Over the next week I'm going to start copying the rules for the various Disciplines up onto here as an easy reference for everyone.  While I don't envision putting up every piece of information in the core book, I'd like this site to stand on its own as much as possible.  So this will hopefully help those of you posting from work, or who otherwise don't have immediate access to the book.

Animalism

The Beast resides within all creatures, from lice-ridden rats to powerful Kindred elders.  The Discipline of Animalism allows the vampire to develop a close, intense connection with his primordial nature.  He not only communicates empathically with the lower beasts, but also projects his own force of will upon them, directing the animals to do his bidding.  Additionally, as the vampire grows in power, he can use Animalism to control the Beast within mortals and even other supernaturals.

A vampire who lacks this Discipline or the Skill of Animal Ken is repellent to Animals.  Beasts grow distinctly agitated in the presence of such a Kindred, often to the point of fleeing from or attacking the vampire.  In contrast, Kindred with Animalism present a soothing aspect to lower creatures – indeed, animals are often attracted to them.

The Traits of Manipulation and Charisma are key to Animalism powers.  The stronger the vampire’s force of personality, the better able he is to influence lesser creatures.

0 Feral Whispers
This power is the basis from which all other Animalism abilities grow.  The vampire creates an empathic connection with a beast, thereby allowing him to communicate or issue simple commands.  The Kindred locks eyes with the animal, transmitting his desires through sheer force of will.  Although it isn’t necessary to actually “speak” in chirps, hisses, or barks, some vampires find that doing so helps strengthen the connection with the animal.  Eye contact must be maintained the entire time; if it’s broken, the Kindred must look into the beast’s eyes once again to regain contact.

Since Feral Whispers requires eye contact, animals that cannot see are not affected.  Further, the simpler the creature, the more difficult it becomes to connect with the animal’s Beast.  Mammals, predatory birds, and larger reptiles are relatively easy to communicate with.  Insects, invertebrates, and most fish (with the possible exception of larger ones like sharks) are just too simple, their Beasts too weak, to connect with.

Feral Whispers provides no guarantees that an animal will want to deal with the vampire, nor does it ensure that the animal will pursue an request the vampire makes of it.  Still, it does at least make the creature better disposed toward the Kindred.  The manner in which the vampire presents his desires to the animal often depends on the type of creature.  A Kindred can probably cow smaller beasts into heeding commands, but he’s better off couching orders for large predators in terms of requests.

If the vampire successfully uses the power, the animal performs the command to the best of its ability and intellect.  Only the very brightest creatures understand truly complex directives (orders dealing with conditional situations or requiring abstract logic).  Commands that the animal does understand remain deeply implanted, however, and may affect it for some time.

System:  No roll is necessary to talk with an animal, but the character must establish eye contact first.  Issuing commands requires a Manipulation + Animal Ken roll.  The difficulty depends on the creature:  Predatory mammals (wolves, cats, bats) are difficulty 6, other mammals and predatory birds (rats, owls) are difficulty 7, other birds and reptiles (pigeons, snakes) are difficulty 8.  This difficulty is reduced by one of the character speaks to the animal in its “native tongue,” and can be adjusted further by circumstances and roleplaying skill (we highly recommend that all communication between characters and animals be roleplayed).

The number of successes the player achieves dictates how strongly the character’s command affects the animal.  One success is sufficient to have a cat follow someone and lead the character to the same location, three successes are enough to have a raven spy on a target for weeks, and five successes ensures that a grizzly ferociously guards the entrance to the character’s wilderness haven for some months.

The character’s Nature plays a large part in how he approaches these conversations.  The character might try intimidation, teasing, cajoling, rationality, or emotional pleading.  The player should understand that he does not simply play his character in these situations, but the Beast Within as well.

00 Beckoning
The vampire’s connection to the Beast grows strong enough that he may call out in the voice of a specific type of animal – howling like a wolf, cawing like a raven, etc.  This call mystically summons creatures of the chosen type.  Since each type of animal has a different call, Beckoning works for only a single species at a time.

All such animals within earshot are summoned, but may choose individually whether or not to respond.  While the vampire has no control over the beasts who answer, the animals who do are favorably disposed toward him and are at least willing to listen to the Kindred’s request.

