Path of Harmony Revised

By Kish Moore (kish_k@mindspring.com)

Author's Notes

The Path of Harmony was dropped from the Third Edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. That doesn't suit me. In my Chronicles, I still use it. However, I did like the more detailed and structured design of the Third Edition Paths of Enlightenment. Accordingly, the Path of Harmony is here revised in the same format as the other new Paths.

Nickname

Harmonists

Basic Beliefs

Vampires exist as a part of nature. A vampire has as much right to exist as a wolf, a bear, or a human. It is no more "evil" for a vampire to feed on a human than it is for a hawk to feed on a rabbit, or a human to feed on a hamburger. However, it is wrong to be pointlessly cruel, to make other beings suffer needlessly. Prey is not to be wasted or treated as valueless. Feeding on other beings is part of nature, and there is nothing innately evil about acting in the manner that is natural to oneself.

The Ethics of the Path

Nothing existing in nature is innately evil -- including vampires.

Life should be respected and taken only out of necessity, but you should never feel sorry for doing what is natural to you, like drinking blood.

Never lose touch with your higher self or your bestial instincts. Both are part of your being. To have one without the other is unhealthy and unnatural.

Virtues

The Path of Harmony draws upon the Virtues of Conscience and Instinct.

History

The Path of Harmony developed in the late 1700s in the New World colonies. The Path enjoyed a great deal of growth in its early years, although it has always remained a minority Path, as few Lasombra or Tzimisce follow it.

Current Practices

The Path occasionally holds its own meetings. While the Path has no rituals of its own, followers of this Path are known to be the most selective in the gathering of recruits. They look for those with strong morality as well as a healthy blend of intelligence and emotional stability.

Christian followers of the Path, including most Nosferatu antitribu followers, believe in Caine as the first vampire, but argue that he was not cursed by God, but simply changed into a more suitable form for his inner nature when he demonstrated the actions of a predator by killing Abel. More scientifically minded Harmonists, including most of the Path's Tzimisce, discount the myth of Caine, but postulate the existence of the vampire as natural predators, occupants of an ecological niche above humans. Oddly enough, the Harmonists do believe the Antediluvians exist and will one day rise to devour their descendants; possible motives ascribed to the Antediluvians are many and varied -- some suggest that, as male lions sometimes kill cubs, the Antediluvians see the rest of vampirekind as competition -- but the scientists argue that this argument makes no sense. Lions never kill their own cubs. The scientists believe, rather, that the Antediluvians are not in harmony with the world as they should be, and so, much like the human species, they will disrupt the delicate ecological balance of the planet. Thus, the vampiric concept of "Gehenna" is a primitive attempt at understanding the result of the planet's life cycle being broken.

Description of Followers

Vampires on this Path are among the most humane of all vampires. Although none consider kine their equals, many are kinder to humans than are Camarilla Kindred, although others regard humans with searing contempt for their degradation of the world around them. By mortal standards, the Harmonists stand out as the least evil of vampires. They are also some of the most attuned to nature of all vampires. This should not be confused with weakness or empathy -- Harmonists consider themselves predators, and humans their natural prey. This Path's most numerous followers come from the Country Gangrel antitribu, Nosferatu antitribu, and Ravnos antitribu, although a few followers are Brujah antitribu, Kiasyd, Malkavian antitribu, Panders, Serpents of the Light, or even Tzimisce.

Following the Path

This Path requires the vampire to use a healthy blend of common sense, knowledge, emotion, and spiritual belief in all decision making. The vampire should accept that by drinking blood she is not evil, but only acting in accordance with her nature. However, life should not be wasted, and should be respected. Most vampires on this Path are attuned to nature and love, and often spend time away from the city.

Common Abilities

Alertness, Animal Ken, Athletics, Brawl, Empathy, Meditation, Survival.

Preferred Disciplines

Animalism and Auspex are highly respected.

Hierarchy of Sins

Path Rating	Moral Failing	Rationale
10	Permitting harm to an innocent, unoffending being.	Other creatures have as much right to exist as you do.
9	Damaging the environment in any way.	To be part of Nature, you must not harm it.
8	Failing to hunt and drink blood whenever hungry.	It is not natural to deny the body's needs.
7	Acting in an overly cruel manner.	Death is natural; feeding is natural. Torture and cruelty are not.
6	Resisting frenzy or other strong emotions.	Denying your emotions is unhealthy.
5	Failing to assist a packmate or friend.	Connections to others are to be cherished.
4	Killing for any reason other than survival.	Every life is precious.
3	Regarding vampires as "Damned"; wishing to be human	You are as much a part of nature as any living creature.
2	Feeling guilty about doing something you needed to do.	Regret for mistakes can help you correct them, but guilt for what cannot be changed is pointless and silly.
1	Refusing to kill for your own survival or that of a friend.	Everything in nature has a right to defend itself and its loved ones.