Setting:Navigator: The Masquerade

Navigator: The Masquerade is an attempt to adapt Vampire: The Masquerade into the Warhammer 40k setting. The players are Navigators, beings of immense power who guide the starships of the Imperium of Man across the unfathomable void of warp space. No one in the Imperium knows their true nature, and the Navigators intend to keep it that way.

On the Nature of Navigators

A common citizen of the Imperium likely knows of Navigators only as myth; powerful beings who guide the Emperor's ships across the void. Those with some education on the nuances of warp travel believe them to be relics of the Dark Age of Technology, created by some long forgotten means. An exceptionally rare few among the highest echelons of the Imperium "know" this to be a masquerade. That they are in "truth" mutants, and that the corrosive effects of the warp takes its toll as they age. This secret must be kept for the good of the Imperium, which could not stand without their singular skill. The Imperium does not ask, and the Navigators do not tell, the High Lords are content, and the economic heart of the Imperium beats on.

But this too, is a masquerade.

The truth is far, far worse.

All life, or at the very least, all life that feels, casts a shadow in the warp. For most, this shadow is but a particle, a single mote in the dense, swirling miasma that is the sea of souls. A rare few, the psykers, the astropaths, cast a larger shadow, akin to a fish in a sea, with which they may cast their minds into the warp for knowledge or communication, or to draw energy into themselves. But this is merely a shadow of their psyche, a reflection in a mirror; frown, and it will frown in turn.

But the Navigator's shadow, can smile back.

The truth behind the Navigators is that they possess a dual soul; their shadow in the warp has a psyche all its own. It is, after a fashion, a daemon, possessing a separate will and consumed by an overwhelming desire to feast on the warp energy of other beings. The navigators were "gifted" this condition by none less than the Lord of Change. It is by this second, daemon soul that they can perceive and comprehend the warp; and it is through their third eye that they are connected to it.

Navigators are not, strictly speaking, daemonhosts. They simply have two souls, one of which is a very hungry daemon that wants to eat other souls; as long as it is placated, it doesn't fight for control.

When a Navigator casts the gaze of their third eye upon a living being, they are able to pull that being's warp presence into the material plane, where it is vulnerable, and then draw it back into the warp, into the waiting maw of their daemon. What effect this has on the victim depends on how completely they are drained, ranging from dazing and weakening, to outright fatal if their warp presence is consumed completely. However when an infant is drained there is the possibility that they will survive the loss of their soul. The result is a blank, a psychic null, untouchable by the warp.

This process can also be reversed to create a warp bond, forcing the warp energy of the navigator's daemon into the target to bind them to their will. This can be somewhat difficult as the navigator's daemon soul is loathe to give up any of its power.

Navigator Bloodlines

The informed elite of the Imperium believe the Navigators possess a gene which is responsible for the manifestation of their abilities, and that this gene is recessive. That to produce a new navigator, two navigators are required.

This is false. As it so happens, if two navigators were to copulate, the result... would hopefully not live long, although would certainly need a bolter round to put down.

Navigators must reproduce with normal humans to maintain the humanity of their species. As a result, each navigator has only one Navigator parent, and can trace their bloodline back to one of the original thirteen Navigators to survive the birth of Slaanesh and the opening of the Eye of Terror.

Both a human mother and a navigator mother can carry a navigator child, but navigators born to a human mother will be born so starved for warp energy that they will frenzy at birth and must be warp bonded to force the daemon soul to give up control.

The Masquerade

Navigators know that they exist in a paranoid theocratic state that hates mutants, fears warpcraft, and suppresses knowledge of the daemonic. If they are to survive, the rest of humanity cannot know what they are, lest the be hunted to extinction. Thus, the masquerade. No human can know the true nature of Navigators and their inner daemon. Preserving this secret is imperative.

The Politics of the Navigators

The interactions of Navigators are characterized by their divisions into sects along bloodlines.

The largest overarching organization of navigators is the Navis Nobilite, consisting of all navigators in good standing with the Imperium of Man. Houses, of which there are hundreds if not thousands, are the most visible denomination to the larger Imperium.

The oldest and most powerful sect of navigators within the Navis Nobilite is the Camarilla. Most of the great Magisterial houses hail from the Camarilla. They see the navigator gift as a tool, one which makes them immensely valuable to the Imperium. The Paternova has always been a member of the Camarilla since the end of the Reign of Blood.

The Anarchs and Independents represent the downtrodden masses of the Navis Nobilite, resenting the Camarilla for their dominance and the rules of the masquerade. The main distinction between the two is that the Anarchs are engaged in a concerted war against the Camarilla, where the Independents are largely content to do their own thing as long as they're left alone.

If the Anarchs stand at the edge of the Imperium in terms of loyalty, the Sabbat are on the outside waving in. They make no illusions about serving the Emperor or the Imperium of Man; they are out and out traitors who were partially responsible for the Horus Heresy.