System:  The player rolls Charisma + Survival (difficulty 6) to determine the response to the character’s call; consult the table below.  Only animals that can hear the cry will respond.  If the Storyteller decides no animals of that type are within earshot, the summons goes unanswered.  

The call can be as specific as the player desires.  A character could call for all the bats in the area, for only the male bats nearby, or for only the albino bat with the notched ear he saw the other night.

1 success – A single animal responds
2 successes – One-quarter of the animals within earshot respond
3 successes – Half of the animals respond
4 successes – Most of the animals respond
5 successes – All of the Animals respond

000 Quell the Beast
As the supreme predators of the natural world, Kindred are highly attuned to the bestial nature that dwells within every mortal heart.  A vampire who develops this power may assert his will over a mortal (animal or human) subject, subduing the Beast within her.  This quenches all powerful, assertive emotions – hope, fury, inspiration – within the target.  The Kindred must either touch his subject or stare into her eyes to channel his will effectively.

Mortals who lack the fire of their inner Beasts are quite tractable, reacting to even stressful situations with indifference.  Even the most courageous or maddened mortal becomes apathetic and listless, while an especially sensitive individual may suffer from phobic derangement while under the power’s influence.

Different clans evoke this power in different ways, although the effect itself is identical.  Some call it Cowing the Beast, since they force the mortal’s weaker spirit to cower in fear before the Kindred’s own inner Beast.  Others refer to it as Song of Serenity, since they soothe the subject’s Beast into a state of utter complacency, thus allowing them to feed freely.  Most know the power as Quell the Beast, and force the mortal spirit into a state of fear or apathy as befits the individual vampire’s nature.

System:  The player rolls Manipulation + Intimidation if forcing the Beast through fear.  Manipulation + Empathy if soothing it into complacency.  The roll is made versus difficulty 7 in either case.  This is an extended action requiring as many total successes as the target has Willpower.  Failure indicates that the player must start over from the beginning, while a botch indicates that the vampire may never again affect that subject’s Beast.

When a mortal’s Beast is cowed or soothed, she can no longer use or regain Willpower.  She ceases all struggles, whether mental or physical.  She doesn’t even defend herself if assaulted, though the Storyteller may allow a Willpower roll if the mortal’s life is directly threatened.  To recover from this power, the mortal rolls Willpower (difficulty 6) once per day until she accumulates enough successes to equal the Vampire’s Willpower.  Kindred themselves cannot be affected by this power.

0000 Subsume the Spirit
By locking his gaze with that of a beast, the vampire may physically possess the animals.  Some older Kindred believe that since animals have no souls, only spirits, the vampire can move his own soul into the animal’s body.  Most younger vampires think it is a matter of transferring one’s consciousness into the animal’ mind.  In either case, it’s agreed that the beast’s weaker spirit (or mind) is pushed aside by the Kindred’s own consciousness.  The vampire’s body falls into a motionless state akin to torpor while his mind takes control of the animal’s actions, remaining this way until the Kindred’s consciousness returns.

System:  The player rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty 8) as the character looks into the animal’s eyes (only beasts with eyes can be possessed).  The number of successes determines how thoroughly the character overrides the animal’s spirit.  Fewer than three successes means the character must use Willpower points to take any action that directly violates the instincts of the animal in question.  With fewer than five successes, the possessing character behaves much like the animal – his soul is clouded with needs and impulses from the animal’s spirit and body.  Multiple successes allow the character to utilize some mental Disciplines while possessing the animal, as noted on the chart below.

1 success – Cannot use Disciplines
2 successes – Can use Auspex
3 successes – Can also use Presence
4 successes – Can also use Dementation, Dominate
5 successes – Can also use Chimerstry, Necromancy, Thaumaturgy

This power entwines the character’s consciousness closely with the animal’s spirit, so much so that the character may continue to think and feel like that animal even after breaking the connection.  This effect continues until the characters spends a total of seven Willpower points to resist and finally overcome the animal nature.  This should be roleplayed, although to a lessening degree as Willpower is spent.

