These rules supplement the basic 3rd Edition discipline rules. Unless otherwise noted here, assume the 3rd Edition rules apply to discipline use.

In Clan Disciplines

In order to raise one of your In Clan Disciplines to the fourth (4th) dot or beyond, you must first get your other two In Clan Disciplines to the second (2nd) dot. This is to preserve game balance and prevent characters from becoming too powerful too quickly.

Learning Out of Clan Disciplines

To start the mystical process of assimilating a new out-of-clan Discipline, the learning vampire must drink a point of blood from someone who possesses the desired discipline in-clan (the mentor) before instruction can begin. Improving knowledge of a Discipline already known does not require such a transfer.

Learning out of clan disciplines takes five (5) lessons, with no more than one (1) lesson per week from the teacher. The teacher must also possess the discipline at a level one (1) higher than the level they are teaching

E.G: The student wishes to learn Obfuscate 2, the teacher must possess Obfuscate 3 in order to instruct.

Combo Disciplines

Combination Disciplines from the Third Edition books are not allowed in our game. We think they have exactly two settings - overpowered and broken, or expensive and useless.

Auspex

Heightened senses

It is necessary to declare it inside the channel, saying ::HS On:: or if you are only using one sense, ::HS Hearing On::. If you have not declared this, you cannot act as if you have heard anything beyond normal sensory perception.

Selectively heightening one specific sense, rather than all, decreases the difficulty to perceive stimuli using that sense by one, although the difficulty to avoid distraction or temporary bedazzlement increases by one as well. When activated in its entirety, dice rolls associated with using the senses (such as Perception + Alertness) decrease in difficulty by a number equal to the character’s Auspex rating.

 

Aura Perception

This is a difficult thing to do and takes time and effort. You can not casually glance at someone and see their aura. It takes concentrated and deep study. This means you must actively stare at a person for at least several minutes (about 3 "rounds") before you roll. You need to emote you are doing this as well and it is such a deep, intense stare, others may find it creepy or disturbing, depending on how it is played.

A character may choose to do a cursory scan of a large area, like a dance floor or crowded audience, and seek one particular characteristic of aura (the most nervous, the palest ones, etc). If the roll is successful, that is the only information they're able to glean, although afterwards the player may narrow down her scrutiny to a single individual with an additional roll as per norm. The character may focus in on a particular subject’s aura only once per scene with any degree of clarity.

You can only do this ONCE per scene. If you fail, you can not try Aura perception until the next day. If you try to do it too soon, it is an automatic botch.

Botches are horrific. You are inundated with every color, every emotion, from everywhere around you. It is extremely painful and you feel like your head is about to explode. You can also not try to read that persons aura again for a full MONTH.

Spirit Touch

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. Assume that each success offers one piece of information, as per the chart below.

Botch ......... The character is overwhelmed by psychic impressions for the next 30 minutes and unable to act.
Failure .......... No information of value.
1 success .......... Very basic information: the last owner’s gender or hair color, for instance.
2 successes ............ A second piece of basic information.
3 successes ............... More useful information about the last owner, such as age and state of mind the last time he used the item.
4 successes .................. The person's name.
5 successes ........................ A wealth of information: nearly anything you want to know about the person’s relationship with that object is available.

Telepathy

Difficulty changed to the subjects current willpower, not permanent.

Telepathy on supernaturals:

Willpower does not have to be spent to send thoughts to other supernaturals, although reading thoughts requires so. The subject recognizes that the thoughts come from somewhere other than his own consciousness, though he cannot discern their actual origin without a successful Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty equal to the vampire's Manipulation + Subterfuge). The character may attempt to disguise her mental "voice" with a roll of Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty equals the target's Perception + Awareness) so the target doesn't recognize her as the "speaker."

Psychic Projection

Roll changed to Perception + Awareness. The player may spend a point of Willpower to activate this power, and an additional point of Willpower to gain the success necessary to perform the jaunt. This is an exception to the normal rule where a player may not spend more than a single point of Willpower per turn.

Other beings with particular sensitivity to psychic activity may notice the hovering, immaterial shade with a Perception + Awareness (diff 8) roll, with more successes than the Psychic Projection activation roll.

Celerity

Each dot passively adds one die to all Dexterity rolls (this includes inits).

One blood point can be spent per extra action desired, up to the number of dots available -- this can exceed the generational limit (within Celerity only).

Any dots used in this fashion cannot be used for passive Dexerity gain.

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Example:

A 12th generation Brujah with Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Celerity 3, and Potence 2.

They can spend 3bp on activating Celerity 3 in its entirety with no extra dots for Dexterity,

... or spend 2bp on activating Celerity 2 and use the leftover Celerity dot to have Dexterity 2 + 1.

... or spend 1bp on Dexterity 2 --> 3, and use all the Celerity dots to have Dexterity 3 + 3.

... or spend 1bp on activating Potence 2 for damage autosuccesses, and have Dexterity 2 + 3.

... but not spend 2bp on Celerity 2, then 1bp on Potence 2, or on Dexterity 2 --> 3, or any other expenditure.

Dominate

Sunglasses, veils and other fashion accessories do not block eye contact for purposes of Dominate. All that is required is that the dominator meets your eyes and he is in your presence.

All powers (save Possession) use the target's current willpower, not permanent, as their difficulty.

Remember, too, that being commanded to act against one's Nature confounds the use of this power. Being told to "Sleep!" in a dangerous situation or "Attack!" in police custody may not have the desired effect, or indeed, any effect at all.

