Animalism
This collection of powers serves as a primal link between the Beast that lurks in the
souls of all Kindred and the wild spirit of the natural order of things. while some might see
the Kindred as unnatural, in truth, they occupy a very vital niche in the ecology of the
World of Darkness. Especially to the Gangrel, this Discipline represents the Kindred’s
ability to remain in touch with and understand their role in nature’s vast scheme.
Basic
Feral Whispers
By looking into the eyes of an animal and perhaps making some related sound
(like growling or hissing), you are capable of communicating with the creature.
Your predatory nature allows you to understand and cow natural creatures. Depending
on your predilections, you may deal with the animal equitably, or you
may demand obedience. The animal may not wish to obey, but this Discipline’s
power insures that the animal is at least favorably disposed toward you. Even if
the animal is intractable, you may be able to force it into submission.
Using this power requires that you look into the eyes of the creature with which you
desire to communicate; if this gaze is lost, then you must attempt to re-establish contact
if you wish to continue communicating. Most animals will continue to attend your
gaze while you are communicating with them, though. Animals without eyes, or very
simple in nature, do not have enough of a mind or Beast to connect with easily. This
power works best with predatory creatures and larger birds, reptiles and mammals.
You may communicate with animals by winning a static social challenge set by a narrator.
However, to issue commands, you must defeat the animal in a Social Challenge — generally,
The animal will have the equivalent of six to eight Traits for this challenge, as determined
by a Narrator. If you succeed, you can count on the animal following
your orders for the remainder of the evening. Most animals lack the intelligence
necessary to carry out complex or conditional commands, but they can perform
simple tasks like fetching, following people or guarding locations.
The Beckoning
You can issue a compelling siren’s song to nearby animals. Almost any type of
animal ordinarily found within your current locale may be called, but you must declare
what you are calling when you activate the Discipline.
Generally, it costs one Social Trait to summon an animal, but a Narrator may
issue a higher cost for larger, rarer or more unruly animals. As a rule, the summoned
animal will arrive in 10 to 30 minutes. The animal can be represented by a card that
should usually be displayed prominently.
Intermediate
Drawing Out the Beast
Your mastery over the Beast Within is superb. Through your keen understanding
of predatory nature and the ability to influence other creatures, you can
draw out your own Beast, pushing your frenzy on others. Animals and ghouls
are favored targets for this power, turning them into killing machines, but you
can attempt to exert your Beast on anyone.
You must be on the verge of frenzy to use this Discipline. You exert this power
in lieu of making any Virtue Test to control your frenzy. Instead, you make a Social
Challenge against any individual within your line of sight. Doing so does not cost an
action; you may attempt this feat any time that you are about to frenzy. If you win, your
frenzy is transferred to the victim. The hapless recipient immediately enters frenzy and
even manifests some of your personality, habits and speech patterns (which should be
roleplayed — typically, characters with the Investigation Ability may recognize your
mannerisms in the victim). The victim remains in a normal frenzy, while you are unaffected
and unable to frenzy for the duration. Should the victim die while frenzied, though,
the screaming Beast immediately returns to you, requiring you to make a Virtue Test or
to exercise this power again. If you lose, you instead frenzy immediately with no Virtue
Test, and you are unable to fight against your frenzy with Willpower Traits.
While the Beast is loosed in a victim, you remain complacent and placid.
However, if the victim leaves your sight before the frenzy is over, you lose your
Beast, you cannot use Willpower Traits and you gain the Negative Traits Submissive x 2.
You must find the recipient of your Beast and “convince” the Beast to return by acting in
a monstrous fashion, or else kill the victim so that the Beast returns automatically.
Subsume the Spirit
Locking eyes with an animal, you can now move your consciousness into
its body, dominating it completely. Your soul pushes aside the animal’s weaker
spirit, and your own body falls into a comatose state, while your spirit uses the
animal as a vessel. Though influenced by the animal’s bestial nature, you can
still exercise your intellect and even some of your supernatural capabilities.
You are limited by the physical constraints of any animal that you possess
— your physical Disciplines do not augment the creature, nor do you have the
ability to speak or manipulate objects if that is normally outside of the animal’s
physical capabilities. However, you can use the animal’s natural abilities, such
as claws, wings, poison and gills.
There is no functional limit to the distance at which you can exercise this Discipline
once you have possessed an animal — you may move freely in the animal’s body,
even in sunlight (subject to the normal restrictions for remaining awake during the
day), without concern for your vampiric form. However, you are not automatically
aware of what transpires around your comatose body. If your animal form suffers
injury, your vampiric body suffers equal sympathetic injury; if the animal body is
slain, your soul returns to your body and you enter torpor. Should you choose to
leave the animal’s body for your own, this happens regardless of distance as long as
you are conscious. However, you must declare this intent at the beginning of the
turn and survive until the end of the turn (if you are in combat or other dangerous
situations). Fleeing the animal body does not require an action; you may still act
normally in the turn that you intend to return to your body. If you are injured (without
being knocked unconscious) while attempting to return to your own body, you
must make a Simple Test — a tie indicates that you remain in the grip of animalistic
behavior for the rest of the scene, and a failure causes you to immediately enter
frenzy, though in both cases you return to your Cainite form automatically.
