All info below are spoilers for the Time of Thin Blood book.
. . . . . .
Since Time of Thin Blood, Clan Ravnos, or rather the Ravnos
bloodline, has changed quite a bit. Their Antediluvian is no more, (virtually)
all their elders are dead and no more then 100 of them are left.
(Click here to see
why Justin Achilli killed the Ravnos off.)
On this page, you can find some templates, which can be used as possible,
surviving Ravnos.
Naturally, these ideas can also be used for the Ravnos before their
massive departure.
Below, you can find suggestions for Ravnos characters that might have survived
the unslaught. Most of these are seperated from the gypsy stereotype.
Credits:
Fred Mensch wrote: the Magician, ..., the Samaritan. D.Vacca wrote: Mr.Bad Example, ..., Corrupt Cop. Webcrawler wrote: Bon Vivant, ..., Researcher. Brian Amor wrote: the Art Forger, ..., the Televangelist.
Fred Mensch created:
The Magician. A Ravnos stage magician who models his act
with a dark occult flavour, throwing in just enough real
occultism to rile up the local Tremere. His "Crime" of
Choice is trickery - convincing others that what isn't
is. This charecter could have very Settite-like traits,
luring your aspiring occultists into his service, ghouling
them, Bondign them and then throwing them at enemies.
The Manipulator. A psychologist who plays vampire politics
just to mess with people's minds and spread dissention
and chaos. He has contacts everywhere and creates intricite
schemes worthy of a comic-book villan. His crime is deciet.
The Dissident. A born rabble-rouser, the Dissident does
insincerely what many Brujah do sincerely: buck the system
for fun and profit. Whether it's spreading Marxist mani-
festos in America or undermining the weak provisional
government in Russia, the Dissident causes trouble just
to screw the establishment and watch the sparks fly.
The Explorer. A travelling vampire who seeks out the
strange and unusual with his coterie. Half Indiana
Jones and half Marco Polo, he can leave no mystery
unturned. His crime is trespassing. If he's a Paradox
follower, perhaps he tracks down mystic items and
destroys them.
Street Lord. This Ravnos runs the local gangs, pitting
them against each other to amuse himself or further
his friends' political ends. Regardless, he's a ring-
leader and likes to be on top. His crime is instigating
gang violence.
False Siddu. Just as the Lasombra infiltate the Catholic
Church, there are Ravnos posing as Hindus. By undermining
other Hindus' faith in their gods they help weaken the
bonds of tradition, slough off the caste system and generally
make the universe a more dynamic, meaningless place by
destroying faith. His crime is blasphemy.
Spiritualist. He was Embraced in the age of Victorian
Spiritualism and plays off the public's gullibility
and love of the occult. By claiming access to the
spirit world he can part the gullible from their
money and even draw a Blood Cult into his service.
His crime is fraud.
The Victim. A new neonate Embraced months ago, the
victim has been framed for some crime by Elders using
her. Introverted, terrified and insular, she now
runs from city to city, eeking out a pitiful existance.
Her crime is betrayal - her harsh life has shown that
no one can ever be trusted, so she'll screw them
before they screw her.
The Innocent. A child-vampire, he always hated being
controlled and manipulated by adults. Now he has the
powers of a vampire and can make them all pay! He
acts prefectly innocent, moving from parent to parent,
subtley destroying everything he touches by playing
on people's compassion and patronizing attitude. His
crime is murder.
The Samaritan. He was lucky to escape the death camps
in WWII; now he travels from place to place, working to
aid the persecuted and undermine oppressive regimes.
His crime is violating laws to protect the innocent
(attacking legally-endorsed ethib cleansing, disrupting
propaganda, etc.)
D.Vacca's idea's:
Mr. Bad Example. A very personable and likeable fellow, with a
great deal of social skills and education. He tends to dress like a
Ventrue, or an understated Toreador, and prefers to associate with the
"higher" clans. His crime of choice is white collar crime- picture a
vampiric Michael Miliken. Stock fraud, tax evasion, insider trading,
IPOs for Internet startups and Beanie Baby counterfeiting are the kind
of ever-so-profitable, ever-so-*safe*, ever-so-*fun* crimes of Mr. Bad
Example. (The character is named after the song "Mr. Bad Example" by
Warren Zevon, an excellent Ravnos-type-song).
Militia Nut. Uncouth but physically potent, the Ravnos militia
nut believes all the stranger claims of the militia movement- that white
people are exempt from income tax, that the Second Amendment mandates
civilian ownership of tanks and artillery, that driver's licensing is
illegal, that Clinton and the U.N. are importing Gurkha policemen from
Hong Kong to round up Christians into concentration camps, etcetera,
etcetera. His "crime" of choice is patriotically undermining the
black-helicopter-pushing New World Order government. Read the Gangrel
Survivalist template for ideas. Animalism will let you keep a pack
of ghouled Rottweilers or wolf-dogs...
