By James G. Hitt (jghst15+@pitt.edu) (28 Wednesday 1996)
When an immortal is awakened, the Quickening begins to flow through her body for the first time. This process causes changes in the immortal's body. One is the halting of the aging process. Another is the formation of one or several Proficiencies. Proficiencies are abilities possessed only by immortals. They are "magic" (not sphere magic) powers; that even the immortals themselves do not understand. A beginning character has three dots to spend in any of the Proficiencies and can spend Freebie points to start with more. An immortal can advance to any level in a Proficiency he already has one dot in, but the only way to learn a new Proficiency after the character has been created is to behead an immortal who has that Proficiency.
System: Roll Dexterity + Climbing. Any slope of less than 80 to the ground has a difficulty of 3 no matter what the surface is made of. The difficulty for vertical and near-vertical surfaces is as follows:
| Surface | Difficulty |
| Rock Wall | 4 |
| Brick Wall | 5 |
| Wet, Smooth Surface | 7 |
| Oiled, Smooth Surface | 9 |
| Frictionless Surface | 10 |
System: Roll Stamina + Air Walking (difficulty 7) The character will resist any attempt to move him with a strength of 10d10 and any surface that supports him must make a comparative strengths roll versus 10d10 or be destroyed.
System: Roll Willpower + Form Control (difficulty 6) to create blade. Each arm requires a separate roll. To use the weapon roll Dexterity + Melee(or Melee Parry) + Sword (if applicable). The difficulty is 5 and the damage is Strength + 4d10 aggravated.
System: To enter this form roll Willpower + Form Control (difficulty 7) and spend one point of quickening per round that you remain in liquid form. To return to your human body roll Willpower + Form Control (difficulty 6) If you run out of quickening before you are able to return to human form, you may choose to spend two willpower points per round to prolong coherence. After that, you will lose one health level per round. If you are reduced to crippled, your body disperses and you die.
While you cannot suffer a loss of health levels from any physical attack made on you while in liquid form, if one quarter to one half of you is separated from the rest of you by a physical barrier, you are considered beheaded. This separation must be complete and you are granted one round to find the separate pieces of yourself and reemerge with them. To do this, decide which severed part your essence is in and that part after the other. For one round, that part will act as though it is whole. To randomly decide how much of you is cut off roll one die.
| 0-4 | less than 1/4 |
| 5-9 | more than 1/4 |
In addition, at level five the Immortal learns an extremely powerful ritual that allows the creation of a new Immortal. If a mortal (not necessarily an unawakened one) is present at an Immortal duel, the victor can use this Proficiency to transfer the loser's Quickening to the mortal, making him immortal. The new Immortal is then treated like the victor in a three-person immortal battle in which the Immortal with this Proficiency was involved (see the chapter on The Rules).
System: Roll Perception + Illusion (difficulty 6) and spend one quickening. If anyone or anything (besides the immortal using the power) touches the object being manipulated, the illusion is disrupted. You must be able to see or be in physical contact with the object for as long as you want the illusion to last. (If you have made an object invisible, you don't have to see it, just see where it is.) Once the mirage is created it will remain indefinitely, until it is touched or the immortal uses Slight of Hand again to put the light back the way it was.
System: Roll Perception + Illusion (difficulty 7) and spend two quickening points. As long as you don't move you will be rendered undetectable to sight, smell, and sound. The surface you blend into must be at least twice your size; anything smaller and the disguise will be incomplete.
