Clanbook Tremere
By Keith Herber
1994,
68 pages
The Tremere are the youngest of the
13 Clans, and more so than any other clan, the Tremere are
bound by their rigid hierarchy. The outward
expression of the Tremere’s power has been their mastery of thaumaturgy, or
blood magic, but it is the pyramid and the hierarchy of power that is the true strength
of this clan of sorcerous vampires. All
Tremere are bound to the clan through not only a blood bond to the seven
councilors of the inner circle but also by oaths of loyalty to the clan. This clanbook offers an intriguing look into
the way the Tremere hierarchy operates and the origin of the clan. Even some of the minions of the Tremere are
explained, but these lack the mechanics that would allow a
Storyteller to represent them in a Chronicles.
The introductory chapter tells the
story of the initiation into the clan of a young college student who has been
Embraced by a Tremere, and as she is forced to drink a potion made from the
blood of the Inner Council, her Sire demands that she recite the Tremere clan’s oath
of loyalty. Later the oath is presented
in its entirety along with the author’s comments on the oath and its
meaning. The oath requires
obeisance to the clan and to one’s superiors and that the good of the clan must have primacy. The opening story is
problematic because the newly Embraced vampire has no understanding of the
meaning of the oath. If this story is
meant to be typical of how all Tremere are initiated into the clan, then their
method of induction into the clan is antithetical to the Tremere’s goal of a
stable hierarchy. Much like the
shanghaied crews of sailing ships in the 19th Century, those forcefully
Embraced into the Tremere would have no reason to maintain this oath except for
fear of punishment, and obviously, mutiny would always be a risk. Instead, if an initiate into the Tremere had
an understanding of the oath and its meaning before they were Embraced or
before their induction into the clan as a whole, then the Tremere’s initiation
ritual would make better sense and lead to a more stable hierarchy.
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| Is this guy so 90's it hurts or Skrillex 0.1? You chose. |
Chapter Two explores the history of
House and Clan Tremere. While every
other major clan’s history has been lost to myth and legend, the Tremere have a
fully documented history with a progenitor who is still somewhat active in the
day to day activities of the clan. The Mages of House
Tremere, as they were known before they became vampires, were a part of the
Order of Hermes, a society of powerful Mages, and many of these Mages had extended their
lives through potions and other powers.
However, vis, the power that fueled their spells, was fading, and Tremere,
the leader of House Tremere, and his closest associates began looking for other
ways to maintain their long lives. It
was Goratrix, one of these associates, who located a sleeping Elder vampire,
captured him, and had this Elder Embrace two of his unwitting apprentices. After studying the effects of vampirism on
his two apprentices, Goratrix killed the Elder, drained his blood, and then
created a potion that would ensure that the Tremere would be able to maintain
their long lives.
With this information in hand,
Tremere summoned Goratrix and his six closest associates who all drank the
potion, but it had unintended side effects:
they all became vampires and thus lost their ability to work true magik. Keeping this secret to themselves, this small
cell of Kindred spread vampirism throughout the House, but the appearance of a new
clan inspired fear in the existing clans, especially the Tzimisce, Nosferatu,
and Gangrel who shared territory with the upstart Tremere. The Tremere came under attack and although
the Tzimisce and Nosferatu had successes in the beginning and destroyed several
chantries, Goratrix was able to create guardians in the form of the Gargoyles
(rumored to have
been created from the bodies of captured Nosferatu and Gangrel) who turned the tide against the allied Tzimisce, Nosferatu and Gangrel.
Tremere,
who studied the power of vampiric blood and how that power lessens through
subsequent generations, sought out an Antediluvian so that he could attain the most powerful blood possible. After locating Saulot,
the Antediluvian progenitor of the Salubri, Tremere diablerized him, claiming
the power of a third generation vampire for his own. The entire clan then set out to destroy the
Salubri, and now, in the modern nights, only a very few of them remain. After diablerizing Saulot, Tremere began to
going into torpor, resting for weeks, then months, and later years; so he
gathered his closest associates, those 7 vampires who first started the clan,
and created the hierarchy that the entire clan utilizes even in the modern nights.
