Cloak of Nightmares

By Lori Johnson (lori@spydernet.com)

Advantages of the Cloak

This cloak, designed to be worn by a woman, is woven of black satin with red trim. It is very stylish and graceful, as well as resistant to dirt and tears. It cannot be damaged and grants the following, positive effects when worn by a woman. It has no powers at all when worn by a man.
• Appearance is +2.
• Two extra dice are given on Appearance rolls.

These are the only positive effects of the cloak, and may not be worth the negative effects it also carries. They are tied up in the history of the cloak, which is cursed.

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History of the Cloak

Centuries ago, a demon, free on earth for an unknown reason, slept inside a faerie circle. While it slept there, a faerie craftswoman wove its dreams into a woman's cloak, to be used as a defensive weapon. It was cursed by the demon's evil, however, and instead drove the faerie insane. She died and the cloak has been passed down through the centuries, any woman who wears it trying to get rid of it before it destroys everyone she cares about. No one has managed to destroy it, and the demon, incomplete without its dreams, searches to be reunited with the cloak. It tracks it even now. (note: this cloak was created before Changeling came out, so the sidhe which made it doesn't follow any rules of White Wolf.)

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The Cloak's Powers

The main power of the cloak is to make manifest the dreams of the demon it was made from, which are, in our actuality, nightmares. They will appear whenever the wearer of the cloak is threatened and will defend her by killing everything around her, even her companions. She can call on its powers consciously, but if she is in danger, it will respond automatically. The one danger it will not protect her from is the demon itself, and each time it is used, there is a chance that it will attack her too.

The cloak also can't be removed easily. Once a woman puts it on, she needs to make a Willpower roll, target 8, with 3 successes (extended) to get it off. Then she must continue to roll Willpower each night, target 8 (only one success needed) to keep it off. Otherwise, she will fight to get it back on. The cloak has no effect on a man and has no particular power to force a woman to put it on the first time, other than its beauty. Therefore, a vain woman is more likely to try it initially than a more generous one.

Summoning the Power of the Cloak

When the wearer is in danger or makes a Rotshreck or Frenzy roll, the GM rolls a single d10, target 6, to see if anything responds. If successful, roll percentile and follow the chart below to see what it is that arrives. The GM then makes a second roll with a d10 to see how many rounds the creature(s) remain. The player isn't allowed to see these rolls.

If the player consciously tries to call something through the cloak, the same rolls are made, only the target is 7. The player can't decide what it is that appears. That is a random decision.

Each time the cloak is used, whether consciously or unconsciously, the chance of the cloak attacking the wearer increases. Each time it is activated, 3 d10s are rolled to see if it attacks its wearer, with the difficulty starting at two and increasing each time, as follows:

Number of Uses	Difficulty
1st use	2
2nd use	3
3rd use	4
4th use	5
5th use	6
6th use	7
7th use +	8

8 is the maximum difficulty for resisting the attack of the cloak, and if the GM wishes, he can ask the player before this roll is made if she wishes to spend a Willpower point for an automatic success. The player can't know what the point is spent on, or what the roll is made for though.

The Denizens of the Cloak

When the cloak is used, many different things may appear, each more dangerous than the last. It is up to GM interpretation as to how the creatures attack. They may strike only with fear, they may attack physically. Stats for the creatures are also up to the GM. When the creatures appear, however, everyone within their vicinity, with the exception of the wearer, must roll Courage to resist the urge to run. The difficulty depends on what is being faced, as well as what is attacking. If Hellhounds appear, the normal Courage roll is a 6. If someone in the group is afraid of dogs, the difficulty for them would be higher, as appropriate. A lot is left up to the GM, however. It's up to them, and they may even decide to use different creatures. The ones I used are in the following chart. I follow the chart with a brief description of each, as the actual listings in the chart are rather vague. I also included where I got each idea from, if it's from a recongnizable source.

When the cloak is activated, the GM must roll percentile, and consult the chart below to determine what appears. Then the Courage rolls are done with the appropriate difficulty used.

Percentage Rolled	Courage Roll Difficulty	What Appears
1%	5	Living darkness
2-10%	5	Bugs from body openings
11-20%	5	Women with Chicken Feet
21-30%	6	Banshees
31-40%	6	Shadow of the Beast
41-50%	6	Ooze
51-60%	7	Hellhounds
61-70%	8	Fire Elemental
71-80%	8	Medusa
81-90%	8	Horizon Giants
91-99%	9	Dopplegangers
100%	10	Satan

Living Darkness: This is a little like Obtenebration, where a victim is surrounded by absolute darkness, with the exception of the fact that this darkness feels alive, as though the character is being touched all over by something menacing that has no eyes, hands or mouths, but wants very much to kill her. The idea is very loosely based on a Piers Anthony story called "Fogg" and Robert Jordan's books with the Dark Wind idea.