At the end of any particularly exciting incident during the possession, the player rolls Wits + Empathy (difficulty 8) for the character to retain his own mind.  Failure indicates that the character’s mind returns to his own body, but still thinks in purely animalistic terms.  A botch sends the character into a frenzy upon returning to his own body.

The character may travel as far from his body as he is physically able while possessing the animal.  The character retains no conscious connection with his vampire body during this time, though.  The vampire may also venture out during the day, albeit in the animal’s body.  However, the character’s own body must be awake to do so, requiring a successful roll to remain awake.  If the character leaves the animal’s body (by choice, if his body falls asleep, after sustaining significant injury), the vampire consciousness returns to his physical form instantaneously.

Although the vampire has no conscious link to his body while possessing the animal, he does form a sympathetic bond.  Anything the animal feels, the vampire also experiences, from pleasure to pain.  In fact, any damage the animal’s body sustains is also applied to the character’s body, although the Kindred may soak as normal (for his body, not the animal’s).  If the animal dies before the vampire’s soul can flee the body, the character’s body falls into torpor.  Presumably this is in sympathetic response to the massive trauma of death, although some Kindred believe that the vampire’s soul is cast adrift during this time and must find its way back to the body.

00000 Drawing out the Beast
At this level of Animalism, the Kindred has a keen understanding of the Beast Within.  Whenever this predator spirit threatens to overwhelm the vampire’s soul and send him into frenzy, he may instead release his feral urges upon another creature.  The recipient of the vampire’s Beast is instantly overcome by frenzy.  This is an unnatural frenzy, however, as the victim is channeling Kindred’s own fury.  As such, the vampire’s own behavior, expressions, and even speech patterns are evident in the subject’s savage actions.

System:  The vampire must be in frenzy or close to it to use this power.  The player must announce his preferred target (since it must be someone within sight, Drawing Out the Beast cannot be used if the vampire is alone), then roll Manipulation + Self-Control (difficulty 8).  Refer to the table below for the results:

1 success – The character transfers the Beast, but unleashes it upon a random individual
2 successes – The character is stunned by the effort and may not act next turn, but transfers the Beast successfully
3 successes – The character transfers the Beast successfully

If the attempt fails, the intensity of the frenzy actually increases.  As the character relaxes in expectation of relieving his savage urges, the Beast takes that opportunity to dig deeper.  In this case, the frenzy lasts twice as long as normal and is twice as difficult to shrug off; its severity also increases exponentially.  Botching this roll is even more catastrophic; the heightened frenzy grows so extreme that no even expending Willpower curbs its duration or effects.  The character is a hapless victim to the terrible fury of the Beast.

If the character leaves the target’s presence before the frenzy expends itself, the vampire loses his Beast, perhaps permanently.  While no longer vulnerable to frenzy, the character cannot use or regain Willpower and becomes increasingly lethargic.  To recover the Beast, he must find the person who now possesses it (who likely isn’t enjoying herself very much) and retrap the Beast.  The most effective way to do so is to behave in ways that make the Beast want to return – however, this isn’t a guarantee that it will wish to do so.  Alternatively, the character can simply kill the host (thus causing the Beast to return to the vampire immediately), but such an act costs at least one point of Humanity.  

--Last edited by Killer Rabbitt on 2009-11-07 15:55:59 --

Auspex
This Discipline bestows uncanny sensory abilities upon the Vampire.  While Auspex initially heightens all of the Kindred’s senses significantly, that is merely the beginning.  As she grows in power, the vampire can perceive the psychic auras that flow around her and even project her mind into another being’s thoughts.  Furthermore, Auspex can perceive the disguises that Obfuscate creates.  See “Seeing the Unseen” for more details.

Such sensory command gives the vampire a distinct advantage over mortals and even many supernaturals.  Whether these talents let her view a distant haven, sense the prince’s mood, or pluck secrets from a rival Kindred’s ghoul, Auspex is a powerful tool.

