Serpentis is believed to be the legacy of Set himself, a
gift to his children. The Followers of Set are very careful
to guard this Discipline’s secrets, only teaching the
art to those who they deem worthy. Most vampires fear
the Setites because of the powers of Serpentis and its
connection to snakes and reptiles; this Discipline can
evoke a primordial fear in others, particularly those
who recall the tale of Eden.

• The Eyes of the Serpent
This power grants the vampire the legendary hypnotic
gaze of the serpent. The Kindred’s eyes become
gold with large black irises, and mortals in the character’s
vicinity find themselves strangely attracted to
him. A mortal who meets the vampire’s beguiling gaze
is immobilized. Until the character takes his eyes off
his victim, the person is frozen in place.
System: No roll is required, but this power can be
avoided if the mortal takes care not to look into the
vampire’s eyes. Vampires and other supernatural creatures
can also be affected by this power if the Cainite’s
player succeeds on a Willpower roll (difficulty 9). If attacked
or otherwise harmed, supernatural creatures can
spend a point of Willpower to break the spell.
Note: This is different than normal eye contact detailed
on p. 152. The target must be able to see the
vampire’s eyes for Eyes of the Serpent to work.

•• The Tongue of the Asp
The vampire may lengthen her tongue at will, splitting
it into a fork like that of a serpent. The tongue
may reach 18 inches or half a meter, and makes a terrifyingly
effective weapon in close combat.
System: The lash of the tongue’s razor fork causes aggravated
wounds (difficulty 6, Strength damage). If the
Kindred wounds her enemy, she may drink blood from
the target on the next turn as though she had sunk her
fangs into the victim’s neck. Horrifying though it is, the
tongue’s caress is very like the Kiss, and strikes mortal
victims helpless with fear and ecstasy. Additionally,
the tongue is highly sensitive to vibrations, enabling
the vampire to function effectively in the darkness the
Clan prefers. By flicking his tongue in and out of his
mouth, the vampire can halve any penalties relating to
darkness (p. 274).

••• The Skin of the Adder
By calling upon her Blood, the vampire may transform
her skin into a mottled, scaly hide. A vampire in
this form becomes more supple and flexible.
System: The vampire spends one blood point and
one Willpower point. Her skin becomes scaly and
mottled; this, combined with the character’s increased
flexibility, reduces soak difficulties to 5. The vampire
may use her Stamina to soak aggravated damage from
claws and fangs, but not from fire, sunlight, or other supernatural
energies. The vampire’s mouth widens and
fangs lengthen, enabling her bite to inflict an extra die
of damage. Finally, the vampire may slip through any
opening wide enough to fit her head through.
The vampire’s Appearance drops to 1, and she is obviously
inhuman if observed with any degree of care,
though casual passersby might not notice, if the vampire
is in darkness or wearing heavy clothing.

•••• The Form of the Cobra
The Cainite may change his form into that of a huge
black cobra. The serpent weighs as much as the vampire’s
human form, stretches over 10 feet or three meters
long, and is about 20 inches (50 cm) around. The
Form of the Cobra grants several advantages, including
a venomous bite, the ability to slither through small
spaces, and a greatly enhanced sense of smell. The
character may use any Disciplines while in this form
save those that require hands (such as Feral Claws).
System: The vampire spends one blood point; the
change is automatic, but takes three turns. Clothing
and small personal possessions transform with the vampire.
The vampire remains in serpent form until the
next dawn, unless he desires to change back sooner.
The Storyteller may allow the Setite bonus dice on all
Perception rolls related to smell, but the difficulties for
all hearing rolls are increased by two. The cobra’s bite
inflicts damage equal to the vampire’s, but the vampire
does not need to grapple his victim; furthermore, the
poison delivered is fatal to mortals.

••••• The Heart of Darkness
A Kindred with mastery of Serpentis may pull her
heart from her body. She can even use this ability on
other Cainites, although this requires several hours of
gruesome surgery. This power can only be invoked during
a new moon. If performed under any other moon,
the rite fails. Upon removing her heart, the vampire
places it in a small clay urn, and then carefully hides or
buries the urn. While her heart is hidden, she cannot
be staked by any wood that pierces her breast. Moreover,
because the heart is the seat of emotion, the difficulties
of all her rolls to resist frenzy are two lower
while this power is in effect.
Cainites are careful to keep their hearts safe from
danger. If someone seizes her heart, the vampire is
completely at that person’s mercy. The heart can be
destroyed only by casting it into a fire or exposing it to
sunlight. If this happens, the Kindred dies where she
stands, boiling away into a blistering heap of ash and
blackened bone. Plunging a wooden stake into an exposed
heart drives the vampire into instant torpor.
A vampire may carry her heart with her, or have
several false hearts buried in different places. A smart
Kindred often avoids her heart’s hiding place, to deter
discovery. Those wise in Setite lore whisper that the
corrupt elders of the Clan often hold their underlings’
hearts as yet another method of control.
System: This power requires no roll. Those who witness
a vampire pull his heart from his breast (or cut
the heart from another vampire) must make Courage
rolls. Failure indicates anything from strong uneasiness
to complete revulsion, possibly even Rötschreck.

