Tremere Clean-Up Crew

This week’s blog post is my second in an intermittent series on Vampire the masquerade campaign ideas.  Last time I discussed a Giovanni idea, this time it is the Tremere.  Eventually I plan to do ideas for most of the main clans.  I may even include some multi-clan campaign ideas at some point.

One of the main clans of the Camarilla, the Tremere are the largest group of vampiric mages in the setting.  They are also the youngest Camarilla clan, with the second youngest 3rd gen, who can’t even truly be called an antediluvian.  They project an appearance of being the most organized and cohesive of the 7 clans; but as everyone knows all vampires scheme and strive for status against their rivals.  But it is true that the Tremere pyramid is a powerful force on all clan members.  Tremere elders are happy to use younger, and in their mind disposable kindred as proxies in their struggles for power and status.

Tremere like to keep problems in house, and reduce the influence of any vampire mages that aren’t part of the clan.  Thus they need in-house clean-up crews to solve problems before they become public and tarnish the reputation of the clan or sometimes expose the sins of others.  After all, no one cares about some minor incident when all of elysium is discussing the sordid tale of an elder’s darkest vice.  Most of these teams are not permanently established, but pull from a list of Tremere with various skills that could be useful.  Sometimes they send kindred with highly specific skills great distances to assist with particular troubles.  The permanent teams would be used for the more challenging and sensitive tasks, sometimes augmented by specialists.  A campaign with such a crew should have tasks of varying length, some may be a single session, while others could be several sessions in length as they investigate and follow leads before a final confrontation.  You could even include some sessions where the party is between missions given to them by their superiors; though proper Tremere wouldn’t take side contracts would they?

 

 

People often forget that there is more to the Tremere than just magic, and the Tremere are happy to have it that way.  But a Tremere clean-up crew needs more than just a wide array of Thaumaterlogical paths.  A skilled practitioner of auspex can find clues that even Thaumaturgy can’t, and a master of the domination discipline can make witnesses forget they were ever even at the location of an incident.  And any crew can use those with at least some talent in some common out of clan disciplines like potence or celerity.  Even mundane skills like computers, languages or firearms are frequently useful.  Most crews have a broad range of skills.

There are many intriguing ideas for tasks a storyteller can give such a crew.  The first and most obvious is renegade hunting.  The pyramid can’t let renegades live long enough to inspire others to consider risking making the leap.  Renegades know how risky it is to leave, so they tend to go deep underground or find powerful patrons who want a pet mage.  But it doesn’t matter where they run, the pyramid will track them down; even if it takes months or years eventually the pyramid will come for them and anyone who gave them aid.  Some are dealt with publicly, while others simply disappear and are never heard from again.  Others are captured alive, and are usually subjected to significant and powerful applications of auspex and dominate.  When they are seen again, they are shells of sentient beings, and serve as powerful warnings to others.

 

 

The pyramid often requires rare or exotic reagents for thaumaturgical studies and many of them aren’t purchasable or able to be acquired from friendly sources.  Vampires generally aren’t a fan of giving up their blood to a Tremere and lupines aren’t fond of any vampire.  And most other fantastical creatures are equally unwilling to cooperate.  But if a Tremere elder wants something, they generally get it eventually.  This option can require many different things from a party, from simply being the muscle at an exchange, to acquisition by any means necessary, sometimes requiring that whatever it is still be alive.

Building off both the previous ideas, you have requirements for chasing after escaped experiments.  Likely easier to find than renegades, they tend to be highly dangerous, unstable and possessing weird abilities.  These tasks are generally simple kill missions, but if it was an escaped gargoyle, it may be wanted alive.  For despite what any official clan reports say, the Tremere would still have enslaved gargoyles and would go to great lengths to keep them a secret.

 

 

Such teams would not only for internal problems though, there are many foes that would like to break into a chantry and steal Tremere secrets, if they somehow got in and escaped they would need to be dealt with.  And there is always a risk from the sabbat, anarchs or lupines attacking.  Tremere proving their worth once again to the Camarilla, especially if they can head off attacks before they happen, allow the clan elders to continue maintaining their power amongst the leadership.

There is also a series of options for interactions with other vampire mages.  The Tremere are constantly attempting to secure their place as the only mages that other kindred can go to.  But despite their claims and best efforts, they are simply the most organized and largest group.  So sometimes they have to negotiate with the more powerful groups like the Assamite sorcerers or the Old Clan Tzimisce.  They also need people to intimidate isolated or individual kindred mages to ensure they don’t get ideas of how special or important they are.

What did you find most interesting about this week’s blog post?  Are there any obvious ideas I missed for tasks that a tremere clean up crew would do regularly?  What clan would you like to see discussed next?