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| The little known Tremere Japanese School Girl Variant. |
After
these initial successes, the clan has had several missteps. The biggest mistake may have been Goratrix’s
attempt to control the Catholic church's Inquisition which had been attacking Mages and other
supernaturals. Goratrix tried to turn the Inquisition against his enemies and the enemies of clan Tremere. This failed spectacularly, and the Inquisition
became so successful that it disrupted the existing infrastructures of the
clans and led to the Anarch Revolt.
Elders died, leaving their childer to maintain domains that they couldn't rule while other Kindred were forced from their domains to flee the Inquisition’s
forces. These conflicts created the
perfect storm which led to final deaths (possibly) of the Antediluvians of the Lasombra
and Tzimisce clans, and eventually, in order to bring the chaos under control,
the Camarilla was born. Like the Toreador and the Ventrue, the Tremere
claim that the Camarilla was originally their idea.
In
Chapter Three, the author discusses the Pyramid, the hierarchy of the Tremere by
laying out its structure and giving an example of how that structure operates
in North America. The base of the Pyramid
is the Apprentices or what other clans would call Neonates. Above the Apprentices are the Regents who
command individual Chantries within a city. The Lords control a Realm which could be swaths of territory as large as state or province or their governments. Above
the Lords are the Pontifices who control Orders which are regions of a
continent; for example, North America is divided into seven Orders each
controlled by a different Pontifex. Like
the Lords and their Realms, a Pontifices may control either geographic
territory or reign over government, industry or commerce. These areas of control are called Orders. Nearing the top, the Inner Counselors rule huge portions of the Globe, often entire continents. The Councilors are the 7
most powerful Tremere in the clan other than Tremere himself who sits atop the
Pyramid and actively controls the clan in between his long slumbers in torpor.
An
astute reader may notice that the Tremere pyramid has six levels, but that the
number 7 pops up frequently. The
clanbook makes several references to a level on the pyramid lower than
Apprentice called an Initiate, but the author does not explain anything about
what an Initiate might be, and the reader can only assume that these are individuals
who have been chosen by the clan to become Tremere but have not yet been
Embraced. Including this level would
have given the Pyramid seven levels, but sadly Initiates are only hinted at and
never explained.
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| The Hand should not talk back! |
Clanbook Tremere uses North America
as its example of how the Tremere implement their pyramid structure within a
territory. The Councilor responsible for
North America is Meerlinda and beneath her are seven Pontifices. Five of the Pontifices control territorial Orders
while the other two Orders are Industry and Government. The Pontifices who control Industry and Government,
John Diamond and Peter Dorfman respectively, are given fully fleshed out
character histories and agendas which is extremely useful for Storytellers constructing their own hierarchy for the Tremere. It’s
unfortunate that one of the Pontifices who controlled a geographic Order was
not described in detail in order to give a point of comparison between the
different types of Orders. Another issue is that only the highest level of the Tremere hierarchy in North America is discussed, while a complete break down every chantry is impossible it would be nice to have an example of each level rather than just the Councilor and Pontifices.
The most intriguing aspect of
Clanbook Tremere is the exploration of the many secret orders that exist within
it. These cabals of Tremere are all
working ostensibly for the benefit of the clan, but each also has its own
individual goals. Twelve separate secret
orders have been detailed; however, the groups are not given equal treatment. Some lack any reason to exist beyond just
that they happen to exist while others have clear purposes. For example, the Brothers of Absinthe drink a
green elixir that gives them visions, but beyond the visions, this group has no
agenda. Conversely, the Elite have a goal that is nearly genocidal. The Elite believe that all other vampires are
inferior and this group plots to destroy them through any means available, even
giving information about rival vampires to the Inquisition and other vampire
hunters. Another secret group, the
Astors, works as the Tremere’s own inquisition and was given its charter by the
Inner Council to seek out corruption within the clan. Storytellers who want to run a single clan
Chronicle could use these secret orders to offer further depth to the clan and
more options for their characters.
