Views: 20199
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Potence
Potence
Potence is the Discipline that endows vampires with physical vigor and preternatural strength. Vampires with the Potence Discipline possess physical prowess beyond mortal bounds.
Overview
Vampires that master the Potence Discipline possess physical strength beyond mortal bounds. This Discipline is responsible for the legends of vampires possessing the strength of 10 men. Potence allows vampires to leap great distances, lift massive weights, and strike opponents with terrifying force.
Even the lowest ranks of this power gift the Kindred with physical might beyond mortal bounds. More powerful immortals have been known to leap so far they seem to be flying, throw or toss cars aside like tin cans, and punch through concrete as if it were cardboard. In the Dark Ages, vampire nobles have been known to break open fortress gates with their bare hands and cut war horses in two with one stroke of a greatsword.
Members of Clans Brujah, Lasombra, Giovanni, and Nosferatu are naturally gifted with this Discipline, although almost every clan finds some use for it, and members of other Clans often make a point to find someone who can teach them the awesome power of Potence. Each dot grants an automatic success on any rolls involving Strength, and does not require activation. It is also a fairly common discipline among ghouls.
Potence's aspect in the curse of vampirism is that a vampire slowly unlearns to be gentle. Those who rely too much on Potence begin to show complete disregard for what they perceive as the weakness of others, putting all their strength in any physical action, regardless how mundane it is.[1]
Official Abilities
Prior to V5, there were no individual powers for Potence until level 6. At that point, characters would choose to gain additional automatic successes to Strength or choose a unique power. Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.
There is nothing listed above costs Blood Points to use. In this version, each dot provides one automatic success per dot in Potence.
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Presence_(VTM)
Presence (VTM)
Presence is the Discipline of supernatural allure and emotional manipulation which allows Kindred to attract, sway, and control crowds.
Overview
Presence softened God's curse upon Cainites in that it makes the vampire become the center of attention. Either be fascinating, seducing, or intimidating those in close vicinity. Regular users of Presence find themselves attracting beneficial attention easily, sometimes activating the discipline without conscious efforts.[1]
This discipline is fairly common among vampires, especially within the Camarilla, both because of its versatility and because of its subtlety. Many Presence powers can be used upon large groups of people at once and transcend virtually all boundaries of gender, race, religion, class, and supernatural status. Though Presence can be resisted through force of will and by ignoring the user, most do not realize when it is being used upon them.
Official Abilities
Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.
Interestingly enough, in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Presence is a progressive Discipline like Celerity or Potence. It has no individual powers, just one effect which grows in strength. Higher levels do, however, occasionally open additional options in dialogue.
Standard Powers
- [1]
- Awe: Awe is simple but solid. Once the vampire employs this power, those who are near him or her either want to be closer to him or her or shudder in fear. It is an immediate and intense attraction, but temporal and not so overpowering that those afflicted lose their sense of self-preservation. Danger breaks the spell of fascination, as does leaving the area. Victims will remember how they felt, though, and this will affect their reactions should they ever encounter the vampire again. Awe is extremely useful in mass communication. It does not matter what is said – the hearts of those affected will lean towards the user's opinion. (Charisma + Performance)
- [2]
- Dread Gaze: This power engenders unbearable terror in its victims. Dread Gaze, like the legendary hypnotism of the cobra, stupefies the victim into madness, immobility, or reckless flight. To use this power, the vampire merely shows the mark of Caine upon him or her – bearing claws and teeth, hissing loudly and with malice. Any vampire can do this, but students of this Discipline are more insanely terrifying than mere sight can explain. (Charisma + Intimidation)
- [3]
- Entrancement: The Kindred makes someone obsessively want to please them. (Appearance + Empathy)
- [4]
- Summon: The Kindred compels someone to come to them immediately.
- [5]
- Majesty: The Kindred appears as a figure of absolute power and authority. Where a charismatic, skilled vampire with Awe [1] may impress at a street corner, or drink undisturbed in a back alley, the power of Majesty [5] can influence an area of effect like a small concert hall or theater full of people. Enemy must make a Courage roll against the user's Charisma + Intimidation as the difficulty.
There is nothing listed above costs Blood Points to use.
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Protean_(VTM)
Protean
Protean is a Discipline that gives vampires the ability to change form, from growing feral claws to evaporating into a cloud of mist.
Overview
Protean is part of God's curse upon Caine in the aspect that it peels away the facade of humanity every vampire has to uphold, revealing the Beast within his soul.[1] Advanced users sometimes find their bodies shifting without their consent, reacting directly to their emotions, bringing them into embarrassing situations.[2]
Protean is the signature Discipline of the Gangrel, and many of its powers are geared towards surviving in the wild or evoking the strengths of natural predators. It is also used by the Ministry to take on the shape or characteristics of snakes, as they once did using Serpentis; as well as the Tzimisce, which in concert with Dominate is used to enable their terrible art of fleshcrafting known as Vicissitude.
