Clans as feuding families

I am currently running a world of darkness turn vampire game set in Louisiana and am toying with the idea of using the basic clans and developing them into families at war with one another instead. I would love to get your views on what sort of family traits you would attribute to each clan. What kind of family would you make the gangrel, for example, in such a setting?

D.A.Evans:

What kind of family would you make the gangrel, for example, in such a setting?

The losers on the outskirts of society who can't really compete with the other clans in any particular avenue.  If the clan is alive at all, it would be only due to their mysteriousness thanks to Protean 1, and the fear Aggravated damage inspires.

I don't know, I'm not a fan of this idea in general, because it requires the clans to become stereotypes, and I really can't imagine why vampires would band together by family anyway.

I mean, honestly, being a vampire generally sucks, so why wouldn't I hate the guy who did it to me?  And my family gets all kinds of bonuses to using powers on me, and I sometimes feel, through blood sympathy, the awful shit they go through, too.  Why would I not flee at top speed away from those people?

Its also strange, because while older vampires, from the time when your name and family history was important, might care about their vampire line, vampires who grew up in the modern era are not going to give a shit.  I mean, really, how many modern people can tell you much about their lineage past their great grandparents?  I have to admit, I couldn't even tell you what ethnicities I am.  There's at least 8 of them in the mix, I know that much.  Unless you did it for a school project at some point, how many people from Gen X on have actually given a shit about their genealogy?

You don't choose your family, and I find something that you actually choose (like covenant) to make for a far more compelling political/social/whatever structure.

I agree, but by the same token, I am going with the notion that most older families are not big on choice, as is the case here. So, even if you knew what was in store for you, you wouldn't be allowed the opportunity to pass up the offer. Basically, the idea is that you don't join a family, you're born into it, or the family chooses you.

D.A.Evans:

I agree, but by the same token, I am going with the notion that most older families are not big on choice, as is the case here. So, even if you knew what was in store for you, you wouldn't be allowed the opportunity to pass up the offer. Basically, the idea is that you don't join a family, you're born into it, or the family chooses you.

What stops you from leaving?

mplindustries:

What stops you from leaving?

Travelling any significant distance is difficult without wits, knowledge, resources and luck. Most neonates just don't have what it takes

Most Kindred don't becomes Sires on impulse, so having a Childe just wander off is often likened to losing a significant investment without any payoff

Some covenants don't feel like letting neonates just wander off, and have expert vampire trackers to handle such situations

Disciplines can be used for direct control

The world is suddenly quite a few shades darker, more dangerous and threatening, which all adds control

Depending on the world around the neonate it might be physically very difficult to leave without crossing into hostile territories - this with little or no protection makes the whole business potentially quite dangerous

D.A.Evans:

What kind of family would you make the gangrel, for example, in such a setting?

A family of Gangrel would probably see themselves as top predators of the area, which doesn't automatically mean that they use only their physical proves to get their meals. Suppose there are some werewolves in the area, and the Gangrel are the only ones that the wolves have scapped with and gained their respect. So, instead of being out on the outskirts of Kindred society the Gangrel actually have a pretty powerful position among the five families.

All of the clan books are gold mines for ideas about how and why such families might come together. They might not actually even be directly related to each other. This would make things a whole lot easier thematically speaking, because Blood Ties can create some issues.

Telperion:

A family of Gangrel would probably see themselves as top predators of the area

Gangrel are not top predators.  They are crappy predators, actually, compared to just about every other clan.  They are good at simply surviving (not the Survival skill, they suck at that, but surviving in general), but that's about it.  I will say nothing more on the Gangrel in this thread, as I have pleaded this case in dozens of others. 

I just don't see how they could have any prominence in this kind of setting without some contrivance that gives them an advantage they are no better suited to exploit than anyone else (the werewolf example, in particular holds little water for me, since any other clan could accomplish the same thing, and many of them could do so better).

I disagree with you about the Gangrel being crappy predators who are inferior to all of the other clans.  But in order to avoid muddying the waters of the this thread, I'll keep to the present theme:  Clans as Families, and why they're competitive with one another:

1.  Animalism:  summon animals for easy feeding (just like Dominate and Majesty on humans, and you need not worry about killing your prey).  Later, command animals to spy for you (or take over an animal's mind and do your spying yourself), just like spying with Obfuscate and Auspex).

2.  Protean:  don't worry about needing to scamper for shelter every dawn (Protean-2).  Scary fighter (Protean-3), just like the Daeva (Vigor) and Nosferatu (Vigor).  Super mobility for attack or escape (bat, crow, whatever has got wings) (Protean-4).  Even better spying/mobility/escape (Protean-5).

3.  Clan Weakness:  while it reduces the odds of success for Intelligence &  Wits rolls, all that means is that it encourages you to keep your plans simple (and Heaven knows that vampires are suckers for complex plotting, so keeping your plans simple is a virtue).  And at least it doesn't drive you crazy (Ventrue), or force you to pander to your every lust (Daeva), or set you on fire (Mekhet), or scare potential allies away (Nosferatu).

Just remember that at the standard ratio of 50,000 humans to one vampire, a town/small city with more than 10 vampires is darned rare (the vast majority of communities in the world are lots smaller than 500,000 humans in size).  With a vampiric population of 4 - 10 kindred in most communities, there just isn't room for elaborate social groupings. 

Each clan which even exists in a given town/small city would be represented by 2 - 4 members, which probably means a sire, a couple of childer, and a couple of grandchilder.  So in most communities, it's the Family which counts:  that is, all of the Gangrel (or Daeva, or whatever) in a given community are probably blood-relations, members of the same line of descent. 

And even though Bloodlines are fairly uncommon, it's easy to imagine a single example of a Bloodline (a Child of the Morrigan, or a Khaibit, or whatever) coming to a town/small city, and siring a childe or three, and coming to represent it's parent clan as well:  that is, all of the Mekhet in a given city of 500,000 mortals could actually be Khaibit (because we're talking about only 2 - 4 Mekhet/Khaibit out of a vampiric population of 10 kindred).

Actually treating the clans as familial institutions that are in conflict with one another is kinda cool.
It could make for an interesting game.
The Invictus book has some details on establishing Houses, which are basically familial.

As for what I'd do with the Gangrel... I don't think I'd bother. Unlike every other clan, the Gangrel can start of with the ability to meld into the ground and sleep, so... they don't really need to stay close to the city. 1 old Gangrel and 3-4 neonates that can feed off of animals works fine. The old Gangrel can safely take 1-2 vitae from the neonates each night, the neonates can eat animals... it works.

I don't see much reason for the Gangrel to bother with staking a claim in the city. Staking a claim means coming into conflict, and, being that they can just leave the area without much resource or planning, they aren't as tethered to human populations as strongly as other clans. Why fight when you don't have to?

Cool, thanks everyone... I appreciate the input and hearing people's viewpoints on the clans:) As a bonus, I'm using the Oberlochs bloodline for the Gangrel to counteract the solitary nature of the clan... now it's just up to the players to decide if they want to be tied down to the bloodline or not...