Another article in my series on alternate vampires.
Supernal Blood Addiction
Addiction is a way of unlife for Vampires. They need blood to survive and crave control of Kine and Kindred. But what happens when their blood addiction doesn't confine itself to their own kind? Recently when talking to my friend Mike (a.k.a. Salient Mind) the topic came up of a vampire addicted to the blood of Mages. How might that change a vampire and what unusual abilities might it develop?
- Mage blood, its bad for the complexion.
The obvious direction to take this is for the vampire to develop a form of Mage Sight. Perhaps through dedication and knowledge of Auspex, they can make out the truth in the visions allowing them to see magic and to even scrutinize it. See the Blood Sight Devotion below for more on that idea.
A different use of the blood could include using Mage blood to cloak oneself, hiding one's aura behind the Mage's. Alternatively the blood could used to create a barrier, a defense against a magic power, like a magic shield. Devotions based on those concepts are detailed below.
Turning other existing ideas involving Mages, the Ordo Dracul has the concept of Wyrm's Nests. These mystic sites include things like Hallows. The Ordo even possess rituals that allow them to drain such power sources to augment their blood in various arcane ways. This brings up the idea of a vampire sneaking into the Sanctums of Mages, draining their blood and arcane power sources. The image of coming home to find your Hallow desecrated, splattered with runes written in blood is a powerful one.
So what power might it derive? The rituals in the Ordo Dracul book allow one to boost Discpline rolls, multiply a victim's pool of Vitae, or absorb the resonance of the Wyrm Nest. Some further ideas might be charging normal blood or Vitae with supernal energies, commune with the Beast, or diablerizing a Hallow. The downside to such actions is that the Hallow is then drained, perhaps permanently due to the vampire's hunger.
The sounds like good story material to my mind. See below for the rituals.
Devotion: Blood Sight
Requirements: Auspex 3, Mage blood in one's systemThe vampire can scrutinize magic by spending a point of Vitae taken from a Mage. For scene they can make an extended Wits + Occult roll to determine the resonances of locations and people as well as detect spells. With time they can even determine the relative power of the caster. See pages 277-280 in Mage: the Awakening. Note that depending on the blood consumed the vampire might gain certain bonuses: Acanthus (+1 to discern temporal anomalies), Mastigos (+1 to detect Mental powers), Moros (+1 to scrutinize things tied to death), Obrimos (+1 to scrutinize Supernal magics), Thyrus (+1 to check the resonance of ephemeral objects and creatures).
Behind the curtain this is based on Auspex 3 because that level allows one to draw on the memories imprinted on an object. That feels power-wise on the same level as Mage Sight.
Devotion: False Aura
Requirements: Obfuscate 2, exposure to Mage bloodThe vampire gains the ability to cloak their aura to register as a Mage or Sleepwalker by spending a Vitae and rolling Manipulation + Occult. The effect lasts until they sleep or enter torpor. The vampire also gains the resonance of the Mage or Sleepwalker that they most recently drank from.
This is not too different the normal Obfuscate power and thus is a natural extension of it. The downside is not going to be immediately obvious unless the vampire has a lot of experience with Mages and Blood Sight. Of course with the proper disguise they might even be able to impersonate a Mage.
Devotion: Blood of Salt
Requirements: Resilience 2, Mage blood in one's systemThe vampire spend a Vitae taken from a Mage and rolls Resolve + Resilience to gain bonus dice to resist Supernal magics for a scene. The number of successes rolls is the number of bonus dice granted. These bonus dice can be added to contested rolls or to resistance attributes like Stamina to resist a targeted spell.
There are rumors of a devotion that turns this power into a barrier around a Haven, excluding Mages from that space. That power likely requires Resilience 4 and other more obscure Disciplines.
Rites
Rituals to access Hallows are very much an art. A great deal of what goes into a ceremony involves ceremonially bleeding of the Hallow's Mana. What parts of the ceremony is necessary and which are extraneous nonsense is hard to judge.Action: Extended. (The number of successes required depends on the ritual; each roll represents one hour of ritual casting.)
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The ritual is a disaster.The vampire loses control of the mystic forces being channeled. The spiritual energy of the Hallow is drained and might be fallow for weeks.Failure: The ritual is interrupted, skipped or performed incorrectly. The Hallow is drained but the energy will well up again the following night.
Success: The ritual is completed, and the Mana is channeled properly. see the ritual below for more details.
Exceptional Success: No additional effect.
Suggested Modifiers: –1 to –5: the ritualist is distracted or antagonized; –1 to –3: the ritualist is rushed; –1 to –3: weather obscures the ritual area.
Infuse the Blood
Cost: 1 WillpowerDice Pool: Intelligence + Occult – vessel’s Resolve
Target Number of Successes: 10
This ritual infuses a victim with arcane energy, draining the Hallow and placing said energy into a mortal vessel. A Mage may be substituted but there is no beneficial effect. Upon completing the ritual the vampire may drain the victim to gain 1 to 5 points of Vitae that may be considered as coming from a Mage. Treat this as unaligned unless the Hallow has a strong resonance in line with a particular path (such as being the focus of a Demense).
Suggested Modifiers: victim is a Sleepwalker (+2), victim is an animal (-3)
Journey to the Beast
Cost: 1 WillpowerDice Pool: Composure + Occult
Target Number of Successes: 16
This ritual allows a vampire to attempt an Astral Journey to their own Oneiros. Unlike the Soul-Dream of a mortal or Mage, a vampire's Oneiros lacks a Daimon. Instead it holds the Beast. This makes this a very dangerous ritual. Some still attempt it either to fight their Beast or parlay with it.
This should best be run as a separate session (using the rules from Astral Realms for example) but if a quick system is needed use the following:
Defeat the Beast: roll Resolve + Composure vs. their own Presence + Blood Potency. If they succeed, they do not suffer frenzy for the next night as the Beast is cowed. If they fail then they must frenzy at the next opportunity. No roll to resist is allowed.
Parlay: this is mostly an excuse for learning new Disciplines, Devotions, and more 'instinctive' skills such as Brawl or Survival. Roll Manipulation + Composure - their own Resolve to treat the Beast as a Mentor for one power or skill. On a failure it still works but they must indulge their Beast at the next opportunity.
Suggested Modifiers: Vitae pool is full (+1), Vitae pool is at 1 or 2 (-2)
Hallow Diablerie
Cost: 1 WillpowerDice Pool: Presence + Occult – vessel’s Resolve
Target Number of Successes: 20
This ritual infuses a victim (which is generally a Mage) with the very soul of the Hallow. The vampire then devours its heart's blood. Strangely this functions as if the vampire had committed Diablerie as far as negative effects are concerned. For example they lose one dot of Humanity. Instead of striations in their aura they possess burnt holes as if the stars of Mage's aura had seared their soul. On the plus side the vampires Vitae become charged with Supernal energies. All of their current Vitae counts as if it was from a Mage. Additionally they gain 1 dot in a Discipline or the Occult skill assuming the trait was lower than the dot value of the Hallow as magical forces infuse them.
Suggested Modifiers: victim possesses Gnosis 5 or higher (+1), victim is another entity possessing a Supernal connection (variable, a Ghost-Mage would be a -2 if it were possible while a Supernal spirit might be a +2).
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