Official Abilities
Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.
Standard Powers (Classic)
- [1]
- Eyes of the Beast: See in the dark. Usage of the power turns the eyes into a glowing red
- [2]
- Feral Claws: Turn one's hands into dangerous claws. 1 Blood Point, claws do aggravated damage Strength +1
- [3]
- Earth Meld: Melt into the earth to hide and rest. 1 Blood Point
- [4]
- Shape of the Beast: Transform into two types of animals. 1 Blood Point
- [5]
- Mist Form/Body of Spirit: Turn yourself into mist. 1 Blood Point
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Thaumaturgy_(VTM)
Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy is the closely guarded form of blood magic practiced by the vampiric clan Tremere.
Overview
Created by exhaustive research and extensive experimentation, Thaumaturgy utilizes the principles of Hermetic magic used by House Tremere when it was still a cabal of mages, adapted to be fueled by the inherent magical power of Vitae rather than Quintessence. While it is certainly powerful and versatile, it is organized very differently to the Spheres; Thaumaturgy is largely unknown to mages, and universally distrusted and reviled by those who have encountered it.
Thaumaturgy uses a system of paths and rituals to focus the thaumaturge's will. Paths are learned expressions of thaumaturgical principles developed into reliable, repeatable effects. Unlike the "natural" powers of Disciplines, however, thaumaturges must concentrate their will, forcing the power of their blood to unnatural ends. If their concentration is not complete, if they falter, then the magic will fail, and in extreme cases such failure can have a lasting effect on the thaumaturge, draining their mental resources. It was not always so, however; before the Final Nights, paths were less difficult to use and did not carry the possibility of harm to the thaumaturge.
Rituals, by contrast, are elaborate, sophisticated and codified instructions for producing set magical effects. Rituals vary in complexity, and require varying levels of thaumaturgical knowledge to complete successfully. They often require the trappings of Hermetic magic – circles drawn in chalk, locks of the victim's hair, meditation, chanting ancient words of power, and the like. Rituals can take hours, days or even months to perform, but - if successfully completed - will always produce the same result. They can be incredibly powerful, particularly when senior thaumaturges join forces; it was a thaumaturgical ritual that cursed the entire Assamite clan.
Among the Camarilla, all practitioners of blood magic are sometimes lumped together as a generic "thaumaturgists".[1] While other traditions chafe at this misnomer, it shows the long-lasting effect of the Tremere on blood magic in general, since they have worked hard to incorporate most forms of pre-existing blood magic into their hermetic system.
Adept thaumaturges have sometimes been diagnosed with Thaumaturgical Glossolalia, a mental derangement that stems from over-expenditure and heavy reliance on Thaumaturgy. Afflicted persons under stress speak only in thaumaturgical symbology, but often the mind of the individual seems to shift into a different state of thought – almost like magical aphasia. The afflicted rarely has any idea they are doing anything unusual, and sometimes become unable to translate more mundane language.[2]
Paths
Thaumaturgy has a large number of paths; though it is not the oldest tradition of blood magic, the Tremere were magical scholars long before they were vampires, and toil ceaselessly to push their studies ever further. Many paths were once known by names which reflected the Tremere's previous magical heritage.
Alchemy
Source[1]
- Simple changes to an object's form
- Complex changes to an object's form
- Complicated changes to an object's form
- Small changes in atomic number
- Major changes in atomic number
Biothaumaturgy
Source[2]
- Thaumaturgical Forensics: Gain information from a tissue sample
- Thaumaturgical Surgery (Pre-revised): Repair damage to all sorts of creatures, including supernatural ones
- Lesser Animation (Revised): Animate dead plants or small animals that will follow instructions
- Human Experimentation (Pre-revised): As Animal Experimentation, except works on humans
- Greater Animation (Revised): As Lesser Animation, except works on large animals and humans
- Supernatural Experimentation (Pre-revised): As Human Experimentation, except works on supernatural creatures as well
- Cognizant Construction (Revised): Grant an animated creature rudimentary intelligence
Elemental Mastery
Known in the Dark Ages as Rego Elementum, this path grants control over and affinity with inanimate objects.[3]
- Elemental Strength: Draw greater strength and resilience from the earth.
- Wooden Tongues: Speak with the spirit of an inanimate object.
- Animate the Unmoving: Cause an object to move within the limits of its form.
- Elemental Form: The caster transforms into an inanimate object.
