By Michael Blank, for the Beast Riders bloodline.
Mastery is a dicipline based on using the beast to your own ends. The practitioner does not truly master the beast but can be in danger of losing himself to the beast. Whenever a roll is faied in any of these powers, the user must make an immediate Self-Control roll or go into frenzy. The circumstances determine the type of frenzy.
Also, use of any of these powers is a break of the Masquerade, since when they are used the fangs are fully extended and the vampiric nature of the user is fully evident because the beast is so close to the surface. Anyone using this discipline around a lupine will show up as Wyrm tainted to the Gift: Sense Wyrm.
* Suppress Pain: With a roll of Self-Control (difficulty of the number of wound levels +5) the Vampire can ignore pain and damage to perform an action. The each success is one round during which the Beast gives him the drive to shake off the penalty. However, a Botch on any physical action results in him causing a wound to himself (non-aggravated) because he ignored his body's message to slow down.
** Strength of the Beast: The wielder of this power can evoke the Beast in himself to perform great feats of strength without the need for as much blood. Doing so is very taxing, however, and can even harm the user as he overtaxes his system.
System: With a willpower roll (difficulty 8) and the expenditure of blood, the user can add two to his strength for every blood point. The bonus strength lasts for as many rounds as the number of willpower successes. When the extra strength fades, he must make Soak roll (difficulty 6) or suffer a wound for every point over his normal strength.
*** Calming the Fury: By the familiarity which the vampire now has with his personal beast, he is able to bring himself out of frenzy. The Beast cannot be immediately contained but can be subdued after he has run amock for a while but he will still want to run wild.
System: By making a Self-Control roll with a difficulty equal to the original difficulty minus the number of rounds in full frenzy (frenzy uncontrolled by willpower) he can bring himself out of frenzy. This will only work if he has been in frenzy for at least one round and the difficulty for resisting or controling a frenzy again in the same scene is one higher. This does accumulate. (ie. The beast is calmed twice in the same scene. The hungry Kindred then smells blood. His roll to resist is going to be two higher.)