Vicissitude is the signature power of Tzimisce and is almost unknown outside the clan. Similar in some respects to Protean, Vicissitude allows the Fiends to shape and sculpt their own or others’ flesh and bone. When a Tzimisce uses Vicissitude to alter mortals, ghoul and vampires of higher generation, the effects of the power are permanent; vampires of equal or lower generation may heal the effects of Vicissitude as though they were aggravated wounds. Naturally, a wielder can always reshape her own flesh.

   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 inhumanly beautiful; those less skilled are simply inhuman.

   NOTE: Nosferatu always ”heal” back Vicissitude alterations, at least the ones that make them better-looking. The ancient curse of the clan may not be circumvented through Vicissitude, except possibly by the Antediluvian of the Tzimisce clan (who is rumored to have been destroyed anyway).

Level 1

   A vampire with this power may alter her own bodily parameters: height, build, voice, facial features and skin tone, among other things. Such changes are cosmetic and minor in scope – no more than a foot of height gained or lost, for example. She must physically mold the alteration, literally shaping her flesh into the desired result.

   System: Spend a BP for each body part to be changed, then roll Intelligence + Body Crafts (6). To duplicate another person or voice requires a Perception + Body Crafts (8) roll, and five successes are required for a flawless copy; fewer successes leave minute, ot not-so-minute, flaws. Increasing one’s Appearance Trait is difficulty 10, thus usually requiring Willpower expenditure for even a minimal success, and a botch permanently reduces the Attribute by one.

Level 2

   This power is similar to Malleable Visage, but allows the vampire to perform drastic, grotesque alterations on other creatures. Tzimisce often use this power to transform their servitors into monstrous guards, the better to frighten foes. Only flesh (skin, muscle, fat and cartilage, but not bone) may be transformed.

   System: The vampire must grapple the intended victim, while make a successful Dexterity + Body Crafts (difficulty variable: 5 for a crude yank-and-tuck, up to 9 for precise transformations). A vampire who wishes to increase another’s Appearance Trait does so as described under Malleable Visage; reducing the Attribute is considerably easier (difficulty 5), though truly inspired disfigurement may dictate a higher difficulty. In either case, each success increases/decreases the Attribute by one.

   A vampire may use this poer to move clumps of skin, fat and muscle tissue, thus providing additional padding where needed. For each success scored on a Dexterity + Body Crafts roll (8), the vampire may increase the subject’s soak dice pool by one, at the expence of either a point of Strength or a health level (vampire’s choice).

Level 3

   This terrible power allows a vampire to manipulate bone in the same manner that flesh is shaped. In conjunction with Fleshcraft, this power enables a Vicissitude practitioner to deform a victim (or herself) beyond recognition. This power should be used in conjunction with the flesh-shaping arts, unless the vampire wants to inflict injury on the victim.

   System: Make a Strength + Body Crafts (difficulties as for Fleshcraft) roll. Bonecraft may be used without the flesh-shaping arts, as an offensive weapon. Each success scored on a Strength + Body Crafts roll (7) inflicts one health level of lethal damage on the victim, as his bones rip, puncture and slice their way out of his skin.

   The vampire may utilize this power (on herself or others) to form spikes or talons of bone, either on the knuckles as an offensive weapon or all over the body as defensive ”quills.” If bone spikes are used, the vampire or victim takes one health level of lethal damage (the vampire’s comes from having the very sharp bone pierce through her skin – this weaponry doesn’t come cheaply). In the case of quills, the subject takes a number of health levels equal to five minus the number of successes (a botch kills the subject or sends the vampire into torpor). These health levels may be healed normally. Knuckle spikes inflict Strength + 1 lethal damage, while defensive quills inflict a hand-to-hand attacker’s Strength in lethal damage unless the attacker scores three or more successes on the attack roll (the defender still takes the damage normally). Quills also enable the vampire or altered subject to add two to all damage inflicted via holds, clinches or tackles.

   A vampire who scores five or more successes on the Strength + Body Crafts roll may cause a rival vampire’s rib cage to curve inward and pierce the heart. While this does not send a vampire into torpor, it does cause the affected vampire to lose half his blood points as the seat of his vitae ruptures in a shower of gore.

Level 4

   The Tzimisce use this power to become hideous monsters; naturally, this provides great advantages in combat. The vampire’s stature increases to two meters and a half; the skin becomes a sickly greenish-grey or grayish-black chitin; the arms become apelike and ropy, tipped with ragged black nails; and the face warps into something out of a nightmare. A row of spines sprouts from the vertebrae, and the external carapace exudes a foul-smelling grease.

   System: The Horrid Form costs two BPs to awaken. All Physical Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina) increase by three, but all Social Attributes drop to zero, save when dealing with others also in Horrid Form. However, a vampire in Horrid Form who is trying to intimidate someone may substitute Strength for a Social Attribute! Damage inflicted in brawling combat increases by one due to the jagged ridges and bony knobs creasing the creature’s hands.

Level 5

   A vampire with this power can physically transform all or part of her body into sentient vitae. This blood is in all respects identical to the vampire’s normal vitae; she can use it to nourish herself or others, create ghouls or establish blood bonds. If all this blood is imbibed or otherwise destroyed, the vampire meets Fianl Death.

   System: The vampire may transform all or part of herself as she deems fit. Each leg can turn into two BPs worth of vitae, as can the torso; aech arm, the head and the abdomen convert to one blood point. The blood can be reconverted to the body part, provided it is in contact with the vampire. If the blood has been utilized or destroyed, the vampire must spend a number of BPs equal to what was originally created to regrow the missing body part.

