Dementation

The City of LeClaire | home

Dementation

Dementation To the medieval mind, madness is a curse, or synonymous with demonic possession. The Malkavians know that their madness is a malediction laid on their bloodline by Caine himself. Indeed, some claim that the natural state of vampires is insanity, and that they alone are sufficiently pure of blood to have such divine lunacy. The Discipline of Dementation is an offspring of this madness. Dementation grants a Malkavian the power to spread his lunacy to a victim, drawing the subject into his shattered world. The Malkavians do not zealously guard the secrets of this Discipline; they claim that protecting vampires from lunacy is akin to herasy. In some ways, Dementation is similar to Dominate. The frightening part is that it catalyzes more than it controls, meaning that madness is not so alien to the mortal--or Cainite--mind.

Level 1--Incubus Passion The Cainite using Incubus Passion doubles or tripples her victim's emotional intensity. The vampire cannot choose the emotion, merely amplify what is already present. This power works on other Cainites as well as mortals.

System: THe player rolls Charisma+Empathy (difficulty of the victim's Humanity). The number of successes determines the duration (and, at the Storyteller's discretion, the intensity). Properly timed use of this Discipline increases the target's dificulty to resist frenzy or Rotschreck by one per success, to a maximum difficulty of 10.

1 success One turn

2 successes One hour

3 successes One night

4 successes One week

5 successes One month

Level 2--Haunt the Soul The vampire may stimulate the victim's mind, flooding it with intense visions. The images appear to be fully real, but can only be seen for a second or out of the corner of the eye. The Cainite has no control over what his victim sees, adn teh visions haunt the unfortunate target for a night, a fortnight, or possibly even months. The vivid images visit sporadically, mostly at night and usually when the person is alone. They can be anything from visions of devils and succubi to nightmares from the victim's deepest memory. The Storyteller should let her imagination run wild in describing these visions; St. Anthony's temptation is only one of hte possible insirations for an exciting and disturbing use of Haunt the Soul

System: The player rolls his Manipulation+Subterfuge (difficulty equal to the victim's Perception+Self-Controll/Instinct). The number of successes determines the duration of the period during which visions manifest.

1 success One night

2 successes Two nights

3 successes One week

4 successes One month

5 successes Three months

Level 3--Eyes of Chaos Through this unusual power, the Malkavian can weigh the taint of sanity on a person. He can perceive another individual's true Nature, although the form such a vision takes varies from Cainite to Cainite. The Eyes of Chaos also reveal the "makr of Caine's purity" on a soul (the Malkavian's euphemisim for madness). This power reveals the blight of lunacy in its tatterdemalion, oh-so-delicate patterns, even those designs invisible to the most sagacious individuals.

System: The player makes a Perception+Occult roll. The difficulty depends on the intricacy of the soul's pattern and the time the Malkavian has to study it. To discern the Nature of a passing pilgrim requires a 10, but scrying his soul after journeying with him for a week resets the difficulty at 8. Assaying a secretive Cappadocian who is careful to hide all evidence of his doings would be 8, while discerning the mind behind a code buried in apocryphal scripture would be a 7. The Malkavian can even detect an unseen hand in seemingly random events, such as the circling of bluebottle flies or the patterns of smoke rising from a bonfire (both at difficulty 6). These patterns likely bear no meaning, but might hold the Cainite's attention for hours by their intricate from and possibilities.

Level 4--Confusion The Cainite may cloud her victim's senses just by making eye contact and conversation. The target loses all sense of time, cannot recall most of his memories, and generally wanders aimlessly until the confusion lifts. The victim often allows himself to e "aided" during this time; this tractableness can lead to a gruesome fate.

System: The vampire must meet her victim's gaze and speak to him, while the player rolls Manipulation+Intimidation (difficulty equal to the target's Perception+Self-Control/Instinct). The duration depends on level of success.

1 success One turn

2 successes One hour

3 successes One night

4 successes One week

5 successes One month

Level 5--Howling Lunacy The vampire with this power may drive his victim, whether serf or saint, mortal or scion of Caine, completely mad. The victim suffers five Derangements of the Storryteller's choice. To enact this ability, the vampire must gain his victim's undivided attention for at least one turn. Most Malkavians cloak this power amid fervent conversation; more than one hapless wayfarer has stopped to talk with an innocent-seeming hermith, only to flee gibbering into the woods or fall into an unseeing, unhearing stupor.

System: The Playr rolls Manipulation+Intimidation (difficulty equal to the victim's Willpower rating). The number of successes determines the duration of the lunacy.