1 Trait Simple possession
2 Traits Can use Auspex
3 Traits Can also use Presence and Animalism
4 Traits Can also use Dementation and Dominate
5 Traits Can also use Chimerstry, Necromancy and Thaumaturgy
If your vampiric body dies while you inhabit an animal’s form, you can try
to remain in the animal body. Each sunrise, you must make a Simple Test (win
or tie). If you lose, your spirit plunges into the astral realms, gone forever. Thus,
you have only a short time to survive.
Exercising this power requires that you gaze into the eyes of the beast that
you intend to possess (if the animal has no eyes, you may not possess it). You
must then expend Social Traits to move into the animal’s body. The more Social
Traits you choose to expend, the more complete your connection to the animal
form. With simple possession, you direct the body as you choose; more complete
dominance allows you to use some of your own Disciplines while in the body.
Once you have used this power, you suffer from some of the animal’s habits
and instincts. For each Social Trait expended on the possession, you suffer from
one Negative Trait of Feral. These Traits remain until you overcome the animal’s
behavior patterns by expending Willpower Traits — one Willpower Trait for each
Negative Trait removed. You should roleplay the animal’s mannerisms, even after
returning to your own body, until you have managed to remove these Negative
Traits, although you can slowly overcome them by spending Willpower Traits
over time (you need not try to overcome all of the Feral habits at once).
Advanced
Embrace the Beast
This level of Animalism allows the user to tap the dark and brutal wellspring of power
that lies in the souls ofthe Kindred, transforming her into a ferocious, unrestrained monster.
While under the influence of Embrace the Beast, the character is not affected by
Dominate, Presence or Beast Within. Furthermore, for the duration of the power, the
character gains the Physical Traits: Ferocious and Relentless. The Discipline is not
without its drawbacks, however. The character may not initiate any Mental or Social
Challenges (except for Intimidation). Additionally, the character temporarily gains
the Derangement: Crimson Rage. If she already has this Derangement, it becomes
very active for thedurationofthe Discipline’suse. It costsoneMentalTrait toactivate
this Discipline. The Discipline comes to an end either at the end of the evening or
session or upon completion of the character’s first physical confrontation.
Arachnidia
Basic
Touch of Venom
You are able to produce venom from poison sacks under your fingernails. Wounds caused in hand to hand combat by raking with your nails will cause aggravated damage. When you learn this level of Arachnidia, your fingernails automatically become hard like glass, and take on a black oily sheen. Once used, the venom sacks must be refilled, which costs one blood trait. Mortals injected with this venom immediately become paralyzed, and will die within 10 minutes unless they receive medical attention. Supernatural Mortals may make a static physical challenge to not be affected by the venom.
Heart of the Spider
This level grants two abilities:
You are able to crawl across any surface that will support your weight. Thus you could crawl up a wall and upside down across the ceiling. You must have bare hands to use this power. No challenge is necessary as long as you don’t exceed crawling speed. To move faster, you must win a static physical challenge vs. 6 traits.
You may also jump for long distances. At no cost, you may jump the distance of your Physical Traits + 3 in feet. For combat purposes, count each step as 2.5 feet, and round up to the next step in favor of the user of Arachnidia.
Intermediate
The Weaver’s Gift
You may spin webs from special glands hidden in your arms. These spinnerets may be used to create webbing similar to that of a spider, although on a much grander scale. You may use this webbing to seal things off, capture opponents, or lower yourself from heights. To ensnare a target, you must declare your intent, and then win two sequential physical challenges against your target. An ensnared target may take no action other than soaking. To break from the ensnare, on their action the ensnared must win a physical challenge vs. the user’s physical traits, and “ levels of Potence” of the user. Other Arachnids are immune to the effects of the Weaver’s Gift, and may pass through such webbing with little difficulty.
Creeping Horde
You may transform yourself into an oozing swarm of spiders. In this form you may crawl, with ease, across any surface, and may slip through even the tiniest of openings. The transformation requires the expenditure of 1 blood and takes 5 minutes to complete. Alternately, you may spend 3 blood traits to transform instantaneously. While in this from you gain the Physical Traits: Quick, Nimble, and Tenacious. As a swarm of spiders you may not use any social traits, and the jumping benefits gained by “Heart of the Spider” are lost.
Advanced
Form of the Spider
The Master of Arachnidia may now take the form of a huge, grotesque spider. In this form, previous Arachnidia powers are all increased. The user may now jump twice the distance of their physical traits in one action, and are not reduced to crawling speed on vertical and horizontal surfaces. Only one test is needed to ensnare an opponent with “The Weaver’s Gift”. Using “Touch of Venom” may only be done by biting a target. In order to bite, the user must either ensnare their opponent with “The Weaver’s Gift”, or win a physical challenge to grapple their opponent into position before biting, with poison effects as per “Touch of Venom”. While in this form, you gain the Physical Traits: Quick, Nimble, and Tenacious, and it may not be used in conjunction with “Creeping Horde”.