Still, the vampire must be careful lest his heightened sensitivity cause her to be distracted by beautiful things, startled by loud noises, or overwhelmed by foul smells.  Sudden or dynamic events can disorient an Auspex-using character unless she makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 4) to block them out.  The more potent the source of distraction, the higher the difficulty.  Failure overwhelms the character’s senses, making her oblivious to her surroundings for a turn or two.

A high Perception Trait is a great boon to using Auspex powers.  The better the roll, the greater the degree of sensory information the character gains.

Seeing the Unseen
Auspex enables Kindred to perceive many things beyond mortal ken.  Among its many uses, Auspex can detect the presence of a supernatural being who is hidden from sight or pierce magical illusions.

When a vampire tries to use her heightened perceptions to notice a Kindred hidden with Obfuscate, she detects the subject’s presence if her Auspex rating is higher than his Obfuscate.  Conversely, if the target’s Obfuscate outranks her Auspex, he remains undiscovered.  If the two scores are equal, both characters make a resisted Perception + Subterfuge (Auspex user) against Manipulation + Subterfuge (Obfuscate user).  The difficulty for both is 7, and the character with the most successes wins.

Likewise, vampires with Auspex may seek to penetrate illusions created by other magical powers.  The Auspex-wielder must actively seek to pierce the illusion (i.e. the player must tell the Storyteller that his character is trying to detect an illusion).  Use the relevant Discipline, and otherwise handle the detection per Obfuscate.

0 Heightened Senses
This power shapes all of the vampire’s senses, effectively doubling the clarity and range of sigh, hearing, and smell.  While her senses of taste and touch extend no farther than normal, they likewise become far more acute; the vampire could taste the hint of liquor in a victim’s blood, or feel the give of the board concealing a hollow space in the floor.  The Kindred may magnify her senses at will, sustaining this heightened focus for as long as she desires.  At the Storyteller’s option, this may make hunting easier.

Occasionally, this talent provides extrasensory or even precognitive insights.  These brief, unfocused glimpses may be odd premonitions, flashes of empathy, or eerie feelings of foreboding.  The vampire has no control over these perceptions, but with practice can lean to interpret them with a fair degree of accuracy.

Expanded senses come at a price, however.  Bright lights, loud noises, and strong smells present a hazard while the vampire uses this power.  In addition to the possibility for distraction mentioned above, an especially sudden stimulus – like the glare of a spotlight or a clap of thunder – can blind or deafen the Kindred for an hour or more.

System:  This power doesn’t normally require the use of dice, instead being defined through the Storyteller’s descrïptions and the player’s imagination.  In certain circumstances, use of this power requires a die roll:  for a normal Perception roll the Storyteller may reduce the difficulty by the character’s Auspex rating.  To perceive a threat the Storyteller may privately roll the character’s unmodified Auspex rating, applying whatever difficulty he feels best suits the circumstances.  For example, in the last instance, sensing that a pistol is pointed at the back of your head may require a 5, while the sudden realization that a rival is planning your assassination may require a 9.  This power does not let characters see in pitch darkness, but it does reduce difficulty penalties to act in pitch darkness from +2 to +1, and the character may make ranged attacks in pitch darkness if she can hear, smell, or otherwise detect her foe.

00 Aura Perception
Using this power, the vampire can perceive the psychic “auras” that radiate from mortals and supernatural beings alike.  These halos comprise a shifting series of colors that take practice to discern with clarity.  Even the simplest individual has many shifting hues within his aura; strong emotions predominate, while momentary impressions or deep secrets flash through in steaks and swirls.

The colors change in sympathy with the subject’s emotional state, blending into new tones in a constantly dancing pattern.  The stronger the emotions involved, the more intense the hues become.  A skilled vampire can learn much from her subject by reading the nuances of color and brilliance in the aura’s flow.

Aside from perceiving emotional states, vampires use Aura Perception to detect supernatural beings.  The colors in Kindred auras, while intense, are quite pale.  Other supernaturals may be detected by their auras.

System:  The player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 8); each success indicates how much of the subject’s aura the character sees and understands.  A botch indicates a false or erroneous interpretation.  The Storyteller may wish to make this roll, thus keeping the player in the dark as to just how good (or bad) the character’s interpretation is.

