From: John Brownlee INTRODUCTION You have just elected to be part of the greatest conspiracy in immortal history. You have passed the first and most important test a member of Clan Tremere has to endure; you have made a choice to be evil. Oh sure. Some of you may be congenial. Perhaps even warm and balmy. But it's a front, whether you mean it to be or not. Everyone knows it as soon as they check your aura for magical awareness. You've crossed the line, and now you know too much, pal. You're one of us, and there's only one way out. Don't ask what it is, and your life will be greatly extended. These are simple collections of all the stuff I figured out the hard way about playing a Tremere. The things I wish I had been told before I even put a name on the character sheet, or thought up a concept. Some people will undoubtedly differ on some issues. I encourage them to do so. This document will hopefully aid you in Live-Action games as a Tremere, and also in playing other clans at a later date. A lot of the things in here are probaby best unknown by other players with different clans. For example, I personally would not enjoy dealing with the Malkavians after finding out we HAVE to admit we are alike. WHY PLAYING A TREMERE IS HARD You have begun the most difficult task that a LARPer may ever undertake. Tremere have none of the motivations for interaction other clans do, nor do they manifest the excuses to be loners. Tremere are best thought of as pack animals. They stick together. Fight one, you fight them all (most of the time). Unlike Gangrel, for example, the Tremere has no reason to be alone, and Ventrue need to exercise their influence in plain view often where Tremere avoid such actions. Unlike Malkavians or Toreador, they have no reason to be friendly or talkative. They are an eternal sequence of intricate contradictions, built upon ravings and chantings that defy logic on a regular basis for what are always for nonsensical reasons, persued with incredible ardour. And their presence is never met without uneasiness and distrust. WHY PLAYING A TREMERE IS WORTH IT In a word, fear. People will fear and probably respect you at some base level though they will probably never let on about it. Many other clans view the Tremere as the dark side of the force. Wisely so, as most Tremere are, again, evil creatures of darkness out to rule the world from beyond the grave. And while being able to conjure perfect margaritas at a Toreador party seems a parlor trick, being able to set blood on fire inside an enemy's veins is not. Remember fear. It's a recurring theme with the Clan. GENERAL TOOLS OF THE TRADE Tremere all look the same to othersfor some reaosn which escapes me, a particularly interesting fact considering that Tremere are a varied bunch. However, there are some things about being a Tremere which are so universal they at least deserve mention. Most of this has to do with what is perceived as "Tremere-ness," or what sneaky attitude they all love to hate. It is easiest to think of the Tremere in terms of their economics. For the Tremere, financial gains and boon-mongering are unfortunate aspects of living beyond the grave that can't be fought. However, the real Tremere money is completely intangible; their currency is information, loyalty and internal status. GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR RENEGADE CHARACTERS Every now and then, I run across a character that goes renegade as a concept. Frankly, I think that these character types are a lot of fun, but can destabilizing and are best played with the consultation of the Storyteller. If you're playing a renegade (and you're probably a twink if you are, wanting the cool Tremere goodies without paying for them) then you're on you're own. It is truly impossible to detail the possible mechanics of a renegade character here as they are the abberation, and how they differ is truly random. The following observations hold true for most Tremere within the Pyramid, if you will. CLAN LOYALTY "I want to make sure I've got a chair when the music stops" -Clear and Present Danger Tremere are loyal to an authority many of them will never remember seeing, and many more hope they never do. Their heirarchy is second to none. No detail escapes their notice at some level. So when dealing with the Tremere above you, never lie. Just don't do it. You can seldom gain from it, and will always lose big if caught. When dealing with Tremere below you, never let them see you sweat. Remember that status is conserved in a LARP, and that in Clan Tremere, your status came from someone else. It was their's first. They probably want it back. You probably want more. Which brings us to... ON INFORMATION Knowledge is the key to avoiding the loss of your precious status. As such, it is the most important commodity in the Tremere motivation. There are all sorts of knowledge, magical or mundane. All are important and worth guarding jealously. Control your pool of valuable knowledge know by saying nothing. Information is a commodity, and a plethora of ignorance is what makes it valuable. Ignorance festers by itself; it rarely needs a push to get started. ON TRUST "Love so deep, it kills you in your sleep. It's true." -Sax and Violins, Talking Heads Paranoia is not only for the Malkavians! (and remember, we're only one discipline different, right?) You can never be spooky enough. You can never be too sneaky. Be Machiavellian. It is better to be