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*** An Alternative System for Clan Malkavian ***
In Vampire: the Masquerade the Malkavian vampires are the very definition of the double edged sword. Tending to polarize the fan base, they are either loved or loathed, and it seems that every player has an opinion on them. But Malkavian vampires can be a true benefit to the game, in the right hands. Apart from the benefit of Clan’s who differ from the norm, the Malkavians also grant the Kindred a glimpse of the wider World of Darkness. They have hints of the spiritual aspect, and present one way to thwart the cyclopean traditions of the undead.
The concept behind the clan was choc full of possibility, but it also turned out to be tailor made for abuse, deliberate or accidental. Even good players could find themselves slipping into the territory which became known as Fishmalk syndrome, the kooky Malkavian whose insanity existed as either comic relief or for no other reason than because the rules demanded it. To build a great Malkavian you have to play hard and fast with the rules, push the boundaries. Yet to do so is to teeter on the precipice that leads to terrible characters all too often. As many twink and Munkin characters are build with the full support of the setting as without it!
That being so we present here a few loose systems and ideas that might be used to guide players (and us Storytellers) towards taking the risks of a Malkavian persona without falling into the pitfalls. This is a slightly alternative view of the Clan along with some repetition of the settings inferred ideas, based on canon but with emphasis placed slightly askew. Use and abuse as you see fit, use what works for you.
Insanity as Status
Insanity in the Clan of Malkav is a mark of greatness, a sign of enlightenment and closeness to the founder.
[Too right it is pal].
The curse [gift] of Malkav defines the clan more than any other Clan curse [gift!], without their curse [GIFT!] the Malkavians would not be the Malkavians.
Thus the more dysfunctional [enlightened mate, enlightened] a Malkavian appears to the outsider, the more his Clanmates admire and adore him, the more they seek to emulate him and hope to follow where he unwittingly leads.
This philosophy leads the Clan to hold those Vampires who are still able to function in society, Kindred or human, in low regard. Rather than basing their disdain on the age of a Vampire, they base it upon his grasp of reality [by his delusions]. Accepted sanity is, to the Malkavian party line, a sign of weakness and inferiority and that is why the blood of the Clan almost always erodes the sanity [erodes the barriers] as does the ability to understand and wield the Clan’s unique Discipline.
[One’s proximity to the Founder is further proof, smashing as it does the door of perception and the grip on reality.]
Of course there are those who are not so easy to place on this curve, from functioning Ancients to unfathomable neonates. There are a few newly embraced lunatics whose minds are so warped [advanced] that they are considered wunderkind by the Clan. There is also the odd Elder with a relatively firm grip on their sanity, pitied by other Malkavians for their lack of insight. These exceptions prove the rule however and it isn’t that huge a leap to assume that generation and time since the embrace equates with a Malkavians grip on (consensual) reality.
The truly powerful and influential Malkavians, such as the Antediluvian and the Methuselah’s, are so far gone that they can no longer function in the sane world. The gift of Malkav’s blood, often called a curse by other Kindred [That’s better!], has torn down the illusions and the filter the rest of the world is forced to accept. Unfortunately the more of the truth that is revealed, the less accessible the lie becomes and the physical body becomes a burden unless the mind can break free of it and its prison.
Those closest to such enlightenments, the Elders, are often no more able to function in the mundane realm than the masters of the freed mind. Many are either nigh catatonic dribbling shut ins or manic to the degree that they need to be watched over by ever increasing degrees of servants, ghouls and retainers.
[All of whom consider themselves blessed to be in the presence of greatness.]
It is a sad truth of this Clan that the Malkavians who watched Rome fall and who danced in the flames of Constantinople have now forgotten the deals they brokered in those cities and so much more as well.
[It is not forgotten, it has become a part of the great repository!]
Then there are the Ancilae, barely touched by the worst ravages of the cur … of the Gift. Those whose madness often leaves them yearning to escape the jihad and the pointless beliefs of their fellows yet still needed to play the game. Their journey to freedom has severed many of their ties to their sanity, but leaves them unable or unwilling to completely abandon the comforts of unlife.
[The cage of perception has many bars, the locks have many tumblers and there are 6 billion gaolers.]
There are Malkavians leading the charge in Camarilla and Sabbat politics; there have been Malkavians who played the game exceptionally skilfully all the way back to the second city. Some Ancilae have yet to reach the lofty heights the Clan expects of them and are only slightly less capable than their peers from the other Clans. They are the facilitators to the enlightened insane and the masters to the newly undead. Judged successful by the Kindred, they are pitied by their clan.
[A seat on the primogen is like wearing the dunces cap, the rare sheriff’s star a badge of failure.]
The Avatars of Malkav
The low generation and most respected childer of Malkav resemble the worst cases in secure wings the world over, either dangerously violent and fed victims by their retainers, or catatonic space cadets. The Clan holds a speciel reverence for these creatures and struggles to keep them from the embrace of torpor. The mad gibbering of these Vampires is considered messages from the Clan father and from those who have joined him.
