Stare Not O’erlong Into the Abyss...
Infernalists.
Diabolical.
Nihilists.
Among the denizens of the World of Darkness, Vampires are considered the monsters.
For the Garou, they are minor Wyrm servants incarnate (an extremely generalized point of view, but a view of the undead nonetheless).
For Mages, they are a source of the dreaded sacrifice of their Avatars, and a stagnating stasis of Reality itself (sometimes).
For the Fae, the Changelings, they are Banality made manifest (sometimes).
For Wraiths, Vampires are the origin stories for quite a few of the restless dead.
But even these monsters have their nightmares, and the Baali are the embodiment of these nightmares.
While it is assumed by many that the Baali are a Clan/Bloodline of brazen infernalists, that is actually an incorrect assumption. While there are infernalists and demon worshippers in the Baali, as a whole the Bloodline is violently opposed to infernalisim in their ranks, and infernalism actually goes against the wider goals that the Bloodline hopes to achieve.
The Baali are actually nihilists. They know the end times are nigh, and they work incessantly to speed up that end of everything.
“Alfred Pennyworth: With respect Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that you don’t fully understand, either. A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So, we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anybody who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.
Bruce Wayne: So why steal them?
Alfred Pennyworth: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
—The Dark Knight (2008)
And that movie quote sums up the Baali quite nicely. Largely a Clan/Bloodline of nihilists, they’re actively working to speed up the apocalypse. Whether its called Gehenna or something else, the Baali know ‘the End of Everything’ is very real, and to an individual, they all work to bring it about as early as possible.
There are, in the community at large, a lot of misconceptions and myopic viewpoints in regard to the Baali. Which is completely understandable given what the Baali are blamed for doing, and actually doing. When studied though, they present a far more complex and intriguing concept than the extremely simplified raving, ravaging force of pure evil out on a very public rampage of destruction and atrocity. In this article, I hope to expel most all of those misconceptions, and open up the depth of potential and wealth of possibilities contained within the Baali. For they are far, far more and more interesting than a lot of people believe them to be.
But before we can dig into the Baali and their presence in a Chronicle or Story and really understand them, we need to know where they come from and their (abrasive) relationship to the rest of the Kindred, and the other denizens of the World of Darkness as well.
The Debated History of the Baali
The Baali date back nearly as far as the recorded history of the Kindred, but the earliest known mentions of the Baali come from the time of the Second City.
Where the Baali come from though is a matter of debate among Noddist scholars.
Some say that the Baali originate from a 4th or 5th Gen Methuselah infernalist who made a pact with the infernal, and became … something else entirely.
Some argue that they were created by Saulot before he went seeking in the East. During this time, it is said that Saulot was among the most devious and brutal participants in the nascent Jyhad, before he found his calm and peaceful philosophies.
Still other Kindred historians place the origins of the Baali with the Cappadocian Clan or the Tzimisce, even the Gangrel have had the finger of blame pointed at them.
Some scholars believe that the Baali originate from a young Coterie of 4th Gen Vampires who were toying with the dark magicks, got in way over their heads, and became possessed by other worldly entities.
Some claim that the Baali progenitor is a proper Antediluvian, sibling to the other 3rd Generation vampires that founded the thirteen Great Clans, and that he dwelled with them in the original cities.
Whatever the true origins of the Baali, what cannot be denied is they have been the monsters that even the monsters fear, and they’ve been haunting the nightmares of the Kindred for nearly ten thousand years.
In fact, the Baali are so feared throughout Kindred society that the thirteen Clans put aside their differences to unite against them in what is now known as The Baali Wars.
The Baali Wars
While some Lore sources place the First Baali War during the time of the First City, the majority of the Lore sources place the first war during the time of the Second City, and the First Baali War took place centuries after Samiel founded the Warrior Salubri (themselves the most fierce opponents of the Baali), which places the timeline more in line with the Second City rather than the first.
Nergal, one of the three Methuselahs credited with founding the Baali Bloodline, had discovered Namtaru – Spreader of Plagues – dormant beneath the city of Mashkan-shapir. Nergal had planned to asaken the sleeping demonic Child through mass sacrifices, but was betrayed by his own ghoul-priests (the D’habi). The Dhabi warned Nergal’s “brother” Moloch, who was the cause of the thirteen Clans to become aware of the Baali and Nergal’s plans.
