Vicissitude

Vicissitude
Pronounce	və-SI-sə-tüd
Clans	Tzimisce
Bloodlines	Nagloper Volgirre

Vicissitude is the trademark Discipline of Clan Tzimisce, it is widely known as their art of flesh and bone shaping.

Overview

One of the most horrifying powers available to Cainites, Vicissitude is the signature power of the Tzimisce and is almost unknown outside of the clan. With it an experienced crafter can sculpt the flesh and bone of a subject, making them a creature of alien beauty or gnarling them into a deformed monstrosity. Tzimisce use Vicissitude on themselves extensively, altering their appearances with their mood or changing their bodies to be as vile as their souls.

Vicissitude is similar in some respects to Protean, but springs from a much darker source. Whereas Protean merely enables a Cainite to emulate God's creatures, this twisted power allows a Tzimisce to defile and deform those creatures or him/herself for all manner of perverse ends. The most beautiful maiden or noble stallion can, with but a knead of the fingers or a flick of the wrist, be reduced to a hideous freak or a blob of deliquescent pus. The Fiends have certainly used Vicissitude's more grotesque side effects to cement their infamous reputation.

Note that while this Discipline permits powerful and horrific effects, the wielder must obtain skin-to-skin contact and must often physically sculpt the desired result. This even applies to the use of the power on oneself. Tzimisce skilled in Vicissitude are often inhumanely beautiful; those less skilled are simply inhuman.

Outside of Thaumaturgy, Vicissitude is the most versatile of the Disciplines, and is often used in tandem with extensive ghouling. Tzimisce tend to deform their servants into war-forms szlachta, which are optimized for combat through extensive bone plating, spiked forearms and other modifications. True masters of fleshcrafting are capable of fusing multiple victims together into mammoth killing machines known as vozhd, but such creations are incredibly rare. Vicissitude was also used to create the Blood Brothers bloodline, and their Discipline Sanguinus is a derivation of the Tzimisce art. While its effects are normally permanent, vampires of lower generation can heal fleshcrafting transformations over time. Likewise, the Clan Curse of the Nosferatu cannot be removed through use of Vicissitude.

The nature of Vicissitude is shrouded in mystery, with even the most elder Fiends only speculating as to its origins and true potential. More than just a Discipline, it seems to act as a virus that "infects" others through transmission of blood. It is assumed to be invented by the Tzimisce Antediluvian, with some speculating that Vicissitude itself is an extension of the Elder Tzimisce and that it continues to learn and experiment through those that fleshcraft. The Tzimisce themselves view the control over physical forms granted by the Discipline as proof of their superiority over mortals who are slaves to their bodies. Practitioners of the Path of Metamorphosis go a step further and consider Vicissitude the path to achieve individual evolution and transcendence through a somewhat scientific approach of research and experimentation. Voices in the Shadow Crusade believe that Vicissitude is instead connected to the Iryi Aretstikapha, who dwells in the qlippothic shells of anti-being and who reaches into the material world through the use of the discipline.

God's curse is reflected in Vicissitude in that it replaces the ability to nurture and care with the ability to rend and corrupt. Advanced users find that the discipline develops a certain degree of independent existence: Spontaneous flesh- and bone-crafting effects manifest from time to time, usually as a response to outside stimuli. A threatened Tzimisce might find herself growing claws, while one caressing a favored servant might find herself altering said servant to be more beautiful.

Official Abilities

Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.

Standard Powers

• ^[1]
  • Malleable Visage: A vampire with this power may alter their bodily parameters: height, build, voice, facial features, and skin tone, among other things. Such changes are cosmetic and minor in scope. They might, for example, resume their mortal coloration; make themselves resemble a Moor, Viking, or Saracen, or even copy the form of a web-fingered naiad or faerie noble.
• ^[2]
  • Fleshcraft: Alter muscle, fat, and cartilage
• ^[3]
  • Bone Craft: Alter bone
• ^[4]
  • Horrid Form: Transform into the war-form zulo; the transformation takes 2 turns to complete.
• ^[5]
  • Bloodform : Instantly transform into a pool of sentient vitae
  • Inner Mastery : Alter internal processings of the body, even manipulating mental attributes or giving derangements.
  • The Body Impolitic : Infuse parts of your body with your will to allow them to be severed from the trunk to do your bidding

Advanced Powers

• ^[6]
  • Body Arsenal: Transform the bones in your body into weapons
  • Blood of Acid: Permanently make your vitae highly corrosive
  • Chiropteran Marauder: Transform into a huge, flying bat
  • Corrupt Construction: Create a frankenstein monster (such as a Vozhd) by adding pieces of dead bodies onto a living being
  • Ecstatic Agony: Change the pain of wounds into pleasure
  • Entrail Saraband: Turn your bowels into writhing tendrils
  • Graft Life to Life: Attach the limbs of one person to another without it becoming useless
  • Living Testudo: Use a victim as a living weapon and shield
  • Plasmic Form: As Bloodform, except you can move and hold any shape as a pool
  • Skin Trap: Peel off a layer of skin to use as a net

• ^[7]
  • Blood of the Earth: Your Blood becomes a viscous substance that burns when it is exposed to air.
  • Cocoon: Wrap yourself into an incredibly resilient shell
  • Flesh Rot: Give a target a disease that eats away at their body
  • Impaler's Fence: Cause a victim's spine to shoot up and down them
  • Kraken's Kiss: Transform your face into a tentacle that can drain blood
  • Liquefy the Mortal Coil: Turn victim body parts into blood.
  • Transcend the Flesh: Expel foreign substances from your body or move through solid objects

