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

theban sorcery • the coils of the dragon
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The Coils of the Dragon include three distinct philosophies, each of which has three
tiers. The Coils of the Dragon, like Crúac and Theban Sorcery, truly belong to no one clan.
Members of the covenant can study any or all of the coils, but they recognize that no vampire
has ever truly achieved mastery — at least, not to the Order’s knowledge. A character must
have at least one dot of Covenant Status (Ordo Dracul) in order to learn any Coils of the
Dragon. A player who takes at least one dot worth of that Merit at character creation may
spend one of his character’s three Discipline dots on the Coils of the Dragon if he wishes.
This expenditure doesn’t count toward his in-clan Discipline expenditure, however. Any time
a player wants to increase his character’s Coils of the Dragon score, the character must still
have at least one dot of Covenant Status (Ordo Dracul) to do so.
Activating a tier of the coils requires no draw or asset expenditure in and of itself (though
some tiers augment draws or permit certain abilities when they might not otherwise be allowed).
A character always has the option of using a tier available to him, and the benefi ts of
the tier may be “turned off” at the Kindred’s discretion.
New dots of the Coils of the Dragon are purchased like a Discipline, with the number of tiers
the character already commands serving as the current level and the “new level” being the next
to be achieved. For example, a character knows fi ve tiers of the Coils of the Dragon. For him to
learn a sixth, his player has to spend 42 experience points (6 [the new level in the coil] times 7
[the experience-point multiplier for out-of-clan Disciplines]). Tiers must be learned in order in
each coil, though a character need not advance one coil to completion before he can advance
another. That is, a character with two tiers of Coil of Blood could learn the fi rst tier of Coil
of the Beast without learning the third tier of Coil of Blood. Because the Coils of the Dragon
do not constitute a true Discipline, they are not limited by Blood Potency trait maximums. A
character need not have a Blood Potency of 6 to learn six different tiers of coils, for example.
Yet, increasingly more dots in a coil are always bought as if they’re out-of-clan Disciplines.
THE COIL OF BLOOD
Vampires must feed on living blood to survive, and only the weakest of the Kindred can draw
sustenance from the blood of animals. The Coil of Blood seeks to lift this requirement, allowing
the Kindred to feed on their own terms, rather than forever be slaves to their hunger.
First Tier: Blood Seeps Slowly
The Dragon’s undead body doesn’t demand as much Vitae to animate itself as do those of
other, less enlightened Kindred. The player need spend only one Vitae for his character to
wake for a number of nights equal to the vampire’s Resolve. So, a Kindred with a Resolve of
2 loses a Vitae every other night for rising. This slower Vitae loss also makes it easier to keep
a character’s Vitae levels high, since he can hunt at a slightly more leisurely pace. Rather than
make a hunting test before a chapter to determine how much Vitae he has when it begins,
the Dragon simply draws a single card from a standard deck. If it’s black, he enters play with
his Vitae pool full, minus the one point required to wake that night. If it’s red, he still enters
with 1/2 of his pool, rounded up. He need not risk the usual problems and complications
of failed hunting test, at least before play begins.
Second Tier: Blood of Beasts
No matter what the vampire’s Blood Potency is, she can take sustenance from animals
and humans.
Third Tier: Perspicacious Blood
The character gains three Vitae for every two Vitae she takes from a human, and receives
double the Vitae consumed from Kindred or other supernatural vessels. It is not possible to
“cycle” blood between two or more supernaturals to infi nitely increase the Dragons’ Vitae
supply in this manner.