Discipline Powers

Confusion of the Eye (Obfuscate ••••• •)
This power extends the effect of Mask of 1,000 Faces
(see V20, p. 185) to another person in a specialized way.
While under the influence of this power, the victim
perceives one other person of the vampire’s choosing
as someone else. For instance, the victim might see and
hear the city’s Sabbat Archbishop as a mortal janitor, or
a despised Anarch as a primogen whose favor the victim
desires. The victim hears whatever the “masked” person
says, but unconsciously explains away any inconsistencies
in the person’s responses. If the “masked” person directly
tries to persuade the victim of his true identity, the victim
will prove hard to convince and may become angry.
System: This power costs one Willpower point to use.
The vampire’s player makes a Willpower roll (difficulty
of the target’s current Willpower). If the roll succeeds,
the victim sees one person of the character’s choosing as
one other person, also of the character’s choosing. The
effect lasts up to 24 hours.
The victim will rationalize or ignore most evidence that
the “masked” person is not who he believes. If the “masked”
person tries to convince the victim of her true identity,
the “masked” person makes a Charisma + Subterfuge roll,
while the victim makes a Willpower roll (both difficulty
7). If the victim gets more successes than the “masked”
person does, she is convinced. Otherwise, she isn’t, and
must make a Self-Control roll to keep her calm.

Mental Maze (Obfuscate ••••• •)
This power removes a victim’s sense of direction, forcing
him to move in circles and binding him to an area of the
vampire’s choosing. The vampire can trap a person in his
own home. To the victim’s point of view, the house folds
back on itself, and all the exits lead back inside.
System: The vampire’s player must make a Charisma
+ Intimidation roll (difficulty of the target’s current
Willpower). The difficulty increases by 2 if the character
cannot speak to her chosen victims, telling them they
cannot escape. For each success, the character may affect
one victim. The effects last a full scene.
Normally, the power is used in a multi-room structure
such as a house, or an outside area about the same size.
A much larger area (anything from an office tower to a
neighborhood) reduces the difficulty by 1 and increases the
duration to a full day. If the vampire wants to trap a victim
within a single room, the character must expend a point
of Willpower. A character must also expend a Willpower
point to use the Mental Maze upon supernatural victims
such as werewolves, mages, other vampires, or ghouls.

Temptation (Presence ••••• •)
This power lets a Setite tempt the victim into some
action that she normally wouldn’t do. This is usually some
sinful action, but Temptation works just as well to provoke
unwanted generosity as greed, or chastity as well as lust.
The Setite must talk to the victim for at least a minute
and allude to the action she wants the victim to perform.
System: To goad the victim, the character must make
a successful Manipulation + Leadership roll (difficulty of
the target’s Humanity or Path of Enlightenment rating). A
simple success results in a change to the victim’s personality
and goals for a scene. If the number of successes exceeds
the victim’s Conscience or Conviction rating, the change
lasts indefinitely (although the victim may overcome it with
time and expenditure of Willpower, like a Derangement).
The Setites have created many variations on this
power. The player chooses which variation at the time of
purchasing this power. Sample variations include:
Obsession: The victim suffers an overpowering lust for a
certain substance, action, or condition. She may fly into a
rage (the victim receives a frenzy check) if she cannot possess
or experience the object of her desire before her next sleep.
True Will: This persuades the victim, for a time, to act
on any passing desire, or according to his Nature, without
self-restraint.

Phobia (Presence ••••• ••)
By talking to her victim, the Setite can instill an irrational
fear of a certain object, substance, person, or condition.
The object of the phobia can be broad (cars) or very
specific (pink ‘79 Fords), although the victim must be able
to recognize and distinguish what the vampire wants him
to fear. The latter example, for instance, would not work
on a person who was colorblind.
System: Implanting the Phobia requires success on a
Manipulation + Intimidation roll (difficulty of the target’s
Courage + 3). A simple success confers a Phobia that lasts a
single scene. Rolling more successes than the victim’s Courage
results in a Phobia that lasts indefinitely, although the victim
may overcome the Phobia as if it were a Derangement.

