The Gentleman's Guide to Vampires: Clan Tzimisce
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- In which the gentleman in question continues his descriptions of the various clans from Vampire: The Masquerade. In this video we examine Clan Tzimisce, the Clan of Fiends.
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You know that game "got your nose"?
The Tzimisce play that for keeps.
Thats the least of your worries if you run into a Tzimisce. They have been known to ghoul people just to make them into living furniture
I remember reading somewhere that said something like this. "While the young Tzimisce are merciless and ruthless, the elders simply fail to comprehend suffering or mercy. Perhaps they do but they no longer consider the emotions relevant." maybe not exact word to word but the thought alone creeps the living hell out of me...
One of my favorite characters that a friend played in my WoD game was a Tzimisce. He was a plastic surgeon and a perfectionist, and had the quirk he could only drink from people he found to be perfect or else their ugliness might run through his veins.
So he routinely 'fixed' people before he fed on them, and never killed anyone. After all, no dead person can appreciate the fact that he made them perfect :p
TalonSky I'm totally blown away, this is actually amazing.
@ Luka Hays you forget that Tzimisce was the one dictating what "perfection" is, so the "plastic surgery" (really even alluding to Vicissitude being even similar to crude plastic surgery of mortals should be considered a sin for any path of the metamorphosis walker.) could make you looking like perfect monster (or a freak) in the eyes of ordinary humans so good luck living your mortal life looking like Andrei (from the vampire the masquarade bloodlines).
Sounds very malkavian like hmm
I loved the introduction you did for this video. The devil comment brought a smile to my face. You come across as a bit diabolical this time. I don't know if it's just because you were talking about clan Tzimisce or if you just really enjoyed making this guide. Either way, thank you again for another awesome guide.
Oh, Tzimisce...One of my favorite chronicles was playing as a Sabbath Inquisitor that was a Dark Ages Tzimisce that still followed the Path of Chivalry. The dude was just from another time and it made everything so damn fun.
Tzimisce!! By far my favorite Clan...
Ah a bygone age. The first time I heard of the clan that would later become the one I chose to take as my own. Thank you TGG for helping me to discover this clan of flesh shaping fiends who so perfectly embody the mixture of nobility and monstrosity of vampires.
Horrendous creatures.
Fiends, shifting monsters, fanatics of permanent change...
It is only fitting that they are the eternal enemies of the Ventrue and the Tremere, who are the champions of order and stability, of stagnation and control.
Well... their attitude makes them prone to conflict even with their allies, even more so than the Ventrue. That the unity of the Sabbath has held this long is a testament to the Lasombra's patience and nothing more.
(Great guide btw. Truly enjoyed how you kept character)
Thank you for saying so!
Ah! The Tzimisce clan ! Pinhead from hellraiser inspire me when i think about how to play one... mostly for the articulate dialogue and the twisted intelligence and rhetoric about pain, pleasure... and evolution of course (Tzimisce after all)
Ah the Fiends, by far my favorite clan save for clan Ventrue. If I am unshackled by the chains of humanity, this clan, this old dark some say wretched clan is in my vision the perfect representation of Cain's curse.
Tzimisce are wretched, as you say. Truly deserving of the final death.
Indeed, I greatly enjoy your videos and takes on The World of Darkness. Continue the commendable work good Sir.
absolutely love ALL your videos and I can only imagine the storyteller you are..
glad I stumbled onto your videos. haven't played in well over a decade, but listening brings me back.. thank you for you amazing content
Thank you very much for this really interesting video :) I have most often played Brujah (and have watched your Brujah video also) but with my friend's new Dark Ages campaign I've decided to go for a change and indeed play a Tzimisce.
The thing I find most interesting is despite how monstrous they can be, as you mentioned they have this "honourable" code of respect and manners...very cool to role-play. Also, Vicissitude just sounds absolutely powerful which is awesome.
I recently started playing my first game of VTM, knowing nothing of the world of darkness. All the players started out human and I let the ST choose my clan as I had no idea what was going on.
He chose Tzimiscie for my lawful good med school dropout character. Its making for some interesting character development!
*Sorry for my poor english*
I just started to play Vampires as a Tzimisce, the narrator (DM or as you want to call it) has told me that usually not many people choose this clan but I've been playing 4 nights now and I totally fell in love with it. The Tzimisce believes that true beauty is what causes a uncontroled reaction: Horror.
