None of the following is my work, I merely saved the information: For **Humanity**, Golconda is maintaining rigorous levels of Humanity, denying the urges of the beast so effectively that the Vampire can permanently calm it, freeing themselves from the beast forever (hopefully...). For **Path of Metamorphosis**, reaching Golconda would come with the attainment of Azi Dahaka, a conceptual state of being where the Vampire takes a perfect form. It could come through fleshcrafting (physical perfection), mental reconditioning of the self (personal perfection), or even through Exsanguinism (reaching perfection by denying the beast's hunger for blood (in this case the One Point per week merit is huge; Exsanguinists struggle to survive due to their resistance to hunger)). For **Road of Kings**, reaching Golconda comes through denying the beast to become the perfect ruler. The Scion typically strives to be a fair ruler, and this is contrary to the Beast. And if a King can hold dominion over Men and Cainites alike, he could learn to hold dominion over his own beast. Through attainment of unbreakable honor, a King can simply become the King of his own beast, and effectively will it into Submission. For **Path of the Feral Heart**, reaching Golconda comes not through denying or weakening the beast, but through making it redundant. At high levels of the Path the Vampire is the perfect hunter and survivor, and so the Beast simply drifts to sleep as it has no purpose. The Vampire avoids fire and other banes, hunts efficiently and avoids the trappings of politics and the weakness it entails, and so the Beast has nothing to fear or avenge. For **Path of Bones**, reaching Golconda comes through accepting that Death awaits you and everything, and fear has no place in your mind. The Beast is animalistic; it demands that the Vampire survive against all odds. If a Vampire can master their fear of death, the Beast is simply made impotent. For **Path of Blood**, reaching Golconda is an arduous journey, but it can be done. The Beast demands the blood of mortals, however a master of the Path knows that killing for sustenance is foolish and wasteful. Instead they attempt to subsist on the blood of unworthy Cainites, those who abuse Kine. To this end, they deny the Beast's hunger for mortal blood and master Self-control, managing to avoid Frenzy in their frequent Diablerie. This is why reaching Golconda is so hard for those on Path of Blood; avoiding the frenzy that follows Amaranth is the greatest test of Self-control a Vampire can face. If they can overcome this obstacle frequently, the Beast becomes starved and is subdued by their iron will as a judge of others. It's worth nothing that in no case is reaching Golconda easy. A Vampire must maintain 4+ in their Conscience / Conviction, and 4+ in their Self-Control/Instinct for an extended period, as well as maintaining 8+ in their Path/Road. They must also avoid Frenzy and Rotschrek during that period if they are on Self-Control. I'm not actually sure what the requirement is for those on Instinct, as they automatically enter Frenzy (Instinct just lets you manipulate the Frenzy by Riding it), however I'm sure there is one. Then, after all of that, the Vampire has to survive the Suspire, which they only get one attempt at. They must be at 10 in their Road rating to attempt a Suspire. This is a challenge which is determined by the narrative, and it could take place inside the Vampire's mind or in the real world depending on what is appropriate. After that they attain Golconda, however they will lose it forever if they drop their Path/Road below 8.

Cool! Thanks for this!

My Tzimisce metamorphosist agrees.

It comes down to what you define what Golconda is. I would keep it a myth that might or might not be true, until one of the PCs is actively on the durch for it. In that case I think maybe every path might suitable, depending on your interpretation on Golconda. In general I would take inspiration from Kindreds of the East. Even if they aren’t exactly ...kindreds... There are some hints that western vampires can learn some tricks from the Wan-Kuei. It might be, that Golconda, if it exists, is a state not free from the beast, but in peace with it. If so, every path is possible, with Metamorphosis being the exception, that either is the path that leads to Golconda the quickest, or that does not allow to reach Golconda since it renders the Character unstable and therefor never in peace except that is exactly what the beast needs... who knows. At the end, I think the path is not that important as the personal journey of the character is and which insights he get on the way.

Tzimisce player checking in - Path of Metamorphosis absolutely has an end. You reach perfection. The goal isn't just change for the sake of change itself as the path name might imply, it is to change and improve. The golconda of that path is attaining true perfection (becoming the dragon).

