Post by Hematite on Mar 6, 2014 13:48:37 GMT
Serpentis [V20 209]
True Setites usually only teach Serpentis to initiates of their cult. To them it is the gift of Set, and not fit to be bartered to Cainites who do not work as they do to venerate their god. Serpents of Light have no such compunctions about teaching Serpentis.
Serpentis 1: The Eyes of the Serpent [V20 209]
Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the Dark Ages version of this power presented on page 210 of Dark Ages: Vampire. That version’s text is presented below:
• THE EYES OF THE SERPENT [DAV 210]
Myths of the cobra and asp - as well as the Greek Medusa - ascribe hypnotic ability to them, and Set’s first gift to his childer is a facsimile of that power. Should the character catch the gaze of a mortal or Cainite, he can beguile them with his gaze and render them immobile. He cannot give them commands or instructions - this is the province of Dominate - but they cannot move, nor speak above a whisper. The target remains immobilized until the character looks away - even so much as a glance breaks the trance.
System: Initially getting the target’s attention requires the player to make a Manipulation + Etiquette roll (difficulty 4). If the target is already looking at the vampire, however, (they are engaged in conversation, for instance) no roll is necessary. The ability works automatically on mortals. To use it on a vampire of any generation, the player engages in a contest of Willpower (difficulty 7). Both parties roll, and if the Setite’s player wins, the target is immobilized. If a potential victim knows not to look at the Serpent, no force in the world can make her do so, except for distraction. A successful Manipulation + Etiquette roll (difficulty 10) can allow the vampire to catch the target’s attention for long enough to entrance her, but a failure or botch on this roll gives his intentions away and ensures that the victim avoids his gaze for the rest of the scene.
Myths of the cobra and asp - as well as the Greek Medusa - ascribe hypnotic ability to them, and Set’s first gift to his childer is a facsimile of that power. Should the character catch the gaze of a mortal or Cainite, he can beguile them with his gaze and render them immobile. He cannot give them commands or instructions - this is the province of Dominate - but they cannot move, nor speak above a whisper. The target remains immobilized until the character looks away - even so much as a glance breaks the trance.
System: Initially getting the target’s attention requires the player to make a Manipulation + Etiquette roll (difficulty 4). If the target is already looking at the vampire, however, (they are engaged in conversation, for instance) no roll is necessary. The ability works automatically on mortals. To use it on a vampire of any generation, the player engages in a contest of Willpower (difficulty 7). Both parties roll, and if the Setite’s player wins, the target is immobilized. If a potential victim knows not to look at the Serpent, no force in the world can make her do so, except for distraction. A successful Manipulation + Etiquette roll (difficulty 10) can allow the vampire to catch the target’s attention for long enough to entrance her, but a failure or botch on this roll gives his intentions away and ensures that the victim avoids his gaze for the rest of the scene.
This power does not require true eye contact as Dominate does. Eyes of the Serpent requires that the victim see the Setite’s eyes, not the intimate and fundamental connection Dominate requires. Getting this kind of attention requires a Manipulation + Etiquette roll at difficulty 4, unless the person is already looking in your eyes. If the potential victim is actively trying to avoid the gaze, the difficulty becomes 10, and a failure or botch means that you cannot attempt again for the rest of the scene.
This power works automatically against mortals (including ghouls and other supernaturally influenced mortals as well as Mages unless they have a specific ward to resist the effects).
The Etiquette roll to gain eye contact and the Willpower roll to use the power are not considered "separate action" for the purposes of split action penalties or multiple actions.
Those stricken by Eyes of the Serpent may speak very slowly in a whisper, but take no other action. They may, however, attempt to use Dominate.
During the use of this power, the Setite's eyes become gold in color and gain large black irises. If you notice this, however, you are also affected by the power and must roll Willpower to resist. Because of this, this power may be used on as many people as can see the Setite's eyes and the Setite can see them in return, not just one character at a time.
The power ends when the Setite looks away, the gaze is interrupted by something in between, the immobilized person is forced to look away by another character, or the character takes or soaks damage or is otherwise harmed AND spends a Willpower to break the power. A victim of this power can take no defensive action against an incoming attack.
