Clanbook:
Toreador (Revised)
By Heather Grove & Greg Stoltze
2000,
100 pages
From the very first page, Clanbook
Toreador recreates the image of the Clan of the Rose and Kindred society by
offering a multicultural perspective that was not present in the previous
edition’s clanbooks. Players are
exposed to a variety of different viewpoints on the Toreador, and those viewpoints
are especially important in that they are well developed and completely untrustworthy. Kindred are liars and deceivers who twist
the truth into new forms that are not outright lies and that fact makes them
far more dangerous. Some truth is there
which makes the lie far more believable.
The danger of these viewpoints in a book such as this is that players
could consider a half-truth or an individual perspective as the gospel about
the clan. The half-truths and
contradictory perspectives draw the reader into a gaming supplement that offers
the same readability as a novel. Despite
the readability of Clanbook: Toreador,
it is uneven throughout and disappointingly leaves unanswered many questions
about the Clan of the Rose.
Clanbook: Toreador does not start off well, beginning with
its weakest section, a mood setting story entitled Exodus and Embrace. The narrator
is an African Toreador named Anthony Sungbo who explains a piece of his art to
a newly Embraced Toreador. The painting features
animals as representations of members of his coterie on the night that a
messenger had brought news that a mortal archeological expedition was coming to
explore the ruins were they lived. This
terrible news sends the resident Toreador searching for new homes to avoid
inevitable discovery. The story is told
in first person, as if Anthony Sungbo is speaking to the reader, but the
flashbacks are told in third person. The
shifting perspective distracts from the story’s intent. Nevertheless, Exodus and Embrace sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the
book. The emphasis of the book is
providing a voice for a clan that spreads like a vine and Embraces mortals for
their art, for their beauty, or merely on a whim.
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| I couldn't find any interior art images. So here is a great Toreador image. Check out this deviant art page! |
The
Civilized Ones, the first chapter, offers some surprising new viewpoints
from two sources: Katherine of
Montpellier, an ancient Toreador Methuselah and Anthony Sungbo, the African
painter. Katherine of Montpellier is
newly awakened from Torpor and has no knowledge of the modern world. She struggles to learn about the rapidly
changing world of 2000 but despises anything that emits a noise such an alarm
clock or television, making the modern world a nightmare for her. She rarely leaves her new estate because of a
fear of automobiles. Katherine is being
interviewed by a 10th Generation Toreador named Carmelita, and this
section is laid out as an interview with Katherine answering questions about
the origins of the clan asked by Carmelita.
The second section is an essay written by Anthony Sungbo who explains
more recent history. His views are no
less deceitful. Due to his own experiences
as an African Kindred, Anthony’s perspective is anti-European, and he relates a
revisionist history that decries the horrific effects of colonization and the
Kindred’s part in those efforts. Both
narrators are unreliable as both have ulterior motives, as should be expected
from a Kindred.
Katherine is a petulant and spoiled
aristocrat who retains the racist and ethnocentric views expected of a woman
Embraced in 1140. Carmelita, her interviewer,
begins by asking about the first city, Enoch, and Katherine is more than happy
to offer her version of the clan’s origin by asserting that the city’s name was
not Enoch but Ubar. Her version is an
apocryphal tale in which she claims not only that Caine did not curse the
Toreador but attempted to protect Ishtar (not Arikel) from reprisal from the
rebellious Antediluvians who had been cursed.
Katherine’s rendition continues as she weaves together Sumerian and
Greek myths into a story about Ishtar’s flight from the other
Antediluvians. She asserts that Ishtar
was betrayed by Giglamesh, the king of Sumer, who chose the Gangrel
Antediluvian’s offer of power over her own offer of beauty. Ishtar escapes and travels to Crete where she
is responsible for the creation of the Minotaur and the lightless maze from the
myth of Icarus and his father Daedalus.
Katherine’s history of the Toreador
leaves the realms of myth and enters into recorded history as she discusses the
Toreador, Malkavian, and Ventrue influence over the city of Rome and the Roman wars
with the Brujah who controlled Carthage.
Throughout this part of Katherine’s history, the Toreador are always
portrayed as the smarter, better, wiser clan who look down on the thuggish way
that the Ventrue dominate their servants.
When Rome falls it’s not because the Toreador have failed but because of
Ventrue incompetence. The most
interesting section is Katherine’s views on the rise of Christianity from a
mystery cult to the Roman state religion.
She emphasizes the early Christian’s faith and how dangerous that was to
vampires. Her awe of the power of religion
makes sense because of her upbringing in the Twelfth Century and the
Inquisition effects on her life.
