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The Tremere Clan Combines Magic and Vampirism in ‘Bloodlines 2’
Paradox have revealed the next vampire clan, The Tremere, for their upcoming RPG set in the World of Darkness realm in Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2. They join the Brujah and Thinblood Clans for hold of the Seattle streets.
The Tremere have learned to control a vampire’s blood (called Vitae), and combined it with magic to use it as a powerful weapon. Tremere blood magic comes in two forms: One is called Auspex, which provides heightened awareness and the ability to detach one’s consciousness from their body, and the other is Thaumaturgy, or destructive blood magic.
Using Auspex abilities is allowed within the Masquerade (the rules that demand vampires conceal themselves amongst humanity), but using Thaumaturgy abilities in view of witnesses violates the Masquerade.
For Auspex, Paradox has revealed two abilities so far. Aura Sense enables the vampire to spot NPCs through walls, read crowds at a glance, and mark individuals to keep them in their sights over long distances. It also enables the vampire to spot the weaknesses in a marked NPC’s attack and defence. Psychic Projection detaches the vampire’s mind from their body, allowing them to explore the area in astral form, remaining free to use Aura Sight to mark any character they spot. In addition, the vampire’s mastery of their own senses allows them to telepathically overwhelm the senses of others for a short while.
As for Thaumaturgy, it reads like something out of Scarlet’s handbook from the Mortal Kombat series. Skewer launches a small portion of the vampire’s blood at the feet of their enemies, where it erupts in a patch of razor-sharp spikes. Purge allows the vampire to make their victims vomit blood, damaging them heavily. And Blood Boil allows players to cast Purge for a second time on an affected NPC, causing the blood in all their veins to sear, making the victim explode. Bystanders in the area will be damaged as a result. As with all Thaumaturgy, blood from each victim streams back to the caster.
You can read up on more of the Tremere reveal over at VentureBeat.
Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 will hit PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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