Obfuscate

[Hematite]

OBFUSCATE [V20 184]

In regards to 'Seeing the Unseen" and this power in relation to the Auspex discipline, because Auspex always must be used to deliberately pierce Obfuscate, Obfuscate is always the "Defender" for the purposes of ties.

Untainted animals and innocent children may pierce the veil of Obfuscate on occasion. This is only done at ST discretion and is not reliable as a defense mechanism. “Untainted” in this case means that the animal may not be a ghoul, nor carry any supernatural influence, including the use of Animalism or other disciplines. Kinfolk animals who do not possess the Gnosis merit or any other supernatural traits do count as untainted. Children with any measure of supernatural influence similarly do not count as “Innocent”. On the occasions that children or animals would pierce Obfuscate, they will just do so without any defense or roll granted to the Obfuscate user. A guideline should be a World of Darkness check when such a situation occurs, requiring the child or animal to test up twice to pierce Obfuscate, though this is a loose guideline as it should occur roughly 10% of the time.

Recordings, electronic devices and other kinds of audio or visual media will read the vampire as absent if viewed during the scene/hour that the recording was created. After that, upon review, the recording will bear the presence of the vampire as if Obfuscate were not used. The False Reflection merit is the exception to this. Recordings of Mask of a Thousand Faces function immediately.

Electronic detections that are not recording based function normally on Obfuscated characters. Laser tripwires, pressure plates, motion detectors and the like are neither confused or defeated by Obfuscate.

Kindred may selectively relent their Obfuscate to specific individuals and allow those people to see them but not others. This can make it easier to coordinate with your coterie, or make the difficulty of Vanish easier by leaving out perceptive onlookers.

Obfuscate is considered a mind-affecting discipline for the purposes of effects that ward or prevent such powers.


Obfuscate 1: Cloak of Shadows [V20 184]

“Concentrated observation” is defined as anyone actively looking for someone in the place the vampire is concealed. In such cases, to pierce Obfuscate, observers must succeed on a contested roll of Perception + Awareness vs. the Obfuscate-user’s Manipulation + Stealth, both at difficulty 6. Note that this applies even to those who do not have sufficient Auspex to pierce the user’s Obfuscate casually.

The requirement to remain perfectly still is interpreted harshly, leaving only enough room for tiny involuntary actions such as breathing or blinking (ghouls can have this power as well). Any movement more than one inch in any direction ruins this power.

In addition to the listed effects, a Kindred with the first level of Obfuscate may conceal any single small item as he goes about his business. The item must be small enough to be concealed beneath a jacket and the concealment is broken should the user take any action utilizing the item, even so minor an action as moving it from one hand to the other or stowing it in a pocket. If the item ever leaves the user’s person, the effect is immediately broken.


Obfuscate 2: Unseen Presence [V20 185]

Once this level of Obfuscate is attained, the ability to pierce the effect by concentrated examination or investigation without suitable Auspex or another power that would allow such is removed.

Carrying any item with a Concealability rating greater than Pocket while using this power requires a successful Wits + Stealth roll with a difficulty based on the size of the item. Items with Concealability Jacket are difficulty 6, Concealability Trench coat are difficulty 7, and items that cannot be concealed are difficulty 8+ at storyteller discretion based on the size of the item. The scale should increase sharply, so a Nosferatu with a great deal of Potence who wishes to conceal himself while carrying a car will face difficulties higher than 10. This roll is made once per scene, and only one roll is required based on the largest item being carried.

Attacking an Obfuscated character directly or targeting him with any effect that requires line of sight is impossible, unless the Obfuscate has been successfully pierced. Even if the attacker believes he knows where the Obfuscate user is, he will unconsciously swing wide to avoid the Obfuscated target. Obfuscated characters are affected normally by any area of effect power, and being caught in the radius of most such powers will require a difficult Wits + Stealth roll to remain cloaked, based on the effect in question.

People will unconsciously accommodate a vampire using this power. They will hold the door open a little longer for them as they enter a room, they will not notice that there are too few available chairs in the room because an Obfuscated character occupies one of them, and they will generally not make actions that will result in breaking the Obfuscate of a character unless with the Seeing the Unseen provision of Auspex. Even firing a gun wildly through the room at all the empty spaces will likely not hit the hiding character, as you don't register where they stand as "an empty space".

