Post by Hematite on Mar 6, 2014 9:41:29 GMT
Quietus [V20 203]
Vampires are immune to the Quietus poison they create, but not the Quietus poisons of others.
Licking a blade to coat it with poison is a single action and can create as much poison as the blood you can spend in that round (though you may pre-spend as normal if necessary).
The poison created by Quietus powers is highly concentrated and very small, perhaps the size of a dime per point of blood. Even very small weapons can contain as many traits of poison as desired.
Quietus 1: Silence of Death [V20 203]
The zone of silence is also a zone of stillness form which all forms of vibration are impeded. Thus, even large crashes, explosions and so on do not shake the nearby area.
No sound can be created within the field, which means that radios cannot transmit sound out of the field or send transmissions inside of the field.
A more modern extension of this power has come into popular use among the Assamites. A vampire may spend a blood point to activate this power as a field with the ability to stop all forms of electronic transmission as well, such as camera feeds (though it does not prevent local storage of data within the field), laser sensors, WiFi signals, phone calls, text messages, etc. Depending on the nature of the transmission, data missed may come through once the device leaves the field (like text messages), or just be simply lost (like camera feed data). This version of the power may be activated separately or alone, but each use (transmission or silence) costs its own blood point.
The actual area of the field of silence is variable. It is usually 20 feet or so, but will generally fill a chamber or hallway completely unless it is larger than 40 by 40 feet or so.
Viziers are fond of a second version of this, sometimes called the Curse of Silence. The Assamite spends 2 blood points and concentrates for 5 turns in a room or enclosure. Thereafter a silence like the normal effects of Silence of Death fills the room. The Assamite can enter or leave if he wishes and the effects will persist day and night unless the Assamite who created it wills it to end. A single vampire can create only one zone of silence at a time, however, so using this ability again on a different place or using the standard Silence of Death effects end the effect of this power. This version of the power cannot be used with the transmission-blocking variation.
Quietus 2: Scorpion’s Touch [V20 203]
Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the Dark Ages version of this power found on page 208 of Dark Ages: Vampire. The text of that version is included below:
•• SCORPION’S TOUCH [DAV 208]
By changing the properties of her blood, the vampire may create powerful venom that strips her prey of his resilience. This power has acquired a terrible reputation among the Christian vampires who have faced Assamite warriors (and their blood-coated blades) in Iberia and the Levant. The poison can also be delivered by a deadly spit or by coating a seemingly innocuous object (a favorite tactic of vizier assassins).
System: To convert a bit of the character’s blood to poison, the player spends the number of blood points she wishes to convert (up to a maximum of her Stamina) and rolls WIllpower (difficulty 6). If this roll is successful, the poison is ready. It remains potent until the next dawn or until it is used. When the poison contacts a victim’s skin, that character’s player rolls Stamina (+ Fortitude, if any) and the character immediately loses a number of levels of Stamina equal to the number of blood points of poison minus successes on the Stamina roll. This loss lasts for a duration based on the successes on the original Willpower roll:
Successes Result
1 success One turn
2 successes One hour
3 successes One day
4 successes One month
5 successes Permanently (but the player may buy Stamina back up with experience)
If a mortal’s Stamina falls to 0 through use of Scorpion’s Touch, she becomes terminally ill and loses immunity to diseases, her body succumbing to sickness within the year unless she somehow manages to increase her Stamina again. If a Cainite’s Stamina falls to 0, the vampire enters torpor and remains that way until one of her Stamina points returns. If a Cainite is permanently reduced to 0 Stamina, she may recover from torpor only through mystical means. Assamites are immune to their own poison, but not the blood-venom of other Assamites.
Afflicting a target with the poison requires getting it on his skin. This can be done through various surreptitious means (such as smearing an object or pooling it in the mouth for a “kiss of death”) or in combat. In combat, it may be smeared on hands or on a blade, or spat directly at the target. Smearing it on hands or a weapon requires an action to prepare and then a successful Brawl or Melee roll (the poison cannot be coated in thrown or missile weapons, which shed it in flight). Spitting the poison requires the player to make a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). No more than two blood points’ worth of poison may be expectorated, and a Cainite may spit a distance of 10 feet for each point of Strength or Potence the character possesses.