1 success – Can distinguish only the shade (pale or bright)
2 successes – Can distinguish the main color
3 successes – Can recognize the color patterns
4 successes – Can detect subtle shifts
5 successes – Can identify mixtures of color and pattern.

The character may view a particular aura only once with any degree of clarity.  Any subsequent attempts that result in failure should be considered botches.  It is very easy for the character to imagine seeing what she wants to see when judging someone’s intentions.  After a full month, the character may try again at no penalty.

It is possible, though difficult, to sense the aura of a being who is otherwise invisible to normal sight.  Refer to “Seeing the Unseen” for more information.

Afraid -- Orange
Aggressive -- Purple
Angry -- Red
Bitter -- Brown
Calm -- Light Blue
Compassionate -- Pink
Conservative -- Lavender
Depressed -- Gray
Desirous or Lustful -- Deep Red
Distrustful -- Light Green
Envious -- Dark Green
Excited -- Violet
Generous -- Rose
Happy -- Vermilion
Hateful -- Black
Idealistic -- Yellow
Innocent -- White
Lovestruck -- Blue
Obsessed -- Green
Sad -- Silver
Spiritual -- Gold
Suspicious -- Dark Blue
Confused -- Mottled, shifting colors
Diablerist -- Black veins in aura
Daydreaming -- Sharp, flickering colors
Frenzied -- Rapidly rippling colors
Psychotic -- Hypnotic, swirling colors
Vampire -- Appropriate color is pale
Magic Use -- Myriad sparkles in aura
Werebeast -- Bright, vibrant aura
Ghost -- Weak, intermittent aura
Faerie -- Rainbow highlights in aura

000 The Spirit’s Touch
When someone handles an object for any length of time, he leaves a psychic impression on the item.  A vampire with this level of Auspex can “read” these sensations, learning who handled the object, when he last held it, and what was done with it recently.

These visions are seldom clear and detailed, registering more like a kind of “psychic snapshot.”  Still, the Kindred can learn much even from such a glimpse.  Although most visions concern the last person to handle the item, a long-time owner leaves a stronger impression than someone who held the object briefly.

Gleaning information from the spiritual residue requires the vampire to hold the object and enter a shallow trance.  She is only marginally aware of her surroundings while using The Spirit’s Touch, but a loud noise or jarring physical sensation breaks the trance instantly.

System:  The player rolls Perception + Empathy.  The difficulty is determined by the age of the impressions and the mental and spiritual strength of the person or event what left them.  Sensing information from a pistol used for murder hours ago may require a 5, while learning ho owned a set of keys found days ago might be a 9.

The greater the individual’s emotional connection to the object, the stronger the impression he leaves on it – and the more information the Kindred can glean from it.  Also, events involving strong emotions (a gift-giving, a torture, a long family history) likewise leave stronger impressions than does short or casual contact.  Assume that each success offers one piece of information.  While one success tells the character only that “a man held this pocket watch last,” three reveal that he was petty, middle-aged, and afraid.  Four successes discover his name, and five or more reveal his connection to the watch as well as some of the things he did with it in his possession.

0000 Telepathy
The vampire projects a portion of her consciousness into a nearby mortal’s mind, creating a mental link through which she can communicate wordlessly or even red the target’s deepest thoughts.  The Kindred “hears” in her own mind the thoughts plucked from a subject as if they were spoken to her.

This is one of the most potent vampiric abilities, since, given time, a Kindred can learn virtually anything from a subject without him ever knowing.

System:  The player rolls Intelligence + Subterfuge (difficulty of the subject’s Willpower).  Projecting thoughts into the target’s mind requires one success.  The subject recognizes that the thoughts come from somewhere other than his own consciousness, although he cannot discern their actual origin.

To read minds, one success must be rolled for each item of information plucked or each layer of thought pierced.  Deep secrets or buried memories are harder to obtain than surface emotions or unspoken comments, requiring five or more successes to access.

Telepathy does not commonly work upon the undead.  A character may expend a Willpower point to make the effort, making the roll afterward.  Likewise, it is equally difficult to read the thoughts of other supernatural creatures.

