Roads (Viae) are philosophical codes of morality used to suppress or control the Beast. The debased, predatory urges of the Beast erode a Cainite's free will if not kept firmly in check. A vampire fallen prey to his savage urges becomes a monster, irredeemably lost to his demonic desires. A Road teaches an initiate ways to sustain his moral compass with the proper tools for appeasement, domination or subjugation, even during times of extreme distress.
You choose a Road during character creation. The default selection is Humanity. Available paths are below.
| Road
|
Latin Name
|
Virtues
|
Availability
|
| Beast |
Via Bestiae |
Conviction, Instinct |
Common
|
| Heaven |
Via Caeli |
Conscience, Self-Control |
Common
|
| Humanity |
Via Humanitatis |
Conscience, Self-Control |
Default Road
|
| Kings |
Via Regalis |
Conviction, Self-Control |
Common
|
| Sin |
Via Peccati |
Conviction, Instinct |
Rare
|
| Bones |
Via Ossiorum |
Conviction, Instinct |
Cappadocians only
|
| Night |
Via Nocturnis |
Conviction, Instinct |
Lasombra only
|
Road of the Beast
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10
|
| 9
|
| 8
|
| 7
|
| 6
|
| 5
|
| 4
|
| 3
|
| 2
|
| 1
|
Road of Heaven
A core set of beliefs underlies the Via Caeli. An initiate learns of the existence of a higher power and its dominion over all things, and vampires exist as part of that divine plan. Her Embrace is a calling to service to the gods. When she follows divine law, and serves a higher will than her own individual needs, she rejects the influence of the Beast to obtain her freedom.
Cainites on the Via Caeli cling to the belief that divine purpose guides the hand of fate and that even great evil can serve a greater purpose. They devote themselves to understanding that purpose through subservience to a higher power. A servant of the Greco-Roman pantheon believes her Embrace may have offended one of the gods and must strive to regain that god’s favor. However they practice their faith, every Cainite walking this Road believes in the existence of a higher power and its dominion over all things, that the mark of Caine is part of a divine plan, and only through submission to divine will can the Beast be contained.
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10 |
Failing to make regular sacrifices
|
| 9 |
Lying
|
| 8 |
Offending the gods or spirits with violence
|
| 7 |
Failing to act honorably
|
| 6 |
Stealing from offerings or sacrifices
|
| 5 |
Not honouring priests
|
| 4 |
Killing a sacred animal
|
| 3 |
Defiling sacred places
|
| 2 |
Damaging the image of the gods
|
| 1 |
Reviling a god or the gods
|
Road of Humanity
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10
|
| 9
|
| 8
|
| 7
|
| 6
|
| 5
|
| 4
|
| 3
|
| 2
|
| 1
|
Road of Kings
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10 |
Neglecting your duty
|
| 9 |
Treating a peer with disrespect
|
| 8 |
Treating an inferior as an equal
|
| 7 |
Breaking your word to a peer
|
| 6 |
Behaving shamefully in front of your peers
|
| 5 |
Showing weakness in front of inferiors
|
| 4 |
Failing to answer a challenge to your honour
|
| 3 |
Treating a superior with disrespect
|
| 2 |
Breaking your word to your superiors
|
| 1 |
Breaking a sworn oath
|
Road of Sin
To a follower on the Via Peccati, Cainites are already damned, and nothing is forbidden to them. The Beast belongs to a vampire, but she does not belong to it. She strives to act without hesitation, unbound by the laws of God or mankind. Her heart holds her hunger and her freedom, if only she will break the strictures of confining morality no longer relevant in her damned state. Finding the courage to embrace freedom and hunger, those dark urges lying beneath, is the only way to discover liberty.
The Via Peccati began in Rome before the Third Punic War, inspired in part when Carthaginian refugees and Cainite philosophies steeped in Eastern hedonism collided. Fierce debates gave rise to the idea that a soul's inner liberty cannot be abrogated by any force. The keys to unlocking this freedom are found in embracing myriad pleasures rather than ascetic denial. Yet Tempters are decried as gluttons fallen to the Beast's seductions and wiles by those who suggest its origins lie not among the Brujah, but the Baali.
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10 |
Acknowledging any authority over your own
|
| 9 |
Failing to indulge a new desire
|
| 8 |
Failing to ride the wave of Frenzy
|
| 7 |
Forfeiting long-term pleasures for short-term ones
|
| 6 |
Putting the needs of others ahead of your own desires
|
| 5 |
Swearing an oath
|
| 4 |
Refusing to act against those who attempt to bind you
|
| 3 |
Refusing to feed or kill when necessary
|
| 2 |
Encouraging virtue or agents of virtue
|
| 1 |
Refusing to act in your own best interests
|
Road of Bones
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10 |
Showing a fear of death
|
| 9 |
Failing to study an occurrence of death
|
| 8 |
Accidental killing
|
| 7 |
Postponing feeding when hungry
|
| 6 |
Succumbing to frenzy
|
| 5 |
Refusing to kill when an opportunity presents itself
|
| 4 |
Making a decision based on emotion rather than logic
|
| 3 |
Inconveniencing oneself for another's benefit
|
| 2 |
Needlessly preventing a death
|
| 1 |
Actively preventing a death
|
Road of Night
| Score
|
Minimum Wrongdoing
|
| 10
|
| 9
|
| 8
|
| 7
|
| 6
|
| 5
|
| 4
|
| 3
|
| 2
|
| 1
|