Generation

The Traditions dictate that a Vampire must respect their Elders and the Word of Caine is sacred. On a more practical level, respecting your Elders is a way to survive. Those of lower generation are generally older than you. They are probably more powerful, better positioned, and craftier than you. Vampires determine this status by how far away they are in the lineage of Caine. The farther away, the less you are. But don't worry, people don't consider you a blight and a sign of the upcoming vampire apocalypse until you are 10th generation or more.

On each successive generation these powers become more and more diluted as a result of a curse set upon the Third Generation by Caine himself. By committing diablerie, or amaranth, a vampire can absorb those purer powers from a vampire of an earlier generation. This will decrease his/her own generation. The victim, of course, experiences the final death in the process.