World of Darkness has released an early Christmas present to fans of Vampire: The Masquerade: a 65-page Companion that enhances group play, gives tips to players who want to play as mortals or ghouls, brings the Ravnos and Salubri clans back from extinction and, most importantly, modernizes one of the most camp and gory clans of the game: the possessive, rancorous, flesh-crafting Tzimisce. The Tzimisce Clan hails from Central Europe and is based on the legend of Dracula. They were conceived as fiercely greedy feudal lords who would prefer to see their domains (or "charges") burn rather than lose them to their enemies.
Everything that fell under the Tzimisce's sight they wanted to possess and control, from the smallest blade of grass to the shape of their flesh. This drive to bend the physical world to their will helped them develop Vicissitude, the Discipline that they were best known for. It allowed them to turn flesh -- living or undead -- into wondrous creations, from their "customized" ghouls (the Szlachta) to the beating, oozing furniture of an apparently sleek California mansion (the strangely charismatic Andrei from Bloodlines). For V5, Vicissitude has been folded into Protean.
Companion spells out the main difficulty that the Tzimisce face nowadays: not everyone can be a medieval lord with hundreds of terrified serfs ready to be turned into sofas. While all vampires will protect their hunting grounds and human herd from intruders, Tzimisce will extend their zealous territorial drive to everything they covet. These are intense dragons who have to be surrounded by their "charges" to sleep. Traditionally, this meant sprinkling their ancestral earth inside their travel coffins, but for recently embraced Tzimisce unliving through the same real estate crisis with no ancestral land, it can mean covering themselves in coveted designer clothes, their prized Funko Pop collection or even the human dancers of a nightclub that they have declared their own.
This can get very tricky very fast, particularly for Chronicles that include an itinerant Coterie. For instance, the Ravnos' Bane -- which keeps them from spending two consecutive nights within the same square mile -- can be incompatible with the Tzimisce's sleeping arrangements. On the other hand, coteries with a well-off Tzimisce can enjoy "Old-World Hospitality," which allows them to recover one superficial willpower point if they spend the night in the Dragon's Den.
The Companion includes a handful of archetypes to create a well-rounded Tzimisce character: Gang Leader, Grudgebearer, Special Forces Commandant and, obviously, Landlord. The Companion includes an exquisite illustration of a Tzimisce Landlady dressed to the nines in a contrasting Dolce & Gabbana suit with a supernaturally cinched waist, white hair styled back to showcase a forehead that looks out of a Flemish portrait and red-leather gloves delicately holding a bloodstained Eviction Notice.
It's unclear -- and irrelevant-- whether she was the target or the issuer of the Eviction Notice; the ground she stands on now belongs to her and only her. "Landlords may own tenement slums or fashionable high-rises, but the result is the same: They bleed their tenants for their wealth just as they bleed their victims for their blood, and they consider both to be extensions of their property," reads the Companion.
It's an interesting turn of phrase, as the Tzimisce might try to flesh craft anything "theirs" to fit their needs. The Companion describes in great detail the Szlachta, extremely loyal ghouls whose bodies have been "reconfigured" to suit the needs of their Tzimisce Domitor. The Vozhd are mindless, soulless monsters born from the amalgamation of different creatures -- perhaps tenants who didn't pay rent on time -- and who are a living weapon that's impossible to trick, as they have no mind that can be conned. The Tzismisce's quirks, greed and Disciplines make them one of the most fun Clans to play in a Vampire: The Masquerade game, and this V5 glow-up does not disappoint.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Companion can be downloaded for free on the World of Darkness website after registration.