In Vampire: the Masquerade, disciplines are magical powers developed by Cainites. They're arranged in levels, usually on a scale from one to ten, with tenth-level powers being the most rare and powerful. Only vampires with lower generations can learn disciplines of sixth level or higher; high generation vampires just don't have enough power in their blood to do so. Each clan has three clan disciplines that members can learn with greater ease; characters don't usually need a teacher to develop them and players pay fewer XP for them.
Some disciplines are more common than others but some clans have unique ones. For instance, the Tzimisce have Animalism and Auspex in common with other clans, but they developed Vicissitude on their own. Some are more willing to share their unique disciplines than others. The Tremere are notable for seeking to kill any vampires who use blood magic, even if it isn't based in Thaumaturgy, their unique clan discipline.
While mages, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures also possess extraordinary powers, they each develop their own kind of magic. When vampires feed mortals their blood and create ghouls, their ghouls automatically develop the first level of Potence and gain the ability to learn other disciplines, though it's more difficult and costly for them to do so.
For quick summaries of official disiplines, see Vampire Disciplines in Brief.
A Tzimisce's View on Necromancy
Astrometric Thaumaturgy (Path)
Resources are free for personal use; please do not offer them for sale or claim them as your own work.
Please do not repost material elsewhere; link to this site instead. Thank you, and happy gaming!