Larvae

By Robert Sweeney (rsweeney@anet-stl.com)

* Eye of Judgement

This power allows the user to see the Humanity or path rating of the subjects viewed. Those being viewed feel uneasy.

System: Roll Empathy + Perception (difficulty is the target's Humanity -1) in a resisted roll against the target's Humanity.

** Penance

There are two methods of exacting Penance. In the first method, the vampire bites his victim, filling the latter's mind with the suffering she has inflicted upon others. This bite is every bit as incapacitating (from pain and paralysis) as the vampire's normal "Kiss" but certainly not pleasurable. Unless the victim passes a Conscience roll (each turn), she loses one point of Willpower. (Difficulty 10 - her Humanity). This drained point of willpower from the victim, restores one lost Willpower point to the Attacker (if possible) or must be used immediately (lest it be lost.)

In the second form of this power, the vampire glares at the victim, filling her mind with the suffering she has inflicted upon others. This functions like the Presence 2 power, Dread Gaze, but the difficulty is the target's Humanity or path rating.

This power will not work on those whose Humanity or path score is higher than the vampire's. After suffering from Penance all future Intimidation rolls against the victim should have 2 more dice. A conscience roll may allow those affected to feel remorse and regret past wrongs . . .

*** Nightmares

To use this power, the vampire must first bite the victim and successfully use Penance. After the bite, the victim must roll a Willpower check (difficulty 10 - their humanity) each night or day (as appropriate) or relive the Penance. The nightmares last 10-humanity turns (during which the subject cannot awaken or be awakened). Any being suffering these nightmares will lose a point of Willpower and a point of blood (sweat onto the sheets). Any being attempting to stave off nightmares by avoiding sleep, must still roll the Willpower check. Failure indicates they suffered a bout of narcolepsy and fall asleep to suffer the nightmares anyway. The nightmares lasts for 10 - Humanity days.

Note: Blood Shed due to nightmares has not vital essence left. It is therefore useless as food for vampires and in the case of vampiric victims, cannot be used for the Embrace or to create ghouls.

During the nightmare, the vampire who exacted Penance gains a blood point. If the vampire is already at his maximum blood pool, this point must be used immediately or it is wasted.

**** Wither

Before using this power, the vampire must have The Forgetful Mind (Dominate ***). She instigates it by touching her victim and rolling Manipulation + Intimidation (Difficulty is the victim's Willpower). The number of successes required is equal to the victim's Humanity. If successful, segments of the victim's memory are erased. The memories lost are the victim's darkest and most horrible crimes and as this happens, he is overcome by an all-encompassing weakness. The afflicted loses the ability to have more dice in his dice pool than his current Humanity rating. (As if the vampire were trying to act during the day.) He recovers from this period of weakness as a vampire with his Humanity + 3 would recover from torpor or until he does something that raises his humanity above its existing level.

Those with higher Humanity scores than the vampire's are immune to this power as is anyone with a Humanity of 8 or higher.

***** Larvae

With this power, the user is able to separate a being from its evil. The evil manifests itself in the form of a larvae, a mindless, slug-like creature. To create the larvae, the attacker spends a blood point and engages his victim in a Possession contest (see Dominate *****). The victim will always win if she has a higher Humanity than the attacker or has a Humanity score of 6 or higher. If the attacker succeeds, the larvae rips itself from the victim, inflicting 10 - Humanity levels of damage (soakable) and stealing great tracks of memories (the victim's evils). It will also take with it as many blood points as it can, limited by the victim's current blood pool.

The victim will fall comatose when the larvae is created, and when awakened, will behave as if under the influence of Animalism *****. To recover her beast, the victim must find and consume the larvae. If the larvae dies by other means, the anima will return to the victim, but cannot be rebound until the victim performs an act that causes her to lose Humanity. At this point, the anima returns gladly. The larvae is similar to a ghoul and is blood bound to its creator. It must drink a half-pint of any kind of blood once per day or enter torpor. This will not increase its blood pool unless the source of the blood was a vampire, in which its pool increases normally. The blood of a larvae cannot be used to form a blood bond and they will survive as long as they maintain their vampiric blood pool.

Larvae statistics:

Attribute: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 1, Charisma 0, Manipulation 1, Appearance 0, Perception 1, Intelligence 1, Wits 0

Abilities: Dodge 2, Survival 3

Disciplines: Limited Animalism 2 (Beckoning) only^*.

Willpower: 0

Humanity: 1

Health Levels: OK, -1, -5

Attack: 1 dice damage (bite). It may consume blood as a vampire.

Blood Points: (10 - Humanity of victim)

^*Used to summon rodents, small animals for feeding. Unable to summon animals larger than 10#.

Ecology: The community of Larvae will sing a song of Beckoning that only animals can hear (and especially acute vampires). They use this to draw forth small animals: commonly rats, pigeons, or squirrels. These animals are drawn to investigate the song and are pounced upon by the Larvae who feed as a group.

The larvae are generally disgusting creatures, but they can be commanded by their creator to perform tasks suitable for their mental capacity. They will attack any creatures fighting their master. Otherwise, they generally wander around in their crypt like area/cage. Their master may practice Domination on them -- they never resist.