- Summon Elemental: Conjure and possibly command a spirit of one of the classical elements.
Faux Path
Source[4]
- Hello, Goodbye: Temporarily cause listeners to believe a true statement to be false
- Disciplinary Identification: Recognize what Disciplines are or have been used
- Thaumaturgical Nomenclature: Identify what Thaumaturgy powers and rituals are being used
- Ritual Madness: Give a target the sensation of a particular Thaumaturgical power or ritual without actually inducing the effect
- Sanguinary Affection: Produce an illusion that gives the effect of a particular Discipline power
Focused Mind
Source[5]
- Readiness: Gain a dice pool to add to Wits-related rolls or initiative
- Centering: Cause a subject to ignore any effect that reduces dice pools; grant bonus to resist Frenzy
- One-Tracked Mind: Make a subject unable to split perform multiple actions
- Dual Thought: Take an extra mental action per round, including another Discipline use
- Perfect Clarity: Reduce the difficulty of all actions, become immune to Frenzy, and become resistant to mental influence
Gift of Morpheus
Source[6]
- Cause Sleep: Force a single target to become drowsy or sleep, opposed to the target's Willpower. Spend Willpower to affect supernaturals
- Mass Slumber: Affect multiple targets with Cause Sleep against a flat difficulty
- Enchanted Slumber: Force a target to sleep until a trigger event. Spend Willpower to affect vampires. Multiple successes extend sleep up to a year
- Dreamscape: The vampire may project her own image into a dream, but has no control over the dream other than by her own actions within it. The vampire must have a belonging of the victim to use this power
- Master of Dreams: The vampire may start changing the target’s dreams, once she has entered them by using Dreamscape. If the target is a vampire, a Willpower point must also be spent. Once this power has been used, the target may also change her dreams with resistance rolls, and both characters may act in the dream as if they were awake. If either character dies in this dream, the character also dies for real
Green Path
Grants control over and communion with plants.[7]
- Herbal Wisdom : Communicate with the spirit of a plant
- Speed the Seed's Passing: Cause a plant to quickly grow or decay
- Dance of Vines: Animate vegetation to fight or perform tasks
- Verdant Haven: Create a physical and mystical shelter of branches, leaves and vines
- Awaken the Forest Giants: Briefly animate an entire tree
Geomancy Path
Blessings and cursings.[8]
Hands of Destruction
Usually practiced by members of the Sabbat, this path is rumored to have demonic origins. It grants various destructive powers, most of which require physical touch.[9]
- Decay: Cause an inanimate object to age years in seconds
- Gnarl Wood: Ruin an object of wood with a look
- Acidic Touch: Secrete a powerful viscous acid which affects metal, wood, and living tissue
- Atrophy: Cause a victim's limb to wither
- Turn to Dust: Cause a living person to age years in seconds
Hearth Path
Source[10]
- Guest's Herald: Create a small effect that goes off whenever someone passes through a entryway
- Master's Order: Know where all things that belong to you in your haven are located
- Rhyme of Discord: Anyone else who comes into your haven becomes disoriented and cannot remember what they find there
- Temportal: Teleport from one of your haven's doorways to another
- The Cauldron's Rede: Speak to items in your haven about events that have occurred there
Lure of Flames
This path, known as Rego Ignem or Creatio Ignis in the Dark Ages, creates unnatural flames, which some believe are conjured from Hell. Rather than distinct powers, each level of mastery allows the practitioner to summon larger and more dangerous flames.[11]
Power of the Mirror
Source[12]
- Mirror Forge: Allows you to see through a reflective surface you created
- Reality of Reflection: Allows you to alter small details of reflections in a reflective surface you created
- Mastery of Reflection: Allows you to completely alter reflections in a reflective surface you created, or use certain Disciplines (Auspex, Dominate, Presence, Animalism) through it
- The Thousand Eyes: Allows you to use the previous powers through any reflective surface
- Mirror Prison: Trap a victim within a reflective surface for an indefinite period of time
Mastery of the Mortal Shell
Source[13]
- Vertigo: Cause a target to be disoriented and dizzy
- Contortion: Make a victim's limb constrict and become useless
- Seizure: Cause a victim's body writhe and tighten uncontrollably
- Body Failure: As Seizure, but more powerful
- Marionette: Force a target's body to move and act as you desire
Movement of the Mind
This path grants the practitioner the power of telekinesis, allowing them to move matter at a distance - at first as though they were using their hands, and, at higher levels, allowing flight and levitation. It was known in the Dark Ages as Rego Motus. Modern versions of the path do not have distinct powers; instead, higher levels of mastery simply increase the mass a thaumaturge can affect (though level three is required for flight, and level four for throwing objects). Older versions have the following - more strictly defined - powers.[14]
- Force Bolt: Cause a target to fall down losing his next action or can shunt an object of 100 lbs or less toward or away.
