excitement, and become quite hostile when the issue is raised. The difficulties of rolls to resist frenzy are two higher than normal for members of Clan Brujah.

Organization: Clan Brujah is far too fractious and torn by internecine conflict to have true organization, and the clan never meets formally. Two conventions the clan does support universally are the Rant and the Rave. Rants are just that: informal meetings of Brujah (and other insurgents, Kindred and kine) at which anyone who can scream loudly enough can have her opinions heard. Raves, named after the all-night techno dance parties started in England, are social gatherings in the guise of huge-scale musical or entertainment events. One usually leads to another, and clues to the locations of the events are often hidden in the media of the gathering in progress. These meetings almost invariably degenerate into Riots, further eroding the organizational base fo the clan.

Bloodlines: Brujah antitribu of the Sabbat are, ironically, almost bastions of stability. In a sect devoted to chaos and destruction, the Brujah are the most dependable of the monsters who populate the Sabbat. They are viewed less as impassioned rebels and more as brutal shock troops. Sabbat Brujah tend to be less intelligent and discerning than their Camarilla brothers and sisters. Their causes fall by the wayside at the promise of new havoc to wreak.

Quote: Think for yourself, or you�re better off dead. Either way, I�m satisfied.

Lo, how the mighty have fallen. Such is the perspective the elders of other clans have on the Brujah. Younger Kindred, who do not remember the clan�s nights of philosophy and glory, see the Brujah as a disorganized, anarchic rabble. Then again, in these degraded times entirely too many members of the clan fit that description, or at least enough that the stereotype has become widely accepted. With hallowed Carthage just a fading memory, the Brujah have become the angry young men (and women) of the Camarilla. Constrained by the Camarilla�s traditions and kept in their place by ruthless elders, the street-level Rabble takeout their frustrations by moving in packs, indulging in Rants and generally adopting a bad attitude at odds with the enforced gentility of Elysium and the Ventrue.

These nights, the Brujah shun the halls of power. The clan�s younger members have little interest in playing the Ventrue�s games or exposing themselves to Toreador ridicule, instead, they stand as the (mostly) loyal opposition to the sect, essentially for the Camarilla but with little interest in its rules and regulations. Elders may take a more philosophical bent in line with the clan�s direction at the time of their Embrace, but the common image of the Bruj�h now is that of the leather-jacketed rebel.

Strength and Influence: Within the Camarilla, the Brujah have relatively little pull among princes. With the clan�s penchant for getting into trouble (the legendary Brujah temper can produce equally legendary breaches of the Masquerade or other Traditions), few princes are willing to give them much beyond the time of night. Brujah princes are rare, though a surprising number of sheriffs and scourges are members of the clan. As many of the quote-unquote �rabble� that these officers must deal with are Brujah as well, the conflict can make for interesting infra-clan politics.

In truth, the Brujah have their strongest influence on the streets and in the ivory towers. Of all the clans, they have the strongest hold on mortal academia, a relic of the clan�s nights as would-be philosopher-kings. Elders still work hard to pull from that base of potential Embracees, but these nights, the clan�s primary interests lie elsewhere.

Once ruling from fortresses and training halls, now the Brujah rule the streets, primarily through sheer numbers. Many Brujah came from or were familiar with a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, and chose to continue it beyond the grave. Like calls to like, and vampires who came from the street have made a habit of Embracing those from the street as well.

The clan has the widest variety of membership of any of the Camarilla clans; in many cases a flash of attitude or a demonstrated unwillingness to take crap is all that it takes to earn someone the Embrace. All the rest, the Brujah reason, can be taught.

