“Sure, things have gone to shit in the world above. But we’re still here. We’re always here. Dug in deep, with eyes and ears open. That’s our first and only rule: survive.”
– Primogen Cyrus Eddington
From the first moments of their new existence, a Sewer Rat is separate from other vampires. No other Kindred can understand the pain of the Sewer Rat’s long Embrace, of their body swelling, twisting, breaking and reforming. No other Kindred knows the shock of the first look in a mirror, expecting to see their own face, but being met with a nightmare instead.
Other Nosferatu have experienced all of this, which often brings members of the clan together as a close-knit family. It doesn’t matter what sect they’re in; the clan has extensive networks for gathering information and communicating between themselves. With connections like that, Sewer Rats make for excellent spymasters. As the other vampires roam the city on the surface, these Kindred have made the sewers their domain, earning their nickname as the uncontested masters of the underground.
While their bodies suffer deformities, crippling injuries and other physical abnormalities, they are not a Masquerade breach. Yet many Nosferatu are hesitant to pass on the Embrace to anyone they actually like. In those rare cases, their childe is chosen from the dregs of human society, those who already know how it feels to be shunned and hidden in places no one wants to look, where even the Nosferatu Embrace would be better than what they had in life.
On the other hand, revenge Embraces are common, either to teach a lesson or knock someone down a peg. Should a Sewer Rat witness a stuck-up beauty queen harassing a lower-class worker, that beauty queen may quickly find herself in the agonizing process of joining the most hideous of the undead. She may spend the rest of her existence miserable, and on the outside of the outsiders, or she may learn to see beyond surface appearance and be welcomed as a worthy member of the clan – after all, she has a new perspective now.
Disciplines
Animalism: With their often-frightening looks, many Nosferatu find animals more useful allies than other Kindred. Animals are often overlooked, and opening communication with Animalism makes them a perfect network of spies and messengers.
Obfuscate: Some Nosferatu take pride in their looks; their monstrous images make them distinct as a clan. But many just want to appear “normal,” and Obfuscate allows them to blend in. Even for those that care little for normality, Obfuscate is an extremely effective hunting tool.
Potence: If you can take an enemy by surprise, you have the advantage. The common hit-and-hide strategy of the clan, combined with the titanic strength granted by Potence, can make it difficult for targets to thwart and attack before it is too late.
Archetypes
Private Eye: With ears and eyes everywhere, this vampire is hard to surprise. In the rare cases they don’t know an answer to a question, they know who to ask to figure it out. In their mortal life, they may have been a police officer or a detective. Now, they work because they enjoy it – they cannot resist following connections, solving puzzles, and learning the secrets they collect in the process.
Freak Show: The carnie might live shunned on the edges of vampire society, but, when they’re on stage, they’re truly themselves. Perhaps they like seeing the fear in the eyes of the crowd, or maybe they just want a moment in the spotlight when so often they’re in the shadows. With the show as an explanation for their looks, they try to keep the Masquerade by hiding in plain sight – a dangerous gamble.
Survivalist: This Nosferatu just wants to exist, and they’ll do anything to make that happen. Maybe they miss being able to walk outside or interact without hiding, but they have long since accepted that their existence is limited to sewers and secret places, and they’re going to keep that going as long as possible. If they cannot avoid a conflict between sects, they are on whichever side is winning, making deals with both in ways that neither will find out.
Bane
All Nosferatu appear hideous and vile, though not always supernaturally so. Nosferatu suffer a -2 penalty on all mundane social challenges when their natural appearance is visible. Additionally, all attempts by the character to disguise their deformities, including with the use of Disciplines, incur a penalty equal to the character’s Bane Severity.
Compulsion: Cryptophilia
Almost every Nosferatu gains a deep hunger for secrets. Whether a piece of information is relevant to them or not is a completely different story; every secret has a purpose, even if that purpose is to trade for more secrets. When their Compulsion is triggered, a Nosferatu has a -2 penalty to all actions that are not spent attempting to gather secrets. Once they learn something important enough to be useful or the scene ends, the Compulsion ends. Actually putting the secret to use is their own choice. They may save it for a later trade.