Everything about Katherine’s story
is rumor and conjecture. She was not
Embraced until 1140, and her version of the clan’s history most likely came
from stories she’d heard after her Embrace from Kindred storytellers. From that point forward, Katherine’s story
becomes more concrete as she travels Europe supporting the arts and patronizing
great artists. The Catholic Church plays
a large part in the history of Europe, and the Inquisition played an enormous
role in the history of Kindred. As the
church grew, according to Katherine, the clergy became more pliable and lacked
the power of faith that had made the early Christians such a danger. Yet, the Kindred like to take credit for
using the Catholic Church as a weapon against others. Toreador hid amongst the monks in their
monasteries inspiring them to copy and preserve ancient texts so that knowledge
would not be lost. Katherine claims that
original Inquisition of the 1200s was a Toreador plot to attack their rivals amongst
the Ventrue.
Katherine’s history ends at the 100
Years War, blaming the affair on scheming Ventrue in England who were
attempting to maintain claims on their holdings in France. Her discussion touches on the Battle of
Agincourt which turned the tide against the French and Joan of Arc who Kindred
could not approach within a league of or risk the power of angry God. The 100 Year War marks the end of chivalry
for Katherine, and the end of her history. Katherine remarks upon the switch
from chivalrous battle with swords and knights on horseback to the use of gunpowder
with sadness and longing for a return to ancient conventions. It’s a sentiment that she carries with irony
since we later learn that the same chivalrous attitudes that she misses were
responsible for a marriage to brutal husband during her life.
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| Definitely some inspiration for a Toreador anti-tribu |
Anthony Sungbo offers a different
perspective on the events that follow.
His viewpoint is more cosmopolitan and modern than Katherine’s but no
less deceptive. Anthony also begins his
history well before his own birth, discussing events of which he has no direct
knowledge. Anthony’s view is more
appealing to readers because it is a modern, multicultural viewpoint that most
would associate with current historiography.
Originally from Nigeria, Anthony has traveled throughout the Americas,
the Orient, and Europe. His version of
Toreador history begins with the appearance of Europeans in Africa and the
slave trade. Cainites are the ultimate
colonists bringing their own history, culture, and myths with them and
overtaking the native culture. European
colonists brought with them their religion, and the Kindred are the ultimate
proof of that religion as they are descended directly from the child of the
first people, Adam and Eve.
As Katherine has constructed a
synergy of Cainite and real world mythology to explain the origins of the
Toreador clan and their importance over all other clans, Anthony deconstructs
history and offers revisionists versions of modern myths such as the “discovery
of America” and the founding of the United States. Anthony sides with the colonized: the Africans after the arrival of the
Europeans, Jews in Spain in the 1600s, and the Native Americans when Columbus
arrived. His history of the clan calls
into questions not only the motivations of the Kindred but also the motivations
of mortals. Unlike Katherine’s history,
Anthony avoids explaining everything as part of a Kindred plot or plan. The Kindred fall into the background of
Anthony’s version becoming shadows and parasites who follow mortals across the
globe.
Anthony also discusses new
developments amongst the Toreador, such as the Electron Artists, who create
digital art. As of 2000 though, the
average Toreador thought very little of this online collective. Like other Kindred, Toreador are very slow to
accept any change, especially in a new medium that few of their elders
understand. The controversies over what
is and is not art and what is acceptable continue to dominate the arguments
amongst many Toreador and Clanbook Toreador offers the first look at how the
Toreador are adapting to their Neonates new interests.
Chapter Two, Aesthete Unveiled, delves into the facets of the Toreador as individuals
and what it means to be a Toreador. Like
the previous chapter, it is also narrated by two separate Kindred who offer
their views on what is and what is not a Toreador. The first narrator identified only as Goddard
discusses what it means to be a Toreador and the fine line that Toreador walk
between being a Cainite and trying to appear human. He argues that the core of a being a Toreador
is their relationships to mortals.
Toreador, more so than any other clan, keep mortal lovers, befriend
humans, and blood bond those necessary to maintain a “normal” life. The emphasis in this section is on the
importance of Toreador maintaining close ties to mortals to thwart their beast,
what Goddard calls a Kindred’s “thwarted death.”
The second section of Aesthete Unvieled discusses the
Toreador’s opinions and relationships with other clans. Rather than being an alphabetical listing of
each clan and a short paragraph about that clan, this section, narrated by
Ferdinand Chu, an ancilla, focuses on the clans that the Toreador consider most
dangerous or important rivals. Ferdinand
Chu’s opinion of the Tremere is that they are homely high school girls who know
some dangerous magic tricks and are bound in their hierarchy. The Assamites are diminished to brutes
useful for their prowess in combat and easily tricked into accomplishing a
smart Toreador’s goals. The Giovanni are
reduced to their grossest stereotype – incestuous necrophiliacs. Most disappointing, due to the metaplot of
the Revised Edition, the Ravnos are barely a footnote. As refreshing as it is to see more in depth
discussions of the Toreador’s opinions on a variety of clans and other
supernatural entities, Ferdinand Chu believes that the other clans are tools to
be used or foes to be avoided. He is
fearful of most other clans and dismissive of others.