Graffiti Artist. The Ravnos graffiti artist can be the second
coming of Keith Haring and an artist to rival a Toreador, or a ham-handed
spraypaint fan, but however good the art is, the point (and crime) is to
paint it on buildings, bridges, and anything else that will stand still
except for a canvas. I threw an NPC Ravnos tagger into my DC By Night
game, and, lo, he was memorable.
Hobo. I am working on a short story/novella set in the World of
Darkness, pre-fall-of-the-Ravnos, with a Ravnos hobo. It's a natural
setting for a wandering clan of dubious legality, and if you read about
the hobo underground, you'd swear that there were Ravnos in it. His
crime is train-hopping, possibly mixed in with some trespass and theft.
For reference material, listen to Grateful Dead songs.
Vagrant. Okay, I admit I'm getting a little silly here, but how
about a Ravnos whose crime of choice is loitering ("My brother was a
professional loiterer. He loitered for thirty years before realizing it
was not the sort of crime that made any money")? Or, somewhat more
practically, vagrancy and panhandling? Dirty enough to pass for a
Nosferatu, or at least a Nossie ghoul, the Ravnos vagrant begs for change
and grosses out the upright citizens. With some Animalism, you could
keep a horde of rats under your coat until it was time for your Baali
impression...
Fagin. Running a gang of child criminals- traditionally
pickpockets, but pickpocketing is losing its currency among our
less-professional criminals of today, so it might be something else- is
a great opportunity for a Ravnos to pick up a fledgling intelligence
network, power base, and ever-so-pliant herd. Suitable if you want to
be sick, or if you want to be a gentleman crook. Crime of choice is
training and running other criminals.
Corrupt Cop. You know that at some point some Ravnos must have
Embraced the law-abiding and law-enforcing just to see what happens.
Picture the Ravnos corrupt cop, working the night shift and shaking down
all the neighborhood merchants for protection money. The character may
have formerly been an honest cop, and suffering mightily, or may have
always been corrupt and loving unlife. Note that it is hard for a cop to
never come out in the day, and the character may be an ex-cop driven to
impersonate a policeman for the sake of abusing the badge.
Webcrawler made these:
Bon Vivant. Your character loves unlife. Loves to create illusions, loves
to be the the life of the party. There's time enough to brood about the
horrors of your existence, about the loss of humanity, about the Jyhad and
the other crap that's out there, so why do it _now_? Live for the moment!
Teacher. Vampires are not static beings; they _can_ change, can grow, but
because of all their material posessions, they won't. They look at that
painting and remember how it was _then_, and can't see the _now_, or the
future. If they didn't have that painting, then they _could_ look to the
now, to the future... it's your _duty_ to help them by liberating them of
their fetters (*g*). You don't keep many of them, choosing to give them
away to anyone that catches your eye...
Pretender. Ever watch that show? Now imagine that you're Jacob, but with
the power of illusion, and there are people to be helped. Sure, maybe
you're not a Toreador or a Brujah, but a little lying is going to help me
make this situation better.
Researcher. What is Gehenna, exactly? What is the role of the Ravnos in
Gehenna supposed to be? Where can I find out? Look at all these ancient
manuscripts just lying around here in this basement... they would be much
safer with me? And I'd need that briefcase to carry them in, because it's
bulletproof, water proof, and they need to be protected from harm. And
all that lick is using that for is to carry around a bunch of guns...
Brian Amor thought of:
The Art Forger. Specializes in making copies of various works of art, perhaps
to sell on the black market. This character may be kept on retainer by a
Toreador elder, who has the real pieces replaced with forgeries, so that she
may add them to her personal collection.
The Black Widow. Marries older wealthy men, and and then works to eliminate
all of his other heirs before finally doing in her husband. Of course, the
deaths all have to look like accidents.
Business Tycoon. Runs a very proffitable company, while engaging in tax fraud,
corner cutting, unfair labor practices, dumping toxic waste, wage slavery, and
anything else you can think of.
CIA "Advisor". Works in Third World dictatorships helping to train "security
police". Has a taste for murder and torture.
Crooked Cop. Rather self explainitory. Takes bribes to look the other way,
etc.
Dark Trickster. From Scandinavia, following in the footsteps of Loki. Theft,
terrorism, blackmail, framing people for murder...
Grifter. The classic con artist. Mel Gibson's character in the movie Payback
would be one example of this. Harry Anderson's guest appearances on Cheers and
the movie The Sting are some other good ones.
The Hacker. Specializes in computer crimes, be it fraud, data theft,
terrorism, etc.
The Industrial Spy. Kind of self explainitory.
The Pirate. Leads (or is just a member of) a modern day pirate crew (perhaps
in SE Asia or the Caribean). Raids ships and then sells the goods on the black
market.
The Revolutionary. Working toward the violent overthrow of a government.
Perhaps in Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, or Eastern
Europe/Russia. Could be a member of the Sabbat.
The Smuggler. What would you like to specialize in? Drugs? Illegal immigrants?
Guns? Stolen goods?
The Snoop. A former private investigator. Could specialize in breaking and
entering or black mail. May work for the local Prince or one of the Primogen.
The Spin Docter. This should be rather self explainitory, I think.
The Televangelist. Jim Baker being a good example.
