1. Races

Werewolf

Werewolf

The Garou:

Dubbed “the Great Enemy” by elder members of Clans Gangrel and Ravnos, the lupines stop at nothing to destroy vampires whenever they cross paths. Some even track Kindred from afar, encouraging all vampires to ensure their havens are safe and secure from werewolf attacks. These creatures are at their best in the wilderness. As vampires control the cities, lupines control the wild.

WEREWOLF BLOOD
Lupine blood is potent stuff and a powerful allure to the Kindred. A werewolf’s blood is so rich that every drink from its veins slakes twice the normal amount of Hunger: a sip slakes 2 Hunger, for example. Draining a werewolf dry can reduce Hunger to 0 for two vampires if they share the kill. However, the supernatural power of werewolf blood can also be a dangerous wine.

A vampire who feasts on werewolf blood is far more susceptible to frenzy while the lupine blood remains in their system. Every point of Hunger slaked with werewolf blood increases the Difficulty to resist frenzy by one. Even if the vampire successfully staves off their Beast, they become paranoid and short-tempered for as long as the blood remains in their system. In some cases, vampires gain temporary Compulsions from feasting on particularly volatile werebeasts.

Lupine blood mixes Animal with Choleric resonances, usually Intensely. Alchemists prize it for its high miscibility with other ingredients: it adds two successes to any distillation roll for a formula including it.

Characters

(1)

Abilities

Animalism

Animalism: Level 5 : Drawing out the Beast - Discipline

Level 5:

drawing out the beast

The vampire can project their Beast at the moment of terror or fury frenzy, transferring it into a nearby subject, either mortal or vampire. That person immediately experiences the frenzy instead, going on a merciless rampage or fleeing in terror depending on the trigger.


■ Cost: One Rouse Check

■ Dice Pools: Wits + Animalism vs Composure + Resolve

■ System: Instead of the Willpower roll to resist a terror or fury frenzy, roll Wits + Animalism vs Composure + Resolve of the target. If the user fails, they enter frenzy as though they had failed the Willpower roll. On a win, the target experiences that frenzy instead of the user. Later stimuli can still provoke frenzy in the user, but they can use this power as long as they can make Rouse Checks and further targets remain available.

This power cannot transfer a hunger frenzy.

■ Duration: Frenzy duration (see p. 220)

Auspex

Auspex : Level 1 : Heightened Senses - Discipline

Level 1

The vampire’s senses sharpen to a preternatural degree, giving them the ability to see in pitch darkness, hear ultrasonic frequencies, and smell the fear of cowering prey.

  • Cost: Free (but see below)

  • Dice Pools: Wits + Resolve

  • ■ System: The user adds their Auspex rating to all perception rolls. If exposed to extreme sensations, such as loud bangs, flashes of intense light or overpowering smells while the power is active the user must succeed on a Wits + Resolve (Difficulty 3 or more) roll to dampen their senses in time,

    or the overload causes them to sustain a -3 dice penalty to all perception-based rolls for the rest of the scene.

    ■ Duration: Until deactivated. Having the power active for longer stretches of time without rest (more than a scene), especially so for high-stimulus environments, might necessitate spending Willpower, at the Storyteller’s discretion.

     

Celerity

Celerity : Level 3 : Blink - Discipline

Level 3:

The vampire swiftly closes in on
a foe, engaging or escaping in the blink of an eye. To an unprepared observer, the user almost appears to teleport, a rush of wind the only sign of their passing.

■ Cost: One Rouse Check

■ Dice Pools: Dexterity + Athletics, or as needed

■ System: The vampire moves in a straight line toward a target, covering any distance under 50 meters while still having enough time to perform an action, such as an attack, during the turn. If the terrain is in any way hazardous, the character needs to make a Dexterity + Athletics roll to avoid stumbling and coming to a halt on the way. The Storyteller may call for other contests as desired, especially if the vampire races a distant foe to an object or an action. Vampires engaging a foe with this power act as if already engaged when the turn begins.

Foot note:

HOW FAST IS FAST?

Vampire does not ask players to move figures on a grid. We don’t provide precise meters-per-second equivalents for the speeds attained by Celerity, and even if we did, not every combat turn lasts the same number of seconds. The Storyteller decides how many floors of a staircase a vampire with Celerity climbs in a turn-based on the results of the contest with its foes or based on dramatic necessity, not by using dots and multipliers.

But some players want to ground their game, at least slightly, in the specific. Usain Bolt, the fastest human being ever timed, runs nearly 45 km/hour. If you assume a dot in Dexterity equals 9 km/hour running flat-out, you have a thumbnail answer to the eternal question “Can my vampire catch that speeding car?” (“No.”) Of course in your game, a dot in Dexterity can mean whatever you need it to mean – but it mostly means an edge over those with one less dot in Dexterity.

Fortitude

Fortitude : Level 2 : Enduring Beasts - Discipline

Level 2:

Enduring Beasts

■ Amalgam: Animalism 1

The user shares a small portion of their unnatural toughness with the animals they influence. Teem-
ing swarms and great beasts alike exhibit a resistance to fleeting injuries almost equal to the vampire themself.

■ Cost: Free (for famulus); One Rouse Check (for other animals)

■ Dice Pools: Stamina + Animalism (for non-famulus animals)

■ System: The vampire can choose to extend some of their Fortitude powers to animals affected by their Animalism. Any animal thus imbued gains additional Health levels equal to the Fortitude dots of the vampire. Using this power on their famulus is free and automatic. To imbue other animals besides their famulus, the user must make a Rouse Check and roll a test of Stamina + Animalism (Difficulty 3). The user can fortify one animal per point of margin. When the effect ends, remove unmarked Health first; this may result in the animal expiring.

■ Duration: One Scene.

Obfuscate

Obfuscate : Level 1 : Cloak of Shadows - Discipline

Level 1:

Cloak of shadows

Standing perfectly still, the user blends into the surroundings. As long as they have some kind of cover, make no sound, and don’t move, only mechanical or supernatural means can detect them.

■ Cost: Free

■ System: Follow the general rules for Obfuscate. The effect lasts until the user moves or they are detected by other means.

■ Duration: One scene

Potence

Potence : Level 3 : Spark of Rage - Discipline

Level 3:

Spark of rage

■ Amalgam: Presence 3 Combining Potence and Presence, the vampire can incite anger and even frenzy in onlookers, as easily as awe or dread. The user must take care not to rile up an angry mob
to turn on them rather than the target or each other.

■ Cost: One Rouse Check

■ Dice Pools: Manipulation + Potence

■ System: When active, the user can add their Potence rating to any attempt to rile or incite a person or a crowd to violence. In addition, the user can activate this power and roll a contest of Manipulation + Potence vs Composure + Intelligence of another vampire. If they win, the opposing vampire must make a fury frenzy test at Difficulty 3.

■ Duration: One Scene