Great Video, fell in love with those eyes too haha
*Toreador sabbat sadist gets PTSD* XD i love it.
Very awesome just got into this Clan and Lasombra still learning them but love how you helped!!
I never tire of these.
Have you ever thought about trying to write VTM fiction? These videos and the way you tell the stories are practically hypnotizing, and I would love to read stories you could come up with.
For that I would need to be working for Onyx Path Publishing!
The Gentleman Gamer
I think he meant fan fiction.
Once again, i'm amazed at how many pronunciation of this clan name. I've heard about 8 different ways now
Your videos are just amazing, im learning a lot =), good job !
i remember the origional Tzimeci. then there was a gap of a few years before i came across a group playing Vampire, they were using the minds eye theatre rules and the clan was very differant, i have to say, i quite like both
Unh. -3 the tzimisce are my clan through and through and it does my heart good to see someone else who appreciates them as much as me.
I've always pronounced it Suh-Meet-see. In my fairly new dark ages game I had a 4th generation Tzimisce NPC that the players really loved named Vyarshavant, an ancient Persian who had a large town in the mountains where he was worshiped as a God. His inner most chamber of his temple was called the Pools of Crimson Reflection.
I may not be enough of a scholar but something is puzzeling me. The old clan Tzimisce disown the Tzimisce for all kind of reason, their use of Vissicitude for example, yet they are True Black Hand member (most of them i believe), a sect that want to rule with the Antediluvian when they wake up, and Tzimisce the eldest seem to be quite even more evil and twisted than most of his childer about the use of Vissicitude...
(and i mean... the eldest HARDLY qualify as a vampire when he wake up in a Gehenna scenario, he is one hell of a godlike freak who make any creature in John Carpenter The Thing pale in comparison)
Clan BBC?
Just joking. I like this format for describing Clans, factions, Tribes, etc. Good delivery; thanks for posting these!
This inspires me to create an interesting antagonist. French pulp writer, Gustave Le Rouge, wrote , "The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius." Dr. Cornelius Kramm was both a mastermind who used his brother to run a criminal organization called, "the Red Hand" and such an expert in the science of "carnoplasty" that he earned the nickname "the Sculptor of Human Flesh." This video shows what villains can do with Tzimisce's twisted power. Not sure if I want to play one as a character though.
Yes!! The video is finally back!
I'm not sure where it ever really went.
I haven't played the tabletop game yet but i have played the bloodlines with the antitribu mod and i can say that just being in the shoes of the severely underpowered and narrow viewed version of tzimisce in tgat mod is intoxicatingly dark, i would spend minutes on end flesh and bone crafting a single enemy because of how fun it looks, it may sound messed up but i can see the appeal of a tzimisces power
I quite like the Tzimisce, you got their monstrisity down well I think. I particularly like the reverent families they have. The depreved and weird individuals who have made fiendish pacts with the ones in the darkness.
anyways neat video, I wonder what clan you will do next?
I like how it's different from place to place.
The most fascinating of the clans!
woo firsties!!! good vid chap i my self am planing to run a VtM game and these videos are quite helpful
Your videos were and are very helpful. They helped me understand each vampire clan easier when done with reading, especially during my current World of Darkness victorian chronicle. I do have a question though; do you have any videos on the Laibon (Legacies of Africa)? They'd be very helpful when I start coming up with chronicles based around Egypt and Africa.
I wonder, why couldn't a shovel head join the Camarilla? Considering that many are picked at random, embrace en mass, and then forced to crawl from their own grave only to serve as cannon fodder probably would do little to endear them to either the Sabbat or their clan. I could see a particularly intelligent, and particularly unfortunate, person deciding to defect at the first chance. It would make for an interesting character, me thinks.
Would be interesting but the cammerilla may not be trusting of an ex sabbat shovel head. I think it could be possible but it would be hard to play and you would have to be carful.
Oh yes, he would be even more distrusted than the average kindred, though I would imagine this Tzimisce would be extremely loyal to the Camarilla, both out of a hatred for the Sabbat and because they're the only ones who can offer him any protection. What I would be curious about is how "Tzimisce" would he be? How familiar would he be with his powers of fleshcraft, and what would his role be within the Camarilla? After all, there are certain aspects of your clan that are simply inescapable.