Auspex
Auspex encompasses the vast array of expanded sensory powers that some
Kindred experience and can develop upon the Embrace. Most Kindred fortunate
enough to possess this power find it exceptionally useful not only in night-to-night
survival, but also in appreciating the beauty of their surroundings. The Toreador, in
particular, delight in this last aspect.
Basic
Heightened Senses
You can enhance one of your senses to access a world of sensory input most people
will never enjoy. The character can use Heightened Senses to spy on conversations,
see in inky (but not complete) darkness, read letters by touch, identify an individual’s
scent or pick up telltale tastes. The Discipline can intensify any sense, but only one
sense can be magnified at any time.
A Storyteller may determine that a Mental Challenge is necessary for particularly
difficult tasks. Additionally, if the character is bombarded by a large amount of
sensory input while using this Discipline (i.e. loud music, bright light or an overpowering
stench), she will totally lose the sense in question for 15 minutes.
Aura Perception
Halos of energy surround sentient beings and shift constantly to reflect their mental
and emotional states. A Kindred with Aura Perception has honed her senses to such a
degree that she can perceive and interpret these auras. By winning a Static Mental
Challenge, with a difficulty equal to the target’s number of Mental Traits, you may
demand that the target answer one of the following sorts of questions honestly: “What
is your Demeanor?”, “Have you committed diablerie (within the last six months)?”,
“What is your current emotional state (brief summary)? “, “Was the last thing you said
a lie?“, or “What sort of creature are you?” (human, Kindred, Garou, mage, spirit, faerie,
mummy, etc.). Additional uses of this Discipline will allow additional questions.
Intermediate
Spirit’s Touch
This Discipline allows you to sense the residual energies and impressions
remaining on an object after it has been handled or touched. Specific information,
such as the identity of the individual, her emotional and/or mental state and her
perceptions, may be acquired by using this Discipline.
Various factors, such as brief contact, multiple handlers and the unusual nature
of the handler or object, can dramatically affect the use of this Discipline. In some
strange cases, no impressions may be present at all (at the direction of a Storyteller).
Curiously enough, Kindred using Obfuscation powers leave no impressions. If the
possessor of the object is nearby, the character may question him and he must answer
honestly. Often, however, Spirit’s Touch will require a Storyteller’s assistance to use.
Telepathy
You have honed your preternatural senses to such a degree that you can actually receive
and transmit thoughts. Be forewarned, though-many of the things buried within the minds
of others are best left untouched. With effort, you can even force your way into stubborn
minds, but a voluntary subject makes the task less difficult and less unpleasant for both parties.
You can use this Discipline to communicate privately with a willing subject (or more
than one). Roleplay this communication by passing notes or holding a quiet side conversation
that cannot be “overheard” except by Telepathy or similar powers. (In order to
accomplish this effect, other players are expected to ignore the note-passing or conversation.
However, characters with Telepathy automatically notice something unusual going on and
can attempt a Mental Challenge against either player to listen in on the conversation.)
You can also use Telepathy to spy on a subject, access surface thoughts or discern
the truth. If you defeat your subject in a Mental Challenge, you can ask the victim one
“yes or no” or short answer question about any subject or conversation in which the
victim is currently engaged, and the subject must answer truthfully.
Individuals possessing active Derangements may bid them as Mental Traits when
subjected to involuntary Telepathy. Each Derangement bid in this fashion requires the
telepath to bid an additional Mental Trait, representing the difficulty of reading such a
twisted mind. If the defender opts to bid one or more of her active Derangements against
the telepath and wins the challenge, she infects the aggressor with her madness. The
telepath must now either spend a Willpower Trait or actively play out one of the
Derangements bid for 30 minutes. Unfortunately for the defender, the telepath is now
acutely aware of the defender’s Derangement and may use it against her in the future.
Advanced
Psychic Projection
With a conscious mental exertion, you can safely sever the bound between your
spirit and your body. In this state, your invisible spirit may travel incorporally through
the physical world. Mundane barriers cannot hold you, but supernatural ones, such as
pentagrams and wards, are another matter entirely. Individuals with highly advanced
sensory powers (such as Heightened Senses, Telepathy and the like) may realize
something is amiss, but must still win a Mental Challenge to perceive you.
Exercising Psychic Projection is not without its dangers. Yourbody is left helpless and inert
during your sojourn. Furthermore, your ability to interact with the physical world is greatly
diminished. You cannot, for example, stop or interfere with physical actions occurring around
you. A Kindred can only use senso~yD isciplines, such as Aura Perception,H eightened Senses
(sight and sound only) and Telepathy. The only powers that may be used against you are those
that affect the spirit or mind, and even then, the attacker must first be able to perceive your
presence. Ifyou wish tobecome visible andcommunicate with asingle individual in the physical
world, you may do so at a a t of one Mental Trait for every 10 minutes.
