“Darling, there’s a graceful and fine line between a mere hedonist, such as yourself, and using hedonism to achieve your ends. That’s the art, that’s the nightly dance, and the opus of our blood.” 

– Incisus, Archon 

A Toreador craves aesthetic perfection. This may come in the form of painting, music, performance, fashion, the way a light reflects in the raindrops, and everything in between. Anything can be art, and most Divas are or surround themselves with artists of some sort, always trying to create or find something they perceive to be beautiful. 

Potential Embraces are mortals who stand out from the background and shine brightly enough to deserve notice. Many new Toreador childer are artists as well, attracting their sire through their skills, voice, or looks. Beauty doesn’t have to just be the traditional sort, though – a Diva’s tastes age as they do. The trouble with undeath is in how long it drags out. Beauty fades, lives end, stone crumbles, paint peels, and nothing remains as permanent as a vampire. Even the most creative ideas can begin to seem mundane and boring after a few decades. Stunning beauty stared at for too long eventually dulls and leaves the Diva searching for something new, and so the definition of ‘beauty’ is wide, inclusive, and open to personal taste.

Often, this leads to a stereotype of Clan Toreador as flighty, airheaded vampires who only care about surface looks and finding a good time. This can be accurate. For every childe Embraced for their incredible talent or skill, there is a figure of beauty without a thought between their perfect ears, Embraced in a moment of passion when their sire decided the way their skin reflected in the moonlight needed to be made eternal. 

Disciplines 

Auspex: Divas appreciate the insight Auspex gives them into their victims. With it, they can pick out the mortals who will be more likely to help them discover new experiences and sensations while feeding. They also use it to enhance their ability to read other vampires, learning the intricacies of emotion that can make them easier to manipulate, and appreciate the arts with supernaturally-enhanced perception. 

Celerity: Performers appreciate the grace they can achieve through Celerity. This Discipline tends to be valued whether or not the vampire is a warrior, as the improved speed and dexterity is useful in many other ways for a clan of sensualists. 

Presence: Divas use the powers of Presence to sway a crowd with emotions, making them love or hate what they see on the stage. Most importantly, though, Presence manufactures friends and lovers, and makes mortals into willing victims. 

Archetypes 

Night School Teacher: Nothing is more beautiful than the things a living, mortal mind can dream up. Some Toreador have taken up encouraging those minds, teaching art classes for a community college’s night school. Always careful of the Masquerade, they exist on the edge of life and death, trying to remember how to rekindle their own passion.. 

Collector: When their own beauty isn’t enough, and without much in the way of artistic skills, these Divas turn to collecting. Their collections can include paintings and sculptures they wish they could create, or even the nightclub singer they envy. Instead of creating art, these Toreador cultivate art around them. 

Performer: From slam poetry nights at the local coffee shop to busking in the streets to light shows at underground raves, this Toreador craves the attention of an audience and the praise of a crowd. The medium doesn’t matter, and every few decades they may get bored of their current passion and master something new. The perfection the Diva seeks is the sound of their audience’s approval.

Bane 

Beauty is more than a simple, shallow want for the Toreador; an environment that violates their aesthetic sensibilities distracts and chafes to the point of physical detriment. When forced to tolerate such offensive surroundings, a Diva suffers a penalty equal to their Bane Severity on any attempt to use Disciplines in that space. Even surroundings that most mortals would consider ordinary, while not enough to trigger the Bane, will cause the vampire minor discomfort. 

Compulsion: Obsession 

When perfection catches their eye, a Diva’s mind can think of nothing else. If the Compulsion is triggered, choose something in the room. It might be a painting, a song, a person, or anything that fits the vampire’s idea of perfection. It consumes their every thought; even if their attention is forced elsewhere, the obsession with their target draws their mind back to it. Toreador suffer a -2 penalty to any action not directly involving this object, such as trying to protect it from harm, or influencing it for the betterment of the Toreador. This lasts until the scene ends, or until the Toreador can no longer see the target of their obsession.