I like the idea of him being a post-modernist philosophy student, allows him the opportunity to extremely alien as the Tzimisce are inclined to be, but in an extremely different and modern fashion.
+Marc D. the camarilla doen't care who joins there sec they do care however that you fallow there rules the masquerade though pretty much everyone won''t come to you for help for anything if your clan belongs to another sect pretty much every clan in the camarilla well just see you in the same way unless the prince himself says don't hurt this guy though this is a thing i did read in an older version of the game the new versions though i'm not so sure or i'm not sure if they changed that or not still i hope they kept that little fluff
Am I the only one that pronounces it "Dzi-mi-tze"? Probably because I'm Slavic.
maybe explains the shifting into mist thing but the curse of the clan got me remember them carting around coffins Transylvania dirt unless surrounded by the earth of there home maybe he has a lean toward protean
Old Clan Tzimisce
Old Clan Tzimisce characters are the members of the Tzimisce clan who did not join the Sabbat or cultivate the use of Vicissitude; they do not consider themselves a bloodline. They are old (at least 500 years, as most predate the in-game formation of the Sabbat), of low generation, and rule small domains almost exclusively in Eastern Europe. In the Old World of Darkness, Dracula is a member of this bloodline.
My favorite Sabbat Clan, and possibly my favorite Clan in general.
For describing a Clan of such high mannerisms and hospitality customs, that blue shirt does not inspire a swell of admiration.
I'm just teasing, thank you! Keep doing videos!
Thank you for watching it! I do like the Tzimisce as a concept, but they're not necessarily the biggest team players as written.
You say there are two known vampires who survived an encounter with a Vhozd. One was Gotzon, the Lasombra Ashen Priest. And the other...?
Since I'm working on converting Koldunic Sorcery and associated rituals from TT to MET, more of that please! Now for the 1812 Overture to accompany this grand thunderstorm.
Tzimisce is pronounced, in the language it comes from, "Tsaw-mih-shay." Unless you listen to White Wolf, then it's "Tsuh-mee-chee."
+MusicalPorpoise At least that WW pronunciation is similar to the actual. I have a VtM book from the 90s that advocates Zhi-mee-see.
Actually, the proper pronunciation is far worse. It's actually pronounced tZim Skee. Boring, I know, but it's a proper name of semi-Greek origins. I was let down when I first heard how it sounds.
Google translate Romanian pronounces it like: Zee-meeeese *more hiss-sound than the English 'eese' or Cheese sound*
Yorak created the Cathedral of Flesh. The Eldest only resided there briefly.
Is the eldest still alive?
Thank you for the warning on the clan of the virgins and the reason I say that is because I was a victim of just a circumstance thank you again
Revolting sculptures? I think you mean works of art! Heheheh.
(Obviously kidding. My favorite clan is Tzimisce and I enjoy to play them.)
Yes, there are many names. Nice tie into the devil. My favorite clan. Good job with describing the clan's founder. I was waiting for the shot at me, there was just a little smile there, & I see it well placed, followed by comments on the Toreador---need to get your clan a plug in there too, ah gent? Good info on the diablorism of the Eldest, if that did happen? The Sabbat belongs to the Tzimisce, well said. A lot of Toreador mentions here, interesting ;)
rated
Interesting fact: The Toreador leader of the Sabbat (Melinda Galbraith) was recently assassinated, but almost nobody knows about it because she is currently impersonated by a Tzimisce called Zachary Sikorsky. Technically, the Tzimisce are leading (owning) the Sabbat.
The Cenobite from Hellraiser remind me of Tzimisce.
I wasn't able to play him, but I created an Independent fiend once with was I thought was a good concept.
He was a dentist. For his sins, he gave everyone perfect teeth. Whether or not they consented.
That was his thing. He rarely if ever fed on his clients, and the worst he'd do to those with bad teeth was lecture them.
He was based on a dentist from an early episode of The Simpson's. "Why must you turn my clinic into a house of lies?"
Probably one of my two favorite clans because they are honorable and hold to a very strict code - it's not anywhere near humanitas, mind you - but they hold with a will. A tzimizce that gives his word will keep it to the last. After that of course all bets are off.
And you're part of the furnature. XD
old tzimisce actually use animilism, dominate, and auspex
I have finished my list for now, although my VTMYTE videos are in-character vids.
@woodwwad I think the likelihood of the Eldest being diablerised successfully is about as high as that of the utter destruction of Saulot.