- Manipulate: Allows you to lift and handle an object that you would with one hand, TV remote, handgun, a lever, et al.
- Flight: Allows the caster the ability to hoist a person or the caster into the air and can move them at walking speed.
- Repulse: As with force bolt but objects with much more weight and more than one.
- Control: Force a target's body to move as you desire or you can heft up to a single ton.
Neptune's Might
Originally called Rego Aquam in the Dark Ages, Neptune's Might grants a practitioner control over bodies of standing water, plus some other water-related powers.[15]
- Eyes of the Sea: See what has transpired on, in or around a still body of water
- Prison of Water: Use a large body of water to bind a target
- Dehydrate (Pre-revised): Remotely drain water from a victim
- Blood to Water (Revised): Turn a subject's blood (or possibly another liquid) into water
- Flowing Wall: Create a barrier of water nearly impervious to all beings
- Blood to Water (Pre-revised): Turn a subject's blood into water, some other liquids as well
- Dehydrate (Revised): Remotely drain water from a victim
Oneiromancy
Source[16]
- Portents: Receive visions after waking that allegorically refer to future events of one's life
- Foresee: As Portents, but works on another individual
- Dreamspeak: Send messages to someone through their dreams
- Augury: Gain answers to questions from another person's dreams
- Reveal the Heart's Dreams: Learn what someone most desires and fears from their dreams
Path of Blood
Usually the first path taught to neonates among the Tremere.[17]
- A Taste For Blood : Gather a variety of information from a blood sample
- Blood Rage: Force a target to expend their vitae to raise Attributes
- Blood of Potency: Temporarily lower your generation
- Theft of Vitae: Steal blood from a target at a distance
- Cauldron of Blood: Cause a victim's blood to burn them from within
Bloodlines
The powers available in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.
- Blood Strike: A projectile will strike your victim, and may return with stolen blood
- Purge: Nearby enemies will vomit blood, causing damage
- Blood Shield: A damage-absorbing shield surrounds the caster
- Blood Salvo: As Blood Strike, but affecting multiple targets
- Blood Boil: The target's blood is heated to a boil, causing them to explode and damaging nearby targets
Path of the Blood's Curse
Source[18]
- Ravages of the Beast : Cause a target to Frenzy
- Weight of the Sun: Make a vampire feel the effects of being awake during the day
- Abated Tooth: Prevent a vampire's fangs from extending
- Treacherous Bonds: Temporarily corrupt a blood bond, turning love to hate
- The Withering of Ages: Cause a vampire to decay to their true age
Path of Conjuring
The practitioner can create objects (or even living things) from nothing. Such objects are generic, with repeated patterns or a uniform appearance, and have no flaws. Unless a caster is sufficiently skilled, conjured objects cease to exist without continued concentration.[19]
- Summon the Simplest Form: Temporarily conjure a very simple object (single material, no moving parts)
- Permanency: Conjured objects may be given permanent existence
- Magic of the Smith: Conjure a complex object (multiple materials, moving parts)
- Reverse Conjuration: Banish objects conjured with this path
- Power Over Life: Temporarily conjure a living (though mindless) being
Path of Corruption
Source[20]
- Contradict : Make someone change their mind on a course of action
- Disfigurement (Pre-revised): Change the appearance of someone, making more or less attractive
- Subvert (Revised): Cause a victim to act on their dark impulses
- Change Mind (Pre-revised): Give someone a new Demeanor
- Dissociate (Revised): Make someone become distant from others for a time
- Cripple (Pre-revised): Paralyze someone's legs
- Addiction (Revised): Cause a victim to be psychologically dependent on a particular sensation
- Corrupt Soul (Pre-revised): Give someone a new Nature
- Dependence (Revised): Temporarily bind someone to you
Path of Curses
Source[21]
- Stigma : Make an individual suffer socially for an evening
- Malady: Curse a victim with an illness, reducing their Physical Attributes
- Pariah: Make others see the target as their worst enemy
- Corrupt Body: Temporarily reduce one of the target's Physical Attributes
- Fall from Grace: A victim gains a botch die to all actions
Path of the Father's Vengeance
Source[22]
- Zillah's Litany : Discover blood bonds and Vinculi the target has
- The Crone's Pride: Reduce a victim's Appearance to zero for the night
- Feast of Ashes: Force a vampire to only be able to gain sustenance from ash for a time, and be limited in how they may use Blood Points gained from it
- Uriel's Disfavor: Make all light uncomfortable and harmful to the vampire
- Valediction: Temporarily undo any change in generation from diablerie
Path of the Levinbolt
Source[23]
- Spark : Generate a small electrical discharge
- Illuminate: Generate enough energy to charge a small device or produce light