feared than loved. Trust no one, and doubt all that is doubtable about others, especially outside the Clan. On the whole, Tremere are not trusted at all, by anyone. This is not always as bad as it seems, you just have to accept it and move on. Truth is just not in the Tremere box of tools, but there are other goodies that more than make up for it. People may pretend to like you, or try to befriend you; your clan always resides in their minds. It is impossible NOT to tke into account that a group of people are Tremere when dealing with them. It always enters into decision making. CLAN STATUS Clan status is the only sort that really motivates a textbook Tremere. All other's are to be manipulated when useful and disposed of when no longer a decent tool. So, it's easy to guess that status is extremely important to the Tremere character, and how they get it has a lot to do with their character motivation. There are three ways to get status: academic, social influences, and magical power. The natural evolution of the Tremere character is towards the last one, and this has a lot to do with the most common attitudes about magic in general. Status and magic are very analogous at first in Clan Tremere, and are later very different. One should never underestimate the other two paths to glory, as it is considerably easier to talk to the right people than create that advanced path that soaks up 12 mental traits. Being that many Tremere concepts are academic in nature, we'll start here. PLAYING THE ACADEMIC The academic concepts vary greatly, and provide a great opportunity to talk about that subject you know far too much about to be conversationally useful. For example, I happen to have been a nuclear physics major as an undergrad for three years before a major change. Hence, playing a physicist provides an outlet for all those theoretical conversations I wanted but never had. Tremere academics are typically hyper-competant in a particular area, though the actual area may vary greatly. This may ential taking mental traits as a high priority, or taking a skill twice if you think you'll be using it a lot. No, taking a skill twice may not make you better in it here in Tucson, but it will allow you to burn that skill without losing your cool academic usefulness. Good examples of Tremere academic concepts follow: PSYCHOLOGIST: Fun, but can make Malkavian dealings easier, or more frequent. Remember how many Asylum inmates like the Dr's. Remember how many Malkavians are institutionalized for a couple of hundred years. 'Nuff said. PROFESSOR: Any subject will typically do. God only knows what purpose the Tremere have for a walking sculpture library, but who am I to judge, right? University influences are also a good bet to have. MEDICAL DOCTOR: maybe studies Kindred anatomy. Sound pretty useless to the Undead? You haven't been around long, have you? Think about taking the obvious Health influence, and the not-so-obvious Street. ARCHAEOLOGIST: Vampires who survive on musty old things as much a blood soon find it easier to just bring the artifact hunters in-house. This can be loads of fun to play, particularly because you can dress casual and whip out musty old things at will. Make sure they're dusty! LAWYER: The Clan has it's own laws and God there's a lot of 'em. Lawyers in Tremere are feared more than any other group save the Freaky Supernaturals. Be prepared to have people whisper, "The Eagle!" behind your back, and think about some political influences in addition to the obvious police ones. GHOSTBUSTER: If you can technobabble with the best of them, at least think this one over. Carry lots of cool gadgets, and know enough magic to make them work. The ability to manipulate spirits is often a boon making machine that whirrs away in the corner with little tending. BASICALLY ANY *-OLOGIST: Save perhaps a proctologist, there are few types of study the Clan will not respect and encourage. When ignorance is a policy, knowledge of any sort, "may come in handy some day." MAKING OTHER ACADEMIC STYLE CHARACTERS The above listed concepts are simply ideas, or rather food for thought. Some basic guidelines to help you bang out one of your own concepts follow: Academics are a dime a dozen nowadays, but in the distant past the opportunity to lead an academic life was much rarer. Think first about the time your character lived in. What was the life of an academic like? Would it be a professorship or medival court vizier? How broadly versed in study was your character? Why did they persue learning so far? Was there an event or lifestyle that lead them to persue books rather than a trade, such as a handicap or family affiliation? What is your character's opinion on learning, and why it's important? What made them worth noticing to the Clan above the throng of other "applicants?" Knowledge is often tempered well with the means to do evil. For example nuclear physics has greatly enhanced the quality of life around the world, but it also causes cancer, and nuclear weapontry to happen. How does your character view the evil side of information? Is it something to exploit or avoid? Would you take humanity loss for information, just for knowledge's sake? Would you kill for information? When? How? How does learning allow your character to survive in the violent environment of Kindred politics? What can they do that makes them worth keeping around the chantry, and more importantly, what is their opinion of other