Known mostly to elders from the Old World,

the Tzimisce are a bloodline infamous for

their unbound cruelty. With their

frightening discipline of

Vicissitude, Tzimisce are

known for their ability to

reshape the flesh as a sculptor

shapes clay. Using this foul art,

Tzimisce make servants into hideous

monsters, and use them to control their

domains. Though there are a few rumors to the

contrary, Dracula apparently has nothing in

common with the Tzimisce except ethnic

background. Still, some Tzimisce have joined the

Order since its inception, though they are usually

held at arms length by more experienced teachers of

the covenant, who find them unpleasant and

disturbing.

This fearsome reputation often seems unwarranted at first.

Many Tzimisce are reserved and perspicacious beings, a far cry

from the howling monsters many would believe them to be.

Most Tzimisce appear as rational creatures, formidably

intelligent, possessed of an inquisitive and scientific bent, and

unstintingly gracious of guests. A Tzimisce childe could show

more compassion and humanity than a Toreador artist could.

An offshoot of the Ventrue clan, the first Tzimisce lords

appeared in the hoary mountains of Eastern Europe near 1000

A.D., and quickly became renowned for their insular nature as

well as for their cruelty. When Teutonic Ventrue tried to make

inroads into the east during the Crusades, they found their

clan-mates to be hospitable to a fault, but also distastefully

strange or corrupt. It is unknown as to whether this was the

cause, but soon after the last of the Crusades, power struggles

erupted in that area between native Tzimisce and western

Ventrue, who came to gentrify the region. A rift has existed

between the bloodline and the clan ever since.

Records on the founding of the clan are few and mostly

anecdotal, leaving their truths vulnerable to normal vampiric

proclivity for exaggeration or subterfuge. What can be certain is

the first Tzimisce, usually called just “Tzimisce” by his get,

probably hailed from the Byzantine Empire, either a prince or a

captain in the legions. Most stories have that the founder was

embraced but fell into dementia and fled to the wilds. The

stories then diverge, but most contain trials of various kinds

which end with Tzimisce surmounting his obstacles and

learning to master his new home, usually through extreme

viciousness, persistence, and guile.

It is these qualities which most Tzimisce take to heart.

Clinging to their ancestral homeland, many Tzimisce say that

mortal feelings of compassion, love, and guilt are chains

to be cast off in one’s unlife, for they shackle what it

really takes to succeed as a creature

of the night, ambition and

wisdom and control of the

Beast. Tzimisce consider the

Beast an ally rather than an

enemy, as it provides the vampire the

will to survive and surpass. Tzimisce

indulge their Beasts in all sorts of games and

diversions. They do not consider this degeneration,

but rather exercising their superiority over

creatures of a lower order, whether they be

humans or vampire trespassers in their domains.

The Beast is less likely to rage if it’s taken out for a

walk now and then, they say.

The Tzimisce have an intricate relation to their

lands. Their bloodline weakness means they don’t travel often.

Overpopulation eventually resulted in a few Fiends seeking

greener pastures. This trickle turned into a flood after the

communists came to power in Eastern Europe. Few Tzimisce

could challenge the established power of Western Europeans

elders though, so many came to the New World. The fugitives

settled on the East Coast, unwilling to travel further. Here they

created childer to seek out new abodes for them if they ever

need to leave again. This means Tzimisce can be found in quite

a few American and Canadian cities.

Parent Clan: Ventrue

Nickname: Fiends

Covenant: Though some early Tzimisce saw the light of the

Lancea Sanctum while others walked the Circle of the Crone,

the Tzimisce of the Dark Ages traditionally belonged to

Invictus, as they were understood to be a prestigious Ventrue

bloodline, even if Kindred of other lands did not know much

else about them. After the rift from the parent clan, many

Tzimisce ignored the inner circle of Invictus and parodied their

organization while remaining separate, forming the small, little

known Oradea League Covenant, made up of a council of

Tzimisce princes, or “voivodes”. Little truly changed, as the

Oradea league was simply an organization of oligarchs bent on

holding their domains and keeping the neonates in check.

