Cuthbert Beckett

“	Individualism is a path often fraught with obstacles and sometimes angry mobs; but for all its hardships, it is the only one worth taking...	”
	— Beckett

Cuthbert Beckett is a famous Noddist, said to be a member of the Mnemosyne, the Memory-Seekers, a bloodline of Caine-worshippers devoted to the study of the first vampire and the Book of Nod. He is one of the most prominent characters throughout the books of Vampire: the Masquerade.

He is known to most Kindred mononymically as Beckett. He had a different, unknown name as a mortal.^[2]

See this article on the VTM Bloodlines Wiki:

Beckett

Biography[]

“	To hunt, to soar, to fear neither man nor beast. This is what it means to be a vampire.	”
	— Beckett

Wandering the globe for at least 300 years,^[3] exploring Kindred lore and mythology, the British vampire Beckett may be the one of the greatest Noddist historians and archaeologists of the World of Darkness.

What little can be pieced together about his mortal past is that he was born in England and Embraced in Oxford. He still maintains strong ties to his British homeland, having a Haven beneath the Calleva Arms in Silchester. He quickly became disillusioned with vampire society and chose the way of the Autarkis. Alone, he met Aristotle de Laurent, who introduced him to his studies and became his adopted sire.

Though he does not follow the Sabbat's Path of Caine (he may actually follow the Path of Humanity), as most Noddists do, his driving goal is to determine the true history of the Kindred race, and especially the early history of Caine and the Antediluvians in Enoch. Forces ranging from the impersonal and destructive hand of entropy to the very personal vampires of the Sabbat and Camarilla conspire to keep him from learning the truth, as he sees it. Therefore, he attempts to avoid vampiric conflict when possible, preferring only to face the sorts of problems that mortal archaeologists must confront. He has had moderate success with this, for surely not every vampire of the Sabbat and Camarilla is arrayed against him.

Beckett is a rare Gangrel: well connected and educated, he has cultivated contacts and allies around the world from the ranks of mortal and supernatural alike, though few know him well. His closest allies are his erstwhile companions Lucita and the raving prophet Anatole. His long time adversary and competitor is the Tzimisce scholar Sascha Vykos.

Known over the world for coming and going as he pleases and always appearing when "interesting" items, books, scraps or stories appear, Beckett is also notorious among Kindred scholars for his theory that the story of Cain and Abel is actually a myth, representing human civilization's move from hunter-gatherer to an agrarian society. How this is connected with vampirism he is not sure, but if anyone can find the evidence and discover the truth, Beckett can.

His knowledge of ancient lore, linguistics, and fighting skills are perfectly complemented by his mastery of a number of Disciplines outside the usual purview of the Gangrel, and a more than passing knowledge of Thaumaturgy. His skill with the Gangrel trademark disciplines is such that he often travels as a wolf, and he was known to run the length of a football field under the scorching sun. He has two Beast Marks: cat-like red eyes with crescent shaped pupils which glow faintly, and hands and forearms covered in coarse hairs and claw-like (even by Kindred standards) nails, forcing him to keep them covered and wear shaded glasses among mortals.

Beckett is incredibly snarky and proud. He constantly uses his superior intellect to put others (Kindred and Kine alike) in their place in the most sarcastic ways possible, which has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. He does, however, abide by the rules of whichever political sect is controlling the city he is visiting. Beckett tries his best to be respectful of the different traditions, but has a disdain for the formalities and pomp of court. He finds the obsession with separation by clan to be pointless and has little-to-no loyalty to the Gangrel as a whole.

While he has little tolerance for mortals in general, Beckett does try his best to avoid killing them while feeding. This is difficult in his wolf form, as his animalistic instincts tend to take over. If he is unable to stop himself, he tries his best to make sure his victims die as quick and painless a death as possible.

He pities the Kine that are made into ghouls but is not above giving them his blood (while they are going through withdrawals) in exchange for information. Due to his globetrotting, he purchased a private jet in order to avoid the sun while traveling. This forced him to (reluctantly) create his ghoul, Cesare; an alcoholic, out-of-work pilot.

Pre-Revolutionary France[]

“	Life's a splendid thing to indulge in... Pity we're dead.	”
	— Beckett, from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Beckett made an appearance in the Court of François Villon, Prince of Paris, in 1789, alongside Lucita and Anatole. It was there that he first voiced doubts on his adoptive sire's compilation of fragments of the Book of Nod, due to his growing conviction that the Book itself may be an allegorical tale. He credited the mortal philosophers with whom he had spoken to in the salons with giving him new inspiration and perspective in this regard, teaching him the value of skepticism.