Upon hearing the news of the infernalist’s plans, Saulot himself sent four scouts to go witness and carry back news of the Baali threat. Only one returned, and had severe physical and mental injuries from the ordeal. The survivor’s tale and news of the Baali plans was so dire, that it is claimed that even Tzimisce was shaken by the depravity (author’s note: I cannot independently verify this. The next time I speak with The Eldest, I’ll let you know what It says about this… now, be a good lad, and keep reading).
Even though Saulot’s pleadings to unify to face the Baali threat went largely rebuffed by the other Antediluvians, eventually they came around. Especially once the Assamites took the threat seriously and helped the Salubri search and purge the Second City itself of any Baali hiding within its walls and surrounding lands. With that proof laid bare before them, the other Clans formed a loose truce and alliance to face the looming threat.
United in their (very) loose alliance, the Clans crushed the Baali, destroyed Mashkan-shapir, and Lasombra priests of the goddess Ereshkigal are said to have obliterated Nergal himself by summoning the manifest power of the Abyss itself to consume him. However, it is also noted that the united forces of the Clans also suffered heavy losses with many Methuselahs, vampires, demons, etc. meeting their Final Death that night. Unconfirmed rumors that even some before unknown and unnamed Antideluvians perished during the battle, but this may be just idle rumor and speculation of Kindred historians, as there are no Noddite or other Kindred historical records to point conclusively to the existence or deaths of any more Antideluvians than the original thirteen. (Source: VTDA Dark Ages Companion, p. 170)
Other Lore sources claim that Shaitan was/is actually an Antediluvian and that the Baali are a full Clan along with the others, and that he dwelled in the Second City alongside his siblings. He grew violently jealous of the beauty of Caine’s wife Zillah and the other Antediluvians, and raised an infernal army against the City, the Second Generation, and even Caine himself. It is said in this version that Caine smote down Shaitan, but couldn’t bring himself to kill his grandchilde, instead stripping him of his power and cursing him with a Visage to match his twisted heart. Exiled from the Second City, Shaitan is further said to have called out to the darkness, and made a pact with the entities that answered him. Those spirits empowered him with a demonic appearance in exchange for servitude, and he dispatched his followers from the other Clans to infiltrate their bloodlines and continue his work by corrupting from within. (Source: the Dark Ages Companion, p. 173)
Yet still other sources name Baal the Destroyer as the progenitor of the Baali, and after his forces are routed during the War, the Baali fade into relative obscurity for thousands of years.
The Second Baali War is much more documented, and is said to have taken place about 3500 years ago. In these tales, Shaitan is the definitive head of the Baali, though those tales differ on whether Shaitan was a Methuselah of the 4th Generation or an actual Antediluvian.
Either way, Shaitan appeared before the rest of the Baali in the city of Ashur, where the Clan had its main stronghold. He claimed to be the sire of both Nergal and Moloch, and easily gained the support of the orphaned Baali who had been followers of Nergal.
More and more Baali flocked to his side and cause in the ensuing nights and years, all except for Moloch’s dwindling brood.
But, ever the schemers, it came out that Shaitan was actually Nergal all along. He had orchestrated the First Baali War in its entirety, including having some of his brood masquerade as the Lasombra priests that “destroyed” him, in order to hide from the other Clans and Moloch, and work in seclusion to free Namtaru. Namtaru was actually sleeping under Chorazin, and Nergal had built a vast fortress there, but its also been described as a vast sepulcher or acropolis.
In this fortress, he finally unearthed the sleeping Child, and took it to his haven in the labyrinths beneath Knossis on the island of Crete. With Nergal’s influence, and the presence of the Child, the Minoans spread throughout the region demanding tribute and sacrifices for Nergal.
These circumstances, with his plan set in full motion, drew attention to him. This time, all thirteen Clans United strongly against the Baali and waged war. Legendary vampires from across the known world showed up to fight in the battles to come. Among them were the Brujah Menele, the Malkavian known only as The Dionysian, Balthazar the Ventrue, and a cabal of Setite sorcerers led by the Antediluvian Set himself.