Does anyone find it odd that Dracula is clan Tzmice, but his powers and a abilities in the novel( shape shifting into a wolf, bats, mist, slight weather control, control of animals ) is a more like clan Gangrel? The only thing Dracula and the Tzimice seem to have in common is Romanian heritage and a need for Romanian soil in his casket?
From what I gather Dracula is Old Clan Tzimisce, which is actually very close to the stereotype personified in Bram Stoker's novel, but Protean is not considered part of their repetoire. Then again, Disciplines are not necessarily exclusive to any individual clan. For example, any vampire from any clan can learn how to use Protean, either through great personal effort, experimentation, training and luck or through Diablerie, though some take to certain Disciplines better than others.
oh thanks you/
Dracula is more of Clan Gangrel
In our games club we always pronouced it following Romanian and Dutch rules as it seemed to work best and ended us with "ts-mee-t'-zee" as it felt natural. We had a Dutch linguist in our group though so I guess we took her lead on these things.
I translated and I love Vampire too.
As he should!
@clackclickbang Yes, he was quite...interesting. It's not a Dark Ages game strictly speaking, it began in 800 AD shortly after Charlemagne was crowned Emperor. Anyway, he had a cloak crafted from the flesh (specifically the faces) of his most devout worshipers, and in the Pools of Crimson Reflection (which was a large subterranean lake of roiling blood) he had a bridge that spanned the "waters" made from bone and the walls of the cavern are made of various people/beasts. Writhing walls of flesh.
I've spoken to Mark Rein Hagen (creator of this bloody game) who confirmed it's zimm-its-see. Every edition the pronunciation changes though, and this is deliberate.
He was a good character.
@TornadoCreator Good advice to take! It seems to change from group to group.
Very true!
@Onionkid99
Are these "aberrant" type monsters a reference to one of the antagonists found in White Wolf's Trinity rpg? It was a well detailed world, set in a future after humanity had just recovered from a global war with superhuman mutants who left the Earth. People were exploring the stars with psychics leading the way, then the "aberrant" mutants return in a scary way, along with the possibility of several other extra-terrestrial wars. Too bad it is no longer around.
Good for him!
Flesh crafting is another one of those powers where I am like "what does this power have to do with vampires?"
Well, I woud say many popcultural vampires had some kind of power that allows them to assume monstrous form (vampires from witcher series like Regis or Detlaff, Dracula assuming man-bat form, vampire lord form from Skyrim etc), the flash crafting just adds to it ability to change shape of others.
What about Old Clan Tzimisce?
*puts fingers in ears and goes "lalala"*
Well i didnt expect that reaction
Olivia Williams ;) They don't want you to know they exist. They asked me to tell everyone that they didn't, but they may well be getting a video soon...
Ah that's interesting, i will keep an ear on the ground about that
The Gentleman Gamer Great channel. You are an excellent narrator!
@Onionkid99 I recall Dracula in the Coppola film having a strangely elongated forehead. Seemed very vicissitudey. But you're right; the Tzimisce are incredibly alien. I treat the Kiasyd in the same way.
I always thought the pronunciation was SHIH-mee-say", with a definite, but subtle, "t" sound at the start.
Anyhow, I would like to do some more reading on the Final Nights. Thanks.
Morality, which determines what is considered "good" and "evil", is a purely human concept. Vampires are no longer human in the strictest sense, so it doesn't really apply to them. That would be the reasoning for those who don't try and cling to their humanity, anyway. It's the same thing with beauty: Since a Tzimisce is no longer human they don't hold to the conventional human views on beauty and ugliness. They either have their own views (which may sometimes be, but are often not, the same as those held by a human) or they have no concerns about it. They may simply care more about function over form. Why would they care if their szlachta are ugly bastards if they do what they were altered to do? To me the Tzimisce, and all of the Sabbat in general as well as the independent clans, are just a bit more honest than the Camarilla. They don't try and pretend to be something they aren't.
On the other hand, you don't cease to be you the moment you become a vampire. All of your life experiences, your morals, your opinions, beliefs, loves, hates, desires, dreams. All of what makes you who you are is still there. No doubt there is something *extra* deep inside of you now, something wholly unnatural, beastial, but you don't have to give into it. Not entirely. You can rail against it. Fight it. If this were not possible, Golconda would indeed be nothing more than a pipe dream.