The Setite may use the Tongue of the Asp to feed on an immobilized person without ending this power if there is an existing wound to feed from.
Someone under the gaze may not counter a social roll with another social roll, though they may spend Willpower to ignore them as normal.
Maintaining the gaze for long periods of time is difficult. Vampires can maintain it for a number of hours equal to their Permanent Willpower. After this point, the vampire may spend willpower to extend the effect by an hour (stacking). Ghouls have a much harder time when using this power (as they still suffer mortal needs like blinking), and can only maintain this power for 10 minutes per point of Stamina, after which they must spend a point of Willpower to maintain the effect for an additional 10 minutes (stacking).
Using this power on a snake lowers the difficulty of any subsequent Animal Ken rolls made against that snake in the scene by 2.
Serpentis 2: The Tongue of the Asp [V20 209]
The Setite may drink blood from any existing lethal or aggravated damage, whether she dealt the damage on a previous attack or not. If the tongue delivered the damage on the previous action, the tongue may stay in the target and drink the next action. This can be done as part of a split action. If using the tongue to feed in this manner, the Kiss is induced when the vampire begins to drain blood.
The tongue delivers the Kiss like a normal vampire bite, but can also do so just by licking the person, not necessarily doing damage.
Use of this power can reduce the penalty for Blindness or total darkness by 1. See Obtenebration clarifications for details on how this power interacts with Shroud of Night.
If the user also possesses the Feeding Tongue merit, the length of the transformed tongue stacks with that of the Feeding Tongue when this power is activated.
Even though mortals do not take aggravated damage, wounds caused by this tongue are especially virulent and take double the normal time to heal when inflicted on mortals. In addition, these wounds are especially susceptible to infection. Each day a mortal (including a ghoul or other supernaturally influenced mortal) carries wounds inflicted by this power, he must succeed on a Stamina roll at difficulty 7 + the number of health levels of damage currently suffered. Failure on this roll means the wounds have festered and rot has set in. This roll is made at -2 difficulty if under professional medical care.
This power is considered a Partial Transformation, taking effect on the user’s Initiative on the turn following its activation.
This Transformation lasts until dawn if desired, but while it is in effect, the user gains the flaw Speech Impediment in the form of a particularly bad lisp.
Serpentis 3: The Skin of the Adder [V20 210]
This power allows the vampire to soak all Impact Aggravated damage with his Stamina.
This power is considered a Partial Transformation, taking effect on the user’s Initiative on the turn following its activation.
This power lasts for the duration of the scene, though its duration can be prolonged to the next scene by spending an additional blood point (no Willpower is required to maintain the power).
When using this power, all soak difficulties are 5, including those situations which specifically denote a higher difficulty, such as high levels Lure of Flames or exposure to sunlight. If the difficulty is listed as lower than 5, use the lower difficulty instead.
In addition to the +1 Damage on bite attacks, the user can dislocate her jaw to drink one more blood point per round when feeding. Dislocating the jaw takes an action, and while the jaw is dislocated, the vampire cannot speak.
The Appearance penalty can be covered up by either Obfuscate or Vicissitude.
Serpentis 3: Mummify [PG2 141]
This is an alternate Serpentis power that may be purchased as an In-Clan discipline by any Follower of Set, or taught as an out of clan discipline as normal.
Even powers that normally revive someone from torpor cannot revive the vampire using this power.
The vampire will instantly arise from torpor, ending this effect, as soon as he tastes blood of any kind.
This power can only be used on oneself.
Serpentis 4: The Form of the Cobra [V20 210]
While in this form, the user is automatically considered under the effects of Skin of the Adder and Tongue of the Asp as well.
This power is considered a Complete and Incompatible Transformation power.
The user may not use any other Transformation Discipline other than Serpentis while this power is in effect.
