The Masquerade’ ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Kindred Class Includes 6 Clans

Vampire: The Masquerade—Bound by Blood, an officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e third-party supplement that brings a full Kindred vampire class to D&D, is now up for preorder, and with it, there are more details about what it will include. The new Kindred class for levels one to 20 will have six subclasses to choose from, each based on a classic Vampire: The Masquerade clan: Toreador, Ventrue, Nosferatu, Gangrel, Brujah, and Lasombra. There are also new feats and backgrounds to choose from, along with Kindred-specific weapons.

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit, though, is that the included level four adventure, One Last Goodbye, is set in 700 CE in Northern Britannia. In other words, it takes place in the real world, not D&D 5.5e’s Greyhawk setting. One Last Goodbye taking place in the real world is more in keeping with Vampire: The Masquerade, but given that this is a supplement meant to integrate VtM and D&D, it’s a little disappointing that this specific adventure seems to be leaning more toward a design philosophy of just playing Vampire: The Masquerade with Dungeons & Dragons rules rather than truly bringing Kindred into D&D. Of course, that’s just the included adventure; because the Kindred is a full class, you can easily integrate a Kindred character into a more traditional Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

Here’s the full official product description from D&D Beyond:

• A complete new class, the Kindred. A full 1-to-20 vampire class powered by Blood Points, Disciplines, and the ever-clawing Beast inside.
• Six iconic clans as subclasses. Play Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Nosferatu, Toreador, or Ventrue, each with its own bane and signature gifts.
• A Dark Ages mystery for level 4 characters. One Last Goodbye, a four-night adventure of grief, suspicion, and a climactic clash of blood and fury.
• New Backgrounds, Feats, and forbidden gear. Five Kindred-adjacent Backgrounds, 25+ Origin and Kindred feats, plus Kindred Vitae and Weapons of Wood and Silver.
• Two new thematic mechanics. Rules for Masquerade Level and Narrated Feeding bring the dread and tension of the World of Darkness onto your 5.5e table.
• Pre-Order Bonus: 2 D&D Beyond Character Sheet Backdrops

Paradox Interactive also has a longer blog diving into the details of the supplement, with some extra information about One Last Goodbye: “Run One Last Goodbye on the official Maps VTT with three fully supported locations, and bring six new monsters, including the adventure’s climactic antagonist, into the Encounter Builder and Combat Tracker.” It also names the five new backgrounds as “Ghoul, Ritualist, Scholar of the Hunt, Thrall, and Touchstone,” though there are no details about what those entail.

Vampire: The Masquerade—Bound by Blood is available for preorder now on D&D Beyond and will release on July 28.

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