[Vampire: The Masquerade] The Guide to Clan Tremere
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Curseborne Kickstarter: www.kickstarte...
In which the Gentleman Gamer discusses one of the most contentious clans in Vampire: The Masquerade - the blood-stealing, soul-eating, diabolical bastards known as the Tremere.
You can find out more about the Tremere in the following places:
Clanbook: Tremere Revised: www.drivethrur...
Lore of the Clans: www.drivethrur...
Player's Guide to the Low Clans: www.drivethrur...
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I played a Tremere which was basically "as advertised". He had extreme faith in the Camarilla. He wanted to get along with his Cotterie. With almost anyone. He knew that because he was of Clan Tremere he would never be trusted, it would never be enough. But he tried hard. It did open him up to his trust being abused, especially by the Cotterie - but that never really happened. But with his will to please, drive to please, he was easily integrated in the game and could be used in basically any setting. (Which was the point really)
Tremere: Don't trust anyone except other members of the pyramid.
Malkavian: Don't trust anyone but the five closest voices in your head.
@@josephmassaro What would I do with the Malkavians if I could start them over again...
Venture: "Don't trust anyone with only six digits in their bank account."
Toreador: "Don't trust anyone who isn't at least a 9, preferably 10."
Nosferatu: "Trust us, we're all in the slop together here."
Brujah: "DON'T TRUST ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO PUNCH THE SYSTEM IN THE FACE!"
Gangrel: "Eh, trusting others is overrated. Always be cautious not to become prey."
Lasombra: "Tru...st? Oh that weakness we abuse to gain more power. Yeah avoid trusting people."
Tzimisce: "I *trust* you know the rules, cause so do I."
I played a Tremere who loved showing off her skills with Blood Sorcery to her coterie mates, and boasted of her intelligence when it came to solving whatever problem was in their way. She was very arrogant and could be demeaning, and came across as one who viewed the other clans as much lesser.
The fun part was that she was actually deeply insecure, and suffered under a very strict regiment and an extremely demanding sire. Once she got to know her coterie mates more, she gradually grew to see their strengths more and more, while growing resentful of her own sire and the relationship they had. Once she allowed herself to open up and be more honest with her coterie, she found out she'd actually buried a large part of herself that now was slowly resurfacing now that she spent so much time away from the chantry. It was very fun, and felt quite freeing as the player too!
The most interesting character I had was an ex-mage. I know its not that original, but at his core I played him as being very bitter over the loss of his Spheres. Ultimately he realized he would never acquire what he had lost. I played him as being unhappy about his situation amongst others in the pyramid as being an actual ex-mage gave him a little more status in the clan than some other normal who was embraced. He just didn't want to chase after the same things that others did as he thought Thaumaturgy was limited & weak. He would occasionally remind others he could trust as to how much more easier it was back in the day when he was mortal with what he considered the real power of the Spheres & I had a lot of fun trolling other Clan members with his Mage knowledge.. especially when they fell into the munchkin trap.
Matthew, your majesty, you have powerful Presence!
Or I have powerful Majesty!
My player had a Tremere character who was obsessed with fantasy novels and always cosplayed as different sorceresses. She was the weird one in the chantry, but she was obsessed with flashy magic and good at it.
That concept sounds like a lot of fun!
@@TheGentlemanGamer It was. Imagine a petite redhead dressed as a medieval fantasy character (for some reason) talking your ear off about elves and dwarves while you're trying to get her to use a scrying pool to spy on your enemy. The running gag was that the chantry was embarrassed by her but she was also the one they sent to help other clans because she was so effective.
One of my favorite Tremere character concepts was a Mage who used to be anemic and extremely physically weak, used sphere magic to become strong, and then turned into a vampire to attain immortality. The problem was that turning crippled their magically empowered body again, and with the Mage Blood flaw they couldn’t even tap into other disciplines to make up for it. They were stuck in a body more frail and more weak than ever before, without any hope for physical growth, and now neutered magically into being what was basically a sorcerer with all the vampiric weaknesses. A grab for power left them weaker than they’d been in decades, and when their former cabal learned about their turning they gained much more powerful enemies than they’d had before as well.
That sounds like a very cool concept!