- Power Array: Discharge or absorb a greater amount of energy
- Zeus' Fury: Build up energy and direct it as arcs of lightning
- Eye of the Storm: Become charged with an incredible amount of electricity
Path of Mars
Source[24]
- Warcry: Temporarily increase one's Courage and Willpower
- Strike True: A single melee attack automatically succeeds with one success
- Wind Dance: If not attacking, you can dodge many times without penalty
- Fearless Heart: All your Physical Attributes raise by one
- Comrades at Arms: Use Path of Mars powers on others
Path of Mercury
Source[25]
Path of Shadowcrafting
Source[26]
- Out Light : Make lights darker or extinguish
- Shadow Taunt: Make a shadow mimic your movements
- Coruscating Shadow: Cause shadow to cover you, making you harder to be seen
- Night's Veil: Extend a shadow so that it creates an area of night in daylight
- Abyssal Pact: Summon an abyssal shadow that attacks or counters Obtenebration
Path of Technomancy
Source[27]
- Analyze: Learn how a device works
- Burnout: Cause a machine to malfunction
- Encrypt/Decrypt: Cause a device to only work for you
- Remote Access: Operate a machine remotely
- Telecommute: Project your mind into the global telecommunication network
Path of Transmutation
Source[28]
- Fortify the Solid Form: Make an object stronger
- Crystallize the Liquid Form: Transform a liquid into solid form
- Liquefy the Solid Form: Cause an object to soften and melt for a scene
- Gaol: Turn air into an indestructible block
- Ghost Wall: Turn an object into a gaseous mist
Path of Warding
Source[29]
- Bar the Common Passage: Block an door and get alerted if something breaks the ward
- Glyph of Scrying: Create a glyph to monitor its surrounding area
- Runes of Power: Ward an object with a rune, that deals aggravated damage to everyone who touches it
- Glyph of Enlightenment: Create a glyph for scrying, communication and transmitting thaumaturgical powers
- Secure the Sacred Domain: Seal off an entire castle for one night
Perdo Magica
This path has no powers of its own; instead, it allows the user to counter other magic.[30]
Prey on the Soul's Fear
Source[31]
- Startle the Superstitious Mind: Create such fear that a mortal or vampire is rooted to the spot where he stands
- Rout the Charging Hordes: Cause a number of people to flee from you
- Wrath of God: Cause a victim to witness his particular version of hell
- The Inner Demon: Confront somebody with his darkest fears
- Demonic Horde: Create horrific images and implant them in your victims mind
Rego Magica
This path has no powers of its own; instead, it allows the user to create new paths.[32]
Rego Mentem
This path is the pagan version of the infernal Rego Manes. It does not have individual powers at each level. Instead, each level allows the user to summon stronger nature spirits, and to inflict more damage upon any spirit.[33]
Soul of the Serpent
Source[34]
- Serpentine Sense : See in the dark
- Scaleskin: Get a smooth and scaly skin, allowing for greater flexibility on land and considerable freedom of movement through water
- Venom Curse: Transform your vitae into a deadly poison capable of blinding the eyes of nearby opponents, like that of a spitting cobra
- Touch of Typhon: Transform forearm into a venomous asp
- Form of The Hydra: Transform your body into a writhing mass of vipers
Spirit Manipulation
Source[35]
- Hermetic Sight : See into the spirit world
- Astral Chant: Be able to communicate with all spirits
- Voice of Command: Force a spirit to obey your commands
- Entrap Ephemera: Bind a spirit into an object to create a fetish
- Duality: Exist in both the material and spiritual world
Spirit Thaumaturgy
Source[36]
- Evil Eye : Inflict botched dice on your victim
- Spirit Sight: See and speak with spirits
- Spirit Slave: Demand a service of a spirit
- Fetishes: Force a spirit to inhabit an object
- Journey: Leave your body, using Willpower you can roll to temporarily take control of another magical being
Transitus Velociter
This path does not have individual powers at each level. Instead, each level allows you to increase the speed of larger groups of mortal, vampires and mounts for several hours.[37]
Video Pellis
This path is the pagan version of the infernal Video Nefas.[38]
- See the Unseen : Gaze into the spirit world
- Learn the Heart's Pain: look into someone’s heart and determine what grieves him the most
- Seize the Moment : Reach into the mind of your victim and draw forth his memories and thoughts
- Casting the Bones: Part the mists of time and gaze into the future
- Recall the Bloody Deed: Raise a Spectre of vengeance to uncover past misdeeds
Vine of Dionysus
Source[39]
- Methyskein : Make a victim slightly drunk
- Omophagy: Cause a victim to be ravenously hungry
- Hamartia: Give a target feelings of euphoria
- Enthousiasmos: Cause multiple victims to enter a passive state of happiness
- Oinos Aimatos: Imbue your vitae with the effect of Enthousiasmos
Weather Control
Source[40]
Each is Cast by spending 1 blood point and making a Willpower roll against the difficulty of the Power's level +3.