New Disciplines are introduced in
Chapter Two as well, including a new version of Auspex Six and another version
of Presence Six for those playing character of Seventh Generation or
lower. The inclusion of combination
Disciplines offers new powers for non-Elder characters that fit the themes of
the clan. Doubletalk, a combination
discipline that requires Auspex 2, Celerity1, and Obfuscate 1, allows a Kindred
to hide entire conversations in the pauses of an utterance. Soul Painting which requires Auspex 4 and
Presence 2 allows a Toreador to paint an individual and reveal the subject’s
Nature. Rules for using these abilities
in Mind’s Eye Theatre are included as well for LARPers.
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| Wouldn't the world make more sense if Bowie were a Toreador? |
The final chapter, The Registry, has a selection of
pre-generated characters that players can select or use as the inspiration for
their own characters. It also includes
the background of Katherine of Montpellier and other Toreador of repute. From a thespian spy to a waitress to a go-between
for Elders and Anarchs, players have plenty to choose from among these archtypes. Thankfully, the authors didn’t include a Wareador concept in this chapter.
Unfortunately, none of the characters stand out. Their backgrounds are well written and they
are well designed, but none of these characters seem exciting.
The infamous Kindred detailed in The Registry include powerful elders
such as Victoria Ashe who appears in Clan Novel: Toreador and Katherine of Montpellier,
introduced in Chapter One. Katherine’s
history reads like a Harlequin Romance novel with vampires. Enver Frasheri, a sociopath known for killing
artists more talented than himself, is the brightest and darkest of these
famous Kindred. His history is wild and disjointed. Revenge is his art – revenge on those
composers who outshine him and those who have wronged him. He is a threat that the Elders can wield
against their childer, and a tool they can use against the Sabbat. Enver is such a perversion the concept of a
Toreador that he outshines more famous Toreador like Victoria Ashe.
Clanbook: Toreador is one of the most entertaining and
easy to read supplements for Vampire:
The Masquerade. Perhaps I found
it so intriguing because I am a fan of the Toreador, but unlike any other
clanbook or supplement I was able to read through it in a single sitting. However, as a game supplement, I have some
reservations about the materials offered.
The goal of any clanbook, regardless of clan, is to provide material to
help players portray members of that clan.
However, due to the views of the narrators in this clanbook, players
could be led to believe that the opinions of these narrators are the absolute
truth and the “correct” way to portray a Toreador. Clanbook:
Toreador’s narrators are too idiosyncratic and thus lack the ability to
offer a balanced viewpoint or model for portraying a Toreador. Toreador are too individualistic in their
approaches to art and unlife to be easily categorized.
As well-written as this book is, I
don’t believe that readers need another apocryphal version of the origin of the
Kindred. It adds nothing but confusion
to the already messy history of the Classic World of Darkness and the Kindred’s
myths. What is most troubling to me is the
lack of any real information on the Toreador Anti-Tribu. Rather than discuss them, they remain ghosts
lurking in the shadowy corners of the Toreador consciousness. They are never addressed directly, except one
pre-generated character, a pack priest. The
anti-tribu are more than simply world weary artists or sadists, and the
clanbooks should embrace these divergent Kindred. Exploring the antithesis of an idea (or a clan
in this instance) can reveal as much about the idea as discussing the idea
itself. The narrators and authors of
this book also discount the power of Toreador in politics. The Toreador, while frequently dismissed as
simple artists, have had a disproportionate number of Princes reigning over
major cities. Art, of any description,
is emphasized but at the cost of the Toreador’s ability to manipulate not only
mortals but other Kindred which has always made them powerful players in
Elysiums across the world. Ironically,
the worst part of Clanbook: Toreador is
its art. Other than the full page
drawings that face the beginning of each chapter, the interior art fails to
capture the mood of the Toreador or Vampire:
The Masquerade. Even the cover
image is reused from Vampire: The Masquerade
Revised Core Rule Book.
Despite these criticisms, Clanbook: Toreador is one of the finest examples of the
Classic World of Darkness line that I have read. The authors have created distinct voices for
their narrators which provide a large variety of perspectives on what it means
to be a Toreador. The inclusion of
Anthony Sungbo as a narrator finally gives a non-Western perspective to the
Toreador and Kindred outside of the Assamite clan. I honestly could not stop reading it because
I was so enthralled with the narrators.
I would recommend Clanbook: Toreador (Revised) to any Toreador player or
Vampire: The Masquerade player. The book is edition neutral except for a few
Disciplines which could be easily brought into a Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary
Edition game.
Clanbook Toreador is available at
DriveThruRPG as a PDF or Print on Demand or you can purchase an original
printing from Amazon.
