Bloodlines 2 is the upcoming sequel to the 2004 PC action RPG based on White Wolf’s pen-and-paper classic, Vampire: The Masquerade. The player takes on the role of a thinblood, a lesser vampire and a possible signal of the end times.
The vampires of Bloodlines 2 are part of a larger setting called the World of Darkness. The developers at Hardsuit Labs have already hinted that werewolves may be popping up in Bloodlines 2, so there’s a good chance other denizens of the World of Darkness will appear as well.
Vampires
For context, the vampires in Bloodlines 2 refer to themselves as Kindred or Cainites. They believe that vampirism is the curse God placed on Cain as punishment for murdering his brother, Abel. Cain sired other vampires called Antediluvians, and they, in turn, sired entire clans, each with unique flaws and gifts.
A vampire’s potential power is limited by how far removed they are from Cain. With each generation sired, the curse grows weaker. Thinbloods, like playable character in Bloodlines 2, are so far removed they cannot identify as a member of any clan. Thinbloods are meant to herald Gehenna when the Antediluvians will awaken and devour their children.
Werewolves
Unlike monster movies, werewolves are not mindless animals who maim and murder at the full moon. Instead, the beings known as the Garou are protectors of Gaia, the spiritual manifestation of the Earth. While influenced by the moon and capable of great rage, the Garou are not thoughtless killers.
They see the world in a spiritual sense, with Gaia’s safety determined by the equilibrium between the Wyld (chaos), the Weaver (order) and the Wyrm (entropy). The Weaver and the Wyrm have gone mad and the Garou prepare for the Apocalypse, one last battle against their forces that will unmake the world.
Mages
Magic is very real in the World of Darkness, and the Awakened are potentially the most terrifying and powerful beings in existence. Mages are humans who have become enlightened and learned that the laws of reality can be bent to their will. Mastery of time, matter, even life itself is within their grasp.
However, mages are held back by humanity’s collective disbelief of the supernatural. Overt and powerful displays of magic can incur the wrath of Paradox, causing the Mage’s spell to backfire horribly. Mages aspire to reach a state called Ascension but believe that their struggle to do so could result in Armageddon, the final conflict.
Changelings
The faeries of the World of Darkness are beings that embody dreams. They draw their powerful Glamours from the dreams of humanity. Their command of glamour allowed the fae to build their own imaginary realm, called the Dreaming. But much, like Mages and Werewolves, the advancement of humanity has led to an unhealthy rise in Banality, the opposing force to dreams.
Eventually, banality had spread so far that the Dreaming was cut off from the real world. To reconnect with the world, the fae created a ritual to place their souls in human bodies. These half-faerie/half-humans are called Changelings, and they use their connection to the Dreaming to help stave off the Endless Winter, which promises the end of all wonder, magic and creativity in the world.
Kuei-Jin
Sometimes referred to as the Kindred of the East, these are vampires of a different order altogether. A Kuei-Jin is an undead creature with a stain on their soul who has clawed their way out of the grave to escape hell. Kuei-Jin feed off of the Chi of others, most commonly through drinking blood, channeling it into terrifying abilities.
Like Western vampires, Kuei-Jin must avoid the sun. But instead of bursting into flame when exposed, they begin to putrefy and rot. Kuei-Jin cannot create more of their kind, so they have formed a very rigid society to ensure their survival. The Kuei-Jin have a cyclical view of time and believe the world is entering the Sixth Age, an era of great upheaval and destruction.
Mummies
The Amenti are not found lying in sarcophagi, wrapped in bandages. Instead, mummies are immortal protectors of Ma’at, the force of cosmic order, justice, and balance. In the land of the dead, a great storm destroyed Osiris’ stronghold and released the souls of ancient Egyptians. To help restore Ma’at, Osiris has sent these souls on a mission.
Using Osiris’ Spell of Life, they are to make a pact with a recently deceased soul, merge with them and return to life as a guardian of balance. The newly dead can choose to accept or decline and continue on to the afterlife. Those who agree are resurrected as both souls merge, granted incredible powers, and are drafted into a war against the destructive gods, Set and Apophis.
Hunters
The Imbued are not just regular people who have noticed the forces of evil running rampant. They have been chosen by a higher power and called to a greater purpose. Such individuals quickly see themselves as soldiers in a secret war, pivotal to the continued existence of humanity.
Unlike most of the other denizens of the World of Darkness, hunters must balance their crusade against monsters with the responsibilities of their normal life. The Imbued are a relatively new force in the World of Darkness. Some view their appearance as another sign of the end.
Wraiths
Wraiths are the souls of the deceased who are unable to move on to the afterlife. These damned beings are still bound by their fetters to the real world. The Shadowlands they inhabit is a dark reflection of our world carved into several kingdoms. Wraiths seek to fend off the numbing pull of Oblivion and remain connected to the living. In rare cases, wraiths are able to inhabit their corpses and walk the land of the living as a Risen.
Beyond the Shadowlands is the Tempest, a terrible unending storm which houses a few safe harbors like the necropolis of Stygia. Wraiths who have succumbed to Oblivion often become Spectres, horrifying monsters that bring devastation riding through the Tempest on the winds of Maelstroms.
Demons
Depending on how close Bloodlines 2 is to the end times, Wraiths may not appear at all. White Wolf ended Wraith early, destroying the underworld and separating the Shadowlands from the living completely in an event called the Sixth Great Maelstrom.
A side effect of this event is that the gates of hell bursted open and demons poured into our world, possessing the bodies of humans with weak souls. The demon uses their host’s persona to help blunt their memories of being in hell. Demons are not at all unified. Some seek redemption, while others wish to watch the world burn. Their appearance in Bloodlines 2 would imply that things are getting really bad.
The Orpheus Group
After the underworld was destroyed, the veil between it and the living has hardened into a barrier called the Stormwall. Souls that would have entered the Shadowlands as wraiths are instead stuck in the land of the living as Spirits. An organization called the Orpheus Group discovered how to communicate with these dead souls.
They used this advancement to hire Spirits, integrating them into a team with living humans capable of astral projection into the land of the dead. As a unit, they investigate supernatural occurrences for a fee. The Orpheus Group also attempts to chart the remains of the underworld and fend off the still-present threat of Oblivion and its Spectres.