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[Bluecho]

This is another thing I considered bringing up.

While modern military hardware makes normal humans pretty dangerous, not every location is going to have people (victims, really) so well armed.

I imagine if the wilderness weren't full to the brim with Lupines, more Tzimisce would maintain monster-filled estates in the country. Abominations stalking the woods, patrolling for intruders.

How well a Vozhd could operate in a city depends on the country. As CTPhipps said, here in America our police aren't armed - and act - as if they're an occupying military force,...

[Bluecho]

I generally agree. That was my point: the Tzimisce make them for the joy of creation, and to terrify/horrify/demoralize people.

I disagree, however, with the idea that they were NEVER without use.

First, the Tzimisce did a lot of activity up in the Carpathian mountains, where they had plenty of hills and rocky terrain to hide their creations in or ambush people. Not to mention dense forests, which were way more common in pre-modern times.

Second, your comment assumes that Vozhd are being deployed on a regular battlefield, against regular troops. More likely,...

[Bluecho]

RE: "Real" vs "Fake" Sabbat

There was a lot of talk back there about whether vampires who regularly Embrace purposefully or have a strong Clan tradition have any place in the Sabbat.

My two cents is the same axiom I've been repeating for years: all else being equal, more options is better than fewer.

To me, the Sabbat is not one single thing, even a melting pot of shovelheads or Panders. It's many things. Often mutually contradictory things. It's a loose confederation of factions, unlifestyles, philosophies, and agendas. It's what happens...

[Bluecho]

I considered mentioning it, too, but ^This.

Vozhd aren't the most deadly of weapons in the modern day, but nothing intimidates, terrifies, and demoralizes like a fleshy abomination. Especially one specially crafted to bear the contorted, agonized faces of your enemy's loved ones. (Whether or not you had the people on hand; faking a face is elementary flesh-crafting)....

[Bluecho]

RE: Vozhd

It is correct to say that Vozhd have far less utility than "normal" ghouls with automatic weapons, or else ghouls given more "efficient" fleshcrafting enhancements (retractable bone blades on the arms is a personal favorite). No one is arguing that Vozhd are worth the effort. They're really not.

That's missing the point entirely. Vozhd exist because Tzimisce WANT to make them. That's the only reason they need.

Tzimisce are artists, occultists, scientists, and craftspeople. Their fleshcrafted horrors are made for their own sake....

[Bluecho]

RE: Vinculum

At least according to V20, there are ten levels of Vinculum bond, increasing each time a vampire shares blood with the other vampire in question. At low levels, it's a weak bond, enough to keep them from killing each other but little more. At high levels, the vampires would kill, die, and go to hell for each other.

So how loyal Sabbat are to each other depends on how many times they've shared blood, and how recently.

Moreover, unlike the Blood Bond, the Vinculum is described as never deteriorating with time. Once forged, it's a bond that is not...

[Bluecho]

I disagree with making one of them a Nephandi, for a couple reasons.

1) Not everything needs to tie back to the Nephandi, you guys. Seriously.

2) It undercuts the theme of a feud across ages when one side is objectively "right" to hate the other. Not in the sense that their feud cannot have legitimate grievances - they've had countless lives to do awful things to each other - but in the sense that one being a Nephandus and the other knowing it makes it not "about" their feud. Not "about" the cycle of revenge that sustains itself over lifetimes,...

[Bluecho]

It's worth considering that, just as operations are preplanned, responses to threats or situations will be planned for as best as the Union is able. This means that, in case of emergency, you're unlikely to see members of one Convention begging for help from another as the emergency is going on. They'd have already made agreements about whose resources would be made at the disposal of the other, under what circumstances. In essence, units of personnel (and/or their relevant hardware or the like) are kept "on retainer" by members of another, often to act as specialists or muscle in a...