Some Tzimisce claim that the founder was initiated as an aco-

lyte of the Circle of the Crone and that pagan rites are where

the bloodline gained its discipline of Vicissitude. Since many of

these elders never wrote much down or left any proof of these

claims, they are given little credence. But some Tzimisce learn

the ways of the Circle to better understand their blood’s myster-

ies.

A few of the eldest Tzimisce are still members of the Circle of

the Crone. They can shape and change their bodies and create

life, or at least twisted mockeries of it. Since the inceptions of

the bloodline, the Tzimisce have been involved in pagan cults

and their fight against oppression. They will take the place of

the blood gods the Acolytes worship and they will show their

worshipper the true meaning of tribulation. The inhumanity

and cruelty of a Tzimisce Acolyte is almost unsurpassed in the

Danse Macabre. Those who don’t hold themselves to the ve-

neer of nobility masking the beast of the Fiends can most often

be found in the Circle of the Crone.

The Ordo Dracul is an interesting case, there are some ru-

mors of its founder having been Tzimisce. The Tzimisce vehe-

mently deny this, as does the Order. Still, in recent nights,

some Tzimisce have been accepted by the Order because their

signature discipline is considered worth exploring as a method

of understanding change. But many in the Ordo Dracul hold

their Tzimisce brothers at arms length.

Most Fiends are members of the Ordo Dracul. Their scholarly

bent and emphasis on transcending the vampiric condition ap-

pealed instantly to those Tzimisce preaching the path of Meta-

morphosis. Many Fiends flocked to the Dragon’s banner, even

when it was dangerous to do so. Tzimisce can mostly be found

among the Sworn of the Dying Light and the Sworn of Myster-

ies. The Sworn of the Axe hold little attraction to the very cer-

ebral Tzimisce.

Like all members of the Ordo Dracul, Tzimisce seek to better

themselves. They search for the perfect form, altering them-

selves in strange and disturbing ways. Many study the tradition-

al Coils as well as Vicissitude, hoping that a merger of the two

studies will yield something truly revolutionary.

The undead nobility of the Invictus appeals to most Fiends,

and so the second largest faction of the Tzimisce can be found

among their ranks. The Voivodate styles itself a feudal hierar-

chy and thus the medieval society of the Invictus is a natural fit

for those looking for temporal power. Those rare Tzimisce who

join the Lancea Sanctum embody the very worst of a church of

predators. Sanctified Fiends often serve as priests or spiritual

leaders of some kind. These positions are an outlet for their

eerie fanaticism.

No Tzimisce has joined the Carthian Movement. The Fiends

have shed their mortal lives and they no longer see the need to

keep its trappings. Unbound are rare among modern Tzimisce,

but can still be found in Eastern Europe. There they dwell in

their ancestral keeps with no company but their experimental

subjects. While the traditional imagery of a Fiend terrorizing his

subjects from a gothic castle is mostly outdated, a few Tzimisce

still cling to the old ways, masquerade be damned.

Appearance: With their Discipline, Tzimisce can vary wildly

in appearance, often not even looking human. Usually, howev-

er, they represent some extreme of beauty or horror. Elders who

have become insular or deranged may have quite eccentric ap-

pearances depending on their origins, wearing strange or archa-

ic clothing, or in some cases nothing at all. Modern Tzimisce

tend to blend in better, but even they can sometimes be twisted

and strange.

Haven: Tzimisce havens are very personal things. Tzimisce

share the proclivity with their Ventrue clan-mates for large,

ostentatious havens, and even share the tradition of providing

sanctuary to other Ventrue. They delight in playing gracious

host (though few would choose this option unless absolutely

necessary, as often what might be comfortable and pleasing to a

Tzimisce is not anyone else’s idea of those concepts).

One thing that does set Tzimisce apart from other Ventrue is

their zeal in defending their havens. Bound by their bloodline

weakness (see below), Tzimisce consider trespassing on their

domain a capital offense, and respond accordingly. As a result

of this, most Tzimisce pay a lot of attention to the security of

their havens. If an enemy manage to destroy a Fiend’s haven,

his Final Death is only a matter of time after all.

Most Tzimisce make their havens away from places where lots

of mortals gather. This is partly because of an urge to make a

land for oneself, not bothered by the Kine masses, and partly

because someone might hear the screams.