Organization: The usual response one gets when asking the Brujah about their clan structure is either laughter or a punch to the gut. The Brujah are the most disorganized of the clans, shunning formal meetings in favor of informal Rants (often held after concerts or particularly energetic parties). There are no �Boards of Directors� or formal awards of status among the Rabble; instead like-minded Brujah get together to swap news and brag, or to argue about damn near anything. Somehow, news manages to get disseminated by this haphazard fashion, but anyone hoping to catch all of the local Brujah at a sit-down meeting is in for a world of disappointment. The only organization the Brujah have is a rough breakdown along philosophical lines. Younger, more anarchic Brujah are some times called Iconoclasts (though their response to the term isn�t printable), and it is from these vampires that the stereotypical image of the clan derives. Older members of the clan, called Idealists (though they prefer something in Greek most of the time) are more interested in the ideals of the clan and reclaiming the scholarship and philosophy that was once theirs; many are of an age to recall Carthage.

Idealists look down on the Iconoclasts as unruly children, while the Iconoclasts sneer at the Idealists as do-nothing fossils. Caught in the middle are the Individualists, who straddle both camps in age and temperament. Needless to say, they catch flak from both sides.

Concerns: There are almost as many concerns among the Brujah as there are Brujah. As the clan falls short of a unified policy on pretty much anything, it�s hard for a single issue or concern to rouse the clan�s ire. The anger over Carthage still burns hot for the ancients, but few Brujah created in the last millennium care much for the issue. Iconoclasts raise howls about selective law enforcement and oppression by the Ventrue, but such cries often fall on deaf elder ears. The only concern that draws members of the clan together across party lines is the encroachment by the Sabbat. The street is where the Sabbat operates, and that means that the Brujah take the brunt of any initial Sabbat assault. As a result, the Brujah feel (rightly or wrongly) that they are being used as a buffer by the other clans against the Sabbat (�Willing to fight to the last Brujah� is a common joke). A few loudmouths have even gone on record as saying that if they don�t get any help, next time the Brujah should just let the antitribu through, but such sentiments are not yet common throughout the clan.

Practices and Customs: Brujah customs are a hodgepodge of half-remembered mortal rites, dusty traditions passed down absently from sire to childe and whatever else comes to mind. Most are improvised from city to city, as the Brujah figure it�s the meaning of what they�re doing that�s really important. Besides, it�s not as if the Iconoclasts and the Idealists could agree to do anything in unison in any case. Instead, customs among the Brujah are more a matter of aligning along the clan�s primary axis of sentiment and acting in accordance with it.

Brujah gatherings, called Rants, are not regularly scheduled. Instead, they just happen when something else interesting does- concerts, exhibitions, festivals, conferences and so on� and often the mortals responsible for triggering the Rant get drafted into it as well. Rants are essentially open to members of any clan, though any Tremere who attends is in for a rough time. The Brujah make no secret of their distaste for the Warlocks, and delight in introducing Tremere spies to new and exciting definitions of pain.

Humanity: The Ventrue may have their fingers in the mortal world up to the elbow and claim they have the most interaction, the Brujah run an extremely close second. The difference between the clans� interactions lies in their approaches. The Ventrue seek out mortal institutions, but the Brujah seek out individuals. As a result, the Brujah might not puii the strings on a mayoral candidate, but may well have connections to people that candidate stepped on during his climb to the top�and the information gathered from such contacts can be as useful as anything garnered by a multi-million dollar Ventrue campaign.

Clan Pretige: Brujah clan prestige is bestowed more for attitude than specifics. The clan has at least a rough allegiance toward weakening authority and promoting anarchy, and acts which accomplish both or either win their performers status within the clan. Telling off a prince, disrupting a Ventrue deal (and living to tell about it), tweaking the Tremere or exposing a corrupt mortal politician for the fraud he is � all of these can win a Brujah points with her elders and peers. Unfortunately, the Brujah penchant for going after the high and mighty often turns the youngsters of the clan on their elders, which means that matters of prestige can get touchy. Rewarding a neonate for acts which subvert a Brujah elder is asking for trouble, but is also true to the spirit of the clan. Younger Brujah also have a habit of ignoring their elders� pronouncements and setting their own pecking order. Such arrangements are usually based on questions of strength or numbers of adherents; Brujah tend to move in packs and follow charismatic leaders.
VtM 3ed