By changing the properties of her blood, the vampire may create powerful venom that strips her prey of his resilience. This power has acquired a terrible reputation among the Christian vampires who have faced Assamite warriors (and their blood-coated blades) in Iberia and the Levant. The poison can also be delivered by a deadly spit or by coating a seemingly innocuous object (a favorite tactic of vizier assassins).
System: To convert a bit of the character’s blood to poison, the player spends the number of blood points she wishes to convert (up to a maximum of her Stamina) and rolls WIllpower (difficulty 6). If this roll is successful, the poison is ready. It remains potent until the next dawn or until it is used. When the poison contacts a victim’s skin, that character’s player rolls Stamina (+ Fortitude, if any) and the character immediately loses a number of levels of Stamina equal to the number of blood points of poison minus successes on the Stamina roll. This loss lasts for a duration based on the successes on the original Willpower roll:
Successes Result
1 success One turn
2 successes One hour
3 successes One day
4 successes One month
5 successes Permanently (but the player may buy Stamina back up with experience)
If a mortal’s Stamina falls to 0 through use of Scorpion’s Touch, she becomes terminally ill and loses immunity to diseases, her body succumbing to sickness within the year unless she somehow manages to increase her Stamina again. If a Cainite’s Stamina falls to 0, the vampire enters torpor and remains that way until one of her Stamina points returns. If a Cainite is permanently reduced to 0 Stamina, she may recover from torpor only through mystical means. Assamites are immune to their own poison, but not the blood-venom of other Assamites.
Afflicting a target with the poison requires getting it on his skin. This can be done through various surreptitious means (such as smearing an object or pooling it in the mouth for a “kiss of death”) or in combat. In combat, it may be smeared on hands or on a blade, or spat directly at the target. Smearing it on hands or a weapon requires an action to prepare and then a successful Brawl or Melee roll (the poison cannot be coated in thrown or missile weapons, which shed it in flight). Spitting the poison requires the player to make a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). No more than two blood points’ worth of poison may be expectorated, and a Cainite may spit a distance of 10 feet for each point of Strength or Potence the character possesses.
Once created, the poison is ready until the next dawn, and then expires. Poison can be kept from expiring by any mystical (but not mundane) means of preserving blood.
Any contact at all that this poison comes to with the victim triggers the effects, such as touch, kiss, melee strike etc. It can be excreted instantly (or as instantly as you can spend the blood) from any part of the body, but cannot move through clothing or armor. It can also coat an object and be handed to the person to affect them.
For melee deliveries of this poison, if the attack hits in a place where the attacker is wearing armor and does no damage after soak, the poison has no effect, unable to pass through the armor. If they take even 1 point of damage, the full effect occurs.
Someone attempting to drink blood that has been turned to Scorpion's Touch poison is considered automatically hit.
The poison is not sticky enough to stay on ranged weapons, flying off in flight. However if sealed to the ranged weapon (such as by coating the blade of a throwing knife in wax), the poison will not mystically stop working because the weapon was used at range. The Storyteller should apply appropriate difficulty penalties to any attempt to keep the poison on a ranged weapon in flight, depending on the method used.
The user may spit as many points of blood as he can spend per turn, not a flat 2.
A vampire reduced to 0 Stamina with this ability enters Torpor until their Stamina recovers. The Thaumaturgy power Blood Rage may be used to force the vampire to burn for Stamina and cause them to awaken early, but only to the limits of time normal for burning for Attributes. If their Stamina falls back to 0 at the end of the scene, they fall back into Torpor. The Necromancy ritual Resurrection of Stirred Blood or the 3rd level of the Mortuus Path Resume the Coil will revive the victim for one scene. Use of Vicissitude to grant additional Stamina with modification points will revive the victim at his new Stamina.
Vampires who have their Stamina reduced by this power also have their "generation" maximum reduced by the same amount for the purposes of spending blood for Attributes. Thus a 10th Generation vampire who lost 4 stamina to this effect would effectively have their Generation limit be 1 for the duration of the poison, and any attempt to raise the Attribute with blood to a value higher than 2 would only remain in effect for 3 rounds. The "Generational limit" cannot fall past 0 in this way. This also reduces their generational maximum for the purposes of raising Stamina with xp or permanently with modification points.