[I have heard tell that the Avatars were the ones who prompted the Clan to join the Camarilla.]
These ‘Avatars’ are the bridge between the functioning lunatics and the insane Gods who gave them unlife. They have ghouls and dominated humans to administer to them and to see to their needs. A few trusted ancilae charged with preserving their semi-wakeful state and to report the messages to other children of Malkav.
[Of course, it is entirely possible that some (perhaps all) of these watchers are making it up and that the spirituality of the Clan has been co-opted by those few Malkavians still able to pursue a political goal.]
The Malkavian madness network [the great repository]
Malkav is hinted to have passed beyond the physical, that somehow not only has his understanding left the rest of us beyond, but so has his consciousness. There are many within his Clan who believe that he has ascended in some way to another plane and become a god. They refer to this state by many names such as ‘the Godhead’ and they believe that the Malkavian madness network is in fact the first step of joining the Clan Founder - that those vampires who can divorce their perceptions from the mundane in emulation of Malkav can join his in some form of Insane Nirvana.
[One taste of my blood could show it to you, for a brief moment.]
To escape the Beast and the hunger, the need to avoid the sun, Malkavians break out of the prison their physical form has become. Without the dead flesh of the Vampires corpse he is freed from the curse of God - just as he is freed from the curse of sanity when he lets go of the dead weight of his ego. Thus the Malkavian madness network might be more than some telepathic link, more even than some Akashic consciousness, it might be the echoes of paradise, a final state of enlightenment akin to Golconda.
The blood of the Malkavian
The Blood of the Malkavian passes on insanity like an infection, but the Infection has been mutated by the broken mind. Those who drink it are much more likely to be swayed by the insanity of the Vampire, to share their master’s delusions much as other vampire’s blood makes the drinker susceptible to his wishes. But in this case a ghoul may well be swallowed by joint hallucinations or simply find shelter in the masters twisted visions. The Blood protects the vampire from those who might challenge his or her journey to enlightenment.
Malkavian Player Characters
The majority of Neonates suffer only minor derangements and mentality illness, making them playable but rather poorly appreciated by the Clan elders. They retain many of their human chains, bound to the prison of the mundane world by limited damage to their minds. Until they can shatter the bondage of the accepted world view they must serve as acolytes to the lower generations and longer lived.
[An undamaged mind is the hardest chain to break.]
By following the (seemingly) strange commandments of the clan elders, the neonates gain wisdom. Like monks ministering to the community, their service brings them closer to the Godhead of Malkav and the nirvana of the Malkavian madness network. Malkavian neonates are taught to weather the hardships of low status and the abuse of their sires as the first steps on the path to greatness.
[… and what quest required any less?]
Thus player characters are the lowest rung of the social ladder because they are high generation or because they are new to the world of the undead, but for a Malkavian it is also because they are still sane enough to walk abroad in the world. They are still able to function as player characters.
[Makes you wonder the Anarch’s have to bitch about don’t it?]
At character creation the player should be allowed, even encouraged, to choose low impact mental illnesses for his character. Like any seeker after illumination, the journey begins in ignorance. How many years the character has spent as a vampire before the start of play should inform this leniency to some degree, but even 50 year old Kindred should be able to pass as sane in most situations.
[Ah but once they enter the story, stage left, that’ll soon change!]
This does make the Malkavian Clan weakness less debilitating to start with, but it ends up being the harshest of them all after the characters natural progression. The reward for playing a Malkavian character well is to have that character’s status as playable pulled from the table earlier than other characters.
[Enlightenment is its own reward you crass fan boy!]
For those of us with a grip on reality it is clear that the Malkavians do not rule the World of Darkness, they are a long way from ruling the Camarilla. The Sabbat or any other sect. Though the reason for this is obvious, it bares reiterating here; the Malkavians are led by the truly bat fuck insane!
[What? You expected me to disagree with you?]
Those whose insights have transcended the mundane plane will never be a force to be truly reckoned with politically, not even within the Clan itself. No matter what benefits their insanity might suggest, the Clan will never attain power or comfort or safety in the civilised world that Vampires attempt to live in. Politics is simply the surface level game played by those hopelessly entrenched in the lie.
[Like all prisoners, you want to break free you either have to break out or play by the wardens rules!]
The truth is, the smatterings of political or social growth the Clan has achieved since the fall of Enoch can all be put down to accidental happenstance based on random manoeuvrings and chaotic reactions. Unless of course you ask a Malkavian - who will point to such accidents and unfathomable tactics as the benefit of the unfettered mind.
[ … ]
So your average Malkavian that might be part of a larger Coterie of Vampires could still be a productive character with a few mental issues, issues that can be played to enhance the game rather than detract from it. The defining characteristics of the Malkavian clan may well be its madness, but that does not mean that all members have to be so far gone that they make us cringe. Just as in the world we players live in, mental illness is often undetectable and those who suffer from it are still able to live a relatively normal life
[Trust him on this one, he knows what he’s talking about!]