I played a Tremere Anarch that during Modern was obsessed with Cryptography. She was originally sired to help break communication methods of other Anarchs, she eventually became a member of Solomon's Haven and that's when she started learning about the "Red Question". Her goal became to discover who they were, she actually took to the ideals of the Anarchs and escaped the Camarilla with the help of a few friends she made along the way.
She ended up teaming up with 2 nosferatu that were into technology, they became information brokers and used every opportunity they could to hurt the Camarilla's funding through some manipulation or hacking. It was a difficult balance of manipulation and staying under the radar while being useful.
@@endrof1264 That is a superb concept.
My first LARP character was a socially oriented Tremere, a spiritualistic life coach with a touch of occultism, who believed loneliness and isolation were the greatest banes of the zeitgeist, so she sought to break down barriers between others by fostering humanity and empathy. She had a somewhat idealistic view of the Pyramid because they gave her a community working toward perfection. She was Embraced because she was an expert at reading people and getting them to open up, and used those skills to be a PR rep and do social damage control for the Clan, to repair their tainted image and reputation as untrustworthy betrayers. She was also gifted in mental magics, so heavy Auspex and mostly focused her Thaumaturgy on Oneiromancy and Spiritualism. She was passionate about the evolution of the mind and the soul, and her ultimate goal was to find or create a powerful mental-based ritual that could bind people together in a hivemind so nobody had to be alone, knowledge and skills could be shared amongst them (a la Sense8, if you've ever seen that show).
I have! That sounds like a great concept.
As my dear partner (who plays a Tremere) says, if you're playing a character who is part of a cult, there is a breaking point to play with, when your justification machine stops working in your brain, and you stop being able to lie to yourself as effectively about why you're IN, and you can't take it back. That was what drew her to the Tremere, the narrative of going from approaching personal relationships with the an intense need for control, to being flipped to breaking out of the pyramid internally and eventually externally. Also her big obsession was magic but not Blood Sorcery. Other traditions, those used by Hunters and Witches, and the way they interacted.
Exactly that. And you need to keep that cultlike mentality in mind for Sabbat characters, too.
So, I play as GM most of the time, but I can tell about some of my Tremere NPCs:
Adam Norris - a wizard. But not any wizard, a computer wizard! His job was to help all the elder vamps with this "technology thing" so he was explaining technology in magic terms. Friend to local Nosferatu who saved him when Chanty got raided by Sabbat.
Ahernard Greyface (one of my old players PC that got turned into NPC) - he was a boss of local mafia called "Ronins". He organised everything the Chantry needed and added extra protection.
Leopold Alexandrov - member of magic-oriented Sabbat pack. He is interested in Blood Sorcery, and even more so with artefacts. But at the same time he is Ductus, he does military planning and excels with sword-fighting. Think something like spellblade in DnD.
There was also a religious Tremere lady who was researching True Faith in terms of magic and hoped to recreate it's effects with new branch of Thaumaturgy.
That's an excellent range of characters.
My first character was a Mage-turned-Tremere (in game) by his lover. She tried to keep me a secret and helped me handle the loss of my avatar by drowning me in the new magic I was privy to. I was *the* neophyte of the coterie and had a strong compulsion against the hierarchical structure of the clan proper so the Brujah, Malk, and Gangrel respected that, along with the reckless abandon I indulged in due to the temporary insanity I was in the throes of. I never got my comeuppance from the Pyramid because the city fell and most of us along with it. Fun game!
That does sound excellent!
Not a tremere character per se but rather a chantry I wrote up and suggested to my current Storyteller who added upon the ideas for his own game.
The campaign is set in Orlando in 1999, a year after the fall of Miami to the Sabbat. The Tremere from Miami fled before the fall, having negotiated boons and such with the Prince and the primogen to save their hides. It helped that they also left potent wards and other nasty surprises before leaving Miami that they arguably had the largest kill count in the defeat but most clans view them poorly for abandoning the city while others fought to the bitter end.