This power takes 3 full turns to complete as a baseline, decreasing by one turn per additional blood spent during the activation of the power and coming into full effect on the user’s Initiative on the fourth turn since its activation (or sooner if additional blood is spent). This additional blood is limited by Generational maximums but may be spent over multiple rounds. For example, if a 10th Generation Setite spent 1 blood to activate this power, it would take effect on his Initiative 4 turns later. If on the second turn he spent an additional blood point to this power, the power would come into effect on his Initiative 2 turns later. If he spent a third blood point the following round, the bonuses would come into effect that turn. If an 8th Generation Setite wishes to transform faster and spends 3 blood points when initially activating the power, the effects would manifest initially on his Initiative 2 turns later. If he spent an additional blood point on the following turn, the effects would manifest that turn. Spending additional blood points to speed up this transformation may never reduce the time to less than one full round (effects manifesting on the user’s Initiative the following round).
When the vampire activates this power, she gains a free attempt to escape any Hold or Clinch maneuver by making a Dexterity + Brawl roll as her body twists and writhes unexpectedly. This occurs on the
The Setite may not speak in this form, and use any Discipline that does not require hands or speaking. It can, however, communicate to others in the same form.
The Setite gains 2 bonus dice on scent related Perception rolls, and increases the difficulty of hearing related rolls by 2. She also gains a 2 die bonus on Dodge and Climbing dice pools.
The body of the form is around 10 inches thick and can slither through appropriately sized holes.
The poison delivered by the Cobra's bite deals 7 levels of Aggravated damage to any living creature, but has no effect on vampires. This damage is delivered as poison, and is thus not soakable by armor or any power that grants external protection. The Setite need not grapple to deliver its bite attack. The poison is in addition to the normal bite damage for vulnerable creatures. The bite of the Serpent Form deals Strength +1 aggravated damage. Immediate medical attention (within 5 minutes) may be able to save a mortal bitten by a vampire in this form, but not easily (3 successes required on a Wits + Medicine roll at difficulty 8 with makeshift equipment, difficulty 9 with no equipment, difficulty 7 with EMS equipment, and difficulty 6 with full hospital equipment).
In this form, the vampire gains +2 Strength and +3 Dexterity. However, his movement speed is halved to account for the lack of legs.
The color and pattern of scales assumed by the transformation can be controlled by the vampire. The vampire may roll Manipulation + Survival (diff 8) and add successes to his Stealth pool as long as he remains in the same type of terrain that he transformed in.
The vampire may instead choose to assume the form of a tiny viper, approximately 18 inches long and half an inch in diameter. In this form his Strength and Stamina drop to 1 but he gains +2 Dexterity, his bite inflicts Strength aggravated damage (still no need to grapple) and inflicts the same poison as the normal use of this power, and receives -2 difficulty to all Stealth rolls. In this form all attack rolls made against the vampire are made at +2 difficulty due to his diminutive size.
Serpentis 5: Heart of Darkness [V20 210]
Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the expanded version of this power, Cheat the Scale of Anubis, found on page 211 of Dark Ages: Vampire. The text of that version is listed below:
••••• CHEAT THE SCALE OF ANUBIS [DAV 211]
Egyptian legend has it that the god Anubis weighs the hearts of the deceased on his great scale. If the heart is not in perfect balance with the feather placed on the other plate, it is considered to be weighed down by sin, and the soul of the deceased is fed to the Devourer and destroyed. Setite faith sees this story as a corruption of the dark truth: Anubis acts as a gatekeeper for the tyrannical Osiris, who rules the afterlife. Those who have proven their soul’s strength by being willing to reject the laws that make them slaves (hence those who have “sinned”) are destroyed before they can enter the afterlife and overthrow the tyrant-god. If Set and his follower are ever to reverse this state of affairs, there must be a way for the strong to get around Anubis’s scales. This power allows a master of Serpentis to do just that by removing his heart (as well as his other vital organs) from his body entirely and wrapping his flesh in a protective cocoon.
The power, more akin to a ritual, can only be performed in the dark of night - either after the moon has set, before it has risen or during the new moon - and only on oneself. It takes a few hours to complete. Once the Setite has removed his heart and other vital organs, he must place them in specially prepared clay urns (called Canopic jars). After that, servants can bury or hide them away. After the vampire has removed all his major organs, his vitae and undead flesh combine to wrap him in a dry, scaly shroud that is nearly impenetrable. Only a small opening over his mouth remains in the shroud. The character then falls into a sort of torpor. Only feeding him his removed internal organs can awaken the character. Once that is complete, it takes about one minute for the cocoon around the Setite to crumble to dust.