Bardo
The Discipline of Bardo allows the Children of Osiris to protect themselves and
others against the forces of evil without using the enemy’s techniques. Bardo is a
largely preventive Discipline, intended more to shore up defenses and to heal psychic
wounds than to be wielded as an offensive weapon.
Basic
Restore Humanitas
This Discipline allows the Child of Osiris to purge herself or another of a Beast
Trait. It is only possible to do this for others if it is a Trait they recently gained (within
the last few weeks). The Child must spend one Willpower Trait and meditate or sit
out ofgame for one half-hour. She must not contact or speak to any other players while
out. To purge someone else’s Beast Trait, the subject must spend one Willpower Trait
and the Child must spend one Mental Trait.
Banishing Sign of Thoth
This Discipline allows the Child to defend herself from other vampiric Disciplines.
To evoke this power, she must make the appropriate gesture where her
opponent can see it. She may engage in a retest by spending one Trait that is
appropriate to the challenge. The Discipline wards against Thaumaturgy, Dominate,
Presence and Auspex.
Intermediate
Boon of Anubis
This Discipline allows the Child to protect amortal from the Embrace, but not from
becoming a ghoul. To effect the Boon of Anubis, the Child must spend a Willpower
Trait; win or tie a Simple Test with a Narrator and meditate or sit out of game for one
half-hour. Neither the mortal nor the vampire will be aware the mortal has not become
a vampire until she wakes from her first sleep. This power must be used before or during
the mortal’s Embrace - it will not work after the Embrace has been given.
Mummification Ritual
This ritual allows the Child to cause torpor in a vampire for any given length of
time. It is normally used to eliminate those who are evil and corrupt without causing
Final Death. The Children have quite a collection of such vampires, some rumored
to be Sabbat, whom they store for safekeeping.
To effect this ritual, the victim must first be incapacitated. Then the Child must
retire to a private place with the victim for one hour to perform the ritual. Others may
be present, but the Child must be left undisturbed. To successfully place the victim in
torpor, the Child must win a Mental Challenge or spend two Willpower Traits to
circumvent failure.
Advanced
Ra’s Blessing
The Child may engage in two hours of meditation or spend two Willpower Traits
to evoke this blessing. Ra’s Blessing enables the Child to withstand sunlight for as
many hours as she is willing to spend Willpower Traits to do so. The first hour of
immunity costs two hours of meditation or two Willpower Traits, while additional
hours cost only one hour of meditation or one Willpower Trait per hour.
Celerity
After the Embrace, many vampires benefit from a variety of amazing physical
improvements. One of these is the Discipline of Celerity. This power reflects the
Kindred’s mastery of her form in the areas of speed and quickness.
When employed against a foe with an equivalent degree of Celerity, many of the
advantages of this Discipline are negated. For example, an attacker with Swiftness would
still get her bonus attack against a foe who also possessed Swiftness (as would the foe),
but neither suffers from the Trait penalties. In any case, each combatant using Celerity
still gets his total number of attacks. Also, a character using her Celerity to evoke a “Fair
Escape” can be intercepted by a foe with an equal or greater degree of Celerity.
Basic
Alacrity
You possess a supernatural degree of speed and coordination that outstrips both
normal mortals and your fellow Kindred.
If you are aware of an upcoming physical threat, you may spend a Blood Trait to
preempt the actions with a physical action of your own. Some examples of such threats
include: melee attacks, falling objects, gunfire, oncoming cars or thrown objects.
Examples of preemptive actions are: drawing a gun of your own, moving out of the path
of a falling object, and so on.
Using Alacrity, you may also apply the “Fair Escape” rule against foes who do not
have at least an equivalent degree of Celerity. This costs one Blood Trait to activate.
Swiftness
You can move with a shocking degree of speed. To a character using Swiftness,
slower foes and bystanders often appear to be standing still.
Swiftness allows you to add your Celerity levels to your Movement rating and Dodge
traits during combat rounds for each action that you take.
Intermediate
Rapidity
With time and experience, you have outstripped the fledging power of Swiftness.
What was once merely dazzling speed is now a mindnumbing blur of motion. In a
moment’s notice, you can burst into a whirlwind of destruction, crippling, if not
slaying, a slower opponent.
Rapidity allows you to make a follow-up attack against a foe in physical combat.
To do so, you must declare that you are activating Swiftness (an obvious breach of the
Masquerade) before making a bid and expending a Blood Trait. The first challenge is
then carried out as normal. Afterwards, if you are able, while using Swiftness, you may
attempt an immediate followup challenge. Foes who do not have or have not activated
Swiftness can only defend themselves in this challenge -they cannot harm the user
of the Discipline in any way, nor in this followup challenge can they use any Traits
that they had bid in the prior challenge(s), even if they did not lose them.
Using this Discipline, you may also expend a Blood Trait to cut in-game travel
times in half.
Legerity
Moving faster than the human eye can track, you blur across the landscape
with the speed of a cheetah. Compared to you, bystanders are statues.
Legerity allows you to add your Celerity levels to your Intuitive rating and Defense
traits during combat rounds for each action that you take.