academics, friendly or disdainful? MAGICIANS AND KOOKS: THE SUPERNATURAL AND THE WEIRD Why put these two together? Simple. If you do magic, you are by definition insane. Oh sure, perhaps you aren't the Raving Malkie Madman, but you are wierd. People who do magic as a means of unliving are just as nutty, it's just that your reality editing gets forced on everybody else. But I digress. The talented are the most common sort of Tremere, though they are paradoxically the most individualistic. Each has their own personality and method, but every one is Special. Special with a CAPITAL S, as in Supernatural. Perhaps you were the nexus of a poltergeist, or can really read other people's minds. Maybe you set things on fire by thinking about it even, but you're still a freak. A lot of these talents die at the embrace, most noticably pyrokenesis and the ability to manipulate forces. Things like telepathy and medium stick around. Perhaps you may still have a natural gift for a path, such as Lure of Flames for the pyrokenetic, and learing it comes easier for you. You have to talk this gift over with the storyteller, and realize that it is NOT a freebie. You will probably wind up taking a heinous flaw or have lower starting stats to pay this talent off, but then again you're really Special. Kooks of this sort are rare, and hence require the consistant supervision of the storyteller. There are other more common sorts of hedge-magicians who are admitted to the Clan, such as any mages they can get their hands on, or marginally awakened people who can do magical things. The typical occult priest template would be a good example here, as would be the wierd scientist who's machine's SHOULD NOT WORK by the rules of the current paradigm. These people differ from academics because they are at least two-sigma on the Krazy Kurve, if you will. It's not what they know, it's what they can do with it. ON KNOWNLEDGES AND WILLPOWER Remember that information is currency. Wanna be rich? Soak up a lot of abilities. Taking a skill more than once can be useful, particularly if you use it a lot. If you lose a contest with that ability, you can always burn one and still be able to do it. Also, remember that a lot of magic requires lots of mental and physical traits to fuel them, as well as willpower. Do not underestimate the usefulness of basic rituals. They're only a point apiece, and being a walking magical library has it's utility. ON MAGIC To quote the penultimate guide to Tremere LARPing, the Jason's Stupid LARP Tricks: Jason's Stupid LARP Tricks for Clan Tremere 5. Magic? You have three choices: a) "I have seen things that you will never see. Leave it to memory me." The look that says "you have no clue what's going on." The attitude that the most aloof Mages have towards Sleepers. The manner that informs the other Kindred that haven't earned your respect that you can change reality and you know it and it ain't pretty. b) "Power tools! Ruff ruff ruff!" Magic is a tool to get what you want, but it isn't intrinsically important. It's possible, however, that it's the best tool. Move with that knowledge of power. You could take them. You could take them all. And you will. And the company that'll bring it to you? c) "Naah, not important." Blow off any mention of it. Wave your hand and say things like "Piffle" and "Tchah!" Act like it doesn't interest you at all and imply that you've spent your time on better things than sitting around reading old fusty tomes of things man was not meant to know. Do it right, and you'll quickly get the reputation as the baddest magician in town. There are many concepts which make this particular vein of Tremere rather interesting. Some suggestions follow, though you should make any of these known to your local storyteller first. THE WILD TALENT: You have a particularly cool latent ability the Tremere need or just plain want. It could be any of a number of things, and the merit to make it real in game terms would probably make gaining a certain type of magic easier. A possible drawback to the very powerful ability is that you haven't harnessed it yet, and sometimes it works without your say. If you really want to have fun, don't have the storyteller let you know what it is at first. THE OLD WORLD MAGE: You remember when mages had to walk uphill in 30 foot snowdrifts for their sulfur. Barefoot! Being anachronistic is a good bet. You're OLD, and you do magic as a mode of survival. Maybe you were bought into the Tremere as a way to continue the old ways, or more interestingly, perhaps you were forced into it, and are simply making the best of what's here. Perhaps you're secretly bitter about not being a mage anymore (Avatars go bye-bye when vampires are made, ya know). WEIRD SCIENTIST: "It's not magic, it's SCIENCE!!!!!" What you do, SHOULDN'T work. It's theoretical garbage. Yet, for you, the whole Frankenstein thing seems natural. Strange electrical and chemical props and technobabble are a must. Also, remember that Tremere tend to be hedge wizards, and that science is almost antithetical to them. Your view of the future may be their view of Armegeddon. Watch movies like Buckaroo Bonzai, Real Genius, and Ghostbusters for ideas. THE TELEPATH: Try not to think of Dianna Troy from Star Trek, eh? Maybe you make suggestions to people subconciously, or maybe you are really good with reading minds. An even freakier thing would be analagous to the the 3rd pip of Auspex in the tabletop