1 success One turn

2 successes One night

3 successes One week

4 successes One month

5 successes One year


	The City of LeClaire \| home Abombwe \| Animalism \| Auspex \| Bardo \| Celerity \| Chimerstry \| Daimoinon \| Deimos \| Dementation \| Dominate \| Flight \| Fortitude \| Kai \| Maleficia \| Melpominee \| Mortis \| Mytherceria \| Necomancy \| Nihilistics \| Obedah \| Obfuscate \| Obtenebration \| Ogham \| Potence \| Presence \| Protean \| Quietus \| Sanguinus \| Serpentis \| Spiritus \| Striga \| Temporis \| Thaumaturgy \| Thanatosis \| Valeren \| Vicissitude \| Visceratika Dementation Dementation To the medieval mind, madness is a curse, or synonymous with demonic possession. The Malkavians know that their madness is a malediction laid on their bloodline by Caine himself. Indeed, some claim that the natural state of vampires is insanity, and that they alone are sufficiently pure of blood to have such divine lunacy. The Discipline of Dementation is an offspring of this madness. Dementation grants a Malkavian the power to spread his lunacy to a victim, drawing the subject into his shattered world. The Malkavians do not zealously guard the secrets of this Discipline; they claim that protecting vampires from lunacy is akin to herasy. In some ways, Dementation is similar to Dominate. The frightening part is that it catalyzes more than it controls, meaning that madness is not so alien to the mortal--or Cainite--mind. Level 1--Incubus Passion The Cainite using Incubus Passion doubles or tripples her victim's emotional intensity. The vampire cannot choose the emotion, merely amplify what is already present. This power works on other Cainites as well as mortals. System: THe player rolls Charisma+Empathy (difficulty of the victim's Humanity). The number of successes determines the duration (and, at the Storyteller's discretion, the intensity). Properly timed use of this Discipline increases the target's dificulty to resist frenzy or Rotschreck by one per success, to a maximum difficulty of 10. 1 success One turn 2 successes One hour 3 successes One night 4 successes One week 5 successes One month Level 2--Haunt the Soul The vampire may stimulate the victim's mind, flooding it with intense visions. The images appear to be fully real, but can only be seen for a second or out of the corner of the eye. The Cainite has no control over what his victim sees, adn teh visions haunt the unfortunate target for a night, a fortnight, or possibly even months. The vivid images visit sporadically, mostly at night and usually when the person is alone. They can be anything from visions of devils and succubi to nightmares from the victim's deepest memory. The Storyteller should let her imagination run wild in describing these visions; St. Anthony's temptation is only one of hte possible insirations for an exciting and disturbing use of Haunt the Soul System: The player rolls his Manipulation+Subterfuge (difficulty equal to the victim's Perception+Self-Controll/Instinct). The number of successes determines the duration of the period during which visions manifest. 1 success One night 2 successes Two nights 3 successes One week 4 successes One month 5 successes Three months Level 3--Eyes of Chaos Through this unusual power, the Malkavian can weigh the taint of sanity on a person. He can perceive another individual's true Nature, although the form such a vision takes varies from Cainite to Cainite. The Eyes of Chaos also reveal the "makr of Caine's purity" on a soul (the Malkavian's euphemisim for madness). This power reveals the blight of lunacy in its tatterdemalion, oh-so-delicate patterns, even those designs invisible to the most sagacious individuals. System: The player makes a Perception+Occult roll. The difficulty depends on the intricacy of the soul's pattern and the time the Malkavian has to study it. To discern the Nature of a passing pilgrim requires a 10, but scrying his soul after journeying with him for a week resets the difficulty at 8. Assaying a secretive Cappadocian who is careful to hide all evidence of his doings would be 8, while discerning the mind behind a code buried in apocryphal scripture would be a 7. The Malkavian can even detect an unseen hand in seemingly random events, such as the circling of bluebottle flies or the patterns of smoke rising from a bonfire (both at difficulty 6). These patterns likely bear no meaning, but might hold the Cainite's attention for hours by their intricate from and possibilities. Level 4--Confusion The Cainite may cloud her victim's senses just by making eye contact and conversation. The target loses all sense of time, cannot recall most of his memories, and generally wanders aimlessly until the confusion lifts. The victim often allows himself to e "aided" during this time; this tractableness can lead to a gruesome fate. System: The vampire must meet her victim's gaze and speak to him, while the player rolls Manipulation+Intimidation (difficulty equal to the target's Perception+Self-Control/Instinct). The duration depends on level of success. 1 success One turn 2 successes One hour 3 successes One night 4 successes One week 5 successes One month Level 5--Howling Lunacy The vampire with this power may drive his victim, whether serf or saint, mortal or scion of Caine, completely mad. The victim suffers five Derangements of the Storryteller's choice. To enact this ability, the vampire must gain his victim's undivided attention for at least one turn. Most Malkavians cloak this power amid fervent conversation; more than one hapless wayfarer has stopped to talk with an innocent-seeming hermith, only to flee gibbering into the woods or fall into an unseeing, unhearing stupor. System: The Playr rolls Manipulation+Intimidation (difficulty equal to the victim's Willpower rating). The number of successes determines the duration of the lunacy. 1 success One turn 2 successes One night 3 successes One week 4 successes One month 5 successes One year