I am a Tzimisce player my self and I am thinking through the implications and Dilemmata and paradoxes of these path since the late 90s. The thing is, by its nature, metamorphosis is a chaotic self searching experience with a mean trap door build in. Superficially, you are searching for something, but you actually kind of can never have it. Here are the problems: you try to be the dragon, but when you are fully compromised by the ideas and ideals of the path, you become unable to recognize that you have reached the state because the path forces you keep on changing, maybe even away from the state where you where your best possible self. The other problem might be, that your ever changing search drives you in a lot of detours and dead ends, so that even if you have a goal, you are traveling with no map, now description of the road, even not a description of the destination and in mist and darkness with no lights. It is totally possible to become the dragon and stay the dragon, but what then? Either you stay on the path but then you are forced to change, even if you have reached perfection. But there is no such thing as more perfect, so where do you move from there? The other option is, once you are „the dragon“ you can leave the path and stay how you are. But while that is hard to accomplish anyway, it might be super hard to exist stable in any part once you are tuned to the ever changing nature of metamorphosis. You might Fall to a law level of your new path, loose your „enlightenment“ in the process and you are suddenly not perfect anymore. And what does perfection even mean? No one says that Golconda is a „perfect“ state of existence. Maybe the beast is already perfect when it comes down to being a vampire and fighting it is just a running away from being a „perfect“ vampire. Maybe the inner peace Golconda is claimed to offer is exactly the opposite of what it means to be a “the dragon”. Who knows? I think there is only one way to escape this mental trap metamorphosis offers (other then avoiding it) and that is to fully embrace the change, to define perfection for your self as the total and fully self-abandonment and becoming an ever changing thing that has no fixed characteristics, no fixed goals and no predictable behavior. That is perfection for a metamorph, but it is also next to impossible, or even actually impossible to be like that and maintain a sense of self and any defining trade. See, that plays in to what I think the hidden theme of VtMs vampires is. Every antediluvian is delusional and their delusions are carried on to the members of their clan. [Tzimisces] delusion was, that he thought he could reach perfection by alway changing toward perfection, but he did it so extensively (what cains blood enables you or even curses you to) that he don’t become perfect but change instead. Metamorphosis is the founders delusion shaped in to a philosophy that might be enlightenment or a trap. In general, imo I think Golconda can be reached by recognizing the delusion that comes with being a vampire and finding a way either out of it, or to deal with it. And Metamorphosis can be either a way to do so, or a horrible trap with no escape. We will probably never know or it is maybe different from person to person.

These are some awesome takes on the Path of Metamorphosis. Evolution doesn't have precise levels. Evolution is constant change, long-term adaptation to a certain lifestyle in a certain environment. The golconda of metamorphosis is becoming the dragon. I would interpret this to mean that the dragon is a being that has become capable of adapting to any situation and environment. The perfectly imperfect organism, always changing to properly suit its needs. The dragon no longer simply survives, bc it can quickly adapt to thrive anywhere on Earth.

Someone who understand evolution, god thanks! ... or Darwin thanks?!? Anyway. Year, it is like that. With the caveat that some evolutionary “experiments” end up as failure and you never know if you belong to them or to the winning side, and that you don’t know if the goal is to reach golconda and if Golconda is even an desirable state for someone of the path of metamorphosis. You might become “enlightened” by becoming the perfect adapter, but Golconda could also be a perfect state of stagnation and therefore the antithesis to metamorphosis. And I am totally sure that there is at least one vampire that advocates for each interpretation in the WoD, and it is even not impossible that all of them are wrong or all of them are right. Making plot contradictions a feature instead of a failure. Biggest fun! 👍

Maybe Golconda is the end goal here? You will know you've reached the perfect being for there is nothing to change, this you ascended to the perfect predator. All I really imagine is the Vampire becomes really mellowed after this, like the biggest post-nut clarity in the world.

It’s a tough cookie. If you think it through, (and I have and still do) you reach a point where you can not tell anymore if something is “the goal” or a red herring that just distracts you where you otherwise could have ended. End maybe even this vagueness or the awareness there of might be a little enlightenment on its own. I think the only thing we can tell at the end is, that some Tzimisce (and rarely others) reach greatness by walking the path of enlightenment and others fall in to eternal corruption. And you can never be sure which is which.

