By Jacob Williamson, Theslin Wanders-through-Bramble (theslin@mail.utexas.edu) for the Daughters of Schlockophony
Meltorminee, the Path of Funk, is something between the three. It is a process of training; the vocal chords, even those of the undead, were never meant to contain some forces. It is a philosophy, a gradual process of unity with the Funk, a road as tangled as the Heroes' Quest itself. And it is a plague.
Meltorminee's "offensive" powers are carried through sound -- through the Daughter's voice, or through her music. Minor protection like earplugs give the user a one-point bonus against the Daughter's attacks; deafness or other total protection renders him immune. Creatures using Heightened Senses suffer a two-point penalty against the Kindred's musical assaults.
Unlike Dominate, Meltorminee affects everyone within hearing range. It's not a precise power, and all listeners are vulnerable. The only limitation: The Daughter can only affect creatures with a lower mastery of the Discipline than her own. This is the real reason the Council of Stardust remains so strongly entrenched -- as each member has mastered his or her art, they are able to operate literally in concert. The power of five Kindred simultaneously calling on Disco Inferno cannot be expressed in terms the mortal mind can comprehend. Meltorminee can be carried over microphones and speakers, but only those physically present at the performance, whether a concert at Times Square or the gym at a low-class bar mitzvah, will fall to the music.
There are realms that the Soul Train can't reach. The Dreaming and the Umbra (the spirit-world) are divided into near and far reaches, and only the nearest realms closely mirror the real world. The Shadowlands that the wraiths inhabit are decayed versions of our own cities, and beyond them lies the tempest, Stygia and the Far Shores. The reach of this ability extends only to the "near" realms, and only as far as any normal voice would carry.
Still, that "normal voice" can break through the walls of reality, even if its wielder can't see those walls. Ultimately, the Daughter has no control over how far her voice carries, or to what realms -- if she somehow breaks through to the mysterious "High Umbra," every wraith within a few hundred feet heard her call, too. Meltorminee is not a subtle art.
System: The player must roll Charisma + Occult (Difficulty 7). With one success, she can penetrate the Shroud and speak to the restless dead, though they can't always answer. At two successes, she can break through the Shroud and the Gauntlet and contact the Lupine's Umbra, and at three successes, she can breach the Gauntlet to the High Umbra of the mages (and the other two realms as well). Four or more successes cuts through all walls, touching the three Umbrae, the Near Dreaming, the Astral plane, and even the Digital Web. If the Daughter of Schlockophony wants to use other Meltorminee effects in the "Worlds Beyond," she must first use this power. Regardless, all speech will be transmitted beyond the world's edges until such time as the Daughter negates the Discipline's effect, or for one scene.
System, LARP: Make a Mental challenge against a difficulty of 5, 6, 8 or 10 to reach the Shadowlands, Middle Umbra, High Umbra or all possible Realms -- whichever is the most esoteric level.
Supernatural creatures, or those with close supernatural ties, will not fall to the Daughter's lures. Vampire hunters, Lupines and their kin, Mages and even their acolytes -- any who have even a hazy understanding of the night-folk are safe from this siren's irritating whine. Further, individuals with taste are free from the Daughter's song. But even so, what's left is an impressive crowd, if a tasteless one.
Those charmed by the Kindred's song will be completely convinced of the Daughter's coolness, and treat her as they would treat a celebrity. They will not lay down their lives for the vampire, but they would happily cheer her, become hostile if she's attacked "on stage," or follow her into a cozy nook for a drink after the show, no problem.
System: in game terms, characters are exempt if they meet any of the following criterion: have a supernatural origin or background (Ghouls, Kinfolk and Kinain included), possession of any of the following Abilities: Style, Awareness, Expression, or any performance-related Ability. Storytellers may also exempt characters who by rights shouldn't fall under the category of "utterly mundane." All within earshot can potentially be affected, and a practitioner of Meltorminee can gather a large flock of groupies with little real effort -- a successful Charisma + Performance (difficulty 7) gets their attention, and the flock will be happily loyal until the end of the performance. Three successes guarantee loyalty until the end of the scene, but the Daughter's fans will lose their fervor at sunup, regardless.
System, LARP: As above, but a Social Challenge, (Difficulty 8) is needed to capture a short-duration herd for a single scene.
