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

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or accidents unless more compelling evidence is provided (i.e., the kind of proof normally<br />

needed to help a target recognize and shake Conditioning). Unless they have been Conditioned<br />

to a truly extensive degree, players who attempt to grotesquely overplay these quirks<br />

in order to send up a distress signal to their fellow coterie members or other Kindred should<br />

be disciplined. After all, ultimately they should be grateful this option was used in the fi rst<br />

place and they got to roleplay their character rather than a bland, emotionless zombie. <strong>The</strong><br />

Dominate user must implant specifi c triggers in the Conditioned mind to indicate how the<br />

subject recognizes commands that must be obeyed. <strong>The</strong>se usually include a safeguard that the<br />

subject will always obey orders if his master appears to be in severe distress or in any immediate<br />

danger. Extended time spent rummaging in the subject’s mind with Telepathy and Forgetful<br />

Mind may very well unearth those triggers, revealing the extent of the manipulation.<br />

Given the long-term requirements for this power, it is recommended that the target, the<br />

Storyteller and the Dominate user take the time involved to work together to establish what<br />

quirks are notable enough to mirror, and perhaps suggestions on how to mimic them correctly.<br />

Note that Conditioning should be no less effective in game terms if this option is used; only<br />

the way its effect is roleplayed really changes.<br />

••••• POSSESSION<br />

By this point, the Kindred need not rely on spoken commands and limited understanding.<br />

With the mere locking of the victim’s gaze, the vampire can utterly supplant the subject’s own<br />

psyche with her own, possessing the subject like a malevolent spirit.<br />

Once the Kindred has crushed the victim’s will, she literally takes over the body, inhabiting<br />

it and controlling it as easily as she does her own. <strong>The</strong> mortal enters something of a fugue<br />

state while possessed, and he is aware of events only in a dreamlike, distorted fashion. <strong>The</strong><br />

Kindred suffers the opposite effect. Her mind now resides within the victim, and her own<br />

body falls into a torpor-like state, becoming indistinguishable from a true corpse. <strong>The</strong> vampire<br />

may choose to break the possession and refelxively return to her body at any time, over any<br />

distance, but until and unless she does so, her true physical form is utterly helpless.<br />

Kindred cannot possess other Kindred in this fashion, regardless of force of will or differences<br />

in Blood Potency. Mortals alone are subject to possession, although whispers of possessed<br />

Lupines and mages sometimes circulate. If such supernatural beings were to be possessed,<br />

their powers would not be at the vampire’s disposal since they are completely alien to her.<br />

Cost: 1 Willpower<br />

Test Pool: Intelligence + Intimidation + Dominate versus Resolve<br />

Action: Contested and Extended; resistance is refl exive<br />

Roleplaying: A description tag, costume change or other arrangement should be made to<br />

indicate the body switch. Meanwhile, the character’s helpless body should be designated with<br />

an item or description card for anyone who might stumble across it.<br />

Draw Results<br />

<strong>The</strong> vampire locks eyes with the victim and begins the process of utterly stripping away the<br />

subject’s Willpower. <strong>The</strong> vampire must obtain a number of successes in excess of the victim’s<br />

Willpower. <strong>The</strong> victim is held, trapped in this psychic struggle, as long as the vampire’s player<br />

continues to win each contested draw. Each draw occupies a turn’s time.<br />

Failure: In any turn in which the vampire loses or ties a contested draw, the victim may<br />

attempt to escape. If the vampire succeeds in restarting the process during the same scene,<br />

the contest picks up from where it left off.<br />

Success: <strong>The</strong> character wins a contested draw and accumulates successes in her attempt to<br />

exert ultimate control over her subject.<br />

174<br />

chapter two: character

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