Post by Hematite on Jul 4, 2014 13:17:44 GMT
Melpominee
A Character's rating in the Melpominee discipline cannot exceed her Performance Ability. This replaces the system for attempting to learn Melpominee without Performance as presented in the Daughters of Cacophony Bloodline Book.
Unless noted otherwise, Emerald Coven Chronicles does consider the Daughters of Cacophony Bloodline Book to be canon.
The powers of Melpominee do not actually need ears or the ability to hear to function - all uses of Melpominee may be heard by the deaf. The deaf do not suddenly gain the ability to hear, however. They interpret the sensory input in some other, synesthesiac way unique to them.
Melpominee powers only work on those who hear them directly - they may not be recorded, broadcast, etc.
Multiple users who use these powers together decrease the difficulty by 1 for each additional Siren, to a minimum of difficulty 3.
Melpominee enhanced songs take about 1 minute (20 rounds) to begin to affect their listeners with their power.
Singing from Obfuscate requires 5 successes on a Wits + Stealth roll (Difficulty 9) per minute of singing.
Melpominee 1: The Missing Voice [V20 453]
This power requires no expenditure of any kind and can be used at will, including while the user is speaking normally or taking other actions.
This power may be used as quietly or loudly as the user chooses (within the range of your normal human voice). Because it can be used very quietly and at any location, it can be used to speak directly and quietly into someone's ear for an inexpensive form of subvocal communication (and doesn't even have to sound like a whisper voice!). Unlike Telepathy though, it does create true sound which can be picked up by such things as sensitive microphones or Heightened Senses, something akin to the volume of a cell phone call or an ear bud transmitter.
If used simultaneously with one's own natural voice for singing to create an ethereal mix of sounds, it adds 2 additional dice to any such Performance roll but produces a remarkable, eerie effect.
The voice one produces need not be one's own, or rather need not seem to be one's own. A Manipulation +
Performance roll (dif 6) may be used to disguise one's voice as another's through mundane mimicry. If the user possesses the power Mask of a Thousand Faces, they may use that power to produce a wide array of vocal effects (subject to piercing by Auspex if it comes to it)
As long as eye contact is maintained, a user of this power may use The Missing Voice to deliver the command portion of Dominate quietly (though this imposes a 2 dice penalty).
Other Melpominee powers may be used through The Missing Voice to disguise their source.
Those with the Concentration merit do not suffer the 2 dice penalty on other actions while using The Missing Voice.
Activating this power is as natural as speaking and as such does not require an action.
Melpominee 2: Phantom Speaker [V20 453]
See Presence clarifications for what constitutes a person you have personally met.
If the user scores less than three successes, each success grants approximately 30 seconds of speech, not one turn (3 seconds).
It is important to remember that this transmission is one way - the Daughter cannot hear a response from the person she sends the message to unless she has some other way to do so.
Because she cannot hear her own voice, any uses of Melpominee or any other social challenge such as Intimidation used through Phantom Speaker are done at +1 difficulty.
The user of this power does not need to know where in the world her target is. She has no way to know if the power succeeded or failed unless she has another way to observe her target receiving the message.
This power is as natural as speaking to someone right next to you. Activating this power does not take an action, though channeling other powers of Melpominee through it takes an action as normal.
Melpominee 3: Madrigal [V20 453]
This power doesn't just illicit a certain feeling in the listener, it specifically compels them to act on those feelings, though the Siren cannot control directly what happens - that depends on the Nature of the subject and the emotion created, but some action always comes from a successful use of this power.
Each success is 1/5th of the audience listening to the Daughter's voice, regardless of the amount of people that happens to be, be it a coffee shop or a cathedral.
This power may be resisted by spending a Willpower point, but only if they score 3 successes on a Perception + Awareness roll, difficulty 8. Auspex does not aid this roll.
Melpominee 4: Siren’s Beckoning [V20 454]
The difficulty for this power is the target's current willpower.
Each roll of this power is about one minute of singing from the Daughter of Cacophony. If the Daughter stops singing to her victim before he accumulates 5 net successes, the power fails.
The 20 net successes needed to make this effect permanent must be done during the same application of Siren's Beckoning - they do not add up over multiple uses.
The Storyteller determines the Derangement or Psychological Flaw, but it will be chosen by context of the situation and the Nature of the characters involved.
Melpominee 5: Virtuosa [V20 454]
Targets of Phantom Speaker by way of Virtuosa need not be anywhere near each other.
This power can consider Stamina enhanced by blood spends in how many people it can affect.
This power only affects Phantom Speaker and Siren’s Beckoning. All other Melpominee powers may still only affect one target at a time unless specifically noted otherwise.
Melpominee 6: Shattering Crescendo [V20 454]
This power is not targeted. It affects all within earshot if used normally. If used through Phantom Speaker, this power only affects one target at a time.
When activating the power, the Daughter of Cacophony must roll separately for each target within earshot.
This power cannot be controlled enough to exclude targets. It will always affect all within earshot of the Daughter of Cacophony’s deadly voice.
Unlike other powers of Melpominee, this power is triggered by a single piercing note and thus does not require a full minute before taking effect. This power activates immediately when used.