Navigator Clans

• Camarilla Clans
  • Ventrue - During the crusade the Ventrue enjoyed the patronage of the XIIIth legion, and continue to have good relations with Ultramarines successor chapters, and a commanding stake in the Ultima Segmentum.
  • Toreador - The Toreador command many of the routes in the Segmentum Solar, spending their lives sailing close to the Astronomican.
  • Trimere - The Trimere have always been close to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. They provide all the navigators for the black ships and the Grey Knights. Because of their interaction with other telepaths, they have long had to suppress their daemonic side far more than most navigators, resulting in their clan bane that they are unable to warp bond other navigators (because of their comparatively weak daemon soul).
  • Malkavians - The dominant clan in Segmentum Pacificus; the plague of unbelief left its mark on their psyche.
  • Nosferatu - Dominant in Segmentum Obscurus. They are by far the clan most affected by the warping nature of sailing close to the Eye of Terror.

• Anarch Clans
  • Brujah - By far the most petty of the Anarchs; Clan Brujah simply resent everyone who has more than they do. That's it. They resent the Imperium for being the ruling body of humanity instead of Navigators ruling humanity. They resent the Ventrue and the Toreador for being richer than they are. They resent every other Camarilla house for having better patrons and more lucrative routes than they do. Their entire clan identity is that they deserve more, and because of it, they're willing to tear the galaxy apart in petty squabbling while chaos, and traitors, and aliens are threatening to destroy everything.
  • Gangrel - During the Crusade, the Gangrel were closely aligned with the VIth legion. For most of their history they have been intertwined with the Imperial Navy, which has given them an "in the trenches" perspective and a greater appreciation of humanity than most clans. They only recently joined the Anarch movement as a direct result of the events of the First War of Armageddon and the Months of Shame. Their primary Camarilla rival is Clan Trimere because of its relations to the Grey Knights.
  • Ministry - The Ministry clan believe in the telepathic ascension of humanity. They are closely aligned with the Polypsykana radicals of the Inquisition. The Ministry's main Camarilla rival is the Trimere, but they consider the Banu Haqim to be irreconcilable enemies.

• Independent Clans
  • Banu Haqim - The Banu Haqim were closely aligned with the XVIIIth legion in the crusade, and maintained ties with many chapters of the Astartes following the Heresy. Their clan bane means that if they encounter a warp user, they have a strong compulsion to feed on them. To maintain the masquerade, they tend to seek patronage with Astartes chapters that have little interest in warpcraft, as well as the more puritanical witch hunters... the sort who don't ask HOW a navigator can kill witches with their warp eye. With the conclusion of the Age of Apostacy they replaced the Lasombra for the patronage of the Ecclesiarchy, under the Confederation of Light. Because of the enormous influence that comes with their association with the Ecclesiarchy, the Banu Haqim are sometimes reckoned to be a Camarilla clan, but their relations with other clans are usually strained.
  • Hecata - Hecata are the most geographically dispersed clan because of their good relations with the Mechanicus. The lack of geographic concentration, and the largely non-trade nature of mechanicus fleets, puts the Hecata at a disadvantage for competing with the Camarilla clans; but they are generally content with the state of affairs.
  • Ravnos - The Ravnos have a dominant position in Segmentum Tempestus, and enjoy the patronage of many Rogue Traders.

• Sabbat Clans
  • Lasombra - Were heavily influenced by Lorgar, but most remained mostly loyal to the Imperium at first. Their chief patron was the Temple of the Savior Emperor, and until the Age of Apostacy they were rivals to the Ventrue and Toreador for the seat of the Paternova. While some Lasombra houses still feign loyalty to the Imperium, they are fully in the sway of the Temple Tendency and committed to destroying the Camarilla. A Lasombra house was behind the Gareox Incident, with Lasombra navigators stealing the bulk of Battlefleet Tempestus's carrier-cruisers.
  • Tzimisce - The clan most closely associated with the Horus Heresy. The Tzimisce clan were Tzeenchian cultists even before the the Crusade, and worked to concentrate themselves in the XVI and XVII legions. The entirety of the Tzimisce clan went traitor with Horus, and continue to turn ships to chaos into the present.

Disciplines

Most Disciplines function exactly as they would in normal VtM, although some exceptions exist.

• Alienism - Replaces Animalism but functions in the same manner, save that all abilities pertain to aliens, not animals. For mechanical purposes, Tau, Kroot, Jokaero, Tyranids, and Orks are considered vertebrates. Tau Ethereals are considered herbivores. Alienism does not work at all on Necrons.

• Warp Sorcery - Replaces Blood Sorcery but mechanically it works just as before, just with warp energy instead of blood.

• Dominate & Presence - Mechanically, these disciplines work on humans, abhumans, the League dwarves, and the eldar, in that all share a similar theory of mind even though they aren't the same species. However, on eldar, these disciplines affect only the weakest willed of their kind; exodites, weaker kabalites, and craftworlders who've never walked a telepathic or warrior path. Eldar with a modicum of psychic skill, or the protection of some immaterial patron, are much, much harder to affect.

In addition, when a navigator is guiding a ship through the warp, some disciplines can be applied in such a way that ability affects the ship the navigator is guiding, as though the ship were their own flesh and blood. These disciplines include:

• Celerity - All as normal.
• Obfuscate - All as normal.
• Presence - Dread Gaze can function as a gellar field, and Majesty can briefly mimic the Astronomican in a short range.

Regarding Blanks - As with all warpcraft in 40k, virtually ALL disciplines fail against or in proximity to the psychic nulls known as blanks.