Background: Tzimisce choose childer who are distinctive and

not necessarily traditionally professional or noble. They look for

traits that make a mortal “worthy” of the Embrace, scoffing at

the notion of it as a curse. They are attracted by exceptional

genius or cunning, or acts of great willpower. Tzimisce are as

likely to embrace a psychopath as a scientist if they think the

mortal has a trait of interest. Whatever their mortal form, the

elders hope, the chaff will fall away and they will become a

more refined, deadly, formidable vampire. Some Tzimisce only

embrace from ghouls whom they have trained for years in prep-

aration. Rumor says that, in the Dark Ages, Tzimisce had whole

ghoul families under careful tutelage.

Most Tzimisce are still Eastern European in origin. Several

families have been manipulated by the Tzimisce through histo-

ry. These lineages were made to be the best breeding stock for

childer. The madness of the Tzimisce took its toll on these fam-

ilies. Subjected to torture and cruel experiments during their

lives, over half the family members turn into fleshcrafted mad-

men. Stories of inbred monstrosities in Eastern Europe still sur-

face from time to time. These failed experiments are sometimes

set free by particularly callous Fiends and roam the countryside

of the Baltic nations.

Character Creation: Tzimisce favor either Mental or Social

attributes over brute strength, but often learn to back up what-

ever weakness they may possess. Ultimately the fiends learn

how to make others fear them, as it is their best defense. Crafts,

Medicine, Science, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Brawl are

common. Social merits are often of great use to a Tzimisce, and

the Haven merit is particularly useful.

Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Resilience, Vi-

cissitude.

Weakness: Like Ventrue, the Tzimisce are prone to de-

rangements as they degenerate (which is quite common): they

often are haunted by agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disor-

der, or megalomania. In addition, the Tzimisce’s player loses

one die from all pools for every day that the character fails to

sleep in her special earth (“special,” because the earth must be

from an area important to the character — birthplace, grave

site, etc. The specifics vary from Tzimisce to Tzimisce, but any

given character has only one such site). This modifier cannot

grow larger than –5, but once it reaches this point it persists

until the character has spent a full night in at least two hand-

fuls of appropriate soil.

Organization: Tzimisce are not known for working well to-

gether unless there is a common enemy. In that case, they can

be quite effective, but without some kind of overarching need

to combine forces they quickly fall back into petty bickering

and war for power. On the other hand, sire/childer relationships

are quite strong, as the pecking order is usually quite estab-

lished and not prone to changing. Many sires force their childer

into Vinculum early on to secure their loyalty for all time.

Theoretically, every Tzimisce has his place in the Voivodate.

Practically, the need for privacy means the Voivodes don’t have

much say in the night-to-night business of the Fiends. Never-

theless, the old ways are respected. The Voivodes act as spiritu-

al leaders for the Fiends, whether they be Invictus, Acolytes,

Dragons or Sanctified. Under the Voivodes, the other Tzimisce

are considered vassals. The leadership of the entire bloodline

lies in the hand of the Voivode of Voivodes. Regional leaders

are Knézi and the warlocks of the Voivodate are referred to as

Koldunic sorcerers. Powerful Tzimisce have an advisory role in

Voivodate politics. Every Fiend over 150 years old becomes one

of the Szlachta, a noble council advising the Voivodes and

Knézi.

Concepts: Crime lord, sociopath, antiquated nobility, corpo-

rate profiteer, driven professor, obsessive occultist, modern war-

lock, yuppie psycho, cenobite wannabe, butcher, mad scientist.

The myth of their origin is told thusly:

“When the Eldest came to Eastern Europe, the land spit him out.

The beasts hunted him and the forest rose up against him. The Eld-

est was a powerful Fiend, but not equipped to fight the land itself. In

his despair he cried out a name he knew from his mortal life: Kupala.

This was the name of a god, a devil, or a powerful spirit. The na-

ture of Kupala is lost now, because the Eldest was the last one who

knew the secrets of his people, a tribe he slaughtered after his em-

brace. How this tribe knew of Kupala and where they lived is as

mysterious as the name of the Eldest and the nature of Kupala him-

self.