The enshrouded vampire is virtually impossible to harm - no known direct force, from inferno to high-noon sunlight, can do him damage while so wrapped. However, the extracted organs are vulnerable, most especially the heart. Exposing it to fire or sunlight causes the vampire’s instant and terrible immolation, destroying him. Although terrible, this destruction is actually the final part of the ritual - in which the vampire’s followers burn his organs before a statute of Set. By meeting the Final Death in this way, a Follower of Set reaches Anubis without a heart and is hence able to pass him by without ever undertaking the test of the scales, entering the afterlife as a powerful agent of his god.
It is possible to undertake this ritual only part way, something usually done for one of two reasons. The first is to assume the fully enshrouded form for protection’s sake, which some Setites do when they are traveling. Their ghouls carry them as cargo in a ship or caravan and then feed their master his organs when they arrive at their destination. The other option is to stop the ritual with the removal of the heart. The vampire is perfectly able to move about without his heart, but he becomes immune to standard staking or diablerie. However, if an enemy gets hold of the Canopic jar containing the extracted organ, the vampire is in serious trouble. Not only does it provide a powerful ritual connection to the vampire, but a simple flame or glint of sunlight can destroy the vampire outright, and driving a stake through the organ drives the Setite into torpor.
System: To undertake this ritual power, the vampire must have time to herself (assisted by acolytes, perhaps) and be acting on a moonless night. The power fails at any other time. The player makes an extended Dexterity + Medicine roll (difficulty 7) for the character to undertake the ritual. Each roll means an hour of activity, and the ritual ends in failure if the moon or sun rises before the player achieves the necessary successes (five to remove a heart, 12 to achieve the mummified form). A failure on a roll has no effect other than to extend the process another hour. A botch entails a catastrophic failure that ends the ritual and causes two levels of aggravated damage to the vampire. Any vampire who witnesses the process is subject to Rotschreck (difficulty 6).
The enshrouded body of such a Setite is completely immune to har. No source of injury - save perhaps the might of a Methuselah or Antediluvian - can do it direct physical damage. The organs, however are extremely vulnerable and even the slightest sunlight or flame destroys them outright. The jars are opaque, but easily broken open. Except for the heart, destroying an organ causes an unsoakable level of damage to the vampire. Destroying the heart destroys the vampire outright.
The removed organs are rich with vitae. Most contain one blood point’s worth (which reduces the vampire’s overall blood pool), and that blood remains fresh indefinitely in the withered organ-meat. A ghoul or vampire who consumes a Setite’s removed organ takes one step toward the blood oath as normal. The heart contains two blood points and a vampire consuming it is attempting diablerie against the Setite. Once the two blood points are drained from the heart, the attacker passes straight to the heart’s blood and her player must make a Strength roll as normal, save that the difficulty is 7. (For full rules on diablerie, see page 258.) Staking the heart, stakes the setite if he is still active.
Egyptian legend has it that the god Anubis weighs the hearts of the deceased on his great scale. If the heart is not in perfect balance with the feather placed on the other plate, it is considered to be weighed down by sin, and the soul of the deceased is fed to the Devourer and destroyed. Setite faith sees this story as a corruption of the dark truth: Anubis acts as a gatekeeper for the tyrannical Osiris, who rules the afterlife. Those who have proven their soul’s strength by being willing to reject the laws that make them slaves (hence those who have “sinned”) are destroyed before they can enter the afterlife and overthrow the tyrant-god. If Set and his follower are ever to reverse this state of affairs, there must be a way for the strong to get around Anubis’s scales. This power allows a master of Serpentis to do just that by removing his heart (as well as his other vital organs) from his body entirely and wrapping his flesh in a protective cocoon.
