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

Vitae does not change a character’s damage limits in any way and only changes test pools,
not the actual Attributes themselves.
Example: Eamon is beset by three foolish street thugs who think they can mug him walking through
the park one night. Eamon feels reluctant to endanger the Masquerade by using Disciplines, so he
resolves to give the thugs a thorough but still mundane thrashing. Picking up a stout branch from the
ground nearby as the young toughs advance (and wishing he had his broadsword instead), Eamon calls
on the Blood.
Thanks to his Blood Potency of 6, Eamon can expend three Vitae in each turn. He fed earlier in the
night, so he has a full 15 Vitae. Eamon sees that all three punks carry guns, so he decides that his fi rst
priority is to not get shot. Three Vitae are pumped into his Strength, raising his test pool by six. This
tremendous boost deals quite a drubbing to one of the thugs. The additional Strength (Eamon’s player
turns over three Vitae slips to the Narrator.) On the next turn, Eamon’s player spends two more Vitae,
again boosting his damage as he pounds another one of the hooligans senseless. The stoic Gangrel doesn’t
mind expending so much Vitae on the fi ght. After he batters the punks unconscious, he plans to restore
his losses from their veins.
HEALING WOUNDS
A vampire can also use Vitae to heal wounds. See p. 244 for details, as the subjects of wounds
and healing are signifi cantly different for Kindred than they are for mortals. Spending Vitae to
heal wounds is a refl exive action that doesn’t require a character to wait for her Initiative.
DISCIPLINE USE
Most Disciplines do not cost Vitae to use. Some of the most formidable powers do, however,
as do the rituals of Crúac, Devotions and the rare, exotic Disciplines known to some
bloodlines. See each power or ritual to see how much they cost.
BLOOD ADDICTION
Even mortals can taste the stolen life that charges them with power and turns them into
ghouls (see p. 233). That power makes Vitae the most delicious taste in the world. What
could satisfy more than life itself? Stolen fruit is always sweetest. Anyone — mortal, animal,
vampire or other — who drinks a vampire’s blood risks becoming addicted to it. They want
to taste that power again. A character might know perfectly well that this bloodthirst could
enslave him, maybe even destroy him, but knowing doesn’t make the thirst easier to resist.
Just like an alcoholic offered a shot of whiskey, it’s all too easy to swear that you’ll quit
— after this one.
In rules terms, any time a character who has imbibed Vitae receives a chance to do so
again, the player draws Resolve + Composure. A single success allows the character to resist
the temptation.
The more one gives in, the harder it is to exercise self-control. Each time a character gives in
to the thirst for Vitae, subsequent attempts to resist temptation suffer a cumulative -1 penalty
on the Resolve + Composure draw. Eventually, the character’s Resolve + Composure test pool
drops to zero and a chance draw is all that’s left. At that point, the character is completely
addicted. Not only does he have very little chance to resist the thirst, he doesn’t want to.
A derangement (see p. 268) is imposed instantly if the player draws an Ace on a Resolve +
Composure draw to resist the temptation of the Blood.
Addicted mortals and animals often become obsessed with drinking mundane blood,
thinking that they might gain some power by doing so. They also frequently grow obsessively
dependent on any vampire who supplies their Vitae, becoming willing to do anything — any-
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mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems