Generation

Generation is a measure of how far removed a vampire is from the original, first vampire. It is primarily used by vampires to organize their society and identify potential power levels among its members; because vitae weakens as it is thinned with every successive generation, the higher-generation a vampire is, the more likely they are to be less potent and easier to injure or kill than those of lower generation than themself.

Generation is not purely used as a political category; it has very real and concrete effects on vampires. Many powers (most notably Dominate) can only be used on others of the same or higher generation, and even if a vampire of low generation has no particularly remarkable features, they are capable of feeding on and storing more blood than a younger-generation vampire could, as well as being able to use it more quickly and easily. Finally, generation places an informal limit on how many powers a vampire can learn; the lower their generation, the more impressive and terrible powers they have access to.

A vampire cannot change their generation; once they have been Embraced by their sire, their generation is set (one higher than their sire's) and cannot be changed. The exceptions are diablerie and some forms of blood magic, including Thaumaturgy; while almost all magical changes to generation are impermanent, they can still confer advantages on a vampire for a limited period of time, giving them a taste of what lower-generation life might be like.

It is worth noting that while generation usually correlates closely with age, this is not always the case. It is possible to have a very low-generation vampire who was only recently Embraced and is still a neonate, and likewise to have a very high-generation vampire who was born centuries ago but whose family line just happened to be very active procreators. Vampires being vampires, this assumption is often taken advantage of by those who do not fit the regular mold, usually in the form of high-generation vampires impersonating elders for the additional clout and safety it affords them.

The High Generations

The high generations are generally considered any vampires who are of the ninth generation or higher, which includes almost all neonates and ancillae. These vampires are considered moderately powerful and more effective than mortals, but not especially powerful or important in comparison with others of their kind; they can only learn disciplines up to the fifth level and are confined to only being able to heal wounds and use powers at a fairly human-like rate without additional supernatural powers. High-generation vampires are often footsoldiers, shock troops, support staff, or in other subservient or controlled roles that defer to lower-generation vampires that outrank (and certainly overpower) them.

There is a notable amount of striation among the high generations; after all, just because the elders are out of all their weight classes doesn't mean that there isn't a very noticeable power level difference between a ninth-generation and a thirteenth-generation vampire. Since high generations make up the vast majority of all vampires at any given time, their internecine squabbles with others of their own and similar generations keep them busy with one another and out of the way of the much more formidable low generations.

Thin-Bloods

Vampires of the fourteenth generation or higher are considered Thin-Blooded, meaning that the vampire blood in their veins has been so diluted that the process of undeath could not be fully realized. Fourteenth- and fifteenth-generation Thin-Bloods are almost always extremely weak and have very few supernatural powers compared to their lower-generation brethren, and they are much easier to hurt or kill than most vampires (which suits their elders, many of whom view them as an unfortunate pest infestation, just fine).

Not every Thin-Blood is necessarily of such a high generation; occasionally a vampire is Embraced at a lower generation but the process does not go properly due to genetic defects or interruptions or supernatural meddling, resulting in a low-generation Thin-Blood. All vampires of appropriately high generation are automatically considered Thin-Bloods, however.

The Low Generations

The low generations are any vampires who are of eighth or lower generation (which is also the cutoff point for being considered an elder). Low-generation vampires are fewer in number and likely to be more alien than humans due to the odds of them being older and more powerful, but they make up for it by being enormously influential, often holding important positions in vampire sects or secretly manipulating those who do from behind the scenes.

If the high-generation vampires have a wide range of variety among their different specific generations, the low-generation vampires have enormous gulfs. The difference in power and capabilities between even a seventh- and an eighth-generation vampire is noticeable, and the difference between a fourth- and eighth-generation vampire is similar to the difference between a housecat and a sabertoothed lion. Most low-generation vampires are understandably preoccupied with the machinations of others like them, and are likely to ignore higher-generation vampires (except when they're useful as pawns or servants, of course) who pose very little threat, physical or political, to them.

Generation and Diablerie

Although for most vampires it is impossible to change their generation, which is immutable based upon the blood in their veins, it is still possible to do so through the heinous crime of diablerie. A diablerist can drop their generation to a permanently lower one by enriching their blood with that of a lower-generation vampire, provided that the vampire whose soul is consumed is at least two generations lower than the vampire doing the consuming. Generation changes from diablerie are permanent, although their benefits do not prevent the process's many downsides from affecting any vampire who decides to take the plunge.