By Craig Lloyd
Transcendence is the power of mastering motion in it's many forms. Those with this discipline find it easy to scale surfaces, jump huge distances or walk across very narrow and weak structures without risk of slipping or the surface collapsing underfoot. Their actions become less laboured and smoother and some kindred may eventually learn to conquer gravity altogether or indeed, the very dimensions of space itself.
* Leap of the Panther: Your power is still in its infancy but you are already able to leap distances which are considered utterly impossible by others. With this discipline you find that falling poses less of a threat to you than it does to your heavier brethren, being able as you are to slow your descent somewhat.
System: Transcendence increases the normal jumping distance for each success on a Strength roll (plus Athletics if the character gets a decent run up). Horizontal jumps are at eight feet per success per level of Transcendence. Vertical jumps have half the range of horizontal ones.
Horizontal leaps are made at the running speed of the character and thus it may take more than one turn to reach the desired destination for exceptionally long bounds.
Falling is less hazardous to those with Transcendence, and a secondary benefit is that falling causes one less die of damage per level attained in this Discipline.
** Spider Climb: Your ability to overcome gravity has increased to the point where it is now possible for you to crawl up the steepest of surfaces without difficulty. It is no problem to climb a wall, shin across the ceiling and come back down to the ground on the other side.
System: So long as three or more limbs are in contact with a surface at all times, the vampire can negotiate it at walking speed without the need for rolls of any kind. The smoothness of the surface is not important, however the Storyteller may impose a roll for lubricated surfaces.
The vampire may wish to jump onto a vertical surface from another wall, this tricky manoeuvre requires a roll of Dexterity (plus Climb or Athletics) against a difficulty of seven. It also assumes that the vampire was able to jump far enough and actually reach the wall. If the roll is failed, the vampire simply fails to adhere to the wall....
Should the vampire be physically interrupted whilst employing this power, she must make a Dexterity (+ Climb or Athletics) roll with a difficulty of twice the number of successes made against her by the opponent or fall.
*** Cat's Grace: Those around you will by now notice a certain lightness of foot and ease of motion whenever you exert yourself. When you walk, you walk almost silently, barely seeming to touch the ground. And when you move, it is as if you are virtually weightless. Your body can be divested of much of it's mass, greatly easing movement and allowing you to walk across the flimsiest of surfaces or even at times, water itself.
System: Difficulties for Acrobatics, Stealth (in motion), Athletics, Climbing and so forth are all reduced by two. Dodging and Initiative are considered as -1 difficulty. The vampire's mass may be reduced to around 10% of it's original value, allowing it to be supported by structures too weak to support others.
The vampire can also now stand upon water by making a Willpower roll against a difficulty of six. This allows the vampire to walk or run across the surface of the water for the rest of the scene as if it were solid, albeit somewhat slippery, ground.
**** Stridence: Your power is now such that on whichever surface you place your feet, hands, or whatever - be it vertical or upside down - it is as if you were upon level ground. You could walk up a lamppost or back-flip around a room from the floor to the walls and up onto the ceiling. This power now even works while you sleep.
System: The character can now consider any surface she touches to be level ground so long as she stays within 12 inches of it thereafter. The only way the character can be knocked off is if she falls into torpor or is pulled more than one foot away from the surface, thus she could stick to a surface even when asleep.
***** Walk the Winds: You have now attained an incredible mastery over gravity. Leaping is second nature, and huge distances can be travelled in but a bound.
But the most potent capability gained at this level is the ability to offset gravity completely even when away from a surface. This requires a successful Willpower roll against a difficulty of six, but allows you to jump inordinate distances, travelling effortlessly in a straight line at the same speed as you were moving before the leap ( A standing jump is made at jogging speed.) for up to one turn per success before slowly sinking back to earth.
You can choose to land at any time by cancelling the power. For each additional 20 feet of elevation upon launching, the character may stay in the air for an extra round.
If this power is invoked whilst a character falls, the character will take no damage from that fall, instead gliding slowly to the earth. Swift winds may carry the jumping character away if she is not careful.