The Decaying Orbit (Presence ••••• •••)
This terrible power enables a Setite to break down the
mental barriers between the target’s Beast and libido. As
a result, the victim becomes addicted to sadism as he takes
pleasure in rage and aggression. The Setite can also reverse
the connection, so that pleasure might rouse the Beast to
frenzy. These two effects produce a spiral of desire, the
decaying orbit to madness.
Once started, the decay cannot be stopped. The Inconnu
might know how to remove a Corruption, as might a
member of the Cult of Ra or Isis. The esoteric knowledge
might be found in the writings of a dead Child of Osiris.
However, killing the Setite in question certainly will.
System: To corrupt a victim, the player must pit the
vampire’s Manipulation + Empathy vs. the victim’s Humanity
(or Path of Enlightenment) in an extended roll. If the vampire
can accumulate net successes equal to the victim’s Humanity
or Path rating, the victim suffers the Decaying Orbit effect. A
character with a Humanity greater than 3 will automatically
lose a point of Humanity for using this power.
A corrupted victim must receive a frenzy check for anything
that gives her pleasure, from sex to her favorite food. Like
a frenzying vampire seeking blood, the victim will try to
indulge her lust in the most brutal and immediate way.
Conversely, a frenzying vampire might seek out more than
blood in her rage. This may result in bizarre situations such
as a maddened vampire smashing into a record store to hear
his favorite music and killing anyone who tries to stop him.
The victim cannot overcome this corruption by expending
Willpower (unlike most Presence powers – see V20, p. 193).
The Decaying Orbit is no mere induced derangement, but
a fundamental alteration to the Curse of Caine. Killing the
Setite who laid the Corruption will immediately end its
effects. The Setite who laid the Corruption could remove
it at will, but the Setites would probably urge the victim to
view the Corruption as an opportunity for self-discovery.


Combination Disciplines

True Love’s Face (Obfuscate •••, Presence •••)
Through perfect combination of Mask of 1,000 Faces and
Entrancement, the Setite can appear to another person as
someone he already loves. If she does not know of such a
person, she can let the victim define his own “true love”
and let the power do the rest. In that case, however, the
Setite will have to use her wits to discover who the victim
thinks she is.
System: The vampire receives a roll of Charisma +
Empathy (difficulty 6). Success means that the chosen
victim sees the vampire as a loved one for as long as the
vampire remains in her presence.
This power costs 18 experience points to learn.

Typhonic Beast (Potence •••, Serpentis ••••)
The Setite calls upon the primordial chaos of the Duat,
expressing it through his own flesh. The vampire takes on
the form of the mysterious Typhonic animal.
System: This power requires the expenditure of three
blood points; the transformation takes three turns to
complete. The transformed vampire gains one dot each of
Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina, as well as the benefits
of Potence. The Typhonic form gains the soak benefits
of Skin of the Adder (see V20, p. 210): dropping the soak
difficulty to 5; and the vampire can use her Stamina to
soak aggravated damage from claws and fangs, but not
from fire, sunlight, or magic. The Setite also gains the
venomous bite of Form of the Cobra, doubles her running
speed, and gains +2 dice on all Perception rolls related to
smell or hearing.
The vampire remains in bestial form until the next sunrise,
or until she voluntarily changes back. Clothing and other
small personal items transform along with the vampire.
This power costs 21 experience points to learn.

Weigh the Heart (Auspex •••, Serpentis •••••)
The ancient Egyptians believed that conscience and
judgment resided in the heart. In the afterlife, the gods
weighed a person’s heart, the record of his deeds, against
the feather of truth. A Setite who has learned The Heart
of Darkness (see V20, p. 210) not only can remove a
vampire’s heart to keep it safe, he gains a potential
insight into the consciences of others. He can develop
that potential through Auspex. Like the god Anubis, a
vampire with this power can “weigh” another person’s
heart to read his character and sins. Such knowledge of
another person’s character makes tempting, corrupting,
or teaching him much easier.
System: This power calls for a Perception + Empathy
roll (difficulty 8). Each success reveals one truth about the
target’s character, with particular emphasis on the person’s
weaknesses, passions, and guilts. The first truth is always
the target’s Nature. Subsequent truths might include
any Derangements or mental Flaws, strong passions, or
deep-laid fears and guilts (although never specific details
about specific crimes).
This power costs 24 experience points to learn.