The [bloodline] tag is being used for two completely different concepts in different RPGs

Question

bloodline is a little problematic, as it is a concept in three quite large games and neither shares anything but the name:

• vampire-the-masquerade has Bloodlines as "sub-Clans". For example, Kiasyd are considered generally a bloodline of the Toreador. The Assamites even sport a whopping 5 Bloodlines, Castes + Antritribu.
  • Generally, bloodlines use alternative powers than their host clan
  • the Questions asked here seem to delve into the lore of how one branch or another was formed
• vampire-the-requiem Has Bloodlines which are similar but distinct from VtM.
• dungeons-and-dragons where Bloodline is... something that somehow...
  • in 3.5 it seems to cause level adjustment and grant spells
• pathfinder has Sorcerer-boodlines and Bloodrager-Bloodlines, which ways how they are empowered.

What should we do? There is little to no chance to get those things somehow can fit under one hat for an overarching definition, as called for here - So Is there some solution?!

Answer 1

I don't think there's special action needed here. The tag can be given guidance just fine:

For questions related to special bloodlines (such as vampiric, draconic, etc) and gameplay or narrative features related to them.

We don't need to specify the exact per-system meaning in the tag guidance. We could elaborate on what it means in different systems in the tag wiki (sorta like in your question) but that won't cause problems either.

If there's some problem that warrants splitting it up into multiple tags, we can still do that, but the tag description in and of itself is not that problem. If we did that, let's be mindful a tag called [vampire-bloodline] would still probably get shared between multiple systems.

Answer 2

A term appears in different systems, and that's okay.

It is true that bloodline has completely different meanings in different systems. Why is that a problem?

If a user wants to find a system-specific question about bloodlines, then their best option is to search for content with both the system tag and the bloodline tag. Most questions have multiple tags, including a system tag, so this search should be relatively easy.

For example, searching [pathfinder-1e] and [bloodline] finds Pathfinder 1e questions about sorcerer & bloodrager bloodlines. Or, searching [vampire-*] and [bloodline] finds questions about vampire bloodlines in the World of Darkness systems.

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If the presenting question is "how should we define the bloodline tag", then that should be proposed as an answer to the meta discussion "Tags with at least 10 questions that need usage guidance". It seems feasible to propose a definition that is flexible and independent of system.

Answer 3

I suggest to rebrand the two and burninate the pure bloodline one for:

• Pathfinder: sorcerer or bloodrager, as appropriate
  • Or sorcerer-bloodline/bloodrager-bloodline?
• VTM: vampire-bloodline