He met the Tremere Carna before the French Revolution and soon both fell in love.

Victorian Age[]

In 1888, he was wanted for dead in London after killing two Kindred in a fight for a rare text. While trying to escape, the Setite Halim Bey noticed a drawing he had done of a tapestry in Egypt. It was a representation of Kemintiri, the thousand-faced daughter of Set. Beckett spent the rest of the year unknowingly under the influence of the Followers of Set (and their clan discipline, Serpentis), aiding them in finding and helping Kemintiri. During this time, he rescued Lady Emma Blake from Cairo, and then fell in love with her, after she became a Tremere neonate. Lady Emma was a former ghoul of Kemintiri, who was being used as a spiritual vessel by the Followers of Set (though whether he actually loved her, or his feelings were a result of the Setites' manipulation is up for debate).

In the 1890s, Beckett found his way to Vienna, where the ideas of Dr. Sigmund Freud concerning the human psyche fascinated him. Perhaps out of a desire to correlate Freud's research with the vampiric condition – particularly with regard to the relationship between sire and childe – Beckett studied the techniques of psychoanalysis from the master himself, until he left again.

World War I[]

During World War I, Beckett was wounded while exploring one of the trenches and was saved by a vampire named Ameirin.^[4]

World War II[]

In 1945, he Embraced a German vampire hunter named Marie because he wanted to punish her for burning a list of occult tomes that he wanted to obtain. She continues hunting him into Modern nights Berlin and has sought revenge on him ever since.

Kaymakli[]

“	Where's the fun without complications?	”
	— Beckett

During excavations near the ancient Cappadocian city of Kaymakli in 1999, Beckett's companion Okulos got lost within the wards placed by the Antediluvian founder of the Cappadocians himself. Beckett, however, was able to recover a fragment of the Book of Nod that told of the End Times. He relegated it to the D'habi Revenant Rhania in order to translate it. His adoptive sire, Aristotle de Laurent, arranged for the transport of the disk and the revenant to Montréal, to a coven of learned Noddists to deflect Beckett's inquiries and to decipher the fragment himself. This began a feud between him and his adoptive sire.

Chicago[]

“	You just asked Fred Astaire to dance.	”
	— Beckett, after being challenged to a fight

In 2001, Beckett discovered the methuselahs Menele and Helena. He was also pulled into a battle involving the Mummy Nicholas Sforza-Ahnkhotep.

Los Angeles[]

“	We're natural liars.	”
	— Beckett, from Lay Down With Lions

“

It's not that I don't love walking into the heart of danger to curry favor with the local magistrate of the hour, but... actually, that's exactly it.

”

“

Beckett: [On how to open the Ankaran Sarcophagus] In the last few seconds, I've had very few epiphanies. I may be old, but I didn't build it. How knowledgeable are you on ancient Assyrian funerary constructs?

Malkavian fledgling: "TNT" and "key" have the same amount of letters.

Beckett: Ugh! Yes, how foolish of me, that would be the sound, reasonable course of action. A priceless piece of history - by all means run out and pick up some TNT.

”

In 2004, following up on rumours of "Caine's coffin,"^[5] Beckett traveled to Los Angeles to study the Ankaran Sarcophagus. He worked with the Prince of Los Angeles, Sebastian LaCroix, to help the latter open the sarcophagus. Before its key was retrieved, succumbing to the increasing sense of unease which blanketed the city, Beckett ultimately fled.

Modern Nights[]

“	If I hear any of that 'All Kindred are one with the Camarilla whether they know it or not' bullshit one more time, I swear to God I'm going to beat someone into torpor.	”
	— Beckett to Hardestadt, from Gehenna

In 2005, while trying to free his friend, the Nosferatu Okulos, Beckett broke through a ward on the ancient Cappadocian city of Kaymakli. By doing this, he not only freed Okulos, but also the Lasombra Antediluvian, bringing about one of the semi-canon versions of Gehenna.

Jyhad investigation[]

During the 2000s, Beckett deepened his research for Gehenna and traveled across the world to explore the machinations of the Methuselahs and the Jyhad, where all Kindred and sects are pushed into warring against one another. He visited Milwaukee during the Siege of Milwaukee and learned of the Shadow-sleepers. After, he traveled through the Goblin Roads to Chicago. In the city, he learns from the ancient teacher Critias and the local Tremere Chantry that several Chicago Camarilla pawns are being manipulated by two ancient methuselah. He runs from the city after meeting one of such, Helena wearing another's face. In Washigton D.C., he begins working with the Archon Theo Bell and breaches a Sabbat stronghold. He is taken by the Lasombra Talley and learns the former Prince Marcus Vitel lives on and has established the Washington Free State. In his research, Marcus promises to support Beckett financially and Beckett enters his employ.