game. Pick up objects and gain impressions from them, like one of Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends. RAVING SEER: This type of character is typically just disallowed, and frankly I say power to the storyteller who CAN allow them. Your mind typically dwells in the future. A type of limited precognition has demonstrated itself in you, and it has taken it's toll on your sanity. You make little sense at all, usually scare other Tremere away. Maybe there is another character assigned to take "care" of you, and attempt to interpret your mad visions of the future. This ability should almost always be coupled with a derangement that is very debilitating. Seeing future is not a gentle thing; it will screw you up. Think of it like reading the books in Call of Cthulu, but you don't get to choose not to do it. ALCHEMIST: Doesn't matter what time you pick, alchemists are always really neat character concepts. Take out a book on the history of chemistry or on alchemy from your local library. Alchemists were also often astrologers and counselors to minor nobility. There are far cooler things than lead to gold. You might want to consider making rituals that create minor magic items or substances. Consider the path of conjuration as well, well worth porting to live-action gaming. Plus you never need to send out for pizza again when the ghouls show up. NECROMANCER: Spirits like you. Or rather HATE you. You have a lot of interaction with the dead, and can attempt to exert some control over them. You might be able to do things with the bodies afterwards, like make friends with a WIERD SCIENTIST. Their passion for gall-stones is never fulfilled. Also, you might end up part of the great Giovanni-Tremere conflict. Fun for the whole chantry! DIABOLIST: NOT diablerist (a Kindred who commits canniballism). One in league with the dark forces from the great beyond. What made the clan notice you was probably whatever gifts you got in return for your immortal soul. I personally do not advocate these characters if you intend to stay around very long. Remember the Tremere Oath forbids dealing with devils or demons. You kinda like them. Highly destabilizing to a game, maybe too much. 'Nough said. MAKING YOUR OWN KOOK The above listed concepts are by no means a complete one, and you should feel free to do one better and come up with your own. However, with kooks and supernatural freaks, the question of balance is more pointed than in other comcept types. Hence, consultation with your storyteller is MOST important during this type of character creation. A few questions to think about are: Does your character dream? If so, what about? Explain and detail these dreams and give them to your storyteller, they'll help a whole lot. How did your character discover their latent ability? Was it scary? Were you young, adolescent or an adult? How did those who witnessed your power react? You character has a gift, but gifts are not without their (sometimes hidden) costs. How does your character feel about their drawback? Is it worth it? Do they or did they ever seek normalcy? What was the outcome? Did your chracter hide their ability or talent? Were they ashamed or cast out of society because of it? How did the Clan discover their ability, and how is it useful enough to them to warrant embrace? What do other Tremere think of you? Does your ability or kookiness overrule other parts of your persona with respect to them? How does this make you feel? Magic is what makes Tremere cool. It makes them feel wanted and loved by other people. It is the most serious bargaining chip you can have in any boon-mongering contest. It's also quite intimidating because of it's flexibility. Pour example: TOM TREMERE: I don't think you want to do that Tonya Toreador! TANYA TOREADOR: Oh yeah, I'll stake you so fast... TOM TREMERE: Did I mention the setting things on fire by thinking about it part? Or did I forget that? TONYA TOREADOR: I may have celerity, but TOM TREMERE has a bigger mental stick! I relent! You get the point. People almost universally assume that all Tremere are nasty magicians. This is not always true, but it's a good front to use if you're in a bind, or need a boon to grant that's specific. Personally, I'd rather have a boon to do magic than a universal boon card with my name on it floating around some Ventrue's place. Think about it. It's the Tremere advantage. Magic can be used to do almost all the same things as the other disciplines can through rituals that range from okay-keen to "YOW! That hurt, man." Which brings us to the popular thought on teaching other clans stuff about magic. First off, unauthorized apprenticeships are usually cause for death of the student and the teacher, but this only matter s if you get caught by someone else. Second, there are very few things that are worth Thaumaturgy in exchange. Remember, a performing a ritual for someone can be a MAJOR boon in of itself. If you have Thaumaturgy, you should guard it as if it were your life, because in most cases it will be. Portray whatever attitude about magic you want. Jason's LARP Tricks are a good place to start, but don't fool yourself by playing that game. Magic is nasty, and do you really want people who are supposed to be your antagonists roaming about with it? Didn't think so. So magic is extremely cool and rather valuable, except where paradoxically it is almost worthless and a waste of time. This brings us full-circle