The power, more akin to a ritual, can only be performed in the dark of night - either after the moon has set, before it has risen or during the new moon - and only on oneself. It takes a few hours to complete. Once the Setite has removed his heart and other vital organs, he must place them in specially prepared clay urns (called Canopic jars). After that, servants can bury or hide them away. After the vampire has removed all his major organs, his vitae and undead flesh combine to wrap him in a dry, scaly shroud that is nearly impenetrable. Only a small opening over his mouth remains in the shroud. The character then falls into a sort of torpor. Only feeding him his removed internal organs can awaken the character. Once that is complete, it takes about one minute for the cocoon around the Setite to crumble to dust.
The enshrouded vampire is virtually impossible to harm - no known direct force, from inferno to high-noon sunlight, can do him damage while so wrapped. However, the extracted organs are vulnerable, most especially the heart. Exposing it to fire or sunlight causes the vampire’s instant and terrible immolation, destroying him. Although terrible, this destruction is actually the final part of the ritual - in which the vampire’s followers burn his organs before a statute of Set. By meeting the Final Death in this way, a Follower of Set reaches Anubis without a heart and is hence able to pass him by without ever undertaking the test of the scales, entering the afterlife as a powerful agent of his god.
It is possible to undertake this ritual only part way, something usually done for one of two reasons. The first is to assume the fully enshrouded form for protection’s sake, which some Setites do when they are traveling. Their ghouls carry them as cargo in a ship or caravan and then feed their master his organs when they arrive at their destination. The other option is to stop the ritual with the removal of the heart. The vampire is perfectly able to move about without his heart, but he becomes immune to standard staking or diablerie. However, if an enemy gets hold of the Canopic jar containing the extracted organ, the vampire is in serious trouble. Not only does it provide a powerful ritual connection to the vampire, but a simple flame or glint of sunlight can destroy the vampire outright, and driving a stake through the organ drives the Setite into torpor.
System: To undertake this ritual power, the vampire must have time to herself (assisted by acolytes, perhaps) and be acting on a moonless night. The power fails at any other time. The player makes an extended Dexterity + Medicine roll (difficulty 7) for the character to undertake the ritual. Each roll means an hour of activity, and the ritual ends in failure if the moon or sun rises before the player achieves the necessary successes (five to remove a heart, 12 to achieve the mummified form). A failure on a roll has no effect other than to extend the process another hour. A botch entails a catastrophic failure that ends the ritual and causes two levels of aggravated damage to the vampire. Any vampire who witnesses the process is subject to Rotschreck (difficulty 6).
The enshrouded body of such a Setite is completely immune to har. No source of injury - save perhaps the might of a Methuselah or Antediluvian - can do it direct physical damage. The organs, however are extremely vulnerable and even the slightest sunlight or flame destroys them outright. The jars are opaque, but easily broken open. Except for the heart, destroying an organ causes an unsoakable level of damage to the vampire. Destroying the heart destroys the vampire outright.
The removed organs are rich with vitae. Most contain one blood point’s worth (which reduces the vampire’s overall blood pool), and that blood remains fresh indefinitely in the withered organ-meat. A ghoul or vampire who consumes a Setite’s removed organ takes one step toward the blood oath as normal. The heart contains two blood points and a vampire consuming it is attempting diablerie against the Setite. Once the two blood points are drained from the heart, the attacker passes straight to the heart’s blood and her player must make a Strength roll as normal, save that the difficulty is 7. (For full rules on diablerie, see page 258.) Staking the heart, stakes the setite if he is still active.
This power can be used on others, not only on oneself.
This power may be used on anyone, mortal, Cainite or other.
The rite requires an Empty Moon phase. The real world moon phase is used, and the ritual must be done on the calendar date corresponding to that phase, even if that is a midweek action. Using this power takes a minimum of 1 downtime action for all participants. If the process takes 4 or more hours (time based on the roll) then it requires 2 downtime actions from all participants.
The Setite using this power may remove the Heart only, or continue and remove all of their organs, placing each within a clay canopic jar. After removing all of the organs, his vitae and undead flesh combine to mummify him in a dry, scaly shroud that is nearly impenetrable, with only a small opening at the mouth. Once this occurs the Setite enters a form of Torpor from which they will only recover if all of the organs are fed back to them one at a time, but during this time he is completely indestructible, even to incredible force, sunlight or fire, except perhaps for the might of an Antediluvian or Methuselah. The rite can be halted half way, only removing the heart.