An Obfuscated character may speak to a room and remain hidden with 3 successes on a Wits + Stealth roll, difficulty 7, once per statement.

Any action that breaks Obfuscate does so AFTER the action is complete, revealing the results in the aftermath but not the action itself (though the latter might be obvious if a Kindred suddenly appears holding a bloody sword and the Archbishop is dead). Because of this, even if a character has better initiative than the Obfuscating attacker, they may not react first unless they had already defeated his Obfuscate with Auspex. The Danger Sense Merit will alert the target to a flash of danger an instant before the attack which allows for Initiative to be rolled as normal. However the target still may not take any defensive action against the attack unless he has successfully pierced Obfuscate.

Any character who breaks Obfuscate suddenly provokes a Wits + Awareness from all onlookers at difficulty 7. If successful, the characters become aware of all actions the hidden character made during Obfuscate as if they were never hidden at all.


Obfuscate 3: Mask of a Thousand Faces [V20 185]

Manufacturing imaginary features is more difficult than copying someone’s existing ones and is performed at difficulty 9. Attempting to impersonate an individual who has only been briefly glimpsed or doing so only from a photograph is done at difficulty 8.

The necessary successes to hide or change a feature depends on how different it is. A raincoat can become a trench coat more easily than a motorcycle helmet can become your face, and may require more successes. The former would require only a single success, while the latter would require 4 or more.

4 Successes or more is required to change voice and subtle mannerisms and be convincing to anyone who knows well a character you attempt to impersonate.

Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the chart from Dark Ages Vampire p. 198 to adjudicate the Mask’s maximum difference in Appearance score from the user’s own:

1 success: +1/-2 Appearance
2 successes: +2/-3 Appearance
3 successes: +3/-4 Appearance
4 successes: +4/-5 Appearance
5 successes: +5/-6 Appearance

Successes in excess of 5 continue along this pattern. Note this is the Maximum difference that can be attained, not the required change at each success level. This overrides the passage in V20 about required blood expenditures to increase the Mask’s Appearance rating. Failure to attain enough successes to equal the Appearance score of the desired target of an impersonation allows those who know the individual well to make a Perception + Alertness roll at difficulty 11 minus the difference in Appearance scores. With less than 3 successes, observers who knew the impersonated individual will likely think something is wrong with him (“Hey Jim, you’re not looking so good. Rough night?”), while with 3 or more successes, those who knew the impersonated individual will not believe the disguise.

It only requires one success to "appear human" for mortals if you normally look inhumane, understanding that Obfuscate still has limitations, like recorded media.


Obfuscate 4: Vanish from the Mind’s Eye [V20 186]

Once this power has been successfully used, the Obfuscated individual is treated as though using Unseen Presence for all other effects.

Without this power, a Kindred cannot Obfuscate from a person looking directly at them, but this does NOT prevent them from using Obfuscate - it simply won't function on the person looking at them. If two other people were present, one looking at the vampire and one looking away when the Kindred vanishes, the person not looking will be affected the the one looking will not. When using Vanish, this means that vampires not looking at the Kindred do not get an opportunity to resist the Vanish.

The Vanisher may voluntarily exclude any number of people from his attempt to vanish. These excluded individuals’ Wits + Alertness is not counted for the purpose of setting the difficulty, though they are unaffected by the power.

You may still attempt to Vanish if you are being restrained in a Hold or Clinch. If you successfully Vanish from your opponent, they will be momentarily surprised enough that you may slip free from their grasp.

Since most mortals have a Willpower of 4 or less, successfully using Vanish to disappear will also incite most mortals to forget the Vampire was present.

Successfully tracking a character who failed to completely vanish and is now in the ghostlike state requires more successes than the Obfuscate user scored on the Vanish roll on a Perception + Alertness roll at difficulty 8. Success on this roll allows for normal interaction with the ghostlike character with no difficulty increase to actions taken against him.

Regardless of partial or total Vanishing, all onlookers make a Wits + Courage (difficulty 5 for supernatural creatures, difficulty 9 for mortals). Failure means you are stunned into inaction for 2 turns in confusion. Success means you act normally.