to... SOCIALITE TREMERE: FACT OR FICTION??? ON BEING SOCIAL Some Tremere leave behind academia and magical learning, or simply never really cared for them. They don't find what they want in terms of power and glory from musty old books or a test tube. Why study so hard when all you have to do is say the right things to the right people. For socalite Tremere, there is nothing as important as the stupidity of other LARPers. You should never underestimate their ability to swallow the shovel-loads of fecal matter you throw at them. Many of them will thank you for it too! You will have a serious problem because of the formentioned trust deficit with Tremere. There are three ways to go about dealing with this. The first, and easiest for historical reasons in Tucson, is to seem completely incompetant. Blubber a lot, and repeat yourself and insult people and then pretend you didn't know it would be insulting. At first people will hate you some, but after some time they'll just view you complacently as as the village idiot. They may begin to trust you, thinking you're abilities easy to take advantage of. This is when you spring the trap. Additionally, unless you feel pretty good about your roleplaying skills, think twice about this one. It's hard to keep up the first mask, let alone the 10 or so underneath it. And unfortunately, this only works until people figure out you're really hyper-competant. You should also be wary of seeming incompetant when your Clan is in trouble, if for nothing other than survival reasons. The second option is to earn someone's trust, admittedly harder and takes more time. You may have to do something to prove yourself to them. This may also be somewhat embarrassing, and deplete that healthy starting reserve of fear Tremere start out with. Perhaps most dangerously of all, you might start to care about them. Boon-mongering does not count, unless it involves learning dirty secrets that lead to a "peaceful co-existance." The third option is to distrust everyone else first. Reach a complete and total impass. This ony works if you have the time to wait them out. Eventually, frustration will set in and they will have little option but to grant you some credit in terms of honesty. At this point you're allowed to think, "Geez, what a bunch of saps." ON RUMORS There is nothing quite as good about a rumor as it's ability to sound for an issue. The easiest way to tell if people actually care about a topic is to start a rumor and see how long it takes to come back to you. Being that few will associate with us, hearing a rumor you started means one of two things: Either A. The crowd was too small and statistically this is abberant or, B. There are a lot of people who care about this a lot. Additionally, rumors have a funny way of becoming truth after the fact. For example, Tom Tremere starts a rumor that the Prince is actually a large Grimace, like from MacDonalds, just in disguise. By planting the proper details (purple polyester fur), or by they're happening for no particular reason something to make it believable (the Prince takes a huge influence in MacDonalds stock options), your rumor becomes truth to other people. Tom Tremere has, through very little effort of his own, convinced the Primogen that the Prince is a Grimace. People may view Tom Tremere differently. However, part of good rumor-mongering is knowing what people WANT to believe. Once you know that you have just to feed the proper details at the right times. So the moral of the story is start a lot of rumors. Shotgunning can work, particularly if you play a rather talkative Tremere. Some of what you say will obviously be hogwash, but some will either come true or give people reason to think you told them something especially cool. You will generally seem more in the know than you are. This is both good and bad. Another important safety tip for the talkative or social Tremere is to never seem smarter than your Regent. Sometimes this may seem strange, but as a clan judged to be very intelligent your percieved intelligence is a valuable tool. Tremere are supposed to seem monolithic from the outside, but watch you back around your fellows. ON FRIENDS There is just one quote on the party line about friends outside the clan you need to know: "If you must use your friends in the service of your clan, than at least you know your time was not wasted." -Vampire, 2nd. Edition Friends inside the Clan are discouraged officially, but if it doesn't inferfere with anything important it will probably be overlooked. Sometimes your fellow Clan members are the only opportunity for friends you really have. If you use the means of gaining trust and then betray people a lot, you'll quickly wind up in this state. Remember they also have the most to gain from your betrayal. Starting to sound like a bad blues song, eh? Some concept ideas for the Socialite Tremere are: HONORABLE HOUSE-MEMBER: Hard to do. Period. You were a member of one of the Houses in the Order of Hermes the Tremere converted to vampirism. This has brought you into an interesting situation; you have allies from outside the Clan INSIDE the Clan, which may have garnered you enemies inside the Clan and Mage community. Properly done this is extremely fun, and rather nostalgic. Pick up lots of Ally and Clan Contact traits. THE BON-VIVANT: Having fun in high society is what it's all about baby. Think about taking auspex really seriously, as well as the