As a result of the influx of additional tremere, the chantry is crowded with some warlocks having to share havens. Labs, library access and tutoring are extremely resource sensitive and many are not getting the same attention from elders as they would normally creating some resentment but also leading to a much more cutthroat atmosphere as competition for these resources comes at a premium. What further complicates matters is the land and building where the chantry is located was bought out under their noses by the Ventrue. Moving to a different location is possible but they are loathe to do so and at the cost necessary.
The chantry has more or less 4 factions with many minor factions, study groups, and cliques of neonates becoming an increasingly volatile situation with ever shifting allegiances.
The first faction is led by the regent. A competent if unspectacular thaumaturge, his ascent to the regency comes due to his administrative skills. He has to constantly try to placate or manage the expectations of all the members of the chantry while keeping things from escalating. The more loyal members of the Pyramid support him openly and he also has a few sycophants who hope that by sucking up they'll get more lab/library access. So far he's able to keep the plates spinning. He was informed by his superiors that once he has made appropriate assessments of the Miami clanmembers, they'll soon be reassigned elsewhere as needed. All he has to do is keep things from spilling out and the stress will be over...
His main rival is the city Seneschal who also oversees all the resorts and theme parks on behalf of the clan. Afterall, Disney is the "most magical place on Earth". Secretly, he has the flaw from Lore of the Clans that makes him unable to perform thaumaturgy. He represents power in the form of mortal and camarilla institutions. He also is resentful about his inability to perform magic and has a personal hatred for the Ventrue and the regent. While he nominally follows the commands of his regent, he is far more loyal to the Prince in his role as primogen/seneschal to keep himself as the most important Tremere to outsiders. He is a skilled negotiator and ruthless operator who is not afraid to throw his weight around. Those tremere who want to expand their interests outside of magic tend to flock to him for advice or support.
An ancient elder, among the first Embraced by the Council of Seven in the early stages of the vampiric conversion of the then hermetic house. He is a walking masquerade breach as he is horribly deformed both mentally and physically by the early wars for survival against the Tzimisce and others. Fully bound to the council, he was sent to Orlando as a "break glass in case of emergency" situation crops up as the Camarilla and the Tremere are worried about the latest series of victories by the Sabbat on the east coast. He is by far the most powerful thaumaturge at the chantry and also ties back into the clan's bloody and violent history. Many fear him and worry that the day he is "let loose" comes. In some ways, he is able to temper the regent and the primogen when their rivalry threatens to harm the clan under the threat of his intervention. He never leaves the chantry and rumours abound that those neonates who are deemed failures will be fed to him.
Lastly, is the former regent of the Miami chantry. His power base comes from the members he formerly oversaw. But each day his hold over them loosens as they must deal with the new reality. He is near universally loathed by outsiders of the clan and even within some doubt his capabilities and blame him partially for the fall of Miami. He has a tenuous alliance with the primogen who wants to undercut the regent but must do so carefully. The former regent also worries that his former pupils will be scattered throughout North America, further eroding what little position he has left. He's very likely to make a move to prove himself sooner rather than later. Whether it is a reckless one remains to be seen.
That was a fun read!
@@TheGentlemanGamer Thanks! When I originally came up with the chantry structure, I was aiming to try to make the Tremere less of a monolith than they are often portrayed. They are very much an institution within another institution. While most clans have their own internal squabbles, the Tremere are probably the most codified, the upper echelons of the Ventrue directorate and maybe the Giovanni being comparable. I think there's a ton of potential to explore with the petty internal politics.
My first ever ttrpg character was a tremere!
Oxford academic, intense interest in Egyptian antiquities and culture, was sent to Egypt to bargain with the then settites but turned out to be a setup, ended up dodging their hit squads and finding a settite sympathetic to his plight, they became lovers and made their way back to England. Later he was forced into infiltrating the sabbat by his chantry regent and prince, where he quickly realized how much crap the factions actually spew and it opened his eyes to how big a pawn they all are. Upon miraculously succeding his mission in the sabbat he fled the packs with his newly embraced childer in tow, and was greeted by disdain and mistrust from his home court. The prince refused to recognise his childes legitimacy and had her executed infront of him, sending him into a frenzy in which he managed to slay the sheriff and with a lot of luck and help escaped the domain to become Aurtarkis. Now he does odd jobs for certain well paying clients for both the camarilla and anarchs, but he's always mindful of the possibility of betrayal. Ended up becoming quite the adventurer, less into blood magic and more physically inclined and using his clan gifts to augment his research and way with people and spotting ambsuhes.
