Blood & Fire will take place over seven events, which take place one per year from 1487 through to 1493. The events themselves will be a Muster where the Anarchs gather to decide their strategy and coordinate their forces, and the downtimes will represent the year between Musters. The final event will be the negotiation to end the war, where the two sides will negotiate the future of Cainite Europe.
In White Wolf’s canon, the Camarilla declare a Blood Hunt against the entirety of the Banu Haqim in 1486 and in 1493, the Anarch Revolt ends with the Convention of Thorns. The Convention sees a complete capitulation by The Anarchs, with them either being absorbed into the fringes of the Camarilla as “critical friends” or forming an apocalyptic cult that would cause trouble for centuries to come. A powerful magical curse is cast on the Banu Haqim, perpetuating their conflict with the Camarilla
Blood & Fire is not that story. We want to give our players the opportunity to significantly change the course of the Anarch Revolt’s final years – whether than means total victory over the Camarilla and the re-establishment of Carthage with Cainites living openly and in harmony with humans, the diablerie of every single European elder by the Banu Haqim, or even the Revolt falling apart due to internecine fighting and being even more comprehensively defeated, or anything in between.
The War Against The Camarilla
Circumstances are dire at the start of the campaign: the Camarilla has united most of Europe’s elders under the central authority of the Justicars, and placed the entirety of the Banu Haqim under a “kill on sight” order, while the Shadow Inquisition’s war against both sides builds in both intensity and effectiveness. The Anarchs have relatively limited military resources – five “armies” of combat-capable Cainites, made up as follows:
- Two “armies” of Tzimisce Cainites and their vozhd and szlachta war-ghouls
- One “army” of Lasombra Cainites
- One “army” of Banu Haqim warriors
- One “army” of irregulars, mostly Brujah but also Cainite combatants of other Clans and Bloodlines
These armies are significantly outnumbered by the Camarilla forces, and so the Anarch Affinity played by the Storytellers and Council Conveners decided to devote themselves to facilitating the Anarchs’ war effort. This is heavily informed by the Anarch-friendly ideologies of freedom from coercion and autocracy, and fundamental equality between Cainites regardless of age or Generation.
The Call To Arms
The Call to Arms relies on the concept of Anarch unity and can be traced back to a similar Brujah tradition. Anarchs are famed for having an us-against-them mentality. If an elder mistreats one Anarch, many Anarchs will respond — occasionally travelling for days or weeks to reach their beleaguered comrades. As the Anarch Revolt moves into all-out-war in its final years, this concept has been extended.
A Call To Arms can be issued by the War Councils (see below) once a year; it calls Anarchs together from across Europe to one Domain (most likely one held by the Camarilla). They meet together in a Muster, held under the rules of Elysium, and fulfil two crucial roles: they form War Councils to take decisions, and they send Affinities out into the local area to enact those decisions, undermine the rule of the elders, and ideally create the conditions where the Domain can be toppled or swayed to the Anarch cause.
The War Councils
The best way to preserve the Anarch ideals while facilitating their military ambitions that this Affinity could come up with, was to invite the most prominent Anarchs of Europe to come together at Musters and form four War Councils. Wishing to avoid reinforcing the traditional clan-based hierarchies which have led to the Revolt, they have decided that twenty Cainites will be chosen to join these Councils, as follows:
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of the Beast
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of Desire
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of Humanity
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of Kings (and, at their discretion, the Road of Yasa)
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of Light
- Three members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of Lilith (and, at their discretion, the Road of Bones)
- Two members chosen by and from the followers of the Road of the Abyss, the Road of Blood, and the Road of Metamorphosis.
To allow other Anarchs to have more trust in this system, the Affinity organising it have sworn not to take part in these selection processes, whether as candidates or as constituents. They will simply observe and facilitate these processes.
Once selected, the twenty Councillors will need to discuss how best to divide themselves into four Councils of five members each. This means that no one Road can be represented on all four Councils, and that if a particular Road’s representatives wish to ensure they have a majority on any one Council, they will have no voice in any of the other Councils. The intention is that this encourages a diversity of tactics and perspectives in each of the four War Councils. The four Councils are as follows:
- Generals – responsible for strategy, overall goals and direction of travel, and selecting which sorties will be performed by Anarchs heeding a given Call To Arms and attending Muster. Each General will take personal responsibility for commanding one of the five “armies” of the Revolt.
- Captains – responsible for tactical-level decisions around fulfilling a given Call To Arms. This means they decide which Affinity or affinities will take on which sortie, giving them a great deal of influence on the likely outcomes.
- Spymasters – responsible for intelligence around a given Call To Arms and other opportunities. They prepare and curate the list of possible sorties in a given Domain to give to the Generals, and also seek out additional intelligence about those sorties and potential future Calls To Arms.
- Quartermasters – responsible for the logistical elements of supporting a Call To Arms and the war effort more generally. They monitor, distribute, and replenish the supplies of Blood, equipment, and other resources for both Affinities fulfilling sorties and “armies” at war.
These four Councils will each be Convened by a member of the founding Affinity, but that Convener will not have a decision-making voice in that Council. They’re there to help it run smoothly and to communicate its decisions to the Muster at large and other Conveners in particular.