System: Roll Charisma + Performance (Difficulty 8). If the roll succeeds, the Daughter's song has the following effects:
System, LARP: Requires a Social Test, Difficulty 7. For simplicity, all creatures except Garou must bid three Traits in all challenges while the Daughter sings. Toreador must make a successful Physical Test (Difficulty 6) every five minutes; if they fail, they lose the Traits bid. Changelings must make a successful Mental Test (without penalty) or gain a point of temporary Banality. Wraiths and Spirits will be frightened as their plasm shifts and ripples, but beyond the Trait penalty are unaffected. Storytellers are encouraged to be appropriately cruel to Mages.
System: The concert opens with a Charisma + Performance check (difficulty 8) and spend a Blood Point. A successful roll empowers the Discipline. Any who hear the Daughter's voice must make a Willpower check (difficulty 6) every turn or begin dancing in time to the music. Once they are ensnared, only physical danger will allow them another check (Sunrise in less than an hour, the sound of a gun being cocked, the sudden appearance of a werewolf in battle-form--though it's a fair bet the Lupine will begin step-shuffling before it attacks. . .). After a "perfect" performance (5 or more successes) all who fall to the music's beat have their memory blurred, as above.
There are limits to how long the Daughter can keep her voice up. The Storyteller may ask the Daughter to make a Stamina + Performance check every hour or so to see if she can continue singing, particularly if the player seems to be abusing this power. As a further check against abuse, remember that the character's allies are likely to be caught up in the music as well, and unless she gave a really big show, any victims who know what happened are going to be angry.
While the Kindred's back-up band will fall victim to this Discipline, they will play their instruments instead of dancing.
System, LARP: Any player wishing to use the "obfuscatory" effect of Dance All Night must make three Social checks instead of one. If he is unsuccessful, the Discipline fails and he still must spend the Blood Trait. Resisting this Discipline requires a successful Mental Test against the Daughter's Social Traits -- every turn.
Sometimes, a perceptive individual will notice what's going on and can escape, or try to stop the demented musician mid-chord. Most, though, dance into mental and aesthetic oblivion.
System: As above, the Daughter must make a Charisma + Performance check to activate this power and spend a Blood Point, and the Storyteller may require Stamina rolls during extended performances. Each turn, all listeners must make a Perception + Alertness and Style roll (Difficulty 6). Those who fail find themselves losing Attribute levels, first from their Mental Attributes (from highest to lowest), then their Social Attributes. Victims are allowed a Perception + Awareness check to notice the loss or its source. Those rare individuals with the Style Talent may "spend" levels of this Ability instead of Attributes, for as long as their fashion sense holds out. No Attribute may be reduced below one level with this ability.
Attributes lost to this power "heal" at a rate of one per "category" (Mental, Social, Style) per day, though exotic mind-magics will speed the process.
System, LARP: As "Dance All Night." Victims must make a Mental test every turn against the Daughter's Social Traits. If they fail, their maximum Mental Traits are reduced by one--Traits lost to the test's bid are marked out before the Trait total is lowered, so the "effective" loss is only one Trait/failed challenge. The Trait total "regenerates" at a rate of one per day, and cannot be brought below three. When the victim's Trait total falls to Three, he gains the negative Social Trait: Tacky with each failed test. These may be marked out at a rate of one per day.
After death, the Kindred may "pass on" into a vessel representing her personal Funk -- a platform shoe, a silver glove, a Big Hat. If the reliquary falls into the hands of a like-minded mortal (and it always does, doesn't it?) the Daughter may communicate in simple emotions with her potential host, and even lend her talents. Over the course of weeks, the mortal's identity merges with the Daughter's, until eventually, his spirit departs and the Kindred gains full control.
System: When the Kindred dies, she may make a roll of Intelligence + Occult (Difficulty 8). If her skin is touching an item representing her personal Funk, she may transfer her soul into it. When in telepathic contact with a mortal, the Daughter may lend him her Performance abilities.
For each night the mortal uses the reliquary, the Kindred may make a Willpower roll (Difficulty: Target's Willpower +3). If she accumulates 20 successes, she gains total control over her host, and is "reborn." A Botch removes all accumulated successes.
Certain psychic Phenomena and the powerful Mind magick of the True Mages can reverse this sort of mental corruption, but it's not easy.
System: The player must roll Manipulation (difficulty 7 or the target's Willpower, whichever is higher). If a single success is scored, the victim is permanently corrupted as above. If the vampire can accumulate 20 successes in an extended roll, the target will react as if the Kindred had the Awe power of Presence in effect (V:TM, Second Edition, page 165). A botch eradicates all previous programming -- and renders the target immune to the Daughter's Meltorminee.
LARP notes: The Ability: Style may be used to call for a retest against Meltorminee, on the off-chance that a character has this talent.