Wow, those were some great responses, but going by your logic, the Camarilla and Sabbath are extremos of the vampire psyche? The Camarilla clings so strongly to their human ideals while the Sabbath deny that there is still a human part in the monster. Maybe that's why the Independent Clans are usually a lot more stable and united.
I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce "Tzimisce" until I watched this.
I can see you as someone who dwells in the World of Darkness, Keeper of Vampire lore.
Excellent videos - will you be doing any more VTM related?
Thank you!
Ok, question about the Tzimisce. Is their cruel nature part of their bloodline or how each childe is educated by their sires after the Embrace?
kingofthings7929 Perhaps a bit of both or a tendency caused by their main discipline.
kingofthings7929
Are they cruel or curious?
Yes.
They certainly fear two Fomori, one with claws on both hands and one walking pillar of rotten flesh (who is really impressed with their artistic skills). ^^
Well those two Tzimisce were asleep. ;-P
The Tzimisce have been known to make interesting fomori for Pentex...
Makes sense. They're pretty crafty in that way.
I believe the Nosferatu curse "bends back" over time.
Very well done!
They always go back to the cursed form. Tzimisce tend to believe that this is way too fun.
It's not the priscus that's an Antitribue Toreador, but it's their regent. ^^
The Priscus is a rank below Cardinal, but all are on the council of the Sabbat.
You are a top person!
The Tzimisce Eldest: Liked this video.
Thanks for watching!
I'm kinda of a noob. Do all tzimisce look like Andrei (vampire bloodlines) once embraced or do they begin their unlife looking as human, but later changing their appearence with vicissitude? And if they all look like Andrei, can they use vicissitude to look like humans?
They start out human looking (unless, they were deformed prior to the embrace). Then they will alter their bodies according to their "astetics".
Thank you so much. Always wondered that as I never really got to play the tabletop rpg (or any rpg), just the bloodlines video game, because it's very difficult to find other players here in Brazil.
Mark Rein Hagen says you can pronounce it however you like.
Fangs for another great video! ;)
top 3 favorite
They remind me of the Exhumans from Eclipse Phase. Perhaps one of the writers among Posthuman studios likes WOD.
Hearing more detail of Clan Tzimisce made me feel a bit sad.
Well, that is a possibility... In VtM:R there is a Vhozd in the Catedral of Flesh. I forgot about it. Thanks.
What has any Tzimisce done that no Kine has ever done or attempted to do on some level?
Every clan embraces certain aspects of human nature, and though they may claim otherwise, the Tzimisce are no exception.
That being said, the particular aspects the Tzimisce favor are considered rather extreme and distasteful, even by Kindred standards.
Michael McCabe There are cathedrals and other large structures made with human bones and I've heard of people with a human furniture fetish, so there are some parralels to be drawn.
I did say that Kine have done everything the Tzimisce have done on some level, but the Tzimisce take things to the extreme.
Those three are bastard bloodlines with relatively less background than the Tremere (the other bastard bloodline). There are no clan books on them (I think there is a Giovanni Clanbook as they are numerous enough but I've never found it)
You can find bits and pieces of the clans in other Clanbooks or the Guides to the Sabbath and Camarilla etc but as I said it is hard to get input in them...
I do!
>>Eating while listening to this
Why do i do this everytime
It's been covered that every attempt to twist Nosferatu into less ugly shapes has failed, unless the shape is equally or more ugly. Nosferatu cannot look normal by any means but their own Obfuscation, and even that is a temporary solution. The curse is so potent that many attempts to subvert their curse in a meaningful way result in Final Death, such as the Protean power Restore the Mortal Visage, who's results was described as "...spontaneous, grotesque Final Death."
そんなに 1 つのゲームの完全性のためだけに日本語を学んだ吸血鬼が大好きです。
I think Christof Romuald is the other. I don't know how canon that is, but he does appear in the Clan novel series and (where I first saw him) in the computer game VtM: Redemption, so he is at least a canon person. I can't find a reliable source where it is mentioned (I just googled Christof Romuald and vozhd), but at least in the game, he encounters a vozhd twice and manages to kill it.
is that a Captain Spaulding action figure behind him? Well done Sir
That changes from week to week.
Of course, as soon as you leave...
I suppose the point is that different people say it in different ways.
I really wish the Tzimisce were added to 5th edition of VTM!