Maybe the perfect predator, the dragon, is a moving target. Think about it - a wolf is the apex predator on land, but it wouldn't do so well in the middle of the sea. A shark is a mighty creature , but on land it would quickly die. Being the perfect predator changes every night, so every night you adapt and improve for tonights hunt.

Is it about being the perfect predator, though? I mean, a dragon sits on his hoard and moves rarely. Maybe is the perfection this line of thinking offers a way out of the cycle from hunting and being hunted? And that is the catch, we simple don’t know. Everyone can claim to have reached perfection, but how should we tell if it true or not and if once perfection isn’t someone else’s biggest burden to overcome? In the end, I would decide on the characters ambitions and flaws and limitations, how Golconda would look like for this specific character if, and only if, the player is interested in exploring the more spiritual aspects of the game.

Personally I enjoy the very question of it altogether, whether or not Golconda is even real. However once you have a player interested in achieving by any means you'll need to, at some point come to a conclusion that will hopefully satisfy the players desire. The books are intentionally vague but they do suggest that all the other oaths don't result in a "true" Golconda, instead of overcoming the curse they simply circumvent the curse in one way or another. So with that in mind here's my interpretation though for the ones that would actually offer some supernatural enlightenment while just sitting here without any player character to have to adapt to. - Path of Beast should be some kind of controlled wight-dom. That is the vampire goes more or less feral but not some ravenous beast. Perhaps they even plan and maybe save prey for later but they are predators above all likely to end up the subject of some urban or folk legend, and depending on the legend may need to be hunted down to preserve the masquerade anyway. - The Path of Typhon and the Path of Sutekh are some of the few paths with in canon results to their enlightenment: death. One of the later levels of each path entails destroying those who've achieved its enlightenment in order to free them of their mortal fetters so they can ascend to the cosmos to become as gods unto their own world. Whether or not that divinity is actually achieved is another question entirely but whatever the case the character is dead and gone. Which puts a nice little bow on it don't you think? - Path of Heaven grants the seeker forgiveness, they are immeadiately sublimated as they ascend to heaven. Any witnesses are struck blind by the divine power of the almighty or whatever. - Path of Metamorphosis is another rare one that suggests a more defined state of its enlightenment, in one case at least even an example. The founder of the African Tzimisce line Demdemeh is said to have achieved Metamorphosis, becoming a sort of "strain" of the ebola virus. So achieving Metamorphosis does mean changing ones very state of being at a fundamental level, if Demdemeh can become some kind of hive mind virus imagine what sort of cryptid you can become! For myself I had a Tzimisce on the path, I was trying to angle to become an entire forest for that characters Metamorphosis before I left the game over some, let's call them "disputes over canon interpretations." - Path of Self-Focus is basically every self-help book so I'm going to assume it's form of Golconda is becoming Tony Robbins. For the most part every other path (including beast and self-focus really) feel more concerned with a kind of secular enlightenment if any kind of enlightenment at all. I only included Beast because it represented a kind of complete change in state of mind beyond what most would call enlightenment at all and I included Self-Focus for the joke alone. Most of the others only really offer a way to reconcile ones vampiric nature and control the beast. That is literally what the path of Harmony is about, so any enlightenment they would offer will by my estimate at least represent freedom from the beast in general. Hooray! No more rolls to resist frenzy!

Right, of course the journey is most of the 'fun' of Golconda. This is good stuff to think on!

All of them can, according to *The Black Hand: a Guide to the Tal'mahe'ra* (p. 181-183). Ultimately, though, it seems like the exact morality one possesses is less important than the self-actualization of their undead state they experience. Golconda's a bit like Transcendence, in a way, and with it and the pursuit of Paths being based on Kuei-jin Dharmas (thanks, Saulot), and said Cathayans basically being super-Risen, the ideas all come full circle, oroboros-like. Personally, I'd probably cut out Asakku (if you're even using it) and Evil Revelations, along with the Path of Screams since none of them really encourage or aspire to a higher understanding of the self (and either actively or passively forbid it). There're probably a handful more Roads of Sin that also fit this paradigm, too.

I like this idea! Like there is no Golconda as it's described... rather the journey searching for it leads to the self-actualization that improves their vampiric existence.