System: Roll Perception + Illusion (difficulty 6) and spend one quickening point. For each success the area the Veil affects increases by ten feet in every direction. The range is limited to places the immortal could possibly see (by turning around in a circle and looking up and down.) So, if you are inside a room with opaque walls, the effect is limited to the room, but if you are in an open area or a glass room, the effect is limited only by the number of successes. No form of natural vision can be used in the darkness. The Garou gift, Sense Wyrm, the Kindred Detect Aura, and other such supernatural abilities can allow a character to "see" his/her opponent under the Veil. Those without supernatural sight are out of luck. Flashlights and torches do not work. Their light is absorbed as soon as it is emitted. Magic spells that create light, like Spawn Lesser Forces, are another story. Roll for the light generation the same as normal. Every success cancels out one success of the Veil of Darkness roll.
| Person impersonated | Difficulty |
| You have never seem him in person | 9 |
| You have seen him one or a few times | 8 |
| You know him well | 7 |
| He is present (either conscious or unconscious, it doesn't matter) | 6 |
If you failed the first roll, you will not be recognized as the person you are trying to be, but you will not know this unless somebody tells you (since you look like what you think you should.) If you botch the first roll, you will get the person you are trying to disguise yourself confused with someone else.
The second roll determines if you can duplicate the image you recall. Roll Perception + Illusion (difficulty 8) and spend one quickening point for each round you maintain the illusion. If you fail this roll, you will know it just by looking at yourself.
System: Roll Willpower (difficulty 6) while the sword is in sight. No Quickening need be spent to accomplish retrieval. If something is preventing retrieval (like somebody holding on to the weapon) use the Immortal's Willpower as Strength to resist. This also applies to crashing through things, like the aforementioned glass.
System: No roll needs be made. The sword must have Quickening stored in it. It spends one point as soon as the Immortal realizes it's gone. If someone has stolen the sword, it will make a break for it as soon as his back is turned. For every mile separating the sword from its master roll 1d10 and divide by two. This is how many hours it takes for the Man's Best Friend to find its way home.
System: The Immortal must be holding the sword to attempt Blade TK. Roll Willpower (difficulty 8) and spend one point of Quickening. One success is needed to put the blade in flight. This takes one round. Next round, the immortal may move the blade anywhere he chooses by rolling Willpower (difficulty 6) and spending another point of Quickening. If he gets one success, the blade moves. If the roll fails the sword simply does not move. If he botches the roll, the blade fall to the ground and must be returned to the Immortal's hand before another attempt can be made. Use the Immortal's Willpower rating as the blade's strength and speed.
System: Just Spend one point of Quickening to make the sword appear. Quickening can still be stored in the blade as normal because it does not really cease to exist, it just goes to some "other" place. However, the sword must still be in the Immortal's hand for the Quickening to be reabsorbed.
System: The blade must be in the Immortal's possession (either in his hand or in a telekinetic grip) for Blade of Fury to be used. Roll Willpower (difficulty 8) and spend two points of Quickening. Two successes are needed to sic the blade. Every round after that, the blade itself must spend one of the Quickening points stored in it. The blade has Strength, Speed, and Dexterity of the Immortal's Willpower. If the roll is botched the blade will attack the Immortal himself once, the fall to the ground.
| Dots | No. of actions per round |
| * | 3 |
| ** | 4 |
| *** | 5 |
| **** | 7 |
| ***** | 9 |
System: Roll Perception + Teleportation (difficulty 6) and spend one point of Quickening. With one success you make it. This takes one round. No other actions may be taken that round.
System: Roll Teleportation (difficulty 4) and spend one point of Quickening. Only one success is needed. Once the character is there. she is there. She can't teleport back.
System: Declare that you are going to use Now You See It. . . in conjunction with another power. Make the required roll for that power and spend the necessary Quickening. Then, for each extra point of Quickening spent, you can remain in you horizon realm for one round. Example: Amanda has learned Now You See It. . . She has just been wounded in a duel and needs time to heal or she will lose her head. She decides to teleport behind her opponent, but to also spend extra time in her horizon realm. She rolls Perception + Teleportation and spends one point of Quickening. She succeeds the roll so she can teleport to the place behind her adversary. Then, she spends three more points of Quickening which causes her to spend three rounds in stasis in her horizon realm where she heals three health levels (because Immortals heal one level per round). After three rounds she reappears in the place that was behind her enemy when she first teleported (which is not behind him now because he moved while she was away).