The full rite produces 7 jars. All must be fed back to the subject to awaken him, but destroyed organs do not count. If not all the organs can be fed back to him, the Setite must roll his Path rating (difficulty 10 - the number of jars recovered) to awaken with a number of points of Aggravated damage equal to the amount of jars not returned to his body. Success awakens the vampire - failure means he enters normal Torpor and will awaken after a time as if he had entered torpor from damage, awakening at that time with a number of levels of Aggravated damage equal to the number of missing organs.
Use of this rite requires an extended Dexterity + Medicine roll, each roll representing an hour of grisly surgery. This is a complex and detailed process, and unless the user possesses the Thanatology or Embalming specialty of Medicine, this roll is made at +2 difficulty. 5 Successes are necessary to remove the Heart, and 12 for all the vital organs. A failure wastes an hour, a botch deals 2 levels of unsoakable Aggravated damage and ruins the rite. Anyone witnessing the rite in progress makes a Rotschreck test, difficulty 6.
Each organ holds 1 vitae, the heart holds 2, and they are extremely vulnerable to fire and sunlight which destroy them instantly. An attempt to eat the heart is an attempt at diablerie, and a Strength check proceeds as normal for the heart's-blood, difficulty 7. Staking the heart causes the Setite to be staked if they are still active.
Each organ (including the heart) is extremely vulnerable, assumed to have a Stamina of 1 and a single health level. The organs, when outside the vampire’s body, do not benefit from their owner’s Fortitude (if any).
Characters without a heart have the following characteristics:
- Immune to Staking attempts.
- Immune to diablerie.
- Difficulties to resist frenzy are -2
- Conscience (but not Conviction) rolls are at +2 difficulty.
- The Empathy talent requires double the usual number of downtime actions to raise.
A warning - having your heart removed is an extremely dangerous situation. Harm or death may befall you at any time if the heart is not in your direct control. If your heart is in a fairly public or volatile location, like buried in the woods, at the bottom of the sound, a safe deposit box, etc (ST discretion what constitutes this circumstance) the STs may ask for a World of Darkness check periodically (no more than once per month, in any case) Testing down could mean that something or someone has found or disturbed the heart, though your character will not necessarily be aware of that. Storytellers reserve the right to decide how often this test is made or the results of the test.
If your heart is on your person and you are fully exposed to fire or sunlight (the 3 Aggravated damage per turn situation), you must make a World of Darkness test each round to see if your heart is being damaged. Testing down even once means that the heart has been exposed and destroyed, thus bringing its owner to final death. This test can be mitigated or made unnecessary by the storage methods used for the heart.
If someone without a heart is killed, the heart is also destroyed, wherever it may be.
Serpentis 6: Aspect of the God [PGttLC 156]
As none of these powers alone is truly worth an elder power, the user of this power has access to any of its aspects. He may only use one aspect at once.
This power is considered a Complete and Incompatible Transformation Discipline.
While in an Aspect of the God, the user may not use any other Transformation Discipline (save other powers of Serpentis).
While in any aspect other than Lord of All Outside Egypt or Ruler of the Desert, the user’s Appearance score increases to 7, ignoring usual Generational limits. When his Appearance is so increased, he will be unmistakably Divine in nature, and all those who see him will remember his appearance as a living God on earth.
Set the King: “all dice pools regarding command or dignity” includes any use of Dominate, as well as the dice pool that sets the difficulty to resist Majesty.
Set the Warrior: The growth of 6 inches and increase in bulk will require new clothes and/or armor to be fitted.
Master of Storms: Activating the ability to enhance a ranged weapon or projectile is a mental action.
Lord of All Outside Egypt: This can affect supernatural societies as well as mortal ones. The user of this Aspect temporarily gains any relevant Lore specialties to the society he is in, and speaks any native languages (sometimes more than one in multi-lingual societies). If infiltrating a society where the usual Appearance is neither his own nor 2 (say infiltrating the Nosferatu), the user can choose to instead take on an appearance of an average member of that society.