traits to back it up. Hob-nobbing isn't just fun, it can also be much more useful than all that magic junk. THE URBAN LEGEND: The Nice Tremere. Girls, think of it. A Betty Crocker Tremere, perfect 1950's housewife with an evil twist. Guys, it's Ward Cleaver with a dash of Satan. Or, if you're young enough, try to be the perfect little kid. Act really innocent, and don't talk too much. Talk to your storyteller about the Merit 'Sanctity'. It's too perfect for this sort of character to ignore. THE SPOILED BRAT: Who knows why the hell you're a Tremere. Maybe because it's a whole bunch of extremely powerful people telling you you're the best (like daddy did), or because they took the game you were already playing to the next level. Never whine, but pout like a stunned Toreador. Make people come to you for help however you have to, and gloat a lot about it. Monger boons. THE SOCIAL SCIENTIST: Social sciences are not really that well defined, but coupled with other Tremere disciplines they become rather formidible. Be extremely quiet and observant, and carry a little notepad and pencil with you, or a micro-cassete recorder and take notes on everybody except your fellow Tremere. They'll probably find it irritating. Depending on your game, the storyteller might let you gain insight into other player's behavior. Providing you have the proper skills, of course. THE TYCOON: All vampire clans need money, and where say the Ventrue have had a couple of thousand years, the Tremere have not. The ability to wield (and first, possession of) a financial empire is nothing to shake a stick at. Money makes the world go round, and you make the money go round, so in turn.... THE POLITICIAN: Where ever government takes root, crooks commonly known as politicians sprout soon after. For a politician, the Clan has infinite uses in the Camarilla government body. You will require a blend of influences OUTSIDE the Clan as well as sharp skills of leadership and perception to make this work. The storyteller may permit you to be somewhat placed in the Camarilla workings on staff somewhere, for the right price... CREATING YOUR OWN SOCIALITE A few thoughts on making your own socialite. It would seem that there is more latitude with this sort of character, and that's true at the surface. However, Socialite Tremere have to be just as sharp and close to the party line as any other Clan member. A few questions to aid in the creation of the socialite Tremere follow: Why does your character live in the world of high society? How did you get to be as well known (or infamous) as you are? Money and/or title if often associated with social standing. What was your character's standing in life? How does their status differ as a Kindred socialite, and how do they feel about the change? Did your character ever lose a lot of status? Why? What would be important enough to your character to lose status over (think hard on this one!) Does your character ever wonder what it would be like to withdraw from Kindred society? Why? What do they think it would be like? Does the Clan bring status to your character? Do you ever think of being a Tremere as holding you back socially? How do you overcome the trepidation people have about your being a Tremere? Does your character have ghouls or pets? What sort, and why? Which is more important, status within the Clan, or within other clans? Why? Basically, the easiest way to think about Tremere Socialites is to consider them as professional dealmakers, like brokers of corporate mergers, for example. Wining and dining and stealing are all in a night's work. Why work when you can talk? Or, better yet, listen? Socialite concepts are extremely heavy on social traits, as well as some mental traits. Things like Dominate and Presence become more a concern in your mind with these types of characters, as should the defence against them, particularly Presence. There are magical defenses, and at least a cursory glance at them is worthwhile. Also consider the skills of Subterfuge, Leadership, Intimidation, and Investigation very seriously. Languages are a waste right until they are indespensible, so they should not be discounted altogether, but most people in your group will probably conduct themselves in English anyway. Trust no one and keep your laser handy. CONCLUSION AND LAST WORDS So there you have it. Everything I have learned in my three years playing Tremere characters in a clear (concise??? ANSI???) format. I realize that everyone has these sorts of experiences, the little morsels of truth that crop up again and again about LARP characters. I hope my observations and analysis are useful to some, or at least thought-provoking enough to have made reading this not a waste of time to those who disagree. While many consider Tremere Characters a powertrip, I personally think of them more as a challenge with a reward. Properly played, a Tremere character should be a mixture of extremes. Paradoxically, Tremere are much like their self-proclaimed antithesis, the Malkavians. Paradoxically, they are both the most powerful and the most vulnerable to upset through any means. I hope that in the end, you will find Tremere a bit clearer, and perhaps appreciate your character a little more because of it. Any questions or comments can always be directed at the author, John Brownlee, email to jonnie@tau.lpl.arizona.edu. Hope you found it stimulating, John Brownlee, AKA Steven J. Wurster, Regent of Tucson, AZ.