“Oh! que ne suis-je de pierre comme toi!”
-Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Sect: Independent, Camarilla, Anarch, Sabbat (Very rare)
Free vs. Slave: Being a Gargoyle in service to the Tremere has its perks, including greater stability, the security and some of the resources of the Chantry, and even some modest instruction in Thaumaturgy if you’re a good pet and so inclined. So if you want to play a Tremere-loyal Gargoyle, go ahead. Just remember, once they’ve got you, they’re unlikely to ever let you go. As far as Free Gargoyles go, most join the fringes of the Camarilla because in one of its rare moments of altruism (kind of) the rest of the Camarilla tends to get between Gargoyles and their former masters. While the cynical might do it to get boons and other favors from these absolute units, others do it out of amazingly genuine altruism – or a common desire to spite the Tremere. Gargoyles might play simple, but they’re also canny enough to pick up on a Brujah’s hate of slavers, a Malkavian’s odd sense of compassion, a Nosferatu’s sympathy, or a Toreador’s sense of romance and milk it for all it’s worth. Their brains aren’t made of rocks… they just act like they are. It’s basically the same deal with Independent Gargoyles or the ones who join the Anarchs, they just don’t really see the benefit of doing the monkey-dance for the Camarilla.
Gargoyles in the Sabbat are rare. The ones who take the cup have generally been seriously wronged by the Tremere even beyond the norm, and they’re out for revenge.
Disciplines: There are actually several different “bloodlines” of Gargoyles stemming from the Tremere’s original creations. Gargoyles are aware of the distinctions and don’t consider them important. Tremere can tell the difference but don’t want to let the cat out of the bag about how deep their experiments went. All Gargoyles have the same susceptibility to mind control. All Gargoyles may learn Visceratika without a teacher but only the “Standard” breed pays in-clan XP costs for it. Note the alternate bloodlines do NOT have Appearance 0 as a weakness – they’re plainly not human, but they can be quite beautiful. See Lore of the Bloodlines pg. 36 for more information.
“Standard” Gargoyle: Potence, Flight, Fortitude, Visceratika – Weakness: Appearance 0. This is the most successful breed of Gargoyle but also the most monstrous.
“Scout” Gargoyle – Auspex, Flight, Obfuscate – Weakness: Doubled wound penalties due to petrification around injuries.
“Sentinel” Gargoyle – Flight, Potence, Fortitude – Weakness: All dice pools halved if lacking a friend, lover, ally, or master.
“Warrior” Gargoyle – Flight, Fortitude, Protean – Weakness: Frenzying causes temporary petrification of extremities.
Merits & Flaws:
For these Gargoyle-unique Merits and Flaws, please refer to Lore of the Bloodlines pg. 37.
Stillness of Death (2 pt. Supernatural Merit) – When you stand perfectly still, you are easily overlooked.
Heavy Hands (3 pt. Physical Merit) – When you hit someone, it really is like slugging them with a boulder.
Stone Tongue (3 pt. Flaw) – Your Gargoyle deformities make it difficult for you to speak clearly.
Blood Weakness (4 or 7 pt. Supernatural Flaw) – Gargoyles come from the fusion of three different lineages: Gangrel, Nosferatu, and Tzimisce. For 4 points, take one of those clan weaknesses in addition to your own bloodline weakness. For 7 points, take two. “Standard” Gargoyles are already considered to have the Nosferatu clan weakness for purposes of taking this Flaw.
Combination Disciplines:
For full writeups of these combination disciplines, see Lore of the Bloodlines pg. 35.
The Shoulders of Atlas (Flight OO, Potence OO) – Increase the amount you can carry and stay airborne. (12 XP)
Falconer’s Dive (Flight O, Visceratika OOOO) – Make a devastating dive from high in the air onto an enemy. (15 XP)
Carry the Mountain’s Burden (Visceratika OOOO, Fortitude OOO) – Combine your Visceratika and Fortitude powers to become a nearly impervious juggernaut. (21 XP)
I Am The Keystone (Fortitude OO, Potence OO, Visceratika OOO) Visceratika is known for Masquerade-shredding displays of toughness and strength. Masters of the Discipline can invoke changes to their body that are a bit subtler but no less devastating when unleashed at the right time. (21 XP)
Gargoyle Rituals:
Gargoyles are steeped in blood magic. They owe their existence to it, they were the slaves of its masters. To increase the effectiveness of their Gargoyle shock troops, the Tremere created rituals that could be placed on them. To better help their Gargoyles function in the field, they taught the Gargoyles these rituals so they could enchant themselves – and each other.
They pretend they forgot these tricks, if anybody even knows to ask.
Would they lie?
For more information on Gargoyle Rituals, refer to Lore of the Bloodlines, pg. 37.
Ward of the Winged Sepulcher (Level 3 Ritual) – The Gargoyle (and anyone they hold in their arms) is protected from the sunlight for a day.