Revenants

Loath as they are to trust each other, the Tzimisce have discovered a way to breed whole ghoul families through refinement of their vitae. These revenants are self-sustaining, breed true, and are far more malleable (in ever sense of the word) than other Fiends, if not perfectly loyal.

They are soldiers, governors, ambassadors, lovers, and the Tzimisce most often draw new childer from their ranks. Revenants possess ten blood points of their own, as well as the Disciplines their masters teach them. There are dozens of revenant bloodlines, as each Tzimisce is prone to breeding her own, though a few who have risen above the rest.

### **Revenant Abilities**

Revenants can use their "vitae" to fuel Disciplines, heal or empower their physical Attributes, but unlike vampires, they don't regain them in such an easy way. Revenants can only regain vitae at a rate of one blood point per day. A revenant can only "safely" use 3 blood points, any further expenditure results in one level of lethal damage suffered for every blood point spent until Incapacitated. This damage cannot be soaked and cannot be healed unless the revenant is given vampiric vitae or the blood of another revenant.

Revenants can soak lethal damage, much like ghouls, and if they possess the Discipline of Fortitude, they can also soak Aggravated damage. Unlike ghouls, the power of Potence does not come into their vitae unless it is a Family Discipline.

Unlike Kindred, Revenants have a much weaker vitae and cannot create a Blood Bond, and if a revenant was to feed a person with their vitae after exsanguinating them, that person would still remain a corpse. Revenants can still breed like normal humans would. Finally, this weak vitae slows down a revenant's aging, but it does not halt it; once a revenant reaches adulthood, they age at a rate of one year for every century it elapses unless they were to drink and not spend vampiric vitae.

Revenants can heal Aggravated damage much quicker than vampires, as they suffer a lesser version of the Curse of Caine, being able to heal it at twice the cost of lethal damage. Additionally, revenants heal lethal damage as if it was bashing damage, with their bodies being able to survive a big amount of damage with little to no effort.

If a revenant was to be Embraced, they would not gain additional Disciplines, they instead keep their Familiy Disciplines as their Clan Disciplines.

Finally, some revenants start developing mutations that come with the selective breeding and the vampiric vitae that their body produces. These mutations appear in the form of Weaknesses, and are listed under the revenant's lineage.

# **Revenant Families**

Each revenant family (or "ghoul family") has been made by
interbreeding a special type of ghoul, generally each with a similar set
 of features, outlooks and even disciplines until – generations later –
something more stable and defined emerged from the mixture. At this
stage, a ghoul family has developed its own characteristics, including a
 set of 'clan' disciplines that are easier to learn as well as an often
unique manifestation of the Curse of Caine. A revenant family will often
 retain many of the traits of the vampiric clan that bred and sustained
it.

The Tzimisce are well known for breeding their ghouls, and over hundreds of generations produced the first revenants. In the modern nights of the World of Darkness,
 they are still the clan with the highest number of such beings in their
 service, although there are revenant families in the service of other
vampires. The four main Tzimisce families (the Bratovitches, the Obertus, the Grimaldi, and the Zantosas) are the biggest and most well-established ghoul families.

## **Tzimisce Families**

#### Basarab

Handsome and unbent, the Romanian Basarabs trace the origins back to ancient Dacia. True children of Transylvania, they serve Clan Tzimisce willingly in their endless war of sovereignty. A son of Basarab (known to history simply as Basarab) eventually founds Wallachia, and another called Dracula comes to rule that land.

* Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Presence
* Weakness: Basarabs are repelled by both garlic and holy symbols. When presented with either, they must succeed at a Willpower check or remove themselves from their presence.

#### Bratovich

A violent, surly family, the Bratoviches serve as the kennel-masters of the Tzimisce, given charge over their monstrous warhounds.

* Disciplines: Animalism, Potence, Vicissitude
* Weakness: Given over to their own savagery, Bratoviches suffer the same effects of frenzy as the Brujah.