So the ‘player character’ Malkavian can be a highly functioning lunatic. By definition these low level insanities will ensure he is considered of little importance by his clan, he’ll have no Clan status. Much like a Toreador with no artistic talent is left wallowing at the bottom of the barrel, so the mostly sane Malkavian is kept at arm’s length by the truly crazy of the inner circle. Those Malkavians who have yet to show signs of slipping the mental shackles might be tasked with certain tasks (aka plot hooks) by their patrons [enlightened elders], but are mostly left to develop [descend] on their own.
Suggestions for maturation
So the question is, how does one guide a character from near sanity to enlightenment, and from player character to NPC? The simplest and most obvious route is to add more derangements, or to increase the derangements of the character as time goes on. Some have suggested that the characters mental attributes should suffer as well, although I would rather do this only if they fail a roll (perhaps a Virtue or Path roll). The chart includes optional suggestions to lower the mental attributes by one (decide randomly or on ST’s judgement).
In the Appendix you will find a list of suggested mental disorders, each of them rated in three levels of severity (mild, major and severe). From this point on, anytime the text suggests a new Derangement, an increase of a derangement from one level to another will have the same effect.
For example: Rufus has a mild Obsessive-compulsive disorder. His enlightenment causes his mind to fracture and the player could either choose a completely new derangement or change the mild Obsessive-compulsive disorder to a major Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
| |
Derangements |
Mental Attributes |
| Every generation above 8 |
+1 |
|
| Every dot of Dementation above 5 |
+1 |
-1 |
| Every 20 points of Experience earned |
+1 |
|
| Diablerie upon a Malkavian |
+1 |
-1 |
| Every century active since embrace |
+1 |
|
The first thing that this system does is make it nigh impossible to play Malkavian Characters at lower generations, or with a large amount of experience spent in the Clan Discipline. It also places extra restrictions on those wanting to play Malkavian vampires in a Dark Ages game.
[Good.]
That is intentional and not a mistake. Insanity is debilitating. Even if the end result for the character is the achievement of enlightenment and to become one with the Godhead, the player must accept that her character is doomed from the offset. The Malkavian stands about as much chance of longevity as a Character in a game of Call of Cthulhu.
[It’s Russian roulette with only one empty chamber.]
Clan Status
Using the same definition of advancements [disorders] given in the Appendix it is possible to suggest a rough guide to Clan status and just how enlightened [insane] the vampire needs to be. Give the listed Disorders a points value thus;
| 2 minor disorders |
= 1/2 point |
4 minor disorders |
= 1 point |
| 1 major disorder |
= 1/2 point |
2 major disorders |
= 1 point |
| |
|
1 severe disorder |
= 1 point |
Then assume that to have Clan Status the character must have something like the same points in disorders as the level of status. So even to have gained enough notice from the Clan to have a status of one, the Character needs to have enough enlightenment [mental complications] to cause the player a few issues - a severe disorder, or a major disorder and two minor disorders for example. This shouldn’t be inflexible because you can’t really assign points in such a way, it’s just a rough guide.
| |
NPC |
Player Character |
| Status 1 |
Neonate |
Yes |
| Status 2 |
Ancilaees |
Yes |
| Status 3 |
Elders |
Seek ST permission |
| Status 4 |
Elders |
Unplayable |
| Status 5 |
Elders |
Unplayable |
Appendix 1: Suggested Disorders
Minor disorders
Major Disorders
- Dissociative identity disorder (DiD) also called multiple personality disorder, or "split personality.
- Autism (Mild)
- Schizotypy individuals showing some of the characteristics associated with schizophrenia but without meeting cut-off criteria.
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Paranoia (extreme)
- Phobia (extreme)
- Acute dysfunctional behaviour
- Maladaptive temperamental
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Sadistic personality disorder,
- Adjustment disorder - Inability to sufficiently adjust to life circumstances
- Factitious disorders, such as Munchausen syndrome, where symptoms are experienced and/or reported for personal gain.
- Sleep disorders
- Amnesia (Memory or cognitive disorders)
- Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is a dissociative disorder in which the sufferer is affected by persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization. The symptoms include a sense of automation, going through the motions of life (or unlife) but not experiencing it, feeling as though one is in a movie, feeling as though one is in a dream, feeling a disconnection from one's body; out-of-body experience, a detachment from one's body, environment and difficulty relating oneself to reality.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (mild)
- Schizophrenia (mild)
Severe Disorders
Almost all 8th – 5th Generation Vampires have at least one Severe Disorder (in addition to Minor and Major disorders)
In addition to any of the above listed complaints, there are certain disorders only applicable to mortals. Although a Malkavian may believe he or she suffers from them, it is completely Psychosomatic and thus a different disorder.
All links in the list of disorders are to wikipedia pages.
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