Gilded Cage
Gilded Cage is the Ritual Discipline of the Architects of the Monolith. Its invocations channel a vampire's force of will to manipulate ley lines, ambient emotional resonances, and physical structures. The only limitation of Gilded Cage is that it cannot directly affect sapient beings. It can lure, move, reward, and confuse them, but it has no direct power over minds or bodies.
Unless otherwise noted, use the systems for Theban Sorcery starting on p. 150 of Vampire: The Requiem. Instead of Humbled, ritualists take the Competitive Condition if they dramatically fail an invocation, regardless of any immunity.
Rather than sacraments, Masons employ Ways and Means — architectural and cartographic elements that help focus their invocations. Unlike sacraments, these are not used up at a ritual's completion.
Unless noted otherwise, the effect radius of Gilded Cage is defined by the boundaries of the target neighborhood or building. The exact extent is based on municipal records (i.e., however the local government defines it), or what most locals would say if no official opinion exists.
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Gilded Cage
Suggested Modifiers
The vampire incorporates mathematical equations into the Ways and Means (+1), the vampire casts the ritual in the center of a neighborhood (+2), the vampire casts the ritual in the center of a municipality (+3), the vampire has never been to the target location before (–1), the area to be affected is larger than a block (–2), the area to be affected is larger than a neighborhood (–3), the area to be affected is larger than a ward/county/riding (–4), the ritual is cast in rural or natural environs (–5).
Convergences
Invocations are most effective when cast in Convergences — areas the Ordo Dracul calls Wyrm's Nests. If a character performs a Gilded Cage ritual in a Convergence, her player's casting rolls exceptionally succeed with three successes instead of five.
Convergences aren't as important to Masons as they are to Dragons, but the Architects still seek them out, often coming into conflict with the Order over their administration.
All Convergences embody an idea, emotion, or vibe called a Resonance and are rated from one to five dots. Dots determine both the upper limit of the area's size and the overtness of any supernatural effects. Convergences often overlap with other occult phenomena, such as spirit loci, hauntings, and verges into the Supernal Realms, and for the Masons' purposes, they almost always appear where powerful ley lines overlap.
More details can be found on p. 202 of Secrets of the Covenants
Gilded Cage Invocations
Crowdsourcing (•)
Target Successes: 6
The vampire focuses errant emotional energy to attract people with a specific "energy" to a particular landmark. She might fill skid row with yuppies, or pull drunk frat kids into the financial district. This isn't a supernatural compulsion — just a sense that the affected area is the place to be. Anyone who heeds the call refreshes a spent Willpower.
These energies can be as specific as the vibe a certain group puts out, or as general as an emotion. The only limitation is the Ways and Means.
For the rest of the night, the vampire exceptionally succeeds on three successes instead of five on rolls to seek out people of this ilk within the surrounding area, roughly the size of a large city block. This includes supernatural powers like Beast's Hackles. Architects often use this ritual for hunting, though many employ it more indirectly, causing strange disruptions or conflicts between juxtaposed social groups.
Ways and Means: The vampire walks to the target area, starting from a place frequented by the kind of people she wants to attract. As she walks, she must use a polished piece of quartz to capture and direct the desired energy. She then places the quartz at the epicenter of her target.
Green Light (•)
Target Successes 5
The vampire adds efficiencies to an urban landscape, shifting and shortening alleys or smoothing out footpaths to better align with traffic. Even crossing lights sync up. Until the next sunrise, rolls to travel through the area gain the Advanced Action quality (roll twice and take the better result).
This architectural warping is subtle, though a person familiar with the area might do a double take at all the pristine concrete.
Ways and Means: A high-detail map of the area, with its various paths traced with a straightedge and pencil.
Red Light (••)
Target Successes:] 5
In a variant of Green Light, the vampire adds inefficiencies to an area — lengthening crosswalks, short-circuiting traffic lights, or adding uneven surfaces to trip people up. For the rest of the night, rolls to navigate or travel quickly through the area automatically fail. Triple the amount of time it would normally take to move through the area by any means of transportation.
The vampire herself is immune to this effect as long as she remains on foot or has control of her own vehicle, and she can provide others with geomantic symbols of protection to extend her immunity, up to (Potency) people.
As with Green Light, changes are beneath the notice of random passersby, but a local might wonder what's up with all the new potholes — and where they went once the effect ends. If an area is subject to both Green Light and Red Light, only the vampire and her allies benefit from Green Light; areas subtly move into alignment as they pass, then fall into disrepair as they leave.
Ways and Means: As with Green Light, but the vampire must also damage the map so it's no longer usable.
Semiotics (••)
Target Successes: 6
The vampire hides an empowered symbol of her covenant on an object, fostering certain kinds of behavior. This should be fairly specific — "Adherence to the law" would work, but not simply "Adherence." The symbol must be visible to the naked eye, but it can be hidden within other symbols or as a practical object (a watercooler with a strange logo, for example).
If the ritual is successful, all actions made within visual range of the object gain the 8-again quality if they further its emotional resonance.