More
so than the Secret Orders of the Tremere, the minions detailed in this chapter
could be useful for Storytellers wishing to focus on Tremere in their
Chronicle, especially if a story involved breaking into a Chantry. The Tremere have three basic
types of minions: Gargoyles, Homunculi, Demon-Bound,
and Corpse Minions. Gargoyles, the guardians of chantries, should be
familiar to any fan of Vampire the Masquerade and information about Gargoyles
is available in V20 including their Disciplines. Homunculi are an artificial life form created
by a Tremere to serve as a servant and a spy; although they are useful, they are just as often mischievous. Unfortunately, no stats or mechanical information
is given for these little creatures. The
Demon-Bound are demons that have been baited into fusing with a human body that
has had its soul driven out. These
creatures can serve a variety of functions from protection to
assassination. Finally, a Corpse Minion
is a highly intelligent zombie that is created from an academic or historian
for the purpose of advising and helping a Tremere with his/her experiments. Some powerful and ancient Tremere have used
just a few bone scraps of ancient scientist or philosopher for this
purpose.
Some
new information is given on Thaumaturgy, but that information is slight at
best. Five new rituals are provided, one
for each level, but no new paths are discussed.
Instead, the author offers some help in guiding players through the
process of creating their own Paths. This
is especially useful as there are countless variations on Thaumaturgy, but
having players create their own Paths is dangerous as it could lead to
overpowered or broken Paths. The author
also includes more detailed explanations for how characters learn Rituals which
don’t have an XP cost but require the player to earn them through role
play. This section is useful, but an additional Path would have added some more mechanics, in the form of an example creation of a Discipline, would have been useful to both players and Storytellers.
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| Art by Platonika who can be found on Deviant Art. |
The
final chapter offers a selection of Templates, but rather than focus on just
the mystical aspect of the clan, these templates offer a wide variety of concepts
that expand on the possibilities of the clan without limiting the Tremere to
just a single archetype. At first glance, some
templates seem better suited for other clans; the Underestimated, a woman used
to getting by on her looks but wants to prove her value otherwise, would make a
good Toreador while the Pyramid Climber, who is determined to climb to the top
of the Tremere hierarchy at all costs, would be a stereotypical Ventrue. However, along with the Nexus, who is a child prodigy
at sorcery, these templates offer a broad variety of character archetypes that showcases the limitless
possibilities of playing a member of this clan. Playing a
Tremere should not limit a player to mystical or sorcerous archetypes, but should
offer the potential to do nearly anything within a single clan. These templates reinforce that aspect of character creation wonderfully.
The
Appendix of famous Tremere includes something that no other clanbook does, the
progenitor of the clan is described here.
Along with the seven members of the Inner Council, the entire upper
echelons of the Tremere are explored.
Although these are just broad sketches of these powerful NPCs, it’s a
refreshing change of pace to see the most powerful and important members of the
clan described rather than just some random characters that may or may not be
useful or interesting. Also, the Inner
Council are NPCs that a player character could encounter during his or her rise
up through the Tremere Pyramid. Two other NPCs are included who are outside of the Tremere hierarchy: Goratrix and St. Germaine. Goratrix left the Tremere and became the leader of the Sabbat's Tremere Anti-tribu which may have been completely destroyed. St Germaine is an enigma, possibly a Mage or possibly a vampire.
Clanbook
Tremere indoctrinates the reader into the world of the Tremere. Its argument of power, hierarchy, and
advancement is enticing to a reader accustomed to the anarchy of the other
clans. Here is a clan where a Neonate understands his or her place and how to advance. The Tremere believe themselves to be the
mediators who helped found the Camarilla and bring peace after the Anarch
Revolt. As good as this clanbook is in
bringing the perspective of the Tremere to the reader, it fails to provide
enough mechanics to represent these new options in a Chronicle. The inner workings of the clan are explained
and the clan is given enough depth that this book makes it possible for a
Storyteller to run a Tremere only Chronicle that would not lack for
diversity. Despite problems with Chapter
One’s introductory story and the lack of motivations for some of the
Secret Orders in Chapter Three, Clanbook Tremere is one of the better of the
clanbooks.
Clanbook
Tremere is available for purchase from DriveThruRPG as a PDF or or you can
purchase an original printing from Amazon.
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