Consumption

By Eric S. Bertish (bertishg@db.erau.edu) for his revision of the Gaki.

* Stalking the Prey

Though the Gaki are driven by Hunger, with judicious use of this power they can keep it in check and prevent Frenzy. By following a constant regimen of continuous feeding they are able to keep their Blood Pools full, thereby giving them the maximum amount of dice in any Self-Control roll.

System: By rolling Perception + Streetwise (or Survival if outside an urban environment), the Gaki may track down a suitable vessel for feeding. The parameters of 'suitable' are fluid, allowing the Gaki to track a specific type of blood or characteristic, making hunting easier for Ventrue or those with similar feeding restrictions. Two conditions, however, cannot be 'unset': the vessel must be able to be safely fed from (i.e., able to withstand the damage of loss of up to 2 Blood Points; therefore children, the elderly, the infirm, and small animals are exempt from this power), and the vessel cannot have been fed from immediately prior to the use of this power. This keeps the Gaki from feeding on the smae victim twice in a row. Once a different victim has been fed from, however, the first vessel can be tracked again using this power.

** Sharing the Thirst

With this power, the Gaki is able to inflict upon others the maddening hunger he lives with nightly. This can be used against non-vampires.

System: By expending a Blood Point and rolling her Willpower versus a difficulty of the opponent's Willpower, the Gaki may induce a Hunger Frenzy in others. The victim may roll Self-Control against difficulty 8 to resist, with each success removing one of the Gaki's successes. Failure indicates frenzy; non-vampires will begin to gorge themselves on whatever food is available, taking it from others and fighting for it if necessary. A botch indicates a feeding-related Derangement is gained.

*** Sating the Hunger

At this stage the Gaki has gained enough mastery over his Hunger that he is able to channel its desires, fooling it into gaining sustenance from things other than blood. This is usually done with food; however, Japanese folklore tells of Gaki other than the traditional Jiki-Ketsu: the Jiki-Niku, who eat flesh (preferably human, and not necessarily fresh); the Jiki-Da who eat tears; the Jiki-Fun who eat excrement (probably resulting from a Derangement); the Jiki-Doku who eat poison; the Jiki-Fu who eat wind; the Jiki-Ke who eat smells and/or colors; and the Jiki-Ka who eat fire (high Courage and Fortitude recommended). The Word-Eater (Clanbook:Malkavian) may in fact be a Gaki who has somehow learned to exist upon concepts.

Note: This is in no way a substitute for the Eat Food merit.

System: The Gaki attempting to eat anything other than blood must gorge himself upon the substance; a minimum of one pound for each Blood Point to be gained must be consumed. A Self-Control roll versus difficulty of 7 is required to keep from vomiting. If it is kept down, the Gaki can spend one Willpower per pound of substance ingested and gains one Blood Point of nutrition from it.

**** Biting to the Marrow

With this strange power, the Gaki is able to bite through anything she can get between her teeth or gnaw at. Even substances normally considered 'unbreakable' can be broken when subjected to the power of this level.

System: The Gaki expends a Blood Point to strenghten her jaws and teeth. Any nonmagical substance that fits between her teeth can be crushed in a single round. Even walls may be gnawed through, though this is much more arduous process: the wall should be given a 'thickness' rating, with each bite made by the Gaki reducing it by one. When zero is reached, the barrier is breached. Each use of this power lasts for a single successful bite; in the case of breaching walls, expenditure of multiple Blood Points is to be expected. However, the Gaki could choose to use the level 3 power upon the crushed items in order to conseerve her Blood Points; however, this gets costly in terms of Willpower.

***** Gorging

The most brutal of all Gaki powers, this enables the user to forcibly rip the blood from the body of its victim. It is a noisy, messy spectacle, as the skin of the victim ruptures from the pressure of the blood as it escapes outward toward to Gaki. Many Western Kindred have dubbed this power "playing 'Alien'" after witnessing its brutal effects.

System: The Gaki spends two Willpower points and rolls Willpower against a difficulty of 9. Each success causes one Health level of Aggravated damage as the blood forcibly exits the victim's body. This blood may them be absorbed as it flies into the Gaki's mouth.