Kupala answered the call and stepped over the mountains that

separated this world from the next. Where he entered this realm, he

left a crater. This crater is still a holy site to the Koldún. He spoke to

the Eldest in a long lost language and taught him the magic of the

elements. And with this magic the Eldest conquered the land, and we

inherited it from him. So it became our land, till the day Kupala

arises and the stars go out.”

The origin of the bloodline is clouded in myth. The only thing

that is sure about the birth of the Tzimisce is that it occurred

around the Baltic region sometime earlier than 653 A.D. Most

elders point to a document from this year as proof of their an-

cient claim to their lands. The document in question is ad-

dressed to the Camarilla of Byzantium and describes a “mon-

strous and horrifying creature drinking [the] blood of the pa-

gans in Transdanubia” [modern-day Hungary]. This report goes

on to the describe a cult based around this creature, a vampire

that could mold its own body and the bodies of its servants.

The Tzimisce don’t appear in the scant documentation from

the following period, and only gained their infamy far later,

when Teutonic Ventrue from Die Unbesiegt tried to wrestle the

Baltic region from the Fiends’ grasp. This campaign was a land

grab by the Ventrue Hardestadt, who tried to install his own

bloodline in Lithuania. Where the crusaders conquered and

converted the last pagan kingdom of Europe, the Tzimisce

stood fast against the Christian Kindred. Die Unbesiegt didn’t

manage to establish a permanent foothold in Lithuania and the

so-called Omen War ended when the Invictus emperor refused

to give any more resources to Hardestadt.

At least, this is the way the Fiends tell the story. Invictus

scholars point to the total amnesia surrounding the emperor

and doubt that the Tzimisce would remember this so clearly.

Whatever the cause was, the war was over and the Voivodate

reigned supreme in the Baltic States and big parts of

Transdanubia. Their Koldunic sorcerers used rituals to create

many monstrous servants, an army of horrors defending the last

pagan strongholds of Europe.

(Animalism •••••, Vicissitude •••••,

Blood Potency ••••• ••)

Cost: at least 15 ghouls

The vozhd is a war machine not seen since the war between

the Teutonic Ventrue and the Baltic Tzimisce in the Dark Ag-

es. The Tzimisce fleshcrafts the ghouls together, forging the

bodies in a single entity. The Fiend then feeds the mess of bod-

ies a mixture of the ghouls’ blood, creating a kind of proto-

vinculum among them. This bond in place, the Fiend uses An-

imalism to coalesce the minds of the ghouls into one insane and

imperfect Beast that drives the vozhd to crush or devour every-

thing in sight.

System: Roll Intelligence + Crafts + Vicissitude. The stand-

ard time is one year to create the vozhd. Subtract one month for

each success. Subtract one die for every 5 ghouls below 30 used

in the creation of the vozhd. Add one die for every 10 ghouls

over 30 used in the creation of the vozhd. If human ghouls are

used in the creation of the vozhd, the creator automatically los-

es a dot of humanity and has to roll for degeneration.

This power costs 40 experience points to learn.

This wouldn’t last though. The Tzimisce could not exist in

the newly Christened world and slowly the Voivodate ceded

ground to the Invictus and the Lancea Sanctum. From the

North, the Circle of the Crone also appeared. They used the

same practices that the cults of the Voivodate used, but they

weren’t exclusive to one lineage. The numerical superiority and

inclusiveness managed to draw far more members to the cove-

nants and the Voivodate could no longer control the Baltic

Region around 1300 A.D. Transdanubia was lost way before

that time, at the end of the Omen War.

Today, the Voivodate isn’t big enough to be covenant and

membership in it does no longer exclude membership in the

Invictus or any other covenant. The decline of the Voivodate

also has another cause. During the 1700’s, it still existed as a

covenant in the Baltic Region and it was powerful enough to

compete with the other covenants in most cities.

This fell apart when the Ordo Dracul appeared. They were

persecuted in a lot of Kindred domains, but the Fiends wel-

comed them with open arms. They were hungry for their secrets

and their coils. When they couldn’t get to those by force, most

joined the Ordo Dracul. Its methods and ideology appealed to

many Tzimisce, who had their own ideas about transcending

the Curse.