Advanced
Fleetness
Your feats of speed defy ordinary logic. To the average observer, you almost
disappear when your form explodes into motion. The roar of wind in your passing
extinguishes small flames and causes loose clothing to whip about.
The character may make two extra challenges when employing Fleetness.
Otherwise, the power is the same as Rapidity, including cost. If used to cut travel time,
the time is reduced to one-fourth.
Chimerstry
This is the Ravnos Discipline ofdeceit and trickery and represents their ability tocreate
illusions and hallucinations. While using Chimerstry, keep this basic rule of thumb in mind:
A vampire cannot create an illusion that she cannot sense. Thus, a blindfolded vampire
cannot create a visual illusion, but could create a tactile one if she herself could touch it.
Basic
Minor Illusion
You can create a simple, static (i.e., immobile) illusion that affects only one sense.
While this illusion is not real and cannot cause physical harm, with a successful Social
Challenge, it canbeusedtotrickordeceiveothers.The illusionlastsforaslong asyouwant
it to, until you leave the vicinity, or until your opponent succeeds in a Social Challenge.
This illusion only affects one person.
Crowd of Fools
Intermediate
Complex Illusion
You can create a complex illusion that moves, looks and sounds like the real
thing. However, because it is still not actually there, others can pass through it. As
above, you must defeat your opponent in a successful Social Challenge and must also
expend a Mental Trait to create the illusion.
This illusion only affects one person.
Mass Illusion
Advanced
Horrid Reality
You can now create illusions so realistic that you can even harm others with
them. If your opponent believes the illusion to be real, she will treat it as real: an
illusory fire will bum her, an artificial wall will stop her and a fake bullet will wound
her. Again, you must defeat your opponent in a Social Challenge and expend both a
Willpower and a Mental Trait.
This illusion only affects one person.
Daphneism
Basic:
Cloak of Plant:
You may hide among the plants without being seen, even a small potted plant will do.
Use basic rules and cost of the Visceratika power: Skin of the Chameleon.
Root Meld:
You can now meld into large tree root or patches of smaller plant roots to hide. You must be touching the roots first, by digging in the dirt or other means, to activate. Unlike Protean’s “Earth Meld, you have complete senses of what happens around the plants you’re in, though if the plant take damage, so do you.
Intermediate:
Tendrils:
You may now change your arms at the elbow into 3 feet long tendrils to attack and/or hold an opponent. If attacking with the tendrils, damage is aggravated. It cost 1 blood trait to activate tendrils, and you may spend 2 additional blood traits to make the tendrils 10 feet long. Tendrils are immune to sunlight, and may be used while the user is hiding in “Root Meld”, though location of the hiding user inside the plant will be obvious.
Advanced:
Immobile Thorn:
By spending 2 blood traits you can make a thorn that when it pricks a targets body, you may touch the thorn to the target or throw it, renders them paralyzed and into almost a tree-like physical state. Spend an amount of WP for the length of the paralysis and an amount of mental traits for static challenges vs. the target if his paralyzed. 0 WP = 1 hour, 1 WP = 1 Day,
2 = 3 days, 3 = week, 4 = 2 weeks. 5 = 1 month, 6 = 3 months. The only way the target may escape is to spend a WP and do a static mental challenge vs. the spent mental traits the caster initially expanded. While immobilized, the targat rapidly grow plant/tree like features which make him completely look like a semi-humanoid looking rooted tree. Mortals and some supernaturals may starve to death since you can't eat, and vampire may fall in torpor, but sunlight can't harm them in this form. The victim is aware of only little around them (narrator info), but if threaten by Final Death, and victim immediatly awakens. Health levels are double in this form, and it takes 15 min per extra level to fall off the victim, like sheding bark.
Dementation
The Discipline of Dementation allows Malkavian antitribu to induce their own
mental state in others. Hallucinations, confusion, increased perception and Derangements
- all these go a long way towards distracting, discrediting or otherwise
befuddling mortals and other Kindred. Note that Malkavian antitribu keep this
Discipline a closely guarded secret, not having been known to teach it to any outsiders.
Basic
Mind Tricks
You can induce minor hallucinations, but cannot control what your victim sees.
To use Mind Tricks, find a Storyteller and engage in a Mental Challenge. If you win,
your victim is affected in whatever way the Storyteller chooses (fear, disorientation
and temporary Trait loss are common). This is an excellent distraction technique.
You cannot use this Discipline simultaneously with any physical action that
would distract you from concentrating on the target. In other words, you could use this
Discipline while walking slowly toward the victim, but not while running furiously
away from, actively fighting or throwing an object at him.
As aforementioned, you must perform a Mental Challenge. If you wish to invoke
this in a sneaky way (since it is difficult to tell who the source is), the Storyteller may
perform the test with the victim and simply inform you of the result. This Discipline
cannot be consciously resisted; either it works or it doesn't.
Lunacy Within
Your affinity with the madness of the Kindred gives you some power over
it in others. In particular, you can draw upon a victim’s “true” nature and force him
to give in to this darker side.
