Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

Disciplines
ventrue • disciplines • using disciplines
Much debate occurs over the nature of Disciplines among the Kindred community. Many
young vampires, as yet unfamiliar with the price that the Embrace demands of their souls,
see only the upside of Disciplines, thinking of them as powers they can wield over lesser
creatures such as mortals. Penitent vampires, as well as those of traditional or theological
bent, often see Disciplines as edges granted by whoever created vampires so that the terrible
race of the Damned can more effectively fulfi ll that individual’s plan. Still others consider
Disciplines their own ends, as with the Ordo Dracul and its proscribed but powerful Coils
of the Dragon.
The truth, of course, remains as unknown as any of the answers to the Kindred condition.
What leaves no doubt, however, is the terrible effi cacy of vampires’ powers.
USING DISCIPLINES
You’ll note from character creation and the clan write-ups, presented previously in this
chapter, that among each clan’s three “Clan Disciplines” is one that is listed for no other clan.
These individual powers are presented in italics in the fi ve clan descriptions. For example,
the Daeva is the only group with Majesty listed as a clan Discipline. Meanwhile, Ventrue is
the only one with Dominate listed as a clan Discipline. Such special Disciplines allow members
of each clan immediate access to a particular vampiric power. That Discipline is one of
the things that makes each clan unique. These capabilities are not wholly exclusive to their
respective clans, however. Characters of other clans can learn them through the expenditure
of experience points, but these specialized Disciplines are considered “out of clan” and are
expensive to acquire (as explained on p. 121). If a Discipline is not favored by your clan,
you can learn it with the help of a vampiric teacher who has that Discipline in-clan who
can teach up to and including his own mastery of it, with two exceptions: no teacher is ever
required to learn Celerity, Resilience and Vigor and no bloodline-specifi c Disciplines may
ever be learned by anyone not belonging to that bloodline, even through diablerie. Adopting
a bloodline may allow access to another clan’s signature capability, as explained on p. 364.
And of course, there’s the option of acquiring the capabilities of another clan’s Disciplines
by committing diablerie on vampires of that lineage. Gaining these powers by such horrifi c
means is explained on p. 223.
The basic system for using a Discipline is a bit different from the standard test pool mechanic.
The Attribute that governs a certain power’s use is included in the system subsection
of the capability’s description. In conjunction with that Attribute is a specifi c Skill that lends
fi nesse or emphasis to the power. Additionally, the character’s mastery of the Discipline as
a whole adds points to the pool. The result is a test pool composed of three traits instead of
the usual two for mundane Skill or Attribute tasks. For example, the fi rst Discipline power in
this chapter is Feral Whispers, under Animalism. The power lists Manipulation as its requisite
Attribute and Animal Ken as its requisite Skill. If a character has Manipulation 2, Animal
Ken 3 and Animalism 4, his player has a test pool of nine to determine the margin of success
of using Feral Whispers. The fact that Feral Whispers is a one-dot power isn’t important; the
character’s ultimate potential with Animalism as a whole is what’s key.
Other information contained in the system subsection includes the following:
• Trait costs, if any, such as Vitae or Willpower expenditures.
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