The Domains Of Europe
| Domain | Allegiance | Prince’s name | Prince’s Clan | Notes |
| Aquitaine | Camarilla | Gerard la Vieux (he/him) | Toreador | Baron, not Prince |
| Athens | Ashirra | Natalya Svyatoslav (she/her) | Brujah | |
| Avignon | Camarilla | Beatrix (she/her) | Toreador | Queen, not Prince |
| Barcelona | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Bergen | Camarilla | Hermina Radov (she/her) | Ventrue | |
| Brandenburg | Camarilla | Gustav Breidenstein (he/him) | Ventrue | |
| Bratislava | Camarilla | Arika (she/her) | Ventrue | |
| Brittany | Camarilla | Ecberth (he/him) | Ventrue | Baron, not Prince |
| Budapest | Camarilla | Vencel Rikard (he/him) | Ventrue | |
| Chester & Powys | Baronies of Avalon | Marcus Verus (he/him) | Ventrue | Baron, not Prince |
| Copenhagen | Camarilla | Fortinbras (he/him) | Ventrue | |
| Cordoba | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Crimea | Khanate | Yesira (she/her) | Anda | |
| Dublin | Baronies of Avalon | Edward de Warene (he/him) | Ventrue | Baron, not Prince |
| Florence | Camarilla | Adana de Sforza (she/her) | Brujah | Camarilla Founder & Justicar |
| Gloucester | Baronies of Avalon | Seren (she/her) | Malkavian | Baroness, not Prince |
| Granada | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Hamburg | Camarilla | Midian (she/her) | Malkavian | |
| Helsinki | Camarilla | Tuomo-Markus Sampsa (he/him) | Gangrel | |
| Kiev | Camarilla | Milov Petrenkov (he/him) | Gangrel | Camarilla Founder & Justicar |
| Königsberg | Camarilla | Katla Thrandsdottir (she/her) | Ventrue | |
| Krakow | Camarilla | Theresa Kymena (she/her) | Tremere | |
| Lisbon | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| London | Baronies of Avalon | Mithras (he/him) | Ventrue | Imperator, not Prince |
| Lothian | Baronies of Avalon | Robert Durand (he/him) | Toreador | |
| Low Countries | Camarilla | L’enfant Perdu (they/them) | Malkavian | |
| Madrid | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Munich | Camarilla | Hardestadt (he/him) | Ventrue | Camarilla Founder & Justicar |
| Naples | Camarilla | Montano (he/him) | Lasombra | |
| Navarre | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Normandy | Camarilla | Eustace (he/him) | Brujah | King, not Prince |
| Paris | Camarilla | Saliana (she/her) | Toreador | Queen, not Prince |
| Prague | Camarilla | Josef Zvi (he/him) | Nosferatu | Camarilla Founder & Justicar |
| Riga | Camarilla | Justania (she/her) | Ventrue | |
| Rome | Camarilla | Tryphosa (she/her) | Malkavian | |
| Sarajevo | Camarilla | Anna Magdelena (she/her) | Nosferatu | |
| Sardinia | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Sicily | Anarch | N/A | N/A | |
| Skopje | Ashirra | Thalestris (she/her) | Brujah | |
| Sofia | Ashirra | Isabela Rusenko (she/her) | Cappadocian | |
| Stockholm | Camarilla | Werter (he/him) | Gangrel | |
| Strasbourg | Kiasyd | Hrotsuitha (she/her) | Kiasyd | |
| Swiss Confederation | Camarilla | Guillaume (he/him) | Brujah | |
| Toulouse | Camarilla | Camilla (she/her) | Malkavian | Queen, not Prince; Camarilla Founder & Justicar |
| Ulster | Baronies of Avalon | Eileen (she/her) | Brujah | Baroness, not Prince |
| Venice | Clan Giovanni | Augustus Giovanni (he/him) | Giovanni | |
| Vienna | Camarilla | Lotharius (he/him) | Tremere | |
| Vilnius | Camarilla | Viorica (she/her) | Tremere | |
| Voivodate | Anarch | N/A | N/A | Still some surviving elders resisting the Anarch Revolt |
| Warsaw | Camarilla | Henryk Rzegotka (he/him) | Ventrue |
Europe is divided into 50 Cainite Domains, as pictured in the map above. The Highlands, Noiad Territory and the large Ashirra territory are not counted in this, though Skopje, Sofia and Athens are. Domains in grey are Camarilla territory, and those in yellow are Camarilla allies. Red Domains are held by Anarchs, and those in green are held by the Ashirra. Domains in orange, blue, and lavender are Cainite Domains independent of any sect. The Scottish Highlands are home to very few Cainites, given the large Lupine population there. The northern part of Scandinavia is home to both Lupines and a reclusive Gangrel bloodline who actively avoid other Cainites.
Given the Camarilla’s superior numbers and logistical constraints, the Anarchs will not be able to take a Domain that is physically isolated from those they hold at the beginning of the game.
The Convention of Thorns will happen in 1493 whatever the balance of power at that point. In order to force the Camarilla into surrender and accepting the Anarchs’ terms, Anarch domains will need to substantially outnumber Camarilla domains. If things are more finely balanced, it will be a more even negotiation, and if the Camarilla significantly outnumber the Anarchs, it is likely the Anarchs will have little option but to accept the Camarilla’s terms.
Domains in Mithras’ Baronies of Avalon can be considered allied with the Camarilla as they have adopted the new Traditions and are hostile to the Anarchs, whilst not formally being part of the Camarilla.