This Discipline allows you to activate one of an opponent’s Derangements (the victim
chooses which one) if you can defeat him in a Social Challenge. You need not know any of
your target’s Derangements, but if you do, you need not risk one of your Social Traits when
trying to activate that particular Derangement (knowing his Derangement talces the place
of your Social Trait during your initial bid). If you should fail in the attempt to use Lunacy
Within against a target, you may not try to use it again on her that evening. If no derangement
is present, the target goes into frenzy.
Intermediate
Confusion
Confusion allows you to completely befuddle anyone who is paying you direct
attention. Victims have trouble remembering their names, where they are and what
they are doing. If attacked while confused, they can still defend themselves.
By winning a Mental Challenge, you completely bewilder the victim for five
minutes. If you win a second Mental Challenge against the victim, you may spend
Mental Traits to increase the duration of the victim's confusion: This extension costs
one Mental Trait per additional five minutes. Spending three Mental Traits would
result in a total of 20 minutes of confusion for the victim.
Eyes of Chaos
This Discipline allows you to perceive an individual's true Nature and/or any
patterns of insanity inherent in her personality. Patterns of insanity include Derangements,
Beast or Path Traits and possibly Negative Traits if the character does not
possess any of the aforementioned personality quirks or Traits.
This Discipline requires you to win one Mental Test for each item you wish to
perceive. The first test might be for the victim's true Nature, the next for one
Derangement or Beast Trait and so on.
Advanced
Total Insanity
Using Total Insanity, you can afflict your victim with five Storyteller-chosen
Derangements for 10 minutes. Victims in this state cannot initiate Mental Challenges
and should be encouraged to play out the Derangements within the context of the story.
To inflict Total Insanity, you must win a Mental Challenge against the victim
and spend one Willpower Trait for every 10 minutes of complete insanity you wish
your victim to experience.
Dominate
One of the legendary powers of vampires is their ability to control the thoughts and action
of others. The Discipline is partly responsible for this legend. Unlike its sister power, Presence,
Dominate affects the conscious and sometimes unconscious mental facilities of a target.
To Dominate, you must first establish eye contact with the target. Even so much as
a brief meeting of the eyes is enough to fulfill this requirement, about which players are
expected to exercise a degree of honesty. Orders issued with Dominate must be verbal and
clearly comprehensible to the target - or you may issue the commands using Telepathy.
Note that Dominate’s one major limitation is that it is totally ineffective against
Kindred of a lower generation than the user of the Discipline.
Basic
Command
This Discipline is a form of mind control focused through a piercing gaze and
commanding voice. If you can catch the eyes of another player, you can attempt to
exert your considerable mental control over her.
To employ this Discipline, you must first defeat your opponent in a Mental
Challenge, then issue a single simple command to your subject, such as “sleep,” “stop,”
“freeze," "sit" or “leave” (“Silence!” is also acceptable). The command cannot be
blatantly suicidal or self-destructive, but it may drastically violate the subject’s Nature
or Demeanor. In any case, the effects of the command cannot last more than 10 minutes.
Forgetful Mind
You can use your mental powers to warp the conscious and unconscious
memories of a victim. After defeating another character in a Mental Challenge, you
may add, alter or eliminate memories concerning a single event. The extent of the
information can be as limited as the color of someone’s underwear or as encompassing
as the entire experiences of a 15-minute period in the subject’s life.
Intermediate
Mesmerism
By staring into someone’s eyes, you can creep insidiously into her mind and plant
subtle suggestions to direct and guide her behavior. These mental time bombs are
hidden within the target’s mind until a trigger event occurs.
Using this Discipline requires that you first defeat your subject in a Mental
Challenge. Even if a suggestion is planted, your victim will ignore the order if it poses
a clear threat to her life. You may only implant one suggestion in a given individual’s
mind at any one time. Furthermore, both the trigger and the suggestion must be
concise and easily understandable. Some examples include:
Triggers:
-Upon seeing a particular person, item or place
-Upon hearing a certain word or sound
-At a precise time
-After performing a specific action
Suggest ions:
-Behave in a bizarre or inappropriate manner
-Deliver a brief spoken message
-Experience a single emotion
-Suddenly “recall” planted information
The target subconsciously retains these details until the suggestion is triggered,
but will not be able to explain why she performed the action. Once the suggestion is
carried out, the Mesmerism is lifted.
Conditioning
Your powers of mental manipulation have reached such a level of prowess that
you are now capable of completely reprogramming a target. The process involves a
great deal of time and effort, but the results are astounding and practically irreversible.
The end product is a fanatically loyal if somewhat dull servant. Your degree of control
can even challenge the supposedly infallible power of the Blood Bond.
To begin the process, you must have complete access to the victim for the full duration
of three consecutive evenings. During thii time, you slowly erode the will of the subject,
eventually replacing it with your own. To do so, you must defeat the subject in three
consecutive Mental Challenges (one per night).Once accomplished, you must permanently
expend a Mental Trait. If one of the challenges is unsucc&l, the entire process fails.