Rituals are also listed here:
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Thaumaturgy_Rituals
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Vicissitude
Vicissitude
Vicissitude is the trademark Discipline of Clan Tzimisce, it is widely known as their art of flesh and bone shaping.
Overview
One of the most horrifying powers available to Cainites, Vicissitude is the signature power of the Tzimisce and is almost unknown outside of the clan. With it an experienced crafter can sculpt the flesh and bone of a subject, making them a creature of alien beauty or gnarling them into a deformed monstrosity. Tzimisce use Vicissitude on themselves extensively, altering their appearances with their mood or changing their bodies to be as vile as their souls.
Vicissitude is similar in some respects to Protean, but springs from a much darker source. Whereas Protean merely enables a Cainite to emulate God's creatures, this twisted power allows a Tzimisce to defile and deform those creatures or him/herself for all manner of perverse ends. The most beautiful maiden or noble stallion can, with but a knead of the fingers or a flick of the wrist, be reduced to a hideous freak or a blob of deliquescent pus. The Fiends have certainly used Vicissitude's more grotesque side effects to cement their infamous reputation.
Note that while this Discipline permits powerful and horrific effects, the wielder must obtain skin-to-skin contact and must often physically sculpt the desired result. This even applies to the use of the power on oneself. Tzimisce skilled in Vicissitude are often inhumanely beautiful; those less skilled are simply inhuman.
Outside of Thaumaturgy, Vicissitude is the most versatile of the Disciplines, and is often used in tandem with extensive ghouling. Tzimisce tend to deform their servants into war-forms szlachta, which are optimized for combat through extensive bone plating, spiked forearms and other modifications. True masters of fleshcrafting are capable of fusing multiple victims together into mammoth killing machines known as vozhd, but such creations are incredibly rare. Vicissitude was also used to create the Blood Brothers bloodline, and their Discipline Sanguinus is a derivation of the Tzimisce art. While its effects are normally permanent, vampires of lower generation can heal fleshcrafting transformations over time. Likewise, the Clan Curse of the Nosferatu cannot be removed through use of Vicissitude.
The nature of Vicissitude is shrouded in mystery, with even the most elder Fiends only speculating as to its origins and true potential. More than just a Discipline, it seems to act as a virus that "infects" others through transmission of blood. It is assumed to be invented by the Tzimisce Antediluvian, with some speculating that Vicissitude itself is an extension of the Elder Tzimisce and that it continues to learn and experiment through those that fleshcraft. The Tzimisce themselves view the control over physical forms granted by the Discipline as proof of their superiority over mortals who are slaves to their bodies. Practitioners of the Path of Metamorphosis go a step further and consider Vicissitude the path to achieve individual evolution and transcendence through a somewhat scientific approach of research and experimentation. Voices in the Shadow Crusade believe that Vicissitude is instead connected to the Iryi Aretstikapha, who dwells in the qlippothic shells of anti-being and who reaches into the material world through the use of the discipline.
God's curse is reflected in Vicissitude in that it replaces the ability to nurture and care with the ability to rend and corrupt. Advanced users find that the discipline develops a certain degree of independent existence: Spontaneous flesh- and bone-crafting effects manifest from time to time, usually as a response to outside stimuli. A threatened Tzimisce might find herself growing claws, while one caressing a favored servant might find herself altering said servant to be more beautiful.
Official Abilities
Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.
Standard Powers
- [1]
- Malleable Visage: A vampire with this power may alter their bodily parameters: height, build, voice, facial features, and skin tone, among other things. Such changes are cosmetic and minor in scope. They might, for example, resume their mortal coloration; make themselves resemble a Moor, Viking, or Saracen, or even copy the form of a web-fingered naiad or faerie noble. (Intelligence + Body Craft)
- [2]
- Fleshcraft: Alter muscle, fat, and cartilage. (Dexterity + Body Craft)
- [3]
- Bone Craft: Alter bone. (Strength + Body Craft)
- [4]
- Horrid Form: Transform into the war-form zulo; the transformation takes 2 turns to complete. 2 Blood Points
- [5]
- Bloodform : Instantly transform into a pool of sentient vitae. 2 Blood Points
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Armory_(Background)
Armory (Background)
Armoryis a Background in the Storyteller System.