Storytellers are encouraged to describe thoughts as flowing streams or impressions and images, rather than as a sequence of prose.  Instead of making flat statements like “he’s planning on killing his former lover’s new boyfriend,” say “You see a fleeting series of visions: a  couple kissing passionately in a doorway, then the man walking alone at night; you suddenly see your hands, knuckles white, wrapped around a steering wheel, with a figure crossing the street ahead; your heart, a mortal now and hammering with panic as you hear the engine rev wildly; and above all, a blazing anger coupled with emotional agony and a panicked fear of loss.”

Such descrïptions not only add to the story, but they also force the player to decide for herself what her character reads.  After all, understanding minds – especially highly emotional or deranged minds – is a difficult and often puzzling task.

00000 Psychic Projection
The Kindred with this awesome ability projects her senses out of her physical shell, stepping from her body as an entity of pure thought.  The vampire’s astral form is immune to damage or fatigue, and can “fly” with blinding speed anywhere across the earth – or even underground – so long as she remains below the moon’s orbit.

The Kindred’s material form lies in a torpid state while her astral self is active, and the vampire isn’t aware of anything that befalls her body until she returns to it.  An ephemeral silver cord connects the Kindred’s psyche to her body.  If this cord is severed, her consciousness becomes stranded in the astral plane, the realm of ghosts, spirits, and shades.  Attempt to return to the vampire’s physical shell is a long and terrifying ordeal, especially since there is no guarantee that she will accomplish the journey successfully. This significant danger keeps many Kindred from leaving their bodies for long, but those who dare can learn much.

System:  Journeying in astral form requires the player to expend a point of Willpower and make a Perception + Occult roll.  Difficulty varies depending on the distance and complexity of the intended trip:  7 is average, with 10 reflecting a trip far from familiar territory (a first journey from North America to the Far East; trying to shortcut through the earth).  The greater the number of successes rolled, the more focused the character’s astral presence is and the easier it is for her to reach her desired destination.

Failure means the character is unable to separate her consciousness from her body, while a botch can have nasty consequences – flinging her astral form to a random destination on Earth or in the spirit realm, or heading for the desired destination so forcefully that the silver cord snaps.

Changing course or continuing to another destination requires another destination requires another point of Willpower and a new roll.  Failure indicates that the vampire has lost her way and must retrace the path of her silver cord.  A botch at this stage means the cord snaps, stranding the character’s psychic form in the mysterious astral plane.

An astral form may travel at great speeds (the Storyteller can use 1000 miles per hour as a general guide) and carries no clothing or material objects of any kind.  Some artifacts are said to exist in the spirit world, and the character can try to use one of these tools if she finds one.  The character cannot bring relics to the physical world when she returns to her body, however.

Interaction with the physical world is impossible while using Psychic Projection.  At best, the character may spend a Willpower point to manifest a ghostlike shape.  This apparition lasts one turn before fading away; while she can’t affect anything physical during this time, the character can speak.  Despite lacking physical substance, an astral character can use Auspex normally.  At the Storyteller’s discretion, such a character may employ certain Discipline powers she has, though this typically requires a minimum of three successes on the initial Psychic Projection roll.

If two astral shapes encounter one another, they interact as if they were solid.  They may talk, touch, and even fight as if both were in the material world.  Since they have no physical bodies, astral characters seeking to interact “physically” substitute Mental and Social Traits for Physical ones (Wits replaces Dexterity, Manipulation supplants Strength, and Intelligence replaces Stamina).  Due to the lack of a material form, the only real way to damage another psychic entity is to cut its silver cord.  When fighting this way, consider Willpower points to be health levels; when a combatant loses all her Willpower, the cord is severed.

Although an astrally projected character remains in the reflection of the mortal world, she may venture further into the spirit realms, especially if she becomes lost.  Other beings travel the astral plane and can interact with a vampire’s psychic presence normally.  Storytellers are encouraged to make trips into the spirit world as bizarre, monstrous, mysterious, and dreamlike as possible.  The world beyond is a vivid and fantastic place, where the true nature of things is stronger and often strikingly different from their earthly appearances.  

--Last edited by Killer Rabbitt on 2009-11-07 15:56:41 --