For a first time character, that's pretty damn good! I could see them working well as an Archivist in Curseborne.
Your highness, you mentioned me, what an honour ❤❤❤
The most interesting Tremere I've seen played was a nightclub owner who used magic to get people to talk and collected gossip for the clan. Basically a Tremere harpy. No one trusts the Tremere so no one would speak of their own secrets but gossip about their enemies? That they could do with a little encouragement and maybe a dash of magic. Add in a taste for learning presence and that was one outside the box Tremere.
As for myself, my favorite Tremere was a cult leader that controlled a secret society like Freemasonry. I helped my Coterie with the connections I made with wealthy kine through that cult.
You don't see many Tremere harpies!
Running an all Tremere game right now my players are having a blast.
They're one of the best mono-clan options.
Oh hey, look at this handsome man back here :]
Oh stop ❤️
I want to one day play a Tremere that builds off what was somewhat accomplished in Seattle By Night: food or drink that is not just "edible" for Vampires, but actually palatable. A way to help keep the Masquerade more readily, get a Venture to potentially invest into the brand...dumb thoughts, but I like the concept of a more "Human" Tremere, less occult bookish and more enthusiastic about getting around some of the drawbacks of vampirism.
I never watched Seattle by Night!
I played an anthropology grad student who specialized in dead languages. He was the son of a immergrant who went to college on a sports scholarship. He was also a chrasimatic gay club boy. He had sire issues since his sire dumped him for and new genius childe. He was frienemies with his cortrie toreador.
That sounds like a fun concept!
Hi!! Nice to see you talking about the warlocks!!!
I hope you talk more about Chronicle of Darkness stuff, since I think one of the reason for it not being as popular as World of Darkness, is that there isn't a lot of people talking about it online, aside from the usual forum and subreddit dedicated to it. Something unique to CofD like Hunter Conspiracy, I want to know which one is your favourite across the various books.
Probably the Cheiron Group. If there's a particular CofD game you want me to discuss, do pick up a physical copy of The World Below from BackerKit and send evidence to matthewdawkins.com, or support my Patreon on patreon.com/matthewdawkins, and I'll create a video of your choosing.
@@TheGentlemanGamer Which tier of patreon do I need to subscribe?
@@jaruwan.cchuenjit6147 1 Game a Month 2024+
l had an Anarch Tremere. Very smart, manipulative and charismatic. Had a very high Technology skill (was a programmer and hacker), had a lots of resources and money (including some IT companies), had very high Dominate, pretty well Auspex and zero Blood Sorcery..
I do enjoy Anarch Warlocks. Still scum.
Tremere with the coterie: presents as a Noddist & manipulates scripture to advance personal goals.
"These duskborn are harbingers of gehenna. We cannot suffer their existence. "
::: Thinblood alchemy. I can learn it if I have one. :::
Current goal: to become Scourge. Moving higher up the pyramid from the outside.
GG, thank you making me remember. A new npc has joined my chroncle.
Nice to have (dark) goals!
i had a tremere who was a hacker but as the chronicle went on he started to realise his life was in danger and he started gaining more and more derangements to the point he was one of those tin foil people who stayedaway from computers and technology a lot and carried a shotgun with him in case someone went after him or his friends. while his standing in the tremere stayed ok he started losing abit of face with them and endedup relying on his coterie more and more and he became more and more insular
I had a storyteller who was very adamant about not allowing thaumaturgy for player characters, while I was very adamant about playing a Tremere. The compromise was , that my Tremere is thaumaturgically inept, due to reasons I actually never learned since the game fell apart due to scheduling issues. Still, that was rather fun while it lasted. and nobody expected the elderly doctor to smack some sense into them with a bit extra potence. He also had some ghost problems, he later turned into assets on account of some interesting plot developments.
That's an innovative approach!
welcome to our Methuselah our blood is as always at your command
In that case I command you to back Curseborne! www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/curseborne-tabletop-roleplaying-game
Im playing a tremere in the giovanni chronicles. Quite the off kilter embrace and very outside the pyramid so far. Learned Koldunism and is looking for his own version of truth in the world.