Ruler of the Desert: In this Aspect, the user’s Appearance drops to 1. He appears to be human for all purposes of mundane detection (body temperature, heart-beat, breathing, etc.) although none of these are necessary to keep him alive.
Serpentis 6: Breathe the Sandstorm [DAV 212]
The damage inflicted by the sandstorm is considered mystical, and only soakable with Fortitude.
This power is more effective against inanimate objects than the description states. Treat the effect as roughly double the effectiveness of a sandblaster, eating through most materials in seconds (1 round). Eating through steel, rock, or other particularly dense materials does so at the rate described of roughly an inch per round.
Serpentis 6: Breath of the Basilisk [VtDA 163]
This is a previous version of the power Breathe the Sandstorm, presented on page 212 of Dark Ages: Vampire. Emerald Coven Chronicles uses that version of the power. See above for its clarifications.
Serpentis 6: Cobra Fangs [V20 211]
This power is considered a Partial Transformation, taking effect on the user’s Initiative the round after it is activated.
When using this power while in Form of the Cobra, the damage from both forms of venom stack against all living creatures.
No amount of mundane medical care will save a mortal (including ghouls or other supernaturally influenced mortals) bitten by a vampire using this power.
Damage from this power is unsoakable by any means, and is applied at a rate of 2 levels of damage per minute after the bite.
Serpentis 6: Obsession [PG2 142]
This power is activated with an extended roll of Wits + Subterfuge, with one roll being made per encounter with the intended victim. To justify a roll, the encounter must include some degree of conversation about the Obsession the user is trying to instill. The power is successfully activated when the user scores a number of successes equal to the victim’s Path Rating.
Each night the victim does not indulge in his obsession, he loses a Willpower point. Indulging in one’s obsession is assumed to take a full downtime action each day.
This is treated as a derangement for the purposes of overcoming it and mystically curing it. The derangement has the mechanics of requiring a Willpower roll at difficulty 9 each time he is presented with an opportunity to indulge in his Obsession to resist the urge to do so. This may be suppressed for a scene by spending a Willpower point as normal.
The user of this power may install as many Obsessions in a target as he is able to manage. Some Setites take a rather perverse pleasure in using this power to install contradictory obsessions and watching as his mind tears itself apart from the strain.
Serpentis 6: Ophidian Infestation [DAC 91]
The damage from this power may be triggered immediately, in which case the snakes erupt and cause the damage on user’s Initiative the following turn. Alternatively, the user can set this power to incubate, delaying the effect to activate at his later command. The incubation can last nearly indefinitely, but for each day that passes since the infection was delivered, the damage successes decrease by one. Triggering the damage in an incubating victim is a mental action that does not require line of sight or even proximity to the target. If this power is used on a victim who already has an incubating infection the new application completely replaces the old one. They do not stack.
The Manipulation + Occult roll infects a number of points of the victim’s blood, causing them to become snakes and burst out along with his own when the power is triggered. This power causes the victim to lose a number of blood points equal to the successes scored on the Manipulation + Occult roll, and inflicts a number of health levels of aggravated damage equal to the successes on the roll plus the number of blood points spent when the power was activated.
The damage from this power is considered Mystical Aggravated damage, only soakable with Fortitude.
Serpentis 6: Temptation [PG2 142]
This power is activated in the same way as Obsession (see above), save that the user must talk with the victim about some form of sin, depravity or loss of control, even in vague terms.
While under the effects of Obsession, the victim is treated as though his Path rating was 2 for the purposes of the whispers of the Beast. He should be hit almost constantly (minimum of once per game session) with some urge of the Beast that should correspond with a level 1-3 sin on his Path of Enlightenment. He must spend a Willpower to not follow through with this impulse.
While under the effects of this power, the storyteller’s must make a WoD check for each day that passes in downtime. If the player tests down, continue testing down until the player ties or fails. For each time they tested down, the player must choose whether to lose a Willpower point or make a Degeneration check as if violating a level 3 sin.
The effects of this power can only be removed in the same manner as removing a derangement (whether mystical or mundane).
This power has no effect on anyone at Path Rating 2 or lower.