This invocation lasts a month, but the Mason can renew the effect by spending a Willpower and touching the object again. A different Architect can renew it as long as he also knows Semiotics. If the object is removed or destroyed, the effect ends.
Ways and Means: A basic diagram of the area where the symbol will go, with the placement marked in pen. The vampire must also create the symbol herself, which might require a Crafts or Expression roll depending on its utility.
Cordon (•••)
Target Successes: 10
With this invocation, the vampire can detain a victim within a section of city. In theory this could be as small as a block, but she is limited by the Ways and Means, and the subject must be within that area at the time the ritualist completes the ritual.
If successful, the victim cannot escape the area through any means — the city won't let him. Bizarre coincidences plague his attempts: a car smashes into a wall out of nowhere to cause an impassable fire, or a wall collapses over the only exit. All mundane actions to escape automatically fail.
This effect lasts 24 hours from the time of casting. If the victim has supernatural means of escape, a Clash of Wills occurs.
Ways and Means: The vampire makes the invocation in a legal building with direct jurisdiction over the area she intends to lock. She must also smear a point of Vitae on an official record (e.g., a police file, a library card, a tax form) relating to her subject.
Gerrymandering (•••)
Target Successes: 9
The vampire gathers a mass of people in a predefined space. By default, she can bring up to a hundred people, and a hundred more per Potency, but she is limited by the physical space the location occupies.
Traffic, subways, road work, and the like conspire to corral these people in varying degrees of improbability — from a rerouted train to a gas leak. This process takes one hour from the moment the vampire finishes casting. If used in conjunction with Crowdsourcing, she can also define the type of people who gather.
Nothing compels people to remain once they arrive. However, any attempts to leave for the rest of the scene are penalized by the vampire's Gilded Cage dots, minus one for every hundred people in the crowd. If enough people try to escape at once, the area suffers the Stampede Tilt.
Ways and Means: An area that could reasonably accommodate a large number of people, with photos or detailed schematics marking off all possible exits.
Rezoning (••••)
Target Successes: 9
The vampire alters the essential character of an area. She can imbue skid row with positive vibes — buildings rotting from neglect grow sturdier and free of mold, and residents begin to get a little wealthier as time goes by. Conversely, she could blight a well-to-do area with a downturn: suburban homes fill with black mold, and the neighborhood's residents find the bank far less forgiving about mortgages.
All rolls to act against this tide of change automatically fail without spending a point of Willpower (which does not add +3 to the roll). This effect lasts one month.
Ways and Means: A pint of blood sourced from several residents of the area, used to create a detailed drawing of the area.
Synopticon (••••)
Target Successes: 10
The vampire imbues a building with multiple perceptions, using mirrors and reflective surfaces attached to multiple characters. For one hour — plus one per additional Potency — her "eyes" record everything they see and hear.
By smearing another mirror with a point of Vitae, the Mason can tune in to one of these feeds for minutes equal to her Gilded Cage dots. After that, she must spend another Vitae to regain the feed. If one of her eyes exits the building, its feed ends.
Once the duration expires, the vampire can review the recordings by lapping up any blood she used in the Ways and Means. She can review feeds selectively, but must do so in real time by default and can only review each feed once. She may choose to review all material instantaneously, but this inflicts the Distracted Condition for the rest of the scene as the echoes of so many experiences reverberate in her mind.
Ways and Means: The vampire gifts small reflective objects to at least two or more people, whether overtly or covertly. She then spills a point of Vitae at each of the four cardinal directions around the building these individuals occupy.
Rapid Transit (•••••)
Target Successes:8
The vampire uses the city's ley lines for instantaneous travel, collapsing two distant lines onto one another for a fraction of a second and moving with the interposing point back to its original location.
After successfully casting this ritual, the ritualist can teleport once before the end of the night as a reflexive action. She appears exactly where she marked the map in the Ways and Means. Anything or anyone she was touching at the time moves with her if she desires, but she can only take a number of objects or individuals larger than Size 2 equal to her Potency. She cannot take anything larger than herself.
Ways and Means: The vampire marks her destination on a physical map using the point of a precious gemstone. She must keep this gem on her person until she activates the effect. It remains at her original location when she teleports.
Remise à neuf (•••••)
Target Successes: 10
With this invocation, the vampire can shift architecture and even roads within a rough radius of a large city block or a single building. She can move streets, alleys, and rooms; shift paths; or alter the layout of entire structures. She can only alter spaces à la carte — she cannot merge rooms or create impossible architecture. This alteration is indefinite, lasting as long as the vampire chooses.
This invocation is intentionally open-ended. The Storyteller has final say over what is possible, but should err on the side of saying yes.
[b]Ways and Means:[/b] The vampire makes the invocation over the original blueprints or similar documents relating to the target area — alternatively, any plans filed with a government property assessor. She must perform the ritual within the bounds of the target area. Rather than a Willpower point, she must spend a full dot of Gilded Cage. She regains this dot when the invocation ends, or a Beat if she has already repurchased it.
