I always thought that the True Jerbitons are carefully and successfully hiding rock-hard (Hermetic, mundane and mixed) politics behind their dealings with arts, literature and scholarship.
They once started that way in Byzantium and continue it e. g. in the Arelat. But this is only the tip of the iceberg that Quaesitores not even suspect ... 
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Not gonna lie, the idea of a Jerbiton using enchanted paintings with like 20 Penetration and hidden from magical scrutiny with Muto Vim and is using his paintings to start some conspiracy sounds incredibly fun as an antagonist.
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Consider also Jerbitons as Troubadours or their patrons:
Perhaps people like Bertran de Born and Neidhart von Reuenthal were actually Jerbitons or Jerbiton protegées?
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I can definitely see that argument. You're not wrong, though I feel that's more of an issue than Jerbiton. I tried to solve it by having my Jerbiton painter planning to go on every single adventure if he hadn't been to the location before. For inspiration. new vistas. Wait, you're travelling by flying? I definitely want to see the Mediterranean by birdflight.
We're not biased, we hate every Transylvanian House equally.
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All do, but some do it with negative values of hate.
**House:*jerditon
Reason: they suck. either they make social companions uselesssor are juste boring ocial machies
**Concep:**tthe gandalf: they espOUSE TH TRDITIONNal atire of wizards ( pointy hat, staf...)usu little to nomagic, pass themselves as wise old fools easily deprived of their magic by all kind of superstition. Flout the line of court wizards,/ interference ( uit's only advise, yiu seee!,) but IN see them being quite useful in smooothingbtensions all obveer
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I don't. I find the 5th edition attempt to rehabilitate the House quite interesting. I often find the knee-jerk reaction of many players who see them as "the bad guys" of the Order excessive. The exact perception and goals (both the official and real ones) of House Tremere should vary from saga to saga. I find it disappointing that they seldom do.
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I don't think they are bad guys of the Order, I think they are just bad guys. Yes the "being authoritarian for the right reasons" is more interesting than previous conceptions of them but they are still the group of authoritarians in the game world. I don't like nobles or the Church hierarchy either and when I play them I play them as jerks as well, usually. For me, it is a "those (authoritarian, anti-democratic) means are never excused by the ends" sort of thing.
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House: Jerbiton
Reason: Wine-and-cheese art snobs and elitists, overly focused on a narrow section of the mundane world and underusing their House characteristic, the Gentle Gift.
Concept: Artisan of a practical to-be-determined craft, interacts with the lower classes on an accessible level. Possibly a public performer.
Reason I like this concept: The Jerbiton can interact with any mundane; this one engages with the 99%.
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Hi,
I also very much like the reflavoring of House Tremere in 5e. As with much of :TL, I believe the game mechanics need reconsidering, but I see that more as an issue of implementation than House identity, aka fluff.
The funeral oration for Tremere is perhaps the most emotional offering in AM5, setting the tone for something more, or at least other, than a cold, calculating, authoritarian cabal plotting a re-emergence into its rightful place in the sun.
Anyway,
Ken
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I also really like the reflavoring of House Tremere. My real problem with it is that the strict authoritarian teachings make it difficult for me as a storyguide to have one as a player.
Hi,
Please say more about that, because I'm curious about the difficulty.
I think it can be akin to good and bad managers in the workplace. There is room for 'light authoritarianism', less like a military hierarchy, less formal even than ST:TNG's 'military light'. Yes, the House has an org chart and magi periodically get assignments for which they are judged. But some middle managers are happy to stay out of the way, offering only as much management as is requested except when necessary.
Since the loss of 1 season per year is no longer explicitly required, the relationship between a Tremere PC and his parens/manager can be reflected in many ways. One player might choose to have a Tormenting Master and Dark Secret, reflecting a parens with tight reins on the PC in service of an insidious Tremere conspiracy. (Ok, only one story flaw, but these might go together well, as in the core rules' knight stat block.) Another player might have Mentor, Good Parens and Vis Source, because House Tremere has his back, and every now and then sends him on important and worthy quests.
Anyway,
Ken
1 Like
Sure. The problem I ran into before was the Tremere in my game had story flaws that had nothing to do with the House. This means that in addition to the normal story work I had to do, I had to also generate stuff for the house.
I need to decide what the house wants, how they're getting it, and what the Tremere player is going to do with it. If the Tremere want things in line with the Covenant, that's okay. If they want something very different, that's tricky.
But that can happen even in other Houses.
In one of the games, our covenant is based on the site of an old Bjornaer covenant. My Magi was instructed by Crintera to report on any findings
If something is uncovered that might be detrimental to the House, what could happen? Would my Magi align with his House, or his sodales?
The Core Rule gives archetypal view of what is each House, so it is easy for a ST to build stories and find antagonists. After that, it is all a matter of flavours.
For example, Tytali are depicted as troublemaker that will pester and plot against somebody, just for the sake of it. You could also see that as the one driving improvement: if it is well-designed to resist a Tytalus scheme, it will stand the test of time - I was thinking of a love/hate relationship between an Ex Miscellanea trying to organise part of his House with some hedge magicians and a Tytalus constantly interfering. But after two decades of organisation, litigation, fights and what not, when the Ex Misc presented his project of Peripheral Code amend, no objection, nor weakness was found at a Grand Tribunal. And he gave credit to his "Nemesis" for helping him built a better House - to the surprise of this one, with the unwanted benefit of making him member of House Tytalus since he finally understood what House Tytalus can do for the Order.
If the Order had been described as a well-oiled, benevolent organisation, there will be much less for PC to do. So my take regarding Ars as proposed: there is lot of room for spell and Arts improvement, for House improvement so PCs have room to grow and shape it as they want. There is enough simulation done in this forum threads to prove that very powerful magi, with long life and very high level of Arts could be able to exist, producing amazing books to help next generation to be even stronger. It is not part of the background because it will be boring and it will make PCs even less meaningful until much later in their lives.
From an organisation prospective it is the same: if the ST wants to make an oppressive machine that quenchs any initiative, he has all the tools, but he can tune the dial one way or the other and make PCs challenges more or less difficult to change the status quo.