****** Silent Wings: You have freed yourself from the burden of the earth and as such, gained one of the most prized abilities throughout all history; the ability to fly. You are now as much at ease in the air as you are on the ground and are in full control of your aerial motion.
System: The character must spend but a single Blood Point to initiate the power for the rest of the scene. She is then free to leave the ground and travel effortlessly in any direction she wills.
Each round (or action gained with Celerity), the character may turn up to 45 degrees and increase or decrease her speed by her running movement rate, to a maximum velocity of her running speed multiplied by her Stamina. If the character is flying at a rate slower than jogging speed then she has no turning restrictions. Manoeuvring when flying slower than jogging speed is an unconscious action, but if flying faster, any turn (but not a change in speed) will cost two dice from the character's pool.
Due to their increased mobility, flying characters receive a -1 difficulty bonus to attack and dodge difficulties whilst brawling or engaged in melee, but generally find it harder to gain cover against projectile weapons.
****** The Passing: Your ability to transcend normal physical reality has increased significantly. By pressing yourself against a barrier and concentrating, you are able to pass through and emerge on the other side. Alternatively, if the barrier is smaller than yourself then it instead passes through you.
System: The Vampire must touch the surface and concentrate to activate this power. The player must then make a Willpower roll with a difficulty depending upon the strength of the barrier and a number of successes equal to the thickness of the barrier in feet (rounded up).
If successful, the Vampire spends a Blood Point and is projected through the barrier and ejected on the other side. The vampire is in no way made aware of the prevailing conditions existing on the opposite side barrier.
This ability works on any physical barriers or restraints, including handcuffs, jail bars
Material Difficulty Cotton and other soft materials 3 Wood 4 Clay 5 Brick 6 Stone / Plastic 7 Concrete / Glass 8 Reinforced Materials / Metals 9 Toughened Steel / Titanium alloys etc. 10
****** Dissociate: Your powers of Transcendence are such that your body is begining to Dissociate from its surroundings. External factors affect you less than they used to as you begin to slip outside of 'normal' reality.
The degree of Dissociation depends upon your power of Transcendance. The higher your rank, the further from reality you slip.
System: Once gained, this ability becomes second nature to the Transcendentalist. Her form becomes increasingly indistinct and people tend to overlook her. She impigns less and less upon reality as she gains in rank.
This could be treated like a more powerful version of the Arcane Background except that all effects are modified by -1 die; Target rolls, damage, visibility, Disciplines et. al.
This power can be suppressed at will but a shock to the system (physical or emotional) will require a Self control roll or the vampire 'slips out'. - If this roll is botched, the vampire cannot 'slip in' again until she next awakens.
Unfortunately for the vampire, this effect is two way. When - to use a Son of Ether term - 'out of phase' she lives in a world of muted sensation; muffled sounds, bleached colors and semi solid reality. All of her rolls when interacting with reality are reduced by one die as well.
Unless surprised, it takes a complete round to slip in or slip out.
Magi find this Discipline infuriating. To them, a vampire with Dissociate feels 'slippery' and difficult to 'grasp' with their Magickal effects. Thus, even they - the masters of 'reality' - suffer the -1 die penalty to all rolls which will directly affect the vampire.
As the vampire increases in Transcendence rank, she is able to shift further out of phase, increasing all dice penalties by -1 per Trancendence level above Six. Once a dice pool is reduced to Zero due to this effect, she is totally dissociated from it.
(Interpret dissociation as you will. A small bullet passing through, a slow blade slipping through the vampire without damage. whatever)
This is too complicated an effect to document. ST discretion is advised.
******* Blink: You are no longer restricted to the normal mundane methods of travel. Those who have mastered this power are able to instantaneously travel to any nearby point without apparently traversing the space between.
System: On activation, the vampire vanishes silently and reappears at the new desired location, spending some Blood in the process. The destination is limited to a point the vampire can directly see with her own eyes (or an Auspex related power) within (100 x Blood Points spent) metres per point of Stamina + Fortitude.
This power put a massive strain upon the physical body of the vampire and on transit, she must soak five health levels of non aggravated damage against a difficulty of nine, or a difficulty of eight if the blink was less than half the maximum range, seven if less than one quarter and so forth.
