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Vampire: The Masquerade Clanbooks
Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised
A History of Evil
From the antitribu who forged the Sabbat to dreaded Dracula himself, the Tzimisce have carved an indelible place for themselves among the society of the Damned. The modern nights have caught up with these monsters, however, who have fallen from their place as masters of hoary estates to degenerates bound by the callous whims of the Sabbat.
The Flesh-Twisted Fiends
As the next entry in the revised lineup of clanbooks, Tzimisce takes one of the classic Vampire sourcebooks and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies revised material, inviting you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each with 32 more pages than the first-edition books) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.
From the antitribu who forged the Sabbat to dreaded Dracula himself, the Tzimisce have carved an indelible place for themselves among the society of the Damned. The modern nights have caught up with these monsters, however, who have fallen from their place as masters of hoary estates to degenerates bound by the callous whims of the Sabbat.
The Flesh-Twisted Fiends
As the next entry in the revised lineup of clanbooks, Tzimisce takes one of the classic Vampire sourcebooks and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies revised material, inviting you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each with 32 more pages than the first-edition books) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.
104 pages, Paperback
First published March 5, 2001
4 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Lucien Soulban
64 books28 followersI hate bios - it's the only time I have writer's block - but, in a nutshell, I was:
1) Born in Saudi Arabia
2) Lived there for 12 years
3) Went to school in Hell… er… Houston, Texas for 8 years.
4) Moved to Montreal, Quebec and in doing so, found the glove that fit my hand.
5) I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
So instead of those dry boring tidbits, I present the Frequently Asked Questions concerning Lucien Soulban. You know you've been waiting for it! The following questions come from the patient folks who frequent my Live Journal as well as some of the questions I've heard in my lifetime.
1) Born in Saudi Arabia
2) Lived there for 12 years
3) Went to school in Hell… er… Houston, Texas for 8 years.
4) Moved to Montreal, Quebec and in doing so, found the glove that fit my hand.
5) I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
So instead of those dry boring tidbits, I present the Frequently Asked Questions concerning Lucien Soulban. You know you've been waiting for it! The following questions come from the patient folks who frequent my Live Journal as well as some of the questions I've heard in my lifetime.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 26, 2017
This is the last clanbook I had left to read and I was really hoping to go out on a high note. Unfortunately, Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised has a lot of the same problems that Clanbook: Ventrue Revised does, in that it mostly just restates information I already knew.
The Tzimisce are clearly based on the Wamphyri from Necroscope, with the same obsession with Eastern Europe, the same flesh-warping powers, and the same disease metaphors for their powers. This book doesn't do anything to advance them beyond that, repeatedly bringing up the Land Beyond the Forest, the way that the Tzimisce based their identity around their ability to change their appearance and create monsters, and the blood of the Eldest. The last is actually a little interesting, in that the book casts the blood of the Tzimisce Antediluvian as a literal, rather than merely metaphorical, part of its descendants. Within every Tzimisce is a part of their founder, and it's theoretically possible for the Eldest to use that connection to spy on its descendants or devour them at any time. It's even possible that the Eldest has already become one of its descendants--there's a Tzimisce account of the Second City where Samiel and the Salubri Warriors' war wasn't against the Baali, but against the Tzimisce, and Samiel actually managed to destroy the Tzimisce Antediluvian. But it was reborn from a descendant and survived, and the same thing could happen again.
This is somewhat undermined by several of the Tzimisce treating this like it's an established fact and talking about it in mundane terms, though. When Nights of Prophecy revealed that the Eldest was alive under New York, it was wonderful and terrifying. But apparently all the Tzimisce already knew that the Eldest lived on within their blood like some kind of cancer, so that Tzimisce is alive isn't a revelation. But if Tzimisce lives on in their blood, do they really think Lugoj diablerized him? Do they just not think about it? There's even a flaw where Tzimisce's blood slowly devours the vampire from within and they have to eat flesh to replace their own, so there's some vampires out there who know it's still alive. The one really interesting part of the book and it's dealt with inconsistently.
There are attempts to push the Tzimisce outside of their traditional homeland in Eastern Europe. Demdemeh, one of the Eldest's childer, was from Africa and went back there relatively quickly, but his descendants retreated with him to the Great Rift Valley and have no contact with the rest of the world. Demdemeh himself has vanished, and the book heavily implies that the Ebola virus might be the result of Demdemeh's attempt to transform himself into something greater than a mere vampire. Kartarirya is the first childe of the Eldest, from South Asia, but the part about Tzimisce history in the subcontinent doesn't mention the Ravnos at all even when it mentions other Clans by name, so it's hard to tie it into what else I know about the World of Darkness.
I did like that there's a group of Tzimisce who retreated from the Camarilla into the Navajo reservation in the 19th century, and their descendants are still there but mostly ignore the Sabbat because they see themselves as Diné first. I also liked the contrast between the hoary elders, with their ancient traditions and their aristocratic ideals, and the vulgar youngsters who are basically splatterpunk monsters with no true nobility or dignity. But this is literally the most fundamental conflict in Vampire, so its place here isn't surprising or interesting, and nothing is done with it beyond some sniping between two characters of different Generations.
That's a good summary of the whole book, really. "Nothing is done with it." I didn't come out of this knowing any more about the Tzimisce than I did going in.
