The Ravnos are known as masters of illusion, although
the reason why is lost to history. Rumors
abound of Ravnos ghûls, rakshasas, and shapeshifters,
but whatever its origins, Chimerstry remains a potent
and powerful weapon for the Deceivers. The Discipline
is, fundamentally, an art of conjuration that converts
the vampire’s will into phantoms that confound the
senses and technology alike. Even vampires fall under
the sway of the Ravnos’ illusory world, unless they have
a strong enough grasp of Auspex (see p. 142). The Ravnos
often use this power to swindle and seduce their
victims into acts that work out badly for the victim
(but great for the Ravnos).
Illusions created by Chimerstry can be seen for what
they are by a victim who “proves” the illusion’s falsehood
(e.g., a person who walks up to an illusory wall,
expresses his disbelief in it, and puts his hand through
it effectively banishes the illusion), and explicitly incredible
illusions are seen as false immediately (e.g.,
dragons breathing fire or gravity working in reverse).
Sometimes, frequent targets of Chimerstry end up attempting
to disbelieve everything around them, leading
to derangements (and, quite often, to the amusement
of the Ravnos).

• Ignis Fatuus
The vampire may conjure a minor, static mirage that
confounds one sense. For instance, he may evoke a sulfurous
stench, the appearance of stigmata, or the shatter
of broken glass. Note that though tactile illusions
can be felt, they have no real substance; an invisible
but tactile wall cannot confine anyone, and invisible
razor-wire causes no real damage. Similarly, the vampire
must know the characteristics of what he’s creating.
While it’s easy enough to estimate what a knife
wound might look like, falsifying a person’s voice or a
photograph of a childhood home requires knowledge
of the details.
System: The player spends a point of Willpower
for the vampire to create this illusion. The volume of
smells, ambient lighting, smoke clouds, and the like
are limited to roughly 20 cubic feet (half a cubic meter)
per dot the vampire has in Chimerstry. The illusion
lasts until the vampire leaves its vicinity (such as
stepping out of the room) or until another person sees
through it somehow. The Cainite may also end the illusion
at any time with no effort.

•• Fata Morgana
The Cainite can now create illusions that appeal to
all the senses, though they remain static. For example,
the vampire could make a filthy cellar appear as an opulent
ballroom, though she could not create a glittering
chandelier or a score of graceful dancers. Again, the
illusion has no solid presence, though it’s easy enough
to fool an enraptured visitor with suggestions of what
she might expect. A bucket of brackish water is as cool
as chilled champagne, after all.
System: The player spends a Willpower point and a
blood point to create the illusion. These static images
remain until dispelled, in much the same way that an
Ignis Fatuus illusion does.

••• Apparition
Not really a power unto itself, Apparition allows a
vampire to give motion to an illusion created with Ignis
Fatuus or Fata Morgana. Thus, the Cainite could
create the illusion of a living being, running water,
fluttering drapes, or a roaring fire.
System: The creator spends one blood point to make
the illusion move in one significant way, or in any
number of subtle ways. For example, the vampire could
create the illusion of a lurking mugger lurching at her
victim, or she could create the illusion of a desolate
street, down which a chill wind blows trash while a
streetlamp flickers and hums. Taking complicated actions
besides maintaining the illusion — that is, anything
that would require a dice roll — first requires success
on a Willpower roll, resulting in the dissolution of
the false construct if the roll fails.
Once the creator stops concentrating on the illusion,
it can continue in simple, repetitive motions – roughly
speaking, anything that can be described in a simple
sentence, such as a guard walking back and forth in
front of a steel door. After that, the vampire cannot
regain control over the illusion – she can either allow
it to continue moving as ordered, or let it fade as described
under Ignis Fatuus.

•••• Permanency
This power, also used in conjunction with Ignis
Fatuus or Fata Morgana, allows a mirage to persist even
when the vampire cannot see it. In this way, Ravnos
often cloak their temporary havens in false trappings of
luxury, or ward off trespassers with illusory guard dogs.
System: The vampire need only spend a blood point,
and the illusion becomes permanent until dissolved
(including “programmed” illusions like those created
by Apparition).

