Morality
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WIP Article Warning! |
System
Morality is a core feature of Vampire the Masquerade, and thus of The Final Nights for those playing Kindred. All Kindred require a system of morality by which to keep in touch with themselves and ward off the Beast. To this end there exist two broad ways; staying in touch with one's humanity, or eschewing it in pursuit of a Path of Enlightenment. In any case, one who finds themselves breaching their morality on the greatest level will struggle with and potentially even lose against the Beast.
In mechanical terms, a Path impacts the time one spends in Torpor with higher values meaning briefer torpor, and if brought to zero causes one to turn into a mindless NPC known as a wight as the beast overtakes them.
Path of Humanity
The default option both in-lore and in-game would be to stay on the in touch with their humanity as they had before. The vast majority of Kindred and especially of Kine continue on the Path of Humanity.
Most humans do not attain the highest humanity ratings, and it is especially seldom found amongst Kindred. Indeed, a rating above eight would be considered above most mortals; and are thus rare to find. The average you would find in a human is a rating of seven, and the average vampire with a good grip on themself would be somewhere slightly below this. Once one slips below four, a vampire has entered the point where they truly begin to lose touch with even their physical appearance turning more dead. At a humanity rating of one, Kindred would hardly be able to even communicate with others.
Paths of Enlightenment
The alternatives to Humanity are many, but they are almost always Paths of Enlightenment of some form. To adopt one of these Paths is to eschew one's final shreds of humanity and adopt, a new, alien outlook and compass. Some do not survive the process. The vast majority of Kindred do not follow any of these Paths, with only a minority within even the Sabbat taking such a great plunge - most simply remain at a lower level of humanity. To adopt a Path for your character is to opt in to a much more difficult time, pursuing a mindset intentionally made difficult to sympathize with that should impact how a character fundamentally thinks.