“It will never get better for them. It is their cross to bear. The more attention that the Camarilla pays them, the harder it is for the Anarchs to work with them.” 

– Prince Bernardo Castellano 

The Duskborn walk a fine line between the worlds of the living and the undead. The fact that they even exist is met with fear, jealousy, and pity by true vampires. Their ability to pass as mortal and the pliability of their Blood makes them uniquely suited for survival outside Kindred society, providing them with talents which can further secure their place in the coming nights. 

No one knows what enables the Blood to reanimate a thin-blood. But it does, even if it should not. Occasionally, some thirteenth or fourteenth generation vampire makes a feeble attempt to create a childe of their own and succeeds. A new Duskborn rises to walk between the two worlds. The only thing certain is that unlife will be hard for these new pseudo-vampires, and they are going to face nightly struggles if they wish to survive. Many Kindred view Duskborn as a threat to the Masquerade and will destroy them if given the chance. 

Most Camarilla domains have issued an edict requiring all thin-bloods to bear a mark of their status: a crescent moon, either tattooed onto their skin by a Tremere or scorched into their skin as a brand. This mark is irreversible, and even Anarchs will think twice about associating with a marked Duskborn. 

Disciplines 

Thin-bloods do not automatically possess Disciplines. During character creation they may choose Merits that give them access to Thin-Blood Alchemy and/or one other discipline. 

Thin-Blood Alchemy: An ingenious use of their diluted Blood, their blood alchemy is attributed to part of why the Duskborn have survived as long as they have. Different draughts allow the imbiber different abilities, and smart thin-bloods always carry a few on them at any given time. 

Temporary Discipline dot: Whenever a thin-blood feeds, they get one temporary dot in a Discipline associated with the resonance, and one level one power, chosen by the player. They may only have one Discipline power at a time from this source. This power lasts until they reach Hunger 5 or when they feed next. No additional powers can be gained through spending experience unless you have the Discipline Affinity Thin-Blood Merit. 

Archetypes 

Judas: There are always people who seek out the Embrace, even amongst organizations of Hunters or other supernaturals who are supposed to disdain vampires as a whole. Sometimes an Embrace occurs, and the thin-blood who results from it is angry and bitter. Their lives were changed, usually against their will, and they will spend every last hour they have on this earth hunting down and destroying the vampire directly responsible for their plight. 

Blood Addict: These thin-bloods have developed a taste for the power they can imbibe through drinking the Blood of another vampire. These Outcasts spend their nights seeking out the willing, and even unwilling, to taste so that they can experience all that unlife has to offer them. Unfortunately this thrill risks causing a Blood Bond if they drink directly from the same donor more than once.

True Believer: If thin-bloods weren’t meant to exist, how could they have been created at all? This question weighs on the minds of thin-bloods and true vampires alike. Some thin-bloods believe the rhetoric: that they are a portent, a signal of something greater yet to come, and the next step on the ladder of vampiric evolution. 

Thin-Blood Characteristics 

Thin-blooded vampires straddle the line between mortal and vampire: 

● A thin-blood cannot create a Blood Bond or Embrace with any certainty. A Rouse check worth of thin-blood vitae allows a mortal ghoul-like powers for a single night. 

● Thin-bloods always have Blood Potency zero. 

● Damage can be especially lethal for thin-bloods. They suffer damage like a normal mortal, taking Aggravated Damage from fire, slashing, and piercing weapons. They mend as vampires do, however. Staking a thin-blood won’t paralyze them, but they suffer massive physical trauma which is likely to send them into torpor. 

● Like any vampire, they suffer from Hunger, though in a far less overt fashion. They never Frenzy unless provoked by supernatural means. 

● Duskborn always count as having used Blush of Life, with the exact effects dependent on their Humanity rating. 

● Sunlight only deals one level of Normal Damage per turn if they are in direct sunlight. If it’s overcast, or they are wearing heavy clothes, they take this damage every minute they are exposed. 

● In most domains, thin-blooded vampires cannot be Accepted or Acknowledged in the Camarilla. 

● Thin-bloods must take between one and three Thin-Blood Merits and an equivalent number of Thin-Blood Flaws.

● Camarilla members may refuse to pay boons to thin-bloods who do not have the Camarilla Contact Thin-Blood Merit.

● Anarch Movement members may refuse to pay Major and Life Boons to thin-bloods who do not have the Anarch Comrades Thin-Blood Merit.

Depending on the Merits and Flaws a thin-blood vampire takes at character creation, some of her mortal weaknesses can be mitigated, making her closer to a true vampire.

Bane & Compulsion

 Because they do not carry any resonance with a clan, the Duskborn do not have a Bane or suffer from any clan-specific Compulsions.