Disciplines

• Animalism
• Auspex
• Celerity
• Dominate
• Fortitude
• Obfuscate
• Oblivion: Hecata
• Oblivion: Lasombra
• Potence
• Thin-Blood Alchemy

Animalism

Description:

Perhaps the vampire has more in common with animal than human. A dangerous set of instincts drive them, and it takes a lot for them to withhold the urge to just lash out.. Much like a wild dog on a chain, a vampire’s Beast will never truly be tamed. Some Kindred find a way of becoming one with their Beasts. Those who do are the masters of Animalism. Some accompany the use of this power with howls, snarls, and roars, or communicate with animals in the animal’s “language,” though this is an affectation and not a necessity. The Animalism Discipline sees much use among vampires who struggle to fit in or have no taste for living among mortals. Often classed as one of Caine’s gifts of utility, allowing a vampire to thrive on unrefined blood or form companionship with non-sapient beings, it is also a devastating weapon against vampires who cling to their towers, and against inquisitors who suspect their enemies will only come on two legs. A swarm of blood-hungry rats invading a Kindred’s penthouse haven, the Animalism proficient vampire who cows the Sheriff’s Beast in Elysium, or the beady-eyed raven that spies on a Society of St. Leopold chapter all serve to strengthen Animalism practitioners, and weaken their foes.

Characteristics:

By default Animalism powers involving animals can only be used on vertebrates. Additionally, any use of the ability on herbivores adds one to the Difficulty of skill rolls involved.

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Low to medium. 
While talking to animals might seem eccentric, only the most violent applications of the Discipline elicit more than a few raised eyebrows.

Blood Resonance
Animal blood, preferably feral.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Auspex

Description:

Among the greatest gifts and worst curses afflicting vampires, the Discipline of Auspex allows Kindred to discern truth from lies, probe the minds of those around them, and perceive reality on a different level than other beings. What appears to be the ultimate power in foresight and vision grants its wielders perhaps too much knowledge. They may detect an assassin’s blade before it strikes or get into an enemy’s head to turn them around, but they can also sense every shift in emotion, good and bad, see things they wish they had not, and discern futures they may not wish to explore. Users of Auspex invite paranoia, but using it is addictive. Once you know the truth rests within your grasp, you seek it out at every opportunity. Kindred use Auspex in many ways. Some vampires act as spies for their courts or factions. Others act on their own, blackmailing mortals and immortals with secrets gleaned from quiet conversations, subtle emotional shifts, and telepathic intrusion. Auspex allows its user to play the role of domain detective, studying the scene of a vampire’s destruction for tell-tale spiritual clues or interrogating suspects with unnatural accuracy.

Characteristics:

Storytellers may wish to make Auspex rolls for characters in order to more convincingly provide wrong or incomplete answers after failed rolls.

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Low.
Auspex never by itself manifests in a way visible to the naked eye or causes effects that can’t be rationalized, if only as dumb luck.

Blood Resonance
Phlegmatic.
Artists (especially photographers) and visionaries, certain schizophrenics, users of psychoactive substances, detectives.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Celerity

Description:

The ability to strike fast, dodge blows, and escape pursuers allows Kindred to become extremely effective predators. Celerity enables vampires to move faster than any natural creature, though it does more than grant a supernatural speed, with vampires employing it actually appearing to think almost as fast as they act. While some vampires use to slice and stab at enemies without fear of riposte, others simply use it to get from A to B faster than any other person on foot.

Characteristics:

Storytellers may wish to make Auspex rolls for characters in order to more convincingly provide wrong or incomplete answers after failed rolls.

Type
Physical

Masquerade threat
Medium to High. 
Most Celerity powers are clearly inhuman, the only saving grace being that they’re very hard to catch on film or photograph.

Blood Resonance
Choleric. 
Fear and utter terror, runners, athletes, amphetamine and alkaloid users, habitual players of first-person shooters and other twitch games.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Dominate

Description:

Dominate grants the vampire the ability to control the actions of others, manipulate their memories, and force living creatures into acts they would not perform of their own volition. At its most basic, Dominate enables a vampire to make a victim forget the feed they just endured or enjoyed. At its most dangerous, it allows Kindred to enslave entire crowds of kine. This is the Beast at its most cruel and controlling. Dominate acts as a bludgeon to enforce the Masquerade, create submissive servants, and reinforce the self-assuredness of the vampire. When using this Discipline, Kindred feel omnipotent, although the wisest of them know that this too may be shackles of a kind, slipped upon them by the Blood.