#### Danislav

This family represents a bit of a coup for the Tzimisce, given that they are lupine kinfolk. Having a Danislav in your court is a sign of status and prestige, but infamy has already gone to the revenants’ heads. Whispers of rebellion circulate amongst their most highly-placed whispers, and the Tzimisce have completely failed to take notice. Additionally, some Danislav have somehow acquired lupine Gifts, though they are careful to keep this a secret from their masters.

* Disciplines: Auspex, Protean, Vicissitude
* Weakness: All Danislavs take aggravated damage from silver.

#### Grimaldi

Once conniving Italian merchant princes seeking advantage against the Giovani family, the Tzimisce gave them what they were looking for in exchange for being eyes, ears, and sometimes swords, in the faraway lands where the clan has little sway.

* Disciplines: Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude
* Weakness: Tzimisce blood is weak in this family, who has no native ties to the Voivodate. They have only eight blood points.

#### Khazi

A Revenant line of pale albinos that exclusively served the methuselah Byelobog.

* **Disciplines:** Vicissitude, Obfuscate, Animalism
* **Weakness:**The Khazi are necessarily nocturnal, as their skin peels away in direct sunlight, but they take only bashing damage from sunlight, not aggravated.

#### Krevcheski

A family of scholars with a great fascination for clockworks and mechanisms of various sort. They betrayed the Tzimisce, joining the side of the Tremere and changing their name to **Ducheski**.

* **Disciplines:** Auspex, Dominate
* **Weakness:** They are distrusted by the Tzimisce and therefore have only learned two family disciplines.

#### Obertus

This mysterious, scholarly revenant family was fostered by the Methuselah Dracon. When Constantinolple fell, Dracon was cast out and now these revenants are scattered, temporarily rudderless without the single guiding voice of their master to direct them.

* Disciplines: Auspex, Obfuscate, Vicissitude
* Weakness: Preoccupied with secrets and lore, each member of this family must choose an area of knowledge. It is treated as an Obsession Derangement.

#### Oprichniki

A ghoul family which originated with the secret police of Ivan the
Terrible, 'rescued' by the Tzimisce. They primarily serve independent Russian Tzimisce and are generally not known to the entire clan as a whole.

* **Disciplines:** Animalism, Obfuscate, Vicissitude (in V20 Potence instead of Vicissitude)
* **Weakness:** Haunted by a ghost

#### Szantovich

Beautiful, scheming, and manipulative, these revenants were bred to infiltrate mortal and immortal courts . They are assassins and spies, but the temporal power they’ve amassed in the execution of their job gives some Fiends pause.

Disciplines: Auspex, Presence, Vicissitude

Weakness: The Szantovich have addictive personalities. Whenever treated to a particularly sensual experience, the Szantovich is forever weakened towards it. When exposed to it, they must make a Willpower check to do anything other than pursue that addiction. They may not spend Willpower points to resist an addiction.

#### Vlaszy

Bred from Magyar stock, the Vlaszy are stalwart horsemen, the cavalry of clan Tzimisce. They care little for their masters, but have sworn to serve them and are unswerving in that task.

Disciplines: Animalism, Potence, Presence

Weakness: Every Vlaszy swears a Blood Oath to a Fiend upon reaching the age of majority.

#### Zantosa

While the Grimaldi are the Tzimisce's pawns in mortal society, the
Zantosas are their main link to culture. Zantosas are decadent, wealthy,
 hedonistic social butterflies, on par with any Toreador
 in their dealings with human culture. They stimulate their senses in
pursuit of pleasure and play with humans with reckless abandon. The
Zantosas are probably the revenants least in control of themselves (even
 less than the Bratovitches). The Zantosas party, drink, snort, smoke,
dance and fuck themselves into the void. In the Dark Ages the name of
the family was Szantovich.

* **Disciplines:** Auspex, Presence, Vicissitude
* **Weakness:** May become obsessed with pleasure and sensation, and are easily addicted

## **Non-Tzimische Families**

In addition to these families are several lines who are not
affiliated with the Tzimisce (in some cases, they never were). These
include:

#### D'habi

An ancient revenant family owned by the Baali bloodline.