Well that's definitely off kilter!
Add Gangrel & Brujah to the list of clans that hate the Tremere.
Now that I thought about it, the Gangrel clan has issues with the Pyramid & the Dragons, both magical Ts.
@@jgr7487 The Nosferatu too, because of that whole Gargoyle thing.
Oh my, basically everyone
@@TheGentlemanGamer there's that, & the Gangrel have been fighting the Tsimisce for territory in Eastern Europe for ages.
I like how your advice on how to make a non stereotypical Tremere boils down to 'have literally any other interest besides blood and be very, very afraid' 😂 Good advice for VtM in general
It doesn't take much to make an interesting character. Just avoid playing the obvious choice.
My first character was a Tremere & he was a scientist who created bio weapons.
@@karadordarkraven Ooo nasty.
@@TheGentlemanGamer Before he was embraced he was working on an anti vampire bio weapon, he got embraced by the Tremere before some dodgy CIA types ( Inquisition probably) could get there hands on it.
For me, the Tremere represented the idea of a vampire ws a metaphor for selling your soul: The Tremere did trade in their fading true magic for vampirism and thaumaturgy. Their old clan weakness was taking a blood bond with the clan higher-ups. You joined what is a Pyramid scheme, and the only ways to get ahead in the scheme was through magical power and the risky option of killing off your boss. And a lot of folks don't like Clan Tremere and will kill you simply because of your clan membership. Plus the Tremere are not trusted by their allies. Not heped by the fact that you can do magic and they can't.
Examples of individuals like this is Faust, Severus Snape from Harry Potter or Redcloak from The Order Of The Stick. The Basterd Operator From Hell and Elaine from The Love Witch would work in a pinch.
Very good metaphor to reach toward! Severus Snape would never be accepted into the clan... Though he is an obsessive creep, so maybe...
@@TheGentlemanGamer Thank you! I like reading into the clans and see what they represent as a vampire/career criminal. I've been working on a few articles in the background. Also, Snape does have a lot going in terms of potential Trermere membership: Loves his books and magical research, a lot of tricks up his sleeve, knows how to play politics with terrible, terrible people, has a certain respect for authority and titles, knows subtle ways to embarrass people, invests a lot of his identity in doing magic and being a wizard....But then he would be part of the clan if he joined, and I doubt many Tremere would want to deal with him on a regular basis.
@@Galwayshade He'd probably remain cloistered away in his chantry, obsessing over a mortal woman who he'd inevitably ghoul in the WoD version of Harry Potter.
Have you checked out Curseborne yet?
@@TheGentlemanGamer not yet, but I've seen your videos and a few ads on social media. Will need to sit down and look at it properly
@@Galwayshade Please do, and let me know what you think!
I've played a Tremere who was an investigative journalist in life, specifically political corruption, and decided that the Chantry was more like the big news stations and influential newspapers, a possible employer or the source of investment, but in the end, just another corporate boss that hinders more than helps. His coterie ended up being where his true loyalty lied, and ended up helping his Ventrue ascend within the Princedom thanks to his political know-how.
My favorite character I never get to play is the Tremere neonate, Virus Faux Crowley, who is a black metal musician interested in spiritual corruption and morality of his fans.
Superb!
If you wanted to do a scene where the Tremere player is off to consult the chantry, I wonder if it'd work to give each of the other PCs a minor, higher-ranking antagonistic character in the Chantry à la Shadows from Wraith. Obviously you can't do this every session, but it might be an interesting juxtaposition. Imagine the coterie is trying to make plans for an important task, and the Tremere player decides "I need to consult the chantry for this." The other *characters* are going to feel like the Tremere is going off to some secret society to get help from powerful and inscrutable allies. But when the next scene is played, the other *players* get to create a scene of disinterested elders who at best are willing to trade information for obligations. The Tremere returns to the coterie "The chantry has spoken, they will assist us in this matter." and again the *characters* see a powerful ally who's backed by a powerful organization. The *players* see a guy who had to beg just to get a hearing, and made painful commitments in exchange for the name and phone number of a potential asset in their cause.