He helped the Camarilla in the Southern Campaign, when his enemy Jan Pieterzoon requests his help in rescuing the elder Bedelia from the Sabbat-captured Atlanta. Later, he arrives in London to investigate rumors of former Prince Mithras's return. He learns from Gotsdam, Fatima al-Faqadi and others that he is possessing the young and charismatic Montgomery Coven.

He travels to Romania through Bistrita with laborers to excavate the remains of the Tihuta Pass Castle and enters the underground chamber, when the possessed workers attack Beckett. He is rescued by Dracula who brings him to Castle Dracula where he meets and becomes one of the Brides of Dracula. Beckett tries to question the Brides about Dracula but they're not very helpful, and eventually he manages to escape the Castle and Dracula.

By 2024, he joined Theo Bell and Agata Starek in the Gehenna War, and fights against Sabbat forces and the minions of the Methuselahs.

Description[]

According to Kindred cultures that acknowledge the generation model, the fourth generation of vampires was a kind of Cambrian explosion, increasing and solidifying emerging vampiric strains in the previous generation. Sometimes nicknamed Methuselah due to their age, most of the known Kindred of such low Generation have been Beckoned or chose to serve in the Gehenna War, but some lie dormant in domains outside its battlefields.

One of the greatest seekers of Kindred lore, most knowledgeable about the resting places and graves of the ancient dead, is the Gangrel Cuthbert Beckett. Where some Kindred scholars are content to theorize from the comfort of their libraries, Beckett has always gone out to look for himself.

As the Gehenna War intensifies, there’s a sudden demand for those with the specialized knowledge to know what the Kindred of various domains are really facing. Beckett is not the only Kindred archaeologist who has suddenly started to receive invitations to the courts of mighty vampire Princes.

Loresheet[]

Bloody Ancestry: You trail a Methuselah by tracking their descendants. You own and maintain notes on vampiric ancestry concerning vampires in your region in a physical or digital form. You receive a +2 dice bonus to all Occult tests when investigating the ancestry of any vampire.
Dream Interpreter: Sometimes Methuselahs and even older vampires communicate to their progeny through the daysleep. Once per story, when a character or Storyteller character tells you a dream, you may make an Intelligence + Occult test at Difficulty 2. On a win, you receive a number of actionable facts from your Storyteller equivalent to one plus the margin of the win.
Perks of Youth: From your contact with Beckett, you’ve learned that those with knowledge are targets for manipulation by older Kindred. You’ve developed hardiness to such supernatural manipulations. Once per session, when a vampire of a higher Blood Potency uses a supernatural coercive power on you, you receive a two-dice bonus to resist it.
Ancestor Cult’s Favor: You’ve entered the good graces of a cult worshiping a Methuselah. Assign six dots in any way you like to the following Backgrounds to represent what they provide you: Influence, Haven, Herd, Resources, Retainers, or Status. You keep these benefits as long as you obey at least one of their requests once per story.
Face to Face: If you seek out the Ancients, you risk finding them. Once per story, if facing a Methuselah or an elder, you can make an Intelligence + Occult test at a Difficulty of 4. If you succeed, you manage to recollect a detail or an angle that prompts the vampire to answer a single question about their own past or the Kindred of bygone eras truthfully, at least from their own perspective, as long as it doesn’t significantly jeopardize them or their plans.

Relations[]

Occasional traveling companions and friends with Lucita de Aragón, Anatole, Okulos, and Kapanaeus.
Sire of Marie.
Former adoptive childe of Aristotle de Laurent. However, they had a falling out when Aristotle let his fear of Gehenna get the better of him and stole an important artifact from Beckett.
Former lover of Tremere Emma Blake.
Courted Carna for a short period of time in 18th century^[6].
Does business with Halim Bey and Victoria Ash, and sells Ash Kindred related artifacts he has no use for.
Vampiric master of the ghoul Cesare.
Enemy of Tzimisce elder Sascha Vykos. Vykos views Beckett's attempts at discovering the origins of Kindred as competition to its own and has tortured and killed Beckett's friends to try to get to him.
Enemy of Camarilla founder Hardestadt the Younger. During a meeting with Beckett, Hardestadt used the Dominate ability Repression of the Obvious to ensure Beckett would be honest with him. This caused Beckett to blurt out that he knew Hardestadt was not the true founder and had been masquerading as his own sire for 600 years. Hardestadt sent Theo Bell to try and kill him.
Friends with one of the Hollow Ones Nola Spier. They trade supernatural favors, but due to the secrecy of the two groups, they never outright say to each other that one is a mage and the other a vampire.