Avoiding Eye Contact

In order to establish avoiding eye contact, the target may make a Willpower roll against a difficulty equal to Dominate user's Manipulation + Intimidation

Dominate Use in Combat

The only dominate power we allow to be used in combat is Dominate 1 (Command). In order to use this power, you must first roll to catch the victims eyes. This roll is: perception+alertness, diff 7, if you succeed, you may then roll for Dominate.

With the use of the power, the only sort of commands that will work are things such as: "STOP" "FREEZE" "FLEE" "RUN", etc. Commands such as "SLEEP" will NOT work as this puts the person in mortal danger.

Any attempt to mortally harm the person you have commanded will break the command.

Fortitude

Each dot passively adds one die to all Stamina rolls. It does not autosoak bashing or lethal damage, although it may still be used to soak aggravated.

Obfuscate

Despite some obtuse language on the subject in the books, you must use Heightened Senses to find anyone using Obfuscate, using a standard resisted roll as per the main rulebook. You cannot simply look for them.

As for the old 'Using video cameras to break Obfuscate' trick - for the purposes of general sanity, we ban characters from using mobile cameras to break through Obfuscate. So, no, you can't send your ghoul around with a remote camera and feed it back to your van to see if anyone is obfuscate. And you can't do the spy camera in your wristwatch trick either. However, if you want installed security cameras at your haven to pick up obfuscated individuals, that is just groovy.

Obfuscating in front of witnesses

Unless you possess Vanish from the Mind's Eye, you must be out of sight in order to obfuscate. This may be as simple as having people turn away, but you must be out of the line of sight of witnesses.

Entering doors or windows, etc

This can not be done. Period. If you come in contact with static objects, your obfuscate is broken. Period. Any movement other than a simple path requires stealth rolls and the player must be conscious of puddles and obstructions. Moving in through doors that an unwitting character is opening for themselves requires a Dexterity + Athletics roll, diff 8.

Mask of 1000 Faces

Vampires wishing to mask themselves as a person more attractive than they really are must pay spend one blood point per extra dot between their natural Appearance score and the mask's target rating.

Potence

Each dot passively adds one die to all Strength rolls. One blood point can be spent to change these dots into automatic Strength successes for a turn.

Presence

One blood point must be spent in order to activate Awe, Entrancement, and Summon. A Willpower point must be spent to activate Majesty.

Presence is an extremely SUBTLE and powerful discipline used to manipulate the emotions of mortals and Kindred. The use of Presence is not something that is readily known, even by those who possess the skill. In order to tell if this discipline has been used, the following rolls must be done.

This rule will apply to the use of Awe, Entrancement, and Summon only. Dread Gaze and Majesty are not subtle and would not fall under this category.

In order to realize that presence was used on you

Make a Perception+Kindred lore roll, diff 8 (NO willpower) vs a Charisma+Subterfuge roll, diff 8.

Modifiers

If you have presence in-clan you only need kindred lore 1 to roll it, if you do not have it in-clan, you need kindred lore 2.

How soon you know it was used is based upon the following scale:

1 success - you realize the next night
2 successes - next scene
3+ successes - you realize immediately

This only applies if you are the VICTIM. If you just happen to just get caught in the snare of Awe... too bad, you can't roll.

Entrancement

MUST BE ROLLED BY STORYTELLER IN PRIVATE

Entrancement can only be used in Social situations, it can no longer be rolled in any confrontational situation. This is simply because if a person is already inclined to act against a person, no amount of supernatural love is going to stop this.

For a detailed breakdown of effect, see this FORUM POST

Duration

• 1 success- 1 hour (same as book)
• 2 successes- 1 day (same as book)
• 3 successes- 1 week (same as book)
• 4 successes- 2 weeks (different)
• 5 successes- 4 weeks (different)

Resisting Presence

If you have GOOD reason to resist Presence (please ask Storyteller before you do so) there is a system for this:

Anyone can resist Presence for ONE TURN by spending a Willpower point and succeeding on a Willpower roll (difficulty 8)- if you fail, you lose the willpower point. If you botch, you can not roll again.

The affected individual must keep spending points until he can no longer see the vampire (or, in the case of Summon, until the effect wears off).

The simplest way to deal with this is to turn around and stop looking.(In the case of Dread Gaze)

Those who don't understand that they're dealing with supernatural influences (as is the case with most mortals) seldom think of this tactic, but it's a simple assumption for clever vampires.

Vampires three or more generations lower than the wielder (to be determined by Storyteller ONLY) need only spend a single Willpower to ignore the Presence for an entire scene and need not roll Willpower to do so.

Protean

Shape of the Beast

The bonuses for Shape of the Beast are per the main rulebook, increasing speed and perception, basic combat benefits, etc. We do not use the "revisited" rules given in the Gangrel clanbook that grant additional attribute dots.

Alternative fight and flight forms besides Wolf and Bat are allowed within reason, and the Storytellers may make minor alterations to reflect the given animals attributes (i.e. increasing sight instead of hearing with a hawk flight form). Each Gangrel has only one fight form and one flight form - these are set in stone. Fight forms must be approximately the same size as a wolf - bears, tigers and other large predators are not allowed except with Elder levels of Protean. Flight forms can be no larger than an owl or hawk, and can include small land-bound animals such as house cats.

Mist Form

In mist form, a vampire only possesses the most rudimentary of senses. One cannot use mist form to spy on others or overhear conversations. A misted vampire can sense what is nearby (people, places) but not who exactly those people are. Also, the mist form is a fairly sizable unnaturally moving cloud. In places where fog or low clouds would not be expected (inside vehicles or buildings), it is fairly obvious.