Blood Hunt

The blood hunt or bloodhunt is a blanket call for the death of a vampire in a Domain, usually called by a Prince or higher-level Camarilla official. Once a blood hunt has been called, every vampire in the city is legally bound to do everything in their power to kill its target should the opportunity arise, no matter what their usual skills or functions. Some blood hunts also offer prizes to whichever vampire successfully kills the target, leading to creative in-fighting among competitors.

For the vampire being bloodhunted, there are only two real options: survive endless attempts to kill them by everyone they meet, or escape from the area to one in which they are not currently a very violent persona non grata.

Rarely, a blood hunt may be called on all vampires sharing a certain characteristic, such as "all members of the Spring Valley coterie" or "all Caitiff within city limits." Such blood hunts are usually only called in response to a recent organized attack on the city's leadership, or to "clean up" what the Prince may consider undesirable elements in their city.

Grounds for Blood Hunts

In the Camarilla, the breaking of any of the Traditions is automatically grounds for a blood hunt; while not every Prince may choose to call one for every Tradition infraction, failing to do so too often may gain them the disciplinary notice of an Archon, so they are motivated to come down on the harsher side. Diablerie generally also results in an immediate blood hunt, as do conspiracies to assassinate or topple the Prince or that betray the Camarilla to other sects.

Princes, as well as higher-level officials like Archons and Justicars, can call blood hunts for literally any reason, giving them broad powers to punish their enemies for whatever they choose. In practice, most Princes provide at least a token reason that the target of their ire deserves to be punished or trump up a few charges to justify the action; blood hunts called for no apparent reason quickly make a city appear unstable and its Prince like easy pickings for would-be conquerors.

Once a Prince has called a blood hunt, the reasons behind it become functionally immaterial. It doesn't matter whether they have an ironclad legal case or just don't like how someone looked at them last night; either way, their word is law, and the hunt remains in effect until its target is destroyed or escapes. Princes can choose to pardon the target of a bloodhunt, although this is rare and usually signifies that the target was either only being hunted by the Prince to make a point, or else pulled off some truly incredible feat of service or manipulation to convince them to spare their life.

Blood Hunt Responsibilities

While every vampire fervently hopes to avoid ever being the target of a blood hunt, sooner or later they all become involved in one even if they remain beneath their Prince's notice. Once a blood hunt has been called, every vampire that resides in the city is obligated to participate, whether they agree with the order or not; the most delicate Toreador lady is expected to pick up a weapon if needed, and the most thick-headed Brujah bully to doggedly investigate until they find their quarry.

In practice, most Princes do not really expect every member of their city to immediately rush into the streets, intent on murder in their name, so blood hunts are conducted more like periods of high alert: if the target of the hunt is sighted, those vampires on the scene spring into action against them, while those elsewhere in the city remain watchful but also go about their own business. Vampires who are caught avoiding (or, even worse, helping) the target are considered traitors to the authority that issued the hunt and are likely to find themselves fugitives as well, further encouraging everyone to at least appear to give their best effort.

A few vampires participate in blood hunts more actively, going out into the city to spend their nights focused solely on tracking down and eliminating the target of the hunt. Apart from the Sheriff and their deputies, who are guaranteed to actively hunt the target, most such vampires are hoping for a reward: common blood hunt prizes include increased status, sorcerous gifts, or even in very rare cases the ultimate trophy of diablerie. Blood hunts are not optional, however, and Princes are not required to provide any reward whatsoever to those who simply faithfully follow their orders.

Standing Blood Hunts

Some Princes, especially older and more traditional elders, may call standing blood hunts, which place a blanket blood hunt on all vampires fitting a certain critera within their Domain. Standing blood hunts are effectively bans on certain groups residing in a city, since outside members entering become illegal intruders by virtue of existing.

Standing blood hunts are most often called to ban "unwanted" members from a city; Caitiff, Thin-Blooded, Ravnos, and Anarchs are common targets of such standing bans. As with normal blood hunts, all vampires are expected to kill or capture any illegal target they happen to come across.