Characteristics:

• Most Dominate powers require eye contact with the victim. Once they establish contact, Dominat holds the gaze of the victim until the user conveys their command or commands, barring interference. Catching the eyes of someone actively attempting to avoid the vampire’s gaze requires a contest of the user’s Resolve + Intimidation vs the target’s Wits + Awareness. 
• Using Dominate in combat or in other frantic situations is limited to people attacking or otherwise interacting with the user directly, as everyone else’s attention is firmly focused on their own peril. 
• Unless the user has supernatural means such as Telepathy (Auspex 5) at their disposal, they must command the victim verbally. The victim must be able to hear the user and understand their language.
• Without Terminal Decree (Dominate 5), commands resulting in obvious death or serious injury fail automatically.
• Subjects roll to resist commands resulting in other social or physical harm, such as undressing in public. (See individual powers for details.)
• Vampires cannot use Dominate to extract information, as the victim becomes a mindless puppet while under its influence. For example, the Compel command “Speak” results in blabbering word salad, while someone Mesmerized to “tell what you know about the assassin” responds “what you know about the assassin.”
• Dominate cannot make subjects do something they could not do on command, such as “Sleep.” Ultimately, the Storyteller determines what the Discipline can accomplish, but they should take care that Dominate remains one Discipline of many, rather than the catch-all solution to every problem.
• Dominate cuts to the core of vampiric mastery and predation. Thus, vampires must resist attempts to Dominate them. A vampire of lower (stronger) generation can resist Dominate attempts from higher generation vampires by spending a Willpower point, negating the effect completely. On a total failure on the roll of any Dominate power, that vampire can no longer Dominate that target for the rest of the story.
• Dominate threatens Humanity, especially if the vampire has any Principles involving personal freedom or forbidding violations of human integrity. Using it may incur Stains (p. 239).

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Low. 
Barring someone Dominating an entire auditorium to jump off the cliffs of Dover, it remains one of the more subtle vampiric powers.

Blood Resonance
Phlegmatic.
The blood of the submissive or the dominant, masters and slaves, captains of industry, power trippers, cult leaders and followers.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Fortitude

Description:

Much prized by immortals, Fortitude grants the ability to resist physical and mental assault. Few vampires survive longer than a century without at least a mote of Fortitude, especially in a world where violence is common and not even Kindred are safe. In these nights, fewer vampires use Fortitude to resist the sun than they do to withstand violent harm, fire, and supernatural coercion. Those possessing Fortitude exemplify the stolid pillars of Kindred society, able to withstand blows and charms without movement or sign of dilapidation. Few vampires feel as secure in their immortality as do elder Blue Bloods and Ferals.

Characteristics:

Type
Physical

Masquerade threat
Medium.
Eyewitnesses undoubtedly react upon someone taking a terminal beating or a hail of bullets and getting back up seemingly unhurt. Favorite cover-up explanations include erroneous recollection in the excitement (the bullets only seemed to hit), special effects (YouTube prank), or the tried and tested “must have been on PCP” rationale.

Blood Resonance
Melancholic.
Survivors of war, abuse, or misfortune; endurance runners; mountain climbers; infantry and special forces; those with very powerful immune systems.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Obfuscate

Description:

For any hunter, the ability to hide, move without being seen, and employ camouflage proves vital. For the Kindred practitioners of Obfuscate, the Discipline provides the perfect cover to get close to a victim, disguise themselves as harmless, and escape when the heat grows too much. Obfuscate experts may utilize the Discipline to lurk in the shadows while spying, change appearance in a crowd while under surveillance, or even spread the gift to a group of vampires looking to hide.

Characteristics:

Obfuscate powers work through ambient, low-level mesmerism. Observers see the vampire but their minds choose to ignore it. Witnesses unconsciously move out of the way if the user blocks their path and rationalize their behavior if pressed. Obfuscate affects all five senses unless otherwise noted. The Discipline does have limits: the illusion fails if the observer cannot ignore the user or if the user backs the observer into a corner. A vampire blocking a doorway cannot maintain Obfuscate against someone walking through it. Likewise, violent action jeopardizes the façade, as does actions like raised voices, failed pickpocket attempts, and weapons raised to strike. Whispering without breaking Obfuscate is still possible. Generally, the Discipline offers no protection against machine surveillance. A human staking out the vampire has a hard time pointing the lens in the right direction, but automatic cameras and other types of detectors can catch them. A vampire with Sense the Unseen (Auspex 1) can detect Obfuscated characters by rolling Wits or Resolve + Auspex vs Wits + Obfuscate. Anyone can detect an Obfuscated vampire who draws attention to themselves; such observers detect such accidental revelations with a contest of Wits + Awareness (or Resolve + Awareness for an active searcher) vs Wits + Stealth. This also applies to surprise attacks from Obfuscate – a victim always has a chance to sense the danger a moment before the strike.

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Low

Blood Resonance
Melancholic.
The ignored and unseen, the homeless, forgotten, and depressed; spies, pickpockets, excellent servants, roadies and stagehands, and all the background people.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Oblivion: Hecata

Description:

Oblivion is a mysterious, unpalatable power that most vampires rightly fear to use, witness, or fall victim to. Only vampires of Clans Lasombra and Hecata wield it with any frequency, and even they do so tentatively. Oblivion requires cautious masters who know the power’s risks, as no other Discipline reaches into the Underworld and allows its manipulator to extract tangible darkness or furious spectres. Oblivion is the darkest of arts. Notably, while the Lasombra are prone to expanding their repertoire of Oblivion powers, the Hecata focus their energies on developing Ceremonies (see p. 208). Ceremonies take longer, but are required for communing with and making passage through to the lands of the dead.