Most Fiends who joined the Ordo Dracul still retained their

vassalage to the Voivodate. Since the Ordo Dracul wasn’t a

fully formed covenant yet, this wasn’t an exceptional occur-

rence. Only when the Dragons became more powerful did

membership in the Ordo become more important than the

Voivodate.

The final nail in the coffin for the Voivodes was the power

wielded by the Ordo Dracul in Transylvania and the other an-

cestral lands of the Tzimisce. Many Fiends traveled back to the

domains they were chased out of centuries earlier. Of course

the fog of ages obscured many claims to land, but the Ordo

Dracul welcomed every new ally they could get in those first

decades of its existence.

••••••Status in the Voivodate acts as social bonus dice against

Tzimisce in some situations. Additionally, anyone with dots in

Voivodate Status can buy the Domain and Retainer merits for

half price. This bonus only applies after character creation and

can only be used in a situation where the Voivodate is distinct

as a covenant. Kindred with dots in Voivodate status have ac-

cess to Koldunic Sorcery, the magic created or stolen by the

Tzimisce in time past.

Vozhd are gigantic lobotomized amalgamations of many lesser

ghouls, at least two stories tall and weighing almost six tons.

Their very bodies are implements of destruction, covered as

they are with mouths full of razor-sharp teeth, six-foot bone

spikes jutting out at every possible angle and tentacles to draw

prey into their reach. These creatures have little intelligence,

are notoriously too enraged to control reliably and have but one

use: to destroy everything in sight.

The creation of such a monstrosity requires at least 15 crea-

tures, though some include well over 30. The Ordo Dracul

chapterhouse in Vienna houses an account of a vozhd created

from 100 ghouls contributed by six different Fiends. The pro-

cess of becoming a vozhd invariably drives the component be-

ings insane; to circumvent this, the victims are usually loboto-

mized via Vicissitude before the gestalten assembly occurs.

Animals, as well as humans, can be used to create these

beasts. In the Old World, most Tzimisce who knew the proper

rituals used wolves, goats and falcons, even the horses and live-

stock of their subjects when other animals were scarce. Few

Tzimisce know how to create vozhdi in the modern nights, but

in Riga, rumors persist of a titanic monstrosity composed of

human bodies mingled with household pets, sea creatures and

thousands of smaller animals such as rats or snakes.

To create a vozhd, the Fiend fleshcrafts the ghouls together

into something like a cohesive entity. Perhaps she forms all the

ghoul’s skeletons into one structure then wraps it with the

ghouls’ flesh and organs. Though the process can take months,

the Fiend must hurry because these broken creatures, not yet

one entity, require constant infusions of vitae to prevent death

from shock. Still, a certain amount of prolonged suffering is

necessary to give the resulting vozhd the proper rage.

Once the construction is complete, the Tzimisce feeds the

ghouls a concoction of blood drawn from each of them, in ef-

fect creating a blood bond among all the minds that will even-

tually become the vozhd. Building upon this bond, the Fiend

must coalesce the minds within into a single, albeit broad and

imperfect, Beast.

Even at the height of the clan’s dominance in the Baltic na-

tions, few Tzimisce knew the proper ritual and fewer still re-

sorted to the creation of such uncontrollable wrecking ma-

chines. In the modern nights, most Tzimisce think the vozhdi

extinct and too big of a Masquerade violation to recreate.

Sample Vozhd

Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 3, Strength 8, Dex-

terity 2, Stamina 6, Presence 0, Manipulation 0, Composure 3

Skills: Brawl 2, Intimidation 5, Survival 4

Willpower: 6

Initiative: 5

Defense: 2 (highest of Wits or Dexterity)

Speed: 15 (species factor 5)

Size: 8

Disciplines: Resilience 4, Vigor 5

Vitae/per Turn: 20/2

Weapons/Attacks:

Type Damage Dice Pool

Bite or Claw 0 (L) 10

Slam 0 (B)* 10

* Special: Knockdown (See the World of Darkness Rulebook,

p. 168.)