Unfortunately, the Salubri were weakened when Saulot slipped into torpor, but the gathered vampires battled on, but couldnt breach the fortresses defenses even after nine days and nights of seige. Getting creative since they couldn’t break through into Nregal’s lair underneath the island, they caused the nearby volcano on Thera to erupt, and Knossis was buried beneath a layer of volcanic ash, destroying the stronghold.
Nergal/Shaitan lay trapped in his own lair, unable to free himself or turn the situation to his benefit, and there he is trapped in the modern nights. The Baali Wars were finished.
Now that we know the abbreviated history of the Clan/Bloodline, let’s look at how they could fit into a VtM Chronicle, or any Chronicle in the WoD in a myriad of ways.
Baali as the Villains: the Cliché
Having the Baali as the “infernalist super-edgy-evil villain” is easy. They’re pretty much a cliché when portrayed in this manner, but this is the most simple method that many people use to portray them.
Have them in service to some super-dark demonic power, whether its the Wyrm, Weaver, or something out of the deepest reaches of the Umbra. Let them run around and commit atrocity on top of atrocity, the worst stuff you can imagine, then made worse, and throw your Players at them.
Easy, clean, and waaaaaay overdone to the point of being trite. But, it still works in a pinch when you need a campy super-evil villain for your Story.
See, the problem with this trope about the Baali, is that according to the Lore and from the Baali’s own philosophies, they aren’t really… into infernalism.
The Baali are nihilists through and through, and any deals they make with other worldly entities is made with the knowledge that 1) they fully well know they’re making deals rather they won’t even try to uphold on their end, and 2) the deals they’re making are for power. The power and abilities/favors that they make give them the edge they need to keep the power without having to fear the repercussions of violating their deals and pacts.
The Baali dont want to serve infernal outside entities. They want to become such entities in their own right, to transcend the limits of their vampiric natures and to seize even more very real power than they already possess.
And what are they wanting to do with all of that power? I mean, power itself isn’t an end-mean. Power is a tool towards an end, but its not the end goal in itself. Power, once achieved, must be used for something.
And the Baali know what they’re amassing power of all types for.
While the specifics vary from individual Baali to individual Baali, they all uniformly have one driving goal: the end of everything through initiation of the apocalypse.
The Baali are rivaled by nearly no one in their dark occult research. They’ve seen the most forbidden tomes, scrolls, temples, and carvings. They’ve studied the ancient manuscripts and listened intently to the whispered gibberish madnesses that exist in the darkest, deepest reaches of the Umbra and “other” realms. They know full well that Apocalypse is a very real event, and they look to speed it up, start it early, and guide the destruction and obliteration it causes.
All this, in service to attaining their own power through their rituals and actions using the highly-diluted names of the Children of the Night.
See, the problem with the super-evil-hail-Satan Baali, is that they’re just… out there, blatantly performing their deeds, being as cliché-evil as is possible. Even the Lore in the Baali’s own general Clan view is that the Infernalist Baali are the idiots, and they also happen to be the ones that don’t live to see fifty years undead, much less a century or more. They out themselves pretty quickly, and the rest of the Kindred around them close ranks and destroy the Baali, and usually before he can cause too much damage.
For the above reason and more, the majority of thr Baali are violently against infernalism in their ranks, and they cull these idiots from their number before they expose the rest of them.
As noted in the Character section of the Baali entry in the V20 Corebook, the Baali embrace from the extremely intelligent. Doctors, professors, priests, etc., and those with education or experience in the occult. They want/need the extremely intelligent individuals, as they’re not only working to bring about the end of everything, but they need to do it without the rest of Kindred society (and the world) taking notice until its far too late to stop their plans.
Because, even though the Baali are nihilists, they also know they’re vampires.
They’re immortal.
They know they have centuries and millennia to work towards their goals. The Baali, the intelligent ones at keast, are playing the very, very long game. They’ve got the time to be patient. To plot. To scheme within a scheme within a scheme. The cliché Baali dont have that 1000-year vision or patience.
The evil of the Baali is far, far more subtle than most people ever give them the imagination to be. There’s a myopic, super-limited view of the Baali, that simply doesn’t do them justice for the insidiousness of their potential as villains.
