Mechanomancy
By Sébastien Allard (seball@station3d.com) for the Machinae bloodline
Description
* Scanmind
This power allows its user to understand how a machine is built, what are its functions and how to operate it. The user must roll Perception + Mechanomacny at difficulty 6 (for a small device) to 10 (a U.S. Navy Battlecruiser). This power work for 1 turn per success. A vampire can use this power to increase his mechanical ability when he repairs or build. Add one dice, up to ten dice, for every success he makes. If he scores five successes, the object imprints in the vampire's mind so he may never botch on this object again.
** Bodywork
With the use of this power, machines of any kind can improve in solidity, durability and structural resistance. This only works on non-cyberplasmic objects and can only be used to make something harder. The user rolls Intelligence + Mechanomancy, difficulty 7. Each success must be divided into Duration and Endurance. The use of this power drains one blood point.Successes | Duration
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* | One scene
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** | One week
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*** | One month
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**** | One year
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***** | Storyteller option
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For every success allocated to Endurance, the machine has an additional die for soaking damage.
*** Repair
This power gives the vampire a magical repairing touch. All he has to do is concentrate and touch the damaged object and it begins to repair itself. It only work with metals, plastics, alloys, and meta-plasmic material. The material must have all its components or it will not work. The user must roll Intelligence + Mechanomancy at difficulty 7. Each success regenerates one point of Stamina. It costs two blood points per use but a vampire can use it several times on the same object. A botch is a sure way to permanently destroy the target. This power works on vehicles, firearms, mechanical and electrical devices, as long as the user knows how it work. This power repairs materials; it cannot restore software or databases.
**** Mastery
A kindred who uses Mastery will find it much easier to create blueprints and to build, as the creative aspect of the mind is cleared of all interference. If a vampire has all the required materials and blueprints of a machine he can assemble it at the speed of thought. Roll Wits + Mechanomancy at difficulty 6. Each success halves the time required to assemble such a device. If enough successes are scored, a vampire could build a car in a few hours. This power is a prerequisite for creating cyberplasmic technology; it is taught only to proven elements.
***** Meld in a Machine
A vampire can hide himself by melting the material of an object and by entering into it. A careful exam will not reveal its presence. Though his aura can still be perceived by the Auspex discipline it completely masks his presence from the eyes. Who would search for someone inside an object? A kindred can hide people with him, given sufficient space within, but he will be the only one who can take them out. That can be very useful to capture an enemy but he must be grappled beforehand. The victim roll Stamina + Athletics difficulty 7 in a opposed test roll or be stuck in the object. A mortal would die of suffocation before long. The Storyteller decides if he has some means to escaping.An adult-sized person can hide in approximatively ten cubic feet. An entrapped victim will be fully protected from the sun and by the resistance of the object, but will be paralyzed and helpless. Machinae use this power to capture their victims or to escape danger. The user can meld in the same material as Repair, not organic matter or stone. It costs 3 blood points to succesfully use it.
****** Override
This power gives the user direct control over cyberplasmic technology, even if it's in a vampire. The vampire can control, like a puppeteer, any cyberplasmic implant on sight. He can even crushed them, thus damaging the target. Roll Manipulation + Mechanomancy; the difficulty is the target's Willpower. If the caster succeeds he can damage it by rolling Manipulation (instead of Strength) at difficulty 6. The damage is not soakable, except by Fortitude, and it is aggravated. Each use cost 3 blood points and lasts one scene.
******* Animatron
The vampire gains the incredible ability to animate a machine and to control its creation. Usually, the creator uses this power to create faithful servants and guardians or to make random pieces of machines attack his foes. A tracked vampire can use Animatron to make a car attack his pursuers.A roll of Manipulation + Mechanomancy diff 7 is needed to animate machines and each success animates five hundreds pounds of inanimate materials and last one scene. The vampire must burn four blood points to do this.
Permanent servants can be created this way; the vampire must cast Animatron several times (and burn a lots of blood) and must scored ten successes. A botch could have disastrous results; the Animatron could attack its creator! A spirit is dragged out the Umbra and forced to inhabit it. Animatron servants must be fed as ghouls or it returns to its original state.
******** Vision of the Thousand Years
This power gives the caster an intuitive knowledge of technology that man has not yet created. Kindred with this power will be able to construct devices of much higher tech levels. Vampires with this power tend to improve the global technical level over the years. They are still limited by what is possible and what is not, but it will permit them to push the technology to a greater limits than common man. The Storyteller will set how far a vampire can go.