••••• • Cobra Fangs
A character using Form of the Cobra gains a venomous
bite along with his serpentine form. Unfortunately,
huge black cobras tend to make people run away as fast
as they can. This Serpentis power enables a vampire
to gain the deadly bite without the full-body transformation,
making it more useful for taking victims by
surprise. The police do ask questions when someone
dies from a cobra bite under unlikely circumstances, so
Cobra Fangs still requires some discretion in its use.
System: The Kindred expends one blood point, and
in one turn his fangs become hollow, more slender and
venomous. The vampire injects venom when he bites.
He must still grapple with the victim to deliver a bite
attack, and the bite does the usual amount of damage;
the venom, however, kills mortals within one minute.
Bitten vampires or other supernaturally resilient creatures
suffer (10 – victim’s Stamina and Fortitude) levels
of aggravated damage over the course of five minutes.

••••• •• Divine Image
Many of the low-Generation Setite elders no longer
need the illusions of Obfuscate to appear as a god.
Through this Serpentis power, a vampire can physically
metamorphose into the form of a god. Male Kindred
generally take the form of Set himself: a muscular man
with the head of the “Typhonic Beast,” an animal with
a long, narrow snout and upstanding, square-topped
ears. Less often, they take the form of the crocodileheaded
god Sobek, whom the Egyptians often linked
to Set, or the wolf-headed war-god Wepwawet, often
identified with Set’s son Anubis. Female vampires generally
assume the form of the cobra-headed goddess
Renenet, wife of Sobek, or the hippopotamus-goddess
Taweret, sometimes considered a consort of Set. Both
were goddesses of pregnancy and childbirth. Setite
doctrine labels all four deities as Set’s eldest childer.
While assuming the Divine Image, the vampire becomes
stronger, tougher, and more impressive. More
importantly, perhaps, the vampire’s will becomes more
powerful as he identifies with a divine forebear.
System: The character expends three blood points
and transforms into the Divine Image in one turn. In
the Divine Image, the vampire gains two dots each of
Strength and Stamina and a dot each of Charisma and
Manipulation, but her Appearance drops to 1. These
enhancements can push the vampire over his generational
limit. The character also gains two full dots of
Willpower (to a maximum of 10). The Cainite can stay
in the Divine Image for a full scene.
A vampire has only one Divine Image form (unless
the player buys this power twice). The character does
not know what Divine Image he will manifest until he
invokes the power the first time, although the player
can freely choose the preferred form.

••••• ••• Heart Thief
The Serpentis power Heart of Darkness normally
takes hours to perform upon other vampires, and only
works at the dark of the moon. Some elders, however,
can pull the heart from another vampire’s chest with
a quick snatch. This does not destroy the victim, unless
the attacker then destroys the stolen heart. Heart
Thief is not an easy power to use despite its speed, but
few Discipline effects can place one vampire in another’s
power so suddenly and completely.
System: The character must expend one Willpower
point. Removing the heart of a reluctant vampire is a
difficult feat, comparable to staking: the attacker must
garner at least three successes on a Dexterity + Brawl
attack (difficulty 9). The victim may use Fortitude to
“soak” the attacker’s successes, but mundane Stamina
has no effect against this magical attack.
A vampire who loses his heart this way takes one
unsoakable level of aggravated damage, and receives
all the benefits and drawbacks of the Heart of Darkness
power. Resisting frenzy becomes easier (-2 difficulty)
and he cannot be staked by wood that impales his
breast. On the other hand, thrusting a stake through
the removed heart will instantly force the vampire into
torpor and exposing the heart to fire or sunlight will
bum the vampire to ash; even biting into the heart will
cause aggravated wounds to the vampire in question.

••••• •••• Shadow of Apep
Only Set and Set’s own childer can perform this terrifying
power. These ancient monsters can take the form
of Set’s defeated enemy, Apep. The vampire becomes
a giant serpent of fluid, glittering Darkness — not mere
shadow, but anti-light, like the black force commanded
by Obtenebration. In this form, physical force cannot
harm the vampire: not claws or fangs, not bullets, not
explosions, nothing but fire, sunlight, or mystical powers.
Physical barriers cannot easily stop the vampire,
whose shadowy form can seep through even the tiniest
crack. The vampire, however, can still exert physical
and supernatural force quite freely.
System: Taking the form of Apep costs a Willpower
point. The transformation takes three turns to complete;
once the vampire has transformed, her body remains
changed for one scene. In this form, the vampire
takes no damage from any physical attack: fists, weapons,
or falling buildings pass through the vampire as if
she were a shadow. Fire and sunlight inflict the normal
aggravated damage, however, and mystical powers
(such as Thaumaturgy) still affect the transformed
vampire. The vampire’s new body gains three dots in
each Physical Attribute. Ignore generational limits for
this purpose. The transformed vampire can use her
Strength to make normal close combat attacks and
can bite for Strength + 2 dice of damage. The vampire
can also employ any Discipline that does not require
hands.