Will Baali perform the most extraordinarily debased acts of cruelty, violence, sacrifice, and viewers that stretches the bounds of the imagination? Yes, but only if it fits within and is necessary for their individual, specific plan to speed up the apocalypse. Those types of acts, while sometimes necessary, carry far greater risk of discovery and ensuing destruction than the more patient, insidious method of corrupting someone else into doing it in their stead. It still serves the goal(s) of the Baali, but it carries the insurance policy that, if the corrupted individual is discovered, then it doesn’t tie directly back to the Baali, thus safety is greater ensured, and the risk of discovery is greatly lowered.
When using the Baali as villains, try to stay away from the cliché. If you can, dear reader, then I think you’ll find not only a much more engaging villain with serious depth can be created, but that same villain will last for much, much longer in your Chronicle, and able to harass your Players with far more efficacy. They have far more depth of potential than the myopic generalizations that the majority of people attribute to them.
The Baali as Player Characters
I swear I just heard a third of you cringe out loud at the thought of Baali Player Characters.
I will start by saying, not only is it very possible, but its very rewarding and cathartic to let your dark side out to play every so often, and Baali PC’s allow for that.
That said, Baali as Player Characters should probably be limited to veterans of not only TTRPG’s, but veterans of the World of Darkness at large. They’re extremely difficult to pull off, require far more planning and backstory than … pretty much any other character concept you’ll ever come up with, and there’s a level of cleverness, wit, and intelligence required in the roleplaying of them that most new Players simply haven’t perfected yet.
For my first point about Baali PC’s, probably the easiest way to do this is to have a whole Coterie of Baali. As per their Clan description, they typically gather in Broods of 3 – 13 individuals, so having an entire Coterie of them fits well within the Lore.
Now, despite what you might think, Baali Coterie’s are no more or less dysfunctional than any other Coterie. While they will all most likely be working on their own individual evil schemes, they do also share a loosely defined common goal. So unless one Player specifically works to impede the plans of another Player, they typically work together just fine.
It is, after all, them against the world.
Literally.
As far as the morals and morality of the Baali, they’re no less moral than any other Kindred. Their morals are twisted, and bent severely towards their nihilism, but they still have a moral code that they each follow, twisted as they may be.
Most Baali do eschew Humanity, obviously, in favor of the alternate Paths of Enlightenment. The ones who do keep to Humanity are playing a very dangerous game with their Beasts and the Wassail. These “humane” Baali almost universally have Humanity scores hovering consistently right around 2 – 3, the score necessary to commit their acts and murders without even so much as an eye twitch.
But for the vast majority of the rest of the Clan, Humanity as a moral philosophy is usually beaten out of them very early in their unlives, and alternate moral paths are adopted.
Despite what you may think, Baali actually can fit within most of the alternate Paths. The Path of Caine, Power and the Inner Voice, Path of Night (obviously), the Path of Blood, the Path of Typhon… all of these and more are present among the Baali. And all of these Paths, along with their own intelligence and cunning, allow them to not only survive and hide for centuries and millennia, but to give them guidance as they slowly advance their plans.
For Storytelling an all-Baali Chronicle, you just have to run a game that is a mirror-opposite of your usual content. Cities, regions, and the world can still be set up as normal, but in these games, the Players are simply trying to throw it all into chaos and disarray. The “villains” are the entire rest of the Kindred society around them, and they’ve got to figure out ways, methods, and means to not only worm their way inside; but to corrupt individuals and groups within these societal monoliths, lead them to perform the acts and tasks that the Balli Kindred need performed to advance their goals, erode the structure of the Kindred society as a whole, and ultimately get the Kindred of a city to eat each other and foment a full-scale societal collapse.
Keep in mind for character creation, the Baali vastly and heavily favor highly educated individuals who preferably have some experience in the occult already. Ever constant seekers of lore and forbidden knowledge, Baali havens tend to be in Universities, huge Libraries, and places where they can have access to old manuscripts, books, and treatises on the occult and forbidden occult knowledge. These are all important to not only keeping themselves hidden and alive, but to also study the nature of reality and the multiverse, its denizens and horrors, and to improve themselves mystically in order to hasten the apocalypse.
