Songs of Distant Vitae
Discipline Power · Vampire · Level 8
Blood magic practitioners and individuals skilled at Auspex have long known that vitae can carry residual impressions of emotion and personality. This power invokes those impressions to overwhelm its victim with “remembered” images and sensations drawn from the vessels who held that blood before the vampire fed from them. Particularly strong-willed or hardened subjects may shrug off these visions as daydreams, but those who are less self-possessed can be permanently changed by the experience. A side effect of the use of this power is the partial destruction of the vitae from which the images are drawn. Some viziers theorize that this is the result of motes of the vessels’ consciousness making an effort to escape their usurper.
System: The character touches his target and spends a turn in concentration. The player spends four blood points and rolls Wits + Intimidation in a contested roll against the victim’s permanent Willpower (difficulty 7). If the target has committed diablerie within a number of nights equal to the character’s Perception, the attacker gains one automatic success. The result depends on the number of net successes the attacker rolls. Note that in all invocations of this power, the sensations that the subject relives are expressly negative and terrifying — for example, he experiences none of the pleasure that would normally accompany the Kiss when he flashes back to such an event.
In addition to the effects listed below, the subject of a successful attack loses a number of blood points equal to the number of successes rolled. This vitae oozes from his body in warm red trickles that do no damage but are certain to terrify onlookers.
Successes Result
Botch The attacker enters a flashback sequence in which he relives his last feeding from the vessel’s point of view. If the player rolled three or more “1”s, the character acquires a permanent derangement related to feeding.
Failure The target is unharmed and immune to this power for a number of nights equal to his Willpower.
1 success The target experiences a brief (10-second/3-turn) flashback sequence in which he relives his last feeding from the vessel’s point of view. During this time, he is at +2 difficulty to all rolls.
2 successes The target experiences a brief montage (15 seconds/5 turns) of flashbacks during which his viewpoint flashes between various feedings from the vessels’ points of view. During this time, he is at +3 difficulty to all rolls. Once the initial rush of sensation passes, he is unsettled and at +1 difficulty to all rolls until he succeeds on a Self-Control/Instinct roll (difficulty 8), which he may attempt once per scene.
3 successes The target experiences a composite memory, assembled by his own subconscious, of the terror that various vessels felt while being stalked and fed upon. He must succeed in a Courage roll (difficulty 8) or instantly enter Rötschreck. If he succeeds in this roll, he is still at +3 difficulty on all actions for the rest of the scene due to the distraction that his visions impose.
4 successes The target is stunned and completely unable to act for a number of turns equal to 8 - his Self-Control/ Instinct as he is bombarded by a sequence of the most terrifying memories of his various vessels. Once this initial onslaught subsides, he must roll Courage (difficulty 9) or enter Rötschreck. If he fails this roll, he must roll Self-Control/
Part of Quietus
See also 4
Abilities & Attributes
- Perception shared/trait/attribute/perception
- Wits shared/trait/attribute/wits
Disciplines
- Auspex vampire/power/discipline/auspex
Rules
- Intimidation shared/rule/system/intimidation