System: Been There, Done That requires two rolls, both of which must get two successes. The first roll is to determine how well the Immortal recalls the place he is teleporting to. Roll Intelligence + Alertness. The difficulty depends on how many times he has been there or how much impact the place had on him (He may have only been to that street corner once, but if his parents were killed there, he will definitely remember it (unless, of course, he has repressed it)
| Familiarity with location | Difficulty |
| He goes there everyday. | 4 |
| He was once went there every day, but hasn't been in a while. | 5 |
| He's only been there a few times but something big happened there. | 6 |
| He's only been there a few times. Period. | 8 |
| He was there once and spent at least five minutes there. | 10 |
If this roll is failed the Immortal realizes that he can't remember the place well enough. If the roll is botched, he thinks he remembers it but accidentally goes somewhere else. When deciding where be creative and be cruel. Next, roll Intelligence + Teleportation (difficulty 7) and spend two points of Quickening. If this roll fails he simply fails to enter the horizon realm and stays where he is. If this roll botches, it has the same effect as the first roll and God help you if both rolls botch. If that happens you have to roll your Willpower (difficulty 8) and make two successes. If you fail this roll, you discorporate and you are dead. If you botch this roll you rip a hole in the space-time continuum. Now the Storyteller has to roll your Teleportation. That number times ten is how many meters away from you in all directions the rip extends. The rip destroys anything in its path. After it reaches full size it immediately closes, leaving a large spherical gap for air to fill. The air rushing into the gap tries to pull everything it touches with it. The winds have a Strength of twenty times the Immortal's Teleportation rating and is divided by two for every fifty meters distance from the edge of the gap. Needless to say, this is not likely to happen.
System: Roll Teleportation (difficulty of local Gauntlet). See Werewolf: The Apocalypse (pg. 175) for the results of successes, failure and botching.
So far most of the world doesn't have a clue about the existence of immortals. The information on them possessed by the Arcanum, Project Twilight and other such organizations is sketchy at best. Most who associate with those groups assume any the Immortals they have encountered to be members of the supernatural races they have already encountered. There is, naturally, one notable exception. Only the watchers themselves know how long the group has existed. Others who know of the society (and there aren't many) only know that the group is ancient. Most watchers themselves are taught that as long as the Immortals have existed there have been mortals who have watched them (which may be true, but that still doesn't tell you how long the organization has been around). In truth, knowledge of the exact date of the Watcher's founding is reserved for the continental heads of the group.
The hierarchy of power looks like this:
Continental Heads
Regional Supervisors
Chapter Leaders
Chapter Cabinets
Watchers
Initiates
Associates
Chapter leaders report to their regional supervisors who also appoint them. They serve only as long as the regional supervisors want them to. A chapter consists of a city and its surrounding areas. A regional supervisor can call a meeting of his chapter leaders at any time, but generally does so only after every continental meeting. Every chapter leader appoints a cabinet to oversee and advise him on specific aspects of Watcher affairs. The regional supervisor then approves the leader's appointments. Specific cabinet positions vary from chapter to chapter (being decided upon by the leader and approved by regional supervisor). Typically there is a Treasurer, a Record Keeper, a Defense Minister, an Overseer of Recruiting, a Public Relations Minister (who is responsible for keeping the public unaware of the existence of both Watchers and Immortals), and an Overseer of Watchers (he who watches the Watchers). In areas with a large population of other supernatural beings, a cabinet position may be created to handle issues specifically with that situation.
A Watcher is a full member of the group. Upon being granted this status, a Watcher is tattooed on his wrist with the "w" symbol of the Watchers. He is given a specific duty in one of three areas. He either joins the Defense Branch, the Administrative Branch, or the Observation Branch. Full Watcher status is granted by the regional supervisors. He most often leaves the actual selection process in the hands of his advisors and signs off on any decisions they make. A Watcher can be removed from the organization for any major or repeated violation of the Watcher Code. A termination notice is signed by the regional supervisor, but can be challenged at the next meeting of the Council by anyone who is still a Watcher in good favor.