And they have to do all of this, all of it,, completely undiscovered, otherwise they face lasting Blood Hunts and sure destruction from a litany of beings who would rather see then as ash on the wind.
To me, for those who want to have a Session/Story/Chronicle where they let their dark side out to play for a bit, the potential for deep, engaging role-playing is monumental in this scenario. If it intrigues you, I urge you to try it out with your group. It can be amazingly fun!
Baali PC’s mixed in with “Other” Vampire Coteries
This one is the super-challenge for a group of veteran role-players, but it is definitely possible and rewarding to have Baali PC’s mixed in with a group of more “regular” character Clans.
Obviously the Baali Player will be masquerading inside of the Masquerade, concealing his true Clan from the other PC’s. Monitoring out of game information, if the other characters know what the Baali are, then having one in their Coterie would lead to an internal fight or PC death.
And thats another thing I want to touch on really quick. If you have a Player who wants to play a Baali in your Chronicle, they Player as well as the ST need to be fully aware and comfortable with the risk that the Baali’s plans could all go to shit, he could be discovered, and the other Players may kill off his character. As long as that’s a well understood and accepted risk the Baali Player is willing to take, then I would personally permit it.
Besides, that kind of deep character interactions amongst a Coterie can lead to some absolutely fantastic role-playing!
As an example; we’ve had a Player as a Baali in our Chronicle for (literally) years in real time. Its that subtle, creeping evil and corruption that I mentioned earlier.
This Baali character and the associated game sessions have been insanely fun, and through some brilliant RP (again, over the course of years), has even managed to send most of our party into their own downward spirals through his corruption. He’s used regular, normal RP and discussion around the table to normalize the Coterie to his acts of atrocity, increasing in magnitude by the smallest of margins, over the course of hundreds of game sessions, and even been able to get them to commit ever more depraved acts of their own through that same normalization.
He’s been able to get two of our Coterie to abandon Humanity for various Paths of Enlightenment, and he’s working on the third one currently. One of the vampires on an alternate Path has even found out the the Player is a Baali, and not the Toreador he masquerades as, but his character has fallen so far into his own corruption, (from his own choices and under his own power and cognizance, as the Baali pointed out to him after the fact) and so doesn’t really care that the player is a Baali. Enough psychological conditioning, and the normalization takes hold.
And there have only been a few times that the Baali character has ever had to use any of the blatant, overt, and cliché methods that were mentioned in the A-typical Baali trope I mentioned above, nor has there ever been any need for them.
He’s used a clever and creative combination of Daimoinion, Presence, and Obfuscate, a little Dominate when absolutely necessary, to accomplish all of these goals. But the majority of the corruption was done through brilliant RP rather than Discipline use. And all without flashy effects or being a walking demon.
And that brings us back to the aforementioned cookie-cutter builds and myopic idea that places preconceived limits on what a Baali can be, and how a Baali is “supposed to be played”.
Even the Players who have had their characters corrupted over time, have had a blast in this Chronicle, and we keep extending it because its a massive amount of fun, with truly quality character depth and RP.
Even with all of this put together, the Chronicle is all still deeply tied to the themes of personal horror, as the characters are all really corrupting themselves, and the Baali is merely acting as a nihilistic tour guide on their trip down their own corruption spirals.
Baali can easily work themselves with and within any normal Coterie, and the games don’t have to suffer for it. But in order for that to be even remotely possible, you have to have a Player mature enough, smart enough, and patient enough to play one the way they’re meant to be played.
Adding in some healthy real-world philosophical reflection on the very nature of what evil and corruption really are doesnt hurt in any way either, and will only assist in the best portrayal of the Baali that is possible.
Sure they’re all nihilists, but there’s nigh-infinite paths to get to that destination.
As far as the mechanics and interactions, the game sessions run like any other normal game session would. While the Baali in these situations are always striving to speed up the end of everything, even they realize that other things need to be accomplished as well. If not for keeping a tight lid on their cover, then because they need resources, contacts, allies, etc. to accomplish their goals as well.
The Baali are not an island. They need the same resources and tools to survive the Eternal Night just as any other Vampire does. Even moreso because the literally the entire rest of the World of Xarkness is arrayed against them, and the slightest slip-up could spell absolute disaster.