Overview
Your character has managed to amass a functional armory along with the ability to maintain all of the weapons within it. Each level of the Armory Background yields access to more potent weapons (along with proper ammunition) and the resources to properly maintain and clean them.
The scope of this Background varies a bit by region, as weapons-control laws differ. What an American can buy in a department store, for example, might be the sole domain of the military in Eastern Europe and available only via the black market in Brazil; players who wish to invest dots in Armory should consult with their Storytellers to determine how it will work in the chronicle’s locality.
The Storyteller may require you to invest a few points in another Background (such as certain types of Influence or legal or military Allies) to prevent the Armory’s confiscation by the authorities. An Armory can vanish in a fraction of the time it took to amass it, especially if it ends up on the news or video-sharing sites with footage of a VAMPIRE BLOOD GANG MASSACRE down by the warehouses.
Trait Rating
You have an excellent starter armory that includes many legal weapons commonly available on the street, as relevant to your regional culture.
You have access to enough legal weaponry to outfit a street gang of 10.
You could start your own small militia. In addition, you can outfit five individuals with weaponry that exists in a legal gray area for the region, which most civilians would have a difficult time obtaining.
You have an armory appropriate to a SWAT team in a major city, including some military-grade hardware. You have enough gear to outfit a 10-man team with advanced weaponry, which is a cut above that provided by the lesser levels of this Background. Be careful where you use it, because without other appropriate Backgrounds, you may find yourself under official scrutiny for possessing illegal weaponry.
Your armory is the envy of paramilitary forces around the world. You have the tools to clean and repair almost any personal weapon manufactured in the world. You have access to a significant quantity of weapons that are illegal in most countries, and enough of them to field your own platoon. If this Armory were discovered by authorities, your Anarch would be a pile of greasy ash.
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Fame
Fame
Fame is one of the common Backgrounds in Classic World of Darkness games. Fame is the most addictive drug as well as the most fashionable religion in the 21st Century. People who are famous are those who have obtained some form of social significance or recognition in the public domain, often at the cost of their humility. By virtue of the ‘freedom of opportunity’ policy of American society, as well as the luck and competence of the individual, fame can be attained by many means; one can land a lead role in a particularly successful or high-budget movie, one can ‘make a scene’ and gain some notoriety, one can found or join a band and land a record deal, or one can become involved in the political processes and, if he has the necessary contacts and resources, become either a well-liked or deeply-despised manipulator of public opinion, just to name a few examples. Fame can also be inherited by being either born or adopted into a significant or otherwise publically recognized (or despised) family. One can also capitalize on humanity’s obsession with righteousness and bravery and earn fame through acts of heroism and sacrifice, provided that one survives the ordeal and if such actions are considered important or noble enough to make it to the public eye (assuming they go public at all).
Reduces Hunting difficulties by one for each dot in Fame, all the way to -5 difficulty. May reduce some social difficulties. Increases difficulty in trying to not be seen, unless hidden by supernatural means. In the end, this trait may help or hinder enemies or the character depending on the situation.
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Haven_(VTM)
Haven (VTM)
Overview
By necessity, havens generally are secret locations or at least highly secure (ideally both), otherwise the vampire runs the risk of exposure or destruction at the hands of witch-hunters or rivals – or, worse still, the resident might become the victim of diablerie. Many vampires keep their ghouls or other retainers close by, to watch over their slumber, especially if other Kindred know the site to be a vampire's haven.
In Vampire: the Masquerade, havens are not normally directly represented via game mechanics. The nature of a vampire's haven is usually assumed to be representative of his Resources, Domain, Status, and other social traits. The haven may represented by a traditional one-to-five-dot Background (as depicted in the book Havens of the Damned), or may be represented or modified by certain Merits if using the optional system of Merits and Flaws.
Unusual Havens
- Chantries - The strongholds, libraries, and occult workshops of the Tremere. Not all chantries serve as regular havens for the Warlocks who are headquartered there; some will instead spend their days in personal havens nearby. The notable exception is the chantry's Regent, who will almost always dwell in the most secure portion of the chantry's heart; the same holds true for any higher-ranking members of the clan's Pyramid. Likewise, the Gargoyle slaves who still serve the Tremere will rarely make their havens beyond the chantry's walls unless specifically stationed elsewhere.
- Communal havens - A haven shared collectively by a pack of Sabbat Cainites. A coven, or founded pack, holds a permanent haven in their city, as opposed to the nomadic packs that hold no fixed residence. Some larger cities, such as Montréal, hold communal havens expansive and secure enough to simultaneously shelter multiple packs – or even all of the city's Cainites.