An observer who forgets that the Vanisher was ever present will simply edit him out of any details of the scene. His mind will work around the absence to create plausible explanations as to his circumstances and memory. The memories will remain as close to the truth as possible while removing all references to the Vanisher.


Obfuscate 5: Cloak the Gathering [V20 186]

A Kindred may cloak an unwilling person, in theory, but they could reveal themselves at once by drawing attention to themselves. He may also cloak something such as a torpid vampire lying on the ground unmoving. For the purposes of Obfuscate, torpored vampires count as people, while corpses count as objects.

This power cannot cloak unattended inanimate objects, only other individuals, though the ability of Cloak of Shadows to conceal small objects on the person of others may be extended via this power.

This power may only bestow a single power of Obfuscate to each individual covered by this power. However this does not need to be the same power for each cloaked individual, so the Cloaker could be concealing 3 people under Unseen Presence while concealing a 4th under Mask of a Thousand Faces.

The Cloaker makes all relevant rolls to activate the Obfuscate powers in question, though any rolls made to maintain the powers are made by the cloaked individuals themselves.

While all under a single use of Cloak the Gathering to bestow Unseen Presence, all cloaked individuals may perceive each other normally.

All cloaked individuals must remain within line of sight of the Cloaker to maintain this effect.


Obfuscate 6: Blithe Acceptance [CbR-As 64]

As Obfuscate is always the defender, the roll to resist this power requires the OBSERVER to score more successes than the user.

This power lasts for one scene, but may be reactivated each subsequent scene with a new blood expenditure and roll.

This power cannot conceal any action that a casual observer would consider personally threatening to their physical well-being. So while they might overlook the crazy naked man running and screaming down the street with a giant sword, they will not ignore that same individual swinging the sword randomly through the crowd. Any action that does not have potential for an immediate and direct effect upon the observer will be covered by this power.


Obfuscate 6: Conceal [V20 186]

The Concealed object is treated as though covered by Unseen Presence for all purposes.

The Concealed object does not need personal significance to the user of this power.

This power can be used on aircraft that the user is traveling in, though radar and other non-visual electronic surveillance will still detect the plane as normal, though it remains invisible to human senses.

A person inside a Concealed structure is unaffected by this power for as long as they remain inside the Concealed structure. They will immediately become affected as normal if they leave.

The Concealed object will only remain so if the user remains within line of sight of it. Mobile objects must satisfy all conditions of Unseen Presence to remain cloaked, with the Cloaker making all relevant rolls.


Obfuscate 6: Confusion of the Eye [CbR-FoS 68]

This power targets the confused individual, not the one whom appears to be different. The effects of this power only exist in the mind of the target (i.e. no one else perceives the effects of this power).

The difficulty of this power is the victim’s Current Willpower.

Under the terms of Cloak the Gathering, this power may be applied to multiple subjects at once, to a maximum of the user’s Stealth score. In this case, only a single roll is made, at a difficulty of the highest Current Willpower among targets.

Unlike other Obfuscate powers, the user does not need to maintain line of sight for the power to continue.

Victims of this power will not be easy to convince of the truth. Imagine if a random bum on the street started screaming in your face that he was really your wife. In most circumstances such attempts will fall on deaf ears or only make the victim of this power either angry or inclined to back away from the crazy person slowly.

If the concealed individual wishes to attempt to convince the victim of his true identity, he must make a Charisma + appropriate Ability roll at difficulty 9 based on the method of persuasion used (Intimidation for browbeating, Empathy for impassioned appeals, Subterfuge for deception, or Expression for logical arguments). The victim may then make a Willpower roll at difficulty 9 minus the number of successes scored on the concealed individual’s social roll. He must score more successes on this roll than the user of this power scored on him to shake off its effects. Failure to do so results in the victim only being more certain of his perceived reality and any future attempts to convince him during the duration of a single use of this power are made at +1 difficulty for both the social roll and the Willpower roll. A victim may only attempt one roll per scene to overcome the effects of this power.

Another individual may attempt the social roll on behalf of the concealed individual, though this is done at +2 difficulty.

This power lasts for a full 24 hours from the time of its use (unless broken earlier by successfully convincing the victim of the truth). During this time, the power’s user may use the power again on a victim, making a new roll. This resets the duration of the effect.