Characteristics:

• Oblivion allows for the manipulation of creatures and substances originating from the Underworld.
• When the Hecata use this Discipline, they tend to channel the entropic nature of the Underworld and its surroundings, decaying flesh, calling forth spirits, and posing a dangerous risk to the living.
• Oblivion projections and spirits sustain damage from fire and sunlight, counting as vampires with Blood Potency 1 in this regard. They also take one level of Aggravated damage per round from bright, direct lights, and may also be damaged (Superficially or Aggravated) from blessed weapons and artifacts, depending on the strength of the blessing and any True Faith of the wielder.
• Oblivion’s powers are ineffective in brightly lit areas.
• Daylight and rooms without shadows are particularly prohibitive, preventing the Discipline’s successful function, though ultraviolet light and infrared light places no restriction on the Discipline’s use. Moderately lit rooms apply a one die penalty to the Discipline roll involved.
• The use of these powers takes a heavy toll on the psyche of the user, and many powers cause Stains as the numbing emptiness of Oblivion seeps into the spirit of the wielder.

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Medium-High
Spirits rarely show up well on cameras but are obviously unnatural if witnessed in person.

Blood Resonance
Psychopaths and the emotionally detached. Blood empty of Resonance.

Note
When making a Rouse check for an Oblivion power, a result of "1" or "10" results in a Stain, in addition to any Hunger gained. If the user’s Blood Potency allows for a re-roll on the Rouse check, they can pick either of the two results.

Powers:

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Rituals:

Rituals - Level 1:

The Gift of False Life

Through use of this Ceremony, a vampire can raise a corpse or group of corpses to perform simple, single or repetitive tasks.

Prerequisite Power:
Ashes to Ashes

Ingredients:
A human body (or multiple bodies), a small concoction of blood, phlegm, and bile.

Process:
After applying the concoction to the corpse or corpses and performing the Ceremony, the affected bodies animate into a form of false life. They follow a single command from the vampire, providing it’s simple and the corpse is physically capable of performing it, such as “sweep the floor,” “hold this door shut,” or “walk around the house perimeter.” They have no ability to think or calculate, so conditional or complicated commands such as “attack the next person to walk through this archway,” “drive this car,” or “build a shack” do not work. They may be directed towards a specific target for attack or other action if the necromancer points at them.

System:
The player makes their Ceremony roll and upon a win they raise a number of corpses equal to their Oblivion rating, or the number of bodies they have prepared (whichever is lower). A critical win doubles their Oblivion rating for the purpose of determining corpses raised. The mindless corpse’s animation ends when it is destroyed or it concludes its task. These corpses do not defend themselves from attacks, and decay as normal; the Ceremony does not grant them any form of immunity to the elements or time.

Mindless Corpse:
Standard Dice Pools -- Physical 2, Social 1, Mental 1
Secondary Attributes -- Health 4, Willpower 1
Exceptional Dice Pools -- Intimidation 4
General Difficulties -- 3/1
Special -- Mindless corpses take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way as vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage, and rot at least one Superficial Health damage each day. They cannot be mentally dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master. They do not react to motion, words, or interference from anyone but their creator. Mindless corpses may always contribute to Teamwork (see Vampire: The Masquerade p. 122) for menial labor such as digging, lifting, or pushing even if they lack skills.

Summon Spirit

This Ceremony enables a vampire to summon a spirit from the Underworld.

Prerequisite Power:
The Binding Fetter

Ingredients:
One of the targeted wraith’s fetters, a photo or other visual depiction of the wraith or their signed name, the caster’s vitae.

Process:
The necromancer pours their vitae over a wraith’s fetter, and studying the picture or signature, calls out the wraith’s name. The wraith feels their fetter’s call, and begins a journey from their location in the Underworld to that of the caster. Though geography has differing scales in the Underworld, a journey may still take several nights if the spirit is on the other side of the world. If the Shroud is thin enough in the summoning location, the wraith is pulled through the veil between worlds by the fetter’s strength. The summoned wraith is under no obligation to serve the vampire upon being called and may act with hostility if they feel the vampire is threatening their fetter, which may be an object, a building, or even a person. Alternatively, the wraith may be grateful for the summoning and the possibility of companionship.

Wraiths summoned in this way do not manifest physically, but as shadows on the walls, quavering silhouettes of their living selves, from which voices might emerge. Wraiths speak the same languages they did in life, unless they’ve gone to the trouble of learning new ones in the Underworld.

System:
The caster daubs the fetter with their vitae and makes an Oblivion Ceremony roll. The wraith cannot pass through the Shroud if it’s impenetrable in the Ceremony location (see p. 205), and moving the fetter after the Ceremony doesn’t help, as the wraith’s ability to pass through the Shroud disappears if the fetter leaves the Ceremony site. The wraith disappears at the end of the scene unless a separate Ceremony is used to compel or bind them.

Rituals - Level 2:

Awaken the Homuncular Servant

Necromancers use this Ceremony to create spies and stalkers out of body parts such as hands or skulls, or small dead animals like rats or foxes.

Prerequisite Power:
Where the Shroud Thins

Ingredients:
The required body part or animal carcass, the weapon used to sever/kill it, a small concoction of urine, fecal matter, and semen.

Process:
The caster coats a blade (or other device suited to the task) in a gross cocktail of bodily fluids, and uses it to cut the targeted appendage off its root limb or body, or kills the small animal (which cannot be larger than a small dog and cannot fly, regardless of whether it has wings). After massaging vitae into the target, it comes to life as a homuncular servant, unfailingly loyal to its master. The homunculus can scale walls, hop (even if it lacks the limbs to do so), and hide effectively. While it cannot speak or perform tasks requiring deep thought, it can telepathically communicate single images to its creator.

System:
The necromancer’s player makes an Oblivion Ceremony roll, and after doing so, gains a homuncular servant that will spy, follow, or intimidate at the necromancer’s command. If it strays farther than 100 yards/ meters from the vampire, it falls inert, only awakening again once the vampire enters that range. Otherwise, it remains active for a number of nights equal to the number of successes rolled. A critical win on the roll keeps the servant active forever, while a total failure destroys all components involved in the Ceremony.

Homuncular Servant:
Standard Dice Pools -- Physical 1, Social 1, Mental 1
Secondary Attributes -- Health 3, Willpower 2
Exceptional Dice Pools -- Athletics 4, Stealth 6, Intimidation 4
General Difficulties -- 3/2
Special -- Homuncular servants take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way as vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage. They cannot be mentally dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master. They do not need eyes or ears to perceive everything around them as someone with unimpeded vision and hearing might. They can telepathically broadcast a single image per scene to their master.

Compel Spirit

This Ceremony allows a vampire to bend a wraith to their will.

Prerequisite Power:
Where the Shroud Thins

Ingredients:
A wraith’s fetter, the caster’s vitae, an item (or threat) sufficient to damage the fetter.

Process:
The vampire must be in close proximity to a wraith in order to use this power, typically through use of Summon Spirit (see p. 209). The necromancer casts a handful of their own vitae in the wraith’s direction as they hold a destructive item to the fetter (a knife, a hammer, a gun, or potentially holding the fetter over a fire) or speak threatening words that the wraith believes. The vampire and wraith engage in a contest of wills. If the vampire gains domination over the wraith, the wraith must serve as the vampire decrees, at least temporarily. If the opposite occurs, the vampire is left mentally debilitated and the fetter disappears from their grasp.

System:
The vampire’s player makes an Oblivion Ceremony roll vs. the wraith’s Resolve + Composure (or Willpower, if these traits aren’t defined). If they have no way of physically threatening the fetter, the player must also make a Manipulation + Intimidation roll (Difficulty equal to the wraith’s Resolve + Composure).

If the player rolls more successes than the wraith’s resistance roll on their Oblivion Ceremony roll, the vampire can command the wraith to perform a number of moderately difficulty tasks (spying, research, answering questions truthfully, etc.) equal to the number of successes rolled. For every two successes, the vampire can instead command the wraith to perform a difficult task (such as attacking someone, doing something repugnant to the wraith’s sensibilities, etc.). On a critical win, the vampire can demand any action from the wraith, and it will try its best to complete the task. The wraith remains in the vampire’s service until the end of the chronicle or until it has fulfilled its master’s commands, at which point it returns to the Underworld with an eternal enmity for the necromancer.

If the wraith wins the contest, the vampire suffers the margin in Superficial Health damage. The wraith then re-enters the Underworld.

The compulsion placed on the wraith ends immediately if the vampire attacks them. If the vampire harms the threatened fetter, the wraith suffers between one and three Aggravated Willpower damage (depending on the importance of the fetter) and the wraith is sent back to the Underworld to be tormented by, and possibly converted into, a murderous spectre (see Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 377).

Rituals - Level 3:

Host Spirit

This Ceremony allows a vampire to open their body to possession by a ghost. The benefits of having a wraith ride one’s body come in the form of an enhanced physique, access to whichever memories the wraith chooses to share, and the wraith’s voice offering the vampire advice. The wraith can take complete possession of the vampire if they wish to, which some necromancers view as a blessing to be experienced, and others deem the main reason not to use this power. Allowing a wraith to control one’s actions for a night is an effective way of confusing and mollifying the Beast, as well as demonstrating physical prowess and knowledges the vampire may not usually possess.

Prerequisite Power:
Aura of Decay

Ingredients:
A gift to be made as tribute to a wraith (whether the wraith values it depends on the individual), a parasitic bug, two teeth extracted from the vampire’s mouth

Process:
The vampire must be in close proximity to a wraith in order to use this power, typically through use of Summon Spirit (see p. 209). The necromancer presents a tribute to the wraith, sometimes in the form of alcohol poured on the wraith’s gravesite, or a bag of coins to be buried in the earth, or even the freshly decapitated head of one of the wraith’s until-recently living enemies. The vampire then pulls two teeth from their mouth, usually with pliers, and bites into a parasite with their remaining teeth. The vampire then opens their mouth and the wraith can choose to jump inside, inhabiting the vampire’s body.

System:
The vampire’s player makes a successful Oblivion Ceremony roll. If the wraith agrees to the proposition, it then enters the vampire’s body and can remain for a number of scenes equal to the successes rolled on the Oblivion Ceremony roll. With the wraith inside them, the vampire gains +2 dice to all Physical Attribute rolls and +2 Health until the wraith departs. The vampire can hear the wraith in their head, with its advice, cajoling, or supportive words provided by the Storyteller.

A wraith can choose to assert its possession instead of acting as a passenger. If the vampire resists, they make a Resolve + Composure roll vs. the wraith’s Resolve + Composure. If successful, the wraith’s influence is rejected. If failed, the wraith steers the vampire until the end of the scene, though it can’t make the vampire do anything self-destructive. On a critical win, the wraith is ejected entirely and returns to the Underworld. On a total failure, the wraith can make a vampire harm themself, but returns to the Underworld after the first injury is sustained.

A vampire whose body succumbs or is voluntarily opened to the possession attempt finds all Willpower damage healed once the wraith departs, as the spirit subdues the Beast for as long as it is present.

Shambling Hordes

This Ceremony enables a necromancer to raise a group of aggressive, walking dead minions.

Prerequisite Power:
Aura of Decay

Ingredients:
A human corpse (or multiple human corpses), a fresh human sacrifice.

Process:
The vampire must have a separate corpse in addition to a human prepared for sacrifice. The vampire murders the sacrificial victim, spilling their blood on the corpse or corpses intended for animation. If the Ceremony is successful, the corpses stand (the recent sacrifice does not), revived with the fresh blood, and serve the vampire’s commands, even moderately complex orders such as “kill everyone who enters,” “groan if you see anyone pass this way,” or “terrorize that neighborhood.” Unlike the corpses raised using the Gift of False Life (see p. 208), these animated dead do not sit idle if left without commands, instead attacking anyone around them except for their master.

System:
The player makes their Ceremony roll, possibly incurring Stains in the process depending on the Chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. Due to the amount of blood spilled in this Ceremony, the caster must test to resist hunger frenzy (Difficulty 2). Upon a win a number of aggressive dead equal to the necromancer’s Oblivion rating or the number of prepared bodies (whichever is lower) receive the gift of animation. A critical win doubles their Oblivion rating for the purpose of determining corpses raised. Corpses animated this way do not decay and only enter repose if commanded to by the vampire, if the vampire meets final death, or if they are destroyed.

As per the normal rules for temporary Advantages like these (see Vampire: The Masquerade p. 180), their continued usefulness beyond the current story must be ensured with Experience — such as through the Retainers Background (see Vampire: The Masquerade p. 196) — or the aggressive corpses may become unstable and unruly.

Agressive Corpse:
Standard Dice Pools -- Physical 4, Social 1, Mental 1
Secondary Attributes -- Health 6, Willpower 2
Exceptional Dice Pools -- Brawl 6, Intimidation 5, Awareness 3
General Difficulties -- 4/2
Special -- Aggressive corpses take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way as vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage. They cannot be mentally dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master. They do not need eyes or ears to perceive everything around them as someone with unimpeded vision and hearing might. Bites from the aggressive dead inflict +2 Aggravated Health damage to mortals.

Rituals - Level 4:

Bind the Spirit

Vampires with access to this Ceremony have the ability to bind wraiths to specified locations and people.

Prerequisite Power:
Necrotic Plague

Ingredients:
A wraith’s fetter, the caster’s vitae, the sacrifice of an innocent human, sufficient salt to surround a property or individual. If the target for haunting is an individual, the necromancer must possess something of their body, such as fingernails, hair, blood, or skin.

Process:
The vampire must already have a wraith under their control using Compel Spirit (see p. 210). The vampire kills an innocent human (though innocence is subjective, this tends to apply to the young, caregivers, and genuinely pious individuals) in or close to a location or person they want their wraith to haunt. Subsequently, they mix their vitae with sufficient salt to surround the target for haunting, and paint a circle with the mixture. The wraith’s fetter is placed somewhere within the location or the target’s possession. From this point, the wraith is forever bound to the target, unless the vampire cancels the Ceremony, the fetter ever moves from the location or individual’s possession, or the wraith is destroyed. Binding also ends if the necromancer attacks the wraith. Most wraiths bound in this way are furious or melancholic about their plight, and their mood affects the area around them. Many necromancers use this method to defend their havens or haunt their enemies.

System:
Following the steps of the Ceremony, the vampire may incur Stains from the murder depending on the Chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. They make an Oblivion Ceremony roll that cannot be resisted, as the wraith must already be compelled for this power to work.

The wraith is bound in perpetuity to the location or individual targeted, with no duration applied to this Ceremony’s effects. Any emotion the wraith feels intensely during its binding affects the inhabitants of the location or the individual to whom it’s bound, with each person affected suffering −2 dice to all rolls made to resist acting or feeling the way the wraith feels. Therefore, an angry wraith may make vampires more inclined to frenzy, while a depressed wraith might make a mortal more likely to stop self-care. Bound wraiths have the same powers as spectres (see Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 377).

Split the Shroud

This Ceremony allows a vampire to create a tear in the Shroud through which wraiths can pass and vampires with the correct Ceremonies can physically enter the Shadowlands.

Prerequisite Power:
Necrotic Plague

Ingredients:
A scalpel that’s been used to cut into someone living, chalk or charcoal, a silk sheet, a human sacrifice.

Process:
The vampire hangs a silk sheet over a wall in a place where the Shroud density (see p. 205) is standard, thin, or frayed. They then murder a human sacrifice against the sheet, usually via some manner of bloodletting, and as blood coats the sheet, cut it open with a scalpel. The Ceremony widens the portal between the world of the living — which wraiths call the Skinlands — and the Shadowlands. Wraiths who enter the Skinlands via this method take to haunting locations and people, indulging in their passions, and possess humans if their powers allow for it. Some treat the vampire with gratitude for splitting the Shroud, while others enjoy harassing the necromancer responsible.

System:
The caster kills the human sacrifice, which may result in Stains depending on the Chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. When cutting the silk sheet with a scalpel, their player makes the Ceremony roll (with −1 Difficulty if the scalpel was used in the human sacrifice). Due to the amount of blood spilled in this Ceremony, the caster must roll to resist falling into hunger frenzy (Difficulty 2). For every success on the Ceremony roll, the Shroud’s density reduces by a level, down to being absent.

Following this Ceremony, vampires can access the Shadowlands with Ex Nihilo more easily, but importantly, if the Shroud rating is reduced to absent, wraiths can spill into the Skinlands as they see fit for the remainder of the chapter. Once the chapter concludes, a Shroud density of absent increases to frayed and the gateway for wraiths closes.

Rituals - Level 5:

Ex Nihilo

This Ceremony enables a vampire and their coterie to migrate into the Shadowlands, though doing so comes at great risk.

Prerequisite Power:
Withering Spirit

Ingredients:
Masks for each participant, a bowl containing sufficient quantity of the caster’s vitae so each participant might coat the soles of their feet in it, two coins of any value per participant.

Duration:
Until the power is deactivated or the vampire is destroyed

Process:
Few Ceremonies of Oblivion come with as much doubt and fear as Ex Nihilo, the ability to migrate into the Shadowlands. This Ceremony enables a physical crossing into the lands of entropy. Vampires who physically enter the Shadowlands may interact with wraiths as if they were solid, but cannot carry objects beyond those on their person with them. Vampires destroyed in the Shadowlands disappear in a vortex of blood and ash, sucked into the false earth beneath their feet.

Ex Nihilo appeals to a great many necromancers and mystics who want to study the Shadowlands without the impediment of a time limit. It’s an unmatched method for interviewing ghosts and exploring the necropoli — the cities spirits inhabit. It’s also incredibly dangerous, as many wraiths — especially spectres — seek to destroy vampires, draining them of their Willpower, and there’s always the risk of meeting the ghost of someone the vampire slew years earlier. Such wraiths tend to hold a grudge.

The vampire must have used the Split the Shroud Ceremony within this chapter, in the location they’re currently occupying, in order for Ex Nihilo to function. If the Shroud density is reduced to absent, the caster and any companions may enter the Shadowlands from that point, if they don masks to cover their faces, dip or paint their feet in the vampire’s vitae, and carry a coin in each hand.

System:
The user makes three Rouse Checks (sufficient to expend the required vitae) and expends a Willpower point to prepare for the crossing. They then make their Ceremony roll. If successful, the vampire, a number of companions equal to the number of successes rolled, and any objects on their person may then enter the Shadowlands.

Lazarene Blessing

This Ceremony enables a necromancer to bring a freshly-dead body back to life, though not how its relatives and friends might remember it.

Prerequisite Power:
Skuld Fulfilled

Ingredients:
One human sacrifice, incense, the heart of any mammal, powdered silver.

Process:
The necromancer burns incense to perfume the air before performing an act of human sacrifice, cutting the heart of the victim out and replacing it with the heart of another mammal, though it doesn’t need to be stitched in and working for the Ceremony to function. After pouring a bag of powdered silver over the open eyes of the dying or dead mortal, the vampire invites a wraith to take the deceased mortal as a host. Wraiths cannot be forced to possess a body, but few refuse the opportunity to walk around in semi-living shoes again.

System:
Killing a mortal for this Ceremony may incur Stains, depending on the Chronicle Tenets. If the replacement heart was likewise taken from someone the vampire murdered, that murder might also incur Stains. Following a successful Ceremony roll, a wraith can enter the freshly-dead body and live in it as if it were their own. The wraith must be present during the act of sacrifice.

The possessed corpse will wake bearing the wounds that killed it, though the replacement heart is functional (no matter its origin or placement) and the body heals one point of Health damage upon possession. The remaining Health damage recovers with time. The body possesses the same Physical Attributes, Disciplines (if a ghoul), and Backgrounds it had in life. Social and Mental Attributes, Skills, and any form of morality rating match those of the wraith.

This possession lasts indefinitely, or until the possessed body dies again or the wraith is exorcised from the host. The body gains no special resistances to harm beyond Disciplines it might have possessed in life.

Oblivion: Lasombra

Description:

Few Kindred outside Clan Lasombra and the Hecata know the Discipline of Oblivion, and as far as the Camarilla is concerned, this is a good thing. While the Lasombra favor the Discipline’s raw power, the more necromantically-inclined Hecata explore its ritual uses. With this power, vampires wield the very stuff of shadows and unlife as weapons. Some call the power’s source the Abyss, while other practitioners refer to it as the Labyrinth. The one certainty is Oblivion channels the darkest arts, from where the dead go to die. The masters of Oblivion call upon it to wreathe themselves in night, enslave spectres, or throttle victims with their own shadow. Each time they use it, wielders run the risk of losing their soul and Humanity to something darker than death and twice as hungry.

Characteristics:

• The powers of Oblivion allow for the control of forces or spirits of an extradimensional element, originating from a plane of death and nothingness.
• When manifest, this element projects into our reality as two-dimensional shadows on the surface of three-dimensional objects, either by themselves or as extensions of the wielder’s own shadow, snaking along the ground, walls, objects, or people. This makes them impossible to attack with most physical means as any blow will only hit the surface on which they’re projected, rather than the entities themselves.
• Oblivion projections and spirits sustain damage from fire and sunlight, counting as vampires with Blood Potency 1 in this regard. They also take one level of Aggravated damage per round from bright, direct lights, and may also be damaged (Superficially or Aggravated) from blessed weapons and artifacts, depending on the strength of the blessing and any True Faith of the wielder.
• Oblivion’s powers are ineffective in brightly lit areas.
• Daylight and rooms without shadows are particularly prohibitive, preventing the Discipline’s successful function, though ultraviolet light and infrared light places no restriction on the Discipline’s use. Moderately lit rooms apply a one die penalty to the Discipline roll involved.
• The use of these powers takes a heavy toll on the psyche of the user, and many powers cause Stains as the numbing emptiness of Oblivion seeps into the spirit of the wielder.

Type
Mental

Masquerade threat
Medium-High
The abyssal shadows rarely show up well on cameras but are obviously unnatural if witnessed in person.

Blood Resonance
Psychopaths and the emotionally detached. Blood empty of Resonance.

Note
When making a Rouse check for an Oblivion power, a result of "1" or "10" results in a Stain, in addition to any Hunger gained. If the user’s Blood Potency allows for a re-roll on the Rouse check, they can pick either of the two results.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Potence

Description:

There is a popular saying among the members of Clan Brujah: “You only underestimate our strength once.” Potence is vitaefueled strength above and beyond other vampires’ capabilities. More powerful than any performance- enhancing drug, more unnatural than the physique of any bulging bodybuilder, Potence is the Beast let loose through the fists, feet, limbs, and raw bodily power of a vampire. The Discipline is used for more than just hitting things, though it is c ertainly good for this task. It is the vampire’s ability to force their body into actions impossible for mortals to replicate.

Potence trumps the other Disciplines in sheer incongruity – an elderly-looking Nosferatu strikes harder than a mortal heavyweight boxer or a Brujah Embraced as a child can decapitate a target with one blow.

Characteristics:

Type
Physical

Masquerade threat
Medium to high. 
Lesser exercises of the Discipline might be passed off as “hysterical strength,” but once pavement cracks and buildings start to crumble that explanation loses what little credibility it had.

Blood Resonance
Choleric.
The strong and healthy; athletes and young men and women in their prime, gym rats, wrestlers, construction workers and lumberjacks, longshoremen.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

Powers - Level 3:

Powers - Level 4:

Powers - Level 5:

Thin-Blood Alchemy

Description:

The Thin Blood of the latest generations holds barely any power of its own. But certain thinbloods have learned to use it as a catalyst, awakening the latent power in everything from human trauma to gasoline. Born of the street drug scene and cocktail culture as much as it w as uncovered by instinct or in molder ing medieval texts, thin-blood Alchemy may be the defining art of the next-millennium lick. By blending strongly resonant human blood, and sometimes other substances, with their own vitae, Alchemists can counterfeit a wide range of powers from other Disciplines and some unique powers of their own. Rumors already abound of specific elixirs that grant the ability to walk in sunlight, commune with Antediluvians, or achieve Golconda. But for now, the street-level cookers have all they can do to stay out  of the Court’s sight plenty of elders consider Alchemy nothing but watered-down diablerie.

Alchemy can counterfeit some Blood Sorcery powers (those that affect the caster’s Blood), but not Rituals. The Storyteller can rule any other power off-limits to Alchemy if they worry about game balance or the plausibility of the fiction and reverse themselves later if they wish, or hint at unique recipes developed in Switzerland or hidden in a Cairo library. The Discipline is young, and thinbloods have hardly explored every possible working or tasted every possible cocktail.

Characteristics:

All formulae require vitae from the Alchemist and human blood of the correct Resonance (p. 226). The Resonant human blood can be stored in a blood bag, or in a Starbucks to-go cup for that matter. The specific amount needed depends on the degree of the donor’s Resonance and on the Storyteller’s whim.
In these rules, “power level” always refers to the level of Alchemy involved, not the level of the power counterfeited with the formula.

Masquerade threat
Varies as widely as the powers it counterfeits and the method used.

Blood Resonance
Required for each formula and varies accordingly.

Distilation:

All formulae have a cost to distill, and then the cost to activate. The distillation cost reflects the fact that all formulae include the Alchemist’s own vitae: A single Rouse Check. Activation cost for a formula is the same as using the power normally: free, or some number of additional Rouse Checks. Once activated, the Alchemist makes a distillation roll to determine how effective the particular mixture was. Each version of Alchemy builds a different dice pool for the distillation roll. The more successes, the more effective the mixture:

Some powers require their own dice rolls to take effect, or to measure the degree of success. The Alchemist makes those rolls where needed, substituting their rating in Thin-Blood Alchemy for the specific Discipline rating where relevant.

Learning New Formula

To learn a new formula requires research time, whether the Alchemist spends it poring through libraries or in meditation or on tasting expeditions or performing laboratory experimentation. Players should write down which formulae their character already knows, and any special ingredients it requires. A character receives a formula for free for each dot in Thin-Blood Alchemy and can purchase additional formulae with experience and experimentation.

