SHADOW STALKERS
By Jeff Miller (cougon@hotmail.com)
Description
The Shadow Stalkers are well known throughout the vampire community but are widely considered a myth: something used to scare underlings into obeying. "Behave or I'll summon the Shadow Stalkers." They are well aware of their reputations and prefer it that way. They are basically a group similar to the ancient oriental Ninja. The Stalkers care little for any community and only follow the vampiric rule of maintaining the Masquerade. They conveniently ignore the rest. While this seems dangerous it isn't. This is widely due to their code of honor. They are such that once they say they will do something, they will or die trying. They don't take this lightly and rarely give this oath if it could be turned against them in the future. It is the fact that they care little for the vampiric society is what keeps them from killing all the Princes and taking their place. They don't care what anybody does as long as it doesn't interfer with them. If, however, someone makes them mad, they will go out of their way to kill them. This isn't a rage but rather a slow and calculating demise.They will fight duels of honer if two requirements are met. 1)They are either challenged or make a challenge and 2) They believe they have an edge over the opponent. If the requirements aren't met they will find some excuse not to fight the duel while preserving their honor. These duels are always with ancient weapons. The Shadow Stalkers don't like modern weapons and rarely if ever use them. The highest level of Shadow Stalkers are the best paid assassins but the person hiring them had better have an extremely good reason for hiring them. Politics aren't even close to a good reason.
Nickname
Appearance
The members dress all in black and often have masks covering their face up to the eye-line. If they don't have a mask then they have a hat of some sort (character's discretion). Their only distinguishable feature, actually the only feature noticable by any, is the fact that their eyes (where the color other then white usually is) are solid black. Their eyes glow a dark blue when they get mad. The darker the blue the madder they are.
Haven
Shadow Stalkers will reside anywhere dark as long as it does not stink. The darker the better.
Background
The Shadow Stalkers only choose to embrace those who already have a code of honor. Due to this and the current times the number embraced each year is declining. There are sufficient numbers as few if any Shadows die yearly. Every Shadow Stalker must spend at least two years after the embrace studying with the elders in a secluded monastary provided for this purpose.
Character Creation
Physical, stealth, and combat (other than fire arms) are primary to these characters. None can start with technological skills. Those skills must be learned in gameplay, similar to backgrounds. Experience points may only advance these skills if time has been spent in game play learning these skills. Shadow Stalkers can not take the herd Background because they love the challenge involved in hunting. Additionally, every Shadow Stalker has the Merit of "Code of Honor" and quite often have the merit of "Unbondable." They also tend to have the flaws of "Light Sensitive" and "Color Blind"
Clan Disciplines
Clan Weakness
Fire and Sunlight do double damage and cause aggravated damage if they otherwise would not. In addition, any technological skill roll, if the skill is not at level 4 or above, has its difficulty increased by 2, 3 if the task involves more than trying to steer going faster than 15 MPH or typing a document into a computer (without saving or using the other various options)
Organization
The clan believes 100% that knowledge is power. They will go out of their way to find out something that another knows, or they think another knows, and they do not. This can be a distraction but it also makes their libraries of knowledge more complete than almost any in existence. Just like the Yellow Pages, if it's not in there, maybe it doesn't exist. The Shadows are ruled by a Board and Tribunal. The Tribunal consists of the High Magistrate and two Lesser Magistrates. Along with them are 39 Lower Magistrates making the total group 42. The Shadows often pretend to be of another clan and will keep up the charade in all but the most extreme circumstances.
Stereotypes
They don't have any preconceived notions of the other clans. They do consider the Malkavians amusing in their antics. When confronted they have just one thing to say, "I don't make threats, I make promises."