Initiates are trainees. These are the people who wish to be Watchers, but are still learning the ways of the organization. To gain access to the group, a potential member must have a sponsor who is a full member in good standing. Very often Initiates have a long history of family membership in the association and are sponsored by a parent or the sibling of a parent. However, being a Watcher does not allow much time for a family life and most Watchers die childless or estranged from their families. This means that new members must also be sought out from outside the society.
Finally, there are Associates. Associates are friends of the organization. They have no official standing and no desire to become Watchers, but they are sympathetic to the cause and will aid the group when they can. Associates are usually persons with influential positions in government and business, or people with specific scientific or occult knowledge (Duncan MacCleod is considered an Associate).
One, they maintain a standing defense force. This is not a organized army. It is run more like the F.B.I. Each chapter is assigned several agents who live in the area and provide muscle for any Watchers who need it. Agents usually report to the chapter Defense Minister. These Watchers are trained as initiates by Watchers who are in this Branch. They are taught, in addition to the rules of the association, how to use weapons, martial arts and sometimes learn numina.
Two, they maintain the veil of secrecy that prevents the human and supernatural populations from knowing of the group's existence. Watchers in this service get jobs in government, business, and the media where they can control (or, rather, stop) the flow of information regarding the group. These agents are periodically contacted by the Public Relations Minister.
Three, they maintain internal security. This is the internal affairs division of the Watchers. In the same way a Watcher follows an Immortal, it is not uncommon for her to find herself being followed by another watcher. The overseer of Watchers assigns these agents someone to watch, usually at random. If they discover any violation of the Code, the Overseer reports it to the Defense Minister who "takes care of it." Agents for this service are usually former members of other services or branches with training in different areas. No Watcher, even the Chairman of the Council, is immune from this division's eye. Note: The Overseer of Watchers is primarily responsible for the Observational branch. This service is possibly better suited to be a part of that Branch, but because it is a distasteful duty to spy on your own, these agents are considered part of the this Branch.
Another duty a member of this Branch may be chosen for is tracking down the location of a "lost" Immortal. As efficient as the Watcher Organization is, they sometimes loose track of an Immortal as he dies and resurfaces with another identity. A watcher with this duty has almost unlimited resources at her command. She can travel the world in search of her prey and will not stop until she finds him or is reassigned. Recently, though, with the coming of the Gathering, most lost Immortals are found when they encounter another Immortal who is being followed.
This can be used as a plot device over a long term campaign. Maybe there is an immortal character in your campaign who hangs out with the other characters who are all werewolves. None of them know it, but the real reason he spends time with them is so he can watch over a member of the group who is an immortal still living their original life. Storytellers can also use this idea as a way to save an important character from a series of horrific dice rolls. Author's note: I once ran a campaign that involved one werewolf and several mages. I had planned a series of adventures in which the mages had to interact with Garou society. Their only connection to these adventures was the werewolf character. We were running the opening sequence to the first adventure which took place in a diner. The werewolf got mad over something the waitress did and hit her in the face. Usually this would mean the adventure would sidetrack briefly into the realms of the Los Angeles law enforcement community. Unfortunately the roll to hit the waitress failed pathetically (two 1's the rest 2's and 3's--- a botch). The werewolf missed and swung so hard that he broke his hand on the pillar behind the waitress. His failure didn't deter the anger of his civic minded colleagues and one of them threatened to blast him if he didn't calm down. I guess the player of the werewolf was in a wacky mood, because he jokingly said that he would turn into a Crinos and um, well. . . urinate on the mage. As a gamemaster I am of the mind that when a player blurts out something stupid it may be funny but it detracts from the mood of the game. To prevent the players from doing this, I usually make them do what they said they would. In this case I split the werewolf's dice pool so he could both transform into Crinos and perform the other action. I rolled his Stamina + whatever-it-is minus one and succeeded. Then I rolled his Dexterity + Firearms minus one (making him spend a willpower point to overcome his natural tendency towards bladder control) and botched. I interpreted this botch to mean that he not only missed his target but hit himself pretty well, too. After I colorfully described the stench, the mage decided to attack with a lighting bolt. At this point the werewolf was standing in a werewolf sized puddle of. . . liquid. The last thing he needed was to be hit with several thousand volts of electricity. This took him down to -3 health level. He then decided to attack the mage that hit him with the lightning bolt. He lunged forward and the physically weak mage stepped aside and allowed him to impale himself of her wooden staff. One of the other mages attempted to heal him but ended up botching that roll and removing his Lower Intestine. The character was dead, and my plan for the next adventure was ruined. It may seem a little cheesy to bring a character back to life in this way, but if you really need the character then it's a little less cheesy than reincarnating it or bringing his long lost twin brother into the campaign (the trap I fell into after the situation above). If there is a human character in your campaign whom the supernaturals are pushing around, giving the character immortality is an interesting way to even the odds.