Health: 14

Attempts to influence a vozhd with Animalism carry a −3

penalty. This penalty is raised to −5 if the character attempting

the Animalism isn’t one of the vozhd’s creators. A vozhd cannot

use any weapons, but might deal lethal damage, depending on

its parts. A vozhd follows the rules for ghouls laid out in the

Vampire: The Requiem rulebook. Keep in mind that a being

as single mindedly aggressive as a vozhd will get violent if denied

his vitae.

Vicissitude can be found on pp. 35-36 of Vampire Transla-

tion Guide.

Another version of Vicissitude can be found on pp. 3-6 of

Mike McConnell’s Tzimisce, which includes suggested success

thresholds for extended actions and penalties for instant ac-

tions.

Transviscera can be found on pp. 9-11 of Paul O’Connell’s

The Strigoi, which rebalances the discipline and changes the

fourth and fifth dots into devotions.

(Dominate •••••, Vicissitude •••••)

This power allows a vampire to become insubstantial and

physically enter a host, controlling them from within like an

obscene marionette.

Cost: 1 Vitae, 1 Willpower.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Intimidation + Dominate versus

Resolve

Action: Contested.

The vampire must be in blood form, and must surround a tar-

get. There is no “discreet” way of doing this other than doing it

in a secluded area, as victims will panic and scream as they fight

back. This facilitates the physical union of the vampire in the

body, as it enters any available orifice.

The Conquering Blood is different from Possession, in that

the possession is rapid and unstable, and leaves the victim some

willpower. The physical presence of the vampire in all parts of

the victim’s bloodstream allows him to overwhelm what’s left.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The vampire becomes a prisoner inside the

target’s body, vaguely able to perceive what he does but unable

to leave. The vampire may attempt to escape with a Resolve +

Stamina roll, maximum of one per hour. Tales tell of foolish

vampires who were trapped only to free themselves too close to

dawn to find safety.

Failure: If the victim acquires more successes, it resists the

vampire’s attempts.

Success: If the vampire acquires more successes, it takes pos-

session of the victim for a number of hours equal to its success-

es. Subtract its successes from the victim’s willpower. The result

is the number of times per hour that a victim can attempt to

reestablish control.

Exceptional Success: As per Success, but the vampire may

re-enter the same target at a later night without spending a

Willpower point.

This power costs 30 experience points to learn.

Note: If using the rules for Transviscera, this devotion re-

quires Body of the Sanguine Humor as a prerequisite.

(Auspex ••, Obfuscate ••, Vicissitude •••)

The Aura is a byproduct of the body. Change the body,

change the soul. The body’s experiences can be summed up in

the aura, but this phenomenon is the product of physical forces.

By crafting certain locations on the body a Tzimisce can “paint”

whatever aura he chooses. Auras summarize the individual,

revealing the emotions, the Curse and even the stain of diable-

rie…

This power lasts for a scene, after that time, the aura goes

back to its original colors.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge + Vicissitude

Action: Instant

Suggested Modifiers

Modifier Situation

— Change the shade of the Aura (bright or weak)

-1 Change the primary color of the Aura

-2 Change the other colors in the Aura

-3 Conceal the Curse or the stain of diablerie

-4 Conceal the Curse and the stain of diablerie

This power costs 21 experience points to learn.

(Animalism •••••, Vicissitude •••••)

A Fiend with this power may release and temporarily enhance

the beast inside of another Kindred, whereupon it immediately

sets about warping flesh and bone to better accommodate its

monstrousness. The hapless host writhes in agony, skin slough-

ing off and muscles boiling into new and terrible forms. Once

the change settles, the host frenzies as a terrible living weapon,

wreaking a swath of carnage until the vampire bids the beast to

calm.

Cost: 2 Vitae, 1 Willpower

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Animalism versus

subject’s Composure + Blood Potency

Action: Instant

The subject is forced to spend two Vitae as an instant action

to painfully transform into the Horrid Form (this takes two

turns if the subject can only spend 1 Vitae/turn) and then at-

tacks all those nearby in frenzy. The physical changes return to

normal after the frenzy calms down. Leashing the Beast can end

the frenzy (and the effects of this power) prematurely, as nor-

mal.

This power costs 30 experience points to learn.

Note: If using the rules for Transviscera, this devotion re-

quires Form of the Zulo Beast as a prerequisite.