Ah, the Tzimisce. The twisted vampires from Eastern Europe, the masters of fleshcraft and the 'soul' of the Sabbat. The only material I've read about the Tzimisce was in the main Vampire: The Masquerade rulebook, so I could really use this Clanbook. It provided me with a firmer grasp, but left me somewhat dissatisfied.
The presentation
The main features of the revised clanbooks can be found in my review of Clanbook: Ventrue (Revised), so I'll only discuss the details particular to this clanbook. Again, the layout of this book is generally okay. In a few places, the letters are placed with too little space between. Unfortunately, this was far from the worst error. In the second chapter, a sidebar interrupts a koldunic sorcery path. A page later, a sidebar on the creation of revenants and ghouls can found, again interrupting the path. Both of these sidebars could better be included in the section on ghouls.
Vince Locke made the chapter frontispieces this time. His lines make some pretty disturbing, yet beautiful Tzimisce. His picture of the final chapter is a bit disappointing though, with four vampire posing in a "gee, ain't I a twisted guy"-way. Matt Mitchell drew the pictures for chapter two. His lines lack the certainty of his colleagues', but his monsters, too, are very disturbing. As I was delighted to see, the first chapter's illustrations are done by Guy Davis. Davis delivers as usual, although his over-the-top style is gets a bit messy sometimes.
All in all, a nice book, which could have been better with some extra attention to the lay-out.
The writing is less uniform, though. Here the fact that two authors shared the writing chores shines through. This is also a result of the choice of presentation. The first chapter especially is a jumble: it's presented as a collection of essays, written by multiple members of the clan. Many sections also open with a quote from yet other Tzimisce, further blurring the view. To top it off, the chapter has a rather large number of sidebars. While I like different viewpoints, I think this a bit overdone. The second chapter is much easier to read. The first part is a letter from a younger vampire to his elder, only recently awoken from a long torpor. The second part is the elder's reaction to the condescending tone of the youngster.
The contents
Winter Fiend is the piece of opening fiction in Clanbook: Tzimisce and describes the struggle for survival of a German officer on the Russian steppes of WWII. A Tzimisce Embraces him because of his survival skills and his utter lack of compassion. The descriptions here are appropriate for the rest of the book, so brace yourself. These vampires have no qualms about humanity, that's for sure.
Surprisingly, Chapter One: A Rabble of Fiends opens with a short Lexicon with Tzimisce-related terms. After this, we plunge into the turbulent history of the clan. As clan Ventrue prizes in leadership, the Tzimisce elder prized growth but could not achieve this alone. He made a deal with the Carpathian spirit Kupala. In other words: the chapter presents another story of another clan founder. The rest of the chapter discusses the change of the clan through the centuries, emphasising the Anarch revolt and the birth of the Sabbat. Of course, the role of the Tzimisce in the discovery of the ritual that later would become the Vaulderie is touched upon. (It will be discussed in the second chapter, too.) These sections are not wholly stand-alone, however, and reading through Children of the Inquisition will certainly help. Interestingly enough, some Tzimisce belief that their Eldest still lives on in them and thus, they still can be consumed at Gehenna.
The history also talks about some important Tzimisce and how they rule the clan in other, more exotic locales than North America. One of the best things of the chapter is that in it, the Tzimisce sometimes even admit they made the wrong decisions, or that they were sometimes outright bested by the other clans. The sheer honesty of this is very refreshing.
The third chapter, called Ego and Evolution, talks about the many different sects within the clan, their traditions and values (or lack of them). As always, the stereotypical views of other clans are also present. Only one view of another supernatural was present, and best of all, it was grossly inaccurate!
As the clan takes great pride in having established many Paths of Enlightenment, a lengthy discussion of them is included here. The chapter also includes quite some new Merits, Flaws, Disciplines and even Derangements. People who like new stuff will enjoy this. To top it off, there is a new koldunic path, descriptions of revenant families and even a quick guide to creating ghouls and revenants.
There are some flaws however. I don't think I'm ever told, in clear terms, just what a revenant really is. Apart from that, the thing I really missed was a section on how the Tzimisce Embrace their neonates, and how a neonate must deal with his new existence. Unlike in Clanbook: Ventrue (Revised), this information must be read between the lines, or can't be found at all. On the other hand, a small sidebar called "The Naming of Fiends" containing typical Slavic names provides other useful information for beginning players.
One thing also becomes clear: if you want to play a Tzimisce in a detailed Sabbat environment, this book alone is not enough. I guess more information on the Sabbat can be found in The Guide to the Sabbat, and I think the book sometimes assumes you know this information already.
The character chapter is called Among Fiends. The templates have some surprises among them: a siamese twin where one of the twins hasn't survived the Embrace, a fleshcrafting experiment that resulted in a horrible mix of different people ("You don't really remember who you were before the embrace; none of you do") and artist Leif Jones provides a wonderful caricature of Tom Cruise.
The sample pack, the Chalice of Osseous Delights, illustrates the way a pack of Tzimisce can degenerate into trash, with no conceptions of their heritage. You can use this brood excellently to flesh out a Sabbat pack in your Camarilla games, as the authors themselves suggest.
The Tzimisce of note contains some interesting Tzimisce. The authors do not only introduce them, but also give us some Sabbat background through them. The section also presents an intriguing fact about the clan, one that can have great impact.
Conclusion
Clanbook: Tzimisce (Revised)'s presentation has not the same level I've come to expect from White Wolf. The first chapter's writing especially was a bit convoluted, whereas the second chapter had some major layout errors. Fortunately, Guy Davis and Vince Locke deliver quality work. Style gets a 3 out of 5 from me.
The content is more difficult. I missed a "neonate primer" such as in Clanbook: Ventrue, and the books sometimes assumes more knowledge than is mine. Having read Children of the Inquisition certainly helped, and I think The Guide to the Sabbat will help as well. On the other hand, the authors included some interesting parts with a certain "wow"-factor, and elaborate on quite a few topics. Thus, the substance rating circles around a 4 out of 5.
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