Charade

By Michael Kirk Brobson (gamers@erols.com) for the Marceau bloodline.

Description

The bloodline of the Marceaux has existed for many centuries, although it was only recognized and named by its members in the last 50 years or so. The Charade Discipline is a discipline of the mind, and allows a Marceaux to create and manipulate her own reality. The more she uses Charade, the less connection she has to "the real world." She becomes more and more insane, and less reliable to her companions. Older Marceau can become so entangled in their hallucinations that they have to struggle to interact with the real world. They become ghostlike, and find it difficult to see and be seen by Kindred and Kine alike and in the long run will disappear from our world. It is unknown whether they live in Arcadia or whether they have each carved out their own reality somewhere else. They are seldom seen in this sphere. This explains why the Charade Discipline do not go above sixth level. Marceaux tend to attract fairies and spirits because the Marceaux can often see and interact with them. There is a quiet rumor among the Marceaux that if one becomes powerful enough in Charade, one can live in this world without taking damage from the sun, or perhaps one might even be able to become human... But this is madness.

The Charade Discipline allows the Marceaux to see and manipulate things that she creates during her mine/sleight-of-hand performances. It takes the place of Auspex among Malkavian Marceaux. Anyone who has the Auspex Discipline and drains a Marceaux of blood will find her Auspex slowly changing into Charade, and she will see hallucinations when she or other people gesture. (Thus, a kindred cannot have both Auspex and Charade.) She will begin to suffer the Hallucination Derangement. This Discipline usually cannot be learned by non-Malkavian Kindred, as it comes from a combination of the Malkavian blood (the Curse of Malkav) and the Hallucination Derangement. A kindred may develop it if she has the Hallucination Derangement and is edging ever closer to insanity, especially if she is an entertainer/performer who gets "lost" in her work. It also helps to have Auspex and to know that Charade exists.

As Auspex deals with powers of the mind, so does Charade. The Marceaux can create an alternate reality and interact with it. They see things that others cannot, and the objects that they mime into existence can interact with people in the real world. The Marceaux can also see things that other people "create" although she cannot use it. When a Marceaux sees someone's face brighten as he has a good idea, she might see light bulb above his head. When she watches a conductor in front of an orchestra, she might see lines of color and music leading from his baton to the instruments, or painting a beautiful backdrop in the darkness of the concert hall.

* Audience Mesmerize

The Marceaux can draw a crowd as they perform. This works especially well on kine, but kindred too can be suddenly have the strong urge to gather and watch the show.

Roll: Manipulation + Acting (Difficulty 6 for Kin, 8 for Kindred)

Successes	Effect
1	1 Person gathers
2	1/4 of the people in the vicinity
3	1/2 of the people in the vicinity
4	Most of the people in the vicinity
5	All

** Ties that Bind

This intriguing power allows the Mareaux to see the relationships that exist among people. The relationships are represented by thin colored lines or "phantom" pictures.

Roll Perception + Empathy versus targets willpower.

Successes	Effect
1	The Marceau sees who, in the room, are the targets friends.
2	The Marceau sees the Target's competitors/enemies in the room.
3	The Marceau sees the faces of the target's friends/foes, and if she ever meets them, she will know them.
4	The Marceau sees the target's sire and progeny.
5	The Marceau sees those who are blood bound to the target, and to whom the target is blood bound.

*** Mime

This is the strange power the Marceaux have that allows them to mime objects that can react with "reality." The Marceau can mime a knife, and it can cut the target (or she can use a toy knife, which will cause damage as if it were real). The Marceau can mime an invisible wall, and it can block a doorway. She can mime a rope and "lasso" someone, binding him. The Marceau's mind is so powerful that it convince a target's mind that the target is being affected by the mimed object, even if the target is consciously aware of the connection. Higher levels of successes can cause aggravated injury, but only if the object would cause aggravated injury in reality. Thus, a baseball bat cannot cause aggravated injury, but a flamethower could. The target should be able to see the "creation" of the object, but with higher difficulties, even this is no longer necessary.

Spend 1 blood point and roll Manipulation + Acting versus target's willpower (+2 if the target did not see the "creation" of the object).

Successes	Results
1	The object does temporary damage for one hour (This damage is real to the target, and he must react as if damaged. i.e. suffer dice penalties form unsoaked damage), but he does not have to spend blood to heal; after the hour's up the damage disappears)
2	Normal damage
3	Aggravated damage (as appropriate)
Botch	Target disbelieves the Marceau's Charade for rest of story.

**** Share the Reality

At this level, the Marceau can "project" her hallucinated reality into the mind of another person, and that person can see and use an object that the Marceau has created.

Spend 1 blood point and roll Manipulation + Acting vs the target's willpower.

Successes	Effects
1	Target can "see" the mimed object, but not use it.
2	Target can use the object and it causes temporary damage.
3	Target can use the object and cause normal damage.
4	Target can use object and it causes aggravated damage (as above).
Botch	Target disbelieves the Marceau's Charade for rest of story..

***** Group Effect

This level of Charade allows the Marceau to affect groups using any of earlier powers.

Roll Manipulation + Acting as above.

****** Live the Reality

At this level, the Marceau has lost quite a bit of her contact with this sphere of reality, and is no longer obstructed by it. She constantly sees things that no one else can see, and reacts with those things to the confusion and amazement of her companions. For instance, she is confronted by a locked door: she can mime picking the lock, opening the door, and going though the door, but her companions will still be on the other side, for they are obstructed by a solid door. Her mind lives so completely within reality that she can ignore the physical restrictions of our world. She, of course, would not see the paradoxes this poses. She can climb invisible ladders, go though window and walls, talk by "Telephone" to other with having a real phone. etc. Roll: Wits + Subterfuge versus her own willpower. Success is determined by the storyteller on a case by case basis.