* **Disciplines:**Daimonion, Obfuscate, Presence
* **Weakness:** +2 difficulty on all Willpower rolls. Additionally, before the Modern Nights, D'habi who demonstrated proficiency in their innate discipline of Daimonion were immediately killed by their vampiric masters.

#### Ducheski

A family formerly named Krevcheski and owned by the Tzimisce that now serves the Tremere,
 they are known for their skill at magic and at making mechanical
devices, particularly implements of torture. Many Tremere have the
Ducheski maintain their libraries and laboratories.

* **Disciplines:** Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy
* **Weakness:** Inbreeding has caused some birth and personality defects. No Ducheski can have a social trait above 2.

#### Enrathi

A bloodline associated with the True Black Hand,
 the Enrathi were originally a farming family who grew in power and
reputation. Their duties are to capture worthy children to be raised as chatterlings.

* **Disciplines** Dominate, Obfuscate, Potence
* **Weakness:** Due to their chosen fate within the True Black Hand, Enrathi tend to be very cruel and merciless people. They cannot have Humanity Ratings higher than 3 and Conscience ratings above 2. Ratings higher than that usually leads to insanity, depression and eventual suicide or running away from the family. Enrathi family members tend to follow the Path of Cathari or Path of Death and the Soul. They are also Blood Bound to at least one of the Seraphim.

#### Kairouan Brotherhood

A family created through experiments of Assamite Sorcerers on Tzimisce Revenants, the Kairouan Brotherhood is splintered over the world, with all three Castes struggling on how to make best use of the few remaining ones.

* **Disciplines** Auspex, Celerity, Obfuscate
* **Weakness:** All Kairouans suffer from the Slow Healing flaw.

#### Marijava

A bloodline associated with the True Black Hand, legend has it that the founder of the family was also a leader of a Thuggee sect and served some of the Euthanatos of the Tal'Mahe'Ra.
 As a reward for his service he became a ghoul. While they are trained
as thieves and assassins, their primary function is as spies.  Many of
the family retain their humanity, though some have sought out the Path of the Scorched Heart.

* **Disciplines** Celerity, Obfuscate, Presence
* **Weakness:** Marijava are quite susceptible to the Blood bond and became Blood Bound to a Vampire with only one drink. They tend to gather the blood of several Kindred and mix it together. This method creates a Vinculum effect.

#### Rafastio

The Rafastio are witches, sorcerers, and seers loosely affiliated with the True Black Hand. They primarily act as the sect's liaisons to the Verbena tradition, as well as keepers of Enoch's various gardens. Most of the members study Magick and a few are actual Awakened mages. They tend to be very attractive and dress in the current fashions. Many retain their humanity though some follow the Path of Lilith.
 Despite their nominal affiliation with the Tal'mahe'Ra, the family
remains aloof to its precepts, instead preferring to carve their own
destinies.

* **Disciplines:** Animalism, Auspex, Thaumaturgy
* **Weakness:** Rafastio are very susceptible to phases of the moon. With the New Moon they are -2 to all dice pools involving their Disciplines. With the Quarter Moon they are only -1 and Half Moon there is no penalty. On nights of the Full Moon, Rafastio have a surge in power and gain +2 to all dice pools involving their disciplines. Additionally, Rafastio revenants cannot be Embraced.

#### Rosselini

The Rosselini family were once mortal necromancers that crossed paths with the Giovanni.
 Being "persuaded" to become a part of the family, the Rosselinis
underwent an unknown necromantic ritual to be transformed into
Revenants.

* **Disciplines:** Dominate, Fortitude, Necromancy
* **Weakness:** The Rosselini suffer from an affliction that gives them permanent deathsight.

#### Servants of Anushin-Rawan

Debased fisher-folk who served an eccentric Ventrue in early modern Greece.

* **Disciplines:** Auspex, Obfuscate, Presence
* **Weakness:** The Servants have been bred to be compliant to Anushin-Rawan and this carries on to those descended from her. They are compelled to serve those that descend from Anushin-Rawan, regardless of their generation.