The Tzimisce are clearly based on the Wamphyri from Necroscope, with the same obsession with Eastern Europe, the same flesh-warping powers, and the same disease metaphors for their powers. This book doesn't do anything to advance them beyond that, repeatedly bringing up the Land Beyond the Forest, the way that the Tzimisce based their identity around their ability to change their appearance and create monsters, and the blood of the Eldest. The last is actually a little interesting, in that the book casts the blood of the Tzimisce Antediluvian as a literal, rather than merely metaphorical, part of its descendants. Within every Tzimisce is a part of their founder, and it's theoretically possible for the Eldest to use that connection to spy on its descendants or devour them at any time. It's even possible that the Eldest has already become one of its descendants--there's a Tzimisce account of the Second City where Samiel and the Salubri Warriors' war wasn't against the Baali, but against the Tzimisce, and Samiel actually managed to destroy the Tzimisce Antediluvian. But it was reborn from a descendant and survived, and the same thing could happen again.
This is somewhat undermined by several of the Tzimisce treating this like it's an established fact and talking about it in mundane terms, though. When Nights of Prophecy revealed that the Eldest was alive under New York, it was wonderful and terrifying. But apparently all the Tzimisce already knew that the Eldest lived on within their blood like some kind of cancer, so that Tzimisce is alive isn't a revelation. But if Tzimisce lives on in their blood, do they really think Lugoj diablerized him? Do they just not think about it? There's even a flaw where Tzimisce's blood slowly devours the vampire from within and they have to eat flesh to replace their own, so there's some vampires out there who know it's still alive. The one really interesting part of the book and it's dealt with inconsistently.
There are attempts to push the Tzimisce outside of their traditional homeland in Eastern Europe. Demdemeh, one of the Eldest's childer, was from Africa and went back there relatively quickly, but his descendants retreated with him to the Great Rift Valley and have no contact with the rest of the world. Demdemeh himself has vanished, and the book heavily implies that the Ebola virus might be the result of Demdemeh's attempt to transform himself into something greater than a mere vampire. Kartarirya is the first childe of the Eldest, from South Asia, but the part about Tzimisce history in the subcontinent doesn't mention the Ravnos at all even when it mentions other Clans by name, so it's hard to tie it into what else I know about the World of Darkness.
I did like that there's a group of Tzimisce who retreated from the Camarilla into the Navajo reservation in the 19th century, and their descendants are still there but mostly ignore the Sabbat because they see themselves as Diné first. I also liked the contrast between the hoary elders, with their ancient traditions and their aristocratic ideals, and the vulgar youngsters who are basically splatterpunk monsters with no true nobility or dignity. But this is literally the most fundamental conflict in Vampire, so its place here isn't surprising or interesting, and nothing is done with it beyond some sniping between two characters of different Generations.
That's a good summary of the whole book, really. "Nothing is done with it." I didn't come out of this knowing any more about the Tzimisce than I did going in.
April 13, 2020
Tzimisce clan best clan. Don't @me.
As a clan, it really shouldn't make sense. Mystic sorcery, transhumanism, body horror, feudalism, religious fanaticism, manners, and ridiculously old school vampire weaknesses just don't go together. And yet, they do. There's room for a wide variety of characters that all still fit the 'Tizimisce' template. Its a clan with more flexibility than what's obvious at first glance. Its also a clan that will punish players who are too rigid or uncreative.
They need to import the clan into V5, stat.
As a clan, it really shouldn't make sense. Mystic sorcery, transhumanism, body horror, feudalism, religious fanaticism, manners, and ridiculously old school vampire weaknesses just don't go together. And yet, they do. There's room for a wide variety of characters that all still fit the 'Tizimisce' template. Its a clan with more flexibility than what's obvious at first glance. Its also a clan that will punish players who are too rigid or uncreative.
They need to import the clan into V5, stat.
December 6, 2017
Since I've learned first bits about VTM so so long ago I've grown to love Tzimisce as a clan more than any other, but this book left me with mixed feelings. Coming from Eastern Europe I was often confused both with historical and mythological references. I feel like back in the day authors had a hard time figuring out data without Google and Wikipedia and did not care enough to go out of their way to do proper research, use real world's tales to actually match their fiction, not just slap names on things. I'm sure they tried, some parts were spot on, but other - not so much. Overall this book was unable to tell me anything new about the clan, I would not call it bad though, still enjoyed it.
June 7, 2019
Times are changing fast. Even though this book was written after the turn of the Millenium, it feels so dated now, as if it's not an 18-year-old one but rather much older. It was mostly an enjoyable read, though. But it was a bit disorganized in the treatment of its content and as others mentioned, doesn't really add to the existing knowledge about the Clan Tzimisce.
May 4, 2013
Well, this clan of vampires has great Horror potential, but I personally think the authors have overdone it. Especially that many young Tzimisce are racists is weird considered that the power to shapeshift into any form is a trademark of this clan.
It has alot of nice things in it, but the authors ruin that with the somewhat cliche history of the clan post WWI.
It has alot of nice things in it, but the authors ruin that with the somewhat cliche history of the clan post WWI.
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August 20, 2017The metamorphosis from the awkward and faltering first incarnation of this book to the more perfect monster that is the Revised form would make the Eldest proud.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews