Difference between revisions of "Vicissitude"

Revision as of 17:55, 13 May 2009

The kindred must touch the bare skin of the subject for any power to succeed. Only mortals, Ghouls and the character itsself can be targeted by the effects of this discipline.

• Hidden Reserves

Cost: 1 Vitae

Dice Pool: Vicissitude + Composure vs. Stamina + Resolve

Action: Contested and Reflexive

The vampire looks deep within the subject, rooting out (or concealing) reserves of power. The subject can volunteer for this power, in which case, the activation is not contested. This power can be successfully used on any one subject only once per night. The benefit lasts for 1 scene. When the power is activated, the vampire chooses a physical Attribute (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina) to either increase or decrease -- both choices must be made during activation, when the vampire touches the subject.

Dramatic Failure: The vampire loses 1 point of the Attribute to be modified. Regained at next Sunset.

Failure: Nothing happens

Success: The chosen attribute is modified by 1, regardless of successes rolled.

Exceptional Success: The benefit lasts 1 night.

•• Holistic Weave

Cost: 1 Willpower

Dice Pool: Vicissitude + Composure vs Stamina + Resolve

Action: Contested and Reflexive

The vampire touches the subject and alters her very life force. The body's ability to sustain itself in the face of extreme duress is greatly improved as unrelated systems come to its aid to provide resiliency, healing, or whatever the hell you think should be happening. Does it matter? Really? What's happening inside? No. Why? Because it's magic. The subject cannot choose to volunteer for this procedure, his body and mind automatically attempt to resist such a major system overhaul. Unless, for some reason, you believe that vampires should be more easily able to fuck with the human physiology and holistic balance. It's your call and I couldn't possibly care less. The benefit of this power lasts 1 scene, or until the subject takes damage. The power cannot be successfully used on the same subject more than once per night.

Dramatic Failure: The vampire loses 1 Vitae in addition to the Willpower cost

Failure: Willpower spent, no side effects

Success: All wounds suffered by the subject from the next single attack are downgraded by 1. 4 aggro = 4 lethal. 6 bashing = 0 dmg.

Exceptional Success: Benefit lasts the whole night, or until damage is sustained.

••• Sculpt

Cost: 1 Willpower + special

Dice Pool: Vicissitude + (Crafts or Medicine) vs Stamina

Action: Contested and Reflexive

Here's all the shit you people want to do with your unfortunate mortal subjects. You want eyeballs on kneecaps and legs swapped with arms? This is your power. You want to make an ogre of a man look like an elf from the Land of Fancy? This is your power. You want the subject to have bone claws sticking from his fingers? This is your power. You are absolutely insistent on "moving whole clumps of flesh?" This is your power. You want to tear out a heart and keep the subject alive? FAIL! You want to swap the heart with the stomach? Yup, that can be done with this power. You want to remove the head and stick it on a dog? FAIL! You want to remove the brain and expect a living subject? FAIL!! You want to swap the brain with the spleen? Yup, you can do that with this power. NO EVISCERATION. NO DECAPITATION. Dismemberment? Get yourself a scalpel and bone saw, because you can't amputate with this power alone.

When a vampire learns this power, they choose what kind of material they can work with. Bone, Skin, Soft Tissue (organs, people; internal organs, and that means eyeballs), or Muscle. Each additional material costs 3xp to learn.

Willpower is spent at the beginning of a procedure. A procedure can consist of more than one Sculpt action, as long as there is no break between activations of each successive use of the power. Vitae is spent as the power is activated. Each Sculpt takes 1 Turn. A Sculpt is permanent if it succeeds.

Each use of the power allows 1 single conceptual change using strictly one material. You want that huge muscle man with warts to be a pansy-ass elf with fair skin, blue eyes, and no bulging biceps, that's going to take Sculpt Bone, Sculpt Skin, Sculpt Soft Tissue, and Sculpt Muscle. That's 5 distinct activations with 4 distinct powers. 5 turns and some Vitae. Note that each single change is *conceptual*. Your changing the ENTIRE skeleton when you shrink it to elf size. One change. You're changing the skin to remove the warts. One change. You're changing the skin again to make it pale. One change. Don't be a dickhead and mix concepts like... an elf with bone claws. That's two separate concepts: form, and weaponry. Get it? No? Then YOU make the call on it, or find another ST to make that call.

If you swap 1 point from Strength to Dexterity, that's a "Minor" change. BUT, if you try to swap a point either to or from either of those attributes again, that additional change is upgraded to MAJOR. Find another loophole to make your war ghoul. With that said, you can swap TO the Armor rating (by, say, moving bone to the outside of the flesh - three Major Changes using Sculpt Bone, Sculpt Flesh, and Sculpt Muscle. You can swap to and from the Size rating, but the total change can never be more than 1 point. Ever (for Size). Why? If you have to ask, just change the rule.

Take special note of this: to do a successful Sculpt, you must, must, must inflict damage on the subject. There must be at least one success generated on the contested roll. That success WILL inflict damage. If you get too many successes, that's too bad. Fucking with the human body is always a tricky thing - results are unpredictable. Deal with it, or make sure you put a Holistic Weave in place. If the subject has a Holistic Weave, the Sculpt does succeed, and the damage is reduced per the Holistic Weave description.

Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Sculpt fail, but you can never again do a sculpt on this subject

Failure: Sculpt fails, but this does not end a procedure, you can keep trying

Success: Each success inflicts damage per table above. A Holistic Weave mitigates damage after the Sculpt succeeds.

Exceptional Success: You really don't want more successes. One is good, two or more is bad. That's the way the cookie crumbles, friend.

Cost    DMG  Type of Change    Examples/Limitations/What-Have-You

-        B   Superficial       Eye, hair, skin pigmentation. Slight alterations to facial features, teeth, jaw line.
1 Vitae  L   Minor Structural  Swapping 1 attribute point for another. Any change to Size.
1 Vitae  A   Major Structural  Internals, Any change departing from standard human proportions. Any Attribute swap of 2+ points. 

•••• Graft

Cost: 1 Vitae per Graft

Dice Pool: Vicissitude + (Crafts or Medicine) vs Stamina

Action: Contested, Reflexive

You want to stick extra arms, swords, and machine parts to your subject? You came to the right power. It's simple: you pick something to stick on, you get one success on the contested roll, and that part is permanently attached to the subject. WOO-HOO!

Caveats: the size of an object cannot exceed the size of the subject. Extra limbs have 1 Str, and 1 Dex but are not functional unless you make a major muscular sculpt to accomodate them. Guns don't fire without a finger on the trigger - a finger that's under the control of the subject. Tails and other funky weapons can be used to attack at a -2 penalty unless the subject has a specialty in Weaponry (Grafted Melee Weapons) or something like that.

I suggest that penalties be imposed if the grafted part is not a fresh, human part. If it's dog, you get -1. Wood or plants, -2. Metal, ceramic, plastic, adamantium, -3. You get the picture...

••••• Rejection

Cost: 1 Vitae

Dice Pool: Vicissitude + (Crafts or Medicine) vs Stamina

Action: Contested, Reflexive

The victim's body does't love itself anymore. It starts rejecting major organs. Cells begin to differentiate - livers want to be intestines and the stomach wants to be a lung AND a heart AND bone. Damage takes twice as long to heal as normal and demands hospital care. Sculpts and Grafts automatically revert or fall off.

Dramatic Failure: 1 Aggravated Damage, roll for a Derangement.

Failure: the Rejection simply fails

Success: Each success is 1 point of Aggravated damage. Each success is one Sculpt or Graft that can be undone.

Exceptional Success: Inflict the Crippled Flaw