The vampire can Blink with other characters she is carrying, but they are disorientated (-5 to all dice pools) for one round on arrival.
The Storyteller may deem a Blink suitable for the Obfuscate Level 2 criteria. As with the Level 4 Obfuscate power, weak willed characters may forget they ever saw the character if she blinks away. Midnight Exodus
You can now effortlessly glide through the air for any duration. In fact, you now only need to walk to preserve the Masquerade or as a courtesy to your crawled friends. With minimal effort, you are able to sustain high speed flight for extended periods, covering thousands of miles in the space of several hours.
System: The vampire can fly as per Silent Wings without the expenditure of blood, flying becomes an unconscious activity, with a maximum speed limited to twice that of Silent Wings. It is actually possible (but not recommended) to levitate whilst asleep.
With the expenditure of one Blood Point, the vampire's flying powers are magnified many times for one hour. She can sustain an acceleration of 180 km/h (three km/min) per round with a top speed of 20 km/min (Mach one) per point of Stamina + Fortitude at low altitude (less than one mile high) + 5 km/min per mile higher due to the rarity of the air.
Altitude is limited to one mile per point of Stamina + Fortitude, but flying above Mach one at low altitude is not a good idea as the resultant sonic boom will be heard by people on the ground. The level 6 Protean power Adaptability would allow the vampire to leave the Troposphere completely and fly at an effective rate of 100 km/min per point of Stamina + Fortitude in the Stratosphere.
Mortals need to breathe air, and unless protected, are limited to one quarter of the maximum speed dictated by their Stamina as well as the one mile altitude restriction per point of Stamina.
******* Mass Transcendence: The vampire may affect a number of additional characters equal to her Stamina with any of the previous Transcendence abilities.
System: The vampire selects which characters she wishes to affect. All members of the group must be located within five meters of the vampire and be willing.
The Blood powered abilities require the requisite amount of blood to be spent by each and every member of the group (Willpower for mortals). For the blink power, nausea is suffered by the whole group, but damage is spread evenly between all members, rounding up.
Any Willpower rolls must eventually be made by all involved, this latter eventuality may take several rounds as the passengers psyche themselves up.
******** Teleport: You are no longer restricted to Blinking to a spot you can perceive directly, instead you may teleport to any place you have visited, or have seen, even on a map.
System: The character must already have purchased the Level 6 Blink power. The vampire may Blink to a remote location she has visited and can remember, but can no longer directly perceive. To do so successfully she must make an extended Intelligence + Alertness roll with a difficulty set by the Storyteller. Guidelines are given below, gathering successes as she visualises the area she was in.
If the Vampire is currently engaged in another action, she must split her dice pool between the visualisation and that other action.
A failure means she must start afresh, whilst a botch means that she cannot use this power again for the rest of the night. If the roll is successful, the vampire may then start spending Blood Points on a continuous basis (at least one per round) until the required amount is spent. The Teleport will then take place. Whilst this Blood is being spent, the vampire may resume whatever activity she was previously engaged in without penalty.
If for some reason one round passes without the expenditure of at least one Blood Point for this power, the Teleport fails and all spent blood is lost.
The vampire must resist damage on transit as per the Blink ability.
Range: one km per point of Stamina + Fortitude. Doubled for each Blood Point spent after the first.
Familiarity with Destination Difficulty Intimate knowledge: Own Home 4 Well Known: Friend's house 5 Familiar: Local streets 6 Unfamiliar: Been there several times 7 Glimpsed: Seen it once or twice in passing 8 Map Reference: Have seen it on a map 9 Heard about it: You are sure it exists! 10 Was there less than 10 minutes ago 3 Successes reqd Was there less than one hour ago 4 Successes reqd Was there less than 24 hours ago 5 Successes reqd Was there less than one week ago 7 Successes reqd Was there less than one month ago 8 Successes reqd Was there less than one year ago 9 Successes reqd Over one year ago 10 Successes reqd
She will arrive one die in yards away from her desired destination, but never within a space occupied by a solid medium.
If no such destination exists then the Blink fails and all the Blood is lost.