Ingredients

The listed ingredients for each formula are suggestions. Each thin-blood alchemist develops their own proprietary formulae, often writing the recipes down in code just as the medieval alchemists did. The alchemist’s own Blood is the only unvarying ingredient in all alchemical formulae, although almost all of them also require human blood of a specific Resonance. Cold or clotted blood can work in a formula if the alchemist has enough of it. Ingredients need not be physical – a specific experience or emotion caught in the blood can be just as powerful as rare research chemicals.

The Storyteller should modify the dice pool up or down by one or two dice based on the quality of the ingredients – and perhaps by the originality if the player comes up with suitably nasty or bizarre things for their Alchemist to use. As a rule of thumb:

• Add one die for very rare or expensive ingredients (ones that require at least a story to source or Resources dots higher than the level of the formula); subtract one die for cheap substitute ingredients you can buy at a big box retailer. (Many formulae include easily available industrial chemicals or foods as standard ingredients; invoke this penalty only when the characters substitute such things for a superior ingredient listed.)
• Add one die for very potent or magical ingredients, such as unicorn horn, red mercury, human blood with a Dyscrasia, werewolf blood, or vitae with Blood Potency two levels higher than the level of the formula; subtract one die for medical bagged blood, melteddown candles from the New Age shop, or other faux magics.
• Add one die for player creativity in suggesting ingredients, especially if sourcing them gets them into trouble or otherwise advances the story.

Distilation Methods

When the first dot in Thin-Blood Alchemy is gained, the Alchemist chooses their method. This is the way they perform their distillation. Learning a different method means starting from scratch, essentially counting it as a separate Discipline. In this case, formulae for one method do not apply to other methods known, and the same formula must be learnt separately for each method.

Athanor corporis
The Alchemist uses their own body as the athanor, or alchemical furnace. This might be a bio-feedback routine, the result of an initial elixir consumed at initiation, or simply intuitive understanding of how resonances interact. Ingredients usually consist of different types of resonance mixes, requiring the Alchemist to sample the blood of multiple victims to get just the right blend.
The Alchemist drinks the different types of resonant blood required and the process is performed within their veins with a distillation roll of Stamina + Alchemy, together with a Rouse Check.
Only one power can be active at a time, and a new power must be distilled before it can be activated. This usually takes at least three turns of concentration, during which the Alchemist can do nothing else.

Calcinatio
The Alchemist uses the body of a human as the athanor, adjusting their biophysical state by means of emotional pressure and spoken incantations. (Some practitioners of Calcinatio use drugs on their subjects instead.) The Alchemist then feeds their Blood to the chosen human, paying the distillation cost, and makes the distillation roll with Manipulation + Alchemy.
The human’s entire body distills the formula. The Alchemist then drinks their blood to use the power (required Hunger slaked equals power level minus 1).
The Alchemist can only distill one power per victim, though the victim retains the formula within them as long as they’re kept in the same emotional state; each power takes as long to activate as it takes to drain that quantity of blood (p. 212).

Fixatio
Lacking the physical or social predilections of the other methods, the Alchemist uses a conventional athanor such as a kiln, a metalworking furnace, a meth cooker, a repurposed propane tank, or the like. This method most resembles “classical” alchemy: the Alchemist pours their Blood as well as inert, usually rare, ingredients into the athanor, pays the distillation cost, and distills them inside it with an Intelligence + Alchemy roll.
The resulting formulae are fixed, meaning that the Alchemist can carry them around on their person and imbibe them to activate their power. (Roll the distillation roll upon consumption, not upon production.) However, without a laboratory, they cannot make any more – at most, they might be able to “one-pot” a weak (Level 3 or less) formula using a pressure-cooker or other field expedient. Using such unsuitable equipment reduces the distillation dice pool by 2 dice.
The Alchemist can carry a number of fixed formulae (of any level) equal to their Wits or Dexterity – keeping the vials safe, stable, hidden, and leakproof is not a trivial task. (The Storyteller can decide if each vial takes up the space of a syringe, a can of Red Bull, or a thermos.) The Alchemist can store a number of fixed formulae (of any level) equal to twice the sum of Alchemy plus their dots in Haven: a refrigerator is almost a necessity. Fixed does not necessarily mean shelf stable, after all.
The Alchemist can activate one power per turn.

Powers - Level 1:

Powers - Level 2:

At level 2, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 1 powers of other Disciplines. Each of these formulae take at least a week to research.

Powers - Level 3:

At level 3, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 2 powers of other Disciplines. Each of these formulae take at least a night to distill and at least one month to research.

Powers - Level 4:

At Level 4, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 3 powers of other Disciplines.

At this level, all formulae also require a drop of vitae from a vampire of a matching clan or from one who already possesses the counterfeited Discipline. For example, to counterfeit Shapechange the Alchemist needs vitae from a vampire with Protean or from a Gangrel. The Gangrel would not have to possess Protean 3, or even have Protean at all; the power is in the Blood, not the specific vampire.

As noted above, this drop does not cost the donor any Health, nor does it convey a Blood Bond. That said, Alchemists generally only get such donations as the result of a major Boon – or because the donor has some truly horrible and dangerous mission they are attempting to inveigle the Alchemist’s coterie into carrying out. These formulae take at least three nights to distill and at least three months to research.

Powers - Level 5:

At level 5, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 4 powers of other Disciplines. These formulae take a month to distill and at least three years to research.