   A vampire entirely in this form may not be staked, cut, buldgeoned or pierced, but can be burned or exposed to the sun. The vampire may ooze along, drip up walls and flow through the narrowest cracks, as though she were in Tenebrous Form (Obtenebration level 5).

   Mental Disciplines may be used, provided no eye contact or vocal utterance is necessary – and if a vampire in this form ”washes” over a mortal or animal, that mortal must make a Courage (8) roll or fly into a panic.

Level 6
Blood of Acid (Guide to the Sabbat)
   At this level of mastery, the vampire has converted her blood to a viscous acid. Any blood she consumes lokewise becomes acid, which is corrosive enough to burn human (and vampiric) flesh as well as wood. This effect is particularly potent when the vampire assumes the Bloodform. One of the side effects of this power is the complete inability to create new vampires and ghouls, or give blood to another vampire - the acid would corrode them as they drank it. The obvious benefit, however, is that would-be diablerists are likewise unable to devour the Cainite's blood.
   System: Each BP that comes in contact with something else other than the vampire herself does five dice worth of aggeavated damage. If the vampire is injured in combat, her blood may spatter on an opponent - foes must make Dexterity + Dodge rolls to avoid the blood, which must be accomplished by splitting their dice pools. (Obviously, unless an opponent knows the vampire has this power, he's unlikely to split his dice pool on his first attack, which causes many Tzimisce to cackle with glee even as their own vitae sprays out of their bodies and disfigures their foes.)

Chiropteran Marauder (Guide to the Sabbat)
   Similar to the lesser Vicissitude power of Horrid Form, the Chiropteran Marauder is a terrifying, bipedal bat, bearing a wickedly fanged maw and veined, leathery wings. This power confers all of the benefits of the Horrid Form, in addition to a few others. The mere sight of the marauder is enough to make mortals or weak-willed vampires flee in horror.
   System: The vampire gains all the effects of the Horrid Form. Further, the fluted wings allow flight at 40 km/h, during which the vampire may carry, but not manipulate, objects of reasonable size. If the vampire wishes, she may make a Strength + Body Crafts (6) roll to extend bony claws at the end of the wings, where the hands would be. These claws inflict Strength + 2 aggravated damage. Also, the vampire subtracts two from the difficulties of all hearing-based Perception roll (though she adds one to vision-based Wits and Perception roll difficulties). Assuming the mantle of the Chiropteran Marauder costs three BPs.

Ecstatic Agony (Tzimisce Clanbook, Tzimisce Clanbook (Revised))
   For a Tzimisce who can experience Ecstatic Agony, pain becomes power. The more wounded she is, the more potent she becomes. The Fiend delights in every slash, punch, bullet or burn and channels her pain into physical prowess or incredible displays of Caine's Gifts.
   System: After spending two WPs, the vampire becomes even more powerful when experiencing pain. For all non-reflexive actions involving a Physical Attribute or use of a Discipline, add her wound penalties to the dice pool. For example, add two dice at the Wounded health level. As the vampire heals, this bonus wanes. Treat Incapacitated and Final Death normally. This power lasts for one scene.

Level 7
Cocoon (Guide to the Sabbat)
   The Cainite can form an opaque cocoon from blood and other fluids excreted from her body. The cocoon hardens after a few moments, turning into a tough, white shell shaped roughly like a rounded coffin. This cocoon provides considerable protection to the vampire, even shielding her from sunlight and, to a limited degree, fire.
   System: A vampire may only cocoon herself, and the process takes 10 minutes to perform. Additionally, creating a cocoon costs three BPs. The cocoon offers complete protection from sunlight, and provides a number of dice of soak equal to twice the vampire's normal Stamina (blood augmentation doesn't help) against all damage, aggravated or otherwise. It lasts as long as the Cainite wishes, and she may dissolve it into a pulpy, bloody paste az her whim, from which she emerges. A vampire contained within a cocoon may still use mental Disciplines, though they may still require eye contact or other conditions to be met.

Breath of the Dragon (Guide to the Sabbat)
   The Tzimisce becomes like one of the terrible draculs of the Old World, able to exhale a deadly gout of flame. This flame does not hurt the vampire herself, though she may become trapped in flames that start if her fire engulfs flammable objects.
   System: The flaming cloud affects a two-meter area, doing two dice of aggravated damage to any in the flames' circumference. This fire may cause combustible items to ignite, and it may ignite victims.

Earth's Vast Haven (Guide to the Sabbat)
   This power, developed in the nights when the Tzimisce were the terrible masters of Eastern Europe, allows the vampire to sink into and disperse herself through the very ground itself. Unlike the Protean power of Earth Meld, however, the vampire actually dissolves her body into the ground; nothing short of a wide-area explosion can affect him, nor may she be dug up bodily. In addition, during the nighttime hours, the vampire may see and hear everything happening in her environment through her mystical connection to the land. The mere fact that this power exists terrifies many Tzimisce, who are secretly unsure of whether or not the diablerie of their Antediluvian was successful.
   System: This power costs six BPs to activatem and it lasts as long as the vampire wishes to remain contained within the soil. As per the Cocoon, the vampire may use mental Disciplines that do not require physical solvency or eye contact. She may communicate mentally with anyone who wanders into the area under which she rests.