| Assamites |
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Roleplaying Hints: You are a predator who preys on others of your kind. The cursed Get of Khayyin must be swayed from their path of bickering madness or be destroyed before they destroy all else. Your cause is just, and though you may not enjoy your tasks, you do your duty. You may be humorous, angry or withdrawn, but you go about your work professionally. Only by drawing on the strength of Haqim can the corrupted Kindred be fought, so you must steal their power and make sure that the clan is ready when Gehenna arrives. Khayyin was debased and had neither honor nor soul. His children share the same flaws, so they must be saved or destroyed, so that the powers of the blood are used only by the dutiful. The elders of the clan direct how to fight so that Gehenna may be survived. By following their commands and working within the strictures of the clan, you may hope to achieve some small piece of that battle.
Disciplines: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus
Advantage: Assamites are trained killers, and they are all subjected to a lengthy process of apprenticeship before the Embrace. Even those hurriedly Embraced for some reason have at least a modicum of training or skill. As a result, all Assamite characters gain one Melee Ability and one Brawl Ability at no cost during character generation. At the Storyteller's option, Assamites may be able to access weapons and equipment through their clan. Players of Assamites should not use this benefit as a replacement for the proper Mentor and Influence Backgrounds - the clan doesn't reward those who rest on their laurels at the clan's expense - but a competent assassin who needs a little specialized help may be able to gamer some additional tools from the clan's stores.
Disadvantage: With the lifting of the Tremere curse comes a renewed thirst for blood. All Assamites suffer from a hunger for vampiric vitae, one that cannot be easily controlled. Once an Assamite has tasted the blood of a particular vampire, she may become addicted to it - the player must make a Self-control/Instinct Virtue Test with a difficulty of four Traits, or the Assamite acquires a taste for the Kindred's blood. When encountering the same Kindred later, the character's player must succeed on a Self-Control / Instinct Test or fly into a frenzy, attempting to devour the other Cainite. Even if the Assamite retains control, the lust for blood is immediate and evident, and it should be role-played accordingly.
Bloodlines: Assamites generally hold allegiance only to their own clan. A few exist in the Camarilla, as loners who broke from the clan; the Sabbat also claims antitribu, who differ from the rest of the clan only in that they never allowed themselves to be subjected to the (now-defunct) Tremere curse. In the Assamite homelands and fortresses exists a line of viziers who research blood magic and the nature of vampirism. Assamite vizier researchers gain Thaumaturgy as a Discipline instead of Celerity, but they must expend an additional Blood Trait on all uses of Thaumaturgy (in addition to their weakness for Kindred vitae), as their control of blood magic is not as refined as the Tremere's. This flaw comes in the viziers' magical practices; should another Cainite somehow learn Thaumaturgy from a vizier, all effects of the Discipline would be similarly difficult to cast, with the increased blood cost. Viziers also gain one Occult Ability Trait in place of either the free Melee or Brawl Trait (player's choice as to which).