Multiple uses of this poison on the same target are cumulative, but they get an additional defense roll each time it is used.
Quietus 3: Dagon’s Call [V20 204]
This power may be used as many times as the user wishes within the time limit of 1 hour since the victim was touched. These attempts do not need to be immediately consecutive, though each costs a Willpower.
As this is a Stamina roll, Fortitude applies to both sides.
Touching a victim to deliver Scorpion's Venom is suitable to satisfy the touch requirements of Dagon's Call. Dagon's Call is a mental action and if used as a split action, can be done the same round as the touch
The damage from this power is lethal and is not soakable.
The touch required for this power requires skin contact on the part of the victim, though contact with the user’s blood or any other part of the user’s anatomy is sufficient.
Quietus 4: Baal’s Caress [V20 204]
Weapons affected by this power must be bladed, or at least sharp. Unlike Scorpion’s Touch, Baal’s caress CAN be used on arrowheads or thrown weapons, but not bullets, though more than one blood on an arrow is wasted.
Unlike Scorpion's Touch, Baal's Caress must do damage to be effective, it does nothing when used as a contact poison.
This poison does not have a duration and remains poisonous for as long as necessary.
The poison may be created at the rate which you can spend blood points to your Generational limits. This can be used to cause Aggravated Damage to someone feeding directly upon your body but cannot be used to change blood already spilled from you.
This poison may be spit in the exact same manner as the poison created by Scorpion’s Touch.
Quietus 5: Blood Essence [DAV 209]
Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the Dark Ages version of this power as presented on page 209 of Dark Ages: Vampire. The text of that version is presented below:
••••• BLOOD ESSENCE [DAV 209]
Masters of Quietus have a control over the supernatural properties of vampiric vitae that is terrifying to behold. Blood Essence demonstrates some of the most frightening aspects of this control since it clearly illustrates that he who controls the blood has access to the unlife of the vampire. With the power an Assamite can distill the unholy life force of a vampire and extract it as a thick, blackish blood. This process is deadly to the victim and very similar to diablerie. Indeed, the distilled essence truly is what Cainites refer to as the “heart’s-blood,” the potent vitae that contains all of the vampire’s power and self. Once extracted, this mere cupful of blackish liquid contains all the destroyed vampire’s essence, and anyone who consumes it effectively diablerizes the victim.
Blood Essence is an important part of many rituals among the Children of Haqim. Warriors extract the heart’s-blood of victims felled in battle and bring it back to their elders or even to hidden Alamut itself. They then either consume the essence themselves or present it to an honored teacher. The growing blood addiction among Assamite warriors (see p. 309) has unfortunately undermined this practice. Assamite sorcerers and viziers are said to have many uses for the heart’s-blood, using it to peel back the layers of a victim’s long existence year by year. The essence is also a key component in religious observances among followers of the Road of Blood.
System: The process of distilling the Blood Essence is very similar to diablerie itself. The vampire drains all his victim’s blood through whatever means are available, and then must drain the heart’s-blood. Instead of sucking it out through brute force, however, the vampire uses Quietus to distill the potent vitae. The vampire’s player does not make the extended Strength roll of diablerie. Instead, he makes an extended Willpower roll (difficulty 9) that functions like the Strength roll, causing an unsoakable level of aggravated damage per success. Failure means the vampire must pause to distill the essence but can continue next turn. A botch means the effort fails (though the vampire may then proceed to attempt traditional diablerie). As in diablerie, the victim remains alert during the entire process and can fight back. Once all health levels are gone, the victim is destroyed and his essence is fully drained (usually into a chalice of some sort).
The distilled heart’s-blood remains liquid and fresh for a number of nights equal to the Quietus master’s Willpower. After that time, it becomes caked and dry, losing its potency. Anyone drinking the heart’s-blood while it is still fresh gains all the benefits and potential pitfalls of having successfully diablerized the victim, such as lowered generation.
For full details on diablerie, see page 258.