••••• Horrid Reality
Rather than create simple illusions, the vampire
can now project hallucinations directly into a victim’s
mind. The target of these illusions believes completely
that the images are real; a hallucinatory fire can burn
him, an imaginary noose can strangle him, and an illusory
wall can block him. This power affects only one
person at a time; though others can see the illusion, it
doesn’t impact them in the same way. Other people
can try to convince the victim that his terrors are not
real, but he won’t believe them. Note that targets with
enough dots in Auspex can still attempt to roll for Seeing
the Unseen (p. 142).
System: A Horrid Realty illusion costs two Willpower
points to set in motion and lasts for an entire
scene (though its effects may last longer; see below).
If the vampire is trying to injure his victim, his player
must roll Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty of the
victim’s Perception + Self-Control/Instinct). Each
success inflicts one health level of lethal damage on
the victim that cannot be soaked — the Cainite assaults
the victim’s mind and perceptions, not his body.
If the player wishes to inflict less damage or change it
to bashing, he may announce a maximum amount of
damage before rolling the dice. Secondary effects (such
as frenzy rolls for illusory fire) may also occur.
The victim heals all his damage instantaneously if
he can be convinced that the damage he took was illusory,
but convincing him may take some doing, such
as with at least two successes on a Charisma + Empathy
roll (difficulty equal to the Manipulation + Subterfuge
of the Cainite using Horrid Reality). The target must
be convinced of the attack’s illusory nature within 24
hours of its taking place, or it becomes too well established
in his memory, and he will have to heal the damage
using blood (if a vampire) or over time (if mortal).
This power cannot actually kill its victims (though a
target with a heart condition may well die from fright).
A victim “killed” by an illusory attack loses consciousness
or enters torpor.

••••• • False Resonance
Illusions of living or unliving beings are all well
and good until someone decides to read the illusion’s
mind or its aura. The automatic failure to perceive any
sense of the target’s thoughts or emotions will usually
be passed off as bad luck, lack of concentration, or
whatever reason any Kindred might construct to explain
why he didn’t succeed in gleaning information
through supernatural means. A vampire can use False
Resonance to overlay auras and thoughts on illusions,
as well as leave a trace that other emotionally resonant
powers can detect later.
System: This power automatically applies to any
other use of Chimerstry as the user wishes. In effect,
any attempt to use Auspex, the Dementation power
Eyes of Chaos, or similar sensory powers that generates
five or fewer successes will detect an aura, thoughts,
Demeanor or whatever the power would normally detect.
Thoughts won’t be exceptionally complex, and
will relate to whatever is going on around the illusion
in a mundane and simplistic way. Auras will consist
of colors related to specific emotions (anger, sadness,
hatred, love, and happiness) and will not show much
complexity beyond that. Spirit’s Touch can pick up the
same emotional resonance until the next sunrise.

••••• • Fatuus Mastery
A Ravnos with Fatuus Mastery has no restriction
on how often she may use the first three levels (Ignis
Fatuus, Fata Morgana, and Apparition) and can maintain
or control illusions with minimal concentration
or fatigue. Kindred who rely on the high cost of Chimerstry
to limit a vampire’s ability to use illusions are in
for a very rude surprise when they encounter a Cainite
with this power.
System: Fatuus Mastery negates the Willpower and
blood cost for using the first three levels of Chimerstry.
In addition, the Kindred may direct movement for a
number of illusions equal to his Intelligence without
intense concentration. Furthermore, the character can
maintain the illusion as long as it remains within his
Willpower rating in miles (or about one and a half
times that in kilometers), although he may not make
it react to events around it if he has no way to perceive
those events.

••••• • Shared Nightmare
Even though Horrid Reality is visible to all onlookers,
it can only inflict “damage” on one victim. With
Shared Nightmare, a vampire can inflict her tormented
visions on a crowd.
System: To use this power, the player must spend
two Willpower points, plus one blood point per target.
The player rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge once, but
compares the results against each target individually.
The difficulty is still each victim’s Perception + Self-
Control/Instinct.

••••• •• Far Fatuus
This power allows a Kindred to project illusions to
any area he can see or visualize. Under most circumstances,
accomplishing this requires him to have visited
the location in question before he can project illusions
there. Although more difficult, a vampire may
project illusions on the basis of a description, a photo,
or a video clip.
System: The difficulty for using Far Fatuus depends
on the user’s familiarity with the location. The player
must roll Perception + Subterfuge to affect the location.
Once this roll is successful, the vampire may then
use any other Chimerstry power on that location.
Difficulty - Familiarity
6 - As familiar as one’s haven; currently
viewing with Clairvoyance or Psychic
Projection
7 - Visited three or more times
8 - Visited once; viewing on a live feed
9 - Described in detail; seen it in a video
or have a undoctored photo