Bloodlines Quest[]

Explosive Beginnings
Patron of the Ancient Arts
Society for the Preservation of Professors

Background Information[]

Although it's uncertain if it's his real name, Beckett used to go by "Cuthbert." Few are aware of this in the modern nights, although Karl Schrekt,^[7] Aristotle de Laurent,^[8] and Geoffrey Leigh^[9] know. Additionally, Theresia the Songbird addresses an invitation to "C. Beckett, Esq." implying that Cuthbert is Beckett's first name rather than a pseudonym.^[10]
There is a parallel between Beckett and Alexander the Great: another luminary whose mentor's name was Aristotle.
For years, he referred to Aristotle de Laurent as his adoptive sire, but admitted to himself (in the VTM: Gehenna: The Final Night novel) that Anatole was much more than an adoptive sire. Unfortunately, he did not realize this until Aristotle had betrayed him and Anatole had died.
Even though Beckett's beast marks show proof of his Gangrel blood, the fact that he kept them so well hidden and claimed to be Aristotle de Laurant's actual childe (Aristotle knows Protean) caused many Kindred to believe he was a Malkavian. He did not go out of his way to correct this until after his falling out with Aristotle.
According to VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary , ex-Justicar Elijah, current Justicar Geoffrey Leigh, or a vampire like Cassandra Darby, who roams the wilds and stays out of politics altogether, could be Beckett's sire.
Beckett's full character sheet has never been published, however, in VTM: Transylvania Chronicles IV , his Nature is listed as Visionary and his Demeanor as Judge.
While he refers to himself as an archaeologist in the VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines video game, in novels and game scenarios he refers to himself as an anthropologist. While archaeology is a subset of anthropology, his knowledge of languages, human and kindred culture, and human biology make him just as adept at the other subsets. According to him: "I consider myself a seeker of reluctant information; 'scholar' sounds like academia – ugh!".
While his age at Embrace is never confirmed, different game scenarios state him between his late-twenties to late-thirties. This would make him about a decade to a decade and a half older than most Kindred are when they are Embraced. This would explain why one of his pet peeves is being (derogatorily) referred to as old.
While little to no details of his mortal life are ever given, Beckett has (in the Victorian Age Trilogy) been compared to a "privateer of a bygone era".
The few times he's been required to use a computer, Beckett has used the following pseudonyms: Newbie-B,^[11]^[12] Wolf Man,^[13] beckett91,^[14] and Cuthbert29.^[15]
Beckett has a brood-mate named "Atieno". It also states the gender of their Sire to be male.^[16]
Beckett is referred to as a British vampire by the Setite Halim Bey. VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary confirms that Beckett speaks with a British accent. However, in Bloodlines, he speaks with a mid-Atlantic accent.
With the exception of a private jet he acquired not long before Gehenna, Beckett has no permanent haven. He instead, prefers to make abandoned buildings or hotel rooms his temporary lairs.
In VTM: Gehenna , it is acknowledged that he is attracted to Lucita de Aragon, but there is no evidence that he had ever acted on it.
He makes money by selling artifacts from his excavations that have little to no connection to Kindred lore.
He tries to be a neutral individual, avoiding wars and politics among both Kindred and kine for the sake of his scholarly pursuits.
Like all Kindred, Beckett is susceptible to the Jyhad. On three occasions he has (unknowingly) been controlled by older, more powerful Kindred. The first, by the Setites while they searched for Kemintiri. The second, when he (once again, unknowingly) tried to get the Heart of Osiris from the zombie Carpenter for Menele. Finally, in the VTM: Gehenna: The Final Night novel, when he spent a year with Kapaneus, but never thinks to verify his clan, something Kapaneus most likely kept him from caring about.
At several points in Bloodlines, Beckett can be seen watching the fledgling in wolf form before formally meeting them. The first time is on the cliffs above the Santa Monica Pier, framed just under the lamppost ahead as the fledgling climbs the stairs up to the pier from the beach. Once the fledgling approaches, Beckett runs off. The second time, in the Santa Monica trainyard, he can be seen briefly on top of the train cars to the left as the PC enters the area.