Since Immortals have existed almost as long as the humans they are born from, it would be impossible for them never to have run across the other denizens of the world of darkness. In fact, since the Immortal population is relatively low (approximately 6,000 and dropping fast) and looking for other Immortals during the Gathering can be dangerous, sometimes a Vampire is the only immortal company available. There is no organization subscribed to by all of the Immortals. They're attitudes regarding others vary drastically from individual to individual. Some may even still be fooled by the Masquerade. Since there is no way to generalize the feelings of the Immortals, what follows is a description of how other supernatural beings will often react to Immortals. Keep in mind two thing when reading this. One, unless the Immortal tells them, there is very little way for anybody to know he is an Immortal. Two, these are generalizations of the feeling of large, diverse groups. One may not subscribe to these prejudices.
Brujah: Conformists! None of them would even consider breaking one of their precious rules. They make me sick.
Gangrel: They are of civilization and thus do not concern us.
Malkavian: I made a pair of shoes out of turtles! The shoes were for the monkey, but monkeys don't wear shoes! Staring at the sun made us crazy!
Nosferatu: They make for interesting conversation, having lived as long as we, but better information can be obtained from their Watchers.
Toreador: Through this race much beauty has been preserved without the need for our intervention, but this was by random chance. They have destrayed as much as they have created. Appreciate them from afar.
Tremere: They have survived a great deal. They have proven themselves to be excellent tools.
Ventrue: Some of them would not be removed from my presence.
Akashic Brotherhood: There knowledge is to be respected and their martial skill is unparalleled.
Celestial Chorus: Their individualism takes them far from the One. We must bring them back into the fold so all may be together.
Cult of Ecstasy: They tend to take things way too seriously. At least they stay out of our way.
Dreamspeakers: The fires that sustain them seem to keep them separate from Gaia. They are not against the earth, but neither can they feel her light.
Euthanatos: This tradition is very intersested in the Immortals. They expend great energies to gather information about them. They have not yet decided whether this race's existence is beneficial to the Ascension. They need to have more information about their exact nature. Fortunately, they have had very little luck indentifying Immortals to examine, but with the coming of the Gathering more and more Immortals will be out in the open.
Hollow Ones: They are individuals, like us. However, they are also very much a part of the modern world that strangles us. They may be appealing in many ways, but it is still always best to keep to yourself.
Order of Hermes: They remember the way things once were. If we again tell the world of our traditions, they will be there to confirm what we say.
Sons of Ether: Yes! Don't you see? Their existence proves everything we have been saying! The ether exists in all space. It ebbs and it flows. It flows through us and around us and if we channel it when it flows through us and around us and make the ether around go through and through go around, then we've got something! It's science!
Verbena: Their blood is supremely potent.
Virtual Adepts: They tend to stay on the cutting edge of mortal knowledge. They shouldn't be too difficult to bring around.
The Technocracy: Kill them. Kill them fast. Kill them now. Then study them, learn everything we can from them, and kill them some more.