Masters of Quietus have a control over the supernatural properties of vampiric vitae that is terrifying to behold. Blood Essence demonstrates some of the most frightening aspects of this control since it clearly illustrates that he who controls the blood has access to the unlife of the vampire. With the power an Assamite can distill the unholy life force of a vampire and extract it as a thick, blackish blood. This process is deadly to the victim and very similar to diablerie. Indeed, the distilled essence truly is what Cainites refer to as the “heart’s-blood,” the potent vitae that contains all of the vampire’s power and self. Once extracted, this mere cupful of blackish liquid contains all the destroyed vampire’s essence, and anyone who consumes it effectively diablerizes the victim.
Blood Essence is an important part of many rituals among the Children of Haqim. Warriors extract the heart’s-blood of victims felled in battle and bring it back to their elders or even to hidden Alamut itself. They then either consume the essence themselves or present it to an honored teacher. The growing blood addiction among Assamite warriors (see p. 309) has unfortunately undermined this practice. Assamite sorcerers and viziers are said to have many uses for the heart’s-blood, using it to peel back the layers of a victim’s long existence year by year. The essence is also a key component in religious observances among followers of the Road of Blood.
System: The process of distilling the Blood Essence is very similar to diablerie itself. The vampire drains all his victim’s blood through whatever means are available, and then must drain the heart’s-blood. Instead of sucking it out through brute force, however, the vampire uses Quietus to distill the potent vitae. The vampire’s player does not make the extended Strength roll of diablerie. Instead, he makes an extended Willpower roll (difficulty 9) that functions like the Strength roll, causing an unsoakable level of aggravated damage per success. Failure means the vampire must pause to distill the essence but can continue next turn. A botch means the effort fails (though the vampire may then proceed to attempt traditional diablerie). As in diablerie, the victim remains alert during the entire process and can fight back. Once all health levels are gone, the victim is destroyed and his essence is fully drained (usually into a chalice of some sort).
The distilled heart’s-blood remains liquid and fresh for a number of nights equal to the Quietus master’s Willpower. After that time, it becomes caked and dry, losing its potency. Anyone drinking the heart’s-blood while it is still fresh gains all the benefits and potential pitfalls of having successfully diablerized the victim, such as lowered generation.
For full details on diablerie, see page 258.
Using this power is considered diablerie for the purposes of all morality systems.
Drinking the potion is considered diablerie for the purposes of all morality systems if the drinker knows what it is. Knowledge of this power is considered level 4 Cainite Lore or Level 2 Assamite Lore.
If you are unaware of the nature of the potion and later learn what it is, it provokes a Degeneration check at Difficulty 10 if diablerie is a sin for your Path of Enlightenment. This happens automatically after you drink it if you possess Kindred Lore 2 to understand the effect of Diablerie.
The Blood Essence may be preserved indefinitely by any mystical (but not mundane) method of preserving blood, such as the ritual Sanguineous Phial. Mundane methods of blood preservation can keep Blood Essence from spoiling for up to one month past the usual expiration date.
The Blood Essence may be used as a ritual component in magic or other disciplines that require diablerie, such as the rituals Tamimah or Ritual of the Bitter Rose, or the Discipline Technique Drink the Mind.
Quietus 6: Blood Empathy [PG2 140]
This is an earlier version of the power Ripples of the Heart found on page 206 of the V20 core book. Emerald Coven Chronicles uses that version of the power. See below for its clarifications.
Quietus 6: Blood Sweat [V20 205]
This blood sweat is of such volume that it will never be mistaken for natural sweat, even natural blood sweat from a vampire.
There is no obvious sign of this power’s activation on the part of the user.
Despite the minimal nutrition once consumed, the blood produced by this power is sufficient to trigger hunger frenzy in those nearby (if hungry), or even from the victim himself even though it provides him no nutrition.
The actions that a specific victim might feel shame and remorse for will correspond to his own Path of Enlightenment, not to the objective morality of Humanity.
One success will cause a twinge of guilt. Two successes causes a feeling of remorse that will haunt the victim for the remainder of the week (victim rolls as if suffering the Nightmares flaw at the next game session). Three successes leaves the victim with a desperate need to confess to someone, haunting him until he does (+2 difficulty to all actions from distraction until a full confession can be given). Four successes leaves the victim with a desperate need for absolution from a Priest or other figure of moral authority or the wronged parties of the actions he feels guilty for (haunted with guilt and distracted as per 3 successes until such absolution is given, to a maximum of one month). Five successes triggers a complete and utter breakdown on the spot, compelling the subject to confess all of his crimes on the spot, sobbing out everything he has done in his entire life that he feels guilty for.