The resultant degree of control is intense. Foremost among the effects is a
permanent and automatic command, wherein the subject carries out even the most
self-destructive of orders. Furthermore, the conditioned victim gains three Willpower
Traits for the sole purpose of resisting control and manipulation that would cause her
to perform actions counterproductive to her master’s wishes. If a previous Blood Bond
exists, the Regnant and the Kindred who conditioned the subject must engage in a
Mental Challenge (out of character) every time the two issue contradictory orders.
On the downside, the subject is little more than a pale automaton lacking free
will, imagination and creativity. She is not without hope, however; this selfsame
power can be used to restore the subject to normal, albeit at great risk.
Over the course of three nights, the reprogrammer must win three Mental
Challenges. The Storyteller bases the difficulty of these challenges on such factors as the
length of time and how intensely the subject was controlled. The subject’s bonus
Willpower Traits will come into play here to resist the would-be savior. If the
reprogrammer fails just one of these tests, the subject’s mind is permanently shattered,
leaving her a vegetable. If successful, however, the reprogrammer only needs to expend
a Willpower Trait to reaffkn the subject’s identity and undo the effectsof the Discipline.
Advanced
Possession
This Discipline allows you to forcibly inject your consciousness into another’s
body, suppressing his existing will and personality. In doing so, you gain complete
physical control of your host’s body, while leaving your body completely inert and
vulnerable. Moreover, while in a foreign body, you will find yourself subject to its
physical limitations; you may not use any of your Physical Disciplines or any of the
host’s Mental or Social Disciplines or faculties.
To Possess someone, you must first touch and then defeat your victim in a Mental
Challenge. If successful, the original body falls over, apparently lifeless, and your
consciousness immediately takes over the victim. You may remain in the host’s body
until sunrise, when you must retum to your own form. If your body has been destroyed,
you suffer Final Death. During the course of the Possession, the victim is totally
unaware of her condition and surroundings.
Spiritually empty but physically viable bodies, such as the bodies of those
Psychically Projecting or currently Possessing others, cannot resist Possession. However,
when the Projectingspirit tries toretum to its body, youmust succeed inaMenta1
Challenge to retain control.
When you fail a Mental Challenge to possess a body, you become extremely
disoriented. You cannot control your body or concentrate for a full minute, during
which time you are very vulnerable to physical and mental attacks.
As a game effect, characters possessing the bodies of other characters should
adopt the appropriate dress and trappings of the host body. Additionally, a name badge
or label could be employed to signify the change.
Fortitude
All Kindred possess an amazing constitution, supplemented by gradual regeneration
and an immunity to aging and most diseases. Kindred with Fortitude possess an even
greater degree of toughness. Considering the numerous destructive forces a vampire can
and probably will encounter in her long life, Fortitude can prove to be a tremendous asset.
Basic
Endurance
This level of Fortitude represents your ability to shrug off the effects of damage,
Including damage caused by fire or sunlight. With it, you can ignore the side effects of being
Wounded or Incapacitated- you are not out of play until you reach Torpor or Final Death.
This Discipline costs nothing to use and is automatically activated when needed.
Mettle
Because your form has been hardened against the dangers and threats of the world, you
gain an additional wound level, which is recorded on your character sheet. You can temporarily
lose and heal back this wound level just like any other, and you use it as a second “Healthy.”
Intermediate
Resilience
You are highly resistant to harm and injury from all sources, including the
traditional banes of your breed -fire and sunlight. While excessive or persistent forces
can still bring an end to your immortal existence, this does not come about easily.
Whenever you suffer aggravated wounds, you may try to reduce them to ordinary
wounds once per wound level taken. You must spend a n appropriate Physical Trait (Stalwart,
Resilient, etc.) and win a Simple Test for each wound resisted. Thus, if you suffered three
aggravated wounds at once, you could attempt toreduce each of them separately to ordmay
wounds by spending three appropriate Traits and winning three Simple Tests.
Resistance
Your vampiric endurance far surpasses that of any mortal, or even most
other Cainites. You shrug off injury without noticeable effect. Blows that would
stagger or kill a mortal may not even scratch you.
When you suffer lethal or bashing damage, you may make a Simple Test
immediately to avoid some of the damage. If you succeed, you remove one
level of the damage from the amount suffered. Before making the test, you may
choose to expend a stamina-related Physical Trait, allowing you to avoid a level
of damage on a win or tie. Otherwise, you must win the test outright. Use of
Resistance is reflexive; it does not count as an action.
You may use this Discipline after reducing aggravated damage with Resilience,
attempting to negate or reduce the damage entirely. Thus, if you suffer two health
levels of aggravated damage from sunlight, you can test to reduce one to lethal
damage with Resilience, and if successful, you may then attempt to remove that lethal
damage with Resistance. You may only attempt this Discipline once on any given
source of damage, so if you suffer two or more levels of damage from a single attack,
you may only attempt to reduce a single level of damage from that attack.
Advanced
Aegis
Your ability to survive the hostile forces of the world has surpassed mere physical
resilience; it takes a truly monumental and unrelenting force to destroy you. In the face
of annihilation, you can call upon deep reserves of tenacity, enabling you to shrug off
fatal injuries.
