Coprophage Auspex

By Kevin Davies (mizake@mizan.demon.co.uk) for the Coprophage bloodline

Description

The Coprophages, in their quest for new avenues of pleasure, have over the years developed many new applications of the Auspex Discipline. Most use these powers for seeking out mortals who they find attractive, but they also have a professional application. It is mostly due to the use of these powers that the Coprophages have gained their reputation as supreme hunters and detectives.

* Taste of Insight

Through scent and taste, the Coprophage can gain some insight into the life, character and personality of a single person, mortal or vampire. Only general information may be gained; on tasting someone who has just committed a crime, the vampire may gain a sense of guilt and fear, rather than the explicit knowledge of when, where and how the crime was committed. Using scent gives a more vague impression than taste; if it is possible to lick the subject, then, in the example above, the vampire might gain a general idea of why the subject is guilty and afraid.

System: This power requires no Ichor to use. A roll of Perception + Empathy must be made to succeed; if this roll is failed, then no knowledge is gained. Use of this power can detect vampires masquerading as mortals.

** Hunter's Desire

The Coprophage may concentrate his sense of smell on the scent of a single person, to the exclusion of all else, and use this to track him across great distances. Using this power it is possible for the Coprophage to start on one side of a city, and track his prey through streets, parks and even sewers, to find him on the other side of town.

System: The Coprophage must have a clear memory of the subject's scent, and begin in an area where he knows the subject has been. If these conditions are met, then a roll of Perception + Auspex is made to track the scent for some way. A new roll must be made each time the surroundings change considerably; for instance, if the trail leads from a city street to a shopping mall, or from a public park to a sewer. Any successes above the first on each roll may be applied to the difficulty on the next. The difficulty of this roll varies depending on the surroundings; a quiet country road might be 4, while a crowded bar would be 7, and a sewer 9. If the trail is lost at any time, then the Coprophage can choose to retrace his steps and start from the point at which the last success was gained, or attempt to roll again with a modifier of -2. A Botch means the trail is lost altogether, and the Coprophage must start again from a different location.

*** Touch the Past

With this Power the Coprophage can smell or taste an object and gain impressions of who last touched it. This object reading is limited to "feelings" of that person rather than facts or images, but sometimes such things as the sex, race and age of the person can be discerned. The Coprophage will gain a vague idea of when the person in question was in contact with the object, to within a couple of hours, and may, if he has a particular person in mind, search for that person's scent should he know it.

System: The player must make a Perception + Empathy roll. The difficulty is determined by the age of the scents, and also by whether the vampire is searching for impressions of a particular person. The number of successes gained determines the amount of information gained, both in terms of emotions and the nature of the person who touched the object. Generally one emotion and one aspect of the person's identity (Nature, Demeanor, age, race or sex) is received for each success.

**** Widen the Perceptions

By flaring his nostrils widely (A good reason not to use this power in public), the Coprophage can take in virtually all scents in the surrounding area and gain some insight from them. Most scents will be of people who have been in the area recently, and the vampire may examine them in the same manner as in Touch the Past, above. The scents of objects and events also linger on, and may be examined by the Coprophage to attempt to discover what has happened there.

System: The Coprophage must first spend a point of Ichor to widen his nostrils. Then the scents begin to flood his mind, and he must make a Willpower roll in order not to become confused and lose track, requiring him to start again. A Perception + Auspex roll must be made to examine each specific scent and move onto the next, and only basic information is gained, such as the sex and temper of a person who has been in the area, or an impression of the event which may have created the aroma. Using this power, scents can be detected that vampires, mortals and even dogs would have difficulty noticing. If at any point during the process a roll is failed, then the Coprophage must again make a Willpower roll in order not to lose track and be forced to start again. A Botch on any of these rolls means that the vampire has taken in more scents than he is capable of handling, and it will take several hours to get rid of the resulting headache. He will be unable to attempt to use this power again during that period.

***** Kin to Kine

The Coprophage is now able to consciously disguise his tell-tale Kindred scent and appear as a mortal. Use of the power requires great effort and is usually only undertaken in emergencies.

System: A point of Ichor must be spent and a Willpower roll made for each hour of use. This power is effective against animals, who will treat the vampire as though he were mortal for the duration of effect. It may also be used against werewolves, who will not be likely to attempt to see through the illusion. Vampires and others who are skilled in reading auras must make a roll verses the Coprophage's Manipulation + Auspex in order to pierce the untruth.

****** Breathless Escape

By gaining this power, the Coprophage may anticipate the actions of other beings through their scent without being forced to concentrate on them. The vampire might realise his opponent was going to run a second before he actually did so, or sense that a Malkavian was about to lie to him.

System: The power is considered always "on" in some respects; if the subject is about to attempt to harm the Coprophage, then his senses will flare and he will be warned immediately before the event occurs. However, the vampire may also choose to consciously use the power by spending a point of Ichor and making a Perception + Empathy roll verses the subject's Willpower. This allows him to tell the general intentions of the subject and act accordingly. Note that this power may only be used when the vampire is consciously aware of the subject; if a man is standing in front of you waving a gun about, then that is fine, but if he is on a neighbouring rooftop with a hunting rifle, then the power cannot be used.

****** Secrets Tasted

This power is similar to Taste of Insight, above, but is much more powerful in its extent. The subject must be tasted, and strenuous effort is required, but the Coprophage then immediately acquires an absolute understanding of that person's personality and identity. For a short time, the character understands the subject as well as they understand themselves up to this time.

System: A point of both Ichor and Willpower must be spent, and the subject tasted. On a Perception + Empathy roll (Difficulty 7), the character understands the whole depth of emotions, hopes, fears, history of the person, and anything else the Storyteller thinks he should know. The limits of this power should be determined by the Storyteller, who should base the information gained on the number of successes gained, with five or more providing complete and fully accurate information. Obfuscate can block this power; anyone with Obfuscate of equal to or higher level than the character's Auspex is automatically immune to Secrets Tasted. After three hours, the knowledge gained begins to fade; after six hours, it is gone forever. If the character fails his roll, then only the barest of information is gained, as in Taste of Insight above. If the roll is Botched, then the subject's memories begin to flood the vampire's mind uncontrollably and he must make a Willpower roll or gain a temporary Derangement.