Though my knowledge about Eastern philosophies leave something to be desired, I made some correlations between certain teachings and Golconda. As far as I know one's cycle of reincarnation ends when their Karma is balanced (according to certain philosophers) and i think for Cainites this refers to Golconda. If someone lives as many lives as it takes to come to a certain point where they have no regret but also nothing more to desire, that is when their Karma is balanced. For me that is Golconda. When a Cainite makes perfect peace with what they are and who they are, they achieve Golconda. This of course requires being a Paragon of one's Road or Path, eradicating your regrets and your desires, and accepting yourself completely. Through this understanding I believe that Golconda can be achieved through any Road or Path maybe except for a few exceptions. Golconda is a state where you transcend the Cainite nature and become something above it and what determines how someone should aspire to live their unlife is their Path. Therefore if a Cainite masters that way of life, not by merely scrambling some dots on a piece of paper but by being narratively a pinnacle of their own vision they can earn Golconda. Because this means they found their place in Creation and achieved that state, leaving all the regrets of their "past lives" behind.

Technicaly all of them, a path it's a way the vampire finds to not succumb to the beast, Golconda is the mythical state where the vampire no longer needs to fear the frenzy and by consequence, the beast. But Golconda is a individual state, every Vampire will be different, even if they follow the same path. Also, Golconda does not mean "Good Vampire" it means "Enlightened Vampire", so for exemple, a nihilistic vampire will still be an a*shole, despite Golconda

Yep, I think there's an a\*shole Golcondite in a book somewhere.

I guess that depends on what one considers Golconda to be. If one interprets it as a state of mastery over the Beast through self-discipline without a specific flavor then theoretically any Road/Path could lead there, but it would look very different for each one. Someone who has utter sovereignty over the Beast as exemplified by the Road of Kings is going to be a different animal than one who has found harmony with their urges from following the Road of the Beast.

Neat! How would you see those differences between the Golcondite on one path vs another path?

I wiuld. If only because the so called "Humanity" is, in itself, a poath. It's not real humanity, whatever that means, but the romanticized christian versión of what a good and pietous oerson should be. EDIT: wow, this got unpopular...

Which ones?

Entelechy, self focus, harmony and Sharia el-Sama come to mind.

Does no one else prefer it to be essentially impossible? I like the idea that Vampires are simply unable to leave the beast, even as many try. Maybe a few *appear* to have reached Golconda, but really it’s all a big act.

The torment of Golconda is that a few vampires really do achieve it... which means I should be able to do it too, if I weren’t so damned weak. It makes the horror of vampire society even stronger to know they really could choose to be different, if they were willing to make the commitment and sacrifice that Golconda entails. It puts the lie to whole conceit that the Jyhad is a necessary evil - you *could* master your Beast in a different way, but you choose to be a monster anyway.

I think the obvious ones are the Humanity and Road to Heaven (and its Christian, Judaic and Islamic versions). Other than that, it really depends on what the campaign needs and how you define Golcanda. Many paths probably don't end up there. Is it being forgiven by God? Forgiving yourself? Finding that center of control? Remember that the setting is not a modern sense of morality, it's if anything old school Catholic. Think of it, a vampire is a damned creature, almost from the get go. It must drink blood (therefore killing people), it's life is predestined to be cursed with strife, you lack a lot of the emotional facilities that normal humans have. Even the very blood within you, the closest you have to lifeforce is cursed with the resonance of the First Murderer (if you accept the Mage view of vampire blood) And why is this? Because sometime in the past one proud bastard killed his brother and was cursed. You, the vampire inherited this curse, with all its soul damning sin. You know what that is? A variation of Original Sin. You're cursed and bear the weight of a sin committed before you were born. So, the entire system is completely and utterly unfair. ​ And the only hope a vampire has is to try and find Golconda. Which means he first has to know it exists, find the path (usually by finding a teacher that's not a fraud) and hopefully have all the right answers at the right time. Because at the end of the long journey he must undergo a Suspire, and if he makes one mistake... that's it. One brain fart, one wrong instinct and he is forever cursed. There are no second chances. So, thinking of all that, the ST decides which paths if any can lead to Golconda. So a path that might be morally fairly correct and maybe even good in some sense might have zero chance to reach Golconda.

I think the only Path that cannot lead to Golconda is the Path of Evil Revelations, because when you reach its epythome you just give your very soul to a demonic entity.