• ^[8]
  • Bauble: Transform into an object no bigger than your normal size
  • Breath of the Dragon: Exhale a blast of flame
  • Oathbreaker: Transform your blood into a substance that can suborn foreign Blood Bonds for a limited period of time
  • Sculpture of the Mind: Use Vicissitude over a distance by spending a Willpower point
  • Sublimation of the Larval Flesh: Weave the flesh of target into a cocoon to transform it into a new form
  • Will over Form: Use Vicissitude without one's hands over a distance

• ^[9]
  • Doppelgänger: Assume any shape
  • Earth's Vast Haven: Dissolve your body into the earth
  • Perfect Essence: Control your vitae more efficiently
  • The Last Dracul: Assume a draconic form whose blood incinerates when it is in contact with air

• ^[10]
  • Reform Body: Recreate your body after dying
  • Plot Device

Fifth Edition

In the Fifth Edition of Vampire, Vicissitude and the abilities Fleshcrafting and Horrid Form return as part of the Protean discipline as Level 2, 3, and 4 Amalgam Powers with Dominate 2, respectively. One with the Land (aka Meld with the Land) becomes a Level 5 Amalgam Power with Animalism 2, but requires Earth Meld.

Version Differences

Vicissitude Disease

In Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand, Vicissitude was said to be a parasite that originated in the Deep Umbra and was brought back by a Tzimisce named Andeleon. As a disease, it eats away at the body, mind, and soul of an infected individual until they are consumed and taken over by it, becoming a Souleater. Supposedly the Old Clan Tzimisce were the few Fiends able to isolate themselves and avoid becoming infected. The True Black Hand was devoted to wiping out the alien invasion, while at the same time keeping it a secret from the world.

The idea of Souleaters and Vicissitude as an alien plague received a great deal of criticism, and was a divisive element of canon. The Vampire Storytellers Handbook Revised stated the idea was merely the result of a "lunatic fringe" within the Old Clan Tzimisce, and to be disregarded. However, the Guide to the Sabbat reintroduced an optional rule with Vicissitude as a disease that can infect anyone that comes into contact with tainted blood. Infection is necessary for learning Vicissitude, and the degree to which one is afflicted influences the difficulty of learning levels of the Discipline. Instead of taking over a practitioner's mind, however, the disease makes it more likely those infected gain derangements.

In The Black Hand: A Guide to the Tal'Mahe'Ra, the Asakku are introduced, vampires who have been corrupted by something through excessive use of Vicissitude. Still, in an email to Jan Pieterzoon, Aisling Sturbridge mentions that a redacted party had found that claims of its virulence are unsubstantiated, and reiterated its potential as false propaganda to manipulate and fanaticize younger rank and file.<ref>VTM: The Black Hand: A Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra, p. 30

5th Edition

In Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, Vicissitude is the name given to an Amalgam Power of Protean 2 and Dominate 2. It is a prerequisite for the Fleshcrafting and Horrid Form amalgam powers.

Gallery

Chiropteran Marauder

Vicissitude Experimentation

A fleshcrafter. Art by Vince Locke

References

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^  Level 1

Changeling	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 112
Malleable Visage	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 172
Malleable Visage	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 186
Malleable Visage	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 222

^  Level 2

Fleshcraft	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 112
Transmogrify the Mortal Clay	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 172
Fleshcraft	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 186
Transmogrify the Mortal Clay	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 222

^  Level 3

Bonecraft	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 112
Rend the Osseous Frame	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 172
Bone Craft	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 186
Rend the Osseous Frame	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 223

^  Level 4

Horrid Form	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Awaken the Zulo Shape	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 173
Horrid Form	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 187
Awaken the Zulo Shape	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 223

^  Level 5

Inner Essence	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Ascendancy of the Sanguine Humor	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 173
Bloodform	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 187
Ascendancy of the Sanguine Humor	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 223
Inner Mastery	Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom	Pg. 108-109
The Body Impolitic	Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages	Pg. 269

^  Level 6

Blood of Acid	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Blood of Acid	Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 123
Blood of Acid	Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 243
Body Arsenal	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Body Arsenal	Laws of Elysium	Pg. 78
Corrupt Construction	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 96
Plasmic Form	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Plasmic Form	Laws of Elysium	Pg. 78
Skin Trap	Clanbook: Tzimisce	Pg. 45
Chiropteran Marauder	Vampire: The Dark Ages	Pg. 173
Entrail Saraband	Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State	Pg. 65
Living Testudo	Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State	Pg. 65
Chiropteran Marauder	Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 123
Chiropteran Marauder	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 223
Graft Life to Life	Players Guide to High Clans	Pg. 162
Ecstatic Agony	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 241

^  Level 7

Cocoon	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Cocoon	Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 124
Cocoon	Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 243
Flesh Rot	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 113
Kraken's Kiss	Clanbook: Tzimisce	Pg. 45
Impaler's Fence	Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State	Pg. 65
Transcend the Flesh	Players Guide to High Clans	Pg. 162
Liquefy the Mortal Coil	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 96
Blood of the Earth	Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages	Pg. 270
Kraken's Kiss	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 241

^  Level 8

Bauble	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 114
Breath of the Dragon	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 114
Breath of the Dragon	Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 124
Will over Form	Players Guide to High Clans	Pg. 163
Sublimation of the Larval Flesh	Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages	Pg. 270
Sculpture of the Mind	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 97
Oathbreaker	Anarchs Unbound	Pg. 111

^  Level 9

Doppelgänger	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 114
Meld with the Land	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 114
Earth's Vast Haven	Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 125
Perfect Essence	Players Guide to High Clans	Pg. 163
The Last Dracul	Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages	Pg. 270

^  Level 10

Reform Body	Players Guide to the Sabbat	Pg. 114
Plot Device	Gehenna	Pg. 182