When you suffer a result in a challenge that would destroy you, or if you encounter a
lethal situation (such as direct exposure to sunlight), you may permanently expend either
three Physical or one Willpower Trait to avoid destruction. If directly exposed to sunlight,
you remain unhmed for five minutes. The damage is not inflicted - its results are ignored.
Indeed, thase witnessing this Discipline often find it hard to believe that any creature could
survive. Many will assume the character is destroyed unless given cause to believe otherwise.
Luminas da Dea
Basic
Eyes of the Apocalypse
By looking into a targets eyes and winning a direct Mental challenge, the Nephilim can show her victim a glimpse of their own personal apocolypse, freezing them in a state of fear. This power lasts three rounds or until the target is placed in immediate danger.
Heaven's Fury / Fires of Hades
By winning a Mental challenge versus her targets Physical, the Nephilim may hurl an orb of Holy light / Infernal energy from her hands. This orb does one point of Aggravated damage and has a range of thirty yards.
Intermediate
Divine Flight / Demonic Flight
The Nephilim may grow large feathery / bat-like wings that grant a flight speed of six steps per action. The wings cost one point of blood to activate and may be shed at will. Shedded wings crumble into nothingness within one round. Should a Nephilim have her wings ripped off, she suffers two points of Aggravated damage per wing.
Call on the Divine/ Summon of the Damned
By forcing your presence outward, you can call on “aid” from being/creatures sharing a similar affinity as yourself. Now whether or not something will respond, actually give aid, or just harass the caller for bothering it is up to the storyteller, but either way the callers presence will be known.
Spend a willpower and enter a static social challenge set by a narrator. The call transverses the closest realms to the caller, whether they know it not. The severity of the “aid” and power of those called are all in the storyteller’s hands. One must always be cautious invoking the unknowns of the world.
Advanced
Heaven's Healing touch / Hell's Favored Grasp
The Nephilim may heal/cause Aggravated damage on herself or others with this discipline. By touching the target, physical challenge may be necessary, and spending a point of blood and succeeding in a simple test, she may heal up to two points of damage to herself or up to four points of damage on someone else each night (Basically there are four healing points allotted to the Nephilim each night, healing others takes up one point, healing yourself costs two points). If target is unwilling, healing/causing each level of damage takes an action and separate test.
Lumination
Created by for the main purpose of countering the Lasombra discipline: Obtenebration. Lumination focuses on the control, manipulation and creation of light and it's sources.
Basic:
Control the Light:
This basic level allows the user to control the natural or artifical light created by already present sources. Spend 1 mental trait and do a Static Mental challenge vs. the difficulty of the source which is being controlled. (a match-3, flashlight-5, 100-watt lightbulb-6, fire barrels-9, blazing houses-15)
Manipulation can affect the amount of light, direction, and/or extinguishing it, but never the source.
Create the Light:
Now the user may create an orb of light or reestablish an extinguished light source. Spend 1 blood trait and do a Static Mental challenge, rules same as Control the Light, to reestablish a light source. Spend 1 blood trait to create a fist size orb of light. The orb can dispel a shadow briefly, to reveal anything hiding within it, by throwing the orb at the shadow or making them touch.
Intermediate:
Solar Flare:
At this level, a binding flash of light may be created to blind targets, especially attackers, and also dispel all shadows within its range. Spend 1 blood per 10ft (Shroud of Night rules), the light from the flash only last for 1 whole round. All trapped in the range, shadows and Obtenebration effects are immediatly destroyed (narrator ruling), must do a Static Mental vs. the caster's mental or be blinded. Those onlookers, outside the flash, with Heighten Senses and/or acute vision of some sort, will be 1 trait down for every ability being used at the time of the flash (narrator ruling).
Star Shot:
The user may now release light in a densely made form, (via beam, orb, etc.), throwing it to inflict damage on a target and cutting through most know Obtenebration. Spend 1 blood trait and do a Mental Challenge vs the target. Normally, most mortals and super naturals creatures only receive 2 non-weapons damage, but to vampires, creatures with the Flaw: Light-Sensitive, and/or any creature hiding with shadows, the damage becomes much worse. If used on any one of the prevously mentioned, the 2 normals turns into 1 aggravated damage. Additional, for each extra term that is met, and additional aggravated damage is added on.
(EX: Ratkin using Gift: Cloak of Shadows = 1 agg)
(Normal Human = 2 normals)
(Setite (Clan Flaw: light-sensitive) hiding in obtenebration = 3 aggs)
Advanced:
Dispel the Darkness:
Now the user's ability to counter Obtenebration has reach new heights. Any known use of Obtenebration in his direct area may be extinguished, no matter the source. Enter a direct Mental challenge vs the Obtenebration caster’s mental traits, the location of the Lumination/Obtenebration user is not necessary, only the effect of the power, spend a willpower trait after successful challenge.
The Obtenebration power, only 1 power is extinguished per challenge, is immediately dispelled.
(Use the Ability: Leadership as a retest.)
