Penance

By Tony Craven

Description

This powers origin is unknown but is thought to have come from Caine himself, a gift from God to ease the burden of unlife. He rejected it however and instead chose to endure the full punishment for his sin. There are those who believe that Lilith created him and stole it from him in order to protect her many children.

There are many more theories about the genesis of this powerful Discipline from a variant of Dominate and Presence to a bastardisation of the Salubri Discipline Valeren; some come close but unfortunately the truth will never be revealed until Caine returns.

Penance is meant for the rooting out and destruction of Infernals; it was not meant for their use and subsequently doubles all requirements needed to use it if they try. If an Infernalist were ever to acquire this power he would indeed be a force to be reckoned with, although the power could only be used against non-infernal foes.

A point of note :- Infernalists cannot use this against other Infernalists and if they use it against anyone else all rolls are made at +2 difficulty. This also applies to those without Infernal taint; they will not be able to use this power against anyone but Infernals properly.

* Sense the One Below¹s Presence

The user can sense the presence of infernal taint in another. This includes all other supernatural creatures as well as Kindred. Forms of taint include Demonic blood, investments, those without souls and Domination. Black Spirals, spectres and those without humanity will also show up.

Only infernalists show up; no other evil will be detected (this includes Wyrm taint).

System: The expenditure of 1 willpower point is all that is needed to activate this power.

** Confession of thy Guilt

The vampire can ask a subject a specific question and have it answered truthfully. If the question is not worded right, however, the subject may be able to avoid a truly honest answer depending on the question.

System: Roll Charisma + Intimidation with the difficulty being the opponent's Willpower. This roll can be resisted with the expenditure of 1 Willpower point per success if the character's life depends on it. e.g. Making a Priscus admit infernalism in front of her peers.

*** God's Hunter

The vampire can now track individuals that he has already sensed as an infernalist. He can also track infernals that he hasn¹t sensed but this requires some form of personal belonging (warning tracking down infernals to there lair is madness and you will probably die)

System: Roll Perception + Survival, Difficulty 6 if the user has already sensed the target as an infernalist in the past. It is Diff 8 otherwise. The more successess gained means the more information on his whereabouts is revealed.

**** Eyes as Windows

The user utilising this power peers into the target's soul and sees her darkest fears. Once known the user can then become the targets nightmare. If a demon is the target of this power then its true name is revealed instead, thus enabling the user to banish it from whence it came. If the power is successful the target becomes immobile with fear for as long as the user continues to lock gazes with him.

System: A Willpower roll (diff = target's willpower) is required with only 1 success needed. However if failed the power may not be used again on the most powerful of targets (e.g Demons and Spirits).

***** The Sentence of Penance

The character using this again stares deep into the target's eyes and forces him to see the error of his ways. The target then finds that he is completely at the user's command as he is judged according to his crimes. System: A Willpower roll vs the target's Willpower is needed and if successful then the victim¹s Int drops to 1. If more than 3 successess are made then the victim must complete whatever sentence is handed down by the user e.g. tie yourself to a lamppost and wait for sunrise, or give all your wealth to the needy. Truly powerful creatures may resist this with Willpower points but the user can also use Willpower to counteract this, It then becomes a battle of wills. 3 blood points must be used to activate the power.

A point of note :- Infernalists CANNOT use this against other Infernalists and if they use it against anyone else all rolls are made at +2 difficulty. This also applies to those without Infernal taint, they will not be able to use this power against anyone but Infernals properly.