The use of this power on an adherent to the Path of Night or any path where feeling remorse is a sin triggers an immediate degeneration check for the victim.
Knowledge of the details of this power is considered level 4 Assamite Lore, and Cainite Lore is not sufficient to know of it.
Quietus 6: Cleansed in Blood [LS3 67]
This is an earlier version of the power Purification found on page 207 of the V20 core book. Emerald Coven Chronicles uses that version of the power. See below for its clarifications.
Quietus 6: Cleansing of Influence [Cb-As 27]
This is an earlier version of the power Purification found on page 207 of the V20 core book. Emerald Coven Chronicles uses that version of the power. See below for its clarifications.
Quietus 6: Purification [V20 207]
Removing Thaumaturgical effects from the victim requires an equal or higher level in any form of Blood Magic, not only Thaumaturgy. The same applies to any mental or emotional effect caused by Hedge Magic or True Magick.
This power targets ALL mental and emotional effects from the subject, whether beneficial or detrimental. The subject player should not know which effect he is testing against when making the rolls.
This power removes Soul Shards gained via Diablerie. For each shard, the subject must roll against a difficulty of 9.
This power cannot be used on oneself.
Quietus 6: Quicken the Mortal’s Blood [DAC 90]
This power may be used once per Feeding action the character takes during downtime.
This power may only be used while drinking ordinary mortal blood. It has no effect if used on any form of supernatural blood.
If a character using this power also possesses the Efficient Digestion merit, the effects stack as normal, considering the extra blood gained from this power as additional blood points consumed. This power similarly stacks with the Blood Feast Ritus or the Koldunic Sorcery ritual The Master’s Larder.
This power is used as the vampire is drinking the blood. It cannot be used on any form of stored blood.
Quietus 6: Rapturous Touch [PGttLC 154]
If used as an attack, this power requires the user to initiate a Hold or Clinch maneuver first, just as if biting.
This power requires skin to skin or skin to blood contact.
The user of this power must be in a corporeal form to use this power (it cannot be used in Mist Form or Tenebrous Form, but Blood Form is acceptable).
Quietus 6: Ripples of the Heart [V20 206]
This power is largely situational in its application, but the in general the storyteller should look to the clarifications on Dementation 1: Passions as a general guideline.
The vampire cannot immediately stop drinking after the first point if he normally consumes at the full rate of 3 points/round.
Emotions may only be placed in the blood of mortals, though supernaturally influenced mortals such as Ghouls or Kinfolk are acceptable.
Quietus 6: Selective Silence [V20 206]
The examples used for the difference between personally caused sound and secondary effects are splitting too fine a hair and are not used. Instead consider the following examples: A gun silenced with this power will not produce an audible explosion or supersonic crack, but the bullet striking its target will. A silenced victim may scream and thrash as he likes, even breaking windows and make no sound, but any glass that breaks from a secondary source of damage such as falling to the ground after the initial break will make sound as normal.
The thin mist exhaled by the user of this power is nearly invisible, requiring any observers to succeed at a Perception + Alertness roll at difficulty 9 to detect it, and score a minimum of 3 successes to determine its origin.
Objects targeted by this power are considered in their entirety or in their individual components, as chosen by the power’s user. For example, this power could target a whole car, but could also target a squeaky tuning belt in the engine separately. When targeting a component of an object, consider the size of the component, not of the object as a whole.
The user may target himself with this power, but may not cancel its effects early.
Quietus 6: Thin Blood [Cb-As 27]
This power requires the user to spend 2 blood points to activate and touch her victim with a hand stained with his own blood, requiring a successful Dexterity + Brawl roll in combat.
A victim of this power cannot spend blood points to heal any wounds for the full duration.
This power’s duration is automatically ended should the victim successfully lower her generation via diablerie. Temporary drops in generation from Path of Blood 3 do not count.
The power’s duration is permanent at 5 successes unless the victim successfully lowers her generation via diablerie.