- Highway Havens - Portable havens, ranging from RVs to sleeping bags. The term is often used ironically, as many "highway havens" aren't havens by any sense of the term except in the sense that they provide some reliable cover from the sun. These are most often used by mobile neonates with meager Resources to call upon, namely Anarchs.
- Labyrinths - Sprawling underground havens, named for the Labyrinth at Knossos that was built by King Minos (who may himself have been a Toreador). Such labyrinths have become increasingly less common since the Dark Ages, as the modern world has less free space underground to build such elaborate personal havens, thanks both to the increasing Kindred population and to the expansion of underground train and sewage systems. Thus, in modern nights, the labyrinth has been largely supplanted by – or made synonymous with – the proliferation of warrens (see below).
- Temples - Group havens of religious sects of vampires, such as the Followers of Set, the recently-vanished Children of Osiris, vampire faiths like the Cainite Heresy or the Bahari, or other, more obscure blood cults . As with chantries, those who worship here will often have primary residences elsewhere, though this was rarely the case with the obscure Children of Osiris.
- Warrens - The havens and domain of a city's Nosferatu, which are often linked to one another via tunnels and catacombs known only to the Sewer Rats themselves. Warrens are often home to spawning pools, where vitae is pooled and Animalism utilized to create grotesquely overgrown, fiercely loyal ghoul guardians from subterranean animals – or from animals that are not traditionally found beneath the city streets, such as crocodiles. A city's warrens will sometimes be referred to collectively as the "Nosferatu Kingdom"
Notable Havens
- Hunedoara Castle[1]
- Temple of Eternal Whispers[2]
- Winchester Mystery House[3]
- Traveler Rest Hotel[4]
- The Local[5]
- The Glass House[6]
- Downstairs Downtown[7]
- The House of Storms[8]
- Guardian Lakes Country Club[9]
- The Elevator and the Arrow[10]
- Zatopek Farms[11]
- The Legend of Sensual Secrets[12]
- The Venetian[13]
- Gatekeeper's Hold[14]
- The House that Fear Built[15]
- CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson[16]
- Chattanooga Recreational Center[17]
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Herd
Herd
A herd is a group of mortals whose members allow a certain vampire to feed upon them.
Overview
The exact nature of any given herd varies from vampire to vampire, but whatever the circumstances, these mortals relish the ecstasy of the vampire's "kiss". Some vampires foster cults around themselves, setting themselves up as a god to be worshiped or placated with a tribute of blood. Such cults are rarer in the modern era than they once were, when death cults and mystery cults (like that of Mithras in Vampire: the Masquerade lore) could draw mortals into their clutches with relative ease. Others use connections within the medical community to gain access to easy sources of blood, and so on. In the modern nights, many herds draw from the throng of blood dolls that accumulate in the wake of Kindred activity.
While having a herd can be a great benefit to a vampire, providing easy access to food and freeing up his nights for more pressing matters, it is sometimes a weakness. Herds need to be protected from rival vampires, and their members are useful for little other than serving as a vessel for blood. Occasionally, a mortal from a herd might prove themselves worthy of becoming a ghoul or even of the Embrace, but most Kindred consider them sources of food and nothing more.
System
By default, it is assumed that all members of a vampire's herd are standard mortals, although some might be (or might have once been) wholly unexceptional ghouls; in Vampire: the Requiem, these ghouls would almost certainly be suffering from blood addiction.
In Vampire: the Masquerade, Herd is a Background; in Vampire: the Requiem, Herd is a Merit. Any members of a herd that happened to be exceptional would be mechanically treated as Retainers or even Allies, even if they would be considered part of their master's herd by their master or other Kindred.
This trait adds dice to hunting. It can take a normal character to 15 dice.
Resource 5 bestowing a list $30,000 per month stipend each due to 1993 rates of the US household median income of 31,241.00. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/incpovhlth/1993/tableh3.html
The 2021 US household median income is $69,717. https://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/us/
As a matter of Homebrew: Past 2021 Resources 5 would be:
● low disposable income: $1,000 a month and approximately $30,000 worth of assets, if liquidated (thus removing the resources background).
●● moderate disposable income: $2,000 a month and approximately $120,000 worth of assets, if liquidated (thus removing the resources background).
●●● significant disposable income: $5,000 a month and approximately$600,000 worth of assets, if liquidated (thus removing the resources background).
●●●● substantial disposable income: $18,500 a month and approximately $1,500,000 worth of assets, if liquidated (thus removing the resources background).
●●●●● significant wealth: $69,717 a month and approximately $14,000,000 worth of assets, if liquidated (thus removing the resources background).
Further, as a house rule, any character taking this background is assumed to have 1 year worth of disposable savings at the monthly rate above.