Another concept for a Baali mixed into a regular Coterie is one where the Coterue is merely camouflage for the Baali.
This concept has no direct plans, and no desire to corrupt the Coterie he’s a member of. In fact, this concept really doesn’t care about any causes that the Coterie finds important, they are quite literally, there to add depth and realism to the Baali’s personal masquerade.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Baali is just going to be a cold, sociopathic “extra body” in the Coterie, far from it. As I said, Baali need resources and tools to survive jist like any othrr Kindred does. In this regard, he’ll be an active and “good” member of the Coterie. He’ll help them achieve their common goals, he’ll help them win their fights (physical, social, and mental) against their opponents, and he’ll help them secure their domain(s) and standing in Kindred society. All while masquerading as one of the other Clans, and all while securing his share of the same things, which ultimately puts the Baali in a much better and more secure position to advance his own goals.
In the Coterie’s downtime, when the Players are RP’ing with the ST through their individual character goals, the Baali would use this time away from the Coterie to further his own nihilistic plans.
As a character concept, this one is actually the easiest to work into a standing Coterie of mixed other Clans. And its not that the Baali would pass up the chance to corrupt them, but he would only risk his cover that their very existence offers if its important to his goals, or if the perfect opportunity were to fall into his lap to do so. Outside of that, this concept believes that since the Coterie’s corruotion won’t help his plans, why waste the resource expenditure to corrupt them for no gain for himself? They’re better for him as they are, and for the walking disguises that they offer themselves to be.
A third concept, is the dark protector of reality. This is a character that was embraced as a Baali, but they weren’t able to break him. He’s witnessed all of the atrocities that the Clan stands for, and he rejects their nihilism. He still delves into the dark arts, Daimoinion, thaumaturgy and necromancy, summons extra-dimensional beings, and makes deals and pacts. But he does so because he’s aware of the horrors that lurk just under the skin of reality. He’s aware of the Wyrm spirits, Demons, Nephandi, Elder Gods, and horrors that the human mind cannot comprehend.
This concept commits atrocities, sacrifices, and depravities not to further the end of the world, but to prevent it. He realizes that the beings that feed off of the energies of these acts are merely sleeping. His philosophy is such that, he will take these “sins” upon himself so that the rest of the world can be spared from committing them. He will perform them, he will be the devil’s advocate, all to keep these being appeased and satiated. There’s even a not-insignificant number of Baali Anti-tribue in the True Black Hand working towards this very goal.
They’re “good
And he further believes, as long as the beings are satisfied, then they will keep sleeping, or will otherwise keep their attention diverted, and by his actions the apocalypse will be delayed.
It is this notion of infernal yet noble self-sacrifice that drives him. He will do these things, because no one else can, and yet these things still must be done. And if he must sacrifice his one soul to save billions of others, then that makes his sacrifice all the more worthwhile.
These are all character concepts, ideologies, and philosophies that are not only contained withing the variety of people that become Baali, but also allow them to take a roll in the game as far more than just the “quick villain”.
Finally, Some Final Thoughts
Holy shit I wrote a lot…
But, the Baali deserved it. I hope I was able to broaden the perspectives around the Baali, their sheer depth of potential, and helped dispell the cliché misconceptions about what and who the Baali are.
Yes, they are monstrous. They are dark, horrific, and evil, but they are no more so than the World of Darkness allows them to be.
Its a darker, vastly more horrific and evil world than our own, and the Baali are meant to reach the bottom of that cesspool of evil, and to revel and bask in that evil.
But even with such depths of evil, there is not only room for lethally intelligent subtlety, but there are many, many different magnitudes of subtlety that are used by and across the entire spectrum of Baali potential.
I implore you to give the Baali another chance, and to really study them and consider their potential. While they are fantastically deep villains to add to any Chronicle, it does them a disservice to be relegated to only being villains. When a Player who knows the full potential of the Baali has their hands at the helm of such a character, truly fantastic things and events can take place in your Chronicles and Stories.
Thank you for reading, I appreciate your support, and I hope i entertained you for a bit.
~ Nox
Lasombra, 5th Gen
Morte Ascendo
Nocturnal Gods 