Bugs from body openings: Here, bugs and insects of all types erupt from the mouth and nose of whatever is threatening the wearer of the cloak. They then attack their victim. The idea is from a story in the comic "Swamp Thing" where a possessed man spits up hundreds of living insects. Very disturbing.

Women with chicken feet: These three women look perfectly normal, beautiful even, but they have the feet of chickens. If they're allowed to get too close to their victims, they will go berserk and try to tear them apart with poisoned nails. The idea came from a faerie tale. Unfortunately, I can't remember from where.

Sirens: These women sing terrifying songs that draw men to them, who they then kill. Though the music they sing is just as frightening to women, they aren't drawn to it. This is from Greek mythology.

Shadow of the Beast: This is an invisible creature, of which only its shadow may be seen, reaching out towards the characters, ahead of its body. It's based on a wonderful H.P. Lovecraft story called "Shadow of the Beast" where the ghost of a murdered ape would kill people by running them down, leaving them covered by its shadow as they fled, unable to see it right behind them. Terrifying.

Ooze: This ooze is somewhat Blob-like. Use your imagination.

Hellhounds: These hounds (roll a d10 to see how many show up) stand 10 feet at the shoulder, are hairless with spikes down their spines and leave smoking pawprints behind them.

Fire Elemental: This creature appears like a five year old girl, and is stolen from a Japanimation movie. (There, I admit it). Note: The Courage roll's difficulty of 8 is done due to the aura of evil she has around her. Even the densest character can feel it. However, when she sets the building you're in on fire spontaneously, a second Rotshreck roll is required. It's up to the GM to determine the difficulty of that one.

Medusa: Just like in Greek mythology. Look in her face, turn to stone.

Horizon giants: A single giant as tall as the sky. Basically, if it's on the horizon, you can still see it. This one is from one of my own personal nightmares.

Satan: The incarnation of evil (as Christianity sees it. Insert your favourite religion here if you want).

Controlling the Cloak

The one good thing about the cloak's denizens is that they are under the control of the wearer. When they appear, they will attack anything, but the wearer can control them. Her options are limited, but she can order them not to attack someone specific, like a teammate, or order them to disappear. However, she doesn't necessarily start out knowing this. If they are attacking her, she must roll Willpower, target 7 to control them and get them to do what she wants.

The Demon

The demon knows of the existance of the cloak and it wants it back. It is still free on Earth and it will hunt down and kill anyone who wears the cloak. It will become aware of the wearer after the fifth time she uses the cloak, and with each successive use of it, it will come closer to finding her. GM discretion for when it does. The cloak will do nothing to protect the wearer from it, though.

This particular demon does not have a body of its own, and instead possesses people and uses their bodies (It was created before Wraith came out, so it's not based on them). It cannot possess anyone who doesn't agree to the possession, though they only have to agree for a second. Once it possesses them, it devours their humanity and takes over completely. Its stats are whatever the GM deems appropriate (I used the stats in the Storyteller's Handbook, so I won't list them here.)

If the demon gets hold of the cloak, it will reabsorb its dreams. This will have no effect on it, since its dreams are a part of it and their manifesting themselves was part of the magic the faerie used. However, it will kill the wearer and everyone associated with her, then go on a celebratory killing spree that will destroy the masquerade.

Getting Rid of the Cloak

The cloak can't be destroyed by any ordinary means. Some extraordinary measures may be effective, such as throwing it into the Abyss in the Umbra, but most vampires don't have access to these kinds of means and it's not a sure thing. Also, the wearer will still feel drawn to it, as described above. There is, however, one way to destroy it, and one way to get rid of its influence on the wearer.

The only way the wearer can break the cloak's hold on her is to have another woman put the cloak on willingly. She can't be forced to do it. But once she does, the previous wearer will no longer feel drawn to it. Dying also accomplishes this, of course.

The only way to get rid of the cloak permenantly, which is something the players should only find out after a great deal of effort, is to give the cloak to the demon. That will destoy it and its influence. However, the players better have a plan to defeat the demon once they do, or it will bring Hell to Earth.

It's been occurring to me as I write this, and my monster section, that I have laced my games with a great deal of the supernatural, more than the main book brings in. Hopefully, people will look at what I have here and not just say "Oh, she's playing Dungeons & Dragons in Vampire," because I'm not. Vampire is a game with monsters in it. Otherwise there would be no vampires. Besides, this cloak is more than just a cursed weapon. Your players may not want to get rid of it, not when it gives such an advantage in Vampire. After all, anyone who wears it is going to be noticed and envied, and anyone who challenges them is going to end up dead. It's a great source of political and social power, not just a way to get the players into combat. I hope someone can make use of it that way.