That's exactly what I tend to do. Build a political web around them.
I played a Tremere who became interested in the thin blooded individuals. He wanted to find a way other than diablerie to make their blood more powerful. He felt that destroying them was wasteful, and that the very idea of destroying them was religious nonsense. He opened up a "soup kitchen" and used it to befriend some local thin bloods who had basically no knowledge of vampire society or why so many vampires wanted to destroy them merely for existing. We worked out a deal where I provided them a safe house and food they didn't have to hunt themselves, and they provided blood samples for testing. To make a long story short, he never actually discovered anything useful to help them, and eventually we were all killed when the prince found out. I was harboring 17 of them at that point, and the prince didn't believe I was interested in helping them and said I was just trying to raise an army to take over his city. I was, it's just that the plan didn't make it far enough 😂
That's a fantastic character concept. I could see a Bathorite doing something like that in Curseborne.
A young Tremere whose expertise is in computers. He started building computers at a young age, but unfortunately life led him to use this knowledge for something that was not legal. This is how he was singled out because the elders of the chantry thought that despite the popular views where modern technology is considered a violation of the doctrines, perhaps it would be good to introduce the chantry into the 21st century. Then came the SchreckNet hack and the fall of the Vienna Chantry, and anti-technology reached an unprecedented level. And the poor guy remained locked up in a completely backward environment, among dusty books, to learn meaningless formulas and magic spells. But since he was new to the night, he had no choice. Later, when he saw the opportunity, he immediately left and instead tries to be useful to others.
A Tremere Technocrat!
I cannot agree more on the point about stereotypes. Every time I see a rehashed version of LaCroix I'm about to lose my mind. Didn't Venture have a description that they are NATURAL leaders? They are the people you WANT to follow. They ought to be very sensible people and they don't have to stab you in the back in every campaign.
I completely agree.
I had a Tremere mage hunter. yes a very dangerous profession at that. he and his group are responsible for going up against mages if they interfere too much in Tremere affairs either as direct assasinations kidnappings for offensives, or cleaning up the area of traces of Tremere activity if the mages are too strong. The mage hunter name is just a monicker , the other names for them are cleaners. etc. Also Tremere mage hunters have a knowledge ont he workings of True Magick. but just the basics.
That's a very fun concept. I could well see that character fitting in with the Venators in Curseborne.
@@TheGentlemanGamer dealing with mages from the Tremere side of things one has to be super careful more detective than direct combat mage. and the Tremere mage hunter has to deal with his superiors who think the Tremere are the last true mages yada yda yada oh thosie mages are either hedge mages or charlatans we are the last true and best, haahah until of course they meet a void engineer Star Cruiser and say oh.... hahahaah...then go back to thinking oh block that thought of must block it off we are the best .....
Keep this vids coming ❤
I'll do my best if people keep checking out Curseborne! www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/curseborne-tabletop-roleplaying-game
Oh Those Liches I actually think being called a warlock would be an upgrade to when I've always perceived them as because when you have an undead mage their a Lich I always love the angle that they've infiltrated a lot of academic circles as hermetic Scholars they're staying on top of new advances while researching the good old stuff that their power is built on but like the Giovanni I always have them operating as their own kind of cultish Society within the broader vampire conspiracies
I always point out the fact Sigmund Freud and Aleister Crowley went to the same orgies so they always have that flavor of being academic elitist from their past
Both obsessed with dicks.
@@TheGentlemanGamer Amen both weirdos who considered themselves extremely intellectual
Yes, finally. Talk about my favorite clan! All hail clan nerd. Whats so wrong about seeking unlimited power?
Nothing! So long as nobody resists.
Thx
No problem
Archetype is the word
Stereotype is a real life patten beleif of a real group
Archegype is a trope like Constant
Did you lose some weight? You look good, or is it some Malkavian trickery?
Oh, probably just through stress.
What would you consider the most Tremere like lineage in Curseborne?
@@louisgarcia2415 Probably the Premiere or Reeve Families of the Sorcerers. The former are power hungry, the latter are all for blood sacrifice.
@@TheGentlemanGamer Thank you. I look forward to learning about those lineages.
chcesz być zerem, graj trememerem