••••• •• Suspension of Disbelief
A Ravnos with this power can imbue her Chimerstry
with a sense of reality that makes it easier for viewers
to believe in the illusion. No matter how strange
or surreal the illusion is, an onlooker will accept it as
real. If the illusion is wildly unrealistic (fire-breathing
dragons, a pack of aliens), once it is no longer in his
sight, the observer will question what he saw and eventually
deny the event ever happened. A vampire can
also use this power to make something appear unbelievable,
whether it’s real or not. In this case, observers
will write off what they’re seeing as some kind of trick
or hallucination.
System: The player rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge
(difficulty 7). The number of successes determines
how many witnesses are affected. If the player uses the
power to make something look unbelievable, Auspex
will show the thing in question to be an illusion unless
the Auspex rating is not high enough to penetrate the
Kindred’s Chimerstry.
Successes Result
1 success - Five people
2 successes - 10 people
3 successes - 25 people
4 successes - 50 people
5 successes - Everyone who can see it

••••• ••• Synesthesia
A Cainite who masters this power can shuffle others’
senses around to suit his preferences. He can select
one target and inflict a serious, disorienting, and
all-encompassing case of synesthesia upon her, making
it impossible for her to interact meaningfully with
the real world for the power’s duration. The vampire
has complete control over how the target’s senses work
and can manipulate them to suit. For example, he may
decide that she smells all sounds as varieties of nauseating
stenches, or more subtly, he may exchange pain for
pleasure. Used against a crowd, sensations are randomly
shuffled, so one man will see what the woman next
to him sees, but hears what the man 15 feet behind him
hears and feels what the child a block away feels. The
end result is extremely disorienting for all victims.
System: When used against a single victim, the player
must spend one Willpower point and roll Manipulation
+ Intimidation (difficulty is victim’s current Willpower
points). For use against crowds, the difficulty is
7, and the power affects everyone within the vampire’s
line of sight and subtracts one point from Perception
per success rolled. Victims whose Perception has been
reduced to zero can only sit down and wait for the disorientation
to end. Duration against a single victim is
determined below. Against a crowd, the power persists
until sunrise.
Successes Result
1 success - One week
2 successes - One month
3 successes - Six months
4 successes - One year
5 successes - Permanent

••••• •••• Mayaparisatya
This expression of Chimerstry allows the Cainite
to directly alter or create real objects or creatures, although
such changes are of finite duration. A vampire
with this power can transform the air around a rival
Kindred into fire or render a locked door insubstantial.
A more harrowing use of this power enables the vampire
to force an object out of existence by transforming
it into nothing more than a wisp of its former reality.
System: To use this power, the player must spend 10
blood points and one permanent Willpower point and
roll Manipulation + Subterfuge. Difficulty for the roll
is 6 for affecting inanimate objects, and the victim’s
Willpower rating for affecting characters. This power
can affect anything within miles (kilometers) of the
vampire, as long as the character is aware of the target
in some way. If used with Far Fatuus, the effects are
centered on the chosen location. This power can affect
a number of conscious targets equal to the Kindred’s
Willpower per use.
When dealing with inanimate objects, the number
of successes determines how drastic the alteration may
be. No matter how many successes the player rolls, the
duration is always a scene. This power can affect any
objects of a type within the vampire’s targeted area.
Successes Result
1 success - Render an object harmless (swords
won’t cut, firearms won’t shoot),
create a large volume of obscuring
smoke
2 successes - Change an object into another object
(turn candles into tarantulas, etc.)
3 successes - Render the object insubstantial, make
smoke solid
4 successes - Cause drastic changes (stone becomes
highly flammable)
5 successes - Cause the environment to behave
illogically (gravity twists sideways,
rivers stand still as hills flow upward)
6+ successes - Delete any offending material objects
from existence. This effect is
permanent (to use this on conscious
targets, follow the system described
below).
When using the power on conscious targets, consult
the table above for alterations (such as forcing the victim
into another form or transforming her into a different
substance). If using the power to negate the victim’s
existence, the power inflicts two levels of unsoakable
aggravated damage per success. If the power doesn’t kill
the victim, subtract one dot of Strength and Stamina
per success. The damage must be healed normally, but
the lost Attributes return at the end of the scene. Victims
of this power look hazy and insubstantial. Victims
destroyed with this power simply vanish.