A subtler use of this power is often used by infiltrators to establish a cover identity in conjunction with Mask of a Thousand Faces or Vicissitude to cause important individuals, particularly those who knew the individual being impersonated, to overlook any inconsistencies in the infiltrator’s performance.


Obfuscate 6: Diastasis [DAC 86]

This is a previous version of the power Gemini’s Mirror (Archons and Templars p. 145). Emerald Coven Chronicles uses that version of the power and not this one. See clarifications for that power below.


Obfuscate 6: Gemini’s Mirror [A&T 145]

The image created by this power is not an “illusion” in the sense of Chimerstry illusions. It is a mind-affecting power just like the rest of Obfuscate and subject to all of the usual advantages and restrictions of this discipline. The user may spend a mental action to guide the illusion within the restrictions of its zone or make it take an action different than his own, but otherwise it performs the same actions as the user.

If the user wishes the image to dodge, he must spend an action to dodge himself, or a mental action to guide the illusion (This action makes the dodge impossibly fluid, making it a 25 success dodge; you may split your dice pools to acquire this). If an attacker succeeds at hitting the illusion (by besting the mental action or your own dodge result), they get a reflexive Perception + Alertness roll Difficulty 8 - successes they scored over your result, with 1 success revealing that there is something wrong, and 3 successes making the victim aware that the image is not real.

While using this power, the vampire is at +2 difficulty on all other actions due to the required concentration involved in maintaining this power. This replaces the line about the power requiring split dice pools.

Once activated this power remains in effect indefinitely unless voluntarily dropped by the user or broken by the user’s own actions.

Emerald Coven Chronicles uses the range chart from the previous version of this power Diastasis (Dark Ages Companion p. 86) rather than the static range of 100 feet as the maximum distance the image may travel from the user. The chart is as follows:

1 success: One yard
2 successes: Two yards
3 successes: Five yards
4 successes: 10 yards
5 successes: 30 yards

There is no automatic roll to resist this power when the user interacts physically with his surroundings. This power functions like all other Obfuscate powers and requires a Wits + Stealth roll (suffering the +2 difficulty for maintaining this power) to attempt anything that might break his cover. Only speaking does not require the usual Wits + Stealth roll to remain hidden.

Even if the image is proven false to a select observer, that observer still treats the user of this power as though under the effects of Unseen Presence.

The user of this power may attempt to take more extreme actions than those allowed under Unseen Presence if done in conjunction with the image such as attacking a target at the same time as the image, but doing so immediately provokes a Perception + Alertness vs. the user's Wits + Subterfuge. If the victim of the attack gains more successes than the attacker, she figures out his rough location, and may attack him at +2 difficulty for blind fighting. The user may spend a mental action to "reposition" his image, and then this knowledge is negated and must be regained through another attack/check. Observers will see only the image making the attack and evidence that something is not right will only be revealed in the aftermath, such as wounds in the wrong place on a body.

The image created by this power follows the same rules as Mask of a Thousand Faces for how much it might differ from the user of the power. No roll is needed if the image is an exact copy of the user. The image may appear to accomplish tasks or use abilities or powers the character is not capable of himself.

Should the user possess the False Reflections merit, the effects apply to the use of this power as well, causing cameras to only detect the false image.


Obfuscate 6: Invisible Weapon [PGttLC 150]

This power is a more focused version of Conceal (Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition p. 186). It cannot conceal items as large as those that can be targeted by conceal, nor may it target any item not held by the user, but confers several other compensatory bonuses.

This item may conceal any item carried by the power’s user, regardless of size. This can be a great boon to Nosferatu who also maintain high Potence scores.

Even if the incoming attack is detected, unless this power has been pierced by Auspex, any defensive rolls will be made at +3 difficulty.

The held item becomes visible after the attack only to the person who has been attacked. The power remains in effect for all other observers, though any wounds on the victim will be visible as were the motions of the user. For example, if the user attacks someone with an invisible sword, he will be seen to wave his hand in front of the target and wounds mystically appear as his hand passes. No roll is needed to maintain this effect, contrary to the usual rules for maintaining Obfuscate under Unseen Presence. The user may cause the weapon to remain undetected even by the target of the attack at a cost of one Willpower point per turn.

Should the user wish to “Vanish” a weapon that is currently visible in front of observers, he must make the Manipulation + Melee roll at a difficulty of the highest Wits + Alertness among observers as per Vanish from the Mind’s Eye. Vanishing a weapon in this manner follows all the same rules as use of that power.

This power may be reactivated on a weapon that has become visible to one or more individuals. This is done as per Vanishing the weapon as above. Should the user have spent the Willpower to keep the weapon temporarily invisible to all, this power may be reactivated as normal without the need to Vanish it. If this power is reactivated successfully, the duration resets and no one present may detect the weapon unless they pierce this power with Auspex.

A weapon’s complete invisibility may only be maintained if the weapon is still held by the user of the power. A thrown knife or crossbow quarrel will become visible to the target once the attack is resolved. It is notable however that no one else will be able to see the weapon unless they are attacked with it themselves, so a victim staked with an invisible arrow will be seen simply to collapse, and no one who cannot see the stake will be able to find it to remove it.

This power may be used with items other than weapons, allowing the user to take direct action with the item in question without breaking its invisibility. The item’s invisibility will only break if the user’s actions with the invisible item directly affect another individual, and then only for the affected individual as if that individual were attacked as described above.


Obfuscate 6: Mask of Janus [A&T 145]

Unlike Mask of a Thousand Faces, this power only requires a single net success to create exact images for both the user and the target.

The target does will not know that anything about herself has changed unless it is pointed out to her or she looks in a mirror.

Line of sight does NOT need to be maintained for the effects of this power to persist. This power lasts until sunrise, regardless of the actions of the user unless the user voluntarily ends the effect early.

The user may still use Mask of a Thousand Faces to cover the effects of this power should he wish.

Should the user possess the False Reflections merit, the effects apply to both the Mask on himself and on his target when used in conjunction with this power.


Obfuscate 6: Mental Maze [CbR-FoS 67]

The difficulty of this power is the victim’s Current Willpower.

This power does not affect its victim’s actions in any way other than their attempts to leave the designated area. Any attempt to leave the area will cause a victim to become hopelessly lost as he sees himself walk in a straight line to the exit which warps and twists around him to turn him around when in reality he is simply walking in circles.

The user must spend a single Willpower point if affecting any supernatural creatures in a use of this power. He does not need to spend a Willpower point per creature affected.

This power may only be broken by use of the Seeing the Unseen system.


Obfuscate 6: Mind Blank [V20 186]

This power does NOT make the user aware of the intrusion into her mind.

This power is considered constantly active once purchased, thought he user may voluntarily lower it at will.


Obfuscate 6: Scrawl [CbR-Ma 61]

This power may only be purchased by a Malkavian.

Only other Malkavians may read a Scrawl. Even Caitiffs of Malkavian descent may not read the secrets contained within.

The temporary derangement gained by failing to correctly interpret the Scrawl lasts for the remainder of the night. Botching this roll results in a permanent derangement.

The roll for a non-Malkavian to decipher the Scrawl does not benefit from Auspex as it requires Auspex 6 to attempt the roll.

The Scrawl may take any form, though it must be a visual medium.


Obfuscate 6: Soul Mask [V20 187]

This power does not give the user only a single false aura. The user of this power may change her Aura at will to reflect whatever she wishes by making a Manipulation + Empathy roll at difficulty 8. The number of successes on this roll cover the amount of detail that can be altered as per the chart under Aura Perception.

If the user of this power does not also possess Auspex of at least 2, he has no experience with Auras and thus can only display his normal aura or conceal his aura completely. This requires only a single success on the activation roll.

This power lasts indefinitely once used until the user voluntarily either ends it or alters the aura further. Note that a user cannot see her own aura and thus has no idea of her degree of success.

This power can only be pierced if someone using Aura Perception believes that it is a false aura, at which point the observer may call for a Seeing the Unseen roll as usual with piercing Obfuscate. While no aura provides reasonable justification to make such a check (assuming the user is normally very good at Aura Perception and doesn’t fail often), observing a false aura should only justify such a check if the aura starkly contrasts with either known facts about the individual or displayed traits (such as an aura reading calm complacency while the subject is in Frenzy).